For the first time in her life, Riley felt genuinely happy.
The trauma of her past that had long haunted her steps had finally begun to slip away into an afterthought. Her newly made friendship with the Delacour family, as well as having Remus back in her life, set her up to really begin blossoming.
Firstly, with the Delacours, she became a common fixture around their house, spending time there to hang out with Fleur and Gabrielle. Fleur was a bit older than her at twelve and currently went to Beauxbatons academy, while Gabrielle was only six. Gabrielle idolized Riley, like a knight in shining armor, she was always eager to hear stories of Riley's adventures and her heroics, and was excited whenever she was around to visit. Fleur was far more composed but Riley could hear the excitement in her steps whenever she came by and she could hear Fleur race through her house, only to slow down before entering to pretend at some measure of composure.
Though her friendship with Gabrielle was far more sisterly, her friendship with Fleur was a bit more intricate, and somewhat confusing for Riley. Fleur was always eager to be around Riley but shied away from Riley's touch. A tap on the shoulder, a hug, brushing hands while walking, Fleur weirdly became nervous whenever the two happened to make contact but Riley didn't quite understand why. She liked being close to Fleur, loved to hear her laugh or see her smile. Hell she'd even started dreaming of that wonderful, almost radiant smile that the young Veela would sometimes give her. She didn't really get it, but she knew she enjoyed it, so she was always trying to get a smile from Fleur.
Her aversion to contact was never remotely negative, instead it simply made Fleur appear to be nervous. She would blush, or shy away from her if they made contact, and Riley simply didn't get it. She tried asking Madara about it, and Kurama, but both of them gave her a metaphorical shrug before chuckling to themselves, which Riley found suspicious. Despite their obvious distaste for one another, or more so Kurama's distaste for Madara, the two acted a lot like one another whenever they were teasing her about something.
Still, without concrete answers she was left to only guess, and she had no answer.
Time would pass, during the week, Fleur went to school at the academy, on the weekends she came home. She was bummed when she learned of Riley's intention to go across the channel and join Hogwarts, and she tried to convince her to come to Beauxbatons but Riley was adamant about going to Hogwarts, she wanted to go to the oldest magical school and have access to those magical secrets. The place also had a history for her. She grew up hearing about Hogwarts from Remus, and occasionally Lily, and she now wanted to go there and surpass the woman who'd played almost no part in raising her. Lily had always been well regarded for her genius and skills in magic, so Riley hoped to surpass her.
This second reason she left unsaid, but she did share the first with Fleur who was bummed at not having Riley as a schoolmate but eventually conceded that it was probably better this way. The girls at Beauxbatons were uptight and a bunch of bullies, they would probably spend all of their time harassing Riley anyways and make studying impossible. This had been said with a bit of bitterness that Riley sensed had deeper connotations.
As an added reason, while studying up on the country she'd eventually live in, Riley learned that it would actually be much easier for her to enter into multiple marriages and take on multiple partners in order to restore the Uzumaki. Britain had certain laws that were more open to allowing such things than France did, which Riley also counted as a boon. When she told Fleur this, the Veela reacted with surprise, this being the first she'd heard of Riley's intention of eventually taking on more than one partner, when she inquired about it, Riley expressed that she was one of the last of a powerful bloodline and sought to rebuild it. In order to do so, she'd have to take on multiple female partners if she wanted that goal to be achieved in her lifetime.
With a bit of hesitance, Fleur inquired if that meant that Riley preferred girls over boys. Riley had to think on that for a bit. She'd never really thought of a boy as a romantic partner. The only boy she could imagine herself falling in love with one day, and trying to build a family with was Shisui, and that realization made her sad. It filled her with regret and sorrow, as she realized that her old friend fit the criteria for what kind of man she'd have wanted to be with, sans her ambitions. She couldn't have Shisui though, he was dead and gone. Without him, she couldn't picture being with a man. Girls though, her mind turned towards Fleur and she found herself blushing. She gave Fleur an affirmation that she did like girls, which sent the Veela blushing up a storm.
Fleur couldn't hide her elation at hearing that, and she was in a great mood for the rest of the day.
While her friendship with the sisters grew, her relationship with Fleur continued to deepen.
With Remus, Riley's trust in him also began to grow and she shared a bit more with him as time went on. Bit by bit, truth by truth she shared things with him until one day she finally asked him about Kushina Uzumaki.
He seemed surprised by her question, wondering how she knew of her, but Riley kept his focus on the question, asking him if he knew her.
He responded that he'd only ever seen her in person once, but knew of her through his friendship with Minato. He did make mention of her being a romantic rival to Lily, and how she was probably the only person in the world, Lily actually despised.
He noted that with a chuckle but when he saw the seriousness on Riley's face he once more questioned her about Kushina and her knowledge of her.
Riley eventually revealed the truth to him. She told him what she knew regarding the situation surrounding her birth. He sat quietly and listened as she told him about how Lily was unable to have children due to an illness so a workaround was found and Kushina was chosen to play a part in it, and how it ended up with two children carrying all three of their parents DNA. She told him about how she'd been born to Kushina, but when her mother died, Minato and Lily raised her. She told him how she knew that there intention had always been to take her from her mother so that she wouldn't be an issue, and erase Kushina's memories so she wouldn't cause a fuss. Luckily for them, Kushina had died during the Nine Tails Attack.
She made sure Remus understood that it was for this reason she absolutely hated Minato and Lily and wished a cold and violent death upon them.
Remus struggled to believe it, though he couldn't dismiss it as it made sense as to the reason for the distinct separation in their treatment of their twin daughters. He also distinctly remembered Lily's complaints about getting pregnant and about the trouble they were having, and again he knew of her hatred for Kushina so if there was one person who his old friend despised enough to want to hurt like that, it would have been Kushina Uzumaki.
For Riley, it felt good to finally get that off her chest, to tell someone the truth that she'd been carrying all this time. Though he struggled to believe these things, he didn't deny them either. That was enough for Riley, a willingness to believe her was all she really wanted from him. He'd come to his own conclusions in time, for now she just needed him to be willing to hear the truth.
