Chapter EIGHTEEN: Never Ending Questions

Kaoru stared at the darkness around her, a sad smile on her lips as imaginary voices of the past filled her head. Everything that had happened to her up until now seemed like a dream, a never ending, realistic, painful dream. The events of the last few days were unbelievable and could have only occurred in the world of fantasy. She realized that now as she curled up into a little ball in this void of blackness with nothing else to do but remember and float around in the dark. The voice she thought she knew had long since faded, leaving her alone in this cold, empty place.

There was nothing around her, no solid ground like before, simply just nothing. She was floating now, slowly twirling and spinning into nothingness, her curled up body feeling nothing. All around her was nothing but emptiness, no sound, no light, no smells, nothing but the voices in her mind, the voices that she thought she knew.

Whether it was out of sheer madness, or the want to hear again, Kaoru threw back her head and laughed. Her laughter did not echo, instead it just went on, never ending because there was nothing around her to absorb the sound. It was a haunting sound, a sound that should never accompany laughter.

She continued to laugh until she finally came to terms with her own stupidity, her foolishness for believing, even for a second, that such things could have ever happened to her, that the last few days of her life were a part of some dream--hallucinations.

Kaoru smiled bitterly as she thought about it. Her family being killed by mere bounty hunters? Kaoru snorted. That could never happen, not to the Kamiyas. How can a pack of amateur vampires ever wish to compete with the magic of the Kamiya bloodline? It was preposterous! It was ludicrous! She must have been delirious to believe that her parents could be so easily defeated by those pathetic creatures. No, her parents were too powerful, too strong, too filled with magic to be killed.

Shaking her head, Kaoru rapped her knuckled against her forehead as punishment for her idiocy. What in the world had she been thinking? This whole time she had been living a dream and she hadn't even realized the flaws of it until now. She was so dumb! How could she have not noticed it until now? How could she have ever even thought it possible that Battousai, the most powerful creature to walk the Earth, was interested in her? It was insane thinking. Why would the immortal bother with her, a sorceress, an enemy to his race? What had she eaten that caused her to come up with ideas such as Battousai claiming her and turning her into a vampire? Had her own cooking finally gotten the better of her?

"I'm such a fool," whispered Kaoru as she bowed her head and sighed. "What was I thinking?"

Berating herself once more for not noticing the errors sooner, Kaoru rested her chin on knees and mentally went over her dream again, this time from the beginning to make sure that she caught all of the mistakes. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere soon, and the darkness around her seemed to enjoy her company too much to let her go, so what was the harm of recalling her fabricated memories?

"Where did it begin again?" questioned Kaoru to herself, trying her best to remember where reality ended and her dream began.

Kaoru smiled, "Ah, yes, it began with the cabin being surrounded by the bounty hunters."

She shook her head, she should have known something was wrong right then. Her home in the Forbidden Woods is protected by a holy barrier, not even Battousai would have been able to get through them, let alone those weak vampires. And even if the vampires had somehow broken through the barrier, her parents' magic would have destroyed them.

"Why didn't I wake up then?" frowned Kaoru. "Am I even awake now?"

Rubbing her throbbing temples, Kaoru shook her head and concentrated on her new task of remembering.

Her eyes darkened as she remembered how her father had stayed behind to stall the vampires while she and her mother ran away. It was another flaw that she should have seen: Kamiyas never ran away from a challenge, no matter how pointless it was to try to fight and that the outcome was obvious.

Run, Kaoru, run! Don't ever turn around! Run!

"Mother and I would have stayed no matter what Father said," concluded Kaoru with a nod of her head. "We would have stood our ground and combined our magic to defeat the enemies, not run away like weaklings! Yes, that was definitely a dream. Mother would never leave Father, and I would never leave them. Why, oh why, didn't I wake up then?"

Knowing better than to sulk over a dream, Kaoru dived back into her memories for the rest of her illusions.

The teenager sighed as the sound of thunder rippled through her mind, reminding her of the rain that she and her mother had run through to try and get the vampires off of their scent. It had been simple, considering that the rain had ruined most of the vampires' senses. They had almost fallen multiple times on the slippery ground as they moved through the familiar land, and they were both out of breath by the time they heard the sound of laughter and screams.

