A DESERT IN THE RAIN ♦ private

It was no use, attempting to purge herself from the demonic activity within her body. The bakedanuki, temporarily in the shape of a pink-feathered jay bird, began to fall to the ground, unable to fly from the pain coursing through her feathered body. It seemed that whenever she shapeshifted, the hell demons would also be resized to the correct proportion to match her form. It was infuriating, really, but perhaps also a good thing seeing as her tiny avian form did not simply burst from the presence of the dark centipedes. Attempting to soften her fall, the pink-feathered avian scattered into hundreds of tiny ice crystals, like a miniature flurry. Upon hitting the ground, no harm was done to her body thanks to the elemental form she had reserved for emergencies like this.

Even though the form was much more abstract and random, it was no escape from the shadow demon pain, which was just prolonged by her taking on a shape that did not realistically have a solid body. Eventually the fragments returned her to one of her preferred forms-- a young adult girl with alabaster hair and fur, and pale eyes. She wore a casual blue hoodie and cargo pants, along with simple black slip-on shoes. She never really was one for dressing formally, unless specifically requested in some invitation. In this case, she was simply looking for someone to catch up with them. She had grown worried for them, not because of the damage she had caused while controlled by the forest, but the damage she had caused when trying to help them. The blood transfusion may or may not have saved his life, but the bakedanuki remembered the rather horrifying after-effects of it.

If the hell demons, a nasty fall, and ill after effects on an acquaintance were not enough to disturb her month, the pitch black skies and onyx moon black sails lol were sure to. Mages around Fiore were finding their personalities inverted and strange monsters had begun to appear. It was quite the month, but Izayuki chose to not allow it to interrupt her plans for the day-- and that was to check up on the Crystal Swan guild master.

A small house in Clover Town was where she had heard he lived. How had she figured it out? Easy, by checking a phonebook of old. Kids used iLacs these days but Izayuki could never deny the satisfaction of using an actual book to find someone. After learning his family’s address, all she had to do was look through her beloved maps for the directions and make her way there. Luckily, she had fallen from the sky and landed right in their neighborhood. After the hell demons calmed themselves within her body, the bakedanuki made her way through the streets, venturing to his house. Along the way, a few pumpkinoid beasts wandered about, some peaceful, some poised to attack. One in particular leaped at the slayer, but was frozen on the spot. She did not have time to deal with this. Picking up the tiny pupper ice creature by the scruff, Izayuki carried it with her. While she was going to see Lester, who she understood was a plant mage, she might as well ask him other questions about the state of things, to see if he could shed any light on the subject. Finally reaching the house, Izayuki knocked gently on the door with her free hand, ears and tail relaxed and clawed hands still firmly holding onto the small frozen pumpkin creature.



[592 | 592]

Morning, not particularly early yet the hunger of lunch hadn't crept across him so the time must not have been too late. Halloween right, one of those weird festivals that no one was quite sure where it was from due to the history of it being over complicated much like the scents upon a spring breath. It was a busy time for many of the residents, elderly people who lived in a state of semi retirement, relaxing with some casual work on the side to keep them alive and feeling like a contributing member of society Clover Town was where the grandchildren gathered to cause ruckus and spread their plague of childhood innocence across the untainted souls who remained. Whatever, with all that had been going on lately his mind was shrouded with a prickly darkness which was scared away by few. As always his awkward arms flailed for a moment until the vest he had been pulling on snugly settled, the temperature had dropped lately and now simple shirts no longer kept him warm. It was a nice place where he lived, well now the male was more of a house guest that he had officially moved out, the house was small, thin walls at least let the heat move easily between rooms. It was slightly worrying, only one person lived here normally, this little house had been attached onto the main front display room and back rooms of his Grandmothers florist shop. The seasons had warmed over recent years when back as a child before he was a decade old it had been a bad winter, snow piled up high and there was a warning for all to stock up and stay warm. In fact the warmest place had been in the florist shop itself. Perhaps he could invest in a good heater for christmas, the cold was no good for old bones.

