In case you missed it, I was attacked and captured by those guys who were after the orihalcon statue. Me, the beautiful kenjutsu komachi, Kaoru Kamiya! Basically, I left the statue with Kenshin and couldn’t use my techniques! What a tight pinch that was! And then, strangest of all, Aoshi let me escape! Is it a trap, or has he really changed sides? And who should pop up in front of us while we were escaping? Shishio the Red Priest!

Kaoru looked back and forth between the bandaged priest and the snarling Aoshi. Aoshi? Snarling? “Shishio-san…” she murmured.

“And just what are you doing, Aoshi?” Shishio asked. “Trying to help her escape? It seems you weren’t being quite honest with me, were you? It’s obvious you’ve turned against me.”

Kaoru stared. “Against you? As in, you two were working together?”

“Silence!” Aoshi snapped. “I don’t have to obey you any more!”

“Oh?” asked the Red Priest with deceptive mildness. “Is that so?”

Um, I happen to be here too… Kaoru thought.

“You dare turn against me,” Shishio went on, “after I mercifully granted you the strength you sought?”

“What was merciful about it?” Aoshi snapped. “Yes, I said I wanted strength… but I don’t remember asking to become a chimaera in the process!”

“It was the most efficient way to make you strong,” the priest explained. “The means and the reasoning do not matter. In this world it is the duty of the weak to become food for the strong. You wished to be an eater rather than one who is eaten – I made you strong, and you must live with the consequences! And now to settle things!” He struck his staff on the ground; the rings chimed.

“Why don’t I just see myself out?” asked Kaoru and turned to leave, trying to put some distance between herself and what was shaping up to be a very heated magical battle. She broke into a run – only to be grabbed by Aoshi. “Watch what you’re grabbing there!” she yelped. “Lemme go!” Aoshi held her in front of him.

“You intend to use the girl as a shield?” Shishio smirked.

“As a shield?” Kaoru gasped. She had no wish to be on the receiving end of Shishio’s magic, especially at point-blank range.

“Ridiculous!” Shishio scoffed. “What will that do against me?”

“While I have her as a shield I can’t escape you,” Aoshi pointed out, “but I’m not using her as a shield.” He flung her in Shishio’s direction.

Shishio stepped aside and let her fly past.

“What the –” Kaoru screeched, right before she collided with a tree.

Aoshi was already moving. He snatched her up and soared high into the air, burying Shishio under a barrage of fireballs. He landed, running, with Kaoru tucked under his arm.

“Not so rough!” she yelped.

“You can complain later!” he snapped. Behind him, flames engulfed the forest, leaving a charcoal wasteland behind – but Shishio stepped out of the inferno completely unharmed. The priest smiled.

“Hey, how far are we running?” Kaoru asked Aoshi.

“A little further and we’ll be safe,” he replied – and leaped over a cliff.

Back at the abandoned temple, Aoshi’s former henchmen awoke to discover their captive and their leader both missing. “What? The little witch got away?” Hyottoko roared. “That little… she fooled us all!” He stopped and sniffed. “Who’s grilling fish at this hour?”

“Trouble, Hyottoko!” Beshimi called from the entrance. “It’s Noonsa!”

Shikijou came in, carrying the fish-man’s well-cooked body.

Hyottoko’s eyes popped. “Noonsa?”

“Beshimi spotted him floating in the lake…” Shikijou began.

“Who could have done this?” Hyottoko murmured. “To do this to Noonsa… before I could… to reduce him to this… this crisp, delicious-looking morsel!” His stomach growled. He was hungry… and Noonsa smelled so good…

Shikijou licked his lips. Beshimi was openly drooling.

“Noonsa, I swear I shall avenge you!” Hyottoko vowed. He took a step toward the body.

“Then go and attack Aoshi,” a strangely compelling voice ordered. Purple light shone around Hyottoko. He forgot about Noonsa, forgot his hunger, could do nothing but listen to that voice.

“Shishio-sama?” he breathed in wonder.

“Hyottoko, I ask that you take care of the traitor.” The purple light faded.

“The Okashira, a traitor?” he wondered… but of course Shishio-sama had to be right. The purple light faded and Hyottoko became aware of his surroundings again. Shikijou, Beshimi, and even Hannya were licking their fingers, wearing satisfied smiles. Licking their fingers… he gasped when he saw Noonsa’s skeleton. “You… you ATE HIM ALL!” Hyottoko raged.

