Black Onyx King exhaled a puff of smoke, as he looked at his brother, his red eyes unusually grim. "This time you've really pissed off a big-wig,"
Ayakashi sneered. "Heh! You can't live in this world without offending anyone. I didn't get here by being nice to people,"
"Ah...and that's exactly what's going to come and bite you back," Black Onyx King said pulling out his pipe.
"Who is it?" Ayakashi asked.
"Have you heard about the divine beast clans?"
"Eh...mah~ I've heard rumors," Ayakashi said, his brows furrowing.
"In the beast realm, they have four noble clans, much like the Yokai. You might've heard about them. The Dragon clan, Tiger clan, Phoenix clan and the black tortoise clan. Or that's how it goes according to the strength ranking. Their shape-shifting techniques are much like how the yokai shape shift, but there's one glaring difference. Us, Yokai can only shape shift when we reach immortality in our cultivation," Black Onyx King explained.
Ayakashi's eyes narrowed. "The beast clan can shape-shift from birth, is that right?"
"Yeah, they can," Black Onyx King nodded.
"He~h? Interesting. Then? Who did I offend that had made you so cautious?" Ayakashi tilted his head, smirking.
"Have you heard about the beast king?" Black Onyx King answered with a question. Ayakashi was a thrown off course and he frowned. "The beast king, eh? Not that I know much, but he must be pretty powerful, right?"
Black Onyx King nodded. "Almost as powerful as the Heaven Sovereign, I heard."
Ayakashi's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. "Oi? Are you serious?"
Black Onyx King shrugged. "At least that was how powerful he was 1000 years ago,"
The room descended into silence. Neither of them spoke. Ayakashi crossed his arms over his chest as he frowned.
Behind him, flecks of sunlight filtered in through the open screen, and the morning breeze rushed over him, playing with the loose tendrils of his hair. Black Onyx King, who was standing leaning against a wall directly in front of Ayakashi, squinted and turned away from the sunlight, as it fell into the room.
Ayakashi pursed his lips, pondering. "How did I managed to offend such a guy, anyway?" he asked.
Black Onyx King closed a single eye, as he thought. "Who knows? Maybe you pulled one over him back in the day and he decided now was the time to come collect the past debt?"
"No, for some reason, I can't imagine someone as powerful as him causing such a ruckus huge enough to have both Yamanuki and you come here to warn me over something like that," Ayakashi said, worried.
Black Onyx King nodded. "True, but then again, he was rumored to be somewhat of an eccentric. It would be just your luck if the guy happens to hold a grudge. But... don't worry," he said, exhaling. "It's just rumors at this point, anyway," he put his pipe into his mouth as he mumbled around it. "I have a few of my subordinates keep an ear to the ground, but so far, everything was just smoke and no fire," he said, trying to sound reassuring.
Ayakashi's brows furrowed in worry. "I wouldn't be worried if it were just me," he said, after a while.
Black Onyx King's eyes widened and he looked at Ayakashi, shocked. His hair was covering his eyes, hiding his expression, but Balck Onyx King knew that his brother was quite serious.
"Is it that serious?" he asked, worried for Ayakshi.
Ayakashi bowed his head, then gave a slight nod. Black Onyx King's hand that was holding the pipe trembled. "You do know what happens to plant demons when they assume a human form, don't you?" he asked, cautiously.
There was a reason why yokai classified plant demons among the weakest of them, even though most have over a million years of cultivation experience.
It was because of the fact that once a plant demon assumed a human form, they would be going against the natural order of things, so to balance it out, they were only given a few years of life as a human and their millions of years of cultivation would be used up, rendering them completely human.
In short, plant demons would exchange their powerful cultivation bases in exchange for a few short years as a human whenever they transformed. So, plant demons who were brave enough to go through human transformation were very rare, and those who did only ended up living for a few years.
Ayakashi smiled bitterly as he looked at his older brother. "You can't choose who you fall for," he said.
Black Onyx King's shoulders slumped. "You-" he sighed. "I don't know whether to call you lucky or unlucky,"
"It happened in an instant, you know?" Ayakashi said after a moment. Black Onyx King strode forward and slumped down beside him.
"At first I was annoyed. I took her in because I thought she would make a fine plaything, but..." Ayakashi smiled, wryly. "Before I knew it, she was by my side and it felt as if it was always meant be,"
"Fate, huh?" Black Onyx King wondered, gazing out at the big sakura tree in the courtyard. he smiled, reassured. "If it's you brother, I'm not worried," he said.
"Eh?" Ayakashi looked at him. Blakc Onyx King glanced at him from the corner of his eye, then turned to face him. "To tell the truth, when I heard that you've taken in a plant demoness as a wife, my first thought was to kill her. I came today to do just that, but then..." he paused.
Ayakashi who had stiffened when he hears about his brothers plan to kill Hanamari, looked at him, cautiously.
Blakc Onyx King didn't look at him, as he inhaled his pipe. Exhaling, he watched as the tendrils of smoke swirl out and dispersing in the air. "You seemed happy," he said, after a while.
"Ayakashi blinked, "Hah?"
"Don't sound so surprised. Ever since you came back...no...ever since you gained your divinity, it always felt like that there was no end to your blood-thirst. Actually, I was worried for you even before then. It felt as though you would one day be consumed by your own power. I was worried that a day would come that we had to put you down. Not because you were evil or anything, but simply because you'd loose control," Black Onyx King said, his voice serene as if he was talking about an everyday thing and not the fact that he had contemplated killing his own brother.
