As it turned out, it was not easy to fall asleep while under the effects of adrenaline, stress, and fear. Try as she might to keep her eyelids relaxed and her breathing steady, she couldn't help but hear the nervous shuffling of her friends as they watched her. As soon as she was asleep, assuming she even went into her dream world, she'd have to face that monstrosity again. She had been brave enough suggesting the plan, but she didn't know if she could really do it. It petrified her with fear. Would she even be able to move?

It seemed like hours went by with her just lying on the cold ground, trying her best not to tremble too much. Eventually, however, she snapped to, suddenly standing and surrounded by the firefly lights.

It worked!

Then she remembered what was ahead of her. That decreased her excitement significantly.

Now came the challenging part (well, one of the challenging parts): she had to indicate to the others that she was there. Her best hope was Masako, who could frequently sense and even see spirits, but as she stood over the young medium, there was no reaction.

"I think she's asleep," Monk said, and Mai gave a sigh of exasperation.

Masako's supposed to be one of the world's greatest mediums and she can't even tell there's a spirit staring her in the face?

"No sign yet," Ayako muttered, glancing around nervously, as though expecting Mai to jump at her and shout "Boo" at any moment.

"Give her a couple of minutes," Lin responded with a twinge of annoyance. "She could have trouble with this step. Let her figure it out."

Mai felt an unexpected rush of warmth towards Lin, and resolved to force hot tea upon him later.

She glanced around, observing her surroundings and trying to ignore the spirit beast, which was prowling the corridor directly above them. Everyone was wide awake, and most of them were staring at her sleeping form, which made her very uncomfortable.

What could she do to make them realize she was there? It was possible her spirit was too weak for Masako to sense, or maybe she just couldn't sense mere astral projections. In that case, it came down to Mai moving something.

...How do I do that, exactly?

She tried to remember how it had felt when she gave Masako the key, but all she could think was that, at the time, she never expected there to be a physical exchange. How was she supposed to do this intentionally? After all, it defied logic. If she couldn't make herself believe that it would happen, how could it ever work?

She tried everything she could think of. She attempted to move some of the papers and materials by Lin; she tried to make a noise by knocking on the window, as she had seen spirits creepily do before; she tried to tip over Ayako's cup of water. She even tried to punch Naru's narcissistic face, but it was futile; nothing moved an inch.

She felt a weight in her pocket that she'd almost forgotten about, and took it out; it was the little pebble, the one that Naru had given back to her the previous night. She stared at it for a solid two seconds, frustration welling up within her. Naru and all of the others were so competent and so good at protecting each other. They each had unique skills or talents, and although they'd told her a dozen times that she was no different, she knew that they were wrong. Just because she naturally had latent psychic abilities didn't make her useful, because she was evidently too stupid to use them correctly, and too stupid to help her friends. The more she looked at the pebble, the more she saw Naru's rare little smile in her mind's eye, and the more angry she became with herself. Honestly, how silly was it that she'd trip up the entire case with something this simple when they were counting on her?

Fit to burst with frustration, she flung the pebble as hard as she could in a random direction.

There was an abrupt, startled squeak of confusion and distress. Mai realized that the sound had come from John, who was rubbing his head and looking very perplexed indeed.

"What happened?" Ayako asked, and Monk rushed over to check the new bump on John's head. Naru, who had been the only one other than Masako not to rise at John's yell, got up calmly and bent over. When he straightened up, he silently showed the little rock to the others, none of whom could seem to understand how exactly John had been assaulted by a pebble.

Mai's brain seemed to have frozen completely. Had she...had she really just accidentally attacked John? Should she laugh and be happy that it had worked, or apologize and be worried for John? She couldn't contain a little bit of a giggle at the look on John's face, though, especially when she replayed the little noise he'd made in her head.

"What the hell?" Monk snapped, releasing John from his inspection. "Naru, did you throw that?"

"Did it look like I threw that?" Naru asked coldly. "It's pretty obviously Mai. It's exactly her style, after all."

My style? What does that mean, exactly? She felt rather offended. Her style was attacking people with rocks?

"Mai," Naru said to the room at large, "assuming you're still here, remember that Lin's shiki will let you back into the room at any time. Immediately return to your body if things go badly. That is a direct order from your employer.

