She spent a modest amount of time in meditation every day since these nightmares began to plague her. It used to be a daily session for her, but as the months spread before her, sometimes survival was more important than protecting her mental health. Meditation could help clear her mind and fight against the evils that plagued her mind at night.
It seemed like Aku chose the worst times to pick a fight with her—almost always after a night where she woke up in sweat. She was ashamed that the sweat wasn't wrought entirely from horror.
She had just finished gathering up a small village's escaped herd of sheep back into their confines when it exploded into flames, the source being the towering demon Aku. That was where they fought now. Jackie wasn't sure what beef the demon had with the village, but Aku seemed more focused on her right now than them. That, she could be thankful for, as it would spare the loss of more innocent lives from his wrath.
"What's the matter, samurai? Afraid of little old Aku?" the demon taunted as he whipped his body about in threads, able to brush against her body even though he suffered the consequences of her being able to chop off those tendrils.
"I will never be afraid of you!" She retorted, making an impressive leap to gouge a deep burning wound into Aku's side. He hissed, doubling his efforts to capture her. She seemed to be lagging from her normal speed. He had been using the essence inside of her to manipulate her dreams into more restless nights, causing her to lose precious hours of sleep. A sleep deprived samurai was a foe that was easier to conquer. She seemed to be running away from him more than usual, and more cautious about taking advantages of openings with which to strike Aku.
"It's not a good look on you to lie so blatantly," Aku whispered, diverting more of his tendrils from different directions and angles so she wasn't able to strike them all at once. Some were hacked off but others managed to wrap themselves around her ankle and pull her off balance. He slammed a full hand down around her, casting fire from his mouth to burn her hand before she could swing the blade again. The scream of absolute pain brought a dark curdled pleasure within him. He plucked the sword out of her hand before dousing said hand within his cold, inky depths to curtail some of the burning.
"You've been hiding something from me, samurai," he spoke thickly, drawing out the words as he leaned towards her. He could feel her struggling to get out of his grip.
"What are you talking about?" She yelled, eyes bouncing all over the place in an attempt to find an escape route. Aku could smell the air, smell her blood, the fear, the…
"Your mouth spins lies but your body knows how to tell the truth," he pointed out. She seemed confused more than anything.
"What?" She asked.
Aku allowed a few tendrils to brush gently against her face. She shuddered in terror, jaw clenched and she shook her head to get them to stop touching her. In retaliation, he retracted the inky mass to only restrain her by her limbs, much like he'd seen in her dreams a few times now.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she cried, and Aku could pinpoint the dilation of her pupils and a more frenzied attempt at dislodging the tentacles' grips.
"Oh don't be that way, fool," he grew slightly irritated at her feigned ignorance. A hand traced against the opening of her gi, tugging slightly to allow it to expose more of her flesh.
"Nonsense, little fool," he snickered, a wicked smile setting his face. He paused to let the words sink in, "If this is what you truly wanted from Aku, you need not have been so cryptic in your behaviour."
"You have gone crazy!" the samurai said frantic, gritting her teeth and trying to look away, as though it would be enough to stop this situation.
Suddenly, an explosion distracted the two of them. More specifically, the explosion occurred directly in front of Aku's face, startling him and causing him to weaken his hold on Jackie. Jackie took the chance to rip her limbs out of Aku's grip, launching herself away and landing next to the tall gentleman that had launched a bomb at Aku. It was the shepherd that she had helped corral the sheep for. A second bomb was hurled directly into Aku's mouth (Jackie was impressed the old man could throw that high), causing smoke to obscure Aku's vision. In his momentary distraction, Jackie wrangled her sword from the demon's grasp and got to work, hacking away at the length of Aku's body until Aku spat and transformed into a monstrous flying figure. Making promises of how he would destroy the samurai.
.o
The young samurai had been granted sanctuary at the shepherd's abode. She gracefully accepted a night's stay there, knowing that it would take a while for Aku to recuperate before he dared to attack again.
Jackie replayed the events in her head that evening. Something about his actions were obviously different from their previous encounters. Aku was never one to get too handsy unless he knew that he was in a position to gain an advantage. Being close to Jackie meant the risk of getting chopped to pieces.
Looking back at what he said, certain words caught her attention. "Nonsense, little fool" sounded familiar. But why?
She unwrapped the bandages from her burnt hand, biting into her lip as she used the pumice stone to debride the dead, burnt flesh to allow healthy skin to regenerate. Once that was done, she applied handmade ointment procured from a nearby medicinal robot. She could hear the baying of the farm animals faintly through the thin walls.
