Everything happened in only a thousandth of a second.
All movements stopped, and Chiaki’s scream died.
The birds flew away, frightened.
Zenki didn’t move... couldn’t move, still on his feet...

A trembling hand floated slowly to his neck...
Chiaki was still in shock... Her eyes wide open, staring at the bleeding head on the ground...

The Beast’s head.

Zenki touched his throat, using the full second to try to realize what had happened.
He was alive...
How could he be still be alive???!!!
The sword skimmed his neck; he felt it... he could feel the warmth of his blood, running through his fingers... but it didn’t kill him...
... That was because the hit wasn’t aimed for him...

He turned to face the scene behind him:
... Goki was standing, confused, a few feet away...
... Chiaki was on the limit of the clearing, staring with those lost eyes at the place...
... The beast was still on its feet... It was like it hadn’t realized yet that it was dead; from the neck came a huge gush of blood that covered everything that was around before it fell to the ground... Almost immediately, it started to turn to dust...

Zenki’s eyes darted from one face to another, before finding what they wanted...
As the filthy dust dissipated, the slim silhouette appeared... She held her last position, as if she had just slayed her victim... as if she could not leave that pose... covered in blood.
“... What the Hell...?!?!!”
Goki was the first one able to find his voice. That hysterical shriek woke everyone up from their daze...
Crystal turned quickly, absolutely terrified, not by the scream but by something else...

Herself...

She stared at the dust that was once the beast’s head and then to the sword in her almost limp hand; it would have taken just one breeze to pull the katana out of her grasp, her body numb.
Then, only then, she looked up...
... Only then, she realized what had she done...
Her clear eyes, which were as cold as ice, turned magically into the frightened gaze of a deer; but immediately she put on her stone mask again and glared at the others, with an expression between fear and fury. Her body started to tense again, and she gripped her sword. But she couldn’t stop shaking...
And the last straw came when she found his eyes... Zenki’s eyes...

He was staring at her in an unbearable — and at the same time, confused — way. It was like he was about to shout, ‘What have you done... was that your plan??’ He held his hand near his neck, his fingertips just skimming his throat as if he couldn’t believe his head was still attached to it. There was only a little wound and some red ribbons flowing down...
His eyes...
The oni girl started to quiver furiously...
Crystal thought she could bear his eyes... but it was impossible...
Zenki took one step forward, still staring... but this time it was a different kind of stare…
… Cold… so, so cold…

That was it.

Crystal stepped back, never losing eye contact, but never stopping.
“... My... My... Lord...”
She couldn’t go on... she had the disadvantage...
... In so many ways...
The oni girl turned and just disappeared into the shade of the woods, like a ghost.
No one moved from the position they were in... It wasn’t that they wanted her to escape, but none of them could react yet, since no one could even understand what in Hell had happened... Well, almost no one...

Some seconds later... Zenki was the first to start walking... slowly and heavily, his face emotionless... following the oni girl’s track...
“Zenki... where are you going...?”

The demon stopped.
“Don’t be an idiot, girl. Isn’t it clear...? I’m going to chase her... This fucking fight has gotta stop right now, and I’m intending to be the one left standing when it’s finished, understand…?”
Chiaki, still a bit shocked and quivering, walked towards him; she didn’t like at all that tone... It made her remember that its owner wasn’t the kind of person with which one could argue.
“Then... what will you do...? I mean, after you find her and all… and then…?”
Zenki turned and glared at her. Chiaki jolted and stopped; she remembered those eyes... Those eyes that filled her with terror the first time she saw him... such a long time ago...
Zenki looked murderous.
“Isn’t that obvious...?”
Chiaki frowned.
“You are not going to...? ... To...?”
“Kill her? That’s the word, isn’t it...?”
Zenki spoke in a cool way, smiling eerily... Just like the heartless, cruel, bloodthirsty demon he was.
Silence. Finally, Chiaki found her voice again.
“So...”
Zenki’s face darkened; his wolven smile disappeared...

“YES! You got a problem with that?” he spat to her, tired.

The demon turned and started to walk away... until Chiaki’s shout reached his ears—
“You CAN’T kill her!!!”
It wasn’t an order... It was more like a statement of doubt.
Zenki slowed his pace, turned his head a bit, and spat again:
“Why not...?”
Chiaki almost ran in order to stop him. She again felt that funny sensation of anger, just like when they used to fight in a friendly way... But this time it wasn’t a friendly fight, and they were talking seriously... especially him...
“Why not!?!??” she started, reaching him. “Because you and she——!!!”

“Me and she WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!???????” he roared, truly enraged, turning to face her. “What kind of stupid thought is filling that mass of gray clay that you call a brain!!????!!! You know nothing about this!!!!! You stupid, idiotic, useless, dirty little fuck!!!!!!! I wish I’d never told you what I told you!!!!!!!! Humans can only create problems and are always thinking bullshit!!!!! Now get out of here, and don’t you dare to follow me this time!!!!!!!!!! You are only SHIT!!!!!!!!”

He breathed heavily and turned around again, this time running through the forest. One second, and then he just vanished.
Chiaki stood there, still. She couldn’t react yet, her face white.
This time, after being a silent witness to everything, Goki approached Chiaki. He couldn’t understand anything yet, but of course he felt the tension.
A friendly hand on Chiaki shoulder; she jolted, and that impression let the cry come out. She started to sob and hid her face in her hands.
“You know, Master, I’m no one to ask, but I guess this is serious, and you will forgive me if I dare to ask for an explanation of what happened... ’cause I don’t understand one fucking thing, and that makes me feel useless, ya know...”
Chiaki turned to him, sniffing, to find his sincere smile.
“I guess you deserve that much...”

