Glossary: Otousan/Otou=father, fusuma=inside door, Aisoku=beloved son, Asiai=beloved wife, Tenshi=angel, Koishii=dear or darling, Oni=demon, Jikogu=lowest hell, Meito=mate, Saiai=beloved, Aman=lover, Kiobito=sweetheart



Chapter 17



Battle of the Flaming Sword





Part One

The Sword of Heaven

Soujirou watched from the doorway of Kenshin's room as his beloved Father stood weeping within the embrace of his own 'Otousan'. Strange that it had never occurred to him that Kenshin might have been missing the same kind of love and acceptance in his life that he had so openly given to his own adopted sons, and that he might be carrying within his heart a pain nearly as great as the one Soujirou had buried inside of his so many years before. An emotion more compelling that any he had yet to encounter reached deep down into a part of his soul he did know existed and closed a strong hand around him and pulled him through the fusuma. Silent feet that no longer obeyed his conscious mind carried him across the polished wood floor toward the two men locked in each others embrace.

When he reached their side, a hand rose slowly with the grace of a dove's wing and touched the black hair of the larger man. It was a touch of question, a touch of entreaty, a touch of hope and need. 'Here I am. May I...? Am I...?'

Deep emerald eyes filled with the tears of ages long past rose to meet the wide-open innocence of dark blue-grey overflowing with distress and want. The heavily muscled arm pulled free from its mooring around the distraught red-haired man and reached for Soujirou.

Kenshin lifted his head from Hiko's chest when he felt the loss of the protective strength of his strong arm, and he found himself face to face with his own son.

"Soujirou..." He whispered brokenly and reached out with a violently trembling arm to pull his son into a crushing embrace against his heart and buried a tear streaked face against his neck. "My radiant son. My Aisoku. I love you, Soujirou." Hiko's arm closed around them both as he shed tears over those who were becoming his family.

His beloved family. His loved ones. His precious ones.

The gapping empty hole within his soul was beginning to shrink.

"Otousan, I am going with you as well. I refuse to stay behind while you go and risk yourself." Soujirou's voice was filled with an almost angry tone as he glared at Kenshin. "I will not allow you to go without me. You cannot do this alone."

"YOU will not allow it?" Kenshin was incredulous at his son's impertinence. "It is not something you can allow or disallow, Soujirou. It is mine to decide who goes and who stays."

"NOT THIS TIME!" The young swordsman roared into his fathers stunned face. "You may be my Father, but I am still Seta Soujirou, The Tenkin. I am still 'The Sword of Heaven' and I choose when, where, and to whom I place my sword into service with." He rose angrily to his feet with fists clenched at his sides, and his eyes a piercing pale azure-blue. "And I have chosen to place it in your service, Himura Kenshin, the once Hitokiri Battousai. That is my choice, NOT YOURS!" His beautful blue eyes began to take on an other-worldly glow sending a pale azure light gleaming outward to surround his face like a halo.

Kenshin and Hiko both sat speechless in awe of the young man's unusual angry outburst. It would appear that Soujirou was relenting on his previous declaration of relinquishing those titles when he became Kenshin's son. Perhaps it was just as well. After all, did not Kenshin revert back to and occasionally use the Battousai when he needed to? It would not be right to have a double standard for himself and not his gifted son as well. Besides, it was a fact, the Tenken would be much more helpful in this situation that Seta Soujirou.

"All right. Set down, you made your point. It looks like I am stuck with both of you..."

"You are 'stuck' with all of us... my brother." Kenshin's startled gaze shot toward the fusuma which had been slid open with expert silence, and saw Aoshi and Saitoh standing there.

"Indeed, Battousai. It seems quite selfish and self-centered of you to try and take all the glory for yourself." Saitoh tossed his cigarette away and blew out a grey puff of smoke. "Besides, it was supposed to be you and I doing this together from the beginning anyway. Was it not?" Thin brows rose sardonically. "I almost feel offended you were going to try and leave me out of the fun." A ghost of a half smile tugged the corner of his thin lips, but his narrowed eyes were very serious. "Do you not realize if you are to get young Kamiya back alive, you are going to need a great deal of assistance? This is not Shishio... this is worse."

"He is right, Himura. You need all of us, and in your heart you know this." Aoshi's sharp jade eyes sought out and found Kenshin's violet gaze and held it. "Each of us knows the dangers we face, and each of us knows that death is a possibility so that releases you from the responsibility you seem to feel for our lives. We are not your problem." He stared hard into Kenshin's eyes trying to make him understand. "Elsbeth Katsura is."

"You are cornered, Otousan." Soujirou knelt down beside Kenshin and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Your friends and family have left you no choices accept one. We are going with you so you may as well get used to the idea, and help us get started on a plan." An angelic smile curved his shapely mouth. "Do you not agree? The hours are slipping away and time will not wait for us."

Kenshin gazed into the face of the 'Tenken'. A face he had not seen for a very long time and felt a cold chill pass over him leaving gooseflesh in it's wake. 'Do not leave me, Soujirou. Do not get lost 'in there'.' He prayed within himself as he nodded his head.

"Yes, you are right. Time will not wait for us." Kenshin looked around the room into each of the four faces of the men surrounding him, and saw in each of them a different gift, a different talent, and a different strength. Within the small room he had gathered about him a small army of the finest swordsmen in the land, but he would still have to plan carefully in order to use each to the best of his abilities. Plus, he must remember 'what' and 'whom' they were facing. That changed

everything.

It could not be a usual-type of a tactical battle plan.

This would not be like any sort of a battle either of them had ever faced.

The weapons would still be swords, but the strength of each sword was going to be based on the amount of Truth, Honor, Trust, and Courage it's wielder felt, and on the strength and purity of his spirit-ki not necessarily the strength of his body. The sharpness of the blade and the skill of the warrior were secondary.

But most of all, this battle was going to be fought using the spiritual energy of the The Mother's Flaming Sword, and only the spiritual strength of the wielder's ki could determine the power of the swords strength. The purer his Faith and Love and the stronger his resolve and determination, the more powerful would be the striking force of the sword.

It was going to be a War between the Flaming Ki of The Mother's Elemental Warrior and the powerful black magic of Hell's Destroying Angel.

It was going to be a battle for the destiny of the soul's of men, and the battlefield was going to be a place lost somewhere between the planes of Heaven and Hell, and only death would decide the who the victor would be.

"Let's get started then." Kenshin waved the men inside and everyone took a seat on a floor. A close circle was formed and the discussion was opened. Kenshin explained everything he knew about Elsbeth's plans concerning the Imperial Palace and the reason she had taken Kaoru. When he was finished, he looked into the faces around him and waited for replies.

"Bait? Hmmm, I am inclined to agree, Himura, but does not the doorway have to be opened by the 'blood of the innocent'? You are not an innocent, my friend." Aoshi's eyes held a hint of humor behind their serious look.

"You are right. I had not thought of that." Kenshin's forehead wrinkled in thought, but his eyes reflected amuzement as he took note of Aoshi's uncostomary jibe.

