Chapter 14

::July 22::

The sun was setting low now, falling behind the tops of the buildings as it sent brilliant colors of orange and pink streaking across the light blue sky ---a few stars were already starting to hang high in the sky as the four young men and the aging charge made their way back to Ryo's house. Their search had taken them over three hours and still no sign of Rylea or where she could be had been found. Leinto now ambled along side Ryo, using his staff slightly for support as he walked. The charge said little to any of them as he thought silently over what all he had found out. The word that he had gotten from his demon friends in the community was that there was a rumor going around that the Goddess of Night, the bringer of death and despair, was supposed to be awakening on the new moon. This concerned the charge greatly. The only new moon that was coming up was on the twenty-fifth, which also happened to be on Rylea's birthday. Whether she was this goddess they were talking about or not he wasn't sure, but he was definitely certain that she was the new hybrid that everyone was after. That had been made clear to him when she had come up missing.

Who this Goddess of Night was that everyone in the community was so elated to hear that she would be awakening on the new moon, Leinto wanted to know and wanted to know everything he could about it. Obviously she would have had to be of demon blood to have a title such as that and a woman, also, to be a goddess. What troubled him was that Rylea had the demon blood, how she had gotten it Leinto was still puzzled over, and it was true that her powers would be fully awakening on the midnight hour of the twenty-fifth ---but could she be this Goddess of Night that they were talking about? Leinto had to admit that it did seem like the demons were going to the extremes to capture just a regular hybrid, a hybrid that was unaware to the fact that she even held such a power and evil within her. Never in all his years had he heard of them going to this extent for just one person.

True, Rylea wasn't just any regular hybrid. She was the daughter of a Ronin Warrior and soon to be new bearer of the Wildfire armor, but Leinto still had to ask himself why they wanted her so badly. The charge frowned as he mused over things in his mind, trying to sort them out the best he could. Their was a legend or a prophecy that was similar to what was going on now that he had heard of a long time ago but he couldn't remember all of it now ---with time it had faded from his memory. Frown lines creased his forehead the more he thought over his current situation. He should have seen this coming. Should have been able to keep her safe. It was his obligation as her charge and mentor to keep her safe from all dangers, but he had failed in this and allowed her to be taken. Leinto blamed himself for being so negligent as to let her slip through his fingers so easily. The aging charge let his head droop as his shoulders slouched with the feeling of guilt, the feeling of letting her and everyone else down, the more he allowed himself to wallow in self pity.

Kento glanced around uneasily at his friends who walked along side him on their way back to the car they had taken out to the outside limits of the city. The uneasy silence that was settled over them all now was making him tense and he hated the fact that no one was saying anything. Clearing his throat he tried to lighten the mood and get someone to at least talk. "So um, do we try again tomorrow?" he asked out of the blue, trying to start a conversation.

Cye and Sage looked over at the Ronin leader who walked in between them for an answer, when he didn't reply to Kento's question or give any indication that he was going to, they both shrugged lightly for an answer for the ash-blue haired man. Kento glanced at the dark haired man with concern before dropping his eyes back at the ground he walked on as they continued on their way.

Ryo was in his own little world as he walked along with the others. His disappointment at not finding his daughter could plainly be seen on his face. Not even so much as a trace had been found of her and it was all starting to seem hopeless to him. Thoughts that he would never see his daughter again kept running through his mind. Thoughts of never getting to hug her again or tell her he loved her ran rapid amongst his other rambling musings. The more he contemplated that he would never see her again the more depressed he became until he was to the point of almost giving up and loosing faith that they would ever find her. He'd lost Luna, the love of his life and now he had lost Rylea, his only daughter ---or at least he thought he had.

An angry tear slipped down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away before anyone could see it. How could he have let her be taken? How could he have just let her slip right out from under his nose like that? I should have made her go with me. I knew something was wrong, I had a bad feeling when I left and still I ignored it. Now she's gone and I'll probably never see her again. Rylea I'm so sorry. Sorry that I wasn't a better father to you. Ryo thought angrily, bitterly and yet with sadness as well, towards himself and his negligence. He blamed no one but his self for what happened to her, big surprise, she was his responsibility after all.

Ryo tried to push his bitter thoughts away from his restless mind as he entered the car along with the others and drove back for his house. He sunk down into his seat and sighed as he watched the sights go by them as they drove through the city and headed for the out skirts where his house was.

