Disclaimer: I own no part of Love Hina, but Sean is me.
And now for a change of pace...
* * * Chapter XXVI: Day of Darkness * * *
Alicia walked through a forest out in the middle of nowhere. "How much longer will this trip take?" She muttered to herself. She was wearing a light blue cloak and robe combo that made her look more like the daughter of Merlin from King Arthur's Court than anything else.
She couldn't even remember how long or how far she had been traveling. All she knew was that she was searching for some secluded locale and that she had been alone the whole time. She didn't know why she was alone; she just was, and she had to deal with it. The only thing that comforted her was the fact that once she got to whatever it was she was supposed to get to, she could find her way home again to be with her friends.
The whole trip began when some stranger came out of nowhere and handed her a map leading to some place she had never heard of, nor could she pronounce. The only thing he said when he did this was that when she got to where the map led to, something of great importance would be revealed to her. He left as mysteriously as he came, accompanied by a laugh that sent a chill down Alicia's spine.
"If this… whatever it is is so important, why couldn't it have sought me out instead of the other way around? It would have saved me a whole lot of effort." The trail she had followed for days and days now had been riddled with obstacles that would have made most people give up by now if they had survived them, but Alicia was quite stubborn, and she wouldn't let anything get in her way.
She looked at the map for what seemed like the millionth time. "Where the hell is this thing? According to this stupid map, I should be there by--" Her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a clearing in the distance. "Finally." She rolled the map up, put it away and broke out in a run. When she passed the tree line, she could only stare in wonder and a bit of fear at what she saw.
In front of her was a temple that looked like it had been deserted for millennia, which actually relived her, since she was terrified at what might have actually lived there. The décor on the building itself and the surrounding grounds were nothing less than creepy. Carvings of what could only have been referred to as demons were everywhere. Seeing this made Alicia really wish Motoko could have gone with her, but it was too late for that now. She wasn't about to turn back now, even though she was beginning to fear for her life and then some.
Nervously, she traversed the grounds, looking around for anything that might come out and attack, but there was nothing there, which only made her more jittery. "Oh, come on," she told herself, trying to be reassuring. "There's nothing here. I'll just go in, find out what I need to and get the hell out of here!" She finally reached the front door and gently pushed against it, opening it with a loud, grating sound that made her cover her ears. When the noise mercifully ended, she looked inside to a startling sight.
Inside, the temple was well lit and well kept. Apparently, whatever lived here still did, despite the outward appearance. Cautiously, she walked across the polished marble floor toward the back wall, where a rather large statue of some demon-thing stood, claws displayed as though ready to rip apart anything that crossed its line of sight. As she got closer, she saw an intricate symbol on the floor about fifteen feet in front of the statue. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped on the symbol. As soon as she did, a red light appeared from above her, directed right at her. When she looked up to find where it came from, she was horrified to find that it came from an eye of the demon statue in front of her. She wanted to run away and leave the place far behind her, but she couldn't find the strength to at that particular moment.
While she was contemplating what exactly to do from there, a chuckle could be heard from all directions, even though it was only one voice. "W-What are you?" she asked nervously.
"That is of no concern to you right now," the voice said. It sounded like something from the bowels of the earth. "What is your concern is what is going to happen to you."
"What?!" Alicia began to tremble.
"You have no idea, do you?"
"N-No."
The voice laughed again. "Then I guess I'll just go out and tell you. At the stroke of midnight, the world as you know it will be plunged into darkness."
"Is there anything I can do to prevent this?"
"Nothing," it responded with another spine-tingling laugh. "There is nothing you can do." Much to Alicia's shock, the statue before her began to move.
As the now living statue slowly made its way closer, Alicia's knees suddenly became too weak to support her. "No," she whispered, unable to believe what was happening. She lowered her head to the floor, her eyes shut tight. She had a pretty good idea as to what was about to happen, and she didn't want to witness it. The sound of heavy footsteps came closer and closer until it was about a foot in front of her. The silence she heard next lasted much longer than it should have. Against her better judgment, she lifted her head a bit and slowly opened her eyes. The demon was standing right in front of her. The smile on its face was as far from friendly as one could ever get. With a chuckle, it reached down for her with its clawed hand.
