Thursday, June 10, 2010

Chapter 5 - Destruction of the Western lands
Sessaru lays in his bed curled up in a ball. He winces in pain and stretches out.

"Damn gas bubble." He says holding his stomach.

Suddenly he sits up and vomits all over the floor.

"Great...." He says to himself.

He vomits a couple more times and then lays back on his bed.

"Milord, is there anything wrong?" A young woman asks through the door.

"I'm not feeling well." He replies.

The young woman enters and leaves a second later. She returns only moments later with a mop and bucket.

"I'm sorry about this." He says weakly from his bed.

Once the mess is cleaned up, she sets a large bucket by his bed.

"In case you still have more." She says with a smile before leaving.

"Thank you." Sessaru says before the door shuts.

Down the hall Nara is still being tended to by Misaka.

"You realize it won't happen, don't you?" Nara asks.

"I know. But..." Misaka replies before seeing the young woman standing in the doorway.

"Lord Sessaru is sick and won't be getting out of bed today." She says before leaving.

"Why not?" Misaka asks softly to Nara.

"You know why." Nara says holding his hand up and a faint scar is still there.

"Will you at least give me this time while you're here?" Misaka asks.

"Finally got him in bed, I see." Amaya says from the hallway.

"Mother?" Misaka says surprised and embarrassed.

"Perhaps you two should close the door if you want to fool around." Amaya says and closes the door.

A strange wind blows through the window and Nara sits up.

"Excuse me." Nara says and opens the window farther.

"What is it?" Misaka asks.

"Come on in." Nara says to the window.

"Forgive the intrusion," Koji says climbing through the window, "but I have an urgent message from the doctor."

Nara takes the note and reads it.

"Hmm, He couldn't find anything at all?" Nara ask.

"No, Milord. Even my connections couldn't dig anything up." Koji replies.

"Guess we will wait and see. For now just do whatever it is you do." Nara says crumpling the note.

"Hai!" Koji says and bows before leaping out the window.

A loud scream comes from down the hall. Nara is out the door and looking around the hallway in a flash.

Amaya is leaning against the wall across from Sessaru's room, covered in blood. Koji comes through another window, landing quietly next to Nara.

They run down to Sessaru's room and see the young woman laying on the floor, torn to bits. Sessaru stands above her covered in blood.

"This can't be a good sign." Nara says.

Several of the nearby guards come running in and stand between Nara and Sessaru who is looking at the blood on his hands.

The commander blows a whistle to alert the other guards and Sessaru looks up at them with crimson eyes. He takes a step forward and the sound of flesh being torn is heard.

"What's going on?" Mir asks as she comes around the corner.

"No! Mir!" Amaya shouts.

Koji picks Mir up and keeps her from seeing Sessaru.

"Koji, take her to Misaka's room. Amaya, look at me." Nara says, "Go with Koji and I will handle Sessaru."

She hesitantly follows Koji.

Nara turns around and Sessaru's hand goes straight through his chest. Nara coughs up some blood and blinks a few times before falling over.

Sessaru removes his hand and runs off.

A massive thunderstorm has started to roll in with blinding heavy rain and fierce lightning. The wind picks up and is almost hurricane force in a few seconds.

As night falls, almost everyone in the castle has been slain. Nara gets to his feet very slowly and assess the situation. He stumbles towards Misaka's room.

"Koji?" Nara asks weakly, walking in and looking at the empty room.

Koji climbs through the window followed by Amaya, Misaka, and Mir.

"All of you alright?" Nara asks.

"Yes." Koji says picking up Nara's book and then gives it to him.

Nara's large gaping wound in his chest heals almost instantly.

"Koji, take them somewhere safe. I will get Sessaru back under control." Nara says.

"What happened to him?" Amaya asks with tears in his eyes.

"I believe my power may of been too much all at once." Nara replies.

"You mean this is your doing?" Amaya asks.

"Yes. I tried to make him stronger to compete with these younger demons, who are being born more powerful everyday. He went straight from a C rank to an S rank." Nara explains.

"Why so big of a leap?" Misaka asks.

"I have never done it before." Nara says.

