She died?

The richer ancient Egyptians would be buried in a sarcophagus, the sarcophagus would be incredibly ornate and designed in a way that depicted the person inside, the Vikings were known for placing the bodies of dead heroes and warriors on a boat and after setting fire to it letting it set sail. The ancient Greeks were big fans of a funeral pyre, a large fire set up by the family of the deceased in order to honour their dead relative.

These were the thoughts running through Tia's head as she sat beside Hilary's cousin Shane in the large black car on the way to the crematorium. Looking up at him she was surprised by how still his face was, how relaxed he seemed, she felt near to tears and he was sitting there looking for all the world as though he were simply on his way to an unpleasant day at work. Sighing she turned her head to stare out of the window, her mind returned to the unpleasant theme of burial procedures.

When buying a coffin, or casket as they have more recently become known as there is a lot to consider. The Tatibana family had taken their time picking out a casket that had a mock reed design, a basket casket as one of Hilary's cousins had joked, the lining had been of white satin and on top they had wanted white lilies.

It would have looked beautiful at the funeral but unfortunately due to the 'mistake' at the crematorium that was all gone now and a small silver coloured urn would stand at the front in place of the coffin.

A tissue was ****** into her hand before she had even realised she was crying, looking back at Shane she was surprised to see his handsome face filled with concern, she gave a slight smile and he nodded reassured that she was going to get through today. Tia was determined to be strong…, well she hoped she could be.

It was the one occasion Kenny had ever been to and not insisted on bringing his laptop along. As the bespectacled boy sat down in the chair beside Tyson he noticed that Ray, Mariah and Lee were on the same row as them. They gave each other small nods of recognition before turning their attention back to the order of service they had been given at the door. Kenny was just leafing through the booklet when he felt someone sit down beside him, at first he hadn't recognised the girl beside him but when Max sat down next to her he realised that it was Millie. She wore large sunglasses that covered most of her face and her unruly hair was pulled back into a plait like she had worn when he first saw her. She looked almost as though she was in disguise, that's when Kenny remembered what Tyson had told him about Millie saying she was having trouble dealing with all this funeral stuff and guessed that she didn't want people to see her if she broke down. Part of him was glad for once that he wore such thick glasses, at least this was no one would notice straight away when he cried.

Distracted from his reading Kenny began to look around, the place was really filling up now, there were a lot of Beybladers and people he recognised from the BBA. He also noticed a few old classmates that he hadn't seen in years, then he saw the one person they had all been on the look out for.

"Kai's here" he hissed to Tyson

The entire row heard him and turned to look for their friend. Kai walked quietly down the aisle in the centre of the room, for the first time since the death he looked like he had actually made an effort in his dressing. He wore a simple dark suit with a white shirt and black tie. His hair was back to it's old style and the bruises on his face seemed to have cleared up. Behind him Renaldo and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys were quietly following waiting for Kai to find his place before deciding where they would go. Seeing the row with his friends Kai faltered and finally slipping into the row in front of them took a seat in front of Ray. This circumstance left Ian in front of Kenny, it really surprised him when Ian turned around and gave him a small smile, Kenny responded in kind. It was odd but thanks to Hilary these two teams with so much history and so many differences had become friends.

Everyone seemed to have found seats when behind them music started up and Hilary's family walked in. Her grandfather was a the front and a wave of anger seemed to overtake their two rows. If it had been a panto he could imagine a lot of hissing and booing would have started up. Next came her parents then her brothers and finally a large amount of other miscellaneous family, some of them Kenny recognised but most of them were new to him. In amongst all the cousins and aunts and uncles walked Tia. She looked very pale and as she passed their row he could feel Tyson lean forward to catch her eye, Tia looked over at them and gave a small brave smile.

Kenny sighed it would be a long service.

