Possession 20: Something to Protect

                Rei ducked under a tree as the storm broke. Rain pelted the ground, the sounds of billions of drops creating a dull roar in the graveyard. The grounds were lit up by a flash of lightning, followed closely by a clap of thunder. The priestess couldn’t imagine a worse possible environment to fight in.

                Tenshi soon joined her, followed by Yuna. The gothic girl shook her head and ran her fingers through her wet hair. She looked pale and was trembling. “…I feel uncomfortable standing under a tree in a thunderstorm,” she muttered.

                “It’s only for a moment,” Rei responded. “I’m trying to see of I can sense Ryoga or the Koumori.” The priestess frowned. “It doesn’t seem to be working,” she added after a moment. “I don’t understand…”

                Yuna watched Tenshi as he slid through the rain, the droplets falling straight through his body. She noticed a dejected look about him, like a puppy who had just been scolded. It looked as if he was struggling with something only he knew, too. With a shrug, she glanced back at the priestess. “Let me try. I can always tell where Ryoga is.”

                Rei arched a brow as the other girl stared vacantly out over the graveyard. The priestess had very little experience with psychics, as they were different than spirits. I wonder if she really can sense him… But it would make sense, wouldn’t it. There is a connection between them, after all… Something deeper than her just knowing his name…

                “That way," Yuna said as she raised a hand to point towards a grove of sakura blossom trees on a low hill. “They’re just beyond those trees.”

                There was a gasp and both girls looked at each other. Realizing that neither of them was the one who did it, they looked to Tenshi. The teenage boy was even more pale, if it was possible, than he was before.

                No… Not there!

                Before anyone could question him, Tenshi was off like a rocket towards the trees. Rei called uselessly after him as she ran out from under the cover of the tree. Yuna followed, one hand raised to keep the rain from out of her eyes.

                Once he was at the grove Yuna mentioned, Tenshi focused his attention at the foot of the small hill. There was Ryoga and the Koumori, still locked in combat. The vampire’s shirt hung in tatters, his chest covered with wounds from the bat demon’s claws. Likewise, the Koumori was also bleeding from various wounds on its body. It looked like Ryoga was on the losing end of the battle, though.

                Tenshi looked beyond them, eyes drawn to a statue of a praying angel. A shock went through him, and all his fear seemed to be forced back by a sudden rush of determination. I can’t let them fight here!

                Rei finally caught up, soaked, and glanced at Tenshi before looking down at the fighters. “Looks like Ryoga could use some help… I don’t think he can hold off that thing alone.” Casting another glance at the boy beside her, Rei noticed a change in his entire being, but the most profound change was in his eyes. They were narrowed, dark, and almost frightening. Rei had seen that look only once before, back when they fought Kawari at the Kakidashi Shrine. “…Tenshi?”

                “… Fight them, Rei,” He murmured softly.

                The priestess blinked, but realized that he was serious. His tone of voice… it wasn’t a request. It was a command. A slow but wary smile spread across her face. “Right… time we laid this beast to rest,” she said, gathering up her own courage. Turning back to the battle, she began to dash down the hill.

                Ryoga was grappling with the beast. His crimson eyes were ablaze with fury, his lips curled back to reveal his fangs. The Koumori screeched and leaned close, opening his own jaws to show off his own. With a snarl, the vampire dug his claws into the beast’s shoulders and suddenly hauled the monster closer, falling back as he did so. Lifting a knee to the demon’s gut as he fell to his back, Ryoga flipped the demon into a tombstone behind him.

                The grave marker shattered under the impact as the Koumori struggled to its clawed feet, unleashing another shriek. Before it could attack the vampire, however, a motion to its right caught its eye. Snapping its head to the side, the bat demon leapt backwards as Rei slashed her bokuto downwards, striking the ground where the Koumori had just been standing.

                As soon as it got its feet underneath it again, the demon cried out in surprise as Ryoga hurtled into its side, sending it stumbling. The Koumori began to flap its wings, regaining its balance as it began to take to the air. It didn’t get very far.

                Rei was right in front of it. Rather than striking at the beast, she stabbed the blade though the demon’s wing and viciously slashed downward, slicing through the flesh. The Koumori screeched in horrified anguish and began to spiral downwards, flapping its other wing to try and stay aloft. And then there was Ryoga by the other wing, claws raised above his head. A flash of movement and the wing was left in tatters. The Koumori fell to the earth in a heap.

                The priestess touched down lightly, Ryoga beside her. “Not bad, huh?” She said with a smirk. The vampire said nothing, his attention focused on the Koumori.

                A shudder of rage swept through the beast. The wounds would heal in time, but not its wings. Those were completely useless. It was now half the demon it was, never again able to move through the air. And it was all because of the two that stood before it, because of Rei and Ryoga.

