Chapter Nine
Misao felt pressure being pushed down on her as she slept. It grew so large and dense that she woke up abruptly to find herself lying in a large bed surrounded by red glowing candles. When she sat up, she noticed she was wearing a strange outfit that made her look like a sorceress of some sort. "Where…am I? More importantly, why am I wearing this get-up?" Suddenly everything came back to her. "That's right. I was captured by the Kishin. This castle must be his hideout." She got out of the bed to look out the window. Misao could see everything from the height she was at. 'I've got to get out of here, and get back to Blood.' Just as she made a break for the door, it opened to reveal Noah and Giriko blocking the exit. 'Dammit, looks like I'll have to find another way to escape.'
"Hehe, well look at you." Noah smiled, staring at Misao up and down. "That outfit really suits you."
"Shut up and tell me where I am!" she demanded.
"You're with me now." A voice spoke from behind Noah. Asura emerged from behind his henchmen and stared at Misao. She took a few steps back, not believing that the Kishin was standing right there before her eyes. "My, my how you've grown. You resemble your father so very well."
Misao could see the madness surrounding the room and slowly consume her from all sides. 'He's gained more power than I thought.' She thought; her hands and knees trembling. 'I'd forgotten what his energy felt like up close. Medusa must've been out of her mind if she thought she could control such power.'
Asura laughed at the fear shown on her face. "Poor little girl. You're scared out of you mind." Knowing she was too afraid to even move, Asura began to approach her. "Don't worry, my dear. You'll get used to this feeling very soon. After all, it's only a matter of time before it sinks into you and becomes a part of your very being."
Hearing that, something inside Misao sparked and released itself the more her fear increased. Her soul wavelength formed around her and expanded up to where Asura had stopped. Without knowing it, she released enormous tons of energy that flew all across the room. "I won't give in." She said, looking possessed. "I won't give in." Harnessing enough raw power, Misao let some of it go in a massive blast directly toward Asura.
When it got within inches from him, he put his hand out and stopped it with little to no effort. "Yes, this is the power I've searched for." He whispered, as he pushed the energy back, causing it to disappear within seconds. After that, he walked up to the blacked-out Misao and used his power of madness to cancel out her energy. The aura vanished, and Misao fell to the floor, unconscious. "So, Isame hid the forbidden power within his own daughter; exactly as I thought." Asura walked up to Misao and picked her up from the ground. "All I have to do now is mix that power with madness, and she'll be under my control." After he said that, Asura turned around and looked at Noah. "Take her and put her in the tower. When she wakes up, send her to me." He handed Misao to Noah, then watched him walk out with her.
"So that's what happened." Lord Death said after hearing Stein's report on the situation. Everyone who was involved was in the Death Room, figuring out what they were going to do. Blood faced away from everyone, feeling disappointed in himself for letting Misao get taken by the Kishin. Lord Death continued speaking. "Now all that's left is to rescue Misao before Asura can manipulate her with the power of madness."
"But how?" Soul asked. "We barely survived the Kishin's henchmen."
"Soul's right. Rescuing Misao isn't going to be easy. We have to come up with some kind of plan." Maka spoke out.
"I'll go and get her." Everyone turned to see Blood finally stand up and make his way towards the exit. "I promised Master Isame I wouldn't let anything happen to Misao. And I intend to keep that promise no matter what."
"Hold it right there, Blood." Spirit chased him down before he got too far and grabbed his shoulder. "You can't just barge in and take her back. The Kishin is too powerful for you to take on alone. Plus, after what happened in the park, none of us are in any shape to take him on now."
Blood pushed Spirit's hand away and yelled, "What am I supposed to do, then!? Who knows what he's doing to her right now! I can't just sit here and do nothing." He paused to calm himself down and take a breath. "Look, there's more to this than you all know. Lord Death, you and I are the only ones here that know the real reason Asura is after Misao."
Lord Death turned and faced his mirror, hesitating to explain everything. Finally an image of a small blue orb appeared in the mirror's reflection. "This orb is one of the most powerful objects the world has ever seen. I gave it to Isame for safe keeping when I went to visit him."
"I don't get it." Black Star blurted out. "What's so special about it?"
"Well, Black Star, this orb has the power to enhance a person's soul wavelength by ten thousand." The air in the room became tense once everyone heard that. Lord Death continued. "So, it would be bad news for us if the Kishin ever got his hands on it."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain what that has to do with Misao." Soul pointed out.
"Yeah, if Asura is after this orb, why kidnap Misao?" Maka asked. But a few seconds afterward, she had a theory. "Does Misao know where it is?"
Blood looked down and answered her question. "You're close, Maka." He said painfully. "It's inside of her." All eyes were on Blood.
"What do you mean…it's inside her?" Kid asked.
Blood took in a breath before explaining. "It happened the day Asura came to our village and destroyed it. He sensed the orb was there, and was determined to find it. The moment he approached the castle, Master Isame knew he would find it in a matter of minutes. There was only one thing he could do to keep it safe: place it within his only daughter. He placed it inside Misao while she was asleep, knowing it's aura would be blocked by her soul wavelength."
"Hold on for a second." Spirit interrupted. "When you first came here, you told us that during that attack, Misao was taken hostage by the Kishin."
"That's correct." Blood continued. "The master and I went to fight the Kishin head on, thinking Misao was safe in her room. But the guards weren't strong enough to fight off his henchmen. They grabbed Misao and brought her to the battle. Asura took her and threatened the master and I. If we gave them the orb, he'd let Misao go free. He was so focused on us that he couldn't sense the orb's energy from her. That's when Master Isame set me aside and tried to fight off the Kishin on his own. He managed to weaken him and force him to retreat, but at the cost of his own life. With his last bit of strength, he took Misao into his arms for the last time and kissed her on the forehead. With his last breath, he told me to protect her no matter what. I gave him my word that I would and watched him die. From then on, all I could think about was protecting Misao and staying by her side just as her father requested. But now that Asura managed to find her and the orb, I feel as though I let my master down."
