Crimso's Notes
Five days of break for the win. That's five days of writing. I'm not sure how many days I'm going to spend of those five days writing, but… yeah. It's technically Thursday, but in my mind, it's still Wednesday. It IS only 12:08 AM, after all.
Higurashi Kira File 3 is being subbed soon. I already watched it, but I'm looking forward to the subs. There was a ton of KeiShion, a medium amount of KeiMion, and just a small amount of KeiRena. Just warning everyone in advance.
Note One: FAST, FAST, FAST PACED CHAPTER.
Note Two: Once again, I'm skipping about so that I can get through this quickly. I'm sure you all want to get back to Mion and Shion, which is why it's so fast paced. That aside, nothing interesting happens in between time skips. My estimate is that there will be one more chapter.
Note Three: This chapter takes place over the course of a long time. Time skips around. It's needed for this.
Note Four: I'd say that Makoto's around seventeen at the start of the chapter.
Note Five: Keep in mind what I said about the language in the last chapter, as well as how demons behave during this time period. This applies for all of the chapters.
~~~~X~~~~
Chapter Twenty-Four: Makoto II
It had been a while since young Makoto came to live with Chiharu, though she wasn't exactly sure how long it had been. Demons weren't known to keep track of time, so for that reason, the exact amount of time that Makoto had been with Chiharu was unknown to her.
As time flew by, it became apparent that Makoto was older than Chiharu first presumed. Due to the lack of food that Makoto received, she hadn't been growing at the rate that she should have been. She hadn't received proper nutrients and as such, she was very light and very small. Upon feeding her a little more, Makoto began to grow, and she now looked older than she did before. A lot of that was contributed by the fact that time was passing by, though.
Chiharu had taught her many things, such as how to fight with a sword and martial arts. She had also taught a few other various things, but none of them interested Makoto as much as the fighting did. She could feel the rush and excitement when she fought, and it was very thrilling to the girl. She had taken a lot of her time practicing her moves and improving her skills. Things were certainly different since she had come here, and she had grown up quite a bit.
"Here," Chiharu spoke as she put a bowl of something in front of Makoto. "This is your food."
Makoto gazed at what was in the bowl curiously, not sure of the identity of the food before her. Since she had come to the human world, Makoto had tried many foods unknown to demons. All there was to eat in the demon world was meat, and most of that meat consisted of human meat. Sometimes they would eat a passing animal, but with all the demons in the forest, it was hard to find an animal. She had never heard of these noodles that they often ate, nor had she heard of rice or any other kind of food that was commonly eaten among humans. She had also learned of food that wasn't so common, and her taste in food grew quite a bit.
She began to eat the food, even though she didn't quite know what it was. Whatever it was, it had some kind of meat in it and tasted fine to the girl. She dug into the bowl, gobbling up what was inside. She had grown used to the fact that she could eat every single day, unlike how things were in the demon world. Food was hard to come by there, and they would have meat every month or two.
She finished her bowl, gazing at its emptiness. Even though she had grown used to this kind of thing, her stomach still craved the taste of human flesh. She missed the flavor, and it was beginning to get to her quite a bit. When would she get a taste of human flesh again? She looked over at the human standing in the room, and sighed. It was unlikely that she was going to feed her human meat, as she was a human herself. Not only that, but Makoto had become quite attached to Chiharu, almost to the point where it was like she was a second mother. She couldn't bear to kill her.
It wasn't that she had replaced her mother in her heart, though. She still missed the warm smile her mother would give her every day, and the times that she spent together with her. Sure, she lived in a cave and ate every month or so, but that didn't mean she didn't miss those times. However, the thoughts of the past were beginning to fade with each passing day. She was getting used to living in the human world, after all.
"Are you thinking about human meat?" asked Chiharu as she sat down in front of the girl. Upon noticing the startled look that wiped over Makoto's face at the mention of it. "Do not lie."
Makoto looked down at the table. "Yeah," she admitted.
"Well, that is to be expected of you, after all. Do not look so ashamed of yourself. You are a demon, after all, even if you have been spending time with me." She smiled gently as she looked at the purple-haired girl. "But you must understand that human meat is not possible. I will not let any demon kill my men. We do not wish to have demons eating us."
