A/N: This fic WILL be on the backburner. I have a fictionpress account that will take top priority; this fanfic is mostly for my amusement. I will not beg for reviews as nearly every other author seems to enjoy doing, nor will I update faster if you review a lot. I will update when I am not crammed with homework or working on my fictionpress stuff, or when I just plain feel like it.

Also, I apologize for any facts that are wrong. I haven't seen much of the anime yet (note that this will be, while in the same time period, an AU).

With that, I hope you enjoy. (Yes, the chapters will get longer...hopefully.)

The Tale Not Worth Hearing:

Chapter 1

"I have discovered what happened and where they are now. Yes, I can see the questions in your eyes. Please, do not ask them, Master; I know what they are.

"And please, sit down. It will be a long story that you may not enjoy hearing, Master. If you will wait a moment, I will begin. Please do not interrupt until I have finished, Master. This is a tale I will not enjoy telling. But Master, the visions will not stop now that I have called on them..."

My eyes glowed with jealousy.

The town sat quietly, peacefully. There was no noise as it slept soundly in the night, unaware of what was to come.

And still, even knowing its final judgment, I was envious.

As if ghastly fingers, the wind blew around me, combing through my dark hair, the strands of blood that were perched in a high ponytail, willing it to be set free. My nightly gi ruffled around me in protest to the disturbance.

When had I had such peace?

But even then I had known it was not the peace I had been envious of; it was the innocence.

I had never had innocence. When I was a mere child my parents had died of a disease, had been stolen away by the devil that was Cholera and I had been left with nothing.

From that point onward I was set on a path of blood and death that had followed me, not a path I had followed. First it was with the slave traders, and I had been directed towards a grisly future that I did not want.

"You must live, Shinta..." the other slave had told me.

Live? A hollow, nearly silent, demonic laugh escaped my throat. Yes, live. I was living, wasn't I?

How come it felt like I wasn't?

Many who tried to come close to me were left feeling with a foreboding sense of all the lives I had stolen away, which seemed to follow me as if angry spirits. My eyes had even begun reflecting them; they were a hard, cold amber that allowed no mercy.

...What color had they been when I was a child?

I turned my head as I felt a presence approaching, looking at a comrade of mine. I smirked slightly as I saw a tremor of fear go through him at my gaze.

He stammered his message through his pale lips and bowed swiftly, awaiting my response.

I mulled his message over in my head.

"So, we are to attack tonight, then? Interesting." My eyes glinted in thought. What reason would we have to attack an entire day before our scheduled ambush was? Very peculiar.

He was still bent over, waiting for me to continue.

"Go back and tell your superior that I will not attack as we originally planned. It is too short of notice." I watched him pale, amused, and continued. "We will have to throw away the idea of an ambush; instead we must attack with a full assault with all of our troops. An organized ambush could not be planned in this limited time." Especially with their powers, I added mentally.

An almost inaudible gasp left him and I almost felt pity for him. Almost.

For a messenger to bear such a dramatic change in plans could prove to be dangerous.

And I stood, watching the town for hours on end, knowing that we were about to eradicate all that was left of an old, ancient world.

We were killing the last of the mages.

In what seemed to be an endless amount of time, we were finally ready, the sun just rising over the horizon and stretching its long, warm fingers, prodding the darkness away gently.

Another messenger came up to me and I wondered only briefly what had happened to the other one, nodding.

I pursed my lips into a thin line and grasped the hilt of my sword, pulling it out of its sheath. I felt my eyes harden to stones and allowed my soul to slip away with the breeze.

It would come back.

A merciless killer I would once again descend into being. Shinta died away and Kenshin, Hitokiri Battousai, replaced him.

War cries rose around me, starting with one man who dared to call out as if defying the ancient world we were destroying and with others following him. Soon enough a hum of angry prayers being chanted rose above my head.

Magic angered the gods; it was foul and evil. It tainted anyone who dare touch it or get near it.

I said my own angry prayer full of hideous words that allowed the god of destruction to enter me, and I felt him replace the empty space where I had allowed my soul to leave.

My gaze was immediately tinted around the edges with an insane craze for death and I licked my lips hungrily in anticipation for the kill, grasping the hilt of my sword tightly.

Every piece of me that was still left cried for the loss of my soul but I ignored those pieces as we surged forward as one. We descended upon the unsuspecting town, destroying everything in our paths.

