Chapter 3, 'Inside the Makai'

The first thing Shoji saw when he opened his eyes was trees. He groaned and sat up, finally noticing the rest of his surroundings. There was a silver-haired person laying next to him, his eyes closed, 'Kalerin', Shoji thought and remembered fuzzily that he had entered a portal, Kalerin was in his arms as a fox... Why was he in human form now? He shook Kalerin, and when he received no response, shook him again. This time his eyes slowly fluttered open, and he raised his hand to push away the silvery-white hair that threatened to hide his face. "Where... Where are we?" Kalerin asked in confusion, then realized he was in human form. "I... don't remember changing... What happened?" He looked at Shoji in shock.

Shoji shrugged, as he got to his feet. He gazed around at the forest they now appeared to be in. Lush tropical trees and bushes surrounded them, and the ground, as well as his clothes, he realized now to his dismay, was very wet. "Looks like we're in a swamp..." Shoji helped Kalerin up, and tried to shake the water out of his coat. 'Coat!' Shoji thought excitedly, and began checking the pockets for something, anything that might help them. He found his kodachi, of course, he always carried it everywhere. He also found his book(wonder why I stuck that in there?), some food and a little bottle of juice, which he knew he could share with Kalerin if he had to, the credit card and hotel key Koenma had given him(Lotta good that will do me here...), and some sort of watch. Botan had stuck it in his pocket along with the kodachi, and he remembered that Yusuke had had something of the same kind that he used to call Koenma.

Shoji looked over at Kalerin, wondering what he had as the other searched his pockets. "Well, I have my staff, some shiny things, and the credit card... That's all though..." Shoji nodded, and held out a hand to the trees, frustration and despair showing on his face. "What now? We don't know where we are, and worse Hiei will kill us now because we lost Kurama..." He sighed.

"Look!" Kalerin pointed at the ground, seeing something Shoji had missed. "Fox tracks!" He tugged at Shoji's arm, and smiled. "Maybe we'll find him yet!"

They ran through the trees, trying to dodge most of the underbrush, still following the prints. Occaisionally they would see somewhat bigger footprints, obviously made with small boots, which they figured had to be Hiei's. Shoji hoped that they hadn't been out for long, maybe they could still catch up with the fox.

They had been running for some time, they had no clue how long, when something rustled in the trees ahead of them. Thinking it might be Kurama, they slowed, only to find a stone wall rising in front of them, trying to go around it proved futile as more walls boxed them in. 'Kuso...' Shoji thought angrily, 'only here about half an hour, and we get ourselves captured!' He drew his kodachi, at about the same time that Kalerin picked up his staff and made it extend to its normal length.

"Welcome..." A low musical voice seemed to come out of nowhere, and they whirled, trying to find its source. Out of the corner of his eye, Shoji saw movement, and turned to see a person seem to melt out of the wall. His pale green hair flowed to his waist, and pointed ears jutted slightly out of his hair. His soft blue eyes looked at them with curiousity and amusement. "I note that you are two kitsune, and seem to be lost... Is there anything I can help you with?"

Kalerin and Shoji looked at each other, and then back at the demon, for that was what he must be. "Umm... No, we don't need any help. We're trying to find a friend of ours that we lost," Shoji said hestitently. Kalerin nodded, and added, "Yeah, we were following him."

"Ah..." Green-hair's face took on an expression of interest as he gazed at the two he had trapped. "Perhaps I can be of assistance. Who is it you are looking for?"

Shoji stared back at him without blinking, trying not to show his fear that was starting to overwhelm him. "Well, no, um, thanks anyway, but I think we can find him on our own... Can you let us out now?"

"I suppose..." His face took on a reproving expression, but he made a gesture with his hand and the walls disappeared. As they started going in the direction of the tracks, they both heard his voice faintly as if it was whispered on the wind. "...but you should have accepted my help..."

Kalerin's eyes held fear as he looked back, but Shoji was determined to try to find Kurama on his own. "Come on, we still have to find Kurama." He looked around for the tracks, only to find they had disappeared. "Crud! The tracks are gone!" Now his turquoise eyes had a hint of anxiety as he looked at Kalerin. "Now what do we do?"

"Well, the tracks led this way, maybe if we keep going in that direction, maybe we'll find him." Kalerin reasoned, and Shoji nodded, knowing it was the only thing they had to go on. They started to run again, but more cautiously, and with their weapons at the ready, they didn't want to run into any more demons if they could help it.

