Chapter 30 - Into Damnation

As crazy as human lives could be, it was highly doubtful that most people would ever expect to suddenly be cornered by a pack of angry wolves, either because of someone trespassing even if unknowingly, onto their territory, or simply because of the joy of the hunt.
Sakyo thought about this as he stood guard before the younger boy behind him, a stone sentry armed with nothing more than a magical spinning top, and got down in a staring match with at least a dozen wolves - maybe 2 dozen, probably more, he couldn't bring himself to count, because that would distract him - that seemed less than concerned with the two of them at the moment.
As much as he probably would've liked to deny it, he knew that there was probably no way out of this, trapped between a stone cliff and at least 2 dozen sets of sharp teeth. Nothing and nobody seemed to move except for Takanosuke behind him, who gingerly blinked away the dizzy spell that he had undergone and what he was practically becoming prone too. Blood dripped out of his nose, this time dropping down and staining his sweater, but the wolves disregarded that, which, of course, was far beyond strange. If they noticed the blood at all, smelt it in the air, however little of it there was, they showed no sign of it, nor did they show any sign of being remotely alive, their faces all blank, eyes dead, all still as statues as though they had suddenly been stuffed within a fraction of a moment.
But that wasn't the case, and Sakyo believed that he knew what might be going on, but he didn't move. He wasn't about to take the chance that what he suspected was wrong and leave Takanosuke unprotected. In the state that he was currently in, even recovering, he wasn't about to let any harm come to him as long as he was able to help it.
He quickly glanced back towards the blonde, who he saw was now looking up with somewhat glassy eyes, clouded with the pain and discomfort that he could only guess had faded by now, and slowly registering once more what was going on. He made no move to wipe away the blood from his nose even as his eyes cleared of their visible haze. He was probably afraid that if he made any other sudden movements that it would provoke the canines in front of them to attack, but he also managed to notice that they looked less than concerned with the thought of pouncing on them at any given moment. Still, the curly-haired blonde did nothing, his body visibly shaking with apprehension and fear and probably the aftermath of the headache that he had just gotten.
Sakyo knew at least somewhat how he felt, and looked back towards the predators that surrounded them, Dragoon held out in front of him in its launcher, ready to be fired off at a split moment should the wolves change their mind.

And, after what seemed like an eternity filled with tension, filled with the fear that they might just get ripped apart before they even knew it was happening, they did change their minds - just not in the way that either of the two had expected.
The first reaction came from the biggest looking wolf in the group, not much bigger than the others but definitely having the presence of being far more superior than the rest of the pack that stood with it, that was almost undeniably the leader, when its ears and tail twitched slightly, as though it had heard something or come to a sudden realization. Sakyo had instantly tensed at this, his fingers shaking from behind up and in the same position for so long and silent prayers being chanted in his head that he didn't care about being ashamed about, ready at any moment to launch into an attack if they did first.
Takanosuke also noticed, and he tensed too, feeling his heart beating rapidly in his chest as the chills shot up his spine. Both boys fully expected for the leader to initiate the next actions, as it probably always did when it came to the rest of the pack, and it did.
Only the alpha did not move to attack, but simply turned around the opposite way, its face blank and eyes as dead as ever, and trotted off towards the direction of the woods, as though the two humans it had originally be changing weren't even there. Although no noises were made, the rest of the pack seemed to get the message, and turned away as well, all of them heading off back in the direction of the forest and disappearing over the hill that they had come over and into the treeline, leaving Takanosuke and Sakyo alone in the silence, backs against the stone cliff behind them. Neither of them dared to move for a few moments longer, just in case the wolves were playing a trick and would decide to attack when they let their guard down, but there was no way that they were that smart, right?

