Love Hurts 5 Ways (OUTDATED STORY) Chapter 29: The Show of The Century Part 1, a Fushigi Yuugi + Ouran High School Host Club Crossover fanfic

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

~*Part 1*~

"Ya gotta do a little better than that if ya wanna get me!"

I growled in frustration. "Really? 'Cause you know if I put my full effort into it, I might end up stabbing you." For about a week or so after Chichiri and I escaped the mysterious place that sealed our magic-using abilities, Genrou had been teaching me to use the kunai Hotohori gave me so that I could actually have some skill with it should I ever need to use it. Just as luck would have it, the bandit turned out to be pretty savvy when it came to weapon wielding. After he gave me that whole lecture about finding other means of protecting myself, he better have had some skill to back it up, otherwise he'd be a hypocrite (and then would be punished by the Hammer of Justice (yes, that's what I named it. Got a problem with it? Take it with the hammer)).

Unlike with my natural ability to use magic (even when I was training as a Witchling, it seemed to come naturally to me (well, except for Fire at the time)), my skills with weapons and close combat fighting were pretty much nonexistent. Sure, I was able to get in a few good hits with the Tornado Fist in the past, but when you boil down to it, that was still considered magic usage. Even with that, my energy drained too quickly from me that following the attack up with something effort required more effort than it should have. At least with using the kunai, I wouldn't be using two kinds of energy at once—I'd just have to rely on my physical abilities and not worry about wasting my valuable magic.

Of course the problem still remains that I suck at attacks that were just physical. In the way that Genrou was teaching me, using the kunai might as well have been like practicing some kind of martial art. That wasn't particularly my forte since my upper-hand in battle relied on me keeping a well-enough distance between me and my enemies. If they managed to get close to me, I had to either rely on the Tornado Fist—which Taiitsukun told me not to use except as a last resort—or on really quick thinking and basic manipulation of the elements without having the proper time to actually cast anything. Whichever way you sliced it, I was better off attacking from a distance. This was particularly why the old woman told Nuriko, Tamahome, and Hotohori to fight in the front-lines during a battle so that I could prepare and execute a spell properly. The bottom line was that I needed a considerable amount of work if I ever hoped to protect myself when (not "if" 'cause I know it's coming sooner or later) the situation called for it.

He chuckled, bearing his fangs, avoiding yet another one of my swings. "Yeah…fer some reason, I don't think that that will be much of an issue." As much as I didn't want to admit it, he had me outmatched. I jumped and stumbled along in my attempts to get a blow on him (not a real one mind you. We weren't trying to kill each other…this time). Assuming from his swift movements and ability to predict my every move, I was clearly a novice…and it was embarrassing. Here was the girl who could dish out badass spells, but couldn't wield a weapon well enough to even tap an opponent with it. Talk about a stab to the ego.

For our practices, Chichiri had been allowing Genrou to borrow his staff so that he would have something to protect himself with just in case I actually managed to scratch him. The guy wasn't dumb (well…not when it came to this anyway) and he knew the proper safety precautions that went with this kind of training. Not only that, but he said that we'd be killing two birds with one stone if I managed to learn to defend myself against someone who had a longer weapon than mine.

Gripping on tight to the handle, I launch my arm out straight for his chest, thinking that I finally had him pinned. Without any effort, he shifted to the side and swing the bottom half of the golden staff at my legs. In a sudden sweep, my feet involuntarily lifted off the ground, falling me straight on my back.

"Dammit…" Wincing from the pain, I decided to just lie there and look at the dark, velvety "night" sky—not a star could be seen. They wouldn't have been real stars anyway—after all, we were still stuck in that stupid maze. It just looked like I was staring up at an endless, dark, and vast nothingness. Somehow, it was quite soothing.

Crouching down and looking straight at me with his sharp yet mischievous amber eyes, my flame-haired companion blocked my vision of the mazes compelling ceiling. "How many times do I hafta say it? Ya gotta make more precise attacks especially with such a puny weapon like that. Missin' with that weapon could be fatal."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah…" Every time we sparred, he always managed to take me out so easily. Don't get me wrong, I had improved considerably since the first day of this training, but I still wasn't good enough to start bragging about it. Not even close. The moment I actually manage to catch him and make him admit it, then there will be something to smile about.

Never wiping the smug smile off of his face, he said, "Yup. Ya definitely have a long way ta go before ya go out an' try ta use that weapon o' yers." Trailing my eyes to the side, I thought bitterly, don't you think I know that? It's not necessary to say that out loud you moron.

My thoughts were immediately broken when a sudden surge of pain erupted from my arm. It only lasted for a minute and it wasn't anything serious, but that didn't stop the pain from being any less unpleasant. Yelling out in discomfort, my upper body immediately shot up and held my arm. "Owww!" Facing Genrou, a look of mild fury appeared on my featured. "Why the hell did you go and squeeze my arm like that you jerk? You know how sore I am!"

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he moved back a few inches and rested his arms behind his head. "I know—It's just sorta funny how unbelievably dainty you are. I never woulda guessed if it weren't for all of this trainin' we've been doin'." I cringed at the word "dainty". It just seemed like such a wimpy and girly adjective to use—and those two characteristics were not on my resume. My various bruises and areas of soreness (that were caused quite easily) could make it seem like I was fragile…okay. But did he really have to say "dainty"?

Scowling at him, I maintained my tough exterior. "I am not dainty." Translation: keep your mouth shut and observations to yourself. I didn't need the rest of the world knowing something like that about me. With my irritation levels rising steadily, the wind around us started to pick up and swirl zealously—knocking Chichiri, who was sitting under a nearby tree, completely over.

"Whoa! You need to calm down Aki," He told me as he sat back up. "Genrou is trust trying to help you out, ya know? Besides, what he says is all in good fun, ya know?" Sticking that staff up his ass would be all in good fun as well.

"Plus," Genrou stood up and held his hand down to me to assist my getting up. "Yer not supposed ta be usin' magic durin' our sessions, remember?" Looking away, I initially refused to allow him to help me up. "C'mon don't be stubborn." Sighing again, I put my hand in his and he pulled my weight up from the ground. The two of us walked over to yet another one of our famous campfires we had made whenever we stopped to rest.

The moment we had first stepped into the maze seemed as if it were so long ago—years even. In reality, I knew it had only been about three weeks. But for a place like this, staying for just two days had been too long. Now I'm sure that the bonding time between the three of us was essential and all, but I couldn't quite see how we couldn't become friendlier with each other on the outside—you know, anywhere else other than that damn maze.

