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Chapter 16 - And so it begins...
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Naraku had been gone for over a month now, and
Ashara was worried that he would not return. The Blood Demons were still
with her, and Lido and Tasuki were still captives. Jodah was handling the chameleon Demon, making sure that no one found out
that the Emperor was dead.
Much had happened in this past month. Seiryuu had amassed its army, but
had crossed the soldiers into Genbu so that Suzaku was not yet aware of its
danger. Suzaku kept a very close watch on Seiryuu, but it was less vigilante
in watching the other two countries of the Four Gods World.
Byakko was also amassing an small army, waiting for
the Emperor's command. In the Demon World, Mukuro was also bringing the Demon
leaders together, readying for an attack.
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At the same time that the combined armies attacked Suzaku, Mukuro would
attack Raizen. If Raizen fell, Mukuro would not only have the Northern Lands
but could easily take the Western Lands of the comatose Sesshomaru. Then
beset on from all sides, the Southern Lands of Shido would surely fall.
Mukuro would become ruler of all of Demon World.
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The Demon Lands were not like the Four Gods World. In the Four Gods World,
as in the Human World, wars were fought with the common people. There were trained
soldiers, but most wars relied on the farmers, tradesmen, and
workers that lived in the lands and drafted them to become soldiers during
times of war. But Demon World did not have common people; there were only
other Demons, of varying strengths, and usually commanded by a clan leader.
The strongest of the Demons battled one another until they became leader of
their clan and in turn the land that the clan lived on. If the succeeding
son or daughter was strong enough, then he or she also controlled the clan
and their lands, as in the case of Sesshomaru; if not, another Demon took
his place.
Therefore, Raizen did not have a huge army to call upon, since most
battles were mere skirmishes and he took care of them himself. For a large
problem, he would call on the clan leaders and hope that they would answer
his call, but they were under no obligation to do so. Many of the clan
leaders would refuse to answer a Demon lord's request, hoping that if the
lord fell, the clan leader might be able to claim those lands for himself.
Trustworthy Demon lords were few and far between, and Raizen could only
count on two: Tekken, leader of the Bobcat clan, and Xuho, leader of the
Wind Demons and mother of his son, Jin.
Raizen was already stretched thin because of Sesshomaru. The Western
Lands were ripe for the plucking and any ambitious Demon could easily take
them over. If the Western Lands were claimed by another Demon lord, when
Sesshomaru woke, he would be forced to fight for his own lands. Because of
his alliance with Otherworld, Raizen had sent Xuho to the Western Lands to
hold them for Sesshomaru's return. She already had good lands and desired no
more, so she was safe to send.
In contrast, Mukuro had numerous Demon clans to call on, and a huge bargaining chip in
the fact that if she won the war, she would control three-quarters, if not all, of Demon World.
Whomever helped her win would receive vast
tracks of land. To her side, she gathered the cat clan, the moth clan, the
bear clan and the snake clan. Each of these clans had hundreds of Demons at
their command. They were just waiting for Naraku's word to begin the attack.
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Naraku had left a month ago to redesign himself. His current form was
too vulnerable and he needed to make himself strong. He was deep inside of
the same mountain where Rhu had been found, adding and discarding Demon
parts. The discarded parts were entwined near him, forming new Demons.
Finally he had the form he wanted and walked outside the cave. He had
combined remaining Demons inside of himself into one powerful Demon. Over a
hundred Demons remained behind, no longer a part of him, but still under his
control. Ralf and Tyrrl were now freed, their essences were no longer a part
of him, but they also remained rigidly
controlled. If he wished, Naraku could reabsorb them, but to do so would
destroy his new form. Kagura, the Wind Demon that almost killed Kouga, had
also been freed and she now walked behind Naraku. The other Demons stayed in
the mountain, waiting for Naraku's command.
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Many more Demons were joining them every day and in a short time, there
would be over a thousand Demons in the mountain. These Demons would divide
into two groups, and one group would travel to Kaede's Village led by
Kagura and one would go to attack the Castle itself led by the Blood Demons. Both
groups would gather more Demons as they traveled. All of these Demons were
disposable; Naraku did not expect them to overtake either the Village or
the Castle, but their attacks would prevent Otherworld from sending aid to
Suzaku, and that was all that was required of them.
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Naraku walked into the palace, and went directly to Jodah, talking to the
mage about the readiness of the armies. Shilo's escape was a problem. The boy had reached the safety of
Otherworld and there was no way to tell how much the boy had heard and how
much he had told them. Having Tasuki imprisoned was enough, since it broke
the Celestial Seven. The Red Phoenix could no longer be called for help, and
once Suzaku fell, and Mukuro held the Western and Northern Lands of Demon
World, Otherworld itself would become the target. It would be beset from all
sides. Even if Aara called for help from her sisters, their Demons could not
prevail against Rhu, the Black Dragon. And if her sisters did help, then the
vulnerable borders to the Human World would fall. Either way, Naraku would
win. There was no way he could lose this war!
