It's time to bring them in, my pets, Ibaragi called. The exorcist was nearly at the breaking point, and the tengu was fighting against his own emotions and memories. The timing was perfect, just as her master had planned on. She sighed with pleasure and then chanted again, the harsh syllables rolling off her tongue and echoing darkly through the small chamber. The feelers of dark energy she had sent out reeled their way back in, carrying her prize. The tengu would follow as well, she had no doubt.
Kantarou's limp form slowly lifted off the ground, suspended motionless just above the flagstones by the network of dark lines twisted around him. He hung for a moment, and then the darkness seemed to condense and contract, the lines growing fatter, before pulling the exorcist away from Haruka and towards the curve of the passage. Haruka sank to the ground, struggling to calm himself. He closed his eyes and breathed, and again thoughts of Kantarou came to the front of his mind. Kantarou smiling, Kantarou whining, and Kantarou's serious face floated in front of him, and he slowly managed to push away the red haze that painted his master's face with blood in his memories and emotions. This was his master and friend-who had still tried to protect him even though he was the one in danger right now. Haruka shook himself violently and surged to his feet, and broke into a run as he saw the exorcist's body disappearing around the turn. Around the turn, the hissing tendrils of black were connected to an opening in the wall that revealed only another sealed stone room through its portal. Kantarou was pulled in and the opening began to iris closed, hissing and spitting sparks like a furious dragon. Haruka didn't even think before flinging himself after the exorcist, the opening snapping shut just behind his heels. He leaped to his feet almost instantly, on alert, and held a fighting stance. Kantarou remained held upright in the air next to him for a moment, and then the black energy holding him dissolved suddenly and let him fall to the ground. Haruka was instantly at his side, mantling his wings protectively over them while he examined the prone form of the exorcist. He felt disquiet when he noticed the other man's scar had changed to a deep black that seemed to radiate an unpleasant energy of its own. He didn't know how Kantarou had handled it for this long. A clear, high-pitched laugh rang through the small room, and he whirled to see what enemy was waiting for them this time. Shock ran through him as he spotted and then recognized the woman standing next to a massive stone pillar, the only other feature in the blank stone cell they were in.
"You…? " he snarled. "I thought you wanted me, didn't you? Why go to all the trouble of making Kantarou come along? You could have tricked me into this without him!" his hands clenched into fists so tight, his claws bit into the palms. Ibaragi only smiled at him.
"Ah, but we made new plans. Your little master fits so well into them, we decided it was a shame to let him go to waste. Actually, ogre-eater, you are only here to watch. The one we want to play with today….is Mr. Ichinomiya here." She pouted a little as she looked at the unmoving exorcist. "Although he doesn't seem very lively right now, does he? I need to wake him up so we can play properly," she said, delicate points of fangs showing as she grinned at Haruka. He felt his heart drop like a stone in his chest. What could they possibly want with Kantarou? As if reading his thoughts, she laughed again.
"Haven't you always been curious about your dear master's past? I'm sure he doesn't talk about it much, does he?" Haruka growled deep in his throat. It was true that Kantarou never talked about his past, but the tengu was perceptive enough to know that there was something there that strongly affected the exorcist. He had his own problems with his memories, so he understood perfectly well that others might not want to reveal their own messy pasts. He felt a thread of uneasiness move up his spine as he waited to see what she would do. Kantarou was still protected underneath Haruka's wings, so just for the moment he seemed safe enough. Ibaragi seemed to read his thoughts again.
"Ah, but his past is important to us, because it is the reason he is who he is. His past is the reason he has so much spiritual power…and his body has secrets even he doesn't know." She leaned back and patted the stone pillar meaningfully, and for the first time Haruka noticed the seals wrapped around the stone. The graceful hand the seals were written in looked very familiar to him, and with a cold shock he realized it belonged to Kantarou. His own master had sealed something very old and powerful in this pillar. Somehow it was related to why they were here right now, and he had a sinking feeling that they would find out before the night was over. Ibaragi showed her teeth at him and nodded, pressing her cheek against the aged stone briefly.
