Chapter 27 - Beautiful Abyss

Sakyo had been correct when he had suspected that it would only take an hour or so more for both him and Takanosuke to make it to the base of Mount Tsukuba - or just about, either way, as both of them gazed at the approaching and almost menacing treeline while they walked through the shrubbery that had only grown thicker the more they went on.
The mountain was mostly forest, from what could clearly be seen from where they were from, although Sakyo had figured out earlier that there were several buildings and outposts placed in select locations around the mountain, but not many. Since the mountain was relatively avoided by the people who actually believed in the rumors that were spread around, it was probably no wonder the supposed temple hadn't been discovered before.
Or maybe it had at some point... After all, the rumors had to come from somewhere, didn't they?
Either way, it probably wasn't very likely that they would run into anyone else out there, or even come across one of those said outposts, so perhaps that was a good thing, so that nobody would question what they were doing out there; considering that they definitely weren't in hiking gear, and the fact that Takanosuke was carrying a box with a teacup around, they might seem a little inconspicuous.
However, it wasn't the biggest issue to worry about, so Sakyo decided not to, and focused on the main objective of why they were here: to find Alcorin and hopefully take him down for good, seeing as how he had cleverly eluded his fate-to-be last time.
Most of them knew how it was with Alcorin, Sakyo and Takanosuke, included even though they had only found out about him the day that they battled him, and they all knew well enough to know that if Alcorin didn't want anyone to find him, he would go to hell and back to assure that they didn't, which was definitely a problem.
However, if they were able to find the entrance to it, that either meant that the psychopath wasn't paying too much attention to what was happening on the exterior of the mountain, or he wanted them to find him.
The latter of the two definitely wasn't a pleasant thought, because if Alcorin wanted to be found by them, than that could only mean that he had something planned for them.
And his plans seemed to always have room for a few dead bodies here and there, as far as Sakyo could tell.
That was one of the biggest issues the situation presented, and they were both well aware that they would have to be careful once they found the place - if they were able too, that is.

The two of them stopped walking just before they were to enter the edge of the forest, both of them taking a moment to take another look of what was ahead of them in the menacing wilderness.
"That's a lot of forest." Takanosuke pointed out unhelpfully, and Sakyo internally chuckled at that statement.
"Yes." He said in turn with the smallest tugs of a smile on his face, "The entrance to the temple should be in there somewhere. It'll be dark soon, so we should cover as much ground as we can before then."

"I guess so..." Takanosuke agreed quietly, "But shouldn't it be pretty well hidden if nobody's found it before?"

"Possibly." Sakyo replied in somewhat agreement, "We'll have to keep an eye out." Takanosuke nodded as he looked up towards the slightly older blader, before he looked back towards the forest that stood in front of them.
His cerulean eyes wandered up to above the treeline, gazing at the mountain that the forest mostly covered and feeling slightly intimidated by it.
Surely there wasn't really a need to be, it was just a mountain...

Well, it was a mountain that probably housed an inhuman psychopath, so, maybe that did the feeling some justice - he wasn't too sure. Either way, it gave him a bit of a bad feeling, and, besides the Alcorin thing, he wasn't too sure why.
It was just weird... However, it was probably best to just try and push the feeling back for now and focus on what they were here for.
They had to find Alcorin, and if they did then they could hopefully end all of this. The guy had done more than enough damage than should be caused by any person.
"Well, let's go then, I guess." Takanosuke said, and Sakyo glanced down at him at the sudden show of leadership, despite being a little subdued due to the blonde's usual nature of following.
"Alright." Sakyo replied in agreement, and both of them walked forward into the forest that stood in front of them, the light of the partially setting sun being slightly obscured from view due to the leaves and branches that now covered them overhead.

At least it was a bit cooler in here than it was out there, and that was something that Takanosuke was thankful for, in a previous consideration that maybe the heat had something to do with triggering the visions he kept having.
But that wasn't very likely, since his grandmother had never mentioned anything about things like heat being able to trigger her visions.
It was usually just seeing certain things, as far as he knew... But then again, his visions just kept acting up whenever they wanted to, so there wasn't too much he could say on it.
But it was cooler in the forest, nonetheless, despite the air still being a little hot from the natural heat of summer.
"Where do you think the door to this place would be on this mountain?" Takanosuke asked, glancing around at the forest area around them and ahead of them.
"I'm not sure." Sakyo said bluntly, "Perhaps somewhere he doesn't want people to find it - which could be anywhere, as far as we know."

"Yeah, I guess..." Takanosuke responded quietly, taking that fact into consideration. It was probably going to be awhile of walking and searching around on this mountain before they found anything - if they did, that was.
After all, the mountain was huge, and there was definitely the possibility that they could be wandering around for a few days before they managed to find the entrance to this place, suggesting that it actually existed.
Not that Takanosuke personally believed that it didn't, considering the stories that Ruri had told them back in Ishioka, but it was still a possibility that the rumors were, indeed, just rumors.
And he wanted to find the temple, he was sure that Sakyo did as well, but there was also a part of him that wished that they were. He still wasn't sure why, but something about hopefully getting closer to Alcorin didn't make him feel, well, all that hopeful.
He knew it was probably just with the knowledge that they were more than likely closer than anyone could be to Alcorin at the moment, which would probably be able to shake any of them considering all that he had done, but... He had felt it even before they had gotten anywhere Mount Tsukuba, when they hadn't been close or had any knowledge of where Alcorin could be.
It was strange, but it probably wasn't worth worrying about at the moment.
Surely it would get better once they found the temple and got inside it, or maybe when they finally found Alcorin and they got rid of him would it subside.

"Hopefully..." Takanosuke thought to himself with an inner sigh, before focusing his full attention on their surroundings and following Sakyo through the wilderness, which the elder would hopefully be able to navigate through better than he could.
Both of the focused on their main objective, the two of them continuously walked deeper and deeper into the woods, the light of the somewhat setting sun streaming through the leaves and illuminating their way through the thick brush. Surprisingly, there wasn't a ton of wildlife around, other than the faint chirping of small birds and the squirrel that Takanosuke had pointed out.
Or at least he thought it was a squirrel, but Sakyo took his word for it anyway.

Perhaps the animals had been scared off by something, since there should usually be a lot of wildlife wandering around at this time of year, even if it was almost Fall.
After all, animals had way better senses than humans did, and maybe they had picked up something strange from around the mountain... That was definitely a plausible thing.
Weren't gods supposed to give off some sort of weird aura or something?
That was Takanosuke figured from all the things that he had ever heard about the supernatural and all that. Sakyo figured that was problem the case as well, indicating that they were more than likely as close to their objective as they had ever been this time around.
That made sense, considering what being that Alcorin had originally be sired by.
It was good to know that at least something made sense nowadays... But even still, it didn't help with the fact of impending doom that weighed down on both of them - Takanosuke most of all...

Although he was not on the outside, Alcorin could see the two of them. This time, he stood silently in one of the many chambers that littered the layout of the entire temple, and to anyone else he would seem like he was just staring aimlessly at the wall across the room for no apparent reason, but that was not so.
His eyes, of their demonic nature, were not focused on anything in the room, because they were focused on the sights seen through the eyes of one of his dearly beloved pets that he had sent out to do its work.
Through its eyes, he saw the subdued form of setting sunlight, saw leaves and grass and trees that he knew surrounded the mountain, and saw too lone figures walking through the brush from behind several layers of bushes, his pet unseen and unnoticed, just as he wanted it to be.
Through its dead eyes did he watch both Takanosuke and Sakyo, gazing at them with a malicious smile somewhat playing at his lips and watching as they wandered deeper into the forest that they knew nothing about.
But, then again, if they knew nothing about it, why would they be here? Of course they knew, or at least strongly suspected, that he was here, because why wouldn't they? It had only been a matter of time before someone from that town - Ishioka, was it? - revealed the rumor that he knew was common around the area.
While it was unfortunate to its own extent, it was also a useful aspect to have in this area - that meant that practically nobody came onto the mountain, so he would likely never have to be worried about focusing on other irrelevant human beings that wandered through the forests.

Honestly... Fear was such a pitiful thing... But even still, he enjoyed inflicting it into the hearts of those who opposed against him, reveled in the look of fright that wracked their faces and beings as they even just listened to his voice... Of course, why wouldn't they?
It was his heritage from his father after all.
And as he had inflicted fear and pain upon Zyro and them in the past, he would do the same to Sakyo and Takanosuke now, and he would do it once more to Zyro and his little friends once they arrived, because, of course, they knew where he was as well.
The two of them were here now, right before the eyes of one of his many pets that he had lying in wait, waiting for his command that he had to simply speak and they would obey.
And knowing that it was finally time to bring all of them down to their knees - in one way or another - he spoke the command.

"Bring them to me." And his pet obeyed...

Takanosuke's eyes glanced over to a patch of bushes that was a few meters away from them at the sound of rustling leaves, stopping in his tracks for a moment to let his cerulean eyes wander over the direction where he had heard the noise coming from.
But, as far as he could see, there wasn't anything there... Though he had almost sworn he had seen something grey or black out of the corner of his eyes.
Then again, his eyes weren't the reliable thing right now, even with his visions...

"Takanosuke?" Sakyo questioned, drawing the curly-haired blonde's attention towards the Dragoon Blader.
"Uh, sorry.." The Griffin Blader quickly apologized before glancing back to the space where he had sworn he had heard something, "I just thought I heard something, that's all."

"Well, keep an eye out." Sakyo replied, "When it comes to Alcorin, thinking you heard something isn't usually a good thing."

"Yeah..." Takanosuke said in agreement, gazing at the spot where had heard the sound of rustling leaves a moment longer before tearing away and catching back up with the older blader.
In the shadows that the sun cast on the forest, it was a little spooky now.
Both of them had noted that not to many animals were around in the forest now, so, surely, whatever Takanosuke could have heard hadn't been an animal.
Maybe, anyway.
Considering Alcorin, no one could ever be too sure what was what. So if Alcorin was here, he was more than likely watching them in some way or another, as he seemed to take a pleasure in doing and knowing what everyone was up too.
However, how he could be watching them was another problem, since they had no idea what to look out for.
And judging from the fact that they were far from Metal Bey City and any other WBBA corporation, he definitely wasn't using cameras as he previously had. The two of them kept walking, both being as silent as they could be (which really wasn't too hard to do in Sakyo's case) in order to listen to the things in around them, listening for anything out of the ordinary just in case.
However, for the next half hour after that, neither of them really heard anything but the crunching of grass and twigs beneath their own feet and the few sing-song voices of birds here and there. Whatever the younger had possibly heard earlier was either gone now, or lying in wait.
Which wasn't too common of an animal, since one wouldn't sensibly wait this long if it was predatory.

