To Activate Massive Mayhem, Just Add Water

[Amara<3]

Keera paused as the dagger hit the wood closest to her head. It did surprise her a little, but only for a second when Mini started talking again. Keera had been planning interrupting Mini during her little speech, but was cut off by the girl's own middle of the sentence silence.

Naraku stared back at Nayr through the dark. This human had pinpointed his location without even trying. This was strange. Mini had called for a HUMAN? What was she thinking?

Mini, you didn't call Nayr. He came because Keera asked him to. You only met him because Keera sent him to meet you a while ago. She brought him here to distract you from her purpose in coming here. They're both against you and I, don't be fooled by his prescence, Naraku lied, making something up on the spot. If he could make her believe this lie, Mini would take them both out. He didn't need to speak out loud to Mini, so he could feed her lies and Nayr and Keera would never know what he was doing.

Keera followed Naye's gaze and wondered exactly the same thing Naraku had - how did a mere human know where Naraku was hiding? She thought about it though, and decided he had to be something more. No human could walk through this miasma, either. "Sorry to burst your reunion, but if she's asking you why you are here, then asking her why you are isn't going to get you anywhere. Naraku has erased that memory," Keera said, as if it should have been obvious. "Along with everything she and I have been through together, it seems."

[Mini]

A vein nearly popped in Mini's forehead as Nayr referred to her as a "little girl." She blinked several times, and oddly enough, her eyes seemed to turn from the strange purple they had been to a very bright blue color. Her shoulders were visibly twitching as Nayr kept right on talking, but Mini really wasn't listening. Once he finally finished, she snapped.

"Little girl?! LITTLE girl?! Listen, you ogre, I'm not LITTLE! I'm taller than five feet, for your information! Sure, you might have a couple inches on me, and Keera's kinda taller than me, but I'M NOT THAT SHORT, SO DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!!! And another thing, why the hell would I tell Keera, someone you don't even know-- oh wait, you don't know anyone, because YOU NEVER LEAVE THAT STUPID LITTLE HUNK OF ROCK YOU LIVE IN, DO YOU?! But anyway, my point is, why would I tell Keera to bring you here?!? And what are you even talking about?! I don't--"

Mini stopped right in the middle of her sentence and froze where she stood. It was as if there was something else going on that had stolen her complete and total attention and also made her forget that she had been in the middle of talking (more like yelling) to Nayr. Keera said something under her breath, but that didn't even seem to register. Mini shut her eyes for a moment or two, took a deep breath, then turned her icy purple eyes to Keera.

"Feeding more of your lies to people, huh Keera? Nayr, I don't know what she told you, but it was more than likely some sort of elaborate lie. What did she tell you, huh? That I was trapped here against my will or something? She's really good at lying, and she's really good at making anything sound like the truth. I never called for you. I never called for you. Keera lied to you to drag you here and help her kill me," she said, practically spitting the words out of her mouth. She turned to Nayr, scowling darkly.

"Go home, Nayr. You don't belong here. This isn't your battle. You'll just wind up getting hurt. I'm giving you one chance - leave now, or die."

[Nayr]

Nayr's eyes, usually so full of life even when tired or confused, went steely. He strode forward, heedless of whatever danger, hauled off, and smacked Mini right across the face. When she faced him again, he stuck his index finger right into her personal bubble, pointed right between her eyes.

"I'm a reasonably patient man, Mini, and I admit to living in isolation. But don't you dare tell me I don't know the difference between truth and falsehood. It was your voice, your words, your desperation. Keera and I have barely exchanged two words since we met up. All I told her was that you called me. All she told me was that she had no idea why you would want someone like me here. You're the one who interrupted that solitude you seem to so revile, asking me as a personal favor to go find Keera. There she is, Mini. Here I am. You asked me to come, and here I am. I've come a long way, and through more than a little weirdness, so don't dare tell me that I don't know your voice when I hear it."

