---> POST 461 By FBGSGDN <---
He’d found it; across many deserts, around many cities, and through many caves. Fighting Demi’s, cursed creatures, and rivals for the Item. In an underground cavern beneath the ruins of an ancient castle, in the abandoned land of Farioth, sat a small crystal ball.
He knew what it was the moment it caught his eye. Its power radiated off of it. He approached, gazing into it. Finally, finally he knew what nobody else knew. The orb, held the truth. It could not grant any wish like rumors told, it did not grant unstoppable power. It granted knowledge.
Thanos gave a crooked, weary smile.
“That’s it. Our future is per-determined... Fate and destiny exist. No control...”
Thanos could only see bits and pieces of things in the orb. It was foggy and unclear, but once message loomed over every image it showed.
‘Only the chosen one may have full knowledge of the truth. Only she with a pure heart, only she whom possesses uncontrollable, unexplained, innocent actions... She whom is granted the power of fire.’
“Who are you?” Thanos mumbled. Taking a deep breath he snatched the orb and pocketed it. He’d come this far, and now he had to figure out who could use it.
A bright light surrounded Thanos; pure white was all his eyes could see. His inner ear reacted to movement but Thanos didn’t know how he could be moving. When everything cleared and went back to normal, Thanos found himself in the woods. It wasn’t long before he noticed a girl running full force towards him. Red hair, red eyes, a sorrowful face... It was the girl from that field. The one with Shidou. But she was alone. Thanos watched her, without saying a word; he did not move out of her way.
***
Two outcasts of the world, running together in darkness. She barely knew he, he barely knew she.
Namida followed him, she followed him physically to their destination, and she followed him with her eyes, his every movement. There was still something about him she couldn’t figure out. He gave her a feeling she never felt before. A feeling of admiration, a feeling of closeness, a feeling of lust, yet she barely knew him. As they headed deep into the darkness of the city, Namida realized where they were headed. He wanted more, more Xymite. She mutually felt the same in that aspect. She always wanted more.
***
It was very blurry. Redness surrounded everything. He had blood in his eyes. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but he was in no condition to move. He had a little power left... just enough...
Teguchi’s body became surrounded in a thin layer of color. It came from his mind; a mental bandage for his body. It wouldn’t heal him; it would just prevent his current injuries from killing him. He still needed some kind of medical help. He managed to turn his head, his eye clearing enough to look around. His injuries had makeshift bandages? Teguchi blinked to see Yochi. She shook all over. It was like all her strength had been drained, leaving her venerable. He realized the cloth tied around his wounds had been made out of her shirt. He wanted to make a smart-ass comment about it but something inside him was against it. His memory flashed back to Chi. Who was she? Why was she so different from Yochi but also the same? This girl was dangerous. He hated danger, yet he was drawn to the girl. More than any girl he’d been with before. Why?
Teguchi’s psychic bandage helped him to gain movement. He slowly sat up while Yochi was looking away. He was never good with the complicated factor of women, he didn’t speak. Teguchi moved himself beside Yochi. Closing his eyes he wrapped his arms firmly around Yochi and rested his chin on her shoulder. The layer of color lengthened and surrounded Yochi as well, not because she needed it, but though pure mental and physical contact between her and Teguchi.
***
Purple hair? Naku and Katsu recognized her... Or did they?
“We’re looking for that black haired girl. Uh... Kai-something... Or whatever the name was.” Naku explained as he and Katsu entered the little house.
“We need her help.” Katsu added.
“More like... Shidou and his red haired girlfriend need help, or else they might die.” Naku continued. The two waited for the reply of the girl who stood before them.
***
When Yan awoke she realized Marishi had stopped moving; Yan had to act fast. She took off to a more populated area, a small town nearby, and caught herself a quick ride. Yan didn’t have much to offer the diver, but she played the weak, desperate girl very well. She even gave them that look of panic.
It didn’t take too long to catch up to the area around Marishi. If Yan had stayed awake all night she would’ve realized that Marishi was passing by where Yan had actually been.
Yan had come to a small town consisting of many buildings, and most importantly, a train station. That must have been why Marishi had been moving. Yan did her best to get a more exact location, which brought her to the middle of town, staring at four possible buildings; a restaurant, a house, an Inn, and a grocery store. Would Marishi likely shop? What about eat? Sleep? Did she actually have a house? Yan cleared her throat.
“HEY, YOU! COME OUT HERE!” She screamed. “YEAH, YOU! YOU WHITE HAIRED DEMON! I WANT TO TALK WITH YOU!” Yan gritted her teeth together before choosing one of the buildings, The Inn.
