Summon Night 2: Rebirth

by Bre17

Bre17: I'll have the next chapter up soon, I promise!

2. Wind Fortress

A young girl no older then six let out a groan of discomfort, rolling and shifting around a bit before opening her small eyes; everything was blurry at first, but then they slowly came into focus, one by one. Sitting up, the girl looked around, trying to remember where she was and what had happened. ' Nii-san and I were eating dinner with daddy, then someone knocked at the door..' the little girl furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. ' Then daddy told us to stay in the house and rushed off with someone else. After that...' pain throbbed sharply through her head, making the young girl wince and bring a hand to her forehead. When she brough it away, it was wet with-- ' Blood..?' she thought in alarm. ' Oh! A little after dad left the ground started to shake, then I felt something was really wrong. I.. I shouted for Nii-san to get away from the windows... I grabbed him and forced him under the table, pieces of the celing were falling, and then...' The girl frowned. ' And then... a.. flash...?'

Hwe hands began to tremble and shake from supporting her own weight, so she knew they wouldn't keep her up from much longer; a loud moan of pain snapped her out of her dazed thoughts. ' Wasn't that... Nii-san?!' gathering what little strength she had left, she force her body to stand up and stumbled over to where she had last seen him, collapsing to her knees in front of what had been the kitchen table. " Nii-san..!" She whispered hoarsely, using her trembling fingers to dig in the huge pile of shattered wooden shards, wincing over so often when she felt slivers of wood bury themself in her skin. Soon enough, she was able to see the unconicous body of her twin brother, Edgar. " Nii-san.." Using two fingers, she checked his pulse, and was relieved when she felt it beating strongly, indicateding that he was merely knocked out but was well alive. ' Thank goodness..' the girl though numbly, using her arms to catch herself from falling on Edgar; by now her body was not only shaking from exhaustion, but from pain as well. The young girl looked down at her dirty and torn outfit: aside from the blood running down her temple, the girl had small scratchs covering her legs, as well as a few long ones running up her arms. A deep gash opened on her left shoulder, but her worst injury was a huge peice of wood sticking out from under where her heart should be. ' A-Am I dying..?' She wondered, then shook her head. ' Dad.. I have to get to Dad!'

" Beverly! Edgar!! Can you hear me?!"

Though her vision was starting to fade, the young girl was able to hear just fine. ' D-Daddy?' Happiness swept over her tired body. ' He's alive too... thank kami..'

" EDGAR! BEV!!"

( With Graham and Blaire)

" EDGAR! BEV!!"

Blaire shook his head hopelessly. " Graham.. there's no way--" But his friend just ignored him and continued to call out despertley(sp?). " Egar..! Beverly! Please, answer!"

As if answering him, a soft, small voice began to echo, Graham recongnized it immeditaly. " Bev!" Surprised by the older man's outburst, Blaire jerked his up to see Graham sprinting furthur up the hill, toward the ruins of his house. ' Could it be..?' Feeling hopeful, the red-headed man ran up the hill after his friend.

Meanwhile, the young girl had lost her breath and was forced to stop her singing, but she knew that she had gotten his attention. Dimly, she listened to the voices as her vision continued to fade away.

" Graham! I found Edgar!"

" Really?!"

"..He should be alright. He has a concussion, and it look's like he broke his arm, but other then that he's alive."

" Thank kami.. But where's..?"

" I don't know, Graham. She may still be buried under the debris."

" Then help me look!"

Meanwhile the little girl, hearing their conversation, smiled weakly when she heard that her brother would be alright. ' My life may end... but a least I was able to save Nii-san.' the girl thought distantly, her breathing becoming slower and more shallow. Just as her eyes where about to close forever, a gasp followed by a sharp intake of breath made her open her eyes fully, raising her head till she caught the gaze of Blaire. " My.. kami..." He breathed, his eyes scanning her injurys on her small body. " Graham! GRAHAM! Come here, quick!!" Sure enough, she heard hurried and heavy foot steps pounding along the earth and remains of their house, causing quite a racket.

Once again the young girl forced herself to raise her head, looking up to see the distrought look of her father as he kneeled down on his knees and gathered her up in his arms.

" Oh, Bev.." She heard him whisper in anguish. " What happened to you..?" the girl merely gave a small smile. " It.. doesn't matter.." she rasped. " At least.. d-daddy and n-nii-san are... safe.."

" Don't talk.." Graham said softly, standing up with his daughter in his arms. " Blaire, we have to get her some treatment right away..! or else she'll--" Blaire shook his head again, grief and sorrow in his own eyes. " She's lost to much blood, Graham. Even if we can heal her, there's only a slim chance she'll survive through the night."

Slience filled the air except for the slow breathing of the young girl. Worried that his friend hadn't answered him, Blaire gently gripped Graham's shoulder. " Graham--" He cut off his sentence when he saw a bright, redish glow radiating from the blond man, sparkles of magic floating gently onto his daughter's body; Blaire's eyes widened in horror when he realized what Graham was doing. " Graham, NO! If you transfer all of your power in your state--"

" It's the only way to save my little girl, Blaire!" The older man snapped, eyes closed in concentration. " If I lost her too, my whole life will mean nothing! And I'm pretty sure the same thing would go for Edgar! Please, Blaire..." His voice lowered dramatically to a mere whisper. " After I'm gone.. Look after my children, please..."

Finally acknowledging that Graham had his heart set on this, Blaire felt his own throb before he closed his eyes in acceptance. " You have my word, Graham.." Blaire said in a solemn, serious tone. " I'll watch after the twins with my own life.." Graham lifted his weary head and smiled at his long-time friend from over his shoulder.

" I promise..."

Loki watched with slight worry as his new master whimpered in her sleep, clenching the blankets every now in then. ' Bev.. I'm so sorry...' Loki thought sadly, watching her with amber eyes filled with regret. ' None of this wouldn't of happened if I wasn't so reckless...'

With a sigh, the oni-child turned around the other way to face the wall, crossing his arms as he sank in despair over what he had done. Because of that, he didn't see his master's

eyes flutter open...

(DREAM SEQUENCE)

" I... I'm sorry, Beverly..."

" Dad..?"

" From now on you'll most likely face many hardships. But you musn't give up."

" What happening to you, Dad?"

" I used all of my power to save you. It took me away from you.. but I don't regret it!"

" What do you mean?"

" Bev, you're..."

" Dad?!"

"..."

" DADDY!!"

(END OF DREAM)

My eyes fluttered open, revealing sleepy grey orbs that held a hint of sadness in them. ' Dad...' I sighed and placed the back of my hand on my forehead. ' Why did you--'

" Bev, your finally awake!" came Loki's excited voice from my left. " Hey, Tatianna! Bev's awake!"

" Really!?"

