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Chapter 8: New Beginnings Part II

The beam shined a dark purple, pulsing with the hatred that Auria's father put into it. Zack stared in wonder at the blast for a moment before his instincts kicked in telling him that being in front of the blast was a BAD place to be. Quickly he began to summon his internal energy and form it in his hand, once again forming it into a blade like he had tried so long ago.

"KITSUNE BLADE!!" he shouted just as the blast collided with his defenseless form.

"ZACK!!" Auria screamed in terror as she realized he didn't try to dodge the attack. She collapsed on her knees, sobbing and moaning, "No...Zack, why didn't you move..." she punched into the dirt, "...W-wait..." she said.

Auria couldn't explain it, but she could feel that Zack was still alive. 'Why can I feel his heart?' Auria thought to herself as she was still kneeling in the dirt. "Wait! I remember now..."

A voice wispers into Auria's mind, quiet, soft, loving, 'What do you remember, Auria?'

Auria begins to stand up as she sees a figure inside the beam, "...Zack and I will always be as one..."

The voice wispers in reply, 'And why is that?'

"Because....because we are in love..."

'And?'

The figure started to push the beam back with something in his hand.

"We...we are..."

(In unison with the voice) "MATES!" she shouted as she teleported into the blast to the figure.

.....

Now Resnya's father had seen his daughter collapse and weep and assumed it was because memories of her mother were flooding back since she had seen the humans. He held the blast on the first human making sure that no trace of his being would be left but then began to feel an incredible power coming from the human, and that power felt, familiar.

"Wait...I know this energy," he said, "...this energy feels just like....La'ratha's... How is that possible? The only way for a human to gain such power and the ability to wield it would be from a blood ritual, and if I remember correctly, my La'ratha never performed that ritual with her human partner."

(A note about human/renamon relationships. Renamon are very protective of their loved ones and will guard them even jealously, however renomon are very open minded and in only a few cases stay loyal to only one mate. Because of this, renamon are known to find human partners because they (and their human partners) seek a relationship which they can devote themselves to)

As he held the blast, he thought back to when humans had first appeared in the village. It had been two humans that hadn't their own names so they were given the names Pyro and Aquos. Fitting names as each represented an element, one that could heal (water = aquos), and one that could destroy (pyro = fire) and this was meant to represent how while the village was accepting them peacefully, they would take caution until the humans proved they could be trusted.

These humans, as it had turned out, were kind, gentle people in the beginning. They did anything that they were asked and performed many menial tasks that they offered to take care of, claiming that, "No one should have to work as hard as they did without some fresh help every now and then." Eventually, as time passed, everyone in the village grew to trust and care for the humans. One night the village held a secret meeting and everyone decided to reward the humans with the honor of becoming officially a part of their family by performing the blood ritual with them and giving them special weapons so that they might be able to fight to protect the village, the highest honor for a renamon or renomon.

"That night...that was the night everything changed..." he growled in agony.

They had spent all day working on preparing the weapons and the celebration for the humans. When the time finally came, even La'ratha had traveled back from the human world in order to personally give them the weapons, as she was the strongest of the village at the time.

"We are gathered here, today, to grant these humans, Pyro and Aquos, membership into our family for their deeds and loyalty towards our village. With these new additions to our family, so too do we award them with the honor of joining our family, and blades by which they can fight alongside us!" La'ratha shouted to the crowd. Everyone erupted into cheers as the blades were presented to the humans. With thanks, the humans picked up the blades...and that was when something changed.

Their eyes, for only a millisecond, flashed a red gleam, then it was gone. Several renomon had noticed it, but in the heat of the jubilation of the crowd, they ignored it. That proved to be a grave mistake, for then, no less than 2 seconds after recieving the blades, the humans turned to La'ratha and both simultaneously ran her through the heart with their blades and then proceeded to kill everyone around. The renamon and renomon were all so caught off guard, that more than a 2/3 of the people had died. Those that had survived had taken La'ratha to a medical hut for healing, however did not wait for medical personnel before taking off again to fight the brothers. By the time they had returned, Nearly all renamon had been killed, only An'niya (Auria) and her sister Ni'ki had survived, however Auria was the only one that Zack, Aquos, Pyro and

Coming out of his memory, he noticed Auria stand up, shouting, "MATES!" just before teleporting away. Quickly he used a telepathic trace and found that she was inside the beam with the human...but both she and the human were fine. They were even...getting stronger?!

"What in the name of...." he started to growl to himself as his blast was destroyed, spewing smoke in every direction, "Auria why did you...?" he asked himself.

.....

The Avians simply watched the battle from the sidelines, having waited outside the house. At first they thought perhaps to try and help Zack but seeing as they had a ... "history" they decided it would be best to simply wait it out. It wasn't fun though.

"Brother we should be helping them!" Aquos pleaded to his brother.

"Silence! I want to watch this...see just what we're up against..." Pyro hissed.

"What?! What did you say? Brother, the curse-form....you're losing yourself..."

"Shutup you pathetic worm! If I so much as even hear you mutter another syllable I will kill you myself!!"

'I must warn Zack and Auria,' Aquos thought, 'The curse is taking over far sooner than expected and this battle isn't helping it at all...'

.....

From inside the hut, another renamon, stood just inside the doorway. No one had noticed her at first as she had originally been in a back section of the hut. When she had heard Auria's voice, she came to see and found her father in a deathmatch with a human.

"What is going on?" she said aloud, then mentally, 'I thought I heard An'niya...'

Then she heard An'niya again, except this time she was shouting, "MATES!" and then she saw An'niya teleport.

"ALRIGHT WHAT IS GOING ON!?" she shouted as the dust began to clear.

.....

