"Rather than slaughter you mercilessly through sex as previously planned," Ryu taps her nose with the pad of his index finger, "I must determine the optimal place for you until I have full control of his power's source in Takamagahara."
Snickering devilishly, "I could torture your mind instead of your body," he strums the delicate curve of Tsukiyomi's ivory chin.
Rolling dual, flickering red eyes away from the girl, "Which would annihilate what little's left of the kami's psyche."
Returning his wicked gaze to the frightened girl, "Then again, I could imprison you in one of my gem rooms as entertainment for all."
Chuckling dementedly to himself, "You wouldn't need a sitter and," his eyebrows bounce once mischievously, "The rooms can't kill you."
Umeko backs her face from his when he's suddenly pressing his nose against hers. Gulping as the warmth from his breath teases her lips, "Though orgasm-comas aren't unheard of. . ."
Taunting her dismay with a smirk as her face reveals the curiosity and fear churning throughout her brain, she bites her bottom lip through a ragged inhale. Reminding her body to calm down despite the close proximity, "Isn't there a normal dungeon, Lord of the mountain?"
Bowing her head like a good little servant, "I know that will bring me the most pain and suffering."
If I'm locked up, I'll be left alone and forgotten about, right?
Staring skeptically into cinnamon eyes, "My dear, Plum Blossom Child, keeping you in the dungeon all by your lonesome, surrounded by noisy, smelly, traitors in a depressing and depraved environment without an audience would be such a waste for a girl with talent like yours."
Umeko swallows hard, feeling sweat form down her back as her core heats up, Oh what the–?!
"Mmm," Ryu groans huskily against her cheek, sensually enough to make her shiver.
Dragging his lips to her ear, snaking his arm around her lower back, he sits on the bed while pulling her close to his body, "Or. . ."
Rumbling, clicking sounds vibrate in his throat and chest until a growling PURRR of satisfaction fills his sultry voice, "I could be selfish."
Sucking his left fang in her ear, "And experience you in the ways that made you cry out my name while you slept," he pulls her into his lap.
Bouncing her in his lap while groping her petite bottom, "Until you're completely defiled."
Horror fills the space between every atom that makes up her entire being; with eyes as wide as discs, Umeko can't find the strength to remind her lungs to breathe as flashes of the things he did to her in her dreams rush into her mind– and her groin.
Leaning back to tilt Umeko's chin up, Ryu's smirk stretches into a fangy grin as he surveys the mixed emotions reflecting on her face.
Shoving her onto the bed as he jumps to his feet, clapping excitedly, "So many possibilities!"
Dancing in place with the awful ideas that run through his head, Ryu suddenly stops to stare at the girl like a diabolical fiend, "I know. . ."
The reassuring poison dripping from his tone makes her skin crawl.
"I will save you as the perfect present to me after this realm's domain is mine."
No. . .please. I want the real Tsukiyomi. You're just a–!
Sighing euphorically while hugging himself tight, "I'm so good at treating myself."
Snatching Umeko's hands in an instant to pull her to her feet in a roundabout dance, she soon finds herself being dragged down the aisle leading to the bedroom door. Turning the round, black metal knob to push the massive door open into the hall, she nearly jumps from his grasp at the sight of another red-light door filling every corner.
Getting the vice-like grip of his right hand tightened around her upper arm, the two of them step into the light; the moment her eyes are filled with red, a blink reveals they're back inside the throne hall.
Standing diagonally away from the garden's door towards his throne, Ryu addresses Mizuki– the only yokai in sight.
"Not a hair on her toe is to be harmed," he shoves Umeko into a quietly growling Mizuki.
Going silent at the blazing hellfire rising in his eyes, "Do you understand?" Ryu's non-scaled eyebrow lifts up, awaiting confirmation of Mizuki's obedience.
Bowing her head while forcing Umeko's head down to bow with her, "Yes, master."
