Hearing the news of their quest coming to an abrupt end, Chisai starts to break down. "But...but...but...how will we pay Lord Tora back? If we destroyed his medallion, what'll he do to us? What if he locks us up and throws away the key? What about our families? How will we survive? What if he-"
"Oh, shut up!" Kitsune yells.
Chisai quickly becomes quiet. Looking in Kitsune's direction, it dawns on Niko and Chisai that he may be hurt. They run over to his position to help him up.
As Niko extends a hand to help Kitsune up, Kitsune follows up from his previous statement. "So, what's this about paying Tora back?" he says as he rubs his back, hoping to ease some of the pain.
"Since Lord Tora helped me learn a new sword technique, and helped stabilize Chisai's demon powers, he asked us to find and return his medallion as payment." Niko starts to walk over to his sword to pick it up out of the ground. "I guess we can't do that now. We'll just have to go back and say that-"
"You'll do nothing!" Kitsune yells out as he looks down in front of him, meanwhile placing his kamas back into his back holster.
Niko grabs hold of his sword handle and pauses, wondering why this "new guy" is bossing him around now. Pulling the sword out of the ground, he carries it on his shoulder as he walks back to Kitsune. "And why is that?" he asks smugly.
Kitsune bends down to grab something, then stands back up as he looks at the item. "Although I absolutely despise Tora for what he did to me, whether he admits it or not, I think I found a way for you to not lose your lives over something trivial."
Curious to what Kitsune found, Niko and Chisai close in on him.
Kitsune opens his hand, revealing the curved trapezoid item's reflective gold surface, imprinted with a flame-like symbol. "Because we're going to fix it."
Surprised at the item, Chisai starts to ask, "Is that a piece of..."
Niko finishes her sentence as he sheathes his sword. "The medallion! It broke into pieces!"
"And it looks like this is only one of the powers." Kitsune says. He looks up at Niko and Chisai to follow up with a question. "How many pieces were there in the thing?"
Niko and Chisai both shrug their shoulders.
"Well, I guess that means that your quest will be just a little longer than just today." Kitsune suggests.
Niko and Chisai look at each other and nod. "Yep" they both say.
"So what does this piece do?" Chisai asks.
Leaning in to get a better look, Niko offers a suggestion. "I think this is the piece that allowed Omego to have that fire sword."
"So, how's it work?" She asks as a followup.
Feeling obligated to answer her question, Niko speaks up. "I.....don't know."
Residual pain from their previous fights start to throb in Niko's side. He raises a hand to cover the wounds, knowing that he will need some sort of medical attention soon as blood starts to seep through his fingers. "AHHH!" he calls out in pain.
"Niko!" Chisai responds automatically as she reaches out to him, trying to assist in his healing.
Putting the medallion piece in his jacket pocket, Kitsune suggests an idea. "Look, we've been fighting non-stop since this morning. How about we take a small break?"
Looking up at him like he's an idiot, Niko speaks up as he hobbles to a nearby log. "'Non-stop fights'? At least you didn't have to deal with an exploding rice ball!"
Assisting Niko, Chisai speaks up as well. "Or a dissolving liquid and a maniac among the crowd, or a suicidal car!"
Surprised at this new information, Kitsune feels a little out of place. "Hey, hey! How's about I go see if I can find us some water? I'm sure you two are thirsty as well, right?" He says with a nervous smile.
Relaxing on the log, Niko agrees. "Sure. If you can find some water, bring it back. I'm going to need it. Then we can get to my car and dri-" the throbbing pain is a little too much for him as he tries to finish his sentence. He quickly inhales through his teeth, trying to tough it out.
"Yeah, I'll go find some water for us." Kitsune says nervously as he scurries off into the woods.
As Niko lays on the log, Chisai holds his other hand. "It'll be alright, Niko. We'll get you some water, then head over to the hospital. I don't think I can carry you by myself to your car."
Looking into her emerald eyes, Niko speaks with as much strength as he can muster. "It's okay, I'll be fine."
A rustling in some nearby bushes catches their attention.
Pulling his strength together to prepare himself for a refreshing drink, Niko speaks up. "Is that Kitsune? Did he find a source of water that fast?"
The rustling in the bushes stops as a short humanoid figure stumbles out on all fours. Chisai and Niko can't help but look at this odd, all black figure.
The two large antennae on top of its large round head wiggle around, as if its trying to look around.