"It would stand to reason then, that she would have to find an alternative way to open the doorway before she uses your ki to keep it open?" Hiko exchanged quizzical glances with Aoshi.

"There can be only one logical answer." All eyes turned to Saitoh. "She has another child prepared as sacrifice to open the doorway. Then she would use Himura."

"Another child?" Kenshin and Hiko's whispered exclamation was voiced in unison.

"No. Not another child. Not another little one." Aoshi had gone pale, and his face reflected a terrible sorrow that seemed to be felt by everyone.

"Of course, she has another child." Soujirou's perky voice shocked the group who all turned to stare at him. "Just like Hajime-san said. It is the most logical answer to her dilema." The innocent smile was still pasted on his boyish face as he continued to speak. "She obviously cannot use Kamiya-dono because then she would be worthless as bait for the Battousai, so she would have had to make allowances for that little discrimination, and a child is the perfect solution. I hate to admit it, but Lady Elsbeth is quite clever. Very evil, but quite clever." He absently stroked the hilt of his sword. "I suppose that means we should hurry and decide on a plan of action. It would be tragic if another innocent child were to lose its life because we were not prepared." Shimmering azure-blue eyes that glowed strangely in Soujirou's face, looked into Kenshin's astonished eyes. "I think I should be the one to save the child. After all, I am the fastest and I would have the best chance of rescuing it. Do you agree?"

"Ahem." Hiko nervously cleared his throat. This was the first time he had seen the 'Tenken' and it disturbed him, but he could understood now how the boyish looking assassin had remained so elusive and so proficient for so many years. No one would expect a youth with such a

pleasant nature and happy disposition to be a ruthless cold-blooded murderer. "I think I would tend to agree with... 'The Tenken'. He is the fastest and would have the best opportunity to get past the Witches guards and save the child."

Soujirou smiled brightly and nodded his head. He did not seemed the least bit disturbed that Hiko had called him 'The Tenken'. However, Kenshin was disturbed. "All right, Soujirou," He stressed his sons name. "You fly like an Eagle then." He locked eyes with the oddly glowing light blue gaze of his son. "You fly like you never have before, do you understand me? Everything could very well depend on your being able to reach that child at just the precise moment."

"Of course, Otousan. I think I can manage the full shicuchi inside the Throne Room. I was inside once a long time ago, and I do not remember it being a terribly confined space. Indeed, I remember a huge room with massive pillars and vast open spaces. So," He nodded happily like the bobbing head of a baby bird. "I am certain I can manage it without any problem. I will snatch the child right out from under her nose before she even realizes what had happened." The merry smile on his face widened. "I cannot wait to see the look of surprise on her face when the child disappears right in front of her eyes." Soujirou giggled.

Kenshin looked at Hiko and they shared a worried glance. Aoshi and Saitoh gazed at Soujirou warily because they both had knowledge of 'The Tenken' from past experiences, and this transformation had happened so easily it left the two of them feeling quite uncomfortable. Again, only time would tell if the young swordsman would come back as easily as he had gone.

Kenshin turned to the others. "My attention will be focused on Elsbeth. I need the three of you to take out whomever else she has brought with her." He looked at his hands and tried to remember what he had seen on the mountain. "The last time I watched her perform a ritual, there were four men with her. Now, I do not know if the man who died at the prison entrance was one of them or not, so continue to expect four. The rest of the people who were there seemed to be poor souls she had pulled in under a spell of some sort. They were murdered by... well... they died very badly." The lightening bolts were something he had never gotten around to telling anyone about.

"What do you mean, they 'died badly'?" Hiko grasp Kenshin's arm and pulled him around to face him. "You never really mentioned this before. All you ever said was they were killed as part of the ritual. Is there something we need to know, Kenshin?"

A deeply thoughtful look crossed Kenshin's face before he chose to answer Hiko's pointed question. "A long time ago, when I was very little, I remember my Mother talking about the demon's that lived inside of storm clouds. She would cry to my father that the black clouds were filled with demons that killed people who dared stay outside when it rained, and that the thunder and lightening were the weapons the demon's used to kill them. I could never remember what she called them though, at least not until the night I got trapped on the mountain watching Elsbeth." Kenshin's face showed pain and introspection. "I watched over 30 people die that night, and they died screaming in terror for their lives... and their souls."

"What killed them, brother? What did you watch happen to them?" Aoshi had a gentle quality to his voice. "It was what your Mother told you about, wasn't it? What was it called, and what did it do to them?"

"Black clouds... black clouds so black that they look like the pit of Hell itself. They roll and move inside and outside of themselves like they are alive, and they can fly across the sky faster than you can imagine." Kenshin met Aoshi's eyes. "It is lightening they use, but then again, it is not. This is lightening with a will and mind of its own. It slashes down out of the black and strikes here, and then it strikes there, but each time it strikes something dies." Aoshi blinked. "It struck over 30 times that night, and when it finally stopped, every single one of those people were gone and there was not one body to be found because all of them had been burnt to nothing more than ashes. They had been struck down by the wrath of 'The Demon's Finger'."

"Is THAT what your Mother called it?" Hiko's incredulous voice sounded at his right. "The Demon's Finger?"

"Yes." Another deep look of introspection crossed Kenshin's face as he tried to remember a past long forgotten. "You know, I have often thought that my Mother may have been European of some type. That is where my odd coloring comes from is her." He indicated his hair and eyes. "I remember she did not have a Japanese name either. Her name was... Dharma, I think, and she spoke our language with an odd accent. 'The Demon's Finger' must have been a myth from her country, or perhaps some sort of a legend, but imagine my shock when I was allowed to see that It was actually a real and tangible horror that men needed to be wary of."

"There is a name for it here in Japan as well." Aoshi's voice was low and held an almost reverent tone. "It is called 'The Hand of Hinokagutsuchi'"

"The Hand of Fire?" Saitoh turned and looked at Aoshi in shock. "I have never heard of 'The Hand of Fire' before. Is it something that is taught in the Temples?" But before Aoshi could answer he was interruped by someone none of them would have expected to knowledge about such things.

"I have heard of 'The Hand of Fire." The reverent respectful voice of 'The Tenken' caught everyone's attention. "The Hand of Fire' is the most powerful of all the lightenings that can strike the Earth. It alone can create explosions and devistation within any substance or structure by lashing out with it's insurmountable strength. It is fury ,rage, and spirit energy in its purest form, and there is nothing existing in Heaven or Earth that withstand it or stop it. It is the ultimate power of Domination, but it does not always have to be used for the purpose of Evil."

"What??" Kenshin's voice was raised in shock. "You mean the 'The Hand of Fire' can be used for good as well as bad? How?"

"Just as with all things, it depends upon the Heart of the One who is wielding it. If the heart is evil, the Hand will be destructive and malevolent. If the heart is pure, the power will destroy only that which the wielder asks it too. Only those things percieved as evil."

