Authors Note: YEAH!! I got my first review. This is my first story and my first review on it so that makes it my first review ever. So YEAH!! Unfortunately school is starting up so I won't get a lot of time to write. I know this chapter took a while to get up and the others will probably take just as long. Sorry about that. Anyway without further delay.

Chapter 5: Subaru's Fate

Ryu moved quickly across the plains and began making his way up the mountain. Ryu began to grow very tired as he traveled. He had fought many shades and Hachigeki in the Akai Forest, and in the process been forced to use a large amount of his noryoku. Ryu was exhausted. Despite his strong desire keep moving and find Sei, Ryu's body was out of energy. He had only made it half way up the mountain when he finally realized that trying to make it over the mountain that night was pointless. Off to the side, Ryu noticed a small dirt overhang supported by the roots of an old tree.

"I will have to sleep there tonight. Trying to press on will only make matters worse. I have to stop here." Ryu slowly walked over to the overhang and crawled under it. The space was tight Ryu was had to struggle a bit to squeeze into it. It must have been terribly uncomfortable, but he fell asleep instantly. He slept deeply through the night and did not awake until late in the morning the next day. When he did and realized how late it was Ryu began to panic. He tried to find Sei, but could no longer feel her presence.

"Damn it!" He yelled in frustration. "Now I lost Sei. I don't know where she is anymore. But I can't give up. Subaru needs Sei. All I can do now is go to where Sei was. Maybe from there I can figure out where she went." Ryu rolled out of the shelter where he had spent the night and got to his feet. He wasted no time in moving on towards the top of the mountain. Ryu was well rested, yet his noryoku had not fully returned yet. It would take several days before he could recover the noryoku he had used in the Akai Forest.

At Ryu's new pace it took him little time to reach the top of the mountain. The other side of the mountain dipped into a valley before rising back up and leading into a vast plain. Ryu starred at the terrain trying to place where he had felt Sei's presence. However the best he could do was a general area. There was a lake down in the valley. Sei had been somewhere around that lake. Where she was now was something Ryu still could not tell.

"No sense wasting time here," muttered Ryu to himself. And with that he began making his descent toward the lake in the valley. He ran down the mountain and leapt toward the lake landing just in front of it. However Ryu immediately knew that something was wrong. Everywhere around this place was a horrible energy. Ryu looked around and then noticed a blood stain on the grass by the other side of the lake. He went over to it and bent down so he could begin to feel the energy from it. Since the energy that Ryu could feel was the life essence of that person. This energy should be in the blood as well. If it was shed recently then the force should still be inside of it. Ryu was right. He could tell without doubt that it was Sei's blood. It was at that moment that Ryu became very worried. The Mahouski could not die from any kind of natural means. However they could be killed. Ryu still couldn't feel Sei's presence, and now Ryu had to realize that Sei might have been killed. However Ryu would not stop looking for her. Even though he knew that it was a possibility, he felt it an unlikely one. Deep down Ryu felt that Sei was still alive.

Ryu looked around trying to find where Sei could have gone. He looked off and into a slight wooded area that Ryu knew ran through most of the valley. Much of the terrain in that direction had been disturbed and so that was the direction he went. He walked through the trees following a disappearing trail of blade marks on trees, blood, and disturbed bushes. When the markings did completely disappear Ryu still had no idea of where to go. Now he was deep in the woods with no sign of where Sei had gone.

Ryu closed his eyes and began searching very hard for any sign of Sei. This time he managed to find something. It was very weak and Ryu had a great deal of difficulty trying to get a direction. When he finally did find the direction the energy was coming from Ryu ran towards it at full speed. He raced around the trees jumping over bushed and constantly focusing on that energy. He was not about to lose Sei a second time. Ryu felt the energy get closer and closer and he knew that he was getting close to where Sei was. However Ryu suddenly felt a second presence at the same spot as Sei. This one was an evil energy. Not Onime, but most likely one of his generals. Ryu took to the trees and moved closer to where he felt the energy. He suppressed his noryoku so that neither Sei nor Onime's general could sense him and moved forward. He reached a clearing and down in it was Sei and one of Onime's generals, just as Ryu had thought. Sei had her sword, a thin straight sword, drawn and was facing the general. Sei was the only female among the Mahouski. She had long blue hair, which she adorned with a blue ribbon. He had a blue shirt that stopped above her midriff and a white skirt that came significantly further down in the back than it did in the front, and had a blue stripe down the center in the front and the back. The general was a smaller man than Hachigeki. He wore a black bodysuit and had metal claws attached to his hands. He had a black belt around his waist that held many kunai in it. And just like the others he had the glowing red eyes.