Not a single crumb of flesh was left, nothing but polished fish bones. Hyottoko’s stomach growled again, and he wept.

“Looks like we gave him the slip,” Aoshi observed.

Kaoru peered at her reflection in the stream. “Mou, now my nose looks all smashed in,” she complained.

“It looked like that to begin with,” Aoshi pointed out.

“Hey!” she exclaimed… then sighed.

“You aren’t tired, are you?” he asked with the first concern she had seen from him.

“Of course!” she exclaimed. “It doesn’t matter how tough you are, running around in the middle of the night’ll wipe you out!” Although he was mostly carrying me around, she admitted to herself.

“Get some sleep,” he offered. “I’m a little bit tired as well.”

“Lucky!” she cheered.

“Don’t even think of running off while I’m asleep.” He pulled the collar of his trenchcoat up around his face.

“I wasn’t even considering it.” She waved her hands in denial – even though that had been exactly her plan. But… “I’m too tired, and only a little of my powers have come back.”

“Oh? Meaning that some of your abilities have returned?”

“Anyway, I’m not going to run off.” She settled against the rock.

“That is a wise policy.”

“Thing is, you think you can explain some things to me now?”

“I may as well. You are involved in this matter, whether I like it or not. You have a right to know.”

“You bet I do.”

“Well then, where should I begin?”

“How about with that guy?” she asked. “He calls himself Shishio the Red Priest, but who is he really?”

“He truly is the man that people call Shishio the Red Priest,” Aoshi replied slowly. “But… suppose he wasn’t always what he appears to be now?”

Kaoru wondered what Aoshi meant. “Okay, what’s he up to?”

“Surely you know. Searching for something with all his might.”

“Then…” Kaoru went back over her first conversation with the red-robed cleric.

“Apparently they were sent by Aoshi Shinomori.”

“You know him?”

“Yes. He is my enemy. attempting to resurrect Shabranigdo, the mazoku lord. Aoshi is a creation of utter evil… he wishes to revive the Dark Lord and destroy the world.”

She sat up with a start. “You aren’t trying to resurrect the Dark Lord Shabranigdo… he is, isn’t he?”

Aoshi stared. “Dark Lord…?”

“I see,” she went on. “You messed up getting the statue from me… so you decided to bug out on your own.”

Aoshi was still going over her earlier bombshell. “Shabranigdo? What do you mean?”

Kaoru blinked. “He isn’t?”

“The thing he’s had us seeking looks something like this.” He picked up a pebble from the stream bank. “It’s quite famous – the Philosopher’s Stone.” He pitched the pebble into the water.

Kaoru let out a squawk of amazement. “You mean –”

“The Stone is hidden within the statue,” he replied.

“No way!” she screeched.

Yahiko trudged wearily through the forest, following Kenshin who didn’t seem at all fazed by a night under the trees. “Ho hum,” he yawned, “that didn’t work. We’d have been a lot better off stayin’ at an inn, Kenshin!”

“Kaoru-dono was carrying the money, Yahiko,” the rurouni replied. “Now that it’s getting light, we should be able to find her soon.”

“I sure hope so,” the boy grumbled. “I don’t know if I can take another night bein’ jabbed by tree roots.”

“If you want to be a swordsman you need to learn to endure a little discomfort, that you do,” Kenshin laughed. He drew out the silver statuette – a beautiful thing, but to his eyes not nearly as beautiful as Kaoru. “Where are you, Kaoru-dono?” he whispered, as if the statue could grant his wish to see her again.

“The Philosopher’s Stone,” Kaoru said to herself. “Any mahoutsukai worth their salt has heard of it. There are all sorts of theories that it’s a piece of the Staff of the Gods that supports the world. But one thing’s for certain, it’ll amplify magic power beyond anyone’s imagination! Whenever the Stone appears, the course of history gets changed – mainly because it’s said that a single mahoutsukai using the Stone can destroy a whole kingdom! But what would a guy like that do if he had the Stone? Don’t tell me he’s trying to conquer the world – what would he do with it if he had it?”

Aoshi turned around. “As the rumors say, Shishio was blinded and terribly scarred by burns. No one knows for certain how it happened – some say it was from a magical experiment gone wrong, but others say that the other four Great Sages discovered his evil ambitions and attempted to destroy him. Whichever is the case, he wants to be healed. For that reason alone, he began to study white magic. After he mastered it, he traveled through many lands, performing great miracles as he went. He would cure blindness, scars and deformities, but while he could heal others, for some reason he couldn’t heal himself. And so he began to study shamanism and even the black arts. Still he found no cure. And so, to finally restore his sight and uncover his face like other men…”

“He went after the legendary Philosopher’s Stone,” Kaoru finished.

