Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Ivy, Shaman Runaway ❯ Hell Bent ( Chapter 70 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

 

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Hell Bent

I waved goodbye as my little brother disappeared in a cloud of flames. Hane barked twice and tugged at my pant leg. “Hmm? Yes Hane? What is it?” Hane jumped up at me, and I caught him in my arms. He gently nudged the key that Yoh had placed around my neck. “Oh, this? Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out.” I teleported back to my campsite, and looked around for Opacho.

 

“Hello Master! Hello Hane!” Opacho smiled widely up at me, not suspecting my suicidal plot that I was still concocting. Hane jumped out of my arms, and started licking at Opacho's face.

 

“Hello Opacho.” I smiled warmly at the child and puppy. “Opacho, which tent did Yoh stay in last night?” I asked off-handedly.

 

“Uh…” Opacho was a bit hesitant. “Ahem…Opacho knows that Hao didn't want anyone to enter Ivy's old room, but…Opacho kinda let Yoh use her room. I'm so sorry; please don't hurt me!” Opacho flinched, and waited for me to strike him down.

 

“Oh, is that all. Really Opacho, I don't care. Thanks for the info.” I was about to walk off when my smallest follower stopped me.

 

“Master is not angry?”

 

“No, actually, I'm not.” I replied lazily in a Yoh-like fashion.

 

“Is Hao okay? He's not sick, is he?” A pair of chocolate brown eyes gazed up worriedly at me.

 

“Opacho?” I kneeled down to his eye level, and placed a strong hand on his shoulder.

 

“Yes?” Opacho looked straight into my dark eyes, full of seriousness.

 

“If something ever happens to me, I want you to take good care of Hane, Luca, and the girls…especially Hane. Okay?” I smiled warmly at the child, not expecting him to understand the magnitude of what I was telling him.

 

“Yes Master Hao, but what does Hao mean `if something happens to Hao'? Nothing bad is going to happen to Hao; Opacho won't let it happen!” A determined light shone brightly in Opacho's eyes.

 

“Aw, Opacho…I mean in case I'm killed or die or am murdered. I want you to take everyone and go follow Yoh. Be a good boy, and do whatever my brother asks of you. Understand Opacho?” I cupped his little cheek in my hand and smiled half-heartedly.

 

“Opacho understands, but why is Hao telling Opacho this now?”

 

I lightly hugged my `little brother figure', and whispered, “I might not be with you for very much longer, and I want you all to be taken care of.”

 

“Master!!” Opacho cried as he held on tightly to me, not wanting me to die. “I don't want you to go! Please don't leave me! I need you!”

 

“Shhhh…” I tried to soothe the small boy. “Be a good boy for my brother, and take care of the others for me. I've lost the will to live, Opacho, and I'm no real use to anyone anymore. I'll be dead by sunset, and there's no way to stop me from dying. I don't expect anyone to understand, but I'm better off in Hell. It's not such a horrid place; there's fire all over, and after already being there twice before, it's become my second home.” I set down the boy, and made my way to Ivy's old room.

 

“Master…”

 

It took me five whole minutes to get up the nerve to go inside. I knew that as soon as I walked into that room, a bunch of bad memories would resurface. When I opened the door, memories immediately came rushing back to me.

 

=Flashback=

 

It was late at night, and I was up sneaking around my campsite. I quietly approached my fiancée's tent. Ivy had insisted on sleeping in a separate tent from me since we weren't married yet.

 

`Typical, humanized, naïve, girl. Who waits for marriage these days?'

 

Apparently Ivy did. She was too shy to even French kiss me. `That's all right, I'll have her on her knees begging for me soon enough.'

 

I opened the door to my wife-to-be's tent, and stealthily made my way over to her bed. “Ivy.” I called softly.

 

She stirred slightly, but did not wake. “Ivy!” I tried again.

 

Still no luck. “Ivy, I love you, and I want you to consent to something so you can't sue me when you wake up in the middle of this.” I hovered over her and breathed my words into her ear.

 

“Hmm?” Ivy's obsidian eyes flickered open and she blinked sleepily up at me. “Master? What time is it?” My lovely maiden sat up in bed and blushed when she got a good look at me. I slid off my poncho, and got into bed next to her. “And why are you only wearing your boxers?!”

 

“Shh…” She gulped as I inched my way closer, waiting for the opportune moment to take her. “It' s less to take off if I'm only in my boxers. Now, let's get you out of some of those clothes.” I reached out for her pajama top.

 

“What?! Why would you want to do that?!” Ivy kept inching away from me, but soon ran out of bed and fell to the floor.

