Songs Collide: Shadow (Job, Kaori, Private)

Job Info:

Continuation Of:
Songs Collide: Ice Part 1
Songs Collide: Bloodfire Part 2
Songs Collide: Soulsmoke Part 3

A nightmare. That was what it was. That is what it should of been. It wasn't though, it was a cold and dark reality. The battle between Kaori and phoenix had been going well. A difficult battle to be sure, but for the most part her friend seemed to be handling it. Then it shifted drastically. The Smokesoul phoenix had more power and abilities than she had thought for she assumed it to be on the same level as the other two. A costly mistake for both mages to make. Koari had gotten stuck in a moment from her past, a time when she was young. Samira was not clear on the details of the battle but the golden hibiscus necklaces each person that attacked the young Kaori wore stood out. It reminded her greatly of the one her servant had worn, which would mean those she was fighting were of the same clan as her. Samira never did get the chance to question her regarding the feud between the man known as Saia and herself, and if it had anything to do with what she was seeing then it would of proven to be a question that brought much sadness. It would explain the tears she had shed when she met Kaori at the entrance of the Ancient Ruins, and even explain how back then she said some questions would be too painful to answer. Samira was glad she had held off on asking if what she saw playing in front of her was the answer.

A bright light erupted from Kaori and covered the area, causing Samira to shield her eyes from its bright intensity. When she decided to look again she saw a change in the appearance of her friend. Unmasked, winged, and now donning flowing a white dress instead of her usual kimono. She was a being of pure light; more powerful than the archangel they had fought some time ago. Koari would not lose, Samira knew this, and with confidence that her friend would defeat the creature she prepared for the battle's end.

It was not to be the case. She was one that disliked when others made assumptions, but she often made them herself. At that moment, her assumption of an easy victory was wrong. Oh, her friend did succeed, but at a cost for everyone present. As Koari flew forward to make her final attack she came to a sudden stop. The reason for that was due to another version of Samira standing in front of the bird, guarding it, protecting it, being a trap. "No..." She could come to the conclusion of what was to happen, but that was likely due to being the real one. Koari had been fooled completely, seeming confused as to how to act and forgetting the placement of the real one. Samira watched as the false version of herself grinned widely before stabbing Kaori in the heart with a black sword. Her eyes were wide with horror as Kaori collapsed to her knees and weakly questioned why she had stabbed her. "That is not me..." she said quietly, her voice barely leaving her lips as she stood there, stunned and unable to force herself to react and put a stop to the false version of herself. It wasn't happening. Her eyes were clearly deceiving her. No, the phoenix had managed to trap them both with its trickery.

Her ears were also being deceived as the false version spoke the most cruel things imaginable. They were words she would never say to anyone and certainly not to Kaori. "I am your friend..." she said quietly once again, still stuck where she was as her mind refused to snap back into reality and make her body act. The things her false self were saying were hurtful even to her. Did she really think any of that? She had been relying on Koari more than she should have. Her fighting abilities were weak and she always needed someone by her side. That didn't mean she only thought of Kaori as a simple bodyguard. She was someone she had come to trust. No mere bodyguard would have been given one of her keys as a loan for a spell. Did Kaori not see that? It was also true that she had only requested to see one of the shrines but that was only because she thought she only had time for one at the time. If given the choice from the start she would of gladly requested to journey to them all. "That is not how it was..." The part about Kaori not caring about her well being was also unfounded. It was proven time and again that she did care and Samira knew it, but was there a part of her that really thought that? "I do not think that..." Regarding the surprise sides of Kaori as the twilight zone may of been accurate but it was just something that came off as surprising and unexpected. It was fun in the end no matter how much embarrassment she went through. "There is more to that..."  And then came the snuggle part, which she did not even realize had happened during the sleep over once the arena matches were over. From what she saw through the vision shown to her as Kaori watched over her on the way to Kyoka she had looked peaceful and did not show any signs of hating it. Back on their first mission together it had happened then as well and aside from confusion and embarrassment there was no issue with that as well. Samira also recalled feeling comfortable and relaxed as Kaori held her on the way there and even took to rubbing her head until she had fallen asleep. There was nothing wrong with the snuggles. "That is not true..."