---
"Sean, wake up!!" Shinobu yelled.
--- Saturday, 10/20 8:21 AM
Sean had been squirming in bed and muttering something about demons or some such thing for some time now. Desperate to wake him up, Shinobu started to violently shake him. When she did, he started to whimper as though he was nearing death's door. "Sean, please!!" Yelling had not done anything so far, so she didn't know why she thought it would work then.
Finally running out of options, she decided to slap some sense into him. When her hand made contact with Sean's face, he woke up with a scream that could have woken up the dead, his eyes wide in terror.
"Sean, what just happened?!" Shinobu asked, frantic to find out what was troubling her boyfriend like that.
It took Sean a few moments to realize the fact that he was in his room instead of an evil temple, and that the thing that was grabbing him wasn't a horrible demon, but a teary-eyed Shinobu. As soon as he recognized her, he immediately grabbed her and brought her close to him. "Oh, thank God," he said in barely a whisper.
"What's happened?!" Naru asked, bursting into his room. "I heard someone screaming in here!"
"I just had a bad dream, that's all," Sean said.
"You want to talk about it?"
That reminded him of the message said to him in his dream; 'At the stroke of midnight, the world as you know it will be plunged into darkness.'
"I'd rather not," he finally said.
"Why not?" Shinobu asked, baking off a bit to look him in the eye.
"I just don't, alright?!" he immediately regretted using that tone of voice. "Sorry," he added when he saw Shinobu's worried expression. "it was a bit unnerving."
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Sean said, getting up. "Excuse me; there's something I have to go do." He walked toward Naru, who was standing in the doorway, blocking his path. "Uh, Naru?"
"Oh, sorry," she said, stepping out of the way.
"Thank you," he said without emotion as he walked out.
"Sean, wait!" Shinobu said, following him out, but when she entered the hallway, she found it to be completely deserted, which only renewed her worry. "That dream did something to him, I just know it," she thought.
---
Sean suddenly appeared out on the roof. He made his way to a corner of the platform, took a seat and began to sort things out in his mind. From past experience, he knew that any of the girls could show up at any time, so he made an extra effort to keep his thoughts in his head.
"That was certainly a strange dream," he thought. "And the message that… thing gave me makes me think it was more than just an ordinary dream. Something bad's going to happen tonight, I just know it. Even though it said there was nothing I could do to stop it, I can't just give up. There's gotta be something I can do to stop this whole darkness thing from happening; there just has to be…"
--- 8:44 AM
Kitsune looked around Hinata House in search of their missing landlord, at Shinobu's request. In fact, after Sean's vanishing act, she pleaded to everyone for help, saying that there was something seriously wrong with him and that she needed to get to the bottom of it. "Man," she said to herself. "this whole nightmare thing has gotten Shinobu weirded out. I don't know why she's so worried, though. I mean, everyone has bad dreams every so often. Hell, even I've had some in my time." That reminded her of a certain dream she's had a couple times in recent days, featuring what both she and Sean have collectively dubbed "The Treatment," something she would rather not experience again, not even in her dreams. Considering what happened, she figured Sean felt the same way.
Her semi-focused wanderings led her to the roof, where she spied her target sitting in the far corner in a somewhat meditative way. He looked to be in deep thought. "Hmm," she thought. "Maybe it did affect him after all. Only one way to find out." She approached him slowly and carefully so as not so startle him. "Hi, Sean."
Sean opened an eye to find the fox walking towards him. "Kitsune," he said, then closed the eye again.
Kitsune was surprised by the way he responded; he had barely acknowledged her even being there. Usually, he would at least try to sound friendly, but this time around, it seemed that pleasantries had taken a back seat to the more pressing matters he had going on in his head. "Good to see you too, Mr. Sunshine," she said with a bit of a smirk. "What are you thinking about?"
This time, Sean opened both eyes and gave her a mean look. "Nothing that concerns you." He knew it wasn't right to speak that way to her, but he had to keep the others from getting involved in any way possible, and if that meant telling them off, then so be it.
