Kunogi pulled the kettle off the fire with a towel and placed it on her serving tray. The salted fish was still steaming and her pot-stickers had just come out of the water, so everything was ready to serve. She hoped her cooking was acceptable enough for her new mistress. She desperately wanted to make use of herself.

The mysterious man that had found her and saved her from almost certain death had whisked her away to a foreign world. The house that she was living in was as ornate and beautiful as it was old and secretive. There was a mix of cultural designs that baffled her, for some she could place, some she could not, and some that she'd never been able to dream of before, yet all of the differences blended so well.

Buildings made of stone and steal towered far into the sky above her. Her host called them skyscrapers, and Himawari thought the name was very fitting. Truly those buildings scraped across the very sky itself. The men of this world must be brilliant, to defy the natural laws of the world and dare to climb so high.

The girl picked up her serving tray and made her way out of the incredibly advanced kitchen she now cooked in daily. A box (her mistress called it a refrigerator) that kept everything cold, even frozen! And no magic was involved at all? The appliances were awe inspiring! She smiled as she entered the main sitting room.

Her new host and mistress, Ichihara Yuuko, was lazily reclining on her settee. She had a bottle of sake in one hand and her smoke pipe in the other. She smiled and her eyes lit up when they landed on the tray of food that Himawari brought in for her. Her sluggish yet fluid movements could have been a good indication of being drunk, but for all of the alcohol she consumed Himawari had never seen the woman ever actually lose her ability to focus.

She was a bear when she had one of her massive hangovers, though.

"Aaaah~! Sweet Himawari has brought us snacks! And oooh!" She paused to sniff the air. "Oolong tea. I haven't had oolong tea in decades!"

Kunogi grinned and set the tray down on the table in front of the ageless woman. "I will be right back with your beer, mistress."

Yuuko waved her pipe in the air in a dismissive way. The smoke trails curled around her wrists like a lover. "Hm, no, wine today I think. Chrysanthemum wine."

Himawari frowned and puzzled over her fingers. "I am sorry, mistress, I don't think we have any chrysanthemum wine. I've gone through and counted the entire stock of alcohol as you've asked, and I've not yet seen any."

Yuuko laughed, her mouth open wide. "Of course we don't have any! It should be here in..." Her eyes strayed to her shogi door. The dark red color of her mistress's eyes reminded Kunogi of dusty paprika.

The door slid open on its own to reveal two people on the other side. Kunogi's jaw opened wide at the sight of them, but she fought quickly to cover her shock. "M-Mr. Watanuki!"

And Shizuka-!

The beautiful man smiled at her exclamation. "Sunflower, I told you, just Kimihiro." He stepped through the doorway and as he did, his hands gently tugged at the silent Doumeki's arms.

So this was what had happened to Doumeki. Kunogi had wondered and worried over his state ever since the night Watanuki saved her from her old world. The captain's last statements had seemed so... final. I'll either be dead... or gone by the time the night is done. Those words had spun around in her mind for days without leaving.

"I'm hungry," Doumeki looked at Kimihiro, though his expression as usual gave away nothing of what he was thinking.

Watanuki slipped a hand inside the opening of Doumeki's kimono while the other hand held up a large bottle for the man to see. "You're also insatiable. We'll be eating here."

"Kimihiro! Just in time!" Yuuko delighted. "My alcohol..." she held her hand out expectantly.

Watanuki set the bottle down on the table next to the tray of food. Kunogi suddenly realized why Yuuko had asked her to make so much extra. She knew that they would have guests. Watanuki sighed. "Hello, mother."

"So," Yuuko stood up and walked towards the pair. Her eyes were trained on Doumeki. "This is him."

Kimihiro giggled and slid an arm around the man's waist. The hunter's eyes followed Watanuki as he draped himself over his Intended. "Isn't he gorgeous!" He gushed. He swept his hand along Shizuka's jaw and cheek.

Yuuko looked thrilled and immensely pleased at the same time. "He looks just like the last one, Watanuki."

Kimihiro nestled himself in Doumeki's chest and wrapped the man's arms around himself. Still he smiled. "It couldn't be helped. It's that kind of lineage, I believe. He looks remarkably like his father as well."

"It is just as well. I was rather attached to Haruka myself. It will be pleasant to have the reminder of him in your dear Shizuka. The fates chose well for you."

Kimihiro laughed. "It was inevitable."

Himawari's ears buzzed with those words. Fate and inevitable. The Travelers spoke those words often. Clearly they were embroiled in magic and unbreakable rules she would never quite fathom.

Himawari stared at Shizuka, but the man never once looked her way. He barely acknowledged Yuuko's presence as well.

A door down the hallway opened. Himawari sat herself down next to her mistress as the master walked into the sitting room.

Yuuko raised a hand towards the man, who obligingly sunk down to the ground next to her. "Clow, dear, we have visitors today."

The gentle eyed man looked over to Kimihiro and Shizuka, who had just seated themselves at the other end of the table. He smiled at them. Kimihiro lifted a glass of wine he'd poured for himself. "Hello, father."

