"I guess, we should start with introductions and stuff," Ryo said uncertainly after the tea was served and everyone was seated.
"You guys go first," Kasukio said, so they did. Each Ronin Warrior introduced himself, told them their ages, hobbies, and which armor they wore.
"So," Ryo said when they were done. "You guys tell us about yourselves. If we're going to fight with you we need to know you, right?"
They all looked at each other uncertainty, no one wanting to go first. Lysithea put her hand over Kasukio's and smiled at him.
"Oh, all right," He snorted. "I'm Kasukio Ha'To, I'm 19, and I wear the Armor of Wildfire. My hobbies are none of your bee's wax." Lysithea elbowed him in the ribs and he coughed. "All right, I run track and take pictures for fun."
"See, that wasn't so bad," Lysithea said with a smile. "I'm Lysithea Tai of the Halo, by the way, but you all can call me Lys. I'm 17 and I suppose I should explain why I have pointy ears, silver and purple hair and copper eyes, huh?"
"That'd be nice," Kento chimed in.
She took a deep breath. "I never knew my mother, you see. She was from the Fantasy Realm, and she was a Fairy Princess. She was the only one to escape when Talpa attacked their land," Her voice choked, "She was lucky enough to meet a good, open minded man, my father, on Earth... she died giving birth to me..." She sniffled and covered her eyes with her hand. Kasukio put an arm around her.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to," Mia said softly.
"No, it's OK," Lys said, sniffling again. "Not that there's much left to tell. I like school and I love to write."
Almost everyone's gaze shifted to Xanthe. "What?" He exclaimed. He was sitting next to Junichi on the floor.
"What about you?" Sage asked, staring at him.
He stood up and straightened his collar, then cleared his throat and smoothed his hair back. A collective groan came from Kasukio, Lys, Reia, Junichi, and Kawai.
"What was that all about?" Dais asked, giving them a weird look.
"Xanthe always does this before he launches off into his acting phase," Junichi snorted in a voice that was loud enough only to be heard, no more loud than necessary.
"Hey, you, all of you, have respect for an artist," Xanthe said with a crooked grin. "I am Xanthe Saotore. I was born 19 years ago on a dark and stormy night-"
"You fool!" Sehkmet finally burst out. "We don't have time for theatrics!"
Xanthe's face turned bright red and he clenched his fists. "You trying to start something, Sehkmet? I've kicked your butt in the future and I'll do it again!"
"I'll teach you a lesson, you insolent whelp!" Sehkmet snarled.
"Let's go!" Xanthe yelled, falling into a fighting stance.
"No!" Reia shouted, jumping between them. "We don't have time for this!" Junichi jumped up to grab Xanthe's arms and Cayle grabbed Sehkmet.
"Look, let's just finish up learning about these guys, all right?" Ryo said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Now, um, Xanthe, was it?"
Xanthe took a long glare at Sehkmet before finishing. "Obviously, I am an actor... I'm also a scientist. Want a bomb built, I'm your man."
"You dork," Junichi snorted. "Since when did you build bombs?"
"And you are?" Mia asked, staring at Junichi.
"Fed up with this session of Day Camp," Junichi replied sarcastically.
"Hey," Xanthe mumbled, elbowing him.
"This is so f***ing stupid," He growled under his breath so no one but Xanthe heard him. "I'm 17, my name is Junichi Furyu, Warrior of Trust. That's all you need to know."
"Come on, tell them about-" Xanthe stopped when Junichi gave him a look to crush diamonds.
"That's all they need to know," Junichi said with gritted teeth.
The whole group was a little taken aback by Junichi. So far he had presented himself to be a moody, unhappy person. His purple eyes took in everything, scrutinized every detail, however. He would always make eye contact when he spoke, but almost never spoke first. And there was the scars on his face that raised some questions in the minds of all but a Xanthe.