It was at the end after a long and drawn out eulogy from Hilary's eldest brother that Tia finally stood up. She made her way to the podium and gave a watery smile

"Hello everyone, I have known Hilary since we were both four years old, we fought and argued a lot but mostly we were just there for each other. She was the best friend anyone could have and I know for a fact that anything I say now couldn't do her justice. Her family asked me to pick an ending song, they wanted Coldplay's Fix You but it has that line about 'lights will guide you home and ignite your bones,' I didn't think it suited a cremation somehow. So I talked at length with her boyfriend, and we spoke of a song that suited how we feel, I was gonna play it but… I decided on a song that she loved. This isn't the most traditional thing to play at a funeral but I think those of you that knew her well will agree with me that Hilary would have enjoyed this" Tia nodded to someone on her left and the faint beginning chords of Bruce Springsteen's Born to run started up.

Kenny felt himself begin to chuckle as he thought about what Hilary's reaction would have been, truthfully she would have preferred a song about cheerfulness, she had once joked that she wanted 'wake me up before you go-go' at her funeral or 'Walking on Sunshine' still this song seemed to suit the mood better. Looking over at Kai he watched as the tall body in front of Ray began to sag, a slight shudder ran through him.

If he was honest Kai actually preferred the fact that she had already been cremated, he wouldn't have been able to handle seeing her again and when they closed those curtains to hide the coffin as they all left he wasn't sure how he would have reacted knowing that his girlfriends body was about to burn.

When he heard the song that he had spoken to Tia about start up he felt himself sink lower in the chair he felt cold and was unable repress the convulsion that went through him. Immediately from behind him a hand was placed on his shoulder, he didn't need to even look at it to know that it was Mariah's. It was odd but though he usually disliked too much contact he felt very comforted and placed his hand over her soft one letting her know that he appreciated it.

The Tatibana family had arranged a large wake after the funeral but none of the beyblading crowd really felt like attending. Instead they gathered at the beach celebrating their friend's life with a BBQ that was filled with laughter and conversations filled with memories.

Kai wasn't there, after the funeral he and Renaldo had disappeared refusing to say where they were going and what they were doing. In truth no one wanted to ask them any questions, anyone that knew Kai knew that his mind would be running on revenge for a while, none of them wanted to get in Kai's way but also none of them wanted to know what was happening so that when questioned they could safely deny all knowledge.

Millie stood a little way away from the party thinking hard, she had not shared her recent discoveries with anyone but she wasn't sure why. Why hadn't she told them? Millie shook her head and sighed, she looked over at Max for about the hundredth time and realised the answer to her question. Hope. False hope, she was afraid to give the group of people that she had come to care for a sense of something more when there could be some stupid petty reason behind it all.

But as far as she could see there was only one reason why a person would arrange to have a body cremated before it was supposed to be and that was to cover something up. What though? They had all seen the autopsy report, Kai had seen the body and what more could there possibly have been to cover up? If only she could get another look at that report without alerting Horatio Tatibana to the fact that she was suspicious.

Still that gave her something else to consider, should she just forget about it all?

Looking down at her hands she pondered what Hilary would want her to do, Hilary would want answers and wouldn't waste time getting them but… Hilary didn't like getting people involved unnecessarily. 'Perhaps' Mille thought…'perhaps I could look into this by myself'

"Hey Millie!" Max waved to her "You want a burger?"

"Please!" she waved back and walked to meet Max as he brought her food over.

"I got you ketchup"

"You went to all that trouble for me?" she joked taking the food from him and kissing his cheek

"I'd do anything for you" he told her jokingly but there was serious look in his eyes that made her smile.

"You're so sweet" she slipped her arm through his and together they started to wander back to the group, she was only half listening to her boyfriend as he talked about what was going on but then he said something that grabbed her attention

"…I mean he read that report so many times he could probably quote it by heart but he had to have a copy made as well. I think Kai's really losing it. Renaldo says he'll keep…."

"Wait" Millie stopped walking and stared at Max "Kai has a copy of the autopsy report?"

"Yeah he photocopied it…why?"

