Dreamer Awakened

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

 

 

“Momiji!” 

To Kusinagi’s ears, it sounded like the whole room spoke in unison when everyone saw her standing next to Ms. Matsudaira.  There was the loud sound of chairs scraping against linoleum as Mr. Kunikida, Ryoko, Kome, Yaegashi and Sugishita made a mad dash in her direction.  Only Sakura and Kusanagi hung back, Sakura because she didn’t see what the big deal was, and Kusanagi because it was just too many people for him.

Momiji’s eyes widened and she took an involuntary step back as they approached her, although her smile widened at their friendly faces.

“Hi, everybody!” she chirped, and then her green eyes slid past them to find Kusanagi.  “Look!” she grinned happily waving her arm at him, “I finally got my arm back!”

“Well that’s one less weapon for me to have to worry about,” he mouthed sardonically, crossing his arms and ignoring the puzzled expressions of everyone else, his attention focused on Momiji’s disconcerted look and then her giggle.

“Don’t worry,” she told him, waving her hand in his direction, “I’m sure that I’ll come up with something just as effective.”

“Well, I’m hoping that you’ll prove less resourceful as long I keep you out of kitchen when you decide to launch an assault!” he muttered under his breath to himself.

“What was that? She asked, putting her hand to her ear, and giving him an inquiring look.

He looked away from her then and pushed away from the wall to stroll  restlessly towards the empty table.  “Nothing,” he replied dismissively.

“Momiji,” Mr. Kunikida finally broke in, “how are you feeling?  You look marvelous!”

Everyone murmured their agreement, and Momiji looked away from Kusanagi to the faces of the circle of friends surrounding her.

“I am feeling better,” she confirmed, her teeth flashing brightly as she grinned happily.

“Hey, people,” Sakura called peevishly from the window, “let’s not forget why we’re here.  I don’t know about you guys, but I have better things to do with my day than sit here and marvel at Momiji’s amazing comeback!”

Sakura’s crimson eyes burned resentfully, as she looked at Momiji.  Why was it that Momiji always managed to steal the spotlight?  Well, not today, Sakura thought determinedly.  If she wasn’t going to shine, then neither was Momiji. 

“Sakura’s right,” Mr. Kunikida said, clearing his throat gravely, “we have quite a few important things to discuss today.  And now that everyone is here, it’s time we get down to business.”

Everyone shuffled quietly to the table and Momiji made sure that she slid into the seat next to Kusanagi’s, her hands folded on top of the table as she waited for the meeting to start.

“As you all are aware, we have discovered the existence of what appears to be a new race of Aragami,”  Mr. Kunikida began as he went around the table and put a manila folder in front of each person before taking a seat at the top of the table.  “Ms. Mastusdaira has compiled some general information that she was able to learn from studying the Aragami, and we have added that  information to what we already know.

“So far, we have been able to determine that each of these creatures have at least one black mitama, maybe more.  They are carnivorous to a certain degree, have the ability to restructure their physical shape, travel underground to hide their tracks and they prefer the dark, although have been known to attack during the daylight hours. 

”The two full Aragami bodies that were recovered in the iwattos had similar characteristics such as the black mitamas, red, cat-like eyes, and the color and texture of their skins.  Their physical appearance however, greatly differed in the size of their bodies, their facial structure and their skeletal structure to a certain extent, but this could be due to the fact that they can alter their appearance. 

So far, we have been able to confirm fifteen attacks and three more possible deaths, although the last three haven’t been confirmed. 

“The first attacks began four weeks ago in Hokkaido and then moved to Wakasa.  Twelve attacks in all, in those two areas that yielded no survivors. 

“The cause of the fatalities is known to a certain extent,” Kunikida paused and opened his folder, and everyone else followed suit, including Momiji. 

She stared down at the pictures and her stomach twisted inside her.

“As you can see,” Kunikida went on to say, “from the first few pictures, the cause of death, it quite obvious; loss of blood and severe tissue and organ damage.  But in the last pictures,” here he paused again and shuffled the pictures and everyone else did the same, “the cause of death is less certain.  Note the odd pallor of the skin and hair,” Kunikida observed, “and the texture of the skin.

