"Even though you've lost your powers, you've still been doing a great job." Tsuru
rolled her eyes and looked up at the tree next to her. The voice continued. "I'm proud of
you Tsuru - most people would just whine about their situation."
"Isaka, for the last time, I'm not going to go live with you," Tsuru groaned out.
She'd given up running away from Isaka a couple days ago and just settled with telling her
off every time she appeared. Hell, she didn't have time for the demon especially with
Carmilla on her ass.
It was always 'my knight' or 'pretty little Tsuru' or 'look at how great you're
doing!'. It was really getting on her nerves and Tsuru wished she didn't have an extended
life because it might just be easier to roll over and die.
"I know - you do seem like the traveling type, but maybe we-"
"And no, I'm not going to travel with you."
Isaka frowned at how fast she'd been turned down. She jumped out of the tree and
followed Tsuru down the path. "Well, too bad. I happen to be headed in the exact same
direction as you."
Tsuru let out a sigh. "Oh really? That's wonderful..."
Their meaningless banter would have continued had Tsuru not suddenly staggered and let
out a moan. She could smell blood nearby - and lots of it. Isaka gave her a curious glance.
"You haven't been feeding at all, have you?"
"Like I said before, I can get by on normal food since I'm not really a vampire. I
don't require blood so I don't drink it," Tsuru said, continuing her walk.
Isaka was going to chide her some more until the stench of death got too strong even
for her. She turned to the blue haired girl next to her. "You wouldn't happen to be chasing
the monster, would you?"
"You mean the failed alchemist experiment? Actually I have," Tsuru said nonchalantly.
"I assume you are too?"
The demon nodded and they stopped walking. There, in front of them, was a recently
massacred village. Tsuru clenched her teeth, trying to steel herself against the sight.
Awesome. No matter how many dead bodies she'd seen, Tsuru kind of prided herself in the fact
that it still unnerved her. At least she hadn't lost all of her humanity...
"Safe to say our little experimental freak is here," Isaka said, looking around. "And
I think it's still around..."
Tsuru carefully walked around the bodies and Isaka followed behind. She'd first heard
the rumors a week back, about a clan working in the dark arts. They supposedly brought an
ancient creature back to life, at the cost of sacrifices, immense amounts of magic and even
their own lives. Their monster escaped and began to kill indiscriminately in a rampage.
She surveyed the bodies, noticing that they were mostly men and she looked around at
the abandoned houses. It was a small farming village, so... Tsuru let out a sigh of relief
and turned to Isaka. "It looks like most of the people escaped... I think it killed
everything that was in its way and nothing else. That's a good sign"
"No offense Tsuru, but how does that make a difference?" the demon asked, the two of
them coming to the town square.
"Well, it means we're dealing with something more like an animal, rather than a
malevolent monster on a power trip. We might be able to calm it down instead of killing it,"
Tsuru said, giving the demon a small smile.
"Tsuru, you are the weirdest exorcist I have ever met. Well, you aren't an exorcist
anymore, but you know what I mean. Most people would forgo thinking of its motives and go
for the kill..."
As if on cue, the pair heard something coming from the grove nearby and quickly
scuttled over. Tsuru knew stealth wasn't her best skill and allowed herself to be pulled
into the shadows by Isaka. They were hiding in the bushes when they finally spotted their
target.
A teenage girl was sitting on the ground, next to the groves of apple trees. Next to
her was a knocked over basket of apples, smartly abandoned by a fleeing harvester. She was
eating with an almost reckless abandon, slightly choking on the fruits.
Tsuru immediately recognized her as the monster because... well, if the silver hair
and eyes weren't a clue, then the blood on her ragged white dress and on her hands had to be
it. Isaka and her exchanged looks.
"I'm guessing those idiots used a young girl as the vessel?" the demon asked.
"How sad... if we're smart about it, I'm sure we can calm her down and get her out of
here," Tsuru murmured. The two of them got out of their hiding spot and cautiously
approached the girl.
She immediately stopped eating and stared up at them, cradling the apple to her chest.
She looked so frightened...
"Please, don't be scared," Tsuru said. "We're here to help you."
The girl only scooted away, frantically looking between the two of them. Isaka let out
a long sigh. "Really now, we aren't going to eat you. Let's get you-"
Both woman jumped back as a maelstrom of energy emerged from the girl's body. They
exchanged frightened looks and Isaka said, "Never mind then. Maybe we won't bother you..."
