Sweat was rolling down Rowen's forehead, drenching through the navy headband that was holding back his soaked blue-black hair. His one lone forelock was sticking to the bridge of his nose, the sweat stinging his eyes. His chest heaved with each breath, his loose shirt sticking to his skin. The golden bow in his hand seemed suddenly heavy, and it shook as he struggled to keep hold of it.

Rowen's sea green eyes quickly scanned the darkness around the room. Only the faint light of a candle on the far side of the room was the only source of light. Rowen smiled at the candlelight across from him, thanking it for its warmth and light.

'This was a mistake.' Rowen thought to himself as a half-smile crossed his face.

He once again scanned the room, hoping for a shimmer of the familiar blonde head. Unfortunately, not any kind of human form came through the shadows.

Rowen stealthily turned his back to the candle and looked around. The bow was shimmering quietly in the light, and he hoped that it wouldn't be a target for Sage's heavy sword. Suddenly, the room became completely black as the candle was blown out.

"Hey, Sage, we agreed we wouldn't blow out the candle." Rowen said annoyingly as he set the bow on the ground and leaned against it like it were a staff.

Just as suddenly, the faint light of the candle once again shimmered on the bow's hilt. Rowen quickly spun around, alarmed at the candle's sudden resurrection. Even if Sage had blown it out and lit it again, the sound of the match would have reached Rowen's ears. As he turned, he gasped as he recognized a face that he had not seen in quite a long while.

Kayura was perched on the small table beside of the candle, coyly playing with the flame. Her star swords that she had once carried were lying on the table, the flicker of each flame reflecting off of the shiny metal. There was a look of pure sadness on her face as she looked down at the swords Talpa had given her. Instead of wearing the armor that Anubis had sacrificed for her, she was once again wearing the star armor. The only difference was the medallion. A small tear-dropped sapphire pendant resting on her breastplate replaced the medallion that Talpa had used to control her.

Rowen was disturbed at the appearance of her old armor. He contemplated calling out his protective layer, but was afraid that it would only bring on an attack.

"Kayura?" Rowen whispered as he drew the bow behind his back.

At the mention of her name, Kayura flipped off the table, grabbing her swords in response. She clasped them firmly in an X across her chest and her eyes filled with panic.

"Who's there?!" she yelled madly, stalking an "O" shape around the room.

"Kayura! It's me, Rowen!" he said as he stepped out of the darkness.

Kayura stood and watched as Rowen stepped into the candlelight. When she recognized the blue hair and warm face, relief washed over her. She released the swords and they clamored to the ground in a heap. She swooned slightly, and Rowen rushed to grab her, dropping his own weapon.

"I have missed you, Strata," she said as she wrapped her slender arms around his neck and hugged him hard.

The cool armor felt wonderful against his hot body, and he held her tight for a moment. The pendant was pressing into his skin, but it felt like ice against his chest.

"What's the matter, Kayura?" he asked as he rubbed her back.

"We don't have long, Rowen," she whispered as she pulled away from their embrace.

"What do you mean?" he asked as she inched closer to his face, her beautiful eyes twinkling like deep pools of water.

"All that I can say," she said as she inched closer, "is that you can't trust whom you trust the most."

As he opened his mouth to question her riddle, she made contact with her lips on his. She moaned against their passionate kiss, and he pulled her closer to him, never wanting the moment to end.

"Rowen!"

Rowen blinked his eyes a few times and looked at who was calling him. Sage was standing in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. He was still leaning against the bow, as if he'd never left. Sage dropped his hand, the familiar sword lying on the ground.

"What happened?" Rowen asked closing his eyes and shaking the sudden wave of dizziness out of his head.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Sage mumbled as Rowen leaned his head over.

"I don't know. It felt... like I ... was..." Rowen began, but as he raised his head up to look up at Sage, he stopped his explanation.

Sage's eyes, where they should've been a bright violet, were glowing an eerie red.

"What?" the figure asked as it picked up the sword and slowly drew it up to its side.

Rowen was frozen in place like a statue. Every instinct he had was telling him to run away. But this was his best friend. He trusted him.

Rowen opened his eyes wide as he heard Kayura's warning echo in his ears. 'You can't trust the ones you trust the most'. Was this a warning that another evil was coming after them?

But Kayura had warned him! She had almost killed all of them when they had battled Talpa in the Nether Realm. How could he trust her? But she had changed after he was defeated and Anubis gave her his armor.

Sage watched, confused, as Rowen struggled with his thoughts. His eyes were swimming with bewilderment, and he wouldn't quite look him in the eyes. Why was that?
"Rowen, what's up?" Sage asked, and walked closer, sword in hand.

Rowen didn't see the familiar face of his friend walking towards him, concerned. He saw a demon with a sword drawn up in a striking stance. As quick as lightning, Rowen pulled the bow across his chest horizontally to try to push away his attacker. Sage stopped his advance, and felt the blow hit his square in the side as Rowen knocked him to the floor with the bow swinging wildly. He ran past Sage, now lying in a heap on the floor, over to the table holding two small arrows.

Rowen grabbed the two arrows, and split them at 90-degree angles to form a V. He placed the bow once more horizontally across his chest, and pulled the arrows taunt against the string. He saw the strange evil thing roll in the floor, and jump to its feet.

