Another chapter, yeay! ' I have to get on the ball again, I've only written up to chapter 22. XD Yes, I must keep going! This story is fun, and it's cool to have action in it. But there a LACK OF ROMANCE! TT Where is the romance in this story!? I'm putting more action than romance, what's up with that?! Okay, the last chapter had a lot of love, but I mean for Suzuno. XD Must give her some love someday! Some Ame and Tata love, hahaha! Lol!

Kaeru Soyokaze- lol, is that would it be? ' Honeslty, I couldn't figure it out! XD Pentagon is five right? And how many people are in iiiit? –counts- lol!

The Muses Tk and Zv- Oooh, is that how you spelled it? XD I had no idea, it was a toughie! Thanks for telling me!

Suzuno Oosugi- Oooh, glad you like the subplot! The Kingdoms are going to be greatly involved through the story, so each Prince and Princess mentioned is going to have their moment. ) I'm so happy you're enjoying this!

taiyoukai-chan- -Glomps- Ooooh, you're so sweet, thank you so much! lol, I've had a couple people ask me that. Tatara will be coming back soon, just keep checking! I've already written the part, and I'm only up to chapter 22, so be patient! Lol!

Chapter Nineteen

The movement of the sand before Suzuno was so slight that no one would notice unless they were truly focusing, and the same with the odd color. As soon as Aoi-Yuki had alerted her, its' little paws slowly backing away, a frightening realization came over her and she stumbled backwards as well. Her body became very stiff and she had to tried with all her might to move, but her mind was so afraid of the troubling presence that she didn't want it to awaken as she was getting away.

"What is that?" Lanva said, partly in a low whisper now that he was concious of something more than just the three of them and their little furry companion. He and Subaru were past the large circle of sand, or rather just at the other end. It could've easily been the front or the back of whatever was underneath.

Aoi-Yuki suddenly let out another fierce growl and finally, after a piercing silence of waiting, she noticed two reddish black orbs surface, nicely spaced inches apart. They were tiny, but as round and flat against the sand as they were, they were also dead looking, sinking in slightly as if they were a part of two underground sockets instead. The frightening reminder of a skeletons' eyeless features kept Suzuno at bay.

"Wait a second," Lanva said as if he had realized something, his eyes obviously in deep thought. He put a hand on his chin and looked down, obversing the two tiny spheres from a safe distance. Subaru looked at him questionably, her hands clapsed together over her breasts nervously, and her eyes shifting between her fiancee and Suzuno. "I remember this one."

"What is it?" Subaru asked desperately, acting as if she was ready to walk across the unknown dark to take Suzuno away from it by force, "Hurry up!"

Suddenly the sand started to shift a little more violently than before, and Suzuno, watching Lanva in anticipation for his answer hadn't quickly enough noticed to move when a large swift moving entity bolted through the loose ground, throwing sand everywhere. Before her she stood frozen in place at a large mouth, at least ten feet wide, looking like it had stretched its' jaws as wide as it possibly could. A black tower stood above her, an endless dark tunnel with soft but unwelcomingly slimy inards and jagged fangs as long as her arm.

It stayed in place for a second, the small red orbs she had seen before were now giant scarlet eyes sinking into charcoal, rough, rocky like skin. She noticed that as the embodiment shifted to breathe, guill-like slahses on both its' sides were throbbing quickly and the eyes sunk into their sockets and back out, as if it was its' way of blinking.

"Suzuno!"

Something tackled at her side, bringing a splitting pain in her body. However, though it was like her mind was unconcious, her eyes watched in slow motion as the creature at the same time darted only its' mouth forward, its' bottom jaw dislocating and throwing itself against the ground. It skidded the sand when the force pushed the loose dirt several feet, and as the top jaw clamped down with a loud snap, its' body fell back underneath the earth.

