This is the last chapter of the arc. FINALLY! I will be taking a break for several weeks to work on real life projects before I begin editing in earnest. You will know I have edited a chapter when my usual rant at the top of a chapter is missing and there is a proper chapter name at the top. When the edits are finished there will be another break as I prepare a few chapters to get us rolling into arc two. When I start arc two, I highly suggest going back and rereading the story from the start because I will lace in some foreshadowing and world information to support the transitioning. Until then, I hope only the best for you all and thanks for joining me on this journey.

Chapter 37:

Chihiro waited until everyone had left, leaving her alone with Hikaru. The fox was staring contemplatively out the window and she wondered if the deep scowl on his face was his regular expression back home in the North. She turned to leave him and get ready for bed when he finally spoke.

"I know these tactics." Chihiro's head shot around to look at him, but he still hadn't moved. "The wall of Tainted might not seem bad out there but we can't see its depth. It's a tactic my brothers and I used with snow to trap foolish shadows that came too close to our residences."

"Are you saying-"

"Yes. I believe that my family has come for me."

"You aren't going out there."

"If I go, then maybe they will not bring down the bathhouse," Hikaru whispered, "they will state their demands once they have us off kilter, but I already know who they want."

"Do you really believe your sacrifice will stop this," Chihiro shouted making him look up with empty eyes, "This is a maneuver of war! They will come for the bathhouse if you are here or not because it would cripple their enemy and give them a foothold of power in these lands."

Hikaru's silent acceptance of her words infuriated her almost as much as Lin's attempt to put her life above the others. She was one of them. At some point over the past few weeks, Chihiro had accepted that this was her life now, whether she had consciously made the decision or not.

"I think I will go take a herbal rinse downstairs. It seems my mind is getting muddled," Hikaru said quietly.

"Indeed. Today has been a trying day." The fox abandoned his post and made for the door. As he slid it open, Chihiro called out to him.

"Hikaru, I really do value our friendship. Please don't do something stupid." He gave her a sad smile and bowed before leaving her to her thoughts.

.-.-.-..-.-.-..-…-.-…

"After sleeping on it, I've decided we will go with Chihiro's plan from last night. Hikaru you will lead the offensive strike and should you successfully pierce the barrier, the women and children are on standby to escape. Taka will defend the front of side of the bathhouse and I will maintain the order inside, with assistance from the foreman as needed. Chihiro and Okita will make the run to the shrine to see if we can summon Yui," Lin ordered calmly as they all sat around the table finishing breakfast. It had seemed a good time for them all to meet under semi amiable terms. "However before we put everything in action, Chihiro and I are going to visit the bathhouse core to see if there is anything we can do there."

"I spoke with Haku's water last night and it showed me that Haku is already on his way back with several others. It estimates that if they keep the record pace they are at, they will arrive here tonight." Chihiro didn't want to go in depth about how she contacted Haku's water or its subsequent pleading for her to abandon the others and join it in the safety of the cavern deep below. She had only gotten its cooperation by promising to return immediately to it if the temporary shield broke or if anything appeared to be going wrong. Knowing that it was Haku's weak point and that knowledge of its location shouldn't be spread, she had purposefully kept her mouth shut about it. If push came to shove and things looked like they were getting bad, she would get his water to bring as many people as possible down there. He could worry about finding it a new safe place later after they survived this situation.

"I spoke with the night watch and they said we had a significant increase in the number of holes in the shield throughout the night. I'd estimate the shield will collapse sometime this afternoon if we are lucky," Taka threw in. Nodding her head as she took in all of the information, Lin stood up and adjourned the meeting. Falling into step behind her, Hikaru and Chihiro followed Lin to the heart of the bathhouse.

Together they wound through the complex maze in the basement, not far from the infirmary itself. Their progression, which under normal circumstances would have created a buzz of curiosity, was overlooked in favor of the raging gossip and worry at foot.

"Whose idea was it to place the bathhouse core in the same maze as the infirmary," Hikaru asked as he looked around on edge. Chihiro had to admit that he had a point. It seemed kind of stupid to put the key to their castle within a rock's toss and skip from potential enemies.

