Chapter 7: The Truth About Hareyu

Night has fallen, but it isn't very quiet since Hotaru is making a fuss. Ashieyu is getting annoyed with the noise, but she won't get up to do anything about it so I kept getting up. Only, I can't figure out if Hotaru is hungry or not. After a while, Hotaru manages to sleep and so do I. Then when I get to sleep I am dreaming of the night when Mamoru got killed.

Then my dream takes me to a different place and in that one, I see Hotaru as small and helpless as she is now and then I see someone else there as well. I see a young, thirteen-year-old girl, with straight, shoulder-length, black hair, just sitting alone. I walk up to her. "Hey, are you okay?" She doesn't answer me. "Where are your mother and father?" "My father disappeared, but my mother's not too far away." "Okay then where is she and who are you?" She then lifts up her head, revealing her violet eyes and that's when I realize who it is. "Hotaru?" "Yes, oh and you were wondering where my mother was." Hotaru says. I just look at her, in fear. "Look behind you." Says Hotaru. Her eyes then turn red and her pupils turn glowing white and she points behind me, with an evil look on her face. I then look behind myself, slowly, but when I look there is no one there. I then turn to where Hotaru was and she is gone. I then look where I was looking before and then Hotaru is there. "How did you?" "What's the matter? Afraid of a little thirteen-year-old girl? Or are you afraid of what I might become?" Hotaru asks. I then look at her, confused. "What do you mean, Hotaru?" Hotaru then takes out a sword that I recognize and then she waves it around herself. Then standing there, taking Hotaru's place, is Aderianu looking the way she did the night of Mamoru's murder. "Aderianu!" Aderianu just glares at me, with her pitch black eyes. Then these vines with thorns wrap around myself. I try to get free of their grip, but the vines would get tighter and the thorns would go in deeper. So I stop struggling and have no choice, but to hang there and do nothing. Aderianu walks towards me and with her powers she actually releases me and I fall forward. Aderianu is then standing right there in front of me. When my eyes meet Aderianu's I thought I was dead so I look away. But I then look up at Aderianu again, so then when my eyes meet hers again they are their normal red color again. "What's all this about? Why aren't you?" Aderianu then starts walking away. "Wait!" I run to stop Aderianu and I get in her way. "I'm just here to warn you. You must confess to Ashieyu." Says Aderianu. "This is only a dream, your not really here." "This may just be a dream, but then again it might not. Just watch yourself." Aderianu says. She then disappears without another word and I wake up, with a fright and it is morning.

When I walk over towards Ashieyu, I see that she has Hotaru cradled in her arms, feeding her a bottle. "Morning, Ashieyu." "Morning, Hareyu. She was crying, so I decided to feed her." Says Ashieyu. "Um, what exactly are you feeding her?" "It's something that my people give their babies or little kids. It's only coconut milk and some stuff from my kingdom that I packed up." Ashieyu says. "Oh, but shouldn't she be drinking stuff from her kingdom?" "I don't know what her people eat." Says Ashieyu. "Well, I guess for now its okay, but we need to find what she's supposed to eat." "Okay, but she does seem to enjoy this stuff." Ashieyu says.

Ashieyu starts getting tired of carrying Hotaru, so I end up carrying her the rest of the way. We end up stopping to rest for a while and this time it is my turn to feed Hotaru. Hotaru actually ends up picking out some sort of berries. I grab a few of them and they stung me a bit. Then I mixed both the coconut milk and the berries and fed it to Hotaru. After that, Hotaru seemed to look a little bit paler, but she looks a little pretty that way. "Ashieyu." "What?" Asks Ashieyu. "Does she look paler to you?" "Yeah so." Ashieyu says. "You don't think those berries made her sick do you?" "No, but if she is then your in some very big trouble with Aderianu. All though Aderianu is pretty pale herself." Says Ashieyu. "You have a point there, but should we see her just in case?" "You mean Aderianu? The one that can actually kill someone with no warning." Ashieyu says. "Yes. I know it's a risk, but this is her baby and she has a right to know if Hotaru is sick or not." "Fine, but I don't think it's going to be a very nice conversation." Says Ashieyu.

We start walking again and Hotaru falls asleep in my arms. I look down at Hotaru, seeing her fast asleep, with her little head lying against my chest. Then a strong blast of water hits Ashieyu and my feet. Then Anii is in front of us, with her mirror in hand. When both Ashieyu and I look at Anii, we both know what she wants. "Hareyu, give me the little witch!" Anii says. "No!" Then one of Anii's water shots out of anger comes directly towards me, but Ashieyu steps in front of me and takes the blast. "Ashieyu, what do you think your doing?" "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm protecting the little one and you since you're the one holding her." Says Ashieyu. She then falls backwards. "Ashieyu!" I then go down to my knees next to Ashieyu's side and I set Hotaru down right next to me. "Hareyu, last chance give the witch to me! She is nothing more than a younger version of her mother." Anii says. "Anii, she isn't just Aderianu's. She has a father too." Anii then uses her powers on me and I fall beside Ashieyu. Hotaru then wakes up and Anii walks over to her, almost putting her hands on her.

