Chapter 1
A Premonition
A Premonition
It had already been a few weeks now since Kaori had gone blind and lost her ability to absorb souls. She had learned to accept the blindness and was even given the choice that could completely impact her life; choose to regain her sight or to allow Mina, her best friend, to regain her soul and return to her. Either choice was extremely selfish but the answer was a no-brainer. If Kaori couldn't see, she relied on Mina to guide her to safety and to keep her alive. Relying on Mina, once again, filled her full of confidence in spite of her handicaps. Kaori was asleep in the room within the inn, a pleasant look upon her face melted away to one of dread and horror. The sight of a monstrous creature of black and green was devouring people, laughing as it tore into the flesh of other humans. She tried to intervene, but her intervention had absolutely no effect. She watched on in horror, covering her eyes from this madness. After the creature finished devouring the people, it turned to look towards Kaori, letting out a burp. "Let me out of here, Witch!" the voice said.
Kaori woke up, sitting up immediately after returning to the land of the conscious. She woke up in a cold sweat before clicking the bell that was upon her throat to make sure there wasn't anyone else in this room; the dream causing her paranoia to reach a fevre pitch. The dream felt so real that she's having issues differentiating reality from fantasy. It wasn't until she felt a pinching sensation on her arm did she realize she was actually awake. "Ow, Mina," she said in a whine. "You were just dreaming. Settle down," the spirit of her friend stated. Kaori looked around once more before taking a deep sigh outward. "Yeah, you're right. I think the Dragon Statue here is calling for me. I've been having these visions of someone, someone with blood-red hair asking to be let-out from some kind of prison. The dream tonight, though, had this terrifying creature eating people and it called out with the exact same voice. He was eating people, Mina," Kaori said, still slightly distressed over what she saw. Kaori felt warm arms wrap around her, even if there wasn't anyone present.
"Just go back to bed, Kao-Kao. You can sort all of that in the morning after you fill up your stomach," Mina said prompting Kaori to lay back down with her eyes wide open. She wasn't able to detect any light so she assumed it was probably around 3 in the morning. She closed her eyes and drifted off back into a dream-less sleep. She was awakened by the sound of opening curtains and the rushing of sunlight several hours later. This caused Kaori to enter high alert, clicking the bell upon the choker she wore. She backed up as far as she could in her bed and summoned her 'Gauntlets of the Spirit Dragon' and pointed them directly at the image she saw by the open window. Everything about this image looked familiar. It's silhouette reminiscent to something that she had created. Her jaw dropped at the realization as the person that opened up the windows struck a pose.
"You've gotta be kidding me," she said in disbelief. "Airi?" she asked. Airi was her 'Magical Girl' persona that she took on as a means to pass the time during her stay in Kumogakure; even using it to slay demons with one of the locals. A familiar voice called back. "So this is what you called this creation of yours, huh? Airi? That's actually kinda pretty. I like it," Mina said before bouncing off towards the vanity and looked over the body. She placed her hands below the breasts and lifted them for a moment only to let them go. "Not as big as yours and much bigger than mine," she commented before looking into the eyes of the body. It bore heterochomic eyes; one of a typical brown color and the other of a burning blue hue. The clothes were a pretty color combination and extremely frilly. She even turned around to look at the costume and placed both of her hands upon her lower-back in embarrassment. "Hey! Why'd you design this costume to be so revealing?" Mina stated before turning to look back towards Kaori, snapping her fingers at her. Kaori was still gawking at where Mina used to be before moving to the mirror.
Mina blinked and shrugged her shoulders. "What?" she asked inquisitively. This was the first time Mina had walked around on the earth in 13 years since she had died. Kaori was completely speechless to actually see Mina walking around and talking to her as if the two were having a casual conversation. Withdrawing her Guantlets of the Spirit Dragon, she ran up to Mina and hugged her tight. Even if she was in Airi's 'body' she was now able to hug her best friend for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Hugging her felt nostalgic; even if she was in another person's body, the hug still felt the same. This brought a big smile upon Kaori's face. Mina returned the hug before firmly blowing air into Kaori's ear, causing her to laugh and let go; a little thing she did when they were children to get Kaori to let go -- she had a bad habit of lingering too long with her hugs.
After the two release from each other's embrace, Kaori stared blankly at Mina, clicked her bell and asked, "Why are you in Airi's form?" she asked with Mina looking up in thought. "Well, I looked through your memories to find a suitable form to take. I wasn't going to take the form of the 9-year old me and the memory you had of seeing me with what I'd look like now wouldn't have any power behind it. So I found this little gem floating around and decided to take on it's form. Cute, huh?" Mina said with a big cheesy smile. Kaori couldn't see the cheesy expression before slouching her shoulders. "Mind not looking through my memories? It's quite embarrassing," she commented.
Mina let out a little laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "It was only a little image search, I didn't go digging so you can relax!" Mina said with a bit of a laugh before Kaori's head started to pound. She gripped the side of her head and fell to her knees. The booming voice was still haunting her. "What the hell is taking you so long, Witch!? How many times do I need to call out for help? Seriously, you're the only one that can help me right now! So get your ass in gear!" the voice shouted out. Once the voice went away, Kaori stood back up looking quite pale.
