The fight below seemed to stop as Fai sped to Ashura, who grinned and readied a spell. Fai already one hand set with his vampire claws. He held the spear in the other. Ashura held something up at him, a small and orange object, and Fai froze.

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The coral had more blood on it than before; Akitla's. The control wouldn't work on her any longer. Ashura sneered at Fai. She hadn't used the coral yet to take over his mind, but he still wouldn't move; he was shocked and even looked a little frightened.

"Weak human!"

"Fai! Move!" Kurogane yelled from below. This was the mages fight, but he still wanted a part in killing Ashura.

Fai's eyebrow rose in surprise, and he grabbed the mirror from around his belt. He released it, and it fell away to the group below, where Kurogane caught it.

"Take it to the children." He whispered to himself. Suddenly, he smiled. He could sense the magic from the coral. True, it wouldn't work on a dead mermaid, but now it wouldn't work on him either. The mix of blood from two different hosts had tainted it. The worst it could do now was make him dizzy or confused.

"That won't work, Ashura-o." He said, pulling his arm back to prepare to throw the spear. She threw the ruined coral away, and it shattered against the stone behind her. With a growl, she launched herself at him madly. Fai knocked her away with a slash of claws across her face.

He looked down, at all the people looking up at him. They were all wounded, and for what? They all thought they were right, and the other was wrong, when really it was their leader who was to blame. This civilization clearly had never really had any major battles, nothing to base this one off of for assistance.

It wasn't fair for them to have to start now.

This "Queen" had abused her power, ruined her peoples lives slowly. They had never really retaliated, until a single person decided that enough was enough.

Fai threw the spear, piercing Ashura through her heart. Ashura gave one final shuddering gasp, glaring at her killer, and died.

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The world seemed to loose all of its noise as the woman died. The killer drew in his bloodied claws, hiding his face in his hands.

"My magic is such that the more people I murder, the stronger my magic becomes. And soon, it should be even stronger than yours…Fai." His King's chilling words rang through his head.

Oh, god…

Fai sped away.

I don't know what to do!

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Fai went straight for the surface, heading for the beach. He sat on a cluster of rounded stones still in the sea but close to the shore, and looked out to the water he had just come from. Something wet crawled down his face, and he realized that it was a tear. His lips trembled, and he began sobbing. His arms wrapped around his sides and he hugged himself.

It began raining; pouring, and cold water pelted his back like needles. He didn't notice. He felt cold as ice inside.

This hurts, this pain! I can't stand it!

The twisted face of the dying Queen flashed in his memory, and he began screaming uncontrollably, sobbing.

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Sakura looked out the window as it began to rain. She sighed. It was late, and she needed to get her rest, but she was too worried. As she sat there in the window seat, a knock sounded at her door.

"Come in."

Syaoran walked in and lit a candle, creating a pool of warm light in the dark room. With the little light, he joined Sakura by the window.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I'm worried for them. What if something happened-" She stopped, looking fearfully out the window.

"Someone is out there, Syaoran-kun!"

"What?"

"A scream! They could be hurt!"

She was barely able to hear it over the rain, but it was full of pain. She jumped to her feet.

"We have to help them!"

"Princess! It's dangerous!" He stared into her eyes, brimmed with tears of worry.

"Please, let's go." She asked. He sighed, nodding. If someone was out there like that, they really could be in trouble.

"Alright."

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They rushed out the door with coats on to shield themselves, running to the beach. When they got there, it was too dark to see. A flash of lightning cracked through clouds in the sky, momentarily showing the beach and water to them. Syaoran cried out, "The rocks! Someone's out there!"

The sea was calm, even through the storm, and the teens quickly splashed out to the lone person. The identity was unrecognizable to them in the darkness. It was only a partial eclipse at the moment. As they got closer, Sakura saw around the side of the rock, where a long and dark tail was resting. With wide eyes, she looked up to see the pale hair of Fai, whose face was hidden in shadows. Either he was ignoring them, or he hadn't noticed them through the rain. His arms were still wrapped around his waist, and his head was slightly bent forwards as his shoulders continued to shake with sobs.

"Fai-san!" Sakura called to the man. He looked up in surprise and shock.

"You shouldn't be here, Sakura-chan. You could get hurt." He called sadly through a gust of wind. She shook her head, saying that she was staying.

Syaoran appeared from the other side of the rock. He was surprised that Fai was still conscious above the surface of the water. The rain must have been running through his gills. Salt water to rain water, they were still both water.

"Fai-san, what happened? Where is Kurogane-san?" He asked. Fai shook his head to the first question, pointing out to the water for the second with a webbed hand.

"Fai-san, are you alright? You're not hurt?" Sakura asked. The rainfall had gotten slightly softer, and she cautiously climbed up next to the man. Syaoran followed her to make sure she didn't fall. Sakura hugged Fai, not caring if he got her wet since she was drenched already. Blinking first in surprise, the merman wrapped his arms around her in an embrace.

"I'm alright. I'm more worried about the two of you! Going out in a storm; you'll catch a cold!" He smiled a wobbly smile and patted the girl's head. She looked up at him sadly, knowing that he really was hurt. At least, in his heart.

He was unable to hold back another tear, and it fell down his face, mixing with the rain.

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Kurogane stared at Fai as he raced away. This was probably one of the mage's first kills, and it was clear that he was in shock. He decided to leave him alone; it seemed to be the best option.

Everyone was still silent, gaping at the corpse of the twisted leader.

Kurogane swam back to the crowd.

Time to take a lead. He sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd rather follow the mage and make sure that he was all right.

"Everyone! Take care of the garbage!" He yelled, referring to the corpses of the fallen army of the Queen.

"What about the Queen?" Someone asked.

"Leave the bitch to rot." Kurogane said.

They began to drag the bodies over to the side of the theatre, where a huge drop was located. The bodies were thrown over the edge, where they sank to the depths.

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The rain came to a shuddering halt; and Fai's ability to stay above the surface was cut short. A small moment passed, and already he felt a stab in his altered lungs. He looked up, hoping the sky would grant him a few more drops of water. Sadly, he looked back to Syaoran and Sakura. They looked back with worried expressions.

"You should go." Syaoran said. Fai nodded, hugging them gently before slipping back into the water.

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Fai swam slowly through the water as he began to cry softly. He went to an abandoned area of coral not too far from the polis. Settling among the colorful animals, he sank to the ground, and began humming softly. Other people swam past him, but he was in the shadows and remained hidden. After a while, he swam to the top of the coral to watch Kurogane lead them. Fai began singing sadly, asking questions.

"So where do we go from here? And how to forget and forgive?"

His voice carried over to the theatre, causing a few heads to turn. He turned back around and swam away before he could see if anyone followed, his voice reaching a decrescendo.

"What's gone is forever lost. Now all we can do is live."

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AN: I'm really sorry I haven't posted lately! I was busy, and decided to twist the plot at the last moment, so I had to change some stuff! Hope it was ok! ^^

"So where do we go from here? And how to forget and forgive? What's gone is forever lost. Now all we can do is live." Is from the awesome song "Brothers" from Fullmetal Alchemist, so I don't own it. It's originally written in Russian, but Vic Mignogna sang it too! 8D either way, check it out on youtube or whatever, it's a really nice song! *hums*

(sorry if that scene was cheesy, but I really wanted to put at least a small piece of the song in)