Chapter 26

Sai was the last to awake that morning. Everyone was up and preparing for the day, though preparation was not a good word to describe it. The scene was more like four teenagers fumbling around to try to convince themselves that they were getting ready. Sai didn't feel like joining in. She got up and looked for Akage. She found him in the kitchen searching for something.

"Hey Akage." She said. He whirled around to face her.

"Damn." He cursed, "You startled me."

"Sorry about that." Sai said yawning, "You got a shower in here somewhere?"

"Yeah. Down the hall and to the right." He told her. Sai thanked him and walked that way.

In the bathroom, she stripped down and left her clothes lying on the floor. The water in the shower got hot quick, which she was thankful for. It was obvious that the others had either already taken showers or just weren't planning to, so she could take as long as she wanted, so she did. Sai needed the time to relax and think more than anything else. She still needed to process everything that was going on. Her entire life had just been flipped on its head. Apparently, she wasn't from this world, all of her memories weren't real, she was a half-demon, and, to top it all off, she was in love. Sai didn't think that it could get much worse, but she had a feeling that it would.

A half-hour later, Sai finished her shower and dried off. She got redressed and then walked back to the living room. Everyone else had just sat down to discuss things, so Sai walked over to where Kaze was and joined him.

"So what's the plan?" She asked.

"Well, right now, we haven't got much of one." Nami admitted.

"All we know is where there well is and how to get there. We have no idea what's gonna be there or how to fight it." Akage said.

"That's a start, right?" Sai said, trying to encourage all of them, "We don't need to know what's there. Apparently, we're some strong demon fighting team, so we are gonna be fine."

"Sai's right." Kaze agreed, "We're gonna be fine." Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Alright then." Sai said, "Let's head to Higurashi Shrine and see if we can figure out what's going on."

Soon after, the five left the apartment. The sun was shining brightly and the weather was warmer than it had been the day before. The shrine wasn't far from Akage's apartment and they reached it after only about fifteen minutes of walking. They were met at the bottom of the steps to the shrine complex by a middle aged man. When the man saw them, saw Sai, his eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly hid this and changed his expression back to one without emotion. They noticed, however.

"Hey Sai." Nami whispered, "Did you see that? How that guy looked at you?"

"Yeah." Sai whispered back, nodding, "It was kinda weird."

"You know," Nami said, "He kinda looks like you. It's almost like you're related."

"That's impossible." Sai said dismissively.

"Considering everything else that's happened in the past two days, I'd say anything is possible." Nami pointed out. Sai didn't answer.

The group approached the man. Nami was right. The man did look similar to Sai. Their facial structure was almost completely the same. He spoke first.

"Welcome." He said, his face unchanging, "I've been expecting you."

"What?" Kaze asked apprehensively, "Why?"

"What do you know about us?" Umi demanded.

"All will be answered in time." The man said, turning around, "But for now, follow me." That last sentence seemed to pain him to say, but the group could not see his face to be sure.

"At least tell us your name!" Sai yelled at him as he started to walk away. He stopped in his tracks.

"My name is Souta." He told them and then kept walking. Sai shrugged, not recognizing the name, and the group followed him up the stairs. He led them into the middle of the courtyard. The man turned around to face them. He smiled sadly.

"Good luck." He said. At that moment, the courtyard opened up beneath their feet. All of them screamed as they fell into the oppressive darkness. The fall wasn't long, but all of them were knocked unconscious by the impact.

Sai awoke in the dark. Silence permeated the area around her. She was alone.

"Where are the others?" Sai thought, "There's no way that they would leave me. They know we need to stick together." Sai got up off the ground slowly. Her head hurt immensely. She put her hand to where the pain was coming from. Her hand came away warm, wet, and sticky. The hair in the area was matted with the thick liquid.

"Damn." Sai cursed aloud. She was bleeding badly as her head was still swimming from the impact. She had no idea what time it was or where the hell she was. Getting out was going to be next to impossible. Lifted her right arm and tried to feel her way out. Her hand hit a wall. The wall was smooth, hard, dry just like everything else in the area she was in. She walked forward cautiously, feeling her way along the wall. It was strange. The darkness didn't seem to be so dark anymore. It was like she was getting used to the amount of light, but that was impossible. There was no light in the place. She bit her cheek nervously. Her mouth filled with blood.

