Blood Blue Kuro no Ōji [ IC / Started / Not Accepting ]

[.:Blu:.]

As Tatsuya threw his God's Golden Spear of Justice towards Faust, the spear began bending and twirling around R Shota's fireball. Then, R Minawe threw her Maga Chakram which combined with R Shota's Brilliant Nova to create a fireball covered in an outer shell of electricity with R Tatsuya's spear swirling around it. Faust's eyes widened as he saw the incoming attack, but his legs felt paralyzed. Unable to get out of the way, the Unison Blast made a direct hit to Faust and creating a massive explosion. The explosion destroyed more of the castle and created a huge smoke cloud. In the aftermath, R Shota walked over to the defeated and severely injured Faust. "Y-You... You people defeated me... H-How...?" Faust asked. "I'm afraid I don't really have an answer for that..." R Shota replied. "You guys won!" a voice came from the entrance of the throne room. R Shota looked to see everybody from before back in the room. They still have minor injuries but everyone was fine now. "Yeah, we defeated him." R Shota said before stepping away. R Shin and Shin came towards the defeated Faust.

"Well, we defeated you so now you need to keep your end of the bargain. Where's the device that can send these Alternates back to their dimension?" R Shin asked. Faust began to chuckle slightly. "I really feel better know to be honest..." Faust proclaimed. "What do you mean?" Shin asked. "Well, I finally can put away my pride and say that I'm not powerful, not one bit... It was the Orb of Wicca that was powerful... I was only its servant, helping it to collect souls, but now I freed from its wretched grip on me... For defeating me, as I promise, I shall give you the device. It's a one time use item so all who needs to return must be here now." Faust explained. "Yeah, we're all here." Shin replied. Without saying anything, Faust held up his hand and a small black shard with a purple center appeared in his hand. "This shard will open for five minutes, leading you back to where you originally came from. After five minutes, it will automatically close." Faust explained before throwing the shard to the side and the shard transformed into a portal.

"Thank you, Faust..." Shin said before turning to R Shin. "Well, I guess this is goodbye huh?" Shin asked. "Listen to me a**hole, you better remember what I taught you. Even though your an alternate of me, I hate to know that you died because you were weak." R Shin said. Shin simply nodded with a calm smile. "Well darling, even though our time was limited, it was a pleasure meeting you." R Rikka spoke to Rikka. Rikka gave a slight smile before walking off. "Likewise." Rikka simply replied. Walking past Shota, Rikka grabbed him by the shirt collar to pull him towards the portal. "I-I-I don't wanna leave! My fan club, they need me!" Shota whined. "Shut up you idiot." Rikka told him. R Shota smiled. "See ya." R Shota simply said towards Shota. R Rikka turned to Tatsuya and smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you too Tatsuya. You are way cuter than the Tatsuya here." she said before giving Tatsuya a kissed on the lips. "W-Well, goodbye Me-san." R Tsukihana shyly muttered. "You're a really kind person Me-san, goodbye." Tsukihana replied before making his way to the portal.

"If I could give some good news." Ushogiri began as he pushed his glasses up with two fingers. "After fighting in this dimension, once you returned to yours, you will feel your powers increased dramatically. Think of that as a farewell gift." Ushogiri explained. "Oh and by the way, how does my alternate match up to me?" Ushogiri asked. "Well, his name is Uyagiri and instead of a black uniform, he wears a white one. Those are the only differences really." Shin replied. "Ahh, so he still retains all of my charms, good to know." Ushogiri said jokingly.

After saying their goodbyes, the group entered into the portal to return back to their dimension.

[Nichibotsu Hotel & Hot Springs]

The sun was beginning to rise, and in their beds still lie each member of the team. Suddenly, they awoke from their slumber. "Ugh... A-Are we back...?" Shin asked as he sat up on his bed, still in a groggy state. "We're at the hotel. Does that mean it was all a dream?" Shota asked. "We all had the same dream, maybe it was something more... Maybe our physical bodies remained here but our spiritual bodies left to that dimension." Tsukihana suggested. "Well, whatever it was, we're back now... Wait where's Kinsei at?" Shin asked, looking around. Suddenly, a monk from the Nichibotsu Monastery arrived in a frantic and tired state. "You're a monk from the monastery. What happened? Are you alright?" Tsukihana asked worryingly as they got up from their beds. "Y-Your teammate, Kinsei..." the monk began. "Kinsei? What happened to him?" Shin asked worryingly. "He's been kidnapped by demons!" the monk finally said. Shin's eyes widened from surprise. "Kinsei...? Kidnapped...? But, he wouldn't be so weak as to let him kidnapped them like that." Shin proclaimed. "They weren't ordinary demons. They look human-like and they were extremely powerful." the monk stated.

"Well where are they now?" Tsukihana asked. "I saw them heading towards Nichibotsu Forest." the monk replied. "One trouble after another... Something's attracting all this trouble to us, and I'm getting the feeling that it was the sword's fault." Tsukihana spoke to the others.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

R Tatsuya crossed arms and straightened his back so he could be at his maximum height. His victory pose was meant to look heroic and it did seem to succeed at that. "That's the undefeatable combination of my team's greatest justice!" He let out a hearty laugh but stopped when the others walked in. "We've managed to destroy the darkness in his heart with our mighty justice!"

Tatsuya wasn't in the mood for the other's crap so he began to walk right towards the portal. Of course R Tatsuya would interfere with that. "Hello my alternate! I guess this means goodbye. It was a great experience to meet you."

Tatsuya let out a sigh. He just couldn't win. "First time you haven't attacked me or tried to fight me. It must be some sort of Christmas miracle."

"Well it wouldn't be a good bye if we just ended up fighting in the end." R Tatsuya laughed again. He seemed to really enjoy doing that. "Good bye Tatsuya. Hopefully our paths cross once again."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Tatsuya walked away yawning. He didn't even notice who he was passing now. R Rikka turned to him and after saying a few words kissed him. He quickly broke the kiss by lightly pushing R Rikka away from him. "Sorry Rikka. I just don't have those feelings for you." He looked back at the portal. "I have to go now." He began to run off towards the portal. He really wanted to escape this hell hole.

Later he woke back up at the hotel. The way he woke up was as if it was a nightmare. "That was horrible...my alternate was a lame dumbass and worst of all..." He said the next part silently so nobody else would hear. Even Rei with his super demon hearing. "...that was my first kiss...wasted..."

[Hotaru987]

R Minawe rolled her eyes at Tatsuya as her and R Rei seperated. "I'm just glad that idiot alternat of mine can finally leave and be out of my hair. Hn, speak of the devil." Minawe and Rei were walking in along with Tatsuya, who seemed more eager to leave than sick around for goodbyes. "Thanks for all of your help alternate me." Minawe grinned placing both her hands on her hips. "We could have never done it without you, and the others too ofcourse."

"Whatever, those idiots would be dead if it wasn't for me."

