Chapter 7: The Redbone Palace

The group had been traveling for nearly a week now. They set off in the direction that Towa had encountered Yuki and his ally in the woods. All they had been able to find was a town full of people who had no idea who Yuki or anyone going by the name Onigumo was and none of the villagers could recall anyone with similar features to either his human or demon appearance ever passing through in the first place.

The group soon came to the conclusion after further investigation that Yuki must have been going by a different alias and most likely had changed his appearance as well while he was hiding in this village but the investigation hadn't been a complete miss when it came to what they found. The teens were at least able to find a poison master that lived in this village.

Towa had recognized the smell immediately, as the man passed them by on the street the man had smelled exactly like the poison she had been attacked with in the forest. The man was posing as a botanist but once the teens had the chance to privately interrogate him. The man quickly admitted that he would deal out poison to anyone who would pay the right price.

Towa was even able to identify which poison was used against her from just the smell and the poison master told the group that the kind of poison that was thrown at Towa was special because it was mostly just used to stun not to kill but it can still be deadly all the same if the victim is given an excessive amount, but most people used the poison that Towa had smelled when they needed something nonlethal.

So the group now knew that the plan most likely had been to try and abduct Towa that day but the reason why was still unclear. Moroha had told them about what Yuki said the night that she went missing. That if she were to go with him he anticipated the rest of them following in response and his plan to abduct Towa in her place proved that he wasn't after any of them specifically.

Why did he want them all in one place? The group had pondered, and what was his end goal for them in accordance to his revenge?

The teens kept moving, not staying in the village for too long after they learned what they could but after traveling for more than a week and having to sleep in a cave to avoid a rainy night out in the cold. The teens reached a turning point and not a good one.

"I don't care anymore if we find Yuki before our parents get back or not. I just want to spend a few days in a village sleeping inside. I can't do another cave, I just can't!" Moroha exclaimed.

She had thought that traveling with her friends would be fun and exciting and it was to an extent but sleeping in that small cold and wet cave all night was the worst and it almost made her want to rethink her dreams of wanting to travel, almost.

"Agreed, I've been feeling so stiff from sleeping on the ground all week. I miss sleeping in a warm room." Towa said.

"You two are the reason why we're out here in the first place." Setsuna calmly stated. "I say if you don't like sleeping outside we just go home. We've been traveling for a week now and haven't gotten any closer to anything."

Towa's brown creased in obvious annoyance at her sister for even suggesting that. "There is no way that I'm going home empty handed after chasing Yuki for over a week. If you want to go home so badly then you and Hisui are more than welcome to run home to mom. Me and Moroha can more than take care of ourselves if you've become too scared of being far from home." Towa huffed and Setsuna only glared at her.

"I am not afraid." Setsuna stated.

"Could have fooled me." Moroha added throwing flame to the fire that had been started.

"You two have got to stop assuming that me and Setsuna always have the same opinions. I don't want to go home until we finish what was stated." Hisui said calm and cool trying and failing to diffuse the situation and those words earned him a glare from Setsun, while Moroha and Towa both smirked like thieves as they continued to walk. Hisui, realizing that he had unintentionally made things worse, moved his gaze forward so that he could no longer see Setsuna's intense stare as he spoke again.

"Staying at an inn is probably out of the question though. We didn't bring much money and we ate all of the food that Moroha's grandmother packed so we can't afford to stay anywhere right now anyway." Hisui said.

"Maybe we should have let Shinji come. He at least would have had more money than us." Towa said.

"In his haste to catch us he probably forgot to bring any money at all. And if he had come he'd have probably needed saving at least ten times by now." Moroha said.

"Do you want to go get him Towa? I'm sure it won't take too long if you take Kilala." Hisui joked.

Towa shook her head. "It'd have to be 's no way that he'd leave with anyone other than his precious fiancé." Towa smirked teasingly and her cousin huffed.

"Not funny." Moroha said.

"I'm just saying it would be nice to not have to worry about sleeping outside all the time. Maybe you should just take one for the team cuz. We'd all be super grateful for your sacrifice. You'd be our hero!" Towa exclaimed the last part.

"Shinji being here would be all of us taking one for the team. You're speaking nonsense." Setsuna said. "Sleeping in the forest hasn't been too bad, all of our parents have done it before you two are just spoiled."

"The two of us are spoiled!?" Moroha asked in disbelief. "Towa didn't Hisui say that he was done sleeping in the woods as well?"