This place was in no way a luxury or a vacation. As if the first two trials weren't bad enough, the universe felt the initiative to throw a bunch of other kinds of crap at us. Aside from the various creatures that charged in ready to kill us, the onslaught of trials flung at us never failed to irritate me further. One trial we had to overcome was having our voices taken away, not being able to communicate with each other verbally. Of course, this was extremely troublesome especially when you have to go up against some monsters who didn't give a damn whether we could talk or not. Luckily, we could "speak" to each other via Chichiri's telepathy, so the trial didn't prove to be all the bad. The next one we endured was being turned into little kids allowing our powers to naturally be diminished a bit. Other than being extremely annoying (however, seeing Chichiri and Genrou as little boys was rather adorable), we did our best and passed. The last thing we just got finished with a few days before consisted of fighting off enemies without being able to touch the ground—otherwise, we'd be barbequed from an intense electric shock charged through the ground. How unpleasant as that was, if I didn't have the ability to levitate, it would have been even worse. After a while, you start to forget that the maze tries to kill you and focus on the sheer fact that it's just trying to trip you up more than anything else. This place was starting to remind me more and more of high school: it may seem scary at first with the drama, potential bullies and other teenage worries, as well as piles homework, but when it drags on too long, those things become so stale and tedious that you just want it to be over already.

I swear, if we don't find that flower soon, I'm going to use the strongest spell in my arsenal and completely nuke the place. And then…I'll torch the ashes until there's nothing left.

Considering this whole trek had been lasting for so long, I started to get worried that Miaka had already come back from our world and is back at the palace, wondering where I was at. I was supposed to be the one watching out for her. And where was I? Trapped in some stupid, annoyingly homicidal maze. Before I knew it, I found myself asking Suzaku to give me a sign as to when Miaka would return—she was his priestess after all. At that point, all I could do was just hope that the phoenix heard me as I wandered somewhat aimlessly through the maze.

Looking down at the knife-like weapon decorated with the countries' metallic colors of red and gold, thoughts of how much I had improved with Hotohori's gift flew through my mind. Sure, if I were to go up against someone who was stupid and/or perhaps didn't have a weapon as well, I could probably win. But I had to be realistic: In a fight against an enemy who was a weapon expert and had been training for years, I'd surely get my ass handed back to me (it was hypothetical situations like that that make me thankful that I have awesome magical powers). Should my powers actually be limited again (as if I'd allow that to happen), forcing me to only use the kunai as a means of defense, then I had to come up with some sort of advantage or edge over my enemies. The question is…what?

Off to the side, I could hear Genrou snickering to himself. Puffing my cheeks in irritation, I turned to him and asked, "What's so darn funny?"

"What else? I've been completely ownin' you ever since ya asked me to help ya with yer weapon usin'!" Putting no effort into hiding his amusement, he turned to me with a wide smile. "Don't get me wrong, when ya use yer powers, you and I are pretty much evenly matched—" Almost immediately, I gave him a skeptical look regarding his past statement. Chuckling, he waved his hand around. "Okay, maybe you could beat me if ya were to go and use yer most powerful spells. But the point is, anyone who comes along and see's ya usin' that kunai-thing o' yers will automatically know that yer an amateur." He crossed his arms with a triumphant smile as he closed his eyes—probably trying to block out the dirty look I was shooting at him. "Just promise me that ya won't go an' switch yer sorceress profession too soon, 'kay?"

Not even realizing that my face was flushed, I lashed out at him. "Will you just give it a rest already? Besides, I'm only learning to use this thing for emergencies. And…and…" I tried to come up with a good enough excuse for my lack of weapon abilities. "I'm sure I'd be a lot better if all this hair wasn't in my face!" It wasn't up until that sentence that I realized just how long my hair had become. My bangs had managed to grow past my nose, making it so that my vision was limited to the skinny parts in between locks. My hair in the back—which, just a few weeks earlier, used to be about three inches of my shoulder—was now not only resting on my shoulder, but was long enough to curl up at the ends due to the contour of my shoulders. My hair naturally grew fast, but not that fast. I suppose that I didn't notice sooner because of all the hectic things that were going on.

It still shouldn't have been possible.

"How could my hair be this long already?" Reaching for the sleek locks of dark brown hair—that were much more accessible to me than before—I faced my companions. "We were only here for a few weeks!" Both Genrou and Chichiri had longish hair already, not to mention that their hair probably grew at a slower rate than hers, so any accelerated growth that was happening must not have been that noticeable on them.

Pondering on my observation, Chichiri answered, "Now that you mention it…that is quite peculiar, ya know? Perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?"

"Perhaps time is going by faster than we thought, ya know?" Upon hearing that, I didn't exactly need him to explain further since it was painfully obvious regarding the meaning of his words. But he continued anyway. "Even though only a few weeks had seemingly gone by to us, the world on the outside is progressing faster, and our bodies are aging along with it, ya know?" Oh gosh,I groaned. If that were the case, then it was even more likely that Miaka had already come back. Who knows how much time has gone by already?

Seeing as how I could barely see past my bangs, I figured that I should at least tackle one problem at a time (how I was able to successfully walk ten yards this whole time without walking into a tree or off a cliff was beyond me). Positioning the kunai in my hands in a proper way, I planned on shearing a few inches off of my bangs at a manageable amount. Ordinarily, I preferred long bangs since they seemed to be a barrier between me and the rest of the world, but since my vision was being limited in such a way to where it was a hazard, they had to be shortened.

Bringing the sharp edge closer to my face, I paused, realizing that without a mirror, I'd no doubt cut my hair unevenly and it would look as if I had gotten in a fight with a pair of scissors and lost (I was no hairstylist). Not only that…but I'd never cut my hair with anything that resembled a knife before.

With a grimace on my face (and as stupid as it sounds), the kunai shook in my hands as ideas shot around in my mind as to how I was supposed to go about this feat.

It didn't take long for Genrou to react to my obvious distress. Sighing, he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and stood up and walked over to my spot, snatching the kunai out of my hands without even asking. "H-Hey!" I complained.

"Yer gonna end up slicin' yer whole face up if ya do it that way. Just let me handle it." Huh?Without another word exchanged between us, he carefully took strands of my bangs and started to cut them off—stray threads and soon skinny groups of hair fell gracefully into my lap as he persisted further. As my vision was becoming clearer, I couldn't ignore how much my face was burning—my eyes couldn't help but stare straight at the ground. My fists were clenching onto my pants, cooperating along with the awkwardness of the whole situation. Never before did I think that this guy and I would become so comfortable around each other that I'd allow him to do something like this for me. When I had first met Genrou, I never would have allowed him to even get near me, much less with a sharpened object. Now I knew for a fact that he wouldn't hurt me intentionally (at least I was mostly sure).

"Ya know…" when he started to speak, my eyes shyly trailed back up towards him. Not to my surprise, his face also had a slight pinkish tint to it. "I had to take care of my hair a while back as well, so I guess it makes sense that yers would catch back up with ya as well." His bangs had also fallen in front of his eyes slightly, but not in such an extent to where his vision was limited. The rest of his flaming top was still unruly in a neat sort of way—complimenting the part of longer hair in the back that fell a couple inches past his neck. Looking over at Chichiri, his light blue bangs were outrageously long, but they defied gravity, so it was okay. His ponytail in the back was also pretty long, so it would make sense that his hair wouldn't have been a problem.

Once my bangs had been cut to their preferred length, it was sort of a relief to have my peripheral vision (as well as my initial vision) to be accessible once more (again, I couldn't believe how long it took for me to realize that my hair length had gotten that out of control).