"Kimihiro," the reply was warm. Those endless lavender eyes stared at Shizuka without blinking. "You have completed the ritual?"

"Yes."

Clow closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Yuuko. "Then it is time to bring an end to this dream."

Kimihiro brushed his fingers over a certain spot on Shizuka's right shoulder. The hunter visibly shuddered at the touch. Goosebumps ran up his arms. "It has lasted long enough. I look forward to the end of it all." He pressed a kiss to the artery on Doumeki's neck. "Shizuka will prove to be a magnificent warrior in the days to come."

Himawari felt a chill fill her soul, but she did not know why.

. . . . . . . . . .

Subaru awoke with a start, his heart caught in his throat. The village warning bells were tolling again as a fresh attack washed up against the village's walls. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the cot he was on in the medic hall.

Ever since the night Captain Doumeki had been taken the witches had been attacking directly every single day. The Hunter's Council had been scrambling to find more men to send to them to bolster their numbers, but it didn't seem to be enough. Already they'd lost nearly two dozen hunters, and more were dying with each new day that dawned.

General Monou and General Shiro had been reassigned to the 4th Division's barracks indefinitely until the desperate situation came to a resolution.

Subaru held his chest lightly as he sat up fully. His fingers probed his bandages gingerly. He was still wounded from two days prior, but he had to help fight. He couldn't lay in bed any longer. When he noticed the triage nurse Kotori rush out of the room to attend to the first wave of wounded he grabbed his supplies and slipped out the back door.

The citizen's of the village hadn't come out of their homes since the attacks started. Windows were shuttered closed, doors barred and locked, and the streets were empty except for the few hunters that were rushing to the call of the warning bells.

The ensign made it up to the main gate and tried to make his way through the security team that was stationed there.

"Oi! Ensign, what do you think you're doing?" Yelled an incredulous voice from just behind his left shoulder. Subaru jumped at being caught. He turned around to see Commander Shiyu staring him down.

With his ridiculous height and massive muscles, the man was downright scary when he was mad. Subaru steeled himself anyway. "What does it look like? The bells are ringing!"

Shiyu pushed his way through the people between them and up to Subaru. "You're still injured! Get back to the medics!"

"I'm fine!" He assured. He drew his sword and started to make his way to the gate. "I'm going to help!"

"You're going to get yourself killed!" Shiyu Kusanagi corrected him.

Before the larger man could grab him Subaru slipped past the gate and headed into the fray.

There was more blood on the ground than the last time he was out here. Already there were more bodies on the ground as well as the fighting continued. Sumeragi pushes himself into the fight and did his best to ignore the twitches of pain his chest released on him with each blow.

He made his way further into the fight along with everyone else. It wasn't the first time in the few days since Doumeki's capture that he wished for the man's return. Subaru had to do his best to ignore the intense, painful grief he felt every time he thought about the state of his late captain.

To have lost someone like him to a creature like... whatever he had called himself... Watanuki, Travler.

He's no better than the witches we fight, Subaru thought bitterly to himself.

A spirit swooped down from somewhere above his head and launched itself at a hunter that was to his right. Subaru heard the man scream as he fell into the bramble at the base of the treeline. The ensign cut down the obstacles in front of him and rushed to his fallen comrade. "Hold on!" He yelled back.

There was screeching, wailing, the sound of a body being drug along the earth... Subaru bounded through the brush and into the forest proper. He could see any sign of the missing hunter. He gasped for breath as he made his way through, feeling foolish for leaving the safety of other hunters nearby but desperate to save even one more person from dying that day.

There was a the sound of rushing air again, then a force of impact on his back that pushed him forward and onto the ground. Subaru yelled in surprise as he was suddenly dragged along the earth like an oversized rag doll. Frantic, he struggled for the protection bells strapped to his belt.

Before even one bell could be rung, there was suddenly a girl's face staring down at him. Her hair was long, silky, silvery and pale. Her eyes were bright blue and shimmered with light. She looked at him, her gaze intense, her lips parted.

Her pupils were dilated, seeing him without actually seeing. Her hands on his wrist were ice cold. They squeezed so tightly he started to lose feeling in his fingers. "Your name," she whispered huskily. "Please, help me. Tell me your name...!"

She was young for a witch.

Subaru struggled underneath of her and spat in her face. "Get off me, bitch!"

"Your name!" She said louder. "Tell it to me, you must tell me!"

He certainly wasn't dumb enough to reveal his whole name to a creature like her. He fought against her grip more, but her unnatural magic kept him firmly in place.

The girl sucked in a breath, and it seemed to drain the heat and warmth from around him. Subaru felt his limbs go deathly cold and his lungs found it difficult to suck in air. "No..." He reflected that he'd never seen one so young, beautiful as they were in the very beginning, so up close before.

The witch's eyes grew wide for a brief moment, but Subaru barely had time to see that before her body was flung off him. The force of the attack on her pushed her away, through the air, only for her to stop as she thudded into a tree. There was a bright yellow arrow, sparkling as though it were made from electricity, glowing angrily in her side.

