This sucker sure is getting long. Rest assured, there's plenty more. And for those of you upset about that fact, you may address your complaints to the people that like my work. ^.^;;

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

The Casting of Shadows

By Phoenix Cubed

Chapter 11: Blank Slates

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Ivory slept for three days. Kento, Rowen, Ryo, and Cye took turns watching over the girl as she lay silent and unmoving in the guest bedroom. Sage, still very tired from healing as much as he could of the injuries, rotated between sleeping and meditating by her side. When not on a shift, the Ronins were at school, anxiously rushing through their day and picking up homework for the absentee. Thankfully, Spring Break was fast approaching and soon they would all be able to take a rest. Jamten and his posse had not shown themselves since the incident. It was a mixed blessing for the Ronins, as none were quite sure that they would have been able to hold their tempers around the five malicious would-be children. But not having them around made them nervous. No one had any idea what they were up to.

With every turn that came his way, Rowen took up his vigil with quiet seriousness. For six hours every day he would pull up a chair and straddle it backwards, folding his arms across the back of the chair and laying his chin on the tops of his hands. Strata's cobalt blues would gaze at her, his irises never leaving her battered face for a moment. It was as if he were somehow having a silent communion with her. The stars knew it was possible. Everything else seemed to be.

Mia tiptoed around the house, making less noise than a sleeping mouse. Her charges were in an oddly subdued mood lately, and though she was bursting with questions and curiosity about her new guest, she chose to keep her mouth closed. What she really wanted to do was go upstairs and study the new guest so that she might discover the infamous creature's history with the Ronins and the Armors in general. Mia was bursting to learn about the Phoenix's abilities and what knowledge she might have collected through the eons of millenniums she had lived through. And perhaps, even see a demonstration of the awesome powers she so coveted.

But with the way her young friends were acting and the condition the Phoenix herself was actually in, chances of anything happening were very slim. So Mia had to be content with stepping quietly about her house, careful not to disturb the precarious balance that had somehow shifted in the unlikely vicinity of her home.

Ryo yawned and stretched further out on the couch that had been temporarily moved into the sick room. Just below him, White Blaze lay in a relaxed hunter's crouch, his long body angled towards the bed. The ancient tiger's eyes were trained on the sleeping girl and the blonde warrior of Halo that meditated at the foot of her bed. Every now and then he would groom himself or sit up and give Ryo a quick rasp on the cheek; but soon enough he would settle back down to his previous position, diligently waiting along side his long time friend for the girl to wake.

Absently Ryo reached down to scratch between the big cat's ears, making sure to hit the ticklish spot just below the tuft. Wildfire was three hours into his shift on the last scheduled school day before a week and a half long vacation. On a table not two feet behind his head lay a grand heap of homework, waiting to be completed. Ryo's excuse for not doing it was simple—he didn't want to. If someone asked, he might say something about not wanting to be distracted from his duties. After all, it just wouldn't do for the Phoenix to disappear while he had his nose buried in a book. But truthfully, the leader of the legendary Ronin Warriors was simply experiencing an acute case of Kento-ism. The world outside was bright and beautiful with a freshly mowed lawn just begging to be torn up by a tiger and a soccer ball. He could practically hear the forest trails screaming for someone to walk along them, exploring every new deer path and animal print. Ryo forced his face away from the mountain view that was currently beckoning him with its wind swept song and sun kissed peaks. Nightfall would be beautiful tonight, but Ryo had the watch until eight. The sun would be long gone before then, leaving behind his only daughter in Ryo's bored care.

The Ronin sighed and rolled off the couch, sliding down White Blaze's side and landing gently on the floor. With practiced ease he was on his feet and walking over to the bed before most eyes had a chance to blink. Ryo blew a stray lock of ebony out of his face and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked down at Ivory as she slept for the third day straight. The bruises were nearly gone, thanks to Sage's excellent healing abilities, and the swelling around her eye was almost minimum. Her arm, however, was still in a splint, and the empath had instructed it to stay there until he removed it personally. Cuts that criss-crossed about the visible skin were also closing, leaving only shiny white scars in evidence of where vicious lacerations once raged. Beneath those marks, though, were duller, minutely raised lines. Scars of times past, permanent reminders of the battles the Phoenix had fought and lived through. Rowen once said that some were so old that not even the Fire could recall exactly where they came from. But Ryo found this hard to believe. How could anyone forget such a momentous event in life like a battle? It didn't seem right somehow.

