Me: YEEESSSS!!!! Finally! I Finally finished the tenth chapter! I'm sooo sorry for the long wait. Anyway, WOW! Tenth chapter! I'm in the double digits!! I know I did this last time, but THANKS EVERYONE FOR SATYING WITH ME!!! I'm so happy. Expect revisions in the last nine chapters sometime next month. I would do them right now, but I'm kinda pressed on time. Notice how this one's shorter than most. Enjoy!

Kenshin: And as usual, she leaves me with the disclaimer. Riyo does not own Demon Diary, Yu-Gi-Oh, or Inuyasha.

~*~

It had started to drizzle outside. Luckily, I had ended up next to a wall, so I was able to regain my balance before falling into the mud puddle next to me. I can't say the same for the rest. Eclipse, Sesshou-maru, Xandria, and Laurie had managed to keep their balance, and Set and Kenshin had wisely gone into their soul rooms, but everyone else weren't so fortunate.

"There is a limit to what we can give you, and each can only carry two, so you'll have to share," announced Eclipse. "Kenshin and Takumi, I'm afraid you'll have to fly yourselves the whole way."

We all gave him a puzzled look. A familiar roar then answered our questions. Takumi turned white, and I immediately went for my blade. All of us cautiously turned around.

"These are specially bred," continued Eclipse. "They should know their way there. But just in case of a need to steer, signal the same as you would to a horse."

We stared into the faces of four intelligent looking Crusaders as we tried to understand what Eclipse had just told us. I heard a squeal somewhere behind me, then a slap and Kenshin mutter "Pathetic."

"I would have preferred that you travel by foot, but there's no time. Zhiren is far ahead of you."

I re-counted. Four Crusaders. Eight riding spaces. Thirteen of us. Two were flying, so that meant eleven were supposed to ride.

"Um, Eclipse?" I piped up. "Slight problem. Four people can't go anywhere."

Eclipse looked at me.

"Hm?"

"Well, there are thirteen of us-"

"Who said thirteen are going?"

There was a chorus of "Huh?" and more puzzled looks.

"Tell me when I said all of you were going," said Eclipse.

No one answered.

"Well," commented Eclipse, "obviously there is still confusion about what exactly is going on."

"He wasn't all that specific to begin with," Xandria mumbled to me. I nodded.

Eclipse, luckily, did not hear her comment.

"You should know that Bakura and Marik are unable to leave at the moment."

I glanced at Bakura and Marik to see if they'd speak out against this. They both seemed to have a look of guilt on their faces.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed in protest. "Why not?"

"Because the sword isn't theirs," answered Sesshou-maru in a bored sounding voice.

Eclipse nodded.

"Due to this thievery, they cannot go along at the moment because the permission of the true owner of the emerald is needed. Unfortunately, it will not be represented until the matter is looked into in more depth."

Cassidy glanced nervously up at the Crusaders.

"That still leaves four that can't-"

"Two, Cassidy, two," corrected Laurie. "Takumi and Kenshin are flying."

"Oh, yeah, two. Two are stranded."

"Raenef and Chris aren't going," Eclipse confirmed.

"Oh, good," sighed Raenef with relief.

"Why not?" whined Chris. "I wanna go! It's a chance to get away from this damned castle."

"You have a more important job at the moment," explained Eclipse. "The god Rased needs to be represented at this time. This isn't the best moment for you to go off and get yourself killed."

Chris sulked. Somewhere in the background, Cassidy squealed.

"You mean you're making me go with these weirdo's myself?!" protested Erutis.

"Yes."

Somehow, the way Eclipse said that prevented Erutis from protesting further.

"UmRiyo?"

"What, Xan?"

"Where exactly are our yamis at the moment?"

There was a chuckle from Sesshou-maru's direction.

"You really expected them to sit around all through Eclipse's little lecture? You two should especially know that your spirits in particular have little patience and, not to mention, a short attention span."

We all stared at him.

"Uh-oh," mumbled Laurie. "This can't be good."

"Damn it, why do they always do the fun stuff without us?" I whined.

"I know, they never let us tag along!"

"Wonder why," mumbled Sesshou-maru.

We both glared at him.

"Ok, where did they go?"

"Hm? How am I to know? I don't bother myself with the doings of inferior demons."

"Well, you should," Erutis butted in. "You're the one who's going to be in charge of them in a few minutes."

