In the backyard of the Koji mansion, Rowen finally caught up with Kento. "Rowen, there's something that I have to know, and you're the only one that can tell me." Kento said as he leaned back onto an old tree.
"What did you want to know? I'm guessing that it has to do something with the vision that you saw. Am I right?" Rowen asked as he looked at his friend in concern.
"Yea, Rowen what I saw, did it really happen? Did Kaye really fall from some kind of bridge, and into some type of abyss?" Kento asked.
Rowen waited for a bit before confirming Kento's question. "Yea she did, but it was my fault." Rowen replied quietly.
Kento quickly looked over at Rowen, he was confused about why it would of been his fault for what happened. "Rowen, what do you mean?" Kento asked.
Before he spoke, Rowen pulled in a deep breath and then began, "out of nowhere, these creatures were chasing us. I spotted a bridge not too far off, so I thought that we could cross it and then somehow blow it up so they wouldn't be able to follow. But it turned out that they had pretty much the same idea. Because just as we got there, they blew up the center of the bridge. The creatures were still coming, I said that we had to jump across. To say the least, Kaye wasn't too thrilled about the idea. I told her to hold onto my hand and we'll jump together. Just as we took off, one of the creatures grabbed onto her, and pulled her back to them. I landed on the other side, and then she told them to let go. Well they let go alright, one of the creatures held her up above it's head and threw her over the side. It was all my fault." Rowen said as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Kento at first was shocked when he listened to Rowen's story. Then he raised his hand and laid it onto Rowen's shoulder. "Rowen, it wasn't your fault." Kento said as he tried to make him feel less guilty.
Rowen slowly raised his head, "how can you say it's not my fault? I'm the one that suggested the bridge, I'm the one that couldn't hang on to her." Rowen replied.
"That's enough. I know you did all that you could do. I also know that Kaye is alright, thanks to you. So if you don't stop blaming yourself, I'm gonna have to pound some sense into ya." Kento said with a wink.
"How did you know that I..?" Rowen asked with a hint of shock.
"Well how else would ya have gotten your armor back? I mean come on Rowen, I'm not that stupid." Kento replied with a smirk.
"Ok Kento you've made your point. Come on, let's get back inside, I'm sure that Mia is wondering what's taking us so long." Rowen said as he started on his way back to the mansion. Kento stayed a little bit longer, and then he went back to the mansion.
In the nexus, "Ryo, Sage where are you?" Cye yelled as he and Kaye were trying to find them.
"Cye, I don't like this, something isn't right. We weren't gone for but a few minutes, and then they disappear?" Kaye said.
"I know, I don't like it either. Wait a minute, do you hear that?" Cye asked.
"It sounds like swords, but from where?" Kaye replied as they continued to look around.
"Over there, in that building!" Cye said as they ran up to it. When they got to the building, they tried the doors, but only to find them locked.
"Great, now how are we suppose to get inside?" Kaye asked as she was looking around for another entrance.
"Kaye come here, there's an open window. We can climb through and get in that way." Cye replied.
"Cye wait! What if this turns out to be another one of Maji's tests?" Kaye asked as she hesitated.
"We don't exactly have a choice. I know that they're in there, so let's go." Cye replied as he began to climb up to the window. As Kaye watched him climb, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right about this, but she also knew that he was right, so she decided to follow him.
"Well we're in, now what?" Kaye asked as she and Cye began to look around.
"It's too dark in here to see where we're going. We need some light if we're going to search this place." Cye replied.
Just as Cye said that, the torches lit up. "Ok now that was just a little too creepy for me." Kaye said.
"We don't have time for this, we have to find them. I know that they're in here. Ryo, Sage if you can hear me, say something!" Cye yelled.
No answer, "that's just great, ok now we have a problem. From what I can see, there are two corridors to choose, so which one?" Kaye asked as she motioned between them.
"It would of been easier to choose from if they would of answered. I don't think that we should split up, we better stay together." Cye replied.
"I know, I agree with ya Cye. But what if we pick the wrong one? What's gonna happen?" Kaye asked as she looked at him.
"I'm not sure, but if we pick the wrong one, then we just double back and try the other corridor. One of them has to lead to Ryo and Sage." Cye replied. Kaye nodded and followed Cye, both of them not knowing what lies ahead.
In the different part of the building, Ryo and Sage were trying to get a handle on their problem. "Ryo, where the heck are we, and where did these creatures come from?" Sage asked as they were fighting.