"How about you?" Sage asked with a smile, looking at Kawai. He apparently had forgiven her for flipping him earlier.
"You already know my name and that I am the Warrior of Love, I wear the Armor of Eros," She said softly.
"You have such a pretty voice... I'll bet you're a singer," Sage said with a coy grin. Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Rowen all rolled their eyes.
"That's right," She replied. "I don't think there's much point in elaborating any further, do you?"
"Now," Ryo said, shifting his gaze back to Kasukio. "Tell us about this Arcane person."
All the Nether Spirits trembled in fear as the man in the scarlet robe floated by them, carrying an intricately woven staff with a figure of a gargoyle on the top.
"How are you, Talpa?" He asked with a somewhat smug tone.
"That's Lord Talpa to you, wizard," Talpa snorted.
"That's Lord Arcane to you!" Arcane snapped. "You should be dead, you know. If it weren't for me you would not exist. It was I that captured your spirit when the Ronin Warriors killed you!"
"And now I suffer the humiliation of eternal captivity on my own throne!" Talpa roared. "You did not help me, Wizard, you mock me!"
"Indeed I do, Lord Talpa." Arcane laughed. There were three bubbles around him and the Dark Warlords Cayle, Sehkmet, and Dais appeared.
"How did you?..." Talpa trailed off.
"My bodyguards from the future," Arcane chuckled. "Oh, they're not the real men... just clones. They work for you in the future... at least they used to. I had a talk with them, and apparently they aren't happy working for you."
"Arcane..." Talpa growled.
"Good bye, Lord Talpa. Can't say I'm going to miss you." Arcane waved his hand and the five chains around Talpa snapped. Talpa shrieked as his body began to crack, and then, he was gone.
"And now," Arcane chuckled, walking to Talpa's throne and sitting on it. "A new Dynasty begins. I suppose I best get to work creating some Warlords... since those blasted Ronin Warriors have teamed up with the Dynasty traitors, I need new men." Already the clones of the three Warlord clones were fading away. "Perhaps I should have made a more permanent spell," He said. "I'll always make more if I miss them, I suppose."
"...We don't really know much about him," Kasukio said. "Just that he's some kind of wizard... and he's powerful to boot."
"He must gain control of you three somehow," Kawai chimed in, looking at Dais, Cayle, and Sekhmet. "Otherwise we wouldn't be fighting you in the future."
"Isn't your future an inevitable one?" Rowen snorted. "I mean, how do we know this whole thing, just you all being here, won't do something to totally screw up the space/time continuum?"
"We don't," Lysithea replied.
"But if you all lived in our time," Reia said softly, "You'd want to change it, too."
"There's no such thing as Law and Order where we come from," Junichi said, his voice taking on a darkly serious tone.
"You're being melodramatic," Xanthe whispered.
"The hell I am!" Junichi shot back.
"Xanthe, you have to admit things are bad for us... even you," Kawai said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Junichi bristled inwardly, Xanthe looked at Reia, who was staring at the carpet.
"In any case... we're going to be here awhile, whether you all like it or not," Kasukio said rather bluntly. "We will inevitably have to fight Arcane... and after that, we'll either find a way home, or spend the rest of our lives here."
"Provided we survive a fight with Arcane," Sage pointed out.
"Well... being optimistic never hurt anyone," Lys said with a smile in Sage's direction.
"When they get overconfident it does," Junichi replied.
There was a long silence then. Mia looked out the window to see the sky beginning to turn pink.
"Of my gosh," She exclaimed. "Look at the time! I'd better prepare guest rooms... um, I'll have to do some doubling up, I think," She said, looking around and counting with her eyes.
"We won't be staying," Sekhmet said, standing.
"Why not?" Mia asked, somewhat surprised.
"From what they tell us, Arcane will come after us," Cayle said, standing as well. "We endanger the rest of you by being here."
"But we can't risk them actually capturing you!" Ryo said.