"What is that?" Niko says softly.
The short humanoid figure turns its head to look at Niko, as to see where the noise came from that it didn't expect to encounter. At that moment, Niko and Chisai notice that although the figure is all black, it has large gold eyes staring directly at them.
Perceiving it as a threat, Niko tries to pull out his sword, but his strength is shot from the wounds he encountered. Chisai notices Niko struggling and suggests an idea. "You say here. I'm going to transform and take care of that thing!"
As she starts to focus her ability, Niko notices that the figure is jumping straight towards them, its mouth wide open and teeth showing, as if it was ready to devour. "Chisai! You can't transform in time!"
Thinking that this odd figure was going to do something horrible, Niko closes his eyes as he prepares for the worst.
Expecting the figure to get closer, Niko feels a cool chill across his face, followed by a metallic BWANG sound.
He opens his eyes, not seeing the figure anywhere around, and sees Chisai's orange hair. Did she transform in time to care of that thing? He thinks.
"Those things can really sneak up on you." A female voice says stepping out from behind the bush that the odd black figure appeared from.
"What was that thing?" Niko says, breathing heavily.
"That," the person says as she curls her hand up towards her face, "was my next test subject."
"Test subject?" Chisai asks quizzically.
The person looks directly at Chisai's cat ears on top of her head. "I see that you are a demon," she looks at Niko. "And what might you be, big boy? You must be used to having a demon around if you aren't running away from the sight of those 'cat' ears."
Pushing himself up from the log, Niko sits up. "I'm a demon too. Well, a half demon. We both are."
Chisai interjects just as Niko finishes his statement. "You aren't going to tell anyone, will you?" She asks with begging hands.
"Honey, don't worry. I work with powers that would boggle your puny government and scientists' minds. If I turn you over, I have to turn myself over as well."
Niko and Chisai look at each other, trying to figure out what the person was talking about.
Chisai looks back at the person. "But....aren't demon powers the most powerful? Isn't that why the government is after us?"
"Trust me, hon. They have absolutely no idea what they are doing."
Another rustling comes from behind Chisai and Niko. Focusing in on their conversation, Niko jumps a bit at the surprise.
As Kitsune steps over a thorny bush towards the duo, he speaks up, trying to let them know he was back. "Guys, you won't believe it. I found a crashed car with nobody inside, and there were some canteens, so I filled them up with water and..." Kitsune stops talking and drops the canteens on the ground. The open canteen that Kitsune was holding spills its contents onto the ground. His jaw drops and eyes open wide as he has the person in his direct view. "Huuuuauaaaahhhh....." comes out of his mouth as he tries to say anything. His rising view of blue denim meeting a black shirt accenting her features, slightly covered by an open blue mid-drift vest, all topped with the deepest blu
e eyes he had ever seen, and the most elegant shoulder-length amber hair he could imagine. After a few silent seconds, he finally says what he wanted to say. "Holy hot babe!"
Niko reaches down to grab an unopened canteen, cracks it open, and drinks from it.
"Anyway, I was saying before I digressed, the thing you just saw was my test subject." the person says.
Kitsune quickly moves next to the person, wrapping his arm around her waist. In a sultry voice, he says, "I'll be your test subject."
Throwing her opposite hand from her waist, she pushes Kitsune away by hitting him in the face.
"The monster you just saw is called a Mashu." The person says as she shakes her hand that pushed Kitsune away.
"Mashu?" Chisai asks.
"They're small energy spirits from an unknown area. They're made up of dark energy that must be dispelled."
"Whoa – that seems like something out of a movie." Niko says.
"And yet here we are, with demons on the loose!" The person says, trying to prove her point. "God, you guys are rude." She turns away from Niko and Chisai. "Maybe I'll just finish my tests elsewhere..."
Niko speaks up. "Look, I'm sorry. I've just been through a lot today, and I'm a little defensive to any new information."
The person stops. She looks over her shoulder. "I know."
Confused, Niko and Chisai look in her direction.
The person turns back around to face Niko. "Niko Sakuna, son of Himuro Sakuna, a cat demon, and Misaki Sakuna, a human. I know all about you."
Slightly freaked out, Niko tries to back up, but is stopped as the person steps closer to him. "I know what you've been through: winning the tournament, gaining ownership of the Banish Blade, the training with your first attack, traveling to the training grounds, your interaction with...." She looks to Chisai, "her," then looks back at Niko. "I even know about your recent fights with the Chisai-look-alike and the twerp Omego." She kneels to his level, then places her right hand above Niko's wounds. Chisai tries to reach in to block the person's hand, but stops right before grabbing it.