He turned and walked back a little ways, making a point of baring his back to her.

"I'm not going home, so if you're going to kill me, get on with it."

[Amara<3]

"Mini listen to him," Keera said, taking a deep breath. "He's telling you the truth."

No, they're trying to pit you against me. Keera faked her death and left you with me. If she wanted you to go with her, she wouldn't have left you behind. It's the same thing she did with her son, and then stole him away from me like she's trying to do with you. Don't listen to them, Naraku spoke in her mind again. He was getting through to her without breaking so much as a sweat.

"Why aren't you speaking?!" Keera yelled to the darkness where Naraku stood, finally losing her cool. She raised her hand to shoot an attack at him when his puppet jumped from another dark doorway, slicing the doppelganger head clean off. She'd lost her focus simply a second, and that's what Naraku had been waiting for. The baboon pelted puppet landed crouched, and then stood up straight as Keera's doppelganger fell backward, it's head rolling a couple feet away from the body.

Naraku then stepped out of the darkness where he'd been. His long dark hair flowed in a mess about his body, red eyes locked on Nayr's back. Nayr would have definitely seen his Allie fall so easily, which should put some doubt in his mind about his chances here. "Now what are you going to do, human? You're here alone." Of course, he knew Keera was flying -how she was doing that he didn't know- somewhere up above them. She'd come down in a minute, but for now, he'd play up the fact she'd let herself die and left him alone to try and get away.

[Mini]

Caught completely off of her guard, Mini stumbled backwards a step or two as Nayr slapped her so hard she literally saw stars. It was quite a startling experience, being hit so hard that her vision exploded into all sorts of colors, fringed on the edges with a pulsating redness. He had hit her so hard that her head had snapped back, causing her neck to twist at an awkward and painful angle. On top of all of that, actually getting slapped right in the face really, really hurt!

Tears welled up in her bright blue eyes, mostly from the shock and the sting of being smacked in the face. She stared incredulously at Nayr as she gingerly rubbed her red cheek.

"You... You hit me! Y-You didn't just hit me, you... you SLAPPED me! You... You..." she stammered, staring at Nayr with a hint of what looked like actual fear in her eyes. She took a step away from him just as she turned his back on him.

Mini just stood there, horribly confused and growing increasingly concerned about the situation she suddenly found herself in. The sky rumbled above them. Lightning danced through the clouds. Naraku was telling her more things, but Keera was talking at the same time, and she was still trying to comprehend why Nayr was here, what he was talking about, and why he had slapped her. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it.

And then, to make matters even worse, Naraku's puppet jumped out of nowhere and... sliced Keera's head off? Blood spewed everywhere as the head rolled across the ground and her headless body crumpled to the ground. To make matters even MORE worse, out of the shadows came Naraku, in all of his evil glory. He said something to Nayr, but Mini didn't hear a word of it. She was too busy trying to process what she had just seen.

"You-- You just-- K-Keera-- she was-- but you-- her-- she-- she can't-- that's not-- she... she can't... n-no! NO!" was all that managed to come out of the pink-haired warrior as she stumbled backwards, tripping over herself in an effort to not step in a puddle of Keera's blood.

[Nayr]

To say that Nayr watched calmly as Keera was beheaded so casually before him would be to lie greatly. To say that he feared Naraku in that moment, however, even alone as he was, would be to likewise lie.

As he watched the girl's head tumble from her shoulders, he came near unto the same insensibility that had gripped Mini. His salvation was the prompt appearance of the demon Naraku, upon whom Nayr laid eyes for the first time. He still felt the rising panic to its fullest measure, but it was as though something had shunted it to one side, to be felt privately and not permitted to influence action. In its place rose that terrible calm Nayr had felt when he faced the dragon the day he first met Mini.

"I'm going to do what I came here to do," he said in reply to the demon's question, "I'm leaving this castle and Mini's coming with me."

Yeah, right. Me and what army? the panicked part of Nayr accused, We saw what he did to Keera!

