Sano struggling to reassure Kenshin and swearing to protect him brought tears to my eyes. I'm really feeling for Sano right now. To see a man who had always been strong before so emotionally and mentally hurt...but then for that man to be his best friend! It must be so painful for him, not knowing what he can do to help and but having to do something. And I just want to hug Kenshin, for all that he's been through, but also because despite that he's looking out for his friend and can smile and tease Sano. Very sweet. Hehe. "I need Kaoru." We know you do Kenshin. You'll see her soon, I hope. And Kenshin attacking the rocks made me grin. The drums are worrying me-it's reminding me of Lord of the Rings.

Oh Hiko. Your thoughts of Kenshin torture make me laugh. I hope he gets there soon. I don't know if there's anyone that could help near as much as Hiko could. Despite that arrogance, he does care for Kenshin and he's strong enough to fight against anything they come up against.

I'm so glad you're focusing on Yahiko. It seems like he always gets lost in the fray in other fanfics, but you juggle all the characters wonderfully. Aoshi taking care of his enemies "almost lazily" made me laugh, though I still worry about him.

Back to Kenshin and Sano. I love the interaction between these two. I'm such a sucker for a well written friendship. Sano's distress (though it really deserves a far more powerful word) at the way Kenshin is now painful, because we are seeing the same thing, are thinking the same thing. Kenshin not being able to let Sano go again shows the horrible things that have been done to them. But I had to laugh at Kenshin's insistence on Sano not killing anyone. He's "still in there." And then we see his fear at Kaoru seeing him like this and Sano's quick attempt to reassure him. I hope Kenshin and Kaoru meet up soon, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

"He was already sorry. He didn’t know for what he was supposed to be sorry, but he was. Very, very much so. He didn’t need the master’s help to know what an idiot he was, especially since now he really was one." Oh God, Kenshin. So...heartwrenching. We can't have thoughts like this without having some sort of moment between the two in the future!

"Where is my spirit? he wondered in the silence, and for the life of him, he couldn’t bring himself to gather the broken pieces of it, because he cut himself the harder he tried." Wonderful, poignant image there.

Berserker Kaoru? Interesting. And thank you for making her actually able to fight! She's not weak and constantly crying, like others seem to write her. And Kenshin, for once and truly a victim. Sano is definitely right in that aspect.

Oh my gosh! The reunion between Sano and Kenshin! So wonderful! So heartbreaking! And Kenshin not realizing Sano was real until he touched him. And speaking of, I was especially moved by Sano leaning into Kenshin's touch-anything to help his best friend out. Kenshin's apology and Sano's repeated, anguished insistence that it wasn't his fault...very emotional. I'm so, so happy Kenshin has at least one of his friends with him now. Sano's a great friend, and you write him perfectly.

Haha! I love Hikaru's annoyance at Kaoru's stubborness.

And so, as the chapter title indicated, we finally have our explanation! The madness of their ancestor and the way it effects them now is interesting. And what I continue to be awed at here is your ability to use this Greek legend in the Rurouni Kenshin universe! It's amazing and I just LOVE it!

And the knowledge that this isn't happening because of someone Kenshin killed, but because of someone he didn't kill! All this because he showed mercy! A wonderful twist.

"For God’s sake, woman, what else was a hitokiri good for?" Loved that line. NOt that I agree with it, but loved it anyway. I think it was the exasperation in it, hehe.

There are so many lines in here I absolutely love. I'll try not to quote them all. :) I don't know if I've ever read a better indicator of thirst than your description of Kenshin hearing his tongue peel from the roof of his mouth. It will certainly stick with me.

"He rested. Yesterday had not been all right, and tomorrow might not be all right, but, right now, right now was all right." Loved it. Adored it.

A visible sign of Aoshi's nervousness? The image of this confident man running his thumb across his lips was great. Definitely one of my favorite ones in this chapter. As Kaoru brought up, it is not Aoshi's style, and so all the more unnerving.

Great way of disguising the entrance to the labyrinth! It never even crossed my mind!

Hiko! I love that man! So now he's going to join in the hunt for Kenshin. That makes me very happy. And, from the little nagging guilt Hiko looks like he may be feeling, we may just get some nice little moments between teacher and student.

Ah Kenshin. It seems he inspires devotion wherever he goes. I'm glad Aijo and Daisuke are still there to look after him, though I imagine Kenshin won't be all too thrilled. "Tan was beginning to believe that not much was impossible for this man..." It does seem that way, doesn't it? He just has such a strong force of will it isn't in him to stop fighting. Especially when he has thoughts of his friends to spur him on.

You know, I've always sorta liked Tan. Maybe it was because he didn't seem like he really wanted to hurt Kenshin? But now Tan's gone. And now I feel sorry for Hikaru, but I don't think it will last.

I just love the entire part with Yahiko. His desire for revenge, but then not wanting to think like that because of what Kenshin would think shows just how strong a hold Kenshin has on them all. The respect, love, and loyalty they all have for him is shown in little things like this. "Even now, Kenshin guided him." That's true for them all, in some way. Even though he isn't physically there with him.

"This wasn’t fair! Kenshin had already gone through so much. As far as Yahiko was concerned, Kenshin had paid his dues, and then some! He deserved to be happy, incredibly, completely, peacefully happy, for the rest of his life!" And Yahiko voices what everyone who loves Kenshin believes.