"Hey," Kitsune said, irritation rising in her voice. "it wasn't my idea to come looking for you. It was your girlfriend's idea. She's worried sick about you right now, you know?"
"Yes, I know."
"Then why don't you have a talk with her or something?"
"Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in a very hospitable mood right now, and I think talking to her might only make things worse, so if that's all you came here for, then it was a complete waste of both your time and mine, so you should just go about your business as though this conversation never happened."
"Well," Kitsune thought. "I guess Shinobu was right. That dream must have done something do him, and I'm going to find out what it is if it's the last thing I do."
"Sean," she said, "we both don't want to see Shinobu as worried as she is right now, so I think you should just come clean and tell me what's going on in that head of yours!"
"What goes through this mind is my business and mine alone, and suggest you mind yours or else I have two words for you."
"And what would those be?"
"The Treatment."
Kitsune was shocked that he would even consider doing that again. "You wouldn't do something like that, would you?"
"Try me."
"Uh," Nervousness appeared in her voice full force. "I think I hear someone calling me, so I guess I'll see you later, huh?"
"Good," Sean said before closing his eyes.
"Oh God," Kitsune thought as she made her way to the door. "This is more serious than I could have ever imagined. I've got to tell the others about this." As she opened the door, she took one last look at Sean had been moments before and saw only empty space. "Hey, where'd he go?"
---
"I should have known better," Sean thought, mentally kicking himself when he appeared in his new hiding place. "Going to the roof was such an obvious choice, no wonder Kitsune found me so quickly, but I doubt anyone would ever think of looking for me here."
--- (10 minutes later…)
"I wonder why she called us all in here?" Keitaro asked. Everyone had gathered in the living room by Kitsune, saying she had something very important to say to them.
"Maybe she found Sean," Shinobu said hopefully.
Kitsune sat on the couch, a look of concern on her face. "I'm glad you all could come on such short notice. There's something I must address. It's about Sean."
"You found him?!" Shinobu asked.
"Yes, but that's not entirely why I called you here. He has gotten quite an attitude today. When I asked him what he thinking about, he talked to me like he never has before; like he was really pissed at me for disturbing him. He refused to tell me anything except that it was none of my business and that it didn't concern me. Also, there was something else he did."
"What's that?" Naru asked.
"He threatened to give me The Treatment if I pressed the issue any farther."
"Whoa," Motoko said. "This is serious. Something's going on that he doesn't want us to know about."
"I knew it!" Shinobu said. "Tell me where he is, I'll go talk to him myself."
"I don't know. After our little exchange, he vanished. Besides, he knows how you feel right now and he felt that if he talked to you, it might just make things worse. I think it would be best if we all just left him alone for now and let him sort things out on his own."
"But I'm so worried about him," Shinobu said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I know, but sometimes, a guy just has to have his space, you know? Just give it time; I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I hope so," Shinobu said.
---
The day wore on at a snail's pace for everyone in Hinata House. After an hour of searching, they gave up trying to find Sean; it seemed as though he just fell of the face of the planet. Conversations could not be maintained for very long, and the thoughts of everyone kept turning to their landlord. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Sean, either. He knew well enough how the others felt, considering the place he chose for his hiding place.
"I'm sorry," he thought. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but I have to think of some way to keep my life as it is. I'm no even sure this is even going to happen, but I can't take any chances. I have to do this, and I have to go it alone; I can't--no, I won't drag anyone else into this."
--- 11:44 PM
Night had fallen and most of the residents reluctantly got ready for bed. The only one left awake was Sean, still hiding in his hiding place, and both Naru and Keitaro, who were pulling another of their marathon study sessions.
"Where do you think Sean is right now?" Keitaro asked after a while.
"I don't know," Naru responded. "I starting to think he ran off somewhere without telling us again."
"But if something's bothering him as much as Kitsune said, why wouldn't he tell us about it?"
"That's the thing about Sean. He doesn't want us to worry about his problems, thinking he can solve them on his own. I don't blame him, considering how many of our problems he's helped solve in his time here."
"I know, but still, it wouldn't hurt to just tell even one of us about it, you know?"