"I believe his exact words were "you two have got to stop thinking that Setsu and I always have the same opinions." Towa said doing her best impression of him which caused both herself and Moroha to burst out laughing. While Hisui and Setsuna only rolled their eyes at them, just as they ran into some people who had been stopped on the road ahead of them for some time and had turned at the sound of the bickering teens.

There were 3 men that were wearing generic soldier armor and they were standing around what the teens could now see were corpses but something was wrong with the corpses.

"They're missing their bones just like the others." One of the men stated.

The corpses were all skin, the bones had been picked out leaving just a corpse of skin. A shiver ran up Moroha's spine at this realization while the other three remained unfazed.

"You kids should get out of here before nightfall or try to find a safe place in the village to stay overnight. You don't want to be traveling once it gets dark or you might end up like this." One of the soldiers tried to warn them.

"Is this the work of some kind of apparition?" Setsuna asked and the three men looked fearful even recalling what was responsible for this.

"This is the work of the demon Jakotsumaru. Ever since our village lord angered his father Tokotsu by telling him that we wouldn't be giving him the majority of our crops anymore which was causing villagers to go hungry.

Tokotsu and his son Jakotsumaru have been wreaking havoc on our village and nothing that we've been able to do has worked our army has been cut in half in only a month and our village lord has now decided that our village will go back to the way that things were and has been trying to reason with Tokotsu, to go back to how things were before inorder to try and avoid further casualties but Jakotsumaru has still been attacking the villagers that he comes across at night."

"I see, if this is the work of demons then my friends and I have no problem taking care of them for you." Hisui smiled. "If you provide us with food and shelter for a week the four of us would happily slay those demons for you." Hisui said.

One of the men scoffed. "We had a whole army and it was no match for Tokotsu and his son yet you believe that you four children can take him down as if it's a simple feat."

Moroha smiled. "We can probably be done before the morning if you know where to find these demons." She said enthusiastically and the man who had scoffed at them looked at the teens wide eyed and confused before another one of the men offered to bring them to the village lord so that he could properly consider what to do.

The village lord had lived in a huge home that really reflected how wealthy he was and the teens told him their terms for slaying the demons that had been terrorizing his village.

"I can tell that you four are no normal group of travelers just by looking at the one with silver hair. You travel with a demon so you think that you three can rely on her strength to win in battles don't you?" The village lord questioned as he tried to understand the power dynamic of the group.

"That's my twin sister you're talking about." Setsuna said before anyone else could answer. "You're right to assume that she's capable when it comes to battle but she's only one part of this team. The three of us belong to a demon slaying guild that's far east from here and all of us have been slaying demons since we were children. We may be small in number but that's for a reason. The four of us are more than strong enough the way we are. Adding anyone more would be dangerous for them to try and keep up with us. I assure you that the four of us will be all that you need no matter what kind of demon you're dealing with." Setsuna said coy and confident and the other three looked at her proudly as the village chief finally agreed to hire them to take on this task.

"I have no care about whether or not any of you have demon blood." The village lord specified. "Only that you can actually slay the demons and make it so that the people of my village can be free from worry and fear once again. I'll agree to your terms should you return and once you get back your demands will be met." The village lord said and the teens assured him that they would most likely be done before the morning, each of them happy to not have to sleep outside yet again.

The teens were then shown to some rooms that they would be staying at, if they returned and were told that they could place anything that they needed in their rooms before heading out to do their job.

The Rooms were more luxurious than anything that they were used to and the teens wasted no time getting changed into their demon slayer gear so that they could get back and relax as soon as possible.

Hisui went to the room next door while the girls all changed together in the room that they would be sharing, except for Moroha who liked to fight in her casual clothes best so she occupied herself by exploring all that was in the room while her cousins changed.

"I think I saw a bath house on our way to these rooms!" Moroha exclaimed excitedly.

"I saw it too." Towa said as she finished changing before placing her broken sword in its shief at her hip.

"We didn't need Shinji's money after all." Towa smiled.

"If you keep bringing him up, I'm going to think that you've got an interest in him. Maybe he was chasing the wrong family member this whole time." Moroha said and Towa made a disgusted face at her which made Setsuna smile.

"I don't like Shinji, but you have a better chance with him than with Hisui's uncle. I'll even help you introduce him to dad." She teased her sister who turned red in response.

