Author Note: YAY :D 100,000 words! Okay so if you DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS don't read this: I am introducing a new anatgonist in this Chapter and they will become more of an atagonist than Sayuri is in future Chapters :D so yes it shall get interesting!

Chapter XIV.

The Child

"I retrieved the Shen-Gong Wu just like you asked," Sasha began, placing the artifact down on the ground before Sayuri and her rift generator, "So show me where you're keeping her!"

"Not just yet," Sayuri replied coldly, "You've yet to prove yourself…"

By the time Jack returned to the temple, it was the middle of the night. He had no idea who was still there or even who was still awake. And truthfully, he didn't bother to find out. He climbed on to the roof of the residential quarter of the temple and placed the box down next to him. He lifted one of the bottles and began to examine it.

"What do you have there?" Neviaan asked, leaning down to see what Jack had.

"Neviaan!" Jack exclaimed, dropping the bottle in the process, "NO!" Jack shouted as he watched the small glass bottle quickly roll down the roof and shatter on to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Neviaan replied, obviously not sorry.

"Oh no!" Jack grumbled, leaping off of the roof and down on to the ground. But surprisingly Jack did not find the blue liquid dispersed across the ground, rather a small blue stone where the liquid should have been, "It…it transformed?" Jack whispered quietly to himself.

"Like I asked before…" Neviaan began, raising his eyebrow, "What is it?"

"It's the life seed…" Jack replied, rolling the small stone in between his fingers, "But I don't understand…why is it a stone?"

"You didn't think something like the life seed would come in the form of just a seed did you?" Adinya began, walking towards the boys.

"What are you doing here?" Jack demanded, clutching the blue stone in his hand, "You should be with the others looking for the weapons of the aspects!"

"Change of plans…" Adinya laughed cynically as she lifted the lantern in her hand up to her face, "You're going to hand that box over to me and the stone in your hand while you're at it…"

"What's gotten into you?" Neviaan hissed, stepping towards her, but Jack extended his arm outwards before Neviaan could get any closer.

"That's not Adinya," Jack replied quietly.

"Excuse me," Adinya snapped.

"She's got a mole…" Jack replied darkly, "Under her left eye…you don't…"

"I hate brats like you Jack…" Adinya spoke, however it wasn't Adinya's voice that came out of the being's mouth, "Too damn perceptive." It replied as it brushed it's finger under it's left eye, placing the missing mole beneath it, "Is that better?"

"What the hell is that!" Neviaan exclaimed, backing away from the pseudo-Adinya.

"It's a shade," Jack hissed, "Isn't that right Fayte? Too bad that your plan didn't fall through, but honestly you should really study the subject you're going to impersonate before actually following through with it, not to mention your acting needs some work too."

"Is that so?" Fayte replied, changing back into Fayte, "Although you didn't think I was dumb enough to come alone? You must have anticipated that too?"

"Wha-" Jack shouted, as a mass of liquid flew out of the nearby koi pond, almost as though it was alive and engulfed Jack's body.

"Let him go!" Neviaan exclaimed, lunging towards the mass of water, but before it could get any closer, it dropped to the ground into nothing but a puddle, releasing Jack. However, the water then began to move across the ground quickly, moving behind Neviaan and engulfing him in a mass of water. However it didn't take long for the blob of liquid to take a form, and soon the image of Umi was behind Neviaan and restraining the vampire before he could do anything else.

"I think I understand now," Jack began, looking to Umi and to Fayte, "You can't survive in our world and your bodies are mutating…but tell me Heiba how do I know that…"

"Who cares how you know it," Fayte scoffed, "The point is you're right. It won't be much longer for us in this world in these humanoid forms. We'll be needing the life seed to fix that which is lost to us."

"Why do you want to become human!" Neviaan hissed, "I thought you wanted to destroy all humans not become them!"

"Sayuri wants to conquer this world…" Umi replied gravely, releasing Neviaan and slithering back towards Fayte, "The rest of us came alone only because Sayuri promised us what we can't have…"

"Unless we use that," Fayte replied with a wicked smile as he pointed to Jack's hand and the stone, "So hand it over-"

It was at that moment Fayte grew silent, obviously spotting something out in the distance. His expression suddenly changed and he began to advance towards whatever it was his eyes were fixed upon.

"Where'd she come from?" Umi stated in monotone as his eyes too fell upon the apparition that Fayte had spotted in the distance. Jack and Neviaan then turned to see what the two shade were staring at. It appeared to be a little girl, but it looked as though she was covered head to toe in black ink, and her eyes were a pale and dusty violet colour. Also, from what they could tell, the monstrous child had no hair, and was unclothed.

"Is it a shade?" Neviaan asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe?" Jack replied, looking into the face of the creature.

"Let's go," Fayte replied quietly and with a dire expression. He summoned a black vortex and he and Umi disappeared in the darkness.

"That was weird," Neviaan replied, turning to Jack. But Jack paid no attention to him. He turned away from Neviaan and looked the girl straight in the eyes.

"Hey!" Jack shouted, stepping closer towards the girl, "how'd you get here! Who are you!"

"Jack I wouldn't go near it-" Neviaan began, but it was too late. Jack had taken off after the little monster girl, who immediately began running away from him.

"Hey! Get back here!" Jack shouted, following her through the courtyards and corridors of the temple (in the process, waking up every inhabitant of the temple).

"Yeah Jack…" Neviaan replied, rolling his eyes as the temple began to buzz and stir with confusion, "That's a great way to get your questions answered…chase after people screaming…"

"Hey kid!" Jack shouted, as the girl began rushing through the main courtyard of the temple, "I said stop running!" He shouted, leaping on top of the child.

"Get away from me!" She screamed, thrashing her arms around at Jack.

