Shrouded Figure

The ground beneath the feet of Ki was damp and sticky and when she had looked beneath herself, there was a large pool of blood that was blackened that was sticking to the bottom of her silk shoes.

It was like a sticky and slimy bloody substance that made it difficult for Ki to move her body from where she had stood.

One attempt to pull up her leg had resulted in the sticky substance being stretched out until it had pulled her foot back down.

The substance spread out and the black void around her had started to move slightly and a red light started to be mixed among the darkness in every direction.

The mist descended once the pool underneath her had spread out further around the environment around Ki then the two had connected once they had met.

The two started to mix together and the shape started to become more solid than before.

A figure had appeared standing on the blackened sticky blood pool further away that was shrouded by the red and black mist.

There was two red glowing eyes behind the mist that had a penetrating stare that was aimed towards Ki. "You have finally returned. This time you will not escape me."

The hand of the figure had moved and the mist had formed a large hand that had grasped towards the body of Ki that was stuck in place without any resistance.

Ki opened her mouth as she watched the hand coming towards herself. "It seems that we have no time to talk. You are already on the attack.."

The hand was getting closer as it was about to hold onto and squeeze the body of Ki but Ki did not show any fear or resistance to it.

It seemed all too familiar to Ki from the previous encounter but there was some other elements that had been added to it.

There was fear, self doubt and a myriad of different negative emotions that she felt back then that was then accompanied with a complete feeling of helplessness.

It was like she could not resist and that everything that was hers was no longer useful since it was being restricted or taken away to be used against her.

The environment was not her own and soon the hand would strip her of what had remained as her own.

The black and red mist that was in the shape of a clawed hand had caught her body but Ki continued to keep her gaze on the shrouded figure that stared with her with red glowing eyes. "Sorry but I cannot afford to lose to you this time. You no longer have any power over me."

The figure had snorted in response as the grasp of the hand had tightened around Ki. "We will see. Do you think that all that you have done during this time has gone unnoticed by me? Do not forget that I am you. You still fear me."

There was a gloomy and vengeful atmosphere that was felt from the figure which had increased once the hostility towards Ki had risen.

A gentle smile appeared on the face of Ki. "I know it and you know it. I have had a lot of time to contemplate over the things you mentioned last time and I now have some answers for those things that I could not respond to the last time we met."

The voice spoke again. "You truly are a foolish woman. Quit trying to stall. Soon your body will be mine… huh? What have you done?"

The figure had paused in a moment of shock once they realised something was strange. 'It is not working?'

The aim of the heart demon was to capture and take everything from Ki as she fell into a hopeless situation but it did not happen.

Everything that belonged to Ki should have been stripped away the moment that she had been caught but it did not happen.

Ki had stood there without any resistance and was unharmed by the mist that had surrounded her. "I figured it all out."

The voice had sounded increasingly eerie as it replied. "What did you figure out?"

Ki continued to speak as she had waved her hand. "It was actually very easy for me to figure out once I had fought about it for a long time. You gave me enough clues the previous time I came here."

A small part of the hand had been dispersed a little with a wave of her hand. "I thought so. This place is not your domain, it would be more correct to call it ours but it seems to be mostly influenced by the negativity of both of us. This negativity does not aid me in any way while it will a source of further power for you."

Ki continued to casually wave her hand over her body like she was dusting off some dirt that was attached to her clothing while watching the response of the figure in front of herself.

The red glow in the eyes of the figure had grown brighter and flickered a little at times to show their irritation towards the things Ki had pointed out. "Do you really think that this is enough to get through this?"

Ki had nodded in response and showed that she was undisturbed by the taunt. "My negative feelings will only further empower you and will let you gain further control over me so I cannot let the power fall into your hands at this time. I am sorry.

We need to settle things for good so I will begin. You are my past, present and future. You are made up of all my past experiences that have formed from every negative part of them, the present things accumulated on top of that with every passing moment that passes then there are the future things that I can foresee myself doing.

We are the child that lost her family due to her weakness. We are the child that escaped but still lived a life full of suffering. We are the child that was saved but was too weak to stop her masters death. We are the child that roamed the lands encountering each miserable truth of this world.

We are that child that grew up with vengeance and grief in her heart. We are that same child who did many evil acts in the name of vengeance. We are the same child that grew into an old lady who had little time to savour her victory and revenge.

We are that old lady that would rather go down fighting someone far above her own power than surrender or cower. We are the child that would have had to go through those experiences if I had not come back like I did."

As Ki was going on and was listing each moment of her life along with each of the deeds she had committed along with the things she had felt during that time, the figure behind the cloud had started to writhe around suddenly.

The single figure broke apart and it had split into two figures that were smaller in size than the original state.

It continued to do the same as if each part that made up the figure that was her heart demon was being identified.

Each negative part that had been a part of Ki that had built up during the time before and after her regression had gathered together to form a strong heart demon that threatened to destroy or take over her during her time of self doubt or weakness.

Any hostility or other negative parts that came up would only provide it with more power but Ki had sent nothing but her gentle and warm feelings towards it.

The power that it possessed had not diminished in any way but it was being split apart into each form that broke away from the original figure that had stood there.