The dust finally settled, allowing everyone to see just what had become of our heroes. Together they stood, back to back, smiling despite themselves. Zack stood wielding a golden katana adorned with white fur around the handguard and Auria's family symbol engraved into the blade, while Auria stood behind him with her paws spread slightly, using her own energy to protect both herself and Zack in a beautiful defensive sphere of energy.

Auria's father looked on in astonishment, 'What is this?! My daughter, of all renamon, is fighting alongside a human and even protects him with her own life energy?!'

Then he noticed something else, both the human and An'niya were looking directly at him, as if angry and yet, saddened too. Then the sphere An'niya had summoned around herself and the human began to glow brighter and encompass them both.

'No....that's....impossible...' he thought.

Suddenly the power he felt from both the human and his daughter completely disappeared, and then, in it's place came a power that was stronger than both previous levels combined.

'She...did it. She...actually...'

The orb began to fade only to reveal not the human or his daughter, but rather the ultimate mage, Sakuyamon. Auria's father simply looked on in utter disbelief, not even able to focus a thought.

Sakuyamon's head tilted up to where Auria's father was, and spoke to him, "Father, Tarius," this immediately caught his attention as only his family knew his first name, "...neither I nor this human are your enemy. The humans over at your hut too are friends and allies, looking to pay their debt to the village for their past."

"Daughter," Tarius replied in what he hoped sounded a firm tone, "Why do you protect these humans when you know that their kind are directly responsible for so much of our pain? Including your own mother's death!"

"Because, father, there were extenuating circumstances that go beyond merely what we thought happended that day and every day since. We cannot judge another race on the acts of a few unless we know the truth behind it all, and even then we should never truly judge an entire race as such."

Tarius thought for a moment, "An'niya...alright, since you have even gone so far as to merge with one of them, I suppose there is nothing I can do but accept it and cease my attacks but only if the humans swear under blood that they will not harm the village in any way and will not plan to. Is that fair by you?"

"Thank you father, yes that sounds more than a fair trade. So the humans will agree under blood and you will abstain your assault, let it be done," and with that, Sakuyamon seperated into Zack and Auria again, with Auria supoorting Zack across her shoulders.

Tarius landed quickly after the seperation and looked the human over, and saw the blade which he still held. As he looked at it, he realized that the blade was none other than the cursed blade which the leader of their village, or La'ratha, carried at all times. Though the blade had long thought to be lost when La'ratha had died. Curious, and growing angry with suspicion, "Human...that blade, where did you get it?" he asked quietly.

Zack looked down to the blade in his hand, truly looking to see what it looked like for the first time. "It...was a gift...from my mother....before she left me when I was younger..."

"Your mother? She gave you that blade? Are you certain?"

"Well, technically she wasn't my mother, but she was as much of one as any. She protected me and kept me safe. Even at the risk of her own life."

"Who exactly was this person then that you call 'mother'?"

"Well I only recently found out myself...her name was La'ratha. She was my father's mate and renamon partner."

Tarius' eyes slitted and he growled, "You expect me to believe that La'ratha gave you that blade freely? Human, you digust me, trying to lie to my face about my own mate's actions before she died!" He extended his claws as far as they could, so far that it was painful, and swung his paw hard and fast towards Zack's head.

"FATHER!" Auria and the renamon in the doorway screamed.

But it was too late, his paw was right at Zack's face and then....*swish* straight through his head, making Auria scream.

"FATHER YOU BASTARD!!" she howled. But then, both she and her father saw that what Tarius had struck wasn't Zack, but rather an after-image.

*NOTE: for those who don't know, an after-image is what is left behind by a fast moving object. Example: Shake your hand as fast as you can, it looks like there is two of your hand. The concept is the faster you move the longer and more defined the after-image will be unless disrupted by an outside force.*

"What in..." Tarius began before he realized that the human was standing next to him, out of eyesight, but....there was something different....

"I would never lie about my mother," he wispered menacingly into Tarius' ear, "For you to even suggest such lies is a blatant disregard of honor towards my family and I would normally kill you for it. But you are my mate's father, and as such I will not harm you but do NOT...EVER....insult my family or make claims which you cannot prove!"

"Human...you dare to threaten me, just because you were able to dodge...." he began as he turned to face the human and stopped in disbelief.

The human was no longer human, but had transformed into a renomon that had the golden fur of a renamon yet a silver fur that covered his chest making him look almost as though he were a combination of renamon and renomon, then with a more divine aura, if that were possible. Immediately, Tarius found himself thinking just how much it reminded him of La'ratha, and then, quickly shaking his head to gain his senses once more, he said to the human, "What manner of trick is this? Are you trying to..."

"This is no trick, Tarius. What you see is the product of La'ratha, my mother, having performed the blood bond with me to save my life, essentially making me a halfing, renamon and human. I am stronger than both and have my mother's knowledge of how to fight. Not to mention my own training in human martial arts."

"Father, it's true. I've been with Zack, this human, for the past several months, I will personally swear that what he tells you is the truth."

Tarius looked back and forth from his daughter to Zack, as though he was trying to make sure there was no hidden trick, and finally said, letting his muscles relax, "I can't fight it anymore. There is just to much evidence for me to be able to disbelieve you for much longer..."

Auria walked to her father as he said to her, "An'niya, I'm sorry...it's just that even after so long...I cannot trust the humans, not so easily anyway. I suppose I should've just trusted you from the beginning..."

"Yes you should have, but do not be ashamed for doing what you thought was right, father," she replied to him, hugging him in a forgiving embrace.

"Um, excuse me, Auria...sir I wanted to say hello and that it's great to finally meet my mate's father," Zack said as he approached them.

Tarius looked to the human, noticing that just as quickly as it had happened the human had changed back from his renomon form. His eyes narrowed, but then he noticed a familiar scent about him, An'niya's scent, "So you really are my daughter's mate then?"