"Umm…the rest of yer hair was shorter before," Said Genrou in a rather uneasy tone, "do ya want it back to…uh…how it was?" Perking up a bit, he added, "It actually looks pretty nice this way!" Thinking about it, I recalled the reason as to why I even had short hair to begin with. When I was younger, I always kept my hair long. It wasn't until Kajou's death eight years prior that I decided to cut it short—and keep it that way—in mourning. Ever since then, I never allowed my hair to grow any longer. Initially, I liked having long hair—I even preferred it that way over having it short. Kajou's brilliant orange hair was always so perfect and luscious as it flowed perfectly to her sides and in the back. Even though I couldn't possibly match up to her flawlessness, I wanted to be just like her. She even said that she loved my hair the way it was—sort of made me curious as to what she would say to how I decided to wear my hair after she passed. What if she knew that her death still affected me so much to this day?

With Genrou's question still up in the air, I had finally decided that this would probably be a good time to allow my hair to start growing out again. "Nah, it's okay—just leave it the way it is. Thank you." Kajou would still always be on my thoughts, so it didn't really matter what my hairstyle was.

Right as he finished, he handed me back the kunai just for me to summon it away once more. Guessing that neither of us wanted to discuss what had just happened, I focused back on the issue at hand. "Okay, we've been in this maze for honestly who knows how long, so I say that we should just wrap this whole thing up and find that flower already." As if we weren't trying already, but so far, there hasn't been any clue as to whether we're any closer to it than when we first started.

With a troubled look on his face, the blue-haired monk replied, "Unfortunately, the maze probably doesn't care whether or not we're on a schedule, ya know? Until it deems us worthy of the Sacred Blood Lily, it will keep us as long as it sees fit, ya know?" I grimaced. You know, I'm really starting to wish that I didn't get caught up in all this.

Holding up a threatening fist towards Chichiri, Genrou suddenly got fired up. "Look, monk, ya know way more about this place than either of us, so ya have to have some sorta idea as ta how ta get outta here. I need that cure…"

A drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face, Chichiri scratched his cheek. "I'm really sorry, ya know? But I told ya what I know and if you recall, I did sort of warn you that this maze was tricky and might last a while, ya know?"

Dropping his arm back to his side, the bandit fell back into his seat, seemingly defeated. "Great."

"Now that I think about it," Giving a heavy sigh, my head hung over, "he did tell us something like that before we walked in." But at the time, I honestly believed that the combined effort of the three of us would make the journey not last so long. In my mind, we should have been done a long time ago. The time duration was honestly becoming ridiculous.

Just as my rationale was pointing me into the direction of the maze's ultimate destruction, a violent shaking from underneath started to rattle the earth, instantly putting the three of us on high alert. Extra effort had to be put in in order for me to even sit tight in my seat—standing up wasn't even an option. The whole world seemed to move back and forth in such a way that we were like some sort of rattle that a toddler was given after eating too much sugar. It was too hard to focus to even think of something that could stop this phenomenon from happening. All we could do was wait until it subsided.

When things started to calm down, I ended up having to open my eyes back up (I didn't even realize that I had closed them) to investigate what had happened. No trees had fallen over, the fire was still dancing, there wasn't even a crack in the ground—on another note, was it even possible for this place to have an earthquake? It just didn't seem likely with the maze's geographical features. Nonetheless, something was up, and we all just felt the beginning of it.

"What the hell was that?" Genrou shouted out in frustration.

Trying to get the shaking out of my system, I responded with, "I want to say that it was just a simple earthquake, but considering it's us, we would only be so lucky." Remembering that there was something more important, I asked, "Are you guys alright?"

Genrou nodded. "Sure—not exactly happy 'bout landin' on my face, but sure."

"Yeah, I'm okay…but," Chichiri pointed to the leafy wall of the maze to the side of us, about seven yards away, "how long has that path been there?"

"Path?" Following his finger, the remaining two of us discovered that a tunnel of some sort had been carved into the wall, going down to some unknown space. Huh. How long has that been there? Feeling a wave of curiosity overwhelm our little group, we all got up and peeked inside of the mysterious doorway. Squinting through the darkness, I was disappointed to find that the path only went about a few yards in, ending at yet another leafy wall—sort of reminding me of a mini cul-de-sac. "Well…this was anti-climactic," I said out loud.

"No kiddin'," the flame-haired bandit agreed. "If this is supposed ta be a trial o' some sort, then I don't get it."

Chichiri added his input into the conversation. "Hmm…maybe it's some kind of distraction?" It didn't take long for a sudden tremor from the earthquake before knocked us out of balance, sending us tumbling through the seemingly harmless hole in the wall.

Managing to get back on my feet, the texture of the new ground below immediately set up red flags in my mind. Unlike a few seconds ago with the grassy floor, it was made of some kind of rock. Hoping that my hypothesis was wrong, I scanned the area all around for signs of familiarity. I was almost horrified to find that I might have very well ended up back in that underground place from before that had sealed my powers. There was a dim-lighted torch perched up on a wall behind, helping me identify my recovering companions beside me with the help of its yellow and orange flames.

"Where the hell did we end up this time?" Genrou complained. Ignoring his question, I turned immediately to Chichiri to inspect his forehead, extending my arms out and bringing his head closer to my vision.

"A-Aki?" The monk yelped.

Sighing with relief, I was delighted to find that that glowing scarlet seal from before was not present on his head—probably meaning that it was absent from mine as well. Letting go of his head, a small, ignorant smile appeared on my face as relief swept through my system. Thank God—I don't have to go through all that crap again.

"O…kay…" With Genrou staring at me peculiarly by this point, he slowly turned his head away in an effort to make it seem that he was scanning as well. "So, what's up with this place?"

"Obviously, that path we saw had more to it than meets the eye, ya know?" No freakin' duh.

"We still have our powers, and yet we ended up back here again." Falling back onto my bottom, I tried to figure stuff out. "I officially admit that I am stumped you guys." As that was said, a whole line of torches began to brillantly ignite on both sides of a long corridor, leading ultimately up to what was a…a…what the hell?

A circus tent?

There before us was a large—no, huge—tent painted in yellow and red interchangeable stripes that fell from its tip all the way to the bottom. The opening in front was where the drapes lifted up, inviting its spectators—more like victims—inside.

With my mind going in all different directions regarding why or how a circus tent could even be there, the lit up torches made an obvious path, revealing to us that the tent was our expected destination. No cracks, doors, or passageways really gave us a choice to head anywhere else.

No surprise to me, Genrou spoke up first. "Does anyone wanna tell me what the hell that jumbo thing is?"

Without thinking about it, I immediately shot at him. "It's called a tent, dodo brain."

Lashing out at me, he bared his fangs and made a scene. "I know it's a tent—I have eyes! I meant what's it doin' there and why it looks so funny. And don't call me a 'dodo brain'!"

Holding up my hands in defense, I tried to calm him down. "Relax. I apologize for calling you that—it was a reflex." See? I can be nice—I don't have to argue.

