A/N Gee, that took a while, didn't it? I had to do some reconfiguring on how I was presenting this tale, especially since everything was becoming so convoluted. But I think I have a better handle on it now. Yay-ness. Lots of thanks to Ty-Chou for all of her advice and all her help getting me back on track. And for putting up with all the emails saying "Darn this next chapter! Arg!" Also to VC for being my sounding board, despite being attacked with spoilers left and right. And always huggles for TL, cause her enthusiasm keeps me writing when I'm tired and she's just awesome (get off the stage music starts playing). Uh...guess that's my cue. Hope you like. The Ronin Warriors do not belong to me, although I'm willing to adopt, and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Courting the Jester

Chapter 13: Part Two

He reached for Mia's hand and drew her in close to him. Her slim shoulders were trembling, prompting him to wrap his arms about her, pulling her to his chest. One small hand reached up and grasped his arm right at the bicep, neatly trimmed fingernails digging into his flesh.

He led her backwards towards his bed, trying to hide his own trembling as he sat down, drawing her with him. She seated herself almost primly next to him, clasping her hands between her knees. He smiled embarrassedly and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the carpet underneath his feet.

"Listen," he started uncomfortably, scratching his head out of habit. "I didn't bring you here for anything, you know, I just wanted to make sure that…well that you weren't scared or anything."

"I'm always scared these days," she joked in reply, her mouth forming a small smile that he didn't catch. He nodded, eyes still on the floor.

"Well, I just wanted to say that…well…well I don't want you to be…not tonight I mean…or not ever really, which is why I wanted you here…but not like that, you know, I would never try to…" he stumbled awkwardly through his words. A slim hand touched his jaw, gently turning his head towards hers. Mia smiled again, looking directly into his eyes.

"Just say what you want to," she told him, taking his hand in hers. He was trembling more visibly now, and emotions raged in his normally gentle eyes.

"I want to protect you, Mia," he admitted, blushing even as his voice thickened with emotion. He pulled away and stood, walking across the room. He faced the wall, hands clenching and unclenching.

"I'm not stupid, you know," he said. "I see more and understand more than people give me credit for. Just because you girls aren't telling us what's happening doesn't mean it's not obvious. I didn't need Rowen delving Nikki to figure it out. The others might have been in denial, but I never was." He turned back and looked at her, a hurt expression in his kind face.

"I know that thing takes you. I can't even begin to imagine what he does. And I know that you guys let him, despite how messed up it makes you all. But what I can't understand is why, Mia? Why don't you trust us to keep you safe? Why don't you trust us to be able to figure this out? We have never failed before. Why don't you believe in us anymore? Why have you turned to making deals with the enemy instead of trusting in your friends? Because I know a deal's been made. It's all over your face."

Mia looked away, hands remaining clasped between her knees. When she didn't speak, he sighed and moved towards his dresser.

"I didn't want to show you this," he whispered as he pulled open the second drawer and drew out a bunched up piece of cloth. He held it to himself for a moment, as if mentally debating his actions, then walked back to her, laying the piece of fabric in her hands. It was a t-shirt, one of Mia's favorites that she wore all the time. Now it was torn and blood stained, little more a dirty rag.

"I found this in your room two days ago. I had come by to see if you were okay, despite the fact that Nikki and Cassie kept trying to keep me away from you. When I saw it on your floor I was in a panic. That is until I put two and two together. You were back a couple hours later. It was the longest couple hours of my life. I was ready to bust all three of you out and shake the other two until they told me how to get to you. When you came back you acted like everything was fine."

Mia continued to look away, but he could see the glittering of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She held the bloody shirt tightly to her chest, white-knuckled.

"What's the deal, Mia? What have you girls gotten yourselves into with him?" His eyes gleamed in the dim light evening light, full of determination. "I swear that no matter what it is, no matter how far it's gotten, that we will get you out of it.

If his impassioned words affected her at all, she didn't show it. That didn't deter him in the least. He knelt down in front of her, trying to get her to look at him and acknowledge him. Her refusal made his blood boil.