Neither of them were willing to take the chance however, so they continued on, making their way through the bushes and shrubbery and trees, and even a small, 3 foot wide stream of water that journeyed downhill from somewhere.
Still, there was nothing, and as they walked on, glancing around every now and then to watch their surroundings or look for anything that could be a potential lead in the right direction, the day continuously grew darker, though not dark enough to obstruct their view of everything around them.
After about 15 or so more minutes - neither of them were entirely sure of how long it had been, but that had to be about right - there was still nothing, and both of them stopped walking to rest for a few moments before they would continue on.
"Maybe I was just hearing things..." Takanosuke said with a small sigh, "It might've been nothing."

"Perhaps." Sakyo said with a neutral tone, and Takanosuke knew that even he considered that it was nothing, but was not willing to give up the notion of it being something just yet.
Of course, he wasn't entirely either, even though they hadn't heard anything else for the past 45 or so minutes since then, but still...
If Alcorin was here, then he would more than likely try and deceive them into thinking that they were safe, right?
Or would he suspect that they suspected that?
Takanosuke didn't really know, the thought made his head hurt a bit. Either way, Alcorin was definitely manipulative to a point where it couldn't be healthy for any normal person, and he would go to a lot of lengths to get people to do what he wanted them to do.
The problem was, they had no idea what he could want them to do, if anything - after all, how could they?
But if the psychopath was indeed setting this up for them, then they would have to be careful. And it was only right then, when they were about to decide to start off once again in their search, that they heard it.

From somewhere in the forest, somewhere in the direction they had come from, there was a long and loud howl that resounded through the trees - and both of them knew it came from a wolf.
For a moment, both of them just stood there, staring in the direction where the howl continued for a few short seconds before fading, and where it was soon joined only a few seconds later by several more howls, indicating a pack.
"Sakyo?..." Takanosuke questioned, glancing over to the redhead as he himself backed up a few steps from where he was standing. Sakyo stood there for a moment, not answering Takanosuke's hanging question of what do we do? and watching over in the direction where the hollow calls had come from, listening...
"Go." The red-and-white-haired blader said suddenly, backing away from the direction where he was staring.

"What?"

"Go!" Sakyo said more firmly, and Takanosuke didn't ask any more questions before he followed Sakyo's orders and took off running in the direction away from where the wolves could be heard, Sakyo following close behind him but keeping the slightly younger blader in front of him.
The forest was almost entirely vacant of animals, all supposedly driven away by whatever aura that Alcorin supposedly gave off that they couldn't entirely feel - however, it seemed the wolves had decided to stay, for whatever reason.
And they had apparently decided that they would make pretty good snacks.
So both of them ran, neither of them having to glance back to see if the animals were still there, because they could hear the thudding of multi feet running across the dry moss and grass covered ground.
Neither Takanosuke nor Sakyo had any idea of where they were running too, but it didn't matter as they run uphill, downhill, on slopes, jumped over logs, avoided low branches and bushes and rocks that stuck out of the ground, because all that mattered at the moment was losing the predatory canines. Sakyo made sure to keep close to his younger companion, determined not to lose him in the constant pursuit of the dogs behind them, and urging Takanosuke in whichever directions that he hoped would help them lose the wolves.
However, nothing seemed to work. They kept appearing here and there, always behind them but sometimes coming from different directions to drive them one way or another.

Why were there so many of them?

Where were they all coming from?

Wolf packs weren't usually as big as this one seemed, were they?

Sakyo knew that if a pack as big as this one seemed to be was after them, than they were probably dead already - however, as much as the dogs chased them, feral yet hollow growling clearly being heard coming from their muzzles, none of them seemed to be too keen to attack just yet.
Whenever they appeared somewhere in front or beside them, the two bladers would always be forced into another direction.
Almost as if the beasts were trying to lead them somewhere, because, surely, they would have had half the mind to attack by now, wouldn't they?
That thought was cut from his mind as 3 wolves appeared to the side-front of the two of them, Takanosuke letting out another one of his small yelps of fear and surprise before automatically taking off into the only other direction they were able to go, which was somewhat flat yet downhill at the same time.
Sakyo followed closely behind him, always assuring that Takanosuke was never behind him in fear that he would lose him, while Takanosuke frequently glanced over his shoulder every now and then to make sure that Sakyo was still following - not that he doubted that he would be, but... He just wanted to make sure.

Then, as he looked forward once more, he felt his heart almost stop in his chest as he looked at what stood perhaps only 20 meters away from them.
A dead end - a steep ridge of grass and rock that neither of them would be able to climb.
Sakyo probably saw it too, but the redhead behind him urged him to keep going until they came it, and Takanosuke obeyed without any question towards him.
The two bladers kept running the short distance that it took them to reach the end of their long pursuit, and as soon as they did, Sakyo whipped around almost at the speed of lightning, pulling out his launcher and his Bey possibly at the same time and connecting them all in one motion, having Dragoon ready to be launched whenever he gave the action.
Takanosuke turned around as well, but a lot slower than Sakyo had, looking back fearfully at the large pack of wolves - dear god, how many were there?... Two dozen? More? - that had followed them out of the woods and now stood in a half-circle several meters in front of them.

The growling that had previously been heard was gone now, and the predators that stood in front of them menacingly just stared, not moving a muscle as they all watched the two of them with dead eyes that spoke of nothing.
And as Takanosuke looked on in fear, almost cowering behind Sakyo who stood in front of him protectively, his vision blurred once again as it had so many times previously, black spots coating his sight and making his heart beat even faster than it already was, which probably wasn't at a very healthy rate.
No, why now?...

Why now of all times?..

His head hurt, and he brought a hand up to his blonde curls as he felt the familiar pain that he would still never be able to get used to.

Stone...

What?... What was he seeing this time?

Stone... Rocks.. It was dark, but there was still light..

Sakyo glanced backwards briefly towards the younger of them, his cold eyes laced with concern that would be barely visible to anyone else before focusing back on protecting the boy behind him. Takanosuke hadn't seen him look back at him, however, for his eyes were already occupied by things unwanted.

Somewhere dark... He was walking... There were rocks, it was all rock and stone..

Everything was still except for the boy who gripped his eye, his face contorted in discomfort and pain, blood once more beginning to trail out of his nose, as Sakyo knew it would.
And he knew that it would more than likely trigger the wolves, who looked on at the two of them with dead eyes and unreadable body language - something he still found so strange -, to attack.

Just enough light to see... A flat surface - no... A door..

Takanosuke's pain refused to cease for moments longer, and in the few seconds that it may have taken the blonde to start to recover, Sakyo mentally grabbed hold of the necklace in his pocket and prayed to whatever god that might have been listening - this time without shame...

It was well into the afternoon after Zyro and the others had left Iwase on their road to the small town - village, more like, from what Maru had explained - of Sakuragawa, where they would then venture to Mount Tsukuba, where Alcorin hopefully was.
Tsubasa had said that it wasn't 100% accurate, since he himself didn't know for sure, but they were all willing to take the chance - it was the best thing they had likely gotten since Kasama, before the Sainen-ji temple had been destroyed by 'unknown' means, so of course they were going to take it and go with it.
It had been a few hours since they had left Iwase, and all of them were keeping up a fair pace in their journey to their destination, chattering with each other somewhat enthusiastically along the way.
Benkei was noted for this especially, since he almost wasn't able to shut up about his excitement over knowing that Kyoya had helped them in this for the first hour.
Fortunately, the younger bladers managed to get him to calm down, and he was now simply walking along with them with a small spring in his step that didn't go unnoticed.
Kira was about the only person that remained entirely silent most of the time, simply following behind them all in a silence that wasn't too uncommon from the Bahamoote Blader when he was around all of them. He didn't even make any of his clever or snide remarks, which, although a bit unusual, nobody really complained about.

Even Zyro was a bit more chipper than he had as of late, which most of them were definitely glad to see after his somewhat strung out period of silence and grief.
The raven in question walked side by side with Shinobu just as he had earlier, both of them talking from time to time with each other about different things, whether concerning their mission or not.
Zyro was finally starting to feel a bit more positive about things than he had previously, even with the uncomfortable feeling that all of this was suddenly and still giving him.
Despite feeling off about it, he tried not to let the others, especially Shinobu, worry too much.
It might just be something like anxiety or nervousness that came with confronting Alcorin again, now that they knew where he supposedly was.
Surely they were all feeling that, after what had occurred last time below the WBBA building.
After all, it would be only natural after something like that, right?
That thought didn't do any better at easing his mind, but he simply decided to push it aside for the time being.
Why should he be the one to bring down everyone's spirits when they were finally getting somewhere in all of this?
There was no reason to be, so he wasn't going to do that to them.

Walking and talking on with each other, Ren eventually glanced up towards the sky that was now beginning to turn a soft orange color.
"Hey, how much farther is it to Sakuragawa?" The blonde asked, looking over towards Maru, who they were all pretty much looking to for directions, lately.
"It shouldn't be too much farther." The pinkette said while looking over her shoulder, "The map said it was really close to Iwase, so we should be there pretty soon."

"I'd hope so..." Shinobu said quietly but still loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'd rather get this all over and done with as soon as possible myself."

"Suggesting he's actually there." Kira added offhandedly, which everyone almost rolled their eyes to. Kira was right, but even still, they chose to ignore the negativity for now and cross that bridge when they got to it.
"Hey, we should make a code-word!" Ren exclaimed suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.
"A code-word for what, exactly?" Kira asked, raising his eyebrow at the blonde-haired girl. Ren shrugged her shoulders.
"You know, in case one of us every sees any danger, and then we can warn everybody else without alerting the thing that could cause said potential danger."
Madoka furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before raising them slightly and looking over her shoulder at the rest of the group. "You know, that might not too bad of an idea." She said, "I mean, coming up with Alcorin and all, it could probably come in handy later on."