 

I followed her to the ground, and situated myself on top of her. “Look, I promise it will only hurt for a little at first. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose. You know that, right?”

 

Ivy looked up at me and gulped as she nodded.

 

“Now, do you want to do this on the bed, or on the floor? I think it would be more comfortable for you on the bed; what do you say, Ivy?”

 

“I…uh…Master? I…whateveryouwantMaster!” She seemed so scared and nervous and confused all at the same time.

 

I took the moment to read her mind, hoping to piece together her broken up thoughts. `What is he talking about?! What's he doing to me?! What's going to hurt?! What's going on?! He wouldn't hurt me, he loves me…doesn't he?! I don't understand at all!! God he looks good without a shirt on…Where did that come from!? Why am I thinking like that about him?! What's happening?! I don't think Ren would like him being on top of me like this. Ren hates it when I even hold hands with boys. Master wouldn't do anything bad to me…he wouldn't. I know he wouldn't. Why is he looking at me like that?! He's really scaring me…What is he going to do to me?!'

 

I had heard enough. I got up off of her and helped her to her feet. I wrapped my poncho back around myself and sighed.

 

“Master?” Ivy blinked stupidly. Her blush had gone down now that I had my poncho covering me.

 

“Ivy, have you even ever heard of something called sex?” I asked sullenly.

 

“Uh…yes…” She blinked a few times, but didn't blush.

 

I sighed yet again. `She has no idea what I'm talking about.' “You know, sometimes you make me feel like I'm taking advantage of a child, Ivy.” `I'll have Kanna, Mari, and Macchi explain it to her.' I kissed Ivy lightly on the forehead, and walked back to my own tent.

 

=End Flashback=

 

I shook off the sense of déjà vu and found Ivy's boots where Yoh had said they would be. They were torn up pretty badly, but sure enough, they were Ivy's beloved black leather boots. I sat down on her bed, took the key from around my neck, and searched for a keyhole. It took some prodding and poking, but eventual the little keyhole cover came off, and I was able to open the secret compartment in both shoes.

 

The compartments opened to reveal sheets upon sheets of paper. I picked up one and started reading.

 

You may have noticed that I haven't written in awhile; I've been unconscious for the past couple days. I accidentally destroyed another village. I suppose that I'm lucky that I haven't destroyed any major villages where people would notice the village was completely decimated, and people would come after me and kill me. I'm also lucky that someone was there to stop me.

 

I don't know his name, and am told to refer to him only as `Master'. He's purposed a deal: He will teach me to control my powers if I marry him when he becomes Shaman King. Well, of course I said yes. He's gorgeous! He has long mahogany-crimsonish hair that comes down to his lower back, beautiful dark brown eyes, and his body is amazing. He seems to be a strong shaman; his furyoku levels give me the chills. I must admit he does dress strangely, but it suits him, and he looks so handsome.

 

I can't help but be nervous around him; he's somewhere around my age, but he's got a whole band of followers who do whatever he says. Despite the obvious power he has over me, he's kind to me, and seems to genuinely care for me. He says he loves me, and I think I love him too. I don't think I've ever been in love before. I've never met many boys, so I don't suppose I've known any males long enough to fall in love. It seems strange that I've fallen for him so fast, but maybe that just means that it's meant to be.

 

`It's her diary. She's writing about me.' I smiled softly at her words. `Such a naïve little girl…How could someone who started out so innocent become a woman like Ivy? What did I do to her? What did she do to me? She's changed me just as much as I changed her. Her soul was of the purest, cleanest white, and mine was of the darkest, dirtiest black…now all that's left is a dull shade of gray.'

 

I set down the sheet I had been reading, and picked up a different entry.

 

I think I'm getting better at controlling my powers. Peyote was teasing me today about `not being able to control it when I got angry'. Of course this made me mad; I started yelling at him and screaming, but nothing blew up! After I regained my cool, Master smiled approvingly at me and nodded. I've learned to take this as his equivalent of `Good job; keep up the good work.'

 

I feel weak in the knees when he smiles at me—not those fake smiles and smirks he puts on for show (of course those make me swoon too…), I mean his real smiles. You never really see Master's true smile, but when he does show it, God it's amazing! I'm constantly in awe of how I got such a godly creature as a fiancée. What could he possibly see in me?

