Disclaimer: I do not own Prétear.
Tainted Water

They looked at the former Knight of Water, who had blank, lifeless, gray eyes. There was a large seed covering most of his back. It was difficult to tell if the good Hajime still existed behind

"Goh, try to burn the seed!" Kei yelled. Although Goh's powers weren't working earlier, they returned to him after Mannen's safety was assured. The stress from Mannen was lifted and Goh's Leafe was passionately burning, as it should be.

Goh shot blasts of fire, but a shield of water shot up and created a lot of steam. The vapor was dense, and no one could see. A part of him was relieved that the attack didn't work; he did not think that he could attack one of the Knights that he had helped raise.

"Argh!" A voice yelled. Himeno looked around. Fear crept slowly into her heart. What would she do if she had lost someone?

"Guys! Who's hurt?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm alright." Kei's voice said.

"So am I." Sasame, Hayate, Shin, and Mannen said.

"Goh!" Mannen cried out as the area cleared. The Knight of Fire was on the ground; his head was bleeding.

"Ugh…" Goh shifted a little. Mannen and Shin ran up to him.

"I may not be on your side anymore, but I can still control water. And the seed makes me stronger. Goh was a fool to try to attack me." Hajime smirked.

"I can't believe you're actually trying to hurt us!" Himeno said. She wished that she could hear any innocence in Hajime's voice. There was not any trace of the old Hajime.

"An enemy is an enemy." The Knight of Wind knew how Himeno felt-he did not want to fight the former Knight of Water, but he knew he had no choice and couldn't hold back. Hayate put a lot of his energy to blow Hajime back. He stumbled backwards a little, but didn't seem to be affected.

Kei tried to blind him with light. Unfortunately, now the others couldn't see what was going on. The attack seemed to have stalled Hajime for a little while.

Shin sprouted up a healing plant for Goh. The vines wrapped around him and the green leaves glowed, making Goh's bleeding stopped.

"Whoa! That's better than Kei's healing." Mannen said, impressed.

"Thanks, Shin." Goh said, patting him on the head.

The light from Kei had dimmed down and everyone was in sight. Shin walked towards Hajime.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked

Hajime resumed commanding the seeds to attack them.

"Please stop!" Shin sobbed.

"Even now you still cry too much." Hajime said in an annoyed voice. This was the first time Hajime had ever sounded annoyed to Shin.

"Hajime…" More tears flowed from the boy's face. The pain tugged at him-his best friend was treating everyone so cruelly.

"Shut up!" Hajime attacked Shin by sending a blast of water. The Knight of Plants closed his eyes as the wave rushed towards him.

"Shin!"

TBC…