DarkTaoAngel: I have been having severe writers block lately, so I have not updated this story in a long time. I am sorry to all of those who wanted this chapter earlier. But at least I am writing it!
"Ren!" she screamed his name as though expecting that at any moment he would answer her, but he did not. Pirika did not have to wait that long, however, because the scream stopped quickly, and she knew that something was wrong. Ren's scream was replaced by Hao's booming voice, however muffled by the walls of the building, she could hear him talking about not enough space, and she heard a pop. She looked up to the window, but could see no one. They seemed to have gone somewhere, to continue the battle in a more open space, the perfect battlefield for Hao. The fight was certain to continue, and the outcome was sure to be something awful. Pirika was almost certain that Yoh and Horo would lose, but she kept an open mind through all that happened, though no one else would have.
Pirika saw this as the perfect opportunity for her to go upstairs and see if Ren was there, though she knew already that he was. She was scared of what she would find; that yell had been horrible, and Pirika did not wish to find him irreversibly injured… or worse.
She reached the room and entered with shaking hands, hoping to see that he was not there; that he had gone off to fight with the others and that he was okay. But he was there, sprawled on the floor, and Pirika's heart plummeted at the sight of him in this condition. There was blood all around him on the floor, coming from a large gash in his stomach. She could tell that there was a minimal chance for him to live, but she did not want to believe it, no matter how true it seemed to be. It all was a nightmare to her, because this was much too horrific to be real.
She walked up to his unmoving body, hoping to see some sign of movement, but none came. She had to look close just to see that he was breathing, but she could barely even tell that he was, it could have just been her hopefulness.
Please don't be dead; I can't bare it if you are… not again… Pirika thought, as she felt a tear trickle down her chin, and soon she was completely enveloped in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. She was worried that he would never be the same after this, or that he might never even wake up again.
Meanwhile, in a place widely known as the 'Soul Underworld', the place in which the previous battle with Hao had taken place, Yoh, Horo, and Hao had just been transported there by Hao himself. The battle continued where it had left off, except for the fact that Hao had more of an edge against the others, and he was using that opportunity to its fullest. This was his playing field, though he had lost the previous time that he had fought there, it was an evil place, one which Hao knew quite well from past visits.
The stakes were high on Yoh's side, with Hao leading in furyoku, and it could have been told right away that he was destined to win the fight.
Yoh was much more exhausted than Horo, as he had many scratches covering his body, many of which were bleeding profusely. Horo, on the other hand, was doing very well as far as physical condition went, but he was not thinking right, he was focusing on what could happen to all of them, rather than the battle.
The strikes from each side were almost evenly matched, which was not good because the force of both Yoh and Horo was the same as Hao alone, so if either Yoh or Horo was injured, then the battle will have been lost. They tried to keep in perfect syncopation, and they did very well for a while. Hao was still losing furyoku, though not as much as the other two and his attacks were therefore weakening.
It was then that the battle took a rather unpleasant turn, completing the horrific day's events. Hao used his furyoku to jet into the air for just enough time to get past Yoh, and make it to Horo, for whom he knew to be Yoh's Achilles heal. Horo was much weaker than Yoh, and could be defeated by a far weaker attack, though he fought well enough. Hao then transformed his spirit sword once again into the Spirit of Fire, who could fight to its fullest due to the enormous space. He had gotten past Yoh, and called his spirit to him, as it emerged beside its master.
Horo had barely enough time to turn around before he was attacked, struck by Hao easily, as he fell immediately to his feet. Blood erupted from the wound in his side, and he struggled to keep his breathing constant. Yoh tried to reach him in order to help, but Hao began to advance on him when he did, and he was blocked from Horo. He called out to him in the distance, and the answer was much too wavered and light that it could not be heard, but Yoh knew what he was trying to say. Horo wanted him to move on and defeat Hao, and to come back for him later. He could not disobey what his friend had said, and so, he fought for him, though it seemed a lost cause.
Hao had sworn upon arriving that someone would die that night, and it could never be him; secretly, Yoh agreed with him on that.
DarkTaoAngel: I am still not sure how this story will end, and I was not even sure if I would post this chapter, but I did anyway. If you have any requests for what I should write about, feel free to let me know!