Chapter 17: The palace of ash
"What, Riku was here? Where's he at?" Yuki asked with haste as his eyes scanned the wreckage of the room in the aftermath of the girl's battle with Scarlet.
"I'll kill him for the both of us." Yuki added annoyed. Already in a sour mood just from simply hearing Riku's name.
"You know, he mentioned not wanting to see you either." Towa shrugged. She wondered what kind of history the two of them shared.
"That's because I know who he really is. Trust me if he's interested in you it's only because he believes that he can manipulate you." Yuki groaned. He wanted nothing more than to go his separate ways from Riku forever.
"He did seem strange." Towa said, placing her hand on her chin as she recalled everything that had happened that night.
"He seemed strange but he was oddly honest when it came to some things." She recalled.
"I wouldn't buy it." Yuki said flat out.
"Damn, you really don't like this Riku guy at all." Jade laughed. "But don't worry my friend, an enemy of yours is an enemy of mine." Jade smiled. He wasn't used to seeing anyone get this kind of reaction out of Yuki.
"I don't want to talk about it." Yuki rolled his eyes.
"Before we killed Scarlet she said something about a summance. "If I don't make it to the cennentinal summance, You'll all be dead once Rain finds out." I believe." Setsuna said and Yuki paused in his thoughts as his brain caught up to Setsuna's words.
"Ugh, I know what she was talking about." Yuki sighed while glancing down at his feet as he recalled the few times that Rain had mentioned the Centennial summance while his friends waited for him to answer what was up.
"Once every 100 years the ancient dragon demon Tora, who lurks between the realms, holds a grand sumance for his friends and the powerful alike to break bread and meet with him before he returns home for another 100 years. Tora has old ties to the dog demon clan as well as to other great demon bloodlines that have roamed these lands for generations. The late Ryukotsusei was his last living descendant in Japan. Rain had spoken to me about attending the summance only one other time before. After we extracted our revenge he wanted to gain Tora's favor and ask him for one of his scales." Yuki said.
"From what Scarlet said it sounds like both she and Rain were planning on going to this summance together. I bet that he'll probably still go since Tora has something that he wants. Do you know where it's at?" Moroha asked.
"I do, at the base of the volcano that sprung from Tora's last great battle on earth lies Tora's palace of ash." Yuki said.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go then." Towa said while Yuki's face got somber.
Putting himself at risk was one thing but potentially putting his friends in danger by bringing them face to face with a demon that was rumored to be over 1000 years old was another. He didn't want to risk them.
Yuki shook his head. "I don't think that we should try meeting Rain there, it will be too dangerous with so many powerful demons in one place."
"That's exactly why I think we should go. If a lot of powerful demons will be there it will put Rain at a disadvantage. Rain won't have much control in a situation where not everyone is working with him. I don't think that he would want to risk having a conflict with so many demons that he knows nothing about near. Rain's too strategic when it comes to who he'll fight head on. He won't want any trouble there and he won't be able to set any traps like the times before. He won't be expecting us to attack him there at all." Towa said with a grin.
"Humans and half demons are forbidden from stepping foot into the palace of ash. Even if we wanted to, only Jade could get in. Do you all honestly want to leave it to him and Kilala?" Yuki said.
Kilala purred from Hisui's shoulder while Jade immediately took offense to Yuki's words.
"Way to have faith in me, pal. Maybe an enemy of yours could be my friend." Jade said in spite.
"Jade none of us would be much good in that situation alone. Especially if we anger one of those old demons. That's not the kind of place where we can just act as we please." Yuki said.
"Maybe we should put this to a vote." Towa smiled.
"You all should really listen to me about this one." Yuki urged on.
Typically Yuki didn't care what they did. He simply just favored whatever would make Moroha happy but when it came to getting involved with demons that were out of their league, Yuki understood from personal experience why they needed to be careful.
Moroha felt a pinch on her neck and slapped her hand down hard.
"Ouch." Myoga said as he slowly fell to the ground.
"Grandpa Myoga, long time no see!" Moroha exclaimed.
"Do you know of the ancient dragon Tora by any chance?" Hisui asked. Myoga knew of almost every myth and legend when he came to old demons.
"Tora! The dragon between realms!? What do you kids want with him? Is it not enough to just go hunting for Naraku's heir? Why not stay focused on that?" Myoga asked them in shock.
And he had thought that Inuyasha used to put him in danger. If he was going to die it would one hundred percent be because he was beside these kids.
"Hunting for me?" Yuki asked. "Is that what you all were calling it?" Yuki asked unamused.
"You're with us alive and well aren't you? We weren't calling it hunting." Moroha rolled her eyes.
"Is it true that humans and half demons are banned from attending the Centennial summance? What do you know of this Myoga?" Setsuna asked.
"The Centennial summance is only for the powerful to attend. Hundreds of powerful demons from all over make the trip to be in attendance but only a handful are ever able to meet with Tora the dragon. Even fewer are able to receive one of his scales since he's only willing to give them in exchange for something personal from the requester. Less than 10 have been given out over the past 600 years. Though there is no explicit rule, humans and half demons attending the summance would no doubtably be seen as an insult to the great demon Tora who hates all things weak. Especially if those attending are related to the people who killed his last living descendant Ryukotsusei." Myoga said.
"Oh. Did one of our fathers kill Ryukotsusei?" Towa asked.
"Your grandfather had sealed Ryukotsusei with his fang before Master Inuyasha later finished him off." Myoga said.
"Well…." Towa started as she fully processed what Myoga said.
"It's not outright banned for us to be there and none of us are weak so let's go! Let's go but just steer clear of Tora. You said it yourself Myoga, Tora only meets with a handful of people. I'm sure that the 6 of us can go about unnoticed if we're careful. I think it would be fun to go. It's only once every 100 years, we can't miss it!" Towa said excitedly.
"You can't be serious lady Towa. You could be killed." Myoga warned in disbelief.
Moroha smiled. "I'm in too if only the powerful attend then that makes it our business to be there."
"I knew that the two of you would want to go the moment that Yuki brought it up, we better prepare." Setsuna sighed.
"You heard the girls Myoga, even if we vote on it the rest of us have no choice if all three of them agree." Hisui smiled.
"You all aren't thinking straight. We can't just show up there. What if some of the demons in attendance recognize us. We haven't exactly been subtle during our travels and it's not hard to sense who's half demon and who's human especially when blood gets spilled. Everybody would know immediately if that happened. It's too dangerous for us to go." Yuki told them.
"If there are only powerful demons there. A lot of demonic auroras will be in place. It will be difficult for any of them to tell who's exactly who from that alone. When it comes to the blood we'll just make sure not to bleed simple." Towa smiled.
"I thought that we were only going because Rain might be there. If we have to lay low and can't fight then what's the point of we can't get him?" Jade asked.
"Oh I already figured that out." Hisui smiled.
"We'll be looking for Rain but we won't fight him there. It wouldn't be good for him and it wouldn't be good for us. So if we see him Moroha will approach Rain and offer him something that he wants. The red rainbow pearl. Moroha will offer to give Rain the rainbow pearl in exchange for leaving us alone. She'll act as if all of this has been too much for her, like she's afraid of continued conflict with him and convince Rain to leave the summance with her or to meet her somewhere else later on and then we'll ambush him." Hisui smiled. "We can attend the summance with ease since fighting there is not what we want. Our goal will be to draw Rain out on our terms." Hisui explained.
