Vortex World,
Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, Miebashi Station
Kagatsuchi Half-Waning
The third floor of Miebashi Station was one that, in its prime, had been a secular floor devoted to a night club. The second floor; the actual monorail itself, had become an empty cavity littered with avian demons which wanted nothing to do with duo who approached, and were content enough to leave them be as Tenchi and Ryoko traveled up what had once been a private entrance and onto the third floor.
Tenchi had always been curious about the night club.
Many a long hour had been spent returning to home and arriving at the station, hearing the pounding music overhead after a late session of studying or a night with the afterschool clubs. He'd always seen the door, open but with a small rope to bar passerbys, a man dressed in a sharp suit standing next to it as he eyed travelers. Bright, flashing colors illuminating the steps leading upwards, painting his imagination with fantasies of colorful drinks and equally colorful people, dancing, flirting, living. He'd used to tell himself that once he finished highschool, he and Amagasaki, Ikeda, and Kamikura would all get together and check it out before leaving for college.
Now though, climbing steps which were covered in sand, dust, and debris, Tenchi reflected on his past goals and desires with something akin to tragedy. The lights were off, broken and shattered, the glass strewn about the broken tile floor haphazardly. The stage was empty of people, the equipment grimy, dented, and dead. The bar was trashed, glasses toppled over, bottle knocked from their shelves, and the rancid smell of fifty different alcohols rising from behind it from where glass bottles had fallen and shattered.
Yet like the ground floor, this place too, was not void of inhabitants.
Like the soba shop, it was being re-purposed.
Spirits of all shapes and sizes were cleaning the area up, using what was available to sweep away debris as larger, physically stronger demons moved heavy pieces of furniture and equipment out of the way. Winged demons-not all avian-used their mobility to clean off the tops if shelves and remove bottles, broken light fixtures, and haphazards ceiling displays. Other demons acted as guides and supervisors, instructing others on where to move items or how to remove a stubborn display piece.
"What…is this?" Tenchi mumbled, staring at the scene in confoundment.
Ryoko glanced at him. "Looks to me like a bunch of people getting on with their lives." She said.
"But…they're demons."
The space pirate shrugged. "So are we." She said. "This place suffered a cataclysmic event and now they occupy it. Like any other race, they're going to do what they can to clean it up and make it usable."
"That just seems so…" Tenchi trailed off.
The Demon Lord sent him a pointed look. "What? Are you still under the assumption that spirits are just that? Disembodied souls without a purpose?"
"Well, no but…" Tenchi pursed his lips. "…I never expected anything like this."
The woman sighed, running a hand through cyan locks. "Tenchi…you are a spirit. As am I, as is that human we came here to look for, as is all the rest of humanity prior to the end of the world." She turned to face him fully. "We are all spirits who have the fortune of inhabiting a physical body and interacting with the physical world around us, which is something other spirits can only strive to obtain. We have and are allowed to experience a world which is exhausting for other spirits to manifest in, and they want that. And just like us, they're intelligent, they're social, and they can and will create-or in this case re-create-their own culture and society if an opportunity is presented to them."
The space pirate crossed her arms and shrugged. "Its no different from any of the millions of other races in the universe. These ones have just lacked a corporeal form up until now."
Tenchi winced. "Got it." He said. "Sorry, I guess…when I only have the scope of what its like to be human, things like this are a little…offsetting."
"It's because you've been living on this backwater planet all your life." Ryoko rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" Tenchi bristled. "I'm not a hick, Ryoko."
"I never said you were. Only that this planet-with its focus on humanity and its limited understanding of what lies within its own galaxy, let alone outside -has a narrow perspective on what the greater universe is like." Another shrug. "Still, better than a Juraian, bunch of xenophobic, power-hungry, control freaks."
Tenchi sighed. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to be?"
"No, that's what you're grandfather is." Ryoko leaned over and tousled his hair. "You, Tenchi, are one-hundred percent human, give or take a bit of Jurain DNA, and a true resident of this planet."
"I was." Tenchi muttered, swatting her hand away. "Now I'm a hitoshura."
"You are." Ryoko repeated. "Your body has changed, not your soul. Not…not unless you decide to fully embrace what you've become."
Tenchi fell silent. Unless I embrace becoming a demi-fiend…He looked down at himself, observing the bright glow of his brands and remembering the way he'd so easily-almost casually-killed the spirit which had so resembled a human. Like a Christian angel. He thought A person with bright white wings.
And he'd broken its neck without a second thought because it had attacked them.
He shuddered. I wanted to keep it humane. He told himself. And I hated doing it.
But he had done it, and it had been easy. Like a child stomping fallen leavens in autumn, the satisfying feel and sound of the crunch beneath his shoes.
The youth shook his head. "…Lets see if we can find this human." He said.
"…Masaki-kun?" A voice, hesitant, familiar, and feminine, rose behind them.
Tenchi froze, and turned around.
Behind them, coming up the stairs, a hard hat on her head, stood Kumashiro Sakuya.
She stood frozen on the final step, trailed by a line of demons ranging from another of the blue woman, two more of the angelic creatures, and a large, masculine demon with stone-like brown skin and chains erupting from its head in place of hair. Beneath the chains, its face hidden by the metal locks, Tenchi spied a lone, sickly-yellow eye glaring at him. It was naked outside of a blue denim cloth wrapped around its torso, and hand to stoop in the stairwell to get through. A large, golden-winged avian demon sat on her shoulder, which appeared to be wearing a helmet from its head. Decorative silver chains draped from either side of the helmet, and it watched them with the cold, calculating intelligence of a predator.
