Part 4-Loss

Unable to speak he watched the darkness through eyes that were his own, and yet they weren't. There was something bordering at the edge of his consciousness which cast a cloak over his senses. It was almost as if a net had been cast over him, disallowing him to move or speak but permitting him to watch.

The room he was in was lit by candles, though there were not enough of them to say that they actually lit the room, or it still retained its darkness. Shadows were everywhere around him, threatening to make his fears reality. They shifted with the light of the flames. Each time one appeared to take the form of a man he started, afraid of the presence which had held him captive for so many long days. It had been so long since he had seen natural light that he had lost track of how much time had passed. Nothing seemed to matter much besides the dim, fading, light of hope.

Hope.

He knew the pain was coming the instant he let that word enter his mind. No damage had been done to him physically, but the mental anguish was severe. Silently he wondered how he had managed to even survive this long with such horrid sessions of mind rape and depression.

"You know that there is no escape for you."

Despite the fact that he wanted to cling to hope, wanted to cling to the promise of his friends coming to rescue him he could not. There were only two of them left, and he was not even sure that they could stand up to this evil's power.

"I know."

"Do you submit to me now?"

"Yes," the word held weight, but sounded otherwise dead once it had issued from his lips.

"You know what I want to hear."

Only a moment of hesitation created silence before he spoke again, "My master, Kyukyoku Aku, I pledge to you willing forfeit of my mind, body, and soul. Despite their meager value as an offering they are all I have to give you, and are now yours."

Again there was silence. It held for what seemed like an eternity before a laugh pierced it. The body that had only shown itself at intervals of Seiji's captivity now appeared before him, at the foot of the altar on which the swordsman's nude body rested.

"Very good, my slave. I accept your offering, and shall have the pleasure of now taking it for my own."

"Yes, master," the light of the candles reflected in his violet eyes as the words were spoken. The once bright spark that had shone in them was gone.

Aku took no notice of this. He instead stepped up to the side of the altar, the words of spell already flowing from his mouth. His hands were thrust upward into the darkness of the cave. They quickly dissolved into thin tendrils of mist which spread forward, eagerly waiting to devour the pale flesh before them. In moments they were upon Seiji's body, covering him in a thin blanket of ebony smoke.

The violet eyes closed, knowing it was best that he made no move to disturb his master's actions. Seiji ignored the strange sensations sparked inside him by the burning touches of the mist. It almost felt as if his body was being torn apart along with the very fabric of his soul. Though he felt pain he knew that if he opened his eyes no marks would show. Kyukyoku told him many times that he wanted to preserve the well-toned body, though the bearer of Korin had no idea as to why.

Penetration into his mind quickly came. He let his meager defenses that had been constructed since the last of the mind rapes fall as the darkness invaded his most private thoughts, desires, and secrets. Seiji was forced to watch as he looked through each fantasy and memory kept within his being. Each one was quickly and systematically removed, never to be seen again. The process was quick, the blonde being far too weak to provide any sort of resistance.

As the very last memory faded Aku's body disappeared from the confines of the cave. The mist that replaced it quickly seeped through Seiji's pale skin.

