Author's Note: Hey, chapter seventeen! This is my favorite number! I can't believe I got it this far!

Water and Fire

Sea green eyes swept around their pale blue surroundings and came to rest on the figure before them. He was muscular in build, clothed in dark blue, white, and red with gold. . . well. . . tails! The stranger opened dark, cold eyes that burned into the light-blue clad boy. The harder fighter noticed the surprise and slight fear in his companion, and softened his gaze a little as if in apology.

Neither pair of eyes noticed the grey mist that was slowly materializing throughout the room.

"I am Ikki, Phoenix of Athena." His voice was as friendly as a growl could be.

"Cye. Of Torrent." The oldest Ronin returned the greeting haltingly, unsure of whether he was with friend or foe, and dearly hoping it was friend. This guy was not one to be taken lightly. Not to mention, he was free!

"How. . . Oh!" Cye murmured, realization dawning on him as the other man retrieved the strange metal that had protected him before he'd closed his eyes and sent it behind him. Cye, too, powered down, and soon was likewise loose from the hold of his biting chains. The room, despite it's pallor, had been pulsing into deeper shades of purple, as if it were a structure of flesh and blood rather than the less animate creations of the earth. Now the beat waned in power and the air held a distant cry of pain before letting it drop again to silence.

"You catch on quick. I noticed before that strength wasn't cutting it for anyone, so I tried that. Looks like it worked for both of us." Ikki smiled as best he could, though a smoldering fury ignited his eyes and made Cye keep a hopefully safe distance.

"I think my friend is that way, um, Ikki." Cye said softly, hoping not to offend. He did not want to fight until he had to, and certainly not a Phoenix of any kind, much less the goddess of battle! Regardless of his personal beliefs, which did not include deities of any Western nation, he thought it better not to tempt fate, just in case. Not to mention anyone who was openly affiliated with an Ancient Greek goddess was probably totally and completely insane!

"Then we should go that way, shouldn't we? Probably one of my friends is with him. We seemed to have been broken into pairs, one from each team. I take it you're not with the Warlords?" It was a challenge as much as a question.

"That's a long story. We were enemies, but I'm not sure where we stand now." Cye answered truthfully, meeting the larger man's gaze, however cruel.

"I was starting to think you're spine was made entirely of metal. Glad to see there's more to you than just your armor." Phoenix laughed harshly, his searing eyes slightly more approving now.

"You're lucky Kento isn't here. He'd want to use you for a punching bag for that." Cye narrowed his own ocean colored orbs, then shrugged and turned to face the wall behind him, skillfully twirling his yari from his back.

"And you don't?" Phoenix wondered.

"I don't like you enough to care what you think of me, honestly. It's plain we have a common enemy, let's focus on that first. It's effort better spent." Ikki couldn't help but laugh as he watched Cye test the springy walls.

'Somehow, this Cye of Torrent reminds me of Shun, but also of Seiya, making him both endearing and irritating as all get out!' The gruff firebird mused.

Torrent's Super Wave Smasher blasted easily through the resilient material. They continued on through yet another room beyond this first before the water had the adverse effect of sending three human-shaped shadows towards the floor in a hurry! Despite his surprise, Ikki could make out two familiar figures among them.

--

Grey eyes met blue as two warriors simultaneously awoke from the strangest dream they'd ever had. Then, they in unison discovered they hadn't been sleeping. Four eyes widened in surprise, than swept their new prison. The small room was ice-blue, with no visible light source, but the walls pulsed with grey energy as if living things themselves, a slight bit of red blending into steely blue with each faint flaring, than retreating once more until the next heart beat. As the two young men awoke more fully, the chamber seemed to speed it's throbbing colors. The captives were still bound to their invisible tablets, the chains grating against green, white, and red in time with the now palpitating walls.

"This night just gets better and better. Ug." The white tiger-eyed speaker strained against his chains, his labored breaths sounding vocalizations of disgust.

"I know what you mean. This is a regular fun house." The taller, black haired boy responded, making his red-clad acquaintance wince. The speaker raised an eyebrow in question.