As Kenshin watched Soujirou and the way he was smiling and the look of peace that passed through his now pale blue eyes, he thought his son almost resembled one of the Tenshi statues in the Temple. Cocking his head to one side, he considered this strange idea. Could Soujirou be an Angel? Was that why he had appeared so golden and beautiful when they had crossed over into the alternate reality, and was that why he continued to identify himself with the name 'The Sword of Heaven'? 'Is that why his spirit ki was defined by the element of Air?' Kenshin stared at the boyish face and wondered.

"Well, since we are going to be inside, I do not think we are going to have to worry about the 'Hand'. Unless it has started raining indoors and I have not heard about it." Trust Saitoh to be the voice of sarcastic reason. Everyone smiled. "Should we not be getting back on task now?"

"Yes. Yes. Where was I?" Kenshin looked into his lap trying to remember.

"You were talking about how all those unfortunate idiots died, and how you think we may only have to worry about the four assholes she brought with her in the beginning." Thank-you Saitoh.

"How is she going to get rid of the extra people this time?" Hiko shared his curiosity with the rest of the group. "She is obviously not using the same method as before, so what is she going to do with them?"

"There will not be any other people." Aoshi shifted and stretched one of his legs to relieve a cramp. "She has not had the time to gather any disciples or followers here in Kyoto. While she was in Enshii and the Taki Mountain area, she had many months to seduce the people and gain influence over their weaker minds."

"I would agree." Saitoh nodded.

"So do I." Hiko flexed his aching shoulders trying to relieve the tension that was building in his back and neck.

"It would be a logical assumption. I agree as well." Soujirou's beaming smile implied his concurrence with the other men's decisions.

"All right then. That leaves Elsbeth and her four consorts. The three of you are in charge of the consorts. Soujirou is to rescue the child, and Elsbeth is mine." Kenshin sighed as the details of a viable plan started to take shape. 'I wish Sano were here.'

"What about Kaoru, Kenshin? Who is going to get Kaoru?" The voice Hiko used was soft, tentative, and filled with the open offer. 'I will go.'

"I will. She is my Aisai." Was Kenshin's quiet but firmly spoken answer.

"I understand," Hiko's voice was deceptively flat. "But now you understand something." Kenshin was forced to meet Hiko's glittering yellow-green gaze when he heard a harsh authoritarian tone fill his fathers' voice. "If the opportunity presents itself to me, or to any of the others sitting here, we will not hesitate to take it." Kenshin blinked in the face of Hiko's rock solid refusal to stay out of his way when it came to Kaoru. "Do you understand that, my stiff-necked, block-headed, stubborn son?"

Kenshin's mouth dropped open about an inch, and he found he could not utter a single sound as he met the hard look in Hiko's eyes. All he could do was nod his head like a stuffed dummy.

"Good. I am glad we got that little issue cleared up, now we can focus on the important stuff. Like how we are going to do this without any of us getting dead."

"Agreed." All five voices chimed in unison, and the serious planning began.

Part Two

Is This a Dungeon?

It sounded so much like a whimpering child that the inborn mothering instinct inside of her pushed her unconscious mind into a reality she had only recently allowed herself to dream about.

It was Summer and all of the flowers around the koi pond were in full bloom making crazy patterns of yellows, reds, blues, purples, and even pale greens. It was her favorite place to sit with the baby. He loved it here too because the sound of the water splashing and lapping against the sides of the huge cement bowl seemed to relax him, and he would often fall asleep in her arms or snuggled up against her breast.

He was beautiful. Her son. Kenshin's son.

He looked like Kenshin. He had Kenshin's flaming red hair and bright amethyst eyes, but he had his mother's temper and feisty disposition and ever since he had arrived into their lives, he had become the center of their world.

She had never thought it possible to love anyone more than she loved Kenshin, but the feelings she felt for this tiny bundle of fidgeting arms and legs that cried to be fed and cleaned up constantly had so stolen her heart, that sometimes it felt like there was no time for Kenshin at all.

She knew he understood though. Didn't he? Babies required more time because they were completely dependant on their mothers for everything, and everything else would just have to wait. But sometimes it was so hard to watch her lover walk around the dojo with his head held low and that resigned look on his face. She could feel how lonely he was, but did not know what to do about it. It was not that simple to find time away from the baby. He never let her have a moments peace, so how was she supposed to be able to take care of him and Kenshin too?

It was becoming more and more difficult for her to look at Kenshin when he had that look on his face. He was breaking her heart, and it was not fair for him to do that. It was not like she had many choices other than what she was doing. She loved her son so much, but.... Did that mean she had to stop loving Kenshin? Did having a baby mean giving up a husband? Did it mean losing a lover? She felt so confused because she knew she was doing the right things. She was Kenji's mother and she had to take care of him. He depended on her for everything, but... Kenshin?

The baby was finally sleeping and it was just early afternoon. She stepped quietly out of the room and closed the fusuma very carefully. Looking around the dojo's yard, she spied Kenshin hanging wet clothes on the line to dry in the fresh afternoon breeze. She smiled tenderly and walked to where he was.

"Whatcha doin'?" She asked in a playful voice as she walked up behind him and dropped her chin on his shoulder. It startled her when she felt him stiffen beneath her contact.

"Just hanging laundry." His reply was even toned and gave no hint that he had caught her mood. "Why aren't you with the baby?" The question stung her, and she almost pulled away but changed her mind.

"He is sleeping, so I thought I would take the chance to come and spend some time with you." She hoped that would have some affect on him and waited for his response.

"Oh, well I am not really doing anything very important or exciting. You will probably be bored." Again he answered her in the same non emotional tone as he reached into the basket for another piece of clothing to hang.

"Weelll, maybe we could find something interesting to do after you are done." She tipped her head at an angle so she could look at his handsome profile. "Or I could help you. Can I help you?"

"No." It was a flat denial.

Now she did pull back as his abrupt rejection caused a stabbing pain to slice through her heart. She blinked rapidly as the sting of salty tears started to burn her eyes. "Why? Why can't I help?"

"Because. This is my job. The baby is your job. So, why don't you go back to the baby." There was a definite tone of angry hurt laced through that statement, and she felt the tears spill over the edge of her lashes and run down her face.

"I told you, he is asleep. I wanted to spend some time with you."

"Maybe I do not want to spend any time with you!" His furious tone and face caught her off guard as he turned on her. "You have not had time for me for over three months. You have not even hardly noticed that I still live or exist here with you. So you tell me, why in the hell would I want to spend any time with you just because you all of a sudden decide you have a few spare minutes you can toss in my direction? I have more pride than that!" By the time he finished he was shouting into her tear streaked face and his eyes were a flaming amber gold.

"I... I am sorry.." She tried to apologize.

"You are sorry??" He looked at her as if she were insane. "You are sorry??" He repeated. "Do you not understand that it is too late for your pitiful "I am sorry"? I do not even want to talk to you right now. Go back to your son. I have laundry to hang. I... I .. I have things... I have things to do." Then he turned his back on her broken tear streaked face and closed her off from him.

"Kenshin...?" She whispered but he would not respond. "Kenshin...? Still he would not turn around. Then the whimpering sound of a fusing baby came floating along the breeze from the direction of the dojo.

