"Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."- Leo Buscaglia

"I see your face before my eyes

I'm falling into darkness

Why must I fight to stay alive

Heroes falling

Wake me can't you hear me calling

Out of darkness they come crawling"

-Creeping in My Soul- Christina Lorentzen

Chapter 19

She frowned as the black shadow returned. She held out her arm, letting it wrap around it, watching as it took the form of the snake.

"I wanted the Seers body, not hers you stupid snake," She said coldly. "Oh well, maybe it's better this way." She stood up, walking over to the mirror her black hair swaying.

"I told you not to let anyone in, or you'll get weak," she said. "And now you'll suffer for not listening to me."

Yoh POV

The sick feeling in my chest got worse at her words.

"Why would someone curse her?" I asked Nadeshiko.

"Think idiot, people want to kill Itako's," she snapped. "And not only is she an Itako but the Princess, people will want to kill her because of that."

"Probably so she wouldn't be recognised. Lots of people would be after her…" I could hear my fathers words repeat faintly in my mind.

"Do you know what kind of curse it would be Nadeshiko-San? Or how to break it?" Faust asked her. He looked frustrated, probably because Anna was in danger of dieing and he couldn't do anything.

Death…the sick feeling got worse at the thought.

"Only Curse Reflection can and I don't know how. Only Hime-Sama could do it," Nadeshiko said.

"That's helpful," Ren said. Nadeshiko glared at him. For I second I thought she was going to hit him when Anna spoke.

"Yoh…" she said softly, shivering. I grabbed her hand. Her skin was cold. Ice cold. I faintly heard Nadeshiko gasp behind me but ignored it and focused on Anna.

"How do you feel?" stupid thing to ask but I didn't know what else to do.

"It's…hard to…breath…"

"It must be because of the poison," Faust said.

"Isn't there something you could do?" Ren asked.

"Last time it just made her cough up more blood," Faust frowned. "If I give her more it'll just make her lose more blood."

"There has to be something!" Nadeshiko hissed. "If that blue haired idiot didn't get bitten she wouldn't have been near that area in the first place!"

"The only way to help her would be breaking this curse."

"But only the Princess knows how and look at her! She's in no condition to do spells or-"

"Anna!" her skin had gone ghostly pale as her eyes closed. "Anna! Can you hear me?" I kept calling her name but she didn't answer.

Anna POV

I could faintly hear someone calling my name but I couldn't answer. My body felt weak, like it was resting after a hard workout.

Then I felt a cold breeze and was finally able to open my eyes.

I was in a forest. At least it looked like one. I was surrounded by trees that were covered in vines. The branches and leaves were so close together that barely came down to the ground. It was quiet. It didn't feel right. There was a dark feeling to this place, it made me feel vulnerable and I didn't like it.

"So you're still breathing? Most people would be dead by now." a child's voice sounded fro a behind me. "And yet all your doing is coughing up blood."

I turned around but didn't see anyone.

"I will admit, you are somewhat stronger," The voice continued. "But if keep staying here, you'll just end up like before, Akuma."

"Don't you dare call me that!" I yelled. "Who are you?"

"Stupid girl," the voice went cold, no longer one of a child. "You get bitten my snake, and are under my curse yet you still don't know?"

"I don't make a habit of knowing kids who cast weak curses." I said. I heard a snap. A vine came at me, wrapping around my left arm and pulling me into the air roughly, almost dislocating my shoulder.

"You have no right to talk to me like that Akuma." the voice said. It echoed around me. I winced as I felt the vine tighten. "I should punish you for your disrespect."

Thorns started to form on the vine, slowly sinking into my skin. I felt something that was icy cold at first go into my arm, then it slowly got hotter and hotter. I bite my lip, drawing blood, to keep myself from crying out in pain.

Slowly, what light there was started to fade, leaving me in complete darkness. My heart rate increased, hitting painfully against my chest. The darkness…I felt panic begin to fill my mind, freezing my body.

I felt something slither around my body, onto my arm. I felt a flickering tongue, fangs scraping where I was bitten.

"So you left the spirit in my body to make the curse stronger?" pathetic. This person was underestimating my power.

Bad idea.

I closed my eyes, even though there was no need considering how dark it was around me. I focused my Furyoku around me. I heard the snake hiss. I briefly saw an image of a girl with long black hair, starring into a mirror with a horrified look.

There was a scream and all my senses left me.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a girl with short silver hair jumped as she heard a scream. She ran down the hall and into the room where it came from.

She saw her kneeling on the ground, panting, her black hair drenched in sweat.

"That brat…I underestimated her." she said.

