“Do you miss him?”
“Yes, I guess I do.”
“Then I need you to think of him, and of your home. I need you to think of it and how much you wish to see it all again.”
“I don’t understand why...”
“Please, Tamiko! Do it. For me.”
Tamiko inclined her head, but then sighed. “Fine. For you, although I’m not sure why.”
“What are you doing, mistress?”
“Come out now, hanyou, and I might consider showing these insects mercy!”
The group turned to view Ichitiro, only to see him let loose a wave of destructive force. It cut a swath of destruction perpendicular to the one he'd already made, utterly annihilating anything in its path as if it had been hit by an invisible tsunami.
“No!” Kisaki cried, but there was nothing she could do save watch as the wall of force cut through at least three of the news vans, flattening them into scrap, presumably with their occupants still inside.
“All those people,” Tamiko gasped.
Yes, Kisaki considered with grim determination. All of those people and most likely many more before this devil was finished. So much power, and all of it seemingly directed toward malice. The multiverse was indeed an unfair place if a being such as him lorded over it as judge, jury, and executioner.
There was no time left. She couldn’t save those reporters, but she could save her friends. “Give me your hand.”
“Why?” Tamiko asked.
“Just do it!”
She complied and Kisaki passed the crystal, which she’d palmed to keep from Shitoro’s sight, into her friend’s hand, closing her fist over it.
Tamiko looked down, confused for a moment, but Kisaki simply nodded – a silent hope for her to hold her tongue a moment longer.
“Close your eyes and think of your father, think of your love for him, of your love of your home, of how much you want to be there again.”
Kisaki released Tamiko, then, quick as a snake, grabbed both Shitoro and Stephen by their wrists.
“What are you doing?” Stephen asked.
“Mistress, I do not know what you have planned, but I would advise...”
Kisaki ignored them both, addressing Tamiko again. “Concentrate on your father’s face.”
“I’m doing it. I can see him, his smile. I’m ... what the?!”
Kisaki knew from her expression that the crystal had begun to pulse. “Do not drop it!”
“Drop what?” Stephen asked.
Kisaki, as way of response, dragged him and Shitoro closer in, forcing their hands onto Tamiko’s and holding them there.
I need to time this right.
Light began to shine from between the fingers of her friend’s closed fist.
Now!
She let go and flung herself backward just as a cascade of energy was released from the crystal. A brilliant flash of reddish light enveloped her friends and, a moment later, they were gone, hopefully sent to the relative safety of Tamiko’s home. Stephen would be a fish out of water on Ishigachi, but he’d be a live fish. That was good enough for her. Kisaki trusted that Tamiko and her father would take good care of him until such time as it was safe to send him home.
As for Shitoro, she could only hope he wouldn’t be too cross with her for sending him back to...
That thought scattered to the wind as she blinked, cleared the spots from her eyes, and saw his diminutive form standing in front of her.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady!”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Shitoro? How?”
“Do you think I was born this century?” the tiger youkai asked contemptuously. “Need I also remind you that felines have exceptional reflexes?”
“You were supposed to go with them, to be safe.”
“And you were not supposed to have any more sending crystals upon you. Am I correct in assuming you had it this entire time?”
Kisaki nodded guiltily.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I ... I didn’t want to go back.”
“You didn’t want to go back. How noble of you. And now, because of your actions, look what has been wrought.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped, causing him to flinch. “Why do you think I was trying to send you away? It was to make up for my selfishness. To make sure my friends didn’t suffer because of me.”
Shitoro sighed, but then his expression softened ever so slightly. “Very well. What’s done is done. Please tell me that was not your last one.”
Kisaki’s silence was all the answer he apparently needed.
“Of course it was. Why would the multiverse make anything easy? So be it. We shall have to do what the humans apparently do not have the sense to – run.”
Unfortunately for them both, just as Shitoro spoke the words, a shadow fell over them.
“Ah, Shitoro,” Ichitiro said from above their heads. “You of all youkai should know the futility of even trying.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“L-lord Ichitiro,” Shitoro sputtered as the daimao slowly descended to Earth.
The great demon stopped mere inches above the ground, hovering as if he considered touching any part of the Earth to be beneath his contempt. “I had wondered what became of you these last few decades. I so have missed driving home the point that one such as you cannot bar entrance to one such as me. I’d thought perhaps my sister had finally found her backbone and had you flayed to make up for the ridiculous insult of your existence, but I see now that she had a crueler fate in mind for you – cursed to spend your days as a nursemaid. You should thank me. Once I am finished here, perhaps you can return to your previous duties.”
Kisaki could tell the little youkai was frightened, terrified even. He barely kept himself from shaking as he stepped in front of her. “Serving Lady Kisaki has been a blessing, a duty which I am proud my mistress entrusted me with.”
Ichitiro grinned as if amused. “So that is how you refer to this creature? Lady Kisaki.” He turned toward her as if seeing her for the first time. “A noble title for one born so low, fated to accomplish nothing save dying.”
