Utsukushii is an experimental project I am currently working on. I am writing this tale in a series of flashes, but I have begun at the end and will (hopefully) finish at the beginning. They will, however, be posted in the correct order. You can read these in either direction, although I believe it will be more effective in the order it was originally written. You just have to train your brain to question what happens before, not next. I know both directions, so I can't say for sure which is the best. There will be gaps in time between each section, but it should be clear what happened during this time. Each section will be accompanied by an original artwork that I created (rather ineffectively) for Ustukushii. Enjoy!

Utsukushii: (n) BEAUTIFUL

"I'll be leaving you now."

Majo stared down into the valley. It seemed so peaceful in the daylight, with the wind fairies rustling through the spring leaves and the water spirits splashing about beneath the falls. Maybe... maybe she could be like that. Maybe the evil within her could make way for something beautiful, glorious, if even just under the sun. Maybe, for Noroi.

She shook her head. She could never be a bastion of good. Her own soul was far blacker than any demon's that resided within her. Soon she'd have her soul back and she would forget about Noroi, or worse. Would she revenge?

"Noroi has prepared then?"

Takusen nodded. "Together, you will enter the valley today. Noroi will battle the demons, you will find Hako among their remains and the two souls will be restored."

"And what then?"

Takusen smiled. "And then, you will be human. I only know the future of demons, child. This you already know. When your soul is returned, you'll regain free will."

"And that's a good thing?"

The winds shifted, whipping Majo's hair about. She felt the need for her cloak and told herself it was merely because she wanted protection from the sting of the winds. Deep inside, she wanted to hide beneath her cloak from the future, forever.

"Takusen, do you think it's possible, I mean, could I-- Takusen?"

But she was gone.

Alone, Majo let a single tear slip from her feline eye, down her cheek, to drip from the tips of her whiskers. She shook it away with a fierce growl, damning her demon self for allowing such emotions freedom. After a second shake, she rose to greet Noroi.

"My cloak," she demanded, her padded palm outstretched.

"Bitch," Noroi muttered, glad to be rid of the magicked fabric.

Majo snorted, though her heart cried out, It doesn't have to be this way! "You were the one who forgot that, not me. Let's hurry with it. If I have my soul back by tomorrow, I will be out of your life by the new moon."

"Then I shall return your soul tonight," Noroi replied, refusing to recognize the soft pink circles beneath her eyes. Surely, this monster could not weep. Certainly, the tears were not for him.

Majo slipped into her cloak, feeling safe once again. She tied it tight about her neck before pulling the hood over her eyes and, as an extra measure, tied off the sleeve of her jacket to hide her deformed hands. As she wrapped her arms across her chest, she felt Noroi's hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's a beautiful day and it will be some time before we reach the valley. You don't need the cloak yet."

Majo jerked away with such force that she stumbled and Noroi had to catch her. "Get your hands off me!" she cried. "You touched me once but I'll not allow it again, Noroi. I'm not supposed to be out in the sunlight. I'm not supposed to see the beautiful. I'm not supposed to feel... to feel..."

Noroi gently pushed the hood away, allowing the sun to bask upon her dainty nose, to dance through the strands of her flaming hair. Though her blue eye iced his gaze, the green cat's eye swam in its own agony. He traced a tear's trail from the blue. "Feel what, Majo?"

"I'm not supposed to feel. I ventured through all manner of hell for that Soulstealer with only one drive, revenge. I've killed without remorse, without pleasure, simply because I could. This demon released inside me, it makes me feel and it hurts. I just want it gone. It's not supposed to be this way at all. This isn't right."

"Why? People change, Majo. People rise above their pasts. If we don't, what is the use of our souls? Why shouldn't we be together?"

Majo frowned. She slipped out of Noroi's grasp easily and after one last glance into his eyes, raised her hood over her face. "Because you'll be a human, my love. When my soul is returned, I'll be nothing but a monster."

"You may come out."