Subaru felt life return to his body. He stood up quickly and found the source of the arrow. "C-Captain!"

The familiar look of steal was in Shizuka's eyes as he stared after where his arrow had gone. The man drew the string of his bow back as though to fire another arrow, but he wasn't holding anything to shoot. Subaru was perplexed by this until the ex-hunter's arm stretched all the way back, then a new arrow, gold and bright and sharp, materialized from thin air perfectly docked in his bow.

Kimihiro was standing behind him, one hand softly touching Shizuka's back. Even though it looked like the Traveler was allowing him to fight neither he nor Doumeki wore any armor. Doumeki wore a simple tan yukata, while Watanuki wore another one of his more elaborate kimonos that was covered with an ornate pattern of gold and green leaves.

Watanuki leaned toward's Doumeki's ear. "There, Shizuka. Up and to the left." Doumeki obeyed by moving his aim up towards the air and slightly left. "Do you see it?"

"Yes."

Kimihiro grinned. Subaru had no idea what they were talking about, because the space the two were suddenly staring at was most certainly empty.

"Now, just like I told you."

Shizuka's eyes narrowed, the arrow in his hand shimmered and hissed with power, and he released.

An explosion, the size of which he'd never seen, lit up the night sky. Subaru looked up in awe at the sight of a cloud of... what was it? A spirit? He caught the sight of a giant red eye wide in pain before it was eaten up by the power of Doumeki's arrow.

"What... How...?"

Watanuki laughed. Shizuka lowered his arms and relaxed his stance. "So, you've seen it now, Subaru? The source of the corrupted magic?"

"That thing-?"

"There's more than one," Kimihiro supplied. "Those that bleed chaos, they are the ones that create witches. The poor people that you kill are no more than possessed. Kill that which posses them, and you release them."

Speaking of possession, Subaru looked at Doumeki pleadingly. "Captain! Please, you have to come back! We're.. we're dying! They keep attacking!"

Shizuka didn't so much as look at him, or even seem to register that he heard him. Subaru came up close to him. "Captain Doumeki!" Still nothing? Subaru turned angry eyes to the other man. "What have you done to him?" He demanded. He reached to grab a fistful of that ridiculously lavish clothing.

Before his hands could touch anything fingers were roughly digging into his neck. Shizuka's powerful hand held him back and squeezed. Subaru choked as he tried to get air. His fists when to fight the grip on his neck instinctively.

"Don't touch him." The brassy gold eyes that bored into him were as icy as a glacier.

Kimihiro's hand ran up Doumeki's outstretched arm, fingers dancing. "Let him go now, Shizuka."

Subaru dropped to the ground in an heap. He coughed and tried to breathe properly again. "Doumeki, what... what's happened to you?" He stood up and stared at the man that nearly killed him.

Shizuka looked back to Kimihiro, his eyes searching. "...Do we know this person, Kimihiro?"

Watanuki laughed, even as Subaru's insides turned to lead. He draped himself over the ex-hunter. "Hmm... perhaps." He giggled again.

"You..." he couldn't even form the words properly. "You've... what have you... you've violated him!"

Watanuki slipped one feminine hand inside of Doumeki's yukata. "Violated?" He asked innocently.

Horrible visions of what this creature could have done to his captain taunted the ensign. "You have! You..." He couldn't even form his sentences, he was so angry. "How much damage have you done to him? How much, what have you done?"

"Nothing more than he asked of me." The hand slipped further inside.

"Stop touching him!"

Watanuki laughed again. "Oh, like this?" He pushed the clothing open just enough to reveal one of Doumeki's nipples. He pinched lightly. One of Shizuka's arms slid around Kimihiro's waist and pulled him closer.

Subaru felt the blood leave his face.

"Shizuka? How often do we have sex?"

Doumeki stared at the man in his arms. "Whenever I want," he said bluntly.

Subaru felt he might be sick. "Doumeki..."

Watanuki laughed with triumph. He winked at Subaru, then walked away from him without another word. Subaru could only look on in dumbfounded horror as the Traveler walked up to the body of the witch that had attacked him earlier.

The girl was gasping and shaking on the ground. The incorporeal arrow had long since disappeared, but her side was still open and bleeding freely. Watanuki leaned down next to her and pressed his hand over the wound. Within moments the bleeding had stopped.

"What's going on?" The girl asked. "What's happened?" Tears slipped down her cheeks. "I don't remember anything."

"Of course not," Kimihiro consoled her. "But don't worry. You have a brave hunter here to take you to safety." He stood up and stepped back into Shizuka's embrace.

The girl... was okay? Subaru didn't think it was possible to be released from the hold of the magic once a person succumbed to the awful power.

Watanuki looked at Subaru, his eyes suddenly narrow, though his smile was still present. "I will end this dream, Subaru. I will stop this chaos."

A whirlwind picked up around him and Shizuka. Their shapes faded away until all that remained was the view of the forest that had been behind them.