bloodsong1 | And so can hot showers.

Nephrite took a half step to cover Lady Sarah as he glared at the monk.

"You will not harm her!"

"Nephrite."

"It must be done, General."

"I will not allow..."

"NEPHRITE!" Lady Sarah snapped. Nephrite glanced her way. She was frowning at him.

"I need to do this. I killed." She said firmly. Nephrite shifted, turning more towards her.

"My lady, it was a demon!"

"I killed!"

"It was self defense!"

"That doesn't matter!" Lady Sarah screamed. Nephrite fell back slightly. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were blazing. "I killed with a spell. A spell that could have destroyed this island, hells, it could have destroyed all of Japan if I had lost control! I'm pretty sure the only reason I woke up today was because of Lord Helios!"

"Lord...Helios?" Nephrite stammered. She nodded sharply.

"The Priest of Elysion himself. He said I fell into Nightmare, the source of power for the Ragna Blade. He said it was very difficult to catch me. Do you see now why I need to do this?"

"No."

"No?" Lady Sarah blinked. Nephrite slowly uncurled his fists.

"You killed one demon. My brothers and I killed thousands. We killed the Guardians of the Solar System." He grabbed her hand. "I will wait for you, in silence."

-----------------

Sarah stared at the chunk of crystal in her hand, sighed and squeezed it gently.

"Some paths we must walk alone." Tucking the stone in her pocket, she finished her water and grinned at Dashio-houshi. "I'm ready."

"Follow me." The monk rose, took his staff and guided her to the entrance. He stood aside and waited while she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth, after covertly watching the visitors ahead of her.

"Are the Mundanes going to see this?" She whispered as she queued up.

"Mundanes?"

"The...regular people visiting here."

"They saw us conversing. They saw your companion leave."

"Leave? They saw the sparkles?"

"Not exactly." When she looked at the monk, he gestured with his staff. Following the motion, she saw a remarkable look-alike lounging on the stone steps. It waved at her and she blinked. Were those... red tails?

"Kitsune?" She asked, glancing at Dashio-houshi. He winked. She waved back and mouthed "Thank you." The disguised fox demon nodded and stuck a lollipop in its mouth. She blinked again and shook her head.

"No, no. Couldn't be Shippo. That would just be..."

"Be?" Dashio-houshi asked, sounding very amused.

"Entirely in keeping with this whole bloody adventure."

I'm still not sure how the fire ritual is going to go. Most purification rituals in Japan are water based, so I'll have to come up with something.