“You are most welcome, Azura. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he grinned. Then his gaze fell upon the necklace.
“Ah, yes. It is a charm that contains my physical being so that I will always be with you wherever the universe takes you.” And when activated, it would help him to locate her across the dimensions. But that part remained unspoken.
“My Lord!” The High Priestess instantly fell to her knees, her staff clattering beside her. “I am honored to be graced by Your divine presence once more! For what reason have you blessed Your lowly servant with this gift?”
She had a feeling it had something to do with her daughters. Had her training been lacking? She had thought bringing them up in this way would make them the best, most efficient assassins. But her Lord was right; what better way to foster an undying loyalty to Aku in them than to have the demon raise them Himself? Still, there was one problem.
“My Lord…I will gladly offer my daughters to You, but…”. She assumed a deeper bow, pressing her forehead to the stone ground. “One has gone missing; Ashi.” The High Priestess knew that one day, something like this would happen. Out of all her sisters, Ashi was the most talented; the woman knew one day she would grow to be a powerful warrior, practically unstoppable. But she was also the most distracted – the most questioning. Almost anything could catch her attention: a beam of light, a ladybug. And she had so many questions…about Aku…about the Samurai…The priestess could tell she would be trouble as she got older. Perhaps might even rebel. But she had wandered off before any of that could happen. “I beg for Your forgiveness my Lord; it was my fault she left. You may take my daughters, and I will accept any punishment You deem fit.”
Damn her she thought to herself. Her absence was a great loss to their mission. But with Aku taking over, perhaps they still had a chance at defeating the Samurai.
“Ashi is safe. I happened upon her myself and realized she was my progeny.”
Here, he gave the High Priestess a hard look that she would feel on her back even if she did not lift her head to see it. A
brief eternity
of silence passed as his penetrating gaze lingered on her.
“High Priestess, if I were going to punish you for something, it would be for your negligence to inform me of the existence of my offspring.” Her punishment would be well deserved, that much was true. However, she was still valuable to him.
“I wish to continue their training at regularly scheduled intervals,” he said. “I want you to make them strong and deadly warriors, but I do not want their spirits destroyed. They are daughters of Aku and from this day forth, you will not do to them what you would not do to Aku. Only I shall be allowed to discipline them beyond a verbal reprimand.”
“Nicer? Pfeh! You must be mistaken.” The demon lord bared his fangs in derision. “I do not disagree that I am unique but nicer I am not.”
“You wanted to see my power,i showed it to you.Hope you’ve learned how valuable i am and you will respect me as i will respect you.I heard about you and your powers and i can say i am quite impressed too.”
Aku rumbled under his breath at her arrogance. It was a trait he found grating despite possessing so much of it himself. Regardless, he could not deny that she was a powerful ally who seemed to want nothing in return except for ‘friendship’.
“Yes, I suppose you would be if you seek alliance with the most powerful being in this galaxy,” he touted. “And what about your weaknesses? If you know mine, it’s only fair that I know yours.”
“Come with me and try it once. If you are unsatisfied with the experience, I will owe you one favor.”
“Fine, we’ll see how this goes. I don’t expect that I’ll enjoy it.”
“EXCELLENT. Then we shall go,” the demon grinned.
He placed a clawed hand on his other self’s shoulder and the two were instantly teleported to Aku’s personal ‘bath house’. Located inside a volcano, it resembled a grand Roman bath with massive stone pillars (magically enchanted so they would not melt.)
But instead of water, the pool was filled with hot bubbling lava. Just being near it would incinerate most creatures but Aku enjoyed the heat. He extended his arms proudly.
Domestic drapes the scarf around himself, and upon feeling the warmth he exhales in a relieved manner, “I am more than willing to join you for the season, my friend. And perhaps a gift in turn.” A small sized velvet box appeared in the palm of his hand, or at least small to any Aku. When he opened it with a single clawed finger, inside was a brilliant shining orange gem cut to size.
“Finding this was no easy feat, but nonetheless, I felt it was perfect for a gift.”
In his free hand, he clasped to his blanket and rolled it up into a convenient ball before he clapped his hand into their open one, “I am to assume we have different blankets and this will be no trouble.”
And away they warped, arriving at Aku’s dust-free domain in record time. Thanks to a very productive employee, the place was decorated for the holiday, something Aku would never do on his own.
“It would be no trouble either way,” he said, welcoming his guest. “I have a new blanket that is unrivaled in both softness and warmth if you wish to use it.”
Ashi stiffened as he bent to sniff her, his breath warm against her face. Her eyes widened as he then licked her, cleaning any blood left behind on her face. Taking her hand, she wiped away the remaining saliva. As her father straightened up, his stern look returned, causing the girl to bow her head in shame. This was the first time she had disobeyed Aku – she remembered he had told her and her sisters not to stray from her escorts. Was she going to be punished? She folded in on herself more as he spoke to her.
“Yes…I’m sorry Father,” she whispered, nervously twiddling with her hands. Tears once again formed in her eyes, and she bowed her head further to hide them. She felt…guilty. When she had disobeyed her mother, she had always felt scared; scared of the severe punishments she would receive. But Aku had proven to be much kinder than her mother ever was. Because of this, Ashi had grown to feel safe and protected in his care. But seeing him angry with her…it made her sad and disappointed in herself.
“I’m…sorry to make you angry,” she continued, gulping a bit. “I promise I won’t wander again…y-you don’t even have to let me outside anymore, if you wish…”
“Hmmm, I will keep that suggestion in mind,” he bluffed. It was clear to him that even if he did try to keep Ashi locked away from the world, she would find some way to escape.
“For now I will give you a chance to show you have learned from your mistake. But be warned — I do not often give second chances,” said Aku. He hoped his threat would be enough to keep her out of trouble.
Having said his piece, Aku shapeshifted back to his usual towering form and crouched down to offer the child his palm to climb upon. “Come. I will take you back to the citadel.”
The Shogun of Sorrow 