"No way." Tenchi breathed, and watched a smile dawn on the young woman's face. "Kumashiro-No way!"
"It is you!" Sakuya cried, and with a cry of joy the teen raced towards him, sending the avian flying as her companions filed into the room behind her. She embraced him before either Tenchi or Ryoko could react, and as the young man turned beet red, so too did the young woman, almost leaping away from him as her face pinkened with emotion. "Masaki-kun—I'm so happy-I mean-" She stammered, then finally clasped her hands together and bowed low in apology. "…Sorry."
"No, no, it's okay!" Tenchi exclaimed, his face equally red despite the blue glow of the brands. "You just-I mean-I was-"
Ryoko smacked the back of his forehead lightly.
Tenchi grunted, the action just enough to jostle his head clear. "Erm, I'm-I'm glad to see you alive and well, Kumashiro-san." He rubbed the back of his head where Ryoko had struck him, glancing back at the Demon Lord with a nervous smile.
Ryoko wasn't watching him though.
The space pirate was staring intently at Sakuya.
And, Tenchi noted, the large, masculine, chain-haired demon behind her.
Before them Sakuya straightened. "I'm glad to see you're well too, Masaki-kun." She said. "I had thought…" The girl trailed off. "…Actually, I don't know what I thought. I guess I thought I was in a nightmare." She laughed, and it was a dry, fake sound. "Maybe I still am. Maybe we both are, or we both died and this is Yomi."
Tenchi sobered. "Kumashiro-san…the world…Okinawa…"
"I know." The young woman steeled herself, and took a long, slow breath. "I just…" The words hung in the air, and for a moment Tenchi imagined he heard them in their silence. "I just can't-don't want to believe it." The woman pursed her lips. "I…escaped the school." She said. "There was a nasty demon holding me hostage but…he went to sleep, and I was able to slip past without him waking. Luck of the Devil, am I right?" Another one of those fake laughs, and the more Tenchi listened to it, the more it bordered on a sob. "Found some new-new friends and made it here. We're trying…we're trying to make something of this place. Some place where we can find some peace in this wasteland." She rubbed her left arm, for a moment looking so vulnerable that Tenchi took a step towards her.
He stopped himself.
Kumashiro didn't notice.
"Ah, but enough about me, what happened—what happened to you, Masaki-kun?" She looked up at him, and in her eyes was a mixture of wariness intermingled with hope.
Tenchi froze, uncertain what to say. What could he say? That he was no longer human? That a Zealot devil had stolen his humanity with a supernatural bug?
He frowned, and looked down at his hands, feeling his heartbeat and watching the light of his brands pulse gently in tune. "…A lot happened." He mumbled. "A lot which…I'm not so certain on myself." He looked up, taking a deep breath and steeling himself. "I'm—I'm no longer human." He revealed. "At least…my body isn't." He pursed his lips. "And…I'm still trying to figure out what to do about it."
"You seem stronger than before." Sakuya murmured.
"I do?" Tenchi stared at her in surprise.
Sakuya nodded. "You…hold yourself differently." She said. "You seem more confident then before."
The smile faded as Tenchi sobered. "I've…gone through a fair share of trials, I guess you could say."
"It shows." Sakuya nodded. "But I can also tell that at your core, you're still you, Masaki-kun."
The teen looked at the young woman in surprise, then smiled, the corner of his eyes smiling with him. "…Thank you Kumashiro-san. I think I…needed to hear that."
"What are you doing here?" She began to walk, gesturing to a small area where spare bar stools had been moved against a wall, and Tenchi fell into step beside her, Ryoko a silent shadow behind him as she kept her attention less on Sakuya, and more on the large, masculine demon who was accompanying her.
Had he taken the time to listen, he might have heard Chains growling.
"Looking for you." He said honestly, and felt him self flush as the teen looked at him with startled, blue eyes. "I mean-not you, but-Humans. Survivors." He rubbed the back of his head, sitting beside Sakuya as the girl grabbed one of the bar stools.
Ryoko stood a small distance away.
Chains towered over her, his lone eye glowering down first at the space pirate, than at Tenchi.
The space pirate crossed her arms and met the demon's eye in challenge.
The growl grew deeper as Chains faced her, squaring off in front of the Demon Lord. Around them, the other spirits who were going about their business took a wide berth around the two, sensing what was to come and wanting no part in it.
"I see." Sakuya murmured. "I will be honest…the thought had not even occurred to me to search for others. I woke up alone and afraid, and my main priority was my own survival. Perhaps that sounds selfish but…until I saw you, I had not even considered that anyone else has survived." In a lower voice, one Tenchi might not have understood had his body not changed and his hearing sharpened, Sakuya muttered, "I thought this was punishment." She looked down at her hands, distant and despondent.
The Avian demon from before returned, once more making itself comfortable on Sakuya's shoulder. It leaned over, staring at Tenchi with cold, intelligent red eyes, then began to run its beak through Sakuya's hair, preening the girl with open affection. Sakuya stirred and giggled, gently bringing a hand up to stop the beast. "Now now, none of that." She scolded it, wrapping her hands around the demon and bringing it onto her lap. "Ah, that's right! How rude of me, I forgot to introduce you! This is Sparna. He and Grendel found me shortly after I escaped the school. A large group of demons had been chasing me through the city and almost killed me when Sparna and Grendel appeared. They've been with me ever since." She gestured to Chains, and paused, frowning in concern as she saw the large demon square off against Ryoko.