"So, basically, like a 'drop everything and run' kind of thing?" Kite asked as he looked at Ren in front of him, thinking he knew where she was going with this because, after all, they did watch the same show.
"Yeah, like that." She replied with a knowing smile.
"Ooh, what should it be?" Eight asked, intrigued on the subject that had come up.
There was brief silence between all of them for a moment, before Zyro finally spoke up. "Chicken?" He suggested with a small shrug.
"Chicken?" Shinobu repeated with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"I don't know, it seemed like we were throwing out ideas, here." Zyro said in his defense with a small shrug.
"That could work!" Maru commented, now facing the rest of the group after deciding to turn around and walk backwards. Madoka clearly kept a wary eye on her, just to make sure that she didn't accidentally trip on something and fall backwards - undoubtedly, her backpack would more than likely cushion her fall if that happened, but the brunette's concern simply came naturally anyway.
"I say 'bull' is a good one!" Benkei exclaimed fairly excitedly, and the rest of them (even Kira) sweat-dropped at the purple-haired man.
It was a little typical of the Manager but at least it was a pretty decent idea. Chickens and bulls probably weren't exactly appropriate words when it came to dropping everything and running away, but did it really matter if they were symbolic with it at this point?

"Well," Ren started with a smile, "How about-"

"Ren, if you say Poughkeepsie, I swear..." Kite interrupted with a raised eyebrow. Ren stared at him from the corner of her eye for a moment before looking at him with a half-pout and a look of half-defiance.
"Well, I'm not going to say it anymore." She replied somewhat sourly.
Kira, at the back of the group, rolled his eye at the sheer stupidity - or at least from his point of perspective - of the topic that the rest of them had decided to talk about. However, he stayed silent.
It was his job to keep them grounded and down to earth, yes, but he only did that when he deemed it necessary. Now... Wasn't necessarily one of those times, so he had no need to criticize them. If this continued all the way to Mount Tsukuba however, than he may have to do something about it. But as of now, he didn't really care.
"I will revel in the day when we finally get what you two are talking about..." Madoka said with a small smile, looking back over her shoulder at the younger people in the group, save for Benkei.
"Big bro watches this weird show on TV sometimes." Eight explained with a small smile, "It's sort of scary, but one of the guys on it is kind of funny."
Madoka smiled a little wider in response to this, still not understanding exactly what it was but appreciating the vague explanation anyway.
Despite her smile, which Zyro and many of the others were glad to see, Zyro knew from the night before that it was probably a little hard to keep up.
But seeing Madoka smile even after everything they had been through through all of this managed to lift his spirits a little higher.

"Zyro..."

And automatically, the world around him seemed to stop altogether, turning black and grey and white and sucking all life from it in a split moment where time seemed to stand still, as that voice he was all too familiar with rang in his head.

"Zyro, please..."

It seemed to beg this time; still as quiet as a mouse, still softer than anything he knew of, but this time, there was desperation in that tone that may have always been there, but was far more evident this time around.

"Please... Come to..."

It was weak... Weaker than he had ever heard it be, and probably wouldn't have been heard over the sounds of his friends' talking if time didn't seem so slow now. Why was it so faint?...

"Please, follow..."

'Follow'? Follow what?...

"Go to him.. Please..."

In those words, there was only desperation and pleading, that delicate voice begging him to do what it asked even though he didn't really know what that was... What did it want him to do?

"Zyro... Please... Come to.. Me..." In that moment been moments, Zyro could have sworn that he knew that voice far more than he believed he did... And then everything was moving again.

Color returned to the world around him as time seemed to unfreeze itself, as all life and positivity came back to the world and allowed him to hear the sounds of his friends' voices once more, picking up on their conversation right where they had unknowingly left off.
Zyro kept walking along with them for a few moments, staring forward with an almost vacant expression as he slowly yet surely regained himself from the experience that he had gone through more than once before - however, it was always just as mind-numbing every time.
As the raven finally registered everything in his head, everything that he had just gone through, everything he had heard from that delicate little voice that now seemed barely even able to muster the strength to speak, he stopped walking alongside the others, alongside Shinobu, and simply stared forward as the words that had been spoken came to his mind.
He didn't know who that voice belonged too - he had never known since the day it had started roughly a month ago when all of this had first began.
But now, somehow, he felt like he had known that soft little voice for his entire life, and although he wasn't entirely sure what exactly it wanted of him, another part of him certainly did. Which was probably why he turned his head to the left and gazed down into the forest area that was just off the road, the shrubbery not exactly thick but still somewhat difficult to see through. He didn't know why he thought it, or why he might've known it if some part of him even did, but there was something there... Something that none of them could have been aware of otherwise.

"Zyro?" When his name was spoken, Zyro whipped his head back around to the rest of the group, who had all stopped about 3 meters away and were now looking at him, all of them with either questioning or concerned expressions. (Kira's expression was a little harder to decipher, though, seeing as how he was just standing there with his hands on his hips and a raised eyebrow)
"Are you okay?" Shinobu asked in concern, after being the person who had first spoken his name.
For several moments, Zyro had no idea how he was supposed to answer - he was as fine as he could be at the moment, he was, but...
Without answering, the raven-haired boy looked back towards the area of forest that he had previously been looking into, his eyes fixated on that area because somehow he just knew there was something there that they probably weren't - or maybe they were - supposed to see.
He more than likely would have normally just wanted to brush off the feeling that plagued him, but right now there was just something that told him 'please don't ignore it', and some part of him was forcing him to listen.
Or maybe he just really did want to listen, and he just wasn't realizing it. Whatever it was, though, he felt like he needed to go there.

"Hey, Earth to Zyro!" Ren called out to Ifraid Blader, having come up beside him while he was focused on the area of forest down off the side of the road.
Zyro once more snapped out of his trance-like state for the second time in probably 5 minutes, and quickly looked over at the blonde that now stood beside him and was looking at him with a concerned expression and a raised eyebrow. It was then that he noticed that the entire group had actually walked back over to him and were now standing mainly on his right side.
"Zyro, are you okay?" Madoka asked, worry evident in her forlorn eyes, "You're acting a bit weird."

"Um, yeah, uh..." The raven-haired blader began before looking down towards the ground slightly, unsure of how he was going to answer for his behavior. How exactly do you explain that you heard a voice that somehow stopped time for a few minutes and indirectly told you to go into the forest?
As far as he was concerned, that really wasn't something that you just say.
"Come on, Zyro, don't start spacing out again, stay with us." Ren said with a couple snaps of her fingers, keeping from going into that trance-like state that he had previously been in. Zyro raised his head towards her again, looking at her for a moment before glancing back to the forest again.
".. I think there's something over there..." The raven said abruptly, gesturing to the area of forest that he was staring at and drawing everyone's attention towards it.
"What do you mean?" Madoka asked curiously, eyebrows furrowed as she observed the area herself as closely as she could from where they were standing and saw nothing, "It doesn't look like there's anything there..."

"Is this a good time to say drop everything and run?" Ren asked almost absently, looking a little wary as she too looked around at the space where Zyro was staring. The Ifraid blader shrugged his shoulders slightly, glancing at the blonde for a moment at the comment before looking back towards where he had previously been focused several times before.
"I-I dunno, I just..." Zyro struggled to explain, "There's something in there, and we need to check it out."

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Benkei asked almost immediately.
Shinobu nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah, Zyro, I mean, with all that we know Alcorin can do, I don't think going to check 'something' out in the woods is a very good idea..."

"I know that." Zyro retorted sternly, turning his body slightly to look at Shinobu and show that he was serious, "But I really feel that there's something in there we should see."

"And what exactly makes you feel like that so suddenly?" Kira asked, his only eyebrow raised, "This better not be a result of your frequent moping."

"It's not." Zyro replied, "I don't know how I even know there's something in there, but..." Zyro, at the moment, was almost at a loss for what to say. He didn't blame his friends were doubting and questioning him, since he would probably do the same to one of them if they started acting the way he was now.
But even still, he wished they would at least listen and try to understand, even though he himself didn't fully understand either... But as much as the raven wanted to try and explain to them, he knew it would probably not get them anywhere - so instead, he just went for it.
"Nevermind, I'll just go check it out by myself." The blue-eyed boy said somewhat dismissively and with a firm resolution before stepping down the slight embankment on the side of the road to head in the direction of the forest.
"Hey, Zyro!" Ren called out, a bit taken aback as most of them were at the Ifraid Blader's apparent impulsiveness.
"Is he serious?" Maru questioned, staring in worry after the Ifraid Blader and looking about ready to after him herself.
"Well, he looks pretty serious." Eight responded to the pinkette, glancing over at her for a moment.
"Zyro!" Madoka called after the boy in turn, and she saw him glance back over his shoulder once before he turned and continued heading in the direction of the forest area. None of them had any idea what could have gotten into Zyro so suddenly, since they knew that he was most definitely smart enough since all of this started to not be as impulsive as he seemed to be now.
Whatever had happened in the last few minutes had definitely seemed to spark a sudden change in the ravenette that none of them understood.

For several more moments of watching Zyro walk off and leave them behind, Shinobu sighed and decided that at least someone should go with the Ifraid Blader, to assure that he didn't get himself killed or walk into a trap that could more than likely be present.
Without a word, the light-haired boy slid down the embankment as well and hurried up to catch with Zyro.
"You too, Shinobu?" Ren asked incredulously, but didn't receive an answer from the other as he hurried up catch up with his best friend.
Kira scoffed audibly, and shook his head slightly before calmly walking over and stepping down the embankment as well. "As insufferable as most of you can be, I doubt it's a good time to start splitting up." The multicolor-haired blader said irritably as he simply walked in the direction both Zyro and Shinobu were headed.
Ren breathed through her nose and rolled her eyes slightly before muttering, "Fine..." and hurrying down to the ground. Kite and Eight soon followed, both knowing that Kira's statement of not splitting up was reasonable enough, and Benkei came after them as well.
Maru and Madoka were the only ones that remained for a few moments before the elder of the two accepted the fact that the chances of getting all of them back to the road were slim to none, before she urged Maru to come along and they both hurried to catch up with the others.
Soon enough, all of them had more or less gathered in their group circle again, all of them following Zyro, who, somehow, seemed to know exactly where he was going even though having never been here before - or at least not to their knowledge.

