"Surprise," Mirakuru said, an ironic smirk on her face. She slowly and deliberately walked to Kurama and planted her feet in front of him in a fighting stance, her gaze never flickered, her courage never wavered. Her left hand held her sword's sheath and her right hand rested on the hilt in a ready position.

"I understand now why my powers had disappeared. Deep in my heart, I wanted a normal life, I wanted nothing to do with my powers. But seeing the one I care about hurt, I know I must stay strong to realize my destiny with all my heart and soul."

Flashback—

Mirakuru, only five or four years old, stood in a hospital room. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes as she laid her head down on the hospital bed. Her mother was dying.

"Mirakuru, take this amulet." The woman on the bed slowly lifted her hands and unclasped the necklace she wore. Even this simple gesture seemed like a painful struggle. "Wear it proudly, and remember that your destiny relies on what's in your heart." And with those final words, she closed her eyes and died, looking calm, peaceful, and most of all, content.

End flashback—

"I never understood what she meant until now. This amulet is the key to my destiny. Its power, my power, changes with my heart's desire. And now, my desire is to save my people, the world, from you!" Mirakuru drew her sword and slashed at Kusari with surprising speed. Taken aback, Kusari ducked and dodged it, but only barely. Mirakuru's blade had severed several strands of steel gray hair.

"Look what these so called Tantei have done to you. You've gone soft. The princess I know would have joined me instantly." Kusari glared at her, disgust apparent in his eyes. He bared his teeth and wrinkled his nose, as if the very scent of her nauseated him. Kusari's face was growing more canine with every second, his cold beauty quickly disappearing.

"I am not your princess." Mirakuru snapped harshly. "You forget that I share her soul, her memories. I know what you did. You manipulated us! You played our darkest fears, our deepest wishes!" Unflinchingly matching his glare, she brandished her sword. "And to the contrary, you'll find that I've grown much stronger."

"Blinded by love!" Kusari shrieked, as if the words caused him physical pain. "They destroyed our nation! Everything we loved and cherished gone in an instant!" Snarling, he leapt at Mirakuru, slashing at her with his knifelike nails.

"You delusional fool!" Mirakuru spat as she parried his blow with a crescent kick. Pirouetting nimbly into the air, she struck back, the heel of her foot colliding neatly with his shoulder. Kusari skidded back a few feet, his nails screeching on the stony floor.

"You don't remember our past! You remember only what you want to believe!" Mirakuru's eyes flashed coldly, all sympathy lost. "It was you who led us to our deaths!"

"I suppose your precious Tantei told you that." Kusari snapped. "Well, this is what I think of your Tantei!" He scowled at Kurama, who had struggled to his feet, and was now leaning against the wall.

Kusari's eyes gleamed dementedly, and he lashed out, infusing his hair with reiki as a mockery of Kurama's rose whip.

Gritting his teeth, Kurama pushed himself off the wall and dodged, landing heavily with a small gasp of pain.

Furious, Mirakuru was on Kusari in an instant, her immense stores of pent-up reiki overwhelmingly powerful after so many years of lying dormant. She slammed him into the wall, where Kurama manipulated the vines to slither around him and enchain him.

"You bastard." Mirakuru said angrily. "You want to know what happened? My memories may not be complete, but at least they are accurate." She clapped her hands together and chanted:

Memories locked in time

Power reborn in me, awaken!

Slowly she spread her hands apart, a glowing hologram materializing between them, like an exquisite snowglobe. It showed a younger Kusari, sprinting in the dead of night. He darted here and there, using the shadows for cover. He slowed and stopped at a ruined temple, kneeling by a figure in the shadows. "Great King, the elves attack at dawn. They number 10,000 strong."

"Good. And the Reikai warriors shall be with them?"

"Yes. You may kill all of Reikai, but the elves shall remain safe, will they not?" Kusari implored, disgustingly servile.

"I will stay true to my word," the figure in the shadows replied, with a bored air. "Though it shall be hard to separate them. They have been most faithful to Reikai."

"That matters not. As soon as they see the powers my lord possesses, they will realize their foolishness."

The figure glowered at him ominously. "For your sake, I hope you are right. If the battle goes as planned, your payment awaits you."

The snowy scene dissipated and the sun dawned on the next day.

Scores of Elves were lined up in battle formation, but not a single Reikai warrior was to be seen.

"Damn." King Yakumo growled, pounding his fist against his desk. "That bastard Kusari will pay. Assemble the troops and prepare for battle."

Kusari, overhearing this, dashed outside, thinking to steal away in the chaos of battle.

Unfortunately, the Makai Demon warriors were trained to revile pity, and slaughtered him along with the rest of the elves.

"That was Reikai's fault!" Kusari shouted in anguish, interrupting the gruesome scene playing out in Mirakuru's fingers.

"No, it wasn't. My father, King Emerarudo, knew what you were planning. He purposely said that to trick you. But keep watching. It's not over yet."

Once again, the scene morphed.