"Now Sei, we will have a fair duel without you running away like before." Said the general.

"Fine by me, Akamaru." Replied Sei as she tightened her grip around the sword. She lunged forward and stabbed at Akamaru, who blocked the sword with his claws. He then pushed it aside and went to stab Sei. She jumped back and pulled her sword in to knock Akamaru's claws aside. She flipped back and held her hand toward Akamaru.

"Aoi Katsunaki!" she yelled and unleashed a blast of water at him. Akamaru jumped up dodging the attack and pulled out several of his kunai and threw them at Sei. She ducked and rolled forward dodging the darts before turning to face Akamaru again. Fighting straight on was not Sei's strong suit. She was incredible wit her noryoku, but with she was the weakest of the Mahouski with her sword. This fight was strongly to her disadvantage. Ryu was still hiding in the trees ready to leap in and stop the fight if he needed to. Sei rose back to her feet held her sword loosely at her side. Akamaru ran toward her and stabbed with his claws. Sei quickly dived to the side and slammed her hand into the ground.

"Koorima!" she yelled and ice blades burst from the ground all around Akamaru. They crashed down on where he was, but he had barely managed to get out of their reach. However Sei wasn't done yet. She held her hand forward and attacked again.

"Koori no Yaiba!" she yelled unleashing a surge of ice blades straight at Akamaru, who quickly flipped back and sprung off of a tree and dove straight at Sei. Ryu leapt from his spot and drew his sword knocking Akamaru's claws aside. Ryu landed and turned to face Akamaru, who was quickly getting back to his feet.

"Who's the fool who decided to interfere in my fight?" He said as he stared at Ryu

"Kazeski Ryu."

"What, two Mahouski!" he exclaimed. "You may have gotten away this time, but I won't be alone next time." With that he ran, and Ryu had no intention of giving chase.

"Daijovu, Sei?" Asked Ryu as he turned his gaze toward her.

"Nothing I can't heal, but what about you, that blood on your shirt. What happened?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry about it, it's not my blood. I'll explain it all in a minute. First you need to take care of your wounds.

"Their nothing. I'm fine." Sei began to walk forward, but she flinched greatly and fell to her knees. Ryu caught her in his arms and then noticed the wound in her side. "Maybe it's a bit worse than I thought." Sei reached her hand toward the wound and a blue light began to radiate from it. The wound slowly melded away and left Sei perfectly healed. She jumped up to her feet and looked back toward Ryu.

"But still nothing I can't heal. However if you hadn't been there to stop

Akamaru, it might have been a very different story. I owe you my life." Sei reached her hand forward and the same blue light appeared on Ryu's chest where the blood was stained in his shirt. The blood faded leaving his shirt as white as it ever was.

"Think nothing of it Sei. I would never let you die."

"That is good to hear Ryu." Sei turned to face Ryu and changed her expression to a serious one. "Where are Hikaru and Kenji?"

"I don't know. But it's not important now. We need to get back over that mountain." Ryu turned and pointed up toward the mountain he had scaled in his quest to find Sei. "Subaru was hit by one of Onime's generals. His wound is tainted and he won't last long unless you can remove the taint." Sei was shocked. She starred at Ryu and didn't move at all. "Come on Sei. If we can make it back in time we can still save him."

"Ryu, I don't think I have enough noryoku to remove the taint. They run very deep and are very hard to remove. I will come with you, and I will try my best to remove it, but I can make no promises." Ryu starred at her blankly. It had never occurred to him that Sei might not yet have the ability to remove the taint left by Hachigeki.

"Even if that is the case, you are the only hope he has. Let's go, we don't have time to waste."

"Hai." Sei and Ryu began moving back toward the mountain. Sei was growing tired quickly. Apparently what Ryu saw of the fight was only a small portion of it. Sei had used up a great deal of her noryoku. When she began to struggle with the climb Ryu knew she had to rest. They were only at the base of the mountain, but Ryu couldn't help it.