"No one has ever done it before. It is not in any record books anywhere. Lord Nara did it to help his friend by making him an S rank so that he could protect his family. Sessaru is having a power conflict inside him. If Lord Nara can subdue him then Sessaru still has a chance of survival." Koji explains.

"Just stop him before its too late." Amaya says.

Nara nods and sprints down the hallway that is littered with dead bodies.

*****************************

In a small village, only a few miles from Sessaru's castle, a young boy, around 5, is laying on his father's body crying.

Throughout the entire village, bodies of the villagers lay scattered about.

Nara runs through the village and shakes his head.

"He sure is thorough." Nara says and continues on.

*****************************

Sessaru surveys another village full of dead bodies.

A man runs at Sessaru with his sword drawn.

A second later, the sword flies through the air and the man splits down the middle.

*****************************

Around midnight, Sessaru is about to leave when Nara finally catches up to him.

Sessaru turns around and is sent flying through a hut from Nara's kick to his chest.

"Found you!" Nara says.

Sessaru gets up and lunges at Nara.

His razor sharp claws rip through Nara's face. Nara spins around and back hands Sessaru across the jaw dislocating it. He isn't even stunned by the hit and slashes at Nara a few times.

"Guess we have to do this a different way." Nara says and picks his book up as he ducks down to avoid Sessaru's attack.

As he stands back up he brings the book up and smashes it right under Sessaru's jaw. He lifts off the ground and Nara drives his fist deep into Sessaru's gut, knocking all of the air out of his lungs.

Sessaru falls to the ground unconscious and Nara falls to his knees.

"You my friend are definitely strong enough to protect this land." Nara says, "If there is anyone left protecting."

A massive spider (about the size of a semi trailer), that looks similar to a Black Widow, scampers through the village right past Nara and Sessaru's body.

"Huh?" Nara says watching it disappear into the forest.

*****************************

The following morning Nara returns with Sessaru draped over his shoulder.

"Is he okay?" Amaya asks running to greet them.

"Yeah, he's unconscious at the moment." Nara replies.

*****************************

"You want us to do what?" Amaya asks slamming both hands down on the table.

Nara sits across from her still covered in his own blood, later that afternoon.

"It is in his best interest." Nara replies.

"How! Tell me how is it in his best interest to think that he killed his only family?" Amaya asks.

"If he believes that he is responsible for killing those closest to him then he will learn from this. If he knows you are still alive then he will more then likely just shrug it off as if its all right to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent demons." Nara explains.

Amaya is quiet for a moment.

"What about you? You are responsible for his actions. You made him from a kind innocent demon to the crimson eyed killing machine." Amaya says.

"I know. My hands are just as blood soaked as his." Nara says and stands.

He walks around the table and kneels next to Amaya, then bows deeply.

"Please forgive me for what I have done to your only son. I am to blame for his actions not him. I did not know he would react this way to it. I was only trying to help a close friend of mine." Nara says, "I swear to you that I will look out for him as long as I draw breath."

Amaya picks his head up and sees the seriousness in his eyes.

"I should be furious with you for what you did but I know you were only looking out for him. I realize that as a Lord of the Western Lands he will have to take the life of anyone that opposes him. I guess I wanted him to stay my little boy forever but that's not possible." Amaya says with tears in her eyes.

Nara gives her a big hug and she holds him tightly.

"You better take good care of him." She says into Nara's chest.

"I will. That is my promise to you." Nara replies.

The door opens and Misaka jumps back, away from the door.

"Koji will take you somewhere safe and I'll visit once I clear this mess up." Nara says.

Koji walks out of Sessaru's room.

"He is sleeping peacefully right now but I think we should get going." Koji says.

While they pack, Nara talks with Koji.

"Understood." Koji says, "I will take them to the safest place in the Demon Realm."

They leave and Nara sees them to the gates then returns to their rooms. He trashes the rooms and smears blood all over the place.

*****************************

The following morning Sessaru awakens feeling refreshed but a look of confusion comes over him.

"Was that a dream?" He asks as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He stands and trips over a piece of the young woman's body.

"What the hell?" He says to himself and examines the room.

In the hallway Nara waits patiently for him.

Sessaru bursts through the door and straight into Nara.

"What happened here?" He asks.

"You killed them all. In a temporary loss of sanity you slaughtered the entire Western Land." Nara says calmly.

