Warriors Still

Chapter Seven:Our Lady of Shadow and Light

Thin, timid fingers lightly touched the thick, black hair before turning the body over by his shoulders. The girl sucked in a sharp breath when she saw the bullet wound and the amount of blood. She lowered her ear to dry lips and felt a very slight breath coming from the body. If this guy didn't get help soon, she knew he wouldn't make it.

The massive feline next to them nudged the stranger's shoulder and made a low, sad sound.

"White Blaze," the girl said in awe. "You do know him, don't you?"

The tiger made another whine. She smiled and patted his broad head, brushing a stray strand of red hair away from her face.

"Then we will help your friend as best we can. Come on."


As blackness took over, Rowen could feel power pushing against the energy that swallowed them. That second power came from Suzu. She was fighting whatever sought to sweep them away and it was a mere matter of seconds until the hold on them popped like a bubble and the two fell on the rooftops below.

Rowen swirled wind around himself, trying to slow his descent while Suzu merely allowed herself to drop. She landed neatly in a crouch on a flat roof top while Rowen's touchdown wasn't quite so graceful. He tried to pretend he landed with more finesse.

"Thanks, Suzu. You stopped it from spiriting us off to God knows where."

The woman already had her back to him, gazing in the direction of the tower, which was only a handful of city blocks away. "I don't know if Ryoushi's power could have taken us much further. It seems he has limits. Perhaps it even dwindles the more he fights us. It could be why he is so desperate to keep us from getting to him."

"You think so?" Rowen sidled up next to her and tossed a sidelong glance in her direction. He was curious to see if he could pick out any features under her hood. Alas, he saw only darkness beneath the cloak.

"His biggest show of force has always been his army of creatures. Demonstrations of any magic powers have been mostly spells and illusions. He is not as powerful as he is presenting himself to be. Ryoushi must want to use that last Dynasty Gate to boost his power."

"But still no idea on how exactly he's going to do that?" Rowen asked.

Suzu shook her head. Then she lifted a leg to perch her right foot on the lip of the rooftop, leaning toward the tower.

"Woah, woah. Are you going back? Without the others?" Rowen demanded.

"We have to keep beating him down. We have to weaken him," Suzu insisted. She paused to let out a heavy breath. "I don't know if I can afford not going back."

Rowen blinked at her and he felt the acute influence of his armor upon him. Strata forced him to focus on something important that escaped his attention. He took in the girl's posture, listened to the tone in her voice, and could somehow feel the energy draining within her.

"You're exhausted," he blurted out. "You hardly have any energy left to fight."

"Channeling your armor powers in order to help you takes its toll on me," she admitted. "But I have to keep going."

Rowen grabbed her shoulder. "No you don't. It's not your sole responsibility. We need to get the others, then we'll try again."

Before Suzu could give a response. Several small black portals appeared around them. Out popped more of both the troll-like monsters with the spines on their backs, and the reptilian creatures whose forelimbs were made of both flesh and blade.

"Looks like our resident villain thinks we're still too close to home," Rowen quipped. His smart remarks were punctuated with a barrage of flying spines coming right for him. With a spin of his golden bow, he knocked them out of the way.

Several of the bladed reptilians descended on Suzu, wielding their arms like scythes. She was not fortunate enough to have a weapon to help her block the attack, but her movements stayed fast and sharp. At least, for the first few seconds. Unfortunately, the earlier battle and taken its toll and she was tiring quickly. Monsters sensed this of their enemy and pushed harder.

"Suzu!" Rowen tried to get to her, but the little beasts had successfully separated them far faster than Strata could realize their strategy.

The spiked monsters, once they had emptied themselves of their spines, leaped on Rowen with frog-like legs. He held two of them away from his face with his bow, while getting an unpleasant view of their retched, rotting green teeth.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rowen saw the snap of Suzu's tattered cape and the world slowed to give him a remarkably vivid picture of what happened next. One reptile swung its bladed arm wide. Suzu's head jerked back, an artful spray of blood coming from her hood.

When Rowen saw the blood, time slowed as he imagined the most gruesome, extensive damage that a hood could hide; then the seconds sped back up to normal. As he struggled to get himself free from fetid breath and grimy nails, Suzu stumbled, one hand clutching her face. She seemed to grope around as if she had lost her sight and the lizard things licked their lips. One tried to pounce her and she stumbled away,. Desperate to get some distance, she jumped off the edge of the building. The woman landed on the slippery slope of a gabled tin roof and scrambled up with bloody hands. One of the lizards landed on her and they both tumbled down the other side and out of sight.