The actions of the dragonhound went ignored as she remained in her stunned state. "Why is she believing I would say those things?" Samira felt the need to cry as the sadness that Kaori actually believed those words were truthful hit her. No tears came though as the sharp pain coursed its way through her heart. She rarely cried and even if her eyes were to water she would hold the act of crying back, usually resulting in a headache afterward. She felt betrayed, much like Koari, only in a different way. Kaori had been presented with a very false version of Samira, feeling betrayal from acts that the real one would never do. What Samira was presented with was the real Kaori actually believing that she would do and say everything that had transpired. From her sadness came anger. It appeared that nothing about her was understood at all. Kaori should have seen immediately that it wasn't her! From the very moment the sword appeared to the moment the words of the false Samira ended. Even though she knew so little about Kaori she felt she would of been able to tell the difference if the roles were reversed. But when it came to Kaori knowing her? Did she really know so little? Her green eyes narrowed as she took to staring at the ground her feet stood on. She couldn't watch anymore, she didn't want to.

Eventually the fight ended as Koari overcame more tricks that the phoenix threw at her, but Samira paid no attention to it. Her mind was distracted, swarming with emotions. At that rate her spirits were going to catch on and check on what was going on. She formed a wall around her mind, preventing them from getting through if they tried. Their voices were not something she wanted to hear at that moment. She was confused, sad, angry, and most of all felt her own form of betrayal from the one she had thought was a friend.

She raised her head just in time to see the lava hawk take off with Koari riding it, leaving her there without so much as a word. The dragonhound had then approached her, not hiding any of the anger he had been feeling as he snarled and allowed his claws to tear into the very ground as he made his way over to her. More anger coursed through her as it appeared even he had some caution towards her, as if he also believed she had betrayed the one that was his master. He made no attack though, and just merely got close to her face and gave a warning glare with eyes she had never seen before. They were crimson and flared like the fires that one would think were birthed in hell. While a moment of fear did run down her spine she stood her ground, likely getting some courage and stubbornness from the anger she felt no matter how stupid it was to do so, and just stared back before finally looking away. "That was not me..."

It seemed the dragonhound was there to stay although she doubted it was to take her back home. When he lowered himself Samira slowly got on, unsure about riding a creature that seemed to think she had done great harm to his master. There would be no arguing with him though. She knew that from back when he was actually not in a state of such anger. Now in his current state he would be even less tolerant of objections. "If we really are completing the task of finding all of the phoenix shrines then Nazo is the next planet," Samira told the beast she now rode in a monotone kind of voice. She had no more emotion and felt dead inside. The battle had taken its toll on them all.

(Word Count: 1622)

With Samira riding on his back, the dragonhound took off in an instant sprint. She still was not used to riding an animal at that speed and the ride itself was more rougher than before. Samira could barely even keep her balance during the bumpy ride and clung on for dear life. Once the portal to Nazo had been taken, the hound had even forcefully knocked a deer looking creature that was traveling peacefully by away rather than go around. She knew the change had nothing to do with the fact that Kaori was not around to control him but rather because of the events that had transpired that caused his mood to worsen. It was surprising enough that he could tolerate Samira even using him as a mount. Besides the sounds of the dragonhound during his swift run it was silent. Samira did not speak and even her mind remained quiet as she kept her mental wall in place from her spirits. She did not wish for them to know of the events, make accusations, ask questions, be judgemental. The events that transpired at the last shrine were a collection of mental entries that she needed to process herself before she allowed them to influence her. For the moment, the thought of why they were even bothering to see the last shrine jumped around in her head. The excitement of seeing the ancient structures of legend had long past, and it was Kaori that wanted to see all of the phoenixes. She was no longer there... The image of Kaori's reaction towards the ice phoenix played in her mind on a loop. Why could they not all have been as pleasant and fun as that one?

