CHAPTER 7: BLOOD SPILT, TEARS DRIED

Chihiro could do nothing but stand there. Here was the love of her life that she had left seven long years ago, chained to the floor and hanging onto life by that of a thread. The only sound in that monotonous room was that of Haku's desperate breathing. Her knees shook rapidly as she soon sunk to the floor, still completely overwhelmed with the outcome of her labor. Haku's eyes lay as black as stone, as they starred off into their own demise. Trying to gain enough effort, she hoisted herself onto her hands and knees and creped over along side of her fallen love.

"Damnit, Haku. Why couldn't you fight back? Why couldn't you resist?"

"Because he let his heart fall in love, making him into nothing but a weak, broken, little, lifeless puppet." Chihiro spun around at the sudden apparition of a voice filled threw out the lonely room, till finally the owner of the voice appeared in the moonlight. Noria's presence darkened the room ever further. All hope drained from the room as she entered. Her scaly skin shimmered under the darkened moonlight.

"Heh, a lifeless puppet is he. For having someone he truly loves suddenly makes him lifeless. Your certainly one to talk about love, considering that's what your trying to achieve, but all through the wrong ways." Chihiro stated heartlessly, her eyes never leaving Haku's hand, which she now clasped firmly in hers.

Noria shook the insult off. "Ha! As if you knew what true love was. You returned to your world with your loving parents and forgot all about your, beloved, Haku."

"What was I suppose to do! I was young and naïve. I never knew what love was. If I had known what it meant to leave, and to realize that I would forget everything of this wonderful place, I would never have left." Tears steamed down the girl's face. Her hands gripped Haku's hand tighter as if she could keep his life force within him as it quickly fleeted.

"That's no excuse. As soon as you're born you instantly begin to love the first person your eyes rest upon. You recognize that person as being someone who will take care of you and protect you. You felt that for Haku. You felt that for Haku upon running into him on the bridge your first night in our world. You're a fool for denying it!"

"I don't deny anything! I loved Haku then, and I love him NOW!" As if on cue, Haku's, eyes flickered to life. His gaze slowly rested on the blind Chihiro. His hand clenched hers in return, which made her jump and stare down at him.

"HAKU!" A slight grin spread upon his lips.

"You… always were… quick to jump to conclusions." He said through pain filled words. A confused look banished the exultant look on Chihiro's face. Silvery scales eluded from Haku's body and left behind…

"KANE!"

"What!?"

The last few silvery wisps of scales faded into the atmosphere revealing the bloody, chained up body of Kane.

"This can't be! My nano-bugs reported to me that they had successfully killed Haku!"

"Well… I guess… not even your creations… are perfect." He gasped as blood spilt from his mouth.

"Kane. But… why?" Chihiro, completely forgotten in the midst of the confusion, spoke, as tears continued to flood her face.

"Heh, my… time was near… as it was. I promised… Haku… I would protect you."

"How can you protect me, when you can't even protect yourself! I can't let you die! Not for anyone!" Chihiro screamed in rage as she clung to Kane's hand as her soul continued to be pulled in an endless game of tug-o-war. Kane let out a slight, pained, laugh.

"Protect myself. I… can protect myself… perfectly fine." With a cough he continued, "Unfortunately for me, I had planned… to hurt Noria… where she least expected. But my plan was interrupted. I had… disguised myself as Haku… so I would be… allowed in without force. But by my… miscalculations, the nano-bugs had detected… my power waves… and quickly let loose… whatever weapon… was available." He explained through gasps of breath as his breathing became more rapid in failed attempts at bringing oxygen to his broken lungs.

"You're a fool, Kane. I though you had been smarter than that. You should have known that after you disobeyed my orders that I had put my nano-bugs to work in tracing your power waves. Always such a fool." Noria said with an elated laugh.

