Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Aggression ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Azuka

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Co, nor Yu Yu Hakusho.
~~

Thank you again Gaby for suffering through my horrible grammar!!

~~
Chapter Eight: Beyond the Myst
~~

“This, will be has far as I’ve been.”
Naraku glanced at the fire demon, a grin lifting his lips away from powerful fangs. Hiei returned the hateful stare with one of his own. Souta stood behind the two demon’s. He still couldn’t grasp that a demon had taken over his sister’s body, and that though everything about her body had changed, it still looked identical. A small female body was under all those layers of clothing; black and purple, and feminine features dominated the face and grace of the demon’s movement’s. But it was a demon, that eye, the hair, the voice and the way the demon used his sister’s body to move.

“You’ve never ventured further, we’ve only passed two hundred plane’s, yet there are still more than can be counted. How can you call yourself a demon, and not have searched the depth of your home?”
Hiei flashed a hateful glare at the supaida youkia, then looked down at the enormous expanse of the next level. For as far as the eye could see, looking back and forward, it as nothing but a bamboo forest, mist floating through the thick haze of trunks and razor sharp leaves.
“You’ve had… Bad experiences?”
Naraku purred, leaning towards the fire demon.
I know you are attracted to this body, fire demon… If Kagome resist’s you, to whom then, will you turn?
Hiei snapped a fierce, blood curdling glare at the supaida, which would normally have even Youko backing away in fear of his life.
“You my possess her body, kumo-baka, but you reek of masculinity and blood.”
“Ah, so then you know her scent as well?”
Naraku’s words were like liquid silk as he leaned even closer to the fire demon.

Hiei couldn’t hardly discern the difference between the demon and Kagome. He understood, by the impression of he kumo’s thoughts that Kagome’s mind was in dormancy, for whatever reason. But looking at the demon, the only difference was the youki, the hair, the clothes and the right eye.

The body was only slightly taller, slightly bulkier… But it was still feminine, in fact, the chest had expanded and despite the fact that Hiei had said that the supaida stunk, it wasn’t true. With the added sandalwood scent of the demon, the heightened spike of power and Kagome’s own intoxicating smell, Hiei was on the verge of taking the demon up on his offer.

Naraku knew this, simply by reading every move the little demon made. Every intake of breath was calculated, even eye wink, every shift, even twitch in muscle, every glide of muscle under the opal flesh of the small demon (even hidden by the black clothing) Naraku saw and calculated. It was his forte, it was his gift.

Many thought him capable of telekinetic power’s, due to his gift of reading the body as well as the soul, but it was not true. Naraku possessed no powers of the mind, no more than Yusuke or Souta that is.

Looking down at the next level that stood in the path of their goal, Naraku sneered at it with a grunt.
“Its crawling with powerful youkia.”
Souta came up to the right of his sister’s body, looking down at the bamboo enshrouded plane, swallowing at the distance.
“I don’t think I can jump that.”
Naraku and Hiei glanced sharply at the boy, then at each other.

Stilling finding it unnerving to see Kagome’s eye, opposing the demon’s, Hiei made a note to never look at the face of the demon if necessary.
“Who said anything about jumping?”
Naraku lifted a hand, flicking it absently at the unsuspecting boy. Yelping in surprise, Souta found himself airborne, held aloof by tentacles wrapped around each wrist and his waist.
“Tell us boy, when it is clear.”
“Wh-what!?”
Naraku began to lower him. Hiei snarled and moved, Naraku snapped a hand out.
“Be still, little demon, he will come to no harm. Kagome has taken necessary steps to prevent his death and injury.”
Hiei refused to glare at the demon, less he meet the eyes of the body in which the demon had possessed. Swallowing his irritation, he focused on Souta’s descending body. Naraku, satisfied with his victory over the fire demon, looked back at the boy he was lowering to the next plane.

“Tell me, little demon, how much do you fear for the boy of the woman who you will soon become a possession to?”
Hiei ground his fangs and looked at the demon, staring into the two different colored eyes. One feminine and beautiful, the other masculine and diabolical.
“Possession?”
“Do you know at all, why she seeks a Breeder?”
“Hm.”
Naraku kept his eyes on the boy who had breached the tops of the tree’s.
“I was her last Breeder. When she was done with me.”
He turned towards the fire demon and smiled manically.
“She absorbed my soul.”
Keeping eye contact, Naraku stepped over the edge and dropped, following Souta’s descent path as he retracted his tentacles. Hiei watched his fall, his mind flying with scenario’s and consequences; questions and a few answer’s.

