(C) Demon Slayer: Temari's Light :P:

Demon Slayer: Temari's Light

Prologue - Echo of a Soul

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Yahaba had been felled by Tanjiro, though he did not escape the battle unscathed; despite his injuries, he dragged himself towards the ongoing fight between Susamaru, the Temari Demon, and Nezuko, Yushiro and Tamayo.

"Ahahaha! So much fun!" Susamaru howled as she kicked the Temari ball towards Nezuko again, who growled and kicked it back with extreme force. Surprised, the bright eyed demon barely stopped the ball in time before it inflicted serious damage to her. "Huh!" She widened her eyes, glancing at the Temari, then back to Nezuko. "You're not bad!"

"Grrrr..." Nezuko considered moving in for a killing blow, but Yushiro stopped her.

"She's too strong, I can't allow this to continue..." Tamayo murmured, glancing to Yushiro. The white-haired young man nodded at her in understanding, then sped off to find Tanjiro.

"Unfortunately, I have to kill all of you..." Susamaru grinned. "But who says we can't have more fun first? How about round two? Bet this time you'll lose more than a leg, hehehe!"

While Susamaru was distracted, Tamayo ran her nails across her skin, drawing blood in order to cast her Blood Demon Art to disorient their foe and hopefully draw her into a deadly trap.

A pinkish mist flooded the area, causing Nezuko to fall unconscious and Susamaru to be lost in a daze, her thoughts growing murky in an instant. "Huuh?" She felt like she was perhaps drunk, blinking away the blurred figures that she saw in the distance. "Hmm...?"

"It's a shame," Tamayo said. "How Muzan has used you. Lied to you."

"What?!" she growled, glaring at Tamayo. "How dare you speak ill of him!"

Meanwhile, Yushiro found Tanjiro nearby and covered his mouth with a cloth. "Don't breathe in Lady Tamayo's spell! It is harmful to humans, so just stay here. There is no way Lady Tamayo's plan will fail, so don't get in her way!"

Tanjiro looked to Susamaru in the distance, squinting; he saw something--someone. He blinked again, wondering if Tamayo's spell was perhaps causing him to hallucinate. It's not a hallucination. It's just like that time when I saw Sabito and Makomo. There's a woman standing next to Susamaru... she looks... sad. Something isn't right.

Who was this mysterious old woman? At first, he thought it may have been one of Susamaru's many likely victims, but then he saw her face; the old woman wore an expression of pure sorrow, and she was crying out Susamaru's name to no avail.

"My darling Susami, stop this madness. Please! If this goes on, you'll be killed. Your soul will know no peace! I can't bear to watch this happen, my beloved grandchild, Susamaru... You must hear me... Susamaru...!"

Tanjiro froze. No one else could see the spirit, only him. A great feeling of pity washed over him; he knew very well that Susamaru, like all demons, was once human. And this spirit was someone who loved her dearly, who wanted her to survive.

Time seemed to slow down as the ghost turned, realizing that Tanjiro could see her. "Please, young man. Tell Susamaru that Granny Teya cannot bear to see her beloved daughter fall to such a fate! Please help her, I'm begging you...!"

The young demon slayer grit his teeth. Even if Susamaru was now a monster who killed countless innocents, wasn't she once human as well? If it were possible...did she not deserve a chance at salvation? "I'm one of the Twelve Kizuki! I'll kill you for insulting Muzan Ki--"

Tanjiro thought of his beloved sister Nezuko and did not hesitate another moment.

Susamaru began to yell out, but before she could speak the name that would seal her fate...

"Susamaru! STOP!" He cried out, stepping away from Yushiro who was visibly angry. "Granny Teya... Granny Teya says she doesn't want this for you!"

"W-What...?" Susamaru staggered back, dropping her Temari balls onto the ground.

Yushiro then covered Tanjiro's mouth again, who had inhaled a dangerous amount of Tamayo's spell. "You IDIOT! You ruined Lady Tamayo's perfect plan!"

"..." Tamayo did not seem phased, however, and watched with keen interest.

Susamaru froze, the blood in her veins going cold in an instant. Her eyes glazed over as her body began to quiver, then shake violently. Something sinister squirmed in her brain, trying to wriggle and wrap itself around her thoughts.

The next minutes passed slowly, as though time had grinded to a halt. Tanjiro breathed slowly, each breath lasting an eternity. Susamaru was deeply shaken, but would it be enough?

"G-Granny..." Susamaru whispered, her eyes growing wide. "Granny...Teya...?" She blinked slowly, tears forming in her eyes as fragments of distant, murky memories surfaced in the darkness of her mind. "Granny Teya...!"

Clearly, the Temari demon was in a lot of pain, falling to her knees as her face filled with terror. Tanjiro, despite his pain and weakened body, saw an Opening Thread, though it was unusual. Unlike the others this Thread was black rather than white, extending from one of the Temari balls directly to Susamaru's heart.

He could still see the spirit of Teya nearby, nodding when Tanjiro eyed the Thread. Then, holding the cloth Yushiro had provided to him over his nose and mouth, he unsheathed his sword, fighting through the agony from his wounds to move forward and sever it with a precise slash while Susamaru was bawling. Please let this work...

Once the Thread was cut, she released a maddening shriek, her extra demonic limbs contorting before they vanished; then, she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Now that the danger had passed for now, Tanjiro's body became impossibly heavy, refusing to move. He fell backwards, dropping his blade before nearly slumping onto the ground, but Tamayo moved to catch him just before he blacked out. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the fading visage of Teya, who smiled at him tearfully, looking grateful.

"Thank you so much...for giving her another chance. I can watch over her now... I will help her as much as I can. Demons took everything... I won't let them have her too..."

