A/N: Uh. Is it Deathevn, Deathevan, or Deatheven? I'll just alternate spellings until I can get a definite answer.

Nessmk: Don't worry; it's…semi-happy…Ryu will get his love…unless I change my mind. But I think you'll like the scene I've written. So far, all I've asked have loved my romantic scene (if there's a pun in there, not intended).

Tabbiinsertnumbershere: Wow. I feel honored. shakes j00r hand Thanks for the compliments. Eh…I guess I might try my hand at original fiction later…likely it'll be about a werewolf. Anyways…didn't really proofread this chapter, so don't mind any mistakes. Too lazy to do it. Or rather, too sleepy. I'm probably gonna edit this a lot later…Enjoy.

Ryu lay in bed, his head teeming with thoughts. He couldn't lose them. He couldn't lose her. The Woren group had left. Or, at least, they had left the area in front of Niro's house. Now they were playing some game with Tolens over by the carpenter's house. But it mattered not to Ryu. He still didn't understand. He had gone over the letters carefully and methodically, and had noticed that the deaths had all occurred at different times. The most recent was Katt's, followed by Bow's, and so on. Ryu could only come to one conclusion: that someone had arranged for these letters to be delivered at the same time. But who? His first suspect(s) were the people who were still St. Eva supporters, waiting for the legendary Deathevan to return…the problem with this theory was that though news of Katt and Bow's deaths would have come at roughly the same time, it would have been hard to delay a Gonghead. There were so many in the world, after all…how would one know if it was being sent to Ryu? How could the Windians have been stopped from sending him a letter sooner? And the witch, bearing news of Jean? So it wasn't possible for it to have been the St. Eva believers…or could it?

Ryu shook his head. There weren't enough of them to do this, anyway. So who? Had Deathevn returned to power again, and arranged the deaths to bother Ryu? It was possible, but very unlikely. Ryu would have had news, and there would have at least been some monsters trying to force their way out from behind Township…I shouldn't have let us drift apart, he thought. United, I'm sure that we could've overcome all those difficulties…His thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on the door.

"Go away," he shouted through the wood.

"Ryu…It's Bleu…" answered a sad voice.

"I don't want to hear about it." Ryu replied.

"Please…just let me in. I want to talk to you." Ryu considered this, and finally came to the conclusion that she was his friend, after all, and could have something to say. Ryu reluctantly got up from his spot and unlatched the door. The sorceress walked in, a grim expression on her face. "Look...Ryu...I know that this must be a very...rough...time for you right now."

"You don't know the half of it," muttered Ryu under his breath.

If Bleu heard this, she ignored it. "Ryu, how old do you think I am?" she asked. Ryu looked into her face, and pondered this question for a moment. How old was Bleu? "You should know by now that I surpass your age by centuries. How many loved ones and friends do you think I've seen die? How many adventures do you think I've had with friends, only to see them die while I live on?"

But her words couldn't get through to Ryu. He just sat there dully, nodding or saying "Yes," when ever she expected a response. Eventually, Bleu gave up, and went downstairs, leaving Ryu to his misery. Ryu sat there for what seemed like hours, just thinking. His sadness slowly left him. When it did, it was replaced by anger. His eyes lit up, and his mind raced again, in contrast to the almost-calm that had preceded this. His friends shouldn't have been taken from him! It wasn't their time! They should have lived much longer, not been killed at such early ages. Ryu made a fist, the anger channeling through him. There had to be someone who had done this. And not just any someone. His friends had been very efficient fighters by themselves. No doubt, it had to be a demon. A powerful one, at that. But how could he find this powerful demon, who had struck down the Destined Child's friends? Ryu was still considered a"teen", being 19, but he had gone through many trials that the most experienced had not gone through. He had vanquished demons left and right, before finally felling Deathevn. No one in their right mind would mess with the Destined Child by killing those dear to him. Only a desperate demon with nothing and no one else to turn to would...Ryu made up his mind. There was someone he had to talk to.

"Have you finally decided to eat something?" asked Bleu, seeing him come down the stairs.

Niro sighed. "Aww...and I was looking forward to eating the Roast all by mys-..." he cut off his sentence when Bleu gave him a dirty look.

"Come join us," Bleu offered. Ryu nodded dumbly, pulled up a chair, and sat down. He picked up a piece of Roast, slightly charboliled, and bit into it, chewing slowly. Bleu noticed this but decided not to comment. At least he was showing signs of life now. Niro hadn't paid attention to this at all, and had instead, grabbed a larger piece of meat and bit into it, eating ravenously.

