Ch. 6 Snek, I Choose You!
The girl had a dumb look on her face as salt was thrown at her by Kaede.
"Hey! What the heck did you do that for?!" She screamed.
Jei was going to intervene, but Kaede got to inspecting the girl's face and mumbling something about her being spitting image of Kikyo.
In Kaede's shack sat the girl, Kaede, and Jei. Kaede was stirring a pot of stew, while the girl accepted a bowl and began to eat after thanking Kaede. Being slightly impatient Jei broke the silence.
"Old lady, what is going on? You girl, where did you come from?" Jei knew this girl was from a more modern time period due to the sailor uniform. But those went out of style decades before he was born. He had seen his grandma's old uniform gathering dust and also had read many old manga where girls still wore pleated skirts and dress shirts.
But more than anything Jei and Snek were curious about this girl because of one thing.
'She has an immense spiritual energy coming from her abdominal area. Not the amount a normal human girl could possibly possess. Without the right training having that much would make a normal person explode.'
But what Snek noticed was much deeper than what Jei could feel. He sensed many souls all fighting an endless battle within her. It honestly scared the crap out of the spirit beast, and even revolted him. This was blasphemy against the natural order of souls!
But Jei's spirit detective instincts were actually working correctly this time. He smelled a case. Something was definitely abnormal about this girl and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
The girl seemed a little nervous of Jei as his gaze on her was quite intense. She didn't really know what to make of him. After Kaede had released her, the guy started reprimanding the villagers. Saying things like 'You realize this makes you look like perverts, right?' Or, 'If the FBI existed here, you'd already be in handcuffs.' While she understood his references, the villagers did not. But they certainly felt shame at being called perverted. She was thankful someone spoke up for her. But this whole situation was all very strange for her.
Kagome was just a normal girl who lived in an old shrine. Somehow she ended up here when something pulled her into the old well. She nervously narrated the circumstances but noticed the young man, Jei stiffen up when she mentioned the old well.
"That's the Bone-Eater Well, it's where the corpses of slain demons were thrown and desposed of." Kaede informed them of it like it was some fun fact. Jei remembered the bones down there, but not all of them were demons. But he wasnt going to mention it.
Jei wanted to ask more questions to Kagome, however the sun was already setting. For some, in more ways than one.
A loud crash erupted in the village, and screaming was heard.
Jei and Snek both moved thier senses outside and felt it. A demon with malevolent energy was rampaging in the village. They quickly ran outside.
"GIVE ME THE SHIKON JEWEL!" It screamed. It was a giant demon centipede with a somewhat human looking torso attached to the top. But it had white skin and 6 arms instead of 2.
"What the fuck is the Shikon Jewel?!" Jei was curious what this treasure could be that would rile up this demon so much. He missed the look Kaede suddenly gave Kagome.
"Tch! Doesn't matter. It came to this village at the wrong time. A giant centipede? Snek!" Jei looked at Snek snapping to attention. "Go Wild!"
It was a simple command and one they had planned way in advanced for their moment to finally shine. The spotlight was suddenly on Snek and if one was familiar with snakes, they would certainly think it was odd for it to crack such a sinister smile.
Shhaa (With pleasure~)
For Snek, this was an opportunity to take a small step towards his own dream. To fight and gain power like his own hero he looks up to... Jörmungandr.
Snek grew to his full size to the astonishment of everyone in the village. Including Mistress Centipede.
At a staggering 20 meters tall, and a thickness of a semi truck, Snek stood proud. While what he felt was pride being seen in his glorious form. What everyone else, including the centipede felt, was unbridled fear.
Like a bowstring being loosed, Snek lunged at Mistress Centipede, grabbing it's body with his fangs and dragging it out of the village. Jei watched from afar with a smug smile, as if it were him doing this great thing.
Mistress Centipede tried to thrash and shake Snek loose but he wasn't having that. Sections of his body constricted, causing Mistress Centpiede to wail in pain as her body was twisted like a giant pretzel in a way she was definitely not supposed to bend.
She banged and clawed at his scales trying to loosen the snake's hold but only the sound of grinding metal echoed and sparks flew in her attempts.
Snek's scales were like titanium armor. A lowly D rank demon like her could never put a scratch on his scales. He and his master were at the upper B rank in power. Only elite demons or espers could harm Snek's scales.
[A/N: For reference, Hiei in the start of Yuyu Hakusho was at upper D rank. And most of the competitors in the first tournament ranged from lower to upper C rank. Hiei could have killed Mistress Centipede then with a little effort. But due to her size and strength I thought it was fair to place her in mid D rank on the Yuyu hakusho power scale. The current Jei at upper B rank could take on Younger Taguro and win if he went all out. That's not including his demon form that could boost him to Mid A rank, which is a huge leap in power.]
With sickening crunching noises, Mistress Centipede's reign of terror came to an immediate end. Her body collapsed and turn to dust, leaving only old broken bones.
Snek slithered back with his head held high, absorbing the looks of awe (fear) of the villagers. He felt like a champion returning home from a glorious battle.
By the time he reached Jei, he had shrunk enough to return to his place around Jei's neck.
"Good job, Snek! Another settlement has recieved our help! Buahahaha! I'll mark the next one on your map."
Snek just rolled his eyes. He wasn't gonna let Jei ruin his moment. He had slain his first enemy and was on his way to becoming a World Serpent. To become so big he could circle the world and bite his own tail. This was Snek's dream.
Jei could only chuckle at his companion. He could feel the little snake's happiness. While he likes to poke fun at him from time to time, Jei is fully supportive of Snek's dream. Just like Snek is with him.
The two of them have a partnership bound by thier very soul. Where Jei goes, Snek is sure to follow. And where Snek goes, Jei is there as well. Never one... without the other.
As Jei turned around, he noticed everyone stepped back in fear.
"Oh great. You all became chickens..." Jei found amusing and yet annoying they all looked at him in fear.
"We just saved your village. Is this really the gratitude of my fellow countrymen? The people of Japan? Have you no pride or honor? How dare you spit in our face after such a heroic feat?! For shame!" Jei seemed to have found his talent because all of the villagers bowed thier heads in shame as he sneered at them. He had emotionally attacked thier honor which was far more valued in the feudal era. At least for decent folk. It didn't hurt he was alot stronger than them, to make them listen.
Kagome was indeed frightened by the giant... snake, that she just thought was a necklace at first. But she couldn't help but take a second look at Jei.
'He's a master manipulator! He's definitely from the modern era. But he's strong! And has a huge demon snake he wears like a necklace. Totally suspicious!'
She felt like this guy is out of place somehow. Maybe like her? Or maybe completely different? But what bugged her most was that everything he said was true. Even she felt a little shame for having fear of them after he just saved the whole village.
[YO! I felt inspired to get another chapter out. I'll probably spend a few days writing the next events. I want to turn this saga into more of a mystery solving plot rather than a power grab. Jei and Snek will uncover the truths hidden in this new world doing thier job as Spirit Detectives (self-appointed). There will be some classic scenes as well as new surprises added in the story. Look forward to it 👍]