To my amusement, he seemed taken aback with my apology. "Oh…well…uh…okay then."

Shaking my head to avoid from reveling in the moment any longer, I looked forward onto the path the maze had set for us. "Well I guess that we're supposed to go inside." Searching for conformation, I turned to Chichiri. "Should we?"

"We might have no choice, ya know?"

Genrou took a few steps forward. "Well, there's no point in waitin' around. Let's go!" A burning flame could practically be seen in his eyes, emulating his fired up determination. "I gotta feelin' that we're closer than ever to the Lily! I can practically taste it!" Before I could even blink, he broke out in a sprint towards the opening of the tent. Not too long later, Chichiri decided to join him.

I understand being excited for wanting to get out of here, but I'm not "running" excited. Instead of tiring myself out with running, I took a brisk walk to reach my companions. Every time I passed a pair of torches on both sides of the trail, I felt a peculiar sensation from behind me. Looking back at where I've walked so far, all I could see was pitch darkness, the starting point from where we fell could no longer be seen. It would seem that every time I passed the torches, some force would blow them out, signifying that there was no turning back. This truly was the point of no return.

Once inside, we found that there wasn't particularly anything to brag about. The inside of the tent simply looked like the inside of a very large tent—except there was a really large ring in the middle, the same one you would expect from any kind of circus. But unlike a circus, there was no crowds, no applause, no performers, nothing. So why couldn't I shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen?

The glow from the last pair of torches on the outside finally went out—the cue causing the opening to the tent to immediately drop down, enclosing us on the inside.

On a reactive impulse, I casted a spell where the opening used to be, "Zakeruga!" From my palm emerged a straight beam of concentrated electricity, immediately blasting a particular target on the wall. Releasing the flow of energy, I ceased the spell, surprise inflicting me for two reasons. The first was that there wasn't anyone there to hit, at least not physically. Some sort of force or invisible hand must have allowed the drapes to fall back down (but you've got to admit that my reaction time was spot on. Am I right?). But the thing that really surprised me was the fact that my spell had absolutely no effect on the walls of the tent. It was almost as if the electricity was just absorbed by some type of barrier that was probably preventing us from attempting to escape.

"Well someone is trying to keep us in here, ya know?" Chichiri observed.

"Who the hell cares about who's tryin' to keep us in? As long as the bastard shows 'imself it won't matter much 'cause we'll just kick their ass." Adrenaline practically emitting from his body, Genrou looked as if he were prepared for any kind of battle that would be thrown at him. That must have been his "I'm sick of this stupid maze so just hit me with everything you got all in one wave" face.

"Yes, that would be a lovely thing to do," I said with a hint of a sarcastic tone, "But it would sort of help if said enemy would actually be here for their ass to kick." Being hasty obviously won't get us anywhere in this place. There's practically no point since the maze goes at whatever pace it pleases. Inspecting the bland circus layout, my suspicions started to rise even further. I can't help but wonder what kind of crap we're in for next.

Grunting, the flame-haired bandit took a point position ahead of us and crossed his arms. "Well if that's the case, then why don't we just force 'em out?"

For a second, I pondered on his idea. "Hmm…interesting theory…" But for some reason, I didn't think that throwing a tantrum in whatever shape or form would make the universes' maze yield to us. If that were the case, then I would have been unleashing a barrage of Dragon Slaves and other trѐs grandѐ spells without even another bat of the eyelash.

Out of nowhere, the kind of initial screeching feedback you would hear from a microphone that's volume was up too high. Bringing my hands up to my ears, I tried to block out the piercing sound. Wait…a microphone? WTF?

A loud, deep male voice rang out with the help of what seemed like surround-sound speakers. (Again, WTF?)"Hurry, hurry, hurry! It's the greatest show of the century right, here, right now folks! The best spectacles from all the lands have gathered in one spot to put on the most entertaining showcase possible!"

The three of us got into defense position, backing up into a pod and putting our backs against each-others to make sure that we could see all around as we tried to locate the source of the voice. I may have been imagining things, but all around us, I could hear the roaring and excitement of a crowd that I knew wasn't there. But the sound was so loud and the excited applauses and anticipated shouts seemed so real, it was almost as if an actual show was going on.

Looking out the corner of my eye to my comrades, I asked, "Okay, so to confirm that I'm not crazy, you guys hear all those people too, right?"

They both nodded as Genrou spoke up first. "Yup, but I don't see nobody. Do ya think that we have to fight all of 'em—whoever they are?"

"No…something isn't right, ya know?" Chichiri's head trailed from left to right, trying to ratify something. "If there were people, then I should be able to see all of their aura's, ya know?"

"Oh yeah!" I thought out loud. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on finding the multiple shapes and colors of emitting energy that's shone off of every living thing like a full-body halo. But the monk was right, there was no one there.

Someone was messing with us.

The mysterious voice roared out once more, making me snap my eyes back open. "So sit tight folks 'cause the show is about to begin!"

In the blink of an eye, blinding lights turned on in the form of floating orbs at the top of the large tent. Their ominous objects were so distracting that we didn't even realize that someone had teleported us from the edge of the tent, to the very center of the ring.

"What the—" Just as our bandit friend was about to mildly spaz out in confusion, several clowns—yes, clowns, white make-up and poofy clothes wearing, big red nose and shoes sporting, colorful, dens-haired clowns—dropped from above, completely surrounding us. Before we could even think of a plan, the clowns closed in on us with creepy painted smiles on their faces. Knowing that we were pretty much sitting ducks in the little pod we were in, the three of us spread out to take care of our own areas.

Genrou was throwing kicks and punches all over the place, fending off the numerous enemies as if it were some kind of knock-out video game. Every other clown that tried to sneak up on him, he would spin around almost as if he planned their moves, flipping them to the side and over his head.

"These goofy punks weigh practically nothin'!" He yelled out as he worked through his brutal process multiple more times. "It's not even a fight!" You could clearly see that the high of being in a fight was really getting to him since he had a real apparent grin on his face from beating the crap out of those poor circus freaks. Even Chichiri seemed to be having no trouble with them. With every swing of his staff, a whole group of clowns went flying a good several yards the moment it made contact with their apparently light and frail bodies. He didn't even need to use magic to assist him with this issue.

And yet I didn't feel as if we were winning.

Observing the other two in their fight, I noticed that instead of the clowns they defeated staying down, it seemed like a multiple amount would appear out of the space above and onto the ground in front of us. The most peculiar thing being that the clowns that went down and potentially went unconscious seemed to have disappeared altogether. Now I know what you're thinking: perhaps they just got up and started fighting again? Nope. They would dissolve through the ground just as they were being replaced with a dozen others.

And how did I know all this? You would think that I'd be busy with my own onslaught of creepy carnies as well, right? Wrong!

They were completely leaving me out! The nerve of some people!

