Thank you everyone who reviewed my fanfic with good reviews! ^_^ I really hope you enjoy this part! and I hope it's not too
plot-revealing yet... ^_^
noon
Lord Seisuke's castle
Seisuke stopped his meditation as the door opened and Arden announced that Mia
Koji arrived. Upon her arrival, her stuff would be sent to her room and she would be
taken to the throne room to meet him. "Let her in."
He heard a new pattern of footsteps and a new breathing pattern enter the room.
Her movements were not subdued like the movements of the human servants. Everyone,
humans and lesser Youja, were intimidated by him. She was surprised, but not frightened.
She stood still in stunned silence.
The silence irritated him, but he was determined to remain calm in front of the
person who would be able to heal him. He was not his brother! "How do you plan to
give me my sight?"
He sounded exactly like him! "I'm sorry, but you just remind me so much of a
friend of mine. It's difficult to think of you as-" Her accent was a mixture of French and
Japanese.
"I understand. Now, how do you plan to free me from my prison?"
How can he be cured?, Mia wondered worriedly. He's so obviously blind. True,
Sage was able to cure Ryo when he was blinded by Sekhmet's venom and medical science
would have failed, but Ryo... "Well, I brought my laptop with me to do some research. I
was told that I should still be able to gain access to the Internet because of the energies in
this world."
"Er, I am unfamiliar with the technologies in the mortal world." Seisuke had been
secluded from his homeworld for so long... Seclusion was yet another level of darkness in
his prison...
"Well, a laptop is a computer that can be carried easily and used anywhere. It-"
Did he even know what a computer was? How much did he know about the mortal
world?
"Anyway, I suppose you need sometime to get used to the castle before any
procedures can be done. Arden, give her a tour of the castle."
"Yes, my lord."
Then, he said to Mia, "I expect results from your research the day after
tomorrow."
She nodded and said, "Yes, sir" so not to be offensive instead of just saying,
"Okay"
Mia was the first guest to stay in the castle. She was born and raised in the mortal
world plus she knew all about the Ronin warriors. Arden had a strange feeling that she
would change things around the castle even if that was not her intention.
"You must be careful around Lord Seisuke," the Youja told her as he guided her
through some parts of the castle. "He-... did not have a comforting time in Talpa's castle
and tries to make life just as difficult for everyone here if not more difficult."
Considering what he unmistakably went through, Mia really did not understand
how Seisuke could make life just as hard. She shuddered at the sight of him. As they
went to another part of the castle, she asked, "How did he come to the nether world?"
Seisuke was a human and all humans originated from the mortal world.
His past was a topic Seisuke did not like to talk about or have discussed. "When
Talpa first attacked the mortal world a thousand years ago, hundreds of humans returned
with him when he was defeated." Well, that fact was truth.
"And Seisuke is descended from them?"
Fortunately for Arden and unfortunately for Mia, they reached their next goal
destination. "Here's the library."
"Has anyone found any spells or information in here?" she wondered, walking
inside and glancing at the numerous scrolls.
"No one has ever really looked here before," he admitted.
late noon
Cemetery, mortal world
Sage sighed and reread the words on the tombstone. This was the first time that
he visited the grave by himself. This was the first time he really wanted to visit the grave.
Six feet under there was a coffin, but no body.
He said aloud to the grave, "If you are dead, quit hiding." His body was never
found like he vanished into thin air. "If you are alive, come back. On our birthday, the
only person mother talks about is you. She always talks about you. It's my birthday too!
You have been dead for ten years, right? Everyone mourned and moved on. I am still
alive. I can do things other than just lay there like you so why can't they talk about me?"
Sage sighed again. Guilt immediately filled his mind. "I just wish I knew what happened.
All mother probably really wants is to understand... I never thought about that event ten
years ago until now and something about it seems familiar..." Was his brother even dead
like everyone thought?
early afternoon
Ryo's home
"Don't worry. I'm sure she's okay," Rowen spoke in an attempt to calm the pacing
bearer of wildfire. The four Ronins in the room were sitting down except for Ryo.
"But... she's in the Nether World! In a youja's palace!" he finally stood still.
"But the nether world is supposed to be safe now. Kayura is the new ancient and
we have to trust her," Rowen said logically.
"Besides," Sai added, "She did say that she would be able to send us mail. I'm not
too sure how that'll work, but..."
"Something about this doesn't feel right. And where's Sage?"
Kento shrugged, "I dunno. Was he supposed to be here? He's been acting weird
lately." Sage rarely paid any attention to whatever they happen to be talking about.
"What do you mean, 'weird'?" Ryo wondered.
"I dunno. It's like he's hiding something from us. My siblings hid things from me
all the time so now I can tell when a person is hiding something." Sage always seemed to
be lost in thought now. What was he thinking about? He rarely talked to anyone.
