"I'm honored you even remembered my name," Taichi said sarcastically. Kazuma swung his sword and sliced through the chains confining Taichi. Taichi got up and started rubbing his wrists, eyeing Kazuma as he sheathed his sword. After he saw Kazuma sheath his blade, he smiled wickedly at him.
"I thought you died a long time ago when your family was captured," Kazuma said as his eyes landed back on Taichi. "Never thought I'd see you again."
"Not quite," Taichi said as he went over and attached his sword to his hip once again. "Osamu kept me, thinking he could use me. Up until now, I thought my parents and sister were still alive, but he killed them a long time ago and was using me to find Mei. I probably should've died with them."
"Idiot, you should've seen through that one," Kazuma said hitting Taichi over the head with his fist. Taichi growled and looked at him, rubbing his head.
"You would've done the same if it was your parents Kazuma. Don't act like the hero now."
Kazuma glared at Taichi. "My parents have been dead longer than yours." Taichi snorted and stretched his arms over his head before walking up to Kazuma.
"At least you didn't just go die somewhere," Taichi said mockingly. "I haven't seen you in quite a while and it looks as if you've gotten a lot stronger. I wouldn't mind sparring with you." Kazuma snarled, baring his fangs at Taichi, whose aloof attitude was beginning to irritate him.
"I'm not in the mood to be tested, Taichi. Where did Osamu take Mei?"
"So you are into her, huh? And to think I had a clear shot with her," Taichi said winking as he rubbed his chin. Kazuma glared at him and he started laughing. "I'm kidding. Well, maybe not completely kidding. Anyways, Osamu has her up a couple more levels. Who knows what he's been doing to her. My best guess is he's been torturing her," Taichi said as he walked past Kazuma. Kazuma rolled his eyes, growling to himself as he followed Taichi. Making their way out of the room, Taichi lead Kazuma up the few levels needed to get to Mei. They walked on in silence, unsure about what to talk about. It was true Kazuma and Taichi use to be close friends at a young age until Osamu forced their families apart, but now it seemed as if they never knew each other. Kazuma didn't know what had happened to Taichi since they parted, and seeing him again felt like he was being introduced to someone he didn't even know. You think you know a guy, Kazuma thought. They finally came up to a large metal door with a thick iron rod sealing it shut. Kazuma raised his eyebrows, impressed with the size of the door.
"An impressive door," Kazuma complimented, looking at it up and down.
"All the more reason to break it down," Taichi said cracking his knuckles. Taichi raised his fist up and it ignited in red energy. The energy engulfed his entire hand, and running towards the door, Taichi swung his fist, the impact on the door shaking the very tower. The door flew backwards into the opposite wall, sizzling from the steam of Taichi's energy. Taichi shook his hand out and then glanced confidently over at Kazuma. "Piece of cake," Taichi said smugly.
Kazuma walked past him as if nothing happened, which irritated Taichi. Kazuma's eyes widened when he saw Mei up in a cocoon of chains and the pool of blood below her. Anger flared inside of Kazuma and he ran over there and looked up at Mei. Her eyes were closed and he could see her shoulders moving up and down as she breathed. Kazuma sighed with relief; Osamu hadn't succeeded in taking her soul yet. Unsheathing his sword, Kazuma leaped upwards and slashed at the chains holding Mei, cleanly slicing through them. As he landed, he stabbed his sword into the floor and caught Mei as she fell into his arms. He quickly removed any loose chains before he saw the condition she was in. Kazuma looked at her and saw all the bruises and gashes covering her small body and realized she had no energy left to heal herself. Cursing under his breath, he gently laid Mei on the ground and pulled a small bottle from his vest. He was about to take the cap off when something started nagging in the back of his brain. Kazuma closed his eyes and he noticed Sakura was trying to get his attention, telling him to warp them up there. Kazuma looked back at Taichi, who was standing with a bored expression on his face, looking around the room.
"There's a group of samurai in the palace that need to get here. Warp them here while I heal Mei."
"I think a 'please' is in order," Taichi said winking mockingly at Kazuma.
"I'll cut your face off," Kazuma replied with a cold glare in his eyes.
"Close enough," Taichi said shrugging. Red energy started circling around him, then it shot upwards and disappeared. Kazuma turned his focus back on Mei; he removed the cap from the bottle and gently tipped it towards Mei's mouth. A drop of the liquid missed her mouth and rolled down her chin. Kazuma sighed heavily as he realized just pouring the liquid down her throat wasn't going to get her to drink it.
