Hate
Chapter 8
The Village
3rd Person POV
The walls surrounding Sei'an city had crumbled long ago. There were large patches of the wall which were simply gone, worn away by time. While the city lacked its old vicariousness it still housed one of the biggest communities of people in Nippon. Many of the people lived in the older, run down houses that remained from when Amaterasu defeated Orochi. Almost every inhabitant of Sei'an city was fluent in the ways of exorcising and binding demons.
No one paid any mind to the trio of two humans and a cat demon. The practice of binding demons with a priestess' will had been used for years as a means to help defend villages and fight other demons, so it was not uncommon for demons to enter the village.
Not every priestess was able to perfectly bind a demon, in those cases the demon would often break through the priestess control and go on a rampage, its mind broken by the effects of the rosary.
Due to the possible danger involved in binding demons with a rosary, every priestess must report to the head of the village before integrating their bound demon into the community.
After crossing the Gojo bridge into the aristocratic quarter, they entered Himiko's palace.
Walking down the hallways, the human's seemed to navigate the palace solely by memory, seeing as how the hallways were barely lit by widely spaced candles. Junko followed them silently, growing slightly anxious as the smell of other demons assaulted her senses. After some time they finally reached what used to be Queen Himiko's quarters.
An old woman with long white hair sat in the middle of the room. An equally old, grey cat demon lay curled around her, his bulk making him appear to be some sort of large, strangely feline dog. The grey tom slowly blinked his eyes at Junko, causing her to flick her tail nervously and flatten her ears.
The old woman watched the younger cat's reaction silently before getting up and approaching the black cat, the grey tom following closely behind her. Junko didn't move as the woman held out her hand and grabbed hold of something in her fur. Pulling the rosary where the cat could see, the old woman paused to gauge the cat's reaction.
For a moment the cat looked utterly confused, leaning forward the cat gently nosed the rosary as if that would give her an answer. The cat looked questioningly at the woman, clearly still confused.
"This is the rosary that binds you to Atsuko. Our village uses rosaries to bind demons to our priestess' will, by doing so we ensure our peoples' survival."
The cat's ear twitched at the sound of the woman's gravelly voice, and then flattened as the meaning of her words sunk in.
"It may sound cruel, but the bound demons enjoy a fairly peaceful life, safe from demon hunters that would kill them. Isn't that right Kenta?"
The old cat seemed to nod, his gaze never faltering.
"Chiyo-sama..."
Turning around, Chiyo walked towards Minoru and Atsuko, leaving the two cats behind her. Kenta stepped forward and quietly sniffed the fur along Junko's neck, pausing to allow her to sniff him in return. Kenta leaned forward in order to gently touch noses with Junko. Seeing the cats exchange greetings, Chiyo told the two calmly.
"She can stay. She is very smart. It seems you two drained a significant amount of her power, so it would be wise to let her recuperate in the village."
Atsuko and Minoru both dutifully replied,
"Of course, Chiyo-sama."
Turning around, all three began to leave the room. Just before they could leave Chiyo's voice rang out,
"Don't forget to ask her what her name is."
-Line-
Junko POV
Once we got outside the palace Minoru and Atsuko both turned to me, obviously confused.
"Do you have a name?"
I nodded. Of course I have a name, there isn't a demon out there that doesn't. You just have to take the time to ask them. Looking down, I carefully drew the kanji of my name with my claws.
純子
"Eh, Junko? Pure child?"
Minoru questioned doubtfully. I nodded. After a moment, Minoru realized something,
"We never introduced ourselves did we?"
I shook my head. I couldn't blame them though; if I were human I probably wouldn't think of introducing myself to a demon.
"Well I'm Minoru and she's Atsuko. If you hadn't already guessed that is."
He added the last part when he noticed the 'no duh' look on my face. Atsuko quickly stepped in before we could go any further.
"Well, Junko I'll show you around the village. Minoru, go take a bath."
Without a word, Minoru slunk away, hopefully to a hot spring or something, cause his feet stink something fierce.
Atsuko lead me around the village. The market place was located in the in the very middle of the commoner's quarters and teemed with people, mostly woman who were walking around with their groceries in hand.
Along the edges of the city were the homes where everyone lived, as we walked through I saw several children peeking at us from behind the trunks of sakura trees. We walked by a tavern just outside the entrance to the Gojo bridge. Our last stop was the bath house, located at the far left corner of the commoner's quarter.
Just as we walked by Minoru emerged, looking far less dirty and smelling way better now that he had bathed.
His short black hair was still wet and plastered against his head. He was also talking to a girl with short brown hair and pale skin that was looking at him adoringly. I could feel Atsuko tense beside me, anger radiating off her in waves.
Woah, are Atsuko and Minoru an item? I never would have guessed that!
Guessing that the longer he talked to that other girl the more trouble he will get in with Atsuko, I calmly walked up to Minoru. When he didn't immediately see me, I took it up a notch.
Slamming into his back with my head, I effectively knocked him face down onto the ground. I flinched at his grunt of pain.
I didn't mean to hurt him, but based on the killer looks Atsuko was hurling at him and the other girl, I guess he's better off with a sore face.
Minoru slowly peeled himself off the ground, dirt clinging to his damp hair, an angry look on his face. The look fell off his face once he saw the murderous glint in Atsuko's eyes. I couldn't even see her face and my fur was still fluffed up from fear.
Geez, note to self never, ever get on Atsuko's bad side.
Taking Minoru's side in this might result in death from Atsuko, and taking Atsuko's side might result in killing Minoru. Deciding that neither option ended well I decided to remain neutral. So I turned tail and ran.
Happy 4th of July! :D
This chapter is a bit short... Sorry it took so long to update I forgot I had written this...
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review!