Hey everyone, just to pre-warn you that you may want to RE-READ THE LAST CHAPTER before reading this one, I made a few changes close to the end so some of this may confuse you until you read it. Sorry about that =/

Also I apologise for the ridiculously late update. Massive case of writers block unfortunately, and I've only just managed to power through it. I found this chapter pretty hard to write, and I think I re-wrote it about 4 times until I came up with this, just because it was so tricky trying to match it with the manga, especially when the parts I'm using haven't actually been written into shaman king itself, just briefly touched on in certain bits of the manga. It took quite a lot hunting down all the little snippets of information I felt I needed to follow the manga correctly, and shaman king wiki is my new best friend =D eventually I gave up being fussy and slapped this together, because it's not really fair to keep everyone waiting for so long, so if it sucks I apologise again.

On a different note, for the people who haven't already READ THE MANGA! Seriously guys, your missing out! It's all up there on , totally free! It's completely different to the anime once they get into patch village, especially with the ending, and if you got a bit confused with my manga references before, this is going to be even more confusing. So yeah, READ THE MANGA! If not for this fanfic, then just for the point that it's absolutely epic =D

Thanks everyone who have written reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me to hear from you guys, and if it wasn't for you all I probably would have given up on this fic looooooong ago lol.

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read. Enjoy! And if you don't enjoy... well then I suck don't I? .

Chapter 37 – The King Of Hell

Shinji lay boredly in front of the gates of hell, waiting for the person who was supposed to be meeting her. Matamune had left a while ago with a job of his own to do. Apparently there were a few souls in the spirit world that could help with their task, and he was going to round them up. She still felt a bit weird about the whole thing. Helping Hao by making him feel less alone seems a little strange. It made sense of course, but would it really be enough? She felt like there was a part of the plan missing, like there was one last thing that they needed for it to really work. She just couldn't work out what. She sighed and stared up at the bleak white space above her where a sky should be. By this time Hao should have reached the star sanctuary and began the ritual that granted him all the powers of a god. As if he wasn't strong enough already, his ego would be so much worse as king. She realised that she didn't really spend much time thinking about being out of the tournament before when she died. What would she do with her afterlife when this was all over? Well there was Hao of course, that is assuming he would want anything to do with her anymore. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, though her body had no actual weight. She wanted to see him more than anything, but she had other things she needed to do. Unfortunately, seeing Hao would have to wait. Okay, now she was thinking too much. Ever since she had died all she'd done was mope, It was time to stop whining and complaining about Hao and actually do something. Except she couldn't, she was still waiting for Sati.

She felt rather than saw someone approaching, and sat up to get a better view. It was a woman, quite tall with long red-brown hair, wearing an orange robe of sorts and a veil with a large gold crown atop her head. A large red dot centred her forehead, and she had a strangely peaceful air about her.

"Sati?" Shinji guessed, she couldn't think who else it might be.

The woman nodded and smiled. "Shinji Lemora, I presume?"

"Yep." Shinji replied, pushing herself to her feet. Stood to full height she realised Sati was a good head and a half taller than her, and she practically craned her neck looking up at the woman. She didn't realize how short she was until now. "So uh, how do we do this?"

Sati smiled, "I see you are in a hurry."

"Well you know, time is of the essence and all that." Shinji replied, bouncing on the balls of her feet impatiently.

As if on cue, the great doors to hell slowly swung open and a large red body filled the space between them. If she didn't know any better, Shinji would have presumed this was the devil. Large muscular body, thick black horns atop his head, and strangely, a thick black moustache above his lip. This was an Oni, not the biggest she had ever seen, but still fairly impressive size. It moved towards them, and dropped down on one knee in front of Sati.

"Lady Sati, I'm here to be your guide." He said a little gruffly, and Sati smiled.