"Uh oh." Sakuya hopped off the stool, turning to place Sparna on the old leather before rushing to the two. "Grendel, wait, stop-"
Tenchi followed her, disquieted by her sudden attention. "Hold on, Ryoko-"
The duo placed themselves between their demon counterparts. "What is wrong with you?" Tenchi hissed. "This isn't the time to start a fight!"
Ryoko said nothing, ignoring Tenchi as she held her gaze against the demon, who seemed to grow only more agitated with the two mortals' interference.
"Grendel, calm down, we can't fight here!" Sakuya sounded distressed, scared even. "If we fight up here we could destroy everything we've been trying to build! Leave her alone, please? She hasn't done anything to you yet!"
Yet the demon was far from placated, shoving the girl roughly to the side with enough force to knock her over and lunging at, not Ryoko, but Tenchi.
The two vanished as a fist like brick came down on the Demi-fiend's head, reappearing on the other side of the room. Sakuya screamed, shielding herself, and Grendel straightened, tossing his head around in search of the duo and sending the chain locks flailing. The Demon roared and awful, guttural sound, and looked towards where Ryoko had teleported the two away. Tenchi felt a scream rise in the base of his throat.
He doesn't have a head. He thought. The eye was a cyst, yellow, inflamed, and emerging from the base of a neck whose base erupted in chains. The chains settled, concealing its neck once more, and Grendel turned to face them, charging at them with a howl emerging from the base of its windpipe.
Ryoko braced herself, moving in front of Tenchi. "Get ready." She whispered. "He's strong. Stronger than Forneus-maybe even stronger than the demon at the Shrine." A sword ignited in her hand, and she held it in front of her, waiting for the demon to come within range.
"Enough!" A voice, clear and birdlike, erupted throughout the room, and Sparna flew between them, no longer small enough to sit on Sakuya's shoulder but massive, its body alone scraping the ceiling of the floor. It placed itself squarely between the two groups and fanned it's massive wings outwards. "I will have no violence inside this station!" Sparna's voice was powerful and commanding, and as Grendel collided with the creature's massive wingspan he bounced off, flung backwards and to the floor, where he slid and collided with the adjoining wall.
For a moment the creature observed Grendel, watching as the demon crawled to his feet but did not proceed in another attack, instead merely glowering at the Avian with its lone eye. Sparna then turned its attention to Tenchi and Ryoko. "Stand down. Sheath your fangs lest I exile you from this building."
Ryoko glared at the massive bird, and for a moment Tenchi feared she might yet attack it. Instead, the plasma sword vanished as quickly as it appeared and the space pirate held up her hands in surrender. "Whatever you say." She said with a tight smile.
The avian observed them both carefully, and Tenchi was suddenly aware of not only the sharp, curved raptor's beak, but the massive talons as well-four toes and on dew claw for grip-like a hand, Tenchi thought-each talon as long as his forearm and twice as thick.
Tenchi swallowed.
"Sparna, please let them go!" Sakuya raced forward, standing between them with her arms out. "It was a misunderstanding, I'm sure of it! Masaki-kun and his friend didn't mean anything, right?" The girl looked back at Tenchi, her eyes pleading, and Tenchi nodded.
"She's right." He said, and bowed low in apology. "We came here peacefully in search of other humans like Kumashiro-san. We did not mean to provoke anyone here."
"Lies!" Another demon exclaimed, and Tenchi started as another one of the Asparas, this one a young lady with long, braided blue hair, approached. She pointed to Ryoko. "I watched you murder one of our number in cold blood!" She exclaimed, "And when one of the angels intervened, they were murdered as well! Slain by the Demi-fiend!"
Tenchi stiffened, and Ryoko snarled, "You want to go too!?"
Sparna tilted its head to regard the feminine spirit, then looked back at Tenchi and Ryoko cooly. Sakuya stared at Tenchi in intermingled horror and trepidation. "Is that true?" She whispered.
Tenchi grit his teeth and dropped his gaze, then placed a hand on Ryoko's shoulder. "…stop." He whispered. "We're outnumbered. We don't stand a chance."
The cyan-haired woman directed her snarl to Tenchi, then reluctantly let it drop, her golden eyes smoldering like a heated fire.
"We'll leave peacefully." The teen continued, looking up at Sparna and feeling Sakuya's gaze dig into him accusingly.
The great beast folded its wings, cocking its head to one side in consideration. "Another time, that would be a wise decision. However…I believe you can be of better use."
Ryoko bristled. "We aren't your tools."
"No." The demon agreed. "No you are not. You are worse; you are criminals." Sparna replied. "You have killed a number of our own in a peaceful society. Justice must be seen by those victimized by your actions. Their brethren shall not rest easy unless proper actions is taken."
"And what would you propose?" Tenchi said, watching the bird demon warily.
"You seem well vested in killing demons." Sparna said. "And I happen to have a…pest which needs exterminating."
Ryoko snorted. "What, too good to get your talons dirty?" She snapped.
"Too busy, as it were." The beast said without skipping a beat. "We have been harassed recently by a foreign demon. It came here from one of the Amala Drums left behind from the Old World, and has been attacking the denizens of this place for the past two Blinks. Lives have been lost-moreso than the lives you've stolen. Slay it, that those who have lost their kin may know justice, and I shall allow you to leave here freely."
