CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Great Spirit Suppression

The elevator chugged downward, much smoother than before, heading for level 5, which had been simply labeled: 'Boss Floor'. It took a bit off effort to get the contraption going again, where we needed to get out on every floor and hit a switch to keep going, but we were finally almost there. After sneaking our way through the lower baths, the steamy, scent-filled spa, the guest quarters, and a floor filled with nothing but laundry. It had been quite difficult, but thankfully the celestial brush came in handy to sneak past guards and customers of the baths. No one knew we were there except Tubba, and a few watchful posts with eyes- which we had quickly dismantled. The cliffs were a confusing maze of rooms serving different purposes, with eye-guards and lockjaws, security systems and lazy guests. The monster-baths were very strange, with a variety of demons wearing towels around their heads and waists to walk between pools. Dead fish floating lazily in the water, imps playing some strange game where they flailed their arms in the water trying to hit another imp, even a chimera getting a kettle massage. I had to admit, I'd never such cleanly monsters. "What's the point? They're going to be in there forever to scrub off all their sins." Hiraku had whispered to me and we'd both chuckled. But even monsters must love the relaxing feel of hot water.

The demons' comfort came at the expense of the valley below it; the City Checkpoint was dying, which I couldn't allow. But Hiraku and I were finally on our way to put an end to this mess. The death of the demon that cast the curse would break it. Judging by the state of the river, there was going to be no reasoning with this monster.

The elevator made a sound, and came to a stop. The red doors opened, and I stepped out into another large room, somewhat similar to the lobby. The walls were stone, there was a ball-shaped object in the middle of the room, and on the far side there were three large figures. Two Great Tengu in fury form stood on either side of a magnificent chair. But seated in the throne itself, was what looked like a big mass of ruddy maroon feathers. Before I drew nearer though, I looked around the room. In the center of the room was a giant crystal ball, and the room itself was carved into the rock, with bits of water trickling down here and there. Red beams of wood went across the ceiling and held up the roof. The walls were decorated with finery, including art, sculptures, and altars. I realized the altars were not for gods, but for narcissistic reverence of the great demon himself. Tengu are sometimes known for being prideful and greedy, and I think it was safe to assume that this Dait-Tengu had both those undesirable traits. A giant carpet stretched across the cold stony floor, it was red and yellow, and had a giant bird on it. I looked in the giant glass ball, dark mist seemed to swirl in it, bits of what seemed to be lightning flashed inside. And the closer I looked, the image of a bird seemed to appear and disappear in the swirling cloud.

"Welcome, wolf." A voice came from the throne, deep and throaty, and I turned my head. The pile of feathers stirred, and a face appeared, red and ugly, with a long nose and bird eyes, only slightly human-like. "I am Dait-Tengu Sojobo, ruler of this magnificent palace. Welcome to my bathhouse." He spread his wings, and I stiffened, lips curling up in a snarl. "I've been hoping you would come. But I assume you're not here to delight in my baths?"

"That's right." I said, standing tall, and Hiraku stood on top of my head to translate for me. "I've come here to demand you take down your dam. I am a defender of this land, and what you've done will and already has killed others. I will not allow it to stand. Remove it now, and I promise you shall come to no harm." I had to give him at least a chance to do the right thing. "Oh, and why should I do that?" He leaned forward, leering at me. "Foolish child, do you think it was merely an accident that I built my bathhouse right on top of where the river stems? Do you not see my simple, yet devastating plan? To hoard all the water, so that people will pay for even a drop? And if you can't pay for it, well- survival of the fittest purses." He cackled. "Why should I care about the people of the checkpoint? Or let alone animals?" He said lazily. "All that matters in this world is power, something I'm sure you can appreciate. And power these days comes from money. So I shall take advantage of that power and exploit it, so people can give it to me of their own free will. As the saying goes: The weak are meat, and the strong eat."

"There is far more to life than power!" I snarled. "That's not free will, it's cheating!" I growled. "Then I can see you understand how commerce works, little wolf." He grinned wickedly, rising from his chair. He wore fine clothes underneath, but a horribly ragged robe fell down his back like a tattered cape.

I snarled and struck at him, he dodged and flew towards me. We sparred, while the two guards waited on the sidelines for permission to attack. I shot my weapon's beads at him like bullets, which struck him while he hovered in the air. He dove at me, but I spun out of the way, lashing him with my rosary and trying to power-slash him. He blew wind at me with his powerful wings, trying to knock me off my feet, but I dodged it. I came in close and scored my claws up and down his chest. He let out an inhuman-sounding screech and rose high into the air. He had a smirk on his half-human, half-bird face. He swept his wing over his head, drawing up his ragged hood, and he vanished from sight.

I froze in shock, then I felt a fierce blow to my side as something invisible struck me. I was shunted sideways and I held in a yipe. "That's not fair!" Hiraku shouted, waving his weapon around in the air, trying to blindly hit the invisible foe. I was picked up and lifted into the air, and dropped. I twisted to land on my feet, before I was hit again. "Show yourself and fight, coward!" I barked, getting to my paws and bristling. The two guard Great Tengu smirked from their positions by the throne. I panted, of course this fight was not fair, and he knew it, I thought as I looked around. That's the only reason he was fighting, because he knew he would win. I felt a blow from behind as claws raked over my back, and I was nearly knocked off my feet. But then had an idea, and whipped my tail around the room, trying to splatter him with ink. I heard a laugh. "Clever try, wolf." I saw a few drops hovering in the air, and I lashed my rosary out in its, snaking towards him, and struck him. He became visible again and sank to the ground.

