Author's Note: So last chapter ended with Issa formally bringing Andrew into the fold. Let me reiterate, Andrew will not become a vampire due to the precedent I set two chapters ago as well as other reasons that are my own. This chapter will deal with meeting the family, the first week of Andrew's Boot Camp, and maybe even a certain trip to the human world. Well let's get this train wreck on the road shall we?
No one moved, no one breathed as they waited for Andrew's response. Andrew's eyes never left the pendant that was on his chest, finally after a moment he looked up at Issa. "If you think that this means I'm going to start calling you 'Father' and that I'm going to just sedately follow any and all orders or rules you set forth you are in for a rude awakening." he said. Issa then did something no one thought he was capable of, he busted out laughing.
"You need not worry about that my boy, the rest of my children are just as headstrong. Though they follow my orders to the letter." he said after a moment to allow his laughing fit to die down. Andrew let his head fall back to his pillow and let out a sigh "When do I get the distinction of meeting the rest of the 'family'" he asked. "That depends, when are you cleared from here?" "A week." "Then you will meet your new sisters in a week. Until then, try and stay alive."
After their exchange, Issa left, leaving Moka, Tsukune, and the others alone with Andrew. Andrew shifted over on his bed which allowed Mizore to climb into it and lie next to him, allowing her aura to help him with the pain. Moka turned her attention away from the doorway that her father had left through and onto Andrew. "How long really?" she asked. Andrew sighed "A week of being contained to this bed, then another week of limited duty before I'm fully released." he replied.
Moka nodded before glancing back at the door where her father had left, then back at Andrew. "You're lucky, most people don't get away with saying things like that to my father." she said after a moment. Andrew chuckled "I'm not most people." he said. "Well I have a week in this hell hole and if you don't mind I would like to spend most of it dead to the world so, if you wouldn't mind?" he asked. Getting the queue Moka dragged the others from the room, leaving Mizore cuddled up against his side.
He turned his head to look at her "Now what I want you to do…" he began. "Is to lower my body temperature to the point that my body goes into a type of hibernative sleep. Essentially you will 'freeze' me until the last day that I'm going to be in this…place, then you're going to 'thaw' me out so that we can go." he explained with the oddest grin on his face. "Don't worry, I've done this dozens of times." he reassured Mizore when she gave him a doubtful look. She nodded, still slightly unsure, but began lowering his body temperature anyway.
The machines that monitored Andrew started to beep frantically before Mizore destroyed them with shards of ice. Frost began to cover the door until it was completely frozen shut, locking everyone out of Andrew's room. For the entire rest of the week, no matter what anyone tried, no one could get into Andrew's room. Even when they brought in a flame monster, the ice on the door wouldn't melt.
On the final day of Andrew's week in the infirmary, the ice on the door began to melt, leaving behind a puddle of water, and a group of very anxious and worried people on the outside. As soon as enough ice had melted for the door to open, Moka, who had returned to being sealed sometime after leaving Mizore and Andrew alone, sent her leg kicking forward with more strength than she believed possible, surprising her and the group of people around her.
Of course with a kick like that it was no real surprise that the door was blasted off of its hinges and imbedded in the far wall. As they poured into the room, which was still covered in ice and frost, the saw that the door had imbedded sideways into the wall, damn near cutting the bed in half. Everyone was horrorstruck, though there was a distinct lack of bodies or blood. That is, until Andrew popped up from the other side of the bed holding a shaking Mizore who was eyeing the door like it was going to come alive and continue to try and kill them.
"THE FUCK?!" Andrew yelled indignantly. "Are you trying to kill me, again?" he asked with an exasperated expression on his face. "Once was plenty enough fuck you very much." he continued. Moka could only blush in embarrassment while she scuffed the floor with her shoe, while avoiding his gaze.
Keeping his eyes on Moka a bit longer to ensure that she was truly chastised, he turned his attention back to the slightly shaking girl in his arms. Her eyes were still glued to the door that had almost bisected the two of them at the waist if it hadn't been for Andrew's sixth sense and reflexes. Andrew waved his hand in front of her face but didn't get a reaction, he then shook her. When that didn't get a response either he thought back to the first time he had been nearly killed.
