I was lost. Like truly, legitimately lost. I had only been in my own little area before and now I didn't know where I was. I must admit that I was rather intensely embarrassed by this fact. If there was only one trait that I shared with men it would be my incapability to ask for directions when I was lost. I couldn't give up my pride and just go ask someone, not that there was anyone to ask, but it was the principal of it that mattered.

I had wandered around and then started thinking about something dumb (I don't even remember what it was) and then I was trying to find a bathroom and then when I decided that I wanted to head back to my room I realized that I was so hopelessly lost I didn't even know what direction to go in.

So yeah, and now I was just exploring even more because I had decided that it didn't matter. I would find some corner to sleep in if I truly didn't find my way back somehow. Her house couldn't be endless after all. Well, knowing her she has a portal to demon world in some random closet or something. It would be just my luck to fall into it and then we really would have a story to tell.

Of course, no one would ever tell a story that dumb. Hehe.

I stretched and yawned, finding that I was rather thoroughly exhausted. I had been tired at the start of this expedition and now I was really flipping tired. I decided that I was going to go find a nice spot to have a nap until I felt like finding my way back to my room.

So, I walked down the white-washed halls through a house that didn't feel at all like a home. It felt cold, as if nothing good had ever happened here. It was weird. This temple must have been old, because I felt like I was being weighted down with horrible memories.

I headed away for a door further down where that weighted feeling was less intense and then slipped through the door. I stopped dead in my tracks after closing the door behind me. The walls were lined with weapons, but I would have recognized it anywhere, at anytime. The worn, black guard, the intricate dragon running up the leather, the shining steel blade that had been taken meticulous care of. There was a faded line where only one person had ever suceeded in breaking the sword in two.

Mizu no shi. My sword. Death by water, the dragon. It had killed more demons then I could count, without a drop of blood on the ground. I liked to call it Elegance.

I reached up and my hand tingled as I neared it. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt and a blast of strength rushed into my limbs, a blinding light made me squeeze my eyes shut tightly as an intense tingling rushed over my limbs. I opened my eyes in surprise to find that I was underwater, the glow of my sword shimmering in the fluctuating liquid. For a few seconds I floated in a surreal silence and then the glow died and I splashed against the floor.

The water would evaporate in seconds, but when I looked down I found deep blue scales retreating from the corners of my hand and legs and gills melting away from my neck. I screamed and rubbed at my legs, scratching at them hysterically.

"What the fuck?!" I screeched, then only panicked even more as I realized that my hair felt weird and when I looked at it, I found that it was a green color. "Go away!" I cried and melted to the floor, burying my face into my legs. A strange feeling informed me that my ears were a weird shape and I cried out again, horrified and confused.

What was happening to me?! The door slammed open and I looked in shock, then hid my face and curled up away from the light.

"Go away!" I yelled, terrified and embarrassed and intensely confused about what was going on. My sword has never done that to me. It had only ever summoned water since the day that I got it. What happened to cause that to change?! What had happened to my sword?!

"Calm down, it'll go away." A man's snarky voice answered and I gasped and rolled away from the man's voice into the shadows.

"Go away!" I cried again, feeling my breath beginning to come in short gasps. Was I not human?! Was I dying?! Was this what happened to dying people? Well, of course it wasn't. Did I catch a horrible disease, was I cursed? "It's not going away!" I squeaked, the horrible fins only getting longer and the scales growing more obvious.

"Calm down! The spike in spirit power is causing that." He explained. I whimpered again and slowly began reigning in my power. The fish body retreated until it was completely gone and only an awkward briny smell remained. I felt relieved and then my head snapped to Hiei as I leapt to my feet.

"What happened?!" I yelled, then immediately slowed my breathing, worried that the horrible transformation would come back. My eyes widened as I saw him and my heart practically leapt out of my chest. "What happened to you?" I whispered as orange faded away from his form, black, ashen skin fading.

"Like I said, what you do effects me too." He growled. "Come on, you're going to Genkai." He said, looking as annoyed as he did worried.

"Not without you, mister." I hissed, then grabbed his hand before practically throwing it away from me in shock as both of us were doused with a healthy dose of water. "That doesn't usually happen." I commented dryly, both of us rather frozen.

"I'm feeling more like a wet dog by the second." He grunted, wiping his eyes. His hair drooped sadly under the water and I madly fought the urge to laugh at the comical style.