"Everyone always presumes that the core is at the top, in the most heavily guarded and warded area of the bathhouse. The Tainted will climb upward in search of it so Haku arranged for it to be moved into the deepest part instead. I only know because I stumbled upon his blueprints for the change several months back."

As if sensing their arrival, a door appeared at the dead end in front of them. Reaching out to grasp the door handle, Chihiro slid it open and stepped into the odd room. Upon first view, the core was a large pure white room with not a single piece of furniture in it. It had the feeling of a timeless dimension of space and as she approached closer to a wall she could see neat folds hiding panels about them. A buzz of static behind her caught Chihiro's attention. Lin looked sheepishly in from beyond the door frame, a slight shimmer in the air as the shield resettled itself.

"I can't enter here. Haku isn't dead and there hasn't been a formal exchange of power to give me access," Lin stated with a small frown. She had predicted this, but had hoped for a different outcome. "You would think the bathhouse would understand our situation and make this small exception."

"Then how did we get in here," Chihiro asked curiously as she began to explore further into the room. She had the sensation that they were being watched, but she couldn't pinpoint the source of her tension.

"When the dragon started the mating bond, he gave you a piece of his magic. Whatever seal he used to stop the progression was removed when we did the cleansing ceremony. That magic is now recognizable to all of us. The bathhouse permits our entrance here because you are the chosen of its master and I am contracted to you in service."

"Hikaru," Lin's voice cut in as a warning and reminder. The weasel gave him a pointed look as Chihiro's back was turned to them. As the fox approached her, Chihiro turned around in question. The look of regret on his features made him appear more distant than she had ever seen him.

"Hikaru," Chihiro asked in question as he reached out to her. Pulling her into a hug against him, she squirmed uncomfortably after a few seconds. He was unusually cold to the touch despite the thick fur and clothes on him, and it felt as if ice was seeping into her. "Hikaru, let go!"

A jolt of panic coursed through her veins as she realized that he wasn't releasing her on purpose. The winter entering her system wasn't her imagination. Chihiro could feel herself shaking in an effort to fight against him, but it was becoming harder and harder to stay awake. The colder she got, the more she wanted to sleep.

"Don't do this," she slurred as her eyes slid shut. After a few more moments, her body went limp in his arms and he slowly lowered her form to the ground.

"I'm sorry Chihiro, but this is for your own good," Hikaru whispered as he made a gentle bed of snow to make her more comfortable on the floor. She was out cold, and would remain so for hopefully long enough for them to finish what had to be done. Stepping away with determination, Hikaru returned to the door where Lin looked at him with ire.

"You are lucky she hasn't figured out how to use that magic otherwise you would have been shit out of luck."

"No, I'm lucky the bathhouse didn't kill me for moving against her. Now let's get going before it changes its mind," Hikaru retorted with a glare. Behind them the door disappeared back into the woodwork.

.-.-.-.-.-…

Lin felt her heart fluttering in her throat as she ran across the ghost town between the bathhouse and the shrine. Somehow their plan was working but the rain wasn't letting up in the slightest. Skidding past the main shrine, she slammed opened the doors into the building that Chihiro had briefly described. Though this was a place of sacrilege, she was wasting no time in throwing open every door possible in hunt of the bell that they needed. Spotting the object in question, Lin stalked forward with purpose and felt the magic surrounding it repulsing her. She grasped the small mallet hanging on the side of the well and slammed it into the bell as hard as she could. The vibrations shook through her, stinging the air and announcing her presence to everyone well within a click. Expecting instant results, Lin felt her panic rise when the bell detached itself from the wood holding it up and dropped down into the water below.

Rather than summoning its master, the stones of the well closed up and the entire structure disappeared into the firm dirt. Lin was left gaping at the empty space as the sounds of movement from outside grew louder. She waited as long as she dared before her pessimistic mind forced her out into the open to make the suicidal run for the bathhouse. If they were truly abandoned by the only resident water spirit, then the hope for survival was marginal. In front of her, she could see the temporary shield collapsing and the enemy pushing in on all sides.

-.-.-.-.

