[silent]
"...[groan]" Shizumaru opens his eyes..
there's nothing..nothing but darkness around him..
he can't even see his hands or the nearest object near him...
all he can feel is that he's holding his sword in his hands...
"??!!" Shizu gasps
suddenly, a dim light shines down from the sky....breaks through the darkness..
and shines on someone... on an angel...
she's naked, and she's praying.... (*hey you still can't see anything but her skin cuz it's still dark ya know? so don't think nasty thoughts ^_^)
and she have a pair of white wings on her back.....
her eyes closed...
and the wind blowing her gently...so only her hair and the wings are moving gently by the wind...
"........" Shizu takes a closer look
it's...AKANE.
"...!!" he gasps, "..Akane...!" he quickly loose grib on his sword....and it felt down to the floor with a LOUD CLANK. then he stepped forward to her...
[FLASHBACK]
"WHATTA..??!!!" he backs off...
he shakes his head, then he turn to Akane again..but...where is she?
she's nowhere.
"....it's fate.." whispers a woman voice. there's a strange woman in front of him..standing there in the dim of light...
Shizu quickly turn around, ready to fight "WHO ARE YOU??!"
"...you should know me well, Shizumaru." whispers the woman, and opens her eyes. it's JULIA...(the woman with the pendant who saved Shizu from Zankuro in chpt.1)
"...grrr..WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE'S AKANE?!"
"only you know where she is." said the woman, "you must go to her, Shizumaru. you must help her...she's the only HOPE of to save this world..."
then she whispers, "...don't let hope die, Shizumaru.....NEVER let it die..." then she slowly disappears....
"WAIT..!! WAIT WHAT DO U MEAN "HOPE"??! what's going on here??! PLEASE..!!" shouts Shizu...

"SHIZUMARU.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouts Cella
Shizu is still sleeping in the inn...he's moving around like he's having a nightmare...
Galford, Hoahmaru, Kazuki and Rimururu are standing beside him.
"yo, he been sleeping for hours!" said Galford, "if i knew he gonna be sleeping late i wouldn't wake up early so i can catch up with him!"
"Shizumaru..wake up..!" siad Rimururu
".....[groan]" Shizu still have his eyes closed, "...wait..no...please...tell me..tell me the truth..."
then he wake up, "...WAIT..!!!!!!"
[silent]
"..good morning dude!" smiles Galford
Shizu groans, "my head hurts..."
"HAVE SOME SAKE! it'll make the pain go away." smiles Hoahmaru
"....hmm..." Shizu shakes his head, then he whispers, "...Akane..." then he gets up, "..AKANE..! WHERE'S SHE??"
"don't know..the last we saw her she was talking to Jubei...." said Kazuki
"....SHIT!!" he quickly get up, take his sword, and run to Jubei
Jubei was talking to Hanzo....
he saw Shizu is coming..but Jubei doesn't care..
"JUBEI..!! WHERE IS SHE?!" shouts Shizu
"where's who?"
"..AKANE!!! your daughter!! where did she go???"
".....she's not here."
"TELL ME JUBEI!!!" shouts Shizu, very serious
"....she went to the Sacred Sage Temple." said Jubei
"........" he hesitates...then he freaks out, "...OH SHIT!!!!!! NO..!!!!!" then he runs away..
"STOP!!!" Jubei stops him, "don't go, boy."
"GET..OUT..OF..MY...WAY..!!!" whispers Shizu, his eyes full of anger..
"it's useless! she's already there! there's nothing you can do..it's too late now."
"SHE'S IN DANGER, JUBEI!!! ARE YOU GONNA LET HER DIE??!!"
"........."
"......" Shizu don't care. he push Jubei out of the way rudely and run to the temple...
"WAIT FOR US, MAN!!!" freaks Galford, and they follow all except Jubei, Hanzo, and Genjuro
Jubei watches him go...
"...there's nothing you can do, Jubei." said Hanzo, "..IT'S ALL TOO LATE..."

