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Kaguyo couldn't tie her kimono shut; instead, she wore Aled's like a robe.
Even now, she clung to him, clearly terrified. "I'm not going."
She was shocked she even had a voice at this point; she hadn't expected him to arrive when he did.
Then again, she had a hard enough time functioning. Her energy was too low to even hold her own against his; she could hardly think.
There was only thing she COULD think.
"I love him!" she buried her head into the Ou's chest, "Onegai, Ainsu! I love him!"
It was strange. Even if the Muse was no longer in Ainsu.... at the moment, all she could see him as was the tyrant she had known before.
Were those moments him, or the Muse? She'd never know at this point.
"Onegaishimasu!"

Kazuhiko entered the labs, quickly entering the closet with a small smile on his face. "Alright..... which.....crap..."
Well, in truth, there were a LOT of buttons in a lot of different shades.
"Damnit Watari...." he shook his head, "Alright...well... wait a minute, why do we even need to do this if Konton's dead?" he blinked, although he trusted the man.
Why shouldn't he?
He pressed the button, starting to make his way to the hangar. "I should get Aoikage..." he nodded, "Get the others. It's time to go."
He regretted not having a stone decapitated Konton head for a trophy. Guess that was the Celt in him.
His other self---the one with Aoikage---began to open a portal, getting ready to start the transport. "Time to go." he smiled warmly. "Told you I'd save you Kage-kun."

"To hell with you." Kaguyo wept, still clinging to Aled, "I'm not going to be controlled by you! This is what my heart wants! You can't keep me prisoner---you can't hold me against my will! I can't tell who the tyrant is anymore, the Muse or YOU! KAZUHIKO!" she started screaming, "TASUKETE!!"
She was trembling, barely even able to stand save for Aled's support. It was humiliating, but more than that, it scared her. Had she the energy, she could have defended them.
"Aishiteru, Al-chan." she whispered, hiding her face in his chest, "Onegai, don't let him take me...!"
Neither man had ever heard her sound so helpless and petrified in all the years they had known her. "Onegai!!"

"Konton's dead, Ainsu's getting Ojiisan and Yo-yo-chan, and I hit a device that is blocking off the planet. We're giving it the chance to rebirth itself." he explained, "We're killing the demons. Come on, we gotta get to the spaceship... My portals might kill everyone if we try to leave here. Ainsu said..."
But he paused, looking very alarmed. "Kaguyo's freaking out... Ainsu feels.... oh s**t, do you feel that??? That can't be good." he started to panic, looking for his sword, "I gotta toss this in here," which he did, "and I gotta calm his a** down... Help me if you can walk, otherwise, get in the portal, ok???"

Kaguyo scurried back briefly, but once the Muse started attacking, she did the only thing she could.
She clung to him from behind, keeping her head high enough to avoid his elbows.
"Baka!" she hissed at Ainsu, "You attack and THEN offer to save him?!! What the hell is wrong with you?!!"
But she quickly tried to bring Aled back out, hugging him tightly. "Al-chan, keep fighting him!! Keep fighting!!! You can kill the Muse, Al-chan, his power is YOUR power! ONEGAI!"
She could at least take comfort in the fact the Muse wouldn't handle her so roughly....

Kazuhiko sighed, shaking his head. "I have no choice." he answered---but he did pause to heal his wings enough that he could hide them again. "We don't have time. Get into the portal. I'll be back in a second, I promise."
He turned and began flying down the hallway, seeking out the best route to find the three.

"TOMERU!" Kaguyo screamed, diving and covering Aled with herself, "TOMERU!!"
She started to take the blows for him, closing her eyes tightly as the breath got knocked out of her. Ainsu would pay for this madness...
If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that.
Her breath caught in a whimper for each blow she took, trying with what little energy she had left to bring Aled forth again. She could just barely feel him in there...
She didn't doubt seeing Ainsu suddenly beat her--whether he meant to or not--would help fortify his spirits, if not his rage.
It didn't matter. She would protect Aled by whatever means she could.
"Akuma!" she barely managed to choke out, "Akuma!"

Kazuhiko had rushed up the stairs, eventually getting to the upper floors where the bedrooms were located.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried. Ideally, he'd knock Aled and Ainsu both out and take them home...
However, ideals could be terribly unrealistic.
"Just another floor." he whispered, soaring upwards, "And down the hall..."
He was getting agonizingly close.

