Welcome to Chapter 16, the epilogue!
(This little recap is more for me, but I recommend all of you readers reading it too...better than going and re-reading the whole fic!)
First, allow me to review the story so far:
Kai was being an ass and ruined the birth day present Hilary made him. She got pissed off, and left in the middle of the night. Kai and Max left the next morning, Mariah came the morning after that. Then a bunch of stuff, ranging from too-smart-for-their-own-good pilots to busting people out of the looney bin to a riot/mob chasing two people to attacking undead happened.
Two people (Mariah and Mariam) are in/need to go to the hospital. Mariam got shot by Mr. Taka and Mariah...well...I think we all know what went on, even though I didn't spell it out. Rei has vanished, but Tyson, Daichi, Kenny and Dizzi are in the hospital with Mariah.
Everyone else is in the woods/on their way to the city to get Mariam to a hospital.
'Kay? 'Kay.
We shall be starting off with the crew in the woods (minus Kira).
-x-x-x-x-
"Hey, I see lights!" Hilary shouted as they all raced from the woods. As one, all ran towards the street.
"Wait!" Garland called; all of them stopped dead. "We don't know if word of Brooklyn's disappearance has spread or not..." Brooklyn looked down as the others exchanged glances. Hilary frowned thoughtfully.
"Okay, Max, Kai," her tone darkened as she said his name, "both of you take Mariam to the hospital. While you're there Max, get that arm looked at...the rest of us can stay here with Brooklyn and wait it out."
Brooklyn's green eyes widened.
"N-nani," he murmured softly; Hilary gave him a smile.
"Any objections?" Garland inquired, ignoring Brooklyn's shock. When no one did, he nodded to Kai and Max, who immediately rushed off with Mariam.
"So...what do we do now?" Ming Ming inquired after several moments of silence. Hilary sat down on the ground in a comfortable position.
"We wait," she stated before lying on her back to look up at the nights' sky. 'Please let Mariam be okay...' She prayed right as another shooting star skidded across the sky.
Sighing softly, Ming Ming joined Hilary on the ground. One by one, the others joined them, until all the teens were lying down, looking up at the sky.
-x-x-x-x-
Kira sighed softly and shifted restlessly, wishing she could look up at the sky and relax as the others were...but she could not.
As long as they were near the woods, she could not. Something was coming this way from the depths of the forest, where the battle had recently taken place.
The malevolent feelings radiating off of whatever it was were almost tangible and it was still quite far away. Shivering, she hoped they would be long gone, but knew in her heart they would still be here upon its arrival.
'Looks like we're going to find out if ghosts are capable of being killed...' She thought with grim good humor as the presence strengthened. 'Let's hope it can't use the fog unless it figures out how to...' A few moments of puzzling helped her deduce that it had taken her about three weeks to learn how to use it, and another three to use it properly. 'Then again, I wasn't trying to kill someone...'
Her gaze traveled down to where the six teens lay relaxing in the grass.
'For their sake, I hope it takes it longer...'
-x-x-x-x-
Tyson, Daichi, and Kenny followed the nurse hurriedly to Mariah's room. The nurse stopped and turned to face them.
"Not too long now, okay?" She told them politely.
"Okay," all three chorused and slipped in past her. To their surprise, Mariah was awake, and sitting up.
"Where's Rei," were the first words out of her mouth.
"We haven't seen him..." Kenny replied slowly. Her eyes widened.
"What?!" She whisper-shouted. (1)
"We haven't seen him," Kenny repeated cautiously. Mariah tried to hop out of the hospital bed. Tyson and Kenny stopped her and made her sit down.
"What's up," Daichi wondered in shock.
"Let me go!" She growled. "Rei's gonna commit suicide otherwise!" All three froze as Mariah quickly clambered out of bed and pulled her clothes on hastily.
They followed her numbly as both slipped out of the hospital and raced towards the pier.
"Why the pier?" Tyson grumbled as he ran along side Mariah, Kenny and Daichi.
"Because Rei can't swim," Mariah retorted and sped up. Kenny, Daichi, and Tyson exchanged wide-eyed glances before speeding up as well.
-x-x-x-x-
A golden eyed neko-jin eyed the stormy water below him, self-hate filling his every pore. He took a step closer towards the end of the pier, ignoring the fact that the ground under his feet was slick with salt water.
