Author's Note: Merry Christmas! (Sorry this took so long to get out. The FF servers were acting up on me earlier.)
Song for Chapter:
Coming Home - Avenged Sevenfold, Hail to the King
Chapter Fourteen: Endgame
Kotone's palm held tight to another's, a group of people fuzzily detected behind her. Their blood mingled and she felt herself grow sicker by the minute. Her other hand reached out to snatch up a nearby body, the heart instead placed in her waiting digits.
"No," wheezed the creature, "not that one."
"But you were strongest as a demon," she hissed, her teeth grinding together.
"I will... not come back... as one..." it hacked again. "Not... that one."
"Give me the other body," growled the wind demoness and another form was kicked into her reach. "I was afraid you would say that and had this psychic ready."
If the beast could smile, he would have, but the emotion was only a mixture of disgusting elements such as dirt and maggots. "Smart... girl..."
The heart was ripped from the barely-alive psychic human at her feet, then thrust heavily into the chest cavity of the beast before her. The female fell backwards, the usual intense pain taking her over. This was no different than the last experience, mainly because the horrible crow demon had refused to help them resurrect a man he had hated so entirely.
Her body was stopped from falling by a clawed hand and when her blurry eyes looked up she made out a mop of wild white hair. For once, it had been Raizen to keep her from the dirt, and as soon as she made the connection the gentle hands of Genkai smothered the wounds on the wind demon's body. The salve mended them as best as it could, but there was hardly any left thanks to all the others that needed it before. The demon males had allowed the two little women to divvy it up between themselves, a gesture they were thankful but silent over.
When she felt she could stand again, a brute of a man stood before her. He was tall, though not as much as when she had first placed her eyes on the male. Of course, back then he had been a demon and much stronger than this form.
It was not Kotone's eyes that he met though, but instead the only other woman around for leagues. Genkai held his stare and soon, they both gave their own lopsided grins.
"Nice to see you alive, Toguro, and without the demon side."
"And what a pleasure to see you back to your old self, Genkai."
Before any more reminiscing could be shared, a new presence made itself known on the island. The barrier of wind she had been mercilessly trying to keep up had flickered away for just long enough for their intruders to slip in, and now the wind demoness was in no condition to fight them. She would have to leave it up to her ragtag crew of demons and humans.
She absolutely hated that idea...
"How many?" came the quiet growl from Kotone's lips.
"Three." Yuji opened his usually closed eyes, the brilliant blue orbs scanning the distance. "I would say they are familiar youkis, save one, but I cannot be sure."
"Alright, Kuronue come with me. Yuji, take care of things here. No one else needs to follow."
Obediently- though, there was quite a bit of protest and huffs- the group stayed behind while the bat demon took the wounded wind apparition from Raizen's grasp. She nodded her thanks to the former king and soon, she was flying low over the trees and towards the energy signals.
They came to the edge of the sea, near an outcropping of towering cliffs, and found the three they had felt invade their defenses. Kuronue shielded Kotone from view the moment the newcomers turned to look at him. The wind demoness had not seen the three well enough, thanks to her waning vision, and was forced to remain silent and secured by a set of powerful wings.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Kuronue called to them, his hand resting on his scythe.
The three of them looked worse for wear, that much was certain. One was a brute of a demon, his muscles defined and certainly as tall as his old thieving partner. His hair was white and his eyes- unnerving as they were to look at- were a ghostly green that seemed to glow even in the sunlight.
The next was a shorter male with molten gold eyes and long black hair. He wore the garb of a samurai and carried a slender figure in his arms. From the white ears and tail, it was obvious the female was a fox demon, and an old one at that.
"We could ask you the same damn question!" The smaller male handed the injured woman off to the brute. "This woman was told to fucking come here to meet one of our friends. If you've done something to her, I swear I'll disem-fucking-bowel you!"
Kuronue's wings twitched and Kotone struggled within, trying to rip at the delicate flesh that could bring him airborne. He reluctantly unfolded them and she leapt from his back, wavering on her feet and glowering at him.
"Batty, if you ever, and I mean ever try to hold me up in those things again when you need a damn bath, I will rip them apart with my teeth!" Kotone smacked him, but the gesture was aching and she nearly fell from the effort. "Ugh..."
"Ko?" Hajime made a beeline towards the redhead. Daiki was just a step behind the lumbering oaf after setting the fox demon on her feet. "Kotone!" He picked her up in his massive arms, careful not to squeeze the female, showering her with all the affection he could. The brute had missed his best friend, save Daiki of course, and had been worried sick over if she was well.
"Haji, it's lovely to see you too, but I'm a bit worse for wear. Put me down," she grumbled, and when he obeyed Daiki was cautiously placing his arms around the shorter demoness. "Hello Daiki. Seems you haven't lost your mouth in the time I've been gone."
