Secret of the Spider Lily

Chapter 15 - The Battle of Will

Shinobu and Giyu quickly took Yuki into an empty room, quickly closing and locking the door behind them. Yuki had dropped to her knees, gripping her head as she growled and fought against the pain.

Shinobu kneeled in front of Yuki, placing a hand on one of her shoulders, "Yuki, tell me what's going on! What's wrong?"

"Don't resist against my powers Yuki. Attack them now!"

"No! I won't listen to you!" Yuki screamed, trying to hold her powers back from activating.

"You can't resist me. Surrender to my will and kill those two Hashira!"

"Yuki!" Shinobu shouted, "Listen to me!" She tightened the grip on her shoulder, trying to keep her grounded.

"Who's talking to you?!" Giyu asked, standing behind Yuki with his hand on his sword.

"I-I don't know!" She cried, tears of blood flowing from her eyes, trying to resist the voice in her head.

"You know exactly who I am. You've seen my face, even if you don't remember it. You've read all about me in the books in your study. The taste of your family's blood was amazing."

"You..." she muttered, anger and a growl laced in her voice, "You're the one who murdered my family!"

"It's Kibutsuji!" Giyu shouted, quickly kneeling beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder, "Don't listen to him! He doesn't have power over you!"

"That's where he's wrong, my child. You are nothing but a puppet for me to use. I control your free will. I control your actions. I control your mind!"

Yuki had been taking sharp breaths, fighting the pain in her head, and the voice in it as well. The rage was only building up inside of her, looking up at Shinobu and Giyu, but she couldn't see their faces. All she saw were red silhouettes.

Shinobu and Giyu saw that Yuki's eyes had started flickering, but not the usual icy blue, but a blood red. They knew that Kibutsuji was beginning to take over, which only made the two of them fear for Yuki.

"Yuki! Please fight against him!" Shinobu yelled, tightening her grip.

"Attack and kill them my puppet!"

Yuki let out a blood curdling scream, her body going limp and rigid. Her body remained dormant for a moment, making Shinobu and Giyu wonder what happened.

The both of them carefully watched as Yuki slowly began to sit up. Her eyes were closed, but Giyu had a sickening feeling watching the way she moved.

He knew something was wrong.

Yuki's hands grabbed both Giyu and Shinobu by the wrists. The grip was incredibly strong, demonic even. Neither of them were able to break away from Yuki. She opened her eyes, but Shinobu and Giyu looked in fear, seeing they had turned a pinkish red. Her eyes were not her eyes anymore. They were Kibutsuji's.

"My will is absolute!"

Yuki began digging her nails into Giyu and Shinobu's wrist, drawing blood from the two of them.

Giyu pulled out of her grip, quickly grabbing her and pinning ehr to the ground, "Yuki! Snap out of it! He doesn't control you!"

"I-I can't...- control myself...!" She shouted, her voice mixing with Kibutsuji's, fighting against him the best she could.

"Shinobu! Get her medicine! She isn't going to break out of this without our help!"

"On it! I have to go get it from Kanao! I'll be back as soon as I can!" She yelled, quickly running out of the room.