Ghosts of a Demon

[Kuzuru]

Frost had swallowed the forest, large sheets of frost clung to dead and twisted branches. Every breath released a hot cloud of steam and Renji shuddered in the cold. He had been trudging forward through the cold for several minutes now and he felt as if he had made no progress. The wicked sword stayed silent, Kuzuru had been quiet ever since Rou’s jailbreak and it made Renji uneasy. It wasn’t that he cared or missed the demon, it was the fact that Rou and the other lost souls trapped in his sword might actually be capable of escape. The thought of the potential escape of an uncountable number of souls forced Renji’s stomach to twist into a thick knot.

Dancing around his peripheral vision, ghosts and spectres taunted Renji. Familiar faces and voices were made manifest and he struggled to ignore their mocking. Before long he had somehow managed to circle back to the clearing and he growled in exasperation. Their ghastly magic had him trapped, how long did they plan on toying with him? This had gone on for far too long and the swordsman’s anger peaked.

“Come on out you damned ghosts! Stop mocking me!”

A sinister wind swirled around Renji, he felt helpless against these apparitions. He watched in fear as a female materialized in front of him. She had long hair and a gentle smile. Her body was slender and elegant, something about her form seemed all too familiar. She smiled and gently moved a length of hair from her face.

“Renji... Do you remember?” she asked. Her voice was distorted much like Rou’s, but her words held a certain undefinable comfort for Renji. He paused before responding, taking an eternity to study her eerie beauty. Who was this enigma? The Swordsman had met her before, but he was unsure of her significance. He had several females trapped within his blade and he cared not to remember any of them. The prisoners were weak and unworthy of remembrance. Phantasms and ghosts began to swirl around the two, whispering secrets and curses at the swordsman. His red eyes met theirs and they grew quiet.

“Remember? What am I supposed to remember?”

She frowned and Renji felt a string in his heart sever. It was unexplained, but he felt a strong connection with this soul. He stepped towards her and pointed his sword at her chest. The millennial swordsman demanded an answer from the ghost.

“Who are you? Answer me!” his red eyes flared with anger and fear.

She flickered in and out of existence and from the swirling cloud of souls Rou stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Come on Renji. You don’t recognize your own wife?”

It clicked.

The gears in Renji’s twisted mind finally snapped together and he remembered.
And it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

The torrential stream of painful memories crashed into Renji. He no longer felt the cold, but he did feel a certain gnawing emptiness deep in his gut. This girl, Sara, was once his beloved wife, but now her forlorn spirit was locked within his blade. Slowly he unsheathed his blade and staked it in the ground, severing his link with the wicked sword. His body trembled as he stepped forward towards his wife.

“Sara... I” his voice quaked “I’m so... Sorry.”

The swordsman reached out for his wife, but his hand phased through her. She was nothing but a memory made of smoke. He visage looked like it would cry, but she was unable to muster the tears. She reached out and touched his face, her hand chilled his skin where she touched.

“You’ve become such a twisted person Renji... I missed you” she pulled her hand away “or rather, I miss who you were.”

With that devastating statement the swirling cloud of ghosts reached out and pulled her into their whirlwind. Renji reached out for her, but Rou pushed him backwards. The swordsman growled and tried to rush past him again, but the ghost knocked him on his ass. His voice was slick and taunted poor Renji.

“She’s not yours anymore” he leaned over the defeated swordsman and smiled a venomous grin “she’s mine.”

“You bastard!” Renji jumped to his feet and swung wildly at the apparition. His fists found smoke and disappointment. Behind him Rou materialized and laughed in his ear.

“Until you release my soul, she’s mine and there is nothing you can do about it.”