"Fine." Tenchi said, "We'll do it. Where is this demon located?"
Ryoko looked at him with a dire expression. "Tenchi!" She snapped, "You don't know what you're getting us in to! For all we know its stronger than anyone here!"
"That is a possibility." Sparna replied, contempt in its voice. "And if so, than it serves as justice that two murderers be slain by a greater murderer. Regardless, we will have eliminated or at least weakened a threat to our small community."
Ryoko grit her teeth, and Tenchi squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "We'll do it." He repeated, ignoring the Demon Lord's infuriated gaze upon him. His gaze then turned to Sakuya, who watched him in horror. She shook her head slowly and mouthed a single word to him.
"No."
Yet Tenchi did little other than bow his head. What other choice do we have? He thought.
Vortex World,
Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, Miebashi Station
Kagatsuchi 3/8 Waning
"So…what's a Lillim?" Tenchi asked as the two of them followed their armed escort-a pair of angels-down into the Monorail basement.
"A Daughter of Lilith." One of the angels replied. "A cursed being whose life revolves around temptation and sin.
"Nay." The angel's companion said. "Tis not that. Tis an evil spirit of the night, one which preys on the life force of others and spreads disease upon the wind."
The other glared at its partner, "You speak of Lilitu." It said.
"Tis a Lillim!" Said the other.
"Great…" Ryoko muttered, eying the two angels in unamused scorn. "Even the demons can't agree on what the hell we're up against." She turned her gaze to Tenchi. "Good job. What else awaits up with your wise decision, oh Grand Master?"
Tenchi flinched. "Lay off, Ryoko." He grumbled.
"What, afraid to insult these two asswipes too?" The space pirate spat. "Or did your spine walk out the door with that girl of yours?"
"Ryoko!" The teen stopped to look back at her, a snarl of his own on his face, only for it to devolve into pain as one of the angels smashed the end of the spear they were carrying against his shins.
The space pirate stared at him nonplussed. "Keep walking Demi-fiend. Don't forget, we have an unknown demon we need to pit ourselves against for the amusement of Bird Brain upstairs."
The teen glowered at her, hurt and resignation mingling with his own anger, then turned and walked on, grumbling beneath his breath.
Of all the stupid things to get us into. Ryoko thought. We could have just teleported out of here and be done with the whole damn thing. But no. You just had to play the integrity card and play along with some random demon's ploy. All for what? That chick upstairs? She growled, and Tenchi looked back at her, wincing as her gaze caught his.
She was being unfair to him, she knew. It wasn't Tenchi's fault they'd killed those demons in the Station. She had shot first, asked questions later, and had drawn Tenchi into the debacle they were both in now. But there are better ways out of it. She thought, glaring at the back of one of the angel's heads. Even now, we could just kill these two and slip out. By the time word reached Bird Brain, we'd be long gone and I doubt he'd pursue us. He might send Rocky after us…but even that I find hard to believe. The woman pursed her lips, meditating on the group upstairs. Sparna is the brains of the operations, that much is for certain. Grendel is the muscle…
But where did that place the girl?
What role could she possibly play in all of this?
She's human, through and through. Ryoko thought. That much is for certain. She has no strength, no magic, and frankly, I can't see why either of them bother with her. She's too unbruised for sex, too weak for manual labor, so I don't think she's a slave, but she's also clearly subservient to them both.
There was something happening in the relationship, Ryoko was certain. It wasn't that the girl commanded either of the demons; she clearly did not control their actions and had literally begged them not to harm Tenchi or even herself. Yet there was no collar or chain on her.
Kagato didn't need one for you. A voice whispered as they descended down the staircase. Your will was so broken that even when you tasted freedom, you would alway return at the slightest call from him, a broken dog returning to her master because she knew no other life. How is this any different?
That girl's will isn't broken. She told it.
Are you so certain? The voice continued. After all, Yosho never learned you were a slave until he stole the gems from you. Are you sure this is any different?
The space pirate pursed her lips and sighed. "I don't know." She whispered. They're using her. For what I don't know, but they're using her and she's too reliant on them both to leave them or even argue with them. That much I do know.
The group stopped before a door further down in the basement, and Ryoko felt her flesh break into goosebumps. I can feel it. She thought. It feels different from Forneus. Forneus was dark and cold-like the damned cave. This one feels different. It's dark still but…
She shivered, disliking the sensation she sensed. Why did it feel so…alluring?
The space pirate glanced at Tenchi, yet as far as she could tell he remained as dead to the sensations as he had been while Human. A glance at the angels however told a different story.
They looked anxious.
They can feel it too, and it looks like they enjoy the sensation even less than I do. The woman stopped herself from rubbing her arms, maintaining her outward expression of boredom despite the innate desire to sooth herself. Like hell was she going to let them see her affected by it.
"I take it this is the place?" Tenchi asked, watching the two angels with a raised eyebrow, confused by their sudden agitation.
"This is the place." One angel agreed. "We managed to seal her within. We leave it to you to slay her and prevent her escape."
"Got it." The Demi-fiend's voice was strong and determined. "We'll take care of it."
Ryoko held her silence.
Together the two angels held up a hand each, and the door before them flashed with a bright blue seal before fading. With the seal's removal, the presence behind the door became even stronger, and Ryoko felt the hair on the nape of her neck stand on edge. It's like a wave of dark desire. She thought, and once more glanced at Tenchi. How does he not sense it? Even as a half-demon, he should have sensed something.