Ears perked up slightly as a soft rapping was heard at the door, it was the front door however, not that of the store or the back rooms but the house. A door rarely used except for when personal mail was delivered, an address, of him and his family. Hand shaded a yawn from view as he opened the door, surprise colouring his face yet it was not due to just one thing. Izayuki, she was here? Without prior warning or a meaning it was all a little unexpected, "You brought me a Halloween gift? A frozen pumpkin- creature?" Laughter danced across his words yet the underlying question of her sudden arrival remained, he was not disappointing to see the bakedanuki by no means, the duo had been through a trying experience together which had changed the both of them in a couple of ways. Sharp and cold the wind reminded him of the current weather, standing to the side he offered her entrance, "Although not by much it is a little warmer inside, cosy" Snug, cosy, small. His grandmother always turned down whatever financial aid he offered citing that she was a strong independent woman who don't need no man even if it was her beloved grandson.

It seemed the phone and address book had been accurate, the snowy-haired man opening the wooden door with a surprised expression upon seeing the bakedanuki. She had anticipated a bit of surprise, but returned the expression with a reassuring grin. “You could call it a Halloween gift,” she mused, holding the pumpkin pupper thing up, its flora body still frozen by her unholy ice. “These little guys have been everywhere lately, along with their bigger relatives. You being a mage that specializes in plants, I was hoping you could shed some light on the subject.”

He offered her entrance into the warm house, which she gratefully accepted. The small creature still scruffed by her clawed hands, the ayakashi stepped through the door, glad to finally be sheltered by the cold autumn wind. Despite being a glacier god slayer, the ice magician personally hated the cold and the freezing seasons. She much preferred the gentle and soothing warmth of springtime, with the colorful flowers in full bloom. It was such a lively and vivid season compared to the drab and dull atmospheres of fall and winter. Nevertheless, seasons were something few could escape. At the very least, she had been lucky enough to not experience allergies thus far, but she refused to hold her breath.

“Actually, I also wanted to check on you since that previous night,” the yokai admitted more honestly, keeping her words and meaning ambiguous in case there were others in the house who might not be aware of what had gone down. “I wanted to make sure you were feeling okay and there weren’t anymore ‘accidents’,” she said in a lower, hushed voice, her tone more serious. She wanted to save face for Lester, seeing as he was a legal guild master and the idea of him having attempted to harm someone would not go over well with most people. She felt responsible, of course, seeing as it was her dark blood that was still tracing through his veins, having been unable to be completely purged by the doctor. Perhaps now was not the best time, given the state of the world under the shadow of the blackened moon and dark, foreboding skies. Of course to the ayakashi, who had something of a disconnect with human concerns, prioritized Lester’s health and safety, still feeling a good amount of guilt over what went down.




[396 | 989]

A Halloween gift, the corers of his mouth perked in amusement, yes he could look over it. Well he had a large amount of experience in that area too, not only being a flora mage but in the past having experimented on plants and animals in a semi successful effort to merge the two. Yet his concerns were proven to be correct, this was no social visit to drop off a Halloween present. The other night, yes that had been quite the evening indeed. No more accidents, a slight look of concern drew his hand up to pull his hair into a pony tail, the sudden important conversation catching him unawares. "Yes the other night was- well it did not go smoothly. My grandmother is home however shes in the other room and fairly deaf. Even if she hears something it matters not so there is no need to speak in riddle" Small and humble, that was what someone polite would have called the home as he ushered the Bakedanuki into a small dining room to offer her a chair. "Would you like a drink? There is mulled wine, teas, coffee or a hot cocoa? I've been a little better, I came back to help my grandmother but it's been good to get away from people. the side affects are just, the urge to spill blood is one that I'll learn to control at some point or figure out a way to medically remove it." Was it alright to be so open with her? What could she do either way. There was an option to not be too direct, to casually mention what he was interested in and see if she understood, there might be a fix for the both of them, surely the yokai wasn't benefiting from whatever was in her blood. "I apprenticed as a Florist here under my grandparents, and my magic is rather floral based so I can take a look at that 'halloween gift' if you want. I do have interests in the research area." Light hearted the words were a kind offer. Yet it would be better to test the waters than jump in with a 'Hey Izayuki I experiment on humans and animals alike how about becoming a test subject?' That would not go down well.

Izayuki mirrored the smile and followed Lester further into the house, into a small dining area, listening quietly as he spoke. It was certainly a relief that she could be straightforward with her speech and not have to dance around a subject or disguise her point with riddles and implications. The bakedanuki nodded in response, gladly taking a seat as it was offered. “Tea would be lovely,” she answered warmly, the idea of a warm and gentle drink being quite pleasing on the chilly autumn day. He continued on to answer her question. For the most part, he seemed stable and like he was of mostly sound mind, save for the rather bloody urges. It was likely less of the hell demons influence in her blood, but more the very nature of the black fluid. The blood was that of a yokai’s after all, a being of mystery who sometimes preyed on humans. The side effects he was experiencing from the blood transfusion were not too surprising, she only hoped that they would not grow worse nor would he succumb to more nasty effects.