"Do you think for one second that Rowen will let him have Nikki?" He shot out. "That Cassie is up for grabs? That he can have you, Mia? Our right hand girl? He's a monster!" His voice rose suddenly, making her snap her head up. "He terrorizes and he destroys and he kills. Odd numbers, Mia. He's got three of you playing to his tune. Let us help you stop this!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Mia said stiffly, rising to her feet. "And I can't begin to tell you how offended I am that you of all people think that I'm collaborating with the enemy. I thought that you knew me better. I obviously was mistaken." She swept towards the door, only to have him reach out and grab her arm, halting her.

"Don't go," he said in a low thick voice. "I brought you here to keep you safe. Be mad at me all you want, but be safe while you're doing it." His kind eyes pleaded with her and for a moment he thought he had gotten through to her, but she stiffened and pulled away. The door shut with a click and he let out a snarl of frustration, wheeling around and punching the wall in anger.

Two rooms down, Mia closed her own door behind her and burst into tears, leaning back and wrapping her arms around herself. She slowly slid down to the floor, rocking back and forth, head buried in her arms. She was tired and she was lonely and she was frightened out of her mind. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to run back to his room, to the protection of her friends, to tell them everything. To hell with what the ancient had said. She wasn't strong enough to do this alone. She couldn't. She had tried. It was too much.

Mia pushed back up to her feet and stood unsteadily for a moment. She turned and reached for the doorknob, ready to admit defeat. As her hand touched cold metal, right behind her shoulder, He began to hum. Mia froze. Another sob escaped her lips but with it came a memory. A memory of a blonde man with violet eyes smiling at her over his morning tea. Of a reddish haired man tickling her feet as she tried to read on the couch. Of midnight blue eyes twinkling merrily after the latest prank. Of a dark haired man laughing and hugging her. Of another dark haired man begging her to stay so he could protect her. And then the thought of the world without those men.

Her hand fell away from the doorknob.

He reached around her and picked up her hand, placing it back on the doorknob. He folded her fingers around the lock and turned it, still humming mockingly in her ear. Mia thought again of a gentle caring face, and she tried to pull strength from it as she was drawn once more across a room, this time by something very different.

------

"You know Sage, as hard as I try, I just don't like that Nikki girl."

"I know Rowen, none of us do."

---

Carved stone loomed on every side, structures that once could have been houses or stores, gilded with swirls and patterns that made the eye confused. To look too long at any one was to let yourself get drawn into an alien design, beautiful yet disturbing. To look too long was to set off little warning bells in the back of your mind that all was not right, that this place was not right. Once entering this place, all seven humans had stared at everything at once, following the main path that led down into the heart of this strange city. It was not long until their eyes began slipping off the buildings and away from the carvings, unconsciously avoiding that which they knew was...off. Every so often they passed by ornate fountains, the pools of water still. Quite possibly they were once busy town meeting places, but now they were a silent decoration, a reminder that this place was forgotten and had been for a long time. The glow from Sage's sword was magnified so that they could see everything around them clearly, but that calming green light wasn't enough to keep these travelers at peace. Only the tiger seemed unconcerned.

Nikki walked between Cye and Rowen, feeling absolutely miserable. Ever since they had descended into the eerily empty city, the hairs on the back of her neck had been on end, and she had constantly fought the urge to look over her shoulder. She felt like they were being watched, but that wasn't anything new. They'd most likely been watched ever since they'd entered the caves. The statue of Kayura outside should have warned them not to set foot inside the place, but Mia had been so insistent. She had thought that just maybe they would be able to find the same sort of thing that they had used to seal away Damian from their world the last time. But the last time had been different. They had had the ancient watching out for them. They'd had the comfort of Kayura's guiding words. But like everything else, the decisions Nikki had made with Mia and Cassie had taken away the ancient. They were alone now, just her and Mia, wandering around in the darkness with five angry and confused men around them.