Ryo moved away from the girl and walked towards his blonde friend. He hadn't moved in a while. In fact, it had been a very long while; ever since he had finished patching up Ivory. After the initial healing, the teen had simply sat down on the chest at the foot of the bed in a locus position and lapsed into a deep, meditative trance. Ryo wondered how long his comrade could stay like that. The temptation to poke Sage and find out just how deep the teen had delved was almost overwhelming. Almost. Sage had a nasty habit of waking violently from his meditation sessions if disturbed. In Ryo's mind, the old adage of 'let sleeping dogs lie' came from 'let sleeping empaths lie.'

Still, it was awfully tempting. Creeping close, Ryo was inches from Sage's face. He carefully brought up a hand and waved slowly across the boy's face. Nothing. Ryo snapped his fingers.

Sage's eyes flew open.

"Ah!" Ryo yelled and threw himself backward in surprise, managing to trip over White Blaze and land with a painful thump on his backside.

"Ryo!" Sage quickly stood and made his way over to the Ronin leader. "Are you all right?"

Wildfire waved his friend away, "yeah, I'm fine, Sage. What's up?"

The blonde scooted back slightly to give Ryo room to stand, "we've got problems."

Ryo's eyes went serious and deep, "what sort of problems?"

Sage's eyes flicked briefly to the bed. "Its Ivory, she's—"

There came a moan from the bed as the occupant began to stir. Both boys looked to the bed, slightly startled.

"Sage, " Ryo made a quick snap decision, "go get Rowen and the others, hurry!"

"Right!" Sage sped from the room just as the girl struggled onto her elbows, clutching her disheveled head with a bandaged hand.

Ryo felt like panicking. What was he supposed to do? Ivory was staring at her wrapped limbs like she'd never seen them before. She tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, but the coarse material irritated her more than anything. The girl shook her head in an attempt to better clear her vision, though Ryo decided that to be a bad move. Ivory seemed to as well, because a moment later, she began to waver uncertainly before leaning over the side of her bed and retching. Thankfully, there was a garbage bin close to the bed, and Ryo sprang to her side, putting it a more convenient angle for her to be sick in.

That turned about to be a short time. Ryo felt an odd pang in his stomach. The girl didn't have enough food in her system to make much of a mess.

After a moment Ivory was still, and Ryo carefully helped her to sit back on the bed. The others entered just then, slow and quiet as if they were treading around an easily spooked animal. Not noticing the new arrivals, Ivory began to rock unsteadily from side to side once more. The urge to panic again resurfaced; Ryo looked to Cye for help.

Cye took the cue, "easy, dear," she said, joining Ryo at the bedside. "You don't want to be sick again with nothing in your stomach."

The girl jerked up and stared at Cye; fright crossed her face as she tried to pull away from her helpers. But Ryo and Cye were finely honed warriors, and a sickly patient that had been in a near coma for three days couldn't hope to tear away from their gentle but firm grips.

"Let go! Please, I haven't done anything!" The girl cried, trying to cower away.

Shock hit Cye square in the face. She teetered backwards, her hold on Ivory gone.

"Cye!" Kento reached out to steady his friend, unsure of what was happening.

Torrent's eyes were large with disbelief, "She thinks…how awful!"

Ryo continued to hold Ivory, but his grip was unsure. "What, Cye?"

The orb of Trust suddenly appeared in front of Cye. She snatched it from the air in a white-knuckle grip. Immediately, a blue aura surrounded and hid the girl until it disappeared to reveal the blue sub armor of the Torrent.

"Cye, no!" Sage grabbed Torrent's arm, preventing her from moving forward. "If you do that—"

"Whatever happens will be a damned lot better than if we left her like she is," Cye snapped.

"Whoa, hold on." Rowen stepped forward suddenly, placing himself between the other Ronins and Ivory. "What's going on?"

"She's frightened to death, Rowen," Cye responded, her voice low with fury. "She's terrified that we're going to hurt her. She'll go out of her mind if we don't calm her down."

Sage shook his head, "she won't have a mind left if you do this, Cye."

"It's a chance we'll have to take," she shot at him, pulling her arm free of his grip. "She's not going to settle down on her own. And if she panics, there's no telling what'll happen."

There came a shriek from the vicinity of the bed. Rowen looked to see Ryo doing his best to soothe the girl in a steady, even voice, but the sallow husk of the Phoenix only panicked further. She pulled as hard as she could and wriggled, desperately trying to escape the dark haired boy's grip. Already the bandages on her arms were blooming with small stains of scarlet where the tender skin over the healing wounds had not been strong enough to hold under the pressure of her thrashing.


