Part 3-JourneyLying on the bed where he had been placed, Touma's body was a lifeless form. The breath flowing from his lips could barely be felt even when one's hand was practically touching them. Under his chest the beating of his frail heart was but a small flutter only felt when a hand pressed hard against the skin. In a nearby chair Shuu sat with eyes swollen from numerous tears. His head sat buried within two large hands as he mourned the loss of three good friends.
"First Shin...and Seiji. Now Touma! Damn! Why?!"
The sobbing continued as his face again turned to the floor. After a good minute of cursing between his choked cries his chin elevated and the bloodshot eyes stared at the body before them that held a corpse like look to it.
"Touma," his cracked voice moaned, "I'm sorry. Damn, why did I have to be so hasty? What was I thinking?! It's my fault... Forgive me Touma, it's all my fault..."
The deep blue hair lowered once more into the two hands. Cussing and fragmented sobs were heard down the stairs where two sat at a table. Ryo sat at one side staring down a mug of coffee held in his hands. The black liquid has long since grown cold in his hands as his lips refused to part themselves and take it in. Icy blue eyes did no more than stare with a morose silence at the virgin white tablecloth. The only change in his frozen figure was when the ever staring spheres of ice would close as Ryo's anger seethed between his clenched teeth. During these small periods of movement, hot tears streamed down his face in small rivers. Across from him Nasuti sat idly drinking a small cup of tea. Her lips were drawn into a straight line across her face. The blue-green circles of her eyes were spinning with a million questions behind their depths. It had only been an hour since she had received a call from a grim sounding Touma. Since then the situation had only become even more baffling.
Though she wanted to burst open and let the millions of questions spill from her throat she couldn't. Nasuti knew that Ryo and Shuu didn't have any more of a clue as to what was going on than she did. Even if they did her lips would still be sealed. At the very mention of one of the missing troopers' names the two broke down into an uncontrolled wail. Three of their best friends had been take in by an evil they had yet to even identify.
For half an hour hardly a word had been spoken between Ryo, Nasuti, or Shuu. Half an hour ago Touma had fallen into some sort of coma. Since then he had been in the same near death state for what was starting to seem like the beginning of eternity. It was hard to determine if he was even going to live much longer. All they could do was pray that the small thread which held him alive didn't snap under the great burden it held. After wiping his red stained eyes once more Ryo turned up to face Nasuti. The mass of black on his head was in even more disarray than usual. Calmly he stared into the azure circles of Nasuti's eyes. Slowly his own cold cerulean ones closed as long breaths were drawn into his lungs. A streak of red showed itself as drawn lips parted to let him "I'm sorry, Ryo," she spoke after a heavy sigh, "I don't have any idea who this new evil is or what it wants with you." "But Touma..." he choked back tears from the sound of the name, "He said that it might've been Arago. Don't you have any way of telling whether it is or not?" "It's not Arago... If it was him the gates to the Youjakai would've opened and your yoroi would respond to that for sure..." "So? Maybe that bastard found some way to keep the yoroi from reacting," Shuu's voice came from the stairs. "How do we know he can't do that? He controlled our yoroi... He's manipulated them before... How do you know?!" "Shuu, calm down!" Ryo spoke. "I don't think that Arago still has control over the yoroi even if he was back. When you defeated him your yoroi acted with their own mind... They separated themselves from him." "If that's true then...then..." Shuu's eyes watered again. "Then we have no way of knowing where they are..." Ryo mentioned in a grim tone. "Damn..." Shuu cursed as balled fists fell to the table. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to come up with some way to find them," frail encouragement came from Nasuti. "How are we going to do that?! Touma tried and he...he..." this time it was Ryo who broke into tears. Nasuti let her eyes fall shut. Ryo was right. They had no way of getting in contact with or finding the location of any of the lost troopers. "If only Shuten or Kaosu were here," a hopeful thought wound through her mind, "Then we could..." "To hell with this!" Shuu's enraged voice broke the thought, "Why are we just sitting around?! I don't care if I don't know where they hell they are! If whatever took them wants me I'm gonna kick his butt to next Tuesday! Ya hear that?! Come and get me before I get you!!" he declared as the orange sub-armor formed around his skin. "Shuu! Calm down!" Ryo moved to restrain the rage driven Kongo. "Shut up, Ryo! I can't take this sitting around any more! I don't care if I search for a million years, I've gotta find the guys!" "But Shuu...!" "No buts! We're wasting time! While we're sitting around here they're being tortured!" I'm going!" the shout went out as he stormed to the door. "Shuu!" "Wait, Shuu!" Nasuti begged, "There just might be a way to find them!" At these words of hope her turned with anger filling his eyes, "And what is that, Nasuti? Hmm? The last idea you had left Touma like...like...that! Why should I listen to you?!" "Shuu! Get a hold of yourself!" Ryo gripped the furious trooper's shoulders, "You've gotta think! You're too angry right now..." "Ryo...Shut up!" a fist clenched shut with rage let fly and collided with the side of Ryo's face. The black hair flew as the body made contact with the wall. A loud crash sounded as the surface cracked as the limp body fell to the floor. "Ryo! Nasuti cried out to the fallen form, "Shuu...why?" The orange armor faded from his body as a shocked expression filled his face, "Oh my god...Ryo..." he cringed to the floor as his knees feel under his weight, "Damn..."