She slammed open the door and her tracking senses told her she was near.
“Where are you?” She said through her teeth. Yan stormed through the Inn opening any door she could, and kicking open the locked ones, until she finally found it, the room with the white haired girl, Marishi.
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---> POST 462 By Mollymay5000 <---
The birds sang songs of happiness as they jumped from tree to tree. Yasha noticed none of this. Her mind was in one place and one place only. She thought only of the one that she hoped to protect, knowing that her actions were hurting him greatly. There was nothing else that she could do; at least, that’s what she was telling herself as she ran as fast as she could. With these thoughts troubling her, she didn’t see the man, Thanos; appear out of nowhere in front of her.
With a sickening thump, the two bodies collided and tumbled to the ground in a disorganized heap. Arms and legs were sprawled in every direction. Yasha groaned. There was a large cut on her forehead where her face had connected with a rock. The wound was quickly changing color from red to yellow to purple. The world turned black.
“Mimi, have you ever been in love before?” asked the girl that looked like Yasha.
“Yes…There was a girl once that I really loved…She is gone now though,” replied the Mizu look-a-like.
“Does it hurt? Does being in love hurt?” she asked.
The man took a deep breath and looked at the girl in silence. They were sitting inside a cabin, drinking tea together. Her hair was full of flowers and her cheeks were bright and full of color.
“Being in love,” he began, “is the most glorious thing in the world. However, it is the most excruciatingly painful thing you will ever experience.”
~ ~ ~
The farther the two companions went, the darker the city became. It was the part of the city that nothing but the dirtiest people existed. When they stopped, they were at a ship dock. The only sound around them was the waves crashing against the wharf. He pulled a bottle out of his bag and took a swing of it. He replaced the cap and put it back in his bang. He rubbed in forehead and looked out over the water.
“He isn’t going to be here for a while. Would you like to dance in the water? There is nobody to see if we become our true selves here,” he said softly.
In the time since they had encountered Yochi, his personality had completely changed. It seemed softer at the edges than it had been before. The stress had disappeared and he was like a completely different person. Even so, his hands still shook and his eyes were glazed over.
~ ~ ~
A wail ripped through the air. Her hands reached subconsciously for his. Her body shook even more. Silent tears dripped from her chin. She cried out again, only this time, the cry was audibly a word, Kai. She repeated that single syllabled name over and over again. Each time the pain in her voice rising. She gripped Teguchi’s hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her body shook with the weakness that she had been trying so hard to hide; her breath coming out in short gasps.
She fell silent other than the heaving sobs that pulled at her body. The ground around them rumbled but nothing beyond that. Soon new words came from her lips. Her voice was hoarse and it shook terribly.
“Te-Teguchi…” she groaned.
She took another gasping breath before trying to speak again.
“…sorry…Chi…hurt?”
The last audible word ended on a question. She was shivering and her teeth chattered. Even still, she continued to cry. It was obvious that she was trying to pull herself together; without much success. Finally she let herself go and cried in silence, pressing herself against him, hoping for a comfort, trying not to hurt him.
~ ~ ~
Matsuko looked at them with silence and frowned. She had been trying to figure out how to save Shidou since she had met him. She hadn’t come to a conclusion. She didn’t know if what these two asked was possible. Since Shidou and Yasha had disappeared she had barely felt her presence. What she had felt had been foreign. She had lost the connection with her because Yasha had changed so much. She reminded her of Faia…
“Sit, if we are going to do anything, we are going to have to plan and it is going to take some time. Especially seeing that I have no idea where Yasha is,” she said, looking at them with honest and sad eyes.
~ ~ ~
Marishi looked towards Yan coldly. She would have preferred to leave this town as soon as possible and if Yan was here that meant that she was going to be here much longer than she was sure any of them wanted to be. She looked at Midori and Mahiru; both looked annoyed. Inu seemed annoyed as well, despite the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have personal feelings.
“What is it that you are screaming about?” she demanded Yan coldly. “I’m busy at the moment, can’t you bug me later?”
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---> POST 463 By FBGSGDN <---
Thanos didn’t have a terribly hard landing when he hit the ground, unlike the girl. She had obtained a large cut on the head, and it was bleeding fast.
“Dammit,” Thanos mumbled sitting up. He looked down at the girl. Why was she here? Thanos reached over to her and rolled her on her back, inspecting her face injury. It didn’t look good; he’d have to help her.
Thanos didn’t know much about injuries, his always healed minutes after he got them. He grabbed some leaves of a tree and carefully places them over the cut. It was all he had. He placed a little pressure over it to help stop the bleeding as well. Thanos didn’t know what this girl was doing here. He had to get back to looking for the one who could use the orb as soon as he could. But he decided to stay long enough to know she was okay.