Tsuru drew her weapons as the energy came at her. She shouted to Isaka, "She's not an
ordinary monster - her powers are beyond what she should be capable of."
"Oh really?" Isaka said, dodging a blast headed her way. "What clued you into that?"
Different conglomerates of dark and holy power swirled around the girl as she stood
up. "Stay... stay away!"
Tsuru slashed at the energy headed towards her while Isaka neutralized the holy power
and dodged the dark. It really wasn't working out too well, considering they couldn't even
get close to the girl. Isaka unleashed her own dark power to break through, creating a path
for Tsuru to follow behind.
The blue haired girl rushed in close for an attack, but the girl reacted immediately
by calling back the energy to smack Tsuru away. Upon finding herself upside down on the
ground, her head aching, Tsuru decided that they needed a plan. Isaka was soon knocked away,
but bounced back with a vengeance.
The girl was able to shield and attack herself with that energy, so... Tsuru slowly
got up and picked up her swords. There was no way she could attack and defend herself.
"Isaka, I will distract and you go in for the hit, alright?"
The demon, having been flung to the ground and nursing a burn, nodded. Tsuru rushed
forward, slashing through the volleys of energy and felt a weight on her shoulders. Isaka,
being the smartass she was, decided to use the blue haired girl as a platform to strike. She
jumped off, attacking the girl from above while Tsuru attacked from the front.
Then girl immediately summoned back enough of the swirling energy to fling them away.
Isaka let out a hiss at the pain. Tsuru tried to get back up, still feeling the aftershocks.
Getting hit by both kinds of energy at once hurt like crap... Her muscles tingled, but she
got back up.
"Try again?" She asked the demon.
"You bet."
And try they did. As Tsuru hit an apple tree, she realized that this plan wasn't
working. The girl had too many swirling masses of energy. Six, to be exact. Tsuru watched
dully as an apple flew through the air due to Isaka crashing into a tree in a different part
of the grove. It was immediately incinerated by the girl jerkily reacting to it and dark
energy burning it to a crisp.
That was weird... why would she do that to a harmless apple? Tsuru let it run through
her head and it suddenly made sense when she caught a glimpse of the girl's eyes. She was
frightened beyond belief and if a frightened animal was attacked, it did whatever it could
to survive... and if a random object came flying at them, of course they would freak out!
"Isaka, I got a plan. You distract, and I will go for the kill," Tsuru announced, only
to get a muffled reply.
"Alright, alright... let me... get up," the demon groaned. Isaka summoned up as much
dark energy she could possibly muster before charging.
The girl immediately sent most of her energy to block the onslaught and redirected it
once Tsuru came charging at her. Without hesitation, she flung her giant, light blue sword
at the girl. It was deflected and Tsuru saw her chance. She flanked the girl, readying to
end it with one swipe of her black katana.
For a moment, the girl turned, realizing she didn't have enough power to block the
attack. In that instance, Tsuru saw how scared she really was and maybe that was why she
pulled her strike. Tsuru turned her wrist slightly and instead of decapitating her, smacked
her in the head with the handle of her sword.
The energy dissipated and the girl collapsed, a bruise forming from where Tsuru hit
her. Isaka let out a long sigh. "Thank goodness! I thought this battle was going to take
forever...!"
The purple eyed demon walked over to get a better look at the girl while Tsuru
collapsed on her knees, trying to calm down. She took a deep breath and grabbed her
discarded sword while Isaka gently kicked the girl on the ground.
"Wow... she's out like a light and you didn't even kill her. That takes skill Tsuru,"
the demon murmured, with a glint in her eye.
"Isaka, just because you're being nice doesn't mean I'm going to let you sleep with me
again..." Tsuru said, looking over at the girl.
Isaka examined her thoroughly and said, "I wonder how such a cute girl could turn into
such a monster... I guess I should take her back to my place-"
"Like hell you are! You're probably planning on molesting her, aren't you?"
"What?" Isaka said, indignant. "I'm not that much of a... of a... you know what I
mean! Plus, she's deranged. Even I have my limits."
Tsuru picked up the girl. "I think I should take care-"
"Tsuru, you don't even have a home. Where are you going to take her? And how do I know
you're not going to feast on her blood?"