"SUZU!" Rowen screamed. With all his power, sharp and furious with desperation, he pushed out in all directions. Both wind and raw power burst from him and everything around was sliced to ribbons. Rowen sailed to the other roof, slipping himself on the frictionless surface. He managed to climb the peak and found a group of reptiles hunched over their prey.

Rowen's reaction was complete instinct. He just pulled the mystic string upon his bow and a golden arrow was in his fingers. One after the other, like a quick snip, snip, snip, each creature was felled as it was pierced through. They died and dissipated with enraged squeals.

Rowen slid down the other side of the tin roof where it leveled out to a flat surface. Suzu's body was lifeless and there was blood around her head. There certainly could have been a larger amount of blood, but there was still enough to be concerned about. His hand was shaking as he touched her shoulder.

"Suzu, talk to me." He shook her gently. "Come on, come on."

She wasn't moving. Rowen had no choice. He told himself over and over in his head there was no other option, he had to do it. Her life could depend on it. With deep inhale and quickening of heart, Rowen removed her hood.


"Take off your shirt."

Sage staggered back at the blatant demand, crossing his bare arms over himself. "Excuse me?"

"I just want to see that wound," Cale responded with pragmatism. "Don't make it weird."

With a quiet, but heavy breath, Sage removed the black sleeveless turtleneck, revealing his pale chest. He stood there awkwardly as the warlord inspected him. Halo had never been comfortable baring skin around anyone, even in locker rooms. Being shirtless in front of Cale was far worse.

The warlord, for his part, hardly concerned himself with Sage's modesty issues. There was blood where the spike had penetrated Sage's chest, but not much. The tip had hardly pierced the flesh.

"Wound looks clean so far. I'm not as well versed as Sekhmet, but I don't think they were poisoned. Just keep watching it for infection."

Sage touched his wound at the thought, suddenly overcome with the urge to scrub his skin raw with hot water and soap. Though it certainly wasn't the only wound he carried from the battle. His bare arms found several scrapes and bruises along the way and Sage wished like mad for his protective subarmor.

As the blond slipped his shirt back on, he watched Cale inspect the deep slash in his own bicep he had earned from constantly saving Sage's life.

"You keep watching out for me," Halo said, the tone almost accusatory.

"Had to," Cale replied while most of his attention was on their surroundings. He wasn't sure where exactly they were in the city yet, but, so far, there didn't seem to be anything else after them. "If I let even one of you dumb kids get it, Kayura will flay me front and back."

"Yet, I'm the one you seem to focus on. When that black portal came for us, we didn't know what it was-if it was going to kill us- and you stepped in front of it to protect me." A bit of awe began to show in Halo's voice. "You- you would have given your life for me. And you keep protecting me like you-"

Cale suddenly rounded on him and they were nose to nose. Sage saw true ice in those cold blue eyes.

"Look, you." Cale jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "Just because Dais found common ground with Hardrock and they eventually became all buddy-buddy, doesn't mean anything like that would ever happen between us. We. Are not. Friends. You and I will never be friends, you got it?"

Irritation welled inside Sage. What was Cale so uptight about? Wasn't it he, the young fifteen-year-old boy who was terrorized by Cale who should get to vehemently protest a possible friendship? Even worse, Sage found himself actually disappointed at Cale's statement. What was he thinking? Sage had hated Cale as a teenager. He saw that man's wolf-like predatory grin, heard his cackling laughter in his nightmares. He never wanted any sort of reconciliation with this man before. So why, when rejected to his face before he could even entertain the idea, did it irritate him so?

"Fine," Halo blurted out, confused with what he was feeling. "That's fine with me."

Sage expected Cale to look smug, but the older man merely seemed satisfied with the retort. Then came a buzzing on his radio. Kayura.

"Cale? Are you there? Is everyone okay?"

Sage turned his back on the warlord, deciding to still be a bit huffy about their conversation while Cale answered the call.

"Hey, it's me. I've got Halo with me. We're both fine. Still in the Inside, not sure where yet."

"Same with us. It seems were were all just flung around the city. Ryoushi tried to get us as far away from him as he could."