Slowly, Sakyo lowered Dragoon, his arms silently thanking him for finally being released from their suspension in the air, slowly disconnecting the Bey from the launcher and putting both pieces away. He heard Takanosuke let out a big sigh of relief and weariness and turned to look back at his companion with concern in his red eyes.
"Are you alright?" He asked the younger after turning towards him. Takanosuke looked up towards him from the ground that he had previously fixated upon, looking to sway slightly on his feet as he did so but managing to stay upright anyway, the pure light of some sort of fading exhilaration in his cerulean eyes that Sakyo could only recognize as fear.
Fear that had been so intense in one moment, and was even still there even after the moment had passed and everything was okay. Sakyo couldn't blame him, for in a situation like the one they had just been it, was quite reasonable to be scared - even with his pride, he could admit for Takanosuke's sake that he had been scared as well.
After a moment that seemed to be spent in collecting himself, Takanosuke abruptly nodded, taking his eyes away from Sakyo's and looking down slightly again.
"Yeah..." He said, "I'm okay.." Takanosuke brought up his arm and took to just wiping the blood dripping from his nose onto his hoodie sleeve, probably figuring that it wouldn't really matter since it was already dirtied with it from earlier and that he didn't really have anyone to impress since they were out in the mountains.
Wordlessly, Sakyo stepped closer to the Griffin Blader and gently placed a hand on a flat of his head though he barely seemed to brush the soft blonde curls, a gesture of comfort Takanosuke was able to understand from the Dragoon Blader.
Neither of them were entirely too good when it came to voicing emotions (Sakyo far more than Takanosuke, since the blonde could at least still talk about emotions even if not very well), so physical affection, no matter how vague, was among the best ways to express emotions and feelings. Cerulean eyes briefly glanced up towards the redhead, a troubled expression on young features.

A smile, however slightly apologetic, managed to make it's way onto Takanosuke's lips. "Thanks Sakyo.." The Griffin Blader said in gratitude, and Sakyo simply nodded in understanding, taking his hand away from the other. There was a few more moments of silence between the two of them before Takanosuke broke it again, bringing both of them back into the reality that they had briefly secluded themselves from.
"What do think that was all about?" He asked, looking towards the forest they had originally come from, "With the wolves and stuff.. They didn't seem like they really wanted to hurt us... That much."

"I'm not sure." Sakyo said in reply, looking back over in the same direction, "But I have a feeling that may have orchestrated by Alcorin, if he really is here." Takanosuke glanced over at the older for a moment before looking back to the forest.
"I guess so.." He agreed somewhat, "But if he was the one behind that, why wouldn't he finish us off?" He a feeling he might know why as his thoughts trailed back to the visions that had appeared before his eyes just minutes earlier, showing him things that he didn't fully understand. But as well as he knew, it very likely meant something, as practically all of his visions had thus far.
"I'm not sure." Sakyo said again, "But we should leave here before they decide to come back." Takanosuke nodded his head.
"Okay." He said in agreement, wanting nothing more than to just get away from this spot at the moment. He had left behind that teacup they had purchased back in the forest, but he didn't really feel like going back for it. Not with the wolves out there.
Silently, the Griffin Blader looked behind the both of them at the cliff that they had previously been backed up against, a steep slope that looked impossible to climb with barely anything to act as a single foothold at its 90 degree angle. He shivered at the thought of being trapped against him, having nowhere to run as you became the hunted and were torn apart with no salvation, and he quickly tried to push those thoughts from his mind. Stone and rocks... The contents of the sights that had been brought before his eyes came back to him, the images of rocks and stone, just like quite a bit of their surroundings were now. But, thinking about it, what he had seen, however blurry, looked something like a cave, entirely made out of gray rock and stone and just barely illuminated by a light source that he couldn't see.

A cave...

A cave...