Darkness incased the large, stone floored, room that Sirous now stood in. The only light that shined in the dark room was from a fire crackling in the hearth behind the silver haired man. Sirous' back was to the fire, his gray eyes set intently on the mural hanging on the wall in front of him as he studied it with Rylea's pendant grasped tightly in his right hand. Its pictures looked weathered and old, but could still be made out clearly. The red flames behind the man danced and cast eerie shadows against the wall in front of him. "Finally," he pronounced aloud to the silent room. "Finally it will happen. Finally what I've waited for eleven years to happen is going to. Finally it will end and yet all begin. The time of man is coming to an end and soon all immortals and demon alike will rise and take claim over this world that was rightfully ours!" The fire sprang up behind him into a roaring and blazing fire at his words, almost in a silent applaud to his declaration.

Sirous laughed as he touched the mural gently, running his hand against the picture of a woman in black and red ancient goddess clothes in the middle of the fresco. Hundreds of demons knelt off to the side and below the picture of the woman, bowing to her in almost awe and a sense of surrender to her power. Darkness seemed to surround the woman, choking out any kind of life, giving her the feeling of holding an awesome power and death within her. Ancient writing in silver lettering ran along the border of the mural, depicting the prophecy of the Goddess of Night, bringer of death and despair.

Sirous' lips curled into a feral grin as he read aloud the words in the ancient language of the demons before then translating them into the Japanese language. "When the night sky is black and a shadow is cast over the moon, the Goddess shall awake, bringing with her death to all of those who stand in her way," he smiled more as he looked down at what was written below it. "Be wary of the one of both demon and mortal blood for she shall be the one to carry the Goddess within her and reclaim the lands of the mortals for the demons once more."

Sirous turned from the mural then to look at the fireplace behind him. The flames flickered from inside the hearth and reflected in Sirous' now black pupils, giving him an unearthly and unnerving look in his eyes. His shoulders shook as a chuckle started deep within his throat and then increased to an evil laughter that sounded all through the halls of the temple. "It is time Rylea," he chortled out in that insane type voice. "Time for you to awaken to your new destiny!" The fire blazed more as Sirous' laughter rang through out the temple, giving silent hope to all that could hear it. Demons of all different types raised their hands to the sky and gave a cheer of their own to signify that they knew of what was coming.

Whiteblaze's ears twitched at the sounds of approaching footsteps coming up the dirt driveway; now intrigued as to who could be coming up the driveway on foot. His head came up from his lounging position on his paws as a figure, carrying someone, came into his view. Lazily the tiger got up from his lounging position on the wood floor of the porch and stretched before walking down the steps to greet whomever the mystery person was. He sniffed the air and picked up the familiar scent of his mistress Rylea, but didn't know who the other scent he smelled was ---something about this other scent put him on edge though, almost as though he could smell the evil on him.

Coming up closer to the person, he now saw that the figure was a tall, blond, male who was carrying his mistress whom was seemingly unconscious and in pain by the looks of it.

Tadin stopped running once he came upon the large white and black striped tiger who now stood in his path, stopping him from continuing up the driveway and to the house. He regarded the tiger uneasily, ready to leap out of the way if the thing decided to pounce on him. Instead of the tiger doing that though, he padded up to Tadin and nudged at Rylea's arm that dangled from the hold he had her in and whimpered to her in a concerned manner. Watching the tiger's actions, Tadin got the hint that he was friendly and obviously knew and was worried about the girl he carried in his arms. "Hey boy," he said to the tiger cautiously. "Do you know what I should do with her?" He motioned down at the dark haired girl in his arms and Whiteblaze seemed to get what he was saying. The tiger turned from him then and bounded back up the driveway to the porch he had been lying on and pointed at the door with his head to show Tadin where to put her.

Tadin smiled as he followed after the tiger, stopping at the door to look down at him. "Smart tiger, thanks boy," he said to Whiteblaze before carefully switching the weight of Rylea in his arms to try and open the door. Turning the knob finally, he found it locked and growled in aggravation. No one was home, just his luck, and Rylea wasn't getting any better. As if to state him true, Rylea let out a moan in pain and grabbed at her chest as if searching for something.

