Yoh was paining in that blue snake body. The images which flashed in front of his eyes were making him pain… suffer. The poor boy was crying a lot. Anna was in panic. She wanted to help Yoh, but she couldn't get near him.
Amat was struggling to be released form Faust and Ryou's arms and to save Horo-Horo from Hao's sword. The words Yoh spelt were making a bad effect in Hao. The boy was not enjoying what Yoh was saying.
"Forgive me…" Yoh said. The Japanese makes a big effort and raised his arm pointing it above, as if he wanted to catch the Moon with his hand. Hao was looking to the unconscious Horo-Horo and then picks his sword and tries to hit the Ainu, but Yoh's words… they were… "I didn't want to…" Hao got angrier. "I…"
Yoh was seeing a lot of images. He saw the feet of a person and the end of a sword. The image looked like a bad synchronized TV channel. Then Yoh could see a clear image of a woman and two children. They looked like patches and they were crying a lot. Then the image changed and he saw a girl who looked like Amat writing in a book. Then Morphine as a human. Then he saw again the bad image but he was already able to see the legs and something that seemed to be a Grim Reaper style scythe and the rest of the dragon shaped sword. Yoh couldn't stop crying. Why? Those images made him sad.
"I'm so sorry…" Yoh whispered, crying a lot. Hao was getting mad. Yoh's words were hitting him in a way no one as ever hit. "I promised you… the Moon… the Earth… everything…"
Yoh saw the image of the girl who looked like Amat sleeping at his side, then crying on his shoulders, then running in the middle of an ancient patch village.
"STOP IT!" Hao stabs the sword on the ground and puts his hands on his head. "I don't wanna remember that! STOP IT!"
"What's happening?" Len asked.
"Yoh! What's wrong?" Anna asked, looking to Yoh who was more certain then ever that he wanted to reach the Moon with his hand.
"But I…" Yoh said and the image of the girl with the feather crown on her head. Yoh saw the belly of the person with the scythe and the sword. It was a girl wearing an ancient Japanese costume. "It was my entire fault… all of it." He saw a drop of blood hitting a pool of the red liquid. The scythe and the sword were full of blood. Then Yoh sees a man who appeared to be Chinese hugged to the girl. "I had it all…" The girl was offering Yoh something he enjoyed. "But I…" Yoh sees the girl crying a lot with a desolated look. "I threw it all way…" Yoh sees the face of the Chinese; he was very look a like Len. The Chinese grabs the girl's hands and pulls her to him. The Chinese hugs the girl and gives her a big kiss.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Hao screamed with the hands on his head. "I don't wanna hear more!"
"It was my entire fault." Yoh said. Hao starts breathing harder. "I was wrong… I made a mistake."
"I'VE NEVER MADE A MISTAKE! I'M ALWAYS RIGHT!" Hao screamed. He looks to Yoh very mad. "It was all you're fault. If you haven't decided to continue your dream to become ruler of the shamans… nothing would go wrong. It was your entire fault! NOT MINE!"
"I love you…" Yoh cried looking to the Moon. "You're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." Yoh saw the chest of the girl with the scythe and the sword. The girl appeared to have a tattoo all over her right arm and neck. "For you are the girl any Shaman King would like to have…"
"Because you're the girl I gave my soul and my body…" Yoh and Hao said at the same time. "I gave it all up for you…" Yoh saw again the image of the patch family and then the face of the bloody girl. She had two small braids and she was crying a lot. The girl had her hair in front of her eyes, but Yoh was able to see the face of a blue dragon tattooed on her right side of the face.
"Why?" Yoh said. Hao was very angry with that, perhaps because it makes it sad… perhaps because it brings him bad memories… or simple because he didn't want to. Horo-Horo opens his eyes, everything looked blurry. The Ainu looked up and saw what probably no one as ever seen… Hao was crying with his hands in front of his face. Horo-Horo was still fuzzy but he puts his hands on Hao's feet, ready to freeze then. Hao noticed that and looked to Horo-Horo with fire on his eyes. Hao raises one of his legs and kicks Horo-Horo head.
"HORO-HORO!" Amat screamed. The Ainu fainted once more. Hao took his sword out of the sand and points it to Horo-Horo.
"I don't care if Yoh dies!" Hao said with a loony smile. "As long as I can take your…"
.:If I were you, I wouldn't do that:. Said a voice of an old and wise men. Hao looked to Yoh and the snake upper part takes the shape of head and turns into a dragon's head with two big golden horns and winged shaped ears. The red eyes of the dragon were now looking to Hao. .:Why are you so determinated to kill that poor boy:.
