Hey Guys,

I decided to update this now, but well I guess I just liked the idea of doing it. Probably because I'm in a pretty good mood. I have homecoming on the brain and since my date (an amazing guy who plays trombone in my band) surprised me with our tickets today, I guess I wanted to share my joy.

But this chapter is another that helped things moved forward, it is what brings us to Xenolith's island, something we needed to do. I am not a huge fan of this one, but well I can't just have them magically teleport to the island now can I?

Well, weather it is a great one or not, enjoy the next chapter! I will try my hardest to post the next chapter soon, but with dress shopping this weekend, I don't know if I will be able to. But, here is to writing!

xKiha

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

Tsumi groaned at the sound of Kimiko's alarm clock beginning to blare, the child rolling on his side in the futon. "Shut up." Voice a low and irritated groan thanks to the sound of the clock going off. "I wanna sleep more, it's too early to be awake."

Kimiko was quick to move, forcing herself up and out of her bed. "Alright, Tsu, get up. We got to get dressed, Mr. Kincad and the others were nice enough to pick us up last and they'll be here any minute." The brunette turning on the light, causing Tsumi to whine at the introduction of the bright rays. "I'm not kidding anymore, Tsumi, get up."

The poison demon forced himself to sit up, whimpering as he tried to navigate his cloak with only one violet eye opened. "It's too bright." The child then finding what he was looking for and pulling it on while Kimiko tossed him his shoes.

The brunette then grabbed her bag after getting dressed, looking out her window and seeing a large black van, or maybe it was some kind of a mini-bus, pull into her driveway. "Alright, Tsumi, let's get going." The girl turning to see the demon trying to stand up only to slightly wobble, forcing the girl to take him by the hand and lead him out of the room.

"Do you have my book?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you have that map?"

"Yes."

"Do you have extra clothes?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do I?"

"I don't know, do you?"

Tsumi blinked, seeming to suddenly snap awake as he took his bag off his shoulders and peered inside. "Oh, yes I do!" The child then turning back to Kimiko and smiling softly. "Alright, I guess I'm ready to go then, I have everything I need and so do you."

The brunette nodded as she opened the front door, shuddering at the cold wind that began to blow into the house. "Okay, then let's go have an adventure like nothing either of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes."

Tsumi gave her a slight thumbs up as the both of them headed outside, waving to Mr. Kincad who was in the driver's seat, the man smiling as he honked the horn.

The brunette took this as an invite, smiling as she opened the door to the back only to meet the rather exhausted faces of the rest of the alliance. The van having three rows of four seats, which were all filled other than two in the back.

Yukio Kincad was in the driver's with Icarus fast asleep in the passenger's.

Cheshire was in the front on the far left facing the window, Aislinn on her right. Right next to Aislinn was Flynn, who was trying to keep himself calm and trying not to blush. And beside him, Setsuna, who was wide awake despite looking more exhausted than ever, the dark circles under his eyes more apparent than ever.

Kesai was on the window side of the middle row, the kitsune having his head against Kenja's chest with his eyes shut comfortably, the blond right beside his demon as always. Sitting by Kenja was Shura, his own bookreader being to his right. Michael rubbing his eyes with exhaustion as he gave Kimiko a slight wave before yawning.

And in the back was Kyo and Amera, the window seat being left open for either member of the poison duo to sit in. Kimiko nudging Tsumi forward, the child whimpering before getting into the van and taking the window seat which left Kimiko with one option. The girl blinking as she realized that she would be sitting next to Kyo, who gave her a smile with his light green eyes tiredly glowing.

"Good morning, Kimiko." Kyo yawned as she closed the door, sitting beside him and swiftly buckling her own seatbelt.

"Morning, Kyo." The girl smiled softly, trying to keep herself from yawning. The last thing she wanted to do was end up sleeping on Kyo's shoulder, she couldn't imagine what he would think if she ended up doing something foolish in front of him.

"Alright, is everybody in comfortably?" Kincad's voice leaving his mouth in a paternal and understanding fashion, making all of the teenagers nod tiredly. None of them feeling awake enough to form proper sentences or to even really speak to him at this point. "Okay, then let's get going, we have a couple hours in the car before we get into the boat to bring us over to the island where Xenolith should be hiding."

Nobody said anything once again, Yukio smiling gently at this before staring the engine up and pulling out of the driveway. 'Goodbye Otaru, we hope to all be back soon enough in the same numbers that we are leaving in.'

Almost automatically, Tsumi was out like a light in the car, Kimiko seeing this and smiling lightly. She knew he was tired, but the fact that he was sleeping so soon was rather shocking. The brunette yawning softly at the thought of him sleeping, figuring that she'd enjoy sleeping as well since she usually would never be up this early in the morning.

"Tired?"

Kimiko blinked, turning to Kyo who had softly spoken to her with his voice a gentle whisper. Her cheeks slightly glowing with nervousness, her voice a wavering whisper. "Uhm, yes, a little bit."

"Well," Kyo looking away for a moment, his voice getting a little soft. "If you want, or if you need to I guess, you can put your head on my shoulder so you can sleep."

