Things seemed to change later on in life. Jiueru eventually got over Rikuki, and moved on. Not with another man, but with her own life. She was finally able to live the life she always wanted. She was finally able to live the adventurous, outgoing life she'd always desired. Here about twenty now, and haven't spoken to her Reidou (mother) since her Obaasan (grandmother) died. From what she last heard, her mother had discovered, like most people in the village, that Rikuki was dead, and she was mourning the loss of her "youshi," (son-in-law). Jiueru covered up Rikuki's death well, quickly discarding and burning the garments she wore that night and washing herself before running to the people of the village, screaming that Rikuki's been murdered. Immediately, people began trying to investigate the crime, but no one has been able to identify the source of what killed him. She was never suspected of, and, the moment he was cremated, her faith in love, and her memories of him burned along with her husband.

Jiueru now traveled the areas of Japan she had not explored, seeing the lands and places that she had only imagined existed, enjoying the parts of the rough terrain of Hokkaido, and the city limits of Hyogo. It was, though, when she traveled to Okayama, Japan, that her life took a major turn around. Lately, she found herself feeling stronger, more powerful and free without someone, or something, tying her down. Strange thoughts ran through her mind a minute and she seemed to act on instinct rather than on common sense. When Jiueru came into Okayama, she immediately went into a small Inn and stayed there for the night, but spent very little time in her room. She wandered through the streets and areas of the city and towns, trying to think of what she would do with her life. Jiueru could not return home, as she knew her Reidou would mourn Rikuki when she would see her, or would still be mourning the loss of her mother, her Obaasan. Jiueru had few places to go, and made little money, performing and singing in karaoke bars and pubs, trying to make as much money to allow her to eat and sleep. During these performances in pubs, though, men would try to make a pass at Jiueru and try to hit on her. She found that more than just disgusting, mainly because, although he was dead, Rikuki remained in her mind, and Jiueru would wonder what he would think of her.

"You have changed much, Jiueru."

She would turn each time she thought she heard his voice, thinking he was there behind her, but never was. Sometimes Jiueru had to remind herself that he was dead, and because of her. She was the one that killed him. She was the one responsible for her own life. Those were the words of her Obaasan, and she knew she had to follow them. Jiueru was responsible for her own life, and it was her own job alone to change it around. It did when she wandered near to the shore of a river. She saw lights flickering around it, and voices shouting. At first she thought that some younger people was having a party and just playing around, but then, when she looked further, she saw that there were kids there, making the chaotic noise. Five boys and two girls, (well, one was a full-grown woman.) One boy had brown hair, a lightface, seemed to be streetwise, and had a Brazilian accent that he shouted with. Another boy was fair-faced with freckles, blond hair, and wore a cowboy outfit with a Texan accent as he cheered for his friend. A boy had a large, yellow orb head and wore Chinese traditional clothing, and he was moving fast across the waters surface of the river. A boy, who was yelling continuously from up in the air, had red hair, a fair face, and weird markings under his glaring eyes, and he wore goggles on his forehead. The last boy was moving too fast for Jiueru to see, but she could definitely tell he was probably the more serious of them all. She saw him one moment, and then he vanished in a flash of olive, dashing across the waters surface. One of the girls, the younger one, looked Japanese, like Jiueru, with ebony hair and blue eyes. Then the woman, though, was very lovely with long, fanning auburn hair and bird-like, green eyes, and she was yelling with a very mature voice.

Jiueru looked from the people to what was going on, and saw, immediately, what was happening. Something entirely different from what she saw every day. The river of the water was rising into the air and forming stone pillars that soon came crashing down, and the two boys were racing, not only across the water, but on the pillars, trying to obtain something. A light glittering came from the water, and her eyes seemed to adjust to that one, fixated spot. Something gold was gleaming from the water, and, as the surface rose again to form another pillar, Jiueru saw what it was.

A golden object that resembled a necklace. More than just a necklace, a charm that held the symbol of a star on it. The voices continued to echo through the hills and sides, but Jiueru seemed to have blocked them out, as she was focused primarily on that one object. It gleamed so beautifully under the sparkling, bright moonlight. A thought ran through her mind, but she pushed it aside as she watched the two strangers.

