ϟ—Chapter Twelve — Hollowed Blades—ϟ

Arasei stood over the body of another Soul Eater. According to the beast inside of Ka'rai, her chains were something of a perfect counter to these monsters. Chakra based attacks were the only thing that worked, and yet they were agile enough to avoid most ninjutsu. Even Ka'rai could barely hit them… but her chains held them down.

Luckily, she didn't have to experience the same agony that Kay did. Her bloodline curse fueled her too much for anything to hit her at that point. It pained her to see the ever present tense expression on Kay's face. But she was fine—so was Ka'rai.

That reality could change on a dime. What if a stronger Soul Eater came? One she couldn't so easily fend off. What if there were multiple of that caliber? She and Ka'rai would surely die—so would Kay. As strong as she was for her age, this was far out of her caliber.

Guilt stuck in her like pins and needles—but that was nothing compared to the fear. The dreadful awareness of every step she took. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Same pattern with Ka'rai. Kay was inverted. Right foot… left foot. Right foot… left foot. Every beat of her heart chilled her veins; she could feel each intimate churn. Each individual muscle twitch. The specific position that ash hit her face, and where the dripping sweat wiped it away.

She was aware of it all—she was scared of it all.

She was nothing like her son. Innocence was bliss. Even in Hell, there was a smile on his face. Ever-present excitement and a jovial spirit. Arasei looked upon him with envy, almost. If she were more like him… then maybe Kodaru would've been here with her; or she would've taken his place, at least.

A dark frown crossed Arasei's face. Ka'rai… was scarily similar to her brother. They had the same smile, the same naivety, the same love and trust in her—The beating of her heart rang in her ears like a bell. Now the feeling of her own digestion was as clear as a hand on her own—Ka'rai's hand was on her.

"Mama? You've been acting weird this whole time… you okay?"

She clutched his hand and squeezed. "Yes, baby. I'm okay."

"More than a bit worried, I assume?" asked Kay, strained like a stifled scream.

Arasei decided to ignore her. "I love you, Ka'rai," she said with a sigh.

Oblivious, Ka'rai grinned. "I love you too, Mama!"

A tight smile curled Arasei's lips. There was no ounce of lie in the words she spoke, not at all. But she doubted how much she could show that—prove that.

She loved Kodaru.

Look how that ended up.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Ka'rai, you'll need to hand over control to me soon.

Hours passed, and the remnants of Yakedo loomed over them with a fittingly hellish glow.

No, I don't think I will.

Why? Not? growled the Nibi, the cloak she gifted to Ka'rai vibrated.

Honestly, I don't trust you, Nibi.

You've been letting Yugito influence you?

Just as much as you have.

Ka'rai couldn't help the small smile that crossed his lips, feeling the satisfaction in Yugito's spirit.

The Nibi felt the same thing. The quake in Ka'rai's cloak even brought attention to Kay and Arasei.

"Are you okay?" Kay asked immediately.

"Yeah, Nibi's just a lil mad right now—"

What reason do you have to distrust me? The connection to Hell needs to be severed so this world can survive, and I'm the only one capable of doing so.

You killed Yugito's girlfriend, and all of the Shinobi under her command. You hate me more than her because I'm an Uzumaki. Mama's an Uzumaki too, and she helped to capture you. You're gonna kill her the first chance you get. I wouldn't doubt that you'd kill Kay too.

If Hell overtakes Earth, then they'll die, anyway.

You're not making yourself look any better.

The cloak of chakra burned hotter and shook with increasing intensity. This time, the Nibi was not the cause.

If I let you out, and you touch either of them, I'll tighten the seal so much that you'll never see the light of day again. Even after I die, you'll be trapped. Just like you did to Yugito.

The cloak erupted with fire. Both Arasei and Kay shielded their eyes. "Ka'rai?!" yelled his mother.

You dare threaten me?

I do.