"Which doesn't seem to be too far," Sekhmet's voice came in on a separate line. His sounded further away, the connection full of static. "This guy doesn't have the power to beat us head on and he knows it. Not even enough to throw us completely out of the city."

"Agreed," Kayura said. She paused as pain entered her voice. "We need to regroup- get ourselves completely out of the city and come up with a new plan. Despite any limits Ryoushi suffers from, we have no hope of busting down his doors now. We need to get out of here."

"Is everyone accounted for?" Cale asked.

"No. We don't know where Suzu and Rowen are, or Ryo."

Sage, able to hear both sides of the conversation, turned his head in concern at the news that two of his friends were missing.

"They're probably fine," Cale insisted; and Sage told himself it wasn't for his benefit. "Just like us, they're in some random part of the city trying to figure out where they are. Doesn't Suzu have a radio?"

"She didn't take one when she was out this morning," Sekhmet's disjointed voice came on. "And after the bombing, we didn't have any extras that were working. Mine's about to go out, too."

"Look, we can't stay here too much longer," Dais' voice cut in. It sounded as if he were using the mic on Kayura's radio instead of his own. "I've got to get Kayura out of town and get her bullet hole looked at."

"We can't leave the guys behind!" Kento's voice sounded in the background.

Cale sighed deep. "I can try to hunt them down if Halo doesn't mind tagging along." He glanced at the blond who silently nodded in readiness. "We'll catch up with you later when we find the others. So we're meeting at the other other place?"

"Right, we're all getting out of the city," Kayura confirmed. "After using that much of his power, hopefully Ryoushi will leave us alone for a while if we move far enough away."

"Fine. We'll hunt down the others and meet you there," Cale said before ending the connection.


Sekhmet still remained on the line with Kayura after Cale left the conversation. "Torrent and I ended up quite close to the garage. I've got a fix on your position, Kayura. Let me grab a car and we'll come pick you up."

"I don't need to be chauffeured out like a baby-" Kayura's protest was cut off like something was covering her mouth.

"Yeah, come get us," Dais' stern voice said. "We'll start heading your way, but the faster we can get wheels under us to haul ass out of here, the better."

Kayura's voice could be heard mumbling something before she ended her side of the call.

Sekhmet turned to Cye's curious expression. "Did you catch all that? I'd rather not repeat it."

Blinking at him, Cye was suddenly aware this was the first time he was having an actual one on one conversation with the formidable and feared enemy of his teenage years. "I caught enough," he managed to say.

"Good, follow me." The warlord of Venom turned and walked down the street.

Cye trailed after him, though quickly felt the strange reality of merely strolling down these empty, haunted streets. "In no hurry, are we?" he asked in the stillness.

The older man breathed out deeply. "I swear, the whole lot of you five have no patience, no appreciation for taking one's time. The garage is only a few blocks down and, if Ryoushi is still watching us, the last thing I want him to see is us looking like we're desperate to get out of town."

Cye couldn't really argue with that logic, though it didn't stop him from watching his back now and again. He could feel Sekhmet's disapproval with that action like a palpable cloud. Eventually, when it appeared no other monsters were going to attack them, Torrent settled into watching the warlord's back instead as they walked. He could have walked abreast with Sekhmet, but Cye preferred having Venom in front where he could keep an eye on him. He was still suspicious of Sekhmet out of habit and it was a hard habit to break.

At the same time, Torrent was well aware he was now in a unique opportunity that was rapidly fading. This was the first and possibly only instance he would have one on one time with a man he had somewhat considered an arch nemesis in his teenage years. A man Cye had feared long after Talpa's defeat; a dark creature of his nightmares that grew with his own fear. After tasting Sekhmet's sting, witnessing his heartlessness, Cye never wanted to see this man again as long as he lived.

And now here they were, sharing this quiet place together, and Cye didn't know what to do about it. Sekhmet had seemed so large and foreboding when he was a boy. Now, Torrent was surprised to find he was actually taller than the warlord now. Sekhmet had been in his imagination so much as this snake-fanged monster with Venom's mask, it was hard to handle the reality of standing right next to him as if he were something normal.

It was easier when they were in a large group. Cye could pretend Sekhmet was just an apparition in the background, something he never had to acknowledge. Even now, since the Warlord didn't seem to want to talk, Cye could put him back into the background if he wish. But that wasn't what the younger man wanted. He suddenly felt a great need to connect. To maybe discover a kind of closure with this man. The only problem was he had no idea what he wanted to say to him.