Black and Red. Black and Red. Even as she was surrounded by black, there were waves of red. The silence wrapping her was pierced by the siren that accompanied that lighting pattern. Forcing open her sleepy eyes, Chihiro could see red light rippling across the ceiling in time to the warning bell. She took a deep shaky breath and sat up carefully. Chihiro was drenched in water and the white room around her seemed to have shifted into black. As if sensing her awakening, a panel in the wall popped open revealing a glint of silver beyond its reach. Just like before, Chihiro could feel someone watching her. Climbing up onto her feet, Chihiro ignored the panel in favor of trying to open the door she had entered in. The entrance was locked tight and unmovable despite her best efforts. Turning about to face the panel, she cautiously approached it. As her fingers skimmed the edge of the opening, the room became a dull white pulsing with the warning bell just the slightest bit faster. The bathhouse was under attack. Despite the change in lighting, the passage before her remained dark, as if it were a black hole sucking in light and matter without a discernible end. Chihiro trusted her gut and stepped inside.

Sliding her fingertips along the wall, Chihiro ventured into the darkness and found herself in a room full of mirrors that did not show her reflection in their infinite stretches. The sensation of someone watching her was so strong it felt like ants running over her skin.

"Hello," she called out, but there was no response. Turning about she was startled to see herself in the reflection behind her. Stepping closer, she realized that it wasn't her at all and the reflection wasn't continued on the refractions of the infinite mirrors. The woman was near identical to her, except for the blank expression on her face and startling blue eyes. Raising a hand slowly the woman motioned for her to look to the right. Chihiro felt her jaw drop as she saw the scene playing out on the mirrors beside her. The glass was rippling showing the main infirmary in a scene of pure chaos. Patients were rapidly being consumed by their darkness and were taking out the staff that ventured inside. They were escaping out into the maze causing a rebellion from inside the bathhouse.

"There was no time to wait for you to wake. I had to take action," a whistle like voice spoke softly from the woman watching the scene from her mirror. The visual panned out and showed the Tainted surging through the maze even as the maze constantly shifted walls and traps to keep them there. Zooming out further, it showed her a breach on the first and second levels of the bathhouse as a battle raged on outside. The entire map shown became consumed with flames and she realized that she could smell a hint of smoke in the air. Chihiro shrieked as mirrors behind her shattered and the reflection looked at the shards with sadness. "The fire has grown too strong and will consume what's left of me if you do not stop it."

"What do you need me to do," Chihiro asked as she felt the fear rising inside of her. The bathhouse was on fire and she was trapped in the basement courtesy of Hikaru. It appeared as if they were losing the battle. Mirrors closer to her shattered as Chihiro hid her head in between her arms.

"Control the water again. Put out the fire."

"I don't know how to use magic," Chihiro shouted as the reflection turned away from her and disappeared. In its stead a map of the bathhouse appeared and a green arrow showed a specific route upward.

"Go to his water. It will help you." The mirror shattered and Chihiro felt a shriek leave her as some of the glass cut her cheek. Wiping away the blood, she stumbled back and started for the passage back to the first room.

"Chihiro," a voice exclaimed before stopping to cough for a few moments, "Chihiro, where are you?!"

The door out of the white room opened on the first try and she launched straight out of it into Hikaru. The fox was leaning against the wall calling out for her, unable to find the passage into the core with the shifting maze. He looked terrible, though not as bad as he looked when he had first entered the infirmary. Hikaru was filthy, covered in the blood of his enemies, soot from the fire and sweating more profusely than someone under a running shower. The bathhouse was raising the temperature, burning out the infestation and yet the fox was here trying to save her despite his weakness to heat.

"The bathhouse is burning. We have to get out of here." Grabbing his hand, Chihiro pulled him out of the hallway and began maneuvering them upward on the path she had been shown.

"Aim for the nearest exit, I can try to fight a way out for us," Hikaru said as he tried to clear his throat again.

"No, we have to get back to Haku's apartment," Chihiro exclaimed as she found herself coughing as well. Avoiding the collapsed portion of the hallway, her steps were confident with the knowledge the bathhouse had provided. The heat was unimaginable, but they were moving quickly and low to the ground. "I can put out the fire."

