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War Of Shadows	By : TurtleNinja Category: +S through Z > Samurai Jack Views: 3353 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Jack, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 27
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Again I found myself in the haze of dreams, half wondering when I would stop slipping in and out of consciousness. She had to be extremely worried about me when it was clear that she could not heal the effects of Ekirei's last strike, the blue orb that had made me so ill. Apparently her only limitation was that she could not heal sickness, only injury.

That was an unsettling thought and I chose to push it aside for the moment and focus on finding the next Elemental amongst the mists.

I sighed and pulled myself into seiza, sitting quietly in a meditative position as I waited, knowing that impatience would get me nowhere. Light breezes occasionally would sweep around my body, fluttering my loose kimono and hair, making the place incredibly calming and oddly cool. It was easy to relax in such serene silence and made the wait for the next Elemental less strenuous on my mind.

Suddenly, I became aware of another's presense nearby, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. She had come at last, but which of the two remaining Elementals was it? I stayed quiet for the moment, trying to sense who it was, but I found that I could not, much to my surprise.

Opening my eyes, I was momentarily shocked to see her kneeling in a similar meditative position before me. Her elaborate kimono was in a sapphire blue and bore sea turtles embroidered in silver. Ice blue eyes that matched ice-colored hair shimmered up at me from a lightly tanned face.

Elaborate hair ornaments that kept her hair up in a style I had seen women of my home time wear lightly chimed when she moved, the silver shimmering like sunlight dancing off the surface of a pond. There was a calming aura about her, like the feeling one gets when relaxing in a stream or a bath. Water. It was the Water Elemental who had come to see me.

Somehow, I was not entirely surprised that it was the Water Elemental who had come.

"Hello, Jack." she said softly.

I was momentarily speechless. She was supernaturally beautiful, as all the Elementals appeared to be. It took me a moment to remember my manners and I quietly cleared my throat, averting my gaze to keep from staring so rudely.

"Hello. You are the Water Elemental?" I asked.

"That I am. Asagi is the name. I sensed your meditative energies and came as quickly as possible."

"I hope I have not been keeping you waiting."

"Not at all. When you're dead, you have plenty of time to wait."

She chuckled and I flushed a little in embarrassment at asking such a silly question. Of course she had plenty of time to wait for me to arrive.

"Of course. I meant no disrespect." I said.

"Of course you didn't. It's quite all right. Well, let's have a look at you. Would you mind sliding your kimono off your shoulders?"

I hesitated, not used to such requests from proper women. I was not entirely comfortable with the idea of a woman eyeing me up like a hunk of meat at the market, which was exactly what I was starting to feel like. No doubt, my face had turned several shades of red at that point.

"Uhm..." I began, trying to figure out how to politely state my discomfort.

"Oh, come now. There's no need to be shy. I've lived for millions of years; you aren't the first man I've seen half or completely naked. I need to be able to clearly reach your heart to do this and clothing gets in the way. I won't take long, I promise."

With a soft sigh, I slid the kimono down from my shoulders, keeping it around my waist as I knelt there, still uncomfortable even though I was wearing my fundoshi and she had assured me that this was not the first time she had seen a man in any form of nudity. She moved around behind me and a moment later, I heard her take in a slow breath. I tensed a little, wondering what could have possibly disturbed her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This tattooed mon...."

I held back a shiver as her cool fingertips traced the tattoo that was on my right shoulderblade.

"What about it?" I asked, knowing what she meant.

"Your family crest. Why did you have it tattooed here?"

"So I would never forget who I am, who I fight for."

"I see. It suits you quite well."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before I felt her cool hands upon both shoulderblades. I could feel a soothing coolness wash over me, calming and relaxing me almost to the point of where I wanted to sleep. It was so comforting that I hardly felt her power reach my heart and slip within the depths of my unresisting mind.

After a few moments, she withdrew, and it took a few more moments after that for her power to completely disappear. In that time, she moved back to my front, gazing into my eyes, a contemplative expression on her face. When I felt like moving again, I slowly drew my kimono back up over my shoulders, still a bit uncomfortable at my state of undress as I slipped my arms back through the sleeves.

