DarkTaoAngel: This chapter is a flashback, so it may seem kind of strange, but I tried to explain it as best I could. Please R&R again, especially if you have not already!

The fate that was held within the necklace of Ren's ancestors was true to all those that touched it. Ren remembered when he had first seen the necklace….

FLASHBACK

He had been training outside of the huge mansion that was his house, currently working on strength training with his weights. He had been lifting fifty pound weights, but they seemed too light to him now, and so he when in the house to get heavier ones.

He had been told that the weights were kept in the attic, though he did not dare question his 'dear uncle' of why. He left for the attic, which was so crammed with junk that he could barely see where he was going.

There were many boxes littering the floor, filled with old family possessions, all of which uninterested Ren most definitely. He finally found the weights, after quite some times worth of searching, and was on his way out when he tripped on a small box.

He looked down at the box with wonder rather than the hate with which he looked at most things. Inside of the box was but one small item, filling a large percentage of the box itself. He picked it up carelessly, looking at it thoroughly, seeing a bird depicted upon its surface. There was also a small word inscribed on its back, though Ren could not read its old printing. He wondered why on earth his ancestors would possibly keep an old necklace, though it did interest him a little bit.

He pocketed the piece of finely carven jewelry, intending on asking Jun about its purpose whenever he found her. He picked up the weights, ninety pounds this time, and left that most eerie place.

It so happens that he should run into his sister just as he was leaving the attic, and upon seeing her he immediately asked her about the old family necklace.

She was shocked at first that he could actually find it in such a place, but she proceeded to tell Ren about its history in the family.

"Its sole purpose is to destroy, using the one thing that the Tao family hardly has, love. If anyone should die wearing this necklace then their spirit will be locked away, unable to go to heaven, where only one person can break the spell. Anyone the person loved has to love him back, and if their love is true and unbreakable, then they will be reincarnated. If their love should fail however, then the other person shall have the same fate as the necklace-bearer, and disappear into shadows, their soul locked away as well." Jun had only heard this tale once before, it having happened to a Tao long ago. She sighed and told Ren to take it back to the attic, and then she left him alone.

He fully meant to take it back, but he thought that it might come in handy with the fight against Hao, and it would be a good test to see if the one he loved loved him back. He did not think that it was all true anyway, Jun usually stressed the truth, and he did not care if his soul was locked away, as it already was now. He felt thoroughly trapped now, and even though he had friends, when he really needed someone he tended to push them away.

There was only one person he liked to be around, and she did not even know. He had never told her, so he could not really be around her as much. Pirika, his friend Horo's sister, was the one to whom he liked. She had only been his envision of happiness for a month now, and he already could say that he loved her. He had absolutely no control over his emotions, and he himself could not say why he liked her as he did.

He was snapped out of his musing by the horrible crashing sound that emitted from the weights that he had so carelessly dropped just now. He muttered something crude under his breath before picking them up. He checked to see if the necklace was still in his pocket before he walked out of the attic stairway and back out to train once again, acting as if nothing had even happened.

ENDFLASHBACK

Though he still wanted to know what was written on the back of the necklace, it did not seem to be anything interesting to him, so he just ignored it all the while he had worn the necklace, hoping to prove that the curse was untrue, and then he was planning to give it to Pirika as a gift.

He had worn it for quite a while, even when he was called to fight Hao. He had been watching Pirika for Horo when he was called for the fight, and he had to take her with him on Horo's orders. No one knew that he was thoroughly enjoying his time with her, and he had to painfully watch her distress when he had died. He wished that he could help her, but he did not want to risk being seen more than possible. He had wished that she had left the accursed necklace as is, so as not to have anyone else suffer. Now he just had to hope with all of his heart that she would somehow have liked him as he did her, though the odds were against him.

He would see her again hopefully; otherwise her fate would be sealed as well as his, and to see her die because of his foolish mistake would be unbearable for him.

DarkTaoAngel: Though it could have been longer, it summarized a lot of the story in only one chapter. The next chapter will be totally different from this one, so it might take a while to get back to the necklace.