"Wha-who-how-whe-Are you tracking me?" Niko tries to escape, thinking that he had been the target of a government mission.
The person's hand glows slightly, and a semi-translucent black bubble appears from her hand, growing to cover Niko's wounds. She looks up at Niko. "Call me Karen."
"What are you doing? Stop that! I don't need to be...." his sentence trails off as he notices what she is doing.
Karen removes her hand from Niko's side. "There. Good as new."
Niko notices that the pain is gone. He looks down at where he was attacked. The wounds are gone, the blood is gone, even his shirts are repaired. "How'd you...."
Karen opens a hand towards Niko and Chisai. A spherical black glowing orb with deep purple and bright gold sparks flow through it. "I'm a Time Alchemist."
Amazed by the feature in front of them, Niko and Chisai are entranced by its essence. "Whoa" they both say.
Karen closes her hand, which makes the black orb disappear. "The 'test subject' that you just saw was going to help me develop my new technique."
"Wait! If you're a Time Alchemist, does that mean you can travel through time?" Chisai asks.
"Clever, but no. I only have abilities to rewind time in short increments, and see in the past." Karen says.
"...which is how you knew so much about me." Niko finishes the sentence.
Karen stands up. "You guys really are rude."
Chisai reaches out for Karen's hand. "No, we're not. I promise! It's just been a really hard day and we're not used to having so many....new things."
Seeing Chisai's innocent violet eyes made Karen feel for her. Sighing, she follows up. "Okay. I can see that all of you had a really hard day."
Chisai smiles, then lets go of Karen's hand.
Kitsune, covered by dust after being tossed back into the sandy area, sits up. Dust particles fall off of his jacket. "Whoa, what just happened?" He focuses his eyes on Karen. "And who's the babe?"
Karen looks at Kitsune and quickly extends a palm in his direction. A small black/gold orb flies from her hand and hits Kitsune in the head, making him fall back on the ground. "That's just a sample of my ability."
"Is that what you used on that....mashu....before?" Niko asks as he stands up and rotates his arms and waist.
"Yes. I use a centralized concentration of time energy to blast it. I was hoping to capture it, but I thought your lives were more important." Karen says as she pulls her hand back from striking Kitsune.
"That. Is. SO COOL!" Chisai says as she starts to giggle in excitement.
"Are these mashu a threat? Should we be killing them?" Niko asks, always trying to make sure he is prepared.
"Most of them are harmless, but recent events have lead to the discovery that some can be controlled and forced to fight." Karen says.
Niko draws out his sword. "Then lead us to them. This may be in connection with the medallion pieces that we're searching for."
Karen looks at Niko like he's lost it, but she concedes. "I guess it could be better than searching for them myself. I've been on the run chasing the few in this area for a while."
"Sounds like we're now a team!" Niko says smiling as he puts his sword on his shoulder, then extends a hand towards Karen.
Karen looks at Niko hand, then reaches out to grab it and shake it. "Sounds good."
Chisai extends her hand and places it on top of theirs. "Yay! We're a team!"
Kitsune sits up from the sandy area. "Don't forget about me...." he falls backwards again.
Walking back to Niko's car, Kitsune bounces up and down as he's carried on Niko's shoulder. Karen and Chisai follow closely behind. "If I'd known you'd knock him out like this, I would have parked the car closer!" Niko calls out.
"I knocked him out the first time, but that should have only lasted a few minutes." Karen says as she looks at her hand, wondering if something went wrong with her 'attack'.
Chisai, back in her human form, speeds up to Niko and bends down to look at Kitsune's face. He has a wild grin on his face, but his eyes aren't responding. "He's not knocked out. He's just being stupid." She says as she stands back up.
Kitsune's head raises from resting on Niko's back. "I resent that!"
Surprised at Kitsune's outburst, Niko throws him off of his shoulder onto his feet. "You could've walked here?!"
Trying to look innocent, Kitsune shrugs his shoulders. "Yea, but I was enjoying the free ride." He looks over at Karen. "...and the view."
As Karen extends a hand in Kitsune's direction, Kitsune reacts defensively by standing on one foot, raising the other one, and using both of his hands to block his face. In other words: quivering.