Soon, they left the swamp, and found themselves at a crossroads. In one direction they could distantly see a dark castle, and the other led to a shimmering wave of fog. "Umm... Should we go to the castle?" Shoji asked, uncertain to even go near it. Kalerin shrugged uneasily, his face pale as he stared at the towering shape looming in the distance. "I don't know... I don't think we should try the other way - it feels... evil..."

Shoji looked at him with exasperation, "Oh, so you think we can just blindly march right up to the castle and nicely ask them if they've seen a silver fox with seven tails?" He shook his head, and looked at the castle again, something he remembered made him blink. "Wait, didn't they say that when Kurama was ... changed, wasn't it at a castle? I mean, look where we ended up, and it looks like this is the nearest one." He started out again, going towards the castle, with a hesitent Kalerin following him. He looked back at the trail, and saw the fog advancing on them sliently, its misty edge devouring the ground rapidly. "Come on!" Shoji grabbed Kalerin and ran towards the castle.

As they neared it, the fog seemed to stop at a certain point, surrounding the castle and not letting them have any glimpse of what was outside of it. "Um... What do we do now?" Shoji asked while looking at the castle. "Look! What are those people?" Kalerin had noticed a door opening, and four figures stumbling machanically towards them. Kalerin and Shoji gripped their weapons tighter as the 'people' drew closer. The two companions each took a step back as they realized these weren't ordinary humans, but things made out of swamp grass to look like people.

Shoji and Kalerin stared, watching with amazement and horror as the human-constructs reached out for them. Shoji gritted his teeth, and slashed his kodachi through one of them. It made a gaping hole inside the chest and the thing fell down witout making a sound. Shoji turned to see Kalerin had already killed one, and was going after the other. Something cold and slimy-feeling touched his arm, and he looked down to see that the last construct was gripping his wrist tightly, and was squeezing him now so hard that Shoji could feel his fingers start to go numb. In a panic, he hacked the thing to pieces. "Kalerin...," he gasped out, and looked for his friend, who had just finished dealing with the last one. Shoji could see that Kalerin had been hit on the shoulder, since his clothing there was torn. Shoji touched his shoulder experimentally, and Kalerin grimaced slightly, "He hit me, I didn't expect him to be that fast." Shoji shrugged, and held out his arm, showing off the red mark on his wrist. "Don't worry, I didn't esacape unscathed either."

They now stared up at the castle. The door was still open, but it didn't look very inviting. "Guess there's nothing to do but go inside..." Shoji said uncertainly, and carefully made his way in, with Kalerin following him.

Shoji didn't even have time to blink as the dark tunnel he had thought he'd seen from the outside suddenly became an exquisite dining room with royal blue walls, and a long table in the middle of the room, set with silver calabras and shining silverware and plates. It looked very much like a French-styled room that Shoji had read about, as he noticed three chairs seated around one of the table ends. One of the blue plush chairs was occupied, he saw now, as the person that had been sitting there stood up. At first, Shoji and Kalerin thought that he was the one that had trapped him earlier, as he looked the same as the green-haired one, but this demon had light blue hair instead of green.

"Welcome..." The demon greeted them the same way, and with the same low musical quality the other demon had, but in his eyes was a gleam of triumph. "Please join me, I've been... expecting you..." he smiled as he gestured to the two other chairs. Food appeared magically on the table, steaming as if it had come directly from the oven.

Shoji shook his head, and backed away, he felt something wasn't right here. Kalerin's eyes were wide with fright, and he copied Shoji's move.

*I wouldn't, if I were you...*

Shoji stiffened, for the voice seemed to be talking in his head. He glanced at Kalerin and knew he had heard the voice too, for he was looking around wildly for its source. Even Blue-hair had seemed to hear it, as his eyes narrowed. He continued to talk, however, inviting them to join him again. "Please, I wouldn't mind... It's been some time since I had company, and maybe you could find something out about your friends..."

*Don't listen to him... He's lying...*

Shoji shook his head again, trying to clear away the voice, and drew his kodachi, nearly dropping it in shock as he could hear and feel it buzzing as if in anger. He turned and started scraping at the walls, thinking that the door was covered, and he could just get it open. The demon, who had turned his head and hissed something at the voice, now saw what he was doing. "Please don't do that, it wrecks the walls, and you won't find a door there either..." Shoji looked over his shoulder to gasp out, "I don't think so, I don't trust anyone that traps us!" He continued to slash his sword against the wall, destroying some of the pictures hanging on the wall, but still hadn't succeeded in making a hole.