"It's only been three weeks," he snorted. "Anyways, Ko, we got the damn fox you told us to bring, but who the hell is that guy and why is he so fucking familiar with you?"
The warring eyes locked on Kuronue again, giving the bat demon an opportunity to grace the group with his lopsided grin. Kotone rubbed her forehead at his antics and sighed.
"This is Kuronue-"
"Wait, Youko's dead partner?" Hajime eyed the bat nervously. "Ko, he's dead. This demon is clearly not."
"There's too much explaining involved and I have business to attend to. Give me a few moments." The redhead stalked shakily around the duo and towards the regal fox demoness. She narrowed her eyes at the pretty female, surveying her up and down until her eyes rested on the vines at her waist. "You were injured."
"And so are you," replied the female. "Hatsukichi, as asked." When Kotone went to introduce herself, the fox demoness held a single hand up. "I know who you are, Kotone Kaze Tsukai. Your name has been a legend in Makai for as long as I care to remember, along with dear Hajime and Daiki." She gave a fond smile to her previous companions. "They have taken excellent care of me."
"Yeah, I can see that." Kotone motioned towards the vines at the demon's waist. "I suppose you tripped, then?"
Hatsukichi chuckled. "Imp's are sneaky little bastards, aren't they?"
Hajime, Kuronue, and Daiki gazed on as a secret little bond was formed between the two powerhouses, their laughter soon ringing like bells. Kotone moved closer to the much taller fox and helped support her, as comical as it was since the wind demoness was close to toppling herself.
"That was fast." Hajime shrugged. "Perhaps Hatsu only makes allies quickly with females."
"Even in Makai, it's harder to seduce a damn woman if you're the same," Daiki huffed. "That, and Hatsu isn't serving up poisoned fucking food."
Kuronue, choosing to ignore the two, made his way to the pained females and called over to the other two. "I don't know your names really, but I think we need to get them somewhere to rest."
"Daiki and Hajime," the brute offered and hurried over. He took Hatsukichi into his arms while Daiki shoved Kuronue out of the way, gathering up the wind demoness.
"Back to camp, Kuronue," instructed the redhead. "Dai, Haji, please don't be alarmed and keep your damn mouths shut. I've done a lot in the time since I've seen you two."
"Got it, boss," Daiki replied sarcastically, but gave her a smile.
"This is about to get interesting." Kuronue shook his head and ran through the tree line.
~:.:{Live Again, All Roads End, I'll Be Coming Home}:.:~
The moment the group broke into the clearing that housed the current campsite for the undead, all hell broke loose.
Daiki sheltered Kotone behind him as Hajime did the same to Hatsu, their eyes set on only one man. Yuji stared at them in shock, speechless for one of the first times in either of his lives. The other two were not so lucky.
"I'll kill you if you take one fucking step, you lying fucking scum!" Daiki snarled so ferociously, the hair on the back of everyone's necks stood on end.
"I have first dibs on ripping off his head! You were supposed to be buried!" Hajime was in no better shape than the fire apparition.
"What the hell is going on now?" Raizen hissed, crossing his arms expectantly.
"I said to keep your damn mouths shut!" Kotone screamed, the sound causing the wind to pick up and try to throw the entire group. Everything went eerily silent and she stepped from behind her supposed protector. "Would you listen for a whole minute and stop this madness before I get angry?"
In respect for their old captain and long-time friend, Hajime and Daiki ground their teeth together to keep quiet. She took the time to stride over to Yuji, lifting the lightning demon's arms and pointing.
"Do you see that blasted sword?" When no response came, she repeated her question. "I said, do you see that damned sword?!"
"No," hissed the brute.
"Then let me explain. Obviously you're confused."
"I'd say so." Genkai moved up beside the demoness. "Hey, shitheads."
"Wait a minute..." Daiki stared in disbelief. "That can't be the old hag. There's no way. She's not hot!"
"Oh for the love of..." Kotone threw her hands in the air and stomped over to a recently clothed Toguro. The resurrected human stared at her curiously, eyes hard. "Toguro, the once dead demon that is no longer dead and now human again."
Kotone continued her rant by moving towards Raizen. "Raizen, Yusuke's ancestral father and supposedly dead former king of Tourin." She pointed to Genkai next, "Genkai SUPPOSEDLY dead psychic we all know and love." Following that, she stalked over to Karasu and maintained a healthy distance, "Karasu, SUPPOSED-FUCKING-LY dead crow demon from the Dark Tournament. Still an ass, but NOT DEAD. Do you see where I'm going with this?!"
Kuronue and Yuji were her last two, "And Kuronue, SUPPOSEDLY DEAD partner of Youko Kurama. Yuji... Well if you don't get it from here I really, really don't know why I'm friends with the two of you."
"So you mean to tell me..." Hajime blinked stupidly, not quite gathering all of the information.