Aoshi nodded.

“I see now,” she mused. “That stuff about reviving Shabranigdo was nothing but a red herring. He was just stringing me along so he could get the statue.” She blinked. “So why are you so eager to make sure he doesn’t get it? You want to interfere with him?”

His fist clenched. “I don’t want to interfere with him, I want to kill him – and for that I need the Stone!”

“Is he really that bad?” She couldn’t believe it, not Shishio the Red Priest who traveled the world working miracles of healing. Whatever else he’d done…

“Yes. As I am now, I can’t beat him. Why did I ever…” He broke off, reliving in memory the fateful day he and the Red Priest had met in the forest.

“You wish to be strong, Aoshi?” the priest had asked. “Help me to search for the Philosopher’s Stone, and I will grant you strength beyond imagination. You don’t want it?” The priest had smiled then, and the jewel in his staff glowed…

“I was a fool not to realize the meaning of those words,” the chimaera said, with a lifetime of bitterness in his tone. He stared at his marble reflection in the stream, until a leaf fell and ripples wiped out the image.

Uh-oh, he’s getting depressed again, Kaoru realized. “So how do you know Shishio?” she asked.

“I’ve known him since I was born,” Aoshi replied. “I don’t know how long he’s lived, but I imagine he was both my grandfather and great-grandfather.”

Kaoru stared. Sure, it was hard to tell under all those wrappings, but the priest hadn’t seemed that old. “You mean…”

“Yes, the blood of the Red Priest flows within me as well.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked… “Anyway,” she went on with forced brightness, “now I think I know what the deal is.” She stretched out on the ground. “Now let’s see about getting some sleep.”

But it wasn’t to be. A cloud of birds flew screeching from the treetops. She sat up, every sense alert.

Kenshin stared into the leaves. Where are you, Kaoru-dono?

“Jeez, if Kaoru were here she’d use that cool technique of hers to get us some breakfast,” Yahiko whined. Kenshin’s efforts at fishing didn’t seem to be bearing much fruit… but then the rurouni wasn’t really concentrating.

“We’re surrounded,” Aoshi observed.

“What are they?”

“Twenty or thirty trolls. Shishio isn’t with them.”

“We’ll manage somehow!” she grinned.

“Confident, aren’t you?” Confident I’ll do all the work…

“Come on out, you two!” called a new voice. Hyottoko lumbered into the clearing, with Beshimi peering over his shoulder.

“Good morning, Hyottoko!” Kaoru called. “Sorry to have put you out after you came all this way!”

“You remembered my name,” the fat man growled. “I’m flattered.

“Hyottoko, Beshimi…” Aoshi said. “Aren’t you loyal to the Oniwabanshuu?”

The fat man shook his head. “You turned against Shishio-sama… you’re just an enemy!”

“I go with Hyottoko,” Beshimi put in.

“I see,” Aoshi said sadly. “So you think you can defeat me… I brought you into the Oniwabanshuu when no one else would have anything to do with you, I taught you the fire-breath technique…”

“Yeah, well, lemme pay you back for that, Okashira!” He exhaled flames.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Kaoru screeched, diving out of the way. She bounced off a troll’s head, but two more were bearing down on her. “I’ll teach you to fool around with a girl who’s been hurt bad!”

But she seemed to be getting the worst of the battle.

Kenshin had finally managed to catch some fish, but Yahiko wasn’t any better off. Having been the one to catch the fish, he decided that Yahiko should be the one to cook them – and the boy’s best efforts came out half raw and half burned. “Che,” the boy grumbled. “Even Busu cooks better’n this!”

“My shishou always said I learned best from making mistakes de gozaru yo,” the rurouni replied.

Kaoru and Aoshi found themselves completely encircled by trolls.

“This will take forever,” Aoshi growled, and the blades of his kodachi glowed with magical energy.

Earth below me, submit to my will!

He plunged one of the glowing blades into the ground.

Kaoru gasped. “A Dug Haut?”

Energies coursed through the trembling ground. A spire of rock shot up from under one of the trolls, impaling its monstrous body. Another followed, and another, until Aoshi and Kaoru stood in the center of a forest of needle-sharp stalagmites, and all the trolls were speared.

“Not bad,” Hyottoko called. “But can you beat me without your shamanist tricks?”