***
“Dance, in the water?” Was he joking or was he serious? Namida wasn’t sure how to react. Mizu seemed so different from earlier. She felt herself drawn towards him, she didn’t know why.
Namida was not usually one to get to close to people, but something about him made her want to know him better. Although, she also feared that knowing him, would just bring more pain. But right now, pain didn’t seem all that bad; together they could drown their pain within their drugs, drinks, and each other.
“Let us dance...” She whispered, now standing intimately close to him.
***
Teguchi held Yochi tightly, ignoring his own pain with difficulty. Her cries pierced his ears and heart. Hearing her cry for her friend Kai was saddening, but when she cried his name he felt something, something deep.
“I’m alright.” Teguchi lied. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m alive because of you. Thank you.” He whispered into her ear softly.
Teguchi had never seen Yochi cry before like this. There were so many different sides to Yochi, yet undiscovered.
“It’s okay now. Everything’s okay...” Teguchi shifted himself to the side of Yochi pulling her close and tight. He placed his hand on her head, stroking her hair.
“Everybody is going to be okay.” But Teguchi didn’t know this for sure. He couldn’t predict the future after all.
***
“You have no idea? Oh.” Naku replied. He and Katsu came further into the house and sat down in a couple of chairs.
“I know where they’ve been for the last little bit. It was a safe place, a place where Shidou and I grew up. Ya’know, one of those secluded places...like Canada. Anyway, they came back from there, which is dangerous for Shidou. Mako probably knocked him out the moment they left. She’s probably found them by now. Hopefully they’re still alive.” Naku explained.
Katsu didn’t have much to add. Naku knew way more about this than her.
“You don’t have any way of locating the Yasha girl? Aren’t you people... connected in some way to her?” Katsu asked confusedly.
***
“I want to join you. I know I’m unrelated to whatever it is you’re doing. But I have nothing else left. My life was ruined because of you. I think you owe me. Everything is your fault. If I’d never let you out none of this would’ve happened. So I think, you owe me a lot.” Yan didn’t think Marishi would accept this. But she had to try.
Yan had started this, and now. She was going end it. She had to put an end to Marishi before her situation became worse than Mako. Yan couldn’t do anything about Mako, but Marishi, Marishi could be stopped. Yan was confident, that even though many of her endeavors had failed, if she was worth anything, she could put an end to Marishi’s insanity.
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---> POST 464 By Mollymay5000 <---
Yasha opened her eyes and blinked. For a few moments everything appeared as a single smudge. After a few more blinks, her sight cleared Mimi’s face and the memory of the vision disappearing with it. The first thing she became aware of was the fact that she was on the ground, the second was that her vision kept blurring thanks to the blood that was trickling down her forehead.
“Damn,” she groaned to herself. “Why am I on the ground?” she continued.
Just as these words passed from her mouth she noticed the man standing above her. He was placing leaves on her face. Not only was he doing so, but from the itch that was quickly burning across her face, he was using poison ivy to attempt to fix her wounds.
“Stop that! Watch what you’re doing, use cloth from your clothes or something,” she began to yell.
In her haste, she sat up and everything became fuzzy. Her head began pounding furiously and she quickly lowered herself back to the ground.
“Looks like the idiot is going to have to get me out of these woods, I didn’t really know where I was going anyway I suppose,” she muttered to herself. “You with the poison ivy,” she said in reference to the man, “I need you to get me out of here and seeing it is your fault that I am on the ground in the first place, I thing you at least owe me that. I am a minor you know.”
~ ~ ~
Mizu leaned in close, leaving barely enough room for a sheet of paper between their two bodies. His breath was heavy with the scent of booze, his heartbeat frantic from the xymite. One hand wrapped around her wrist while the other reached up to her face. His hand explored the dimensions of her face delicately, analysing the smallest detail, from her ears to the small strand of hair across her forehead. Throughout this, his eyes stared into hers. There wasn’t love found in either set of eyes, merely the pain of a soul that had seen and felt too much. Even so, his thumb came to a stop on her soft lips.
Mizu closed his eyes and rest his forehead against hers. The only thing stopping their lips from connecting was the presence of his thumb.
“Namida,” he said softly, breathing her name for the first time. “When this is over, I have a single request from you. No matter what happens from this moment forward, if there is still air within your lungs, I want you to kill me,” he continued his eyes opening, full of sharp and sober clarity. “Don’t let my sweet girl kill me, don’t let blood stain her delicate white hands. Make sure she is safe. I don’t want to kill our baby girl again,” he whispered, desperation entering his voice.