The two angel retreated, guarding the path back to the top with spears crossed, and roughly pushed Tenchi and Ryoko towards the door.
The two shared a look, and then Tenchi took a step forward, grabbing the door and tugging it open. They stepped inside, and behind them the door slid shut with an audible snap, a blue seal igniting across the door.
Ryoko stared at it, and her eyes widened. "Wait-" She grabbed the handle, yet the door did not budge. She tugged it hard, and when still nothing happened, grabbed it with all her might. "Motherfucker!" She roared, then slammed her shoulder against it. The door did not so much as rattle. She wheeled on Tenchi, her lips peeling back in a snarl of panic and rage. "I can't get the door open, they locked us in here!" She exclaimed. "It was a trap all along!"
Tenchi ignored her, his eyes wide as he stared at something farther off. "Damn it, Tenchi-" The youth pointed, and Ryoko followed the gesture, any further words dying in her throat.
It was a demon.
It's form was feminine, a youthful girl which looked not much older than Tenchi or the girl upstairs. Her hair was black like wet ink, and shined a dull red in the emergency lighting which illuminated the room. A pair of wings, large, batlike, and the same tan as her skin, sprouted from her back while a matching thin, flesh colored tail dangled lifelessly below her. She was dressed in a white leather jacket and matching white cut-off shorts, and was hung up on the wall. Bright, iridescent feathers piercing her body like hooks which kept her suspended. Her head was bowed, looking for all the world unconscious.
"Who would…" Tenchi breathed, and stepped forward. "Who would do such a thing?" His voice trembled with emotion.
Ryoko grabbed him by the shoulder. Hard.
"Don't move." She said, her voice a low warning. "We don't know what the full story is."
Tenchi shrugged out of her grip. "The full story is that she was tortured and imprisoned, just like you were." He snapped, and Ryoko flinched, staring at him incredulously. "Come on, let's get her down."
"We were brought down here to kill her." Ryoko reminded him, and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "They did this for a reason, Tenchi.
"Like my grandfather did to you, right?" the Demi-fiend snapped, and this time Ryoko bore her teeth in a snarl. "Let's get her down. We're already locked in here with her, so what's the worse that can happen?"
"A lot." Ryoko muttered, shivering as she felt another wave of that same dark energy roll off the girl. "Let's kill her while she's out and be done with it."
"I'm not murdering an unconscious woman in cold blood, Ryoko." Tenchi said. "Either help me or let me go—I can't just leave her like that!"
"No." Ryoko's grip remained firm. "You can't sense what I can. I'm not letting you go nor allowing you to release her. There's something seriously off here, Tenchi—we came here for one purpose and that was to kill her. If she's already out, than that saves us some trouble. Let's end her life quickly and humanely and get the fuck out of here."
Tenchi turned to regard her, a deep frown on his face as he glanced from her face to the hand holding him hostage. "She's a person, Ryoko. Not some animal going to the slaughterhouse." The teen pursed his lips, and Ryoko could see the gears turning in his head. He's going to do something stupid. She thought, and was rewarded for her insight when Tenchi pointed at her with his free hand.
"Paperball."
"Shit!" The woman released him and teleported backwards as the shikigami was summoned where she had just been standing. Paperball looked around in confusion, glancing between the two demons. "What the hell, Tenchi?" Ryoko demanded.
Tenchi didn't respond, instead turning and racing over to the demon pinned against the wall. "Hi P!" He pointed, and at his summon the High Pixie appeared, just as baffled if not moreso than Paperball. "I need you to fly up and remove those feathers."
Hi P looked up at the feathers in question. "I'm not sure that's a good idea." She said. "Those are zhen feathers; one of the most toxic objects in the Vortex World. If we touch them we could be poisoned as well." She glanced back over her shoulder, looking at Paperball and Ryoko with wary, questioning eyes.
Tenchi clicked his teeth, his hand mere inches from where he'd been about to grab one of the very feathers. With some hesitation he drew back. "Can you use your magic to fry the feathers? Anything to remove them without actually touching them?"
"If we had a demon with an affinity towards fire, yes." Hi P replied. "Zhen are notoriously…flammable, and the feathers would incinerate without issue."
"But you aren't one of those demons." Tenchi guessed.
"No." Hi P agreed. "My affinity is with my lightning, and don't get me started on the Shikigami. He's more liable to die of fright if any sort of fire affinity was placed in proximity to him."
Tenchi pursed his lips, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers on his elbow. Finally, he unshouldered his backpack and rummaged inside. The others watched him warily. "What are you gonna do, shock the feathers into igniting?" Paperball asked. "You gonna kill the lady before she even rouses."
Tenchi ignored him, forgoing the tenchi-ken altogether and instead removing a piece of what looked like quartz. It glimmered with an internal red light. "Will something like this work?" He asked, holding it out to Hi P.
The fairy pursed her lips, looking at the teen worriedly. "A maragi stone…" She murmured, then looked back up at Tenchi. "It will…" She said. "Demi-fiend…what are you trying to do?"
Tenchi didn't respond right away. "Is a—is a Lilim like her weak to fire?"
"No." Paperball said. "They're actually pretty resistant to flames, from what I know. Flames and curses both."
Tenchi nodded. "Good to know." He said, then turned and hurled the maragi stone at the imprisoned demon.
