The Red Hand

Chapter 146 – Akagi’s Overseas Trip.

Early in the morning on the thirteenth of April 2059, Agent Alexandra Nariyuki arrived at the Dumetor Estate to escort Akagi and her party to an awaiting aircraft at Osaka International airport. The nearly fifteen-hour flight would be nonstop from Osaka to Washington D.C., so their arrival would be sometime around 3 pm local time. Naturally, Akagi could have either teleported or flown to the United States, both of which would be much faster than taking a plane, however, she chose not to. For her, this was an exciting spectacle, and she was going to soak in every moment of it. A V.I.P. flight to the United States on an official diplomatic plane so she could speak to the President of the United States. Well, her vanity wouldn't let her say no to that.

Things proceeded smoothly that morning. Akagi said goodbye to her sister, and she, Yumi, and Mizumi departed from the house along with Agent Nariyuki. Before leaving, the Demon instructed Kana to contact her if anything happened, and that she'd return home in a flash, no matter who she was speaking with. Naturally Kana thought her sister was being overly paranoid, but agreed.

Once things were wrapped up, Akagi and the girls left the Estate. Not wanting to attract attention, the Americans had decided to go with a single unmarked SUV to transport the them to Osaka Airport, and there were no listed departure or arrival times. This was actually both Mizumi and Yumi's first time in a car, and they both found it quite neat.

There was very little that occurred on the ride to Osaka, as Agent Nariyuki wasn't the most talkative individual. She'd been chosen for this mission because President Rosewood trusted her and because of her prior meeting with Akagi, something the Agent was not pleased with. She'd be coming with to D.C. as well to act as a translator between President Rosewood and Akagi, much to her displeasure. Mizumi originally offered to use translation magic, but this was declined due to American reservations about magic being cast on a sitting President.

After a short drive, the four of them arrived at Osaka Airport, and were swiftly taken aboard a rather large plane emblazoned with an American Flag and official markings. Yumi and Mizumi poked about in the interior until they were asked to have a seat during takeoff. While not on the level of the 747s used by the President, the C-32 was still quite something. Once they got airborne and at cruising altitude, the three girls got situated around one of the small tables and began chatting on the long journey.

"I can't believe we're so high up in the air." Mizumi said as she looked out the window. "To be able to do all this without magic." She was truly awestruck by humanity's ingenuity. "I guess that goes to show that underestimating humans really was a foolish mistake on our part." She sighed.

"If you think this is impressive, then just wait until you've seen some of the other crazy things humans have pulled off. I can tell you right now that they've done much more than just make a big tube that can fly." Akagi laughed. "They've gone to the moon and developed weapons to level cities, among other things."

"I can't imagine actually leaving the planet like that." Yumi said. "It sounds kind of scary, honestly." She was not a big fan of such heights.

"Yeah, I don't really like that either." Akagi gave a dry laugh. She actually had a unique phobia that meant going too high up was not pleasant.

{That was the first and only time I played one of those space VR games. That was not a fun experience...} (Akagi)

"Oh, even the Demon Lord can fear heights?" Mizumi chuckled. "I suppose I've figured out to defeat you."

“Pfff.” Yumi struggled to hold in a laugh.

Akagi shifted her jaw around in thought for a moment before replying. "Remind me Mizumi, can you fly?" Akagi gave a nasty smile.

"No..." She replied meekly.

"Really? Well then, it would be a real shame if I kicked you out of the emergency hatch." Akagi let loose an evil laugh.

"The Demon Lord has no weaknesses! I was mistaken!" Mizumi exclaimed.

"Good!" Akagi nodded. "But putting aside the question of a Spirit's terminal velocity." She looked over at Nariyuki. "So what's the protocol when we arrive? Are we just heading straight to the White House? All I know is that Rosewood wanted a joint presser and for us to do some events together." Akagi had been giving a briefing on what the schedule would be, but knew things could fluctuate.

"Yes." She nodded. "President Rosewood will be waiting at the White House for you, and that's where you'll meet. After a quick photo-op, you're scheduled to have a Press Conference with her. Media outlets will also be present and will be asking questions, so please try to control yourself." Though, they'd been explicitly told not to ask or say anything that might anger Akagi. "From there, we've got a full schedule of meetings, dinners, and other events over the week, culminating in the meeting of the United Nations on Monday."

"Sounds good." Akagi then turned to Mizumi. "Are you going to be ok with all this?" She was going to officially announce Mizumi as the 'leader' of her people and also the one behind the FWO incident. Technically the Council was the leading body of the Spirits, but Akagi could care less about them. As far as she was concerned, Mizumi was the one calling the shots in Omara. There was some discussion about simply hiding the Spirit's existence from the world, but Mizumi declined stating that hiding was what drove her people away from their homes twice. Thus, she believed that the best course of action would be to present themselves openly and work with Earth's people.

"It will be tough, and no doubt many will hate me and my people. But this must be done if we are to survive." Mizumi was determined to make things work.

