Before Fate Would have it

""The gods looked unto the world and watched as chaos ripped the lands apart; watched as man tore their own world asunder with wars. Observed as they savagely ripped each other to pieces over hatred, greed, lust; the lust for sex, riches, and above all power.

Certainly a world not worth saving nor even trying to help and some of the gods agreed to let them bring about their own demise. Yet some spoke out against the action, saying it was too harsh for there was good in that twisted world and it should be given a chance to flourish. They argued over what should be done for some time before a decision was made to create two beings, twins, who would be charged with keeping the balance, so to speak and with that decision and a snap of a finger the deal was done.

Off somewhere in the night sky a giant blue star pulsed like a small heart-beat and a distant voice reached across the expanse of space "You two will bring prosperity and light to the chaos stricken world." the voice was soft and gentle almost echoing in nature. At the words the blue star pulsed again slightly stronger this time, growing brighter. "Breathe..." the voice urged on and the pulsing came quicker, more insistent, an almost inaudible "thump,thump,thumping" of a heart reverberating around the pulsing, a stronger glow emanated from within the star and the thumping grew louder, becoming the echo of two thumping hearts, and the star seemed to almost shake and break apart.

It was beginning to die and collapse in on itself, dust particles circled around the dying star and with one final pulse it collapsed and exploded, the explosion spreading out like a wave crashing over land, and just like water it pulled back into the source and disappeared into a giant burst of darkness, the darkness darker than even the black emptiness of space.

The shadows dissipated and where the star once was there was now two women identical in every possible way except for the gems that adorned their foreheads. They seemed almost in a sort of slumber curled next to each other forming an odd sort of circular shape resembling the yin and yang symbol.

The women opened their eyes and blinked slowly, moving they reached out and grabbed each others hands "Now go and restore the world to it's true beauty." the voice said fading away and with that they were sent hurling to their destination. All the while their fingers remained inter-laced.

They entered the orbit of the planet and the gravitational pull sucked them in, the air around them began heating up intensely as they entered the atmosphere and soon flames were engulfing them but not destroying them. The flames and heat only grew in intensity as they crashed towards the surface. It wasn't long before they were falling through the sky about to crash right into the ground at unreal speeds, right before impact one of the twins eyes flashed and the ground below them exploded, as the dust cleared the women could be seen standing in the crater unharmed and still holding hands." "

Tsukiko Kimiko​

A wild smile was plastered on Tsukiko's face as she slaughtered the war-band one member at a time. Enjoyment, glee and amusement apparent in bother her gaze and her smile.

Blood splattered over the walls of houses, pooled on the ground around her feet and several spatteres across her face "DEMON" they all cried out before a painful scream was wrenched from their throats and then they fell silent. Limbs were separated from their bodies, in all honesty it looked like someone ran through the area with a saw.

As she hacked the head from one of the men her gaze drifted over to her twin hikaru and a flicker of something thumped dully in her chest, it kind of hurt a little...she felt sort of shamed.

It had been a month since their arrival in this place and they went to work immediately, slaughtering the wicked without mercy or a care. Hikaru would join her in the killing escapade but as time wore on she'd noticed a change in her twin, it was small at first and she'd often question her sister on if she was feeling alright hikaru would say she was but she wasn't really convinced. She'd noticed the grimaces and pain that would flash over her sisters face after a battle, eventually hikaru stopped fighting all together.

She didn't know how she felt about it; about her sister not fighting anymore, in fact she'd taken to healing the wounded and sick and had found a natural knack for it. Tsukiko herself enjoyed the thrill killing gave her, hearing the screams of her victims, screams of both fear and pain it made her giddy.

Though as of late whenever she'd see those painful expressions cross Hikaru's face she'd get that strange painful shameful feeling, it confounded her.

One month ago hikaru and tsukiko kimiko had been wrought into this world and given the task of cleansing the wicked in the world and they had set about their task dutifully. However being in this world with Hikaru she had to wonder; were they doing what was right? Was this really how they were supposed to bring prosperity to the world? What would become of her once she was done? Surely the gods wouldnt let her roam with her love of destruction. Blinking she lowered her blades and stared at the ground as the last man fell at her feet, his guts and organs spilling from his stomach and blood spurting from his gashed neck.

Blinking she looked over in hikaru's general direction and nodded "It is..." she thought simply. Tilting her head contemplatively she bit her lower lip "" these people...when they converse with each other their lips move and sound comes out...much like this except....the words come from their mouth...it's a little strange...even when they scream." she thought staring at one of the bodies. She snapped her attention to hikaru and held out her hand "Lets go find a place to sleep." she thought wanting to get away from the destruction as soon as possible.

This was also a common occurrence...the closer Hikaru was to her...the more she wanted to get her away from the massacres. She couldn't understand what was happening to her.

A small softer smile touched her lips when she felt Hikaru's finger inter-lace with hers. Tsukiko's first memory was feeling her hand holding hers comfortingly and she felt a sort of closeness to her...a bond. Casting her blood splattered face from hikaru she started walking away from the village with Hikaru right beside her, she wanted to hide her face from hikaru...she didn't want her to see.

It wasn't long before they came to the outskirts of what seemed to be a large forest, she stared into it and blinked "Want to go through here?" she thought biting the inside of her lip.

"Shh! I think I hear someone coming!"