In his panic he had forgotten about Kalerin. The voice came again, *I could help you, you know, if you wanted me to...* "No thanks!" Shoji spat out, but a minute later, as Shoji brought his sword down to find it spark on stones, he gasped and stood still for a minute, thinking this was a trap. "What happened?" His voice quavered, and he turned to see Kalerin looking at everything but him. He took in his new surroundings noting that it appeared that they were in a different castle now, and then saw the green-haired demon smiling at them. He gripped his kodachi tighter, and glared at the demon. "What are you doing here, and where are we?"

Kalerin made a choking noise, and Shoji looked at him, a growing suspicion dawning on him as he saw Kalerin was staring at one of the walls that had nothing on it. "Kalerin, what is going on?" His turquoise eyes narrowed as the demon spoke up in the voice he had just heard in his mind a scant two minutes ago, "Why, nothing really... Your friend decided to accept my offer is all..."

Shoji put his kodachi down, and stared at Kalerin, who was trying his best to look innocent as he watched the demon. "Kalerin, what did you do?" he asked in a polite, but firm tone.

Kalerin shrugged, and tried to meet Shoji's gaze. "Well, it didn't look like we could get out of there on our own, so I asked him if he could help us..."

Shoji didn't like this. "Kalerin, what did you do?" He repeated, gripping his weapon again. Shoji glanced at the demon as he started to speak again. "Your friend merely made a deal with me, to get him and you out of there, which would have been very bad, had you stayed with my ...cousin, I think you would call him, for he would have done more then just have you for lunch..." He added a slight emphasis on the words 'have you', and Shoji shivered, knowing exactly what he meant. "Don't worry, for my deal will be with Kalerin, so you will not be involved, little Shoji..."

Shocked, Shoji stared wide-eyed, 'he knows my name?', then looked over at Kalerin, who was himself staring at the demon. Green-hair waved his hand, and a spot of green appeared on the floor. It burst into flames, but then the fire disappeared, leaving a line of smoke that trailed into the air about five feet high. "My servant here will guide you to a room, where you can sleep and heal your wounds. Food will be provided, and I will call for you in the morning..." He sat down at his desk, and began to write in a book. Shoji and Kalerin took this to mean that he was done with them, and turned to the puff of green smoke that was now behind them. The top part of it bent towards the door, and glided out. Shoji and Kalerin looked at each other, and Kalerin shrugged. They followed the smoke out.

The puff of smoke now led them down several tunnels, up so many stairs and fairly shortly Shoji and Kalerin were confused and couldn't find their way back, even if they'd wanted to. After some fifteen minutes, Green-puff, which was what Kalerin had named it, pointed towards a door. "Thank you, Green-puff!" Kalerin smiled, and Green-puff actually curved, as if it were smiling as well. Shoji also thanked it, and as they opened the door, it vanished.

The room was sparsely furnished, it had two beds, some tapestries, and a table set along one of the walls. It was on this table that two places had been set already with food and drinks. Kalerin and Shoji approached the table cautiously, they all too well remembered the way that the blue-haired demon had almost captured them. After checking the table and food for any possible traps, Shoji, who was very hungry by this time, took the bold move to try the food before Kalerin could stop him. As his companion watched him anxiously, Shoji himself waited a few moments to see if anything happened. "Seems all right to me..." He smiled at his companion in relief, and sat down on one of the chairs, and Kalerin didn't wait long to join him.

Sometime later, and after eating as much as they could without getting sick, Kalerin sat on the bed nearest to the window and watched as Shoji examined the walls and looked out the windows. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously as Shoji was tugging on a tapestry that had different colors and shapes on it. "I'm seeing if there's anything here that will tell us what is going on..." He turned his head to look at his companion. "Something dosn't seem right here, I don't trust that demon, especially with the deal you made."

Kalerin shuddered, "Don't remind me." He stretched out on the bed and yawned. "Besides, it certainly sounds better then being a meal for Blue."

"You may be right..." Shoji conceded, then one of his eyebrows rose. "Blue?" He sat on the other bed, and cocked his head inquiringly.

Kalerin shrugged, "Didn't know what else to call him or Green." He stretched again, and looked over his shoulder at Shoji, "Are you about ready for bed? I'm about to go to sleep."

