Hey everybody. Yeah, I know.... " Oh my God, Silver's UPDATING?" Well, yeah. It's been a little late in coming, but it's finally here now. Chapter Six of Night of the Mark! And madness reigns.

Thanks to everyone who told me about Uranus. The information has been most... helpful... (wicked grin, little voice in back shouting: Story Ideas!)

And to Tiger.... just one note....

Stop chasing the BR men! I need them for my story! :)

Enough of that.... 'cause now it's a very belated....

"SHOWTIME!"

Chapter Six

Roads of the Wounded

Mansion de Leo, Tokyo, Japan. 1:40 a.m. Night of the Mark.

Shina falls, her energy wasted and spent in one great blaze, her body human and her mind exhausted. As she falls, Long tries to leap to her- but he cannot. His body has been too badly harmed by Uranus' electricity to work, and he merely falls down, struggling and snarling helplessy at the floor as his muscles refuse to work. He scrambles desperately, madly, trying to make his body leap up and save the woman he loves before she plummets to her death (and her death it will surely be; she is up at an incredible height, and in human form the marble floor of her own home will be more than enough to kill her). If Long cannot save her, she is doomed.

But as we watch in mingled horror at her peril and amazement at her power, Gado leaps, performing a father's duty by saving his little girl. Physically (and, perhaps, mentally) Gado may be the strongest of all the Zoanthropes. Though Uranus' electricity has greatly wounded him, his will to save his daughter overrides such trivial matters. He will spend the rest of the night in a hospital bed (right beside his daughter, Long, and Kenji Ohgami) but at the moment, his great will supports him, and he moves through the air with all the grace his enormous form can muster. He catches Shina almost gently (though the impact makes him cringe; she connected solidly with his big, open paws) and turns before he lands, so that he ends up facing the still fallen Long. As he puts his daughter down (and even now, she is starting to wake up, to recover from the effects of her rage- it is hard to keep a Zoanthrope down) he feels his paternal instinct leave him, and he collapses to the floor. As he lays there, panting and feeling his body trying to recuperate itself (but this is a great deal of damage, damage he might not be able to fix without help) he looks at the fallen Long, still struggling to get up, not realizing that Shina is already safe. Gado feels a moment of great liking for Long, who tried to save Shina despite the great wounds inflicted on him, and Gado's respect for Long goes up. Then most conscious thought leaves him as he collapses on his backside, leaning against a wall, his body slowly fixing itself.

Shina twitches on the ground, just barely coming awake, and as her eyes shudder open Gado lets out a sigh. Coming from his bestial form, it sounds like a snarl, and Shina's eyes fly open in a snap. She turns her head (slowly; she is drained badly) and looks her father in the eye.

" Father?" she says (she has not and never will call him "Dad"; she thinks the title is childish and insulting to both parties). " What... happened...?"

" You.... fought.... her...." Gado pants, his words slurred as they exit the fanged snout that is now his mouth. " You.... drove her off...." he breathes deeply, what little stamina he has left taken up in the effort of talking. We move closer, shaking our wings uneasily, staring upwards into the gaping darkness through which Uranus both came and went into this mansion. We glance up uneasily, for we fear she might return, and none of the three warriors here possess the strength to fight her should she attack again. But all we see in the night are the flickers of lightning and the pouring rain.

" Good..." Shina rests for a moment, eyes closed, then a thought occurs to her and she snaps them open. " Long... is he alright? I.. couldn't..."

" He's fine," Gado interrupts his daughter, his head clearing slightly and his breathing returning to normal as his body fixes the worst of the damage Uranus has caused. It will be some time before he is fully recovered, but for now he can move. And move he should. " We have to get out of here," he says, clambering painfully up. " She.... might come back."

Shina nods from the floor. " Agreed. Where... should we go?"

Gado steadies himself for a moment against the wall behind him, then looks at her again. " The hospital. Alice's.... should be okay there. Got to... warn them... Busuzima might be back..."

Shina grunts her assent and picks herself up off the ground. She is tired, but of the three the least wounded. Her own power protected her against Uranus', and so her wounds are light- mostly scrapes and bruises that are already healing. But the greatest wound is not in her body, but in her soul. With our sight, we can see something behind her, a mocking laughing face of eyes and teeth, grinning... it's just a phantom, like something half seen on a winter night, but it's still there, and it's grinning it's ugly head off. Because Shina just used it's power. Just tapped into it.

And that means she's started to become part of it.

We know many things. Sometimes, that is more curse than blessing. Because we know what the Crests do. Shina's lifeline has just been shortened immeasurably. The Crests grant great power, but it comes with a heavy price. Because these things were forced upon the Zoanthropes, their power does not come at the cost of one's soul (for one's soul can only be thrown away or taken back knowingly, can only be lost or saved with one's full knowledge of the consequences) but that does not mean that they come without a price. Everyone has a vital lifeforce, an outflowing of chi (as the Japanese would call it; it is not the true name of this force, but the best name mortals have given it) that gives them their unique personalities, their potential in life.

