Chapter Sixteen — But Mirror Eyes Cannot Hope To See

When Dark entered the scene he found himself in the midst of the climax. Furious wind howled within the exhibit and mist and light were everywhere, creating with them mayhem of epic anger. In the center of the whirlwind was a writhing, twisting figure, red lines marring the blue flow. It was there that the screams originated, there that the deathly song was manipulated into hellish cries of anguish.

"That's her!" Dark's shouts were nearly lost in the wind. "That's the Mystic!"

"What is she doing? What's happening to her?" Daisuke forced out, his voice weak, the fatigue in his words gnawing at the Thief's conscious. There was an almighty cry and Dark shielded his face against an enormous blast, hugging the journal against his chest.

"I don't know, but this is dangerous! She has no control of her powers! She could kill everyone!"

"How do we stop her?"

A podium careened towards Dark through the air and he jumped aside, the edges barely missing his face. "We have to make her quiet, we have to make her stop singing! She'll loose her power in Silence."

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The Mystic's Dream felt her insides burn, felt the fire of the Lunar Crest seep through her exposed flesh. She cried out, swiping at her arms and legs, begging for the sensation to leave her. How could he have done this? How could he have betrayed her?

Her Hikari…her own Hikari…

A light, not her own, erupted before her and the massive white wings of Krad filled her vision, his presence pressing in around her. She blinked through her mist, longing to see his face. Confusion set in.

She had drained him of power. She had weakened him in order to obtain--…. So how was it that he had returned? Where had he conjured the strength?

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Krad straightened to his feet, his long, blonde hair whipping in the torrent of darkness the Mystic was creating. He cast a quick glance to the Crests shining on the walls and felt the others resonating on the floors above them.

"Clever boy," he said, spitting out the bitter compliment through clenched teeth. Though he had found enough power to manifest it wasn't enough to ease the pain of the transformation. He could feel the Hikari boy howling within, the pain unbearable for his mortal body.

A gasp near his feet brought his attention down to Risa, the cowering girl curled near the wall. She was grasping at her throat, a thin, hairline of mist breaking from the typhoon and slipping stealthy through her lips.

He knew she was feeling pain; the mist was probably aging her throat, cutting off her air, making her endure years of aging in the mot excruciating of ways.

"You don't get this one," he muttered to himself. He grabbed on to Risa's arm and yanked her to her feet, his other hand extended towards the mist. Blazing, golden light broke through the fog and screams and the blast sent the already harsh wind into a frenzy as the mist recoiled closer to the center. Risa was released from the Mystic's grasp and she coughed through a ragged throat, her body weighing heavy in his hands. He let her go and she braced herself against the wall.

"Time has no mercy. This will not end soon…."

The ghostly threat hovered in the air around them, clinging to the walls and vibrating through the building framework. Krad, despite the wretched fear the words brought, defied the Mystic with his steely arrogance.

"Maybe not for you, but I am finished for the night." He took hold of the lapel of Risa's jacket and forced her in front of him, his eyes watching the mist, ready to attack if the Mystic tried to stop them. "Your tantrums are far too extravagant even for me."

Risa, not at all please by the rough way he was handling her, batted at the white angel with weary hands, her breath sticking in her lungs and making it hard to breath. "Let me go," she yelled, forcing the hate into her words. She remembered a white angel from before, her memory fleeting in light of the chaos. All she could recall was that he enjoyed pain. "Let me go!"

He grabbed her arms in his hands and forced her them down to her sides, his demeanor not at all in the mood to deal with a whiny, little girl.

"Stop fighting me. I'm not going to kill you." He smiled cynically at her, which was, in no way, intended to be comforting. "I need you too much."

He yanked at her unceremoniously and she fell into his waiting arms, her cheek crushed against his chest. Unlike the warmth of Satoshi he was nothing but bitter coldness. His arms wrapped around her and she felt her feet suddenly leave the floor, the feel of his beating wings vibrating and traveling through his shoulder blades into his heart and against her face. She felt herself slipping, screamed, and reached up with her arms, latching them around his neck. He let her.

