Chapter 8: Storming the Castle
Maru and Moro (with the help of Doumeki) began moving objects and furniture out of Yuuko's study to make room for the preparations of the seal that was now scrawled in chalk on the floor. Yuuko, Mokona, the Pipe Fox, and Himawari stood by watching their progress until the last piece of furniture had been moved out.
"Excellent work you three," Yuuko indicated to the cheerful twins and sweating Doumeki (who had the "pleasure" of moving the heavy furniture). Turning her attention back to the seal written on the floor. "Now that we have cleared the room of all the unwanted obstacles, we can commence."
"Commence with what?" Himawari asked curiously tilting her head slightly.
"With the transportation process my dear," Yuuko replied. "No doubt Watanuki's captor's have taken him to some place where others cannot access or interfere with whatever they might have in store for him. In other words," Yuuko paused. "They are most likely keeping him in the spirit world." Doumeki remembered briefly the last time Watanuki and he were in the spirit world during the Monster Procession and the craziness that ensued.
"Where exactly in the spirit world?" Doumeki couldn't help but ask aloud.
"Most likely in an area not accessed by many spirits otherwise there would have most likely been a scuffle over our dear Watanuki for his blood. Taken that into account, whomever or whatever is responsible for abducting him is an influential and very powerful entity." Himawari clasped here hands together nervously as Doumeki's face hardened at this revelation. Mokona, who had approached the seal to correct a few last minutes modifications to the seal (which Maru and Moro had messed up), turned to Yuuko with a grin on his face.
"Yuuko-san, Mokona and the seal are ready." Yuuko nodded signaling she understood.
"We need to move quickly. Doumeki-kun, Himawari-chan, stand in the middle of the seal please. You as well Kudakitsune." The archer nodded grabbing his repaired bow as he and Himawari along with the full-grown Pipe Fox entered the strange symbol, careful not to smudge the chalk symbols. Maru and Moro approached Yuuko carrying the Tengu Fan and offered it to her.
"Yuuko-san, what's that?" Himawari asked.
"The Tengu Fan. Its power will help guide you to your destination."
"Help guide us?" Doumeki repeated unsurely. "If I recall, the Tengu Fan is a powerful item that can do more than transport people. Shouldn't it be able to take us all the way to where Watanuki is?"
"As knowledgeable as ever Doumeki-kun," Yuuko said with a smug smile. "Normally yes however as I said before, the spirit you will be up against is an influential and powerful force to be reckoned with and has taken precautions on any unwanted intrusions. Therefore you will need added assistance," she explained motioning to Mokona and herself.
"Wow Doumeki-kun, you're so smart!" Himawari exclaimed.
"I read about it in one of my grandfather's books," he merely shrugged.
"In any case," Yuuko broke in, "before I send you off I have one last piece of advice." She paused causing the teens and spirit to look to the dimension witch anticipating what she might say. "In the heat of the moment, strike the iron while it is hot, hopefully when your opponent shows his tender belly," she said inexplicably more specifically to Doumeki. The group (Pipe Fox included) only blinked in utter confusion at the indecipherable message.
"Perhaps in time you will come to understand," Yuuko sighed. "Now then, clear your minds and visualize the image of Watanuki in your mind and we shall take care of the rest." Nodding the rescue party did as they were told. Within moments, the seal began emitting a soft glow as wind that came from nowhere began to pick up. Yuuko and Mokona exchanged glances before Mokona leapt into the air as the jewel on its forehead glowed as black, feathery wings sprouted from its back and he opened his mouth so wide it nearly engulfed his body. Beams of light radiated out of Mokona's jewel adding to the glow of the seal. Finally Yuuko raised her arm with the fan and with a swift movement waved the fan creating a strong whirlwind gust that enveloped the three and lifted them into the air until the tornado that surrounded them evaporated and they were transported into the unknown. Yuuko stood silently for a moment as Mokona landed on her shoulder. Mentally she wished them luck, hoping that Hitsuzen would be on their side.
In the spirit world, the trio gently touched down as the whirlwind dispersed revealing a rather mountainous, barren wasteland much unlike what the two teens had imagined (for better or worse).