This allowed their relationship to grow and for Riley to begin opening up more to him about her problems, which included things like growing up. She'd changed a lot since leaving Konoha and her body was constantly growing and changing, having someone other than her grandfather and Kurama to ask about these things was welcoming.
Time progressed, and Riley felt her friendship with both Remus and the Delacours grow and the more it grew, the more she came out of her shell acting more like a child her own age. It was a side of her that Remus had never seen before, but watching her be so bubbly and playful around Fleur and Gabrielle brought him joy. It actually reminded him a lot of Naruko. The two were very much alike in their personalities, it was just their circumstances that affected how they displayed those traits.
Several months before she turned eleven Riley began applying for citizenship in Britain, so she could attend Hogwarts. The process would take a bit, thankfully because of how Hogwarts worked she wouldn't get her letter to attend until after her eleventh birthday and by that point in time the school year would have started so she had a little over a year until she could join, she'd actually be nearly twelve before she started.
It was something she enjoyed, it made her hopeful for the future.
Several more months passed, Riley had turned eleven and was out hunting down a high ranking magical criminal out in eastern Europe.
She tailed her target for days and one night moved to engage him and his two body guards. She killed one easily, dropping down onto his back, she drove a knife into his neck. She swiftly tossed a kunai at the head of the other guard, expecting him to go down just as easily, but he did not. With unnatural speed he leaned backwards and away from the strike.
With another movement he raised his arm and a red bolt of magic launched at her, causing her to leap away from her current target, and land several meters back.
"Seems I made the right choice." Her target spoke, turning to face her and back behind his guard, a person she now recognized wasn't a wizard, but in fact was a mage.
"So this is Null… I'd heard you were a child, but I didn't quite believe it." The unknown mage spoke. He had short blonde hair and a tattoo running down the side of his face, almost like black lightning. He had pale skin, and cool green eyes. He took a fighting posture as he stared her down.
A cool smirk spread across his face, and he made a show of snapping his fingers before staring her down. The instant he snapped, the world seemed to ripple around them, the surrounding buildings seemed to slant and elongate in on themselves, like some sort of warped painting.
She stared back, mentally cursing. Her eyes went wide as she saw magic begin to fill the air around her.
"Is this an illusion?" Riley wondered.
"No. A barrier of some sort." Madara noted, having seen such effects through the eyes of his own Sharingan in the past.
"A sensor-type shinobi. That would explain how you've managed to pull off such an impressive kill-streak." The mage spoke, taking note of the way she was glancing around, reading her reaction.
"He threw up a barrier? How did he do that so fast? No… someone else is here. Someone else is helping him. They knew I was coming, and he's heard about Shinobi. This isn't good." Riley realized, as she took on a defensive stance, and activated Kamui, her intention being to avoid any surprise attacks.
She felt a strain against her eyes, and took note that she couldn't feel the typical stillness of her Kamui dimension.
"What is happening?!" She felt worry begin to touch at her senses, when the attack came. The mage charged at her, magic lighting up his body as he rocketed forward in a blitz of incredible speed.
She was barely able to curse as he laid into her with martial arts. The two traded blows, Riley blocked and dodged, mentally cursing as pain racked through her from the force of his blows. Whoever this man was, he knew how to use magic to empower his body to superhuman levels, and he was a skilled combatant.
She was forced to block strikes that she normally could have allowed to pass through her, for some reason her Kamui wasn't working. Whatever was happening, it didn't seemed to affect her Sharingan but the ability of Kamui didn't seem to be functioning at all.
"I know what you're thinking Null, and you'd be wise to try it. Fleeing this place, escaping my trap, that would be the smart thing to do. Thing is, you aren't going anywhere." The mage spoke to her.
"Your barrier?" She recognized what he was referring to when he said that.
"An ancient craft born from years of study. I know you can teleport, the question is how. So many methods, and with you being a Shinobi, that means there's also space-time manipulation to consider. Even in one so young, with a body-count as high as yours I'd be a fool not to take every possibility into account. This new reality around us stops all passage through it. Nothing comes in, nothing goes out. You are trapped in here with me." The Mage said to her as the two traded blows.
"Who the hell are you?" Riley questioned as she started fighting more defensively, realizing that she couldn't use Kamui to escape, if this barrier or whatever he'd done was blocking space-time techniques.
"Friedrich, Friedrich Yurik. A pleasure to meet you Null. I've been admiring your work for some time." Friedrich said to her, kicking her hard in the chest and sending her flying back. She landed and took a moment to catch her breath, the man was an immensely skilled fighter, she was quickly learning.
From the twisted corridors around them, figures began to emerge, almost two dozen men, wizards by the looks of them, given most were carrying wands, though a few weren't, appearing to be vampires or perhaps werewolves.
"Seems you're not alone." Riley noted, cursing internally at how vastly outnumbered she was. Her eyes briefly flickered to the man she'd been targeting a criminal wizard with powerful connections to a major organization that operated in and around this country. He was watching this all go down with a prideful smirk.
"No friends of mine, I assure you. Just hired muscle, and here to make sure you don't run away." Friedrich responded with a shake of the head.
"Yurik, quick talking and finish her! This little bitch has caused enough problems for us, I paid you good money to take her down so do it!" Her mark called out, an irritated smirk spreading across Friedrich's face.
"Keep your dogs on a leash Marko, if any of them interfere I have no issue burying them today as well. This is my fight." Friedrich warned.
"So this is personal?" Riley recognized.
"A necessity born of familial pride. My family is incredibly old, and have a vibrant history stretching back for centuries. You killed one of mine. No one I knew personally, but we can't have such an attack go unanswered. Honestly you did the world a favor, too many of my blood enjoy dabbling in the foulest or blackest of magics and deserve what they have coming to them, but I am not the one to decide such things. My purpose, my role is to defend my family line. You've attacked us, and earned my attention. Pride demands that I bring you down." Friedrich told her.
