Part 85: Redemption
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| 0210 | Lana awakes from the Battle for the Light of the Soul. Tebok is with her. The Light of the Soul has vanished. | Part 85 |
| 0210 | Alika and Nagata find the Sendo camp. Nagata realizes that it was Alika that stole the Hikari Crystals back in Part 75. Alika realizes that Nagata is on Hitori's side and calls Tebok for help. Nagata sees the cage Chounin is in and frees him. | Part 85 |
| 0210 | Chounin sees Mariko's Father in another cage. He doesn't recognize him, but frees him. Chounin staggers into the woods. | Part 85 |
| 0210 | Nagata battles Tebok. He kicks a flaming piece of wood through Tebok and Tebok cries in agony giving Nagata time to escape with Alika against her will. | Part 85 |
| 0211 | Shikai asks Zesshou and Kino very early in the morning to come speak with him. Shikai reveals he knows about the Secret Passageway. Also he threatens Nagata's mother, Kisha, without actually saying that. | Part 85 |
| 0211 | Kino and Zesshou think it over and realize it was Shikai who, in Part 75, caused the headaches. They plan to ask Bedoro to help them find out on which side Shikai is. | Part 85 |
| 0211 | Inoe knocks on Rutonow's door to summon him. | Part 85 |
| 0211 | To Lana and Tebok's dismay Mariko's Father touches the Ruby of the Dragon and all the other Hikari Crystals turn dark. Lana kills Mariko's Father. | Part 85 |
Endless Rain
Part 85: Redemption
With a gasp Lana awoke. Tebok had been standing at her side and jumped back in shock. "La-Empress." Tebok regained his composure.
"I beat her? I beat her, didn't I?" Lana asked while looking around.
Tebok had already realized what had happened. Hitori and Lana were in a sort of mind struggle. There wasn't really a word for it, but at least he knew it had ended. "I have no idea, Empress."
Then Lana saw what she was dreading. "It's gone..."
Tebok frowned looking around, "What's gone?"
"The Light of the Soul! Where is it?! Did you take it?!" Lana furiously grabbed Tebok's collar and pulled his face towards hers.
"No, no! I really didn't take it!" Tebok screamed, "It was there just a moment ago! I swear!"
"I can see some tents, Alika! Can you see them?!" Nagata shouted, "Do you recognize them?"
Alika looked long and hard. "I think so!"
"Wait a minute... is that...?" Nagata stopped.
"Yeah, this is it! This is where Tebok is!"
Nagata gasped and his eyes widened. "You...? Wait...
You were the girl that came with Tebok and stole our Hikari Crystals?!"
"I stole them from you?" Alika asked, and then she realized. "Are you friends with that evil witch?!"
"Witch?!" Nagata asked.
"Hitori the witch!"
"They've been telling you that?!" Nagata couldn't believe his ears.
"I'm telling Tebok that there's a bad guy here!" Alika said and ran into the camp.
Nagata hurried to get her back, but she was fast. "No, stop! You'll wake the Sendo! Wait!" That's when Nagata stopped and looked to his right. It was a face he hadn't seen for a while now. Locked inside a cage he saw Chounin, the merchant that offered him a map of the secret passageway inside Mikomi village.
"Huh? Are you... You are friends with Hitori, aren't you?!" Chounin cried. He couldn't believe his eyes. Hitori... had she come to rescue him?
"Chounin?! Oh my god, what have they done to you?!" Nagata asked.
Chounin wanted Nagata to save him so much, but there were more important matters. "Get the girl! She's not safe here!"
"Oh, I will!" Nagata said confidently, "But helping you shouldn't be much of a problem!" He heaved his sword upwards and swung it down on the chain that kept the cage doors together. It broke instantly. "Sorry, Chounin! But you're on your own!" With that Nagata sped away to chase Alika.
Chounin opened his cage. He had been weakened from starvation and torture. He found it hard to keep on his feet. Slowly but surely he managed to leave his cage.
"Help me..." a voice came from another cage in the far corner.
Chounin turned around and saw a man dressed in cloaks. His face was covered in scars and dried blood not too mention the hood had masked the upper half of his face.
"Who are you?" Chounin panted.
"It doesn't matter who I am... please, free me... it's really important," the man croaked, "The key is over there, on that table."
The first thought in Chounin's head was how much money he could ask, but he quickly forgot it, realizing a prisoner was unlikely to have any kind of money at all. Without answering he reached for the key and threw it into the cage of the man in cloaks.
"I hope it does you some good," Chounin said and turned away towards the forest, quickly looking at him one more time. He looked sad. Extremely sad. But why would he? He was free, wasn't he?
"Thank you," Chounin heard, but he never looked back.
Meanwhile Nagata had caught up on Alika. She had just reached a tent when Nagata lifted her into the air, keeping a tight grip on her.
"I'm sorry little girl, but you're coming with me! This is no place for a girl like you," Nagata said, but the girl didn't listen and opened her mouth. "TEBOOOOK!!!! HELP ME!!!"
"No! No, be quiet! You'll wake up the whole village!" Nagata cried, but it was too late. The tent opened and Tebok showed his long face.
"Oh my god!" Nagata shouted and immediately ran for it.
It took General Tebok two seconds to realize what was going on and that's when he grabbed his sword and lunged after him, passing through every obstacle on the way. The boy must not be allowed to take Alika away, he thought to himself.
All around Nagata soldiers emerged from their tent sleepy. The one's that had been on guard ran toward Nagata as he was still speeding through the maze of tents. Then out of nowhere Tebok was in front of him, his sword ready to slice him apart. Between them only was a campfire.
"I got you now, little boy," Tebok snarled.
"Leave me alone!" Alika cried out and continued kicking Nagata.
