Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

The moment that Kenshin knew Kaoru had escaped from the palace, was the same moment he released his imperfect dragon form to revert into his less painful humanoid form. He had hated taking on his mangled dragon appearance, but his unplanned attack on the palace had allowed him limited options when his immediate goal had been to ensure Kaoru's safe getaway. The Sky Emperor was not someone to underestimate, and while not the best way to fight him, his dragonoid form was his largest form. Thereby, taking it was the best way to cause as much initial chaos and distraction as was possible. What he had hated most, though, was allowing that shadow demon to remain in control of his wife's body. Unfortunately, he had been forced to let her go, again, as he could not protect her and fight a fully realized dragon at the same time. This game Sōjirō was playing would not go unpunished.

Standing atop the crushed peak of a palace spire, Kenshin rolled his stiff shoulder and irritably spit lava to one side as the golden sky dragon's laughter rumbled the air like shockwaves.

"Your true form is even uglier up close, fire demon." More laughter, and the thick, golden head of the Emperor leaned closer. "What shame you have brought to your family's great lineage. Even your power is a disappointment. It is no wonder you failed to attain the title of dragon. You are too young and weak to be at the same level as your emperor."

Anger boiled behind Kenshin's eyes as the Sky Emperor spoke so casually of his family. Countless scathing remarks burned and raged in his mind, about the Emperor's cowardice in sending another to kill Kenshin's father instead of taking on the task himself, but he swallowed the rage down until it knotted at the base of his throat. Briefly closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. Fire required oxygen, and the imminent fight would be a tax upon his power.

"You're wasting my time, sky dragon." The blatant disrespect in his voice was purposeful, made even more biting by his refusal to use his title as emperor. Unlike the gale-like howl of the sky dragon's commanding tone, Kenshin's voice cracked and rumbled like a hungry volcano. Though formidable, it was broken compared to the sound of his true strength. The strength he had mangled by unknowingly forcing a transition. "Come at me with your full strength, and I will return the favor."

"You arrogant welp. Do you truly think yourself a match for me?" The dragon's eyes narrowed, and his large, jagged mouth sneered. "No. You're trying to buy time for that little human girl to escape." A low chuckle rumbled in his chest, and his body reared back, lifting his front legs from the ground to bare his dangerous dragon claws. "Allow me to remove your distraction!" Both front legs slammed back into the palace foundation. Powerful wind, like steel swords, cut through the very bedrock beneath them, and dismantled the runes that kept the Sky Palace afloat.

Kenshin felt the moment the hanging structure began to fall as his balance shifted and his stomach dropped. Kaoru may have escaped from the palace itself, but not enough time had passed since her departure to guarantee she would be able to safely avoid the entire bulk of the massive sky palace if it were to plummet to the ground in one large chunk. A quick turn of his hand called the Kagu-tsuchi's katana form into his palm, and the Emperor's eyes sharpened.

Bracing himself with one swift inhale, Kenshin swung the pristine blade in a smooth, arching motion with his right arm. White flames burst forth from the steel, much thinner and more focused than during his first attempt to use the Kagu-tsuchi upon the mountain. They sliced the palace cleanly in half with barely a sound and with minimal disturbance of the surrounding air. Half a second later, a gentle, gravelly crack echoed in his ears, and the two halves jerked away from one another. Thrown briefly into the air, Kenshin activated his own flames to maintain altitude, and then rapidly initiated a flurry of attacks upon one half of the palace with what little time that he had. In the back of his mind, he knew he needed to minimize the impact of the half that would land upon the city, but could safely do nothing more than cutting it into smaller and smaller pieces with the blade of the Kagu-tsuchi. As those pieces slammed down into the buildings below, his heart pounded a heavy, painful rhythm in his chest up to the moment he was certain that his wife had survived. Far below, screams and shouts could be heard over the crushing rumble of rock breaking concrete and glass.

Seething as his breath heaved, Kenshin shouted across the space between them. "You would sacrifice your own people to kill what is mine?!"