Shoji nodded, "Yeah, I just want to take care of some things, I'm just not ready to sleep yet. Too many things happening today, you know..." Kalerin smiled softly and nodded, his eyes already looking weary. As Shoji watched, Kalerin turned himself into his silver fox form and settled on the bed. Shoji blinked, '..You turn yourself into a fox to sleep?..' The response came back as barely a whisper, '..I always do..' There was nothing more as Kalerin fell asleep. Shoji stared at him for a few minutes, wondering what it would be like to grow up as a fox, then have to learn about being human. 'Maybe I should try sleeping as a fox or something...' He shrugged, then had an amusing thought as he imagined himself sleeping in his own fox-form at the foot of Yusuke's bed. "Yusuke..." He breathed softly, thinking about how his life had changed so drastically and how much he found he cared for the older man. {Sleep...} A voice echoed in his head, breaking his concentration, and he glanced around wildly, recognizing the voice as Yusuke's. He shook his head, and sat up, crossing his arms. 'No way I can get to sleep now, not after hearing that voice...' He was thinking about pulling out the book in his coat, when his bracelet actually clinked, and Yusuke's voice echoed once again in his mind, somewhat more forcefully. {Sleep} Shoji's last thought before he lost consciousness was that somehow Yusuke had known what had happened and hoped he wouldn't be mad.

Shoji found himself in a small room, lit up in the corner by a soft golden glow. The furniture seemed outdated, and he looked out of a window to see a Tokyo that wasn't as big as it now was. A clock was chiming midnight, and he could see the object that was glowing now. It was a human boy, probley about fifteen years old, and he appeared to be sleeping. His black hair wisped around his face, and Shoji had the feeling he knew him. The door opened suddenly, and a young girl with short brown hair dropped the purse and keys she was carrying as she ran towards the boy. She fell to her knees, and kissed him, but what had gotten Shoji's attention was the name she had been crying as she approached the sleeping boy. It was 'Yusuke'. Shoji watched, transfixed, as the clock bells stopped ringing, and the girl pleaded with Yusuke to 'come back'. When he showed no response, she began to cry. Shoji took one step towards her, not sure what to make of this scene, when the boy's eyes flickered open and stared at her in amazement mixed with a little bit of happiness. "Hi, good morning," he greeted her, and was caught up by the girl who embraced him.

Shoji watched them in shock, "Yusuke?" It had to be the same Yusuke that he had met, he couldn't mistake the big brown eyes, but when had this happened and why? The scene changed, the two young teens disappeared, and the Yusuke he knew appeared before him. "Shoji..." he smiled softly, and walked towards Shoji, who just stared at him. Yusuke reached out a hand to touch Shoji's hair, tangling one of the locks in his fingers. "Yusuke..." Shoji whispered, and Yusuke put a finger on his lips to silence him. Shoji silently watched him, knowing this was a dream, but Yusuke's touch seemed to set his desire aflame. Shaking his head and still smiling, Yusuke took his finger off Shoji's lips as he leaned his face towards Shoji's. They kissed, Shoji responding just as fiercely to Yusuke as they clung together. Smiling, Yusuke looked at his younger companion, and let the hand that was still clutching the hair trail down his cheek to cup his chin. A lock of hair was still looped around his finger, though Shoji hadn't felt it being cut or torn off. He stared at the lock, its lavender tone shimmering softly in the twilight, the small patch of pale green at the end that was illuminated just as much, and raised an eyebrow towards Yusuke, who was still grinning only a few inches from his face. "I just thought that I may have something to better remember you by, since we have these," He said softly, holding up his own wrist to reveal the same golden bracelet as Shoji's. He pulled on one of his own locks of hair, and placed it into Shoji's palm. "Here's yours..." Yusuke trailed off, and pulled Shoji close to kiss him gently...

Shoji woke suddenly, and sat up, clutching his pillow as he panted, trying to catch his breath. He saw that he was in the room Green-puff had led them to. But the dream had seemed so real... Shoji sighed, letting his shoulders slump dejectedly - it'd had felt like he was right there, was touching him, kissing him...- and noticed Kalerin watching him curiously as he munched on breakfast. "Have a bad dream?"

Shoji shook his head, and smiled slightly, "No, it was a good dream..." He noticed what Kalerin was eating, and rushed out of bed, he found he was famished. As he poured himself some fruit juice, his bracelet seemed to shimmer like it had caught the first morning's sunlight. Interwoven around the little chain that encircled the golden band was a lock of hair, long black hair... The fork that he was holding in his other hand clattered to the floor.

Alarmed, Kalerin stared in shock at Shoji, and clutched his own fork as if he feared he was going to drop his as well. "Shoji?" He asked worriedly, and when Shoji didn't respond as he only gazed at his wrist, shook his shoulder. Shoji's turquoise eyes fixed on his own, and Kalerin breathed a sigh of relief. "So what happened?" Kalerin eagerly demanded.

Shoji picked at the plate he had made, and explained to Kalerin what he had seen. He didn't exactly feel comfortable telling Kalerin everything that had happened in the second part of the dream, so he merely glossed over it and told him that he and Yusuke exchanged the locks of hair. "I thought it was only a dream...until I saw the hair..." He finished his breakfast, and looked inquiringly at Kalerin, remembering something that he had been meaning to ask him. "So how did you end up in Tokyo?"

