Eternity

Part 2

By Mieren

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Looking around at their surroundings, several curious glances were leveled on the one structure that looked out of place. Into the side of a hill stood the front of a granite and marble house, intricately carved into exquisite designs and patterns. A cloaked figure rose at their appearance and began walking towards them.

"Now," Cye said loudly, drawing their attention, shocked that he had resorted to the sorcerer's tongue. "I would like you to meet the one who's so hospitably allowing you to stay over the course of the war." At his words, the lithe figure tossed the hood of his cloak back, revealing a middle aged elf with short cropped light blue hair and shocking silver eyes. Ryo and Kayura gasped in recognition. Dais and Sehkmet merely gaped, looking demandingly to Cye for an explanation. Most of the others shook their heads in exasperation and disbelief. Only Ryoko and Katari seemed not to understand the significance of the elf's appearance, having been too young to remember the elves that had been at the group's reunion so many years ago.

"Neris Kilumen?" Kayura finally managed to choke out, causing the elf to raise his eyebrows speculatively.

"No, kindly Guardian. My name is Chendai," he said kindly, nodding his head in a compatibility greeting. "Chendai Kilumen. Neris is my infant son."

"You see," Cye told his friends, somewhat amused by their disbelieving looks. "We've already met Neris and fought beside him in our time, meaning that nothing can happen here. Though I've told Chendai not to tell his son anything of this, I know that either he somehow remembers Kayura or possibly Gau, later thinking he was Sage, or his parents let on bits and pieces of your stay when he gets a little older."

"Why would you say that?" Ryo stammered.

"Didn't you think it odd that he helped Kayura so freely in our last visit to this dimension?" he asked, playing with his fingernails. "Even allowing for the normally kind nature of the elves, he wouldn't have followed Kayura and Sage had he known nothing. The excuse that he simply wanted to help was flimsy at best with the wars the light elves had been raging against the dark." He snorted. "No warrior as trained as he was would have been allowed to leave."

"How much exactly did you tell him?" Kayura asked, her eyes flickering towards Chendai, who was waiting patiently on them. Cye shrugged.

"I only explained what time I was from and that I was a friend of his son."

"And he believed you?" Akira asked skeptically.

"Elves have ways of knowing if you're lying," Cye answered lightly. "And he knows that none of you, except Sehkmet, are dangerous."

"Why me?" Sehkmet asked rhetorically.

"We know your love of eating children," Cye responded innocently, bringing wry chuckles from both Gau and Ella. Even Ryoko managed to crack a smile, Kento having told her about that same joke having been played on her when she was two.

Before Sehkmet had managed to spit out a response, Cye was gone again, disappearing into a swirling portal that collapsed immediately behind him. Gau and Ella stared after him curiously, neither looking overly pleased.

"This is a good ways in the past," Gau murmured to the questioning looks of the others. "If Cye can travel through time so readily, why is it that we have to stay here? Shouldn't he be able to reappear without any time lapse?"

"Maybe he wants us to train here where we're safe," Ryo offered slowly, his eyes hopeful yet doubting at the same time.

Understanding the Gau's doubts and knowing that Ryo was incorrect in his guess, Ritsuko spoke up for the first time since entering her home dimension.

No," she whispered, throat tight. "He doesn't think he's coming back."

---

Kenji scrubbed his hand through his unruly hair yet again, knowing that Cye had misjudged the points he was jumping between. Even knowing that the man had miscalculated and they had only to wait a little while for him to return didn't calm their nerves. However, where everyone else was anxious, Sage was furious.

Pacing endlessly through the trees and hidden youko, he didn't seem to notice that for the first time Anubis had stopped his moping to study him carefully. Knowing that Sage was the son of one of his oldest friends seemed to have temporarily snapped the redhead from his shock of finding out that he was a youko. He watched the blond intently, wondering how he had never noticed their similar haughty attitudes or endless primping. Sage's daughter, Katari, should have been a dead giveaway, the girl looking shockingly like Dais even down to the color of her aura.

