Ash flew over the empty roads and fields. They were surprisingly empty, but he guessed a lot of people had migrated to the capital to watch the sacrifice…Eiji's sacrifice. Gritting his teeth Ash flew faster. He couldn't think of that now. He needed to focus on his destination: Eiji's hometown. Ash never really realized how far it was from the capital. Even traveling as fast as he could it was midmorning by the time he arrives.

Up ahead his temple stood alone on the hill, a sight that usually made his heartbeat in excited. Today it left him feeling empty. Eiji wasn't there. He was back at the capital being carried towards his death. Ash picked up speed and landed lightly in front of the temple entrance.

Looking inside he saw Sing stand next to the altar, feeding wheat to the sacred flame. He was surrounded by a years' worth of wheat bundles that covered most of the temple floor. Every minute or so he would throw another one in before tossing in a pinch of salt and closing his eyes in prayer.

Ash took a deep breath and closed his own eyes. It was time to start his plan. The first thing he needed to do was to talk to Sing. To do this he would have to become a human.

Concentrated on his appearance Ash slowly allowed mortality to enter his core. A tingling sensation spread out from his chest through his limbs until even his fingers and toes tingled. He felt himself drift back to the ground, no longer able to float. He tried to ignore the horrible pressure in his chest as gravity took its toll. Ash never understood how humans could run around when gravity seemed to want to throw them on the ground. Eiji always made it look easy.

After a few moments, Ash got his bearings and adjusted to the gravitational pull enough to tolerate it. He opened his eyes, ignoring the emptiness he felt without his powers. Dimly he was still aware of the sacrifices that were happening in front of him, but they made no impact on his being.

"Alright," Ash muttered to himself as he took a clumsy step into the temple.

If he had done it right he should look how Eiji usually saw him, a young nineteen- or twenty-year-old. He thought it would be best to look younger. Sometimes humans associated age with wisdom but since he was talking to Sing he thought it better to look around Eiji's age. Sing was suspicious of adults and Ash doubted Eiji's predicament helped that.

Ash approached Sing until he was standing right next to him. The young man was too caught up in his pleas to notice anything at all. Up close Ash could see the tears that streamed down Sing's face as his mouth worked in feverous prayer. His hands trembled and his eyes were shut tight against the world. Ash took a moment to decided how to do this. He only had one chance. If he messed it up Sing wouldn't believe him.

Even if Sing was a good person and someone Eiji trusted he was still humans. All humans were critical creatures at the worst time. Suspicion and anger made their brains even less dissectible to the truth. If Sing at all doubted who he said he was, then everything was pointless. Ash could only hope that Sing's fear and pain made him want to see Ash.

"Sing," Ash said in a low voice. Sing jumped away and, tripping over a bundle of wheat, crashing to the floor. Struggling back up he glared at Ash. It was strange to have Sing's eyes staring directly into his face. He had gotten used to his eyes passing over him.

"Who are you?" Sing's voice was harsh and raspy after so much crying. "You're too young to be a traveler." He looked Ash up and down. "Are you from a nearby town? Sorry, but you can't sacrifice anything right now. I'm busy."

"I'm not here to make a sacrifice. I'm here to talk to you."

"Talk to me later then." Sing turned away and picked up another wheat bundle. "As I said, I'm busy."

That's not going to work." Ash said softly. "Wheat isn't enough to save him." Sing froze, his eyes narrowed.

"So, you've talked to the villagers then?" He threw the wheat in and turned on Ash fiercely. It would have been an intimidating gesture if Sing didn't only come up to Ash's chest.

"Did they tell you that we were 'angering' Ash by pleading for Eiji's life?" His voice rose in fury. "How did you get past Yumi and Mrs. Okumura? They were supposed to stop anyone from coming here."

"I didn't pass through the village."

"Ah, I see, you snuck around them. I suppose you'll going to try to stop me?" He drew his lips back in a snarl. "I dare you to try. I'll fight you until my last breath."

Ash didn't say anything. Sing's protectiveness of Eiji was touching. Ash had forgotten in his and Eiji's sufferings that others loved Eiji as well. He made a mental note to bless Sing's fields when all of this was done. Sing must have taken Ash's silence as a confrontation because he got into a fighting stance.

"I'm not here to fight," Ash said quickly. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh? So, you think you can convince me that Eiji needs to die?" Sing spat "You people are disgusting. Do you think it's comforting to tell us that Eiji's death is for the good of the country or that Ash wants Eiji to die?" A shiver rippled through him. "It's not. It just hurts more."

"I don't want Eiji to die. I would never ask for Eiji's blood. I don't want any human blood." Ash regretted his words the second it came out of his mouth. It was too soon. A closed look passed over Sing's face.

"You don't want Eiji to die? What are you talking about? Do you think you're Ash or something?" Suspicion, Sing was suspicious of Ash. That wasn't good. With no way to salvage the situation, Ash plowed ahead.