A bright, peaceful sun shimmered off the luscious green trees. Spring was in the air, and with it came no small amount of mischief. A pair of eyes also peeked out from within the branches; cool, calculating, and most definitely not human. A small shimmer in the leaves that didn't quite match the sunlight and plantlife that was perhaps a bit too healthy were the only hints one would get that most of the trees were little more than an illusion. Most of the trees were bunched together so that the open path in the middle looked all the more passable. Yes, a few trees and some atmosphere was childsplay to the mysterious creature stalking within one of the few real trees.

"Females, right?" a whispered growl, "All humans look the same. Are they pretty enough, big brother?"

It had been like this for a long time. One had the power over the eyes, the other power over the heart. No human was safe. They would have their fun, and if the human survived they would let it go. It wasn't the only fun they had, but it was becoming a regular game. The females were especially fun to play with, with all their funny noises. The little illusionist found himself looking forward to the encounters more and more.

Barely stifling a giddy yip, Sota bounded about the tree impatiently. The humans would need to enter the forest of their own will, but after that they could work their enchantments, and his brother could get to work. The locals weren't very strong-willed. They would be trapped in no time; lost in a maze of trees that didn't exist, beset on all sides by "evil spirits", and finally "saved" by a dreamy hero... and that was barely half the fun part.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

Tsukiko stared into the forest her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed tightly together. She nodded slowly at her sisters warning in acknowledgement "...Hey Hikaru, please stay close to me..I know you don't like being near all the destruction...but I have a bad feeling...so please?" she thought to her sister as they moved warily through the forest.

Sure they'd only been on this planet a month, hell they'd only been alive for a month. However they knew when something wasn't right, it was a feeling that rang inside of them like an alarm that signaled impending doom or trouble.

Her eyes darted from side to side narrowed almost like she was trying to see through something.

Their short time spent in this world had shown them many wonders and a lot of beauty all the potential the world had, however this place seemed almost like an illusion in it's serenity. The leaves shimmered a stunning green and swayed lazily on the almost too perfect breeze. The sun shone in all the right places at just the right amount of lighting and shading. The animal noises; at that thought Tsukiko blinked and swiveled her head from side to side quickly, stopping she closed her eyes and lowered her head listening. After a moment she raised her head "..There are no animal noises nor any bug sounds..." she thought glancing at her twin.

Their creator hadn't done much research in the ways of the world or had wanted them to stick out like a sore thumb. Nothing about them was ordinary everything about them seemed to scream "HEY I'M NOT FROM HERE!". At a distance you wouldn't really notice but the closer they got the more surreal they seemed. Not to mention that they were exact copies of each other and looked more like clones or duplicates than actual twins. From their long oddly colored hair to their too perfectly smooth flawless skin and their too deep eyes, their clothes were also oddly designed and looked nothing like anything in the country. They looked like dolls created by some master craftsman, not like humans. In fact it was quite understandable why some might think they were demons but even in the demon world they looked strange and a bit unreal.

Biting the inside of her lip Tsukiko's eyes traveled along the perimeter of the area, she'd been having the oddest sensation of being watched by someone and up until that point she couldn't tell where this feeling was coming from. A movement, or rather a shimmer in the area around them caught her eyes and her eyes darted to the aforementioned area just in time to see something quite strange. She saw another type of forest just outside of it but the image was gone just as quickly as it had come.

Instinctively she tightened her grip around Hikaru's hand slightly but not enough to hurt and pulled her closer to her. She didn't know why she'd felt a sudden urge to protect her sister, she knew Hikaru was more than capable of protecting herself. However she also knew the pain it caused her to just watch and it hurt her to think about putting her sister through such a thing.

The sisters powers were un-imaginable and almost godly in nature, however as they were it was all mostly untapped potential but, the sheer power their presence commanded was enough to cause ripples and tears in the illusion but only slightly.

Tsukiko's eyes wandered over the treetops and fixated on a certain spot and she knew thats where the person..or rather thing was that had been watching them. She couldn't actually see him but the way she was staring at that area if anyone had been on the other side they'd have felt like she actually could see them. After a moment she blinked and turned her gaze from the spot and back to her sister "..Have you felt it too? A sort of odd magic?...I think...that whatever is in here isn't human..." she thought biting her bottom lip contemplatively.

As things stood either their powers would well up to much inside the illusion and shatter it completely or they'd get approached by whatever was causing the trouble. They might decide to play along for awhile just to see what would happen should they "fall" for the illusion.

"What..should be done?" she thought blinking.

This time he couldn't stifle the giggle, a sound somewhere between a child and a dog. They walked right in, and even already had nervous looks on their faces. In fact, now that he had a closer look, they did seem... different. He wasn't very familiar with humans, but it was almost impossible not to notice a special something about this pair, even if he couldn't quite tell what it was. As he followed them across their slow, cautious route (always sticking to the tops of the real trees), he became more and more enamored with them. Surely this was the catch of a lifetime. Perhaps even several.

Yet the longer he waited, the harder it was getting to maintain the illusion. It should have been a warning. A sign that this special pair was perhaps a bit out of his league... dangerous. But he ignored it, and simply concentrated harder to keep his world together. There was even a point where he could swear the girl was looking directly at him. Pride was perhaps the only thing that kept him from freaking out at that. After all, he was the creature of legend here. They were supposed to fear him, not the other way around. Still, it was enough of a hint that he should start the game sooner rather than later.