Just as quickly as the clarity had come, it passed. He let go of her wrist and turned towards the sea.
“There was someone that I cherished once, but Marishi became jealous and spiteful and took her away from me. This is the only sorrow that still haunts me no matter how much I shoot, and no matter how much I drink. I cannot forget the face of Faia as she died.”
He turned back to her, his eyes and face emotionless, just as though nothing had happened a mere few moments past. It was obvious he wasn’t conscious in the slightest of what he had said about his own death and the protection of his sweet girl. All that was seen was the determination to forget.
He held out his hand to Namida and smiled his empty and drunken smile.
“Now shall we dance for real or shall we continue to dance with our words?”
~ ~ ~
Yochi pressed herself gently into Teguchi, relishing in the comfort she received from his touch. The relief was short lived however. In the distance sirens could be heard. The way things were now this was a really bad place for them to be. As gently as she could, Yochi pulled herself away from Teguchi. If he hadn’t been there, she would have been able to escape with ease.
“It was my fault Teguchi and I’m so sorry,” she said softly as she stood. “However, now we need to run, whether I want to drown in self-pity or not. How hurt are you? Do you have enough strength to help me get you somewhere out of site? Don’t dare lie to me either, or I’ll be pissed.”
The attitude was in her words, but the feeling was no longer there. Despite everything, Kai’s disappearance left her feeling drained. Nothing like this had ever happened before and she didn’t know what do it. It was like part of part of her body was now missing. She might as well have been missing a leg for how incomplete she felt.
She sighed and looked down again at the pitiful looking man before her. He was as physically broken as she felt inside and he could still laugh and lie and say that he was fine. Her fists clenched as tears blurred her vision once more. She knelt down so that they were eye to eye.
“You are by far stronger than me and I know that we came to know each other through complicated circumstances, and yes it is selfish of me to say what I am about to say but I will do so anyway. I hated your presence around mine but now I am really glad you are here. I’m really afraid that I am going to lose you now,” she said in a whisper.
Her hand slid forward to touch his gently and she leaned forward and let her lips brush his cheek. She pulled back and stood quickly, turning to the other direction, her face obviously the color of cherries.
“Now let’s hold everything together and get you some help, we have things to do and people to find,” she said, the strength having begun to edge back into her voice.
~ ~ ~
Matsuko sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“This is rather frustrating to admit, but since she ran away with your brother, I haven’t tried to keep track of her, and when I started to worry. She was too blurred to reach. Your brother’s aura interferes with it. The closer she is to Shidou, the harder it seems for me to get a grip on her as of late,” she said quietly, directing most of what she had said to Naku, while also responding to Katsu’s question. “For as long as we have existed, there has never been anything like this before. We go through a cycle, and that cycle revolves around the life energy of Yasha, or you could say it revolves around her fire. This is only the second time that her spirit has been born and lived even past her toddler years. Normally, she is destroyed before this point ever happens. There is only one reason that I can think of that made the cycle change so drastically. My theory is that when she was reborn she came in contact with something else out of this world, which means that she came in contact with you or your brother.”
Here she paused and her eyes widened. She frowned to herself and shook her head.
“I have just said something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry that I cannot further clarify what I have just said about her. That is all I can say for now. However, I am curious to know what you think of my hypothesis and feel free to add any ideas, we don’t have much time.”
~ ~ ~
Marishi glared at Yan through narrowed eyes.
“First of all, I would like to interrupt your statement by saying that anything that has happened to you has been caused by your shallowness and self-pity. Secondly, you put that fucking necklace on me so why should I even let you near me again? Besides, it was your own stupidity that made you so easy to manipulate. Why don’t you do something useful like trying to control your crazy Mako? That is the only useful thing you could do at this point. Return to the good side and keep your mouth shut about what you have seen today. Other than that, you are useless to them and to me.”
Marishi turned away from her and began to walk away. Inu followed behind her obediently as well as Mahiru. Midori stayed behind however and looked at Yan with sympathetic eyes.
“The Lady isn’t one to forgive; she has been alive for too long to think otherwise. Her way of viewing things is old fashioned and she is unlikely to want you for anything. I suggest that you take her advice and go back to the other side. You will be of more use there and we will not have to deal with the Lady and her anger. I request this for your safety as well and for the future of everyone we care about. Yan, help Shidouryoku. I feel that you will feel the usefulness that you desire there. Farewell and we shall meet again in the future.”
With one last glance, Midori turned and ran to catch up with the others. She quickly disappeared around the corner and all her existence and that of her companions would disappear. Mahiru was very good at making people be invisible in plain sight.