A wave of annoyance and fury flowed through my veins, made apparent by the silver lines branched all around my body glowing something fierce. Teeth gritting and face flushing, I clenched my fists at my sides and stood on my toes as I yelled out, "How dare you chumps ignore me! I'm a bigger threat than they are!" Okay, I know that sounded a bit conceited, but that was the anger talking—I didn't mean it, I was just trying to bait them on. After losing to Genrou for so long with the kunai, I really needed the satisfaction of defeating someone. But seriously, if you're going to attack a group of fighters, you'd think that you'd attack someone who could dish out badass spells!

Settling back on the flat of my foot, I calmed down and crossed my arms in fake indifference as the others commences as if they had never heard me. Fine then!

After a few seconds, I immediately mentally punched myself for how I had been acting. This was definitely no time to start acting like a brat (that wasn't exactly a road to travel down anyhow), I had been given an opportunity to take action from afar—which was my specialty. Usually enemies come charging at me, but these clowns were either both brainless and complete morons, or no one clued them in about who their opponents were. Whichever way you slice it, they'd end up experiencing the consequence of underestimating me.

But there was a problem. With so many of those guys spawning around Chichiri and Genrou, I couldn't exactly cast a drastic spell targeted at them without hitting those two. And considering the ring was becoming more and more crowded, they wouldn't have been able to easily jump out of the way. So what could I do?

With the constant pile-on's of the clowns, it was starting to be difficult to throw a proper punch or kick, so Genrou was reduced to just throwing them off and into each other, causing a few successful domino effects. "This is fun an' all, but this is draggin' on way too long!" He grunted.

"Not only that," Chichiri jumped up in the air and spun with his staff sticking out, emulating a spinning top that was in a battle to knock down anything in its way. But just as the hydra in the legends—take some out and more come at you—this seemed to be getting nowhere fast. "but their numbers don't seem to be getting any smaller, ya know?" He must have been holding back on spells too in order to keep us safe. At the rate this is going though…

What I didn't expect was to be dog-piled by a bunch of homicidal clowns that fell from the space above me, instantly knocking me to the ground with a thud (as if my concentration was bad enough at that moment). They weren't even grabbing at me or pulling anything, they were just adding themselves. Well…in a way I sort of asked for it…

"Aki!"

"Oh no, Aki!" Both of them tore their eyes from their fights and focused on my trivial dilemma.

Trying not to focus on how they had fallen on me with my neck in an awkward position, I shouted out, "Don't worry about me! Just do what you have to do! I can handle it."

Struggling to get back up, I found that Genrou was right before when he said how light they were. However, when the riddle of "which is heavier, a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers" comes to mind, I realized that the situation was pretty similar. These guys could be as light as twigs, but if there were a trillion of them, the weight would start to add up. And with more and more clowns coming, it wouldn't be long until I'd be either crushed or suffocate.

Summoning Wind to me, a violent whirlwind manifested with the assistance of my energy. I sort of expected them to instantly fly away, but they were clinging enough to each other to prevent themselves from moving. I'd have to end up concentrating a bit more if I wanted to get anywhere. Creating a small sphere of concentrated Wind just in my area, spinning in all directions all around us at speeds beyond imaginable, I was forced to hold my breath to make sure that the lack of oxygen from the circling winds wouldn't make me pass out. With every sharp slash of wind that zipped through, another layer of clowns were instantly shaved off, progressively lightening the load on top of me. At the point where I thought my lungs would burst from the intense burning, I invested a whole bunch of force into my back and legs in order to throw the rest off with the assistance of the ferocious currents.

Leaning over with my hands on my knees, I released huge exhales and gulped in bucket-fulls of inhales as relief washed over my whole body. It didn't take long for me to become light-headed, making the world seem completely in balance through my eyes. This is ridiculous! Bringing my head up, my eyes widened from gazing upon the vast numbers of generic circus clowns that had initially started out as just a few. They could just becoming back at us forever! Some of them were starting to eye me in a funny way inducing uneasiness at the pit of my stomach.

"Hey Aki!" Genrou yelled out at me through punches. He was starting to pant at this point showing that the enemy was starting to wear him down—he definitely didn't show it with the vigor in his actions though. "Comin' up with any idea's fer this situation?"

"Oh yeah," Even in a semi-serious situation, I managed to slather sarcasm onto my tone. "I've come up with a brilliant idea ages ago. I'm just waiting it out until they kill us!"

In a split second of peace, he gave me a blank look as he scratched his cheek. "So what I'm hearin' is that ya have a plan—"

"No I don't have a plan you idiot! If I did, we wouldn't still be in this mess!" I roared, fire practically spewing from my mouth.

"Hey!" Stomping his foot forward, he threatened me with a fist. "Don't'cha call me an idiot ya psycho woman!"

Chichiri intervened from afar as he fended off some more creeps. "C'mon guys, it's not the time for that, ya know?"

Ceasing the intense scare-down forming between my bandit friend and I, I sighed, resting my hands on my hips. "Look, I'm sorry about calling you an idiot. It's just…I get hostile whenever anything becomes monotonous—things like that drive me absolutely insane. We have to end this."

"Yeah well, individual attacks aren't workin'."

"There—" The blue-haired monk kicked away a group of about ten clowns that were rushing towards him. "There needs to be a way to attack them all at once without getting any of us hurt, ya know?" This really does seem like a hydra thing. Attack them all at once, huh?

Then an idea hit me.

Gathering up energy all throughout my body, I stomped on the ground, followed by dragging one of my legs as I did a complete 360⁰, tracing a circle around me. Stomping on the ground once more with increased strength, similar circles appeared around Genrou and Chichiri. Using the power of Earth, I crouched down and felt the light, straw sprinkled ground with my fingertips, sending my power out throughout the whole ring. In no time flat, our individual circles served as platforms that had risen us up above the height of the clowns onto a safe elevation—almost close enough to the top of the tent.

"Whoa!" Genrou gazed down at our spectators in awe. "Man are we high up!"

"Clever escape route and strategy, now we can see everything, ya know?" Chichiri stroke his chin, "But do you think they could climb?"

"They'll never get the chance." Feeling the power of Fire and Earth combine in my overall flow of energy, I casted a spell as my hands extended downward, palms straight to the ground. "Infinite Earth, mother who nurtures all life, let thy power gather in my hand." The temperature of the tent practically sky-rocketed up what seemed like one hundred degrees (probably more—I don't study the way atmospheric temperature works), making just standing around and being there extremely uncomfortable. With sweat running down the sides of my face, I hurried through the rest of the spell. "Vlave Howl!" The ground under us instantly transformed into a pool of searing magma. And with a bunch of magma came a bunch of creepy clowns being tormented and melting away almost reminding me of Alka-Seltzer tablets slowly dissolving in water. Yup, if you want to get rid of things all at once, this was the way to do it. I didn't quite get the satiating screams of agony that I wanted, but at least we were being rid of those pests.

With the updraft of the heat rising up, I felt my hair and light jacket being lifted up a bit as the warmth caressed my skin. I couldn't help but allow a satisfying smile from being drawn onto my lips.