Kalerin shrugged, and told him basically of how he had run away from his family, been hit by a car, and nursed back to health by the man named Heero who had taught Kalerin what he could of the 'Human world' and had sent him to 'visit someone' in Tokyo. "Then Botan found me, and I got to ride in this big black car with food in it, and we got to the hotel and met you!" Kalerin smiled, and asked for his partner's history. Shoji explained how he had been living on Hokkaido, until being asked by his Uncle Shin to come to Tokyo.

Kalerin leaned his head on his hand, and finished his own meal just in time for the door to open. Green-puff was there in the doorway, beckoning them outside."Good Morning Green-puff!" Kalerin grinned, and waved at the puff of smoke that now tried to imitate him, its top half swaying back and forth. Shoji smiled, and waved. "I take it that Green wants us to see him again?" He asked, and Green-puff beckoned again. "Just one moment, I need to get some things, ne?" Shoji went towards the bed, gathering his coat and other things he had dropped onto the floor. As he came back to the table, he could see Kalerin asking the puff different questions, and it trying to respond in different ways. One that made him smile for the sheer cuteness of it was when Kalerin asked if Green-puff liked being here with Green. Green-puff curled around to become a heart, and Kalerin clapped his hands eagerly. "Sorry to break this up, but I'm ready to go." Shoji announced, and Green-puff resumed its normal shape. It led them outside and down the hall to a door at the end. The door now opened, and to their surprise, since it had taken a long time to get to their room the night before, it revealed Green, who appeared not to have moved at all since they had left him, he was still writing in the book.

They stood there for a few minutes, not sure whether to bother him, when at last he closed the book and turned towards them. "Ah, I see you have awakened...," he smiled at them. "Shall we discuss the deal then?" He was about to say more, when a small insistant beep-beep interrupted him. It seemed to be coming from Shoji's wrist, and he held it up, somewhat embaressed, so he could see what was causing it. The source was revealed to be the watch that he had put on when they had first come here. His cheeks becoming red because the demon and Kalerin were staring at him, he pushed a button, thinking it was the shut-off switch. Instead, Botan's voice cheerfully greeted them. "Ohayo, Kalerin and Shoji! This is Botan-chan!" She sang in her usual voice that Shoji had heard when he had met her. "I hope you two are doing all right, and hope you are taking good care of Kurama, ne? See you when I can! Botan, out!" The watch became silent.

Shoji looked up to see that Green now had a speculative look on his face. "Botan now?" He smiled benevolently at them. "Why didn't you say that you knew her? This changes things then." He put a hand to his face, and appeared to be in thought for a short time. Then he clapped his hands merrily, and walked over to them. "I will show you to someone that can help you find your friends. I think he'll be able to assist you, he's one of my other cousins, Red..." He escorted them towards the door they had come in, and instead of leading into the hall, it opened to reveal the swamp that they had seen when they had woken up in this world. Shoji was past shock, there was so much in this world, heck, so much had happened to him since he had left Hokkaido that he figured even ending up with a child to take care of wouldn't faze him anymore.

They headed towards the same part of the swamp where Green had captured them the first time. As they walked, Shoji and Kalerin told him what had happened and the reason why they had appeared in this world. He had listened to them silently without interrupting, and when they were finished, told them that they were in the Makai, which was the land of demons. Shoji blinked, and Kalerin stared at Green, who waved his hand as if dismissing their fears. After traveling for what seemed to Shoji hours, they saw a castle in the distance. As it drew closer, they noticed that it was very different then the other two castles they had been in, for it looked to be made out of white marble and had many tall spires that glistened shiny red.

"Ah, here we are..." Green smiled in satisfaction, and pulled on the rope that was attached to the huge bell in one of the towers. There was no sound, but he pulled on the bell several more times. After a minute, however, the doors opened to reveal yet another of Green's 'cousins', this time in place of the green hair was fiery-red, plus he wore a ruby pendant. Shoji and Kalerin had learned that Red was the oldest of all the 'cousins', and that he could easily tell them where their friends were.

Green now explained the situation to Red, talking in an unfamiliar language as Shoji and Kalerin waited some distance away, but the two companions could tell that they were being discussed as Green pointed to them occaisionally. Red then turned to face them, smiling as if to reassure them. "My 'cousin' vouches for you, seeing as how he led you past the many traps that guard my humble home..." Red spoke in the general language, having not even the slightest accent like Green did. "Come this way, I will lead you to a place where you may enter to find your friends. A sort of shortcut, if you know what I mean..." He turned, and walked into the big gates of the castle, with the others following him.