                With a guttural snarl, the bat demon planted its claws into the dirt, digging down for a firmer grip. Inhaling sharply, the creature clenched his jaws shut, building up force.

                Ryoga’s eyes widened. “Get out of the way!” He shouted to Rei.

                There was little time to react. The Koumori opened its mouth and unleashed an unearthly sound that made the very air ripple. It was an intense, focused beam of sound, the bat demon’s trump card. Ryoga leapt to the side, his reflexes quicker than the average mortals. Rei was slower, and the blast slammed into her left side as she jumped aside.

                Letting out a scream of pain, Rei spun with the blow. The attack had torn through the entire left side of her shirt, leaving her arm and part of her chest exposed. If she had been closer to the blast’s center, her arm would have been blown off. Pain swept through the now-useless limb, but at least it was intact. The priestess fell to her knees, gasping.

                Ryoga wasted no time. He had charged the beast from the side, raking at the monster with his claws. The Koumori swung his own claws in return, their attacks clashing with sounds similar to those heard in a sword fight. Spotting an opening, the bat demon howled with triumph and drove a claw straight into the vampire’s stomach.

                “RYOGA!” Yuna screamed from nearby, falling to her knees, gripping her own stomach.

                Tenshi was next to her and stared at the opened fist that had emerged from the vampire’s back.

                Ryoga was still. A tremor swept through his body, followed by a gurgling cough. Blood ran from his mouth as his eyes glazed.

                The demon grinned and pulled its hand free, tossing the lip Ryoga to the side. With another howl, it turned to face Rei.

                The priestess gritted her teeth and pulled herself to her feet, struggling to move. The pain in her arm had subsided, but it still hurt enough to send her staggering. Damn! It’s like he drained the strength from my body!

                Tenshi was knelt by Yuna, concerned for the girl, but never looked away from the battle longer than a moment. “Yuna… Are you alright?”

                The girl coughed, and Tenshi was startled to see her hack up blood. She weakly raised her eyes to him, and he could see a stream of blood that trickled down from her mouth. Even though she looked like she was suffering some internal wound, she nodded weakly. “Go… to her…” Another cough and blood spilt from her lips. She doubled over.

                Biting his lip, Tenshi stood and looked back at the fight. The Koumori was stalking Rei slowly, unleashing blast after blast of its shriek attack at the priestess. She was barely able to avoid the attacks, having to pull up her last energy reserves to move out of the way in time. Each attack created an explosion as it crashed into earth or tombstone. Finally, she was forced to fall back into the angel statue he had seen from the hill.

                It’s no good, Rei thought. Those attacks… The Koumori can leech off its opponent’s strength with just a glancing blow! He’s just as powerful as he was when the fight started! The priestess leaned heavily against the statue, panting. Too weak… Can’t stay conscious much longer…

                “Rei!”

                Looking up weakly, she was surprised to see Tenshi by her side. There was a look of concern in his eyes, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, Tenshi… I’m sorry about earlier…”

                The teenage boy blinked. “What are you talking about? Come on, you need to keep moving! That thing’s getting ready to attack again!”

                “I’m sorry… I yelled at you… I shouldn’t have…”

                “Rei, listen to me.” Tenshi took her shoulders, and the priestess could swear she could feel his hands. “You were right… I was afraid, and I still am… but… sometimes we need to master our fears… Despite how much we’re afraid… when there’s something we want to protect…”

                Rei blinked, then turned, glancing down at the engraving on the tombstone. Her eyes widened slightly. “Tenshi…”

                Another shriek of victory broke the two from their thoughts. The Koumori was ready. With a mighty breath, it unleashed a blast of sound at the two standing before the praying angel.

                “I’m so sorry, Tenshi…”

                “It’s… It’s not over… It can’t be…”

                A blur of movement. There was a flash of thunder, and suddenly Ryoga stood before them, arms crossed over his chest, taking the full force of the attack. He stood there, trembling, and both priestess and teenager were startled to see the bat demon through the hole in the vampire’s stomach.

                Trembling under the force of the blow, he managed to turn his head to focus one blazing eye at the two he protected. “Never… EVER… SUBMIT!” With a roar, the vampire swept his arms out, cutting through the blast before falling to his knees. “…Your… turn,” he grunted, and fell forward.

                Rei stared. So did Tenshi. The idea that Ryoga, a vampire, would protect mortals he didn’t even know… that he fought on until he could fight no more…

                An anger swelled up inside the priestess. Tenshi gritted his teeth. Rei stood up, trembling, and raised her eyes to the growling bat demon. Tenshi stood behind her, beneath the arms of the angel tombstone. Both felt a mix of rage and shame at giving up so easily. The demon was too stupid to notice, but if there were any other conscious people around to see the priestess and her partner, they would be startled to realize that both glared at the monstrous beast with an identical look in their eyes.

