Wow, thanks for the reviews once again. They are appreciated. Sorry about the Amiboshi-beat-up, but for Amber's sake it was necessary. My apologies. Please enjoy the ensuing chapters!

And, of course, if possible, please review.

MidnightShade

Chapter Ten: Past

They all looked at her like she was crazy. She closed her eyes and began to speak and as if she was remembering the actual event, not just the story.

Before she could speak, Nakago interrupted. "We already know how the gods became enemies. Explain how you know us and exactly who you are."

"I was getting to that." She too a deep breath. "Their names were Solei and Selene…The sun and the moon. Their father was a god and they believed that his rule was just. But it was not so. Caelestis, their father, was the God of All Things Evil, of ruin and destruction. His brother, the god of death, took the girls in after they were cursed by their father."

"Cursed? With what?" Nuriko asked.

"The Rod."

"The what?" Tasuki was confused.

"The Rod. It is-was, a kind of wand he used to channel his power. It controlled the minds of any who were forced to look into it.

Thirteen girls were forced to stare into the orb at the top of the Rod and they were called the Angels of Death. Each Angel had the power to destroy the world if she so chose. Selene had escaped the curse, but Solei did not."

"Which is why you have wings." Nuriko finished.

Solei started to protest out of habit, but words faded, and she nodded. "Exactly. My sister and I both broke free of the Rod, and now we seek to complete the prophecy that was laid upon us."

"What does the prophecy say?"

"That I will not answer, Tasuki. Maybe it you need to know."

"So YOU are the Daughter of the God?" Nuriko asked.

Solei quirked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"It's something else…um…" Her stare made him more than a little uncomfortable. "How did you know that we are seishi of Suzaku and Seiryu?"

Rather than flustering her, Nuriko's question made her smile. "I am able to traverse the different realms, and I oft visited yours. I know Suzaku and Seiryu quite well, and through them, I know you." She started to slump against the chair, but stiffened quickly, pain flashing momentarily through her eyes.

Nakago turned expectantly towards Amber. "And you?" he asked. Amber opened her mouth to speak, but no words formed.

Solei spoke once more. "She does not yet know the extent of who she really is. I only know pieces, and I am only able to tell you fragments of that knowledge."

"Why?" Nuriko's honest question brought a tight smile to Solei's lips.

"The gods only allow me to say so much, Nuriko. Amber isn't like me. In the sense of age, she truly is eighteen. However, as you have see, she also has certain…" Solei paused, trying to decide how to word it. "Oddities that are proof of her three-quarters heritage."

"Say wha?" Amber was trying to decipher her friend's cryptic wording.

Nakago's voice smoothly interceded. "You're three-quarter's demon." Tasuki and Nuriko jumped as if poked with hot irons.

"Really?" Amber asked.

Solei answered frankly. "Yeah. Your mother was a half-demon, your father, a full demon." Surprise and astonishment were clear on their faces, but Nakago showed no signs of amazement as the other two did; he already knew. Carefully, she removed the sound barrier on the room and began to stand. Wobbling for only a moment, she walked to the door and opened it, pausing at the threshold.

"Dinner," she said smoothly, "is at seven." Nuriko followed her out of the room.

After Nuriko and Solei had left, Amber looked carefully at Nakago. As if feeling her gaze, he caught her stare and raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed and turned away muttering to herself. Tasuki's ears caught what she was saying.

"I don't know what Solei sees in that egotistical jerk…" He looked at her sharply, thinking that she spoke of Nuriko until she continued her muttering. "Nakago can be such a bastard at times, not to mention a total perv…" she rolled her eyes, then rose. Tasuki rose with her and offered his arm. Amber looked at him like he was crazy but accepted the outstretched limb.

She rose up on her tiptoes and halted him once they had left the parlor. "Follow me to the gardens, there's something I want to show you." She released his arm and walked ahead, expecting him to follow, which he did fairly quickly, wondering what she wished to show him. He heard a door open, and turned, curious.

Amber, noticing that he wasn't following, spun to look at him and her eyes went wide as something she saw. "Aw, shit." Her swearing was soft and she grabbed Tasuki's arm and began to race towards the door.

"Amber?" She stopped, perfectly still, in mid-stride.

Pasting a smile on her face she turned and looked Solei's grandfather in the face. "Hello, grandfather."

He peered at her from behind square spectacles perched on the tip of his nose. "Who is this man? Where're ya takin' him?" his eyebrows danced up and down suggestively and Amber promptly turned eight different shades of red. Tasuki grinned, his fangs poking out. Grandfather stopped laughing and regarded him seriously, looking him up and down slowly. Something seemed to click in his mind, and his old, wise eyes glittered with angry flame.

