Zakuro and Chichiri had been walking for a couple of hours. Zakuro stretched her arms as she walked, re-wrapping herself immediately in the blanket. Though she wore a furry hat with a warm coat and pants, she felt cold. Her clothes and precious shoes were safely bundled in Chichiri's cloth bag.

"Why is it still dusk?" Zakuro complained.

She wanted to take a break and rest. Her feet ached and her back was starting to hurt too.

"Because it's a couple of hours till sun down." Chichiri commented, looking up at the grey sky.

"Huh?" Zakuro responded confused.

Chichiri sighed.

"A lot has changed." Chichiri said, his voice sad. "As the influence of hell increases, so does the madness of men. The Kings try to keep a balance. But people are scared. And with people's fears, hell grows stronger. We haven't seen daylight in about four months now. It's either dark or darker."

Zakuro frowned. She knew enough by then to say for sure that hell did not disturb the Earth's orbit around the sun. She looked up and the sky looked clear enough.

Maybe things are different in this world. Zakuro mused.

"I vote we get some sleep." Zakuro said, yawning hugely.

Zakuro wanted some time to sort through her feelings. It seemed like knowing that Suzahara didn't feel the same way she did was at least a step forward.

"Traveling through different worlds must be exhausting..." Chichiri mumbled.

He smiled and nodded. He set up camp nearby.

"We can start soon." Zakuro said, feeling guilty.

The world was close to collapse and she wanted to sleep. But she knew if she didn't get any sleep, she would collapse.

Chichiri nodded without looking up, as he tried to set a fire manually. He smiled when he managed to light the branches.

"It's always a feeling of accomplishment." He said smiling.

Zakuro chuckled as she covered herself and tried to get comfortable on the forest ground.

-X-X-

Zakuro and Chichiri arrived at the Royal Palace a few days later. Throughout the journey to the palace, Zakuro kept looking over her shoulder, hoping Suzahara would show up.

Why would he do that? Zakuro chided herself.

It seemed like the grey weather was bringing her down. She frowned at her pessimism and shook her head.

"We're here to see Lin Nuriko." Chichiri told the guard.

"Yes, Seng-sama." The guards bowed respectfully to Chichiri.

They looked at Zakuro from the corner of their eyes. Zakuro smiled and waved at them.

"They're not used to see a monk traveling with a woman." Chichiri informed Zakuro as the guards went inside. "And no matter how much I tell people that this is the scythe of a reaper, they still respect me."

Chichiri shook his head.

"That's your scythe?" Zakuro exclaimed.

"A part of it." Chichiri replied, nodding.

"It looks like a monk's staff no matter how you look at it." Zakuro said, grinning.

"It does?" Chichiri replied, frowning. "I assumed it was one of my more brighter ideas. This shape is perfect to harness my chi."

Chichiri looked at the Palace gates as they opened wide. A few servants knelt on the ground as a royal procession walked towards Chichiri and Zakuro.

Chichiri and Zakuro cleared the path. But the procession stopped near them.

A beautiful woman with pale skin, deep brown eyes and light brown hair, dressed in elaborate silk clothes hurried towards Chichiri and Zakuro.

"Seng-sama." She muttered and bowed respectfully.

Chichiri nodded uncomfortably.

"It is of the highest honor that you grace us with your visit." The woman said. "I'm the lady of the house. Daughter of Ho Ko Guan and queen consort of his excellency. It would be of the greatest honor if you would join us for supper."

"Ummmm." Chichiri said uncomfortably, looking at Zakuro.

"It's nice to meet you." Zakuro introduced herself. "I'm Kinomoto Zakuro."

A look of anger flashed across the lady's face as she looked at Zakuro.

"It would be our duty to assist you if a low ranking woman bothers you." The lady said, her tone still respectful.

"Low ranking?" Zakuro said, almost amused.