"The baby is crying. He needs you. Now go back to your son. Go back to where you belong." Depression and despair filled his usually kind and loving voice. "I have the laundry and dinner to cook to keep me occupied." His head turned slightly towards her and she could see the

shiny pathway of tears as they slid over his cross-shaped scar. "I will be fine."

A choking sob burst from her tight chest and she turned to run away. He watched her run all the way back to the baby's room and disappear through the door.

She knelt down and picked up the wailing infant and held him to her breast. He immediately stopped his fussing and snuggled against her softness. As she watched him, Kaoru started to cry harder. This beautiful little soul was destroying her life with her beloved husband.

She was losing Kenshin because of his own son.

"You are breaking my heart, Kenji." She cried and buried her face in his chubby little neck feeling his little hands and arms trying to wrap around her head. "We have to come to some sort of an understanding, you and I." She pulled back and looked deeply into intelligent violet eyes that looked so much like his father's. "I know you need me, but your father needs me too. Can you understand that? Can you?" Holding him up high so she could study his face, Kaoru wondered if he would ever understand. "I love your father, Kenji. I love him just as much as I love you, but I have forgotten all about him because of you and it has made him very sad. I do not know how to fix what is hurting inside of him. He does not want to talk to me because he is so hurt. How do I fix it if he will not talk to me? What can I do?" She hugged the baby over her shoulder and patted his back with her hand. "I miss him too."

The tears sliding down her face were what brought Kaoru back into consciousness, and the first thing she did was look for Kenshin, but she was not at the dojo and she did not have a baby in her arms. She was someplace where there was no light and the darkness seemed to have physical substance. For several long and frightening seconds Kaoru did not remember where she was, and she struggled with the urge to scream. Then memories of the last few hours came flooding through her hazy mind.

Kenshin is dead. Kenshin is alive. Yahiko is alive. Kidnapped from she and Kenshin's room through a slit in the wall. Captured by the Witch Queen. Ugly Little Crow. The King of Hell. The Age of Dominian. Kenshin's ki. She wants Kenshin's ki to keep the doorway open and I am the bait.

There was something else too, but she could not quite remember. Then she heard it. Soft, tiny, pitiful. The little girl.

She could not be more than two or three years of age. Kaoru had gotten quite a good look at her while Elsbeth had been inside of this room trying to torment her. She was not much more than a baby with her huge round blue-green eyes and fluffy black hair. There was a large bruise on the side of her face where someone had hit her very hard probably when she was snatched from her bed. Kaoru had been able to glean from Elsbeth's inane ramblings that she had slashed the child's mothers throat then taken the little girl. "No loose ends that way. No witnesses to tell the tale." Kaoru had shuddered at the woman's cold and unfeeling manner of speaking about murder as if it were nothing more than squashing a cockroach found in your house.

The child was to be used for the sole purpose of opening the doorway since only pure blood could provide the needed element for that ritual, but it was the incredible strength of Kenshin's ki that Elsbeth planned to use to keep it open forever. She had explained that it was justice for his interference in her plans and for stealing the boy from her. The boy would have been more than enough, but Kenshin was even better because his ki was so 'hot'. This comparison had sent Elsbeth into a fit of giggles that would have done any teenage girl proud.

Kaoru cocked her head to the side and carefully listened to the whimpering sounds the child was making trying to pinpoint a location. It sounded to like the girl was on her left, but quite a few feet away. "Do not cry, Little One." She tried to make her voice sound as consoling and comforting as possible. "You are not alone. My name is Kaoru and I am in here with you. Can you tell me your name?" She waited, but nothing happened. "Do not be afraid, I am not going to hurt you like the red-haired lady. She locked me in here just like you. I do not like her either." Again she waited, but still nothing happened and Kaoru dug around in her brain looking for an idea. "Maybe we can be friends, I am afraid of the dark you know. At home in my room I have a dolly that I sleep with at night. My mother gave her to me when I was a little girl, and she told me that as long as I had that dolly none of the scarey things in the dark could get me. I sure do miss my dolly." She let a big sigh sound through the dark and waited.

"I hasth a dolly too. Hur name isth Toon."

"I bet she is pretty. My dolly's name is Kenshin. She has long red hair and purple eyes. What does your dolly look like?"

"Sthe has bown hawr and boo eyes."

"What color is her dress?" Keep her talking Kaoru.

"It isth boo too. And sthe has back shooze."

"It sounds like she is very pretty. Kenshin wears a pink blouse and a white... skirt. She likes to wear sandles and purple tabi. Maybe when we get out of here Toon and Kenshin could play together. What do you think?"

"Toon like dat."

Kaoru smiled. The girl must be closer to three because she had quite a good vocabulary. "Well if Toon and Kenshin are going to be friends do you think you and I should be friends too?"

"Can we do dat? Would you be my fend?" The little voice was quivery with fear.

"I would like to be your friend. Would you like to be mine?"

"Yesth.' Thank-you Kami-sama.

"I told you my name. It is Kaoru. What is your name?"

"Kuumi."

"It is very nice to meet you, Kuumi. Let's stay friends forever, Ok?"

"Ok." Then it was quiet in the darkness for a while and Kaoru was wondering if her little friend had drifted off to sleep, but just as Kaoru thought she might try to sleep the little voice floated though the air.

"Kauwo?"

"Nani Kuumi?

"Isth this a dungeon?"

Kaoru's tongue turned to lead in her mouth. She did not know how to answer that question. She really was not sure where they were or what this place was, but the child's assumption held a ring of truth in it.

"I... I... I do not know little one. I truly do not know."

"Auwr we gonna die?"

A fierce feeling of determination and the will to survive began to burn inside Kaoru's heart. She had to believe. Kenshin had once told her that he loved her enough to want to live. She had told Elsbeth that she would kill herself before she would allow herself to be used as bait against his life, but was that true? Was she willing to die without first fighting to live? He was going to come, and she knew he was not going to come alone. They would all come. Hiko, Aoshi, Soujirou, and

probably even Saitoh. She had to have faith. She had to believe.

"No, baby. We are not going to die. The Angel's are coming to get us." Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to push her spirit energy out of her body and send it to find Kenshin. 'I am alive, koishii. I am here waiting. I believe in you. I know you will come. I know this is not the end, not yet. I love you, Kenshin I promise I will never forget about you when the baby comes. I promise.'

"The Angel's are coming to set us free."

Part Three

Kaoru, is that You, Aisai?

Kenshin finished tying the cloth belt of the hakama he had just put on and surveyed himself in the mirror. He was dressed entirely in white by his own choice. The white gi he borrowed from Aoshi was a little long in the sleeves, but he felt that could eventually work to his advantage.

Bending his head down, he let his nimble fingers comb their way through his long red hair and pulled it up high on the back of his head where he secured it in an uncustomary topknot.

The individual who looked back at him from the mirror now was neither Himura Kenshin nor the Hitokiri Battousai. He was an odd mixture of both men neither having the upper hand in controlling this person's actions. Instead, a completely new man with new resolutions and

convictions was reflected there. He stood taller, straighter, and with the confidence of long years of skill and experience behind him. His dark blue-purple eyes were sharp and clear and showed no signs of fear, doubt, or wavering. Hands that were steady and sure slid the sheathed katana into the belt of his hakama.