"Damn Aki…" Genrou peered down, holding onto his personal platform probably thinking that one false move would sending him plummeting straight into the pool of magma (well, technically it would if I couldn't act fast enough). "Ya know you can be real scary sometimes…" I'll take that as a compliment.

"Yes, this was very efficient, ya know!" Chichiri praised.

Right as I was about to play the modest act, a flash of light appeared in front of my eyes, causing me to close them on a reflex.

As I opened them back up, I gasped at what I saw—all of the magma was gone (like, seriously?), we were back on the ground, and we were once again being surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of clowns (I mean, come on, seriously?).

Feeling my knees become weak and shaky, I sank down to the ground, continuing to stare at our assassins. "You have gotto be kidding me." I hate this stupid maze! It was almost as if someone pushed the reset button on the remote control to this place, placing us back into our initial situation.

"Okay, I think that this has gone on long enough, ya know?" Chichiri vertically lifted up his staff only to force it back down. The moment the tip at the end impacted the ground, a wave of invisible energy surged through the ground, expanding outwards to the whole area of the circle. As the wave hit the clowns, they fizzled away into thin air, almost as if they were never there in the first place.

I blinked a few times in bewilderment. "Umm…what just happened?"

"Well it turns out," The monk turned to face us with his hand rested behind his head as he chuckled nervously, "that they were never there in the first place, ya know?" Letting the information settle in my brain a bit, I tried to process it all. What?...never…really…there?...My brain seemed to be traveling in all sorts of directions when I heard this.

Tears of exhaustion and frustration formed in my eyes just as I bolted straight to him, hand grabbing at his collar, Genrou had the same idea since his hand wasn't far from mine as we both grabbed on.

"What d'ya mean 'they were never there in the first place'?" Genrou spat.

My grasp tightened. "You allowed us to go through all of that, and you knew that they weren't really there? WHAT THE HELL CHICHIRI?"

He ducked down in cowardice at the dominance of his two friends—the "pacifist" sign in his hand opposite his staff. "I really only figured it out when Aki did that magma spell, ya know? I was curious as to why they never spoke or why they never complained or screamed out when they were getting defeated. You know something has to be wrong when someone doesn't at least complain about being melted, ya know?"

Following his story, I reluctantly said, "Uh…huh…"

"So I finally decided to check on their auras when they were going down. Turns out that they had no auras at all, ya know? And the only way that could happen was if they didn't exist!" Genrou and I ended up falling to the ground in a comedic manner. We couldn't find this out earlier?

"Man this place is messed up!" Genrou sat up and sat cross-legged with his arms crossed as well. "It's enough ta give a guy a serious head-ache."

Sitting up with my arms balancing me up from behind, I asked cynically, "You only got a headache from all of this?" You lucky bastard. I just couldn't tell where the maze was going with all of this. It was obviously a trial by this point, but this particular one seemed somewhat different from the ones before—somehow it seemed more…intricate. I mean, come on! They went through the trouble of producing a full-on circus tent filled with fake hydra clowns—I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that it wasn't through yet with its irritating antics. If only we could just find that Sacred Blood Lily, then this whole messed up crap would be over.

Unfortunately, our troubles weren't over, not even for a few seconds. The ground under us immediately disappeared, causing us to, of course, fall straight through. Instead of falling through some black abyss, the three of us landed on what seemed like smooth, multicolored slides—like something you'd see at a carnival or amusement park. Through twists, turns, and loops the slide took us further and further into nothingness—no end seemed to be in sight. Wind seemed to be rustling past my hair and body as we picked up speed. At this point, Genrou was yelling out from being on this ride—his voice echoing more and more as we progressed (sort of made me wonder how he'd like amusement parks with all of the rollercoasters and other attractions). My pure Aki-ness was tempted to say something cheeky at that moment, but the increasing G-forces were kind of making talking a bit difficult.

Right when we were beginning to think that things weren't going to get any more exciting, there was a sudden upwards slope that happened to cut off right at the last moment.

Damn.

We were immediately launched off of the slide, flying through the black void not knowing where we were headed or if we were going to hit something. I didn't like the odds either way. The sucky thing was that I couldn't come up with any kind of spell that could potentially get us out of this mess—we were totally in the maze's will.

Closing my eyes, I ended up trying my best to not just submit to whatever fate the maze would throw at me. Idea after idea ran through my mind, none of them being what we needed in order to survive. I hated not knowing what would become of us, and I hated even more that I couldn't intervene with the nefarious plans in any way.

Suddenly, my whole body seemed to just slow down completely…and then just stop, making it so that I was floating in mid-air. But I wasn't the one making me float. Hanging upside down, I opened my eyes to see what was going on—even though the exhilaration had ceased, my heart was still pounding in such a way that it could just beat its way out of my chest at any time, a sense of nausea was kicking in at the pit of my stomach. Both Genrou and Chichiri had stopped too—we weren't being thrown through the air anymore, however we were still in some black oblivion.

Chichiri looked completely content and was in an upward standing position, like he was expecting to land perfectly upright at any given time. Genrou was "lying" on his back, looking around frantically, just as I was doing. "What the hell? How did we stop?" The bandit looked over at me. I shook my head, showing that this wasn't the result of anything that I did.

Whistling in a fashion of relief, Chichiri said, "It's a good thing that I thought of something at the last minute, ya know?"

Trying to keep my heart beat at bay, I stumbled through my words. "Wha—what did you—" I didn't have the time to finish my sentence since our bodies ceased their suspended animation as we fell through a circular portal which had revealed light of some kind. Landing on my back with a thud, I looked up at the blank world which we were just liberated from. The black portal quickly shrank and rotated a few times, revealing Chichiri's kasa hat. What the? Did we just—?

Closing my eyes, I let out a huge sigh. I am so confused.

A deep, ferocious, un-human roaring echoed around our new space, prompting me to open my eyes. Underneath me, the ground was vibrating violently, each vibration becoming closer together and making its way towards me. Then the world seemed to be going in slow motion as I sat up and a well-known beast appeared in my vision. It's large golden feline body, wild mane, sharp, deadly eyes, and lethal fangs and claws were enough to install fear into any person's soul—even more so when a person knew that that would be the last sight they saw before their life ended, being painfully torn limb from limb as your flesh was being ripped from your body by the outrageous, threatening paws. The frightening images flashed through my mind as the ferocious creature made its way to me. There was no time to react, it was too fast. My body sat there frozen, not knowing how to avoid my horrible demise.

"Aki!" A familiar voice screeched out to me with a panicked tone. A figure ran in front of me with lightning speed, their shadow covering my whole body as droplets of warm liquid splashed onto my face.

When the world sped up again, I blinked a few times to put things into focus. My eyes widened in shock. There was the lion with its jaws clenched onto Genrou's arm, his blood dripping past its teeth and onto the ground below, creating a dark, crimson puddle.