Where would there be a cave? Whatever compelled him to look over to the right, down towards the ground several meters away against the side of the steep cliff, Takanosuke was unable to identify. But he looked over anyway, and didn't question it when he saw something that looked to be a thin depression or ravine against the side of the cliff, made entirely of rock.
Furrowing his blonde eyebrows a bit, Takanosuke made his way over to the depressing ground, cringing softly at the way his vision spotted again like it had earlier that day but doing his best to ignore it, on slightly shaky legs.
Sakyo looked over towards his companion, raising an eyebrow slightly as he watched the other walk over along the cliff towards a rocky ravine that seemed to go down into the side of the mountain.
"Takanosuke?" He questioned, watching the other as he walked over to the rocky depression in the earth.
Takanosuke didn't answer, though, and continued walking down the slight slant of the ground they were on towards the fairly deep yet dry ravine. The Dragoon Blader knit his eyebrows together slightly, his red eyes fixated hard on his traveling companion, feeling like he knew what was going on. He was never sure what went on with Takanosuke's visions, since he himself was not able to see them, but from what he had seen and gone through with the blonde so far, halfway trance-like states were definitely apart of the side effects that came with them. They usually happened right around when they happened too, so he could only conclude that that was what it was.
That decided, Sakyo walked over towards the younger of the two of them, watching as he shimmied down the slope that lead into the fairly deep, rocky ravine and following in his footsteps. The light of the setting sun, now just peering over the rocky points of the mountains, was still able to illuminate the slightly darker space they walked through, letting both of them walk across the rocks and stone without tripping.
Without speaking, Sakyo let Takanosuke lead the way, since the blonde seemly knew at least somewhat where he was going. Maybe whatever that supposed vision that he had (he could only assume it was that because there was nothing else that caused Takanosuke's little episodes) had, had shown him something. Clearly, he (Takanosuke) was trying to find out what exactly it meant. The Griffin Blader kept his eyes on the walls around them, cerulean orbs observing closely but still being sure to watch where he was going.
Both of them continued heading deeper into the ravine, which proved to actually be quite deep, albeit barren from all signs of water. Maybe it had dried out a long time, but they couldn't be sure of that. Takanosuke kept walking through the ravine, his gaze never ceasing along the length of the rocky walls, and Sakyo followed him, trusting in the boy that he was onto something. And, almost as expected, he certainly was.
As both of them came onto another slope, ready to head down it, Takanosuke stopped in his tracks, a barely audible and small gasp escaping his lips, and Sakyo could see why, for he was just as surprised. At the very bottom of the slope, where it fully dipped and then traveled up again only to further along, the was a fairly large gap in the stone - a cave. Fairly circular, the rocks and stones around it almost seeming to have been arranged as best as they could have, as though it were something special that someone had found and they wanted to make the entrance almost presentable. But really, who would do that when there was nothing but wilderness around you?
It really wasn't like anyone was just going to come along.
But they had, even if not just by coincidence.

Sakyo glanced down towards the Griffin Blader in front of him for a moment, but the other didn't return it, and simply started down the slope as they had originally planned. Sakyo followed him down the rocky slope, and to the front of the cave where they both came to stand, staring into its slightly illuminated darkness. Of course, a cave was usually naturally dark anyway, but this just somehow seemed more menacing, and Sakyo could feel the goosebumps that prickled his skin underneath his coat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Takanosuke shivering softly, his skin slightly paler than it usually was with nerves and intimidation. The Dragoon Blader simply put a hand on his shoulder, a hold that was firm yet comforting to the younger all the same.
Takanosuke breathed out softly, trying to will himself to stop shaking as much as he could in knowing that Sakyo was there. Sakyo had always been there in these kinds of moments since they had met, even if he had been all too willing to comfort back in the earlier stages of their friendship.
Everything would be fine... Only, that was something he couldn't entirely convince himself of. Despite that, he simply nodded his head and licked his bottom lip before moving forward again, heading into the slightly illuminated darkness of rock and stone that he felt he somewhat recognized.
The red-and-white-haired blader followed closely behind him, both of them working to navigate themselves through the darkness that their eyes were able to adjust to fairly quickly. Takanosuke had a few moments where he almost tripped, and Sakyo had bumped into a wall as they were walking, but other than that, navigating their way through the almost organized cave wasn't too bad. They weren't really sure how long they were in there, and it had probably been a few minutes that had felt like hours before they both saw light just around one of the few corners they had passed around - the light of the setting sun, an golden-orange color that somehow made its way into the cavern.
Both of them turned the rocky corner and were met with the day's last light, pouring in through a gap in the rocks far above them, a hole that shone down into the inside of the mountain from many meters above, and too steep and uneven in places for anyone to climb.
Not that they would likely have any need to, but... Who knew?
Takanosuke looked up the seemingly natural skylight for a moment before drawing his gaze in front of him once more, looking through the stream of light in front of him to the solid wall of stone that stood just a meter or so in front of them.. No, he recognized this... He had seen it just a few minutes ago.
It wasn't a wall - it was a door.
A door carved from the stone, that looked very convincingly like the rocks and stones around them itself.

"There's a door here." Takanosuke announced, bringing Sakyo's attention to it. Sakyo's eyes, which had originally be focused on the fading light coming from above, looked over to where Takanosuke was looking, and saw the stone-made door, his eyes not being fooled by the almost nonchalant appearance of it.
"Good job.." The Dragoon Blader said, glancing down towards Takanosuke and meeting his eyes briefly, "I wouldn't have expected that."