"Forgive me sir, but to my understanding, I must prove myself first in your eyes, isn't that right?" Zack replied as he looked to Auria for assurance.

"Oh? So you do know about the ceremony then?" Tarius asked.

"Well I only know that in order to officially be her mate I must participate in the ceremony. However beyond that I know nothing about what the ceremony entails."

Then Tarius looked at the human and began to laugh, a hearty sound that actually helped to relax the tension remaining in the air. After Tarius caught his breath again he asked, "So you are willing to perform this ceremony, even though you have no idea as to what will be required of you?"

"Of course. No matter what I have to do, if it allows Auria and I to be together then I will do it, no exceptions," Zack said, his eyes blazing with confidence and a will to prove himself.

'Impressive,' Tarius thought, 'The human has no idea what he must go through yet his will is stronger than even my claws and from the looks of him, he would fight to the death for my An'niya. Perhaps he is a suitable mate for her, but then I suppose the ritual will determine that...'

"Also..." Zack began, pulling Tarius from his musing, "...I have some friends here with me that have come to pay back for past transgressions. I feel I must remind you, they are friends now, not enemies and I will protect them," he said, "Pyro! Aquos! Come here you two!" he shouted to the humans hiding behind Tarius' home.

They stepped forward slowly and shyly, or rather Aquos did, Pyro simply strolled out as though he feared nothing.

"Them?! They are friends of yours?!" Tarius growled in growing rage.

"Please hear me out Tarius, they no longer are what you remember them to be. You do not know the whole story behind the day my 'mother' died."

Tarius whipped around to face Zack, "What do you mean, 'mother'? I know that La'ratha did not bring you into this world, so why then do you refer to her as your mother?"

Zack's eyes narrowed, and suddenly his power level spiked again, matching that of Tarius, as he said quietly, with supressed rage, "La'ratha, as you call her, was the closest thing to a mother I ever had. She and my adoptive father took good care for me and she raised me almost as though I was her own. I asked her when I was young if I could call her mother, and she was more than happy for it. So, I call her mother because she IS my mother, so back off."

Tarius' eyes widened a bit by this new information, however he regained his composure and replied, "I'm sorry, Zack," making sure to use the human's name, hopefully proving that he did respect the human, "After all these years, La'ratha is still a very sensitive topic for me."

Zack's power suddenly disappeared as he replied, "Don't worry about it...I would be the same way if I ever lost Auria," he said as he took Auria in his arms and kissed her deeply. Even from his distance, Tarius could see what looked like a battle betwixt their tongues, and he thought back to his mate, and how he wished he would've shown her the same affection.

A few minutes passed, Zack and Auria kissing, Pyro and Aquos standing quietly nearby, and Tarius watching the two lovers (Zack and Auria of course!) until from the direction of the hut, everyone heard a loud, "An'niya? Is that really you?"

Auria broke the kiss with Zack, still panting a little, and told him mentally, 'You and I have unfinished business with this later...tonight...'

Zack simply smiled and replied, 'But of course...'

With that, she turned to the voice to see who it came from and her heart stopped, "S-ssis....Sister?!" she cried out.

"An'niya it's you!" said the renamon as she came running out of the hut to Auria and Auria, in turn, began running to her as well.

They collided in a warm embrace as they greeted each other, crying, "I thought you were dead sister! and...you're a renamon?!"

"An'niya I'm so sorry, I was lost for so long. So much has changed since we were last together."

Zack simply stood where Auria had left him and looked over to Tarius who had watched the two girls, and he asked him, "Um, excuse me Tarius, but if it wouldn't be rude, could I ask you who that is exactly?"

Tarius turned briefly to the human and replied, "Come now, do you seriously have no idea? Look closely, and I bet you will figure it out," 'Tell me that this human isn't so thick that he completely missed what my daughter said WHILE she was running? I will never understand humans,' he thought and smiled as he looked on again to the two renamon.

With that being said, Tarius turned back to the girls and started walking to them.

'Great, alot of help that was,' he thought, 'Now who could she...oh god, how could I not see it? That must be Auria's sister. Jeez no duh you idiot, maybe that would explain why she said 'Sister?' when she ran to her? Gods I am so clueless sometimes.'

......

The Avians looked at each other and simply started walking towards Auria, her sister and her father. "How is it that she escaped?" Aquos asked his brother, "I thought that our master had her locked away."

"Shut up you damned fool," spat Pyro, "It doesn't matter how she got away all that matters is.... you know what on second thought nevermind."

"What? What brother?"

"Keep your mouth shut and keep up you worthless excuse."

Aquos bowed his head in defeat, 'Brother, you are no longer yourself, the curse has finally fully overtaken you. Which means that soon I too will be overtaken. I must warn Zack and Auria, tonight, so that they can prepare for that day...'

......

Zack looked up to see that everyone was heading towards Auria and her sister, so he started in her direction when suddenly, he felt an immense pain, like having his skin being ripped from his bones. He let out an inhuman scream of pain and as he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Auria, immediately upon hearing Zack's scream, looked up to see him collapse on the ground and quickly she said, "Sorry sister," and teleported away to Zack, only to find that he was unconscious and that he had been struck from behind by some kind of weapon. It had left no physical markings, except for a red version of her family's symbol imprinted upon his back.

"FATHER!" she screamed, "Help me get him inside now! I don't know what's wrong but he's just been attacked!"

Tarius immediately teleported at her side, picked the human up in his arms, and wordlessly teleported into the hut, laying him down on Auria's bed. He quickly then teleported back out to Auria and shouted to Auria's sister, "Ni'ki, guard the human and try to heal him. Humans, stay by Ni'ki but do ABSOLUTELY nothing. An'niya, you and I will search for the attacker. Everyone understand? Yes? Then go!"