Ka'rai sighed. I really want to work with you, Nibi… I really do. But I can't have you be a threat to the people I care about. If you promise not to hurt mama or Kay, then I'll promise to give you control.

Silence.

Ka'rai… you don't seriously expect the Nibi to agree to that?

I do, because I have faith in her. She isn't a monster. Well, she looks like one—but—you know what I mean!

Ka'rai. The Nibi is a monster by every definition of the word. How many people has she killed? How many villages destroyed?! Lives RUINED?!

Don't all Shinobi do stuff like that? Nibi's like, a really good rogue nin.

For the second time… silence.

Nibi's malice and Yugito's irritation flooded his brain like a migraine.

Sorry guys—

"Ka'rai?!" nearly yelled Arasei, going into his cloak to grab his shoulder.

He jumped back so his mother's hand wouldn't be burned by the fire. "I'm fine… everything's fine."

"It didn't look like it," Kay pointed out.

"Everything is fineeee," assured Ka'rai with one of his grins. "Just fine."

Arasei sighed. Kay kept a suspicious look on him, veiled with pain.

Ka'rai simply kept up his smile.

A sudden spike of chakra brought Kay and Ka'rai's attention to Arasei. She stopped in her tracks as her eyes seemed to tunnel into her senses. "Mama?!" called Ka'rai.

"Someone's on Yakedo. Someone strong."

"Who?!" Ka'rai's heart damn near beat out of his chest.

"I… I can't tell—"

"Nibi! I know you can sense them!"

Silence.

"Fuck!"

"She's not telling you?!" questioned Kay.

"Yeah, she's kinda mad at me—" he sputtered. Ka'rai cracked his neck. "Well, even if this guy's strong, we'll just beat them up so we can fix this thing!"

"Alright," said Kay with a nod. Arasei was silent—stiff as the brimstone below. She nodded as if there was a crick in her neck, as if there was something strangling her.

With a grin, Ka'rai attempted to ease everyone. "We're all strong; we're gonna kick this guy's ass."

Ka'rai bolted through the staggered boulders, streams of lava, and falling ash. When it came to the flame, with a mere touch, he burned them blue and took them with him. His two companions kept up, even through Kay's ever present agony, and Arasei's deepening fear.

In a cobalt blue blaze, he was the first to look down into what remained of Yakedo. A cone ripped into the base. Lava churned in the center like a magmic whirlpool. The whirling of lava swirled into darkness… into Hell. Surprisingly, no Soul Eaters came from the epicenter.

Instead, there was a man. His pitch black Katana was stuck into the center, glowing a bright red in inconsistent intervals. He looked up at Ka'rai, who was soon joined by Kay and Arasei. His ember eyes narrowed. "So… are these the ones you love, Ka'rai Uzumaki?"

Ka'rai's eyes narrowed in kind. "Why?"

A Soul Eater's screech sounded the blade being pulled from the whirl as Kinbo stood. "You took my family away from me…" He pointed his blade at the three. "So, I'll do the same to you."

Ka'rai had no idea what he meant, but that didn't matter at all to him. All he heard was the threat. "I'd like to see you try," he growled before he roared. The flames he pulled coalesced into a building sized bomb of fire above his head.

In a cloud of smoke, Kay stood atop Suberi. "Be careful!" She forced herself to shout—but Ka'rai didn't hear her. He was already in the crater, carrying his ball of fire. However, Arasei was ahead of him. Adamantine chains shot at Kinbo like serpents. He cut at them—his Katana grew ethereal wings the color of hell and cut the chain in two.

Arasei's fear spiked and so did her senses, as she narrowly avoided the same fate. A boy's roar crossed with the Nibi's overshadowed even the sound of hell. Ka'rai hurled the gigantic fireball onto Kinbo before weaving hand seals. "BAKUGAMI!"

Infernal blue detonated with Kinbo at the epicenter. Lava spewed skyward and rained. Arasei wrapped herself in chains to protect herself. All Kay could do was look on from outside the crater, hiding under Suberi to protect herself from the raining lava.

