I'm REALLY sorry that this update has been so much later than all of the others. Life has been hectic and I haven't had much time to write. Don't worry. I know exactly where I'm going with the story right now, so when I do get chances to write, it normally comes pretty quickly. And hey, I still updated less than a week after my last one which is a whole heck of a lot faster than half of the stories on this site. I do it all because I love you guys!

Well I guess you're tired of reading my apologies and waiting for the story, so... ONWARD!

Chapter 41

The sun was setting quickly on the horizon, while the air became comfortably cool. Sai took in the smells of life and civilization as they approached the village. It was small, but by the looks of how worn the road was, Sai could guess that it was a stopover for traveling merchants. That meant that it would have a nice inn somewhere. Sai could only hope that Mageru had worked his magic again and that they would be sleeping for free that night. The only thing strange was that the smell of flowers in the area was extremely strong. It was pleasant, but it had the effect of making Sai and Kaze both more than a little high. Even Kirara was feeling the effects. Through her haze, Sai became vaguely aware that Nami was saying something.

"Um... Sorry Nami. What'd you say?" Sai asked, trying to focus.

"I asked if anyone else felt that." Nami repeated. Sai gave her a confused look along with Kaze who had forced himself back to reality as well.

"Feel what?" He asked. Nami looked extremely concerned and that worried everyone since no one seemed to see what she was getting at.

"There's a chill in the air. It's worrying me." She admitted.

"Well yeah. It's getting cooler, but I don't think we have to worry about that. We'll be at the village in about a half hour." Umi assured her. However, Nami shook her head.

"No, no it's not that. This chill feels... unnatural. I don't know. Cold as in devoid of emotion or human warmth and love." Nami told them. Sai didn't understand what Nami was feeling. In her, admittedly hazy, mind, everything seemed normal.

"I don't feel it Nami." Sai called out to her, "Maybe you're just imagining things." Nami nodded, but the look of worry stayed on her face.

"Cheer up Nami!" Akage said happily, "I mean, we're going to be sleeping inside tonight. I thought you were excited about that." Nami flashed him a weak smile.

"Yeah I guess I am." She said before turning her face forward to look at the horizon.

The village came into view a half hour later, just as predicted. They stopped and adopted their more human appearances before continuing anywhere near the village. A few minutes later, just as the sun was on the cusp of disappearing completely behind the horizon, they arrived in the village and quickly found the inn. There were very few people about. Sai guessed that they were all either at home or on their way there, but she couldn't be sure because of the ever present scent of flowers. Inside the inn, there were even less people about. That was also to be expected since trade traffic had gone down considerably with the onset of the demon purges. Sai decided that everything was as it should be and thought nothing more of the absence of the people before sending Akage and Umi off to find the innkeeper since they were the only ones still in their right minds. Their search didn't last long. They found a tired looking old man in the process of nodding off in the main room. To their surprise, he didn't even bother asking them for money for the rooms. He simply told them where they were and that dinner would be served soon before promptly falling asleep.

They found the three adjacent rooms at the end of the hall, just as the tired old innkeeper had said. In keeping with the same rooming arrangements as before, Sai and Kaze took the first room, while Nami and Akage took the second and Umi and Kirara took the last. Once inside the room, Sai and Kaze immediately fell into fits of giggling from their light headed state and found their way to the bedding in the room.

"Damn these flowers are nice!" Sai managed to get out in between fits.

"No kidding. They make everything feel so warm and fuzzy." Kaze agreed.

"I know right!" Sai said as a wanton smile spread across her face, "You know what else they make me feel?" Kaze giggled dumbly.

"What?" He asked, too high to be able to pick up the obvious hint. Of course Sai was too high to be able realize that her hint was obvious and just giggled along with him. Both of them were too high too notice the heavy footsteps outside and the strange sounds that filtered into their small room.

"They make me really horny." She finally managed out once the most recent fit had subsided. Kaze smiled.

"I don't think I'm in the mood for dinner anymore." He told her. Sai rolled her body on top of his and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Me either." She whispered as she went in for a longer, but decidedly sloppy kiss. However, before they could intensify their pre existing feelings of ecstasy, they were rudely roused by the sound of their door being broken down. The two lovers turned around lazily to face their intruders. Their gaze was met by three men with swords and glazed over eyes standing where the door once had.

"Good." The middle one said, "You won't be getting any dinner this night." Sai rolled off of her mate and looked at the three men before immediately bursting into laughter.

"Kaze! Kaze look! They've got swords! They have swords, but they're made of rice and the guys are made of noodles!" Sai, in her scent induced delusion, was laughing at the absurdity of her hallucinations like a little girl. Kaze, in his own delusion, was laughing hysterically along with her. The men, however, continued their glassy, unblinking stare.

"Get them." The middle one said, maintaining his monotone. The two on either side of him sheathed their swords and moved forward to the hysterical forms of Sai and Kaze, which were still rolling on the floor in fits of uncontrollable laughter. Both of the men produced lengths of rope and began to tie them up to the point where neither was able to move. They didn't seem to notice and kept on laughing.

