Post by Gris on Nov 12, 2020 9:23:00 GMT -8
Chapter 0: Usumidori
That aura of dread had filled the room. The moment her small dress shoes touched this room’s carpeted flooring, it really sunk in. Deep within one of the family’s coves laid a room specifically for their riches, trophies, and artifacts. Over the years, the Meyers had amassed this all in a small, well-dressed room. Usually, it was off-limits to even the children of the household. But… One day, a feeling had lured the young Griselda in. A feeling of dread, yet intrigue. She’d set off to approach this sense she had in the back of her mind. No guards, no safe locks. Just, the illusion of it hiding was what deterred those away from the stash. But the great demon would simply guide her in and show her how to open that steel door in her path.
“W...whoa…”
The girl would keep the door cracked a little just in case, stepping forwards and around all this expensive stuff. A few lumps of gold, shimmering in candlelight. A pile of various heads, ears, skulls. All preserved on trophy stands. Only a few were messed with and ever hung here, seeing as the majority were still on the floor. Plenty of other nifty things were up on small counters, in shelves, etc. But the obvious star of the show was a strange section up on a stone pedestal. A decrepit, black scabbard with many signs of wear trailing up and down the length. The blade’s handle tattered, with one leather strand loosely dangling in the crisp light that shone over the whole blade. A simple glance at the thing made the girl stumble back and look upon it with awe.
“That’s… Huh, what’s a sword doing in here?”
It wasn’t nice and expensive looking like the rest of this stuff. Looked more decrepit and ancient than anything. Not even proper enough to go into actual battle with. But, for whatever reason, looking at it filled her with fear. But she crept forwards. Green eyes wide as she scanned around for anything else that might be lying in wait. This feeling could have been a sixth sense of sorts for danger.. But perhaps it WAS just the sword.
Usumidori.
Carved in gold along the scabbard’s side was the script with this name. Up close, it was the only part of the whole piece that didn’t have time scar it. Clear, shining gold. Not a blemish or even smudge mark laid on these trailing words. It caught her eyes, it’s sheen glimmering off the whites in her eyes. She was drawn in, a hand tantalizingly close to the main heft of the item. Before she could manage to grasp the thing however, some sounds are heard from near the door. In a sudden twist of events, there appeared to be others who heard the blade’s call just as she did! She did what any frightened youth would do after it was threatened that they’d be caught. Take the item of their obsession hastily and hide behind that stone stand, of course!
“It’s gotta be around here somewhere, I can feel it!”
It was an older, scruffy voice of a man who had seen better days. Muffled slightly by the metal door between them, it was apparent they found their way past the illusory hills too. Lots of shuffling and heavy footsteps. Had to be some big guys who were nearby at the time too. No way otherwise if the smaller girl had to be just near the stash to feel its pull. Sure enough, two figures eventually stumbled in, another voice making note of the already open door.
“Say… You wouldn’t reckon someone already swooped in and took it, would you?”
Griselda huddled more tightly up against the pedestal, holding the worn katana in both her arms. This younger guy sounded irritated at the thought of his prize being lost. Both of them were definitely straight up ignoring the other priceless bits of the room and focused pretty heavily on the blade. The older one sniffed into the air and shook his head at the other man’s questioning. Clearing his throat in the process.
“Nah… I can smell something in here off. They are still around, brother.”
The girl had to hold in a small squeak. They couldn’t possibly know, right? Must be trying to suss out any possibilities! Too bad Griselda was terrible at keeping still. A foot slipped on some loose rock, and was visible just enough for one of them to spot it before she could pull it back into cover. In a strange turn of events, the man howled obnoxiously and nudged his brother with one arm, pointing with another.
“Well I’ll be a bit of a snooper, I think that was a kid!...”
Even though he said that pretty aloud, the two men started devising a plan. Quietly puppeting their positions on towards the stone podium. They were going to each go on one side of it to apprehend the girl. Easy as that. The two oafs weren’t too quiet with their scheming nor their footprints, and it was obvious when they encroached deep and got near her. Quick as always to overreact, the girl may have pulled out of her hiding spot a bit too soon to avoid them while she was down.
”Wait! Waiiiit!”
The two men she saw there were actually quite familiar. Bo and Jo. A pair of colorful blue and green ogre brothers. They’d frequently come over to the Meyers and, in their young days, would have showed the young Meyers children some demonic gifts they could possibly share with their more demonic kin in the future. The small Griselda had only saw theme a few times before they mostly retired from that babysitting nonsense. Most the other older kids watch the young now, and their services rendered less necessary. But, they did pop around every so often.
Curious how they are here now. They seemed to think the same of the girl.