"Don't even joke about that, and I was 12 when I had a crush on Kohaku! You know that I only liked him because I like strong people. That's just my type. That childish crush has long since been forgotten now." Towa said seriously while Moroha and Setsuna smiled at having gotten under her skin for a change. A knock at the door interrupted their conversation and Setsuna opened it to find the village lord's general on the other side of the door next to Hisui.

"If you all are ready I've been instructed to inform you about what is known of Tokotsu and his son." The general said and the girls followed him.

The general explained Tokotsu and Jakotsumaru over a meal. He told them of how his Red Bone palace which was two hours north of them was infested with demons that were all under Tokotsu's command. His son Jakotsumaru could control the bones of his victims which resulted in undead bone soldiers but Tokotsu was not to be taken lightly as the demon was a monster of his own and a complete power house.

During the whole meal and debriefing about the demons, the four teens could tell from the way that the village lord's general spoke to the way that he looked at them and answered their questions that he didn't think for one second that they'd be returning which made each of them even more determined to slay these demons. Towa even told the general that she'd be sure to bring him back a souvenir once they were finished.

The first thing that the teens did before setting off was strategy. Hisui and Moroha would slay Tokotsu while Towa and Setsuna would take down Jakotsumaru. Jakotsumaru could control bones and Hisui's weapon was forged from the bones of demons so Jakotsumaru wouldn't be a good opponent for him.

They would take down each target and then meet up again at the meeting spot that they would decide on once they got to the palace. As for the other demons that might be present they weren't worried about them as they were most likely lesser demons that were just following the stronger Tokotsu.

The teens made their way to the Red Bone palace and stealthily went around the perimeter of the building so that they could get a feel for the size of the place before they decided how they were going to infiltrate. Moroha and Town climbed the trees surrounding the palace as well so that they could see if there were many demons walking around before going further with their strategy.

As soon as they arrived the girls had picked up multiple scents as well as the faint smell of human blood so they didn't think that there were many humans, if any, within the palace, at least none that were alive. Once they were done surveying the area they came together again to discuss what to do next.

"So Moroha and I will move in from the back while Setsuna and Towa will move in near the west entrance. We all will try to go in undetected, that way we won't get overwhelmed by too many demons at once." Hisui said.

"Overwhelmed? We only need to be concerned about two demons here, if we just push our way through that will save us a lot of running and the demons that we came to kill will come right to us once the heads of the other demons start to roll." Towa suggested.

"Towa's way makes more sense." Moroha said.

"None of us have seen how these demons fight up close. We're going solely off of the accounts of others, not personal experience or off of the experience of other experienced slayers so we need to be cautious. This isn't like our normal jobs. We need to move smarter here." Hisui scolded.

"You need to relax." Moroha said nonchalantly not taking the situation as serious as Hisui would have liked and he scowled at her. "Yeah these demons are probably strong but I'm sure that the two of them are no match for the four of us. The sooner we can take care of them, the better." Moroha added.

"I know that the four of us can take them." Setsuna said. "But Hisui makes a good point that we know next to nothing about these demons from our own experiences." Setsuna said just as she felt a pinch on her skin before slapping the side of her neck and a familiar flea complained at being smushed as the group now greeted him.

"Tokotsu and his son are no pushovers." Myoga stated. "Tokotsu himself, being a former part of what was once known as the four Perils until their leader one day disappeared. I would strongly advise you to proceed with caution." Myoga said.

"See, we definitely need to play it safe then. We should try to attract the least amount of attention possible." Hisui chided once again.

"Grandpa Myoga would say something like that he's always scared to be near any danger no matter how small." Towa said. "How's our parents' task going by the way? I bet they didn't find what they were looking for." Towa smirked at knowing something that he didn't.

"It was terrible lady Towa, that whole town was left to mostly ashes. The few survivors repeated the same thing over and over as your parents tried to find out what happened. The only words that the people would say to them were the words that they claimed were the assailants only words during his assault, "The days of the dog demons were numbered." Myoga said eerily and the teens all looked at each other silently deciding to keep what they knew a secret for now.

"The town was left in ashes?" Moroha asked.

"It was nearly completely burned to the ground and less than half of their population had survived. I've been out trying to find more leads ever since I found out what happened." Myoga said and the teens took in what he was saying.

"It sounds to me like Yuki is just as much of a menace as his father once was. Should we even continue on this path to find him?" Setsuna asked.

"I'll just ask him about it when we see him again." Moroha tried her best to shrug off. "Less about him more about what we need to do to avoid another night outside."