"Yeah, he's gotten alot more serious lately too," said Rowen.
"It's his birthday soon, isn't it?" Sai wondered. "Do you think that's got anything to
do with it? He's turning fifteen."
"He should be happy on his birthday!" Kento exclaimed. "But then again, it's just
another day to him. But anyway, fifteen is not old. Fifty is old, not fifteen. Why should
he be sad about turning fifteen?"
Midnight
Lord Seisuke's castle
Mia always could not sleep through her first night in a strange place. She had
always been that way, staying awake for sleepovers with her friends and staying awake
after moving into another house or apartment. This was no exception.
She wrote a letter to her friends, the ronin warriors. Then, she checked the coffee
in the kettle. The coffee was chillingly cold. A few hours earlier, she asked the servant
that was appointed to her to bring her a large pot of coffee so that she would not disturb
the sleeping servants throughout the night when her cup was empty. She started the fire
once again in the fireplace and underneath the kettle.
Then, she worked on her laptop. She skimmed through her grandfather's work,
but found nothing. Many of the scrolls in the library were written in ancient text and she
had to look for sites that had translations. She had some sites bookmarked, but half of
them did not have any of the needed information or were temporarily shut down. She was
forced to go through several search engines and quickly remembered that search engines
are pieces of crap. What could she do, but get a headache? Nevertheless, she continued
her valiant journey.
Dawn, the next day
Ryo's home
"What is it, White Blaze?" Ryo yawned. The tiger was impatient to go outside,
but Ryo had all the time in the world and he was using that time leisurely. He wondered if
Sage was all right. The ronin warrior of Halo was mysteriously quiet and would not talk
to anyone about what was bothering him. In fact, Sage avoided the topic. Finally
finishing the trip downstairs and across the living room, Ryo went outside with his tiger.
They saw a nether solider.
Ryo instinctively put his subarmor on. The soldier was apparently waiting for
them, but had no weapons. The lesser youja held up a small tan piece of paper. So, this
was the mail service. Ryo tentatively edged closer and snatched the paper up and glanced
at it when the youja disappeared. He got a letter from Mia.
A few moments later
"Man, this is just weird," said Kento. They were all assembled in Ryo's house.
The ronin warrior of Wildfire called everyone to come over so that they would read the
letter together.
"Well, let's read it," said Rowen. Sai agreed.
" 'kay," Ryo opened the letter and the others crowded around him to read over his
shoulders. The summary of the letter is this:
Everything seemed to be going fine. She was nervous about being in a new place,
but that was to be expected. She had servants and a slightly furnished room. Everyone in
the castle was nice to her.
Sage read near the bottom of the letter where she described what Seisuke looked
like. His face paled considerably. The air in the room felt suddenly very cold. This was
much more than just a coincidence, so much more...
Lord Seisuke's castle
Seisuke was dozing more than sleeping and therefore he could be awakened very
easily. Whenever he actually slept, those memories would come to haunt him. His past
was something that should be forgotten.
The door creaked open. "What is it, Arden?" Seisuke grumbled.
"It's about Mia Koji. She wants to talk to you."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Hmph. Well, you are good for a lot of things," he muttered sarcastically as he
pulled the covers away and proceeded towards her room. How dare she order him
around! He killed and slaughtered in order to obtain his rank as a lord and she thinks she
can just boss him around? He pushed his irritability away. Might as well let this slide.
She was the only one he knew who would restore his vision. He had the entire layout of
the castle memorized so he was able to go to her room with no problems.
"Ah. Good, you're here," she said when he opened her door and walked inside. "I
need to ask you some questions."
"What questions?" he wondered as he heard several numerous unfamiliar clicking
sounds.
"Well," Mia reopened the essay page full of general information about mystical
items and spells. She accidentally closed the page earlier and had to retype the url which
she fortunately remembered. "Some spells and items are only effective against certain
things like some stuff can only cure venom-induced blindness so, well... I need to know
how you were blinded."
"What!" He relived the torture in his dreams. Why was he being asked to
consciously resurface those horrid events? Scowling, he stormed towards the door.
"If I don't know what happened, if I won't be able to help you!"
"Can't you see what happened?" he growled, facing her so that she saw his marred
face.
"Who did that to you?" She said in nearly a whisper, near tears. Seisuke was so
young; younger than her. She got the impression that he lost his vision a long time ago,
perhaps when he was Yuli's age? Younger? She couldn't imagine something so terrible
could happen to someone so young...
