Me: Hello everyone! I'm glad that you like this story, it makes me real happy!

Half-breed-demon-fox: Thanks for reviewing! Here's chapter 4!

Blaizin Wolf: I'm glad you liked it! Even I was surprised lol

Sims are awesome: You really are something! I like your reviews; they are always full of comedy! Oh, and about Aoshi & Kenshin… they are still rivals. I think Aoshi trusts Kenshin; after all, he did bring his sister back safely. And right now… Kenshin is the only one who can take care of Kaoru. But 'what if he kills her?' you ask, that's the twist of the story and you'll know about that in this chappy. Um… Kenshin didn't attack Lyhn because he couldn't; she has the ability to control minds and paralyze bodies, so Kenshin was paralyzed both in mind and body. And last but not least, thanks a lot for the last sin, my head still hurts from thinking!

Yami Kikkay: Whoa! I can't believe people really like this crap!

Me: Hey! glares you also give me some ideas, so CAN it!

Yami Kikkay: You still haven't had anyone steal in this fic!

Me: Be patient my friend; Misao is also in this fic.

Yami Kikkay: Really! Cool, girl power! And who else is in this?

Me: Well, there's Sano, Megumi, and-- Hey! I'm not supposed to be saying that! Now do the disclaimer thingy!

Disclaimer: If Kikkay owned RK, all the guys would be shirtless! Now, give me all your belongings and no one gets hurt!

Me: O.O Okaaay… Here's chapter 4!

Heart of a Demon

Chapter Four: The Devil's Maze

"When the story of Destiny is told, it will be written in blood..."

Lyhn walked through bushes and trees, dragging an unconscious Aoshi behind. After some time, she arrived at a beautiful lake. She closed her eyes and whispered some words. The water started moving; it parted in a way that a path was made. She walked calmly until she got to a gate. As soon as she opened it, all the water behind her fell. Inside, she snapped her fingers; two women wearing the same black dress came and took Aoshi. She grinned in satisfaction. Someone called her name. She went through a black door. The room was humongous; it didn't have any furniture, and it was dark; there were no windows and the only door was the entrance one. A man with long black hair and solid green eyes stared at her. Lyhn bowed to him.

Lyhn: "Lord Hakkimaru; I have completed my assignment."

Hakkimaru: "I know. However, you can not let your guard down. In order to get Himura, you will require some help."

Lyhn: "I know master. What I don't know is why we need him."

Hakkimaru: "We must make him remember who he was."

Lyhn: "But you yourself banished him master."

Hakkimaru: "Yes; but I never thought we would need him in order to take over the world. That's why I told you to mess with his mind a while ago."

Lyhn: "Why is he so important?"

Hakkimaru: "Before I tell you, I will summon the rest of the 'SEVEN' (Me: O.O Highly original, ne?)

Hakkimaru stepped forward and clapped his hands twice. After a few seconds, 6 persons, or demons, came into the room.

Hakkimaru: "Greetings, I welcome you; Hitomi, Katsumi, Ayumi, Haru, Hamushi and Shimi."

Each and every one of them bowed as he called their names. Hitomi was a female demon; she had shoulder length forest green hair with two bangs covering her pink orbs. Katsumi had long crimson hair held in a ponytail and lavender eyes. Ayumi had short navy blue hair and lime green eyes. Haru was also a female demon; she had golden hair to her waist, and pretty hazel eyes. Hamushi had messy silver hair and light turquoise eyes; he wore a coat over his black gargoyle wings, making him a dragon. Shimi was bald and had bicolor eyes; one brown, the other green. He was a human; but Hakkimaru had promised him tremendous power if he helped him. He studied demonology for years and his knowledge about black magic was incredible. Lyhn walked over and joined them.

Haru: "Lyhn, how is Himura doing?"
Lyhn: "Why do you want to know?"
Hamushi: "That's obvious; remember little Haru here has the hots for him! (Me: Who doesn't?) "

Haru: "Shut up Hamushi!"

Ayumi: "Look, she's blushing!"

Hakkimaru: "SILENCE! Now listen to me."

All 'SEVEN' turned their attention to their master. Hakkimaru cleared his throat.

Hakkimaru: "All of you know we have found the chosen one. It is just a mere mortal called Kaoru. Right now, her only family left is in our hands. The only one in our way is Himura."