As much as they tried to ask Zyro what exactly was here, the Ifraid blader himself was always at a loss for what to say, claiming that he didn't really know either but that they should probably see it anyway.
For all they knew, the pressure or Alcorin had finally gotten to Zyro, but, despite that, they weren't just going to abandon him and leave him to the wolves. Of course, they knew Kira probably would if he wasn't as seemingly dedicated to repaying Zyro as he was, but that was a different story.
So with barely any words spoken, the remaining 9 of them followed the ravenette through the shrubbery of the forest area, stepping over a coupe logs that were around and walking through bushes that didn't produce thorns nor berries, all the while silently wondering what in the world had gotten into him.
Zyro was also somewhat wondering the same thing, though on a level with far better understanding than he was really able to explain. He wasn't sure what was here, he wasn't sure why he was so compelled to go to it, but he simply went with it.
There was something here that they probably needed to see, or somewhere they needed to be, and, although he didn't know what that was, he needed to get to it. And he knew that they were now very close to it, eyeing the area ahead where he could see the ground steeped downward some more, and somehow he knew that's where it was.

For the last few meters, the ravenette picked up his pace slightly and jogged over to the area that a part of him wanted so desperately to reach, and he heard his friends do the same behind him. He was silently grateful that they had decided to follow him with little explanation, for what they all came to look upon erased all doubts that hung in the air.
What stood just down the short hill looked to be some sort of building, made completely from grey stone that somehow seemed to have kept a majority of the structure standing for however long it had been there, which definitely seemed to be a long time by the moss and ivy that covered most of the stones.
Whatever the structure was originally meant to be was unknown from where they stood, and possibly lost to time with the looks of the effects of the elements that had more than likely pelted it over the last century or so.
"Well.." Ren said awkwardly in the silence that plagued them all, "I guess there is something here.."

"Oh you don't say..." Kira replied sarcastically, almost as an automatic response. The rest of them simply rolled their eyes a bit and decided to ignore him.
"Zyro, how did you even know this was here?" Madoka asked, looking at the Ifraid blader for a moment before looking back over her shoulder, "You can't see it from the road..."
Once more, Zyro just shrugged his shoulders, an apologetic look of hopelessness present on his own face. "I-I don't really know, I just kinda... Did." He said unhelpfully, and Ren, although still looking at the structure on the bottom of the small hill, raised an eyebrow.
"Between that-" She gestured to the worn-down building, "-and that-" In relation to what Zyro had said as an unhelpful answer, "-I'm a little unsettled."

"Well, yeah, but..." Maru began, moving to stand just at the edge of the hill before it sloped downwards, and Madoka made sure to watch her so that she didn't go tumbling forward, "What is this even doing here? And what do you think it is?"

"Something really old, obviously..." Benkei said as a way of saying 'for starters'.

"I just..." Zyro started again, trailing off for a moment as he looked at the building, "... I feel like it's something we need to check out."

"And why is that, per say?" Kira questioned, arms crossed in front of his barely concealed chest.

"I don't know..." Zyro said with a shake of his head, "There's just... Something about it, and I don't know what.."

"Do you think this has anything to do with those sites centered around the God of Destruction?" Eight suggested, looking up at the taller bladers around him.
"That's kind of what I was thinking." Maru said with a small smile at the blue-haired boy.
"If that's the case..." Shinobu began quietly, "Then I don't think there's too much of a chance of anyone being home.. Considering that we know he might likely be at Mount Tsukuba."

"Unless Alcorin decided to take it for his own anyway." Madoka pointed out, "But by the looks of it, I don't see why he would really want too..."
Kite shrugged his shoulders, looking over towards the brown-haired woman. "Like Zyro said, it could be worth looking around." The Leviathan Blader reasoned, "From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like anyone's been home in a long time."
Madoka sighed through her nose, looking down slightly. "Yeah, I guess..." She said slowly, taking a few moments to think over the matter thoroughly before saying anything else.
At this point, they already had a pretty good idea of where Alcorin was - the mountain no more than maybe a mile or two or so away from them, so this place probably wouldn't serve too much of a purpose for the psychopath from the looks of it. Still, it was probably close enough to Mount Tsukuba for Alcorin to take some sort of interest in it, perhaps for some form of look out or something. Then again, there really wasn't much to see.
She wasn't sure how Zyro had even known this place was here in the first place, and the thought was still a little unsettling, but... Perhaps it could be worth taking a look at. Making up her mind, the shop owner finally answered.

"Alright." She said with a hint of a sigh, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out." The brunette saw Zyro looked back at her with a grateful look on his face, something that said 'thanks for...'... She didn't know what exactly, but probably for trusting him more than anything.
In response, she gave a warm smile back to the Ifraid Blader, a mutual understanding passing between them for a moment before all of them began making their way down the hill. All of them remained wary of the structure before them, however, keeping in mind not to let their guard since anything could happen at this point. Kira kept muttering something about them being somewhat idiotic, or that they were really putting a target on themselves for probably no reason, and they knew that he was partially right.
Even so, no one really responded to him as they all made their way to the ivy-covered walls of the ruined building. Nature had sure done its part in constructing the place over the years, since the vines and other greenery seemed to be part of what still held it together.
The group made sure to stay together, whether as a whole or smaller groups, and walked around the perimeter of the building, all knowing that it would probably be wise to inspect the whole of it before anything else.

Maru walked around one side of the building, gazing up the walls of the unidentified building and keeping a look out for anything that could possibly signify some sort of danger, while Madoka and Ren both followed closely behind her, inspecting the structure themselves and trying to make some sense of what it was doing here.
The three of them made their way to the collapsed side of the wall of the building, which lead inside the structure that wasn't necessarily inside considering there was barely a roof to speak of over top of them.
Collapsed pieces of columns littered the stone floor, appearing to have once held up the no longer existent ceiling. There was still one whole one standing though, at the far right handed end of the rectangular room where there the roof was still a bit in tact.
"Wow, this place got wrecked." Ren pointed out climbing over the large cylinder of what used to be one of the aforementioned columns.
"I wonder by what, though..." Maru stated curiously, "If this is one of those things that Nemesis used to have, I wouldn't be surprised if there were people that tried to tear it down..."

"Looks like they gave up after awhile, though." Ren replied, gesturing to the fairly large portion of the structure that still remained standing, "Guess they really didn't have the technology to demolish buildings as thoroughly as we do now."
Stepping over several pieces of debris that had been laying around for who-knows-how-long, Madoka made her way over to the opposite side of the building from where they were standing, to the end where there was still part of the roof intact, to investigate, letting both Ren and Maru inspect what they would themselves.
It was a little darker over in the other end of the rectangular building, from the shade of both the trees overhead and the small bit of ceiling, but there was thankfully still enough light to see. Of course, there wasn't too much other than the still intact column in the corner and the ivy and moss that covered a good portion of the walls.
However, the greenery didn't cover all of the walls, which still allowed the brunette to see what was hidden underneath.
They looked like engravings of some sort, though it was hard to tell from how much the stone had been weathered down over the years.
Turquoise eyes looked up along the walls, looking over the thin vines that coated grey stone.

Was there more engravings under it?

Did they take up the whole wall?

Madoka looked back at the few that she could see, seeing them seeming go up towards the roof and half of them disappearing behind the ivy and moss that coated the walls.
Well, there was only one way to find out, she supposed.
Gingerly, making sure not to disturb the rock to much and have it all come crumbling down on top of her because it was definitely possible that nature was the only thing holding it together, Madoka tore and brushed away some of the ivy and moss that covered the walls, revealing more the crude inscriptions engraved into it like some sort of picture or pictures.
If there were words that went with the vague drawings they had long since been rendered illegible, but that didn't really matter.
Knowing things like this, the words might have not even been in Japanese at all, or at least in some form of it that she wasn't capable of understanding.

"Hey, what are you doing, Madoka?" Ren asked in curiosity with a raised eyebrow, observing Madoka's current process of scraping away most of the greenery that covered the far wall.
The brown-haired woman looked back over her shoulder as she ceased in her work for a moment. "It looks like there's something carved into this wall over here." The shop owner explained, "Most of this stuff seems to covering it though, so I'm trying to see what it is."

"Like inscriptions?" Maru asked in a somewhat subdued voice that came about suddenly. Madoka looked over at her apprentice and smiled comfortingly and warmly at her.

"Yeah, I think so." She said gently. Maru simply nodded, simply standing there for a moment before finally deciding to make her way over to help her teacher with the task. Madoka looked at her fondly before returning to her previous activity, pulling away some of the moss that come up from between a few cracks.
She wouldn't say anything about Maru's slightly subdued nature all of a sudden, because she was fairly sure she didn't need to ask the pink-haired girl what it was about.
After all, the last time the small girl had worked with inscriptions and engravings of any kind had been in the Mist Mountain Shrine, to where she had returned with nothing to her own agonizing disappointment.
Madoka understood Maru's still lingering grief over Dynamis well enough to respect that she probably wouldn't want to talk about it, and simply continued with what she had started.
Ren also came over to help, tugging at the leaves and thin vines and tearing them away with ease.

Within only a couple minutes the three of them managed to pull away as much of the ivy and moss and vines as they were able to reach and get off, before stepping back and looking upon the new portion of the wall that had previously been hidden from their eyes.
"That looks pretty cryptic." Ren commented, scanning over the pictures that were formed on the wall in a confusing fashion, but were still in tact enough for them to somewhat make out what it was.
Madoka nodded slightly in response, feeling a small shiver run through her body as her gaze fell on near the bottom of the wall near the floor, where a large, distorted figure of... Something... stood menacingly.
She knew at that moment what it was, because she had had the sight of that being engraved in her mind for years as the inscriptions had been engraved in the stone, never truly able to put the memory behind her.

"Did you 3 find something?" Came the voice of Shinobu from the side, and Maru looked over to the side where the light-haired blader, as well as Zyro and Kira, was looking over the lowest standing point of where the wall had collapsed.

"We think so." The pink-haired Bey Mechanic said, "There's a bunch of pictures on the wall that we found underneath everything."
The three of them seemed to take it as somewhat of a good sign, and Zyro called out to Benkei, Kite, and Eight to come and see what they had found as well. The 3 boys then came around and up beside the girls, looking upon the picture themselves.
Zyro's eyes almost immediately widened as he took in the form of the picture near the bottom of the wall. "Is that...?" He trailed off for a moment, blinking a couple of times and seeming to speculate to himself just to assure he wasn't getting what he was assuming wrong.
"Yeah..." Madoka answered, already knowing what the rest of them were thinking, "Nemesis."