Suzuno fell on the ground, a heavy height on top of her. Her eyes were clamped shut to protect them from the sand after she had watched the creature almost try to take her as its' prey. When she opened them, her back on the sand, she saw Lanva on top of her. He pushed himself up with both arms at each of her sides side quickly, standing up and lending up a hand to help her as well. She didn't accept his offer at her, her mind still a blank. Then it hit her.

'I was almost eaten!' she thought, the sudden distress and shock appearing on her face. 'If Lanva hadn't saved me, I'd . . .'

"Aoi-Yuki?!" She shouted as she suddenly stood up with out his help, her mind shifting from her own safety to the little tigers'. She looked around desperately, and the thought of her little pets' demise brought tears to her eyes.

"Hey!" Lanva said, comforting her with a big brother hug as Subaru ran to them to see if they were alright. "Hey, no crying! Aoi-Yuki is okay . . ."

Suzuno sniffled a bit, her voice muffled since her cheek was lying against Lanva's chest, "He . . .he is?"

He let go of her momentarily, which at that time Subaru clung to her like a doll; she seemed even more frightened than Suzuno was, and if not for the worry of her tiger she would've giggled. Even through the Celestial Warriors' embrace, she followed Lanva's pointed finger to a point several feet away from where she was standing just moment ago. Though still alert with its' head glancing around cautiously, it seemed the feline was alright.

"We should hurry out of here," Lanva said seriously, getting both of their attention. Subaru was read to open her mouth to ask a question, but before she could even get it out Lanva smiled boyishly and placed a finger on her lips. "Run first, ask later, baby cakes."

She nodded and let go of the Priestess, who went to gather Aoi-Yuki before she felt ready to go. The little tiger crawled up comfortably in both of her arms and she held him tightly, and she was very happy that she didn't lose a friend.

'I thought I'd lost you for a moment,' she thought, relieving herself with a sigh. She turned and noticed that the large dark sand puddle had not ceased. Now knowing the danger that such a large creature held, she pulled up her courage to run around it to Lanva and Doulin. The three darted through the sand as fast as they could, trying their best to get away. It was more of an instinctive intuition, and while no one said it out loud, they all knew it was bound to follow them.

"What was that thing?!" Subaru said, shouting loudly over the kicking sound of sand, "I've never seen anything like it!"

"It's a Scorpion fish," he replied, looking at both at them. Suzuno was trailing behind a bit due to the weight in her arms, but it wasn't so far back that they had to worry. He knew how the idea of another scorpion could scare her, espeically with their encounter with a whole group of them before they even knew Suzuno was the Priestess.

Suzuno was frightened by the creature, but even more now was she confused by the name of it. As if Lanva had heard her, he continued to describe it. "It moves through the sand like it's an ocean, and looks like a fish too. But like a scorpion, it's poisonous. Not that we'd be alive to feel the pain," he added, a sort of awkward smile on his face.

"We don't have time for jokes!" Subaru said in an annoyed voice. "That thing could eat us!"

"That's why we're running, beautiful."

Her face was starting to sweat a little; unlike her fiancee, she didn't really do much pertaining to exercise, so fatigue was catching her quickly. If only she could get away from this creature . . . stopped it from trying to get them . . .

Suddenly coming from nowhere, a vision appeared in her mind, coming to life as if it were as real as the ground she was running on. She could see a fierce battle, blood and scratches, and a deep gash appearing at the side of the very same creature they were faced with. She felt the pain it was going through, see the physical damage, and like a bolt of lightning it was as if she knew what to do to. Subaru abruptly stopped, and the other two halted as well. Lanva looked at her strangely as she turned around to face the direction they came from, her face extremely concentrated. He stood next to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Look, you may want to get eaten today, but I don't want you to 'cause we still haven't had sweet monkey lo-"

"Quiet!" she shouted back at him harshly, but for once it wasn't because of his sex drive. Then she laughed a bit. "You really think I want to be eaten?"

"Well, based on your actions, one might perceive that, believe it or not."