"Whether you want to or not, you are going to witness Kantarou Ichinomiya's past. His spiritual powers are strong enough to catch you up in his memories, even if he doesn't wish to. I'm sure he will be thrilled about going down his memory lane with you. This fellow here," she said, stroking the pillar, "is the surprise ending. Be a good boy and just enjoy the show, why don't you?" she smirked and suddenly flicked her fingers towards Haruka, uttering a few more syllables in the same harsh tongue she had used earlier.
A net of the same black energy flew from her fingertips and struck Haruka directly in the chest as he hovered over Kantarou. It sent the tengu flying backwards and into the rear wall of the rough stone cell, where he stuck, trapped by the strength of the lines. He tried to break free, but without his full powers, he wasn't a match for this energy right now. He didn't want to risk harming or killing Kantarou as well unless there was no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he worked on silently resisting the bonds that held him against the wall. It took all of his willpower to keep his emotions in check as he watched Ibaragi saunter across the room towards the exorcist. Kantarou looked terribly small and helpless lying sprawled across the floor. Keep yourself under control….she said herself they won't kill him right away…hang in there for Kantarou's sake…he told himself repeatedly. He still couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him. Ibaragi looked up at him and smirked again, and then knelt next to Kantarou and then held his head and shoulders up in her arms. The exorcist seemed to sense her presence, and he moaned and tried to instinctively move away from the source of discomfort.
"Ah, none of that, Mr. Ichinomiya. I'd wish you pleasant dreams, but these will be anything but. Still, it is good to know the past. Remember-the truth can set you free." She glanced up at Haruka to see if he was watching.
"I'll tell you this much, ogre-eater. Your master used to be valuable property-his own family used him for his spiritual powers. They used him quite often as a channeler and medium….much like that pretty child we have used before for our own purposes. My own master has decided it would be more useful to have a more…durable….specimen for our needs in that respect. Hence, luring you down here." She looked down at the exorcist and stroked his silver hair, chuckling darkly when he flinched away again. "His powers are also more than strong enough to let us share his past with him. I'm sure he appreciates that though-I'm sure someone as close to him as you can tell he seems quite alone. Ah, but seeing is better than talking, and we have our reasons for doing things this way." She looked at Kantarou almost tenderly for a moment, smoothing his damp hair again. "Although I'll admit most of my own reasons for doing this to you right now are for the pleasure I get in seeing you both squirming in pain." Ibaragi gripped the exorcist in her arms, pinning him against her chest, and then suddenly bit her own tongue, and let thick blood fill her mouth. Kantarou made a small sound of protest that made Haruka's heart beat painfully. He redoubled his efforts as he snarled viciously and fought furiously against the bonds of energy, to little effect. Ibaragi appreciated the effort. It was a shame that the exorcist couldn't see how much his servant cared for him. Making sure the tengu was still watching, she bent her head down and pressed her cold lips against the young man's own lips, hard. She forced Kantarou's mouth open and transferred her own blood past his lips with her tongue. He instinctively swallowed even as his body trembled in reaction to her proximity. Even she wondered what the reaction would be, when the man was already sensitive to just the presence of ogres and demons. What would consuming one's blood do to him, exactly? She knew her powers would amplify what already existed within him, and that her blood would also force him to relive his memories while pulling out those desirable spiritual powers. Ibaragi shivered with anticipation. She knew it wouldn't be pleasant for the exorcist. She hoped he had a dark and twisted past-it would be that much more entertaining for her.
Haruka threw himself one last time against the bonds, shouting Kantarou's name as he did so. He was experiencing a novel emotion-fear. The tengu never felt fear for himself when he fought against superior opponents, but this fear was directed towards his master. He didn't know what Ibaragi was up to, but he knew that it was bad for Kantarou.
"Let me go already, you bitch!" he howled, managing to extract one arm from the energy binding. "You've done what you want to him, haven't you? I won't fight you while you have him at your mercy….for now."
She smirked as she carelessly dropped the exorcist back to the stone floor, ignoring the motionless man as she turned her attention to Haruka. The reaction she was getting from him was already most satisfactory, and she decided letting him down would just reinforce his helplessness in this situation. They could probably pressure him to break if they continued this experiment. She snapped her fingers and whispered a few more guttural syllables and again the dark energy responded to her, flowing back into her open palm from the binding web until it completed its merge back with her body. A crackling afterimage was left behind, and then Haruka fell to the floor, not expecting the sudden release of his bonds. He sat with his wings sprawled around him, stunned for a few seconds.