It had been his first time in combat against the Covenant since he had become a Marine and he had just been pulled back by his Sargent before a Plasma Ball from a Wraith tank had impacted exactly where he had just been. He had simply stared at the spot where he had almost died completely ignoring everything around him until his Sargent slapped him in the face. Turning to him with a shocked look on his face he asked him a simple question. 'Did you feel that?' he had asked. He had slowly nodded his head. 'That means you're still alive, remember, if you can still feel pain, you're still alive.' he had said.
Using the same principal as his Sargent, except slapping probably wasn't the way to do it this time, he pinched her arm rather forcefully, causing her to yelp and look at him in slight shock. His gaze bore into hers "Did you feel that?" he asked. She nodded "That means you're still alive, remember, if you can feel pain, you're still alive." he said to her dumbfounded look.
After ensuring that she had gotten his message he looked up to the others. They all had contemplative looks on their faces, while Issa simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of his proverb that he had lived by since that day.
He let them stew for a moment, thinking over his words when he directed his attention back to Issa. "It's been a week correct?" he asked. He nodded as everyone's attention was now on him. "Well then, let's not delay the meeting any longer." he said. At first everyone was confused before recognition colored everyone's faces. Issa nodded again then motioned towards the pile of clothes that were sitting on a chair next to his bed. "Get changed then, I'll have the car come round to the front of the school when you're ready." he said then turned and left. One by one the others left as well as he moved over to the chair while pulling the hospital gown off of himself.
Now dressed in his trademark trench coat, cargo pants, boots, and shirt he felt ready to take on just about everything, except for one minor detail. None of his armor had been in the pile. I found that rather disconcerting, so I left the infirmary and made my way towards the dorms. Once there and in my room I found the complete armor set sitting in a pile on my bed. I snapped the leg armor, and arm armor on, then stared at the chest and back piece. Eventually I decided that I was going to forgo the chest and back armor.
Once satisfied and after performing a few various range of movement exercises, I checked the other pile on my bed. I counted out my SMG, with three extra mags, and the two energy swords. Figuring that I was only going to be meeting family, I decided to only bring one of the energy swords with me. Later I would ask myself why I had neglected to remember the fact that the family were vampires.
I stepped out of my dorm room and headed toward the front of the school, where sure enough, Issa had a Limo waiting with Tsukune and his harem and Mizore next to it. Issa had already climbed inside while Moka was saying goodbye to the others, I only had eyes for one person though.
We locked gazes and simply stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. "You had better come back in one piece." she said after a moment. I chuckled "I'll try my damnedest." I replied with a lopsided grin on my face. She smiled though I noticed an odd look in her eyes, like she was warring with herself over something. I turned and made my way toward the Limo, following behind Moka as she entered.
I was just about to enter the Limo when I heard my name being called. I turned and found Mizore invading my personal space. If she had been intent on hurting me, my sixth sense would have gone off and I would have bisected her with the blade at my hip. But that wasn't important, what was, was the fact she was invading my personal space with a fire in her eyes. Before I knew what was happening she closed what remained of the distance between us and she locked lips with me.
I was shocked, beyond shocked that she had managed to find the inner strength to pull what she just did. From listening around the school, the various people had built Mizore's picture up as a very shy girl who would rather spy on you from the safety of a bush or tree or some other decent hiding spot. The kiss she planted on my lips, which I was beginning to return, completely blew that image away.
After a moment the kiss ended and she put the sucker back into her mouth with a coy smile on her face. "I'll be waiting." she said simply as she turned around and walked away, her hips swaying hypnotically side to side. My eyes followed her as she rounded a corner and I finally lost sight of her. I shook my head to clear my thoughts from the sexy snowflake that had just walked away.
I entered the Limo while everyone watched and settled into the rich leather seats for the ride. Moka had a look of shock on her face as she stared at me, while Issa had a thoughtful look on his as he looked me up and down. Feeling their gazes on me I let out a sad and tired sigh which caught Issa's attention quickly. "Is there something wrong?" he asked evenly. I let out another sigh before I answered "It's nothing, I'll deal with it later." I said.
He nodded but didn't seem convinced so I changed the subject. "How many sisters do I now have and what are they like?" I asked. Issa looked like he was thinking for a moment before he finally spoke. "You now have four sisters, you've met one already in Moka." he began. "She is the second youngest, the youngest, Kokoa, is a year behind Moka and adores her…well the released form anyway." he continued.
