Sorry that this took too long. Blame the lateness on school and Bin Ladin. The usual in
this. More angst and Seisuke-insanity. Reviews are very welcome. There would be more to
this, but I wanted to hurry up and get the chapter over with.




Seisuke sighed defeatedly. He had the armor of Halo. He was wearing the armor
and still he was in the darkest. He hoped so much that... he wanted to see again. He
wanted to see Mia... now... Now what will happen? He couldn't just let Sage go free.
Sage was blind too. Somehow. He sensed his brother lose his sight. He felt Sage's eyes
and the eyes felt... limp, dull. He asked Arden about Sage and the youja confirmed his
thought. Everything went wrong. MIA LIED!! She said the armor of Halo would cure
him and she LIED!! No, no. Mia would never lie. She was just misinformed. She merely
said the armor was a possibility, but it was perfectly reasonable that Halo would cure
him... Darkest prison sheds the light, right? And now Sage is blind too. How morbidly
ironic. Mia didn't lie. She was just misinformed. Or something went wrong with the
spell being used to duplicate the armor. Seisuke sighed again. He wanted to be with Mia.
He wanted her to comfort him, but there were still matters to take care of.
"What went wrong?" he asked Arden.
"I do not know, my lord," Arden's voice sounded neutral.
"I still can't see!" Seisuke started to shout, but stopped himself. Mia might
overhear and he didn't want to know how she'll react.
"Perhaps the armor needs to adjust to you or you need time to adjust to the armor.
Then, you will see."
Seisuke again sighed defeatedly. "I have no other choice, do I?" Mia didn't know
about his actions and he wasn't able to explain his armor.
"No other choice," the youja replied somberly, wishing there was another choice.
After a moment he said, "Very well." He proceeded to walk to his room, paused,
and ordered Arden, "Keep Sage in his cell, but make sure he gets proper treatment. Give
him food, blankets, the usual."

Midnight
Toyama

Rowen looked up at the stars. In their sub-armors and surrounded by all the tall
buildings, they were in a dangerous position. If someone saw and recognized them, not
even their schooldays and days at home will be normal. He set that idle thought aside.
They had more important matters to deal with. The only known way to enter the nether
world was using the remnants of the metaphysical bridge that the Ancient One created.
The gateway closed after Talpa was killed. Mystical items like their armors were able to
locate and reopen the bridge so they went into Toyama late at the night to avoid being
seen. Excuses for their absences were set up before they left home when their families
began to worry.
"Anyone sense anything?" Kento asked. His kanji of Justice was on the forehead.
Ryo and Rowen answered in the negative, but Sai yelled out, "I think I found it!
Commere!"
They obeyed and sensed it too. Then, focusing the power of their armors on the
gateway, they reopened it and traveled up. This time however they didn't encounter any
nether spirits.


Morning, the next day
Dungeon in Seisuke's castle

Sage hated the dark. He always hated the dark ever since those "men in
camouflage" which were actually Dynasty Soldiers attempted to kidnap him. He pieced
his fragmented memories with what he now knew. The Ancient One came to stop the
soldiers and he was dropped in the process. He fell and blacked out. That was when he
truly hated the dark.
Now, he was blind. Eternal darkness. The dampness from his prison chilled his
bones. He tried to calm himself. The events of the past few days were taking a heavy toll
on his mind. His twin was alive, his twin was a lord in the netherworld, his twin was
psychotic, his twin was willing to kill him... He tried to meditate and push out any hateful
thoughts however he did not meditate properly with an open mind. He concluded that
Seisuke was evil and all evil needed to be destroyed.
The darkness and the freezing cold stopped him from meditating and intensified his
already panicked state. Was Mia alright? Oh, God, what if something terrible happened
to her? No, no. Don't think about useless negative thoughts. Think positively. Perhaps
Mia was alright and perhaps she would find him... but she would be putting herself into
danger...

Late Morning
Kitchen

Mia wanted to get out of her room for a few moments so she decided to eat her
breakfast in the kitchen. She was in Seisuke's castle for a week now and she was
currently worrying about the lord. His mind still seemed fragile and usually, he came to
her to talk about various things. She tried to get him to talk about his family, but gave up.
He probably didn't remember much about them, having been taken away at such a young
age. He started to talk about what happened when he was kidnapped although he
frequently stopped abruptly and changed the subject. She thought progress was being
achieved however since he talked longer with her about his ordeal.
A chattering cook and maid took her out of her thoughts. "You know, there might
be a war soon," said the maid. "Rumors say that Seisuke captured his own brother."
"His brother is the one in the dungeon? I never heard that."
"Yeah, a Ronin too. I thought everyone knew that except for her. Makes me
wonder who'll attack Seisuke first. The other Ronins or Ryuuzou." Mia was going to
speak up, but decided to remain quiet and unnoticed in order to listen to their complete
conversation. She believed she was the "her" the maid mentioned and she certainly didn't
know Seisuke's brother was a Ronin and was captured! Who exactly was captured?
Sage? Oh, god...
"I heard that soon this land will begin forced trade with Ryuuzou's land."
Suddenly, Mia couldn't tolerate listening to their idle chatter. Who knew what
Seisuke had done to her friend? She fled hastily out of the kitchen and searched for the
entrance to the dungeon that Arden showed her on the tour.