"Stop that!" Jack shouted, straddling his legs over the girl and holding her arms down, "Now who are you! What are you! How did you get here!"

"Stop!" The girl cried as the inky black shell melted away from her body almost as though she was covered in dirt and someone had sprayed her down with a hose. After this, Jack immediately let the screaming, crying, and hysterical child go and leapt away from her body as though she had the plague. He probably did this because the child was completely naked underneath her black shell, "Leave me alone!" She shrieked as she curled up into the fetal position on the ground.

"What is she?" Neviaan asked, running up to Jack and the girl. The residence of the temple were also awake at this point and were heading towards the commotion amidst the courtyard.

"I have no idea!" Jack quivered, clearly not expecting the creature to turn into a small naked female. Jack looked around him and noticed many of the residence looking at the scene with shock, confusion, and slight disgust. The crowd then began to whisper, looking from Jack, to the crying, naked girl on the ground that he was just previously on top of, "IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Jack exclaimed, waving his hands back in fourth in a panic.

"I want my big brother!" She screamed, laying down upon the filthy ground, "I want to go home!"

"Out of the way!" Adinya demanded, pushing through the crowd of people surrounding Jack, Neviaan, and the girl. Adinya knelt down on to the ground next to her and placed her hand on the child's face, "Hush now…" Adinya stated calmly, taking off one of her many black robes and draping it around the child.

"T-thank y-you," The girl sobbed as she propped herself up to look at Adinya. The child was no older than ten, with pale skin, vivid violet eyes, and long ebony hair that was revealed after the creature's transformation.

"There," Adinya smiled warmly as she wiped away some of the dirt and tears from the girl's face, "You're alright…Jack!" Adinya snapped, turning from the girl to him.

"What," Jack grumbled, feeling as though he was in trouble or about to receive a lecture.

"What have you done to this poor child!" Adinya hissed as she held the girl in her arms.

"I didn't do anything!" Jack shouted, quick to clear his own name, "Ten minuets ago she wasn't even a she! She was an it! Adinya that's no ordinary girl! She's a shade and we should get rid of her as soon as possible!"

"Fuck off," Adinya snapped. Jack was slightly taken aback by her response, seeing as how Adinya was so lucid and didn't normally use such vocabulary. Adinya then lifted the girl up into her arms and carried her away. But before Adinya disappeared into the temple, she turned back to the crowd, "Go back to your chambers…there's nothing to see here…"

"Neviaan," Jack growled, pulling the vampire by the sleeve as he attempted to make his way back to his dormitory along with the other residence of the temple, "You know as well as I do that that little girl is not human! Don't you think it's odd that Adinya's jumping to this kid's defense!"

"Frankly I think you should take Adinya's advice," Neviaan replied, casually brushing Jack's hand off of his arm, "and Fuck off…" he concluded, walking away from Jack.

"Oh thanks Neviaan," Jack shouted as the vampire began to walk away, "Yeah I knew I could count on you!"

"No!" Chase gasped, as he bolted upright in his bed. He was cold and clammy as he began looking around his room, like a child looks around theirs for any sign of a monster after having a nightmare. It was at that moment Chase realized that he was not in his own room or even his home (which did not surprise him at first considering he ran away).

The room was sizable, comfortable, quiet, and calm. There was a hardwood floor which was surprisingly cold when Chase placed his feet on to the ground. The walls were a light sage green colour and most of the furniture was white, including the bed that Chase was sitting on. Overall, the atmosphere was calming, but that didn't make it any more familiar.

"You gave me quite a scare there young man," An old woman began as she glided into the room. She looked as though she was nearly seventy, with her silvery gray hair pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a old crimson gown with a white lace shawl draped over her shoulders, with her gentle green eyes hiding behind a pair of half-moon spectacles.

"Forgive me," Chase replied, suddenly realizing that he was almost completely unclothed. He then noticed the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and torso. They were slightly bloody and he was possibly in need of a change, but it was apparent to this woman that she had aided him in some way, "…Thank you for tending to my wounds…How long have I been asleep?"

"About a day," The old woman smiled, placing a white wooden chair next to Chase's bedside. She then placed her hands on his shoulders and gestured him to lay back down, "But that doesn't mean you no longer need rest…"

"Thank you Miss-" Chase began, soon realizing that he also did not know this woman's name.

"Marina," She replied with a smile. Chase gave her a weak smile back as he stared up at the white ceiling, "You were calling out for your mother in your sleep." Marina stated after several moments of silence, "Something terrible must have happened to her…or to you?"

"No," Chase replied, "I let something horrible happen to her…"

"I'm so sorry," Marina replied gently, "You were also calling out several other names. Sasha, Lycoris, and Amy. Are those women important to you?"

"Sasha and Lycoris are my sisters," Chase stated, still looking into the ceiling.

"And who's Amy?" Marina replied, trying to read him, "A friend? A Lover?"

"Both," Chase replied flatly.

"I figured as much," Marina replied.

"If I may ask," Chase began, propping himself up to look at Marina at eye level, "But how did I get here…and where is here?"

"Where here is…" Marina replied with a smile, "I can not say. As for how you arrived here, you were attacked by two men in strange dark clothing. Their names were Zetsumei and Fayte. I found you barely alive…so I brought you to my home to tend to your injuries."

"I see," Chase replied quietly looking into space.

"It's funny," Marina replied, "to be pursued by two people essentially named Death and Fate…A little ironic don't you think?"

"A little," Chase replied, still staring into space.

"I can see that you've been through much," Marina replied, rising to her feet and placing a withered but warm hand on Chase's face. "I shall leave you to collect your thoughts…but I'll be back soon! I wouldn't want your wounds to get infected." She smiled before closing the door behind her as she left the room.

Who are you? Chase thought as he stared at the door intently after the mysterious old woman had left.