The knowledge that Yuki was most likely responsible for more harm than they had initially considered was concerning and the group would definitely have to talk about this but now with Myoga present, didn't have to be the time. Moroha had thought and Setsuna seemed to agree as well as she decided to drop the subject for now and the conversation was back on to what they were doing at the Redbone palace.

"Fine, let's put if we should go in quiet or not to a vote." Setsuna said and the group was tied two and two. The four glared at each other.

"Rock Paper Scissors?" Towa asked.

"Myoga can just be our tie breaker." Hisui said.

"Not fair." Moroha said. "He's too afraid to go in with us so he shouldn't have a say."

"Hey I actually may have some business within the palace so I'll be right behind you all today." Myoga said.

"Behind us he says. Out of sight and out of danger." Moroha added.

"Rock Paper Scissors is fine." Was all that Setsuna said and Hisui and Towa did one faithful round of Rock Paper Scissors which was the reason why they were all now stealthily running around the Redbone palace trying their best to stay undetected.

"Towa and Setsuna snuck in closer to the back of the mansion while Hisui and Moroha had hopped on to the roof of the place and slipped in through one of the windows. They stayed overhead balancing on the support beams of the building structure within, as they stayed hidden from the demon's view and there were a lot of them.

A lot of lower level demons that typically wouldn't be fierce if standing alone but in this number they would have taken much longer to deal with than any of the teens would've liked to admit and though neither of them would admit it both Moroha and Towa were glad that they had decided to go in quiet this time.

Moroha jumped on to another ledge following Hisui's lead as he jumped quietly and quickly but as Moroha tried to follow the next step she slipped and fell right on top of some demons that were roaming about. The demons were quick to act but she was quicker and after a few swift movements of her sword she quickly took care of her opponents. Which had Hisui rolling his eyes as this was her fourth time tonight being spotted.

First she knocked over a candlestick that was up high and went down to quickly snuff out the flame before it could grow to which she had been caught in the act and had to fight one demon who saw her. The next time she had sneezed and the demon looked up so she took him down from the air only to be discovered by another demon as she went to hide the body of the one she had just slayn. So she had to take down that demon as well and now she had slipped and fell and was face to face with three more lower demons solidifying in Hisui's mind that he never wanted to do another stealth mission with Moroha again in his life as he watched Moroha kill demons from his spot over head.

She wasn't even sorry she was enjoying this. He sighed, he should have expected this she was the youngest of them after all. Why would this mission be any different from any other especially when they didn't typically do stealth missions as much unless it was him and Setsuna.

"You there." A voice said from a distance in front of Moroha, stopping Hisui in his thoughts as a young boy with a fan walked towards her and Hisui watched them intently ready to intervene if necessary.

"You've been killing our living soldiers haven't you?" The young boy asked.

"Are you in charge here?" Moroha asked with a smirk as she pointed her blade towards him.

"I will be one day." The demon boy said just as he reanimated the three corpses that she had just slain. Their bones split from their flesh and stood freely and Moroha made a disgusted face at him as he held his fan.

"Jakotsumaru!" She exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be my opponent but I'll kill you just the same. " She said as she slashed through the bones that had just been reanimated and Jakotsumaru chuckled at her.

"That's funny because I have explicit orders to kill you first if I come across any descendants of the dog demons." Jakotsumaru said and she looked surprised.

"It's Onigumo's will after all. Kill the one in red at all cost." Jakotsumaru added and her eyes got wide from the shock of his words. Jakotsumaru now attacked her and she dodged, following through with her own attack and slashing him deep across his chest.

Hisui was in position to swoop in any time now and out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Towa and Setsuna down below watching the scene play out hidden from a distance. How they all ended up in the same place when they entered on opposite ends of the place was beyond him. His team was just not that good at tactical positioning yet. Hisui thought.

"Onigumo what do you know of him? Where is he?" Moroha asked.

"He's one of my fathers allies and he's asked for the death of you and your friends. We were warned that you might come our way. Tell me did you come alone?" Jakotsumaru asked and at this point Setsuna let herself be known by dealing her surge of swallow attack as cover and slashing at Jakotsumaru right after hitting her mark and making all but his clothing disappear.

"Took you long enough." Moroha huffed.

"Hey you got yourself into this and you were getting information out of him." Setsuna said as Towa and Hisui both came out of hiding.

"Can you blame me for wanting you to sweat a little after getting caught four times." Hisui asked.

