The chilling breeze that came through the open hole soon became numbing. It would be morning in only in a matter of hours, yet the air was piercing with frost. It filled the whole room while no one cared to fix it, no matter how many complained. Everyone sat around in an unfixed circle, bored with nothing to say or do.

The dim ceiling lights grew somewhat strong, and stopped flickering. Its pale light spilled all over the room, mixing in with the malevolent touch of the icy cold.

Daniel sat uncomfortably in a chair, shifting his movements, unable to find a position best fit for him. His face was locked in worry as he twiddled his thumbs in anxiety. The room is getting too cold…he thought, trying to distract himself. But he couldn't help it. He couldn't help worrying. Brother…you're taking too long… where are you? He thought, desperate for his brother, the Ice Minor to come back.

As if on cue to the Daniel's thoughts, a figure came out of nowhere and appeared in the room – holding another figure. Everyone jerked up their heads to find Hyoumaru, holding Kenneth's weak and unconscious body in his arms. It felt a bit heavy to him, but was still able to come quickly back to the Inner Area as quickly as possible. Blood caked various parts of Kenneth, as well as Hyoumaru's fingers. The Ice Minor had his eyes closed solemnly, as if he were put to sleep. Hyoumaru had an expression of seriousness painted across his face.

Daniel looked up and fear consumed his eyes, leaving his mouth wide open and disbelief. His look was easily distinguished from everyone else's. Nii-san…? He thought, his voice unable to work. The numbness was completely ignored by the rest of his body now. The color drained away and he felt like he couldn't move. He saw his brother's face, limp and unmoving. The utter shock was so sudden, it caught Daniel's voice.

"Nii-san!" Daniel finally managed to choke out. He got up from his chair almost immediately, his body parts feeling like they could move again. Daniel was caught up in hysteria, taking his brother's weak arm that gave no sense of life. "Nii-san!" he cried out again, Daniel's spectacled eyes glimmering in the bright ceiling light. "Is he okay? Tell me that he's okay!" Daniel said, looking up to Hyoumaru who stared back a sympathetic look.

The Ice Council sighed a big, deep sigh as he closed his eyes, a sign telling everyone in the room to relax their surprised and worried expressions and just listen. "He took a lot of damage during our fight. I would say he's in a life threatening condition right now. I have to get him out of here and into a medical room," he said bluntly, getting straight to the point. Daniel's expression stressed even more. His breath got caught with his voice, and a huge knot formed in his chest, stopping his breathing. His eyes were widened and shining with tears, his mouth wide open in disbelief. Was he about to lose the only real friend he had since childhood? Just thinking about it made him cry. Please nii-san… Daniel pleaded in his mind, tilting his head to stare hard at the floor, two consecutive tears dropping to the plaster ground. Please…don't die.

"I'm sorry," Hyoumaru apologized, his sympathetic look seemingly locked onto his expression.

"It's okay, just… get him out of here," Daniel pleaded, his voice shaking slightly, a few sniffs here and there. Daniel clenched his fist tightly by his side, not wanting to give up, but feeling like he had to. Hyoumaru nodded with acknowledgement and disappeared from the room, following Daniel's request.

"Hey," Rick's voice came from the other side of the room. The blonde stood up weakly, his legs struggling from tiredness. He was forced to take a deep breath as he began to pace towards Daniel, who didn't show any signs of acknowledging Rick's presence. "It's okay, I'm sure your brother will be all right."

At the sound of his words, Daniel began to cry even more. "Who…who are you to tell me my brother's all right? You…you don't even know me well enough. How…how could give advice to someone you have no idea on how he feels, huh?!" Daniel said with a rising, cracking voice, his tears no longer being able to be held back. They came down in flashing streaks, filling the plaster ground with dark toned, perfectly circular puddles

Slowly, Daniel rose one hand to his head and carefully took off his glasses. He took his shirt from the bottom and began wiping the wet tears off of them. He sniffed as he closed them and pout them away in his pocket.

"I can empathize," Rick said, putting a sympathetic look as well. From the corner of the room Walter stared hard and unsympathetically, thinking a secretive thought in the back of his mind. Eric closed his eyes as if wishing for something, or trying to fall asleep.

Derek looked solemn, cross-legged on the floor with his eyes shut in a meditative state. Zack gave a huge sigh and smiled a wide grin. "At least now I know I'm not the only one who lost my match!" he said, putting his hands behind his head in a carefree manner, smiling a happy grin of idiocy. "So I'm not the most powerless after all!"

Daniel's expression went grim as he jerked his head back up slowly, his bodily functions ready to return. "Power…?" he mumbled with hints of anger. Zack gave a puzzled look as his grin wore off. "Power has nothing to do with this! Why are you caring about your stupid pride when someone right by you is feeling a tremendous amount of anxiety and pain? Huh?!" he demanded loudly, revealing his face without his glasses, which took others a while for them to get used to.

Zack gave another puzzled look, and shut his mouth tight in a bit of acknowledgement. His eyes showed that he was a bit sorry for acting so foolish and immature.