"Shut up!" Hao screamed while kicked Horo-Horo chest. "Just because You're a great spirit doesn't give you the right to speak with me like that." Hao put the sword very close to the badly wounded face of Horo-Horo.
.: You just wanna kill him because he's the proof of all your mistakes. :. The spirit said. Hao was getting very mad. .: Every time you look at him you remember your own mistakes. After all, that boy's just here because of your mistakes, otherwise you would be happy and Shaman King. Now you're nothing:. Hao looked to the blue dragon. .: Let me guess! You're going to say sorry and ask me to release your other half:.
"I no longer care about Yoh!" Hao said.
.: Then you don't mind if I eat him:. The dragon said. Hao looked to him. Hao smiled.
"You can no longer arm me. If I kill this boy, nothing could go wrong." Hao said.
.: I see. :. The dragon said and binds Yoh hardly. Yoh screamed a lot and his eyes turned gold. Yoh's voice changed and he starts speaking with two voices, one male and the other female.
"Search for the one who cries for his lost love/ Search for him who seeks for joy/ Search for the one who has no home/ Search for your heir/ Next to the half of the wizard of fire, you'll find the one who worship Chup-Kamui. He is the one you seek for." Yoh said. Anna was even more worried. Why was Yoh doing that? Why was someone making Yoh doing that?
.: As you can see, Hao, I don't see the part were you enter. :. The dragon said.
"I don't care about that!" Hao screamed. "I loved her more than that Chinese! I love her more than that rustic French! I love her more than this sewer rat." Hao was going to kill Horo-Horo but he heard Anna screaming.
The blue dragon turns into a cloud and swallows Yoh and then disappears. Anna becomes desperate. There were no signs of Yoh or the dragon.
"YOH!" Anna screamed. "Yoh! Say something! Yoh!" Anna started to cry. Hao looked to the sky and then to the group.
"You'll pay for this and this Ainu will be the first!" Hao said.
"NO! I won't let you do that!" Amat was trying to get of Faust and Ryou's arms. "Release me!"
"No, Highness! You cannot do anything!" Faust said.
"Release me! I ORDER YOU TO RELEASE ME!" Amat screamed. Ryou and Faust released Amat without wanting it. Amat was running to Horo-Horo but Len grabbed her. "Let me go! I don't wanna see Horo-Horo die!"
"You're being nonsense!" Len said. "It's obvious there is here something more than our eyes can see."
"I need to save Horo-Horo" Amat said. She puts her hand inside of Len's pocket and took his sword. Amat escapes from Len and runs to Hao. "You'll pay for it! TOGENKYO!" Amat stabs the sword in the ground and hundreds of Chinese weapons appeared from the floor. Len and the others were shocked.
"How can she use one of Len's attacks?" Chocolove asked. Len was looking to Amat. It is true Len used his sword to perform that attack, but Bason was needed as well and the spirit was at his side, then, how could Amat use his attack?
Hao jumps to the sky and flees unwounded. Hao realized he couldn't do anything and disappears. The weapons disappeared from the ground and Amat ran to Horo-Horo, dropping Len's sword. Amat kneeled down near her love.
"Horo-Horo!" she said and becomes shocked. The Ainu's face was baldy injured and he was bleeding a lot. "I'll save you! Don't worry! Just hold on! Oh my God! Faust! Someone! Help him!" Faust runs to Amat and makes a bad face when he saw Horo-Horo.
"He needs to be healed quickly or the worst can happen!" Faust said.
"Do whatever you can do, but save my Horo-Horo!" Amat begged. Faust's hands start shining and he puts them inside of Horo-Horo's head to heal it. Amat held the healthy hand of Horo-Horo, helping Faust and Eliza in everything she could.
"Do you think he can make it?" Chocolove asked.
"Horo-Horo's strong. He'll survive." Amat said.
"Yoh?" Manta stopped worrying about Horo-Horo and realized Yoh was eaten by a spirit. "And Yoh?" All looked aside and saw Anna sat on the ground with her face drowned on tears.
"Where is my Yoh?" Anna whispered. Amat, who now held Horo-Horo on her arms, felt sorry for Anna.
"Is he…" Chocolove was going to say, but all looked to him, wishing that not to become true.
"Hey… look." Tamao pointed. All looked ahead Anna, while she continued to look to the ground. Small stars that looked like glow-worms were joining in front of Anna. The group smiled. The stars took the shape of a person and Yoh appeared in front of them.
"Hello, Anna!" Yoh said. Anna's heart started to beat faster. Anna looked up. Yoh was smiling to her. "Sorry to make you worried." Anna jumps to Yoh's arms, hugging him with a lot of love.