She had mentioned humans not wanting to be eaten before, and Makoto noted that she really hadn't thought about it that way before. Humans, to her, were just food. Sure, she had become close to Chiharu, but as a demon, that thought would forever be in her mind.
"You seem confused. Allow me to explain. Humans do not want to die; therefore they do not wish to be eaten. We have a belief that all demons are out for our blood, and that is why we fight. " She blinked at the girl.
"But humans are just food. They should want to be eaten," muttered Makoto, not taking in the fact that she was talking to a human right now. At the moment, that was the last thought in her mind.
Chiharu sighed. "They are not just food. Humans are living beings with feelings just like you demons. We want to live on, and the last thing a human wants is to be eaten up by a demon for dinner. We would lose everything. Our family, our lives… everything, Makoto. We are not just food. We are living creatures. Just like the animals in the forest. They jump and bounce around, too, even though we do eat them. They are alive, Makoto."
Makoto looked down at the table. "But they're humans."
"Humans are similar to everyone else. We think, we live and we have feelings. It does not matter if we are humans. If humans ate demons, would you want to be eaten? It's the same thing." She was giving Makoto a serious look, something that surprised her. "After all, aren't I human?"
Makoto's eyes went wide as she realized this. Chiharu was a human, too. She was the same as the humans told in stories that would kill demons mercilessly and would do such horribly things to demons. Now that she thought about her words, she realized that it was possible for humans to feel like demons did. She bit her lip as she put herself in a human's position. She would not want to be eaten.
But that was because she was a demon. Were humans the same way…?
She thought about what Chiharu was telling her.
It's true, isn't it? Humans can feel like demons…
But that was contrasting everything that she had been told so far. She had been told by many that humans were nothing like demons, and that they would kill if they got close to a demon simply because they were evil. If humans were really like demons… then were those legends she had heard of… just lies?
Could humans really be the same as demons?
She didn't know anymore.
~~~~X~~~~
Due to the fact that humans would often visit the Furude building, Makoto was often kept in a small room that no one usually went in. It was almost barren of furniture, save for a futon that had been placed out and a single wardrobe on the side. There was one window in the whole room, one that lit up the whole room and allowed the sun to shine down on the girl.
She sighed as she rolled about on her futon. It was much more comfortable than a pile of leaves could ever be. She couldn't imagine having to go back to the demon world and sleep on a pile of scratchy, crinkly leaves. This futon was warmer, and it was softer, and overall just better. Heck, the pile of leaves couldn't even compare!
She crawled over to the window and poked her head out, careful not to let anyone see her face in the window. Sure, she didn't have any horns or anything that would give away her species, but people would be very confused if they saw a young child they didn't recognize in the head of the Furude family's house. She had noticed that almost everyone in the village knew Chiharu, and that everyone would obey her orders. If she had someone living with her, like a child, then someone would ask and Chiharu would have to come up with some excuse.
But that aside, she enjoyed looking at the outside world. It was much different from the forest she had lived in, to say the least. The girl rarely had the opportunity to step outside, but when she did, she took the opportunity to explore everything. She liked to gaze at the buildings that were around the area, and she was very interested in what the humans did when they were outside. Of course, she made sure that she wasn't caught by anyone whenever she would take a look at the work that the humans were doing.
Chiharu had explained to her that what they were doing was called farming. They were growing various ingredients to sell to get money, whatever that was. She didn't really care about why they were doing it, but the whole activity just interested her. She wondered if the food that they grew tasted good. Was it any good? She had tasted what they had grown before and enjoyed it, but that didn't mean that everyone was good. She was better at climbing trees than Kai, after all.
She sighed as she sat back down on the ground. Chiharu was having a conversation with one of her men, but she was taking an awfully long time. Chiharu would finish talking after a little bit, but today, she was taking much longer than a little bit.
That's when a thought grew in her mind. What did Chiharu talk about with her subjects? She didn't know, and she wanted to find out. Whatever it was this time, it must be important.
