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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
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Chimitsu's voice left no room for arguement and I walked over to her, slipping my arms around her slim waist. A moment later, she wrapped her warm wings around me, but she did not initiate the teleport. She was hesitating, torn between her duty to get me to her sister's temple and staying with the others to protect them.

Yet, in another second, her hesitation was over and she made the jump. It was momentarily dizzying as usual, but I found that I was starting to get used to dematerializing and rematerializing. The temple was as I had seen in my coma, cold and forboding in appearance, yet I realized that the inside was quite warm despite the frozen looks.

"We're here." Chimitsu said.

"Indeed. Will you be all right?"

No doubt this journey had reopened a number of old wounds for her and I was worried if she would be able to do what she needed.

"I have to be. There's no more time for mourning. Come, the Altar of Infinity is this way."

She strode down the same corridor I had seen and passed down before, her shoes and mine making quiet clicking noises against the pale blue stone. I could see through the windows many mountains, a world of icy whiteness beyond these cold, pale walls. It was almost more than I could bear, this lonely solitude so far up in the heavens above the world below.

I looked to Chimitsu as we approached a pair of heavy doors, the same ones that led to Asagi's cathedral chamber. I was unable to read the look on her face, seeing emotionlessness on her face, but a myriad of emotions in her eyes, from hatred, pain, sadness, and finally, determination. I could only try to imagine what she was thinking at that moment.

Finally, the doors pushed open, revealing the cathedral chamber, just as it had been in my coma dream. Glass lay scattered about the floor where Asagi had stood when she died, only a scorch mark remaining. I closed my eyes, swallowing hard at the memory of how she had died, blown apart into nothingness in a single instant, bravely going down without a protest.

Chimitsu's sandals made crunching noises on the millions of tiny shards of glass as she crossed the floor over the ice kanji towards the altar. I followed, shivering for a moment when a blast of icy cold air hit me from through the skylight above. I stood there, shivering, finding it incredibly difficult to move forward towards the altar, the wind chilling me clear to the bone.

"Minamoto...-chan...oh goodness, Jack, you're all blue!" she cried when she turned back, seeing I had not followed.

In an instant, she sealed off the broken skylight and I began to feel warm again. She hurried over and wrapped her wings about me from behind as she guided me over towards the Altar of Infinity. I had not managed to catch a close glimpse of it before, but now I was able to see its intricacy and incredible detail.

Four silver candleabras stood at each corner, almost as tall as I was. On the altar itself at each corner were four icy sea turtle statues, all looking as if they were in mid-swim with four other creatures on their shells. A phoenix, a white tiger, a dragon, and lastly, a pegasus.

I was beginning to see the Elemental connection here. This was Asagi's temple home, so of course there would be four turtles at each corner, but I recognized the other mystical creatures as those representing the other four Elementals. The only one I had trouble placing was the pegasus and that had to be Chimitsu's.

On the center of the altar was a circle in which was carved a star shape in the center of which was a figure eight. I lightly ran a fingertip over it, knowing I had seen such a symbol somewhere before. It almost did not seem to fit in with the rest of the pattern, but I knew that it would not be here if it was out of place.

Of course! Infinity! No matter how many times I ran my fingertip over the figure eight, I never came to a start or end, always looping over the same path over and over again.

Chimitsu-chan took the Star from around her neck and placed it directly on top of the infinity symbol before beginning to chant in the same language I had heard her and Maeven speak before. It was familiar, yet foreign, all at the same time. I could not understand the words to speak them myself, but my heart certainly understood.

I watched as the points of the Star all lit up, one by one, first the Fire Point, then Earth, then Water, then Metal, and then Wind. They flashed in that pattern faster and faster until they appeared to be glowing in unison, the colors blending until the entire amulet had gone white. It was blinding, hard to watch, yet I could not tear my eyes away.

Without warning, there was a brilliant flash of light and I could feel myself begin to dematerialize in a spontaneous teleport. It was all so sudden that there was no time to cry out, to reach for Chimitsu, or anything. In the time that I had taken to throw my arms up in front of my face to block, I had already begun to disappear from Asagi's temple.

Upon opening my eyes, I was shocked to find that I was floating in the middle of space with Chimitsu. Somehow, we had both been transported from Asagi's temple to somewhere within the depths of space, as impossible as I knew it was. I was beginning to understand now why there had been an infinity symbol on the altar, whose name was also beginning to make sense.