/Don't do it!/ Two voices shouted simultaneously. He spun, shocked, to see Galax and Driger both standing behind him. A little farther back he saw Dragoon and Hoppy racing towards him.
Stunned, he started backing up, one step, two steps.
"REI!" Mariah shouted, panic and fear lacing her tone as she slid around a corner. His eyes widened further as he took a third step back.
"REI!!!" Kenny, Daichi and Tyson called as they followed behind Mariah.
'W-what,' his dazed mind screamed mentally. 'They-they should hate me!' Shaken, he took a fourth step back, into open air. Mariah raced as fast as she could towards the water; Kenny and Tyson were frozen in shock. Galax, Driger, Dragoon, Strata-Dragoon and Hoppy watched apprehensively, unable to assist, even if it spelled death for the bladers.
Without pausing to think, Mariah dived into the water after her best friend and long time crush, conveniently forgetting she was not exactly an Olympic swimmer. As soon as she entered the choppy salt water, she almost screamed from the shock of the ice cold water.
Biting her lip, Mariah ignored the numbing cold as best as she could, and swam down towards the bottom. Just as she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, she caught sight of something red and white near the edge of the rock outcropping.
'Rei!" Her mind screamed. Adrenaline coursing through her veins and clearing her mind, she forced her numbed muscles to move. Latching onto Rei, she hauled him as well as herself to the surface. She broke it to take a huge gasp of air, but the waves slammed her and Rei up against the rocks.
Biting back a scream of pain, she fought to find a hold on the rocks before the waves pounded her unconscious. The next thing she knew, she was wrenched from the water to look up into familiar golden eyes.
"Lee!" She gasped as her knees buckled. Her brother grinned before catching her. "Wait! What about Rei?!" Lee spun her around so she could see that Gary was supporting Rei while Kevin, Kenny, Daichi and Tyson worriedly glanced back and forth between her and Rei. "I'm okay..."
"To the dojo," Kenny told them all. Gulping, everyone marched. It seemed Kenny had had enough excitement for one day.
Once back, Mariah had been changed by Lee, and Rei by Gary, before both were plopped on the couch and covered with thick, heavy blankets. Mariah blinked when all of them, even Tyson, Daichi and Kenny, left the room.
Worriedly, she turned to face Rei. After giving him a once over, she sighed in relief.
'If he wakes up, he'll be okay...' She couldn't resist a soft sigh of relief as she relaxed and prepared to drift off to sleep.
Then she saw the blood on the blanket.
-x-x-x-x-
Max and Kai rushed into the emergency room, carrying Mariam between them.
There was instant pandemonium.
Somehow, through the mess of doctors, nurses, surgeons, detectives, aides, and general mass of milling people, Max was seen to and was soon seated by Mariam's bedside, awaiting her return to the land of the living.
He bit his lip nervously.
'If she lives,' he reminded himself sternly. He didn't want to get his hopes up.
-x-x-x-x-
Kira carefully fidgeted on her post, restless. As she shifted, she felt something cold and hard press against her ankle. Praying this was what she thought it was, she reached into her sock and pulled out...
A nail filer. One with a black, plastic handle, and a pointed, metal tip, but a nail filer nonetheless.
She almost fell off the branch.
'So much for that idea,' she thought sullenly.
Suddenly, she was four again.
"Anything, in the proper hands, can become a weapon, young one," her sensei told her. Blinking, the child confusedly clutched a blunt, unsharpened pencil in one hand.
"Even this?" She held up her pencil for her sensei to see.
"Used appropriately, yes, even that," her sensei smiled, seeing his apprentice was staring at him with a flat look that clearly revealed her thoughts. "Come, and I will show you."
The abrupt flashback ended as soon as it had started, and made her eyes widen as another came on full force.
"Young one, take this," her sensei held something out to her in one of his bloody hands.
"B-but...sensei..." Her large purple-grey eyes looked at him, the burning dojo in the background and his state mournfully.
"Take this, young one, and go...flee, before you are slain as well..." Her sensei's eyes were beginning to slide closed as his life's blood pooled on the floor at their feet.
"S-sensei," her eyes bright with unshed tears, she gently took the trinket from her dead sensei's fingers and turned to flee.
Eyes widening further in terror, she stopped the memory, and clamped and hand over her own mouth to muffle the sobs that currently wracked her form.
'Why? Why do I have to remember? Why now?' Slowly, the tears ceased. Cold, furious anger replaced them.
