DarkTaoAngel: I don't think I could get Shaman King as my own in this short amount of time, so I still don't own it! If you are reading this, you have way too much time on your hands; just skip to the reading of the story!

Confession-admitting to others that you were wrong.

Denial-not wanting to admit it to yourself.

"Pirika… Don't you dare do anything to my sister! This has nothing to do with her!" Horo shouted angrily at Hao, enraged by his sister's captor.

"Quite on the contrary, it has everything to do with her. She helped me find you, didn't she? Now I can eliminate another two of Yoh's friends at one time! And the best part is that this time you don't have anyone here to help you!" A shriek from Pirika, quickly followed by more maniacal laughter from Hao. Mei shifted uncomfortably as he said this, and it was all her fault because it was she who had led him here. But now she loved Horo, and she wanted to protect him at any costs.

"Master Hao, please don't!" Mei pleaded with Hao, tears steadily leaking from her eyes and down her face. "I don't want to be responsible for another death!"

"You won't be responsible. It will be I who kills him, not you, plus you will be getting a reward for leading me to him. You've been a big help, just like with his friend, although I would have liked it done better, maybe a few more Spirit Hunters will help…" Hao's voice trailed away into pure thoughts, as he reminisced about the good times, as he would have put it.

"My friend? Wait, you don't mean…? Horo asked Hao, hoping that the answer wasn't what he thought it would be.

"That's right, your friend, the one you were supposed to be helping, but he was weak, as are you, and you will soon meet the same end as he!" Hao's booming voice disrupted the entire forest, as he continued to laugh, this time with a little more satisfaction.

"Ren… no, you can't have! Pirika, tell me the truth, tell me he's not dead!" Horo desperately tried to coax his sister into telling him what he wanted to be told. But Pirika just shook he head sadly. Hao hadn't tided her up because she seemed to not be much of a threat to him.

"I'm afraid he is. Everyone thought you were dead, too." Pirika started crying on the spot, just like Mei, who went almost unnoticed amongst the shock and depression that was going around.

"Oh, how touching, you can all go down together, now, just like your friend!" Pirika suddenly managed to pull free of Hao's grasp and ran toward Horo, hugging him as though it was there last hug, and it just might be according to Hao.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Horo! If I had been there all of this mightn't have happened. And now Ren is…" her voice suddenly got all raspy and she had to bite back the tears that were trying to flow from her eyes, then she just gave up and let them flow freely.

Hao started toward them, apparently finally finished with taunting them. He called forth the Spirit of Fire and reached out his hand, the Spirit of Fire turned into a sword which Hao used to attack them randomly, eager to get it done with. Horo called our Kororo and began blocking Hao's attacks, but to no avail. He still couldn't prevent him from attacking, so Horo couldn't get an attack in edgewise, but still the battle went on.

Almost an hour later, which is amazing because Horo didn't have that much furyoku to start with, and his was almost spent, whereas Hao still had umpteen furyoku and plenty of energy to finish Horo on the spot. Horo tried his best, but he knew he wasn't going to win. He wanted Pirika to leave but she refused.

"I left you once and see where it got you? I will not leave your side, even if it kills me." Pirika must have been either very brave or very stupid to do something like this, but she really cared about her brother, and she wouldn't desert him now.

As the battle raged on, Horo was almost out of furyoku. One more strike and he was done for, but he couldn't give up now, he would fight 'till the end, even now.

Hao launched a surprise attack that even Horo couldn't avoid. He braced himself for the impact of the strike, wishing that he could have had more time to spend with Pirika, especially because he had instead spent the time with the traitor, Mei, whom he had trusted, and she had failed him.

But just as the strike was about to hit Horo, something amazing happened, he didn't feel it. He looked toward the place where the attack was supposed to land, where he was supposed to lay dead, but instead, someone else was laying there, someone who had taken the hit for him.

DarkTaoAngel: Well, it's down to the final chapters; this one clears up a lot of questions that were left unanswered in the last chapter. I hope you keep reading, because the ending might surprise you a bit!