Sage's prison cell
A little while later

"Sage? Sage?" she called out in a moderate tone as she dragged herself through
the dim stinky dungeon hallways. She didn't want to shout too loudly for fear that a
soldier above will hear her.
Then, she heard his voice. "Mia?" Sage sounded pessimistic at first, but realized
she was truly there. "Mia!"
She immediately ran to the doorway where his voice came from. What happened
to him? Was he alright? Why did Seisuke do this? "Sage! Sage, I'm here," she said,
calming down her racing worries.
"Are you okay?!" Sage asked concernedly. "Seisuke didn't hurt you, did he!?"
His own concern demanded an answer from her.
"No, no. He didn't hurt me. I'm fine. He treated me like a guest." Yet he... Mia
looked through the cell bars. The flaming torch on the wall behind her illuminated the
area and into his cell. Oh, god... Something was wrong with Sage. Something wrong
with his eyes, but she couldn't tell what. "What did he do to you? What does he want?"
"He wants my armor. He got it or at least a copy of it."
Mia felt like screaming. Her legs were weak and a sick liquid-like sensation settled
in her stomach as she then knew what was wrong with Sage. His eyes were unfocused; he
was also blind. This was all her fault. She told Seisuke that Halo would be the only thing
to cure him. If Seisuke didn't know about the armor, Sage would be safe... "I'll try to get
you out of here, okay?"
A roughly armored hand grabbed her arm. She screamed in shock as the soldier
started to haul her away. What would happen to her now? What would Seisuke do when
he knew she was no longer ignorant of his actions? When youja got her out of the
dungeon, he turned her around to face him. The soldier was Arden.
"You weren't supposed to know about this," he growled.
"Arden, this is wrong," she said, feeling foolish.
"You put yourself in a very dangerous position." The youja sighed. "I suppose I
should explain this mess, shouldn't I?"
"An explanation will be wonderful," she said in a serious tone. She trusted Arden
the most out of everyone in the netherworld. She was unable to help Sage now.
"Ten years ago, Talpa finally learned of a way to determine who the prophesied
Ronin warriors would be. The results were vague, but narrowed down the number of
potential Ronin warriors. He sent his soldiers and warlords to kill them before they were
old enough to defend themselves. The Ancient One and the tiger were prevented most of
the attempts however they were unable to save one child - Seisuke Date. I didn't know
Seisuke had a twin when I heard that a future bearer for Halo was caught. When I learned
the potential Ronin was merely placed on the streets and not killed, I searched for him and
found Seisuke sleeping in a pile of filth in one of the slums. I estimate he was by himself
for a month. His wounds were infected and the dead skin needed to be burned away. His
lice problem was so terrible that his entire head needed to be shaved. I trained him to be a
Ronin warrior because I believed he was the only person capable of wearing Halo. I
explained the prophecy to him and told him his purpose was to be a Ronin warrior and
that one day he will kill Talpa. That information comforted him. He also wanted to kill
Anubis, the warlord who blinded him. Well, then I learned he had a twin, Sage. I stopped
training Seisuke to be a Ronin warrior. His twin was much more qualified. I continued to
raise him under my supervision. I took care of him for so long that his entire upbringing
became my responsibility. For a few years after I quit training him, he acted as though his
life had no purpose. I suppose I took his purpose away from him, but I hated seeing him
grow up like that. I believed that if he had a high status, he would feel useful as though he
had a new purpose. I encouraged him to become a lord and, with Saberstryke's aid, we
took over a small part of land. Despite his handicap, Seisuke was and still is an excellent
swordsman. The battles gave him something good to focus on and those recurring
nightmares were less frequent. I thought I was doing a good thing at the time."
When Arden finished confessing, Mia sighed and placed her right hand over her
face to touch both her temples. She had a really bad headache. "Seisuke is suffering from
severe mental trauma. Putting him into a fight and giving him power made him worse."
"I know that now. I wish I recognized my mistake sooner, but it's too late now.
You need to be careful with your actions. He is dependent upon you. He values your
opinion of him more than anyone else."
Mia sighed again. This was true... Seisuke was unpredictable and no one knew
what his reactions would be. but Sage... "Sage needs help," she said. "We need to help
Sage." Her head felt numb.
"I'm sorry, but I am loyal to Seisuke no matter what and he wishes for his brother
to remain in the dungeon."
Mia was unsurprised at his answer. She was trapped in the castle, unable to free
Sage. Her only hope was to convince Seisuke of how wrong his actions were.