Vortex World,
Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, Miebashi Station
Kagatsuchi 2/8 Waning
Tenchi awoke with a gasp that became a groan, his entire body throbbing with pain. "What…happened?" He moaned, and opened his eyes, blinking at the dark ceiling above him.
A face entered his vision. "'Yoko?" He grunted.
The face frowned, and shook her head. "Wrong demon." Hi P whispered.
The demi-fiend grimaced and tried to sit up. Hi P moved out of his way, and just when had almost succeeded, fresh, bruising pain rose up from his groin and tossed him onto his back again with a shout. "What the hell?" His voice trembled, and the youth wrapped his arms around his stomach, bringing his legs up to his chest. "Why do I…I feel like I was kicked in the nuts." His brands were red and inflamed, he noticed, and for some reason he felt cold.
So goddamned cold.
"If that's all you feel you should count yourself lucky." Hi P said, and reappeared in his line of sight. "That Lilim did a number on you towards the end." She offered him something, and without comment Tenchi took it, feeling the pill shape and swallowing without confirming what it was. The pain ebbed, and when Tenchi tried again, this time he succeeded. "What do you remember?" The fairy asked.
Tenchi rubbed his head. "There was a…girl." He said. "She was—she was strung up and I…I needed to save her." He began to look around. "What-"
Hi P zipped in front of him, grabbing him none-too-gently by the chin. "Eyes on me." She ordered.
Tenchi was in too much pain to argue with her. "What happened?" He asked again.
Hi P frowned. "Do you remember anything?"
The demi-fiend grimaced. "What am I-what am I supposed to remember?" He demanded. "What, did I piss Ryoko off and get wiped by her?" Why am I—Hi P, why does everything hurt so damn much?"
The expression on the Fae's face dropped into concern, then pity. "Hitoshura…" She murmured, and something in her voice made him pause.
Tenchi stared at the small woman with growing concern. "Hi P," He whispered, "What happened to me?"
Hi P bit her lower lip, and Tenchi felt his stomach cramp with anxiety. "The Lilim-the girl you released-preyed on you." She said, her voice a quiet whisper that spoke volumes in th silence of the room. "You were Charmed."
"Charmed?" Tenchi asked.
Hi P nodded. "You lost your awareness. You became…enthralled, and attacked us on her behalf."
Tenchi felt the anxiety grow, could feel his heart speed up as he looked at the fairy with wide eyes. "But…you beat her, right?" He started to look around, and was stopped once more when the fairy grabbed his chin again, jerking his gaze back towards her. "You-you did beat her, right?!"
Why was it so quiet? Where was Ryoko? Why wasn't Hi P letting him…
Hi P pursed her lips. "We almost lost Shikigami." She said. "He's unconscious thankfully, but…you injured him badly, Hitoshura." Her gaze darted to his right, and Tenchi tried to follow it, just making out a shape on the edge of his vision.
"Where's…where's Ryoko, Hi P." Tenchi demanded.
"Behind you." Hi P replied. "Don't you dare turn around." There was a dangerous warning in her voice, and Tenchi stared at her, trying and failing to understand what the High Pixie was doing. "You need to understand what occurred while you were…while you weren't yourself." There a a vocal tremble in the fairy's voice, so light it was barely notable. "You attacked her. You attacked all of us."
"I don't remember—" Tenchi whispered.
"I know!" Hi P snapped. "That is why you are keeping your eyes on me, understand?"
Tenchi didn't, but was becoming too terrified to ask for clarity. He nodded. "Tell me what happened." He breathed. "What did I—what did I do?"
"You struck Ryoko with the tenchi-ken." High P revealed. "The Demon Lord was taking on the Lilim; she seemed to recognize that your behavior was tied directly to her; take out the Lilim, and you'd regain your senses. But you still managed to strike her, and she was injured by it." The words came out empty of emotion; cold facts being regurgitated by an adviser, and Tenchi wasn't certain if he loved or hated the high pixie for it.
"Shikigami managed to separate her from it, and Ryoko stole it from you before you could cause anyone more harm with it. She focused her offensive against the Lilim, but…" She stopped herself, and Tenchi wanted to yell at her, wanted to scream, why are you stopping now?! Spit it out already!
Yet he found himself rendered mute.
Suddenly he had no energy to speak.
"…You ingested one of the magatama from your bag. Wadatsumi, of the Ancient Depths. A magatama of the icy sea." She stopped once more, observing his face with careful scrutiny.
"I attacked her." Tenchi whispered, and felt his pulse ring in his ears as Hi P nodded. "Oh gods I attacked her. I attacked her! But-but-I don't remember." He said. "I don't remember anything!" He clutched his head, feeling it pulse and pound in step to his heart, his breath hitching into a fast, terrified pace. "Why!?" He exclaimed. "Why don't I—none of this makes any sense!"
"Charmed victims rarely remember what occurred while enthralled.." Hi P murmured, and only now did he see the pity in her face. "I've heard it's a defensive measure of the mind; surely if they retained the memories the deeds would break them." She sighed and released his chin, moving instead to run small hands through his hair in an absurd gesture of comfort. Tenchi didn't feel it.
All he felt was the cold.
The cold and the pain.
Tenchi wrapped his arms around his body and began to shake. From pain, from cold, from horror? He couldn't say.
"The Demon Lord almost defeated the Lilim." Hi P said. "So she took her strength from you."
"Is that why my body…"
"It is." Hi P said. "Lilim…prey specifically on two things: males and newborns." She paused, and then asked, "Are you aware of succubi and incubi, Hitoshura?"
"Yeah." Tenchi whispered, and leaned forward, burying his face in his hands to hide the grimace of pain as his groin faired with fresh pain. "Are you saying…"
"They are similar, if of different races." Hi P revealed. "The Demon Lord became…irate when the Lilim began to feed on you."
The demi-fiend laughed. It sounded high and hysterical. Irate. Yeah, that was probably a good word for it. Irate like his mother would have been had she seen something similar. Irate like Ryoko had been against that Goetia who'd tried to kill him at the Holy Tree.
"She attacked the Lilim and managed to tear the demoness away from you, but you remained enthralled. She attacked the Lilim, and you attacked her." The winged woman fell silent.
"There is…a gruesome sight behind you, Hitoshura." Hi P revealed. "Ryoko is alive, but only just. You must not touch her."
Tenchi stared at her in shock, his hand falling to his side in disbelief. "Why?"
"You have ingested Wadatsumi." She said. "Your touch is cold like ice. You will sap her of what little strength keeping her alive, Hitoshura."
The small woman fluttered backwards, still hovering in the air, and Tenchi slowly turned to look behind him.
At first he didn't understand what Hi P had been so concerned about. There lied Ryoko, unconscious on her stomach, her back slowly rising and falling to indicate her life. There was red on her hands, and something which looked a white fabric near her shoulder.
Then he saw the long, slender arm resting haphazardly before them, and Reality came to subdue him.
Gore.
Ryoko's hands were covered in gore. Flesh. Muscle.
Red stained her outfit, turning the green parts of her outfit a discolored brown and darkening the pink into the crusty red of dried blood. She was resting on-no, that's not right, she collapsed on top of it-the remains of something that might have been a demon once, now unrecognizable as little other than a mound of red, black, and broken white bones stained pink.
For a moment, Tenchi sat paralyzed, overwhelmed at the sight before him as his eyes took in every bit of detail in the sight before him and tried to process what he was witnessing. There was so much blood. So much…carnage. The youth's vision swam at the sight, his heart racing as he began to hyperventilate, his stomach-already in so much pain-cramping with fresh agony as his fingers began to tingle. Spots appeared in his vision, and some piece of him was aware he was close to feinting.
And then he focused on Ryoko.
She's not breathing. The Demi-fiend's heart skipped a beat, and he half-crawled, half stumbled over to her. "Ryoko?!" His voice quivered with emotion, and forgetting Hi P's warning just a moment prior, he reached out for her, his hand touching her shoulder.
