Dreamer Awakened

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It took Kusanagi much longer to return to Momiji’s house from Taki than it had taken him to arrive there because of the wind whipping the snow in horizontal sheets, blinding him. With heartfelt relief, he landed smoothly in the drive but stiffened right back up again, swearing softy to himself when he realized Momiji’s car was missing. The drive was nothing but a sheet of pristine white, the tire tracks having long been covered. Kusanagi turned and quickly opened the door and without entering the house, yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Momiji!"

Only silence greeted him, but he had expected that. He ground his teeth together in anger and frustration.

"Momiji you little fool!" he growled, but inside he was panicking.

It was Susano-oh. This was his work, Kusanagi thought resentfully. Why couldn’t he just leave Momiji out of his plans? Hadn’t she done enough already? The little fool was rushing headlong into Susano-oh’s scheme, trusting him implicitly when she should know better. Hadn’t’ she learned anything at all from their previous encounters with Susano-oh? Apparently not, he told himself acidly, the little idiot! Well, Momiji might trust Susano-oh, but Kusanagi sure as hell didn’t.

It wasn’t that he thought that Susano-oh was their enemy, because he didn’t. But he didn’t particularly consider Susano-oh their ally either. Susano-oh had already allowed Momiji to sacrifice herself once. What was to stop him from letting the same thing happen again? He was using Momiji for his own purposes, regardless of the consequences to her, and Kusanagi didn’t like it one little bit. Kusanagi violently slammed the door and turned away from the house, his antagonism for the Storm god growing.

"Why can’t you just leave her alone!" he railed at the heavens as another jagged fork of lightning illuminated the sky and the wind gusted against his face. "There aren’t enough people in this world like her!! - And I will NOT let her die for you this time!"

Susano-oh’s response was unexpected: an encompassing silence that made Kusanagi’s eyes widen in shock. Everything: the wind, the snow, the thunder, the lightning, all of it, abruptly ceased, leaving the air so quiet Kusanagi could hear his own breathing in the stillness.

Understanding.

Acknowledgement.

Acceptance.

The will of Susano-oh spoke volumes through the silence he had created, and then Kusanagi’s mitamas began to glow, and he felt Susano-oh’s presence flood through his body, the god’s aura mingling with his through the bond of blue souls.

"She holds the light of hope, Kusanagi," came the god’s words, overpowering Kusanagi’s own sense of self as they swept through him, resonating through his veins, "the power of a giving heart can overcome any obstacle. Protect her well. She is my gift to you."

"What!?" Kusanagi breathed, stunned, as the god’s presence faded.

But Kusanagi’s surprised exclamation was caught up and spirited away on the wind as the peace of the moment dissolved once more into the onslaught of Susano-oh’s raging storm. Kusanagi stood immobile as if unaware of the fury around him, while Susano-oh’s statement bounced around inside his head and confusion clouded his thoughts.

He frowned and gave himself a shake. He didn’t have time for this, he told himself impatiently. He would have to think about it later. Right now he needed to find Momiji. Pushing aside the myriad of feelings engendered by Susano-oh’s words, he closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling her presence.

The iwatto.

She had gone to the iwatto, he thought, and there was something else – Kusanagi’s eyes shot open and he reeled in shock as he felt a tangible presence he hadn’t felt in over three years.

"Kaede," he whispered.

"Here’s the last of them," Kunikida said tiredly crossing over to Matsu and handing her a pile of indexed samples.

"Thank you," she murmured taking them and putting them away, "Now all we have to do is wait for Yaegashi to finish inputting the data to see if our new Telemetry Land Tracking Software System is functional. The new numbers that we were able to get from the samples you brought me today will help tremendously in our testing - but I still can’t believe how quickly you were able to get them. I didn’t think the morgue would let you have them without first doing an autopsy on the bodies."

"Well, harrumph,," Kunikida cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, "we, er, didn’t actually, – that is they were pretty busy and uh –"

Mystified, Matsu just watched Mr. Kunikida mumble on and on, a dull flush spreading across his cheeks and she only shifted her attention away from him when Ryoko cut across her husband’s discomfiture.