Shut it, some part of him responded, I'm busy.

Nayr didn't outwardly acknowledge any of this, even if he did find it unsettling to talk to himself and receive an answer. Instead, he stood firm, staring right at the demon who'd beheaded Mini's friend. She knew the risks, he told himself, and she'd expected him to break and run at the first sign of trouble. At least he'd prove her wrong before he was killed...

[Mini]

((Keera has instructed me to break the sacred rites of the Turn Order!))

Something clicked inside of Mini's head. Even being this close to Naraku, even having a jewel shard embedded in her arm, even bein
g in the midst of the thickest part of miasma there was surrounding the castle, she somehow managed to completely and fully regain control of herself. She wasn't quite sure how it happened, but it just did. Perhaps Naraku was distracted.

Memories rushed back to her along with this accomplishment. She vividly remembered Keera coming up to her not too long ago. She remembered what she had told her, and she also remembered calling out to Nayr. Why of all people had she called Nayr?! He was nice enough, sure, but after what she had seen with the dragon, she knew there was something very different about him. He wasn't a demon, and yet he certainly exhibited some very demonic traits on that faithful day.

It took her half a second to formulate a plan. It was a horrible plan, one that would probably result with her in a whole world of pain as soon as Naraku used the jewel shard to try and gain control of her again, but for now, she was free. She had to get Nayr to leave.

Mini quickly spun around and dove towards Naraku, trying her best to slam her small knife into his side. It wouldn't do much damage, but it would certainly tick him off and hopefully distract him. If her knife didn't hit home the first time, she would continue trying to stab at him until she landed it somewhere on his person. Meanwhile, she attempted to tackle her master to the ground, delivering a swift kick to the knee and a punch to the nose.

"Nayr, RUN! Get out of here, now!! Don't worry about me, just RUN! Naraku is too dangerous, too strong! I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you! Please, just RUN!"

[Amara<3]

Naraku was surprised as Mini turned and began to assault him. He dodged the knife attack first, and moved swiftly away from her. He hadn't expected this to happen, so he hadn't brought a weapon out with him. He should have known Mini had something up her sleeve when Keera's doppelganger had slipped into the area. The Nayr must have been here to be her awakening. As Mini attempted to kick him, he grabbed her leg and threw into a wooden post while keeping an eye on Nayr and the real Keera who'd dropped from the sky quicker than he'd ever seen her move. It had to have something to do with the fox part of her that she acquired recently.


Keera kept close watch from the sky, though she was nowhere to be seen. What are you waiting for?" the fox asked her. What WAS she waiting for? The rain? Mini was back to normal, and the rain was now threatening to fall. One more bolt of lightning would break the small bit of calm that was left up there. She had to go down now, or let Mini take a beating from Naraku... and Nayr might possibly end up as part of the problem rather than the resolution.

As the puppet turned to Nayr, Keera was like a shot, like lightning itself hitting the ground beside the puppet. She was barely there for a second before she ripped through the baboon pelt with her sword. Her wings, she realized, were still out and very much visible to anyone who may be watching. As the puppet fell and disintegrated, Keera turned to look at Nayr with a reassuring smile, and then to Mini with a concerned look.

This Keera was a great contrast to the one who had been travelling with Nayr. This was one was still tall and pale with the lightest, palest blue hair, but her clothing was much more suited for battle. She was in black pants and shirt, black fabric mesh running down her arms. It all made her look more pale than the other one. The sword she held was a pristine white crystal, the hilt red like blood, almost of a crystal like material.

"Mini, if you insist on fighting him," Keera spoke out loud, like she'd first talked to Nayr before they met. "Stay in the porch where there's cover, it's about to rain and you don't need to acquire that fish tail." She looked to Nayr and spoke normal to him, as they weren't too far apart. "Sorry about that. Hadn't realized he had a puppet waiting in there. Sort of a disadvantage of not coming in myself, I can't sense a whole lot of anything."

