The door disintegrated under Wufei's hand.

Behind him, the guards started forward. Son of the Dragon turned and frowned at them, and they hesitated. Turning back to the ward, Wufei traced its intricate pattern with his hand, even as he looked into the room beyond. The ward itself was simple enough, anyone with a modicum of magical talent could have cast it. It was merely the amount of power behind it that rendered it so formidable. He turned his gaze back to the symbol and a single guttural word passed his lips. The ward dissolved into thin air.

Wufei stepped into the doorway, now clear of all foreign matter. His gaze took in the room and its contents at a glance before resting on the single occupant thereof. The woman lay very still upon the bed; her eyes were closed, and only the subtle movement of her chest as she breathed betrayed her as a living being. Her body was covered with naught but dried sweat and blood, her limbs bound with strips of cloth. The warrior stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. She was glowing; her whole body was glowing to his sight. Reaching down, he released her wrists from their captivity just as the trio of guards grew bold enough to enter the room behind him. They stopped at the sight of their Lady lying there, broken.

All was silent as Wufei finished his task, and then used the remains of the sheets to cover the woman. He reached out to touch her, the fingers of his right hand resting lightly upon her forehead. She needed healing, and he needed some answers...

The guards could only stare helplessly as the strange warrior began to chant softly to himself, and a strange glow enveloped his hand. The Lady upon the bed gasped for a moment, then sighed softly. Her breathing became deep and even as she fell asleep. As the spell glow faded, Wufei opened his eyes and looked over at the men. "Seal the temple. She needs to rest."

He turned and walked away.

One of guards steeled his nerve enough to call out a question. "Where are you going?"

Wufei stopped, but did not turn around. "To speak with one who has committed a grave injustice." He resumed walking, passing out into the passageway. "Do not worry; I will return and converse with your lady afterwards."

He did not break silence again. His path took him far beyond the gates of the temple and into the city. The betrayer that he had seen in a sudden flash of memory was not the same as the man who had forced himself upon her. And while it might take some time to fully compass the city in search for him, Wufei felt that it would not be long before the man's own desire for notoriety brought him to light.

When he did, Son of the Dragon would speak with him blade to blade.

-

Dark mist swirled around her feet as she journeyed on in this hellish nightmare. Faintly ahead of her she discerned a forming of shapes in clouds, and soon she was walking through the nightmare again; Treize's betrayal and her own abuse at the hands of her former subordinate. The Lady turned and ran from the scene, only to find it materializing ahead of her again. No matter how far she traveled, and no matter what direction she chose, it always formed again in front of her. It was all around her!

She screamed into the darkness, despair her only companion now. Time would not reveal to her how long this lasted, but it was at this point that HE arrived. Striding confidently through the mists that cloaked this place, he seemed a refuge from the world. The Lady ran towards him, but it was as though she were invisible to him. Their paths crossed, and he vanished. Despair knew no bounds, and the Lady sank again to her knees and wept, alone with her nightmare.

So it was that she was startled by the gentle touch of a hand upon her shoulder. Turning her eyes to the side, she beheld the man again, his hair dark and his eyes shining with silver fire. The Lady seized upon his hand with the urgency of a drowning man, fearful lest he disappear again. This time, however, he did not vanish from her sight, but gently began to lead her away from that place. The dark mists parted before them and at last they stood in a safe haven. The man with the silver eyes turned to her.

"You will be safe here now."

His voice made the Lady shiver with the subtle undertone of power that it conveyed. Still, she refused to let go of his hand. If he left, the world might go back to the way that it was before. It seemed that he understood her frame of mind, for his other hand reached out and gently traced the curve of her cheek, stopping only when it cupped her chin and brought her eyes to meet his own.

"I must leave you now for a little while. There is a cry for justice going forth that I cannot deny, and it is safe for you in this place. The nightmares will not trouble you again while you are here." His lips drew up in a smile, and he nodded. "We will speak again on the outside when I return. For now, rest and recover your strength. You will have need of it to bear the burden that has been cast upon you."

With those words, HE faded away. And the Lady found her eyes closing, and sleep overcame her...

Une awoke with a start. The image of everything that had occurred up to this point remained with her, but the image of the man still floated in her mind like a welcome refuge from a harsh reality. Her eyes began to focus, and she recognized the trappings of her own room. Even as she stirred and struggled to raise herself into a sitting position, someone outside of her line of vision rushed over to help her. Une turned and recognized one of the female acolytes assigned to the service of the hidden doors. It was also apparent that she had been crying quite recently.

"My Lady!"

A flurry of movement followed from the doorway, as two of the temple guardsmen stepped inside the room. Seeing all was well, they returned to their post outside of the room, but not before their relief was made clear on their faces. Une turned to the girl beside her. "Where is he?"

"Who, my Lady?"

"Where is the man who was just here? The one with dark hair and eyes of fire?" Noting the girl's confused look, Une tried again. "Where is the man who healed me?"

"I do not know, my Lady. I was called here to look after you while you were sleeping, and I only saw a few of the guardsmen here. Maybe one of them saw him." The girl hurried out of the doorway and returned a few moments later with one of the guards. They were speaking in a low tone, and Une was not able to hear what passed between them. Annoying as that was, she was gratified a moment later when the acolyte stopped beside her bed and bent down to make the introductions.