" What? What's wrong?" I asked in confusion. " Why are you shouting?" The next moment, I heard the clatter of footsteps and thumping as someone ran down the stairs; I sat up and

looked to the right to see.. " Tatianna... What's all the commotion about?" I questioned. The small red-head huffed indiginatly. " It's about you stupid! You had us worried sick!" She

cried, then softened her tone. " You've been unconscious ever since you came back..." Tatianna sniffed and trembled slightly. " I feared the worst... I couldn't do anything to help you. I felt so awful!" I blinked several times, retaining my look of confusion and bewilderment. " Hey, hey, hey. Relax girl!" Loki stated easily as he sat down on the side of my bed. I

sent the oni a curious glance before turning back to my adoptive sister. " Hey, what's going on?" I asked again. Tatianna frowned, eyebrows furrowing. " I wish I knew!" She repiled

grimly. " Dad and some people went to check Goura's Gate. We heard that something strange was happening there, and when the arrived, they found you passed out on the ground!"

Upon hearing the word 'Dad', I sat up, fully awakened and alerted. " Oh, Master Blaire!" I exclaimed. " Is he okay?" The petite red-head smiled. " Don't worry, he'll be alright." She

said reassuringly. " He's injured, but he'll recover. He's upstairs resting." I let out the breath I was holding as a big sigh of relief. " Whew! He survived..." I murmured. " Then Loki

and I brought you back here." Tatianna continued. " Your heavy.." I pouted at Tatianna's insult and began to sulk. " I am not!" I insisted. " I was just carrying a huge hammer."

" Orin went back to the Chief's place as soon as we got back." The chibi girl said, sounding puzzled. " What happened to you before we got there?" I crossed my arms and cupped my

chain, narrowing my eyes in thought. " Well.." Another pressing thought came to mind. " Oh! What happened to Ryouga..?!" I questioned, feeling very lost, angered, and betrayed.

Tatianna took a step back in surprise at my outburst, her eyes wide. " Don't ask me. I didn't see him.." She repiled nervously. My frowned deepened and I looked to my partner.

" Loki! Your were there. What happened?" I asked urgently. The oni-child wore a scowl. " He ran off!" He answered with a hint of disgust. I looked down, my angry expression

switching to a sad one. " Anyway, Dad wanted to see you when you were feeling up to it." Tatianna began, breaking the depressing silence. " Can you stand?" I lifted my head up

and smiled. " Yeah. He's upstairs, right?" I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and stood up; Loki immeditaly supported me when I began to stagger. It was obivous that my legs

couldn't support my full weight yet.

Once upstairs, I immeditaly left Loki's side and rushed to Blaire's beside, concern and worry written all over my face. " Master, are you alright?" I asked sadly. Blaire turned his to me and just smiled his usual smile. " Oh, Bev. Your awake, good.." He said tiredly yet cheerfully. " Master, I'm sorry.. this is all my fault." I apologized, guilt flashing a split second in my eyes. " Nonsense, I was just careless, that's all." Blaire stated firmly. Tatianna, however, was not so forgiving. " What!? Your hurt because of what Bev did!?" She turned accusing eyes towards my direction, making me flinch. "... I-I can't apologize enough, huh?" I asked weakly. " No, it's not Bev's fault!" Loki insisted, determined on defending his master.

" It was Ryouga! He made some sort of pact with Gedharm, and--"

" NO!"

Loki stopped in mid-sentence and looked at me in shock, as did everyone else. " I-I wasn't Ryouga! There has to be some explantion..." Silence filled the room for brief moments, then Blaire shook his head. " Regardless, we must face the facts," He said seriously, looking at me when he said it. " Ryouga, in fact, is a Summon Creature awaiting the return of Goura."

" Ryouga's a Summon Creature?!" Tatianna asked in disbelief, then glanced towards me. " Did you know this, Bev?" I didn't say anything, only looking down at the wooden floor with sad eyes; Loki felt nothing but sympathy as he looked at his master from the corner of his eye. " Tatianna--"

" No, Father!" She cut him off angrily before spinning around to face me again. " Ryouga is you and Edgar's dearest friend! Why would he do something like this!?" Though I continue to stay silent, inside I was wondering the same thing. " Enough, Tatianna!" The red-haired man said sharply, his voice raising slightly and stunning his daughter. " Don't you think Bev is shocked? She has a even more reason to be surprised then any of us." Realizing that her father was right, the younger girl's expression switched from angry to sad and guilty within seconds. "..I'm sorry, Bev." She said in a small voice. I lifted my head and sent a forgiving smile to her. " It's alright," I said reassuringly. " But.. I don't know what to do now..."

" You have to reseal the gate, Beverly." Blaire said with an air of authority. I turned to the red-haired older man, eyes wide with surprise and disbelief. " Master..."

Blaire coughed a few times behind his hand before continuing. " Even though the seal's been broken, Goura's still inside the gate. It seems that, because the seal was forcefully broken, countermeasures in the Chamber of Seals trapped Goura inside... In situations like these, the spell that allows you to directly teleport to the chamber is nullified... We can't risk letting Goura escape using magic. Of course, we can't open the gate either. Right now our best bet is to seal the ruins themselves to keep Goura from escaping." Tatianna let out a shaky, relieved sigh. " Then at least our village will be safe..." She murmured. Blaire, wasn't so ethusistic about this bit of news as his daughter was. " However, as time passes Goura will slowly regain his strength. It will eventually break through the ground itself and escape that way." Blaire said solemnly. " No! We have to flee before that happens!" Tatianna cried, sounding both confident and alarmed. " Have you already forgotten, Tatianna?" He asked harshly. " The whole purpose of this village is to protect the seal of Goura..." Tatianna closed her mouth then, looking down at the floor in shame and embrassment, I patted her shoulder soothingly. " First of all, Beverly..." Blaire began in a air of authority. " You must find the sword... You must find the Daemon Edge!" Upon hearing the name of the legendary sword, my eyes widened in realization before furrowing her eyebrows. " Daemon Edge..." I murmured, mostly to myself. " Don't you remember? I know I've told you about it. It's the sword that sealed Goura." Blaire said informingly. I nodded thoughtfully and crossed my arms, a habit I did when I thought seriously. " Daemon Edge... The sword forged specifically to seal Goura away..." I said quietly, eyes emotionless as I looked back up at my Master.

" It's said to be in the Wind Fortress in the forest, but nobody know's where it is..." The Master Craftknight nodded approvingly at his student's knowledge. " That's right... and only one person will be able to use this sword..." He trailed off, servaying me as he spoke. " One person in the world... the one with the Summonite Gem held with it's body. The Edge Fencer! That's you, Beverly..." I nodded my head for the second time, my expression grim. " I know..."

" You're the Edge Fencer. You're the only one who can keep Goura sealed in the ruins!" He continued, sitting up fully. " I'm the only one..." I repeated. " I'm sure you felt the power of the Summonite inside of your body when you transformed in the ruins." Blaire stated, making me shift in surprise. " When I transformed..." I whispered. " I... remember that..."

I winced as my head throbbed from the memory. Blaire looked at me sympathically as I struggled with myself. " It's okay, you can relax now." He said soothingly. " The Summonite in your body reacted to Goura's power and transformed you!" I frowned, yet again, and muttered to myself, " The summonite reacted when I got close to Goura..." I looked back up at my foster father with a look of helplessness. " But if I transform again... would I be able to control that power?"