"Oh…I just find it odd that's all." she smiled at him before slipping her arm around his waist and continuing back to the group by the BBQ

Kai and Renaldo were attending the official wake, they stayed together for the whole thing with Kai pointing out who the important people were and who else might need following. Every time his gaze fell on Horatio Tatibana he felt angry, what he wouldn't give to just pull out a gun and aim for that man. Unfortunately Renaldo hadn't provided his gun yet, still he would get his chance.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shane staring at him, he hadn't forgotten what Shane had said the day they stood in the morgue, and he would never forget what Shane had asked him to do. Turning to face Hilary's cousin he stared back, Kai wasn't really known for looking for the good in people but the betrayal of Shane, the way he was able to just walk away from this as though Hilary had died a normal death shocked Kai.

Watching the group of mourners Renaldo made a note of who was who on Hilary's family tree, he had easily worked out who the grandfather was and subsequently dispatched one of his 'employees' to follow him. He then scouted for other likely candidates. As Renaldo looked around the room he noticed that one brunette looked particularly careless, the man in question had a blonde on his arm and was standing drinking whisky. Nudging Kai Renaldo hissed "Who's the guy over there, with the blonde?"

Kai stared and frowned for a moment, he knew that face, then he remembered he ha seen him when Hilary had found out that Ianto was missing "That's Jake, one of the cousins" he whispered back

"And…what do we know about him?"

"He's an anomaly" Kai admitted "seemed to hate Hilary but…" he thought back to what Hilary had told him about Jake and music "I don't know, he could be for either side"

"I'll keep tabs on him"

Horatio Tatibana sighed as he removed his black jacket and tie, it had been a long day and he was in desperate need of a whisky. Pouring himself a drink he picked up the phone and dialled a number. As he waited for the other end to pick up he kicked off his shoes

"Hello?"

"Voltaire, it's me"

"Horatio, how was it?" for a moment Voltaire sounded genuinely concerned

Not showing any emotion Horatio sounded cold as he responded "It was tough, but it's over now."

"Yeah, so how long before you get here?"

"Tomorrow, I'll head out first thing…by the way" he paused

"What?"

"Your grandson was there"

"Well we knew they were dating, it was to be expected that…"

"No" Horatio cut in "That's not why I'm mentioning it"

"What's wrong?"

"I was followed home today, I'm guessing he and that little friend of his Renaldo are behind it all"

"You think they know?" Voltaire felt a sense of urgency as he asked the question

"No, he was upset, at the funeral he looked upset"

"And he showed it?" Voltaire laughed "I guess she really got to him!"

"I think revenge is a the forefront of his mind right now, my guessing is he's looking to hurt someone, how's the prisoner holding up?"

"Tough, she's fighting everything we say or do, I can't wait till tomorrow when we can start everything properly and move her somewhere a little more secure"

"Neither can I, every thing will be easier when I'm there and we can do this properly. I'll be there soon… as long as that grandson of yours doesn't give us any trouble."

"We'll just have to make sure he doesn't follow you here" suddenly Voltaire felt ridiculously annoyed "Why can't he just grieve like a normal person?"

"Must have something to do with his upbringing" Horatio joked "we did screw him up pretty badly"

"Yes, well as long as he doesn't know everything we'll be alright, I'll see you tomorrow"

Both men hung up the phone feeling different levels of worry, each one had the same reasons to worry but they individually recognised further problems that they would face in the future.

In Japan Horatio sat back in his armchair knocking back his drink, he was mostly worried about Kai, there was no denying that the young man could cause more problems than they had foreseen but he did have a contingency plan for that. He put down his glass and picked up a book, he'd worry more about it in the morning before he flew out to join his friend.

In Russia after Voltaire Hiwatari had hung up the phone he began to walk out of his room and down the corridor musing certain difficulties as he went he soon found himself standing outside the last room of the house. Smiling he nodded to the two guards who stood on either side and they opened the door.

The room Voltaire entered was cold and dark, there was no electricity in this room, they had been forced to remove the light fittings and sockets after the occupant of this room almost managed an escape by blowing the entire house's electricity and in the process turning off the security cameras and alarm systems. Only the moonlight that streamed in through the barred windows gave him any source of light as he surveyed the room.

Even if there had been no light he knew where she would be, after all she had attempted escape so any times that they had been forced to handcuff her to the bed.