At one time, the picture might have been perfectly etched into the stone, not a flaw to be seen as it told some sort of story without falter and with clear accuracy.
However, time and the elements had taken its toll on the rock, and, while it was still quite eligible to a point, had morphed the beautiful and perfect pictures into crude and vague engravings that looked to have been chipped away at, tainting the perfection that had once been. From what they were able to make out, it had at least something to do with Nemesis, which could only lead them to believe that this place was indeed one of those old shrines or temples that had originally been dedicated to the now deceased god.
At the top of what Madoka, Ren, and Maru had uncovered, there was a picture of 3 people, with either flowers, wavy lines, or what appeared to be bone-like objects surrounding each one of them.
Below them was a fairly large circle, which they could only assume was the earth, from the way the lines etched through it looked a fair bit like the continents - or at least to some degree.
Below that were supposedly more pictures of the three people, though what exactly they were supposed to depict was left a mystery, the stone much too damaged to be able to make out anything solid.
Farther below, just above the crude depiction of Nemesis - that was actually very accurate to what most of them had seen 7 years ago - there was what looked like a swirl or something, divided up into three lines with circles or something akin on either end of them, the spiral itself seeming to somewhat angle downward into the picture of Nemesis, indicating something or another that had probably been very clear at the time, but was barely so now.

"Well, looks like the kiddies were right." Kira said as he placed a hand on his hip, his only eyebrow raised in a look of somewhat acknowledgement.
"Told ya!" Maru said proudly with a smile.
"Hey, what did you find?" Benkei asked as he, Kite, and Eight all came through the destroyed end of the building and up behind the rest of them.
Madoka looked back at them and then looked back towards the inscriptions on the stone. "We're not too sure, but it turns out this place really is one of those places where people used to worship Nemesis." The brunette nodded, and Eight and Maru both did a silent high-five at managing to figure out, even though it had only been a guess at the time - still, they had been right!

"Looks like it's supposed to tell a story." Kite stated, his blue eyes making there way up and down the wall several times, "Hell if I can understand what it's supposed to be telling though."

"Well, it has something to do with Nemesis, we know that." Ren said, "And those three people up there, whoever they are." The blonde gestured to the three people at the top of the stone tapestry. Most of them turned their gazes up to the top of what they could see of the wall again, inspecting the three figures with confusion in interest.
"It's probably just me," Kira began, rolling one of his wrists off the side, "But two of them could probably be life and death."

"Well, flowers and bones are pretty opposite from each other, I guess..." Shinobu said in vague agreement.
"So, life and death, maybe..." Zyro started, inspecting the three people at the top and feeling his fingers unconsciously twitch for some reason, "... But who's the one in the middle?"
Kira shrugged his bare shoulders. "I don't know, you can figure it out." The multicolor-haired blader said bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest instead.

"Life, death, and Nemesis... And someone else." Madoka observed aloud before glancing at Zyro beside her, "Zyro, how did you know this place was here? Have you been here before?"

The raven shook his head. "No." He said simply, "I didn't even know this place existed before now... I just kind of knew I guess."

"And isn't it quite fortunate that you did."

Almost immediately, everyone froze, hearts almost stopping in unison at the voice that came from behind them - although maybe Benkei was the exception, because he had not been there at the time, but the rest of them knew.
Even as brave as they managed to be, even as defiant they were against the being that had come into everyone's lives and torn everything to shreds, that voice was always able to constrict hearts like a snake, and it was always unmistakable.
Some hurriedly, some slowly, all of them turned around, and came face to face with the man that they had dearly wished they had been the one to perish long ago.
He still looked the same as ever: shoulder-length indigo hair, bangs parted twice, dark brown (dark brown?...) eyes the were reminiscent of a cat, and fair skin, dressed in that same trench-coat, those same boots, and the same white pants that looked to have never had a stain on them. And just as any time before, that smile - perhaps once sweet and angelic but now tainted by whatever dark force had come upon it - was plastered on his lips, a small giggle emanating from his throat and chilling all of them to the bone.

"Nice to see all of you again." Alcorin said almost politely, but with no less than a malicious intent behind his eyes that seemed so different for some reason, "Did you miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" Madoka asked, voice quivering without her control at the sudden shock and fear that had come over here.

"I would've thought that would be quite simple for you to figure out." Alcorin replied with a slight tilt of his head, "You know, this place originally belonging to my father dearest and all... But I'm really not too surprised that you found it, because, really, you all seem to get lucky out of no where."

"Did you plan this?" Shinobu asked cautiously, his stance just as wary as anyone else's and seeming vaguely prepared to fight if he had too.

"Maybe, maybe not..." Alcorin replied unhelpfully, "But, again, it is quite fortunate that you ended up here. For me, anyway." With seemingly no care in the world, Alcorin walked a little off to the side, his boots tapping gently on the ruined stone floor. "It really wouldn't have done any good if I were to try and get rid of all of you in populated areas, now would it? I mean, really, who expects to see a bunch of dead and mangled bodies on the side of the road?" Slowly, he turned back again to face them. "But that's besides the point... After all, you all really are quite persistent, aren't you? I would've originally expected you to all break down crying in miserable tears after figuring out that you all managed to help me kill dear little Gingka in cold blood."

"Don't talk about him like that!" Madoka demanded without really thinking, and Alcorin simply giggled in response.
"Aw, and why not?" The demi-god asked in a sickeningly sweet voice that still rang with that undertone that they almost weren't able to stand, "You were his friends, weren't you? I would've thought that you of all people would've liked to talk about him."

"Not after what you did to him..." Zyro said in a somewhat quiet voice, but still loud enough to here. A hysteric giggle escaped the blue-haired man, an amused look in his dark brown (They shouldn't be dark brown, should they?...) eyes.
His laughter died down almost as soon as it started, and that distinct red hue appeared behind his eyes even if only dimly.
"Maybe so..." The man started, "But remember... You could've done something, Zyro."

The raven-haired boy's eyes widened slightly, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach appearing out of nowhere as that single moment just a couple weeks ago came back to him. When he had looked into 'Gingka's' eyes, and seen that there was something off... But he had said nothing.
He had done nothing, because he hadn't even thought about it.
Shinobu, Maru, Ren, Kite, Madoka, and Eight all glanced over at him, and immediately saw how pale his face had suddenly gone.
Alcorin's eyes simply narrowed, and he smiled sweetly (..Dreadfully...).

"Exactly..." The sociopath continued, "You looked at me, and you knew that something was wrong. You knew that there was something missing, because as much as our eyes look alike, there's a big difference between him and me... But you ignored that. And from then on, none of you were even able to tell the difference... Looks like you weren't as good of friends with him as you originally thought, now are you?"
Madoka bit the inside of his lip, preventing herself from throwing out another outburst that she might come to regret, refusing to give the bastard what he wanted, even though he might already be getting what he wanted at the moment.
Maru glanced up to her teacher, and placed a hand on her leg, gently fisting her small hands in the fabric of Madoka's jeans.
"And even after all of that, I decided to be considerate enough to let all of you go..." Alcorin said, taking a brief moment to look at his nails for no reason in particular before looking back at them with narrowed eyes, dark brown (They shouldn'tbe dark brown...) irises dimly illuminated by the red glow that haunted dreams, "You really should've taken that and left, but you didn't..." Another giggle escaped his lips. "You humans really are so interesting."

"What do you even want, you psychopath?!" Ren demanded, one hand slightly behind her and looking ready to grab her launcher if - or when - the need came to it.
"Didn't I already tell you that?" Alcorin asked, shrugging his slim shoulders almost casually, "I'm just looking to fix what my father failed to do..." After those words, Alcorin's smile abruptly left his lips, and for a moment, he looked more frightening than he did with it, "And like hell I'll any of you ruin that."

"And like hell we're going to to just let you destroy everything that Nemesis almost did all those years ago." Shinobu said defiantly, and many of them were somewhat impressed that he - usually the quiet one, or at least before all of this started - was the one who was the least patient in hearing what Alcorin was saying.
Without another word, the light-haired blader swiftly pulled out both his launcher and Salamander, connecting the two of them together almost as fast as he had brought them out and aiming directly towards the demi-god only meters in front of them.
Almost as soon as he did that, Ren did the same, having already been ready to take the offensive and getting Phoenix ready for battle in a matter of seconds.
Benkei let out a fairly loud exclamation of 'bull!' before whipping out the Bey of the same name - something that Madoka hadn't even known he still kept on him for all of these years.
Kite did the same after the large man, Eight following the steps of his older brother as well, and, eventually, Zyro managed to push at least a small bit of his anxious nausea aside to get out Ifraid as well, though his face was still pale beyond his natural skin color.
Lastly, Kira did the same, bringing out Bahamoote but with seemingly less enthusiasm than the rest of them did - but considering Kira, that could almost be called natural.

Truly, the scene really was reminiscent of what ha happened the last time they had encountered the psychopath, even though there were some here now who hadn't been there before.
For several moments, everything stood still between everyone that stood on the long forgotten grounds of worship for a god that no longer existed, the world around all of them seeming so much darker now even though light was still pouring through the tops of the trees from overhead. Dark brown eyes highlighted gently by red simply started at them for several moments, the silence seeming nearly unbreakable as the tension hung thickly in the air.
Only after several moments of nothing but stillness, that damned smile returned to Alcorin's lips, his eyes closing for a moment as though relishing in a single moment that he wished would last forever.
"You really are all so simple-minded..." The blue-haired god stated before opening his eyes again, "I would've thought at least one of you able to figure out that if I really wanted to destroy this world, I probably would've done it by now."
All of their eyes (or, in Kira's case, eye) widened slightly at that, confusion suddenly making its way into the air as they all still stared challengingly at the man before them that could confuse them like nothing else.
"Maybe dear Gingka would've been a little bit of a problem," Alcorin went on, a malicious intent in his accursed voice that dug into their skulls by force and gave them no other choice but to listen to what could have been the equivalent of hell, "But I assure you, I wouldn't have drawn it out nearly as much as I did if I really did want to. Besides, I'm one of the idiots that happens to live on this planet, aren't I?" At that last sentence, the demi-god raised an eyebrow slightly, a small chuckle making its way from him and inevitably to their ears.