"I am most impressed, Jack Minamoto. Never have I met a warrior, of your clan or any other, with a heart as pure as yours." she said.

"I do not understand. You needed to do all that to see into my heart?"

"Not just see your heart. That was to invoke the Water Point's power within you. Now I must see what else we have to work with here. Let me see your hands."

I slowly held them out to her, finding her to be most unusual compared to the other two Elementals that had visited me so far. She was acting like a very odd fortuneteller, for I had never heard of anyone looking into one's heart through the back like that before. Still, I dared not question an Elemental, the thought of angering her unnerving me. Instead, I simply stayed quiet as she studied my hands carefully, her soft fingers tracing every line, scar, and callus.

"What do you see?" I hesitantly asked after a few moments.

"I have already seen the purity of your heart, but your hands are a warrior's hands, always have been, even before your training. You were meant to do this, to carry your family's katana through history against the demon."

"What are you saying?"

"That this is and always was your destiny. Cruel as it is sometimes, you were meant to be thrown through time, to restore balance to the Elemental Circle by destroying the demon. Aku's gotten too big for his britches and we failed to see it. I suppose we all hoped that this time, the fourth Dark Elemental would behave himself and stick to his duties."

"Too much to ask of evil."

She laughed softly and nodded, her hair ornaments chiming musically with her movements. Everything about her was so calm and peaceful that I could not help but smile and laugh a bit myself.

"Indeed. Still, this is your destiny. It was meant for you because of who you are." she said.

"Who I am?"

"Yes. I always knew your family was of a pure bloodline, but you bear the purest heart of them all because of your Elemental potential."

"Elemental potential?"

"Yes. Each male firstborn of your family line is destined to wield the power of that mystical blade, but only one is ever meant to use its full power. A power that can only be brought about by the Elementals themselves. You see, Jack, you may be a mere mortal, but you are as close to a true Elemental as one can get."

This was an unexpected revelation, one that momentarily caught me off guard. I had not expected to find out that I was meant to control the Star of the Elements because I was as close to an Elemental as a mortal could be. I had thought there were simply mortals...and Elementals, and did not understand how I could be that close to a true Elemental.

"How so?" I asked.

"Once a millennia, there is one who is born with a full balance of the Elements within his spirit. A perfect, ultimate balance that cannot be found anywhere else. You, dear samurai, are the chosen one for this millennia."

"But I am thousands of years away from my home time. How is it that one was not found between my departure and now?"

"Because you never perished and were never reborn. All those before you who had the power to finish the demon once and for all never had the complete purity and will that you have to finish the job. Yes, your father and your ancestors could fight him, seal him away, but they could not kill him. Now, the chosen one has been reborn inside your family line, in you...and it is your destiny, your duty...to destroy Aku."

I lowered my head and looked down at my hands when she released them, clenching them in my lap. I knew all this. I had known it from the start when I had arrived in this future that if I ever wanted to free the people here, return home, and free my people in the past, I would have to destroy Aku and his minions.

It was not an easy job, but it was my destiny, as protecting not only the Wind Point, but the amulet itself, was Chimitsu's.

My eyes snapped open as I realized that there was something I had to ask. I remembered how battered I had found Chimitsu when we first met and how many times Aku had tried to kill her. Dangerous traps that would have taken any ordinary mortal, but had failed to take her.

And even though he had failed to take Chimitsu, he had not failed to bring down her sisters. Why? They were all five Elementals with the same amount of power and immortality.

"Asagi-san, I must ask you something." I said.

"Yes?"

"If Aku was able to kill the four of you, why was it that he could not kill Chimitsu? Why did he try to take her wings when he could have taken her life?"

Asagi watched me for a moment, her eyes shimmering with tears for a moment before she blinked them away. I felt a momentary regret in asking her such a painful question, but it was not making any sense to me. Aku should not have had so much trouble in killing Chimitsu if he was able to kill her four sisters.

"Because he can't kill her so long as she's an Elemental." she said.

"I do not understand. As long as she is an Elemental?"