Almost two hours had passed in silence, broken occasionally by Sage's dark muttering, before Cye reappeared. Both Kenji and Mouri instantly recognized the look on his face, realizing that he had purposely left them standing unguarded for several hours. Whether it had been to scare them into accepting his lead in the battle or to allow Sage time to calm down, neither was certain, nor did they have any intention of asking. The look on the scarred face told them to remain silent unless told otherwise. Immediately upon glancing around, his already dark expression soured further.

"Where are the youko?" he snarled. Rune flinched and Terru scowled.

"Our ranks have broken," Terru snapped in response. "Because of the tricks pulled by your kin, they have turned away from us. Many have even joined the ranks of the Eternity Bound in hopes of bettering their chances of survival." He spat disgustedly. "Cowards."

"Considering what we're about to face, I can't blame them," Cye muttered, frowning unhappily as he glanced around. Rowen still hadn't returned and Cye didn't expect him to, despite Sage's occasional hopeful glances towards the trees. Sighing softly, he considered several intricate tactics in his head, few of which he believed would work. Kento was the first to speak up.

"So what are you planning?" he asked, making sure his voice carried. He wanted the youko, whom he didn't trust in the slightest, to understand that his friend was going to lead the upcoming battles. Cye shook his head.

"Not much," he admitted sourly. Sage stiffened, suddenly feeling the weight of Cye's hard, lifeless eyes on his back. "What do you think, Sage?"

Sage turned to face him with a glare, locking his ice blue eyes with Cye's cold hard obsidian. He knew what Cye was thinking and didn't appreciate it in the slightest. Though his ancestor may have been an astounding tactician, he was not. His abilities to plan any battle were all but useless in such circumstances. He had absolutely no idea what he was up against and wouldn't begin to know how to counter anything they tried, or even what they were capable of trying.

"I think you should figure out something before they get here," he growled, crossing his arms irately. "I would think that at your age, you would know what to expect better than I would."

Cye positively fumed, turning away before he decided to vent his temper. He had known that Mouri and Kenji had been aware of his hidden training over the years he had vanished before returning once more as an adult, but it appeared that the others had come to the same conclusion as the ancient sorcerers. He had obviously told them too much. Cale cleared his throat uncertainly, trying to alleviate the tension.

"How much do you know about what we're up against?" he asked slowly, watching carefully for Cye's reaction so he would know how to continue. When Cye raised one eyebrow at him questioningly, he pushed on. "We might be able to plan a little easier if we know what we're going to be facing."

Cye hesitated, his expression becoming devoid of all emotions almost instantly. Cale noted to himself that both Kenji and Mouri wore similar blank looks, both of them knowing more than they intended to let on. Sage noticed their expressions as well.

"Mieren told us that two of Lanfear's children were possibly on our side," he began stiffly. He tensed nervously at Cye's renewed glare, but pushed on stubbornly. "Which two?"

"I don't know for sure," he answered offhandedly. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I don't want you looking for weaknesses or alliances that aren't there." Though the logic made sense, Sage did not look happy. "As for the others, I've only fought them once in their new forms, and that was for only a few minutes, so I'm not exactly sure what they're capable of. The strongest of the group are Len and Vera, followed closely by Touline and Follouya. I can't be sure about Cehir. He was mostly watching and laughing himself sick. Koxanama is easily the fastest of the group. Similarly, Detowin is obviously the slowest, both mentally and physically on his part. Even so, he's probably faster than most of you, so don't think you can outrun or outmaneuver him. Deterik and Follouya seem to be the most dangerous as far as tactics are concerned. They were the two that nearly prevented my escape. The twins, Sellene and Thena, seem to work as a pair and I believe that they would be severely crippled in combat if separated. Also, Cognite prefers physical combat. More often than not, you can probably engage in a battle of strength rather than a magical or fire elemental brawl."