"We'll be heading for the cellar, which is in the corner of the house nearest to our current location. You'll have to lead the spirit as far away from here as possible. There are stairs connected the upper and lower floors in loops, including the attic, on the opposite side of the house, so if you can keep it entertained there, you'll have plenty of room to run around. Masako should be able to sense the spirit leaving when it starts to chase you, so we'll be fine.

"Once we obtain whatever object it is that is hidden the cellar, we'll bring it back here. We are going to wait until tomorrow morning to attempt to draw the spirit outside, as it will be easier for Ayako to purify it then. The timing will be close, as you will need to get back in here before Lin replaces the shiki with barriers. As soon as we see you return to your body, we'll put up the barriers again, since the shiki likely can't hold the spirit back indefinitely."

There was a very long, very poignant pause.

"If we get back in here and the thing is attacking us actively, and we don't know where you are, we may have to seal the room."

Mai shivered at the sudden darkness in his already serious tone; it forced her to take in the reality of the situation.

That's right, she thought suddenly. I'm not the only one whose life is at stake here. If I get stuck somewhere, or something happens, they can't just let the thing walk in.

It made her feel an odd sense of calm, knowing that if she got held up, they wouldn't let it put them in danger for too long. It was a definite possibility that she might have to hide somewhere if it backed her into a corner, or that it might chase her outside and bar her from returning.

"Well, Mai?"

Masako's voice surprised her for a moment.

"Are you going? I can tell the beast isn't moving, you know. You'd better get going while it's still nice and dark, don't you think?"

Monk gave Masako a glare for her tone, but also addressed thin air. "Good luck, Mai. You've got this."

Mai nodded, although no one could see her. Before her resolve could weaken any further, she took a deep breath and practically jumped through the wall, raising her voice as loudly as she could.

"HEY, SPIRIT ASSHOLE! YOU WANT SOME?"

She regretted her choice of words as it gave an earth-shattering shriek above her and plummeted through the ceiling directly behind her, nearly knocking her off her feet with the shockwave it created. As she sprinted away from it, not daring to look back, the adrenaline rushing through her body washed out all the fear and replaced it with pure, unbridled energy.

It was coming after her so fast, however, that she could feel its rotten energy slowly encasing her. She pushed herself even harder, flying up the stairs and turning so quickly that she almost slid into the wall. The thing gave yet another broken shriek, but following Mai up the stairs had clearly slowed it down a little bit; it seemed to prefer to just go through the walls or ceilings. She took advantage of the small head start and put on another burst of speed, pulling ahead of it. Looking back at it, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Naru, Lin, Monk, Masako, and John had already reached the cellar door. She snapped her head back forward; she had thought before that the spirit was intelligent, and she didn't want it following her gaze.

The next corner she turned led her to a dead end. She was going so fast that she actually did hit the wall this time, falling ungracefully onto her back. The thing advanced more slowly, and she could hear it making a sickly whining sound. Her breath was coming in short, painful spurts; her brain seemed to be frozen.

She shook her head. Now was no time to lose her will. She stood firmly and readied herself momentarily, just as she had the last time she'd encountered this monster.

"Rin! Pyo! To! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"

Another scream rang in the air as it reeled, contorting and warping. Mai took the opportunity to run past it, shuddering as she passed a little too close to its aura. It made her feel so woozy that she nearly fell to her knees, but she managed to keep going.

Not wanting to let it face directly toward the cellar, Mai turned farther away from it, toward the opposite corner of the house. She didn't know what she'd do once there, but she'd just have to figure it out then. It had already recovered and was chasing after her again.

She'd barely made it around the next corner when it hit her hard from behind; an explosion of pain across her back shocked her, and she flew all the way to the end of the hall, slamming her head against the wall sickeningly. There was an unpleasant cracking sound upon contact.

Maybe it was because it was impossible to black out while she was already asleep, but she managed to keep her wits about her; when she lifted her head again, the world spinning dizzily, it was looming right over her, blacker than black and smelling of roses. No-decaying roses.