Together they rose off the black tiles and headed upward, Krad fighting against the Mystic's blowing pull. When they hit the ceiling he reached up a hand, muttered something, and began tracing a design on the cement with his finger in red ink. Risa craned her neck back to see what he was doing. She thought it was yet another one of the red crests already glowing on the walls but it wasn't. Instead he was tracing one, singular character; the sort of character that reminded her of Arabic letters, or Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was one, twisting form that he sealed with a flourish, muttering something incoherent under his breath. He curled his fingers into a fist and slammed it into the middle of the red character. The cement disintegrated beneath his knuckles, raining down on them in large chunks. Risa closed her eyes and pressed her face into her chest, protecting herself from the debris.

"Krad!"

Both Risa and Krad turned towards the Phantom Thief's cry. Risa gasped and started to call out to him, but her captor stifled her with his hands. Risa's eyes grew wide, trying to relay her panic to Dark. She saw him hovering near the stairway entrance, his black wings beating steadily to keep him aloft and a thick, weighty book brandished in his hand.

Risa felt Krad's hold on her tighten menacingly, and she remembered the aerial battles she had seen on television when Dark would fight against a white angel, not unlike himself. She figured that the mere sight of the Phantom Thief would make this creature angry.

"Finder's keepers," Dark taunted, waving the book at him. Risa glanced up and noticed the cold glint in the white angel's eyes, the obvious hatred mixed with a respectful envy that seemed to make him look absolutely sinister. But then the look lightened and he smiled, the hand he used to silence Risa jerking her a little.

"Yes, I supposed I do agree with those terms," he said, nestling his blonde head near Risa's. Below she saw Dark grit his teeth. "You found a book and I found a girl. I'd say neither lose in this trade, wouldn't you agree?"

The Phantom Thief opened his mouth to say something but his rival found no reason to stay and listen to his reply. Risa felt herself pulled briskly upward, the basement level disappearing as the two flew into the entrance lobby. Through the glass of the front doors she could see all the townspeople and police officers standing outside, their floodlights and sky beams blazing everywhere, searching for dark wings.

"Let's give them a show, shall we?" her captor hissed playfully. The muscles in his body tightened, he beat his wings and soon Risa found herself screaming manically as they jetted straight for the glass front doors and burst through them in a flurry of glistening light and angel laughter.

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Dark growled low in his chest, his grip on the journal tightening. "Who does that monster think he is, kidnapping Risa?!"

"Dark…."

The Thief ignored Daisuke's voice and prepared to take off, ready to pursue Krad like he'd done so many times before. But before he could beat his wings once and ascend through the ceiling the wail of a woman's fury caught his attention and the swirling mist that had consumed the basement instantly halted, the sudden cease of wind and mist causing a frightening sight. Dark turned towards the center of the room and saw the Mystic's Dream hovering at the center of her typhoon, her curled up and hunched body slowly unfurling. She lifted his face upward and Dark saw that the red lines that marred her skin had deepened to a sinister maroon. She looked up through the hole in the ceiling, looked at the Crests on the walls, and then looked at Dark, her eyes no longer sweetly entrancing but horrifically maniacal.

Dark swallowed hard. "Damn."

"This is not over."

With one hand the Mystic swiped at the mist surrounding her, grabbing a handful of the wayward substance and hurling it at Dark. In the nick of time Dark dropped out of the mist's range, dodging it so that it slammed into the wall behind him instead of straight into his chest. But instead of aging the wall as her mist had been wont to do, it exploded into sweltering blue flames, creating a crater in the cement. It was all Dark could do to keep his jaw from dropping.

Daisuke was panicking. "Dark! Dark!"

"I know, Daisuke, I got her! Just hold on!" Dark already knew that dodging would not help their situation, and that retaliation would be the only thing she'd understand. He just hoped that Dai was up to the fight.

But The Mystic was fast. Who knew that such a delicate creature was so efficient at fighting? She moved with amazing speed, nothing more than blue and silver blue, like the dancing girl that she was. He shot repeated bolts of darkness out of his hands, Dai writhing inside at the pain, but she evaded each one easily: a turn to the right, an arch of the back, a delicate lift of the leg, a turn of her cheek. Each move melded smoothly with the next, seamless, as if she had been through this fight before and could remember each dodge and deflect, like a choreographed sequence. Dark took a fistful of feathers and threw them from his hand, each one sharp as a blade, each one aimed at her heart.

She spun on the ball of her foot, her hair whipping like a scarf around her and her hand flying up as she turned, trails of wavering mist falling from her fingers. The feathers passed through the mist and disintegrated into dust, aged into nothing. With a final flourish she landed on the tile floor, like a cat on the prowl, her fingers splayed over the reflecting black tiles and her weight hovering on the balls of her feet, her knees bent close to her face. Her gossamer dressed rode up to her thighs, every feline muscle in her legs flexed and defined.