Coming to a decision about a couple things, Hiei stepped over the edge as well, his cloak flapping around him as he crashed down through the bamboo.

He would find out who this demon was, his connection to Kagome, why she absorbed him and why. Who exactly was Kagome, what she was doing in the Makai, why she needed to fight in order to be at peace. Question after question, following hypothesis and theory with a few of his own conclusions.

~~

“You called me here for a reason, Naraku. Don’t play stupid with me.”
Naraku chuckled as he circled the frightened little miko, who above all else, showed courage in the face of danger, who among all others, showed the most promise.
“And yet you would answer…”
“Because you have my kit.”
“Ah.”
Naraku looked back over his shoulder to see infant fox, bound and unconscious.
“You would not have come other wise?”
The Supaida turned back to the nisou with a taunting grin.
“You thought I would?”
“Of course. I consider you equal, little nisou. You are as powerful as I am, able to disperse any attack I throw at you with the blink of an eye, if you would but train.”

Kagome frowned, refusing to move from her spot even as her heart thumped painfully in her ribcage. Even as her stomach flipped with worry and anticipation.
“Are you trying to offer me something, Naraku?”
“You see, you are quite bright, little nisou. Your friends take advantage of that.”
“You demoralize my friends, Naraku, and I swear I’ll kill you on the spo-!”
She went to spin around when suddenly his hand crept around the looped lazily around her throat, pressing his chest against her back.
“You could be great, standing at my side as my equal and my ultimate opposite. With you ruling all that is pure, and I submerged in all that is dark and evil… The universe would be at our mercy.”
“It doesn’t appeal to me?”
“Doesn’t it?”
He purred, his hair sliding over her shoulder like liquid ink. She couldn’t help but watch as the strands as cool as spider silk, swept across the column of her throat.
“You body defies you.”
“What do you think, Naraku, that you could teach me that would be of some use?”
“A priestess, as pure as the sun, knowing the Arts of Darkness. You could be unstoppable.”
“Why?”
“My dear, have I not told you?”
His fingers swept down the length of her throat from chin to collarbone and back, petting her with feather soft touches.
“Fate has laid before you, paths that you might take. Would you struggle through your fate, or surge through it with pride and victory at you side?”
“I would reach my goal with my friends at my side.”
He tisked at her, slipping his cheek against hers as his other hand smoothed around her waist, slipping under the seam of her short sailor shirt and touching bare skin. He chuckled as the muscles twitched and clenched.
“Stop it.”
She hissed, closing her eyes and shivering as his warm fingertips drifted to breach the hem of her skirt, tracing the line of skin before centering and dipping lower. His fingers tightened on her throat as he purred.
“Do you wish me to?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
“Pleas e… Just…. Stop it.”
He chuckled into his purr, his fingertips coming into contact with the hem of her panties. Kagome tipped her head and blushed, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying out in fear. The tears were gathering behind closed eyelids, but she refused to let them fall.
“I will release your kit, little miko, if you would but allow me to train you. That is all I ask.”
“You lie.”
“I consider you equal, little nisou, I would not lie to you.”
“You would lie to serve your purpose. Its been proven.”
“Yes, but have you once seen me deny the fact once its been discovered?”
Her eyes opened a crack, and his fingertips smoothed back up to hold her stomach, his fingers at her throat petting her once again.

“It… Is no lie that I desire things of great power. Thus was the reason I sought Kikyo. Oh, little nisou how you’ve underestimated my intentions with the Dead One and the Hanyou.”
“Don’t call him that-.”
His hand slipped further up her shirt, tracing a fingertips over the underside of her right breast.
“Shh, I am speaking now, precious. Speak out of turn again, and I might decide that your kit is no longer worth being a bargaining chip.”