“Ms. Matsudaira has concluded that there has been a cellular breakdown on the most basic level, like the cells’ energy has been tapped and drained.  We have been unable to verify how the new Aragami accomplish this, but believe it has something to do with the their black mitamas, since each victim has a burn mark on their forehead as a distinct point of contact .  The two Aragami monsters that we recovered here in Izumo and Takachiho both had a black mitama buried in roughly what would be considered their left palm beneath several folds of skin that act as a flap to protect it.-”

Momiji reached up and touched her own forehead, remembering the burning sensation she had felt and the glowing mitama on the monster’s forehead as it drained away her energy.

“Momiji? Are you feeling all right?” Mr. Kunikida broke off what he was saying, looking at her suddenly white face in concern.

Momiji looked up at him, her emerald eyes standing out against the whiteness of her cheeks.  “It feeds their souls,” she said.

“What does?”  Mr. Kunikida asked.

“We do.”

No one said anything for a moment, but all eyes turned in her direction as she tried to explain what she meant. 

“When it touched me,” she began, clenching her fingers together to keep them from trembling, “I could feel its hunger.  It wasn’t hungry for food.  It was hungry for energy, like its soul only had a limited supply and to support itself it was feeding off of my soul.”

“Old and new souls together,” Sakura broke in at this point, her crimson eyes focused briefly on Momiji and then she glanced around the table.  “What Momiji says would explain why I felt old and new souls mingling together in Wakasa.  Whatever these things are, they use human life energy to maintain their own existence.”

“But what about the organ and tissue damage,” Kome pointed out, “why in some cases was it so widespread and in others, hardly any at all?”

“Perhaps to supply their bodies with energy. Maybe they need both to survive,” Kusanagi speculated.

“If that is the case then they are true, parasitic creatures,” Ms. Matsudaira observed, and then went on to add, “structurally speaking, they are a unique race.  On the surface, their mitamas are more like the red ones that have been genetically altered, and less like the purer blue mitamas. But looking at them on a microscopic level, even their mitamas are completely different; the higher neurological centers have been severely damaged and what is left has been restructured in an unusual way, almost as if the mitama has been manipulated to accommodate its host. 

It’s not just the mitamas that set these new Aragami apart either.  The creatures themselves are neither plant nor animal like the old Aragami.  Their blood is hemoglobin and protein based, containing the genetic DNA components of their victims, but their bodies are composed mainly of silicates.”

            “Silicates?”  Kome’s face screwed up into a confused look.  “What?  Do you mean, like a computer chip?”

            Matsu shook her head, “No, silicates are not the same thing as pure silicon.  They are silicon oxygen compounds, though and they constitute ninety-five percent of the Earth’s crust and mantle.”

“You mean like a rock?”  Now Kome was looking more confused than ever.

“Certain rocks are silicates,” Matsu affirmed, “but silicates are complex structures.  Their basic structure is the silicon tetrahedron which lends itself well to bonding with other compounds in a variety of ways to create different structures.”

“But you’re saying that ninety-five percent are in the Earth’s crust and mantle – like rocks,” Kome persisted.

“Not just rocks, but clay, soil, sand – they all can be silicate based,” Matsu clarified.

“Maybe that’s why these things like to travel underground so much,” Kusanagi inserted, “because they come from underground, or are made from the earth itself.”

“Kind of like a golem,” Momiji blurted out, feeling silly for saying it and then squirming when everyone shifted their attention to her.

“A golem,” Ms. Matsudaira said thoughtfully, “that’s an interesting correlation.  Golems were effigies or idols created from some type of material, such as clay, stone or iron, for instance, and then were animated by a source of magic.  That has a certain relevance here.”

“So, what are you saying?” Mr. Kunikida asked Ms. Matsudaira.

“I’m saying that perhaps what we’re dealing with here isn’t an Aragami at all,” Ms. Matsudaira replied slowly, thinking out loud, “but a force that is inhabiting the damaged souls of genetically altered Aragami, and manipulating them for some other reason.  - Although that still wouldn’t explain the abnormal amount of particle ionization at the iwattos.”

A silence fell around the room which Kunikida finally broke.  “What abnormal amount of particle ionization, and just what the hell does that mean anyway?”

“Momiji first brought it to my attention,” Ms. Matsudaira explained, “that there was an abnormally large amount of particle ionization happening at the iwatto here in Izumo, like some huge electrochemical reaction is occurring or is about to occur.  The results that Kome and Yaegashi brought back from Takachiho showed the same results, only to a greater degree, like the reaction had already occurred.  And the second batch of samples taken here in Izumo the day that Momiji was attacked, resulted in an even higher level of ionization.”