Nikki risked a glance at Ryo, trying to gauge his attitude. The Ronins' leader was walking beside Mia, his face set in a determined expression. His arms swung loosely at his sides, but Nikki remembered enough about him to catch the slight set of his shoulders, indicating that Ryo was tense. His head was tipped slightly to the right, as if he was listening to the woman at his side. As far as Nikki knew Mia had been quiet, but Ryo's body language was indicating that she was saying something, albeit silently. Every once in a while Mia would drift away slightly, and each time Ryo would reach out and grasp her fingers, drawing her back. Wildfire had kept himself securely between her and the other Ronins, as if to be a physical barrier to the strife that had torn at all of them the past twenty-four hours. Whether Mia appreciated the buffer remained to be seen. Her eyes were unfocused as she walked, lost in her own world of thoughts. Nikki had a few ideas as to what her friend was thinking about, and she didn't envy Mia her reminiscing.

With an uncanny awareness, Ryo turned and looked over his shoulder directly at Nikki, as if he knew she had been watching him. The look he gave her wasn't caring, but it wasn't unkind either. Ryo obviously still didn't know what to make of her. The irony of that amused Nikki, especially since she had spent almost a full year in the man's company. She had seen him happy and relaxed in his friends' presence, had seen him fight more fiercely than one ever could have imagined, and had seen him on his knees weeping in defeat. Nikki knew how long the man spent taking a shower, for goodness sake. But to him she was an untrustable stranger in their midst, someone who arrived right when the shit hit the fan. Nikki didn't blame Ryo for the way he was looking at her, but it didn't make her feel any better about all of this.

The warrior of Strata to her right didn't ease Nikki's nerves either. Rowen seemed to be having a conversation with himself, gesturing and muttering. He was always so logical. He loved to have the facts, to know what he was facing. The ambiguity was killing him, but Nikki didn't have any sympathy for him. She herself would give anything not to remember the events that had unfolded the last time she had been in Japan. The months of terror. The inability to escape or fight their foe. The helplessness. If Rowen knew what he was missing, he'd never wish for enlightenment. If Rowen had any clue how much Mia and Nikki were protecting him and the others…There are some things that someone should never see or hear or experience. The nightmares had taken Nikki these several years to get rid of, along with the help of some very strong sleeping medications. She still jumped in the middle of the busy school campus any time she heard someone humming below their breath. Rowen wouldn't ever have to hide in the bathroom stalls between classes fighting terror induced panic attacks. No, Nikki had no sympathy for Rowen at all.

Cye on the other hand made Nikki sad. His handsome face was twisted in an expression of confusion and helplessness. Cye's shoulders were hunched and his head bowed as they walked. He seemed almost as disinterested in their surroundings as Mia was. Nikki knew that Cye felt overwhelmed. It hadn't gotten past her that Cye had known instantly that she had known Damian was present earlier. He had picked up instantly on her feelings and fears and had acted on them. The Cye she had known before had only barely come to realize and begun utilizing his abilities of empathy, and he had been less than comfortable with them. That process had been slow and progressive. It had never occurred to Nikki that when Cye had been forced to forget Damian, he would be forced to forget the abilities he had developed during the time he'd fought that devil as well. It must all be rushing in on him all at once. Nikki had learned enough about it from Sage to know that being empathically sensitive and untrained could be a painful and confusing experience. Nikki felt an overwhelming urge to reach over and hug the Ronin of Torrent. Cye's head came up and he gave her a tiny appreciative smile before turning away again. It only made Nikki want to hug him more.

They passed by a large fountain, the bottom pool of water smoothly reflecting the dim green light. Nikki suppressed the urge to dip her fingers into the liquid. It might look refreshing, but when dealing with situations like this Nikki had learned to not trust her first impressions. The line between reality and illusion could be paper thin. Mia however must have had different ideas because she paused at the fountain, sitting down on the carved stone ledge encircling the pool. She put her cupped hand down into the water, letting the clear water drip between her fingertips as she raised it. Her face was expressionless, but a flicker in her eyes told Nikki that Mia was as miserable as she was. The red head had always known how to hide her emotions better.

"Can we stop for a moment?" Mia asked wearily, not looking directly at the Ronins.

"Why?" Sage grunted. Ryo shot him a look but echoed the question.