 

`I fell in love with your personality. Spunky, hotheaded, determined, caring, selfless, innocent, and oblivious all wrapped up in the same package. I also loved the way you thought. You're mind constantly kept me second-guessing everything about you. One minute all you could think about was another person, but the next second the only thing coming out of your mouth was `What's in it for me?' Of course you never meant it…So many personalities and façades to sort through to find the real Ivy, but in the end, they all turned out to be a part of the same whole. She had so many conflicting thoughts and emotions running through her head that it was hard to read her mind. Just when I thought I knew what she was doing, she'd turn around and do the opposite. I still don't think I could say exactly how her mind worked. I also loved her body…she had a perfect body, but she didn't know it. Beautiful lines, amazing curves, everything about her was wonderful.' I smiled sadly as I remembered everything about that woman that made me insane. I picked up another page, this one was from a later date.

 

Today was an awful day in some perspectives: I lost control of my powers, and almost drown. Master told me I wasn't ready, and that he wouldn't teach me how to summon major storms yet, but I told him I didn't need him, and I tried to teach myself. It turned out rather badly…I'm just glad that he was there to save me. Whoever invented CPR is a genius; I should almost drown more often so Master and I can do that again.

 

Ahh! There I go again with these less than descent thoughts about Master! It's not my fault I feel this way about him, is it? No. No, it's not. How can any woman resist him? He's just too—is there even a word for it?! Sometimes I have daydreams about him, and I end up blushing horribly when he wakes me from them. Then I remember he can read minds, and I wonder if he knows that I'm thinking such sinful things about him.

 

He says I'm cute when I blush, but I wonder does he know why I'm blushing? Perhaps if he knew, he wouldn't use such a childish word as `cute' to describe me.

 

But all that is beside the point: What was really good about today was that he told me the first letter of his name: H. I wrote down all the H names I could think of and just started randomly asking. He listened patiently as I went through a few names: Haru, Hiei, Haku, Hiro, and Howe, but after that he said: “Awe, come on Ivy, now you're just randomly guessing!” I made one final guess: Hoshi since he seems to love the stars so much. He said, “Nope, but I do like the sound of it. I suppose if you wanted to you could call me Hoshi sometimes.”

 

I think it's a cute name for him, and it does seem to suit him.

 

I set down the sheet and remembered that night. She had come pretty close. `Her guessing was pretty cute though.' I picked up another sheet, vowing that this would be the last for now. It wasn't right to go through someone else's diary. `I'll read more later.'

 

After I had started reading it, I wished I hadn't have picked it up at all. It was from possibly the worst day of any of my lives, and Ivy's words on that day bit at my heart, trying to rip it from my chest and tear it to shreds. The Ivy that made this entry was an angry one, who thought she had been used and betrayed. The diary entry I had picked up was from the day she had completed her training, and had demanded I told her my real name.

 

I honestly don't know how to say this. I don't know how I should go about writing this. Actually maybe it would be better to not record this event in the course of history. It would have been better for me if this whole day had just been a horrible nightmare instead of reality. I want to die. No, I want him to die. I want to kill him! I know I could never bring myself to do it though…I love him. But I hate him. He doesn't love me like I thought he did. All he wanted was my powers, and my body.

 

I was a fool to believe him! But I was his fool. I was there simply to amuse him, and to entertain him. I was a joke to him. Everything I have come to believe in over these past months has been a joke! I cried for hours after he told me. I cried and cried and cried. I didn't want it to be true. I wanted him to love me. I searched for any way possible for it just to be one of his cruel jokes. It's not this time; this time it's real.

 

I loved him, but all he wanted was me and my powers. He seemed to actually care about me, but it turns out he's a great actor. I can't believe that he would do this to me, yet it's so easy to believe. Now that I think about it, he had seemed a little rehearsed when it came to talking to me and convincing me that his intentions were good. I was so naïve…God I was an idiot! He must have been laughing at me behind my back this entire time!

 

He's probably done this before! He's probably done this to hundreds of other naïve girls. Lured them in, took advantage of them, and once he had had his fun, he killed them, or left them for dead. He was probably planning to do the same thing to me. That bastard! To think I wanted him to do all those things to me! Now that I think about it, maybe he did have feelings for me after all. He seemed so nervous when he told me; it was like he wanted me to understand, and he wanted me to forgive him.

 

I just don't know anymore!! I want to forgive him, but I can't. I want to hold a grudge against him, but my mind refuses to. My mind and my body are out of sync. They think and feel completely different things about him. My mind says `Stay away from him; he's evil! Look how he hurt you!' But my body argues `Give in to him; he obviously wants to marry you! Besides he said it would only hurt a little at first.' I have no idea what my heart truly wants. I feel sick to my stomach, and all my thoughts are jumbled. Everything is just a big blur.