"Do you think this is where Alcorin is?" Takanosuke asked, though he knew that that was probably a stupid to ask at the moment.
If Sakyo thought so, he didn't really voice it, but instead said, "I'm not sure... You tell me." The two of them had played this vague and uneventful game before, where Sakyo would deliberately avoid answering to get Takanosuke's honest and independent opinion. Takanosuke had questioned at it at first (and Sakyo really hadn't answer at the time, but, then again, was there really a need too?) but he had eventually grown used to it, understanding through words that were never spoken that it was Sakyo's way of testing him - to see if he could really answer for himself instead of just following along behind people all the time. As usual, the blonde was always eager to prove that he could do something he was being tested at, especially if it was from Sakyo, so he always complied, even if he wasn't sure himself.
"I think so." He said, staring at the door that stood not far away from them, fairly small - Sakyo would probably have to duck while he was walking inside - but a little bit intimidating all the same, "I would probably make sense, considering the stories we heard and how Alcorin probably wants to make sure nobody finds him."

But if that were so, why would he lead them here with the wolves if they had truly been under his control?
That was a question Takanosuke considered only after, but Sakyo decided not to point it out or bring it up, so he didn't either. At the moment, it didn't have any real meaning, but it still unsettled him nonetheless.
The red-and-white-haired blader just behind him nodded his head.
"Let's go, then." He said, and Takanosuke agreed. Both of them walked up to the door, the full height of the makeshift frame reaching only up to Sakyo's nose, and pushed it open.
The doors gave rather easily, scrapping against the stones beneath them for a moment before swinging open on hinges that were probably on the inside, opening up to a hall that was still made of stone, though was much more squared-off, clean-shaven. Both of them looked down the long corridor that was shadowed by darkness, only being able to get an idea of how long it was from the torches that lined the walls a ways down to provide light.
Both of them glanced at each other, silent words passing between them as they came to their unified decision. Although, there probably wasn't truly a need to make one - they had made it a long time ago, when they had first gone in search of the psychopath that they would more than likely closer to than they ever had been.
Both of them stepped through the threshold of the doorway - Sakyo predictably having to duck in order to do so - and into the long corridor before them, which slowly shaped itself from the stone behind them in the smooth and proper hall that was partially expected.
Both of them knew what they were walking into, since it was what they had expected to be walking into eventually in this whole journey, but they would be lying if they said that they were prepared for it.
How could you be, when you were moving to face off against a sociopath that wasn't even fully human? There was no preparing for that.
There was only the hope of winging it, and that was a dangerous hope to have. They both knew that anything could happen, good and bad, and that there was no preparing, that they shouldn't have any hope that all of it would turn out okay, because chances were that it wouldn't.
The only hope that was to be found between the two of them was from Takanosuke, who silently hoped beyond all hope that after this the feeling of dread that was almost bad to the point of nausea would go away, even as it seemed to worsened as they ventured deeper in the corridors of the temple within the mountain. For a brief moment did he glance back at the doors they had come through and that were slowly becoming smaller and smaller as they walked away from them.
He briefly thought about running back that way, out of here, out of the way of danger and back towards the safety that was anywhere but here.
But he knew he couldn't do that.
So he turned away, facing forward into the torch-lit darkness they walked into.
He had a sudden urge to cling to Sakyo, who walked just beside him, but he fought against the need to do that too.

It would be fine...

It would all be fine...

But there was no way he could convince himself that that was actually true...

The first thing any of them, though perhaps not even they themselves were really sure who, noticed as any one of them began to stir was that the ground was much harder than it had originally been. Not soft, like the sand they had been laying and standing on previously. No, whatever they were laying on - which was hopefully solid ground - was firm and hard, cold to the touch, and slightly uncomfortable.
But, then again, laying on hard ground never really was all that comfortable to begin with. Zyro might have been the first one to stir, he wasn't exactly sure, his eyelids once more retaining that heavy feeling that came with waking up from sleep or unconsciousness. He was on his side this time, so his blurry vision wasn't fixated upon the roof or sky or whatever happened to be above him. Instead he looked at what he believed a wall - a stone wall, which a few other figures around him in both direct sight and his peripheral.
There looked to be Kira, and Maru, and maybe the Unabara brothers if he was indeed comprehensible enough to make out a lab coat and blue hair... The rest of them may have been around them as well, but he couldn't see them.
All that he knew was that they were there, or at least some of them were, wherever 'there' really was... But 'there' probably wasn't too hard to figure out, in all honesty.
After all, that boy, the friend that he'd had since forever, had sent them there with what little he had. But that wasn't currently on Zyro's mind as he worked to clear it, to be able to think clearly enough to really think about things as logically as he could.