"We'll stop here for the night. Rest up Sei, tomorrow we need to make it back to the village. The doctor is good, but by now I'm certain the taint is beginning to harm Subaru directly."

"Arigatou, Ryu." Sei leaned up against a rock, and within about twenty minutes she was asleep. Ryu glanced over toward her.

"She is beautiful." Ryu said softly to himself. He tried to stay awake so he could watch over Sei. However it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Sei was the first to awake the next morning. She slowly sat up and looked over at Ryu. He was curled up on the ground with his eyes closed. As if in response to Sei's glance Ryu stirred and woke up. He looked over at Sei and their eyes connected for a brief moment before they both turned and looked at something else. Ryu got up and extended his hand toward Sei.

"Let's go. Subaru needs you." He said as he helped her to her feet. With that the two started their journey up the mountain. Ryu was fortunate to have avoided running into demons during the journey, and the two of them had reached the top of the mountain by mid-day. They paused slightly as they looked toward the village. It was but a speck in the vast landscape that was spread out before them. Sei walked up beside Ryu starred off into the distance with him.

"Makes it all seem worth it, doesn't it. All of this pain and suffering. Just looking out onto the world, the world that we protect, it makes everything seem worth it." She turned and looked at Ryu.

"It does." He replied and turned to face Sei. Their eyes met again and they both paused for a moment. Ryu suddenly turned his glance away. "We need to get going. I don't know how long Subaru can survive with that taint." Ryu began walking down the mountain toward the village. Sei starred at him for a while not moving.

"Shy as always." She said quietly before smiling and running to catch up. Ryu avoided looking at Sei's face the rest of the way down the mountain. When he turned to make sure Sei was still behind him he always looked down and made sure that her long white skirt was still behind him. It was beginning to get dark when they reached the bottom of the mountain. Ryu looked toward the village as he waited for Sei to catch up with him. However Ryu noticed something that sent a chill down his spine. Where the village was Ryu noticed a slight glow. It was faint, but Ryu definitely saw it.

"Sei, hurry over here." He called to her. She jumped down ad ran over toward him.

"What's wrong Ryu?"

"Look at the village. Do you see anything unusual?" Sei squinted and starred at the spot and then her eyes widened as well.

"That glow, it can't be?"

"I think it is. I can run a lot faster than you can, hop on my back." Ryu bent down on his knee and let Sei climb up. He grabbed hold of her legs and took off running. 'I never should have left him alone.' Ryu thought. 'Something like this was bound to happen. What was I thinking? That village was so close to the Akai Forest. It was sure to be one of the first places the demons would attack.'

He ran as fast as he could. Time was very critical know. Being so close to the Akai Forest, the shades were without doubt involved in the attack. They hate bright light, so chances are the demons just started the attack. If Ryu hurried he just might be able to make it in time to save the village.

However when Ryu arrived at the village it was too late. Almost every building was burning. The shades and ghouls where running through the streets in great numbers. Many dead villagers lay in the streets where they had been struck by the blades the demons wielded. Ryu stopped and Sei jumped off of his back.

"Sei, try and put out the fires. Leave the demons to me."

"Alright. Just don't get yourself killed."

"Same to you." Ryu drew his sword and ran toward the demons. Sei began summoning water onto the buildings and drowning the flames that engulfed them. Ryu had one main objective. He ran straight toward the doctor's house. Any demon that got in his way fell victim to his sword.

"I have to get there quickly. Subaru can't fight in this condition. I have to-." Ryu suddenly stopped talking as he heard a whistling in the air coming toward him. He heard it move around his side and then come back in from behind him. "Hachigeki!" He yelled and turned toward the boomerang. It was whirling toward him at great speed. Ryu held out his hand and the wind in front of him began to move. "Kaze Kekkai!" He yelled and the air began to whip violently around in front of him forming. The boomerang crashed into it and was thrown back onto the ground. "Get out here and fight me!" Hachigeki walked out from behind a building just to the right of Ryu. Ryu turned and faced him. However Hachigeki wasn't alone. Being held in his hand was Subaru.