"But didn't alternate Shami and alternat Origiri save yo-"

"Besides the point!" R Minawe shouted draggng her fist across Minawe's head. "Look just go back to your demension before your stupidity and clumsiness gets us all in trouble." R Minawe grumbled crossing her arms.

"*Grung**grunt**grunt**grunt*[i]Good luck on whatever battles that may come in the future. I'm glad to know that Minawe even in another demension is really nice and ca-[/i]" R Rei was cut off by a rather ferocious puch to the face that had him sailing into an already destroied wall. "What was that you whimpy b*tch!"

Rei paled and quickly grabbed the back of Minawe's collar and started to drag her towards the portal. "Nice meeting you alternate me! By alternate Rei, and other alternates!" Minawe happily waved to everyone right before she and Rei entered the portal back to their own demensions.

Rei awoke to find himself in the bed he last remembered falling asleep in. Now that was strange. Sadly they didn't get the time to think abotu what happened as a monk ran into the room declaring to see Kensei being dragged off by two people into the forest. "Great, why cant we get a break." Rei complained. Seconds later a white blur shot into the room, knocking over the monk that came in seconds ago and then the blur latched onto Tsukihana.

"I had the most terrible dream! You were a nerd and a stalker that followed me everywhere! Every corner I turned you were there, but it wasnt you, it was some creepy alternate verson of you! And Shami was actually cool, and Teriyama was even more annoying than he is now! And Nemo oh dear lord the horror!" Minawe ranted on and on not even aware of the news just delivered.

[.:Blu:.]

[center][b][size="5"]CHAPTER 9: MADNESS OF THE HEART[/size][/b][/center]


[spoiler=Chapter 9 Synopsis]After returning to their dimension and awakening from their curse brought upon them by Corvus, the group received news that Kinsei has been kidnapped by two powerful demons in human form. Unbeknownst to the group, one of these demons is one of the Seven Kin or Abaddon and the other is a powerful Demon Lord. With both Kinsei and the Bane of Purgatory missing, the group must now traverse even deeper into the darkness to rescue their teammate and retrieve the Bane of Purgatory.[/spoiler]


Before the conversation could continue any further, a white blur blasted into the room, knocking over the monk and then continued on to latch onto Tsukihana. "What the- Minawe-chan, what are you doing?" Tsukihana asked, a bit surprised at the sudden event. Shin helped the monk up and apologized why Minawe began ranting about Ragnarok, believing that it was only her who had the dream. "Shhhh, it's okay Minawe-chan, calm down. We all had the same experience, but we can't really call it a dream. It was definitely real in a sense, haven't all of you sensed that your soul's power has increased dramatically?" Tsukihana asked. "Yeah, actually I do. Wait, Alternate Uyagiri said that we would be experiencing this. So that means that everything actually happened!" Shota exclaimed. Tsukihana nodded. "Right, but right now we have a problem to deal with. Oh, and can you let go of me please Minawe-chan?" Tsukihana asked. Rikka walked into the room and leaned against the door while crossing her arms. "I've heard everything. So Kinsei, as well as the Bane of Purgatory, have gone missing. We need to find Kinsei and get the sword back, Tenzaimo told us not to let the sword fall into the wrong hands." Rikka said.

"Right! Then let's go! I'm actually feeling pumped and fired up! Also, my Alternate is soooo cool!" Shota exclaimed. "Would you be quiet already you idiot." Rikka scolded. "Ohh, is someone mad because there Alternate was a big-breasted girl who got kissy-kissy with Tatsuya?" Shota teased with a smug smirk. "Shut up you little twerp!" Rikka snapped back at Shota. "You guys enough! This isn't the time to be arguing. We need to focus on the task at hand." Shin spoke to which both Shota and Rikka crossed their arms and pouted like children. "Redder!" Shin called. A small poof of red smoke occurred and from the smoke came Redder. "You rang?" Redder asked. "You have good sensing abilities right? Kinsei has gone missing and we need you to led us to him." Shin explained. "No problemo Kid! I'll get you to him in no time!" Redder replied while saluting. Shin nodded at Redder before turning to the monk. "Thank you for letting us know. You can go back to the monastery." Shin told him. "Be careful and I wish all of you the best of luck." the monk told everyone before leaving.

"From what the monk told us, Kinsei, the Bane of Purgatory, and the demons who captured Kinsei were last seen heading into the Nichibotsu Forest. Now, the forest is quite expansive, usually taking a day to travel from the north entrance to the south exit. If the demons who captured Kinsei didn't rest, then it would've probably taken them sixteen hours to get through the entire forest. We should split up into squads to go and search the forest. My bet is that the demons are still located in the forest, maybe even resting right now as we speak." Tsukihana explained. "Wait, but if we split it into two teams how will we communicate with each other, and plus there is only one Redder so how can we track Kinsei if we split up?" Shota asked. "Communication will be easy, I'll use a Verse to telepathically communicate with you and I can also use a Verse to hone in onto Kinsei's soul." Tsukihana replied. "Now, the teams will consist of Minawe, Rei, and myself and Shota, Tatsuya, Shota, and Rikka. My team will be searching the western part of the forest and you guys will be searching the eastern part of the forest. I'll be keeping telepathic communications with all of you the whole time, so if you find anything or something goes wrong, you can easily call me." Tsukihana explained.

"If there isn't any questions then we should get going." Tsukihana said before everybody left for the Nichibotsu Forest. At the entrance of the forest, the group split into two. "Alright then, Verse IX: Mind Link." Tsukihana called out as a circle of light illuminated under each person before disappearing. "I've linked our minds. If you want to contact me, just say 'link active' and if you want to temporarily turn off the link say 'link inactive'. Right now, let's go." Tsukihana said before his group entered into the forest and took the west path while the other group took the east path.

-Meanwhile-

In the cabin where Kinsei and the Bane of Purgatory was held, Azayl walked up to Kinsei, having already reverted back into his 'Slumber' state. "How are you feeling Faust? Are you hurting?" Azayl asked with concern. "Like I can be hurt. You have no intentions of letting me go so why are you asking about my health? It won't be long until that b**ch's poison kills me so why are you still showing concern?" Kinsei asked with a weak voice. "Because you are my brother, and even I feel sorrow for you even if you have betrayed Father." Azayl replied. "You never change do you Azayl? Still the kid..." Kinsei replied.

[Hotaru987]

Minawe stared up at Tsukihana as he began talking, telling her that it wasn't a dream and had in fact happened to all of them. When he mentioned the increased power, it was then Minawe felt the difference inside of her. It was like she could hear a distant cackle of lightening, just waiting to be unleashed but simply buying its time. Hearing Tsukihana mention letting him go Minawe jumped back almost the entire length of the room, "G-gahh! I-im sorry I should have let go m-much sooner Tsukihana-sama!" She exclaimed blushing as she continued to apologize. However, it became background noise as the plan of action was explained by Tsukihana. Minawe only came back to reality to hear,

"I'm in Tsukihana-sama's team?....Oh, no....I'm turning into a stalker like alternate Tsukihana-sama....Oh the potential nightmares." Minawe whispered to herself while quickly peering over her shoulder.

