It turned out Edo wasn’t much older than Hazel’s current age. She hadn’t expected that. She got in the front seat with him. He gave her a look as if her choice was strange. The car they were in was black and old though the paint and interior were pristine. He looked over at her before he put the car into gear. Hazel looked up at the setting sun. She realized that would make it easier to conceal a wolf running around a city. She looked at Edo.

“Everything alright?”

“Sorry, I’ve just never seen a gaijin who wasn’t old with hair that color.”

She shrugged.

“It’s the way it’s always been. So, take me to this child-hunting Oni.”

He glanced at her.

“You don’t have any weapons.”

She shook her head.

“I am the weapon. Just do me a favor, stay out of harms way, my mom would kill me if something happened to you.”

“Do I know her?”

Hazel thought about that, and almost said you will, but instead just shook her head.

“She doesn’t like it when civilians get hurt. Look, you’re going to see stuff you can’t unsee. Like for instance what I really am. Some people can’t handle it. And if I have to call my mom in… well you’ll see some serious… firepower. You can just take off once we get to the spot it was last seen and go home and I will not tell anyone.”

He shook his head.

“I’m not leaving a woman alone with that thing.”

Hazel snickered and wondered how fast he was going to run when she went half-wolf form. He stopped at a building. There was police tape and blood on the sidewalk. He shut the car off and got out. Hazel joined him by the crime scene tape. It was night by now. The moon was only a crescent still. Better to hide from the general public. He motioned to the blood.

“From one of ours. That is from the child. The black… is where we caught it with a bullet. Didn’t seem to do much to it.”

Hazel looked around then to Edo.

“Okay this is when stuff gets weird. Now is your chance to leave before you see something you might regret.”

He bowed.

“I am staying with you. It is a very dangerous thing.”

Hazel shrugged.

“So am I.”

She shifted to wolf form and shook out her silver fur. She nipped at Edo’s leg and he jumped away. His eyes were wide, but not with fear. Shock? Concern? She wasn’t sure. She turned to the crime scene and walked under the tape. She was large enough in wolf form she might have been called a dire wolf. She was past Edo’s waist. She sniffed the Oni’s blood. She growled. She caught its foul scent and started to track it. Edo watched her leave then realized what the Oyabun had told him and hurried to catch up. He had his hand on his gun the whole way. He figured if the wolf had wanted him dead he would be. Hazel barely acknowledged his presence except for the odd glance. Everything was going swimmingly until they ran into a pair of police officers who didn’t handle a large wolf as well as Edo had. Edo took his hand off his gun as soon as he noticed them and pulled his jacket close. They were getting out of the area patrolled by Yakuza friendly police and into a more neutral part of Naha, near the edge of the city. Hazel played up the friendly dog she would use if caught somewhere she was odd. She started licking one of the officer’s hands. Edo smiled at the officers.

“Good evening officers.”

“Is this your dog?”

Edo nodded.

“Sorry if we startled you. She’s a tracking dog. I was asked to see if I could find out where the person that attacked the child last night went to.”

Now that he was closer he recognized one of the officers who the Yakuza had bribed. He tugged his sleeve up. When the officer saw the tattoos he motioned to his partner.

“We should let them get on with their search. That is the third child that has been attacked.”

His partner nodded and scratched Hazel’s head. She wagged her tail playing up the big friendly dog persona. The offices waved to Edo and went on their way past them. Edo bowed to Hazel once they were out of sight.

“My apologies Hazel-san for saying I owned you.”

She nipped at his hand gently and motioned her head towards the direction they had been traveling and kept up on the trail. It led out of Naha and down to the shore. She lost the trail as they hit the beach. It had either gone in the water, or the tide had washed away the traces. She shifted to human form.

“This is the end of the trail. Well, the one I can trace by scent. What I can tell you is that the wound healed quickly, minutes. It was pretty big, but you already knew that. Also that it is a demon.”

“As we told you, an Oni.”

Hazel shrugged and motioned for him to step back. She kneeled in the sand and started to trace runes in the sand and chant in the spirt-tongue. Edo stepped back as requested. Hazel waited and then the demon’s footprints appeared to her in the sand and water. Glowing blue. It led around the footprints led around a rocky outcropping into the ocean. Hazel pointed in the direction.