Without so much as a sound he bounded down from the tree and began running along the forest floor. At several intervals he conjured a small bit of foxfire; veritable lanterns of blueish flames that stood like will-o'-wisps in the dark, enchanting and alluring. His laughter sounded out as he circled the pair, echoing as if it were coming from multiple sides at once. A small part of him said he shouldn't be trying to frighten or provoke them any further, but the game demanded otherwise. He was having too much fun to listen to silly feelings like unease.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

They'd been standing in one spot for awhile now, it seemed no matter how far they walked they couldn't quite seem to move from the area.

She could feel her irritation and anger grow deep inside of her but for some odd reason it was kept in check by something else, something else was calming her murderous rage. Her eyes darted to her sister and she bit the inside of her bottom lip in quiet consideration. Her thoughts however were abruptly interrupted by the sound of something running across the forest floor.

Obviously whatever had been toying with them was far past the point of caring if they heard or not and she took personal insult to that which only added fuel to her fire. The grip that had been keeping her fire laden rage to a small flicker was rapidly loosing it's control and the small flicker was soon a burning fire that was running through her body, coincidentally the rage grew with the growing irritation of her sister Hikaru.

Thats when she heard it; Ever since her sister had become more pacifist in her views Tsukiko had started hearing a little whisper in her mind, she'd often wondered if Hikaru heard it as well but since she never said anything she assumed not. The voice was crystal clear now, it wasn't a commanding voice nor was it overly impressive but it was dark and malicious and seemed to feed on her own dark fires."Call out to me..." it whispered to her "Call out my name..." it urged her on almost anxiously.

Somehow she knew, knew the name of the darkness that called out to her; knew how to summon this new power. For the first time in her short existence, Tsukiko stood on the brink of uncertainty. Her gaze flickered between her sister and to the one who sought to use them as play-things. Would she be able to control this dark fire that danced gleefully in her own blood fueled rage?

Somewhere in her mind her sisters voice echoed around in her head "Illusion". Blinking she bit down on her bottom lip and she closed her eyes, how did she not realize it sooner? She'd known there was something wrong but why did she not realize an illusion? She felt her sisters power increase as she sang a sort of song though no actual words formed. The song was dark and powerful and felt like blades were carried on each note, tearing at the illusion with deadly skill.

If her sister was attacking...then Tsukiko must act as well, by now the illusion was mere tatters of it's former glory and she could see a fox man run at them. Letting go of her sisters hand her eyes looking like burning black flames, a small wicked grin formed on her mouth as she stared unblinkingly into the very depths of the fox-boy. "KUSUBURU!!" she screamed throwing her hands behind her. It had meant to stay in her head as a thought but she'd been so swept up into the currents of her own rage that she'd screamed it out.

A wave of power rippled from her and the remnants of the illusion shattered disappearing, black flames formed around her in no particular order. The flames emitted no light but flickered like a violent gust of wind blew around them. Around the flames circular blades formed spinning slowly, light glinting off the sharp silver edges. Roughly three blades formed from the flames and moved down around Tsukiko.

"Go.." she thought and two of the blades began spinning faster until they just disappeared from sight. A split second later a gleam of blades could be seen flying through the air behind him and the third blade spun around flying straight at him head on. Tree's fell crashing all around him as the blades circled around him quickly, following his every movements. Tsukiko licked her lips and walked towards the demon boy every step she took away from Hikaru seemed to feed her own darkness.

The blades spun around him closing in at an almost sickeningly slow pace, holding out her hand a similar blade to the ones moving through the air materialized in her hand, she gripped it tightly, tightly enough to cut into her flesh. Impossibly red blood dripped down over the blade and dripped to the ground though it seemed Tsukiko hadn't even registered the injury nor the fact that her blood was flowing down the blade.

The blades moved enough for her to walk up to the fox before closing back up, Tsukiko took the blood covered blade and held it at his neck letting him feel the sharpness of the serrated blade. "I'm going to kill you, for playing with us like mere mortals little demon." she thought staring into his eyes.

-Narration Post-

The Word Spreads​

Humans​

The word of mouth it seems, spreads quicker than anything else in the human world. In the singular month that the twins had lived and killed their reputation came to be known far and wide.

In just one month they managed to chalk up many a rumor, the words spread and grew to incredible proportions, though not all were so far from the truth. No matter how false or true the words were they were all spoken in hushed tones, almost fearfully. The mortals fearing the twins would return to kill those they'd left alive.

Though with being mortal comes the territory of being ignorant and over-looking details that seem to be the most important. With ignorance comes the wanting desire to control such beings whose powers seem almost surreal.

Demons​

The power surge that had ripped through the forest had piqued the curiosity of many demons living there and as they ventured to the source of the immense power they would see two women identical in every possible way. The very same ones that the humans had whispered about.

"Powerful Demons, Celestial Beings, Gods..." all terms that had been used when talking about them.
How ignorant a human could be, though it wasn't hard to see why such words had been chosen. However the eye of a demon was far more discerning than that of a human and they could tell quite easily that they were neither Demonic nor were they just battle hungry Mortals. But even the discerning eye of a demon could not tell what they were, only what they were not.

And the word of a demon it seemed, spread just as quickly if not quicker than that of the humans. Before long lesser demons and demon lords alike would know about the women whose beauty and power seemed to belong to another plane of existence. It would also seem that humans and demons alike were not so different, as now even demons sought to use and control the woman. Then there were the demons who sought to test their strength against them. It was almost as if the gods above rushed the spread of these rumors.

Gods
​

The gods watched it all from above, watched human and demon greed grow with every word that was spoken. Could Tsukiko and Hikaru really cleanse such a world on their own?

