Familiar Strength (Part 2)
"Hanako?" he called his human's name, but no answer was heard. The eerie darkness of the woods engulfed him as he kept walking forward, calling out her name in worry and confusion. Something felt heavy in his chest, was he worried? Anxious? Ryu scolded himself for allowing such emotions to take over him as he kept moving forward.
As he pressed on through the tangled underbrush, a sense of unease settled upon him. The air grew thick with an eerie stillness, broken only by the rustling of leaves and the distant hooting of owls. He called out Hanako's name, the tension in his voice betraying his trepidation. Finally, he spotted a figure in the darkness, a silhouette with hair as black as the night itself. It wasn't Hanako, that's for sure. Upon closer inspection, he quickly realized who this was. Miya turned to face him, her bright red eyes gleaming with an unnatural, malevolent light. The realization hit him like a thunderbolt—this was not her, but something far more sinister. Miya, or what appeared to be her, grinned wickedly as she approached, her form shifting and contorting with each step.
He had come to the woods in search of his friend, but now he found himself face to face with an evil spirit, a darkness that had taken on the guise of someone he didn't even like. In that chilling moment, he understood that his journey had taken an unimaginable and perilous turn, and he was entangled in a web of malevolence from which escape seemed impossible.
"Well, hello there, Ryu. You're the last person I expected to come looking for me" She chuckled, her tone a mix of eeriness and anger. "You're..." Ryu's voice trailed off as she approached him, her footsteps barely making any sound under the dry leaves she was stepping on. "It seems you know who I am. Well in that case, congratulations, you found what you're looking for" She smiled and jumped up high, floating above Ryu, preparing to attack. Before she could land a hit on him, he quickly moved out of her way, earning a frown from Miya. "What were you planning to do?" He yelled at her as she prepared another attack. She moved quickly, as fast as a fox, hitting him right in the chest with a bright red flame.
He fell back a bit, shocked at the level of strength she possesses, he knew now why Tenshi was sent to kill her after his mother failed to do so. Keeping her in that school was detrimental to every human there, including Hanako, who he swore to protect. She laughed manically as Ryu desperately tried to avoid her attacks, failing in the last strike, causing him to fall to the ground in defeat. Familiar feelings rushed through Miya as she slowly neared his exhausted body, lying there on the ground before her. "A demon with the strength you possess stands no chance against me, so do yourself a favor and stay out of my way" She kicked him with her foot, causing his body to roll, his back hitting a tree.
The spirit Ryu was fighting, known as 'Kageonna' had tormented generations upon generations of young high schoolers. The strength she harbored from their negative emotions accumulated over the years, giving her easy access to the life she once had as one of the strongest Kitsunes to ever exist. She approached him slowly, like a snake ready to devour its prey. Her nine tails flickering with a malevolent crimson aura, her eyes glowing with an eerie, predatory light, and her laughter echoed through the trees like a haunting melody. Ryu felt a pang in his chest again, realizing that if he doesn't get up and do something about her, she might try to harm Hanako. He got up before the spirit got close enough and let his strength unleash in front of her. He glared at her, with ember-like eyes, a palpable air of malevolence surrounded him. "This ends now, Witch"
The forest bore witness to their cataclysmic clash. Kageonna's nine tails lashed out like fiery whips, and Ryu retaliated with torrents of shadowy flames. The very earth trembled as their powers collided, lighting up the night with bursts of ethereal fire and darkness. As their battle raged on, Ryu was starting to gain the upper hand. His shadowy flames engulfed Kageonna's tails, causing them to flicker and wane. The malevolent spirit felt her strength diminishing with every passing moment, her resolve slowly faltering. Ryu, sensing his advantage, unleashed a torrent of darkness that engulfed her, binding her in flaming-hot chains. She writhed and struggled against the oppressive force, her once-fiery eyes dimming with distress.
Desperation fueled Kageonna as she summoned the last shreds of her fading power. With a final, desperate incantation, she channeled her remaining strength into a dazzling burst of spectral energy. It surged forth like a radiant supernova, shattering Ryu's dark chains and engulfing him in blinding light. Before the demon could do anything to counter her, the surrounding air suddenly got colder, more calming. He looked up in confusion, recovering from the spirit's previous attack, feeling light-headed and exhausted. Before he could figure out what she was trying to do, a sudden gust of wind came through, pushing away some fog clouding Ryu's vision, and revealing someone behind it.
There behind the clouds of dust was Hanako, or what Kageonna would like him to believe. She morphed into the spitting image of the girl Ryu cherished most. Her fiery eyes softened, and her once-dreadful aura took on an air of innocence. In this guise, she appeared to be the very embodiment of vulnerability, with a look of bewilderment and terror in her eyes. Ryu, momentarily thrown off balance by this astonishing transformation, hesitated. His infernal flames faltered, and his smoldering ember-like eyes were clouded with confusion. The resemblance to his beloved Hanako was uncanny, and he could scarcely believe his senses.
In her new form, Kageonna, now Hanako's doppelganger, reached out to Ryu with trembling arms, her voice quivering with apparent fear. "Ryu, it's me, Hanako! Please, don't hurt me!" she implored, her words dripping with desperation and feigned vulnerability. The demon's malevolent heart wavered. He lowered his guard, drawn in by the illusion of his human. He rushed towards her, giving her a warm, tight hug, ignoring all the red flags about her sudden unexplained appearance. Before he could utter any word of comfort to her, Kageonna seized her opportunity, turning her soft, skinny hands into clawed paws, ready to stab the unsuspecting demon. But right when she was ready to execute her master plan, Ryu pushed her away as a flying angelic arrow pierced her back.
Kageonna screeched in pain as the arrow burned her insides, causing her limbs to slowly fade. In just a few seconds, her body, nothing but ashed now, flew in the wind away from the confused group. Tenshi sighed, feeling a huge, stressing weight slowly lift off his shoulders. Hanako, the real one, ran past him towards Ryu, eyes filled with worry. "Ryu!" She said, placing her hands on his worn-out shoulders, "Are you okay?" Ryu did not respond, he simply looked down in silence. He felt terrible for allowing something like this to happen to him, being fooled by a mere illusion. "You've done a great job, Ryu, I'm deeply sorry for involving you in my matters" Tenshi apologized, feeling genuine pity for his demon friend who had to go through this battle alone.
Ryu removed Hanako's caring hands off his shoulder, feeling embarrassed at what she had to witness. She frowned and looked away, cheeks burning just like Ryu's. Hina, who was standing awkwardly behind them, suddenly fainted and so did Hanako a few seconds after. Ryu picked her up before she hit the ground and looked at Tenshi with an odd look, "What's going on?" The angel picked up Hina and motioned for Ryu to walk with him back to the resort, "She wiped their memories of her to avoid any rumors about this battle spreading. If the students find out that Kageonna, a legendary spirit, was beaten in a fight, they will no longer fear her. Therefore, her strength would slowly vanish" He explained. Ryu walked alongside Tenshi, letting his words sink in.
"Miya was never Hina's cousin, I'm assuming she manipulated her just like she did to you" Ryu rolled his eyes "I wasn't manipulated. I was just... making sure that wasn't her" The demon looked away with an evident look of embarrassment on his face, causing Tenshi to chuckle a bit at his cute reaction. "So this Kageonna, was she the one your mother thought she killed?" Ryu asked. "Yes, and from what just happened I'm assuming she's not dead now, either. A very specific, powerful skill must be cast to ensure her death. The healing spell I used on the pool did a number on her, but it's still not enough, so she should be back to normal in a few days, as a less powerful but still dangerous spirit"