"What he’s trying to say is that we pilfered them while they weren’t looking," Ryoko grinned, watching her husband roll his eyes.

"We didn’t pilfer them," he contradicted, "we just borrowed them – I filled out all the necessary paperwork and gave them a requisition form – "

"Yes, you did," she agreed with a firm nod, and then pointed out, "but they told you that you would have to wait three days before the autopsies were finished and your request for samples could be granted."

"Well it’s not like they’re going to miss them, is it?" Daitetsu grumbled. "And until Matsu can isolate the radio isotope for the Tengugaki, we are going to have to rely on speed of access in gaining samples of the victims’ DNA in order to stop them."

"You don’t have to convince me, you know. And I don’t think anyone here really cares about our methods of procurement. I know I surely don’t - of course, I am the one that did the pilfering, so who am I to complain, anyway?" Ryoko chuckled watching Kunikida frown moodily and begin muttering something about standard operational procedures.

She chuckled again, as she continued to listen to him, thinking he was like a big baby fussing about a missing favorite toy, and she found it impossible to take his grumbling seriously. She knew that no one wanted to stop this new threat more than he, and deep down he was aware that the most important thing right now was not how they obtained their data, but that the data was obtained. Speed was of the essence and relying on the proper channels in this instance would have only led to delay.

But it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried anyway, Ryoko thought sympathetically, He had used every possible aboveboard tactic in his arsenal to obtain what he wanted, including shouting at the desk clerk, and when that hadn’t worked, shouting at everyone else who had anything to do with requisitions and record access.

Already, the body count from Tengugaki attacks just for the day was up to nineteen and if things continued the way they were headed, the government was going to have a wide scale epidemic if something wasn’t done to stop them. That was why they have been so determined to get the samples for Matsu so that they could be included in the TLTS System. And that was why Daitetsu had persisted in making a scene.

At first, Ryoko had thought to try and stop him, knowing it wasn’t good for his blood pressure, but once he got wound up, sometimes it was just better to let him go until he ran out of steam. So she had stepped back and let him have at it, while she and Sugishita had slipped away unnoticed during the ruckus he was making to obtain the DNA samples in a more covert fashion.

"Anybody hungry besides me?" Sugishita asked getting up from Matsu’s desk and heading towards the door, looking around at the people in the room.

Matsu and Yaegashi just ignored him, too busy trying to finish up on the data analysis to be bothered with unimportant things like eating and Ryoko shook her head.

"I am," Kome shot at him, "bring me back something, will you?"

"Don’t go too far," Kunikida ordered, "we might need you again tonight if we can get this system up and running."

"Sure thing," he grinned, his stomach growling and he turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Yaegashi called after him, getting up from his computer and carrying a data disk over to Matsu’s desk where a flat, black square, smaller than a man’s wallet, was wired to Matsu’s computer.

Yaegashi slid the disk into the drive and then typed a command on the keyboard. There was a series of beeps as the software loaded and Yaegashi pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Sugishita.

"I finished the data collection and I’m uploading it into the TLTS System now. I wanted to show you how the readout functions so you’ll know what you’re looking at."

"Can’t it wait for half an hour? I’m really starved!" Sugi replied plaintively, putting a hand to his gurgling stomach.

"Stop complaining," Ryoko demanded with an impatient frown, "and come over here!"

"The woman always was a slave driver," Sugi muttered and with a resigned sigh sauntered over to look at the new tracking system.

He sidled close to Ryoko to peer over her shoulder and felt her elbow connect with his stomach.

"Oomf! Hey!" he exclaimed affronted by the violent gesture, "what’d you do that for!?"

"Back off!" she muttered, her blue eyes glittering a clear warning signal.

"I’m just trying to see –" he objected innocently, but backed away anyway, not wanting to feel another one of her sharp jabs.

He shifted over slightly, positioning himself between Kome and Kunikida, and they all crowded around the small, blank LCD screen, waiting for something to happen. In the collective silence, the clicking and whirring of the computer’s hard drive could be heard as it uploaded the data. But finally it stopped and then there was a frantic beeping noise coming from the TLTS System, a little red light blipping on the screen.