"Yes. She's the only one of us who can become human when she loses her wings. The rest of us can't become human like that. Once she loses her wings, she becomes mortal and is left wide open for Aku to take her life if he sees fit."

Cold revelation washed over my body as I realized that this was why he had tried to take her wings and why Ekirei and Mad Jack were so confident in their victory when she lost them earlier. They knew that Aku could kill her in mortal form and take the Star of the Elements for themselves. It was not just to steal her powers, but so that they could kill her as well, only they had not counted on her finding a way to regain that very power.

"By the gods...so that is why he tried to rip her wings off, why she was so battered when I found her. He was not trying to take her power so he could steal the Star from a defenseless human, he was trying to kill her!" I cried.

"Yes. He may have been able to kill the four of us, but as long as Chimitsu has her wings, he can't do a thing to take her life. He must first take her wings if he wants to kill her. That's why we chose her to protect the Star of the Elements until she could get it to you. Now you, Jack, must make sure that he doesn't take her wings or he will make his move to kill her and take the Star before you are able to use it."

I bowed my head again, clenching my hands tightly around the folds of my kimono in frustration, knowing that I had come close to failing once before. It was entirely possible that she could fall while I was here in the depths of my mind, unable to defend her. I hated feeling so damn helpless when there were people out there who needed me to fight when they could not.

Slowly, I looked up at her, meeting those icy cold eyes and seeing a distant sympathy in them. She knew how much this hurt me to watch them die when I wanted to be out there fighting Aku. No doubt, she wanted to be out there fighting as well, only she could not do anything about it.

"Long have we waited for this. The one chosen by the Elements to restore balance to the Elemental Circle and he is here in my presense. I almost wish that I had seen you while I was alive, but there is no time for regrets now. We must hurry. There is one last thing I must do." she said.

"Your memories."

"Yes. See my memories and learn of Aku's abilities without him even knowing it."

She took my hands and pressed her palms against my own. Again, I felt a surge of power rush through me, only it did not floor me as it had with Chame and Himoto, much to my surprise. Instead, it flowed through me calmly like a stream, gently washing me away into the depths of Asagi's memories.

As the mists cleared, I found myself atop a snow covered mountain standing before an icy castle that appeared to be made entirely of ice. The mountain winds whipped about my body, yet I was not cold as I should have been. Curious.

Of course, this was yet another memory and I was but a ghost here. I would not be feeling anything while here, watching Asagi's memories.

I made my way up the steps to where blue-flamed torches were lit, illuminating everything with a pale, eerily frosty glow. I tried to take one, only to find that I could not, my hand passing right through it. I sighed a little and made my way to the doors, finding that I could not open them, but could still pass through them.

If it had not been for the fact that I was in a dire situation, I would have found this to be an intriguing experience. Instead, I found the whole inability to touch anything irritating as hell, unable to perform a task as simple as opening a door. This was getting very, very old indeed.

Inside, it had to be a bit warmer, but not by much. Everything was cold, lonely, solitary in appearance. The decor was entirely crystalline, from the chandeliers to glass tables, everything. I took a closer look at the castle walls and found that they had not been made out of ice, but a blue stone that had been polished until it held an icy appearance.

Paintings that hung on the wall depicted wintry scenes as Chimitsu's home had depicted a number of sky scenes. It was beautiful here, in an icy-cold sort of way. It was almost a shame that I did not have time to further admire the icy beauty of Asagi's home.

I walked over to a window, peering out to see nothing but fluffy white clouds rolling about with the air currents. So high up, far above the ground and everything else, no wonder it was so cold and lonely here. That thought was enough to send a shiver through my spiritual body, thinking about how Asagi could not have had many visitors besides her sisters here.

Not wanting to think about the lonely solitude of Asagi's home any longer, I turned and headed down a long corridor until I came to a pair of doors that looked heavy. They were made of the same pale blue stone as the rest of the castle, only more ornately carved and adorned with silver handles. I did not even bother trying to open them this time, simply walking through to find myself in a very large room that reminded me of a temple.

The decor here was simple, with one large winterscape tapestry hung around the walls. The only light came through a crystalline skylight above the center of the room, casting an eerie glow about the room. On the floor was a kanji that I recognized as "ice" and across the room was an altar made of the same stone, as the castle itself, with two large candles at each end.