"Shadowed rebel," she hissed, her lovely voice fitting perfectly into a sinister growl, deep and throaty. "If you wish to fight me then I will gladly oblige."

Dark, actually flinched at the glint in her eyes, his blood running cold as he staggered away from her.

The Mystic's Dream with a thirst to kill? Who would have thought.

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Krad caused quite an uproar amongst the waiting crowd and police officers outside. Not only was he yet another winged entity flying the night skies, but he had showered the surrounding security with glass as he left the museum building and had used his magic to shut off all the flood lights surrounding the area, plunging the scene in darkness. People had started screaming and running into a massive panic, enough so that no one even noticed as Risa and the white-winged angel disappeared.

They flew across the town, Risa's face buried into his chest most of the way. One would think, after all the times she had run after Dark and after all the times she had flown with him, that she wouldn't be afraid of heights anymore. The truth of the matter was that Risa was terrified of heights, as any proper person would be, and even more so now that she was in the hands of stranger.

Well…maybe not a complete stranger…

"Tamer…"

At the sound of his voice Risa looked up. His brow was furrowed and he looked pained, as if something were hurting him. It was the same look Satoshi often wore when she were around him. The same look he had worn before he had suddenly evaporated and replaced with this creature.

Krad groaned out loud and their flight was interrupted. They lost altitude momentarily, making Risa scream, but the wings beat once then twice and they lifted higher once again. Risa held on tighter and pressed closer to Krad's shirt, the linen still holding the scent of Satoshi on them.

"Um…Krad?" she tried, saying his name softly. He started a bit and looked down at her, as if he'd forgotten she were there. "Is she…is that girl going to come back?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead he just stared at her as they flew, his amber eyes almost as piercing as their cerulean predecessors. Risa was caught by his features not simply because he, too, was handsome, but because he somehow held the same handsomeness as Dark. As if he were a mirrored image of the Phantom Thief.

He suddenly grinned at her. "Do you fear me, girl?" he asked. There was a pause, then Risa shook her head.

"No," she said, surprised that she could actually speak. She wasn't afraid of him at all…only…curious? "I'm not afraid anymore."

He laughed: a harsh grunt that barely escaped his lips. "Liar," he breathed, tearing his eyes away and looking out into the dark expanse of the night. "Little, meddling girls will always fear me."

Risa, somewhat disturbed by what he had said, followed his gaze outward. He was heading for the coast, for the same beach that Risa had nearly drowned at only a few days prior. She could see the same whirlpool near one end of the sand strip and the rocks that littered the other.

"Ah!"

His cry scared her. It had been sudden and unexpected, and his hold tightened around her, nearly crushing her. Light was appearing again, his wings were shifting, and Risa knew another transformation was at hand.

On their descent downward Krad threw back his head, let out an ear-splitting scream and then exploded into a storm of white feathers. Risa gasped, expected to be released and fall freely down to earth, but the shoulders she clutched to only changed their shape and the arms wrapped around her only shifted from one pair to another. When they touched down onto the soft sand of the beach Krad had been replaced by a very tired, very pale, yet very real Hiwatari.

He waited until her feet were solidly on the ground before he let her go, staggering drunkenly away from her and tripping on the soft ground, landing with an ungraceful thud onto his back. He groaned and hissed through his teeth as his shoulders made contact with the grainy carpet, stinging at the place where the wings had disappeared.

Risa called out his name and hurried to his side, his closed, sunken eyes and shallow breathing scaring her. She dropped to his side and hugged him close. She was afraid because people didn't look like that, they didn't look like they were on the brink of death. People weren't supposed to look like that.

Delicately caressing his head with one hand she checked his pockets and his belt but to no avail. He had neither radio nor cell phone and Risa had none either. She tried to hold back her tears at the sheer frustration of it all. How could she save him if she couldn't call for help?

"Risa…"

She turned to look at him as his sunken eyes opened.

"Satoshi. Satoshi, I'm right here…"

He blinked. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, more horrified than happy to see that he was more worried about her than himself. "I'm fine. You're the one whose hurt, and I don't know what I can do to help." She ripped off the white jacket and rolled it up frantically, gently tucking it beneath his head. Despite the cool breeze blowing from the sea, he was sweating, his blue hair damp around his face. "I have to go. I have to find someone to help me."