"Don't do that again!" Anna said. Yoh smiled. "Otherwise, I'll punish you." Yoh hugged Anna, caressing her hair. A moment after that, Manta came near Yoh.
"What happened? You were acting strange and saying things… well… can you explain?"
Yoh looked seriously to the ground, trying to remember everything that he saw.
"I saw… I guess it was… images from Hao's past life, when he was one of the patches." Yoh said. All looked to him.
"Some things you said made Hao angry and believe me, he pissed out." Len said. Yoh looked to him and remembered the images with the Chinese.
"You…" Yoh said. "You were in his memories." Len found that strange. If he only is 14 years old, how could Hao from 500 years have memories of him?
"Me? Are you sure it was me?" Len asked. Yoh looked to him and then to Amat.
"Amat was there too!" Yoh said. All looked to him and then to Amat who was helping Faust and Eliza. "She… she seemed to be suffering a lot and… sometimes… she seemed to be happy."
"You're being nonsense." Len said. "How could we be in Hao's memories?"
"This is getting very strange." Chocolove said. "First, Hao tries to kill Horo-Horo twice and both times he was very close to do it, he just stopped because that blue dragon appeared and tried to hurt Yoh, but why? Now, Yoh said he saw memories from Hao from his last life and in those memories, Len and Amat met Hao? What's going on?"
"I guess Amat may know it!" Len said. "After all, she preformed my attack without Bason." Len looked to Amat and thought 'And I also have memories of her that are not from this life'
"Ok. I've done my best." Faust said. Amat looked to him. "Now we need to let Horo-Horo rest and wait until he wakes up."
"Thank you, Faust!" Amat said and covers Horo-Horo with a warm blanket. "I'll take care of him." Amat held Horo-Horo's hand and caresses his face, now full of dressings.
Once it was too late, all decided to sleep. Amat slept with Horo-Horo, who continued unconscious. Len couldn't fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about what Amat did and how she did it. Yoh was also awake. Those memories were very strange and he was more certain than ever that Amat had something to do with it, but she was being so cool taking care for Horo-Horo that Yoh was afraid to say something that could hurt his already hurt friend.
Horo-Horo woke up in the middle of the night. His body was paining a lot. The Ainu looked to the stars and thinks 'I feel so warm… why? Why do I have the feeling I wanna to stay like this for eternity?' Horo-Horo makes an effort and looks aside, seeing Amat sleeping with him, hugging his wounded body. Horo-Horo smiled. The Ainu puts his arm around Amat and lends his head on her. 'I…' Horo-Horo grabs Amat and roll, staying above her. Amat woke up with the weigh she felt. The girl blushed a lot.
"Horo-Horo! You've wake! I'm so happy!"
"Happy am I for having a girl like you. Thank you for taking care of me!" Horo-Horo looks to her mouth and gives her a big kiss. Amat blushed even more and starts tearing of happiness.
Anna woke up and heard Amat and Horo-Horo speaking. She looked aside and saw them kissing. Anna was also concerned about Amat, but, without knowing why, she felt Amat was a good person and that she suffered already a lot.
In the next day, the group was ready to continue they journey and they saw a hidden village.
"See, I told you we were close to the Patch village." Amat said. Horo-Horo had his arm around her, once she was helping him walk. "Now, we need to go inside and swim."
"Swim?" Ryou asked.
"Yeap!"
The group entered and found a big blue lake.
"Now what?" Chocolove asked.
"We swim deep inside this lake and we will found the patch village on the other side." Amat said. Len looked to her and he had a flash. Len sees Amat but with different clothes and with her braids smaller. Amat turns to him.
'I know an easier way to swim!' she said. Len looked to her and a blue dragon appears around her. 'My dragon will help us.' Len recognized the dragon. It was the dragon who ate Yoh! So… the dragon was with Amat! It was her spirit!
Len returned to reality and sees Amat speaking with Horo-Horo. Len got angry and ran to her, grabbing hardly her arms.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Len screamed. Amat found that strange.
"What are you talking about?" Amat asked.
"Where's your spirit, ah, Amat?" Len asked, shaking her. "Why don't you show him to us, ah? Because he is the blue dragon who is torturing Yoh? That's the true, isn't it?"
"I…" Amat didn't know what to answer. "I…"
"Len, are you nuts?" Horo-Horo asked. "Amat helped me. Why will she hurt Yoh?"
"Can't you realize? She's using you to get to Yoh! That's the true!" Len said and looked to Amat. "Why are you doing this?"
"I never used Horo-Horo! My feelings for him are true! You haven't got the right to doubt of me!" Amat starts crying. "You're stupid! You know the truth, she's in front of your eyes and even then you can't realize it?" Len continued angry.