She had been warned not to go out of her room when someone was over, but this time, the curiosity was just too much. She walked up to the door and placed a hand on it, ready to open it up. But when she did, an image of her mother scolding her for going close to the human world when she had clearly told her not to came into her mind. The fierceness of her yellow eyes were the most detailed part of that picture, and the very thought made her shudder.
But even so, she needed to know the answers. And for that reason, Makoto slid open the door and walked out into the hallway.
She didn't know where to go at first, but her ears quickly picked up the sound of two people talking, one of which being Chiharu. Nodding, she walked over to the source of the sound. They were speaking behind a door, so Makoto decided it was best to just stand in front and listen while the two of them had their conversation.
"…Six is the number that I've taken care of in the last week…" spoke the voice of a male.
"I see. That is your largest number so far. I believe that the attacks have decreased since you have started doing this, Takashi. Thank you. How is he doing?" Chiharu's voice asked.
"He is perfectly obedient and very, very powerful. I picked the right demon," the male responded.
There was a slight pause. "…I suppose that Orb of the Demon Kings really does work miracles. Even demons will obey…"
"It does work miracles. The demons sure have been vicious lately, though. Ever since that one tried to attack the village and we killed him, we have been getting more and more demons attacking seeking revenge. They are getting very close, and as such, I have been keeping up my duty of murdering each and every one of them so that they will not attack humans under any circumstances…" the male spoke.
"Good. Thank you for your work, Takashi," Chiharu responded.
"The pleasure is mine. I am grateful to be working for the great heads, after all. If you need me, I'll be spending my time around the entrance to the forest near the Furude Shrine. I'll be back for a report next week."
"I'll remember that."
Makoto felt her heart stop. The Orb of the Demon Kings, the demon controlling, the killing... it all fit together. The image of the man who killed her mother with that demon flashed in her mind, and it scared her. And what was this about killing six demons this week, and killing more before. What was all these demons attacks about? Demons would never attack humans! Humans were the ones that attacked humans! Whenever they did attack, it was because they were afraid that the humans would kill them!
She scurried back into her room instantly, her heart filled with fear. That man had been killing all the demons, and for no reason, too! Not only that, but Chiharu was grateful to him, and was encouraging this, despite the fact that she lived with a demon. How could she? !
Only a minute later did Chiharu open the door to the girl's room, her eyes stern as she looked at her. Had she heard her?
"Makoto, I told you not to go out of your room," spoke Chiharu's stern and rather angry voice.
But Makoto didn't even listen to her scolding. That wasn't what mattered right now. Rage was in her heart after hearing what the man and her had been talking about. There had been demons being killed, and she had had no knowledge that it had been happening. "You should be the one that's ashamed!" snapped Makoto, not even thinking about her words as they streamed out of her mouth. "You have been killing demons! You have been letting him kill demons!"
Chiharu looked shocked that someone would dare speak back to her, but that expression faded after a few seconds and was replaced by her former one. "Makoto, listen. I like you a lot. You are not like the other demons. When I brought you here, you were a small demon, and you did not know how to kill or anything like that. I had taught you swordsmanship and martial arts since I know that you would use those for good only, since you have been raised by me for the last few years. The other demons are evil and cruel unlike you. We must get rid of them before they attack." She had a dead serious look on her face, which was also mixed with anger, but that didn't intimidate Makoto in the slightest.
"That's not true! You don't get what demons are! Demons would only attack a human since THEY are the ones that are evil and cruel! We don't like humans, and that's why we attack. We attack because we know that they are going to kill us, and there's no way that we want to die!" she snapped back at her. "Demons aren't bad! Humans are the bad guys! You humans really are vile and cruel, aren't you?"
Chiharu shook her head. "We attack demons because they are the ones that are going to attack. In truth, we are afraid of them. It's different from what you think, Makoto. Demons are different from what you think they are."
Makoto felt more wood being added to her flame of rage. "That's not true! How could you understand what a demon feels? I'm a demon! You are a human!"
"And I understand how a human feels. We don't want to attack humans, we only attack when demons attack."
Makoto gritted her teeth and looked down at the ground. This conversation wasn't going to get anywhere, now was it? Chiharu thought differently than how she thought. She believed that demons attacked, and in defense, humans attacked them, when in truth, it was the humans that attacked the demons. The demons attacked because they didn't want to be attacked by the humans. It was completely different than how she thought of it.