"I'm not sure, but a more important question is, where are Cye and Kaye?" Ryo asked in concern.
"The two of you should be more concerned about what's going to happen to you, instead of worrying about where your two friend are at the moment." a voice replied in the shadows.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Sage yelled.
"Very well, if you're going to be so insitant about it." the voice replied as it came from the shadows.
"Maji, should of known it was you. What do you want?" Ryo asked angrily.
"I've came to the two of you with a proposal." Maji replied as he held up his hand for the creatures to stop their attacks.
"What kind of proposal?" Sage asked as he kept his eyes on him.
"A proposal that would guarantee you a way home without going through any more tests." Maji replied with an evil smile.
"Oh really, and what kind of proposal would you be willing to give us? Let me guess, you'll let us go home, but we have to leave Cye and Kaye here." Ryo said angrily.
"Yes, something to that effect. So what do you say? Will you take my proposal?" Maji asked curiously.
"You must be out of your mind." Sage replied coldly.
"What! You're actually willing to pass this up. Why?" Maji asked as he shot back in surprise.
"Explaining why would be a waste of time. Especially on a bone head like you. So why don't you just give it up, and crawl back into whatever whole you came out of?" someone said from the balcony.
"What! Who said that?" Maji yelled as he looked around angrily.
"I did, do ya have a problem with that, because if ya do, then I'll be more than happy to say it to you again." the same voice replied.
"Kaye?" Ryo asked as he and Sage looked up towards the balcony.
"Well yea, who else would it be?" Kaye replied with a smirk.
"Kaye, is Cye with you?" Sage asked.
"Yea I'm here too, at first we were kinda confused on which way to go, but as soon as you got this oversized windbag to talk, then it was easy to find you." Cye replied as he and Kaye jumped from the balcony next to Ryo and Sage.
"You insolent curr! How dare you speak to me like that! You'll pay!" Maji replied angrily.
"You're all talk and no action." Sage said as they got ready to fight.
"Careful Sage, you're starting to sound like Kento." Kaye teased as she glanced at him.
"We don't want that now do we? One Kento is scary enough." Sage replied with a smirk.
"When we get back home, I'll make sure to tell him you said that." Kaye said.
"Hey you two, mind if we continue this some other time. In case you forgot, we've got some unfinished business to take care of." Ryo said as he got ready to attack.
"Besides, he called me a dog, there's no way that I'm gonna let him get away with that!" Cye said as he kept his eyes on Maji.
"Alright then, if we're gonna do this, then I think that we better attack in two teams. Cye, you and Kaye stay close, and attack him from the front, while Sage and I come around back." Ryo replied as they got ready to put Ryo's plan into action.
Everyone nodded and got into place, "What do you think that you're doing? Do you honestly think that whatever you have in mind will work against me?" Maji asked as he looked around the dimly lit room trying to find them.
"Hope so, ready Cye?" Kaye asked as they got ready for a frontal attack. Cye nodded and then in a blink of an eye, they began their attack. Maji barely saw them coming, he quickly moved back, but only to run into Sage and Ryo, who were coming from behind. Just before the four of them were going to land their attacks, he disapearred.
"What! No way! Where did he go? There's no possible way that he could of known that we were going to do that." Cye asked as they were looking around for him.
"Cye, Kaye watch out!" Sage warned as Maji appeared behind them. But Sage's warning came a split second too late, just as they were going to turn around, something wrapped around them so that they couldn't move.
"What are these things?" Kaye asked as she and Cye were struggling to get out of them.
"They're sutra beads, the more you struggle, the tighter that they become. So you had better stop struggling before they crush the life out of you." Maji replied coldly.
"He's not kidding, I can barely breathe." Cye said as he fell to his knees.
"Cye! Stop it Maji, did you hear me? I said...AAAHHH!" Kaye said as she was shocked by an electrical current that went through the sutra beads.
"That's enough! Maji, if you know what's good for you, you'll let them go right now!" Ryo said angrily as he glared towards him.
"If you insist." Maji replied as he motioned for the sutra beads to disappear from them.
"Cye, Kaye are you two alright?" Sage asked as he and Ryo rushed up to them. They nodded while glaring angrily over at Maji.
"Remember about that proposal that I gave before?" Maji asked.
"Yea so, what about it?" Ryo asked angrily.
