Author's notes : Hello Guys ! As promised a long time ago this is what you've been waiting for. It's finally done ! I hope you won't be disappointed. I was just as impatient to write this chapter as you were to read it. Tell me if you liked it or on the contrary if you were waiting for something else, I'm curious to know what you thought ;D. I apologize for the long wait and thank you guys for still supporting me, for all the reviews and for waiting this whole time. I love you guys, you're awesome readers ! Okay, now enough with those notes, I'll let you enjoy this new chapter ! Read & Review !

Special Warning : Graphic Depiction Of Violence - Epicness ! (At least that's what I think).

Chapter 9 : Heavenly Being

Forest near Kushibi's fort.

"You three !" Soo-won suddenly yelled as he looked at the three water tribe soldiers, startling them.

"You will be staying here and look after Lady Lili and protect her. We will come back and fetch you once we've saved Princess Yona. General Tae-woo, Han-dae san you will stay here too and supervise the things here while we're gone."

Then his eyes landed upon the remaining men, the most important leaders of Kouka. "General Geun-tae and Joo-doh, General Joon-gi and Elder Mundok, you're coming with me !" Soo-won was in a rush, everyone could see it. The men from the second group took their weapons they had set down on the ground earlier after the first group's arrival.

They all looked at their King with determination, their eyes showing eagerness. Eagerness to save her, even though some of them barely knew the girl, like Joon-Gi or Geun-tae, who had only heard rumors and seen some things when they were at the Castle, for a meeting of the five tribes. However, the glimpse they had had of her, barely an hour ago was something they couldn't and wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Oh no, Geun-tae didn't want, and wouldn't forget what he saw and what he heard, it was too unexpected, too interesting, and way too fascinating to forget.

A question floated in Geun-tae and Joon-gi's minds : Who is really Princess Yona ?

The three generals and Mundok didn't reply to the King, there was no need, they would have gone help the Princess even without his order.

The men from the newly created rescue team were readying themselves for battle. Drinking water to hydrate their bodies and muscles that were soon to be pushed to their limits. Not forgetting they had all run under a blazing sun to get here. As much as they hated it, right now their bodies had needs that demanded satisfaction. Saying the atmosphere was tense was an understatement, and Soo-Won's mind was almost on the edge of insanity. How could he not be, when Yona was in such a dire situation ? No one was at her side to help her, to protect her and this was what he feared the most, what he had feared ever since he had discovered his feelings for her, not that he would admit it to anyone. Such feelings were weakness according to Kye-Sook and he wasn't entirely wrong.

He couldn't help thinking about the worst. In his panicked state, Soo-won remembered Geun-Tae mentionning Yona was hurt, stabbed actually. "General Joo-Doh, take a first aid medical kit with you, we don't know the exact extent of the Princess' injuries." the King commanded, Joo-doh answering with a simple and curt nod.

Joon-Gi tried to remain composed, but even he, the legendary calm man was struggling. His mind was divided in two. First his worry for his still unconscious daughter taking almost full grasp over his emotions and taking most of the space in his brain. He had to seperate himself from her when he only got her back but there was also the smaller but still present space of his brain that was worried about the safety of Princess Yona who seemed to have saved his daughter's life. The father in him didn't want to leave his daughter alone once more, he wanted to take care of her like he had always done but his fatherly love would have to wait to be satisfied. He closed his eyes in attempt to regain his usual calm before opening them again. Right now he was An Joon-Gi, leader of Water Tribe, leader of one of Kouka's five tribes under the command of King Soo-won, and he had been given an order. He turned to face his tribesmen.

"Ramal, you are in charge of our men in my absence." The Water Tribe leader said as he looked straight into the man's eyes he considered his right hand.

"Yes Lord Joon-Gi."

"Please take good care of my daughter." The Water Tribe leader commanded.

"We will General." Ramal and the two other soldiers answered as they all bowed.

The rescue team was finally ready to go. They headed towards their next location: the grounds near the back gate where the Princess was facing one of her ennemies.

They were running as fast as they could, as fast as their muscles would allow them, not caring for the burning sensation they felt on their firm muscles. Their own heartbeats increased and their bodies filled with adrenaline for the fight to come, and with fear for the Princess' life.

Different noises could be heard as the most prominent leaders of Kouka ran as if their lives depended on it. Their ragged breaths, as well as the noise their shoes made when meeting the ground, the loud metallic clanks of swords hitting armors, the sound of rustling leaves brushing against others as the branches of bushes that were in the way were brushed aside. All those different noises resonated throughout the forest. And there was no doubt that with the racket they were making, all animals that had been near had already ran away.

