The scream, was something otherworldly.

Something terrible.

Something that had no true description.

Candace had never felt as much pain as she was in that moment. The inside of her head was pounding as she, heard. She was hearing every sound around her, and she didn't know how to make sense of it. She had never experienced anything like this in her life. The only reason that she wasn't dead from the sheer shock was the fact that she was a shinso. That one fact was all that was keeping her alive.

Simona had fallen unconscious, and blood was flowing from her nose and ears. The psionic shock had effectively turned her into a vegetable instantly. If there was anyway to help her, it would have to be discovered after the moment was brought under control.

"'Suki, what the hell did you do," he roared over sound of Candace's scream, hoping that Utsuki could hear him.

Utsuki herself was swaying where she sat, only half conscious at that moment, "I cured her."

Tekeshi was completely unfazed by the sound, but that was due to the whole half divinity thing he had going on. The windows, however, were developing cracks. He could see splinters starting to work their way out of whatever wood was exposed in the room. He could only hope nobody had died from the psychic shock wave that was released at the moment Candace first started hearing.

He didn't blame Utsuki for doing it, but he realized that it might not hurt for her to have a major conversation with Yukari concerning what sudden restoration, or engaging, of unused senses could do to a person. Hopefully she wouldn't do something like this ever again.

"I'm going to take her somewhere that she can't cause anymore damage before the worst happens. I'm taking Jakkasu. See to Simona, this can't have been good for her," he roared again, amazed at the lung capacity the woman had.

"OK," Utsuki called back drowsily.

Tekeshi reached over and grabbed Candace's hand. It took him only a moment to decide where they needed to go. The only place that may finally make her understand.

He took a breath, and then was standing over the woman as a light rain came down upon charred ruins.

"I never wanted to come here again," he said to himself.

He looked around, feeling a twinge of pain across his throat. He saw the crosses that marked the graves of ancient bones. Chills ran down his spine as he looked at the ground, and saw the heavy furrows that had been dug by his heels.

It was amazing how much had remained of Vampiris. How greatly the rotted wood, and deteriorated mortar had resisted the flames. Of course, rotted wood didn't burn that hot. Stone remained despite the heat.

'You, plan to show her his grave," Jakkasu asked.

"How did you know he had a grave," he didn't bother to hold his voice.

He could hear the pride in the voice, 'Because I know you better than most. I know your heart. I thought you might return to bury him.'

Tekeshi took a deep breath, "I, felt I owed it to him. Now, with everything I have learned about him, I am more sure of that. I still hate this place though. I guess with his death, the spell that made it feel like home has gone away."

'I see. Thank you, Tekeshi.'

Tekeshi turned around and looked at the prone form of the elder vampire. Candace had finally stopped screaming, and it appeared that she had fallen unconscious. It was probably for the best, it might give her a chance to adjust to this.

"I thought that you said you would never return, after the last time you were here," another voice said from behind him.

'Is that,' Jakkasu almost couldn't believe it.

"I hadn't planned to. Unfortunately, circumstances decided for me. Have you been doing well," Tekeshi stood and turned.

A fox like man with a corona of white furred tails behind him stood watching him. A strange peaceful aura surrounded him. Yet, there was some whisper of malice as well.

"I have been, better, and doing better every day. It is good to see you, though less good to see you with your sword. I had hoped that you had somehow found peace since you left. Has, conflict kept it's grip upon you?"

Tekeshi took a deep breath, "Thankfully, no. I, finally got to stop fighting. At least for now, and hopefully I never have to take another life. I'm not here, for a fight, but to help someone else find peace. It's good to see you too."

The man looked past him at the unconscious form of Candace. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on her appearance. He shifted his robes as he approached her, and seemed to take notice of the sheer power that she exuded.

"She is, more powerful than your father is. That is terrifying to see. Would you like to rest at my home, while she sleeps," the man asked.

"Thank you Kuyo, I appreciate it."

Simona's eyes fluttered open.

She sat up and was having trouble getting her thoughts straight. Her head was throbbing, almost like it had been when she had been in the hospital in Korea. She also felt sick to her stomach. It was just beyond her what had happened to her.

"Well, I wish that my healing abilities were even just a fraction of Utsuki's. Well Miss, what was that name that they told me again? Uh, Miss Muntean? Huh, where is that from," a woman was walking up to the side of the bed she was laying in.

She started to answer, but her head started swimming. A small trashcan appeared in the edge of her vision and she immediately emptied her stomach into it.

The woman grimaced, "That gives me flashbacks to being pregnant. I don't miss it. Just relax, I don't know enough about how Utsuki's abilities work, nor do any of the other women like her. It may take a while for you to fully recover. Thankfully you weren't beyond what she could heal. Though, she was responsible for it, and she is sorry, but it never turns out well when someone pisses her off royally."

Simona just sat there breathing, waiting for the momentary pain to pass. Where was Candace? Was she ok? What had happened.

"Ok. Let me tell you what happened, at least what I was told by Utsuki. Apparently this woman that you came here with, and was using you to speak, insulted her. Tekeshi started to get angry, and then she, uh, you, uh. I'm not going to lie, I am so confused with all of this. Any way, he was screamed at, and Utsuki yelled at her to scream at him herself. Apparently she then started screaming in abject pain, and left you brain dead. Utsuki has, very unique, abilities and is able to heal even the most dire of injuries, though she can't reverse death."

Simona looked at the woman and blinked questioningly.

"I understand why that seems weird. You weren't clinically dead, just brain dead. You weren't capable of any form of conscious thought. I don't know exactly how she was capable of reversing this, but it seems that while she can heal the damage, there is still some recovery that has to occur. Tekeshi has a sister that is still having issues with muscle spasms in her left side and chest after her ribs were shattered fatally and Utsuki healed her."