"My Lady, this is Huram, one of those who came to your summons and tried and failed to enter your chambers because of the ward. He says that he saw the man that you asked about."

The guard stepped forward, sketching a quick half-bow as he stopped in front of the priestess. "My Lady. The man that you asked about was the one who enabled us to enter your room. If it hadn't been for him, we would have taken much longer to penetrate the ward, and it might have been that you would have been in greater danger. Not only that, he healed you without using the power of a god. It's almost as if he could be very dangerous if he chose to be."

"Where did he go?"

Huram blinked, clearly startled out of the musing that he'd fallen into during his recounting. "I am sorry, my Lady. After he healed you, he took leave of the temple and gave us strict instructions to seal it. He said that he had to find someone who had done a great injustice and speak with them." The guard hesitated.

"And?" Une prompted him to continue.

"He said that he would return and speak with you afterwards, my Lady."

Une nodded. It was nearly the same thing that he'd spoken while she was in that nightmare. "Thank you, Huram. You may go now."

Huram bowed again, this time a bit deeper, and then returned to his post outside of the door. The Lady waited until the room was devoid of anyone else before turning to the girl again. "I must rest again. However, if he should return, wake me. I must speak with him." At the young woman's nod, Une closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

-

Son of the Dragon continued his march through the city streets. Every so often, a passerby would turn and stare in his direction, but none seemed inclined to speak to the silent swordsman. Still he pressed onward, following a trail unknown. An hour passed, then another. He seemed no further along in his quest, but a sudden disquiet fell upon the group of persons milling around the entrance to the arena. Wufei reached up to grasp the handle of Justice and nodded.

Yet another sin that required an answer.

He allowed his hand to release the sword, leaving the weapon sheathed as he made his way into the arena. The same sense of disquiet continued to pervade the area, increasing as he made his way further into the interior of the complex. Many of the humans scurrying around the place seemed to feel it as well, even if they didn't have any idea as to the cause of their unrest. Wufei noted several men walking away from a half-open door. As he moved forward to investigate, one of them reached out to grab his shoulder. "Don't go in there. You do not want to involve yourself with it."

Wufei sidestepped the outstretched hand and noted the look of fear upon the man that faced him. "I thank you for your warning, but some things are meant to be faced even in the face of fear. Justice demands that I look and if I fail it because I fear what may come, will there be any justice in my hour of need?"

"I-I... you're crazy!" The man backed away and rushed after his companions. Wufei's eyes glinted with darkening humor as he turned back to his task. Quietly he stepped to the door and pushed it open fully. A hooded figure, stooped over a body in the middle of the floor, stood upright as Wufei entered the room.

"Leave this place, immediately. The lord's justice has been carried out." A single hand thrust out from beneath the brown cloak revealing an ornate signet ring upon his finger. "This is no business for commoners."

"Indeed. Commoners could not abide you and so they have already fled. I, however," here Wufei turned and shut the door behind him, "have nothing common about me. As to justice, you will be called to account for failing gravely to uphold your trust in time. Today I am here to test your blade, not your tongue."

With his back still towards his opponent, Wufei detected the rasp of steel that indicated the drawing of a blade. He reached up and readied his own sword.

"Very well then, shall we dance?" With the flourish of a stage magician, Treize discarded the cloak to the side. His eyes blazed brightly with anticipation of the battle to come and he moved towards the other man. Faster than thought, his rapier sped for the point between the shoulder blades, and faster than thought it was batted aside by the whirlwind that came to rest facing him. Wufei smiled.

"Roses have their thorns, my lord, but the wind moves unharmed through it all."

No further words were spoken at this time, both men giving themselves thoroughly to the battle. The clash of steel upon steel rang clear as strength tested strength. For the space of two hours, nothing else could be heard. In the arena itself, the crowd dispersed quietly, the story of the panicked men having spread to everyone there and the arrival of a platoon of the Crimson Rose only served to bolster the fear of falling under the displeasure of the Lord Khush'Ranada. Thus, no one was present to see the door to the room open, and no one noted the solitary figure who walked silently through the ranks of the gathered soldiers and disappeared into the streets of the city.

It only took the soldiers a few moments to arrive at the room and find the dead man therein.

With no witnesses at hand and no other clues save the dead man himself, the soldiers had no choice but to begin a sweep of the building and surrounding areas. Anyone wandering around was questioned, and though none admitted knowing what had happened, a few persons were found who could give information about the dead man. Even so, little was known except that he had only just arrived and begun to frequent the arena.

Having exhausted all available avenues of inquiry at the site, the soldiers of the Crimson Rose had no other option than to take the body to the city graveyard for burial. A notice was written up with the description of the dead man and his cause of death. This was filed at the palace, along with the man's personal possessions. Task completed, the soldiers left for their barracks.

Above them in the palace proper, Treize finished taking off his borrowed cloak and setting it aside. It had served its purpose, and like his new chief spy, would soon take any blame off of his hands for the assassination of a foreign spy…

-

The gates to the temple closed with a solid bang. To any passers-by, there was the sound of the bars being slid into place, and then silence. The Temple of Ooragard was sealed.

-

AN: About half the chapter spent a month of waiting for the other half to get written. I appologize for the long delay, due in part to writer's block (mine) and the advent of FFXII (my sister has a copy). Kindly review (and keep your fingers crossed that I'll get the next chapter out faster).