Kagome’s eyebrows twitched as she squeezed her eyes closed again, curling her fingers tightly against her palms. She went limp and Naraku chuckled.
“Good…”

~

I opened my eyes in the silver waters that my soul resided in, the red bubbles of Naraku’s youki supporting me I the abyss of my hour souls.
Naraku paused and pulled his hands from his sleeves, coming to a stop. Hiei and Souta glanced back at him, but the kumo wasn’t looking at him. Instead he lowered his arms and his chin, closing his eyes as he released a breath. With that released breath, his soul and mind were separated from my own, his feature’s dissolving like blown sand, his clothes dissolving like a ripple on a glass surface. Opening my eyes, the red of his eye faded, the vision blurring back to normal human senses. I blinked as his heart beat slowed down in the back of my mind before dying into a slow beat that was felt more than heard.
“Kagome?”
I opened my eyes and smiled at Souta.
“Hey, how long have I been asleep?”
I yawned and stretched, feeling my jaw crack softly as I rolled up onto the balls of my feet, before coming down and scratching the back of my neck. I saw Hiei smile before he turned, so fleeting that I thought I’d mistaken it. But then his mind brushed against mine and I sensed his pleasure at my return. Apparently Naraku had been a handful. His laughter was drowsy and sluggish in the back of my mind. I pressed a hand to my chest as the voices of the Shikon no Tama pitched forward, making me hiss and grab my temples.
“You alright, neesan?”
“I’m fine… Just… Waking up.”
“But… You’ve been awake-.”
“No, brat, her mind was dormant. It was not your sister who we’ve been traveling with for the last day and a half.”
“A day and a half?!”
I blinked and looked around, noting that we were surrounded by bamboo tree’s, so thick that I couldn’t see anything beyond them.
“Where are we, anyway?”
“The last plane of the Makai that I’ve been to. Beyond this plane, I will no longer be able to lead you.”
“Oh.”
I blinked and scratched my cheek, glancing off to the side before huffing and looking back at Hiei.
“Does that mean this is as far as you go?”
He gave me a sour look and turned around, continuing. Souta shrugged and followed. I stood their in a funk, my mind still sluggish and lazy. I shook my head as the vices pitched louder, screaming at me for my weakness’s and my shortcomings. I gritted my teeth and marched forward, cursing the male species and the damn voices!

Yawning again folded my hands I my sleeves, looking around as my bamboo armor clunked and shifted against my hips, the metal clink of the chest armor my own amusement as I fanned my senses. We were surrounded, entirely. But none of the demon’s seemed to be interested in attacking, only in observing. I looked forward with a hard stare, watching the ground as my mind finally caught up and decided to start working.

Naraku had lead us into this plane, he’d kept the demons at bay with his scent alone. Now that he was gone, would they attack? Or would the chance entice them to continue observing?

The supaida had no memory of this place, for I had absorbed him before he had the chance of being banished to it. Like so many demon’s who were banished to this place, many others preferred this place over the mortal realm. It was only the one’s who’d forgotten, that were antsy about leaving. It was the demon’s who’d forgotten me, those were the demon’s who thought they could defy me; could break my barriers.

I snorted with a maniacal smirk. Fat chance of that. Not even Sesshomaru himself could break my barrier’s. Hell, even Kikyo tried and failed.

I tipped my head back with a smirk as a fond, little memory came back to me, involving the Dead One.
Oh yes, that was a beautiful day. Yes indeed.

~~

The string twanged as I released the arrow, the shaft splitting through the air with a ring before it erupted in pink flames. It arched through the air, cresting and falling as it gained power, flaring like a shooting star. Kikyo chuckled and up twirled her bow, knocking aide the arrow shaft with power that looked easy. I frowned and took a step back, my black and white kimono flapping violently in the wind from the booming shockwave as Kikyo negated my arrow.

My eyes flashed hate, as the Dead One lowered her bow with a mocking, sad face.
“You stand no chance against me, you are far too superior.”
“What makes you think that? Because I dabbled in the Dark Arts. Kinda like you did?”
Kikyo’s eyes opened slowly, shadows clouded the Dead One’s eyes like the very depths of hell, from whence her soul was cursed to relive her death for all eternity.

“So proud you must be.”
Kikyo said softly, her expression mute in deaths cold embrace. Her cold eyes made of shadow, were innocent orbs that promised nothing in life.
“To have learned of my true demise. However.”
Her eyes moved, subtly locking onto my own with a frozen grip that was predatory.
“You cannot speak of this to him. He would surely disown you for such thoughts of nonsense.”

I frowned.
“You’re forgetting how much I love him, and how much you hate him. That little fact will be your downfall. Admit it. You’ve lost.”