The woman spasmed beneath him, and a cry, harsh, wheezing, and ragged, tore itself from her throat. Startled, Tenchi yanked his hand away, watching as, with a wheeze, the woman fell still once more.
"Idiot!" Hi P snapped, "What did I just tell you!" She buzzed up in front of his face, and Tenchi flinched. Her anger passed however when she saw the look of open terror on his face. "I told you." Her voice was softer now. "You can't touch her. Not as you are now, with the magatama you ingested holding sway over your mastery of ice. Your touch will kill her, Hitoshura—especially as she is now."
"Than what do I do?!" Tenchi demanded. "How am I supposed to—when I can't even touch her!"
Hi P pursed her lips. "I don't know." She said honestly. "But we need to come up with something quickly; The Demon Lord is strong, yet even I can feel her strength sapping. I do not know how much longer she will hold out."
Tenchi grit his teeth, staring down at the injured woman before him with scared, desperate eyes. "I can't touch her." He sounded as dazed as he did defeated. "I need to move her but I can't touch her…" He looked over his shoulder towards where the unconscious Shikigami still laid. "I can't use Paperball…Hi P is too tiny…" He looked back towards the doors. "Would the angels—would our, our escorts help us?"
"You killed one of them." Hi P reminded him. "Though they are creatures which follow Law, they may yet decide that justice has not been passed."
The demi-fiend stiffened. "You think they'll attack?" He asked.
"I don't know…no, I don't think they'll attack necessarily." Hi P pursed her lips. "But I don't think they'll help either."
The teen grimaced. "I think I understand." He said quietly, and looked at his hands. "Is there a way to-to turn this off?" He asked. "The cold I mean. The other magatama—the one which made me a demon, it-it didn't change me like this."
The high pixie shook her head. "You would know that, not I." She sated. "I do not know how the magatama function, nor how a hitoshura uses them, only that they do.
"I see." Tenchi fell quiet, and stared down at his hands. I can feel it. He thought. Not just Wadatsumi but the other one too…Marogareh. He could feel them both move on occasion from…somewhere. His stomach? Or someplace else?
Do you even want to know? He asked himself, and found he didn't. "And I have another too." He mumbled, and felt his stomach clench at the thought. "Kamudo. The one I bought from that shop." His eyes traveled to his bag, and though part of him screamed, the teen gathered himself and pushed himself to his feet, running towards the pack and rummaging through the front pockets.
He found the magatama fast enough-it seemed almost to seek out his hand, as if knowing his intent-and he withdrew it, holding the creature in his hand. It looked docile, curled up in his hand; harmless, like the pillbugs he used to play with as a child, rolled up into tiny black balls but which would unroll themselves and crawl across his palms, their many legs tickling his skin and making him giggle.
A vague memory returned to him as he stared at it. Not one of rollipollies and childhood but darkness and a blond stranger, and something strange and terrible falling towards him, uncurling as it awakened and-
He shook himself.
There's gotta be another way. He thought.
There probably is. A piece of him whispered. But not one faster than this.
He was shaking. His hands trembled as he held the magatama. He looked over his shoulder.
Ryoko laid where she'd fallen, and as he watched, he could just make out a strange red energy rising from her body. She won't make it if you don't do something. He realized, and looked back down at the magatama. "I-I ate the other one." He told himself. "I may not have realized it, but I did. If I can do it unconscious, I an do it consciously. For-for Ryoko."
He raised the magatama to his lips, and froze, his hand an iron vice around the creature. Memories of pain returned. Of agony. Of excruciating sensations that left his soul scarred and his spirit traumatized, and he couldn't let go of the magatama.
His breath came faster, and though he tried to move his hand, to move his mouth to it, Tenchi found his body remained paralyzed. What's wrong with you?! He screamed. Ryoko put down her life for you! And you can't even eat a fucking bug to repay her?
Tears beaded at the corner of his eyes, and the teen felt a wave of self-revulsion wash over him. Ryoko needs you! Do it! She's stayed with you through all of it, good and bad, and now you can't even do this one simple thing?!
I'm scared. I'm just so fucking scared. I shouldn't remember what happened the first time but its all coming back and I don't-I can't experience that again.
Than Ryoko will die.
The knowledge struck Tenchi cold.
Ryoko will die if you don't eat that magatama. That piece of him whispered. And you'll be responsible for her death. And so the cycle repeats. You had the chance to save her and you ran from the cave. You had the chance to stop the end of the world and you stood by and watched it end. You have the chance to save her now and you'll let her bleed out because you're afraid of the unknown, of a pain remembered, of a pain imagined.
No.
No, I can't…
Than eat the magatama, and to hell with the consequences!
As if someone had pried open the jaws to a bear trap, Tenchi found his mouth open and felt the muscles strain from tension. His hand moved forward, and as his breath hit it the magatama seemed to awaken, squirming to life before crawling its own way into his mouth unaided by his hand. He felt a hard carapace scrape against his teeth, felt something cool and hard and tasteless slide against his tongue, and felt it worm its way down his throat heedless of his own safety.
He choked, feeling it clog his throat, his hands going to his neck and feeling the unnatural bulge as the creature crawled-not slide but crawl, and he could feel the tendrils, feel it grasping, feel the bumps of its segmented body-and thought he might die.
An eternity of misery passed in the span of five seconds, and though the sensation of it began to fade, he imagined he could still feel it, that he could still perceive it; squirming, crawling, digging through his body-not into his stomach as should have been the case, but behind it, burrowing through the smooth inner lining and into the muscle behind, shuffling through the coils of muscle and organ and to his spine to its siblings, already interwoven along the delicate spinal column.
He felt a new, internal power engulf his body, surging through his veins and leaking out the brands. The chill left his body, replaced not but warmth or energy but a numbing tingle. In his mind's eye, he saw black tendrils from the magatama, awake and active now, wrap around the delicate nerves tracing information up and down his spinal cord, adding its own information to the flow of Life, and then settle there.
Tenchi fell to his knees and caught himself, feeling uncomfortable pinpricks race from the tips of his fingers up into his arms. His hands felt half-asleep. So did his feet. It was a welcome distraction; His vision was graying and the tingle gave him something new to focus on.
Panting, the teen forced himself to slow his breath, sucking in air through his nose as a shudder wracked his body. I'm gonna be sick. He thought, and turned away from his bag, dry heaving as his stomach rebelled in agony against him.
Nothing came up.
When the spell faded, Tenchi crawled shakily to his feet. He approached the bag once more and dug through it, removing three medicinal pills and a muscle drink. Though he feared his stomach might yet reject it, he swallowed one of the pills, then ignored his rebellious body as much as he could in favor of Ryoko.
Approaching her, He popped open the muscle drink and poured it over the woman, watching as the red light of Magatsuhi faded. Half-kneeling, half-falling, the teen sat near the woman's head and hesitantly touched her.
This time Ryoko had no reaction.
Tenchi was uncertain yet if that was good or bad.
Taking a breath, the youth rolled the woman towards him, and he grimaced as the Demon Lord slid onto her back. We'll need new clothes. He thought. Blood, gore, and bits of white bone shards clung to the space pirate like a macabre costume, the Lilim's blood-or was it Ryoko's-now coagulating and drying into a thick, red-black crust. The smell made him want to gag, yet Tenchi rebelliously fought it back down. Thumbing the two pills into the center of his palm, the teen instead brought his hand to Ryoko's mouth, gently prying her mouth open just enough to pop first one, then the other pill past here teeth. "Come on Ryoko, I need you to swallow." He whispered, and when nothing happened tilted her head back with care, fearful of injuring her further in her weakened state.
Hi P moved to hover near his shoulder. "Cradle her head in your lap and tilt it backwards." She advised. "Gently rub her throat; the pills should fall to the back of her throat and the Demon Lord should swallow them-if she doesn't choke on them first."