"You seem to have forgotten a very important part of the taint I left in him. It is a piece of me. I can track him down wherever he goes." Hachigeki threw Subaru onto the ground. He was still alive. Hachigeki had not hit him yet. However the taint was severely affecting him. Subaru breathed very heavily and his face showed that he was in a great deal of pain. Ryu was enraged. He gripped his sword as tightly as he could. His fist was shaking with rage.

"Hachigeki! Prepare to die!" Ryu lunged at him, but stopped himself abruptly when Hachigeki held his sword toward Subaru.

"Careful now. Once I kill him, even Sei cannot bring him back. After you went through all that trouble to bring Sei here, it would be a shame if he died." Ryu's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you really think I wouldn't know what you where doing. Sei is the only one who can remove that taint. And you never would have left him behind unless you had plans of coming back. Why would you leave him and then come back, unless you were going to bring back the only one who can save him. It was really very obvious what you were doing." Hachigeki starred at Ryu, who dared not move and provoke Hachigeki to kill Subaru.

"What do you want from me?" Ryu asked in as calm a voice as he could manage.

"What I want is quite simple. I want you to die." Ryu tensed his muscles, readying his strike. Hachigeki would kill Subaru no matter what Ryu did. Somehow, he had to get him away from Subaru. "But you aren't stupid enough to believe that if you die, I'll simply walk away from here. So I'm not going to waste any more time." Hachigeki raised the sword and held it pointed down. Ryu had no time to execute any of his special attacks. He had to try and get there in time to stop Hachigeki from delivering the blow. Hachigeki grasped the sword in bath hands. Ryu was getting closer and closer, but not close enough. Hachigeki plunged the sword down and into Subaru's chest. Subaru screamed out in pain, but soon fell silent. Ryu stopped and starred at the scene. His eyes showed his disbelief.

"No, no, it can't be. No, this is a dream. NO!" Ryu screamed out and then starred straight at Hachigeki. "YOU! DIE!" Ryu held his hand out and placed it on his sword. A green light erupted on it. "Juk Drive!" He yelled as he thrust the sword forward and immense burst of wind struck Hachigeki and threw him off his feet and into the air. Ryu ran and got on the other side of Hachigeki. He held his sword up and swung it in an arc toward the ground, curving up just before it struck the ground. "Kuuhazan!" He yelled as a cyclone flew toward Hachigeki. It hit him in the back and threw him further into the air. Ryu jumped up and held his sword at his shoulder. "Todomeda!" He screamed as he reached Hachigeki and plunged the blade through his armor. Hachigeki's back arched and blood spilled from his mouth. Ryu pulled his sword to the side and faced it toward the ground. He landed on Hachigeki's back and forced him down into the ground.

Hachigeki didn't move. He was dead. The demons around the village that saw Hachigeki's defeat fled into the Akai Forest. The ones that did not ran with the ones that did. Sei put out the rest of the fires without having the demons to deal with. She ran toward Ryu, but froze in her tracks when she saw him. He held Subaru in his arms. Hachigeki was behind him with the sword still embedded in his back. Sei walked forward and stopped next to Ryu. She searched for the right words to say, but none came. What could she say? Ryu had gone through so much trouble to bring her to Subaru, and now he had lost him. Sei walked over to him and put a consoling hand on his shoulder. Ryu slowly laid Subaru on the ground. He reached his hand up to his shoulder and held onto Sei's hand.

"It wasn't your fault Ryu." Sei said in a quiet tone. "You did everything you could for him. He knows that. Subaru doesn't hold anything against you."

"I know." Ryu replied in a calm voice. "But that doesn't make it hurt any less." Ryu starred down at Subaru's body. A faint white light began to glow from it. The light grew brighter and brighter until all that was left of Subaru's body was a mass of brightly glowing light. The form became fluid and began to rise away. Ryu watched it as the light slowly rose into the sky. Ryu spoke slowly as he fought back the tears. "From the heavens you came, and to them you shall return." Ryu couldn't hold them back any longer and the tears flowed from his eyes. "You were more than my guardian, you were my friend. Good-bye, Subaru." Sei knelt down and held Ryu close to her. Ryu returned the embrace and let his emotions flow from him.

