Aku sat in his office filling out paperwork along with his staff who sat a few feet in front of him at their own desks, the sounds of pens writing and scribbling on paper was the only thing that filled the room before a knock at the door was heard. It took Aku a while to come out of his focused state before he put his pen down and called out to whoever was behind the door “Enter.”. One of the doors opens to reveal Tempest with one of the lead workers who had been working on the village outside the walls of their city. Aku stood up and made his way over to the gryphon and patted him on the shoulder in greeting. “I am pleased to inform you that the village is complete, my king. Everything you have asked for has been built and created.”. Aku smiled and took the gryphon’s hand and shook it firmly, very happy with the results in such a short amount of time “Excellent, you and the others who worked on the project will be well compensated for all your hard work. You can leave the rest to me. Go and let the others know I offer my gratitude and appreciate everyone’s hard work.”.

Aku then made his way through the city and out one of the main gates. Normally, he’d have a group of guards with him who’d insist on taging along with him. But this time, he made sure that he went alone, even forbidding the ninjas who usually kept watch over him to not even follow. Once out of range of the city, the little pipe fox climbs out of his pocket and coils around his arm before wrapping around his neck like an adornment. It smiled up at him warmly before speaking “I can’t believe the time has really come. Our worlds will finally connect and we will have a new place to call home for those who want a new place. And, as I told you before, we won’t allow any evil yokai to pass through here. The last thing we want to do for someone like you is to cause trouble. After you have gone through all the trouble to make this place look very inviting for us.”.

Aku smiled in return to the little fox and nodded “I feel that now I am part yokai, I must do all I can to help my fellow kindred. Though, since I am human in origin, I don’t think they will take a shine to me right away. I am sure that the full blooded oni will want to size me up and see what I am capable of.” Aku then remembered something. Something he should have asked the day he met the little kitsune one day one. “You know, you have been hanging out with me all this time, and I never even once asked you for your name.” The pipe fox then changed into her true form and walked alongside him, taking his hand in a gentle affectionate manner as she looked up at him with those big icy gray eyes of hers. He knew that she was over a couple thousand years old, but she was absolutely adorable. “My name is Kyrara! But, you can just call me Rara, all my closest friends do!”.

She considered him one of her closest friends? Then again, ever since she came to him, she had been spending every waking..and sleeping moment with him. And if she hadn’t run away by now, she must really see something special in him. Because he surely didn’t see it. Even in the back of his mind, doubts of him being a leader were still very much there. His thought process was interrupted by a gentle squeeze from her hand as she could sense those very worries coming to the surface “Aku, with all the time I have spent with you, I know and feel the constant struggles you face in both mind and heart…” she said before leaping open onto his back and wrapping her limbs around him in a rather affectionately way. “...But, you have certainly never wavered from your convictions and what you believe is right. Not to mention, you have a whole nation who believes in you. And…I believe in you as well.” she said as she tried to hug him as much as her small limbs would allow.

Aku could feel his worries start to melt away for now with Kyrara’s words. He reaches up and places a hand over hers, gently squeezing it while looking over his shoulder at her with a grateful smile “Thank you, Rara. It means a lot that a heavenly kitsune such as yourself sees so much decency in me. Despite the decisions I have made.” She nodded again, giving him another squeeze as she rested on his back “As for the oni in the yokai world, they already know about you! I have been reporting all my findings to the boss and the stories of you have spread. Some oni are actually looking forward to meeting you! And I mean that in a very good way!” she explained as she then released her grip from him as they entered the village.

“I figured you had some way of maintaining contact with the current leader of the yokai. I wonder what they are like…” In Aku’s mind, he was picturing some kind of wizened century old kitsune with…ten tails or something along that line. “Once we open the portal, you will get to meet them.” the kitsune said as she pulled out some old rice paper and handed them to Aku along with ink and a brush “This needs to be done by human hands for it to work. I am going to teach you the basics of onmyo magic!” Magic? The one thing Aku couldn’t use in this world. How does she expect him to actually cast magic when she knows that he can’t? “Rara, you know I can’t use magic in this world. I purely negate it.”