Isn't that what was supposed to happen? You confront the source of a fear that had haunted you for years; you're supposed to know what to say to them. Cye's mind was blank. And it was that great need to speak despite having a coherent thought that caused words to tumble out unchecked by his better sense.

"You killed a lot of fish for no good reason."

Sekhmet paused in his tracks at the accusation. Cye almost ran into him. The green-haired man glanced back at him, his overly large eyes glowing with that sickly yellow light and Cye had to wonder if he really was all human.

Sekhmet faced forward and began walking again. "That I did. A long time ago."

"You hurt my friends and me. You enjoyed it." Cye's voice had gone hard and flat. The anger he wasn't aware had been festering inside him suddenly bubbled to the surface.

"I pride myself of doing the job well, no matter who I'm working for." Sekhmet's response was so nonchalant it made Cye's blood boil even hotter.

"You're not even sorry!" Cye hated how his voice cracked. It made him sound like such a child. And he hated that he was losing control of his emotions.

Sekhmet paused once more taking in Torrent's agitated state and his own visible irritation at the conversation subsided.

"Look, I've never been the kind of person who holds onto the past. And I have already apologized to you for what I did under Talpa's influence. Repeating myself is a particular pet peeve of mine."

Cye blinked at him and then blurted out, "You didn't apologize to me!"

Sekhmet threw him a mirthless smirk. "Not yet. Learn some patience, Torrent." Then he turned into the open maw of a parking garage, an empty booth with the arm down as the only guard to the entrance.

Up on the third level sat a beat-up old van that no one would look twice at. Sekhmet knelt and felt around the undercarriage of the vehicle before producing a key. He then unlocked the driver side door, opened it, and used the automatic locks for Cye to gain access from the passenger side. Torrent, however, didn't set himself up front. He opted for the middle seat, still looking a bit put out. Sekhmet let him have his way as he started up an engine that sound much better than the van looked and they drove out of the parking garage.

Several blocks down, they spotted Kayura's group walking up the empty street and pulled up right in the middle of the road. Cye took it upon himself to sit in the very back seats without a word and Kento climbed in next to him. The two exchanged looks that spoke a full conversation about the craziness they recently experienced and the worry about their missing teammates.

Dais helped Kayura sit in the front passenger side before he sat himself alone in the middle seat. The van started up again and drove easily out of the Inside as if there were no magical barrier segregating the city. Fifteen minutes later, they were no longer within the Tokyo's city limits.


There were no people around and many store windows up and down the street were already broken out. Rowen only hesitated for a moment before punching his leather-clad fist through the glass and unlocking the door to the small shop. The store was clearly made with tourists in mind, full of nick-nacks and t-shirts proving one had visited Tokyo. Rowen found some novelty dish towels and pulled out a bottle of luke-warm water from the dark fridge in the corner.

Suzu remained outside, both of them uneasy about spending any time in the tiny business in case more creatures attacked. Once back on the sidewalk, Rowen dampened the towels with water and attempted to apply them to the face once again hidden under the hood. Suzu intercepted him, lightly dabbing her face herself. The white towels came back smudged in dark, drying blood.

The two sat down on a nearby bench as Suzu continued to clean her damaged face. Rowen didn't say anything- he hadn't spoken a word since they jumped down to street level. Instead, he sat next to her, elbows leaning on his knees as he stared hard at his hands. More silence drifted around them like a heavy cloud. Rowen felt its weight upon him, pressing him to speak; however, the words did not come easily.

His fingers tightened, breath quickening as he struggled. "I just... can you tell me... I want to know if-"

"It wasn't your fault," Suzu said frankly, causing him to look up. "Nothing that happened to me was your fault."

"None of our faults? Not any of us?"

Suzu paused slightly before answering. "No. In the type of world you and I live in, what happens to us isn't anyone's fault. It's just what happens."

Rowen watched her dab at the face hidden by darkness and then gazed downward once more. After a while, Suzu's hand fell upon his wrist, her thumb rubbing gently. Her touch felt good, calming. Rowen looked down at their hands, smiling soft and sad. Guilt settled on him like a bitter blanket.

Cale's dark presence dropped to the street before them, his landing light like a feather.

"So, here's where you are," he said as Sage made a slightly harder landing behind him.