"They aren't dead. How the fuck aren't they dead?" Daiki threw an accusing finger out towards Yuji. "I HELPED BURY YOU!"
"For the love of Makai..." Kotone fell back, still too close to the crow demon, and sat heavily on a log. "Someone, anyone, take this."
"Kotone has brought us back," Yuji answered softly. "I am not the wicked apparition I was before I died. I cannot speak for some of the others," he glanced at Karasu, "but I am not evil. We are joining this war."
"I need to sit down." And Hajime did, after making sure Hatsukichi was not behind him. The fox placed a hand on his shoulder, wavering on her feet.
"Well, I certainly did not expect this," Hatsu mumbled under her breath, but everyone caught it.
"Someone else finish explaining. Genkai, Hatsu, come with me please. Kuronue, Yuji, keep the peace. Toguro, put some damn clothes on. They probably won't fit right, but there's a pair of pants in my pack," said the wind demoness as she stood and exited the campsite. She heard two sets of feet cautiously following behind her.
Once Kotone was sure they were far enough away to be unheard when speaking quietly, she stopped and motioned Hatsu closer. The fox demon lay down in front of her when asked and Genkai immediately set to work on healing her.
"Remove the vines, girl."
Hatsu did as she was told, soon replaced by a set of practiced hands. The psychic, though slightly drained from Toguro's resurrection, easily patched up her wounds to a point where they would not reopen if placed under stressed.
"Thank you, revered Genkai." Hatsukichi sat up once more and turned to look at Kotone. "What is it you need to speak to me of? I know it must be important to send your loyal friends into my den."
Kotone nodded and leaned heavily against a tree for support. She was exhausted and the blearing sun did not help much. "I have a mission for you, Hatsukichi, and one that can only be done by the fox clan and their plant magic."
A tiny sack was tossed to the female, and only when she opened it did she gasp in awe. "Do you know what these are?"
"Extremely rare and blah, blah, blah. Kurama lectured me already," Kotone grumbled. "I've set a few out, but as you can tell I have my hands full with these idiots running around."
"Watch your mouth, shit for brains," Genkai huffed, her playful tone masked perfectly.
"Shut up, old bitch." Kotone rolled her eyes but smiled at the psychic, "Anyways, I need these set around the entire length of Makai, and I need it done in two and a half months."
"That's a short time and a large workload for me," Hatsu snorted.
"But not that large for a group, eh?"
Hatsukichi's eyes lightened in understand and the fox demon nodded. "I understand. Tell me, Kotone, if you honestly believe this will work. What are you exactly using it for?"
"That is my business for now, but you will get answers soon." The wind demoness stood tall, wavering on her feet and regretting the movement. "I just need you to do this for me. Youko asks for your help as well, if it makes a difference. He knows of this part of the plan, but not of what you just witnessed."
"You want me to keep these undead creatures a secret. Easy enough. Fox demons are rather curious, and I will uphold to my end if you will simply tell me everything when this is done. I want to know everything. Even about that power that makes you so different from other kaze dai youkais."
Kotone ceased her movement and set a hard look on the fox demon. "Genkai, what do you think? I didn't just call you here for diaper-changing duty."
"We don't have much of a choice, now do we?" The younger 'old hag' leaned back on her elbows. "Tomorrow, we start training and we won't have any time to spare on this little side quest."
"Fine, I agree to your terms. But I will only divulge when this war is over." A hand was offered to the fox demoness and she took it gratefully. "Deal?"
"Deal. But I'm afraid I will need an escort to get me back to my den safely. The wounds are not completely healed, and due to the poison of an imps claws, my youki will be working overtime to seal them up before I arrive."
"Fine, have Hajime and Daiki escort you back, but be warned of something, Hatsukichi. I do not like deceit, and should you turn your back on me or this war, I will kill not only you, but every last member of your clan."
Kotone was dead serious.
She had too much to lose in this war.
And Hatsu knew that...
"Soon enough, this war would back our clan into a corner anyways. I find this to simply be a matter of choosing the right side." The fox demon grinned and said, "Don't worry, I know you'll make good on your threats. A legend brought to life before my very eyes... As much as I would love to see it, I would rather it not be on my clan. A deal has been made."
"Good. Hajime and Daiki will remain with you to make sure you're being truthful."
The three women stood as one and made their way back towards the campsite. Daiki, Hajime, and Hatsu would rest, eat, and prepare themselves for their journey back in the meantime. Tomorrow, they would leave at dawn.
Next in 'Revelation, Defamation':
On Kotone's side, things were going perfectly as planned, but for others that was hardly the case. Jin and Touya get the opportunity to meet up with the Wind Clan before continuing their frivolous hunt for Jin's sister, but their luck was hardly the worst. The four teenagers had moved on to the Fire Clan, and things were not looking good. Especially considering their bloodied bodies and shackled limbs.