He’d found it; across many deserts, around many cities, and through many caves. Fighting Demi’s, cursed creatures, and rivals for the Item. In an underground cavern beneath the ruins of an ancient castle, in the abandoned land of Farioth, sat a small crystal ball.
He knew what it was the moment it caught his eye. Its power radiated off of it. He approached, gazing into it. Finally, finally he knew what nobody else knew. The orb, held the truth. It could not grant any wish like rumors told, it did not grant unstoppable power. It granted knowledge.
Thanos gave a crooked, weary smile.
“That’s it. Our future is per-determined... Fate and destiny exist. No control...”
Thanos could only see bits and pieces of things in the orb. It was foggy and unclear, but once message loomed over every image it showed.
‘Only the chosen one may have full knowledge of the truth. Only she with a pure heart, only she whom possesses uncontrollable, unexplained, innocent actions... She whom is granted the power of fire.’
“Who are you?” Thanos mumbled. Taking a deep breath he snatched the orb and pocketed it. He’d come this far, and now he had to figure out who could use it.
A bright light surrounded Thanos; pure white was all his eyes could see. His inner ear reacted to movement but Thanos didn’t know how he could be moving. When everything cleared and went back to normal, Thanos found himself in the woods. It wasn’t long before he noticed a girl running full force towards him. Red hair, red eyes, a sorrowful face... It was the girl from that field. The one with Shidou. But she was alone. Thanos watched her, without saying a word; he did not move out of her way.
***
Two outcasts of the world, running together in darkness. She barely knew he, he barely knew she.
Namida followed him, she followed him physically to their destination, and she followed him with her eyes, his every movement. There was still something about him she couldn’t figure out. He gave her a feeling she never felt before. A feeling of admiration, a feeling of closeness, a feeling of lust, yet she barely knew him. As they headed deep into the darkness of the city, Namida realized where they were headed. He wanted more, more Xymite. She mutually felt the same in that aspect. She always wanted more.
***
It was very blurry. Redness surrounded everything. He had blood in his eyes. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but he was in no condition to move. He had a little power left... just enough...
Teguchi’s body became surrounded in a thin layer of color. It came from his mind; a mental bandage for his body. It wouldn’t heal him; it would just prevent his current injuries from killing him. He still needed some kind of medical help. He managed to turn his head, his eye clearing enough to look around. His injuries had makeshift bandages? Teguchi blinked to see Yochi. She shook all over. It was like all her strength had been drained, leaving her venerable. He realized the cloth tied around his wounds had been made out of her shirt. He wanted to make a smart-ass comment about it but something inside him was against it. His memory flashed back to Chi. Who was she? Why was she so different from Yochi but also the same? This girl was dangerous. He hated danger, yet he was drawn to the girl. More than any girl he’d been with before. Why?
Teguchi’s psychic bandage helped him to gain movement. He slowly sat up while Yochi was looking away. He was never good with the complicated factor of women, he didn’t speak. Teguchi moved himself beside Yochi. Closing his eyes he wrapped his arms firmly around Yochi and rested his chin on her shoulder. The layer of color lengthened and surrounded Yochi as well, not because she needed it, but though pure mental and physical contact between her and Teguchi.
***
Purple hair? Naku and Katsu recognized her... Or did they?
“We’re looking for that black haired girl. Uh... Kai-something... Or whatever the name was.” Naku explained as he and Katsu entered the little house.
“We need her help.” Katsu added.
“More like... Shidou and his red haired girlfriend need help, or else they might die.” Naku continued. The two waited for the reply of the girl who stood before them.
***
When Yan awoke she realized Marishi had stopped moving; Yan had to act fast. She took off to a more populated area, a small town nearby, and caught herself a quick ride. Yan didn’t have much to offer the diver, but she played the weak, desperate girl very well. She even gave them that look of panic.
It didn’t take too long to catch up to the area around Marishi. If Yan had stayed awake all night she would’ve realized that Marishi was passing by where Yan had actually been.
Yan had come to a small town consisting of many buildings, and most importantly, a train station. That must have been why Marishi had been moving. Yan did her best to get a more exact location, which brought her to the middle of town, staring at four possible buildings; a restaurant, a house, an Inn, and a grocery store. Would Marishi likely shop? What about eat? Sleep? Did she actually have a house? Yan cleared her throat.
“HEY, YOU! COME OUT HERE!” She screamed. “YEAH, YOU! YOU WHITE HAIRED DEMON! I WANT TO TALK WITH YOU!” Yan gritted her teeth together before choosing one of the buildings, The Inn.
She slammed open the door and her tracking senses told her she was near.