Rowen looked back to his friends. Cye's vision flicked back and forth between meeting his eyes and keeping a watch on Ivory. When she looked at him, her gaze was expectant but impatient. Sage, on the other hand, had schooled his face into a mask of blank neutrality. Whatever he felt to be the correct path on this matter was anyone's guess.

Ivory, Rowen could no longer think of her as the Phoenix, cried out again in a tone of abject terror and human fright. Kento swore softly and moved to help Ryo try and calm her down. Swallowing the nervousness that was cumulating in his throat, Rowen looked at Cye and nodded.

"Do it," he told her, his voice on the verge of cracking under the pressure of his decision.

Torrent immediately sprang into action. Pushing Kento gently aside, Cye approached the girl once more and laid her fingertips gently on the girl's temples. Ivory froze, unsure of what to do. Cye closed her eyes as her virtue began to glow prominently on her brow.

"Trust," she whispered.

The effect wasn't instantaneous, but it was close. Ivory herself began to radiate the calm blue of Torrent and the kanji briefly flickered across her own forehead. Then her eyes began to droop slightly and her breathing slowed. Ivory wilted in Ryo's grip, her resistance gone. He let go of her as Cye removed her fingers and opened her eyes. She smiled, but the usual lightness of the action was conspicuously absent, "all better," she said.

Four Ronins and a tiger gathered closer to the bed, trying to see what Cye had deemed as cured. For a moment, Ivory's eyes remained shuttered closed and it looked as if she had fallen back to sleep. But then, like a kitten's eyes cracking open for the very first time, her eyelashes fluttered to reveal unfocused, watery blue irises. She blinked several times to try and clear the crust and lint from them and tried to rub them with her bandaged hand, but Cye reached up and caught her wrist in a gentle grip. It was then that the girl seemed to finally take notice of the other room occupants. Her face took on an expression of surprise and fear, and to the Ronins, it was disconcerting sight, for it told them that she had no recognition of any of them whatsoever.

"Wh-wha—who?" She stammered, disoriented and frightened. Ivory tried to retract and move away from the tight semi circle the five made around her, but Cye maintained her grip and kept her still.

Torrent cooed quietly to her patient, "easy now, you're all right."

"R-right?" Ivory seemed to become only more confused.

By her bed, Sage groaned and dropped his head into his hands, "I was afraid of this."

"Don't worry," said Cye, "nothing's going to happen to you, Ivory."

Ivory looked at feebly at Cye, "who?"

Ryo was beginning to catch onto what Sage had been talking about. He kneeled down by the bedside, catching the girl's attention. "Do you know who we are?" He asked her, carefully wording his question. With little hesitation the girl shook her head. Bracing himself for the inevitable answer, he asked one final question. "Do you know who you are?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, not understanding the question. Then the reality of his words hit her. Ivory's already pale face fell to ash and her lip quivered as she shook her head back and forth in a panic, "no!" She cried, "No know, no know!"

Cye immediately set to work, trying hard to calm the girl down again. Rowen, meanwhile, groaned in defeat and Sage heaved a small sigh.

"Ryo," he called softly, tugging his leader backwards out of the room. Owlishly, the black haired youth followed the blonde into the hall.

"What's up, Sage?"

"A whole lot of problems." Sage replied with a scowl. "Ask me what I've been doing the last three days."

Ryo shrugged and asked the question.

"I've been wandering around a very busy meditation field." He answered, "I met Kayara there. She was worn out. Apparently that little phone call she and the Warlords made took quite a bit out of her, and a meditation field is a wonderful place to regain energy."

"Did she have anything to say?"

"Loads. But we'll get to that later. Guess who else was on the field?"

"Uh—"

"Ivory," finished Sage. "Or parts of her, at least."

"What do you mean, parts of her?" Ryo asked, "You can't have heads and feet and hearts but no body running around."

"On a meditation field, anything is possible."

"So what parts of her were there?"

Sage held up a pale, slender finger, "part," he said, "but a very important part. Her mind."

"Really," Ryo was intrigued.

Sage nodded, "it was the oddest place I've ever been. It was like everything was fenced off with huge signs saying 'No Trespassing' everywhere. The goal of a mediation field is to open everything up, to free yourself. But Ivory's mind was sealed tighter than Tut's tomb."

"What do you mean, 'was?'"

"Whatever was there a bit ago, won't be there now after Cye's intervention."

Ryo shook his head, "I don't understand, what did Cye do?"

