The sudden surge in power levels made the hairs at the back of his neck stand. It was recognizably Morrigan?, but yet there was something so different about it. If something happened to her He shook his head roughly, the sword ready to emerge from his palm to strike if needed. He rounded the corner, sensing her presence already.

"Morrigan?"

The sight that greeted him was something he could never have been prepared for. Black wings hung majestically from her back, and her eyes were an eerily glowing blue. He barely registered the fact that Sakura was there. All he saw was her, and the look in her eyes... That, for one unguarded moment, they were filled with pain, fear, and something he was afraid to trust in. It was something he swore he would never believe in again.

Then, just as suddenly, it was go ne, leaving him with unbearable amounts of pain.

"Why didn? you tell me?" he asked, barely in control of his tumultuous emotions. She she wasn't who she appeared to be. After all those years of being together, she had never told him once. She had NEVER trusted him enough with her secrets. ~Hypocrite,~ a voice in the back of his mind sounded. ~You never told her anything either. You never told her about your past and what happened with your sister and Saku--

Grabbing his thoughts quickly, he turned his attention back to the Elder Goddess in front of him. She looked so tiny and so lost, so at odds with the powerful being he knew her to be. She brought out all the instincts in him that he'd thought were long dead. A thousand years was a long time to practice controlling his emotions around her.

His mind fled back to a time when he had been normal, just a regular teenager. His sister had been so full of life, and she could always persuade him to smile no matter what. He had had a normal life once. He hadn't always the cold hearted son of a bitch that Weiss had known him as. Once upon a time, he had simply been Ran Fujimiya.

When his world had been shattered, he'd locked himself so deep inside that he had feared he would never be that same boy again. Yet, when Sakura had initially shown up, he had been drawn to her, for her eerie similarity to his beloved sister. Somewhere along the way, the young schoolgirl had fallen for him. He had tried to turn her away as best as he could, never fully able to push her away. He hadn't the heart to hurt someone who reminded him so much of his little sister.

Then his world had destroyed once again. He could still conjure up the fear frozen in his heart when he'd heard that explosion and he had somehow known that Aya never made it out alive. It was all his fault. He had dragged her into this and exposed her to evil. For this, he deserved the punishment meted to him. He hadn't protested when strange hands had picked him up from the wreckage. Nor had he paid attention to the conversation going over his head. He had retreated deep into himself, wanting the pain to stop, wanting himself to die so he wouldn't feel her loss.

A shriek of pain sounded out, piercing his thoughts. His dazed purple eyes flew towards the source and found himself confronted with a sight he'd never wanted to see. Morrigan was hunched over, her sword on the ground, and the demon girl laughing hysterically. A sharp sword protruded from Morrigan's back, and her face was pale and wrought with pain.

The sudden rushing of emotions that exploded to the surface caught him completely by surprise but didn't shock him. It nearly killed him to see her in pain, to see her hurt. He wanted her stoic self by his side again. They belonged together; didn't she understand that? She was... the other half of him?

~Why should she when you failed to realize this yourself?~ the voice taunted.

Her black wings fluttered and Morrigan lifted her head to stare at the enemy in front of her. "You won't kill me. I'll take you with me."

Comprehension filled him suddenly at what she was about to do. She wouldn't... She couldn't... Why was this helplessness filling him all over again? Just like the time he had watched as the car had run over Aya? Just like the explosion that had robbed her of life? Was he going to stand by again?

"Ran-nikun!!!"

Usagi's voice seemed to free him, and the power surge seemed to come out of nowhere. It was beyond anything he had ever felt, like something that had always been bubbling from deep within yet never had the opportunity to be free.

Light surrounded him before a white blaze enveloped his body. His shouts of pain, anger and remorse at losing something he had never had never had the opportunity to it was like Aya-chan all over again. He would die before allowing Morrigan to leave him this way.

"Morrigan!!" A fierce cry came from deep within his soul and his transformation was complete. Hatred filled his soul at the demon who would dare take her away from him, and for causing her physical pain.

"Aya-san!"

He gazed at the schoolgirl who had once looked so much like his sister, but nothing in her now reminded him of Aya-chan's gentle soul. He could see the surprise in her face - along with Morrigan's. They would talk once they got out of this alive, and he would die trying, if he had to, to save her. His life sword sprung up easily, gleaming with a blue tint as he walked towards Sakura.

"You will leave us alone."

"Us?" Her voice whimpered, and her face crumpled for a moment before hardening once again. "Never. I'll enjoy killing this bitch. She has tormented us far too long, and she killed Freyr!!"

"He deserved to die," he responded coldly. Thoughts of Morrigan together with Freyr still disturbed him to this day. It had hurt him so badly when he had found out. He had used his armor of frigidity to push away Morrigan when she had tried total to him initially about it.