"Right." Tenchi grimaced, but nonetheless followed the fairy's advice, adjusting first himself, then Ryoko against him. "Hi P…how badly did I fuck up?" He asked, staring down in the the space pirate's face. One cheek was covered in crusted blood. The other was drawn and pale, and now that he was sitting so closer to her, Tenchi could hear the whistle-wheeze of her breath. It sounds like something was punctured. Like a collapsed lung or punctured chest wound.
"Do you want to kind answer or the brutal answer?" Hi P asked.
"…The honest one." Tenchi replied, rubbing the woman's throat.
"Badly." Hi P replied. "I don't know if the Lilim got to you before we entered and took advantage of you then, or if your own squabbles with the Demon Lord led to a bout of rashness on your part, but…consider yourself lucky that no one died this time."
Tenchi winced. "We're not out of the woods yet." He mumbled.
"No." Hi P agreed, "But we're closer to the treeline than we had been. And you overcame a great obstacle to ensure that."
"What, the magatama?"
"Yes."
"I don't think so." The demi-fiend said.
Hi P came to sit beside him. "And why is that?" She asked.
Tenchi lapsed into silence, looking up into the dark ceiling of the room. The red emergency lights-the only source of lighting outside his own brands in the makeshift prison-pained the ceiling a familiar red-black, and he was once more reminded of the gore which covered the woman who rested so close to death in his lap.
He closed his eyes and swallowed. "…I'm weak." He whispered.
Hi P was silent.
The confession hurt, yet speaking the words aloud-the words which had silently plagued him-which had crept up on him throughout the days since Conception and which passed through his thoughts like a slippery eel-just out of reach and always slipping from his grasp-now opened his thoughts and the terrors which haunted them like floodgates. "Even before Conception…before becoming a demon, a demi-fiend, I've been weak. Too weak to free Ryoko on my own, too scared to face her when her physical body was just a husk in her actual prison, too weak to protect her when she was wounded from my grandfather and Raido…hell, I couldn't even do anything to even slow down the end of the world." Tenchi heaved a sigh, his gaze distant and lost to time. "I wake up a demon, and even that I was too weak to have any say in-I learned from Ryoko herself that she's the only reason I'm still alive in the first place, can you believe that?" He tried to smile, to laugh, but couldn't muster the energy for either. "I've been forced to fight, yeah, to grow strong, sure, be creative, find some ingenious solutions, figure out ways around things but…how much of that was chance? And it's not like I did it on my own. If Ryoko hadn't found me when she did…if she wasn't there to support me or help me or teleport me away from danger…" He shook his head.
"Now this. Ryoko's been willing to go with the flow with whatever stupid idea I get in my head. 'Let's save everyone in the school so no one is a prisoner.' 'Let's go home and hide out during Full Kagatsuchi.' 'Let's go hunting for a human and help them out.'" He laughed bitterly. "'Let's agree to Sparda's demands and murder a woman in cold blood.' And when I suddenly back out of it…" He shook his head. "I'm weak, I'm an ass, I'm a seventeen year old kid who, three months ago, was looking forward to graduating high school, going out on a date with a girl, and worrying about what college he was getting into. I'm still some stupid kid! Now I'm-I'm here-and I feel like I'm being-being pressured into something I don't even understand. Like I have to take responsibility for the end of the world and find a way to fix it, even though deep down I know I'm not responsible, I know I can't fix it, I know I can't bring my friends or my family back and they're all probably dead and I-I…"
The youth's shoulder's trembled with unspent emotion, and Tenchi could feel tears leaking from the corner of his eyes, following a stream of saltwater down his cheeks and over his jawbone, and down his neck. "I never wanted this." He whispered. "I—I just wanted to live my life in peace! Worry about teenage things, get a job, and maybe have a bit of fun with the youkai in the mountains. And now…" He scrubbed at his eyes with one furious hand, embarrassed and ashamed at his tears. "I don't want her to die because of me, Hi P. Please don't die, Ryoko."
A hand rested on his shoulder, and Tenchi looked at Hi P, finding the fairy looking at him earnestly. "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything which has occurred." She said. "We can't always predict what life will throw our way, and oftentimes when we're dealt a poor hand, its easier to cast blame-be it at ourselves or another-rather than accept the hand and work with what we have. You have suffered loss. You have made mistakes. Yet you have grown from all of those experiences, painful though they all are. You are young, Hitoshura, yes, but I believe we are all aware of that-most of all the Demon Lord. Mistakes are natural and expected-the best way to grow and gain wisdom is through those mistakes and learning from them. A child burns his hand on a fire and learns its dangers. So too does a newborn demi-fiend learn of the world he has been born into, and adapts as best he can to the circumstances he finds himself in. But that does not mean you are to blame. You have not been abandoned by the Shikigami, myself, or, more importantly, the demon lord you rely so heavily on. And though she is injured…" She gestured to Ryoko.
Tenchi looked down.
Some of the color had returned to Ryoko's face. The wheezing had faded, and he could see the slow rise and fall of her chest where before it had barely been noticeable. Any other details were lost; his eyes burned and blurred with tears, and with a releaved sob Tenchi covered his face with one hand, leaning over the space pirate as his shoulders shook with emotion. She's alive. He thought. She's going to make it.
"She will not be killed by mistakes, so long as you continue to grow from them. Though it is difficult…take heart, Hitoshura. We are all injured, yes, but we are alive. There will be other times where we may not be as fortunate, it is true; and we will need to face those obstacles as they come. Yet for now, know that the worst you feared has not come to pass. The Demon Lord is alive, you are alive, and we may yet leave this place on good terms." She patted his shoulder, ignoring the soft, hushed sobs coming from the teen. "Now lets get out of here. You'll need to look like the fearsome Angel-Slaying Hitoshura if we want to ensure we meet Sparna once more."
"…Thanks." Tenchi whispered.
Hi P squeezed his shoulder, and for a brief instant Tenchi moved his own hand atop it, clutching it like a scared child seeking comfort from those around him. Hi P froze, and stayed with him in silence, the two united in comradarie. Then Tenchi released her, and with a departing squeeze she left him, moving towards the bags and granting him a spell of privacy.
And Tenchi allowed himself to cry. For the life loss. For the life saved. For his own weakness, and his gratitude for the allies he'd made. For the injuries sustained to his body, felt, yet not yet fully understood. For the cthonic power curled along his spine, tapping into his nervous system and granting him powers he did not understand or want. For innocence lost.
For the trials, hidden and unknown which he would yet soon face.
Beneath him, not dead but dreaming, a demon lord rested, dreaming for once not of a silver haired demon but of a child crying outside her prison, forever out of reach as she tried to grant him respite, seeking little but to comfort him, knowing the world would be a small bit crueler for his loss and hoping he would know at least that he was not alone as he stood against it.
Vortex World,
Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, Miebashi Station
Kagatsuchi 1/8 Waning
When Tenchi Masaki emerged from the prison, the angels before him shied away. He stood with a stoic expression, eyes raw and irritated and to the spirits, cold and otherworldly. He carried the demon lord in his arms and a ruck on each shoulder, bearing them all with an ease which made the two guards anxious.
He met the hidden gaze of first one, and when the angel dropped its gaze in submission, turned to the other, which followed its kin's actions. The demi-fiend glowered at them both, and from his person rolled waves of a cruel, bloodthirsty aura. The woman in his arms, unconscious, remained covered in blood and the remaining Magatsuhi from the Lilim, the demoness's essence now little more than the fading echo of a departing tide washing back to the Underworld.
No words were said.
One angel took lead, and the other fell in step behind Tenchi.
Together, all three of them left the basement, mounting the stairs with heavy steps as they returned to the world above, rising like guests from the Abyss; older, wiser, and forever changed by the Trials of the Underworld.
Sakuya was waiting for him on the third floor. So too was Sparna. Grendel had vanished.
"I see. So you've returned." Sparna stepped forward, silver chains singing as he stepped past Sakuya and placed himself squarely between her and Tenchi.
Tenchi remained silent.