"You lie. I could never...." Sessaru says, "Where is my mother?.... My sisters?......."

"Died by your hands." Nara says softly, "I buried them in the garden just a little bit ago."

Sessaru blinks repeatedly, trying to make sense of what Nara said to him. Nara puts his hand on Sessaru's shoulder and hugs him.

A loud scream echoes through the empty castle.

*****************************

"That was Sessaru." Misaka says riding the horse through a dense forest several miles away.

"Nara must of told him what he did." Amaya says riding in front of her with a sleeping Mir in her arms.

Koji stops at the mouth of a cave later that day.

"We'll make camp here for the night. In the morning we will continue." Koji explains and helps Amaya off her horse.

"We are going into that cave?" Misaka asks.

"Yes. It is the only way to get to where we are going." Koji replies.

"And where exactly is that?" Amaya asks.

"My home." Koji says.

*****************************

Two days later, Nara has returned to his castle with Sessaru.

"Everyone has been gathered like you asked." Kareen says.

Nara stands in front of the microphone and looks out at the citizens of the Demon Realm.

"A couple days ago you may have caught wind of a massive storm in the Western Lands that blew the scent of fresh blood. Or you may of heard of the massacre that happened there. It is true. There was a demon that annihilated those innocent demons. And that demon was me." Nara explains.

The citizens gasp and mutter amongst themselves.

"I have no logical explanation to justify my actions. The only explanation I can offer is that it is part of my curse. I know many of you know that I am an S ranked demon. They are a rarity and I have been both blessed and yet cursed at the same time. It has become apparent that as an S ranked demon I am bound to go insane and slaughter everyone around me. It is the curse of every S ranked demon before me and shall be for every S ranked demon after me. If you do not feel safe then feel free to move away. To any of the family members of the Western Lands I apologize for my actions." Nara explains and turns off the microphone.

Sephile smiles slyly to herself as she listens to Nara's speech.

Sessaru sits quietly in the darkness of his room.

Nara enters and closes the door behind him.

"You okay?" Nara asks.

"Why would you take responsibility for something you didn't do?" Sessaru asks.

"You would of been killed by a group of mercenaries hired by any family members of the demons you killed. For now, let's just go with I did it. It will be easier." Nara explains.

Outside the door, Sephile tries to listen in.

"Damn, can't hear anything." She says.

Without warning, Nara kicks the door open. It hits Sephile in the face and sends her flying across the hallway into the wall.

"Listening in on my conversations could get you killed." Nara says and walks down the hall.

Blood drips down her nose and onto her shirt. She stands up and looks back at Nara.

"Give it up. You can't read him." Kareen says walking by.

Sephile heads down the hall straight for her room.

*****************************

Koji leads Amaya, Misaka, and Mir out of the long cave and onto a long beach with large crashing waves.

"Its beautiful." Misaka says.

Koji jumps onto a large boulder and a large wave hits it. The sea becomes calm and flat. Koji lands next to them a moment later.

"Shall we?" He says leading them to the path.

*****************************

"Lord Nara, may I speak with you?" Roswell asks.

"What is it?" Nara asks walking down the hall a couple days later.

"I was wondering what you thought of my ruling abilities?" Roswell asks.

"Tell Sephile to shut up and go to her room." Nara says stopping.

Sephile steps out from the shadows and runs from Nara's glare.

"You were fine. What do you expect from being Lord?" Nara replies.

"Respect and obedience." Roswell says.

"I see. How do you plan on getting those." Nara asks.

"Through any means necessary." Roswell says making a fist.

"Rule with an Iron fist strategy won't work well here." Nara says.

"Why?" Roswell asks.

"Let's go shopping." Nara says and walks off.

They enter the city streets and the peasants continue on with their shopping.

"Bow before Lord Nara you ungrateful peasants!" Roswell says angrily.

"Either buy something or move along fatass." One merchant says.

Before Roswell can throw a punch Nara drags him down the street.

"See, everyone here knows who I am and what I am yet they ignore me as if I wasn't even here." Nara explains.

"Why? You are the Lord of the Demon Realm. They should all be bowing to you. Thanking you for allowing them to live in the shadow of your castle." Roswell replies.

