Yes. They needed to be destroyed-
"Igor."
Slowly, arms snaked around his waist.
"Don't do it…"
"..."
He recognised this voice.
"Lady Parvati."
.
|DxD|
.
A few moments prior…
.
[It's happening again…]
Parvati was watching Igor from her home in Mount Kailasa. She had been passively keeping tabs on him for the past three days. When she felt the darkness in his heart suddenly grow, she stopped everything she was doing and watched him.
He was in the middle of the ocean with Shuri. The killing intent he radiated was barely suppressed by his powerful energy.
When she overheard the conversation between the two of them, she realised that Shuri forced Igor to enter a state of grief. The only problem was…it was too hasty. She confronted Igor with a powerful dose of reality in too short of a timespan.
Did Shuri not know how volatile he was? He was one bad day from losing himself. If matters went terribly south, then the darkness in his heart would grow completely out of control. And Parvati feared that is what was happening.
When Igor brought Shuri back home, he was quiet and lifeless. People would mistake it for silent grief, but she could see that the weeds of anger were growing. They were barely being suppressed by the light of his little sister.
That mask he had on his face, that monotone voice without the usual inflections and excitement reflected his state of mind. He was dying inside. He was being consumed by reality. His comfort was suddenly robbed from him and in its place, weeds of darkness were taking the opportunity to grow in the now barren space.
Igor was forcing himself into acceptance, but it was not true acceptance. It was not true grief. He was not grieving properly. He was bottling up everything.
She could see it when Shuri asked him to call her 'aunty'. If it weren't for Asia, he would've exploded right there. This 'Shuri' was not his aunty. He accepted that far too quickly. His gaze was almost laced with indifference, but there was unimaginable pain behind it.
She felt him lock on to the energy of the Himejima Clan. Parvati could swear her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, especially when he appeared there. For the first time, she couldn't feel anything from him.
There were no emotions, no sadness, no rage. The moment he appeared above the Himejima Clan, the turbulence in his heart went still. This was worrying just as it was dangerous. This was the second time Igor was silent like this in all aspects.
The first time was when Shuri's corpse was in front of him. That dead silence was followed by an outburst of power that nearly culminated in him destroying the world. Now, he was in that silence, and Parvati knew what would follow next.
When he raised his hand to the sky, she knew she could no longer hesitate. Her husband was already busy with other affairs. She did not know what Amaterasu's stance would be, but her fellow gods, especially Susanoo would be problematic.
Shuuu!
.
|DxD|
.
'Dimori-kun. How is my daughter?'
His mind flashed back to that fateful day.
'She's alright, aunty. I left her with Sister Cleria.'
'Oh…that's goo-'
'But she still needs you, Aunty!'
The sight was so vivid as if it were yesterday. Her grievously injured form lay in front of him.
'You can't leave yet, aunty. You can't! You just can't!!!'
Her depleting vitality was signalling the end of her life with each fading beat of her heart.
'I'm…afraid.'
He remembered the scared and helpless gaze in her eyes as death drew closer.
'I don't want…to die.'
She was finding it hard to breathe. Her broken ribs had punctured into her organs.
'You won't die, Aunty. You won't. You hear me? You won't!'
He lied to her. He lied to himself. There was nothing he could do to save her.
'Stay with me, Aunty! Stay with me! PLEASE!!!'
She was slowly dying in front of him…and he could do nothing to stop it.
'Hug me…Igor.'
She begged him with tear-stained eyes for him to hold her. She was cold…and she was dying. He reluctantly hugged her because it would be the last time he would feel her warm body. He hugged her because this was the least he could do…because he was a failure.
'I love you, aunty. When I was alone in this world, you and the old man took me in, gave me food, and showed me care. You showed me what it was like to have a family again…and a mother.'
A mother, the most important person to a child. For he who could never see his mother again, Shuri filled that void. And now…death was taking her from him. He was holding her tightly in his grasp, but he could feel her lifeforce waning, her spirit slipping.
'Thank…you…son.'
Those were her last words. Those were her last words to him. Ten years later and he still remembered them clearly. Her words of acknowledgement seared themselves into his heart, forever changing everything…and made the loss that much harder to bear.
'HIIIMEEEJIIIMAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
When life left her body, a part of him died with her. A part of him died with…his mother. But there was hope. There was hope that everything could be relegated to only a bad memory.
When he saw her lively figure once more.
*Badump*
He thought she had been revived.
'Aunty!'
That with some time, he could help her regain her memories. That maybe…maybe…he could call her 'mom' like Akeno could.
'Ara…how do we know each other?'
But he was only fooling himself.
