The Demon Within

Chapter Nine

As I said, this story starts picking up fast! For those of you who were waiting for this chapter, here you go :)

Mei's eyes widened when she heard Kalik say those words. Her whole body stiffened. She tried to yank her hand away from Kalik, but he only tightened his grip. Mei then tried to stand and back away from them, but Kalas stood right behind her and he wouldn't let her escape. Kalik pulled her right back down to where she was inches from his face. Mei leaned back away from him, fear starting to fill her eyes. She looked at all of the faces looking down at her, and none of them seemed angry.

"It's alright Mei. I can understand why you are panicking, but you can relax. No one here is going to hurt you," Soushi said again.

"Well I still owe you for cutting my arm, but under the circumstances I'll let it slide," Takashi said winking at Mei. "Don't expect me to be so generous in the future." Mei slowly smiled, but she was still unsure about this. How could they accept this so easily? This went against everything they stood for.

"I know how uneasy you are," Kalik said, reading Mei's face. "If Hintani hid you from the Emperor and from us while understanding the consequences, we don't need to question it. You are obviously worth protecting."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that about a demon," Mei replied sadly. "I'm a demon like Ryou. How can you accept that so easily?" Mei looked back over at Ryou's body, which still lay in the pool of blood.

"No, you're different from him," Kaito said smiling.

"Don't compare yourself to someone as low as him," Kalas continued. "You're on a whole different level from him. You don't go around killing people."

"That makes me feel a whole lot better," Mei snorted and Kalas laughed. Kalik lifted Mei up to where both of them were standing. "Since Ryou is gone now, I suppose you have no more reason to keep me around. I don't want to get you in trouble with the Emperor, with me being a demon and all. Allow me to just leave. I'll be able to keep myself safe."

"Not a chance," all five of them said which took Mei by surprise. She stood looking astonished at them and they all chuckled. Mei narrowed her eyes at them. 

"Look guys, you could get in serious trouble for harboring a demon and you know it. If you could just—"

"How noble of you."

The new voice took them all by surprise and the courtyard near the gate went silent. Kalik and the others immediately went to stand by Mei's side, completely surrounding her. Mei watched as the air on top of the gate started to dissolve and then another person appeared, this time female. She stood with her hands on her hips looking down on them. She didn't have the normal samurai outfit. She had tall boots on that came up to her knees, shorts and a top that covered her chest, revealing her stomach and neck. She had small bracelets on her arms and her sword was hanging at her side. She had short red hair and she wore a bored expression on her face. She's a demon, Mei thought.

"So, looks like Ryou actually died. Hate to say it, but that bastard had it coming to him. Seems like he didn't get the chance to explain anything though, so I have to start from square one." She front flipped off of the gate and landed gracefully on the ground. She looked up and smiled directly at Mei, and then gave a small bow. "It's an honor to meet you. I thought you would be a bit tougher looking but beggars can't be choosers right? I've come here to offer you an escort. All of the demons have gathered and we are waiting for you."

"Gathered for what?" demanded Takashi.

"Humans should stay out of my conversation especially when it doesn't concern you," the demon girl said narrowing her eyes at Takashi. "Which one of you is the Captain?"