The man now seemed more familiar to me... Quite possibly due to the fact that his clothes were now in much less evidence than when we first met him. For some reason, him with less clothes seemed more familiar than him with more clothes. I don't know why, I tend to remember people better when they have more clothes on.

"Thank you. My companion," he hesitated when the griffon shook its' head, "and I thank you for your help," the man said in response to Peter's greeting to the griffon.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, the Potions Master of Hogwarts," he continued. It immediately kicked my sleepy brain into overtime.

"AH!" I said loudly, even louder than Botan would. How could have I forgotten? Wait, I could have forgotten. I didn't want anything to do with this guy, even for the sake of Barb. It was... HORRIFYING!

Severus Snape was much more charming when he was wearing clothes. I mean, the dark eyes, midnight hair and black (now-torn) robes did much to enchance his "Don't play with me" air, but him without clothes... Was without any attraction for me. I loved my dear boyfriend and he was more attractive than him, but I'm prejudiced. If Barb liked him though, who was I to gainsay her?

The others were looking at me. My exclamation had shocked them. "You're the guy who... Never mind," I said, having the effect of making all of them fall headfirst to the floor. Shouts of "Naoko-chan!" and "Onee-chan!" were thunderous. I just smiled sweetly and said, "Nani? (What?)"

"Shall we leave?" Kurama sighed.

"In a moment. Do we burn these or what?" I asked, pointing at the demons.

"We should, I suppose. I don't think Dumbledore-sama would like it if we left them here to rot," my sister replied.

"They'll also mess up our chi readings," Peter concurred. Though they were dead, they were also a homing beacon for other demons. They attracted a lot of negative 'chi.' In Makai that would not be a problem, but it was one here.

"Burning them would create a whole new prob," Clapika pointed out. "The smoke and all... and it wouldn't solve the problem of the beacon for the others," he said. That boy was more well-versed in arcane arts than I thought!

"Purification?" my sister asked.

Purification referred to a technique where an area was purified of all negative elements. The problem with this technique was that it did not differentiate between friend and foe. Demons or youkais were also termed evil, and in this case the technique would kill them. We didn't want that.

"We can't use Purification here. It would just expand and destroy the whole Forest," I said.

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Professor Snape said.

"Why not bury them?" Gon said.

"Thanks for that great idea!" I said as several bells immediately went on in my head.

"Move about five metres back. Whatever you do, don't come back here. I'll join you when I'm done," I said.

"In that case we'll leave first," Snape said, climbing gracefully atop the griffin, as though he had done it a thousand times before.

I could sense my sister trying to get into my mind but I firmly locked it against her. What I was about to do was something that my sister did not like me to do, even though it was well within my powers. She can be rather prejudiced at times.

"We'll head to Hogwarts then. Can you follow our trail? Kurama asked.

"I'll even wipe it out as I follow it. Will that be okay?" I said sarcastically. Hiei was still sitting in a tree.

Part Two

After everyone had left, I went over to where my staff was standing upright in the ground. I took off my cloak and began to chant. The chant was an old one, one that I had learnt from the Goddess of Death, Celeste. It would summon the Spirit that Guarded this forest. There should be one. There was such an abundance of life here that I would be surprised if there was no spirit here. Wait, let me make that, flabbergasted.

"Daughter of Death, what are thoust doing here?" a rough, archaic voice said.

"Forgive my intrusion, Great One. My comapnions and I were attacked here not too long ago. We would ask of thee to grant a boon," I said politely bowing down.

"These bodies pollute my very ground. I will dispose of them in a manner befitting them. The school I will not harm for I love the people, but if there are any more of these foul creatures after tonight my wrath will be vistied upon them," the Spirit said.

"Great One, among our company are those whom are of like kind, although not in mind. Would thoust deign to let them pass freely in thy forest?" I asked him, mindful of the risks that Kurama, Hiei, Peter, my sister and I were.

"Thy sister and thou are those foreordained in the Prophecy. The others I will allow if they do not harm my wards," he said.

"Gracious thanks Great One," I said. A whisper of a breeze presaged his passing.

Part Three

I waked quickly to catch up with the others. My sister did not like me to communicate with the Guardian Spirits as there was always the danger of one being pulled into their web. There was that little matter known as Forest Politics. I was seriously beginning to wonder how much alike was the East and the West. There did not seem to be any kind of 'organized' anarchy here. The trees looked as though they had been planted in orderly rows rather than growing by Nature's whim. It was quite different from what I had experienced in both Japan and my own hometown of Malaysia.

I stepped up my pace, remembering to wipe out all traces of the 'chi' trail as I went along. I didn't feel as much at ease here as I pretended. There was too many things that did not follow what I had learnt throughout my years as serving in the East.

I folded the cloak over my arm, remembering what my Imouto (little sister) had mentioned about the blood stains being hard to clean. It was a dark cloak, but youkai blood was notorious for being quite smelly as they rotted. The cloak was then slung across my shoulder, although I did think of just throwing it away. It had been a little cumbersome as I fought the youkais just now.

I was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse and an ankle-length skirt that was slit up my left thigh. It allowed me to move much faster and easier than had I been wearing my usual jeans. Ankle-high boots completed the ensemble. Besides, Su had insisted that I wear them. The things one will endure to satisfy a loved one's desires. I caught up with them pretty quickly, and the boys stared at me as I moved up to take my place beside my sister.

"Well?" my sister asked.

"The Guardian Spirit will take care of the bodies. Nothing here is what it seems," I said in a low voice.

"The politics?"

"Iya. There aren't any. That's what strikes me as odd. There also doesn't seem to be what we would normally find in forests of this size and kind," I told her.

"Culture?" my sister asked, but before I could answer her Hiei spoke.

"Do you want to tell everyone where we are?" he said. I think that was the longest sentence he had said so far.