"You're wrong," came a new voice. Daniel took a sharp gasp and quickly turned to find Walter sitting comfortably with his eyes closed in seemingly tranquility.

"What?" Daniel demanded, feeling his tension and anger rise up now.

"Power has everything to do with it," Walter said softly and deeply like Hibiyomi's tone of voice. He got up from his chair and began walking into the dark hallway, his body soon consumed by the darkness. "It's the only way we can resist pain," Walter concluded, his footsteps echoing through the halls, fading away slowly and steadily from the group. Daniel painted a sad expression and stared back to the floor, taking his glasses out slowly and putting them back on, not knowing what came next. Everyone else looked to the doorway where Walter had left, wondering where he had gone.

"That's enough for now," came a newer voice into the room. Everyone turned to a different doorway that lead inside, and found Shintenmaru at the doorway, his glasses glimmering brightly, reflecting off light that concealed his eyes. Everyone waited for him to explain as Daniel listened halfheartedly, still thinking anxious thoughts through his mind. "You guys did well in the paired matches," Shintenmaru began to explain.

Daniel scoffed. Shintenmaru disregarded it. He cleared his throat and continued explaining, "You guys can get a few days off for rest as long as you want to recover injuries and to get to know each other, and your own powers. Just don't take too long. We think there's a possibility that this whole thing we're going through now could lead to the end of the world, so don't waste time."

"End of the world? Are you kidding me? Are you just being cliché now or are you being serious?" Zack grunted loudly, speaking for everyone's thoughts without realizing it.

Shintenmaru cleared his throat again as well. "Did you just not pay attention when Tsukansu informed you of the current situation, Zack-san?" Shintenmaru piqued.

Zack slowly muttered out a "no…" with a comical facial expression on of stupidity. "Anyway," Shintenmaru continued. "After your short break, we'll resume training."

"What!?" Zack said with a loud, comical screech. His facial expression widened to such a scale it filled the whole room. "No way!" he cried out in hysteria, his head returning to normal size, humorous tears falling from his face. "I think I'm going to die…" he muttered jokingly.

Shintenmaru sighed. "If you kill him…" Daniel's voice came out from the other side of the room clearly and seriously. Shintenmaru had his interest piqued and listened carefully along with the others in the room. "If you kill my brother…I won't forgive you. Understand?" Shintenmaru gave a solemn look.

"Yes, I get it," the Life Council said empathically.

"I don't care who you are. If you ever harm my brother so much to the point that he can't even move one body part, I'll track you down and do the same thing to you as you did to him."

"I give you permission to do so," Shintenmaru muttered quietly.

Daniel scoffed. He got up from his seat in sadness and depression, and then began to walk away just like Walter did. "Anyway," Shintenmaru said, returning to the topic of conversation. "Don't stress too much about it. We're not going to be the ones you're fighting anyway,"

"Huh?" Zack made a puzzled stare in unison with everyone else in the room. "What do you mean? Who are we fighting then?" he said, speaking for everyone's thoughts.

Shintenmaru smiled at the sound of the question mysteriously. Everyone became even more baffled in their minds as to what the answer was. "Even I can't answer that," was all he said as a reply.

Behind Shintenmaru, Raikettei came into the room and cleared his throat to catch his attention. "I need you talk to you for a minute, Shintenmaru-san," he said formally.

"Understood," the Life Council replied, walking back to the next room with Shintenmaru. Everyone was left in the room to ponder on what comes next, but none of them got even close to what would happen to them in the near future.

"I think I'm going to kill myself," Zack said in disbelief, his face looking idiotic to any mature person.

PoVS

"So I see the Minors are informed of the next task," Raikettei said as Shintenmaru followed him into a dim room away from the Minors so they couldn't hear their conversation.

"Not really. I just told them that something would be next. But not really what," Shintenmaru replied, motioning his arm to add enthusiasm.

"I see," Raikettei said, brushing his hand against the smooth surface of his bald head. He gave a loud sigh as they stopped in the darkness and just talked for a while. "Shintenmaru, I'm worried for them. What if they can't handle what they have to deal with? What if they even die?" he said seriously.

"Don't worry," Shintenmaru said without assurance. "They have to do it. If they don't, then White Cloak will get to them anyway. It's a risk worth taking."

"Yes, but… sending them to a place like that…" Raikettei piqued, unable to call out the name of the place since it brought back so many horrid memories not worth remembering.

"Don't worry. They're Minors, and with their power limit increased by White Cloak, I'm sure they'll do fine. Maybe only small scratches on them when they come out."

"White Cloak raised their power limits? Why would he do that?" Raikettei said, not up to date with what was happening. He brushed his hand against the smooth skin of his head again as a nervous habit.

"I'm not sure, but I guess he wanted all the more power to take in when he finally got to them. Such insolence will be forgotten in the future, though," Shintenmaru explained.

"I see," Raikettei retorted, sighing nervously instead of brushing his hand against his bald head this time.