"Genrou…" I whispered still in disbelief. Shaking my head, I blinked hard, only to open them back up and shout out in concern and anger. "Genrou you idiot! Why would you do something like that? Now you're…you're…"

"Will you stop yappin' already and move outta the way? I can't hold 'im fer very long!" With his other hand, he was pushing the beasts' face away from him to avoid from it ripping his arm off. But he was still losing a lot of blood. "Get movin' Aki!" I couldn't just get away and let him get hurt further—I had to get that lion away from him. But it wouldn't be easy, one false move and Genrou's arm was history. I didn't know what to do! A spell! A spell! I don't know what spell to use!

Looking around, I desperately tried to find Chichiri—I knew he'd be able to help out somehow. I was horrified to find that his hands were also pretty tied up with a lioness that had slashed his side, but it wasn't deep enough to be fatal, it was just a surface flesh wound. He must have jumped away fast enough to avoid getting hit too bad. In any case, he was probably better off that Genrou was going to be if I didn't do something quickly.

But why lions?

Becoming more aware of our surrounding, I gasped when I had found that we were in a large, metal cage. Filled with lions… that's it! The epiphany hit me as the variables came together. We're supposed to be at a circus, and circuses usually have animals, lions being one of the main ones! I groaned in frustration. Damn this maze for being so freakin' particular!

Genrou's arm started to shake as his physical strength dwindled. The creature had sensed his depleting power and progressed with bringing his jaw closer together, bringing my friend even more agony. He yelled out in pain. "Argh! Dammit!"

I had to help somehow! "Ray Freeze!" The moment the spell was cast, the beast's body immediately froze in place—it was still very much alive, but unable to move as long as I kept my concentration. Standing up as quickly as I could, I grabbed the lion's mouth—one hand on the bottom half and the other on the top—and tried to open its jaws to free Genrou. Its teeth had really dug into the bandits flesh, making it even harder to force its mouth open.

Genrou continuously shook and winced as the teeth were being relieved form his arm. "Aki…"

Continuing to struggle, I worked through my obstacle with an irritable lack of ease. "Just bite through it…I'm gonna get this thing off of you…" Using this much physical energy was really causing me to take a toll on my magic a lot faster than desired—I had to make sure that I conserved myself as much as I could. The Vlave Howl spell that I used earlier was only meant to create a small pool of magma, but I might have over done it when I practically transformed the tent's grounds into the inside of a volcano. Not to mention the intense concentration that was required to make such a dense dome of Wind in order to get those clowns off of me. I knew that I still had quite a few uses of magic to go before I hit my critical zone—the point where my body starts to destroy itself the more I push to use my energy for spell usage, resulting in a not-so-pleasant death—but I still had to watch myself before things went too far.

"Come…on…!" Putting everything I could into my arm muscles, a sudden surge of adrenaline allowed me the one faithful pull that opened up its mouth wide enough for Genrou to go free. Snatching his arm back, the flame-haired bandit allowed it to drop free as blood trickled down his limb and continued to drip onto the cold, metal floor.

"Damn cat!' He said through clenched teeth. Stepping away from the lion, I ran up to Genrou to inspect his arm.

"This doesn't look good…you probably won't be able to use it for a while…" I'm so sorry…If I had just reacted faster—if I had been more on alert—that wouldn't have happened.

Looking away from the frozen feline, he gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't sweat it, I'll be able to use it when I need it—but I probably won't need it—it's not as bad as it looks. Leave it to a woman ta get all panicky 'bout somethin' so small—"

Our conversation was cut short when a loud banging came from Chichiri's and his animal's tussle. He was holding it off with his staff, and it didn't particularly seem like he was losing, but the lioness' strength was obviously stronger than any man (well, except Nuriko), and he was getting pushed back in submission. In a bright blue flash, the lioness went flying to the other side of the cage, but it didn't take long for it to easily recover and recoil.

"We sure got our hands full with this one, ya know?" He immediately resumed a defensive stance as the beast came roaring back.

Genrou took a step forward towards Chichiri's opponent. "Might as well get this over with. C'mon Aki, let's tame this cat!"

Shying away a bit, I told him, "Sorry, I can't…"

Gasping in surprise, he looked back at me with comedic wide eyes. "What'dya mean ya 'can't'?"

Blushing a bit, I trailed my eye away from his. "Well…ya see…I don't like hurting animals…"

"You what?" He shouted. "That thing tried ta eat the both of us and ya wanna show 'em mercy?"

With an irritated voice, I rebutted, "Excuse me for thinking that all creature's lives are precious. They're not like demons, or spirits, or Shadow creatures…they're animals!" I didn't allow him to say anything more before I said, "Besides, you are in no condition to go head to head with a lion. I don't care how macho you think you are."

Even Chichiri felt the need to talk before Genrou did. "While I do commend your respect for nature Aki, I think that when it comes down to who I could like to survive, I choose us, ya know?" Glancing at the still frozen lion whose teeth was stained with Genrou's blood an epiphany struck me with the help of recollected past experience.

"I see what you guys are saying, but there's something else that we have to consider here—" The lioness pounced onto the monk, knocking him straight to the ground as it bared its fangs. "Chichiri!"

"I'm f-fine, ya know? Just go on with what you were saying!" Leave it to him to want to carry on a conversation while a deadly cat is trying to maim him.

With uneasiness evident in my voice, I went on. "Well…um…like I was saying, we have to consider the fact that we are still in the maze here—as odd as it seems right now."

"Yeah, so what?" Genrou stood next to me holding onto his wounded arm.

"So, are you forgetting about the dilemma we just got out of? If we take out these lions, we might end up having to fight their multiple spawns that manifest out of absolutely nowhere. I don't know about you, but I don't really wanna fight a bunch of man-eating beasts at this present moment."

"Not to mention that these animals are actually here, ya know? Not like before when we were being tricked," Chichiri added as he got up on his knees to force his opponent away (I got to say, this guy is a real trooper for dealing with this animal so nonchalantly).

I nodded. "Yeah. So if this trial is going to be consistent, then I don't really want to stick around and find out. This cage isn't as big as that ring before either…"

"So what'dya expect we do then?" Genrou's tone was showing a hint of irritability.

Trying to find an answer to his demand, I noticed that the frozen lion's body was beginning to vibrate—my hold on it was becoming weaker. If I invested any more power into the spell, I might end up killing my energy faster than desired. I virtually had no choice but to let the lion go free soon. Searching all around, my eyes eventually trailed upwards to the ceiling of the cage. "We escape."

Genrou must have caught the faint movement of his foe out of the corner of his eye since he faced me with alarm. "I wouldn't feel right just runnin' out like that—if I had things my way, I wouldn't mind havin' this cat pay for him thinkin' that he could have his way with me. But…" He growled, knowing fully well that we couldn't really afford to stick around much longer. "Just do what'cha gotta do Aki. If ya can't hold it anymore, I'll hold 'im as long as I can."

Giving him a small, confident smile, I gave a remark. "So there is some common sense in that flame-head of yours, eh Fang-Boy?"

Grunting before showing an amused smile, he waved me off. "Just get on with it." Heading in front of the almost-free lion, he crouched over and stood ready just in case the spell broke for whatever reason.

