The stick she grabbed onto was a good enough deterrent against the small demons, and she was hidden from the sight of the large ones. Then something caught her eye.
Blood.
There was blood everywhere. The thought penetrated the horrified haze that clouded Nabiki's thoughts where she was crouched under a fallen tree, temporarily safe. And after she had absorbed that fact, another one began to sink in even as a single drop of blood dripped off the log onto her hand.
The demons didn't bleed.
Afraid to know, not wanting to know, yet unable to keep from finding out, Nabiki slowly edged herself out of the hollow beneath the tree, looking up to see what was on top of the log.
And found herself staring into Kasumi's now-blind eyes.
Mink could feel exhaustion creeping up on her, sapping the strength from her wings and fire. She couldn't stop, couldn't let them get to Lufa or Pia. Lufa, for once, was hitting the enemy fairly regularly with her lightning cane, bolt upon bolt of the sky-fire arching down from the starry sky.
Mink's wings felt leaden, aching with the burden of keeping Mink aloft in the sky. But it wasn't just exhaustion weighing her down.
Grief had a good part of it as well.
Dick Saucer was dead. Dead in front of her own eyes. The serpent had come from nowhere, ripping his throat out with a single leap, fangs at ready. The young man she had a crush on for so long was gone, and gone utterly.
Even now, she didn't know if it was her own sweat or his blood that made her clothing-armor stick to her.
Kodachi whimpered, seeing her own nightmares brought to life. Sheltered and hidden underneath the body of her brother, the demons had yet to give her more than a curious sniff.
A drop of liquid, hot, almost scalding, landed on her hand. She could feel more of the same trailing down her cheeks.
"I-I ... I'm ... crying?" Tears had not been allowed her for so long, so long she had deemed them unneccessary. But now ... Thought whirled in her head, truths she had denied for far too long. Ranma did not love her. Her friends feared her. There was no man who loved her for herself. She had cheated, lied, and poisoned hundreds of people all in the name of something that had not existed. There were myraid others more deserving of life than herself. And Kuno ... her idiot of a brother had sacraficed his life to save her, not Akane, not the pig-tailed girl.
Unheeding of the demons, the fighting, the bloodshed around her, Kodachi slowly, her movements halting, broken, sat up. And gathered her brother into her arms, and wept.
Atsuko swore silently, gesturing for the three little ones she had rescued to go back further in the cave. She could hear Yukina gently tugging the other blue-haired girl and the little brown-haired boy further back, hopefully out of danger's reach. Standing at ready, the flames of the fire she had started licking hungrily at the wood in front of her, bottle of sake at hand to splash the flammable liquid on whatever thing that came too close.
A small corner of her mind wondered where this fierce determination of hers had come from, this need to make sure the children were all right. And something deeper answered. It had always been there, even when she was little. While she had not been a true mother to her son, she would always protect any child, do anything to make sure they were all right.
Funny thing, the sake was nowhere near as tempting as it had been. There had been so many nights alone, so many times the blur and oblivion of alcohol had been preferable to the pain. And yet now, that lure only tugged faintly, almost not there.
She felt like shit and yet more vibrantly alive than any other time in her life.
Sasami watched the woman who had pulled her to safety stand gaurd at the cave mouth, feeling tears prick at her eyes. The other two huddled up close to her, trying to comfort her.
Sasami heard a muffled sob from the little boy, and turned to look at him. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, his mouth silently repeating something over and over. Her naturally gentle nature appeared, her arms opening silently to wrap the boy in a hug. "Are you all right?"
"M-miaka's dead, Tamahome's dead ... Hotohori's dead ... they may all be dead! I don't want to be alone!" A new wave of tears dampened Sasami's shoulder as the little boy grabbed onto her waist and wouldn't let go. Tears dropped from her eyes as grief welled up anew, not only for those she had lost, but those this poor little boy had lost. "My sister Aeyka ... is dead, and so is Tenchi, and Mihoshi ... "
Sasami barely felt Yukina's arms as the older girl wrapped them around both children, letting them cry on her shoulders.
Leona could feel the tears trickle down her cheeks even as she smashed heads and set more alight with the purple flame that was at her beck and call. Her friends, the only ones she had ever had, were dead.
Not that far away, she could hear that fool warrior, Iori, screaming at some demons about how they had 'stolen his revenge' against the idiot Kyu. This was her time of revenge.
"Charlie ... Ralph ... " Even as the names tumbled from her lips, she used her flames to explode another demonic head.
She should feel something. A quick flip of her hands, and her gun was reloaded and ready for action. But there was only a vague numbness, a lack of clarity where her emotions had been. Shot after shot, each hitting their targets, be it eye, head, groin or hand. She was clinically aware that there would be no back up, that Kusanagi and Kome were the only ones there to help her gaurd Momiji, but she couldn't feel anything about it. Another round was loaded into the gun, Takeuchi's mind barely aware of Kome's handing her the new clip of bullets.
