CHAPTER 10: I'll Be There For You

Sete stared after them for a long time, jaw clenched and green eyes flashing a little. Kei..."I'm going after them," she said, heeled boots clicking on the floor as she started down the hall.

"Hold!" The Topaz Prince had just arrived. "They go of their own accord. This is not the time to attack!"

Turning around slowly, Sete said, "We're all Leafe Knights here. We all took an oath. Protect your team mates. Protect your Pretear. And protect each other. That's what they're doing. And I'm going to hold to the oath I took and protect them!"

"If you leave, it's treason!"

The only answer she gave required no words and one finger lifted. She walked out of the palace, hair whipping behind her.

The entire hall was silent for a long time. Then, fists clenched, Ravijot began to follow her. "Let's go, knights! Pasha, you too!" His entire team began to follow Sete.

Kondhae from South America and his group were next. Soon, every team except for the Red Guard were out the door and going to the aid of their fellow knights.

Kei winced, dropping to the ground as a bolt of lightening struck in him the chest hard. Shit...This wasn't going well! Blaise had blood dripping from his shoulder and was holding his gut, but still stood his ground protecting Shin and keeping the containment field up. Mannen was weaving and ducking, trying to draw the attacks away from Kei so he could get up. Feryn...where was Feryn? There! Feryn was throwing everything he had at these bastards, bodies littering the ground around him, some already beginning to fade. Hajime was at his back, a shallow cut across his cheek.

"Kei, get up! You gotta get up," Mannen shouted.

Kei pushed himself up in time to fling a spear of light into the Dark Knight going for Mannen's back with a leafe charged sword. The Queen of Nightmare's laughter was disturbing in its pure sound, the joyous notes a harsh back drop to the screams of pain and the battle cries. And Blaise's mad cussing.

"Bloody bastards! Take that! And one for yer whore of a mother! You good for nothin' pieces of mutha-," He was cut off mid rant as a shadow arrow pierced him through the other arm. "CAN YA PLEASE AIM FER THE SAME BLOODY SIDE, YA GIT!"

Kei grabbed Mannen and pulled him away from the earth hammer aimed for him, tucking the younger knight in and rolling with in across the ground and into the barrier. He looked up, staring out of the barrier...

And into angry jade eyes. "Well? Are you gonna jus lie there or open the door for a lady, pig?" Sete joked. And behind her...every last team!

"About damn time," Kei answered. He stood up with Mannen and shouted, "Shin, to your right, drop it!"

Shin opened one eye, all his consentration bent on holding the shield. It faded just enough to let in the Leafe Knights. And now their enemy was greatly out numbered. Better than even that, the crazy bitch had stopped laughing. Good!

Sete gave Kei a quick hug. "You EVER run off into certain death again without me, I'll bring you back from the dead just to kill you again!"

"Wow, was that your way of saying you care?" he said sarcastically.

She never answered him. One of the Dark Knights (the jerk from the beginning) was making a rush for her. It was the most beautifully satisfying thing in the world to see him get his ass handed to him by a female knight.

"Okay, let's get the Queen of Nightmares, Mannen," he said.

Mannen grinned excitedly. "Yeah!"

Hayate screamed when he was thrown into the wall hard, sliding down it. Where the...oh, right, at the bottom of that pit. He tried to stand, but his left ankle was sore to the point of not holding his weight. And if he wasn't mistaken from the stabbing pain in his right wrist it was broken. He blinked the blood from his eyes and managed to get himself up by leaning against the wall.

Himeno floated down, sobbing so bad she could barely breath. "I-I can't...Hayate! No, please don't make me do this!" It seemed Jikan was saying something to her, something that made her more upset. The sobs turned into wails of despair, and if it weren't for the fact that she wasn't in control of her body, he was sure she would have fallen to her knees. "Please...no! NO!"

"Himeno, look at me." He needed her to understand. He hissed when he accidentally stood on his bad leg too hard.

Jikan let her have that small motion. She looked up into his eyes, and in her eyes he saw a girl on the brink of going mad. If he died...she wouldn't live with herself after that. "Himeno, it's okay. Just...just stay alive."