“Where are you?” She said through her teeth. Yan stormed through the Inn opening any door she could, and kicking open the locked ones, until she finally found it, the room with the white haired girl, Marishi.
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---> POST 462 By Mollymay5000 <---
The birds sang songs of happiness as they jumped from tree to tree. Yasha noticed none of this. Her mind was in one place and one place only. She thought only of the one that she hoped to protect, knowing that her actions were hurting him greatly. There was nothing else that she could do; at least, that’s what she was telling herself as she ran as fast as she could. With these thoughts troubling her, she didn’t see the man, Thanos; appear out of nowhere in front of her.
With a sickening thump, the two bodies collided and tumbled to the ground in a disorganized heap. Arms and legs were sprawled in every direction. Yasha groaned. There was a large cut on her forehead where her face had connected with a rock. The wound was quickly changing color from red to yellow to purple. The world turned black.
“Mimi, have you ever been in love before?” asked the girl that looked like Yasha.
“Yes…There was a girl once that I really loved…She is gone now though,” replied the Mizu look-a-like.
“Does it hurt? Does being in love hurt?” she asked.
The man took a deep breath and looked at the girl in silence. They were sitting inside a cabin, drinking tea together. Her hair was full of flowers and her cheeks were bright and full of color.
“Being in love,” he began, “is the most glorious thing in the world. However, it is the most excruciatingly painful thing you will ever experience.”
~ ~ ~
The farther the two companions went, the darker the city became. It was the part of the city that nothing but the dirtiest people existed. When they stopped, they were at a ship dock. The only sound around them was the waves crashing against the wharf. He pulled a bottle out of his bag and took a swing of it. He replaced the cap and put it back in his bang. He rubbed in forehead and looked out over the water.
“He isn’t going to be here for a while. Would you like to dance in the water? There is nobody to see if we become our true selves here,” he said softly.
In the time since they had encountered Yochi, his personality had completely changed. It seemed softer at the edges than it had been before. The stress had disappeared and he was like a completely different person. Even so, his hands still shook and his eyes were glazed over.
~ ~ ~
A wail ripped through the air. Her hands reached subconsciously for his. Her body shook even more. Silent tears dripped from her chin. She cried out again, only this time, the cry was audibly a word, Kai. She repeated that single syllabled name over and over again. Each time the pain in her voice rising. She gripped Teguchi’s hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her body shook with the weakness that she had been trying so hard to hide; her breath coming out in short gasps.
She fell silent other than the heaving sobs that pulled at her body. The ground around them rumbled but nothing beyond that. Soon new words came from her lips. Her voice was hoarse and it shook terribly.
“Te-Teguchi…” she groaned.
She took another gasping breath before trying to speak again.
“…sorry…Chi…hurt?”
The last audible word ended on a question. She was shivering and her teeth chattered. Even still, she continued to cry. It was obvious that she was trying to pull herself together; without much success. Finally she let herself go and cried in silence, pressing herself against him, hoping for a comfort, trying not to hurt him.
~ ~ ~
Matsuko looked at them with silence and frowned. She had been trying to figure out how to save Shidou since she had met him. She hadn’t come to a conclusion. She didn’t know if what these two asked was possible. Since Shidou and Yasha had disappeared she had barely felt her presence. What she had felt had been foreign. She had lost the connection with her because Yasha had changed so much. She reminded her of Faia…
“Sit, if we are going to do anything, we are going to have to plan and it is going to take some time. Especially seeing that I have no idea where Yasha is,” she said, looking at them with honest and sad eyes.
~ ~ ~
Marishi looked towards Yan coldly. She would have preferred to leave this town as soon as possible and if Yan was here that meant that she was going to be here much longer than she was sure any of them wanted to be. She looked at Midori and Mahiru; both looked annoyed. Inu seemed annoyed as well, despite the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have personal feelings.
“What is it that you are screaming about?” she demanded Yan coldly. “I’m busy at the moment, can’t you bug me later?”
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---> POST 463 By FBGSGDN <---
Thanos didn’t have a terribly hard landing when he hit the ground, unlike the girl. She had obtained a large cut on the head, and it was bleeding fast.
“Dammit,” Thanos mumbled sitting up. He looked down at the girl. Why was she here? Thanos reached over to her and rolled her on her back, inspecting her face injury. It didn’t look good; he’d have to help her.
Thanos didn’t know much about injuries, his always healed minutes after he got them. He grabbed some leaves of a tree and carefully places them over the cut. It was all he had. He placed a little pressure over it to help stop the bleeding as well. Thanos didn’t know what this girl was doing here. He had to get back to looking for the one who could use the orb as soon as he could. But he decided to stay long enough to know she was okay.