Dais shook his head. "We are quite capable of taking care of ourselves... but we think Kayura should stay here," He said, looking towards the stairs.
"She's formidable herself," Rowen said, not quite catching Dais's drift.
"I know," The warlord answered, "But she would probably opt to stay here anyway." His one eye turned towards Reia.
"Er... will you at least stay for dinner?" Cye asked, getting up and heading for the kitchen.
Sekhmet shook his head. "We should head back to the Nether Realm as soon as possible anyway."
There was a bright flash of light, a brief stirring of wind, and the three men were gone.
"Can't they learn to use a door?" Rowen muttered under his breath.
That night, Lys, Reia, and Kawai were huddled on one bed in the guest room Mia had prepared for them, talking about everything from the seriousness of the situation at hand to the normal things teenage girls talk about.
"How about those 20th Century Ronins, huh?" Lysithea giggled. "You spent a few days alone here with them, Reia, my God, you lucky chick!"
"Lys!" Kawai gasped, staring at her in shock. "You're going out with Kasu!"
Lys smirked. "I know a cute guy when I see one, Kawai. And were those sparks I saw between you and Halo?"
"Certainly not," Kawai exclaimed in shock. "I've never met a guy so arrogant!"
"Sage is not arrogant," Reia spoke up. "He just enjoys flirting."
Lys's attention turned from Kawai to Reia. "Ahhh... So you and Sage...?"
"No!" Reia shouted. "He did hit on me, like as soon as we met, but..." She trailed off.
"Ya' gotta admit he is FINE!" Kawai quipped, clicking her tongue in approval.
"I know," Reia said. "But he... I don't know, he's not my type, I guess."
"You have a type?" Lys said sarcastically. "Reia, I love you like a sister and all, but you don't get around much with the guys."
"You know who else is cute?" Kawai interrupted before an argument could begin. "That one guy, the quiet one... Torrent, I think?... That accent is to die for!"
"Cye?" Reia exclaimed, head snapping upwards.
"Stay away from him, Kawai, Reia's staked him out," Lys giggled, punching Reia in the arm. "You should have seen the way she blushed when he held her hand, you know, when they were getting ready to bring Junichi back from the future." Lys grinned wickedly at the sight of Reia's red cheeks. "HE was blushing kinda pink, too."
"Hold your tongue, Halo," Reia snapped, imitating Cayle's voice and hitting her friend with a pillow.
~ It's nice to know that even in dire situations like our current one... we're still just teenagers at heart, ~ Kawai thought happily as she joined the pillow fight.
"So what do you think of the 20th Century?" Xanthe asked as Junichi flopped down onto his bed.
"Eh," Junichi snorted. "It's there."
"What is your problem?!" Xanthe snapped as he opened a window. "You've been a grouchy little S.O.B. ever since we got here!"
"I'm always a grouchy little S.O.B.," Junichi replied with a crooked grin.
"See? There's the little foster brother I live with!" Xanthe laughed.
"Shut up," Junichi grumbled, pulling his hair out of it's ponytail and then retying it.
"Seriously, what's eatin' ya?" Xanthe asked.
"Nothing," Junichi insisted.
"Don't 'nothing' me, Junichi, every time something's on your mind you play with your hair like that, just like a girl."
Junichi only glared at him.
"A buff girl, but hey. Come on, talk to me, I thought we were buds!" No response. "Well, fine, if you won't tell me, then quit moping at least. You're starting to depress me." Xanthe switched the light off and settled down onto the futon that was on the floor next to Junichi's bed.
White Blaze was unsure of which bed to lay next to. The newcomer, Kasukio, was sleeping in the bed across the room from Ryo's which usually was unoccupied. Normally he would guard Ryo's bedside, but for some reason he felt like this other kid needed his attention, too. After much deliberation, the tiger finally heaved himself onto the floor by the door, between the two beds. Mia had put a new plush rug there anyway.