" Don't be afraid of your power!" Blaire suddenly barked, snapping me out of my self-pity. " My power..." I murmured, mystifed at Blaire's outburst. Blaire opened one eye and gave me a firm, strict kind of look. " Your fear makes you doubt yourself and your will is weakened." Blaire explained, then started to smile again. " If you remain strong, you'll be able to reamin in control of your power. So don't doubt yourself!" I started to protest, but the older man simply waved it off. " You should know this already! Your father was the Edge Fencer before you... Graham saved this entire village and you and your brother with that power. And now it's you..." My eyes saddened for a moment, but then returned to normal. ' Father...'

" I'm sorry, Beverly..." Blaire said suddenly with sincereity. " But as I said, you're the only one who is able to wield the Daemon Edge. Your the only one we can count on, Beverly."

I was amazed, amazed that my master had so much faith in me. ' Oh, Master...'

" We need you, Beverly..." Instead of opening one eye, he opened both as he looked at me seriously. " Go get the Daemon Edge... Then seal Goura away... Seal Goura..-- Ugh.. Gack!" Blaire stopped in mid-sentence as he went into a coughing fit, collapsing back onto the pillows and falling silent. " Ma-Master?" I asked worriedly. " Master!"

" Stop... Shouting..."

Tatianna and I sighed in relief simutinaously, while Loki just grinned. " Good.. He's still alive..." Blaire let out a snort from under the blankets. " I told you that I'll be fine." The Craftknight said reprimandingly. " I.. I'm just tired. I'll go to sleep now. This is a nice bed, Beverly... I should've taken it earlier." I smiled weakly. " I'll just go away then.." I said quietly. But when I turned to leave the room, I found a breathless Orin standing at the door. " Oh, Beverly... You've recovered!" Orin said with a happy smile. " Hey! Can you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep." Blaire protested from under the covers. " Oh. Sorry, Dad." He apologized. " I went to see the Chief and told him what happened. He said that we'll have a

meeting. Shall we go?" Tatianna nodded in agreement, and walked around me to her brother's side. " Yeah, let's go." She chimed, and followed after Orin. I turned to Loki with a smile.

" We should go, too. Loki." I informed him. Loki nodded too, bearing his trademark grin.

Sure enough, both Loki and I stood on the small hill in front of angry and worried villagers moments later. " Stand down, people." The chief said boomed sternly, causing the crowd to silence. " Now is not the time to start arguing amongst ourselves! We have to work together to prevent Goura from re-entering our world!" The Chief servayed the crowd of people with such serious eyes, that no one dare spoke.

" Like I was saying," He continued. " We need the Daemon Edge to seal Goura away... We actually don't know where the Daemon Edge is since Guren attacked the village over 12 years ago." Loki snorted in disbelief. " How could you lose a magic sword?" I elbowed my partner in the sharply in the stomach, shutting him up effectively. Thankfully the Mayor went on as if Loki had said nothing. " However, Goura is currently trapped underground in the ruins beyond the gate. In the meantime, we must recover the Daemon Edge and seal it again!"

" Seal Goura away..." A villager muttered. The mayor turned to face me as he continued his talk to the people. " Because Beverly is the only one who can handle the Daemon Edge,

we must trust Beverly. We're going to have to keep an eye on the sacred ruins so Goura can't escape!" I said nothing as the Mayor looked at me with grim and sympathic eyes, startling me as it had with Master Blaire. " It's a heavy burden, Beverly..." He said solemnly. " We're counting on you, Edge Fencer!"

I looked at my chief with wide eyes, then turned to look at the crowd of innceont villagers. " Consider it found!" I said finally and confidently.

Unfortuntely, no one seemed convinced. " I don't believe that..." The mayor and I turned to face the villager who had spoken. " What?" The old man frowned. " Why not?"

" This was Beverly's fault to begin with, wasn't it!?"

" It's true! the truth hurts, doesn't it?"

" Beverly broke the sacred law of our village by taking Ryouga to the ruins."

" How can we believe you now when you couldn't even follow our rules!?"

Loki growled threatingly, but I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. " Loki..." I said softly but warningly. " I've already sworn an oath to the people of this village. my promise to Ryouga meant nothing in comparison... I've shamed myself by continuing to say that a Craftknight's promise is stronger then anything else..."

" Aren't you just going to run away instead of trying to find the Daemon Edge?"

I gasped. " No!"

" Perhaps... You're the one who want's to see Goura revived, aren't you Beverly!?"

I continued to shake my head. " No...!"

" Really?"

" What the heck?"

" Who is this!?"

Meanwhile, Loki had gotten fed up with the villager's attitudes toward his new master. " Screw you guys! You need to trust Beverly!" He snarled, making the young woman beside him jump in surprise. " Loki...?"

" Quite your whining and trust in Bev!" Loki continued. " Beverly is definitely going to find that Daemon Edge and will seal Goura!" He glared hard at the group of people. " Trust in Beverly!"

" How do you know this? We just met you!"

" Because Beverly is my master!" The Gaurdian Creature stated firmly. " And I am Beverly's Gaurdian Beast! As long as I'm Beverly's gaurdian, nobody can beat us! I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to find the Daemon Edge and seal Goura away!" Happy the my Gaurdian Creature was on my side, I tilted my head and grinned at him. " And what make's you so confident?" I challanged. But before Loki had a chance to answer, Orin started to burst out in laughter from his place down in the clearing. " Hahaaha! Perfect!" He exclaimed, making the villagers look at him in curiousity. " You can do it! I believe in you, Beverly!"

" Me, too!" Tatianna chimed in, smiling in encouragment. " Orin.. Tatianna..." I whispered to myself before closing my eyes. " Thank you..."

Meanwhile, two certain swordsmen entered Cliff Village.

' Finally, I'm home...' The young blond man thought wistfully, looking around while taking in everything carefully. ' Nothing hasn't changed...' " Oi, Tetsuuya." Came his companion's voice sharply. " If you want to see them, then we better hurry. We don't know when we'll be called back." The young man known as Tetsuuya nodded in understanding and walked down the dirt path. ' Yumiko.. Will you ever forgive me? I--' His thoughts were interrupted when his teacher quickly yanked him behind a house. He opened his mouth to object, but the older man held a finger to his lips and pointed foreward; Tetsuuya followed his finger, and felt his eyes widen at what he saw.

" All right! Let's make a new weapon and go find the Daemon Edge!" I chirped confidently as Loki and I walked down the village path that led back to Master's house. " W-Whoa..!" Loki instantly darted to my side and held me balance myself before I fell flat on my face. " Hey, are you sure your better now?" Loki asked with a frown, concern lacing in his tone. " Take it easy, okay?" I regained my breath and sent my partner a smile of graditude as I straightened. " Yeah, I'm fine." I answered reassuringly. " Thanks for worrying about me, Loki." The oni-child gave a smile back, then started to continue down the trail; I stood where I was for a couple of seconds, then slowly looked over my shoulder with sharp eyes, aware that I was now being watched by someone. Loki's called back to me, telling me to hurry up, I gave a cheerful answer and started to run after the oni, but not before looking over my shoulder one last time. When I had disappeared from sight, Tetsuuya stepped out from behind a house, an odd but solemn, and forlorn expression.