It was hard. Very hard. The return to an actual plane of consciousness was horrid. Haunted. Images he couldn't understand and probably never would. He felt...strange. Detached. Emotions were swirling like never before. Movement was out of the question. How had it happened? What did I remember? The room. One. Two. Three others. Then? Then this...no. Flying came then. Through? The air, the sky, the...mind? No. That wasn't it then. A vague flicker of pain sparked the memory. Pull? Yes. Someone pulled. Pulled so hard it was painful. Rip. Tore him from it. It was so...warm. The warmth was gone now. Cold blue aura surrounded. This is...now? Yes. Now is the time. It is the past no longer. But if it is now, where am I? Mountain. Base. Cave. Yes. That was it. The pull came from there. The past was gone now and present came. I am here, now. It still doesn't make any sense. Letting go now. He drifted. Into the blue. The swirling torrent of blue gases. Mixing colors and fading tones. It was so strange. From the corner a spark of black came. Someone? No response came. Help! It grew closer but the feeling was of an amiable nature. No! Go! Away...now! It still didn't listen, just came closer. The black sounded almost...almost like it was...laughing? Who? Who are you? "You're really a sorry sight, eh Tenku?" "Tenku...I'm...Tenku?" "Hmm...that's odd. You must have amnesia. Well it's to be expected. Most people don't go through what I did to you without some mental problem." "Amnesia? What did you do to me?" "Hmph, I wonder if I should even tell one as pitiful as you. Not really worth my time. You were a fool for trying to save them." "A...fool? Them? Who are they? What are you talking about?" "Truly pathetic, you can't even remember the ones you came to save. You're still useful to me though..." "Useful...how? Who are you? Who...am I?" "Tenku no Hashiba Touma...you're really getting on my nerves now. Like a scared little puppy, you haven't got a clue." "Tenku...no...Hashiba Touma? That is me...? But you...you are?" "Tch, that's unimportant. I wonder why I even bothered coming here in the first place. You're truly helpless. How could I have even thought that you would try to save him." "Save him? Who? What are you talking about?" "Something that concerns only me, and something you won't find out very soon."
Then it left. Poof. A flash. It was gone. The swirling blue was back again but there was something faint to one area. Looking to it he saw two boys. One was a blonde with pale skin the other auburn with skin of a equal coloring. Something about them looked...familiar.
Sh...Shi...and...Se...Sei...
Memories tried to break free but some force stopped them. The area in which he had seen them was gone now. The blue hues were all around him.
Who...what...Why?!
Seeking an answer he shouted to himself. But nothing could answer. He did not know, and he was trapped inside himself. The only answers he could find came from his own confined conscious. The situation was truly hopeless.
Now there were two. Lying in the numerous beds of the Yagyu mansion there were two unconscious figures. Touma's remained unchanged except for a slight paling of his skin due to the fact they had been unable to feed him anything since the night before when he went into his coma of sorts.