"Normally that would be the case but I set the Eastern Lands up differently. In the other lands they would bow to me but from what I have heard they too are changing to model themselves after this land." Nara explains.

"Why would you do that? They are peasants they have no other purpose other then to serve the Lord." Roswell says.

"Think about this." Nara says, "The peasants are the ones that make up your army. They supply the castle with food and other goods. If you treat them poorly then they will not join the army or send you food. They will pack their belongings and move to another land." Nara explains.

"For you sire." A man says handing Nara a pearana. (A fruit that resembles a pear but is peeled like a banana.) He peels the fruit open and a large Brazilian Wandering spider lunges at Nara's face. It sinks his fangs in deep and injects it's poison. A couple seconds go by and the spider falls to the ground dead.

"How can this be?" The man says in shock.

"You bastard!" Roswell says and grabs the guy, "Should we make an example out of him right now?"

"You had family in the Western Lands and now they are dead cause of me." Nara says picking the spider up.

"Father you did it didn't you?" A young girl says with tears in her eyes.

"Let him go." Nara says with sadness in his voice.

"He tried to kill you. He should not be allowed to live." Roswell says still holding the man.

"I SAID RELEASE HIM!" Nara shouts at Roswell, making everyone in the market jump.

Roswell lets the man go and follows Nara back into the castle.

*****************************

"We should strike will the iron is hot." Roswell says to Sephile in his room.

"No. We must be patient a bit longer. We have no one on our side. It is the two of us versus the entire Demon Realm." Sephile says.

"He actually let a peasant go that tried to kill him. How can he be called Lord of the Demon Realm after that?" Roswell says.

"I haven't seen Koji around for a few days. I think he is out of the castle. If we had some followers then this would be the perfect time to overthrow that worthless Lord Nara and you could be Lord Roswell." Sephile says standing and removing her dress.

"And Kareen would be at my side." Roswell says completely oblivious to Sephile's nude body just a couple feet from him.

She puts her dress back on and sits back down on her chair.

*****************************

"How much further?" Mir asks.

"One more island." Koji says as he runs the small boat ashore.

They climb back into another boat on the other side of the small empty island and Koji shoves off into the calm ocean.

"Welcome to the Ryuu Islands." Koji says as he runs the boat ashore again a few minutes later, "Your future home."

*****************************

The Ryuu Islands are a group of over a thousand islands south east of the Demon Realm main land. It extends from the back Eastern Lands all the way around to the south of the Southern Lands. It is completely isolated from the main land and there are only a couple points of entry to the main islands. The entire island system is protected by the roughest seas imaginable, From high waves to whirlpools to hurricane force winds. As well as a mysterious Guardian. It is impossible to enter without the Guardian's approval.

*****************************

Koji leads them to a small hut on the edge of the village.

"For now you can stay with my family." Koji says.

"Father, you have returned." A young man says.

"My son, Koji." Koji says, "Koji, these women will be staying here till a hut can be built for them."

"Of course." Young Koji says and starts preparing them an area to sleep.

*****************************

Nara sits next to his parents' grave and stares at the ground. The poison from the spider bite slowly oozes out and drips from his chin onto the ground. He picks up the Brazilian Wandering Spider and looks at it.

"Something isn't right. These shouldn't be here." Nara says to himself.

*****************************

Ta walks down the stairs to Kogamaru's lab located in the basement of Ta's castle.

"Where did you get all of these?" He asks.

"Aren't they interesting. They are spiders from the human realm." Kogamaru says looking in on one.

"A guide to poisonous insects of the world?" Ta reads from a book title.

"Isn't it great?" Kogamaru says looking around his lab full of insects.

"Just be careful." Ta says walking back up the stairs.

"Always. Oh, tell Lust I won't be able to make dinner with her tonight." Kogamaru shouts up the stairs.

Ta reaches the last step and is slammed against the wall. A split second later he feels the warmth of a woman's lips against his and he puts his arms around the mystery woman's back.

The kiss is finally broken and both are left breathless.

"Good. Come with me." Lust says pressing her hips against Ta's.

*****************************

Shin sits quietly in the middle of a pond on a boulder. Nara's speech replaying in his mind over and over.