Tadin glanced down at the girl in his arms helplessly. He didn't know what was wrong with her, much less how to help her. Damnit all, what am I going to do? No one's here and she's not getting better by the looks of it. Maybe I should- His thoughts we interrupted by the sounds of a car coming up the same driveway he had just trekked up. He smirked in how ironic it was that a car would just now be coming up the driveway, just when he needed one too. Right on time. He mused with a smirk as he gently but as quickly as he could before the car came into view and spotted him, laid Rylea down on the painted white, wooden swing that hung from the awning over the porch. With one last worried glance at her, Tadin dissolved into a shadow and was gone just as the car pulled up and parked in the gravel driveway in front of the porch.

Two people emerged from the now parked vehicle and headed for the door to the house. Rowen glanced over at his daughter as they both walked up to the two story house, a concerned expression settled over his features at the defeated look on his daughter's face. "Hey," he said gently to her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Rona we're going to find her and she'll be back here before you know it."

"Yeah," she replied with a heavy sigh. "I know that.... It just seems so weird coming here and knowing that Lea's not here. Ya know?" Rowen nodded his head in understanding to his daughter, he understood how she felt all too well.

Silence fell over the two as they walked up the painted white steps and onto the same color porch until Rona let out a startled screech and disrupted the silence. "Dad look!" she shouted as she ran over to her cousin's passed out form. "Dad it's Lea and she looks like she's in real bad shape!"

Rowen hurried over to where his daughter was standing and indeed found his niece, passed out with face contorted into a mask of pain. Immediately he went into his doctor mode and began to check her vitals and everything else he could think of. When he was done he glanced over at his daughter to say, "Get your uncle on the phone now."

Rona nodded her head in acknowledgement to what she had to do before rushing back to the car and grabbing out the cell phone that was there. Dialing her uncle's cell phone number she then waited on the other end for someone to pick up.

A black car screeched to a halt in the drive way to Ryo's house, kicking up a dust cloud around it, as the occupants of the car scurried from it in a hurried fashion ---moving as fast as they could to where Rowen sat with an unconscious Rylea in his arms. Rona looked up at her uncles and charge as they came up to her and her father, watching as her uncle Ryo grabbed her cousin up into his arms as soon as he was standing over her. His face held an overjoyed but yet concerned expression as he furrowed his brows while gently giving his daughter a shake to try and rouse her. "Lea," he said to her. "Lea wake up." No verbal response came from the girl as she sucked in a breath through her tightly clenched teeth and clutched at her chest while squeezing her eyes shut tighter then they already were.

Ryo frowned and his questioning, almost demanding, gaze come up to meet Rowen's already concerned one, "What's wrong with her Rowen?"

"I don't know Ryo, she's been doing that ever since we found her. We need to get her inside though," Rowen replied back to the dark haired man as he stood from his seat on the swing where he had been holding the child that Ryo now held. Ryo nodded to him before walking over to the front door with Rylea still in arms and unlocked the door before then going inside with everyone following behind him.

Rowen followed after the dark haired man into the house with Cye, Sage, Kento and Rona hot on his heels. The charge slowly trailed after them, stopping at the door to glance up at the now almost dark, night sky with a weary frown. It's already beginning. He thought with a sigh as he closed the door to the house and walked into the front room to stand with the three adults and Rona who now occupied the room. Rona's head was pointed up the stairs at where her cousin's room was, a faraway look settled over her features as she watched her uncle and father take her cousin up there and disappear into the dark room. Sage, Cye and Kento let out the breath they didn't know they had been holding as they all settled them selves down on different pieces of furniture that was situated in the room, all looking exhausted and drained ---Rona took a seat as well soon after them and the room feel silent once more.

Ryo stared down at his daughter after he had laid the girl down in her bed, Rowen checked over her one last time. The dark haired girl had now ceased in her actions of pain and lay quietly in her bed, peacefully sleeping as far as they both could tell. Rowen stepped back from her and with a sigh glanced over at Ryo, "She's fine now. I don't know what was wrong with her before. There was nothing physically wrong with her that I could see."

Ryo didn't reply back to him. His tiger blue eyes were fixed on his daughter now, almost as if he were afraid that if he took them off her then she'd be gone again. Rylea stirred in her sleep, restlessly rolling her head to the side. "Tadin ...have to get away.... your crazy," she mumbled out incoherently in her sleep.

