Disclaimer: I don't own any of the intellectual properties referenced in this fanmade work, nor is this a for profit work.
Chapter 1: A Chiseled Base
"Keep your footing steady, Caelum! Focus on your surroundings and the fight at hand!"
I almost rolled my eyes at her advice, but it would have given away the plan. Instead, I pretended to slip on a patch of mud, seemingly over adjusting due to her warning. It was as if time slowed down. As I fell backwards I could make out the disappointed, yet relieved look in my mother's eyes. I could see her exposed muscles tense as she rushed forward to swing her sword at my airborne frame. Even the slight movements of the wispy aura coating her body didn't escape my eyes.
I waited, and waited, then as she closed the gap I enacted the second half of my plan. She stepped forward to swing into my open guard, but I caught myself on the ground using my left hand and twisted my hip. My right foot slammed into her side, and a loud crack filled the air as the white aura covering her body dissipated.
Yet I knew that wouldn't be enough, so I pushed forward into step three. I completed my spin, stabbing my sword into the ground as leverage as I finished. My kick had launched my mother backwards, even if her Touki had blocked most of the initial impact, so I used my continued momentum to launch myself forward after her.
As I flipped in the air, I pulled my legs in tight to my body then ax-kicked downwards. My foot slammed down into her hand, slamming it into the ground and forcing her to release her sword. Then, I dug my heel into her wrist and used it to launch myself forward again, ignoring the loud snap that sounded off as I went.
"Got you!" I cheered as I slammed into her, tackling her down to the ground. She groaned from the impact, which knocked the air out of her lungs, but I knew she would be fine. Especially since she hated when I lost my focus during our spars due to a sense of concern. Of course she always found it hard to blindside me due to my own powers, but I understood the point she was making. So I continued to hold her down until she tapped my wrist.
"You pretended to stumble?" She asked after she caught her breath. I just smirked at her and held out a hand to help her up. She pouted at me, but accepted my offer.
"You still need to work on your swordsmanship. Relying on trickery, or enhanced strength won't be enough to win every battle."
I rolled my eyes at her rebuke, since it was an age old argument between us, but responded as I always did.
"Give me a break, Mom. You already limited me from using everything else. That was all skill in comparison to how I usually fight. And I've already told you, swords just aren't my thing. Maybe if you would let me try another weapon…" I trailed off with an expectant look, but she just stuck her nose up at me and turned away.
Normally I would be offended if someone else pulled the same move, but firstly, this was my mom, and secondly, I knew that it was only a cover for her own embarrassment. Seeing her wince and grab her limp wrist, I sighed and grabbed her shoulder.
I focused for a moment, then summoned some of my physical energy and pushed it into her body. A yellow shroud of energy covered her from head to toe, similar to the wispy one she had during our fight. She relaxed as my energy healed her wounds and soothed her fatigue, but I kept a steady eye on her in case it missed something.
"And like I have already told you, swords are part of your heritage! You have no need for any other weapon! Except, perhaps, a bow." She weakly finished.
Her shoulders slumped as she wrapped her arms around herself, and I could practically feel the rising tension. Every reminder of my father put her into this sort of mood. A mix of sadness, grief, anger, fear, and hope. So I did the only thing I could to drag her out of it. Something I should have done a long time ago.
"He's dead." My mother spun around in shock at my words, but I continued before I could take them back.
"Surprising to hear from me, right? I spent years vehemently arguing with you and Tsubaki over it. Running off in tears and causing you both pain because I couldn't accept the truth. It's gotten to the point that even you have begun to question yourself due to how quickly you wrote him off in comparison to me. But enough is enough." I sighed and pulled a few lingering strands of hair away from my forehead as I looked up at the blue sky.
I used to dream of living in a world like this, or, well, he used to. He used to fantasize day and day out about the chance to make fantasy his reality. Yet while moments like these looked so cool on the big screen, living them for myself only brought me more pain.
"When I ran away and found myself trapped by that stray, all I could think about were Tsubaki's words to me. Yeah, they were ill-intentioned. She was clearly provoking me into another argument. Yet sometimes the words that hurt the most are ones that carry a grain of truth." I admitted as I took a deep breath and looked my mother in her eyes.
I could still see the gravesite he used to visit. The flowers he reverently placed on her name every week. The hours he spent telling her about his day. Even the numerous times he broke down and asked why God had to take her away from him, or how he wished for just one more day to enjoy what he had taken for granted.
"And so I decided to make a change. No longer would I waste away the time I have been given. No longer would I allow myself to add onto the weight my family had been forced to bear due to my own weakness. I promised myself that I would become a warrior that my father would have been proud to fight beside, and a man that he would have been proud to have raised."
I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, then pulled her into a tight hug. I could feel her tears soaking into my shirt, but I pushed on.
"Dad's dead, Mom, and it's time we accepted that. He sacrificed himself so we would have the chance to live. Not so I could spend years wasting away in grief. Or for you to grow to doubt the love you had for him. Dad would have wanted you to move on, and I'm sorry it took this long for me to understand that. I'm sorry it took even longer for me to admit that."
My mom's sobbing filled the clearing as I held her close, trying my best to hold back my own tears. I just wished that the other member of our little family was there to hear them, even if she owed us her own apology in turn.
Even still, the gut-wrenching guilt and grief that filled me whenever I saw the image of that grave in my mind's eye slowly dissipated. A weight that had been on my shoulders since the day I woke up with unfamiliar memories lessened, and for once I felt like I had truly made some real progress towards my goals. What I had told my mother was just two of the many promises I had made to myself. There was still much more for me to do. More for me to achieve.
The world was much larger than I had initially thought, and my heritage was a double edged sword in that matter. Thankfully, I had been blessed with the power to pull off what I would need to do.
"Come on, Mom, let's get back home. I still need to study for that stupid entrance exam. Then we'll be one step closer to completing our little family." I promised as I pulled away from her.
