The crew around Melobi stood uncomfortably, wondering if they may have misunderstood her last words that appeared to declare war on life itself. If someone of the Lesser Demon’s might would decide to eradicate life there’d be little anyone could do to stop it. Sure there were a handful of ninja or samurai that may have stood a chance at outright beating it but they were far away.
“You said that a shockwave encompassing the entire planet of the meaningless intensity I’ve shown before could swallow up the entire system in its aftermath? Just the Earth and the Moon have any signs of life so wiping all life out would be easy…” Melobi mumbled under her own nose like a child that didn’t get a toy for her birthday.
Shimo and Carnefici took fighting stances and prepared for their seemingly inevitable last stand to protect their world and life itself but they did not attack. It was because in the depths of their hearts the two knew that they stood no chance even leaving a scratch on the Lesser Demon and once they attack “ it’d be all over, the demon’s decision would be set in stone and everything anyone would say following it would fall on deaf ears.
Tendrils of sludgy gum mass expanded from Carnefici’s back standing in a shield against Notasa through the side of which the scared musician decided to peek at the unfolding situation that took a rather drastic turn. The girl then turned at her bodyguard who nodded and gestured that she should stay behind the shield even though they both knew that if the recently taken shape Lesser Demon decided to do something no shield that the man seeking redemption could provide would do any good.
“W-Wait… You said you felt joy before. The joy of birth!” Meiko uttered realizing that Mana ran out of things to say to Melobi and wishing to buy some time, just talk to the darned spoiled demon so she doesn’t eradicate all life.
“Hmph… I guess… But that feeling was so short and now I’m over it. I want to feel again, something, anything… I just can’t. Things are passing through my mind but I can’t understand them, I think some things I feel are emotions but what do they mean, really? I can’t feel the sand passing through my fingers, the chilly breeze that musicians sing off only invites sensations I can’t understand and really know feelings” Melobi answered pressing her hands together, Mana saw pebbles and dust accumulating around her hands as a translucent shockwave sphere formed inside of them. Had Melobi wished to eradicate all life she’d have done it instantly “ the demon was hesitating, there must’ve still been hope!
She had to say something, she had to somehow make Melobi reconsidering ending all life. That was what heroes did, they delivered huge speeches and they made situations better. They made bad people wish to change. And yet… Nothing momentous came to Mana’s mind, she couldn’t come up with anything that would’ve helped Melobi, nothing but her own selfish desire to save all life in the universe was in her mind and the sound demon wouldn’t have understood it. Life literally meant nothing to it, it was only a cradle of feelings which the demon craved but now that it got a taste it thought them stale and lacking. Life did not meet the demon’s thousand year hype…
“Maybe it is your shape?” Mana spoke out the first stupid thing on her mind. “I mean that white armor tissue on your body and over your skin, maybe it shields you from feeling something? You said you took shape of what music meant currently, that is you decided to embody music, why that sound specifically? Maybe embodying another sound would help you feel something?” Mana tried to reason to the best of her lacking skills, she couldn’t speak on point like a hero, she couldn’t have been one.
“I embody music because music is the sound that invokes feelings. If I embodied something like the sounds of black holes or quasars it’d be meaningless, I’d simply fade into nothingness existing as shapeless mass again or look like a giant monster or something…” Melobi angrily complained slowly walking up to Mana’s face and looking the magician right in the face.
For a moment the two looked at each other eye to eye. There was an immense pressure emitted from Melobi’s body, almost like the chakra contained within the impish newly born Lesser Demon was so great that it projected a repulsive field of aura pressure by itself just like Meiko described and if the blacksmith’s descriptions were to be trusted even Meiko’s top attack couldn’t break through it. Mana felt the pressure pushing her away from the demon but she stood tall and kept her eyes open and even to Melobi’s to the best of her abilities.
“Do you wish me to not live again? To float in space craving for being alive? I’ll know if you’re lying…” Melobi asked seriously.
Shimo and Carnefici looked at Mana with terrified glares, the Lesser Demon claimed it’d know if Mana lied and the magician was no good liar despite being quite a prodigy at the art of illusions. As far as spoken lies and not visual or auditory ones were concerned, Mana was one of the worst liars there may have been. All life could’ve been screwed, at that moment everyone would’ve told Melobi that they wished that she disappeared into Hell.