"A warlord," he answered simply and left, slamming the door behind him. The
memories were already resurfacing. He was screaming, pleading, begging for mercy, but
the warlord enjoyed causing innocents to suffer under cruel torture. The blade dug deep
into his eyes and then darkness... He was so alone and so scared of the dark.... darkness
was all that he saw... Darkest prison sheds the light! But where is the light?
plot-revealing yet... ^_^
noon
Lord Seisuke's castle
Seisuke stopped his meditation as the door opened and Arden announced that Mia
Koji arrived. Upon her arrival, her stuff would be sent to her room and she would be
taken to the throne room to meet him. "Let her in."
He heard a new pattern of footsteps and a new breathing pattern enter the room.
Her movements were not subdued like the movements of the human servants. Everyone,
humans and lesser Youja, were intimidated by him. She was surprised, but not frightened.
She stood still in stunned silence.
The silence irritated him, but he was determined to remain calm in front of the
person who would be able to heal him. He was not his brother! "How do you plan to
give me my sight?"
He sounded exactly like him! "I'm sorry, but you just remind me so much of a
friend of mine. It's difficult to think of you as-" Her accent was a mixture of French and
Japanese.
"I understand. Now, how do you plan to free me from my prison?"
How can he be cured?, Mia wondered worriedly. He's so obviously blind. True,
Sage was able to cure Ryo when he was blinded by Sekhmet's venom and medical science
would have failed, but Ryo... "Well, I brought my laptop with me to do some research. I
was told that I should still be able to gain access to the Internet because of the energies in
this world."
"Er, I am unfamiliar with the technologies in the mortal world." Seisuke had been
secluded from his homeworld for so long... Seclusion was yet another level of darkness in
his prison...
"Well, a laptop is a computer that can be carried easily and used anywhere. It-"
Did he even know what a computer was? How much did he know about the mortal
world?
"Anyway, I suppose you need sometime to get used to the castle before any
procedures can be done. Arden, give her a tour of the castle."
"Yes, my lord."
Then, he said to Mia, "I expect results from your research the day after
tomorrow."
She nodded and said, "Yes, sir" so not to be offensive instead of just saying,
"Okay"
Mia was the first guest to stay in the castle. She was born and raised in the mortal
world plus she knew all about the Ronin warriors. Arden had a strange feeling that she
would change things around the castle even if that was not her intention.
"You must be careful around Lord Seisuke," the Youja told her as he guided her
through some parts of the castle. "He-... did not have a comforting time in Talpa's castle
and tries to make life just as difficult for everyone here if not more difficult."
Considering what he unmistakably went through, Mia really did not understand
how Seisuke could make life just as hard. She shuddered at the sight of him. As they
went to another part of the castle, she asked, "How did he come to the nether world?"
Seisuke was a human and all humans originated from the mortal world.
His past was a topic Seisuke did not like to talk about or have discussed. "When
Talpa first attacked the mortal world a thousand years ago, hundreds of humans returned
with him when he was defeated." Well, that fact was truth.
"And Seisuke is descended from them?"
Fortunately for Arden and unfortunately for Mia, they reached their next goal
destination. "Here's the library."
"Has anyone found any spells or information in here?" she wondered, walking
inside and glancing at the numerous scrolls.
"No one has ever really looked here before," he admitted.
late noon
Cemetery, mortal world
Sage sighed and reread the words on the tombstone. This was the first time that
he visited the grave by himself. This was the first time he really wanted to visit the grave.
Six feet under there was a coffin, but no body.
He said aloud to the grave, "If you are dead, quit hiding." His body was never
found like he vanished into thin air. "If you are alive, come back. On our birthday, the
only person mother talks about is you. She always talks about you. It's my birthday too!
You have been dead for ten years, right? Everyone mourned and moved on. I am still
alive. I can do things other than just lay there like you so why can't they talk about me?"
Sage sighed again. Guilt immediately filled his mind. "I just wish I knew what happened.
All mother probably really wants is to understand... I never thought about that event ten
years ago until now and something about it seems familiar..." Was his brother even dead
like everyone thought?
early afternoon
Ryo's home
"Don't worry. I'm sure she's okay," Rowen spoke in an attempt to calm the pacing
bearer of wildfire. The four Ronins in the room were sitting down except for Ryo.
"But... she's in the Nether World! In a youja's palace!" he finally stood still.
"But the nether world is supposed to be safe now. Kayura is the new ancient and
we have to trust her," Rowen said logically.
"Besides," Sai added, "She did say that she would be able to send us mail. I'm not
too sure how that'll work, but..."
"Something about this doesn't feel right. And where's Sage?"
Kento shrugged, "I dunno. Was he supposed to be here? He's been acting weird
lately." Sage rarely paid any attention to whatever they happen to be talking about.
"What do you mean, 'weird'?" Ryo wondered.
"I dunno. It's like he's hiding something from us. My siblings hid things from me
all the time so now I can tell when a person is hiding something." Sage always seemed to
be lost in thought now. What was he thinking about? He rarely talked to anyone.