She only got to the second of the nine cuts before it hissed and struck at her again; she blocked its blow with her arm, which caused her such pain that she couldn't help but scream. She could tell instantly that, in the dream world at least, it had shattered at least one of the bones in her forearm, which was now oozing a substance that looked a lot like blood other than its charcoal color.

Maybe it was playing with her or maybe it was still wary of her; either way, it backed off ever so slightly. Through her haze of pain, Mai somehow forced herself to sit up straight and use her hands to form the seal of the Immovable One, which was a real struggle with her left arm barely able to move at all and throbbing excruciatingly. She began to chant as Monk had taught her, hoping that this would be at least a little bit effective; after all, she was backed into a corner that she didn't foresee getting out of unless the thing were weakened pretty significantly. Unable to look at the horror in front of her anymore, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

"Nau-Maku-San-Manda-Bazara-Dankan...Nau-Maku-San-Manda-Bazara-Dankan..."

When she had gained enough courage to force open her eyes again, she breathed a stuttering sigh of relief; the thing had not moved a single inch from where it was, clearly struggling. Still chanting but glancing behind the spirit to check on her friends, she saw that they had opened some sort of secret door to a tiny crawlspace in the cellar; it was hard to tell from this distance, but she thought she saw Naru reach inside and pick something up.

The second he touched whatever was inside, the spirit thing gave a high-pitched screech and began writhing; it almost seemed to be in pain, but Mai couldn't understand why. Abandoning her completely, the thing spun about and headed towards her friends, still screaming as it went.

Mai cursed to herself as she followed it, still half-blinded by the white pain from her back and arm. At the speed it was going, it would reach the others before she did and attack them-she performed the nine cuts again as quickly as she could, but the thing barely staggered this time-

She forced herself to go faster, faster-but it wouldn't be enough-

She was still quite a bit behind when it reached them.

It hit Lin, who was carrying a large sack, first; the tall man's body crumpled instantly as his spirit was forced out of it. Dismayed, Mai saw him blinking and shaking his head in confusion.

She made her legs keep working. Too slow.

The beast didn't bother to stop and attack his spirit, clearly only interested in disabling the physical bodies of those who had taken its treasure. The shikigami that were not currently guarding the base launched themselves at the thing in a flash of light, but it cleanly dodged them, this time attacking Naru, who was bent over his bodyguard.

Naru's spirit was thrown so far back that Mai was able to catch him; surprisingly heavy, he hit Mai's injured arm with such force that she whimpered and fell back, landing hard on her already sore back. Naru adjusted quickly to the situation, turning to check on Mai.

"Are you okay?"

Mai could only stare past him and at her remaining friends, who seemed to be unable to decide whether to grab the sack and keep moving forward or stop and grab the sleeping bodies of Naru and Lin. The two shiki, which had already failed to apprehend the thing once, danced around at a blinding speed, managing to ward it away from John, Masako, and Monk; it was obvious, however, that they were weakening every time they took a blow. John had begun to recite his verses, which caused the thing to back away a bit, but it didn't stop.

"Mai!"

Naru's intense voice and piercing eyes demanded her attention, and she shook her head, frustrated. "I couldn't keep its attention-as soon as you all touched whatever's in that sack, it forgot all about me-I-" She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at him. "I'm so sorry-"

"Now's not the time for that," Naru said harshly, and Mai felt as though she had been stung. The words served their purpose, however, dragging her focus away from her failure and back to the situation at hand. "So that's the spirit? The smell-it's stronger this way, isn't it?" He furrowed his brow. "It makes a bit more sense now. What do we do, Mai?"

She was unable to process it for a moment. Capable, arrogant Naru was asking Mai what they should do? Was this a practical joke?

Naru's tone became gentler, albeit still urgent. "Mai, I need you to focus."

Mai looked around, taking in the situation. Lin was still crouching near his body, giving orders to his shikigami, which were beginning to struggle in earnest; as she watched, the wildly thrashing spirit beast struck Lin's shoulder, and the man clenched his teeth in pain.

"We need to get you and Lin back to your bodies," Mai said hurriedly, painfully standing. Naru followed her lead, and the two rushed forward, not stopping when the thing screamed again above their heads.

"Get back, Naru," ordered Lin, also rising to his feet and clutching his shoulder.

