Night at Yokai Academy was a strange thing. It covered many sins at times, and kept peace at others. One could never know what the setting of the sun would bring until the moon took its place.
That night though, just a bare week after his return, Tekeshi stood in a secluded clearing. The only thing accompanying him, were the corpses of a couple of orcs that had attempted to assault a human girl who had been late returning to her dorm. They might have survived had they not laughed when Tekeshi told them to let her go, and preceded to start stripping her.
Their deaths gave him an opportunity though. One that he had hoped he would get to attempt, but would require corpses of some sort to do. The resurrection of his grandmother. Maybe the greatest middle finger he could give to death.
He held the heartstone in his hand. It had a strange feeling to it. Even though he had checked it with an infrared thermometer and it read room temperature, the stone had a strange warmth to it. Almost like it was part of a living body. It also seemed to pulse, even thought there wasn't any kind of movement within the rock. That was the thing, it only appeared to be a heart shaped piece of red jasper, with white veins running through it.
He looked at the corpses again. All they would be was meat to be broken down, and remade into the body his grandmother would inhabit. Even though Shinso hadn't given it a name or described it well, he apparently had a rudimentary knowledge of DNA, and determined that the soul was the source of the pattern that made up the building blocks of life. The passed demigod never failed to amaze his successor with his advanced knowledge.
What Tekeshi needed to figure out, was exactly how he needed to do this. None of the memories actually made it seem like Shinso had ever gotten to this point. He may not have, as it seemed like he was able to resurrect the girl that was killed. Many of the memories that he had been able to remember made it seem like Shinso might not have had the greatest attention span when he didn't have a reason to.
"Hey Grandma, can you show up if I call you," he tried calling her, something he hadn't ever thought about actually doing.
He had spent most of his time alone during the last few months. She showed up randomly, and whenever he really needed someone there for him. In fact, it was a little strange to think that she wouldn't be able to do that anymore, if he was successful.
He hadn't thought about that fact. It was such a natural thing to him now, that he wasn't sure how he would be able to live with her not just, being there. Yet, this was the right thing. She deserved to have her own body again, and his parents deserved to have her back. What he wanted, it really didn't matter now. He had done most of his duty, and he had made his promise.
"Uh, so, dead orcs. Charming. Tekeshi, I am not capable of interacting with the real world. I can't help you bury bodies," Akasha had become used enough to the extreme violence that Tekeshi was capable of, she could keep a good attitude about it.
Tekeshi shrugged, "Well, I mean, burying them would be counter productive. Otherwise, we don't have a chance to bring you back."
"Come again. I don't want to live the rest of eternity, in a male orc's carcass. There are some questions that I have had for many centuries about the male body I would have answered, but no. I really, really don't want to be an orc," she crossed her arms, aware she might be wrong about what he meant, but not sure how to ask what he did.
"So, are you ready for me to give a lecture on how I think, this is going to work?"
Akasha fidgeted for a few moments. She wasn't sure that she ever really believed that there was a chance. She still didn't understand how this, existence, she had now worked. In a way she would rather that this continued, than lose the connection that she had with the young man.
"Go ahead," she finally said.
"The stone has the ability to, change things. Somehow Shinso had understood how the body was constructed, that DNA existed to some degree, in the 10th Century AD. Almost eight or nine hundred years before the two accepted dates. He may have been wildly unstable, but he was brilliant. I mean, I am a certified genius, but he was so far beyond me.
He determined that the soul, what he called whispers, hold the pattern of DNA, and could possibly rewrite the DNA of a raw material, in our case the orc carcasses, probably the first time they have been useful. Anyways, the stone should break them down, and somehow interact with your existence, which should be analogous to his whispers, and tear their genetic makeup away, and replace it with yours.
I have no clue how long this will take though. Maybe seconds, maybe days. I don't know if it can be interrupted, or if it has some sort of defense mechanism. The scene I saw of the girl being resurrected just had the stone resting over her heart. This is a much more involved thing," he finally paused to let the ethereal woman process what he had said.
As she did something came to her mind, "What if it fails?"
Tekeshi nodded, "Less devastating than if your body still existed. You exist in a unique area in the world. If it fails, you don't change any, we just waste a couple of corpses. I..."
"You would rather know that you can achieve this, so that you have the confidence to wake your sister up," she understood what was going through his mind.
Tekeshi looked away from her. It was a little selfish to use her as a guinea pig to know that he could even use the stone. How could he not be afraid of failing there, and want some assurance that he wasn't going to fail in the main event.