Slowly, he propped himself up, letting out a soft groan as he noticed that he was slightly sore. He balanced himself on his left elbow and his right hand, and brought himself up into a bit of an awkward kneeling position that wasn't really that comfortable, but was the best that he was willing to do at the moment. Zyro gingerly brought up a hand to his temple, nursing the small pulsing headache that came from just one side of his head.
Everything seemed to be happening so fast all of a sudden, and while it was unexpected, he supposed that it was also quite beneficial.
Or at least it was so far, on their part.
They had so suddenly come across something that lead them into a different dimension that he could only guess might be some sort of purgatory - that sounded like the only logical explanation, considering that they were still alive, and being alive in the afterlife didn't really make much sense - where they had met Ryo Hagane, who had told them all about Alcorin and that Gingka was alive, and then met a younger version of Alcorin that had been his best friend in his (Zyro's) dreams for years, who had then sent them here.
'Here' was supposedly where Alcorin was, which more than likely meant Mount Tsukuba, where they had originally been heading. Well, at least it was pretty neat shortcut for them had taken. Feeling the headache finally subsiding, Zyro shook his head softly and looked around him once more at his friends, his vision still a bit blurry but better than it had been when he had first woken up.
They were all here.
Somewhat cluttered in one spot, all looking to be at least most of the way unconscious still, but they were all here.
That was good.
He had to wake them up, if they were going to get anyway. Being in a place that belonged to Alcorin, it definitely wasn't a good idea to just laze around, even if you didn't have too much say while you were knocked out. Groaning and grunting softly, his limbs still a little stiff, Zyro made his way over to the two people closest to him - Kira and Maru.
He took both of them by the shoulders and shook them gently.

"Hey, Kira, Maru." He said loud enough for them to hopefully hear them, continuing to shake them as softly as possible. Within a few more moments, an irritable half-sigh half-groan escaped Kira, his one visible eyebrow furrowing in irritation. Maru herself simply shook her head lightly as her eyes fluttered open, looking just about dazed as Zyro had felt earlier. It wasn't really a surprise, considering that relatively the same thing had happened to them earlier when they were purgatory.
"Ow.." She said softly as she slowly sat up, mainly holding herself up with her hands beside her as she tried to clear away the drowsiness.
Kira did the same, though he seemed way more irritable about it. Considering it was Kira, Zyro wasn't too surprised, but he still smiled at him as well as Maru in knowing that they were alright. Almost as if on cue, several other small groans and grunts were heard from around them. Zyro looked around at the others, and saw that they too were beginning to stir, which was definitely a good thing.
"Are you guys okay?" Zyro asked before clearing his throat as he watched a few them slowly get up from being sprawled out on the floor of what now appeared to be a fairly large stone corridor lit by torches.
"Been better..." Kite said while rubbing the back of his neck, "But fine, either way.."

"We really need to stop ending up in places this way." Madoka said softly.
"Gets us places, doesn't it?" Benkei asked somewhat jokingly. Madoka, rubbing one eye gently, smiled at that remark and made to stand up, which was soon followed by most of everybody else as they fought off the drowsiness that tended to try and come after them again.
"At least we know that we're where we wanted to be.." Ren pointed out, glancing around at the stone walls on either side of them and the stone ceiling.
"True." Madoka agreed, looking down either way of the corridor they had landed themselves in, "It looks like we'll just have to find our way through this place on our own.."

"That might take awhile, considering this is a mountain.." Kira pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I wouldn't be able to make a map for us, either..." Maru claimed, and all of them saw that she had brought up her holographic screen from the bracelet on her wrist. From the looks of it, the time was back to normal, though judging by the fact that it didn't seem to be moving forward at all there was no signal for it to cling to, "We're inside a mountain, so the satellite this is connected to probably wouldn't be able to tell us much."

"That's fine." Madoka said with a small smile, gently patting her protege's pink hair before looking back up at the rest of the group, "This is a temple, so it probably shouldn't be that hard to navigate once we figured it out - as long as it's not like the Mist Mountain Shrine.." Shinobu shrugged his shoulders, looking up towards the brunette.
"This is Alcorin we're talking about." He reminded them, "He isn't going to be happy that we're here, especially since we're looking to get Gingka back. We've seen how he is with those types of things."
None of them could deny the truth in that. They had faced Alcorin before, roughly two weeks ago before they had believed that everything really was fine, and they had seen and experienced the torment and agony that he could inflict when he wanted to. Normally, they probably would've thought that they could deal with it this time around, seeing as how they had done so before and came out at least relatively okay - that was before they had found out that he had Gingka, still keeping in his comatose state out of some sick and deprived love that he had for his twin brother. That in itself was still a very hard thing to actually acknowledge.
Clearly, things weren't going to be same as they were the first time around, since they had apparently, according to the boy that they had met within that strange world, 'not faced him yet'.
Or at least not really.
That thought was enough to make them nervous, all kinds of ideas of what Alcorin really was capable of coming to mind and making all of them less than comfortable.