"Am I ready?" He asked his reflection as he met the steady gaze of his own eyes. "Am I ready to face this fate my life has brought me to?" Kenshin drew in a deep breath and bowed his head. Once more he noted to himself that he had never been a religious or deeply spiritual man before all of this had started, but the need to pray for God's assistance had seemed more than appropriate at more than one time during these dark times, and it appeared that since he had started to pray God had been on their side.

"Kami-sama, give strength and endurance to my heart and spirit and help me face this terrible task I must do. I beg for forgiveness for the life I must take, and I ask for the help and the understanding that I will need to keep me from faltering when the moment comes. Let my blade

strike straight and true so that thy Holy Justice might be served for the lives of all the innocents whose blood has been spilt upon the Altar of Damnation in the name of the King of Hell and Darkness. I beg Thee to let me end this Witch's blasphemies tonight before she is allowed to harm

even one more soul including the child and the woman whom she holds as her captives as I speak these words." He gripped the hilt of his sword and sank to the floor on one knee. "From the very core of my soul, I beg of Thee let me free this woman who is held captive. She is my light, my

salvation, and my life. Without her at my side, I have no reason to remain in this world. She is my love, my Aisai... when we can stand before Buddha and speak the words, but in my heart she is my Wife, my soul, and my whole world. Kami-sama... please give me the power and the strength to pull her out of the pit of Hell and back into the light."

Kenshin climbed to his feet on slightly shaky legs and faced himself in the mirror again. He ran a trembling hand over his face and wiped away the few tears that had managed to escape the confines of his eyelids, and then he took several deep breaths to cleans himself and settle his nervous emotions. He flexed the muscles of his shoulders and back to relieve the tension and rolled his neck popping the vertebrae back into place. "Now I am ready." The steady dark purple eyes in the mirror met his look without question. "I can do this."

As he turned to leave the room a strange feeling invaded his concentration. Kenshin stopped mid stride, and allowed the sensation to flow through him while he attempted to identify it. It was cool and endless as an icecap, yet smooth and clear as a mountain lake. It was reserved and distant, yet there was the hint of a burning passion lurking beneath the cool exterior waiting for just the right door to be opened to let it out. It was soft and tender, but hard and solid as stone. It was

gentle. It was harsh. It was happy. It was sad. It laughed. It cried. It.... loved him.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin whirled around the room looking everywhere as if he almost expected her to be right there in the room with him. "Kaoru... Aisai? Koishii, is that YOU?" He could feel her presence just like she was standing right next to him except he could not touch her. He could

smell her perfume, her hair, the musky scent that was simply hers alone. When he closed his eyes, he could see her standing in front of him wearing the lavender yukata she had on when she disappeared. There was blood on her face, and dark bruises around both eyes. Kenshin felt the

beginnings of a righteous and holy rage start to burn within his heart as he studied her abused face.

He concentrated hard and thought he could just make out what she was trying to say to him.

"..alive.... I know you are coming.... Not the end.... I love you, Kenshin.... Never forget.... When the baby comes... I promise." And then she was gone. Kenshin's eyes flew open in equal amounts of shock and confusion.

"BABY??" He stumbled backwards a couple of steps as he tried to digest what he had just learned. "A baby?" Kaoru? A baby? His baby? Of course it was his baby. Baka-Kenshin. He thought about the implications of that piece of knowledge and despite the gravity of the situation, Kenshin smiled. They were going to have a niuuji. Kaoru was pregnant with his child. His first child.

"No." He amended out loud with another smile. "My third child." Kenshin cast a last long look at the man reflected in the mirror. "You better be ready. She is waiting on your ass, and you best not let her down. Besides that, you have an entire new family waiting to make up for lost time, and you do not want to miss out on that, so move it, Himura. The clock is ticking and time is not going to wait for you. You are as ready as you are ever going to be. Have a little faith, My Friend."

Part Four

Moon Rise: 7:00pm : Time to Leave

A gentle but firm knock sounded against the wood frame of the fusuma a spare moment before it slid open to show the pale outline of Okina.

"It is Moonrise, My Friends." His finger pointed to the Eastern sky indicating the huge bulbous white orb that was floating above the distant mountains in the ink black sky. "The time is approximately seven o'clock and that should just about give you four or five hours until it reaches

its apex. It will take you at least two hours to reach the Palace."

The five men he addressed were setting on the floor of Aoshi's meditation room in a loose circle. They had just spent the last three hours in introspective silence as they prepared for the night ahead and the dangers each of them would face. The odor of sacred incense filled the air and five candles burned on a small Altar beneath a beautifully carved jade statue of the God Buddha.

"We have made our peace with God." Aoshi stood and bowed deeply before the Altar and the statue. "Now it is time to make peace within ourselves and take up this burden, for there is no one else who can." He faced his comrades and spread his arms wide. "Come then, lets us choose

our weapons and armor, and then we must be on our way. We have a long way to go, and time is not on our side." The other four men stood and took their places behind Kenshin and they all left the room and walked into the night. Okina led them to the armory room where all of the swords, shields, kunai, knives, and all manner of other weapons were kept. Each man chose those things which he thought would assist him in his perspective responsibilities and hid them in his belt or boot where they could be easily reached.

Kenshin and his small army stood freely in the open air beneath the white light of the Full Autumn Moon. Each stood prepared to do what had to be done, and each brought with him his own unique gift to fortify the strength of the group.

Seigurou Hiko, 13th Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu brought his full lifes experience as an unmatched swordsman of tremendous endurance and strength and a rock solid ki with the awesome crushing force of an avalanche. Earth.

Shinemori Aoshi, former leader of the Onniwabanshuu brought his double kodachi's, his perfectly attuned ninja skills, and a ki with the thunderous power of a thousand flooded raging rivers. Water.

Seta Soujirou, The Tenken, The Sword of Heaven; brought with him his faster than God-like speed shicuchi, the deadly accuracy of his lightening quick sword, and a ki filled with the seething wrath of a twisting screaming typhoon. Air.

Hijame Saitoh, former leader in the Shinsengumi, acting Police Captain of Kyoto, and the Legendary Mibu wolf brought with him the cunning, ferocity, and ruthlessness of wild mountain wolf, and he brought the keen intelligence, sharp wit, and courage of a true warrior. Honor.

Himura Kenshin, former Hitokiri Battousai of the Bakumatsu brought with him a sword that had never known true defeat, his determination, his will to survive, and his need to see Justice served, and a ki overflowing with the all of the boiling fury and love he possessed within his heart

and soul. The fires burning within him leapt and danced like great flaming pillars as they fed on the intermixed and intertwined pieces of ki that had been given to him from the other three men. As the

temperature within him grew and the flames burned higher and brighter, the red and orange colors faded and flared into the brilliant pure white of Heaven's Burning Heart. The holy fire began to generate an exceeding hotness borne of his riotous rage and conceived by the combination of

Mother Earth's four basic elements, and it could not be matched by any other. Fire. Earth. Water. Air.