“Is it being caused by these creatures, do you think?” Ryoko asked looking at Matsu.

“That, I don’t know,” Matsu responded with a frustrated sigh, “it could be that they are causing it, or it could be that they are drawn to it and that’s why Momiji was attacked here in Izumo and why Kome and Yaegashi were attacked in Takachiho.”

“What about Midori, in Ise/” Momiji asked, feeling suddenly apprehensive. 

Matsu paged through her research and then looked up, a look of dismay on her face.

“With all the research I’ve been doing, I just now realized that I don’t have anything on the iwatto in Ise ,which means that I haven’t heard from Midori, either” Matsu responded.

“What?”  How long ago was this?” Kunikida asked, alarmed.

“Four days ago,” came Matsu’s aggrieved response.

“Kome, Ryoko, I want you to drive out to Ise and check out the iwatto,” Kunikida ordered immediately, “and see if you can track Midori down as well.”

“Let me go with you,” Momiji said to Ryoko, but Kunikida cut across their exchange.

“No, Momiji.  I want you and Kusanagi to go to Takachiho with Sakura and see if any of you can sense anything out of the ordinary since the ionization levels are so high there.  Yaegashi, you and Matsu try to work on a method of tracking these creatures before they strike.  If we can see them coming, maybe we can stop them before they strike.  Sugishita, you’ll come back to Tokyo with me.  I have a meeting with the Chief Cabinet Secretary to the Prime Minister.  You can help me brief him on where we currently stand.”

 

By mid-afternoon, Ryoko and Kome arrived at the iwatto in Ise.  They climbed the stone stairs leading to the entrance, a bitterly sharp, cold wind biting into their faces and whipping their hair around.  Neither woman said anything, each looking sharply around, trying to remain alert for the presence of Aragami.  They paused at the top of the stairs, and listened.  There was nothing but silence.

Kome drew her firearm and Ryoko followed suit, and together they entered the iwatto, following the passage to the end where it opened out into the main chamber where the pool of water was.  Ryoko came out into the chamber first, shock stopping her dead in her tracks.

“What?” Kome hissed from behind her, “what is it?”

She stepped around Ryoko and her blue eyes widened too.

“Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say that it’s dead,” Kome said, looking at the truncated head and body.  “But I wonder who killed it?”

“Kome, look,” Ryoko said grimly, picking up the discarded satchel and opening it. 

Inside were Midori’s tools, her cell phone and her lab ID card.  Ryoko handed the satchel to Kome and started looking around the chamber for any other clues as to what might have happened to Midori, noticing Midori’s hammer embedded near the spine of the dead creature.

Kome looked in the satchel and then looked around at Ryoko, “Well she’s not here, now, which means that that monster didn’t get her.  That’s a good sign, right?” she asked, trying to sound optimistic.  “Maybe she was able to flee and went back to her parents, or maybe she’s back in Tokyo, now.”

“Or maybe,” Ryoko hypothesized, crouching down and squinting at something on the floor, “the Aragami that  killed this monster took her with it.”

“What?” Kome gasped, hurrying over to where Ryoko was, in order to see what she was looking at.  “Oh, my god,” she breathed, “green blood.”

“Green blood,” Ryoko confirmed heavily, putting her fingers to her temples and closing her eyes as if to try and shut out the truth.

“What does it mean?”

“It means that we’re in more trouble than we thought we were,” Ryoko predicted grimly.

 

Sakura heaved an impatient sigh as she bounced along, Kusanagi separating her and Momiji as they walked to Momiji’s car.  Neither Kusanagi nor Momiji spoke as they walked, each keeping their gaze straight ahead, Kusanagi because he found Sakura irritating and Momiji because her thoughts were occupied with Midori and Susano-oh.

Sakura glanced up at Kusanagi’s stony profile and then looked around at Momiji’s preoccupied one and rolled her eyes.  Geez, she thought grimacing, was she going to have to spend her entire day with these two cardboard cutouts?  She looked at her watch and heaved another sigh, this time of disgust, a pout settling across her freckled face.

“Are you having trouble breathing, Faith Healer?” Kusanagi asked sarcastically, keeping his gaze straight ahead, “you know, if you’re finding respiration difficult, you might try wearing something that has a little more breathing room to it, that way you won’t hyperventilate.”