Dropping from under the weight of Mizuki's hand, Umeko runs to inspect the loose pile of webs Sanemaru was in before she got pulled away, "Where's Sane. . .maru?"
Stumbling bewildered, Umeko finds she can't approach the senses-numbing fumes radiating from poison soaked webs splattered down the wall and pooling on the stone floor.
"Can't you tell, little girl?" Ryu's snide, judgmental tone towards the girl makes Mizuki giggle quietly.
"He's crossing his own fiery, rainbow bridge."
Directing a fleeting annoyance to his bear, "Good girl, Mizuki. I thought you'd take the easy way out and lock him up instead."
Befuddled, "You mean," Mizuki tilts her head with bunched together brows, "That was an option?"
Shrugging nonchalantly, "I trust my empress' decisions."
Mizuki's mood darkens enough for even Umeko to sense something is wrong with the bear, as she herself processes what the curvy yokai has done to their play brother.
Ryu cocks his head to the side, eyeing Mizuki up and down, "Why do you look upset?"
Placing a hand on his hip while holding the other up, resembling a teapot, "A double-crossing, self-serving "friend" has finally met his demise."
Standing upright to clap twice, "Hansuke!" Ryu summons his favorite, and most loyal servant.
The bandaged demon appears through a materializing smoke cloud, with drooping or less wraps than the last time Umeko spotted him.
Revealing peeks at black, reptilian and feathered wings, Hansuke (Hahn-soo-key) kneels to the floor on one knee; keeping his head down, the clawed, horned creature awaits his orders.
"Take her to the dungeons," Ryu uses his power to send Umeko flying from Mizuki's side to stand beside Hansuke, "A night in captivity will serve her well."
Snapping his fingers to get Mizuki's attention, which draws in everyone's focus, "You will fetch her at dawn to have her cleaned and painted."
Umeko gulps.
"I need her ready for my speech tomorrow."
Ryu directs his attention back to Hansuke, interrupted by the bear demon.
Mizuki scrunches her face while stomping annoyed at Ryu, "Why's she suddenly being treated like a doll?" she points in his face.
Without hesitation, Ryu strikes her with a taloned hand and her body reels to the unforgiving, carpeted stone floor as she clutches a rapidly healing, bloody cheek.
"Nala and Jaga will fetch her."
Directing his sight to Hansuke, "Leave us," he cocks his head back then returns his sights to his future empress.
Mizuki's eyes water before she disappears into a blur with the door to the garden opening and closing behind her hasty departure.
Sucking his teeth then hissing irritated, Ryu catches the pair standing in his peripheral vision. Growling at the gray-skinned servant when he stands upright from his kneel, "Why are you still here?!"
Hansuke quickly touches Umeko's back, creating a cloud of smoke around them.
*****
Umeko and Hansuke appear outside, under a dusky sky as the smoke dissipates. Glancing around, Umeko believes they're on an adjacent mountain within the same prefecture. Standing on a path of black stone that stretches twenty-men-wide, the walkway disappears down into the mountain where her vision's capacity stops at a dark overhang in the distance.
I wonder if he's friendly like–. . .
Swallowing hard, struggling to say his name in her own head, Did she really let him die? No way. I just--.
Umeko's wretched from her thoughts when the deep voice of the terrifyingly mysterious man beside her creates an irregular heartbeat inside her chest. As they begin their stroll, he starts an awkward conversation with, "Have you bewitched him?"
Perplexed, contemplating looking at his face like he's crazy over staring at the ground or straight ahead, "No," she can't yet face him.
Shaking her head in disbelief, keeping her eyes on the road ahead, she responds cautiously, "How'd you miss that I'm his prisoner?"
Wondering why he would ask such a thing, I gotta watch myself. Don't need any more enemies.
"He is not himself with you–," the three-heads-taller creature that casts a large shadow judges, "A mere mortal. Not even a priestess or witch."
Narrowing his eyes as he stares straight ahead, "The only thing that makes you stand out is your awful, putrid scent."