“Oh, is that lil’ Griselda? Well, what in the blazes are you doing up in here?”
Bo, the older gentleman, asked the question first. Scratching at his chin while he peered down at the girl half his height. Not to mention one of his arms easily eclipsed the girl and ran close to dragging his knuckles to the ground. Neither were too keen at the fat Griselda held the dark sword behind her. Shielded by both her body and being taken out of the light. The proper girl just smiled and took a look around at the chambers.
”Oh, what were you two doing here? This is my father's place, you really shouldn’t be around!”
The small one’s quick wits seemed to catch the younger brother out for a moment as he scratched a chin in a quick think. Nudging his older kin with a large shoulder after having stepped up next to him.
“Yeah, hey. Why are we here again? I don’t remember no path inside…”
The blithering fool would get a small jab from a meaty blue elbow. Bo’s greying hairs seemed to stand on end at the moment of his slipup, deep black pearls for eyes squinting and looking back in the direction of where the sword hid. A little confused, but intrigued.
“Ow! What was that for!?”
Jo rubbed at his ribcage after the assault, bemoaning his brother's assault. But he’d not retaliate.
“Shut it, Jo. You’re right, of course, miss Meyers, we really shouldn’t be here. Something… beckoned us, should we say. And it seems to have gotten to you too.”
Bo still could not make out the object of his desires. But he damn well knew it wasn’t the kid. Some 1/8th mutt was not in possession of such abilities and draw. No, he’d take a look past her for a moment, eyeing the back rack full of assorted trinkets. Stumbling on by and making clear to not brush up on the small Meyer child, he’d not even look back to see the blade behind her.
”Huh? What? Well uhh… yeah. I still don’t know what it could be that's causing it though. Do either of you know what’s in here that could even do that?”
Jo stepped on up to the girl now, kneeling to more comfortably and less threatening stare the girl head-on. Not being as bright, he’d tilt his head at the girl’s question. She sounded sincere and just as baffled as they did, yet she had caught SOME cunning from her years with dad. It was only suiting that the youngest one would actually resemble the old guy the most.
“Um, nah, we haven’t been in here before, have we Bo?”
Who was in the middle of just grabbing various artifacts on those shelves with grubby, boulder-sized hands. Eyeing them with discrimination and trying to ignore the man he’sd call a brother. Being ignored for the moment, Jo now sniffed the air for his prize. And it was strikingly close. He turned towards the stone pedestal where the scent once laid and grabbed hold of it with both hands.
”Wha?”
Griselda took deliberate steps away as the brute yoinked the stone from the floor it was tied to. Blinking at the ogre that now looked the stone slab in his hands up and down. Scanning where the tablet had just been, and the scar now set in the ground from where he relieved the pedestal from it. Seeing as nothing further caught his eye, he placed the thing back down and acted like he never touched the thing.
Bo, now a bit irritated at the nonsense his brother was conjuring, turned back from his rummaging with a small cane in hand. Way small for his grasp. This ire was directed first and foremost as Jo, but that small glint of something just behind the girl made his deep black pearls twist Unaware, Griselda kept her eyes peeled at the rather ludicrous acts of the other Ogre. Blissfully unaware the man was staring down her blade. There was a comfort however. The man was smart enough to know he wasn’t quiet enough on his toes to ever swipe something like that from the small girl. Instead opting to be open about it. He’s some form of authority figure around her, maybe she’d just listen to reason.
“Hey. Fancy blade you have there, Griselda. And just where did you get that?”
The answer was obvious to him, but to the girl the question alone would perhaps give her a dilemma. Griselda, thrown off guard by this, blinked and tried positioning herself between him and the said blade, casting it out of sight again.
”Uh, what do you mean sir?”
That was one step towards her the big ogre would make, his brother finally catching on to what he was doing and stumbling his way on over to that metal door. Putting his body between her and an easy out. Griselda had scooted just a bit towards it already, but she was too slow to do it before her fate was sealed.
“Don’t play dumb, miss Meyers. That sword is what brought us here. Pulled us in. But only one can wield it. Come on, a kid like you shouldn’t be worrying about this anyways. We adults will take care of it.”
A… ping. There was a pinging reverb in the back of the girl’s head set off by this. Causing her to tighten the grip on her newfound weapon with an uncharacteristic force. She didn’t feel like letting go? She did want to let go! Though, her face and words stumbled a bit as she tried standing her ground here. Griselda was never a very extroverted youth. The ogre would prove a test of her will and of this sudden bond she formed. Just thinking about it.
”I don’t think you should be in here, my father wouldn’t like people touching his stuff!”