All thoughts were directed at the Princess. Would they make it before the end of the countdown ? Would the Princess still be fighting ? Would she still breathe ? would her heart still beat ? Would she still be alive when they arrive ? If they did arrive on time, in what state would the Princess be in ? What if she was injured or ended up with fatal wounds ? What was the current extent of her wounds ? What will the extent of wounds be once they reach her ? So many questions seizing their minds, anxiety taking hold of their reason, letting no chance for other thoughts to run through their minds.

As if it wasn't enough, their minds decided to play some more with them. And a twisted game it was. Their minds using their experience as warriors to accompany the thoughts with images. Horrible images of what they had seen when fighting on battlefields during King Joo-Nam's reign. Images that would haunt and plague the minds of the strongest and most experienced warriors.

War cries echoing. Soldiers fighting, killing. Piercing Screams. Weapons piercing flesh. Lifeless bodies laying on the ground. Broken armors. Soldiers' faces painted with blood. Corpses of men laying in a pool of their own blood. Screams of fear. Bodies of innocent children and women when battles extended to the nearest villages. The air permeated with the smell of blood. Bodies teared apart. Bodies missing limbs. Headless bodies. Soldiers crying. Clothes and weapons covered in the sticky yet vital red liquid. Death. Corpses piled up upon each other. Comrades stepping on their fallen brothers as they fight their foes. Wounded soldiers. The ground, a sea of blood. Swords piercing hearts. Screams of pain. Spears impaling living soldiers. Screams of agony. Soldiers trying to stop the blood from flowing out of their gash. Faces contorted in pain. So many screams ! So many piercing screams ! Blood, so much blood ! So much pain .. so many tears !

Kouka's strongest warriors were having trouble breathing properly, their minds prisoners of what they have seen as warriors, what they have heard, what they have smelled. This is the nightmarish reality they have seen. Yes, all thoughts were directed at the Princess, all thoses questions, all those images and screams were haunting them, keeping them running as fast as they could hoping they would make it on time. They had to.

There was no longer anything regular in the sound of their breath as they speeded their pace in the race against time. Time hadn't been merciful on the old warrior's body, he could hear some bones crack during the race to voice their discontentment. But Mundok didn't pay attention to it although it was hurting. His body was screaming at him and pleading him to slow down his pace as he was too old for this. However, he couldn't and wouldn't agree to his body's request. No, his mind was set on the Princess, the daughter of the late King Il he loved and respected, the young lady he had always considered as his own granddaughter. He had to get there as quickly as possible and save her or he knew he would regret it till the end of times. And he knew he wouldn't be able to look at Il in the eyes when his time would come.

'We have to get there, I have to get there. Please let us be on time !' Soo-won thought as his instincts were screaming at him to run even faster if he didn't want Yona to face any more danger, if he wanted to hold her in his arms... if he wanted to see her alive. Soo-Won clenched his fists. 'I'm no believer, however, if you, gods do exist I beg you, please.. please protect her.' He silently prayed.

Not far away from the forest that sheltered the rescue team, another battle was going on.

Yona closed her eyes taking a deep long breath, wanting to push her memories away and try to collect herself. A few seconds later she opened her eyes again. This time there was no hesitation, only determination as her eyes locked with her opponent's.

Akki was only a few meters away from her, his face was distorted by hate. His eyes were dark, there was no spark of light or life, only darkness similar to the one you would see when looking down an endless pit. These were the eyes of a maniac. The corners of his mouth twisted in a morbid smile. His face was screaming his deepest desire: he wanted to tear her to pieces.

"Come on fight with a long lost comrade my friend !" he barked.

Yona's jaw clenched at his words, under her hair, her eyes darkened and the semblance of composure she had gathered seemed to have completely disappeared in mere seconds.

"C-o-m-r-a-d-e ?" she said every syllable ever so slowly through gritted teeth then laughed darkly. "You really are a shameless bastard."

"Oh ? Did I manage to anger you Elliana ?" he asked clearly happy to have gotten that reaction out of her.

Without any warning Yona charged at him with her sword, delivering one hard blow that Akki blocked easily with the handle of his spear, his hands on both sides of the handle. Yona's blade met the hard metal bar between Akki's hands.

"Your eyes are on fire Elliana, did you finally decide to fight for real ?" Akki asked, amused at the sight of the blazing fire in her eyes.