"ALED!!" Kaguyo screamed, doing everything she could to try and free herself, "ALED!!! TO-ME-RU!!! AINSU! Let me DOWN!! ALED!!! TASUKETE!!!! AL-CHAN, TASUKETE!!"
Her voice was growing hoarse, but Kazuhiko went back to check the room anyhow. "Ojiisan isn't there..." he whispered, which made Kaguyo fight even harder.
"I HATE YOU!" she kept elbowing Ainsu in the head, sobbing hysterically, "I HATE YOU!!!! Kisama! Akuma!! Bakayaro!!! I'll NEVER forgive you, LET ME DOWN!!"
There were tiny bursts of cold air erupting from her, but nowhere near the intensity of before. In this sense, he was lucky... had she not have tried to kill him already, there was no doubt she would have succeeded now.
But her exhaustion was obvious; she couldn't even phase Ainsu. Annoy him, yes, perhaps.... but hurt him?
So she tried the only other thing she COULD do.
She bit him as hard as she could, struggling like a wild animal.
Kazuhiko wasn't going to touch this with a ten foot fork, but he hadn't given up on finding his grandfather.
"Aoikage," he frowned, "Take them to the ship. I have to find him..."
His father was gonna kill him once he heard all that had happened....

Kazuhiko shook his head suddenly, temper flaring. "What did you make me do Ainsu?" he growled, "I'm sick and tired of leaving people behind!"
He slapped Aoikage's hand free, taking off. "I can't have this on my conscience!" he cried out desperately.

Kaguyo bit him over and over again, but paused at hearing why they were rushing.
"You'll have to rape me to get a child from me--and even then, you'll still be as evil and sick as the Muse was. Even then, I would kill him..." her voice lowered icily, "And now you make a child sacrifice his own family after breaking his trust by lying... You will never be the man I loved before." her eyes dug into the back of his head, "If Aled dies, you may as well be dead to me. I hate you. I'm leaving the minute we get to Earth."
Although her attacks did little, the combination of her words and emotions could had been lethal. She had meant every word she'd spoken, but what went unspoken were her grief and terror.
She spoke openly enough of her hatred... but what was most numbing were her attempts to block him off. She was having anxiety attacks over Aled... Over his imprisonment... Over Ainsu's lies.
He had come here without the slightest intent to save Aled, and now he was sentencing him to solitary confinement until death.
Having been through a decade of something similar, his actions were horrifying.
"I'm going to kill you." she promised, too furious to cry, "I'm going to try at every opportunity to see you pay for this, Akuma-san."

~ ~ ~

For a long moment, Ainsu didn't say anything.
"Aoikage-san..." he soon spoke, looking to the daemon. "Follow Kazuhiko for me. Please, explain to him that this is no lie. Tarnbsei will remain in this barrier for a thousand years. In that time, this world will be protected from demons, from any of Konton's kind not already on the planet, and many left when he died. The people of this world can rebuild... but they don't need the Muse for this."
Nodding, Aoikage took flight, following after Kazuhiko as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Ainsu continued running toward the space ship hanger. It took him about a minute, but once on board he quickly set Kaguyo in a chair gently and stepped to the controls.
The door was locked to prevent her leaving, thankfully...
"Then take every opportunity to kill me." Ainsu spoke, his voice devoid of any emotion.
Her words had cut him deep. He still loved Kaguyo desperately... but now...
"I wasn't going to leave you here. Aled can't win against him... the Muse is strong, he was biding his time, growing his strength... absorbing Aled's life until he could lock Aled away for good." he sighed softly, the ship beginning to go through take off preparations. "Call me a demon, call me a b*****d, a murderer, a liar... I don't care."
Ainsu looked at Kaguyo for a long moment. "Can't you stop being so ******** selfish for five minutes?"
He did have a point...
Ainsu's devotion to Kaguyo had never wavered... except that one time when the drugs Aled had strengthed from Fir were in the playwright's system... but he had always loved her, even in that state.
But Kaguyo... she had loved Aled then Ainsu... Aled then Ainsu... Aled then Ainsu and now the Muse of all people!
"Even if you don't love me, Kaguyo... this child needs to be born. Maybe I'm as much a b*****d as my father but I understand why he did what he did. He didn't want to... but it was for me. I'm asking you to at least let Chiaki live. After he's born, you can fly away to the outer most reaches of the universe and I won't follow you... But he needs a chance."
Her confession that she might kill the boy if he were born frightened Ainsu. In truth, the man didn't see any way to make her happy short of letting Aled back on the ship.
But he wouldn't come.
The Muse wasn't going to let him come.
"I saw him ******** you, Kaguyo! Honestly, how else was I supposed to react? I was angry! Of course I wanted to kill him but not Aled, damn it! The Muse has to die. There has to be an end. Aled can't fight him... now I can. But the Muse isn't going to get on this ship because he KNOWS I can kill him. He knows I can rip him out of Aled's body and dissolve him just like Konton."
Ainsu sighed, rubbing his eyes.
The symbol on his forehead was gone now, his energy spent from fighting... from emotions... from the pain he felt now.
In truth, the man wanted to just curl up and cry. Kaguyo loathed him, Kazuhiko hated him, and he was about to kill a man who he had loved so very long ago.
Aled wouldn't die... at least not right away... but as the years passed on Tarnbsei... he would be destroyed... and without Konton's power, the Muse would be unable to swap into a new body.
It was an end...
A knock on the ship's door alerted Ainsu, and the man hurried over, pressing the hatch to allow for Kazuhiko, Aoki, or Aoikage to get inside.
He was waiting for them.
'3 minutes left...'
But a suddenly burst of ki in the chest sent Ainsu to the floor... and the form of Aled keeping him pinned down to said floor was more than startling.
"Miss me?" the Muse asked with a dark smirk. "I came to finish what was started... killing you."