Everyone left for their duties, or in Auria and her father's case, to search for the attacker. Auria thought about the attack itself; it was obviously some sort of a magic or mind-based attack. Since she hadn't been able to sense the attack over her mind link with Zack, that limited the possiblity to only a magic attack. But then when she had looked Zack over before handing him to her father, she saw no real signs of damage. Now she fully realized that the damage could very well be internal but then she would have felt that through the blood bond that she and Zack share. So then, in her mind, the only logical possibility is that the attack, whatever it was meant to do, failed.

'But then,' Auria thought, 'why is it that they didn't attack him again and finish the job? They had the perfect opportunity...I have to find answers.'

.....

Back at the hut, Pyro, Aquos, and Ni'ki were looking over Zack's unconscious form. Well, Ni'ki was looking over him, the Avians had kept their word and were staying on one side of the hut, away from Ni'ki but still within sight of her.

Pyro had turned pensieve and was so zoned out that he didn't register anything around him.

'No...he's entered the final meditation state. We have at most 3 days now...I must warn someone, but who now? With Zack unconscious and Auria gone...I suppose then it must be this one, Ni'ki. While I'm at it, maybe I can find out how she escaped from Ra'thnin.'

"That was easy," Ni'ki said without turning around.

Aquos immediately flipped around and faced Ni'ki, his face white as a sheet, "Wha-what did you just say?"

Ni'ki finished dressing Zack's wound and sighed, turning around to face Aquos, "What I said was, that was easy, in response to your question as to how I escaped him."

Still a little surprised, Aquos continued, "So you mean to tell me that you heard my thoughts right then?"

Ni'ki smiled a little bit, but then her face turned to one of seriousness as she replied, "I've been listening to your thoughts since I first saw you. And that fact that you have not informed my sister or her mate is disturbing."

"But if you heard my thoughts, then surely you understand why it has been so difficult for me to tell them."

"Perhaps, but something I do not understand about you and your brother over there," as she motioned with a claw towards Pyro's form, "while the curse form or whatever it is exactly is taking over him, I feel none of the same energy coming from, or even being created within, you. What happened during your trip here?"

"It would just be easier for me to just let you dig through my mind...."

"I could do that you know, and it would be painless. But that will only happen if you're really okay with that. Such a thing is highly invasive and you will have to keep your mind open to me the whole time, hiding nothing."

"....Really? Um.....Alright fine. I have nothing to hide," he said and then added mentally, making sure to hide it from Ni'ki, 'especially from you.'

As Ni'ki searched through his mind, Aquos could feel her carefully traversing his mind, looking through it. He then started to think about Ni'ki. He couldn't explain it, but something about her made him very attracted to her. Perhaps it was the fact that she seemed so innocent. Even when he had been tainted by Ra'thnin, he can remember looking at her while she was a prisoner, desperately wanting to prove that he was in love with her and that he had no intention of hurting her, but then found that no matter what he did to try and be nice to her, Ra'thnin would torture him for it and then would torture Ni'ki twice as badly. Eventually, he stopped coming to her cell in order to save her from the pain. From the fluff tips on her ears, down to the way that her tail flicked when he watched her move, everything about her made his heart go nuts. He was in love with her, but because of his history, he was sure he could never get the girl of his dreams.

'This sucks,' he started to cry while still in thought, 'I tried to be a good person...hell I wanted to stop the evil in the world. But this curse and my brother...I just can't win. Maybe....maybe I'm destined to be unhappy, and eventually kill my friends, and die alone...'

While he sat there thinking, he didn't realize that by focusing his thoughts, he was basically putting on a show for Ni'ki while she searched his mind.

'This human....I actually remember him visiting me often and leaving a flower or an extra ration of food and drink. I always assumed it was simply a means that was meant to try and torture me with false hope. Especially since each time, immediately afterwards, I was tortured like his mind shows. He actually cared all that time. He's just so....so sad. I actually feel sorry for him, his parents are gone....and he has no memory of them....and his brother is so cruel to him....'

After she finished her search within his mind, she withdrew herself and Aquos felt alone once more, a feeling, he noticed, that he was becoming more and more used to feeling.

"From the looks of it, this curse form of yours, was started by the energy surge you experienced a while back but there was a difference between you and your brother. You see, before your brother's surge, Zack was near him and during the explosion, Zack was injured and the negative energy formed from this is what started the change in him. You on the other hand, were with my sister, who teleported before your energy could harm her so you were unaffected. And from the look of it, the curse has now basically died. It could become active, but only if you personally will it to happen."

"So...I'm finally free of the curse?....And my brother...is stuck with it....by fate..."

Aquos sat in a nearby chair in deep thought. He was relieved to finally be free of the curse; now he could live a peaceful life, one with opportunity and possibly even be able to now prove himself to Ni'ki. But his brother on the other hand....he was sad that his brother was stuck too but when he tried thinking back to before the curse, his brother had been horrible. Never giving him peace, degrading him constantly and making sure that Aquos would never forget that he, Pyro, was in charge.

Ni'ki watched the human for a few seconds, hearing his thoughts still and beginning to think herself about him, 'He is really attracted to me....and I will admit that when I healed him back when his energy first surged, I did find myself wanting to hold him....Ug what am I saying?! He was one of the people who tortured me and kept me prisoner, but then again he was nice to me and hit with the least amount of force than either Pyro or Ra'th'

***Ra'th will be the short for Ra'thnin just because I'm lazy. That and I think it sounds better. Pronounce it like wrath.