“I suppose that’s good,” she responded more solemnly to his mention of trying to get over the bloodlust. Alabaster-furred and black-tipped ears perked in curiosity when he mentioned medicine. “Do you study the medical field?” she asked, pale eyes blinking. He was a plant magician and florist, so the thought of him being an herbalist or alternative medic would not be surprising in the least. Medics, doctors, and healing researchers in the world of magic, however, were somewhat rare and quite valuable. Naturally, she was also interested for her own self benefit. None of the tactics she had tried in purging the demonic essences from her dark matter body had done any good. The private doctors she had hired had been useless and unable to find or do anything.

The ayakashi kept the tiny pumpkin creature scruffed and frozen until he had a better surface on which to place it unless he chose to take it into his own hands. Casually, she held the creature up for him to see and observe. He mentioned an interest in research, which certainly piqued her curiosity. “Researching, hm? How interesting,” she mused with an approving smile, before adding a touch of reassuring small talk. A little personal and secret, perhaps, but he had seemed fairly open with her for the most part. “Black Rose has something of its own research division. While it’s not quite well known, it’s been rather beneficial to the guild.”

Could he “research” what had been on her mind recently, or was that far out of his league or desire to study? “You can do whatever you like with the beast. I’m curious to know more about it, of course, but that would be up to you,” she added politely, wishing to not shove unwarranted and unwanted work onto the other guild master.




[489 | 1,478]

Tea was accepted, it was a good sign meaning that the other guildmaster was likely to settle down for a chat, indeed that would be warmly welcomed for even if he had nothing planned to say there was a deep rooted feeling of needing to talk over what happened properly. Two mugs in one hand and a surprisingly large pot in the other he found himself seated across from the woman, just simply pouring tea the action was so calm and simple the past for just a moment seemed to vanish. "Lime and daisy- the tea that is sorry. Lime and daisy tea, they balance each other out quite well." They had many teas, most of which he and his grandmother had picked, dried and blended. Yet now the cherry blossom one was going to gather dust, for he had no taste for those beautiful blooms any more. perhaps the crystalli could have the cherry blossoms swapped for something a little nicer, fruit trees looked pretty and people could eat them. Yes he would have to get onto that one day. They dipped slightly, moving as he mentioned the medical area before questioning him further on the subject. it was not odd, the question was mulled over as he swirled the tea in his cup. "Yes I do have a particular interest in the medical area. There are many plants which heal and grow differently from us, yet they're hardly ever looked into. That and a lot of my magic is based around aiding those I wish to." The words left unsaid however he slid a glance to the wounds on his wrist which were slowly forming puckered pink scars. No he wasn't really much of a fighter was he

Yet he was given a chance to look at the present she had brought him, it was, intriguing, frozen by her magic of course it would be perfectly preserved. Two chair legs on the floor he lent back to get a small hand towel before aiming to softly take the frozen creature in it. watermelon gaze cascaded across its tiny form, wary of every detail and millimeter of it he found himself forming a model of it in his mind for later, this, yes this would cause his addictive interests to resurface. Oh he was like a gambler who had been allowed to buy a lottery ticket, would he? "Oh happily, I'll probably stay here a few days longer but after that I can take a look at it. I can swing by Black Rose or send a message if I find anything." it would be rude to inspect it too closely however with a guest at the table, not to mention that there was another guest at the table. With it safely on the ground he offered to top the tailed females tea up before refilling his own. there was a certain something to this blend which he just adored, the calming daisy of it paired with a certain something in lime that was energizing and refreshing. "I remember from that night, your blood is toxic right. which is why the forest was so ferocious, additionally that is the reason for why I've been getting side affects. you're demonic right, is it that way with all demons?" Honest and blunt the question was what he asked, for the mage had not come across many demons before and their kind, well they were unknown to the human.

“Thank you,” the ayakashi said warmly, gratefully accepting the warm tea with a smile. She had never consumed the lime and daisy flavor, but found it delicious and soothing. His response on the medical field had been unsurprising. Plants were used in the medical and healing arena and researching new ones was always beneficial to society. What struck her as curious was his subtle clause of aiding ‘those he wished to’. It was selective, but ran along a track of mind she could relate to. Whether the nuance was intentional, true, or not, it was certainly something the bakedanuki found intriguing.