“Is there a cave?”

He nodded.

“Yes. Dangerous because the tide gets high enough you can get dragged under. They call it drowned man’s cave.”

“That is where it is.”

He pointed to the runes on the sand that Hazel had traced.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing to you. I asked the spirts to show me the trail it took. You probably want to stay here now. I’m going into the cave after it.”

He grabbed her arm.

“No, its too dangerous.”

Hazel shrugged.

“Not for me.”

She shifted to half-wolf form and Edo’s hand released her very quickly as she suddenly towered over him by almost four feet. She waded into the ocean and into the cave leaving a shocked Edo watching after her. Her enhanced night vision made darkness her ally. She scrapped her talons along the wall calling to the spirts to sharpen them for the coming battle. She heard movement in the water. Her eyes locked onto her target. It was a scaly black thing with long claws of its own and fangs dripping with black poison. He hissed at her. Her response was a roar that echoed in the cave. She attacked first her claws rending its flesh. Angry gashes appeared in its flesh it cried out in agony. And rather then attacking her dove into the water and tried to escape. She chased after it had almost managed to rach the open water by the time she caught it. She grasped its leg and flung it twenty feet in land. While it was flying through the air she shifted to wolf form and dashed across the sandy beach and as it was standing lept into the air shifting to half wolf form. Her massive talons rending its flesh further. It slashed at her side and she could feel her flesh sizzle from the corruption that festered within the creature.

She roared at it. The creature was in full flight mode now. Trying to reach the water but every time it tried to get past Hazel, she would toss it back towards the land. Finally, when it came at her to try and get past instead of blocking, she stepped aside, and her talons slashed through its thick neck. The demon’s body ran forward for several feet before collapsing its head fallen at Hazel’s feet. She roared at it. Then fell to her knees clutching her side where its claws had rent her flesh. The body dissolved into a black miasma before vanishing entirely. She’d sent it back to Hell. Edo approached her hesitantly.

“Are you alright? Do you need a doctor?”

Hazel shook her head. Unlike her mother her body could heal such wounds on its own, just not as rapidly as normal weaponry. She shifted to wolf and lay on the beach panting. She knew it would be a few days before it healed fully but she wanted the wound to at least stop bleeding before she shifted to her human shape. Otherwise her clothes would be drenched in blood and she would need a doctor to stich her up. Edo likely forgetting it was a woman who changed into a wolf pet Hazel’s side trying to comfort her. Hazel didn’t mind. She was used to people doing that when she was a wolf. About a half an hour later the wound had sufficiently healed so that if she shifted to human form, it would not reopen. She let her body resume its natural shape and looked up at Edo.

“Please help me up.”

He stood up quickly blinking. He bowed to her a few times.

“Forgive me for my inappropriateness.”

Hazel wave her hand dismissively.

“Happens all the time.”

She reached out her hand again and he pulled her up.

“Do you need anything?”

Hazel nodded.

“Food.”

He bowed.

“I know just the place.”

Edo helped her up the stairs from the beach then into the front seat of the car. Hazel leaned against the door once it was closed. She held her side. Healing would take time. But there was one less piece of corruption in the world. Edo looked at her they pulled away from the curb.

“You have done this before, many times.”

Hazel nodded.

“My people have been given the sacred duty of protecting the Earth from them. A task handed from the mother of spirits.”

Hazel thought back to the first primordial spirits and of them hearing the stories from Hazel of her mother’s hunts and for the first time in her life she understood with clarity, that her mother was the mother of spirits. But it was Hazel’s words that had sent her people into battle against the corruption of Hell. She smiled. It was humbling to realize that if not for her words the demons and tainted vampires would have been running rampant. Edo glanced at her again.

“Are you alright Hazel-san?”

Hazel nodded.

“I just realized something that has been staring me in the face for a long time.”

“Being close to death often brings insight. Or so my grandfather would say.”

Hazel looked at Edo.

“He is not wrong.”

Hazel let her eyes close with her head leaning against the window of the black Cadillac. Edo let her rest while he drove. Finally cleared his throat a few times.

“We are here.”