Ignoring him, Naru and Mai grabbed an arm each and essentially threw Lin's spirit back into his body; the man blinked awake, his eyes widening in alarm at the sight of Naru still lying unconscious beside him.

Noticing one of its victims recovering, the thing made a horrible choking sound and careened toward Naru and Mai. The shiki, still weak and intent on protecting the others, did not follow it.

Naru moved to shield Mai with his own body, but as the beast raced closer and closer, she acted without thinking; she gave her friend a push, screaming, "Go!" She barely had time to register the shock on Naru's face before his spirit was forcefully reunited with his body, and he coughed, regaining consciousness in Lin's protective arms.

Just as he woke up, the thing slammed into Mai at full speed; incapable of holding it in, she let out a cry as she was thrown backward. Judging by Naru's shout, she guessed that he'd probably heard her pained sound in his last instant in the astral plane, but she willed him to realize that the only course of action they had was to make it back to the base, where she could follow them. Even as she thought it, however, the menacing cloud of pressed down on her chest, smothering her. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't think-she felt some of her ribs crack-pain consumed her, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the others had made it back to the base-

Mai didn't even attempt the nine cuts or the Mantra of the Immovable One. It would be completely and utterly pointless at this point, while she was struggling not to let her spirit fade away. She couldn't tell anymore whether it hurt or whether it was numb. It had begun to just feel very hot and very cold at the same time.

At least I did something useful this time around.

Suddenly, the terrible weight on her chest lifted; in a daze, Mai realized that the thing had staggered back, its form shifting and quivering as if it were ill. She was confused for only a couple of moments before she saw the usual warm glow, accompanied by the familiar gentle smile.

"Hurry," Gene whispered, and she didn't hesitate; she bolted past it, Gene close behind. The thing still hadn't even regained its shape when Mai threw herself past the shikigami and through the wall, barely even registering her discomfort anymore. She saw Gene give her a slight nod and disappear through the wall to the outside.

"Thank you," she panted, but he was already gone.

The thing gave a shriek and started towards them again, and Mai, remembering the final part of her job, settled into her body. The second she came to, she shot upright and gasped, "It's coming. Close it out."

Since the seals were all ready to go, it took only a couple of seconds for Ayako and Lin to slap them on the wall. Outside, the thing was desperately throwing its form against the wall, but it couldn't break through the barrier; Monk was reinforcing the protection, too, and it gave off a gentle golden glow.

There was a collective sigh of relief as everyone realized that all of them had made it back safely. Ayako was already tending to Lin's shoulder, and Monk and John hurried over to inspect Mai. Surprisingly, Naru followed them, looking to be in an even worse mood than usual again.

As Monk touched her, Mai let out an involuntary yelp; the pain that she'd experienced during her period of astral projection remained, although she felt now that she could move her injured arm freely. It felt somewhat like she'd been run over by a moderately sized truck.

"I'll be as gentle as I can, but I need you to hold still," Monk said soothingly, and inspected her forearm, chest, and back. All three of them were covered in blotchy bruises and radiated heat, and all of them hurt so badly that Mai couldn't think clearly, but there seemed to be no broken bones or other serious injuries.

"You should lie down," advised John. "You're really pale, Mai."

Nodding blankly, Mai allowed Monk to gently lower her onto the floor. Her head was propped up by Monk's jacket, and her body kept warm by John's. Monk tiredly sat down beside her, no doubt beginning to feel the draining effects of the barrier he was maintaining, and Naru sat on her other side, looking rather sulky.

"You're an idiot," he informed her.

Mai didn't have enough energy to argue with him. Besides, he was probably just angry that she'd behaved so rashly.

"You don't know how to be careful, do you?" Naru continued, refusing to look directly at her. "You were even more stupid than you usually are. I should fire you."

That ticked off Mai enough that she felt just enough of her energy and focus return to glare at him. "That's not-fair, Naru-" She gained strength with every word as her rage accumulated. "I made it back-right? Don't-" She sat back up abruptly, making herself dizzy, and pointed a finger directly into his face. "-call me stupid."

In the second before a worried Monk mothered her into lying down again, she could have sworn she saw Naru's lip twitch a little. Then again, she was pretty out of it, so there was no telling whether she was just imagining things.