Chapter XX

Crystal

Hya! I felt inspired this day so I came up with another chapter. It's weird that I updated so soon, since school is about to start, right? XD. Well, I'd rather write this than do my homework (I'm so lazy it hurts T.T )

Anyway, here is another longer chapter xD. We're slowly coming near the climax teehe.

This is a chapter with A RECOMMENDED SONG! CocoRosie- Smokey-Taboo . Just play it when I'll write so xD.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

The public remained silent. Lyserg gazed with shock at the result. He couldn't believe it; his attack didn't meet any resistance.

The winner.

After Radim's declaration, the public burst with applause.

Failure.

The noise was unbearable. Inside of her the resignation wanted to make her silent.

But Rilury wasn't the type who wouldn't say anything about this…

Her hand held tight the damaged wolfram sword. A tear fell on the heated metal.

"Sa…sa.." she started mumbling.

The people which ere closer to the stage looked at her, while others still celebrated the victory.

"….Sabotage! " she shouted using all the power from her lungs, making everyone completely silent again.

Other noises started : "Oh, such a spoiled little girl, can't stand not getting what you wanted?" ; "Some people just have to learn how to loose…" ; "The little diva's plans didn't turn out quite well this time, did they?"… The people were slandering. Only a few were paying attention to her. She started at them with spite, clenching her teeth.

From the backstage, a hand gesture made everyone silent again. It was Goldva, the head of the Patches. Stanting there like the roman emperor, watching the battle and the only one which would have the last word to say.

"Hm? What do you mean, miss Takahashi? Those are heavy words to say" he asked with a formal tone.

"You saw it right? The gravity, the portal…they were all provoked from the outside! It is against the rules! Nothing should interfere with the shaman fight! Then why did you let this happen?!" she talked fast, with short breaths, clenching on the last hope she had.

"I see…" Goldva said thoughtfully.

Did he undertand? Was there hope for a rematch? Those were the questions which were tormenting Rilury's head.

"I understand what is actually happening here, miss Takahashi…"

"You do?" she said with a glance of hope, only to be shattered by his following words.

"You are trying to put the blame on others for your shamanic incapacity. I recommend you to keep a little dignity at least and accept your defeat."

"…"
Her fists were clenched.

"You…you ignorant! It is clear what happened here and you don't want to admit it! If you say that I am so incapable then fight me!" she pointed her newly formed oversoul at him.

" Hm? After all, you still have some furyoku left?" Goldva tried to say it with a scoffing tone, but couldn't hide his surprised expression. "Oh well, this discussion is over." He turned his back "Such a pitty, you seemed quite a promising shaman…" he walked away and some patch members covered his back.
"Wait! Come back here!" she agitated herself, but was held by Lyserg.

"Rilury! Please stop!"

She remained still after hearing his voice.

"You…you saw it right?" she asked, looking at him with deep green eyes.

The boy turned his light green eyes away from her sight.

"I'm sorry, Rilury…If there was anything I could do, I would…"

Her eyes became shadowed. Looking at the ground, she slowly raised one hand and made a small portal. With a slow, heavy step, she entered it and went away from that place.

X

*song starts*

The wind was strong. The forest was chaotic filled with flying leaves and bouncing trees. The rush was bending over the filmy water of the lake. Rilury couldn't light her cigarette. After the last failed attempt, she threw it away grabbed her hair exhausted. Damn, she really needed one at this moment.

A lit cigarette was suddenly near her. She looked at it and observed it was being held by someone. By him.

She took it rapidly after a bit of hesitation and said with a pouted voice.

"Why did you come here? To mock me that you're in the finals? " she exhaled the smoke with a sigh.

"Judging by the damaged trees which I saw on the way, I choose not to." Hao said with a calm smile. It was indeed surprising how much ravages she made with the little amount of furyoku which she had.

"I was angry."

He smiled and asked with a calm and soft voice:

"And how do you feel now?"

"…Disappointed …of myself." She said while holding her knees tight.

"Why? After all, it wasn't your fault." Hao said nonchalantly.

"I'm glad at least someone knows the truth. But...why would someone to that?"

"The Patch Tribe? Hm, they're always cowards when it comes to things beyond their establishment."

"Them?! So that's why they were treating me like that!" she said loudly, throwing away the cigarette.

"Hm, so you really didn't have a clue." Hao said more to himself.

"It doesn't matter!" she stood up angrily. " Now that I know, I'm going to get my revenge-"

She collapsed due to her fatigue. Hao caught her quickly enough.