Both men gave each other a sideways glance at her mumblings, not really understanding what it was she was talking about or why she would even mention Tadin's name. As far as they knew, he was just an ordinary teenage boy who knew the girls ---were they ever far from the truth. Rowen laid a hand on Ryo's shoulder when it became clear to him that Rylea was going to be sleeping soundly for a while, with a jerk of his head he motioned for him to follow him out of the room. Ryo looked apprehensive about leaving his daughter but a little bit of convincing from Rowen persuaded him to leave. Laying a soft kiss on her forehead and glancing one last time at her, he walked out of the room with Rowen and headed downstairs to where the rest of them sat.

Leinto looked up at the stairs as footsteps coming down them jogged him from his half mediating state. The other three men, along with Rona, stood at the entrance of the two from upstairs. "How is she?" Rona asked almost immediately.

"She's fine, actually sleeping soundly right now," Rowen assured his daughter with a gentle smile ---Rona smiled back at him, liking the response she had gotten from him.

A light frown pinched at Sage's features as he thought. As glad as everyone was to see that the youngest of the gang was back safe and sound, they were all missing the big picture ---How had she found her way back safe and sound? "As happy as I am to see that she's back and safe," the blonde started as he gained the others attention. "how did she get back here?"

"I was wondering about that too," Cye added, just as confused, as Sage seemed to be. "Rowen, Rona, was there anyone here when you found her? A note maybe even?"

A shake of the head no came as the answer from the Hashiba's. "No, it was just her and Whiteblaze. There wasn't anyone or anything saying how she got here," Rowen replied to the water Ronin.

"Maybe she got away from whom ever took her and found her own way back here?" Kento suggested with an odd amount of reality, something totally unlike him.

Ryo shrugged lightly at all of their musing and unanswered questions. Although a part of him had been settled with the return of his daughter, another part of him was still not at rest. Whoever had taken her was still out there and that meant that he or she could and probably would be back to take her from him again. This unnerved and put Ryo on the edge. He probably wouldn't be getting very much sleep the next couple of weeks over this.

Leinto stood slowly from his seat, the bones in his knees cracking under the pressure as he moved them. If Rylea had been taken by the demons like he thought she had, and she had, then they would most certainly be back for her. The pains she was having would get worse the closer it got to the midnight hour of the twenty-fifth and would only stop once the sun went down. That's the way it went for hybrids that were coming into their powers. The pains she was having was just the effects of that evil or demonic part of her awakening and was only going to get worse for the poor girl, but nothing could be done to help with her discomfort.

The old charge knew as well as the others that Rylea hadn't just gotten away from her captor and wandered back to her house, there was no way. No, someone must have helped her get back to where she belonged and Leinto had a sinking suspicion he knew who that someone was. "You're going to have to keep a close eye on her," he said to all of them but was more so directing it towards Ryo. "whoever took her will be back to get her."

Kento smirked over at the old charge as he crossed his large arms over his broad chest, "Let me guess. You splittin on us again?"

"I'm not 'splittin' on you as you said, I just have to leave now," he retorted in a very annoyed sounding voice. "I must go and dig up a little information on something. I will be back in the morning." Without even so much as a bow to them this time, he disappeared into a shimmer of air.

Rowen rubbed at the back of his neck as a sigh escaped him, "I think I'd better be going. Come on Rona," he said in a voice just loud enough to be heard by the people standing in the front room. "Ryo, if you need anything or Rylea's condition changes, call me." Ryo gave him a nod at his invitation as the blue haired man and his daughter walked away.

Cye stood shortly after Rowen left and looked at his watch on his wrist, "Its getting late Ryo, I should be getting home now. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Cye has a point," Sage added as he too stood. "I should be leaving as well."

Kento came into the room from his scavenging in the kitchen, belching loudly to signal his entrance, "Yeah, and now you're out of food so I'm gonna hit the road too."

Ryo smirked up at Kento from his seat in his recliner, "And what part of that is supposed to shock me Kento?"

The large man shrugged his broad shoulders lightly in reply, "None of it I guess."

Cye shook his auburn head in mirth at his friend's behavior, taking him by the arm he began to lead the man out of the house with Sage closely behind them. "I'll see you in the morning, Ryo. Ja Ne," the blond to said to him as he exited the house with the others.