Kaoru frowned as she remembered how her mother had collapsed to her knees after hearing Kamiya Koshijirou pass on. She had cried then, her tears and the light drizzle making it difficult for her to see her mother's hunched over figure. It was their mourning delay that allowed the vampires to catch up and slaughter her mother.

You must live on my daughter! You must live as the last of our kind so that one day you may destroy the weapons that destroyed us.

She closed her eyes as the words vibrated through her body, but it didn't matter, the darkness behind her lids was the same as the darkness beyond them.

"If this was all a dream, then why did it feel so real?" whispered Kaoru, her mind once again pounding from all of her thoughts. This was becoming so confusing. She was certain that those words were all made up, but for some reason they sounded too real, too right to be a part of her imagination.

"Are you still here?" asked a strangely familiar voice, snapping Kaoru out of her thoughts.

Kaoru immediately straightened from her fetal position and narrowed her eyes to try and see who it was that was speaking to her. She sighed, her attempt was once again useless, all that she could see was black. She felt her blood freeze at the thought of this person being able to see her while she was literally left in the dark. Even if the voice didn't sound hostile, even if it did ring a bell in her mind, she still couldn't bring herself to just float around while someone else was out there.

Biting her lower lip, Kaoru tried desperately to come into contact with something solid. She needed to know where the person was, needed to make sure that she wasn't hearing things.

Her search became more frantic as her mind reminded her of how defenseless she was. If she didn't at least know the general area that the other person was from her, then she was defenseless if he decided to attack. Her magic mainly depended on a source of light, whether it was sunlight, moonlight, lightning, or fire. With nothing but darkness surrounding her, she wasn't going to be able to summon enough magic to defend properly herself if the person decided to hurt her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, sorceress, so you needn't worry," spoke the same voice, amusement lacing his words.

"Who are you?" asked Kaoru. She was fairly certain that this person was not the same man as before. This one seemed more . . . alive.

"You truly do not know where you are, do you?"

Kaoru frowned. "Then do you mind telling me, since you seem as if you know what you're talking about?"

A deep, masculine chuckle flowed through her from every direction.

"What's so funny?" demanded Kaoru with clenched fists, her anger getting the better of her. She did not enjoy being toyed with.

"You! You're completely lost yet you still manage to make the best of things and act as if nothing ever happened. However, I wouldn't say your earlier thoughts were healthy. It's not good to confuse yourself, Kaoru."

"And who are you lecture me?" growled Kaoru, becoming more annoyed by the second at how the man was dodging her questions, just like the other guy. "And how the hell do you know my name?"

"You really shouldn't speak that way to someone who can help you get out of here," admonished the voice teasingly.

Kaoru threw up her hands in frustration and crossed them over her chest, glaring at the darkness around her.

"Can you please answer my previous questions, whoever you are?" asked Kaoru through gritted teeth.

"Now that's more like it." Kaoru could just see the person grinning.

"Arg! You're just as insufferable as Battousai," exclaimed Kaoru.

"Odd that you should say that," commented the voice thoughtfully.

Kaoru raised a questioning brow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm the original incarnation of Battousai's soul."

If she could see the being, Kaoru would have stared.

"What!" asked Kaoru, her eyes wide despite the fact that she couldn't see a thing. "Do you mean–- Am I in Hell? Am I dead? And what do you mean by original?"

The other person, if you can call the incarnation of a vampire's soul a person, chuckled.

"I can see why I fell in love with you, Kaoru, whyhe fell in love with you. Even in this life time your spirit is still burning strongly."

Kaoru furrowed her brows at the tenderness and warmth behind his words. Was he really Battousai's previous soul? It seemed like they were two completely different people, well, besides their twisted sense of humor that is.

"I don't understand what's going on," said Kaoru truthfully, her tense body drooping in defeat. "I'm so confused right now." She clutched her aching head. "Can you at least help me get some answers?" She begged, hoping that this man, this soul could help take away the pain and fulfill her curiosity. "Please, can you tell me how I got here? Why I came here?"

"You'll understand eventually the purpose of you're being here in the first place, koibito," reassured the soul, his voice easing away her fears. "For now, you need to wake up, someone's waiting for you on the other side."

"So this is Hell?" asked Kaoru with a tilt of her head, momentarily forgetting about her headache.

He chuckled.

"Can you for once just give me a straight answer?" asked Kaoru in exasperation.

"You need to wake up, Kaoru." The sorceress blinked at the sudden hardness in the spirit's voice.