"Bad memories. It's a long story." The wiry fighter answered, earning a puzzled look from the young man opposite him, wearing strange green armor. "I'm thinking that you and I aren't enemies. I'm also thinking that we should probably get to be friends real quick if we're going to get out of this. I'm Ryo of the Wildfire, Ronin Warrior of Virtue. I won't be offended if you haven't heard of us -- I hadn't heard of us, either, until I got my armor."

"Well, I haven't, and I'm Shiryu of the Dragon cloth, a Knight of Athena."

"As in the greek Athena?" Ryo gawked.

"As in the goddess Athena, yes." Shiryu nodded seriously.

"Riiight. Okay. . ." Wildfire was spared from his stuttering when a mist began to gather in the ice-blue room. It took an all too familiar form, making both of the original occupants' stomachs turn.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Dragon menaced.

"Now, now pet. None of that." Her body spoke of fatigue. Her voice was hoarse and crackled with each word. Her once raven hair was now the same dirty grey as her mist. Her lips had lost a considerable amount of pigment, now holding a faint purple. Also, her lovely face had aged, wrinkles creasing it's surface like the waves of a calm day at sea. Her every movement was sluggish, and her outline less distinct.

"This won't hurt me a bit, and it will only take a moment. That was a nasty trick you little rascals played on me. Now it's my turn to win back what is mine. You are already in the realm of death, poised upon the threshold. Give up that lovely energy and I'll let you slip away into oblivion. No more worries or responsibilities, your spirits still fresh and pure, it's the perfect escape. Come. It's not like you have a choice in the matter." She spoke in a gentle tone, as gentle as could be managed by her harsh voice.

She placed her hand upon each of their chests and they found they could not reply. They watched in mute horror as a pale purple energy surrounded them, and wracked their bodies with pain. Each closed their eyes and opened their mouth in silent screams, but no matter how they struggled, the chains glowed more brightly and grew tighter around their bodies. Strangely, they felt almost as though their armor and cloth grew tighter as well.

Ryo, for lack of a better idea, banished the pulsing metal. Armor and chains fell from his lithe frame and dissolved, causing him to lose his balance from the energy drain and the shear lack of support. He rose again, swatting away the howling mist from Shiryu as Dragon got the message. With some effort, the Knight threw his cloth from him, and it reassembled behind him. Ereshkigal once again dematerialized, leaving the slightest vapor and an echoing roar of defeat.

Ryo's blue-flame eyes dulled and closed, heavy with sleep, but he shook his head to clear it and recalled his armor, gaining a second wind in the process. Shiryu, too, reclaimed his cloth after a moment of rest.

"Boy, wasn't that fun." The Ronin leader panted, clutching a splitting head ache.

"Not really." Shiryu agreed. "So, because the bonds were meant to hold energy in, when we lowered our energy levels of our own accord, we were released. We tricked it into thinking we weren't there." Dragon said to himself, completely ignored by Ryo whose mind was on other things.

Wildfire swayed a little on his feet as he crossed the room to the wall behind Shiryu, knowing Cye was somewhere in that direction. But Ryo was now regaining his strength. "I hope the others are having a better time of this than us."

"They aren't." A familiar voice made the younger men jump. "We are on the third and highest floor of her keep. Torrent and Phoenix are on this floor, the rest are below us, scattered on the other two."

"Dais, what do you want?" The boys asked in unison, surprising one another.

"To help myself, and that means helping you." The spider replied irritably. They could both tell he was in worse shape than either of them.

"Should have known there'd be self interest in there. You Warlords are certainly good at that." Ryo muttered darkly.

"Such biting wit, Wildfire. Truly, you hurt my feelings." The one-eyed man sneered facetiously.

"Good." Ryo replied heatedly as he struck the wall. It bent with his punch, then snapped back into place once his arm was removed, somewhat like a rubber band.

"Great." Dragon commented dryly, rolling his eyes. "I take it you know how far that thing can bend."

"It can't withstand an attack of any real strength. Why don't you use that nasty kick that so effectively rearranged Sekhmet's jaw?" The Warlord answered the statement directed towards him.

"Whoa, wait a minute, he took out a Warlord without a weapon? How?!" Ryo spun about to look directly into Shiryu's eyes in hopes of finding the truth there.

"Let him show you." Dais replied as he stepped from his corner and gently pushed Dragon towards the wall.

Shiryu glared at the Warlord, but silently agreed, sending a Rising Dragon through the wall.

