Mental breakdown

"Nii-san, why didn't you just tell me who you were when you first came into the house?" asked Sato.

"Simple my Chibi Kage. Would you have believed me if I had? Besides, I had to wait until the king himself recognized me. Otherwise, Hiwatari might have won."

"I'm just glad you're finally back, nii-san!" said Sato. (Yami detected something in those words…something that made him suspect something snapped in his younger brother.)


When they got back to the temple, Yami knew there'd be hell to pay with his Master. She took them into her secret chamber, which only Yami and his Master were allowed access. Sato curled up to Yami when he sat down, and awaited his Master's wrath.

"Where should I start… first you leave the temple without my permission, then you confront a civilian, and to top it all off, you allow yourself to be thrown into the dungeon?! You better have a damn good explanation!" growled Lunara.

"Master…Sato called out to me. I could never stand by while someone harmed my own brother and I could do something about it! Wouldn't you try to protect Solara if you were in the same position?"

"Yami, don't drag my sister into this!"

"Sorry Master…"

"After the stunt you pulled, do you really think you deserve to call me Master?!"

"No. But I had no choice! If I hadn't shown up when I did, then Sato might not have lived."

"Will you abandon your brother?"

"Never again… Is there any way to make up for what I did?"

"No…but if there were, would you? Would you do it if it meant your brother remaining with that murderer?" said Lunara.

"I would…but only if it didn't involve Sato's life," said Yami firmly.

"Well, well…I never would have expected that you, of all people, had this sort of side," chuckled Lunara.

"What?"

"Tset ym dessap uoY."

"WHAT! You mean this was all a test?! But why?!" asked Yami confused and shocked.

"I had to see if you were willing to risk everything to protect your own. And you did."

"What does this mean?"

"It means you're not in trouble after all. And before you ask, Sato is going to stay with us from now on."

"Thank you…"

"Don't thank me just yet. I never did tell you the after-effects of a Rutile that has been used repeatedly by someone other than the owner and finally returned to its master," said Lunara.

"What happens?"

"Normally, it just loses its power until it can be passed down again. However, this one was used against its intended owner before it was retrieved. The last time this happened, the master of the Rutile had a major mental breakdown."

"How major…?"

"He lost all control of his intelligence and had to rely on his emotional age until he returned to normal."

"Oh hell…Sato's been abused, so he kept his emotions buried. His mental age may be a teenager's, but his emotional…he's probably still around four or five emotional wise," said Yami in dismay.

"Explains why he's curled up in your lap," chuckled Lunara.

"So what do I do? If he's going to act like a five-year-old in a fifteen-year-old body…"

"Humor him. Just pretend that you're making up for lost time."

"Oh joy. And what am I supposed to do if he asks where mother and father are?!"

"He won't. he may have lost his intellect, but he won't lose his memories. There's a difference," Lunara said.

"So what do I do now?"

"Pick him up and get some rest. You're gonna need it, trust me!" chuckled Lunara evilly.

"My problem, right?"

"You got it. If you didn't want to take responsibility, then you shouldn't have stuck your nose into his problems!" laughed Lunara maniacally.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the evil maniac, or if she is…


Yami picked up Sato and they lay down in his room. They fell asleep against each other and didn't wake up until around noon. Yami was the first to get up, Sato followed ten minutes later.

"Ohayo, nii-san!" said Sato cheerfully.

"Guess again Little Shadow. It's nearly noon…" chuckled Yami.

"No way! How'd we sleep in so long, big brother?" asked Sato, curious.

"Probably the effect of finally retrieving mother's ring. Tell me, my Chibi Kage, do you know what happens after someone has pent up emotions for many years and they're suddenly let go?"

"Weird stuff?"

"Close…just means you won't be acting yourself for a while."

"Oh joy…" joked Sato.

"Ready to get up and learn some more spells?"

"He can't. Those who are the Rutile of Light's master, should it ever be used against them, lose their magic for a minimum of two weeks."

"So no flying lessons?"

"You can still have those. He can just use the Rutile to release his wings and you take it from there," shrugged Lunara.

"Yay!" said Sato happily.

Yami and Sato got up and had lunch. (As punishment for sleeping in so late, she didn't give them breakfast!) They went outside to practice just getting off the ground. Strangely Sato had no trouble pulling that off. His improved wings were the culprit in Yami's opinion. Then they moved onto gliding, which was a bit harder. As they took off, he noticed that Sato had trouble finding decent thermals, which was child's play to Yami.

-----

"How do you like it so far, little brother?"

"This is fun!" laughed Sato.

"Just wait until we get to the real fun stuff, my Chibi Kage. Ready to go higher?"

"How high can we go?"

"We can go up past the clouds during a storm. Master usually yells at me when I do that…"

"Why would she get mad at you?'

"Because for some reason, I always forget to take her along…"

"Can we go up now?"

