CHAPTER 6: SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT

"KEI!" Hayate shoved Kei down as an enormous spike of ice suddenly shot from the room, sticking into the wall. He looked up from the floor and saw Himeno dodge one, slipping on the frozen ground. Mannan was pinned to his bed, frozen over in solidi ice. And Goh...where was Goh?

"Goh! GOH! Answer me!"

"I'm here," Goh shouted. There was a flare of fire and suddenly he stood from the other side of the bed. His shoulder was dripping blood. "We need to get Himeno outta here! I can't pret!"

"Shit! What the hell do you mean you can't pret?" Kei shouted, moving to one side of the door and peering around the frame in case another ice spear came for him.

Spires of ice were rising, breaking through the roof, shattering windows. Himeno yelped when she slipped, luckily landing out of the way from ice darts.

"I mean I don't have the strength to! That last one kinda got me," Goh yelled, spinning out of the way of one spear only to have another nick him across the chest. "God! Himeno, get out now!"

"I'm not leaving you here, Goh," Himeno shouted back.

Hayate drew some leafe and solidified the air enough to fire off a few rounds. Nothing. The air bolts froze inside the subzero temperature and did nothing. This was more than Mannan's power. The Knight of Ice had never been able to change the air temperature before.

Kei fired lightning into the room, throwing a golden glow over the crystalline surroundings. It did little to hurt the ice. "Damn it! Himeno, get out here so we can pret!"

"Light isn't much good here," Goh answered,

There was something in his voice that made both older knights look at him sharply. Goh met their gaze and offered a small smile. "I always knew this brat was gonna be the death of me."

"NO! Goh, don't do it," Hayate shouted, getting to his feet and rushing into the room. Himeno dove on him as a spear was sent for his chest, bowling him down onto the icy floor.

"Now, Hayate," she said, grabbing his hand.

It was almost instantaneous. For some reason, he could pret easier with Himeno than the other Pretears. And it was so strange being inside her head. She felt so much...so many emotions all at once. And then...

Himeno took charge, drawing on his leafe to get the Windsword and start hacking away at the ice pillars and spikes. But as fast as she was hacking them, they grew back and tried to trap her in place.

"Your left!"

She rolled out of the way when a sheet of ice formed to her left, backing into an ice spear. Hayate quickly threw a shield in place, taking the hit without a sound. He remembered how worried it made her if he showed pain. And she couldn't afford to be distracted in this fight.

"Hayate, this isn't working," Himeno shouted, dislodging the sword from the casing around Mannan. She swung at another spear coming at her and...and the sword was swallowed up!

"What the hell?" He wasn't sure which of them had said it, but the feeling was felt by both. The ice had taken her weapon.

Himeno whirled at the agonizing scream and almost fell to her knees. "GOH!"

Goh was pinned to the wall, a three foot thick spear of ice protruding from his stomach. His eyes flickered in shock for a moment before he looked at Himeno. "This is the way it is. Get out. I can stop this."

"Hayate, what's he talking about?" Himeno asked. She was panicked. He could feel it like it was his own.

"Goh's going to give himself up for this. He's going to flood the room with all the leafe he has and melt the ice that way," Hayate explained, trying very hard not to let her feel the absolute agony he was going through. Goh...any time a knight faded, it was a painful thing.

Kei was still crouched by the door, trying to keep their escape route clear, but tears were running half-frozen down his cheeks. He knew what Goh was about to do.

"No, Goh! Please," Himeno cried, dropping to her knees at last.

"You can't stay, Himeno! If you stay when he floods the room, all three of us will die," Hayate shouted in her head.

"What about Mannan?"

"Mannan and Goh's leafe work opposite each other. Mannan can survive an attack from fire. We can't. Get out, NOW!"

Sobbing, mind whirling with a mixture of anger, guilt and grief, she slipped and stumbled out the door and into Kei's arms.

Kei slammed the bedroom door shut and rolled them out of the way when a resounding BOOM shook the house and the door was blown apart in a great gout of flame. Smoke flooded the hall way and Hayate quickly unpreted with Himeno and threw some leafe at it to clear it away faster.

Sasame and Takako came down the hall, Sasame still being supported by Takako a little. "What happened?" he shouted, choking on the smoke.

"Goh...he let go," Kei said roughly, wiping his eyes angrily.

Hayate held Himeno as she cried uncontrolably, his own tears falling onto her shoulders. Goh...

Sasame dropped to his knees, eyes wide in shock. "No...Mannan..."

"He saved Mannan," Kei continued.

Takako covered her mouth in horror and knelt to hold Sasame as he finally broke down in tears.

No one said a word as the dull crackling of flame and melting ice filled the hallway. The smoke alarms were going off everywhere. Shin and Hajime would be investigating soon.

Hayate pushed away from Himeno, forcing himself to stop crying. Strong, he needed to be strong right now. "Takako, Sasame, go keep Hajime and Shin from coming here. Tell them that...tell them the truth. Kei...Kei!"

Kei looked up from the spot on the floor he was staring at.

"Let's get Mannan and then seal the room off."

Kei nodded and stood up shaking and wiping his eyes.

"Wait..." Himeno said as Hayate stood, leaving her on the floor.

She looked up with eyes wide and filled with a very deep pain. "I want to come, too," she murmured.

Hayate nodded, giving her his hand to help her up.