"That's your opinion."
"Well, sure, but--What?!" Keitaro knew right away that that last remark did not come from Naru. "Where did that come from?!"
"I don't know," Naru said, also wondering where the new, yet familiar voice came from. As both of them looked around, something appeared from beneath the kotatsu they were sitting at. When Naru set eyes on it, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Sean?!"
"Yeah?" the now 2-inch tall Sean said. His voice was quite faint, mostly due to his size.
"Were you under there all day?!" Sean nodded. "Why?"
"Nobody would ever think of looking for me there."
"Good point."
"Well, now that you've been found out, why not tell us what's going on?" Keitaro suggested.
"I don't want you to get involved. Besides, I was planning on leaving pretty soon anyway; it gets really hot and stuffy under there, you know?"
"Now, hold on," Naru said as she reached out for him. "Don't you care that you've made us all worried sick about you?"
"Of course I care. It's just that if I told you about this, you might be even more worried."
That stopped Naru's hand inches from Sean's small frame. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm sorry; I've said too much already." Sean then disappeared without a trace.
"Oh man," Keitaro muttered. "I hope he going to be alright."
---
"Damn it," Sean said to himself as he reappeared at the hot spring, full-size. "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. Now I've got Naru and Keitaro even more worried about me. I hope everything goes alright tonight so I can get things back to normal." He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the water. He knew a bath was the thing he needed the most at that time, since he had been sweating buckets while sitting underneath Naru's kotatsu for most of the day. "Note to self: Next time I have to hide from them, find a place not so warm and with better ventilation." He allowed himself a chuckle at that.
"I guess I have no other option," He continued, his serious expression returning. "After all the time I spent thinking, there's only one thing I came up with that even has a slight chance of working." He lowered his head as he realized the dreadful truth. "I have to fight this thing." After his confrontation with Shonoko three months ago, he made a mental vow that he would never use his magic to cause physical injury ever again, but he knew full well that if he was to stand a chance against what he saw in his dream, compromises would have to be made.
"I just hope," he sighed, "that if I can't stop it, that it will be merciful to the others." Of course, he kind of figured that mercy was not exactly a big part of the demon vocabulary.
"No, I can't think like that. I have to beat this, I just have to. Failure isn't an option for me right now." He spent the next few minutes mentally preparing himself for what would probably end up being the fight of his life.
--- 11:56 PM
Motoko's eyes shot open. She was shaken from her slumber by sensing a strong presence. "No, it can't be," she said as she sat up in bed. She knew that ki wavelength all too well. It was that of Sean, and it was getting stronger and stronger with every passing second. Quickly, she got out of bed and went to where her senses led her. When she made it to the roof, she found him in deep meditation. "He never uses this much energy at once," she thought. "what could he be preparing for?" Her thoughts were broken up when she saw him stand up. The next thing she would hear would chill her blood.
"Alright, I think I'm ready," he said, looking at his watch. "It's time." He started looking around, as though expecting something to happen. After a few moments of silence, he began to get irritated. "Come on! I know you're out there somewhere! Now face me, you coward!!" He knew that taunting a being from the nether regions of the earth wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Motoko was scared stiff. "Who is he talking to?!" she thought. "What could get him so upset that he would use his magic on offense?"
After a few more moments of silence, Sean noticed something strange begin to happen. His eyes grew wide as light blue steam started coming off him. "What the hell?!" As more and more steam appeared, he could feel himself getting weaker. "No, this can't be…" he said just above a whisper as his legs gave out from under him. "FIGHT ME FACE TO FACE, YOU BASTARD!!"
Motoko grew more and more concerned as she felt Sean's power getting weaker and weaker until it almost vanished completely.
"Damn it," Sean muttered as his vision began to fade. "It was right, there's nothing I could do to stop this. My life is plunging into darkness, just like it said. If only there was something… anything…" That was the last thing he would say before he was totally consumed.
Motoko gasped as she saw Sean collapse right before her eyes, but what she saw was nothing compared to what she sensed; or rather, what she didn't sense. His ki wavelength had vanished completely.
* * * End of Chapter XXVI * * *
Please R&R. See you next time.
