Now for the part I've been waiting to get to since I started on this story. You guys get to see just how twisted my mind can be. Have fun! lol

~Chapter 9

The attack came out of nowhere, hitting him in the side of the head. He was suddenly very thankful for his armor and the darkness, for if that swing had been just a tad lower, he'd probably be headless now. Or pretty damn close to it. His opponent moved silently, having the advantage of knowing where Ryo was standing, leaving him completely defenseless.

"You coward! Afraid of fighting me on equal ground?" Ryo demanded angrily after being struck again and almost losing his footing. "Come out where I can see you!"

His only reply was an eerie hollow laugh and being swung at once more, this time harder than the previous hits. After that, his attacker hit him continuously and all he could do was raise his swords to block any attacks to his face.

Please, Ancient, help me. I don't know what to do and I can't get a hold of the guys. I can't fight back, I can't see anything. Ryo pleaded desperately in his mind, hoping someone would hear his cries. After an impossibly long amount of time he finally decided he was done with this. He summoned the full power of his armor and tried to use his armor to see in the black abyss he was currently trapped within.

"I can't find Raye anywhere, did she leave?" Mia asked the guys as she walked into the living room. They had taken Ryo and Ameena upstairs earlier and put them both in bed so they could sleep without being disturbed. Rowen, Kento, Cye and Sage all looked up in confusion before giving Mia various no's. Cye turned around on the couch and looked out the window.

"Her car's gone," he said sounding surprised. "She never said she was leaving."

"Hmm, maybe she went home to get some stuff?" Mia asked. "Oh well, I'm going to go check on Ryo and Ameena," Mia said before turning around and heading towards the stairs. Mia was only on the third step when she heard a knock at the front door. She frowned in confusion, but turned around and headed for the door anyway. The remaining Ronins stood in the living room doorway, curious as to who had come this far out of the way in this weather to visit. Needless to say their guests were most surprising. Waiting on the front porch in the middle of the night, stood Kayura, Cale, Sekhmet and Dais.

"What the hell?" Kento exclaimed, hands balling into fists as he headed for the door.

"Calm down, Kento. Their on our side now, remember?" Sage said, placing a calming hand on Kento's shoulder.

"Doesn't mean I trust them," Kento mumbled. "I don't like their timing. You guys are up to something," he accused.

"Forgive him, they've had a very long day," Mia said, stepping aside to let the newcomers in.

"There's nothing to forgive," Lady Kayura said as she walked in. She waited until everyone was inside before she spoke again. "I'm afraid we come bearing bad news. We came tonight because you need to hear this, it can't wait till morning. I'm sorry."

"How about we go to the kitchen then, I'll get everyone something to drink," Mia said leading the way.

Ten minutes later with everyone settled and with their drink of choice, Sage spoke up. "So, what is it we need to hear?"

Kayura looked to the warlords that had traveled with her before signaling to Dais to speak. Dais sighed but reluctantly stepped forward. "I've noticed something troubling in this realm as of late. I didn't notice it until recently, about two weeks ago if I had to guess, and today it was unusually strong."

"How could you pick up something here from the nether realm?" Rowen asked curiously.

"We weren't in the nether realm, we've been on this side for some time now," Dais answered. He glanced at Kayura once again, hoping to get out of being the one to explain the situation, but it was a lost cause. They had all agreed before hand that he would be the one to explain as it fell in his area of expertise. He sighed once again, then continued. "As I was saying, today was unusually strong. I first noticed it mid afternoon and it got stronger as the day progressed."

"What are you talking about?" Kento interrupted. He was far to frustrated and impatient for a long explanation and he had a feeling this would be a long one. He should at least know just what the hell he was talking about to begin with.

"Shut up Hardrock and let him explain!" Sekhmet snapped.

"I am the warlord of illusion," Dais started quickly to avoid a fight. He could see one of the Ronins getting ready to point out that they already knew this, and quickly continued. "And being that, I can 'sense' if someone is using a similar attack. Someone has cast a rather large illusion in the area, I just don't know what it is. I can't break through it unless I know who or what it's cast on. Like I said, I first noticed it a couple weeks ago, today was the strongest," Dais finished.

"But why would someone do that? What would be the point of it?" Kento questioned.