"The Lilim is dead than. I must say, I am surprised." There was a note of mocking amusement in the birds tone, and Tenchi wondered if it had always been there and if he was only just now hearing it. "I did not expect you to return. With your wild comrade, I had thought you'd fled; how presumptuous of me." The creature tilted its head first one way, then the next, regarding Tenchi with cold red eyes. "I can assure you, it won't happen again."
"Masaki-kun-" Sakuya called out to him, only to be cut off as Sparna moved a leg in front of her, gently forcing her backwards before she could say more.
"Let her speak." Tenchi said.
"Oh?" Sparna tilted his head. "And who are you to speak for her?" He demanded. "Mind your place, Hitoshura. I have granted you grace for removing a pest. You have your freedom. Begone now before I lose my patience further."
Tenchi frowned. "I said let Kumashiro-san speak." He repeated. "We murdered a woman in cold blood on your instruction. She'd been hung up and pinned to the wall by poisonous feathers—like she'd been tortured—and I have a lot of questions for you before I leave this building. But you will let Kumashiro-san speak first, or so help me, I will raze this building and everyone inside it to the ground while you all sleep during New Kagatsuchi."
Sparna bristled, his feathers rising with the threat and making him look twice as large and thrice as dangerous. "You are a fool to threaten me."
"I am a fool regardless of what I do." Tenchi replied. "And that makes me dangerous. Kagatsuchi's eyes are closing as we speak, my own morality has been called into question, and my partner has been gravely injured in the murder you orchestrated against that Lilim."
"Lilly" Sakuya raced around Sparna's leg, stopping to stand next to Tenchi as one of the avian's wings flailed about, trying to knock her back even as the girl ducked and dodged around the massive limb. "Her name was—her name was Lilly."
Tenchi stared at Sakuya with wide eyes. "She…had a name?" He whispered. "Wait-you knew her?"
Sakuya flinched.
Tenchi slowly turned to look back at Sparna. "What…did you make me do?" He breathed.
"As I said, you removed a pest from our building." Sparna replied, and his voice had taken on a dangerous, shrill quality to it that made the hair on Tenchi's neck stand on edge.
"Sparna, please, stop!" Sakuya shouted. "Please, let me just—let me speak with Masaki-kun privately! His friend is hurt and Kagatuschi's eyes will soon close anyway-what will it hurt?"
Sparna took a single step towards them. "I will not have you stolen from me."
Sakuya held up her hands in defense. "I'm not going to be stolen!" She insisted. "I'm staying here, with you and Grendel, just like I said I would, right?" Her voice trembled. "We have a contract, remember? You, Grendel, and me. None of us can back out of it without suffering from it, so its okay! Just—just let me speak with Masaki-kun alone. Let me help him care for his friend!"
A strange, raptor-like growl emerged from the being, yet as Tenchi watched, the Avian's plumage smoothed back against its body. "…You will have until Kagatsuchi rising." He stated. "Should I find the Hitoshura still here, his life and those of his allies are forfeit."
Sakuya nodded hurriedly. "Or course." She said, and bowed before the great demon. "Thank you, Sparna."
The girl turned to Tenchi, and her gaze fell to Ryoko, still unconscious in his arms. "…Follow me." She said, and gestured towards the stairs.
Tenchi nodded, and as Sakuya slipped past him, turned to follow.
But not before casting one final look back to Sparna.
Their eyes met, and though no words were spoken, their intent was understood.
The next time either met, it would be as enemies. And as he turned away Tenchi promised himself that no other girl was ever pinned to a wall again.
Vortex World,
Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, Miebashi Station
Dark Kagatsuchi
"Here, lay her out flat for me. What happened to you, Masaki-kun?"
Following Sakuya's instructions, Tenchi carefully knelt, laying Ryoko down on the small makeshift bed within the room Sakuya had christened as her own. He sighed as he laid her down, then shouldered off the two rucks, stacking them in an out-of-the-way corner near the door. "We fought the Lilim-" He stopped himself, "Sorry…Lilly." He rotated his shoulders, feeling a small ache in his shoulder blades and upper back. "I…didn't know you were acquainted." He fell silent. "She…she was strung up, Kumashiro-san. I released her and…shit went south fast."
Sakuya flinched. "I…I see." She said, and stared down at Ryoko. "Is your friend…"
"Ryoko." Tenchi supplied. "And…well…I guess Ryoko was the one who…" He trailed off. "I had been…charmed. I wasn't aware of what I was doing and I guess the Lil—Lilly was…"
"Feeding off you?" Sakuya asked.
Tenchi jumped, but nodded.
Sakuya bowed her head, but not before Tenchi caught the look of sadness which spread across her face. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. She would have been…defending herself. And you had been sent to-to-"
"Execute her?"
Sakuya grimaced, but nodded.
Tenchi stared at her. "What is going on here, Kumashiro-san?" He asked. "Ryoko and I—we almost killed each other over a demon that was being tortured—a demon you know and which Sparna seemed to know you knew as well and wanted specifically dead because of that. Now I'm hearing about contracts and what sounds a hell of a lot like some sort of indentured servitude." The teen ran his hands through his hair. "I want to help you, but I need answers before I can!"
"I don't want your help." Sakuya said sharply.
Tenchi started. "What?"
Sakuya sucked in a long breath. "Lilly wanted to help me too." She said. "And you-you saw what happened to her. I don't want your help, Masaki-kun."
"Explain."
Sakuya stared at him, then slowly nodded. "Sit." She said. "I…didn't want to say anything upstairs but…you look as exhausted as your friend."
Frowning, Tenchi took a seat on the ground near Ryoko, propping his back up against the wall. The room was once a break room for the local station Security and now repurposed into a small private quarters for Sakuya herself. The room was, admittedly, twice as large as the room he had back home, and Sakuya had done well in repurposing it, but the room remained spartan and empty of any kind of chairs or tables.
"To start off," Sakuya began, "Sparna and Grendel did rescue me from demons. I had been surrounded, and was on the verge of being attacked when they both came to my rescue; or at least what I thought was my rescue. Grendel was more drawn to the presence of so many demons in a centralized location, and Sparna…" Sakuya smiled bitterly. "Well, Sparna saw a diamond in the rough, I guess."
"They killed the demons, and Sparna propositioned a deal; a contract: the three of us would stick together in the Vortex World. Sparna would guide us with his wisdom, Grendel would protect us with his might, and I would…" She paused, and looked at Tenchi carefully. "…How much do you know about Humans in the Vortex World, Masaki-kun? Now that you are no longer one?"
"Honestly? Not much." He admitted.
Sakuya nodded uncomfortably. "I see." She fell quiet, staring down at her feet. "Perhaps…it is best if I just showed you." She admitted.
"Showed me what?"
The girl hesitated, then said, "May I approach Ryoko-san?"
Tenchi bristled. "Why?" He snapped, and was startled at his own reaction.
Sakuya seemed taken off guard too, stepping away from the woman as she sent a startled look towards Tenchi. "I-I want to help her. And-and show you why…why Sparna wants—needs me at his side."
"You aren't going to hurt her?"
Sakuya shook her head. "Exact opposite." She said. "I don't know how to describe it so…" She held up her hands in a hopeless gesture, and after a moment's consideration, Tenchi nodded. "Sorry." He grumbled. "I guess I'm a bit more testy than usual."
Sakuya nodded. "When's the last time you've slept?" She asked, taking a step towards the woman and kneeling beside her.
Tenchi stared at her. "I don't…" He trailed off. When was the last time I slept? The Lilim? Did that even count as sleep? He hadn't slept during Full Kagatsuchi with Ryoko's astral body's departure, not during the last cycle's Dark Kagatsuchi, when Ryoko had first fallen unconscious on him. I haven't slept since becoming a demi-fiend. He thought, and felt his heart seize in his chest.
And now? Was he tired now? There was no danger, it was New Kagatsuchi, he was sitting and resting here beside Ryoko in an area where he could claim he was safe and…
And he was still wide awake. I can't sleep anymore…I really can't sleep anymore?!
More losses to your Humanity…A piece of him whispered, and it made him want to scream.
