Chapter XXI

Human

Rilury woke up early in the morning. She has slept so well that her organism fulfilled its energy again.

She came downstairs, looking for her mother to ask her some very important questions about her whole life, her origins, thins which will make her fully understand the situation…

Akira couldn't be found anywhere. Oh right, this day were the finals taking place. She probably joined the departure.

After what she heard, the last round would take place in the spirit forest, near the Great Column of Light. The road there would at least take a few hours, so she had to wait a while until she returned.

After a little walk on the empty alley, she looked for another way to spend her time…Right! She could visit that basta-…

Oh, right, he is in the fight…

Come to think of it, she couldn't call Hao a bastard after all what happened yesterday. He hasn't said a single biting remark, he actually comported himself really nice and even… took care of her.

Come to think of it, now that she's left all alone, she kind of…misses him.

X

The Final Round was about to begin.

That was it. A last final battle.

Goldva took his solemn official position and began his speech.

"…In this final Part, only the spirit forest can influence who shall be the chosen king. This is why, you will NOT battle one vs one. This would be a survival round."

His words were followed by the exclamations of the contestants or surprised expressions. From all of them, only Hao had a calm, usual, but confident smirk and Yoh an unusual sad smile.

"A future king should be able to fight in every condition. But here, the result depends on whether or not you have comported yourself as a king until now."

Everyone had a puzzled expression, except for Hao, who let out smiling a small mutter of a "Hmph".

"What do you mean by that?! Hasn't fighting decided everything up until now?" Horohoro asked a bit loudly, being intrigued.

"Impatience. Not a desirable quality for a ruler." Goldva responded with a smug. After a cough, he continued.

"This is a survival match. You can team up with however you'd like. There are no rules implied, just the lone survivor will be allowed to exit the forest.

This is why your attitude matters. If you have so far gained your competitors' trust or admiration, you have more chances to team up with them and beat your supposed stronger enemy. Leadership and tactics are extremely important."

Most of the contestants remained silent, thinking about what they've done so far to accomplish those requirements.

"Now, if you have no more questions, please go near the entrance. When you'll all gather there, the spirit lights will teleport you in the forest."

Most of them went nearside the entrance. Only Hao remained behind and even went towards Goldva, speaking on a normal tone, but which others still could not hear.

"All this blabbering might fool them, old man, but not me. I've been in the finals before, and this round's structure is quite a premiere" he said with a calm smug.

"Times are changing, so we're trying to adapt in order to maintain balance." Goldva spoke, not looking at him and apparently with calm tone which hid a worried breath.

Hao responded with an even more confident smirk.

"Hmph. Don't bother covering yourself. I know you did all this to defeat me" his air became intimidating. "Heh, I appreciate your subtle tenacity, but I'm afraid all this will be in vain." His irony brought the conversation on a lighter tone.

After his last words, he went among the contestants, leaving Goldva with a relieved sigh. His late entrance made everyone breath an uneasy air. They went through the monumental tunnel made out of marble. Complete silence.

They arrived at the entrance of a great, wide forest. They were all there: Yoh, Ryu, Faust, Ren, Chocolove, Horohoro, Jeanne, Marco and Lyserg.

And last but definitely not least: Luchist and Hao.

Only four teams which made into the finals.

Goldva let a sigh. A sigh which wasn't relieving, but more despondent.

He hit the ground with his sacred staff.

"All those words been said, let The Final Round begin!"

Column of lights appeared out of nowhere, unveiling each contestant and teleporting him in a random place.

X

The forest was fast, so therefore it will take quite a while for the people to meet up. But for Ren it wasn't a big deal, after all, he had been there in the first tournament and had defeated quite a bunch of Hao's followers.

Actually, he already managed to meet up with some of his comrades. Those were Ryu, Faust, Marco and…Yoh, who was walking nearside him with a calm, tossing walk.

For some reason or another, lately Yoh has been only pissing off Ren because of his laid back attitude. He didn't have the same hatred for Hao as before, and also, not only that he seemed to have lost the glance of passion when he fights, but also he always responded with peaceful replies whenever Ren would want to discuss about the Shaman Fight. The most used one was: "It will all work out…"

'Work out in my ass, maybe!' Rent spoke in his mind, and an annoyed grin appeared on his face. He wanted to say that right to his face.

When Ren looked at it, he saw a serene smile, and a composure that puzzled him for a second. But when he realized that, a vein popped on Ren's forehead.

"Tsk." He stopped walking.

"What is it, Ren?" Yoh asked with a sincere wonder.

Ren spoke gravely:

"I know you haven't taken me seriously not even by now, but the time has come, whether you like it or not. I already talked with the others. This is why Marco didn't attack us from the beginning."

Yoh had a sad glance in his eyes, but a smile full of acceptance.

"I see…so what are you planning to do, Ren?"

"I will lead the squad and defeat Hao once and for all." He said categorically.

"Mhm. That's the right thing to do." He nodded in approval.

Ren crossed his arms.

"Hmph. I thought that you didn't want to apply this method anymore."

"That's right."

Ren's eyes became a bit surprised.

"This is not the method I opt for, but I will not hesitate to help you when you'll need it. After all, each one of us has his own different way of understanding the good vs bad thing"

"What do you mean?"

"I also want to defeat Hao. But not him as a shaman, but his very own heart."

Ren didn't know how to react for a second. Then he chuckled.

"Hm..those weird things you say lately…" he responded with a sort of a satisfied smile. "Well, at least you've decided to join us, even if you're in the back lines. Such a pity, you might even be as strong as I am." He said with his usual arrogant, but sort of friendly tone.