An excuse Bo and Jo were too enticed to the blade to even consider, the eldest taking another step up and reaching out calmly with his big paw. Griselda took another step back away. Green eyes gazing up now at a sharp angle as Bo was pretty much a foot in front of her and several feet above.
“Come on now, don’t make such a fuss about it. We’re just here to make sure the thing is taken or anything else devilish happens. Isn’t that right?”
She didn’t want him to come any closer, fighting against her urge to run and a sense of greed towards the blade. It was *hers*. Jo was right ready to pipe in after his brother’s insinuation.
“Yeah, we isn’t gonna do anything bad in here, we just wanna make sure you’re not takin’ stuff you’re not suppose to.”
“Now, hand over the blade.”
That ping… Again, now a more solid thump and trigger in the back of her mind. Something was pulling at her senses. Her feelings. Griselda looked up to the Ogre. Terrified as he reached out to snatch that blade from her grasp. It was then something flashed in her peripheral. Something that encroached, and slithered into sight. It was an image, a flash of something else that she hadn’t seen, or possibly still have not seen before. Possibly a trick of the eyes. But to Griselda, it was a real as anything else surrounding her.
The girl screamed as she saw this vision. Two smoldering purple eyes, set on a black scaled face. It looked big just from her vision alone, covering most of all that she saw for the second it popped into view. She scrambled, tossing the sword away to the corner and tried getting past Jo. Tried breaking down just outside where this feeling, this image, couldn’t get to her again. For the moment, she had snapped out of this enchantment. But something more horrifying took place.
Griselda realized that… none of that actually happened.
Well, she’d feel herself do those things, sure, but her body. It… refused to move. Neither of the ogres seemed to hear her cry for help. Neither of them even seemed to care that she tried running past them. She was frozen, stuck looking forwards up to the big ogre that just moments ago was trying to swipe her blade. And the sword… had unsheathed itself. The color of red coated her vision and the spray of a viscous deep red flew from where he just had his extended arm. Griselda took just one swing and took the ogre’s arm. It was all done in an instant. The screams she did hear were not of her cries of help, but the yelps of pain from the older ogre, and surprise from the younger. And, properly disarmed, the man stumbled back and crashed up against that priceless back rack of goods. Just leaving a clean cut and blood spatters down the floor.
What was she doing? Griselda tried her hardest to retract this blade, to try and get a grip of everything. Apologize, turn the blade in, do whatever she could to stop herself. But… she was but a puppet at this moment. Only seeing and sensing what another being was doing with her body. There were cries from Jo, cries to get the hell away from the kid, and Griselda could have sworn the other ogre muttered something about a ‘cur’. The girl wouldn’t know it, and it seemed whatever was possessing her didn’t care. Instead, ignoring Bo entirely and pointing this older, rusted looking blade at the ogre blocking the door.
“H-hey!... Wait a moment! What the hell are you?!”
Jo was confused, by the look in his face. Which was starting to blur to Griselda’s sight, by her measure. He was given ample time to step back through the metal door and away from Griselda, who had at that point started moving past the door too and away from him. Sheathing the sword and taking a great starting dash after leaving him and his brother in the dust. From here, her memory and vision would be a bit blurry. Only simple fragments of time, from then to where she first end up were ever
Maybe it was a miracle that Griselda found herself in the middle of washing her face. That blur in her eyes and lack of grip on her own body waning as she started coming to. She’d look down in the waters she was throwing with her hands and see cuts and scrapes on her hands. Small stings further relieving her of the numb control this sword had on her. There was pain. A lot of pain. And it hit her when she noticed part of her dress cut open to reveal an already treated wound spread across her entire torso. The girl coughed, hacked, and cried as that all started coming to her at once. Akin to waking up to someone having stabbed you in the stomach. The child reached at that wound with one of her hands and groaned at the sharp pain.
“H-Hahh! H-hnng!… Wha…”
She stopped washing herself. And for that split second she’d see a red tint in her eyes fade from existence. And her body slumping face-first into water. There was a struggle to lift her face out of the shallow stream to keep breathing, tossing water and pebble around before flipping herself on her back. Loose hair wet with blood being washed away by the current while she looked to the skies. She only just came around to consciousness and felt like she had been to war.
It was a calm minute or so. With only the sounds of nearby birds chirping and the stream passing underneath her. The naive kid, not very used to the outside world or any of its many rules, stigmas, and norms outside of formal greetings didn’t know what to think of this. Of… Well, with the time passing by enough she’d realize what was in her other hand. Pulling the arm up to see a death grip on a pristine ebony black scabbard. Clean of any past wear, tarnish, or age. And with the very articulate gold engravings on its side that stood out as familiar to the girl, viewed mere inches from her face.