I stood in a crouched position and snarled, and the great mass of collapsed feathers stirred. The tengu raised one of his giant claws out from under his dirty feathers and then he pulled himself to his feet, and began to laugh. "Well done, wolf." He said, still laughing, and I tilted my head. "But I have more than one trick up my sleeve." His laugh grew louder, and darker, and then he raised a single talon, and something released from the ceiling. I looked up, and a giant cage fell over me. I was trapped. I threw myself against the bars of the cage, but it didn't even shudder. "Let us out of here!" Both I and Hiraku commanded, but Dait-Tengu raised his dusty wings in triumph. I snarled and launched myself against the bars again. Then one of his guards came up to the cage, stretched his arm inside, and smacked me on the head faster than I could react.

That was the last thing I remembered.

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When I came to, I was in a different, darker room. There was a pool of blue water with different spouts of different colors pouring liquid into it. I was chained to a pillar with a thick gold chain that was bound to a fancy golden collar, -studded with jewels- which was clamped around my neck. There was a small metal cage was on the ground next to me. Immediately I felt alert. "Hiraku, Hiraku wake up!" I barked, and he grumbled and opened his tiny eyes slowly and rolling over in the cage, he must have been cracked over the head too. Considering the immense strength of the tengu we'd just faced, it was good he even could wake up. My weapons were gone, and the collar was tight around my throat. I struggled at the chain, but it held tight. I used power-slash, but it just bounced right off, then in desperation I used cherry bomb- but that was still no help; the explosion left no visible mark on the metal.

"Look, our godly guest has finally awoken." A familiar voice said, and I looked up, Dait-Tengu strode into the room, his dusty feathers dragging on the ground, and his cronies laughed harsh caw-like laughs. "Although I have envisioned taming gods, this was easier than I thought. Even the little poncle, -who squeezed through the bars and attacked us, blinding the eye of one of my bodyguards in the process- was harder to catch." The Great Tengu guard on his right curled up his lips in anger, I saw one of his eyes was cloudy, and staring blankly ahead.

"Do you know why we have you here? Akimeterasu?" The giant bird said, drawing my attention, and bending in closer. I growled, hackles raised. "Most monsters would have killed you on the spot, but then- most monsters have heads thicker than the stone I built on." He said. "I know what you are, Okami." He sneered, as if the word was rotten. "And what you are capable of." He leaned in closer. "I need your POWER, Akimeterasu." My lips curled, and I bared my teeth. "Never. If you think I'll let you, pathetic excuse for a demon have access to my power, then you're sadly mistaken." I snarled through my teeth. "I'll never let you use my power!" I snapped, tugging again at the chain. And though Hiraku was still groggy and couldn't translate for me, the monster seemed to understand me perfectly.

He laughed again. "Do you really think you have a choice in this? I have captured you, you are my prisoner- and therefor, you have no power. It is mine." He clenched his talons together, and an idea seemed to form in his head, then he said: "Akimeterasu, would you show me a taste of my new power?"

'Gladly, to cut your head off' I thought to myself, and did nothing; I only glared at him defiantly. He glanced at one of his body guards, and it came closer, raising its weapon threateningly. My head throbbed in remembrance of the blow I got in the cage. So I rolled my eyes, and sliced one of the nearby upside-down pillars in half, making the bottom half sway and almost hit one of the tengu guards- that barely flew out of the way at the last moment. "Extraordinary, it seems she really holds some talent after all!" The giant bird said, and the tengus laughed, my eyes narrowed. "This truly is just what I needed!" His yellow bird-eyes glimmered with greed. "Though I am the king of this rich bathhouse, I now grow tired of it, I need more! More yen, more prestige and power! With you at my side, my own personal pet- I'll expand my puny bathhouse, and do more, rule Sei-an, the coast, and soon enough the whole of Nippon will be in my grasp! I will be the richest demon in the world!"

"You can't control a god." I said, this time Hiraku translated, and said it with as much negative connotation as I meant. But the master tengu laughed, a very dark laugh. "Akimeterasu, I have captured a god, a thought impossible task." He laughed again. "It seems I have in fact- overestimated the gods." With that he swept his wings around him, tattered cloak fluttering, and he walked back out of the room leaving a few behind a few crow tengu to guard us.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting. I felt despaired, and horrified at what the tengu was going to try and use me for. I had a brief flash of what he had planned, darkness, people screaming in fear and pain, and Dait-Tengu standing above it all in a palace of his own creation. And I, who stood beside him, had eyes blank and dark with obedience and will to do evil, and I knew he was going to do whatever necessary to bring that goal to light. If I didn't escape, that would be my future. He would beat me and torture me, and though it might take hundreds of years for my spirit to break, -if it could at all- he might even kill Hiraku and other innocent mortals to get me to obey him. And I couldn't let that happen. I also would not have the other gods get involved, I had to get out of this mess myself, and quickly.

(AN: Uh oh! What have Akime and Hiraku gotten themselves into now? Sojobo isn't so easily defeated- the cheater. He is basically a demon of greed. Selfish, wicked, self-serving, and isn't afraid to hurt others to accomplish what he wants.)