Once the craziness of the day faded into night finally lulled, Izo could not sleep. He was exhausted from his fight with Yusuke, but every time he closed his eyes in his tent, he saw his 'uncle's' face, worse and more bloodied than it had been in real life. He did that... He wanted to do it, and even more than he had... It scared him that he wanted to that. If that did not invade his thoughts, than it was the image of Mother looking shocked at his actions. He had not been able to help it...

He turned over in his sleeping bag, sitting up. He looked over at Prince Takashi, who slept in his own sleeping bag. He snored oblivious to everything, smiling in his sleep. Izo felt jealous of his contentment, his engagement to Sister.

He thought over what happened over his fight with his uncle. How he wanted to run to Mother in panic over what he did to his uncle. He held himself back from that, especially right after Maeshu declared him an acceptable representative for Sister up North.

How Sister shared her sudden, but engagement to the prince. The king and queen arriving. The chilling looking dark crone with them that gave him the creeps. Father kept his distance from her, hovering around Mother protectively. It was an exhausting day with too much going on. So now he had no shot at sleeping.

'Come here,' he heard Father's voice in his head, followed by a flash of an area near his tent in his mind.

Izo kicked his way out of his sleeping bag, leaving the tent, not forgetting to zip it up for the prince not to get too cold. The tent was too hot for Izo, but the prince had commented it was chilly in there before he went to sleep.

Izo wandered out, walking silently around the camp, which now included the king and queen's glamping tent that more resembled a yurt. Near by their's was the dark crone's tent. Izo gave that one a wider berth, hardly able to imagine why the hairs on the back of his neck stood up being near her.

As he passed around the back of the dark crone tent, he glanced over out at the copse of trees nearby. That was where Father showed him to go.

"Hn," he heard a familiar voice grunt in the tree. Out of a pine tree, jumped Father. "Took you long enough," he commented.

Izo's eyes were trained on the dark crone's tent. "What's stopping you from killing her?" he deadpanned.

"She convinced Nanashi to put her under her protection," Father growled out. "She'll be honor bound to protect or avenge her."

"Maybe she'll freeze to death," Izo commented, agreeing with Father's sentiment. They idea that she wanted to harvest Mother left a bad taste in his mouth. He summoned up his ice dragon subconsciously. The dark crone might not be used to the cold...

"Put that away, you use it too often," Father instructed. Izo clicked his teeth, summoning away his ice dragon. "You'll still be up here when we leave, since you felt the need to insist on that. Keep your distance from her. She knows you're quarter angelic and will be interested in you."

Izo crossed his arms over his chest. "Would you have preferred to stay up here? Mother wouldn't thrive. Kaze might not either. He's too angelic. Time was of the essence, so I volunteered."

"Why?" Father pressed.

Izo kept his mouth tight lipped. If he shared about his dream telling him to volunteer, he would have to reveal everything else about the Great Hawk Spirit. "I couldn't think of anyone else in the heat of the moment who they would accept."

"Well, you got what wanted. You made sure of that," Father added, a bit tensely. "What happened in your fight with Yusuke? You lost control in the end."

Izo shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "I... I wanted to win. I'm better suited to stay up here that he is."

"Your eyes turned black when you punched him repeatedly in the face. The blackness disappeared when you looked up over at Nanashi," Hiei revealed.

Izo paled. That was the moment he knew he had lost control, the moment that kept him from sleeping earlier in that night. He did not voice that though.

Father continued. "Your sister is demon through and through, that's for certain. Your brother certainly has angelic traits showing, but you're different. I thought at first it was a mix of elvish and demonic with a dash of human, but now it seems like angelic has already been hiding under the surface. this whole time."

"What does it matter?" Izo asked, worried Father would get at his dreams.

"It matter if you are up here and risk falling," Father warned him.

"Falling?" Izo asked, standing steady on his two feet.

"A fallen angel. There haven't been any for centuries as few angels like your grandfather stay in the mortal world after being sent here by the Great Hawk Spirit," Father explained. "And he didn't have a choice in the matter. He never fell, but your mother almost did once when she was possessed by an evil spirit. Angels who sin too often become evil and go on murderous rampages against those whom they perversely see as sinners. They had to be killed, which was the only way to stop them." Izo kept silent, not sure how to respond. "A sign of falling is blackening eyes. You'll be up here, around demons who are going to judge you by how strong you are. You can't be weak up here, demons value strength. When you say goodbye to us tomorrow, especially your mother, you need to be careful about how you go about it. Stay strong about it, since the leaders of the demon tribes will be watching you."

Izo clicked his teeth. "Perhaps better to do it in private then..." he commented.

"Worry more worried about the fallen angel risk. You'll be around demons, which might contribute to it. Natural enemies," Father warned. "Have you noticed anything else angelic coming out in you?" Izo froze up, not sure how to answer that. Father picked up on it right away. "What else have you noticed?" he pressed.

"You can tell Mother, it'll upset her," Izo preempted. Father's eyes widened at that sentence. "Mother is no longer a messenger for the Great Hawk Spirit because she can't be trusted to share messages. Yet she still needs a messenger, so I've been called to take on that role..." he admitted.

"You've had messages from her?" Father asked in surprised.

"One for Hikari, that I shared with her. Others for me to stay behind in the cave fight and to volunteer..." he rushed out.

Father stared at him, surprised by what he heard. "Keep that to yourself," Father agreed. "And keep yourself from falling," he insisted.

"That I can do," Izo said adamantly.