Muraki held out a small knife and slit across Aya's neck, just enough for raw blood to flow smoothly onto the edge. Aya shuddered at its sting, pulling hard at the chains that bound him to the walls. Amused at his helpless prey, Muraki tenderly fondled Aya's cheek and licked the wound. Aya turned his face away, praying for the chance to have his revenge on the doctor.

"We will get what we want after this," Muraki poured the blood over the glass pieces. The pieces melted and merged into one solid object. "There, good as new." He held out the glass bangle.

"You don't expect me to believe that my ancestor was a demon!"

"So, you have been listening though you were controlled by this glass bangle. Excellent. This jewel enables me to find the purple eyed descendants like yourself. Only their blood can restore the bangle. Once again, you have proven your potential."

"For what?"

"For the past two years, I studied your DNA for traces of non-human DNA similar to the one which my grandfather had found during his time. The results were ambiguous as your cells' chemical structure was not as significantly sound as my grandfather's samples. On the way, I met your friends, Schwarz, whose abilities stirred quite an interest in me. I offered them a deal but they refused and tried to kill me. Silly boys, they were. I let Farfello live because of his high tolerance of pain. He survived the experiments but mentally unstable. His endless attempts to escape forced me to eliminate him. However, he escaped and destroyed my lab. Again, I was forced to return you to Weiss. Now that you know," Locking the bangle over Aya's eyes. "Shall we proceed?"

Facing the Kali statue towards Aya, Muraki placed his hands over it and began to chant. Instantly, an excruciating pain penetrated into Aya's eyes, shooting down a shaking sensation into his brain. He screamed as the hellish heat burned mercilessly. Muraki stood, placid and watched sizzling steam surfacing from the glowing glass bangle. He heard a crack. He turned and saw the cracks bursting all over the Kali statue. In the next second, it exploded into fine dust. Waving his hand against the dust clouds, Muraki shifted his attention to Aya. The glass bangle too turned into dust, leaving behind a horizontal strap of charred skin across Aya's face. At the click of his fingers, the chains snapped opened. The Weiss collapsed lifelessly.

"Pity," said Muraki. "I was hoping for a positive result. If Farfello hadn't destroyed my lab, I would have brainwash you into my slave instead of killing you." He pulled out the chain from the wall. "And I was getting fond of you."

Suddenly, Aya leapt up, grabbed the chain and swung it around Muraki's neck. Bringing the doctor to his knees, Aya pressed his boot onto his back as he pulled the chain up. The doctor was chocking. It was delicious music to this ears. He didn't care about the pain in his eyes. He wasn't afraid if he was going to be blind for life. He just wanted to kill Muraki with his bare hands! The animal who stole two years of his life! The monster who torture his body for meaningless experiments and selfish lustful pleasures!

As soon as the last thought erupted, everything turned black.

Grasping, Muraki touched his sore neck. That silly Weiss boy. Did he really think he could kill him easily? Gripping the table, he pulled himself up. Too much time was wasted on these imbeciles. He stood over and watched the Weib boy vomiting out frothy dark blood. The white on his shirt front was changing colour.

"You are a failure," Muraki whispered harshly as he raised his hand. Sparks of wicked magic spiraled around his fingers.

Then, he heard the sound of a helicopter.

"That's the Terre cruise ship," Omi pointed. "Hurry, we don't have much time."

"Look over there!" Ken shouted. "A helicopter is leaving from the ship."

"It's Muraki," Yoji hissed. "Where's Aya?" He turned to the pilot. "Get us closer!"

"Oya oya," Muraki's voice boomed over a loud speaker. "How nice of you three to pick up Aya."

"Where is he, scum?" Ken shouted back. "What have you done to him?"

"I have only one use for him," Pulling Aya out. "He's going to help me escape."

With widened eyes, the boys watched in horror as Muraki threw Aya out of the helicopter. The red-haired fell helplessly into the clear blue sea, dying it red. Immediately, Ken jumped out of the helicopter and dived into the sea. Yoji barked further orders to the pilot. Omi fired arrows at the fleeting helicopter. Through bitter tears, Omi clung onto the railing and looked at the sea, fearing the worst.

"Come on... come on," Yoji prayed, latching a rope around his waist.