The Elemental White Warrior of Mother Earth was finished. The Flaming Sword was prepared.



The White Warrior and his Elemental Army were armed and ready to face The Destroying Angel of Hell. Okina opened the front gate of the Aoiya, and they walked out into the moonlit street and began the journey into the land of Witches and Demons.

The Warriors of Heaven left for War, and only the light of morning would see who still lived and who had died. The War for the dominion over the souls of men was beginning. Time: 8:43pm.

Part Five

Prepare for The Unholy Coming: Time 10:03pm



Karou was jarred awake by Kuumi's terrified screams. Her dark blue eyes shot open in a heartbeat, and she saw three men wearing pale grey hooded cloaks entering the room they were in. Now that the door was open, Kaoru could see that it was dark beyond its barrier. It's night

already? Mou. The daytime hours had gone by so swiftly it seemed to her. How could it be dark so soon?

"Untie her hands, and be quick about it." Kaoru heard Elsbeth's ridged commanding voice and noticed her small shapely formed outlined in the doorway. "Everything has to be in place and perfect when the Moon reaches its apex. Not one thing must go wrong tonight, do you nderstand?

Not ONE thing, or so help me you are all food for the crows." The men scurried towards Kaoru and while one untied her feet, another untied her hands, and the third placed a foul tasting cloth gag in her mouth and tied it around her neck. She muffled a scream of pure agony as her arms were suddenly relieved of their unnatural position and dropped to her sides. The muscles and joints howled in excruciating pain from the long hours of being bound to the large stake, and unbidden tears spilled over bruised cheeks and fell to the floor.

"Oh for sad. Is the little Crow in pain?" Elsbeth sauntered over to where Kaoru stood between two of the men in grey cloaks. Each of them held one of her arms because she was not able to stand on her trembling legs at that moment. "You almost make me want to cry with your big blue

dolls eyes and quivering lips, but..." Her cold hand grabbed Kaoru's chin roughly and forced her to meet Elsbeth's shimmering liquid stare. "I just do not seem to have the heart for it." Then she began to laugh, a harsh tinkling sound like broken glass sliding through a metal pipe. "You are so pathetic, little Crow. How ever does Himura stand you and all your stupid emotional stupidity?" She threw Kaoru's chin away brusquely making the girl stumble despite the support of the two men.

"Personally, I find you boring and tedious. It will be a pleasure to watch you die just to know that I will not have to listen to your inane chatter or look at your weepy face anymore." Her slight frame looked even smaller in her own hooded cloak, and Kaoru could see a seven pointed silver star hanging on a long heavy chain around her neck. 'She really is a Witch. Oh God! Kami-sama, help us... Kenshin!'

"Bring her now. The child we will not need until after the ceremony begins, so leave her here where she can enjoy the darkness a little longer." Elsbeth leaned over and smiled evilly into Kuumi's frightened face. "Do not be frightened, Little One. Tonight is a very special night for you. You get to be the one who opens the door and let the most glorious creature in the universe come into our lives. Are you not happy?" She patted the top of the fluffy black head as if she were petting a favored dog.

"I wanna go home." Was the child's tearful response.

"But, koishii, you are home. This is the last home you will ever have."

"I wanna go home to Mamma." The little voice rose in anxiety.

"Oh goodness me. Did I not tell you?" Squatting down in front of the child, Elsbeth cupped her chubby baby face in her hands. "I killed 'Mamma'. So she is not there for you to go home to."

"Whut keel meen?" Huge blue-green eyes looked into Elsbeth's face in fear and confusion.

"I made 'Mamma' dead. Your 'Mamma' is laying on the floor in her own kitchen in a big puddle of her own blood, and she is dead because I cut her throat open and let her bleed until she died."

"STOP IT!" Kaoru had struggled and finally spat out the gag in her mouth. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU SADISTIC BITCH! LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Elsbeth's silvery gaze turned violent as she turned to look at the struggling woman. "You should really learn to watch your mouth, you fucking stupid Crow." She rose slowly with the graceful poise of a noblewoman and walked with carefully measured steps towards Kaoru until she stood in front of her. Their gazes met and locked. Elsbeth glared death into Kaoru's unwavering diamond hard blue eyes. A hand lashed out with a speed that almost defied the ability for human eyes to follow. When it came in contact with the tender flesh of Kaoru's bruised face, her head was snapped viciously to her right. Pain exploded in her eye and she immediately tasted blood in her mouth. The room spun wildly around her head and the edges of her vision blurred and grew dark.

'Please, please do not let me lose consciousness. I have to stay awake. Kami-sama...'

"If you EVER dare raise your voice to me again, you ugly stupid Crow, I will forget about what I had planned for you, and I will hang you upside down and skin you alive while you drown in your own blood." Elsbeth's voice sounded strange to Kaoru, and she struggled to focus her vision on the sneering face in front of her.

As her eyes regained forcus, a short sharp gasp was caught in her throat as she swallowed a scream of shock and horror. Elsbeth was still standing in front of her, but it was not really Elsbeth anymore. It was part Elsbeth and part something else Kaoru could find no name for. She watched in horrified disbelief while the features of the face before her slid and shifted in and out and around themselves rearranging bone structure and muscle plane altering the appearance of the Witch that

was Elsbeth.

A delicate up turned cat-like snout and slanted silver eyes with long elegant eyelashes took shape. Long angled ears covered with downy chestnut colored hair, swept back from the sides of her head ending in fragile points. Her once fine boned hands changed and evolved into long

boney things tipped with hideous pointed claws that more closely resembled eagle talons, and looked just as deadly should she choose to use them the same way.

"What is the matter, little Crow?" A mouth full of razor sharp fangs smiled widely as it grew into the gapping maw of a monsterous bat-like creature. "Are you beginning to understand now just what the fuck you are playing with? Hmmm?" The horrible sound of hollow rasping laughter filled the room, and Kuumi began to scream uncontrollably, as her baby eyes watched a monster being born right in from of her.

"ONI! ONI! ONI!" She screamed over and over. "ONI!" demon!

The thing that was Elsbeth jerked towards the terrified child just as the long silky hair on her head yanked and twisted itself into a rough shaggy mass of thick ropey strings. The horrible smile widened even farther and she skittered over to the hysterical child.

"Boo!" She waved arms, that were too long to be human any longer, in the air and clicked her claws together like a crab. "Boo! Boo! Boo!"

Kuumi's hysterical screams rose to a shrill note of terror beyond anything a child was meant to endure, and the Elsbeth thing laughed and danced around in front of her in glee. "Ha haha ha ha." She cooed. "What fun, what fun. Ha haha ha haa ha." Then the hideous creature danced and bounced its way out of the door singing and laughing all the way.

Kaoru could feel the sting of her own tears streaming down her face as she listened to the cacophony of Kuumi's screams and sobs, and she struggled to find a way to soothe the child before the men took her out. 'God, help me. Please don't cry Baby.'