Realization finally dawned on the bearer of Korin as to what was happening. His violet eyes flew open and a scream of sheer agony tore from his throat. It was quickly silenced as he lost control of his own body. The loss of control sent his mind plunging into darkness, which was soon replaced by a faint emerald glow.

~~~~~

Consciousness was slow in returning to him. For a while he was happily content floating in a void of nothingness. However, a sense of urgency soon tugged at his mind. Whether he liked it or not he was being forced into a wakeful state of mind by some outside force. A tinge of red splashed his vision before he managed to open his eyes.

'Rekka…?'

"So you're awake," he recognized the deep voice from having had fought his bearer on at least two separate occasions.

"Naaza?" slowly Ryo tried to sit up, "Where…?"

"The Youjakai," the former Doku Masho answered before his question was finished, "and if you're going to ask why then I haven't got the foggiest clue as to what your answer will be."

"We used the Jewel…Shuu and I did. We had to come here to tell you about what happened…"

"Which is…" Naaza prompted, anxious for an answer.

"The others…they're gone…"

Though he had been expecting an answer that was somewhat to that extent it didn't keep the shock from showing on his face. The fact that there was a force out there strong enough to rid the world of three of the Samurai Troopers was frightening. It was a fate that not even Arago had accomplished. Ryo continued before he had a chance to respond.

"Shin and Seiji…were missing. So Touma tried to find them…and he…gods I'm not even sure what the hell happened to him. It's like he's dead now but his body's still living."

"Strange…" a voice rose from the doorway.

Both Ryo and Naaza turned to face the former Yami Masho where he stood. Anubisu slowly walked into the room to take a position leaning against the wall, something that made him look very much like his once rival, Date Seiji.

"Kongo's woken up. Rajura got the same story out of him that you just told."

"We need your help," Ryo's sky blue eyes were almost begging. The once great warrior of Rekka looked one step away from pathetic as he sat on one of the dirty cots in the room. "There's no telling who this new enemy is, or what he wants. So far we know absolutely nothing aside from the fact that he's managed to capture Seiji and Shin…and to do to Touma…what he did…"

There was a slight bit of pain tingeing his voice. Everyone knew that Rekka and Tenku were very close friends. They'd shared a sort of bond with each other, both growing up alone with only minimal parental intervention. That bond had only been strengthened when they had been forced to trek through the Youjakai together in order to rescue their captive friends.

"I don't think it would be too much trouble for us to lend our help," Naaza spoke, sounding as reassuring as he could, "Things have been pretty boring around here and a good fight might spice things up."

A grin spread across his face as something that could only be called blood lust flickered in the Doku Masho's beady eyes.

"If he's already got Tenku, Korin, and Suiko then it's not going to be that easy, Naaza. We're going to need all the help we can get, which means that Kayura's going to have to come along," Anubisu's voice was firm.

"But if she comes then who's going to be left defending the Youjakai? We can't just let anyone in here to unlock some of Arago's stuff that's still sitting around," Naaza turned to face his former comrade, "We need at least one person to remain to guard those things."

"Already taken care of," Rajura was at the door, "I'll stay here. There's nothing that I can't do with my illusions that you can't do with the shadows," he nodded to Anubisu, "Besides, we'd be pretty stupid sending all of our forces out to fight at once. What would happen if we all got defeated by this guy? There'd be no hope for the Ningenkai."

"You've got a point…" Anubisu's eyes were deep in thought for a moment, "What do you plan on doing if we all get defeated then? How are you alone going to save the world?"

"I guess I can't," Rajura sighed, "That still doesn't mean that we should leave the Youjakai wide open without any defense. I trust you're all smart enough to retreat if you're in big trouble. I'll be here to help you recover then we can go at this guy again."

"Nasutei could do that," Naaza snorted.

"But Nasutei doesn't have Gen."

"Gen wouldn't be much of a help in that kind of a situation. We'd need a healer like Korin," Anubisu flinched slightly at the mention of his once rival.

"Excuse me?" Ryo was now standing, demanding the attention of all three former Masho, "I doubt whoever we're facing is interested in the Youjakai. Shuu and I have been here for a while and he hasn't come after us. If he was trying to revive some of Arago's old weapons then he'd have already made an attempt. And since that hasn't happened…I think we can also rule you all out on the list of potential targets…"

There was a moment of silence after his words sank in before Rajura spoke up, "I guess you're right Rekka," he turned his ice blue eye on the youth, "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Go back to the Ningenkai for once thing. With the Shakujo it'll be a lot easier and won't drain as much of our energy. After that we need to go about finding out exactly where this guy is. Then we'll need to make another plan from there."

"Sounds good to me," Anubisu's affirmative was the first, quickly followed by similar answers from Rajura and Naaza. He continued once they were silent, "Someone should get Kayura and Kongo if we're going to do this."

"I've got Kongo," Rajura spoke as he moved to exit the room.

"Kayura for me," a small smile was on Naaza's face as he left.

Once they were gone Ryo returned to his position lying down on the cot. A sigh escaped his lips as his tiger blue eyes turned down.

"Something wrong?" Anubisu asked.

"I just hope this works. I'm not that worried about Seiji and Shin, they've both experienced something like this before…but Touma…" he swallowed before continuing, "I don't even know what's wrong with him. He looks…dead…and…I hope he isn't…"

"Don't worry. Knowing Tenku he's probably just fine. Hell, he even sacrificed himself to save Korin, Suiko, and Kongo that one time. He'll be fine."

Anubisu's words brought some comfort as Ryo's lips showed the slightest bit of a smile, "Yeah…you're right."

~~~~~

A strange feeling of unease was the only thin that drew Nasutei from her post before her computer screen. It had been a week since Ryo and Shuu had left her house and so far there was no sign of them. In order to keep herself from going mad she had resorted to research.

Diligently she went through every file she had, searching for some sort of evidence as to how this could have happened and what this new evil could be. Search after search brought up nothing, no results of any sort. However, she did not lose hope, nor did she get frustrated from the lack of success.

The only time when she tore herself from the screen was to make something for herself, and for Touma. Soup was the only option for the unconscious boy. Somehow she managed to slip it down his throat, giving him the nourishment he needed. Nevertheless he did not look any better.

This time, she did not go to see Touma.

She was in the living room, more accurately above it. Looking down upon the cough and chairs with circled the coffee table on three sides. Like some sort of predator readying its prey for the kill.

She was there when the golden light consumed it all in a brilliant explosion. Her hand came up instinctively to guard her eyes from the glare. It slowly slipped away when the yellowish tones faded to reveal six figures crowding the room. The shock took a precise three seconds to set in before she found her voice.

"Ryo! Shuu!"

Legs were working one point eight seconds later as she ran down the stairs with an unexpected speed. Her arms were quickly around the nearest figure, squeezing the breath from her unfortunate victim's lungs.