"Tenchi, you idiot, what are you doing!?" Ryoko screamed, tossing her own backpack off against a wall as she raced towards them and feeling her heart sink as the fire elemental trapped inside was released, setting both Lilim and feathers alight.
"I'm setting her free, just like I did you." Tenchi replied.
"Actually, I'm with the Demon Lord on this, I really don't think this is a good idea." Hi P said, watching the fire consume the feathers in distress.
"Same here." Said Paperball. "Pretty as the lady is, she's a Lilim. They breed nothing but trouble, and we should really not be doing anything to let her roam free."
Yet Tenchi ignored them all, racing to catch the woman as the feathers gave way, freeing her from her imprisonment against the wall. The flames flickered and died as she fell, and when he caught her, only cinders remained from where the feathers had punctured her flesh. The teen knelt, supporting her head with his shoulder, and looked at her, gazing into a face so close to human it made his heart ache.
The woman grimaced, squeezing her eyes together as she began to stir, groaning in pain as her nose scrunched up. Her eyes slowly opened, and Tenchi stared into green, emerald orbs, and felt his heart skip a beat. "…You came." She murmured. "…I knew you would."
Then she grabbed Tenchi by the collar of his haori and pulled him into a kiss.
Ryoko froze, her eyes widening in shock.
"Oh no." Hi P whispered.
"Homes fucked us big time with this screw up." Paperball sighed.
As if invigorated by the kiss, the Lilim's strength seemed to return to her, and the woman wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing the demi-fiend onto his back, deepening the kiss as Tenchi did nothing to resist.
She only stopped when a ball of plasma raced towards her, where the Lilim sprang off the teen and into the air, hovering more by magic than the functionality of her wings.
Ryoko glowered up at her, growling with savage rage, yet the winged demoness merely smirked. "Thank you for releasing me." She said. "It's been a long time since I've had a snack. I've been…ravenous." She licked her lips, her eyes glowing now with a gentle, internal green light as they darted from one demon to the next. "A shame…I'm not interested in women. You taste too chewy and gamy for my delicate pallet. I suppose the Shikigami will do for a quick snack…but I'll need to savor the demi-fiend."
"The fuck does that mean?" Ryoko growled, electricity dancing up and down her forearm as she called on more magical reserves.
The Lilim shrugged. "Doesn't matter." She said. "You'll be dead by the boy's hands soon enough."
Below her, Tenchi was slowly sitting up, his head bowed as he clutched his head with a soft moan. The youth moved to his feet dizzily, swaying to and fro as he rubbed his eyes.
"Demon Lord, keep your guard up!" Hi P screamed. "The Hitoshura's been charmed!"
Ryoko looked between her and Tenchi in mounting, desperate confusion. "What the fuck does that mean?!" She screamed.
"It means we lost our Ace!" Paperball exclaimed. "We need to end this fight fast before one of us kills each other!"
The space pirate clicked her teeth. "Fine!" She snapped. "Easy enough. Death is my business and business is good." She ignited a plasma sword and launched herself at the woman with a furious roar, coming down on the Lilim in a vertical sweep. The demoness's eyes widened, and she dodged to the left, using her wings to angle herself in the air like a pair of rudders.
"You can fly!?" The Lilim exclaimed.
"So can you. Seems like a level playing field to me, doesn't it?" Ryoko snarled, aiming another ball of plasma at her and then teleporting when the Lilim dodged right. The girl screamed as Ryoko appeared next to her, the blade swinging into her guard, and let herself drop, her magic canceling itself out as gravity took ts hold on her once more. The sword passed harmlessly through air and a few strands of black hair, and the Lilim landed on her the ground, spry and catlike, before bounding forward with a shout.
"Zionga!"
Electricity, the charge stronger than Hi P's and Papercut's combined, struck the Demon Lord mid-descent, and it was enough to knock her out of the air. The woman landed with a grunt, then climbed to her feet in a rush. "You're gonna need a stronger bolt than that to knock me out." She growled.
"Fine with me!" the Lilim snapped, and pointed at Ryoko.
Nothing happened.
Ryoko smirked. " What, use up all your reserves with that last attack? Guess all that energy I was sensing was for sho-"
Something wrapped around her.
Rope.
The woman froze, then saw the tenchi-ken arc towards her in horror. "Fu-" The sword hilt struck her in the chest, and the space pirate howled as electricity coursed across her body. She fell and wasn't aware of it, the pain a blinding, searing arch which traveled up her chest, through her muscles, and down her spine. She could taste fire in her mouth, feel her eyes burning, could feel the roots of her hair set alight in excruciating agony, and wondered if she might die from the torment.
It was Paperball who came to her rescue. "Zan!" He uttered, and a burst of wind propelled the space pirate onto her back, where the sword hilt fell away from her body. In an instant the bolts of electricity stopped, and Ryoko lay where she was, in too much pain to move.
"Demon Lord, you need to get up!" Hi P called. "We can't hold off against both the Lilim and the Hitoshura without you!"
Blearily, Ryoko opened her eyes, smelling smoke and carbon and singed meat and knowing, deep down, that she was smelling herself. Twitching, her body screaming at her with every motion, the woman crawled out from beneath the robe, her limbs threatening to give out on her as the muscles screamed in defiance. She saw Tenchi lunge at Paperball in a full body tackled, and the two collided with the wall behind them, where Tenchi rose to his feet and the Shikigami stayed on the ground. He turned, and his gaze fell on her.