They sent them to the world with almost limitless power but with no idea how to access the power nor with any idea of what was right and what was wrong. With no knowledge of anything nor with any knowledge of themselves, what had that woman thought when she'd created them. The other sentient beings had to wonder.

The twins had to find out for themselves...for once they acquired such knowledge they would also know what they are meant to do in that world. It was so like the gods to do something good but add a confusing round about twist to their own solution.

Running with gleeful abandon, Sota still barely noticed when things started going wrong. Being able to easily outrun a human, he would stalk the perimeter as his victims fled, guiding them along the path he wanted with his foxfires whilst always staying out of sight. Only this pair wasn't panicking... or if they were they certainly weren't running like he would have liked them to do. In fact, one of them even started 'singing'.

The little black fox's ears perked at the enchanting melody, and he very well could have lost himself in it had its effects not started to tear at his illusion. He slowed his pace and concentrated harder, pouring all his magic power into it. To little avail. The pressure built harder, little tears began to form in the fake trees. He stopped and concentrated harder... too much.

With a pained yelp, the illusion shattered around them, sending shards of magic to sparkle away in the breeze and revealing the real "forest" (really only a light woodland) beneath. Confused and fazed, Sota barely noticed as the other girl lit up with unholy flames. He could feel something very wrong, though, even by demonic standards, and he did notice when unnatural blades came whizzing towards him. Another yip sent him bounding off in the opposite direction.

As a denizen of the spirit world, the little nogitsune had never known real fear. There were always stronger spirits... demons that hunted in certain places at certain times, but Sota was particularly unambitious for one of his kind and even the ones that could harm him tended to simply leave him alone (either from deeming him too insignificant to bother, or from not seeing him at all). Even when his mother tried to eat him he did not know fear. Life had been one long game; and for the first time in his life, he had lost... and he was afraid.

Panting heavily, he dashed as fast as he could. He didn't make much ground before one of the deadly blades cut him off. He darted to the right and ducked under a falling tree, but the things just went straight through the trunk like it was nothing more than paper. It soon became apparent that despite his considerable speed, the black-flamed wheels of death were faster. In desperation he tried dodging more precisely. Zig-zagging across the ground before ducking and dashing in the opposite direction. Only had forgotten the most important part of this little chase... the source. Trapped by the encircling hoola-hoops of doom, he found himself face-to-face with the most fearsome creature he had ever known. A look of bloodlust filled her eyes, the likes of which he had only seen in particularly evil demons. He searched urgently for any signs of mercy, but found none.

He let out a pitiful whimper as he tucked his tail between his legs and shrunk (quite literally). The gem on his head glowed a mix of silver and green (showing fear and the many deep, desperate thoughts of escape he was running through), and his wide eyes shimmered with welling tears. With little magic and no dignity left, he gazed up at his executioner not as a spirit, but as a tiny, adorable fox paralyzed by fright.

"You win. Please don't kill me." was all he could muster in a broken, high-pitched squeak.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

She watched the creature cower in fear and defeat in front of her and it brought an even more satisfied grin to her lips.

It amused her to watch him literally shrink from her, despair apparent in every fiber of his being, she revealed in it. The murderous rage running through her veins like an intoxicating poison through pure waters. What a rush it gave her to watch the helpless abandon the extreme despair and horror that flashes through a victims eyes in that moment before she kills them. Everything before that final moment of death; every flicker of emotion, every sign of regret shows so clearly. They end up being open books that anyone could stop and read.

Regret, sorrow, sadness, lust; oh so many things that run across a persons mind before death. All of it running across their face like words in a book. When a person stares death in the eyes the mask every person wears to hide their true feelings is forgotten and falls away, revealing the story that lies in their eyes. Tsukiko always enjoyed reading the final chapters in a persons life; The part where the story is written in their own blood. Their own little entreaties of good-bye as they die.

"Bête noire" The word was spoken with a cold low venom as she stared into the eyes of the little demon she was about to murder. Of course she didn't know where it had come from nor even what language it was but it seemed to fit.

She felt the cold blade dig into her palm as she pressed it closer to the guys neck, the blade nicked the skin so easily as if it were nothing more than silk. She'd been so lost in the throes of blood-lust she hadn't registered her sisters presence nor the fact that she was coming closer. To be completely honest she'd almost forgotten she was there at all. She only remembered herself when she felt her sisters warm hand rest on her shoulder and heard her voice enter in her mind.

Blinking she felt the cold darkness recede from herself and her eyes returned to normal, however she still held the blood drenched blade dangerously close to the demons neck, her grip wavered and she held it tighter and felt it dig farther into her flesh and she winced finally registering the pain. Biting the inside of her lip she looked from the demon to her sister "Are you sure?..." she thought her gaze drifting back to the demon and she realized just how terrified he was and her gaze widened slightly. Had she really looked so...horrifying? Straightening up she dropped the blade and it hit the ground and disappeared into a sort of dark liquid that resembled blood but just like that it sank into the earth and was gone.

Bringing her hands up to her face she stared at the deep wound on her hand; stared at the dark red blood that seemed to flow endlessly from it "Did I look so....Appalling Hikaru?" she thought not looking up. She stared for a long time at her hands even after the wound had closed up she just stared, she felt sickened with herself; if that was the right word to describe it. She felt like she wanted to peel off her skin and throw it away, or to just die and sink into the earth forgotten. "I-I'm sorry...when you let go of me and began chanting....I felt myself being consumed by this hateful, murderous darkness...." she thought not even wanting to look her sister in the eye. She felt so filthy and wished her sister wouldn't stand so close to her, nor touch her. Her touch seemed to scorch her like something pure touching something tainted; and she did feel so very tainted.

