Finally, my eyes forced themselves open.

The starry sky above me was shroud by a thick canopy of dead tree limbs. On further inspection, I realized I had been taken back to the spot we had hid in just before we reached the inner gates. My friends surrounded me with expressions of varying sickness and distraught.

My recent memories shot back into my head, reminding me of why I found myself unconscious in the dirt. "Where is she!?" I tried pushing myself quickly off the ground, but my side immediately brought itself to my attention. A piece of our sacks that we previously used to carry our supplies with had been torn and wrapped around my bloody torso. "What happened to me?"

Hayato muttered quietly with a somber expression, I noticed his thigh was similarly bandaged. "Kenshi... I'm sorry." Anzen looked into the distance with a fire in his eyes. Lee stared into nothingness, his face pale white fighting back sickness, forearms seemingly drenched in blood.

Sora was the first to extrapolate. "Arrows came down on us."

"Even blotted out what little light the damn moon gave us," Anzen added.

Sora nodded, his face still blank except for widened and shocked eyes. "The only place we could retreat to in time was here. Hayato dragged you into a portal once Anzen and I had found us safety."

Hayato and I must have both been pierced by the arrows they spoke about. Even with my new injuries, my mind didn't lose focus nor did I hesitate from finally lifting myself to a sitting position. The only question I had was "Where's Ama-... The body."

Even Sora refused to make eye contact after the question they must have been dreading was asked. Anzen was the first to speak through gritted teeth. "Lee tried to get her while we went to create the portal but... There wasn't any way to pick her up..."

"What do you-?"

Lee interrupted me as he continued to stare into space. "She wasn't... Whole."

My head suddenly went from foggy and confused to crystal clear. I remembered all that I had seen, and I realized exactly what must have happened. The pain in my side was no longer noticeable. I went from sitting to standing, pushing through the branches until I could see the outside once more. Samurai pushed spiked barriers in front of the open gates to bar entry. More shuffled equipment and supplies hastily into the large palace.

Two men were already stationed at the barrier in preparation for us. Nothing more than a delay.

I looked behind me to see that Hayato was behind me with a pleading hand outstretched. Anzen exited while protesting. "Kenshi! We need time to figure this out!"

They all seemed to speak to me as I simply walked closer to the two men that had now noticed me. If they wished to leave, they could. If they wished to follow me, they could.

I wouldn't turn my back twice, and the Doctor wouldn't get the chance to touch her.

The two samurai drew their swords and ran towards me. Both looked inexperienced, and the way they swung wildly towards me only confirmed that suspicion.

One to the left swung sideways towards me. I let my sword clash against his, quickly letting my blade slide down his. With only minor adjustments, I moved past the guard of his katana and slashed his wrists. I moved to the next as he dropped his sword and screamed. The next samurai hadn't even the chance to react to what happened as he sloppily reared his sword behind his head, about to swing down on me. Bringing his arms up like that left him completely vulnerable. I simply thrust the tip of my sword through his neck and he had died. One more stab into the back of the man with the slit wrists and they were both dead in less than five seconds. I had barely stopped walking.

The act of killing two untrained footsoldiers didn't even cross my mind. While my body was behind, I was already exploring my memory of the palace. Surmising where the Doctor would hide once I entered. There would most likely be more soldiers to cut through since the Doctor no longer seemed to care about a loss of men. He never did, but now he had all that he needed from the Shogun. The Doctor finally had no one to bow to.

The doors to the palace looked to be hastily shut and locked. Easily breakable. They would be clueless to the layout of the palace, but I knew my way, I could catch them before they exited the main hall. I no longer even cared how many I would have to cut down to reach my goal. They made their choices, and I had my honor to redeem.

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With little hesitation, I began to push the large wooden barriers aside. Nothing felt heavy anymore, I no longer felt my lack of sleep or previous injuries. It all faded into the back of my mind as I continued.

There was a single samurai that hadn't gathered his supplies and hidden with the others in the palace. He had already dropped his luggage and gathered his sword from the sound of the previous guard's screams.

As this samurai approached, I noticed a much better stance than the last two. Someone who most likely wasn't just entranced into joining the Shogun's guard with the promise of money. Someone who actually trained. Someone who had experience.

The only flaw is that he seemed to think of himself as perfect. He jumped to and fro like it was some sort of performance. He spun his sword in his hand pridefully as I simply walked forward. I didn't care to partake in his dance number.