The boy with the large head, who, from the call of his friends, seemed to be named Omi, dodged a forming pillar, and tried to grab at the object, but a flash of olive appeared, and the object was gone. The water then remained calm, the pillars disappeared, and it seemed peaceful, quiet, normal, now. Jiueru looked on to see that the boy was somehow thrown from the river into his friends, and the flash of olive was gone, and that mysterious boy stood there, but when she saw him, she felt her whole body freeze.

The boy was drop-dead gorgeous, in her opinion. Even more so than Rikuki. He had long, wild, black, olive-tinted hair, burning, yellow, cat-like eyes, a lightface, and he wore armor, and traditional, green, armor that just made him look even more amazing. He looked young, just a year or so older than Jiueru, and was absolutely amazing as he swung the golden necklace around one finger.

"You Wudai warriors are so pathetic. You should be focusing on more of your training than on your pitiless missions," he spoke darkly to them. His voice was deep and hypnotic and it seemed to almost pull Jiueru in if she hadn't resisted it.

At that moment, those kids were gone, and Jiueru suddenly feel exhausted and weak for some reason. In her mind, thoughts and memories twisted with each other painfully, and she was trying hard not to think of Rikuki, but he seemed to come up almost at every chance. She tried to think of a way to get out of there, but before she could even move, something moved in front of her, and she found herself acting on instinct. Her body swayed backwards, and her forearm came up to her face. It took a moment before impact when she suddenly realized what was happening.
Jiueru had guarded herself against a kicking blow to the face from that person in armor. She had just protected herself. She then felt herself lose control of her body. She grinned, and looked directly into those cold, yellow eyes of the boy's.

"What are you doing here!" he commanded of her. Who was he to command her of anything? Jiueru stepped back from him, glaring at him darkly, and she could feel a rise of power inside her. A feeling Jiueru had never experienced before. It was strong, tempting, passionate, forceful. And, for some reason, it came to be when she looked at him.

Who are you to tell me what to do?" Jiueru spoke to him. He knitted his brow, surprised by her remark, but his evil grin told her that he did not seem to mind so much.

"What is your name, girl?" he asked.

"Jiueru, and yours?"

"Chase Young."

He took her hand and placed a light kiss on the back of it, and then turned his eyes back onto her own. There was something about him that interested Jiueru. He had this inner, dark, cruel beauty that seemed to last farther into his soul. And, she could tell that he seemed interested in her, as well.

"Tell me, Jiueru, you are not from around here, so where are you from?" he asked her.

"From Kyoto," her eyes wandered from his to the object in his hand. The object that he and the other boy, Omi, had fought over.

"What is this?"

Jiueru snatched at the necklace from his hand and examined the charm. On the center was a large symbol of an upside-down star in a circle, carved in red upon the gold surface. It looked, not only interesting, but hypnotizing to her. She stared at it for a while, and then her hand began to feel hot. Really hot, almost burning, as she held the pendant. Soon, the pendant grew so hot it sent a sting of pain into her hand, and Jiueru dropped it onto the ground.

"What is that!"

"It is called a Shen Gong Wu," the boy, Chase, spoke, as he kneeled down to pick up the necklace. He didn't touch the pendant, but strummed the chain of it over his fingers like it was silk. It was so mesmerizing, as the pendant swung below his hand, the moonlight gleaming off the star carving on it.

Jiueru wanted to touch the carving of the star, but something prevented her. Her hand was paralyzed, burning, and it was filled and numbed with pain. She couldn't move her hand.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Chase Young spoke as he turned towards the other woman and disappeared with her. Jiueru couldn't move. Pain strummed throughout her arm like fire in Hell. Her arm was paralyzed by pain and burning, and when she was finally able to look down at her hand, she saw something that struck fear into her.