She started to stand up, her fingers leaving his face. Satoshi, in a sudden panic of fear, grabbed her wrist before she could leave. But he wasn't looking at her but past her, behind her, to where the ocean stretched out towards the horizon.

"Wait," he breathed, his words labored. She stopped and leaned over him again, her hair falling out of its tie, tendrils framing her worried face.

"What? What is it?" She laid a hand upon his chest and frowned deeply. His heart was beating rapidly and his breathing was ragged. He pointed behind her, his eyes trained on something far off and mesmerizing.

"Risa."

She turned to follow his gaze. She gasped. Hovering only a few meters out over the water was a silver horn, it's bare face glinting in the moonlight. Risa blinked, astounded. Still, after everything that had happened, she was astounded.

"Satoshi, what is that?"

"Silence," he breathed, coughing on his words. He tightened his hold on her, forcing her gaze back to him. "It can...stop her. It must—play…." He choked on his words and involuntarily convulsed, his screams turning his face red and tensing all of his muscles. She noticed, fleetingly, that his arm had been cut and was bleeding.

So spastic was his pain that he jerked violently and nearly sat up, but Risa caught him in her arms and cradled him close, trying to ease his pain. He leaned heavily against her shoulder, his fingers twisted in the cloth of her shirt, his hair tickling her neck.

"It's okay, it's all right," Risa soothed, but tears dripped from her eyes anyway. She couldn't bear to see him like this, cringing as he was torn from the inside.

Satoshi spoke into her shoulder, his voice vibrating against her collarbone. "Help me up…I need to get it…."

"No!" she cried, tightening her hold on him. "You're not going anywhere!"

"I have to…get the horn…."

"If you go in the water you'll drown! You don't have the strength to swim all the way out there!"

He released her shirt from his grip and lifted his head, moving to push himself to his feet. "I can't let her find us…I can't let her find you…" he was muttering, but Risa would have none of it. She shoved his weakened state back onto the sand, forcing him to lie back down.

"You're not going anywhere," she commanded, bending over him and staring into his eyes. "I won't let you kill yourself for stupid chivalry!"

"Risa, the Mystic," Satoshi forced out, his fists clenched as he tried to match her demanding tone. "If that horn…does not play…she'll find you—and I can't…." But he couldn't even finish his sentence for his body could not generate the strength.

Desperate, determined and frightfully angry that he was still only worried about her, Risa leaned down close and cupped his face in her hands.

"Fine," she said lowly, forcing her tears to cease, replacing her worry with a stone cold resolve. "Then I'll save us this time."

He reached out to try and grab her, to stop her, but she had already pushed away from him, running towards the darkened sea. She stripped off her shirt and pants as she went, knowing that she wasn't as good a swimmer as Satoshi and that their weight would only drag her down. Clad only in her undergarments, she dove straight into the freezing water, letting the cold fuel her ambition rather than dampen it.

She kicked back upward, broke the surface and began cutting her way through the salty sea, aiming straight for the hovering horn. It wasn't that far from the shore, but it was like hell trying to fight the waves, the tide having swelled with the moon. Yet, although fatigue tugged at her muscles and her previous fear and shock had already drained her energy, Risa swam on, thinking only of Satoshi and saving him from the monstrous woman.

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Dark was nearly at his breaking point. Or, to be truthful, Daisuke was nearly at his breaking point. The Mystic was attacking the Phantom Thief with full force, her movements nearly seamless in their connection.

Dark barely landed low on the basement floor before he was forced back into the air as the Mystic threw another fistful of her mist. It contacted with the tiles and erupted into a shining display of glitter and light, yet leaving behind a destructive crater. The scene had been such since the battle had begun: the Mystic attacking relentlessly and Dark dodging and retaliating when he could. The basement level was being destroyed yet, surprisingly, none of the artworks had been touched. No matter how close either of their blasts came to the art they were never affected, each piece only attracting a small layer of mist around them.

It was the Mystic's Dream that was protecting them. Her mercy extended to that of her fellow artworks and no farther.

