"Hikaru?!" Selena gasped. "How is Hikaru to blame for this and how do you know that we're mates"
Milicent smirked. "That wasn't too hard to figure out, honey," she said, still licking the blood off her finger. "I've been watching you two. I've seen everything you two do together behind your friend's backs. You both cover well when you're infront of people but anyone who has a grudge against that koorime could easily find out." she folded her arms, her face filled wiht disgust. "You aren't very discreet when you're by yourselves. You don't bother holding anything back." she turned from the ferry girl and started pacing, musing over the whole thing. "You'd think he'd have more caution, but when he's with you it seems he forgets that everyone is out to get him"
"What do you mean"
"What I mean, sugar, is that Hikaru Jaganishi has more enemys than he thinks he does," Milicent replied. "Growing up he was one of the worst murderers in the Makai. There are plenty of demonic families that would love to see him dead"
"Including you"
"Including me"
"Why?" Selena asked. "Why do you want him dead? What did he do to you"
Milicent turned back to Selena and got right into her face. "He," she said, her voice cold. "Killed my baby"

Akio was hopelessly lost. He'd gone walked away from Selena's oar and deeper into the forest, hoping he'd run into her but so far he'd seen nothing but a owl that has given him the willies. After walking around for awhile he'd lost all sense of direction and kept coming back to the same old ditch over and over again. It was getting annoying and he was losing patience. If he didn't find them or his way out soon he was going to go crazy. Okay, he thought, sitting on the round to rest for a moment. Just stay calm. Look around yourself again. Maybe you'll see something you didn't notice before. You can't be that lost. Just look around. You'll see something. He decided to follow his own advice. He looked around again. Though it was dark by now the full moon above cast a pale light into the forest. It lit up an area he hadn't noticed before. It looked like a clearing with a huge black hole on the one side. Wait. A black hole? He got up and walked into the clearing. With the light of the moon he could see a huge cave before him. A cave? he thought. He sensed some sort of presence coming from inside it. Something's in there. And it doesn't feel human.

Hikaru struggled agianst the vine web, trying to yank himself free of the botony. So far he wasn't making much progress. Damn it! he thought, resting a moment. What kind of vines are these? He yanked on the vine again but it wouldn't give an inch. He glared at it and noticed it seemed to be getting thicker. It looked like it's tendrils were starting to wrap around his hand. What the hell?! What's going on?! That's when he noticed the more vines seemed to be growing around him. Some of them began to wrap around his body and he could do nothing about it. When he felt it starting to wrap around his neck he panicked and thrust his body forward. This caused some of the vines to break off but he was still stuck. He glared back at the vine web. The additional vines that had tried to encase him retreated and didn't come back. He sighed in relief and relaxed a moment. This is not going to happen, he thought. I won't let that wench kill me that way.

Selena stared at Milicent in shock. "H- he killed your baby?" she asked.
"Yes," Milicent replied, looking sad. "and he will pay for what he's done." she clenched her fists in anger. "But hurting you has done nothing. I thought it would break him. But no. It did nothing. He's still the same"
Selena felt she should explain that. "He"
The female demon didn't want one. "What would break him?" Milicent interrupted, looking right at Selena as if she should know. "What would make him lose all hope in living? What would make him want to die more than anything else"
Selena couldn't answer. She knew Hikaru didn't really care about dying. Infact he'd often welcome the thought. Sometimes he'd tell her he deserved it. She knew that wasn't true. He didn't deserve to die. It wasn't his time yet. Selena knew that much. She also knew his spirit was hard to break. She'd never seen that happen. He had a thick wall hiding his inner core. It was hard to get to him. She'd only seen that wall crack once. The first and only time he'd cried. "You'll never break him like that," she said. "And what makes you say that?" Milicent asked, giving her a look.
"I know it for a fact"
Milicent smirked at her. "We'll see about that." she made the vines release Selena. The ferry girl fell to the floor. The demon of nature reached down and grabbed Selena by the arm. She wrenched the girl to her feet and pulled her out of the room with her. "Come with me"

Akio hesitated. Should he go in there and investigate? For all he knew this whole thing cpould be his imagination, wishful thinking. But then again it might not be and maybe just maybe Hikaru and Selena were in there. Well I can't do much standing out here wondering, he told himself. I either go in there and check or I stand out here and get lost again. He decided on the former and walked cautiously inside.