And now for a change of pace...
* * * Chapter XXVI: Day of Darkness * * *
Alicia walked through a forest out in the middle of nowhere. "How much longer will this trip take?" She muttered to herself. She was wearing a light blue cloak and robe combo that made her look more like the daughter of Merlin from King Arthur's Court than anything else.
She couldn't even remember how long or how far she had been traveling. All she knew was that she was searching for some secluded locale and that she had been alone the whole time. She didn't know why she was alone; she just was, and she had to deal with it. The only thing that comforted her was the fact that once she got to whatever it was she was supposed to get to, she could find her way home again to be with her friends.
The whole trip began when some stranger came out of nowhere and handed her a map leading to some place she had never heard of, nor could she pronounce. The only thing he said when he did this was that when she got to where the map led to, something of great importance would be revealed to her. He left as mysteriously as he came, accompanied by a laugh that sent a chill down Alicia's spine.
"If this… whatever it is is so important, why couldn't it have sought me out instead of the other way around? It would have saved me a whole lot of effort." The trail she had followed for days and days now had been riddled with obstacles that would have made most people give up by now if they had survived them, but Alicia was quite stubborn, and she wouldn't let anything get in her way.
She looked at the map for what seemed like the millionth time. "Where the hell is this thing? According to this stupid map, I should be there by--" Her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a clearing in the distance. "Finally." She rolled the map up, put it away and broke out in a run. When she passed the tree line, she could only stare in wonder and a bit of fear at what she saw.
In front of her was a temple that looked like it had been deserted for millennia, which actually relived her, since she was terrified at what might have actually lived there. The décor on the building itself and the surrounding grounds were nothing less than creepy. Carvings of what could only have been referred to as demons were everywhere. Seeing this made Alicia really wish Motoko could have gone with her, but it was too late for that now. She wasn't about to turn back now, even though she was beginning to fear for her life and then some.
Nervously, she traversed the grounds, looking around for anything that might come out and attack, but there was nothing there, which only made her more jittery. "Oh, come on," she told herself, trying to be reassuring. "There's nothing here. I'll just go in, find out what I need to and get the hell out of here!" She finally reached the front door and gently pushed against it, opening it with a loud, grating sound that made her cover her ears. When the noise mercifully ended, she looked inside to a startling sight.
Inside, the temple was well lit and well kept. Apparently, whatever lived here still did, despite the outward appearance. Cautiously, she walked across the polished marble floor toward the back wall, where a rather large statue of some demon-thing stood, claws displayed as though ready to rip apart anything that crossed its line of sight. As she got closer, she saw an intricate symbol on the floor about fifteen feet in front of the statue. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped on the symbol. As soon as she did, a red light appeared from above her, directed right at her. When she looked up to find where it came from, she was horrified to find that it came from an eye of the demon statue in front of her. She wanted to run away and leave the place far behind her, but she couldn't find the strength to at that particular moment.
While she was contemplating what exactly to do from there, a chuckle could be heard from all directions, even though it was only one voice. "W-What are you?" she asked nervously.
"That is of no concern to you right now," the voice said. It sounded like something from the bowels of the earth. "What is your concern is what is going to happen to you."
"What?!" Alicia began to tremble.
"You have no idea, do you?"
"N-No."
The voice laughed again. "Then I guess I'll just go out and tell you. At the stroke of midnight, the world as you know it will be plunged into darkness."
"Is there anything I can do to prevent this?"
"Nothing," it responded with another spine-tingling laugh. "There is nothing you can do." Much to Alicia's shock, the statue before her began to move.
As the now living statue slowly made its way closer, Alicia's knees suddenly became too weak to support her. "No," she whispered, unable to believe what was happening. She lowered her head to the floor, her eyes shut tight. She had a pretty good idea as to what was about to happen, and she didn't want to witness it. The sound of heavy footsteps came closer and closer until it was about a foot in front of her. The silence she heard next lasted much longer than it should have. Against her better judgment, she lifted her head a bit and slowly opened her eyes. The demon was standing right in front of her. The smile on its face was as far from friendly as one could ever get. With a chuckle, it reached down for her with its clawed hand.