He lunged forward and swung his katana, only to bounce off of mine. The way our swords clashed gave mine enough momentum to easily swung the other way towards his neck, although his reaction time was too quick. The samurai jumped backward before he was cut down, looking for a new way to approach.

That swing was weak, and his entire physique looked more aimed towards agility than strength. That first attack was most likely nothing more than to test how his strength compared to mine.

Once he realized that he wouldn't be able to strong-arm his way past my defenses, his thumbs searched around the handle of his sword in a curious manner. After a brief moment, his two-handed sword split as he went into a dual-wielding position.

I sighed. Every damn soldier seemed to have their own special technique in an attempt to keep up with ember wielders. It didn't matter if he split his sword into two weaker ones, all I needed was a single opening.

One blade charging at me from the left, another lower and to the right, he must have thought that he could trap me like this. If I jumped back, he'd only continue to move forward and I'd be hit, and if I tried to block one I'd still be hit by one. The samurai had all but one direction in his favor. Forwards.

His arms swung wildly as he soared towards me, his momentum already dedicated to his attack. But with my weight and my strength, I charged forward, smashing him out of the air like a sheet of paper. His entire fighting style was bent towards inciting fear into the opponent. He expected me to play defensively like a fool would.

With a wet and slick sound, the samurai fell into the dirt. He looked surprised, like he didn't notice my sword enter his gut as I tackled him. Or perhaps his surprise was simply caused by the shock that he had lost. I any case, I didn't stay to watch him die or hear any last words. I had only one true goal left.

Walking closer to the palace, I heard a voice shout, and within a moment I felt a hand grasp to my shoulder. Every muscle in me was working solely on gut reaction. I didn't even recognize that my sword was already beginning to swing through the air before I forcefully halted it.

"It's me!" Hayato shouted as he jumped backward in surprise. "... Kenshi. I understand that you have to be feeling-"

I didn't take the time to listen to him finish. "No, you don't."

Hayato only grew louder. Showing that his patience wasn't infinite. "I do! But you need to stop and realize that walking in there yourself is nothing but a death sentence. We know you won't go back, nor do we want to go back... But we need to do this right."

I didn't want to listen. Time felt like it flew by me in the few minutes I had been awake, but now that Hayato stopped me to speak it all felt slow again. I had time to think rather than react.

Whatever part that processed logic in my brain screamed at me to heed Hayato's words, but my heart felt like it pulled me farther into the inner gates of the palace yard. Anzen jogged closer to us as Sora bargained with Lee, still sitting traumatized in the brush.

I sat there and thought for what felt like forever as they began getting closer. The Doctor had made it obvious that he intended to cut and examine every part of what was left of Amaterasu, and he would do so as quickly as possible. Whatever I chose to do, I knew that my waiting couldn't take long.

Finally, the rest of our group caught up. Sora looked as determined as he would let himself. Lee still seemed in shock. Anzen frowned deeply.

Surprisingly enough, Lee was the first to speak. "I-I'm sorry."

Pure anger and distress from the situation we were in kept words from formulating, but Sora spoke what I wanted to say. "Don't be. You tried amid a dangerous situation. We all failed."

Lee continued. "I want to go get her back... Sora, do you remember when we met the Doctor with Mahiro and the drunk ember wielder? Do you remember how he tried to tear us apart and examine the ember wielder? Would you want him with Lady Amaterasu? The only thing that I can think of that would be worse than what I saw, is the Doctor next to it." Sora raised a brow. Lee had apparently been thinking since what happened to him. "Whenever I close my eyes I just remember trying to grab on to her and... It just not working. And I think the only way to fix it is to know that she's safe from getting worse."

Anzen sighed. Both he and everyone else knew he would be the largest decider, so he spoke. "I agree with Lee. But we need to be careful."

Sora gave his thoughts, subtly confirming his willingness along the way. "Yes. Then let us try to take in our surroundings before we act."

I shook my head. This conversation had gone on for little more than a few minutes, and that was already far too long. "I know the layout of the palace. I'm leaving now, you can all follow me if you like. This is my mistake, and I understand if none of you want to try to fix it."

As I turned and began to walk, I heard footsteps behind me. A hand grasped my shoulder once more, but this time I knew who it was.

Hayato spoke, the rest with determined expressions.

"Let's finish this. Together."