Growing self-conscious as she resists the urge to give her armpit a whiff in front of him, he maintains his normal walking speed which keeps her focused on keeping up–enough to hear all his insults.
"You reek of purity, you filthy creature," she witnesses his hands ball into fists as he walks slightly faster, "This is not a place the likes of you deserves to be."
Oh. . .that's right. Sane used to say I smelled bad in the beginning, too. But I thought he was just being an ass. Fuck! I'm going to be out of breath by the end of this trail!
Hurrying to stay by his side with the hopes of learning something from him, she freezes in her tracks when he peers at the huffing Umeko with silver irises and dark red pupils.
Choking back a gasp to seem unphased by his scowling eye contact, **His eyes look fucking insane! I'm going to have nightmares. . .
Swallowing hard, she admits, "I agree."
Timidly tapping her index fingers together during her momentary lapse in tailing him closely, "Let me go."
Stopping to stare at the girl incredulously, she nervously looks away to scratch the back of her head, It was worth a shot.
Scoffing as he rolls his eyes away, Umeko grumbles disheartened. Examining his appearance as she picks up her pace to return to his side, the yokai's black wardrobe is similar to a tight-fitting jacket and trousers. Only, they're bound tightly around his thick, chiseled body with narrow strips of fabric hanging around retracted, bat-like wings.
Wearing brown arm guards, he walks on the balls of bare feet with clawed, animalistic toes that tap against the hard path. The visible parts of his skin are gray.
A green, shell-like mask is tied around his face, covering his nose and jaw. Two pointed ears hold the straps in place as wild bangs shadow his forehead; two short, gray horns stick out the opposite sides of his forehead.
Long, black hair is gathered into a thick braid that hangs between large wings with black-feathered hunches.
The highest points of his forelimbs arch high above his head with a pointed bone sticking through both. Leathery wing membranes like a bat's, they rest close to his back and end around the backs of his knees.
Studying her first set of wings on a humanoid being that wasn't created by potions, Umeko spots a gray tail that sways just above the ground with an arrow-head tip.
"If you are solely a prisoner, you would accompany the prisoners indefinitely. He appears intent on keeping you at his side. Clearly," he scans her from head to toe, "Not as a bride."
Clenching her jaw while hugging herself, Umeko rubs her arms while taking in his assumptions.
"Leaving you in the hands of his women long-term would guarantee your expiration," stroking his chin once as strips of fabric hanging around his wrist dance on the wind, "So, the desire to keep you safe means you hold some form of value unbeknownst to me."
I hope he talks the whole way. There's no way he'll ever be anything like Sane. . .
"The only logical explanation that remains places you as a consort of the fallen kami."
Umeko stops to blink hard at how quickly the creature came to such an accurate conclusion.
Does everybody know?!
Skipping until she's beside him, she's determined to match his pace as he continues. Listening to him as he stays stoic in his outward pondering, "Though, the emperor claims he has overtaken the moon god."
Raising an eyebrow to the suspiciously interested human, "Your presence would be unnecessary were that true. Do you hold the knowledge of your sanctuary?"
Finding Hansuke to be inquisitive with a voice that's easy to listen to through his mask, neither a hidden growl nor snarl echoes through sophisticated speech.
I feel like even if I tell the truth. . .he won't believe me.
The pair promenade beside each other as his pace slows to meet hers before she realizes his politeness. Coming upon the downward hill that leads into the nearly tunneled-underground looking entrance of the mountain, she shrugs non-committedly.
Keeping her eyes straight ahead as she remains as unbiased and unafraid as possible, "If I die, Tsukiyomi no Mikoto will regain the strength to overpower Ryu and stop this war."
Breathing in slow and steady as the silence between them becomes a lag, Umeko hesitates glancing over his face when they reach the outstretched light of brilliant torches lining the path as the sun completes her final goodbyes of the day.