Usumidori.
”H-huh!? G-get away from me!”
The surprise was enough to jolt the youth out of her shallow bath and sit up, levering enough force behind her arm to toss the thing away from her. It’d hit the pebbled shore with a thud and crackle, though not seem to damage the ebony scabbard in any visible way. Her calmed breathing from her peace turned exasperated. Eyes widened as her anxiety and fear grew back up to a boiling point. The toss wouldn’t be without consequence however. Moving even that small bit would prove very painful, and a sharp pulse of pain would spread out from that wound across her torso. She howled and tried keeping her sit up in the stream here but she’d find even reaching for the bandages hurt.
”Stop moving.”
A commanding voice, Loud, deep, and with such acoustics as to sound like it were in your ears. Griselda winced and looked nervously around. Was someone following her? Had some random people stumbled upon this broken teen while she was recovering from a wound she wouldn’t even be able to describe? As alert as she was, she found none of that. And the twisting and turning would cause her just more pain.
”Who’s there!? Ga-”
Riddled with guilt and not thinking clearly, the girl would stumble to stand up with a groan. Head swiveling past trees and through the few bushes surrounding this shore. Any effort to move like this though would just make her cry loudly, eventually just falling back to her knees hard in the very edge of the streamwater. Splashing and hissing at her stomach. More irritated sounding now, the voice repeated itself.
”Stop. Moving. Your weak mortal shell does not have the capacity to withstand a stab wound of that calibre with all the moving.”
Before she could ever protest or ask what the hell this mystery voice meant by ‘shell’, the girl was greeted with the blade again. Just… casually looking down, her grip somehow managed to have Usumidori again. The results would, again, be poor for both of them as she, through the pain, tossed the scabbard out again. Another cry that echoed in this empty forest.
”Stay away! I’m… fine! I’ll… just tell father, he’ll know what to do with this sword… Just…”
”You irritate me, child. First you dare enter my prison before the more worthy wielders come forth, and now your ego persists through possession? You are lucky to have your mind, girl, keep still.”
The blade’s voice wavered not, instead growing harsher with the passing seconds. Griselda couldn’t exactly… stare the sword in the eyes, regardless if she wanted to. She was keeled over, holding her stomach and trying to not feel like her guts were going to erupt from her torso. Doesn’t help she’s never really had anything beyond a few scrapes from sparring as a kid. Actual wounds were a different monster.
”S-shut it, you…. Thing! Monster! What did you even do to me!”
Demon would be a more accurate term, but to her that wasn’t some derogatory phrase. Demons were strong, gifted, and able to control their own destiny. This thing just… took from others. Took her for a ride, and made a quick enemy of the ogre brothers. The most lowly of cowards. But, there was more to it, wasn’t there?
”Foolish girl. Do you not realize who you speak to? It is I who coated the underworld in an everlasting flame. Granted the material the ability to produce poisons and venoms. It is I who once slayed some of the greatest beasts of the world, butchered to extinction. You will know me by my name. Usumidori, and I am your master as you are my mortal vessel. You should be honored!”
Wow. Okay, now that was interesting. The girl panted and looked up towards that blade, twice thrown now. Eyes filled with a tiredness. A weakness. She still had no clue how her body got like this from his mere possession alone, but it’d make sense a little how he was so easily able to use her. If his gloating was to ever be trusted, that is. Instead of fighting it though, the youthful girl would instead remain still. Squinting at it, like it could tell she was doing that.
”Not what I exactly meant when I said that… How… Why am I hurt? None of that explains this bandaging… This pain.”
This time, the sword would not appear in her grip to come closer to her. Rather, it’d appear rather directly, in her view, just… in front of her in the rocky sands. Text side facing up, just resting under Griselda as she collected herself and kept from moving.
”Perhaps if you knew of my sealing, you’d have a proper understanding. What you saw in that prison was merely a husk of what I am now. I sought out my soul, a demon soul, and wretched it out of another mortal’s hands. Your frailty and small stature made it difficult.”
Griselda had to just… laugh a tiny bit. Of all the things to come up, it was *her* mistake for being too weak for the demon to use? Then, the person was just wielding another sword like this one then. And he pried it from their hands. Judging by the wounds she herself had, dead ones.
”You made me kill someone? I… I didn’t want to hurt anyone! You… You also hurt Bo!”
There was a little bit of a hole in his obsession with the girl. He could have just… let the man take him. But surely the demon had a flawless reason as to why he couldn’t just let the ogre take him.