What else?
What else did he lose in his rebirth? Hunger? Thirst? Would he spend so long as a demi-fiend that one day he would simply not feel pain? Not feel emotion? When would he draw the line between what was human and what was demon?
Don't let Kumashiro see you freak out. Do it somewhere else, in private. She's expecting you to be the strong one. The teen closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Been a while." He said, and tried to keep his tone light. "Sorry…what was it you wanted to show me?"
"Watch." Sakuya said, and took one of Ryoko's hands in both of hers.
Closing her eyes, the girl bowed her head, taking in one long, slow breath after another. To Tenchi, it reminded him of his meditation sessions with his grandfather, yet unlike the stillness and quiet which the sessions provided him, something else seemed to be occurring with Sakuya. Though it was slight, the demi-fiend could sense something pulsing from the girl; light at first, but gathering intensity with each deep breath. Soon, the teen could see it-with his physical eyes or with the sixth sense made sharper by the magatama, he was unaware. A pink-red aura gathered around Sakuya's body, condensing into a physical energy bit by bit.
Its Magatsuhi. Tenchi realized, his eyes widening as the strange aura grew in mass, expanding to overwhelm the girl and hiding her within the bright red haze of energy. I've never seen so much of it before. He thought, None of the demons we killed ever generated so much of it…not even Forneus! How can anyone…where is all coming from? Is this all Kumashiro's? The youth stared at the aura in awe, his jaw slack as the red energy grew near blinding in the room. The light grew red-white and blinding the longer he stared, until it hurt to stare any longer.
When Tenchi shielded his eyes he could see Sakuya's silhouette in the afterimage, a black-green burned into the back of his eyes like the shadow of a holy visage. He heard the girl grunt, and squinting through the light saw the energy gather from around her, condensing in a single spot around Sakuya's hands; a bright ball of plasma, a star, self-contained and radiating with so much power that the air around it warped like heat waves.
Sakuya, a look of intense concentration on her face, grit her teeth, sucked in a breath through her teeth, and pushed.
The light exploded.
"Holy shit…" Tenchi whispered.
Millions of tiny red stars scattered above them, only to trickle down like bright red feathers to the two demons in the room. Most of it fell onto Ryoko, fading as the particles struck her body. Yet stray fragments of the energy struck Tenchi as well, and where they touched him Tenchi felt an overwhelming sensation of…vitality course through him.
"Wow…" Was all Tenchi could think to say, and he stared at Sakuya in open awe.
Next to him, Ryoko began to moan, and Sakuya released her, moving away from the woman as the space pirate rolled onto her right side, curling into a ball as perspiration began to bead her forehead. "Ryoko?" Tenchi was at her side in an instant, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder.
He could hear her muttering something, but couldn't quite make out what it was. "Hey, it's okay, you're alright, the danger's over." He glanced back at Sakuya. "Um…"
Sakuya was backing away from them both. "I…I don't know." She said. "I've never seen a demon react…negatively to a transfer of Magatsuhi before."
Tenchi turned back to Ryoko, finding the woman's face scrunched up in a tight grimace. "No more." She was groaning. "No more no more no more!" Her eyes opened, bright, feverish, and blind, and Tenchi feared she didn't see them, didn't see him, or if she did it was as last she'd seen him-possessed, dangerous, and trying to kill her.
"Hey, hey, It's okay." He knelt down, lying down beside her and catching her face gently with both hands. He knew he was placing himself in a precarious position; if Ryoko decided he was a threat now, there'd be little he could do to defend himself, and risked it anyways on the bet of New Kagatsuchi. "Come on Ryoko, it's okay. It's a nightmare, that's all. Go back to sleep, the danger's passed."
For a moment he thought she heard him-that her eyes, if but for a brief half-second-found and focused on his. A hand reached for him, still stained red with the dried blood of the Lilim. Fingers, the nails soiled black with gore, touched his cheek, and then fell, the space pirate's eyes closing once more as she fell back into unconsciousness. "No more…" She murmured, and fell still once more.
"Is she okay?" Sakuya whispered, and Tenchi moved to adjust the pirate, lying her back down against the sheets with a soft frown.
"I don't know." He said. "I think so but…" He shrugged, then looked back at Sakuya. "Ryoko is one of the spirits who I grew up with at the Masaki Shrine." He revealed.
"She's one of the youkai you mentioned?" Sakuya's eyes widened.
"Well…yes and no. It's a long story but…well, she was released from the cave that was her prison right before the world ended. There had been another spirit-I…still don't know who or what it was—who assisted with her freedom, and…" He fell quiet, recalling how the six-winged entity's hand had exploded with red energy. "That had been Magatsuhi…was he feeding her his own…?"
The teen trailed off, and Sakuya looked at him with a frown, crossing her arms uncomfortably over her chest. "What is it?"
Tenchi frowned, leaning back against the wall. "I think…Ryoko told me about how a spirit-she calls him the Zealot-helped her escape using me. She said that he fed her some kind of weird energy and…I'd been scared shitless at the time, mind you, but I kind of remember a moment where this spirit's hand literally just…exploded in this red light—kind of similar to what you just did Sakuya." The teen pursed his lips. "I wonder if she had a bad reaction to it or something. She's not—Ryoko's not from Earth after all."
"Not from Earth. What, like the earth or…" Sakuya trailed off when Tenchi pointed up. "Is she an alien?!"
Tenchi shrugged. "Ryoko claims so. I'm still on the fence about it. She was locked up in a cave for seven hundred years but…we can get into that later."
Sakuya stared at him with wide blue eyes. "I have so many questions." She said.
"Yeah, me too." Tenchi trailed off, then shook his head. "Anyways…that thing you did…"
"Oh…oh! Right, I-I guess I still owe you an explanation too."
Tenchi nodded. "A story for a story, how about that." He said.
"No fair, you still owe me a story about the Kitsune." Sakuya joked weakly, and though she looked tired and worn, there was a small note of humor in her voice.
"Yeah, but you already started this one." Tenchi said, "Least you can do is finish." He gave her a weak smile, and it grew a little stronger when Sakuya giggled.
"Okay…yeah, okay. You win this time." The teen said, and made herself comfortable on the adjoining wall, drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "So…what you saw was Magatsuhi. You recognize it, right?" At Tenchi's nod, Sakuya continued. "Humans I've learned are an…infinite source of Magatsuhi. Our joys, our sorrows, our feelings…any kind of emotional or I guess spiritual energy we create is a type of Magatsuhi. It's why I guess…evils spirits are drawn to places where great sorrows occurred, or likewise where gods are drawn to places where holy deeds are conducted. They aren't drawn to the emotions-they're drawn to the Magatsuhi those emotions produced. Demons can only hold a portion of what we can produced with so much ease, and, well…the greater the spirit, the more Magatsuhi they have. So when a demon finds a human…" She gestured to Tenchi.
"They find a well of Magatsuhi." Tenchi said. "And since Magatsuhi is power…they in turn can grow stronger too."
Sakuya nodded.
"So…you're a prisoner?" Tenchi asked, and frowned. "They're feeding off of you?"
"Yes and no." Sakuya replied. "I told you, I formed a contract with them; Contracts are spiritual deals designed to exchange mutual services between spirits and humans—it goes both ways. Sparna guides us based off his own wisdom and intellect of the world we're in and ensure's I'm cared for, Grendel protects us with his might, and I provide them Magatsuhi so they can better act on those principles. It's a symbiotic relationship between all three of us. We don't always get along but…we don't necessarily need to. So long as none of us go outside the constraints of the Contract, we're free to do as we please."
"Doesn't seem that way to me." Tenchi muttered darkly. "Sparna seemed pretty paranoid about you ditching him."
"His fears are…justified though." Sakuya said. "When Lilly came through the Amala Drum…it had been peaceful at first. She came during New Kagatsuchi, when everyone was asleep and I was…surprised to see a demon up and about. Scared too." A nervous smile flit across her face. "I didn't really have any defenses outside of a magical shawl Grendel gave me—it was his mother's, from what I know; his mother was a great witch, I think—and when I wear it, I become invisible. It was for Full Kagatsuchi when the demons Frenzy.