"Y-Yes. Right. Well, just this once I will allow you to take us the fast way. Don't take that as me allowing you to teleport willy-nilly, Mister!" She stuttered, slapping me on the back of my head when I laughed at her.
Ignoring the angry pout she was giving me, I summoned some more of my physical energy and wrapped it around my mother and I. With a thought, we were displaced from our little practice area in the forest nearby and appeared back inside of our house.
-Tsukika Shinra-
"I'm going in the shower first, Mom! Then I'm heading off to see Kunou! Don't wait up, since knowing her she'll force me to study until midnight." Caelum called over his shoulder as he ran to the bathroom.
Tsukika shook her head at his retreating form, having seen him sneak his things into the bathroom before they left to train for the day. She decided to let her son have his fun, while she headed into her room for her own meeting. She slowly walked down the hallway, making sure Caelum had already turned on the water as she went, then headed straight into her room. As she shut and locked the door behind her, she wasn't surprised to hear a voice speak up from within the room.
"How was his training? Has he made any more advancements?"
Tsukika turned around to face the voice, already recognizing who it was. She wasn't surprised to see her boss-turned-friend was already there waiting for her, even if she wished that they could at least try to enter her house the traditional way.
"He has continued to make large strides, though it may be time to have him tested for other forms of weaponry. His skill in utilizing a sword has only seen marginal increases during our past few sessions. Perhaps there is some truth in his asinine claims." Tsukika reluctantly conceded. She watched as her friend stretched across the bed, splaying their tails out as if they owned the mattress they were laying on.
"Bah, you put too much stock into your family's history of sword usage. Did you not say his father used a bow of all things as his primary weapon? Why, I wouldn't be caught dead using such, even if I were blessed to have one of Goddess' Sterling Clear sacred gears."
Tsukika shook her head at her friend's terrible joke and continued her report, putting emphasis on her son's increased dexterity, physical strength, and situational awareness as she went.
"...even better, he continues to display such a high level of proficiency without the usage of his powers to enhance his abilities. By now, the only area I would say he is lacking in would be experience." Tsukika finished with a proud smile. Not many could claim to have trained an individual to reach at least low High Class status within just a few months, and that was only including her son's most basic mental and physical capabilities.
"I am glad to hear such. That means you believe he is ready for the test?"
"Yes, Lady Magari. Caelum should be sufficiently prepared for anything you throw his way." Tsukika promised, instinctually straightening up at the serious tone of her friend's words. She suppressed a shiver at the bloodthirsty grin that stretched across the seven tailed calico cat's face as they rose up from her bed.
"Good, then come with us. I'm sure you would enjoy the chance to see your son in action, no?"
Tsukika turned around to see a short elderly man step forward from the corner of her room, along with a tall blonde woman dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit. Tsukika didn't know whether to bow or kneel at the sight of the nine tails that swayed behind the other woman, and settled for gaping at the duo.
"I told you that she would be unprepared for your dramatics, Lord Nurarihyon. Perhaps next time we could do things my way?" Yasaka offered with a giggle.
"Bah, you women and your need to play house. A boy is about to become a man and you want to discuss it over a tea party." Nurarihyon grunted as he walked over to Tsukika. A large magic circle appeared on the ground underneath his feet and he gestured for the others to join him.
"We'll see about allowing him to become a man after the test. And don't think that just because he's study-buddies with your daughter means that the East won't be the ones to do it, Yasaka." Magari challenged with a grin, baring her sharp teeth at her rival.
"I guess we may just have to see about that. Good luck producing anyone who can top my daughter's pedigree." Yasaka teased back, taking delight in the way Magari's tails flailed in dissatisfaction.
Tsukika sighed at the debate, but chose to silently join them in the magic circle rather than correct them in their thinking that her son would ever jump to sleep with a random youkai hussy. Even if it meant that she could have some grandbabies to spoil even earlier than she expected.
'No! Caelum will hold to our family's traditions! A minimum of a 3 year period of courting, then a shared first kiss underneath the moonlight on their wedding day!' Tsukika thought in satisfaction, ignoring how she never held herself to the same standard.
None of the three women noticed the exasperated expression Nurarihyon wore as he teleported them to the planned ambush site.
-10 minutes later, Caelum Seren-
I slowly navigated through the streets of Kyoto to head towards my destination. It was such a relief to finally have that conversation with my mother, but it only motivated me to continue studying so I could have the same one with my wayward sister.
"Hopefully things haven't changed too much. Or at least, hopefully that didn't change." I muttered to myself as I turned off the beaten path and walked down a sidestreet.
I left the crowded main roads behind to cut the back alleys of the outer edge of the city. The prospect of going through such shady areas alone should have frightened me, but I knew differently.
Each person I passed offered me a slight nod, or a friendly wave. Some were wearing large hats, or long flowing robes, but each of them still had distinctive features that identified them as differing from the norm. Some had exposed canines. Others had slit pupils. I could even spot the odd tail peaking through the bottom of some people's robes.
This section of the city was close to where the entrance to Urakyoto, or the home of the West Youkai Faction, was placed, and as such youkai set up shop to guard the area. There were various shops scattered about to disguise the true nature of the area, but it was still vastly deserted in comparison to the rest of the city.
I smiled at the sight of several large armored guards standing outside of a small bakery at the end of the road. Considering who I was going to meet, I was surprised that there were only a handful of them. Still, I took my time in heading over to avoid alarming them.
"Hey, I'm here to meet Princess. I'm assuming she's already inside?" I asked as I came to a stop in front of the small contingent.
I waited for the guards to finish their visual inspection. One of the armored guards leaned closer to smell me, while another pointed a magic circle at me and focused on the holographic readout projected by the circle. I tried to ignore the chills that ran down my spine as I allowed the guard's youki to wash over my body. Lucky for me, the sound of the other guard's panting was enough to distract me.
