BAAACCCCKKKKK! Now, I'll be horribly honest with you: I did have thoughts about just ending this for good since I haven't written anything in such a long time. I apologize profusely. To be honest again, I don't even know how many of my original readers are still here anymore, or how many people are even reading this anymore, which makes me sad to think about. If you are there, give a shout out to me! I'll greatly appreciate it since this is my finale!

After posting the last chapter, I realized that I did not do my normal thanks to those who had reviewed! So I shall do that now for the past few chapters.

Thank you!

IllustratedAbbysharrat- I know I already responded to your reviews, but you have stuck with this for a long time! Thank you for your patronage! It is readers like you who give me reason to continue!

RoseblossomWarrior- Ren will always show up, don't you worry about that! It is not Shaman King without Ren. Unfortunately, he will not be a big character here, but he will have his own part in the story.

Lydiacatfish- Thank you! The air of mystery is what I was aiming for. I am glad to see that I have accomplished my goal. I was worried that some things were see-through.

Red Sky at Morning

Chapter 9

Lyserg was in a funk for some unknown reason, Gwen noted to herself as they all sat around the private table in Horohoro and Rin's quarters for dinner.

The air at the table was thick with apprehension because of the events of the past few days. The once peaceful air of the compound seemed think and restraining, but Rin could not think of anything that could dissipate it, especially if it would put the place in jeopardy. No one said anything when Lyserg got up and left or when Gwen excused herself and followed him. In fact, no one had said anything all evening.

"Lyserg." Gwen said when she finally caught up to him. "Stop." He reluctantly complied. She moved in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." He muttered.

"Like hell there isn't."

Lyserg looked up surprised, because Gwen rarely, if ever, cursed.

"You've been moping all evening. You're acting like you do when Hao's around."

"It's Hao that's the problem!" He angrily blurted out. Gwen said nothing and let him continue. "All my life he's been this shadow looming over everything I do! Why do you think that I left the house so often? I can't even think straight knowing that he's still alive." He knew he was ranting, but he didn't care. "He killed my parents like it was a game to him and still acts like it! He says that it's all in the past and bygones should be bygones, but not once has he shown any kind of remorse, or given any kind of apology even if he didn't mean it!" He stopped to breathe.

"This isn't about Hao, is it?" Gwen asked. "You were perfectly fine until a few hours ago, so don't give me that 'blaming Hao' crap. What's wrong with you?"

Lyserg breathed slowly out through his nose before replying much more calmly and quietly than before. "I got into kind of a fight today with the new guy, Matsua. Actually it wasn't even a fight. Just a…disagreement. Besides, he attacked me first, but it was nothing considering how low-class of a shaman he is compared to me." He wasn't that humble. He was perfectly aware how powerful he was compared to other shaman, and he wasn't going to pretend like he wasn't.

"So why are you staking all of this on Hao?"

"Because of what he said! After I showed Matsua that he couldn't defeat me, I said it too!"

"Said what?"

"So small…"

After Lyserg and Gwen left, Horohoro and Rin were left by themselves. They didn't say anything to each other for a long time, until Rin quietly broke the silence.

"Mizu came to see me today. She had news."

Horohoro stopped mid-chew before swallowing. "What news?"

"That Matsua is a harbinger of bad luck. She says that something is happening in the south, which happens to be the direction in which Matsua came." She lifted up her eyes to meet his. "And that Liam is alive."

Horohoro would have choked if he had still been eating. "Diethel? Lyserg's dad?"

"I don't know. Mizu never gave any specifics and I didn't know that that was his father's name. Besides, why would such news be here in Japan anyway? He died, and for all we know, is still buried in England alongside his wife."

"Have you mentioned this to him?"

"No. I don't want to get his hopes up if it turns out to be someone entirely different."

"Why on earth would Mizu's spirits even bother to mention it then if it didn't pertain to us?"

Rin slammed a hand down on the table. "I don't know! The only thing I know is that this poses a danger to us! Matusa has left the compound twice today already and is causing trouble! If what Mizu says is true, then he has to leave."

Horohoro crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't want him to leave."

Rin hesitated. "What's that supposed to mean? If you're implying that I've developed a crush on him, then you have a lot to think about. The purpose of this place is to give shelter to those who need it. If Matusa is going to destroy that, even if he doesn't mean it, then he has to leave. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one."

Actually, Horohoro had been a little jealous of Matsua being around Rin when he was gone. Hearing her say that she wanted him gone secretly pleased him, even though he knew it was a pointless jealousy. He softened his voice. "I'm sorry I said that. It's just that you've been so passionate about things here you forget sometimes that this place isn't a fortress. If other shaman attack, we can deal with it. But you know for a fact that we're more vulnerable to regular humans and their weapons."

The memory of Tamurazaki on the beach flashed through her mind. "I know. We can't risk it. I'll have Peter go look for Matsua and bring him back here. He'll be gone in the morning."

Matusa sat on a rock outside of the walls absentmindedly throwing off random bursts of mana. It calmed him down to do so. Hearing something rustle behind him he quickly spun around to find the American Rin had introduced to him a day or two ago. What was his name? Peter, that was it. "What do you want?"

"Rin asked me to bring you back. She knows that you've left the compound twice already. She wants to talk to you."

"About what?"

"She didn't say. She just told me to bring you back."

Suddenly, Matsua realized that he could kill this boy here and now and no one would ever know it was him. He was even positive that he could make it look like an accident. No! No, stop. He never did anything to you! Why am I thinking these things? He felt the way he did when he attacked Lyserg: irrational and angry for no good reason. He took a deep breath. Just breathe. Everything's fine. Just get up and go back. Getting to his feet, he realized just how unstable he was. His neck burned, his heart was racing—it felt like he was dying. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and followed Peter back into the walls of the compound and into the main reception hall, where he saw Rin and Horohoro, waiting for him.

He turned to Peter. "You just said that she wanted to talk to me! Not both of them!"

Peter replied as calmly as he could. "I was just told by her to get you and bring you here. That was it. Nothing else involves me."

"Matsua! Sit down and be quiet!" Rin ordered. She was losing patience with him. "You're behavior here is unacceptable. You came here to be safe, but as I hear it, you're bringing your problems to us and disturbing the peace. I know I said that you could stay, but now I believe that you'll be better off somewhere else. I've only had to ask one other before you to leave and I won't hesitate to do it again."

He sat as quietly as he could, given the enormous amount of tension he was feeling. "You don't…understand. I can't help it. It feels like I'm going crazy! It feels like I'm dying!" He punched the floor as hard as he could, effectively breaking the boards under his fist in the process.

Rin looked at Horohoro with a surprised look on her face. He shook his head but Rin got up and went over to Matsua anyway. "Matsua, it has come to my attention that your continued presence here will sooner rather than later bring unwanted attention to us. It would be best for everyone, you included, if you left. Go home to your family."

Matsua, through clenched fists and teeth, nodded, mumbled a forced apology, and took his leave. Rin sighed deeply and inspected the cracked wood of the flooring. Pinching the brow of her nose between her fingers, she asked Horohoro to ask the Wood-Shaman to repair the floor. With that, she wearily retired to her rooms.

Tensions are running a bit high here, but considering the planned storyline, it's to be expected. Again, sorry this took so long to do, but serious writer block plus many other life factors prevented me from finishing this in a timely manner. My plan now is to finish this up. No quitting! Then, at a leisurely pace, fix the mistakes I made in Pretty in Black & re-post that.