"What an idiot.." Rei mumbled facepalming. He didn't like the fact that Tsukihana would be able to talk into his mind, hell he didn't like talking to the guy in person. He definately didn't want the bastard in his head. "Let's just get this over with." He said already lagging in the back of the group, hands in his pocket and a look that said "Please god strike me down now". Minawe was somewhat in the middle of the group, not quite too far from Tsukihana. "G-g-guys...A-are there...B-b-b-bugs in th-this f-f-forest?"

"Yep, and if I'm lucky they'll take you away and I won't have to live with your idodicy."

Minawe paled and hugged herself. She hated bugs.

~Meanwhile~

Maka giggled, it might have been considered cute if it wasn't for Maka being the one who giggled. She was hanging on her scythe upside down, like a child who was hanging on the monkey bars with their legs. "Oh, my dear former prince. Flattery will get you no where with me. My heart belongs to Lord Saten after all." She laughed again having the time of her life watching the former demon prince's life slip away. "The only thing Im missing is my popcorn."

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya sighed as Minawe ran in and immediatly clung onto Tsukihana. "What a cute couple. I think I'm hearing wedding bells. Actually, I think that sounds more like an ambulance." He quietly laughed at his own joke. Even Tatsuya feels bad for anybody Minawe sets their mind on. "Save it for the honeymoon. Something more important than your guys' consummation is going on."

When Shota insulted Rikka he wanted to punch the guy. And he wanted to make it hurt. Not because he insulted her but because he mentioned him being kissed by the big breasted b*tch. Tatsuya listened as the monk finished talking and then he listed to Tsukihana's plan. "Great, I'm stuck with the other two lovers and the loser. Oh well at least I should be able to kick Shota's a** if I get too bored."

[.:Blu:.]

Walking through the western part of the forest, Minawe asked if there were bugs in the forest to which Rei told Minawe that if he was lucky then she would be taken away by them. "Rei-san, you shouldn't say those kind of things to Minawe-chan. She's not very fond of bugs and you know it so why are you teasing her?" Tsukihana asked. Though Tsukihana does not hate Rei, he isn't very fond of Rei's attitude either. "Don't worry Minawe-chan, even if there are bugs, I'll protect you from them." Tsukihana reassured Minawe followed by a reassuring smile as well.

On the eastern side of the forest, the group already ran into trouble in the form of three humanoid, skinless demons with blades for hands. The demons didn't have eyes and their noses were two tiny slits. Their mouths are lined with razor sharp teeth, like those of a shark. Blood was covering their bodies due to the fact that they were skinless. They did not talk either; the only nose they could make were low-toned moans. "You guys be careful!" Shin yelled from the sidelines due to the fact that he didn't have a weapon. "These demons sure are ugly, and that's an understatement." Rikka spoke. Suddenly, one of the demon leaped up into the air and began rotating while its arms were extended, making them becoming a razor sharp vortex. Rikka blew cold mist onto the ground, creating a slippery surface. As the demon landed, it slid off into the bushes. "At least they aren't difficult to stop." Rikka said. Suddenly, the same demon came twirling out of the bushes, cutting the bushes while spinning.

Another one of those demons began to spin as well, this time heading towards Tatsuya. The demon Shota was battling seemed to be imitating Shota's every move. "Hey you guys, is this demon broken or something?" Shota asked while making hand motions to which the demon copied exactly.

-Meanwhile-

Kinsei smiled before spitting some of his blood onto the ground. The blood was thick and black colored, indicating the poison had been breaking down Kinsei's blood cells. "Please, like I want to flatter a weak, helpless little child like you. Father doesn't even care about you. He told me you were something once, hmm what was it again? Oh yeah, a guard dog that's right. Need me to pat you on the head?" Kinsei asked with a smirk. "Brother please-" Azayl' plead was interrupted by Kinsei. "Azayl, I don't want you to get involve in this. I know it's not in your nature to get involve into conflicts." Kinsei stated to which Azayl reluctantly became quiet.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya yawned after seeing the enemies. "Low class demons. Even a baby could beat them. Sadly though a baby is still tougher than Shota." Tatsuya sighed as the demon fell for Rikka's trap so easily. "Wow. They're an even lower class than you Rikka." A small grin appeared on Tatsuya's face as one of the demons began spinning towards his. "This should be quick." He reached into his jacket and pulled his twin swords. "Let's see just how much more powerful I've become!"

The normal red energy began to flow out of Tatsuya's sword. "Other than for what seems like extended time nothing seems to have changed...I'll Just Have To See How It Feels When Cutting You Up!" He began to copy the demon's spin with his swords out. "Let 'em rip!" While spinning he charged towards the demon.

[Hotaru987]

Minawe nodded quickly feeling a little better at the fact that Tsukihana would keep the bugs from her. That and his smile that practically had her melting in her shoes. At the slightest sign of noise she would squeak in shock. "Why couldn't they have brought Kenny to a place that was less creepy?" Minawe mumbled. Rei rolled his eyes at his partner. He was glad to be out of that weird alternate universe. Watching himself get abused by Minawe, alternate or not, was a nightmare. "Why don't you just mind your own buisness Tsukihana. What I say to my partner is of no concer to you, so just butt out." He said in response to Tsukihana's earlier statement.

~Meanwhile~

The smiled was wiped from Maka's face for all of 5 seconds. In which time frowned anger radiating off of her. Though the feeling was gone almost as soon as it came, and Maks's smile returned. "That was quite the comeback. Get them in while you can because soon you won't be around." She turned her head towards Azayl and sighed in disappointment. "I liked the other you better. Much more fun and interesting to be around."

[.:Blu:.]

"I know it isn't my business to tell you how to talk to Minawe-chan but still, you need to treat her with some respect." Tsukihana replied. As they continued walking, the bushes began to slightly rustle. "Get ready..." Tsukihana spoke quietly to Minawe and Rei. Suddenly, bursting out from the bushes were three demons, the same kind that attacked the other group. Tsukihana quickly took out his bow and arrow. "Sparrow Shot." Tsukihana spoke as he aimed his arrow towards one of the demon and fired it. As the arrow moved towards the demon, it began to rotate in place. Once the arrow made impact with the demon, a powerful upward explosion of bright light occurred, instantly incinerating the demon. "They aren't very difficult to kill, but we're not done here." Tsukihana spoke before five more of the same demons came out from the bushes and rushed towards them. One demon who got close enough to Tsukihana began slashing at him with its blades. Tsukihana was able to easily dodged the slashes and kicked the demon back. Then Tsukihana fired a single arrow covered in light which directly hit the demon in the forehead, killing it.