" Hey, have you ever made weapons without Master's supervision?" Loki asked curiously as we headed down the stairs which took us to the basement/workshop. " Hmm?" I was kind of surprised by the question, come to think of it, I never really have before.. " I've used these materials before to make a weapon of Master so many times..." I murmured, then looked up at Loki with my usual smile. " It'll be like when we made a weapon together yesterday. It'll be fine." Loki nodded, seeming appeased with my answer. " Well then, let's get started!" He stated with a grin. A little over half an hour later, the Amateur Knife laid before us in front of the furnance, looking slightly different from the last one. Loki, however, didn't seem to notice. " Aaaaaaand... Done!" He boasted. " What do you think? Wasn't I a big help?" I frowned at his question, looking down at our weapon that was now cooling off. " Hmm.." I murmured thoughtfully. ' Well, we finished, but Loki wasn't that much help..' I mused solemnly. ' He made a lot of mistakes, and it took extra work on my part... What should I tell him?' I brooded on it for a few minutes, then broke the silence. " This isn't a good weapon." I repiled earnestly with a weak smile. Loki's grin flipped to a scowl of surprise. " What? But I helped make it!" He said angrily. " You must be joking. Let me see the sword!" I handed it to him with a bewildered expression. But when Loki held it up and did a few test swings, it broke in half adurptly. " It broke!" Loki stated in shock. " What the hell happened? Was it something I did?" I shook my head a gave a carefree, eyes closed smile. " No, your still just a beginner. It's okay to make mistakes. I could've helped more..." The oni child frowned again. " Aww.. Crap!" He blurted out suddenly. " Are you going to keep point out ever single mistake I make?" I opened my eyes, startled at his outburst. " Is this the kind of partnership Blaire was talking about?" Loki continued. This time it was my turn to frown. ' Partner..' I raised my head again when I heard the young oni sigh in slight exsperation. " Bev... All I know about forging is what you taught me!" Loki said seriously. " If you don't tell me when I make a mistake, I'll never learn! And I'll never get any better!" His face hardened. " It's terrible!" I lowered my head as my expression turned to that of sadness. " I'm a Guardian Beast in service to a Craftknight. I ought to be able to forge weapons as well!" The oni child argued. I smiled again. ' Loki.. In order to make good weapons.. I have to be honest with Loki...' I mused, remembering Master Blaire's words. " I'm sorry, Loki. It was my fault... I should've helped more." I said gravely, but this only served to irritate my companion furthur. " You still don't understand!" He cried, exseperated. " You shouldn't have to hold my hand through everything we do together!" I snorted in disbelief and shook my head. " No, you're taking it the wrong way!" I exclaimed. " I mean, I'm sorry I was completely honest with you." A smile began to creep over the young oni's face. " Beverly..?" He whispered hopefully. " Yeah, it's your fault, Loki! That's why the sword broke!" I barked out. " You were so slow that I couldn't help you, you know?" Loki didn't say anything, he merely looked at me with a speechless look. " It's like the last time! If you'd pay attention to what I tell you, we wouldn't have failed!" When the oni let out a groan, I halted my lecture and stared at him in confusion. " What?" I asked with wide eyes. With his normal smirk plastered on his face, he lifted his head to stare at me. " You think I'm lazy, don't you?" He asked in a challanging tone. I furrowed my eyebrows as I glared back at him. " Yes. Your too slow." I answered. " Hey, hey, hey! Why are you telling me this?" Loki demanded in irritation. " We need to tell the truth, even if it's not pleasant. It's the only way we'll learn to make great weapons." I repiled back sternly. Loki scoffed and looked in another direction. " It's not like you're a great teacher or anything! Do you think it's easy listening to you?" The white-haired oni questioned. I bit back a retort, realizing that my rash guardian was right on that one. " You have to have better explanations if you expect me to know what the heck you're talking about." He finished with a grin. " I.. I suppose I should work on that." I admitted confidently. The oni nodded in agreement. " Fine. Then mabey we'll actually succeed... You've got to be ready, okay?" I felt my own lips curl up in a grin. ' Loki...' " Ha! I'll probably turn out to be a better Craftknight then you!" Loki challanged arrogantly. " And then you can work for me! You'll be my Summon Human. Bring it on, Beverly!" I only laughed nervously. ' I wonder if this is the partnership Master Blaire had in mind...' I wondered in curiousity. That's when I realized something. " Oh, we don't have anymore materials. We could go into the forest to get some more..." I pondered. " But it's dangerous to go there without a weapon, right?" Loki asked, then shook his head. " We'll have to borrow one from somebody."

" Don't be so sure!" Jumping from shock and surprise from the familar voice booming from above, Loki and I whirrled around to see Master Blaire behind us with a stern expression. Whenever he had the look, you could always be sure you were in trouble. " M-M-Master!" We suttered, startled by his sudden appearance. " Are you feeling better?" I asked in concern. Blaire coughed before waving his hand dismissively. " Yeah, Beverly..." He answered. " But have you already forgotten about the Spirit of the Craftknight?" I just shook my head in response. " You have to make your own weapon! No Craftknight would go into battle with someone else's sword!" The older man shouted, making his students jump again. " It'd be like... wearing their underwear! Yeurgh!" Loki scowled. " But you know, the forest is dangerous! How can she fight without any weapons?" He argued. That's when Blaire started to smile again. " Your forgetting an important fact. Beverly still has a hammer." He informed. " Are you actually expecting her to fight with that hammer?" The oni-child asked in surprise. The red-headed man nodded again. " That's right! You must remember, Loki. A hammer is not for forging weapons." His eyes turned serious for a moment. " It forges a woman!" I sighed, speechless beyond words. Master Blaire really could be strange sometimes. " Do you understand? Work hard, Beverly!" Blaire said with encouragment, then walked away and back up the stairs. " It sounds like he's feeling better..." I mused. " After all that work, we're back to using the hammer. Well, let's head over to the forest..." " To forge your womanhood!" Loki snickered. I just smacked him on the back of the head for his comment, then the two of us climbed up the stairs and left the workshop.

A little later, Loki and I were walking through the forest leisurely, the newly made Metal Saber hanging from my lower backside. " Finally! It's been such a long time since I've been outside of the village..!" I exclaimed with ethusisim, stretching my arms over my head briefly. " Well, shall we go, Loki?" Loki nodded vigorously, impaitent and eager to test out his skills on monsters.

To his disappointment, nothing came out to attack or hinder us almost an hour later, as we traveled farther and deeper into the woods. " This sucks!" Loki complained, folding his arms behind his head as we walked along the dirt path. " We haven't seen a hide or hair of anything!" I chuckled towards my Gaurdian Beast's actions, finding the situation amusing.

" Mabey it's better this way," I commented, tucking a loose red-golden strand behind my ear; the motion made the earrings dangling from my earlobes jingle slightly. " The faster we find the Daemon Edge without any distractions, the better." The oni-child only snorted and looked to the side, muttering something under my breath I was pretty sure had something to do with me.

' It's such a nice day out...' I mused, looking up the clear sky. ' Ryouga... Why did you do it? why did you betray us? betray me? are you really working together with Gedharm?