The hallway was filled with exquisite artwork, and lined with shelves of rare jewels, but Red walked swiftly, not paying attention to his treasures. Shoji glanced over his shoulder for one last look before the doors closed. 'Sheesh, what is it with people and rich things? Seems like just about every place I've been recently has been filled to the brim with it...' He shrugged, and noticing that the others had gone ahead down a staircase, hurried to catch up. The way down was dark, with only a small lamp every few feet to guide them. Red and Green were barely noticeable as they talked, their hair shining in the light, and Kalerin's eyes looked like he was far away. Shoji touched his bracelet with his index finger, rubbing softly on the small golden links that the lock of Yusuke's hair had been braided into, feeling very much alone. Instantly, a feeling of comfort washed over him, and he had the fleeting sensation of lips brushing against his. He barely managed to suppress the gasp that emerged, but Green turned his head and winked at him. Shoji was grateful for the small lamps which hid the blush that now stained his cheeks.

It seemed like they had been walking forever, when they finally came to a pair of iron doors. Red held up his hand, and one of the doors swung open, revealing a well-lit chamber with strange symbols painted on the walls. Gesturing them inside, he didn't speak, but immediately clapped his hands together, forming a ball of white energy. This he sent towards the far wall, causing a hole big enough for them to walk upright. "Here you are..." the red-haired demon waved his hand, "This should take you to your friends, I hope you find them soon..." He turned and started towards the stairs as Green, Kalerin and Shoji walked into the tunnel.

Compared to their journey down the stairs, this was a brief walk when they came to another set of doors. Appearing to be made out of obsidian, there was a single hand emboldered in the middle. "What now?" Shoji asked Green, who shrugged and pointed at something near one of the doors, "I don't know, but there's someone who might..." From out of the shadows erupted a thunderous roar, and as Kalerin and Shoji backed away, an enormous creature glared at them. It looked to be a giant dog with three heads, somewhat like the dog Cerebus who guarded the land of the dead in Greek Mythology, Shoji remembered from his history lessons.

Green was not fazed, though, and as his other two companions hid behind him, he strode up and faced the creature. "We wish to enter the doorway," he said forcefully. A reverberating thunder filled the cavern, and the creature roared at them with all three heads, "Why do you wish to enter?" Green gazed over his shoulder at his two charges, and said in a light tone of voice, "He wants to know why you need to go in there..." The companions looked at each other and both said at the same time, "For our friends".

"Why?!" The giant dog yelled. "Do you really wish to go into that maze where you may never find your way out? What help would you be to your friends then?" Kalerin spoke up, interrupting him, "Yes, but we must try, we know something is happening to them, so if even if we don't make it, at least we did something." His response gave Shoji the courage to add, "Right, plus we already screwed up by losing the person we were responsible for. The only thing we can do is to go and help our friends in this." The niddle head of the beast nodded, and said in a normal human tone of voice, "Your words are satisfactory. You may proceed, but first I require a token for you to enter." It gestured with a toss of its head down a small passageway they had not noticed before, "Down that tunnel is a statue of a gryphon. For you to enter, bring me its heart, then you may pass me. Though I will warn you, it is no easy feat, no one has ever succeeded in this task."

Shoji and Kalerin both blinked, and looked up at Green, who smiled, "Sure, we'll be back shortly..." As the creature snorted in contempt, they entered the tunnel. After walking in darkness, a small spot of light ahead indicated the end of the tunnel. They emerged in the same kind of landscape they had seen when they first came to the Makai, only as they saw when their eyes adjusted, there was a mountain in the distance, with a small point of something reflecting the light at the summit.

Green smiled, and held up a hand. "I'll make it easier for the both of you, since you can't fly and the light is dying." A ball of green light encircled them, and they were transported to the top of the mountain. Once there however, he fell to his knees. Panting hoarsely, he looked up at them, his face dripping with sweat. "Oh, I may have overexerted myself...," he said weakly, and for the first time, Shoji and Kalerin could see his composure starting to crack. "I must get back to my realm, I can not stay away too long, else I lose my powers." His light blue eyes looked worried as he glanced up at them. "You should be safe here, the gryphon will not hurt you or let any harm come to you until it is ready to test you both. But I wish I could help you."