As Ni'ki began to become absorbed in her thought, she failed to notice that Aquos was staring at her, looking up and down her body, admiring her slender yet powerful form. He wasn't sure what it was, but he could feel such a beautiful spirit within her, and that she had such great energy. He really did love everything about her, and he took the time now to try and carve a mental image for when he would undoubtably be thrown from the village. He looked first to her ears, long and soft with just a slight tuft at the point of them. One was a bit longer than the other, he noticed, so it looked as though she was casting a side glance to him. Trying to keep himself from blushing at that thought, he moved down to her eyes and face. She had a graceful face, and a smile that seemed to be almost surreal. Her eyes, like most renamon, were obsidian black but her eyes looked an earthy green and he found that he could stare into her eyes all day. He then looked to her nose, seeing it was nearly perfectly sized for her muzzle and he wondered what it was like for a moment to have such a sensitive nose, and then was hoping that she hadn't been able to smell his excitement earlier, which was still growing even as he looked at her. He moved further down to her chest, seeing her fur looking soft and flowing, then he noticed two slight bulges and realized they must....be...her breasts! He quickly moved his eyes further down as his face lit a deep red to show his embarassment. As he looked at her stomach, he noticed her fur almost had a glow to it, and suddenly had a desperate urge to hold her. He could just see it, he would stand up, profess his love for her and then would run over to hold her as she would welcome him into her arms. Then, however, his vision changed and Ni'ki simply told him, "Never!" and disappeared, leaving him to collapse and weep. 'That is the real world,' he thought, 'Dreams...don't....come true' With his dream over, he looked at her legs seing the strong, well definded muscles even through her fur and then realized that by the way she was standing, she was hiding a view of her groin from him. How desperately he wanted to show her his affection in that way, but he knew that such a dream really would be nothing but a dream for him, right?

Ni'ki had been pulled from her thoughts by a slight musk that was in the air, and realized that Aquos was staring at her and slowly getting more aroused the longer he stared. 'He's checking me out...well I suppose there's no real problem with that, though I will not let him see 'me',' she thought as she turned her hips just enough to hide her groin from his view.

'Odd,' she thought, 'I don't know why or how, but having this human examine me....is making me....a little hot....'

Aquos finally looked down to her tail and just watched as it peacefully flicked this way and that. Finally he felt that he had a good mental picture of this beauty, and stood up, realizing that she had been looking at him.

Blushing furiously, he quickly said, "Forgive me please! I'm sorry!" as he began to leave the hut. Ni'ki, however teleported in front of him and wrapped her paws about him as she teleported again, this time taking Aquos with her.

*******

Now in complete darkness, Aquos couldn't see a thing and Ni'ki had let go of him so he felt lost and once again, alone.

A voice though, cut through the silence, "You are in love human, with one of the renamon here. Tell us, do you wish to prove yourself?"

Slightly intimidated, Aquos managed to say weakly, "Umm...yes...I am in love and I do wish to prove myself. But if you don't mind, where am I?"

"You are in the Hall of Rituals, were you are going to be tested to prove your devotion."

"So then I am here to prove myself...for Ni'ki?"

The voice, seeming to ignore his last question went on to say, "You will have two tests, one of sacrifice and another of love. You must pass both and then will you have proven yourself and at the same time you will be forgiven for all your misdeeds previous."

Not wanting to cause a problem, Aquos ignored the fact that his earlier question was ignored and replied as he bowed to one knee, "Thank you for this chance."

"Is that all you have to say?"

Aquos looked up and replied, "I would say more but there isn't anything.....good enough....to describe how you have just made me feel."

Suddenly, as though it were all a dream, Aquos blinked and suddenly could see that the village was being destroyed, flames raging everywhere and many lying dead or dying in the dirt. As Aquos looked on in fear at this scene, to his horror, he found Ni'ki, lying bloodied next to two others. He quickly ran to her, only to find that the two figures had been none other than...Zack and Auria...

"No..." Aquos said, dropping to his knees, "No....this can't be happening. Everything was just going right...Ni'ki," he said looking over to her, "I was going to prove myself to..." he began but then noticed that Ni'ki's prone form, was rising and falling...no she was breathing!!

Quickly Aquos picked her up and held her, making sure to clear her mouth so that she could breathe easily and made sure she was relatively comfortable, "Ni'ki, what happened?"

She coughed blood onto his chest violently, and wispered, "It was all so sudden, I had...touched you...*pained gasp* in the hut and then...you disappeared. Before I could try to find....you though, something....in the hut....exploded. That was when I saw....him, destroying everything, killing everyone. Even..." she began to cry, "...my sister....and her mate..."

Then as she said this, Aquos felt something approaching him and quickly yet carefully set Ni'ki on the ground and stood in front of her. He wasn't going to let anything else happen to her, not now, not when he could finally fight for her.

The figure came closer, and that was when Aquos realized who it was; Pyro, the curse had transformed him once again to the evil that Ra'th had them be.

"Ahh little brother, so you finally show your stupid, fucking face. What a coward, running in the time of their need!" he said maliciously as he gestured to the dead around him. "You could have stopped me, you could've warned them! But like always, you were a chickenshit, and hid everything, which in the end led to you losing everything that were so desperately trying to gain! HA as if you could ever prove anything to anyone!!" he roared in laughter.

Aquos looked to his brother and to the dead around him, and thought, 'He's right, this is all my fault. The village...Zack and Auria...even Ni'ki soon....it's all my fault. I didn't warn them, I didn't try to protect them....'

He was unable to finish his thoughts as he heard the familiar sound of a blade being swung and he heard his brother roar, "AVIAN BLADE!" as a wave of solid energy flew at both Aquos, and his loved one, Ni'ki.

As he watched the attack fly towards himself and his love, he realized that this wasn't his fault. Sure he could have been here,but then he would've died without being able to help. He had a chance now to prove himself, and he would, he swore to himself.