"Would you shut the hell up a**hole!" Shota, with comical anger, yelled at Tatsuya for saying Shota is even weaker than a baby. "Both of you be quiet and get rid of the demons." Rikka said as she created an ice spear and threw it into the rotating demon. However, the ice spear instantly shattered as it made impact with the demon. "(Just as I thought, we need to stop them from rotating.)" Rikka thought to herself. Rikka then changed her hands into two giant ice hammers and smashed the demon from its sides, killing it. Rikka was surprised that she killed the demon while it was still rotating. "(Guess our powers did increased.)" Rikka thought. Unaware of his actual power increase, Tatsuya copied the demon and spun in a circle towards the demon with his blade extended. Once Tatsuya and the demon made contact, Tatsuya, unwillingly, created a large wave of energy that instantly destroyed the demon and about fifty or so feet of tree line. Shota's jaw fell to the ground. "T-That's so unfair!" Shota yelled after seeing Tatsuya's increased power.

However, things didn't end there as more and more demons arrived. "This isn't right. Demons like these just don't appear in swarms. What is causing this many demons to appear?" Rikka asked as she kept killing the demons were her ice powers.

-Meanwhile-

"I may not be around for long but its better than serving as a guard dog for a long time. Even that d*ck Zubaba gets more praise than you. Am I right?" Kinsei intended to struck a nerve when he mentioned Demon Lord Zubaba to Maka.

[Hotaru987]

"Whatever." Rei whispered to himself. Almost right after that strange looking demons popped out of the forest. They were skinless, with sharp teeth and worthy of giving nightmares to even the worst of people. "T-these demons a-are almost as creepy as bugs." Minawe stuttered while pulling out her chakrams. One of the demons suddenly rushed towards Minawe, she shrieked and threw out a random chakram, managing to decapitate one of the demons. "H-holy crap." Minawe said in surprise before turning to face another demon. Meanwhile, Rei shot some powerful bolts of lightening to two different demons. "Tch, this seems easy enough. We just gotta keep blowing them up until theres not a single one left."

~Meanwhile~

Maka frowned her whole body swinging up until she was sitting in an upright position. "Don't even mention that stupid idiot Zubaba! Ugh, he is a complete and utter embarressment to the rank of Demon Lords! How I hate that bastard so! Don't ever compare that idiot to me! I am way better than he is!" Maka ranted. "He has no where near the level of power or respec that I have!"

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya stopped spinning after he realized what he just did. "Woah. I did get a power up." He began to recall R Tatsuya's waves and his as well. "[i]I wonder if because we were there our souls were able to grow and become more like our alternates an actually learn some of their moves. Or passing through dimensions we picked up residual soul energy.[/i]" He stared blankly at the new demons that arrived. He shook his head to get his senses back. "[i]Eh, the last thing I should be doing is trying to figure this stuff out.[/i]"

He held his swords up. "Hey Rikka. If I start talking about sh*t like justice slap me." He jumped up into the air. "Oh and you might want to get away for this next attack." Coming down he stabbed his two swords into the shoulders of the demon. With his swords still in the skinless demon he kicked him away towards a few of the other demons. Slowly though the demon seemed to be expanding. "I'll call this the Tatsuya Time Bomb." He snapped his fingers as the demon exploded with a massive release of Tatsuya's red soul energy.

[.:Blu:.]

"Oh I'm sorry, did I struck a nerve? Wait, why am I apologizing to a pathetic weakling like you?" Kinsei smirked. Azayl was outside of the cabin, he didn't want for the two to fight but someone like him could not do anything to stop their fighting. Seeing a beautiful flower on the ground made Azayl smile, even if his smile was only temporarily. "Even a flower's life can be of more worth than that of mine's..." Azayl spoke before lightly touching the flower. Upon contact, the flower instantly wilted, causing Azayl to instantly pull back his hand. "I-I'm sorry..." Azayl apologized after killing the flower. Azayl placed both hands on his head and began tearing up. "Why...? Why do I have to be the Prince of Wrath...? Why must all life be doomed when they are around me...?" Azayl asked himself. Suddenly, something surprised Azayl. Azayl sensed the presence of several powerful souls in the forest area. Standing up, Azayl stumbled back a little before heading inside the cabin.

"M-Maka, I sense powerful souls within the forest." Azayl stated. Azayl then looked outside at the portal. Demons were coming out of the portal and heading towards the forest. "Those demons... They can sense those souls too, but they're useless against these powerful individuals. What should we do?" Azayl asked with concern. "(Powerful souls... I hope it isn't the others... Don't try and save me... You will only end up sharing the same fate...)" Kinsei thought to himself.

-Meanwhile-

"Damn, where are all of these demons coming from in the first place?" Tsukihana asked as he kept on destroying the demons. Suddenly, one demon launched itself towards Minawe with it's teeth ready to rip Minawe's flesh off. More demons charged at Minawe with their teeth ready to taste her flesh. Tsukihana turned around in concern. "Minawe-chan!" Tsukihana spoke as he began firing arrows at the demons. He aimed an arrow at the demon descending towards Minawe and was able to get a direct shot into its face. Not paying attention, one of the demons bit Tsukihana on his shoulder, causing him to drop his bow. "Arrgh!" Tsukihana yelled in pain. The demon then grabbed hold of Tsukihana with its bladed hands in order to keep Tsukihana from moving. The blades slowly sink into Tsukihana, causing blood to gush out from him. "Arrgh!" Tsukihana yelled before putting up two fingers towards the demon's face. "Holy Verse III: White Lightning!" Tsukihana yelled as his fingers glowed with white light for a moment then a white lightning bolt shot out and killed the demon. Tsukihana dropped to the ground and grabbed onto his shoulder with his other hand.

After the massive explosion, a large part of the tree line was leveled instantly and all of the trees and demons were incinerated. In the aftermath, everybody, except for Rikka, was covered in ashes and smoke was coming off of their heads. They also had a shocked look on their face. "Tatsuya... I think you may have overdone it a bit..." Shin said. Rikka protected herself with a thick dome of ice. The dome was destroyed in the explosion but at least Rikka didn't get any ashes on her. "Nice job Tatsuya, you got rid of the demons." Rikka spoke, not even caring about the fact that everybody else was blacked by the ashes and had smoke rising from their heads.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

As the ashes cleared Tatsuya hacked up the ash until it was all completely out of his throat. "Overdone or not, it was so worth it." He smacked his clothes and shook his to get some of the ash off but it really couldn't get all of it. "Albeit, I may have wasted a bit of my times with that. About a whole minute." He held his hands out and caught his two swords that were blown up into the air during the explosion. They were already off so he put them in his jacket. "And...I think I'm running out of clothes for this trip...hey Rikka! You're a girl, right? Maybe you should wash our clothes sometime. Ice is close enough to water."

