Incomplete transformation

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

...

I was stuck. Stuck in the process of changing.

My body was black. Twisted. Stretched out and contorted. Broken.

I hadn't fully transformed yet.

And it was hurting.

Hurting like hell.

I wanted to die.

***

Sakuya was in the middle of selecting a few clothes to buy for Jumo. Aunt Kanna had followed her to the shop and now acted as her fashion consultant on the clothes she was picking out.

"Okay, how about this one?" Sakuya asked excitedly, holding out a stylish men's kimono with blue, green, black, yellow, and red splattering. She wanted something with a Japanese aesthetic but also something that screamed Africa with its color pattern.

"Too many colors," Kanna replied, shaking her head.

Sakuya was glad the older woman had agreed to help her. She knew deep down, Kanna did not hate Jumo. Tradition just forced her auntie’s hand not to openly accept her relationship with him—a mindset Sakuya was desperately trying to change. That’s why she tagged along when the woman said she was going to the market. And why she had deliberately invited her over to help buy something for Jumo.

"Mmm, but I really like this one," Sakuya said as she continued to observe the mostly green material. "It really has that African vibe to it. Plus, I think it would bring out his eyes more."

"Then buy it," Kanna said.

"Mmm..."

"Sakuya, we don’t have all day," Kanna said.

"Alright, okay," Sakuya replied, making up her mind. "Shopkeeper! How much for this one?!"

"That’s 25,000 yen, ma’am."

Sakuya's eyes widened in horror.

"25,000... Is it secretly made out of gold or something?"

"I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s the honest price."

"Come on, dude, I don’t have that kind of money," Sakuya said. "How about I give you 6,000?"

"I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s the honest price."

Sakuya furrowed her brows in annoyance.

"Yeah, I know. You’ve said that already, NPC. Look."

Sakuya reached for her card, phone, and wallet from her pocket. Then she held out the items for the shopkeeper to see.

"I will give you 10,000," she said. "How about that?" she added, waggling the items in the air.

"I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s—"

Sakuya boosted over to the shopkeeper, leaned over the counter, then threatened him with her glowing eyes.

"Say ‘honest price’ one more time," she said coldly. "I dare you."

The man was shivering in his seat.

"Sakuya? Control yourself," Kanna said from behind her.

She did as she was told.

...

Outside the store, Sakuya and Kanna were making their way to the produce section of the market. Sakuya couldn’t bring herself to stop pouting.

"We’ll just check another shop," Kanna said, trying to comfort her. "Who knows? We might find a better one."

Sakuya was still pouting. But she was momentarily distracted as her phone began to ring. She stopped, took it out of her pocket, and answered. It was Ash. She had seen the caller ID.

She noticed the girl on the other end of the call was breathing heavily. What was going on?

"Hello?" Sakuya said. "Ash?"

"Where are you?" Ash simply replied.

Sakuya already knew it was an emergency. Ash only asked that question when she wanted to teleport over. She quickly looked around for a recognizable landmark.

"Come to the produce section of the market," she said. "Near Farmer Daichi’s—"

Sakuya hadn’t even finished speaking. Ash appeared a second later, a little to the left in front of them. The state her body was in caused Sakuya and Kanna to rush over to meet her.

"Child? Why are you injured?"

"Yeah, Ash, what happened? Where is Jumo?"

Sakuya saw the girl was resting all her weight on one foot. She was also bleeding a lot from the nose, most likely from overworking her teleportation powers. Her body was also shaking, trying to keep the girl standing despite having exhausted so much energy.

"He is back at the temple," Ash replied. "Something bad is happening to him."

Sakuya's stomach sank.

***

As soon as Ash teleported the three of them back to the temple, Sakuya immediately tried running over to Jumo. He was violently shaking on the ground as if having a seizure. His body was...

"No!" Ash yelled as the girl jumped and tackled her to the ground.

"What are you doing, Ash?!" Sakuya shouted. "Let me help him!" She struggled to break free, but the white-haired girl wouldn’t let her.

"Use your Second Sight ability," Ash said. "There is something here, and it will attack you if you go close to him."

"What?! What are you talking about?!"

"Just do it!" Ash shouted. "What do you think broke my leg and made me teleport so much in the first place?"

Switching over to Second Sight, Sakuya scanned the temple grounds for any invisible threats.

No.

It couldn’t be.

Not again.

Standing over eight feet tall in a corner of the courtyard.

Deep, black, copper skin.

Hair that hung low in braids.

It was him.

Ogun.

The war god.

In his spirit form.

He was watching Jumo suffer. He was punishing him, just like the last time at his apartment.

He wanted to kill him.

...

"Sorede wa, kōke na seirei-sama, watashitachi o tasukete itadakemasu ka?"

"So would you please help us, honored spirit?"

Sakuya bowed while asking.

Standing before her was their sparring partner during training. The seven-foot samurai spirit clad in full-body armor, and a straw hat. The reformed vengeful spirit turned good. She needed his help.

Because Ogun was ultimately trying to kill Jumo, but needed to ensure that he suffered before dying, the West African war god attacked anyone who came close. He had attacked Ash multiple times while she tried saving him by teleporting the both of them out of the temple.

Ogun was not physical in that moment. He was incorporeal. Meaning, wherever Jumo’s body went, he was there a second later. So repeated teleportation did not work. And that was how Ash eventually broke her leg—when she brought both of them back to the temple to keep innocent people from getting hurt.

The plan now, however, was simple.

The large samurai would face off against Ogun, distracting him, while Sakuya rushed over to try and stop whatever was happening to Jumo from continuing.

Hopefully, it was going to work.