No no no no no no no no no no NO no no no no no NO no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“... Well, that’s it... don’t tell anybody yet, ’til we think of something...”

Goki, sitting on the grass, nodded. He was, in some way, out of himself as he listened to that part of Zenki’s history which he hadn’t known. He was surprised, though not completed shocked... in fact, now that he understood, he was more calm than before.
After letting the whole story out (with some omissions, of course), Chiaki sighed deeply and finally sat down, closing her eyes. The blue demon waited a few minutes before asking:
“And... what will we do now, Master...?”
Silence.
He asked again.
Same answer.

“Master, we can’t let Zenki solve this alone... He is powerful, and in spite of what happened yesterday, I’m sure he will never be beaten that easily, but...”
Silence.
“... And now, you’ve told me this... Master, I know you are confused... So am I... but we can’t just sit here and do nothing...”
Silence.
“You saw how Crystal slayed that Beast... She can do the same to Zenki...”
Silence.
“Master... please... A demon’s mind and heart are stormy and unpredictable... you know that...”
Silence.
“Master...?”
Goki didn’t like that long pause.
“You know, Goki-san...” Chiaki started slowly.
“Yes...?”
The shrine girl opened her eyes, empty and cool. She looked ahead, not seeing anything.
“We should go back to the temple...”

“??? — But—— but WHY!? Master, we——!!!!!”
“It’s getting a bit cold...”
“MASTER, WHAT ABOUT THIS!???? We can’t——”
Goki stood up and stared, confused, at his Master.

“You know...” Chiaki stood up slowly, not looking at him directly; “... Tell me, Goki... what can we do...? Have you REALLY got any good ideas…? ’Cause I don’t…”
Now, it was time for Goki to be silent.

Run.
That was the only thing she could do.
Crystal ran through the forest, not seeing a thing, not thinking a thing, like a fury.
She couldn’t breath anymore, her heart about to explode from the effort she was exerting, her lungs screaming for more air.

She tripped.
“Gah…!”

And fell to the ground. Tired as she was, she couldn’t move; she stayed there, flat on her back, just gasping for air.
She closed her eyes, feeling her whole body trembling.

What was wrong…?
What had she done…?
Crystal tried to stand up, but could only turn on her belly, her arms too sore to even use to push herself up.
She stayed there, staring at nothing.
“Gods… what have I done…”
A sudden glint caught her attention.

The sword.

When she fell, it had flown away and struck the ground, landing upright.
Crystal was hypnotized by its shine.
“Master…”
The blade represented too many things to her… It was her weapon, her comrade, her salvation, her defense, her…

… Her mission…
… Her obligation…
… Her prison…
… Her curse…

It was shameful to her to cry…
… Not a single tear came from her clear eyes, cold and emotionless…
… But her soul was almost breaking apart…

“… Mmmmhh…”
Ozuno glared at the sacred fire, praying, while Crystal told him about what happened. Of course, the monk knew something like that was bound to occur… the problem was he didn’t think about it until it was just too late… And of course he knew how Zenki would react… He would hit her… scorn her… hurt her… despise her… tell her not to even come near him again… threatening her with a painful, slow death…

“Mmmhh…”
Now, everything was lost… Now, the great Demon Lord would never trust her again… and never trust his Master, because of all this mess… Surely, Zenki would blame Ozuno for bringing Crystal forth in the first place…
But, nevertheless, she was a fine warrior; she was the best with the sword, and Ozuno could prove that a thousand times; she was agile, fast at the killing, calm while fighting. In others words, she was almost like Goki — that meant she was the perfect partner for Zenki…

But, of course, there was a little problem…
She was a ‘SHE,’ after all…

“My Lord Zenki hasn’t returned yet…”
Her voice still trembled a bit.
“I know… and I guess he will not come back, at least for a few days… I hope he WILL be back in a few days…”
Crystal felt that stab in her chest again.
It was all her fault…

But what could she have done…? She couldn’t help it… It was stronger than her, than her mission, than…
… Almost…
… Stronger than her loyalty to Ozuno…
No… no, it can’t be… it must not be.
Crystal didn’t leave her position, kneeling in front of her Master. But her thoughts weren’t there at the moment…
My Lord…
Actually, was it a big deal…? She only tried to tell him what she felt, she tried to ask for his help, if he would…
… And, last but not least, she had tried to kiss him…

… Tried…

She couldn’t reach him; one second after she embraced him, her slim body almost flew back, pushed by the force of a bestial slap. She hit the ground and lied there, tasting her own blood in her mouth. She didn’t move… didn’t want to hold his gaze anymore… She lied there until he left, without words…
That silence was more hurtful than any words he could have spoken…
Why didn’t he talk to her…? Scream at her…? Blame her…? ANYTHING??!!
No, he just went away…
Somewhere…

Now, Crystal could think more relaxed, calm, without that… ‘feeling’ stinging her.
How could she…?
How dare she…?
“Maybe… I should go out and look for him… Don’t you think… Master?”
Silence.
“No.”
Ozuno didn’t turn.
“He went away, because he wanted to… He will come back when he wants.”
“………….. Oh……………”
Silence.
“I know my disciple; when he doesn’t want to be found, nobody — not even you — can locate him… And believe me, right now he DOESN’T want to be found…”
This time the silence was complete and definitive.

Crystal stood up, bowed and walked out the shrine. It was a dark, cold night…
My Lord… where are you…
Her whole heart wanted just to storm into the forest, after any kind of scent that could bring her to the Demon Lord…

But her mind remembered the order of her Master.
And her body remained still…

… But her hands gripped the wooden sword so hard, they bled…
… She desperately wanted to feel a different kind of pain… A kind she could bear…
 
 

To be continued…