"Oh." Wildfire replied, wide eyed. "Wow."

"Our bodies are our weapons." Shiryu explained. "Our cloth is merely meant to focus our energy, direct it and guide it. I take it yours. . ."

"Our armor gives us a great deal of our physical strength, but that's not all there is to us." Ryo assured. Dragon glanced over for any sign of defensiveness, but it was just meant as a statement of fact.

"I'm sure it isn't." Dragon nodded in understanding.

Unbeknownst to the two speakers, their white-haired shadow smiled at the conversation. The three stopped before yet another wall, but they had barely enough time to dodge as a cylindrical beam of water burst through the elastic material. The three scattered associates could just make out two forms standing in the gap

-----

"Sorry 'bout that!" Cye's foul mood lifted as worry kicked in. He rushed to Ryo's side, recognizing his friend immediately and helping him up.

"We have got to get walkie-talkies or something,. We can not keep doing this." The Ronin leader smiled as he regained his feet. Dais was back in an upright position, not that anyone was particularly inclined to help him if he hadn't been, and Ikki had helped Shiryu up.

"Yeah, we probably should find a better way to reassemble than attacking one another. And look, the third person in that equation is here, too." Torrent replied rather bitterly, glaring at the spider.

"Ha ha. You boys should be thanking us. If we hadn't given you such a hard time, you'd never have gained the strength you now have. You owe us your lives." The Warlord brushed himself off indignantly.

"Because you tried to kill us?! Next time you want to do us a favor, do us one and don't!" Ryo shot back.

"You as confused as I am?" The Knights muttered to one another, watching this exchange with wide eyes, keeping a respectful, and healthy distance. After a moment, Shiryu decided to break the stare down.

"I'm Shiryu of the Dragon cloth. Ikki, this is Ryo of the Wildfire, Ronin Warrior of Virtue."

The three would-be combatants' attention shifted in astonishment while Ikki replied as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Ikki of the Phoenix cloth. All I got out of him is Cye of Torrent."

"My virtue is Trust." Cye answered coldly after another moment.

"Whose virtue is trust." Phoenix smirked at the smaller boy.

After a few rolled eyes and an uncomfortable silence, Wildfire spoke again.

"Anyone else worried that that was too easy?" Ryo queried.

"Me." Four voices responded, each one at a different level of enthusiasm.

"You are growing more astute, Wildfire, I am impressed." Dais replied dryly as he began to walk in a new direction. "Now instead of a lucky, impassioned boy, you're a lucky, ardent young man." After a thoughtful pause, he softened his statement and added. "That's a compliment, by the way, as all men by nature are entitled to the occasional idiocy of the stronger emotions."

Ryo just stared at the Warlord, openmouthed. Shiryu and Ikki stared at the Ronins, finding their expressions most entertaining.

"Shall we continue?" Dais asked without turning back. "She is recouping, but don't think leaving this floor will be as easy as getting around on it. The others must find one another, and our attacks must be in unison if we are any of us to get out. The catch, is, of course, in order for any of us to have the power to take her down when she finally confronts us, we can't waste strength on going up or down."

"Wait a minute, so you're saying we can't communicate with the others, yet we're supposed to be able to work in unison?! How. . ." Shiryu's question was cut short.

"We trust them to be getting the same advice, and attack as soon as she shows herself. We can expect the others to do the same, and all that's left is the hope that she shows herself to all of us at the same time." Cye explained, reading the plan in the Illusion Warlord's eye.

"Humph. I think I like this one, even if he is an annoying runt." Ikki laughed.

"Watch it, pal. . ."

"Easy, Ryo. Let it go. We need both of you in one piece, it's not worth it." Torrent waved a dismissive hand as he tiredly plopped down. "Right now, I have a headache, and I do not want to start this all over again." The water Ronin sighed as he buried his face in his hands. Ryo looked with concern at his older friend, glared at Phoenix for a moment, than sat beside Cye. Dragon also sent a look to his fellow Knight, saying without words "What was that for?" Ikki just shrugged and smiled.

'This is going better than I planned' A shadowed figure chuckled to itself, watching the boys with amusement.

-----------------

Well that was a nice long chapter of nothing. Oh well. It's a lot better than the first drafts of this section. Just trust me on this.