"N-Nee-Sama…D-Daijoubu?" The little girl asked. She looked no older then seven years old.

"I'm fine Rin," the girl stood up, brushing her hair out of her face. The little girl, Rin, took a step back, eyes wide. Her sister had blood dripping down her face from the top of her forehead and dripping from the corner of her mouth. "I underestimated her. Looks like I'll have to rethink my plan." she wiped the blood from her mouth. "But at least I know how her mental state is now so I guess it wasn't that useless."

When Anna opened her eyes everything was dark. Her vision cleared and soon she could make out the tiles on the ceiling. She sat up, only to have her head pounding and her left arm stinging.

"Ow," She winced.

"Anna! Your Ok!" Arms wrapped around her.

"Ow!-Let go or I'll kill you Yoh!" She hissed.

Yoh, grinning sheepishly, let go of her.

"Finally," he said. "You passed out over an hour ago. We were really worried."

Anna looked from him to Ren and Nadeshiko. Ren had a looked like he didn't care either way what happened to her but she could feel concern coming from him. Nadeshiko looked worried and angry at the same time. Her thoughts were full of relief at seeing her okay though.

"The darkness from you seems to have left," a voice said from Anna left.

"The curse is gone, that's why Nekomata," she said to Matamune, who looked shocked at this information.

'For her to be able to break a curse while being under it…her Furyoku must be intense' he thought. Yoh, however, didn't seem to care how the curse was gone. He was just glad she was okay.

"I'm so glad your ok!" Yoh hugged her.

SLAP!

"Space!"

'Heh, she really is doing better. She's even getting colour back in her cheeks' Yoh grinned.

Nadeshiko frowned.

"I'm glad your okay Hime-Sama," She said, not looking at her. "I'll…I'll go inform Yin of what's happened." still without looking at her, she left.

"What's with her?" Ren said, eye brow raised.

"She's just upset," Anna laid down. "Now both of you go away. I'm tired."

"OW!" HoroHoro complained as Eliza placed the disinfectant on his wound. She had put him in a separate room, mostly for Tamao's sake then his since she felt it wouldn't do her good to see two people she cared about hurt.

"I-I'm sorry," Tamao said stammered. "T-This is my fault…"

"No it's not," HoroHoro reassured her, wincing again at the sting.

"Y-Yes," Tamao shook her head. "It is, Y-You and- and Anna-San…"

"It's not your fault Tamao," the pink haired girl jumped as Nadeshiko came up from behind her. "If anything it's mine since I'm supposed to protect her from these kinds of things."

"Nadeshiko-San…"

"Come on, I need to tell Yin what happened and Usui here will probably need rest," Nadeshiko said. She had the look of someone who was just told they were worthless by the person they admired.

Eliza nodded. "Yes, he should rest after going into shock."

"Wait, you can't go anywhere with an Escort and Onii-Chan is yours!" Pirika hissed at her.

"Calm down, I'm going with her," Ren said, walking over.

"What about-Ow-Anna?" HoroHoro winced.

"Yoh's staying with her. She seems to be doing better but Faust wants to keep an eye on her."

"She-She's better?" Tamao looked relieved.

"Yeah," Nadeshiko nodded. "Let's go, the longer I wait to tell Yin the more upset she'll be that I didn't tell her sooner."

When the three of them left, Eliza going to help Faust with anything, Pirika glared at her brother.

"What?"

"Since when do you call that Itako by her first name?" She asked suspiciously.

"That's what your upset about? Come on, I'm not going to call her Princess like everyone else does, she's the farthest thing from that! Besides…"

"Besides what?"

HoroHoro sighed, sinking into his pillows that he had propped behind his back. "I guess…I don't think she's all that bad anymore…"

"WHAT?"Pirika shrieked. "She's an Itako HoroHoro! You know how bad they are, they kill without hesitation, they have no feelings so they don't care about anything!"

"Yeah but," HoroHoro started to look uncomfortable. "You saw the way she stopped that snake from getting to Tamao. I guess I'm just grateful she, you know, helped her."

"G-Go a-away," Anna shivered.

"No thanks," Yoh said, putting an extra blanket over her and sitting in a chair beside her bed. "Faust said it must be the after shock, that's why your cold right now."

"I kn-know that, I'm not stupid," Anna glared. "And I don't need you to take care of me so go away."

"Don't be stubborn, I just want to make sure your really okay," Anna blushed slightly at this.

