Location: Japan
The gardens were a lovely place. Some meditated, others fought, and there were a few remaining who made love here. Flowers from other parts of the world were here to give off their scents. There were birds that gave their songs while Yomosa and I walked.
None of the beauty got to us. This was due to the fact of what would happen in the near future.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Rig?" She asked softly. Yomosa, like myself, was frightened of Hijunaki. Even though the chances of him overhearing us being slim, we didn't want to take any chances.
I looked into her eyes and knew my decision was final. "You don't deserve to die." I replied. "You're strong."
"And you want me to die loving you." She said and I couldn't even move my mouth to smirk.
"We shouldn't delay my creator." I said to her. Yomosa nodded slowly.
We then took, what seemed like, the long path to Hijunaki's chambers. Opening the door I saw Hijunaki playing with some tree nymphs. They were from the land called Greece. Hijunaki had known a Greek God. That was how these exotic creatures had come to be here.
Once Yomosa and I entered, Hijunaki's focus was on us. He shivered with rage but was able to calm himself enough to talk. His first question was, "Why is the whore alive?"
"She is strong. And, since you have disowned her, I wish to claim her as my own." I replied. "There is no need to destroy such a strong human. Even better to have her on our side."
"And why do you think that she should be yours?" Hijunaki asked. "She has refused me, your creator, and yet you have the gall to take her? You have one more chance to kill her before you see the full side of my cruelty."
"How cruel are we talking?" I asked, my sarcasm finally getting the better of me.
"If you don't kill her now I will fight you to the death." He replied. "And I have never lost that kind of fight."
I felt fear course through me. Was Yomosa really worth my life? Katashi wouldn't have thought so. And I had been trying to follow his teachings. Turning to look at Yomosa's frightened face I made my decision.
"I agree to it." I said and time seemed to stand still.
*********************************
"Rig Katashi, are you sure about this?" Jirou asked me. "You hardly know this woman. Hell, she's a human."
"I know what she is." I replied to him. I couldn't say it to his face, though. "I know I won't be getting anything out of this."
"Especially when you're dead."
"At least I'll still be able to talk to you."
"That's not how it works."
"So you saying you'll miss me?" I asked with a smirk. Though I still wasn't able to look him in the eyes.
Jirou crossed his arms. "This isn't a laughing matter, Rig." He complained.
"You're not the one going to die, Jirou." I said. "You know that I need to do at least one good deed."
"Not like this. Not now."
I put a hand on Jirou's shoulder. His human mouth was able to show human sadness. Though a human's and a half-breed's emotions were slightly different. "You care for me? Even when I've given you shit in the past before?" I asked.
"Yeah." Jirou said and he walked off before he could show me his tears.
As he walked off I remembered Katashi. He was right that loving someone could cause problems. In my case, it wasn't just a heart break but a breaking of my whole body. Jirou had a point: was someone I just met worth my life. Of course, there was no other option to keep her alive. But why did it have to be me?
Looking at a raven flying by I realized why. Because I was the one who captured her. I was the one who had put her in this situation. I didn't like it, but I had to. I suddenly realized where my human feet had taken me. To my room where Yomosa was lying on my bed.
I just looked at her and she at me. She smiled as did I.
"Thank you, Rig Katashi." Yomosa said and her voice was like sunlight after a storm.
"You don't deserve what has been done to you." I replied and then thought about what I had just said. "What I have done to you."
Yomosa got off the bed and put one of her hands on my human face. "If you fight for me, you will have paid your debt."
I looked into her eyes. "If I die, you'll die."
"Then I guess I know what you'll have to do." She said and smiled. After that there were hours of pure physical euphoria for both of us.
************************************
I would love to describe coming into the stadium which I would fight Hijunaki in. I would describe how he created it especially for the event. But that wasn't what mattered. The first time I was truly awake, after making love to Yomosa, was when I bowed to Hijunaki.
Hijunaki's head went down and I wondered if this was the right thing to do. Hijunaki's head started to come back up and I thought about the meaning of destroying one's creator. Hijunaki's head went all the way back up and I wondered if I really loved Yomosa.
"Yes!" I yelled out and shifted into my first non-form of the battle. My torso was of a raven, I had three dragon heads, my tail was thin and had hooks on it, and my feet were talons of an eagle.
Hijunaki hissed and lunged at me. I was barely able to dodge and my tail hooks tore at his mouth. He bit my tail off and my non-form shifted to a wolf with eagle wings. I flew up and was able to more easily dodge in this form. Every chance I could I would tear into him and fly out of reach.
Once I was able to get to the back of his head, I shifted into a non-form with nothing but claws and hooks. This helped me stay on Hijunaki but didn't allow me to do much else. I noticed him crashing against things to try and throw me off. However, this non-form didn't really feel like a human would.
When things quieted I shifted to a miniature dragon. I roared but was knocked off by Hijunaki. That magnificent bastard! I swam through the air and managed to knock Hijunaki down. His blood was starting to drain out of him. And, for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. I don't think he ever considered the fact of his own death.
I clawed out one of his eyes and he hissed in pain. Suddenly acid hit my belly. I roared in pain and shifted through multiple forms until the damage wasn't as great. I stopped when I reached a large black dragon with golden eyes.
The pain I felt and the blood from Hijunaki mixed as the fight became real. Over the next few hours our blood mixed as did our cries. Finally I fell down in defeat. I had tried to save Yomosa and no one could say differently. It was just that Hijunaki was stronger.
How could anyone destroy their creator? It couldn't be done. I closed my eyes and shifted into my main human form without opening my eyes.
"I admit defeat!" I yelled and opened my eyes to a shocking scene. Hijunaki was dead and I was now free to be with Yomosa. I turned around to view Hijunaki's other creations staring in fear at me.
Like them, I didn't know what to do.
Things were very odd the next few days. No one had known what to do once I had killed Hijunaki. Hell, I didn't know what to do. The only reason I could stay somewhat stable was Yomosa. I hadn't realized before how much I truly needed her.
The first creations to go were those that could fly. Finally they could explore the world as they saw fit. Those that could fly always seemed to be the most open minded. But they needed to be able to explore to be that kind of being.
The next to go were the carnivores who had eaten the defenseless to begin with. They needed to fill their stomachs with vast amounts of meat. Hijunaki had used them to fight each other.
Once the carnivores had left, more beings came out of the stonework. The saddest moment I had was saying goodbye to Jirou. I knew that he had to go and couldn't stay with me. We both were going separate ways.
And what was I doing now? Packing up what I could. Not a lot, I didn't need that much.
"You going?" Yomosa asked.
"Yeah, I can't stay here." I replied. "It's been my prison for millenia. Bad memories."
"What about me?"
I turned to her and had to wait a little while for her question to sink in.
"What about you?" I replied. "Do you really want to travel with the obake that killed your husband and kidnapped you."
"No." She said softly and I cringed. "I want to travel with the obake that risked his life to save mine."
Now my shape turned into a non-form. But when Yomosa came closer to me I shifted back to my main human form.
"I have changed." I whispered to myself and she nodded. "Well, I guess you can come with me. Until you want to leave me for someone of your own kind."
"What if I don't want to?" She asked and leaned in to kiss me. I answered her with my own lips. The only sound were the rest of the beings leaving.
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