"Nekomata?" I asked as I calmly held the guard back by their helmet when they tried to lean in and wrap their arms around me. I had multiple odd experiences with the few nekomata that I had run into over the past few months. Apparently, I smelled very interesting to them. One had even described me as good enough to eat, literally.
"Another prank from Lady Magari. You're clear, kid. And a word of advice, good luck." The guard who was holding up the magic circle said as they waved their hand, dissipating the holographic readout.
"Oh! I can lead him to little Kunou! This way, handsome!" The frisky guard, who was apparently there as a prank from Magari, stepped forward and opened the door to the bakery. I hesitated for a moment instead of instantly following behind her. I could feel my instincts blaring in warning at me, yet the danger seemed real in comparison to the minor annoyances that set it off when I sparred with my mother.
The words of luck from the other guard ran through my mind, and I decided to take a gamble. I slowly channeled some of my spiritual energy into my head as I exhaled, pretending as if I was trying to settle my nerves. As I relaxed, I took note of the emotions and life forces I felt around me.
The nekomata guard, who was currently waiting for me at the door, and the guard who warned me immediately stood out as outliers. The guard who warned me was strong, yet at the same time I could also feel slight amounts of guilt and amusement flowing through them. The nekomata guard, on the other hand, was a rolling ball of conflicting emotions. Wariness, lust, sadness, and anger were just a few of the things I could pick out, but those emotions were dampened by the strength of her life force. If the other guard's life force roared like the flames of a furnace, her life force blazed like a bonfire.
'This must be some sort of test. But why here? And why now? And who is this other guard that they would not only be aware of Magari's machinations, but confident enough that they could warn me without fearing some sort of punishment?' I thought as I followed behind the mischievous nekomata and let her lead me toward Kunou.
I kept a close eye on her emotions in preparation for any signs of aggression, but she seemed content to ramble about how I smelled interesting and her own theories as to why that was. As we approached the private booth Kunou had demanded be added to her favorite bakery, I was surprised to feel two life force signatures inside of the room rather than one. Even more concerning, one of those signatures felt extremely similar to the one the guard currently guiding me possessed.
My suspicions were confirmed when the guard opened the door and I was greeted with the sight of Kunou feeding a short white haired girl candy. I only had a moment to take in the cat ears peeking out of her hair, along with the tail that was lazily swaying behind her, before I heard a loud sigh.
"Well, I guess the jig is up. Ugh, damnit Shirone, this wasn't part of the plan!" The guard said as they pulled their helmet off and tossed it onto the floor.
"Candy. Good." The white haired girl simply replied, but I was more focused on the black haired beauty that was stripping out of her armor. Mostly because of the spikes of aggression I could feel her letting out, which strangely enough were directed at me rather than her sister.
"Well, I guess that means I can skip straight to the fun part!" She cheered as she pulled off the rest of the armor. I blankly stared at Kuroka, someone who I was pretty sure was supposed to be a criminal on the run at the moment, and glanced over at her sister, who was also supposed to be somewhere else at the moment, then groaned to myself.
"Whatever this is, can we make this quick? I actually do need to stud- woah!" I ducked as Kuroka dashed at me and swiped at my head. Her claws hissed through the air and barely missed my hair, but she was quick to readjust. She kept the pressure up, staying in close and continuously swiping at me from multiple angles.
"Hey! Don't fight inside my favorite restaurant! Take it outside you two!" Kunou chastised as she fed Shirone another piece of candy.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about this?" I asked in turn. Kunou winced at my question, but a close shave from my opponent's sharp claws forced my attention away from her and back onto the fight.
"You know, when you're engaged in combat you should keep your attention on your opponent!" Kuroka warned as she sped at me again, completely ignoring Kunou's words.
I just rolled my eyes and continued to dodge her attacks. While she had a point, I knew she was just trying to distract me from the real battlefield. Throughout the entire fight, I could feel a foreign energy source constantly trying to invade my body. Knowing who I was fighting, it was easy for me to figure out what she was planning on doing. Unluckily for her, I was one of her worst counters. At least, for this plan I was.
"If you want to catch me in an illusion, you're going to have to use something a bit better than that." I calmly said as I weaved around her blows. We had barely moved from our starting point right outside of the private booth, but that was mainly because I barely needed to move to dodge her attacks. She was clearly putting more effort into trying to capture me in an illusion rather than focusing on her physical attacks.
"Oh really?" She challenged, and I could immediately feel her attempts intensify. So I decided to prove my own point.
I allowed her youki to settle within my body, and calmly watched as my surroundings morphed. The environment changed to a familiar graveyard, and I found myself standing underneath a large sakura tree. A large headstone greeted me, and I couldn't help but reminisce over the time I had spent through the years coming here.
'No, the time he spent through the years coming here in the search for answers. For contentment. For reassurance. For a release from the hell he found himself in.' I mentally amended.
As I was distracted by the headstone, the limbs of the sakura tree morphed and elongated. They reached down and wrapped around me, trapping me inside their embrace. Kuroka rose from out of the tree, and I could feel her sharp nails pressing against my neck.
"Hmph. What was it you were saying earlier? Something about me needing to try harder?" Kuroka teased, softly whispering into my ear. Yet her sensual tone had disappeared. In its stead was a steely tone filled with the intent to kill. Yet even then, all I could feel was excitement.
The danger felt real. My opponent was someone out of my usual sparring partner's league. The situation was even set up with the perfect excuse for me to go all out. Yeah, I could tell that there was something else going on, Kunou and the other guard had practically confirmed it, but I couldn't let the opportunity pass up. This was my chance to get a real idea of where I stood.
'Sorry Kuroka, but I'm sure you'll be fine!'
-Kuroka-
'Another brat with a big head. I wonder what Mistress saw in this one?' Kuroka thought in disappointment. She was impressed by his speed and dexterity, but it's not like she was going all out in their relatively short close-range engagement. Suddenly, she was stunned to see his head twist around 180 degrees. His face was still held in a perfectly blank mask as he addressed her.