"Is it supposed to be doing that?" Sugi wondered aloud.

"If it’s working right, it should only do that when there is a Tengugaki in close proximity," Yaegashi replied, "but let me reset it to make sure that it’s not reading an error."

He reached over and unhooked the TLTS from the computer and shut it off for a few minutes before turning it back on. The little LCD screen had barely lit up again when the beeping started up again.

Kunikida pushed closer to Yaegashi and looked down at the screen. The only thing on the display was a set of plot coordinates down at the bottom of the screen and the little red blip blinking in the upper right hand corner that jumped a sector as he stood staring at it.

"I don’t think this is a data error," he remarked in trepidation. "How can we see where this is?" Kunikida wanted to know pointing to the coordinates.

"Easy," Yaegashi replied. "The system was designed so that it could pull up any given location. Once you extrapolate the coordinates and reenter them into the system, it can draw you a map in a matter of seconds. Watch."

Yaegashi pushed several buttons and scrolled down the screen, locking onto the coordinates before hitting the enter key. Immediately a little map popped up, the red light still displayed, but now within the plotted map. Everyone leaned forward, trying to get a good look at it.

"Hey," Kome said, "it looks like it’s headed for –"

"The iwatto," Kunikida finished. "Kome, I want you and Ryoko to come with me," he said stepping back and pulling his coat off the back of a chair. "Matsu, you and Yaegashi ride in the van. We may need some additional back up. Sugishita, I want you to track Sakura down and have her get to the iwatto as soon as possible. Then call Momiji and see if Kusanagi’s back yet. We could use their help on this."

"Right," Sugishita replied moving over to the phone.

"Ooooh," Sakura sighed, arching her neck. Her head fell languidly back against the arm of the sofa and the glass of wine grasped casually between her fingers tipped precariously, threatening to spill its contents onto the floor. "I haven’t felt this good in a long time," she murmured, her crimson eyes focusing on the blond Adonis sitting with her feet in his lap, his hands caressing her shapely calves and massaging her feet.

With a throaty moan Sakura raised her foot a little higher and gave him a seductive smile, which was completely spoiled when she heard her cell phone ring and her countenance twisted into a petulant grimace.

"Aren’t you going to answer that?" Adonis asked in a vibrantly husky voice.

"No," Sakura replied peevishly, "just ignore it. It’ll stop wringing in a minute."

It did, and a satisfied smile spread across her face. "See," she began dulcetly and then, "oh crap!" when it started ringing again.

She leaned forward and roughly set her glass on the table sloshing the red wine carelessly across it, muttering harshly to herself. Then she violently snatched up her handbag, and while digging around for her phone told Adonis, "don’t stop what you’re doing. This will only take a second."

"This is Sakura," she said tersely and then to Adonis who was still massaging her feet, "oh yes, that spot right there. That’s good."

There was a moment of silence and then came Sugishita’s voice, an octave higher than normal. "Sakura?"

"Didn’t I just tell you it was me," she demanded acidly, and then in throbbing accents, "oh, my god, that feels divine. Push harder!"

"S-sakura?" Sugi’s voice cracked, "you’re n-not – did I interrupt something?"

"Yes you did," she snapped, "I’m on a date with – " she paused, trying to remember Adonis’s name.

"Hiyami," Adonis supplied.

"With Hiyami – thank you," she mouthed to Adonis, wiggling her toes playfully, and giving him a sexy wink. "What is it, Sugishita?" She asked impatiently.

Sugi cleared his throat uncomfortably and then said in as much of a businesslike tone as he could muster, "Kunikida is looking for you. He wants you over at the Amano iwatto as soon as possible."

"What about Momiji," Sakura sighed resentfully and then wanted to know, "can’t you call her and Carrot Boy instead?"

"They’re next on my list of people to call," he informed her, "but Kunikida still wants you to come."

Sakura rolled her eyes and groaned. "Can’t it wait? I was in the middle of something."