The dragonhound had come to a stop for some reason unknown to her. They had not fully reached the shine and the trip she had assumed was for the very purpose of seeing it. Her movement began to shift so she could hop off but he was well ahead of her. His weight shifted, and she fell right off, landing on a soft patch of grass beside him. Well, it could of been far worse given the circumstances. She stood up fully and turned towards him with a questioning expression upon her face. A magic circle then appeared beneath the hound and with it he was lit ablaze. Samira allowed concern to pass over her, although rather it was concern that something may have been wrong with him or for her own safety was somewhat of an inner debate. Both the flames and magic circle grew smaller and smaller as the seconds went by and by the time they ceased to be altogether a familiar man she had thought was left back in Hargeon was kneeling there. He and the dragonhound were one in the same. Although why it was kept such a secret was unknown to her. Most likely it was yet another one blocked by trust, but then, why was it being revealed now?

A katana of pure white coloring materialized within his hand, causing Samira to once again feel somewhat fearful. Surely she wasn't taken all the way there just for him to try and kill her? The original impression she had of the kind, complimentative, and mistakenly perverted servant of Kaori instantly shattered. She didn't even know which version would of been worse; being killed by the hound version that had been sweet towards her previously, or by the human version that had once showed enough concern to the point that he had restored her power in a quite abnormal and unorthodox way. Even being given the scrunchie before the whole mission started came back to the forefront of her mind. The entire scenario stung just as much as when she saw Koari fall into the trap of the false version of her. As expected the weapon was pointed at her and just as she began to say his name she was told to listen and to not speak. She did as she was told without question.

Some relief was allowed to pass as it seemed he was not going to kill her and knew quite well that it wasn't really her that had said such awful things or stabbed Kaori. Then why did he seem so venomous towards her? As the sword disappeared she then found herself picked up and held in the usual style she so often found herself in when he was around. It was different that time though with the situation being as serious as it was and with thick tension. She had no desire to allow herself to feel embarrassed or flail around comically while demanding to be let down. He then went on to mention that darkness had entered Kaori's heart, and that she herself was to blame for the ninja woman had begun to change her ways whenever she was around her. So that explained why he was acting the way he was towards her. It was a simple matter of placing easy blame on someone that was causing change within another. Samira herself was confused by that train of thought. To her, Kaori had been showing more signs that she was human and not the monster everyone else seemed to think she was. Even during their first mission Samira thought something was off with Koari with the way she struck her opponents down and it was to the point even her own spirits had concerns of their summoner being around the ninja. Kali didn't trust her and some of the others had even questioned if she was human at all. Back in the Ancient Ruins Samira had also shown her disapproval for the way the mercenaries were handled to extract information when Kaori could have used other methods that did not require them to die. Was it not more human to give them a chance before blowing their brains out? Perhaps the quality of being human was just something that was difficult for him to understand. He may of been able to take the form of one, but he was not human. That was fact. The Koari before was easier to understand than the one that revealed itself whenever Samira was present. To be human meant having weaknesses and it was doubtful he desired his master to have any. To be a monster one did have power and would have no emotional barriers, but that did not mean much in the grand scheme of things. Monsters were beings that were ultimately destroyed by the very beings they thought were weak and insignificant.

They then vanished and appeared at the location of the shrine belonging to the phoenix of shadow. Oddly enough as soon as she was put down from his hold he told her that the runes were the same, but what was more odd was how he told her there was no need to photograph it. He was seriously going to give her time to do so if the runes had been different? It was probably best not to question it. His patience was already thin and he was beginning the summoning process anyway. The gem was struck by the blue fireball that shot from the magic circle he materialized, causing a dark aura to surround the gem as it fell to the ground. The aura from the orb grew and leaked trails of shadow above it until they all came together and formed into the shape of a phoenix. Eyes of crimson were the only thing that appeared to be solid as it glared down on the duo that stood before it. The rest of its body was faded, as if it was not really there but instead a shadow of some other phoenix that clearly did not exist.

