Of the Corruption: A Demon's Power

Actually training
Kie could only guess where he was now. But clearly, he knew it was some time before he awoke. His skin felt wet, as if he had been just cleaned up. A voice inside of his head complained of a pain shooting through it, and instinctively, he raised one hand to clutch his forehead, his eyes still closed.

"Son of a..." He cursed.

Ean was instantly relieved by the sudden movement in the boy, even despite the fact he had tried to kill him three hours earlier.

He moved over next to the boy laying on the bed and placed his hand on his forehead to see if he was sick or not. He didn't seem sick, although he had been burning up ever since they brought him back from the hospital, but they kept him cool just to be safe.

He asked the newly awoken Kie "You feel dizzy or something?"

"A little..." Kie admitted, lowering his hand. "But I'm alright...." He winced a little, grabbing his shoulder with his other hand. "Ugh...my shoulder itches like he--"

Then, his eyes widened slightly.

"Wait...."

He took his hand from his shoulder, staring at the newfound scars incredulously. "It...WASN'T a dream, after all..."

Ean saw his incredulous face, and, turning to Sachi, he gave her a look asking "Should I tell him?"

Memories flooded Kie's mind, as if he was seeing the killings himself. The slicing and searing of flesh.... the screams of those undeserving of death....hell, even the scent of fresh blood still lingered on that hand, as he flexed the fingers as if trying to feel the warmth of the crimson fluid once again.

He had single-handedly slaughtered a large portion of the staff of the hospital. Their blood would be forever on his hands, and their screams would forever linger in his mind. And he liked it.

Sachi merely shook her head, her face serious. She sent a look back to Ean that clearly said it all. Kie had been aware of what he was doing.

Ean focused on the boy again, "Kie... That wasn't you. You know that you didn't want that to happen..." he said, his voice desperate in hoping that Kie didn't act up again.

"Why do you sound so grim, Ean?" Was his asking reply, as he turned towards Ean with an almost child-like expression of curiosity on his face.

Ean grabbed Kie's wrist, shoving his hand in his face like the thing he was trying to show the boy was so obvious if it had been a snake it would've bitten him. "Kie... You killed dozens of people back there... Look at your damn hand..."

"I'm aware of that." Kie's tone didn't waver under the man's negative tone. "What of it?"

Ean stood up, "Because you killed innocent people, dammit! What the hell has gotten into you?!" he yelled, clenching his fists, "Why do you not care?" The blond remained silent, and surprisingly, her eyes didn't flicker with shock. Had she seen this coming?

Kie merely stared at Ean with an exasperated look, as he lowered his hand. "You sound as if that were a bad thing." He replied coolly.

Ean's expression of seriousness and annoyance did not change, "You just committed a mass murder! If you weren't acting like this, I wouldn't have half a mind to throw you out on the street to be arrested!"

He grabbed his swords and mask, walking to the door, saying "Sachi, you handle him. I'm going to go do something quickly."

Sachi's eyes widened, but she did nothing to stop him, even stepping aside. "Sure thing, Ean." She said quietly.

Ean turned to Kie for one last thing, "Only my demon is a part of me Kie, yours isn't you."

He opened the door and walked out, slamming it in frustration as he left.

Kie growled angrily, throwing his hands up in the air, a sign of frustration. "DAMN it!" He snapped, clearly not understanding. "What's his problem?!"

Sachi sighed, pulling a chair over to Kie and sitting beside him. Her face was one of sympathy. "He wasn't born like you...." She said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He....doesn't understand."

Kie's eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean, Ms. Urami?"

"Here, let me explain...."

Outside Help
Ean was outside the inn, and it began to get cloudy, not enough for rain but still enough to dampen his hot mood.

He pressed a small button on the inside of his mask and his megabike wheeled up next to him. He got on, moving towards the west, trying to see if he could get a message from the eighth force.

He had been driving for two hours straight. He decided to stop, and check if he had the signal to recieve anything out there.

Luckily he could, and he was surprised it was this good. He called up the base, and was pleased to hear the familiar voice on the line, "Hello, this is the Guardians eighth force member line, how may I help you?"

Ean chuckled at the unknowingness of his friend, "Hello, Suzana, how have you been?"

The voice on the other side gasped slightly, "Ean! Where the hell have you been these last two weeks?! Every single captain and their mother have been worried sick about you, and Sam has vowed to kick your ass if you don't get over here right now!"

"Sorry, sorry, I've... Run into a few roadblocks to getting home..."

Yeah, getting into the position of training a punk and raping and possibly impregnating a girl might keep me busy...

"But I promise I'll be there in three weeks, tops. By the way, I need a favor..." he said, changing the subject.

"Sigh... You're not out of the bag yet, mister. Full explanation or you'll get in trouble with James later. And what's this favor you need?"

"I need to get in touch with Sam, at least temporarily."

The voice on the other side was replaced with a few rummaging sides, finding the code key for the new line. She came up again, saying "Alright. Here he is..."

The line changed, and new, masculine voice came on, "Hello?"

Ean groaned, he knew this was going to be more difficult than appropriate. "Hello Sam..."

The voice on the other line paused momentarily, as if devising a plan to harass his captain. "Hello Ean. How have you been lately? been sleeping around?"

Ean pinched the bridge of his nose at this, forgetting that the tattoo monitored his body functions from a far longer range than his mask could communicate. "Dammit, Sam I need information. Now."