The two almost contradicted each other. Humans fought demons because they were scared of getting hurt, and demons fought humans because they didn't want to die. It was almost like there was some kind of misunderstanding…
She shook her head at the thought. That's not what it was.
Chiharu let out a sigh as she looked at the demon in front of her. "But Makoto, do not be angry with me. I do not hate you. Sometimes, I even think of you as my own child. I care for you, and I do not want you to think that I hate you now, and I do not want you to hate me. Please understand why we have been doing this. I do not want to hurt you, Makoto."
Makoto looked down at the ground uncomfortably and nodded her head.
"Good." Chiharu smiled at the girl. "Now, how about if we forget about this incident and move on?"
Makoto nodded again. She wasn't really listening, but that was all she could do for now.
~~~~X~~~~
A week or so later, Chiharu and Makoto were sitting in the dojo of the Furude household. Every once in a while, Makoto would head over to the Furude dojo and start slashing a few swords around, and then she would try out her skills on a few targets. She noted that she was getting a lot better. She hadn't been able to fight at all when she first came, but she was now able to fight very swiftly with a sword and her martial arts moves were almost perfected.
Makoto was resting. She had spent a good portion of that day just beating up several targets. She was worn out by now, and a good rest was what she needed at the moment. Chiharu had been watching her the whole time. In the beginning, she had been the one who taught her, but she was becoming more of a watcher who pointed out a few things to her as she practiced.
"You've grown very strong, Makoto. I am glad that my teaching skills have done some good. I am not completely confident in my ability to teach. In fact, I'm doubtful that my daughter has been very successful in comprehending what kind of weight lies on her shoulders…" spoke Chiharu.
She had heard about Chiharu's daughter a few times, and she had heard her speak before, but the two of them had obviously not met in person. She was currently being trained to become the next head of the Furude family, and Makoto would often tell her about all the hardships she had to go through to learn. It sounded tough, even more so than learning how to fight. Well, learning how to fight was a part of becoming the head. She had explained that knowing how to do so was necessary if they ever encounter a situation where they must do so.
"Thank you," replied Makoto as she took a few breaths. "But I haven't perfected anything yet. I have to continue…"
Makoto stood back up and reached for the sword on the ground. She wasn't actually sure what kind of sword it was, but it had quite a sharp blade. Chiharu had said the name of it once, but for some reason, the name escaped her. She picked it up and held it in her arms, moving to position herself the way she should when she was expecting an attack.
Makoto held the sword and slashed it, just for practice, and then did so again. She got back into position as she focused her eyes on a small, wooden target in the back. Letting out a small battle cry, the girl ran forward and slashed it, cutting it straight through the middle. It was a perfect slash, as she had been aiming for that very same spot.
"Good job. You hit your target. As I said yesterday, you really shouldn't worry about not being perfect. You are near perfect," Chiharu said as she watched the demon.
"I need to learn more," growled Makoto as she slashed the broken target once again, aiming to cut the first piece of it in half, which she managed to do. She then went for the second one, managing to cut that, though not getting the spot that she had been aiming for. Growling, she moved over to another target, upset that she hadn't gotten the blade where she had wanted to. She slashed that target, hitting it where she wanted to, but then failed to do so when she went for the first half.
She shook her head, clenching her teeth. She needed to be perfect! The girl slashed the second half, slashing it where she wanted to this time, which caused a little stress to fly away. Still, though, the girl knew that she had a long way to go before she perfected her abilities. She needed to become the best fighter. It was the only thing she really enjoyed doing these days, after all.
Makoto worked on another target, slashing it perfectly, and then preceding to get all the halves perfectly as well. A smirk of victory grew on her face as she positioned the sword normally once again, feeling pride at having cut them all perfectly. It made her feel good, and made her forget that she really did have a long way to go before she became perfect at the skill. Still, though, she could be happy at where she was at for now.
Just as she was about to go for another target, Makoto paused. She could have sworn she heard footsteps coming from the hallway, and very fast ones at that. Yet, she didn't feel any danger from the presence outside of the room. It wasn't one where an alarm would set off in her the moment she felt it nearby, like with the man who had killed her mother.