 

Maybe I should tell you what happened. I'll try to recount events as accurately as possible:

 

It was right around dinnertime, but Master and I were nowhere near camp. We were out training in the clearing. I had just learned how to successfully summon major storms, and be able to control them. Master sat on one of the stumps on the beach, and watched me as I worked.

 

He called out to me to stop just as I started to feel like I would pass out. “Ivy! Come here! We're done for today!”

 

I was exhausted from the effort I had been putting out all day, and just as I made it to shore, I collapsed. Master rushed over to me, and propped me up in his arms. “Hey…You okay?” He softly cooed to me.

 

“Yes Master…I'll be fine. I'm just so worn out.” I tried to get up, but ended up falling over again, landing on top of him.

 

“Whoa…easy does it, Ivy.” He slowly helped me to my feet, but kept his arms, one around my waist, and the other resting on the middle part of my back. “You're sure you're fine?”

 

“Maybe not…” I lay my head on his shoulder and almost fell asleep cuddled up against him. “But I'd feel a whole lot better if you just held me like this forever.”

 

“Forever, Ivy?” I could hear the gentle smile in his voice. He loved holding me like that, and I knew he wouldn't object.

 

“No. Not forever. I take it back.”

 

“Ivy?” His voice contained an underlying hint of worry that I had decided I didn't love him like I thought I did.

 

“I want you to hold me always. Always is longer than forever.” I could feel the smile return to his face as he tightened his hold embrace on me.

 

“I love you.” He picked me up bridal style and sat down on a nearby stump with me on his lap.

 

“I love you too.” I happily sighed, still resting my head on his shoulder.

 

“I've taught you all that I can about mastering your Allure powers. There is nothing more I can do for you.” Hao seemed sad at this, but I couldn't understand why.

 

“Does this mean that I'm through with my training?!” I picked my head off of his chest and looked excitedly into his eyes. He nodded a simple yes. “That means you have to tell me your real name!” I cried happily.

 

“Yes, I suppose it's time…Are you certain you want to know?” I nodded enthusiastically. “All right then.” He looked me straight in the eye and warned me. “Ivy, you might not like what I'm about to tell you. I've kept some things from you that I shouldn't have, and I wasn't entirely truthful with you. I feel horribly about it, and I don't expect you to forgive me, but it would be really amazing if you could please just try and understand why I did what I did.” He seemed ashamed. Master had never ever looked like that before. Shame was not a word in his vocabulary.

 

“Master…” A bright smile lit up my face, earning a questioning look from my fiancée. “You can tell me. Everyone has had a time when they haven't been 100% truthful; it's only human. What is it? I promise I won't be too mad. It's not like you're some pyromaniac, murderer out to destroy the world or anything like that. You're my fiancée, the man I love. You can tell me.”

 

The color drained from his face, and he gulped. “Heh…heh…funny you should say that...” He laughed pathetically and tugged at the neckline of his poncho. “Ivy…my name is…Hao.” He waited for me to explode with anger or something, but I didn't.

 

“Hao?” I smiled slightly and let the name roll off my tongue. “What a cute name! Hao…” I lightly stroked his bangs and repeated his name. “Hao…” Then something struck a cord in my memory. “Wait. Hao…I've heard that name somewhere before…”

 

“It's a pretty common name.” He jumped in, trying to stop me from thinking about it any deeper.

 

“Really? I didn't think it was that common…Hmm. No, I swear Yohmei said something about someone named Hao…” My fiancée waited with bated breath for me to remember something that might tear me from him. “Nope. Can't remember.” I smiled happily up at Hao, and a relieved smile flooded onto his face.

 

“How do you spell `Hao' anyway? Do you use the English spelling? Or maybe Chinese? Is there a Japanese spelling?” I closed my eyes and leaned back up against him, almost falling asleep.

 

“Silly, naïve girl. H-A-O. Hao.” Master kissed me lightly on the forehead and lifted my sleeping body bridal style to carry me home.

 

I stirred slightly when Hao stood up with me. “Master Hao?”

 

“Sorry, didn't mean to wake you.” He smiled his cute little apologetic smile at me, and then added as an after-thought. “You don't have to call me `Master' anymore, you know. Just Hao is fine.”

 

“It's all right. I like calling you `Master Hao'. It sounds cute. By the way, you never said what your last name was.” I starred expectantly at him as he visibly paled.

 

“Family names aren't important.” He set me down on my own feet and started walking away back to the campsite.

 

“Yes they are.” I followed after him, shaking off sleep. “When we're married your name will become mine, and I want to know if I'm stuck with something stupid.”