Suzu casually removed her touch from Strata, in no hurry to do so as she stood. Cale saw the bloodstained towel in her hand and his expression immediately turned to concern.

"You're hurt." Cale stepped into her space, looking over her form. When he didn't see any evidence of wounds on her body, he put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her close. He reached into the darkened hood, holding Suzu's chin to get a good look at her. The warlord of Darkness seemed to have no trouble seeing her through the black shroud that hid her from view.

As Sage watched, he suddenly felt he was witnessing something akin to spotting a unicorn. He had never seen Cale with anything less than a mildly put out expression. Sage had never seen- never could even imagine- Cale with such a gentle expression, using such a soft touch.

Suzu brushed the warlord away. "It's nothing that won't heal. I'm fine. Do we know where the others are?"

As soon as his touched was dismissed, Cale settled back into his usual hard, slightly irritated persona. "Everyone else has packed up and left the city to regroup. The only one we haven't found is Sanada."

Suzu fell quiet and thoughtful as Rowen stood next to her, almost protectively. Strata glanced over to Sage for a moment and Halo was then surprised at the odd expression he found plastered on his best friend's face. What had happened to them?

"Let's go. We need to get out of town with the others," Suzu decided.

"What about Ryo?" Sage asked. "We can't leave the city without him."

Suzu turned to Cale, her statement specifically for him. "I'm sure Ryo is fine where he is. We should go meet up with the others."

Sage couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wasn't about to leave Ryo behind in this hellish place. He turned to Rowen for backup. Strata, however, still had that strange look on his face and, when Suzu turned his way, he slowly nodded.

"Okay, we'll go."

"Are you serious, Rowen?" Sage demanded.

His best friend met his incredulous gaze. "We'll regroup and we'll be back. Ryo knows how to take care of himself until we can find him."

Sage gaped at the very unexpected answer and sputtered. "I'm not going anywhere without him."

"Don't be stupid," Cale grouched. "You're not staying here by yourself."

"So, Ryo can be left alone and I can't?"

"Exactly."

At that point, Suzu reached for Halo, touching the side of his neck. Though he hardly knew her, Sage felt a sense of betrayal toward her as his vision began to fade. The last thing he saw was Rowen's face and the bizarre wounded look that had not been there the last time he saw him. Then Sage's world went black.


Heat and fire had never hurt Ryo, it had never been his enemy before. But fever had him now and it was an uncomfortable hotness that burned into his brain and made his muscles ache. It disturbed the sleep his wounded body needed and Ryo opened his eyes, aware he was drenched in sweat.

Despite his miserable, restless state, it was hard to keep his eyes open and his vision blurred. Ryo became aware of a female presence; a woman with very dark skin, but he had trouble focusing on her face. She was bent over him, fingers digging into the torn flesh of his side.

Next, Ryo's hazed senses picked up the familiar purr-like grumble he had known all his life. A massive white-furred head nudged him and it took all Wildfire's will to summon enough strength to touch it.

"White Blaze," he managed to whisper.

"How the hell does he know that cat's name?" demanded the dark-skinned female form.

Behind her, Ryo sensed more than saw another female presence. This one was soft, gentle, familiar. Then he succumbed to the blackness.


Sage's eyes popped open. It didn't feel like he had fallen asleep, it was more like he was just suddenly aware of his surroundings once more. He sat bolt upright from the position where his body had lay upon a mat on the floor. Everything that had surrounded him when he had passed out- the tall gray buildings, the empty streets, the sickly filtered daylight- were gone. That futuristic nightmare world had been magically left behind.

Instead, the singing of birds reached his ears and a pleasant breeze swept in from the small crack in the Japanese style door. Everything around him was a very traditional Japanese design, much like his family's estate. Suddenly, Sage felt a very sharp pang of homesickness as he stood and stepped outside.

Halo was greeted by paradise as he stepped onto the walkway that encircled the building. The wind played through green trees; blooming bushes sweetened the air with their brilliant scent. Nothing but wooded hills beyond the yard. Sage could hear no sounds of traffic or other telltale noise that they were still in the city.

Turning to his right, he saw Sehkmet leaning against the wood rail. The warlord appeared cleaned from the earlier battle and wore a comfortable-looking house robe. His feet were bare and he smoked upon a pipe that, if Sage had to guess from the smell, contained only spices.

Seeing anyone returned Sage to a sour mood and Sekhmet picked up on it instantly as he was approached.