She had read of the feudal system that existed during ancient times. It was amusing to have witnessed it first hand. But Chichiri seemed to have taken offense.

"Noble lady." Chichiri replied through gritted teeth. "She is not a woman of low rank nor am I a monk. We're here to meet a friend."

"Impossible." The lady replied. "One can tell by simply looking that you have attained higher planes of enlightenment."

"I assure you that I'm not a monk." Chichiri said. "I'm merely..."

The woman sighed elaborately.

"Let's go back in." The lady said, sighing elaborately. "He is disillusioned. He can't do anything."

"Disillusioned?" Chichiri said, confused.

From inside the palace walls, worried screams rang.

"Your highness!" Zakuro heard a familiar thin voice call out. "That's dangerous! You, get the Prince inside. Somebody help me stop the King!"

"Nuriko!" Chichiri and Zakuro cried out, worried.

"Your grace!" The lady exclaimed.

"Hey!" The guard protested as Zakuro and Chichiri tried to follow the lady into the house. "You can't go in there."

"Shui." Chichiri murmured and a gust of wind blew the guards away.

Zakuro and Chichiri rushed inside.

"YOUR GRACE!" The lady screamed as she tried to wrestle the lit torch from a man's hand.

"Zakuro?" Nuriko called out in confusion, as she held up the man's hand away from a silvery mountain of dust.

"IS THAT GUNPOWDER?!" Zakuro shouted, as she took a panicked step back.

"Once the sun is back, everything will be happy." The mad man muttered, a senile smile on his face.

"STAY BACK!" Nuriko called out.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" The lady of the house ordered, an edge in her voice. "I will behead anybody who hurts him."

The guards hovered in front of the scared Prince, who looked at the scene horrified.

"What do we do?" Zakuro said, panicking, as she shook Chichiri's arm. "If he touches the gun powder, we're all dead! Chichiri, what do we do?!"

"Feng." Chichiri muttered over the chaos, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

Water rose from a the koi pond and fell on the mountain of gunpowder, drenching the King, the lady and Nuriko.

"Oh." Zakuro said, frozen on the spot. "Right."

Chichiri frowned at Zakuro.

"And the fate of the world..." Chichiri said, a smile tugging the corner of his lips.

Zakuro rolled her eyes.

"Zakuro!" Nuriko called out gleefully as she pulled Zakuro into a back-breaking hug.

But Zakuro didn't mind.

"Nuriko!" She said, happily. "How're you? Damn! I missed you!"

"I missed you too!" Nuriko said, tears falling freely from her cheeks.

"It's nice to see you too, Chichiri." Nuriko added from over Zakuro's head.

Chichiri smiled and nodded.

The lady helped the mad man up.

"Your highness!" One of the guards rushed forward.

"Mother!" The young Prince cried out.

"Stay back." The lady looked at the boy, her tone serious.

"Eni." The lady mumbled, after a brief moment. "Make our guests comfortable."

"Yes, Milady." One of the hand maidens replied.

She herded Zakuro and Chichiri into an adjoining room. Nuriko followed them. The hand maiden lit candles in the room. She bowed deeply as she left.

"What are you guys doing here?" Nuriko asked, confused.

"We came to get you." Zakuro said, smiling. "Get changed out of those wet clothes and we can get going."

Nuriko didn't reply.

"Hello?" Zakuro said, waving her hand in front of Nuriko's face.

At that point, the lady of the house barged into the room, still soaking wet.

"Milady!" One of the hand maidens exclaimed, scandalized.

"Leave us." The lady commanded.

The guards and the hand maidens bowed and left. The lady closed the door behind her. Nuriko sat with her palms on her knees.

The lady gracelessly dropped to her bottom, sighing as she did so. She rested her head on the door behind her.

"If you're friends of Nuriko..." The lady said, smiling sadly, her grey eyes dull. "I'm Rowun Niu, queen of Hokkan. And that bumbling arsonist you saw outside is my husband, Rowun Shirong, the 34th royal King of Hokkan."