I was keeping count in my head. 'So, two younger sisters, one that's Bi-polar, and one that has a sister complex with the stronger version.' I thought. "Kahlua is the second oldest and has the mental age of a girl much younger than herself. She can almost always be found wearing long dresses and tiaras and trying to host tea parties and likes to play dress-up. The oldest, Akua, likes to dress in Chinese dresses as that is where she spent the last century, she is also the youngest physically but is definitely the oldest mentally." he finished.
I added the two newest to my mental count. 'So essentially a retard and chick that will probably have issues with being the smallest of her sisters.' I thought to myself. "Question." I said. Issa nodded and I continued "Is there anyone in this family that isn't in some way fucked up?" I asked tilting my head to the side in slight confusion. Issa had a drink held up to his mouth and was taking a drink when I asked my question and did a spit-take, while Moka simply stared at me in shock.
After getting over the coughing fit the spit take had induced and taking a deep breath he spoke. "There was really only one that wasn't, as you put it, 'fucked up' in some way. My wife Akasha Bloodriver." he answered. Issa's eyes seemed to glaze over as he went into a type of trance, most likely reliving old memories. "She was a remarkable woman, and one of the most beautiful. She was also the most adamant about co-existing with humans." he said. I got a sinking feeling in my gut. "I'll bet a lot of the monsters didn't really appreciate that." I said. Issa just nodded.
"Indeed not, it was actually a short time after Akua arrived that she went missing now that I think about it." he said while he took on a thoughtful look. After a moment where I had already put Akua on my Shit/Hit list right up there with the Covenant, Issa waved his hand side to side as though dismissing a stray thought. "It's probably nothing. The only other thing is that she was Moka's mother." he said at length.
I nodded though noted out of the corner of my eye the saddened look on Moka's face. I made a mental note of that and closed my eyes and attempted to catch a few Z's before I met the rest of the family. A short time later I felt myself being shaken. Of course being me I had to react rather unexpectedly. I grabbed the offending limb in an iron grip, rolled on top of the person and grabbed the Energy Sword from my hip and held it up to the persons face, fingers caressing the activation button when I heard a feminine eep underneath me. Now confused I opened my eyes and looked into fearful emerald eyes.
Taking in the bubblegum pink hair and the female assets that I was laying on my mind finally shook off the effects of the nap. I removed the Sword from her face and rolled off of her back into my own seat. Issa had a look on his face that screamed that he would have murdered my ass in a very bloody way if I had actually struck down Moka.
After taking a few calming breaths, Moka managed to calm her frantically racing heart enough to squeak out 'We're here'. I simply nodded and waited for them both to exit the limo before doing so myself and getting my first look at Shuzen Castle. It was alright, for a several centuries old stone creation. I had seen far grander structures on the various colony worlds I had been too. Granted they were later destroyed, with the planet right behind the structures but that's besides the point, it's the principle of the matter.
We were greeted in the entrance hall by a pair of women in maid outfits. They were both rather tall at 5'7" and both had blond hair that dropped down to their waists, and pointed ears that poked out from their long tresses. Their faces were regal with sharp sapphire eyes and high cheek bones. Though, what really caught his eye, for a few seconds at least, was the size of their breasts and the amount of cleavage they both displayed and how short the skirts really were.
His inspection complete, he looked back up to their faces as they bowed in unison, allowing him a brief glance down their blouses. "Welcome home Master, Mistress." they spoke in unison, addressing Issa first, then Moka. Though the one on the left gave me a very brief curious glance before returning her attention to the two vampires before them. Issa simply nodded like I figured, Moka on the other hand, smiled at the two women "It's good to be home." she said.
Issa then cleared his throat getting the…Elves…attentions from his daughter. "Prepare the largest guest room." he said. The two Elves bowed, turned, and walked towards the staircase in the back of the entrance hall. Issa and Moka both took steps forward and I began to follow when my sixth sense screamed at me and I acted. I tackled Moka and rolled with her just as a massive spiked mace slammed into the ground where we were previously standing. As I rolled I regained my footing and drawing and activating the Energy Sword, I placed myself between Moka, who was still on the ground, and our assailant.