"Isaka, you're only saying that because I called you out on wanting to sleep with
her!"
*****
Somehow, they ended up on agreeing to go to Isaka's mansion and to take care of the
girl together. Tsuru stared down at the now dry painted circle on the floor. She'd spent the
last twenty or so minutes finishing up the sealing spell.
"Thank goodness you had an empty room in this mansion," Tsuru said, starting to set up
a makeshift bed with pillows and blankets. "Now we just have to set her down and tie her to
the wall."
Isaka was currently holding the girl. "You make it sound so easy... so this will keep
her from using her powers and killing us right?"
Tsuru nodded as the demon set the girl down on the bed. "Well, she may still want to
hurt us, but as long as she's within the circle, she can't use those crazy powers of hers,"
Tsuru said, putting a padded cuff on one of her hands. It was connected to a hook on the
wall and gave the girl enough room to be comfortable without leaving the circle.
"Isaka... by the way... why do you have padded cuffs?" Tsuru asked, already knowing
the answer.
"You want a demonstration?" the demon asked, giving her a grin.
"I'm good, thank you... so, we'll take shifts watching her and then figure out what to
do when she wakes up?" Tsuru asked, getting a nod from Isaka.
"Sounds good."
*****
When the girl proceeded to wake up, both of Tsuru and Isaka were in the room. For a
while, she just snuggled deeper in the pillows and blankets before opening her eyes. As soon
as she saw them, she bolted from the spot, not even reaching the edge of the circle before
the chain stopped her. She desperately tugged at the chain, trying to escape to no avail.
Tsuru and Isaka, who'd previously been discussing food to give the girl were shocked.
Tsuru actually fell out of the chair she'd been sitting at due to the sound of the chain.
"Hey, hey! Calm down," Isaka said, approaching the girl. She was now biting at the
cuff, having discovered her powers weren't working.
"We aren't going to hurt you," Tsuru added, also coming closer. The girl scooted as
far away from them as the chain would allow before hiding beneath a blanket. Both women
could hear her sobbing.
Tsuru motioned to Isaka to leave the room and they rendezvoused in the hallway.
"She's scared beyond belief," Tsuru murmured.
"Well, we did kind of beat her until she was unconscious-"
"It was one strike!"Tsuru hissed back.
"We should probably leave her be and just get her something to eat..."
*****
When they went back in with an assortment of food, the girl was now trying to force
her hand through the cuff. "Wait, don't hurt yourself," Tsuru said, catching her attention.
The girl just started to tug harder, hiding beneath the blanket again. Isaka let out a
long sigh. "This... is going to be awesome. Do you know how to deal with stuff like this?
The most experience I have is helping a stray dog when I was a kid."
Tsuru gave her a curious glance. "You helped out a dog?"
Isaka gave her a broad smile. "Didn't I ever tell you? I used to be human once."
To Tsuru, the knowledge was shocking, but right now... she looked over at the girl
trying to escape.
"We have food for you," Isaka said in a cheery sing-song voice heading over to the
girl. In response, she got more crying and a fist headed her way. The demon swiftly dodged
it.
Tsuru followed behind, holding a plate of rice. They had no clue what to get so there
was some chicken, an apple and rice.
"St-stay away," the girl stuttered out cowering from them.
Isaka rolled her eyes. "We're not going to hurt you. We only fought you back in the
town to get you away from other people."
The words didn't seem to register to the girl who was trying to hide away. Isaka took
a slice of the apple and held it out to her. "You've been sleeping a while so-"
Isaka immediately stopped talking when the girl bit down on her fingers. The demon
clenched her teeth and gave Tsuru an irritated smile. "Like I said - a stray dog. There
really is no difference."
Tsuru had to intervene and pry the girl's jaw open once Isaka started bleeding. She
spit at them, kicked and tried to hit them. "Let's retreat commander - the mission is a
failure," Isaka said after a while of trying to feed her.
"Are... are you sure? What if she gets hungry?" Tsuru asked, being led out of the
room.
"You'll see. Let me bandage this up... I should probably hand her the food so you
don't get bit. She might get infected by your vampire blood if we aren't careful," Isaka
said, heading towards a bathroom.
"Seriously? My... my blood could do that?"
"Maybe? Do you really want to take that chance?" Isaka said, smiling over her
shoulder. Tsuru sighed and sat down next to the room.
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