Katsumi: "That jerk; he's always getting in our way!"

Haru glared at her. She just smiled nervously.

Hakkimaru: "Yes, that is why we need him on our side again. We need him to kill her. We can not let a girl defeat us."

Ayumi: "How will she be able to defeat us?"

(Me: Okay, now try to imagine this scene. You can still hear Hakkimaru's voice, but the scenery is different. Kaoru is asleep in Kenshin's arms while Yahiko talks to him. But Hakkimaru is the only one speaking. It's just to make it seem like a movie lol)

Hakkimaru: "Right now, this girl's power is still waiting to be awakened. She does not know how to use it because she doesn't accept her destiny.

(Me: Okay, scene change. Back to 'THE ROOM')

But, if she dies before that time comes, we will not have to worry. We devils will be able to walk the earth freely, and without anyone to stop us, we shall kill all the people in this land! BWAHAHAHAHA! (O.O") "

Shimi: "Yes, and I will have my wish granted, demonic powers!"

Hakkimaru: "Yes of course Shimi, after all, your knowledge has been of great help to us, unlike that of Jubei and his spawns."

Shimi: "Yes, quite pitiful. You always needed a mage like me sir."

Hakkimaru: "You have proven yourself worthy."

Hamushi: "Hey wait! Why can't WE kill her?"
Hakkimaru: "It's easier if Himura kills her; that way we'll have 'two birds with one arrow'; the girl dead and Himura once again with us. Of course, you will all have a chance to kill her. That is… if you can."

Hamushi: "Hah! Leave it all to me! I'll kill her and bring Himura back in no time!"

Lyhn: "Master, if we need Himura, why did you tell me to make her kill him?"

Hakkimaru: "sigh I guess you can't figure out anything on your own. Listen carefully; somehow, those two are related in someway. If the girl dies, she won't be able to do whatever she was going to. If Himura dies, it will be easier to kill her, and we will still prevent anything from happening. I don't even know why I'm telling you! Just follow my orders, that way my plan will never fail!"

Lyhn: O.O "Yes sir, forgive me."

Hakkimaru: "Now, you are all dismissed. And remember; trust me and the power I gave you."

All of the 'SEVEN': "Yes master."

A symbol appeared in their foreheads; each one a different one. They closed their eyes and the symbols glowed.

Hitomi: "Envy." ±

Katsumi: "Greed." ð

Ayumi: "Pride." ‍∞‍‍‍

Haru: "Lust." ∂

Hamushi: "Sloth." ۷

Shimi: "Gluttony." ₫ە

Lyhn: "Wrath." ′۱گ

After that, all of them but Shimi left the room.

Shimi: "You wanted to talk to me sir?"

Hakkimaru: "Yes. Something is bothering me."

Shimi: "Yes?"

Hakkimaru: "What about the Sanctuary? Have you found the key to opening it?"

Shimi: "Well, I do have some clues. We need the blood of three beings; the book says we need the summoner's blood, or your blood in this case, the blood from a pure hearted male, and the blood from a virgin. This will open the gate and we shall rule over the celestial land as well."

Hakkimaru: "This is all so confusing, even for me. We have so much work to do and time is running out."

Shimi: "I know; we need that girl dead, Himura with us, and to find those other two so we can open the gate."

Hakkimaru: "Sometimes I think this is all related in some way."

Shimi: "Master, with all due respect, I think we shouldn't kill the girl yet."

Hakkimaru: "And WHY is that?"

Shimi: "Well, she could be useful."

Hakkimaru: "…in what way?"

Shimi: "Think about it; we could use her to lure Himura to us and then we could kill her. Or we could use her as a sacrifice to open the gate, since we do need a virgin's blood."

Hakkimaru: "What do you know! Whatever, you are the mage. I'll think about it. You are dismissed."

Shimi left, closing the door. Hakkimaru grinned to himself. Everything was going just as planned. His diabolical plot would never fail. His grin grew wider. 'Perhaps I should tell them to bring her to me, just as he says. Then Himura could suffer seeing her die, or she could kill him and we could use her…'

Hakkimaru: "No matter, I want that girl alive or dead! We can always find another sacrifice!"

The empty room was filled with the echoes of his cynical laughter.

