Chapter 8- Demon Copy.

Uh, my head hurts.

"Hey, she's coming around!" a voice spoke. "Tell the King!"

King? Oh wait- I shot upright and gasped. Looking around, I was sitting on a bed, in an unfamiliar room. There were demons around me. Level 20 and below. Not dangerous. They stared at me as if I'd turned into a kitten.

A high-leveled demon, around 80 and above materialized in front of my bed and smiled. "Good evening, dearest. Had a nice sleep?" he asked.

I glared at him. Who is him anyway? Then realized I was unable to speak, or move. Panic rushed in.

"Don't worry. I just had to bound you or you'll make a great fuss." He said and went to me, closer and closer. I breathed in sharply, controlling my temper, feelings, anger, whatsoever.

"Hello, my name is Jinx. Nice to meet you, I'm son number one seven eight. Aiming for the Number One." He introduced.

Jinx. Huh, would be good if I could kick his ass by now. Kidnapping me just to get Akashi. Hella that would work! He's much stronger than these little shits! He rounded on me then hummed as he got out of the room. I turned to the demons around me.

One of them smiled. "Hello, little girl." He waved. I just blinked. "I think you can move now." The other said and I tried to lift my hand and it worked.

"Whoa," I croaked. "Anyone have water?"

The first one took the appearance of a Chinese teenager with long hair that reached her mid-back and was wearing a t-shirt with jeans.

The second took the appearance of a young man around his mid-twenties wearing a kimono. His hair is neatly cut and combed.

The third took the appearance of a young woman around her thirties, wearing a white blouse and blue skirt.

Fourth is a man in his thirties, too, wearing a simple navy blue t-shirt and black jeans.

I'm still in my school uniform. The teenager handed me a glass of water. I took it and just as I was about to drink it, I hesitated. "Drink. It's safe I swear." The teenager said. So I finished the whole glass and handed it back to her.

"You'll be killed," the man in the blue t-shirt said.

The teenager slapped his arm.

"The Red Emperor won't be able to come in here."

I frowned. "Why?"

"This is the underground part of the Hell. The Red Emperor had vowed to not step in this very place for three years and this will be the last year. But the day where he will be able to come in will be the day after tomorrow. Jinx would have killed you by that time." The girl said.

"Why did he make such vow?" I questioned.

"Once, his loyal follower, that dragon, was kidnapped here and the Emperor made a big mess. The Demon King made him vow not to enter here for three years and he had been keeping his promises. I don't know if he will break it just for you."

I bit my lower lip. I just hope he won't do such reckless thing. Suddenly, Jinx appeared before us. The girl gasped in shock. "Geez, don't make me shock!" she said.

Jinx turned to her. "You dare talk back to me, Xiao Hua?" he asked in a menacing manner.

The girl, a Chinese I suppose, whom Jinx called Xiao Hua, looked scared and shook her head vigorously. "Well, just for a demonstration...." Jinx glanced at me then back to Xiao Hua. "I'll show Seiryuu how powerful I am." He grinned.

"NO!" Xiao Hua screamed.

I frowned as Jinx raised his hand and generated a ball of black energy then threw it to her. Xiao Hua tried to run but the ball managed to hit her. She screamed in agony as her body bloated bigger and bigger then exploded. Fleshes scattered everywhere. I gritted my teeth.

"You shouldn't have killed her!" I yelled and kicked his head. He was thrown sideways then quickly shot up to his feet. The other demon servants immediately pulled me, attempting to stop me from running away but their grips were weak so I knew, they weren't really trying to.

"Damn, I forgot to bind you. Geez, this girl." Jinx sighed as he wiped the blood coming off his mouth. I tried to move but they gripped tighter.

"Bring her to my throne room." Jinx ordered and I was dragged to a huge room with lots of Snake Mothers in there. I made a disgusted face. Jinx sat on the biggest chair in triumph.

"Now, for the last moment is to wait for the Red Emperor to barge in!" he laughed.

Before I could voice out my protest, the ground shook and I staggered off my feet. Three figures appeared behind Jinx. I recognized Hiro.

"Hey there, Seiryuu! Glad you're safe!" Hiro waved his hand and Jinx stood up.

"Hey bitch, I'll take it easy on you guys if you let her go now." Hiro said. The demon servants let me go.

"What are you guys doing!?" Jinx yelled.

"I plead allegiance, Lord!" three of the servants bowed on their knees upon Hiro. Hiro grinned and clapped his hands.

"Yeay! Another three!" he smiled then waved his hand as the three of the demons disappeared.

"You've got nowhere to run, Jinx." Hiro said. "Just give her back." He added.

"No need begging, Wing." The figure beside Hiro spoke. She has turqoise-greenish hair that reached the floor, her eyes small like a Chinese, her skin white almost pale. She was wearing a beautiful kimono that matched her hair. The other has black hair and he wore a kimono too. Black. All black.

And then it hit me. The Blue Empress and the Black Emperor!

"I'll come back for you, bitch!" Jinx spat and disappeared. Hiro went to me.

"Come, girl. You're probably exhausted." He said and right after that, an explosion erupted between us, making me thrown backwards. I cursed mentally and looked up.

My orbs widened. In front of me is nothing like any demons I've seen before. A burning phoenix flapped its wings, making fire sparkles rained down. I managed to dodge all of it. It was so big and scary.