Karen withdraws her hand. "I wouldn't waste another attack on you, but don't think that you're safe."
Kitsune repetitively nods quickly.
Pulling out the key from his pocket, Niko walks to the driver side of his car and opens the door. "Where to next, guys?"
"If you guys are up for some festival food, I hear there's a great matsuri in the next town. My treat?" Karen says as she gets into the back seat behind Chisai, as she sits down as well.
Chisai and Niko look at each other. "Deal!" They both say.
Kitsune slides into the seat behind Niko. Karen looks at Kitsune with an evil glare. "Don't. Even. Dare."
"You know the harder you are to get, the more I'll try...." Kitsune says.
Karen opens a palm in front of her and forms a black and gold orb in her hand.
Seeing her response, Kitsune tries to meld with the car door as he distances himself from Karen.
As Niko's car pulls up to a make-shift gravel parking lot, the crowd of people dressed in kimonos and traditional outfits flock towards the large torii-shaped entrance gate. The gate itself has traditional Japanese lanterns hanging from it, and zig-zag pieces of folded paper draped from connecting wires. The sound of ceremonial drums echo in the distance, and the aroma of fres
hly cooked food fills the air.
As the four step out of the car, Niko looks around, as if trying to spot something.
Chisai, Karen, and Kitsune all step out and start walking towards the gate. Noticing that Niko was not with them, Chisai looks back and sees Niko still at the car. "Niko? Come on! Let's get in!"
"I don't know guys. I have an odd feeling that something is going to happen." Niko responds.
"It's a festival, man. We can either go in and enjoy ourselves, or stand out here and miss out on all the fun." Kitsune adds.
Seeing the exact thing he was hoping for, Niko spots a group of demonstrators walking towards the gate, carrying practice swords on their belts. He reaches into the car, grabs his sword, and holsters it in his belt. "Okay, ready to go."
"You're being paranoid." Karen says.
"Hey, you never know. I wanted to make sure that it was okay to bring this in – just in case." Niko says as he joins the group.
Entering through the gate, the colors of red, yellow, blue, and green surround them in the form of bouncing balloons partly filled with water, colored lanterns hanging from every corner and edge, flying carp wind flags, and signs all around advertising games, food, and other forms of entertainment.
"This has to be the most colorful matsuri festival I've ever been to!" Chisai says as she takes in the sights.
Niko follows up. "I'd have to agree!"
Observing their surroundings, Kitsune takes a long look to see everything around him. "I haven't been to a matsuri in seven years. I almost forgot how enjoyable it was."
"Guys, listen." Karen says. The rest of the group stops to look at what she has to say. "I promised that I'd treat you guys to some great matsuri-themed food, right?"
Everyone nods in agreement.
Karen reaches out to Niko's hand and grabs it, placing a few pieces of paper currency in it. "You guys go enjoy yourselves. Don't let me slow you down."
"What do you mean, Karen?" Chisai asks.
"I have some....personal business to take care of." Karen says with a slight choke in her throat.
"Well, who am I to turn down free food?" Kitsune says as he runs to the nearest takoyaki stand. Chisai runs after him.
Looking down at the money in his hand, Niko looks back up at Karen. "Are you sure?" but Karen is nowhere to be found. Niko scans the crowd to see if he can find her amber hair, but doesn't see anything close to it.
"Niko! I could use your help!" Chisai calls out.
Looking behind him, Niko sees Chisai holding on to Kitsune's jacket as he tries to grab some takoyaki balls directly from the grill at the nearby stand. Assuming that Karen had her own business to take care of, Niko focused his attention on prying Kitsune away from food he hadn't paid for yet.
As the trio enjoy a helping of takoyaki balls, some fish-shaped taiyaki, and cotton candy, they pause on a bridge to observe their own reflection in the water below.
"If you told me last week that I'd have my own abilities and be chasing the pieces of a medallion, I would have never believed you." Chisai says as she looks at the reflection of her cotton candy in the sparkling water.
"Yeah, it's amazing how something so small can change your life forever." Kitsune says as he chomps on the last of his takoyaki, thinking back to when he was first transported to the training grounds they had left hours ago.
"I know what you mean." Niko says as he eats more of his fish-shaped taiyaki. "One moment, I'm winning the tournament, then I face my old friend in the final fight. When I pretty much know it's all over for me, something happens, he gets knocked out, and I win the fight."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kitsune says as he tosses his wooden skewer over his head, and behind him on the ground.