Kikyo’s expression did not change, but her fingers tightened on her bow.
“Says the whore of the very creature who caused my demise; the bitter enemy of the man you claim to love so much. Tell me, little girl. Who now has lost?”
A pleased, wicked grin twitched at the corner of Kikyo’s lips.

Tears gathered in my eyes.
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
“Its not by my choice.”
“You think that would make a difference in his mind?”
Kikyo taunted, her cold lips revealing a pleased grin, the gray smudge under her eyes prominent against the rise of her cheeks with the involuntary smile.

I shook my head, my grip tightened on my own bow as I clutched it to my chest.
“You did this to me.”
“Do not use me as your scapegoat, little girl. As much as I would love to be the truth in that little lie, I am not the one who decided the best option to save your precious little kit, was to absorb the Shikon no Tama, the embodiment of the First Demonic War. The remains of the Past…”
Kikyo lowered her chin, her arrogance swirling in the depths of shadows that animated the clay body; the remains of the priestess who once protected the cursed jewel.

“I’m only sixteen… I shouldn’t be here.”
I closed my eyes as the voices inside my head pitched to a painful octave. Without Naraku to balance out the evil, the purity within my soul was slowly being eaten away. Without his soul touching mine; intertwining with it, my soul was being eaten alive, and soon I would become apart of the very curse that lay within my breast. I would become one more soul, added to the Ancient War of Good vs. Evil. I fell to my knee’s as the malice and hate of the demonic souls surged forward, bringing with them the Summons of Hell.

The pain started at the base of my spine, until it traveled up to the nape of my neck like burning hot claws. I screamed as the pain crested to a staggering intensity. My flesh gave way to invisible claws, so incredibly hot that my blood didn’t have time to bleed as it was cauterized seconds after the flesh gave way. Rolling down my arms in arcane symbols, the marks were charred black flesh, frayed and torn edges spoke of an unclean abrasion.

It lanced up my throat, winding up my neck like living thing as I screamed again, clawing at my burning flesh. Above me the Eight Dragons of Hell stood vigilantly, waiting for my recovery.
Kikyo could only stare in amazement, the fear supposedly only possessed by mortals, flashed across her face in obvious dismay and horror.

I recovered quickly, the pain ebbing away and leaving behind a hallow, burning sensation that was entirely mental and no longer physical. I lifted my eyes, which burned to a black ash, consuming the entire socket, raised up to meet that of the eyes of the Dead One.

The Dead One shook her head slowly.
“You have ventured much further than I, Kagome. The Dark Arts will consume your soul if you do not recover.”
I ticked my head to the side, unable to stop the jerk-ish motions my body now responded with.
“What are you talking about? Was it not you who once tried to Summon the Seals of the Hell Dragons? Was it not you who failed and thus ended up resurrecting the very demonic soul in which you cast to Hell yourself?”

“I see that you did not fail.”
“I don’t fail.”
I snarled and shot forward. Kikyo’s movements were fluid and graceful as smooth as water and air. I lurched to the left as she strung and released her arrow, the earth under my feet exploding enough to rocket me into the air with large chunks of soil and stone. I kept my eyes on her the entire time, the burn marks on my flesh eating away at my black and white kimono. The large symbol on the back of my haroi burning off last as the black and white pieces fell to ash.

I twisted in mid air and pulled my arm back, feeling a furious, undeniable urge to whirl and tear the bitch limb from limb. I shot my hand forward as one of the Eight Dragon lurched forward without god-like speed and whirled above me so furiously that a tornado the size of Tokyo formed above my hand, the very tip of the cyclone dancing softly against my palm. I laughed as my hair snapped upward, tangling into a thick twist as I held the very power of the Dragon Twister in my palm.

Kikyo hissed and strung three arrows at once, releasing them into the vortex above me. I laughed as I pulled her pure/ tainted energy into the whirling mass of destruction fortifying the strength and might of the twister exponentially.

Her fright and aggression was near comical as I flung the massive vortex at her with a lazy flick of my wrist.
It consumed her entirely, her body crumbling under he horribly Dark attack. When the vortex banished itself, a single sword remained. My eyes widened slightly as I watched its fall. It landed, embedding its blade into the ground at my feet. The crackle and the dragon who I had summoned to perform the Dragon Twister, was a ghost of electrical discharge, as black as the shadows of Hell.