What they had gone up against was a man that had been doing everything in his power to make sure he got what he was after.
And now what they were going to go up against was a demi-god hell bent on keeping it.

"Hey, we went up against his dad a few years back." Benkei pointed out, a decently reassuring look on his face, "I think we can handle him and manage to get Gingka back, too."
That bit was enough to make some of them at least a bit more reassured, but not by much. Nemesis had been one thing all that time ago, but that had been when Gingka was still able to do something about it. Now, he was in the hands of the enemy itself, entirely incapacitated - of course, that had been relatively the same with Doji, but this definitely wasn't Doji.
If anything, Alcorin was worse than Doji had been, even with how twisted the man was in getting the things they wanted. They probably would have made excellent friends, if they had ever cared to meet. Either way, the thought that they were mostly alone in this, fighting against the son of a god, was anything but reassuring.

What was even less reassuring was the dark chuckle that suddenly sounded from somewhere around them after Benkei had finished his sentence. The sudden sound, which echoed softly against the stone walls and seemed to make the torches flicker slightly, made all of them instantly jump onto high alert, (for as best as their weary minds could do) and immediately jump into the action of being prepared to fight. Many pairs of eyes all looked down both ends of the corridor they stood in, gazing into the darkness that was only illuminated by the torches that lined the walls.
Truthfully, something like this had been expected, but not this soon... As far as they ever seen, Alcorin wasn't one to immediately pounce on them to fight without playing with them first, but maybe this time was different.
After all, they did want Gingka back now that they knew he was alive, and considering how much the psychopath had already done the first time just to get it he probably wasn't willing to give them any chances. But where was he?..

"Aw.. You look scared all of a sudden.." Said a voice that echoed off the walls in the same way and make shivers crawl up their spines, "I don't suppose that's because of me, is it?"
That voice wasn't Alcorin's, and they knew that for sure. It didn't sound the same, it didn't have that same odd inkling of power to it that was able to crawl into one's head and and slither under their skin, but it was haunting nonetheless.
And familiar, too...
Most of them could've recognized that voice, only it was so much different, too different to be him...
So it couldn't be him, because as much as it sounded so similar, that wasn't his voice.
Right?

"Where are you?" Madoka asked cautiously, keeping Maru close to her as they all looked around, practically back to back to assure that they wouldn't than attacked from either side without noticing it first. Another chuckle sounded, and the flames of the flames around them seemed to waver slightly, as though they themselves were intimidated.
"Me?" The familiar yet unfamiliar voice asked with mock innocence, "I'm not anywhere... But at the same time, I'm also right in front of you.. I really can't say for sure, because I'm not even really here.. I'm just the spiritual manifestation of what was, what is, and what will be.. But I doubt you'd understand that."

"'Ya got me.." Kira muttered, a rather irritated look on his face. All that came from that was a small laugh of amusement.
"You really are all so cute..." The voice said playfully, "But whatever.." Suddenly, the all the torches at one side went out, leaving only darkness about 2 torches away from them on that side. All of them drew their attention to this side, hearts beating rapidly in chests and hands hovering dangerously close to whipping out launchers that wouldn't have to be used, little to their knowledge. "That won't do anything to save you, after all.." The voice continued, the owner of it walked out just barely into the light. Of course, walked probably wasn't the right word.
You probably wouldn't have said 'walked' as much as you would have said glided, but even that wasn't the right word, because the heeled boots that 'walked' a few paces forward just barely past the darkness made no sound.
There was no sound of rustling as the long blue trench coat did so. There was no faint brushing sound of long red bangs against the fair skin of cheeks as they did so. All there was was that voice, that so familiar voice that none of recognized, and still didn't, even as they saw the face that they had thought to have been wiped from this earth.

Gingka's face.