Suzuno hid behind the both of them, noticing that Subaru's cheeks were lined with a bit of sweat and she was breathing heavily. She was also very tired from running since she never was an active outside person at home, so she definitely could understand. When she stepped close between the two of them but kept her distance in case they argued again, she let down Aoi-Yuki, who seemed grateful to get a chance to walk around. She watched him, and since he didn't seem so tense, she relaxed her shoulders as well.

'I wonder where it is,' she thought to herself, looking around a little cautiously. Even if her pet wasn't so scared, she wanted to stay on alert just in case. It was then for the first time since the encounter with the Scorpion fish and before then that she noticed the sky wasn't as dark as it was. When she saw the sun, which was steadily rising to the highest point in the sky, she really started to feel the light beat down on her. 'They really didn't exaggerate when they said it would be hot. . .'

Lanva still wasn't convinced of his fiancee's sanity, and put both hands on her shoulders to gently turn her around in the other direction, as if to get her to understand that they were supposed to run. Subaru jerked him off lightly, her face still tight in meditation. He took a few steps back as he saw something darken the ground he was on, trying his best to trust Subaru.

'Closer . . .' she thought, letting her eyes practically burn the ground she was staring so hard. The Scorpion Fish stopped before her since she was the cloest, and she watched as the same two red globes surfaced. 'Ready . . . steady . . .'

"Hyaa!" She screamed as the creature surfaced, but instead of diving down at her, it let out a painful howl. An explosive flash surrounded them all, blinding them in the light of Byakko. Heavy leaks of blood shot from the beast and on the sand as cuts opened over its' large body, and it flailed back on the ground, shaking violently. Subaru continued to stay in place, unaffected as the gore inside forced itself to through the openings of the Scorpion fish, showing the immense pressure the rigid casing held. She spoke quickly, like she was running out of time, and in a low whisper. "Nine days, ten nights, six hours, nine minutes, twelve seconds . . ."

Suzuno watched with wide eyes, trying her best to command her hands to cover them. 'This must be her power . . .' She thought, finding her bottom lip trembling in fear. The power she felt overwhelved her, and she felt that no matter what she did, she was doomed to watch the same creature that tried to kill her literally be torn to pieces. Slashes and incises were being gouged in like the wind was a stiletto, and within moments, the thrashing that hurled the sand in every direction stopped. The once pleasantly golden land had been dyed an unwelcoming, sticky scarlet, and while breathing very deeply Subaru turned to them. She had a smile on her face.

"There's my power," she said, very satisfied with their reactions; or at least, partly. Lanva looked completely stupefied, trying to figure out whether to look at her or the now lifeless carcass behind her. Suzuno was sitting down with a terrified expression, Aoi-Yuki rubbing his head affectionately against her lap. She deicded it was best to explain. "I can change their body to what it looked like in the past." When Lanva still looked at her, completely confused, she said in an annoyed voice, "It's time."

"Time?" Lanva seemed shocked that it was only one simple element that did so much damage. He trotted till he was next to Subaru, surveying the damage from a closer perspective. The montrous Scorpion Fish lay down before him, defeated. It was giant compared to him even in death, with its' long and bulky hard skin now sliced. Then he turned to the very person who did it, who was shorter than him, physically weaker than him, and more importantly in his eyes, a woman. He suddenly laughed out loud. "Well, I guess I know not to make you mad anymore, huh sweetie?"

"Don't worry, I can't make you get any cuts like that," Subaru said, and he suddenly stopped laughing as if in relief. "I had a vision of his fight with another Scorpion Fish, which was nine days and ten nights ago; all I had to do was turn time back on his body to when he was in the fight." She smiled triumphantly as she snapped her fingers, "And he's good as gone!"

". . .Well," they both turned to Suzuno, who seemed to have finally found the support in her legs and stood up, her hand grazing Aoi-Yuki's back until she couldn't reach anymore. She smiled. "I'm happy . . . happy that you found your power, Subaru!"