Halo took a deep breath. "What was on that field was like nothing I'd ever seen before, Ryo. Cye caught a glimpse of it, and that's what had her all in a knot." A sheen of anger began to film over Halo's normally cool voice. "Her mind was a mess, and no wonder."

"Sage…"

"There was this message, Ryo," Sage continued, his voice calm again, but Ryo caught a glimpse of his friend's white knuckles, kept steady only by the intense grip Halo kept on the hall banister. "I watched it loop through her mind over and over again. Everything that those…monsters…wanted to do to her, have done to her. Promises of punishments for even the most minute of things." The banister cracked and Sage looked down, blinking in surprise. He removed his hands carefully from the railing and dusted them off on his pants.

Ryo stared at him in shock, "so what did you do?"

"I did nothing," he responded. "Cye, on the other hand, did what she felt was right."

"You're telling me that Cye—no."

Halo nodded, "yes. I didn't think that Cye would even have the ability to do that, but she did. She completely erased all signs of her previous captors from Ivory's consciousness. However, she wiped out the rest of memory as well."

Ryo was silent a moment, letting the meaning of Sage's words fully sink in. "Everything?"

Sage shrugged, "I'd have to go back and check to be sure, but if she can't remember her name, the outlook doesn't look too bright. Anyway, we're lucky that it was only her memories. It wouldn't have taken much to wipe the rest of her mind as well."

"But—but what about--?"

"The Phoenix's abilities?" Sage cocked an eyebrow, "good question. Because I've just spent three days running around that mediation field with Ivory's so called mind in it, and there's not so much as a spark. Either it's being suppressed or she's lost it somehow."

"That's impossible, Sage. Even for us, if you took away our orbs, we'd still have some ability!"

"I know, I know." Irritated, Sage swept is golden lock from his eyes. "And I think she does, it's just that right now she's so downtrodden she doesn't have the strength to lift a coffee pot, much less pull a rabbit from the proverbial hat."

Ryo stole a glance into the room, "so what do you suggest we do?"

Halo shrugged, "the same thing we've been planning on doing, I suppose. Get her back up to speed and keep her safe until whatever help Kayara's dredging up can take her home."

Wildfire sighed, "Here's to hoping it's that easy."

Mildly discouraged, the two entered the room together. Rowen shot them a quick look of questioning before turning back to the events at the bed. White Blaze had managed to jockey his way between people for a position by the patient, and was currently trying to get close enough to say hello in proper tiger style. Ivory, of course, was trying to prevent this. Still looking slightly frightened and uneasy, she instinctively tried to push her way back from the gargantuan predator. But White Blaze was a determined tiger with a close relative being a maternal chicken. He huffed slightly and put his forepaws on the bed frame, using his massive shoulders to lift his head to the girl.

Ivory gasped and screwed her eyes tight. She seemed positively sure that the large animal before her was reaching up to bite her. But her face lit up in surprise when the tiger's warm breath whuffed gently on her cheek and a coarse tongue rasped her the skin from her chin to her temple. Ivory opened her eyes slightly and looked at the tiger as he continued bathing her face. Everyone in the room received a shock as the girl began to giggle and pushed the big cat away in a playful gesture. White Blaze stopped licking her cheek and cast her an expectant look. The girl licked her cracked lips and very slowly reached a bandaged hand to slide over his wide head, inevitably stopping to scratch behind his ears. He purred and closed his eyes in contentment, letting his head rest on her small lap in perfect bliss.

Cye looked at Ryo, "you never could be satisfied with a normal pet, could you?"

Ryo grinned, "White Blaze isn't my pet, he's my friend. And besides, he came like that."

Rowen shook his head and settled on the chair next to the bed. "Fruitcakes."

"Not unless you've made some, buddy." Kento joked, winking a slightly hopeful eye at his friend.

"Speaking of food," came a new voice. "There's a large pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove in case anybody wants some."

Sage jerked his eyes to the door, "Mia. We didn't hear you come home."

The Koji heiress smiled, "that's all right. I can see that you're understandably distracted."

"Hey Mia, come say hello to the new guest." Ryo winked at the older girl, "do you mind?"

Mia rolled her eyes slightly; "do I get a choice?" But she smiled and moved closer to the bed, "so this is Ivory," she said, her face shining with curiosity.

Ivory momentarily stopped petting the tiger. She looked uncertainly at the tall red head, "Who?"

Mia became perplexed at the strange response she had received from her greeting; she shot a questioning glance to Ryo, who only shook his head.

"Hm," Mia cleared her throat, "well then. My name is Mia, what's your name?"