He observed the little pumpkin creature, carefully preserved. Her magic infused into its small body alongside the ice encasing would make its mind and movements slow if it even did wake up. She had essentially placed it into a state of hibernation, like trees experienced during the winter. They looked and seemed dead, but in reality were only sleeping until they met the warmth of spring. “Word on any findings would be great,” she responded, taking another sip of the warm tea and eagerly accepting a refill.

It was then that the conversation certainly got more serious. She had anticipated questions regarding that night in Sakuramori and inquiries about the nature of her blood. She was eager to hear them out and answer truthfully, but the end of his statement triggered the ayakashi. “Demon?” she echoed in a low, disapproving tone, the silvery white fur on her ears and tail bristling slightly. Her face no longer wore a warm smile, but a solemn and irritated expression. “I’m not a demon. I’m a yokai-- a bakedanuki,” she corrected, attempting to calm herself down. She knew she could not begrudge speculations and correlations, but the label of being a demon truly did rile her. It was typically a term used to describe vicious and horrifying beasts. Some yokai were demons, but not all of them. The bakedanuki herself had been labeled a demon by human who felt threatened or angered by her existence. She had been hunted down on account of being a monster. Naturally, the inaccurate label got to her.

Unfortunately, she had not been so successful at fully calming herself down. At the spark of agitation, at least one of the horrific demonic creatures living within her body had become active. The arthropod-like hell demon stirred slightly, sending the ayakashi into a fit of coughing. At the very least, the coughing calmed her bristling and instead made her flatten the obsidian-tipped canine ears against her head in embarrassment. After covering her mouth and painfully coughing for many seconds that felt like ages, the demonic centipede stopped stirring and sending her into the coughing fit. She was thankful; it could have been much worse. Already embarrassed, the bakedanuki removed her hand from her mouth, despising the bits of black blood that had been hacked into her palm. Nevertheless, she tried to brush it off as if nothing happened, disappointed to ruin a good tea time with the effects of sickness.

“To answer your question, though, my blood is toxic to everything at the moment, and always toxic to humans. My physicality is made up entirely of a dark matter that I don’t know much about. The blood is crafted entirely from that. A short time ago, before I was captured by Sakuramori, I encountered someone who called herself the “Nightshade Hell Deity”. Needless to say, she put some things, demonic in nature, into my body that poisoned it. It was likely a mix of both the yokai energy and the hell demon magic that harmed the forest. As for you and the side effects, I must apologize and say I expected this. Many yokai, myself included, tend to hunger for human flesh and blood. The nature of the blood likely influenced your body and mind to do so,” Izayuki explained, hiding her slightly bloody hand. She knew she likely had talked to much, but it was so easy to do in order to divert attention. She did prefer to get right to the point and be transparent, anyways. What was he going to do, tell the world that she was some man-eating monster and try to prove it? He had proven to her thus far that he was not out to put her or her guild in legal or public jeopardy, so she felt she could trust him with the heavy information.




[743 | 2,221]

Well she was acting thorny- bad Sakuramori trama joke but the 'bakedanuki' seemed to be rather sour. Perhaps the tea was not quite to her liking, yet his softened eys still remained, watching her body langyuage as the female drew back into a more negative position. Not a demon a yokai, bake-da-nuke, baking a nuclear bomb. Well there went any chance of a casual relaxing cup of tea and a chat. Brows simply rasied as she sat there still, "Apologies I'm not a specilist on each type of supernatural being that walks this world majority of which I'll never hear about or come into contact with." Well there was something going on there with her. Yet after a couple of seconds something odd happened, as her body started to contort he raised from his seat to comfort her yet simply stood awardly unsure of what to do. They were harsh hacking coughs which were obviously not beneficial in the slightest, yet she didn't seem to act that concerned as if it were a common occourance. Reseating himself the male took up his warm mug, cradling it in his hands perhaps for comfort or was it just for the sake of knowing what to do with them. The two of them seemed so calm, as if nothing had happened yet now she began to speak. So as a baseline she was toxic, some oddity formed out of dark matter that negatively impacted the world around it. Nightshade hell Deity, he showed no physical reaction to the name yet it held strong meaning within his squad, the name of a creature who had brought a sudden depression upon the trio.