Following the wide path that leads into a large cave, Umeko marvels at the sheer size of a colossal, metal door with a metal-worked dragon's head protruding from it; the equally spaced torches sit in metal rests nailed into the mountain wall and maintaining an eerie welcoming glow despite knowing this leads to her new prison.
Glancing at him side-eyed while whispering low, she confesses, "Your King intends to covet my life until he's truly won."
Maybe if he's questioning Ryu's rule, he'll be against the war if it looks like they'll lose.
Watching him watch her as they slow to a stop at the metal door, his eyes suddenly close halfway.
Chuckling, "A mortal with a dark sense of humor," he pounds on the massive piece of metal three times with the side of his left fist.
Shaking his head while chuckling slightly louder, "You suggest that I end you, here and now?"
Clearing his throat to stand tall and poised without a trace of his outburst, "I will not fall for your tricks, human. I know of your kind."
Placing his left forearm against the dragon's chin to lean into it, "You are born of the selfish flesh of man."
Glancing at his reflection in the silver, reflective metal, "Inheriting the greedy blood of your forefathers."
Clawing down black bangs sticking out of the bandages wrapping his head, Hansuke fluffs the wavy strands out of his face, "You would only sacrifice if it was for personal gain."
Sure sounds like he's talking about his own kind. Yokai are such hypocrites!
"Incapable of compassion for those not of your own and even then," he shrugs then spits off to the side, "Your kind can be more nefarious than the darkest yokai and still hold your nose in the air as though your love for the gods expel your every sin."
Umeko grows dismayed, yet remains silent.
I'm not like that. . . There are some of my kind like that but– Fuck. This is exactly how I made Sane feel. We're all right and wrong. . .
"You must be prisoner: acting in fear of what Ryu Heika will do to you. Your suffering will not end by my hands, foolish girl."
The gate cracks open loudly and her jaw drops when its gargantuan mass slowly drops down into the ground, revealing the inside of this mountain's magic. Crossing the threshold, the two of them walk along black stone and the amount of unexpected surroundings amaze her at every mind-bending turn.
The entire inside of the mountain, as far as she can see, is hollowed out into an enormous training ground. Every terrain she could think of is inside this mountain, including areas of heavy rainfall and even a snow blizzard.
Soldiers in armor spar heavily with one another, some in their true form on the field; Umeko gawks over the varied species of demon evoking curiosity in her.
Shoving Umeko to keep her moving into the front entryway then turning her left, her forced direction reveals a stone doorway with amber glowing light radiating out. Needing to be shoved because her curiosity to stop and stare is all-consuming, she's simply spellbound.
When she finally notices an annoyed Hansuke and some of the militants lowering their weapons or limbs to look at her, she snaps out of it.
Realizing she was controlled halfway to their destined door, she nods nervously to the winged yokai before keeping her sight on the door.
I shouldn't draw too much attention. . . When Nobu's brother came back from battle he said the enemy was raping and torturing the prisoners that didn't die. . . Could the same thing happen to me in the dungeon?
Bee-lining to reach the arched door that's much higher in person than she expected, Umeko finds that it leads into a tower with a staircase leading up and down carved from mountain stone; wide enough to fit five people, side by side, the two of them begin their descent down spiraling steps.
I really hope Sane comes and gets me. I know she looked shocked but it was just a game right? Sane said Mizu was his baebitchboodie. . .thing. So, she'd never hurt him. He'll track me down and rescue me and we'll figure this out together. And because Mizuki let him live, we have another ally!
Sighing hopelessly depressed, I have to find a way to fix this on my own. I know I can because I'm not like the things he said I am. I know more than anyone that humans can be awful. . . Sankan no Machi had good people that didn't deserve—it was unfair. All of it.
Sniffing quietly as she follows a short distance behind her winged guard, Even the gods get killed by their own kind. And Izanagi no Mikoto knows what's going on with Tsukiyomi and won't do anything to help. Is it really necessary for things to happen the way they do for us to grow into our parts in all this?