"No, don't say that! Don't say that!"

"Just promise me you'll stay alive. I love you. I would rather it be like this than me hurting you."

"NO! DON'T SAY THAT! HAYATE!" Her eyes went wide as Jikan resumed control of her body, drawing leafe from within and lashing out at him.

Hayate screamed again as it ripped across his chest. He fell again and this time knew he couldn't get up. He watched in slow motion as his blood pooled on the floor of the cave, looking almost black against the grey stone. Himeno...she was alive. That was all he'd wanted from this. He'd wanted her to live. Once he was dead, Jikan would let her go. He knew that for a certainty, as surely as he knew he loved Himeno more than his own life. As the black spots ate at his vision, his eys growing heavy, he heard her screaming his name. Strangely though, it kept getting softer and softer.

The Queen of Nightmares was not happy. This wasn't supposed to happen! Jikan had failed her. He had promised the Topaz Prince wouldn't interfere with this. Then what were all the knights of Leafenia doing here? No matter, she would show them the true horror of the Queen of Nightmares. Smiling again, suddenly taking great joy in this battle, she threw her head back and laughed, arms to either side. White lightening leapt from her, striking at the containment field. Let the little one who made it feel pain. His scream was music to her ears. Very strong for a child. If he were alive after this, she would see to it he was hers. The field flickered and then the vines dropped dead, the charred remains steaming in the gloom. She lowered her arms, smiling peacefully as shadowy shapes began to slink over the stones of the mountain, creeping closer and closer. They had answered her call and were coming to her.

Her children, hundreds of them. Shadow demons. They thrived on the souls of knights. And since they were made of shadows, they could break and reform again and again, never dying. The first knight that was overcome by the shadow demons screamed so beautifully! Such an agonizing death scream. "That's right, darlings, eat until you're full," she murmured. This was going to be such a good day!

Kei squinted when the containment field dropped. Blaise was on his knees next to Shin, who wasn't moving. Shin...no! His attention was drawn back when he heard the most horrible scream of his life. Obosan...It was like he'd been shredded to pieces by a shadow! All that remained were pieces of cloth and a blood spatter. He looked all around them and saw more shadows crawling over the rocks, vaguely having a human form. When they touched a knight, the knight died in the same horrifying manner as Obosan. What were these things? Where did they come from?

Shimura, the Queen of Nightmares was laughing again, spinning around and around like she was dancing. How...repulsive! The fury was building inside him, and he quickly channeled it into fueling his leafe. They were shadows, only shadows. And shadows didn't do well with one thing. He took a shaky breath and let it out. "Like hell I'm going to let Goh be the only hero," he muttered. This was the scariest damn thing he had every done! He let the leafe build and build inside him until it was almost too painful to hold.

"Kei? KEI! NOO!" Sete's scream was only background noise to his concentration. He gave everything he had to this one act and released all the leafe he could into the air, making the blackened sky explode in a wash of brilliant sunlight. The shadows began to melt away. He could see them in the growing light. More...just a little more. This was such agony! How the hell long was it going to last? Damn it, Goh had made this look so easy!

Kei gasped when a warmth touched him. He opened his eyes, unaware of when he'd closed them. Sete was next to him, her eyes flickering brightly in the light. She was keeping him alive, using her own leafe to fuel him. "You stupid jackass! I told you not to do that," she practically snarled.

"Like I'd ever listen to a heartless hag," he muttered back. With Sete keeping his vitals steady, he could throw more leafe into his task. The knights were pressing the attack, killing off the last few Dark Knights, now unhampered by shadows eating them. And the Bitch of Nightmares was once again silent. Oh, good, and she wasn't dancing around either. In fact...

"Where's Shimura?" he asked.

Sete looked around. "I don't see her. Damn it all! She escaped!"

No matter. Her army was dead. She had nothing to fight with anymore. "Are they all dead yet?"

"A couple stragglers, that's it," she answered.

Kei nodded. "Send Feryn and Mannen to look for Hayate and Himeno."

"Are you okay now?"