Ryouga, I don't understand...' A light snapping of a twig yanked me out of my thoughts, unfortuntely it was so quiet that Loki didn't hear it as he continued on ahead of me, whistling absent-mindly as his white hair drifted behind him. Forcing my body to relax as I walked after my Gaurdian Beast, I watched the bushes to my right as I passed them; Sure enough, a large shadow sped by me with amazing speed that rustled the plants and grass as it passed. ' Oh, boy.. looks like we're going to have a battle on our hands anyway.' I thought in slight irritation. ' Knew I spoke too soon.' Growling under my breath I sped up my pace untill I reached the oni-child's side, nudging his arm slightly to gain his attention. " Loki, be on gaurd," I whispered. " I saw something move back there. And judging from the size of it, it's not slime jelly." Loki grunted in understandment, a statisfactory smirk playing over his face when I mentioned we were going to have to fight. ' This path is too narrow, though..' I thought idly, doing a quick servay of our surroundings. ' It's going to be harder to fight whatever's watching us.' Gently but firmly I took a hold of Loki's hand and jogged slightly, the oni-child let out a noise of surprise when he felt his master pull him into a run, but otherwise did not struggle or object. " There's a clearing just up ahead, Loki!" I shouted over my shoulder, pointing ahead with my other hand. " We'll fight it there! That way we'll have more mobility agaisnt it!" Loki turned his head and opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't give him a chance as I used my full body to throw the both of us out of the way, careful not to land on my partner as we crashed to the ground; the rushing of the air over us alerted me that the monster was leaping over us, and the painful stinging on the top of my shoulder made me think I didn't get away unscathed. " Are you alright?" I asked my Gaurdian Beast in concern, quickly rolling to my feet and helping him up. " A little winded, but I fine." Loki repiled, rolling his shoulders in attempt relax the stiff muscles. " But it look's like we've got company." Indeed. Looking up ahead I saw a giant, dog with wolf-like features, baring it's sharp canines as it growled meancingly at us, blocking our way to the clearing. " Dammnit..! Let's get this over with, Loki." I snarled under my breath, reaching behind me and drawing the metal saber from it's shealth, whirrling around immeditaly to block the hound's jaws from biting down on my neck. Using all of my strength I swung around in circles into it was forced to release it's hold on my sword, smashing right into a nearby tree; Loki began to murmur under his breath behind me and I knew he was casting a spell. Not taking my attention away from the beast, I shifted my body into an attack stance. " Let's do this..!" Tensing for the barest of seconds, I shot towards my attacker and swung my sword along the ground, shouting, " DEMON FANG!" A huge shock wave pulsed along the ground and quickly made it's way to the hound, slamming into the creature and sending it back several feet; I felt myself smirk triumphetly when it howled in rage and pain. " Go for it, Loki!" I shouted, leaping back to put space between me and my foe. " Gotcha! Your finished!" He yelled

confidently. He disappeared then quickly reappeared behind the recovering monster. " FIRE BURST!" Just as the name had implied, Loki's body burst into a aura of fire, scorchin

the enemy and wounding, not to mention weaking it, furthur. When the attack ended, Loki feel to one knee, panting to regain his breath; it looks like this spell was tiring for the oni, so we were going to have to use it wisely. Deciding to finish what my partner started, I took my stance again just as the hound got back on it's feet. " It's OVER!" I shouted, and threw the Metal Saber towards the stray summon; it spun faster and faster, untill it sliced through the monster's navel completely. The hound let out a final howl of agony before it collapsed to the ground, it's body burning up in blue flames before vanishing. Like a boomerang the sword came back, I caught it by the handle and shealthed it all in one nifty move. " Damn mutt." Loki growled as we both shealthed our swords. " That'll teach monsters to stay out of our way. right, master?" He turned to grin up at the female, only to find her staring up at the sky aimlessly. " Bev? Are you there?" The said girl merely closed her eyes for a minute, then refocoused them on her Gaurdian Beast. " There was something odd about that Hound..." I murmured, mostly to myself. " It's not like them to pursue a target. Not this far, usually they would give up." Loki's grin switched to a frown at his master's hypothisis. " You think someone sent it after us?" He asked seriously, clenching his hands. " Mabey.. But it's just a thought, not the answer." I said with a shake of my head. " With wasted enough time here. Let's move before something else comes and decides to delay us."

Sure enough, just in the clearing ahead was an ancient-looking stone building with a pair of green flags fluttering calmly in the breeze. " So this must be the Wind Fortress.." Loki murmured, staring up at it in slight intrest. " Yes. Let's see if there's any clues to the Daemon Edge." I suggested, taking a few steps inside. " Theres bound to be something in here.."

" Wait, I should go first." Loki spoke, striding past me to stand at the mouth of the entrance. " Anything could be in there. As your Gaurdian Beast it's my duty to go in and make sure it's safe." I eyed my partner with uncertainity, that may have been true but it also was my job to look after him as well. " Well.. if your sure..." I answered hesaitently.

" Of course I am!" Loki stated, turning around and striding into the Wind Fortress quick movement, leaving me by myself. ' Geez.. Loki seems chipper enough.' I mused, a small smile dawning on my face. ' Always rushing head first into danger.. sigh I wonder if he's just blood thirsty...' Suddenly, pain awoke within my shoulder and spread like a wildfire through my entire right arm; I literally had to bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from crying out as it continued to increase in magnitude. ' Crap.. I was so focoused on getting to the Wind Fortress that I forgot all about the wound I got from that stupid hound!' I groaned and mentally bashed my head agaisnt the wall. ' Stupid, stupid, stupid! If you leave a hound's scratch or bite unattended it'll---'

CRASH!!

" WAHH!"

" Whoa!"

Upon hearing the loud crash from within the stone building and Loki's cry of surprise, I forgot all about my injury and leaped to my feet, rushing into the Wind Fortress without any caution as to what was in there. Nothing had been in the first room so I had ran striaght foreward into the next, relief spreading through me when I saw that Loki was alright and unharmed. " Loki!" I said in concern. My Gaurdian Beast waved a hand to me without turning around as I walked over to him. " I'm alright," Loki said reassuringly. " But this guy tripped over his own feet." The 'guy', in question was a little boy no older then 7 years old, with blond wavy hair and golden brown eyes, which were filled with tears and terror.

" It's alright, there's nothing to be afriad of." I said kindly, bending down a little with hands on my knees. " Loki may look fierce, but he's harmless, I assure you." Beside me, Loki let out a snort of protest but I elbowed him in order to keep him quiet. " P-Promise?" The boy asked timidly, almost so quietly that I couldn't hear him.

" Come to think of it, Rocky, I think I've seen this girl before," a blue haired girl said thoughtfully; she looked around Rocky's age, mabey a year older. " She's from our Village, remember?" I sent a cheerful smile towards Rock's friend, grateful for her assistance. " Yes, that's right." I said. " My name's Bev, and this is my Gaurdian Beast, Loki." Loki settled for giving them the peice sign, which made them giggle. " If you don't mind me asking.. why are you two here?" I asked curiously, noticing two Stray Summons behind us. " This used to be the secret fort of the Wind Brigade!" Rocky said with an air of importance. " No, No Rocky, it's Breeze Brigade." Kara said scoldingly. " We used to keep a bunch of Summon Strays here. But just awhile ago they just went sort of crazy and broke out." I looked down at the ground for a minute, knowing what the cause had been. " Ah.. That probably was my fault, with Goura's seal breaking and all," I said apologetically. " I'm sorry."