"No," Sugishita replied unequivocally, "it’s the Tengugaki. They’ve spotted another one and they may need your help. Whatever it is you’re… doing … will have to wait."

"All right," Sakura replied pettishly and sat up, reluctantly pulling her feet from Adonis’s magic fingers. "Come and pick me up," she ordered Sugi, "I’ll be ready in five minutes."

"…Five minutes?" Sugi asked incredulously, "are you sure you can be dressed by then?

"What!?" she demanded, "what the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing, apparently," he replied brusquely. "I’ll be there in five minutes."

Momiji stopped the car and turned the headlights off, staring blindly through the darkness beyond the windshield where she knew the path to the iwatto was.

Kaede was here, she thought numbly. Momiji could feel her overwhelming presence along with the aura of another; an aura of sadness. It was the same sadness that she had felt at the iwatto in Takachiho and it was weakening, the aura associated with it was dying away. There was something else too, Momiji thought, stretching her senses to find what it was. Subconsciously she tightened her fingers on the steering wheel as a frisson of fear ran up her spine and her heart started pounding. Danger was coming.

Tengugaki.

She had felt it enough times now to know what it was and she knew why it was coming.

The child.

Quickly, Momiji grabbed her things and got out of the car, feeling little slivers of ice sting her cheeks and forehead as the snow, which had changed to sleet, was blown forcefully into her face by the wind. Momiji’s hair billowed out behind her in chestnut waves as she lowered her head to protect her face from the flying shards of ice, and she squinted her eyes to keep the tiny, ice pellets out of them. Slinging her handbag over her shoulder, she skidded through the snow towards the iwatto, her darkened path made clear by surreal purple flashes of lightning.

Almost there, she told herself encouragingly, sensing the danger coming ever nearer, and bolting as fast as she dared, stumbling more than once and almost falling to the ground.

Run, run, run! she thought frantically, looking over her shoulder into the darkness. The feeling was so strong now that she almost expected to see two red, glaring eyes bearing down on her, but there was nothing but the blackness.

Out of breath, her hair peppered with beaded crystals of ice, Momiji reached the top of the stairs of the iwatto and turned to look down the path once more. She still couldn’t see anything but she knew it wasn’t far behind. Without hesitating, she turned and plunged down the steps inside the iwatto, her footfalls echoing sharply against the stone.

It should have been dark inside, but it wasn’t. Momiji stopped halfway down, taking in the luminescent pool of water. It was beautiful; liquid light that gleamed silver and blue, shimmering against the walls and ceiling and gilding the dark hair of her sister down below.

"Kaede. You’re really here," Momiji breathed softly, watching her sister kneeling next to a frail looking girl with silver - white hair who cradled an infant in her arms.

Momiji had spoken softly to herself, but it was as if Kaede had heard her, for she turned her head, and looked up the stairs. When she saw Momiji she rose to her feet, but remained next to the girl, waiting for Momiji to come to her.

It had been so long since Momiji had physically seen her sister - not since that day in Tokyo during the rite of Matsuri - that she almost didn’t believe her eyes. Momiji started forward again, slower, as her gaze swept over her sister, and she was filled with conflicting emotions.

Gosh, she was so beautiful, Momiji thought in awe, even more so than before. She stood poised and graceful, her blue - black hair gleaming softly in the shimmering light and her wide emerald eyes vibrant and clear. It was no wonder that Kusanagi had fallen in love with her, came an observant but unwelcome voice in the back of Momiji’s mind and jealousy reared its ugly head..

Kaede was her sister, Momiji told herself firmly, and she should be pleased to see her. But Momiji couldn’t stop the wariness she felt, wondering what her presence here meant and how Kusanagi would react when he saw her. Unexpectedly Momiji was swamped with the desire to be just like her sister, feeling suddenly self-conscious, in her mind Kaede’s beauty and grace only magnifying the plainness of her own brown hair and the clumsiness of her gait. As if to validate the surge of uncertainty gripping her, Momiji’s feet got tangled together and she tripped. With a yelp, she went bouncing down the last several steps and landed in an untidy heap at the bottom, humiliated, but otherwise unhurt.