”You poor thing. Once you made a connection with me, there was no going back. The man could have tried taking me away and I’d be nothing more than a simple blade to him. No, you’re bound to me now. I can use you to the fullest, so I did what was necessary.”
”Necessary? You cut mister Bo’s arm off! Could you not have just ran out like you did anyways? I…”
”They should know better than to lash out at my vessel. An arm is an arm, they can live with the lesson learned. Now, are you done pestering your master over details or can we begin healing?”
Griselda hissed and eventually sat up from the blade. Letting the streamwater, wash the sore cuts on her hands and just shake her head at the monstrous reasoning. She’d hope the man, well… The sword. Was just lying and trying to keep the girl intimidated.
”I don’t believe that… You’re sick!”
The ebony black scabbard would slide on across into the water to her, landing in her lap with a tiny thud. Impressively enough, the contact did in fact bless her with some strange relief. A numbing of the pain. She was about to go chuck it for the third time but paused in that moment because of it. Just staring the black wooden sheath down.
”Interesting. In your current state, a human like you should be in a hospital bed. I only managed to crawl your sorry body to the streams here through my will alone. But here you are, breathing and talking back to me. Almost stood up as well, even without my own regenerative properties. Unless… Ahh. Your blood is poisoned with a demon’s. You’re a mixed puppy, aren’t you?”
That last sentence was dripping with more sinister intrigue, like a vampire realizing his prey had just let them into their home. Griselda was actually a tad shy by about the fact she was part demon. Like, vaguely demon. Lacroix demon. You’d not be able to tell from her appearance. Her feeling. Even shapeshifters are typically more or less able to be sussed out if you knew what you were looking for. But to her, it’d have been better to be a full demon, or a full human. It was such a strange taint on most of her family that some of her own siblings even shed their mortal shells. The youngest was unfortunately so out of tune with her inner demon however that she’d better yet forget such a thing. Griselda was cut off before she could get anything back in. This time, talking to her mind?
Well, that was the best way to describe it.
”Do. Not. Move. An inch.”
Confused, the girl would freeze in place and just eye around her as conspicuously as possible. Nothing in her sight. She wondered if she could respond in kind to the demon by just willing it in her head. Two small voices in her head conversing.
”Huh? What’s going on?!”
Usumidori was silent, in both capacities. The chirping of birds and the stream beneath them being the main centerpiece of the current soundscape. Nothing that the girl could perceive stood out to her. She’d almost wonder if he was just playing some trick game on her, but he almost seemed too serious around her to ever do that. Almost. Then she’d feel something tug at her. Rather than a complete loss of her functions, the girl instead would feel a sudden suggestion towards her body. A movement she wasn’t keen on doing, and her body ached for it, but one a certain blade was pretty much forcing on her.
”Roll out of the way!”
The girl would do a quick roll out of the stream, getting ALL of her dress wet again and planting herself on the shore facing towards it with a groan. One hand gripping the scabbard firm while the other clutched at her stomach. A loud crack and pop of gunfire into the stream just where she was, splashing against its shallow rocky bed and splintering off harmlessly to the current. She stayed knelt and scanned the area surrounding her.
”... W-who’s there?!”
There was another moment of stillness in the forest. But… eventually some of the brush across the stream started rustling. The first thing coming out from its point was a large handgun aimed at the youth. Following a glove and a slender looking figure. Decked in leathers and some otherworldly hunting gear. Whacky looking stuff, actually. Straight out of Bloodborne. They seemed to have little hesitation in their threatening stance, eyeing her with deep blue eyes. Usumidori, for all his serious gripes with Griselda, now gave a more goaded laugh. That booming voice cutting the silence like a hot knife to butter. Surprisingly showing Griselda the blade had the capacity to talk outside of using her as a vessel.
”And so the lost mutt sought out revenge for its late master. You mortals never cease to amaze me-”
“Shut up!”
A feminine voice. The woman under that clattered clothing shook the gun forward like it was a pointed threat towards the sword and its vessel. Looking closer, Griselda herself saw that the woman also wasn’t on the greatest of terms. A single laceration seemed to cut through that leather near her elbow, exposing some dark skin that had a bit of a cut on it. These green eyes that were staring at that cut were not those same reds she had seen in the girl before. A pause.
”You were with him… T-the guy that I…?”
The girl shook in place. Just looked up at the woman with some strained face. She was sorry, so sorry, but she couldn’t bring herself to exactly make the words out. The kid wasn’t so sure how to deal with all that’s been going on. Seems like Usumidori didn’t care for the guilt ridden youth getting words in, but he would make something clear.