"What!? Why do I have to pretend to be afraid?" Moroha questioned.
"Because you have the rainbow pearl and Rain has targeted you multiple times already. He'll see an opportunity to get what he wants and to get rid of you." Hisui said.
Yuki was immediately against this plan.
"Allowing him to meet with you later gives him too much time to think. Make him leave with you at that moment or he'll be too prepared to try to kill you. Being alone with him is dangerous" Yuki said seriously.
"I won't be alone, I'll have all of you watching my back. Don't forget I got Rain pretty good the last time that we fought." Moroha told him with a determined look on her face but Yuki still couldn't help but look at her with worried eyes.
Mrorha's expression softened as his face didn't waiver. She looked into his eyes. Her own brown eyes calm and her voice soft as she spoke again. "I'm going to be okay, Yuki. Trust me my life isn't meant to end by Rain's hands."
"I wouldn't plan for her to do something like this if I didn't believe that Moroha was stronger than Rain. You can trust that we won't die fighting him, Yuki." Hisui reassured.
"I understand Yuki's concerns but sooner or later we're going to be face to face with Rain again. Why even look for him if we're going to be too afraid to move. At least in this situation we could potentially have control of what happens." Setsuna said.
Myoga sighed, it lookd like there would be no stopping them.
"Though I don't condone you all going to the Centennial summance. You should hide your identities should you attend. Your family doesn't have many living enemies out there but the ones that are still alive are dangerous even for you all. You'll have to dress for the occasion too, as if you were attending the party of a lord. Only exquisite clothing and exceptional battle armor. If you don't dress for the occasion it will be seen as an insult to Tra himself." Myoga told the teens.
Moroha clapped her hands together. "How fun! I've never been to a party like that before. Yuki, do you really not want to come with us?" She turned to Yuki and asked. "Don't even worry about Rain until we see him and If any of us even catch a glimpse of Tora while we're there we'll immediately look away."
"This is not a social call, the summance could really be dangerous for all of us." Yuki stated.
"Fine, then don't come, we'll go on our own." Moroha said.
"I didn't say that I wasn't coming. I just can't help but feel cautious about attending something like this. Sometimes reputation alone can stop even the most powerful of demons from picking a fight. Since we shouldn't use our real identities we should make up a strong alias beforehand. Alias that have believable representations." Yuki said.
"I agree." Hisui said. "We should definitely be cautious and really consider how to avoid fighting there as much as possible. We don't want to insult Tora and we don't want to draw too much attention." Hisui placed his hand on his chin as he thought.
"A good alias starts with a good disguise so let's focus on trying to find suitable attire first." Hisui said.
"Oh, we can keep heading the way that we were going. Rain and I have a vast collection of clothes at the location that I was taking us to." Yuki said
"Well in that case let's get out of the spider demons' home and figure out our full strategy for the summance." Hisui said.
XXXX
The 6 of them wasted no time in coming up with suitable aliases. Towa came up with names along with elaborate backstories for each of them quickly but they were too outlandish to stick even though Moroha and surprisingly Hisui liked what she came up with and appreciated her effort. They just needed something more subtle than what Towa originally had in mind.
After the group had rested briefly they made it to where Yuki had been taking them and Rain was nowhere to be found at this meeting place either.
Yuki had taken them to a small manor that was much nicer than the Kindo estate and Rain's base in the mountains of the eastern wolf territories. The two of them must have acquired this place more recently. Moroha had thought.
This place had more than enough room to house all of them for a while too.
Yuki was right, there were plenty of things for the group to wear at the manor that he and Rain used to stay at, and the clothes were much nicer than any of them had expected.
Yuki really wasn't lying when he said that he had more than enough clothes for the group to wear.
The group had stayed the night at the manor for a few days before the summance so they had plenty of time to prepare and decide on aliases before the big event.
When the day of the Centennial summance came they all dressed their parts perfectly.
They decided that they were going to tell people that they were traveling far from the west to attend Tora's summance. Setsuna was going to masquerade as the made up demon princess Suna from the west. Which had been one of Towa's ideas originally.
Setsuna would pretend to be Princess Suna from the west, while Yuki would shapeshift into one of the Gemini brothers. Mars, since there was a good chance that some of the demons in attendance might know Yuki by his real face.
Mars and Princess Suna are engaged. Is what the group decided that they were going with as their story and the rest of the group would be Mars and Suna's followers.
It wasn't uncommon for strong demons to bring along their powerful allies to important events so Yuki believed that this ruse would work.
When it came to what the guy's were wearing. Jade kept his hair up in his usual ponytail and wore elegant loose fitting robes that Hisui had helped him pick out.
Jade also wore black and silver armor over his chest and shoulders that made him look more like a warrior.
Hisui wore his hair down for a change and found some green and black robes that fit him well along with some shoulder pieces of armor that came from the bones of lesser demons and a front piece of armor that looked good on him when tied around with a sash.
He kept his sword at his hip and made sure to put hiraikotsu somewhere safe as he wouldn't be able to lug it with him to the summance without the demons noticing the weapon of a demon slayer.
Yuki changed into Mars who's long dark red hair he braided back and let hang over his shoulder. Yuki wore gold and purple colors that matched the colors that Setsuna was planning to wear since the two of them were going to be masquerading as an engaged couple.
The dark purple color looked nice on Yuki especially with the nice armor that he put on over top of his robes. His twin blades were even able to practically go along with his formal attire.
The guys were sitting around for much longer than they had expected to as the girls took a longer time to get ready.
Jade, as impatient as ever, went to rush them banging hard on the other side of the door to where the girls were all getting dressed.
Only to be scolded by Moroha and Towa who didn't even open the door to talk to him as they both scolded him from the other side of the door telling him that it takes longer for girls to do their hair for such a formal occasion.
This was different from dressing up for the village festivals or dressing nice for new year's at the slayers guild, so more time was needed to look the part for tonight. Both Moroha and Towa did Setsuna's hair since she was supposed to be a western princess. Moroha was surprisingly good at doing Setsuna's hair so complexly and Towa had a good eye for dressing nice so she picked what Setsuna would wear from the vast collection of clothes at the manor.
Moroha and Towa helped Setsuna with a lot of her outfit for the night since all three of them figured what a princess would wear to such a formal event would be more elaborate.
Towa and Moroha also seemed to be having much more fun with this than Setsuna who had looked like she was ready to be done with all of the prep the moment that they started.
Towa complimented Setsuna's hair once Moroha was finished and Moroha smiled.
"It's from my mom. She likes to do stuff like this so I'm not too bad at it either." Moroha told her cousin.
Most of their time spent getting ready was simply making sure that Setsuna looked the part while she tried to sit still and not get annoyed by what her sister and cousin were doing.
Oh how half way through Setsuna had wished that she had insisted that Towa pretended to be a princess instead.
Towa had said that she thought that Setsuna would play this part best because she was the most poised out of all of the three of them and Setsuna simply just agreed because she didn't care. What Setsuna had failed to foresee was all the prep that she was going to have to go through beforehand.
Once the two girls were finished helping Setsuna with what she needed. Moroha and Towa got dressed as well.
Moroha was actually ready first before Towa and went to tell the guys that they wouldn't be much longer.
Moroha was wearing a pretty red dress that had black and silver accents across the fabric and she looked very elegant as she walked into the room that her friends were waiting in.