Moments later, Shintenmaru found himself in the room with the other Minors again, the teenage boys staring at him, waiting for him to say something. "It's nearing morning. You guys should at least get some sleep," Shintenmaru insisted. "Find any room you want with a bed. Just make sure you don't get lost."

"No, I think it's all right. I'm not that sleepy anyway," Zack said, yawning without realizing it in his own idiocy.

"That wasn't a suggestion," Shintenmaru said seriously. "It was a command."

Zack took a big gulp of nervousness and muttered in a cracking way, "O…Okay."

A half hour later, Walter found himself in his room writing in his philosophy journal. He hadn't updated it in a long time, but these new thoughts just rushed into his head so many times that he felt it was a necessity to write them all down. He had all ready picked his room, which wasn't that big. He didn't care, it was just a material thing, and Walter knew that when it came down to it, material things didn't matter. He couldn't find a pen so he was forced to use one of those old, Japanese style ink brushes that were lying around with a small cauldron of ink in the room's desk.

Darkness surrounded him as he wrote smoothly, able to clearly see what was written. He poured all his thoughts out on paper, which took a long time. He sighed as he finished the last few words, and thought, Even thought there's still more training to come, somehow, I feel like more pain is coming my way. Utopia has yet to be found. So I guess, when it comes down to it, life is just a form of slow suicide. A pointless period before death, as one might say it.

Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, there was a knock on the door. He quickly stuffed the ink brush in the middle of the thin notebook and closed it, then let it lay there untouched. He got up from the wooden chair with a screech as he pushed it back, and answered the door. Another knock came as he walked towards it, the loud and dead echoing of the noise against the door almost unbearable.

Walter opened the door quickly to prevent any further knocking and found Marissa, the beautiful blonde-brunette girl at his doorway giving a friendly stare. Walter returned the stare with an icy, unwelcoming one. "Hi," she greeted friendlily.

Walter just looked at her with an icy, unthawing stare, as if asking what she wanted. "Um…" Marissa said nervously. "Well, I came here to actually talk to you because you're one of the few people I didn't get to meet today, so I was just wondering… if we could get to know each other."

Walter sighed. "How so?" he muttered quietly and seriously.

"Well, why don't we start with your childhood?" Marissa suggested with a smile, trying hard to make friends with him. Walter's eyes just weren't housewarming enough. He kept his grip on the doorknob tight, as if ready to close it any second.

"My childhood?" Walter asked. The Water Minor sighed a deep depressing sigh, and said, "There's not much about my childhood that concerns you," he piqued. "Making a connection and this point would be useless. Not to mention the threat of pain."

"What?" Marissa asked, giving an unserious, comical stare of confusion. Her face was filled with an unsolved enigma as Walter stared hard, not replying her.

"Nothing," Walter said with a sigh. He let go of his grip on the doorknob and walked back to the desk where the journal was. He took it in his hands and opened the desk drawer, then threw it in there until the next time he needed it. "I'm sorry," he apologized, his back turned to her. He walked up to her again and put his hand tight on the doorknob, the warm metal feeling somewhat relaxing to his subconscious mind. "I don't want to cause you pain," he said, trying to sound as nice as he could. He closed the door slowly between the two Minors, cutting the bonding link that was made just now. Now, both sides were enveloped in darkness, one side confused and the other one left alone, said to be alone with his thoughts.

PoVS

Teresa sat up in bed with the sheets around her, all messy and unraveled. Her long straightjacket sleeves that she never took off covered her arms, but she didn't mind. She brushed her hair away from her face and stared hard at the dark ceiling above. Only bits and pieces of it were visible to her, and she envisioned the pentacle from the Visible Darkness eyes spinning freely on the ceiling, looking all powerful and ready to do its job. Every ninety-seven generations, huh? Teresa thought, picturing the five sided star spinning faster and faster. Teresa remembered the words Minoa had told her when they were outside during the day:

"Now, get rid of that weakness in your state of mind. It is only because of your mind without assurance of who you really are that you've become like this. You're not crazy," she said, looking mighty compared to Teresa, who was wrapped in a constricting whip made of force field energy, struggling to get out.

Back to reality, Teresa sighed. So that's who I am…I'm really not crazy…am I? Just what am I here for? What am I supposed to be doing in my life? Teresa thought hard about it as she opened her hand, a sphere of force field energy forming, telekinetic energy locked up inside it. It gave off a slight hum and spinning noise as it was twirled in her hand. All I keep thinking about is paying off my debt, and it seems to be nothing else. Teresa sighed again. I guess no one knows what the answer to that is, she thought finally, falling on her back to lay comfortably in bed. She watched the pictured pentacle stop spinning and disappear from her imagination. Those eyes… will I be strong enough to achieve them, so I could use them… to pay my end of the deal? She thought, not even knowing the answer to her own question.

As she constantly looked for the answer to that, she felt her eyes begin to heavy, and her consciousness lose focus. Her eyelids slowly closed, weighing a hundred tons, and finally, she began to feel herself drift slowly away to sleep…