Then, she realized something. If I don't feel any danger from it, doesn't that mean that the presence is—
She didn't finish that thought. The next thing she knew, the door broke down, revealing a demon standing there, her eyes fixed on Chiharu. Chiharu instantly stood up, frightened. How in the world did a demon get by the guard?
"I don't usually do this, but we have no choice now," growled the demon as she looked at the woman. "We aren't supposed to do this… but then again, does it matter right now? I heard that you were a leader of the village or something like that, and since the leader of the village has been killing us, we must destroy in order to survive."
"You, how did you get here?" barked Chiharu as she stared at the demon.
The demon unsheathed her claws. "I killed the guards and snuck by the humans. It was tough, but with a motivation to kill the beast that has been killing out your species, it was enough." She growled. "I will not allow evil creatures like you to kill our species anymore!"
Makoto clutched the sword tightly as she stared at the demon, who was now staring at Chiharu with the intent to kill in her lime green eyes. The next thing that anyone in the room knew, the demon was lunging towards the woman, her claws outstretched and ready to tear through human flesh.
Makoto stood there, her grip on her sword tighter than ever. Should she kill the demon that was attacking Chiharu? Chiharu was a good friend of hers, and she had become a second mother to her. But she couldn't betray her own kind and kill a demon. She was only fighting because she thought that the humans were trying to kill off her species for no reason.
True, she was trying to kill off their species, but that was because in Chiharu's mind, demons were the evil ones. They believed that demons were the ones attacking them for no reason. The demon who was attacking her now had a different idea in her mind. She believed that the humans were the evil ones, attacking them for no reason.
She thought back to the conversation that she had had with Chiharu before. The two idea that humans and demons had were opposites, and the reason why they were fighting was just because they couldn't understand each other. But not Makoto. She was different. She knew the reason why they were fighting now, and she knew that she had to stop it, no matter what the cost. All the killing was pointless. There was no reason to it other than misunderstanding!
Makoto ran towards the demon with a sword in her hand. She had no intent to kill the demon, but she wanted to explain things to her before she dared try to fight Chiharu. Chiharu herself was fighting, though she was struggling. She was doing her best with her martial art skills to fight off the demon, but it wasn't enough. It was clear that the demon that was attacking was one that contained extreme amounts of power, an amount that surpassed most demons.
"Don't!" she screamed out as she broke in between the two of them with a sword. "Don't kill each other!"
The two of them broke apart as they stared at the demon in between them, both of them looking confused, but the demon more so than Chiharu.
"A fellow demon? Why are you here?" asked the demon as she inspected the demon in front of her. "And why are you stopping me from killing this vile creature? You know that she's been organizing the killing of all the demons! She's the one that's telling the man to kill us all with the demon he's controlling!" she cried out.
"You don't get it! It's not like that!" cried Makoto as she looked over to the other demon. "It's all a misunderstanding! It's—"
"Don't get in my way!" screamed the demon before Makoto could finish her sentence. She ran forward and out of the way of the demon that was blocking her, and then proceeded to slash at the human in the room. She pushed her right into a wall and began to claw her as fast as she could, creating large gashes on Chiharu's stomach and cutting right through cloth.
Chiharu cried out and tried to struggle away, but the demon's strength was incredible. She pushed a single hand against her shoulder in order to get her closer to the wall and then used a single hand to do all the slashing. It did less damage, but it ensured that she definitely wouldn't get free.
"No!" screamed Makoto as she ran forward the sword, aiming to cut the demon's back open. With her skills, it was highly possible that she could do such a thing.
But the demon saw this coming from a mile away and jumped away, causing Makoto to almost run into her friend with the sword, though she managed to stop just in time. She stared at the woman, who was now covered in blood, her whole body trembling.
"Don't worry Chiharu! I—"
There was a hollow thud as Chiharu's body fell lifeless to the ground. Makoto's eyes grew wide with fear as she took a few steps back, realizing that she had failed her friend. She could have done something instead of just trying to convince the demon not to fight back there! Sure, it was the least violent thing she could have done, but if she injured the demon enough to then force her to listen, then Chiharu wouldn't have…!