Hazel rubbed her eyes, realizing she must have drifted off. He opened the door for her and the pair went inside. It was a noodle shop. Hazel saw the young woman behind the counter brighten up as soon as she saw Edo. He motioned to Hazel and introduced her.

“This is Hazel. She is working with your Uncle. I told her this is the best food on the island.”

The woman blushed. Hazel could tell there was something more to the pair then she could see. But Edo’s choice of words and the way he stood indicated there was a distance he was trying to keep. Hazel stepped forward and bowed slightly to her. The woman looked up at Hazel.

“How can we help you?”

Hazel looked at the menu. Of all the foods she had tried Japanese was not one of them. She looked at Edo and then the woman.

“I do not know, but I am very hungry, so three of whatever Edo could eat.”

The woman smiled and nodded. Hazel reached into her pocket and Edo shook his head and paid for the meal. The woman provided three bowls of ramen and chicken for Hazel along with a beer for both of the pair. She bowed leaving Hazel and Edo to eat in peace. Hazel dug in immediately. Calling out the wolf always left her starving. Edo was doing is best not to stare at the girl who’d just polished off three full meals. She stacked the bowls neatly. She had long since finished her beer. She blushed slightly.

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“Doing…the thing always makes me very hungry. It’s a long bigger and need a lot more fuel.”

Edo bowed slightly.

“I apologize.”

Hazel looked to the woman behind the counter who kept giving shy glances to Edo.

“You like her and she likes you, why this game?”

Edo was confused for a few moments before he realized what Hazel was talking about.

“Oh no, it is not proper. Nobuyuki is the brother of her mother.”

“You see to be well respected by him.”

“Her mother doesn’t want her associating with us, she does not like what her brother does.”

Hazel nodded.

“I understand. It is really terrible when parents get in the way. I doubt I’ll see my boyfriend anytime soon.”

“What is wrong?”

Hazel sighed.

“My mother is angry because I got into some trouble. My boyfriend is frightened of my mother.”

Edo nodded then realized who he was talking to, and he blinked a few times.

“I would not want to anger your mother.”

“My mother is not like me.”

“Oh, I see.”

“She still treats me like I’m a normal girl. Like I cannot protect myself.”

Edo nodded.

“She’d be kind of mad for me even going after that Oni myself.”

Edo was about to respond when two police officers walked in the door. Hazel went back to looking at Edo but Edo kept his eyes on them as if he recognized the officers. They approached the table. Edo stood up and greeted them warmly. They motioned to the exit but Edo shook his head.

“She is helping us with some problems.”

“There was another attack.”

Confusion crossed Edo’s face.

“When?”

“Just ten minutes ago.”

Edo shook his head.

“Impossible. It is dead.”

Hazel stood up. The police officers looked up at the woman who towered over most people.

“Only one way to know for sure.”

Edo looked up at Hazel and bowed slightly.

“As you say.”

They made an odd group walking down a few blocks. There was a woman who was wailing and being comforted by a female officer. The officers led them to and through a police barrier. There was a sheet over a body. One of the officers lifted a corner. Edo turned away holding his hand to his mouth. Hazel who was accustomed to bloodshed of all forms and having fought on the battlefields of Gaul and Rome quirked an eyebrow. She frowned. The black ooze the claw marks. She touched her side empathetically. This was through the officer’s face. She looked on the ground and saw some black ooze. She touched it smelled it. She frowned and looked up at Edo who was keeping his distance from the carnage she rubbed the demon blood on her skirt. She looked at the officer’s who had shown her the body.

“Sorry for your loss. We’ll deal with this.”

She motioned for Edo to follow her back towards the car.

“It’s the same thing. I’ll go into alley and change. We’ll need to track it. If we hurry we might be able to save the child.”

Edo shook his head.

“No, you are injured. You killed the one the Oyabun asked you to, you have fulfilled the bargain.”

Hazel looked down at Edo.

“You really think I will let a child die because I have a few scratches?”

“You are a westerner…”

“And so, I have no honor?”

He blinked at her words. She’d dealt with this in old Japan as well. They assumed because of her differences she lacked the guts to go to her death. He bowed deeply.

“I apologize for my words.”

