Walk me through the Valley
Disclaimer: Characters and premise are the property of Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
Chapter Seven: Draw a Line
Izumo sat alone in her room thinking back on the Exwire's last assignment and scowling.
Konekomaru walked into the dimly lit hall of portraits and went straight to the first of the four suspect portraits, one of a pretty young woman wearing an old fashion dress. He stared at it intently.
Bon was the first to realize that something had gone wrong. He started toward the doorway, "Koneko's barrier just fell."
'So that's the one,' Izumo thought and started chanting the formal Expel Spirit. But instead of doing as they were bid Mike and Uke plopped themselves down on the floor. "We don't have to do that much for you!" Uke declared.
"Just do what I say!" Izumo snapped.
In the hall of portraits Konekomaru fell to his knees. Before anyone could stop him, Rin rushed into the hall.
"At least give us a little treat," Mike whined.
Out in the hall Rin screamed, his voice full of grief and rage. His flames manifested brightly despite Kurikara still being sheathed in it's bag on his back.
"Nii! Get me some Uruchi and Mochi Rice plants!" Shiemi requested. "Great Inari gods! I can only offer these rice plants but please lend us your strength," she said as she bowed to Mike and Uke.
"Damn! Rin's gone berserk," Bon said hovering in the doorway.
"Please!" Shiemi repeated beseechingly.
Izumo turned toward the hall, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Well, I suppose we could help," Mike said.
"That girl asked so nicely," Uke added with a reproving look at Izumo. "Go ahead and chant."
The Byakko went into action but a moment later they were back. "We did try," Mike informed Izumo.
"Okay, I'm going to cast a barrier around us. Then we'll go drag them inside," Bon decided. "Once Rin and Koneko are safe we'll figure out where to go from there."
"What good's a barrier going to do?" Izumo demanded. "You saw what happened to Miwa."
"I'm a stronger Aria than Koneko, and I've been practicing barriers against the Paladin all term," Bon said with conviction. "Besides, I know it's going to try to break through. That's why I need the rest of you to get Koneko and Rin for me. I'm not going to be able to focus on anything except holding the barrier."
"I suppose if we have to," Shima sighed.
Izumo glanced at him for a moment and saw he had no doubts that Bon could do what he said. "Okay," She agreed. "Let's get them back."
"Mike! Uke!" Izumo called.
"What now?" The two Byakko appeared in Izumo's dorm room looking disgruntled.
"What now!?" Izumo exclaimed. "Now you're going to hear what I have to say! I have had it with the two of you acting like brats!" She glared at them, hands on her hips. "When I call you do what I tell you to! You don't talk back!"
"The two of you are always embarrassing me in front of my teachers. Worse yet, your disobedience is putting my teammates at risk. I have had with your stalling and whining and- and- laziness! The next time I call, you do what I say or there will be consequences!"
Before Mike or Uke could respond Izumo tore her summoning circle and sent them away.
Friday night, once the dinner dishes were drying in the rack, the Exwires confronted Tsuzo. "We want to take care of the Street Car tonight," Bon declared. "If it's a threat to the community, it needs to be taken care of, it shouldn't wait on our class schedule."
"Shiemi-chan? Little Brother? You're the point team for this one, what do you think? Are you ready to go?" Tsuzo asked.
Shiemi nodded firmly.
"We get a break on our grade if we need back-up right?" Shima wheedled. "Because we're going early?"
Tsuzo chuckled and shook her head. "Never miss a beat do you? Okay guys, go get your gear."
Bon cleared his throat and held out his hand.
Rin rolled his eyes and handed over Kurikara. "I'm on back up, it's not like I go berserk everytime we go into a fight."
"You were on back up last time," Bon said.
"The time before that Amaimon stopped you from getting the sword to someone who could draw it," Izumo pointed out, "And the time before that I only managed to get the sword because Mike was in a mood to play fetch."
"Okay we're going to split up," Tsuzo said thirty minutes later. "Little Bro and Shiemi-chan will board the streetcar at the stop on Third and University. You've got until the stop at Founder's Park to put it out of commission. That's where it vanishes back into Gehenna."
"So how do we back them up if they're in the car and we're out here?" Rin asked.