"Dammit…" she muttered with her fist clenched. "I can't manipulate the brimstone because it's not earth. Neither you nor I can withstand the heat down there either…"

Splats of lava seared onto Suberi's hide—she couldn't help but wince. "Maybe try to get one of them to lure him up here?"

"I could try," she considered, narrowing her eyes.

Back in the crater, dozens of Soul Eaters screamed from the remnants of the Bakugami. Their form was see-through, as if they were mere visages of their former selves. On top of that, they were held down by seals connected to Kinbo's Katana.

The Oni shielded Kinbo from the brunt of Ka'rai's attack. Burns still crossed his face, singed his clothes. He was on his knees from the impact. Ka'rai couldn't hold back his growl of frustration. "THAT SHOULD'VE KILLED HIM!"

I'll kill him and save Earth if you give me control.

"STOP ASKING ME THAT!" screamed Ka'rai as his cloak erupted. He stormed toward Kinbo with his claws burning. His bright red blade formed the claws and teeth of a Soul Eater and slashed at Ka'rai.

He screamed, but not out of rage—pain. Agony overtook him as he bled, not only from his body, but from his soul. Arasei kicked Kinbo's head, weaving hand seals. "Water Style: Oceanic Eruption!" The sea from her mouth boiled, only the power of Arasei's chakra kept it from turning into gas. Kinbo was knocked into the lava, which soon solidified, keeping equilibrium with the gaseous water.

She picked up her son and flickered away, toward Kay. Ka'rai put Jinsei to his chest. The physical wound was gone, but the essential agony remained. Kay's eyes widened. "Your soul!"

"The bastard must've trapped Soul Eaters in his blade… now he's using their power." He sat up, Arasei's trembling hand still on him. "Nibi… how is he doing that? How did he trap the souls in his blade in the first place?!"

A short beat of tense silence followed. I do not know. It's rare for more than one soul to be trapped in any given object—let alone for him to take a soul from anyone or anything. That's not even accounting for any Soul Eaters…

Ka'rai forwarded the information to his allies. Immediately, Arasei responded. "The Soul Eaters looked like they were trapped in the blade by Sealing Jutsu," she spoke quickly, nearly stumbling over her words.

Sealing Jutsu… growled Nibi, and Ka'rai's cloak trembled. Of course. He must've used the damned art to connect the soul which was originally trapped within his blade to absorb more.

"I see…" murmured Ka'rai before he told Kay and Arasei what Nibi told him.

Arasei nodded. "I can do something about it then." She stood quickly. "The Soul Eaters themselves have a connection to Hell, so I'll be able to seal the connection to Hell away into the blade itself."

Nothing—not even Nibi's rage could hold back Ka'rai's grin. "That'll prevent the world from being taken over, right?"

No.

She's lying, Ka'rai.

"Thought so."

Ka'rai roared through the agony of his bleeding soul and stood. "We just need to kill this fucker first."

"Lure him up here," Kay said. "I'll be able to help, then."

Arasei summoned her chains. "I should be able to take care of that—" She barely finished her own sentence before rushing down. The moment she hit the melting rock, a spectral Soul Eater slashed at her—an ambush.

She dodged it and blitzed through hand seals. "Prism Barrier!" From the hand she slammed on the floor, a crimson barrier was erected. It blocked the attack. From below her the melted rock spewed into lava. Again she evaded—then she ducked a slash from Kinbo's Katana. A kick from her hit his hand, but his grip remained strong.

"Prism Spear!" From the same seal that spawned her barrier, a spear morphed. Arasei grabbed it and stabbed at Kinbo's arm, pinning it to the ground. He growled—a Soul Eater screeched from his blade and cut the spear in two.