Hazel went into the alley and shifted. An alley that one day in the near future would find her mother in a life-or-death battle with another entity, Nobuyuki’s life would be in the balance that time. Tonight it was bereft of people with only the rats to witness the extremely tall gaijin woman shift into a silver wolf with blood strained fur. Edo walked beside Hazel as she circled the crime scene until she found the blood trail. It vanished as she knew it would. They healed fast. The pair followed the trail for half an hour before they came upon an abandoned US military housing. The signage declared it health hazard, they weren’t going into details. The fencing was torn open in one section. Hazel slipped through sniffing the ground as she went. They reached the largest house. Hazel felt the familiar wrenching in her gut. She backed away quickly and found a spot behind another house nearby. She shifted to human form.

“Lots of Oni.”

“How do you know?”

“I can feel them when they are nearby and not trying to conceal themselves.”

“How many?”

“It’s not that… umm finetuned. But there are a lot.”

“Let’s go get more men. One was almost too much for you.”

“No. But I will need to know how many there are then I’ll call my mom in. Wait here. I’ll go see what I can see.”

Hazel slipped a holo-web over her neck and tapped it and shimmered out of existence. She hoped the demon’s didn’t have any senses that could sniff her out if she was invisible. But her rite might make it hard to get an accurate count. Edo jumped as she vanished. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“It’s fine I’m still here, just invisible. I’ll be back soon.”

Hazel lost sight of Edo shortly after that. She crept through a side door that was ajar. The inside was foul smelling. They had been here for a while. Black mold clung to the ceiling and green-black organic tendrils had pierced the floor and started snaking their way up the walls. It was far more humid than it should have been even for Okinawa. She saw the first demon devouring the flesh of a large fish that Hazel could not identify. She saw another come up and get bashed away. They struggled before the larger of the two beat the smaller into submission. She found a set of stairs leading to a basement. The smell was so much stronger she struggled to breath without gagging audibly. At the center of the room were what seemed to be three men but only their heads were visible. Tendrils crept up their faces and into their ears and into the corner of their eyes. The were suspended over top of a creature that defied description by Hazel. A giant eyeball with a glowing red iris darted about looking every which way. It spoke. And she saw a demon that looked identical to the one beheaded go flying past her into one of the walls.

“The children are not food, they are fuel to bring our lord forth!”

The voice of the eyeball thing gave even her soul goosebumps. Her translator provided the words only because her mother had built the language database for the angelic language for her. She crept around the outside of the room doing her best to avoid stepping on the fleshy green-black tendrils that radiated from the eyeball. As she rounded the pillar that consisted of the three men’s cocooned bodies, she saw the children. They were filthy but looked to be in one piece, if mentally disturbed. She frowned when she realized that all the green-black fleshy tendrils that radiated from the eyeball were actually tentacles because it was one of those that had flung the demon away. She tapped the command to start scanning with her military grade holo-phone. One of the purchases she’d made to help with her mercenary work. She was horrified to realize the eyeball demon had infested every corner of the house and even had started to work its way through the walls and into the surrounding Earth.

She looked at the huddled children. There were eleven of them and she had to get them out. She knew what she had to do. She had to call down an airstrike from her mother. With no Lucius there was no way to burn it out thoroughly she could think of without using Apollo’s missiles and rail guns. She would never, could never sacrifice these children to make it happen. Her mother would make that call but she never could. Her mother would say that eleven children was better then eleven million people. Her mother was most assuredly right but she wasn’t her mother. She opened a comm link to her mother and rather then speaking she just sent the video directly to her contacts. She heard her mother gasp, swear then yell at her.

“Get out of there Hazel!”

Hazel shook her head and looked to towards the children. Enid’s next words reinformed what she already knew.

“They are already dead Hazel. You are not going to be able to save them.”