Dinner was soon over, with Bleu saying that she hadn't an appetite that night. The three sat there in silence for a few minutes, Niro shuffling uneasily at the tension. Ryu's voice jolted them all out of their own thoughts. "Niro..." - the old man perked up at hearing his name - "do you remember Thujirk?"

"You mean the old man that came out of that hole to hell with you?" Niro asked, referring to the underground tunnel that led to the Dragon Clan's home. Niro was inwardly glad that Ryu hadn't raged at him or anything like that.

"Yes, that's the one. Is he still here?" asked Ryu.

"Hrm..." Niro thought. "Yes, I believe he's still here. He'd be in the 3rd house to the right." Ryu thanked him and left the house, followed by a curious Bleu.

"Ryu, why do you want to see this old man?" inquired Bleu.

"I need to talk to him about something," answered Ryu promptly. Further questioning yielded no better results, so Bleu waited for him to tell her when he flet the time was right, and she went back to her own room in Niro's house.

Thujirk sensed that something was wrong before Ryu arrived at his houjse, and he prepared himself to answer whatever Ryu had to ask. He was right to do this, for Ryu showed up shortly afterwards. The door burst open as Ryu walked in, a determined look on his face. Thujirk said, "Well, Ryu. I thought you might come to me. What do you need to know?" for Thujirk was known as one of the most knowledgeable men around. "

Ryu made a respectful bow, and asked, "Do you know of a spell that can contain the most powerful of demons?"

Thujirk hadn't expected this question. He had expected Ryu to ask how his friends could be resurrected, and they obviously couldn't. Thujirk had a thoughtful look on his face as he considered his answer. "Well...to tell you the truth, I don't think I do. I may know someone else who can answer that for you, though. A couple of somebody elses. One thing that I can guarantee you, though, is that it will be extremely difficult…"

Ryu said stubbornly, "I don't care. Tell me."

Sighing, Thujirk said, "All right, all right. The first – and you might want to right these down – is Nureth. I have absolutely no idea where he is, but I can almost assure you that he's the only 'Thuren'. The next is named Thurlecroix. I'm not exactly sure where he is, either. The last is Kilujy. I know for a fact that he lives in Coursair."

"All right then," said Ryu to himself. "Coursair is rather close by, so I'll go visit it fir-"

"Wait," interrupted Thujirk. "There's something you ought to know first…"

"What?" asked Ryu impatiently.

"Well…" Thujirk started, looking down at the ground, "There's a bit of a problem…you see…you've killed all of their family."
"Eh?" Ryu asked, his head snapping up at this accusation.

"They're all spawn of Deathevn," Thujirk said quickly, as if wanting to get that over with. Ryu stared into space temporarily as his body began to shook. "Oh, gods," muttered Thujirk, and he grabbed hold of Ryu, trying to hold him still. It didn't work, and Ryu's trembling got worse. Thujirk frantically searched his mind…the…mountains of…Mt…Fubi or something…then, as the image cleared, and Ryu shook even more, they disappeared from Township. A roaring could be heard far out in Mt. Fubi, and it was said that it would echo for a year.

A half hour or so later, a charred Thujirk and a disgruntled-looking Ryu reappeared in Township. Ryu left Thujirk to tend to his burns, and walked towards the exit, a steely glint in his eyes. Bleu saw this and rushed towards him. "Ryu-…" she started.

"I'm not going to listen. I'm leaving. Just need to pack a few things," he answered, continuing towards the Armory while not looking at Bleu.

"You have to listen, Ryu. They're all gone. Bow, Katt, Rand…you can't get them back."

Ryu shrugged this off and walked into the Armory, where Baretta was examining a large axe, its handle studded with diamonds.

"Baretta, I think I left my pack here. Could you-?"

Baretta nodded and walked into the back of the shop. Bleu knew that this was her last chance. "Ryu. You cannot bring people back from the dead. Don't try. Please don't."

Ryu said nothing, but kept his mouth shut. Baretta came back moments later, and handed Ryu his pack. He looked inside, said a quick "Thanks," and walked out of the store.

Giving up trying to persuade him to stop, Bleu followed him. With a sight, she announced, "I'm coming with you. So what's your plan?"

"I'm going to capture a demon." Ryu answered promptly.

Bleu gave him a moment, then asked, "Who?"

"Death."