"So this is the spirit world?" Himawari asked a little excited (due to her fascination in the paranormal). "It looks so different than I had imagined. Did we end up in the right place?" She asked turning her attention to Doumeki.
"Un," Doumeki grunted with a nod. "We're in the right place."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because of that," Doumeki answered pointing to the near distance. Himawari turned to the direction indicated and saw not too far off a rather large 17th century style castle, much like the type you would find in England. The two humans stared at the rather grand sight for a moment until their attention was drawn to the Pipe Fox whose ears perked up and it began sniffing the air rather fervently.
"Watanuki-sama! I smell Watanuki-sama!" the Pipe Fox exclaimed* as its fur ruffled and whined excitedly unable to stay still out of anxiousness.
"What's the matter with the Kudakitsune?" Himawari asked. Doumeki's eyes widened slightly at the realization that hit him.
"Oi, you sense Watanuki don't you?" Doumeki asked the Pipe Fox who nodded at Doumeki's statement and jogged a ways in front of them before looking back.
"Of course I sense him. What are you waiting for? Let's go!" He whined insisting. Understanding Doumeki clutched his bow tightly and followed the eager fox with Himawari close behind.
As they got closer to the strange castle, the Pipe Fox's hackles began to stiffen and its growling became more noticeable.
"I sense quite a number of enemies within those walls. I'll kill those fools for messing with my Watanuki-sama!" He muttered dangerously. Doumeki, although he could not understand what the spirit was saying, got the general gist of what it was implying.
"Looks like there are some evil spirits inside, we need to be careful and keep a low profile."
"Right," Himawari agreed. As they were within a few yards of the castle Doumeki could spot a few spirits guarding the only way in. Thinking quickly, he guided Himawari and the Pipe Fox behind a pile of boulders out of sight. Giving the hush signal he slowly peeked out from behind the rocks to get a better look. Fortunately the two guards (which were actually living, breathing lion statues) were sound asleep and had not noticed their presence. Letting out a breath of relief he motioned to the two behind him to follow him and stay quiet. Sneaking closer from discarded boulder to boulder they came close enough to assess the situation better. Indeed the two statues/guards were asleep and by the looks of it a very deep one. Doumeki felt slightly more at ease with one less battle to fight. The Pipe Fox's mouth began to open as flame began to well up signaling it was preparing a sneak attack, however Doumeki stopped it.
"We need to save our strength for whatever may be inside," he reasoned whispering.
"Che, they got lucky," the Pipe Fox grumbled. Before speaking once again Doumeki looked back to the guards to make sure they were still asleep.
"We'll need to sneak in without drawing attention to ourselves or waking them up." Himawari nodded rather firmly in acknowledgment. Slowly they emerged from behind the boulder and crept past the guards who snored heavily and approached the gate. Although the chain gate was closed the gaps between the holes were large enough to squeeze through without actually opening it and making noise. One by one they quietly squeezed through successfully avoiding detection as they cautiously entered inside. Once inside, they ducked into a small, empty room to collect themselves and take a moment to see where to go from there.
"That was pretty tense," Himawari stated still feeling the rush of adrenaline. "But now all we need to do is find Watanuki-kun."
"I don't think it will be that easy," Doumeki stated. "There's no telling what could be lurking around here," Doumeki said thinking back to the two spirits that ambushed him and made off with the seer. "Plus this castle is rather large and that idiot could be anywhere."
Meanwhile, somewhere off in the castle at that very moment, Watanuki sneezed aloud after awaking from his nap.
"Someone's talking about me," Watanuki mumbled absentmindedly before drifting back off to sleep.
Back with the rescue party, Doumeki and Himawari were brainstorming ideas as to where their friend could be. As they were, the Pipe Fox "rolled his eyes" in irritation.
"Geeze, hurry it up!" It protested impatiently. Suddenly he caught the familiar scent of the seer and quickly got to its feet from sitting down. Noticing this Himawari and Doumeki turned their attention to the Pipe Fox.