"Halo," Venom greeted neutrally.

"Ryo isn't here, is he?" Sage's voice was full of its own venom that threatened a hard time if he didn't like the answer.

Still, Sekhmet turned away in nonchalance. "Nope."

Sage definitely had some grievances to report at that answer, but this wasn't the person he wanted address his complaint. Instead, he stalked off around the house, looking for the others. And perfect timing, too, for he caught sight of Rowen stepping out of one of the rooms as soon as Halo turned the corner.

Strata had shed his heavy coat in the interim, as well as his shoes. He saw Sage, widened his eyes, and immediately turned to run the other way.

"Rowen!" Sage gave chase as his ex best friend scrambled away.

They raced around the next corner of the house. Unfortunately for Rowen, his stocking-clad feet didn't have the same kind of purchase as Sage's boots. Halo caught up to him easily and pounced on his back. The two rolled and crashed into the railing. Sage had the upper hand, his arm wrapped around Rowen's neck.

"You owe me an explanation," he hissed in Strata's ear.

"I owe you nothing!" Rowen threw an elbow backward and nailed Sage in the cheek. For a moment, the hold on him loosened and he tried once again to squirm away. But Sage recovered too fast and pounced on him again. That was how Kayura found them as she stepped out of the nearby doorway.

"Haven't you two had enough fighting today?" Kayura looked weaker than they had ever seen her. She wore a dark blue house kimono, one arm in a sling as to not agitate her shoulder injury. Even her voice sounded tired.

"We left Ryo in Tokyo with that monster and all of his monsters." Sage growled and then let go of Rowen in disgust. They both stood and looked each other in the eye. "We don't leave our friends behind. But you-why did you side with Cale?" He spat out the warlord's name as if it were a dirty word. "I bet none of you looked for Ryo before carrying my unconscious body back here."

"No one had to carry you," Rowen informed him. "You followed on your own, but you were kind of out of it the whole way."

Sage stared incredulously, one brow practically twitching. Suzu had touched him and then... he could recall nothing. "What did she... what-What is she?"

Rowen had that strange look on his face again. A heavy look full of regret. Strata knew something—something he would rather not know.

"If you have issues with Suzu's treatment of you, you can discuss it with her next time she's around," Kayura said. Her voice took on that usual no-nonsense tone they were all used to. "Until then, if you don't mind, dinner is almost ready and I'm sure we could all use a hot meal."

A sense of guilt seemed to waft up between them all knowing Ryo would not be joining them.


Dinner was large: full of delicious smells and utterly silent at first while everyone eagerly filled their plates as they knelt around an expensive kotatsu with a dark wood finish. The table was long and rectangular with enough space to seat all four ronins on one side and the rest on the other.

Suzu was the only one who didn't show for dinner and Sage wasn't surprised. Cale's story was that she had developed a fever from her wound and was going to stay in bed for a while. Sage suspiciously believed that wasn't the only reason and spent most of dinner with a concentrated frown on his face.

Kento and Cye were both equally offended Ryo was left in Tokyo, but weren't sure what could be said about the matter now. The deed had been done and no one had gone back for Wildfire. Not yet, anyway. None of them planned on being absent from Tokyo for too much longer. In fact, they were all eager to know when they were going to try again and what the plan was this time.

None of the warlords, however, seemed to be in a chatty mood. Not even Dais. As such, the younger men were stuck trying to think of a way to begin dialog.

"So," Kento spoke up, "nice, big place you guys have here. How'd you afford it?"

"Kento!" Cye hissed in that I-can't-take-you-anywhere voice he had used with Hardrock on more than one occasion. "That's rude."

"Got it from our former boss," Dais responded, not the least bit offended to be asked about his finances. "Talpa had himself a lot of riches. Pillaged, of course, from this world and others. We thought we'd put it to good use. Acclimatizing to the modern world wasn't too easy for any of us, so getting a house in the country made sense."

"So, you guys usually live here," Cye surmised. Then his eyebrows raised in realization, a thick piece of pork frozen in place halfway to his mouth. "The apartment is Suzu's—was Suzu's."

The table grew silent again. Cye's food went back into his plate as guilt filled his chest.

"And I assume she walks around the city like a normal person," Kento muttered to his place. "It's only us who aren't allowed to see her face."

Rowen glanced at Kento and then pushed the subject to a more important topic. "We do need to get back to Tokyo soon. We can't leave Ryo there alone for long."

