Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 55
Madam K watched in stunned silence as the fight unfolded before her eyes. A succubus should only be slightly stronger and faster than a human, and an incubus should easily overwhelm a succubus in a fight. Especially if the incubus had been chosen from the fit and strong. That was how things had always been for succubus. They had always won fights through manipulation and seduction, not a physical brawl.
Yet, that was exactly what this had become. And it was a fight that she was no longer sure that she could win.
Kodachi Kuno, the disgraced daughter of the Demon Lord Kuno should have been easily handled. The rumors were that her mother had been one of the humans that Lord Kuno had acquired for his amusement, and that she had no place amongst the true nobility. There had even been talk that she had been summoned to some speck of a world that was so pathetic that the spark of magic barely flickered at all.
Madam K was not sure how to compare what she had heard to what her eyes saw now.
Then, there was the priest that had accompanied Kodachi. She had encountered one before, one of the so-called holy men of this dingy little world. It had been she had been summoned to this world by a small cabal of cultists, and had bound them all to herself. In fact, it had been the priest and his wife that had shown her how to remain here. She had twisted them, broken them, and forced his younger wife to sign a pact with her.
Their skulls graced her mantle, a fond reminder of leaner times.
But one thing that the so-called priest had lacked was any sort of power. No magic or divine force, no arcane might. Just empty words and an emptier heart.
The same was obviously not true of this priest, she thought to herself with dread as the sutra that he spoke washed over the weaker of her flock, the ones that still clung to their humanity and drove them to their knees.
The unlikely pair worked together with flawless perfection. All those that succumbed to the human priest's power were ignored by the child of the House of Kuno. And that then let the Kuno bitch devote her full power and attention to the rest.
Not that it seemed she had needed to so far. But things could still change. The first of her incubi who had completely given up on humanity and fully embraced their new selves were about to engage the unlikely pair.
Madam K was sure that the tide of battle would shift in her favor at that point. She had carefully cultivated these incubi, to provide herself with the muscle she would need to protect herself, and to force her will on others.
Madam K sat forward on her throne as her nails bit into the expensive wood in anticipation of what was to come. As the event that would prove her worth approached. Validation of what had become her life's work.
Then came the moment she had waited for, as the first of her fighters approached the Kuno bitch.
And the smell of cinnamon filled the air. Thick and rich it settled on the back of the tongue like fire, like the taste of sex itself.
And then what little reason that remained in the world came undone as Kodachi Kuno thrust her fingertips into the chest of the red-skinned Adonis who had confronted her, and he seemed to unravel in smoke and fire.
Madam K flinched back as she felt a ripple tear through the space that they were in. Where once one of her trusted Incubi had stood was a rapidly dissipating form of smoke and shadow. It hadn't felt like he had died so much as … Been torn from her. Like someone had excised the piece of her that had dwelt in him.
For the first time in her existence, she tasted fear. She wanted to run, to hide, but her eyes met the predatory gaze of the daughter of the House of Kuno and she froze in place. If she ran now, her followers would break in an instant and then Kodachi would be on her like a cat taking a slow, fat mouse.
How could any succubus move like Kodachi did? That is when Madam K noticed the clearly defined muscles of the other succubus. By their very nature, they had a soft voluptuousness to them. They were sex and temptation given flesh and form. Yet, there she was. Kodachi had a fit, muscular form. It should have been impossible, what kind of hellish training could have resulted in her having a body like that? And why would she want to look like that? It would only serve to lessen her ability to seduce and enthrall, wouldn't it?
With a soundless gesture, Madam K sent the rest of her Incubi to rush at the Kuno. Maybe they would be able to accomplish together what seemed unlikely singly?
She felt a moment of hope, a spark of joy, as the first two forced Kodachi back one step, then two. Then, she backed off no more but started to drive the pair backwards before her. Furiously, Madam K forced them to hold their ground as more of her incubi joined the fight.
That is when she learned the horrible truth of those that she had turned.
They could not really work together anymore. Their pride, their confidence made it impossible for any of them to back off enough for another to have a chance of helping. Each of them was driven to succeed solely on their own.