" Some of us got hurt, so leader went to go look for herbs," Rocky informed us, making my eyesbrows raise at the word 'leader'. " He left us a sword to help protect the place, b-but I b-broke it!" He started to sniffle and sob, holding the broken weapon in his hands. " Now what are we going to do..!?"

" Hey, quit your sniveling, kid!" My Gaurdian Beast barked, making Rocky and Kara draw back in surprise. " Don't you know anything? We're Craftknights! We'll fix your sword for you!"

" R-Really?" Rocky asked in surprise. The oni-child just thumbed his nose and looked over his shoulder to me with a grin. " Of course! Craftknight's promise!" My head jerked up at the end of Loki's sentence. ' Promise, huh...' Sighing, I walked away a few paces. " We need to repair the sword, Loki. So let's head back to Cliff Village."

" Cool!"

" There, that should do it!" I declared, as Loki and I took a step back to admire our work. " The sword's as good as fixed now!" Indeed, the broken weapon that Rocky had handed us earlier looked new and improved, as if it hadn't been shattered in the first time. " Let's give this to Rocky then go meet up with Orin."

" Right!" Loki used his trademark grin and folded his arms behind his head. A little while ago after Loki and I had gotten home, we had found Orin waiting for us. appearently Master Blaire had recently obtained a fever, and my adoptive brother said Honas Herbs could help if he could find some. I informed Orin that there were some growing not far from the Wind Fortress, then we agreed to meet up later after I fufilled my promise and repaired Rocky's sword. While I was fixing the sword so that it was strapped comfortabley across my back, I felt a familar pain beat in my chest, making me halt my process and cringe. ' Ugh.. don't tell me... it's started up again...' When Loki heard no movement coming from behind him, he turned around to face me. " You okay, Bev?" Loki asked with a note of concern. " I'm fine," I repiled, standing up striaght and removing my hand from my chest. " We should hurry, we don't want to keep Orin waiting." Loki opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it when he remembered how stubborn I could be and followed me up the stairs.

Once outside of the house, I stretched my arms over my head with a huge, loud sigh of relief. Behind me, Loki was silent in thought, staring at my shoulder all the while; I didn't notice as I stared down at the village below with a curious eye, having to have notice movement from the corner of my eye. " It looks like something's going on near the Chief's house," I stated, wonder filling my voice. " Shall we go see, Loki?" Snapping out of his daze, the oni-child walked over to the edge of the cliff over seeing most of the village and peered down, indeed seeing a crowd form in front of the Chief's house around what seemed like to young men. " Yeah, we should take a quick look." The Gaurdian Beast agreed.

" It's strange though..." I murmured, looking at the two strangers with narrowed eyes. " From the looks of their clothing, both of them seem to be from the Capital. Why would they be doing in a village all the way out here?" It did sound kind of suspicous; Cliff Village rested on an island on a little outlet surrounded by ocean, almost more then several miles away from civilization. What in the world were they doing all the way out here? " On second though, let's just head for the Wind Fortress." I said flatly, turning away and heading for the stairs with Loki in tow. Just as my partner and I had disappeared down the entrance stairs, the two strangers I had been refering to stepped out from behind a house. Tetsuuya and his teacher, Clark Auron, watched the two retreating backs without a word. Finally, Clark decided to speak up, therefore breaking the silence. " Why did you not confront her, Tetsuuya?"

Clark asked with a little emotion, but his unhindered eye was filled with curiousity. " You wanted to come all the way here to see her again, did you not?" Tetsuuya was silent for a few minutes, then finally, he spoke up in a quiet voice. " Yes, but I'm waiting for the right moment. She seems stressed right now." He turned his head in Clark's direction. " I'll wait untill she get's back."

Meanwhile, a certain oni-child and his master were making their way through the forest once more. " Well, that sword should keep Rocky happy." Loki said as he walked alongside his master, arms behind his head like usual. " So where are we going now?" I nearly tripped over my own feet, swearing slightly as I regained balance. " We're heading to the Borzak clearing. Can't you rememeber anything properly?"

" Yes I can!" Loki protested, eyes narrowing in irritation. " Okay, so what's the name of the herb we're looking for?" I asked. After hearing slience on the oni-child's end, I smirked in triumph, knowing that he would keep silent the rest of the walk. " Ah, here we are..!" I chirped cheerfully almost fifteen minutes later. But when we rounded the corner of trees, we were met with a surprise: There, only a few feet away was Orin, fending off a rather vicious grass monster. " Orin!" I cried when I saw him knocked back by a set of vines. Thankfully, due to his training as a Craftknight he was able to land gracefully on his knees in front of a white haired, dog eared young man who looked around my age, mabey a year older or so. He wore

mostly white clothes, with a red-dog like collar that seemed much to big for him hanging from his neck. A small, cerulan colored airplane-summon hovered by the stranger's side, looking

concerned for his companion. " Oh, good timing, Bev!" Orin said with relief, as he had finally noticed me at his side. " Quickly come here! someone's hurt!"

" ..I-I'm not a somone..." The young man stammered, proving my thoughts to be right about him not being human. " Your a Summon Creature?" I asked softly, and he nodded timidly, not knowing what else to say. " Just hold still, I'm going to heal your wounds, okay?" The Stray Summon seemed hesaitent at first, but he seemed to relax when his small, mechanoid companion fell close to him for comfort; I muttered the spell under my breath and gently waved my hand over his injured arm, making sure it was fully healed before standing up and joining my partner and adoptive older brother in front. " I'll stay back and protect him." The older boy stated, gripping his drill tightly. " Gotcha, Loki and I will handle this." I confirmed, reaching behind me and pulling the Metal Saber from it's protective shealth while Loki mimicked my movements. I turned to give Orin my signature two-fingered salute, unaware of the stray-summon behind me. Tired of being ignored, the gigantic grass-monster let out a loud angry growl and sent it's thick, sharp vines towards the closest intruders.

" Bev, Loki, watch out!" Orin shouted, realizing who it's target was. I whirrled around in time to see the weapon come striaght for me at an amazing speed, poised to impale and kill. ' Oh

crap.. this is going to hurt like hell...' I mused grumpily. The vines landed home, puncturing the earth so deeply that it sent up a cloud of dirt as well as a mini hail storm of rocks, forcing the people nearby to try and cover themselfs. " Bev! Loki!!" The young man yelped in panic, lowering the arm that had shielded his face and began to search for any sign of the young

Edge Fencer. Before Orin could register anything, several more vines shot out of the clouds of dirt, holding the same promise as last time. " DOUBLE DEMON FANG!" Two huge

shockwaves tore through the earth out of nowhere, hitting the plants dead on and tearing them to shreds before they had a chance to reach their victims. " Tch.. I'm going to kill that summon!" Loki's familar voice growled from nearby. " The stupid plant monster is as good as dead!" Orin let out a huge sigh of relief, letting it wash over him like a warm blanket and allowed a small smile to appear on his face; They were alive... A great gust of wind blew around them, shoving the irritating dust storm away and revealing their enemy, as well as a

certain girl and her Gaurdian Beast, who stood on either side of the Grass-Dragon; I started to lower my still glowing green hand so it was level with my face and muttered something to

dispell the light from my hand before lowering it to my side.