"CHIHARU!" she screamed out as she ran towards her, her eyes fixed on the dead body. It was clear that she had lost much too much blood to handle, and that the wounds that the demon had inflicted upon her were great. She placed her hands on the woman and began to shake her as if to wake her up, not accepting the fact that she was dead. She knew that she was, but she just didn't want to accept it. Chiharu had become like a mother to her. She had already lost her real mother, and she couldn't stand the thought of losing the one who had become like a second one to her!
"Give up on it," sighed the demon in the corner, who was now inspecting her claws. "She was the one that was killing off her species. Besides, why are you so sad about it? I don't get—"
"You don't get it!" screamed Makoto. "She took me in after my mother was killed by that man! She taught me that humans and demons aren't so different! I know the truth! I was trying to tell you that all of this is just a misunderstanding! Don't you get it? Humans attack demons because they think demons want to attack them, and we think the same way! It's all pointless!"
The demon looked taken aback. "Well… I've never thought about it that way. Perhaps you could tell me a little more about this." She replied, still not feeling anything for the life that she had just taken. "What is your name?"
Makoto growled at her, tears streaming down her face. She just didn't get how important the woman whose life she had just taken was! She clenched her fists, not wanting to answer the demon. So what if she was the same as her? She had just killed Chiharu!
The demon sighed as she walked up to her. "I am sorry I didn't listen. Now would you tell me your name?"
"Makoto," muttered Makoto through her clenched teeth.
"Makoto?" repeated the demon.
Makoto nodded.
"All right, Makoto. I'm Kaede. I'm glad we met. Now, come with me…"
Without having anything else to do, or anywhere else to go, Makoto followed the demon out the door and down the hallway. She didn't know where to go now that her caretaker had been murdered. For now, she would follow this orange-haired demon back to the demon's land. She had missed so much since she had been away, after all.
"So, tell me about this misunderstanding," Kaede spoke as they exited the Furude house. She quickly dashed into the trees, and Makoto followed. "What is it all about?"
"I said before what it's about. All this fighting between humans and demons is completely pointless. You see, humans think that we are the evil ones. The reason why they attack us is because they think that we are going to attack them. We think the same thing. There's no reason why we should be fighting," explained Makoto as she walked behind her, though refusing to meet Kaede's lime eyes.
"That is hard to accept," replied Kaede. "I was told when I was little that all humans were evil."
Makoto growled. "I was too. But it's the truth. I have been living with the woman you just killed for the last few years. I know how humans think now." She paused as she clenched her fists. "And I want all demons to think that way."
Kaede sighed and said nothing for a few minutes. They continued down the forest and further into it. Her expression was unknown, as Makoto still refused to look up at the demon.
After a while, Kaede finally spoke. "Well, I suppose I could accept it if I thought about it a little more. I did some thinking, and it may make sense… but I can't forgive them for a few things. …But really, even though I am a little more accepting, it will be hard for the others to understand."
Makoto nodded as she thought about that fact. The fact that humans were evil creatures was set in stone in the minds of all demons, and getting them to accept that would be tough. Even more so the humans, since she herself was a demon, and they would try to kill her as they would think that she was trying to kill them by getting close. She sighed. It would be tough, but she had to do it. She had to get humans and demons to understand each other!
"I will do my best to make others understand, but I doubt this is going to go very far. You'll need something to make them obey. …Like the Orb of The Demon Kings."
Something snapped in Makoto's mind at the mention of the Orb. That orb had the power to draw demons in, didn't it? They listened to the previous demon king because he had that orb, and they stopped when he lost that orb. If she had that orb… then…!
"If you need me, I'll be spending my time around the entrance to the forest near the Furude Shrine…"
That man with the orb was near the Furude Shrine, wasn't he? She clenched her fists. He was powerful, but she was too. She had learned martial arts, and she could use those, even though she didn't have a sword on hand at the moment. She was better at using swords, but that didn't matter at the moment. She knew the location of that man, and if she got that orb, she could stop the killings and get all the demons to obey her!
"That's it, Kaede!" cried Makoto suddenly.
Kaede whipped around to look at her. "Huh?"