[Nayr]

Oh dear. Things were turning into a right storm of trouble, weren't they? Keera's beheading, Mini going postal on Naraku and telling him to run, and oh yeah, Keera reappears with wings this time. Turned out she had sent some kind of double or something in the front way. What was that she'd said about rain? Nayr looked up. He was honestly topped off on weirdness, and there was still that strange calm suffusing him. Indeed, it looked like rain. Part of him just wanted to stay out here and hope he woke up from the ensuing blackout in a more sane place. The responsible part of him won out, however. He walked over and stood under the cover of the porch. He was keeping his senses, such as they were, out for trouble, but he figured being out in the rain was more trouble. Before doing so, he answered Keera.

"I see."

This fight was so far beyond his weight class there wasn't much else to do. Even if he had thought about running before, the impending rain made that plan totally unfeasible. He wasn't about to try to make his way home in the rain given his tendency to black out when outside during rainstorms. He'd have to watch this scene unfold and hope for the best.

[Mini]

A groan came from the pile of wood on the porch. That was all that was left of the two support posts she had been hurled into. They, along with the remains of a screen door, had been turned into little more than firewood by the force of Naraku's throw. With another groan, she kicked most of the wood off of her and sat up, rubbing her head as she looked around. Nayr was standing on the porch with a strange glint in his eyes. She had seen that glint before - she didn't like it.

No time to think about the look in Nayr's eyes or even the coming storm, though. Keera was alive! At least, she thought she was. Keera now had wings. Mini had never seen her with wings before. Maybe she had died and come back as an angel? Somehow, Mini doubted this.

"So, Keera, you can fly, huh? Funny, I didn't know that. Didn't know you could make little puppets of yourself, either," she said, looking out at Keera with an emotionless expression. "I'd say that makes two other things you either lied to me about or conveniently forgot to tell me."

Mini glanced over towards Naraku, who looked like he was just standing there waiting for all hell to break loose, and he couldn't care less. She frowned. "Maybe Naraku hasn't been lying to me all this time after all."

After standing up and brushing herself off, Mini turned her attention to Nayr. She scowled darkly. "Listen, Nayr. I really don't know why I called for you. I don't know why I sent Keera after you, either. All I really remember is that I've been here with Naraku for at least a week, and nothing bad has happened to me that I can remember. If Naraku wanted to kill me, wouldn't he have done so by now? Maybe I am supposed to be here. Or maybe I'm not. I'm not really sure what, exactly, is going on, but I do know one thing - you really shouldn't be here. It's totally my fault that you're here, though, and you have my word that whatever happens, I'll do my best to defend you, all right? Whether it's from Keera or Naraku, I'm not quite sure right now. You just... just stay here, out of the rain. You don't need to... ah... that is... yeah, just stay here, where it's dry."

[Amara<3]

Naraku glanced at Keera as Mini decided on her own that Keera was lying, and that maybe staying with him wasn't such a bad idea. So much for him needing to keep her on his side, Keera was doing such a great job of that herself. "Keera, thank you for joining us. Now that you can't make another one of those for a while, this almost becomes a fair fight. I have no other puppets of my own, and it seems that Nayr is allergic to the rain as well-" A bright blue ball of energy hit the door he was about to walk in front of, and Naraku chuckled. Keera had barely a moment between his glance from her to Nayr. "The only difference here," Naraku continued, keeping his eyes on her as the rain began to pour down, soaking them both. "Is that under my power, Mini doesn't have that problem. Everything about staying here with me works for her. My daughter gave her this problem, and now I'm helping take care of it."

"While making her forget everything?" Keera asked, wanting to get back to talking to Mini.

"Not like you told her much about yourself," Naraku countered.

"I don't go around telling everyone my powers or... convenient upgrades..." Keera paused then, her wings shimmering into thin air. The wings however were still there, as the rain hit them while they folded into her back. "Mini, aside from recently I haven't seen you in a hundred years or more. This body looks like the one I had, but it's not exact."