She looked sadly at Chichiri and Zakuro.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said, almost politely.

-X-X-

Lady Niu studied Chichiri for a while, still unable to decide whether to believe him.

"You control wind and water." Lady Niu said, stating a fact.

"That doesn't make me a monk." Chichiri countered, in a manner which he thought was polite.

"Who are they, Nuriko?" Lady Niu asked.

"They're friends of mine." Nuriko replied, without going into any details. "They can be trusted."

Lady Niu nodded.

"Then, you must hear me out." Lady Niu started. "You must tell me if you know of any way to help my family."

"I'm back!" An unfamiliar voice said, as he knocked the door of the room. "Milady! Are you there?"

Lady Niu frowned for a moment. She then opened the door and slapped the man standing outside. The bag the man was holding fell to the ground.

"Where the hell were you?" Lady Niu said, angrily. "His Grace had an episode when you were out. You were instructed to stay by his side at all times."

The man frowned, his purple eyes looking at the cigarette that rolled on the ground.

"I was out gathering medicine, like you asked me to!" The man retorted.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" Lady Niu said, raising her hand again.

The man was a foot taller than Niu. But he cowered nonetheless.

"Now, now." Nuriko said, as she rose to hold back Lady Niu.

"We're not kids anymore, Niu." The man said, as he tied his long black hair into a ponytail.

He knelt down to collect the fallen herbs.

"You cannot just smack me in front of strangers." The man said, glancing at Zakuro and Chichiri. "You have to act like royalty."

"Royalty, my ass!" Lady Niu said, wanting to hit the man again. "Father did not put up with your crazy experiments for nothing. We thought you were actually studying medicine when you were locked in your room. Now when I need you, you're not able to help. Not Shirong. Nor Ryuu."

The man rubbed his temples.

"His Highness is under stress..." The man started.

"So fix him!" Lady Niu said, unfairly.

"The guards said you were talking to a monk?" The man said, looking towards Chichiri. "Those are hard to come by these days."

"I'm not..." Chichiri started, but Zakuro cut him short.

"We're just here to pick up a friend." Zakuro said, smiling.

She didn't want to steal away their only hope of Chichiri being a monk. Looking at the desperate look on Lady Niu's face, Zakuro wanted to help her if she could.

"But we saw the... troubled king." Zakuro said, delicately. "Is there any way we can help?"

How dangerous can it be? Zakuro thought to herself.

The king did not look violent. Just deranged. The man rolled his eyes.

"The King is not possessed." The man said, frowning. "He has been blessed by several priests. I have seen the King talk them into disillusionment. He is depressed about the current state of affairs. He is acting on thoughts that he thinks are natural."

Zakuro frowned at this.

"That's..." Zakuro started. "Progressive thinking."

"He needs to be treated." The man said, scratching his day old beard.

"Treated?" Zakuro asked, puzzled.

Did ancient China have psychiatric care? Zakuro thought.

"You are just taking shots in the dark." Lady Niu muttered angrily.

"It's better than doing nothing, Niu." The man said, as he proceeded inward towards the castle.

This is the starting of modern thinking. Zakuro thought, smiling.

"That brother of mine is an odd one." Lady Niu said, smiling sadly, as she ushered the rest back into the room. "But I know his heart is in the right place. Mitsukake is a lot like my mother."

-X-X-

Lady Zakuro settled down around the queen of Hokkan with Chichiri and Nuriko. She wondered as to the dire malady that troubled the king and queen.

Tomoko's eyes clouded over once more. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She took her phone.

"Oni-chan." Tomoko mumbled worried. "Where are you?"

Tomoko had been trying to reach Toya for a while. She texted him several times telling him that Zakuro had been sucked back into the book. But Toya had been avoiding her calls and texts.

Tomoko sighed.

"Please be alright, Zakuro-ne." Tomoko mumbled, concerned.