"I do not feel the presence of the one who has defeated my sister." It said coldly from its mind, but with some amount of patience considering it did not immediately go for the attack. The soulsmoke phoenix before him was one that could be overtaken by a powerful force of light just like himself. Mere light was not going to be able to take him down though. His defeat also required a powerful soul, one like the opponent that defeated the previous phoenix. Without her, the two beings left stood no chance in his eyes. Shadow was the final trial before the final shrine would be known and yet again just like in ages long forgotten he concluded the trial would be a failure. If attacks were made against him now they would pass right through him unless they consisted of light. He would otherwise remain composed and unmoving no matter what Ikuchi may have done against him. As for Samira she drew her weapons, figuring that since they had some form of celestial power that they may had some light based element tied to them. She had no spirit in her arsenal that had the sort of soul and light power to overcome the phoenix.

The phoenix merely snickered. "Those will do nothing to me, little human. Power they contain but with the owner lacking the soul to wield them properly their light will never shine through my darkness." A shadow trail was then sent towards Samira and grabbed onto the weapons. The trail had become solid and if used as an attack would of been as lethal as a sword for it was sharp. The phoenix then paused for a moment and soon a swarm of shadows latched on and pulled Samira further towards the shadowy phoenix. The two would then be covered by a small dome made from dark shadows, leaving Ikuchi outside and unable to hear or see anything unless he had some power to do so.

"You confuse me, human. Why do you try to face me when in your heart you know you are like me?"

The shadow chains had evaporated from Samira's form, leaving her standing there freely but unable to escape from the shadow dome. The phoenix's words confused her though. She had nothing in common with the shadow phoenix at all! "I do not know your meaning."

The phoenix eyed her with its crimson orbs and ruffled its shadowy feathers as if it were annoyed. "Really? You are unaware of the fact that you are nothing but a shadow that follows others? You are submissive and do what you are told by the more dominate entities that surround you, much like a shadow that has no choice but to follow the movements of the one that it is attached to. You stand on the sidelines as others fight, as if you are unimportant and that your very existence will not do anything to change the outcome. That is who you are. You are nothing more than a soul that vanishes under the existence of a pure light. You cannot change anything and you lack any form of substance."

"That is not true," Samira said matter-of-factly. She would not be taken in by the creature's words. Her mind was clear and she did not want to allow herself to suffer the same fate of Kaori. "I have changed something." The fact Kaori had started to change because of her was proof of that.

"Hm? You mean the one who nearly died against my sister's tricks? She already had a great light within her. All you did was make it possible for her to lose that power when she needed it the most. If that is a change you desire then you are nothing more than toxic. I wonder..."

A shadow trail touched Samira's chest where her heart would of been. "There is some darkness there I did not expect. Your philosophy of doing anything, even torture, so long as the intent was just and for the good of all is very unbecoming. You disapprove of killing and yet you are content with leaving others to die slowly by other methods. So long as you did not pull the trigger or stab them yourself there is no blood on your hands, right?" The phoenix then laughed in a mocking way, amused by the next thing he was prepared to say. "You even grew angry with your supposed friend who was dying and suffering right in front of your eyes instead of doing everything you could to save her. My, little human, are you sure you are not the monster in the relationship?"

Samira said nothing as the legendary bird made those stabs at her. They were all true and she could not refute the remarks. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she glared at the creature. There was nothing she could say or do.

The shadows coming from the phoenix began to slither around like snakes in rapid fashion. The calm and passive composure he had began to shift and the area surrounding them started to give off a tense aura around it. "The point I am trying to make here, little human..." The phoenix rose and spread his massive shadowy wings. His form had solidified, now no longer being a shadow but instead of a normal phoenix colored in a pure black of the dark abyss. The dome shattered as the shadows that formed it came down and with the burst of energy Samira was sent flying backwards. "YOUR LIGHT IS WEAK!" Talk was over. The battle had begun.

(Word Count: 2241
Total So Far: 3863)