"Anyways…I didn't have it on me at the time; what demon would be awake during New Kagatsuchi anyways?"
"A demi-fiend." Tenchi whispered. "Sorry, go ahead."
Sakuya sent him a concerned look, but continued. "She wasn't…hostile though. She was actually really nice. Curious too—she introduced herself and told me she'd come searching for a human. Not me, but a man, supposedly in the company of a really powerful goddess."
"So there are other humans around." Tenchi whispered.
Sakuya nodded. "Not that I've seen anyone else yet." She reasoned. "She was worried about me though. Told me about a place on the other side of the Amala Drums—they're actually a transportation network, can you imagine?"
Tenchi chuckled. "Honestly? I don't even know what an Amala Drum is, let alone what they'd be used for. Good to know though-we may need to use them once Ryoko's awake."
"I'll show you them later—it'll probably be your fastest and safest route away from here." Sakuya confessed. "And…I don't really understand why, but they seen to negate Kagatsuchi's effect; I usually hide inside the Amala Terminal Room with the Shawl until things settle down outside. Usually if any demon comes in Frenzied, they calm down pretty quickly." Her gaze drifted to Ryoko. "…That might actually help you and your friend, too. Anyways…she told me about a place linked to another Amala Drum—the one she'd used to get here. A place under the protection of an organization called the Assembly of Nihilo. The Assembly has figured out a way to block the affects of Kagatsuchi, and the demons there have created a society garnered around a peaceful, law-abiding society where humans can exist without fear of persecution; their leader is rumored to be Human."
Tenchi pursed his lips. "Almost sounds too good to be true."
"That's what I thought, too." Sakuya leaned her head against the wall, letting it thump gently against the plaster. "A safe zone where demons and spirits aren't at risk of slaughtering each other in Frenzy? Where the Assembly's leader is Human himself and where other humans don't need to fear being used or preyed upon? Not a chance." Sakuya fell silent. "…But I wanted to believe." She whispered.
Tenchi was silent.
"I wanted to believe it. And hey, here was a demon walking around in New Kagatsuchi, during a time everyone else was asleep. 'Oh, its a potion.' She said, 'There's a goddess who makes them and is working on one to halt Frenzy too! She commissioned me to search for the human!'" Sakuya pursed her lips. "Sparna and Grendel and the other spirits here all scare me when Kagatsuchi is full. It's terrifying having to hide—even with an invisibility cloak!—from other spirits or demons who, like, an hour ago were good people and who are now trying to rip each other to shreds!" The girl grimaced. "I watched—Masaki-kun, the things I saw…I can't even—" She shook her head. "I know they can't help it—that Kagatsuchi is driving them into it but…if there really was a potion-a way to stop its effects…or even just a place where no one was even affected by it…"
"Lilly wanted to show me. And I wanted to see it. But Sparna and Grendel would have never allowed it-even with the Contract, they're both terrified of loosing me—so Lilly made a deal with me; we'd leave during Full Kagatsuchi, when the others wouldn't know I was gone anyways, pop in, grab some proof, and pop back out; see if it was enough to convince Sparna—Grendel is rarely the problem—of a better place to build.
"But Sparna was suspicious. Lilly's sudden appearance wasn't the problem; we all knew spirits could sometimes show up from the Amala Drums and didn't really think much of it. No…his problem was her sudden interest in me…and my own, admitted, interest in her." The girl buried her face against her knees for a moment, groaning into the limbs before looking back at Tenchi. "Do you have any idea what it's like? Your friend, Ryoko-san, at least looks human. But everyone around me?" The girl shook her head. "Prior to Lilly, everyone was run off by Grendel; the only way I could be around anyone else was if I was in his company or Sparna's. Lilly wasn't scared off though, and I felt like—like I'd finally found a friend! Someone I could just—just be myself with around!"
"Until Sparna got involved." Tenchi guessed.
Sakuya nodded. "Until…until Sparna got involved." She sighed. "There was an…incident. I don't know who started it, but I have my suspicions…a fight broke out between Lilly and an angel. The angel was killed and word got out. Lilly is—was—stronger than a lot of the current denizens of this place, you see, discounting Sparna and Grendel. They were…nervous around her. Nervous demons are dangerous demons, and, well…perhaps it was inevitable with Kagatsuchi rising."
"A lot of demons were killed. Many of them angels, but also some of the Fae and Apsaras. It was…enough, I think, for Sparna to have justification to act." Sakuya paused, and looked at Tenchi with solemn eyes. "Sparna is a creature which lives off the Law," She said, "any other life, he'd have been a politician, but…he is caged to his own need to justify any of his actions. If you can escape giving him that, half the battle is over against him." She looked away. "That's…also why he has Grendel though. Grendel has no reservations so long as he can act on his desires."
"So Lilly was…arrested." Tenchi guessed. "And…thrown downstairs."
Sakuya nodded. "I don't know why he didn't just kill her." She said. "I feel like that would have been…would have been more humane."
"Sparna's not human though."
Sakuya nodded. "Then you arrived and…no lie, Masaki-kun. Sparna was pissed. Lilly was bad enough with the friendship I had started with her, but you already knew me. He wanted you gone before you got the same thoughts in your head of asking me to come with you."
Tenchi sighed. "And we gave him justification. We walked right into his hands and didn't even know it."
Sakuya nodded.
Tenchi grimaced. "We go down and execute your friend, and if all of us are killed in the process, there's all of your friends wiped out right there. Lilly was…I think she knew we were there to kill her. I think she was waiting for it and…and trying to find her own way out." He glanced back at Ryoko. "Kill two birds with one stone…Dick."
"Yep." Sakuya sighed. "He's trying to keep me isolated. I know that now but…"
"And you really can't just leave?"
The girl shook her head. "I'd be breaking the terms of the contract." She said. "Supposedly there's a thing called a 'System Force' which is designed to keep us together, but I haven't seen it yet. It's supposed to activate whenever one of us gets close to breaking the contract but…" She shrugged. "I…don't really know what it's supposed to look like or do."
"Maybe it already has."
"What?"
"That…System Force, or whatever. Maybe it already has." Tenchi said. "I mean…Lilly wanted to you to go with her and…we saw what happened. Shit, I was going to ask you to come with us but never got the opportunity before we were…arrested." He gestured to Sakuya.
Sakuya stared at him in horror.
Tenchi held up his hands. "Just a thought!" He cried. "I mean, remember, I'm a bit of an oaf and I don't know shit and—"
"Tenchi," Sakuya said. "Shut up."
Tenchi complied, taken more off guard by the direct use of his name than by the girl's instruction for silence.
"Anyway…I guess you kind of know the rest from there." Sakuya continued. "I can't—and won't—leave Sparna and Grendel now. I guess this is…just what happens to the leftovers of the Old World."
"Don't talk that way." Tenchi said. "You aren't—you aren't some 'leftover'. And…if we—if we got rid of Sparna and Grendel, found a way to break this so called contract…would that help?"
Sakuya laughed. It was a sad sound. A defeated sound. "Masaki-kun, stop." She said. "It's okay, really. I've accepted it. And…no offense but…you can't beat them." She glanced down at Ryoko, then back to the demi-fiend. "Not as you are now. Grendel alone would crush you." She spread her arms. "Besides, what would I do? Go to a place which may or may not even exist? Follow you around and find myself preyed on by you and the demons you've allied yourself with?" She shook her head with a bitter smile. "No…I've made my choice, and I'll own up to it."
"Then we'll go and check out the Assembly of Nihilo for you." Tenchi said. "If it's legitimate, and we can find a way to break the contract, will you go there? So that you can be safe?"
The girl looked at him in silence, then looked away with a wry smile. "You're really pushing this, aren't you?"
"Ryoko likes to call me a 'stubborn ass' for a reason." Tenchi replied, and smirked when the teen barked in laughter.