Now that her memories were completely restored, she knew what had happened on that terrible day. And she knew perfectly well who had caused it. Clenching the nail filer tightly, she slipped delicately onto the ground and, ignoring the ominous feeling clouding the air, deliberately went in search of one of her bags.
'If whatever it is wants to face me, it had better be prepared,' she growled mentally as she found what she had searched for. Snatching it out of its former resting place, she clenched the filer tightly as she grimly returned to her post.
This time, there would be no running away.
This time, she was going to fight.
This time, only one was going to walk away, whole in mind, body and soul.
-x-x-x-x-
Kai walked calmly down the main street, back to where his (dare I say it) friends were relaxing. He knew Hilary was mad and had every right to be, but...for the sake of everyone, he was going to try to patch things up.
How? He had no idea. He had never done this sort of thing before, so he hoped he wouldn't botch it up.
Mentally sighing, he quickened his pace.
As he walked into the clearing area, he froze.
From the top of a tree was a pair of very familiar purple-grey eyes.
Ignoring everyone, he walked over to the tree and stood pointedly in front of it, glaring up at its inhabitant.
Said inhabitant cursed in Russian.
"You gave away my hiding spot, I'll have you know," came the just as familiar voice.
The other teens jumped to their feet: they knew the voice and its owner as well.
Suddenly, a familiar form to both Kai and the others leapt from the tree branch, and tackled Kai down. Both hit the ground with just enough time to avoid the slash of something dark, dangerous and very sharp.
Mr. Taka, in an underworld garb, stood there, complete with a black sword, and a black whip.
'Lovely,' Kira thought bitterly, narrowing her now purple-grey eyes.
"K-Kira?" Kai's voice her total shock. Hilary and the others looked back and forth between the two, confused.
"I'll thank you later," she ground out, gripping the filer and trinket from her sensei tighter. "Right now, I've got something slightly more pressing to deal with."
Kai, who recognized the man at last, growled several things in Russian at the man, none of which were "nice to see you again".
'Something tells me I'll welcome death after this...' Kira thought as she placed herself between the newly-made underworld slayer, and her friends. 'Even though...' Her eyes momentarily flicked back to rest on Kai.
He nodded; he understood. She nodded back, glad he did.
Then she charged forward to clash with the man who had killed her once, and, most likely, would again.
-x-x-x-x-
Tala shifted in his chair for the thousandth time that morning. Where was Kai?
Bryan, Spencer, Ian and he traded looks before frowning and standing as one. Then their bit chips began to glow.
"Taka," Ian snarled as Wyborg shrilled in agreement.
The other three gripped their blades and said nothing.
-x-x-x-x-
Mariah gasped mentally when she saw the blood that dotted the blanket.
Unbeknownst to her, two entities nearby were watching. Two entities who had protected her in the past, and had decided to grant her one last boon before letting her kitten go out in the world, unprotected.
'A boon to you, my little one,' thought a woman who resembled a feline more so than even the neko-jin.
Her name was Bastet, the goddess of cats.
'A boon indeed,' thought her other protector, another female who resembled a feline more so than even the neko-jin.
Her name was Sekhmet, the fierce lion-goddess. (2)
The boon was cast, and her mate (3) would live...but for a price.
-x-x-x-x-
Max looked at the ground, trying hard to keep from just crying. This day had been horrible, he was tired, he was hurt, and his friend might never wake up from her coma!
Tired green eyes opened and focused on Max's form before widening.
"Max!" Mariam started before sitting up and pulling him into a fierce hug. (4)
"M-Mariam," his own aqua eyes widened before he hugged her back tightly.
"Max," came a hazy voice.
Slowly, Max's eyes opened before he came face to face with his mom.
"Maxie! You're okay!" She rushed forward, to try and hug him, but he pulled back.
"No," he told her. "I'm staying with my friends, getting hurt is a part of growing up."
"I understand," she told him with a smile and then he let her hug him...before all of it faded away to reveal the very clearing he had left.
And things did not look so good. (5)
-x-x-x-x-
Right as Kira had lunged forward to attack, the salve that had kept her shoulder wound numb had "mysteriously" worn off.
As she backed off and circled him, she knew it was not that. He had influenced it somehow.
'I'm not bad off enough...now he has to add another thing in his favor,' she thought in disgust as she kept her eyes trained on him.
"Kira!" Hilary shouted, trying to come towards them, but Kai stopped her by grabbing onto her arm.