Then some sort of animal jumps out and attacks Anii. It ends up tearing at Anii's hand and it lets go after that. The creature is a black wolf and it is a female. Then Arie shows up and just stands there, staying out of the wolf's way. "Arie!" Says Ashieyu. "Where's Aderianu?" The wolf then looks at me and I notice that her eyes are red. Then the wolf charges at Anii, but then another creature charges at her. It is another wolf, only it is dark brown and is a male. This wolf has purple eyes this time and is growling at the black wolf. She gets up and snaps at him. Then he attacks her and she is down. The brown wolf then changes his form. He turns from a wolf to a man. "Hey Princess." "Taiki!" Ashieyu says. I then just take Hotaru into my arms and hold onto her, protectively. Taiki then just stares at the black wolf and starts walking towards her, slowly. "I know who you are wolf. You can't trick me with your dark spells witch. Where's your fiance now, Princess?" Asks Taiki. She just growls at him again. "Oh, what Princess?" Taiki says. He then brings out a little knife and stabs her right in the bicep muscle. She immediately turns from a wolf into Aderianu. Aderianu then tries to get up, but falls right back down. "Can't even get up now, can you?" Asks Taiki. Then he takes out his sword and stabs Aderianu right through the waist. Aderianu screams out in pain and doesn't even try to move. "Taiki stop!" Ashieyu says. Then with probably all the strength Ashieyu has, she grabs Taiki's wrists and stops his attack just before it hits Aderianu. Aderianu then manages to get herself up, but she isn't standing up very well. Taiki is then going to try again, but Ashieyu takes the risk and puts herself between him and Aderianu. Taiki slashes Ashieyu pretty badly. When the smoke clears, Aderianu has Ashieyu cradled in her arms and Taiki is gone. Then Arie runs over to Aderianu's side, actually looking concerned. "Ashieyu…" Says Arie, worried. Ashieyu's lying nearly motionless in Aderianu's arms. "She's slashed up pretty bad, but it's not a total lose, Arie." Aderianu says. Both Arie and I look up at her. "Since she's your cousin, I'll heal her." Says Aderianu. I gasp. "You'd do that just to keep me happy?" Arie asks. "Aderianu, are you sure you can heal an injury that severe?" "It's a long shot, but it's a risk I'll take. She shouldn't have to lose her life for what she did for me." Says Aderianu. She then goes down to one knee and places Ashieyu on the ground, still holding up her upper body though. Aderianu then places her hand over the injury and it's starting to heal. Ashieyu's wound is then healed and all that remains is a scar. Ashieyu then begins to regain consciousness, slowly, and Arie embraces her in her arms. "Oh good. You're okay now, Ashieyu." Arie says. "Um, yeah I guess." Says Ashieyu. I help her up. Arie and Aderianu then start walking away. "Wait you two." They both look at us. "Can't we just all work together and maybe be friends?" "Hareyu!" Ashieyu says. "It's okay, Ashieyu. It seems that someone still doesn't get the point." Says Arie. "Easy Arie, you don't want to hurt Hareyu's feelings. Besides, it's not our fault that she is who she is. Besides Hareyu, I believe that you still have a little something to confess." Aderianu says. "Hareyu, what is she talking about?" Asks Ashieyu. "I don't know, but it sure sounds like your feeling better and back to normal since yesterday." "Hareyu, you have been hiding something from Ashieyu for too long." Arie says. "Wait!" I run up to them. "Before you go, can you make sure that Hotaru's okay." Aderianu just puts her hand on Hotaru's forehead and closes her eyes. Then all of a sudden, Hotaru falls asleep and Aderianu opens her eyes. "She's fine. Those berries just made her more powerful is all." Says Aderianu. "Wait, how did you know about the berries?" "I read Hotaru's mind from earlier." Aderianu says. I then notice that both of her stab wounds have healed and are now scars. Then both Aderianu and Arie disappear and are never seen again that night. "Ashieyu, Aderianu's right. I do have to confess something to you." "What is it, Hareyu?" Asks Ashieyu. "You won't get freaked out, will you?" "Hareyu, you and I are friends. You can tell me anything." Ashieyu says. "Okay. Well, the truth is I have an older sister." "So, what's the problem?" Asks Ashieyu. "Aderianu is my older sister." "Okay, so that is a problem then. So, why did''t you tell me this earlier?" Ashieyu asks. "Because my mother had told me to never speak of it. And Aderianu's father probably always told her the same, but I'm sure she's already told Arie anyway. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." "I understand why you couldn't, but that doesn't explain why you wouldn't tell me." Says Ashieyu. "Because I was afraid that you wouldn't trust me anymore if I told you and I was also afraid that she would come after you and try to kill you if I told you." "So, you didn't tell me so you could keep me out of harms way?" Ashieyu asks. "Yes!" "Well, thank you, Hareyu." Says Ashieyu.