Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana. I do, however own this story.

Shakugan no Shana: The Crimson

Chapter 21: Plot of the Bal Masque

"Ichiro…" A voice called out. He opened his eyes to a completely black surrounding area. It was endless as far as he could see. He stood up, wondering where he was.

"Seraphyne, could you tell me where we are?" Ichiro asked her. There was no answer from the crimson lord. He looked up and noticed that his headband wasn't on him. "This is strange. I must have lost the battle… it looks like I'm dead." Ichiro thought.

"You're not dead, you're just very close to it."

"Alright now I'm confused. Who are you and where am I?" Ichiro asked the voice.

"I'm insulted… you actually have forgotten my voice." He heard behind him. He turned to see a woman with long brown hair and dark brown eyes standing a few feet from him.

"M-Master…" Ichiro stuttered out in surprise.

"I could have sworn the last time we talked I told you to call me Akane." Akane replied with a playful smile on her face.

"Wait a minute, you just said I wasn't dead so how come I can see you now?" Ichiro asked her.

"Great, you're still the same, paying attention to every detail. Aren't you at least going to come here and give me a hug, it's been a long time since I've seen you." Akane said opening her arms up as she walked over to him. They wrapped their arms around each other, Akane looking surprised as she pulled back slightly. "You've grown up, I remember back when you only came up to my shoulder, but now we're face to face, although you are a little taller than me."

"Akane… I…" Ichiro started to say.

"Listen Ichiro…" Akane interrupted. "Tell me the truth, did you want revenge on Tsubasa because he killed me or was it because you thought that you were responsible?" Akane asked him. She watched as he looked away from her. "I knew it. Ichiro it wasn't your fault that I died…"

"But… if I was a lot stronger. If I became a flame haze before that night you wouldn't have died protecting me…" Ichiro told her.

"You're an idiot!" Akane replied as she slammed her fist on his head. Ichiro grunted in pain as he backed away from her. "Listen to me right now Ichiro. It wasn't your fault that I died, do you understand?" Akane asked him.

"Yeah, I understand. Thank you, Akane." Ichiro replied.

"On another note, I know that you defeated Tsubasa, but I also know that you had help from someone. So who is she Ichiro?" Akane playfully asked him.

"Well she's uh…" Ichiro said caught off-guard with a blush on his face. He composed himself and continued. "She's someone that I care about… a lot…" Ichiro replied as a smile appeared on his face.

"I can tell and I think that she cares a lot about you too." Akane told him.

"How are you so sure about that?" Ichiro asked with a confused look on his face.

"You'll find out…" Akane replied as she brought him close and embraced him. "I'm proud of you, Ichiro." She told him as she started glowing. "It's time for me to go now."

"I'll miss you Akane, sorry to say this but I don't think I'll be seeing you for a long time." Ichiro said sounding confident.

"That's fine. I would never forgive you if you showed up here, too early. But don't worry I'll always be watching over you Ichiro." She said as she shone brightly, enveloping the area in a bright light before she vanished completely.

The flame haze woke up immediately after his dream holding his head.

"You're finally awake…" Seraphyne said.

"So how long have I been out?" Ichiro asked before looking at a mirror next to him. His eyes widened as he noticed his brown hair. "Never mind, if I'm back in my human form, I must have been out for a while." Ichiro added.

"Exactly…" Seraphyne said. He felt movement next to him and saw the sleeping, blue haired girl leaning from a chair next to him and laying her head down on the bed. "She's been there for the past few days. No one has been able to take her away from your side."

"Is that right?" Ichiro said as he got up from the bed. He felt pain from his left arm as he started walking. "I guess I'm still feeling the effects." Ichiro added.

"Indeed, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Seraphyne told him. She noticed him walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Seraphyne asked.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere. I'm just checking outside." Ichiro replied as he continued on.

- -(Outside the Living Room)- -

"Good morning Shana-san." Ichiro said.