“What? You mean something bland, like what Momiji’s wearing?” Sakura sneered, and Momiji, hearing her name turned her startled eyes to Sakura and heard her say, “you can’t expect me, the lovely Sakura, to dress like that!  I want men to look at me with admiration, not pity, Kusanagi.  And you can’t honestly tell me that you get turned on by the boring way she dresses!  I just won’t believe it” She stopped as a thought struck her and she tossed back her head and laughed, “well really, I just can’t see you getting all hot and bothered over her, no matter how she dresses,” she remarked, her eyes sliding from Kusanagi, to Momiji and then back to Kusanagi again.  “I mean, let’s face it, you’re a very…macho, sexy kind of guy and Momiji’s – well – the word virginal comes to mind.” 

Momiji gasped in outrage at her comment.

Sakura ignored her and went on to add, “I guess you could use the word chaste, as well, but either way, it’s hardly what you would call a good match.”

Momiji’s face flooded with color and she looked down at herself.  Virginal?  Chaste?  Is that how she really looked?  And was that a bad thing?  Kusanagi didn’t think that was a bad thing, did he?  But his next comment did nothing to dispel that possibility in the least.

“How I see Momiji is none of your business, Sakura,” Kusanagi replied scathingly, “in fact I would appreciate it if you would keep your freckled, pointy nose out of my business altogether,” he scowled down at her, recalling that she was the direct instigator of his conversation with Sugishita that morning.

“My, my, my, we are in a nasty temper today, aren’t we,” she said in a deceptively sweet voice, “what is it, Kusanagi?  Don’t you like sharing your toys with the other boys?” she asked, giving him a feline smile, and watching his color rise as her barb hit home. 

Sakura let her eyes slide to Momiji who just looked perplexed now, not understanding what she was talking about, and her smile widened.  She gave Momiji a playful wink and feeling that she had stirred up enough trouble for the time being subsided into silence.

Momiji’s bewildered gaze went from Sakura to Kusanagi, and she blinked in confusion.  Kusanagi continued to stare straight ahead, but Momiji knew that something that Sakura said had really riled him because his brows were drawn together and his jaw was clenched tight. 

Silence prevailed as they all climbed into the car, Momiji and Sakura in the front seat and Kusanagi, sitting sullenly, arms crossed, in the back.  As Momiji drove the silence lengthened and became uncomfortable, but Momiji was afraid to say anything, given the thunderous expression on Kusanagi’s face, so she concentrated instead on what she learned this morning. 

As she mulled over the information, she couldn’t help but think back to the day that she was attacked, remembering the creature and the vision that she had had right before it attacked her, and she pictured in her mind again, the infant with cat-like eyes. 

He comes… you must be prepared…

And then it hit her.  Prepare for him, the child.  She was supposed to prepare for the child!  Momiji’s mind began to flit in different directions and she slowed the car down at a traffic light in Takachiho.

She looked around at the shops waiting for the light to change and suddenly said, “Do you mind if we make a quick stop before heading to the iwatto?” 

She waited for Sakura to answer, but all she heard was a snuffling sound followed by a whoosh of air.  Momiji looked over at her, and her mouth fell open.  Sakura’s head was tilted sideways against the window, her eyes closed, and her mouth hanging open, as she snored. 

“She’s been asleep since we left Izumo,” Kusanagi told Momiji when he saw her surprise.

“How could she possibly fall asleep that quickly?” Momiji wondered aloud.

“Probably the lack of oxygen to the brain,” Kusanagi told her sourly from the back seat.

“Do you think she would mind if I made a quick stop?” Momiji asked him, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Kusanagi shrugged his shoulders indifferently and replied, “Who cares if she does or not?  She’s never going to know anyway.  She’s been rattling the car windows with her snores all the way here.” He informed her acidly.

“Okay, then,” Momiji said, pulling the car over in front of the store and climbing out.  “I won’t be but a minute,” she leaned down and told Kusanagi before she closed the door.

Kusanagi leaned his head against the back seat and waited for Momiji to return.  True to her word, she wasn’t gone that long, but his head snapped up in amazement at the number of bags she was carrying with her when she did come back. 

He sat up straight and watched her circle around the car to put them in the trunk and then when she climbed back in the front seat couldn’t help but ask.  “What the heck did you buy?” and then before she could answer, he demanded suspiciously, “you didn’t take what Sakura said about your clothes seriously, and end up buying a bunch of new clothes, did you?” 

He suddenly pictured Momiji dressed in a tight mini-skirt and garters, her cleavage exposed by a low cut midriff shirt and felt himself getting turned on.  God help him, he thought, he didn’t think he would be able to stand it if she dressed like that.

