SailorStar9: After getting the Chapter 5 out, this is Chapter 6 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your alerts and favorites?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, not even the pairing.

Chapter 6: 2500 Years Before Present Time: Boreas Retaliates

At the end of the second year of the occurrences, Lord Boreas, unable to remain ignorant any longer, commissioned Telamon and Kyra to investigate his suspicions: he had long known of Mariam's long and unexplained absences towards the end of the day and added to the fact that the days she was absent coincided with the days the attacks occurred, the Wind God wanted to know if he had yet another traitor on his hands.

Picking a late afternoon where Mariam was away, the pair snuck into the Fire Elementalist's quarters. Once there, the subtle trail of 'Dark Curse' magic immediately set Kyra's senses off. Trusting her heightened senses, she followed the dark magic trail to a false wall that was erected behind Mariam's side table. Pushing a loose brick that served as a hidden switch, the fake wall slid aside to reveal a spiral stairway that led an underground chamber.

There, both Telamon and Kyra found incriminating evidence of Mariam's guilt: detailed notes of her study of 'Dark Curse' magic, her initial records of the 'Endless Light' spell, a devastating yet insidious spell that could delivered by combining it with another spell that was used as a guise and the effects were only felt after the spell hit, but by then, the it would be too late to defend against it. The victim would then be beset by horrible nightmares and were unable to sleep soundly until they went insane and died. The first fatality, Mariam's dairy wrote, was Adrasteia, who was chosen to test the spell. The others, Mariam gloated in her dairy, were merely practice and target, enabling her to refine and perfect the spell.

Telamon was appalled; to think that the woman he once considered a sister could become so depraved in her pursuit for power! To turn one's mind against itself!? It was beyond reason!

Quivering with barely restrained fury, Kyra went to work and sealed Mariam's notes of 'Dark Curse' magic, the 'Endless Light' spell records, Mariam's dairy and Aison's communication mirror with a high-level sealing rune and exited the chamber with her shell-shocked partner.

Upon arrival to Lord Boreas' quarters, Kyra released the sealing rune and causing the parchments and hand mirror to tumble right before the Wind God and the remaining squad leaders in a pile. As stunned as Telamon had been, the eldest Elementalist, a wind wielder, demanded to speak to Mariam for an explanation for her actions. When Telamon admitted that Mariam was missing since late afternoon, everyone blanched. Was she out seeking a new victim?

The answer was not long in coming; late that night, Mariam stormed into Lord Boreas' quarters, distinctly fuming. While she had indeed been out hunting her next target, it had not gone the way she wanted. Her standard plan was to find her prey, stalk it until it was alone and then cast a 'Fire Spell: Intoxication'. With the prey trapped and its senses dulled within the heat cloud and unable to raise any defenses, the 'Endless Light' spell would then come into effect. And by the time the heat cloud faded, she would be long gone.

This time, however, her target was on guard. With the leaders picked off one by one, he had taken the precaution to use his spiritual awareness to its fullest extent whenever he was alone. Therefore, when he felt a sinister presence beside him when he was overlooking the practice drills of his squad, he had leapt out of the way of the fire cloud in time and erected the strongest mental shields around his mind. His lieutenant, seeing her leader was being attacked, drew out her staff and attacked with a 'Wind Spell: Multi-Aero Claw'. Blocking the multi-shot spell with a 'Fire Spell: Fire Barrier Wall', Mariam bit back a curse and leapt off into the night, unwilling to take the chance of being captured.

Knowing that she would be pursued, she had headed straight back to her quarters to ponder on her next move. Imagine her surprise and shock when she found that she was locked out of her room by a barrier spell. Fuming, she stormed over to Lord Boreas' quarters to demand an explanation for the injustice. Once in the Wind God's chambers, she received yet another rude surprise; for waiting for her was Lord Boreas, along with the rest of the squad leaders and they did not look too happy. She had no sooner begun spinning a tale of treachery and betrayal when they countered with demands of their own.

Why was she bringing such shame to the Boreas Order by delving into the Dark Arts like 'Dark Curse' magic? What was she thinking? How dare she betray her oaths by associating herself with the Order's greatest traitor?

Her treachery revealed, Mariam screamed inarticulately and drew her staff, launching a frenzied 'Fire Spell: Corona Blaster' at the one person she hated the most, Kyra. Telamon only barely managed to defend his Soul Bound with a 'Ice Shield' barrier.

As the couple kept Mariam occupied, the other group leaders, under Lord Boreas' orders, surrounded the combating trio, the defensive experts already putting up their strongest barrier spells.

But subduing Mariam would be harder than the Soul Bound pair would anticipate; having consumed the magical cores of the murdered squad leaders, Mariam's powers had grown exponentially, almost five times to her previous power level.

The immense outsurge of magical energies had, unfortunately, triggered the portal spell Aison had engrafted on the communication mirror that had been forgotten on the ground in the midst of the chaos. It was then, the hand mirror started emitting an ominous purplish light as the spell circle activated, bringing all three fighters into the swirling whirlpool of energies...

SailorStar9: And... Cliffhanger no Jutsu! Don't you guys hate me now? (Evil grin) Read and review.