Hazel shook her head and charged towards the children. She shifted into her half wolf form and tore through the two demons guarding the children just as she finished shifting. Her holo-web, her backpack, her translator, and her holo-phone all became part of her body and killed all connections and active effects. The two demons howled in agony as they dissolved into black miasma. Hazel roared at the children and pointed to the stairs. She turned and slashed through three tentacles that tried to grab the children. The eyeball demon’s toothy maw started shouting. Without the translator Hazel had no idea what it was saying. She assumed it was it yelling at her, or calling for help she chased after the children. They were screaming and running from her. She felt two of the tentacles pierce her flesh from behind she twisted and slashed through them with her claws yanking the ends out as she ran. The demons who had been on the first floor were trying to intercept the children. They weren’t expecting the wolf-born that lept over top of the children and smashed through the wall causing part of the ceiling to collapse on the three of them. Hazel’s claws had done their damage and by the time she’d freed herself from the rubble they were already starting to dissolve. She raced after the children. The tentacles that had infiltrated the house proper were struggling to try and prevent the escape. Hazel slashed through one that had grappled the slowest of the children. She shifted to human as she ran to the door. She had heard a sonic boom recently and assumed it was her mother. She saw a flash of purple. Her comm-link was re-established.

“Mom fire everything it’s spread past the house. We’re still danger close!”

Enid didn’t speak but Hazel had her answer soon enough. Green spits of plasma, white rail gun bolts and 29th century missiles started to tear into the house and ground around it. Hazel scooped up a couple more children and dove for cover with them. Edo had taken the rest behind the nearby house. She lifted her head up and her mother was still unloading all her weapons into the house. Edo was sitting on the ground the children huddled around him. All eyes were staring at a light show they would never see again. Eventually the glow dimmed on the weapons and Apollo shimmered out of existence. Hazel put the children down and shifted to her half-wolf form. The house was gone. As if it had never existed. Only a massive crater remained. Apollo’s weapons were devastating in their effectiveness. However apparently not enough to deal with the eyeball demon. She could still see the glow red iris looking about panicked. Hazel lept down into the crater and stood over it. Charred and tentacles reached out to try and stop her but they were stubs and could do little to prevent the inevitable. It started speaking through its burnt mouth. Its massive teeth were gone its black demon blood seeping back into its mouth. Hazel roared at it before she lept onto the eyeball and started digging with the talons. When she was done the only thing left was the hollowed-out foundation and earth and black demon blood splattered everywhere. The rest of the remnants of it evaporated leaving only the blood. Hazel jumped up to the edge of the crater and pulled herself up. Edo started cheering.

Hazel shifted into her human shape making a mental note that she was going to some industrial strength shampoo to get rid of the gore from her half-wolf form. Hazel collapsed to her knees shortly after her shift. Adrenaline had kept her from realizing just how many of the vicious tentacles had pierced her flesh. She’d also been bitten twice and had numerous claw injuries. Edo jumped to help her up. Hazel looked up at him.

“We need to go. The military will have seen her on RADAR.”

Edo helped her to walk out of the housing block. The children followed them. Police cars were racing towards them by the time they had exited the fenced area. Hazel found herself being carried by Edo and a couple of officers and put in the car. She was in so much pain she lost track of the conversation. She heard sirens and saw the unfamiliar city of Naha fly by, she was carried into the back of the Pachinko parlor. She closed her eyes again. When she woke up, she felt like every part of her was bruised. She was laying in a bed and covered in dressings. The demons had done a number on her. She blinked a few times and her contacts came online. She reached out and hit the button to open a direct comm-link to her mother’s phone.

“Mom?”

“Thank God. I couldn’t risk going into Naha. Do you need help?”

Hazel groaned.

“No, I just wished painkillers worked on me.”

“I to-.”

Enid cut herself off.

“I’m glad you’re okay. Where are you?”

“I think the Yakuza patched me up.”

“Dr. Yaso.”

“Hmm?”

“He was the doctor they used before me. How bad is it?”

“Stabbed by a lot of tentacles. Clawed pretty badly. Got chewed on.”

“Healing slow I take it.”

“Of course, mom, it was demons.”

“Did we get it?”

“Yep. I tore it apart for good measure. Gonna need power washing.”

“There’s a beach about three blocks from The Lucky Fish. Can you make it?”

“Yea. Will collect the parts and come to you.”

“See you soon hon.”

“See you soon mom.”