"Four times!?" Towa exclaimed.

"Oh shut up, it's hard to move overhead like we were." Moroha huffed as Setsuna examined the clothing that was left behind by Jakotsumaru.

"The scattered red bones will probably lead us to Jakotsumaru. We need to stay alert now that they know we're here. Especially you Moroha, since they apparently want you dead the most." Setsuna said and the teens all nodded.

Following the pieces of scattered bones all the way to where Jakotsumaru was, behind two large doors they could feel the demonic energy just on the other side as they approached and slowly cracked the door so that Towa could look in and they could hear the voices of two demons.

"Father, they're here. The half demons we were told about."

"How many of them?"

"Two from what I could tell." Jakotsumaru said.

"We were expecting at least 4. How nice maybe the other two died on the way here. Was the one wearing, red present? Rain said that I'd get another rainbow Perl if we give him her head." Tokotsu said.

"I think we should keep that one alive and see what else we might be able to get for her. For Onigumo and Rain to go through such measures and to be willing to give us a second rainbow perl should we kill her there has to be something special about her." Jakotsumaru said.

"Jakotsumaru, Onigumo has been a valuable ally to us for nearly 10 years now. He won't take kindly to us sparing his enemies."

Jakotsumaru scoffed. "He's an ally not our commander, which means he has no right to order us to do his dirty work for him. If he wants that girl dead so bad he needs to do it himself to make sure that the job is done right."

"We've been over this before having him as an ally is better than making him our enemy. We gain a lot from our continued alliance with Onigumo so we'll be doing what he asked, no more debate am I clear!" Tokotsu screamed just as their door was kicked in by the four teens.

"So much for only two of them huh. You can't even do a proper head count and you want me to betray our most useful ally." Tokotu said, annoyed with his son who immediately made a Beeline for Moroha with his fans drawn, only for her to spit purification salt in his face which melted half of his skin to the bone and she smirked as he made a hasty retreat. Both him and his father looking surprised at the damage that was inflicted onto Jakotsumaru.

"I had a little purification salt in my mouth. I'd tread carefully if I were you." Moroha said as she held her sword high.

"How's a demon like you able to use spiritual power?" Jakotsumaru hissed angrily as his father still watched in shock at the situation.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Let's just say that I'm the daughter of the most powerful priestess in the world." Moroha boasted while her friends rolled their eyes at her over exaggerated explanation.

"Jakotsumaru." Tokotsu said as he quickly pondered what he was hearing. "Perhaps you were right, she may be worth more alive than dead. For now kill everyone else but spare the one in red." Jakotsumaru smiled in response and the teens jumped into action.

"How thoughtful of you!" Moroha said. "Too bad I won't be extending you that same courtesy!" She said as she lunged at Tokotsu but Jakotsumaru stepped into her path again challenging her instead but Towa hit him with one of her attacks blasting him through the wall and into the next room where she and Setsuna would continue their fight as Jakotsumaru landed on his feet after he flew past the ledge in the next room over and fell a considerable distance down. He was now on the first floor of the palace.

My, aren't you two pretty" He said as he spit out blood. "I can't wait to see what your bones look like!" Jakotsumaru screamed as Towa and Setsuna both dodged his attacks.

"You left the girl in red alone with my father, he'll probably kill her if she annoys him too much, you know. You two should just die quickly so that I can stop that from happening." Jakotsumaru screamed as he attacked Towa who easily countered him and he scowled before waving his fans in what almost seemed like slow motion to the twins and once he was done with his movements a rush of bone soldiers came flowing in to aid Jakotsumaru. The bone soldiers attacked the girls relentlessly.

There were so many and everytime they finished off some more were ready to take their place which was disorientating at first and now some of the demons that had been roaming about the palace were coming to Jakotsumaru's aid as well.

Towa and Setsuna lost sight of Jakotsumaru in all of the chaos and had their hands more full than they had thought they would as they fought back to back easily taking care of the masses of fighters that just kept coming as they tried find Jakotsumaru again in the midst of this fight. Lucky for them he wasn't as sly as he thought he was and Setsuna caught him trying his hand at slipping away.

"I see him trying to go up the stairs. I'll go take him on, you hold off the bone soldiers until I'm done." Setsuna said leaving Towa with little time to respond or protest as Setsuna rushed to Jakotsumaru stopping him in his tracks with her scourge of swallows attack.