Her dress had long white sleeves that popped out under the top red and black layer of her dress and she wore her hair up with her bangs out of her face for once, which was in contrast to her usual hairstyle and her updo made her hair look much more full than it usually looked too. She had her signature red bow tied around her wrist for the night and her sword was neatly at her hip.
The moment she smiled, Yuki's chest felt weird at the sight for some reason.
With her hair tied up and in her beautiful red and black robes she just looked like a real celestial princess just like Yuki had said when he had teased Shinji not too long ago and he wished that all time could stop just so that he could remember her and how she looked in this moment forever.
"Setsuna is helping Towa finish up with her outfit. Towa couldn't decide between two patterns so I don't know how much longer they'll be but it should be soon." Moroha said before taking a seat next to Hisui. Which made an already impatient Jade happy to hear that he hopefully wouldn't be waiting for much longer.
"You look amazing!" Jade told Moroha. "No bow today?" He asked.
He was used to seeing Moroha dressed as a warrior. She was always pretty but when she dressed like this she really did look just like a Princess. Jade thought. He wondered how Setsuna was going to look if Moroha looked like this and she wasn't even playing the part of Princess tonight.
Moroha laughed in response to his comment. "This is just dress up." She smiled. "I didn't think that my bow looked right since we're supposed to be in disguise." She said.
"Either way you look super cute." Jade told his friend.
"Just make sure that you don't talk like that in front of your father. We don't want him getting any ideas." Moroha teased.
"Relax, You know that I don't see you in that way. I'm just happy to be in the company of such lovely companions tonight." Jade said with a confident smile.
Both Hisui and Yuki rolled their eyes at him.
Moroha always looked good and she was always cute. Yuki had thought. She didn't need Jade to tell her.
Yuki's face started to scrunch and he realized it so he stepped himself.
He watched Moroha for a moment longer as she spoke to Jade and then to Hisui. He didn't hear a thing that was said but he knew that he never wanted to forget how she looked when she dressed like this and she was just being herself.
The thought of meeting Rain again started to pull on his mind once more and it showed on his face because he couldn't stop this time from reacting to his own thoughts.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Moroha asked from beside Yuki, interrupting his thoughts.
She looked even prettier right next to him and he could see the small flecks of gold that were hidden within her brown eyes. The small flecks that you could only see from being this close to her.
Her voice brought him back to reality and his eyes quickly moved from her when he started to feel his face flush.
"Nothing." Yuki caughed.
Moroha eyed him suspiciously and he gave her a questionable look when their eyes met again and they just stared at each other for a moment before she shook her head.
"You guys all look good too. Though I will have to get used to having one of the Gemini twins so close to me and not wanting them dead." Moroha said.
"Hey at least you don't have to get used to pretending to be this idiot. The sooner this night is over the better" Yuki said.
"Aww come on, that's just one con. You know that you like dressing up." Moroha smiled.
"Believe me, dressing up will be the most exciting part of the night for you all. These high society get-togethers are never much fun." Yuki said.
"You've been to other parties like this before?" Moroha asked him.
"Plenty of times but not as myself. So this isn't much different for me." Yuki said.
"Ohh do you know exactly what to expect at the summance tonight?" Hisui asked.
"More or less. You all might enjoy it more than I do." Yuki said with a shrug as he recalled the first time that he had ever masquerade as some high lord and how proud Rain had been of him after the fact.
"I doubt that, if I have to wear this for much longer I don't think that will be all that fun." Jade said.
Moroha laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Jade asked.
"You Jade. Towa said that you probably wouldn't like dressing up." Moroha laughed again as she told him what Towa had said.
"She did?" Jade asked, surprised. "Does she care for things like this?"
"Sometimes, Towa likes clothes." Moroha smiled.
"I'm going to get some air." Yuki said before leaving out of the side door of the room that they were in and walking outside to the garden on the other side of the door.
The garden to this manor still looked nice and green despite the owners of this manor being dead for more than half a year now. The garden had many green plants of all sizes and pretty flowers that danced throughout the deep greens of the taller plants which made the garden more colorful.
The plants were still as green and lush as the day that Yuki had first arrived. Even if so much has changed for him since he had last been here this garden had survived all on its own.
The plants looked inviting in the orange light of the sunset which helped Yuki's nerves to calm themselves as he walked through the plants and over to the bench at the end of the small pond that sat across from the door in the center of the garden.
Yuki could see the door that he came out of clearly from here so whenever everyone was ready to go he wouldn't miss it. So he just sat down and stared up at the sky as he prepared himself for the night ahead.
Yuki looked up at the two toned sky and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.
The worst part of the night was going to be when he would see Rain again and then have to willingly let Moroha put herself in danger with him.
If all things went well, the Rain would be dead by the morning.
Yuki slowly opened his eyes as he released his breath and remembered some of the last words that Rain said to him at the Kindo estate.
"Onigumo you could never replace him. I tried I really did but you could never be something that would have made him proud and I hold no attachments to a weak half demon such as yourself."
Rain had truly abandoned him the last time that they had met and there was no way that Rain wouldn't be at the summance tonight. Especially if he thought that there was something to be gained there. Suddenly keeping the form of Mars was making him sweat so Yuki shifted back to himself so that he could breathe easier as he considered what he was going to say to Rain for the last time.
Mars' long red hair faded back to Yuki's normal length and his snowy silver hair shone under the orange glow of the sunset as he opened his ruby colored eyes and thought more about Rain who had been the only constant that he has ever known his entire life.
Rain who had been his only family his entire life. Rain who raised him, who taught him everything he knows, who used to claim to love him. Told him that he could never make him proud and then asked him to die.
Rain who had manipulated him his whole life. Who had taught him that cruelty starts with the people that love you. Who had taught him that it's better to be ruthless or you'll be taken advantage of. Who had taught him to believe that being a half demon makes him lesser by definition. Rain who had hurt him in many ways over the years but also was good to him at times too. Yuki didn't feel any joy at the thought of killing Rain but understood what needed to be done.
Moroha and the rest of his friends would never be safe if Rain lived and even though Yuki hadn't known his friends for half as long as he had known Rain, Yuki still wanted to choose to save the people that made him feel alive. The people that showed him that not everyone is out to betray you.
Yuki already knew his choice but he still couldn't help but wonder how Rain could do this to him after raising him the way that he did. Yuki had done everything that Rain had ever asked inorder to prove himself. Yuki had done everything but in the end, it still wasn't enough because Rain still wanted him dead. Being with his friends made Yuki feel secure because he never had to question why they were acting and they accepted him as he was but once Rain was gone would they someday want to throw him away too? If that happened he wouldn't even have Rain left to crawl back to. He could be truly alone one day and that truly terrified him.
The door to the manor opened, breaking Yuki from his thoughts. His eyes briefly glanced at the door to catch Moroha sliding the door shut behind her before walking over to sit next to him.
Yuki looked up at the sky again, calming his mind before meeting her eyes as she sat down. He didn't want Moroha to think that he was having second thoughts.
"Why aren't you inside with everyone? Are Setsuna and Towa ready yet?" Yuki asked.
"No." Moroha shook her head. "We've got a little bit of time before we have to go so I wanted to be with you. How are you feeling, Yuki?" She asked sincerely.
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" He scoffed but she stayed focused not letting him brush her aside.
"You changed back to yourself." She noted.
"You don't like it when I look like Mars." Yuki said.
"I don't but you didn't change back because of me and I know that. Before we really knew each other you once told me how important your uncle was to you. Are you feeling nervous about possibly killing him tonight?" Moroha asked Yuki right to the point and he stared up at the tangerine sky again.
