The Red Hand

Chapter 77 – The Bleed Effect and the Question.

"How is that even possible? How could you know how to speak Demon?" Akagi was shocked that Kana had not only understood what she said but was able to repeat it to her perfectly in Demon. "That shouldn't be possible, that language isn't something that exists in this world! You should have no way of knowing it!" She started to panic.

Kana was just as shocked and couldn't answer.

"First things first." Akagi snapped her fingers, and they reappeared in the room they were in prior. "Let's get you out of my body, that might have had something to do with it." Akagi was in a panic, fearing that she may have done something to her sister. "Yumi!" Akagi screamed and the priestess appeared next to her. "Get Mizumi here, NOW!"

Yumi was completely taken aback and had no idea what had transpired in Akagi's shadow body, but seeing the urgency she quickly complied and dragged the young girl here by the scruff of her uniform.

"What's the big idea!" Mizumi complained as she was dragged. "You just teleported in out of nowhere and grabbed me!" Mizumi was annoyed, but the panicked look on Akagi's face caused her to drop her attitude. "What's wrong? You called for me, so how can I help you?" She stood up and looked at Akagi.

"Kana just spoke Demon, Mizumi!" Akagi looked at her. "That's not possible, but she just did!"

"Huh?" Mizumi was confused. "What's wrong with that?"

"I never taught her the language! She just spoke it out of nowhere without prompting!" Akagi growled. "She just suddenly understood me and recited back a perfect pronunciation of a word I just learned seconds prior! That's not normal! Did I do something? Did I break Kana? Was taking her into my shadow a bad idea!" Akagi started to panic, and her words sped up.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Mizumi rushed over. "Calm down, calm down. I don't think you did anything to Kana." Her eyes glowed blue. "And I see nothing wrong with her soul or her body, so take a deep breath."

"Yes, my Lord, please calm down." Yumi was worried, seeing Akagi this distraught really upset her. "Getting worked up will only make things worse."

Akagi stood back and took a deep breath before falling onto the floor.

Kana just stood still in complete shock before finally muttering something in Demon. "[What a strange feeling.]"

Hearing the unnatural words escape Kana's mouth caused Mizumi and Yumi to flinch in surprise, while Akagi went wide eyed.

"[It's like I always knew this language, but I know for a fact that I never did. Is this what it was like for you Onee-chan?]" Kana asked in Demon.

Akagi replied. "[Yes, it's a strange sensation to be suddenly granted knowledge, but how is this possible? I didn't do anything.]"

"Umm. Can you two please stop talking in that tongue?" Mizumi asked. "I don't know about Yumi, but just hearing that is causing my head to hurt." It seemed even a Spirit couldn't handle hearing the Demon language spoken.

Yumi seemed unaffected but still asked they stop. "We can't understand you, and you might harm others who are nearby." she gave a dry laugh.

Kana and Akagi looked at each other and sighed.

"Does anything feel wrong? Anything at all?" Akagi asked Kana as she stood up.

"No," Kana shook her head. "The only strange thing is my sudden knowledge of Demon. Other than that, nothing seems wrong." She didn't notice anything else.

"Mizumi, do you have any input?" Akagi looked at her.

"Hmm." She thought. "It's possible that exposure to your real body might have caused a bleed-over effect which transferred the knowledge of the language." Mizumi scrunched her face. "But that's such an extremely unlikely scenario."

Yumi chimed in. "Perhaps Kana is like my Lord? Maybe she was born with such knowledge and is only now unlocking it?"

Akagi paled when she imagined Kana being the same as her.

"No, No, No," Mizumi denied such a possibility. "I can clearly see Kana's soul, and there's not even a blemish on it." Mizumi continued. "Kana is certainly a human, and I see nothing that would indicate she was harmed or influenced by Aka-" She stopped mid-sentence, her glowing eyes fixated on something inside Kana.

"Oi, what's wrong?" Akagi didn't like that she stopped like that. "What's wrong with Kana!"

Mizumi snapped out of her stupor, and her eyes returned to normal. "Well... there's nothing wrong with Kana, per se but...."

"Spit it out!" Akagi exclaimed.

"It's better if I just show you." Mizumi waved her hands, and an image of a bright white orb appeared between the four of them. "This is Kana's soul, it's pretty normal and standard fare for a soul.... except...." She rotated the image which showed a small portion of it had turned black. Not much, it was the size of a drop of water, but it was enough to be noticeable.

"What is that!" Akagi yelled. "Did I cause that?!?"

"Please calm down!" Mizumi yelled back. "There is nothing wrong, and Kana is not in any danger! I've seen this before." She tried to calm Akagi down and was getting annoyed that she was constantly yelling and panicking.

"Then what is it?" Akagi looked at her with fierce eyes. "What is that dark mark on Kana's soul?"

"It's bleed," Mizumi explained. "When two people spend large quantities of time together, especially if one has far more power than the other, which you do, the stronger party can leave an imprint of their power on the other's soul. These usually form when a soul is newly introduced to a body. So most likely this is old, not new." Mizumi sighed.