"Ichiro, you're awake…" Shana trailed off as she noticed his brown hair. "When did you dye your hair, you almost look familiar somehow."

"I forgot about that." Ichiro replied before closing his eyes. A second later his hair color changed back to black.

"So that was your human form?" Shana asked. He nodded. "How come I never see you in your human form often?"

"Usually there's no right time to transform back. Besides I've gotten used to traveling around like this." Ichiro explained.

"I guess that makes sense." Shana said. "Still he looked so familiar like I have seen him before…" Shana thought.

"Shana." Ichiro said interrupting her thoughts. The black haired girl looked up at him. "Is anyone else awake?" Ichiro asked her.

"I'm not sure…" Shana replied. Suddenly they started hearing music from the living room.

Yume? (daydream)

Tada no yume (sweet dreams)

Nanoni mune (zutto)

Furueteru (zutto)

They walked into the living room and saw Sasaki watching an anime opening that showed three girls sleeping in the same bed.

Koi wo shitte (missing)

Kuchiburu ga (wishing)

Setsunasa ni anata dake wo yonda

"Strawberry Panic…another Yuri lover…" Ichiro said.

"Huh, what do you mean by Yuri?" Shana asked him.

"I'll get back to you on that one." Ichiro quickly replied.

Sasaki turned and noticed the occupants in the room. "Shana-chan!" Sasaki said as her emerald orbs lit up. "Come here, watch this with me." Sasaki added as she motioned for the black haired girl to sit next to her. Shana nodded and sat down on the couch with her.

"I'll see you guys later." Ichiro told them. "Shana's definitely gonna have a lot of questions after watching that." He headed out to the backyard. "It still wasn't enough… I'll have to become even stronger and I'll start right now…" Ichiro thought as he summoned his sword. "I may only have good use over my right arm at the moment, but I have ways of getting past that."

- -(Kitchen)- -

Yuji cradled his sister in his arms as his mother walked over to him.

"It looks like she's sleeping now." Chigusa told him.

"I'll take her upstairs." Yuji offered. He stood up and carried his sister upstairs to her room. Kantaro placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He really is taking his responsibility as a brother isn't he." Kantaro said.

"Yeah, but…" Chigusa replied.

"Is there something wrong, Chigusa-san?" Kantaro asked her.

"It would have been nice if he was still here and all of them could be together." Chigusa replied.

"I know how you feel, Chigusa. I know he would be a pretty responsible big brother to both of them…" Kantaro told her.

- -()- -

The blue haired girl woke up, immediately noticing the absence of the black haired flame haze. She noticed his presence and opened the window, walking out to the balcony and looked down to see Ichiro training with his sword. She watched as he fell to his knees and teleported down in front of him.

"Konoe-san?" Ichiro said as he noticed the blue haired girl's presence. The blue haired girl wrapped her arms around him.

"Ichiro are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" Konoe asked him looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright…" Ichiro told her. Konoe helped him back on to his feet.

"You shouldn't be out here training." Konoe said.

"I know but I have to." Ichiro replied.

"Why? Why are you pushing yourself like this?" Konoe asked him.

"It's the only way to get stronger. I feel like we were lucky to make it out alive from Tsubasa. If another denizen appears with more power than Tsubasa had, there's no doubt that I would lose." Ichiro replied.

"But you can't be so sure about that, you have become stronger!" Konoe told him.

"I know that I have, the real question is… will it be enough? And at the moment, the answer to that question is no." Ichiro replied.

"Ichiro…" Konoe softly said as she looked at him.

- -(Misaki City)- -

Shana and Sasaki were running an errand for Wilhelmina and getting her supplies from the house. They were on their way back…

"Why did those two… ugh… now I have too many questions. Why did those two girls kiss?" Shana asked the brown haired denizen walking with her.

"Because they like each other silly." Sasaki replied.

"But… two girls… together…" Shana said looking confused.

"This complicates things a lot…" Alastor added.

"Sasaki…" Shana said sounding serious.