He was nervous. He thought to himself.
After Rain was gone he'd truly have no family bonds left in this world. Even if they were in name only. He used to do anything just to receive the smallest amount of praise from Rain and now Yuki was going to kill him. How things have changed.
"Hey." Moroha's voice brought him back to reality as he felt her take his hand in hers. His eyes now met her soft brown eyes again that looked at him with warmth and sincerity. "It's okay to feel nervous." She told him.
"Rain raised you, after all it's normal to feel conflicted. I won't judge you." She said honestly.
Rain would have never said something like that to Yuki. The smallest hint of wavering when it came to doing what needed to be done would have been dealt with swiftly but here he was next to Moroha and she was telling him that he didn't have to feel one hundred percent certain of his choices. Even if what he felt wasn't right.
How could she still be so incredibly warm to him even now? He didn't deserve it.
"Do you not remember when he tried to kill me? I'll be glad to be rid of him." Yuki tried to play it off but she still looked at him with such soft eyes. He didn't deserve for her to look at him that way, not when he was having such treacherous thoughts.
"You won't be glad when he dies. You loved him and he hurt you. Love like that doesn't go away overnight." She said.
"I did love him, but he said it best himself, I could never be something that could make my father proud and I'm nothing but a useless half demon to him so what's it matter anyway? We have to kill Rain whether I want to or not, If nothing's done he'll kill us all eventually. Just look at the demons he's sent after us, especially the ones that have targeted you. We can't leave him alone. I understand what needs to be done for all of our sakes and my resolve will not change."
"If you think there's another way we'll listen. You're our friend and we would never force you to kill Rain if we can do this another way." Moroha said seriously.
"No, this is the only way." Yuki said, and then took a deep breath before smiling sweetly at her as she remained serious.
"You don't have to worry about me if I didn't think that I could do this, you'd know." Yuki squeezed her hand tighter. "Just promise me that after everything you'll still be my friend. I never want to go back to those days that started and ended alone with my only goal being to receive the praise of someone who despised me. I want to always be able to look forward to your smile as my friend. Can you please always just do that for me?" Yuki asked with such raw and honest feelings.
"Yuki, you and I will always be friends." She smiled. "I would never let you go back to being alone but you don't only have me. You've got everyone else too. I wasn't the only one rushing into the Kindo estate to get you. We all care about you. You don't have to depend on Rain to save you from being alone anymore because now you have us." She said as she rubbed thumb over the back of his knuckles as they still held hands on the garden bench.
Yuki opened his mouth to speak but all of the words died on his tongue as all he could mutter was a small thanks but he knew that she could tell. She could tell that what she said meant a lot to him. More than she knew.
The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while longer after that while holding hands as the sky got darker until Towa popped her head out the door of the manor. Catching the two outside. Towa smiled.
"Come on the two of you missed the sappy look on Hisui's face when he saw Setsuna all dressed up." Towa called outside.
"I'm ready whenever you are." Yuki said letting go of her hand first and standing up. Staring for the manor before Moroha did and she watched his back for a moment as he walked and his appearance returned back to Mars before she followed him inside.
"Sorry for taking so long." Towa smiled.
Setsuna's dress was a long and flowy dark purple dress with long sleeves that had beautiful gold accents across the top of the dress and on her skirt as well as around her long sleeves. She wore a light purple silk sash around her waist that made the look even more elegant as there was also light purple that was just barely visible on her her hair was pulled half up in a regal style while the bottom of her hair flowing overtop of her shoulders. Setsuna also wore some light makeup to go along with the look and she definitely looked the part of a Princess at the moment.
Setsuna always had a certain grace about her no matter what she wore. It was just the way that she carried herself so it looked like it was natural for her to be dressed so well.
Towa chose to wear a dress that was more simple in comparison than both Moroha and Setsuna. Towa's dress was white with a gold skirt that still allowed for her to move very freely if she needed to fight and she added a black chest piece of armor that she believed really made her dress pop and let everyone know that she was a warrior. She pulled her short hair back in a low style as it had grown some over their travels and was almost touching her shoulders now.
The three girls more than looked the part of high ranking nobility.
"You look like a real Princess lady Setsuna!" Myoga said from Moroha's shoulder.
"Hey when did you get back? Gramps?" Moroha asked.
"Just a moment ago." Myoga answered.
"No one will question us at all when we're walking in with you." Jade said to Setsuna.
"This dress doesn't allow for too much mobility so fighting won't be too practical while I'm dressed like this. Not without ruining the dress." Setsuna said, annoyed.
"Let's not concern ourselves with trying to fight anyone okay?" Yuki said. "We're there for one reason and one reason only. Find Rain and get out of there and none of us are even going to go near Tora." Yuki reiterated.
"Agreed we are not going there to have fun we are on a mission." Hisui nodded seriously.
"You sure that fun's not on your mind? We all saw how red your face got when you saw Setsuna." Towa teased
"Towa!" Hisui exclaimed. "I'm serious, you all take this seriously. We need to keep eyes on each other at all times and be on alert. We don't know what we're going to be walking into." Hisui said.
"We hear you. Hisui, we'll get serious." Setsuna reassured him.
"Alright." He coughed, quickly looking away from her. While Towa, Moroha and Jade gave him knowing looks so he avoided eye contact with them.
"I'll help guide you while you're at the summance. It shouldn't be too dangerous as long as we play our cards right." Myoga said.
"See Yuki, if this certified coward is staying with us then it can't be too dangerous." Moroha said.
"Lady Moroha, why must you speak of me so cruelly." Myoga asked, feeling just a small amount of indignation at her comment.
The six of them then made their way to the base of a large volcano.
At the base of the volcano that sprung from Tora's last great battle on earth lies Tora's palace of ash. Myoga had told them before.
Myoga knew right where the palace was and how to enter. So after they were finished getting dressed they went straight for the palace of ash.
The area surrounding the volcano was barren and desolate so there weren't any humans near nor any villages nearby.
"I wonder where the summance is. I can't smell anything other than smoke and ash from the volcano." Towa said.
Myoga smiled. "Allow me to show you how to get into Tora's palace of ash. It's not easy for newcomers to find." Myoga said while directing them in the right direction.
"How do you know all this stuff about the summance Myoga have you been here before?" Moroha asked.
"Yes I attended with lord Toga 500 years ago back when the summance wasn't near as grand as it is now." Myoga said just as they came across a pool of lava.
"It's this one." Myog said. "Jump into this pit here and you'll be in."
"Yeah, we'll all be in the afterlife." Jade said skeptically.
"No, it's intentional. Tora likes to keep his place hidden only so many know how to enter." Myoga said.
"I'll go first." Setsuna said.
"Wait sis, maybe we should tes.." Towa started but Setsuna wasted no time jumping, straight in and sinking straight down into the lava.
She landed on her feet in front of large stone doors that rose high within the dark rocky walls of the volcano and were guarded by demons that were made completely of bones that almost reminded Setsuna of Jakotsumaru's bone demons but these ones seemed much more formidable.
Setsuna stayed where she was before she was soon joined by the rest of the group.
"Who are you?" A demon completely made of bones asked the 6 of them.
"I am Princess Suna of the west, I'm here with my fiancé Mars to see Tora the dragon between the realms." Setsuna said with confidence taking the lead.
The bone demons stared at them for a long time. Setsuna almost thought that they weren't going to be allowed in but the large doors opened and they were allowed to pass through.