"Not a complete fool, Noria." With the little energy he could grasp from his body he raised his arm to face Noria and with a grin he finally added. "I was able to get you here, and unprepared." He finally finished as he closed his eyes and his mouth slowly mouthed his final words, a spell, a most powerful spell, known only by high-ranking elemental spirits. A spell that takes every ounce of liquid in an opponent's body and instantly freezes it and in turn changes it into its gaseous stage. Known only as…

"Sublimation." Kane whispered.

Noria's eyes locked in a dead gaze upon the two on the floor, her body instantly frozen in time. The full out experience of the spell was never one to be matched. To first have all of your liquid insides to turn solid and just as soon evaporate from each and every pore in your body was the worst pain anyone could go through, let alone to be alive during it all.

As soon as Noria's eyes locked up they just as quickly unstuck and swiveled around in the sockets at amazing speed. A deathly scream began to rip from her throat as first smoke like vapor began to escape from around her eyes. And then soon, the vapor spread. As endless streams of vapor began to escape her body from every opening that would allow it exit. The sight was excruciating to watch just as much as it must have felt. Frozen in time but still being alive to feel the pain as your insides drain of all bodily fluids and are evaporated through every pore in your body to be expelled into the air as natural carbon dioxide.

It wasn't long before the screaming died and Noria's body fell to the ground as a dried out prune. Her skin and clothes deflated against mere bone. Nothing left.

Laughing and a faint clapping suddenly issued from behind the curtain from which Noria had originally came through. The velvet curtains parted allowing a tall man with black, skin, wings clasped around his naked form emerge, his long green hair flowing out from behind him.

"What wonderful work, young elemental. I've never seen such a cleanly done sublimation spell cast before. Like they always say. The true greatness of oneself is seen on his or her own deathbed." He man mocked as Kane sneered at this new arrival.

"Wha-what's going on?" Chihiro questioned shivering from after the sight she had just saw quickly fad into a new reality of this new threat. She looked to Kane for an answer after he didn't reply right away. A gasp left her lips as a new dagger rested directly in-between the young mans eyes. He was killed instantly. Chihiro slowly turned her face away from the bloody victim onto this new menace.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope you didn't have any feelings for that man. But you did know that it was him who was helping that foolish lovesick girl to save me, right? He was also the one to first capture Haku and bring him under her spell."

"He-he was brainwashed. HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING THAT WASN'T FORCED ON HIM! That hideous creature pumped her evil drugs into him, which controlled him! Just like she did, Haku!" Chihiro screamed in rage as tears ripped across her face.

"Just as naïve as always, aren't you Chihiro." Chihiro's eyes widened. How did he know her name? Every one in this world knew her only as Sen. Unless…

Just as she was about to open her mouth in response the curtains around the small circular area flew out about them all. In a flash of silver she was being whisked out through the two glass doors of Noria's dwelling into the cloudless night sky on the back of a silver dragon.

A smirk formed on the man's face as he watched the silver wisp take off over the ever-darkening horizon.

"Don't think you've gotten away from me that easily, my dear Chihiro. You're already to late to save them." With an evil laugh the man turned on his heel and stalked off back into the secret detached room from Noria's dwelling. The sounds of grinding bones and tearing flesh stretching from the decaying victims behind him as his two dog demons devoured every last bit of what remained. The battle for the spirit world had only just begun. And the number of casualties was only to grow in number.

Author's Note: Okay. I promised a while ago to have gotten this out. Did it happen when I wanted it to…of course not. I apologize once again for the long wait on this chapter. Unfortunately, it's a short one. The next chapter I can assure you all will be a lot longer as there will be more deaths, a little romance, and a whole lot more storyline to be found. I would also like to quickly thank those who have been sticking with me in this long story and lack of updates. It's been to long. Luckily I've wanted to spend more time on my computer, which is a good thing. So hopefully it will lead to more productiveness in the story. I do plan on actually completing this story. How long it's going to take to finish, who knows. shrug

Now I leave you with some questions to ask yourself. Who is this new character? How come he knows Chihiro's real name? Find out next time.

Hopeful update date: Jan 31st 2005