"This time I have a different one in mind, and I believe that you'll think twice about passing it up." Maji replied as he gave an evil grin.
"What did you want to know? I'm guessing that it has to do something with the vision that you saw. Am I right?" Rowen asked as he looked at his friend in concern.
"Yea, Rowen what I saw, did it really happen? Did Kaye really fall from some kind of bridge, and into some type of abyss?" Kento asked.
Rowen waited for a bit before confirming Kento's question. "Yea she did, but it was my fault." Rowen replied quietly.
Kento quickly looked over at Rowen, he was confused about why it would of been his fault for what happened. "Rowen, what do you mean?" Kento asked.
Before he spoke, Rowen pulled in a deep breath and then began, "out of nowhere, these creatures were chasing us. I spotted a bridge not too far off, so I thought that we could cross it and then somehow blow it up so they wouldn't be able to follow. But it turned out that they had pretty much the same idea. Because just as we got there, they blew up the center of the bridge. The creatures were still coming, I said that we had to jump across. To say the least, Kaye wasn't too thrilled about the idea. I told her to hold onto my hand and we'll jump together. Just as we took off, one of the creatures grabbed onto her, and pulled her back to them. I landed on the other side, and then she told them to let go. Well they let go alright, one of the creatures held her up above it's head and threw her over the side. It was all my fault." Rowen said as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Kento at first was shocked when he listened to Rowen's story. Then he raised his hand and laid it onto Rowen's shoulder. "Rowen, it wasn't your fault." Kento said as he tried to make him feel less guilty.
Rowen slowly raised his head, "how can you say it's not my fault? I'm the one that suggested the bridge, I'm the one that couldn't hang on to her." Rowen replied.
"That's enough. I know you did all that you could do. I also know that Kaye is alright, thanks to you. So if you don't stop blaming yourself, I'm gonna have to pound some sense into ya." Kento said with a wink.
"How did you know that I..?" Rowen asked with a hint of shock.
"Well how else would ya have gotten your armor back? I mean come on Rowen, I'm not that stupid." Kento replied with a smirk.
"Ok Kento you've made your point. Come on, let's get back inside, I'm sure that Mia is wondering what's taking us so long." Rowen said as he started on his way back to the mansion. Kento stayed a little bit longer, and then he went back to the mansion.
In the nexus, "Ryo, Sage where are you?" Cye yelled as he and Kaye were trying to find them.
"Cye, I don't like this, something isn't right. We weren't gone for but a few minutes, and then they disappear?" Kaye said.
"I know, I don't like it either. Wait a minute, do you hear that?" Cye asked.
"It sounds like swords, but from where?" Kaye replied as they continued to look around.
"Over there, in that building!" Cye said as they ran up to it. When they got to the building, they tried the doors, but only to find them locked.
"Great, now how are we suppose to get inside?" Kaye asked as she was looking around for another entrance.
"Kaye come here, there's an open window. We can climb through and get in that way." Cye replied.
"Cye wait! What if this turns out to be another one of Maji's tests?" Kaye asked as she hesitated.
"We don't exactly have a choice. I know that they're in there, so let's go." Cye replied as he began to climb up to the window. As Kaye watched him climb, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right about this, but she also knew that he was right, so she decided to follow him.
"Well we're in, now what?" Kaye asked as she and Cye began to look around.
"It's too dark in here to see where we're going. We need some light if we're going to search this place." Cye replied.
Just as Cye said that, the torches lit up. "Ok now that was just a little too creepy for me." Kaye said.
"We don't have time for this, we have to find them. I know that they're in here. Ryo, Sage if you can hear me, say something!" Cye yelled.
No answer, "that's just great, ok now we have a problem. From what I can see, there are two corridors to choose, so which one?" Kaye asked as she motioned between them.
"It would of been easier to choose from if they would of answered. I don't think that we should split up, we better stay together." Cye replied.
"I know, I agree with ya Cye. But what if we pick the wrong one? What's gonna happen?" Kaye asked as she looked at him.
"I'm not sure, but if we pick the wrong one, then we just double back and try the other corridor. One of them has to lead to Ryo and Sage." Cye replied. Kaye nodded and followed Cye, both of them not knowing what lies ahead.
In the different part of the building, Ryo and Sage were trying to get a handle on their problem. "Ryo, where the heck are we, and where did these creatures come from?" Sage asked as they were fighting.