He put all the strenght he could on the handle of his spear and pushed Yona back before heading straight to her and retaliate. There wasn't any logic in his attacks like there should have been in any soldier's who had been trained. He just moved his spear as he liked wanting to slash at her. Yona was forced to cope with the randomness of his attacks, which was the most difficult thing right now, one wrong move and he could cut off one of her limb.

An inhuman laugh resonated not far from her. "What ? Are you having some trouble keeping up the pace ?" Akki said as he tried to skewer her with the sharp blade at the end of his spear. Yona dodged his repetitive attacks by gliding to her right when he attacked her left side and sliding to the left when he attacked her right.

Their weapons met again, Yona's muscles contracted and her arms shook under the pressure of their two weapons, her wounded hand was hurting and still bleeding as she held her sword, making the hilt slippery.

Between dodging Akki's attacks and delivering her own blows, her strenght was fading, and it was fading way to fast to her taste. Even the training she had in swordmanship with Hak, Kouka's Thunder Beast and the four dragon warriors as her teachers, the strenght she had gained was not enough against him. Akki was an opponent on a whole other level, that much she knew, but she still hoped she wouldn't have to use that.

But do I really have a choice right now ? She remembered their faces, their voices, their screams and cries, their pleads and how powerless she had been. Sadness and guilt changed to true determination. There isn't. It's him or me, she thought.

Once again she took a deep breath, painfully closing her eyes shut readying herself, readying her mind..her spirit for what was to come. For what she would endure.

The ground slightly began to shake under the two warriors as Yona was muttering something under her breath.

"Yeah that's it !"Akki shouted, thrilled to see it happen again before his eyes.

The ground wasn't slightly shaking anymore, it became something similar to an earthquake, as if some kind of gigantic creature that had been asleep under the ground was waking up and deciding to come out of the dephts of the earth.

...

The shaking of the ground surprised and frightened everyone for a brief moment. This area was not known as a source of earthquakes or any kind of other natural disaster.

At first, it was only small tremors, surprising the warriors but not really caring about it. But then it wasn't only tremors, the earth was growling hard and the men stopped running. They had to lean on trees to avoid falling on the ground because of the tremors' power.

"The earth's shaking ?!" Mundok yelled, not believing it.

"This is odd.." Joon-Gi said.

"We better hurry.." Geun-tae said as he gravely looked at the other men, then meeting Joo-doh's knowing eyes. "This" he says pointing at the ground. "It's coming from the Princess' direction." he adds moving his head to show the path in front of them.

Soo-won and Mundok froze, Joon-gi gasped in horror, Geun-tae and Joo-doh winced feeling guilty.

"Keep running !" Soo-won ordered, taking the lead, his men soon following him.

Oh god ! Please Yona be safe ! The young King thought.

Finally Soo-won, Geun-tae, Joo-doh, Mundok and Joon-Gi saw the end of the path, showing the behind branches. They ran the last remaining meters parting them from the ground where the back gate of the fort was. And at last they were out of the forest. Out in the open, they immediatly recognized Yona. A weight had been lifted off their shoulders. She was standing, breathing, she was alive. They weren't too late, they sighed in relief. But they didn't forget she was hurt, her clothes were stained with blood and even if they only saw her from the side, she looked exhausted. But what was worrying them the most was the strange looking man standing in front of her. There was something about him that was morbid and dark and it unsettled them.

"This is a mere distraction ! Use your real powers !" the madman shouted growing impatient. "Or could it be that you already used all of your powers, huh Elliana ?!"

Yona didn't answer to his provocation.

"Elliana ? Who is Elliana ? What is that dude talking about ?" Geun-tae asked panting, trying to regulate his breathing.

"YOU BETRAYED US !" Yona shouted, shaking with rage.

"Yeah I might have done something like that !" he replied laughing loudly.

"You might ha-?" her expression changed and her glare became murderous. "SON OF A BITCH ! YOU BETRAYED US AND KILLED THOUSANDS OF OUR MEN FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT !" Yona growled, shouting even louder. A voice none of the generals, nor Mundok or Soo-won recognized as the sweet and gentle Princess Yona.

"What the hell is going on here ?" Joo-doh hissed loud enough for his comrades to hear.

"That's what I would like to know." Soo-won replied looking curiously at Yona.

"Anyway, we have to take the Princess out of here, she's hurt, and this guy seems much stronger than her. Not to mention he looks more dangerous than when we left." Geun-tae said and they all silently agreed. They took a few steps towards Yona, advancing carefully.

"Our men ?" Akki scoffed. "Ha! don't make me laugh those guys were lower than dogs, they were puppets ! Their pathetic lives don't matter ! They're just trash meant to be used !" Akki yelled looking disgusted at Yona's words.