“No…” Mana replied. “I wish you to be alive and happy, not because you’re beautiful and powerful or because I’m afraid of your majesty and might. It’s because I wish for that to everyone. You’ve not lived for a single day yet, you have no idea what life or feelings are all about and alone it’ll take you a lifetime to figure them out and you don’t strike me as someone with a whole lot of patience. All I know is that if you destroy everything you’ll be alone again. You’ll be dooming everyone for a fate similar to that you were given “ fate of not being alive while you and every other Tailed Beast, Lesser Demon and elite ninja remain. You know that pain the best of everyone in the universe, do you wish to inflict it to everyone truly?” Mana asked in return.
Mana’s eyes didn’t hesitate, the pressure coming out of Melobi made Mana’s eyes tear up, it was like standing in front of a raging hurricane that no one else could see or feel but Mana’s convictions and will were strong. She was no longer strong and able like she used to be but her inner strength and desire to persevere was unwavering.
“No… No I don’t” Melobi concluded. “You are not lying, it would seem but you speak nonsense. How could I learn about feelings and life without actually living it? Would you really trust me not to destroy all life? You appear to be quite adamant of protecting it, why else would you have asked to heal everyone around you?” the demon began digging deeper into Mana’s own core. It was like it wanted to expose Mana’s own worst fears and force them to play against the argument of preserving Melobi and its life.
Mana looked to the side and noticed that everyone was scared of Melobi and they were right to be. Truth be told the magician was petrified as well, she was afraid of not only losing everyone she held dear and all the concept of life “ the ultimate failure of her dream which she’d be responsible for. Mana also feared for her own life, something that usually she never experienced. Melobi’s ancient and massive chakra must’ve played games with Mana’s sleeping chakra network, flipped it and twisted it to its own means and ends like an illusion would’ve.
“Ummm… I could teach you” Notasa’s scared but almost screaming in desperation voice spoke out. Shocked by the girl’s bravery Mana turned at her and witnessed the musician walking out from behind Carnefici’s shield which returned to its maker’s body fusing with him.
“Your voice… It’s soothing and beautiful” Melobi noted. “But how would that work? Do you wish for me simply to trust your words? How do you mean to accurately portray the experience of life, of all feelings in words? Words are but currency which we use to portray feelings to the best of our abilities, but even music “ the most sensual of arts does not accurately and consistently play our strings to the perfect extent”
“You could become Melobi’s jinchuuriki” Mana’s firm voice suggested out of the blue. The blushed magician felt everyone’s stares turn at her.
“It is much easier for Lesser Demons to be sealed inside humans. Plus if you enter her body willingly there’d be no need for a complex high rank seal to keep you in her and if you for any reason leave her body she will not necessarily die like she would if you were a Tailed Beast. That way you’d experience her feelings and the way she lives her life, both high and low, by yourself and you’d have access to Notasa-san’s heart and all her experiences. You’d quite literally share a body and mind” the magician explained.
Notasa nodded and looked at Melobi. “I make music, perhaps I could use your aid to become more artistic and create even greater masterpieces for everyone to hear. We could not only experience the world together but we’d also give birth to new palettes of feelings inside people’s hearts!” the girl confidently agreed with Mana’s suggestion.
Melobi’s head appendages floated and waved in the air as the demon thought for a while before her glowing eyes looked right in Mana’s own.
“I would love that. I’d be able to protect dear Notasa from all threats so we could live forever and experience ages of life as one body and mind. I am also curious what sort of feelings lay within the heart of a musician, someone who bends sound to their will just like I do. We are, as ones say, kindred spirits. Would you please seal me inside her?” the Lesser Demon directed her question right at Mana. Crushed by the reminder of her own disability the girl lowered her head pathetically and shook it.