She smiled widely and waggled her index finger at him with a giggle “You can’t use THIS world’s magic. But you forget, onmyo magic isn’t part of this world now is it? And given your…change from your normal human self, you now have an abundance of magic forming in your hybrid soul. Onmyo magic has to come from within. If it goes out of use for too long, it will stagnate and become completely useless. But, given that your change is still fairly fresh, it is still capable of growing.” Aku’s eyes light up with excitement and fascination. As a child, he always loved reading and learning about onmyo magic from the ancient times of his people. And to find out that such a thing really existed only excited him further. He was ready to learn, no matter how tedious the work was going to be.

“Now, before we begin, we need to see where you are at and find your affinity, if not multiple.” she said as she walked over to the rock garden that Aku had made himself in the village. Once Aku had removed his shoes and crossed his legs, he closed his eyes and lowered his head as he placed his hands in his lap and looped his thumbs and index fingers together. Once he was in a quiet and calm state of mind, Kyrara kneeled in front of him and gently cupped his chin before pressing her forehead against hers, her body began glowing with a soft sky blue light as she delved deep into Aku’s mind and heart, respecting his privacy of other matters that didn’t involve what she needed of course.

“Very good, Aku. Focus on your inner power. Guide me through so I can awaken that sleeping power you possess…” she said softly into his mind. As she zoomed around, she appeared in a rather tall, grain filled field with someone facing away from her, the moon was quite sizable and the figure stood in black and white onmyo mage robes with there hands cupped behind them, and a single black steel katana with the name ‘Akabane’ carved into the blade that stuck in the ground next to them. Their hair was as long as Aku’s, but it was a pure jet black color, and once their head turned to face Kyrara, their eyes were a piercing bright yellow, like that of a serpent and their skin a ghostly pale. Their face was fairly androginous, so it was rather tough to tell if they were a man or a woman. Under those robes

They looked fairly young, but not the age of a child for certain. Once they smiled and chuckled however, it was clear the person was a man “Dōyara... sore wa kare o mezame saseru jikandesu.” (Apparently…it is time to wake him up.) said the man before the whole scene vanishes from Kyrara’s sight. Whoever he was, he clearly shared Aku’s family name and blood. Another scene comes into view, this time the moon was high again and the sky was blood red. She appeared to be in a village that was definitely in the same time period as the way the man is dressed for. Kyrara heard shuffling footsteps behind her, ehr ears perking up before she turned her head to see the reanimated corpses of undead soldiers and samurai mindlessly walking through the streets of the abandoned village. She sees the same man standing atop the hill with those glowing yellow eyes with a sinister smile on his face, holding both healing and dark magic talismans in his hands.

She lowered her ears and tail in fear of what she knew was going on. This man had used both his affinities for necromancy. If one combines the two affinities for life and darkness, they can easily make the dead do their bidding. “Watashi no idaina, idaina, idaina mago o zenshin sa sete kudasai. Akabane regashī o fukkatsu sa se. Heh…heh…heeeh” (Go forward my great, great, great grandson. Revive the Akabane legacy.) he said in his rather calm but dark voice as he held his hands out to his side as the talismans were released into the air, flying along the wind. While he hadn’t said a word through all of this, Aku was watching everything going on in his mind. The fact that his ancestor was a fully realized onmyo mage. And a rather dangerous one at that made him feel both worried and excited at the same time. At this point, it is clear that his affinities arew both dark and healing magic. A frightening combination to be sure.

Once the mental connection was broken, Kyrara fell back onto her rear and Aku nearly fell back himself before dipping his face into his hands and rubbing his eyes. Kyrara has a rather solemn expression on her face before looking up at Aku. “I can finally see the resemblance in you now. It was always nagging at me everytime I looked at your face. You are the direct descendant of Hatori Akabane, or as he was known as ‘The Necro Dragon Of The East’. It seems that your natural curiosity for onmyo magic runs through your veins. I just hope you don’t go down the path he followed, Aku..” she said with worry in ehr voice.