"Master Tora has not instructed us to kill any Princess Suna. You may enter the Ash palace and mayyour union be eternal." The bone demon told them as they walked through the doors.
The ash palace was decorated lavishly with tapestry and silks. There was food everywhere and performing women and fire dancing bone demons.
With so much going on it was hard for any of them to focus on just one thing as the doors shut behind them.
An elegantly dressed demon with pale white skin and short dark hair approached the 6 of them almost immediately.
"Now you don't come around here often." The man asked inquisitively. "Who might you be? Enchanting lady, and why have you been absent from the last two summance?" The man asked.
"My fiance, Princess Suna and I are from the west. The two of us are both under 60 years old so we simply weren't born in time for the last summance." Yuki said as Mars and the demon backed up.
"I apologize, Your presence is just very pulling princess Suna but I should have expected nothing less if you're here after all. I'm Theo and who might you be?" The man said.
"Mars king of the flames." Yuki introduced himself cold and formal.
"My, I'm sensing such a strong presence from each of you. I just can't place my finger on what it is. Are you all descended from great demons?" Theo asked.
"Only my fiancé and myself, the others have merely proven themselves worthy to be in our presence." Setsuna said.
"You must be a worthy mistress indeed Princess Suna of the west. I'll be rooting for you to become acquainted with lord Tora tonight." Theo said before leaving the 6 of them.
"What a weirdo. I'm not trying to stay here any longer than necessary. Do you all see Rain or not?" Jade asked. He was clearly out of his element with this and was already ready to leave.
"Calm down, it's impossible for us to tell right away with so many people here. For now we all just need to lay low and stick together where we can." Yuki said.
The loud crash of braking pillars gained all of their attention. It looked like a tall half beastly demon had been thrown hard into one of the stone pillars of the ash palace and the culprit looked to be a boy no older than any of them with long golden hair and deep purple eyes.
"How does it feel knowing that you're about to lose your life to one of those disgusting half breeds you were just spewing about?" The boy taunted.
"Crux, please calm down. What if Tora sees this and—." His friend, another demon looking boy said with worried eyes as he tried to stop Crux.
"Shut up Altair! All I've heard from this one since we've gotten here is half demon this and half demon that. I can let just about anything slide unless they're talking about me. Then it's personal and if Tora feels the same way as these other dumb ass demons then I have no problem taking him on too. Right here and now. I refuse to hide." Crux said right before killing the demon he had thrown by picking him up by his head and crushing his head into the ground.
Tora, who the two had no idea was watching in that moment, smiled his deep blue eyes glowing before waving his hand and making something that looked similar to a meido appear right underneath the two half demons and they disappeared.
"Those two are dead, there's no way that Tora would let them live after that." Yuki said.
"You don't know that for sure." Towa said and Yuki only looked at her with skepticism.
"You actually came, I wasn't expecting that." A voice said excitedly from behind Towa who turned to find Riku. "Hello Princess Towa." Riku smiled.
"Riku, what the hell are you doing here?" Yuki asked, his mood getting worse just at the sight of him and Riku smirked in response.
"Hello Onigumo, I suppose it's only fitting that you get to use that face now seeing as Mars won't be needing it anymore." Riku said.
"You keep finding your way back to us not only at the wolf demon territories but now here as well. What are you after Riku?" Setsuna asked and Riku's eyes landed on Towa again.
"I don't wish to out you. Not at all, all I ask is that Towa share a dance with me in return for keeping your secret." Riku smiled trying to be charming.
"Absolutely not. You out us and I'll have no choice but to drag you into this with us as well. Trust me you don't want to be caught up in any trouble because of one bad choice." Hisui told him seriously.
"And I believe you. From what I've seen you're pretty smart but I'm willing to take that risk if my small request can't be met." Riku said and Towa took a deep breath.
"Calm down everyone, it's just a dance." She sighed before reaching her hand out to Riku. "Come on before I change my mind." She told him.
The music was soft and the people danced formal yet close as the Shamisen was played and a woman sang.
"Thank you for agreeing to this dance." Riku said. He got closer to Towa and she placed her arms around him in the same way that others were doing.
"You didn't give me much of a choice back there. Hisui looked like he was about to kill you and Yuki doesn't want anything to do with you."
"What's it like traveling with Onigumo anyway? He's changed his name with the 5 of you, How interesting. Aren't you worried that he might betray you once Rain comes around again?"
"No he won't do that this time." Towa said sure of Yuki. "He's my friend and I trust him, we all do."
"More that you trust me?" Riku asked with a serious expression.
"You're not my friend." Towa said just as serious.
"I'd like to change that. Wouldn't you say that dancing is something that friends would do together?" Riku asked.
"Yeah willing and without ultimatum." She smirked.
"I'm sorry I just couldn't help it when I saw you walk in here looking brighter than the stars. I couldn't control it. I just knew that I wanted to be by your side." Riku said and Towa cheeks flushed she hadn't expected such a confession and from the look on Riku's face he was pleased to have caught her off guard.
"Where is this coming from? We've barely met 3 times." Towa asked skeptically.
"When I saw you fight Kyuki I was mesmerized by you at first sight and then I saw how beautiful you look in the absence of the moonlight and how the moon's absence does nothing to dull who you are and at that point I couldn't help but to become an admirer of your princess Towa who's beauty and strength are equals in every way." Riku told her.
"You talk sweet but I can't say that you've inspired me in any way similar to how I have to you. I have no time for an admirer's attention." Riku turned her fast as they danced so that he could catch her after making her stumble subtly.
"I understand. I knew you'd probably say that but it doesn't change how I feel. One day I'm going to win your heart Princess Towa and when I do I'll show you just how worthwhile loving me can be." Riku said confidently.
"You have until the end of this dance." She rolled her eyes and Riku smiled.
"In that case may time slow or even halt." Riku said.
Yuki and Setsuna had followed Towa's lead and went to dance since the two of them were portraying the ruse of a couple. While dancing the two of them would look around to see if Rain was hiding anywhere amongst the guests.
While Moroha and Hisui were to explore the ash palace together to see if Rain was anywhere else besides the grand hall of the ash palace. The air here was different so sniffing out Rain wouldn't work since all that any of them could smell was ash if they tried too hard.
Jade volunteered to stand by and wait for Towa to be finished with Riku so that he could fill her in on what everyone was doing once she was done dancing. After all he was supposed to be princess Suna's faithful servant keeping watch was probably in character for their ruse anyway. This was better to Jade than actually participating in this sort of party that seemed so foreign to him.
When Riku got close to Towa and pulled her in, Jade remembered how it had been when the two of them had first danced together back home. Towa was a fast learner and wasn't afraid to misstep. In fact it almost seemed like she was doing it on purpose to make sure that he was paying attention as they danced and her smile that night once they all started to drink sake.
Jade's memory lingered on her smile but his thoughts halted when Riku caught Towa in his arms.
Was she doing that on purpose too? He wondered but quickly took back the thought because she looked annoyed by whatever Riku said next.
From what Jade had heard from Riku he seemed to be interested in Towa because of shallow reasons like strength and appearance. Riku didn't really know her not at all.
Towa's strength excited Jade because it gave him something to work towards and of course she was beautiful but she was so much more than just those few things and the moments in time where she bested her enemies. She wasn't just beautiful because of those moments and things. She was beautiful because of the person that she was.