"That if you want to catch me in an illusion, you're going to have to use something a bit better. But perhaps I overestimated your capabilities if this is all you could manage," he said before his body burst into a murder of crows.
Kuroka quickly found herself surrounded by a tornado of black feathers, and the graveyard her technique had crafted disappeared. She blinked, then found herself binded to a large cross. The sky had changed into a blood red, and the scarlet moon that hung in the sky was even larger than normal. She tried to break the illusion by pulsing her youki, but was surprised to feel no difference.
'H-Huh? Impossible! How the hell is he-' She was cut off from her introspection as she felt something brush against her feet. She looked down to the kid brushing a large feather against her naked soles. He was even giving her the same calm look he had held the entire time.
"72 Hours. For the next 72 hours, you will be stuck at my tender mercy. Prepare yourself." The kid warned as he continued to brush the feather against her bare feet.
"This is your big plan? Reverse my illusion, then what? Tickle me to death?" Kuroka asked in disbelief.
She couldn't help but laugh at the idiocy on display, but when she started laughing she quickly noticed that she wasn't able to stop. Her stomach contracted and her lungs began to burn as her laughs turned hysterical, and yet she couldn't control it. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and her entire body tensed as she laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
'W-Why can't I control my body? What sort of illusion is this?' She thought in disbelief.
She tried again and again to break the illusion, but nothing seemed to work. Pulsing her youki. Circulating it. Compressing it. Nothing. Her attempts to manipulate her energy in different ways all ended in failure.
She wasn't sure whether it was because there was some sort of disconnect between her mind and body, or whether the kid's energy was just that potent that she had no hope in successfully flushing it out. She even tried to utilize her life energy instead, but the connection felt muffled, or muted in a sense.
Throughout it all, for what felt like hours on end, she continued to laugh like a madwoman. Her throat became sore, and her voice was strained from her continuous screams of delight, and yet she continued to laugh like there was no tomorrow. Suddenly, he stopped. Kuroka gasped in relief as her body finally began to relax.
"71 Hours, 59 Minutes, and 59 Seconds to go." A voice whispered into her ear. She weakly looked around, and was shocked to see dozens of copies of the kid surrounding her with large feathers.
"No…" She weakly begged, feeling her stomach begin to contract again.
'Impossible! For all of that to only have lasted an instant? What sort of illusionary mastery has he gained?! Did Mistress set me up?!'
Her lungs strained with each wheezing breath, and her vision began to swim due to the tears flowing down her face. Her throat quickly became dry, and the sweet relief that had formerly filled her tense body was replaced with a bone deep weariness as her laughing fit started back up.
"NO!" She screamed as her laughter increased. She could feel the feathers of his clones closing in on her. Her screams reached a fever pitch, but just as she thought her restraint was going to give out on her everything stopped.
She blinked, and found herself back in the bakery rolling around on the ground. She looked up to see her little sister trying to hold her down with a look of concern, but what really set her off was the conceited little brat looking at her with the same blank look on his face. Yet as she looked closer, she could make out a smug gleam in his eyes.
"You!" Kuroka angrily bit out, pushing her sister to the side as she got up and raced towards the little brat.
"Me. Though you could just call me by my name instead. It's Caelum, by the way. No wait, you guys say things backwards here right? So it's Seren, but you could just call me Caelum." He cheerily offered as he jumped back out of her reach.
Kuroka ignored his teasing and continued to chase him down. Her eyes narrowed when he dashed through the lobby of the bakery and out of the front door. She rushed off behind him, ignoring the sounds of the people she could hear following them.
"Quit running, coward! I only want to talk!" Kuroka demanded as she dropped onto all fours and tried to pounce on him.
"No way! Though I'm surprised you want to talk, I thought you preferred to laugh?" Caelum innocently asked as he narrowly dodged her attempt to jump on him.
Kuroka frowned at his retreating frame, realizing he was leading her into the forest that surrounded the outskirts of the city. She hurried to follow him before he could lose her in the woods, but was surprised to see him waiting for her in a large and open clearing.
"Now that the first test is finished, how about we move on to the second? I think we can count the Illusionary Arts as a pass. So maybe we should go for weapons based combat next? Or do you want to jump straight into hand-to-hand? Unless you would prefer hand-in-hand?" Caelum offered, but Kuroka was done playing his games. She launched herself at him with a screech. Her nails extended to the size of small daggers, but he was still able to dodge her attacks with the same ease in which he had back in the cafe.
"Weapons it is! Though, and I'm going to be honest here, I kind of only have experience with a sword. Which I'm also pretty uncomfortable using." Caelum rambled as he flicked his arm.
Kuroka's instincts blared and she jumped back, but she was surprised to see a gleaming silver gauntlet manifest itself on his right arm. It didn't stay for long, as a katana appeared in his open hand, but the gauntlet disappeared.
"Here kitty." Caelum taunted, and Kuroka was more than happy to oblige.
She raced towards the boy to continue their engagement, but found herself surprised by how easily he was able to match her. He jumped between sword styles, sometimes holding one arm behind his back as he fenced her. Other times he gripped the sword in with both hands and rapidly crashed his blade against her nails in a whirlwind of slashes.
"See what I mean? So many different styles, but none of them really feel right, you know? Like they're all lacking something."
"Shut the hell up and fight me, you arrogant brat!" Kuroka demanded. She tried to stab her nails into his torso during his rant, but he easily deflected her jab.
It took her a few moments to realize, but the entire time that he had been fighting her, not once did he actively attempt to harm her. Sure, he swung at her nails, but that was it. He never pressed her openings, or pushed past her guard. Instead, he seemed content to continuously match her as he moved from style to style.
"Enough!" Kuroka screamed as she let her ki flow through her. A white aura manifested around her body, and manipulated it to extend over her elongated claws. With a malicious grin, Kuroka dashed forward and swiped at Caelum's sword.