Kasukio waited until there were no sounds coming out of the darkness but Ryo and White Blaze breathing. Creeping quietly out of bed, he made his way out of the room and down the hall. Eyeing the several closed doors, it took him a moment to remember which one the girls were behind. Choosing a door, he slowly opened it. Thankfully, it didn't creak.
Poking his head into the dark room, he could barely make out the three sleeping figures. Two girls were in beds, a third one a futon on the floor. Stepping over the girl on the floor, he leaned close to look at the girl in the first bed. Kawai. He stepped around and found Lys in the second bed.
"Lys," He whispered in her ear, "Wake up..."
"Dad, I don't feel good," Lys groaned.
"Wake up!" Kasukio hissed, louder.
"What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed in shock when she realized where she was.
"I couldn't sleep," Kasukio replied with a shrug.
"Sssshhhh... you'll wake Rei-Chan and Kawai," Lys whispered, illustrating caution by placing a finger on his lips.
"Let's get out of here then," He said, tugging on her hand.
"Where are we going?" Lys whispered as the pair tip toed down the dark hallway.
"Anywhere you want," Kasukio replied with a crooked grin.
They made it about as far as the living room couch. Kasukio casually sat down and Lys huddled between the arm of the couch and him. They sat there for a long time in sleepy silence before Lys finally posed the question:
"Kasu... are you afraid?" She asked, her voice trembling in the darkness.
"Me.... afraid?!..." He responded, sounding unsure of himself.
Rowen laid awake in the darkness, his mind twirling at the speed of the shock wave created by his sure kill. For once, he was faced with a dilemma simple logic or pure skill would get him out of. It had been a very long time since he had to consider bringing in his heart or the emotions of others. A few years was a long time for that sort of thing, especially when you'd been locked in constant battles recently.
Rowen was known and favored for his strategic abilities, and intelligence in battle. But this time he wasn't battling a Dynasty foe... it was a sixteen year old girl who had turned his world upside down and inside out. Frankly, he was completely stumped as to the solution of the problem.
"You guys go first," Kasukio said, so they did. Each Ronin Warrior introduced himself, told them their ages, hobbies, and which armor they wore.
"So," Ryo said when they were done. "You guys tell us about yourselves. If we're going to fight with you we need to know you, right?"
They all looked at each other uncertainty, no one wanting to go first. Lysithea put her hand over Kasukio's and smiled at him.
"Oh, all right," He snorted. "I'm Kasukio Ha'To, I'm 19, and I wear the Armor of Wildfire. My hobbies are none of your bee's wax." Lysithea elbowed him in the ribs and he coughed. "All right, I run track and take pictures for fun."
"See, that wasn't so bad," Lysithea said with a smile. "I'm Lysithea Tai of the Halo, by the way, but you all can call me Lys. I'm 17 and I suppose I should explain why I have pointy ears, silver and purple hair and copper eyes, huh?"
"That'd be nice," Kento chimed in.
She took a deep breath. "I never knew my mother, you see. She was from the Fantasy Realm, and she was a Fairy Princess. She was the only one to escape when Talpa attacked their land," Her voice choked, "She was lucky enough to meet a good, open minded man, my father, on Earth... she died giving birth to me..." She sniffled and covered her eyes with her hand. Kasukio put an arm around her.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to," Mia said softly.
"No, it's OK," Lys said, sniffling again. "Not that there's much left to tell. I like school and I love to write."
Almost everyone's gaze shifted to Xanthe. "What?" He exclaimed. He was sitting next to Junichi on the floor.
"What about you?" Sage asked, staring at him.
He stood up and straightened his collar, then cleared his throat and smoothed his hair back. A collective groan came from Kasukio, Lys, Reia, Junichi, and Kawai.
"What was that all about?" Dais asked, giving them a weird look.
"Xanthe always does this before he launches off into his acting phase," Junichi snorted in a voice that was loud enough only to be heard, no more loud than necessary.