”I’ve no qualms with your existence, mortal. If you cared at all about your mortal life you’d drop your weapon before me and run. If the valuables are something you need, you can collect them another day.”
“You don’t get to make demands, you monster! Think you can just walk back into your demon-infested lands after taking him away from me?! No!”
Click. Bang. Griselda was looking down the barrel of a loaded gun as the revenge stricken woman pulled its trigger on a girl. Energy was visible in its projection. A sickening white aura that concentrated around the tip. Another suggestion from the blade, forcing the girl to very roughly take a stand and jump to the side. Griselda yelped and winced at the movements.
”W-wait! Please, I didn’t mean to-!”
”I’ll give you one last chance. Do not make me grab the blade. For once it is out, it will not be sheathed without your blood stained across it. Do not throw your insignificant life away by tossing yourself at me, girl.”
Not heeding the old demon’s words, the woman took another shot. Now just spraying the gunfire around haphazardly in a desperate aim to hit the demon. Griselda had that same feeling take her over again. In that split moment, those youthful green eyes turned to spite and malice. The sword being drawn at lightning speeds to cut a bullet in the air before tossing their weight into jumping over the spray. Usumelda was born once again. The girl’s voice for the first time taking on that hatred and putrid tone of the demon.
”Then you choose death!”
Her vision was very clear now, behind Usumidori’s control. Feeling more like a complete experience. Now, she could tell where she was. Their places having swapped, she found herself surrounded by void. A black emptiness, with only a certain frame of her view being taken up by what she… Well, what usumidori saw. Was like watching T.V. in the abyss. Her movements did nothing but helplessly flail in the emptiness she was suspended in.
The woman expected the girl to be able to move at such speeds, ducking out from the shoreline and diving into the brush to avoid the now landing Usumelda. The dark blade slamming down where she previously was with a deafening crack. Picking himself back on up with little effort. It was the start of a quick chase through the woods. Usumelda bobbing and weaving through the branches and shrubbery in the way towards his goal. The woman herself was slowly caught out in a field after being gained on. Having taken her time to reload her weapons and reveal a blade up under her coat.
As Usumelda made her way through the treelines, the gun went to work putting bullets out towards her. In a very clean display the blade managed to swipe away another bullet while weaving a path towards the hunter. Closed distance, the woman would prepare to swipe out and defend herself against that ebony blade that came swinging. A swing, miss, another small clash between the blade and then another dodge from the both of them before the woman jumped back. Eyeing daggers into the possessed girl.
“I get your game now, hellspawn. That’s not even your body, you’re keeping a little girl hostage!”
The gun was very clearly not really shooting off so clearly now, trying more to keep the demon distracted than let the thing at her throat. Usumelda ‘s mouth curled up into a smile.
”Is that so? And what will you do with such information? Lower your arms and die?!”
The girl was a good deal smaller than her adversary, ducking low under the woman’s reach and swiping a low cut at the legs. A hesitant demon hunter catches it in her leg and takes a stumbling jump backwards, shooting a last couple of rounds at the girl before putting another mag in. Growling at the demon.
“I’ll free her! She’s not going to be wasted as some bastard’s puppet! And if that requires breaking you down enough to release her… Well so be it!”
The woman’s dagger would be swiftly handed off back into her coat and she’d instead opt to grab a whip out from it, unfurling it in the same move as to swipe at the sword’s wrist. Finding purchase on it to the amusement of the demon. Usumelda wasn’t able to pull back on the whip necessarily, but he had other methods. Lifting with the force of her arm and jumping back into a more grounded stance, the woman would attempt tossing the girl’s body up over her. A jostling attempt to disarm the girl from that ebony katana while keeping herself safe from the potential backlash.
Usumelda wasn’t just asleep for those thousand or so years. Through the years he’s learned to channel his powers through the vessel and pushed that to its extreme. Going with the toss would prove fun enough a trip, but the demon would change its outcome. By the time the woman got Usumelda overhead, they twisted in the air and instead landed on her feet. The blade slipped from their grip at the tossing motion. That wasn’t something they absolutely needed however. Their back turned just for a moment before looking wildly at the woman. Stepping into her and her whip with fists extended. And for a flash, the girl’s hands turned to claws. Black things, humanoid, yet with sharp pointed fingers. And they oozed this dark purple flame from them as they took aim at the midsection of the hunteress.
“Gah!”
A solid goring few slashes, ripping through any bit of leather and actual modern protective gear the woman wore underneath. Lacerations far greater than her solid nick on her arm. A few shots from the handgun go wildly over the girls head in this panic. Usumelda would keep the pressure just enough to avoid taking any more hits herself, the body more frail than his actions would like to permit. They’d jump back and stare the now bleeding woman down. Claws at the ready.