He launched himself toward her, but Arasei leapt back. Adamantine chains wrapped around his torso and Arasei hurled him above the crater walls. In a near split second, she was on him again, a prism blade in her hand. The two swords clashed and Kinbo's easily overtook Arasei's. There was a seal on Arasei's other hand, from there a seal that trapped him to the ground spread.

A Soul Eater barely nicked Arasei's arm as she escaped. The double-layered pain made her hiss. From above, Suberi pounced and attempted to claw Kinbo in half. The wing of his Soul Eaters blocked it. He yelled, and the essence of the wing slashed into pure energy. The Armadillo barely dodged, but from Kinbo's left, he used his blade to block a mace.

From his right, a cobalt blue blaze roared toward him. He made the sacrifice—Kay's mace slammed into his chest. Another shout from Kinbo and he cut the seal, holding him down. A kick knocked Kay away, and Kinbo cut Ka'rai's blaze in two.

Ka'rai pounced into the bisection of the flame. With both hands, he commanded the fire to incinerate both flanks. Kinbo gripped his blade and screamed as he rotated. Hell's essence cut the flames again—Ka'rai would've been sliced if Arasei hadn't pulled him out of the way.

Not a single second was wasted as mother and son sprinted back on Kinbo. Arasei blitzed ahead of Ka'rai, weaving hand seals. "Selective Prism Prison," she muttered before erecting a cube around herself and Kinbo. She dodged a strike, a Soul Eater's slash, and a stab before running out of the barrier. Kinbo attempted to do the same but was stopped by it.

Ka'rai pounced inside of the barrier and clawed at Kinbo's chest. He took another hit from the blade and screamed. Rage and pain construed his mind and the Nibi took advantage. Her intent manifested in his cloak, enveloping Kinbo and suffocating him with fire. Ka'rai took control back and detonated the cloak with a second, "BAKUGAMI!"

The impact enveloped the prison, and Kinbo was stuck into the edge of the barrier. Ka'rai was hurled out, no longer in the two tailed cloak. Immediately, he forced more chakra through the seal, and only a single tail sprouted.

Nibi! he demanded, barely able to stand.

Heal your body first.

Ka'rai nodded before igniting his body with Jinsei Flame.

The fire inside of the prison finally subsided, and Kinbo laid on the ashen floor of brimstone, charred and smoldering blue. Quickly, Arasei cut his blade hand off and took it from him. Seals spread from her hand over his Katana. She analyzed what went on inside of the sword. Each intricacy was all visible to her.

Ka'rai and Kay walked up beside her. With a touch, Jinsei spread to both parties, and any physical wounds they had slowly healed. Ka'rai looked toward Kay. "I think we should kill him this time."

She nodded. "Good idea…" To her side there was her mace. She grabbed it, and hovered it over the unconscious half-corpse's head. When she brought it up, she inhaled. On exhale, the half corpse was now fully one, lacking an intact skull.

Meanwhile, mother and son approached the connection between Hell and Earth. The churning lava continued to whirl. "So… how are we gonna do this?"

"I've already analyzed the seal on this sword. I know how it works. I'll just have to supercharge the process in order to seal the connection to Hell in this sword. It'll be easier if we use your connection with the Nibi, since she can sever it by herself."

Ka'rai nodded with a forced smile. "Let's go then!"

They stood on the lava, directly in front of the pit of darkness, at the center of the whirlpool. Arasei weaved many hand seals while Ka'rai held the blade in place. It took nearly a minute for her to finish, but once she did, seals spread throughout the entire crater and even beyond. The seals connected to every bit of Earth connected with hell—the entire Land of Rice.

"Now."

Ka'rai channeled the Nibi's chakra into the blade. A second tail sprouted. Arasei gripped the handle of the blade, along with her son. The seals glowed white, then they burned into blue—the cobalt blue flames of the Nibi erupted. Arasei clenched her fists, and so did Ka'rai. From the edges of the Land of Rice, Hell receded. In a matter of minutes, all brimstone returned to dirt and rock, the lava cooled into obsidian, any remaining Soul Eaters were grabbed and pulled toward the epicenter.

