The room was a scene that could easily be found in a horror movie, the walls red from blood, the floor stained with clotted blood and the human corpse hanging to the ceiling.
In front of that macabre scene, Asahiko, Kikyo and the newly awakened sakura practitioner stand.
The first one keeps her foot resting on the third one's back, though she doesn't need to, the second one looks ready to kill someone and the third one is crawling on the floor with dreamy eyes.
"Now start talking, what's going on here?"
With a few icy words, Asahiko moves his foot from the man's back and with a new blow leaves him face up.
"We were collecting the essence of that child... For... For.... Ppp."
The man began to writhe violently on the ground, he even began to claw at the ground until his fingernails snap.
"What is the essence you speak of?"
Noticing that if he continued down that path the man was going to die, Asahiko switches to another question.
"Essence is the best fertilizer, though a few humans are capable of producing it... Always in small quantities and quality."
"Kikyo, any idea what he's talking about?"
Ignoring the one squirming beneath her feet, Asahiko places her gaze on Kikyo and asks if she has any ideas, though she only shook her head.
Before she can question the man again, from Clouded Fang emerges Saya, causing all eyes to focus on him.
"I had considered it a coincidence, but now... It all seems too familiar."
"Saya, go straight to the point."
"This method looks like that of Eien, an ancient plant yokai. No, perhaps he can even be placed in that category or species."
Tangling his pale beard uncontrollably, Saya remains static as he remembers that one is human and the other is a demon who never knows what he does or doesn't do.
"Eine is an ancient being, that would perhaps be an understatement... At one time he was worshiped as a sacred being by a certain group, what they never expected was that he would gain consciousness."
"Can plants even do that?"
"Anything can gain basic consciousness with enough time, energy and desire, Asahiko."
Speaking in a voice full of memories, Saya makes the room even more sinister, all thanks to her way of speaking.
"That was sinister, well keep talking Saya."
"Eine gained consciousness because of her enormous age, the energy of the monks and the wishes of the people. At first it wasn't good or bad, but the wishes of humans changed that."
"Oh, no."
"Oh, yes, Asahiko. "
While Asahiko slaps his face as if noticing how bad it could go believing in human wishes, Saya completely shatters his hope by speaking just like him, only with "Oh, yeah."
"Hahaha, it can't be that bad... Maybe it's merely a coincidence."
"No, I can feel it from this human's body. Eien seeds first attach themselves to the flesh, empowering their hosts, then go on to parasitize the soul... Perverting the very nature of every living thing."
Two people had understood how dangerous this situation was, obviously the one who doesn't understand it is Asahiko, who is new to all this yokai stuff.
"That's why the strangeness I felt from them, still, how do you explain that?"
"The essence they are talking about is spiritual power, normally it cannot be increased without continuous practice and effort, but there is a way to do it momentarily."
"Emotions…"
After remaining silent throughout the talk, Kikyo lets out a single sentence and earns Saya's nod.
"Yes, intense emotions can momentarily strengthen spiritual power. Whether they be the positive ones like love and friendship or the negative ones, like pain and fear."
"But what is all this for?"
"So that their seeds can be fertilized and then they can be devoured. The last heard of Eien was that he was sealed... Most likely he is regaining his power through this method."
Hearing Saya's explanation, Asahiko's eyes took a turn, as this thing about sealing dangerous things instead of killing them seems to be a normal thing around here.
...Christopher/Asahiko pov....
"Tsk, what a bore. what, I've already been acting serious for the past few hours..."
Glancing towards Kikyo who's riding a horse just to my right side, I give her a most innocent look, though she just ignores me.
"Ha... I'm already missing yesterday. You were so talkative, even a little more expressive."
Letting out a sigh and talking to myself out loud, I watch as Kikyo's horse increases its gait so she can pull away a bit.
"Have I succeeded in embarrassing you Kikyo?"
Approaching her side again, she looked at her face sideways and Kikyo quickly turned her head towards me. On her face hung a beautiful smile, even if her cold words didn't show it.
"No, I just didn't want to listen to you."
"So much cruelty in so few words!"
Suddenly shouting towards the sky, she grabbed the left side of my chest and I make a fatally wounded expression.
Obviously Kikyo didn't believe me at all, but now that smile on her face seems a little more real. It wasn't bad to trade a performance for a smile.
"That's twice today, you don't have a heart problem, do you?"
Listening to Kikyo's stiff words, an uncontrolled smile spreads across my face. I finally got her to play along with one of my jokes! My ancestors, yes I have them, observe... I'm no disgrace to all foxes.
"That's right Kikyo, that's how it has to be!"
"Because I think I did something wrong tonight."
Noticing her face stiffening again, I don't let that dampen the flames of my enthusiasm and quietly continue the conversation.
So, with a strange but pleasant atmosphere, we keep moving towards our intended destination and that is... Sakura village!.