Held by his arms, she sank her face in his poncho, grasping it with her hands. She looked at him with tearful eyes. She wasn't angry anymore, it was just resignation and therefore she needed the act to cry like a child. But instead, she asked:

"But why…why me, Hao?" her trembling voice sounded like jingling bells.

He looked at her with a surprise glance in his eyes. He never saw her like that: so vulnerable, so...sweet.

He smiled warmly, but resisted the strange urge to kiss her forehead.

"It's not you. It is something within yourself. Something which they don't want to discover. A power which can bring chaos if it made contact with the Great Spirit. You felt it even stronger until now, haven't you?" he explained with a calm, but serious tone.

She squeezed hid poncho even tightly in her hands. After a moment of silence, she said with a soft voice.

"I want to find more answers. I want to…contact it somehow. "

"There is a way." Hao replied.

X

Her Black dress was fluttering in the wind. Her silver hair was waving in the dangerous cold air. She went to the same hill where she watched a curious boy struggling to survive. The first one which survived, actually.

She sopped. She hadn't expected to find him there, sitting in a lotus position and observing the trees obeying the strong wind.

"Hm, I didn't know you chose the same place for meditating. "she said a bit ironic, with a slight smile.

"Actually, I knew you'd come here." Tao Ren said with a smirk.

Miyako let her guard down. The whole attitude which she had during the fight was now left behind. After all, it was quite tiring to act tough for so long. And for some reason, she felt comfortable near him and didn't want to waste effort intimidating him.

She sat near him and let a sigh. Then she asked with her usual expressionless face.

"I suppose you're even more curious about me now, aren't you?"

"This isn't the reason why I came here. On the battlefield I saw a strange change of yourself. For some reason, I just wanted to know if you're ok." Ren said with a serious tone.

She bushed. Then she asked a bit frowned.

"Why do you care? You want to win my trust so you could gain more power?"

He chuckled ironically.

"Bullsh*t"

She remained silent, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"It's not about this damn tournament. I don't even know myself why I wanted to know this. I just felt something in you, a hollow and sorrow place in your heart which seemed quite familiar. Tsk, I guess it is just curiosity. " he smirked, being amused by his own self.

"Hmph." Miyako said with no expression. "Of course I'm fine." She tried to scoff, hiding her face behind her knees.

"Then why were you reluctant? Is it about the…"

"The fact that I am eliminated from the shaman fight? No. A true strategist always has a backup plan, but don't bother asking me about it. It's pointless, I won't tell you a single world."

Ren chuckled.

"Well, if it really is so, then what is the true reason?"

Miyako changed her expression and his her face again. She began speaking with a soft voice.

"Just because..No one was ever interested in my welfare before."

Ren blushed and had a surprised expression, but got rid of it with a sigh.

"You were acting all crazy on the stage… You are even more powerful than I've expected." He said nonchalantly, more to change the subject.

"You still haven't seen everything yet." She scoffed. "But I only lost due to a simple distraction."

"It wasn't that simple, if it affected you that much."

She remained silent. For a while there was nothing else but the sound of the wind bending the trees.

"What really happened on the stage?" Ren's voice disrupted the silence but was covered by the rain which just started.

He didn't know why he asked. Why he was interested in that. Usually he would mind his own business. But this girl…

Miyako looked at him with melancholic eyes. She didn't know why either, all she knew was that she wanted to answer. It was the first time she talked that much with somebody. And she didn't care if she left herself discovered. It wasn't the fact that she didn't want anyone to find anything about her. It was just that nobody wanted ever to reach her, to find something about her. His curiosity somehow made her speak with a soft but certain voice.

"It has all started with a full moon night…"

X

The rain was falling, scattering the crystal clear mirror of the lake. The ground was letting itself washed of all the spilled blood, the trees were refreshing themselves with the clear and heavily falling water.

The whole nature seemed to have been cleaning itself of everything which happened. It was being purified. It was letting itself, at it lowest point, opened for the greatest change.

"Meditation? Right now?" Rilury asked a bit confused.

"This is actually the perfect moment." Said Hao calmly and sat in a lotus position.

A bit confused, but still determined to try this to gain the answers she needed, she sat back to him, in the same position.

They were leaning one on another back to back.

"Inhale. Now let your thoughts flow and search deep ion your spirit."

She did so and exhaled. She feeling his breath traveling through his lungs. It was a strange connection, it was a strange surrounding as well. But she let go.