"Did you find Watanuki-kun's trail again Kudakitsune?"
"You bet I did! What are you waiting for? Follow me!" The Pipe Fox whined affirmatively and looked from the door, to the group, then back to the door. Getting the message, they wordlessly and slowly creaked open the door to the room they briefly hid in to survey their surroundings for any more guards but found none. Swiftly they exited the room and followed the Pipe Fox down the hall.
"This is really going smoothly. At this rate we'll find Watanuki-kun for sure," Himawari said giddily. Briefly after those words, Doumeki could feel the sudden change in the atmosphere (most likely because they were in the spirit realm) as their surge of hope had taken a change for the worst. He skidded to a halt, stopping the other two in their tracks and couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. Before Himawari could ask what the matter was, sounds of a mass of people or creatures were heard from ahead and behind them as the Pipe Fox began to get agitated. Finally realizing she had jinxed it with her bad luck. She could only utter an "oops" as the horde of guards closed in from both sides. Strangely, instead of the normal men/spirits clad in armor, griffons approximately smaller than their normal size (but still rather large) swarmed the three squawking shrilly. Thinking quickly, the Pipe Fox and Doumeki sprung into action with Doumeki taking the rear and the Pipe Fox taking the front. Unleashing spirit arrow after spirit arrow and fireball after fireball, the griffons began to fall one by one as Himawari could only watch in awe. However, the more they took down, the more foes took the place of the fallen ones. After several moments of unleashing attacks, Doumeki began to tire when suddenly the unexpected happened: the griffons began to withdraw. As the mob retreated Doumeki lowered his bow slightly in confusion until he raised it again ready for attack after catching a familiar vibe. However Himawari, who couldn't feel the presence or simply didn't notice it, let out a sigh if relief.
"Thank goodness they're gone. You two were amazing!" Himawari declared. However the Pipe Fox, who could also feel the same presence Doumeki felt, let out a growl and stood its ground. Confused Himawari turned to Doumeki but before she could open her mouth to speak, Doumeki spoke.
"It's not over yet." The group stood their ground and waited for the worst to come. Sure enough, a familiar tentacle lashed out from the shadow aiming for the archer. Fortunately Doumeki was well prepared for it this time and jumped out of the way, quickly shooting a spirit arrow into the darkness. A brief shriek split the air as the culprit emerged. Sure enough, it was the jellyfish spirit who had apparently been caught off guard, as a scar caused by the arrow was evident on its side.
"Is that one of the spirits that attacked you and Watanuki-kun?" Himawari asked and received an affirmative grunt from the archer who glared at the jellyfish. Unbeknownst to him, a large shadow appeared behind the archer and raised a thick limb. Fortunately the Pipe Fox saw the attack coming and covered for Doumeki unleashing a fireball that knocked the shadowed form off its feet. Glancing quickly behind him, Doumeki found the gargoyle demon starting to get to its feet.
"Looks like I'll get my chance sooner than I thought," Doumeki thought inwardly as he and the Pipe Fox stood their ground, back to back with Himawari in between them and the two spirits closed in.
Meanwhile (several moments later) in the dungeon-like room where Watanuki was being held, the seer was seen still slumbering away seeing as there was nothing else he could do at the moment. Suddenly, a deep rumbling and faint vibration awoke the teen causing him to jerk upright from the crouched position he was in and quickly get to his feet.
"What the heck was that?" He pondered aloud looking around. He remained still waiting to see if anything else occurred. Moments passed yet nothing happened. Slumping against the wall, Watanuki let out a sigh as he curled into a ball again and rested his forehead on his arms.
"Maybe I'm just going crazy, given the circumstances I suppose it was just a matter of time," he thought. His thoughts then drifted to more dismal thoughts. He thought of if anyone would or even had considered coming to his rescue, if Doumeki (as much as he didn't like him) was alright after losing the fight with the two spirits that kidnapped him, how Yuuko would most likely be looking for another part-timer after losing him to god-forsaken Hitsuzen, or how he would never see his beloved Himawari again. Blinking away tears, Watanuki curled tighter into a ball, clenching his eyes shut as he even missed running crazy errands for Yuuko or even cleaning and cooking in her store. Just when his thoughts were about to give way to utter hopelessness, his shackles suddenly began to rattle and suddenly come lose. One by one his wrists and ankles were came free from their restraints as Watanuki could only blink in surprise as he stared at the chains that lay on the floor. Quickly standing up and moving away from the chains, as if they were venomous snakes, he looked around trying to find the cause of the strange happening.
