WARNING: If you get offended easily by language or the use of religious references, DO NOT READ. Also, descriptive... maiming, sort of. What do you say when you're trying to give warning of descriptions of injury? It's not exactly violence as it is a result of violence... I give up. Really. Stupid censorship.

When I came to, it was dark. Blissfully so. It felt like I had my eyes closed. Or had I never opened them?

My left arm was numb. I count this as a blessing. I'd rather not be reminded how it feels like to have my ligaments torn. My right arm lay limp by my side. I could still twitch my fingers. It was amusing to see, actually. But I've lost too much blood to do any more than that.

The first time I had moved it was painful. A torn piece of metal had dug itself into my skin. I'm sure it got between the two bones in my forearm. Makes me want to move it even less.

I know a few of my ribs were broken. Gabriel's not weak enough to do any less. Though it was a miracle that none of them punctured my lungs.

A miracle… Heh. A miracle from God that I didn't get killed by one of his Angels only to die here alone. It was a strong possibility that I wouldn't make it. I could rupture an organ if I got up. And even if I managed that, I didn't have the strength to break out of this catacomb of a room. And no one knew I was here. Fancy that. No rescue team.

I let out a quiet sigh, savoring the feel of cool stone against my skin, content with hearing my breathing and mine alone.

I was tired. I didn't want to move. I should worry, actually… But it didn't bother me. Dying here…

It didn't bother me at all.

Sabel

Chapter 3: Man in Question

By Little Ucchan

"How is he?"

Dais looked up in his chair, then cast a glance into the next room. "Unconscious. But alive."

Kayura sighed. "Good. I had feared for the worse. The extent of those injuries…"

"Mm. If we had found him any later than when we did, we'd be tending to a corpse instead of a wounded man. Though…" Dais gazed at the adjacent room again, the position of his chair giving him a perfect view of the mysterious man lying in bed. "I wouldn't be so quick as to call that fortunate."

"Dais!" Kayura cried. "How can you so easily say that about a man who had narrowly escaped death?"

"I don't mean to be callous," he explained. "But how did such a man come across those injuries? An even better question is how he ended up in that hidden room within our walls? Under these circumstances, I feel it's better to err on the side of caution. We do not know his reasons for being here."

"Ah," Kayura murmured, feeling chastised. "How foolish of me."

Dais softened his expression. "You are still young, Kayura. Think that a blessing that your heart does not easily worry. I, however, have seen too many things in my day to have such an open nature."

"Still, I think he's alright. And I'm not just siding with him because he's wounded."

"Oh?" Dais raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you siding with him?"

"Because…" she said, remembering when they had first found him, lying in a crumbled heap in that strange, sealed room. "Because…"

The upturn of his lips. That sense of joy in his eyes, gazing at her.

"He looked at me kindly."

"I don't like this. Of all the things…"

"You're the one who's always itching for something to happen. Now when it finally does, you're dissatisfied."

"I was hoping for a border skirmish, or an assassination attempt or something," Cale replied, sifting through the belongings on the table with more irritation. "Not some guy popping up in the castle. And Kayura! How she devotes all her time tending to him!"

"So, you don't trust him?"

"Of course not!" Cale cried, slamming his palms flat against the table. "And, frankly, I don't see how you can."

Sekhmet glanced at him from across the table, their eyes locking for a brief battle before he lost interest and focused on the items on the table. "Forgive me for not formulating opinions about a man I've only seen unconscious."

Cale dropped his head and sighed. "You're a nuisance."

"Likewise."

Cale growled, and continued on their task, picking up a strange metal device with an orb embedded in its center. "What do you suppose half this stuff is?"

He was fiddling with the knobs on the side when Sekhmet looked up. "Stop messing with that and just look for something that can tell us who he is."

"Tch." Cale set the object down and picked up the sword that had come with the bag, hefting it in his hand before unsheathing the blade. "Nice make." He sighted down the blade, then re-sheathed it, careful when setting it down on the table. "You think he's any good?"

Sekhmet was one breath short of snapping at him. "I don't know," he said, picking up a bundle of some sort, unwrapping the cloth. "I suppose you can ask him yourself when he wakes up."

"If he is any good, I kinda hope he turns out to be an enemy."

A book. He turned it around, noting no title written on it, then rolled his eyes at Cale's comment. "You have a perverse idea of fun," Sekhmet said as he opened the cover. "Ever since you lost Halo as an opponent—"

A photo slipped out of the front page.

Sekhmet stared at it for a moment, picking it up to hold it closer to his face. What the hell?