It was breathtaking in its simplicity and elegance. Never before had I seen a temple that was so beautiful before. As I looked around, I had a feeling that no mortal ever had seen such simple, elegant beauty as this before.

And then I saw her.

There, kneeling in seiza position before the altar in the same blue and silver kimono that I had met her in, was Asagi, looking as elegant and serene as ever. I walked down towards her, seeing her hold up a partially completed Star of the Elements, with the Fire Point, Earth Point, and Water Point all joined together. She smiled faintly as the amulet spun about on the silver chain, a wistful sadness in her pale blue eyes as she watched it spin.

A part of me wanted to go to her, tell her I was there and comfort her, but again, much to my frustration, I could not. It was just not at all fair that she and her sisters had to suffer so at Aku's hands for the sake of protecting that amulet, alone in their final moments. If only they had someone there to comfort them moments before Aku had come for them, to tell them everything would somehow turn out all right, even though I had a hard time believing such a thing myself at that moment.

"It's time for you to go, old friend. Hurry along to Hirame and your destiny with the samurai before the demon finds you." she said quietly.

In a brief flash of light, it disappeared and she smiled faintly before returning to her meditative posture. I watched her quietly, wondering if that was what had happened. Had each Elemental passed their Point along as soon as they had joined it to the others before Aku arrived? I was beginning to understand now, what they had done at the cost of their own lives. Only Chimitsu had escaped such a fate to give the completed amulet to me and that had been just barely.

I could only watch helplessly as Asagi knelt there, her calming aura filling the room. She was waiting for someone and I knew that someone had to be Aku. It was clear that they all had known he was coming and had thusly sent their Point on its way to the next Elemental. She was simply sitting there, calmly awaiting her executioner, at peace with herself and her destiny, cruel as it was.

Suddenly, the doors behind me swung open with a bang, revealing Aku in his Elemental form, his long hair fluttering wildly behind him. Asagi hardly looked up at his loud entrance, remaining absolutely still and quiet while I stood there, tensed, knowing what was going to happen now. Aku was quite furious and it showed in his rapidly darkening aura that contrasted Asagi's cool, calming one.

"Asagi!" he roared, loud enough to rattle the windows of the skylights above.

She chuckled softly and slowly stood, turning to face him, hardly bothered by his appearance. An unearthly wind ruffled Aku's hair, yet did not touch her as she smoothed out her kimono and I wondered how she could possibly be so calm at a time like this. Aku's aura continued to darken and it was clear that her cool serenity was ruffling him.

"Aku. I see that you have arrived." she said.

"Indeed I have. You know what I have come here for."

Again she chuckled, much to his dismay. Despite my own growing apprehension, I could tell that Aku was not liking her calm demeanor. He fed on fear, anger, and aggression and she was clearly not giving it to him like the previous two had.

"Sorry to say, dear Aku, you're already too late, just like the previous two times. You must be quicker than that to capture the Star of the Elements and its power." she said.

"Damn you and your sisters. No matter. I will still get that amulet before it ever sees the samurai's hands."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, demon."

This seemed to enrage him even more and he gripped the handle of his bisento so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, almost opaque. As I watched his pale knuckles turn an even paler shade against the dark handle of the bisento, I suddenly realized why he was so desperate to get his hands on the Star of the Elements before I did. It all made sense now that I saw him so ruffled and disturbed by Asagi's serene appearance.

He was afraid of me.

He knew as well as I did that the sword and the Star were powerful apart, but only together could they be used to their full potential to destroy him once and for all. I alone held the sword and he had been unable to take it from me no matter how hard he tried, but he feared not just the magical relics themselves, but what would happen if they both fell into my hands. I had already proved myself a formidable enemy to him with just the sword in my hands, no doubt it frightened him to the core at the thought of my holding both the sword and the Star to use against him.

Somehow, despite the cold realization that I was going to watch Asagi die in a few short moments, knowing that Aku was scared to death of my gaining control of the Star was a small comfort to me.