There was a other pause. "You're lying to me Ean..."

Ean's mood sured, "Sam, stop reading the charts, and give me the info I need."

"And what might that be?"

"I need to know how to exorcise a category seven demon from a fifteen-year old without causing any mental or physical damage."

More rummaging from the other side. ''"Hmm... It seems the power suction from the demon's exorcism would be too great. There's no way you could pull it out without taking a chunk of the boy with it. Why do you need it?"

"Because I need to get rid of that demon soon, or it'll imprint before it leaves the body."

Ean didn't like his odds at this, but waited for the other man's reply before hanging up the communication.

"Hmm... I'll send you the current list of exorcism spells so you can try to at least suppress the presence for now until it leaves. But in order to do that I'd have to hang up, so... Over and out."

Ean frowned at the sudden insistence to cut off, but decide to conform anyways. "Over and Out."

The Principle of Morality
"From what I can tell about Ean...." Sachi explained. "He's had to spend quite of his own childhood in solitude and isolation. His own demon was most likely the result, highly uncontrollable and free to break loose whenever he wanted. I guess Ean himself feared harming innocent people, due to the hands of that beast."

Kie's angered expression changed into one of sympathy. But he chose to say nothing, as he stared at the blonde intently.

"However, due to that very same fear and isolation..." Sachi looked away from Kie's eyes for a split second. "He clearly understands the concept of morality, of what is wrong and what is right. You, however, are a different story."

Kie frowned. "What do ya mean?" He asked impatiently. "So we both had sucky childhoods. Doesn't mean he ca--"

But Sachi raised a hand, as a signal for silence, cutting him off. "You were born in a brutal village, where beatings and slaughter were daily. As you grew up, you eventually came to the belief that seeing innocent blood spilled was a normal part of life. Am I correct?"

Kie's expression wavered slightly, before he nodded. "Yes..."

"Don't you think that maybe that he saw the killing of those doctors in a different way than you did?"

A sigh of frustration came from the boy. "Does that give him the right to judge me?!" He snapped.

But Sachi merely put on a smile, taking a hand away from his shoulder. "He merely misunderstood." She said in an assuring voice. "Don't worry, once he comes back, we'll settle things out." Then, she raised an eyebrow.

"After all, the sooner this is done, the sooner we can start training, right?"

Kie rolled his eyes, flopping onto his bed. It had been quite a long time. "I guess...." He muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"Sachi is right. We've wasted too much time."

The masked swordsman was once again in the room, without even opening the door. He was leaning against the doorframe, and his expression was hidden by the clean and silvered metal on his face.

"I got a warning from James."

Both boy and lady raised an eyebrow. "That would be...?" Sachi asked.

"Three weeks or my license is suspended," he answered, his voice only contributing the feeling of urgency to the conversation.

Kie rolled his eyes. "What? Are you in danger of being kicked out by the wizard guild?" He asked sarcastically.

Ean groaned, but it sounded like an annoyed growl, deep and threatening. "Suspension means I cannot claim anything under the sanctity of the Guardians, I can't hunt demons, and I don't get paid. It is the worst punishment in the organization besides excommunication, and it being performed on a captain is an extremely rare thing, especially since the only one it's ever happened to is The thirteenth..."

"Well...that doesn't really change anything, does it?" Sachi asked, getting up from her seat. "That should be plenty of time for him to learn how to master chakra manipulation."

Ean bent his head in thought, then raised it again, "Sachi, there's a reason it takes multiple years for Academy students in your home village to graduate... But what I'm worried about is if Kie's training goes over the time limit, then not only do I lose the money I get, but I can't help him with the demon anymore after that..."

There was nothing could Sachi could say in order to argue against that.

But apparently, it didn't stop Kie.

"What's wrong with you, Ean?" He asked, pulling himself off of the bed and on his feet. "You shouldn't be worrying about the 'what ifs'. If it's in risk of taking too much time, then we'll just have to get started right away!"

Ean considered this, as he stepped in front of Kie. He looked into the Boy's eyes and then took a step back, saying "Alright... But first I need to do one thing," he said, bringing back his hand in a palm-heel strike position, a small light engulfing the area of his fingers, readying a technique.

Kie's stared into a curious one, and he blinked a few times, almost comical in a sense.

Ean concentrated seemingly, muttering under his breath, "Seventh point of Sealing, Holy Ring!"

He slammed his palm into Kie's stomach, an intense light emitted from the strike point, and a large gust of wind was felt as well. The sudden force knocked Kie onto the bed, and Ean was left catching his breath.

Sachi immediately turned to the now-unconscious boy with widened eyes. "What..."

Ean quicky picked the boy up and carried him in a piggy-back, "C'mon, if we hurry we might just get past Jack," he said, opening the door quite clumsily and walking out.

Sachi sighed helplessly, as she took to her feet, following Ean and shutting the door behind her. "Right..."

Introduction
Kie let out a groan, as vision once again came back to him. He rolled over on his stomach, with one eye open and one eye closed, as he glared seemingly at nothing. "This is what I get for trying to be encouraging..." He muttered to himself, pulling himself up on his hands and knees.

It was then that he got a good look at his surroundings. He was near the wall of a lighted cave. As his eyes darted around, he saw flora developing and thriving in the cracks and walls of the cave. The crystals were the clear source of the light, shining as bright as the sun.

He chuckled. "All right, what stop have we come to on our field trip now?" He said sarcastically.