"Because I need to explain a few things before we go any farther, and I'd like to rest a moment. My evil chasing stamina isn't what it used to be." Mia smiled slightly at her own joke even though no on else laughed. Nikki went and sat beside Mia, thankful to get off her feet. She slung her pack off her shoulder and went through the motions of checking her equipment. She was there for moral support of her friend, but that didn't mean that Nikki wanted the focus of this conversation on her. Ryo shrugged agreement to the rest, so the others formed a loose semicircle around the girls. Kento knelt down on one knee, but looked ready to spring up at any moment. He kept one eye glued to Mia as she spoke and one eye on the buildings and structures around them.

"The reason why we are in here is that I think I might be able to find something in this cave that can get rid of…of him. The last time we fought him over and over again, but it wasn't until we found a certain artifact that we were able to seal him away. That artifact was destroyed when we used it, which could account for your guys' memory loss. It took all of us to activate it, and the backlash was pretty bad…" Mia drifted off for a moment before speaking again.

"You have to have some sort of idea as to what this thing is that we're trying to defeat. It isn't so much of a demon as it is a truly evil entity from another realm."

"Like the Nether realm?" Cye asked curiously. Mia shook her head once.

"No, not exactly. Where this thing comes from is a much darker place than the Nether Realm was, even during the height of Talpa's reign. While the warlords were able to flip back and forth between realms with Talpa's help, and us with the ancient's staff, where he comes from is much harder to get to, and get out of. What we see and are attacked by is its…" Mia hesitated, searching for the right wording. "…is its essence for lack of a better term. If I said its spirit, that would be wrong, because this thing is more than a spiritual entity. It is flesh and bone and can attack us and hurt us. But what we see isn't all that it really is. The actual thing is far away in its own realm."

"So this thing's trying to escape and come through to attack the mortal realm and we have to stop him again," Rowen stated knowingly, crossing his arms. Mia smiled and let out a small laugh, but there was no humor in it.

"Wouldn't it make so much sense if that was the case?" Mia asked Rowen lightly. Strata tilted his head in confusion so Mia continued.

"That's what we first thought, that this thing was trying to get its entire physical self through into the mortal realm to take over. But the funny thing is…this thing couldn't care less about the mortal realm. Or anything we have here. All it cares about is having…having its own personal sick version of fun. It wants to play with us. Any time it wanted to it could just tear a hole right through from its home to ours, but there's no need. It has as much fun as it wants just by doing what it's doing. This time it's barely come around, has only hurt us a little. Last time it went on a terror spree. It had everyone so twisted in circles that we couldn't see straight. Maybe the seal that we put on it is still holding some. I don't know."

"Mia, if that seal didn't work, what makes you think that another one will?" Kento asked concernedly from his crouched position. "My memory's just as fuzzy as everyone else's, but every time you bring up that seal, I get a bad feeling about it. Like it didn't just not work, it really not worked."

"It worked, Kento," Mia replied, her voice getting softer. "It just hurt everyone in the process."

"No, Mia," Sage corrected. "You hurt everyone in the process of using the seal. The seal that didn't work," Sage added bitterly. Mia looked at him harshly, but Nikki jumped in.

"Yes, Sage," Nikki bit back protectively. "Everyone she hurt. Just her. Because she's vengeful like that. She loves watching the people she cares about hurting. Makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"Again, enter the alibi," Rowen muttered, backing up Sage. Ryo started to intervene but Mia spoke softly, cutting the argument off before it went any further.

"I know you miss her, Sage. But that's only been for one day of the past two years. I've lived with my decisions every moment since then. You can hate me all you want, but you couldn't begin to make me feel remorse I haven't already felt. You barely remember her. I remember everything about her, and always will. Your anger can't touch that."

Everyone fell silent, tense and frustrated. Kento grunted and rose up from his position on the floor, dusting off his hands and placing them in his hips. He gave Sage and Rowen a tight look, lips pursed.