"Do not cry, Kuumi. Do not cry, Baby. Think about Toon, and Kenshin. Remember our dollies. Think about the dollies, baby. Think about the dollies and everything will be Ok." Then the men were dragging her on wobbling legs past the sobbing little girl.

"KAOWU?!" She cried and tried to stand up reaching for the beloved black-haired woman who had made her feel safe in the dark. "KAOWU?!" She cried again. "Whar you go?"

"I do not know, baby, but you remember the dollies, Ok. You remember the dollies and remember you and I are going to be Friends forever. Can you do that for me? Can you Kuumi?"

"Yesth, but whar you go? You cume bak?" Tear stains shown on her dirty chubby face, and her round blue-green eyes were huge with anxiety and fear.

"I will do my best, koibito. I will do my best." Then Kaoru remembered something else. "Remember what I told you last night, Kuumi. Remember the Tenshi are coming. Wait for the Tenshi, baby. They will come and save us. Then Tenshi are coming to save us." 'And I am going to kill that bloody bitch with my own hands.' With that the men yanked Kaoru from the room and slammed the door closed on the terrified child who immediately began to wail and scream for Kaoru.

"Please do not leave her in the dark. Please." Kaoru's plea's went unacknowledged by the men who dragged her farther and farther away from the screams. "Damn you." She hissed at them. "Damn you all to Hell for what you are doing." Three maniacal faces favored her with demented

grins just before the men burst into crazed laughter.

"We are already prepared to go to Hell, little Missy." Shiny flat black eyes raked her slender form lasciviously. "Our souls are sworn to the service of the Lady Elsbeth and the King of Hell, or have you not realized that already?"

"But you can still save yourselves. Let me go." Her large deep blue eyes pleaded with them to come to their senses and release her. "God will still forgive your sins. You can still come back into the light if you ask for forgiveness. Please, I beg of you, let me go."

"Forgiveness? We do not need forgiveness from a weak God when we have sworn our lives to serve one whose strength and power can be equaled by none other. Save your pretty words for the Angels you say are coming to save you. Maybe they will be willing to listen to them, but all you are doing for us is giving us something to laugh about so save your breath."

'Kenshin... I am trying to be brave... but I am so afraid. I am so afraid, Anata. Kami-sama, calm my troubled heart and help me be strong.'

"You should listen to me," Kaoru somehow found a way to control the fear in her voice, and when she spoke this time, it was calm and steady. "Because of your sins against the innocents, you are all going to die tonight. All of you."

The two men holding her stumbled, but regained their footing after only a few steps. The angry black eyes of the man on her left stared into her calm pale face. "You best watch your tongue, Little Missy, or you will not be having one in your head." He shook her roughly like a dog with a rag doll. "Is not anybody going to be dying under the Moon tonight except that squalling brat, your man, and you. All you can hope for is the Mistress to be merciful and let you die quick, but do not

count on it." His smile was grotesque and showed a row of stained yellow teeth. "I do not think she likes you very much. Ha ha ha ha ha ha." The other men joined him as he laughed at her pale face and frail body. "But you will not last long. Be grateful for that."

Kaoru met their ugly laughing faces with a serene look of absolute certainty. "Perhaps you are right, and perhaps you are not. Be that as it may, death will still find you this night, and none of you will know the comfort of a free soul. You are all doomed to suffer in the burning fires of Jikogu for all Eternity."

Cold chills raced across the warm skin of each man as he felt the finger of fear begin to burrow through the stone walls around his wicked heart and soul, and remind him of his human mortality. Anxious faces looked at each another with deep concern as the first shadow of a doubt

fell across the pathway of their steadfast faith.

"Perhaps.... perhaps we should consider... " One of the men holding her dared voice his doubt in the quietest whisper as his eyes darted wildly around the corridor for any signs of their malevolent Mistress.

"Are you mad?" Another hissed. "Your blood would run in rivers before the Throne and your head would be on a pike before she finished with you. Strengthen your resolve, my Brother. You must not waiver."

"You must stay true to the Mistress or you will die more horribly than you can imagine." The third man warned. "Do not listen to the lies of this bitch. She is dead already. Forget about what she said. It could never happen. The Lady is far too powerful to allow anything like that to happen. Has she not always kept us safe?"

"Yes." The first man sighed and tightened his grip on Kaoru's arm. "Forgive me, my Brothers. It was just a feeling I had."

"A feeling?" The third man looked at him quizically. "What sort of feeling, Armondo?" Armondo had often kept them safe from danger with his feelings, and the others had learned to trust him when he had one.

"I-I am not really certain Joseph. I just had a very bad feeling all of a sudden like something terrible was about to happen."

"When did you have it, Armondo? How long ago?

"When the girl was talking about death coming to find us tonight, and all of us burning forever in Jikogu." His worried gaze met the anxious eyes of the other two men. "But it is gone now so I think it was just a nervous thought. I am sure everything will be all right."

Joseph took one long last look at the man called Armondo and then waved everyone forward. "We should hurry. If we take much longer, The Mistress might come looking for us and none of us want that to happen." Mumbled agreements followed his back as he turned and headed back out of

the corridor.

Death will find you. The words kept bouncing and circling around in Armondo's head as he and the third man, Karl dragged the girl between them. You are all doomed. Your souls will burn in Jikogu forever. A shiver of fear passed through his middle twisting his gut into painful knots. There was no denying his feelings. Something terrible was coming, and it was coming now, even as they walked towards what should have been the grandest night of their lives.

The inner voice of his second sight opened its mouth and spoke to his dark soul. "You will not live to see the light of another sunrise, Armondo de' Estes. There is no escape, your fate is sealed. Death comes for you carried on the backs of the Chosen Ones. The Holy Tenshi comes on the swift unseen feet of God's Justice and you will die screaming as your sinners heart is impaled upon The Sword of Heaven, and then your soul will burn in everlasting agony within the depths of Jikogu."



Kaoru could feel the mans extreme increase in fear, and wondered what he was thinking. It was very odd to her that a man such as this would have 'feelings' about the future, but it could never be told whom would have the gift and who would not. It was more than obvious by what he had said to the others that the words she had spoken had distressed him greatly.

I wonder what his 'feelings' are telling him NOW? She thought. I hope they have a terrible nightmare to describe to him about what Jikogu looks like, and how much he is going to suffer when he gets there. A sad inner smile crossed the face of her exhausted soul. It was disheartening to know that all three of these men were going to die horribly before the Sun rose the next morning. Why would they not just understand and see that everything Lady Elsbeth was doing was so horribly wrong? What had they been promised that made them willing to do the things they were guilty of for so long? Status, power, riches, invincibility, strength? What was it that was worth so much to them they would willingly sell their souls to Hell to achieve it?

She could see the end of the corridor coming closer, and when they exited it, she was surprised to find herself in the grand Throne Room of the Imperial Palace. Kaoru stared around herself in awe. The Palace had been closed to the public for more than 10 years, but she had never been inside before anyway. She looked at the tall ornately designed walls draped with yards and yards of red and gold silk lined with a dark purple fringe. The floor was made from slab after slab of perfectly polished white marble, and it looked to her eyes like a beautiful field of new snow beneath a red and golden sunrise. Massive white pillars carved to resemble great armored Samurai were geometrically placed throughout the room to hold up the enormous arched ceiling.