"Wake up? How am I supposed to do that?" Did he really expect her to be able to get out of here alone? She didn't even know where she was! And hadn't he hinted that he would help her get out of here?

"Wake up!"

Kaoru frowned, his voice had completely changed, in fact, it sounded a lot like–-

"Snap out of it, sorceress!"

--Battousai. It was definitely Battousai's arrogant voice, she knew that voice anywhere, even if he might be just a part of her mind.

'Wait, Battousai? Is he here too?'

Kaoru spun around, waving her hands all around in a search for something solid. She smiled when she felt something warm and hard under her fingertips.

"Damn it, woman, open your eyes!"

Kaoru's eyes widened as a blinding white light poured onto her face, her body humming with renewed power and magic as the darkness around her vanished.

xXoXx

Battousai stopped shaking the sorceress in his lap when her eyes began to flutter open, relief flooding through him as Kaoru slowly came to. He would never admit it, but he had been slightly worried when he found his sorceress unconscious at the edge of the Black Forest, her body cold and lifeless. If he had been anyone else, he would have thought her dead, but their blood link told him differently.

"You pathetic fool, what in the world were you thinking running into the Black Forest on your own?" snapped Battousai as he glared down at the sorceress, cursing her stupidity.

"B-Battousai?" whispered Kaoru, her eyes slowly focusing on the face before her.

The immortal growled. Whom the hell else could have entered the Black Forest unharmed by the Shadow Beasts and unaffected by the enchantments?

"You're lucky that I-–" Battousai froze, completely taken aback and unable to continue.

Kaoru, the moment she realized who he was, had thrown her arms around his neck and crushed her lips to his, effectively cutting off his wry remark.

"You're real! You're not a dream! You're real!" exclaimed Kaoru in between kisses, her hands cupping his face as she placed her lips on his forehead, cheeks, nose, eyes, and chin.

"What the hell are you doing?" snarled Battousai once he got over the initial shock of Kaoru kissing him, pushing her away and back onto the cobblestones of the road.

Dusting himself off, Battousai stood and loomed over the fallen sorceress, glowering when he saw her grinning up at him like the moron that she was.

"That hurt," smiled Kaoru as she too got back onto her feet, "which means that this is real! It wasn't a dream! Everything that happened, happened!"

Battousai raised a brow at Kaoru's words, stiffening when the sorceress threw her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"I'm so glad that you're here," mumbled Kaoru as she nuzzled her face into his chest. "I don't even know why I questioned your existence in my life. How could I have doubted you when you're the one who turned me into what I am? You've saved me countless times, you've kept me sane, and you've taken the pain away. I was such a fool to think that you weren't real." She sniffled and moved her face into the crook of his neck, her arms tightening around him. "It was that place! It made me question everything: my life, my happiness, my love. I should have known better than to think like that, I should have known better than to think that you weren't a part of my life. I'm sorry, Master Battousai, I'm so sorry that I disobeyed you! I should have never run ahead. If I had just stayed with you, then none of this would have ever happened! I'm so sorry."

Battousai wrapped his arms around his sorceress, stroking her hair as she poured her heart and worries out to him, his jaw clenching as her thoughts and memories of that place poured into his mind.

The Black Forest's power was known for making people go insane, known to absorb and grow off of strong emotions, such as fear and hate, but it was not known for transporting others' souls to the Spiritual Plane, if Kaoru's memories were any indication. The vampire found it odd that Kaoru had ended up in a place where his previous soul was trapped in, found it unusual that the name Shinta had once again been brought up. It was so familiar, yet so strange. For some reason the named tugged at something within him.

Staring down at the sorceress, Battousai furrowed his brows. Had he truly fallen in love with the woman in his arms in his past life? Was that why he had been drawn to her from the beginning? He must have felt quite strongly about her if his emotions traveled from his last life into this one.

Shaking his head of the thoughts, Battousai grabbed Kaoru's shoulders and pulled her back so that their eyes met. His own eyes narrowed when he noticed the tears pooling around her ocean depths.

"Kaoru," said Battousai, his voice serious, "who is Shinta?"

The immortal watched in mild amusement as Kaoru's eyes hardened instead of softening like before when she herself would say that name.

"He's dead," spat out Kaoru, turning her face away from him as her tears finally slipped onto her cheeks.