"I really don't know why you insist on bringing all that stuff up, Sage," Kento said. "Maybe you remember more of what happened then the rest of us from that thing you did to Mia, but that doesn't mean the rest of us don't have bits and pieces here and there too. I can remember a lot of stuff that has me pretty angry, and guess what? It isn't all directed at Mia and Nikki. There's anger at you too, and at Rowen. And from the little clippets that keep popping up in my head every time you mention that girl's name, I don't have the impression she was quite the angel you've been mourning. If you're going to be angry Sage, wait until you remember more about why you're angry instead of immediately taking it out on everyone. I'm tired of Mia getting treated like the bad guy just because we all don't understand everything."

It was a huge speech for Kento, and even Sage managed to look surprised by his comrade.

"What did I do?" murmured Rowen, tipping his head to the side.

This elicited a tiny laugh from Nikki despite herself. Rowen managed to look confused and slightly offended at the same time.

"Umm, can I suggest something?" Cye spoke up in his gentle voice. All eyes turned to him. "It's not that I don't like all this mish-mash ambiguous drama stuff, but why don't we all sit down and try to piece together what everyone knows so far, so at least we're all on the same page for once. Then we can continue on this merry little jaunt not wanting to strangle each other?" A chorus of grunts was his answer, but the general tone was of agreement.

"I'll start. The first thing that made me start feeling different was a couple weeks ago when we followed Sage into that clearing near his house. Everyone knows that since Suzunagi gave us these new armors that I've been struggling with them. Hell, I struggled with the old ones. I'd always felt as if we were pawns to the armor, and even though the new armors were so much different than the old ones, I'd always felt as if the armor was trying to get to me, to unleash something inside of me that I didn't want to have out. It made me angry and irritable, which I know you guys were all aware of, even though I didn't ever explain why I was that way. We were all on edge, waiting for some big battle that never came. Rowen had said that he thought that we were missing something. I think maybe what we were missing was a part of ourselves."

"Ever since Sage had that attack in the clearing I've felt different, as if going there opened a door that had been previously shut. I started feeling things that you guy around me felt. Right now I can tell that out of all of us, even though Sage and Rowen have been the most vocal about their frustrations, they really aren't as angry as they appear to be. In fact, out of everyone, the person the most upset right now is Kento." At that comment the Ronin of Hardrock looked up at Cye, then looked away. "It goes beyond what I can normally tell with the link between our armors. I just know. And I can tell you another thing. Nikki's so afraid right now, I'm amazed she isn't curled up in a ball on the floor."

Nikki gave Cye a startled look, then stuck her tongue out at him. Cye gave her a gentle smile before continuing.

"I remember bits and pieces like the rest of you. When I close my eyes, the first thing that pops up is a pair of really pretty blue eyes. I had a dream after the thing attacked Mia that I was walking with a girl around the lake behind Mia's home. I remember being really happy and content. It was something I hadn't felt in a very long time. I remember…" Cye trailed off and looked away. "I remember thinking that we needed to make sure that we all stayed close and together, that it was a dangerous time. I don't remember much more than that. If Damian had attacked us before, I can't recall."

Cye ended and looked around at his comrades. Ryo took the point and stepped forward, resting one of his fists on his hip.

"I don't know much more than Cye already said. For whatever reason I don't think this thing is interested in me. It has left me alone. I didn't see the blood in Mia's study. I haven't been getting flashbacks, they've been more like feelings." Ryo had the grace to look embarrassed as he said, "I'm angry though. I keep getting these surges of rage, and overwhelming feelings of betrayal."

Ryo's eyes were sad as he added, "And most of them happen when I talk to you, Mia. I don't want to feel that way, but I do." Mia's mouth tightened at his words but she said nothing in response. Ryo stepped back and waited. Kento ambled forward, scratching his head.

"It messed with me back at the house, after Ro and Sage left," Kento muttered, seemingly unhappy that he was speaking about it. "It made me see Ryo do some weird stuff, then I became convinced Ryo was actually the bad guy. I attacked him, even though Ryo wasn't wearing armor, and…" Kento cleared his throat. "And I killed him. It had me completely convinced I'd murdered my friend. Then it left something for me. Something personal from before. I don't really want to talk about that, though." The tone in his voice warranted no objections.

Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…

"I remember the Cassie girl Sage is so upset about, but from what I remember Cye is the one who should be more upset. I had thought he was closer to her than anyone. And as much as Rowen seems to love yelling at Nikki, I remember he used to jump to her defense just as fast. I remember talking with Ryo, that Ryo used to be worried that he wasn't being targeted by this thing, just like he's worrying now. And I don't have to be Cye or Sage to pick up on that, Ryo," Kento added. His face became stony and it looked like he wasn't going to speak anything more, but Kento shook his head and continued.

"As for everyone feeling betrayed, I don't. Well, not as much as everyone else does. I keep getting this overwhelming feeling of failure, like whatever happened before was a result of us not being good enough. That we weren't able to defeat it. Which is obviously correct, since this thing is back again. Mia mentioned that we used a seal to lock Damian out of our world, but I don't remember that. I remember not knowing about the seal until after it was used. That might be one thing that would be nice to have explained." Kento turned to Mia, one hand clenched into a fist.

"Cye said I'm angry, and I guess I am. Unlike everyone else, I couldn't give a shit that those two have been lying to us from the start, because I actually believe they feel like they have a reason for it. We've been so busy pointing fingers and demanding reasons for their silence and lies, we've been ignoring the facts right in front of us. I think they're trying to protect us from something, but I don't know what. But I do know that whatever they're hiding is worth dying for. Was worth dying for. I think that they kept us all in the dark back then too."

"Kento…" Mia started, but he cut her off.

"No, Mia. I've kept my mouth shut since the start, but I'm not going to anymore. I'll tell you what I do remember. I remember sitting by and trusting in you girls to come out and let us know what we needed to do. Now I don't think it was such a good idea. I underestimated your judgment as much as you overestimated it."

Mia had gone slightly pale and her hands were clenched together tightly as she sat there, refusing to meet Kento's eyes.

"You're grasping at straws Kento," Nikki said softly. Dark brown eyes landed on her, along with that unsettling gaze.

"And you're running out of excuses Nikki. Mia has too, which is why she's just not talking anymore. What did you think was going to happen? That you would be able to hide everything under a blanket, hoping that none of it would ever come out again? Did you actually think that our armors would allow such an important part of our past remain hidden from us? It goes against the very nature of our armors to allow us to be kept in the dark. Rowen's especially, which is why he's been going nuts for so long. We were going to find out sometime. Our armors were going to make sure of it."

Suddenly Mia was on her feet, eyes flashing, fists clenched.

"Your armors," she spat angrily, "did absolutely nothing to help protect us! Didn't you wonder why when Damian first attacked you four at the house that you couldn't even armor up? That he just swept you all aside like ants? Even if Rowen had been there, even if the combined power of your armors had allowed you to armor up, do you actually think it would have made a difference? What do you want me to say Kento? That I don't think you guys can beat this thing?"

"Mia, quit it!" Nikki suddenly snapped, but her friend seemed to not even have heard her, and Mia plunged on heedlessly.

"Well guess what Kento? No! I don't think you can beat it! I don't think that you can win. Why? Because you never could! Each time you tried---"

"Mia!" Nikki yelled, grabbing her arm and shaking her.

"Every single pointless battle! Every time we gathered the strength and the resources, it never mattered! Because each time you all let it beat you! You let yourselves fall prey to its ability to manipulate you! Why did we go around you, Kento! Because there was nothing else we could do---"

"MIA! Shut the fuck UP!"

Nikki had screamed at the top of her lungs, making Mia's head snapped back as if Nikki had hit her. Mia went even paler. She clamped one slim hand over her mouth and twisted away, walking behind the fountain, her back to everyone. They stood in shock. Nikki eyes went wildly from one Ronin to the next and she began attempting to backtrack.

"She's just upset, ignore what she said, she's just upset…" Nikki stuttered. Rowen marched across the circle and reached for the dark haired girl's shoulder. He gave her a little shake, forcing her attention up to his face.

"What did she mean, we never were able to beat it, Nikki?" Rowen asked her intently. Nikki cast around for somewhere to escape his piercing look, but only got another shake for her effort.

"Nik, what did she mean?" Rowen repeated. "Did we ever manage to defeat Damian in a battle? Were we stronger than him when we combined forces?"