Kisaki considered her options. Begging for her life seemed the smartest plan of action, but from her few seconds of acquaintance with this demon, she got the impression that mercy was a concept alien to his way of thinking. Surrender was likely to produce the same outcome. Giving him what he wanted – the Taiyosori, no doubt – was unthinkable. Sad as it made her, Kisaki couldn’t see any way out of this that didn’t result in her death.
Rather than the fear she expected, though, that cool logic from before began to take hold, pushing everything else away. She might be fated to die, but she would do so with dignity and maybe even in a way this arrogant godling would not soon forget.
She lifted her head to meet his eyes. “If you have come to bore me to death, Ichitiro, then I dare say you are making excellent progress.”
38
Ichitiro was taken aback for perhaps a fraction of a second by what the hanyou said.
He was unused to being addressed in such a manner save from perhaps his siblings, and even they seldom dared.
Had any of his servants attempted to speak even a word in the same tone, he would have made their suffering last for years, perhaps longer. As a result, it wasn’t a great surprise to him that his first reaction was to strike down this creature, reduce it to the base atoms that were unfortunate enough to be chosen by the multiverse to make up this bastard offspring.
Energy gathered around him for a moment, but then he dismissed it as another thought took hold. He should have been angry beyond belief. If anything, his dislike for Midnite had turned to outright loathing at knowing she’d sired this, the lowest of the low. But instead, he found himself strangely amused.
And why shouldn’t he be?
This hanyou, a creature who couldn’t even aspire to being a human ape, had
spoken to him in a tone of challenge. This suggested an ignorance that even the most dimwitted of his servants couldn’t hope to match.
Besides, he knew this insect somehow held the Taiyosori, confounding the weapon by virtue of its tainted bloodline. His victory was so near that he could taste it with his pointed teeth. If this half-breed wished to challenge him, so be it. Destroying it would fulfill one of the tenets for obtaining the Taiyosori. For the hanyou to initiate the battle would ensure that none of the weapon’s bothersome defenses might be inadvertently engaged. He could not have asked for a better scenario.
Ichitiro considered the youkai standing alongside the girl. It would be no effort at all to destroy him. There was nothing to stop him. If anything, Shitoro was in direct violation of the edict.
Not that Ichitiro cared either way. Once the Taiyosori was his, the edicts, wishes, or pleas of the council would be meaningless to his ears.
He decided to allow Shitoro to survive. Someone should bear witness to his ascension. That it would allow the youkai a chance to tell Midnite the tale of her offspring’s demise would simply be an added bonus to make his victory all the more sweet.
He smiled, baring his double row of teeth to the two insignificant creatures before him.
“Is that a challenge I hear, little hanyou?”
♦ ♦ ♦
Ichitiro’s response seemed to cause the world to once again slow down around Kisaki. She now knew what it meant, though, and in that knowing came anticipation. She was about to step into her father’s shoes once again, draw strength from his experience, which would, in turn, further empower her. Best yet, it might give her some insight into him. He was a part of her, and knowing she could truly experience a small part of him gave her comfort.
The world greyed out around her, replaced by another life through other eyes. This time, however, it was different. She’d sensed the visions had been growing more powerful, feeling more real each time they happened ... perhaps a result of her mind gradually adapting to them. That seemed to be the case, for this time, she not only saw the sights from those days, but she began to hear the sounds as well. They were faint, almost as if listening to them from over a great distance, but she could just make them out.
She wasn’t in a battle this time, but a classroom of sorts. She sat at a desk, not entirely dissimilar to those she partook her lessons at. She was surrounded by others, men in uniform, also seated. There was a man standing at the head of the class saying something. Kisaki strove to listen, looking down as her father took notes on a sheet of paper.
“No matter how outgunned you are, no matter how badly the enemy has outmaneuvered you, never forget that half the battle is fought up here.” The man giving the lecture raised a finger to his temple. “Win this war and you can overcome nearly any advantage the enemy might have over you.”
The scene abruptly changed, something else new to this vision, and she found herself standing on a scarred and pitted beach.
“Hey! What are you two doing?”
The voice was deep, filled with authority – something the two men, soldiers in uniform, who appeared in front of her did not seem to possess. It was with some delight that she realized the voice had come from her ... or the body she possessed anyway.
Beyond the two men was another figure, a woman dressed in a simple kimono who...
Kisaki gasped, or would have had she any control over her father’s body. Save for the hair and complexion, the woman’s face was the same she’d seen staring back at her in the mirror for nearly her entire life. For a moment, she was confused, but then realization hit.
There could only be one explanation, for there was only one other face like hers that she was aware of.
She was looking at her mother, in the guise of a human.
Her father seemingly had a similar reaction, for she could feel his intake of breath as he gazed upon her.
The scene continued to play out, more words being spoken, as she took this all in. The two other men had weapons trained upon her mother, not knowing how foolish a move they were making. Her mother, however, had taken no action against them, seemingly as transfixed by her father as he was of her.
“Your buddy ain’t here,” she ... her father snapped. “I am and I don’t like what I was hearing.”
