Author's Note: So Chappy 6 is up now, I hope you'll all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Kyou Kara Maou or its characters. But the OC and Plot are mine… xD sliver lining…

Chapter 6

"Remember," Josak whispered as they walked casually into town. "Keep your face hidden no matter what."

Sarah nodded. Even though it was only about the hundredth time Josak had reminded her since landing in Suberera ten minutes ago, Sarah didn't mind it much. She knew that this area was still quite human populated and to show her face was equivalent to signing her death warrant. Josak was just as worried and nervous as she was.

"It'd be better if I could find some dye though," Sarah muttered bitterly. "The desert is hot enough as it is."

"Well," Josak said as they rounded the corner. "Not many people have any reason to change their hair color, so dye isn't exactly the most common thing around these parts."

"At least I can see one good thing in this," Sarah said. "It won't be too long until we reach Shin Makoku." She smiled.

Josak was stunned for a moment at her smile then he quickly recovered, but not without Sarah's noticing. "What?"

"It's nothing," he said. "I just suddenly noticed that you reminded me of a person I knew a long time ago."

Though Sarah's expression didn't change, her mind was racing again. Memories? Was Shinou really serious when he said he gave me back memories? She needed to know.

"Who?" she asked Josak while she surveyed around, nobody seemed to give them a second glance. That was good.

"A girl," he said impassively.

"A girl you had a crush on?" Sarah asked playfully, unable to resist.

Josak smiled as if recalling things from the past. He shook his head. "No," he said. "But I think my friend, Conrad, fancied her and she him." His expression darkened. "It was a sad day last we heard of her."

Sarah weighed her words carefully before asking, "What happened to her?"

Josak shifted uncomfortably. "She passed on."

Just as Sarah expected he would answer. "Sorry," she said but Josak merely brushed away the apology. "Her death struck Conrad harder than all of us put together," he said. "I'm not even sure if he ever recovered."

Just then, they saw the stall that they were looking for. Whilst Josak haggled with the horse trader with was scant funds they could get from selling the ship's more likely to be unmissed items, Sarah's mind was elsewhere.

If all the information she collected so far was true, then would that mean that Ysabel was none other than her past life? Would that mean that her situation was akin to what would happen to Julia? Her eyes widened when it struck her. Julia! What would happen…?

Julia hadn't died yet. Sarah knew every single event that would happen in this world from now until Shoshu's destruction. She could stop all the catastrophes and deaths. Most of all, she held the knowledge to stopping Julia's death… Was this the reason Shinou brought her to this world at this time… to stop Julia's death?

Josak's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Come on," he said as he held the reins of two horses. "We still have more than half a day's good light left."

Sarah smiled and approached the horse. She climbed up with ease and noticed that the horses weren't half bad. In fact, worth at least five times more than what they had. But as she was about to voice her suspicion, Josak just held up his hand and winked. "Ladies shouldn't worry about such trivial things." He grinned.

Suddenly, Sarah's face immediately went pale and visibly faltered in her saddle. If not for the fact that Josak was right beside her, she would have fallen off the horse for sure.

"What's wrong?" Josak asked, concerned etched in his features.

Sarah shook her head clear and tried to regain her balance on top of the horse. Her faltering had not escaped from some of the nearby people and attention was the last thing they needed now.

Sarah looked around for possible clues of her disorder. And nearby, she saw a man opening a velvet pouch. Her eyes widened when the man pulled out its contents. He admired the beautiful jewel in his palm and Sarah felt dizzier. "It can't be…" she whispered.

"What?" Josak asked as the people finally satisfied their curiosity and returned to their own business.

"Nothing," Sarah said as she gripped the reins of the horse. "Let's get out of here." As they cantered out the city, Sarah was very disturbed. Why was she affected by hoseki now?

It was the forth or fifth day traveling since Sarah and Josak departed from Suberera for Shin Makoku. They were heading at a steady canter and according to Josak, they should see Shin Makoku's border by tomorrow.

Sarah was still very disturbed by the discovering that hoseki affected her when it didn't when she was in Foster's office. Then would that mean that she was of demon blood after all? Who were her parents anyway? Were they demon too? Sarah sighed. Now I know how Yurri felt… or… would feel… or… whatever… More memories would be appreciated Shinou!

The task would be simple then. Get to the temple; get answers from Shinou, then get back to my world… right? This would be a short journey, Sarah decided, one that she would always treasure but also one that she thought that she could live without. Life threatening situations were just too much for her.

They stayed silent for most of the trip, not because they still disliked each other, but because of fatigue. Water was scarce and what they had left would have to suffice for there would not be another oasis along their path to Shin Makoku or so Josak said.