[Hotaru987]

"Why you little! I should wring your neck!" Maka growled seconds before Azayl came back into the cabin with news of other powerful souls. Maka tilted her head, "There are people in the forest?....With strong souls?" It took a few seconds but soon enough Maka felt what Azayl was feeling, and floated towards the door. "Now this is interesting. They seem to be heading in this general direction." She suddenly laughed, swinging her legs rapidly and in childlike joy. "Don't tell me you made friends with humans. Is that why you want to stay here? Because of human friends?"

"I sense the soul of a demon among them...No wait...There's two demons.." Maka mumbled to herself. "Mask your scent Azayl." She then removed her scyth opening up a rift for a group of Skeleton soldiers to walk out. These skeletons were armed with bows, swords, and monk staffs. "Position yourselfs around the cabin, and remain out of sight. Since you don't possess souls they wont be able to sense you. We must take precautions just in case these people are in fact looking for Faust. No one would delibrately come out this deep into the forest for nothing." Once her warriors were hidden within the trees surrounding the cabin she began floating towards her rift. "I will return shortly. I want to.....Observe these powerful souls...I wish to see who I will be adding to my collection of warriors."

~Meanwhile~

Minawe thought she was doing quite well. Just barely dodging the attacks and managing to land a few of her own. That was until one demon came from behind her. Minawe turned at the last minute and jumped out of the way only suffering a small scratch on her side. "O-ouch..." She looked up and saw that even more were heading towards her. "Rei!" She called out to her partner. He turned, eyes widening, though when he moved to help three demons got in his way. "Damn*t! Move the f*ck out of the way!"

Minawe closed her eyes and tensed waiting for the pain, but the only thing she heard was a painful shout from Tsukihana. Her eyes snapped open. "Ts-tsukihana-sama! Rei cover us!" She called running over to Tsukihana to see if she could help. The wound on his shoulder, and where the demons grabbed him with their bladed hands, looked really bad. Though she couldn't tell if it was really as bad as it looked or if it was the blood that was making it seem like that. If there was ever a time where Minawe wished she could share her healing powers it was now. As of now her own wound was already closing, though the blood stained shirt said otherwise. A rather close bolt of lightening hit down next to her and Tsukihana. "Hey watch it Rei! He's already hurt bad enough!"

Rei glanced down at Tsukihana, quickly looking away. He just had to be the guy to save everyone. Rei felt more resentment towards Tsukihana than every before. He was more than capible of protecting his partner without his help. Rei reached out grabbing one of the demons by his head and then passing thousands of volts of lightening into it's body completely destroying it.

[.:Blu:.]

"W-Wait Maka, please do not cause any more harm. Maybe they won't find us." Azayl pleaded, hoping for Maka to not go and kill the individuals they've sensed. However Maka had already entered into her rift, and before long, the rift closed, leaving Azayl there. Azayl, with a saddened expression, entered into the cabin. "(Two of those souls I sensed... I know them... Shin and Tatsuya are their names...)" Azayl spoke as he remembered Tatsuya and Shin saving him last time from those guys in the market. "Did she went after those souls...?" Kinsei asked Azayl with an angry yet weak tone. "Yes..." Azayl replied. "Damn it... The only thing I can do is sit here..." Kinsei said, angry at himself for not being able to do anything. "You know them, don't you Faust?" Azayl asked. "Yeah..." Kinsei simply replied. "Are they the reasons why you choose to stay here?" Azayl asked. "No... With that being said, I don't wish to see them die by the hands of that demon either..." Kinsei replied.

"You're not going to ask me for help?" Azayl asked. "No... I don't want you to betray Father..." Kinsei answered. "I wonder if that is really true... Maybe your pride is just getting in the way of you asking for help..." Azayl said before sitting down.

-Meanwhile-

Rei was now taking care of the demons while Minawe sat at Tsukihana's side. Tsukihana gritted his teeth from the pain but then managed to portray a calm expression in order to take to Minawe. "M-Minawe-chan, I'll be alright, don't worry about me. I just need to use my healing Verses to close the wounds..." Tsukihana said before mustering up the energy he needed to use his healing Verses. "Holy Verse XLIII: Suigin no Shizuku..." Tsukihana called out as he placed his hand on the blade wound above his chest. Silver water materialized above the wound and started to fuse into Tsukihana's wound, closing the wound. Tsukihana did the same for his other two wounds. Even after closing the wounds, Tsukihana was too weak to fight. Tsukihana sat up and watched the demons getting closer to them. "Damn... Minawe-chan, don't worry about me. Worry about the demons-" Tsukihana's statement was cut short as the demons suddenly stopped attacking. Then, the demons ran off into the bushes.

"W-Why are they running away?" Tsukihana asked. Suddenly, a rift opened up and floating out from the rift was none other than Maka. All three of them suddenly sensed Maka's powerful soul, her soul is dense and extremely dark. "T-The demons ran away, because they sensed her soul... S-She's a demon..." Tsukihana spoke, referring to Maka.

After making his wise-ass comment towards Rikka, Tatsuya was attacked by an uppercut with an ice fist creating by Rikka. "Shut your mouth." Rikka calmly replied with an uncaring expression. "You guys, I sense someone approaching, but I can't tell if that someone is human or not." Rikka told her group. "What do you mean? Is it like a demon or maybe some kinda animal?" Shota asked. "I don't know, it seems kind of human, but there's something off about this person's soul. Be careful." Rikka said. Suddenly, bursting out of the bushes was Kinsei, extremely hurt and holding the Bane of Purgatory. "Huh- I-It's you guys... What the hell are you doing here?" Kinsei asked, shocked to see them. Shin's eyes widened from seeing all the wounds and cuts all over Kinsei's face and body as well. "K-Kinsei, what happened to you?" Shin asked worryingly. "I-I was attacked by a powerful demon, I couldn't kill it. It's still trying to find me, we gotta get out of here." Kinsei explained his situation.

((Hotaru, I hope you remember our conversation over PM awhile ago, if you don't then PM me))

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya fell back after being hit with the ice punch. "You little b*tch." He stood back up but before he could even prepare to punch her back she mentioned about sensing something. "I wonder what I get to beat up now." He was tad bit disappointed to see Kinsei but still relieved at the same time. Kinsei had the Bane of Purgatory so they wouldn't fail this mission. "There you are. Now I can actually get that extra credit." He was, of course, refering to the Bane of Purgatory.

Tatsuya listened to what Kinsei said. "A powerful demon is chasing you and you're in obviously bad condition. This demon must be some sort of freaking slowpoke idiot. Either way we should probably alert the ohers and check on their status as well. Link active. [i]Hey Tsukihana. We found Kinsei. Appareantly he escaped from a powerful demon and it's now in pursuit of him. You guys should avoid attracting too much attention and get out now.[/i]"

[Hotaru987]

"Hm...You people don't seem like much...An injured human, a demon and...You-" Maka said facing Minawe tilting her head with curiosity. "You're soul is different. Why is that? It's almost as if there is two-Oh I see. That's utterly disgusting." She said shaking her head at Rei. "To make a contract with a lowly human, and one that appears to be an exorsist too. That's an entirly new low."