“What? No!” Momiji declared defensively and then asked uncertainly, “are you saying that I need to change the way that I dress?”

“No,” Kusanagi said emphatically, “even you’re flannel nightgowns are one hundred times better than what Sakura wears.”

And a lot more virginal too, he thought picturing Momiji in pink teddy bears and blue bunnies, trying to get his raging hormones back under control.  It wasn’t working, because all he could think of was the way Momiji’s skin had felt underneath the blue bunnies the morning he had woken up next to her.

“You don’t think they’re too…” Momiji hesitated, not wanting to ask, but found she couldn’t help herself, “you don’t think they’re too virginal?”

“Why are you asking me that?” he asked, suddenly panicked, not liking where this conversation was headed.

“Well, you did tell me that I needed to wear something more adult,” Momiji replied diffidently as color washed through her face.

Kusanagi clearly recalled that conversation, and now images of Momiji dressed in a pink teddy were dancing through his head.  Dear god, he mentally groaned, shifting uncomfortably, his pants becoming too tight, what did he ever do to deserve this?

“Adult?” Sakura suddenly snickered from her seat, having woken up within the last few minutes and being thoroughly entertained by Kusanagi and Momiji’s verbal interchange.  “You actually told her she needed to dress more adult?”  Sakura was guffawing now, “Kusanagi, you bad, bad boy!  Trying to lead Momiji away from the straight and narrow with your suggestive ideas!  How horrible of you!” she sputtered, and both Momiji and Kusanagi were left silently embarrassed while she continued to rib them as they drove on.

“You were much more agreeable while you were snoring, Sakura,” Kusanagi seethed, and her laughter abruptly ceased.

“I do NOT snore!” she bristled indignantly.

“You most certainly DO!” Kusanagi shot back smugly, wanting to get back at her, “and let me tell you it is most unattractive.  There’s nothing sexy at all about snoring, Cherry Blossom,” he informed her condescendingly, “and it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing when you start sawing logs, because nobody’s going to be looking while they’re running the other way with their hands over their ears, slipping and sliding on that nice puddle of drool that you’ve got going there.”

Sakura gritted her teeth and shot Kusanagi a nasty look, which he met with a nasty smile of his own. 

“You bas –“ she snarled to be interrupted by Momiji.

“We’re here!” Momiji fairly shouted in a loud and urgent way, wanting to get out of the car before either Kusanagi or Sakura exploded in rage. 

Momiji pulled the car over, put it in park and quickly zipped out before the other two had even unbuckled their seatbelts.  She had only managed to get about ten steps from the car before Kusanagi exploded, but at her and not Sakura.

“Where the hell do you think you’re gonig by yourself, you little fool?” He yelled, flitting quickly over to her and grabbing her by the arm.  “Have you forgotten that this is where they found one of the Aragami?  What if they’re still hanging around here, Momiji?”

Momiji stopped and looked around, glancing at the barren trees surrounding the iwatto.

 “I haven’t forgotten,” she told him quietly, removing her arm from his hard grasp and moving forward slowly as she murmured, “don’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Kusanagi asked exasperated, reaching out and hooking his fingers around her elbow to stopping her forward motion.

“The sadness,” Momiji replied after a minute looking up into his face, a faraway expression in her eyes.

Kusanagi looked startled and shook his head.  “I don’t feel anything,” he replied looking towards the entrance of the iwatto.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true, he thought.  He was feeling quite a few things at the moment, his memories of this place stirring up a lot of old emotions.  In his mind he could clearly picture Kaede protecting the boy, Lord Susano-oh, standing right at the entrance, Murakumo by their side.  It was here, that he realized that the Kaede he had once loved and protected was gone forever.  Even now, after three years, he could still taste the bitterness.

“Whoa,” Kusanagi heard Sakura say from behind him, “this place is swimming in despair.”

“You feel it too?” Momiji asked, her green eyes watching Sakura as she gazed around the same way Momiji had just a few moments earlier.

“Yeah, it’s impossible not to feel it,” Sakura replied, moving purposely forward toward the entrance.

Momiji made to follow her, but Kusanagi stopped her, pulling her back to walk next to him.

“Stay close, Momiji,” he told her.

Inside the main chamber of the iwatto all was quiet, but here, even Kusanagi was able sense a heaviness in the air disturbing the natural serenity of the pool.  It pressed in on him, and he suddenly felt very depressed.