The Light Elemental was an Element of infinity, reaching everywhere to penetrate the darkness.

"Chimitsu-chan, where are we?" I asked.

"Infinity Castle."

"We have left Earth?"

"Yes. We're far out in space away from where we were, although I couldn't begin to tell you where exactly. This is the best kept secret in the galaxy. Only those who have been chosen by the Elementals ever see it."

"By the gods..."

I reached out, curious to find if there was anything between us and the vastness of space. My hand brushed against something that, well, I still have difficulty explaining, even to this day. It was not exactly warm, nor was it cold, solid or transparent. It was all of these things and none of them, all at the same time.

Chimitsu-chan, oddly enough, did not seem bothered in the least by it all.

I gently pressed my hand to what I thought was the wall, watching the stars on the other side ripple, shimmering as if I was looking at them through some sort of bubble. If this was the home of the Light Elemental, then I was beginning to wonder where she was. It was not like an Elemental to keep their guests waiting, after all.

No sooner had I lowered my hand from the wall than a wind tore through the area, giving the castle its shape. No wonder Chimitsu-chan had failed to move or touch anything. She knew that I would be curious and reach out to touch the castle walls.

The shape the castle took, however, was one that I was heartbroken to see, feeling a stinging pain burn in my chest at the sight. It had taken the ghostly shape of my father's castle as I remembered it as a child, shortly before Aku had appeared. I could no longer see the stars beyond these walls, only my father's castle as a phantom, right down to the tapestries, paintings, and tatami mats.

"What sort of sorcery is this, Chimitsu-chan?" I asked, my voice threatening to break.

"Infinity Castle takes on the shape its visitors give it. When you touched the wall, it felt your memories and desires to return to your father's castle and took its shape."

"Take us back, please. I wish to go home."

"I can't. Now that we're here, we cannot leave until we've been allowed."

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and forced back the painful emotions that the memories of my father's castle invoked. Chimitsu wrapped her arms and wings around me, resting her chin on my shoulder, pressing her hands warmly against my chest. I did not want to open my eyes again, to see the ghostly image of my father's castle before me.

"We must go...she's waiting for us." she finally said.

I slowly opened my eyes as she released me, taking only a second to compose myself, forcing down the stinging ache that burned in my heart. Chimitsu led the way down the halls to where my father's audience chamber had been and I followed, feeling chills as I walked these ghostly halls. Many times I had remembered these halls, my parents, my life as a child, but this was too eerie.

It was almost as if I could expect to run into one of my father's guards as I turned the corner or perhaps even run into my father himself.

Chimitsu used a bit of magic to slide the doors apart, heading inside. I followed, finding this room less ghostly and more solid than the rest of the castle, unsettling me even further. I was not entirely certain I wanted to see what or whom Chimitsu-chan was blocking, knowing that if the Light Elemental had taken the form of my father, I was never going to forgive either of them for putting such pain in my heart.

However, when she moved aside, I was relieved to see that it was not my father sitting there, but a ghostly woman that seemed to shimmer with the light. Her robes were as silver as her hair, shimmering with every color of the rainbow as it passed through her. But when she raised her head to look at me, I received a shock.

The Light Elemental was completely blind.

I froze, not certain what to say, the sight of those opaque eyes sending chills down my spine. I could feel her watching me, her eyes following me as I stood there. Chimitsu-chan said nothing, waiting patiently off to one side with her wings folded against her back.

After a few moments of contemplation, the Light Elemental beckoned me forward to kneel in front of her. I did not dare hesitate and did so, setting my katana to my right with the hilt facing behind me. As soon as I had done so, the Light Elemental reached out and took my hands, hers feeling warm like my mother's.

Finally, she smiled.

"It is good to see you at last, Minamoto-san. You're everything I knew you would be. Strong, tall, handsome, with a heart that not even my counterpart cannot corrupt." she said.

"I mean no insult, but I have heard this before. I am who I am, but what does it have to do with the Star of the Elements?"

She paused for a moment, her opaque eyes meeting mine for a moment before she chuckled, looking down to my hands.