The familiar signs of a panic attack flitted once more across Ivory's features as her fog hazed mind tried in vain to come up with the answer to that simple question. Rowen shifted in irritation as he watched her struggle with her words. This was getting tiresome.

"No know," Ivory looked at Mia, her watery blue eyes large with fright and sorrow, "no name."

"Well, we're just going to call you Ivory," Kento spoke up for the first time, "its what you're supposed to be called, anyway."

"But—"

"But nothing," Rowen growled suddenly from his chair. "Stop acting like a toddler getting whipped. Your name is Ivory, and that's that."

Ivory jerked her head in fear of the harshness of the teen's words. "Yes, sir."

Cye, sensing the room temperature dropping dramatically, changed topics. "Soup anyone?"

"Oh, oh! Me!"

"Kento you're a given."

"I'm also a growing boy."

"Wide maybe."

"Hey!"

Sage rolled his eyes, also sensing the need to lighten the mood. "How many times are you two going to have that fight?"

Cye winked at him, "as many times as necessary."

Mia sighed, "children."

Cye laughed and turned to Ivory, "would you like some soup, Ivory?"

The girl began to stutter, as if not used to being asked her preferences. Torrent smiled; despite Rowen's earlier griping, this nervous little creature was almost adorable in the way she acted. "Why don't we just bring the soup up here, and we can all eat together?"

Mia clapped her hands together, "what an excellent idea. Kento, why don't you come help me with the soup?"

The big Ronin's face positively glowed, "sure!"

Ryo eyed his large friend suspiciously, "why don't I go along, just in case."

Mia smiled, "good thinking, Ryo." She turned and began walking out the door, "we'll be back in a few minutes, guys. Don't go anywhere."

Cye folded her arms across her chest as the trio disappeared through the doorway, "Right, don't go anywhere. What does she think we're going to do, fly out the window?"

The soup social was a wonderful success. Kento brought up a large, securely lidded pot while Mia and Ryo brought up the accessories. The banter was watered down from its usual level, but the warm feelings of camaraderie were still firm and long standing. The bowls were liberally dished out, and Ivory took hers as if it were a special gift that no one had bothered with before. Kento amused himself by flicking noodles at Rowen when he wasn't looking, Ryo kept having to push White Blaze away from his bowl, and Sage sat passively once more on the chest at the end of the bed, watching the show with a bemused expression.

Halfway through the meal, Rowen and Cye gave frustrated shakes of their heads and began feeding Ivory like a toddler who hadn't quite mastered a spoon. But with the large bandages she had covering her hands and forearms, the situation couldn't be helped. But despite the disparity of the situation, it didn't stop Kento from cracking a few jokes about the scene, causing the quiet girl to blink at him with wide eyes and Ryo to almost snort soup from his nose.

Mia chuckled. Never a dull moment in her house.

By the end of the dinner Ivory had fallen back to sleep. At a small signal from Ryo, the Ronins quietly gathered the dishes and slipped from the room, leaving White Blaze to purr contentedly at the foot of the bed.

"Well that was fun," Rowen muttered, shutting the door.

"Kento," Ryo hissed, "the next time you try to get a noodle to fly out of my nose I'm going to cut you in half and burn you to a cinder!"

Kento chuckled good naturedly, "aw, come on, buddy, you enjoyed it."

"I'll show you enjoyment," he shot back, "the next time we get to the dojo."

"Kento, come help me with the dishes. Work off some of that energy." Cye began to drag the hefty boy down the stairs, winking at her friends. "Don't draw straws on my account, boys."

"What's that supposed to—" Ryo's eyes widened suddenly, "hey!"

Sage gave a sigh, "it was her turn to watch Ivory, wasn't it?"

Ryo nodded glumly, "that cheat. Well I can tell you one thing, I'm not taking another shift. I've just spent the last four hours in there with her."

"I'll do it," Rowen said. "Both of you could use a rest."

Wildfire stretched out, trying to work the kinks from his lower back, "isn't that the truth? Good night, guys."

Sage watched the dark haired boy disappear into his room before turning back to Rowen. "You sure, Row? I can take a watch."

Rowen shook his head, "there's no reason that you should. You've already done so much for her. She would have never woken up so soon if you hadn't healed her."

"Hey," said Sage, smiling slightly, "its what I'm here for."

Rowen averted his friend's gaze, "its what we're all supposed to be here for. But as long as no one else is keen for the job, I might as well. She is family, after all."

"Brothers in arms, Rowen. You're family is our family, remember."