"Rowen, please don't make me answer this," Nikki whispered, tears coming unbidden to her eyes. "Please, you don't want to know…"

"Whether I want to know doesn't matter sweetheart," Rowen said roughly. "I need to know. Could be ever defeat him in battle?"

Trembling, Nikki shook her head no. A collective stillness went through the gathered Ronins.

"Why?" Rowen pressed, hand squeezing down on Nikki's shoulder. "Why, Nikki?"

"Because he was immune to most attacks by your weapons. He wasn't in true corporeal form, so your attacks would go right through him when he was expecting them. You guys weren't able to get close enough to him to get past his guard. When White Blaze bit him, it was one of the few times I think you've ever been able to touch him."

"Kento said that he didn't know about the seal until after it had been used…" Rowen murmured. Nikki tried to pull away, but he kept her firmly in his grasp. "You said we were never able to get close enough to hurt him, Nik. You said nothing about you."

Nikki tried once more to pull out of Rowen's grasp, tears welling in her eyes, but staying unshed. Rowen grabbed her other shoulder and pulled her back. He leaned down so that his face was right in front of hers. He spoke softly, but each word cut through her.

"Nikki. What did you do?"

From behind the fountain Mia's voice rose, once again that icy calm she'd adopted lately.

"Does it really matter what we did, Rowen?" Mia asked flatly. "It obviously didn't work. Which is why we are here in this cave, once more trying to find an alternative way of getting rid of that thing. Forgive us if we didn't want to drag you guys through the failures of the past, but there was no point to it. There are so many things that no one should ever have to go through, and Dam---He managed to put all of you through just about every one. You couldn't fight then. You have a chance now, just as long as we're fast and don't drag this thing out. I'm not spending a year trying to fight this thing like we did last time. I refuse. And I refuse to tell you what it did to all of us, so thank your lucky stars that you have that peace of mind."

"Mia, it's not right that we don't know---" Rowen started only to be cut off.

"Sometimes curiosity does more than kill the cat, blueberry," Nikki whispered. "Sometimes it skins and eats it alive first." Rowen stared at her, her morbid comment falling heavily between them. Rowen released her arm and moved back, his face dark.

"Why are we here, Mia?" Ryo asked quietly. They could only see her back, upright and motionless as she stood.

"To find the second seal. Kayura said there were two. She helped us get the first, and we prayed we wouldn't ever have to search for this second one. But we do. I've spent the better part of the last two years preparing for this and trying to find different sites that had relevance to the legends surrounding him. It seems that we weren't the first people that caught his attention, but he never stayed around for long. Any documentation correlating to his presence only tells about times of great conflict and despair before quickly quieting down. I think that things weren't fun enough back then. Wasn't worth his time. For some reason he found us more interesting. More of a challenge."

"Kayura's been gone since after we lost the Armor of Inferno, Mia," Cye spoke up. "We never knew why she stopped coming around."

"We all had our parts to play, Cye. I don't know what happened to Kayura. I'm not sure I want to." Mia could have been talking about the weather for all the intonation she put in her words.

"Does it have anything to do with that statue outside the cave?" Ryo asked her. Mia merely shrugged her shoulders, her body remaining turned from them.

"Why is there an abandoned city here?" Sage suddenly asked, sounding much more subdued then he had before. "Why is the cave so disproportionate? I know we haven't traveled far enough down to allow there to be a ceiling that high above our heads."

This time Nikki was the one answering his questions, but her voice betrayed her emotions much more than Mia's had.

"Damian isn't an actual entity in the mortal realm, but he is in his own realm. We think he's some kind of ruler or leader. When Kayura told us about the possibility of this place, she described it as an echo of his own world, a place of darkness and illusions, but also of beauty. The second seal was supposedly hidden within the core of darkness itself. There would be no better place in the Mortal Realm than here." Nikki shivered after the words had left her mouth.

"Well, we're all here together," Cye spoke up again. "And we all have our armor on. So at least if Damian comes back he won't be able to keep us from armoring up. We just have to find a way to catch him off his guard so we can actually attack him. Until then, we keep looking for the second seal. That's not too hard, right?" he added optimistically.