"He called for you again, didn't he?" Mina asked as Kaori simply nodded her head. "Let's get to it then. We got some demons to slay, right?" she asked before taking a step back and dove right into Kaori's body before disappearing into it. This was a jarring feeling having someone that was completely solid go completely ethereal upon impact and dive into one's body.
End pt 1
WC: 1215
Kaori woke up, sitting up immediately after returning to the land of the conscious. She woke up in a cold sweat before clicking the bell that was upon her throat to make sure there wasn't anyone else in this room; the dream causing her paranoia to reach a fevre pitch. The dream felt so real that she's having issues differentiating reality from fantasy. It wasn't until she felt a pinching sensation on her arm did she realize she was actually awake. "Ow, Mina," she said in a whine. "You were just dreaming. Settle down," the spirit of her friend stated. Kaori looked around once more before taking a deep sigh outward. "Yeah, you're right. I think the Dragon Statue here is calling for me. I've been having these visions of someone, someone with blood-red hair asking to be let-out from some kind of prison. The dream tonight, though, had this terrifying creature eating people and it called out with the exact same voice. He was eating people, Mina," Kaori said, still slightly distressed over what she saw. Kaori felt warm arms wrap around her, even if there wasn't anyone present.
"Just go back to bed, Kao-Kao. You can sort all of that in the morning after you fill up your stomach," Mina said prompting Kaori to lay back down with her eyes wide open. She wasn't able to detect any light so she assumed it was probably around 3 in the morning. She closed her eyes and drifted off back into a dream-less sleep. She was awakened by the sound of opening curtains and the rushing of sunlight several hours later. This caused Kaori to enter high alert, clicking the bell upon the choker she wore. She backed up as far as she could in her bed and summoned her 'Gauntlets of the Spirit Dragon' and pointed them directly at the image she saw by the open window. Everything about this image looked familiar. It's silhouette reminiscent to something that she had created. Her jaw dropped at the realization as the person that opened up the windows struck a pose.
"You've gotta be kidding me," she said in disbelief. "Airi?" she asked. Airi was her 'Magical Girl' persona that she took on as a means to pass the time during her stay in Kumogakure; even using it to slay demons with one of the locals. A familiar voice called back. "So this is what you called this creation of yours, huh? Airi? That's actually kinda pretty. I like it," Mina said before bouncing off towards the vanity and looked over the body. She placed her hands below the breasts and lifted them for a moment only to let them go. "Not as big as yours and much bigger than mine," she commented before looking into the eyes of the body. It bore heterochomic eyes; one of a typical brown color and the other of a burning blue hue. The clothes were a pretty color combination and extremely frilly. She even turned around to look at the costume and placed both of her hands upon her lower-back in embarrassment. "Hey! Why'd you design this costume to be so revealing?" Mina stated before turning to look back towards Kaori, snapping her fingers at her. Kaori was still gawking at where Mina used to be before moving to the mirror.
Mina blinked and shrugged her shoulders. "What?" she asked inquisitively. This was the first time Mina had walked around on the earth in 13 years since she had died. Kaori was completely speechless to actually see Mina walking around and talking to her as if the two were having a casual conversation. Withdrawing her Guantlets of the Spirit Dragon, she ran up to Mina and hugged her tight. Even if she was in Airi's 'body' she was now able to hug her best friend for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Hugging her felt nostalgic; even if she was in another person's body, the hug still felt the same. This brought a big smile upon Kaori's face. Mina returned the hug before firmly blowing air into Kaori's ear, causing her to laugh and let go; a little thing she did when they were children to get Kaori to let go -- she had a bad habit of lingering too long with her hugs.
After the two release from each other's embrace, Kaori stared blankly at Mina, clicked her bell and asked, "Why are you in Airi's form?" she asked with Mina looking up in thought. "Well, I looked through your memories to find a suitable form to take. I wasn't going to take the form of the 9-year old me and the memory you had of seeing me with what I'd look like now wouldn't have any power behind it. So I found this little gem floating around and decided to take on it's form. Cute, huh?" Mina said with a big cheesy smile. Kaori couldn't see the cheesy expression before slouching her shoulders. "Mind not looking through my memories? It's quite embarrassing," she commented.
Mina let out a little laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "It was only a little image search, I didn't go digging so you can relax!" Mina said with a bit of a laugh before Kaori's head started to pound. She gripped the side of her head and fell to her knees. The booming voice was still haunting her. "What the hell is taking you so long, Witch!? How many times do I need to call out for help? Seriously, you're the only one that can help me right now! So get your ass in gear!" the voice shouted out. Once the voice went away, Kaori stood back up looking quite pale.
"He called for you again, didn't he?" Mina asked as Kaori simply nodded her head. "Let's get to it then. We got some demons to slay, right?" she asked before taking a step back and dove right into Kaori's body before disappearing into it. This was a jarring feeling having someone that was completely solid go completely ethereal upon impact and dive into one's body.
End pt 1
WC: 1215