But... It wasn't his face, because it couldn't be.
As frighteningly identical as it was, there was nothing in it that spoke of Gingka.. The face was the same, but the eyes weren't. Even so, the moment they all saw him, none of them dared to move, breaths held to the point of exhaustion and eyes staring to the point where it hurt. At these reactions, the Gingka look-alike from across the hall just smiled - but it was no smile that held the same warmth that Gingka always had.

"What? No words?" The look-alike questioned playfully, "Considering what I've heard of all of you, I would've figured that you'd have much more to say by this point.."

"Cut it out, Alcorin!" Ren demanded half-irritably, though her voice sounded slightly choked, "This is getting old!" The look-alike just laughed.
"Alcorin?" He questioned, his smile ever remaining on his face, "Really? You think that he would pull something like this again? I sort of thought you were more reasonable than that... Besides.. Last I remember, my brother actually exists on this plain.." In a split moment, the look-alike materialized into the darkness behind them, leaving their eyes scowering about, "Where as I do not." All of them looked behind them to discover that the supposed apparition had appeared down the other side of the hallway, the torches on that end extinguished as well. "Or at least not yet, anyway.." He continued before he let out a small chuckle, his amused look never faltering.
"What the hell are you?" Madoka questioned, "What have you done with Gingka?!"

"That's rude." He said with mock innocence, 'stepping' closer without his boots ever making a sound on the stone floor, the still lit torches of the hall wavering as he moved closer, "Making accusations of me so quickly? You haven't asked my name yet, but..." Once more, the look-alike disappeared in shadows and reappeared on the other side of them, causing all of their hearts to beat in apprehension, knowing that something was coming but not sure what, "But even so, I don't need to tell you that... That can come from Gingka himself, if you ever do reach him before I fully do."

"What are you talking about?" Zyro asked cautiously, doing his best not to shake even though the darkness down both halls on either side of them called his name, reached out with their winding shadows towards him and pulling at his clothing, making him feel very small.
"Oh, you'll find out." The look-alike assured with a nod, "Either way, it's not like you can ever actually stop me.. I've always been there, I'm here, and I'll always be here... Too bad dear Gingka is just starting to realize that for the first time in his miserable life."

"No!" Maru said forcefully, "We can save him from you. Just like we can we save him from Alcorin."
The look-alike simply closed his eyes, that smile ever on his face as he chuckled and shook his head in clear amusement. When he opened them again, the irises were a deep crimson, menacing in all appearance and causing Maru to visibly flinch and cling to Madoka's leg as she originally had been.
"You really are sure about that, aren't you" The look-alike asked, crimson eyes looking upon them with a gaze that now revealed so much more, and yet showed nothing at all.

The craving for death, destruction, the hunger for screaming, crying, and yet all that was in them was a vast nothingness that could be described as 'nothing' or 'insanity'.

Madoka's eyes widened as she looked into those eyes, red, devoid of light. She had seen those eyes before, not just with Alcorin, no...
She had seen them on Gingka before, long ago, when they had barely known him, and when Ryuga had been the biggest threat they had known at the time.

"Well, we'll see..." The look-alike continued, chuckling softly, "Gingka did always have a thing with pulling through, after all, which has always been something that I've admired, but hated at the same. So I welcome you to go ahead and try if you so dearly believe that that is what's best... Who knows? Maybe you can pull him back from his own eternity.. But you should know..." Crimson eyes fixated solely on Zyro, holding him in place, that dreaded smile never leaving his lips, "Whoever you bring back, it won't be him."

"Who are you?" Zyro asked in a small voice, trying to keep his shoulders from shaking as they were.
Looking pleased, the look-alike chuckled, and answered, "I am what he's always been... I am what he is. And I am what he will always be."

With that, he disappeared - and so did the light of the torches, leaving all of them in blackness.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Ren exclaimed as she was suddenly unable to see, jumping back slightly and bumping into Kite.
"Well that's wonderful." Kira said sarcastically.
"He could have at least left us with some light!" Maru complained before she pulled her backpack off of her shoulders and fumbled with the zipper. It was the good thing she had thought to bring a flashlight along! It wasn't long before the white light turned on and illuminated the darkness a little bit, allowing most of them to adjust to it.
"That's handy." Eight commented from somewhere to the left.
"Hopefully there's more torches around this place than just this hallway." Madoka said with a small sigh, "You can barely see anything."