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Naraku went with Jodah to check on Rhu. The dragon was sitting on the cold
floor in his room, naked as always, but looked up when they entered. His
eyes locked on Jodah, begging for his attention. Jodah cupped his chin,
lifting his face to kiss him. "Did you miss me?"
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Naraku left the mage to tend to his Dragon's needs and went to Ashara. She
greeted him happily. For a whole month, the only male she had to comfort her
was Malik and she only used him because Jodah needed his powers. She even
went to Tasuki, but his look was full of hate. After all that had happened
to him and especially after seeing her reaction to Bankotsu's death, his
binding had broken. He was now completely free of his binding to her, and only the dungeons of
Seiryuu held him captive.
"I thought you were remaking yourself? You look the same." she
commented.
Naraku smiled at her, "When the time is right, you will see the
change. But now, I have missed you." He reached for her, bringing her
close and covering her mouth with his own. They quickly undressed, hungry
for each other's touch.
The next day, Jodah opened a portal to Mukuro's hall and Naraku went
through, making sure that everything was ready. He was very pleased with
Mukuro's accomplishments in getting a Demon army together and told her to
attack on the morning of the day after tomorrow.
Returning to Seiryuu, Naraku, through the false Emperor, advanced his
troops; they would reach Suzaku's border in two days. He also started the
Demon hordes on their journey to Otherworld. Everything was ready. There was
only one more thing to do before starting the war.
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Suzaku knew that Seiryuu was amassing soldiers, but there was no sign of
them coming closer to their shared border. The spies that they maintained in
Seiryuu had been found and murdered, Jodah using Malik's power. Malik found
himself helpless to refuse an order from Princess Ashara, and his power found all the
Suzaku's spies who were immediately executed. The boy had thought
that his life could not get worse, and now he had the blood of innocent men
on his hands. He hated Jodah with a white hot passion but was helpless to do anything against the
mage. He only hoped that Shilo had remembered what his words and that
Otherworld and Suzaku would not be caught totally unaware.
Emperor Hotohori had also been assembling an army, but it was about a
fourth of the size of the Seiryuu army. They did not have a chance and they
knew it. There was a grim fatalism going through the ranks, but the men were
determined to die to the last man if need be. Emperor Balago was a hard
master and his people suffered from heavy taxes and ill treatment at the
hands of those in charge. Punishments were often very severe and none of
the soldiers wanted their families to suffer.
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Hotohori went to his dressing chambers, preparing to go to bed after a long
day with his advisors. The fact that Tasuki was a captive crippled them
greatly since they could not summon the Red Phoenix. Without its protection,
the capital would surely fall. Hotohori was not only looking forward to a
few hours of rest, but also to spend some time with his young bride. He had
wed only a few months ago and his bride, Houki, was expecting their first
child. He thought it ironic that his personal life was finally coming
together when his public life was falling apart.
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His personal valet was helping him undress. This man was new and still
nervous around the Emperor. Hotohori missed his old valet, but the man had
decided to retire and enjoy a peaceful old age. The valet was taking his
shoes off when he felt a sharp pain in his foot. He gave a soft cry and the
valet immediately took and examined the shoe. One of the prongs holding a jewel
had come loose and that had scratched the Emperor. The valet apologized
profusely and promised that he would have the shoe fixed tomorrow morning.
Hotohori nodded and continue undressing. After putting on his nightshirt and
robe, he thanked the valet and went to his bedroom and his waiting bride. At
two in the morning, the young Emperor woke covered in
sweat and in considerable pain. Houki called for assistance and
felt his forehead; her husband was burning up with fever. Mitsukake
came to his room, followed by Tamahome and Chichiri, all members of
the Celestial Seven. Hotohori's foot was throbbing and he told them of the
mishap with his shoe. When Mitsukake examined it, the whole foot was swollen
and there was a deep red puncture mark on the side. Mitsukake tried to heal
the Emperor using his power, but nothing happened. Hotohori got
progressively worse, his fever was climbing rapidly and his breathing was
now labored.
Tamahome went to find the valet and bring the shoe for a closer
examination. He had the entire palace searched but no trace was found of
either the valet or the shoe. Tamahome turned ashen when the results of the
search were told to him; this had to be the work of Naraku and Jodah!
He rushed back to the Emperor's room and told them the news. Chichiri
attempt to break the spell, but he wasn't even sure it was a spell. As each
minute passed, Hotohori got worse. At four the young Emperor began to go
into convulsions. Mitsukake was positive that he had been poisoned and every
known antidote had been administered, but nothing was helping.
Just before dawn, the beautiful young Emperor died, leaving a grieving
widow and a torn nation. Naraku had claimed his second victim.
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