"Cale! Sekhmet!"

Cale cleaned out his ear, glaring at the doorframe. "We're right here, Dais. No need to yell."

Dais took in breath. He had ran all the way there. "He's awake," he announced.

Cale's eyes widened. "What! Already?"

"Yeah. Kayura's with him right now."

"You left her with him! Are you out of your mind?"

Dais frowned, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't like it either, but she kicked me out."

"Geez," Cale scratched his head in irritation. "That girl… Hey Sekhmet!" Sekhmet tore his gaze away from the photo. "Let's get going. We can do this later."

"Mn." He slipped the photo beneath his keikogi and followed.

Kayura sat in a chair at the foot of the bed, trying not to lean forward as she watched the man raise the bowl towards him. It was the fourth time he had tried, and each time, he had to lower his arm, the pain preventing him from straining it for too long.

Her hands sat on her lap, clenching the fabric of her kimono as a nervous habit. When he looked as if he could not carry out a fifth attempt, she opened her mouth. "Are you sure you don't need my help? Your wounds…"

"Heh." He smiled, the simple gesture making her lose her nerve. "That's kind of you. And I appreciate it, but…" He looked down at the tray of food sitting on his lap, a determined frown crossing his lips. "I have to do this. I must recover as quickly as possible."

"Then let me—"

"No." He shook his head. "I don't want you to waste any more energy on me."

"But," she blinked back her shock. "How did you know I was the one that healed you?"

Again, that gentle smile. "Intuition, I suppose."

"Ah," she let it go at that, content, for now, in watching him try to eat. He was stubborn. And she rarely tolerated injured men being stubborn with her. But she let him be. Something about his type of stubbornness was endearing. Maybe it was the way he spoke to her. The humility in his voice; the genuine gratitude that was there. She couldn't help but admire his efforts.

He picked up the bowl again, staring at his own reflection in the broth for a moment before raising it towards him once again. Kayura saw him wince halfway, but this time, he bore the pain and brought the rim to his lips, sipping it into his mouth.

"Delicious," he said after a moment and set the bowl down. "Absolutely delicious. Did you make this yourself?"

Kayura gave a humble nod, blushing slightly. "It's nothing special. Just simple miso soup really."

"I think you belittle your skills." And with that, he raised the bowl to her in a toast before drinking from it again, this time more eagerly, finding new strength with every gulp. "Ah!" He set the bowl down on the tray and laughed. "But then again, it's been a while since I've had a decent meal. So forgive me if I'm giving you too much praise."

"Oh, that's fine." She offered him a smile. "Please, continue eating."

"I will! Thank you!"

Kayura was amazed at how quickly he was to recover. With every bite of food, it seemed his strength had returned tenfold, and soon, he was maneuvering his chopsticks without the jerky movements he had before. She doubted the pain had gone away. He had simply chosen to ignore it, and how strong his will must have been to ignore such wounds!

She sat back in her seat, in awe at this stranger that had suddenly appeared in their home. There was so much that she wanted to ask him. So many questions, like what he was doing in the Nether realm, and where he had received those wounds. They were so fresh, he must have just come out of a battle. But how he got into that room was a mystery to her. Sekhmet had to burn a hole through the floor with his swords in order to reach the chamber itself, and the only door in and out of that room was rusted shut.

Kayura decided to hold all of her inquiries for later, taking this opportunity to study him. His dirty blonde hair, which had been kept in a ponytail, was now down, falling just below his shoulders, framing the long face of an older man. Not as slender as Dais' but of some similarity. And rough and a bit rebellious, like Cale's. Still, he was much older than the both of them, physically. From what she could guess, he looked to be pushing thirty. But what struck her the most was his eyes; a pale, almost crystalline purple hue that conveyed so much. She had a feeling those same eyes, however, could hide many secrets.

"Am I that fascinating?"

Kayura started, then looked away. "No. I mean… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright. Actually," he chuckled, "It's quite comforting."

"Comforting?"

"Mm-hm."

"To have a perfect stranger stare at you?"

He paused. A flicker of some emotion passed by those beautiful eyes, but Kayura wasn't able to decipher it. He smiled again, charmed. "Yes. It is."

She was certain now that she was blushing, and asked if he wanted more food to distract herself.

He held out his bowl, his face beaming at the prospect. "Miso soup would be nice."

Kayura held the tray of empty plates between her waist and hand, reaching with her free one to close to the door behind her. The warlords were waiting for her in the hall.

"Well?" Cale asked, impatient as always.