"Seiryuu!" a voice called.

"Hiro!" I called back.

"Stay where you are! We'll clear the demons!" he shouted. I bit my lower lip. The phoenix was making an unintelligible screeching sound and it's as if it was talking to me. I stared at it. A strange desire boiled within my body. On cue, the phoenix generated a ball of fire and fired at me. I rolled to one side harshly and tried to be off from the phoenix's view.

But it was useless, as soon as I dodged its attack, it fired again countlessly. Cursing, I looked around, to see if there's any exit.

"Damn it!" I muttered and wished so hard that I'd have something to defend right now. Ugh! The phoenix made a sound once again and its wings attempted to wrap around me.

"Relax your body and mind. This is the essence of the Fire Phoenix.Stay deep within...."

Akashi's voice resonated in my head. I exhaled sharply and stared at the phoenix that's piercing gaze onto me. I cleared my mind off everything. The panic, the fear, the efforts.The phoenix froze in place and my orbs widened in surprise.

Suddenly, Hiro's victory cry could be heard and a certain sword slashed through the phoenix. The huge bird made a sick sound and disappeared, splattering black liquids everywhere.

"Ew, demon essence." I groaned and tried to wipe it off me.

Hiro went to me, his face clearly showed that he's tired. "That was amazing!" he panted and kept his sword. The Black Emperor and Blue Empress approached as well.

"So this is Sei's new disciple?" the Blue Empress asked, her eyelashes so long and pretty she looked like a celebrity (it rhymes XD).

Hiro nodded. "I see none of her techniques, thus, I can't confirm if she's worth it. Or Sei is just mistaken." The Black Emperor butted in.

Hiro shook his head, disagreeing. "Nope. Sei was the one who took her in so obviously she has something." He retorted.

From the corner of my eyes I swear I could see a gust of black dust swirling higher and higher off the ground. And then a figure formed. "Um....guys...." I spoke.

Hiro stopped arguing with the Black Emperor and turned his head to the direction I'm looking at. "What the fuck is that?" he cursed.

"Wing, language." The Blue Empress warned and she got into a defensive stance.

The figure transformed again and formed.... "Suzuko?" I frowned.

"Who?" Hiro queried.

Suzuko (or what I thought is her) fell on her knees and elbow, sobbing, panting, gasping for air. "H-help..!" she rattled. I approached.

"Seiryuu, don't!" Hiro tried to stop me but I dodged his grab and ran to Suzuko.

She looked up when I got in front of her. She's Suzuko but I can't sense the humanity in her. There were nothing. She's like an empty bottle, generated from factory. "S-seiryuu! Help me!" she croaked and tried to reach for my hand. I quickly backed away.

"Sei-" before she could finish her sentence, a ball of yellow energy hit her and she exploded. I blinked, confused then turned my head around.

"She's not whoever you think she is." The Blue Empress said softly. I dropped my head and stared at my feet.

"We should report this to Sei. He'd be surprised by these pests we found down here." Hiro said and we headed out through that one door. As soon as we were out, a Snake Mother came in the way.

"Ooh, going somewhere, sweethearts?" she hissed.

"Wing, take them out. I'll handle this." The Black Emperor said and a sword appeared in his hand.

The Snake Mother grinned. "Oh no, she's not going anywhere." And as fast as lightning, lunged at me with full speed. I rolled to the side and raised my arm to defend because I have no other way out.

Suddenly, a sword appeared in my hand and I quickly swung at its head, making her groan in pain. I stared at the sword in horror like WHERE THE HELL DID THIS COME FROM!?!! I realized this is the sword that I used for training with Akashi, the white and golden katana.

"Wow, you could summon it." Hiro stated.

"No it wasn't me." I said.

The Snake Mother regained her composure. I was trapped and Hiro attempted to help but I swung my sword at her again and did a roundhouse kick before smashing her head on the floor. Before she could get up, I sliced my sword on her neck and she dissipated into black air, splattering demon essence everywhere. I made a disgusted face.

"Hm," the Black Emperor wondered out loud. "She's really something. Bravery of a tiger and speed of a snake." He commented.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Told ya~" Hiro shrugged, grinning.

Suddenly a groan was heard behind me and we turned our heads. My orbs widened. "A-Akashi!!" I gasped.

Hiro frowned and approached. "Sei?"

There stood Akashi Seijuurou, his face ashen, the expression plastered on his face clearly shows that he's in pain. His hair was a mess and he was barely visible.

"Dear God, you're such a stubborn fox!" the Blue Empress pushed Hiro away and touched Akashi's shoulder.

Akashi panted. "I just.... wanted to make sure.. everything's al..right...."

"Hiro," I turned to face Hiro. "Why is he-"

"That is a thought projection. You won't believe how much energy he used just to transport here, underground, with no permission from the Demon King whatsoever. And the sword.... that must be him, sending it to you." Hiro said grimly.

I frowned.

"Hm, Sei has becoming much stronger. I would've been a goner if I were to generate that much energy." the Black Emperor stated.

"Go back, Seijuurou. She's fine." The Blue Empress said sharply.

Akashi gritted his teeth in pain and disappeared.

"Let's send this precious girl back home or that stupid fox will appear again." The Black Emperor broke in.