She went through her phone contacts and called Miaka.

"Miaka here." Miaka answered almost immediately.

"Miaka-san?" Tomoko answered, her voice choking as she spoke.

Tomoko began to cry profusely.

"Zakuro-ne..." Tomoko managed in between sobs.

"She went back." Miaka mumbled in a low voice.

"Yes." Tomoko said, trying her best to remain calm. "The book looks shabby. Diseased somehow. I'm too afraid to turn the pages. If a page tears, does Zakuro-ne get hurt? I can't reach Oni-chan. I don't know what to do. Miaka-san... Please..."

"We'll be right there." Miaka said. "Hang in there, Tomoko. We're on our way."

Miaka disconnected the call. She looked at Taka and Hikari, laughing as they played.

"Who was that?" Yui asked, as she sipped some tea.

The atmosphere in the Sukunami residence had calmed down. Keisuke had spent the last couple of minutes just sitting in the backyard, happy to be able to go out.

"Tomoko." Miaka replied. "I'm going over to their house. She needs my help."

"Why?" Tetsuya asked, from across the table.

"She's scared." Miaka replied, as she put away the dishes in the sink. "Zakuro is back in the Universe of the Four Gods and Tomoko doesn't know what to do."

"You're doing no such thing." Miaka heard Taka say, in an even tone.

Miaka frowned as she faced her husband.

"Why don't you go play with Keisuke Oji-chan?" Taka told Hikari.

Hikari nodded smiling. Taka gave her a swift peck on the forehead. He watched as Hikari joined Keisuke in the yard.

"You're not going." Taka said, his hand clenched into fists. "None of us are going to get involved any further."

"Why not?" Miaka argued, close to tears. "Tomoko is scared! She called me for..."

"It doesn't matter." Taka replied, an edge in his voice. "We almost lost EVERYTHING that we built together. Keisuke was right. That book is nothing but trouble."

"How can you say that?" Miaka said, her temper rising. "That book is the best thing that ever happened to me. That book is the reason we are together."

"I'm NOT Tamahome!" Taka said, banging his fist on the wall. "I'm Sukunami Taka. I was born into this world, just like you were. It's you and me who are in love. It's you and me who have a life together. That has nothing to do with the book."

"I can't believe you would say that." Miaka said, her voice shaking. "I refuse to forget the people I met in that world. Have you? Have you forgotten Nuriko? Tasuki?"

"No." Taka replied. "But I have let them go. And you need to do that too."

"There was a point when our love was enough to take us to that world." Miaka muttered angrily as she marched towards that door.

"Our love hasn't changed." Taka responded, as he cleared the way for his wife. "So the reason we cannot go back their anymore is because we love our life here more. That story is over. This is the story that we have now."

Miaka hesitated as she reached for the door knob.

"If the people I loved abandoned me..." Miaka said. "If the people who cared about me didn't stand by me when I was in trouble, I would have never been able to summon Suzaku. Yui had me and Keisuke had Tetsuya. And you want Tomoko to endure all that alone."

"Tomoko has Toya." Yui said, in a low voice. "We don't need to get involved. We were shown very clearly that there is nothing we can do."

Miaka reached for the door knob and opened it.

"I will be..." Miaka started to say, but she hunched over, grabbing her stomach.

"Miaka!" Taka exclaimed as he rushed to her.

"Her water broke!" Yui said, as she rushed to Miaka too. "Call an ambulance!"

"On it!" Testsuya said, as he dialed the number.

Miaka quivered in agony, looking at Tomoko's number on her phone.