Hearing the words from the shy girl, who honestly meant how happy she was, was overwhelming to the Celestial Warrior. She ran over and pulled Suzuno into a tight hug, making the both of them fall over. For once, she wasn't acting like a Mother; she didn't even want to. Right now, with the both of them smiling and giggling girlishly together over her accomplishments, she really wanted to see the Priestess of Byakko as a friend.

"And so, after their moment of celebration, the Priestess of Byakko, Subaru and her husband-to-be started to walk through the desert again," Takao read aloud, sitting on a small chair beside his bed. It was dark outside, though it had only just become so. After a few hours of reading, Puriti said her eyes were tired and she decided that she wanted to listen to a wrestling match on the radio instead. He chuckled at how lively in personality the young girl was compared to his daughter; but then again, it already seemed that she was starting to speak her mind without stuttering in the book.

In his beroom there was only a single light, one that happened to be on the dresser next to him. He reached over and pulled the string that hung on the lamp, and after a little 'click' noise it was completely dark. He put the book down next to it and stood up, stretched, and recollected images of the past and present, their alikes and differences as he went out to the kitchen.

"So far, Suzuno is lucky," he thought out loud, taking out eggs and milk from the refridgerator to make his meal. "She hasn't had to face anything- or anyone – too dangerous for her. Something that could break her. Like Takiko . . ."

Suddenly the proud smile Takao always wore in front of people had died down into a frown, and as he mixed all of the ingredients to his little nighttime snack he thought of how honestly greusome those times were. In a way, it made him afraid of Suzuno's future in The Univserse of the Four Gods, espeially if she fell in love. On the other hand, he was also relieved that the journey was already looking easier, even if there might be complications of the four Kingdoms and their peculiar love lives. Maybe it was because it was the second time around, and not everyone knew of the news?

"I hope it stays that way," he said. After many ideals and battling over whether or not her travelling was a good or bad thing, he had completely mixed and baked what he wanted to eat, and he let his troubles slide for a minute when he smelled something heavenly come from the oven. He relished in a sweet, chocolate scent that suddenly filled the room, and out of the oven, he took out a miniature chocolate cake.

"I'm sure she would have loved this." He put the pan with the cake down on the stove in front of him to let it cool off, and turned to the door when he heard footsteps. Puriti was standing there, still in her school uniform since she had no other clothes, rubbing her eyes like she had woken up from a long nap. Running her hands through her hair to straighten it, only seemingly partly aware of her surroundings, she glanced at his meal, the only thing she really noticed and smiled.

"Is that chocolate?" she asked, and he smiled back and nodded.

"Suzuno and I made these very often," he told her. "When her Mother was alive, I would watch the two of them cook together; she looked like the happiest person in the world."

For a second Puriti noticed his eyes glaze over in memory of the times, and she also wondered whether or not it was Suzuno he reffered to, or his late wife. Either way, she understood perfectly that they were good times, and that doing a simple thing such as cooking could bring back the warmest memories for him. While it seemed corny in a way, she was also impressed.

Takao took a knife out of one of the drawers and started to cut the cake into even pieces, then reached up on top of the stove to a cabinet and handed the highschooler a plate. "Would you like a piece?"

For the first time Takao truly saw Puriti's face light up, like she was a child given her most wanted Christmas Present. She grinned excitedly and said, "Yeah! I really love chocolate!"

X x x x x

OMGosh, I need to involve Takao and Puriti more. O.o But, I added a cute moment in there. Yeay! A happy fuzzy moment; and Takao likes chocolate! And so does Puriti! Yeay for chocoloate! That is the real power of the Four Gods, you know. XD lol!

Did I do okay with the Scorpion fish scene? I have a picture of what the Scorpion fish was modeled after, if you want me to show it!

I didn't have Ame-baby in this chapter. I miss him! TT lol, while everyone is missing Tatara who hasn't been here in quite a while, I'm missing Amefuri, who hasn't been in for only this chapter. Silly! Lol! I need to get used to Tatara . . . )