Shizu arrives at the temple. the place is totally abandoned, and nothing but grass and weed grows around the temple. he can see some weird writings on the wall he NEVER seen in his whole life...and weird drawings of an angel and a weird object and a big shadow.
what does it all mean?
he's so confused....WHAT'S GOING ON?? why is Akane here? what the hell she doing here?! the prophet is still alive..he knows it. how did she escaped from someone that powerful? everything seem like a big mystery puzzle to him... but it doesn't matta now.. he can sense the prophet is here, AT THE TEMPLE. and Akane is here too. he can sense something really horrible will happen if he doesn't get Akane out of there FAST...
"....!!!!" he stops...
[FLASHBACKS]
"....NOOO..!!!" his head start to hurt again....but this time WAY WORSE. it's like a nuclear bomb exploding again and again inside your head....killing you inside. he can't breath, he can't think, he can't even see what's around him...
and more flashbacks too....
"AAAAARGGGHHHHHHHHH..........DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO..NOT NOW!!!!!!!!" shouts Shizu, trying to focus...but can't
"GODDDAAMNIT!!!!!!" he screams really loud...
the temple vibrates a little...
he falls on his knees...the headache is disappearing...
then he started to walk into the temple...
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE." it's Sogetsu, with his ninja clan
they're in his way
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE, KID." said Sogetsu
"...get out of my way.."
"YOU GOT LUCKY LAST TIME..BUT NO MORE." said Sogetsu, "GET HIM!!!"
the ninjas attacks Shizu..!!
he can't really concentrate, cuz of his headache...it's not totally gone. "YAAA!!!" one ninja slashes at him..but missed...
"!!!!!" Shizu can't think..his head is hurting again...not that much but enough to bother him a lot..
"GRRRAAA!!!" another ninja slashes at him...
[SLASH]
"...AAAHH...SHIT..!!" there's a big cut in his chest..
another ninja attacks [SLASH]
"HA!!! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, KID? YOU WERE STRONG LAST TIME!" laughs Sogetsu,
"FINISH HIM OFF!!!"
more and more ninjas jump him...
Shizu can't even defend...he feels so weak because of the headache...
he collapses to the ground...his whole body bleeding...
"KILL HIM!!!!!" shouts Sogetsu
"..........." Shizu is about to give up...
he can't stand the heachache nemore...he can't stand the pain nemore..
it's too much...
then before he closes his eyes....
he saw...
he saw..... AKANE....
in his past childhood.... at the meadow when they're together..and last night...when she hugged him..
"........." Shizu whispers, ".......Akane...."
then he remembers she's in the temple...she's in danger...
"...." Shizu slowly gets up, "...no....NOOO....."
he hold onto his sword... the ninjas back off...more and more blood drips from his wounds..
".....AKANE...!!!!!!!!!" he's pissed now. his eyes turn into dark-red and a black glow, like a devil.
the ninjas freaks out...
"GET HIM..!!! GET HIM..!!" said Sogetsu
the ninjas obeys... and attacks
[SLASH]
only 2 cuts 3 ninjas are ripped apart by Shizumaru... he didn't even blink at all, especially when blood splashes into his face.
"......" Sogetsu backs off
"SHIZUMARU!!" shouts Rimururu. they joins him... except they were freak out...
"....shizumaru..you're..you're eyes..!" gasps Charlotte
"you're wounded..!" gasps Rimurur, and wants to see his wounds..but he just walks away from her...without even a look or a hi. he walks pass Sogetsu and into the temple without a word...only anger in his eyes...
"......." Rimururu watches him go
"ALL RIGHT!" shouts Kazuki, "WE GOTTA GET AKANE OUTTA THERE! LET'S HOLD SOGETSU HERE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE SO THE KID CAN SAVE HER!"