"Well…she nailed that bit on the head." Sakuya smiled. "I won't make any promises, Masaki-kun. I can't make any promises as things are now, and honestly, I would prefer if you didn't." Tenchi opened his mouth. "But I realize that nothing I say regarding that is going to change. So…you go do whatever you think is right and I'll…" She sighed. "I'll be here. No rush. I've got all the time in the world."
"I see." Tenchi mumbled, and the two lapsed into silence.
Sakuya broke it.
"Do you have enough strength to carry Ryoko-san?"
Tenchi looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, yeah…why?"
"I think I may know someone who can help her and you out." She said. "And she's next to the Amala Terminal where the Drums are, so…we knock out two birds with one stone, right? Heal you both up and send you out the door to…wherever Lilly came from."
"She isn't affected by Kagatsuchi?"
Sakuya laughed, climbing to her feet. "I don't even think she's in the same universe as us, Masaki-kun."
Tenchi stared up at her. "What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Sakuya offered him a hand, and when he took it, she hauled him to his feet with a grunt. His body, stiff from sitting, throbbed in protest, reminding him of his own untreated injuries.
Sakuya smiled coyly. "You'll see." She said. "And while she's treating Ryoko-san…don't forget, you owe me two stories now!"
Tenchi stared at her first in bemusement, then in thin amusement. "Fine…" He said, "Deal." He rose to his feet, and felt his body bemoan the act of moving as a dull, full body throb racked his form. "Can you grab Ryoko's bag? It's not heavy, just bulky, and you have no idea what I had to do to balance both backs and Ryoko."
Sakuya smiled. "Of course." She said. "Can you still carry Ryoko-san by yourself?"
"Death before dishonor." Tenchi replied solemnly, then broke into a grin when Sakuya giggled. It was nice to be around a human again. Around Sakuya again. It's almost enough to forget the fact that I'm a demon…that we're both stuck out here in the end of the world, surrounded by demons who can readily kill us. I can almost be human again.
The hallway was quiet as Tenchi followed Sakuya out of the small room and down the stairs to the first floor. They past demons sleeping in packs, some curled up, others sleeping atop one another, even some who'd backed themselves up against a wall as though fearful of an attack in their sleep. They passed the Cathedral of Shadows, who's door flared with a deep violet sigil as they passed. Tenchi thought he heard a buzz like electricity from within, and the soft murmur of a voice, and wondered what was happening inside.
Farther towards the back of the floor, near the farthest wall, one of the reconverted restaurant doors showed a green sigil, and here Sakuya stopped. "In here." She said, and set Ryoko's ruck down. "Um…brace yourself," the girl warned, "The Lady of the Fount is um…"
"Not human?" Tenchi guessed.
Sakuya shook her head, biting her lip. "Oh no, she looks very human."
"Ugly? Deformed? A skeleton?" Tenchi guessed, and earned a snort from Sakuya.
To all of them the teen shook her head. "No, no…she's um…not a believer of uh…clothes."
Tenchi stared at her. "She's…naked?"
A small flush began to appear on Sakuya's face. She did not look at him, and instead pursed her lips with a silent nod.
A small eternity of silence passed between the two of them.
"Uh…everyone…everyone goes to her for help." Sakuya stammered. "Doesn't matter their gender, I mean, even I've…" She stopped herself a took a deep, cleansing breath before looking Tenchi in the eyes. "It's only as awkward as you make it." She said.
"Only as awkward as I make it." Tenchi repeated, and laughed shrilly. "Right, only as awkward as I make it. I've-I've seen worse! This is-this is nothing for me!" He boasted, his smile strained and his face anxious as he looked between the door to Sakuya and the woman in his arms.
"Don't make it weird Masaki-kun."
"You don't make it weird, Kumashiro-san!"
The two laughed nervously. Neither moved.
"Okay. How about this," Sakuya said, "We go in on three, and we both agree to never talk about this again." She licked her lips. "Please don't make this weird, Masaki-kun."
"I'm not gonna make it weird."
"You're the one telling me you got charmed by Lilly. And you're a guy. Guys always get weird around women.
"Oh yeah, like you aren't getting weird about this right now. I bet we'd both be just as weirded out if it was a naked dude in there."
"Of course I—" Sakuya threw up her hands. "Okay. Fine. On three."
"One…" Sakuya began
"Two…" She set her hand against the door.
"Three!" Tenchi added his voice with hers, and Sakuya pushed the door open.
And the two stepped into another world.
Water, ankle deep, splashed beneath their feet as they entered, a gentle, soothing green light rising from the depths and reflecting its gentle ripples back along the dark, infinite walls of the strange room. Pools, separated by a line of marble stone, rested in multitudes around them, and encircling a small, natural stone fountain which rested in the room's center. Some of the pools appeared to be occupied by demons, spirits, and other creatures—all dormant and unresponsive in the pool's interior.
At the fountain's head a woman hovered, sitting cross-legged before the fountain, which seemed to be the source of the water. She was naked outside of a long, white veil draped across her face, masking her eyes from sight, and sat engulfed in a strange, green aura.
"Welcome to the Fountain of Life." The woman said. "Your name has reached my ears, Hitoshura. I will assist however I am able."
Tenchi averted his gaze, feeling his cheeks grow hot with a flush. Sakuya nudged him with an elbow, and doing his best to focus on anything-his now wet boots and the water seeping into his socks, the soothing glow of the water around him, Ryoko's face, glowing in the strange light of the room-anything other than the woman before him and her state of dress, the youth spoke. "My friend has been gravely injured. Can you help her?"
"I can heal the Godslayer's injuries, Hitoshura. As well as your own, the Shikigami's and High Pixie's wounds, for the right price. Should you wish, I may also revive the fallen Kodama as well, though that service is not a light one."
Tenchi looked at her with a start, "You can revive-you can bring the dead back to life?" His cheeks burned as he forgot himself, and the teen looked back to the water as he felt a moment of lightheadedness strike him.
"I can do that and more, should you still have spirit's body in your possession." The woman replied. "Yet know this: it is a harsh toll to bring what was once dead back into its mortal shell. There is a likelihood that the resurrection may not go as intended, and that the spirit which comes to inhabit the form is not the original spirit you once knew. Be wary if you should seek such revivals." The woman's voice was deep and gentle, a lullaby that Tenchi thought her could listen to for all eternity. "Should you need it though, and have the macca for it, I can do what you request. I can additionally remove any ailments which strike you or your party, including any Curses which may befall you as a demi-fiend."
"What does that mean?" Tenchi asked.
"The magatama is a spirit of misfortune." The Lady explained, "There will times where its writhing may inflict you with a terrible curse. Be wary of it, and seek me out should such calamity befall you, that I may provide you with relief."
"I see." Tenchi lapsed into silence. "What do you need to heal Ryoko?"
"Her injuries are severe, yet she is still alive. Five hundred macca for the Godslayer, two hundred and fifty for the Shikigami, one hundred macca each for yourself and the High Pixie."
Tenchi winced. I'm just shy of five hundred macca. He thought. I could heal everyone but Ryoko, but that's not what I need. "I don't have enough."
"Than leave and return when you do." The Lady stated.
Tenchi flinched.
Sakuya nudged him. "How much do you need?" She whispered.
"At least what she's asking for if I want to help everyone." Tenchi whispered back.
Sakuya nodded and dug into her pockets, retrieving a large handful of coins. "Keep it. Use what you need and save the rest." She said. "You live a lot more of a dangerous life than I do."
Tenchi stared at the teen, stunned and genuinely touched by the generosity. Then he bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you Kumashiro-san." He whispered, and looked back to the Lady. "Between what my friend and I have…will that be enough?"
"So it will." The Lady announced, and waved a hand towards them. Two of the pools nearby—one near Sakuya, another near Tenchi—began to glow. "Set the Godslayer and the Shikigami within. Their injuries will require them time to recover."