"I know that," said Battousai as he held her chin and forced her to look at him through her tears, "but what was he to you? How do you know of him?"

Kaoru closed her eyes and willed her tears away, no longer wanting to cry in front of her master. She knew that crying wouldn't get her anywhere, and she needed to get back her voice to answer him, but it was so hard. The pain of knowing that the one she had so foolishly loved and longed for the past year didn't exist was heartbreaking.

"H-he saved my life," answered Kaoru, mentally slapping herself when she heard her own voice crack. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru continued, "But he's dead, he's been dead for the last one thousand years, so he couldn't have saved me!" Kaoru closed her eyes and shook her head, her hands covering her tear-stained face so Battousai couldn't see. "I don't understand. He saved me from drowning in the Silver River only a year ago, yet that man said that he died, said that he had drowned a thousand years ago. How can that be?"

Battousai narrowed his eyes as the barriers around Kaoru's memory of the other vampire crumbled and gave way, allowing him to see and hear his exact double and the emotions the sorceress felt for him. He didn't know why, but it bothered him that Kaoru had loved this Shinta character, despite the fact that the man looked like him and clearly didn't exist.

Wrapping his fingers around her wrists, Battousai pulled Kaoru's hands away from her face, his amber eyes boring into her sapphire ones.

"I want you to forget him, Kaoru," ordered Battousai as he wiped away her tears, not quite certain why he was saying this, just knowing that he had to, "he's not real, so you needn't remember him. Tell me that you'll forget him, Kaoru."

Kaoru looked up and searched the vampire's eyes, her confusion evident.

"Why–-" Kaoru was cut off by a firm finger being pressed against her lips.

"You will forget about him," stated Battousai, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Not knowing how else to respond, Kaoru nodded in agreement.

Battousai smirked. "Let's get going then."

This time, when Battousai led the way to his Black Castle, Kaoru made sure to stay close to him.

xXoXx

"His Highness is coming, His Highness is coming and he has company!" The words echoed and bounced off of the stone walls of the Black Castle, startling the occupants into alert as the lookout ran around announcing that their master had returned.

One of the servant girls beamed at the news and raced off into the back of the Black Castle, dodging the cleaning maids and butlers as she made her way to the Training Hall. Her black, maid outfit, white apron, and white ribbons were flowing behind her as she ran at top speed to where she knew her friends were.

Skidding to a stop before a set of stone doors, the girl panted slightly as she slammed the doors open with ease. Her previous smile widened as the sound of metal against metal reached her ears. She quietly closed the doors behind her when she realized that the occupants in the room hadn't taken notice of her loud entrance.

Patiently, she stood before the grey doors and watched as her two of her best friends sparred, taking up the entire dojo in their match.

"What are you doing here, Marimo?" asked someone from her left, startling the flushed servant.

"Eiji!" greeted the servant girl with a smile when she realized whom the other teenager was.

"If you don't have anything to say, Marimo, then leave, this is a place for men," snapped one of the boys that was sparring, his black hair swaying in time with each of his liquid movements.

Marimo glared and placed her hands on her hips defiantly.

"I can beat you any day, Little Yahiko!" gloated Marimo as she stuck out her tongue at him.

Eiji and the brown-haired boy sparring with a fuming Yahiko laughed.

"I am not little!" defended Yahiko, jumping back from his opponent so he could effectively glare at the girl. "If you've forgotten, I'm 25 years older than you!"

Marimo stuck out her chin. "So? We still look the same age!"

"She does have a point, Yahiko," said the other vampire as his sword clashed with his friend's.

"Are you defending her too, Yutaro?" asked Yahiko in exasperation, annoyed that his own friends were ganging up on him.

Yutaro only smiled and pushed him away once more.

Eiji shook his head and faced Marimo again. "What is it that you came here for, Marimo?"

"Oh yeah!" said Marimo, finally remembering the reason behind her visit. "Lord Battousai has returned! His Highness has company and they're going to be here in a few minutes."

"What?" asked all three male vampires as they stared at her, frozen in place at the news.

Marimo grinned and nodded.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" growled Yahiko as he quickly sheathed his sword, which had been forged to fit his small structure, and ran to get his normal clothes that had been thrown carelessly into the corner of the dojo.

Yutaro did the same while Eiji ushered Marimo outside while the other two boys changed.