***
“Dance, in the water?” Was he joking or was he serious? Namida wasn’t sure how to react. Mizu seemed so different from earlier. She felt herself drawn towards him, she didn’t know why.
Namida was not usually one to get to close to people, but something about him made her want to know him better. Although, she also feared that knowing him, would just bring more pain. But right now, pain didn’t seem all that bad; together they could drown their pain within their drugs, drinks, and each other.
“Let us dance...” She whispered, now standing intimately close to him.
***
Teguchi held Yochi tightly, ignoring his own pain with difficulty. Her cries pierced his ears and heart. Hearing her cry for her friend Kai was saddening, but when she cried his name he felt something, something deep.
“I’m alright.” Teguchi lied. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m alive because of you. Thank you.” He whispered into her ear softly.
Teguchi had never seen Yochi cry before like this. There were so many different sides to Yochi, yet undiscovered.
“It’s okay now. Everything’s okay...” Teguchi shifted himself to the side of Yochi pulling her close and tight. He placed his hand on her head, stroking her hair.
“Everybody is going to be okay.” But Teguchi didn’t know this for sure. He couldn’t predict the future after all.
***
“You have no idea? Oh.” Naku replied. He and Katsu came further into the house and sat down in a couple of chairs.
“I know where they’ve been for the last little bit. It was a safe place, a place where Shidou and I grew up. Ya’know, one of those secluded places...like Canada. Anyway, they came back from there, which is dangerous for Shidou. Mako probably knocked him out the moment they left. She’s probably found them by now. Hopefully they’re still alive.” Naku explained.
Katsu didn’t have much to add. Naku knew way more about this than her.
“You don’t have any way of locating the Yasha girl? Aren’t you people... connected in some way to her?” Katsu asked confusedly.
***
“I want to join you. I know I’m unrelated to whatever it is you’re doing. But I have nothing else left. My life was ruined because of you. I think you owe me. Everything is your fault. If I’d never let you out none of this would’ve happened. So I think, you owe me a lot.” Yan didn’t think Marishi would accept this. But she had to try.
Yan had started this, and now. She was going end it. She had to put an end to Marishi before her situation became worse than Mako. Yan couldn’t do anything about Mako, but Marishi, Marishi could be stopped. Yan was confident, that even though many of her endeavors had failed, if she was worth anything, she could put an end to Marishi’s insanity.
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---> POST 464 By Mollymay5000 <---
Yasha opened her eyes and blinked. For a few moments everything appeared as a single smudge. After a few more blinks, her sight cleared Mimi’s face and the memory of the vision disappearing with it. The first thing she became aware of was the fact that she was on the ground, the second was that her vision kept blurring thanks to the blood that was trickling down her forehead.
“Damn,” she groaned to herself. “Why am I on the ground?” she continued.
Just as these words passed from her mouth she noticed the man standing above her. He was placing leaves on her face. Not only was he doing so, but from the itch that was quickly burning across her face, he was using poison ivy to attempt to fix her wounds.
“Stop that! Watch what you’re doing, use cloth from your clothes or something,” she began to yell.
In her haste, she sat up and everything became fuzzy. Her head began pounding furiously and she quickly lowered herself back to the ground.
“Looks like the idiot is going to have to get me out of these woods, I didn’t really know where I was going anyway I suppose,” she muttered to herself. “You with the poison ivy,” she said in reference to the man, “I need you to get me out of here and seeing it is your fault that I am on the ground in the first place, I thing you at least owe me that. I am a minor you know.”
~ ~ ~
Mizu leaned in close, leaving barely enough room for a sheet of paper between their two bodies. His breath was heavy with the scent of booze, his heartbeat frantic from the xymite. One hand wrapped around her wrist while the other reached up to her face. His hand explored the dimensions of her face delicately, analysing the smallest detail, from her ears to the small strand of hair across her forehead. Throughout this, his eyes stared into hers. There wasn’t love found in either set of eyes, merely the pain of a soul that had seen and felt too much. Even so, his thumb came to a stop on her soft lips.
Mizu closed his eyes and rest his forehead against hers. The only thing stopping their lips from connecting was the presence of his thumb.
“Namida,” he said softly, breathing her name for the first time. “When this is over, I have a single request from you. No matter what happens from this moment forward, if there is still air within your lungs, I want you to kill me,” he continued his eyes opening, full of sharp and sober clarity. “Don’t let my sweet girl kill me, don’t let blood stain her delicate white hands. Make sure she is safe. I don’t want to kill our baby girl again,” he whispered, desperation entering his voice.