---
"Sean, wake up!!" Shinobu yelled.
--- Saturday, 10/20 8:21 AM
Sean had been squirming in bed and muttering something about demons or some such thing for some time now. Desperate to wake him up, Shinobu started to violently shake him. When she did, he started to whimper as though he was nearing death's door. "Sean, please!!" Yelling had not done anything so far, so she didn't know why she thought it would work then.
Finally running out of options, she decided to slap some sense into him. When her hand made contact with Sean's face, he woke up with a scream that could have woken up the dead, his eyes wide in terror.
"Sean, what just happened?!" Shinobu asked, frantic to find out what was troubling her boyfriend like that.
It took Sean a few moments to realize the fact that he was in his room instead of an evil temple, and that the thing that was grabbing him wasn't a horrible demon, but a teary-eyed Shinobu. As soon as he recognized her, he immediately grabbed her and brought her close to him. "Oh, thank God," he said in barely a whisper.
"What's happened?!" Naru asked, bursting into his room. "I heard someone screaming in here!"
"I just had a bad dream, that's all," Sean said.
"You want to talk about it?"
That reminded him of the message said to him in his dream; 'At the stroke of midnight, the world as you know it will be plunged into darkness.'
"I'd rather not," he finally said.
"Why not?" Shinobu asked, baking off a bit to look him in the eye.
"I just don't, alright?!" he immediately regretted using that tone of voice. "Sorry," he added when he saw Shinobu's worried expression. "it was a bit unnerving."
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Sean said, getting up. "Excuse me; there's something I have to go do." He walked toward Naru, who was standing in the doorway, blocking his path. "Uh, Naru?"
"Oh, sorry," she said, stepping out of the way.
"Thank you," he said without emotion as he walked out.
"Sean, wait!" Shinobu said, following him out, but when she entered the hallway, she found it to be completely deserted, which only renewed her worry. "That dream did something to him, I just know it," she thought.
---
Sean suddenly appeared out on the roof. He made his way to a corner of the platform, took a seat and began to sort things out in his mind. From past experience, he knew that any of the girls could show up at any time, so he made an extra effort to keep his thoughts in his head.
"That was certainly a strange dream," he thought. "And the message that… thing gave me makes me think it was more than just an ordinary dream. Something bad's going to happen tonight, I just know it. Even though it said there was nothing I could do to stop it, I can't just give up. There's gotta be something I can do to stop this whole darkness thing from happening; there just has to be…"
--- 8:44 AM
Kitsune looked around Hinata House in search of their missing landlord, at Shinobu's request. In fact, after Sean's vanishing act, she pleaded to everyone for help, saying that there was something seriously wrong with him and that she needed to get to the bottom of it. "Man," she said to herself. "this whole nightmare thing has gotten Shinobu weirded out. I don't know why she's so worried, though. I mean, everyone has bad dreams every so often. Hell, even I've had some in my time." That reminded her of a certain dream she's had a couple times in recent days, featuring what both she and Sean have collectively dubbed "The Treatment," something she would rather not experience again, not even in her dreams. Considering what happened, she figured Sean felt the same way.
Her semi-focused wanderings led her to the roof, where she spied her target sitting in the far corner in a somewhat meditative way. He looked to be in deep thought. "Hmm," she thought. "Maybe it did affect him after all. Only one way to find out." She approached him slowly and carefully so as not so startle him. "Hi, Sean."
Sean opened an eye to find the fox walking towards him. "Kitsune," he said, then closed the eye again.
Kitsune was surprised by the way he responded; he had barely acknowledged her even being there. Usually, he would at least try to sound friendly, but this time around, it seemed that pleasantries had taken a back seat to the more pressing matters he had going on in his head. "Good to see you too, Mr. Sunshine," she said with a bit of a smirk. "What are you thinking about?"
This time, Sean opened both eyes and gave her a mean look. "Nothing that concerns you." He knew it wasn't right to speak that way to her, but he had to keep the others from getting involved in any way possible, and if that meant telling them off, then so be it.