"Your interference is of little consequence to me, Asagi. Already two of your sisters are dead at my hands and you will soon join them." he said.

"If you wish to kill me, then I suggest you get it over with. I know that I cannot harm you, so fighting you would only be an exercise in futility."

I saw a small tremor in Aku's muscles, his grip momentarily loosening around the bisento he held. He was taken aback by her words and so was I for that matter. Himoto and Chame had gone down fighting, why was Asagi standing there and letting him do what he wanted with her?

"How is it that you can be so calm when you are clearly standing moments away from death?" he asked.

"Because I have prepared myself for the end. I felt Himoto and Chame's deaths and knew all along that you were the cause of both. It was only natural that you would come after me next."

"Indeed. But your interference is truly useless. I will follow the Star of the Elements to Hirame, then to Chimitsu, and then it will be mine."

"The spirits of the universe tell me otherwise, Aku."

I looked between the two, first to Asagi to see her standing tall, proud, and calm in the face of her executioner. Then I turned to Aku, seeing him standing there with his grip tight around the handle of the bisento again, his knuckles whiter than the first time as his anger rose. The contrast was so unbelievable that I found myself frozen in place, too shocked at the difference in their attitudes to do anything but watch.

"They dare to speak against me?!" he roared.

"No, but they do dare to speak the truth. A truth that which even you cannot stop."

"We shall see. Your sisters will soon join you and I will put the samurai in his grave with my own two hands."

Aku was so furious at that point that if it was at all possible for him to snap the bisento in his hands, he would have. Had I been standing there for real instead of as a spirit in Asagi's memories, I would have been terrified to see him so full of hateful rage. Asagi, however, remained calm, not once moving from where she stood.

"You may destroy myself and my sisters, but you will never reach the white warrior. He has something that not even you can undo with all your black magic and twisted power. Do what you will with me, Aku, but your lust for ultimate power will be your undoing. Ultimate power corrupts ultimately, after all." she said, quietly taunting him.

"Hnf! I think I shall be the first to prove that old saying wrong. You are a fool, Asagi, to not fear your own death."

"You are the fool, Aku, to fear something so natural. Everything comes to an end sometime, even you, demon, and when your end comes, you will be cowering like the soulless being you are, afraid of losing your power."

"With the end, you, too, lose your power. Why is it that you are not afraid like you should be?"

I almost laughed at the tone I heard in his voice. He was very angry to see that he had not ruffled Asagi in all this time or drove her to fight as Chame and Himoto had. Clearly, Asagi had wanted this and had the upper hand, at least as far as words and taunting went.

"Because with death, there is always hope in rebirth. Death is mearly the end of one cycle, and the beginning of the next." she said.

This seemed to anger him more than anything else she had said so far and instantly, I could feel his power surging throughout the small temple. I tensed as it almost overpowered Asagi's calming aura, sending cold chills down my spine. Slowly, he lifted his bisento, moving it into a ready position.

Another unearthly wind tore through the small temple and the aura around him darkened. Any light that came towards it was immediately plunged into darkness, eventually taking the candlelight with it, chilling me to the bone with its immense evil power. Looking over, I saw that Asagi seemed unruffled by this display, standing tall and calm, waiting for her end with her hands tucked into the sleeves over her kimono, her eyes closed.

Panic rose in my chest as I looked between the two, knowing that I was powerless to stop the events from unfolding, wondering why Asagi just stood there instead of going down fighting. It did not make any sense!

Suddenly, all the darkness pooled together into his bisento, turning the blade into a deep purplish black color, shimmering like polished onyx and taking all light that touched it inside. The light had returned to the rest of the room, yet my heart pounded in my chest at the sight of that evil blade. Never before, in all my years of training and fighting as a samurai, had I felt such a raw, violent, evil fighting aura.

I realized then why Chimitsu's sisters were coming to me while I was unconscious in spirit form. I was not ready to fight him, not by a long shot, not while he was in his Elemental form. I needed to know what they knew before I could have any chance in fighting him to the death successfully.