The villagers slowly began to come out of the houses around them. They had hidden in there when the demons came. Although many had died, many had also survived. They looked on as the two Mahouski revealed their pain. It was a concept very few understood. With great power comes great pain. And the Mahouski's power was supreme. Ryu regained control of himself and got back up to his feet. He looked around slowly before he began to walk away.

"Let's go Sei. We've caused more than enough trouble here already." Ryu and Sei began to leave.

"Wait. Don't leave." Came a voice from off to the side. The doctor came running toward them. "Please stay at least tonight in my house."

Sei looked back at him and politely declined the offer saying they couldn't possibly ask any more from them. However the doctor persisted and eventually Ryu and Sei caved. They walked back to the doctor's house and moved into the side room. Ryu sat down on one of the chairs around the table and Sei took the one next to him.

"Thank you very much," Sei said. "After all we've done to you."

"You've done nothing to us. In fact you saved us. We knew that since we lived so close to the Akai Forest that the demons would come for us. However we never expected that a general would be with them. Now thanks to you we can defend ourselves. We owe you a debt that we cannot repay." Ryu looked at him and slowly began to speak.

"Subaru would be glad to hear that." Ryu rose from his seat and began to walk back to the main room. Sei got up to follow him.

"Sei, I'd like to be alone tonight. If you don't mind." Ryu walked out the door and closed it behind him. Sei walked back and sat down at the table.

"Subaru died didn't he?" asked the doctor

Sei's reply was a solemn one. "Yes. He was killed by Hachigeki."

"I was afraid of that. I wasn't at home when the demons came. I had gone out to get some food. The demons came and I never had a chance to get back and help Subaru. Maybe if I had been there."

Sei cut him off abruptly. "Nothing would have changed. He was a demon general. He would have killed you and then killed Subaru. Nothing could have saved him." Sei paused as she looked up at the ceiling. "My only consolation is that I never knew him. If I had I would be as devastated as Ryu is."

"What was Subaru? If not a Mahouski, what was he?" The question had clearly been bothering the doctor for some time, and had never found the right time to ask it.

"Subaru is not a Mahouski. He is something different. After the first war with Onime, we slept within normal humans. Our powers were not needed and we no longer belonged in the world. Still, we remained on the earth for just this occasion. However in this state we knew nothing of ourselves. It was for that reason that the Sumeregi bloodline was blessed with the powers they have. Their speed, strength, and agility are all beyond the abilities of normal humans. They were also given minor elemental powers. By focusing their energy through a medium they can summon and manipulate various elements to a certain degree. Their job was to seek out and awaken the Mahouski in a time of need. Subaru is one of their descendants."

"But how did you awaken if you never met Subaru?"

"Subaru is but one of their descendants. There are others. It was Kyouske who found me. He since left in search of the others."

"You will disappear again after this war, won't you?"

"Yes. Once this war ends our power should end with it. It has no place in a peaceful society."

"It hardly seems fair. You live only in times of darkness. You fight to restore the land and then don't remain to reap the fruits of your struggle. It doesn't seem right."

"That is not true. We are given the rest of this life we have. We disappear by choice. Because we know it would be better for us to remain unnoticed. However that is merely our choice."

"Why? You saved the world and its people. Why would you not accept the praise that is due to you?" Sei paused slightly at this question. Trying to determine how best to answer it. Finally she spoke.

"Simply watching the world return to peace again is reward enough." Sei rose from her seat and began walking away from the table. "Now if you don't mind I need some rest." She sat back down in the corner of the room resting her back against the wall.

The doctor vehemently protested to this arrangement. "Please take my bed. I'll sleep out here for the night."

"I am but a guest in your house, to remove you from your own bed would be rude."

"You are not removing me if I offer it freely. And it is also rude to turn down the hospitality of your host. Please, use my bed." Sei rose from her spot in the corner and thanked the man sincerely before proceeding through the door that led into his private room. She closed the door behind her and the doctor was left alone. He looked toward the door Sei had disappeared behind and spoke to her, knowing that she did not hear him. "It is the least I can do to repay you for what you have done."

What did ya think, I thought it was a pretty good surprise. Sorry if you didn't want it to happen, but he just had to go. It was one of those things were that I just couldn't help. Anyway I guess you've figured where the romance comes in, that isn't supposed to be hidden. Anyway the next chapter shouldn't be too long away so til then.