From inside the demon, Griselda was seeing all this from the first person. Stricken with an inability to directly stop her own body from moving. She was horrified seeing her arms, her own dress and feet move and perform acts of violence and monstrosity. Why could she even get to see it? Why was she being tortured with this image, why not just fade like the rest of her abilities? Then came an idea. At this moment of hesitation to go press the offensive, Griselda wondered if she could talk to him. Talk to him as he had her prior. It was better than doing nothing.
”... Usu… Usumidori! Can you hear me?”
She’d notice Usumelda freeze more in their movements at the voice. He had heard, or at least felt her voice from deep within. On the outside, after those few seconds of pause stopped, the possessed girl would start chuckling to herself instead. The huntress she could see was confused by it, as Griselda was too.
”You continue to interest me, girl. But you’re going to try telling me I should just walk away from this, you are in no position to mitigate the outcome of this.”
The demon was set in his ways wholly. And on the outside, it seems he’d move Usumelda into another attack with the claws. The wounded Huntress now very much into the whole defending herself part. One of the bullets managed to hit hard in their legs even, in a wild spray of handgun fire. What’s worse was that Grielda could feel it. Consciously watching like this, she could feel it! Andshe howled into the nothingness around her.
”O-Oww! W-why can I feel that!?... Well, no, usumidori, but I… I wanna try and make an offer instead. Something we can both benefit from. P-please, just hear me out.”
Usumelda had to take a break from assault again just to focus on the mind talk. Their body wasn’t exactly adjusted to fighting like this. It gave both of them a breather even.
”... Go on, child. Do you realize what further happens when you make deals with a devil though? You will be *bound* to it, bound further than you already are to me. So, speak your offer.”
Griselda gulped and kept her eyes peeled on the outside. Staring at the huntress, those deep wounds. She wasn’t going to make it out without something big being brought up. Griselda had to come up with something almost too reasonable that the demon couldn’t just say no to it. If she couldn’t find some leash for this thing, the demon was going to get them both killed with more vagabonds like this.
Wait… That’s it!
”I offer… Wait, Yes, I offer a compromise on premise! Usumidori, if you don’t restrain yourself and keep yourself from harming anyone who’s just… not paying us mind, you’ll be making so many enemies! And… And you said it yourself, I’m weak! I need time to grow, independent of your control. T-think about it. If the world is against you prematurely, surely we’d be… In a pickle! I don’t want to d-die… And you don’t want to be imprisoned again, right? Please… I’ll be more willing to cooperate and help with your wishes if you would allow me more autonomy. All me a choice with things.”
… Usumidori was silent for a moment. Usumelda was still for that moment. The huntress was sweating bullets at what came next. Though spite and anger still filled her eyes, she was scared. Usumidori liked them scared. But the demon also liked its own vessel to be cooperative if it were going to keep its own soul intact. And most importantly, this cycle would not end here if he kept just fighting everyone who could ever possibly make him stronger then and there. He had to be more calculated with this child’s body.
”A fair point, mortal. You are bright for your age. But this battle will depend on this woman’s toleration of my existence elsewhere in the world now. It is a deal, so long as you know I will take control when I feel it necessary. So long as you know, I carve your path for you. You won’t be going back to your pretty homestead. We will be traveling.”
That was… Interesting to feel. A typically nefarious and egotistic demon, suddenly giving compliment to a 8th-blood welp that couldn’t even power herself up without his own blessing? She was pretty unremarkable amongst her siblings, and parents. It was… rewarding. It felt nice. In the end, it would be mostly manipulative, but that was a door she’d open later.
”Good news, hunter! It seems the girl cares more about your safety than I care for ending your existence! Not only will I grant you a treasure trove of artifacts to make up for this little squabble, but I will leave you and anyone bound to you by blood alone!”
Usumelda’s wild grin had already corroded, faded into a very unamused neutral as the blackened claws warped in a flash of flames, returning to Griselda’s normal hands and arms. Which he’d use to point off into a direction. Assumingly towards the Meyer’s stash.
”That way, you will find an illusory hill. Hidden within, things that will aide in whatever your endeavors require. It is of no use to me.”
The huntress kept a gun pointed at Usumelda. Stumbling around in a circle, only giving small notice to the direction she was told.
“Oh yeah? And you expect me to believe you, demon? What do you take me as, some idiot? What are you pulling?!”
Uncooperative, the small demon child growled and balled a fist up, the other hand open palm as in a flash of purple flame again the ebony sword would leave the ground and reappear in Usumelda’s hand. Griselda, still determined in doing this, had yet another idea. Panicking to come up with something off the cuff.