"Brother...you have destroyed so many, as have I. I, however, did not enjoy it as you did. I have a chance to repent for those murders I am responsible for and I will take it!" he shouted. 'Well that sounded good but, I only know a defense spell and I don't know if it'll even work...uggghh no time to worry about it, I must protect Ni'ki!' he thought.

"SHIELD OF THE FOX!!" Aquos screamed as a blue shield of energy formed in front of both him and Ni'ki. Pyro's attack slammed headlong into the shield, and to both Pyro and Aquos' surprise, held.

****NOTE: Shield of the Fox was a defensive spell that Aquos had constructed in secret while still under Ra'th's control. He had developed it so that during the next torture phase for Ni'ki, he could transfer the pain to himself. The Shield is merely a siphon for the pain, sending all pain to the one who casts the spell. While it does feed of the user's energy, it's effectiveness, not to mention the amount of pain that the caster feels, is derived completely on the user's emotions or feelings towards the one he or she protects.

"A-aquos..." Ni'ki stuttered as she coughed more blood.

'No, her internal bleeding is worsening...' Aquos thought, "Yes Ni'ki? What's wrong?" he grunted as he kept his focus mainly on the attack before him. While he was able to hold the attack back, it was still causing damage around the very edges and it was slowly causing his knees to buckle. It was then he realized, he was slowly being pushed back, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Y-y-your shield-d....that spell's power....is based on your....e-emo-emotions..."

'I know that but I have nearly nothing left, both in energy and emotion...maybe this is really all my fault. I'm to blame for everything...Ni'ki...I'm so...sorry,' he thought.

"O-one last thing...Aquos..."

Aquos could barely stand it, she was dying and it was all thanks to him, "Yes, Ni'ki?" he said as the blast pushed him farther back.

"I...don't...blame you. I'm sorry...that we never....got to really meet...on better terms..." she then her eyes became unfocused as she gasped and reached out to Aquos once more saying, "I...don't...blame...you" as her paw fell limp. She was gone.

Aquos looked on and watched her die. The only person he had ever loved, the only person...he cared about. He turned slowly back to his brother, while he was still being pushed backwards slightly by his attack. As he slid, he said in a low tone, "Even after all this time, when I am free of the curse and you don't have to deal with me, you still see to torture me. I don't care what you do to me anymore. But you killed the one person I loved.....you...killed....NI'KI!!" he screamed in a raged agony as his leg brushed Ni'ki's dead form and he immediately locked his stance and stopped the blast dead in its tracks. He saw his brother's eyes widen in shock.

"What is going on? Is baby Aquo angry?" his brother roared in laughter.

His laughter was cut short when he noticed the shield was dropped and Aquos was using only one hand to hold back the blast.

Aquos felt the power flowing through his veins. It felt good, not unlike the dark energy when he was evil, but this time the energy felt...pure. As he held the blast by one hand, he came to realize that this was the true difference in strength betwixt himself and his brother. While his brother fought only for himself, and his hatred, he fought for his life...and love. It was what he had to fight for that made him stronger. And he was too self-absorbed to see it, before he lost everything. But now, even in the face of the one person who caused all this, his brother, he wasn't angry. He couldn't be. He felt pity for his brother, that he had never found the joy that he had, even if it was only briefly.

"Brother," Aquos said, "I pity you."

"BAH! Pity is for the weak!"

"No brother, you are wrong. You will never feel what I have, even if it was for only those precious minutes that passed."

"YOU ARE A FOOL!! PITY?! FEELING?! THESE HAVE NO RELEVANCE!! LISTEN TO ME YOU STUPID BASTARD, I AM YOUR BETTER! YOU..."

"...I am going to destroy you, to end this for the good of everyone."

Pyro stayed silent for a moment, then, "HAHA! MY BROTHER DESTROY ME?! IMPOSSIBLE!!!"

However, Aquos was going to prove him wrong. He (Aquos) began to create a solid blue energy ball at the base of his hand that pushed his brother's attack back towards its sender.

'WHAT?! No, that is impossible, he doesn't have that much strength...but then how, this isn't happening!...' Pyro thought.

"Wrong," Aquos said aloud, having suddenly heard his brother's thoughts, "It can, and it is happening. Brother, this attack will make you pay for all those you tortured and killed. May death have pity for you as I do." 'Ni'ki,' he thought, 'This is for you!'

"SOUL CANNON!!" Aquos screamed as the super-focused blue energy erupted from his palm in a torrent of power that was unstoppable. It obliterated everything in its path...and when the dust cleared, Aquos found his brother...dead.

"Ni'ki....I...did it!" Aquos said as he smiled, falling to the ground as the world around him darkened into oblivion.

******

Zack woke to total darkness. He was floating in an oblivion, no beginning and no end that could be seen. He tried to think, 'Augh...my head...unnh what happened? I was going to Auria and everyone else...then pain, and now I'm here...maybe...this is death...?'

"No you idiot your not dead," came a reply. It was the same voice that Zack had heard when he first transformed while fighting the Avians.

"Who are you?! And Where are you?!!" Zack shouted into the darkness only to see nothing. 'This is stupid,' Zack thought, 'Here I am shouting into the fucking darkness when this guy could be right behind me for all I know...'

"Good guess Zack."

Zack then realized that the voice was indeed behind him and turned to look only to find a dark Renomon looking him in the eye. Normally, Zack would have attacked without question but there was something that didn't seem threatening, he seemed...familiar. "Alright you mind telling me who the fuck you are? I asked you that last time and we never did have the chance to finish our little talk."

"Why the fuck do you think I brought you here? It sure as hell wasn't to look at your ugly ass. Look, long story short you are unconscious and this is your mind. I am as I said last time your other."

Zack looked around the black space and thought to himself, 'If this is my mind....damn it's empty...'

"Tell me about it," said the Renomon.

"What?! Oh great you can hear my thoughts too?"

"In your own mind your thoughts are words you idiot."