My eyes scanned around the room looking for Issa and spotted him standing at the foot of the staircase the two Elves had used. Turning my attention back to the dust cloud as it had begun to clear I was able to start making out an outline. Whatever it was, it was shorter than me, had what looked like glowing red eyes and…ponytails? Suddenly I had a rough idea of who was attacking us. "Moka, describe Kokoa." I said never taking my eyes off of the figure in the dust as it hauled the massive mace out of the ground and turned to face us.
Moka was confused and terrified at being attacked but she complied. "She's shorter than I am, with orange hair that she keeps in twin ponytails that come off of the sides of her head. She usually wears knee length skirts with a light blouse." she said. I nodded as the dust had finally cleared and I saw our assailant clearly…and sighed. If Moka's description was correct, and I had no reason to believe otherwise, then the person who was attacking us was none other than Kokoa herself.
She was exactly how Moka had described her and it appeared that she was done waiting. She charged at us again with her mace raised high above her head and screaming a war cry. I waited till the last moment until she jumped and brought her mace down. I swung my sword and just as it began to bite into the metal of the weapon a small cloud of smoke appeared and a bat of all things appeared squeaking in pain and flopped to the ground.
Kokoa, however was committed and couldn't stop herself. I quickly redirected my blade so that she wouldn't impale herself, caught her by the neck, slammed her onto the ground, and then slammed my blade down right at her throat, pinning her to the ground with the prongs of the blade on either side of her throat. With the threat neutralized for the moment, I turned my attention back to the still prone Moka. I held my hand out to her "Are you alright?" I asked. She nodded as she grabbed my hand and I hauled her to her feet. After dusting herself off she approached the still pinned Kokoa.
I, on the other hand, turned a hard glare onto Issa. Issa simply shrugged "I said she adored the released form." he stated. "We humans call that a Sister Complex, and is followed with the sibling with the Complex wanting to fuck their sister, NOT FUCKING KILL THEM!" I countered. There was a rather loud silence that followed that statement as the implications of what I said sank in. Moka who had been walking towards her sister stopped abruptly and started to scoot away from her with an uneasy look on her face.
It took a moment, but when Kokoa's mind made the connections her face went tomato red and she instantly started spluttering out denials. "I…I…I DO NOT…" I turned to her, "Shut up, nobody asked you." I snapped as I returned my attention back to Issa. He was not the least bit fazed by my look and simply turned and walked up the stairs. I watched him walk away as my gaze bore into his back until he was out of sight.
I sighed and turned my attention back to the girl that was pinned under my sword. I was honestly surprised that she hadn't tried to remove it from her neck, though she might have been wary of the blades considering what they had done to her weapon…bat…thing. That was another thing that needed to be addressed, since when did bats turn into weapons? I would ask someone later, for now I had to set some things straight with the girl currently being pinned with my sword.
I walked over to her and looked down at her for a moment as she looked up at me with a rapidly reddening face, though from embarrassment or anger I didn't know or particularly care. She opened her mouth to, probably, start yelling at me to let her up when I cut her off when I beat her too it. "Alright girly, this is how this is going to work, I don't care if you do or do not want to fuck your sister but so long as I am in this house you are going to be at the very least civil towards this iteration of Moka." I stated. At this point she looked downright murderous.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ORDER ME AROUND?!" she screamed. I smirked lightly "Your superior." I said simply. She almost literally exploded at that. "YOU ARE NOT MY SUPERIOR, I AM A VAMPIRE AND…" "You would be either dead or dying right now if I had not moved my blade." I said, interrupting her screaming which had sounded like it had taken on a demonic tint. "That was just a fluke." she stated with so much conviction I almost believed her…almost. "Very well, how about we fight tomorrow morning and we can see just how much of a fluke it was." I offered mildly.
She took on a look of intense concentration before she eagerly agreed, no doubt thinking of all the ways she was going to utterly destroy me tomorrow. Reaching down I grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it from the ground, allowing her to get up off of the floor. I deactivated the blade and made my way to the back of the entrance hall and began to climb the steps before two thoughts occurred to me, the first was where Moka was. I quickly scanned the room and found that it was bare of the pinkette. I shrugged my shoulders, she must have left as I confronted Kokoa. The second and probably more important, was that I had no idea where I was going.
