Danii looked up from the sword and gave a forced smile and laugh.
“Yea. Exactly the same thing, except that, instead of studying, he tried to kill my friends. Sure, Maikeru did make me live through the hell of watching someone who was supposed to protect and guide us kill me and my friends over and over again. So, I guess he may have been trying to protect me in some twisted sense. Which would kinda make sense if he really is who he says he is.”
Danii looked back down at the sword. Unlike Rei, Danii could not sense the dark red chakra aura that seemed to seep from the sword, bit she could tell that the spirit inside was restless. Something seemed to be working it up, most likely the demonic energy put off by the pervy sage offering to train her.
Interesting…
A voice spoke out in her head. A familiar one she hadn't heard since the night she meditated after talking with Rei. The voice confirmed that Maru's plan had some merits. Well, the first plan at least. She would rather face the spirit and risk these potential side effects than to allow the spirit to take over her body again. If the spirit took over and hurt someone, then Danii wouldn't be able to live with herself.
“Alright, let's see what happens if you give the sword some of your natural energy.”
Danii completely ignores Maru second suggestion as surely he wasn't being serious with that suggestion. She held the sword out for Maru to channel his energy into it. The sword greedily swallowed the chakra as it disappeared into the mouth of the skull on the hilt. The eyes of the hilt seemed to glow red as a miasma began to emanate from the blade. As it encapsulated the whole sword, it began to materialize between the two shinobi.
Danii watched in a mixture of excitement, confusion, and fear as the spirit took form. This was the first time she had laid eyes on him. All previous communications had only been through the voice in her head. Unlike Kawaii, her spirit doesn't take on a completely corporeal form and seems to be surrounded by a haze like a mirage in the distance on a hot day. As the spirit spoke, Danii immediately recognized the voice.
“It's been a while since I tasted that sweetness that comes with the consumption of demonic power. I had begun to fear that I would never taste it again. Luckily, it seems that annoying father of mine couldn't keep her under his protection forever.”
As the spirit talked, Danii's attention was drawn from him towards the miasma seeping from the sword. It condensed around her hand where a deep burning sensation began to build. At first it felt like nothing more than a dull heat, but built up to a raging fire and began radiating out from the back of her palm. The spirit kept talking, but Danii could no longer hear the words it said as she dropped to her knees. The sword fell to ground in a clatter as her other hand reached out and grabbed the wrist. Screams of pain filled her ears and drowned out any conversation going on around her and shadows crossed over her vision.
“Unfortunately, it took all my reserves to keep my form bound to the weapon and to keep the others in their place. Thanks to your kind gift, the surge in my power allowed me to manifest today and lay eyes on my daughter for the first time. I'm not… disappointed, but she still has a long way to go. So, I'll have to cut it short. With the last of this borrowed energy, I will leave a gift for her. Something that will surely help her grow stronger. Maybe it will strengthen her and she will be able to manifest me with her own power next time.”
As he wraps up, the spirit begins to fade into a thick miasma that slinks back towards the sword. Before withdrawing completely, the miasma surrounding the sword and Danii's hand begins to pulse between inky black and fiery red as something etches into the back of her palm. Almost as quickly as it began, it ended and Danii fell forward with her right arm outstretched. A tattoo of sorts seemed to remain as the only sign that anything had happened.
[WC: 765]
[TWC: 2030]
[Post 4 of 5]
[MFT]