                “Tenshi…”

                “Yeah Rei?”

                “Forget everything I said… this isn’t over…”

                “I told you it wasn’t.”

                “How could I ever think we could loose to this…thing…”

                “Yeah.”

                “Hey Tenshi… do you hear that?”

                “Yeah. A chime.”

                Rei smirked and hefted her bokuto onto her shoulder. The Koumori growled and inhaled, preparing another attack. The priestess laughed. “Let’s finish this.”

                The Koumori unleashed its attack.

                Rei unleashed hers.

                “Spirit RESONANCE!”

                Sweeping the bokuto forward, a blazing blue-white light erupted forward as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. The bat demon’s blast swept forward as well and the two met with a sound like thunder. Light and sound clashed, warping the air in which they battled, but the energy release by Rei, empowered by Tenshi, broke through. It arced forward at the demon, tearing up the ground as it bore down on it. The Koumori barely had time to shriek before the blast enveloped him, exploding on contact. The grass bent under the back blast of wind and the rain was pushed back, separated, and for a moment the air was clear of water droplets.

                And then there was a roar of thunder, ushering in the rain. The smoke from the explosion cleared, but the Koumori was gone, utterly destroyed. Rei fell to her knees, drained of all energy, and let herself be pulled from her body into the Astral Plane, allowing Tenshi’s to reenter. The exhaustion and pain hit him like a wave, but he was able to stay awake. Warily, he looked over at Ryoga. He almost fell over with surprise.

                The vampire got up to his hands and knees, rolling over to sit on the soggy ground. He grimaced and raised a hand to his neck, tilting his head to crack it. The wounds all over his body were just gray lines on his skin, darkened by blood. The hole in his stomach was already healing.

                He glanced at Tenshi’s startled gaze as a flicker of amusement passed before his eyes. “…I’m a vampire,” he whispered in that low voice of his. “…It takes more than that to kill me…”

                Tenshi shook his head, in awe of the creature beside him. A movement not far away and he raised his eyes to see Yuna limping over, holding her stomach. She didn’t even seem to notice him, but moved instead over to the vampire and smacked him in the back of his head.

                “You son of a bitch! How could you do that to me!”

                Ryoga closed his eyes in silence.

                The gothic girl glared at him. “Damnit Ryoga, you know I get hurt when you do! I could ignore those slashes and cuts, but why the hell did you have to get your stomach gouged out? That hurt, you bastard!”

                Tenshi stared and couldn’t help but laugh.

                Yuna turned her gaze to him and narrowed her eyes. “Where did the priestess go?”

                “To the astral plane, I think.”

                “Then what are you still doing in her body?”

                Tenshi blinked and looked down. Right, Rei didn’t have the strength to change back. He stared at his… or rather, Rei’s, since it was her body… exposed breast. His face flushed and a stream of blood made its way from his nose, yet he could not look away.

                A firm hand gripped his hair and pulled his head up. Tenshi yelped in pain and stared into Yuna’s blazing dark eyes. “Change… Now.”

                “But I don’t have the strength-”

                “NOW.”

                Tenshi shuddered, but focused. Drawing on whatever energy was left after the Spirit Resonance attack, he focused on his own body. The blue light that surrounded Rei’s body was dimmer than it normally was and the process took longer, but when it was done, Tenshi was himself again. And very tired.

                Yuna let go of his hair and sat heavily on the ground next to Ryoga. “…That was… interesting…”

                If she said anything after that, Tenshi didn’t hear. He was already asleep.

                Yuna watched the teenage boy lapse into unconsciousness. With a sigh, she glanced over at Ryoga. “They didn’t realize how deep their connection was… That attack drained both of them to their limits.”

                The vampire grunted and pulled some of his wet black hair out of his face. “…The boy was weak with fear… the priestess, with worry for him… If they had to fight the beast on their own, they could not have won…”

                “I don’t know… at the end of the fight, it had recovered all its strength…it might even have been stronger. They pulled it off, though…” There was a flash of lightning and Yuna saw something that surprised her. She climbed closer to the angel tombstone to get a better look.

                Ryoga watched her carefully. “…What is it…?”

                Yuna stared, then a slow smile spread across her lips. “…No wonder…”

                With an annoyed growl, Ryoga moved closer to the gravestone to read the inscription.

Here Lies Saishi Sakura,

Beloved Wife and Mother

Her Spirit Lives On After Death

 To Watch Over Those Left Behind

May She Rest in Eternal Peace