The person that she was made those moments even better to watch because you were her friend and you got to fight beside her. Even if she was completely weak she would still be beautiful even on a moonless night because that's who Towa was, someone who believed in herself and others.
When the dance ended Riku kissed her hand while looking over his shoulder at Jade with a smirk before telling Towa one last thing. She made her way over to Jade next.
"Where is everyone?" Towa asked.
"We decided to split off to increase our chances of finding Rain here." Jade told her.
"And you decided to wait for me? How loyal my puppy prince." She teased and Jade scoffed.
"Come on." Jade grabbed Towa's hand. "Let's go investigate before Riku decides that he's bored again."
"No need to rush, he's got the hint at least for tonight." Towa said.
XXXX
"Rain isn't anywhere in this room at all." Yuki told Setsuna as they danced.
"Is it possible that he changed his mind?" Setsuna asked.
"He could have but I didn't think that it was likely. The last time we talked about this he was sure that he was going to get one of Tora's scales. He wouldn't have given up easily so if he's not here there's a reason for it." Yuki's eyes drew down as he thought about what could possibly make Rain miss out on a day like today.
They danced for a while longer gathering information and learning about the different demons in attendance before leaving the dance floor and finding their way back to where they had planned to meet up with the rest of their group.
"Took you two long enough." Towa told Setsuna and Yuki.
"Did you not formally ask prince Riku to join us princess Towa?" Her sister teased.
"Yeah right what did you two find out? Did you see Rain anywhere?" Towa asked.
"No." Yuki said disappointed. "If he was planning on being here he wouldn't have hid. Not when he wanted to get Tora's attention."
"So is the plan to leave now that we know that Rain's nowhere to be found?" Jade asked.
"I think that's for the best. You saw what happened to those other half demons that were making noise didn't you? Tora is out of our league." Yuki said with a sigh and Setsuna nodded.
"Well I guess I've had my fun for the night. You were right Yuki, the parties that Jade's dad throws are way more fun than this." Towa said.
"Hey, keep your voice low." Setsuna told her.
"I've been ready to go since the moment we walked in but where are Moroha and Hisui?" Jade asked and the group paused.
They had been clear on when they would all meet again if the two of them hadn't come back then it might not be the best sign."
XXXX
Moroha and Hisui had started to wonder about the ash palace but the halls almost seemed like they lead to circles and once they were finally sure that they had reached a room worth investigating they were caught by other demons and ushered in to try foods that neither of them had ever seen before it would be a great insult to the great dragon should they refuse his hospitality they were told so the two of them had no choice but to break bread with the demons.
Moroha seamlessly started to converse with the demons, keeping her act up to a T while Hisui started to feel strange after drinking one cup of their wine.
The friendly demons then rushed Moroha off to play games in another room while Hisui remained and did his best to try and calm his mind that was racing now until he felt a hand on the back of his shoulder .
"There you are. What are you doing here?" Setsuna told him.
"Setsu—" Hisui started.
"Princess Suna, you must try this!" Another demon shoved a cup into her hands.
"Not accepting the food at the summance at Tora's palace could get you in trouble. Drink it but be careful. What Tora serves isn't normal and could affect you adversely." Myoga said from Setsuna's shoulder.
"Your friend here was telling me all about you. What a loyal disciple that you have here." The demon smiled.
Hisui hadn't remembered a single word that he had supposedly said. The only thing that he could think about once Setsuna touched him was her.
"I'll be taking him now. My fiancé is waiting for the rest of our party so that we can request a meeting with lord Tora." Setsuna lied.
"Oh wow Princess Suna and Gemini demon Mars you really are something special aren't you?" The woman said.
"I've got him." Jade said as he helped Hisui up to his feet.
"We only gave him some wine and a few things here and there." He must not be used to eating such divine dishes." Another demon said.
Setsuna got close to Hisui as Jade carried him along.
"Hey are you alright?" Setsuna asked and Hisui's face flushed.
"Now that I see you." Hisui said.
"He needs some air." Yuki said and the 5 of them all took Hisui outside on a nearby patio that looked completely different from the volcanic surroundings that they had seen when they had originally entered.
Outside on the patio was a clear view of the sky and the nightly surroundings looked much different than normal. It looked like they were closer to the stars here.
"Guy's I'm fine really." Hisui said.
"Damn look at who can't handle his sake." Towa teased.
"Not sake, it's party wine that demons brew to get them in the mood to socialize. I didn't think that we'd be eating or drinking anything or I would have said something. This kind of demon wine is not meant for humans to consume" Yuki said. "Hisui, where's Moroha?" Yuki asked.
Hisui shrugged. "She made some friends and now they're playing games." He said.
"I'm going to find her." Yuki said quick before going off on his own.
"Jade and I will go too sis you watch over Hisui we'll meet you both back here." Towa said.
XXXX
Moroha was never a picky eater not when it was her mothers food that was typically what was being looked at questionably from time to time so she went ahead and did what the demons asked after all it probably wouldn't kill her and as she ate more and more she forgot why she was even there in the first place as the demons that welcomed her talked to her friendly and Hisui looked like he was having fun too.
When she was asked to come and play ships which was some kind of table game that was apparently popular with the demons here she gladly went along.
She played round after round until she hit a somewhat lucky streak and won 4 times in a row.
"There you are." Her head snapped around at the sound of Mars' voice and she paused.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him, baffled in disbelief.
"I've been looking for you, come on, we need to talk." Yuki said.
"After the first time I'm surprised that you'd be willing to make the same mistake twice." Moroha said cold.
"Hey is this guy bothering you?" One of the demons that she had been playing games with asked.
"No, I've got this. Take out your sword Titan." Moroha said.
"Titan? Moroha, seriously that's not me." Yuki said with sincerity. He could tell that Moroha must have eaten or drank a lot more than Hisui.
Moroha looked into his eyes for a long time and Yuki didn't waver in his resolve. Then she realized that she was wrong.
She looked down in embarrassment. "Crap, I'm sorry I don't know what's gotten into me." She said.
Yuki sighed. "I know it's not your fault, come on." He told her and she allowed him to take her hand and pull her along.
Moroha said her goodbyes to the demons as Yuki pulled her out of the room.
"Something strange is happening to my mind. I think it's the food." She told him as she ran a hand through her hair.
"You're right it's not normal. It makes demons lose themselves at these parties." Yuki told her.
"Hisui ate too. Is he okay?" She asked worried.
"Yeah. Lucky for us we got to him first. He's with Setsuna now."
"Thank goodness." Moroha smiled. Music from the grand hall could be heard faint through the halls as they walked and Yuki hadn't once let go of Moroha's hand once since they had started walking through the hall.
"Yuki?" Moroha asked.
"Yes?"
"Can we dance?"
"Why?"
"I just want to. We danced back when we met Jade. Can we dance again. Please? I was hoping that I'd get to dance with you again." Moroha said with flushed cheeks.
She was definitely still under the influence of Tora's feast. Yuki had thought.
"We should keep going, the others aren't far from here." Yuki tried to tell her.
"Oh I see." She looked down in disappointment. "You don't want to huh?" Her face fell. She looked like she was about to cry and Yuki was too weak to allow that to happen even here so he took her other hand in his and pulled her close.
"You want to dance with me?" She gasped surprised.
"Sure." He answered curtly, making her smile and his heart almost fell out of his chest.
"I can't dance as well as those other demons but I still wanted to try." She said.