As if she could read my mind one of the elves from before appeared before me. She bowed then spoke "Your room is prepared master." she said. An unpleasant tingle ran down my spine as she said 'master', I just nodded and she led me up the stairs and deeper into the castle. As we walked I couldn't help but admire the construction of the castle.
While the outside of the castle had suggested a European based design, the interior had a distinctly Japanese feel to it. As we walked, I was able to look around at the art that was on display. Epic battles in stark relief, rolling grasslands, and as we turned a corner the wall was dominated by a massive painting of Moka.
She was dressed in a long flowing emerald dress, her long bubblegum pink hair flowing about her shoulders as her emerald eyes glinted with a measure of mischievousness. However, as I continued to look into her eyes, I noticed that behind the mischievousness, there was a deep sadness, an almost undiscernible haunted quality to them. It was at this point that my…guide had noticed that I had fallen behind and came back for me.
"Who is that?" I asked, pointing at the painting. The Elf looked to where I was pointing then sighed sadly. "That is Akasha Bloodriver." she replied. I looked at her then back at the painting. "So this is Moka's mother." I stated, the Elf nodded. I continued to look at the painting for a few moments longer then turned away, motioning the Elf to lead the way. She spared the painting one last look then began walking down the corridor with me behind her.
We walked a little further until we came to a rather ornately carved door, which she pushed open then motioned me forward. I stepped into the room and looked around. My first thought was that it was big, even larger than my dorm room back at the academy. The bed was massive and looked beyond any description of soft. The room itself was rather nicely furnished, containing a desk and chair combination along the wall, a rather plush looking chair next to the bed, a nightstand with a lamp and clock were next to the bed as well. A dresser stood along the wall as well, though what grabbed my attention back to it was the bed once again.
Now that I could get a better look at it I noticed a few things mostly that it was one of those four-poster type of beds complete with curtains and drapes. It was a most daunting piece of furniture in the room that was for sure. The Elf, and I thought that I had to get her name soon, cleared her throat and when I turned back to her she was bowing. "I hope the room is to your liking, I apologize but it was rather short notice though that is no excuse." she said.
I regarded her for a moment. "What is your name?" I asked. She twitched as though she was surprised by the question. "Riku, Master." she replied. I twitched at the master remark though I shook it off for now. "Riku, I grew up in a rather poor farming community, that bed is probably worth more than all the farming equipment, all the land, and the house that I grew up in combined. This is probably too much." I said as I walked farther into the room with Riku following shortly.
I put my hand on the bed and pressed down to test the softness and it practically swallowed my hand. As I was marveling at the bed I heard a small noise and turned back to Riku who I realized had cleared her throat to get my attention. "If you don't mind me asking Master, what Youkai race are you?" she asked. "I only ask because I cannot feel a taint from you." she elaborated. I raised an eyebrow at that; "Youkai have a taint?" I asked. "Yes Master, it is what made us Elves such great allies with the Humans. We can feel the taint on the various Youkai races, the more powerful the race the more powerful the taint. For example, Master Shuzen has a rather powerful taint, while Mistress Moka has a taint that is mostly locked away but if someone were to fully release it, it would rival Master Shuzen in power and would only grow stronger as she aged." She explained.
"Humans and Elves had an alliance?" I asked. She visibly deflated at the question. "Once, many years ago, though none now live who remember it in its entirety. Almost none of the extremely powerful Youkai races give rise to new members of their races very often, the fact that Master Shuzen has four daughters is, quite frankly, astonishing. This is what made Humanity so appealing to us Elves. We Elves had been in a constant state of war with the various Youkai races since we discovered each other. It seemed like every other day there was a new race on the front lines to combat our warriors." She paused for a second and looked out the window with a far-away look on her face, as though re-living memories.
"At first they were relatively weak, Goblins and the like. Then the more powerful Youkai races were brought into the fight. Orcs, Ogres, Trolls… it just kept getting worse and worse, more and more of our warriors were coming home in boxes, and those that didn't return in boxes were horribly disfigured and their eyes had this deep haunted look to them." She turns from the window and looks back at me.
"That's when we discovered Humanity. Well, more like Humanity discovered us. One of our warriors had fled from a battle where there were only a few survivors and was found by a Human woman. She nursed him back to health and when she heard his story, she took him to see her king. The warrior was doubtful that anything would come from the meeting, Elves had scouted out Humanity as potential allies in the war against the Youkai but had been passed over due to their dividedness and willingness to wage war against their own kind." "I'm going to hazard a guess and say that he was surprised." "Very much so, not only did that king pledge his support but he called a gathering of the other kings to hear his story first hand." A small smile made its way on her lips.