"Then why would it appear now? I had no powers before FWO." Akagi asked.

"Just because your power was sealed doesn't mean it can't leak," Mizumi explained. "You have a crazy amount of dark and infectious power, far more than a normal human should be exposed to. From what you told me, you've been around Kana constantly since she was a baby. Most likely, your soul's aura imprinted on the newly cleaned soul that was placed in her body."

"Can we remove it?" Kana asked.

"No, it's part of you. I'm not sure how I missed it before this, probably because it was dormant until just now, but you cannot remove it. It's literally a part of you." Mizumi crossed her arms in an X. "You need not worry. What was transferred seems to be just some knowledge, though it's possible you also received some other things. If anything, this is quite a cause for celebration."

"Celebration?" Kana asked. "Why?"

"Cases of imprinting are rare and only occur where people have a deep bond." Mizumi continued. "In Spirit culture, we see it as a sign of a true connection. In this case, it's proof of your bond with your sister and how much you care for her." She looked at Akagi. "You don't need to worry. If anything it's a good thing. It just goes to show just how much you love your sister, that's all." Mizumi put her finger on her mouth and looked over at Yumi, her eyes turning blue once again.

"Just as I thought." Mizumi laughed.

"What?" Yumi was uncomfortable being looked at like this.

"Your soul was also imprinted on by Akagi." Mizumi laughed. "Seeing an imprinting occur after the initial stages is extraordinarily rare."

"Ehhh!" Yumi squeaked in surprise as she looked at Akagi.

"You must have spent a lot of time with Yumi, and your feelings for her must be quite strong if this happened. My people would say that you are destined for one another, and it's a sign that you should never be apart." Mizumi chuckled a bit seeing Yumi's reaction.

"I guess that would explain the term I was given. [A Bonded Soul.]" Akagi repeated the word so they two could understand what she said. "For some reason when I was thinking about what Yumi meant to me, this word came to mind.”

Yumi's face turned red. "But- I... We... you..." She couldn't speak clearly as she was experienceing a brain melt down.

"I see, and what does that term mean?" Mizumi asked.

"It refers to one who is bonded to me on a deeper level than simple romantic love. Apparently, my kind does not have romantic feelings, hence my lack of them. Instead, we pair with the one we wish to spend eternity with. It has nothing to do with mortal concepts of love or sexual attraction and has everything with the bonded one being an irreplaceable part of us. Without which we view ourselves as incomplete." Akagi explained all this, and as she did both Kana and Mizumi's faces grew red.

"How can you just spout off that embarrassing stuff!" Mizumi asked.

"I see no reason to be embarrassed." Akagi shrugged and pulled Yumi into an embrace. "Why should I be embarrassed? It's all true. Yumi really is the person I care for the most. Sorry, Kana." Akagi stuck her tongue out, and Kana just rolled her eyes.

"My Lord." Yumi was still embarrassed. "Do you really mean all that?"

"Of course I do." Akagi smiled at her. "But is that alright?"

"Is what alright?" Yumi asked.

"I can't love you." Akagi gave a wry smile. "Any attempt to replicate mortal love or similar emotions would be fake, and I can't do that to you. But I do want you to be by my side, I feel sad when you're not around, and the thought of anything happening to you angers me to an extreme degree. You're someone I can't live without anymore, and it took me until just now to understand that.” Akagi smiled. “I won't force you to accept this strange relationship, and honestly, I don't know how much different things will be than they already are." Akagi pushed Yumi's hair back and laid her hand to rest on her cheek. "But if your willing, would you spend eternity with me? I can't think of anyone else more suited to stay by my side." It was a bold declaration, something that shocked everyone.

Rather than answer with words. Yumi stole Akagi's lips, surprising everyone including Akagi. "Does that answer your question?" Yumi asked as she gave another peck. "I'll follow you anywhere, for as long as you want me to. If you want me to spend eternity together with you. Then nothing could make me happier." Yumi began to cry tears of joy.

Akagi brought her in for a tight embrace. While she might not be able to reciprocate the romantic aspect, feeling the warmth of Yumi's lips truly made her happy on the inside. Even if she couldn't genuinely return the act's emotional meaning.

Yumi didn't care, though. Even if Akagi couldn't love her as a human would, that was fine. As long as she could stay by her side, that was all that mattered. She nuzzled into Akagi's chest as she wrapped her arms around her. With her acceptance, both girls could feel a connection form between them, one that ran deep, bonding their very souls together. It was warm, and each were brought a sense of peace and joy by the connection. As Akagi looked down at Yumi in her white Kimono, she could only think just how lucky she was.

As long as she had Yumi, nothing else mattered.

Kana and Mizumi stood completely speechless. They'd never expected to see this development. But Kana's bewilderment soon turned into a smile.

{I'm glad for you Onee-chan. I'm glad you found that one person who you care about so much, and I'm glad it was Yumi. You deserve each other.}