Dropping her hands to her side her gaze moved towards the demon boy and she slipped from her sisters touch feeling like it was wounding her heart. "Should we have him accompany us....show us how things work? Maybe even help us to talk like them?" she thought blinking slowly.

It was hard to believe that a few moments ago she was controlling the power that would rival even deaths capabilities. It was hard to believe that when right now she looked like a strange beautiful woman who felt shamed and hurt.

Silence. He looked upon his killer as she reveled in the act. Feeding upon the pain and torment of both herself and her victim. This wasn't the cold efficiency of a predator, nor the burning anger of vengeance or righteous drive. No, her eyes shimmered with the gleeful pleasure of an artist; taking in every little bit of atmosphere and emotion. The same look that shown in his own eyes when playing his 'games'... perhaps a morbid comparison considering her art, but the similarities were definitely there.

Staring death in the face was a stressful affair, but fear did not crush all hope. The little nogitsune held the eyes of his captor with vulpine intensity, ready at even the slightest flinch to escape. The need to survive easily masked the nipping pain as the unnatural blade carved itself gracefully into his neck. It came, but not in the way he expected. Suddenly the other woman appeared and, with a gentle touch, stopped her volatile counterpart. Even filled with pity, he found her gaze as enchanting as her voice. So did her counterpart, apparently, for without so much as a word the murderous artist faltered and seemed to reconsider herself. Almost as if there were two inside her. His gem darkened in green slightly as he curiously shifted his gaze between the pair, and much to his ecstatic pleasure the internal conflict finally ended in his favor.

Even if he could have heard the mental conversation between them, it wouldn't have mattered. The two had torn his best illusion to shreds in a breath and made him seem little more than the harmless fox he appeared. If nothing else, he was clever. Enough to understand that they had absolutely no reason not to change their minds and make canid meat of him at a moment's notice. Enough to run the moment he was given the chance. That moment being the second the blades faded back to the void from whence they came.

In that instant he mustered the last bit of magic within him and poofed, shrouding himself from sight and sound in a field of stealth. Even if they shattered his illusion again, he could only hope it was enough for him to dart away and into the underbrush. There he could hide until they went away.

...and yet... the women were just too alluring. 'Once in a lifetime. Perhaps several.' That was what he thought. Even if it meant extreme danger, he couldn't simply run away from something like this. Well, not all the way. He could still hide, but he absolutely had to follow them. And like a shadow upon the horizon, he would do just that.

As all this occurred, a man was walking through the shabby looking village. He looked back and forth at the grubby faces of the poor villagers, hands hidden within the sleeves of his kimono. He wondered why there was such fear in their eyes, fear that suggested something beyond human understanding. However, it was not he that instilled that fear, though it was a look he was familiar with

No, this fear came from something else, and reaching the other end of the village, he had an idea of what might have brought it about. It was utter carnage, bodies strewn across the blood-soaked field at the edge of the forest. The corpses were all hacked to pieces, each of them with looks of pure agony spread across their lifeless faces, or at least those that still possessed faces.

His grin stretched slightly, the slightest hint of gleaming white teeth visible behind his thin lips. He turned to look back at the village, and seeing a middle aged woman in ragged brown clothing, he called out to her, "Pardon me madam, but would you mind telling me what happened?" His closed-looking eyes met hers and she froze as he approached.

"B-battle... awful battle, men came to destroy the village." she replied, clearly wishing to be elsewhere as he stood before her. His presence always seemed to put humans at unease, looking like a cornered rat. "Oh my, how dreadful." he said, not the least bit of sincerity in his voice. Humans were always killing each other, being surprised by it was like being surprised that the sun rose in the morning or that water was wet.

"So, how did such a feeble village such as this route such a formidable foe?" The fear appeared in her eyes, the fear brought on by something no human should witness. "Not us... not us... girls... two little girls. Like demons, one cutting men to pieces, one using some strange power to heal us of our wounds." a hint of confusion now in her expression as well. "When the killing was done, they left and headed for the forest, that's everything, I swear it!" she said, and bolted like a rabbit for one of the ramshackle huts.

Katsutoshi let her go, no longer needing her, and pondered what she had said. It was much like the other stories he had heard told over the last month. One of two small girls with inhuman power bringing judgement down upon the wicked. He had thought little of it at first, but after hearing the tale so many times, it had piqued his interest. It had helped that the route he followed seemed to always lead him to an area where the two had recently been.

"It seems fate has allowed me to at last catch up with these mystery children." he said, his attention now turning towards the forest. To his ancient eyes, there was only what was truly there, mostly bare trees with only a hint of growth yet on them, but he knew that there was magic at work there. He inhaled deeply, catching the scents from that cluster of trees.

he smelled the forest, the trees, the animals within it, the grass, and soil. Then three scents hit him almost at once. One was the unmistakable scent of a kitsune, his nose wrinkling in distaste. Disgusting tricksters the lot of them, even those that claimed to serve Inari. It was the other two that held his attention however.

One scent felt dark, heavy, like a moonless night wrapped in the thickest of clouds, broken only by the light of a single star. The other was wholly different, and yet similar. It was clean and pure, like the clearest day of sunshine, but with a single dark cloud floating through it.

