A Guardian's Possession. Amy Blankenship

would he still come?

      His long midnight hair swayed in the cool breeze as the muscles within his body flexed. Knowing if Kamui did make it to him… he would have to fight his own.

      â€œSo be it,” Hyakuhei whispered darkly.

      *****

      Kamui felt the icy chill of the wind cooling the fire that boiled within him. He could also see the black tips of his wings out of the corner of his eyes and it scared him. This was why he had buried those memories. The longer he held onto the dangerous memories… all the rage of the past… the harder it was to breathe.

      The wind changed direction and a feather floated past him as he slowed his flight. Kamui’s eyes widened in terror. Black … the feather was solid black.

      He turned in panic, looking for the black winged man that haunted him so. No one was there. His glittering eyes slowly turned to glance at his own wings and the breath left his lungs as if someone had kicked him in the chest. He had his father’s wings.

      â€œNo! I will not become you!” Kamui wrapped his arms around himself in denial. “I will not become you!” he screamed out just as he spotted Shinbe in the distance. “Make it go away, please… just make it go away,” he whispered not wanting Shinbe to see him with ebony feathers. Letting his body fall, he quickly became enveloped within the trees.

      Landing hard on the forest floor, Kamui kneeled there for a moment before opening his eyes. The first thing his bright eyes fell on was his black wings. With an anguished cry, Kamui grasped one of them in a painful grip. He cried out in agony as he tried to rip the midnight wing from his very flesh.

      Letting the feathery appendage go, he let his body fall exhausted on the ground. Tears fell from his eyes when he saw the grass around him hiss with the evil power he held deep within his very soul. It was leaking out of him like a plague that would kill everything it touched… hate, rage, jealousy, and untamed raw power. The one gift his father had given him was pure evil!

      Curling up into a tight ball, his body started to glow and shimmer with every heartbeat as that power formed a tight cocoon around him. If he broke free of the bondage, would he be evil incarnate?

      â€œDon’t let this happen to me?” he begged quietly as he fought with every breath. “Don’t let me become the nightmare my father wants me to be.”

      Shinbe’s lips thinned feeling Kamui dead ahead. He could sense Kamui’s power becoming unstable and it didn’t bode well. “Come on Kamui, pull it together… Kyoko will need us.” Something black floated by him and he quickly snatched it from the wind.

      A midnight feather… but it wasn’t Hyakuhei’s. Shinbe’s troubled gaze darted around the vicinity in search for the true owner… for Kamui. “You don’t want to do this Kamui.” His voice held a hint of fear. “If you open the door to such destruction… we may never get it closed again… please.”

      The forest below him was shimmering with a strange life force and Shinbe quickly headed straight for it. A large blue sphere rested in a small clearing lighting up everything around it in a vibrant blue hue. Landing beside it, Shinbe felt the dangerous conflict raging within the sphere. His amethyst eyes showed his sadness as he took in the ebony feathers that still littered the ground.

      â€œKamui?” Shinbe whispered as he reached out and gently touched the swirling color on the surface of the orb.

      The second his hand touched the sphere, the conflict inside stabilized for a moment… turning pure. Shinbe’s eyes slid closed as he took Kamui's essence inside him, letting it build. All of Kamui’s pure love and innocence… all his concealed malice, also the untamed power he drew from those feelings.

      Kamui opened his eyes feeling someone there, but all he could see was the cage he had built around himself. Through the thick walls, he could see an amethyst aura and knew Shinbe was there. “Don’t look…” He whispered as he lowered his head, “…I don’t want you to see the truth.”

      He could hear Kamui’s heartbreaking request. While the link between him and Kamui was so strong, Shinbe used his telepathic power to reach out to him through the barrier. He laid his forehead against the shield and pressed his palms on each side… making his muscles push and pull at the same time.

      Sending his voice inside Kamui’s barrier, Shinbe tried to reason with him. “Kamui, let it go… you do not need to fight Hyakuhei on your own. Not like this. We will do it as brothers… together. But right now there is someone who needs us more. Kyoko needs you Kamui.”

      â€œKyoko? But… I am not a true brother,” Kamui cried from inside his cell. He could see his own reflection and it was disturbing as black eyes stared back at him. “I’ll never be that… regardless of how much I want it… need it. You don’t know what’s inside me trying to come out. What if I hurt her?”

      Shinbe’s amethyst eyes watered in understanding. “Let it go Kamui. That knowledge has been buried and forgotten for a reason. You had a choice and you chose us. You are my brother… a guardian to Kyoko. We protect her with everything we are… even if we have to forget where we come from.”

      â€œBut… it’s a lie!” Kamui cried out then became shock still as he heard Hyakuhei’s voice taunt him from afar. ‘You belong to me… child. So does your priestess.’

      Shinbe could hear Hyakuhei’s voice within the barrier and it angered him. “Do you want him to put those same chains on Kyoko that you once wore!?” Shinbe yelled, trying to make Kamui listen to reason. “Fight the memories for her sake. Bury them deep inside and never look back. You can choose your own destiny! You do not have to become him! Think of Kyoko damn it.”

      â€œKyoko?” A tear fell from Kamui’s cheek as he looked down and watched it shatter with its glittering color. If he was truly his father… his tears would be black as night or crimson even … not the shattering array of light he saw now. He envisioned Kyoko struggling against Hyakuhei and knew what had to be done. The only way he could ever win against such an evil was to become evil… but he would never betray his priestess that way. He loved her too much.

      Shinbe took a step back from the sphere as it started to rise several feet off the ground. The blue aura surrounding it glittered like diamonds as the light within became so bright it overpowered it.

      â€œYou cannot have me or her. Once again Hyakuhei… I deny you,” Kamui whispered just as the sphere shattered.

      Several miles away, Hyakuhei’s eyes flashed red in anger as he heard Kamui’s words and he answered, “You cannot conceal the truth for long boy… you and I are the same.“

      Shinbe ran forward to catch Kamui as he fell. The boy was passed out cold. His amethyst eyes widened with his smile seeing the colorful glitter that fell from his translucent wings. He hugged Kamui to him knowing everything would be all right… least for now. He had somehow forgotten the darkness once again.

      â€œWelcome back Kamui,” He grinned as the boys eyes, too many colors to count, opened to stare up at him in confusion.

      *****

      â€œI just don’t get it… why would Kyou all of a sudden decide he wants Kyoko?” Suki paced back and forth annoyed because she wasn’t out there helping to bring her friend back.

      Sennin rubbed his temple as he looked at his daughter, “Suki please sit down. You are making me dizzy.” He grabbed up a stick and poked at the fire as he continued. “Kyou is a guardian… therefore Kyoko is safe with him. As for him wanting her… well if he does then it is already out of his hands.”

      Suki turned to glare at Sennin. “What do you