Sarah for one was impressed by the half-blooded demons knowledge and skill in survival and terrain. She was sure that she wouldn't have been able to make it this far on her own. She more than once had thought of the possibility that this might have also been part of Shinou's 'Grand Design'.

Also, her theory of Ysabel being her past life was also unclear. She needed more facts to confirm her conclusion. Either that or she would have to ask it straight from Shinou himself. She cast a sideward glance at Josak. She had only one dream of him but that didn't mean that Ysabel only saw him once in her short life span. Mustering up some courage, she decided to see if Josak could help with her problem. She opened her mouth and they both fell forward into the sand.

Their horses shied as all four figures fell into a sand pit. Sarah's eyes widened as she saw a panda baring its sharpened teeth. They had fallen into a Sand Bear's trap!

Trying to climb up would be futile she knew. Josak seemed more concerned about her than himself. He shouted something to Sarah but it was muffled by roar of the bear. Then, Josak was gone.

Sarah searched her mind. Come on, watching that anime must be good for something. Let's see… Conrad said that he survived it three times, which would at least mean there's a way out of this. What did he say on how to survive? What did he say…? What did he say? She closed her eyes, trying to block out the terrifying image in front of her. Then it finally came to her.

All Wolfram has to do to survive is to hold his breath until he finds his way out of the sand. Then, Sarah's world went black.

Sarah's head burst out from the sand. She was breathing hard and fast. When she finally caught enough of her breath, she slowly and painfully pulled the rest of her body out of the hot and course sand.

What had happened beneath the surface of the sand was a just a big blur to Sarah. The last thing she could remember clearly was that she disappeared under the sea of sand.

She lay on her back, baking in the sun and too tired to move. She looked left and right… nothing… nothing but the endless stretch of sand. No Josak, no Sand Bear and no civilization.

She stood up and wobbled a bit before stabling herself. "I hate sand," she muttered darkly. "I never ever want to set foot on a beach ever again in my life." I already have no provisions on me, if I stay here, I'm dead…

"Right, time to get going," she said. She looked left. She looked Right. Left again and right again. She cursed as she tried to determine which way to go.

Josak muttered darkly and dusted himself as he climbed up the stairs and rounded the bend towards Gwendal's office. "I lost her," he said. "I can't believe I lost her. We were so close to the border."

Josak found himself not five miles away from the Demon Kingdom's border. Unfortunately, his companion was no where in sight. There was no hope in finding a person whom you were separated from by a sand trap. She could be anywhere from here to Suberera. "His Excellency is going to skin me."

Josak knocked on the door and entered when he was bidden. Gwendal remained impassive as his seemingly dead spy walked in. "You're alive." It wasn't a question.

Josak smiled. "I'm touched that you missed me, Your Excellency."

Gwendal eyed Josak. "Where's the Simaron Captain?"

Josak shifted involuntarily. "I lost her in the desert," he said. "A Sand Bear."

Gwendal nodded understandingly. "Did you find out anything about her or her reason for wanting to come here?"

"I did find out one thing," Josak said as he sat down in one of the chairs opposite Gwendal. "She's no human."

Gwendal raised an eyebrow. "Care to be more specific?"

"She's a pure blooded demon, Your Excellency," Josak said. "She was affected by hoseki back when we were in Suberera." He paused. "Which would be weird considering that she told me that hoseki didn't have an affect on her. I wonder why she would lie about that."

"Who knows," Gwendal said as he continued writing. "What else?"

Josak bit his lower lip. "She's a double black."

Gwendal looked up again. "At least that would explain the tinge of red I saw in the water the day of the storm." He stood up in his seat. "Get some rest. We'll conduct a search for her in five hours."

Josak nodded and exited the room. His Excellency tolerated most mistakes, but he wasn't about to let any Mazoku, double black or not, wander the desert over night.

a/n:

Okay, the end of another chapter of my Kyou Kara Maou Rewrite. How did you guys (and girls) like it? Give it to me straight. You can flame me if you like, really, you can. But do it only if you really have to, okay? Heh…

To i love athrun: Yay! Thanks so so so much for your review! Really appreciate it, I do.

To Torana: What a relief. I hope I can continue to write up to your expectations and eventually, beyond it. Your review was just inspiring and encouraging. Oh, and thanks for the good luck on my midterms.

To Everyone else: Heh, what a nice category, eh? I hope I didn't disappoint any of you either. Reviews would be appreciated but for now, your loving support is enough to satisfy me! But don't get me wrong, reviews are good too lol…

Okay, so until the next chapter. Our heroine will arrive in Shin Makoku, meet a few old (and new) friends, speak to Shinou and find out the truth O.O

So stay tuned!

Forever,

Val.