"I know what you're thinking. If you do it and she wakes up while you are doing it, she'll kill you," Taichi said with a smirk. Kazuma shook his head as he lifted the bottle to his mouth.
"She'll still be too weak too," Kazuma said as he poured the liquid into his mouth. Lifting Mei's head, Kazuma put his lips to hers and released the liquid from his mouth. He put his free hand on her throat and he felt the liquid sliding down as she drank it. Kazuma pulled his head back and smiled when her wounds began to heal.
"I'm going to cut your damn throat." Kazuma turned and saw Kalik standing there, his face red with anger. Smiling deviously, Kazuma stood up and put his hands in the pockets of his pants.
"Cut my throat then, if you can," Kazuma taunted. "You're just pissed because I scored first." Kalik started to lunge at Kazuma before Takashi and Kalas grabbed his arms to hold him back. Taichi busted out laughing and Kaito just faintly smiled. Taichi turned his attention from the enraged samurai back to Kazuma, who tossed the bottle over to the side.
"Say Kazuma, what kind of medicine was that?" Taichi asked after calming himself down.
"An elixir," Kazuma said shrugging unenthusiastically. Kazuma looked at the shocked faces of the samurai, and he raised an eyebrow at them. "What?"
"How did you get your hands on one of those?" Soushi asked amazed.
"That information is not important at the moment," Kazuma said looking away. "That was part of the preparations I had to make. I had a feeling we would need it and it turns out I was right. It wasn't easy to find either." Mei let out a small groan, causing all of them to jump. Kazuma looked over his shoulder at her and saw her slowly getting to her feet. She looked at all of them with wide-eyes, and then she narrowed them angrily.
"What are you doing here?!" she hissed.
"I was expecting a 'thank you' or 'wow, you guys are the best' after all the trouble we did to come get you," Takashi said sarcastically as he crossed his arms. Mei narrowed her eyes dangerously, not in the mood for Takashi's humor.
"I didn't ask you to come get me! What if Osamu finds you?" Mei asked desperately.
"We'll kick his ass," Taichi said with a wink. "I owe him a beating anyway." Mei looked down at her body and was surprised to see that her body was no longer cut up. She did a half circle, looking herself over, then looked up at the others.
"How am I healed?" Mei asked.
"Kazuma gave you an elixir," Sakura said walking up to Mei, giving her a warm smile. Mei returned Sakura's smile before turning her attention to Kazuma.
"Thank you, Kazuma," Mei said smiling at him. Kalik's mouth gaped open, and finally he exploded.
"That's not the right reaction! He basically molested you when you were knocked out!" Kalik said desperately. Mei looked over at him, confused.
"I don't see what the problem is. He still healed me. It's better than being half-dead, right?" Kalik slapped his forehead with his hand, cursing Mei for being oblivious to the obvious.
"I believe that's two points for Kazuma," Taichi said leaning over to whisper to Kalik.
"Shut up," Kalik grumbled as he looked at Kazuma, who stood with a victorious smirk on his face. Sakura faced Mei, concern flickering across her face.
"Can you walk, princess? We need to get out of here as soon as possible, before Osamu suspects anything." Mei nodded to Sakura, but Kazuma ignored Mei's response and looked to Taichi.
"Care to lend a hand?" Kazuma asked as he lazily, with a devious smirk.
Taichi held his hands up in defense, returning the smirk Kazuma gave him. "Hey, I won't betray the princess again. Sorry but you're stuck with me again, pal. Looks like we get to go back to the golden days."
Kazuma rolled his eyes dramatically. "Don't put too much thought into it. It'll just be nice to have another Pureblood around to look after her."
"You know each other?" Mei asked as she tried to take a step forward, but fell backwards into Sakura who caught her before she hit the ground.
"Introductions can wait, princess," Taichi said as he walked over to Kazuma. Glancing over at the samurai, who still stood there patiently, Taichi gestured to them. "Come over here. Kazuma and I will warp us out. The rest of the demons will...I guess warp themselves out too."
"They're already out," Kazuma said annoyed. "Let's get a move on, Kalik." Kazuma walked over Mei and picked her up, ignoring her startled yell. Sakura smiled as he threw Mei over his shoulder and started walking back towards Taichi.
"I think I can walk, Kazuma!" Mei said struggling to get down.
"I just saw you try to walk and you're worse than a new born right now. Just pipe down and deal with this till we get to the camp." Mei muttered under her breath, but nevertheless stopped struggling. Kazuma looked over at Kalik with a sly smirk and Kalik was turning even redder in the face.