"WHAT?! No Chihiro! The bathhouse is lost. It's not safe to stay here any longer."

"Trust me, Hikaru. The bathhouse showed me what I have to do. She is drawing in the enemy and killing it with fire, but it's becoming too much power for her to handle. We got to summon Haku's water and get it to put out the fire before we lose her."

"She's already lost. Chihiro it is insane to go climbing up a burning building. The floors could give out and kill us before any of the Tainted got close."

"She showed me a safe path up. All of the exits are already blocked," Chihiro retorted as she guided them higher. Narrowly avoiding several falling timbers as they got to the second floor, she dragged him onward. "We have to save the bathhouse. It's our only chance."

Before he could raise an argument, a blast hit them from the side sending them both into the rubble. Getting up slowly, Chihiro looked back at the spirit who had sent the attack at them. Smirking in victory a fox was charging from another section of rubble towards them. His black armor contrasted against the white of his fur like artwork, and his arrogance was radiating from him in bounds. The fire that was crushing his soldiers looked only a mere background behind him. Shaking himself a bit, Hikaru stood to face him and took a defensive position in front of Chihiro. His tails were out in full view and his sword raised at the ready, but Chihiro could see the slight wobble in his stance.

"Chihiro, run," Hikaru said quietly as he stepped forward to block another blast from hitting them. A moment of indecision fluttered through her as she saw him step forward to engage the enemy. Making her decision, she began bolting over the rubble towards the next floor up. A sizzle in the air behind her warned her of an incoming attack and she rolled in time to avoid it. The rubble she was climbing did not fare so well, she would have to find another way up quickly.

"Not so fast, precious. I will be wanting you as well," the fox called out with laughter. He didn't seem to be exerting much energy though Hikaru was panting to keep up with him. She couldn't help but wonder how many fights he had survived to get to her in the heart of the maze when the area was flooded with enemies. "Oh come now brother, it seems you haven't been practicing. Our father would be so disappointed."

Moving with a renewed purpose, Chihiro took in her surroundings. Flames were licking at the walls still standing around them, rubble partially covered a pressured steam pipe, and a section of railing hung out awkwardly over a broken elevator shaft. Taking a chance on the craftsmanship of the bathhouse, she put her weight on the railing as a test and started climbing as it held out. The heat was getting stronger and her hands were getting sweaty as she finally brought herself up over the edge. Noting the lack of metallic clangs, she looked back and felt her heart stop as she saw Hikaru down against the rubble trying to shake off whatever hit had befell him. His sword was a solid two feet away, and his brother was above him with his black blade upraised with a sick smiled twisted on his face. She couldn't get back down to him in time and there was nothing within reach.

"NO," Chihiro screamed and for a fraction of a second, the fox paused to smile at her. Thrusting her hand out towards them as if it would help save him, Chihiro felt a surge of adrenaline and power go through her. The nearby pipe burst shooting pressurized water straight into the chest of the Tainted fox and punching him out the opening he had come from. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the water just as quickly evaporated into nothing, though the damage was done. Hikaru looked up at her in shock and Chihiro tried to offer him a reassuring smile, but a wave of dizziness overtook her. Falling back against the floor, Chihiro felt like she was about to be sick from the world turning about her at odd angles. In no time at all, Hikaru reached her side and held a hand against her forehead.

"Idiot! You're lucky you didn't pass out from that," Hikaru chided as he swept some of the ash off of her belly.

"How did I do that," Chihiro asked as Hikaru slid his sword back into his sheath.

"You tapped into the part of you that this is no longer human. He must be one hell of a water spirit if the sliver he gave you had that much power," Hikaru replied darkly as Chihiro carefully sat up. She felt herself bouncing back from whatever had hit her, but there seemed an emptiness in the pit of her stomach that made it feel as if she had lost something. "I suggest you don't do try that again until we reach the top of the bathhouse. If you pass out, I won't be able to carry you and fight in this state."

Nodding her agreement Chihiro let Hikaru help her to her feet. The room below them began to fill with flames as its floor gave out. They had to keep moving.

