"Luna!" Phoenix shouted and stopped as Kaen stared at her. W-what the hell is that?!?

"M-monster!!" one of the bystanders shouted.

Squall and Rinoa stood to stare at the creature. Alex had taken a defensive posture.

Luna lifted her head and got up on one knee, clutching her shoulder.

"It's one of Ultimecia's creatures," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Kaen stared back at the crowd as they instinctively stepped back. His eyes glowed red as he chased after them as they ran, grabbing one innocent bystander who was too slow to react and began eating him alive.

Squall felt sick to his stomach as he watched the creature eat the man. Kaen turned around, blood staining his hands, and a torn arm still in his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Kaen spit out the arm, wiping his already blood-stained mouth. "Old geezers are easy to catch, but taste awful. Hmm....I wonder what SeeD taste like."

"Well, you'll soon get to fight one!" Alex shouted, throwing a dagger that was hidden in his sleeve.

Kaen turned a second too soon and howled in pain as the dagger dug into his right eye. As he took out the dagger, he howled even more. Glomps of red fell to the snow, staining it dark red. Phoenix took out the flare in her pocket and fired it at the creature. He barely dodged it, the flames singing his flesh lightly as it passed by. Before anybody could do anything else, Kaen leaped away.

"Just what the hell was that thing?" Squall asked.

"It looked like a werewolf..." Phoenix answered.

Alex went over to pick up his dagger, wiping off the blood with a handkerchief. He examined the dagger carefully.

"Luna, are you okay?" Rinoa asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied, standing up. She winced in pain as the gentle breeze bit through her exposed flesh.

"He got you pretty badly," Phoenix said, examining her sister's wound. She took out the ribbon in her hair and tied it around Luna's wound. The red streaks in her hair stood out even more with it down.

"Do you think that thing will come back?" Alex asked, hiding his dagger back in its original place.

"Probably," Phoenix answered and finished bandaging the wound.

"Its target is you two," Luna said to Squall and Rinoa. "Be careful where you're going."

"Are you two going to be okay? That thing might as well come after you, too," Squall said.

The twins smiled and nodded.

Kenji returned a few hours later. It had taken a while, but he was able to discover the generator's location. It was exactly the place where Shiva was once imprisoned. Mount Leika...

"Ken-ji!"

He turned around to find a large snowball flying straight at him. WHACK! All that Kenji could hear were footsteps and two women laughing. Everything else was white and cold.

"Oh? I didn't think you'd fall that easily," came Luna's teasing response.

Kenji growled in anger as he forced his way out of the snow. "Luna! Damn you..."

"My, my. Temper, temper," Luna replied.

Phoenix laughed some more. "We were tired of waiting, so we went to look for you. So, did you find out what the column meant?"

He brushed off the snow that was in his hair. "Yeah, Shiva's cave is the place. It's called Mount Leika now and isn't that far from here. Only a few kilometers northeast." He could tell that the two were hiding something from him. "So? Where's the signal flare?"

"Um...actually...." Luna began to explain what had happened.

"Say what?!?" Kenji exclaimed when she finished.

"Well, I didn't mean to use it," Phoenix said quietly. "It was just there. And besides, we can't use our magic because we're afraid that she might find us."

"That means we gotta look for the others," Kenji replied in understanding. "I'll go to the generator and you two go find the others."

"No, I'LL go to the generator and you and Phoenix find the others," Luna corrected. Then she grinned. "I'm itching to do something. And besides, you're her Knight for Hyne's sake. At least fufill that duty, Kenji."

"Sis..." Phoenix began.

"I'll be fine! Just fine!" Luna said as she walked away, waving back. "It's Mount Leika, right? I'll meet you guys there."

Kenji and Phoenix watched her go, alone.

"I wonder if she'll be okay," Phoenix murmured.

"It probably hurts still," Kenji added and then gestured her to follow him. "She'll be fine, Kajimi." He grinned. "I don't think that anybody would be able to withstand Luna's wrath for long."

Phoenix smiled and nodded, following. "Yeah, you're right."

Luna held her hair back while running through the snow. She was a blur in a normal human's eye, a streak of black and violet when she rested for a second. She wished she brought her katana with her, just in case if she needed to make a fire.

A knight has to fufill his duty, huh? Luna thought while climbing up the slope. The packed snow came up to her knees. Geez, I can say a whole bunch of stuff and yet not know what they really mean. She was glad that it was cold. For one thing, it numbed the pain that was on her shoulder. For another thing, it numbed the pain in her heart. I wonder if Shiguyou wanted to fufill his duty; he never said anything like that to me. Only once he said that he'd protect me from harm. She shook her head. No, you can't keep on bein depressed like this. He'll never like it if I'm always like this. I should be happy for Phoenix.