~ ~ ~

Kaguyo didn't know what to do. She unstrapped herself, tackling the Muse off Ainsu.
Perhaps she hadn't meant everything she said.
"Tomeru!" she insisted, "We'll settle this once we're off the planet!"
Aoki arrived next, not expecting the scene that was unfolding. "s**t..." he cursed, trying to help Kaguyo pin him down,
"KAZUHIKO! AOIKAGE!! HAYAKU!"
The boy dove in, joining the dogpile--and dragging Aoikage behind him.

~ ~ ~

The ship's engines began to whine as the vessel prepared for takeoff.
Ainsu stood shakily, the entire ship beginning to vibrate as the countdown began.
"One Minute until lift off." the ship announced.
The Muse meanwhile, wasn't really having any of it. "Off the planet? Are you insane, Kaguyo?!" he asked, easily throwing Aoki to the side and standing under his own power.
He seemed to have gotten a second wind.
"You're staying here with me... with Aled... aren't you, Kaguyo?" his cat-like eyes glinted. "In fact... you're all staying with me. I'm not about to be left on this world without my vengence..."
This was directed primarily at Ainsu, the Muse lunging toward him again.
Aoikage's wings beat him to the playwright, and he wedged himself between the two, shoving the Muse back. "Don't think so." he hissed, a soundless scream suddenly tearing through his body as Aled's ki came into contact with his wounds.
"Ainsu is mine to kill." The Muse replied, even as he was shoved out the door.
He moved to enter the ship again, but Aoikage was there, shoving him back once more and pinning him to the concrete.
When Ainsu realized what was happening... he was too late.
The former playwright dashed toward the hatch, but it sealed, pressurizing the entire ship.
If Ainsu opened the door now...
A horrible pain went through the man's mind and Ainsu collapsed to his knees. He felt the sudden fear from Aoikage, and the realization of what that closing door meant... and then the emotion vanished as if it wasn't there.
Ainsu's Tarnb-jin power shorted out.
It was the same for all of them, each being's power shutting down temporarily as the barrier neared completion.
"It's trying to keep us here..." Ainsu hissed, glad he'd already set the ship on autopilot and that it was about to...
No...
It was taking off.
Rocketing skyward, Ainsu, Aoki, Kazuhiko, and Kaguyo would be forced to grab anything they could to keep from slamming into the ship's hull.
Aoikage saw this, saw the ship shooting into the sky... and he gave chase.
Flying as fast as his wings would allow... the daemon could almost touch the outer shell of the ship...
And then it happened.
The sky turned green, and the barrier that Aoikage slammed into burned like the solar flares of a thousand suns.
He screamed, plummeting down to the ground below, his wings nothing more than smoke and charred bits of bone sticking from his back. The daemon's hands were badly burned as well... and when he hit the ground... he didn't move.
But it wasn't only Aoikage.
No...
Aled had done the same thing. The Muse gave way just seconds after the hatch had closed. Aled had watched as those he loved dearly fled from Tarnbsei... for what could be forever.
He had flown, just as fast as the daemon... only to slam face first into the barrier himself.
Half blinded and screaming as his face was burned to blackened skin... he fell as well.
Both lay unmoving... both, the final sight of the ship's occupants.
Tarnbsei was now cut off from the rest of the universe...
A thousand years...