"I would do whatever I had to in order to achieve my goal. That is why I am the Sky Dragon Emperor and you are nothing but a failure." His response relayed no remorse for his own actions, but there was an air of expectance around him instead. A heightened tension clung to the sky dragon's appearance, as if waiting for a signal or for confirmation. His shameless behavior reminded Kenshin of everything he had heard from the princess and her bodyguard, of what had been done to his father out of convenience, and what had been done to him.

Adjusting his grip on the golden-wrapped hilt of the Kagu-tsuchi, Kenshin spoke under his breath as he relayed his immediate intentions. His voice was dark.

"Forgive me, Kagu-tsuchi-sama, for continuing to use your power selfishly."

The Kagu-tsuchi, however, responded with a touch of anger of his own.

"USE ME, KENSHIN SON OF TAKIBI. END THIS QUICKLY."

The booming power of the Kagu-tsuchi's voice trumpeted clearly about the now empty sky. Abruptly, the sky dragon disappeared as the Emperor also returned to his humanoid form, and his features relayed a mixture of laughing disappointment and triumphant excitement as he gazed upon the sword in Kenshin's hand.

"You young fool. You should never give your enemy what he wants so easily." The Emperor's fingers laced together to form multiple, intricate hand signs, even as he spoke. "You truly are a blight on your family's great history as vessel to the Kagu-tsuchi! The likes of you are not fit to wield such great power!" Torrential wind swirled around them like the massive eye of a hurricane, before pushing out to nearly as far as the naked eye could see. Within the circle of its perimeter, a barrier seal that covered both the city and the bay flashed from between the gridlock of streets and out from under the dark waters.

Mere seconds later, the image of the wind and the glowing markings vanished to reveal the same, overcast day as just moments before. Unfortunately for Kenshin, the seal had already been set, and its purpose became clear when his fire seized up. Unnatural emptiness hollowed out his insides, leaving him with nothing but smoke and ash, and his vivid violet irises faded to a dull grey as his consciousness was doused like a smothered campfire. Freefalling, his limbs loosely flapping in the wind, he hit like a dead carcass directly into the unbroken half of the palace that now rested in the ocean.

Far off in the distance, his wings working hard to bring him back to Kaoru's side, the salamander suffered a similar fate. Choked and cut off from the source of his power by the massive barrier seal, the salamander reverted back to a simple, braided length of hair. There it fell, unobserved, into the city below.

X

"What the hell was that?!" Megumi stood up fast enough to jettison her rolling chair into the desk behind her. Straining upwards, her cinnamon-colored irises glared at the large monitor wrapped like a sphere in the middle of the room. Calm and collected, Genzai walked closer to the monitor and hummed under his breath.

"A barrier seal." Releasing one of the hands folded behind his back, he scratched his chin as his forehead wrinkled in thought. "A strong one."

"By who?" Marching around the desk to join Genzai, Megumi's arms crossed and her tails hooked. Her tone was annoyed. "And for what? This is not what we prepared for. It can't be that shadow demon's doing."

"No. Not even the Emperor could pull off a barrier seal this strong on his own."

"…I don't like it."

"You are not alone." Recapturing his hands at the small of his back, Genzai breathed deep.

The abrupt emergency screech of their cell phones pulled their attention away from the monitor and to the devices they each pulled from their pockets. A quick read of the emergency message clenched Megumi's teeth with an irate growl.

"That son-of-a-bitch! We don't have time for his ridiculous paranoia!"

Per command from the Sky Emperor, curfew was being enforced immediately. Anyone caught outside would be assumed a traitor and executed on sight by the royal military.

Behind them, the door slammed aside, and Sōzō stood looking grim.

"We intercepted a transmission. The royal military is on their way here to take you and Genzai-sensei into custody. We need to get you out now."

"Well." Smiling gently, Genzai turned to pack what they needed into a designated case. "I suppose we should get ready to leave."

"I don't know how they found out you were here, but I'm assuming there's a leak among the men."

Less concerned with how she had been discovered, and more with what was going on outside, Megumi ignore Sōzō's rumination. Chewing her tongue, the five-tailed vixen eyed the unfinished project they had been forced to abandon. Trying to find a way to interrupt Sōjirō's manipulation of Kaoru's seals, and consequently the seals he had no doubt placed on his other revived souls, had turned out to be a time-consuming endeavor. Time they did not have to spare. Making a quick decision, she leaned over the closest keyboard and began initiating the process. "This may not work, but trying it out won't hurt, either."