"Oh, now you're worried about Ryo?" Sage demanded. "Where was that while we were still in the city and could look for him?"

"Because, Sage!" Strata barked back in irritation; then, words failed him. His jaw wrestled helplessly to find a further explanation. Eventually, he gave up with an agitated sigh and ran his hands through his hair. "Suzu said it would be fine."

"And since when do we take a stranger's word over finding our friends?"

"What Rowen is trying to say," Kayura cut in, "is that he understands Suzu knows the flow of your history. You had to leave Ryo behind because you never found him. At least not on this day. The four of you could have searched the city from top to bottom, you would still come back empty-handed. Suzu knew you wouldn't find him, no matter how long you looked. She also knows that he will be alright until we are able to locate him."

The remaining four ronins chewed on that, momentarily forgetting their dinners.

"So..." Kento tested the waters, "what is happening to Ryo right now, since you already know what happened to him?"

There was sudden guilt from the warlord side of the table.

"You don't know, do you?" Cye said, jabbing his chopsticks at them accusingly. "The only one who knows for sure what happened to Ryo is Suzu. She knows because either Ryo himself told her or Ryo told one of us and we told her. Which also means at least one of us meets Suzu in our lifetime." He paused and then said in a heavier tone. "She's immortal, like the four of you."

"Well, Torrent's sure on his game, tonight," Sekhmet said, not looking up from his noodles and appearing actually bored with the conversation.

"What is Suzu?" Sage asked, his voice slow and precise like a sharp blade. "Is she even human?"

Rowen shoved his plate away, a sickly look on his face. "Sorry, I'm done. My stomach—I can't anymore. I need some air." He padded outside in his socks and slid the door shut behind him.

"It's been a rough day for everyone," Cale spoke in the awkwardness that followed. "I'm ready for some quiet time myself."

"No one answered my question," Sage protested.

He continued to be ignored.

"How about we figured out what we're going to do before anyone else leaves?" Kento suggested. "How can anyone just go to sleep after what happened today?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Kayura agreed.

Cale, who was about to get up, flopped back down with a huff, leaning an elbow on the table. "So, what is the plan, then? We can't hit the tower head on again, we're not going to win that way."

"Then it's time to change tactics," Sekhmet said. "We'll never get Ryoushi out of that damn tower if he knows we're coming for him. We have to get him to come to us."

Sage had checked out of the conversation, silently brooding. But the other two were still invested in the conversation.

"The only thing he'll consider coming out for is the one thing he's been searching for all this time," Cye said. "We've got to find that last Dynasty Gate before he does."

"Yeah, but what if he just sends out his horde to take it from us instead?" Kento said.

"He still has to be present at the gate if he wants to use it himself. There must be some way to use it that to our advantage."

"That is, if we can find it," Sekhmet said.

"At least it's something." This time, Cale did stand to leave. "So, we start looking for the gate. We've already got to find Wildfire, might as well add it to our list while we're combing the city."

"Starting tomorrow," Kayura clarified with authority. "Everyone needs a good night's sleep. We'll take a look at the city tomorrow morning with fresh eyes."

Even Sage found that plan to be somewhat satisfactory. Cale quit the room while the rest ate in silence, leaving one by one as they finished.


It was dark by now, the first stars winking in the twilight. Everything out here was so peaceful, the sky so clear, unmarred by the harsh lights of the city. Rowen actually envied the Warlords for what they had. The perfect place to think; even if his current thoughts unsettled him in a way that chilled his bones. At least he had this warm evening and the stars to help him through this.

"There you are," Dais said as he rounded the corner. "Kayura wanted to make sure you knew where you can sleep. When you turn in is up to you, but the rest of us are going to bed soon. You're pretty much just sharing a room with your buddies. We should have enough bed rolls."

Rowen tried to school his expression as he faced the warlord, but the heaviness in his heart outweighed his ability to outwardly conceal the turmoil within.

Still, he expected Dais to lead him onward, no matter what showed on his face. The Warlord of Illusion, however, just smiled at him knowingly.

"What?" Strata demanded. "Are you going to show me or keep being creepy?"

"You know, don't you? Suzu—you saw her."

Rowen took a step back, suddenly feeling like all his dark secrets were on display for this man's evaluation. "Why? What does it matter? What makes you think I know anything?" Try as he might to stop it, his voice continued to raise in pitch with each question.