"Collect." I murmured after crushing the urge to giggle. The excess water pulled off of both of us and collected in a swirling ball over my hands. It was nifty little spell that was a must when learning how to control water. Getting soaked was a common occurrence as a novice, if not slightly embarrassing. "Dissipate." I ordered and the water turned into a mist that disappeared within a moment or two, the air a bit more humid.

"Great. My grandmother works faster then you." He grumbled. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him.

"Don't get your panties in a wad, I just want my sword." I said, shaking my head. It took me a minute, but I found the strap and the sheath and slipped it in quickly, holding back any and all magical power. Transforming into a fish was not on my bucket list and I wasn't going to add it then. "See, all better." I said.

That was the truth though, I felt an intense sense of relief at the familiar weight of the weapon on my hip. My Elegance, even if it was currently turned against me, was very important to me. I glanced at the sword distrustfully, and apprehensively. My worst nightmare was coming true, perhaps my sword was rejecting me. You don't just replace your bonded sword, it was part of your life, a section of your power. Having it cut in half nearly killed me (not that the arm didn't play a huge part in that).

It felt a little bit odd to wear it on the other hip, tied to the jean shorts that I preferred to wear. I had an arsenal of jean shorts that Genkai had at some point stocked my little closet with. But I also had an arsenal of training pants, which were stretchy pieces of fabric that did not hide the shape of my ass. I didn't like them.

I also had a crap-load of gray t-shirts to wear, which I did like. Genkai understood me and knew me well. She was a great trainer and always knew what to say to inspire me and make me work hard. I really appreciated the time that she was putting in to help me recover. My belief that I could hold a sword was coming back and I was starting to accept my odd arrangement of fate with Hiei.

I hated him. I hated him with all of my black little heart, but I didn't have to act on that hatred. It could just stay there and burn. Perhaps one day I would explode, but not that day. That was the decision I came to. It was an improvement at least. That was only one of many bad decisions that I was going to quickly come to regret.

"Hey, Genkai." I said as we arrived at the training room. I felt like it was blasphemy to go on my day off, but this was an emergency. I was literally becoming a fish out of water and puns do not sit well with me.

"Isn't it your day off?" She asked, I opened my mouth to answer her but that's when the resident asshole decided to answer my questions for me.

"We have a problem." He fumed, his voice was oddly calm; but it was that extreme calm that told me how incredibly angry he was. Perhaps he was a control freak and now that things were out of his control he got mad. That could explain his intense dislike of me. I was definitely out of his control.

He couldn't even threaten me correctly because whatever he did to me he did to himself. At least karma was working in both directions.

That was the only real bright side that I could see, otherwise it was just an abusive relationship. Obviously, I was the victim. I never tormented Hiei and I would never enjoy something so incredibly well-deserved.

What?

Right, so there was a problem at hand. I was transforming into a sea-creature, remember?

"I'm becoming a water-monster and Hiei is turning into a walking volcano, please explain." I inserted, elaborating on Hiei's bad description of our 'problem' (that was obviously a horrible disaster, have you seen how flammable Genkai's house is). Me and Hiei could be like a fire and a hose though; maybe it would work out.

I suddenly pictured someone picking me up and spraying my hair at a groaning miniature lava cone. It was bad and I immediately rejected all forms of that idea. That was just horrific. Yeah, no, that was not working for me.

"Is this true, Hiei?" Genkai asked and I began to feel like I was slowly fading out of existence. Hello? Could I take part in this conversation?

"It appears so." He answered tersely, and I could practically see his mood plummeting, and it wasn't particularly good in the first place!

"Angela, let me see your sword." She ordered, I cringed and almost hissed at her, but slowly gave up and unsheathed the sword, handing it to her grudgingly. She took it out of my hand with a straight face and I immediately reached out.

"No, wait-" She was then drenched with salt-water and I shrank away. "That's rigged…" I finished, then held out my hand and collected the water like I did with Hiei. She blinked and then shook her head, still looking a bit dumbstruck.

"Weren't you the one turning into a fish?" She asked, I blushed and looked to my feet. She turned to Hiei. "You too." She said, he stared at her and didn't twitch a muscle. "Unless of course you want to turn into a 'volcano' at random." He glared at her, but handed over the sword.