"I see. So be it then." Riley threw back at him, her hands coming together to rapidly before forming handsigns. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!"
Friedrich dodged as a wall of earthen bullets came racing towards him. He rushed towards Riley, launching a red bolt of magic from his hand with a spoken word.
She dodged in turn, drawing a blade as she did, she rushed towards him, meeting him in a flurry of strikes.
She managed to draw first blood, slicing his arm with the blade, but he reacted without showing an ounce of pain. His skills as a martial artist were incredible. Were it not for her Sharingan he'd easily best her in a close range battle.
She was waiting for the opportunity to utilize Amatsumara to pepper him with weapons and end this fight. Despite still learning the full extent of this mage's abilities, she knew without a doubt she had him beat in terms of magic. She had more than he did, and she didn't question that for even a moment, she could outlast him. The power he was displaying it allowed him incredible abilities, but that meant a heavy drain on his own magic. He wasn't going to last as long as she would, she just had to be smart.
Many minutes passed as the two traded blows and magical attacks. The red bolts of magic he fired from his palms were fast and deadly. Almost like piercing spells, designed to punch clean through their target. This seemed to be his preferred method of ranged combat, while martial arts was his greatest strength.
She kept her focus, in the back of her mind, reminding herself that she still had to deal with the small army of wizards gathered around her and escape this barrier or whatever it was after taking down this powerful mage, so she had to be careful, and had to keep on her toes.
The two kept fighting, Riley receiving several powerful blows that would certainly leave behind cruel purple welts in the near future.
This had almost instantly elevated itself to the hardest fight of her life.
She was waiting for the opening, waiting for the moment while Kurama and Madara watched from behind her eyes, leaving the air silent to allow her complete focus to be on the battle.
Riley dodged under a punch from the mage, finally seeing her opening, she drove her blade upward into his chest, her eyes glancing over his shoulder to summon a blade behind him, aimed right at his neck.
She saw the blade form, and for a moment felt victory, but before she could jump back and mentally send the blade into the back of the mage's head, he grabbed her sword arm, holding it in place, he slammed his free palm into her chest with bone cracking force.
"!"
She heard the word. His spell. The piercing spell, jumped from his palm straight through her chest.
Her eyes went wide, as she realized in an instant that he had purposely baited her attack in order to hold her in place.
"Riley!/Riley!" Came the cries of Kurama and Madara as both witnessed and felt through her what happened.
Riley was sent sailing back, a fist sized hole located where her heart should be.
She landed in a heap, rolling to a stop near to some of the surrounding wizards who eyed her with triumph and cruelty, their wands drawn and aimed at her, ready to finish the job if it hadn't been done already.
"Fuck! It… hurts!" Riley felt a coldness wash through her, as blood poured out of her chest. Her limbs instantly began to grow cold as a dark realization began to wash over her.
"Riley, no! No! Goddamn it!" She heard her grandfather cry out in panic, cementing her understanding that it had happened, she'd blundered, and she was dying.
No… That was wrong. He'd hit her heart. Worse, he'd destroyed her heart with that spell. She was dead. She was gone. She felt herself sucking in a breath as that realization flooded her mind.
"I don't wanna die…" Riley gasped as everything began to darken, her vision fading into black as her life began to fade.
"No! This can't be happening! God's be damned! Not again! Not again!" Madara roared in rage, as he watched powerless to save his granddaughter's life.
Kurama hissed out in similar anger. He'd grown to enjoy Riley these past few years. He'd had hope for her. Hope that she'd do great things and honor the memory of his father through her possession of the Rinnegan. All of that hope began to fade and he was left to curse the frailty of mortals.
Darkness dimmed around him, as Riley's life faded. As the darkness closed in, and he listened into Madara's anguished cries, he couldn't help but pity the man that he had once despised so much.
"Aw… Now what do we have here. Now is not the tiiime." Kurama heard the voice of the other demon speak as it stirred awake.
"You're too late! It's over!" Kurama snarled at it's presence. No matter what mystery surrounded it's presence, it didn't matter anymore. Riley was dead, and it had done nothing to help save her.
"Ahhh, Kurama… Do yooouuu want to save heerr?" The unknown demon questioned.
"There's nothing I can do. Her heart was destroyed. A few more moments and she'll begin suffering from brain death. My chakra isn't enough to heal her, not fast enough to make a difference." Kurama growled.
"But there is a way. Will you do it? Will you give for her? Will you sacrifice for her, to restore your hope? You must choose quickly, the moment is fast approaching." The demon spoke.
From beyond the cage, Kurama saw the shadows begin to move. Writhing tentacles of utter blackness began to writhe and undulate out from the darkness, and a sea of eerie glowing eyes began to stare back at him from the darkness, each set of eyes, belonging to an eel-like tar-black serpent, each with a mouth of teeth, ranging from twisted blades as long as a grown man's fingers, to block-like crushing slabs designed for smashing bone.
The serpents all stared in at him, awaiting his response.
Kurama stared back for a moment, unsure of what the demon meant. He sensed it had a solution, a means of saving Riley's life, of fixing her, and reviving his hope for the future. If that wasn't reason enough to try, than maybe, just maybe the fact that he was starting to like her, was.
"What must I do?" Kurama questioned.
"You muuust give part of yourself. In doing so, this union will be forever. Can you stand that? To be bonded to her forever more?" The demon questioned as a blackened serpent emerged out of the darkness slithering up and through the boundaries of the cage, revealing it's ability to pass through the seal without issue, much to Kurama's surprise.
The Fox took a moment to recover and once he did, he thought on the Demon's question.
For a moment he started to wonder before suddenly a chuckle escaped from him and he shook his head.
"I've never been one to overly concern myself with the woes of tomorrow. Maybe it will be forever, or maybe not. My answer remains the same. What must I do?" The Fox decided.
"Your heart. Give me part of your heart to give to her, then bond your chakra to hers." The demon spoke.
"But that… if I do that, her core… She wont be human anymore." Kurama realized.