"Just how large of an illusion are we talking?" Sage asked, massaging his temples in the process.

"Huge. Larger than I had ever cast on any of you," Dais replied with a frown. "If I'm not mistaken, this one is powerful enough to affect a group of people, rather than one or two." He stopped to think for a moment on how to explain just what he was getting from the energy he'd picked up earlier. "The one I used against two of you, I could only change what you saw in front of you, you saw each other as me." With their nod of understanding, he continued. "This one does so much more than that. If it's on a person, or group of people, it doesn't change who is seen necessarily, but everything else. It's more of who can be seen. You could see the person next to you one moment, then they're gone the next, but in reality they're still next to you, you just can see them. This illusion changes things on a larger level, sight, sound, touch, smell, it affects practically all of your senses, whenever the creator wants. The creator literally controls everything," he stated in frustration.

"How is that even possible?" Rowen asked, his face pale.

"I don't know," Dais replied. "I just can't figure out how it was created at this magnitude, it shouldn't be possible."

"You said you first noticed it about two weeks ago?" Mia question, finally joining the conversation after doing a little bit of thinking.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"What is it Mia, what are you thinking?" Rowen asked.

"Ryo return two weeks ago," she said quietly. "Today was the strongest, today he was in the mountains with all of you, fighting against something. I have a feeling they're all connected."

"She's right," Cye said softly. "I was thinking the same thing. We just happen to find Ryo today after three years, fighting something we didn't even know was in the area, and now we know of an illusion that was cast on a large scale that was stronger today than any other time? It's too much to be a coincidence."

"I have to agree with you," Cale said, surprising the Ronins.

"Where is Wildfire?" Dais questioned, looking around the room.

"He's sick, he's resting upstairs in his room," Cye answered.

"Would you take me to him? I'd like to see if this illusion has been cast upon him. If so, I might be able to help him break free of it."

Cye nodded and slowly left the room, Dais right behind him.

"So, is that it, or is there more we need to know?" Mia asked as she stood to refill her tea.

"There is more, however anything we choose to do about it depends on whether or not Wildfire has this illusion upon him or not," Kayura said. "Someone has been going around digging up any information they could get on all of us, in the nether realm and in this one. As far as we can tell, they haven't attacked anyone as of yet. The thing that worries me is what they have on their side. Their powers are different than what we've seen before, their attacks silent. They don't seem to use any actual weapons, just what ever they find in the area."

"How so?" Rowen asked, more intrigued than worried.

"We've seen them rip trees from the ground, without touching them, then throwing them at great speeds and distances. They have the ability to make everything vanish in an area, so you're in an endless abyss of sorts. They can change into any shape or form at will-" Cale explained.

"WHAT?" Kento shouted, jumping up from his seat and knocking his chair over. "They shape shift? That's what we ran into earlier, they had Ryo in the mountains!"

"That's not good," Kayura stated. Before she could say more however, they could heard someone running down the stairs in a hurry.

"Guys, we have a problem!" Cye exclaimed while panting slightly. "Ryo's gone! We checked everywhere upstairs, he's really gone!"

Dais walked in right behind Cye, holding a piece of paper. He slowly made his way to Mia and handed her the folded sheet that they could now see had her name written on the front. She took the paper from Dais and took a deep breath before unfolding it to read what was written on the inside. After a moment she gasped and dropped the paper.

"He left on his own. He asked me to watch Ameena for him in case anything should happen to him. He said his tormentor has returned and he was going to finish things once and for all, even if it meant his death, said it would be better than the half life he's been living the past couple years."

Sage paled drastically and his eyes were impossibly wide, Ryo wouldn't be that reckless, would he? He just couldn't… How does he expect to be able to fight in his condition? He isn't strong enough for another fight this soon. Oh god! He's not… He doesn't plan on coming back, ever. "M- Mia," Sage stuttered, making everyone look at him. He never stuttered, something shook him. "That qu…question you asked u-us earlier… I think he j-j-just found his w-way out and p-plans on taking it."

"Shit, we have to find Ryo!" Kento swore then headed for the front door, the rest of the Ronins and the Warlords right behind him leaving Mia, Kayura and little Ameena in the house without so much as a good-bye.

Hee hee hee! I totally love the way my mind works. Let me know what you thought, till next time.