Aoshi smiled – a hard, tight little smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “You wish to defeat me by sword alone?”

“Just like you said.”

“Then try if you dare.”

Hyottoko drew a blade as massive as himself. Aoshi took up a defensive stance with his twin kodachi. “Out of my way, ‘kenjutsu komachi,’” he told Kaoru.

Hyottoko was surprisingly good with the huge sword, but Aoshi’s shorter blades blurred into an impenetrable steel wall. His movements were as smooth as flowing water, so effortlessly swift he seemed to be in six places at once.

“Aoshi!” Kaoru screeched. A huge, warty troll held her up by the ankle. “Listen, this whole unrelenting act is getting really old!” she grumbled, and kicked the troll in the head with her free foot.

It stared at her for a moment, then dropped her to scratch its head in puzzlement – then realized its prey was escaping and took off after her.

“Guess I’ll have to sink or swim!” she said.

Hyottoko sheared off the top of the rock spires and sent them raining down on Aoshi.

Kaoru drew her bokken, vaulted over the troll’s head and tapped it. “SLEEP!”

The troll halted, scratched its head again, yawned, and crashed to the ground.

“See?” Kaoru said brightly. “Even the way I am, I can use a few techniques!” She stopped when she saw the toppling spires. “Aoshi!”

Hyottoko charged at Aoshi through the cloud of dust. “You’re mine!”

Aoshi’s blades flashed, and Hyottoko went down, bleeding profusely from several deep slashes. “You underestimated me,” the marble man said quietly. “You thought you could get to me in the dust and confusion. I’d say you’re the one who needs to prepare for death.”

“Oh, you think so.” The terrible wounds closed before Kaoru’s eyes.

“You forgot something,” Beshimi piped up. “Shishio-sama gave Hyottoko a troll’s power to regenerate!”

s“I see. Yes, I had forgotten that.” Aoshi sprang at Hyottoko.

“Oh no!” Kaoru gasped. “He’s wide open!”

Hyottoko struck at Aoshi’s unprotected midsection. But Aoshi stood unhurt… and the edge crumbled from the massive blade.

“What the…” the fat man sputtered.

“And apparently you forgot that I’m one-third golem,” Aoshi smirked. Marble gleamed through his slashed clothing. “Sometimes it’s actually an advantage that Shishio gave me this monstrous body. If you want to kill me with a sword… it had better be with the Sword of Light!”

Hyottoko sheathed his ruined blade. “I won’t forget this,” he growled. “I’m gonna tell Shishio-sama!” Beshimi jumped onto his back and the two jumped over the rocks to safety.

“Ridiculous,” Aoshi muttered.

“Wow!” Kaoru cheered. “Way to go, Aoshi! Great! Fantastic!”

“No need to get excessive,” he said with a sweatdrop. But he felt oddly pleased by her enthusiasm.

“I’m recognizing your skill!” She scowled at the jumble of rocks around them. “But now it looks like Shishio knows where we are. You got anyplace else we can move to?”

“No, I don’t.”

She sighed. “Oh well, you may as well come with me then.”

“And where are you going?” He had an odd feeling that he wasn’t in control any more.

“Well, I was headed for Atlas City. I should be able to meet up with Kenshin and Yahiko there, and that should change the situation a little for us.”

“I suppose I’ve no choice.” One place was as good as another now… and from the little he’d seen, that redheaded friend of Kaoru’s did have impressive sword skills. With Shishio his enemy and two of his Oniwabanshuu subverted, he was going to need all the help he could get.

Kaoru almost skipped beside him. “All right then, we’re off to Atlas City!”

NOTES, EXPLANATIONS ETC.

Hyottoko: Why did you make me betray the Okashira?

Jan: Well, you were the only one available for Dilgear’s slot, so I didn’t have much choice! It sets up some of the stuff that happens later. Or would you rather have been Noonsa and ended up as lunch?

Hyottoko: And I’m not too stupid to talk for myself, either! You gave Beshimi every line that had a big word in it!

Jan: Considering there wasn’t a place for Beshimi in the story at all, you ought to thank me that I wrote him in.

Hyottoko: But what really gets me, is everybody stuffed their faces on grilled fish and I had to stand there like a fool. I didn’t get one bite, not a single bite!

Jan: Well, you did get the biggest laugh in the episode.

Hyottoko: Who cares about laughs? I’m HUNGRY!

Jan: (sweatdrops) Guys? Could somebody call out for pizza?