"Whaz up with you?" Tasuki asked, unconcerned with the fury building in the tiny old man.

"Out." Amber looked at her adopted grandfather, concerned. She saw an old man pointing towards the nearest exit, his hand shaking with rage. She grabbed Tasuki's hand and ran out the door into the gardens, leaving the old man.

Solei let Nuriko lead her outside into the clearing where they had met, concern in his eyes as she stumbled to a halt.

"One minute, Nuriko. I need to grab something." She slipped into the forest out of his view and returned a moment later, a knife tucked hidden in her sash, leaves tangled in her hair. As she leaned casually on a tree, he voiced his worries.

"Solei, are you all right?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Fine. Why?"

He fidgeted slightly. "In the parlor, you had pain in your eyes."

She was slightly taken aback by his comment but recovered, hiding her shock. "It's like having a nightmare and waking up to find that it was real." She shuddered, ignoring her aching back.

"Anything I can do to help?"

She looked to him and grinned. "Just be who you really are, don't play any games." 'Like I do' she added ruefully to herself. He nodded, wondering if she had noticed that he had cut his hair. He walked up to her and kissed her gently. Her hands slid up around his neck and her fingers danced through his newly shortened hair as she pulled back a moment later. She smiled, still playing with his hair. "Why'd you cut it?" she asked softly.

"I decided it was time to stop playing games." He kissed her lightly then stepped back, catching one of her hands as it fell from around his neck.

Giggling slightly as he bowed over her hand, she smiled anew. "Good for you."

Nuriko kissed her hand and led her out of the clearing, bowing again as she walked in the opposite direction. "Till dinner, lady fair."

Solei managed to keep a straight face as she answered. "Till then, gallant knight. Till then." 'If only. If only…'

Nakago waited until the others had left to meditate. His mind ranged free, and he contacted Seiryu, asking how he was to transport the Goddess Protector and the Daughter of the God to Kutou.

Seiryu's voice came to him swiftly. 'The old man will help you. He likes not the Suzaku stars; they carry a tainted flame in his eyes. Gain his trust and only with his assistance will you be able to succeed.' Nakago bowed his head in compliance, inwardly cursing that another pathetic weakling had to be involved. He walked out into the hallway, and caught sight of Tasuki grinning at a wrinkled old figure in priest robes.

Nakago melted into the shadows as he moved closer, catching what the old man said as he pointed towards the door. "Out." He watched as Amber and Tasuki raced out the door into the waning afternoon. He stepped out of the shadows as the old man turned away from the younger pair. Wire-rimmed eyes of steel looked up and met blue, softening to a tarnished gunmetal grey. His brows furrowed as he tried to place the tall blond before him. "I know you…" A smirk tugged at the edges of Nakago's mouth as he walked further into the light. Realization dawned in the old man's eyes, and he smiled knowingly. "Nakago. I should have known. Of all the possible warriors for her. Who else?"

Nakago answered swiftly. "Nuriko."

The old man gnashed his teeth at the mention of a Suzaku warrior, but made no comment upon it. "You know who the girls are?" Nakago kept eye contact. "Good. I am Kamai's 'grandfather'." Nakago raised an eyebrow at the ancient figure before him, waiting for new information. "Meaning that I have no relation to her whatsoever."

"Then who are you?"

Wrinkles appeared in the corners of his eyes as the elder smiled. "You were never one to beat around the bush, were you?" Nakago did not answer. "I am Makenki Kamoku, Seiryu's advisor and messenger."

Kamai walked into the hall from outside, leaves in her curly ponytail. "Like Tai-isukun?" she asked, picking the offending greenery from her hair.

The old man glared at her. "Not so much as a 'Hello Grandfather' or a 'How are you Grandfather?' some way to treat the only family you've got left…" he continued muttering as Solei rolled her eyes.

"Hello Grandfather, how are you?" she asked, exasperation evident as she shifted her weight to her opposite foot, exposing one long, slender leg from the high slit in her dress.

"Fine. Now, enough questions, you know I don't like them. Yes. I am similar to the old bat, but I am far superior in intellect and power." Solei raised her eyebrows, but did not comment.

Her Grandfather made eye contact with Nakago who was standing behind her and spoke into his mind softly. 'When I nod, grab her and step backwards, I'll have a portal ready. I'll send Amber through myself. Again.'

He took Nakago's silence for acceptance and prepared the portal while he talked to Solei. "Don't look at me like that. It's disrespectful."

Solei smiled and shook her head. "What ever you say, Grandfather." He nodded his head, and a pair of strong arms encircled her as she was moved backwards. She started to struggle, but heard Nakago's voice deep and low in her ear, melting her resistance as she realized that it was he who held her close.

"Let it happen." He whispered, then she fell into a sea of blue light.

LA! More coming

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MS