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The true Face

Whoever was this person, they made Ikki run all the way thru the hall. He could felt the smoke hitting his face and going inside his ostriches and the hard wrap. A part of him was thinking in use the blade and cut the hand of whoever the thing or person was. And then a little detail made him change.

"Are you fine?"

That voice was familiar to him. He smiled and took a deep breath feeling that everything was fixed in some way. Someway because suddenly he felt a terrible wrap in his other arm. Ikki felt the claws of a monster over his skin and when he turned he saw it again. The monster that once Guilty said was his mother now was holding him. Of course he didn't touch his heart before hitting it against a wall and hear a terrible scream.

"Shaka?" Ikki couldn't see him but could heard him easily. "Where are we going?"

The Golden Saint didn't answer but entered to one of the secondary halls and ran inside a room. The Phoenix felt a push to get inside and Shaka was in the door. He didn't close it totally to peek outside.

"Shaka?" Ikki was still on the floor and rose up seconds before. "Shaka, what happens?"

"They were following us." The other man was still seeing thru the small space from the open door. "I think all is fine now."

Ikki sighed and felt a bit better. But he had so many questions now. He didn't wait to make those questions. First one was the reason why Shaka was there. He answered because he felt a problem around his Temple. Second one why his students wasn't there. Because he didn't want to place them in danger. And the third one was why Shaka was running away from those terrible monsters if he could control them.

The silence was there some seconds as if the Virgo Saint was waiting for those things.

"Looks like I can't." His voice was still calm. "What did they ask you?"

"They want me to... kill myself." He was so tired he preferred to say nothing more.

Again the silence was there but outside Ikki could heard the groans and pain. Shaka was still in front the door giving his back to the Phoenix Saint.

"And what do you think, Phoenix?"

A little detail that took Ikki off of guard.

"I can't do it..."

"Maybe... I'm sorry to say it but the only escape is that one." Ikki was impressed for this answer. "Would you let these monsters go out of the temple?"

"No but..."

"They can go out and looks like they are stronger than us."

Another little detail.

"Shaka, are you really asking me to kill myself?"

"It is the only way, Phoenix."

Ikki was in pain indeed and felt already full of blood. He was holding the bloody Phoenix's feather between his fingers, enough to feel the blade but not cut himself. If Shaka was saying all this then it meant something important.

"You are right." Ikki said taking the feather even tighter. Some blood began to drop down. "Could you make me a favour?" The Virgo Saint nodded. "Could you say to Shiva that I will miss him?"

"Yes, Phoenix, I will."

"Promise me."

"I will tell Shiva you miss him."

The last detail.

Shaka stopped calling him Phoenix for so long, he would never say someone is stronger than him and he always called to his beloved student with a feminine pronoun.

The Phoenix Saint held the feather and smiled to take an impulse and jump. He wouldn't die without fighting. But in the instant he was almost throwing his attack, Shaka's hair moved and held Ikki's hand to stop it.

For sure it wasn't Shaka, and when this monster turned it only have a big mouth with sharp teeth and a red eye where Shaka's bindi supposed to be. Opening the mouth a bit more Ikki could see two tongues and a disgusting green saliva.

"You aren't so smart." A high pitch voice that sounded like two or three went out of the monster's mouth. "Give up and die."

"I'm smarter than you."

Ikki smiled as he moved his wrist quickly to make the blade cut the hair of the monster. But it wasn't simple hair. In the moment it cut, black blood went out and the creature made a scream that Ikki felt in his spine as a cold touch. He hurt the enemy it but he was hurt himself too. Now his hand was dislocated and couldn't use it as before. Anyway he just held the blade with the other hand and waited the attack of the monster.

"You should already know that doesn't matter what you do, your destiny is die and be part of us."

"Too bad I don't believe in the destiny."

In the same moment he finished talking, something was holding him from behind. Both arms and legs were held by the hair or tentacles of this monster. In an instant, Ikki was on the air being held from his extremities.

"You should begin, Phoenix."

As always, Ikki was waiting for answer something sassy but he felt a pull not just from one arm or leg, but both of each one. It felt like a crack when his wrist went out of its place even more than before. Ikki gasped in pain and then he could heard the blood drops over the floor.

"Why me?" Ikki asked trying to not show his painful state. "The temple was always with people."

"Master Shaka protected them always. But you..." some terrible claws pointed him. "You broke the protection that had your name."