"Rowen, what are you doing?!" Sage asked he flung his arms out to his sides, the robe he had on hanging from his arms.

"Leave me be!!" he cried out, and allowed the arrows to fly.

Sage had always watched Rowen practice with his bow and arrow. But he didn't realize how fast he could shoot arrows. Sage felt the tips pierce the cloth that was hanging below his wrists, and drag him across the floor of the dojo. He slammed into the far wall, knocking the breath out of him. As he struggled against the dizziness, he struggled to pull his arms out from the arrows pinning his hands against the wall.

He looked up and saw Rowen walking calmly towards him. He had another arrow in his hand, and he desperately tried to tear his arms free. Rowen stepped in front of Sage, and drew his one arrow taunt once more on the bowstring, aiming straight for Sage's heart.

"Ro, what are you doing?!" Sage yelled, pleading for an explanation to his odd behavior.

Panic was beginning to set in as Sage watched the arrow's tip begin to glow. He would be crazy to perform his ultimate move in this small space!

"Where is Sage, demon?" Rowen asked quietly as he focused his aim.

"What are you talking about?!" Sage cried. He was still struggling to break the arrows free. They were like nails hammered into the wall.

"Liar!" Rowen spat, "Tell me where he is!"

"I'm right here, Ro! Right in front of you!" Sage choked out as tears sprang to his eyes.

The arrow shook against the bowstring as Rowen prepared to let it fly, "If you won't tell me, maybe you'll talk to an arrow!"

"What is God's name are you doing, Rowen?!" a voice yelled from behind.

A look of relief swept over Sage's face as Ryo stepped into the dojo. He was still behind the sliding door, his practice swords hanging from his side. As he began to shut the door, Rowen dropped the bow and arrow to his side and sprinted over to where Ryo was standing.

"Something's wrong, Ryo." Sage yelled as he tugged harder, feeling the cloth finally begin to rip.

"Don't listen, Ryo. It's a tr-" Rowen began, but as he looked into Ryo's face, he saw the same ruby red eyes as Sage had possessed.

Rowen transformed into his blue layer, startling Ryo enough that he dropped his practice swords to the ground. Rowen dropped the bow and arrow to the floor, and flipped a few times away from Ryo's figure, his arms up protectively in front of his face.

"Stay away from me!" Rowen yelled as he backed away from Ryo's form.

Ryo slowly lifted his hands up to his chest, showing that he wasn't going to hurt him, "What's up, Ro? Tell me what's wrong."

"You know what's wrong, demon! You may have taken my friends, but I won't go so easily!"

Rowen was watching Ryo intently. He stopped moving away from Ryo, his back to where Sage had been pinned into the wall. He had been watching Ryo so closely that he hadn't noticed Sage had pulled free from the arrows pinning him to the wall. He was now in his layer, running around the dojo in an attempt to get behind Rowen.

"Rowen," Ryo said loud enough to cover Sage's footsteps, "we're your friends. We aren't going to hurt you."

Rowen scoffed, "I heard that one before, you bastard. You'll show me where you took Ryo and Sage, even if it takes a beating!"

Rowen began to rush up to Ryo, but a sudden clasp of arms wrapped around his ankles. He fell to the floor, busting his lip in the process. He rolled over on his back to quickly flip up, but Sage was straddling his waist, holding him tightly against the floor. Ryo was over his head, holding his arms down. Ryo had transformed into his own layer, but both were having a hard time keeping him down.

Rowen was thrashing wildly against his attackers, yelling and cursing at them, demanding that they let him up. Rowen didn't see his friends looking down on him; he saw demons smiling down on him, their mouths upturned into hideous snarls.

"Rowen, stop it, or I'm going to end up breaking one of your ribs." Sage warned as he tried to maintain his balance on Rowen's waist.

"Leave me alone, dammit! Haven't I been through enough?!" Rowen cried, tears pooling in his troubled turquoise eyes.

"Calm down, Rowen. You're being irrational." Ryo said as he held down his hands, reaching behind him for something.

Rowen watched Ryo's figure reach for something behind his back, panic slowly setting into his brain. He could taste the coppery blood on his lips, bringing horrible pictures of torture in his mind. But he mostly tried to think of his friends. Whatever they were going through, it was his entire fault. His tears spilled freely from his eyes, and he was embarrassed to show his anger and fear in front of the enemy.

Sage watched pitifully as Rowen struggled to keep his cool. He was so worried about something... Why would he think that someone had taken his friends? Sage watched as Ryo stretched to grab a scrap of cloth lying on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Sage as quietly.

"I am trying to grab that cloth to wipe the blood from his mouth." Ryo said as he snatched the cloth and began to pull it over to Rowen.

"Rowen, I'm going to-" Ryo began as he pulled the cloth from behind his back.

But Rowen didn't see a cloth.

He saw his dropped arrow, the end gleaming.

"NO!" he screamed, and flipped Sage off of his chest. Sage flew in the air into Ryo, knocking them both to the floor in a heap of flailing arms and legs.

Rowen jumped up and flew from the room, leaving Ryo and Sage calling after him.