"I'm going to get it! I'm going to get The Orb of the Demon Kings! And I know exactly where that man is…!" She smiled as she stared into the lime eyes of the demon before her, doing so for the first time since they had left the house. "Thank you, Kaede!"
Without another word, Makoto sped off in the direction in which she had come from, leaving behind a very, very confused Kaede. The Furude house was near the shrine, so she could get there without a problem. She smiled as she thought about that orb, and how easy it would be to get her hands on it with her skills. Sure, it would take efforts, but the man would never see her attack coming. She didn't even need to kill him. If she could only grab the orb and release the controlled demon from the hold of the orb, then she could certainly succeeded in her mission. Besides, wasn't the point not to kill him due to the misunderstandings?
She shook her head. No, if she needed to kill him in order to achieve this ideal, then a single sacrifice wouldn't hurt.
She stopped as she came to the part of the forest that was in front of the Furude Shrine. She looked around, trying to find the man. He didn't seem to be there. Taking a few steps closer towards the end of the forest, and then a few steps to the left, she looked about. He still wasn't there.
Grumbling, Makoto continued on her way, looking to the side of her as she walked by the Furude Shrine area. She needed to find him, no matter what it took!
A grin broke out across her face as she spotted a demon with black hair and medium-sized white horns standing there, a man at his side. In the man's hand was none other than The Orb of the Demon Kings. Its gold color and the power coming from it gave it away. She looked towards the demon, not recognizing him. Perhaps the other one had been killed?
Makoto had to admit; it really did draw her in, just like the time when she was with her mother. It was just so golden… so pretty… so powerful.
She shook her head. She couldn't think like that. Taking a deep breath, she positioned herself behind the man's hand, the one that was clutching onto that powerful orb. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at it, finding it hard to take her eyes away from it. Well, that was kind of a good thing. She could easily find it if he tried to hide it or if it was dropped. She mentally prepared herself for what was going to come up. He would attack, so she had to be ready to be hurt.
She dashed, ramming into the man from the behind by accident. He jumped and whipped around when he felt it. If Makoto could see his eyes, she was sure that they would be filled with shock. With a quick movement, she reached her hand out for the golden orb, ready to grasp onto it.
But the man pulled it away at the last moment, staring at the demon that had just attacked with a smirk on his face. "Ah, have you come to steal this orb from me? It's not going to happen, demon." He turned to the demon on his right, who was now staring at Makoto with fierce golden eyes. "Demon, kill her!"
The demon let out a scream as he ran for the girl, his claws outstretched. Dodging, Makoto allowed the demon to ram into a tree by accident. He turned around and lunged for her again, yelling out what was probably words, though they could not be made sense of. Makoto did her best to dodge again, though the side of the demon hit her and caused her to stumble back a little.
Makoto preformed a martial arts move on the demon, one involving her kicking the man with technique that could only be described as masterful. The demon yelped as he rammed into a tree, and Makoto took this chance to slash at the demon, just as Kaede had done to Chiharu. It was working well until the demon broke free and tackled her, causing her to fall down.
She quickly got up, however, and began to stare down her opponent. She raised her sharp claws and ran towards the demon, clawing him right in the face deeply. He yelped as he blindly whacked the girl, once again causing her to tumble backwards. It appeared that the demon wasn't really thinking about what he was doing. The orb was ordering to kill, and it seemed to her that the orb's orders were causing him not to think logically and do nothing else but kill, no matter how logical the moves were.
The man watched the battle with a smirk on his face. He wasn't doing anything but watching and holding onto that orb. He didn't need to fight with an orb like that, after all.
Then, Makoto realized something. Why was she fighting the demon? If she killed the demon, then the man could use the orb on her, or perhaps escape. It wouldn't do anything to kill the demon! She whipped around towards the man and lunged for him instead, startling the man. He had not been expecting her to do that. She had been so preoccupied with taking out his demon, after all.
"Demon, protect me!" screamed the man as the orb flashed with his order.