"Dammit!" She cursed, "What the hell?" She opened her mouth and felt her teeth. They were sharp and she had fangs. Her eyes widened in surprise. She started to panic. She wasn't supposed to have fangs. Sai ran her hands through her hair from the stress. Her fingers met something soft and fluffy. Something like... Ears. Dog ears.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Sai screamed into the ever brightening darkness. She fully panicking now. The wound on her head and in her mouth had healed, she had fangs and dog ears, and her eyesight and night vision had improved immensely.

Sai took off at a run down the hallway. She could see perfectly now even though the amount of light hadn't changed. The pace she was hitting wasn't human. It would have cut world records in half.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Sai thought to herself, "What is happening to me?" Then it hit her. She slid to a stop, squeaking loudly across the floor. Sai stood still for a second before dropping to her knees in despair. She slammed her fist into the floor as hard as she could making it crack beneath the force.

"I'm a half-demon..." She said in defeated voice, "I'm a damn half-demon." Tears came to her eyes and fell to the floor. She was sobbing. Nothing was right. Nothing at all. The thing that didn't make sense, though, was that Sai had never felt more in the right, more herself. It was as if she was finally back in her own skin. She clenched her fists, feeling her claws digging into her flesh. It was... Comforting. The smell that permeated the air wasn't, however.

"So, she's figured out eh?" A voice said, echoing through the hall, "You know, you've retaken a hold of your abilities faster than I expected. This may be more interesting than I thought."

"Where are my friends?!" Sai screamed at the voice.

"Continue down this hall. We'll see if you survive." Was it's only response.

"Oh I will." Sai said threateningly, "And when I find you, I'll kill you!" Her threat echoed down the hall, but the voice did not answer.

Sai got up and sprinted down the hall. To any human eye, she would have appeared as nothing more than a blur, if she was seen at all since she would have been gone in a fraction of a second. Murderous thoughts were racing through her mind as rage and fury courses through her veins.

"Calm down." She thought to herself, "Sai, you need to calm down. No matter how much you want to rip this thing's throat out with your teeth, you've gotta find the others first and make sure that they're okay. Just calm d-"

"HIRAIKOTSU!" A massive spinning object slammed Sai in the in side and sent her flying into the wall. She hit it hard enough to crack the hard stone. Sai searched the area where the object had come from. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. Nami was standing at the entrance to a separate hall that branches off of the one that Sai had been running down. Distracted by her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed the opening or Nami's scent.

"What the hell did you do that for Nami?" Sai groaned in pain. Nami's eyes glowed red at the sound of her name.

"Putting down the dog." She said with a wicked smile, "NOW DIE!"

Sai barely managed to jump out of the way of the Hiraikotsu before it slammed into the wall where she had just been standing.

"Dammit Nami!" Sai screamed, "Nami, what the hell are you doing? Stop it now!" Nami only chuckled evilly, her eyes turning red. She drew her sword.

"Nami, don't make me hurt you!" Sai yelled.

"Do it." She said calmly, "Kill me. Slash my throat with your claws. Bathe in my blood. Give in to the demon you really are."

"Nami, you're possessed! You don't have to do this!" Sai screamed desperately.

"If you won't kill me, then I'll kill you!" Nami yelled as she began to sprint at Sai, sword at the ready to strike. Sai parried the sword with her claws and roundhouse kicked Nami down the hall. She hit the ground hard. It was less than a second before she was up again. Nami felt no pain because she was possessed. She drew a sutra and launched it at Sai, who easily avoided it. Then Nami drew ten sutras and launched them all at once. Sai couldn't dodge all of these. She dug her claws into her palms until they drew blood and then swung them through the air.

"BLADES OF BLOOD!" The sutras were shredded. Nami wasn't far behind her sutras, however. She was at Sai's face with her sword within seconds and was swinging wildly.

"Dammit Nami!" Sai cursed, "POISON WHIP!" The green whip extended from her claws. Sai whipped it around Nami's legs as wrenched them out from under her. She fell flat on her face and dropped the sword. Sai kicked it away from her.

"It's a damn good thing she doesn't have her hidden blade." Sai thought to herself, "Her hoodie can't hide that thing." Sai turned Nami unto her back and slammed her fist into her face. It knocked her out cold. Sai stood up and walked over to the wall.

"DAMMIT!" She screamed as she punched the wall, sending her fist straight through the rock.