-X-X-

"Hokkan has always grown through peaceful acquisitions." Lady Niu narrated, leaning her head on the wall and looking at the ceiling. "My tribe decided to join the great kingdom. Everything was always so peaceful. But then, hell happened. Even through the chaos, we were getting by while the Gods tried to maintain order. It's not the place of man to question the working of Gods. But a couple of months ago, tragedy struck. The former king of Hokkan, my brother-in-law, and his wife were assassinated. Fingers immediately pointed to Kutou which has always been after our secrets. Hokkan cried out for war, made worse by the influence of hell. But my husband tried to reason with our people. He took over the throne with a heavy heart and declared himself acting King until Ryuu, my nephew, was old enough to take the throne himself. You see, Shirong loved his brother. He would have been content being the King's Adviser all his life. The throne was a heavy burden. But the whispers of the noblemen grew loud. They accused Shirong of conspiracy behind his back. The worst was when Ryuu fell ill a few weeks ago. Now, they want to exile Shirong. We would be chucked out if not for his illness. We love Ryuu. I was in the room when he was born. He is like my own son. But nobody believes us anymore."

Lady Niu did not cry. But a look of sadness was etched on her face. For the first time, Zakuro was able to appreciate the burden of royalty. Any other family could just move and start over. But they did not have that luxury.

"You would have been chucked out if not for the King's madness?" Chichiri said, contemplatively.

Lady Niu nodded.

"I hate to break this to you." Chichiri started, not pausing for any effect. "But there is no demonic energy in this area. Not more than usual. I'm almost sure that. I think Mitsukake maybe right."

"You don't speak in definitives." Lady Niu said. "That means you cannot be 100% sure. Please, would you just see the King?"

"Fine." Chichiri said, after a couple of moments, sighing. "I will see the King. But do not get your hopes up."

Lady Niu nodded. Zakuro, Nuriko and Chichiri followed Lady Niu deeper into the palace. At the door of the Kings chamber, Nuriko held Zakuro's hand.

"It may be too overwhelming for the King to get so many visitors." Nuriko said, shivering a little in the cold dark palace.

Chichiri nodded.

"Maybe you could sit with Ryuu?" Lady Niu suggested.

Nuriko smiled and nodded. Zakuro followed Nuriko to an adjoining room.

"Ryuu is right through here." Nuriko said, opening the door to a large bedroom.

A boy of around 12 years sat at the window looking into the dark courtyard. His pond blue eyes were sunken and his body thin, as though he was fighting a disease. His long blue hair hung limp on his shoulders.

"Prince Ryuu." Nuriko said, in a hushed tone.

"Nuriko." Ryuu murmured, his voice labored and doleful.

"You shouldn't be out of bed." Nuriko said, tenderly.

"I hate lying on my death bed all day." Ryuu said, his voice barely a whisper. "Tell me, Nuriko. When we the last time a bird chirped? I haven't heard..."

Ryuu cut himself short when he noticed Zakuro in the room. For a moment, it seemed like he smiled. Ryuu looked vaguely familiar to Zakuro.

"I'm Kinomoto Zakuro." Zakuro said, bowing politely. "I'm a friend of Nuriko's. It's nice to meet you."

Ryuu labored himself into standing. Nuriko rushed to his aid.

"You're wet." Ryuu observed as Nuriko wrapped her arms around him in support. "You'll catch a cold. Go, get changed."

Nuriko helped the Prince to his bed and wrapped him in blankets. Zakuro turned to follow Nuriko out of the room.

"Zakuro." Ryuu called out. "Wait with me."

Zakuro looked at Nuriko with her eye brows raised. Nuriko smiled and nodded. Zakuro stood by the door as Nuriko left.

"Would you sit with me?" Ryuu asked, smiling.

Zakuro nodded and approached the bed carefully. Ryuu looked so weak that Zakuro was afraid of hurting him by even breathing too hard. She sat at the foot of the bed, smiling nervously.

"Where are you from?" Ryuu asked. "You don't seem to be from Hokkan."

"I'm not from around here." Zakuro answered, trying to not get into the details.

Zakuro looked at the uneaten food by Ryuu's bed. Ryuu followed her gaze.