"Everything just snowballed from there, by the end of the week, all the kings who had heard his story had pledged their support and were calling up their armies. They decided amongst themselves that the first king that had pledged his support would lead this Alliance. He recognized the necessity of providing a unified front and came up with a symbol to represent the united humanity. A White Tree with seven stars surrounding it on a black field. The seven stars represented the seven Human kingdoms that pledged their support to the Elven nation, while the tree represented their unity. That even though they may be different of branches, they were still of one race."
"The first battle Humanity participated in was actually one of the closing battles of our war with the Youkai. Our armies were decimated, our cities razed to the ground, our citizens dead, dying, or enslaved. It was to be the last true battle, everything afterwards would have just been the complete extinction of the Elven race. The two sides joined battle and for a time they were evenly matched, however, for every Youkai killed five would take its place. Our forces were beginning to be pushed back, a few had even ran to try and save themselves from the slaughter. They were on the brink of collapse when a third horn sounded on the field. Both sides stopped fighting and turned towards where the horn had sounded. We watched as first, flags and pennants became visible, then the tips of spears and finally, the gleaming polished steel of armored soldiers." she paused to take a breath and, no doubt, to bring more memories up from the recesses of her mind.
"And at the forefront of the very large army, was the Elven Warrior in his golden armor, and the King chosen to lead the war effort in a black tunic with the new crest embroidered on his chest. I was later told that he made a rousing speech about how if the Elves were to fall then the human kingdoms would follow and that if they didn't fight now then they would fight when the monsters threatened their homes. The cheer afterward was deafening, the king drew his sword and lead the charge. A fairly large portion of the Youkai army turned their attention away from us to confront this new threat and we believed that they were doomed. For surely if hardened Elven warriors could easily be cut down then how could mere Humans fare any better. That is when we got our second surprise." she paused again.
"This was during a time that humanity did not vilify witchcraft of any sort, as we watched the humans charge to what we perceived to be their deaths a volley of fireballs, lances, arrows and a plethora of deadly objects and spells slammed into the Youkai ranks. Causing massive amounts of damage and confusion. In the middle of the confusion, the first human soldiers slammed into the disorganized mob that the Youkai army had become from the magical attack. The battle still ended up lasting close to three hours, and many humans were killed, but by the end of it the Youkai had been routed. Never before had we seen a Youkai army routed, maybe a tactical retreat just to return a few hours later with even greater numbers and decimating the survivors from the first battle." once more she paused. Then let out something like a chuckle.
"To Elves, though we are a magical race by nature, Magic in itself was never really much more than something to amuse children, if anything we treated magic as some type of parlor trick not truly something to be utilized as a weapon or to make our lives better. To see humans using it to obliterate scores of Youkai in a single blast or send a massive flight of arrows to cut down an entire swath of Youkai, was quite intimidating." she paused once more then turned to gaze out the window.
"With humanities aid we drove the Youkai out of Elven lands and back to their own borders. Once we reached them the Elves were mildly content to stop there and rebuild our race, humanity of course would not be stopped and even encouraged the Elves to begin rebuilding our race, telling us that we had done our part and that Humanity would take the reins and finish what we had begun. While the Elves pulled their warriors back from the front and began rebuilding, Humanity pushed deep into Youkai land until finally they arrived at the last stronghold of the Youkai. For three days and nights Humanity laid siege to the stronghold, on the fourth day it was beginning to look like humanity would have to give up the siege. They were at the end of a very long supply line, and the war had dragged on longer than anyone had predicted. But before they did, like had happened so many years before the humans were reinforced by a partially recovered Elven nation." she paused once more as she gathered her thoughts.
"With the fresh reinforcements and supplies they brought with them the combined Elven and Human army finally broke through the gates and walls and stormed the stronghold." here she turned sober and downcast. "Everything changed after that. The strongest of the vampires enacted an ancient and forbidden ritual that would give him immense power in exchange for his intelligence and reasoning. A monster the likes of which had never been seen before broke out of the citadel. Both sides stared at it for a moment and it stared back at them before it opened its mouth and roared. After it roared it laid waste to everything in front of it, Human, Elven, Youkai it didn't matter. Once it decimated all of the armies around the stronghold, it advanced back to the border." she paused again as her voice croaked.