"How dare you ! They were no puppets ! THEY WERE BROTHERS, BROTHERS IN ARMS !"

"If you like them so much, you will end up like those dogs you call your men !"

"Come on ! We both know what you're capable of !"

There's no other way to end this. Yona thought. The dress is going to get in the way.

It was only a matter of seconds before Yona's appearance changed. She took off her cloak and her dress, leaving only her pants on as well as a thick bandage looking top covering her chest and exposing her bare stomach and back. She also took off her earings, letting them fall to the ground.

Joo-doh silently reprimanded her. How can she just take off her clothes like that ?! For the love of god ! This is not appropriate for Princess!

Yona looked straight at Akki. "I, descendant of the skies demand full control of my abilities."

A golden and blinding light emanated from the sky. In this light appeared a blurry form. Suddenly, a voice echoed from the direction of the flying light. "The Heavens have heard your request. The council has agreed to your request exceptionally."

"W-what the fuck is that ?!" Geun-tae shouted.

Then the light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Akki was watching her with attention and smiled when he saw it appear on her skin.

A tatoo between red and magenta tint was appearing on her skin. It was forming a V shape on her cleavage and traveled to her shoulders, then descending the full lenght of her arms, going all around them and stopping on the back of her hands.

Kouka's warriors were bewildered at the sight of this tatoo, thin lines that were a mix of tribal and floral patterns.

Since when does she have something like that ? Soo-won thought.

It was much like Akki's in reality. Only the place, color and patterns of the tatoo were different. And he rejoiced at the idea of fighting her at her full strenght.

"Ah ! Finally getting serious ?! I can't wait come on, let's play !" Akki said.

Yona ran to him at an incredible speed, Mundok thought she was going faster than Han-dae who was famous for his quick reactions and fast running, but this he thought, was on a whole other level.

Yona kicked Akki in the stomach, sending him meters away from her. When Akki finally got up on his feet, they exchanged several blows, but none reached the other. Yona who had been struggling with her human strenght was now fighting with ease. Compared to what she had had to fight in the past, this was easier, even if Akki still had a very good level.

She felt the pain of her previous wounds travel to every nerves of her body, making it ache unbearbly, but she didn't care. She continued to swing her sword up and down, trying to cut him in any possible way. She wanted him to suffer for what he had done, suffer as much as she did back then. It may have happened more than a century ago, but her soul was still hurting after all this time.

Yona cut him on his side and on his chest, after delivering several blows one after the other at an incredible high speed. She was letting her anger and pain control her movements. Akki had difficulties following her pace and retaliate correctly. But he managed to give her two deep cuts, one between her shoulder and collar bone, the other on her right thigh.

Soo-won, Joo-doh, Geun-tae, Mundok and Joon-gi stood there dumbfounded.

"Are you kidding me ?!" Geun-tae yelled. "That's Princess Yona ?! The Princess Yona ?!" he yelled again.

"That can't be.. what is this ?" Soo-won asked.

"Just what is going on here ?" Joon-gi asked.

Princess, why is there so much hate, so much pain in your attacks ? Mundok wondered, hurting at the sight of his self-proclaimed granddaughter fighting with so much rage.

Then Akki managed to give Yona two deep cuts, one between her shoulder and collar bone, the other on her right thigh, making her scream in pain.

"YONA !" Soo-won yelled as he ran towards her, Mundok and Joo-doh following him. "Oh god ! PRINCESS !"

"Stand back !" she yelled back.

"But Princess-!" Joo-doh said.

"I said STAND BACK!" she said again.

"Your Majesty.." Joo-doh said.

"Don't listen to her !" he replied.

The five of them ran towards her, they were five meters away from her, they ran until there was only three meters separating them when they were sent flying backwards by an invisible force.

"W-What happened ?" Mundok asked.

"What the hell ?! Why can't we get near her ?!" Geun-tae asked, rubbing a spot on his head that had hit the ground.

Joon-gi blinked, not understanding what had happened. He was just here, his bottom on the ground and his legs slightly parted. If Lili were here, no doubt she would be laughing at the sitting position of her father. He didn't look like the proud general of the Water tribe, right now he looked like a small child who had failed to walk and so, had fallen on his arse.

Yona didn't bother to look behind her, she knew too well what had happened. Putting up a protective barrier was a good decision, she thought. And I would have been forced to do it anyway if I hadn't done it already so.. she sighed internally. Heaven and its laws.

..

"Do you know how much they begged me to spare their pitiful lives ? How they cried for you ?" Akki said laughing like a madman.