Kimiko was a little surprised by this, now beginning to blush rather harshly. "O-Oh, I don't know, wouldn't that bother you a little bit?"

"N-No," Kyo looking back at her, slightly blushing himself. "I wouldn't mind at all."

The brunette nodded, feeling her pulse begin to pick up as she smiled softly. "Well, then I guess I will take you up on that offer." The girl moving a bit closer to him before placing her head on his shoulder, yawning gently.

"Comfortable?"

Kimiko blushed harder, nodding slowly. "Yeah, it's very nice here." Nuzzling against his shoulder, able to inhale the gentle scent of Kyo Yakage. She didn't want to say it, but she really liked this, eyelids slowly lowering with exhaustion. Soon enough, she was asleep and rather comfortable with the position she was in.

"You really do like her, don't you?"

Kyo blinked, turning to see a soft and understanding look in Amera's eyes while he blushed. He looked around for a few moments before he spoke, trying to make sure nobody could hear his voice. "Y-Yeah, I like her a lot."

"Then you should show her." Amera smiled, making Kyo blush harder. "It is rather clear that she likes you quite a bit as well."

Kyo looked away, looking to the sleeping girl on his shoulder before laying his head gently on her own and relaxing. "M-Maybe I will someday, but only when I find the right time. Until then, I think I'll just go on liking her in secret."

.

.

.

Five hours in the car, there wasn't a person in the car that liked it.

By now, Kesai was beginning to squirm and so was Tsumi, neither of the two liking the idea of sitting down any longer. Which was good, because they were just about to pull up into the docks where they were renting a speed boat to get over to the island in.

"How much longer, Kimiko?"

The brunette sighed gently, drawing in a breath at the annoyance at hearing this question for the millionth time. "Just a few minutes, Tsumi, just a few minutes."

"Alright." The poison demon nodding, looking out the window with anticipation basically seething off of him.

Kimiko sighed, looking to Kyo who was laughing gently at this. "He's just a little nervous, he can't help himself from asking these kinds of things."

From a row in front of them, it seemed that Kenja and Kesai along with Michael and Shura were playing a card game. The kitsune laughed, placing his cards down. "Looks like I am winning here, boys. Nobody can beat these cards."

"I do not know about that." Kenja placing his cards down to show the other three, the blond smiling. "I believe these are much better than what you have."

"Well, these are unstoppable!" Shura laughed, spreading his cards on his lap and laughing, showing them his cards, Kesai's forest green eyes growing wider than silver dollars. "How did you get cards like that!?"

"Luck of the draw, I guess." Shura smirked, making Kesai's ears lower in shame and disappointment. "Aw, don't be too sad, everybody loses from time to time, Kai."

"Don't call me that!"

"What, Kai?"

"I said stop it!"

Icarus cringed at the sound of Kesai beginning to yell, biting into his lip with irritation. "Kesai, shut up." Voice firm in cold, causing the kitsune to cringe and lower his head.

After this the car became silent, Yukio trying not to say anything to the teenagers and demons that would most likely be at one another's throats if they had the chance. He couldn't have that in such a crucial time, because he knew that people feuding would not make good teammates.

"Alright guys, we're here."

Kincad pulled the van into a parking lot, the docks right in front of them as two excited demon boys basically sprang out of their seats with excitement. Kimiko unbuckling her seatbelt with a smile while Flynn turned to Setsuna who seemed to almost be seething with what only Flynn knew was anger. "Are you going to be okay, Setsu? I know this is going to be hard, to be with him after everything that's happened."

"It's okay, I'm going to fine. I can handle this, Flynn, because I want to see that bastard be destroyed more than anybody else here. I want to be there when he loses, all bloody and broken."

Flynn then nodded, smiling gently in a bit of nervousness as he opened the door to let everybody out. 'I know that this means a lot to you, but I just hope that you know that you won't be able to do this on your own, that you won't be able to take him down. I just hope that you'll be able to accept that in the end, it will be Kimiko and the others taking Xenolith down instead of you.'

.

.

.

"Alright, so it's great that you all are renting a boat!"

A man with short blond hair that was slicked up with a fake tan gave them all a thumbs up, seeming a little too excited about the rest of them renting a boat. "So, who is going to be the driver on this amazing day?"

The group exchanged looks, Kincad drawing in a breath with the knowledge that he would have to play along with this. "I am." His voice not very enthralled as he stated this to all around him.

"Awesome!" The man said, giving them a rather scary smile of fake joy. "My name is Toni and I will be showing you to your boat today! So, Mister Driver, have you ever driven a boat before?"

"The name is Kincad, Yukio Kincad and yes, I have." The man said simply, making Icarus snicker slightly while trying to make sure he kept his wings furled against his spine. "All we need are life jackets for the children and we will be good."

Toni frowned, a little dismayed by this bluntness and the fact that he wouldn't be able to give them the usual welcome speech he would give most people. "Oh, in a rush are we?"