Shizu arrives at this place.....in the middle of the temple...
it's very quiet..not even a sound..only drips of water. nothing but trees and plants live here..
and in the middle..there's an altar..
a girl is praying there...
"........" Shizu's eyes are normal again. his headache is gone. is that..Akane?
he walk up to her step by step....
you can only hear his footsteps on the grass..everything else is quiet.. ".....you came.." whispers Akane. she turns around, stops praying, "...i knew you would come.."
the dim of light is shining on her...
she looks so beautiful...
he's speechless..
then Akane slowly walks up to him, "....for the past 7 years...i found out the truth. i discovered something that changed my life..no...the whole world forever."
then she stops, "...but you already know, don't you?"
".........?" he doesn't get it
"you can sense it..you can sense things and have the power no ordinary human have. no ordinary warrior." said Akane, "...we're born special, different from others. we have the ability to find the truth....to see what's in the future...to see OUR DESTINY..."
".........."
"...my pendant." whispers Akane, and hold onto it, "my mother gave it to me before she died... this is the key to seal Kojiro away.."
then she turn her head....facing a strange seal at the altar, "that's the seal.. " then she smiles at Shizu, "after today...everything will change. the world will change. the world would be safe again.."
then she walks up to the altar....
and uses her pendant...
Shizu watches...
[FLASHBACK]
his headache came back!!! WAY WORSE THAN BEFORE!!!
it just hits him like a lightning...
Shizu kneels down, trying to calm down...
he feel so messed up...everything seem so confusing to him all at once, he can't focus..
and he can sense the prophet.....
THE PROPHET..
IS HERE....
"!!!!!" Shizu looks at the walls...it moves!!
the shadows in the walls are moving!!!
it turn into a man...
the PROPHET...
he's behind Akane....
"...AKANE..!" he tries to get up and save her..but strangely, his arms and legs won't work! he can't move...!
he can't say anything..but watch..
watch as the prophet steps closer to Akane...
as he pull out his sword from his sheath....
"........." Akane is still praying..her eyes closed.. "....!!!!!" Shizu wants to stop him, he wants to tell Akane to run..but he can't. his whole body won't move!
the prophet went up to her....
and....

[SLASH]

"............" Shizu saw everything....
[body falls to ground]
blood slowly flows from the ground...
"....[sighs]" Akane's hand slowly lands on the ground.....and she stops holding the pendant...
[silent]
"........" Shizu is shocked...
the prophet takes his sword out from her body... the blood start dripping from the sword..
then he wipe it off with a small napkin..
"......!!" Shizu falls to the ground. he can control his body again. he quickly run to Akane's side..
he hold her body..
she have her eyes closed...
her hands..her body...stopped moving. she's lifeless..
only blood in her body...and all over her clothes.
. "...AKANE!!!!!!!!" shouts Shizu, "PLEASE....please....no..."
"........" the prophet didn't say anything. he put his sword back into his sheath..and start to walk away...
[silent]
".......she's gone." whispers Shizu, then he takes his sword out, "..YOU KILLED HER!!!!! BASTARD!!!!!"
the prophet stops.
then he whispers (adult man's voice), "how does it feel, Shizumaru?"
".........?!!"
"..how does it feel to have the one you loved the most...KILLED?"
"...SHUT UP!!"
"..does it feel your heart is being ripped apart? do you want to cry, Shizumaru?"
"...GRRR..I SAID SHUT UP!!!"
"..BUT you can't." said the prophet, "..am i right?"
"........"
"you can't cry. you can't feel the pain. you can't even feel the pain of losing the one you THINK you loved the most.." whispers the prophet, "...so why do you worry about a stupid girl's death?"
"..SHE'S NOT STUPID!!! SHUT UP!!!!!!"
"....why do you worry about your own enemy's death?"
"......." Shizu freezes. he don't get it. he don't know what to say.
the prophet turns around, "...she is your enemy, Shizumaru. she's the last descendant of the Sacred Sage, the last survivor."
then he walks toward Shizu..
Shizu backs off.. he wanted to cut his head off but somehow he can't.. "we're the same, Shizumaru. can't you see? she's our enemy...she must die.." whispers the prophet, "she think peace will end all pain in the world. but does it?! it never did. never for thousands of years.... pain and evil is destined to exist in this world."
then he said, "..my destiny to bring the world's future now, to bring Kojiro and Apolacapse into this world."
then the prophet whispers, ".....and YOUR DESTINY TOO..."
".........." Shizu trembles..

the prophet takes off his cape....

it's..... SHIZUMARU.
the prophet was Hisame Shizumaru, but in an more adult form. he have dark-dark-red long spiky hair, dark-red eyes with a black glow, much taller (about 5'9), much built, etc.
his eyes shows pain and anger...and death
"......you're...!!!!" freaks young Shizu
"...yes." said the prophet, "I AM YOU, Shizumaru. i am your future self.... I AM WHAT YOU WILL BECOME IN THE FUTURE.."
"............" Shizu is shocked...

"SHIZUMARU!!!" shouts Rimururu
they comes in..
the prophet was gone...
only Shizu and Akane is there..
Shizu was standing there, trembling...
and Akane, on the ground..blood everywhere...
"........" Rimurur and the others didn't say anything
"....." Shizu drops his sword to the ground..
[CLANK]
and fall on his knees, and lowers his head.....
[silent]


Chapter 19-----If only....