"Do you have any idea exactly where in all this it would be, Mia?" Ryo asked. Mia stood up and turned around, walking back around the fountain. White Blaze had started to growl from his place beside Ryo.

"Maybe we should ask him," she suggested, eyes moving past Sage and Cye. They turned instantly

"Well thank goodness all that's over, little children," Damian said from his perch on top of a nearby rooftop, a smile cutting his pale face. "Everyone's all caught up to speed, plot has been developed, character interaction has been encouraged, and questions have been answered. Now is anyone ready to play yet?"

Ryo stepped forward, armor clinking loudly as he stood front and center between his comrades. The sound of steel shrieked as he slowly drew both of his swords, raising his right arm and pointing the tip of the blade towards Damian's throat.

"You may not be a tin can," Ryo said clear and confident, "but I bet you can be recycled just as easily!"

From behind Ryo came a simultaneous groan from Sage and Cye, while Rowen tipped his head to think about it. Damian however grinned even bigger, his teeth gleaming in the greenish light.

"I got this one, guys" Kento proclaimed, stepping forward. They could feel the earth start shaking as Kento raised his hand slowly.

"Iron…Rock...

"Kento, NO!" Mia screamed from behind him, her voice almost drowned out by White Blaze's roar, but it was too late.

"CRUSHER!"

The sure kill aimed at the figure on the rooftop ripped right through stone house, through the one behind it, and the one behind that. The guys staggered as the earth seemed to jump and tilt under them. Nikki fell into the fountain, her arm scraping painfully on the carved edge of the stonework. Mia was knocked backwards, and she grasped as best she could to the rolling ground underneath her. A deafening crack sounded above them, followed by a hail storm of chunks of earth falling from the ceiling above. Nikki screamed as one slammed into the ground right in front of her. Cye staggered back and threw himself over her, blocking her from the onslaught. Mia yelped in pain as a rock the size of Kento's fist struck her in the hip.

"Kento!" Sage yelled. "Make it stop!"

"I can't!" he shouted back. "This isn't me!"

"This whole place is coming down around us!" Ryo roared, casting around to try to find some sign of the enemy.

"What do you mean it isn't you!" Rowen shouted at Kento. The dark haired man just shrugged wildly his confusion at Rowen. Suddenly Strata's eyes widened in understanding.

"This isn't real! It's an illusion! Everyone, stop thinking it's real!" Rowen roared at the group. Rowen stood up, despite the rocking of the earth, and closed his eyes. Cye stared at him in disbelief, then shrugged and attempted to do the same. Slowly the others followed, Mia and Nikki still crouched on the ground. Finally the rolling of the earth lessened, then stopped. They opened their eyes and looked around. Kento's surekill had definitely taken out a few houses, but other than that everything else was fine.

Mia yelped again, causing them to spin around. Another rock had hit her in the shoulder and she was rubbing it painfully. Above her on the tall center pedestal of the fountain sat Damian, a handful of rocks on his lap, happily lobbing missiles at the redhead. He looked down, noticing that the Ronins had made it through his illusion. He tossed the rock in his hand and began clapping, a huge grin splitting his face. Beneath him Mia yelped once more before Kento managed to position himself in front of her.

"Bravo!" Damian exclaimed happily. "Bravo! Now that we've got the action packed sequence out of the way…" His eyes narrowed and he licked his lips. "Who's ready to have some fun?"

Five armored Ronins stepped forward, weapons drawn. Blue eyes narrowed in fury, Ryo raised his swords and faced his enemy, growling.

"Bring it."

It seems that the Ronins face their most dangerous adversary yet. Can they find a way to see through Damian's illusions as they fight their way into the heart of this city of darkness, or are our warriors overmatched? Well see next time, on Ronin Warriors! (...Ronin Warriors…do do do do...Ronin Warriors!…do do do…the power's in the armor!...do do do…)

A/N #2: Lol! Oh my goodness, I actually explained things for once, didn't I? And in chronological order as well. Please everyone, don't keel over from the shock. True to style, I had to at least leave it on a cliffy.