Aku did have a look of rather unsettling understanding on his face when she said those words. His memory immediately goes back to the fight he had with Tirek when a horde of undead limbs and bodies sprouted from the ground to pull the dying centaur down to have him devoured and ripped to shreds. And why the area around him seems to change into that same kind of setting when he is fighting as the oni. It all made sense now. Thanks to his oni form’s power, he was unconsciously using those same abilities. “Oh my god..I really am a monster..aren’t I? Not only do I use the oni form that has grown within me, but I have already pulled the dead from their graves and used them to destroy my enemies…” he grabbed at his head as doubts began rushing to the surface far quicker than before, his eyes widen with fear and disdain for himself as his pupils shake and his mouth slightly agape.

Kyrara could see the horrified look on Aku’s face, the fear slowly consuming him as a shadowy aura started to grow behind him in the form of his ancestor, those yellow eyes once again standing out along with a wicked grin slowly forming. Aku could feel the cold grip of a hand now resting on his shoulder as the shadowy figure whispered to him in words only he could hear while it sounded like gibberish to the kitsune. “Destroy this world, Aku. SHow them all that they should have never isolated and treated you like a monster. Show them what a monster really is. Make them beg for your mercy, and once they do that, snuff the life out of every single one of them and make them your undead puppets. Become the ’Dark Oni God Emperor’. Your bloodline demands it.”

As Aku was at the point of despair, the memories of his friends came rushing back to him. Those faces that smiled warmly and genuinely at him began to drive away the shadow behind him and bring him back to the point of calming down. Especially the faces of Fluttershy and Tempest. Those two especially made him forget about his fears for now. “Aku…Aku!” said a voice that started to become less and less muffled before finally coming in clear. The familiar scent of fresh flowers and the view of yellow and pink came into view before his vision was no longer blurred, revealing Fluttershy as she kneeled in front of him with her hands cradling his cheeks with worry on her face, tears nearly pooling up in her eyes. She couldn’t have come at a better time for sure. Aku’s face fell into Fluttershy’s chest before wrapping his arms around her, the man shaking heavily in the yellow mare’s arms which were wrapped tightly around him in a protective embrace, slowly stroking his back and through his long hair.

“How…did you find me, Shy?” he asked in a shaky voice. “I was called here by an unknown voice. They sounded extremely worried and distressed, they told me that I should come here and find you for your sake. I was terrified at what I saw when I came here. You hold this strange figure behind you. Whispering as their grip grew harder on your shoulder. You looked so scared and you weren’t moving. I was frightened, but I knew that you needed me. So I am here now. And I got you…” she said as she brought her wings around to wrap him in an extra warm embrace.

The comforting feeling of her arms and soft wings holding him made him grip the back of her shirt a bit more firmly, the fabric stretching between his fingers as he held on to ehr tightly. “I…wasn’t going to tell you about this place until I was ready. Please keep this a secret from everyone else. They aren’t ready for it yet.”. Fluttershy nodded as she continued to comfort him “So, this is where you have been running off to. And why you contracted so many carpenters. This is such a lovely little village. But what is its purpose..?” Aku finally stood up and shook his head “I can’t reveal that to you either. I..am alright now. I need you to head back to the city though. I appreciate you coming to break me out of that state. I truly do. But please, wait for me back home…please.” he asked with his head bowed sincerely. While she really, really wanted to stay and comfort him more, she could say no to him.

After she left, Aku and Kyrara resumed their training. Within a few more hours, Aku stood before the well that was made and suddenly threw a few of the talismans in the air which formed a pentagram from the motion he drew in the air with his fingers, performing various hand signs as he chanted the spell. Once performed, the well started to glow a bright golden yellow and soon, three figures stood in the light. One a short and hunched over figure with a cane. And two which he could tell right away they were females. Very amazonian females at that. Was the short one the boss that Kyrara spoke of?

“Well well well, look at you. All grown up.” said a familiar and kindly old voice of the one with the cane. As they came into view, a woman with a kindly wrinkled face smiled up with closed eyes at Aku. Her long gray hair nearly paired in the front with a decorative lotus pin poking through a bun in the back, dressed in a black and white kemono decorated with flowers “Grandmother…?” Aku asked in disbelief. She had passed away when he was younger, but never in a million years did he think he’d ever see her again till he died and went on to the next world…

Author's Note

May the darkness grant you peace.