"Yes, I'm Ash the god of the sun, moon, and fire."

Sing's expression darkened father and Ash's heart sank. He had messed up. Sing wasn't ready to hear that truth yet. He had wanted to take this conversation delicately but it was difficult since every second he wasted arguing was a second he wasn't with Eiji. Ash fished around trying to find a way to fix this.

"You called on me with your wheat sacrifices. You wanted me to appear before you. To explain my reasoning."

It wasn't exactly true, Sing never technically actually asked for Ash's appearance but he did ask for Ash to answer his prayers. Humans liked it when their prayers were answered in person. It might make him happy enough to start believing.

"Really, so I was able to call you here?" Sing crossed his arms. "I've prayed to your all my life. Why haven't you appeared before?" Doubt was added to Sing's suspicions, another layer that Ash had to breakthrough. Ash glanced through the window. The sun was still steadily rising. He was running out of time.

He couldn't perform a miracle in human form so he would have to rely on information. As a god, he was with people even if they didn't see him. That means he knew things that no one else could know unless they had been there.

"Look, I'll prove it to you." Ash said quickly, "Remember last year when the Okumura's horse was stolen and mysteriously reappeared? It was you who got it back. You traded your pocketknife for it. It hurt you to do so since the knife was the last thing your mother gave to you right before she died. After the trade, you brought the horseback but never told anyone what you did since you knew Eiji would feel guilty."

Sing's face twisted in confusion. "How did you know that? Were you one of the bandits?" he paused. "No, because you also knew about the knife…I never told anyone…."

Ash held his breath. Sing was trying to find an excuse to not believe Ash but was struggling. The facts were very clearly in place. Ash knew too much information about Sing. If he was a bandit he wouldn't know about the history of the knife. If he wasn't a bandit then he wouldn't have known about the horses. Of course, if Sing really wanted to, he could continue to not believe Ash. When did humans ever really care about the truth? Luckily Sing seemed to want to see Ash after all. The closed look fell away from his face and he stared at Ash.

"If you knew all of that then you must have been there watching…" Sing's eyes widened. "You're really Ash, aren't you? You actually came."

Ash let out his breath. Sing had done it. He had seen and believed Ash; a task that hundreds of humans had failed to do.

Before Ash could feel too relieved however Sing darted forward swinging his fist. If Ash was in his immortal form he could avoid it easily. Since he was in mortal form however all he could do was clumsily staggered back as Sing's fist made contact with his face. It hit him squarely in the nose and mouth. A resounding crack filled the air as pain erupted from Ash's broken nose. He hissed as he collapsed on the ground, gravity leaving his sprawled.

For a small person Sing was strong. It made sense, after all, he had spent his whole life in the fields. Ash had never stopped to consider this. Now as he lay there his nose bleeding and light dancing before he realized that he never thought much about human strength in general.

"What was that for?" Ash demanded wincing as he gingerly touched his broken nose. He didn't think revealing himself to Sing meant he would get punched. That wasn't the usual response to a god appearing in front of a human.

"That was for Eiji!" Sing hissed stepping forward. Ash hastily scooted out of arm's length wishing he could use the wheat sacrifices to heal himself.

"You sent him to die!" Sing yelled "You took him from his home and family. You treated him like his life meant nothing at all! Do you know how terrified he must be?" Sing's eyes burned with hatred and anger. "He's at your temple about to die. He's…he's…" his anger faded replaced by sorrow. "He's all alone…he's going to die…." Sing trembled before sinking to the ground, tears pricking at his eyes. "Why Eiji? Why couldn't you choose anyone else?"

Ash watched him for a couple of seconds trying to catch his breath. He understood Sing's anger now though he wished he would listen before resorting to violence. Tentatively Ash staggered to his feet.

"Listen." He said as commandingly as he could. Sing looked up at him and his expression froze.

"I hit you." Sing muttered as if he just realized this. "I hit a god." He swore loudly and sunk his head to the ground. "I'm sorry. Please don't take this out on anyone else…" he gulped "Strike me down if you want to but please…spare Eiji."

"Sing, look, I didn't choose Eiji to die." Ash said softly "I told you I don't want human blood."

"That's not what your Hiereus said." Sing said looking up at him. Ash could see his anger and fear fighting against one another.

"They decided by themselves."

"Then what about the dreams?" Sing asked almost accusatory. "You practically told them to speed it up!" It seemed that his temper was winning against his fear because he balled his fists at Ash.

"No, I showed them bad things happening if Eiji died." Ash snapped his temper rising as well. "Do you think I haven't been fighting them? They don't listen!"

"If that's true then why did you bless Eiji? We all noticed that his fires never went out and his wheat grew strong. You were raising him for the slaughter!" Sing was yelling again, the sound vibrating around the small temple. "You were preparing him to be a sacrifice."