"He's doing fine. Voracious appetite that I've ever seen, as if he's been half starved for years. But he's recovering quickly. The food is helping."

"Is that all? You don't have a name? Where he's from? Anything?"

Kayura frowned. "I hadn't asked."

Cale breathed in air through his teeth, biting back a curse before moving past Kayura for the door. Kayura, unfortunately, moved with him.

Her back slammed against the door, blocking him from reaching the handle or sliding it open. Not that it would stop him. Her weight was not enough to stop a 220 pound warlord from opening a damn door. But she hoped that he wouldn't try with her there anyway.

"Kayura," Cale warned, resisting the urge to cross his arms right in front of her.

"There is no proof that he is either friend or foe," Kayura said firmly. "We should treat him as neither."

"So you say!"

Kayura glared. "I am simply caring for the injured. He has every right to receive treatment for his wounds, and until he is better, I will give him my attention. But that does not mean that I will side with him on anything else." She was glad that Dais didn't take that opportunity to mention their previous conversation. It wouldn't help her win her argument with Cale.

"Fine," Cale conceded but did not back away. "But we still have a job to do. He's neutral till we have proof of his identity and his reasons for being here, and we can't get that until we talk to him. Now, as his nursemaid, are you going to stop us from protecting this castle and the people in it?"

Kayura slumped her chin a little. He had her there.

"Kayura is not going to stop us from doing our job as the protectors of this castle," Sekhmet stepped in, approaching the both of them.

"Thank you," Cale said.

"But she's not going to let you in either."

"What!"

"That's why I'm going to go in instead." He nodded to Kayura. "Will this be alright, My Lady?" Kayura looked up at the other man, deciding for a moment what to do, before quietly nodding and stepping aside.

"Hold it." This time it was Cale holding the door closed. He looked to Sekhmet, pissed. "You're not going in there."

"I'm the better candidate."

"You're biased."

"Less than you."

Dais signed, tired of watching them bicker. "Cale, let him pass."

"No way. He won't ask the right questions."

"And neither will you," Dais said. "That man doesn't know that Kayura is the ruler of our realm. Let Sekhmet act as a representative of the governing authority and leave an impression, and then we'll see where it goes from there."

He still held his ground.

"Cale, any idiot can pick up on your intentions right now. If you go in there hostile, he'll close up, and we'll lose our opportunity to learn anything. Sekhmet is the closest we can get to neutral among the four of us."

After a moment, Cale snapped his hand away from the door handle. "God damn it, I hate it when you're right!" He crossed his arms over his broad chest as Sekhmet pushed the sliding door open. "Just don't forget anything," he growled.

"I'll remember to get his name and phone number for you."

Cale almost kicked him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
My God, this one a day thing is actually working? Go figure.

Ah, warlord/future Sage interaction, sort of. Anyone else thought Cale was going to blow up the room with that mini detonator he was so casually playing with? I'm sure Sekhmet would have been pleased. I love writing about the warlords, btw. It's because I don't do it that often.

Oh, and here's something I just want to bring up out of spite. But anyone got the advertisement bar for True while reading fanfics on the side of your screen with the big breasted woman showing a lot of cleavage and licking her lips? Cause if they're griping about under aged readers reading stuff they shouldn't, then they shouldn't advertise shit like that for money. It's not becoming. But then again, I can't really expect much from the internet.

Now, to address some people who'd love to kill me:

Let us take a moment to worship Ginzai and embarrass her a bit because I love her YST fics, but am too shy to tell her. Any Seiji/Sage or Cale/Anubisu fan should read Darkness Bind Them and praise her so much that she'll continue writing it again, (I hope.) Oh! And the real point of this is that I'm honored she likes Sabel. ) Thank you Ginzai!

Ebben, I'm dropping the rewrite for RWU for now because I realized that if I had continued on, I would have rewritten EVERTHING, instead of just cleaning house (sweatdrop), which was not really what I had planned to do. But I'm posting soon. (looks to Panthera). Yup. I'm definitely posting a new RWU chapter soon. (waves nervously to Panthera). You know you're my favorite fan… right?

And for Mystic's question, you can view it as the Christian apocalypse; I'm sure it would also seem that way to the survivors in the fic, but for me, I'm using the term Armageddon loosely. To describe what I am doing is more along the lines of borrowing the mythical properties of the Christian religion for my own purposes, but I am not following the outline described in the Bible about the Second Coming. I felt it would take away from the story's focus if I added that kind of detail in. This is a Sage-centered fic, after all. (smile)