“As I’ve said, a simple C-Rank seal would suffice since we’re not forcing you to be contained, we’re just going through the formality. We would require your aid with the chakra portion as containing someone of your power will require inhuman chakra reserves but the sealing portion can be performed by Meiko, she’s the best seal user of the team… Sadly I cannot use even such simple techniques” Mana concluded closing her eyes and barely containing her own sadness from having to confront her own weakness inside.
Meiko walked up to Notasa and Melobi standing in between of the two and asked for the Lesser Demon to stand right behind the girl and touch the future Jinchuuriki. Once the sealing process began, initially there appeared to be some trouble as Meiko’s body began weakening and paling right in front of Mana’s eyes but once the three-way channel between Notasa, Melobi and Meiko was established and the Lesser Demon’s immense chakra began leaking into Meiko’s body the seal erupted in dark purple colors and suddenly the majestic Melobi began to fade away before her shape began becoming one with the bursting beams of light erupting from the seal on Notasa’s back.
“Combination Sealing Technique!” Meiko chanted out the name of the technique before forcing the process onwards. Despite the technique being a relatively simple matter, placing a weak seal which Melobi would have little to no problem of breaking given the need or desire to do so, Meiko was still greatly strained due to the needed cooperation of the Lesser Demon. Combination techniques were difficult if the two weren’t in sync. Right before the beam completely absorbed the essence of Melobi Mana walked up to Notasa placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder but looking straight at the twisting and fading shape of Melobi.
“If you wish to truly be alive then you will need a name. Melobi is not your real name, it is how you are called. Usually Tailed Beasts share their real names with their Jinchuuriki after establishing trust” Mana explained what she read of Tailed Beasts during her increased off time in the archives. The interviews and tales from past Jinchuuriki that described interacting and working together with the Tailed Beasts to achieve great things. Mana was no legendary hero, she had nothing special to set her apart from the others and now she had even less. However Melobi and Notasa may just soon possess power great enough to fight off Tailed Beasts if needed. These two may soon become legendary heroes like those that embody the hope of humans and Tailed Beasts working together.
“I have not been given a name… Ten Tails did not know of my existence before it was sealed and I was not given a name since I was never technically “born” until now” Melobi’s voice spread ethereally through the ruined district of Otogakure they were in.
“Well, perhaps you may begin thinking of one to give yourself now. It is something that you and Notasa-san should do, you two are now closer than siblings, closer than spouses, after all…” Mana replied taking a couple of steps back and giving both the shapeless existence of Melobi and Notasa a firm and warm glare.
“I’d love if you named me, magician… If it weren’t for you I’d have never been given another chance at life, if it weren’t for you treating me as something more than something given birth by evil incarnate and then reborn through bloodshed I’d have never become one with Notasa” Melobi’s voice, now significantly weaker echoed.
The magician smiled before gently laughing out, “Well, I always considered musical names incredibly lyrical and quite beautiful, something like Sonata or Symphonia would fit you just fine”
“Synth…” Melobi’s voice echoed, quiet as a whisper but spreading wide and far. “I am not of natural birth, I was created by Ten Tails and then given birth through unnatural means. Despite my wish to be born I was never really born, I was created and then given direction to shape myself in. I am artificial but just like you, I choose to embrace it. Honoring your preference I’ll be named Synth…” the entity completely disappeared into a beam of light that got absorbed into a seal hieroglyph on Notasa’s back before blinking out. Just like that the sealing was over.
Notasa nodded and thanked Meiko and Mana. It must’ve been a great opportunity and joy for the young woman, Mana could only imagine what it’d be like to have an embodiment of magic for a stage magician, must’ve felt similarly to how Notasa felt right now.
“Just for the record, I still couldn’t manage to find us a place…” Kouta scratched the back of his head laughing uncomfortably.
“You lazy dickbag!” Shimo grunted out rubbing his knuckles against the young man’s head and hair forcing the young man to shout out in pain as he was bullied.
“Well, my home was also destroyed…” Notasa looked around realizing that a large portion of the district was devastated as well. Once the village finds out that Melobi resides inside Notasa it’ll really make the girl lose some popularity points. Then again, the Syndicate shall be a threat no longer.