He had never smelled such things before, his mind racing with excitement. His grin spread further, and his slitted eyes opened slightly, showing the briefest flash of sky blue and slitted pupils. His feet seemed to carry him towards the forest, eager to see the things that had aroused his curiosity after so many centuries of wandering. "Do the gods guide me, or does fate itself urge me on this path? Whichever way, my heart trembles with joy at what awaits."

With that, the Lord of Serpents crossed the corpse littered fields towards the forest, heedless of the powerful magic emanating from it, concerned only on finding its source.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

Tsukiko's shoulders slumped slightly as she gazed at the ground still feeling the blade pressing into her hand. "I don't know Hikaru...I keep seeing the pain on your face...and it hurts." she thought shaking her head and closing her eyes. It was true she kept seeing that torment and pain the sadness that crossed hikaru's eyes every time she saw something that brought a smile to her own lips. Was there perhaps something wrong with her? maybe in the creation process?

Shaking her head she barely noted the fox guy running off and hiding in the brushes near-by. She felt almost...numb, emotionally detached like a part of her soul wasn't quite there anymore. Raising her gaze she looked at Hikaru her voice bringing her thoughts back to the problem at hand. "He'll come around eventually...you seem to captivate him." she said with a small almost hallow smile.

Although so alike it was becoming clearer every day that they walked separate lives; separate worlds. Hikaru's world was apparently a world of beauty and life of things pure and gentle. Like the purest wind blowing through a forest of beautiful sakura flowers. A stark difference from her own world; A world of darkness and ashen ruin. A world with rivers of blood and broken hearts, burned forests and infinite graves. A world that would would grab the darkness in one's heart and bring it to beautiful fruition. A world even the darkest of demons would shy from.

Each world being their own hearts; why was her's so corrupt?

Shaking her head she closed her eyes and felt the gentle breeze caress her skin, like the most comforting embrace and she smiled softly. Her eyes opened as the wind died down and blinked slowly turning her head in the direction of her twins. "Yes...I've noticed him for awhile...it seem's he's finally caught up." she thought taking a step towards her sister.

She'd caught the scent roughly a week earlier and ever since then had been picking it up off and on. It was quite obvious not a human scent and carried with it a hint of power and something else she couldn't quite place. She thought it best that Hikaru did the talking this time so that maybe things didn't end up so disastrous again. "Perhaps...you should take this one Hikaru.." she said rubbing her upper arm. She took a hesitant step towards her twin's side since no matter what she just couldn't allow her to be harmed. The white gem on her forehead seeming to swirl with the darkest of clouds. "He's far different from that fox-man....possibly far more dangerous..." she thought as her gaze pierced the forest.

Being close to her twin she felt that same warmth that seemed to always be in Hikaru's eyes. That warmth and calmness like her raging storm was now nothing more than a gentle breeze and the tides rushing over the sands of the beach. Everyday Hikaru transformed more and more becoming something vastly different from the person she was when they first arrived. So why did it feel like she was getting left behind? She glanced at her twin then back to the approaching demon; something inside her told her that as long as hikaru remained near then the killer inside of her would be soothed and lulled. Reaching her hand up she hesitated but placed her hand against hikaru's cheek and smiled a bit "Thank you for staying near Hikaru..." she said before dropping her hand to her side and looking off.

Legend had it that the more tails a kitsune has the longer it has lived. Like most legends, however, this was slightly misleading. There are many ways to "kill" a spirit. Perhaps more, even, than a human. But there are only a rare few ways to actually destroy it. Thus it is with the little fox demons, that every time they 'die' they grow a tail to mark a new life. It is therefore easy to correlate the number of tails with the power of a fox... until you meet a truly powerful kitsune.

Sotanozenko, born to Inari Goddess herself (one of the rare few kitsune actually created and not simply elevated from a particularly long-lived fox), was one of the first kitsune in the history of the world. Perhaps he wasn't the very best of servants, but the tale of how he drove the multifaceted kami to try eating him was long lost to the ages. What obscure history does know is how the nogitsune came to be, the day Sota rejected his god and shifted his coat from a glorious white to an impossible black. Countless thousands of years passed, and the little spirit never died. Not once. To say that these two had bested him so easily was no small measure. No one could see through his illusions, spirit and mortal alike. Even the Dragon King himself had fallen victim to the ancient fox's power. Sota's will was the truth... until it came to this pair.

Legend also has it that the more ancient of kitsune, those who had lived harsh enough lives to have earned their ninth and final tail and taken the title Kyuubi, were capable of immense feats of perception. Said to know all things at all times. Perhaps a bit over-exaggerated, but there was enough truth in it that the little nogitsune was very much aware of the power threatening to invade his territory. The scented lifeblood of a very old, very familiar acquaintance. Snakes were of even more sour repute than foxes or cats, and rarely had good relations with anyone, so it was with this in mind that the little Prince of Foxes left his signature at the edge of the forest; three darkened lanterns of foxfire, perfectly arranged, and seeming to steal light instead of emanate it. An extremely rare, but very distinct warning to any trespassers.

He had little doubt the warning would go unheeded. This pair was simply too perfect to pass up. So for now he would simply watch and wait. With luck, they would kill the snake as they had almost done to him and move on. With less luck? Well, the cute little fox wasn't nearly as helpless as he seemed.

Katsutoshi continued to approach the forest, the illusion having shattered, followed by signs of trees being felled in great quantity further inside the forest. He could sense it was the work of one of these girls, the one with darkness dwelling within her. Only it seemed to grow immensely in those brief moments, causing even one as ancient as he to feel a touch of fear. Such power rivaled that of the gods themselves. However even this did not deter him.

