Foreword: Before we fully get into this fanfic that I have written, I would like my audience to understand something about myself and how I view this character. He is one of those characters that I love to hate, particularly because he makes such a good villain. He is wonderfully complex as an individual and is very good at what he does. In fact, I am relatively sure that I would probably be among the first to die, if he didn't decide to keep me around as a puppet for his amusement, or if I didn't have a mental breakdown due to the paranoia acquired from being around him too much.

So why would I write something like this when I feel this way about him? The reason is because as much as I despised the things he did, and the lengths he went to in order to gain what he wanted, I felt a sense of loss when he died. It seemed to me that he, more than any other villain, posed an actual threat to the rest of the main cast of characters in the series. He fulfilled that role so well that his death left a hole that could not be filled without him.

I will honestly admit that I was upset when he died. I felt that as the true villain of this story, he should have lived longer to continue causing trouble for our main protagonist(s). I also despised him for making Shurei cry. However, in a way it also makes sense that he died the way he did, since the only thing that held any real interest for him and kept him tied to this world was Shurei. He used poison that he was not immune to because that was perhaps the only sure way to make sure he stayed dead, and the test with Shurei wouldn't mean anything if there wasn't a chance he could actually die.

In any case, I hope that, as a writer, I am able to fully get across the complexities of this character. Please feel free to write a review and let me know if I had at least managed to make it sound believable. And now, on with the tale!