"Momiji!" she heard Kaede cry softly and grimaced sheepishly, pulling herself up into a sitting position while Kaede rushed to her side. "Are you all right?" Kaede asked in concern, grasping Momiji by the elbow and helping her to her feet.

"I’m fine," Momiji mumbled embarrassed, avoiding Kaede’s discerning look and feeling her cheeks heat with the color of frustration at her own lack of coordination.

"It is so good to see you, sister," Kaede murmured, squeezing Momiji’s elbow before letting go.

"It’s – good – to see you too, Kaede," Momiji responded awkwardly, finally looking at her sister and her eyes widening when she saw the crystal mitamas. "You - have a mitama!"

Kaede’s hand went up, lightly fingering the smooth crystal surface of the bead in her chest. "Yes.. It confines my energy. It is how I am able to appear here and be in your presence. Lord Susano-oh granted it to me so that I might come and help Hikaru."

"Is that Hikaru?" Momiji asked, looking over Kaede’s shoulder at the girl with pale hair.

Kaede followed her gaze, and sadness crept into her emerald eyes.

"Yes," she murmured. "She has been awaiting your arrival, Momiji. And so have I."

Momiji found her hand pulled into Kaede’s grasp and she was led towards the girl and her child. Momiji’s brow crinkled in concern as she came to a halt next to Hikaru, noting the dark circles under her dull eyes and the pallor of her thin face. She was shivering with cold and Momiji hastily opened the bag she was carrying.

"Hikaru," Kaede said softly, going down on her hands and knees next to the girl while Momiji dug around in her bag. "This is the person whom I was telling you about – this is Momiji, my sister."

Kaede turned, looking up at Momiji just as she pulled out two blankets; one, a large, fuzzy, baby blanket and the other a smaller thermal one. Momiji smiled sweetly down into Hikaru‘s violet eyes as she crouched next to Kaede, wrapping the dark headed baby in the thermal blanket, and noting at the same time the blue souls the newborn possessed. Her gaze lingered momentarily on his tiny form, before she turned and draped the larger fuzzy blanket around Hikaru’s shoulders.

"Momiji, this is Hikaru and her son, Noa," Kaede murmured by way of introduction while Momiji worked.

"Hello, Hikaru," Momiji responded softly in greeting, tucking the blanket snugly around her. "I’m sorry that I didn’t think to bring a bigger blanket for you, but perhaps this one will help to keep you warm until we can get help."

"You have the same emerald eyes and the same kind smile as your sister," Hikaru mumbled thickly, her eyes resting tiredly on Momiji’s face, before swinging worriedly to Kaede. "You’re not leaving now are you?" she asked fearfully, "I know that you said that you would stay until I didn’t need you anymore," her gaze flickered briefly to Momiji before returning to Kaede. "But could you please stay – just a little longer?"

Kaede reached out and gently smoothed the damp tendrils away from Hikaru’s face.

"I will not leave –" she began and then broke off, turning her head sharply to look up the stairs leading out of the iwatto.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked tensely, "is it that - thing?"

Momiji abruptly stood up, turning and looking in the same direction as Kaede, sensing the same thing that her sister did and her throat clenched tight with fear

Tengugaki.

"Momiji," Kaede addressed her, not looking at her, her eyes still focused at the entrance of the iwatto. "Stay here with Hikaru," she ordered moving towards the stairs.

"Wait! –" Momiji cried taking a few faltering steps, her hand outstretched in Kaede’s direction. "You can’t –"

"It’s all right, Momiji. I know of the Tengugaki, of Tamanasu. He must not be allowed to have the child, no matter what the cost," she replied steadily. Her graceful strides led her unfalteringly towards the stone steps where she paused briefly to look searchingly over her shoulder at her sister. "If something should happen, Momiji, you must take the child, Noa, and flee."

"But what about – " Momiji began looking back at Hikaru.

"There is nothing more that we can do for her." There was pain in her green eyes as they slid to the young girl. "Her destiny was written long before now and her journey must come to an end," Kaede told her in sad resignation and then turned away and started slowly up the stone steps, a determined look on her face.