She let go of all of her emotion, forgot about everything. She let the energy cover her. Her spirit rose in the air once she exhaled once again. She had an aura, a green and bright one. She observed that he, as well, had an intense red aura. Their auras were contrasting. But still, bonded together in a nice shape. It wasn't a discrepancy, it was more like a completion. But the combination of waves lasted a few second.

They each flowed together in their own paths.

Void.

Sparkles of light.

She was there, at the same black hole. The same black prison of her spirit. She realized now it was the spirit from which she drew her power, her energy. She had realized that she only brought the power on earth using portals. The electromagnetic waves caught visible forms through electric energy, the only element on earth which was closer to the material form of the energy manifestation.

She was just an intermediate and controlled the strings. Or…was she actually the puppet?

A deafening thundering came from the black mist, followed by a short dazzling light. She got scared.

No wonder, this monster with which she was bonded was extremely dangerous. The hole was unstable as well. No wonder the Patch Tribe wanted to keep her away from the Great Spirit.

But why…why her? Why was she the only key to this presumptive catastrophe?

There was more rumbling, more unstable sparkles. IT knew she was there in a way or another. IT wanted to take her.

She wanted to switch the place she was in, but couldn't. She was terrified. She trembled and had a panic attack. What could she do? How could she escape? Her breath shortened. A giant hand made of wave lights was reaching her. She struggled, she shouted, she…

"Rilury!"

…Woke up.

Hao woke her up from the trance. His hand were on her both shoulders and probably shook her a little to get back.

She was soaking wet. It was still raining, but not so hard.

"Come with me, you're going to catch a cold." He said and gently took her wrist.

X

In the clear evening, the weather went calm again.

"How come that you are dry?" she asked slowly, half of her face being covered with a soft blanket, inside his warm tent.

"A shaman, through meditation, can easily overcome the nature's simple effect on humans. That's how I've learned to control this element."

"I get it, so I'm a weak shaman." She said pouted, more to herself.

He chuckled.

"Not really. Actually, you also formed a water barrier, but you broke it at one point."

"…"

She looked at him with a serious and somehow cute expression.

"Thanks, Hao for…all this. At least now I know more about myself. But still, I need more information. But at least I know from which person I'm going to get it."

He stared at her a bit surprised, but then just smiled and nodded.

She stood up.

"Thanks for the sheltering…I'm on my way now."

"You could stay here a little longer, you know." Hao said with a nonchalant smile.

"I'd love to, but tomorrow I have a special person which I'd like to interrogate."

When she half exited the tent, she quickly added:

"But don't forget: even if I'm out the shaman fight and you're in the finalists, I'll still kick your butt afterwards, even if you win or not." Then was completely out.

"Good luck…" her slight voice was heard from outside.

Hao smiled. Then, it quickly transformed into a smirk at the thought of the fight. This time, there was absolutely no chance of failure. This time, he will finally be the shaman king.

X

"You know…it wasn't my heart which had beaten your spirit. It was actually my own burden."

Ren finished his story.

They talked. Quite a lot. About themselves. Each of them told a summary past. It was weird, but they somehow understood each other, and that was the reason why they were open... Even if they didn't know each other at first….Somehow you just need to tell your whole life story to a stranger. Just because you feel so. Just because you feel that he'll understand and won't judge you. Just because…

He's there.

"It's getting quite late. Tomorrow are the finals, I think you need to rest." Miyako said after a short silent pause.

Ren smiled a bit and stood up.

"Ok then, I'll be on my way-"

"But before you go home, I need you to do something. Remember the favor?..."

X

The purple haired boy stood on the window ledge watching a brown haired girl deeply sleeping in her bed. Her necklace was exposed in the moonlight.

It was strange. Why did Miyako ask him to do this? At least it wasn't any harm. It was just a replacement…

He silently took the blue stone from her neck. Then, on the lace he put another blue pendant, which looked exactly like it. Ren felt a bit bad, but a deal is a deal. Besides, he didn't trust this person sleeping in front of him either. Somehow, he felt that the girl was connected to Hao. He disliked that man in every way possible and tomorrow…

He will defeat him. No matter in which circumstances, no matter if Yoh seemed to have changed his attitude towards his brother and became more peaceful. Tomorrow he will defeat Hao once and for all.

He jumped off the window.

In the moonlight, the pendant wasn't shining anymore.

In the moonlight, Rilury was sleeping peacefully, with no nightmares this time.