"How…did that just happen?" Watanuki asked. Suddenly, a strong pair of arms appeared from behind Watanuki and grabbed him roughly. Letting out a yelp, Watanuki tried to struggle out of the stranger's grasp but was pulled through the wall once again. Once on the other side, Watanuki continued trying to pull free, shouting to be released, until a certain yet familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
"What are you doing moron?" Watanuki stiffened instinctively but relaxed and spun around to be greeted by a slightly disheveled Doumeki, smiling Himawari, and overjoyed, full-grown Pipe Fox.
"D-Doumeki! Wait, WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MORON YOU MORON!" Unable to contain itself, the Pipe Fox tackled the spirit seer whining with glee and smothering him with affection and licks.
"WAH! Oi, stop it! Kudakitsune, that tickles!" Watanuki shouted half laughing at the tongue and fur tickling his skin as it cuddled its head into his chest.
"We're so glad you're okay Watanuki-kun. We were so worried about you!" Himawari spoke up after giggling at the Pipe Fox's signs of affection. Watanuki's eyes widened as he finally realized what was strange with this picture.
"Himawari-chan!" Watanuki got to his feet causing the Pipe Fox to jump off of his lap but continue to rub against his side. "W-What are you doing here? It's far too dangerous for you to be here! DID YOU BRING HER HERE?" Watanuki directed harshly to Doumeki who covered his ears while still holding his bow with a slight look of irritation on his face.
"That woman told her to come," the archer only commented.
"Yuuko-san did?" Watanuki asked rather shocked. "Well, how the heck did you all find me? And what about those spirit guards?" Doumeki remained silent as he recalled the fight beforehand.
Flashback: As the trio faced the jellyfish spirit and gargoyle demon, the archer calmed himself and clenched his bow, ready for his opponents to strike. Sure enough it came when the jellyfish swam through the air at amazing speed trying to slam its body full force into Doumeki once more. Ready for it, Doumeki stood his ground and concentrated energy that would zero in on the spirit's movements. He waited for it to get close enough where it can't escape and once it did, he unleashed the attack. The attack struck its target but because they were in the spirit world, the jellyfish spirit was stronger than before and although it did damage, it didn't do enough to dispel it. To make matters worse, the jellyfish's speed was too great to be stopped, even by that attack, as it collided head on into the archer. He was knocked back several feet as Himawari began to rush to his side.
"Stay back," Doumeki barked rather roughly as Himawari stopped. "It's too dangerous," he explained as he recovered enough to stand once more and take aim at the jellyfish spirit, which struggled to rise back into the air but found it a bit difficult at the damage it had taken was starting to affect it. Unfortunately, the gargoyle demon charged the archer pin wheeling its arms to strike the priest in training down before he could finish the biggest threat. Unable to react in time the archer braced himself for the impact but was saved by the Pipe Fox who intercepted the demon and unleashed a great fireball that knocked the gargoyle demon back crashing into the wall. Letting out a breath of relief, Doumeki relaxed his tensed muscles but tensed up once more as he was struck in the back and stung by the jellyfish spirit's tentacle. Fortunately, the dark miasma of the sting that would have affected any other human did not affect Doumeki because of his pure aura although it hurt like hell as he tried to collect himself. The jellyfish unleashed all its tentacles in a flurry of attacks but the Pipe Fox covered him smacking away the tentacles with its own nine tails. As he tried to steady his breathing after having the wind knocked out of him, he began to analyze the situation. The gargoyle demon was starting to come to and the Pipe Fox was beginning to tire from defending against the jellyfish.