"Ahh, the ambitiousness of youth. Long has it been since I have seen such a strong, youthful spirit. Tell me, do you know why we Elementals have favored not only your family bloodline, but you over all the others?" she asked.

"I thought it was because of my pure heart."

Once more, she chuckled, but it was not a mocking sort of laughter. Honestly, I did not know what to make of this enigmatic, omnipotent spirit.

"Ohh, it is not just because of that. Rare is it that a Minamoto does not have a pure heart. That alone does not make you able to wield both the sword and the Star of the Elements."

"What? You mean the Star and my sword have never been used together by the same warrior before?"

"Of course not! What a silly thing to think!"

I blinked. How on earth could it be silly to not have the two together? This was getting more and more bizarre by the minute and I was beginning to regret crawling out of bed that morning.

"Silly? Forgive me, but I do not understand how it could be silly."

"Of course you wouldn't. Using the Star with that sword is as natural a thought to you as breathing and protecting. But, to others, they never think to use the two together as they were meant to be used. They are powerful weapons apart from each other, yes, but they are even more powerful when used together, understand?"

"Yes, but only if I knew how to use the Star of the Elements. I know its power has been activated, but I do not know how to harness that power in order to use it."

"My dear Minamoto, you mean to tell me that you don't know how to use the activated power?"

I shook my head, feeling more than a little bit ashamed of myself. I could feel her compassionate gaze rest upon me, not accusing or even scolding, simply sympathetic. It was clear that she already knew everything that had gone on for myself and Chimitsu-chan and that we had neither one had thought about trying to use the Star's power before now.

"I see now. The demon has been keeping you both so busy with the chaos that he has created that you neither one thought to actually try summoning the power. You both thought it would simply come to you when needed. Tell me, child, do you wear the amulet often?" she asked.

"Wear it? I have only seen it whole a few times. I have never worn it."

She appeared panicked for a moment before shooting Chimitsu a reprimanding look.

"Do you have it with you? Tell me you have not lost it."

"I have it." Chimitsu said, taking it from around her neck and bringing it over.

The Light Elemental seemed more than a little relieved and took it in her ghostly hands, looking it over as Chimitsu knelt beside me.

"You silly girl. You've had it on your neck this whole time?" she asked, not exactly scoldingly, but almost amusedly.

"Yes. Aku has bounty hunters and people looking everywhere for Jack. I didn't dare let him carry the Star out of fear it would fall into the wrong hands. I felt it was necessary for me to carry it until it was needed."

Once again the Light Elemental laughed and shook her head, drawing a furious blush to Chimitsu-chan's cheeks as she gave a bow of apology.

"Whatever possessed you to think that Aku could get his hands on it after its power had been activated?" she asked.

"I don't know. I simply thought that when the powers didn't reveal themselves, it wasn't time to use the Star. It was whole when I received it from my sisters and he'd tried to steal it from me then. I didn't know that there was any real difference between then and now."

"Except that it had not been activated when you first received it. It's attuned to him now and Aku could never take it away from him, much less use it. There was always a need to worry when it was deactivated, but now he'll never be able to get his hands on it. You neither one need to fear it falling into his hands now. Actually, you are quite fortunate he never thought to chase you, Chimitsu, dear. If he had, he might have succeeded in stealing it and making it difficult for you two to retrieve it, but he will never be able to use it now that it's activated and attuned to Jack."

"I do apologize."

"It isn't your fault. That demon's given all of us a reason to be exceptionally careful around him. He's done things that he should never have been able to do. I suppose that's my fault."

I was shocked, although Chimitsu had not moved from her bowing position.

"Your fault? How could it be your fault?" I asked.

"Because I tried to be fair and lenient with him. He's the fourth Dark Elemental we've had and I had hoped that being kinder would keep him from getting out of hand. Instead, it simply made him think of us as weak and drove him to test us, see how far we'd let him go. Now it is all in your hands, young samurai."

"I see."

She sighed a little and folded her hands in her lap, the Star resting upon her knuckles.

"I do not blame you. You were trying to do things differently, to keep the Dark Elemental under control and it backfired. I suppose that...even Elementals can make mistakes." I said quietly.

Her opaque eyes watched me carefully, her expression kind and motherly.