"So..." Madoka started, a confused look on her face, trying to calculate just what the hell this sociopath was trying to get at, "...If you don't want to destroy everything, then what are you even after."

"Nothing you really need to know about." Alcorin responded teasingly, "In fact, I already had it the moment I tricked you into thinking I was actually little Hagane..." Zyro bit the inside of his lip, the sense of dread that had settled itself in his stomach making him feel like he needed to vomit, but he desperately drew down the urge.

What was Alcorin even talking about?

What did he mean he already had what he had wanted?

Did that make all of this pointless?... That couldn't be right, could it?

"Which, of course, begs the question..." Alcorin went on even more, his hands clasped behind him and seeming to rock back and forth on his heels like a child, "'Why would I even bother with you if I already had it'? Well, that's simple..." Once more, the smile faded from his face, and a sheet of ice almost seemed to cascade over those soft yet terrifying features, "... Because if you really were able to get to me, you wouldn't leave until you had what I've worked too hard for."
Though the cold, icy expression still remained, the bluenette's eyes narrowed sharply in a show of muted anger that looked to be no where near as dangerous as it actually was, and for a brief moment, they all considered him more frightening than ever.

Before Alcorin could say anything further - if he had been going to say anything further - the ground below them jolted and shook, jostling all of them off balance and barely letting them be able to catch them footing.
Even Alcorin moved to steady himself, unfolding his arms from behind his back and putting them just a few inches away from his sides to maintain his balance.
Everyone who had originally drawn their Beys all stumbled with the sudden shock of the earth rumbling beneath their feet, Eight actually falling over on his back with Orochi still docked, though quickly able to get back up and steady himself with Kite's help, his own Bey already tucked away inside his coat.
Madoka and Maru both grabbed onto each other, steadying themselves, and Kira swiftly put Bahamoote away back into his belt before stumbling over into Benkei, who didn't really seem to mind as he himself tried to focus on balancing himself.
Ren stumbled back into the pillar behind her, feeling the wind being knocked out of her at the unexpected impact while trying to hold onto her Phoenix at the same time.

What was happening?

This couldn't be Alcorin's doing!

There was no way - even with his powers - that he could just make the ground shake beneath his feet like it was nothing! A deafening sound cracked through the air, the ground jolting violently in response, causing Shinobu to stumble forward and fall almost face-first onto the stone floor.
"Shinobu!" Zyro exclaimed in worry, but was unable to do anything for his friend as the same cracking sound shot through the air, making their ears ring and the earth jolt violently once more. Shinobu just decided that it might as well be safer on the ground, grasping onto a flaw in the stonework for support and covering one of his ears to try and protect himself from the horrific sound that filled the air.
Ren decided, just as Shinobu had, that staying against the pillar she had fallen back against was the safest option at this point, save for the fact that the sound of breaking rock and tumbling stones kept exploding in her ears, and she gave a cry of pain as it sounded again, the ringing in her ears stronger than anything else.
Desperate to see just what in the world was causing that horrific sound, Ren looked over to the side, to just in front of the stone tapestry they had found, and unconsciously screamed at the sight before her.

The stone floor had fallen away, as though into a dark abyss that no one could have ever known was directly below it, the ground that should have been there non-existent, and instead replaced with an endless casm that glowed a reddish-purple color, the light seeming to shoot straight downward forever, seeming to have no walls, nothing but endlessness.
Everyone heard her cry, but nobody was able to turn around to see what she was screaming about, though undoubtedly concerned about her more than anything.
The only one who saw what she was talking about was Alcorin, who still just stood facing the group, leaning against the ruined part of the wall behind him that still managed to stand, but doing nothing but simply staring at, forward, beyond them with an unreadable expression.
The loud cracking resounded through the air again, and, this time, Ren saw more rock break away, the mysterious fissure becoming larger with every pebble of stone that fell away into the endless abyss.

What the hell was going on?!

There was no way this could be happening!

What was happening?!

Unknowing of what to do, Ren turned her eyes away and pressed herself as hard as she could against the pillar behind her, the hard, jagged edges of stone digging into her back, squeezing her eyes shut tightly with tears rimming the edge of her eyelashes, and willing it all to just stop.
Make it stop.

"COME..."

For Ren, everything really did stop as that voice pulsated inside her brain, making it impossible for her not to hear it.
Her eyes shot open wide, the loose tears that had come to them falling down her paling cheeks as she comprehended what she had just heard.

No... Not again... Not again, anything but that!

"Ren!... Hear my voice!.."

Oh she heard it alright... And she wished to god that she wasn't able too...
Where was it coming from?
Nowhere?
Everywhere?
Around her?
Inside of her?
Where?

"REN... Come to me!"

Breathing slowly, all of time seeming to have slowed and allowed her to be the only moving creature, Ren looked over towards the quickly widening fissure in the ground, threatening to swallow them all.
There... It... It was coming from there, wasn't it?

"Here me now, and come!"

She knew the voice, it was unmistakable... She had heard it before, all those weeks ago, when she had lost against Genjuro in the Bridge To The Future tournament.

It was the same, exact voice, but... It seemed so different...

"Come to me, Ren! Come!..."

It seemed so much more... Friendly...

"Here me, Ren!"

So much more... Welcoming...

"Come to me NOW!"

This time, after having fought against the voices that plagued her nightmares ever since that day that seemed so long ago, Ren's will gave way - and she let it.

The ground continued to shake beneath them, jolting violently every now and then and shooting out that accursed sound that they should have been able to get used to, but they weren't. There was no escape from it, no escape from the shaking all around them, and, somehow, everyone except for Shinobu managed to stay on their feet, even if Maru was hanging onto Madoka's leg as tightly as she could, even if Eight was being partially held by his older brother, even if Kira was unconsciously leaning back against Benkei and both of them seeming to absently try and support each other.
The light-haired blader breathed hard, his hands around his head shaking, his entire body shaking without his control, and there was nothing any of them could do about that.
He felt the ground jolt again from underneath them, making his own body jump up in the air about an inch before coming back down just as quickly, grunting slightly as he hit the hard rock beneath him again.
He heard Ren's scream, just as much as he was sure the rest of them had, but as far as he knew, none of them were able to probably look back at her and see what she was screaming about without losing balance or getting their ear drums knocked in.
Still, though, he was already on the ground, so maybe he could look back and see if everything was okay.

Deciding to do just that, the Salamander blader twisted half of his body as quickly as he could, bringing his hand away from his ear and risking the cracking sound that would undeniably shoot through the air once more.
Lush green eyes looked through the couple pairs of legs of his friends that stood behind him, all of them still struggling to keep their balance and not able to focus on just what was causing the shaking in the first place.
But Shinobu looked past his friends, looked for Ren, and finally, his eyes landed on the back wall that they had originally been trying to decipher - and what he saw filled his heart with fear and caused him to scream upon reflex.

"REN!" The light-haired blader shouted, staring at the blonde at the very back of them all, who stood there with her body straight and proper, as if the world stood perfectly still for her alone while it shook violently around the rest of them.
But the part that had scared him the most, the part had caused him to cry out her name, was the fact that she stood at the very edge of some sort of small fissure that had been made through the stone, a strange red-purple-white light pouring through it and illuminating both the back wall, and Ren's face, which showed nothing but blank eyes and a stoic expression as she stared down into what he could only assume to be an endless abyss.
The rest of them had heard the Salamander blader shout their blonde friend's name, the sound ringing through the air for a few moments just as Ren's previous scream had, and the exclamation of fear and shock that resounded in Shinobu's voice, Zyro, Madoka, Maru, Kira, and Benkei found it in them to turn around in both concern and alarm to see what the light-haired blader was yelling it.
When their eyes (or eye) turned towards the back of the structure, they were greeted with the same sight that Shinobu had seen before, and before anyone could say or do anything in response to this, to try and pull her away from the edge of the abyssal fissure that none of them had ever seen the likes of, to snap her out of her trance-like state, Ren tipped her body forward - and fell.

"REN!" Zyro cried out in alarm, lunging forward and making a grab for her wrist to try and stop her from plunging down into what looked like endlessness despite the shaking, but missed, and was left with only air.
The Ifraid blader fell onto the stone, his head and right arm hanging over the edge of the pit that Ren had fallen into, finding himself staring down into something that looked like it would never end, and catching only a wisp of blonde hair before it disappeared from his sight entirely.
"Ren!" Madoka cried in alarm, shocked at the sudden actions of the blonde that they knew so well, and she felt Maru grasp onto her leg tighter.
What the hell was happening?

How could Ren had just lept into that pit like it was no big deal?!

What even was that thing?

Despite the violent shaking that wouldn't stop, despite all the shock and confusion that had managed to happen in just a few short minutes (...Had it really been minutes? It felt like hours...), Shinobu managed to just barely get up off the floor, unwilling to just lay there and wait for whatever fate awaited all of them.
Someone had to go after Ren, even if she was already long gone by now - however, whatever was down there was probably a much better fate than whatever Alcorin would do to them.

Staggering to his feet, the Salamander blader shakily made his way past Madoka and Maru and Kite and Eight (two of which had also seemed to witness the action of Ren falling) and steadied himself as best as he could against the pillar that Ren had originally been leaning against, staring down into the ethereal form of an endless abyss that was both mystifying and terrifying.
The light-haired boy looked over at Zyro, who was on his needs and grasping onto the edge of the pit that Ren had fallen into, staring down with a conflicted expression on his face - obviously, he was trying to decide what to do.
Zyro caught his gaze, and they both looked at each for a very brief moment, glancing over into the abyss once before looking back at each other, a silent agreement passing between them as they both seem to understand what it was that they had to do. Without any other words, and with the knowledge that the others were watching, still undoubtedly in shock from what Ren had done, both of them breathed in and jumped into the fissure together, immediately being surrounded by the same light that they had seen from above, and soon losing themselves in endlessness.

"Zyro!"

"Shinobu!"