'Let's see how smug he is when I cut him to ribbons! First I'll get rid of his- what?' She paused at the sound of her claws clashing against his sword.
An odd screeching noise echoed around the clearing, as if something was grinding into something else. At first, she thought her Touki enhanced nails were finally cutting through his blade, but instead she was surprised to see his sword cutting into her nails! She moved to disengage from the blade lock, but it was already too late. His sword chopped her extended claws off of her right hand.
"Impossible! How the heck did you- GAH!" Kuroka hurried to raise her left arm to block the sudden strike, but the smirk on Caelum's face only hammered in her realization.
'Shit! I forgot that he's only been fighting defensively! This is exactly what he wanted!' Kuroka thought, disappointed in herself for losing her head and falling for his trick, again.
She thought he was taking advantage of her surprise in an attempt to kill her, instead he read her reaction and was pushing to disarm her. She gazed forlornly at her severed claws, both sets of them now, then glared up at Caelum. Yet as she looked up, she was able to catch sight of the odd phenomenon happening to his sword.
'It's dripping water onto the ground? Is he using the water to enhance its cutting potential? But how?!' She thought in disbelief.
"So, I guess that's bladed or weapons based combat down. How about some more good ol' hand-to-hand, close quarters combat? Or maybe you could cut the bullshit and we can both really cut loose?" Caelum challenged as he stabbed his sword into the ground. Kuroka growled at his arrogant words, and decided to hell with the original plan.
"Fine! I'm going to enjoy showing you your place!" Kuroka angrily spat out.
With an errant thought her aura of Touki reignited, blazing even brighter than before. She started things off this time by taking in a deep breath, and with a long exhale she blew out a purple mist that rapidly covered the battlefield. She followed up on her opener by crouching to touch the ground, which instantly shifted. Large amounts of mud rose up to replace the grass around the clearing, but she paid the patches near her no mind. She continued her combination by rapidly punching the air, letting off blasts of ki towards where she could sense Caelum's life force standing stationary across the battlefield.
'Lets see that little shit compete with this! One breath of my poison mist, or one hit from these, and he'll be out like a light!' Kuroka thought in satisfaction, but was surprised when she heard her blasts connect with something yet felt no change in her enemy's aura.
Before she could investigate further, a burst of wind slammed into her. She was unprepared for the attack, and went flying towards the edge of the clearing. She was able to catch herself on the trunk of a tree before she slammed into it, but froze before she could attempt to re-engage.
A heavy aura filled the air and weighed down on her shoulders. It was as if she was stuck back in the illusion, when her body had refused to respond to her mental commands. She shivered at the feeling of a cold chill running down her spine, and her carefully suppressed nekomata instincts perked up at the feeling of an apex predator nearby.
She couldn't help the trembling that filled her legs as she took in the massive crater that filled the clearing, along with the opening in the clouds above. Even the trees surrounding her were still waving around, caught in the whirlwind that swirled around the clearing.
In the middle of the crater stood the strong frame of her opponent, glaring over at her as if she were beneath him. She could feel the fight in her give out in the face of his strength. It was as if he was pressing on her with a manifestation of his will, or his determination given form. Even worse, there was an odd tinge of power backing up the heavy presence. As if it was only natural for her to kneel to him. To honor him. To worship him.
She unconsciously dropped down onto her knees and let go of her ki, allowing her Touki to dissipate. She couldn't help but glance up at him with a sense of respect, since the raw power it would have taken for him to accomplish such a feat was beyond even her.
She couldn't help but glance at his raised arm, taking delight at the way his tensed muscles gleamed under the beam of sunlight that was focused onto him. She hungrily took in the way his torn sleeve drifted in the whirlwind, slowly breaking apart with each passing moment until only dust remained. Clouded thoughts of desire filled her mind, but she was broken from her trance when several figures appeared behind her.
"Now do you see why I saw fit to teach him how to fight with a modicum of skill, rather than focusing on this?"
"Now, now, Tsukika, I was only saying that if I knew he had progressed to this point, then I would have handled things differently."
"By doing what? Copying your little protege over there? And don't try to lie, woman, I could practically smell the desire from here."
"Quiet, you doddering old fool. The help isn't meant to speak."
"My, my, such biting words for the leader of your faction. Perhaps I should have been negotiating with you rather than him, Magari. Now where is my little darling? Commander Daiki said they followed Kuroka and young Seren into the forest."
Kuroka slowly looked behind her and felt her cheeks darken in embarrassment. She hurried to compose herself in the face of her mistress, along with the leaders of the two Youkai Factions and their guest, but from the look her boss was giving her she knew it was too late to save any face.
"M-Mission complete, Lady Magari. I-I'm happy to report that-" Kuroka began, but was cut off by a tail that slapped against the back of her head. She took a deep breath, relaxing from the feeling of her instincts being forcibly suppressed. She grit her teeth as the reality of her humiliation hit her, and she angrily turned to glare at Caelum for not only thoroughly trouncing her, but for embarrassing her in front of her Mistress.
"It is fine. We were monitoring the entire encounter from start to finish. You have my apologies for not informing you of the true threat level of your opponent, not that I was fully aware of his true capabilities," Magari said, before muttering under her breath, "and to think, he can still push himself even further."
Kuroka's spine stiffened at her words, but couldn't help but accept them as the truth. She could only imagine what else the kid was hiding up his sleeve.
'But so was I! Next time I swear I'll crush that smug look off his face!' She thought in irritation, angrily clenching her fist as she watched the others move to speak with him.
-Caelum Seren-
"...and you blew the entire cloud of poison away, along with the actual clouds!"
I sighed as Kunou gushed about the fight, and mostly ignored her rambling in favor of massaging my sore arm. I had severely strained all of the muscles in it when trying to pull off that last move, which was a slight miscalculation on my part. It's not like I didn't have a way around it, considering how easy it was for me to mostly heal my injuries using my physical energy, but it still sucked either way.