"Nara was not the one responsible for that slaughter. It was Sessaru. He was the one who smelled of blood." Shin says to himself.

"Lord Shin is everything all right?" Aurora asks as she enters with a platter of food.

"Yes, I am not hungry at the moment." Shin says.

"You have been in here since Nara's speech and haven't eaten. You must eat to keep your strength up." Aurora says and hops onto the boulder. Before Shin can protest, rice is shoved down his throat.

*****************************

Sessaru sits in his room in Nara's castle still unable to grasp the concept that he killed his family.

"Here." Kareen says handing him a bowl of soup.

"I can't shake this odd feeling." Sessaru says.

"It's called remorse. You feel bad for what you did." Kareen says sitting next to him. She puts her arm around his shoulder and he rests his head on her shoulder.

"It gets a bit easier with time." Nara says entering the room.

"How do you know?" Sessaru asks.

"I killed both my parents by the time I was eight. I ripped through my mother's stomach when I was born and then when I was sparring with my father, I ripped him to shreds. Just like you, I have a very vague recollection of actually doing it." Nara explains.

"How did you get through it?" Sessaru asks.

"I was thrust into ruling the Demon Realm so I really had no time to deal with it." Nara says.

"I guess I will have to suck it up and try your method, then." Sessaru replies.

"I had this made for you." Nara says and Becky enters with a katana in her hand.

"A sword?" Sessaru says picking it up.

"Its called Surtanryu." Nara says, "And it will help keep your power in check. That way this incident isn't repeated."

*****************************

A young woman around seventeen is kneeling next to a grave in the Western Land. In front of here is over fifty more graves. Her hands are blistered and covered with dirt and blood. Her black hair is dirty and matted down. She stands and looks around before grabbing a steel staff.

"Mother. Father." She says, "I will return with that bastard's head." She turns and marches toward Sessaru's castle.

*****************************

As the sun comes through the window in Ta's bedroom, it hits Ta right in the eyes. He rolls away from the light and straight into Lust's chest. He squeezes one and opens his eyes. Before he can say anything Lust hugs him tightly to her chest.

"You wanna go again?" She asks still asleep, "I don't think I can. I'm too sore from last night."

Ta breaks free and jumps to his feet.

"Wake up." Ta says to her confused.

Lust opens her eyes and sits up without covering herself.

"Why are you in my bed?" Ta asks.

"Easy. Kogamaru hasn't paid any attention to his duties as my boyfriend. I need an itch scratched and since Nara isn't around I found the next best thing." Lust says and goes back to sleep.

"This doesn't bode well." Ta says and goes back to bed as well.

*****************************

"I have to think of a way to get rid of Kareen. That way, Lord Roswell will have to take me for his queen." Sephile says as she walk down the hall to breakfast.

She enters the dining hall and sees Roswell sitting next to Kareen. Nara is talking with Koji and the only open seat is next to him. She sits down quietly and Koji leaves. Shortly after breakfast is through, Nara leaves.

"Lord Nara, can I go with you on your trip?" Roswell asks.

"Not this time. Trying ruling like I told you the other day." Nara says and the door closes.

*****************************

Sessaru enters his empty castle and notices that most of the bodies have been dragged out. He follows the blood trails and sees the young woman digging graves in the back of the garden.

"Grab a shovel and help dig." She says pointing to a shovel.

Sessaru starts helping her and by nightfall, they managed to bury all of the bodies in the graves.

"Who are you?" Sessaru asks.

"I'm Silmeria. And to answer your next question, I am here to see Lord Sessaru but it seems that he has gone to the Eastern Lands." Silmeria says.

"He did go there but he returned awhile ago." Sessaru says.

She drops the shovel and runs inside shouting Sessaru's name.

"You lie. There is no one here but us." She says as it finally dawns on her. She drops to her knees and bows before him, "Lord Sessaru, please forgive me for making you dig graves. I had no idea that it was you."

"It's fine. What did you want to see me about?" Sessaru asks.

"I wish to be your familiar so that I can find the one responsible for the murder of my entire village." Silmeria replies.

Sessaru is quiet for a moment before agreeing to it.

*****************************

Along the border of the Northern Lands and Western Lands, the young boy (who was crying on his father's body) knocks on the large wooden door of a fighting school.
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