Ryoko's heart skipped a beat.
His eyes were glazed and glowing pink.
No. No no nonono! This can't be happening. Not a fucking chance. This can't-it's like me with Kagato. She thought, and struggled to pick herself up as the demi-fiend approached her. Oh fuck, it's just like Kagato. His mind isn't his own anymore. Her gaze darted to the Lilim in a panic, who danced in the air with the smaller, nimble High Pixie. Yet she could see no overt signs of her control over him. It was that kiss. She thought, and grit her teeth, her face contorting in a black mixture of hate and rage as she aimed a hand at the demoness. This bitch…I can't-I won't let her do this to him! She fired at the Lilim, and the shot struck true.
The demoness shrieked as the plasma tore through her right wing, and she fell flailing to the ground, howling in pain. "Finish her off!" The pirate's voice was hoarse and rough, and she could taste blood at the back of her throat from where even that had been damaged. With a grunt, she rolled onto her stomach and picked herself up, only to drop with a breathless gasp as something sharp collided with her stomach. She coughed, and tasted blood-thick and clotted-flow into her mouth. Wrapping her arms around herself, the woman fell to her side and looked up, finding Tenchi standing above her. Could he always kick that hard? She wondered, and watched him bring his foot up, his face empty of expression or comprehension.
The woman snarled, tensing herself, and as the demi-fiend brought his foot down, she lashed out, striking the teen in the knee he balanced on and sending the youth tumbling down near the tenchi-ken. By luck, he did not roll on top of it, and grabbing the robe, Ryoko teleported away. Sorry Tenchi. She fell to one knee on the far side of the room, wheezing unnaturally as she tossed the makeshift weapon off into a corner. Digging into her pocket, she withdrew a medicine capsule and swallowed it, but felt only a marginal bit of her strength return.
It wasn't enough, but it would have to do.
The woman glanced back at Tenchi and fired a ball of plasma at the floor near the base of his body. The ground exploded, and the force was enough to fling him away and into a wall farther off near the entrance-about as far as she could get him from the damned sword hilt without hanging it from the ceiling. Hopefully it would be enough to keep him out of the fight, and at the very least, perhaps the explosion would rouse him from whatever spell the damned demoness had him under. She turned her attention back to the Lilim, and Hi P came to flutter beside her, panting as she struggled to catch her breath. "She's got a natural resistance to electricity." The Fairy said. "So my main offense if just about useless. I can support you with the other spells I have, but not much else."
Ryoko nodded, and staggered to her feet. Her chest hurt. Like the rib cage had been punctured somehow. Even with the medicine, the wheezing hadn't faded. Something is very wrong with me. She thought, and swallowed, wincing as pain lanced up her throat. Of course. You took who knows how many amps right to your chest. She grimaced, hawked, and spat, staring at the thick, red rheum in distaste. Not my worst fight by far, but it's still doing a number on me…If only I had my gems!
Yet she might as well be wishing the world hadn't ended and that what she was experiencing was a dream for all the good it did her. The woman rubbed her face, and straightened, taking in a somber breath. "Do what you can." She said, disquieted by the wheeze which remained audible even as she spoke. "I'll draw their attention."
"Can you afford to?" Hi P asked.
"Can you?" Ryoko retorted. "Because Paperball sure can't."
The fairy fell silent.
Ryoko nodded, and took a shuddering breath. "Get to work, Hi P." She dug into her pocket and withdrew another medicinal pill. Last one. She thought, and glanced back towards Tenchi's bag. The others are all in his. Should have divided them when we purchased them. Stupid move on my part. She swallowed it, and directed her focus back to the Lilim.
With a snarl she threw herself forward, sword in hand as the Lilim backpedaled, panicked. "Help!" She screamed, racing backwards towards Tenchi, who was once more on his feet and this time racing towards them as well. The teen threw himself at Ryoko, and the space pirate caught him mid air, keeping her momentum in a spin and hurling him towards the bag he'd dropped.
"You aren't getting away from me that easily." The Space Pirate said coldly.
The Lilim looked her over, green eyes wide in growing panic. "Ice!" She screamed, and this time Ryoko knew who she was calling out towards.
"Not this time!" The pirate brought the sword down, and the demoness dodged left, shrieking as her left wing was caught in the strike.
"Rakunda!" Hi P screamed, and a violet glow surrounded the Lilim.
For a moment it felt as if her blade had grown stronger, sharper, hotter, and the blade sliced through the limb as if were made of paper, severing the limb from the deomoness's back. Ryoko smiled, watching the demon collapse in front, of her, and hovered above her. "Looks like this is it." She muttered.
The Lilim glared at her. "It's not." She said. Her voice quivered with either pain or fear-the space pirate didn't know and didn't care.
"You're death will free Tenchi."
And the Lilim smiled defiantly. "Not unless he frees you from your mortal shell first."
"What?"
"Watch out!" Hi P screamed, and on instinct the space pirate teleported away, reappearing above the demoness as she looked around for the incoming threat.
She found Tenchi racing towards her once more, something large-like an bug, Ryoko thought-crawling down his throat. The teen's brands flashed a brilliant blue-white, and as he came to stand over the Lilim he took a deep breath.
Something's coming out of his mouth. What is it? What did he do to himself?