"Well I guess I shoud get rid of you now." She grabbed the scythe she sat on and pointed it towards Minawe. "Who should I get rid of firs. Eeny, meeny miny mo. Catch a lion by it's toe. If he hollers let him go...Eeny...Meeny...miney...Mo." At the end of her song her scythe landed on Rei but Maka had moved it so it was pointing to Tsukihana. "And we have a taker! Thank you for voulenteering to be the first one to die!" It was apparent Maka was going to get rid of the weakest one first, and go after Rei last since he was the only demon in the group and who Maka deemed to be the strongest. Humans were pathetic and second to demons after all.

With a small giggled she flew towards Tsukihana and Minawe, who was still by his side. [i]'Rei! Stop her now before she kills him!'[/i]

Rei stood off to the side stuck halfway in the motion of going to help. He saw no reason for him to help Tsukihana. He disliked him, even so far to say he hated him. He always had something to say about his attitude and the way he treated Minawe. Why couldn't he just mind his own buisness. Then he had the nerve to save Minawe, when that was Rei's job. [I] I am more than able to handle my charge. He was just in the way after all.[/i]

[i]'Rei! What the hell are you doing get her!'[/i] Minawe grinded her teeth together when Rei made no intention to move, or reply to her. She knew he didn't like Tsukihana, but he would really sit there and let him die? Was Tsukihana that bad of a person that even Rei would not help out? "How could you be so cruel..." She mumbled to herself in disbeliefe. Was only she blind to his cruelty?

"You're friend is smart to stay out of the way!" Maka yelled practically upon her and Tsukihana, "Though now I could get rid of two birds with one stone."

Minawe turned to Maka with a glare, "He's not smart, he's just an a**" Maka brought her scythe down in an overhead strike. Minawe was lucky enough to time the attack right and brought her chakram up so that the scythe would pass through the opening, and stopping once it became too large to pass through the loop. The tip of the scythe was only inches from Tsukihana's body. Sadly for Minawe, as the blade passed through her chakram, it cut through the underside of her arm all the way to just before her elbow.

Her arm was already trembling, loosing both feeling and the strength to hold Maka back. "Quite a lucky catch little girl." Minawe winced as Maka put more force down onto the blade. A quick glance at Rei showed him to still be stuck in his earlier position. Maka tilted her head to the side again as if thinking about what just happened before backing away, a mocking smile on her face. "Such an interesting little group we have here. Don't worry I wont kill you. I don't want my fun with you three to end just yet, so I shall leave you with a parting gift." She opened up another rift allowing for 6 skeleton warriors to emerge. "If they don't manage to kill you, then I look forward to our next play date." She backed away into the rift with a resounding giggle.

Minawe gripped her now limp arm and turned to Rei. "Can you at least get rid of them." The bitterness in her voice snapped Rei out of his thoughts and he saw that the girl from earlier had gone and Skeleton warriors had taken her place and was closing in on Tsukihana and Minawe. He looked at the skeletons and fired a large bolt of lightening, lighting up the surrounding area and completely desintergrating the skeletons. Maka, in stead of leaving the group entierly and simply appeared high into the air over the group to continue watching them.

[.:Blu:.]

Tsukihana was shocked at the events that had just transpired. Tsukihana looked at Minawe's limp arm and began using his healing magic to heal her right away. "Minawe-chan, are you alright?" Tsukihana asked worryingly before turning to look at Rei with a furious expression. "You would let the enemy kill me? And what's worse, you let the enemy hurt Minawe-chan. What is the matter with you Rei!" Tsukihana finally raised his voice in anger towards another person. "I don't care if I get hurt but Minawe-chan is my comrade and your partner! Why the hell did you have to let her take the hit?!" Tsukihana asked. After healing Minawe's hand, Tsukihana stood up and made his way towards Rei. Though still weak, Tsukihana was furious. Tsukihana grabbed Rei by his shirt collar and looked at his with intensely fierce eyes. "You bastard, how can you call yourself an exorcist?!" Tsukihana yelled, pushing Rei back with all of his strength. Being in his condition, Tsukihana fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Still furious, Tsukihana punched the ground.

Then, Tsukihana received a message from Tatsuya saying that they found Kinsei and a demon was in pursuit of him. "(I speak to you later...)" Tsukihana replied. "Link Inactive..." Tsukihana turned off the link as continued to kneel there looking at the ground. Suddenly, a heavy downpour began to overtake the area.

Back at the other team's side, Shin placed Kinsei's arm over his shoulder to help him walk. "It's raining? The sky has turned cloudy and depressing too..." Shin spoke. "Don't worry Kinsei, you'll be back to full health in no time. Now let's get outta here before we see the demon." Shota said. "Sorry... But some of us won't make it out of here..." Kinsei said. A sudden malevolent grin formed on Kinsei's face, and in a flash, Shin, Tatsuya, and Shota was cut down by a long blade. All three of them fell to the ground, a puddle of their blood mixed with the rain and wet ground. Rikka's eyes widened as she looked back to see what happened. "Wha-WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Rikka yelled. Kinsei smiled as his skin began to peel until a demon with red skin covered in bandages and wearing a torn, black samurai kimono can be seen. "Ahhh, much better to reveal my true appearance." the demon spoke before looking at Tatsuya. "Do you remember me? Maybe my name will jog your memories. Rednocte." the demon simply said.

Suddenly, a huge, jagged ball of ice went flying towards Rednocte who easily destroyed the ball of ice with one hand. "Tsk, tsk, impatient are we?" Rednocte asked. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" Rikka shouted. "Oooo that sounds fun but I have to go. Corvus just needed me to take out you three, don't know why he needed to keep the demon girl alive, but oh well. Buh-bye hehehe." Rednocte said before disappearing in a flash.

Rikka fell to her knees and crawled over to the three. They were losing a large amount of blood and was on the verge of dying. Tears began flowing down from Rikka's face. "What do I do? How do I stop the bleeding?" were a couple of the thoughts that ran through Rikka's mind. "H-Hey Rikka... D-Don't tell me... that you're crying now...?" Shota spoke. Rikka didn't replied but tears still flowed down her face. "W-We won't die that easily..." Shota continued.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya coughed up blood as he hit the ground. Blood continued to leak out of his mouth as Rednocte talked. "Your name means nothing to me. I still see that you use dick moves though..." Tatsuya looked at Rikka as she crawled over to the group but he let Shota finish speaking before he did. "Bastard. Those are my lines. But damn I'm an idiot. I had the feeling something was wrong." He didn't really look like he should be acting tough. Hie was already pretty pale. "Rikka, do you think you could freeze the top layer of our blood to stop the bleeding? I'm going to summon Umbra. He should be able to help." Even in his condition he began to pour some of his soul into his hand.