Shoji blinked, and stared at him. "Sure, if you need to, go ahead and rest," he said resolutely, not liking the idea of staying on the mountain all night in the demon world. "I mean, I wouldn't want you to lose your powers because of us." Kalerin helped Green to his feet, and smiled at him, "Yeah, we should be fine. We'll find the heart before you get back. Don't worry." Green nodded once, and pulled something out of his shirt. He gave it to Kalerin, who found it to be a jade necklace. "If you need me for anything, break a stone of this, and I'll be here as soon as possible..." Then after putting a hand to his chest as if in pain, he closed his eyes and vanished. Shoji crossed his arms and looked around, there didn't seem to be any movement below the mountain. He heard a foot scraping on stone and pebbles striking the ground behind him, and turned to see Kalerin sitting astride the huge gryphon. It was transparent, appearing to be made out of crystal, and as far as they could see, it had no heart inside of it. "I don't see anything resembling a heart on this statue," Kalerin called. Shoji's feelings, which had been climbing into happiness and relief that soon this would be all over, fell lower then his feet.

They spent a couple of hours climbing all over it, checking for secret compartments and clues that could lead them to the treasure, but as it grew dark, they still hadn't found anything. An odd light seemed to shine from the statue, making it look like the gryphon was glowing brightly, but searching for the source turned up nothing either. Shoji sat against the statue, his head in his hands, trying to fight off the depression that was weighing on them both. He looked over at Kalerin, and watched him throw a few pebbles over the side of the cliff. "There's something wrong, isn't there..." Shoji said in a soft voice, and Kalerin turned, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah..." Kalerin sat alongside him, his face staring off into the sky, a tear falling down his cheek. "I miss Heero, he was the one who taught me how to be a human after he found me. I had... had a dream when I first got to Tokyo, that the woods where he raised me had been destroyed..." His eyes closed, but he kept on talking. "I was a fox, and I was running, running, through all the woods, then I got to Heero's temple... and... and..." His head bowed, and he put his arms over it, making his voice muffled. "I couldn't find him... the temple was ruined, it looked like had been burned..." Shoji placed a hand on his shoulder, and Kalerin looked up at him, anxiety in his crystal-blue eyes. "Then I saw a bird high in the air, and I followed it, and as I did, this wolf-thing tried to chase me, but for some reason I ran after the bird. I went across this pool of water as I was chasing the bird, but the wolf sank even as I was able to just run across the surface."

Shoji watched his companion for a few moments, as Kalerin wiped away another tear. "I.. I know, I had something like it too, it was like I was seeing Yusuke when he was younger..." His hand patted Kalerin's shoulder softly. "I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, someone told me that my bracelet was a link to Yusuke, and from what I've seen, it certainly seems to be true..." He studied the golden bracelet, and let Kalerin see the lock of hair that was part of the small chain. "I don't know why, it just seems like he and I..." he couldn't finish the sentence. After a minute later, he tried again, "I can't figure out why he likes me, but... well, I just find that I need to see him again, to touch him..." He touched the bracelet unconsciously, and felt the same sensation hit him as before. It did little to lift his spirits, however, as Kalerin squeezed his arm. He yawned, and looked over at Kalerin, "I'm so tired, it feels like we walked all over the ningenkai today." Since there wasn't any coverings for either of them, they decided to turn into foxes to shelter in the small space between the front paws of the statue. '..Maybe when Green gets back, maybe he can figure out a way to help us..' Shoji 'said' wearily, but Kalerin was already asleep. Shoji yawned again, and settling close to fox-Kalerin, he fell into slumber.

Something touched his mind, causing him to wake up quickly. Shoji found himself in human form surrounded by nothingness, he couldn't see anything but himself, not even the ground he felt he was standing on. "Kalerin?" He shouted into the blackness. "Kalerin!" 'Oh, no... I've lost him... ' he shuddered as the thoughts came to him. 'No, why is this happening?? I'm losing everyone around me!' He tried to run, to try to find something that was out of place in this weird setting he seemed to have dropped into, but it felt like he wasn't even moving. He couldn't see or hear anything, and any sound he made was swallowed up. He sat, his prison seeming to weigh down on him, feeling very defeated and that there was nothing he could do. He rubbed on the bracelet, but it felt very cold on his wrist.

"Shoji..." The forceful voice echoed all around him, and he lifted his head, looking around wildly with widened eyes. "Shoji..." The same voice repeated, and he stood up.

"Who's there?" He whispered into the darkness, anxious to actually hear something other then the silence surrounding him. He turned his head, trying to see who was calling him.

"Shoji..." The voice said his name once more, then went on. "You feel as if you are all alone... You see, this is the world you created for yourself. There is nothing here, because you have let your depression overwhelm you..."

"What?" Shoji gasped, and stood up. "If that's true, then how do I get out of here?" He clenched his hands, and asked again, this time with more of a hint of desparation, "Please, tell me how to get out of this?"