"So, this is the place, huh?" she said to nobody in particular.

The cave in Mount Leika was blocked off by a boulder made of pure ice.

"Talk about 'do not enter,'" she murmured as she walked towards the entrance. "Glad that I came."

One good thing about being a half sorceress was that if all elements combined with the other half, it would create a unique defense against one kind of element. Fire was her specialty. With her sister, both she and Phoenix could make a fire crystal which was made of both fire and ice. The only thing was that she hated the cold, and anytime her sister casted any water spell on her, she would get burned and vice versa. She began to concentrate on a spell when she felt a strange aura behind her. Turning around, Luna saw the werewolf that had attacked before, not far away.

"I'll kill you, SeeD!" Kaen growled.

Luna flipped back her hair. "Oh, really?" I'm not going to look back now. She stared coldy back at Kaen. "I won't let you get to them." Her bracelets shifted into the gauntlets.

"I'll NEVER let you mess with them! C'mon, bring it on!!"

Kaen charged forward with a quickness of a wolf. Luna was surprised by the creature's speed and narrowly escaped from getting her arm ripped off. He's fast, despite his size. Although he missed, Kaen was able to grab Luna's hand. He swung her around and tossed her against the cliff's wall. Some snow began to fall.

Luna's impact was hard, making an indent of her body on the solid rock. She grimaced in pain and slid slowly down to the snow. Clutching her side, she coughed up blood. She continued to stare coldly at the werewolf. Not only fast, but strong, too.

Kaen charged again in a raging fury, his fist ready to smash her head against the wall. Luna jumped out of the way as a tiny avalange fell on top of Kaen. He popped out of the snow, still in attack mode, howling like a possessed demon. Luna blocked every punch he gave her before landing on the ground again.

Damn, I can't even get a hit in! Not only that, he's not giving me any time to blast him. Luna thought as she faced Kaen again. And the freak doesn't look the least bit tired.

As always, Kaen charged first. Luna this time took off her trenchcoat and flung it at the charging werewolf. While blinded, she used his back as a spring and jumped over him, flying freely in the air.

The only thing she didn't notice was the look Kaen gave as he turned his head...

A shock ran through all of them, signaling that there was something wrong.

Lily's group had found Zell's and Irvine's, who, coincidentally, were all going to the same destination. They stopped in the middle of the wilderness.

"Just what the hell was that?" Lily asked.

Kereberos looked on at the horizon. "Something's happened."

The Leonharts stopped in their tracks. It was as if a part of them was fading away.

"Did you feel that?" Rinoa asked.

"...." That was Squall. He had felt that line of shock, frowning.

Alex had turned around to stare back at the mountains that they passed by. He hadn't given a reply. He couldn't. That wave of shock, that was like five years ago had been like. But that aura that leaked out, he knew whose it was. No. It's happening again. Not again.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Rinoa asked.

He didn't reply. He only reacted. Rinoa and Squall chased after him.

"Wait a minute, Alex!"

This shock was stronger than before. Much stronger. So strong that she shivered.

"Phoenix?" Kenji asked. He had felt that shock, but didn't really know what it was. But Phoenix...he knew that Phoenix knew. Although two different bodies, they shared one mind.

It was like half of her disappeared and she was only functional on one side. Phoenix turned to the mountains. Luna...

"Kenji, let's go," she said and began walking. "Let's go." Her pace quickened and then suddenly turned into a fastbreak as she felt the aura leak even faster. "Hurry!!"

Her midnight hair blew softly with the gentle breeze. Blood trickled down her chin as she looked at the blue sky above her. Then after moment, she felt blood rising in her throat. She spit it out, ridding of the metallic taste.

Kaen had dug his sharp claws right through her side, the tips showing on the other. He held her upright in midair, digging in her wound further at every second.

Luna gritted her teeth in anger as she flipped backwards and put a chokehold on Kaen. He struggled to be free, to have air. Luna struggled to keep her grip. A sudden rush of adrenaline filled her body, and she yelled out loud, her grip strong.

The sound of bones cracking and the fall of a corpse echoed in the still air.

Luna gasped heavily. "Don't...EVER....mess with me!"

She dragged herself to the edge of the cliff, away from the fallen body. Dark red stained the once pure snow with each step she took. Reaching the edge, Luna fell to her knees. She first looked at the sky then at her bloodied hand that had covered her wound.

"Sometimes I wish I had Phoenix's ability to heal in mere seconds," she murmured to herself. Looking back up at the sky, she laughed gently until it began to hurt. "I can't make fun of Alex anymore, can I?"

Despite the pain, Luna forced herself to turn around. Her pale face stood out under her dark strands. The boulder had remained where it was.