"Demon Lord, you need to get distance! He's ingested Wadatsumi!" Hi P cried. "He's going to—"
The youth planted his feet and blew at her, and a snowy white mist left his mouth, enveloping Ryoko in a crippling, icy wind. The woman screamed and fell, hitting the ground hard, as Tenchi moved to stand between the pirate and the demoness. The cyan-haired woman groaned and stared up at the demi-fiend. Wave's of cold pulsed outwards from the light of his brands, chilling the air around it into gray-white fog. A white mist came to engulf his hands, and cool clouds of ice seemed to leave his lips as he exhaled. Even his skin had paled, no longer the healthy tan of a youth who'd spent his life on a small island and instead the porcelain white of one who'd never kissed the sun.
"What did you do?" Ryoko whispered, staring at the youth as she picked herself up. She felt cold, and could feel the chill aura emanating off of Tenchi's own body. "What did you do!?"
Yet Tenchi, his eyes still under the spell of the Lilim he guarded, provided her no answer. Instead he stooped, a hand going to one pocket and pulling out a medicinal pill, which he provided to the demoness before wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders and pulling her to her feet. She leaned against him, and regarded Ryoko in contempt. "I found your weakness." She stated. "What fortune that your demi-fiend had a magatama on hand to exploit it." She popped the medicine into her mouth and swallowed it, then shifted her weight, draping herself over the teen and looking over Tenchi's shoulder.
"You'll kill each other." She purred, and slid her hands into Tenchi's jacket, where they began to move downwards. She nipped almost playfully at his ear, and Ryoko watched the teen twitch at the action, a grimace briefly appearing on his face, vanishing as quickly as it appeared. "He'll use your weakness against you…and if you don't strike him down in defense, well…it doesn't matter." She kissed his cheek, his jawbone, and worked her way down his neck, and Ryoko spied bruises forming where her lips touched Tenchi's skin. "His strength will become mine." One hand trailed to the wasteline of his pants, then slipped inside.
Tenchi groaned in pain, and the sound was too much to bear as the Heavenly Demon of the Masaki Shrine saw red.
"You bitch!" Ryoko roared, "Don't fucking touch him!" Her pain forgotten, the woman lunged at them both, heedless of the danger presented by the demi-fiend.
Tenchi met her with his blank stare, the glow of his brands diminishing into a dangerous red as the Lilim took her fill, and reached for the woman, frost dancing on his fingers. He caught the space pirate, and somewhere far away Ryoko felt a cold, visceral chill pierce her sides, chilling her to the core.
Yet her own rage was too consuming, it roused her, gave her strength, enveloped her in the flames of fury which killed the bite of cold, and pushed her onwards despite the damage to her body. The Demon Lord tackled them both, pinning Tenchi atop the Lilim, and grabbed the demoness's arm, ripping it off the teen's body. Somewhere far off, the pain grew in might, and a part of her acknowledged the fact that the space pirate was screaming.
The Lilim was screaming too though. Screaming in pain, screaming in terror, screaming, begging for her to "Stop! Please Stop!"
Ryoko ignored that too. She'd become jaded to such sounds long, long ago, and while it had been over seven centuries since last she'd heard such pleads, it was easy to fall back into the old routine, letting the calls and screams and begs and cries roll off her shoulders like the white noise of falling rain.
She felt something begin to tear in the arm. Heard bone begin to separate, felt muscle begin to tear, tendon begin to rip as blood vessels began to rupture…with a howl-from herself or the Lilim, it was anyone's guess-the limb was torn from it's socket. She saw but did not see the red essence that erupted from the cavity, nor see the look of terror on Hi P's face.
Instead, with a roar that was less than human, less than bestial, and born of insanity, pain, and emotion, the woman tore the demi-fiend from the Lilim, tossing him aside as though he were little more than trash and pouncing fully on the demoness beneath him.
At some point, she felt Tenchi jump on her back.
Another point, fresh pain, clear and excruciating, as he cast the Wadatsumi magatama's iceborne magic against her.
Part of her, once vocal but now growing quieter by the moment, feared she might die for her hubris.
Below her, the screams faded and grew quiet.
And as Ryoko's vision began to gray; as the world began to fade in and out of her in a colorless haze, only then did she stop.
Tenchi had slipped off her.
The spells had faded, but not without leaving its mark as ice froze her veins.
She was panting. Wheezing. What lay below her was no longer recognizable as anything resembling a body, a demon, a girl.
Her awareness swam drunkenly back to her consciousness, and with it came the full extent of her injuries, once pushed back by adrenaline and rage now digging their talons back into her without mercy or regard.
She looked around, and saw Hi P hovering nearby, watching her with a frightened expression. The space pirate opened her mouth and tried to speak, yet all that emerged from her throat was a grunt.
Then she fell, succumbing to her injuries. Her body hit the ground hard, and the woman did not move.
She lied where she fell, covered in blood and the Lilim's lost Magatsuhi, one hand just out of reach of the young man who'd collapsed beside her.
Comments of a Madwoman: A Strategist makes his move, the pawns unaware of the full consequences of their actions.
Wadatsumi: The ice magatama borne of Forneus. A Shinto sea god. Derives from the words wata-tsu-mochi, literally meaning "holder of the sea," indicating a kami with domain over the ocean.
Cathedral of Shadows:
Lilim: A female demon from Judeo-Christian lore. Said to tempt sleeping men and attack infants. Daughters of the demoness Lilith who tempted Adam; like their mother, they drain men of their essence.