"We'll be waiting to intercept the car a block from the park," Tsuzo said looking unusually serious. "Make no mistake if we go in it's a rescue mission." She turned to Shiemi and Shima. "We won't be trying to deal with the car. At that point our only goal will be getting the two of you off before you get dragged into Gehenna… So, we'll see you at the Park, hopefully on foot."
Shiemi and Shima waited at the tram stop. The possessed car pulled up looking innocent and inviting and the two Exwires boarded. Shima glanced around at the other passengers in confusion. "Part of its camouflage?" he murmured to Shiemi.
She stared for a moment then gasped. "Look down," she whispered. "They're all spirits."
"Mommy! Mommy! When will we get home?" the ghost of a small boy whined. "We've been on the tram forever!"
"I don't think they know they're dead," Shima said quietly.
"These poor people," Shiemi murmured, her eyes watered sympathetically. "We have to save them."
"How?" Shima asked. "We've only got about twenty minutes to defeat this thing."
"The spirits are more important," Shiemi decided. "We can come back tomorrow for the streetcar, but I won't destroy them with it."
"So what can we do?" Shima asked. "Start yelling that they're all dead?"
"Oh!" Shiemi's face lit up. "A lantern plant! Nii-chan!"
Nii-chan grew the lantern plant and gradually the spirits were drawn into it.
Shiemi stumbled when the streetcar suddenly lurched. Shima caught her. "I think it's getting mad," he said with a nervous glance at the inside of the car. It was starting to look less and less like a streetcar and more like the innards of a giant beast.
"I need a little longer," Shiemi said.
Shima assembled his staff. He watched the walls of the car warily as they absorbed the seats and fixtures, sprouting tentacles in their place. "Done yet?" he asked as he used his staff to thwack one overly brave tentacle.
"Not yet," Shiemi protested.
Shima dug out his cellphone and started texting with his free hand while he nailed another tentacle with the butt of his staff.
At the rendezvous point Bon scowled as he read the text. "Shima needs us to stall the train," he said. "Something about rescuing spirits?"
"There's a tree near the road at River Street, we might be able to use that to obstruct it," Konekomaru suggested.
The four Exwires took off at a jog, Tsuzo right behind them looking worried. They weren't even halfway to the tree when they saw the transformed streetcar barreling toward them at top speed.
Tsuzo glanced over her shoulder and saw a gaping maw ripping open the air to swallow the tram. "Bro! Off now!" she shouted as she sprinted toward the tram. She summoned her salamander and he burned a hole where the door had been. Tsuzo leapt on board as it steamed past her.
Without hesitation Rin threw himself in the tram's path. "Damn!" Bon swore, scrambling to unseal Kurikara. a split second before the Tram collided with Rin Bon freed the sword. the low flames Rin had drawn past the seal burst into a raging bonfire. Rin bared his fangs in a determined grimace as he tried to hold the tram back. For a moment it was stopped but the asphalt beneath Rin's feet began to give way, his heels dug furrows in the pavement at the car forced him back toward the gate. A mouth opened in the grill and snapped at Rin.
"Izumo, help Tsuzo get them off," Konekomaru ordered. "Bon, shoot that thing! Eyes, mouth anything that might be a vulnerability. I'm going to throw up a barrier in case Rin can't hold it."
Bon yanked his gun free and started firing. "Don't" he countered. "Rin could be crushed between the tram and your barrier."
Konekomaru glanced away, "Better than losing all of them to Gehenna," he said then started chanting.
Bon gritted his teeth and tucked Kurikara beneath his arm to aim with both hands as he emptied his clip into the raging demon.
On the tram Shima and Tsuzo stood on either side of Shiemi, defending her with their staves while Shiemi concentrated on drawing the spirits in to the lantern plant Nii had produced.
Izumo summoned Mike and Uke. "Help protect Shiemi," Izumo ordered.
The two familiars glanced around at the situation. "Well, I suppose since it's for that girl who was so nice last time…" Mike insinuated as the pair of Byakko joined the formation around Shiemi. Izumo joined Shiemi at the center of the group to avoid splitting their resources as the tram's deck heaved and groaned.
Outside, Rin growled, the blood vessels stood out in stark relief on his neck and arms as his hands sunk into the grill of the street car. The demon tram's breath blew over him, hot and foul, as it roared it's fury at being held back. Then the strain eased. Rin glanced over and saw Amaimon beside him, the green-haired demon's shoulder braced against the tram, helping Rin to hold it back. "Get your own priestess," the Earth King snarled at the possessed Street Car. "This one's mine."