.-.-…-..-.-.-….

Haku could see the plume of smoke blackening the sky from kilometers away. Ignoring the worried chattering of the rest of the guard, he pushed them to keep flying. Tonight their blades would taste blood and their bodies would suffer the costs of battle. As the seer had predicted, a wall of black covered the town and appeared to have reached the bathhouse. However he could see the fire eating away at the enemy as the bathhouse fought back. A small sphere of water was also fighting its way from the portal towards the bathhouse, flanking the army. Somewhere in all of this mess, Chihiro was waiting for him. His river was anxiously watching through his eyes and its fury was unmatched. Letting out a roar of rage, Haku reached into the deepest part of himself for his magic and possessed the entire length of the river splitting the town. Raising its waters high above the wall of Tainted, he crushed it down upon his enemies.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Chihiro crashed into the bathroom and ran towards what remained of the bathtub in the corner. Sweat and ash clung to her in heaps and whatever water that had rested in the main bath before had long evaporated into unpleasant steam. A mount of smoldering coals rested on top of the cover, but she didn't think anything of it as she reached out. Grasping the bath cover with both hands in an effort to pull it off, Chihiro let out a cry as her hands burned. Releasing the hot metal, she looked at it in fear. The heat from the burning rubble had sealed the passage shut. Ignoring the red sores forming on her hands, she tried once more but got not an inch of give. Letting go, she sucked in the heavy air and felt her strength leaving. Reaching into the depths of her body, she reached for the power to make his water come to her. Surely she would have the strength left to summon Haku's water and put out the fire. How could it not know that the bathhouse was going up in flames? That a war raged a top of its hideout?

In her distraction, Chihiro did not see the burning log coming crashing down above her. A flash of white slammed into her and sent her out of the way in the nick of time. Pulling in ragged breaths, Hikaru was visibly pouring off buckets of sweat as if he were melting from the nearby heat.

"Damn it, Chihiro," Hikaru gasped in anger, "I didn't fight so hard to have you crushed by an errant beam!"

"I was trying to move the water," Chihiro retorted back. Even with all of her concentration, she hadn't felt even the slightest response. She must have used up the last of her power earlier. Their battle to the top had been for nothing and her mistake could very well cost them their lives. "I couldn't get the seal off of the tub."

"Well it isn't going to come off now," Hikaru replied as he eyed the fallen timber burning across the top of the tub. A hiss of nearby pipe warned of imminent explosion and the ground beneath them shook as if the wood beneath them was being hit with a massive wave. Grabbing her roughly, Hikaru guided her back through the maze of falling wreckage. The fire blocked them from the balconies and windows, and they were forced back out of the apartment door. Where the elevator once stood, an empty cavern of smoke and ash remained. Realizing they were trapped, Hikaru turned to Chihiro.

"Do you trust me?" Chihiro coughed trying to clear her sore throat, and Hikaru pulled her towards the remaining pocket of clean air at the edge of the crumbling floor. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she croaked out. Putting aside his obvious distress of what he was about to do, Hikaru hugged her tightly and let his weight pull them over the edge into free fall.

.-.-..-.-.-.-.-

Yui shook the blood off of her naginata and scrambled over the rubble towards Lin. The weasel in question was sitting on top of a large chunk of fallen timber taking deep breaths of clean air. The smoke from the fire had undoubtedly blackened her lungs to some degree, but that would heal in time. Remains of fallen bodies and slayed Shadows laid everywhere in their wake. Glancing back at section of the bathhouse still standing, she wondered if the dragon had made it in time to save Chihiro. There was no doubt in her mind that love had powered the cleansing spell that wiped out almost the entirety of the Tainted force attacking.

"Do you think he found her," Yui asked as she sat down beside Lin to catch her breath. The weasel gave a shrug and kicked a small piece of stone over the pile of bodies in front of them. There was work to do, but it could wait a few more moments while she tried to recover. Adrenaline kept the shock of the death and destruction around her at bay.

"She wasn't outside of the bathhouse when the fire took the lower floors. I would like to hope she survived somehow…"

"If she didn't make it… do you think Haku will…?"