Nothing happened.

"Okay, re-" Then steam began to billow from both swords and they began to make a high-pitched whirring noise. "What happened to tempered steel?" I whined as Genkai dropped the swords and we all vacated the room.

The whirring turned into a scream and just as I got behind a corner there was a deafening explosion and fog enveloped the hall, making it hard to see for a solid twenty seconds.

"Is everyone okay?!" I yelled, listening for the affirmative. "Except Hiei, I know he's okay." I continued, because had he gotten hurt I would have known it.

"Fine." Came a cough a few feet to my left and I squinted through the thick steam even as it started evaporating.

"My fucking sword had better be fine." Hiei growled and my stomach clenched as I realized that my sword could have gotten destroyed.

Hiei still disagrees, but I claim that the idea scared me so badly that I beat him into that room that day. The only time I ever would have beaten him in a race. He begs to differ though, I will forever be his grandmother. She must have been a fast lady, that's all I can say. On the other hand in order to raise Hiei that would be the truth, it would help to explain his child-hood issues. I didn't know about those at the time though.

I didn't know anything about Hiei, but running into that room I began to gather some information.

The two swords lay on the floor, looking not broken, but shiny, even better then before. My mouth went slack as I saw elegance. There had always been a dragon imprinted on the leather, but it was different now. The long katana's hilt had become woven with dark, black thread in a beautiful pattern that would take extreme skill by hand. The dragon was no longer on it, but glowing out of the blade, bright orange and spewing fire to the tip.

I used water though. I flipped it over, horrified at the change. On the other side one line was written and as if by some strange twist of fate I read it aloud at the same time as Hiei.

"When the water calms everything will become clear." We read and I flinched visibly, the blade clattering to the floor. My head jerked to my left where the other shocked swordsman stood. His sword had been a shorter katana before, but it had lengthened and now fit his height better. His hand covered the grip, though I was pretty sure that it had stayed a solid black, but his had undergone a change as well.

Sliding down the length of the blade was a water spirit, glowing a fluctuating blue, just like the top of the ocean. I looked back at mine and realized that the orange was more like the colors of flickering flames. I glanced and him and he looked up at me, we both looked away.

I leaned down and picked up my sword, sliding it into its sheath. That had changed too, I realized. A dragon coiled around it and had its teeth around a red ruby embedded in the top. My eyes widened and I looked at his. A sea-creature, a mermaid, a water demon, was swimming up the length and held a glowing sapphire. I gasped and held up the gift almost reverently.

At first I had been disgusted, but this was a huge gift. You see, a wizard's sword is not made by hand, but by the magic of the user themselves. It is truly tied in with their spirit and holds, in essence, a piece of their soul. They had a mind of their own, they knew you better then you knew yourself. A true companion and only meant to be used by one holder.

It would be a dead sword, a hunk of metal, otherwise. The gem inside of it was a rare gift of the sword and something that no one could quite explain for the user. It was something to store energy in, something that was a well for magical power, but it was also a gift that would raise your power. The gem would not show itself unless a test was undertaken.

Suddenly the note on the back made sense to me.

"It's a warning." I said, the blood draining from my face. "Our swords are backwards to tell us something, but what? And why?" I wondered.

"I don't care." Hiei snarled after the silence and I jerked away, shaken. He brushed past me angrily and I reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Hiei! I can't do this alone! Whatever this is, we have to do it together!" I yelled, looking past my hatred. I could see that whatever had begun was already in motion, perhaps it had long been in motion. He disappeared from my gaze and I cursed at his stubbornness. "That asshole."

"I like to call that a sign, what do you think?" Genkai's voice commented and I looked over to find her sitting on a piece of rubble from the destroyed training room.

"Sorry about the room." I muttered and ran away, embarrassed that she had to see that moment of indecision on my part. I had to figure out what was going on and I had to figure it out fast, but how would I do that?

I ran down the hall and was relieved to recognize my surroundings. I needed to go to my room and change my clothes and then I needed to go do something. My brain whirred as I tried to figure out what was going on. I had nothing. I needed to have an output for all of my energy. I had to.

I'm not sure how things would have gone without some sort of intervention after that. Maybe I would have figured out the mystery and been ready, maybe I would have found what I was looking for, but I doubt it. A miracle fell right into my lap and I didn't even know it.