Chisai looks behind Kitsune at the skewer on the ground. "Hey! That's littering!"
A male voice calls from the other side of the bridge. "Chisai?"
Chisai turns around to see who said her name. The sight of a short male with thick white hair and a blue school uniform makes eye contact with her. "Whitey!"
She stands up, throwing her cotton candy to Kitsune, and runs towards her old friend.
Kitsune, fumbling to catch the cotton candy, and Niko look over to Chisai, who is hugging on a person, at least a foot shorter than her, with a head of white hair.
As Chisai backs up and turns to face her new friends, she puts an arm around 'Whitey.'
"Guys, this is Whitey!" Chisai says with excitement in her voice.
Niko and Kitsune stand up to greet him.
"It's a pleasure to meet some of Chisai's friends. I'm Kazeyama Hijime, but most people call me 'Whitey'." he says as he adjusts his glasses.
"I'm Niko, and this is Kitsune." Niko says, pointing to himself, then over to Kitsune.
Kazeyama looks at Chisai. "Chisai, I would love to stay and chat, but I have a matsuri to run."
"Wait – you're running this thing?" Kitsune says with a bit of shock.
Chisai feels obligated to answer. "Yeah, Whitey's pretty much in charge of everything at the school. He's the president of every school club-"
"Almost every school club." Kazeyama interjects.
"Sorry. Almost every school club, organizes the school functions and schedules, and even has his own fan club. I'm a really close friend of his." Chisai says.
"Chisai, you're making me blush." Kazeyama says as he tries to look away.
"Sorry. It's just hard to imagine what you don't do."
"Well, I'm not going to be in charge of this festival if I don't get to my post. We need to get some time together and chat."
"Great! When are you free?"
As Kazeyama runs away, he yells back to Chisai. "I have some free time during the school's fair tomorrow. I'll see you then, okay?"
Chisai waves a hand in the air. "'kay! See you then Whitey!"
As Niko and Kitsune approach Chisai, Kitsune asks, "That guy sure has a full schedule, doesn't he?"
"Relax. He just likes staying busy."
Out of nowhere, Kitsune feels something bump him. To whoever it was, he looks behind him to say "Hey, watch it!"
"Kitsune, you gotta be a nicer at a public event like this!" Niko says as he reaches out for Kitsune.
"Not when the person has something of mine!" Kitsune says as he starts chasing after the girl.
It takes a moment for Niko and Chisai see the same thing Kitsune did: a little girl with black hair is running away, and she's holding one of Kitsune's kamas in her hands.
"Kitsune! Wait for us!" Chisai calls out.
"No way! She'll get away!" Kitsune says as he disappears into the crowd viewing a concert of ceremonial taiko drums.
Pushing their way through the crowd, Niko and Chisai keep an eye out for Kitsune's gold hair, trying to avoid the food, souvenirs, balloons, and other children.
"AAAAGGGG!" Kitsune's voice carries over the crowd from in front of Niko and Chisai.
Navigating their way through the rest of the crowd, Niko and Chisai arrive on Kitsune's position in an semi-open area. His hands are on his head and through his hair, showing that he is frustrated.
"Kitsune, what happened?" Chisai asks as she approaches him.
"I followed that little thief this far, then I lost her." Kitsune says.
Looking at the three separate paths in front of them, each one leading away from their current position and down thin rows between tents, fences, and short buildings, Niko offers a suggestion as he reaches for his sword. "If you followed her here, she has to be down one of these paths. Let's each take one, then meet back up here."
Kitsune grabs his remaining kama and nods at Niko, running to the left. Chisai nods as well, then runs off to the right. With the only path left, Niko proceeds down the middle one.
As Chisai proceeds down her path, something catches her eye. Something black quickly moves out of her sight and down the path. "Guys, I think I found her." She proceeds to where she saw the black item. As she gets closer, it becomes apparent what it was: a mashu
, similar to the one she saw earlier with Karen, was standing in front of her, wiggling every so often, and staring in her direction. "Guys! I have a mashu!" Chisai calls out.
No response.
Thinking that she was alone, she starts her transformation process to take care of the mashu. She focuses her mind on the transformation. A small gust of wind comes from below, and her process begins. Her hair fades to orange, her eyes change to violet, the marks appear on her face, and her teeth become longer. "That gets easier every time I do it." She says as she finishes the process and the up-gusting wind dies down. She reaches to her right hand to activate her jewel and materializes her glaive. "Alright. Time to see if I can take care of one of these things!"