"I don't even want to imagine how powerful of a Tainted Haku would make," Lin chuckled bitterly, "Even if he did fall, I'm not sure if we would be able to end his life."

Haku barely managed to keep his panic at bay as he landed delicately in front of his apartment door. What remained of the bathhouse was empty of any signs of life. He could feel his heart seizing in terror, struggling with the fear of loss. Surely if she was gone from this world for good he would have felt it. The smell of seared human flesh drew him to what remained of the bathroom and he felt his breath catch. A large portion of the ceiling had given out over the bathtub cover, the heat of it welding the metal shut. Tossing aside the damp embers, Haku searched through the rubble following the fading scent of Chihiro. As he realized that there was no body to be saved beneath the ashes, Haku collapsed to his knees and let out a roar in anguish.

The chaos outside of the bathhouse faded to silence as he struggled with his emotions and dark thoughts. Far beneath the ground, his water was crashing against the rock walls relentlessly as if it could correct the damage that had been done, fill the hole that had been created. Haku was pulled from his thoughts by the distinct feeling of a wet sword tip on the side of his neck. It drew its way carefully around to the front of his neck as its master stepped carefully into view from behind him.

Zeniba took a hard look at his face, gauging if he was still in control of his faculties. She looked worse for wear, ash and black blood smeared all over her clothes and hair. A heavy frown rested in place of her always present smile, speaking of the hardships she had faced since they had last spoke weeks ago. As she lowered the blade, Haku recognized it as his own. Somewhere in the mess of the battle and his hunt for Chihiro, he had abandoned the sword in favor of using his bare hands to kill anyone who stood in his way. The primal urge to destroy that which threatened everything he held dear had overwhelmed him and it was by a bare fraction of reason that he hadn't shifted back into his dragon form to tear them all limb from limb with his teeth. Even now he felt like he was teetering on the edge of something inside of himself. Turning the sword about to offer him the handle with one hand, Zeniba did not reveal the dagger clasped in the other one behind her back. If he could not recover, she would do what had to be done, just as she had done to her sister years ago.

After a pregnant silence, Haku dragged his eyes away from Zeniba's face back to the sword. Squeezing his eyes shut with a heavy sigh, he grasped the handle and shakily stood up. At his full height, Haku was taller than Zeniba by a good several inches. On a normal day, she might have teased him for making her look up at him so much, but not today. Zeniba slipped the blade behind her spine back into its sheath and gave the standing dragon a small smile. His response to Chihiro's loss answered the unspoken question hanging over her head. There was no need to let him suffer unduly when she could relieve it. Her next words were spoken calmly, but they held more energy and power than the sun itself.

"She is alive."

.-.-…-.-.-…-.-.-.

Pulling in a slow breath of air into her lungs, Chihiro felt her chest rise in protest. Her entire body was sore and tender, though miraculously in one piece. Chihiro could feel Hikaru's arms still holding her tightly and the beat of his heart was a steady vibration against hers. Cracking open her ash coated eyelids, she was surprised to see pure white over Hikaru's shoulder. It almost resembled tightly packed snow, but that would be completely impossible. The bathhouse was on fire and if she were truly surrounded by snow, shouldn't it be melting from the heat? Wiggling about slightly, Chihiro could see that they were most certainly surrounded by white on all sides. She lifted a finger and poked the wall in question. Solid ice gave no yield to her and its cold felt like a mild flutter of winter rather than the freezing solid that it appeared to be. Disbelief turned into panic as she imagined the confines of the tight space growing smaller. There was barely two inches of space in any given direction around them, and nowhere for her to go.

"Hikaru, get up" Chihiro begged as she shook him. His breathing quickened as he came up from sleep and his eyes fluttered open. Looking past her as if unseeing, his expression remained neutral. "Hikaru!"

His eyes finally dragged themselves away from the ice above and settled on her. She could see the corners of his lips were trying to raise in a smile, but froze when he took in her scared expression. Splaying his fingers across her back and waist, Hikaru gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Welcome to the North."

END OF ARC 1