"Ugh fine. Listen cut the name-calling shit out. It's starting to piss me off. Now what exactly do you mean by other? Actually first what is your name?"

The renomon stood silent for a second, as if considering whether or not he should give out that kind of information, "I suppose you can call me Ven."

"Okay....so um what do you mean by other then?"

The renomon sighed, "Do you really not know? Ugh fuck it don't answer I'll just explain it. When you were born, my father...OUR true mother was forcefully pumped with our father's energy. Enough to give you the ability to digivolve but not enought to change you fully into a renomon."

"Wait my mother was..."

"...Human," Ven cut Zack off. "The renomon you know as Ra'thnin, he found her and pumped her full of his energy and because of that you were affected and basically became his own son in a sense."

"So when we fought him earlier and I heard him call me his son...."

"...He wasn't lying. Well not entirely anyway."

Zack stood there thinking about the whole situation for a second, then realized, "Wait, so then you are the 'me' that would have been had Ra'thnin actually been my biological father?"

Ven looked at the human for a second and replied, "That is a good way to put it I suppose. In truth I have no idea."

"So do you have any idea why Ra'thnin did it?"

"Well, being that I'm from his energy, he gave me a set of instructions, which I can't follow anyway as you and I share this body. The instructions told me about a legend or rather a prophecy in which humanity and digimon would converge. In the beginning there would be two warriors, they would be the first 'hybrids'. They would be humans with digital forms...."

"...Avians..." Zack wispered.

"Precisely," said Ven, "and from there one other would appear. A true Hybrid of human body and digimon strength. He will come to power and rule over both humanity and digimon alike. From there though, the prophecy splits."

"What do you mean? How can it split from there?!" Zack said incredulously.

"Put simply, the hybrid is said to rule unopposed as either a figure of pure darkness or true light. Utopia or devastation."

"Jeez that's a pretty big split..."

"Yes it is which is part of the reason that our father is angry since he can't tell if you are truly experiencing the effect of his energy. But since you have now seen him and still stood in complete defiance, I'm sure that he no longer considers you a part of his plan."

"Ok so since I don't fit into his plan what is he going to do about it?"

"Idiot you and I are his only son and we failed him. He lives under and within the powers of darkness, the only punishment for failure in this manner is death!"

"Hey back the fuck off! I'm asking becasue I don't know and it helps that I have some facts as to his plan rather than a bunch of ideas that may or may not be true or even accurate."

"Well irregardless of all that, father is going to kill us so that we cannot follow the only side of the prophecy that we can follow."

Then there was a ringing sound that echoed through the darkness. As the shrill sound grew louder, the darkness began fading into light.

"Alright listen to me," Ven said quickly, "you and I share this body, so obviously your fate is my fate so if you absolutely need it, ask me for help and I'll see what I can do. Otherwise do me a favor, see if you can get us seperated because I'm sick of of it in here."

Zack opened his mouth to answer but suddenly felt himself fall backwards as the world around him became a blinding white.

*****

Aquos slowly opened his eyes. He felt completely exhausted yet well rested. "Ughh..." he moaned a little, trying to think what had happened. Then it all came back in a flash, the battle, Ni'ki lying dead alongside both Zack and Auria, the village in ruins.... he sat straight up in his cot as his eyes shot around the room looking for signs of the destruction that had been there mere moments ago. He found nothing. Everything was the way it had been just before that horrible nightmare. He let himself fall back in relief for a moment until he began to think about the dream again. As he thought, he looked around and noticed a cot with Zack lying asleep on it next to him. He looked him over and figured he must be fine since no one else was around and stood up and walked to the entrance of the hut. He turned around, surveying everything around him one last time, and with a sigh, wispered, "Even if I had been able to prove myself like that, I still failed because Ni'ki died. No matter that I stopped my brother, it still wasn't enough to save Ni'ki."

Aquos turned to leave as something appeared in front of him making him jump back into the hut in surprise.

"Where do you think your going Aquos?" said the figure in a soft feminine voice.

Aquos immediately recognized the voice. "No. Is it...really you?"

Ni'ki winked at himas her tail curled around from behind her and around her legs as she replied, "Aquos you passed."

Aquos blinked in confusion. First Ni'ki is alive and well and now she tells him he passed.... 'What the hell is going on here?' he thought.

"Aquos," Ni'ki said to get his attention, he looked at her in silence and she continued, "What just happened was I took you to the Hall of Rituals in order for me to see if you truly felt the way you acted."

"What you mean to see if what I was showing you was actually in my heart or something?"

"You put it in a much simpler way earlier; to prove yourself."

"But then how did I pass?! I may have killed my brother but you died! The village was in ruins!" the tears he had been holding back were coming through now as he remembered the scene. "It had all been my fault because I hadn't been there."

Ni'ki walked over to Aquos and wiped the tears from his face and pulled him into a hug resting her head next to his as he cried into her shoulder. "Aquos the tests weren't to see if you would save me or rebuild the village or anything like that. You experienced everything the way you were supposed to as defined within the rules of those tests. You proved that you were willing to do anything for me, you also proved that you truly cared fro both the village and even your brother whom did not deserve your sympathy. You showed yourself to be a true kindred spirit and the counsil decided that you are indeed worthy and forgiven."

Aquos stopped crying for a moment and looked into Ni'ki's eyes, which she returned the look with one of love and compassion which made him start to laugh weakly as he began to cry new tears, ones of joy, as he held Ni'ki close saying, "Please never do that again. Losing you, whether a dream or not, is a fate worse than death."

Ni'ki looked at him and wispered into his ear, "I swear I will never do it again....tamer"

Aquos immediately opened his eyes wide and he pushed himself back for a moment saying, "What?!"