—

Sweat poured off of my face as I sprinted up the stairs. I saw the top, there it was. My entire brain was focused on this running in order to ignore the thoughts swirling around in my head. I leapt over the last step, but instead of skidding to a stop and starting back down I landed on a small, black-haired girl and we went tumbling head over heels until my momentum finally ran out and we both collapsed in a pile of limbs and aching skin.

"Sorry!" The girl squeaked and hurriedly got up, but instead of helping me up she stumbled backwards and got as far away from me as possible.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." I said, rubbing a spot where my head had taken a solid hit against the ground. She murmured something in answer, but I couldn't hear because she had a very quiet, light voice. "Huh?" I asked, she glanced at me, but I couldn't see her face clearly.

"No, I heard you and should have moved…" She repeated, a blush creeping onto her ears.

My eyes widened, I recognized her!

"You're Eva! The girl who got me a glass of water!" I exclaimed, accidentally saying it. I hadn't meant to just blurt everything out like that, she seemed pretty jumpy and by the way that she wasn't speaking at all I figured that I had scared her. "Sorry… I was just surprised…" I said.

She looked up at me and I had to fight against flinching as a pair of intensely pale blue eyes looked at me, practically glowing in her skull. They were a sharp contrast to her inky black hair and pale skin and she looked almost unreal for a moment.

"It's fine, I'd… better go now…" She continued, and then she turned. I didn't stop her for a minute, but then I wanted to ask her a question and reached out.

"Wait! I need to ask you something!" I yelled, she stopped and turned around slowly.

"Yes?"

I realized that my yelling had scared her and shut my mouth, quieting down.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know why you came to this house…" I murmured a little bit more quietly. The girl swallowed visibly and glanced down at her feet. God, she was so tiny. I tried to guess at her age. Small, flat, barely having grown into her face, maybe fourteen then. Her expressions and actions boasted older then that though. I wondered what would have caused such a horrific change in someone so young.

Even I hadn't become a paranoid freak until I was sixteen, but perhaps her circumstances were different. Maybe she was a family member of Genkai's or something.

"Um, I was saved from a horrible place and brought here." She said and I could tell by her closed expression that I wasn't going to get anymore out of her.

"I was saved too." I said, trying to make her feel a little bit better. From what I'd seen, this place wasn't exactly bursting with friendly people, but I hadn't met many people either. She seemed interested in my answer and looked up at me.

"From what?" She asked, tilting her head. Aw, she was just too cute! I just wanted to hug her and make cooing noises! Okay, calm down, answer the question.

"Well, I almost died and they healed me." I said, leaving out the important details. It was a half-truth, I wasn't lying anyway. They did save me, although it was Hiei's fault in the first place. Well, mostly his fault.

"Oh." She murmured and her eyes flickered to my arm and then back to her feet. I almost smiled, she didn't seem to find the missing arm disturbing, more interesting. I didn't mind anyway, somehow I couldn't see her as a threat. Perhaps it was because she looked so innocent and cute, but I wasn't sure.

"Yes, the injury was the loss of my arm." I said and when she looked to me startled I began to wonder why she was staring. That's when I realized that I had unconsciously started crying. I looked down, shocked and silent. That was the first time I had ever spoken of my arm without feeling bitter or angry. I still didn't feel that way, I just sort of accepted the loss.

It was a surreal feeling and when I had it, I wanted to cling to it. I wanted to grab that feeling and bottle it because I didn't feel so heavy or sad, I felt like moving forward. I wanted to go to that tournament and prove that my arm wasn't going to keep me from winning.

"Are you okay?" Eva asked, her pale eyes looking worried. I sniffed and wiped my face, giving her a real smile.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I feel fine!" I said, she smiled and then I noticed the basket of food that she was carrying. "Oh, sorry, you were meaning to go somewhere!" I exclaimed, embarrassed. She jerked up, as if remembering and smiled apologetically.

"Oh, yes. You don't happen to know an 'Angela' do you? Genkai told me to bring her this." She gestured to the food and I smiled, both at the innocent question and at the thoughtful gift from Genkai.

"You've come to the right place, I am she." I said, grinning at the girl. Her face exploded into a deep red color and she smiled sheepishly before pushing the basket into my hands.

"I'm so sorry, I thought- Well, here." She stuttered out and then turned. "Bye, Angela." I chuckled at the response and shook my head.