Dais waved him off in an attempt to calm the younger man. "Look, it's not your fault and what's done is done, but you haven't told anyone else, have you?"

"...No."

"Good, let's keep it that way, huh? At least until this whole mess is over. I know it's probably going to drive you nuts—you want to tell the others—but there's a lot on the line here and I'd rather not mess with the time flow and all that shit more than we already have, right? When we've put Ryoushi in the ground, then we can figure out... all this." He gestured to Rowen and his current agitated state. "Can you promise me you'll keep it to yourself until then?"

Strata breathed out long and deep, taking another protracted look at the stars. "I can do that, for now, at least."

"Good. I'm sure Suzu would appreciate that, too."

Rowen looked at Dais again. "Can you at least tell me how Suzu-"

Dais instantly held up his palms in deflection and backed away. "Oh, hell no. I'm not getting into any of that for the exact same reason. You got a question, you talk to Suzu. Leave me out of it."

Rowen gave Dais a pained expression as a vicious dichotomy tore through him. He both regretted knowing what he knew and was grateful for it. At the same time, he was both eager to speak with Suzu and wished he would never have to face her.

"Okay." Strata nodded and his shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I am very ready to sleep."


Though everyone was exhausted from such a crazy, terror-filled day, the ronins did not sleep easily. The horrors of their waking hours followed them to slumber. Those dark creatures left back in the city seemed to have portals to their dreamworld, stalking the warriors in their nightmares and making rest impossible as each wrestled with the darkness seeping into their subconscious world.

Then, a shadow passed by the room where the four Ronins tossed on their bed rolls. The presence entered soundlessly, like a calm, cool breeze. One by one, it approached each warrior, spirit-like fingers brushing their forehead and their kanji glowed. The tense desperation for survival was chased from their dreams, their bodies relaxing as peace fell over them. The presence seemed to count each carefully as it approached each one.

Torrent, Hardrock, Strata. And Halo.

As the fingers lowered to brush the pale brow, Sage's eyes snapped open. His hand whipped up, fast as a viper's strike, to grab at the wrist that all his senses told him was there. He caught only air. The presence still hung heavy in the room as if it were right next to him.

Sage flung off his blanket, most of it landing on top of Rowen. The slap of Halo's bare feet as he scrambled for the light switch on the wall roused the rest of the warriors before he flicked on the light.

Kento flinched and blinked at the sudden light.

"Dude, what the hell?"

Sage glanced around the room wildly, hardly able to believe that his eyes only saw his other three comrades. "It was Suzu! She was here, in our room!"

"There's nobody here," Cye grouched, eyes squinting.

"She was here!" Sage insisted.

Kento yawned and stretched. "I'm fine if she was. She can sleep with me any night."

"Really, Kento?" Cye complained.

"Why not? I bet she's hot under that hood."

Rowen, who was still laying down in bed, smirked at that comment.

"And is it just me," Hardrock continued, "or do things just feel better when she's around? Like, when she gets close to me, I feel kind of... happy."

"Does she make you feel happy in your pants, Kento?" Rowen teased.

"Dude, shut up! I will punch you."

"Can we turn off the lights now?" Cye demanded, still squinting. "No one's here."

Defeated, Sage silently flicked the switch and padded back to bed. He recovered his blankets with a huff and stared at the ceiling.

"I do see what Kento is saying, though," Cye then added in the darkness. "When she's nearby, you just get this feeling like everything is going to be okay. She makes you feel calm."

"It kinda feels like she was here," Kento said. "I swear, I was having the worst dream. It was like I was still back at the tower, fighting all by myself. But everything was pitch black and I couldn't see anything coming. Then, it felt like someone was next to me and everything went away and I could really sleep, you know?"

"She did that once for me before," Rowen suddenly spoke up. "The first night in this time, I was here all by myself. I had a fever; I was just so shell-shocked with it all. I didn't even know Suzu existed at that time, but I felt her presence that night and I felt better. I could finally rest. She's trying to take care of us. Maybe this is the only way she knows how."

"Our lady of shadow and light, princess of dreams or whatever it was Dais said," Kento recalled.

Cye smiled in the dark and closed his eyes. He liked the idea of this woman, whomever she was, watching over them.

Sage just continued to frown in the darkness, unsure of what he felt. Lady of shadow and light indeed.