"She was never human, Fox." The Demon returned, before Kurama's eyes, the flash of a memory took place. That moment, on the day she was born, when she was struck with the killing curse.
"She died in that moment, yet such magic cannot slay a god." The image of the Rinnegan appeared before the Fox, reminding him of just how far from ordinary, Riley actually was.
"Since that moment she has straddled the line between living and dead. Her want for human connection, to fill the hole in her heart has ever grown with each passing year. The filling of it, has abated the change, but this death has undone all of that work. She will become a demon, become Hallow unless we act. I can save her, but she will break. You can save her, and in doing so, save her humanity. Will you do it, Kurama? Three paths are set before us. She will live no matter what we do, but what shall arise from this death will determine the fate of the world." The demon said to Kurama, explaining to him the dangers now set before them.
Kurama was silent for a moment, recognizing the gravity of this decision. Riley had died when she was struck by the Killing Curse on the day she was born. That death, didn't stick, due to the Rinnegan and her nature as a godlike being because of said eyes. The Killing Curse did something to her, but what that something was, Kurama didn't fully know. She straddled the line between life and death, as the demon had said. If it meant that in the way that Kurama understood it, and it's reference to her going Hallow meant that things truly were as dire as he imagined them to be.
Hallows were demons, specifically an impure subset of demons born from living souls that have died, but have not moved on to the afterlife. If a soul is left in this state for too long, and begins to become resentful, it might turn Hallow, developing a hunger for the life-energies of living beings. Once a soul turned Hallow it transformed into a demon that would actively hunt and kill living things to feed on their souls. Hallows were some of the most prevalent demons in existence, due to their ability to spawn into reality. Unlike pure demons which came from another reality known as the Dark Realms, or hell, or Makai, it had many names, but in the end, it was the home of demons. Hallows were demon adjacent, or demon-like, a corruption of the living soul, which pure demons lacked. The soul as they understood it, was not something that a pure demon possessed, in many ways, pure demons were basically corrupted, sentient magic. It was far more complicated than that, and largely mysterious to the living, but it was a basic way of understanding it.
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He, as a Tailed Beast was unique to demonkind, as he possessed a soul, much like a Hallow did, but unlike a Hallow, Tailed Beasts didn't hunger for souls. If he left Riley to die, she'd likely turn into a Hallow, especially if she'd been walking that line since she was born, the process would come quickly, but unlike other Hallows, she had the Rinnegan, that power would make her into something never seen before. A Hallow of god-like power that would likely be the doom of the world. The other demon claimed it could heal her, but in doing so, it would break her, likely ruining her mind and spirit. She'd still be human, or at least she'd be what she was now, but her mind would be broken, she'd no longer be Riley. If the Fox saved her, she'd become a Tailed Beast, like him. She'd lose her humanity in it's current form, but she'd likely still remember it, and she'd have a soul. There was a chance she could overcome the negative aspects of a demon, and remain who she was. No matter which decision he made, Riley would suffer for it. So if suffering was inevitable regardless, than what criteria remained to define the choice? The answer was simple, which choice offered her the best chance of being who she wanted to be.
He closed his eyes, allowing Riley's final words to echo in his mind. 'I don't wanna die.'
He let out a sigh, accepting that plead as her consent to make the choice in order to save her.
"Do it!" Kurama commanded, and in a blinding movement the serpent in the cage launched forward, burying itself into the Fox's chest, biting a chunk out of his heart and tearing it free.
It pulled back as Kurama let out an angry hiss of pain, the serpent and the shadow fleeing into darkness.
A moment passed when he suddenly felt it, like a surge of sensation, his connection to Riley rapidly began to swell.
He felt her pain, and he knew what came next would hurt her even more, but it would save her life.
With a roar of defiance, he surged as much of his recently reacquired energy through the newfound bond and into the piece of his heart which was rapidly reshaped into Riley's new one. He was joined in this task by the unknown Demon, which obviously held a deep investment in her survival.
On the outside, Marko knelt over her, along with many other onlookers, Friedrich stood to the side, watching with distaste as Marko removed her mask, revealing the face of an eleven year old child.
"Wow… all of that hell from some stupid brat." Marko hummed with a dark chuckle.
He glanced down at the mask she wore rising to his feet as he did and glancing towards his hired mage, who was removing the sword still impaled through his torso.
"Looks like you were worth every penny." Marko said to him with a smile.
"You can keep your money if you'll allow me to bury her." Friedrich responded.
"Bury her! Why do you care what happens to this little bitch?" Marko questioned with annoyance.
"She fought well. Better than most I've faced. For a child who's likely not even a teenager, she showed greater resolve and bravery than most adults I've met. She deserves it." Friedrich responded.
"No, what this bitch deserves is to be fed to one of these degenerate wolves for all the trouble she's caused me and mine. You can forget honor, or nobility, she's far beyond any of that crap!" Marko spat in response, earning a dark glare from Friedrich.
Before either of them could speak again, an explosion erupted from Riley's body.
Red energy flooded the air as blood red chakra began to bubble out of the hole in her chest. Her facial features began to shift, her eyes became blood red, and slitted, and her canines grew elongated, along either of her cheeks, three blackened whisker like marks appeared.
The group of wizards and werewolves gathered around her staggered back and away from the rush of energy which whipped through the air, shattering the alternate reality that Friedrich had imposed upon the area.
He watched with disbelief and amazement as Riley began to rise off the ground, almost as if she was lifted by an unseen force.
He could see the churning blood red energy wash across her body, it's source seemingly being the hole in her chest which he could clearly see closing as bone, muscle and flesh regrew over it.
She reached her feet, when suddenly a blackened aura began to erupt out of her chest where the wound had once been. Her hands shot to this point, as a feral scream of rage and pain exploded out of her mouth. Her hands circled something, and the troop watched as she began pulling the hilt of a sword from the shadow upon her chest.
The process appeared painful, agonizingly slow as she pulled and tugged against the hilt. Her screams unleashed torrents of magic that threw the wind about, shattering glass in the surrounding buildings, and nearby cars.
