Raging Hearts

Kyoko watched Shinbe start to unwind the amethyst beads from around his hand to open the cursed void Hyakuhei had gifted him with as a child, the same void that could swallow him whole if its powers ever became out of control. The vacuum of the void would suck the demons into its depths in waves, making it one of their best and most dangerous weapons in the battle against Hyakuhei and his minion.

Kyoko saw a shadow fly past her and glanced above them. "Shinbe! Don’t do it! A changeling," She pointed and Shinbe glanced up, quickly closing the cursed void and nodded his thanks for the warning just as a swarm of demons came at them. The changelings were the voids solitary downfall.

Shinbe had almost died the last time he’d accidentally sucked in one of Hyakuhei’s changelings. Their power reflected within the void, spinning it out of control and putting Shinbe’s own life in danger of being consumed by the cursed vacuum.

Suki’s bayonet zoomed through the air at the last second, killing some of the advancing lowborn demons. Shinbe threw wards and cast spells at the rest that were attacking them.

That’s when everything started happening all at once, Kyoko watched as the group fought off a large swarm of ground imps. Airborne demons attacked Toya with movements too quick to track, giving the mammoth demon an opening to attack. Toya was thrown across the field only to rise back up and come at it again.

Kyoko raised her crossbow, intending to help as much as she could when something caught her attention… stilling her movements. An illumination descended around her, repelling Kamui as if he had been thrown away from her. It was so bright that Kyoko shut her eyes tight and threw her arm up in front of her to keep from being blinded.

Toya saw the light sphere descend on Kyoko. His heart thudded in his chest… his attention on her instead of the fight with the demon as he picked himself up from the ground yet again.

Finally opening her eyes, Kyoko gasped when she saw a man right in front of her. He was beautiful… with wings of light… just like in her literature books at school. They would have said he was an angel. This man was in no way an angel… she could feel it. She pulled back the string of her crossbow and a spirit dart formed as she remembered the story about the most beautiful angel being kicked out of heaven because he was evil.

Kyoko steadied her aim as she looked into the crystals that were his eyes but was unable to shoot. How could she hurt something so precious? With his long, white hair flowing around him, she’d never seen anything so lovely in her life. He slowly approached her, whispering words that she couldn’t understand.

Between Suki and Shinbe, they’d wiped out almost all of the free flying spirits and turned to help Toya with the enraged demon that was slamming him into the ground because he wasn’t paying attention to the fight. He was too busy trying to see what was happening to Kyoko.

Suki threw her weapon and it slashed across the demon’s cheek, getting its attention fixed on her. Shinbe grabbed her out of the way just as the demon attacked, sending debris flying as its claws missed and swiped the ground. He yelled to Toya. "You go help Kyoko. We’ll deal with this thing!”

Toya raced to the radiating light, seeing the image of a man with wings floating toward Kyoko inside the barrier. He ran to it but the barrier repelled him as it had Kamui. Small lightning bolts the color of black light sizzled across his skin. Flying backwards, he hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud. He lay there for a minute, stunned and trying to catch his breath.

Kamui stood on the other side of the sphere, franticly casting every magic spell he could think of to destabilize the barrier but it wasn’t working. He growled in frustration as he again tried to breach the shield and get to Kyoko. Placing his hands together in front of him, he chanted his most powerful spell and released it, only for it to reflect off the wall of the barrier and slam back into him, sending him skidding across the grass in irritation.

Kyoko was trying to fight the pull from the apparition-like form in front of her. She could hear him whispering enchantments and she could feel a strange sensation starting in her chest. It wasn’t painful… but still… it felt like it would burst. Not with pain… it was a loving feeling. She was still lucid enough to feel fear at the same time.

She tried to step back as he drew even closer and that’s when it dawned on her exactly what he was doing. This mischievous demon was casting a spell on her… and now it was too late. Kyoko blinked slowly. She felt the overwhelming feeling of being in love. She would do anything for that person but she didn’t know who that person was. Who was it she loved so much that it hurt?

She felt the ground shift under her feet and she began sinking into a void just as the alluring demon finally came within a hairsbreadth from her. His silky lips brushed across hers and her world turned black.

*****

Hyakuhei gazed through the mirror and witnessed the spell being placed on Kyoko. He knew when she awoke, the person before her would be the one she loved. His eyes glowed a faint, crimson light as he opened a portal under the barrier sphere she was trapped in and started pulling her to him.

"Yes, come to me. I am the one you truly love.” His thoughts became distorted and he felt like she was finally coming home to him. “As it should be,” he whispered.

Yuuhi watched Hyakuhei without a flicker of emotion crossing his pale, young face. "She will not come, for Toya will stop her.”

Hyakuhei’s eyes narrowed on the boy before he turned back to the mirror.

*****

Toya stood over the barrier-sphere that kept Kyoko from him. With his whole body shaking from fear and anger, he gathered his guardian powers and let it pulse into the twin daggers.

"You will not take her away from me!" His eyes instantly changed to molten silver as his powers surfaced, sending a shockwave out around him, causing his hair and clothes to flutter wildly from the blast. Holding the twin daggers together, the crossed blades turned a vivid blue as the Tenshi kissed Kyoko’s lips.

