Chapter VIII

No light

Note: Alright, so I really wrote this chapter during the night o.o . For this I have a special song that I recommend you to play after the second line spacing: Florence+The Machine: No light, no light. I really accords to the atmosphere I wanted to create. If it ends before arrive at third line spacing, just replay :D. Btw, thanks for the reviews, let them keep coming! 3

Chapter warning: strong language

Smoking a cigarette was the only thing that could calm her down a bit. On the roof of the inn was plenty of silence and not even one question that would have popped up from their curious eyes.

That boy…was the last person she wanted to see in the next hour. He was probably somewhere evilly laughing like a maniac while she had to put up with his crap. That someone whom she thought of her friend and broke her trust within seconds…maybe not her trust in him, but in herself…the thought that what she did was the good thing to do and there was nothing to worry about….

She exhaled the smoke in a sigh.

"You know, smoking is bad for your health." said a voice behind her, more likely for the purpose to start a conversation.

Even if Yoh's face strongly resembled his, there was still that warm look in his eyes that was creating a strong discrepancy between him and Hao, or at least the one she has lastly seen.
Rilury blushed a bit, not because of the bad habbit, but because she was actually sitting on the roof of their house and it seemed a bit impolite to disappear from the dinning room only to so something that could irritate others.

"Um, sorry" she said, fully destroying the cigarette with a bit a lightning from her hands.

"I don't mind. After all, my brother isn't an easy challenge." he said, looking a bit worried at the starlight sky.

'Does this have a subliminal message?' she asked herself, looking a bit curious at his profile.

"Well, there is no turning back now." she said, moreover to reassure herself that.

"I though that you wouldn't give up so easily after your hard training.." he said, with his smile suddenly disappearing from his face. "But you know, Hao is really strong, and I would be really sad if you'd be gone, now that everybody likes you here."

"They do?" she asked curiously.

"Sure! Even if most of the time you're quiet, everybody is talking about you and really want to get to know you better," Yoh said smiling again.

"Hmm…too bad I'm gonna have to leave now. But it will be for a short while" she said, suddenly standing up.

"Hey Rilury, if you want I could come with Faust. In this way I would distract him while he'd be resurrecting you." Yoh said before she could jump off the roof.

"Thanks, but I won't need your help. After all, that bastard owes me his life." she said before leaving with a tiny grin on her face. Yoh remained a bit surprised, but then started to smile again.

*don't forget about the song

She though she'd be late, but at the place of the battle was just Kalim, the one that had to observe the Shaman Fight. Of course, he was also the Patch Officiant that tested her to get her first oracle bell. Just a few attacks before she could clearly observe her oversoul technique and all done. After all, she had even harder training sessions with…

After all, where was he? It was starting to get late, and she knew that Hao wouldn't miss this fight for nothing in the Universe, even if it really didn't affect his participation in the Tournament.

Huge flames burst out of nowhere and the Spirit of Fire rose from the depths and out of them...walked him, with the same superior look he had when he left.

"Never miss the chance to make a great entrance, huh?" she asked ironically.

"First impression is quite important, isn't it?" he asked with a smirk.

She realized quickly the direct attack he made, especially that there weren't just the two of them. She then pulled out the wolfram sword.

"Well then stranger, how about ending this fight as quick as possible?" she said making a brutal direct attack which Hao blocked easily with the arm of the Fire Spirit.

"Aren't we a bit too impatient?" he asked jumping standing in one opened palm of the spirit. "Maybe first we should start knowing each other better."

"I have nothing to say to you" she said and then made quickly another attack jumping directly at the spirit, thing which made it even easily to block it. Rilury was pressing with the edge of her electric sword the red fluorescent finger that was blocking less than one metter between them, making her eyes sparkle even more in the collision of the both lights.

"You haven't even told me your name." he smirked.

She quickly erased her expression with a mixture of both surprise and guiltiness with an annoyed one.

"Oh, cut the crap!" she said and then jumped away. While still in the air she rotated herself in the air sketching with her sword in the air the form of a bright helix. The beaming spiral, while aiming at the Fire Spirit, was forming the shape of an arrow peak to be aerodynamic and therefore even faster. The collision created a dense smoke from which bumped electric fireworks. Rilury landed on her feet on top of tall rock to see if it had damaged Hao somehow. The large claw of the FS cut the smoke in half and there he was, not even a scratch.

"I'm waiting for the next move" he ironically said, knowing that there wasn't anything else she had.

"Hmph, don't get too distracted " she smashed the top of her sword into the ground. It cracked from the inside and huge sparks were rapidly making cracks in the ground, like there was a huge earthquacke, and then it exploded right underneath him. Instead of jumping, Hao quickly contra- attacked with a huge ball of fire, thing which Rilury managed to avoid at the last second with a shock wave that propelled her in the air.

"Not bad" he said from behind before having the Spirit Fire trying to grab her. But a bolt of light splintered the sky with a deafening thunder. The violent flash distracted the spirit so Rilury escaped from the unexpected inflamed grip.

"Are there anymore surprises left in the box?" he asked smirking.

There weren't. But that didn't mean she was out of furyoku.

She must combine the moves. But she first needed to buy some time, as the SoF was now constantly attacking her. It was kind of unexplainable why it entered the offensive mode so quickly, especially because Hao wanted to enjoy every second of it. Before, at their trainings, it could endure at least 5 shocking spirals before she ran out of furyoku. But she herself noticed that those attacks made even a greater damage and her furyoku has also increased in a very short amount of time.