Several voices rang out at almost the same time before another loud crack! rang through the air, and this time they all saw the ground around the opening in the earth crumble away.
"You've gotta be..." Kira began and finished irritably to himself before he pushed away from Benkei and, despite stumbling from the shaking and the rumbling of the ground below him, plunged into the the fissure himself, silently swearing to himself that if they all died from this he was going to kill them.
"B-bull!" Benkei shouted, hands clenched into fists as a look of determination suddenly exploded onto his features, and he too went and fell down into the earth. All that was left was Madoka, Maru, Kite, and Eight, and, soon enough, the Unabara brothers nodded in silent agree, both of them running, stumbling, and then jumping into the fissure that had been made in the ground, clasping onto each other tightly every step of the way.

Now there was only Madoka and Maru, who knew they had to make a decision quickly before anything else came crashing down. It only took both of them to look back at the form of Alcorin, staring at them with an expression of anger, surprise, and, above all, questioning, for them to make their decision. After all, whatever could be down there, whatever endlessness there was, it had to be better than sticking around with that psychopath.
Madoka reached down and swiftly grabbed Maru's hand, pulling her leg away from the grasp of her student before both of them ran and stumbled just like everyone else towards the crack that had opened up, and was even still opening.
There was a moment's hesitation, a moment where hearts pounded against rib-cages and at least one of them felt like they were going to be sick, before they both clasped each other's hands tightly and jumped, Maru closing her eyes to block off the sight of actually falling.
Madoka kept her eyes open, watching the abyssal tunnel of red-purple-white light swallow them all, gravity pulling both of them down into the pit that they had walked into, and devouring them whole in an endlessness that could more than likely give them blissful eternity...

Alcorin simply stared forward, dark brown (Not dark brown, not his...) eyes gazing at where the group of 10 had originally stood, and now looking at nothing but an empty building in front of him.
As soon as those two - Madoka and Maru, correct? - had jumped into... whatever that was... the fissure had closed behind them, and the shaking had stopped, the rock just as intact as it had originally been before he had arrived.
The wall on the far side was still relieved of some of the nature that covered it, the place was still in ruins just had it had been. There was nothing hinting towards that anything had ever been opened up, nothing indicating that something had gone on here. Everything was just still. Perhaps, if he was right, it would be able to play out in his favor... Of course, if that damned little child wished to say anything about it, than that may be a bit of a problem.
Perhaps he was more devious than he had originally thought. Eyes narrowed for a moment, glaring for a moment longer at the place where Zyro and his friends had originally stood, before turning around and walking out of the ruined structure.
However, the only thing that left it was a raven, flapping its wings and aiming up to soar into the sky, dead, dark brown eyes staring at nothing as it heard its call...

For what may have been only several moments, but felt like an eternity, Zyro felt as though he were floating through the endless nothing they had jumped into and that had devoured them.
Almost all of them could have sworn the same thing, everything having suddenly gone black, everything being pulled away from them as they fell deeper and deeper into the abyss they had so willingly fallen into - or at least, they thought it was the same thing.
Maybe it wasn't. Zyro wasn't sure at the moment.
All he was sure of was that he felt as light as air, felt his head swimming as though he were floating through a vast expanse of the ocean that he would never drown in. For the briefest of moments, he just let himself forget everything.
Stopped worrying about the troubles of the world that had plagued them for so long and simply allowed himself to be. Whatever that really meant.
It was the most peaceful he had ever felt, the most serene feeling he had ever come across, and he wished, in those few moments of tranquility, that he could stay like that for the rest of existence.
Through the darkness, though, he could see distant colors. Colors that were soft, strong, light, heavy. They were distinct, easy to identity, yet they blended in with everything, hiding and morphing with other colors.
But there was one color alone that always seemed directly in front of his eyes, faint, but clear. It was like a mixture of purple and red, like a fushia color, but not quite..

Where was it coming from?

Was it just a wisp of something else that existed in this endless eternity?

Not living, not dead, not anything but itself?

No, that could not be it.
These colors could not be apart of this sweet darkness, this blissful peace that seemed almost too perfect. As much as he wanted to stay, to lose himself in forever, he wanted - no, needed - to know where those colors, those lights, came from.

And in his will to do so, Zyro opened his eyes.

Slowly of course, his eyelids fluttering heavily, almost feeling like they were stuck together, but opening none the less.
His vision was blurry for a few moments, plagued with a drowsiness that was almost pleasant - he hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep.
Or maybe he hadn't. Zyro wasn't sure, but as soon as his vision cleared, he was greeted with a clear sky tinted light purple, not blue.

Why was the sky purple?

Surely it wasn't supposed to be like that, right?

Where was he? Where were they?

His whole body stiff and aching, Zyro slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, every muscle he had protesting loudly.
The Ifraid Blader groaned softly as he slowly sat up, clutching at the soft ground underneath him that slid through his hands, the grains sliding carelessly about - sand. Why was he sitting on sand?
Blue sand, no less!

Zyro's blue eyes looked up from the just as blue sand, looking up towards the sky once again from where they had fallen. Had there really been a fall? The Ifraid Blader looked directly above them, where they had possibly fallen from. If they had fallen into anything, it definitely didn't look like it.
It was just a sky.
A seemingly endless sky, just like their own, but much different.
Just where were they?

A groan from beside him tore Zyro away from his thoughts, drawing his eyes immediately over in the direction that the sound had come from - Shinobu!
Limbs aching and screaming in protest, the raven quickly crawled over the few paces it took to reach his best friend, kneeling by his side and placing a gentle hand on the Salamander blader's shoulder.
"Shinobu?" Zyro called out questionably, "Are you okay? Shinobu?"
Another groan escape the Salamander blader, visibly squeezing his eyes together for a moment before slowly opening them, gaze unfocused for several moments before those green eyes finally became focus. "Mm... Zyro?.." Shinobu questioned softly, his voice a nothing but a small groan as he continued to lay there for a few seconds before deciding to try and lift himself up on his knees.
Zyro breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge that Shinobu was okay, and helped the other lift himself up off the ground because, clearly, Shinobu was just as sore as he himself had been.
"Ow, my head..." The Salamander blader groaned softly, placing a hand just over his temple where a pounding headache had decided to make itself known.
"Are you okay?" Zyro asked again, concern written all over his features. Shinobu simply gave him a reassuring smile through the aching in his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine." The Salamander blader responded before turning his gaze to their surroundings, "But... Where the hell are we?"
When he had first woken up, Zyro hadn't even thought about looking at what was around them, and took a few moments to as Shinobu did as well.

Wherever they were, it was unlike any place they had ever seen before - and he would be damned if this was actually any place on the face of the earth
. Most of the ground was clearly made of the same azure blue sand they were sitting on as far as they were able to see, large and small crystals of purple, red and other shades of blue either jutting out from the ground with sharp yet beautiful edges, or simply rising out in small lumps of different colors here and there.
Neither of them had ever seen anything like where they were now, and both of them almost felt like they insulting the terrifying beauty of his place as they were looking at it, as if they weren't worthy to look upon it as they were now - still, it couldn't be helped.
If they were told that they had somehow stumbled into a different dimension or ended up in a different world, chances were that both of them would believe it.

The sounds of several more groans and the shuffling of clothed bodies were enough to break them out of their enchanted trances, and reminding the two immediately of the others. Zyro immediately looked around them and everyone else laying on the sand, pretty well all of them starting to stir.

How could he have forgotten about them?

Had he even known that they had followed him and Shinobu in here?

The memory of jumping, of falling, of seeing nothing but endless lights before them was hazy, but he remembered clearly enough that there were shouts, that he was able to see Shinobu, that there was the slightest catch of blonde hair, and everything had gone from there.
That's when everything had gone black, and then he had woken up here with the rest of them.
If they were all managing to stir, than surely they were okay, right?
But... Wait... Where was Ren?

"Ow..." Madoka moaned softly as she slowly brought herself up into a sitting position, every part of her body aching in protest at the movement and making her wonder why she was so sore in the first place.
Maru managed to sit up as well, rubbing her eyes free of the sleep that stuck them together, her small body aching well.
Kira managed to get up too, as did Kite and the Eight, who had gone from holding onto to each other when they had jumped in to being several feet away from each other now. However, both of them were okay, as were Kira, Madoka, and Maru, and so was Benkei, when he finally heaved himself up and got the sand out of his collar.
They were, however, all incredibly sore, and none of them were entirely sure why. As Zyro had expected, it was probably just from the fall, if there had indeed been a fall - all of them remembered jumping, falling, but none of them could really remember the 'fall' all to well.

"..Is everyone okay?" Madoka asked once she was finally able to stand up, her posture slightly stiff as she tried to get proper motion back into her legs.
"We're breathing..." Kira stated as an answer, rolling one of his shoulders as he too made it to his feet.
"So, yes, otherwise..." Kite said with a sigh, straightening out his glasses on his nose.
"Why are we on sand now?" Eight asked, pointing out one of the major elephants in the room, looking down at the azure blue grains beneath all of them.
"Better question: where are we?" Benkei asked, looking around at their surroundings with wide eyes. All other eyes turned to look around at what Benkei was talking about, and, clearly, none of them had noticed when they had first woken up.
They probably noticed either the blue sand or the purple sky, since those were a given, but chances were that none of them had bothered to look around with how sore they had been.
"Is this what we fell into?" Maru asked, looking around with curious eyes at the crystals that stood up from the sand and decorated it like a jewel.

"It doesn't seem like we fell at all." Zyro stated, looking up towards the purple sky above them, wispy, light purple clouds decorating it delicately, "Because that looks a lot like a sky." Everyone else, at his words, looked up towards the purple sky above them, staring into an endlessness that they had most probably fallen out of.
"Well, wherever we are, Ren probably is too." Madoka suggested, looking around at the ground that had been reduced down to 9 people, "Somewhere, at least..."

"Either she woke up earlier than the rest of us, or she landed somewhere else probably." Kite stated, "Whatever reason she probably fell down here for, it might not be anything good."

"Hey, look!" Eight exclaimed, pointing to the ground about a meter or so away from them, "Footprints." The sudden observation drew everyone's attention towards where the Orochi blader was pointing, and there were, indeed, footprints - fairly small ones, but not a child's, and though it was a little hard to tell, they could only guess that they were female.
After all, who else could really be here that had walked away from their group and left booted footprints?
As far as they were concerned, nobody.