"Len, why are you saying those things?" Yoh asked. Len continued looking to Amat, waiting to hear the truth. "Amat wouldn't do that. She was not using any object to perform an over soul." Yoh puts his hand on Len's shoulder. "Let her go."
"She's lying, Yoh!" Len said, releasing Amat. "I know! She is."
"What's yours?" Horo-Horo asked, angry. "Why were you arguing like that with my girlfriend?"
"You really are dumb!" Len insulted. "Can you not realize she's seducing you?"
"No she's not!" Horo-Horo said and they start arguing with each other. Amat continued crying.
"I… I just want to be happy…" Amat said. Anna listened and looked to her. Amat was walking rewind near the lake. "I just… Why can't I be happy?" Amat continued walking rewind.
"Amat." Anna said. Amat continued tearing but then she smiled.
"It's time to stop lying to myself." Amat said. "It's time to go back to land of my kingdom." Amat dives in the lake. Horo-Horo and Len stopped arguing and looked to the water.
"Amat!" Horo-Horo plunged after her and then, all dived into the lake.
The group swam a lot and then they were overfilled by a light. Yoh and the others woke up in a green meadow. Horo-Horo got up and starts looking for Amat.
"Amat!" Horo-Horo called. Yoh looked ahead and saw a big mountain of light shining and moving around itself.
"What's that?" Yoh asked.
"Those are the Great Spirits." A familiar voice said. Yoh and the others looked ahead and saw Amat, shined by the white light of the Spirit. Horo-Horo smiled and runs to her. Amat had her back turned to them. "They are an amount of souls. It's magnificent, isn't it?"
"Amat." Horo-Horo called. "I was worried when you plunged to that lake. Luckily you are ok." Amat turns to him, revealing her tearful face. "What's wrong?" Horo-Horo grabs her hands. "Tell me."
"Horo-Horo… I…" Amat looked to him. "I… You're very important me… after all… you're my…"
"What? What's wrong? Don't cry, pussy." Horo-Horo was trying to comfort her, but she seemed very sad. Looks like Len harmed a lot her feelings. The Ainu cleaned Amat tears with his fingers. "I'm here! You can tell me everything." Amat starts feeling even worse.
"Horo-Horo… you're my… I… I am…"
"She is who she is!" A voice said. The Spirit of Fire appeared between flames along with Hao. The boy jumps and lands behind Amat. "And she's very beautiful." Hao puts his arms around her, pulling her away from Horo-Horo. "After all…" Hao grabs Amat's face and turns her to him. "She's a very powerful person."
"Hey! She's my…" Horo-Horo was getting worried. Amat looked to him, crying, as if she wanted to tell him something really important.
"Mine. She's mine… My…" Hao gets his face closer to Amat's.
"Horo-Horo!" Amat raised her hand to the Ainu. "I am… I am…"
"She's the Shaman Queen." Hao said. Amat froze, just like everybody. "Yes. She's the Shaman Queen. The shaman that won the tournament 500 years ago."
"It can't be…" Horo-Horo said, completely wordless.
"Shaman Queen?" Len asked. "But…"
"She looks so young for a person with more than 500 years old." Ryou noticed.
"So…" Yoh was also trying to assimilate all of it.
"You knew, Faust?" Chocolove asked. Faust looked to Amat, who was crying a lot.
"Let me go!" Amat cried and struggles against Hao. Horo-Horo fell on his knees. He couldn't believe Amat hide something like that from him.
"Amat… you know I've never forgot you." Hao starts caressing Amat's body. "After all, you're the Shaman Queen. The person who defeated me 500 years ago. And the person I love a lot. You're my Shaman Queen." Hao grabs Amat tightly and puts his hand on one of Amat's breasts. "And this time, I'll not let you go." Hao kisses Amat.
Horo-Horo's heart broke. He starts crying a lot. Everything was so confused to him. 'Why Amat?' Horo-Horo thought. 'Why is she the Shaman Queen? Why didn't she tell me?'
Yoh starts noticing something around the Great Spirits. A big blue dragon appeared surround the spirits. With was even bigger that the Great Spirits. The dragon starts looking to Amat and Hao and then to Horo-Horo.
"If Len's right, then that spirit belongs to Amat…" Yoh thought. "That spirit is huge…"
The dragon continued still, just still… as if he was waiting something…
……………………………………………………………………………………
So… Amat's the Shaman Queen and she held a big spirit…
Why does Hao want her? And Horo-Horo? Does she really love him?
Stay tuned for the next chapter "The Shaman Queen's wish"