Shaking her head no, trying not to cry as her more recent past bombards her mind, Maybe for every wicked kami there's a good demon? Like Sanemaru to Lord Susanoo. Sane was a rare gem, but there's no way he was the only good one. That Shojo guy didn't seem so bad, either.
Eyeing the back of Hansuke's head with a glare, This guy shouldn't make such bogus assumptions and judge so harshly because of what I was born as. I can't help that I'm human anymore than he can help being gray.
Pursing her lips awkwardly to the side when he glances back at her, she waves and he faces forward.
Phew. . . Should I try to convince him to kill me? That's such a weird question to think up! If he's not against the war though, it'll be like talking to a stone wall that spits insults.
Rolling her eyes with a shrug, I've got nothing else to do before I get to my cell. There I can get all the thinking in the world done.
Deciding to strike up a conversation with the yokai quietly leading her deep into the mountain, "How far down does this go?"
Pointing down when he looks back at her, she follows his gaze past her shoulder to find the hundred stairs behind her. Raising her eyebrows surprised when she looks back at Hansuke, he tilts his head.
Sane rubbed off on me too much.
Sniffling quietly, I really miss my big bro. . .
Hansuke returns his gaze forward as he continues his descent, his almost stupefied question echoes in the stairwell, "You grow impatient to reach your cell?"
It was just a question. . .
"I assumed you would prefer the long way, due to the circumstance of your arrival, and your current destination," he chortles quietly, "I imagined you would dread being surrounded by angry, vicious prisoners awaiting their demise."
Hansuke's wings bounce as his shoulders hunch to withhold laughter, and the hard edges of his wings cut through some of the strips of fabric when he regains his upright composure and stoicness, "You have revealed that I am incorrect."
I did? How?! Please, let's not be too hasty.
"Perhaps," he snickers with a sardonic tone, "You could tell your fellow traitors of your tale and be granted solace, thus no-handedly ending the war of all wars."
Rushing down the stairs past him to get up in his face, Umeko stares into the strange, metallic eyes of the humanoid beast.
"It's not a tale, it's the truth," she places her hand on her hips.
Yelling loud enough for her echo to hurt her ears, before she tones it down, "If Ryu truly had the power to absorb the full energy of a god, why would he wait until after he's captured this domain to tell his highest ranking people how he did it?"
Raising an eyebrow, "It appears your time with the steed was quite informative."
Cinching her lips shut with flared nostrils, she breathes a strained breath of relief, "He can't get in any worse trouble since he's dead, which means. . ."
Umeko stands on her tip toes to try and match his height only to fail, "Even if Ryu had the full power of Tsukiyomi-sama, do you think that's enough to bring down the Creator AND his daughter, the sun goddess?"
Seeing her question fall on deaf ears at Hansuke shows no interest in her question, "Not to mention, there will be others on the divine's side ready to fight so demons can't enter the Heavens."
Searching apathetic eyes and a stone-like face as he watches her erratic display of emotion on a drafty staircase, she throws her arms up, "What will this war even bring? Your demon emperor returns from the dead with a vengeance, so legions follow his bidding blindly?!"
Yelling in his face without breaking eye contact, her voice bounces loudly off the walls and back at them. Seizing her in a strong embrace, Hansuke's wings burst free from all the bandages and he flies across the center pit to pin her to the other side of the spiraling staircase with his body.
Her feet dangle high above any floor as she breaks a sweat, convincing herself not to look down. With a wingspan that nearly fills the entire half moon shape of a curving wall, their movement creates gusts of cyclone dust around them.
Gaping into deep and horrifying eyes that stare into her, the suspense of what expression remains hidden behind his mask nearly kills her.
Stunned by a more tender tone that she's heard from him before, "Your heart truly believes this story."
Blinking slowly, not wanting to miss what he says next, her heart flutters at the prospect of gaining a new friend.
"Have you created such a thing in your head, so faithfully, that it has become your reality?"