The discourse continued, her father’s tone becoming heated. Despite the two men before her being armed, she could see the indecision in their eyes as he spoke.
With some amusement, she realized her mother noticed it, too.
“Get your asses back to your squad before I have them handed to you.”
One of the two soldiers seemingly looked to challenge her father. “With all due respect, sir, you army grunts can’t just...”
“Do you want to test that, soldier? Because, if so, I will look forward to seeing your ass in irons before the day is out.”
She stared hard at the other man and, within seconds, he lowered his gaze and shook his head. Her father had won despite their superior numbers.
“What was that?” she asked in her father’s voice.
“I said no, sir.”
“That’s what I thought. Now double time it and maybe I’ll forget what you two look like.”
The two men left in a hurry, leaving Kisaki’s father alone with her mother.
With no small amount of panic, she wondered how long this vision would last and exactly how much of their fateful meeting she would witness, but then, just as quickly as it appeared, it faded around her and she once again found herself staring up at Ichitiro.
♦ ♦ ♦
It seemed that nearly no time at all had passed. He was just closing his mouth after asking his question. Incredible! No matter how often it happened, Kisaki doubted she’d ever get used to it.
“I know who you are,” she replied in a calm voice, “and I know what you are, Lord Ichitiro. Yet, despite that, it is I who will offer you a chance to leave this place in peace. Scoff if you will, but know that I promise only one thing: whatever outcome this day holds, you will not soon forget it.”
Shitoro turned to stare up at her, the look on his face suggesting he thought she’d gone insane. She remained calm, though, allowing that cold logic to suffuse her being, taking stock of her opponent despite knowing he possessed powers beyond her ability to understand.
Kisaki felt a pulse at her side. The quill. She’d heard it speak to her, acknowledge her as its master. She couldn’t know if that was true, nor whether it would make a difference against this creature, but she refused to allow that doubt to show on her face.
After a moment, Ichitiro spoke. “You have the fire of a daimao, even if your blood is thin and tainted. I shall give you that, but no more.” He held out his hand. “One chance for a painless death, only one. Give me the Taiyosori.”
“Kisaki,” Shitoro warned, but both would-be combatants ignored him as if he were not a factor in these matters.
“I shall not gift you the sword,” she replied, holding the great demon’s gaze. “Nor can you inherit it. Therefore, if you want it, you must win it. My challenge stands, but only if you give your word to leave this planet in peace at the conclusion of our battle.”
Whatever amusement the daimao had seemingly felt toward her evaporated. He stood up to his full height, not quite Crag’s size, but towering over her nevertheless. “You would dare offer me conditions. I could rip the Taiyosori from your corpse in an instant.”
Kisaki, however, thought she could sense doubt in his eyes. He knew the conditions for winning the blade, perhaps far better than she, and he desperately wanted it. That much was obvious. He could almost certainly make good on his threat, but if she refused to battle him, there was a chance, however slight, the blade might not accept him as its master. The lust in his eyes told her he would not risk that happening.
“I could do that and more,” Ichitiro continued after a beat. “But I will accept your conditions. Consider it deference toward my
dear sister, your mother, so that she might know you died with at least a modicum of honor.”
“Shitoro?” She looked down upon him questioningly. “The daimao, they are honorable when giving their word, yes?”
Shitoro shrugged, but then apparently noticed how Ichitiro bared his teeth at him. “Of course, my lady. A daimao’s word is law.”
It wasn’t much to go on, Kisaki noted with a silent sigh, but it would have to do. “So be it.”
“Yes,” the great demon replied with a predatory grin. “So be it, indeed.”
39
The challenge accepted, Ichitiro raised his own blade, a construct seemingly made of solid black flame, and brought it down in her direction.
Kisaki just barely managed to grab hold of Shitoro and dive out of the way. She rolled with the little youkai as Ichitiro’s weapon sliced a blackened gouge in the spot where she’d stood just a moment before.
The blow appeared to be little more than a lazy effort on his part, one she’d just barely managed to dodge. It said a lot to her about how this battle might go. Nevertheless, she refused to back down.
“Run!” she commanded Shitoro, her voice again sounding much like her mother’s.
To her surprise, though, the little youkai’s loyalty proved stronger than her tone of authority. “I will not, my lady. Though we die today, I will take some small comfort in knowing it is together.”
Kisaki was tempted to chide him for his pessimistic attitude, but since he was probably right, she decided to let it go. Besides, his fierce dedication touched her. She had little doubt Tamiko and Stephen would have done the same if they were here. She wished that were so, but at the same time was glad they weren’t. If she had any regrets, it was that Shitoro hadn’t gone with them.
“Very well,” she said with a smile, rolling to her feet, “but try not to get underfoot.”
She turned and focused on Ichitiro, studying him. There was little chance of victory, but any she had would depend on her ability to capitalize on whatever mistakes he made – assuming that was, a war god, old as time itself, would make a mistake against an insignificant foe such as herself.
Midnite's Daughter Page 28