”Let… Wait, let me talk to her!”
Usumelda paused again. Eyeing the sword one more time. It’d be so easy to just end this here, but keeping the girl cooperative otherwise for the coming years would be advantageous. Instead of doing anything further with the blade in the motion of recasting it to their hand, Usumelda simply sheathed the thing. With no blood having contacted said blade.
”A fair point. Perhaps you’d prefer the girl tell you herself?”
It was a strange pulling back into her body. Griselda felt like she just melted back into her little viewport in this void. Forming back into picture with her own body, which really threw her off. Oh, there’s the pain again. And the deathly grip on that cursed katana. The reds of Griselda’s eyes faded back to green, and the girl stumbled almost face first into the dirt before catching herself, using the scabbard as a support between her and said ground.
“Wah! … Ow… Could you warn me next time?”
The girl complained, but then realized it was her, not Usumelda that was before this woman still pointing a gun at her. She didn't think she could really look the woman in the eyes after what happened. Head hung down a bit, she rubbed her sword holding arm with her other hand.
”Hey, Miss…I’m sorry for what he.. No, I did. I can’t bring whoever it was back, I don’t even… Look, I am hoping this will all change now since I talked him into not fighting everyone in sight. I’m just hoping, you know, you can just walk away from this? I am going my own way too, I just hope you’re okay. I can’t control him if you’re going to keep going with this.”
The huntress took a solid minute to contemplate. Staring the girl down the sights of her handgun before eventually lowering it. Holstering it back into her coat with a bit of a grimace still plastered across her face. The blood coming off of those claw marks were pooling a little on the ground.
”Do you… need help with the-”
“Just go, kid. I can’t fight or look for any treasure like this, so I’ll be willing to just… leave this be. But damn your master.”
The woman groaned and gripped at her chest before turning to leave. Leaving Griselda to just look up at her with doubt and guilt. For a few moments, tears strolled down the youth’s face as she took a seat to rest herself. Instead of anger and tantrum, she was now riddled with the dilemma she put herself in even further. It was one thing to succumb fully to the demon, but to work with it? She was making a sacrifice here to keep her ego and soul intact. To not just be a mindless puppet.
”It’s time to rest. By the running waters once more, where we can lick our wounds and properly gather ourselves. There is a little more I must… impart on you before we start our trek.”
Was more a command than a suggestion, but the youth would eventually pick herself on up and cry to herself. Just dragging along the opening and back towards the stream. Interestingly, the demon did not berate her for the tears.
The stream water felt refreshing as the girl once again took to sitting on its shallow shores, dipping her wounded leg up into the current to wash it. She found bandages on herself pretty readily, assuming usumidori had picked up plenty of supplies from wherever he went first. She, honestly, only had a little knowledge of first aid. The basics, enough to dress a wound proper, but it wasn’t going to be pretty. Her only saving grace was that the bullet didn’t actually penetrate further than the skin, and bounced off in the process.
”Most mortal children wouldn’t even think of all this, better yet have the guts to offer their own servitude for another. You’re different.”
Griselda groaned as she started drying the wound now, patting it down with what little dry clothing she had. It was then she’d get the bandaging kit up in her lap and ready to properly go with dressing. She, again, liked the small bits of praise for an assumed elder being.
”Yes, well I suppose I should be something, rather than nothing. Being ‘different’ will have to do.”
Bandages, ho! And a heave from the girl as she grit her teeth. Wrapping a good few times in a bind around her knee and lower leg before snapping the bandage roll with her teeth.
”Truth be told, I’ve never really been anything besides related to my father... All of my brothers and sisters can do so many incredible things and here I was playing in the fields, looking for roses by the time you called me.”
Her hair wasn’t exactly long enough to ever cover up her sight, but she did hang her head to the thought and looked down.Feeling half defeated, half battered from the abuse the demon put her body through.
”That does remind me. Your promise of aiding me. I do require your body for more… violent acts, but not against your own kin. No, I have my own brethren to deal with as well. If I am to ever own my own body ever again, I must break the seal that cursed samurai put upon me. There are others like me. I’ll search them out.”
He didn’t seem to wanna divulge much more about his plans, but Griselda was all ears.This thing was one of the few things that made her unique. Different. *Strong*.Maybe in the future she could finally shed her family’s legacy and be something even greater. Show up all her siblings.
Or maybe she just felt a little pity for the demon, trapped within a sword.
”I’ll grow stronger then. And I, no… We can do our own things apart from anyone else. Set our own goals… Maybe you’ll soften up and even help me,
sir.”
WC: 8231