Every time the Crests are used, they permanently drain this chi. This life. And they consume it whole.

As we watch the greatly weakened Shina and Gado pull themselves together, Long lets out one last great exclamation (in Mandarin Chinese; roughly translated as " Damn it!") and then passes out. He stays in beast form (turning from one form to another is a conscious thing for most Zoanthropes, Uriko being an exception) and so his body continues to heal itself, though at a greatly reduced rate. All activities of the body lose something when we sleep, and in Long's semi-coma, his body's activities are losing much indeed. Shina and Gado walk laboriously towards the Tiger Zoanthrope, and Shina slowly slaps him awake. Gado reverts out of beast form (belaboring the loss of healing, but he must be human to grab his car keys and take them all to the hospital) and heads towards his room. As Long slowly wakes up to Shina's cold, military face, we flap our wings and take flight. We are heading to the hospital too, for there will be nothing of interest happening elsewhere in Tokyo for some time tonight. But the hospital (and one room in particular, one Kenji Ohgami is currently resting in) holds much promise for excitement. For memories.

For the dreams that support reality.
We take wing and fly.



Room 350, Our Holy Mother Medical Hospital, near both Oghami and Nonomura households. 2:00 a.m. Night of the Mark.

As we fly into the night, nervously looking about for Uranus, Xion, or that thrice-damned Tabula, we notice that most of the city is lit up tonight. Very few people are sleeping, even at this late hour when all but the most dedicated insomniacs are asleep, and that should strike us as strange. It feels perfectly normal, however; the wild night we've had, and the events occuring now, are so important, so powerful, that even ordinary humans are feeling it's effects. Though we should not call them ordinary; for all humans, even the lowliest, have power in them. It is not power in numbers, for humans in numbers are weak things, stupid things, possessed of a mob mentality that shrieks for death and destruction and illogic; but power by themselves. Each individual human holds the potential to raise themselves to the highest level of good and honor; each holds the potential to become monsters beyond even the demons we have seen tonight. They are far from ordinary, in a universe almost soley composed of soulless, automaton creatures that act on mere instinct and base drives.

As we fly onward, flapping our wings and trying to see past this rain that threatens to blind us permanently, we see the great looming shape of the hospital rising before us. It is an enormous place, serving as it does most of Tokyo. It is in a prime location, near the middle of the city, and so has thousands of beds. The one we are interested in now is Room 350, a room where Kenji Ohgami is just starting to wake up from his suicide attempt two hours ago. Where three very nervous loved ones wait and go through their various nervous habits.

We flap in through a closed window (intangibility would be an enormous boon to burglars if they could ever figure out how to do it) and enter the building, our presence not even enough to flap the curtain now closed over it. We settle into our various places in the hospital room, spreading out for comfort. This is a spacious room, designed for multiple patients at a time, and several other beds lie unoccupied along the walls. Some of us sit on them, and the more playful ones lie down on them and stretch out fully, yawning grandiosly. The remainder of us glare at our companions and refocus our attention on Kenji. Now is not the time to be playing.

Not that Kenji himself is all that interesting. As I said, he's just starting to wake up, and he isn't doing much other than shake, shudder, and blink at the moment. We wait a few minutes, as he finally awakens from his dazed sleep into a semi-conscious state. One eye cracks open. We hear an almost silent gasp, then light footsteps. We turn to see who it is.

It is Uriko, who has been sitting nervously outside the waiting room for the whole time Kenji has been in here, silently praying and praying to God that he will be alright. There are many things she has to tell him- her feelings for him, the ache in her heart as she watches him lie there- but also a question she must ask, a question she thinks even as she enters the room: [Why? Why, Kenji? What made you hurt yourself, try to remove your life from mine? What? Was it something I did? Something someone else did? Oh God, help me to be strong... Tell me, Kenji!]

These thoughts run through her mind as she runs into the hospital room. Normally, it is locked to all save nurses or doctors, but Alice has a cardkey that grants her access to all the hospital rooms, and she gave it to Uriko before she left for the bathroom. Yugo is in his own gender's respective bathroom as well, trying to soothe his aching fist with cold running water (his fist hurts where he used it as a makeshift battering ram) and desperately trying to stay awake. He's splashing water in his face now, weariness engulfing him, and he stands before the bathroom mirror and sighs. Alice herself is weeping in the other bathroom, her heart broken for poor Kenji, for her little sister Uriko, for her love and friend Yugo. Alice is an extremely kind soul, her heart an overflowing well of love and hope and sympathy. Sometimes, that causes her more grief than joy, but even if she had a choice, she would never give it up. It is too precious to her, and she believes that by being a kind heart, she lives more and feels more than others. Maybe it's true. It certainly seems that way.