"Tekeshi, I'm ready. Like you said, failure here, is better than a failure when it really counts," She did her best to square her shoulders up, and look confident.
Tekeshi took a deep breath. Probably the deepest breath that he had ever taken.
"Alright, stand in the center of the clearing," he said, hoping that he was going to be right about this.
Akasha stepped into the center of the clearing. She held her head up, and gave her grandson the most confident look that she could. This had to succeed, there wasn't another option at this point. If it didn't, there may not be another chance for him to do this, and he may not have the faith to use it to save Yusa.
Tekeshi looked down at the stone. A different feel started to come from it, as if it could feel what he wanted, and was ready to do it for him. All he had to do, was ask it in the right way.
He held the heartstone out, and it took flight. It moved to hover just inches away from Akasha's chest. As it hung in the air, they could almost see the pulse of the stone, just like the beat of a mortal heart.
Tekeshi's eyes started to glow, the red light from them seeming to fill the area. The bodies of the two orcs started to twitch in weird ways. The arm of one suddenly exploded, the flesh, blood, and muscle hanging there as the bone turned to powder, and shot over to Akasha.
Her body seemed to washout and become semi-transparent. The bone reformed along one of her arms, forming bones appropriate to a vampire. The joints were sturdier than it would have been for the orc it came from, to account for the denser muscle fibers, and more explosive strength.
More and more bone tore free. It would turn to powder, and it began forming her entire skeleton. Tekeshi couldn't move or react to it though. It seemed that unlike a resurrection, constructing an entire body, required large amounts of an external power. Thankfully he had way more power than he used to, because he didn't think this was going to be quick.
Akasha herself, was intrigued. She held up an arm, and there was bone. There was bone that moved as she did. She couldn't believe it. She never thought there was even a possibility of her ever truly living again. He was keeping his promise.
Tendons and ligaments. Vascular tissue. Brain matter. Every type of tissue that was necessary for life tore free, it decayed, and then reformed itself to be her. Organs formed and filled in her rib cage. Embarrassment rose as she realized that her reproductive organs were starting to form, but there wasn't anyway to cover them, nor would she be able to cover herself once this was finished. They hadn't thought about that at the beginning, but it was too late to do anything now.
She saw people enter the clearing. It was, Moka and Tsukune. Of course they would feel the power and come to investigate. Tsukune more than anyone, given his position within the school. There was Utsuki and Deesseedra. Akua, was wheeled in by a young girl. Then one more entered. She couldn't believe it, and she wasn't sure what she felt. One person that she wanted to see again, touch again, more than anyone. Issa.
Her body continued to form. She suddenly realized that she could blink. She looked down to notice that muscle and skin was starting to form over her body. She was, almost back in the land of the living. She raised a hand to her head, and felt along her groin, but there wasn't any indication of hair growing, which wasn't great. She was a woman, above anything else, and her hair was important to her.
The other vampires looked on in various states of horror, and awe. They had felt something. Something that was taking a very large amount of power. They didn't even know what was going on, but they weren't able to do anything to stop it.
Then, it was over. Akasha collapsed. It seemed like she was more tired than she had ever been. She was, tired. She was tired. Something she had never thought she would love to feel, but she could feel. She could feel.
Then she realized that she was panicking. She didn't know why, but she was also starting to black out. She had to breathe, if she could breathe, she could calm down. With a cough, suddenly, her vision started to clear, and she felt calmer. That was the problem, she had just forgotten to start breathing. Once she had, her body remembered.
She was thirsty, she was hungry. These were the best feelings that she had ever had. Feeling was the best feeling that she had ever had. She was alive. She was, with her family.
She looked over to Tekeshi. He was doubled over and breathing extremely hard. He looked like he was about to pass out. He wasn't going to die from this, but she could tell he was weak. She could see the two girls that were in love with him approach apprehensively, not sure what to do, or what had just happened.
She looked over to the man she had loved, "Is...I... Issa," her voice came out weak and croaky.
He looked at her for a moment. He was having trouble figuring out why there was a naked woman that had just been assembled before his eyes calling out his name. That was, until he looked into her emerald orbs.
Issa's eyes went wide as he strode forward and tore his suit jacket off to cover her, "It can't be, but, I know those eyes. Those eyes that hold more kindness, and joy, than any other that I have ever seen. You, should be gone though. I was told... Akasha, you, came back to me."
The warmth of the arms that encircled her, was such a sweet thing. Of everything she felt, the feeling of him embracing her made the entire thing worth it.