Majo pushed the concealing cloak away and gasped for clean air. "Are they all--?"

Noroi nodded. He sheathed Awaresa before pushing the body of a Reed Demon out of his way. He had finished his part of the bargain; he could now return to camp.

"Wait! You're not leaving me here!"

Noroi looked back at her. "I don't have time for your... craft. Bring me Hako when you find it."

"I said I could locate Hako. You can't expect me to retrieve it!"

"Don't tell me you're such a girl you won't dirty your hands. I've seen your work, witch. Or cat, or whatever you are now."

Majo glared at him. "You'll see it again if you don't stay, snakeboy. Work with me for one minute and we can part forever, remember? You need Hako as much as I do."

Noroi started to walk away but thought better of it. She looked innocent but souled, she'd been far more dangerous. If she found the box without him, Noroi's mistake could prove to be fatal. He sat down next to the Reed Demon and nodded for Majo to begin her spell.

She brandished her own sword, a strictly ceremonial piece constructed of glass and gems held together with a powerful binding spell. She flinched as she stabbed it into her palm, releasing her own blood along with the blood of the Soulstealer inside her, the demon that had enslaved their souls and released their demon selves. She drew a circle of blood around herself and raised the blade high in the air.

"Sakura! Sakura! Yayoino sora--!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

Majo glared again, this time using the blade to cut an imaginary door from her circle. "Do you mind? Some of us are trying to work." She closed the door and began the ancient children's song again. It brought to Noroi's mind images of giggling school girls in clean white socks and too-short skirts. Another, unbidden, image flashed by, of Majo lying in a field of wildflowers, a childish grin on her face. He shook it away fiercely. No sense in having such thoughts again.

The sword began to glow red hot. Noroi could smell burning flesh and fought back the ancient chivalrous urge to protect. Majo did not let go of the sword. In a trance, she trampled through the field of corpses until the blade dropped into its target.

She blinked and looked down. "You killed a Water Spirit?" she yelled. "We're begging the gods to guide us to Hako so we can reclaim our souls and you kill their child! Have you lost your damn mind?"

Noroi scrambled to his feet and pushed Majo away to get to the Water Spirit. He dug his hands into the corpse, using his own nails to tear the flesh away. He cracked the ribs with his elbow and revealed a small trinket chest where the spirit's heart should have been.

"Hako!" he whispered.

"But that's tiny!"

Noroi sneered at Majo. "You must be the dimmest sorceress ever."

"Nonsense. My Aunt Gukiburi accidentally turned herself into a--"

"Silence!" Noroi rolled the chest between his palms. It was simple white jade with no carvings or inscriptions, nor a lock or even seams. He could not identify the top from bottom. "But...how does it open?"

"Oh, that's easy. Put it down on that rock."

Noroi watched in horror as Majo stole his Awaresa from its scabbard and slammed the hilt into the fragile chest. It shattered into a cloud of white dust, dashing away his hopes that Hako could ever be used to ensnare the Soulstealer within him. Four years searching for the chest, fighting tooth and nail to protect Majo without killing her so she could restore their humanity, all for nothing. He lunged at her, stopping short as Awaresa began to sing.

"Utsukushii!" Majo murmured. "Hold still for me, Noroi."

She ran Noroi through and retracted the blade before blood spilled. Stunned, Noroi crouched over, clutching his belly. He heard Majo laugh and looked down to see his hands covered not in blood, but in silver light. The tail and fangs of his demon self melted away as his soul returned.

Majo forced Awaresa into his hands. "Quick! Do me!"

Noroi complied, laughing himself as he watched her cat's ears and whiskers vanish. He threw his arms around her, kissing her without thinking of what she might now be. "Oh, Majo! You saved us! How did you know Hako's power would transfer to Awaresa?"

She pushed away firmly, but there was a spark of something new, something magickal, in her blue eyes. "Actually, I just figured since Hako was magicked, it would know how to put itself back together if I broke it."

Noroi groaned.