It hit her. Her dreams had echoed the same words. It could've been just a coincidence; her dreams tended to carry an accurate depiction of the wizard and his mannerisms. But things regarding Aku rarely were coincidences. The demon could see about everything she did…
She was panicking. Somehow Aku was able to know what she had been dreaming about! Aku had never demonstrated the ability to read her mind, so she doubted it was that. Maybe she talked in her sleep and that was giving it away. Her poor sleep quality could have been contributing to an increase in sleep talking. It sent a shiver of disgust at the thought of the demon watching her sleep, at her most vulnerable. She was a light sleeper, so he could never sneak up on her, but the thought was still unnerving.
The throbbing pain of her burnt hand made it difficult for her to find rest (not to mention the current problems with Aku), but her mind gave in to sleep eventually.
.o
Those tentacles were back, and she found she didn't mind them. They embraced her form gently, a sharp contrast from the usually aggressive black appendages. She could hear a throaty chuckle from Aku, and when she opened her eyes, her vision was filled with Aku.
They curled to support her head, her body, limbs, as they lifted her up to their master.
"It is clear to me that you desire Aku," the demon surmised correctly. She couldn't find a reason to disagree, not anymore, as they manipulated her nude form. She gasped, feeling a large, thick object probe at her entrance. It wiggled there, taunting her. With both legs strapped, she was unable to close her thighs around it. She bucked her hips, a whine of protest wrought from her throat. She could see Aku grinning as he toyed with her.
It circled her clit, vibrating, making her yelp. She stared upwards, pleading to Aku with her eyes, biting her lips and unsure what to do to get the dark master to stop the taunting.
"You know how to get what you want, little fool," Aku hissed, his eyes devouring her body. She felt a pinch on her side, her body jumping away as a result. There it was again, but on the bottom of her thigh this time. He liked seeing her dance under his force.
"I-I don't!" She gasped in reply. A tentacle had nuzzled its way up to her face. She took the initiative, her tongue sticking out to lave at it. It probed at her mouth, and she licked at it like a lollipop, much to the satisfaction of the demon, who purred and rocked, moving her body with him.
His eyes were so intense, sticking out from the black that surrounded her. "I want to hear you beg for it." He fluttered his fingers at her. "Go on. Beg."
"Oh, please!" She cried, bowing her back toward him as though in offering.
"What do you want, samurai?" He asked, looking ready to consume her. "As a demon, I could grant you many things."
"I want you," she breathed. It wasn't even a question of asking for a portal back in time. That was so far from her mind.
"Want me?" He teased.
"Aku!" Her loins throbbed in need, hot and growing painful with each second he made her wait. "Yes, I want," she swallowed the spit that accumulated, "I want Aku, in.. inside of me!"
"As you wish," he said resolutely. The tentacle poised at her entrance thrust forward, spreading her wide and causing her to howl. That thick cord was merciless, pounding into her welcoming depths with wild abandon. Aku seemed to be affected by it because his moans vibrated through the tendril and into her very body.
The wet slapping noises startled her, and she could feel something smacking against her ass. When she opened her eyes again, she realized that it was no longer tentacles that supported her, but the arms of Aku, who had shrunken down to a more reasonable height (ten feet versus her five, but still). His length remained as thick as the tentacle that had originally been ravishing her.
She held on tightly to Aku's spiked shoulders as she rode him, suddenly feeling ashamed to even make eye contact with the beast. She buried her head into his neck, sharp moans coaxed from her as he fucked her senseless. His claws gripped too tightly on her hips, drawing blood. But she couldn't care. She undulated against him, squeezing around him, her legs clenching and shaking against his waist.
"This is what you could've had all these years if you'd stopped being so stubborn, fool," he admonished in her ear, biting at it, grinning as he felt her regret.
"Aku… Aku…" she panted, tears falling and sizzling away on his body, which had grown hot to the point of burning.
"Yes, chant it. The name of whom you should worship," he pulled at her hair and forced her head back so that she couldn't hide from him. His other hand's grip on her hip turned bruising, he slammed into her with a force that was painful, but she couldn't stop it. Couldn't stop this. It was too much.
"Please, yes, yes, yes," a mantra singing praises to the demon. She reached her zenith, colours exploding behind her eyes—
.o
A rooster's crow interrupted her sleeping, forcing her to recall the events of her dream. She was in a cold sweat yet again, heart rate elevated and momentarily disoriented as to her surroundings. A cow mooed in the distance, and she eventually settled, realising she wasn't in enemy territory. She was safe. Well, she wished she could say that. She may have been safe in the daytime, but in her sleep, she was being hunted, preyed upon, by the likes of Aku.
Though she had no concrete evidence, there was a possibility that Aku had seen everything last night.
How much shame would she bring to her hopeful followers if it were discovered that she lusted after the very being she sought to destroy?
She had to find a way to block access to her mind.
But firstly, she meditated to attempt to clear her mind of the corruption of sleep.