"Thank you, Oh-oni." She replied calmly, and Shinji felt herself staring at her. It was pretty impressive, having an oni like the one in front of them serving Sati. Clearly this woman was more powerful than she looked. Sati turned to her then, "Well then, are you prepared to go in?"

Shinji nodded, and the two followed Oh-oni into hell, the gates silently closing on their own behind them. They walked in silence up several narrow passageways, their footsteps strangely echoing around them.

"So, you're the leader of the on Gandhara right?" Shinji asked curiously. Matamune had told her a little bit about the woman before they had actually met, but it would have felt weird not to have tried to get to know Sati on her own.

"I am a priestess of the Gandhara order, but of the Ganaharda here? I suppose I could be considered their leader." Sati replied, "We try to keep the peace as best we can. I am not a believer of violence, but unfortunately sometimes it is necessary."

"Well I guess that's what I'm here for then. The violent part." Shinji joked.

"I suppose that's one way to think of it." Sati smiled.

Oh Oni led them up a flight of weathered stone stairs to a large platform weakly lit by torchlight. All around them placed atop five cliffs were five large stone doors, each with the small kanji symbol of an element decorating the centre, and illuminated by a light. The doors for water and fire were left unlit, and Shinji presumed that was because she and Hao had already obtained the two spirits that were supposed to reside there. Shinji found herself thinking that it was a good thing Nindie was free to move as she pleased, if she had been cooped up in here like the other high spirits she would have gone insane.

She turned to Sati then, who seemed to be studying the doors curiously.

"So what do we do now? Just knock and see if anybody's home?" She asked the taller woman, but before she could get her answer, a huge body fell from above, crashing into the ground with so much force that Shinji felt the vibration run up her legs, and she was unsteady on her feet for a moment. Just as quickly as it fell, it stood up straight, towering over them at an almost impossible height. He had to be at least twice the size of Nindie in her spirit of rain form, and about five times as wide, dressed in traditional Japanese robes and a large crown atop his head. A large black beard seemed to cover most of his face, but two empty white eyes stared down at them angrily.

"I am Enma Daioh, King of hell. Leave now, puny spirits, if you wish to save your souls."

Oh Oni backed away quickly. He might have been seemed tough before, but here his power was minute in comparison to this much greater demons.

"You may leave, Oh Oni." Sati said, not talking her eyes of the huge guardian before her, "Thank you for leading us here."

"You people are crazy, but good luck to ya." He said, wasting no time on fleeing the scene back out the way they came.

Shinji turned her attention back to the king of hell and stepped forwards.

"Uh, hi. We just want to borrow the high spirits for the five warriors, just for a little while." She said with a smile. She doubted this would work, but it was worth a try.

"I cannot allow anyone access to the high spirits but the Shaman King." Replied Enma Daioh.

"Well, in a way we need them to save the Shaman King." Shinji said, though it didn't seem to convince the giant spirit for a second.

"No exceptions." He growled.

The water shaman frowned for a moment, then breathed in deeply and yelled, "HAO, LET ME BORROW THE HIGH SPIRITS PLEASE!"

Sati looked at Shinji in surprise, and the king of hell almost looked confused.

Shinji shrugged when there was no reply. "No one can say I didn't try."

Sati smiled, "That is true."

"Well then, I guess it's time to fight." She replied with a grin, already summoning the water into her palms and allowing it to slither up her arms, "Sati, you're good at those sutra chants right? Would you be able to seal this guy somewhere out of the way?"

"Yes, though he is quite large. It might take me some time." Sati replied.

"Guess I better keep him busy then."

"How dare you!" Boomed Enma Daioh, "I, the king of hell, cannot be sealed away by a pathetic human spirit. Die for your insolence!"

Shinji quickly lept out of the way as a huge hammer smashed down where she once stood, shattering rock and stone, and sending the fragments flying off in all directions. Sati stood safely behind a barrier, already beginning the chant that would trap Enma Daioh.