Ryo chuckled lightly at his friends as he heard the sounds of cars starting and then pulling out of the driveway. He rubbed at his face in a tired fashion as he sighed audibly. Whiteblaze lay at his master's feet, silently snoozing but his ears were kept alert to any abnormal sounds. The dark haired man smiled gently down at his faithful tiger and then his eyes were drawn to the room where he knew his daughter was. He still couldn't believe that she was actually up there. Actually back safe and sound in her room. It seemed all too surreal to him and more like some daytime fantasy then the actual reality of his life. Ryo rubbed at his face again as he laid his head back to rest against the back of the chair he sat in. Whiteblaze seemed to have the right idea with the snoozing and right about now sleep seemed like a good thing to him. Sighing, he tried to clear his mind of all his wondering thoughts as he slipped into a half conscious state.

Rylea tossed and turned wildly in her bed, she was now stuck in some horrible nightmare that she couldn't seem to escape no matter how hard she tried. Voices whispered all around her, taunting her almost as hands seemed to reach out from everywhere and grab at anything they could ---her clothes, hair, legs and arms. They seemed to be trying to pull her down, down into their world. She struggled against them, putting up as much a fight as she could but her strength seemed to be leaving her the more she fought. Something about where these hands wanted to take her felt wrong, but yet right in some way and that alone terrified her, she didn't want to go where they were taking her.

Again the hands reached out for her, grabbed a hold of her arms and started to drag her down into the never ending darkness that seemed to incase everything. Rylea screamed and tried to fight them off but she couldn't seem to push them away, it was as if weights were weighing her down or she was in some giant pool and couldn't get her body to work. "Let me go!" she shouted at them as terror seized her and a blinding red light seemed to emit from her chest and surround her completely. Screeching from the light, the hands let go and were drove back into the shadows that surrounded her.

Gasping for air now and feeling weak, Rylea fell to her knees shaking and grasping at her chest were the light seemed to have come from. A light, almost mocking laughter wafted to her ears, seeming to echo all around her. It was a laugh that she recognized, but didn't know why. "Why not just give in? You know you can't fight me for much longer," a very, all too familiar voice asked of her from the shadows.

Rylea's blood ran cold. That voice sounded a lot like hers. The shaggy haired girl forced her head up with whatever strength she could muster and stared at the darkness, not seeing anyone. "Who are you?" Rylea asked hesitantly, not really sure she wanted to find out who the person was.

The mocking laughter came again. "Why Rylea, don't you know who I am?" the voice said again as a form materialized from the shadows in front of Rylea.

Rylea's eyes widened in horror as a girl who looked identical to herself wearing what appeared to be black and red goddess clothes of some type with gold bracelets around her ankles and wrists, stepped out of hiding and in to her view. The girl who now stood in front of Rylea looked like her, but there was something different about her. There was something otherworldly about her looks, malice and yet this deadly beauty all to its own seemed to be etched into her features. Not only that but she held an evil aura about her that seemed to surround and choke out everything else. The Rylea look alike smiled down at the gawking girl, "I'm you Rylea. At least I'm the person you could become if you'd just let go and stop fighting me," she purred out to her in a sultry, seductive voice that was almost hypnotizing to a certain degree.

Rylea narrowed her vivid blue eyes at her twin, already getting a bad feeling about who this person was. "Just what the hell are you babbling about?" she demanded of the person.

The goddess look alike smiled more as a sweet chuckle escaped from her lips and knelt in front of her twin, "I represent the power growling in side you. I'm the hybrid you could become if you'd stop fighting your urges for power and let me go."

Rylea eyed the look alike wearily, "So you're evil?"

"There's a fine line between good and evil, Rylea. People who think they're doing the good thing can really end up doing the wrong thing in the end which would lead to more evil," she reasoned in that persuasive, hypnotic voice as an evil smirk formed on her pouty lips. "You have a chance to become something more than just a hybrid, Rylea. You've got powers and abilities demons could only wish for!" the look alike continued on.

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

The look alike smirked in nothing short of amusement as she stated pretty plainly, "Because you are. Even as we speak I'm starting to awake and slowly take control. Pretty soon I will be in total control and ruling the demon and mortal world like I should be."