Memories of the words in the candle came back to Ikki's head. There were written in Sanskrit and now he could remember exactly the space on it that had his name. Shaka once taught him to write his own name and constellations. But as the Phoenix Saint was remembering all this, he suddenly felt other pull. This time felt it different as before. The skin was already in a terrible phase full of scars and open wounds, and every pull of the hair was cutting it more, even opening them more. Ikki yelled of pain feeling the skin lifting up every second a bit. The blood was something normal to see but never see that much from his own body. How wasn't he dying now?

He felt his conscience going because the pain. He was indeed in a kind of shock, feeling and in the same time couldn't feel the pain, it was something terrible but was so out of himself he couldn't know exactly how to react.

A wet sensation appeared close to his wounds. The two tongues were licking his blood leaving a green saliva. It was more than disgusting.

"The pain will push you." the monster said without moving its lips. "And the same tiredness of your body will make you feel like dying, but you will not die."

A dry and heavy hit could be heard when Ikki's body felt over the floor. He was still awake but feeling so dizzy and tired as never before. The Phoenix Saint felt a terrible pain in the abdomen when the monster stand up over him. Again, it was looking exactly as Shaka even if his face was covered of the blond hair of the Virgo Saint.

"I will not kill you, Phoenix." its hand was now human and had the Phoenix's feather on it. "It is something you should have done before. Don't worry, nobody will miss you and even your young brother can take care of himself."

To be honest, Ikki was being defeated. He was feeling weaker, so much things happened in one night that even his mind was tired. The Bronze Saint spent some seconds with the eyes closed trying to hold his breath. And when he opened them his hand lift up to held the Phoenix's Feather.

"I hope Shaka makes you pay all this."

"I don't think so."

The Phoenix Saint closed his eyes and slowly moved his arm close to his neck. He could felt the blade over his skin and began to shake. Ikki was the bravest of the Saints, he earned a reputation for his way to be. This act of taking his life was just being a coward... nothing like Ikki. But what else he could do? He couldn't escape now, he was tired. Looked like a bad dream that finished in something almost real as his pain and even defeat him. He was like that and wanted to finish with all right now. The point of the feather began to move slowly making a bit of pressure over an important blood conductor. Just a bit more and he could kill himself.

"Stop, Ikki."

He did stop indeed. His hand moved a bit away from his neck and Ikki moved his head to see where that voice came from.

The flowered dress was full of blood and he could even see her open abdomen. Her face was full of scratches and red in some spots because the bleed of her scars. Esmeralda, anyway, was smiling.

"Don't do it, Ikki." she said. "Just wait a bit longer..."

"When you lost conscience and repeat all this again?" the monster said with Shaka's voice but with an echo. "Because we will make you repeat all."

"And I will still at your side." Esmeralda gave some steps forward. "I will repeat everything with you."

"Better finish now, Ikki."

"Believe me, just wait a bit longer."

"You was thinking in kill yourself some seconds ago." the monster showed again his disgusting and macabre smile. "I know it."

"Ikki, you are strong." the girl didn't wait to run and fell over her knees to be at Ikki' side and held his hand. "You will be all right."

For a second it felt so real. The cold hand of Esmeralda touching his hand and her warm smile. Ikki left the Phoenix's Feather fall down and moved his arm slowly and shaking. Even if her beautiful and childish face was full of blood, the Saint didn't wait to caress it. She came closer to kiss his lips as before and then turned to see the monster.

"Go away... now."

"No one but master Shaka can control us."

"You know he will not let you kill Ikki. Go away now."

"If I go..." suddenly the hair moved around the bedroom and the mouth with two tongues appeared as well the light of the red eye. "You come with me!"

It was instantly when the monster held Esmeralda with its tentacles and moved a step backwards. The little girl couldn't yell this time because the monster closed her mouth. The pressure was so much she was crying and Ikki could see her jaw being open in a terrible way. He tried to move and do something, but after all it was just another illusion of her beloved. Those monsters were destroying him physically and mentally.

Even like that, he held her hand tight as the copy of the Virgo Saint was moving backwards to the darkness and dragging Esmeralda with it. Ikki was losing her again and this time was again his fault.

"Ikki."

A third voice appeared but he was already too tired to try to recognize it.

The monster stopped and turned to the door. It was totally open and was just a white light in the other side. Ikki decided not keep his eyes opened and felt the walk of someone over the floor.

"Ikki." the voice said again.

This time, the Phoenix Saint felt some arms taking his almost dead body from the floor. Other pair of arms held his chest. He opened his eyes a bit more just to find himself being dragged backwards. Six arms were around him and he just felt like falling asleep, all the tiredness and weakness was now over his body.

"Sleep, Ikki." and a hand closed his eyes.