"I'm already dead you idiot." Shinji taunted with a laugh as the king of hell swung at her again. For a big guy he was pretty fast, and Shinji had to keep on her toes to avoid each hit, but she was doing a good job of distracting him from the real threat. Ah the the hammer smashed at the ground again she took the opportunity to freeze it to the ground, encasing it totally in ice. Enma roared in outrage as it slipped from his hand when he tried to lift it again. The water shaman swiftly moved behind him, freezing his legs solid and leaping away again. Enma grasped at the hammer, trying to wrench it from the ground, but as his hand touched the ice it bit at his skin, holding it in place with its frozen chill as it slowly crept up his arm. Shinji moved back and watched as the ice did the rest of her work for her. The ice moved up to his shoulder, and as he tried to knock it away with his other hand it caught hold and began working its way up that arm as well. The Ice on his legs had already moved up to his waist, and it was travelling faster now, covering his torso up to the neck and joining up with the ice from his arms until his whole body was almost covered. Enma shouted out one final scream of defiance as the ice covered his face, freezing his whole body completely and rendering him motionless.

Shinji grinned triumphantly, "Well that was surprisingly easy. I expected him to be tougher than that." She thought aloud as she slowly walked back to Sati. The older woman's face was pinched in concentration, but it looked like she was almost done with the chant, and then they could get the high spirits and be done with this. Shinji was looking forward to a break, all this fighting was fun, but the situation that came with it really wasn't. She wondered what Hao thought about travelling. Though he had probably already been everywhere and how much time would the shaman king have for other stuff? She didn't notice the sounds of cracking ice until a large chunk broke off and fell at her feet. Shinji stared at it for a moment, and then turned just as the ice encasing Enma Daioh shattered and his massive fist came down over her head. The king of hell shook the blood off of his hand and looked at the splattered mess on the ground with a laugh.

"Foolish spirit, the dead can still die." He said, before turning on Sati and giving her a mock smile, "Now it's your turn."

Sati glance briefly at the blood on the floor, then back up at the approaching Enma as he stepped over it and towards her, but she didn't stop chanting even for a second. Her eyes flickered back to the pool of blood as it started moving, shifting back into the form of Shinji. Enma didn't seem to notice, and pulled the hammer out from the ice and grinned menacingly at Sati as he lifted it above his head. Shinji pulled herself up and then shook herself all over.

"Ugh, that felt weird." She said, and Enma stopped in his tracks, confused. "Okay, I may have deserved that for being a little cocky, but you deserve this for crushing me." Shinji summoned a blade of ice, forming it around her hand, and then stabbed deep into the back of his heel with all of her strength. Enma howled in pain, stumbling around and falling to his knees for a moment. She moved quickly, throwing up her armour oversoul and shooting in the air. The tentacle arms of the oversoul latched onto the arms of the king of hell, and held him in place. "Any time now Sati." Shinji said, struggling to hold him down and forcing him still with more of her spectral limbs.

Sati began to glow a gold colour, and held out her staff with one hand while performing the hand signs with the other. With a burst of colour, and a final chant, the light shot out from her staff and surrounded Enma Daioh. Shinji released him quickly and flew back, she didn't want to accidentally get sealed away too. Less than a minute later and the massive form of the king of hell was gone, and the space looked a whole lot bigger.

"For a moment I thought you really were gone." Sati said with a smile.

Shinji released her armour oversoul and dropped to the ground, straightening up with a grin, "Like I said, you can't die when you're dead. At least not when you've got some strong will power. He should have known that too."

"I can imagine he's never fought anyone who had been able to get back up again." Sati replied, and Shinji shook her head.

"No, Hao beat him five hundred years ago. That's how he got the spirit of fire in the first place."

"And now Hao is the shaman king."

"Yeah, I bet Enma loves that," Shinji laughed, "Though he's going to love what we do even more."