Simona just maintained her confused look.

"Ok, I can see you may need some more rest. Try to get some actual sleep, instead of just being comatose, and it may help. Don't worry about the woman you were with. Tekeshi took her somewhere that she couldn't cause any harm. She is going to be safe though, he is good at keeping people safe. Like I said, get some rest, and we will see how you are doing when you wake up," the woman smiled and left her alone.

Simona just laid back down. She really didn't have much else to do, so she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

"How are your parents doing," Kuyo was stirring a pot that rested on a stand outside the small hut.

Tekeshi sat cross legged with his eyes closed, lightly meditating, "They are doing pretty good. My mom is a few months pregnant, so she has been really happy. Dad has seemed a little stressed lately, so I don't know what is behind it, but he isn't suffering it seems like."

The yoko nodded, "That is good to hear. I really owe your father more than I could even hope to express."

"How so," the teenager asked.

Kuyo looked up at the sky for a moment before he answered, "At that battle a year ago, I was an arrogant asshole. I thought that true power was displayed in control, and combat. I spent a large portion of my life like that, not to mention that I spent part of that essentially insane due to head trauma. I had been told since childhood that foxes were gods. Most know of the Zenko and the Yako, while us Yoko were lesser known, except within our domains. Yet my ancestors were revered by humans and lesser yokai. They worshiped them. We were considered gods, and we accepted such as true. They sacrificed themselves, their bodies, their labor, their possessions. Yet, when I faced Tsukune in the center of that melee, I realized that I was weak."

Tekeshi didn't say anything, and just waited for the man to continue.

"I had thought that as I gained more tails, I would surpass him. Yet that day, I realized that I would never surpass him. Then I simply walked this valley for two months, until I stumbled upon you burying that old man. I was surprised when you looked up and simply nodded at me. Then we simply talked, and I listened to the hatred you had for my former compatriots. I realized, that I would never become more powerful by malice, but by contemplating peace."

"That is an interesting idea. I don't know that I would have ever thought of it," Tekeshi still didn't open his eyes.

Kuyo looked over and frowned, "You didn't kill me then because of the girl, am I right?"

Tekeshi grimaced, "She gave you mercy. I love her, and I respect her decision."

"Ah yes, you did mention that you had fallen in love with her. Though it seemed like you were more interested in just talking about her because you missed her," he got quiet for a few moments, "I spent so much time worried about power, when I should have made myself a better person. I should have found someone that I can love. I'm glad that you have left war behind so young."

"It's strange though. I don't feel young. Some nights I sleep well, others I wake up a thousand times. I wake up, I don't feel pain anymore, but I feel anxious. I feel, like I don't deserve to live anymore," Tekeshi fell silent as he started to wonder why he was telling someone that was a mortal enemy a years all of this.

Kuyo closed his own eyes as he responded, "I understand. I've begun having the same symptoms. It isn't any illness of the mind or body though. It's, guilt. Well, not quite. I think it is more a second guessing, and finding that the acts you have taken, were not right by yourself. To put it more poetic, your sins weigh upon your soul heavier than the condemnation of others. I should have made sure the last time we met, but your name is Tekeshi, right?"

"Yeah. It is."

"Tekeshi, take it from someone who has... Forsaken their soul. I don't know how many lives have left their blood on my hands. I spent over twenty years thinking that I was right, and that I should be a god. I wanted to rule over humans. It's all hollow now. That is the reason I haven't left here. I don't know that there is anything outside of it for me."

Tekeshi finally opened his eyes. Looking at the yoko, he could see the ravages of age years beyond his age. From what he understood Kuyo was just a year or two older than his parents. So maybe thirty nine or forty, but, he looked like he was closer to sixty. It was a little strange when you considered that most races that had extreme lifespans commonly slowed their aging in their early thirties.

"The only reason there would be nothing outside the valley for you, is because you refuse to leave it," Tekeshi said as he closed his eyes again.

Kuyo took a breath as he stood and walked into the hut, "Those are probably the wisest words I have heard in a long time. I just don't know where I will go yet. I have no place, nor do I wish for one, among Fairy Tale any longer. I would imagine that there are few people that would wish to live near a former terrorist, or governments that would wish me within their borders."

"There isn't much left of Fairy Tale now, though there is still too many of them left. I killed a lot of them. Spent months killing them. I... I...," suddenly Tekeshi started feeling sick.

It may have been that he had never just stopped to think of how many he had killed, and how long he had been. There had to have been thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Some that hadn't even been able to fight back. His mind for a split second went back to that hospital, where he had been forced through a floor into a dressing room full of women who were in no condition to fight back, and he slaughtered them.

Even at the moments that he had stopped, like with the orc woman, it didn't make up for the monster he had become. He had killed all of these people, just because they had decided to follow an idea that he found distasteful. There had to have been a better way for him to go about his task, and not be a simple butcher.

"Tekeshi, I know that look, and I know what you may be feeling now. If you couldn't feel it, you would be like I used to be. I won't try to judge your actions, especially given my own," the yoko walked back out with three crudely carved bowls, "The only person who can truly judge you, should be yourself. For now though, put those thoughts behind you. Thankfully, wildlife have become common in the valley since the battle ended."

Tekeshi looked at the bowl that was filled and held out to him. It, did look rather good. It surprised him a little, given that for a good portion of his life, Kuyo had only enough connection to reality to be a barely effective leader in Fairy Tale's ranks.

"Where," the feminine voice took Tekeshi off guard, and made him turn around quickly, "are we?"