Tomoe and Kaoru. They've both helped and shielded him. Thank you for not making one less than the other. They are both important to him and his life. The short memories were beautiful. Tomoe and Kenshin's moment of clumsiness was made all the sweeter by the knowledge that those two are usually graceful. But Kaoru's story...I loved it, because that is how the people who love Kenshin see him. If you don't mind, I'll probably just save that little story. It's one that is beautiful in it's own right, without having to be connected to another.

"She was beautiful, but even if she were not, she would still be beautiful." I don't know, I just really liked that line.

The whole part with Kaoru reaching out to him-the imagery, the symbolism of the bruises and blood, the whole arm and the damaged arm-it was all absolutely wonderful. It's good that Tomoe didn't abandon him, but more, pass the torch along of who would take care of him. Her turn is over, and now it's up to Kaoru.

“Please. Kaoru-dono, stay away. This one is in Hell, where angels should not be.”

“Then you should not be here, should you?" Such sweet sadness in those words. And so true for both of them to say what they did. They image of Kenshin falling to his knees and Kaoru following, refusing to let him go was very nicely done. And I have to imagine that the mantra she repeated will stay with him and keep him going.

Wonderful, bittersweet chapter! I was teary-eyed throughout the entire thing.

Way to go Kenshin! Finding a way to beat the Mindsifter twice! He's smart, even when everything about him is in shambles. But the spike through the hand...it was so hard for me to read that and I think Tan's short "Oh, God" mirrored my sentiments exactly. At least Tan was able to change the hand it would be driven into. Hikaru's suggestion of doing both hands freaked me out for a bit, but thankfully that was taken care of quick.

"Their eyes met for a moment before Kenshin’s clouded over in bleak expectation." I found that line to be very powerful and hopeless. I closed my own eyes a few times while I was reading this. And then the discussion going on inside his mind...I had tears in my eyes reading that. It was just so raw and that last line-"Don't cry, Kenshin. They're watching"-just tore my heart apart. The way his Battousai self is trying to look out for him is great. And he does it by talking about his friends. They really are his hold on sanity here. I think, more than anything, the part of him that remembers holds on for their sake, especially Kaoru.

Using the song to battle the Mindsifter created a very powerful image. And again, Poe's poem is perfect choice for this story. That Kenshin can still fight is nothing short of amazing, and yet so very him. "...the eyes were full of determination and fury, bleeding through the pain." That's our Kenshin!

I feel like I keep using the same words to describe your writing! I really must use a thesaurus...

Not good. Not good at ALL. Aoshi is intelligent and strong, definitely capable of at least getting them to Kenshin, I think. But if he's hallucinating like this, and if his mind is so messed up now...Kenshin isn't the only one we have to worry about now.

Yes! Of course Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu would be too deeply ingrained in Kenshin for him to forget it! It's nice to see that he can still defend himself at least a little bit. I'm assuming that that is his Battousai self talking to him. Wonderful little discussion there.

“-no one has the right to do this to me!” It's wonderful to see Kenshin standing up for himself after the cowering we had witnessed. And I noticed that this only happened when he felt there was someone who he had to protect. Of course he would choose to face the Mindsifter again, if it meant Daisuke and Aijo were freed. Still our Kenshin. Unable to abandon anyone who needs help and willing to sacrifice himself for them.

"It looks like it is really going to be forever after all." And THAT was a masterful line. Heartbreaking and depressing, like your stomach just dropped out. I'm afraid for what Kenshin is going to to have to go through now. And then I remember that this will be for the THIRD time.

Wonderful. Aoshi isn't even going to tell us what's wrong. He's not fooling anyone, but then, he's not the most talkative sort, so he's going to tell only what he thinks is necessary.

"...but no one had seen Battousai, who is hardly indistinct..." *giggle* No, he's not. Honestly, I wonder why people even need to know he has a scar when he has that hair.

"Slowly removing his hand from Aijo’s, he brought around his right hand and rested his fingertips against the tip of it." Well, well. It appears Kenshin may just have some memory of how to fight...

Oh. My. “You’re Misao, right?” That's...that's not good-and that's definitely putting it lightly. In his search for Kenshin, did Aoshi get caught up in the Mindsifter somehow? And Yahiko with his tearful rage at the thought of being left behind speaks for all of them, I think. No one is going to let themselves be left behind now that Kenshin is found.

Oh Kenshin. Like Aijo thought, he is child-like now, even if he's not a child. But at the same time, you can still see Kenshin in there: the honorific, his apologies, and of course, the way he thinks things are always his fault. I want to learn more about this Mindsifter-exactly how it does what it does and why it's there. Can it reverse it's effects, or is Kenshin going to have to find a different way out of this? I'm sure you'll get to it in time, and it's always good to reveal things little by little. Good touch with the song by the way. I think it fits the story very nicely.

Yay Aoshi! But he's a little beat up, is he? That's something to worry about, in my mind. And he knows where Kenshin is! Wonderful!

I usually try to avoid stories where strong characters end up like this-not because I don't like that type of story, but because it just hurts so much. I love angst, and yet, I can usually only take certain kinds of angst. The masterful way in which you write this makes it hurt all the more. But it's good, if that makes sense. It makes me want to read more, to find out what happens to our Kenshin, and how he pulls through this. And it looks like it's going to be a long, hard road. To see Kenshin, a man who is so strong and in-control-always a support to those who need him-reduced to this...

And is Aoshi going to be an important character in this? I hope so. I love that man and it's so hard to find good stories where he's written well. From what I've seen of your writing so far, I'm not worried about that at all.