Then, suddenly through the stillness, they heard the hollow rasp of a laugh and turned as one to stare into the darkness where the sound was coming from.

“I had not expected to find you here, Kusanagi,” came a voice that Kusanagi recognized. 

It was the voice of the Aragami whose arm he had severed. What the hell was it doing here?  Kusanagi immediately jerked Momiji behind his body to shield her, unsheathing the blades in his arms and taking a defensive stance, staring into the darkness and waiting for the Aragami to show itself.

“How the hell do you know my name?” he demanded, his voice hard.

The creature laughed again and finally stepped into the light, its slitted, red eyes focused on Kusanagi, noting the blades and the feral sneer on his face.

“I know more than just your name, little man,” the creature assured him shrewdly, his eyes flitting to the small girl peeking from behind Kusanagi’s back.

“Look,” she whispered, pointing wide-eyed, “its arm grew back.”

Tamanasu laughed, again, his mouth stretching into a horrible smile that showed his long fangs and he said, “You must be the Kushinada.  Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Tamanasu of the Tengugaki.”

“Tengugaki?” Sakura repeated, her eyebrows shooting up over her crimson eyes, as she stared at the black mitama.  “not Aragami?”

“Pitiful humans, you do not deserve to hold the Over World when your power and knowledge is so pathetically weak.  We are the Tengugaki, the children of Kakeru Kuni; the Withered Kingdom.”  Tamanasu informed her, his slitted eyes staring scornfully at her.

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Sakura lashed out, “what Withered Kingdom?”

“Below the Over World and the Kingdom of the Roots, and along the Road of the Death lies the Withered Kingdom,“ Tamanasu’s replied, “it is unlike your Over World in every way imaginable.  Here your earth is in constant change, brown to green, green to gold, and then gold to brown again. But below, there is only stillness, the blackness of shadows the only color in a landscape of infinite grey.

“Here your heavens are in constant flux; mercurial changes altering your skies as the gods of the moon and the sun vie for supremacy, and the god of storms, Susano-oh, shakes the heavens with his rage at the fickleness of his brother and sister.  But below, time is unending, the darkness unbroken by the light of your gods who have long forsaken such a wretched place.

“Here, souls are in constant motion; the promise of life achieved in birth, and growth to a new beginning in a journey beyond death for those fulfilling life’s promises and keeping the covenant of the gods.  But below are the souls of the damned, those who have broken life’s promises and shattered the covenant of the gods and are destined to journey the Road of Death for eternity. 

“Here, sleep the dreamers with dreams, giving birth to the shining hopes of your humanity in a world of infinite possibilities.  Below are the sinners and their nightmares, giving birth to a greater darkness, a greater power whose goal is domination and immortality.

“This is the world of the Tengugaki.  We are born from the shadows, living to destroy those that revile us and reviling those that gave us life.  Our covenant is the domination of humans and Aragami, our promise, the fulfillment of evolution through human and Aragami blood.

“Through evolution, we will attain perfection and finally break free from the shackles of the Under World to become immortal and invincible.  We will lay waste to your worlds, the worlds of the humans and the Aragami, and we will destroy your gods in revenge for forsaking us, the forgotten children.”

“We-he-he-ll,” Sakura replied caustically, her hands fisted by her sides as she leaned forward and spat, “those are some awfully big goals for a race of demons that are so weak that they rely on their enemy to give them strength.  But one thing I’ve learned is demons are always good at lies and deception. Except this time, I think the only ones you’ve deceived have been yourselves, Mr. Tamanasu.  What makes you think that the we’ll just quietly lay down and die and let you have our world.”

“Try and stop us, if you want,” Tamanasu laughed, “but your demise is inevitable. It is just a matter of time, now -”

“You won’t find what you’re looking for,” Momiji declared vehemently, interrupting him as she stepped from behind Kusanagi, her green eyes staring unwavering into the surprised face of Tamanasu.

She took an unhindered step forward, Kusanagi too surprised by her action to stop her.

“You won’t succeed in your plan,” she told Tamanasu with sudden ferocity, “I won’t let you! I’ll find him before you do!”

She stood with her legs braced apart, staring defiantly at the Tengugaki, and watched the rage kindle in his red eyes.  He stretched, his limbs and body becoming even bigger, and his horns elongating to curl like giant spikes toward his back.  His transformation complete, he began moving purposefully towards Momiji.