 

Hao paused, stopping in mid-step. “Ivy, I don't have a family.”

 

“What? Are you an orphan?” I slowly approached him; he still had his back to me.

 

“No.”

 

“Then…I'm not quite sure I understand. Hao?” My hand gently came to rest upon his shoulder; he shivered at my touch.

 

“I've been disowned by my family. They were plotting to kill me the instant I was born. I just narrowly escaped, but recently they've been training a young woman to become the ultimate shaman and destroy me. They just don't understand why I do what I do…They are such close-minded fools. They refuse to tell my younger brother that he has an older twin. They have been hunting me for a very long time, and when they find me, they will kill me.” Hao turned to look me in the eye, a sadistic smile planted on his lips.

 

“Hao…” I reached out and lovingly stroked his cheek. “What kind of horrible people are you related to?!”

 

Hao's face took on an `isn't it ironic' look as he spoke his next sentence. “I believe you know them well: The Asakuras. Ivy…I am Hao Asakura, and you are the one that they were training to destroy me. I am the one that Yohmei warned you about. I've been watching you since you were little, and just this year I decided to implement my plan. I was going to use you to help me win the title of Shaman King so that I can exterminate all humans and create a shaman only world.”

 

He looked straight into my eyes and told me that he had been using me. He starred unblinkingly into my obsidian orbs and told me he had lied. He gazed sadly at me and confessed he was a murderer. I starred back at him, looking for a crack in his façade that told me he was teasing me. There was no crack. He was completely serious. And yet, I still couldn't believe him. My body, mind, heart, and soul refused to believe that I was in love with the very man I was sworn to hate.

 

At first I couldn't say anything. I was too shocked to move or speak or cry. I felt as if I might explode, but I just stood there. We stood there starring at each other. Waiting for the other to say something. He would have to talk before I did, for my mind had gone blank, and I had nothing to say.

 

“Ivy?” Hao's dark chocolate eyes looked into my own black ones. He tilted my chin up so that he would have easier access to my lips, if the need arose.

 

His utterance of my name was enough to set me free from the trance he had cast upon me. “Please tell me you're joking.”

 

“If I said that I'd be lying to you, and I think I've told you enough lies to last all the rest of my lifetimes put together.” His forlorn smile didn't falter. He was telling the truth.

 

“Is it true? All the horrible things Master Yohmei said about you, I mean.” I cast my gaze downward, no longer able to meet his depressing stare.

 

“Most likely yes. I've murdered, stolen, rapped, lied, used people, tricked people, killed children, women, and men with no regard for their sex or age. It didn't matter who they were; they were in my way, so they died. I've done terrible things over the course of my lives. My goal is to wipe out all humans, and to achieve such a goal, you have to be pretty ruthless. If it makes you feel better, I have a good reason to do what I do.” I could still feel his gaze on me even if I wasn't looking at him.

 

“What could possibly be worth such a huge blood sacrifice?!” I had to work hard so that that sentence didn't sound like I was yelling at him. I wanted to yell at him, I hated the way he spoke about all the lives he had ruined like they meant nothing to him. “Don't you care about all the innocent blood on your hands?!” The man I had come to love was breaking apart right in front of me, and if things continued, all that would be left would be a bloodthirsty monster.

 

“Ivy my dear, I'm doing this to save the world from the humans.” He tried to take me in his arms to comfort me, but I would have none of it.

 

I pushed him away from me, and glared at him, looking him full in the face. “Don't touch me! I don't want you to ever touch me again! I don't want you to get blood all over me!” I turned on my heels, and started to storm off into the woods.

 

His voice stopped me just as I was about to take my first step into the brush. “You hate me don't you?” His voice shook slightly like a small child who had just been slapped.

 

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. I didn't know what I thought of him anymore. I was too flustered, too angry, too hurt to think straight.

 

“It's okay…I…I've been hated before. I can deal with it…I just thought that maybe you would understand.” His voice became steadier as he went along until he sounded like his normal self. “You're not so different from me. You know what despicable creatures humans are. Parents abandon their children because the child is different. Humans destroy whatever they touch. They are hypocrites. They are killing the earth they live on. They need to be stopped. Hate me all you want, but you're stuck with me. I held up my end of the deal, and now it's your turn. You have to marry me when I become Shaman King. I know what a truthful person you are Ivy, and I know you won't go back on your word. Does it really matter what I've done? You loved me before you knew about my past, and I've fallen in love with you. I know you still love me even if you do hate me. You're too far involved to get out of this now.”