"I gotta melt that thing, don't I?" she asked herself. Slowly, she got up and dragged herself back to the generator's entrance. "Hah, I wish I brought some potions with me. It's been a while since I got hurt this bad." She let out a small chuckle. "Stupid me. I forget everything like Gramps does."

She concentrated hard as a faint aura began to surround her body. Blood flowed freely from her open wound. She started to feel dizzy from lack of blood. C'mon, I can't let them down like this, she thought to herself. Mom, Dad, help me...

The aura that surrounded her glowed a dark violet and she opened her eyes, shouting, "Heaven's Cry!!!" The boulder was incinerated in seconds as the white flames slowly began to engulf it.

But Luna really didn't care if she melted it or not. To her, all time had stopped. She stood there, staring at the bright sun.

Luna...a voice called her.

Her eyes began to water.

Commander Shiguyou, guys. How long have you been up there?

Luna, come back to us.

But---

"Luna!!"

She turned her head instinctively. Now what?

"LUNA!!!"

She saw two figures running towards her, but couldn't make out who. Her legs felt weak, her eyes struggling to keep open. Maybe if she'd lie down for a moment....

"LU-------------------------NA!!!!" Kenji and Phoenix shouted as her body collapsed to the ground.

"Kenji, it's not working," Phoenix said desparately, her eyes close to fallen tears as she covered her sister's wound and her wrist. "She's not healing fast enough."

Kenji concentrated at the small pile of sticks. "Fire."

It went aflame, making a small stack of smoke as well.

"Okay, now that's set, I'll go look for the others," he said to himself.

Opening her eyes again, she saw her mirror reflection above her. "Sis..." Luna whispered.

Phoenix leaned in closer. "Luna? You're awake?"

"Sis, I..."

Kenji kneeled down on the opposite side of Phoenix. "Luna, save your energy. Don't speak."

"Sis, I'll...I'll be fine," Luna continued, ignoring Kenji's request. "I'll be just...fine. So...don't worry." She coughed a bit and then looked up at her sister again, smiling. "I don't...fall that easily, 'member?"

The tears began to fall. "Luna..."

Luna looked away and stared into space, still with that enigmatic smile on her face. "Hyne, you're too...soft. Don't...don't worry about me. And besides...you got this hunk of weight on ya. YOU'LL be...fine. I'll be...fine. We'll...we'll both be fine." She looked at Kenji. "You...remember to take care good care of...her. Got it? Don't...don't leave her again. I don't...I don't want to see my sister crying again because of you...or else...or else I'll kick your ass."

Kenji couldn't help but smile at the comment. "I promise."

Luna smiled even more, turning back to her twin. "Sis...don't let her have...it." Her eyes began to flicker between catlike amber and her normal sapphire. "Tell...tell Alex to...protect the ring..."

Phoenix began to panic as soon as she saw her sister's eyes flicker. No... "Don't you DARE go to Griever! You're not supposed to go yet!! Don't you dare die on me, Sis!"

The catlike amber dominated her eyes as she still smiled, but tears were in those eyes. Luna slowly began to fade away. "Mommy...and Daddy...I miss them. They miss us. So...so...I havta go...just to see...."

Sparkles of life drifted to the sky, leaving in Phoenix's hands her sister's gauntlets. "Sis?? Sis?!? NOOOO!!!!"

Phoenix grabbed the gauntlets tightly in her hands as if trying to pull her sister back. She shook her head furiously as the tears quickly fell. "No! You're not supposed to go to them, yet!!! They told us that! LUNA!!!"

"Kajimi, calm down!" Kenji shouted at her, grabbing her shoulders.

"I can't! I won't! She wasn't supposed to go yet! She wasn't supposed to see Griever yet! She's...she's..." Phoenix tried to argue.

Kenji wrapped his arms around her as she began to break down. At first she resisted, pounding on his chest and mumuring incoherent words, but then she obliged and cried in his arms.

She lost a sister once. Now she has lost one again.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm going to get shot, aren't I? Aren't I? *bows down* I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll make it up, okay?? Okay???? *glares at the crowd, particularly her friend Celestial Senshi* You have been warned! Lots of angst and death coming up in the next couple of chapters!!! Hey, this chapter was really, REALLY hard to write, so don't blame me! I had to do it! It's like how I don't want to eat, but my body doesn't oblige to my head!!!

To you Fushigi Yuugi fans: Luna's death kinda reminds you of Nuriko, ne?? I know, I know, I know, but I just couldn't resist! It...just fits!! R&R!!

WHAT'S TO COME

Do I really need to do this? *thinks* Naaaaaaahhhhhh.......There's just going to be too many spoilers in the next chapters! Okay, how about this? I'll just give you the title of the next chapter:

Angels Chapter Eleven ~ To Fly Free...