Ryo was different though. He still showed vital signs of life. Aside from a large areas of bruising on his back and head his body was untouched. They were sure that he would come out of it sometime that day.
It still wasn't early enough for Shuu. Of all the events that had taken place in the past day Shuu blamed a great deal of them on himself. His self-doubt was growing as he slipped further and further into a state of depression.
Trying her best to keep the last conscious trooper in good sprits Nasuti assured him the Ryo would get better. But Shuu had long since began ignoring every word that come from Nasuti's mouth. He was too caught up in the turmoil of his own thoughts to even care that there was a world beyond his eyelids and the pale tablecloth. The world could've collapsed and he would remain unfazed for, as far as he was concerned, everything had ended as was far into the state of nonexistent oblivion. Something disturbed his depressing void. The sound of gentle footsteps on the hollow stairs alerted the gray blue head. Bracing himself on the railing a weakened form in a red sweater stumbled down. Shuu's eyes widened at the sight. Shoving himself up from the table he ran to aide the awakened Ryo. "Ryo, man I'm so sorry. Are you ok? You sure you can be outta bed?" his concerned tone rose and he offered a hand to help. "I'm fine, Shuu," he responded with a slight wince as he moved down another step, "It's all right. I know you were mad. I don't blame you. There's not much else to do aside from get mad. I understand your reasons, it's ok." "But...but Ryo I..." Nodding slightly as his friend's attempted apologies Ryo interrupted, "I understand, Shuu. We're still friends. Nothing can change that." "Ryo..." Shuu spoke with an slightly confused tone. "It's ok. We can't spend to much time worrying about ourselves, we've gotta find some way to save Seiji, Shin, and Touma." With a joyous nod the amicable atmosphere returned to Shuu's face, "Right" "Have you two thought of anything? We really need a plan..." "The Youjakai," Nasuti spoke up. "What'd you say Nasuti?" Shuu inquired. "The Youjakai. If we could find some way to get there we could get in contact with the Masho. They might be able to help us." "The Masho..." Ryo's face darkened slightly at the mention of their old foes. The fights with the Masho had been harsh, and after Arago's defeat some of the tension still remained. Conversations between the two had always been rather touchy, most of the time they were nothing more than silence. "Are you sure that they'd know how to help us?" a hopeful Shuu wondered. "They probably would know something, considering they've been exposed to the yoroi for longer than you. But we just need to find some way to get there..." "The Jewel of Life," Ryo spoke as if everyone should know what he was talking about, "We can use that to teleport to the Youjakai. Shuten did that once, didn't he?" "Hey you're right! Yeah! Maybe we can help them!!" the enthusiastic tone of Shuu filled the room. "Wait..." a grim sounding Nasuti spoke, "When Shuten teleported to the Youjakai he had both the Shakujo and the Jewel. I don't know if it will work without the Shakujo..." "But we've gotta try!" Ryo was adamant, "Even if it doesn't work we've still gotta try to save our friends no matter how many times we fail!" "Ryo's right! If we don't try to get them out who knows what that new evil dude could be doing to them?!" "Well..." looking from one hopeful youth to the other Nasuti sized up the situation, "I guess it couldn't hurt. Let's go get it."
Finishing her sentence she retreated to the study where most of the artifacts in the house were kept. Close on her heels were the Troopers of Kongo and Rekka, desperate to do something to alleviate the situation. Upon entering the room Nasuti began digging through a chest of ancient weapons and armor. After a few seconds she pulled a small box from it's depths. Upon unlatching and opening the simple wooden case a brilliant ruby light shone as the three looked at the Jewel of Life, one of the elements that had lead to Arago's demise. Cautiously reaching in, Ryo retrieved the artifact and spoke, "Well, I guess it's time." "Let's see if this old thing still works," Shuu mocked. "Right," Ryo responded as he began to concentrate his power on the stone. "It might help if you two were at least in your under gear..." Nasuti pointed out. "Oh, right..." a faint blush crept onto Ryo's face as he donned the red gear. "Yeah, these things might help," Shuu grinned as his own orange gear appeared. Almost laughing at the situation Nasuti gave the two a warm smile, "Take care, and don't you two go dying on me!" This caused the room to burst into a small fit of giggles. Ryo was snickering slightly as Shuu was forced to wipe tears from his eyes. Still the did not forget the importance of what they were about to do. As soon as the laughter died down looks of pure determination spread across Ryo and Shuu's faces.