I reached out and touched the tip of my finger to the bulbous tip of the swords hilt. A flash in the large purple crystal startled me back as my eyes narrowed.
“No…”
:Yes.:

~~

I saw them for the first time in ages. They were only a few hundred feet from me. But I couldn’t move. Nothing inside of my would force my limbs to work, no matter how much I tried.
“So you have returned from your voyage into Darkness.”
I calmly looked over my shoulder, not a single bit surprised to find the Demon of the West no more than an inch from me. I turned back around as he stepped closer, the spikes on his breast plate digging into my shoulders and adding painful pressure to my charred flesh.
“You wear the Sword of Hell so proudly.”
“I can control it.”
“I cannot see how that is possible. You are but a human.”
His talons came up to pick through my hair, as if I were an animal. He fingered the long strands, letting them slip between his claws calmly.
“You are annoyed that it was demonic blood that does not possess the Sounga. It his left your bloodline…”
I whispered softly, glancing over my shoulder to see him drop his claw back to his side.

“I hardly believe such a lie…”
He said as he turned from me.
“This Sesshomaru takes family just as serious as any other youkia who mate for life. You have entered my brother’s life. Though as of yet it is unclear as to which option he will take, but I can assure you here and now miko, that one way or another, you shall become apart of the House of Moon and its History. It has been foreseen.”
I turned only to catch a wisp f his silver hair as the shadows of the forest consumed him. He departed with a flickering flash of green.

I turned back towards them, only to find myself face to face with the hanyou of my past.

He had changed in the months I had abandoned him.
“Kagome…”
His hair was held back into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck. A fresh scar ran the length of the right side of his face, covering the eye. His fire rat kimono was gone and replaced with a black kimono. I smiled at him.
“Inuyasha…”

~~

“Wow, Kagome! You look great!”
I was back in the color’s of a Shrine Maiden, the traditional red and white kimono. I wore a few rosaries around my neck and wrists, with my hair in a high ponytail and a pair of Kusarigama’s in my sash.

Sango, oh gods I had missed her! She hugged me tightly and for a brief second we spoke babble, jammed words that came out between sobs of joy and sadness.

Miroku hadn’t changed and groped me the second he got the chance. Shippou, Inuyasha and Sango all hit him at the same time, knocking the monk down so hard, I nearly feared for his life. But he was sitting up and chuckling lightly as he rubbed the three bumps forming on the back of his skull.
“So what training did you do, Kagome-neesan?”
Shippou asked me, sitting up to Inuyasha’s shoulder now.
“I learned many things, Shippou-kun. I can use a multitude of weapons now, as well.”
“That’s so neat!! Who trained you?”
“A hermit in the swamp.”

Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango all shared a look but I smiled obviously and continued on with our lunch.

When dusk came I found myself drawn strangely to the west, under the guise I was going to bathe in a hot spring, I made my way to a field where I knew the Taiyoukia of the West, Head of the House of Moon, the waiting.

~~
“You’re still in there?”
I looked up to see Hiei glaring at me from across the pool. I arched an eyebrow and lifted my arms up onto the ledge of the pool on either side of, exposing the tops of my breasts.
“The water’s getting cold again, Hiei. Would you mind heating it again?”
He blushed and glared off to the side.
“You just want me in the pool.”
“Want you in the pool? No, I’d prefer it in a bed, or a comfy surface. Beside’s, its dangerous to have sex in water, if you aren’t careful.”
He turned his eyes to me, genuine curiosity shinning in the ruby orbs.
“Dangerous?”
“Aa. Get in and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Hiei sneered at me.
“I m not so desperate for information that would never apply to me, just to suit your water purposes.”