Back in the trees a familar figure watched as the battle progressed, eyes narrowed as he watched the young woman's movements. ' You've made a lot of progress since I've last seen, you Bev.' He thought. ' But your not strong enough. Fight, grow in strength.'

" Already here, Ryouga?" The oni-summon creature's eyes hardened with seconds upon hearing Gedharm's voice coming from behind him, having to have been soft moments ago while watching his old friend; his lip curled into a deep frown as he turned around, eyeing the summoner in distaste when the curelean-haired man stepped up next to him and watched the fight with bland eyes. " Not bad for a woman," Gedharm commented, making Ryouga stiffen. " Then again, she does have the powers of an Edge Fencer. Without them she'll most likely be helpless like any other female." Hearing a low growl eurpt from the young oni beside him, the half-deranged man eyed Ryouga out of the corner of his eye, smirking that he had managed to draw a reaction out of the boy. " Oh, did I hit a nerve?" The summoner taunted, snickering at the blue-haired male. Ryouga didn't say anything, he merely returned his eyes back to the battle, eyes furrowed in anger towards Gedharm Gerossa.

" That's the last one..!" Loki panted as he slashed through the last Dynabeetle with a powerful stroke of his sword. Struggling to calm his breathing, the oni-child turned to see how his

young master was faring; she seemed to be okay, but she seemed to be dodging and defending herself, only able to land a few hits at a time. " Kuso..!" I breathed, jumping away yet again to avoid damange from the Grass-Dragon's vines. Suddenly, another, thicker vine shot of from the ground inchs from me, forcing me to backflip so I wouldn't get knocked out from the falling bolders made out of the earth. The tall vine started to open itself like a flower, revealing more huge, purple horned beetles. ' What the..?! We'll never beat it at this rate!' I thought while growling mentally. Shaking my head to clear it, I looked up to see our foe making a grab for Loki, who was busy fending off the Dynabeetles again; I cursed and dashed

faster then I have ever done before, intent on protecting my partner. ' The vines seem to be smaller then it's main ones.' I mused, skidding to a stop in front of the distracted oni-child.

' If I can hit them just right..' Taking a few deep breaths, I grinded my feet agaisnt the earth slightly and postioned my body and my sword, closing my eyes and righting for the right

second. " Bev, watch out!" Orin shouted urgently, mentally cursing his adoptive sister's boldness. Loki finished off the last minor stray summon and whirrled around upon hearing Orin; he breathed sharply when he saw how close the attack was to his young female master. " BEVERLY/MASTER!!" Orin and Loki cried out together. At that moment, my eyes snapped open to reveal light grey, sliver-rimmed eyes full of determination. I took off at a run towards the raging Grass-Dragon, bending my body till it was parawell with the ground.

When the vines and I were inchs away from hitting each other, I leaped into the air with my sword raised over my head. " FEIRCE DEMON FANG!!" I cried, smashing the sword into the ground with so much force that a earthly-shockwave eurpted from the ground, creating a moderate explosion as the attacks collided, once again sending up a storm of dust for a short period of time. ' Gotcha!' I thought with a smirk, but it faded when I witnessed the pieces of vine re-connect themselves and continue to fly towards me with accuracy, as if nothing had

happened. ' No way, it regenerated itself?!' was all that passed through my mind before the vines wrapped themselfs from wrist up to my forearm. Pain, sharp and intense followed almost immeditaly afterwards, forcing a small cry of pain out of me. " Damn, these things are barbed!" Loki muttered to himself, as he landed on my right side. " Just hold on Bev!

I'll cut you loose!" But when he raised his sword, ready to free his master from the pain and imprisonment, two more much bigger vines slammed into my partner, sending him flying in the other direction. " Loki!" I exclaimed, very distressed at our current situation. If we didn't think of something soon, there was a very high chance we could perish; I broke away from my thoughts as the Grass Dragon reeled me to him till I was only a couple of feet seperated us, then let out a thunderous bellow that released a purple-cloud that admitted from his breath. I let out a chocking breath slashing viciously through the plant binding me and leaped back several feet, out and away from the harmful cloud; I let my body rest for a few moments before tensing again, ready to attack with another Feirce Demon Fang. ' Damnnit.. now it breath's poison?' I growled out lowly. ' This is starting to piss me off... There has to be something that'll harm it!' Realizing how fustrated and angry I was getting, I lowered my weapon and closed my eyes, relaxing my whole body. ' Calm down.. Now.. focous!' My eyes

opened again to reveal, not their normal grey, but a peircing sliver. " Loki!" I called, who landed next to me seconds later. " Loki, do you know a strong enough fire spell to torch the

Grass Dragon's whole body?"

" Count on it!" Loki answered confidently. I was pretty certain he was pufffing out his chest in pride right now. " But, what about it?" Keeping my an eye trained on the grass beast

in front of us, I leaned closer to Loki and whispered out my plan...

Several minutes later, I stood and watched as Loki unleashed his fiery wrath upon the Grass Dragon, burning and torching the plant monster completely so that nothing would remain; unfortunetly, the oni-child was so focused on the main boss, that he didn't notice the two minor minions sneaking up on him. " Dammnit..!" I cursed, running towards my partner as fast as I could. " Loki, watch out!" But all the oni-child saw was the purple blurs of the horned beetles coming towards him at full speed, then came a pink and white blur that happened to be his master, blocking their horns with her sword. Ignoring the gaping people behind me, I summoned all of my strength and shoved, sending the horned beetles rolling in the air.

" Tiger Blade!" I shouted, leaping into the air and quickly bringing my sword up and down three times in powerful strokes, sending the monsters into the ground so hard that the created a crater from their fall, breathing heavily I turned back around to face the Grass-Dragon and drew my sword arm back. " WHIRLWIND RAID!" I shouted, then excuted the attack while

gracefully dodging a rampaging vine. My sword spun faster and faster untill it became a thin disk, slicing easily through the stray summon's kneck and therefore, killing him. Like a boomerang, my weapon came spinning back as I heard the others rush up to Loki and I. " That was amazing! You seem to get stronger everyday!" I smiled at Orin for his comments as I caught my Metal Saber and shealthed it, then turned towards the two Summons who stood a few feet away, seeming a bit scared to come any closer. " Uh.. Thank you..." The white-haired summon said rather shyly. " For healing me, as well as rescuing us. Me and Xeride's gratitude."

" So, are you the leader? The leader of the Breeze Brigade?" Loki questioned, referring to Xeride. Xeride's eye's widened a bit in surprise at the oni-child's question. " Huh? No, no. That would be Gabriel." Xeride answered, motioning to his dog-earred companion. " So your name's Gabriel?" I asked with a polite, but curious smile.