"They all dance too stiff. You're perfect." Yuki said as they danced in the hall stepping and turning as the song went on. The low lights of the ash palace made the two of them glow beautifully as they shred this secrete dance together.
Yuki's eyes never once left Moroha and she couldn't help but look at his too so that she could remember that he wasn't who he had changed into, he was her friend and being in his arms made her feel as if she belonged between them when he held her with such care and dance with her like he wanted her to be his only partner forever.
"This is fun, but I wish that I was dancing with you the real you. Your eyes are the only thing that remind me that you're you. My Yuki." Moroha said.
"I'm glad that you came to your senses and remembered me." Yuki said with pink dusted cheeks as he tried not to let his mind linger on being called hers. He was hers but she wasn't his. They weren't meant to be in that way and that was okay.
"Because I know you." Moroha said as the music stopped and so did she before taking Yuki by surprise and pulling him into a hug. "You are my friend and what hurts you hurts me."
"What are you talking about?" Yuki asked.
"Rain, I don't like seeing you troubled." She said and he returned her embrace holding her in his arms strong and firm as she hugged him before he pulled away from her first.
"You don't worry about that. Since I've met you almost all of my troubles have gotten smaller. Thank you for caring about me but I'm at peace with what I need to do and I'm happy that I have such good friends who care about me now." Yuki said.
"Okay." Moroha told him. She thought thatshe was fiancé but her mind still could barely stay focused after eating the food and drinks.
"Do you want me to carry you like last time?" Yuki asked as Moroha was showing no signs of coming to her senses anytime soon.
"No. I can walk just fine, come on." Moroha started ahead of him and he followed with a smile.
XXXX
Towa and Jade had been looking for Moroha, Yuki had set off ahead of them and they didn't see which direction he had gone in and it was almost impossible to smell anything throughout the palace but Towa was getting a weird feeling from a room not too far from her and Jade.
Almost like she was being drawn to there and she couldn't help it she opened the door and the moment that she and Jade stepped foot into the room. The entire room shifted over and over.t The walls around them fell apart and changed entirely and Towa lost Jade. She called his name and spun around looking for him as she walked all throughout the strange room but she was alone now.
"Where could he be?" Towa said out loud.
Towa took a deep breath calming herself, the air was more clear here for whatever reason she could smell much better now and she moved with her claws as they glew blue slashing through the wall and making the room tear around her then she saw Jade. She ran to him and he looked at her surprised.
"I heard you but I couldn't find you anywhere and I can still barely smell anything. How the hell did you get here?" Jade asked.
"No idea. I just could tell, I could smell where you were." Towa said before both she and Jade smelled something else. The air seemed to pool around this person as his figure appeared before them and Towa looked at him in shock with her mouth agape.
The demon before her looked similar to her father with his long silver hair that he had braided intricately. He had golden eyes too like her father and uncle and his face was scarred.
None of them said anything to each other as the man looked at Towa with wide eyes right before his hand twitched as if to reach for his blade but then a hand clamped down on Towa's shoulder and the room faded back to the original room in ash palace that Towa and Jade had first entered.
Both Towa and Jade turned to the man that had calmed the room. He had long dark hair and he was huge. He had to be at least 8ft tall and he was dressed elegantly yet strong in black and gold and his presence alone brought an aura that made Towa and Jade speechless as it felt like nothing that they had ever encountered before.
He had a muscular build and long dark hair. He had ear piercings up both of his ears and his shirt was loosely fitted so they could see how muscles his chest was and his deep blue eyes looked other worldly.
He didn't look ancient at all though but that didn't matter because both Towa and Jade could feel his powerful demonic aura and that told them all that they needed to know. Towa stayed frozen as the demon kept his hand on her shoulder while he spoke.
"You have a brave soul to wander about my palace and into my room of realms. Not many people are able to tear through my realms like that, most get lost in here forever but not you. So tell me granddaughter of Toga, how did you do it?" Tora asked.
"I-I could just smell it, that's all. The air there is more thin so you can smell better." Towa said.
Tora smiled in response before looking to the silver haired demon. "Corvus, it's best that you leave now while I talk to the girl and her friend." Tora said and the man that lookd similar to Sesshomaru eyed Towa with his cold golden eyes.
"I suppose it can't be helped then. See you in 100 years. You old archaic fool." Corvus said cold and full of resentment.
"I'd kill you for that but from what I've seen you shouldn't be alive by the next summance. If you do somehow manage to survive like the cockroach that you are, I'll finally give you one of my scales." Tora told Corvus and he left the room in a rush.
Tora then turned his attention back to Jade and Towa.
This was bad Jade thought as he recalled what Hisui and Yuki had told him about Towa's impulsiveness.
She would never back down no matter who it was. Jade thought. He would need to act quickly on both of their behalf.
"Lord Tora, the two of us are very sorry for stepping through your palace of ash. Please forgive us both. This was all my doing and not Towa's. I brought her here so please spare her." Jade said quickly trying to save Towa from Tora's wrath.
"Jade stop! He's lying, this was all me! I'll take you on if you're mad just don't listen to that idiot." Towa said while turning to face Tora and his hand fell from her shoulder.
Tora laughed. "I knew who the three of you girls were the moment that you set foot into my palace. I've never had half demons in attendance at any one of my summance before. A duo of misfits and then the grandchildren of my old friend, how disappointing it was to learn of his fate. Being able to survive within my realms has more than earned you an audience with me so tell me Towa do you have something that you want to ask of me?" Tora said.
XXXX
Setsuna was looking after Hisui while everyone went to find Moroha.
Outside of the ash palace looked like somewhere else entirely.
There were no signs to suggest that they were actually inside of a volcano at all, only a dark night sky with stars that shined clearer than Setsuna had ever seen in her life. Being out here felt like she was in another world entirely. She took a deep breath and she could see her breath appear clearly in the air in front of her.
Was it cold out here? She wondered. She couldn't tell and her head was starting to feel foggy because of that drink that she had.
"Cold?" Hisui asked her.
"Hisui!" She said how could she have let her mind wander in a situation like this. She had completely forgotten that he was there with her for a moment.
She gently placed her fingers onto his forehead. "You have a fever." Setsuna said.
"It's nothing, I feel fine." Hisui said behind a flushed face.
"Your face is red too." She held his cheeks in her hands and he looked into her eyes. Now she was starting to feel her own face go flush.
"From the moment you touched me inside all I could think about was you." He said merely inches from her face as she looked into his dark eyes in this other worldly place.
"The way that your touch feels, the way that lips taste, the way that your breath hitches when I touch you in only that way that I can. It's overwhelming to be apart from you." Hisui breathed before giving in and capturing her lips with his.
She couldn't help but melt into him. Oh how badly she had wanted this too but hadn't realized it. His hands wandered up her sides and slightly pushed down her kimono so that the tops of her shoulders were now exposed. And he kissed her with more passion which caused an involuntary moan to slip out of her as she threaded her fingers through his hair.
He broke the kiss and fluttered kisses over her cheeks and then down her neck and over her exposed shoulders as she held onto him and didn't even attempt to be quiet when he started to place love bites on her exposed skin. She was completely lost in his touch, her mind fully consumed with just the thought of him just like how his was with her.
She said his name over and over again and he seemed to love that as he pulled her closer and she ran her hands over his body as well over his chest and up his shoulders.
"Setsuna." He whispered close to her ear. "You make me lose my mind." He whispered low before pulling her ear lobe with his teeth and kissing down her neck again.