Not wasting any more time, I levitated my off of the ground, and brought myself closer to the unusually high ceiling, away from all of the madness going on below me. Reciting a new spell would probably, most definitely, cause me to lose concentration with my Ray Freeze spell, giving my two companions a bit more troubled for only a few more seconds. I had to take the risk. Spreading my arms to the side, I focused on the power of Wind and Fire. "Raza Klouva!" Hundreds of shard-like bits of energy surrounded my body like a mist, and in the blink of an eye, continuously shot out like a straight blast of wind combined with fragments of burning glass. Focusing on one spot on the ceiling, the attack was concentrated enough to make the attachments at the four corners unstable.

Glancing downwards, I saw both Genrou and Chichiri's backs to each other as both lions (the male one being obviously free at this point) circled them as they observed their prey. It wouldn't be long until things got uglier than they already were.

Turning my attention back onto my ongoing spell, I gave my flow of energy a boost causing a noticeable pulsation to shoot out—which was just the boost I needed to make the roof blow completely off (the maze should probably check with the manufacturer of the cage 'cause for some reason, that seemed too easy), resulting in a loud banging sound as it finally landed somewhere outside of the circumference of the cage. Not taking another thought about it—and putting my suspicions aside—I flew back down to my comrades and told them to wrap their arms around my shoulders (the arm that worked anyway with Genrou's case). Wrapping my arms around their waists, I put extra effort into levitating the added weight up and out of the horrible cage…

And back into the black nothingness…ugh…

Out of nowhere, an unexpected, circular, glowing white platform appeared out of nowhere and I didn't question it since I decided to land, releasing my passengers before setting my own feet down myself.

Sighing heavily, exhaustion was starting to take its toll on me (don't call me a wimp—thousands of creepy, killer clowns and threatening lions tend to wear a person out if experienced all in one day). But at least we're safe—we're all safe.

"So, is anyone else gettin' sick of all this?" Genrou complained, still holding his arm, blood running down past his sleeves. "I wish I could just take out the sorry bastard who's creatin' this place!"

"Jeez…" Walking up to him, I held out the inside of my jacket and used Wind in order to cut a strip out from it. "If you insist on being an idiot and walking into the face of danger, than you can at least put the effort out to stop your bleeding. Take off your trench coat."

His face instantly went red. "What?"

"Just do it!" Instead of arguing further, he complied, dropping his black and aqua-lined trench coat down to the ground. Taking the long strip that I cut from my jacket (which was, as a recap, a gift from Miss Emiko), I wrapped it around his hurt arm like a bandage, making sure that it was tied tightly to stop the bleeding. "Hopefully this will be of some use to you…" In movies, whenever someone got hurt like that, someone would wrap their wound with someone to make sure that they wouldn't lose too much blood. I figured that the same thing applied with this case.

"Umm…thanks," he said without giving eye contact, "and thanks for savin' my ass back there. If it weren't fer that spell o' yers, I probably wouldn't have an arm anymore!"

My face softened a bit. If you didn't run in front of me for my safety, I probably wouldn't be alive anymore. I wanted to do more for him…there were two healing spells that I could use…but…it wasn't the right time to use either of them. Both of them had prices to them that we couldn't afford to pay at that present moment.

"Yeah Aki, you're quick thinking really got us out of that bind, ya know?" Chichiri complimented.

"My quick thinking? Chichiri, if it weren't for that quirky hat of yours, we'd probably be a flat and bloody mess from flying off of that slide." Not to mention the fact that you handled that lion… like a boss.

He laughed, his playful fox like features assisting his cheeriness. "I don't know about all of that, ya know? I just did what I thought needed to be done, ya know?"

"Ditto," I told them.

"Same here," Genrou added in as he attempted to get through his trench coat with one working arm.

The white platform we were standing on began to stretch out several yards, eventually branching out into three different paths—the end of each path was a door lined in neon colors of turquoise, gold, and magenta. We all looked in awe at the spectacle, not knowing what to think of it. Right as things couldn't get any weirder, a different picture blinked on and off above every door in the same neon color that correlated with that door. Above the turquoise door on the left was a chibi picture of Genrou, above the magenta door on the right was a chibi picture of Chichiri, and above the gold door in the middle had a chibi picture of me—whoever came up with the blue-prints of this whole circus-ruse must have really been having fun with it.

"So I suppose that we each have to go through our respective doors?" Chichiri asked as we all continued to stare.

"Seems that way…" My face fell into a grimace. "You do know that it's most likely a trap."

Genrou scoffed. "Even if it is, one o' those paths might lead ta that flower." Seeing my uncertainty, he perked up a bit. "We're all tough, right? So nothin' too bad should happen. We can handle this twisted place!" Aren't you optimistic?

If we went through with this, then we'd end up being apart for who knows how long. Communication would prove to be rather difficult…well, I supposed that we could use Chichiri's telepathy if things got too bad, and it did help that Genrou and I were bonded to each other (the phenomenon that was still pretty odd and mysterious to us, but at this late in the game, no point in questioning), so we would probably know when one of us were in trouble. In theory, going through separate paths would be no big deal—we should all be fine when looking at our individual skills—I knew that I could handle myself in most situations. But being apart in such a messed up place could really be dangerous since we honestly didn't know what that circus-like place would throw at us—not to mention that Genrou's arm was still messed up.

"I suppose if we want to get anything done, then we have no choice…" I reluctantly answered. Don't you just love those moments when you're being backed into a corner?

The three of us steadily made our way down our paths and up to our doors without another word being exchanged about whether or not we should go through with it, each of us stopping short before heading on through into the unknown.

"Hey Aki," Genrou called for me with a mischievous smile on his face. "Promise me that'cha won't use that kunai o' yers just yet. Stick with the magic to avoid from embarrassin' yerself."

Giving a distasteful smirk, I told him, "You better watch it before you get the hard edge of that hammer again." He instantly stiffened up and felt the back of his head for the bump I might have left from the giant toy hammer (aka The Hammer of Justice), after he called me a "witch" multiple times at our campfire a while ago. I rolled my eyes. Please, that bump isn't even there anymore you drama queen. Feeling all tensions lift up and dissipate, my smile became more genuine. "You just be careful, okay? Try not to get banged up too bad." Switching my head to the other side, I faced Chichiri. "You too—stay safe and don't let anything fool you or throw you for a loop."

"Please don't overdo it yourself Aki. We wouldn't want you burning out, ya know?" He held up a finger. "We should also consider that we might not even fight, ya know? Why are we all assuming that we're going into combat?" Genrou and I both gave him a sharp, skeptical look that screamed, "have you met us?". "Yes, I know it's very likely, but not one hundred percent, ya know?"

Boy did I hope that he was right.

"Either way, standin' around won't get the job done!" The flame-headed bandit announced with the same atmosphere of anxiety and excitement that he displayed when he and I first engaged in battle right after we met.

We all nodded in unison.

"Well, see you guys on the other side." No point in stalling. As I took a step forward, my senses were completely on high alert for whatever came my way.

Okay universe, let's see what warped thing you have planned out for me now…

-Aloe

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!