Still, I was more than satisfied with my performance. I would need to confirm Kuroka's so-called standing in this world, but from my- his memories, she was an ultimate class devil. Alongside that, she had been branded as an SS-Ranked criminal. Sure, most of my abilities countered her own, but a win was a win.
'Well, its not like she went anywhere close to all out, but neither did I.' I thought to myself, but was distracted by the feeling of several familiar life forces approaching us.
I turned around from Kunou to face the other approaching group. While I was pretty sure of my deduction it didn't hurt to have confirmation. Though it would be pretty funny if I had just randomly stumbled upon some nefarious plot to kidnap Kunou, or something, instead. Not that anything pointed towards that being a remote possibility.
"Hey, maybe next time a little heads up would be appreciated, yeah? What if I thought she was a threat to little Miss Princess over here?" I asked with a vague gesture towards Kunou, who was pouting at how I ignored her.
"That would take the fun out of it. You've been holding out on us, boy. Good. Always keep a few cards close to your chest." Nurarihyon said as he shuffled closer.
He had already picked up my sword from where I had stabbed it in the ground and was closely inspecting it, which I knew would leave him preoccupied as he puzzled over what I did to cut through Kuroka's Touki enhanced claws. I didn't care too much about reclaiming it, considering I had dozens more just like it stored and ready to be used.
"Nah, Mom already knew I could do most of that. That, or she knew I could potentially push myself to pull off similar feats. Like she's always pounded in my head, it's not about raw power alone, but how you apply it." I replied.
"Like that odd illusion you trapped her in? What exactly did he make you see, Kuroka? One moment you were charging him, and the next you had collapsed in a fit of laughter." Yasaka asked.
They all turned to face Kuroka, who had began to tremble at the reminder of her torture. She angrily glared at me, but I only winked at her, using the eye-contact as a medium to cast another illusion on her. I waved my hand as if I was holding something up for her to see, and from the way she paled I knew my trick had worked.
"I-It was nothing! He just got lucky and reversed my illusion, That was it!" She stuttered out as she turned away and clenched her arms across her chest. Magari turned back to me and gave me a knowing look, but I just winked at the cat and dispelled my little illusion. Turn about was fair play.
"So what was the point of all that? And who exactly is this? I'm assuming the other girl is her sister, or something?" I asked, wanting to get the ball rolling. I already knew them both, and I was pretty sure Kuroka had said her sister's name at some point, but I decided to just let them explain instead.
"For the moment, all you need to know is that Kuroka and Shirone are both stray cats I took under my wing. What is more important is the opportunity you have in front of you." Magari answered as she prowled her way closer to me. I raised an eyebrow at her non-answer, but thankfully Yasaka stepped up to explain.
"We, the West Youkai Faction, would like to request that-"
"Wait! C-Can I explain it to him?"
I turned around to see Kunou hesitantly walking closer. She shyly refused to meet my gaze and I could practically taste the embarrassment wafting off of her.
"W-Well, I've been having a lot of fun helping you study for your exam, a-and you know that I've been pestering my mother about allowing me to go to a human school, s-so we decided- well- um…" She took a moment to compose herself, then dropped into a stiff bow.
"Would you please consider accepting an arrangement to guard me so I could go to school with you?"
I looked at her for a moment, which turned into almost a minute of dead silence. She continued to hold the stiff bow, but I could spot slight trembles in usually perfect posture. I could tell that she wanted to look up and gauge my reaction, but was too scared of rejection. Still…
"I thought we were doing that already? You know, going to school together? That was the whole point of asking you to help me study?" I asked in confusion. She robotically leaned back and gave me an odd look, but I was already turning to talk to Yasaka.
"Though, I thought it would be a bit of a hard sell, considering the school I was planning to attend was all the way in Kanto. Also, it might be run by a rival faction?" I left out the point about the rival faction being the same one who might have screwed over the nekoshou sisters, but that was information that I wasn't supposed to know.
"Well, we were going to inform you of all the relevant politics if you accepted our offer, but it looks like you were already planning to do so? Interesting," Yasaka said as she thought to herself for a moment.
"Come along, then. We can discuss this back in the bakery. Lord Nurarihyon, if you would." Yasaka asked while we all turned to walk to the elderly youkai.
"To be relegated to transportation. The disrespect of today's youth, I tell you. Well? Hurry it up!" Nurarihyon demanded.
We all bunched in around him, and I had to hold in a smirk at the sharp glare Kuroka gave me when I ended up standing next to her. Shirone seemed undecided, but settled on ignoring our byplay as we were transported back to the bakery. We filled into the small back room, which thankfully had enough chairs to seat us all. I ended up at the far right corner of the table next to Shirone and across from Kunou. Down the rest of my side of the table was Kuroka and Magari, while my mother, Yasaka, and Nurarihyon filled the rest of the other side.
"To start things off, your responsibilities would be as follows." Magari began. I had to hold back a laugh at the sight of her stretching out on the table, looking as if she were one of our pampered pets aside from her swaying tails.
"Your job would be to shadow the Princess and serve as her secondary backup. An agreement has already been made with the primary supernatural inhabitants of the town. Your job is to ensure that both sides hold to their agreements. You would watch to ensure nothing untoward is going on, and keep the Princess from being involved in anything she should stay away from. Other than that, you would be free to do as you please." Magari calmly explained.
"So let me get this straight. You want me to be, what, her shadow? And if she already has some sort of primary bodyguard, why go through all the trouble of asking me?" I asked in confusion. Things just weren't adding up.
"Due to extenuating circumstances, we have entered into a very tenuous agreement with the devils. Part of that agreement was that the devils currently overseeing Kuoh would be in charge of my daughter's safety and well being. Obviously that wasn't something that I could allow, but my hands were tied. Then, when all hope seemed lost, my intelligent little sweetheart-"
"Mom!" Kunou complained, but was summarily ignored.
