(Hi all, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. The following chapters may not be that long as the first one also included the prologue. Thanks for reading and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!)

Chapter 2

The ballroom resounded with the constant chatter of guests. The pink flames of the chandeliers cast a warm light through-out the gold and coal colored room. Rin and Yukio took turns greeting new guests and dancing sets with partners of their choice. Rin danced every set but one with Shiemi, the other was given to his mother. Rin bristled when other young men asked Shiemi to dance but every time she was led to the dance floor she would send a smile his way letting him know she would be ok. Early in the evening is mother presented his younger sister to the audience and all the women ooh'd and ahh'd at the little baby and her fine clothes. The men congratulated the king and told the boys how lucky they were and that they would have to protect her from the guys when she got older.

After the baby was taken back up to the nursery servants brought out various wines and champagnes and many of the couples decided to explore the garden. Rin was about to ask Shiemi if she would like to do the same when something strange happened. He got very dizzy and had to steady himself on the wall.

Go to your father's room. There is something for you on the dresser.

Rin shook off the dizziness and headed for the stairs. As he reached the bottom of the staircase Shiemi called out to him but he couldn't hear what she said, nor could he make his body stop moving.

Shiemi traveled down the hallway a few feet behind Rin. His movements were wobbly and unclean, almost as if he were drunk, even though he hadn't drank anything all night. She watched as he opened the door to his parent's room and stepped inside.

Shiemi stood silently in the doorway just watching as Rin picked up a small glowing object off of his parent's nightstand. He turned to leave the room and Shiemi noticed that his eyes were a pale blue. Being a reaper Shiemi understood that this meant he was currently in contact with a diseased soul, which was very dangerous.

Rin moved toward her, his eyes unfocused, and she stepped aside to let him pass. Shiemi continued to follow him as he made his way to the library. She entered just in time to see him hold up the small object and mumble something she couldn't quite make out. The room began to rumble and a large door appeared directly in front of Rin.

Slowly he turned toward her and smiled, "My dear girl. You cannot follow me any longer." His voice had changed and it became clear to Shiemi that she was not speaking to Rin.

"Who are you? And what do you want with my Rin?" Shiemi had her palm open, ready to call upon her scythe.

Rin's chest shook as the spirit within him chuckled, "I am Rin's grandfather. I as well as his other ancestors have something very important to show him. How he decides to use this information will decide the lives of all three worlds. Unfortunately I do not have permission to show you as well, young princess."

Shiemi bristled and summoned her white sythe, it would remove the extra soul without fatally harming Rin, "I am the second in command reaper, as such I demand that you release Rin from your hypnosis. Information as powerful as that should only be viewed by my father."

The spirit chuckled once again and approached her, cupping her chin, "You do not have any authority over us, and neither does your father."

Shiemi moved to strike him with her scythe only to be stopped by Rin's disembodied right hand; his other still cupping her chin. She struggled to pull free from him but to no avail. Rin's grandfather pulsed a bit of his demonic energy through her, effectively knocking her out.

Rin protested the action heavily and regained enough control of his body to catch her before she hit the floor. He laid her down gently and kissed her forehead, whispering small words of apology before entering the door which had appeared only moments earlier.

Maphisto paused, his glass of Champaign just inches from his lips. His daughter had been injured? This wasn't possible. There was only one person capable of matching or overpowering her and he wasn't even able to harm her while in his most dangerous form. And yet…

Maphisto set his Champaign down on a nearby table and moved to find Shiro. He found the king at the front of the room talking to a group of men.

"Come with me," Mophisto gently touched his friend's shoulder and spoke to him from behind. Shiro sensed his friend's urgency and excused himself from the group. As the men walked side by side to the grand staircase Mophisto explained his discomfort, "I'm sorry to have disrupted your conversation dear friend, but I have the feeling that our young ones are in danger."

Shiro instinctively searched the room for his children and upon only finding Yukio he began to panic, "What kind of danger?"

"I'm not sure, all Shiemi relayed to me was that she was in the library."

The men reached the perfectly stained oak door of the library and Shiro swung it open. The room was dark but the men could make out a figure on the floor. Mophisto rushed to his daughter's side, thoroughly upset by the site of her strewn unconsciously on the floor. He could tell that she was ready to fight because her weapon lay only a few inches from her.

Mophisto scooped his daughter into his lap, gently removing her hair from her face while searching her body for injuries. She was his only tie to this world and seeing her like this really tore at his nerves.

He spoke her name sofly over and over again, hoping to gently bring her back to consciousness as Shiro lit a candle to illuminate the room. As he did so he saw his son sitting on the floor in the far corner of the room. Rin's right leg was pulled into his body while his left was extended; his torso resting on his knee with both of his arms limp by his sides, his head hung.

Shiro approached his son cautiously, he was worried about him but he was also scared. He gently shook Rin's shoulder only to have his son's limp body slowly slunch to the floor. His next instinct was to check his son's vitals and body. Upond discovering that Rin was ok Shiro scooped his son up into his arms and began to carry him to his room.

"Wait," Shiemi's voice was weak, "Is he ok?"

"I think so, I'm going to take him to his room. Are you alright?" The king was truly flustered. Who would attack two youths? And at such an event?

Shiemi nodded, "I'll be fine. Let me come with you." Mophisto cautiously helped his daughter to her feet and gingerly walked behind her as if she could collapse at any moment.

"My child," The head reaper gently prodded his daughter, "What happened?"

Shiemi blinked a few times and looked at her father with a bewildered expression, "I don't remember. All I can remember is that I was in the ballroom with Rin and then I was waking up on the floor of the library. It's like a chink of my memory has vanished."

The king's ears perked. That sounded like a spell that his kind were able to perform. He eyed his unconscious son warily as he laid him down upon his bed. As he did so a small item fell from Rin's hand. Shiro just starred at it as it lay on the floor.

"What is it Shiro?" Mophisto inquired.

Shiro bent down to pick up the object and frowned, "It looks like a replica of my brooch. It can't be the same one because I don't see the souls of my ancestors within the jewel. I wonder where he got it."

Mophisto took the brooch from his friend and frowned, it was the same brooch but the souls had left it. Mophisto could only guess that they had decided to enter Rin and Shiemi had interfered with their plans. This would explain the burn mark on her hand, "Odd, I wonder why he would have such a trinket?"

"I don't know," Shiro placed the brooch in his pocket and turned to his son, "but whoever did this can't be far." After brushing the hair off Rin's face Shiro turned and strode to the doorway, "Come Mophisto, we need to search the grounds."

"Of course my friend," Mophisto turned to his daughter, "Stay with him my child. He will be very confused when he awakes." Shiemi simply nodded and her father turned to leave with the king.

"Thank you for not telling them," Rin sat up after the men had left, his normal red eyes were tinted orange from the various souls that now resided inside him.

Shiemi sat next to him on the bed, "Did you mean what you said?"

Rin crossed his hands over his chest in discomfort and wrapped his right wing around his lover, "Every word."

Shiemi sighed and leaned into him, "Then we've got a lot of planning to do."