People were no longer people but merely flesh and bone that were meant to die.

It was in that swirl of death and destruction that I met her, and everything I had come to know and everything I had believed were stolen away from me.

And that included the heart I thought had died long before.

I was observing the wreckage of her house when I'd found her.

It was not easy, although her strong fighting presence alerted me that there was someone else in the house. Admittedly I had thought she was a man from how strong it was.

Nothing inside me had even panged at the sight of a man and a woman, blood-drenched and dead, huddled together. No emotions except the desire to kill had coursed through me until a fleeting feeling of surprise.

I had stepped through the door when the surprise chanced upon me; something long and blunt had come sailing through the air. Even in my expertise I had barely dodged it.

Within milliseconds I had my sword drawn and pressed against the assailant's neck, eyes hard and unrelenting.

Although I wouldn't have admitted it the next day, I felt a jolt of shock race through me when I saw two blue eyes glaring at me, angry tears streaming from them. And that a woman had nearly hit me. A woman!

Indignant, I was prepared to slice her head off.

But something stopped me.

And here was a fatal flaw that I would both regret and cherish in my heart forever.

(Change in POV aka fanfiction sucks at showing symbols that indicate scene changes)

Before I had woken up, all had been well that morning. I had been dreaming pleasant dreams, unaware of what was about to happen.

And then I was woken up by screams of death and my father and mother rushed in, not saying a word but I figured out what had happened. Quickly they said a few streams of incantations – magic I had not yet developed – and I watched as the room was encased in a liquid that soon enough turned invisible.

They hugged me in turn, murmuring that they loved me, and then set my little brother Yahiko down next to me, telling me to take care of him.

Then both raced out of the room and it was the last time I would ever see them.

Both of us knew what would happen and I wrapped my arms around Yahiko's shaking form, knowing that he was crying though he was too proud to shed tears. We listened to the sounds of death outside.

It was then that I sensed a strong, horrible presence entering our house and I felt my own flair up to match it.

Clutching my brother tighter, I whispered soft words into his hair, telling him to be careful.

He looked up at me in incomprehension but nodded anyway.

"Wherever you're going, get back in one piece, Ugly."

So he jeered and stuck his tongue out, though without the usual fervor. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bokken, glowering. "Watch what you say, Yahiko-chan!" I raised it over my head half-heartedly and brought it down on his head.

But it was then I knew I had to leave, ending our usual play. I kissed his forehead, his face becoming worried as I turned and walked away.

I ventured out of the careful magical wards my parents had created and my heart clenched.

I knew they were dead.

My breaths came in gasps as I sensed his presence drawing nearer, challenging mine. He knew I was there.

No, I thought, steeling my eyes and tightening my grip on my bokken, I must not be afraid. For mother and father, for Yahiko. I must not be afraid.

The air around me seemed to suffocate me, my lungs drawing in on themselves as I breathed quicker. My palms became sweaty as I knew that whoever it was should not be underestimated.

Creak.

My eyes widened and I slapped my left hand over my mouth to muffle a cry of surprise as I inched around a wall.

His presence drew nearer and I summoned on my courage, knowing that this man could have very well killed my parents. As he was almost upon me, a savage fury welled up within me and I moved with a speed I didn't know I possessed.

Eyes flaring as I recalled my training, I drew up my strength and focused. Barely any sound whispered as I swung my bokken through the air with a vengeful accuracy.

I had thought he couldn't dodge it, and what a fool I was.

Surprise must have shone on my face as he cleanly ducked under it.

It did not take long before I felt steel pressed against my neck and I glared defiantly, only later realizing I was crying, into the two most beautiful amber eyes I had ever seen, framed by blood-red hair.

He was the picture of a demon.

"Shocked, Master? You have asked for my powers and I have given them to you. It is too late to turn back now, Master. The visions will not stop coming until the forces above wish them to stop.

"And I doubt that that will happen...

"I warned you that it would be a long story you will not enjoy. But you asked and now I have no choice, Master.

"Even killing me will not stop them, so do not try, Master. I only do what you ask, Master, please do not be disappointed in me...That is all I ask..."

A/N: How's that for a weird start to most likely what will be a strange fic? Anyway, yes, I know it's really confusing, but bear with me! ; And yes, I realize that this was not that good, but whatever.