"What is it Shana-chan?" Sasaki asked her.

"I feel something coming this way. I need you to go back to the house and tell Yuji to meet me back here." Shana replied.

"Are you sure? You haven't recovered from your injuries yet." Sasaki warned her.

"The sooner that you get Yuji over here the less you'll have to worry about me, now go!" Shana told the brown haired denizen. Sasaki nodded and ran back to the house. Shana looked up at the sky. "Fuzetsu!" Shana shouted. The sky turned crimson. She materialized her nightcoat and pulled out her sword as her hair turned red.

"I wonder if that was the smartest course of action you could take." A woman with three eyes, an eyepatch covering the right eye, wearing a brown dress appeared in front of them.

"She's here." Shana said.

"Judge of Paradoxes, Bel Peol." Alastor added. "Why would you show up now, after Shadow Master's death?" Alastor asked.

"I honestly thought that you were smarter than that. I knew that even with the Crimson, Tsubasa wouldn't be able to defeat all of you. But it doesn't matter because Tsubasa, did one thing right… he managed to severely weaken all of you. And that makes things easier for me." Bel Peol replied as she summoned her chain-like hougu.

"Shana, be careful." Alastor told her.

"I know…" Shana replied as she held her sword up. "Yuji, please hurry!" Shana thought.

- -(Konoe's House)- -

"Do you feel that?" Konoe asked him.

"Yeah, do you think that they have come here to get you?" Ichiro asked her.

"I wouldn't be so sure about what they're planning." Konoe replied.

"Yuji!" They heard someone call out. They saw a brown haired girl running into the house.

"Sasaki, what's wrong?" Yuji asked.

"It's Shana. She's battling a powerful denizen right now!" Sasaki replied. "She told me to get you."

Yuji immediately ran out of the house and on to the street heading in the direction of the presence.

"Yuji, hang on I'm going with you!" Ichiro called out as he ran out of the house with Konoe. The surroundings turned crimson and a storm of heavy particles surrounded the area around the house.

"You won't be going anywhere." A middle-aged man in a business suit with bat wings and a tail stood in front of them.

"Turbulent Ungula, Fecor." Seraphyne said. Konoe started glowing blue and when the light died down her hair and eye color changed to a lighter blue and she was wearing her priestess attire.

"You don't really think you can stop both of us, do you?" Ichiro asked him.

"It's not like you'll be able to stop me thanks to my defense." Fecor told them. "And you won't be leaving anytime soon."

"No surprise. You always rely on that defense. Not only are you using Magnesia to protect yourself, you're also using it to separate us from the others." Hecate said with her usual monotone. She summoned her staff, Trigon. "We'll find a way out Fecor."

"I'm ready to see you try, priestess." Fecor replied.

- -()- -

Shana was tied up with Bel Peol's chains and was being squeezed to death, when Yuji arrived.

"SHANA!" Yuji shouted.

"Mystes, you have finally arrived. I have an offer for you. I want you to come with us peacefully and maybe I won't kill your precious girlfriend." Bel Peol told him.

"Y-Yuji… don't…do…it…" Shana spoke with quick gasps of air.

"Be quiet, child!" Bel Peol said as she increased the tightness of the chains.

"Let her go!" Yuji told her.

"I'm not going to, after all what would I gain from that?" Bel Peol asked as she tightened the chains even more causing Shana to scream out louder.

"Now's the time…" Yuji heard in his head.

Hearing Shana's screams, something snapped inside of Yuji and he felt himself being overshadowed as black flames surrounded his body.

"What? Is this the power of the snake?" Bel Peol asked as her eyes widened looking down at the mystes, a whirlwind of black flames surrounded him and she was able to get a clear view. Yuji's hair had turned silver and his eyes were endless pools of black that showed no remorse as he looked up at Bel Peol.

"You made a big mistake, now you'll pay with your life!" Yuji told her in a slightly deeper voice than usual.

Alright that's Chapter 21 everyone.

Thanks for reading and please review. Later!