The demon looked up just as Toya descended. In a flash, the barrier shield disappeared and the blades made contact with the Tenshi, killing it in an instant.

Toya reached down and grabbed Kyoko around the waist, pulling her up out of the void that had formed under her. He jumped clear of the void just as the massive demon Suki and Shinbe were fighting tried to attack him again.

Seeing that Kyoko was unconscious and not knowing what the winged demon had done to her made Toya see red. Raising his fire dagger with a furious growl, he felt the heat build within his guardian blood and released it back on the advancing demons, blasting them to smithereens.

*****

Yuuhi lowered the mirror of souls from Hyakuhei, who had looked away in disappointment.

Hyakuhei’s voice remained calm. “No matter, the spell will only last a couple of hours since the Tenshi was destroyed." There was no regret, for he would have many more chances and he would capture the priestess. He opened the palm of his hand revealing the small fragments of crystal that would eventually bring her within his grasp.

"She will still come to me." He said in a seductive voice as Yuuhi looked back into the mirror.

*****

Toya was so upset that he didn’t even notice the dark clouds had disappeared and the sun was once again shining its late day rays. He reached out, pulling Kyoko closer so that her head rested on his thigh as he knelt. He couldn’t see any wounds but the fact that she had passed out was scaring the hell out of him. He paid no attention to the others as they crowded around him.

Kamui knelt by Toya's side. "Is she all right?” He gazed down at Kyoko with a catch in his voice. “I was supposed to protect her,” He whispered as he reached out and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “Kyoko, please wake up… for me… come on… why won’t you wake up?” The quiver in Kamui’s voice gave away the guilt he was feeling for not saving her.

Shinbe was the one to answer. "I recognized the lovely demon that was with her. I studied its secrets a while back. It’s called Tenshi. It’s very weak in physical attacks and can be destroyed easily. Its real power is a deceiving love spell." He directed his next question toward Toya. "It didn’t kiss her did it?”

Toya nodded, remembering the flash of jealousy that had shot through him when the beautiful male creature dared to kiss Kyoko.

Shinbe sighed and smacked his hand over his eyes before peeking through his fingers, "Then we may have a problem when she wakes up.”

Toya felt his stomach quiver at the thought of Kyoko being hurt somehow. "Shinbe, what’s wrong with her? What kind of spell was it that the bastard put on her? Is there any way we can help her? An antidote or something?" He asked calmly, never taking his eyes from her for fear of her breath stopping. He’d never felt so numb in his ageless life.

"Well, the Tenshi put a love spell on her when he kissed her. That much I know. He was probably going to take her to Hyakuhei when they started down into that void that had opened up. But since you killed the demon, the spell shouldn’t last very long.” Shinbe cast a worried glance at Toya, hoping his studies had been accurate… for all their sakes.

Toya frowned as he moved a couple inches away from her and stood up. His heart kicked up its tempo as he asked, "What kind of spell is a love spell and why would Hyakuhei want Kyoko under it?" Then it dawned on him what Hyakuhei’s intentions had been. His hands balled into fist as his eyes widened then instantly narrowed, "Damn that bastard! I’m gonna kill him!"

He sat down hard on the ground beside Kyoko. "Well, what’s gonna happen when she wakes up now that Hyakuhei's not here?" Toya tried to hide the fury he felt at the thought of Hyakuhei wanting Kyoko.

Shinbe leaned over her. "Let’s find out." He tapped Kyoko on the cheek softly. "Kyoko, sweetie. Wake up." He smiled when her eyes started to flutter. Suki sat down beside him waiting for Kyoko to focus, waiting to see if she was all right.

Kyoko's vision was blurry as she opened her eyes. Her chest hurt. She raised her hand, putting it over her heart and squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Then she heard Shinbe.

“Kyoko, are you alright?" Shinbe leaned over her, now coming into focus as she gazed up at him.

Kyoko stared at him for just a moment, feeling every nerve in her body come to life. God, Shinbe was beautiful with his long, midnight blue hair hanging down around his perfect face. His eyes looked like amethyst crystals as he watched her. "I’m fine." Kyoko pushed herself up into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around his neck wanting closer to him. "Oh, Shinbe. I love you so much."

Shinbe’s eyes flashed pure joy as Kyoko pressed herself against him. Forgetting everyone was watching, he smiled back at her and asked, "Kyoko, darling. Will you have my child?"

Kyoko smiled, "I would love to." She waited as Shinbe started forward with his amethyst gaze on her lips. About that time, Suki's weapon landed on Shinbe's head making him dizzy. He gasped in pain as he passed out.

Kyoko frowned as Shinbe landed in a heap beside her. In slight confusion she turned to look at Suki who was laying her weapon back on the ground with a smug look. "Aaah, Suki," Kyoko crawled toward her, smiling sensually the whole time. Reaching out, she cupped Suki's cheek with the palm of her hand. "You are so beautiful.”

Suki’s eyes became huge as she crawled backwards trying to get away but Kyoko crawled forward following her, still smiling.

Toya sat there, too stunned to do anything. He just watched Kyoko stalk Suki with infatuation.