Suddenly, and with great force, Riley finally ripped the hilt free, a long curved blade coming along with it.
In her hand she had what appeared to a be simple katana. It was large for the blade-type, and appeared overly so in Riley's hand. The hilt was wrapped in red cloth, the cross-guard was round, and appeared to be made of silver. On both sides it reflected an image, the sun and the moon on either side of the blade, surrounded by a ring of tomoe that ran along the perimeter of the cross-guard. The blade itself was a glimmering white steel, radiant and beautiful, a stark contrast to the monster now wielding it.
With the blade ripped free, the mass of shadow upon her chest, bubbled out of existence.
The moment the blackness faded, the red rushed outward. Red energy coated her entire body, shaping and forming around her like a living thing.
Riley continued to hiss and growl in pain and rage, holding the sword in one hand, her knuckles white from the force of the grip.
The troop of onlookers had a hard time seeing her through the force of the unnatural wind that seemed to pour off of her body.
From around the back of her head, blood-red chunks of flesh seemed to crawl over her, bits of flesh that darkened and hardened as they rose to the sides of her head.
On both sides, this splattering of flesh, the apparent remnants of her heart, coalesced and hardened into what appeared to be two halves of a mask.
These halves solidified and then began to slide forward, coming together over her face forming a complete mask.
This mask was bone-white, and shaped in the visage of a grinning demon. The face was split in a hellish grin. On the left half black wisps of energy emerged out of the eye-hole and flowed backwards across the left side of the face and forehead. Upon the right half of the mask were seven kanji writings, spaced evenly apart from brow to chin, each symbol was a different color. Starting at the top, in green the word willpower, in yellow the word Fear, in Red the word anger, in blue the word hope, in orange the word greed, in indigo the word compassion, and finally in violet the word love.
All seven of these markings blazed with their respective color, radiating magic like a visible flame coming from them.
"What are you?" Friedrich questioned as she lifted her gaze to them.
In her eyes he saw something that made his blood run cold. Her eyes glowed blood red, and within them, a black ripple pattern stretched across them.
"Those eyes! Could it be…" He suddenly recognized, only for Riley to throw her head back and let out a scream of monstrous rage. The wind whipping at them, now slammed against the crowd of wizards with brutal force, knocking some of them to the ground. Windows across the town burst, and cars began whining as their alarms went off.
"Avada Kadavra!" The scream of the killing curse came from somewhere in the crowd, a lance of green light cut through the air, striking Riley in the head, a patch of her hair bleaching white from the dark magic. She twisted with the strike, the air filling with a deathly silence as the wind suddenly stopped, and her scream died in her throat.
Stillness held as they waited for her to collapse, only for her to turn her head towards the crowd, the blazing red in her eyes shining with inhuman malevolence.
Screams of panic went up as she burst forward with impossible speed.
Friedrich watched as she carved through the crowd, slicing them to pieces like some sort of twisted blender. Two werewolves and a vampire were part of the collection and yet the sword she carried killed them just as easily as it did the humans.
Blood sprayed through the air as limbs sailed about. Bodies burst and tore apart as the red energy coating her body flayed apart flesh even before she made contact.
The blood that drenched her body, instantly began to boil off of her as she carved through the crowd.
"DO SOMETHING!" Marko screamed at him. Friedrich blinked, recognizing that he'd been frozen in place.
In a burst of speed he leaped onto the roof of a nearby building, leaving Marko and the rest to their fate on the street below.
Marko cursed, and began to apparate only for Riley to explode out of the crowd and reach him. He hardly let out a shout as she tore him limb from limb, screaming like some sort of possessed animal the entire time.
Friedrich watched this happen, amazement and disbelief shining in his eyes.
"It can't be! They were just stories! But those eyes… Those eyes!" He couldn't escape the deathly glare of those ripple-patterned eyes staring back at him from beneath that bone-like mask.
With as much strength as he could muster, he tore his gaze away from the slaughter, and began to run. He needed to escape, he needed to get away from this before he met the same fate as his employer.
Riley continued to rage, hammering the ground and screaming, even as people began to arrive, citizens from the town, police. They began to appear.
The police tried to confront her, but couldn't quite comprehend what they were seeing. Riley charged them, cutting them apart too. Like a beast possessed she killed every living thing she encountered.
Minutes passed, minutes of nothing but red, when finally she came to a halt, and with a final scream, unleashed her colossal power in one final attack.
Friedrich had just made it to the edge of town when the air stilled. He turned around, half expecting Riley to be in pursuit of him, but he saw nothing, only hearing the occasional sound of gunfire as the muggles tried desperately to stop the rampaging monster. An ominous aura filled the air, covering the entire town in it's terror. The streets were beginning to line with people as they heard the gunshots or had their windows blown out from the rampant magic.
"Such power…" Friedrich recognized.
It came suddenly, and without warning. He saw in the distance, buildings began to fall. It was so fast, just an expanding dome of collapsing buildings that came rushing outward from a central point.
Panic filled him as he turned and focused all of his magic into his legs. In a burst of speed he launched himself away from the oncoming blast, escaping out into the forest, even as he heard the screams of the people as they were consumed by the incoming attack.
The crushing sound was unlike anything he'd heard before. Despite his fear, he couldn't help but turn back, and what he saw, stole his breath away.
The town was gone.
A town of nearly twenty thousand people, gone in a moment.
A massive crater stretched out before him, like a perfect half-dome in the ground. Floating in the air, about where the ground would have been, he could see Riley. The red glow of the magic surrounding her body was unmistakable.
"Goddess… such power…" Friedrich gasped, before turning to continue running. He didn't want to risk still being here any longer.
He had seen something today, something born of stories he'd heard all his life. He'd never been much of a believer, but today, he'd seen it with his own eyes. All those stories, every tale he'd heard from across his life. Could they all be true? He needed to go. He needed to do something he never thought he would. The idea alone made his skin crawl, but he needed to reach out to his older brother. He needed to speak to Sebastian.