"Now that, is the reason why you are favored best among your entire family line, Jack. Your wisdom and forgiveness. You understand that people make mistakes and try to see the best in everyone until they have proven they won't change for the better. Others have tried, but you are the only one to ever succeed. Your own hard life here on Aku Earth where your honorable ways are outlawed and ways you know to be outlawed are the law has given you a view on things that nobody else in your bloodline ever has or will see. You know what it is like to make mistakes and be on the wrong side of the law, even if you never changed your morals and ways."

"Yes, but there are things that I have done...that I wish I could take back, that I had never done or said."

"But you know that you cannot. Why do you think you have not committed seppuku yet when you have had plenty of opportunity for it?"

"Because the people here need me. There is nobody else to do what I must do."

"Oh, if you had gone through with it, there would be others. If you had truly wanted to atone for all the sins you think you've committed, you wouldn't have been stopped by all those people depending on you, or even my daughter's love for you."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you haven't done it because you know that it won't change anything. That your death won't change what happened in your home time, in this future, and what you have said or done. You know that it won't bring back those lost or who will be lost or take back any of the horrors you have seen in your short life. You remain alive because you're driven to set things on the right track."

"But what if I commit seppuku afterwards?"

"You won't. I know you better than you know yourself, Jack. When things have been set completely right again, you'll have done more than enough to atone for any sin you think you've committed. The Star and that sword you hold, they're nothing special. They have great power, yes, but that isn't what makes them special. It's you, Jack. Its the power you hold in here...that makes them special."

Her hand reached out and gently pushed the folds of my kimono open, baring my chest, where she gently placed one hand over my heart with the Star pressed between them. I could feel a warmth there, pulsing with each heartbeat, completely in tune with my very being. Oddly enough, it felt as if it completed me, as if something had been missing all this time and the Star was what was needed to make me whole.

"I...I do not understand. How does one man and not another make these items special?" I asked.

She chuckled softly, slowly lowering her hand and the Star.

"The items alone are not special because their power is indiscriminate. It can be used for light or darkness. They don't think or have emotions. You, on the other hand, you make them special when nobody else can because you have emotions. You have love, compassion, purity. Even when faced by the very evils that commonly befall humankind, you still resist. Surely you haven't forgotten Hub Four now, have you?"

Slowly, it came back to me. How Chimitsu-chan and I had gone in to find the last Dark Elemental and how we had nearly succumbed to her spell of lust and desire. The other spells cast by the other Dark Elementals had been easy to spot and fight, but when it had been cast to bring out emotions Chimitsu-chan and I had denied ourselves, it had nearly cost us. Only by realizing our folly and admitting, if only to ourselves, how we felt, had we escaped.

"I see. Others fall so easily when they think of their own goals and desires. But my goal is not just my own, but the goal of every good and decent person in this twisted world. In Hub Four, Chimitsu and I had nearly forgotten about what our mission was and almost gave into desires we had purposely denied ourselves for the sake of what we had to do. We were willing to sacrifice something very personal if it meant the freedom of this world." I said.

"Yes. You both wanted love and companionship with each other, but even that wasn't worth letting Aku rule this world. You would have rather caused yourselves misery than let him cause it in everyone. And it was worth it, wasn't it? You escaped the spell to not only fight another day, but you both found, if only for one night, what you desired most."

My face burned furiously with a blush as I realized that she had known what Chimitsu-chan and I had done the night before. I could hear Chimitsu shifting a bit uncomfortably beside me, yet the Light Elemental simply chuckled. I could not bring myself to look up at either of them.

"Oh, come now. You two held out longer than you should have. Everybody knew how head over heels you were for each other, yet you continued to deny each other until you couldn't stand it any longer. There wasn't a thing wrong with what you two did. It was all a matter of timing. The Dark Elemental's spell may have brought out those desires, but you both knew that the timing wasn't right in Hub Four. It was right when you finally did give into each other. By accepting your human limitations and desires, Minamoto-kun, it only made you stronger." she said.

"How could it possibly make me stronger?"

"Because you're willing to admit that you can't do everything, even though you wish you could. By accepting the fact that you have limitations, instead of thinking you're a god as Aku does, you've proven yourself to be no fool. The demon will foolishly try to extend his limitations, to do more than is possible, and it'll only do him in. You know yourself better than he knows himself and have accepted everything you are and can do. Instead of trying to do what you know you cannot, you do what you can and no more."
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War Of Shadows