Hazel shifted out of bed and stood. She saw a large man’s suit folded on a desk. Probably all they could find to fit her. She pulled it on. Whomever had left it also left a tie. She chuckled and put it in one of the jacket pockets. She leaned on the doorframe as she left the room. There was a Japanese man out front of the door. He reached out to help her she held out her hand and made her way towards the casino/bar proper. Nobuyuki stood when he saw her. The casino was empty. Obviously past last closing. An older man who looked remarkably similar to Nobuyuki was sitting across from him. The other man also stood. They both bowed deeply to her. Nobuyuki motioned for her to join them.

“Hazel-san, this is my brother.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

Nobuyuki poured her a glass of sake.

“You honor us with your presence. You rescued the children and defeated many foes this night.”

Hazel met the toast they offered and downed her sake. She looked at Nobuyuki.

“I do not wish to rush you, however, my mother intervening like she did has brought attention that we cannot afford to us. She is currently doing her best to evade the US military, but we need those parts that I requested so we can fix our transportation to get home.”

“Do you need someplace to make the repairs?”

Hazel blinked. She nodded.

“I have a place big enough for your plane. I can also ensure you won’t be disturbed.”

Hazel opened her mouth to say something. Nobuyuki held up his hand.

“Edo told me everything. You have earned my respect and my protection as you have protected us. How well does your mother know the island?”

“I hazard to say as well as you.”

He nodded. Hazel thought for a few moments.

“It is very important that if she accepts your offer that no one comes to the building until we leave. My mother is a very private person. She will likely harm them if she is disturbed.”

He bowed.

“We will respect her wishes. You have earned at least that much.”

“There is an old airstrip south of Naha. It was used in World War Two. There is a hanger there. Hanger four. Your parts are already waiting for you.”

Hazel stood and bowed.

“My mother is waiting for me. I must go.”

Nobuyuki and his brother both stood and bowed to her. Hazel made her way to where her mother asked her to meet. Shortly after she arrived at the beach his cockpit appeared with her waiting mother. Hazel climbed up the ladder that formed for her. She got in. Hazel looked back at her.

“Where are my parts?”

“Old airstrip south of here. Nobuyuki said we could use his hanger.”

Enid shook her head.

“Old man was holding out on me.”

Enid flew to the air strip and hopped out once they arrived. She let her daughter handle the piloting while she opened the hanger doors. Once inside she was amazed to see two Zeros and a pair of corsair’s in mint condition. She whistled.

“I might have picked up piloting soon if I’d know these were here.”

She looked around to find out where Hazel had gotten off to only to see a silver wolf curled up on an old blanket that her daughter must have pulled from her pack. She knelt beside her daughter and ran her fingers through her fur. She looked at the numerous injuries and sighed.

“Poor kid.”

She decided to do the same. Repairs could wait until they were well rested. It was going to be complicated work.

Enid’s jury-rigging was well under way by the time Hazel began to stir. She shifted to human form and sat beside Enid at the worktable while rubbing her eyes. Enid had most of the chips already inserted into the circuit board she’d put together with spare parts from a laptop in her bag and some liquid metal and a lot of patience. Hazel yawned and stretched.

“You have any food mom?”

Enid looked at her daughter.

“One track mind I see. There are some MRE’s in the pack. I suggest the Roast Chicken. And mashed potatoes.”

“For breakfast?”

“The breakfasts aren’t that good, just based on my opinion. But feel free to ignore me at your own risk. They all look like someone puked in a pack to me. Canadians, great guns, crappy MRE’s, at least in the nineties.”

Enid went back to working on her jury-rigged solution. I took her a couple of more hours to complete it. Installing it was easy, she just had to hook in the wires to the already opened module. Within seconds Apollo’s voice echoed in hanger.

“My sensor, and ECM functions are now online. Thank you, Aunt Enid.”

Enid motioned to Hazel who was sitting in the remnants of a feast of MRE’s. She’d tried all eight types her mother had had in the pack. And three of the roasted chicken.

“Thank Hazel, she’s the one who risked her life for the parts.”

“Thank you, Hazel.”

Enid looked at Hazel. And pointed the screwdriver she had in her had at the various bits of trash.

“Clean up everything. No trace of anything after 1984. Then we go pick up some samples of fast foods, different flavors of pop then we head home. Hop to it. I need to be out of here before the twenty-ninth.”