"Ask me that after you learn to find thermals while gliding," chuckled Yami.

"Having fun, are we?"

"Ack! What're you doing up here Master?" asked Yami, getting over the initial shock.

"You didn't think I'd let you two have all the fun, did you?"

Yami noted that his brother was beginning to tire.

"I think we better take a break…"

"On a tree?"

"Ground, my Chibi Kage. We're going to land. Let's see how much fun you think that is," chuckled Yami evilly.


As they approached the ground, Yami could make out three lone figures near their unknown landing site…and they weren't from the castle.

"Hey, it's Dai!" said Sato. (One has an acute sense of hearing, while the other has eagle-sharp eyesight. Go figure.)

"Oh joy…Hikari's here too!" grumbled Yami.

"Hey sis!" Lunara called out, amused at their mixed reactions.

"Well this is a surprise. Never thought I'd live to see the day you actually enjoyed yourself and it didn't involve kicking each other's ass!" snickered Hikari.

"Hey Sato! Glad to see your wings came back!" said Dai.

"What're you doing here?" grumbled Yami.

"We heard about Hiwatari. Sorry about your dad…" said Dai.

"He was NEVER my father!" hissed Sato angrily.

"Woah…sorry. Didn't know we hit a touchy spot," said Hikari quickly.

"Can I talk to you…alone?!" hissed Yami.

-----

"What?"

"We found Sato's Rutile…but there was a problem."

"How bad?"

"His-emotions-are-running-haywire-for-a-few-weeks bad."

"Ack… Let me guess. Hiwatari used it against Sato for years and now he's paying the price?"

"Pretty much. Until his emotions get back under control, he'll be like Dai. He only lost his intellect, but his memories are still there. Basically…we just have to wait this out."

"Great…" said Hikari, his voice full of sarcasm.

"I think now is the best time to warn you…his mental age is the same as a teenager's, but his emotional level puts him around 4 or 5," Yami said.

"Great…a brat in a teen's body. What'll happen next?" grumbled Hikari.

"Me becoming a nice guy?"

"Nah…not good enough," joked Hikari.

"Why don't you come up with something?" said Yami.

"You going out with Solara," Hikari said bluntly. (If Yami had a drink in his hand, he would have spewed it at that!)

"What?! Are you daft?!" said Yami in disbelief.

"I knew it! You do like her!" laughed Hikari.

"You are soooo dead!" growled Yami as he sucker punched Hikari hard.


"Boys, how many times do we have to tell you?" started Lunara.

"No fighting unless it's against the king!" finished Solara.

"Why the king?" asked Sato, confused.

"Remember that comment I made when we were in that cell? About the king being illegitimate?"

"I vaguely recall that. Why?"

"Our king…isn't a king at all. By law there should be a queen or heir ruling over these lands, not some half-assed moron who only got the position because his mother married the previous king!" snorted Yami.

"What?"

"That's right! You've never heard the story behind our kingdom!" said Dai.

"First things first. Wings are coming off, Little Shadow!" said Yami firmly.

"Okay…" said Sato in a (childish) whine. Dai looked at him strangely.

They released their wings and went back to the temple. As Sato sat down, he found himself between Dai and Yami. Just how he liked it!


"So when are you guys gonna fill me in?" said Sato, breaking the silence.

"When we're good and ready!" chuckled Yami.

"Which will be when?"

"You're impatient, ya know that?" commented Hikari.

"He can't help it. Have you ever known a child to be patient?" Lunara reminded him.

"Touché."

"What're you guys talking about? Sato is like, a year older than I am!" said Dai.

"I'll explain later."

"I'll tell him now and get it over with!" said Yami annoyed.

"Well?"

"Hiwatari did more than pretend he was Sato's father. He also used the Rutile against its true owner for more than 11 years."

"What?!"

"Here's the deal Dai. Whenever a Rutile is use against its true master, once that person regains control of the ring, their mind has a mental breakdown. That allows their emotions to take over and they act on their emotional age. In Sato's case, he's about 4 or 5."

"Why?"

"That's when our mother was murdered. But there is some good news," said Yami.

"What could possibly be good about having a mental breakdown?!"

"Even though his brain has quit controlling his body, his emotions are restricted by memories. In other words, he won't turn into a 5-year-old completely. He'll still be Sato…except he won't have as many problems telling a girl he has a crush on that he likes her…" hinted Hikari. (He knew full well that Dai had a HUGE crush on the kitsune twin Riku!)

"Nii-san!" said Dai in dismay.

"Don't be so embarrassed Dai! I thought it was cute how you two beat around the bush and won't admit you like each other," laughed Solara.

"Can we get back to our original topic? Why is the king not king?!" interrupted Sato.

"Well done Chibi Kage! He's right…we need to tell him the truth and get it over with," said Yami.