[Hotaru987]

"You shouldn't waste your energy healing my arm. I'll be fine." Minawe tried to protest against Tsukihana using anymore of his powers in his weakened state. She was ignored however, as he healed her arm anyway. Though it was healed she still couldn't really feel it or move it correctly. The next thing that happened shocked Minawe. Tsukihana actually raised his voice to yell at Rei due to his inactiveness earlier. Rei took the yelling with a straight face, and hardly stumbed back when Tsukihana shoved him back. The only thing he did was simply brush his collar off as if there were dirt there. Though if there was then the doun pour of rain would have cleaned it off. "I could care less about what you think of me Tsukihana. And don't lump me in with your stupid little band of exorsists. The only reason I'm here is because of my contract."

Rei looked at Minawe who had walked over to him, head down and bangs covering her eyes. The rain caused her hair to stick to her face and her clothes to become heavy. "So what? Are you going to lecture m-" Rei never got to finish his sentence as Minawe's good hand slapped Rei, his head roughly jerking to one side and the rain only made the stinging worse. "What the hell is your problem!?"

"You are a cruel, insensitive, egotistical bastard. I take a lot of things and brush them aside. Like all of the names you and Teriyama call me. I try not to let those things get to me, because I know you don't really mean them. Most of them anyway. But to see you, my partner, just stand there and watch someone else gets killed, when you could have done something is the last straw." Minawe's voice was extremely shakey, though whether it was from the strain of not losing her temper or from crying wasn't quite determined yet. Not even Minawe knew herself. "I understand that you don't like Tsukihana-sama, but he is a comrade."

"So you're taking his side?"

"It's not about taking sides damn*it! What you did was selfish! You're behaving like such a-such a-"

"What?"

"Demon!"

Rei scoffed, "News flash idiot, I am a demon. Beside the only reason you're so mad is because you're precious Tsukihana-sama got hurt."

"You are a bastard you know that." Minawe said as if she was just figuring something out that was obvious, "I would have been just as adament about this if Tsukihana-sama, was Teriyama, or Shami, or anyone else! They are my friends! My comrades, and more so my family than even my own! I don't want to see them hurt, any of them! What did I ever see in you that compelled me to help you? That convinced me to let you make a contract with you to save someone as pathetic and manical as you? It certainly wasn't what I'm seeing now. I should have left you to die in that park!" Minawe faulterd a bit as she realized what she had just said. It slipped out so fast that she couldn't stop herself.

Rei stared at Minwe for a while, masking the hurt and the deep scars that those words had just inflicted to him. He did an about face and began walking off, "Fine then. If that's how you feel."

"It is how I feel!" Minawe yelled back. [i]'It isn't how I feel.'[/i]

"I don't need you!" She kept yelling at Rei's retreating form, [i]Please don't go Rei.[/i]

"I hate you!!" She screamed right before Rei was completely out of sight. [i]'I'm sorry...[/i]

The rain pounded heavily in her ears, and son it was the only sound in the area. Minawe just vaguely remembered it was raining like this the night they met, and made their contract. Ironic that it would be this very same rain that would also see their seperation.

[.:Blu:.]

[size="5"][center][b]CHAPTER 10: THAT NIGHT[/b][/center][/size]


[spoiler=Chapter 10 Synopsis]With the separation of Minawe and Rei, and Shin, Tatsuya, and Shota on the verge of dying, a long night awaits the group. Memories of a rainy day resurfaces to show the crossing of two different individuals sharing one similar destiny. Meanwhile, the Bane of Purgatory's protection for Kinsei begins to weaken.[/spoiler]


Tsukihana watched with a saddened expression as Rei separated from Minawe. "This... isn't how things should be..." Tsukihana spoke to himself before standing up from the wet ground and moving towards Minawe. "Minawe-chan... I... Are you okay...?" Tsukihana asked, concern about Minawe's emotional state. "You'll catch a fever if you continue standing in the rain like this. I saw a cave nearby, we can use it as a shelter for the night." Tsukihana said. "Listen... Rei doesn't need to leave, we can work things out..." Tsukihana explained. Tsukihana felt that it was his fault that Minawe and Rei separated. If he wasn't so weak, if only he could've protected himself then none of this would happened. The sound of roaring thunder began to bombard the dark sky. Lightning lashed out, striking trees far away. "Come on... Let's get out of the rain..." Tsukihana said as he placed his hand onto her shoulder and led her towards the cave.

Shortly after arriving, Tsukihana made a fire for Minawe to stay warm. Tsukihana dried off his exorcist jacket and warmed it up with the fire. Tsukihana placed his jacket over Minawe and then sat down at a nearby rock. Looking into the fire, his eyes showed remorse and regret for being the cause of Minawe's and Rei's separation. He did not speak but simply continued staring into the fire.

Back at the eastern side of the forest, Rikka continued to shed tears as she watched her comrades. Tatsuya was able to snapped her back to her senses when he told her to freeze over their wounds with ice. "I-I can't... That's too risky, My ice would freeze your blood and may impale your organs..." Rikka replied. Though her body wasn't moving, her mind was frantic; trying to think of ways to help her comrades but nothing came to mind. Tatsuya then proceeded to summon Umbra, forcing his soul into the palm of his hand. Even in his current state, Tatsuya pushed on. Umbra appeared from a cloud of smoke in his miniature form. "W-What happened?" Umbra asked with concern. "A demon... He disguised himself as Kinsei and attacked them... He said his name is Rednocte." Rikka explained. Umbra became quite surprised hearing that name. "Rednocte...? He's alive...?" Umbra then snapped out of his worried state and became calm again. He looked at all three of them before turning to Rikka. "We have to get them out of the rain and close up their wound. The cut is really deep." Umbra explained.

Rikka stood up and blew icy mist out, creating an ice sled like what R Rikka did in Ragnarok. Umbra changed into his true size and with Rikka, carried the three onto the sled. "Hold on you guys, everything will be fine. Rikka, do whatever you can to temporarily stop the bleeding or else they won't make it." Umbra said. Rikka clenched her fist knowing that using her ice powers will be a gamble. "Alright..." Rikka turned to the three. She turned to Tatsuya first and placed her hands over his wound. She concentrated her powers to create a thin but strong sheet of ice over his wound to temporarily stop the bleeding. She then proceeded with the other two as well. "Good... Let's go..." Umbra then began to drag the sled along with Rikka helping to monitor the three. Soon the three arrived at a cave where they could take shelter in.

Umbra started the fire while Rikka sat there by the three's side. "Ugh... Cheer up Rikka... Why look so down...?" Shota asked, mustering up the strength for a smile. Rikka only looked at his face with a sad expression. Umbra walked over to the three. "The only way to close up your wounds is by cauterizing them." Umbra spoke as he took off three, small square plates of metal from his armor. "I have to warn you, this will be extremely painful. You may pass out from the pain alone, but it's the only way to stop the bleeding." Umbra explained. Shin tilted his head up and looked at Umbra. "W-We can't afford to die... No matter the pain, you have to do it..." Shin spoke. Umbra nodded before turning to Rikka. "We have to work on them one at a time, and I'll need you to hold them still." Umbra said. "But I-" Rikka was interrupted by Umbra. "This is no time to show fear or weakness. If you do not want to see your comrades die then you must do whatever you can to help them." Umbra explained. After a few seconds of thinking, Rikka nodded her head.