"Nani?!" Rylea shouted at the girl's declaration.

"As soon as the clock strikes midnight on the night of the twenty-fourth, you will no longer be little Rylea of Wildfire," the girl stated to her sweetly as she ran her index nail all the way from Rylea's temple down to her jaw. "but Rylea, Goddess of Night. The strongest hybrid alive."

"No," Rylea growled out as she shook her head and her wild dark hair swung around her face. "I won't let you!"

The Rylea look alike laughed coldly at her pointless declaration before a smile spread across her face. Running her tongue along her top teeth she replied in that sultry, hypnotizing voice, "Dear child, you can't stop me. I am you. You will turn and everyone you love will die by your hand, you will kill them. There is nothing you can do to stop it."

"No," Rylea whispered out helplessly, fear creeping to her voice now.

"I've waited a very long time for this day and now I can taste it. I can taste the sweet victory that will soon be mine, ha, ha, ha, ha," she replied and the evil, mocking, but yet sweet laughter of hers rang throughout the darkness incased area.

"I won't let you! You hear me, I wont!" Rylea shouted at her twin, but now she wasn't so sure of herself.

The girl leveled her china blue eyes into an icy glare at her, "You don't have a choice in the matter. You will fall," she stated to Rylea before her hands came up and shoved the dark haired girl backwards into the never ending darkness. Rylea felt herself start to fall and panicked, terror already griping her as she blindly reached out for something to grab onto and found nothing. "Goodbye, Rylea of Wildfire," her demonic twin proclaimed happily as she watched Rylea fall through the darkness with a satisfied smile plastered across her face.

::July 23::

Rylea awoke from her nightmare with a startled jolt and found herself flung half off her bed with her back resting against the wooden floor. Breathing heavily, she righted herself to sit up on her bed with her legs dangling over the edge. Feeling something wet and cold press against her arm, she looked down to see Whiteblaze's chocolate brown eyes gazing back up at her with a concerned expression. Rylea smiled softly down at the tiger and scratched him behind the ears. "I'm ok blaze," she told the tiger quietly who seemed to believe her.

Rylea sighed then and looked over at her window, it was almost pitch black outside, only one stream of moonlight provided the light that flooded into her room. Sliding from her bed, she silently padded over to it and sat down at her window seat. Drawing her knees up close to her chest, she stared out at the night sky and at the sliver of moon that hung there. A small part of her felt excited that the moon would be gone soon, sending the night sky into total darkness. Rylea shivered with the thought of her dream she'd had and held herself tighter. I have to get as far away from everyone as possible. If I don't I'll end up killing them. She told herself, even though a part of her didn't want to leave but knew that she had to for the safety of her family.

Whiteblaze, sensing something was bothering his young mistress, padded over to lay at her feet. He rested his head on his paws and stayed there, silently glancing up every once in a while at his mistress who quietly sat staring out at the night sky.

Ryo laid in his bed, his arms folded behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling of his room. Sleep didn't want to come for Ryo for some reason tonight. Maybe it was because he had too much occupying his mind to settle it. Sighing and giving up on sleep for the moment, he got up from his bed to grab the t-shirt he'd discarded earlier before climbing into his bed and put it on. He couldn't sleep and thought maybe checking on his daughter would ease his mind in some way.

Stepping from his room he walked down the hall towards her bedroom where he hoped she would still be. Opening the door to his daughter's room, his heart stopped when he found her bed empty. Panicking he looked around her room and his eyes came upon the hunched form by her window. Saying a silent 'thank god' Ryo willed his heart to beat again as he walked over to her. Whiteblaze looked up when his ears picked up the sounds of feet and then put his head back down when he saw who it was.

The closer Ryo got to Rylea the more he got the feeling that something was amiss by the way she was sitting on her window seat, knees drawn to her chest, seemingly staring off at nothing. When he was within reaching distance of her, Ryo laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and was startled when she jumped in return. "You ok?" he asked her quietly, a frown starting to crease at his forehead.

Rylea just turned away from him once she recognized who it was to stare back out at the night without saying a word to him. Ryo sat down in front of her, his eyes asked for an explanation but Rylea just ignored him as she pulled her knees tighter against her chest. "Lea, what's wrong?" he asked and reached out to brush her bangs from her face, but Rylea just flinched away from his touch.