"He-he" Yoh's grin returned on his face, but Ren looked away and decided to walk a bit faster and determined.

X

"Yoh-dono, watch out!" Ryu's warning hadn't reached Yoh's ears, as Luchist's angel was attacking from behind. The weapon was blocked by Ren's kwan dao.

After the smoke cleared, Ren looked at Yoh with his usual arrogant, but friendly smile.

"Honestly, Yoh, you should pay more attention."

Yoh responded with a grateful brighten grin.

They've met Luchist a couple of minutes ago and they've already started fighting. Even if he was all alone, he was quite a strong shaman and beating him would take a while.

"In this way, we'll waste bunch of furyoku, which we'll need for our plan." Faust said analyzing the statistics.

Luchist made another attack towards the group. This time, Marco summoned his bright angel.

"This is why there is no need to waste it here anymore. I'll deal on my own with my old comrade."

"Comrade?" Yoh and Ren asked together surprised.

"Exactly. Luchist was part of the X-Laws, he was a good shaman. But he joined forces with Hao."

A quick attack from the black angel. Marco blocked it just in time.

"My, my. Haven't I already told you, Marco? That good and bad are only concepts established by the strongest person? Just a nature's law?" Luchist said with a confident and mischievous smile.

"Oh! Now that you've mentioned that, I already know the whole story!" Yoh said a bit thoughtful.

"How could you forget such a thing?" Ren asked with a vein popped on his forehead.

"Well, it's a long story, he-he…."* Yoh said with a flustered grin.

"There's no time for chatting! Go and save the world!" Marco said, barely holding Luchist's attack aimed at them.

"Come on Ren, let's go! I'll explain it on the road." Yoh said with a determined smile.

X

In the middle of the silent forest, a composed brown-haired boy was sitting on a rock.

Hao hasn't even moved from the spot he was brought by the spirit light. He wanted to be found.

Luchist, as planned, went searching, apparently to make a few damaged. But his master knew that he had to resolve some comrade issues.

Hao took this time to enjoy the peaceful nature, to contemplate the wildness.

So beautiful…This serenity reminded him of his utopia, which was finally about to become real.

No pollution, no wars, no hateful feelings. Just peace and nature, a Planet of which existence will be extended once it got rid of those parasites.

Thing which he would definitely do. Then all of them, shamans, will live in harmony…

Thinking about his kingdom, he reminded himself of how he would always tell Opacho about all of this. About what was predestined to happen. He somehow wanted her to be here.

But she abdicated at the request of her master. It was too dangerous, and also…Hao didn't want to let the same thing, which happened last time, to occur again…But in this case, this reason was irrelevant.

Because nothing could fail, really. Of course, last time they've battled, things didn't turn out to be as he expected. But that time, he wasn't emotionally stable, he let the hatred of his human being take control of himself… Quite ironic, as he thought he got rid of that part long ago…

But now, he was even stronger. He could feel the power flowing through his veins. And also, he had control of himself. Because in this period he's been experiencing a strong composure. A strange, and somehow the most powerful serenity he's ever had in a long time. Weir, it started since yesterday…Perhaps he just felt confident. Or perhaps…

"Hmph." He let out an ironic sound bonded with a smirk.

After he'll become king, she'll finally understand…And join him. The she, no, they will-…

Thoughts… insecure ones. He heard them approaching. And he knew exactly who it was.

"Why are you hiding? I thought you knew about my ability up until now. Or perhaps… you didn't plan to find me in the first place?"

Lyserg discovered himself from behind the trees. Up until a few seconds he was thinking calmly about the plan. Trying to add some details. But when he heard a slight sound, his typical sound, his heart started racing. He wasn't prepared for it. He stood right on the spot, but Hao discovered him.

"Perhaps you've realized now, that thoughts are getting louder according to your emotions. So this meeting wasn't indeed planned." Hao spoke calmly.

The tension was rising. Even though, if Lyserg would let his hatred, which he had hardly work to get rid of, fully overwhelm his body, his power will increase. Just like a fully opened tap. But it will only flow for a short time. And the jet would still be not strong enough.

"You're left here, all alone, with me. What are you going to do now?" Hao asked calmly, with a dangerous smirk.

Even though he couldn't stand a chance to defeat him, perhaps he'll survive long enough until the others came. They should have all gathered up by now.

Or maybe, he would control it and even get the chance to escape.

Or maintaining his human side. But, in this way, death was inevitable.

"So what do you choose, Lyserg?" Hao asked him with threatening eyes and burning flames in his hands...

To be continued…

*read the manga for further details xD

Author's note: Well, now the action is about to begin! But in the next chapter, sorry for the cliff hanger, but it's late and I need a bit of sleep :D. Also, sorry for my grammar mistakes, promise I'll revise my chapters someday! xD But I'll definitely correct some words here and there for now :)

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed! And also, I'd like to hear your opinion about how do you think I've portrayed Hao up until now, in this whole story. But in two categories, if I might: 1. His relations with the outside world. 2. His inner-self... Or do you think it's too soon to ask about this? Well, at least tell me about this chapter xD

Also, this request is also available for Tao Ren and Yoh! (and maybe even Lyserg? even though I hand't written too much about him..yet) Why I'm asking this? Because this is what the chapter is all about: the human side of each character, with its good and bad things, conceptions and perspectives. Writting this chapter just woke up my interest about it :)

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the chapter! Even though I didn't plan to write this much as a prologue of the fight, it just came to me. It was the missing piece of this action puzzle. What makes them act in such a way.

All right, I've blabbered too much now (no flames! xD) .

Can't wait to read your reviews :3