"Food doesn't do me much good." Ryuu said, shifting uneasily on his bed.

"What do the doctors say?" Zakuro asked, in a hushed tone.

"That I'm dying." Ryuu said, without a hint of sadness on his face.

Zakuro's eyes widened in surprise. Death scared her. So much so, that she had condemned the book world and run away.

Is this bravery? Zakuro mused.

But almost immediately, she knew it to be a lie. Ryuu had given up. He had given in to his fate.

Zakuro rolled her eyes and started cutting the fruit that lay near his bed.

"I'm not hungry." Ryuu said, his voice weak.

"But you'll eat." Zakuro said, her eyebrows knit together.

"I don't want to eat." Ryuu said, stubbornly.

Zakuro thrust a piece towards Ryuu's mouth.

"Eat!" She commanded.

Suddenly, there was a change in Ryuu's body language. He sat upright and took the bite from Zakuro's hand, licking her fingers in the process. Zakuro flinched back.

Ryuu licked his lips, a small smile on his lips. He opened his mouth again for another bite. Zakuro extended another piece, pulling her hand as soon as the fruit hit Ryuu's mouth. Soon, Zakuro had fed him an entire bowl of fruit.

"Prince Ryuu!" Nuriko exclaimed as she entered the room, followed by Lady Niu and Chichiri.

"Did you get him to eat, Zakuro?" Lady Niu said, looking at the empty bowl in Zakuro's hand.

"It just sort of happened." Zakuro said, sheepishly.

Zakuro rose to join Nuriko and Chichiri.

"Aunt Niu." Ryuu called out. "May I have a word with you?"

Nuriko, Chichiri and Zakuro waited outside the Prince's room.

"The Prince barely eats." Nuriko said, beaming at Zakuro. "He's a nice kid. But the disease is taking a toll on him. I haven't seen him smile in ages."

Zakuro nodded uncomfortably. She didn't think it would be wise to reveal that she shoved food down a Prince's throat.

"I felt something." Chichiri mumbled in a low voice. "Earlier, I felt a strong presence. But now I can't feel a thing."

The sound of a bowl crashing against a wall rang from Ryuu's room. Lady Niu hurried out of the room before Nuriko and the others could enter.

"What happened?" Nuriko asked, concerned. "Is Ryuu OK?"

Lady Niu nodded, looking glumly at Zakuro.

"That was the first time he ate in 3 days..." Lady Niu said, her eyes finally swimming in the strain. "I know this is too much for me to ask. Ryuu... He refuses to eat. He has lost the will to fight on. But today he ate. And for the first time in ages, I saw resolve in him. But what he asks..."

Without warning, she got to her knees and placed her head near Zakuro's feet. Zakuro scrambled back and got to her knees too, clutching Lady Niu's shoulders.

"Niu." Nuriko said, getting on her knees as well.

"Ryuu wants you to stay with him as his companion." Lady Niu said, tears dripping on the floor. "When I said I couldn't possibly ask that of you, he threw the fruit bowl on me. Please... Until he gets better. Please, Zakuro. Would you stay with Ryuu?"

AN:

Translations:- Seng- Monk

-X-X-

zZhell-butterflyZz- I'm really glad you liked the story! Spot on about the CCS influence! To be honest, it's really nice that most of your guesses are right. It means that you are seeing the same picture in your mind that I'm trying to put into words. Thank you so much!

LunaLupus16- :) Happy you liked this chapter too. It's with your continued support that I know the writing is consistent and the story is progressing normally. Thank you!

-X-X-

So I recently crossed 1000 views *party favors for everyone* I'm hoping to put in more details into the story to develop Zakuro's relationship with the original stars. Zakuro seems pretty tight with Nuriko and Chichiri already. Hopefully, I was able to put that across. A little bit of complication may arise between Zakuro and Nuriko (which I'm obviously leading upto) but it would only make them stronger.

Let me know what you think!

As always, keep reading!