So with that decision hammered into his mind, he continued to flee, leaving Riley alone with the devastation of what she'd done.
The enraged Jinchuriki held in the air for several more moments before she descended to the ground. Her gaze passed out over the surrounding crater, taking in the devastation and destruction.
After several long moments her body began moving again, racing out of the crater and away from all of this, taking her to a safe place.
For Riley, she still felt herself in the moment of her death. The fear, the panic, the hopelessness and anguish. It all stayed with her, like some kind of waking nightmare. For Riley, the experience was both the longest thing she'd ever felt, and yet it was also over in an instant. The wash of dreadful emotions, the feeling of hopelessness and despair, it felt like she was in hell.
Her return to consciousness came suddenly. She felt tapping on her cheek, the sound of crying caught her ears.
Her eyes opened, and she instantly felt awful. A phantom pain lingered in her chest, and she let out a groan.
"Riley!" "You're awake." She heard two familiar voices say. She blinked, her vision focusing. She caught the sight of Fleur hovering over her, tears streaming down her face. A look of worry, fear, and panic quickly melting away into relief as their eyes met. Beside her was her father, who was waving his wand over her, running a diagnostic spell.
"Fleur? Why are you crying?" Riley asked her, reaching up to touch at a fresh tear that streaked down the Veela's cheek.
"You scared me half to death! You were soaked in blood! I thought something had happened to you! You wouldn't wake up!" Fleur responded harshly, anger coloring her voice.
"Where am I?" Riley asked, her throat felt bone dry, and she all around felt awful.
"My room." Fleur said to her, calming down as she did..
"Your room?" Riley repeated, shaking her head and sitting up. She felt a head rush, and her vision blurred. Fleur called out for her, as she started to list, and quickly caught her.
"I feel awful…" Riley groaned, resting her head against Fleur's chest. Fleur held her there, gently petting her head to try and comfort her.
"It appears whatever injuries you suffered, they have healed already." Jean said to her.
"Healed, she was soaked in blood. Her shirt is torn through, front and back." Fleur spoke up.
Riley reached up again, rubbing at the scarred flesh in the center of her chest, she felt Fleur touch at the scarred flesh on her back as well, gently tracing it, the skin was tender, feeling raw and overly sensitive.
"I'm alive… how." Riley hummed.
It took her a few long moments to pull away from Fleur, when she did, she offered her friend a grateful smile, which caused Fleur to blush, and avert her gaze.
"What happened to you?" Jean asked her.
"Got into a fight, turned out bad, not sure how I ended up here." Riley replied, summarizing the incident.
"I woke up and found you curled up at the end of my bed. You would not wake up and you were covered in dirt and blood, you were clutching to your sword like it was some kind of lifeline, you wouldn't let it go. I was so worried. I called for papa and mama to come and check on you." Fleur said to her.
Riley blinked when as she listened but became momentarily confused when she heard the word sword. Her eyes drifted down to her other arm where she saw it. A katana, gripped in her hand. She groaned as she tried releasing the blade. Her hand felt like a vice. Opening her fingers was painful, the iron grip she had on the blade for who knows how long had caused her hand to feel like it had locked up.
Moving it hurt, and made Riley wince and grumble as she shifted the blade to the side, taking note that it was unfamiliar to her, and yet felt remarkably familiar at the same time, much to her growing confusion.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm not even sure how I got here." Riley responded to Fleur, filling the growing silence with her curiosity, her eyes still on the strangely familiar blade the had with her.
"Made your way here on your own you troublesome little twerp." She heard Kurama speak up from within her.
"Kurama?" Riley blinked.
"Yeah, it's me." The Fox responded. "You don't remember anything that happened after your heart was destroyed?"
"No, not really. I… well… I feel like something happened… I just… I don't know what it is… I feels like something important happened while I was asleep, but I can't remember what it was. So what did happen?" Riley inquired in response, as she rubbed at her temple, feeling frustrated at the mental block, whatever she was missing felt like it was on the edge of recollection but simply wouldn't come.
"You lost consciousness. I thought you were a goner, but it seems your additional passenger had other ideas. We were able to heal you, and you woke back up. My power flowed into you, fueling a sort of blind rage. You pulled that sword out of your chest, reawakened your Rinnegan and killed most of those goons that were there. You ran amok for a bit before your rage faded. Then you ran all the way back here, climbed in through Fleur's window, ogled her for about a half hour and then passed out on her bed." Kurama said to her.
"I… wait what?" Riley blinked at that, her cheeks tinging red.
"You stood over her just staring at her for a bit, I couldn't quite get a read on what you were feeling you then curled up on the end of the bed and passed out."
Riley sat in silence for several long moments as she digested that.
"How am I alive Kurama? You said you healed me?" Riley asked him.
"I played a part. The other demon did most of the work. Look, finish with your friends, and then go somewhere where we can talk because this is gonna take a moment. Also, best apologize to your granddad for scaring the crap out of him. Best he hears all of this too, and I don't need him pouting." Kurama said to her, causing her to wince.
Grandfather?" She inquired softly, but got no response, causing her to wince again.
"I'm sorry for scaring you. I'll be more careful in the future, I promise." She offered, hoping he'd say something to her. She couldn't imagine how much he'd been worrying about her, she just hoped he'd forgive her.
"Riley, never do something like that again." She heard him finally say, knowing that he was referring to her almost dying, not that she could really control that. Still, she understood him well enough to know what he meant. She felt awful at having made him worry.
"Okay." She offered, almost able to physically see the frown that would have likely resided on his face, despite the fact that she didn't actually know what he looked like.
"Riley?" Fleur inquired, Riley having been overly quiet for the last few moments.
"Sorry, I was just trying to remember what happened, but it's all coming up blank." Riley said to her, turning her gaze to Fleur. She offered the girl a smile, which again caused Fleur to blush and avert her gaze before returning it.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Fleur asked her.