"Why do guys have to make this a competition?" Sakura mumbled to herself as she followed Kazuma to stand beside the others. Once they were all together, Kazuma and Taichi released their energy in sync, the yellow and red energy swirling around them. The next second they appeared in the courtyard near the entrance, the gates still swung wide opened. Mei's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the courtyard, the mangled bodies still covering it.
"Looks like someone had a party. Why wasn't I invited?" Taichi mumbled, and Sakura chuckled softly. The samurai looked over at Taichi with a disgusted look on their faces. Kazuma chuckled and continued to walk towards the gate, adjusting Mei over his shoulder.
"Aren't going to even say good-bye, princess?" Kazuma and the others spun around and saw Osamu standing on the wall, elites on either side of him. Mei struggled and Kazuma only tightened his grip on her. He could feel Mei's beating heart against his shoulder, and he knew she was afraid. He glared at Osamu and noticed Osamu's face light up, an amused look appearing on his face. "You're from the Sanataic house aren't you? Fate is definitely shining on me today. I have a Pureblood from each of the houses. I wonder what all I could accomplish with that?"
"Don't get cocky, Osamu. We have no intention of doing anything for you, unless you ask for death, then we'll grant you that," snarled Taichi.
"You're one to talk, since it was you who brought the princess to me," Osamu answered, waving his hand in the air as if it was obvious. Growling, Taichi gripped the hilt of his sword and started forward before Kazuma's free hand gripped his arm. Kazuma's eyes drifted back towards Osamu's smug face, his mind racing. He had to come up with a way to get everyone out. He saw elites were starting to make their way into the courtyard, stepping over the bodies. Kazuma looked over at Taichi and Taichi met his gaze. They nodded at each other, knowing they had the same idea.
"Before you do something incredibly stupid, why not leave this to me?" Soushi said walking forward and glancing at Kazuma out of the corner of his eye. "I believe your job is to protect the princess until the appropriate time. I know what Osamu is planning on doing and it wasn't hard to figure out." Kazuma and Taichi stared at Soushi, lost for words.
"You realize what you're saying, old man? Leaving you here will mean your death," Taichi said unconvinced.
"No captain, there's another way that we can do this," Kalik said making his way towards Soushi. He stopped within a couple feet of him, staring wide-eyed at him.
"Soushi, please! Don't be thinking like that!" Mei begged, once again struggling to get down. Kazuma growled at her and squeezed her sides until she stopped. Soushi smiled sadly, keeping his eyes on Osamu.
"Mei, hear my request out. I know what's going to happen and as demons you three do as well. I do not want my men to live in such a dark world, and you have the knowledge and the power to stop such a fate. I have my own path to follow and it's led me here."
"Old man," Kazuma said looking at him. "How long have you guessed it?"
"I knew it was no coincidence meeting Mei," Soushi said smiling. "And I understood her motives as she searches for the demons across the land. There are things you don't know about me, just like there were things I did not know about you. Let me do this."
"Soushi don't do it! What good will it do for the Shin Clan if you destroy your life like this?" Mei asked, trying to look at Soushi from over Kazuma's shoulder.
"I do not consider this destroying my life," Soushi said drawing his sword as the elites were drawing nearer. "Plus, I will not die."
"Captain, don't make me knock some sense into you!" Takashi yelled at him. Soushi looked back at Kazuma, Soushi trying to communicate with his eyes to convince Kazuma. Kazuma looked away, clearly unhappy with the situation at hand.
"I underestimated you, old man. You have my thanks," Kazuma said through gritted teeth, his eyes closed tightly. Takashi and Kalik started forward to grab Soushi, but a force field of energy blocked them and knocked them backwards, sending them stumbling back behind Kazuma and Taichi. The red and yellow energy started swirling around them again, barricading everyone inside. Kazuma and Taichi started walking backwards through the gates, moving everyone within the barrier they created. Takashi, Kaito, Kalas and Kalik watched as they were slowly moving away from Soushi, who stood with his sword drawn, facing the elites that were almost upon them. Soushi looked over his shoulder and gave Kalik a reassuring smile.
"Kalik, I promise you will understand one day. In the meantime, make sure Mei lives to take on Osamu when the time is right. If she dies, so does the world. She has the power to save the world. Now, as your last order from your captain, guard her until the world is as it used to be." Kazuma and Taichi exited the gates then, thrusting their energy forward, they closed the gates to the capital, leaving Soushi inside.