"Hey," Kitsune said, irritation rising in her voice. "it wasn't my idea to come looking for you. It was your girlfriend's idea. She's worried sick about you right now, you know?"
"Yes, I know."
"Then why don't you have a talk with her or something?"
"Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in a very hospitable mood right now, and I think talking to her might only make things worse, so if that's all you came here for, then it was a complete waste of both your time and mine, so you should just go about your business as though this conversation never happened."
"Well," Kitsune thought. "I guess Shinobu was right. That dream must have done something do him, and I'm going to find out what it is if it's the last thing I do."
"Sean," she said, "we both don't want to see Shinobu as worried as she is right now, so I think you should just come clean and tell me what's going on in that head of yours!"
"What goes through this mind is my business and mine alone, and suggest you mind yours or else I have two words for you."
"And what would those be?"
"The Treatment."
Kitsune was shocked that he would even consider doing that again. "You wouldn't do something like that, would you?"
"Try me."
"Uh," Nervousness appeared in her voice full force. "I think I hear someone calling me, so I guess I'll see you later, huh?"
"Good," Sean said before closing his eyes.
"Oh God," Kitsune thought as she made her way to the door. "This is more serious than I could have ever imagined. I've got to tell the others about this." As she opened the door, she took one last look at Sean had been moments before and saw only empty space. "Hey, where'd he go?"
---
"I should have known better," Sean thought, mentally kicking himself when he appeared in his new hiding place. "Going to the roof was such an obvious choice, no wonder Kitsune found me so quickly, but I doubt anyone would ever think of looking for me here."
--- (10 minutes later…)
"I wonder why she called us all in here?" Keitaro asked. Everyone had gathered in the living room by Kitsune, saying she had something very important to say to them.
"Maybe she found Sean," Shinobu said hopefully.
Kitsune sat on the couch, a look of concern on her face. "I'm glad you all could come on such short notice. There's something I must address. It's about Sean."
"You found him?!" Shinobu asked.
"Yes, but that's not entirely why I called you here. He has gotten quite an attitude today. When I asked him what he thinking about, he talked to me like he never has before; like he was really pissed at me for disturbing him. He refused to tell me anything except that it was none of my business and that it didn't concern me. Also, there was something else he did."
"What's that?" Naru asked.
"He threatened to give me The Treatment if I pressed the issue any farther."
"Whoa," Motoko said. "This is serious. Something's going on that he doesn't want us to know about."
"I knew it!" Shinobu said. "Tell me where he is, I'll go talk to him myself."
"I don't know. After our little exchange, he vanished. Besides, he knows how you feel right now and he felt that if he talked to you, it might just make things worse. I think it would be best if we all just left him alone for now and let him sort things out on his own."
"But I'm so worried about him," Shinobu said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I know, but sometimes, a guy just has to have his space, you know? Just give it time; I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I hope so," Shinobu said.
---
The day wore on at a snail's pace for everyone in Hinata House. After an hour of searching, they gave up trying to find Sean; it seemed as though he just fell of the face of the planet. Conversations could not be maintained for very long, and the thoughts of everyone kept turning to their landlord. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Sean, either. He knew well enough how the others felt, considering the place he chose for his hiding place.
"I'm sorry," he thought. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but I have to think of some way to keep my life as it is. I'm no even sure this is even going to happen, but I can't take any chances. I have to do this, and I have to go it alone; I can't--no, I won't drag anyone else into this."
--- 11:44 PM
Night had fallen and most of the residents reluctantly got ready for bed. The only one left awake was Sean, still hiding in his hiding place, and both Naru and Keitaro, who were pulling another of their marathon study sessions.
"Where do you think Sean is right now?" Keitaro asked after a while.
"I don't know," Naru responded. "I starting to think he ran off somewhere without telling us again."
"But if something's bothering him as much as Kitsune said, why wouldn't he tell us about it?"
"That's the thing about Sean. He doesn't want us to worry about his problems, thinking he can solve them on his own. I don't blame him, considering how many of our problems he's helped solve in his time here."
"I know, but still, it wouldn't hurt to just tell even one of us about it, you know?"
"That's your opinion."