Reaching for the doorknob, Rowen gave one last reply before sliding into the dark room, "tell that to everyone who ran away."

The door clicked shut and Sage was left alone in the hallway, with only his thoughts to trouble him.

Rowen sighed and made his way carefully to the chair by the bed. White Blaze lifted his head and gazed curiously at the newcomer. As he passed by, Rowen scratched behind the massive tiger's ears affectionately. Such a mother. And just like a mother, no matter what the child did, the love still kept pouring in.

With a heavy conscience, Rowen fell into the chair and laid his arms across the back. What he had told Sage outside the room rang true with everyone. All the Ronins knew how important the Phoenix was theoretically. But when trying to give a respectful tone to her image, a bitter taste would always fill their mouths. She had, after all, taken them all from their homes so long ago. And that was hard to forget, no matter how important or hard that decision might have been for the Fire—for their families. But then, Rowen's mom and dad had purposely sent him to her, and he had the loudest voice of complaint against the broken down bird.

Perhaps, though, he did not anymore. The long and involved argument with Cye in the outer field had forced Rowen to do a great deal of thinking. And after many hours of sitting in the very chair he occupied now and watching his sleeping aunt, he had come to a single conclusion.

He knew nothing.

Logical and unbiased thinking on a bitter subject is a near impossible feat for even the brightest of minds; and Rowen was certainly a shining star in a box of broken light bulbs. But with no other choices, and plenty of time to consider those non-existent options, the reluctant Ronin had broken down and given serious thought to his situation.

At first they were simple facts. The Phoenix was in trouble. Nobody cared. The Phoenix needed help. No one wanted to give that help. The Phoenix had received help, and was now in their dubious care. Rowen had no idea on what to think of this. Neither did anyone else.

But then things became more complicated. Why was the Fire in trouble in the first place? Did it have anything to do with her original disappearance eleven years ago? Who were the people that had captured her? And why in the seven levels of ascendance was everyone trying to shrug off their concern as political interest?

After all of this thinking, Rowen had decided that there wasn't enough present or solid evidence to draw a safe and correct conclusion. That figured, there was only one logical course of action to take: he would have to obtain the answers. Unfortunately, the only person who could give satisfactory conclusion to any question was sleeping on the bed in front of him, and with the worst case of amnesia he'd ever seen.

There was another question. Why couldn't she remember anything in the first place? It might have been from connecting with the tree branch, but Rowen doubted this was the soul reason. He'd seen her take worse hits in trainee demonstrations. She'd been left dazed and confused by more than her fair share of overly enthusiastic sparring partners, but never been hit hard enough to cause a complete loss of all her memory and way of being. And while Rowen had an idea of what Cye had done, it didn't seem right that her intervention was the direct cause of such a considerable vacuum.

No, there had to be some outside force still affecting the girl. It was possible that the creatures that originally held her captive had somehow placed a barrier in her mind, separating the power and energy of the Phoenix from her actual self. The more Rowen thought about this, the more the theory made sense. Very much the same thing had happened to Kayara; the only difference was that Kayara's barrier made her do evil acts, while Ivory's merely blanked her mind. And Kayara had worn her blockade in the form of an amulet that hung around her neck until the might of the Inferno had severed it. But Ivory's captors were horrendously powerful, and Rowen doubted that they needed a physical charm to keep a hold on her like Talpa had.

Ivory stirred slightly in her sleep. She shook her head as if trying to ward off an unpleasant dream and turned her body more towards her silent watcher. Never did she wake. Rowen gave a soft snort; Auntie had always valued her sleep.

But something was bothering the boy. There was something wrong with the appearance of the sleeping girl. Disregarding her bruises, cuts, and massive bandages, he stared hard at Ivory, willing himself to remember what was different about the Phoenix from the last time he had seen her. Nothing came to his mind. Rowen sighed and dropped his chin onto his arms in defeat. Looking after Ivory was a great deal harder than he'd originally anticipated. There was so much thinking involved, and Rowen wasn't sure if he liked the topics of his thoughts.

But he had to stick through it and watch after her, even if it did mean thinking unwanted thoughts. He needed answers, and Ivory was the only one qualified to give him what he needed. So he would sit here on this chair every night and every day until she was better if he had to, waiting for her to come around to her old, deceitful self so that she might answer the questions that had been long burning in his mind. And the other Ronins' minds, too, for that matter, though they might not have realized it yet.

Rowen yawned and settled down into a more comfortable position. With all the thoughts spinning in his head, it could end up being a very long night.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Review! Review!!