his body shaking, maybe even a fever to pile on his symptoms. The girl seemed stable at the moment, but they both needed a doctor right away. In order for myself to get them to safety, is to kill the demon herself which is being a pain in the ass. 

Shit!

She could tell I was getting frustrated and was grinning ear to ear with amusement, when suddenly her smirk vanishes. "How?" She demands, leaving me in confusion. For a moment, her eyes were focused one but it felt like she was seeing past through me.

"Huh?" 

"This child......what is he?" She continues, leaving me standing there confused. Was she talking to me, but why is she speaking as if I'm not here?  The mocking glee was gone. For the very first time, she looked unsure herself. "He shouldn't be able to see this," She whispers beneath her breath, her tone changes.

Furrowing my brow, "What are you going on about?"

Soon the sound of pottery shattering made me lift my head up, wondering what was happening and where it was coming from. While trying my best to figure it out myself, the scenery changes instantly with one swift blink of an eye. "What?!" noticing the dark red walls of flesh had disappeared around me. I was back inside the room, and my feet was resting on the tatami-floored room again. However the Demon's presence that was in front of him, was really now standing behind him.

Glancing over my shoulder, I leapt away creating some distance between us. What was happening? 

Taking a moment to studying my surroundings, I soon realise the room wasn't quite the same as it had been before. The snow-white beds were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the children were laying directly on the tatami mats. The doors, walls, floor and the ceiling had fresh slashes and deep tears from my blade. Soon everything clicked, piecing it together instantly.

It was illusions.....

The white beds I've been seeing from the beginning, the terrible world enclosed by walls of flesh......they were just phantoms created by the damn demon. Wanting me to be confused and conceal everything, and the very truth. No wonder none of my attacks landed a hit, or even scarred the woman. What's more.........I can't even smell that rotten stench that wafted in the room, as if it was just another illusion. 

Taking in account what this demon has done, I grew more pissed than ever. Making me dance with her fucking Illusions, my blood boiled hating that played me like a fool.

How dare she.........how dare she toy with my damn mind!

She made me more convinced that was locked in some alternative space, even if I tried my best to not believe it was the woman of a demon. I've been so focused on escaping that space, it blinded me like fog through a forest. From reality. I fell for it all, but......how did he spell break suddenly? Who was she talking to--?

"Sanemi!!!!! Where are you?!"

My eyes widen in relief, "Masachika! I'm here!!!!" calling back to him.

~*~

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE ~ (Kumeno's POV)

Relying on the image in the mirror, I held my Nichirin blade and raised it before cutting through the display case. The sound of porcelain breaking reaches my ears, leaving a very satifying crash with my resolve. With that, the hateful and putrid scent finally dissipated into thin air. Glancing down at the shattered fragments of the incense burner, I knew I got rid of the most irritating side jobs out of the way.

Without wasting another second, I make a run down the hallway.

"Sanemi!!! Where are you?!"

"Masachika!!! I'm here!!!!!" I hear his voice, more clearly than before. Following his voice, I race down hallway towards to what had been a dead-end now had opened up to a room. Charging in through the open sliding doors, my eyes fall upon the demon herself, two children and Sanemi still in one piece.

"Sanemi!! So I figured it out in time!!" I pant heavily, searching over my friend for any injuries. Yet, resulted with none. Phew, that's a relief. He didn't become desperate enough, to use his marechi blood. Though the situation was still serious, all I could do was smile with relief washing over me. "You're okay."

Sanemi rushes towards me with a smile of his own, "What'd you do? How'd you break the illusion?"

Pointing in the direction I gave up with I swallow thickly, "There's a mirror in another room, that's a charm against evil," I explain, while gaining the breath from my run. "It was handed down for generations by the family that lived here."

Soon I began to explain about the letter that I've found to Sanemi, written in blood by the girl who was murdered by her own mother. I had guessed that the daughter's spirit had gotten it's revenge by showing the truth about her mother in the mirror. Describing how the incense burner shattered, that we didn't have to concern ourselves about being tricked twice. I didn't find the scent so pleasant.

Sanemi seemed to gather it all quickly, before coming to realisation. "And....the woman who killed her daughter......"

My gaze glowers towards the Demon, "It's gotta be her,"

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