There would be time for tears later.
Lin-Lin could feel the demons raging around her, testing the strength of her wards even as grief tore at her from within.
Her warrior sister was dead.
Her twin was dead.
Lei-Lei was dead.
But she could not fail the ones given into her care. It was strange, working with someone other than her sister. But Filicia's speed had made it so that many were alive and safe within Lin-Lin's wards.
It was strange, to be helping people so directly. And to have them helping her. The young man was still awake, and making use of the safe haven to throw explosive items at the demons outside.
Shampoo was dead.
His beloved was dead.
These thoughts echoed through Mousse's head even as he threw another bomb at the demons from within the wards. Would he survive this? ...
Would he even want to?
But a faint groan from behind reminded him of the lives that were depending on him right now, ones that would otherwise be dead if he relented in their defense. The cat-woman appeared again, dropping off another person before disappearing into the fight again. Moving quickly, and by using chains to avoid stepping over the edge of the wards himself, Mousse dragged the new one in. The young man was unfamiliar, and taller than Mousse himself. A cut on his forehead denoted a blow to the head. Pulling a spare scarf from his sleeve, Mousse soon had the wound bound and had returned to his gaurd duty.
Zelgadis darted down, the sword of light easily cutting through demon hide and bone. It felt odd, the legendary blade laying so easily in his hands. Why had he been the one to witness Gourry's death, the one the blonde would press the sword into their hands even as Amelia's blood soaked through the knees of their pants?
Knowing the man was dead had left someplace hollow within Zel's heart, but a more urgent goal had him pressing onward. Somewhere, out in the fighting, Lina was still alive. He could hear her screaming her spells and swearing.
Tears could wait till later.
Mitsukake moved quickly, only healing the deepest, life-threatening wounds with his magic, relying on normal medicine for anything else. He glanced at his red-haired partner, the tall man concentrating on sewing up a large gash in a young, blue-haired girls's arm. The girl began muttering, struggling slightly against Mitsukake's securing grip. Words slipped past her lips. "Fuu ... Clef! ... gotta ... help ... Ascot, where ... is ... Hikaru! ... Don't ... Clef ... "
MItsukake mulled over the words even as he bandaged the girl's arm. A forlorn marshmallow-like creature snuggled up the girl, partly supporting her head on it's body. He gave the creature a pat on the head before moving on to the next girl, a blond. She had the worst wounds of the group, and beckoning his partner over, they began the long task of healing her.
"Where are you little girl?!" Bat Rabis screamed as he raced about, bashing demon heads with almost nonchalance as he looked for Luna. "Come out you monster!"
Not that far from him, Luna and Varga had their hands full. Luna was using a sword Varga materialized to fight off smaller, poisonous flying demons, while Varga was using his strength to crush and smash the large demons.
<<Brain, the insane one is looking for us again.>>
"Bat Rabis is being a pain again, eh? Ignore him, we've got work to do!" Luna snapped, slicing a flyer that had come a little too close to her beloved Gil Jude, who was tucked under her legs. "There are some distinct disadvantages having you stuck to my butt, Varga."
<<Why would there be any need for the brain and the body to be seperate? Brain, you could also say your butt is stuck to my head.>>
"You just don't get it, do you?"
Varga shrugged, and like the giant godzilla-like creature he was, indulged in a brief stomping bit to pummel a particular demon into the ground.
Aulbath aimed carefully, taking out demon after demon with multiple water blasts. The lake's water had proved decidedly soothing to him during the day, and he had decided to stay for the night, a most fortunate desiscion.
He nearly missed the splash of the elf-girl's falling into the water. With rapid kicks of his legs and flicks of his tail, he had soon lifted her head from the water. And frozen, his heart thundering in his chest as he gazed upon her pale face. Such an otherworldly beauty ... a coppery scent snapped him out of his reverie.
Looking down, he discovered that she was bleeding from a wound in her side. He knew of no one with healing power, and there was little to no chance of his finding someone before she bled to death. The thought of her dying sent a wash of cold up his spine and to clench at his heart. He could not let that happen!
But would she care for the price of how he would be able to heal her?
She was in water, and someone was trying to get her to let go of her side, his arms much stronger than she was.
That was all Deedlit could tell, her mind clouded with grief and pain.
"Parn ... "
She had said something, and Aulbath silently repeated it. From the way she had said it, it seemed to be a name.
He repeated it, aloud. "Parn?"
A friend, a relative, a ... lover? Husband? He hoped not, feeling a fierce wave of protectiveness wash over him. And a cold feeling of shock, that he was feeling this way over someone he had just met, had not even talked with, and was an air-breathing land-walker for that matter. As suddenly as he had wanted to heal her, his fear began making him regret doing so, pushing at him to stop helping her.
But the change had begun, and there was no way to stop it.
When dawn rose, it was a relief to the survivors and a horror.
A relief, because the demons fled at the coming of the dawn.
A horror for now the true numbers of the dead could be seen.