"You were gone for a week! Don't you ever scare me...like…"

It was at that time that Nasutei realized exactly who she had grabbed. Kayura's face was flushed a light shade of red as she looked up slightly, meeting the auburn-haired woman's eyes. A similar blush tinged Nasutei's face as she ignored the chuckles and repressed laughter coming from the five males in the room.

"I'm sorry," she spoke once her voice was regained, taking a step away from the baffled priestess, "I guess I wasn't really thinking and I…just…"

"Thought I was one of those two…?" the navy-haired woman's gestures were a bit wild, but managed to be in the general direction of the bearers of Rekka and Kongo.

"You could say that," Nasutei muttered.

"It's alright," her smile was reassuring.

Nasutei returned it and glanced over to Ryo, whose face was now almost the same color as his yoroi. The teen finally gave up holding his laughter in and let out a good chuckle or two. Moments later he was joined by Shuu. After that came Nasutei, followed by Kayura, quickly turning the room into a bin of seven people, each with a bad case of the giggles.

The laughter, however, died down as the realization of the situation at hand came. A stern cough issued from the tiger eyed youth as he drew the attention of everyone present.

"We had a little bit of trouble with the jewel. It apparently drained me and Shuu so bad that we were out for a while. Kayura managed to find us and brought us over to where she and the Masho were staying. They're ready to help now," affirmatives came from each of the four in question before Rekka's blue eyes turned to Nasutei "Did you find anything?"

"No, nothing," her head and voice lowered in sadness, "Apparently no one has ever encountered this evil before. There were no records of it in the files. It could be that every time something like this," absently her hand gestured upwards towards the room where Touma rested, "has happened it's simply been dismissed as death. Also there are too many unexplained disappearances in history to even consider going through those."

Ryo nodded in response, "I see."

"I guess we're just going to have to handle this on our own," it was the Yami Masho who spoke first.

"That shouldn't be too hard," Rajura replied, "Now that we know to keep on our toes we can probably find some way to avoid its attacks and develop a strategy."

An affirmative from Naaza was his response, "I suggest we start looking for this thing's base. Korin and Suiko couldn't have just vanished into thin air forever. There's got to be somewhere that it's keeping them. Probably nearby considering the power it would take to move them."

"True, but you do realize that this thing could have the power to bridge dimensions like we do. It could have taken them no more than a few proverbial feet but they could still be far away from our grasp," Kayura countered.

"That's where you come in m'dear," there was a smirk on Anubisu's face, "With the shakujo you're probably more able to scan the borders of this dimension for some sort of rupture that would indicate that our little 'friend' is hopping around on that level. In the mean time Naaza and Shuu can stay here to be your guard in case anything should happen," both yoroi bearers nodded in agreement before casting sideways glances at each other. They didn't have much time to make faces or object before Anubisu continued, "In the meantime the rest of us will look for this base. We'll fan out and keep the mental links open in case anything happens. Ryo, I want you to go with Rajura. Since only you and Kongo are left I think it's safe to assume that you're the targets here. If I get attacked I'll be sure to send out a message through the links so that everyone knows we're all at risk, understood."

A general affirmative was the reply. Quickly everyone set about readying themselves and the house. Rajura and Ryo were out of the door only moments after Anubisu had finished speaking. It was obvious that Ryo was in a hurry to retrieve his friends but the Gen Masho's hasty departure made Anubisu ponder what his motive was. His thoughts only held for a moment or two as he made sure that Kayura was situated before setting out on his own watch. Silent prayers to the old Shinto gods were the only words that slipped out of his lips before he plunged into the woods.

~~~~~

The forest.

It shifted past him like a blur. He saw the limbs, leaves, and trees without seeing. Felt the branches under his feet without feeling. Smelt the pollens drifting on the air without smelling. Heard the birds chirping and bugs humming without hearing.

Dulled senses were barely perceptive when he entered a clearing and exited it, only to enter and exit another moments later. To him it felt like he was walking through a thick layer of fog that clouded his very being. However, the weakness that he felt was not visibly obvious.

To the onlooker he was walking at a perfectly normal gait, back erect, violet eyes sharp and focused. It was beyond the piercing amethyst that the true secret was. If one were to look close enough they could distinguish the sharp, momentary flashes of pain and anguish that echoed within his eyes. The task of doing such a thing would be much harder than normal, though.

Blonde hair conveniently covered one of the cold violet orbs. Both were already hardened due to years of training to not show emotion of any sort. Thus it would be near to impossible for anyone to detect the faint traces that showed the stray from normalcy.

Slowly he stopped, senses detecting something else within the forest, something as out of place as himself. A second set of footfalls was echoing, a second crunch and crack of the branches breaking underfoot. The violet eyes scanned the woods around him in an atempt to find who the other in the woods was. However, it was the other who found him first.

"Korin?" a wary voice questioned.

Swiftly he turned and found the source of the voice. It was a moment that could have easily been disguised as shock before he responded, "Anubisu…?"