"...reminded me of a certain friend who would be more than happy to look out for her! Of course, the position will come with its own benefits. Such as some extra training with Lady Magari to ensure you are up to snuff, along with-"
"No." I denied.
Yasaka paused and gave me an odd look, and I felt the entire aura of the room change. It was as if I were an invader in a foreign land, and I could feel the environment itself bearing down on me. Yet I still remained unbothered.
"As great as the opportunity sounds, I have my own personal reasons for enrolling in Kuoh Academy," I began, and could feel the heady weight on my shoulders relax just a tad.
"I wouldn't want to be the reason the devil's attempt to use as justification for short changing you. That, and I already told you that I was planning on doing it anyway. There's no need to make it official. Let's just leave things as they are. Instead, I would recommend you use your plan to insert an actual bodyguard as a student." I advised.
Yasaka seemed to be considering my words, while Nurarihyon was busy laughing himself silly on the floor, but Magari was the one who had my attention. She gave me a searching look, and seemed unimpressed by my logic.
"You waited to deny the offer until the benefits were listed, specifically training under me. Is there something you would like to say?"
'Yeah. I would rather not have to explain where I got all of my ideas on how to use my abilities from, especially considering most of them either don't exist or are extremely similar to secrets factions would die to conceal.' I thought to myself, but I knew I couldn't just come out and say that.
It was easy to understand where she was coming from. Magari was a simple woman, or cat, most of the time. She was blunt, straight to the point, and didn't mind lending a helping hand. At the same time, she didn't like to be spurned, nor did she like having her good will thrown back into her face. It would be easy for her to misunderstand my reasons as budding arrogance, a growing dislike for her, or plenty of other things.
"Well, I'm sure a better investment of your time would be to train Kunou and her bodyguard to ensure that they are prepared, no? I wouldn't mind joining in for a lesson or two, but for now I think your focus should be on them. Like I said earlier, I would be happy to unofficially lend a hand, but sending me as your officially unofficial liaison may not be the best idea." I carefully explained, yet that only seemed to incense her even further.
"Then why should we allow a loose cannon into the mix? Closely affiliated with us, or not? It would be even more dangerous to allow a rogue element who clearly has their own schemes that may prove detrimental to the agreements we have already secured between our factions," Magari said as she rose up to pad down the table and sit directly in front of me.
I just rolled my eyes at her question. While I would have been worried if Yasaka had asked me the same thing, I wasn't shaken hearing it from her instead. Magari wasn't one to get wrapped up in politics, and she hated playing political games. It was part of the reason why Nurarihyon was the clear leader of the East Youkai Faction. So it was clear that she was only regurgitating questions to test my resolve. Or whatever odd motivation she had.
Sadly for her, she was asking the wrong sort of person. While I didn't want her to get the wrong idea due to a misunderstanding, I had no compulsion to try and play ball with people attempting to impede me from my goals, whether it was hypothetically or actively. Call it selfish, idiotic, or hypocritical, but hey, I'm only human after all.
"You make it sound like any of you are allowing anything. I chose to go to Kuoh for my own reasons. Your so-called approval isn't a factor in the situation," I said, ignoring Kuroka's growling from a seat over. Magari scoffed at my words, but I continued as if they were both silent.
"My mother came to you all years ago to ask you for your assistance, and faithfully served to your whims in response to that debt. Me? I have nothing to do with you or your politics, and I would like things to stay that way. On top of that, your so-called offer of protection didn't seem to be worth much when it came time for you all to hold up your end of the bargain." I pointed out.
"Caelum, wait-"
"Yeah, you guys made up for it in your own way, but don't think that I've forgotten who wasn't there when I really needed it. Hell, you're lucky I'm such a nice guy, considering most people wouldn't take being blindsided again in your territory as a joke. If anything, I should be asking you if I should be allowing my mother to continue working for your faction." I glared into Magari's eyes as I continued to let loose, considering that some of it was stuff I had been wanting to say for months.
"We're friends, allies even, but don't confuse me for an underling. You don't own me, nor do you have any claim over me. Don't presume that you allow me to do a damned thing. And if you really think you could stop me from going to Kuoh, I dare you to try."
I didn't care that I was challenging them. All I could think about was their repeated failings, and the nerve she had to even suggest that they had the power to stop me from seeing my sister again. I glared at Magari, before standing up and walking around the table. The room was silent as I moved to my mother and grabbed her shoulder.
"I'll see you on Monday for the exam, Princess," I said as I teleported my mother out. The last thing I heard was Nurarihyon's laughter, yet even that couldn't bring a smile to my face.
-Kuroka-
"Arrogant, disrespectful brat! How dare he bite the hand that feeds him! Please, Lady Magari, allow me to put that brat in his pla-" Kuroka began, but was stunned to see her mistress wave her off.
"Hah! He played you like a fiddle, Magari! Didn't I tell you? Did you really think I would invest in a brat without a spine?" Nurarihyon exclaimed in between his laughs.
"S-So, you guys aren't mad?" Kunou hesitantly asked. She nervously looked up at her mother, but Yasaka's blank expression didn't offer her any comfort.
"Aren't mad?! Did you not hear what that little leech dared to say to your faces? I wouldn't be surprised if he's already gotten back into contact with the Shinr-" Kuroka angrily ranted, but froze at the harsh weight that suddenly dropped onto her shoulders.
"Silence," Magari said as she glared her incensed subordinate into submission, then turned to face Yasaka.
"So we move ahead with Plan B? I believe that display should have been sufficient to assuage any of your worries. It's nice to see that he has the spine to back up his power, even if he still has aways to go when it comes to managing both. Still, I have to give him credit. He clearly recognized the conflict of interest, and was smart enough to remove himself from the situation. His suggestion also had merit, though I have my own idea on how to implement it. Shirone!" Magari called as she turned to face Kuroka's sister.