He pulled back, and picked her up, his huge jacket like a blanket on her slim, and admittedly emaciated, form. She really needed something to eat.
Moka stepped forward, her eyes wide, "Mother. Is it," a short nod left tears running down her face, "Momma, I, I can't believe it. How?"
Tsukune stepped over and embraced Moka, comforting her. He looked over, almost not believing what his eyes were beholding. Akua herself looked on in wonder as the girl behind her was just confused.
Karasu stepped over to look at her, after she was satisfied that Tekeshi wasn't about to drop dead where he stood, "You aren't, out of sync anymore. How is this even possible? This, isn't, this isn't a good thing. People aren't meant to come back like this. Tekeshi, what have you done?"
Tekeshi went to say something, but the toll of what he had just done, finally hit him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he simply fell backwards. A dull thud was heard as his body impacted the ground. The only thing that kept everyone there from panicking, was his steady breathing.
Deep in the mountains of Romania, there was a fortress.
It wasn't necessarily secluded. It had electricity, running water, and most other modern conveniences. It was just about fifty miles from any other human habitation. Which was partly because the land around the fortress was owned by the estate. The rest were the rumors that it was the home of an ancient vampire. Which was true.
This vampire had been asleep for centuries though. Generations of servants maintained the grounds. They waited for the day that their Mistress would wake, or the Master would return. It was something that was ingrained into them. Several hundred of them worked to preserve the estate.
They weren't prisoners or slaves. They went to schools, they learned useful trades, they even married outside the community. They were fairly normal outside of the fact that they all lived to make sure that their Lord and their Lady would be comfortable upon their emergence.
They had been the only ones excluded from the show that Shinso had given the world. Why? That was a question that the only person who had the answer, no longer walked the lands.
Deep in the bowels of the central keep, an elaborate casket sat. None had entered the chamber since the days in which Vlad III Tepes, the vampire that would later take up the name Alucard, ruled. Her daughters were the only ones allowed, and time, and hatred, had taken them from the world.
This day though, something was felt by the sleeping vampiress. A power that was so familiar to her. She couldn't resist the call, and awoke. Darkness enshrouded her within the confines of her tomb. Yet the lid was nothing compared to the strength of a shinso.
She sat up. Scarlet eyes surveyed the chamber. She knew where she was, after all, anyone who woke up in the same place they went to sleep would know. Yet, things around her felt different. Not quite, right. There was a strange feel in the air above her, somewhat tingly.
She rose from the confines of the casket. Her eyes finished adjusting. Dust covered everything. Rust had eaten through any iron that had once made up hinges and fittings. Silver lay tarnished, untouched for untold centuries. This was not the welcome she had hoped for.
Her gentle stride stirred no dust as she walked to what had once been a well appointed wardrobe. Doors crumbled to dust, and revealed scraps of silk and linen and wool that had once been part of luxurious gowns. Her head tilted in disappointment and sadness. Every garment had been given to her by the man she loved. He would be upset that she couldn't meet him wearing one.
She looked down, and noticed that the chemise she had worn, was crumbling as she breathed, leaving her bare. This wasn't proper, but unfortunately, she had no others. She would have to find a servant, and have them fetch her proper clothes.
The chamber's door fell to splinters as well upon her touch. Why had none of her children been keeping things neat? Had something happened to them? She worried as she ascended the stairs.
At the top, on the other side of a heavy steel bound oak door, a young woman was busy cleaning the floor. She rather enjoyed the task. Not many others within the group of maids assigned to the keep did, just because of how much floor there was to maintain.
She occasionally gave a look at the door. Everyone wondered what exactly was on the other side. They knew somewhere within their walls, their ancient mistress slept. Most believed that the entrance to her chamber was hidden within the grounds, but she had always believed that this door, one that they had no way to open, was the entrance. It didn't matter though. Most likely, she would continue to sleep.
The girl worked at a stubborn spot. During her scrubbing she elbowed someone. She stopped, thinking it was one of the younger children whose parents worked higher in the keep, but on turning she was stunned. There, crouched next to her, and quite naked, was a beautiful young woman. Her silver hair framed scarlet eyes, and her expression was one of kindness and curiosity. Beyond that though, the door was open behind her.
Then, inside the girl's head, a voice spoke, "Hello, uh, I hate to bother you. All my clothes fell apart, and I simply cannot meet my husband like this. I know he would enjoy it in private, but I don't think this is private. Oh, my name is Candace, what is yours?"