There was no way that she was going to let him go and assist his father when he was fighting Moroha and Hisui.

Jakotsumaru smiled at her as he was just barely able to evade her attack and her blade was now pointed at him.

"Very well then" He hissed. "I'll kill you first before I go." Jakotsumaru said as he began his fight with Setsuna.

She attacked him swift and precise as he moved with intent to kill but she out classed Jakotsumaru in every way. Towa was able to steal brief glances at them as they fought while she was holding off the ambush and the scale from her view was definitely in Setsuna's favor. Towa smirked as she took down 10 more soldiers. She could let her sister take down this one. She didn't always need to be the one striking the killing blow she thought as she fought even harder against the bone soldiers and the demos that were alive looked rather concerned at her change of pace and attitude.

Jakotsumaru was beginning to fight more and more desperately against Setsuna as none of his attacks were landing. He started to feel as if she were toying with him at this point not finishing through with killing blows and by doing so taunting him that he would be dead as soon as she wished for it, the more that she injured him which made his fighting even more erratic.

She was merely half demon. It didn't make sense. How could she be so much stronger than him? Jakotsumaru internally panicked as he tried his best to defend himself. Setsuna hit him hard with the but of her blade and he was on the ground now.

"Why are you doing this!" Jakotsumaru asked frantically from his place on the ground. "If Onigumo is who you want then I'd bring you to him happily if you spare me. He's my fathers ally, not mine. He resides only a few days north of here."

Setsuna kicked him now and he flew farther back before she held her blade to his neck so close that he felt the sharpness of the blade and knew that it would pierce his skin if either of them moved in the slightest.

"Talk, what were Onigumo's exact words when he asked you to kill us?" Setsuna asked harshly.

"He sent Rain, his most trusted ally and family member. He couldn't even ask us himself. He sent Rain who told us that Onigumo wanted you all dead, especially the girl wearing red. We were told to kill her at all costs." Jakotsumaru spoke fast.

"I see and where is Onigumo now?" Setsuna asked before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her shoulder. A bone soldier had just stabbed her. She didn't budge though in her stance. Not even faltering as she felt the pain of the wound but she did turn her head to see the bone soldier, which was enough of a distraction for Jakotsumaru to manage to switch their positions.

Moving fast, placing his hands on the staff of her weapon just above her blade and flipping her over, she never let go of her weapon even as she hit the ground fast and her wound throbbed in response to the hard impact.

Jakotsumaru immediately waved his fan towards her only to be blocked by Towa who he hadn't even noticed had finished off most of his army and had made her way up the stairs to him. She chopped off his wrist before he could fully follow through with his attack making him scream out in pain.

"You half breeds will pay for this! My father will avenge me and now not even the girl wearing red will survive!" Jakotsumaru said right before Towa finished him off with one final slash of her sword and once Towa had finished him all of the remaining bone corpses stopped moving and fell apart around them. Leaving only the lower demons that had rushed in alongside the bone soldiers most of which were retreating now.

"Are you okay? I saw one of the bone soldiers stab you?" Towa asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. The cut doesn't feel too deep. I can still manage myself fine." Setsuna said and Towa smiled.

"We'll in that case you're welcome for the save sis." Towa said.

"Oh please." Setsuna stated. "I had that completely under control. Had you not been so impatient I might have even gotten more information out of Jakotsumaru about Yuki." She said before the two of them finished off what was left of the remaining demons that hadn't chosen to run.

Tokotsu took out his weapon and it clashed with Moroha's until they were both knocked back from the clash of their energies though she did fly farther away then he did as a result.

She landed on the ground while he stayed on his feet only sliding back a few inches. Tokotsu ran fast at her once she was down but Hisui was too quick, throwing his weapon and making the demon back up as Moroha regained her footing.

"I've decided to spare your life for now. Tell your friend to stop, with his useless attacks and I will allow him to leave this place alive. If he can."

"You really think that you hold the power in this situation, don't you?" Hisui asked sarcastically. Making Tokotu angry and he lunged for the boy getting in close and not giving him enough time to use Hiraikotsu. All Hisui could do was hold the weapon in front of him blocking the demons nearly killing blow before an arrow pierced the demons back heavily injuring his shoulder and forcing him to turn to Moroha and attack her with a raging flame attack that sprang from his weapon.