"If only there was some way we could take out both obstacles at once," he thought. He glanced around checking his surroundings until his gaze fell upon a closet or storage room beside the gargoyle that contained a number of gunpowder barrels and other ammunition. "This castle must have been constructed during a time of war. That's it!" He looked to the Pipe Fox who still grappled with the tentacles of the jellyfish spirit. "Oi, try and knock it over with the other demon." The Pipe Fox glanced at Doumeki unsure at what he was thinking but nodded. The Pipe Fox's tails wrapped around the tentacles and swung the jellyfish around until it let go sending it off balance. As the jellyfish spun in midair, the Pipe Fox unleashed another fireball blasting the spirit back into the gargoyle demon, which got to its feet only to be knocked back off its feet. Acting quickly, Doumeki took aim and generated a strong spirit arrow and was about to let it go when he noticed Himawari was too close to the target zone as she watched the two spirits crash into each other.
"Kunogi, get out of the way!" Doumeki barked. Without a word, she ran to the pair and once she was out of harm's way, Doumeki released his attack. The arrow soared through the air; aiming for the closet and sure enough it struck dead on, igniting the gunpowder and other ammunition creating an intense blast that engulfed the two demons. Loud and shrill screams and growls erupted into the air and continued until they finally died down signaling both creatures had perished. Breathing out a relieved breath, Doumeki lowered his bow and wiped his brow of sweat. Himawari approached Doumeki clutching something in her hands.
"Doumeki-kun, I found this," she claimed opening her hands and revealing a strange key. "I think that big monster dropped it." Taking the key up in his hands, Doumeki looked at it and realization dawned on him.
"It's got to be the key to wherever Watanuki is being locked up," he hypothesized.
"But where could that be?" Himawari asked. Before Doumeki could respond, the Pipe Fox approached and inspected it sniffing it as if it was covered in some kind of perfume. Perking its ears up once more, the Pipe Fox sniffed along the ground and followed the trail. The two teens exchanged looks and followed the Pipe Fox knowing he had somehow caught Watanuki's scent once more. They followed the Pipe Fox after several twists and turns down the many corridors until finally they came across a door that was made of steel, unlike the other doors in the castle. Cautiously they cracked open the door to find to opposing forces present and entered quickly shutting the door behind them. Within the room, there were no dungeon cells like they had thought but instead they saw what was apparently a large mirror. However, unlike any mirror they had seen, it did not reflect images but instead showed an image that caused their hearts to drop: a familiar form curled up in a ball and in chains; Watanuki.
"Watanuki-kun!" Himawari shouted but the other teen did not stir.
"I don't think he can hear us," Doumeki responded. He looked beside the mirror and saw what appeared to be a keyhole. Reaching into his pocket, Doumeki pulled out the key Himawari had found prior and inserted it. With a surprisingly easy twist of the key, the mirror rippled and showed that the chains binding Watanuki had come undone and the glasses wearing teen had stirred and got to his feet. Himawari tried calling out again but to no avail. Acting on instinct, Doumeki raised his hands placing them on the mirror's surface to find that they were melting right through it. Shocked but quickly overcoming it, he reached in further and grabbed hold of the smaller teens shoulders and pulled him back although he struggled frantically. Finally, he pulled his friend through as he flailed and shouted thinking he was in the grip of another spirit.
"Idiot," he could only think without helping but cracking and quickly hiding a small grin.
End of Flashback
"Long story," Doumeki replied curtly. "More importantly we should get out of here while we still can."
"For once I agree with you," Watanuki replied as the Pipe Fox ceased its cuddling for the moment. "Let's get the hell out of here," Watanuki insisted not wanting to risk sticking around any longer and having Kamisori catch all of them. Without another word, the four exited through the same door and scurried down the hallway that hopefully lead to freedom.
Author's Notes: *= I decided to give the Pipe Fox a little dialogue in this chapter because I found it appropriate at times and it would have been boring to only do Doumeki and Himawari's quotes. In any case, my apologies once again on the longer wait for this chapter. Things have come up which kept me busy and still no luck with finding work. But with two chapters left of my story, what will happen next? Expect the next one once again sometime within a week!