"And that will do exactly what?" Sage snapped. "You've already made it perfectly clear that we're no match for them." He ended his ranting prematurely at the venomous glare directed at him once more. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Cye made him extremely nervous. Whatever he had done to himself, his new appearance was terrifying.

"Where do you stand among them?" Anubis asked darkly, his eyes broken and downcast. Cye hesitated again, earning himself several nervous glances from the others.

"If I were to challenge them one at a time," he mumbled, eyes narrowing as he considered what he had seen in his last encounter with them. "I think there are two or three among the group that I can match physically." At the horrified stares he received, he continued, hoping to calm their nerves a little. "I have a distinct advantage of speed, though. Only Picen, Cehir and Koxanama can outmaneuver me."

"So what are you going to do when they eventually catch you?" Kenji asked, raising his hands defensively at the scowl his statement earned him. "I mean, we can set traps for them, right?"

"No good," Cye immediately responded. "They can see the energy signatures of any snare or explosion set for them. They'll just snap the weave before they even get close. Throwing spells won't work either. Anything we throw can be knocked away."

"So we have to actually hit them," Kento sighed. "Great."

"They follow the same techniques, holding spells and energies of all sorts across their bodies before engaging in physical combat. They know perfectly well that we can dodge anything they can come up with. We can probably even knock away some of the lesser spells they throw."

"This is just getting better and better," Anubis groused. Immediately, both Cye and Mouri developed identical smirks that did anything but put him at ease.

"Of everyone here, you're probably the safest," Mouri said reassuringly. Cye's expression grew absolutely fiendish.

"Power up," he purred. Anubis stiffened, an almost hunted look appearing on his face. At his hesitation, Cye continued. "If you are what I believe you to be, you can do a lot more damage than you can possibly imagine." When Anubis only shook his head unwillingly, he turned to Rune and Terru. "Tell me. What does the number of tails on a youko signify?"

Rune and Terru exchanged incredulous looks, each wondering how much he actually knew. As secretive as their kind had tried to be, there appeared to be a few choice facts about them that had come to the attention of certain sorcerers.

"Each tail shows a mastery of an element," Rune said shakily.

"And with each element?" Cye prompted.

"Further magical powers as we push through the astral plane to reach the hidden powers of the outlands," he continued nervously, trying his best to ignore Terru's increasingly foul looks. The youko leader was obviously against allowing such knowledge to escape to the ears of anyone not youko or undyingly faithful to them.

"What is the total number of tails any youko has ever sported?"

"N-nine," Rune stammered.

"Why only nine when there are ten elemental abilities?" When no answer was given to his final inquiry, he turned triumphantly to Anubis, who shook his head forcefully.

"I can't," he whimpered. "I could barely manage five when I was fighting… uh… whatever her name is."

"Follouya," Cye offered helpfully. Anubis shook his head again.

"I was barely conscious," he mumbled. "It hurt." Cye's grin widened.

"Rune," he called softly, eyes gleaming. "How long did it take you to get to five tails? And how many masters were training you?"

"I… uh… it took me over three hundred years to get that far under almost a dozen different elders," he answered slowly. Terru's scowl faded, his eyes lighting up when he realized what Cye was getting at.

"In less than a day of knowing what you were, you accomplished what it took your brother three centuries to do," Cye said firmly, causing Anubis to flinch again. The redhead cast a nervous look at Rune before moving to hide behind Cale again. Cye chuckled and decided to leave him alone for a little while to digest that information.

"You said that they can see energy signatures," Shin said suddenly, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," Cye answered slowly, his attention caught. The devious and more than slightly dangerous look in his younger brother's eyes was something he knew all too well. Shin was planning something that he just knew he was going to like.

"So what if there isn't any traceable energy?" he asked, eyes narrowing evilly. After only a few seconds of explanation, Cye's mischievous grin outshone his brother's.

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To Be Continued…

Can we say impending psychotic tactics? R&R! The ego can fit in my room again and I can't have that.