There are many who would think it odd that everyone except Uriko is gone, off on some other business. But then again....

Uriko has been praying for some time alone with Kenji, so that they may talk without interruptions or interference. And they say the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Returning our minds and senses to this room from it's wanderings in areas both physical and theological, we see Uriko fumble with the card key for a second (confused and worried minds do not work all that well) and then, as she finally puts it rightside up and inserts it into the lock, open the door. She steps inside, almost running but not quite, her feet muffled in the slippers she's wearing. She had not had time to grab anything else before jumping in Alice's car with Yugo (Alice herself had ridden on the ambulance, explaining to the EMTs- both friends of hers- exactly what she'd done and what had happened, to the best of her knowledge). Yugo had been almost frantic to follow the ambulance, almost as if he might become lost without it to guide him, though he knew full well where the hospital was. Uriko was still in her kimono, and though normally she'd be embarassed to be wearing such a thing in public, she finds that at the moment she couldn't care less about it. Kenji is all she can think about.

As she approaches him, he says something, in a guttural voice that does not sound at all like his own.

" So. I... stopped you."

Kenji's open right eye, on the opposite side from where Uriko now stands breathless, looks towards the closed window through which we entered.

" Still.... night..."

The guttural voice is strange, and hearing it with mortal senses is disconcerting; hence, we can be forgiven our momentary lapse in thought. This is Bakuryu, speaking directly with Kenji's body. In it's half-state of sleep and wakefulness, the body is fair game for both parts of Kenji's shattered mind.

As if to prove us right, Kenji speaks now, identifying his other, much to Uriko's horror. Her mouth hangs open, as she fears for the man (boy? What do you call such as him, neither man nor boy, yet both just the same?) she loves.

" I failed... damn you, Bakuryu..."

Bakuryu speaks again, this time his voice slightly mocking and triumphant.

" Damn me? You're the one who... tried to damn yourself... through suicide, Kenji..."

The eye rolls back towards the ceiling. Kenji speaks again. His voice is old, tired, sad.

" I'm... already damned... lost..."

Bakuryu cuts in, chuckling.

" Doesn't mean... you have to drag me... with you... just... let go... let me rule... you'll never have to worry about anything again... I'll take care of everything..."

Kenji's voice again. This time it carries a sharper, almost frantic edge as he refutes Bakuryu's words.

" Never!... That's why I.... tried to kill myself.... to end YOU.... to rid the world of your evil..."

" Of course, you now have to consider," Bakuryu says, mulling it over with himself, " that .... I may be YOUR evil..."

" Kenji!" Uriko cries, finally unable to stand anymore of this lunatic conversation. " Kenji!"

Kenji and Bakuryu both snap awake, and in their surprise they move with complete disregard for the various wires and IV's inserted into their skin. They sit up with a jerk, propelling themselves up, and propping themselves in a half-upright position with their left elbow. As they glare at Uriko she sees two souls in their eyes. In the right eye, Bakuryu's eye, she sees hate and fear and lust; in the left eye, Kenji's, she sees hopelessness and despair. And, somewhere deep in that brown eye, love. Love for her. For what she means to him.

Then, as suddenly as they rose, they fall back down. Kenji takes over (his mind is stronger than Bakuryu's when he is fully awake) and lays there, tears beginning to form beneath his now-closed eyelids.

" Kenji..." Uriko says, stepping closer to him, one hand stretched out to touch him... but she's so afraid, so very afraid, of that other in him, of Bakuryu... she waits, hesitant, wanting to comfort but afraid to touch.

" Even you find me horrendous," Kenji says, self-mockery and hate tinging his voice with laughter. It is the voice of a lost soul. " Guess I should have expected that..."

" I don't find you horrendous," Uriko says, moving her head to the side to study him better. " Not at all."

" Bullshit," Kenji says fiercely, his voice so full of an unexpected, fiery rage that Uriko steps back, afraid that Bakuryu has returned. Kenji opens his eyes and turns to look at her, raising his head to spit the words at her. " Look at the way you're acting. Stepping back from me- me!- afraid to come near me. Afraid... of me."

Uriko almost steps back again, fear of Kenji pushing her and telling her to run away... but she casts it aside and plunges forth with courage. She steps towards him, her footsteps slow and silent. As she reaches Kenji, she stops for a moment, gathering her courage, and then leans down and places her arms beneath him. Confused and caught unawares, Kenji does nothing to stop her. She draws him into a fierce hug, holding him close to her, and places her head above his own. She has left her neck open on purpose. If Kenji wishes to kill or harm her, she is now solely in his power. She is fast, but even her speed will not be enough to allow her to dodge a blow from this distance. One sharp, swift jab to the neck, and she will pass out unconscious. One bite, and her jugular will be torn open (one of the worst habits of Bakuryu's- one that tortures Kenji in his dreams- was that of drinking the spills from his kills) and her lifeblood will flow out.