So, instead of a four on one fight, it was more like four one on one duels that just happened to be taking place at the same time, with predictably chaotic results.
Madam K couldn't make out the last series of exchanges as each of her servants unraveled as the thick smell of cinnamon and sex washed over her. She almost forgot to turn and flee as Kodachi stalked towards her.
But she did flee, at least until she had been grabbed from behind, and her world went dark.
Madam K slowly opened her eyes then tried to sit up but her efforts were in vain. Her body felt weak and heavy, and she was tied spread eagle on her bed. She could feel the talisman on her chest, even if she couldn't see it. She had been gagged with something stuffed into her mouth. She looked about in a panic as words that were being spoken from just outside of her view wafted to her ears.
"Just like we agreed, those that have changed we will banish. There really isn't anything else we can do at this point." Kodachi said as she addressed Gosunkugi. "The question then is, what do we do with the ones that can't return to normal?".
"Is it possible that the ones who are in between will return to normal on their own?" Gosunkugi asked as he laid out his tools and checked them over.
Kodachi sighed as she adjusted the robe she had put on. "It's not likely, no. I think the best option is to just fold them into my household. I can bind them to my will and keep an eye on them.". Kodachi glanced over at Madam K and smiled a predatory smile. "Hikaru, dear? Why don't you wait in the other room for a few minutes? I want to have a little talk with our guest."
Hikaru Gosunkugi looked between the two demonesses and nodded. "Very well.". He said before he walked out and closed the door softly behind him.
Madam K watched Kodachi as she walked towards her, then pulled the gag from her mouth. "I see you finally decided to wake up." Kodachi said as she arched an eyebrow.
"If you kill me, that little piece of trash will die as well, you know. But what does a human matter? Does the priest know? Or does he even care?" Madam K said as she tested her bonds for a moment, then gave up.
Kodachi . "Oh, we know. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for you Nabiki has grown attached to her. Not that we would have sacrificed her if there was another option. No, we won't kill you." Kodachi stood up and forced Madam K's mouth open long enough to force the gag in.
Kodachi walked around and caressed the cheek of the bound demoness. "Instead, my dear Hikaru is going to work you over. He is going to pummel you with that heavy, thick will of his. I'm almost jealous, you know? You are going to be pushed to your breaking point over and over until your will crumbles and the pact breaks.". Kodachi walked over and opened the door. "Have fun. We won't meet again."
Kodachi walked out and nodded at Gosunkugi, who nodded with a grim look on his face before he walked into the room. She could feel the waves of power as they started to build, and could almost feel the sutra as he started. She shivered a little as she pulled her robe closer about her human form. In a way, she did envy Madam K. Hikaru Gosunkugi was an anomaly in this world, but she now knew why.
He was one of the keys that held the door closed to this world. For some reason, the Mirror Mage had decided to weave him into whatever barrier she had laid across the weave of this world. It was a question that she had wished she could ask. But in a way, she was glad that the opportunity was not likely to happen, since she was not sure she wanted to know why.
Kodachi had her thoughts drawn back to the present as she walked into another more sparse bedroom on the other side of the estate where Nabiki sat on the bed, with the head of the sleeping girl who was trapped in an older woman's body in her lap.
Nabiki looked up and nodded once before she went back to gently stroking the hair of the sleeping girl. "Has Gosunkugi started, then?" Nabiki asked quietly.
"He has. Hikaru will take care of the rest, of that you can be sure." Kodachi said as she looked the middle Tendo sister over, and noted the marks on her wrists and ankles with a frown. They had tended to the injuries that Nabiki had endured, but it would take time until the marks faded away. She was reminded once again of just how fragile humans were, but also how tough even the mildest and most normal of them could be. Not that most of the other people who inhabited this world would consider many of her friends normal by any stretch of the imagination.
"Will… Will she be okay?" Nabiki asked as she worried her bottom lip.
