"You would have been mine." Hokuto backed up against the wall. She glanced about her. Trapped! She stared ahead. What was it? What did it want from her? "Keep away from me... I'm warning you!" he put up her fists and stood ready, knowing she stood absolutely no chance against whoever...whatever this was.

"Such spirit...such bravery. I admire your family. But enough foolishness, You know that won't help you."

She put her fists down. The creature was right...all this was happening in her mind, and all she had to do was try to wake up. She slammed her eyes shut and struggled to wake up...but failed. The monster seemed ready to burst with pride, as if she were it's favored offspring. Nonetheless Hokuto could not make out it's features clearly enough to discern what it was.

"Your potential is even greater than I imagined. Even greater than that of your brother... and even his I only just realized!"

Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Kairi!" she gasped. "What...what have you done with...wo..." "Do not worry. Your brother is safe, and soon he shall be granted ultimate power...as my successor!" Hokuto screamed out loud. "Never!" she protested. "Kairi will never be like you!"

The monster chuckled. "Why are you children so naive? You do not even know what is good for you. You content yourselves with petty fighting skills when you can have true power. The only way you can ever learn is to be forced. Never mind, though. There can be only one, and I have chosen Kairi. It would have been you, but you are too enmeshed within the Seal Of Blood to be of any use to me."

All this time, Hokuto had been trying to move towards the creature, but found that she could not. It had somehow taken over her mind, and this dream was controlled and orchestrated by it. If it wanted, it could do anything at all to her at this moment...

Then she remembered something he had said, something that rang a bell. "The... Seal of blood?" she thought (though she may as well have shouted out loud, this was a dream afterall,). The monster answered her grimly. "yes", it growled. "Your brother's last gift to you, which you shall soon discover is a curse. For the seal prevents the Riot of blood from manifesting within you. Of course it would not have hindered me for long, but now I must direct my effort elsewhere. However, be grateful for I took the time to inform you of your curse NOW, so that later, when you need the power, you shall know where to look."

Hokuto strained every mental muscle she had, and struggled to her feet. "You monster..." she said. "you...have...driven my brother... MAD!!!" she hissed through clenched teeth. "And you have to come here and mock me...saying that I shall ...ever... have a use for that...that curse!!"

"Heh,heh,heh. Which is the curse? The seal, the power, or the foolish righteousness that blinds you still? Heh,heh,heh. Remember this, child. The only ones who grow truly successful are those who free themselves of the stupidity of righteousness. Those who lack the ability to do so die a deserved, worthless death."

Hokuto found out that those words had come from her own lips. She quickly bit them back as the demon laughed. It seemed to nod as it faded from reality. "You are correct, child. They die.... they die.... fools die..." As the demon faded from existence its words kept repeating themselves in Hokuto's head. She struggled to suppress them, but they did not go. She closed her eyes and screamed until the tears appeared, and she did not stop screaming until sweet darkness eased away he pain.

When Hokuto awakened the next morning, her voice was hoarse and her throat hurt. Dried tears stained her face, and her joints ached from the long, troubled sleep beneath the stars, in the wake of the earthquake. Was anything that had happened real? Or was it all just a dream? She could not tell. However, she had a feeling now that Kairi would not be returning to her anytime soon.

As the realisation slowly materialised within her, So also came the sorrow. She tried to fight back the sobs, but they were too persistent. Eventually she let go and wept outt loud, letting the tears flow freely, unhindered. Because even though she didn't know how or why exactly, she knew that she had lost Kairi forever.

Sometime later...

As the sun rose, Hokuto walked through the devastation of the earthquake. It was a quake like this one that had killed her parents. As her only protector, Kairi had successfully fended for them both from childhood, protecting his small, quiet sister from the evil of the world around them. Slowly a powerful bond was formed between the siblings, one that was now broken forever.

Or was it?

Maybe Kairi was still alive in the ruins... still himself.

Maybe it had ben just a bad dream...

She began to run through the devastation, and the ruins, instinctively running towards a large hill of rock that seemed to have simply appeared out of nowhere. As she ran, hope began to form within her, and she began to feel lighter...she remembered her teacher's words as he instructed her in aikido. "Hope, goodness, purity. Never lose them..." She said those words aloud and smiled as she ran faster. Of course. Her sensei was right, and the monster was wrong. As long as she kept hope alive,...

She stopped in her tracks and screamed out loud. On the ground there was a dead body... the corpse of a small child. And inscribed all over the surroundings, in the child's drying blood, was a familiar name...

Kairi.

As all hope left her and she screamed at the sky in protest, her arms outstretched, begging for some justice where there was none, a voice began to speak in he head.

"Free yourself from the curse of righteousness."

"Or die."

She dropped to the ground again and sobbed once more... this time for herself, because now the words seemed so true...