"Enjoy the ride, both of you. I'll be back to check on things in a little while….I have to check in with my own master. Look forward to seeing me again soon, ogre-eater. Take good care of Mr. Ichinomiya for me….it would be shame to have him die at this point." She waggled one hand at him while she walked towards the stone pillar. Once she reached the pillar, she closed her eyes and placed a hand on the cold age-smoothed surface, and then slowly faded from view. A black mist hovered where she had been for a second, and then dissipated.
Haruka shook his head, realizing he was free now. He shot to his feet and ran to where Kantarou was lying, still apparently unconscious on the cold floor. His fear grew stronger as he carefully turned the exorcist onto his back and pulled him into his arms. There was no way out of the room that he could determine. They would likely need Ibaragi's presence to open the way out again, unless he could muster his full powers. Kantarou would have to be out of danger before he could try anything like that-he still didn't know what was happening to the other man. Gahh….isn't Kantarou supposed to be the useless one out of the two of us? Haruka groaned and hauled his burden over to the wall farthest away from the stone pillar. He sat down on the ground and pulled the exorcist into his lap, hoping to at least keep him warm. The other man's body was noticeably cold to his sensitive skin, and he worried about what Ibaragi's blood would do to him. This was the best he could do for Kantarou right now.
A soft sound from the exorcist caught his attention, and he noticed with growing alarm that the other man's face had twisted with pain. It looked as though he was suffering, but whether it was physical pain or mental, the tengu didn't know.
"Shh…Kantarou. You're fine, I'm here. I'll help you." Haruka tried to sound comforting, although he was well aware it wasn't a tone he was good at expressing. He just didn't want Kantarou to suffer alone. He didn't know what Ibaragi had meant about experiencing his past, but he was determined that he at least try to be there with Kantarou. Beads of sweat had formed on the exorcist's forehead even though his skin was cold, and he was starting to squirm even in his unconscious sleep. His breathing accelerated and he took one or two gasping little breaths as his hands reflexively clenched at Haruka's battered sleeves. The silver-haired man suddenly shuddered violently and then arched his back out of Haruka's arms, a scream escaping his lips. Shit shit shit! Damn that Ibaragi for doing this to him! The tengu growled and kept his grip on Kantarou, hoping to at least keep him from hurting himself further. He didn't think Ibaragi had poisoned the exorcist, but this was bad enough. He didn't know how long he could keep his emotions under control if this situation kept deteriorating. He also didn't know how long Kantarou's body could handle whatever it was they were doing to him. Haruka was fairly certain this was the most time the exorcist had ever spent going in and out of consciousness like this (the man's normal laziness didn't count in his estimate)-he fervently hoped so anyway. This couldn't be good for his master, that was certain. Kantarou cried out again in agony, and as he did so Haruka suddenly felt a strange pressure surrounding them. He looked around wildly for the source, expecting yet another attack. The pressure increased and he realized it felt strangely familiar….almost like Kantarou's normal spiritual presence. It always surrounded their house like a soothing blanket, and Haruka was used to the feeling of his power. He suspected it was his own presence that alerted Kantarou to his own location in a similar way. He glanced down to see if the exorcist had sensed it, and noticed with shock that the silver-haired man was faintly glowing. I thought he had used up his reserve or however his spiritual powers work…so then what is this? Is this from what Ibaragi did to him? Shit, I really wish I knew what was happening. Haruka noticed that the glow was centered around his scar-it was as if his spiritual energy was flowing out of him through that single point. It reminded him unpleasantly of blood flowing from a deep wound, and he hoped it would stop soon. Kantarou's face was still tense with pain, but as the flow of spiritual energy continued the exorcist's body slowly sank back down and relaxed in his arms again. His breathing slowed down, and the tengu could feel the man's heartbeat slowing against his chest. Haruka's own heart hammered faster in worry. Was Kantarou weakening now? He ran his hands over the exorcist's arms, chafing them to keep him warm, and then he put his own head on top of Kantarou's. At least his master didn't know what he was doing right now, so he didn't have to worry about being teased or taken advantage of right now. Haruka buried his face in the silver hair and wished for Ibaragi to come back quickly so he could at least try to kill something soon. Anything to feel less helpless.