 

I turned around, marched right up to him, and slapped him. Hard. “You bastard. You're a monster. True, I am like you in the way that my parents too disowned me and tried to kill me the very day I was born, but I forgive them. I hate them for mistreating me, but I want to get to know them and try to be accepted by them. They didn't tell my own twin about me either, but that's okay because I can try to track down my sister and introduce myself. I'm also like you in the prospect that I've murdered senselessly, but the main difference between us is that I'm sorry for what I've done. I know that what I did was wrong, and I want to be forgiven. I feel guilty about all the people I've killed! I care that I'm a lousy murderer! You don't seem to care even if you're covered in blood! How could I possibly marry someone like you? True, I promised I would marry you, but that doesn't mean I have to be a faithful wife.” I turned away from him, and tried yet again to leave the clearing.

 

“Ivy!” Hao called after me, but I didn't stop. I didn't feel like talking to him. Ever again. “Ivy!” This time he was a bit more forceful when he shouted my name. “God damn it Ivy, listen to me!” A circle of fire appeared around the two of us, keeping me from escaping.

 

I stopped walking, but refused to look at him.

 

“Ivy.” His voice was icy and murderous. It sent chills running up and down my spine. I can honestly say at this point, I was fearful for my life, but I tried not to show it. I didn't want him to know that I was afraid of him.

 

“Look at me.” He seized the upper part of my arm, and flung me around to face him. His rough treatment caused me to gasp softly.

 

“Why would I want to look at such an ugly monster?” It didn't take me long to recover, and my voice quickly became cold and mocking. The only thing on my mind right then was to hurt him as much as possible.

 

“Because you love me, that's why!” Hao grabbed and restrained me as he forced his lips upon mine. I resisted him as well as I could, but seconds later I found myself on the ground with him on top of me, one hand up my skimpy red shirt. I kept squirming, but he was just so much more powerful and stronger than I was. I'm not going to write all the horrible things he did to me. How ironic that not long before that I had actually wished that he would do those sinful things to me. He didn't rape me though…he stopped just short of that.

 

When he pulled away for air I breathlessly gasped, “What are you going to do? Rape me, then kill me?”

 

“Is that how you see it Ivy?” Hao chuckled as he smiled cruelly. “You wouldn't have said that if I had tried this on you fifteen minutes ago. Also, no, I'm not going to kill you or rape you. I still have use of you, so there would be no sense in killing you now. You will help me create my Shaman-only world, and you will marry me, and you will not be an unfaithful slut! Got that?!” His eyes burned wildly with rage, hate, and a bit of lust.

 

He was really scaring me, and I couldn't hide it any longer. “Please…don't hurt me…” I closed my eyes tightly and waited for him to do something.

 

He got off of me. “Get up.” My fiancée ordered, no emotion what so ever evident in his voice.

 

I did as he commanded, redressing myself and straightening my clothing as I stood. “Hao?”

 

He too put his clothes back on, turning away from me, as if he were too ashamed to look. “What?” His voice betrayed a hint of anger.

 

“A-are you…okay?” I stepped so that I was half facing, half turned away from him.

 

“What do you care? You want to kill me. I can read your mind; I sense all the hate built up inside of you. You want me dead.” I shivered at the tone of his voice. He sounded like he was happy that I wanted him to die. He sounded excited about death. His once smooth and enticing voice now wreaked of suicide.

 

I swallowed hard, and turned to face his back. “Hao…I…”

 

“Don't start with me Ivy.” He cut me off, and turned on me. My eyes widened in fear. Oh God he looked absolutely insane. I slowly backed away, scared for my life. “What's the matter Ivy? You loved me before you knew of my past, but now you're going to let little issues like me being a homicidal pyromaniac get in the way of your feelings?”

 

My breathing sped up, and my heartbeat could be heard loud and clear for miles around. “Hao…please…what are you doing?” I tripped backwards, and landed in a somewhat sitting position on the ground. I continued to back way from him, not bothering to get to my feet.

 

“Oh, so now you're scared of me? HAHAHA!! I didn't think you'd be scared of anything Ivy. You look so cute when you're helpless.” I could no longer back up because of the flames surrounding us.

 

I was trapped, but something about his last comment irked me. “I am NOT helpless!” I summoned a bolt of lightening; it struck at his feet, but did not hit him.

 

“Fighting back are we?” He seized me by my throat and lifted me into the air. “Good wives shouldn't resist their husbands.” He slammed me to the ground, and I think that's when he broke a few of my ribs. “Now, Ivy. We both know that you're mine to command. I own you, so submit to my will!”