"Those look like Ren's." Shinobu pointed out.
"They might lead us straight to her!" Maru said, a somewhat hopeful tone in her small voice.
"Let's follow them, then." Zyro said in a way that almost sounded like 'end of discussion', before starting off with aching limbs and a firm resolve.
Shinobu followed closely behind him, and so did the others in the hopes that they would find the girl who had managed to drag them in here. Considering that this certainly wasn't any place to just be exploring randomly, since they knew absolutely nothing about it, they probably would have thought twice about just taking off straight away, following footprints that only supposedly belonged to Ren.
However, from the way things looked, there wasn't much else to do except follow them, no where else to go. So with that in mind, they all just kept walking, being sure to stay alert and wary of the things around them as they followed the footprints that seemed to almost go on forever.

They noticed that there really wasn't much to this place - just sand, crystals, and the few wispy clouds up in the purple sky that seemed to daunt them all the way.
The landscape was entirely silent, seeming to be endless, and entirely devoid of any other life except for themselves.
The silence was rather uncomfortable, the terrifying beauty that the place let off intimidating and daunting.
However, they willed themselves to keep going, pushing forward and following the footprints that seemed to be perfectly embedded into the sand, like hand prints in concrete.

How far had Ren gone, exactly?

Surely she couldn't be too much farther ahead, right?

She had to have stopped at least, right?

Several of them thought these questions, but no one said them aloud. Complaining wouldn't do much at all in this situations - it hadn't really done well in any of the situations they had been in, really.
And this one was no different.
So everyone continued on in near silence, walking for who knows how long because, as far as they knew, this place had no used for time-keeping, since Maru had checked her bracelet to see what time it was, but all the digital clock had said was 00:00 and had actually stayed like that.
Maybe it was a broken, but even so, that probably wouldn't have affected the clock in such a way.

In wasn't long before they managed to come up over another hill, the footprints never fading, never ceasing, and as they come up over the top, there, only a few dozen meters away, was Ren. She just stood there, her back to them, unmoving, seemingly staring at the practical wall of multi-colored crystals in front of her, as though their beauty had warped her into a trance.
But, certainly, that couldn't have been what dragged her down here, right?

"Ren!" Zyro called out to her, but the blonde made no reaction.

"Ren!"

"Ren!" The younger bladers all called out, relieved at having finally found the girl that had decided to dive into this place for whatever reason.

But really, whatever reason that was didn't bother them at the moment - all that mattered was if Ren was okay, if she was hurt or not. Despite his aching from the walk, sore from traveling for so long (how long, exactly?...), Zyro managed to muster the strength enough to run the rest of the way to his blonde friend, hearing the others following closely behind him, pants and small groans being elicited from some of them at the last stretch of the journey they had to make - however, they managed it.
"Ren.." Zyro said again as he finally reached the Phoenix blader, doubled over slightly and panting from the over-exertion that he put his body through, "Thank god we found you..."
Shinobu came up next the Ifraid Blader, and so did Kite and Eight, and within seconds everyone finally made it to standing at least where Zyro was, just feet away from the blonde that seemed to have no idea they were even there.
However, that was the last thing on their minds as most of them started to bombard her with questions.

"Why did you just fall in here like that, Ren?" Madoka asked, "You had us worried."

"Why'd you just leave us back there?.." Shinobu asked gently, "You were obviously awake way before any of us."

"Are you hurt?" Zyro asked.

"I don't think she's listening." Kira pointed out loudly, both of his hands on his hips. Madoka glanced down at Kira for a moment, who exchanged her glance with his only other eye, before she looked back at the blonde with a concerned expression.
Indeed, Ren hadn't answered them.
She hadn't even moved at all, just standing there with her back to them and ignoring them entirely.

"Ren?..." Zyro questioned softly, "Are you okay?..."

Silence fell over them all, the younger bladers waiting, silently begging their friend to turn around and answer them, to show them that she was okay.
She had to be okay, right?
Didn't she?... Someone, or at least a few people, were about to say something else to her, but they didn't get the chance to as she finally moved.
Slowly, almost mechanically, Ren turned around, eyes closed and never moving from the spot where she stood, until she was finally facing them.
For several moments, everything was silent.

A pin dropping could have disturbed it, but no one had a pin, and they were pretty sure that one wouldn't just drop for no reason.
That was when Ren finally spoke, but in a voice that wasn't entirely hers, hollow and emotionless, which brought back memories that Zyro, Kite, and Eight would have much rather forgotten.

"I have been waiting to meet you for a very long time, Zyro Kurogane." Ren said in a stoic voice that seemed to span miles, before opening her eyes halfway and revealing brown eyes that were blank, hollow, lifeless, so much darker than Ren's really were, and that's when it clicked.
Zyro backed up a stuck, eyebrows furrowing and looking ready at any moment to fight for... Whatever there was to fight for at the moment.
Shinobu immediately took on a wary look, Kite gently pushing Eight behind him a little, clearly remembering the first time they had encountered Ren like this back when they had first being going to face off against Alcorin.
It hadn't been Ren's fault, really, but he wasn't about to take the chance again. Madoka's eyes widened, Maru's did too, and Kira's one eye narrowed as he slowly and subtly reached back for his launcher.

"You're not Ren." Zyro stated firmly, the look in his eyes showing every emotion that conflicted with each other, like an open book.
Ren made no reaction, but spoke again. "No, I'm not." She said hollowly, "This is her, though. You needn't worry, I don't mean any harm to her. But I do need her in order to speak to you, Zyro."
Zyro's eyes widened, narrowed, the widened again.

What was she - it, whatever... - talking about?

All of them were just as confused, staring at the supposedly controlled body of the blonde girl in front of them in suspicion.
"Why would you need her to talk to us?" Shinobu asked, body language showing that he wasn't yet willing to trust whatever this thing was. Ren's blank eyes looked over towards the light-haired blader, but she did not move her head.

"Because me and her share the same power." It said as though it were the simplest thing in the world, "Because of that, she was the only option I had."

"Okay, but who are you?" Madoka asked, "What are you? And why do you need to talk to us?" The sound of a smile came through, though there was no such thing that appeared on Ren's face.

"I'm not too surprised you wouldn't recognize me." It spoke to Madoka in Ren's emotionless voice, "Probably more so because you're looking at Ren at the moment. Now that you're here, I suppose I can show you."

Madoka looked confused for a moment, shaking her head slightly before they all saw the bright orange glow of what they always knew as Ren's power surround the blonde in a thin layer of bright flame, before it expanded ever so slightly and illuminated her with their aura.
However, the flames didn't stop there as they seemed to expand from behind her as well, though almost as an entirely separate entity that was made more of light than of the flame-like aura Ren had around her.
It only took a few seconds for the bright light (some of them had to squint their eyes at the brightness) died down, revealing a transparent figure that stood tall behind Ren, and made both Madoka's and Benkei's eyes widen in shock at the face that they had never expected to see again after all those years.

"Ryo?..." The brunette managed to say, though it was more of a question as she took in the sight before her in disbelief. But the form of Ryo Hagane simply smiled in response, and spoke in a voice that was his, and had Ren speaking along with him.

"It's been a long time, Madoka." Ryo greeted in return, looking just as young as he had when they had last seen as he retired from the WBBA, supposedly heading back to his original home of Koma Village.
Of course, Ryo had still been at least in his early 50's by then, but he still looked as young as ever.

"Ryo?" Shinobu questioned, looking back at the former Bey mechanic, "As in... Ryo Hagane?"

Benkei was the one who nodded in response. "Yeah." The Manager said, "Gingka's father."

Some of the younger bladers seemed genuinely surprised by this, and even Maru was, having only ever heard brief mentions of the Ryo Hagane when she was at the WBBA. A lot of them had heard of Ryo Hagane, knowing that he was original Director before Tsubasa of the WBBA, and even remembering him very faintly from when they were small. However, that did make sense, considering the resemblance that both Ryo and Gingka looked to have.

"Sorry for taking Ren, by the way." Ryo apologized with a smile, "But she was the only outlet I had access to who I would be able to talk to you through."

"Why?" Madoka asked, "Couldn't you have just come to Metal Bey City to talk to us?..." Madoka knew that, considering this situation, it was probably a pretty stupid question. However, it was probably better to be asked than to simply keep wondering.
"No." Ryo answered simply, raised an eyebrow slightly, "I'm guessing Gingka never told you about my death 2 years ago, did he?"
A short gasp escaped Madoka's lips at this news, and Benkei was left speechless as well. Everyone else, except for Zyro, was also taken aback (though it was harder to really tell with Kira) at the news, even though they had never really given any thought to the whereabouts or well-being of Ryo Hagane.
"I figured..." Ryo said before any of them could say anything, looking down a bit with a small sigh and a forlorn look in his golden-brown eyes, "I know he wouldn't like talking about it..." A forlorn air passed over all of them (although whether it did for Kira was unknown) at the reminded of the redhead, the one that they had failed to save all that time ago, and a few of them wondered if Ryo knew at all.
Apparently being dead and such, he probably should, but... How could anybody be sure what really went on with spirits?

"So..." Madoka started, licking her lips and swallowing, trying to work out how to put what she wanted to ask, "... If you're.. dead.. then, I guess you know what happened to him? Or do you?"
Ryo shook his head softly, looking up once more at the group of adults, teenagers, and children that stood before him and the girl he currently had in his possession.
"No, I know what happened to him..." The former Director said with a sad smile, before that smile faded and turned into something far more serious, "I also know about the whole situation with 'Alcorin' as well."

"You do?" Kite asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Ryo responded, "You could sort of say I've been watching for quite some time now... And that's really the reason why I need to speak with all of you. You, Zyro, especially."
Zyro stiffened slightly as Gingka's father looked towards him again, feeling a little intimidated but still curious all the same.
Was it natural or something to feel intimidated by a Hagane? It must be...

Ryo took his gaze away from the Ifraid Blader and looked back to the rest of the group, but Zyro could still feel those eyes lingering - or maybe that was because Ren's eyes had followed his as well.
"There's a lot more to this than all of you really think there is." Ryo stated, his face and voice as serious as ever, echoed by Ren's own emotionless one, "There's a lot to be said, but I do believe the time is long overdue for you to know what's really going on." Ryo looked down for a moment again, seeming almost reluctant to keep speaking even though he knew there was no going back, before looking back up, and gazing at confused faces that should have never had to deal with any of this.
"... The time is also long overdue for me to tell the truth about my mistakes."