"To give me a heart, you must have one of your own to give to me..." The voice echoed around him.

"Huh??" Shoji blinked several times, the question rising to his lips as he stared towards where he thought the voice was coming from. "Give you a heart? How?" The voice remained silent now, however, and Shoji gritted his teeth in anger as he shouted into the darkness. "How am I supposed to give you a heart, I'm all alone here in this desolete place, I've lost everyone, and I don't know how I'll get out of this alive..." He sat again, and tried to fight back the tears forming. "I'll be a disappointment to my family, who believed in me so much, my uncle who trained me just so I could get used to my powers, and ... and..." His eyes closed, and he leaned his head forward, barely speaking in a whisper. "Yusuke... He loved me, actually showed me some respect and attention, and he kissed me... I want to see him again so much..." An image of Yusuke appeared in his mind, one of him grinning and holding up the bracelet with the lock of purple-green hair showing in the links.

"Yusuke..." Shoji whispered, his eyes now misting wet as he viewed his image. He wiped the tears away to find the black all around him fading away to that of the statue of the gryphon. Then he felt himself wake up.

Shoji gasped, and looked at fox-Kalerin, who stared back at him just as wildly. They both changed back into human form, and immediately started talking at the same time.

"I was surrounded by black space --"

"--and I couldn't see anything --"

"--I couldn't see or hear, until this voice said my name --"

"-- you too?? It wanted me to give it a heart--"

Shoji stopped, holding up a hand for Kalerin to do the same, and took some deep breaths. "Ok, so I take it we had the same dream. But what happened? How did we 'give it a heart'?"

Kalerin shrugged, "I'm not sure... I heard the voice talk about giving it a heart, so I thought of people that loved me, like Heero and all of you guys."

Shoji nodded, "I didn't figure that out at all, I just started to name off people who knew me well and would have been disappointed in me if I failed." His expression became sheepish, then his eyes widened as he turned his head to watch the sky grow lighter. There, right by their feet and shining a brillient red, was a ruby in the shape of a heart. Kalerin and Shoji both jumped as a loud voice echoed around them, "You have done well, here is the heart that you will need to enter the labrynth and find your friends. In case you need it, I will also let you have this for luck." A black feather drifted down and Shoji caught it before it hit the ground. "This feather can transport two people anywhere, but it can only be two people and may only be used once."

Shoji and Kalerin grinned, and Shoji stuck the feather inside one of his coat pockets. They bowed and turned away from the statue, just in time to see a green flash of light. It died away to reveal Green, their companion from the day before.

"Ahh, I see you managed to survive the night..." His eyes fell upon the ruby heart, and he gave them a slight grin. "Well, I see you managed to succeed. I'd love to see the look on that dog's face when he sees you with this, ne? Why don't we just pop on down there and find out, shall we?" He clapped his hands once, and a circle of pale green light shimmered around them. Kalerin and Shoji fell to their knees as the power sphere began to move rapidly down the hillside. "Sorry about that..." Green winced and looked over his shoulder at them, and entered the tunnel in one of the other mountains.

They drew closer to where the gateway to the maze was located, but there was no sign of the monstrous dog that had opposed them the day before. Green dropped the sphere, and approached the gate. As before, the same reverberating roar shattered the silence as the huge animal rose out of the shadows.

"You have returned, I see. Do you still pursue your foolhardy quest to continue?" The beast didn't show any emotion as one of the heads looked each of them carefully, then at the heart that Kalerin and Shoji both carried. Green shrugged slightly, he'd obviously wanted to see the creature angry, and smiled up at it. "Yes, we managed to find the token you required. May we enter your grand gates to get inside the maze?"

The dog snorted in contempt again, but it moved aside as the huge black doors now started to open behind it. Shoji and Kalerin placed the heart at the dog's feet and were almost inside the gates when a low angry growl stopped them in their tracks. They both turned to see the tail of the creature preventing Green from joining them. "The two young ones who journey in search of their friends may proceed, but you may not, for you are not allowed to enter." The beast's huge black eyes held a hint of satisfaction as he glared at the demon, but this time, Green didn't let anything show as he waved them on. "Don't worry, you'll be fine... Just be careful and trust each other..."

Shoji and Kalerin didn't move as they stared back at him. Green wasn't able to come with them? They'd come to depend on the demon who had been with them for the past few days, it had seemed that with his help they could get past anything and find their friends easily, but now he couldn't help them anymore? The doors, which they had forgotten about momentarily, began to close, deciding their choice for them. The two companions barely made it through as the doors closed resoundingly.