Kodachi walked over and rested her fingertips on Becky's forehead for a moment, then nodded. "She is sleeping, and will remain asleep until either Hikaru or I wake her up. Right now, I am acting as a barrier of sorts, to help protect her mind from any overflow from what Hikaru is doing right now. Once the pact is broken, she should start to recover over time."
Nabiki nodded as she gently caressed the young girl's weathered cheek. "When we are done here, she is coming home with me." Nabiki sighed, and smiled in a self-deprecating sort of way. "At least, if I can convince her to. I don't want to leave her here in this place… And I don't think she would be okay back in her hometown. She has seen so very much…."
Kodachi nodded. "She has been touched by things that should not exist in this world, her soul bears the marks of it now, and… She is likely to continue to draw things to her if they find a way into this world." Kodachi said as she poured a glass of water and added just a bit of lemon to it. "Here, drink this. We need to keep getting water into you."
Nabiki nodded as she took the glass with her free hand and took a sip. "I get that, but why the lemon?"
Kodachi smiled and cocked her hip as she rested her hand on it. "Why would I not?"
Nabiki chuckled a little and shook her head. "I understand that." She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Kodachi. "What is going to happen to the others?"
"For now, they will stay asleep just like Becky will. After? The ones that return to being normal humans, their memories of what happened should fade. The ones that can't return to being normal, I will take with me. That is, the ones that are still human. Those that have given up their humanity completely we will banish from this world. We can't risk another incident like this happening." Kodachi said as she settled into a chair across from the bed.
The two women felt a ripple that seemed to run through the very fabric of the world, as a low thrum seemed to fill the air. They could feel the tension as it started to build, slowly like a tide rolling in. The two women looked at each other and nodded.
Gosunkugi had started, and the world resonated with his power and will.
An hour later, Nabiki looked down at the still sleeping woman, and back at Kodachi with a concerned look on her face, and Kodachi gave her a reassuring smile.
"She is okay, she is still sleeping and will remain that way until Hikaru is finished. It's the safest way to protect her and the others until they are freed from their mistress's influence." Kodachi took a sip of her tea and refilled the cup that sat on the bed stand next to Nabiki. "After that will come the difficult part. Dealing with the aftermath."
Nabiki nodded with a thoughtful look on her face as she gently stroked the sleeping woman's hair. "Will she really be okay after Gosunkugi takes care of the demon?"
"Well, those that can't be fully freed will still be bound to a demon, you know." Kodachi said as she shifted a little as the subtle pressure persisted.
Nabiki shook her head and smiled at Kodachi. "You know that none of us regard you as a demon, Kodachi. Regardless of what your origins might be, you are one of us now." Nabiki said before she took a sip of her tea and went back to waiting.
Kodachi didn't have a response to that, so she just sat quietly and waited. No matter how much time she spent with them, the people that she had come to regard as friends and even family still were a mystery to her.
Another hour passed, and the slowly building pressure collapsed suddenly as the unseen world writherd for a moment, then started to settle as the presence of the unwanted essence faded, like a thorn being removed from just under the skin of the world
The Mirror was sealed once more.
A short time later, Kodachi stood up and walked to the door as it started to open. The pale figure of Hikaru Gosunkugi walked in slowly, and did not complain as Kodachi moved to help him. She guided him to a couch against the wall, and settled him gently. She walked over to the small table and poured two cups of tea before she walked briskly back over and lifted Gosunkugi's head and torso just long enough to get him to drink one of the cups of tea before she sat down and rested the priest's head in her lap.
Nabiki watched silently with wide eyes at the interaction between the two, and remained silent until Gosunkugi had fallen into an exhausted sleep in the lap of the succubi. Her eyes met the surprisingly gentle eye of the Kuno Lady and Kodachi smiled at the unspoken question.
"We…. Decided to try things. We still need to have a proper conversation, of course…. But, for now? This is far more than I could have ever hoped for.". Kodachi Kuno said, then looked at Nabiki. "We should let them rest for a while longer, I think. They both need it, after all."
Nabiki nodded as she watched the unlikely pair, before she settled her back against the pillows and let her mind drift for a bit.
It had been a very long day, indeed.