"I feel fine. If Mr Delacour's diagnostic spell didn't turn up anything, then I'd say I'm good. I'll take it easy the next couple of days though, just to be safe." Riley responded. "I'd also like to help cleaning this all up. I certainly left a mess in here."
Though they remained worried about her, the Delacours had no reason to keep her from leaving. They accepted her help in cleaning up, if only to have her around a bit longer to keep an eye on her and make sure she was alright.
Riley helped them clean Fleur's room from the mud and dried blood she'd dragged in when she showed up. Once everything was clean she bid them farewell, intent on returning home, since she was sure Remus was starting to worry. Before she left, Fleur gave her a particularly long hug, which Riley enjoyed. It was rare for her to initiate such long bouts of contact between them, but those moments were starting to send Riley's heart aflutter.
She'd always felt a pull towards the Veela, the same kind of pull she felt towards Kaede. She liked them, and a part of her was perhaps starting to wonder if that like might go deeper than she understood.
Seeing how concerned and worried the Delacours were for her, was incredibly touching. Riley had never really felt the kind of care. Having it, made her feel good, though she did regret causing them to worry.
Once she had finished helping them clean she bid her farewells and returned to Paris. She met up with Remus who was starting to wonder when she would return. She hid what had happened from him, knowing that it would only make him more worried if he knew what had kept her away all night. Once she was alone in her room, laying on her own bed, she turned her focus towards Kurama, eager to finally learn what had really gone on.
"So you ready to fill me in?" Riley inquired to the demon fox.
"Well first and foremost, you were a heartbeat away from dying, no pun intended. Your other demonic passenger awoke, offering a means of saving you. It said we had one of three paths to take, and he left the decision in my hands. Either I helped to heal you, it would heal you, or we let you die and see what happens." Kurama began.
"Ummm…. Okay I'm guessing I need more context." Riley noted, confused.
"It claimed it could heal you, but in doing so, you'd be mentally broken. I don't know how or why, but it was quite certain that if it was allowed to heal you, you'd suffer major mental trauma and end up completely shattered. What happened then is anyone's guess." Kurama explained to her.
"Right… and leaving me to die was an option?" Riley noted.
"It was. According to it, when you were struck with the killing curse as a child, you died then, but due to the Rinnegan and being a higher being because of it, you didn't actually die. This caused you to straddle the line between life and death all these years. Because of the state you were in, the process of Hallowification was allowed to occur but never reach it's conclusion, and before you ask, a Hallow is a type of demon or corrupted spirit that feeds on living souls. They are the most common type of demon that living people have the opportunity or misfortune to ecounter, and you were well on your way to becoming one, due to the neglect and suffering you experienced all your life. Had we let you die, the process probably would have completed very quickly, causing you to turn into a Hallow immediately. Most of the time this process can take months or even years before a dead soul becomes corrupt enough to transform into a Hallow, but in your case, it would have occurred quickly. A Hallow with the power of the Rinnegan, that would be a terrifying thing to imagine, especially because I would likely remain sealed within you, and you'd begin feeding on my soul through my chakra that seeps out of this cage, and I'd be powerless to stop you from doing it. All my suspicion, I have no clue if I'm right or not, but needless to say, it wasn't a choice that involved losing you. None of these choices were to let you truly die, but rather what state you would survive in. If the other demon healed you, it would break you mentally. If we let you die, you'd become a Hallow, so that left only one option." Kurama continued to explain, Madara listening alongside Riley as everything was laid out.
"So you were the one to heal her, Fox." Madara spoke.
"I played a part." Kurama offered in agreement.
"How so?" Riley inquired, as she contemplated the information she'd just learned.
"I gave you a piece of my heart." Kurama said to her, causing her to blink in surprise in the real world.
"You gave me a piece of your heart?" Riley asked him, touching at the scarred flesh in the center of her chest, remembering vividly the pain she'd felt as her heart was blown out of her body.
"Yeah. The other demon took a piece of my heart, and molded it into a new human heart for you. This was both a physical and spiritual process as it required melding your own magical pathways to integrate with this demonic organ." Kurama carried on explaining.
"Wow… I don't know what to say. Thank you Kurama." She expressed in gratitude.
"Don't go thanking me just yet. You still need to understand the cost. Doing this did save your life, but things are different now. You are different. You have a demonic heart, the heart is where the soul is housed, and where the magical core resides. By replacing your heart with a demonic one, it will begin to corrupt you. Specifically you'll begin to transform into a Tailed Beast like myself. Because of the way we were made, each of the Tailed Beasts is highly specific. That means that you'll become another Nine Tails, like me." Kurama expressed.
"I'll turn into a Tailed Beast? So one day I'll just transform into a giant fox demon?" Riley questioned.
"Well yes, but not in the way you imagine it. Firstly, the process will be much slower. Due to the Rinnegan your spirit is highly resilient to corruption so it'll take a bit to fully transform. Probably five to ten years at least. Once that happens, yes you'll turn into a fox, or at least try to. I can teach you how to control demonic energy so you can control your own transformation. We Tailed Beasts can change our shape if we wish, we could even assume human form if we so desired, but given how little we think of humans and how much pride we take in the form the Sage gave us, we rarely do it. So you wont have to live as a giant fox. The only limit on our transformations is that we have to have our tails. So you'll have nine tails no matter what form you're in. Secondly, I have no idea how you'll compare to me in terms of power. This has never been done with Tailed Beasts before. Demons don't typically have real organs and if they do, they don't generally share them with humans or other living beings. I know enough that there's a strong likelihood that you'll begin rapidly growing in strength as you become a near mirror image of me. Meaning you'll likely end up as strong as I am, or at least with as much chakra as I have. This is merely my speculation though, as I said, I don't actually know for certain, given that I'm not an ordinary demon. I'd give it between five and ten years before the transformation completes itself. When it does, not only will you be immortal, but you'll also be nearly unbeatable. As a Tailed Beast, even if you are killed, you'll eventually revive. You'll have access to the full breath of demonic powers that all Tailed Beasts have, and you'll likely also have access to my specific powers as well. We'll have a lot of work until the day comes to make sure you're ready. It wont be easy, but this was the only path where you had a chance to remain who you are, while still surviving." Kurama laid everything out for her, making sure she understood that things certainly were different now.