The symbol, that red star in a red circle symbol, was carved into the palm of her hand. Jiueru gasped, nearly screaming, when she saw it burn brightly, carved deep into her flesh, blood seeping through it. How could this have happened! What was going on? Jiueru stayed there, staring at her now burning hand, realizing the symbol that she now had on her palm was in fact a mark. What Jiueru didn't know was that it was the Mark of the Beast….

Jiueru somehow got up the courage to contact her Reidou on a phone. There were hardly any phones in her home village, so she had to contact the next village over and ask someone to get her Reidou. They obeyed, after a half-hours wait, she finally was heard on the other line, and, after a long time of talking to her and telling her how her life was, Jiueru told her Reidou about what she had just recently seen, (neglecting to inform her about the carving on her hand). Her Reidou, though, didn't appear that much surprised, for some odd reason. She didn't tell Jiueru why, but she informed her about a man who came to Kyoto. This man's name, from what he told her Reidou, was Guan, and he was in search of someone. Jiueru. When her Reidou met him, she told him that Jiueru was long gone, and recently became a widow. (The word, "widow," sunk deep into her heart, as she thought of Rikuki.) The man informed her that if she was to somehow get into contact with Jiueru, to tell her to go to China, and search out the man there. After reminding Jiueru several times that she loved her and that she was her "shoujo" (daughter), Jiueru finally hung up, and tried to figure out a way to get to China.

It was a far country, all the way on the center of mainland Asia. Jiueru had little money, and couldn't afford enough to travel far into Japan, let alone go into China. So, her question was, how was Jiueru going to get to China? She spent a few more weeks into Okayama, trying hard to figure out a way to go to China. For all she knew, this mysterious man named Guan could, in fact, end up being her father, the one person she was searching for the most. Or someone who is willing to help her get her life back together? Jiueru prayed inside for that, but she still had to figure out a way to go to China. She bandaged her hand and wore a black glove over it so no one would sight the marking, even though it burned and hurt every night when she went to sleep. Jiueru ended up working harder than she ever believed herself, depriving herself of food and slumbering within an abandoned warehouse. Everything Jiueru normally spent money on she neglected for, salvaging the money she earned for a trip into Asia.

Jiueru forced heavy tips at the places she worked at, dancing on tables and singing for men, just to earn enough money. She even sold her drawings and paintings, but didn't make enough on them. Jiueru was making enough money to allow herself to go to China. With all the performing and dancing that she did, she still did not have enough to travel to China.

Jiueru soon was feeling about to give up, her life heading down hill as it was, and it seemed almost impossible to her to reach her goal. But what was she to do now? It had been three weeks, and she had eaten for little. Her body was literally wasting away from her, and it was time to give up. Jiueru needed to eat; she needed to sleep in a nice, comfortable bed. Jiueru couldn't neglect that. She eventually gave up on trying to reach China, knowing it was never going to happen.

Jiueru thought of returning home, seeing Her Reidou again, and seeing all the old friends she had. She needed to see them again. As she started her traveling through Tottori, she felt as if something was wrong. Jiueru discovered that she could feel an omniscient presence about her. Jiueru saw the world in a completely new way. Her hand began to sting a lot more, a burning sensation that brought pain to her. Jiueru found herself enjoying things that normally she wouldn't. She saw herself in a completely new light.

It was in Tottori that Jiueru suddenly decided to rest. She chose a small hotel to stay at for the night, and she huddled in front of a warm fireplace in the lobby, trying to think. She found herself growing weak and tired quickly, but she felt mesmerized by the flames, entranced, trapped within their beauty, their warmth. Outside, she could hear the rain falling gently from the dark, clouded night sky. Jiueru gently closed her eyes, but the moment she did, memories flooded before her mind. Memories she had with Rikuki, memories she had of her Reidou, memories of her Obaasan, and memories…memories of when Jiueru was a child…memories of being alone a lot…memories of being without a father…memories…of innocence…that was so long…lost….Soon, Jiueru was drifting into the emptiness of her subconscious thoughts and imagination, seeing a world other than what was real. What she did not realize was that watching her slumber was another man, a man who had been following her for a long time, and now finally had her in his grip.