All were sealed and absorbed into Kinbo's Katana. Once the deed was done, Ka'rai immediately collapsed. Arasei caught her son before he could slam into the obsidian. He forced a smile. "We… did it… mama…" were his last words before he fell into unconsciousness.

She kissed his forehead, holding him in her arms with still hands. "We did, Ka'rai."

Kay came over on Suberi's back. "I can assume that it worked?"

"Yup," affirmed Arasei, picking up Ka'rai and the Katana in which Hell was sealed. She let out a long and ragged sigh. "Let's head home."

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Ka'rai wasted no time in his unconsciousness. In the golden light of his mindscape, he looked toward Nibi and Yugito… bleeding all over the ground. One gash on his side, the other on the back of his shoulder.

"OW!" he screamed, attempting to stop the bleeding, but to little avail.

Yugito looked on with wild eyes, while Nibi simply rolled her eyes. She then set Ka'rai on fire. His screaming ceased—the fire was transparent, otherworldly, and… cold. Soon enough, the bleeding stopped and so did the agony.

His soul was healed.

The cold fire evaporated into the gold of the mindscape. "Yuurei Flame?"

"Indeed," answered Nibi.

Ka'rai chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks…"

Silence fell. He looked at Yugito. She looked back at him with an even stare. With a sigh, Ka'rai looked at Nibi. "I did it…!"

"You did…"

"Can you heal Kay like you did to me?"

"Why would I do that?"

His fists clenched. "But she helped!"

"Barely. She was more of a liability in your recent battle."

Ka'rai groaned. "But, before that!"

"She could barely handle an above average Soul Eater; that is why she's injured as we speak."

"What if she dies?!"

Nibi glared. "She won't."

The golden backdrop of Ka'rai's mindscape seared. Yugito watched on, shaking her head. "Ka'rai, she's not going to heal your friend."

"But, why?!" Ka'rai screamed. "She's suffering and you can stop it!"

"Why should I care for the suffering of a human? The same things who enslaved me and my siblings?" Nibi's cloak simmered hotter. The waves of heat drove Ka'rai back.

He forced himself through. "What did Kay do? Huh? I understand why you'd hate all humans, but Kay has proven herself good!"

"How has she done that? By protecting you? She values me as a weapon, as power. Nothing more."

Tears began to well in Ka'rai's eyes—the gold of the mindscape flashed with desperation. He got on his hands and knees to bow. "Please, Nibi."

Yugito couldn't look any longer. With shut eyes, she averted her gaze. Nearly choking on his words, he spoke. "Please… I… I… I just don't want my friend to suffer! I know that if you had the opportunity, that you'd free your siblings from their suffering! Well, this is kind of like that for me."

"Ka'rai stop it—" Yugito started.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled, digging his head into the golden floor. "Nibi… you're the only one who can help her. So, please, please, please! I've been telling her that you're a person too… That you're not a monster! Trust me! I'll change her! Kay isn't a bad person… she doesn't deserve the hurt that she's in. Just… please."

Verbal silence ensued. All that could be heard was the simmer of Nibi's coat—the chop of Ka'rai's cries.

Ka'rai dared to look up at Nibi, into her green and yellow eyes. She leaned forward; her face inches away from the golden bars of light. Even just her head dwarfed Ka'rai dozens of times over. Her human-sized eyes analyzed Ka'rai, picking apart his tear-ridden face.

"I'll do it."

Yugito's eyes widened while a grin split Ka'rai's face in two. "You will?!"

"If we are to build an alliance, as you propose… then I'll have to help you, even when it doesn't benefit me," explained Nibi as she moved away from the bars.

Ka'rai couldn't hold back his giddy laughter. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

With a shivering sigh, Nibi closed her eyes. "You're welcome… Ka'rai."

ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