"Yeah, he's gotten alot more serious lately too," said Rowen.
"It's his birthday soon, isn't it?" Sai wondered. "Do you think that's got anything to
do with it? He's turning fifteen."
"He should be happy on his birthday!" Kento exclaimed. "But then again, it's just
another day to him. But anyway, fifteen is not old. Fifty is old, not fifteen. Why should
he be sad about turning fifteen?"
Midnight
Lord Seisuke's castle
Mia always could not sleep through her first night in a strange place. She had
always been that way, staying awake for sleepovers with her friends and staying awake
after moving into another house or apartment. This was no exception.
She wrote a letter to her friends, the ronin warriors. Then, she checked the coffee
in the kettle. The coffee was chillingly cold. A few hours earlier, she asked the servant
that was appointed to her to bring her a large pot of coffee so that she would not disturb
the sleeping servants throughout the night when her cup was empty. She started the fire
once again in the fireplace and underneath the kettle.
Then, she worked on her laptop. She skimmed through her grandfather's work,
but found nothing. Many of the scrolls in the library were written in ancient text and she
had to look for sites that had translations. She had some sites bookmarked, but half of
them did not have any of the needed information or were temporarily shut down. She was
forced to go through several search engines and quickly remembered that search engines
are pieces of crap. What could she do, but get a headache? Nevertheless, she continued
her valiant journey.
Dawn, the next day
Ryo's home
"What is it, White Blaze?" Ryo yawned. The tiger was impatient to go outside,
but Ryo had all the time in the world and he was using that time leisurely. He wondered if
Sage was all right. The ronin warrior of Halo was mysteriously quiet and would not talk
to anyone about what was bothering him. In fact, Sage avoided the topic. Finally
finishing the trip downstairs and across the living room, Ryo went outside with his tiger.
They saw a nether solider.
Ryo instinctively put his subarmor on. The soldier was apparently waiting for
them, but had no weapons. The lesser youja held up a small tan piece of paper. So, this
was the mail service. Ryo tentatively edged closer and snatched the paper up and glanced
at it when the youja disappeared. He got a letter from Mia.
A few moments later
"Man, this is just weird," said Kento. They were all assembled in Ryo's house.
The ronin warrior of Wildfire called everyone to come over so that they would read the
letter together.
"Well, let's read it," said Rowen. Sai agreed.
" 'kay," Ryo opened the letter and the others crowded around him to read over his
shoulders. The summary of the letter is this:
Everything seemed to be going fine. She was nervous about being in a new place,
but that was to be expected. She had servants and a slightly furnished room. Everyone in
the castle was nice to her.
Sage read near the bottom of the letter where she described what Seisuke looked
like. His face paled considerably. The air in the room felt suddenly very cold. This was
much more than just a coincidence, so much more...
Lord Seisuke's castle
Seisuke was dozing more than sleeping and therefore he could be awakened very
easily. Whenever he actually slept, those memories would come to haunt him. His past
was something that should be forgotten.
The door creaked open. "What is it, Arden?" Seisuke grumbled.
"It's about Mia Koji. She wants to talk to you."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Hmph. Well, you are good for a lot of things," he muttered sarcastically as he
pulled the covers away and proceeded towards her room. How dare she order him
around! He killed and slaughtered in order to obtain his rank as a lord and she thinks she
can just boss him around? He pushed his irritability away. Might as well let this slide.
She was the only one he knew who would restore his vision. He had the entire layout of
the castle memorized so he was able to go to her room with no problems.
"Ah. Good, you're here," she said when he opened her door and walked inside. "I
need to ask you some questions."
"What questions?" he wondered as he heard several numerous unfamiliar clicking
sounds.
"Well," Mia reopened the essay page full of general information about mystical
items and spells. She accidentally closed the page earlier and had to retype the url which
she fortunately remembered. "Some spells and items are only effective against certain
things like some stuff can only cure venom-induced blindness so, well... I need to know
how you were blinded."
"What!" He relived the torture in his dreams. Why was he being asked to
consciously resurface those horrid events? Scowling, he stormed towards the door.
"If I don't know what happened, if I won't be able to help you!"
"Can't you see what happened?" he growled, facing her so that she saw his marred
face.
"Who did that to you?" She said in nearly a whisper, near tears. Seisuke was so
young; younger than her. She got the impression that he lost his vision a long time ago,
perhaps when he was Yuli's age? Younger? She couldn't imagine something so terrible
could happen to someone so young...
"A warlord," he answered simply and left, slamming the door behind him. The
memories were already resurfacing. He was screaming, pleading, begging for mercy, but
the warlord enjoyed causing innocents to suffer under cruel torture. The blade dug deep
into his eyes and then darkness... He was so alone and so scared of the dark.... darkness
was all that he saw... Darkest prison sheds the light! But where is the light?