" Yes, and I am the leader of the Breeze Brigade." Gabriel repiled, growing more confident in speech. " I came here to find the Honas Herb because some of my memembers got hurt."

Edgar and Orin seemed to perk up at the name of the item they had been seeking. " That's why we came here for as well," Edgar informed the young leader. " My master has a high fever, so we figured that the Honas Herb might help him."

" Let's spread out and search," I suggested. " Orin and Edgar, Gabriel and Xeride, and Loki with me." The other men nodded, Loki and Xeride murmuring their agreement. After what seemed like hours of searching, Loki and I came upon a perticular looking plant. " Could this be the Honas Herb?" I murmured thoughtfully, bending down to exmaine it more closely.

" Could be," Loki said careless shrug. " I know a way! Let's eat it!" I quickly pushed Loki away before he could reach for it. " No!" I said hastily, my voice grabbing the attention of the others. " I read that the Honas herb is supposed to have a strong scent.." Orin informed us. " But I can't smell anything over this Borzak." That's when Gabriel stepped foreward hesitant yet detirmened at the same time. " Here, give it to me." He requested. " I think I'll be able to tell." Complying to his wishs, I carefully handed over the strange plant to Gabriel's bigger hands. He held it up in front of his nose and sniffed gingerly. " Bingo! This is indeed the Honas." The Brigade leader declared happily, a smile on his face.

" That's great! Now we can bring down the Master's fever!" I said eagerly, unable to contain the large grin that spread across my own.

" Well, Well, what do we have here?"

' You have got to be kidding me...' I groaned sliently, then turned to face the two intruders with Loki, Orin, Gabriel, and Xeride. I ignored the insane summoner and locked eyes with

the one person I thought I wouldn't be seeing anytime soon. " Ryouga..." I breathed, mentally applauding myself for keeping my voice steady. " You should realize what your doing right now is futile." Gedharm stated, finally gaining my attention. " Just give up and surrender to us!" I snorted and exchanged glances with my partner, who rolled his eyes in

exsperation. ' How annoying..' We both thought in sync. Ryouga had noted that Loki and I had immeditaly tuned him out, looking away in different directions, and shook his head in amusment. The girl hadn't changed in the short time of his betrayal, good. " Ahem, Ryouga." Gedharm motioned to his younger partner. I turned my attention to the two men again for a split second, then crossed my arms and turned away. My old friend merely smirked at my behavior, and followed after Gedharm, the summoner's cloak billowing as he walked away.

After making sure that the danger was truly gone, Loki turned to survey his young master with a look of pity; Orin had one on his face as well, but tried to hide it with a smile.

" Well, now that we have found the Honas Herb, let's take this back to Dad," The red-head proposed from behind his forced grin. " It look's like it's getting rather late, anyway."

I glanced up at the sky as well. It was no longer it's usual cheerful blue, but a beautiful blend of orange, yellow, and pink, giving it a serene appearence. " Alright." I nodded my

agreement. " Come, Loki. We need to head home and inform everyone what happened today." I spotted the paticular nasty looking gash Loki had obtained in our battle with the

Grass Dragon. Which was located along where his shoulder blade and kneck connected, and added, " I think it would also be wise to patch ourselfs up." The oni child snorted and

looked away with an expression of annoyance, but did not object.

Hours later, I found myself on the hilltop of Fisherman's Lake. Loki was few feet away, busy training his his big, broadsword. Orin had returned to the village ahead of time in order to prepare everything, while Loki and I hung back to talk to Gabriel and Xeride once more. According to our new friends, another fortress could found deeper in the forest just beyond the Wind Fortress. Gabriel had also warned me to be careful, as he had heard odd growls and howling noises from below ground in Borzak Clearing. With this bit of news, my partner and I trooped back to Cliff Village, to where everyone was waiting. I explained that we had not found the Daemon Edge in the Wind Fortress, but had found another clue as to where it might be. With that said, Lynn and I had prepared the Honas Herb, politely but firmly refusing Tatianna's help. Who knows what could've happened then.. But anyway, By the time we had finished dinner, Lynn went up to check on Master Blaire's condition, coming back down minutes later with a wide smile an announced that the Master would be just fine with rest. After everything had settled down, I snuck Loki and myself out of the house and had come up to the Lake in order for some peace and quiet after such a strainous day. The wind blew lightly,

rustling my clothes gently and making my braid sway in the current. Taking a nice, deep breath. I began to sing a familar melody:

Regnih Regnih Ci An Ettam Regnih Ettam Ettam
Doushite koko ni umaretandarou?

Ima kono jidai ni nanika imi ga aru hazu sou toikakete miru

Kitto souda to kikoeta nara jibun wo shinjite

Kokoro no koe ni tsudzuke ano tori no ato e

Regnih Regnih Ci An Ettam Regnih Ettam Ettam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Teriimuh Teriimuh Iam

Atera Reganahias Iam

Ekudus Tinota Iam

At the sound of steel agaisnt leather, I paused and angled my head to see Loki shealthing his huge sword out of the corner of my eye. " Are you finished?" I questioned, dropping my folding hands and facing my partner. " Yep." He grunted, folding his arms. He turned to walk away, then suddenly stopped stated quietly, " You should sing more. it sounds really nice." I felt my face heat up slightly at the oni child's comment, but nevertheless felt a small smile blossom over my face before following after the sword-wielding oni, catching up to him at the village path. We said nothing as we walked along the dirt road, each in their own world. But as we began to pass the staircase of the hill ruins, I spotted a familar figure just up ahead, wearing his usual welcoming smile. " Master Blaire!" I exclaimed, Loki and I coming to a complete stop in front of him. " Should you be out of bed already?" The Master Craftsknight just shook his head, smile in place. " Do not worry about me, I'm stronger then I look." Blaire chuckled. " Orin told me all about your adventures today. I must say, I am very proud of the both of you." The oni and I exchanged glances for the second time today, this time ones of bewilderment. " But, Master..." I began, a bit heasitent. " We didn't find the Daemon Edge.." Blaire's chuckles turned into full out laughs, confusing us even more. " No, no, I'm talking about today's battle and your confrantion with Ryouga. Your truly growing up to a fine young woman, Beverly." Warmth spread through my entire body like a blanket. I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it adurptly. I cocked my head to the side, eyeing the staircase with a critical eye. I furrowed my eye brows dangerously. Then, without warning, I took off like a blur. " What the hell was that about?!" Loki demanded, severly startled by the girl's sudden depature. The red-headed man frowned as well, listening intently in direction his student had gone. " She most likely heard something." The weapons smith repiled. " But I haven't heard anything!" The oni-child complained. " I still don't!" Blaire shook his head for the second time, amusement written over his face. " Bev has.. I guess what you would call a sixth-sense." He explained throughly, he and Loki gazing up at the stairs. " As the village Guardian, there is never a moment she is off guard."

I came to a halt at the very top of the steps, slightly out of breath and breathing rapidly to regain my stolen air. In front of me, a very familar shadowed figurine stood with his back to me.

" What.. in the world.. are you doing here?!"