Yona seeing with rage pushed him to the ground and straddled him. She punched him in the face repetitively. Seeing how much his face was bleeding, she must have broke his nose and a few teeth, Akki must also have cut himself inside of his mouth under the hard punches.

Akki reversed their postion so that Yona was the one on the ground, he gave her punches back before being pushed backwards by Yona's legs.

Meanwhile Soo-won, Joo-doh, Joon-gi, Geun-tae and Mundok watched the scene before them, they were ready to beat the shit out of the man when they saw him punching Yona, a Princess, a woman. And they walked towards Yona who stood and grabbed Akki by the front of his shirt, bringing his face close to hers.

Yona wasn't feeling well, her body hurt, she was feeling hot, she was thirsty and began to feel dizzy. It's time to put an end to this, she thought.

"You're not strong enough to defeat me, you weren't in the past either. Who do you think I am ?" she said in a low voice that almost sounded like a whisper, but the tone was threatening.

"What, are you going to tear my body apart ? THEN COME ON ! DO IT ! Or is it that you're too much of a coward to do it, just like them ?!" Akki shouted to her face.

"Tear your body apart huh? You wished I would. But I'm not going to do it." Yona said her voice as cold as ice and a glint of panick crossed Akki's eyes.

"KILL ME WITH YOUR DAMN SWORD!"

"I won't." she replied calmly.

Yona brought her hand on Akki's eyes.

"No stop it ! Everything but that !"

"I Elliana, as a member of the council condemn you to reincarnation, you will remember everything.."

"NO! please no!" he cried.

"..from your most painful memories to the most happy ones, to the sin and betrayal you have comitted. You will atone for every mistake you have made in your next life. Your soul will rest in peace in our Kingdom until it is ready for a new start."

Then what was supposed to happen didn't happen. His soul was supposed to leave his body and go back to heaven. But it wasn't working.

Yona looked at her hand with surprise, as a frown appeared on her face.

Akki laughed again. "Ha ! Look at you ! Already out of power !"

"Tsk. Well guess today is your lucky day." Yona said as she raised her sword pierced his flesh and pushed it into his heart.

She looked at Akki's body as it fell to the ground, how strange it was, it was like his body was falling in slow motion.

She could feel the ground under her feet disappearing. She swayed and fell to the ground as well, coughing up blood. Her vision began to shrink and darken. She knew what this was, she had already experienced it in the past. She was dying. The five warriors of Kouka ran to her as soon as they saw her fall, and weirdly the invisible thing that had prevented them from getting near the Princess had disappeared. Now eyes were brimming with tears as she heard their voices and saw their faces in the sky.

"Princess, you'll get wrinkles if you keep pouting"- Hak's teasing voice

"Yona dear if you ever went to cry, my shoulder is all yours"- Jae-ha's flirting voice

"Yona.."- Shin-ah's calm voice.

"Pukyuu~"- Ao's happy squeaking noises.

"Miss is cute !"- Zeno's always cheerful voice.

"P-princess, I cannot share a tent with you, it's not right!"- Kija's stuttering voice.

"Yona ! You Idiot ! How worried do you think I was ?!"- Yoon's warm scolding voice..

Yona raises her hand towards the sky with the little strenght she has left, trying to catch her family. I guess I won't be able to return home, she thinks and it feels as if her own heart had been pierced, she felt sad and was in pain, she loved everybody so much. Everyone I'm sorry..

Soo-won was the first to reach her, just as her hand falls back to her side.

"Yona ? Yona ?!"

Joo-doh, Geun-tae and Mundok are here seconds after Soo-won.

"How is she ?" Mundok asks.

"I-I don't know !" Soo-won cries. "Yona open your eyes !"

Mundok pushes Soo-won to the side and looks at her. "She's only unconscious !"

"How can you know that ?" Geun-tae asks.

"Because there's no way my granddaughter is dead !" Mundok snaps.

Joo-doh moves her hair out of her neck and set his hand down on the side of her throat. Geun-tae looks at him with fear in his eyes. "There's still a pulse, but it's weak !" he says and still checks if her breathing is right. "She's still breathing, but I don't know for how much longer !"

"We're going back to the shelter where Lady Lili and the others are. General Geun-tae, can you please carry her ?" Soo-won asks.

"Of course, but what about first aid ?"

"We can't stay here it's too dangerous." Joo-doh said.

No more was said, and they ran back the way they came, with one Yona in really bad shape.

Little anecdote: I listened to battle themed music as well as some metal and ate kinder chocolate bars to overcome my author's block ! One of the best time I had writing a chapter ! Hope you liked it !