Ni'ki smiled as she pulled out a green D3 handing it to Aquos as she explained, "I've chosen you...to be my tamer Aquos. And if you want...my lover..." her voice dropped to a wisper.

'I can't believe I just did that,' Ni'ki thought, 'Tact would've been good there'

Aquos stared at the digivice in his hand in disbelief. The very one that he loved just gave him the second best way to start a relationship with her, and she even offered him to become her lover!

The incredibility of the moment however put Aquos into shock and he just stared blankly at the device looking from it to Ni'ki and back again.

Ni'ki began to worry. 'He doesn't want it. I knew it...but I thought for sure...he loved me...'

"I do Ni'ki, I do I'm just...speechless."

Ni'ki let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't realized she was holding, but then realized, "Wait, did you just hear my thoughts?"

"I...I think so. When you gave me this digivice...I felt something change in me...it...felt good."

Wondering what might have happened, but also remembering that she wasn't sure if he would accept her offer, she shook her head slightly and asked again, tentatively, "So then...you will be my tamer?"

Aquos smiled and said, "No."

"What?! But I thought..." Ni'ki began as she felt tears well behind her eyes. 'Another trick by this bastard,' Ni'ki thought until she heard him respond.

"No I won't be your tamer, but like Zack is for Auria, I'll more than gladly be your lover..."

Ni'ki stood there quiet for a moment. Praying that she had heard him right she asked one final time, "You will?"

"Until the day I die." Aquos said as he looked to her lovingly.

Ni'ki looked at him and they both hugged each other close and kissed. Ni'ki pushed her tongue into Aquos' mouth and he in turn pushed his tongue into her's as their tongues met in a nexus of love and taste in a battle that neither Aquos nor Ni'ki would back down from. They broke their kiss some minutes later breatheless and looked over to Zack who was sitting up in bed smiling at them. They both quickly jumped apart Ni'ki turning around as she blushed and Aquos just looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Zack just laughed and said, "Hey don't stop on my account I fully support the both of you and I'm happy for ya."

Aquos looked over to Ni'ki nervously and she looked to him as they both looked at Zack and said in near unison, "How long were you awake and listening?"

Zack shrugged saying, "Eh I woke up around the same time that Aquos there said something to the effect of him 'failing' or something. From there I heard every word."

Before they could ask him any further questions, Auria suddenly appeared next to Zack crying, "Your finally awake! What happened? How attacked you? I'm going to kill them, I swear it."

Zack, more than a little surprised at his mate's sudden appearance and questions, quickly soothed her by stroking her ears and down her back saying, "Auria please relax honey. No one attacked me. I just had a very indepth look at my own mind. Unfortunately doing that though did apparently render me unconscious" he said as he laughed a little. His laughter died when he saw the intense look on Auria's face; it looked like she was going to kill him on the spot. "Anyway Auria I promise I'll never do it again," his dropped so low that only she could hear, "I do need to talk to you about it later though alright love?" Auria noded ever so slightly in response as she spoke aloud, "Alright I guess. I was just so worried Zack" she said as she cuddled with him.

Then Zack remembered the ringing sound that had pulled him from his mind and realized he knew that sound, it was his cellphone. He pulled out his phone and saw that his friend Kitane had tried to call him but had instead left a voice mail. Deciding now was as good as ever he played it quickly.

"Hey Zack man you will never guess what just happened to me bro, Trione and I found each other!"

(So all you readers know, Trione is the renamon partner to Kitane however they hadn't been able to find each other until now XD )

"...anyway bro so yeah we finally did it! It's amazing she's so beautiful man! Alright give me a call when you can bro."

Zack's phone dropped to the ground. 'All this time, before I met Auria, I just thought that Trione had been made up I figured it was just a fantasy that Kit had. But she was real! This...this is great!' he thought happily.

As everyone was looking at him, he looked at them and smiled sheepishly and said, "Sorry forgot where I was. I have a friend of mine who just found his renamon partner!"

Immediately everyone else had a worried look on their faces. "Hey what's with the looks you guys? This is great news!"

Auria turned to Zack, looking tense, "Zack, my sister and I are the last renamon that we know about. I haven't heard of or seen any others."

"Ok...your point is? Wait...no"

"Exactly. If my sister and I are the last ones, then who is your friend's partner?"

"Well her name is Trione so you know."

Ni'ki's face immediately turned from one of worry to shock saying, "Trione?! Are you sure that's her name Zack?"

"Yeah that's what Kit tells me."

"But...that's impossible."

"Why is that impossible? I don't see what's so impossible about the name Trione."

"Zack, when Aquos and Pyro and Ra'th had me prisoner, there had been one other renamon there for about a week before I had arrived. Aquos do you remember her?"

Aquos looked down in thought for a minute trying to remember. Suddenly his eyes got wide, "No...she was...I thought..."

"What? For god sakes people just say it already" Zack said getting annoyed.

Aquos looked at Zack with slight anger, "Zack, Trione was the only other renamon that Ra'th had me and Pyro beat for information and just for 'fun' as he called it. One day though she had managed to claw Ra'th when he was going to rape her and I don't know what happened then. I was told that he had in fact killed her and used her data to create the new digital bodies that we had."

Zack looked at them both with a look of shock. "I'm...sorry. I shouldn't have...."

"Don't worry about it," Aquos said dismissively, "What we need to worry about now is if that really is Trione or if it's a trick of some sort."

As they began talking about the possibility of Trione being a trick, Zack noticed something.

"Hey guys?"

"What Zack?"

"Where's Pyro?"

**END CHAPTER 8

Next time: Is it the same Trione or some trick? Will Ni'ki and Aquos consummate their relationship? Where the hell did Pyro go...Oh and teaser of course, Auria is going to be gainin some weight XD in a manner of speaking :) and of course we will finally have Zack's ceremony!!!