So she had affected Izayuki, the bakedanuki had been poisoned with the demonic creatures influence, something had been put into the guild masters body which had caused there to be side effects. Yet he too had gotten side effects and his was not just from the blood of this nightshade hell deity but also from the tailed woman. So for that reason the next particles of information were of particular interest the yokai energy, yokai was not quite a demon from how she had reacted to his previous statement yet there was an evil about it. Alongside this hell demon magic his body was undergoing changes which even he could not determine the outcome of, it was a worry some thought, the lack of information, the lack of knowledge about something which was affecting him, without more wisdom he couldn't hope to combat what was happening to his own body. The yokai tended to hunger for flesh and blood, that did explain a few things that was going on with him, the occasional change of hair colour to a flushed blossom accompanied by the desire for blood. Not to drink, or to eat. No that would be far too simple he simply wanted to bath in it, to allow it all to wash over his skin and hair, encasing him in a warm blanket of iron and life.

Yet what was the next step of action, usher her out the door and focus on researching the present which he had kindly been presented with? He couldn't merely bring her along with him as he flickered in and out of existence into an underwater base, that place was his sanctuary, after gaining access to that place it had become a place of solace, where he could reside happily and take a break. On the same plate there was was also the memories that lingered there, memories which sometimes haunted yet at other times they were a comfort blanket of warmth. "I um, its poisoned your body as well as mine. So I believe its in our best interest to look into this matter further right? Whilst few of my guildmates are aware of my hobbies that does not mean I am without resources, would you mind if I collected some samples and then we can go from there?" If she didn't bite it would be a little awkward, from what he knew of the named goddess she would have money, money that she could use without drawing attention. "Since the blood from you might be a little off due to being a yokai we can compare it to mine which'll be just- hell, and some human." The offer set out he simply had to wait, who knew perhaps they could just take some blood, saliva maybe then finish up their tea and have a nice little stroll down to the markets, attack their tastebuds with some cuisine and part ways in a more positive way than previously.

Typically for his sort of response, the bakedanuki would have pointed out that it was better to simply not assume and say somebody was a demon. After all, demons were typically evil creatures with an affinity for sin, darkness, and death. The yokai liked to think she did not fully fall into those categories. Unfortunately, she was unable to retort thanks to the rough coughs issuing from her body. How she hated the sensation of the tiny hell demon moving within the muck of dark matter that made up her ayakashi body. It also reminded her of how she hated to be compared to such a vile and disgusting creature by use of the label, ‘demon’.

He raised out of his chair slightly but was helpless to comfort or help her during the fit. When she finally stopped and talked, she left him with a giant dump of information to sift through. He did not seem too fazed by it in the least, for whatever reason. Normally at least one of the points she had covered would have been enough to shake someone or make their skin crawl. His words were straightforward and blunt, something Izayuki highly appreciated. After all, nothing would get done if they worried and pondered over the uncanny material. They needed action to get anywhere and it seemed that the other guild master was willing to get straight to the point. What struck her as most surprising was his statement on few of his guildmates knowing of his hobbies. Why his fields of research were unknown to them confused the yokai, only drawing her to the conclusion that perhaps his interests were not the most orthodox in the eyes of others.

It was almost a comforting idea, however, to hear that another guild master did have some secrets kept from his guild mates. The tanuki girl could relate to that, as much as she wished she could deny it. While she hated keeping secrets, Black Rose was shrouded in them. The entire legal guild masked a darker organization and the guild master herself dared not impart to her guildmates what it really meant to not be human. Many saw her as a good person, a shining Wizard Saint who had done a number of good deeds throughout her lifetime. All Izayuki could see when looking back at her past, however, was blood, death, deception, and sin. Perhaps the label of ‘demon’ hit a little closer to home than she would have liked, and that was why she rejected and became so easily upset at such a title. At least, Lester seemed nice and kind enough to not harbor as much of a dark history in her eyes, even if he did have secrets that he kept from his guildmates. Surely that was no sin.

He offered to collect samples for further research, which the ayakashi nodded in response to. “I don’t mind,” she said softly, the blood on her hands beginning to fade, fortunately. She enjoyed the promise of resources that he mentioned, but it did certainly pique her curiosity. “I’d like to figure all this out and be rid of the hell demons, myself. I also don’t want another person to be hurt by my blood,” she continued, gazing at the cup of tea, once again avoiding eye contact. Gingerly, she took another sip of the warm lime and daisy tea, hoping it could sooth her now aching throat.





[575 | 2,796]