"President Rosewood has been briefed on your situation and will speak with you separately. I suspect she will move to recognize your people and establish diplomatic relations between our countries." Nariyuki said.

{The Council is going to pitch a fit over this. When we get back, I need to meet with Shinlua and discuss the future of our people. Perhaps the time for the Council to lead our people has passed...} Mizumi thought to herself. She'd been repeatedly pestered by the Elf for a meeting, but was too busy with Akagi and the girls to return to Omara.

"Then it looks like everything is going as it should." Akagi looked out the window. They were already over the sea and could see nothing but dark blue water for miles in every direction.

{This is going to be fun.} She laughed internally as the plane continued its journey toward the United States, knowing full well that it wasn't just her coming declaration to humanity that would be entertaining. {Let's see what you've got old man. Whatever your plan is, I can't wait to see the look on your face when I grind it to dust before your very eyes.}

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At roughly the same time that Akagi's flight was halfway through its journey. Deep within the Council's main hall, in a room warded and hidden from the outside world Sizix, Onmiyame, and Daruma stood around the same magical formation they'd been preparing previously.

"Everything is ready." Sizix said. "We can begin the revival at any time. Though please be aware that this is untested, and we have no idea if they'll be bound to us as we expect. So be on guard for a potential attack."

Daruma nodded. "If these foolish creatures dare rise up against their masters, then we shall dispose of them."

"Begin the ritual!" Onmiyame said as all three began chanting a sutra and channeling their power into the ball of flickering lights. After a few minutes, one of the lights changed color to red and began to grow.

"We've locked on." Sizix said. "Now we just need to perform the extraction and imbue binding magic."

As they poured more power into the ritual, the single red light moved up, out of the ball of energy, and floated alone above them.

"Good, now for the-" Sizix stopped speaking as the ball of light began to distort and shake. "Not good! It's resisting. At this rate, it's going to become unstable!"

"Give it more power!" Daruma said, channeling more energy. The three Council members fought with this ball of light for several minutes until Sizix spoke up.

"It's no good! The binding isn't taking. Something's wrong!" Sweat dripped down her forehead. "We need to eject it from Omara before it gets loose!"

Daruma and Onmiyame nodded, reluctantly. As they chanted another sutra and opened a swirling orange vortex, launching the red ball through it, and causing it to vanish.

"Well fuck." Sizix cursed. "It looks like that binding ritual wasn't good enough."

"We can just try again. Let's just call this a test run and learn from our mistakes." Onmiyame said. He was exhausted from the ritual. "Draft up new binding tethers, and we'll try this again once we're ready. How is the structural cohesion of the data?" He asked.

Sizix analyzed the ball of lights at the center of the magic circle. "Stable, for now. But I estimate we've got two or three more uses before it is completely dissipates. So we can't afford more screw-ups."

“Sounds good, in the meantime, how is your alternative plan commencing?” Onmiyame asked.

“Our agents are in place and our operative has taken up position at the target's destination. I've allowed him to come up with an attack plan with the info we've supplied provided. He's the best assassin we've got and has never failed to remove those who've gotten in our way, and I've taken all the necessary precautions to prevent any trace of out involvement being found as per usual. As for those three explorers, they've been dealt with. They were resistant to my magic at first, but crumbled with a bit of pressure.” Sizix said.

“Good, with luck we'll be rid of the Demon and that meddlesome girl in due time.” Onmiyame smirked.

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<Hito POV>

Walking home from school, Hito found himself alone and aggravated.

"Just who does that freak think she is!" He kicked a rock. "She kills my brother, then just shows up to school and forces everyone to play nice with her Demon sister." He'd been temporarily suspended after his outburst against Mika, and today was the first day since he'd been allowed back. "It's not fair that Kana just gets to act like everything's ok when it's not! She asked me if letting them die was worth having my brother, and the answer is yes! If it meant having him back, I'd rather all three of those girls be dead!" He kicked another rock which bounced off a garbage can and went into the alleyway nearby.

{Its ridiculous that I get punished for trying to get rid of those monsters!} (Hito)

"Ow!" A voice rang out from the alley.

"Did I hit someone?" Hito ran forward to check if he'd accidentally hurt someone in his irritation. He slowly approached the ally and saw a woman with long white hair and blood-red eyes sitting on the ground in the shade. She was wearing strange clothes that reminded him of armor from a fantasy video game he'd played once.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked the strange woman. "I'm sorry if I hit you with that rock." She looked pretty injured. There were cuts across her body, her face was bloodied and what seemed like a large gash was visible across her chest. The woman slowly turned to him, muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?" He got closer. "I'm sorry I didn't quite catch-" He didn't have time to finish his sentence as he was grabbed by the throat and dragged into the alley. Once she'd gotten him away from public view, she let out a grin that revealed two large canines, which she quickly sank into his neck, drinking his blood. Before he even knew what happened, he'd passed out, and the last thing he saw was the woman's bright red eyes staring into his own.