"It was kinda scary," Yoh went on, resting his head on his arms on the side of the bed. He voice went quiet, serious. "When you passed out, I could sense this dark energy coming from you. Ren and Nadeshiko couldn't feel it, but Matamune could. he said it was the curse, and if we didn't do something you would die. But there was nothing we could do and it made me feel sick, like I couldn't breath right. That hour…was probably the longest moment in my life."

Anna didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. This guy was actually worried about her? Actually afraid that she might die?

"Idiot," she finally said, rolling over. "Of course I wouldn't die. Don't under estimate me."

"I know, but still, I'm glad you okay."

"Why?" Anna felt the corner of her eyes sting.

"Because you're my friend." Yoh told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I care about my friends."

"I'm an Itako idiot, I can't be your friend." Anna said quietly. There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yeah, you're an Itako but…your also Anna. Anna is Anna, and I'm me. And I say Anna is my friend, Itako or not."

Though Yoh couldn't see it, Anna's eyes filled with silent tears.

"Idiot," she whispered.

'This idiot…he always manages to make me cry'

Matamune, who was still there, smiled slightly.

Meanwhile, outside…

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER!" Yin yelled. She went to run back inside but Nadeshiko grabbed her arm.

"She needs rest, you can see her later Yin," she told her.

"What if something else happens to her? Is anyone with her now?" Yin fretted.

"Asakura is." Nadeshiko said reluctantly. Yin frowned, looking down.

"I…I see. Then…she'll be okay…I guess…"

"No need to worry Yin-Chan," Ryu reassured her. "I may not have known the Princess as long as you, but I already know she is strong, she'll make a fast recovery like always."

"Your right, Arigato Ryu," Yin smiled. She turned to look at Tamao, who was about to say something but stopped her. "Don't. I know your going to apologize but there's no need. So stop blaming yourself, okay?"

Tamao nodded. "I-I'll try…"

Ren, who was standing a out of earshot from them, was deep in thought.

"Bocchama, something seems to be troubling you," Bason appeared beside him.

"That Shikigami…I'd like to know who sent it," Ren said, biting the end of his thumb. "Both times it went after Tamao, but HoroHoro got in it's was first, then Anna. HoroHoro wasn't effected but she was."

"You think someone is after the Seer then?" Bason asked.

Ren didn't answer. He just caught sight of a familiar head of green hair.

"Just where the hell were you?" he asked as Jun came up to him.

"I ran into Melin," Jun explained. "She was going to visit her brother and I thought it was best not to let her go in case she saw Anna."

Lyserg raised his hand to knock on the door but hesitated. He didn't know if he should disturb her or not. She had been ill for the last two years, either resting in bed or in the Iron Maiden to raise her Furyoku to keep her health up. But neither seemed to be working.

"Lyserg? What are you doing?" The green haired boy jumped. He turned to see his comrade, Lucky. He had a scar under his left eye.

"L-Lucky. I was going to see Jeanne-Sama," Lyserg explained. Lucy shook his head.

"She needs to rest. But Marco has already seen to her, and she gave him orders. That's why I came to find you."

"What orders?"

"You, Marco, and Prof are to go to the Asakura's immediately. We can't wait any longer."

Anna bit her lip, closing her eyes against the pain. It was night time now, Yoh gone to his room.

Her arm was sore. A small pain was felt each time her heart beat. Worse of all it was pitch black in here which made her heartbeat faster.

Anna sat up, getting out of bed and moving to the window. She opened the curtain and the light from the moon shined onto her. She rolled back the left sleeve of her Yukata.

On her arm, from her wrist to her elbow, was tattoo. It looked like black vines wrapping around her arm, thorns looking more like fangs then anything.

'Damn it…I didn't stop it in time…' she thought, frustrated.

She saw something outside that caught her eyes. How couldn't it? The whiteness of it stood out in the dark.

'Why are the X-Laws here?'

Sorry it took a bit long, been so busy with school work even though I've had this done for a week now. Just found out an Anime Con is coming to my town in June and Kyle Hebert, Voice of Kiba Inuzuka from Naruto, will be there! I'll admit, I love Kiba! And I'm deciding whether to cosplay as Winry Rockbell, from FMA or Marion Phauna. I have boots just like hers from the Second Round and their the same length, only problem would be Chuck. And I have the same outfit as Winry so need to decide on that.

Kei: Sorry, no Jeanne apearace in this chap either just a mention of her. Don't worry the plots going to be better after this. Thanks for the review!

Koorinosekai: Yes they are! Thanks for reviewing!

Nelfayt: thanks for the review and as you can see Anna didn't die but she didn't get out of it scot-free either unfortunately.

Helen Wang: thanks for reviewing and if you done post it! :P