Even if it's only for a second, perhaps that girl can break free. Although… it might be more help if that other one does, too.

X

The Sky Emperor hovered a safe distance out over the water as he contemplated the globe of white fire that now surrounded the last fire demon. It had appeared moments before his limp body had slammed into the broken palace, and had protected him from critical injury. The barrier seal had worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly. Which meant this fire was not of the fire demon's making. It was of the Kagu-tsuchi.

Contemplating his next move, the Emperor lifted his chin. "It protects its vessel. How interesting." Of course, it was also protecting itself from being taken. "No matter. I planned for this, too." Touching a hand to the small device in his ear, the Emperor spoke clearly to the person on the other end. "You can release the vessel now to my location." A clear affirmative relayed that the task would be completed. Ten minutes. In only ten minutes he would have control over the Kagu-tsuchi, a higher being born during the creation of their solar system. All other higher beings on the Earth were born of the earth. Only the Kagu-tsuchi had been born before, of something outside of their planet. Some had even argued that their sun had been born of the Kagu-tsuchi, and not the other way around.

With eyes aimed upwards, the half curl of the Emperor's mouth flattened into a stern line. "Do you think to defy me, kijin?" Dark pupils swung down to stare icily at line of kijin attempting to separate him from the ball of white flames. "I would advise you to run back to your mistress and hide behind her skirts." A sneer jerked at his lip, and the Emperor corrected himself. "Or rather her wings. Where is that failure of a daughter? I have much to discuss with that traitorous offspring of mine."

"You would rather fight a pixie?" Aoshi's eyes narrowed in open derision as he drew his dual swords. "If only our country knew how cowardly their emperor was."

"Then I should fight you? A mere bodyguard with dreams of grandeur?" Scoffing, the Emperor waved his hand. Immediately, the surrounding debris was littered with royal guards. "You aren't worth my time or effort. Kill them." Giving the order in an almost bored tone, the Emperor turned his back to remove even the benefit of his attention. Directly behind him, silent and unnoticed, was Okina.

"Forget the youngsters, you old demon."

Startled by his sudden and untracked appearance, the Emperor launched a defensive attack that Okina dodged easily. The crushing weight of wind and sky slammed into a building along the coastline of the city, shattered every pane of glass, and crushed the concrete exterior. Backing away quickly, the Emperor's eyes widened when he found Okina had followed him, again without sound or even a trace of pressure from his presence. This time, Okina's features twisted darkly.

"For what you did to my only daughter, I will be the one to kill you."

The initial surprise faded from the Emperor's instinctive reactions, and he laughed openly at the old wind demon challenging him so arrogantly. "Today is a day of fools. You?! Kill me?! I should have made you my court jester!"

As Okina battled the Emperor directly, Aoshi, with the few kijin warriors he had taken with him, fought off the royal guard.

"What happened to that fire demon?!"

At Aohi's side, one of his warriors shouted the question. Glancing at the sphere of white flames protecting Kenshin's limp body, Aoshi scowled but did not respond.

"Our position is too exposed here!" Another spoke aloud what the rest were thinking. "He's likely dead already! We should regroup with the others in the city!"

"Stand your ground!" Because he knew what would happen if the fire demon had lost his life, Aoshi shouted the command. They would obey, because he had earned their respect, but their observations were valid. They were too exposed.

Over the clash of power and ring of steel, Aoshi's ears caught and focused upon a high-pitched whistle. A silent signal passed amongst the royal guard, and they retreated as one just moments before a missile of wild flame speared across the surface of the water straight for them. Shouting from his kijin coordinated their own hurried retreat, but Aoshi stood his ground before the out of commission fire demon. His goals would ultimately require the survival of the world, and though he hated to postpone his plans simply to protect a demon that should not have needed protecting, survival came first before anything else.

Himura Kenshin would simply owe him when it was over.