“I have some old acquaintances I can call favors from” Carnefici grumped out in annoyance. The man must’ve had mixed feelings about the girl carrying the Lesser Demon inside of her, on one side it was dangerous as if at any point Melobi wished to escape she could’ve greatly weakening and injuring the musician. On the other hand it also made him quite useless as once Notasa learned to harness Synth’s power she’ll become near-unstoppable to any but the most elite threats.
Notasa wrapped her hands around Carnefici’s. She must’ve felt the man’s worries.
“I’ll leave my protection to you then, Carne-san!” she exclaimed. Carnefici’s face softened almost immediately after seeing that the young lady still didn’t consider him useless and didn’t toss him out like yesterday’s garbage. Treatment like that was what the old wolf was used to so seeing actual human kindness and friendship at work must’ve warmed his heart.
*****
Mana walked out to look through the balcony of an ancient classical home of an old painter whom Carnefici knew from his old days. It was odd that she and the ex-murderer had no falling outs or problems, oddly enough Mana never even spoke to Carnefici about his past despite somewhat hazily remembering the outcry of his incarceration and the huge rings of rumors and conflicts that it caused during her early years when she was but a child. Then again, was she not one now? She was. A child who took over the responsibility to talk down a Lesser Demon from destroying all life in a blink of an eye, both Earth and Moon…
“I’ve no idea how you did what you did…” Notasa smiled walking out from the same room where Mana and Notasa were housed to sleep over the remaining hours until the morning becomes day. It was once everyone rested that the musician promised to take a look at the golden sphere and reveal its contents so that Mana and the others can leave before they overstay their welcome in the village. What they did in Otogakure in just one night would shake its very foundation, Melobi’s power shook ground far beyond Otogakure’s walls and the other ninja villages will ask questions. Soon Otogakure’s criminal structures will be revealed and without so many leaders that fell that night the Syndicate will be eradicated by walking out before more trouble is made than they can scoop out. “Talking to a Lesser Demon like they’re just another friend of yours…” the girl concluded about what was admired exactly.
“Neither do I, my hands are still shaking…” Mana replied looking down. “I mean… Just a couple of years ago I was filling in paper tests and going to the Academy, now we had to prevent the destruction of everything that’s alive. Sometimes I look back at those days and think of how easy I had it back then, I get nostalgic and jealous honestly of that little magician brat with chubby cheeks” the girl smiled before Notasa joined her at the balcony and looked over the smoking panorama of the village.
“Yeah… Now that me and Synth are one… I just get the feeling like I’m wasting my time, like I should be studying her and that we should be partnering up and befriending each other as fast as possible and then… I don’t know… Saving the world? I mean… It’s similar, isn’t it? Given all this power and being taught to use it, it’s just like graduating from the Academy, suddenly you wish to do everything, to fix the world…”
“It’s different…” Mana replied, “You have the ultimate power but that doesn’t mean the ultimate responsibility. Ultimately the only responsibility we answer to is the one we take as our own, the one we place on ourselves or one we accept. I placed the ultimate responsibility on my shoulders and I barely even managed to stop one person from doing the wrong thing before dying once. I think part why I managed to think of the whole sealing thing and talk Synth-san into it was because I believed you could be the hero I could never be… Someone who could do whatever she needed or wanted to do, who could fulfil any responsibility they would accept as their own”
Notasa stood leaned over the balcony silently for a while, Mana wondered what was that all about but then the girl turned at the magician and smiled.
“Synth says she’s never seen a hero so she may be wrong but someone that protects all life from a big baby such as her deserves to be called that…”
Mana smiled acceptingly before longingly looking at the garden two floors below the balcony and looking back at Notasa.
“Be careful with the seal. It’s paper thin, one disagreement, one big fight with Synth-san and she may just break out. It might be no problem but if you’re fighting at that moment Synth-san may just end up hurting someone. You should discuss finding a stronger seal user to strengthen the seal one day with Synth-san, she might view it as a betrayal of your trust or you locking her up so you need to be sensitive about it. You two need to become friends, just using or controlling her will never work” Mana advised before turning around and walking back to bed. It was tough to think that she could sleep after just going through the most fearful experience of her life. Once again she’d remember the painful experience of nightmares and stress of ninja life keeping her awake.
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