"Come, Dark, the greatest shadow of the night. Come and show me your legendary power!" She stepped down out of the air near the wall and crouched low, placing her palms flat on the floor. The years began to seep through her fingers, ageing the tiles beneath her touch. The effect spread like veins through the tiles and soon consumed the entire floor. "Now you have only your wings to evade me. Dark, the infamous Black Wings!" She threw up her right hand and sent another blast at him.

"Damn it!" Dark swirled in the air and sent his own blast back at her, Daisuke cringing weakly within him. "I don't want to fight you," he yelled at her, his patience wearing thin, his composure faltering. He blinked momentarily and suddenly she was gone out of his line of sight. He blinked once more and she was directly in front of him, hovering above the ground, her face looming at his. But no longer was she beautiful, but frightfully maniacal.

"Your words are pitiful compared to my song."

Her hand shot out, her hair blazed around them like tongues of flame and her fingers curled around his throat, catching him in a vice-like grip.

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Risa, breathing heavily, reached up a shivering hand for the horn but was greeted by a crashing wave, the angry water breaking over her head and yanking at her fragile body. She clamped her mouth shut and gripped on tightly to the horn, afraid that it would get washed out to sea. But she found that it did not move from its hovering place as the wave broke, and it was its solidity in the air that kept her from tumbling about beneath the surface.

Practically dangling from the curved instrument, Risa cried out and tugged, releasing it from its airy perch. It relinquished itself into her care and she immediately began to plow herself back to shore, her prize hugged close to her body.

Wave after wave beat against Risa, but this time their direction worked in her favor, saving her frozen body and tired muscles from fighting against their natural flow. Within moments she was being pushed onto the sandy shore, her feet connecting with the fine sand of the beach. She tried stumbling her way out of the water but her legs throbbed and gave out, letting her fall onto her back on the wet sand, the sea still climbing up and snaking around her legs and waist. She panted and sputtered, her eyes stinging from the saltwater.

But no, there was no time for resting. She had the horn, and she had to play it, like Satoshi said.

Still lying flat on her back, she lifted the thin and simple instrument to her lips, sucked in a deep, chilling breath, and blew.

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It happened in nearly an instant. One moment The Mystic's fingers were tightening around Dark's throat and then the next moment the distant sound of chaotic music filled his head and he was falling through her lifeless fingers, crumbling to the basement floor in a gasping heap. He coughed and sputtered and fought to gain his composure, momentarily panicking at the thought of touching the tiles drenched in her magic, and then realizing that they had returned to their reflective black, retaining only the damage of blasts and fire. He blinked and looked up. There hovered the Mystic, returned to her to glass form, her face frozen back into serenity and no longer the twisted features of a desperate woman.

Dark rubbed at his neck as he stared up at her.

"The horn. Someone must have blown the horn of Silence!"

Piercing, fiery pain suddenly shot through Dark's body and he doubled over in agony. There was no time to think or react, because he was already changing, Daisuke's body far beyond its own limit. The black wings exploded and the Niwa boy reappeared, collapsing into an unconscious heap on the basement floor, his clothes drenched in sweat and his face grey.

Within seconds of fainting the police were inside the basement, weapons at the ready and flashlights blaring. They found the curator's wing and all the unconscious museum workers safely inside it, and they found the showroom of the basement completely destroyed yet with all the artworks miraculously in tact. In the ceiling there was a hole, on the walls were the fading images of intricate, red designs. And yet the officers, thankfully, never found Dark, Daisuke or The Mystic's Dream, because, in the nick of time, little Wiz had come swooping in as black wings and had whisked the boy, the book and the artwork away and into the night, just like any good comrade of Dark would have done.

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Satoshi, sick with pain and dizziness, forced himself to his shaking feet as the horn was blown, the beach illuminated in fiery moonlight as it was sucked into the confines of the horn, inscribing itself, once more, into the instrument's simple face. Within seconds the mass musical mayhem subsided and Satoshi could see Risa lying along the shore on her back, the horn held away from her as she shielded her eyes against the blaze.

He wanted nothing but to stagger over to her, but found his steps labored. His head swam and his stomach lurched. Any moment he'd be keeling into the sand, unconscious. He was a useless lump, pushed far beyond the limit.

But it would not suffice.

So he dug into his brain, looked into the very dangerous depths of his mind and sought out Krad, finding the parasitic angel hiding away in his labyrinth of thoughts.

He wasn't hurt and feeble anymore, but fully regenerated and healthy. He should have been. Risa's kiss had given the monster enough fuel to last a lifetime.