"Well, sure, but--What?!" Keitaro knew right away that that last remark did not come from Naru. "Where did that come from?!"
"I don't know," Naru said, also wondering where the new, yet familiar voice came from. As both of them looked around, something appeared from beneath the kotatsu they were sitting at. When Naru set eyes on it, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Sean?!"
"Yeah?" the now 2-inch tall Sean said. His voice was quite faint, mostly due to his size.
"Were you under there all day?!" Sean nodded. "Why?"
"Nobody would ever think of looking for me there."
"Good point."
"Well, now that you've been found out, why not tell us what's going on?" Keitaro suggested.
"I don't want you to get involved. Besides, I was planning on leaving pretty soon anyway; it gets really hot and stuffy under there, you know?"
"Now, hold on," Naru said as she reached out for him. "Don't you care that you've made us all worried sick about you?"
"Of course I care. It's just that if I told you about this, you might be even more worried."
That stopped Naru's hand inches from Sean's small frame. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm sorry; I've said too much already." Sean then disappeared without a trace.
"Oh man," Keitaro muttered. "I hope he going to be alright."
---
"Damn it," Sean said to himself as he reappeared at the hot spring, full-size. "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. Now I've got Naru and Keitaro even more worried about me. I hope everything goes alright tonight so I can get things back to normal." He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the water. He knew a bath was the thing he needed the most at that time, since he had been sweating buckets while sitting underneath Naru's kotatsu for most of the day. "Note to self: Next time I have to hide from them, find a place not so warm and with better ventilation." He allowed himself a chuckle at that.
"I guess I have no other option," He continued, his serious expression returning. "After all the time I spent thinking, there's only one thing I came up with that even has a slight chance of working." He lowered his head as he realized the dreadful truth. "I have to fight this thing." After his confrontation with Shonoko three months ago, he made a mental vow that he would never use his magic to cause physical injury ever again, but he knew full well that if he was to stand a chance against what he saw in his dream, compromises would have to be made.
"I just hope," he sighed, "that if I can't stop it, that it will be merciful to the others." Of course, he kind of figured that mercy was not exactly a big part of the demon vocabulary.
"No, I can't think like that. I have to beat this, I just have to. Failure isn't an option for me right now." He spent the next few minutes mentally preparing himself for what would probably end up being the fight of his life.
--- 11:56 PM
Motoko's eyes shot open. She was shaken from her slumber by sensing a strong presence. "No, it can't be," she said as she sat up in bed. She knew that ki wavelength all too well. It was that of Sean, and it was getting stronger and stronger with every passing second. Quickly, she got out of bed and went to where her senses led her. When she made it to the roof, she found him in deep meditation. "He never uses this much energy at once," she thought. "what could he be preparing for?" Her thoughts were broken up when she saw him stand up. The next thing she would hear would chill her blood.
"Alright, I think I'm ready," he said, looking at his watch. "It's time." He started looking around, as though expecting something to happen. After a few moments of silence, he began to get irritated. "Come on! I know you're out there somewhere! Now face me, you coward!!" He knew that taunting a being from the nether regions of the earth wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Motoko was scared stiff. "Who is he talking to?!" she thought. "What could get him so upset that he would use his magic on offense?"
After a few more moments of silence, Sean noticed something strange begin to happen. His eyes grew wide as light blue steam started coming off him. "What the hell?!" As more and more steam appeared, he could feel himself getting weaker. "No, this can't be…" he said just above a whisper as his legs gave out from under him. "FIGHT ME FACE TO FACE, YOU BASTARD!!"
Motoko grew more and more concerned as she felt Sean's power getting weaker and weaker until it almost vanished completely.
"Damn it," Sean muttered as his vision began to fade. "It was right, there's nothing I could do to stop this. My life is plunging into darkness, just like it said. If only there was something… anything…" That was the last thing he would say before he was totally consumed.
Motoko gasped as she saw Sean collapse right before her eyes, but what she saw was nothing compared to what she sensed; or rather, what she didn't sense. His ki wavelength had vanished completely.
* * * End of Chapter XXVI * * *
Please R&R. See you next time.