Moroha quickly countered Tokotsu's attack with her own crimson dragon wave but it was barely able to counter such a fierce attack from this strong demon which Tokotsu immediately noticed and smirked sinisterly at her. He quickly did that same attack again giving her little no time to react and completely overpowered her this time as she tried to use crimson dragon wave again but to no avail as his attack overpowered hers.

Hisui quickly threw Hiraikotsu at Tokotsu in response to which the demon caught it and tossed it right back at him but Hisui stayed on his feet dodging his weapon fast as it hit the pillar behind him hard. Moroha was on the ground now and had seemingly lost consciousness.

Hisui had to be the one to deal with Tokotsu now and he knew he could do it as he had been watching the way that Tokotsu fought this entire time. Just don't let him close his gap and avoid his burning attacks. Hisui thought.

Hisui was quick and agile and if he moved correctly he could cut off the demon's head in one swoop. Hisui was concerned with potentially hurting Moroha if the fight went on for too long but Tokotsu had expressed that he wanted to keep her alive so Hisui deemed that he shouldn't worry about Moroha too much for now. Just keep the fight away from her while she was unconscious and focus completely on killing Tokotsu.

Tokotsu lunged for Hisui, who had his sword drawn now as he didn't have time to retrieve Hiraikotsu. He wouldn't be able to handle a direct clash with Tokotsu with his blade, not like Moroha had done. So he let the demon get close enough to strike him and just as the demon swung he repositioned himself and sliced the demon right across his side and disrupted the demon's stance before leaping and kicking Tokotsu swiftly in the back of his head knocking him away and giving himself an opening to retrieve Hiraikotsu.

Tokotsu smiled wickedly as he stood and faced Hisui again. "You're a human aren't you I can smell it in your blood." Tokosu said and Hisui only looked at him cold as he attacked Tokotsu again with Hiraikotsu.

This is what always happened. Demons would underestimate him because he was human and that was always their downfall. They never seemed to realize that Hisui didn't need to be stronger than them physically. In the end he only needed to be strong enough to cut their heads off.

Hisui threw Hiraikotsu at Tokotu and just as he anticipated Tokotsu caught it just like he had before but this time Hisui followed close behind it, jumping up high to the demons level just as he caught Hiraikotsu and swinging his sword and in one fell swoop Tokotsus head would be off.

Or so Hisui thought because just as he landed his killing blow redbones sprung up from Tokotsu's neck and blocked Hisui from taking Tokotsus head. The bones even cracked in response to his blow but didn't shatter enough for Hisui to take the demon's head. Tokotsu was engulfed in rage now. Tokotsu quickly grabbed Hisui's throat and choked him in response, holding him up by his neck and he could barely breathe.

"I can't allow you to live! A mere human thought that he could take my head!" Tokotu screamed.

How could this boy come so close to killing him? Had it not been for the red rainbow pearl he would have. Tokotsu thought.

"Kilala!" Hisui mustered loud despite him being choked and the cat bust through the wooden wall and sank its teeth down hard into the arm that Tokotsu had around Hisui's neck until he let go and Hisui staggered sinking his sword down into the wooden floor boards as he regained stability and rapidly tried to catch his breath after nearly being killed by Tokotsu.

It had been a good idea to not reveal Kilala right away. Hisui thought as he coughed.

Moroha felt a pinch on her face and slapped her cheek as shot up right away in response. She saw Kilala being tossed to the side and Hisui narrowly evade Tokotsu's now rapid attacks and quickly jumped back up to her feet.

"Lady Moroha, you have to get the red peel from around Tokotsu's neck!" Myoga said from her shoulder.

"I have to what?" She asked, confused.

"Hisui can't kill Tokotsu because he's using the power of one of the seven rainbow pearls, get it off of Tokotsu's neck and you two can beat him!" Myoga told her and her eyebrows creased as she pulled an arrow from her back and tried to focus her aim on the pearl that was on a necklace around Tokotsu's neck.

Tokotsu was getting awfully close to Hisui who wasn't moving nearly as fast as before after getting injured so she had to move quick or things would go bad fast. Once Tokotsu rose his sword to Hisui she had a clear shot and her arrow flew across the room landing right through the chain of the necklace and pinning it to the wall a ways away from him. Moroha smiled at him as Tokotsus head snapped to her and his attention shifted off of Hisui.

"I hope that you didn't think that I'd be down for good after your pathetic little attacks, you overgrown hog!" She ran at him with her sword releasing a crimson dragon wave and knocking him back as Kilala retrieved Hisui who now sat on her back.

"You okay?" Moroha asked him.