I snickered and lifted my chin.
“I promise you, Hiei, that I won’t try anything without your permission.”
“Ch.”
He turned around.
“You won’t try anything at all.”
He removed his cloak and glared over his shoulder at me as he let it fall to the ground, his eyes narrowing as I watched him with a growing smile. I giggled and slapped a hand over my eyes, then peeked.
“I won’t peek.”
I closed my fingers and flashed him my teeth in a wicked grin. A second later, I heard the water splash and tapped my fingertips against temple as I dipped my head for better comfort.
“Bitch.”
He scowled and I lifted my head, peeking through my fingers to see him sitting across from the ten foot wide pool and giggled, then dropped my hand.
“That’s better.”
The water began to bubble like a hot top as Hiei’s skin turned a soft shade of pink under the influence of his power.
“Now, I know you’re a virgin, but surely you know a few of the detail’s.”
“I am aware of a few, yes.”
He snapped grumpily, glaring at me with his head tilted to the side. I chuckled at how cute he was and tipped my head back to look through the canopy of bamboo leaves.
“Have you every heard of a pussy fart?”
“N-nani!?”
Hiei’s face was comical, so much so that I could only laugh as hard as I was able to. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stop the sound, but my shoulders still shook.
“A pussy fart, Hiei, its when a male shoves to hard and pushes air into the vaginal canal.”
“O-oh… No, I’ve never heard of that.”
“Well, when too much air is shoved in, it comes back out with the exit of the males organ, and it sounds like a fart.”
I smirked and waved my hand around as I looked to the side absentmindedly.
“The same thing applies to water. Only, sometimes the water can’t come out, and if it gets in your bloodstream, it could kill you. Actually, air would be more dangerous, but water has more reports than air, I suppose.”

“How do you know this?”
“Grapevine.”
“Eh?”
I giggled.
“The grapevine, you’ve never heard of it?”
“No.”
“Well I suppose you wouldn’t. Its something we humans refer to as gossip. We call it the grapevine because… well, I’m not to sure, but that’s what we call gossip, er, one of the words we use to refer to gossip.”

Hiei frowned and lifted his elbows up onto the ledge of the pool like I did, glaring at the colder, damp foliage surrounding the natural pool. I watched him fondly, then smiled and scratched my cheek.
“So Hiei, tell me about yourself. I don’t know that much about you.”
“No one does, I prefer it that way.”
“How come?”
He snarled and glared at me.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Well, you wanted to know everything about me, from the moment you saw me. Isn’t if fair?”
“Absolutely not. You encouraged my curiosity with your talk of barrier’s and five hundred years in the past.”
I snickered.
“True, but you’re encourageing my curiosity with your attitude. That, in my book, is fairplay.”
“You have a book?”
He gave me a dry look, his eyes warning me against mockery.
“Another human expression, Hiei-kun. In lament terms, its like saying-.”
“I get it.”
He snapped, rubbing his temples with his eyes closed and his eyebrows forked. I giggled again and dropped my arms into the water, rubbing my hands up my arms to cleanse my skin with the mineral rich water.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m washing myself, got a problem with it?”
I snapped with a sigh. I mean, I knew he as a virgin, and I knew he was a stick in the mud, but damn!
“Actually, I do. Stop it.”
“No.”
I growled and scooped water up to my neck. He growled and got up. My eyes widened as I caught a flash of Hiei’s package and cute little ass before, like a flash, he was dressed in his pants, buckling his three white belts.
“You are insufferable.”
“Nice butt, Hiei.”
I winked in retaliation. He blushed, scowled and scooped up his cloak, and vanished into the bamboo forest. I sighed, blowing on my bags before dipping my head to rinse my hair.

~~

I upswept with a growled effort, meeting the blade of my enemy with a sparkling clang of steel. The demon laughed and pressed harder. I dug my heels into the soil as I was pushed back.
“Foolish mortal, miko or not. Hw dare you enter our world and claim to be the Master.”
I smirked through my bangs at the beautifully dangerous demon, who’s skin was soft baby blue and seafoam green hair that was held up with bone’s growing out of its neck and skull to make a beautiful crown that looked to be pulled from the head of a mermaid king.

The demon’s blade looked to be made of slid water, bubble’s rolling on the inside of the exotic blade.
I twisted my blade and used every ounce of magical strength and physical to knock the blade from the demons grip with a clashing spark of youki and holy magic. The demon’s blood red eyes widened as he watched the blade’s fly through the air.

With my hands free, and the enemy distracted, I snapped my fingers into several prayer seals. Forcing them into a tangled triangle, I thrust it out into the demon’s chest. I felt the dark magic on my back swirl to life. The demon’s eyes slowly returned to me, widening in realization that its life was over. I smirked as the demonic swirl of power coiled and snapped, rushing through me to the seal in my hands.
“Dragon of the Darkness Flame!”
I screamed as the black magic consumed both my arms. The black abyss around the planes of the Makai ignited in a frenzy of purple lightning bolts, crashing through the many planes of the weaker levels and obliterating a few others. Six cone’s of Hellish energy surged upward from the lower depths of the Makai, while six more appeared from above, circling the plane we stood on as the Dragon was released from my grip at point blank.