With an uncertain glance to Sakuya, who nodded to him in encouragement, Tenchi approached the pool nearest to him and knelt, setting Ryoko into the pool. The water was deeper than he thought, and the woman seemed to sink as the youth rested her inside, yet when neither the Lady nor Sakuya showed any sign of distress, Tenchi released her, and watched the Space Pirate sink beneath the current.
The light of the pool flared once then grew dark, and Tenchi moved to repeat the process with Paperball. Some of the paper strands floated on the surface, yet what remained sank even deeper than Ryoko did. A flare, darkness, and the Demi-fiend looked back at the Lady. "Are they going to be okay?"
"You doubt the Fountain's capability?" The Lady asked.
"I—no, sorry." Tenchi muttered. "I just…I'm stressed and tired and…and scared."
"You're apology is accepted." The woman raised a hand to him, and before he could react a torrent of water splashed down atop of him. Sakuya yelped, shielding herself from the sudden deluge, and when it stopped, Tenchi stood, drenched, wide eyed, cold, and…
And…
The numbness in his digits from Kamudo was gone.
The teen flexed his fingers, then rotated his body. So too was the fatigue and the pain presented to him upon awakening.
"Bring out the Fairy that I may treat her." The Lady instructed.
The teen did as ordered, and was surprised to see Hi P blinking in a daze as she appeared. The fairy rubbed her eyes, as though awakened prematurely from a deep sleep, and glanced around in confusion. Yet she seemed to recognize the place, and surrendered to The Lady's treatment with much more grace than Tenchi had displayed. Though to be fair, Hi P was graced with a gentle rain compared to the colossal torrent dropped on Tenchi's head.
"Can we stay here until my companions are well?" Tenchi asked.
"No." The Lady replied. "You may wait outside. I will not have humans and demi-fiends polluting a place of healing when they do not need it themselves."
Both Sakuya and Tenchi winced.
"C'mon Masaki-kun, let's go outside and wait." Sakuya said. "We still have time before the Kagatsuchi begins to wax."
She took him by the hand, and together they departed.
The duo made themselves comfortable against the wall outside, sitting atop the two rucks for cushioning. That sat in companionable silence, the two lost in their own thoughts as they observed the silent station and its many sleeping inhabitants. It was almost peaceful, if one considered their position; the two of them a pair of mostly human inhabitants surrounded by sleeping demons, none of which, in the short term at least, meant either of them any harm.
"I promise we'll leave once Ryoko's up and kicking and Paperball is up." Tenchi broke the silence. "As much as I don't like Sparna, I also don't want to bring you any grief either."
"I know." Sakuya pursed her lips. "…Thank you."
"For what?" Tenchi looked at her.
"…For finding me." Sakuya replied. "I mean…I know its led to this big mess and what not but…at least knowing you are alive…that there might be other people who I know who survived…it's heartening, you know?" She looked at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I had been…so afraid. That I was alone. That…that everyone was gone. Even if—I know you've changed, I know I can't go with you but…just knowing that someone else is out there-someone else who I know—" She bit her lip, shaking her head ruefully. "Listen to me, I sound like some kind of fairy tale princess."
Tenchi watched her with a sidelong glance. "It's not a bad thing to have." He said. "I mean…to know that you-that you have someone else out there-that there are other people out there who exist, who want to help you…" He trailed off, and Sakuya nodded her head in silence. "I meant what I said, Kumashiro-san." Tenchi said. "I'll find the Assembly of Nihilo. And if it's safe, I promise you I'll come back."
Sakuya nodded, her head bowed as it bobbed in silence. Tenchi thought he heard a sniff, and pretended not to hear it as Sakuya sucked in a deep breath and released it through clenched teeth.
"You know…I heard that Humans are the ones who are supposed to decide the outcome of this world." Sakuya's voice held a waivering quality to it, yet when Tenchi glanced at her, the girls cheeks were dries. "Do you think that's true, Masaki-kun? Lilly seemed to think so. She said that was why so many demons followed a human—that the human had a Reason, and their beliefs aligned with his."
Tenchi was quiet.
"I wonder if its the same for someone like me." She said. "Could someone like me have a Reason? A Reason to exist, a Reason to keep going, a Reason to bring about a new world?"
"I don't see why not." Tenchi said. "What would your Reason be?
Sakuya let her head thump against the wall, her eyes closed as she sniffed. "I don't know." She said. "I-I guess I'd have to think about it. But I don't….I don't want to be alone. I can't imagine many others would want to be alone in a world like this either." She sighed. "I…don't really understand the whole 'Reason' thing but…I guess if I had to, maybe a world where no one ever felt alone or lonely again would be nice, don't you think?"
"Yeah." Tenchi nodded. "Yeah, that does sound kind of nice."
The two lapsed into silence once more. Sakuya rifled through one of her pockets. "Here." She offered the item to him, and Tenchi looked down at it.
A Magatama.
The one left behind from the store.
With some trepidation, Tenchi gingerly took the offered creature from the girl. Thanks." He said flatly. "What I always wanted. A bug."
A flash of a smirk slipped past Sakuya's lips. "I heard someone say you eat it. Is that true?"
Tenchi nodded reluctantly as he eyed the hibernating creature with apprehension. "I...would not recommend." He said. "It's a rather...traumatic experience. "
" I believe you." Sakuya replied. "I have no interest in becoming a demi-fiend anyways. I like being human."
"I did too." Tenchi muttered under his breath.
"Hm?" Sakuya glanced at him sharply.
"Nothing." Tenchi smiled and pocketed the creature. "Thank you Sakuya-for everything."
"Of course. I'm glad I could help. " The smile on Sakuya's face was large, but did not reach her eyes. "Just...please be careful, okay? "
"I will." Tenchi nodded firmly. "And I'll keep my word-Ill find a way to break that Contract and take you to this Assembly of Nihilo, if it really is a thing. I'll find a way to get word back to you. I don't know how yet, but I'll figure something out."
Sakuya shook her head with a soft sigh. "I wish you wouldn't." She said. "I know it's hard to believe, but really, I've accepted my role in this new world. It's okay, Masaki-kun."
Tenchi nodded, but his expression remained firm. "Just because you've accepted it doesn't make it right."
"I know." Sakuya sighed. "Then go on, Mister 'knight in shining armor'. Before the dragon guarding me wakes up.
The girl pointed to a door directly across from the Lady of the Fount's room where a red sigil glowed with prominence. "That's the Amala Terminal room. We're fortunate that it's so close to The Lady's Fount. You should be able to place your bags inside, grab Ryoko, and slip away before anyone notices you in Kagatsuchi rising. Just...don't dawdle.
"I won't." Tenchi nodded.
Something flickered in the back of his mind. A hint of a thought, a whisper, and then Paperball's voice, "I'm back…so's the Demon Lord." It sounded groggy and disoriented, but at least the Shikigami sounded conscious.
At least until he and Ryoko both step out of that room. Tenchi thought, and sighed before climbing to his feet. "Guess its time." He said, offering Sakuya a hand and pulling the girl to her feet.
"Guess so." She agreed. "Be careful out there, Masaki-kun. Stay alive for me, okay?"
The demi-fiend nodded. "I will." He said. "Stay strong out here." He could think of no other well wishes to pass to her.
Sakuya nodded slowly, her lips pursed, then stepped towards him. Before he could react, the girl embraced him tightly, and without thought Tenchi returned it with equal ferocity.
Through them both the Fears of Humanity traversed, their tides held back in a moment of intimacy before Sakuya broke away, holding Tenchi at shoulder's length as she looked him up and down. Now the tears began to fall, blue eyes bright like sapphires within the station's artificial light.
And then she released him, turning away and trotting off towards the stairs before disappearing from sight.
Tenchi watched her go, mute, an intermingled sensation of emptiness, sadness, and a small spark of warmth in his chest.
Then he sighed and returned to the Fount.
It was time to leave.
Comments of a Madwoman: The Road to Greatness is an ugly path, paved with nightmares, misery, and horrors unending. Only the most resilient may persevere and survive to see that Mastery brought to light.