Momiji looked back at Hikaru, and knew Kaede’s words to be true. She had sensed it outside the iwatto; the fading of Hikaru’s life’s energy, dwindling rapidly away. Momiji returned to her side and slid down the rough rock of the wall to sit next to her, looking at mother and son and feeling helpless and angry that fate would be so cruel as to deny this child its mother and cut short such a beautiful young girl’s life.

"Momiji," Hikaru mumbled and Momiji leaned forward so that she could hear her. "Take care of my Noa for me?" Hikaru implored, tears trembling on the end of her long lashes and sparkling in her violet eyes, her regret at having to leave her son palpable. It weighed heavily on Momiji’s heart as she watched Hikaru. Her breathing was barely perceptible now as she endeavored to hand her baby to Momiji. "I’m so tired," she whispered.

Momiji took him, pressing his small warm body up against hers as he made small squeaking noises, and her eyes darkened in concern as she continued to watch Hikaru.

"I wish that Tsurugi was here to see his son," Hikaru sighed softly, the words barely audible as she closed her eyes, the tears finally spilling from her lashes to run down her cheeks. "He would have been proud to know that Noa looks – just – like – him –"

"Hikaru? - Hikaru!" called Momiji urgently, but there was no response and Momiji knew that she was gone.

Momiji tightly closed her own eyes against the sudden cutting, sharpness of loss that death brings, and she struggled to keep the grimace stretched across her face from crumbling into full-blown tears.

Kaede knew the minute that Hikaru was gone, and she fisted her hands at her sides and fought to control her emotions. She must keep her wits about her if she was to emerge victorious and keep her sister and Noa safe from Tamanasu. All thoughts of Hikaru fled as she felt a cold chill creep up her spine and she stopped halfway up the stairs, looking up at the dark misshapen silhouette of Tamanasu.

He appeared as evil incarnate, with his long, sharp, curling horns, the gleaming talons of his hands and his eyes glowing eerily against the darkness. Kaede’s mouth went dry at his appearance and she couldn’t keep the doubt that she would be unable to defeat him from creeping into her mind. Pushing her thoughts aside, she raised her chin and concentrated. Her crystal mitama began to pulsate with energy and she held her hands poised in front of her, her palms upright as bright energy began to swiftly accumulate.

Without waiting for him to come any closer, Kaede rapidly hurled the light at Tamanasu, hoping to put him on the defensive from the offset. But he flitted effortlessly around her missiles, his movement barely discernable, and Kaede knew that she would not be able to rely on her eyes if she was to beat him. Instead she forced herself to key in on the negative energy from his mitama, steeling herself against the anguish of the trapped souls that were imprisoned there.

"Th-th-that was r-r-r-eally p-p—pathetic, h-h-human," came Tamanasu’s voice. "B-b-but th-th-then, y-y-you’re not h-h-human, a-a—are you? P-p-perhaps I should c-c-call you V-v-viator, m-m-messenger of the g-g-gods."

His voice dragged, like a long stammer, having innumerable layers and pitches. It was as if there was many voices speaking as one, and Kaede knew that it was because he was utilizing more than the power of his mitama; the vileness of his demonic nature revealing itself as he took possession of the souls he had trapped, bending them to his will, so that he might make himself even more powerful.

In his current form, Tamanasu had the upper hand; his strength and speed far outweighed her own, but Kaede could not let that intimidate her. He might be stronger, but in directly manipulating the souls that he relied on for energy, he must draw them away from his mitama. That meant that the surge of power he amassed, would be quickly offset by the loss of energy within his mitama, and the flood of uncontained souls would wan rapidly, flowing away like a river that has risen above its banks.

His attack would be swift then, for he would have to defeat her quickly, Kaede calculated, preparing herself for his onslaught, all of her nerves stretched to feel his movement.

"-I-I would kn-kn-know the n-n-name of the o-o-one wh-wh-who b-b-bears a crystal m-m-mitama." Tamanasu said, walking with slow deliberateness down several steps before stopping, a gloating look on his face.

Kaede remained silent, her mouth tightening as she watched the ugly smile that spread across Tamanasu’s face.