They all watched as Blood did his best to fight back his tears. He wanted to get Misao back, and planned on doing just that regardless of what the others said. He then felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. He turned around to see Tsubaki smile at him. "Everything will be alright, Blood." She reassured him, wiping his tears away. "We'll get Misao back safely. You have all of us to help you. For now, you should get some rest and get your wounds looked at." Blood remained silent as he let Tsubaki take him out of the Death Room to fix his bruises. All he could think about was Misao's happy, innocent face as she dragged him to the garden to play. That vision soon turned to an image of Misao surrounded by madness, reaching out to him for help. He snapped out of his nightmare once he was in his room, sitting on the bed. "Now just sit still and relax. I'm going to put some medicine on your wounds, then wrap them up in bandages."
"I don't need any medical treatment." He said softly.
Tsubaki looked at him.
"The only thing that matters to me is getting Misao back." Blood tried to stand up from the bed, using his own strength. However, the moment he got to his feet, pain coursed through his body and made him sit back down as tears fell from his face out of the excruciating pain he felt.
Tsubaki smiled. "Now do you see? You're in worse shape than you know." She proceeded to fix him up as he sat in silence, feeling more pain in his heart than in his body.
He could still see her smile and hear her laughing like she always did. 'I'm sorry Misao. I let you down.' The smile he saw in his head turned into a terrorized face, begging him to save her as she faded into the darkness. Blood did his best not to show any reaction to his vision, but couldn't stop his body from trembling at the thought of permanently losing Misao.
"That should do it." Tsubaki finished bandaging Blood, and then sat next to him on the bed. "The medicine I put on the bandages should heal you up pretty quickly. Add that to your physical healing process and you'll be back to normal in no time."
"I wonder if she's mad at me. I wouldn't blame her." Blood said softly. "I just sat back and let her get taken. She deserves better."
Tsubaki tapped him over the head, giving him a disappointed look. "Don't say things like that. She doesn't hate you."
"How do you know?"
"Because you two are always close to each other. Plus, Misao can't stop talking about you whenever one of us is alone with her. Her eyes light up and she blushes."
Blood didn't know what to say to that. He started to form a small smile after hearing how much he meant to Misao.
Tsubaki giggled to herself at Blood's expression. "Looks like Misao isn't the only one with strong feelings." She said.
"Huh? What do you mean, Tsubaki?" Blood asked.
"You have some feelings for Misao, don't you?" she asked.
When Tsubaki said that, Blood's eyes widened as he almost fell over off the bed. "What're you talking about, Tsubaki!? I don't…"
"You can't hide it from me. We're both weapons, and we sort of think alike. Also, don't forget that I'm a ninja and I'm good at reading people. You like her, and she definitely likes you. So you saying that she hates you and she deserves better would break her heart."
Blood sat up and thought about Tsubaki's explanation. He remembered her cheerful smile and her warm laughter every time she was around Blood. "That's more reason to get her back." He said, smiling at Tsubaki.
"That's the spirit."
"What's going on in here?" Stein entered the room, hands deep in his lab coat pockets.
"Nothing, we were just talking." Tsubaki said, standing up.
"How do you feel, Blood?"
"Thanks to Tsubaki, I feel a lot better. There's still some pain lingering, but it's no big deal."
Stein nodded as he tossed Blood a small jar of pills. "Just to be on the safe side, take these twice a day. It'll get rid of any pain that refuses to go away. You need your rest, so we'll leave you alone."
"Thanks, Professor. And thank you, Tsubaki." He looked at her and winked at her before she walked out of the door with Stein. When Blood was finally alone, he opened a bottle of water and took one of the pills before lying down on the bed and slowly drifting off to sleep.
After Misao woke up a few hours later, she felt the madness form around her, taking over her mind. 'His aura is everywhere.' She said to herself, shivering in fear. 'I have to protect myself, or else I'll completely lose it. She combined her soul energy with the orbs to form a purification barrier around herself in order to keep the madness wave away from her for as long as she could.
Shortly after doing so, the door opened to reveal Noah and his servant Gopher. Misao eyed them, making sure they didn't come any closer. "Do you really think that barrier will keep you safe?" Noah laughed. "Face it, you don't have enough strength to hold that up. Even if you're within the barrier, the madness is slowly draining your energy. It will continue to eat at you until you're drained of energy."
"It doesn't matter." She said in a calm yet annoyed voice. "I won't let Asura control me. My friends will save me before you do any damage."
"Is that what you believe?" A voice echoed throughout the room. At that point, Misao noticed her shield vanish and her arms pinned down to her side. "You believe your friends will come to your rescue before it's too late?" Asura chuckled, tightening his grip on Misao. "This is your fate, Misao. You're place is with me…forever."
His madness filled the air, suffocating Misao. She felt her body become weak and tremble as goose bumps started forming down her neck and arms. "This power…will never be yours." She said to him, trying to fight through the madness. "Even if you do get it, you won't be able to control it."
Asura chuckled while tightening his grip on her. "You're right; I won't be able to control it…unless I harvest it."
"Harvest?" Misao questioned.
Author's Note: Sorry folks ^^ But I must leave a little suspense just to keep things interesting. Teehee...I'm evil like that. Anyway, please R&R and I will post the next chapter in two weeks. Sorry these take so long to upload. Lots of things have been going on.