Sureiyazu

Episode 3: Confront the Demon

With the Sureiyazu on her side, Hikari was battling her way to Tsugu. She was surprised - it actually gave her a feeling of power to be pushing aside small demons with almost no trouble at all. If this was the Sureiyazu's job, no wonder they made it look so easy.

The demon in front of Hikari was about half her size, with red skin and tiny wings. Its fangs, which were long and sharp, stuck out at odd angles from its evilly grinning mouth.

Hikari, grinning herself, tripped the demon with the rope of her kyoketsu shoge and stabbed it in the neck with the blade. It disintegrated into a pile of dust with a deafening cry. All around her, the same cry echoed off the stone walls her as more of the weak demons fell. She had been informed by the Sureiyazu that these smaller demons served the larger ones, and that these particular demons were protecting Tsugu.

When she was confronted by another identical demon, Hikari slashed at it with her blade. The demon fell and another scream echoed throughout the cavern. But for every one she slayed, another came to take its place. She and the Sureiyazu followed the stream of monsters in hope of finding their true goal, Tsugu, and an end to the constant attacks.

Hikari tried to keep track of where they went and what turns they had made as they headed down several passages made of the same rock she had landed on earlier. But she soon lost count. She hoped the Sureiyazu knew where they were going.

At the time, the Sureiyazu did, in fact, know where they were and how to get back to where they started. But eventually even Aya lost herself in the endless caves. She hoped the others had been keeping track.

By the time Aya had lost track of where they were, Hikari was ready to call herself a master demonslayer. She must have slain thousands of demons in the time the team had been in the caves. At least, that was what it felt like. She was mindlessly fighting now; she barely had to think about it. And the deafening cries of demons falling was background noise.

But then the voice came back. "I'm honestly surprised," it taunted. "I didn't think little Hikari here could make it this far."

Another screech echoed off the walls of the cave. "I'm stronger now, Tsugu!" Hikari shouted, forcing herself to say the name she hated so much. "And I've come to get my revenge!"

"Oh," said the demon. "I see. Remember what happened last time you defied me, little girl?"

She wished he wouldn't call her that. He didn't control her. Never again would he control her. "You have no power over me anymore!"

"We'll see," it said. Something in the air shifted, and everything stopped. The demons stopped coming. The voice stopped speaking.

A portion of the cave wall slid away to reveal another large cavern. The only difference between this one and the cave Hikari and the Sureiyazu had originally landed in was that this one had a solid floor that covered it and was mostly flat, and it had a giant throne sitting in the middle of it. And there was a girl standing, waiting for them. Hikari gasped.

The Sureiyazu had seen this kind of thing before. A girl, who couldn't have been older than sixteen, stood before them with medium-length blue hair. She might have looked friendly any other time, except that the expression on her face was twisted and her posture was inhuman. Her dark eyes gazed at them, but at the same time didn't register anything they saw. There was a demon inside her, and it was controlling her.

"The missing girl," Aya told her teammates. She matched the description on the sign exactly. The demon had forced her to come to the mountains. It made perfect sense now.

The Sureiyazu exchanged glances, as they had a habit of doing, and formed a plan without speaking. They would have to rescue the soul that still laid within this girl.

As Hikari watched, Kasai darted around behind the girl with speed that was too fast to be possible and drew her katana. Her eyes grew wide as Kasai stopped right behind the girl, and pointed her blade at her torso.

"Don't move," Kasai warned, "Unless you want to find a new body to possess. And I promise you won't be taking the painless way out."

At the same time, Yuri bounded up into the air and landed in front of the demon. Out of nowhere appeared a pink club, covered in spikes. A tetsubo, Hikari remembered it was called. Yuri pointed it at the girl, and together the two teammates flanked the posessed teenager.

"Be nice and we won't have to hurt you," Yuri cheerfully told the demon inside the girl.

Aya took out her bo staff. For the first time, Hikari noticed that it had crystals embedded in it, near the top. After she chanted something under her breath, she slammed the bottom into the ground and shouted, with more volume than Hikari had ever heard come out of someone's mouth before, "Souls of light, hear my call!"

A light erupted from the staff and covered the room in warmth. Everything was blindingly bright, and Hikari covered her eyes. When the light faded, nothing looked different. The girl laughed the same laugh that had haunted the halls. It didn't fit her body and looked awkward and creepy. It made Hikari burn with anger.

"You fools!" the girl laughed in a deep, very male voice. "You can't awaken any soul in this body. I'm the only one in here!" She laughed her strange laugh again.

Kasai stepped forward. "We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way, then!" She raised her katana and -

"Stop!" Hikari screamed. The Sureiyazu all looked over at her. "She's just a girl!"

But the demon only laughed again. "That, little girl, is what I used to be. As you know. But I won't ever be that weak again." A thick black fog seeped out of the girl's skin. As it reached Hikari, who was beginning to feel more and more helpless, she found that she couldn't breathe. It took all her willpower not to faint, but the Sureiyazu seemed not to be having any trouble at all. She watched with horror as they raised their weapons.

"No," Hikari whispered. Tsugu was laughing hysterically, as if this was the most fun he had ever had. The Sureiyazu all wore identical determined stares. They all looked at each other, and then apologetically at the girl. The missing girl. Akuma.

"No," said Hikari in desperation. Somewhere deep inside herself, she found courage and power, and she stood.

"No!" she said again, but no one heard her. She fell back down, breathing heavily. She didn't have much longer before she was going to black out. As a last resort, she blurted the last thing she wanted the Sureiyazu to hear.

"Don't hurt her! That's my body!"