"Hey, you, all of you, have respect for an artist," Xanthe said with a crooked grin. "I am Xanthe Saotore. I was born 19 years ago on a dark and stormy night-"
"You fool!" Sehkmet finally burst out. "We don't have time for theatrics!"
Xanthe's face turned bright red and he clenched his fists. "You trying to start something, Sehkmet? I've kicked your butt in the future and I'll do it again!"
"I'll teach you a lesson, you insolent whelp!" Sehkmet snarled.
"Let's go!" Xanthe yelled, falling into a fighting stance.
"No!" Reia shouted, jumping between them. "We don't have time for this!" Junichi jumped up to grab Xanthe's arms and Cayle grabbed Sehkmet.
"Look, let's just finish up learning about these guys, all right?" Ryo said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Now, um, Xanthe, was it?"
Xanthe took a long glare at Sehkmet before finishing. "Obviously, I am an actor... I'm also a scientist. Want a bomb built, I'm your man."
"You dork," Junichi snorted. "Since when did you build bombs?"
"And you are?" Mia asked, staring at Junichi.
"Fed up with this session of Day Camp," Junichi replied sarcastically.
"Hey," Xanthe mumbled, elbowing him.
"This is so f***ing stupid," He growled under his breath so no one but Xanthe heard him. "I'm 17, my name is Junichi Furyu, Warrior of Trust. That's all you need to know."
"Come on, tell them about-" Xanthe stopped when Junichi gave him a look to crush diamonds.
"That's all they need to know," Junichi said with gritted teeth.
The whole group was a little taken aback by Junichi. So far he had presented himself to be a moody, unhappy person. His purple eyes took in everything, scrutinized every detail, however. He would always make eye contact when he spoke, but almost never spoke first. And there was the scars on his face that raised some questions in the minds of all but a Xanthe.
"How about you?" Sage asked with a smile, looking at Kawai. He apparently had forgiven her for flipping him earlier.
"You already know my name and that I am the Warrior of Love, I wear the Armor of Eros," She said softly.
"You have such a pretty voice... I'll bet you're a singer," Sage said with a coy grin. Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Rowen all rolled their eyes.
"That's right," She replied. "I don't think there's much point in elaborating any further, do you?"
"Now," Ryo said, shifting his gaze back to Kasukio. "Tell us about this Arcane person."
All the Nether Spirits trembled in fear as the man in the scarlet robe floated by them, carrying an intricately woven staff with a figure of a gargoyle on the top.
"How are you, Talpa?" He asked with a somewhat smug tone.
"That's Lord Talpa to you, wizard," Talpa snorted.
"That's Lord Arcane to you!" Arcane snapped. "You should be dead, you know. If it weren't for me you would not exist. It was I that captured your spirit when the Ronin Warriors killed you!"
"And now I suffer the humiliation of eternal captivity on my own throne!" Talpa roared. "You did not help me, Wizard, you mock me!"
"Indeed I do, Lord Talpa." Arcane laughed. There were three bubbles around him and the Dark Warlords Cayle, Sehkmet, and Dais appeared.
"How did you?..." Talpa trailed off.
"My bodyguards from the future," Arcane chuckled. "Oh, they're not the real men... just clones. They work for you in the future... at least they used to. I had a talk with them, and apparently they aren't happy working for you."
"Arcane..." Talpa growled.
"Good bye, Lord Talpa. Can't say I'm going to miss you." Arcane waved his hand and the five chains around Talpa snapped. Talpa shrieked as his body began to crack, and then, he was gone.
"And now," Arcane chuckled, walking to Talpa's throne and sitting on it. "A new Dynasty begins. I suppose I best get to work creating some Warlords... since those blasted Ronin Warriors have teamed up with the Dynasty traitors, I need new men." Already the clones of the three Warlord clones were fading away. "Perhaps I should have made a more permanent spell," He said. "I'll always make more if I miss them, I suppose."