"Knock them out." The middle one commanded. The other two pulled out a pair of small red flowers and held them directly under the noses of Sai and Kaze. Both half demons immediately reverted back to their demonic forms and promptly passed out. The men then dragged them from the inn and off into the night.

Umi could hear the sounds of her friends being abducted, but there was nothing she could do about it. There were three men, obviously possessed by the look of their glassy eyes that never blinked, standing armed in her own room. Kirara wasn't going to be any help because she had passed out on the floor and it sounded like Sai, Kaze, Nami, and Akage had all been taken without a fight. That didn't make sense to Umi, but she didn't have time to ponder it. She made a dash to the far corner of the room where she had deposited her swords and grabbed the blades. The men made a move to stop her, but they were sluggish and sloppy. It would have been easy to kill them, but Umi could not bring herself to end the lives of men that were not in control of themselves.

"Dammit." She cursed under her breath, "Guess I'll just have to keep the blades sheathed. Maybe then I can at least knock them out." The men didn't react to her words and simply walked towards her with their own blades drawn and ready for blood

Umi saw her opening. There was a table right by her which she could use to interrupt the movements of her attackers. She shifted both of her blades to her left hand and grabbed a leg of the table. Before the possessed men could react, she flung the furniture at them causing them to stumble and drop their swords. Umi took the opportunity to rush forward with her sheathed blades and skillfully place solid blows on each of their heads, effectively knocking each one out. To her dismay, however, she heard the footsteps of more men coming down the hallway. She cursed under her breath and immediately wished that there had been a window placed in this room. Since there hadn't been, she rushed out into the hallway to be met by the glazed over stares of twelve men, all armed with swords.

"Surrender now and come with us." The lead man commanded. Umi smirked.

"No way in hell am I coming with you, you damn puppet!" She barked back. The men were unfazed by her words and instead began to move forward. Umi sighed. She didn't see any way to get out of this. She couldn't avoid them because the only way out was the hallway which they were currently clogging and she couldn't kill them. Her only option was to try and knock them all out before trying to make her escape.

"Here goes nothing..." She muttered to herself. With that, she charged, her sheathed blades leading the way. The man in the lead swung clumsily at her, but she easily ducked below it and dealt a crushing blow to his shin. This made the man fall in pain allowing Umi to deal a blow to his head and knock him out. The two men behind him rushed forward to attack her only to be stopped by Umi stabbing the blades forward into their stomachs. They doubled over giving Umi an open shot. Soon they too joined their comrade on the floor. A fourth man charged. He swung his blade blindly. Umi blocked the attack, knocking the blade out of his hands and sending it flying into the wall where it stuck. She quickly whirled around with her other blade and slammed it into the side of his head, adding another man to the pile of unconscious bodies. The next three went down in a very similar manner with Umi masterfully wielding her blades to deal out non fatal blows to each man.

Umi's luck was not to last forever. The last five finally seemed to obtain some degree of intelligence and attacked as a group. Umi held off their sloppy attacks for a time, but could not withstand the assault forever. Eventually, one of them got a good cut in on her right thigh sending her to the ground. The men gathered around her and looked on before approaching her vulnerable form with weapons at the ready. Umi watched each of their steps and waited for them to get closer. When they finally came into range, she used her left leg to kick out the legs the man that blocked her path to the hallway leading out of the inn. The man fell to the ground and hit hard. Umi immediately popped up, lept over the body, and sprinted down the hallway. She winced at the pain pulsing from her leg and silently prayed that there would be no more armed men waiting for her. The sight that greeted her as she burst forth from the inn told her that this was not to be so. Fifty more armed men awaited her while the five she had left behind were in the process of blocking her way back into the inn. Umi was effectively trapped.

"Damn it all to hell!" Umi cursed, her voice ringing out in the silent night air. She got no response from the men. She growled in frustration, "Guess I'm gonna have to fight a-" However, before she could finish her sentence, a flash of white hot pain exploded across the back of her head. Her mind went blank as her knees followed by the rest of her body crashed to the ground. Over her stood, the soldier that she had kicked to the ground. He held a piece of wood in his hands that was now stained with a small bit of Umi's blood. The man dropped the wood and tied Umi up as had been done with the others and dragged her off into the darkness.

Sorry! I know this chapter was a little on the shorter side, but a lot still happened and we got to see Umi fight alone for the first time. She's pretty amazing with her two blades even when she isn't trying to hack someone's head off. Anyway, I hope to be able to update again soon and appease your desires for more of this story. Also... PLEASE REVIEW! It would make me very happy. Big shout out to KagomeInuyasha92! So glad that you review and aren't afraid to ask questions. Plus you even checked out my other story, Crossed Swords and Crossed Lovers, and reviewed that too. You really make a writer feel loved. Also, many thanks to everyone else who has reviewed so far! You guys are the best! Love you guys! Hope you keep reading and keep enjoying A New Act!