"Just passing the time until you were done with your nap." He said.

Moroha scoffed. "I'm surprised that you didn't have him finished by now."

"I almost did." Hisui clenched his fist. This should have been his kill.

"Without his pearl Tokotsu will be much easier to face now. Much like the jewel of four souls the rainbow pearls heightens the powers of demons though to a lesser extent."

"Oh really?" Moroha asked. The pearl was right behind them now, still pinned to the wall by her arrow. Moroha walked the few steps and pulled the necklace from the wall. She held the pearl to her eye as she tied to see if she sensed anything special about it. Which she didn't. Looks pretty normal to me… she stammered as if she were in a trance.

She took the perl and placed it in her red rouge before putting the rouge on and returning it along with the red pearl to her pocket. Both Myoga and Hisui looked at her with concern as her eyes turned golden and she didn't even sound like herself anymore as she now spoke.

"Tokotsu, meet your end by Beniyasha the destroyer of worlds." Moroha said before swiftly moving to Tokotsu who raised his blade at her releasing his strongest flaming attack to which she ran straight through it and remained unmaked and unfazed by the attack before swinging her sword and taking his head. Tokotsu's body slumped over and his head fell to the floor.

Hisui and Myoga looked at her in shock and Myoga was now on Hisui's shoulder and Hisui had his hand on Hiraikotsu ready to defend himself should Moroha not be herself after touching the red pearl but she only smiled at him before falling back and passing out. Hisui ran to her side in an instant.

"What happened? How did she get so much strength out of nowhere?" He asked as he looked over his peacefully sleeping friend. Towa and Setsuna came running in not even moments later as the palace around them started to fade into dust.

"Damn you two look like you've been through it. What happened to Moroha?" Towa asked concerned at first but then realized that her cousin seemed to only be peacefully asleep and had minimal injuries. Both she and Setsuna got annoyed now.

"Why's she sleeping?" Setsuna asked, annoyance laced in her voice.

"This is all the doing of the red rainbow pearl." Myoga answered before Hisui could say anything. It amplifies the power of demons and makes them stronger but lady Moroha is only a quarter demon so when she uses the rainbow pearl she must not be able to handle the power for more than a minute at a time." Myoga said.

"One minute? This could be dangerous." Was all that Hisui said.

"Why did she even touch that thing in the first place?" Towa asked.

"It wasn't intentional." Hisui said we had just shifted the battle toour favor and she just grabbed the rainbow pearl and became a different person almost. For just a minute but I don't think that she lost control completely. She still knew me. I could tell that at least, right before she passed out." Hisui said and both Towa and Setsuna sighed.

"Well as long as she's not hurt." Towa said. "I'll grab Tokotsu's head to take as my souvenir for the village lords general and you carry Moroha since you were her partner you've got to carry her back to the village." Towa smirked.

"What but I.."

"Come on, Hisui, you can't expect me or Setsuna to carry her when you're supposed to be here to protect us." She teased. "I can't carry her and Tokotsus head at the same time." Towa smirked and now he was the one sighing.

"It's okay I'll carry her. You're injured after all." Setsuna said and not even a moment later Hisui had Moroha safely slumped on his back.

"I'm completely fine, no need to worry. I've got her until we get back." He reassured her and Towa laughed at him.

"You've got him completely under your thumb sis." Towa teased.

"Oh shut up Towa." Hisui said, embarrassed.

"Hey, is that any way for you to speak to your future sister-in-law?" She continued to tease him.

"If I may ask." Myoga cut in. "Why exactly are you all traveling this way and getting involved with the likes of demons like Toktosu and his son? The other perils won't take lightly to his killing and neither will his allies. You all might want to head home before your parents arrive." Myoga said seriously and Setsuna wasted no time telling Myoga what they were really doing this time.

"Myoga." Setsuna said. "We left for the same reason our parents did, we're going to find Onigumo and either save him from a death at the hands of my father or uncle. Or kill him ourselves depending on what the truth is."

"You… You want to WHAT!" Myoga asked as his body threatened to collapse at the news that Setsuna just calmly told him as if it were nothing.

A.N:

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that the action scenes were good. I don't think that Moroha would naturally know how to turn into Beniyasha if she had grown up with her parents so I changed how that works a little bit. The next chapter should be up sometime next weekend but I wasn't as happy with chapter 8 when I first wrote it so it might be a little longer if I decide to change a few things. Thank you for reading.