"As a matter of a fact, yes." Icarus then said, Toni looking to him in a bit of surprise while Icarus gave him a wise look that basically told him to do just as Kincad had told him to. "So we would prefer it if you would quickly get what we asked for so we can be on their way."

Toni looked over the fourteen people, a little nervous about this sudden happening but nodding even so. "Alright, I will go do that." The man then walking into the office with his head lowered in a bit of confusion.

"Mr. Kincad?" The teacher turning to see Flynn speaking to him. "Are you sure it was a good idea to talk to him so directly? It seemed a little rude, don't you think?"

"Yes, I guess it was a little rude." Yukio nodded. "But, in a serious situation, we can't afford to lose time, which means if I need to be rude to get my point across, then I may just have to be rude."

Nobody could really argue with them at this point, knowing that this had happened to all of them. All of the teenagers nodding, seeming a little exhausted from the car ride that they had just endured.

"Alright, so I grabbed a bunch of life jackets for the little ones." Toni then leaving the building with life jackets in his arms, handing them to Kesai, Tsumi, Icarus and Shura. "Other than that, here are your keys and I guess you know how to do the rest."

"Yes, we do. Thank you very much for what you have done, Toni." Yukio said, voice now a bit warmer as he took the keys from the man.

Toni then nodded, raising a hand. "Have a good day, I guess." Then walking back into his office without another word.

"Alright, so shall we?" Kincad turning to the teenagers who nodded once more, the blond teacher than leading them to the rather nice speedboat that they were all renting for a while. They would be back soon enough, but when that was, none of them could be rather certain.

.

.

.

Tsumi had never been one to enjoy being treated like a little child, but he never hated it as much as when he was put in a life jacket like a little toddler. The child tugging at the collar of the floating device while the boat continued to glide through the waves of the ocean. "I hate this stupid thing, I can swim just fine."

"Tsu, it's against the law for you to ride on this thing without one." Kimiko muttered, finding herself growing more and more irritated with the child as time passed on. "So, even if you don't like it, you have to wear it."

Something was wrong with Kimiko, Kenja biting into his lip while he looked over the brunette with a slight frown. "Kimiko, are you feeling well?" The blond a little bit surprised that he got to say this when most people usually said this to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The girl muttered, sighing softly. "Why do you want to know?"

"You just seem a little different, I guess it was just that I misjudged something." Kenja muttered, looking away to see the somewhat hazed eyes of Kimiko on him.

"Yeah, well I'm fine." The brunette replied, sighing. "I-I'm just a bit tired…and a have a headache."

Now all people were looking at the girl, Kimiko looking around with a soft sigh. She didn't want to tell them what was wrong, that when she was sleeping on Kyo's shoulder, that he came to her once again.

That Xenolith came to her in a dream once more to tell her that he knew that she and all these friends were coming to get her and that he was very excited to meet them all. He was taunting, but seeming very excited, almost stimulated, when talking of Tsumi. She was left bitter, or seemingly mad, because of the haunting images this dream gave her. She wanted to protect Tsumi with all of her life, but she was afraid of Xenolith, she feared him more than anything and she knew he could do everything she was afraid of without even trying.

He was now in the near future and he knew it. He was looking forward to having them as guests in their castle and as he put it, he was ready to drown in the company that these others along with her and his purple gem would provide.

He was going to kill them all, something in her head told her this. She didn't want to die, not this early in life. Not at Xenolith's hand.

Not now, that she finally had something to live for in this miserable life of hers. She had friends and purpose and now all fate wanted to do was take this away from them.

It just wasn't fair.

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.

.

"And there it is."

The island was now in view and the outline of a castle was growing into an actual building. The grey stones of a rather old timey castle filling in before the very eyes of every teenager. The only way in seemed to be a large wooden door, which was left wide open.

"It's like he knows we're coming to play." Cheshire muttered, frowning.

"I am sure he does." Flynn replied, studying the castle closely. "After all, he is a mind reader and controller."

The island was now close enough to touch, Kincad dropping anchor as he sighed softly. "Alright, we're here now. Welcome to the island of Xenolith, the castle of Puppet Master is straight ahead and inside is the man we have come here for."

Kimiko drew in a breath. "So, this is really it, isn't it?"

"Yes, this is the start of the fight that began this alliance." Kenja said gently, looking over the castle.

"The fight that convinced me to join this group." Kyo said.

"The fight that allowed me to meet you guys." Michael then added, smiling.

"The fight, the fight that I need to see happen before my eyes." Setsuna stated, words slightly stumbling through this statement.

"The fight that I am going to see happen while doing all I can to help." Flynn said.

"The fight that gave us a reason to stay with you." Aislinn said, pleased that she remembered why she had stuck around with these people, some of whom she didn't remember.

"The fight that allowed me to turn a few students I once was afraid I would have to make into enemies, into allies that I can be very proud of." Yukio added while Icarus nodded in agreement.

"The fight that we have to finish, the both of us." Kimiko said, turning to Tsumi who nodded before speaking. "The fight we need to go through so I can find out why he wants me, the fight to teach me what it really means to be the purple gem."

"Agreed. Now, let's go!"

"Right!"