As fast as the demon could, he appeared in front of her master, but all Makoto did was push him aside and ram into the man, who gasped as he was thrown against the tree. Makoto grabbed his hand and held it against the tree, putting all her strength into it, much like how Kaede kept Chiharu restrained. However, unlike Kaede, she did not slash. She grabbed the man's wrist with her free hand, and then trailed down until she felt the smoothness of the orb. She grabbed it, trying to pry it out of his fingers, but the man's hold was tight.
"Demon, quick! Kill her while you have the chance. Do it—"
There was the dull sound of something hitting the floor, and Makoto quickly released the man. She snatched up the fallen orb, holding it in the palm of her hand. Just by doing that, she could sense how powerful it truly was. It made her feel powerful.
She clutched it tightly as she stared at the demon, who hadn't attacked her as his master's order wasn't finished. That aside, she was the one who was holding it now, so his order would have been canceled out, anyways.
"Demon, be free of this orb!" screamed Makoto. She felt the orb flash in her hand and its power grow as the hold it had on the demon was destroyed. It disconnected itself from the demon's soul, and when it did, the demon's eyes returned to being a deep blue color. He blinked as he looked about, realization hitting him.
"…Did that thing just…? !" he cried out as he looked at the golden orb and then to the man. "…Ah… I know! I killed his demon and then he connected me to that orb and… oh…"
She turned to the man, who was staring at her in shock. "He did. And now its time he's punished for what he did. Will you kill him for me?"
The demon turned to her, and then looked at the golden orb. The color of it was drawing him in. "Yes!" he cried out instantly as he turned to the man, his claws outstretched. He wasted no time. He ran towards the man and clawed him deeply, causing the man to cry out in pain.
As the man looked from his former demon, to Makoto, to his orb, and then back again, he gulped. He clutched the wound created, and then realized he had no chance of surviving.
"…You win!" he yelled out before running off as fast as he could.
"Wait! I'll get—" the demon began to cry out.
"No, it's fine," Makoto told him before he could do anything. "You don't have to kill him."
The demon relaxed and nodded his head. "All right then. If you say so." He turned to Makoto, a smile on his face. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know what was up with me. He went around with this other demon and killed people, so I tried to kill him, and I did manage to kill his demon, but…" He shook his head. "He got me. It's a good thing that you realized what would happen if you kept trying to fight me. Anyways, what's your name?"
"Makoto," she replied. "You?"
The demon smiled. "I'm Kenji. It's a pleasure to meet you, Demon King Makoto."
She looked at the orb. Now that she had it, it meant that she was the demon king. That meant that all demons were going to obey her now. She smiled as she clutched the orb. She was the demon king. When she heard the story of the Demon King Hachirou, she never thought that she would one day be the holder of that orb. How fate plays with you…
"Thank you, Kenji. Now, would you mind taking me back to the rest of the demons? It's been a while, and I want to meet my subjects…"
~~~~X~~~~
Crimso's Corner V.2
It's 3:46 AM. Way past by bedtime. I always need to be asleep by three, but I needed to finish this chapter. I feel like I've said this way too many times. Well, in GED, anyways. I have only written FIVE chapters this month, and it's the twenty fourth. By this time in GED, I was finished. This is taking way longer than I wanted it to. I need to be done so that I can work on WAN before March rolls around. I do not want to be caught in a situation like GED, where I have a limit of three months to work on fanfiction. That was horrible. I rushed too much with GED. I hope when I get around to the rewrite, all will be fixed. Unfortunately, the rewrite I have planned is four parts long, each of them being like... twenty chapters. I guess rushing can't be helped.
That said, I'm going to be working all this break. I hope I can get things done!
In any case, I hope you're enjoying the tale so far. I've thought this out quite a bit. I was hoping that this chapter would end with her meeting everyone and claiming power, but I thought this was a fitting ending, and when I thought about it, it worked out quite a bit. Besides, I need to go to bed.
I'm going to cut this short so that I can go to bed. Please review! If you review, you get a fake version of The Orb of the Demon Kings. If you point out typos, you will get a pet turtle. ...If you don't like turtles, you can get a bunny or any other kind of small animal. But why would anyone dislike turtles? They're just so cute. My best friend has a pet turtle that is a serial killer. He apparently killed all the fish that lived in his cage. His name is Mr. Snuggles. Nice name for a serial killer, huh?
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
~Crimso