"...We don't really know much about him," Kasukio said. "Just that he's some kind of wizard... and he's powerful to boot."
"He must gain control of you three somehow," Kawai chimed in, looking at Dais, Cayle, and Sekhmet. "Otherwise we wouldn't be fighting you in the future."
"Isn't your future an inevitable one?" Rowen snorted. "I mean, how do we know this whole thing, just you all being here, won't do something to totally screw up the space/time continuum?"
"We don't," Lysithea replied.
"But if you all lived in our time," Reia said softly, "You'd want to change it, too."
"There's no such thing as Law and Order where we come from," Junichi said, his voice taking on a darkly serious tone.
"You're being melodramatic," Xanthe whispered.
"The hell I am!" Junichi shot back.
"Xanthe, you have to admit things are bad for us... even you," Kawai said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Junichi bristled inwardly, Xanthe looked at Reia, who was staring at the carpet.
"In any case... we're going to be here awhile, whether you all like it or not," Kasukio said rather bluntly. "We will inevitably have to fight Arcane... and after that, we'll either find a way home, or spend the rest of our lives here."
"Provided we survive a fight with Arcane," Sage pointed out.
"Well... being optimistic never hurt anyone," Lys said with a smile in Sage's direction.
"When they get overconfident it does," Junichi replied.
There was a long silence then. Mia looked out the window to see the sky beginning to turn pink.
"Of my gosh," She exclaimed. "Look at the time! I'd better prepare guest rooms... um, I'll have to do some doubling up, I think," She said, looking around and counting with her eyes.
"We won't be staying," Sekhmet said, standing.
"Why not?" Mia asked, somewhat surprised.
"From what they tell us, Arcane will come after us," Cayle said, standing as well. "We endanger the rest of you by being here."
"But we can't risk them actually capturing you!" Ryo said.
Dais shook his head. "We are quite capable of taking care of ourselves... but we think Kayura should stay here," He said, looking towards the stairs.
"She's formidable herself," Rowen said, not quite catching Dais's drift.
"I know," The warlord answered, "But she would probably opt to stay here anyway." His one eye turned towards Reia.
"Er... will you at least stay for dinner?" Cye asked, getting up and heading for the kitchen.
Sekhmet shook his head. "We should head back to the Nether Realm as soon as possible anyway."
There was a bright flash of light, a brief stirring of wind, and the three men were gone.
"Can't they learn to use a door?" Rowen muttered under his breath.
That night, Lys, Reia, and Kawai were huddled on one bed in the guest room Mia had prepared for them, talking about everything from the seriousness of the situation at hand to the normal things teenage girls talk about.
"How about those 20th Century Ronins, huh?" Lysithea giggled. "You spent a few days alone here with them, Reia, my God, you lucky chick!"
"Lys!" Kawai gasped, staring at her in shock. "You're going out with Kasu!"
Lys smirked. "I know a cute guy when I see one, Kawai. And were those sparks I saw between you and Halo?"
"Certainly not," Kawai exclaimed in shock. "I've never met a guy so arrogant!"
"Sage is not arrogant," Reia spoke up. "He just enjoys flirting."
Lys's attention turned from Kawai to Reia. "Ahhh... So you and Sage...?"
"No!" Reia shouted. "He did hit on me, like as soon as we met, but..." She trailed off.
"Ya' gotta admit he is FINE!" Kawai quipped, clicking her tongue in approval.
"I know," Reia said. "But he... I don't know, he's not my type, I guess."
"You have a type?" Lys said sarcastically. "Reia, I love you like a sister and all, but you don't get around much with the guys."
"You know who else is cute?" Kawai interrupted before an argument could begin. "That one guy, the quiet one... Torrent, I think?... That accent is to die for!"
"Cye?" Reia exclaimed, head snapping upwards.