Ryo frowned more at her actions, she'd never flinched away from him before. He stared at her, his eyes searching her face for some kind of answer as to what was going through her head but found none. Oh God, what if they did something to her? He thought suddenly."Lea, did something happen to you while you were gone?" he asked her softly but his voice demanded an answer.

Rylea remained quiet, refusing to meet his gaze. Ryo narrowed his eyes at her and laid his hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. "Answer me Rylea Marie. I swear if they laid one filthy hand on you I'll fry those bastards."

Rylea didn't look at him as she smiled inwardly at his comment, "No, they didn't touch me. Not the way you're thinking anyway."

"Then what's wrong, koibito?" Ryo asked in his soft voice again, his eyes gave away how concerned he was about her.

Rylea rested her chin on the top of her knees while keeping her eyes pointed anywhere but on him, she really didn't want to tell him what was going on ---she didn't think he'd understand. Ryo sighed and caught her chin in his hand, finally tired of her non communication and brought her face up to look at him. His tiger blue eyes bore into her own mirror image of his own. "Tell me what's bothering you, jouchan," he told her, his voice took on that commanding tone again.

Rylea was quiet while her eyes held her father's. Glimpses of her nightmare flashed before her mind's eye and she couldn't stop it. You will be the one to kill everyone you love, Came floating across her mind as clear as if she had said it herself. Tears threatened to spill over her eyelashes and she had to blink them away. Ryo saw this and his gaze lightened, her tears confused him. "Rylea? Koibito what is wrong?" he asked her softly, trying to coax whatever was bothering her out.

Rylea sniffed and blinked back more tears, but it was no use. She had to choke back a sob as the tears she didn't want to cry fell down her face. "Daddy," Rylea choked out barely above a whisper and let go of her legs to climb into his lap, hiding her face against his chest as she burst into tears.

Ryo was taken back by her actions. He didn't really quite grasp what had her so upset. Doing what he could to try and calm his upset daughter he held her tight while rubbing the small of her back soothingly. "Lea it's ok. I'm here baby, I'm here. It's going to be ok," he tried to comfort her but nothing he said seemed to console her.

"I won't do it," she sobbed out, "she's wrong! I won't!"

Ryo looked down at her with one of his dark eyebrows lifted in complete confusion, "Won't do what? Who's wrong Lea?"

"I can't," she whispered and clutched onto her father's shirt. "I can't do it. There's just no way!"

Ryo was becoming a little more than baffled by his daughter's rambling and couldn't make heads or tails out of it, "Lea you're not making any sense sweetie. What are you talking about?"

Rylea sat back so she could look up at her father's face and Ryo felt his heart wrench at how miserable and tormented she looked. "I had a nightmare, I think it was a nightmare, and this girl who looked like me and even said she was me told me that I was going to turn into some demon and kill everyone I love!" she gushed out while tears fell from her vivid blue eyes.

Ryo frowned and gently brushed away the tears on her face, "Lea, it was just a dream. It doesn't mean its going to happen."

"No," Rylea replied, shaking her head stubbornly. "I don't think so. It felt too real."

"Rylea," Ryo said sternly and took her firmly by the shoulders. "it was a dream sweetie. A dream and nothing more. You've been through a lot, that's why it feels real."

Rylea chewed on her bottom lip as she thought over what her father had said to her, she wasn't convinced that it had been a dream. What she had seen had felt so real and it had terrified her. Ryo saw the unconvinced look on her face and brought her back into his embrace, hugging her tightly as if to reassure his daughter. "It was just a dream. It was all just a bad dream that's over now," he repeated to her again.

Rylea snuggled into her father's hug. She didn't believe it was just a dream, something about it had seemed too real. The dark haired girl closed her eyes and breathed in her father's after shave, the smell comforting her like it always had. She tried to relax the best she could, wanting to stay in her father's secure arms for as long as possible ---Rylea wasn't sure she'd ever be able to again.

A/N: Ok once again I'm very sorry that it took me so long to get this chap done and up, but I've been dealing with writer's block pretty bad. I'm hoping that the last few chaps to this will go a little faster then this one did. Anyway, special thanks to Sifirela, MorganRay, Two-BitGortez, BB289 and Rogue. Every review I get makes me feel special as a writer and I thank you all very much.