Bodies were strewn everywhere, and what was left of Kusari, lay in a pit, lifeless. But he wasn't truly dead. Not yet. His soul still resided in his body, and his heart's desire became fiercer than ever. The surrounding area reeked of excess demon magic, which responded to the agony in his heart. All the elven souls not yet gone to Reikai were reborn in different bodies.

"And that's how it ended." Mirakuru concluded, her frosty gaze still on Kusari. "But nothing ever goes as planned with demon magic. So while all our souls were preserved, they were scattered across time and space. Some became human, some demon, some Reikai juunin." (juunin means inhabitant. I didn't know what else to call people from Reikai)

"Now do you understand? It was your fault that we were all reborn. Your fault that Kuronue's reincarnation was botched. He remembered nothing of his past, but knew that if he lost his amulet some unspeakably calamitous would happen. That instinct was what led him to his death."

Kusari cast a scornful glance at Mirakuru, his teeth bared. "I see that so-called demon magic did it's work on your soul as well. You are not the same princess that led the elven into battle that day. You are nothing but a shadow, an echo, a crude remnant!"

Kusari's fury manifested itself in an explosion of power that filled the room with blistering heat and light. When the light faded, Kusari stood before them, Kurama's vines scattered in smoldering shreds around him.

A flurry of rose petals swirled through the smoke, their razorlike edges slashing at Kusari, but his aura burned them all before they touched him. Then, an opalescent white arrow sliced through the smoke, flying straight at Kusari's temple. He whirled around and deflected the arrow with his palm, laughing derisively.

Suddenly, the smoke was swept away by a pure, uncorrupted wind and Kusari's expression changed to true horror as he saw Mirakuru leap and draw her katana. Damn! Her signature attack!

"Shiroi Urufu Shichiyou Heijin! (white wolf moon blade)" Mirakuru shouted, bringing her sword down with all her power.

Kusari summoned his Reiki to his hand and blocked it, but it wasn't enough. The power of the sword had broken though his Reiki and inflicted a deep wound on his hand. Calling forth his last reserves of power, Kusari infused his blood with life energy and thrust Mirakuru back, throwing her against the wall. Her Shiroi had greatly drained Kusari, but it hadn't finished him off. Now, Mirakuru struggled to keep her eyes open. The Shiroi was a final attack, and it took a while for the user to recover from using it. That was a serious drawback.

Kusari unclipped the Takai Spear from his belt. "I suppose you're wondering why I didn't just use this in the first place. The truth is, I wanted you to suffer, for choosing to side with Reikai, therefore betraying your people. You brought this upon yourself!" He gloated, savoring the moment.

Suddenly, he froze. The air seemed deadly quiet, and an unbelievable Reiki was coming from behind him. Slowly, Kusari turned around, all color draining from his face as he gazed into the ferocious maw of one of Kurama's death plants. Kurama stood at its side stoically, his aura blazing around him, arms folded across his chest. His eyes had glazed over into a jewel-like hardness, and the gusts of aura that billowed around him toyed with wisps of his hair and his ragged robes.

Kusari locked eyes with Kurama once, perhaps to plea for mercy. But Kurama's eyes simply stared back at him, pitilessly. In a panic, Kusari tried to stab the plant, but to no avail. The Makai plant swallowed him whole. It drained the remaining life energy from him then spat his mangled body back out. The golden fire in his eyes was extinguished, and he plagued the world no more.

Kurama strode over and stood over Kusari's dead body. "It is still the Getsurei. Your reign of Shikyo will never come to pass." He said solemnly. He pried the Takai Spear from Kusari's still clutching grasp and plunged it through his heart, instantly incinerating him. "May your soul never return."

"Kurama, that was stunning!" Botan gushed, regaining her speech once Kusari had been vanquished. "Once again we owe you our lives! Well, half of them go to Mirakuru this time," Botan amended cheerily. "But did you use too much of you Reiki summoning the – Kurama!"

During the battle, fury and adrenaline had kept the pain in check. However, now Kurama had nothing to distract him from it, and he gasped, doubling over as he willed himself to stay conscious.

Koenma, who had been cowering in fear for the last twenty minutes, was suddenly standing by his side trying to staunch the bleeding. "Kurama! Kurama, don't pass out!"

Botan dropped to her knees to tend to Mirakuru. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped abruptly as her breath caught in her throat. The moonstones on Mirakuru's pendant began to glow and a strange melody wafted its way to their ears, a haunting wordless tune. Then, one by one, many other voices started joining in, until there was a whole chorus of voices. They reverberated around the room, resonating off the stone walls. Figures began appearing, and several crouched around Kurama. Something sparked from their fingers, and Kurama slowly revived, his wounds healed and Reiki returned.

"So this is it." Koenma murmured. "The foretold revival of the Elves."

Authoress's note-- Nother long chappie. Anyhoo, just thought u'd like to know that Getsurei means Age of the Moon, and shikyo means death. And i just noticed, Yakunan/Yakumo. Hmm...oh well. Wondering why the authoress's note is in the back? Well, I didn't want to spoil the suspense!

Guy #1-- Suspense! What suspense!

Guy #2 -- Yeah! Stick to your comedy you schmuck!

Me -- Hey...schmuck is MY word...