The demon’s scream as the Makai erupted and shattered around us with the released Hellish energy was barely discerned; the roar of the Dragon was deafening as it consumed the demon in a single thrust. But it coiled and twisted wildly around the plane in which it was released, consuming the other demon’s that had attacked us during the night. Hiei and Souta were spared, even though they sought safety. The Dragon had interest in them, and the pull of the Dragon’s desire was almost to much for me to bear. But I remained statue still, my eyes closed in concentration, the muscles in my arms and fingers tense and quivering as I fought to remain in control.

With my concentration entirely on the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, the second of the third Seal’s on my back activated and coiled down my left arm. I hissed as the burnt, smoldering black flesh of my arms were touched. I refused to loose control, but unless I redirected my attention, I would loose control of all the Eight Seal’s. With great effort, with cracking bone’s, I pulled my arms way from their deadlock towards my chest. Slowly.

The Dragon roared its hatred of my demands, but coiled in on itself and returned obediently to the Seal in which it had been released. It counterattacked the escaping Seal, shoving it back in its fury of being contained once again. The Dark Magic was sucked back into the flesh of my shoulder’s, returning to a dormant Seal. I dropped my hands as my shoulders hunched under the effort it took.
“That… Used to be allot easier…”
I panted as I swept the back of my charred and burnt hand across my forehead.

“You… The Dragon of Darkness Flame.”
Pushing myself slowly up onto my feet, I reached back at him. Hiei responded quickly and braced me against him with an arm around my waist.
“You weren’t lying.”
“You doubted me?”
I snickered softly, leaning heavily on the fire demon. Hiei snorted and turned around, yelling at my brother to hurry up. I looked up to see Souta before me, bandaging my arms under Hiei’s instruction. They weren’t normal bandages, either. These oozed with youki, Hiei’s youkia. It was soothing and counteracting the Hellish power that stilled lingered and sizzled on my flesh.
“What are they?”
I asked, my vision swimming with fever. Hiei gently lay me down with a grunt.
“Shut up, you’ve damaged your lungs.”
Frowning I lifted a bandaged hand to my chest, taking in a calculated, steady breath. My lungs indeed convulsed upon drawing in a deep breath, and I found myself in a painful fit.
“Baka-da.”
He hissed as he pulled something form his pocket, a small vile filled with a glowing red liquid.
“Drink it.”
He commanded, placing the mouth of the vile against my lips. I sighed through my nose and opened my mouth. He tipped a calculated amount into my mouth, then pulled away and corked it, before returning to my face. He checked both my eyes then commanded me to watch him as he removed his bandanna.
“Don’t look away, onna.”
I frowned, wondering why he was making such a fuss with me, and decided that I wasn’t going to do what he wanted.
“Why? I’m fine.”
“You are unaware of the physical damage your soul endures while under the influence of the Hell Dragons. You are only aware of the mental-.”
“Don’t talk to me like I haven’t had this curse for six years!”
I snapped and sat up, shoving him away. He snarled and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“Then why are you internals ash? Why can I not sense any life-force? I can’t sense your soul!”
His eyes were burning with rage, concern and worry only flickers of sparks in the tangled mess of flames.
“Because… My soul… Its not longer something… Its no longer mine. My soul… Is a slave to the Shikon no Tama. They’re greedy bastards and sold my soul to the King of the Hell Dragon’s, in order to obtain Immortality and the usage of his army.”

I looked back at him with hate.
“I know what I’m doing. Don’t treat me like a child. If its one thing I hate the most, its having someone treat me like an ignorant brat.”

He sat back with a snarl.
“Fine.”
I watched him stand up, before reaching into his pocket and pulled out the vile of red liquid.
“This will speed up the healing process. Consider it the last thing I ever do for you.”
I took the vile with a sigh.
“I won’t.”
He snarled viciously before turning to his left and blurring out of my sight.
“Neesan?”
I sighed and glanced at Souta, who was bruised and scraped up pretty badly.
“Are you alright, Souta-kun?”
“Hai. Just a few bumps and bruises. Nothing that won’t heal.”
Nodding, I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled. Souta caught me instantly with a question of my health. I smiled and assured him that I wasn’t made of glass.

~~