"Sit down, tamer," Krad drawled, although not in his usually mocking tone. He was sincere now and monotonous. It was obvious that he had been brooding about something when Satoshi interrupted him. "You're at your end for tonight. Just go to sleep."

"Krad, please," he begged silently in his mind. Pride was no longer an issue for him; all he cared about at that moment was Risa Harada. "Heal me. You have the power; just do it."

He had expected the monster to laugh and jeer and taunt him mercilessly for sounding so pitiful, but Krad did no such thing. Instead Satoshi felt him sigh heavily. Krad had never sighed so sadly before.

"Why should I heal you? Why should I do anything for you? The weaker you are, the happier I am. It has always been this way. Nothing has changed."

"I need to help Risa. I need to get her home before she gets sick…or before the Mystic returns to…to kill her." The last thought twisted not only around Satoshi's consciousness but his heart as well. Krad felt it too, and a small, weary smile graced his demeanor.

"Oh, Satoshi-dono. How you have fallen."

"Krad! Please!"

"The horn was blown, and I can feel that the Mystic's Dream has been returned to her temporary prison. You need not fear for her coming to finish any of us off. And your precious little Sacred Maiden is strong-willed, almost annoyingly so. She can take care of herself."

Krad's words were contradicted by a watery cough from Risa and a soft groan from her direction. Satoshi took a chance to glance her way and saw her struggling to move, turning onto her side feebly. She was weak, and it wasn't all due to her late night swim, which, in itself, had been amazing. The Mystic's magic had touched Risa, had nearly ended her, and although Krad had stopped the worst of it the effects still lingered. He knew her body was trying to fight the withering effects of the Mystic; it was a wonder her heart hadn't given out on her while she was in the water.

He needed to get her someplace warm before she fell victim to the cold. She wouldn't be able to fight any illness in the state she was in.

"Krad, you know as well as I that the Mystic will return. She will break from her prison once again, just as she did before, and she will come hunting us; she will come hunting you. She is powerful, made more so by whatever grudge she holds against my blood, and if she finds us…she may win."

He felt Krad grow uneasy. His encounter with the artwork had obviously been scarring, although Satoshi had not been conscious through all of it. He was not entirely certain as to what had happened between the two, but by the way Krad had shifted nervously within him he knew that it was nothing good.

"What is your point?"

"We need—you need Risa. The power she gave you tonight alone broke through the Mystic's magic. She is essential." In him the monster stirred. In his heart he cursed himself for referring to her as some object or simple asset.

"You speak a solid truth," he whispered. And then, "But why are you advocating for my using her? Her presence, alone, is enough to draw me out. Her proximity and her existence feed mine. If she gives me too much power…I may become strong enough to overcome you."

Did Satoshi know that? Of course he knew, but he didn't care. He understood the dangers that Risa now held over him, but they were obsolete. He was willing to take the risk.

"So be it then. Just help me save her."

There was a pause, a low, rueful laugh, and then Satoshi felt himself rejuvenate from within. Every pain suddenly eased away, every ache disappeared. His head sobered itself and his stamina rekindled. His shoulders no longer stung and his breathing was no longer labored. He was healed.

"Go then, silly hero. Save your Maiden; I won't even threaten to appear any more tonight. But know that, beyond this evening, I will use her to become your end. Be certain of that."

There was no time for a reply. In the instant that he could Satoshi bounded towards Risa's body, skidding along the damp sand and sea to her side. She was soaking wet, her back and legs coated in sand, her pale skin reflected in the glowing light of the horn clasped in her fingers.

"Risa. Risa, can you hear me?" He placed a hand on her cheek and bent low to her chest, listening for her heart. It was beating but, surprisingly, slowly. "Risa?"

"Hmm…"

In one, fluid motion Satoshi had snaked his arms under her half-naked frame and lifted her in his arms, the horn held to her stomach. He marched her away from the water and back to where he, himself, had laid, picking up his jacket and wrapping her in it. Her clothes had been swallowed by the greedy tide.

"Krad," he said firmly. "Give me wings."

They came as they did before, although the monster actually made the effort to suppress the pain to a dull ache. Satoshi felt the obstructions flex and he beat them against the wind, rising them both into the air and away from the shadow consumed beach. Above them only the stars shone in the endless, black sky.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I know this chapter is short, but the next one should be up much sooner, probably in the upcoming week. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed.