***Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Seed.... Hello again! I finally finished this chapter, one more to go! Well I hope you like it!...And please Review and tell me what you think!

Chapter Eight

Momiji looked at Zahi and shrugged her shoulders. For some reason she felt this strange uneasy feeling surrounding her. It was tearing her apart to either go or stay.

"Don't be scared." Zahi whispered, trying to calm her. "Don't be afraid of your destiny."

Momiji nodded, and then looked back at Kusanagi. She sort of felt sorry for him, like she was betraying him. But that impossible how could she betray him? This was the first time she has ever met him.

"Momiji, don't do it!" Kusanagi shouted. "They are deceiving you!"

"Shut up." Zahi shouted, and then turned to Momiji. "Let's go."

Zahi started to guide Momiji to the fire, and then he stopped about 10 feet away. The people in the brown cloaks took her hands and started to walk with her around to the other side of the blaze.

"Don't worry Momiji, we'll protect you." The one person assured, beneath the cloak.

Momiji's eyes went wide. "Who are you?" She asked.

Once they were on the other side, the three people put down hoods, and stood in front of Momiji. They were three members of the TAC: Takeuchi, Kunikida, and Matsudaira.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking their faces over, but she didn't remember them.

"We are here to protect you from the Arigami." Kunikida replied. "You can't trust them, no matter what they say to you."

Momiji looked at them, and then looked back at Zahi. Who could she trust? She just met these people, but she knew Zahi for a while. Her heart bet faster and faster as she strained for an answer. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. "Would he really betray me?" She asked herself.

"What's going on you guys? Put her in the damn fire!" Zahi shouted, impatiently.

The TAC team looked at each other in worry.

"Wait, I have an idea." Takeuchi whispered, and then they nodded in agreement. "Come here, boss. She's refusing to go in."

They lifted up their hoods, and then told Momiji not to go in the fire. Momiji wanted to shake her head, but her heart wouldn't let her, so she unwillingly nodded. She watched as Zahi came closer to her.

"What's the problem, Momiji?" He asked. "Don't you want to save the world from the destruction caused by humans?"

Momiji shrugged and glanced into his eyes. No where did she see the evil being the members of TAC described. He told her to trust her and to believe in him. But why did they tell her not to? Was he really that evil? Or were they the ones trying to trick her?

"Momiji?" Zahi said, and grabbed her hand. "Trust me…" he whispered into her ear. "And when it's all over we can be with each other for the rest of eternity."

"For the rest of eternity…" She repeated. The words made her smile. For some reason they comforted her, like the moon when it hung low in the sky. She could feel her feet move forward towards the blue blaze. With each step she felt dizzier and her body shivered in coldness. But, something made her want to stop. It was like a barrier stopped her from moving any further. She looked back at the tree, but he wasn't there. She stood there staring at the barren tree, wondering where he could've gone.

~*~*~*~

"Hurry up, Yaegashi!" Kome shouted.

"I am, Kome. I only have two hands." He replied typing away on his computer like a madman.

"Alright, Kusi boy." Kome said, untying Kusanagi's arms and legs. "They really tied these knots good." She said, struggling to untie the knot.

"Try this." Yaegashi said, handing her a knife.

"Thanks." She replied, and cut of the rope around his hands, and then his feet.

Yaegashi kept typing, but he suddenly stopped when he came across some information that caught his eyes.

"Ok, Kusanagi, you're free." Kome said. "Go save your girl."

"Alright…" Kusanagi replied.

Yaegashi grabbed his trench coat, to stop him from walking away. "Wait." He said, finally. "Look at this." He pointed to the screen.

Kusanagi sighed with irritation and leaned over Yaegashi's shoulder to see the computer screen.

"To stop the Arigami, the leader must be put into the fire, and they will die instantly." Kome said, following his finger. "But, it must be done before the Kushinada is placed inside the core of the fire."

"Ok, I can go that." Kusanagi assured, and sneaked through the brush, and ended up a few yards away from them.

~*~*~*~

Momiji turned back to the fire. "I'm ready." She said, and then began to work forward.

"Momiji, no!" Kunikida shouted, and took off his cloak.

Momiji stopped and turned to her supposed friends of the TAC. "I have to do this, it's the only way to stop the you pathetic humans from destroying Japan and the whole world." She said, with anger flaring in her voice.

"What's this?" Zahi shouted. "The TAC? Well, I guess I just have to get rid of you guys, so you don't distract the Kushinada." He said and shot his power at them, creating a glass dome barrier.

"Momiji!" Kusanagi shouted. "Don't! He doesn't care for you! He is only using you for his plans to work."

"Zahi loves me." Momiji answered. "Right?"

"You know I do." Zahi replied, and smiled. He turned to Kusanagi. "You're too weak to battle me, Kusanagi. So I suggest you just give up."

"Never." He replied, and then charged him, but Zahi jumped out of the way. "Damn you."

Zahi smiled wickedly and then shot his power at Kusanagi, but he missed. "You haven't see all of my power." He said. "I'm just getting warmed up." Zahi lifted up his hand and got ready to blast Kusanagi.

"Stop!" Kome shouted, holding up her gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Well your not, so don't worry about it." Zahi remarked. "I think you should go see your friends." He said and blasted her into the dome.

"Leave her alone!" Yaegashi shouted, and ran up to Zahi. He swung at him, but he blocked it, and held tightly onto his arm.

"You're very brave, for a skinny guy like you." Zahi remarked, and smiled. "But, I'm afraid that won't help you."

Zahi grabbed his other arm and sent a surge of electricity through Yaegashi's body, making him weak. "Leave him alone!" Kome cried, banging on the glass. But, all she could do was scream and cry. The glass dome restricted them from doing anything more to try to protect him. Even Kusanagi couldn't protect him. He tried to hold Momiji back from entering the fire, and if he tried to save him, he would get shocked too, and then no one would be left to help save Momiji and the world. So all he could do was watch.

"Momiji, look what he is doing. How do you know he won't do the same to you?" Kusanagi asked, holding her tightly.

She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but she couldn't, so she gave up struggling. She then looked at Zahi and frowned. She knew Kusanagi was right, but then Zahi did tell her that he loved her and that she should trust him.

"He wouldn't do that to me." Momiji replied, and then tried to make her heart believe it too. "He loves me."

"You fool!" Kusanagi shouted, enraged. "Look at him! He's a killer! And you'll just be the next on his list if you listen to him."

Momiji turned her head and sighed with disgust. Disgust with herself, and with her life. If only she knew what she had to do, then she wouldn't be in this position.

"Goodbye." Zahi snickered, and let go of Yaegashi.

"I…will…not…go." He said answered in broken words, as he fell to the ground. He lifted himself off the ground and punched Zahi in the face. Zahi was enraged with fury, and he blasted him with power and knocked him into the dome.

"Yaegashi…" Kome cried, as she crumpled by his side. Tears ran from her eyes, and her heart broke into millions of pieces. "Yaegashi, you idiot, why did you do that?"

"For...you." He said faintly, as he placed his hand on her cheek and then he slowly passed out.

Kome fell over him and cried into his chest. "Yoshiki… Please come back to me… Please." She wept, into his shirt.

"Kome…" Takeuchi said softly and rested her hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." That was all she could say. She didn't want to say that he would be all right, because she knew she couldn't promise that.

Zahi laughed and then turned to Momiji, who was in the arms of Kusanagi. His eyes started to dilate and his veins popped out of his arms, as anger raced wildly through his body.

"Kusanagi why are you doing this?" Zahi asked. "You are going to loose anyway, so why not surrender now?"

"I will never let you beat me." Kusanagi answered. "Good will always surpass evil. And frankly you're evil."

"Let's see about that." Zahi said.

Kusanagi nodded and held tightly onto Momiji. He jumped over to the dome and placed her inside of it. She tried to get out, but she couldn't. Kusanagi backed away from the dome and got ready to fight.

To Be Continued…