 

I still can't believe what he did to me. I thought he loved me, but…oh God it was horrible! I screamed in pain and begged him to stop, but how loud I cried and screamed his name didn't seem to matter to him. He came at me harder and faster regardless of my tears. I was already exhausted from my training, and found it almost impossible to fight back. I wanted to die.

 

“But Ivy, I'm not done with you yet. You can die later.” Hao responded to my thoughts in a smug tone. He sounded like he really had gone insane, and the look on his face didn't help his sanity plead. He was having fun torturing me. It shone through brightly on his face how much he was enjoying it.

 

“It's all right. You've already killed me. You've wrecked my life, and have taken everything from me. You've killed me…and I bet you don't even care.” I glared up at him as he restrained my broken body from resisting him.

 

“Shut up.” Hao pushed me to the ground again, and forced his way inside my mouth. I didn't react to him at all. I lay there and did nothing.

 

When he pulled away, I continued taunting. “You don't care about me, just like you didn't care about all those others that you mercilessly slaughtered. What's worse, you're loving every second of this. You love hearing me scream in pain. You enjoy beating me to a bloody pulp. Why don't you just end it already? Stop playing with your food, and eat it!”

 

“I told you to SHUT UP!!” Then he…he…I'm sorry, I'll have to tell you later. I'm still really `beat up' about it. My body is still so sore…He truly is a monster. A murdering, homicidal, fiancée beating, monster.

 

I stuffed Ivy's diary entries back into the compartment of her boots, and locked both of the shoes up tight. The guilt of what I had done that night came flooding back to me. I had beaten her. I had broken four ribs, one leg, one wrist, three fingers, and had dislocated her shoulder and her jawbone. I had also given her a minor skull fracture. No, I hadn't raped her; I had done worse.

 

I still don't know what had come over me. I didn't mean to hurt her, but I couldn't control myself. I had snapped right after she slapped me. I had simply lost control of my body, and started punching and kicking and slapping and God knows what else I did to her. She had just made me so angry. She had no right to judge me for my actions, yet she looked down on me just the same. I was just so angry, that I temporarily went insane.

 

After she had told me to stop playing with her I had forced her up against a tree and hit her some more. I threw her to ground, and she hit her head on a rock. That was about when I regained my senses and realized what I had done. There on the ground lay my beloved fiancée, bloody and bruised, some of her bones sticking through her skin. Worst of all, her blood was on my hands.

 

I teleported her back to Luca's tent, and he freaked out when he saw the blood and the bones and the bruises. His eyes went wide and he kept asking `Oh my God!! What happened!? Master are you all right?! What happened to Ivy!? She's been beaten within an inch of her life! Who did this to her?! Hao, what happened?!' I only broke down in tears and stuttered `I…I..I-I…I…'

 

Oh God I didn't mean to do it. I didn't leave her side for the few days she was unconscious. It was slowly killing me to see her like that; what made it worse was that it was all my fault. Luca used his shamanic powers to heal her, so she didn't have any broken bones and such when she woke, but he couldn't make the bruises go away.

 

When she first woke up I immediately started apologizing. I reached out to gently stroke her cheek, but she pulled away from me, flinching. “Please…don't hurt me…” She was scared to death of me. From then on she was always so cold to me, and I in turn started to act cruelly toward her.

 

“Master?” A small whisper of a voice woke me from my depressing thoughts.

 

I looked to the doorway of Ivy's tent to see Opacho, looking worriedly at me, Hane at his heels. “Y-yes?” My voice cracked slightly.

 

“Opacho was worried…Master Hao didn't answer Opacho the first few times Opacho called.” Opacho stepped tentatively forward, as if he was afraid of me. “Hao has been acting so strangely…Opacho wants the old Hao back. Opacho wants the Hao that Hao was when he was training Ivy. Opacho liked that Hao best.”

 

A sad smile lit up my face and I stood up and walked over to Opacho, picking him up. “I'm sorry to worry you Opacho. I want that Hao back too, but unfortunately, that Hao is dead.”

 

Opacho snuggled up against my chest and started crying softly. “I know Opacho…I know…”

 

“Is Hao going to Ivy's funeral?”

 

My voice wavered, “Y-yes. I am.” but then regained its strength, “I'm going.”

 

“Luca wants to talk with Hao. Luca is in Luca's tent.”

 

“Thank you.” I carefully set Opacho down beside the dog, and made my way to Luca's tent.