He raised it over his head and behind himself, gathering all his power to strike her down in one final blow. Asagi stood there quietly, serenely, her ice blue eyes raising up to meet his cold, empty, black ones. I stayed frozen in place, realizing that this was the end and she was ready for it, not about to fight or delay it any longer.

In one quick downward strike, he flung a blast of energy made entirely out of dark shadows at her with the force of a hurricane. It was so powerful that I instinctively raised my arms to protect myself, even though I knew it could not hurt me. My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I watched it streak towards her, each second bringing her closer to her end.

It likely only took a couple seconds to reach her, but it seemed as if it was moving agonizingly slow. Inch by inch it closed in, Asagi watching it calmly, waiting for it to strike her down while I stood there, heart pounding in my chest, helpless to stop it. The moment it struck her, the blast of shadow enveloped her and then imploded for a second before it exploded outward, blasting through the room with such force that the skylight shattered into tiny pieces.

I turned away and kept my hands before my face, instinctively protecting myself from the flying glass. I knew, without even having to look to where Asagi was standing, that there was no possible way that even an Elemental such as herself could have survived such an attack. Cold, raw anger and shock rose in my chest as I realized that Aku had just struck down an unarmed woman without any shred of honor to his name. He may have worn samurai armor, but he perverted everything a samurai like myself stood for.

When the black mists had cleared, I saw that she was gone and Aku's power aura had dwindled down to normal, leaving me standing there shaking with a stunned rage building in my chest. He had crossed the line and I felt myself beginning to hate him more and more for what he had done to his fellow Elementals. Asagi was gone and a second later, so was he.

I stared at the spot where the gentle Water Elemental had been in horror, swallowing hard, wondering how and when Aku could have attained such raw power. I had encountered many magics before, but never had I seen anything so terrifyingly destructive as what I had just witnessed. I felt downright sick to know that Aku had used that power to coldly strike down his fellow Elemental, an unarmed woman, without so much as batting an eye.

Slowly, I walked over to where Asagi had been, kneeling down to find a small scorch mark in the icy stone floor. The only thing remaining of her dying essense was a small wisp of ice cold, blue-white mist in the air above that spot. It hovered there before me, as if to say goodbye, and then, it was gone, leaving me standing alone there in the solitude of her temple.

Tears rolled quietly down my cheeks as I bowed my head, squeezing my eyes shut in a vain attempt to shut out the pain of what I had just seen. Damn him. Damn Aku and his heartless disregard for life!

"Asagi...sayonara..." I said quietly, despite the rage I felt burning in my chest.

Then, it took me. A blast of icy light that came up from the kanji in the floor, sweeping me away out of her memories and back to my own body. I could only let it take me and the pain I felt, too numb to try and fight it like I had the last two times...

Again, I slowly opened my eyes, seeing Chimitsu with her back to me, quietly talking to someone shorter, but I could not see whom. The Star of the Elements hung from her hand, glowing red, orange, and now blue, the colors of the three Elemental Points that I had been given the powers to. I was feeling a bit better, but not by much, my heart aching inside at the memory of seeing three of Chimitsu's sisters die so cruelly at Aku's hands.

I struggled to sit up, but found that I was still too weak to move, a cold sweat beading on my face. Giving up, I laid back and instead tried to hear what it was that Chimitsu and the other were saying. If only I could figure out why I could not stay conscious long enough to tell Chimitsu what was happening to me...

"I don't understand. He was awake. He said my sister's name and then slipped away again. Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not. There's no known cure for this disease and it looks like he's been struck with it full force. We can do nothing but pray now. If he comes out of it at all, much less intact, he'll have done so only by his own will."

I could sense that Chimitsu was disappointed, but there was little I could do now. I began to understand why I slipped in and out of consciousness so much when there were clearly people closeby who wanted to and could help me. They could not cure me, I had to do this on my own.

Once more, I could feel myself slipping away, but I wanted Chimitsu to turn around and see that I was awake. She sounded so heartbroken to hear that there was nothing this other person could do for me except to wait and pray that I woke up again. She needed to see that I was all right, that I was awake again, but I did not have the strength to speak again.

If only...I could hang on long enough for her to turn around...and see that I was awake...

Chimitsu....please...look at me....
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War Of Shadows