He gave her a derisive glance. "Woman, do I look like I'm dying now?"

"Arrogant bastard," she muttered, pulling her hand from his back in a sudden movement that left him very cold inside. And very tired. And very, VERY sore! He heard her shouting orders left and right and he smiled. She would have made a great captain. Not that he would have taken orders from HER or anything. He stopped flooding the area with light and dropped to his hands and knees, completely exhausted. He hoped Hayate got to Himeno in time. He'd be right pissed if he went through all this trouble of keeping back an army of shadow freaks and Hayate screwed up the rescue part! Right pissed? Now he sounded like Blaise. God, he hoped he was dying! That was the only excuse for thinking like Blaise, ever.

Get up, get up, get up...Himeno stared at Hayate's lifeless body, willing him to move.

Jikan's laughter in her head made her want to puke. Look at all that blood! It's a beautiful sight, really. I didn't think it would be THIS fulfilling...He laughed again.

HImeno could barely keep herself breathing. Hayate...She'd just...she just...No. NO! "Please, you got what you wanted! Let me go!"

Umm...no! I'm having way too much fun with this! Having the Pretear Himeno at my mercy, unable to fight back against what I want? Simply delicious! Let's just stay here longer and watch Hayate bleed to death, shall we? Your utter despair is so...intoxicating! Just think, he's lying there, dying, because you were too weak to stop it from happening.

She...was weak. She hadn't stopped it. Hayate was dying and it was her fault. All her fault. He'd been there for her since this started. Always there for her. The one time she had to save him and she couldn't...she couldn't.

Yes...give in to that feeling. Let me feel it. It's just such a heady sensation. And what's this? Hayate is still twitching! How delightful! Finish him.

She felt him surge inside her mind, forcing her body to move forward, hands reaching for Hayate's neck. Fingers closing around his throat and beginning to squeeze. "Nonononono! Hayate, please, fight back! PLEASE! HAYATE, STOP ME!"

Hayate's eyes remained closed, a trickle of blood coming from his lips and staining his cheek. Himeno screamed and screamed and screamed until her throat hurt. She could feel his pulse growing weaker against her hand. A slow beat...getting softer. She sobbed out loud when her hands tightened a little more.

No...she couldn't let this happen. Not Hayate! I will not do this, she thought. I WILL not! She had to stop it or she would kill him. Hayate, the one she loved. He fought for her, was dying here in her arms for her. "This isn't fair! It isn't right! I just want to keep him safe!"

It was like those words acted as a trigger and she felt the warmth flood her for a third time, the light spreading from her body...

What...What are you doing? Stop! STOP IT! Jikan continued to scream in her head, but it began to fade out as Hayate's heart became stronger. His chest lifted suddenly, taking a deep breath. His eyes...they opened a little and looked to her. He mouthed something, too weak to say it, but she knew. She knew what he was saying. The white light was softly illuminating the cavern, filling her up and spilling out...

"The White Pretear."

Jikan's screams were leaving her, no longer shaking her mind. She forced him out, unpreting with him so fast she almost dropped to her knees. He was still screaming, clutching his face in agony, blood flowing between his fingers. "Wh...What have you DONE to me?" He screamed, pushing himself away from her awkwardly. He was staring at her in utter terror. She would deal with him later.

Himeno ignored him. She had to save Hayate. He'd said he would always be there for her. The same was true for her. It was like she just understood how to do it. She knelt by his side and, trusting her instincts, pressed her hands to his chest. He hissed, wincing as the light built around them, filling the wound that had torn through flesh, muscles and bone. She could feel them all reconnecting, healing themselves with the leafe she provided.

Hayate's hand reach for her weakly, touching her cheek. Tears were trickling down his cheeks as he took one shuddering breath after another. "H-Himeno..."

Himeno smiled and sat back, crying. He was alive. Hurt, but alive. She felt the power slipping away. Jikan...she had to...

Jikan was nowhere in sight.

Hayate was sitting up, gasping in pain when his ankle moved. He pulled her in and held her. She was going to faint...she could feel it...The last thing she heard was him whisper her name.