'Dimori-kun. On the sixteenth of July…I died.'
His aunt...his mother…his first tether to this foreign world was taken from him. And the Himejima were to blame.
"..."
His eyes gained a new coldness to them. This time, he would exterminate them.
*Raises hand…*
He would exterminate every last one of them-
"Igor."
A foreign sensation entered his body, a sensation he hated.
"Don't do it…"
He recognised the person who was now holding him.
"Lady Parvati."
Only she could make him feel the warmth of a mother. But she was not his mother. She wasn't and she would never be his mother.
"Let me go."
His voice was cold. There was no intonation someone was supposed to have when interacting with a god. Parvati was interrupting him and he had half a mind to tell her to bugger off-
"Igor. If you do this, you'll lose yourself. You still have your sisters to take care of. Don't lose yourself to this moment of grief. Everything will get better soon."
She couldn't…wouldn't let him go. Igor was teetering right at the absolute edge. If he killed the entire Himejima like he planned to, then he would never be the same again. Nothing would be the same again.
"Grief? I'm not grieving, Lady Parvati. I'm equaling the score."
"You've already done that, Igor. Everyone responsible for her death has died. Killing innocents won't bring you the closure you seek."
"..."
Innocents. It was his bottom-line. Igor lost count of how many people have died by his hands, children included. But it was during wartime. Everyone was an enemy in war. Still, innocent bystanders were his bottom-line.
"If you take action, there will be no going back, Igor. Are you sure you want to take that step?"
Parvati wouldn't say it, but the Shinto Pantheon wouldn't tolerate it if he killed off the Himejima Clan. Perhaps Amaterasu might, but her fellow gods Susanoo and Tsukiyomi definitely wouldn't.
This would be enough to stop many, but intimidating Igor wouldn't work in this scenario. The results would likely lead to the opposite results.
"Listen, Igor. I know you feel sad and angry. But trust me when I say this and I say this because I know. Time will heal all wounds, but only when you don't aggravate them. Shuri was an important person to you. Instead of removing the remainder of her family, grieve properly and remember her."
"..."
Igor was tempted to lash out, say 'to hell with everything' and finish off the Himejima. He wanted to.
*Drip* *Drip*
He really wanted to. But Parvati said it. He already killed off the ones responsible. Killing the rest of them wouldn't help with anything. But still…
*Drip* *Drip*
...it hurt. It really hurt!
"I know it hurts, Igor."
She hugged him tightly.
"But we will get through this."
"..."
Tears flowed down his cheeks like a river. His face was lifeless, but those tears proved he could feel…IS feeling pain.
"Let it all out, Igor."
Parvati turned him around so that he faced her. He did not resist. She wrapped her arms around his head. He did not resist. She held him tightly in her embrace and cradled her cheek on his hair.
"Igor. No one is around. No one is watching us. I am here for you. There is no need to hold it in when you're with me."
She gently rubbed his back and continued to coax him.
"Let it all out, Igor. Let it all out."
"..."
Igor didn't want to cry. He didn't deserve the privilege. He had the darned Instant Transmission and he was still too late.
" *Hik*…*hik*…"
Sun Wukong trained him in the art of perception. His senses could cover the world but he couldn't find hers or Akeno's energy signatures.
" *Hik*…*hik*…"
He had all that power yet he couldn't prevent her death. He prided himself on his excellent perception, yet he couldn't spot the differe-no, he willfully ignored the differences between his aunty and this Shuri.
"..."
Parvati let him release his sadness. But it was apparent that Igor wanted no one to see him at his weakest.
*Flicker* *Flicker*
He was trying to use Instant Transmission but Parvati wouldn't let him go.
"No, Igor. Don't try and deal with this alone."
"Let me go!"
"..."
He struggled, but Parvati wouldn't let him go. It was not out of selfish desire to mother him, but because she knew he was too volatile, too dangerous. She wanted to, but she didn't restrain his ki.
"Igor. Let me help you get through this."
"AAAAAAAAH!"
GRUUUUUU!
He was furiously struggling to escape her hold, even to the point of using his Demigod State. But he couldn't pry her arms off.
Parvati silently endured. He was lashing out…
"They killed her! They killed her! They killed my mother!"
…but it was his way of grieving.
"I want to murder them! I want to tear them apart! I WANT TO KILL THEM ALL!"
She felt his tears wet her robes.
"They took her! THEY TOOK HER FROM ME!"
His attempts at escaping weren't ceasing, but Parvati kept a firm hold on him…
"THEY TOOK HER!!!!!!"
GRUUUUU!
…because he needed her.
.
AN
.
Of course I'm not crying. Something just got in my eyes.