"We didn't stand a chance, the death and destruction it unleashed was like nothing we had ever seen before. The Elven nation was quickly destroyed, our populace enslaved by the Youkai that followed the Demon. The Human alliance quickly disintegrated, most of the kingdoms destroyed and those that weren't were so weak that when the Youkai army following the Demon arrived there was almost no resistance when they attacked. With both Humanities and the Elven armies destroyed, the demon turned on the Youkai and would have laid waste to the entire world if three Youkai hadn't stood up to him." she stopped and looked like she was fighting tears. "Who were these three?" I asked gently.
"Akasha Bloodriver, Tenmei Mikogami, and one that currently lives in China, though I do not recall his name. These three stood up to and fought the Demon eventually sealing it away and earning the title Dark Lord. The rest as they say is history. Humanity was too weak to free the Elves though they did shelter those that managed to escape to their lands. After the war, Humanity rebuilt but never encountered the Youkai again, they had gone into hiding so that something like The Great War would never happen again. The few Elves who managed to escape the destruction of our nation and subsequent enslavement fully integrated with the Humans. Realizing that if they tried to rebuild their race with the handful that was available they would just eventually give rise to abominations, they eventually fell in love with various Humans and gave rise to Half-Elves. Many of which were great heroes in Human legends and myths. King Arthur, Robin Hood, King Leonidas even some of Humanities most recent heroes and leaders had some Elven blood flowing through their veins. General Patton, General Eisenhower, amongst others." she stopped and I figured that what she had just told me would end up changing quite a few history books if the tale were to be re-iterated to the right people.
'Well… let's give her a surprise.' I thought. "This may come as a shock to you, but I'm human." I said. She whirled around so fast that I thought that A) her breasts would fly out of the top of her dress and B) that she would get whiplash. Neither happened though, and she scrutinized me with a gaze that could penetrate steel. "Yes… she said slowly after a moment. That would explain why you have no taint, though you realize that I am obligated to inform Master Shuzen." she said. I waved dismissively "He already knows, he was the one to invite me here." I said. Once again I was treated to the sight of Riku gaping like a fish.
I turned back to the bed and began pulling my armor and coat off. I heard Riku take a step forward then stop as though she was unsure as to what to do. Deciding to try my hand at being imperious I spoke. "Your services are no longer required." I spoke with as much authority as I could manage which admittedly wasn't very much in my own opinion but it must have had an effect on Riku because I heard the rustle of her dress as she straightened then bowed. "I take my leave then Master. I shall return in the morning, until then sleep well Master." she said. She turned and exited my room, softly closing the door behind her.
I sighed as I finished pulling my clothes off, though I left my boxers on. I went into the bathroom and right as I closed the door I noticed my reflection in the full-bodied mirror on the door. The most prominent feature on my body was most definitely the massive scar that went from my right hip up to my left shoulder where there was a massive angry splotch as though someone had taken a pot of molten metal and poured it on my shoulder. Of course when you traced up to my face beyond my hair and eyes there was a plethora of scars mostly old except for four new ones courtesy of Kurumu. When I finished my examination, I took long hot shower, 5 minutes this time then left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist.
I searched through the dresser and managed to find a pair of night pants that would probably fit and wasn't some neon color. Pulling on a fresh pair of boxers and the night pants I walked over to the bed and sat down. The bed was just as soft as I thought it was going to be and more. I fully laid down and a content sigh left my lips. Allowing myself to relax at least somewhat I slipped into unconsciousness; into the waiting arms of my nightmares.
Author's Note: So yeah, it's been forever since I updated this story and I blame my need to read other peoples stories and not work on my own. Anywhore, this chapter is the longest I have ever written. Not only in overall length, but in actual content. I do apologize though I said at the beginning that we would get to a lot more than we did but well, when I started writing it just kinda flowed into what you just read. From now on, not only in this story but in my others, I'm not going to give you people an idea of what to expect in each chapter, we'll just see how the inspiration strikes me at that time. Rate, review you should know the drill by now. Have fun fuckers! Chow.