Both locked their gazes on the stone in Ryo's armored hand. Straining themselves they fed power to the stone concentrating on the abilities they knew it had. In response to the yoroi the Jewel began to glow, at first in a faint ruby tint. Within no time it was blazing a brilliant red that illuminated the entire room. When the light grew so intense Ryo and Shuu thought they could not handle it anymore, it faded. Pulled itself back from the corners of the room. Returning to the stone from whence it had came the brilliant display all but vanish. "What?" Shuu was baffled. "No!" a hint of defeat sounded in Ryo's voice. Before the two of them had any more time to react the light exploded again and disappeared just as quickly. Only this time it took them with it.
Pain. It was something he had never really trained for. At times he wished he had. His mind drifted back to his days as a child on the Hagi Sea. Those days were carefree. No pain haunted him then. It was simple life. His mother, his sister, and him. Careful study of the finer points of tea ceremony and flower arrangements on the weekends with school on the weekday. For a long time he thought that was the life he'd hold for all time. Marriage, perhaps, when older and grow to be a peaceful old man. No cares in the world.
How he wished at times he could just return to that normal life. Return to the peace without the fighting mind of the yoroi being ever present. By allowing his thoughts to drift the pain was temporarily alleviated. But it was only temporary. He began to realize that now as he was being forced into the world of the waking. Not even bothering to open his eyes he already knew the identity of the form before him, and knew his state of awakening was known. "Nice to see you, Suiko." That hateful voice. The tone of malice. The cause of his pain. "It's time for some more." Wincing at the comment he then allowed his sea green eyes to open. Although one only opened part way he managed to get an image of what was before him. The pale man covered in tight black. The sinister sneer that was plastered across his face. Even the very sight of the person brought a chill of pain to his bones. Determined he managed to look the evil one in the eye and ask his question, "Why? Why are you doing this?" "I suggested that you leave," a lance of pain spread through his body, the whip was out again, "But you were persistent," another. "I offered you to join me," and again, "But you refused." he couldn't take it. "Does that make sense, Suiko?" Hanging on to his last bits of strength Shin managed to send a feeling of encouragement to Seiji. He then slipped back into the abyss. The painful and menacing abyss.
An eerie yellow light set upon the deep blue hair as it flowed gracefully around a woman's form. Day was omnipitent due to the numerous suns, therefore the cover of vermilion was a common thing. An obvious sag of the figure's shoulders hinted to the sigh that had escaped her lips. For a few moments Kayura let her deep blue eyes scrutinize the diaphanous texture of the passing clouds. It was times like this she enjoyed the tranquillity that was provided in the Youjakai. Sometimes the Nigenkai was just filled with too much activity for her to handle. Perhaps it had been her life growing up in a small village with a relatively calm-minded mother and father. Granted there had been her time served under Arago. Those memories were something she tired not to recall, although they had been a major factor in her life. Her pensive requiem was broken as a small gasp split the silence. Baffled Kayura scanned her surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from the standard water lilies and turquoise waters that surrounded the areas of the Youjakai that weren't covered in jagged plateaus.
"Strange..." she spoke to no one in particular.
Cautiously she took a few steps forward and almost tripped over the body lying before her. Regaining her balance within a few seconds she looked down to the bulk before her. The sight of the red and white sub armor before her caused her mouth to hang open in awe.
"Ryo?"
Before Rekka had a chance to respond to her call a light groan arose from somewhere off to Kayura's left. Quickly turning to identify it she found a second bulk covered in orange and white sub armor.
"Shuu!"
"How did these two get here? And why just them? Something about this doesn't feel right..." Without a second thought Kayura lifted the Shakujo and allowed the golden light spilling forth from the top to cloak the three figures in its blanket.
lick their chapped surface. Once the red was gone black lashed lifted again and his broken voice spoke, "Nasuti, do you...know anything about this?"