" I won't be afraid," Uriko says, holding him tight. " Not of you. I love you, Kenji..."

This action, so unexpected, so kind (and to this soul whose entire life has been one composed of misery and pain, any kindness is a blessing), breaks down all the barriers in Kenji's mind. Bakuryu is, for the moment, driven out. He puts his own arms around Uriko (ignoring the pull of the needles as they leave his skin; they make little sucking noises as they leave, causing all of us to momentarily wince) and buries his head in her neck. And he cries. Tears are both the scourge and boon of mankind; they tear us apart inside, make us sobbing, helpless wrecks of ourselves... but they also heal, and leave us feeling a little less empty inside.

Kenji cries, and Uriko holds him. Soon, his tears dry up, and become nothing more than sniffles. Uriko holds him, glad that no one has come in on them, because this is a private moment, one they wish to share with each other alone (we are here, of course, but since she doesn't know that, we don't count. Besides, this is what we're supposed to do.) As Kenji finally quiets down, she asks him the question that has been filling her mind.

" Kenji? Why did you do it? Don't you know that I love you? That Yugo loves you? And Alice and Gado.... all of them, don't you know we love you?"

Kenji holds her as she rocks him slowly, for once blessedly alone in his mind (for Bakuryu is always there, always mocking, always just below the surface of his skin) and stays silent. He doesn't know how to answer her question; he doesn't even want to try. He just wants to stay like this, forever.

Outside, Alice has left the bathroom (Yugo is at a coffee machine farther down the hall, trying to stay awake as best as he can) and is walking down the halls when a doctor accosts her and asks about the patient in Room 270. Yes, he says to her reply, he knows that she has someone here, but he must know about 270's medication....

In this room, as we watch with an apprehensive, cautious sort of joy (because this seems to be the first step towards some kind of healing for this tortured soul) Uriko places her head against Kenji. She nudges him, trying to pry some sort of answer from him. " Kenji? Don't you know?"

Kenji pushes himself harder against her, and says something against her skin. She didn't catch it, but we did. He said yes.

" Kenji?"

" Yes," he repeats, louder this time. " I did know you loved me. And that's why I tried to kill myself. To remove my evil from your lives...." He pushes his face against her, drawing comfort from her strength. " I'm a monster...."

" No, you aren't... you're not to blame for what you did as Bakuryu. In your place, anybody would have done the same thing. You were just a child, Kenji. Nobody should be hurt like that..."

Kenji sighs against her, his breath a puff of wind against her neck. " You don't understand... the things I've done...."

" You had to, to survive. No one blames you."

" No," Kenji says fiercely, his pain flooding forward as he opens up this festering wound in him, as he lets the poison that has grown so long within him out. " I didn't have to do it to survive. Busuzima ordered me to kill, but he never ordered me to torture. I... have done things you can't even imagine. I used to...."

Uriko tries to hush him, to tell him that it doesn't matter, that who he was is not who he is, but he will not be stopped and bulls on ahead with his story.

" I used to kill any bystanders as well. But I'd play with them first.... I loved hunting them. Hunting humans. I once tore a man's head off with my claws and threw it at his wife... I killed her with her own husband's dead skull. I thought it was funny, at the time."

Uriko continues holding him, her will strong despite what she has heard. It is faltering somewhat, but for now at least, she holds him.

" I always enjoyed disemboweling others, gutting them like fish. It was so entertaining to watch their guts fall to the floor..." Kenji's voice grows guttural, as he drifts into memories that are Bakuryu's. Despite her fear, Uriko stays with him, feeling that she is the one link to the real world and the better things he has left. He continues his story, voice growing foul and weary with evils remembered, " Some of those I killed... I let them live for days. I would find them, take them to an abandoned warehouse or building of some sort, and have fun. I tore a man's eyes out once, just to see if he would survive. He did- for a little while." Kenji raises his head to look at Uriko's eyes. In them he expects to see condemnation and hate. Before his gaze reaches hers, he finishes, " Knowing all this, can you still tell me I'm not a monster?"

And as he raises his vision to meet hers, he sees the truth in her eyes. He scares her. But she will still stand by him, no matter what. Because she does not blame him. Not for the monster he was or the monster he could be. She loves him. And she will not leave him in his weakness.

" Yes, I can," she says to him.

Kenji buries his face in Uriko's arms again, and tears flow freely from both of them. We smile, bittersweet smiles, but smiles nonetheless.

Even darkness can become light.

We wait for Yugo and Alice to return. Our mission is not yet finished.... but we have just a few more hours to go.

-R and R please!