~ ~ ~

Kaguyo didn't say anything, eyes wide with horror. She didn't care about grabbing anything...
Where others were clinging to seats she was pressed against the windows, openly crying. Her eyes had locked with both Aoikage and Aled's, and never left them until the distance became too great.
Once they settled into the gentle lull of space, Kazuhiko approached her cautiously. "Yo-Yo-chan?" he whispered, a kid again, "Daijoubu???"
Kaguyo didn't answer.
"Yo-yo-chan..." he frowned, "Daijoubu..."
He crawled into her lap, hugging her tightly. "Daijoubu..."
"Quit crying, they'll be fine." Aoki snapped, "Does crying help anything?"
Kaguyo stroked Kazuhiko's hair once, setting him down. Her tears had stopped instantly. "Shut up." she answered coldly, "If you speak one more word I will rip your tongue out."
She was still shaky on her feet; even with their powers back her energy was practically nonexistant.
"Talk all you want. Aled's dead and the only other man who could tolerate you you tried to kill. My life is by comparison rather lovely so what right do you have to judge me?"
Kaguyo was taken aback, and she couldn't hide it.
She made a silent, shocked beeline for the bathroom, locking herself in.
"Bakayaro." Kazu glared, starting to work on opening a portal, "Once this opens..."
He paused what he was saying to shatter the last of Aoki's clones. "Well one of us is on Earth." he muttered, "I'm leaving."
He opened the portal. Dangerous or not he had to cover his a**.
"Good luck cleaning up the mess you made." he glared, scathingly sarcastic, "Baka."
With that he disappeared, the only sounds Kaguyo's sobbing echoing through the ship.

~ ~ ~

After Kaguyo and Kazuhiko had both made themselves scarce... Ainsu sat down in the pilot's chair.
He had seen the look on Aoikage's face, the hope die away in Aled's...
It made Ainsu sick, but at the moment, Kaguyo was occupying the bathroom.
"I suppose I am a murderer." Ainsu whispered, his gaze focused on the hyperspace beyound the window. "I've killed my Ou and my father... some ending this turned out to be..."
He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to banish their faces.
It was impossible.
"It will take a day to get to earth in this..." he winced, his powers were back...
And they were tuned full blast to Kaguyo's heart wrenching tears in the bathroom...
"This should be a day of celebration... Konton's finally dead." Ainsu pushed himself up, heading toward the sleeping cabins on the ship. "It's on autopilot for Capsule Corp... I'm going to try and get some rest, Aoki. You should do the same. At least it isn't cold here, after all."
With that, the former playwright disappeared into the cabin. He collapsed onto one of the beds and simply lay there for a long time.
"What have I done?"

"Yes, I am." Po-ar spoke.
He stood over where Kazuhiko... in his elder form, now lay sprawled. Po-ar's arms were crossed over his chest and he looked very very angry.
"Just where HAVE you been, Kazu? I couldn't open my portals for a few minutes and that hardly seemed like something wrong on my end..."
He was referencing the barrier, but didn't know it.