"Did you tell the rooster head yet?" asked Eiji once they were safely behind the stone doors. He had long since changed from his training clothes after his spar with the other two 13-year-old lookalikes. Once again he was dressed in the standard black suit that all male servants wore in the Black Castle.

Marimo gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as it dawned on her. "I completely forgot about Sano!"

"We'd better go to tell the idiot before he does something stupid and insults Lord Battousai's guest," said Yahiko as he emerged from the dojo in a suit similar to Eiji's, Yutaro right behind him in the same attire.

The four blinked at one another when a scream reached their sensitive ears, turning their heads in the direction of the front of the castle at the same time.

Looking back at each other, the group nodded and said in unison, "The rooster head."

xXoXx

The shape-shifter stared openly at the demons around her, making sure to keep close to Toki as she led them both to another room.

After getting dressed and properly fed, Misao had found out that she had indeed been captured and poisoned by a demon named Sadashiro Kajiki. However, no matter many times she asked, Toki had refused to tell her exactly where she was. The only thing she knew was that she was a guest, or in her eyes a prisoner, at some inn located in the outskirts of Kyoto, bordering on Osaka.

"Where are you taking me, Miss Toki?" whispered Misao, wincing at the dirty looks the other passing demons were giving her. Obviously they had issues with anyone who wasn't one of them, if their glares and silent death threats were any indication.

"To a place where you'll be safe from harm," reassured Toki as she led them down another hall, a hall with fewer demons.

Misao shivered as a sudden coldness swept through her when they got closer to the end of the hall.

'At least now I know why no one comes down here,' thought Misao as she rubbed her arms from the cold.

"Aren't you cold, Miss Toki?" asked Misao curiously as she looked at the unfazed woman.

Toki shook her head. "Demons can withstand the effects of even the coldest or hottest of temperatures."

The shape-shifter sighed and cursed herself for forgetting such an important detail. But if the demons weren't affected by the cold, why then did they steer clear of this area?

Misao immediately regretted her curiosity when she found herself in front of a white shoji, the power around the room pulsating enough energy to send any normal demon, vampire, or werewolf running, let alone a simple shape-shifter like her. She would have turned around and fled if it wasn't for the fact she'd be running right back into enemy hands. She shuddered at the thought of what else the demons would do if they found out she was trying to run off.

"You'll be staying here, Miss Misao," said Toki as she opened the shoji.

"You mean-– You want me to stay in there?" asked Misao incredulously as she pointed inside the room.

Toki nodded and further slid the shoji open until the entire room was visible to the shape-shifter.

Misao's eyes widened when she recognized the woman kneeling on the left side of the large room, her hands clenching into fists when she remembered the reason why she was in this predicament in the first place, why she had to suffer the night before by poisoning.

"Miss Misao?" questioned Toki when she noticed the tension in the atmosphere.

Snapping out of her thoughts of revenge, Misao smiled at Toki and gave a polite bow to the demoness for all that she had done for her.

"I'll come back with your breakfasts tomorrow morning," smiled Toki with her own bow of farewell.

The moment Misao stepped inside, Toki closed the shoji with a soft click and left, leaving the hybrid and shape-shifter alone.

Misao walked over to the right side of the room and kneeled down on the only cushion on her side of the room, facing the seemingly meditating half breed. She couldn't help but glare at the woman who had taken away the only man she ever loved.

"Your name is Misao, is it not, shape-shifter?" asked Tomoe as she opened her eyes to face the other woman in the room.

"Why would you care?" snapped Misao, her hands fisting in her lap when she realized that the hybrid had dared to read her mind. Reading another's mind was considered rude, especially when there was no warning or need to.

Tomoe didn't seem at all fazed and simply said, "The Oniwanbanshuu members speak very highly of you, Miss Misao. I do believe they were quite certain you would have ended up with their leader, at least until I entered the scene, that is."

'Damn straight,' thought Misao bitterly, her emerald eyes hardening.

"I know that you do not like me for taking away your Okashira, but it cannot have been helped," whispered Tomoe, her brown eyes staring into Misao's blue-green ones.

At the seriousness in the half breed's voice, Misao felt herself grow uncomfortable and willing to hear what she had to say.

"What do you mean?" asked Misao, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Tomoe bowed her head, her pale hands turning even more deathly white as she clasped them together in her lap.

Swallowing, Tomoe explained softly, "Aoshi is dying."