Hao was calmly sitting on its shoulder, waiting for her to be grabbed by its immense claw, just like a fish in the lodge. She knew that the only way to distract the GoF was approaching Hao, as he was sitting on a spot it would take a bit concentration to manage, just like a mosquito. She jumped forward but this time she shut of her sword to make it even harder for the Fire Spirit to fix its watch on. Even Hao was a bit surprised as she approached him deffenceless and didn't have time to react. She put her arms on his shoulders. There were only a few inches left between their faces. Rilury had her electric sparkle in her eyes and was too concentrated on her move to notice the slight skin tone color change underneath Hao's eyes, which were widely opened in shock. This only lasted a brief second, as she propelled herself even higher in the sky.

The second he remained unmoved from the spot and even confused his guardian spirit was the moment she needed. After releasing another electric spiral from her sword she rose it in the sky and created another bright lightning. The two modelings of electrical energy combined themselves and formed something like a giant golden sparkling hook coming right from the heavy clouds, trying to hand the victim.

Maybe it would have worked if Hao didn't reject the attack by creating an encountering wave of flames. The collision came in a wonderful and powerful blast, hardly damaging the surroundings.

They were both standing now at the opposite sides of the devastated field. Kind of ironic for her, because she always loved nature and somehow she destroyed the area just like the ones who were once threatening the forest she lived in.

She was gasping and Hao only released a short breath, or was it just an impression?

"Kind of stubborn for a new initiated." he said revealing his old smirk. "Isn't your first fight a bit disappointing, knowing that you're almost out of furyoku and your attacks had no effects?"

"It did had a few damages!" she said looking at the FS who was a bit scattered." But, as always, you are just showing off with your shamanic strength and stuff"

"Hmm, isn't it a bit too early to judge a stranger?" he said giving her a sly look.

She felt a bit embarrassed in front of Kalim who was recovering himself from the shock of the battle with an even bigger shock because of Rilury answering Hao on that tone.

But, as she couldn't endure constant pressure, she exploded.

"Oh, shut the hell up! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be alive and this stupid fight wouldn't have taken place for me!"

"Actually, not any other shaman fight would.." he said smirking.

She frowned and chattered her teeth in anger.

"WELL, YEAH! I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS F*UCKING TOURNAMENT I ALWAYS DREAMED OF!"

She then gasped calming herself with a deep breath.

"So yeah, thanks for that. But you still are a jerk and I still want to end this battle for screwing all my chances of making new friends now. That's right Kalim! I SAVED HAO ASAKURA FROM DEATH! It was me who welcomed him in my own home and wanted even to be friends! " she said out loudly to the Patch Officiant who was watching witch a surprised expression, but till scared to death to say anything . "You can all boo me later for screwing the whole planet after I finish him in this battle."

Hao was watching her and even let out a short chuckle.

"I appreciate the honesty, but it is obvious that you can't defeat me, not even if you would attack me with all your moves combined." he said bringing back his smirk.

"Oh yeah? I have a card up on my sleeve. I saved it for a spectacular final!"

She then made the wolfram brighten again. But this time it wasn't a sword shaped form. It was somehow like a Tesla coil. Each electric spike was hitting one point, enlarging it in a bigger form, like a whole. There were a six number of brightening mini portals which were forming a hexagon. It was the hardest move she would do, but it was the most powerful, even if she still didn't know how to maneuver it right. Rilury was heavily concentrating her furyoku in a final attack, when a risen hand interrupted the whole process and also decided the result of the battle. It was Hao's.

"I give up." he said with a careless voice.

"You-WHAT?!" the other two voices asked in shock, well, at least one of them. The other one was also a bit angry.

"Didn't you hear me the first time? I refuse to fight anymore. If you manage to make this last attack, which will have no effect of course, you will consume all of the furyoku and instantly lose."

"But why-"

"It was fun messing around with you for a while, and even if you quite evolved from the last time we've met, you still hadn't come up to your fully potential. And it would be a pity if you wouldn't be in the Shaman Tournament, considering all those weaklings that are already in. Isn't that right, Kalim?"

The Path Officiant recovered from the shock to give a proper answer from his position.

"Ehm, of course- *coughs*. Takahashi Rilury is officially in the Tournament!"

"What? I am?!" she said with her mouth wide open from heaven.

" Just consider it as a favor return. After all, there is no chance you would have even made one scratch with that ridiculously technique."

"What?! You basta-aard!" she angrily said while the bright hexagon contuored itself again.

"Wait! There is no need to-!" Th Patch Officiant said before a bright yellow blast emerged from the center of the geometrical shape.

There was a violent light. And a sudden blackout in Rilury's head.

The sunrise was slowly illuminating the Asakura's house. Before it touched Rilury's hair, two scratched arms, which have been carrying her all the way here, gently placed her on the bed. The calm silence in the room was broken when Yoh opened the door.

"I hope you don't mind if I brought someone to sleepover. After all, this is also my house." Hao said not even bothered by his brother's presence.

"Um, sure, she was always welcomed to stay here from the beginning." Yoh said a bit surprised of the guest, but still not considering the situation too incredible.

"Make sure she gets plenty of rest. And after that, spare me an effort and show her where the Tournament location is. I don't want to waste anymore time on the road like I did with you, Yoh." He said with a superior gleam in his eyes.

"Sure thing-"

Hao disappeared in a burst of flames leaving a small ashtray on the floor.

"Nii-san..." Yoh ended his response.

It was actually the first time they had a talk without thinking about the fate of the world.