 

“Oh Master…Opacho doesn't want to lose Hao…” `Maybe I should tell him about the deal that we made with the angels…No. Luca will tell him. It is Luca's job. Or maybe Kanna's…I just don't know…'

 

Luca wasn't in his tent like Opacho had said, so I decided to wait inside the tent for him to get back. In the mean time, I surveyed the room and its contents. I hadn't been in Luca's tent very many times, so I had never really taken the time to look at all the junk he had in there. He had lot of religious artifacts, Bibles, crosses, oils, and other holy things that would probably burn me if I tried to touch them with my evil blood-soaked hands. Luca also had a lot of medical equipment. When I had first met him, he hadn't seemed like the doctorly type, but he had proved to be indispensable as my group's medic.

 

I wandered farther into the tent, and came upon a table full of weird glass containers and test tubes. The little tubes were full of different colored liquids and powders. I picked up one containing some sort of metallically gray substance and studied it.

 

“Master!” I dropped the tube when a deep voice suddenly broke in on the silence that had just filled the room. Luckily I caught the little container before it hit the ground.

 

“Yes Luca?”

 

“Master, don't touch that.” Luca took the tube away from me like a little child, and set it back where I had found it. “That's not for children.

 

“`Children' Luca?” I reached to pick it back up.

 

Luca slapped my hand away and looked down at me all-knowingly. “Yes. `Children' Hao.”

 

“What is it?” I asked throwing curious glances back at the pretty looking substance.

 

“Poison.” Luca stated simply as he turned his back to me to rummage through his closet.

 

“What kind of poison?” I picked the vial back up since my guardian wasn't looking.

 

“Arsenic.”

 

“That's deadly, right?” My interest in the little substance heightened.

 

“Yes, that's why it's called a poison.” Luca pulled out several black outfits that looked exactly like the one he always wore. All his clothes looked the same to me.

 

“How much would I—er—someone have to take to die?” I inspected the substance in the vial more closely.

 

“Not much.

 

“How much is `not much'? Would downing this bottle be enough?”

 

“Hey! Put that down! It's a deadly poison, not a toy!” Luca had turned around and noticed that the test tube had found its way back to my hands.

 

“Sorry Luca.” I faked an apology, not being the least bit sorry at all.

 

“It's okay.” Luca returned the bottle to its proper location yet again. “Actually, taking that whole tube full would be overkill. You could kill an elephant with that. Probably even half the vial would be overdoing it. That's some dangerous stuff.”

 

“Is it instant?” Luca returned his attention to his black outfits.

 

“Hmmm…well that depends on how much you take. You could take it in small doses and that would kill you slowly over time, but if you take it in one big dose…I'm pretty sure that if you take any substantial amount over 65mg then…Wait. Why do you want to know this?” Luca looked over his shoulder and glared suspiciously at me.

 

“Geez…Just curious.” I shrugged off his concern.

 

“All right then. I wanted to speak with you about the funeral today. About Ivy. You see Kanna—“

 

“—That's right! I really should go get ready.” I cut Luca off before he could get out his important piece of information. “I'll see you later Luca; thanks for the info!” I grabbed the friendly looking vial that held the metallic grey substance, and dashed out of the tent.

 

“That boy…hmmm.”

 

“And where is Hao going in such a hurry?” Marion stepped out in front of my path.

 

I skidded to a stop in front of her, and Matilda joined Mari in my way.

 

“What's up Master?” The redhead propped herself up by leaning on her broom.

 

“Uh…nothing.” I tried to step around the duo, but they would have none of it. I couldn't get past.

 

“Mari doubts it.” The blonde stepped forward and took hold of my chin. She looked deeply into my eyes while moving my head to face different angles; side to side, up and down. “There is something Mari does not like about the look in his eyes. What does Macchi think?”

 

Macchi pushed Mari to one side, and studied my eyes as Mari had seconds earlier. “Something's wrong…I just can't put my finger on it. Master?”

 

I pulled away and walked past them, partway shutting my eyes. “I told you: it is noting.”

 

“You sure don't act as if it's nothing.” Kanna's voice echoed from behind me.

 

I turned to look at my blue-haired follower. “Hello Kanna. You just can't seem to keep out of other people's business, can you? When I say nothing is wrong, it means: nothing is wrong.” I rolled my eyes and started back towards my tent.

 

“It's about Ivy, isn't it.”

 

“Everything is about Ivy. Goodbye Kanna. Mari, Macchi.” `Take care of yourselves.' Hane let out a sad bark as he followed me into my tent.

 

“I don't think Luca got the chance to tell him.” Mari and Macchi nodded as the three women watched me walk away.