Fighting General Tebok, a man who could pass through any objects, with a girl in his arms kicking into his stomach... this was it, Nagata knew. There was just one hope, a hope that Tebok wasn't completely on his guard. Nagata dug his shoe into the ashes from the campfire and kicked it up. He didn't mean to, but also a flaming piece of wood went flying, but still everything passed through the General's body. But Tebok flinched and grabbed his side. He screamed. "YOU BASTARD!!!"
Having no idea what happened Nagata took this chance and ran for it. He ran and ran until he saw Lightning, jumped onto his back and raced away.
"You asked to see us, Mister Shikai?" Kino asked. Zesshou and himself had been summoned by the leader of the council very early in the morning.
"Yes... it appears we've found a secret passageway, through which we believe Hana and the rest of her band of rebels have kidnapped Hitori and left us," Shikai announced.
"Se-secret passageway?" Zesshou asked.
"Yes, a secret passageway in the cellars leading to the outside," the old gruff man smiled.
Kino's grip on his chair tightened.
"I have no doubt you are not of the same mindset as those traitors," Shikai continued, "but I have to ask... Did you know about this passageway?"
"No," Kino replied instantly, "Zesshou, do you know about it?"
"N-no, of course not," Zesshou answered.
"Good, well... then you can go now," Shikai said dismissively.
Kino and Zesshou stood up and turned to walk away.
"Oh, one more thing," Shikai said when Kino and Zesshou had turned their back to them. "That woman... what's her name? Kisha? Your mother..."
"What about her?" Zesshou asked without turning around.
"She's awfully sick, isn't she?"
"You... could say that..."
"I hope she doesn't die."
"Just one..." the man in cloaks said, hiding behind the tents. "I only need one..." He tried desperately to cover up his bad cough. Apparently no one noticed, but his hand was covered in blood. Still, this was his chance. This was the only chance for the safety of the entire Valley.
"Damn it!" Zesshou said while smashing his fist into the wall of the alleyway they were in. A flimsy roof kept Kino and Zesshou dry.
Kino grumbled. "They're on to us. Somehow they've found out how Hana and the others escaped. And they know damned well we were involved."
"They have us pinned down," Zesshou added, "There's no way we can go around investigating Shikai now."
"Hmm, there might be someone we can trust..." Kino said, looking at Zesshou. "When I was asking around, to defend Nagata's case when he was on trail, I spoke with Bedoro, one of Shousha's best friends. He told me about how when Shousha was found he was bleeding from his eyes and ears."
"Just like Nagata when Tebok arrived here with that girl and took the Hikari Crystals?"
"That's right, but more extreme. He was screaming too." Then Kino realized something. "Wait, now that I mention it... when I was overhearing Shikai's and Pyro's conversation they were talking about Moyasu and how Shikai could break her mind whenever he wanted..."
"My god! It's Shikai! It's been Shikai all along," Zesshou concluded, "When Tebok came with that girl it was Shikai that used his ability."
"And he has Pyro under his control as well then..." Kino said, "Well... if he actually has the ability to kill someone from afar he really has everyone under his control."
"We must be able to find some kind of weak spot!" Zesshou exclaimed.
"Well, let's think about it... he can kill us by thinking about us, so he can make us do anything he wants..." Kino reasoned, "but there's no way he can see what we we're doing."
"But if he catches us?" Zesshou asked.
"We should be really careful that no one sees us, but I think we should risk asking Bedoro for help," Kino said, "It won't be weird if the best friend of a deceased looks up his friend's wife. And knowing that Shikai and Yamome have been really close together lately, we might be able to find out what side Shikai is on and what he's up to."
"Not to mention a weak spot," Zesshou said, looking around, "I just hope no one heard us."
"Oh, I heard you, don't you worry about that," Rutonow whispered.
There was knocking at the door. The sound was almost drowned out by the torrents of rain. Before anyone could see his crystal balls, Rutonow covered them with a cloth. He couldn't let anyone know what he was doing. He walked over to the door and opened it.
The elegant figure of Inoe stood in the doorway, being soaked. "The council has asked for you, Rutonow. It seems they have some questions about the Sendo tribe."
"I-I see..." Rutonow looked behind him. He should be monitoring his victim. "I'm coming."
He got a cloak and left his Tiko tribe house.
"The brat got the better of you, didn't he?" Lana smirked.
Tebok had been angry all morning. "Yes, yes, I get it now. Please, get off my case." He was still rubbing his ribcage. They were sitting in the tent next to the, now reduced to, three Hikari Crystals. They had been so close.
"Where do you think the Light of the Soul has gone, Empress?" Tebok said getting his act together just in case someone had been watching.
Lana sighed. "I presume Hitori has it. However... those fools moved Hitori's body. They should never have done that. Now I have no idea where she could be."
Tebok smirked, "Well, that Hitori-kid got the bette-" Then he noticed something in his peripheral vision. From under the tent sheets someone in old cloths and rags was reaching out into the tent. It was him. What was he do- Oh no...Oh no!!
Before Lana and Tebok realized what the old man was doing it was too late. His fingertips had reached the Emerald of the Earth. And soon his fingers and his hands.
"STOP!!" Lana screamed, but the damage had been done.
The Emerald's glow was disappearing. Next to it the Pearl of the Ocean started to dim as well and finally also the Diamond of the Angel had ceased shining bright.
As Moyasu and Sasaeru had awoken from their short night sleep, Sasaeru was already making breakfast. They had camped slightly outside the village, not wanting to disturb the ghosts. Neither of them knew that inside Moyasu's bag the Ruby of the Dragon had stopped to shine.
"Redemption..." the old man said before Lana's sword slit his throat. As Lana and Tebok looked down at the black Crystals in horror the old man's hood had come off, revealing his smiling face. Lana had murdered Mariko's father.
To be continued