"Yes," yawned Sesshou-maru. "But until then, let me enjoy my freedom."

Obviously, Sesshou-maru was not at the moment in the mood to help out. I let go of my frustration by giving a swift kick to Takumi, who was still lying on the ground.

"Hey, he's your uncle. You ought to know something."

Takumi slowly opened his eyes.

"Huh, wuh?" he said with a dazed, clueless look on his face.

I kicked him again and sighed.

"Baka. Never mind."

"Fools," Sesshou-maru laughed. "This is Set and Kenshin we're talking about. They may be inferior, but that does not mean they are not know for their fondness of destruction."

Sesshou-maru looked us straight in the face.

"You should know them well enough. Now tell us, where would you two go if you had the time to cause some chaos?"

Xandria and I looked at each other.

"Oh."

"Duh."

"Um, Eclipse, where exactly do the Crusaders live?"

Eclipse suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"They don't live anywhere. They just wander around the castle freely."

"So what you're saying is that they could be anywhere in the castle wandering freely?"

"Yes."

"No," Cassidy confirmed, "this definitely isn't good."

"What kind of idiotic plan is that?" Xandria asked, more disappointed than angry. "Just leaving Crusaders to wander around freely for anyone to grab,"

"Well, I'm sorry Eclipsed snapped back, "but we're not quite used to mortals trying to steal our killer breathing-breathing guard dragons."

Right on cue, we heard a Crusaders roar nearby, along with much whooping.

"Yeee-haaaww, this feels good!" we heard Set shout.

"Can I have the reins now?" Kenshin yelled.

"No, it's not your turn yet."

There was a strong breeze that nearly blew Cassidy away as a huge Crusader flew right over us.

"C'mon now," Kenshin said as he grabbed me from about by the back of my shirt and threw me on to the back. A second later, Set had Xandria up here too. Next thing I knew, we were hanging on for dear life as the dragon flew upwards. When I finally gathered up enough guts, I looked down. Eclipse was having a tantrum, screaming something I couldn't quite make out. Everyone else was rushing to get on a Crusader. Sesshou-maru had bullied everyone into letting him have his own, Cassidy had managed to stick with Laurie, and Erutis had unfortunately ended up with Takumi.

As the five of them took off after us, Raenef and Chris ran with their shadows, also shouting. Well, finally. We were finally off, out of that castle. So much for the dramatic exit.

Eclipse stopped shouting and sighed as he watched the five dragons fly off.

"That's it," Hejem announced, appearing behind Eclipse. "Now we have no choice but to wait."

He walked up beside him.

"Do you think I did right? Sending them off like that?"

Hejem nodded.

"What other choice did you have? Did they not all come at the appropriate time?" He looked at the fading shadows. "Though I find Set and Kenshin an unusual choice. Watching them through this ordeal will be interesting.

~*~

Cristina woke up to the sound of raindrops on the foliage above her, the scent of last night's campfire still hanging in the air. Had she been left? There was a mix of panic and relief. If she was a lone, she was free. If she was alone, she was lost. Cristina opened her eyes. There she was. The white haired woman sitting on the old tree stump.

It had been a warm summer evening. Cristina was five years old. She had been running in those woods with her older cousins. To them, she was a nuisance. Always following them around, never leaving them alone. It was getting dark, and Cristina had stopped. She thought she had seen something. Something white and shiny. She had gone off to see what it was, but the second she stepped off the trail it disappeared. Cristina looked back. Everyone was gone. They had left her. She was alone. She panicked and started running yelling her cousins' names. Cristina wasn't watching where she was going, and tripped. Her head hit something sharp. Her tried to get up, but her head hurt. She felt it. It was wet. She lied there, panicked, bleeding. She closed her eyes. I don't want to die.

"Don't move," someone said.

Cristina opened her eyes. There was a young woman with whitish-blonde hair in a white dress standing over her. She brushed her hair out of Cristina's wound and touched it.

"Shhh, everything's going to be okay."

Cristina blacked out. The next thing she heard were her parents calling her name.

It was the same woman. Cristina was sure of it. Her hair had faded to white now, though, and she was dressed as Cristina had always drawn her. But it was her.

"You're awake," the woman said simply. She picked up her pack. "Come, we must keep moving. They set off and hour ago. We have to keep up."

Cristina got to her feet.

"We'll eat breakfast as we walk."