"You'll stop talking about my niikun that way!!" Sakura shrieked at him hysterically before she had gotten a glimpse at what would upset him the most. With an evil twist of her lips, she twisted the blade in her hands cruelly, and Morrigan let out a barely perceptible moan of pain.

"You bitch. You will stop this insanity. I will end this all for us," Morrigan whispered hoarsely.

"Oneesan, no onegai, no!" Usagi pleaded, her cries falling upon deaf ears.

Morrigan's eyes flashed brightly with determination right before she gave Aed a wistful look. ~If only~

"Stop it, Morrigan. stop!" Aed's shout came deep from within his heart and soul, anguish filling him up, threatening to devour him. This was far worse than losing his little sister. This was about losing the best part of him, the only thing that had sustained him for so long.

Sakura growled and twisted the sword viciously. "You will never have Aya-kun," she hissed.

"Nor will you." An aura appeared around Morrigan, its intensity slowly filling the forest. ~I'm sorry, Aed -- you'll never know~

Before she could complete her power surge, she was blinded by a sharp white light that exploded from Aed. A golden blade now protruded from his hand and his eyes shone with the same eerie color. Beyond that, he still looked the same but the power radiating from him was palpable.

"Aya-san?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"You will stop hurting her," his voice boomed, unrecognizable. In a flash, he had wound up by her side, the golden blade aimed directly for her throat.

Morrigan stared at Aed in disbelief. He had evolved to a different form, something she had only heard about in her early days. This sort of power wasn't supposed to exist; then again, neither was hers. Who knew what those monsters did to any of them?

"Then come with me," Sakura replied finally. "Join me, and forget this bitch. We can own the world together."

"I don't want you."

Sakura's eyes filled with pain, and her lids fluttered down momentarily before sparking with fury. "Then my death will be worth hers!!" she yelled out.

Dark energy began crackling from her and shooting up the blade into Morrigan. Screams of agony came from the Elder Goddess as Aed's eyes flashed with retribution. A similar power began flowing through him. "I'll never forgive you for this, Sakura," he breathed angrily.

The golden blade flashed as he swung it at Sakura's head. Then suddenly, it was as if time froze. Some strange force prevented Sakura from killing Morrigan though the Elder Goddess was severely wounded - and stopped his own blade from severing the demon's head. Aed shouted out in frustration. "Thanatos, if this is you, you bastard, I promise you will die just as painfully!"

"You know your powers were never meant to be, Aed. Nor can I let you do this," an unfamiliar voice called out from behind them. Aed turned his head around slowly to meet the eyes on a face that struck a chord in his memory.

"Who are you?" he demanded as he tried to free the force that was holding him back.

"You knew I'd come back to stop you."

"It can't be.." Aed whispered.

"It's him," Morrigan gasped with a horror-filled voice. "It's Himura..."

16 September 2001

Author's (closing) notes:
Merry meet, my good friends! Glad to see you down here again!! See! See! I did get another chappy out before Mabon!!! I'm a happy girl! *holds up bag o' jellybeans*

Sephy: Oh shit...
Angel: Hey! I heard that!
Fluffy-chan: Yeah, and you were supposed to! You're scary when you have all that candy!
Angel: Mou... You guys are so mean to me!! Aya, tell them to quit being so mean to... *looks around*Aya? Aya? Where'd Aya go?
Chibi Inu-kun: *muttering* If he knows what's good for him, he ran for the hills.
Angel: What?
Chibi Inu-kun: Nothing!
SD Hee-chan: He said - *Chibi Inu-kun slaps a hand over SD Hee-chan's mouth* Mmph mphum mmhmm mumumphm.
Angel: ^.^;;;; Okay... If you say so, Hee-chan... *latches onto Cloud-kun* Cloud-kun, you'll make them quit being mean to me, right???
Cloud-kun: *slowly turns the same color as Aya's hair and keels over*
Duet-chan: Angel no baka!! *bashes with Mallet-sama* Why do you keep forgetting what happens when you glomp Cloud-kun??? It's not like this hasn't happen a dozen other times before!!
Angel: *plops down and starts eating out of jellybean bag, pouting* Minna wa hidoi... I'm going to go hang out with Tenshi-chan and her muses now or Usa-chan and her muses! Maybe then I'll be appreciated! *storms off*
A long moment of silence in which most of the muses make a break for it, except...
Duet-chan: *looks around before landing in front of readers* Angel-chan is very upset right now, you guys, because she has been told to get rid of everything on her For Sale Page or her Oyaji will make going to Anime Weekend Atlanta very difficult for her. So, please, help out! Maybe even visit one of her site's sponsors or something before she has to close DarkMagick.net.

See you guys in the next chapter!