The power began to subside, however, drawing back into the depths of the one wielding it. It even seemed to shrink as if frightened, a curious response compared to the storm of power and fury he had felt moments before. His curiosity only grew at this new development, finally reaching the edge of the forest.

He drew back slightly as a trio of foxfire orbs appeared, blocking his path, It seemed the little fox didn't want him entering his territory. However, this was hardly even worth his time. Foxes weren't the only ones who possessed magic, and Katsutoshi simply swept his hand through the fireballs and they were dissipated. Returning his hand to the sleeve of his kimono, he entered the forest, picking up his pace slightly.

After a short walk he knew he was about to appear before them. Slowing his pace, he stepped slowly out into sight of the two little girls, still grinning as he always did. He chose to ignore the little fox that was attempting to hide himself in his little illusion, keeping his attention on the girls standing before him. They were altogether otherworldly, in feeling and appearance. He stopped a few meters away, looking at them for a moment. "Good day to you, young ladies. It seems I have finally caught up with you." He wondered how they would take that.

"I have been following your trail for quite some time, though it was just coincidence at first." He looked up slightly, his eyes no longer hidden by the straw hat he wore, even going so far as to open on ever so slightly. "It has been centuries since anything interested me as much as you two, and so I have been purposely following you for the last week. You leave an easy trail to follow, so it is easy to see how I found you." He paused for a moment. "Ah, but where are my manners? I am called Katsutoshi, it is a pleasure." He bowed slightly to them, though just like the way he spoke, there seemed to be a mocking lack of sincerity to it. Even before beings that could erase his existence in a heartbeat, he was still Katsutoshi the Dai Hebi-sama.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

A small smile touched Tsukiko's lips at Hikaru's small but significant action of leaning into her touch. It made her feel like the blood-stains on her had somehow been wiped clean and she felt almost renewed. " It is the same for me..." she thought to her sister, her own thoughts trailing off. She wanted to explain to her sister what she did for her but the words would not form. Even she wasn't fully certain of what Hikaru did to her when she was near; she did know that it was important though.

Even though Tsukiko was the battle ready one and the "strength" so to speak of the two of them, she had as of late been looking to Hikaru for inner strength. For awhile she's been struggling with the darkness, at first it had remained just in her heart locked up tight. However it seemed to be spreading, leaving her heart and filling her body. It seemed the only pure or even semi pure part of her was her heart now and even that seemed to have almost been swallowed up moments earlier. When Hikaru had touched her it had been like a ray of light shooting through her own darkness, purifying her if only just a fraction and thanks to that she now had her heart back.

Hikaru was like her pillar anchoring her down in a never-ending storm. she needed her that much was certain.

Blinking she looked down and smiled as she felt her sisters fingers inter-lace with her own. Giving her sisters finger an encouraging squeeze she smiled a little, though honestly the encouragement was more for her sake then Hikaru's. She knew her sister would never lose herself as she'd almost done. Blinking she studied the demon that came before them, she could tell that he had no intentions of battling with them of that much she was sure. Tsukiko might lack much knowledge but when it came to battles and killing it was a sure thing that no one knew more. Glancing at her sister from the side she let her gaze linger before returning them to the demon.

"Yes, I knew he'd been following us though it became more apparent roughly a week ago...I sensed no ill will so I didn't ponder on it much." she thought tilting her head slightly staring at him. She honestly didn't like his mocking tone and behavior but more or less just shrugged it off her demeanor much calmer than before. Maybe it was due to having Hikaru so close to her? She didn't linger on the idea very long. She knew her sister probably didn't like the idea that she hadn't been able to sense him until a moment ago and despite the serenity on her face she was probably fairly troubled by the idea.

Raising her brow slightly she turned her head to her sister wondering what was troubling her, since Tsukiko herself wouldn't have wondered how to respond to the demon in front of them. Quite honestly her being her would have just let him ramble on then turned and left. That was her however she knew Hikaru wouldn't do something like that.

Blinking in surprise as Hikaru moved towards the Demon pulling her with she looked at the back of her sisters head wondering what she was thinking. Catching up with her sister she stopped beside her and looked at her wondering what she was doing. Blinking in realization as she reached up touching his head she looked between the Demon and Hikaru as he voice echoed in her head. "Do you....think this'll work?" she thought looking between them.

For a moment she glanced behind to where the little fox demon was, something of a regretful almost sorrowful look passing over her face. Shaking her head she turned to the Demon at hand. "We really should learn to speak as Demon and Humans do..." she thought chewing on the inside of her lip. It was a useless statement since she knew Hikaru was very well aware of this fact. For the moment she just waited sort of hoping that Hikaru's idea worked.

The girls remained silent throughout his speech, simply looking at him with those other-worldly eyes. He wondered if they had even understood anything he had said. It was possible these children knew nothing of the human tongue, and simply moved on through this world not comprehending anything that was spoken to them.

Something like that would prove troublesome for him, as he had taken up man's speech long ago and had grown accustomed to the complex language. He had much to speak with them about, but he could only stand there as the girls looked like they were discussing something among themselves, yet their mouths never moved, and no sound came out. He nearly opened his mouth to speak again, then they began to approach him, the lighter one leading the darker closer, stopping before him.