Ayakashi pursed his lips. It's hard to say that he wasn't disconcerted at the fact that his brother had been wary of him, but he knew more than anyone that he had had a reason to be worried.
Actually, Ayakashi's violent tendencies was mostly because of the fact that he was born half yokai and half devil. The Devil blood in him always sought to control him, and his Yokai blood fought against it. Because of this, he was always sick as a kid, and many thought he was weak without an ounce of strength in him.
There was next to no expectation from him as the next head of the clan, so he was always left alone. It was during this time that he slowly accumulated his strength and consolidated his power. It had always been a thin line between life and death for him.
Whenever he got stronger his devil blood would surge and yokai half of him would suppress it. If he fail to control it in time, the price would be his soul erased out of existence. It was one of the reasons why devils and yokai never mingled. An offspring from such a union was like a cursed existence, never to live to see a full ten seasons.
Ayakashi had been an exception though. It could be because of the fact that the Shirakashi's bloodline was among the strongest of yokai blood, and one of the few yokai bloodlines that could compete in bloodthirst with devil bloodlines.
So the race fro supremacy was never ending, and his body would've sooner or later broken down, and he would've descended into madness, eventually.
The future that the Black Onyx King expected wouldn't have been that far off, if Ayakashi hadn't broken through his cultivation and gained a divinity. His divinity was of the ninetails descent, and he wielded even more power than Shirakashi did when he was in his prime.
_
Divinity is a type of power that allowed those who cultivated to manifest a unique technique that could multiply their powers tenfold.
Cultivators create such a technique from the beginning of their cultivation journey, and as they grow stronger their divinity also grows stronger.
When a cultivator had reached the immortality stage in their cultivation and could finally give their unique technique a physical form, it is called forming their divinity, and that moment is what many would call 'Ascending'.
When a cultivator 'loses' his/her divinity, it means that their cultivation was lost and losing their own immortality.
There are two reasons for losing a divinity. 1: the Divinity was originally unstable and collapsed on its foundation.
2: The bloodline strength to support the divinity was insufficient.
_
For Ayakashi, it was the second reason that caused him to lose his divinity 1000 years ago. His Divinty was orignally of the ninetails descent, where he could channel the strength of the Ninetails demon fox- a monster that was said to be so powerful that it was considered a natural disaster wherever it would go.
Such Divinity that strongly represented yokai descent couldn't be supported by his bloodline, because it also contained devil power. The Devil blood in him strongly opposed his yokai divinity, so Ayakashi, to preserve his life had to cut off his own divinity and destroy his cultivation.
If he hadn't done so, he would've indeed done as his brother had feared. He would've been consumed by his own divinity and turned into the calamitous Ninetails demon fox himself.
Now, he had to rebuild his cultivation from the bottom, and at the same time find a way to balance both the yokai and devil blood in him.
"I almost did what you feared I would do," Ayakashi confessed. Black Onyx King didn't reply, but his silence spoke volumes.
"I had to destroy my divinity with my own hands, and I only did it because I didn't want to die," he said, quietly.
"No one likes to die, anyway," Black Onyx King said as he exhaled a thin puff of smoke softly. "At least not those who aren't already dead. You don't have to beat yourself up over it. No one is that noble. It's only natural to care about your own life,"
Ayakashi nodded. He paused when Hanamari entered the hall and knelt beside him. He took the offered tea bowl and gulped it down in one breath.
He returned the empty cup to Hanamari. "Thank you," he said. Hanamari smiled.
The Black Onyx King had picked up his own tea bowl, and he was savoring the tea while his other hand held his pipe.
He took a sip, then smiled at Hanamari, "Delicious. Thank you, Hanamari-chan," he said.
"Ano...Onyx-sama," Hanamari called softly. Black Onyx King paused then he put down his tea bowl. "What is it?" he asked.
Hanamri hugged the tray to her chest as she said. "Thank you," she said then bowed so suddenly that it astonished both Ayakashi and Black Onyx King.
Ayakashi only froze for moment before he roughly held her up,"Oi-"before he could finish, Hanamari interrupted him. "Thank you for taking care of Ayakashi-sama for all this time," she said softly as she straightened.
"Hanamari-" Ayakashi was speechless.
Black Onyx King's eyes widened as he exchanged glances with Ayakashi. They were frozen like that for a moment before both of them burst out laughing.
"Me? taking of this bastard?! You must be joking!"
"Ha! As if this old guy could handle it!"
Ayakashi's shoulders shook violently as he laughed. Black Onyx King winked at Hanamari who was blushing with embarrassment at their outburst, "He's all yours, ojou-san. As if I can take care of such a violent guy," he said, sipping his tea nonchalantly.
Ayakashi pulled her roughly onto his lap and turned her around so that her back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, and bit her ear, playfully. "She's turning out to be a fine wife, isn't she, aniki?"
"Mou~ Ayakashi-sama, stop embarrassing me!"
"What? You find you're husband's display of affection embarrassing?" Ayakashi asked teasingly. Hanamori turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest. She could still feel his chest vibrating as he chuckled.
"Mah, Mah, Ninetails. Stop teasing the girl, I think she's embarrassed enough as it is," Black Onyx King said, but he didn't sound half as convincing with his barely concealed chuckles.
"Please stop, you two! It's bad to laugh at people....."
As the sound of voices and laughter drifted off into the wind, the sakura tree swayed in rhythm to the wind, it's branches rustling and singing a tune only it could hear. It was as if it smiling down upon the three people gathered in front it...