"This is her fight," he told her emotionlessly.
'That it is,' she thought grimly, trying not to wince as her shoulder pulled, causing the edges of her vision to turn grey and blur.
Taka smirked, a smirk that had driven her almost insane when she was younger. Then she figured out his game.
He was trying to trick her, make her mad, make her stumble up.
"It isn't going to work," she informed him icily. "Not this time. Not ever again."
"What?" He inquired innocently. Kai's eyes narrowed and he suppressed the urge to launch Dranzer at the sneering, arrogant jerk.
A flash later, Kira was on the ground, gritting her teeth against the newest injury she had sustained.
'Why do ghosts even have blood,' she wondered dazedly as she struggled back to her feet. 'Ghost...that's it!'
Taka's eyes widened. She had figured it out. He had to strike now. And strike he did. Lunging forward, his sword sank deep into her chest, and speared her heart clean through.
To his surprise, she blankly looked down at the sword.
"I'm a ghost, idiot. I can be injured, sure, but you can't kill me!" With that, she drove her filer into him, making him back up, hissing in pain. 'Actually, I'm surprised I'm not on my way to the land of brimstone and fire as we speak...ah...focus, focus, focus! I died for nothing once; I'm not repeating that mistake yet again!'
A beam of moonlight shot across the sky, even thought there was no moon to be seen. (6)
A shimmering white sword appeared in Kai's hand; startled, he nearly dropped it.
"Good luck, Kai...or should I say nii-san?" She managed that, and then she was gone. The black sword which had rested in her chest landed on the ground with a thud. (7)
Kai's bangs slid down over his eyes as he raised the shimmering sword.
-x-x-x-x-
Mariah stared at the same spot on the blanket. There had just been blood there. She had smelled it, seen it...but now it wasn't.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she failed to see a pair of golden eyes had opened and were now regarding her curiously.
"Who're you?"
Mariah turned her head so fast she cricked her neck. Rei, the boy she had known almost all her life, was staring at her like he had never seen her before.
-x-x-x-x-
Max woke with a start as the girl vanished.
'She...' His eyes were wide with shock. 'She was his sister?!'
"Max...?" Inquired a sleepy voice by his elbow. A tired looking Mariam was struggling to sit up. Hurriedly, he got her to lay back down and explained what had been going on.
"...wow..." Was Mariam was able to mumble after that. "And I thought today was going to be boring," she commented, hefting a sigh. That startled a laugh out of the normally happy blonde, causing both to grin, albeit weakly, at one another.
-x-x-x-x-
Kai moved without warning, his blade nipping Taka from his left shoulder to his right hip. He fell, and vanished. So did the whip and sword he had discarded in battle.
"Kai?" Hilary cautiously moved closer.
The hand that held his sword was shaking. He dropped it in the dirt and it, too, vanished without a trace.
Said proud, cold Russian sank to his knees...and buried his face in his hands.
His companions exchanged worried glances.
"Kai?" Hilary approached him warily and sat down on the ground next to him.
"...she..." Kai's voice cracked; he shook his head and could say no more.
-x-x-x-x-
(1)- you know? when you whisper...and it's loud...but not loud enough to be considered actual talk? Am I the only one who's friends do that?
(2)- Nyahahaha! Go brush up on your Egyptian gods! XD
(3)- you shall findeth moreth abouteth thateth latereth! (yes, I know that's not real Shakespearean language...I had to read Romeo and Juliet in REAL Shakespearean and they did not talk like that!)
(4)- yes, I know. OOC. Go bitch at someone who cares...'cuz I don't! (and you'll see why)
(5)- for anyone I confused (I confused myself, writing that!) that was all a dream.
(6)- Cloud cover, people.
(7)- 1-nii-san means brother. 2-she said it in Russian
Sorry it took so long...there were a lot of ideas that I wanted to pack in here, and some of them I came up with on the spot (literally). I sincerely enjoyed writing this story and appreciate all the reviews it received.
I hope it was worth the wait.
Emma
MUCHO EDITO:
Sequel is up, y'all. (Actually, sequel is finito, y'all. GO TAKE THE DAMNED POLL IF YOU WANT THE THIRD ONE!...:cough:...sorry. slightly frustrated over here, as the poll is a tie...and it's in my profile. :pokepoke: GO LOOK! PLEASE!)
'Tis called Trouble in Paradise.