"That would explain the fox," Naraku commented, listening to her carefully. Keera rolled her eyes and nodded. "It has been a long time, Keera. How is our son you've got conveniently shut away in your castle?"

"He chose to come with me, Naraku. Don't even think about blaming me for that. He's at least learning things there, compared to here. You know he wouldn't talk to me for almost two weeks? Not to anyone. Why did you think you could raise a child? He isn't your puppet. Give it up."

"You think you could have raised him without hating him? Everytime you look at him, you see me. I thought I was rid of you last week, after Mini appeared to have killed you. That fox demon of yours is certainly something."

"Enough of this," Keera growled. Naraku smirked, and began walking to her again. Keera dropped her sword, which disappeared into the ground slowly, and started walking to him.

"You look a lot like your mother," Naraku mused. "She was just as stupid as you, too." The look on Keera's face at first seemed shocked, but went to dark and angry and she took a leap at Naraku, jumping the last few feet. He dodged her and chuckled, taunting her. "Did I hit a nerve? Did you think I took you for you? I took her to get to you, because I knew you would become a very strong young demon. Even though you're only a half demon of this world."

Keera's energy spilled out through the courtyard, lightning striking on the other side as she struck Naraku, driving him into the ground. Her breathing was visibly rough as she bent down, taking him by the shoulders and throwing him into the air, and then began playing target practice with her blue energy. "You ripped my family apart!" she screamed.

[Mini]

As Keera and Naraku really started going at it, Mini was busy trying to make up her mind as to which one of them she wanted to help. On one hand, she distinctly remembered that she and Keera had been and possibly still were very good friends. Part of her rationalized that while she might have lied about some things, she certainly must have had good reason to. It wasn't like the topic of such things had ever come up in casual conversation, either. Truth be told, there were still things Mini had kept hidden from Keera, such as the fact that she, too, could dawn wings herself, and that she had a bit of a vampiric issue going on every now and then.

On the other hand, she remembered that Naraku was her Master. She didn't quite remember how, exactly, this had happened, but she couldn't really remember anything bad happening while she had been staying with him. In fact, quite the contrary had been going on. She had a jewel shard in her arm, and she was well aware that, at times, he used the jewel shard to completely control her, but a part of her didn't seem to mind that so much. The jewel shard made her more powerful, anyway, and it opened up some sort of psychic hotline between the two of them. He was always there, somewhere inside of her mind, listening to her thoughts and occasionally telling her what to do. There were times when he had made her, and she had even asked him to, completely take over her mind and just do the thinking for her. It was nice to just let go of everything and just obey. He arranged other nice things for her, as well. She recalled that mysterious other place he sometimes took her to, with the pretty trees, and the vines. How could someone who seemingly cared that much about her actually be evil?

And so it was that she stood there, watching her possible best friend fight with her possible master. In the befuddled state that was her mind, she couldn't remember which of those positions was a truth and which one was a lie. Maybe they were both true? Or what if they were both a lie?

Just as Mini was about to step out into the fray, the sky above opened up and a torrential downpour fell down onto the world. Yelping in alarm at having almost had her foot out in the rain, she jumped back away from the edge of the porch and backed against the wall. She had almost just gotten wet, which would have meant losing her legs in place of a fish tail. But wait, did that still happen? She seemed to remember Naraku had figured out a way to stop that from happening.

Mini sank down to the floor, holding her throbbing head.

"Nnnngh, I don't... I don't know what's going on anymore, Nayr!" she whispered, sounding almost as if she was on the verge of tears. "I can't remember anything. I mean, I can, but I can't remember what's true and what isn't. I know that we met, but Naraku told me that Keera just set it up, but I don't think that's true. But everything else he's said has been true. At least, I think it has. Is Keera really even my friend? She's just been lying to me all this time. She has a kid, and I didn't even know! And right now, they're fighting. I should be out there fighting with them. But... But who am I supposed to fight? Do I fight Naraku? Or Keera? Or both of them? I-I just don't know!"