Kaoru looked straight up and gasped at the intricate details that had been incorporated into the fashioning of the monstrous ceiling. Brilliant murals of battle scenes and lush gardens covered nearly every inch of the extraordinarily large space, their colors still bright and vibrant as the day they had been placed by the artists brush. She hardly noticed that she was being tied to one of the huge pillars she was so lost in the magnificent beauty of the room, but then she saw something that did capture her attention. It seemed very out of place among the elegantly painted figures and greenery. She struggled to focus on the anomaly and separate it from the rest of it's surrounding even as her mind tried to figure out what it was. It was not part of the murals. It was most definitely something else. It was foreign. It was not supposed to be there. She studied it hard for several long moments tracing its outer edges and inner contours, and then she understood. She knew what it was.

It is a huge hole, a skylight, that has been fashioned into the roof and it is all overgrown with vines of some sort. That is why it looks so strange. The vines distort the shape. It has been there for a very long time, and must have always been part of the ceiling structure but I wonder why it is there? What could it be used for back then? What could it be used for now? Kaoru concentrated on the large opening a little longer and, as an icy cold hand closed around her heart, she realized it was directly over the center of the room. Her eyes darted towards that particular part of the room, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was setting there.

A large block of pale white stone had been brought into the Throne Room and placed directly beneath the opening in the roof. It was perhaps five feet long and three feet wide, and stood three and a half feet tall. 'An Altar?! Oh God, no! She is going to do the Sacrifice right here...

right here in this room.' Kaoru looked up at the opening in the ceiling and knew that the Moonlight would come through it and shine directly down on to the white stone. 'The whole ritual is going to be in here... Everything is going to happen in here. The sacrifice, the ritual, opening the doorway... Everything.' Blue eyes filled with alarm flew wide open as a sickening thought occurred to her. 'KENSHIN! He thinks everything is going to happen outside. He does not know.... none of them know... KUSO!' But then she forced herself to calm down and think logically. 'He has to know it is all happening inside. He has to. What he does not know is about the hole in the ceiling. He does not know she has full access to the Moonlight... or to the power it gives her.'

Kaoru's brow wrinkled in deep thought and concern. 'I have to find a way to warn him. How?'

"Well, do you not look just about good enough to eat." A bubbling cascade of girlish giggles greeted Kaoru from behind one of the other massive pillars. "I did consider that for a bit, you know." Elsbeth rolled around the pillars circular surface until she faced Kaoru. "But it just would not be right for me to be that greedy. I decided to save you for something special, and I will just have to curb my appetite." She had fully returned to her human form, and she was once again the beautiful petite Spaniard Kaoru had grown to identified her as. "It is nearly time, little Crow. Can you feel the excitement in the air? Can you feel the electrical energy of everyone's anticipation as it is building higher and higher?" She twirled around and around making the pale grey cloak billow out like a great bell around her ankles. "It is intoxicating! I feel like I am drunk on the sweetest wine in the Universe. La la lala lala la," She whirled and twirled and sang like a carefree girl at her first Cotillion. "Soon, soon, soon.... " Then she suddenly ran right up to Kaoru and shoved her face so close to the dark haired woman's, their breaths intermingled and became one.

"Do you know what is going to happen, little Crow? Do you know who is coming tonight? Do you know who is going to come tonight and set in that very Throne? That Throne of the ancient royal Emperor's?" Small hands that harbored an immense amount of strength grabbed Kaoru by the

shoulders and dug sharp pointed nails into her tender flesh drawing blood. "Do you know, little Crow? Do you? The King of all Kings comes tonight. His glorious presence will walk through the Holy Doorway and he will bask in the magnificence of the light of the Autumn Moon, and then he will make me his Queen and we will rule over Japan together. And soon we will conquer the whole world." Her liquid silver eyes shimmered and shifted looking much like the rolling waves of the immense oceans. 'Reflections in the water.'

'Just like Hiko-san said, the sea knows all things but gives away nothing.' Knowledge must be earned, not given and the sea is a cruel Teacher. Her rolling waves know all the secrets of the world and have witnessed the passing of the Ages, but they will share none of their tales. The water is a mirror reflecting everything from its surface as it deceptively hides its enormous depths. Kaoru looked into the rolling waves of Elsbeth's silvery eyes and saw herself reflected back from their shiny surface.

'I wonder what horrors lie hidden in the far reaches of your twisted sick mind.' Kaoru thought as she tried to judge how far she could push the deranged woman. 'It may not be possible to force the sea to give up its knowledge, but any human being can be manipulated into telling their secrets. You are not the Ocean, Elsbeth.'

"What if your benevolent King changes his mind and chooses another for his Queen? He is the Devil after all, and we all know that the Devil is the King of Lies. How do you know you can believe everything he has told you?" Kaoru watched closely and saw the ever so slight wavering of

Elsbeth's resolve. "Have you never thought that perhaps he is only using you as a means to an end to obtain what he wants and not what he has promised for both of you together?" Black pupils inside of silvery orbs dilated with questioning alarm. "Perhaps he plans to cast you aside once you have succeeded in achieving your goal of an Eternal Doorway for him. If you think about it, he really will not need you after that will he?" She made her voice sound as matter-of-fact and nonchalant as she

could.

"AAAAHHHH! SHUT-UP! SHUT-UP! SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU STUPID

CROW!" Elsbeth raised her hand to strike Kaoru but then she stopped. The pupils in her eyes were nearly blown wide open, and all but obscured the silvery irises. "You do not know anything, do you hear me. You do not know." The hand dropped and she backed away warily, a wild crazed look on her now pinched face. "He loves me. I am his Aman, and he has promised me I will be his Queen."

"No, the Devil loves no one but himself. Even the smallest child knows this. How can you be so gullible?" Kaoru shook her head in mock sadness. "He has never shared his power with anyone, why should he share it with you? History has always shown the Devil to be selfish and all self-serving to a fault. Surely you can see the truth in this or are you so corrupted with his evil you have lost the ability to see the flaws in his nature?"

"STOP IT!" Elsbeth screamed in a tormented voice and grabbed her head in both hands as if it had suddenly been seized by a terrible pain. "STOP IT! I will not listen to any more of your jealous lies!" When she looked back at Kaoru, there were tears sliding down her flushed cheeks. "I will not listen to you speak about my Saiai Meito in that manner. He loves me, and I love him and I believe everything that he has promised me will happen will happen." Then for the first time since Kaoru had come into contact with the strange woman, it was she who turned and fled the room her composure completely shattered.

'So, she is not immune to wounds of the heart. Interesting. And now she has doubts about her 'Beloved Mate's' intentions. Thanks to me. Perfect.' Kaoru allowed a tiny smile of victory to tug at the corner of her mouth. 'Touche'.'

Time 10:37 pm.