"H-h-have you n-n-nothing to say, th-th-then, Viator; n-n-no final w-w-words for your g-g-god, Susano-oh? Y-y-your en-en-energy is in-in-incredible, b-b-but it w-w-will not s-s-save you." His gaze flickered beyond Kaede, resting briefly on Momiji clutching Noa before returning to rest upon Kaede’s tense face. "The h-h-hybrid child’s energy sh-sh-shall feed my lord, A-A-Akumakai, but y-y-your energy will b-b-belong to m-m-me! Come taste y-y-your death, V-v-viator!"

He moved before she could see him, but she had felt it, anticipated it, so she was able to shift, disappearing in a flash of blue light just as his claws extended with lethal precision, and he slashed the air harmlessly as she reappeared behind him.

"No!! Kaede!" Momiji shrieked, coming to her feet as she watched Tamanasu bearing down on her sister.

She took a step forward, but Kaede warned her off, her voice hard. "No, Momiji, stay back! You must protect Noa!"

Kaede barely finished speaking before Tamanasu was on her again, and she only just managed to escape him. His claws ripped into her white robe and a burning sensation spread across her right side as they scraped against her ribs before she was able to get away, flickering and reappearing even further up the stairs. Perhaps if she could distract him, she could stall for time enough to gather up the energy needed to destroy him.

"You think your powers are superior to those of my lord, Susano-oh, Tamanasu? Has the depravity of your soul so twisted your logic that you liken yourself to a god?" she taunted and watched the anger begin to burn in Tamanasu’s eyes as she continued. "I am Kaede Kushinada; the Kushinada, and wife to Lord Susano-oh. His power is my power and my soul is his." Kaede’s mitama began to glow even more brightly as she spoke, concentrating on gathering the luminous energy from the sacred pool to break Tamanasu’s hold on the tormented souls he had bound to him. "Now that you know my name, I shall let you carry it back to the Withered Kingdom to whisper to your demon god, Akumakai. Let him feed upon the knowledge that he will remain forever shackled within the darkness of hell, for you may rest assured that he will never feed upon the blue souls of the one that has the power to set him free!"

She had almost gathered enough energy to do the job now, but he must have sensed her growing power for an arrested look crossed his face and he lunged forward; his aim, not to strike a lethal blow, but to break her concentration. Kaede cried out in pain, her focus lost, grabbing her right arm as his claws ripped through her flesh and bright red stained the white of her sleeve as her blood flowed free.

"NO!" Momiji cried again, and she put Noa next to Hikaru and moved towards the stairs, her fear for her sister driving her on.

"Stop!" Kaede called to her desperately, "what do you think you’re doing, Momiji? You have no power!" Tamanasu had turned to look at Momiji as she spoke, and saw that the child was unprotected. Kaede became frantic then. "Momiji, you little fool! Go back and protect the child! You must protect, Noa!"

Kaede flitted in front of him as she sensed him getting ready to move forward, throwing herself in his path to try and distract him. She miscalculated the distance however, and she stiffened as she felt his claws penetrate her body. Her eyes widened in shock as her breath was squeezed off by the ribbons of pain slicing through her, and she watched triumph gleam brightly in Tamanasu’s eyes.

"It seems that my powers are superior to those of your lord Susano-oh, Princess Kushinada," Tamanasu laughed cruelly, his voice it’s normal rasp as he powered down. "For you have failed and your soul is the price of your forfeit. I shall, however grant your request," he informed her mockingly, "and carry your name back to Akumakai, but not as you had intended. It will be a token of my spoils of victory - along with the energy you harbor in your crystal mitama that I shall now claim as my own!"

He reached up and splayed his emaciated hand across Kaede’s chest, resting it directly over the crystal mitama, and Kaede’s head fell back as he began to siphon away her soul.

"Leave her alone!" Momiji shrieked, her stomach twisting sickeningly, watching as a look of perverse pleasure crossed Tamanasu’s skull-like face and his black mitama began to glow red.