"You're a friend, call me Angel." I said and she looked confused, but nodded and I waved and she skittered back into the house. "Bye!" I yelled, and she just hunched her shoulders and closed the door behind her. I laughed and shook my head before opening the food. Sandwiches, a drink, some snacks, I smiled as I went through it and then was surprised to find a note at the bottom. I pulled it out and unfolded the paper.

'To Angela,

Here's your lunch. When you're done eating (savor it) come to the outside dojo. Now that your sword has become released you can start practicing. Hopefully you had a good run because that was your warm-up.

Signed, Genkai'

My jaw dropped and I rolled onto my back with a groan. That woman was heartless!

—

After savoring my meal I retrieved my sword from where I hid it (it's hard to run with a sword strapped to your hip) and reattached it to my belt. I felt better with it on and stroked the new design lovingly. It really was beautiful even if I preferred what Hiei got. He probably preferred mine over his too, after all they were backwards, at least that was my assumption.

"I wonder what Genkai has in store for us…" I murmured to it and somehow I felt like I knew how it reacted. My sword had more emotions now, before I only knew if it was breaking and how much energy was stored inside the blade, now I could tell if it was happy or annoyed or trying to say something. It was like a friend in sword form, very odd.

Regardless of the abnormality-level I loved it, it had also made a change to being a left-handed sword. When I had realized that I nearly cried, but of course I would never actually do that. I guess that the change just told me that my soul still accepted me, even if it had gone under some changes.

'Changes' I scoffed to myself. I had warped my soul and now it was festering with Hiei's energy. My head jerked up and I thought about what had happened the day before. My brain was clicking along and suddenly I was in a much bigger hurry to reach Genkai. I nearly ran down the path to the outdoor dojo, in a hurry to ask her a question.

"Genkai!" I yelled when I saw her, she turned toward me, looking as annoyed as usual. "If, rhetorically, demon energy is mixed in with human energy, what happens?" I asked, clenching and unclenching my hand in a nervous habit. I used to open and close my sword, but I hadn't developed the habit on my left hand yet. Her serious gray eyes narrowed at me and I could tell that her brain went down the same path as mine.

"Well, I suppose that it would eventually become demon energy. It is stronger." She said. My heart dropped and I felt my stomach roll over. Oh God.

"Oh God." I whispered, feeling a lot less hopeful. "Then that means…" I trailed off, unable to get the words out past the lump in my throat.

"You're becoming a demon." She supplied and I shivered, feeling cold even in the warm afternoon sun. That transformation hadn't been a freak accident, it had been a warning. My spirit-energy, the energy that supplied my magic, had increased by getting my sword back and that increase had caused my body to begin warping.

The scales, the fins, it all made sense. I was mainly a water user, so it only stands to reason that I would turn into a water demon. But, honestly, remember what I said about it not being on my list of dreams to become a fish? That hadn't changed. A water demon was not a pleasant demon by any stretch of the imagination.

They are commonly known as mermaids and Disney was on crack when it wrote them as underwater half-human fish that longed for land. They were the single most unpleasant demon I had ever met with the exception of any demon that was insect related. I shuddered, I hated bugs. That was one of the first kind of demon that I had met and I nearly died by spidery-looking things dripping acid venom from its mouth. It was one of the most horrific experiences of my life.

This was followed closely by mermaids, however. They are very pretty creatures, do not misunderstand. The elegance of the mermaid is hard to describe. Its like they're wearing flowing dresses and their figure is hard to make out, but their glowing blue eyes peak out from behind hair that is like silk. A voice that whispers to you. This is a lie though; when their slimy hands wrap around your throat and drag you off of your boat, kicking and screaming into the water, you see them as they really are.

All sharp teeth and sickly, green, slimy skin. Hair that it like seaweed and flowing fins that tie around your struggling body as you drown. They take a sadistic pleasure in your death.

I should know, that's what almost happened to me. I still remember water gurgling in my throat as I tried to get away. I remember struggling in the murky water and those eyes turned to a bright red, grinning down at me. I get to remember it often in my nightmares.

I shuddered and felt my lunch gurgling as I imagined becoming my nightmare.

"Is there any way to avoid it?" I asked quietly, unable to lift my gaze away from my toes.

"I don't know." She answered