The demon slumped as a sigh slipped through his teeth. Did he really have to explain it? Did his other selves always have to make such a big deal over such insignificant things?
“I was implying that we could have both slept on the bed.”
Aku looked Sixer over as if he were making an assessment of his character. It encourage him to hear that there were no harbored feelings of endearment for the monstrous doctor and that the kitsune was willing to destroy such beings. After a brief spell of silence, Aku seemed to be more at ease and his glare softened.
“Good. I will hold you to your word, Sixer.” That said, he turned from Sixer and headed forth into the home. But before he ascended the steps, he paused without turning. “…Thank you for providing her with shelter.”
Sixer’s voice had rang with truth and a darker experience than his counterparts were likely to ever experience. What that would mean to Aku, Sixer wasn’t one to guess, but when he saw the demon’s expression soften, the fur on his tails relaxed.
“I don’t like it when I see others stuffer at the hands of those who thinks that souls are things to be toyed with,” Sixer replied. “I plan to keep her safe for as long as I can.”
The yokai turned to look at Sixer, twisting at his narrow middle as he did so.
“I understand your concern but there is something you must understand about Azura,” he spoke. His rough voice had taken a softer tone but was no less serious. “She is a traveler by nature. She is one who wanders between worlds. It is, as they say, her ‘calling’. She will not settle in place for long.”
“Listen, I am the furthest thing from worthy, but I’ll be damned if I let anything hurt my mentor.”
Cinder put her hands on her hips, and even though she was much smaller she still managed to give off an unafraid attitude.
“I will stop at nothing to crack this egg in half with my own two hands, I’m looking for an alternative to summoning a monster who could very well end up hurting the person I want to protect. That righteous enough? Or do I need to find king Arthur?”
Cinder’s fearlessness and big attitude did indeed remind him of Azura.
“I am no judge of your ‘purity’,” he spoke. “But if you seek someone who is pure of heart, you need look no further than Azura herself.”
Thankfully, for everyone involved, the kitsune possessed some measure of intelligence and didn’t make an obstacle of himself out of some stupid sense of pride or honor. Aku could appreciate that. He shrunk himself down a bit and stooped as he entered the shack. Once inside, he stood tall enough that his horns nearly touched the ceiling of the shack. He looked like Gandalf in a hobbit house (except much eviler, of course.)
At hearing what Thoth had done for Azura, The demon’s eyes widened briefly in surprise. “He did?” …But his expression darkened again shortly thereafter.
“Hmph. At least that pitiful polygon isn’t completely useless.” As far as he knew, the traitorous fool was still BFFs with Gaster, which Aku found to be completely unacceptable. His disdain for gods aside, it pleased him to hear that Azura was at least in good physical condition.
His attention turned then to the kitsune host. “And who are you? You hold no ‘special feelings’ for that hideous doctor, do you?” Aku waited for an answer from Sixer with a glare that promised to melt faces should he answer incorrectly.
Sixer would have bitten back at Aku’s comment about Thoth being pitiful, but at the same time he felt it would be wiser if he didn’t make the demon more mad than he already seemed to be.
So when the other questions came up…
“I am called Sixer, but my name is Stanford Pines.” Sixer looked up at the demon with a more controlled expression, reading Aku’s reaction. “I see no reason to hold Gaster in any form of high regard for what he’s done to his victims. He is as terrible in my eyes as the Cipher my family killed for what he did to our souls. I don’t intend to stand by and let Gaster do the same to others.”
His tails were still fluffed up, but it seemed he was starting to get a better hold on his emotions.
Aku looked Sixer over as if he were making an assessment of his character. It encourage him to hear that there were no harbored feelings of endearment for the monstrous doctor and that the kitsune was willing to destroy such beings. After a brief spell of silence, Aku seemed to be more at ease and his glare softened.
“Good. I will hold you to your word, Sixer.” That said, he turned from Sixer and headed forth into the home. But before he ascended the steps, he paused without turning. “…Thank you for providing her with shelter.”
The Shogun of Sorrow 