Momiji skittered forward and fell, the earth shaken beneath her by the sudden fury that the heavens had unleashed just outside the iwatto. Long strokes of lightning were hitting the ground at the entrance and branching out to extend into the opening, but they could not go far enough to reach the place where Kaede and Tamanasu stood. Momiji climbed unsteadily to her feet and stumbled forward again, climbing the stairs, her breath coming in painful bursts as she kept her eyes pinned to her sister.

"Stop! Stop!" she shrieked, closing the distance, "Oh, god, Kaede, NO!"

She lurched forward, unheeding of the danger she was putting herself in, her only thought, to free Kaede from Tamanasu’s grasp. She reached out and touched her sister, her body carried forward from her momentum, and she collided against both Tamanasu and Kaede.

There was an instantaneous reaction, and Momiji was dimly aware of a huge explosion of light as they were surrounded by the red glow from the power of the Kushinada. Momiji felt her own energy flow out from her body and mingle with her sister’s, and a powerful vortex was created. As if from a distance, Momiji heard Tamanasu howl in torment, caught in the stream of their combined power, and he was flung backwards, long threads of red lightning curving over his body as he writhed on the ground.

"M-momiji," Kaede stammered with difficulty, "you must let go or you’re going to die!"

Momiji tried to answer, but she couldn’t. Instead she let her knees buckle and the contact was broken, the red glow fading away. Almost immediately, Momiji heard the sound of a roar and knew that Tamanasu was free.

"Kaede, watch out!"

She clambered to her feet and twisted around shielding Kaede from Tamanasu’s lunge with her body. She was going to die, she thought desperately. With a whimper she closed her eyes and turned her head away from him, cringing, waiting to feel his blow.

"Kusanagi!" Momiji heard her sister breathe in amazed relief, and Momiji’s eyes shot open to see Kusanagi swooping down towards Tamanasu to knock him sideways to the ground.

Already weakened from the power of the Kushinada, Tamanasu couldn’t recover enough to regain his feet before a frenzied Kusanagi was on top of him, and his blade sliced cleanly through the black mitama. As the mitama spilt from his blow, a horrific wailing filled the iwatto and a cold darkness swirled up from Tamanasu’s lifeless body, the earsplitting shriek accompanying it. Kusanagi, Kaede and Momiji watched, stunned as the dark, shapeless, mass hung in the air before it seemed to be pulled apart by some unseen force, and it slowly dispersed, taking the sound with it.

After the sound faded, there was a moment of silence and then Kusanagi turned, his eyes going not to Momiji, but to Kaede, sweeping from her face to the bloodied hand she held to her stomach and down to the ground where a puddle of blood was forming.

Momiji’s heart twisted in her chest at the look of anguish on Kusanagi’s face, equally reflected in his voice.

"Kaede," he cried in concern and then jumped forward to catch her in his arms and pull her close before she collapsed to the ground. "Kaede," he whispered again, almost helplessly, looking down into her eyes dulled with pain.

"H-hello, Kusanagi," Kaede replied weakly, her smile radiant as she gazed up at him.

Momiji struggled to breathe around the tightness in her chest, as she watched their exchange, and she wrapped her arms around her shaking body, tears of misery pooling in her eyes.

"I thought I would never see you again," Kusanagi said softly, seemingly unaware of not only the pain he was causing Momiji but also oblivious to her presence.

"Fate has a funny way of bringing about the unexpected," Kaede replied, her green eyes moving affectionately over Kusanagi’s face before a spasm of pain crossed her features and Kusanagi tightened his grip on her, frowning in concern.

"Kusanagi, I never got a chance to tell you before – how special you were to me, how much it meant to know that you were near, watching over me," Kaede began and a look of pain crossed Kusanagi’s face.

He dropped his forehead down against Kaede’s and closed his eyes, whispering her name.

"Kaede."

Momiji put her hand to her mouth to keep the sob rising in her throat from escaping, and turned, moving away so that she could no longer hear them, not wanting to witness their intimate moment. It felt as if her whole world had suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces and she was left standing amongst the shards, her heart cut to ribbons by the wreckage and the image of Kaede and Kusanagi was reflected in each painful piece.