"We'll start with Shin." Umbra spoke as he began to heat the metal plate up in the fire. Rikka proceeded to Shin and placed her hands onto his shoulders to keep him from moving. "Shin, please stay strong." Rikka said. Shin simply nodded once. Not affected by the fire, Umbra took the metal plate from the fire and walked over to Shin, kneeling down to his wound. "Alright, here we go..." Umbra spoke before placing the metal plate onto Shin's wound. "[b]AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!![/b]" Shin began yelling with extreme agony. Shin clenched his fists tightly and began squirming while he continued to yell. Rikka closed her eyes, not wanting to see Shin's pain, but she continued to hold him in place. After some time, the cauterizing of Shin's wound was complete. Taking off the metal plate which was now covered with blood, the scar from the cauterizing process was revealed. Shin breathed slowly but heavily, his entire face covered with beads of sweat. Shin felt so much pain that during the process he was extremely close to passing out, but he continued to hold onto his consciousness.

Throwing the metal plate aside, Umbra turned to Tatsuya. "Tatsuya, are you ready?" Umbra asked.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

Tatsuya simply nodded his head as Rikka told Umbra that it was Rednocte who did this to them. "His dick move tactics haven't changed one bit since death if you haven't already noticed." When Umbra asked him if we was ready he suddenly began to laugh. It was hard to tell if he had just gone crazy or he honestly found this funny. "Since when did you become so concerned or think of me as somebody so weak?"

He looked at Shota for a second until turning his head back to Umbra. "I've been stabbed in the shoulder, electrocuted twice, crawled out of collapsed buildings, had an arrow in my torso, and just nearly cut in half. It seems like whole world is trying to kill me and I continue to say to the world f*ck you. I'll be fine for a little bit longer. Take care of that lame ass first." Oddly, he was smiling through all of this even if some blood was still coming out of his mouth.

[Hotaru987]

If it wasnt for Tsukihana taking action Minawe would have stayed in the rain until it had stopped. She didnt register the hand that guided her to shelter, or the fairly warm coat placed over her. Minawe just kept staring off into nothing. Why did things have to end up this way? Minawe always figured that when the day came for them to seperate it would be a much happier parting. Not like this. Not with so much guilt and sadness weighing her down. She hugged her legs to her body trying to make herself as small as possible. So that she would just disappear. For a long time the only sounds were that of the cackling fire, and the storm outside the cave.

"It's not your fault..." Minawe said her voice cracking lightly. "You didnt do anything wrong..." She attempted a smile but it was moe of a grimace than a smile. She laid her head on her knees, turning her head to the cave opening. Minawe then whispered though it was unknown whether she was talking to Tsukihana or herself. "It was raining like this....When we first met..."

Minawe continued to stare outside, not saying anything more for along while. There were so many emotions coming from both occupants it could make anyones head spin. In an almost trance-like voice she spoke, "It was the day that I went in for my exams....To become an exorsist..."

(I'l start the flash back in the next post.)

[.:Blu:.]

Tsukihana's focus broke when Minawe, in her small voice, told Tsukihana that it wasn't his fault. Seeing her halfhearted smile, Tsukihana felt even more sorrow. "(Minawe-chan... I... I wish I can make you smile, but right now... only Rei can...)" Tsukihana thought to himself as he continued to watch Minawe. Minawe then whispered something, and even though it was faint, Tsukihana could make out most of the sentence. Tsukihana then turned his head to stare at the rain as well. It continued to pour hard and the faint, yet distinguishable, sound of thunder could be heard far away. Tsukihana turned his head back around and lowered it, looking at the ground. Tsukihana sat there quietly so he could listen to Minawe's story. As she began by mentioning that the day was when she became an exorcist, Tsukihana remembered he was at his family mansion, staring out into the rain.

Umbra looked at Tatsuya after he told him to take care of Shota first. Though Tatsuya may not show it and he may not even know it himself, Tatsuya can put other people's well-being before his own; showing that Tatsuya can be a caring person. Umbra gave a nod before speaking. "I'm glad you can still retain your qualities even in a time like this. Very well, I'll take care of Shota first." Umbra spoke before turning to Shota with the heated metal plate. Rikka moved to Shota and placed her hands onto his shoulders. Looking deep into Rikka's eyes, Shota mustered whatever strength he had to gave Rikka a reassuring smile. Umbra then placed the metal plate onto his wounds and right away Shota yelled out in agony. Shota gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He didn't wanted to yell, but the pain was too much. A drop of Rikka's tear fell onto Shota's forehead before she closed her eyes and turned away.

Even the sound of roaring thunder pales in comparison to the agony that these three have to face.

Elsewhere, Corvus and Rednocte stood upon a thick branch and listened to the sound of screaming. "Ahhh, music to my ears." Rednocte spoke. "Pity you couldn't get rid of them, but it doesn't matter, even if their wounds are healed they wouldn't be in any condition to pose a threat to us. Now, we'll just have to deal with that Demon Lord Maka and take the Bane of Purgatory. The we'll return it to Lord Satan and reap the rewards." Corvus explained. "Demon Lord or not it doesn't matter, I'll cut her down where she stands." Rednocte said before giving a blood-thirsty grin. "Let's go then shall we?" Corvus asked. "Right..." Rednocte simply replied.

-Meanwhile-

At the cabin, Azayl was staring outside at the heavy rain. Kinsei's eyes began to feel heavy. He was tiring out and he wanted to close his eyes, but he knew that would mean the end of him. "(I have to hold on... I can't die... Not like this...)" Kinsei thought to himself as he struggled to stay awake. The spherical prison of black flames then started to fluctuate as if it were beginning to disperse. Azayl turned around and saw the fluctuation. "(Kinsei is close to dying and the Bane of Purgatory can sense it... Soon the Bane of Purgatory will cease to protect Kinsei...)" Azayl thought to himself.

-Meanwhile-

Umbra pulled off the blood-stained metal plate and threw it aside. Shota was breathing heavily and his face seemed weak, though he managed to withstand passing out. Shota's head fell back onto Rikka's lap. "S-See, everything's gonna be fine..." Shota spoke in a weak voice. Umbra turned his attention on the last person, Tatsuya. Taking the heated metal plate from the fire, Umbra motioned his head for Rikka to hold Tatsuya still. Giving a nod, Rikka moved over to Tatsuya and hold him down. "Alright Tatsuya, it's your turn." Umbra said. Giving Tatsuya a moment to relax as much as he can, Umbra prepared to cauterize Tatsuya's wound. Then, Umbra placed the heated metal plate onto his wound.