Instead of rising to the afterlife, Teya's spirit stayed behind, anchoring herself to one of Susamaru's Temari which eerily rolled closer to the unconscious demon's body.

"This idiot nearly got himself killed!" Yushiro hissed. "Lady Tamayo, what do you suggest we do with her?" He shot a glare at Susamaru, his blood still boiling over the fact that she had harmed his precious patron. "Shall we kill her?"

Tamayo shook her head. "No. Help me take everyone inside. I have to treat Tanjiro first, but I ask that you restrain Susamaru in the basement with that man."

"...Re...strain?" Yushiro blinked at her in disbelief, but when she smiled slightly at him he blushed. "A-As you wish Lady Tamayo! I will take care of it at once!"

As Tamayo and Yushiro took care of Tanjiro, Nezuko and Susamaru, she pondered to herself. Susamaru's demonic energy...weakened. Did Tanjiro see someone? A spirit... what a peculiar boy he is. Somehow, could it be...? Can a demon like this truly be saved?

I wish to believe it can happen. Even ones like her, who have devoured humans. There must be hope for us... that is what I am striving for. If there is hope, I will continue pursuing it.

=====

Nezuko was the first to wake up of the three who had fallen unconscious. She watched over Tanjiro worriedly, looking over and Yushiro and Tamayo when they entered the room.

"Tanjiro will wake up soon," Tamayo said softly. "Don't worry, Nezuko."

Yushiro crossed his arms, glancing away with a scoff. Nezuko approached them both, first reaching out to pat the young man's head. "Stop that! What are you doing?"

To her, Yushiro appeared as one of her younger brothers. She continued patting him despite his protests, then turned to Tamayo and hugged her tightly, envisioning her as her own mother. When Tanjiro woke, he bore witness to this scene and sighed. "Nezuko..."

She continued hugging Tamayo, whose eyes grew wet with tears before returning the hug. "...She sees you both as part of our family." Tanjiro went on to say with a faint smile.

"Thank you... Nezuko..." Tamayo murmured softly, blinking away a few tears.

The young demon slayer then sat up, reaching for the sheathed sword that Tamayo had returned to his side. "What happened with her? With Susamaru...?"

"We restrained her," Yushiro said in the middle of fixing his hair. "Lady Tamayo believes she can be saved. If she, in all her wisdom, believes that even someone like that has a chance at redemption... I can't deny it. Lady Tamayo has never been wrong before."

Nezuko then returned to Tanjiro's side, tilting her head at him before nudging him gently. "Yeah, I'm okay Nezuko. Um... Can I see her? Susamaru. I want to see if she's okay."

"Worrying about demons is going to kill you, you know," Yushiro glared at him. "You're lucky that your stupid plan worked, or we all would have been dead!"

"Yushiro." Tamayo scolded him, and he shrank back. "We'll take you to see her. She hasn't woken up yet, but she's bound to regain consciousness any moment."

=====

Susamaru was still out cold when the trio arrived to the holding cell where she was restrained; in the adjacent cell was the man recently turned into a demon by Muzan, whom Tamayo had hoped to cure and return to his wife in the city.

"I did some tests, and it seems that her demonic energy is far less chaotic than what is normal for 'feral' demons. I... I truly believe she has a chance to change," Tamayo said. "During that exchange... what did you see, Tanjiro?"

"I saw... I think I saw her grandmother. An older woman named Teya. She was telling me to help Susamaru, so... I-I couldn't just do nothing." He closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating something. "...What about hypnotic suggestion? Could it work on Susamaru?"

"It may be effective in this state, while she is still dazed by my spell," Tamayo answered. "We should try anything we can. After all, she too was once an innocent..."

"Tamayo... Yushiro... Thank you for everything," Tanjiro said softly. "Nezuko, can you wait outside for me?" He smiled at her and she nodded, quietly leaving the area.

Then, the process of hypnotic suggestion began...

They told her that humans were innocent, that she had been deceived by Muzan and that her grandmother Teya wished for her to be happy and free of corruption, to walk a path of redemption and refuse the demonic blessings she had been offered.

If she could resist the urges, the thirst, the call of blood and flesh, she could be reborn--her soul freed of filth, but it would be a difficult road fraught with challenges.

=====

Some hours had passed since the battle against the two demons had ended, and Susamaru was beginning to stir. Yushiro and Tanjiro stayed nearby, watching her carefully to ensure she did not escape; the demon slayer had his blade at the ready, prepared to end the demon's life if she appeared to still be a threat. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

"Susamaru?" Tanjiro spoke her name gently so as not to startle her.

The demon's eyes shot open and she began to growl. "YOU!!! You... Grrr... Ughh..." She struggled against the restraints and charms put in place to bind her, angrily hissing and cursing under her breath. "I'll... I'll kill...you... I'll KILL YOU!"

A drop of sweat slid down Tanjiro's forehead. Would he truly have to kill her? After all that had transpired, was it simply not possible to free a demon like her from Muzan's grasp?

"AAGHHHH!! LET ME GO!" she shrieked. "Where are they? Where ARE THEY? My Temari!"

Yushiro watched her with hateful eyes, but Tanjiro pulled out one of the Temari from his pocket, holding it close to her. "Here," he said, trying to make himself look as non-threatening as possible. This particular Temari was the one he had witnessed Teya's soul tethering to, and he hoped with all his heart that it had an effect on her.

"Granny Teya is watching over you now."

"..." Almost immediately, Susamaru relaxed, the rage and tension fading from her body. Her gaze almost softened as she stared at the Temari--a surprising and unexpected expression from one who appeared as a bloodthirsty, crazed murderer just mere hours beforehand.

Only time would tell what would become of Susamaru...

...would she walk the path of redemption...

...or fall to the black edge of Tanjiro's blade?