Hakkimaru: "And, if Himura and all of them fail to kill her, or to bring her, there's always one more person willing to do it, isn't that right, Aoshi?"

Me: HAHAHAHA! End of the chapter!

Yami Kikkay: Hey! That's not true! You still have at least one more page left!

Me: You STINKER! Get back here!

Kaoru's pretty blue eyes opened slowly as a yawn escaped her lips. She noticed she was lying on the ground. She scanned her surroundings and realized she was no longer in her home village. Yahiko was the first to notice she was fully awake and smiled warmly at her.

Yahiko: "How are you doing Kaoru?"
Kaoru: "Well, I guess I've been better. Where's Kenshin?"

Yahiko: "Oh, he said he would take a walk. But that was a little while ago."

Kaoru: "Ah. What happened?"
Yahiko: "You mean you don't remember?"
Kaoru: "Not at all."
Yahiko: "Well, Lyhn killed everyone in the village and took your brother away. (Me: Gee, way to go Yahiko!)"

Kaoru's eyes started to water. She sighed and stood, brushing away a few tears that managed to fall. She decided to let it go and smiled weakly at him.

Yahiko: "I'm sorry."

Kaoru: "No biggie…"

Yahiko: "Well anyway, you better get pretty, because you're coming with us and only pretty people travel with us."

Yahiko laughed hysterically. Kaoru just smiled; after all, she wasn't in the mood to fight. Yahiko stopped laughing and stared at her. 'Boy, this girl is weird. I bet that if I say that again, she'll beat me up in no time...'

Kenshin gazed at the sky. He was thinking about all that had happened to him in the lastfew days.

'I can't believe this is all happening to me. Now I have to take care of Kaoru too, and who knows for how long. I mean, yes I am taking care of Yahiko, but I practically owe him my life. Kaoru is different; I saved her and now she's in my hands. I can't believe Aoshi trusts me with her life. And I still know nothing about myself. Can I do this? Will I be able to protect her? And why do I care anyway? AHHH! This is so frustrating!'

He mentally kicked himself for thinking so much. 'Thinking hurts…' (Me: Tell me about it!).He decided it was time to go back. He could feel the humidity in the air. They needed to find shelter for the night in case it started to rain.

Yahiko: "Hey Kaoru?"

Kaoru: "Yes?"

Yahiko grinned.

Yahiko: "How come you're so ugly?"

Kaoru: "What do you mean by that!"

Yahiko: "Well, it's just a question."

Kaoru: "Well then, how come you're so little!"

Yahiko: "I'm not little! And let me tell you something, you're not just ugly, you are an UGLY OLD HAG!"

Kaoru: "Is that so!"

Yahiko: "Yeah!"

BAM! Yahiko laid on the ground swirly eyed. Kaoru looked down at him proudly.

Kaoru: "I am not ugly, I am not old, and I am certainly NOT a hag!"

Kenshin walked over them. He chuckled; the scene was hilarious. Kaoru noticed him and smiled 'THE' smile (Me: You know, the one she gives him when she's about to hug him or to reassure him about something).

Kaoru: "You're back!"

Kenshin: "Yeah--"

Kenshin's sentence was interrupted. His heart skipped a beat. He frowned. Kaoru walked over to him.

Kaoru: "Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Kenshin: "Nothing's wrong, come on. I think it's gonna' rain."

("It's gonna rain" music starts playing in the background)

Kaoru: "Ah! I hate the rain, especially when there's thunder."

Kaoru started dragging a swirly eyed Yahiko, following Kenshin wherever he was taking her. She wasn't going to be alone; and she was happy for that. She just hoped her brother was alright. 'Just hang on a little longer Aoshi.'

As Kaoru thought about this, raindrops started to fall. Yahiko recovered and started running. She started running as well. She caught up with Kenshin. Suddenly, the rain fell heavily on them. They just laughed at it.

Me: What do you think? I can't blame you if you didn't like it. After all, listening to the bad guys' evil plots is always boring. So, let me know what you think about it.

Yami Kikkay: .

Me: Oh, don't worry about her, she's fine. I just had to punish her for the disclaimer thingy. I hope she didn't offend you.

Yami Kikkay: .

Me: Oh, go away Yami!

Yami Kikkay: .

Me: -- Okaaaay... Well then, c'ya!