"I'm not sure, but a more important question is, where are Cye and Kaye?" Ryo asked in concern.
"The two of you should be more concerned about what's going to happen to you, instead of worrying about where your two friend are at the moment." a voice replied in the shadows.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Sage yelled.
"Very well, if you're going to be so insitant about it." the voice replied as it came from the shadows.
"Maji, should of known it was you. What do you want?" Ryo asked angrily.
"I've came to the two of you with a proposal." Maji replied as he held up his hand for the creatures to stop their attacks.
"What kind of proposal?" Sage asked as he kept his eyes on him.
"A proposal that would guarantee you a way home without going through any more tests." Maji replied with an evil smile.
"Oh really, and what kind of proposal would you be willing to give us? Let me guess, you'll let us go home, but we have to leave Cye and Kaye here." Ryo said angrily.
"Yes, something to that effect. So what do you say? Will you take my proposal?" Maji asked curiously.
"You must be out of your mind." Sage replied coldly.
"What! You're actually willing to pass this up. Why?" Maji asked as he shot back in surprise.
"Explaining why would be a waste of time. Especially on a bone head like you. So why don't you just give it up, and crawl back into whatever whole you came out of?" someone said from the balcony.
"What! Who said that?" Maji yelled as he looked around angrily.
"I did, do ya have a problem with that, because if ya do, then I'll be more than happy to say it to you again." the same voice replied.
"Kaye?" Ryo asked as he and Sage looked up towards the balcony.
"Well yea, who else would it be?" Kaye replied with a smirk.
"Kaye, is Cye with you?" Sage asked.
"Yea I'm here too, at first we were kinda confused on which way to go, but as soon as you got this oversized windbag to talk, then it was easy to find you." Cye replied as he and Kaye jumped from the balcony next to Ryo and Sage.
"You insolent curr! How dare you speak to me like that! You'll pay!" Maji replied angrily.
"You're all talk and no action." Sage said as they got ready to fight.
"Careful Sage, you're starting to sound like Kento." Kaye teased as she glanced at him.
"We don't want that now do we? One Kento is scary enough." Sage replied with a smirk.
"When we get back home, I'll make sure to tell him you said that." Kaye said.
"Hey you two, mind if we continue this some other time. In case you forgot, we've got some unfinished business to take care of." Ryo said as he got ready to attack.
"Besides, he called me a dog, there's no way that I'm gonna let him get away with that!" Cye said as he kept his eyes on Maji.
"Alright then, if we're gonna do this, then I think that we better attack in two teams. Cye, you and Kaye stay close, and attack him from the front, while Sage and I come around back." Ryo replied as they got ready to put Ryo's plan into action.
Everyone nodded and got into place, "What do you think that you're doing? Do you honestly think that whatever you have in mind will work against me?" Maji asked as he looked around the dimly lit room trying to find them.
"Hope so, ready Cye?" Kaye asked as they got ready for a frontal attack. Cye nodded and then in a blink of an eye, they began their attack. Maji barely saw them coming, he quickly moved back, but only to run into Sage and Ryo, who were coming from behind. Just before the four of them were going to land their attacks, he disapearred.
"What! No way! Where did he go? There's no possible way that he could of known that we were going to do that." Cye asked as they were looking around for him.
"Cye, Kaye watch out!" Sage warned as Maji appeared behind them. But Sage's warning came a split second too late, just as they were going to turn around, something wrapped around them so that they couldn't move.
"What are these things?" Kaye asked as she and Cye were struggling to get out of them.
"They're sutra beads, the more you struggle, the tighter that they become. So you had better stop struggling before they crush the life out of you." Maji replied coldly.
"He's not kidding, I can barely breathe." Cye said as he fell to his knees.
"Cye! Stop it Maji, did you hear me? I said...AAAHHH!" Kaye said as she was shocked by an electrical current that went through the sutra beads.
"That's enough! Maji, if you know what's good for you, you'll let them go right now!" Ryo said angrily as he glared towards him.
"If you insist." Maji replied as he motioned for the sutra beads to disappear from them.
"Cye, Kaye are you two alright?" Sage asked as he and Ryo rushed up to them. They nodded while glaring angrily over at Maji.
"Remember about that proposal that I gave before?" Maji asked.
"Yea so, what about it?" Ryo asked angrily.
"This time I have a different one in mind, and I believe that you'll think twice about passing it up." Maji replied as he gave an evil grin.