Sage gave Ryo a stern look while at the same time, trying to stay as calm as he possibly could, "Don't do it Ryo, don't' give it to him."
"Trying to be brave I see. It figures, I am curious though, would you actually forfeit your life in order for your friend to keep the Dragon's Fire just to have him do what he needs to in order to get your other two friends back?" Oni asked as he tapped along Sage's neck.
"Yes I would. Just like they would do the same for any of us." Sage replied stubbornly.
"Sage…" Ryo seethed as he kept his eyes on them. He couldn't just stand by and let Sage do this. It wasn't right, he didn't want to risk anyone else's life just because of the decisions that he had to make in order to do the right thing. Ryo's anger was starting to build again. The decision to risk one life for two was starting to get to him. But what made it even worse, was that they are all his friends, and in some fashion, his family. It just wasn't fair to demand such a decision.
"Well, I'm waiting. Which is it Wildfire? Will you sacrifice another life just for the cause? At what price would it be worth to do the right thing?" Oni asked with a challenging tone.
"Ryo, do what you know is right. Listen to your heart, listen to your virtue, they'll help you find your answers." Sage instructed as he kept his eyes on him.
Oni watched with interest at Ryo's struggle. He was enjoying this, the demon was actually feeding off of Ryo's despair and sadness. But what Oni didn't notice was that what Ryo and Sage wanted him to do. Not exactly the way that they planned, but at least it was keeping him distracted long enough for them to do a double attack.
First, Sage elbowed Oni in the ribs and then flipped him forward as he flipped back. Second, Ryo brought his katanas into an X and then pinned him down as he towered over the demon. His eyes blazing angrily as he stared directly at Oni.
"What!? No! I don't believe this! You tricked me!" Oni exclaimed angrily as he was trying to break free.
Ryo smirked and then nodded, "Yea, I guess we did. Sage, you ok?"
"I'm fine Ryo, nothing that I can't heal. So now what do we do with him? We can't exactly set him free, and we can't bring him with us. Not to mention we're running out of time." Sage replied with a deep frown.
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In the spirit nexus, the Dark Harpy and her spirit hunters finally secured Kento and Kaye behind a barrier in her castle. "Looks like we won't have to waste any more time trying to find this place." Kento stated with a hint of sarcasm.
"It's hard to believe the two of you are foretold to be the ones to stop me and the merger between the two realms." Dark Harpy replied as she stood before them with her arms crossed.
"What's so hard to believe about that?" Kaye asked in slight annoyance.
"Just because it was so easy to capture you both. You'd think it would have been harder to do so. But now, it looks like you the ones that are at my mercy instead of the other way around." Dark Harpy replied smugly.
"Hey, you ever think it was part of our plan to get caught?" Kento asked in a huff as he crossed his arms.
"You," Dark Harpy laughed, "planned to get caught, by me and my hunters? I find that very hard to believe. No one is foolish enough to be caught on purpose."
Right at that moment, two black robed figures floated into the room and then floated in front of Ken to and Kaye. When the two black robed figures were in place, another one came in and then stationed self next to Dark Harpy.
Extreme fear ran through the spirit hunters. They've only seen these robed figures a couple of times, and each time, more and more members of their race were frightened into insanity, and then they were drained dry; leaving nothing but ashes. "Excuse us mistress, but we were hoping that we be able to leave now, since we did bring your prey to you." Balin suggested as he tried not to show his fear.
Dark Harpy glanced over at them and then with a wave of her hand she made the motion of being dismissed.
"Thank you mistress, thank you." Rajak replied as they bowed out and quickly as their feet could carry them, they'd left the room.
"Now I'm wondering if I should torture the two of you separately or at the same time. I believe it would be more amusing if it was done one at a time. Yes, I think that's the way it'll be done, but the next question is, who will go first?" Dark Harpy asked when looking them both over. "Which one has more pain, more suffering, or could it be possible they both are close to the same?"
The two black robed figures began to come closer to them. The one that was in front of Kaye reached out towards her, she turned her head away. But it kept on getting closer.
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Ryo frowned deeply and shook his head as he stayed where he was. "I'm not sure at the moment Sage. But you're right, we have to do something."
"You know what, why don't I just save you the trouble of making that decision." Oni replied as he flashed a blinding light into their eyes and then kicked Ryo off of him and then disappeared into one of the thieves' exits without a trace.
Ryo and Sage rubbed their eyes in order to get their focus back. "Should have known he was going to try something." Sage grumbled as he blinked for a little while.
Ryo staggered to stand and then walked over towards his katanas as soon as he could finally see straight. "Yea, 1 know. But even though he did get away, we still have the Dragon's Fire."
"You ok?" Sage asked as he looked over towards him.
"Yea, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, 1 just hope that this thing actually will lead us to where we need to go." Ryo replied as he looked directly at the item in his hands.
"Hey Ryo, just for the record, I did trust you do what you needed to do when Oni was making his threat." Sage said with a reassuring look.
Ryo smiled in relief as he sheathed his katanas. "Thanks, so, are you ready to see where this thing is going to lead us?"
Sage nodded, "Yea, let's get a move on before they get back." The two left and as soon as they were outside, the Dragon's Fire started to pulsate in Ryo's hands. Ryo turned slowly in a circle trying to find where they needed to go. Finally, when Ryo was facing a hidden path that's when it pulsated the strongest.
Ryo looked over towards Sage. "I guess we're going that way."
"I just hope that we don't run into any more surprises on the way. Let's just find what we need to find and then get ourselves back." Sage suggested as he walked with Ryo down the path.
Not too much further on the path, the two ronins came to a small cave. They looked around and saw nothing out of what seemed to be out of the ordinary. So they went inside. When they entered, the Dragon's Fire became brighter the further they walked. "We must be getting close to something." Ryo observed as they continued.
"I just hope that thing knows where it's taking us." Sage replied with a concerned frown.
"Yea, I'd say it took us to a dead end. There's nothing here. Maybe we should go back and..." Ryo started to say but before he could finish, the floor opened up and they both fell through and landed in a huge room which was decorated in mounds and mounds of jewels, and weapons.
Sage walked to the far wall and he couldn't believe what he saw. "Hey Ryo, I think you might want to see this. . "
Ryo frowned deeply as he approached. "Sage what are you talking...Whoa"
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"Hey, don't you dare touch her!" Kento warned in an angry tone as he glared at the black robed figure.
The figure stopped just centimeters from making contact and then withdrew its hand.
Dark Harpy smirked in amusement as she turned her attention towards him. "By your sudden outburst, then I'm guessing you're volunteering to be first? But don't think that by this, you'll be sparing her the same pain you'll be soon experiencing. On second thought, we'll do this at the same time. That way, it'll be more effective."
The two black robed figures secured their hands onto Kento and Kaye's heads, their eyes flickered, signifying they made mental contact with the prisoners. Then the figures suddenly made their kanji symbols flare as they went deeper and deeper into their psyche. They tore away the barricades that were blocking away the horrifying and painful memories that the two went through up till now. Kento and Kaye yelled in pain and horror as the figures continued to do their work.
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Over where Cye and Rowen were sleeping next to Kento and Kaye's physical bodies. The two ronins could feel their own kanji symbols flair upon their foreheads as well. They shot up quickly from their slumber, and threw their blankets off as they stood up and looked at their friends. They saw their kanji symbols flaring as well, for some reason, they could also feel the same pain.