"Remain who I am?" She repeated thoughtfully.
"It's why I chose this path. If left to become a Hallow you'd be consumed by your own desire for souls, becoming a ruthless killing machine. If the unknown demon healed you, your mind would break, meaning you'd lose who you are now. This way, if nothing else, there's a chance you might remain who you are. You'll likely be able to retain your personality, your wants, and desires. Demons in general are largely linked to negative emotions but that's usually because they only have negative emotions. We Tailed Beasts were gifted the full breath of emotions by the Sage, and you'll have them too, meaning all of your emotions will be empowered, but you'll ultimately still be able to remain who you are. It was the only path available that left you a chance of still being Riley, of being able to pursue your goals and dreams. Kaede is proof enough for you that half-demons exist and can be more or less human, so you can still restore the Uzumaki clan and make a name for yourself, all of that is still within your power to accomplish. This is a gift as much as a curse, so it'll be how you use it, and live with it, that determines the ultimate outcome." Kurama explained to her.
Riley was silent for many long moments as she took that in, digesting what had been done to ultimately save her life. Kurama had made the best choice he could to try and save who she was as a person. He even gave a piece of himself to allow it to happen. She found herself deeply moved as she realized this and even more so recognized what he'd sacrificed to save her life.
"Thank you Kurama. For saving me, and giving me a second chance. I'm really grateful." Riley offered to him, her gratitude surprising the ancient demon.
"Eh, don't worry about it. I just made the most logical choice." Kurama attempted to dismiss her.
"But if I'd died, you could have escaped. Whether you died with me, or not, you still would have been free from this seal." Riley countered.
"Maybe, then again I've barely begun healing thanks to that other demon and I doubt it would have continued repairing my magical core if I weren't with you anymore, so it really was in my best interest to keep you alive." Kurama noted, though in truth, he hadn't actually considered his own escape in the moment. In hindsight he probably wouldn't have been able to escape, or if he did he'd be practically powerless, but again, it wasn't something he considered.
"Still, I'm really grateful. I promise, I'll find a way to repay you. I owe you one Kurama." Riley promised to him. Kurama took a moment to digest her gratitude, finding himself feeling a bit off in regards to receiving such gratitude from a mortal. He wasn't used to it, so again, he was driven to dismiss it.
"Well just keep that in mind the next time you wanna take on such a powerful foe. I don't give out freebies so be mindful, you don't wanna end up in debt to a demon." Kurama warned her.
"Yes sir. Speaking of which, what was with that guys strange barrier?" Riley inquired to them, remembering how she was unable to access Kamui while within it's confines.
"I'm not quite sure it was a barrier if I'm being honest. It didn't function much like a barrier and his deployment of it was unlike any barrier I've ever seen. It was likely something else, some new form of magic that we haven't encountered before." Madara suggested, having had plenty of time to go over everything she'd seen in the fight.
"Madara is likely correct. It wasn't something I'm familiar with either. Likely some kind of magecraft." Kurama agreed with Madara, much to his chagrin.
"Magecraft huh? I'm gonna need to prepare myself for that kind of power if I run into that guy again." Riley spoke aloud, her eyes glued onto the ceiling. She subconsciously rubbed at her chest, taking stock of her new demonic heart and how it hammered in her chest.
"The cost for failure. Well at least I'm not dead. Maybe this wont be so bad, hell maybe it was meant to be. Kurama says that those with the Rinnegan are meant for greatness. One day I'll be a demon, a Tailed Beast like Kurama. Maybe it what I was meant to be. A Tailed Beast with the power of the Rinnegan, I don't think that's ever been a thing before." Riley thought to herself.
"It's certainly a volatile concoction, we'll have to be careful. You'll find a way to overcome this, I have no doubt in my mind." Madara stated.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Grandfather." Riley offered to him.
"Not really meant as praise. You simply have no other option but to succeed. If you fail then you'll be reduced to a living natural disaster, who spends most of it's time sleeping like the Fox. Not really the lifestyle of the ambitious." Madara noted, recalling how she had wiped out that entire town with the powers of the Rinnegan. He wondered for a brief moment is now would be a good time to mention it. After a moment he decided against it. They'd tell her eventually. She needed to know what she'd done, but for now she had enough on her mind.
"I heard that, jackass." Kurama growled, responding to Madara's statement, drawing the old man's attention to the Fox, the two beginning to trade jabs.
As the two began arguing Riley let out a sigh, just happy to be alive. She closed her eyes, and in her mind's eye she could see the face of the man who'd killed her. She felt her muscles tighten, a snarl spreading across her face, without realizing it, she felt her fingers curl around something, only recognizing that she was grasping something when she went to move her arm. Her eyes snapped open and she spotted her hand wrapped around the sword that she now held attached to her belt.
Her hand had almost been instinctively drawn to it as a sort of defense response.
She pulled the blade free and examined it, taking in it's appearance, the weight of it, it's familiarity to her. She'd pulled this blade out of her own chest. Why that was, or what it could possibly mean, she had no clue. A sigh escaped her lips, as she lowered the blade to her side and stared at the ceiling.
Her life had changed irreparably, and she was now forced to find a way to deal with it. And so she would. She had no choice other than to keep pushing forward. Starting tomorrow, she'd need to up her training and begin preparing for the day she met that man again. Friedrich Yurik, the best she'd fought so far. One day she'd run into him again, and she'd need to be prepared to counter his magecraft, and stronger than him would one day appear before her. She'd need to become much stronger, and less reliant of Kamui if she wanted to defeat them. Kamui was powerful, but this battle made it perfectly clear to her that relying on it could be detrimental to her, so she'd need to work on that. Work on her skills and prepare for the changes that were coming.
Demonhood awaited her, the birth of a new Nine Tails. Yeah, there was a lot of work to do.
-To Be Continued-