“How did you know!?” Tamanasu demanded, “Tell me, Kushinada, how did you know what I was looking for!?“

“Momiji!” Kusanagi called urgently, flitted forward then, and snatching Momiji up to carry her away from the long reach of Tamanasu, “what the hell are you doing!?” he snarled at her before setting her down.

 Sakura had stepped up to face Tamanasu in the meantime, her crimson eyes hard and full of purpose and Tamanasu stopped, his eyes moving from Momiji to where Sakura stood as a blockade between them

 “Your spirit is strong, human.  I see your energy spiraling around you in long silver waves.”  He took a step toward her, but stopped when Kusanagi suddenly flitted between him and Sakura, his fisted hand raised to his face, turning his blade outwards into an attacking position.

“Hold it right there, you freak,” Kusanagi  spat through gritted teeth.

“Move, Kusanagi!” Sakura blared, “you’re getting in my way!”   

She stepped around the other side of Kusanagi and began chanting, pulling out a talisman and holding it between her forefinger and middle finger.  She finished her chant and flipped it over transforming it into a high - energy sphere. 

“If you’re hungry, you clay bastard, try a taste of this!” she hissed and heaved the ball of light at him.

Tamanasu stepped aside, and the sphere exploded against the stone wall behind him.  It shattered into a mass of light that illuminated the entire iwatto in brilliant white for all of two seconds before it abruptly died out, shaking the walls and the floor just from the impact.  Huge chunks of rubble began to fall, creating an entirely new problem. 

“Damn, Sakura!” Kusanagi ranted at her, as he was forced to shield his face and head from the sharp stones scraping past him on the way to the ground,  “what are you trying to do, kill us all?”

“Shut up, Kusanagi!” she flashed back, shooting him a dirty look before ducking her head beneath her own arms, “I’ll do whatever it takes to kill this bastard!”

Tamanasu shielded his face as well, not just from the falling debris, but because his eyes, unused to the light, had been momentarily blinded.  He must get away.  He was not strong enough to fight them both, right now.  Even if he were strong enough to fight them now, it would be quite pointless since he could not engage in a battle with the ultimate goal of killing Kusanagi.  The shower of debris began to subside, and Tamanasu dropped his clawed hand away from his face, his eyes sliding to Momiji’s huddled form.

 “You will not win, Kushinada,” he promised her, “ and when we find him, your life will be forfeit as well.”  

He turned and fled back down the passage of the iwatto.

“Don’t let him get away!” Sakura shrieked and started running after him, closely followed by Kusanagi, the clicking of their footsteps retreating into the sudden silence.

Momiji watched them leave the chamber and collapsed to her knees.  She began shaking violently all over in delayed shock, as she pictured in her mind, the infant of her vision being attacked, his life drained away by the foul Tengugaki, the same way hers had been.  Momiji’s chin dropped to her chest, and her breathing became rapid as she closed her eyes, feeling a sheen of perspiration break out on her forehead.  She leaned forward, her palms flat against the cold stone of the floor, and her arms shook violently, threatening to give way and leave her lying face down and the floor.  She was suddenly freezing, her hands and feet icy cold, and she could feel her breath coming out in long shudders but couldn’t seem to get it back under control.  She was about to be sick, she realized, and doubled over as she retched out the contents of her stomach.

As soon as she was finished, she felt a hand touch her shoulder and she let out a terrified shriek, shrinking away from the contact.

“It’s me, Momiji,” Kusanagi reassured her, when she tried to pull away from him, her face stark white and her eyes dark with fear.

She didn’t seem to hear him and he grabbed her by both arms, pulling her stiff body up close to him and calling her name. 

“It’s over, Momiji.  He’s gone,” he kept telling her over and over until he felt her body begin to relax, aware that Sakura was hovering anxiously by his side, staring at Momiji.

Momiji clung to Kusanagi.  Her hands fisted in his shirt and she leaned her face against his chest, feeling her body begin to gradually warm as he continued to hold her close, his arms wrapped protectively around her. 

After some minutes, Sakura finally spoke, unable to hold her silence any longer.  “Momiji, what did you mean when you said ‘you won’t find what you’re looking for’?  What is it that Tamanasu is looking for?”

Momiji hesitated briefly and then stuttered, “A – a child – I think he’s looking for a child.”

“A child!?” Sakura asked incredulously, “whose child? What for?”

Momiji shook her head, and laughed hysterically into Kusanagi’s chest,  “I don’t know!”