Sati chuckled slightly, and the two moved towards the closest door, the one that held the spirit of earth. Shinji wondered how they would open it for a moment, there was no handle, and the door seemed huge and impossible to move, but just like with the gates of hell, as her fingertips brushed the door it swung open. The spirit of earth sat silently in its room, motionless as sati approached. Shinji waited by the door and watched curiously as the older woman stopped in front of the colossal spirit. Its huge head turned towards her slowly, and looked down at her with large yellow eyes.

"We need your help. Will you come with us?" Sati said, holding out her hand to the huge spirit.

The spirit of earth seemed to think for a moment, and then glanced over at Shinji, holding her gaze. Then it nodded, and faded away in the usual ghostly fashion.

The same thing happened with the two remaining high spirits, following Shinji and Sati with silent agreement, and they made their way out of hell with ease. As the gates shut behind them they stopped, and Sati turned to the water spirit.

"Thank you, Shinji, for your help."

Shinji smiled, "That's alright, I'm just glad I was actually able to do something. Being dead wasn't exactly part of my plan."

"There is still time to revive you, when I return to earth I can bring you back to life if you want me to." Sati offered, but Shinji shook her head.

"Thanks, but I don't think there's much point now. Hao's about to be king, Horohoro needs Nindie, there's no real need for me anymore. Besides, I kinda want to go and see him. Hao I mean, not Horohoro.." The water shaman laughed, "It just seems easier if I'm still all ghosty and transparent. I won't have to walk."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be better to wait in the spirit world?"

"Nah, I'd get bored. Besides, I'm curious about this whole shaman king ritual thing. I won't get the chance to check it out for another five hundred years if I miss it."

"Alright. Would you like me to send you to the star sanctuary?" Sati offered, holding out her staff, "It would be no trouble."

Shinji grinned, "Ah awesome, thanks! Honestly I wasn't really all that sure how I was going to get there."

Sati smiled and a moment later with a few words, her staff glowed a bright gold, and Shinji felt had to cover her eyes against the bright light that surrounded her.

"Goodbye, Shinji. We will meet again soon."

As the light slowly faded around her Shinji peered around at her new surroundings. Sati was gone, and Shinji felt a little bad for not thanking her properly. After all, everything they did together was for Hao, in a roundabout way at least. The bleak barren land of hells gate was gone, replaced by a hot planetarium surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, and the ruins of an old civilisation. The light of the great spirits shone in the air like a beacon, filling the area with supernatural light. Shinji looked around cautiously for any of the patch officials that might be guarding this place, and allowed her body to fade into invisibility. She might not have considered the patch as a threat before, but here they had to protect the shaman king, and everyone was considered a threat. It was best to try and keep out of their way for now. Shinji followed the huge flight of stairs upwards towards the great spirits, moving slower than she was really capable as a spirit. For some reason she felt nervous, and although there were several reasons for it, she couldn't quite pin it down to exactly why she felt that way. Perhaps she was just being cautious. As she reached close to the top she avoided a skull that had carelessly been abandoned on the stairs, and a shiver ran down her spine. Even a half crushed like that one skill managed to creep her out. She could see Hao now, just a little way ahead of her sat atop a stone throne under a large arch, and surrounded by foliage. She almost laughed as she got closer, and became visible again without even realising it. Even when gaining the almighty powers of the shaman king, Hao just had to sit around topless.

Still, looking down at Hao was the strangest thing to her. It was like looking at a totally different person, and she realized that without his spirit inside of it, the shell of his body changed completely. Somehow he felt like a stranger to her, but at the same time not. The body had his hair and his shape, but he seemed smaller somehow, and all sense of power was gone. This was the body of a sixteen year old boy, and without the inhabitancy of the thousand year old spirit, that's all it was. This wasn't Hao, just the body he had cast away. Shinji wasn't sure why she felt so shocked to realize this, because it was obvious all along when she had already seen Hao's previous form from five hundred years ago. Without realising it, his physical form meant nothing to her, and in a way that made her sad. She came back to earth to see him, but he wasn't really there. This time, she was the one left alone. It all just seemed so anticlimactic.