The mashu turns around and runs away from Chisai, heading down the alleyway.
"Hey! Wait!" Chisai says as she runs after it.
Looking around for any sign of the little girl, Kitsune examines every nook and cranny he can see. "Where are you?" He calls out playfully.
The sound of laughter echoes from in front of him, coming from around the corner. He stands upright, then runs around the corner, finding himself at a large heavy warehouse-like door, cracked open. Pushing the heavy metal door open to pass through, he sees is kama on the floor, reflecting the warehouse lights above.
"Welcome." The little girl's voice echoes throughout the warehouse.
As Kitsune looks up to where the voice came from, he sees the little girl standing on a box of large pyramid of crates with a wall expanding the height and width of the warehouse behind her.
Kitsune reaches down to pick up his stolen kama. The floor is coated with water, as if it had recently been washed. "Why did you steal this?" He asks as he shakes off his kama of the excess water.
"To lure you here, of course," she says.
Kitsune looks around, expecting some sort of trap. The warehouse is completely empty except for the crates that the girl is standing on. "What's the deal?"
"Oh, Kitsune. You ask too many questions." she says.
Not expecting the little girl to know his name, Kitsune steps back into a ready stance with his kamas ready to strike. "How'd you know my name?"
She holds a hand out to her right, palm facing upwards. A spherical ball of blue water forms in her hand, the size of a softball. "I'm Mizu, the controller of water."
"That doesn't answer my question." Kitsune says as he starts to get frustrated.
"I have my orders. All you need to know is that you are my target."
"Target for what?"
"You know, you still ask too many questions. Why don't you..." she pauses for a bit while she throws her 'water ball' straight at Kitsune, "...be quiet!"
His experience at the training grounds allowed him to push his target practice skills to the limit. Striking something that was coming right at him was easy. Before the water ball strikes him, he swings one kama out towards it, splitting it in half. The two halves of the water ball fly in opposite directions, landing on either side of him on the ground.
"Don't get too comfy. That was the practice." Mizu says.
Slightly confused, Kitsune looks around to see that the two water ball halves are splitting apart, forming a circle of water droplets around him. "What kind of power is this?"
Mizu brings her other hand out and raises both of them in front of her. The water droplets around Kitsune raise up, forming a rotating circle around his head.
Frightened, Kitsune tries to think of a way out of the rotating water drops. Before he can react, Mizu closes her hands, and the water droplets speed inward towards his head. The first one goes into his mouth, closing off his wind pipe. The other two go into his nose to block his breathing, while the others grow in size to form a massive water sphere around his head.
Gasping for air, Kitsune releases his kamas, causing them to bounce off of the concrete floor. He tries to grab the water sphere around his head, but only grabs handfuls of water instead without grabbing anything tangible.
"This was easier than expected." Mizu says as she laughs lightly.
Kitsune falls to his knees as he tries anything he can to get some air.
Carefully moving forward, Niko moves his eyes left and right, examining everything he can see, trying to find Kitsune's kama thief.
The sound of chattering and a can hitting the floor echoes from in front of him. Expecting a little more than just a little girl, Niko fully grasps his sword handle and begins his transformation process.
With his hair silver, his eyes red, his teeth longer, and the marks on his face, his feline senses kick in. He can smell something, like burnt toast, but it doesn't smell like any of the festival food he just passed. He can't quite put his finger on the exact smell, but he decides to follow it.
As he moves forward, he approaches a metal door with a window in it, slightly open. He moves to the window to look inside, but there aren't any lights on.
He slowly pushes the door open to see if anybody is inside. As he moves inside, his cat eyes quickly adjust to the darkness and he is able to see the outlines of some standard office items: a filing cabinet, a few chairs, a large desk, some bookcases. However, the smell he is following is coming from another door in front of him.
He carefully approaches the second door, feeling more and more like this is a trap.
The second door squeaks open, away from him to his left. As he looks inside, there isn't anything in here, except the outline of a person on the far left, up against a wall.
Niko slowly moves forward towards the person, but the person doesn't move. It must be a mannequin, he thinks as he turns around to walk back out through the second door.
The glow of light reflects in the door, catching his attention. Before he can turn around to see where the source of the light came from, a fireball flies past him, hitting the door and closing it.