Just as quickly as the clarity had come, it passed. He let go of her wrist and turned towards the sea.
“There was someone that I cherished once, but Marishi became jealous and spiteful and took her away from me. This is the only sorrow that still haunts me no matter how much I shoot, and no matter how much I drink. I cannot forget the face of Faia as she died.”
He turned back to her, his eyes and face emotionless, just as though nothing had happened a mere few moments past. It was obvious he wasn’t conscious in the slightest of what he had said about his own death and the protection of his sweet girl. All that was seen was the determination to forget.
He held out his hand to Namida and smiled his empty and drunken smile.
“Now shall we dance for real or shall we continue to dance with our words?”
~ ~ ~
Yochi pressed herself gently into Teguchi, relishing in the comfort she received from his touch. The relief was short lived however. In the distance sirens could be heard. The way things were now this was a really bad place for them to be. As gently as she could, Yochi pulled herself away from Teguchi. If he hadn’t been there, she would have been able to escape with ease.
“It was my fault Teguchi and I’m so sorry,” she said softly as she stood. “However, now we need to run, whether I want to drown in self-pity or not. How hurt are you? Do you have enough strength to help me get you somewhere out of site? Don’t dare lie to me either, or I’ll be pissed.”
The attitude was in her words, but the feeling was no longer there. Despite everything, Kai’s disappearance left her feeling drained. Nothing like this had ever happened before and she didn’t know what do it. It was like part of part of her body was now missing. She might as well have been missing a leg for how incomplete she felt.
She sighed and looked down again at the pitiful looking man before her. He was as physically broken as she felt inside and he could still laugh and lie and say that he was fine. Her fists clenched as tears blurred her vision once more. She knelt down so that they were eye to eye.
“You are by far stronger than me and I know that we came to know each other through complicated circumstances, and yes it is selfish of me to say what I am about to say but I will do so anyway. I hated your presence around mine but now I am really glad you are here. I’m really afraid that I am going to lose you now,” she said in a whisper.
Her hand slid forward to touch his gently and she leaned forward and let her lips brush his cheek. She pulled back and stood quickly, turning to the other direction, her face obviously the color of cherries.
“Now let’s hold everything together and get you some help, we have things to do and people to find,” she said, the strength having begun to edge back into her voice.
~ ~ ~
Matsuko sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“This is rather frustrating to admit, but since she ran away with your brother, I haven’t tried to keep track of her, and when I started to worry. She was too blurred to reach. Your brother’s aura interferes with it. The closer she is to Shidou, the harder it seems for me to get a grip on her as of late,” she said quietly, directing most of what she had said to Naku, while also responding to Katsu’s question. “For as long as we have existed, there has never been anything like this before. We go through a cycle, and that cycle revolves around the life energy of Yasha, or you could say it revolves around her fire. This is only the second time that her spirit has been born and lived even past her toddler years. Normally, she is destroyed before this point ever happens. There is only one reason that I can think of that made the cycle change so drastically. My theory is that when she was reborn she came in contact with something else out of this world, which means that she came in contact with you or your brother.”
Here she paused and her eyes widened. She frowned to herself and shook her head.
“I have just said something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry that I cannot further clarify what I have just said about her. That is all I can say for now. However, I am curious to know what you think of my hypothesis and feel free to add any ideas, we don’t have much time.”
~ ~ ~
Marishi glared at Yan through narrowed eyes.
“First of all, I would like to interrupt your statement by saying that anything that has happened to you has been caused by your shallowness and self-pity. Secondly, you put that fucking necklace on me so why should I even let you near me again? Besides, it was your own stupidity that made you so easy to manipulate. Why don’t you do something useful like trying to control your crazy Mako? That is the only useful thing you could do at this point. Return to the good side and keep your mouth shut about what you have seen today. Other than that, you are useless to them and to me.”
Marishi turned away from her and began to walk away. Inu followed behind her obediently as well as Mahiru. Midori stayed behind however and looked at Yan with sympathetic eyes.
“The Lady isn’t one to forgive; she has been alive for too long to think otherwise. Her way of viewing things is old fashioned and she is unlikely to want you for anything. I suggest that you take her advice and go back to the other side. You will be of more use there and we will not have to deal with the Lady and her anger. I request this for your safety as well and for the future of everyone we care about. Yan, help Shidouryoku. I feel that you will feel the usefulness that you desire there. Farewell and we shall meet again in the future.”
With one last glance, Midori turned and ran to catch up with the others. She quickly disappeared around the corner and all her existence and that of her companions would disappear. Mahiru was very good at making people be invisible in plain sight.