"What are you doing here?" Goldva cried, only just realising that the ghost girl had appeared at all, "I will not allow you to interfere with the ritual!"

Shinji sighed, silently cursing herself and turned to the old woman, "Relax Goldva, I'm not going to do anything. I just wanted to see him."

"The Shaman King is bound to the spirit world, being here will only distract his soul from attaining power. You must leave. Now." Goldva replied, and a large spirit oversoul towered over her, its face covered by an imposing mask shaped like a birds face. "I will send you back to the spirit world where you belong."

The old woman began to chant, and the large spirit leaned down, reaching out to grab Shinji up in its hand, but something threw the spirit back with so much force it flew across the sanctuary. As it crashed into the wall the dome seemed to shake. Goldva's voice stopped mid sentence, and she grabbed at her own throat, gasping and wheezing as she fell to her knees.

"S-shaman King-sama." She croaked, staring with wide, petrified eyes behind Shinji.

A hand grabbed Shinji's writs, firm and solid, and cold. A living persons hand shouldn't be that cold. A living persons hand shouldn't be able to hold her like that at all. Shinji turned slowly, already terrified at what she was going to find. Two dead eyes stared at her from a face that should be Hao's, and she felt her soul go numb with fear. He was dead. His body was dead, and it was moving. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He held her gaze, seeming to study her for a moment. Those brown eyes she loved were frozen now, twisted into something empty and hollow; even when they didn't like each other they had never been so cold. His other hand came up to gently touch the side of her face, and she flinched slightly.

"You have nothing to be afraid of." His body said, and he released her arm and stepping away from her. Shinji fell to her knees harder than her weightless body should have been capable of.

"You on the other hand..." He said to the old woman, watching with a cruel smile on his face as she choked and gasped, her face turning slightly blue.

It took a moment for Shinji to realize that Hao was suffocating Goldva somehow, even though there was a good ten feet between them, and his body had barely moved from Shinji's side. If she didn't do something Goldva was going to die. But she was petrified, even after defeating the Jiang Shi, even after Hao had tried to reassure her she was alright, and even without a body of her own, corpses terrified her. But this was Hao. Even if he wasn't inhabiting his body, his soul was still controlling it from the spirit world. She had nothing to be afraid of.

"S-stop it!" Shinji cried, throwing herself in front of him, and blocking his view of the woman on the floor. Goldva sucked in air almost instantly, wheezing and coughing loudly behind her. Shinji stood her ground, though her legs trembled and her eyes were captured by soulless dark pupils.

"What are you doing here, Shinji?"

"I came to see you." She answered.

"You should have waited for me in the spirit world."

"I'm not good at waiting."

They both stared silently at each other, and although Shinji was still afraid, she felt her confidence growing. Both were aware of Goldva escaping on her giant spirit in the background, though now that he was king, there would be no escape from Hao.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" He asked.

"You know I can't do anything this way." She replied, hoping he hadn't noticed the slight twisting of words, though with his mind reading he probably did.

"I'm going to send you back to the spirit world. You won't want to see what I'm about to do next."

Her eyes went wide, but before she could ask what he was planning, she felt her spirit being forcibly thrown back into the spirit world. She looked around at the drab white space and sighed, silently hoping that Yoh and his friends would be okay.

Well that's that for now. SO CLOSE TO THE END! Makes me sad =[ On the plus side I'm going to confirm now that there will be a sequel that I've actually had planned out for a while now, and I can't wait to start writing it =D Once I finish polishing up some of the old chapters of this story, and actually finished it of course =] Also if there's any mistakes (which there will be since I rushed a lot to get this done in the end) please PM me so I can fix them!

Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW! I promise I won't leave you all hanging for absolutely months on end again! It would be cruel this close to the end =] ... ='[