With Both Amaimon and Rin straining against it they managed to shove the Tram back a few inches. Bon reloaded his gun and walked up to the tram. It glared at him with a malevolent eye.
"We're clear!" they heard Shima shout.
From point blank range Bon unloaded his gun directly into the creature's eye. It bucked and fought to get free but Rin and Amaimon held it in place until, finally, with one last shudder it collapsed into dust. The six Exwires, their teacher and the Hell King stared at each other in a moment of mutual relief.
"I got them all, safe and sound," Shiemi declared holding up Nii-chan and the gently glowing lantern plant.
"You take too many risks," Amaimon informed her. "Call on me first next time." Then he turned and walked away.
"Guess he's not in any hurry to get out of your deal after all," Rin remarked.
When the time for Rin's next training session arrived he and Bon entered the gym giving Angel uncertain looks. "I got some paint-pellets from the Shooting Range," Bon said.
"Unnecessary," Angel replied haughtily then hesitated and added, "But the gesture is appreciated."
"They're neon green," Rin informed him with a grin. "I think your stupid outfit is going to look way better when Bon actually hits you." He and Angel both switched to bokkens.
The spar progressed much like the previous sessions with Rin being forced to take damage in order to make openings in Angel's defenses. Bon tried to adapt his barriers to trip Angel up while taking occasional pot shots at him in hopes of catching the Paladin by surprise.
"Block with your sword, not your body," Angel instructed. "Your free hand and feet can still be used as weapons."
"Actually Rin-kun is correct," Mephisto said, revealing himself.
"Spying on me?" Angel asked snidely.
"The Koma Sword is Rin's heart, damage to his limbs is less critical," Mephisto continued.
"Matte," Angel commanded, halting the spar for a moment. He stared at Rin for a long time. "The sheath is also a part of his heart, correct?"
Mephisto nodded.
Angel considered the matter for a bit longer then went to the weapons rack and selected a smaller, lighter bokken. "When you're on missions get rid of the bag and secure your sheath properly. I'll train you to fight with a wakizashi in your off-hand for parrying," he told Rin handing him the second sword.
"Once your swordsmanship has improved you may want to consider carrying a second sword as well and only unsealing Kurikara when in dire straights," Mephisto suggested, approving Angel's tactic. He grinned, "Also you might want to figure out how to draw power past the seal without needing to be in a tizzy… It might be good if you started that right away, as you can't draw Kurikara at the moment anyway."
Rin looked down, uncomfortable with the reminder of his current handicap. Bon scowled at Mephisto. "It doesn't matter," he assured Rin. "We can always draw the sword for you."
Rin shook his head determinedly. "No, he's right, I've got to learn to depend on the sword less. Especially now that I'm too screwed up to unlock my powers myself."
Izumo walked into the Old Dorm's former 1st floor lobby, now the Exwire's favored practice area, carrying a naginata with her. Tsuzo and Shima stopped their staff practice. Izumo bit her lip then took a deep breath. "Can I join you?" she asked. "I've had some training, more for show than for a fight, but I know the basics."
"I didn't know you wanted to go for a Knight Meister," Tsuzo said.
"I don't," Izumo replied. "But Mike and Uke are being a pain, I can't count on them like this. Until this stupid rebellious phase they're going through is dealt with I have to have a back up plan."
"I'll train you as a knight, having more skills never hurt anyone," Tsuzo said. "And Little Brother could use a sparring partner. But you need to work on your relationship with your familiars. I've seen you with them, you need to give something back or they won't want to serve you."
"Mike and Uke are my problem," Izumo snapped. "I just want to know if I'm welcome here."
"Definately!" Shima said enthusiastically. "You gotta wear workout clothes…"
"I think I might have some sweats," Izumo replied, deadpan. She watched Shima's face fall. "Pervert," she said then turned to Tsuzo, "The opportunity to hit him is going to be very good motivation I think."
Shima's older sister laughed. "Welcome to the class," she said. "So little brother, are you motivated not to get hit?"
"Well, I'm not feeling inclined to hold back 'cause she's a girl," Shima replied.