He looked down at them, his head cocked slightly to the side in curiosity. Then she began to reach her hand towards him. Centuries of instinct suddenly screamed at him to back away, that letting anyone this close could easily mean death. He kept himself still however, his curiosity outweighing his instincts. His only movement was to open a single eye ever so slightly, watching her hand slowly move up and rest on his temple

Then it felt like a warmth rested upon his mind, as if the light of a summer sun was now falling upon his consciousness. Then a soft voice seemed to echo through his mind, clear and calm. Both his eyes opened slightly now, his grin getting wider. "Splendid." he spoke aloud, eyes glimmering in the blue light from the jewel on her forehead.

He decided that speaking in the same manner as her might prove interesting, and so he thought to her, "Yes, I can. I have to say, this is quite fascinating, I have never experienced a thing such as this." letting his eyes close again he took the opportunity to ask another question. "If I may ask, what are you two? All I know for sure is that you are not of this world." Anyone who looked at them could have determined that much, meaning he knew nothing about them, and he did not enjoy being ignorant.

Tsukiko Kimiko​

Tsukiko pursed her lips together tightly in concern at the being in front of them, although he emitted no ill will nor did she smell any powers readying for battle she did not entirely trust him. While her link to her sister did inevitably keep her normally dark self "purified" in a manner of speaking she still did not entirely trust the power he wielded. The other being had also held quite a bit of power however he hadn't seemed to want to use it for more than basic trickery. Yet she'd still almost...slaughtered him...she shivered and bit the inside of her lip seeming reluctant to battle unlike before.

While she was not ready to battle she surely would should it prove necessary. She knew they had more power than him by far but he also had something they lacked...experience. Which means he would be deadlier in a battle since his experience far exceeded their own. She gave her twins hand a squeeze as she peered at him with mis-trust in her eyes. She glanced at her twin and a ghost of a smile formed on her lips at Hikaru's obvious joy of being able to communicate with others.

Still she didn't want to trust him, he might be able to kill them..could they die? She didn't know if death was something that could consume them. She just watched in silence as the conversation ensued and chewed on her lip as Hikaru spoke of where they came from with ease Tsukiko herself did not think she should have so easily but she wouldn't ruin her twins joy. Blinking in surprise she turned to her twin as a sound escaped her mouth, it was comforting and a very lovely sound one of the most beautiful things she'd heard thus far in this world. It was soft and lilting and filled with pure excitement and joy. She would gladly like her twin to do it more often she wouldn't mind listening to that for the next hundred years.

Staying quiet a moment longer she just observed him, the way his eyes slanted and were closed un-nerved her slightly. She couldn't see what he was thinking, feeling, planning; the eyes were indeed windows to the soul and much more and she did not like being unable to see them, to see him. Closing her eyes she decided it was time for her to cut in. "I think..we have gotten far ahead of ourselves..." she said her voice sharp and clear like the edge of a blade. Though her voice held the slightest sounding of melodies that reminded you of the falling of rain at the deepest hour of night, or the song birds that came too once the rain stopped.

Turning her gaze to the demon she tilted her head slightly "I believe it is customary in your world to first greet with names before delving into personal matters?" she thought with a slight raise of her brow. She studied him thoroughly and frowned slightly in concern. "Since you have been following us for quite some time I don't think it out of line that we ask for a name first before divulging our own?" she thought with a blink as she stared into what would be his eyes.

Still watching, still waiting, ever vigilant. It was hard, perhaps even comically ironic, to get a grasp of his own feelings on the situation. It was a feeling he could only describe as jealousy. Of what exactly, he was yet unsure. Perhaps that these magnificent creatures had happily accepted the sneaky snake only moments after trying to kill him. Yet that is what made it ironic... they had just tried to kill him. Why should he feel attachment to begin with? He wasn't even the jealous type. Then again, he wasn't the possessive type either and yet he had directly challenged what he could only assume was a demon lord (especially by how easily it had ignored his challenge). What a strange day.

Even more strange, they still seemed quite aware of him but gave little more than a single, oddly regretful glance back. At least he could take solace in the thought that, if it came down to a confrontation between himself and the snake, he would still have the element of surprise. Or at least he believed he did. It wouldn't be the first greater spirit to try seeing through his illusions (and none of the others had been so... disinterested). Not that he had any reason to believe the other two wouldn't step in against him. Just an all-around precarious situation... and yet... he just couldn't leave.

Since there was a great deal of pointlessness or hopelessness in many of the hundreds of scenarios running through his head all at once, he decided to throw caution to the wind and take on another, perhaps friendlier guise. It was a bit of a gamble. Shapeshifting was theoretically a form of illusion, and he was well aware of how his particular specialty worked out last time... but at the same time, the snake was clearly shapeshifted, which suggested that the otherworldly pair might be a bit more personable to those that looked a bit more like them. Besides, it was a calculated gamble. The stealth enchantment was simple enough that he could maintain it even in human form.

No noise. No fancy lights. He simply morphed. If any of them had been paying attention to his aura (assuming they could look past his enchantment) they would find even that fading. His power was far too immense to confine in a solid physical form, so whenever he shapeshifted he had to store most of it in his Hoshi no Tama (an enchantingly beautiful, pearl-like ball characteristic of every kitsune). Where once a small fox lay hidden in the brush, there stood a tall, dark young man. His silky smooth hair and extravagant kimono remained the only reminders of the lustrous black fur that once covered him, though his eyes still gleamed with sharp, unnatural darkness as well.

A tense air overshadowed his surprisingly carefree posture and expression. Yet there he was. Still watching, still waiting, ever vigilant.