Reacting to a perceived threat, Niko draws his sword as he faces away from the door.
The whole area is still dark, and the person's outline has moved slightly. The right hand is now facing upwards.
Curious by the slight movement, Niko nudges forward.
Suddenly, a spark comes from the figure's right hand. The spark quickly turns into tear-drop shaped fireball, floating above the figure's hand and illuminating its face. All Niko can see is short black hair, one red eye, and part of a blue hoodie.
"What do you want? And where's the little girl?" Niko calls out. His questions echo through the large darkened area.
"What little girl? My mission was to bring you here, Niko, which I did." the figure says in a manly voice.
"What mission? What am I doing here? How do you know me?" Niko calls out again as he inches closer to the figure.
"I was told you were going to ask a lot of questions, but I never thought you'd ask so many at once." the figure says.
"Just shut up and tell me!"
"My, you sure are demanding." The figure rotates his other hand upward, and another tear-shaped fireball forms. The other half of his face is seen. "I'm Yakedo, the controller of fire."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Niko yells.
"Do you see the dark ring on the floor around you?" Yakedo asks politely.
Niko, keeping an eye on Yakedo and his fireballs, looks down for a moment. "I don't see anything."
"Aw. Your cat eyes don't see that well in the dark? I was misinformed. Let me..." He pauses for a bit as he tosses one of the fireballs directly in front of Niko, towards the dark ring on the floor, "...light up the room."
The fireball hits the floor and quickly spreads outwards, forming a ring of fire around Niko.
"What's going on?" Niko yells, slightly frightened.
"The dark ring on the floor was practice. Now that you're here, I can take care of you." Yakedo says as he slowly approaches Niko.
Trying to keep his cool, Niko swings his sword in front of him, trying to intimidate Yakedo. "Do you know who I am?"
As Yakedo approaches the fire ring, his full figure be
comes well illuminated. He places his hands behind him, as to approach Niko with a bit of slyness. "I know all that I need to know about you, Niko. And I expect you to use your new attack on me."
Surprised that this person could know about the recent events, Niko tries to connect the dots. "Are...are you a time alchemist?"
"A what?" Yakedo gives a light laugh. "I have no idea what that is. I was informed of you by my boss, and his orders were to make sure you didn't leave. While I was at it, I thought I could test your new attack, and see if you were any match for my unique abilities."
"Why?"
He tsked. "Again with the questions. You should be worrying about my questions, instead of your questions."
Niko gives a quizzical look at Yakedo.
As Yakedo brings back his right hand, a new fireball appears in it. "Such as 'are you prepared for this?'" He throws his right hand towards Niko like throwing a baseball. The fireball leaves his hand and flies directly towards Niko.
Thinking that his attack was strong enough to break a boulder, Niko tries to swipe at the fireball. He makes contact with it, cutting it in near-half. The fireball pieces split and fly around him, joining in on the ring of fire that surrounded him.
Yakedo throws more fireballs Niko's way, with Niko striking every one. "Is that the best you have? I'm sure you want to use your new attack right about now." Yakedo says, taunting Niko.
Getting frustrated, Niko feels like has no other choice. Making sure he was aimed for Yakedo, he raises his sword up, then swings it downward with all of the force he can gather. "HELLFIRE!"
Following the path of the fleeing mashu, Chisai tries to keep up. "Wait! Wait up!" She calls out.
The mashu reaches a canvas tarp, anchored taut to the ground and angled low. It scurries towards an opening and slides under.
"I gotcha now!" Chisai says as she approaches the tarp. She reaches down to grab the edge of the tarp, expecting to see the fleeing mashu. Instead, she sees nothing but darkness. Her cat eyes can't adjust to what is ahead of her. "What's this?" she asks based on curiosity.
"Welcome, young one. Your time is near." a deep resonating voice says.
Confused by the strange voice, Chisai starts to back away from the tarp, but a large shadowy hand reaches out from the darkness and grabs her hand. "What the...? Help!" She calls out as she tries to find what the dark hand is connected to.
"Do not waste your breath. Sounds cannot penetrate this barrier." the voice says as it pulls Chisai into the darkness.
"Niko! Kitsune! HELP!" She yells out.
"Soon, your power will be mine!"
Hoping that at least someone will hear her before she is consumed by the mysterious darkness, she calls out one last time. "HELP! NIKO!"
Chapter 9