"Hilary?" he whispered teasingly watching as the figure on the bed suddenly sat up, he watched her move fearfully away from him "I'm not going to hurt you" he promised "I just have something to tell you."

"Tell me, then get out" the voice was hoarse but still had an edge to it. Sitting on the bed Hilary glared at her jailer wishing that she could move across the room and hurt him. If she wasn't fastened here by these god-awful cuffs she would be attacking him right now.

"Very polite…I'm here to tell you that your grandfather will be here tomorrow, we'll be moving you somewhere else, somewhere a little more comfortable."

The resilient edge Hilary had always been known for gleamed through as she looked at him, he looked so bloody triumphant she was stung into saying "My friends won't leave me here, they'll come looking for me"

Voltaire laughed, it was a mocking laugh that made his prisoner tense up even more "No…, no they won't come looking for you. You see Hilary, you're dead"

Hilary laughed "They won't just let it lie, they'll want to see a body, they won't just believe that I'm dead"

"Oh but they have seen a body, there's a reason why we waited a few weeks before coming for you again. We needed to ensure that there would be no more heroics from my idiot grandson. We cloned you, we worked for three weeks so we could clone you. Our process is not yet refined but… the clone is a perfect copy."

"What do you mean? What do you mean not yet refined?" Hilary asked trying to get her head around what was going on

"Well the clones we make only live for an hour at most, but it was long enough for us, we cloned you, then we killed you…. It…, the clone."

"Oh my god" Hilary whispered leaning back against the headboard, she suddenly felt terrified, everything else she had been through before had been bad but now….now they weren't even looking for her. She was dead to the world, alone with no real chance of escape. No one was going to come and save her this time.

She stared at her captor, watching the sick smile that had fixed itself on his features grow wider.

"What the hell do you even want me for?" she asked nervously

"You'll soon find out" was the only response she received and somehow it made her feel even more afraid.

Jutting out her chin she glared at the old man determined not to lose face in front of the man she had grown to despise with her whole being "You won't get away with this, I will get out of here and when I do you'll regret everything you've done to me, Kai and everyone else that I care about."

"I can't wait"

As he left the room Voltaire grinned, that had been fun, it had been so long since he had watched someone's face be completely drained of hope and happiness that he had forgotten how good it felt. Still she was determined to make all this as difficult as possible, he hadn't broken her yet. Whistling happily he walked down the corridor.

As soon as she was sure that Voltaire was gone Hilary allowed her façade to crumble, tears welled up and pricked at her eyes. Truth be told she had been failing for quite some time, her last escape attempt to escape had been terrifying. The dogs that attacked her had caused her to feel more panic than ever before and she was beginning to run out of ideas. She had tried to contact the outside world, she had tried to fool them into thinking she was ill, she had even cut all the vitamin C out of her diet hiding the necessary food so she looked ill but it hadn't worked. Of course it hadn't helped that Horatio and Voltaire had doctors working for them.

Fusing the electricity had been her best scheme but it's ultimate failure now meant she was even more trapped.

Curling up as best she could on the bed Hilary pulled at the cuff on her wrist, she had tried to remove it but fiddling with the lock had done nothing and it was too tight to even consider slipping it off.

Staring at the ceiling Hilary sighed wondering about her future, she was still unsure of why she had been brought here. They refused to explain why they had brought her here but while being examined she had overheard two of the scientists talking about her reproductive abilities. It freaked her out a little, just what in the hell were they planning to do to her?

author's note:

Ha, ok so she's not dead. I have said it once I'll say it again, I am no good at killing people off! Of course this was kind of planned, lets face it you can't have a KaiHil without the Hil!

To the many people who hated that I killed her I hope you're happy now! If not then please make your mind up!

Anyone that thinks this was a sell out I promise that it isn't! I truly planned all this and if anyone complains I will send you a long message proving to you how this all works and where the seeds of this story are placed in the previous story. There will be more evidence for this later in the story though, so try to keep an open mind!

Having said all that please R&R honestly

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