TOUSHIN TAISHI'S NOTE: Aww…first I want to say a real BIG thank you to all those who've reviewed Nataku and Goku's chapters! Thanks so much for the support you gave to this fic, and this chapter won't be out if you didn't want it! Thanks so much! A very, very BIG thanks and LOTS of hugs to: Hikaru R. Kudou, YunCyn, Kenren19, Dysfunctional-sama, Yamamoto Kou, Real Circus, UltraM2000, cool_kid, ceres17, Thowra and to everyone else (Sorry if I've forgotten to name you, it's just so many reviews and I'm losing my head with gratitude!!!) X_X

Beautiful (Homura's POV)

I'm a bastard. An unwanted child, whose father refuses to acknowledge him. I am chained, bloodstained and abused…a common Fate for a heretic with gold eyes.

I lost my mother, I lost my life, I lost my dreams…

And it all happened when I brought to Heaven, presented to this—this cowardly god who claims himself to be my true father.

How ironic…

I thought things would go right, but they didn't. They came worse.

My mother died without even telling me the truth about myself. I was not niingen, but a kami. And all along I thought I was just an ordinary prince born within the forbidden walls of Ch'angan's Sunset Palace.

Heretic.

Heretic because I am a bastard between a god and a mortal girl. Heretic because I'm unclean, a mass of filth who does nothing right but to make other gods' noses wrinkle with disgust.

Damn them all…

Look at my hands.

Bound with chromium and iron shackles, each cuff weighing a ton.

Shackles that cost me my freedom, all the simple joys I have ever enjoyed in the arms of the one person who didn't loathe me, my mother.

Shackles given by my own father, Heavenly King. That damnedest creature who's too cowardly to admit he broke the heaviest spiritual law of forbidding gods from making love to the creatures of the world below, Togenkyo.

My damned father, who detested others like me, forcing unclean jobs to us who're already unclean because of the cursed heavenly public who throw their filth and malice at us, corrupting our bodies, seeping into our minds and contaminating our souls.

Heretic.

Why do I have to go through all of this? I, who lived a good life of obeisance to those whom I thought were my real parents. I, who did nothing but to serve others and see them off happy. I, who didn't know about my true identity. I, who's just an innocent creature until now…

Toushin Taishi…

Ah, yes. The sweet sound of the title of the God of War. All-powerful, commanding all defense and offense forces under the eternal celestial universe. I have been caught in its deadly snare before, struggling madly, falling deeper and deeper, choking and gasping for breath, tears flowing from my eyes, unsure if I'd still be able to face the sun without burning under its rays.

Nataku Taishi, original God of War. My master and teacher, unclean like me, but one who lost all hope for any kind of salvation, surrendering himself to his ultimate Fate.

Seiten Taisei Son Goku, Child of the Earth, powerful beyond compare, innocent but lucky enough to be isolated from a true heretic's world of pain, misery and death.

I have been recklessly thrown into the Sea of Blood before. My own sweet father did it to me when Nataku had enough. You'd start doubting if he felt even a little shred of fatherly love for me.

Tears start to fall from my eyes…

Can you imagine how it feels? Can you see how much I have suffered? Can you see? Can you hear? Can you feel?

I have nothing in Heaven.

Even Rinrei, my light in the dark, can't do anything for me.

I can remember very well.

It was a wide and endless ocean, waters of the red blood, an ominous sign for all. My father pushed me into it, ignoring my cries for help, watching as I struggled to keep myself surfaced, swimming, flailing wildly against the denizens of the deep. The current bore me away from the land.

Blood went gushing into me, pushing life-giving air out of my lungs, pulling me into its grasp. My brain started to scream it had enough, my heart was starting to beat…my eyes went dark.

All I knew was that I was falling forever…

Sometimes I stare up at the stars, marveling at their freedom and light. How I envy them. How I envy every little human and demon down below. I envy them so much it makes my heart ache.

I want to die but I cannot.

I was still falling into the infinite red when a firm hand caught me by the arm and started to pull me upward. I can see the glimmer of light, growing bigger and bigger.

Aye, fresh air filled my lungs. I breathe again…

I turned to find my helper.

Nataku, managing to give me an encouraging smile before sinking back into the blood once more. I try to reach him and pull him back up like what he did to me, but the sea swallowed him into nothingness. Then I saw land. I swam desperately until I reach the sands.

Land under me once more, not the horrible deepness of the sea…

And then I realize, as if it had been there all along…

Heretic I may be, but I have beauty that outshines all others.

Beautiful because I go on living.

Beautiful because I can still smile.

Beautiful because I have me.

Beautiful because I am me. I am Homura.

Beautiful because I can still walk with my head high.

Beautiful because I have had help.

Beautiful because I am special.

Beautiful because I am a heretic.

I remember a line from a poem…

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll;

I am the master of my Fate,

I am the captain of my soul…

Yes…I am beautiful…because I am special…

I am not like them, and I have things they don't.

—End—

*Poem stanza quoted from the poem Invictus.

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