~ ~ ~

Ainsu said nothing as Kaguyo spoke. He simply stared up at her the entire time, his expression calm and controlled.
But the moment she threatened to kill herself...
The very second that her icy blade moved toward her own stomach...
There was a brilliant flash of gold... and suddenly Kaguyo's hands were wet.
The ice had melted in a split second, keeping the woman unharmed.
For his part, Ainsu sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and watching Kaguyo.
"I intended to try and save him." the former playwright spoke, his voice strangely full of emotion... a completely different take than his expression.
He was sad... and angry at the same time.
But his grief was winning over his anger.
"I wanted to see if he was strong enough to fight. To come with us so I could destroy the Muse. But he wasn't, and the only thing I could do after killing Konton... was to kill him too. When Konton died, we had very little time, Kaguyo. If his death had spread through the demon's realm... others would rise to claim his place... others would descend on Tarnbsei and the cycle would start all over again. We had to leave immediately... and thus I didn't have time to wait for Aled to gain his strength."
Sighing, Ainsu ran a hand through his hair, the symbol on his forehead gone again now that Kaguyo was out of danger.
"If you want to take everything from me Kaguyo... I won't deny you that right. Tell Po-ar, tell everyone... but I ask that you wait until Tarnbsei's barrier goes down. Anything heading toward it will be reflected back, anything trying to escape it will be... well... you saw what happens." blue eyes closed for a split second, pain evident on the man's expression. "I didn't know it would do that, Kaguyo... I knew it would enclose Tarnbsei for a thousand years... one year outside the barrier... but I didn't know it would kill..." his voice broke for a moment before Ainsu was able to regain his composure. "I didn't want to kill Aled, Kaguyo... Aled wasn't... after his possession, he wasn't the same man and I forgave him for so many things. It was almost comforting to have him around really... his strength..." Ainsu sighed, looking up at the ceiling to keep his emotions in check. "Now I've killed my father too... I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. I wanted you to love me... I haven't changed, Kaguyo. You act like I have but... But it was all an act. He tricked you, the Muse I mean. He wanted to make you think I was different, that everything you loved about me was something that the Muse created..."
Carefully, Ainsu pulled his hurt arm in front of him, looking down at the limb. "He wrote those plays... but they were from my heart too, Kaguyo. He controlled my hand, but not my heart. Even when he held my body and mind... he didn't hold my heart. You did. In everything... you were the inspiration, the guiding light, the one and only thing I held onto to keep myself alive through the years. Taking that away, Kaguyo... will truly take everything I am."
Ainsu focused on the limb, willing it to move, to do anything.
If the Muse was dead surely it would return to life...
But the arm lay there, limp and useless, and nearly bringing tears to the former playwright's eyes all over again.
"When I told you that I met our son... I wasn't saying it just to win you over or to convince you to come with me, Kaguyo. He came with Kazuhiko, when I was looking for someone to help me get to Tarnbsei. I wanted to save you and free Aled and Kazuhiko kept getting distracted, talking to someone. His name is Chiaki... the little boy who died in your womb recently. He said he didn't want me to see him, he was shy I suppose... but... it gave me even more resolve. I knew if Konton continued to live that Chiaki would exist as a spirit who never knew a body, who never really knew warmth or love... never knew his parents... like me... I didn't know real love... until you... and..." sighing again, Ainsu's blue gaze locked on Kaguyo and there were tears in his eyes.
But instead of speaking, Anisu stood. He carefully knelt on the ground, bowing until his forehead touched the cabin floor, one hand in front of him to help his balance.
"Gomen nasai, Kaguyo." Ainsu spoke, emotion flooding from his voice. "I am sorry Aled is gone. I am sorry for what the Muse has done in my body, for what he has done in Aled's body. I am sorry for scaring you, for hitting you during the rescue. I am sorry for everything. For every wrong word or glance, for every thought or action that lead to this. I am so sorry... So very sorry..."
It sounded as if the man were about to burst into tears and, in truth, he was. Ainsu felt as if he were no better than Konton, truth be told. And he was ready to do anything to make it up to the woman.
"In a year, Kaguyo... Tarnbsei's barrier will fade and we can return home but, until then please... stay with us. Not for me if your hatred is so great but for everyone else. Po-ar needs someone loyal like you to help him and Kazuhiko. They will need you when we return home so please... please stay."

"I know..." came a soft voice beside Kaguyo.
As she cried, Ainsu had gotten up off the floor and moved to sit beside the woman.
In his arms was a blanket, and he carefully draped it around her shoulders.
"I know you loved him, Kaguyo..." Ainsu whispered. "I've always known that you loved him."
It was so very true. Deep down, Ainsu knew that the woman had always been torn between her love for the Ou and her love for him.
"I didn't want him to die, Kaguyo... I never truly wanted that..."
But it hadn't changed the fact that Aoikage had shoved Aled out of the ship... at perhaps the worst possible moment.
"I failed you... and him..."

~ ~ ~

Po-ar was frozen.
"My father is dead?" he asked in a whisper.
Konton was dead, that had registered, and Po-ar had seen the glow on Ainsu's forehead and knew well enough that the playwright had the power to vanquish the demon.
But Aoikage was dead too...
And Aled...
"H... How did it happen, Kazu-kun." Po-ar whispered, kneeling down beside his son. "I... I'm not angry... please... I have to know."
Unlike Morrigan's anger, Po-ar's emotion was simple shock.
He had been angry at first but now...