"Your hands sure are wondering tonight." Setsuna whispered in a breathy sigh as Hisui held her.
"Did you want to touch me too?" Hisui asked.
"Can I?" She asked surprised and he smiled.
"You can do anything you want to me, I'm always willing." He said honestly. For a second she paused as if she didn't know what she wanted. Oh how wrong he was.
The next moment she was carefully undoing the piece of chest armor that he was wearing and then pushing open his fancy Kimono before she ran her hands up the bare skin of his abs all while looking him in his eyes to make sure that it was okay.
"Anything I want huh?" She smiled. "What if I want to leave marks all over your skin so that everyone knows you're mine?"
"Well I did already bite you. It's only fair." Hisui breathed.
Setsuna leaned over him now she hadn't even bothered to fix her dress after he had exposed her shoulders and her cleavage was in his full view for a short moment and he couldn't help himself but look and imagine what it would be like to actually see Setsuna's exposed body and what it would be like if she saw him too.
Her teeth pleasantly grazed the skin on his shoulder and his breath hitched as she left a love mark on him.
She smiled against his skin. "I like making you react like that." She whispered before getting back to her task of giving him love bites too.
How much time had passed since their friends had left them alone was unknown to the two of them but they had completely forgotten that they had agreed to all meet back up on this very balcony before leaving.
Yuki had given them that rude awakening when the door opened and he saw Setsuna with her back to him and her shoulders exposed as she was up to no good with a half exposed Hisui. The two of them froze the minute that they heard the door open and Yuki shut the door just as quickly as he had opened it.
"Is everyone not there?" Moroha asked from behind him.
"Setsuna and Hisui are there but they're indisposed at the moment." Yuki said from the other side of the door.
Setsuna and Hisui sat paused outside as the two of them let their minds catch up with what had just happened.
"Ahh! I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me to do that and here of all places." Hisui said, embarrassed.
"It's not like you were alone. I was in a trance as soon as we started I couldn't stop. Everything just felt so much more intense." Setsuna said low.
"It's because you two ate that food. Are you decent yet?" Yuki said from behind the door.
"Are they decent!? What the hell were you two up to out there?" Moroha asked, surprised.
"Nothing!" They both answered at the same time while they both shuffled to fix their clothing and Hisui put on his piece of armor again.
Setsuna then opened the door.
"Oh dearest fiancé, how could you do this to me?" Yuki feigned to Setsuna.
"Shut up." She rolled her eyes. "Where's Towa?" Setsuna asked right before the four of them were pulled into an odd looking meido just like they had seen earlier that night with the other half demons and in an instant they were now face to face with Tora along with Jade and Towa.
"There now we can all have a proper talk." Tora smiled.
"Tell me the two of you did not anger the dragon Tora!?" Yuki asked.
"The granddaughters of my late friend are welcomed guests in my palace. Why don't you cut that silly disguise of yours now that you've been found out." Tora told Yuki.
Yuki looked nervous but did as he was told, changing back to his normal self.
"That's more like it, I can only have an audience with someone's true face. So how did you find out about this?" Tora asked.
"A spider demon said that she was coming here before I killed her. We thought that a demon that we have been looking for might show up here but he didn't." Towa shrugged.
"So it really wasn't in pursuit of anything from me huh?" Tora laughed heartily. "How just like Toga you all are."
"Lord Tora that is correct, they only wished to attend the sumance after they realized that who they were looking for wasn't here." Myoga said.
"Myoga the flee, I can't believe that you outlived Toga and my descendant Ryukotsusei. The idiot would go and get himself killed by Toga's son afterwards. Maybe my other descendant will make a name for himself one day if he ever comes out of hiding." Tora laughed.
"As a reward for coming so far I'll give each of you a gift. I'll look into your possible paths and tell each of you a piece of advice from your future." Tora said.
"Tora the dragon between the realms can see the possible paths of the living. A sight from him could really help each of you!" Myoga reacted excitedly.
First he touched Setsuna's head with one of his fingers and she heard Tora's voice in her head telepathically.
"You shouldn't worry about things that you can't control. In the end everything will work out fine for you."
The fortunes were all told telepathically when Tora touched each of their foreheads.
Jade was next.
"You chase your father's place so confidently but is that really what will make you happy? Is that really all that's out there for you?" Tora asked in Jade's mind.
Moroha was next and Tora smiled at her. "I like how warm your soul feels. Reminds me of a human priestess that I used to know over 400 years ago." Tora told her before touching her forehead.
"I'm happy to see that you have many more years ahead of you. Sometimes you can't save everyone and that's okay. Always cherish what can't be taken from you." Tora told her.
Then it was Towa's turn.
"Your future looks quite exciting. There won't be many shortcuts for you but you don't want that anyway. The path of a great warrior suits you well. Never hesitate when push comes to shove, always trust your gut." Tora told her.
Hisui was next.
"You are the first human that I've seen in over 400 years. I can tell that you're no ordinary mortal since you're so acquainted with all three of Togas' granddaughters. Let's see what your future has to offer." Tora said before placing his hand onto Hisui's forehead and smiling.
"Oh how exciting you all have been for me." Tora's voice rang through Hisui's head. "I'm sorry to say but if you continue on with your friends. You'll die at the hands of a very powerful demon." Tora told Hisui who paused for a long moment as Tora waited for his telepathic response.
"Well... Will my death be instrumental to helping my friends survive?" Hisui asked.
"A mortal who is more concerned for others than himself? How sad it is that we won't meet again but to answer your question yes. They couldn't do it without what you're going to do."
"Then I'll gladly stay if it means that everyone else will survive." Hisui said confidently without hesitation.
Tora smiled. "You have a very gracious soul but remember what I see is only a possible path, may you beat the odds young demon slayer."
Yuki was last and when Tora touched his head he told him.
"You will always struggle to find your place until you make true peace with yourself and who you really are. No one can save you from yourself but you." Tora said in Yuki's mind.
"There now I've given you all something worthwhile but I've got one last question. Towa the brave and the dauntless you first caught my attention and I'll ask you one last time. Do you really not want one of my scales? I'll give you one for a price and it will help you to become the most powerful demon ever known. Like I said you won't have many shortcuts along the way and this could really help you." Tora said.
Before anyone could say anything else. Towa smiled and shook her head. "No, I'd rather become the strongest on my own with my own strength. I don't need one of your scales." She told him
Almost the same words had once come out of Togas moth nearly three hundred years earlier.
"Why would I want one of your scales when I know that I'll do that on my own with my own strength? Thank you but I don't need one of your scales." Toga had said.
Tora smiled at Towa. "You might not need it but you can have it. Don't worry about anything in return, it's all yours." Tora smiled as he tossed her a shiny blue and silver scale that was no bigger than the fingernail on her thumb.
"Now don't lose that." Tora smiled.
"But I said that I didn't ne—" Towa started.
"She's very grateful!" Setsuna answered for her sister.
"I can tell." Tora smiled. "Now go ahead and go home now if you wish, or stay a while longer half demon princesses and I fully expect to see who I can at the next sumance. I want to hear all about how your paths played out. Tora told them.
A.N: Thank you for reading. This chapter ended up being longer than normal so I hope you didn't mind. I've had the idea for this chapter since I first started this story so I hope that everyone had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I'll probably up the rating to this story later on so that I can write more mature scenes for Setsuna and Hisui and as other relationships grow. I haven't named the next chapter yet but it will be up next Saturday.