"Stay away from him, Kawai, Reia's staked him out," Lys giggled, punching Reia in the arm. "You should have seen the way she blushed when he held her hand, you know, when they were getting ready to bring Junichi back from the future." Lys grinned wickedly at the sight of Reia's red cheeks. "HE was blushing kinda pink, too."
"Hold your tongue, Halo," Reia snapped, imitating Cayle's voice and hitting her friend with a pillow.
~ It's nice to know that even in dire situations like our current one... we're still just teenagers at heart, ~ Kawai thought happily as she joined the pillow fight.
"So what do you think of the 20th Century?" Xanthe asked as Junichi flopped down onto his bed.
"Eh," Junichi snorted. "It's there."
"What is your problem?!" Xanthe snapped as he opened a window. "You've been a grouchy little S.O.B. ever since we got here!"
"I'm always a grouchy little S.O.B.," Junichi replied with a crooked grin.
"See? There's the little foster brother I live with!" Xanthe laughed.
"Shut up," Junichi grumbled, pulling his hair out of it's ponytail and then retying it.
"Seriously, what's eatin' ya?" Xanthe asked.
"Nothing," Junichi insisted.
"Don't 'nothing' me, Junichi, every time something's on your mind you play with your hair like that, just like a girl."
Junichi only glared at him.
"A buff girl, but hey. Come on, talk to me, I thought we were buds!" No response. "Well, fine, if you won't tell me, then quit moping at least. You're starting to depress me." Xanthe switched the light off and settled down onto the futon that was on the floor next to Junichi's bed.
White Blaze was unsure of which bed to lay next to. The newcomer, Kasukio, was sleeping in the bed across the room from Ryo's which usually was unoccupied. Normally he would guard Ryo's bedside, but for some reason he felt like this other kid needed his attention, too. After much deliberation, the tiger finally heaved himself onto the floor by the door, between the two beds. Mia had put a new plush rug there anyway.
Kasukio waited until there were no sounds coming out of the darkness but Ryo and White Blaze breathing. Creeping quietly out of bed, he made his way out of the room and down the hall. Eyeing the several closed doors, it took him a moment to remember which one the girls were behind. Choosing a door, he slowly opened it. Thankfully, it didn't creak.
Poking his head into the dark room, he could barely make out the three sleeping figures. Two girls were in beds, a third one a futon on the floor. Stepping over the girl on the floor, he leaned close to look at the girl in the first bed. Kawai. He stepped around and found Lys in the second bed.
"Lys," He whispered in her ear, "Wake up..."
"Dad, I don't feel good," Lys groaned.
"Wake up!" Kasukio hissed, louder.
"What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed in shock when she realized where she was.
"I couldn't sleep," Kasukio replied with a shrug.
"Sssshhhh... you'll wake Rei-Chan and Kawai," Lys whispered, illustrating caution by placing a finger on his lips.
"Let's get out of here then," He said, tugging on her hand.
"Where are we going?" Lys whispered as the pair tip toed down the dark hallway.
"Anywhere you want," Kasukio replied with a crooked grin.
They made it about as far as the living room couch. Kasukio casually sat down and Lys huddled between the arm of the couch and him. They sat there for a long time in sleepy silence before Lys finally posed the question:
"Kasu... are you afraid?" She asked, her voice trembling in the darkness.
"Me.... afraid?!..." He responded, sounding unsure of himself.
Rowen laid awake in the darkness, his mind twirling at the speed of the shock wave created by his sure kill. For once, he was faced with a dilemma simple logic or pure skill would get him out of. It had been a very long time since he had to consider bringing in his heart or the emotions of others. A few years was a long time for that sort of thing, especially when you'd been locked in constant battles recently.
Rowen was known and favored for his strategic abilities, and intelligence in battle. But this time he wasn't battling a Dynasty foe... it was a sixteen year old girl who had turned his world upside down and inside out. Frankly, he was completely stumped as to the solution of the problem.