"No," Ash said angrily. "That wasn't my intention. I gave Eiji anything he wanted but not for that reason."

"Right." Sing sneered. "I'm sure that this is just a coincidence. Your own Hierues who have spoken your word for years are suddenly wrong. Forgive me but I find that hair to be-"

"Enough."

Something in his tone made Sing close his mouth. His face paled, his fear returning in full force. Ash bent down next to him, so their faces were level. He knew he was scaring Sing, but he didn't care. Eiji's death was approaching, and he needed a human to listen to him for once.

"Listen carefully." Ash hissed. "Every moment you waste tell ME what MY motives are is a moment wasted. If you want to save Eiji be quiet and stop questioning everything." Sing nodded mutely "Yes I blessed Eiji, but it wasn't because I wanted him to die. I did it because….."

Ash paused. It didn't feel right to explain their relationship when Eiji wasn't here. The ideal situation would be Eiji secretly telling his family and friends in the comfort of his home. Even so, he owed Sing an explanation and he was running out of time.

"Eiji is my boyfriend."

Sing's mouth fell open in shock. "You're his boyfriend? Wait." Ash could see the wheels working in his mind. "You're the one he's been seeing? He's dating a god… but…. wait. How can that be when he can't even see you?"

"He can see me, but I told him to keep it a secret. Believe me, I would never hurt him. I love him." Saying it out loud to a mortal was really embarrassing. He had said it easily to Shorter or Blanca, or even Eiji himself but it felt different telling Sing.

"I see." Sing's face relaxed as he got slowly to his feet. "There's still something I don't understand though. If you don't want Eiji to die then why haven't you stop the sacrifice?"

"I can't." Ash said, "Or at least not with wheat offerings alone."

"We have pigs and sheep at my house." Sing said starting to turn towards the door. "So does Eiji's family. We'll bring all of them here."

"No." Ash caught his arm. "It needs to be stronger than that. If I do a miracle they'll think I approve of the sacrifice."

"Some stronger?" All the color left Sing's face. "Oh, you want me to…" he looked over at the sacrificial fire.

"No." Ash let him go. "I need your blood but not lifeblood." He held up his hand. "Cut your arm and let it bleed."

"And that will save Eiji?"

"Not alone. We'll need a lot of blood. I need you to go to your village and convince as many people as you can to come here and give blood."

"Right ok," Sing said newly motivated. "We need to get moving then."

"You need to go by yourself." Ash turned and headed to the doorway. "I have to return to the capital." He had been away from Eiji for too long. Eiji was probably starting to think he'd been abandoned to die alone.

"What? Wait!" Sing stammered grabbing his arm. "You can't just leave me! The villagers won't believe me by myself!"

"They'll believe you less if I was there."

"But you're a god!"

"And that makes it harder. Think how long it took me to convince you. Humans only see what they want to see. If you go run into town claiming to have seen a vision, some of them will believe you. You've been sacrificing wheat all day. It makes sense that you might have been given a sacred message. If I was with you they'd think I tricked you somehow."

"Fine." Sing mouth formed a line. "What should I say I saw in my 'vision'?"

"Tell them you saw a young man die and the sky rain down tongues of flame upon the country. Get as graphic as you want."

"That sounds like a very terrifying vision." Sing said skeptically. "Isn't it too much?"

"Not at all." Ash said his voice becoming cold "If Eiji dies that's exactly what's going to happen to this country."

"Oh."

Ash glanced back at him. "One more thing, if sky fills with dark clouds at noon know that I had failed. Make sure that Eiji's family, your family, and the townspeople who helped are safe within these temple walls. I will spare you from a fiery grave. Your wheat will continue to grow, and you will be permitted to live on this land while everyone else parishes." Ash's gaze softened slightly "If the skies remain clear, however, know that Eiji lives. He will return to you."

Sing nodded again seriously, his eyes aflame with the task ahead. He bowed quickly to Ash before running off. Ash watched him go. Once he was out of sigh Ash released the power trapped inside him. Instantly the pull of gravity ceased, and he floated up a couple of feet. His bruised and bloodied face healed instantly, and he gave a small sigh of relief. It felt good to be a god again. Ash glanced up at the sky and was shocked to see how far the sun had moved.

That had taken longer than he thought it would. He didn't have a lot of time to return, and Sing had even less time. Ash rose into the air and started his journey back. He did all he could do at this moment. Now it was up to Sing.

He was halfway back to the capital when he felt the first blood fall into the sacred fire. With it, he felt Sing, Yumi, her mother, and others' cries and pleas. The amount wasn't a lot and didn't do much more than a wheat sacrifice, but it was still different. The power that coursed through him was hungry. It knew how to interact with the human world if there was enough of it. It wanted to burn something.

Ash raised his head and looked into the distance. The capital city was ahead. He would soon be arriving. All that was left was to find a way to use this power to free Eiji before the High Hiereus cut his life short. Ash hoped there would be enough time.