"Hai." Shirone responded, looking up from the small platter of cookies she had been eating.
"I believe you mentioned an interest in going to school?" Magari asked with an odd gleam in her eyes.
"What?! No way! You can't send her off and expect me to stay behind! Especially to a place overseen by them!" Kuroka whined, but wasn't prepared for Magari to fix her with the same look.
"Don't worry. You'll be going with her."
-Caelum Seren-
"Caelum, wait."
I paused in the hallway, having immediately gone to march over to my room once we arrived. I turned to see my mother looking lost and uncertain. She loosely wrapped her arms around herself, and her eyes were already misty.
"I-Is she… d-did she… do you think…" My mother hesitantly stuttered, and trailed off before she could finish her question.
Yet I already knew exactly what she was referring to. Images of a Queen piece popped into my head, and memories of a life I never lived flashed through my mind's eye, but I pushed them aside. I knew my sister, and they had been wrong before. I refused to let myself fall into the same trap that I almost let my mother fall into.
"Have faith in your daughter, Mom. She wouldn't be so easily led astray. You'll see!" I promised, but the smile I tried to flash at her felt fragile.
Thankfully, that seemed to be enough for my mother. She slowly nodded to herself, and a small smile bloomed across her face. She happily strode past me to her room, humming a lullaby she used to sing to us as she went. Yet as the door shut behind her, I couldn't help but feel like the worst son in the world. I could only hope that his memories would turn out to be wrong.
A/N: Anddd scene. A bit of a different sort of start, but it's what I decided to go with in this case. This will be my spin on the classic Self/OC Insert genre, along with an initial sort of time-skip towards the real start of the fic. Things will be explained as we go forward, but if anyone has any questions feel free to leave them in a review or PM.
Power level wise, I rate Caelum as a skilled mid-range combatant who prefers to play as the scalpel yet has the power to be the hammer if need be. His proficiency in illusions, 'basic' elemental manipulation, and close range combat were what he mainly focused on in the few months that he's been training. Still, don't be fooled by the fight he had with Kuroka and think he's going to just cruise through everything.
To start, that was just a test. She wasn't truly trying to kill him, it was more like full-contact sparring. She didn't even break out her wings. On top of that, the abilities he used were nothing crazy when you consider their origins. Anyone could guess at this point, just know they will be formally revealed in full as the story goes on. Each of the ones he showed in the fight have their own strengths and weaknesses, which will be addressed as soon as the next chapter.
In the case of his amazing progress in such a short period of time, his heritage and abilities were what carried him to make such progress. Like I said before, easy to guess why and will be revealed in the fic itself soon. Still, anyone who is worried about him being OP should stick around to see what he will face down the line. Practically every enemy he faces will have the potential to show the same growth rate, or will have buttloads of experience in comparison to him. Caelum's only real advantage is his creativity and unique perspective.
To pull from another fanfic as an example, in Albus and Harry's World Trip by ZebJeb (Go check it out, its a cool fic) Dumbledore takes a more hands off approach in teaching Harry because of Harry's capacity to find unique ways in using his magic in comparison to what is accepted as possible by the rest of the wizarding world.
In the same vein, Caelum's own unique perspective is what pushes him to try out different things that may seem impossible or are considered as unique techniques by other factions. His mutated powers only exacerbate his, to others, odd way of thinking and of creating techniques that shouldn't work as they do. Again, you'll see as early as next chapter exactly what I mean.
In terms of a relationship, I think we'll see. He might have the odd casual fling down the line, but if anything I see him becoming a one-woman sort of guy. Maybe. We'll see. So to anyone expecting this to be MC claims every woman in sight, this might not be the story for you. At best, he might have a few physical relationships before he gets tied down to one woman.
Lastly, this fic is an AU. You could probably guess that based on some of the changes I slipped in, which varied from immediately identifiable to easy to overlook. So don't be surprised when things don't work like they do in canon, or are different from how things were portrayed. Some things will be different due to my own understanding of the source material, while other things will be changed because it is an Alternate Universe. So please try not to come crying about things with the excuse of "it wasn't like that in canon." Canon was dead the moment this fic started… Well, mostly dead… Sort of dead… You'll see what I mean.
I'm only saying all this now because it can be very easy to be put off from a fic due to misunderstandings before things get explained. Even still, I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea. So to those who decide to drop it I just want to say thanks for giving it a shot! If you have any feedback, since I'm still new to this, feel free to drop it in a review or PM. Especially if it's grammar related.
I'm not working with a beta, so it's easy for me to miss things no matter how many times I read over my chapters before I post them. On top of that, I still don't know everything about proper formatting and structure. Like how I was undecided on separating some of his actual thoughts from his own internal running dialogue even though the main POV will be first person when it comes to the MC.
Oh, and this will probably be the first thing I post on FFnet since the cleansing, so I might as well throw in another quick explanation. As you probably noticed, all of my fics containing explicit material were removed from FFnet. It is what it is. Their policies, their guidelines, so it's their right to do it.
So if you clicked on my profile and thought to yourself, "What the hell? Where is insert fic name here?" then yeah, it's gone buddy. And by gone, I mean only gone from FFnet! Because I also upload all of my smutty, lemony fics on other sites! So read my profile description and see for yourself where you can go find them, and their next updates.
From here on out all of my non MA rated fics will continue to be posted here, while those other ones will be in that other place. Which is good, since now each audience won't be excited by update notifications just to see they're for the content they don't like.
That also means that fics like this won't have MA rated content. If I ever decide to add something like lemons, then they'll be posted as their own stories on my other site. That doesn't mean sexual content won't be happening, it just won't be "on screen."
In terms of updates, I don't really have a schedule for these. I just write when inspiration hits me. Still, I'm working on chapters 2 and 3 of this right now, and I'm also working through 6 and 7 of The Penultimate Enemy. So expect those soon!