Fighting against water pressure, Ken kicked his way down, stretching out his hand in futile attempts to catch his friend. Aya was sinking rapidly. With one strong stroke, Ken launched forward and grabbed Aya's wrist and his other hand slipped under his armpit. Oxygen bubbles leaked from his mouth. Ken panicked. Aya was too heavy for him to carry. Within seconds, his mind was at the verge of exploding as the water dragged Aya and him further. Then, a hand caught his wrist. He looked up and saw Yoji drawing him close to his chest. He saw him tugging a rope. Immediately, he felt himself lifted to the land above. Drinking in fresh air, he collapsed onto a wooden floor. On his side, he saw Yoji leaning over Aya, pressing his lips onto his. Giddiness waved over him. He closed his eyes. Aya was safe. That was all that mattered.

Inside a lilac room, the Weib boys waited patiently for Rex. They were all exhausted yet a frustrating agitation hovered over them like a dark cloud.

Muraki escaped.

Rex entered and the boys immediately sat up. Taking a seat, she took out a file and pulled out a photo. It was a black and white picture of man whose slender face was half-covered by bandages. His eyebrows were set incredibly straight that it wouldn't bend when raised. The man was staring expressionlessly in mid-air, like a doll. Soulless.

"The man you see is Asato Tsuzuki. Seventy-two years ago, he came into Muraki's grandfather's hospital for medicinal treatment. Even though he has no relatives, friends, money or even a decent identification card, Muraki's grandfather took him in was because of one reason. Asato Tsuzuki was able to live without food, water or sleep for eight whole years. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, Asato Tsuzuki committed suicide. After some tests, it was discovered that he had the ability to regenerate tissues & cells, which explained Asato Tsuzuki's youthful looks and his ability to live without the human's basic needs. Since then, Muraki's grandfather became obsessed about eternal life," Ken was about to speak. "There is one common thing between Asato Tsuzuki and Aya. They both have purple eyes."

"When he threw Aya out of the helicopter," said Omi slowly. "It means Aya doesn't have what he wanted." A heavy lump was stuck at his throat. "He threw him like he was trash. How could he? It's cruel."

"Furthermore," Yoji added. "He turned Farfello into a freak and tried to kill him when Farfello refused to submit to his will."

"Just because of one selfish desire, he made so many people suffer!" Ken burst out in rage. "It's senseless!"

"When it comes to achieving eternal life, even intelligent men like Muraki are capable of committing repulsive inhuman deeds. Think about it, even a normal serial killer kills senselessly based on one similar characteristic of his victims. I know it's illogical but that is what Evil is. Senseless."

"Aya's not going to make it," concluded Doctor Taka softly, stroking the frail man's clammy cheeks. "Since he fell into a coma, his body is shutting down faster than we have anticipated. I have done all I can."

"How many days does he have left?" asked Rex, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Four, five... the most is a week."

"Guess I will have to break the news to the boys," Rubbing her temples. "They are going to take it real hard."

"Still can't catch the bastard?"

"He's a slimy ghost. He literally slipped in and out as and when he pleased," Turning to the window sill. "He's making a fool out of me! Man, I wish I could catch him!"

"Keep your calm, Rex. It's not like you to be upset.

"I am not upset. I want to tear his eyes out."

In a lavish room, Muraki flipped through his research papers, chewing the end of his cigar as it rolled from one end to the another of his mouth. An envelope dropped onto the carpet. Catching his attention, he bent down and picked it. Opening it, he pulled out a thin lock of red hair, smelling of ylang ylang and roses. He looked at it for a moment, as if he was trying to recall when it came to his possession. Shrugging his shoulders, he placed the lock of hair back into the envelope and tossed it into the wastepaper bucket.

Then came the shattering of a vase.

From his sleeve, Muraki took out a dagger, listening carefully to hear the intruder's footsteps. Then, extremely in abrupt second, an excruciating pain went through his flesh and bone, knocking him flat. Pressing his wound, he painfully looked up and saw a German standing over him. In his hand, an ivory black pistol. A hideous hunchback creature was at his foot, its yellow eye smoldered with a deep dark thirst for a sweet kill. Its growl was like the sound of an ominous storm.

"Hello Doc," Shuldich greeted. "Farfello says he wants to pay you his medicinal fees."

A very big thank you to all those who have reviewed this fic, especially KyraEnsui [GeneWeiß hopes that you will complete 'Euthanasia'' someday]. For future fics, GeneWeiß might be considering a Aya/Shuldich fic [simply because someone has dared GeneWeiß to write one... yaoi fic.. Not 10% or 50%... but 100% pure yaoi...]. *coughs* Oh well, guess there is no harm in doing that. *coughs* But who knows? *LOL* At any rate, Yami no Matsuei is GeneWeiß's next target [It's time to branch out to other animes anyway]. Will there be a sequel? Can't deny the possibility! Well then, thank you once again for reading and hope to see you soon. Ja ne!!