And then it came to her. The jewel shard. This whole mess had started because of the jewel shard.

Mini lifted her head up and stared wide-eyed at Nayr. "Nayr! Quick, come here. Do you have anything on you, like a knife or something?"

[Nayr]

Nayr blinked. Did he have a what now? Weren't they just talking about Mini's brain problems? He blinked again.

"Do I have a what now? Why?"

That was when he noticed the subtle cues. She was clearly taking about something to do with her arm. The jewel shard.

"Oh, that. Maybe. Hold on."

He knelt by Mini and slung his satchel forward. He'd almost forgotten he was carrying it in light of all that had happened, but she'd reminded him by needing something. He searched through it and extracted three items: bandages, a section of cloth, and a hunting knife.

"Okay, so how do you want to do this? I'm not exactly experienced..."

[Amara<3]

No, don't take that out. If you get wet without it, I can't stop your transformation, Naraku said urgently in Mini's mind. I won't be able to talk to you either.

"Yes!" Keera yelled, over the rain as it poured. She'd noticed Naraku glancing over to Mini, and so she had, too. "Get it out somehow! It should break whatever hold he's got on her!"

Naraku growled and came crashing down on Keera, who had, for the moment, gotten too involved in her idea of freeing Mini. The fox, Inari, growled in frustration. Come on, Keera. Get with it here, she whispered in Keera's mind. Either that or let me out so I can finally whip this sorry excuse for a demon!

A half growl and half yell split from Keera, along with water droplets that turned into ice as her energy flew outward again, and Naraku ended up being tossed onto the roof right above Mini and Nayr. Naraku took this moment to stop Mini from taking the jewel shard out by bashing the roof into fragments of wood so that she'd get wet... so would Nayr.

Keera was about to attack Naraku again when she remembered that something apparently happened to Nayr when he gets wet, and it was pouring out now. Keera was drenched through to her bones, not that it bothered her at all, what with being a water and wind demon all sorta wrapped into one... plus a fox. Now Keera wanted to see if Nayr really just blacked out or not - Mini seemed pretty freaked out seeing him when he wasn't under some sort of cover. So. Let it begin.

Naraku looked to Keera, expecting her to continue on her spaz attack, but she didn't. Not she was staring intently below him, and he wondered why. What would interest her so much that she'd stop her assault so abruptly like that?

[Mini]

Mini growled impatiently as Nayr methodically dug through his bag and pulled out several things, the last of which was a sizable dagger. She extended her right arm out, the palm of her hand facing him. Her fingers curled into a tight fist.

"It's somewhere in my upper arm, right above where my arm bends at the elbow. Just go ahead and..."

Her sentence trailed off, and her eyes suddenly went wide and then seemed to glaze over. A completely emotionless and dazed expression spread across her face. She was still looking at Nayr, but she no longer seemed to actually be seeing him. When she next spoke, she sounded very distant.

"No, don't take it out... It stops the transformation... No, I don't want to not be able to talk to you."

Without warning, the roof above the two shattered into splinters. Wood chips and the like came crashing down on their heads, along with the pouring down rain. Mini flinched and automatically covered her head with her arms and luckily managed not to get too buried in debris. The rain was coming down so fast that she was nearly soaked to the bone in a matter of seconds. Blinking in confusion, she looked up at the rain.

Rain.

Nayr.

Dear God.

"Oooh shiiit."

A string of even louder cursing and cussing erupted from Mini as she frantically tried to escape the wreckage, not even caring if she grew a tail in the next few minutes or not. Then she remembered that Keera was still there. She looked up and saw Keera just standing there, watching.

"YOU BAKA, KEERA, RUN! DO YOU HEAR ME?! IF YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME EVER AGAIN, SO BE IT. JUST RUN, DAMNIT. RUN!"