The missile pulled up short of his position, and Aoshi's already tensed body crushed inward from stress and pressure. Struggling to force control over his limbs, he lifted his chin and heard as much as felt his neck pop sickeningly under the strain. Upright before him was only something that could be described as a monster. Its presence alone sucked the life and oxygen out of the air, and for something made only of fire, it smelled like chemicals and grease. Fire of ferocious orange licked the edges of its form, but they were not controlled. The flames appeared to be eating themselves. Instead of long, wavy flickers, its fire sparked and spit, breaking apart and scattering like popping grease. Its insides were visible, and roiled like an unnatural chemical flame. It was large, nearly eight feet in height, and its eyes were brightly yellow.

What is this? I thought Himura was the last living fire demon.

"Do you like my creation?" Landing next to but slightly behind the fire creature, the Sky Emperor smirked. Okina, fast on his heels, appeared next to Aoshi with his twin steel tonfa at the ready. "I call it Amaterasu."

"A fire demon, and yet all of them died long ago, with the exception of young Himura." Okina's wizened voice called out the Emperor's hypocrisy. "The Sky Emperor of Neo-Japan using necromancy. How distasteful."

One white eyebrow lifted over the Emperor's cynical gaze. "Careful, Okina. This is not an undead thing like that fire child's little wife. This is the culmination of years of research and development. Everything the humans learned from studying Himura Kenshin while in their Arctic Lab, everything that fox learned while he was under her care, all of it made this moment possible. When I finally take the Kagu-tsuchi from the last of his bloodline and make its power mine."

"You mean to use this monster to steal the Kagu-tsuchi?"

"Did you think me a fool? It is a being born of Starfire. Of course it would require a host made from that same fire. Simply taking it from its current host would never work. I had to create a new host. One compatible with the Kagu-tsuchi, but also one that I can absorb into my own body afterwards."

"You are a fool." Readying his tonfa, Okina spat the curse and watched the Emperor's self-satisfied expression fall into displeasure. "A fool and a madman."

The deep creases forming at the sky dragon's forehead and the corners of his mouth twitched, but in distraction. Slightly, his head tilted away, as if listening to something only he could hear, and then his jaw clenched.

"A day for fools indeed." The words were low and grumbled as more of a thought spoken aloud. "Will the Amaterasu be affected? Good. I will handle the situation personally." Glancing back at them, the Emperor nodded his head regally. "It appears I'm needed elsewhere. I shall have to leave your executions to my masterpiece."

Like the feathering breath of a woman breathing on a flower, the Emperor's presence vanished in the wake of his spatial manipulation. While Okina scowled, Aoshi stepped forward as if to follow after, his actions nearly desperate. With the jerk of his head, his eyes turned upon the old man.

"Misao."

With only her name he conveyed what they both knew. Most likely the Emperor had just gone to where Misao was headed, if she was not there already. Though it was a difficult decision to make, Okina briefly closed his eyes before nodding.

"You go. Keep my granddaughter safe, and do something about this barrier seal." Cracking his neck, Okina lifted his tonfa once more. "I can handle this overgrown grease fire until then."

X

"There you are, little one. I told you your mother was waiting." Handing off the young chick to an adult kite, Akira smiled and patted the young boy's head.

"Thank you, mister!"

"Thank you so much." The mother squeezed her child into her breast, and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Thinking of his own mother, Akira tried to keep his smile from wavering, but purposefully lowered the red daitengu mask over his face to hide his failure.

"Make sure you evacuate with the others. We'll hold off the royal guard for as long as we can."

"We will. Thank you again."

"Wait, mister! Take this with you!" One little wing dug into the inner sleeve of his jacket, and the small kite pulled out a length of red hair. "It kept me safe. Maybe it will keep you safe, too!"

Throwing back the red mask, Akira accepted the braided hair in surprise. "Where did you find this?"

"It landed on my head while I was running. It's really warm, isn't it? You found me not long afterwards, so it has to be good luck, right?"

A pained smile pulled at his mouth and he patted the young chick on the head once again.

"You're right, little one. Thank you. I will gladly accept it."

"My Lord, we have to go." A member of his personal guard leaned in to whisper his concern, and Akira nodded his understanding.

The mother and son waved as they walked away, but once there back was turned, Akira's features fell into distress.

This is Miss Kamiya's hair charm. How did it end up here? And where is she?