"Yeah, well I think Mr. Night-Vision Eye Patch over here can see just fine.." Ren said with a gesture over to Kira, who could be identified by the green glow coming from the eye-patch that covered half of his face.
"You have a Night-Vision setting in that?" Shinobu questioned, actually sounding somewhat impressed.
"Yes." Kira answered simply, not sounding too overly-enthused himself.
"Well that's good." Benkei commented, shuffling around a bit and blinking excessively to get himself to see a bit better.
"Looks like we'll have to just find our way from here, I guess." Madoka concluded, "We'll have to be careful, though."

"Way ahead of you.." Shinobu said reassuringly.
"Zyro?" Ren suddenly questioned, a concerned tone in her voice that drew all of their attention. Zyro hadn't spoken since the lights had gone out, and in the darkness they had almost forgotten he was there. Knowing that it was still a bit too dark for everyone to see very clearly, Maru did the favor of aiming her flashlight - which did illuminate the space they were in quite well - over in Zyro's general direction from where she had last seen him. None of them expected to see what they did.

Now, most of them had known Zyro for a long time,and after being friends with him over the months of the summer, what with battling each other, participating in tournaments, and even saving the world, they believed that they had come to know him quite well. Even Kira believed that he knew him at least somewhat well, or at least enough to sort know him rather than just know things about him. Not really friends, but... acquaintances, one could say. After knowing him for so long, they had seen that he did at relatively well in the dark, that he didn't really mind it all too much.
Of course, they had never been with him in a place this boxed in, despite being a long corridor, while in the dark, and also not so tightly squeezed together as they had made themselves in a move of defense.
So when all eyes came upon Zyro's shaking form, his skin ghostly against the white light of Maru's flashlight, blue eyes wide and frightened, breathing heavily and seemingly with difficulty, it was needless to say that they were surprised.

"Zyro?" Madoka questioned, worry instantly bouncing into her voice.
"Zyro, what's wrong?" Shinobu questioned, the same concern in his own words.
Zyro didn't answer any of them, nor did it seem like he actually heard what they were saying at all as they kept trying to reach him. All he knew was the darkness around him, sky blue eyes dilated and looking around constantly, but only able to see the darkness.
The corridor had been fairly boxed in to begin with, but it hadn't bothered him too much at first. Of course, that had been when the torches had still cast their orange light upon the walls, when he had been able to see how much space he had around him.
Now, in the darkness, even with Maru's flashlight on, everything just seemed so much smaller...
He was barely aware of it as his back hit the wall, barely aware of it when he subconsciously slid down the cold stone until he was sitting on the floor, knees brought up to his chest and his arms at his sides.

"Zyro!"

"Zyro, tell us what's wrong!"

He could hear their voices, but they meant nothing to him at the moment because it's so small get him out of here...
His breathing quickened, his heart beat rapidly in his chest and he knew that he should be counting, like his parents taught him, because that always seemed to calm him down, but in that moment he forgot how to count.
He forgot numbers, because there was only the blackness, the blackness that made everything feel so much more closed in, made him feel so much smaller.
His chest hurt, his head hurt, and he just wanted it to stop...
But the shadows around him wouldn't stop as they just reached for him, beckoning, forcing themselves down and around him, encasing him in a shell that he had not been in for a long, long time.
Suddenly, he was just a child again, 6 years old, locked in his own closet because he had forgotten to prop the door, forgotten that it had a tendency to slide closed when it wasn't propped open, and it had closed and locked behind him.
For years he had worked to forget about it, developing quite a few habits that he used more than he probably should at his age because he should probably be over it by now but he just wasn't and he wasn't able to help that, but now it all just came flooding back to him, even though it wasn't the same.

However, he was too far gone to care, too far gone to even really realize his actions as he brought his hands up to the sides of his head, pressing them against his temples as his breathing grew dangerously close to hyperventilation.
He shut out everyone around him, because, in this moment, they weren't there, shut out the cries of concern and worry that he had barely even heard to start with in the first place. He shut out everything else around him, shut out the world, tried to shut out the dark around him, the walls that he could just barely see closing in on him, tried to shut them all out.
When he finally realized that he couldn't, Zyro screamed...

Being the quite large temple that it was, it was not expected that Zyro's screams would reach that far before they died out.
After bouncing off the walls in some areas, they did, only to travel down further down long corridors, seeming to give more life to the torches that the sound reverberated past.
All inhabitants, human and not, within the temple came to hear it.
The wolves that were where they were supposed to be, a raven somewhere far off, two companions looking for their way through, one twin that constantly roamed the halls and lay in waiting, and someone who didn't entirely exist on their physical plain but was still ever present. The sound seemed to halt them all, feelings washing over some of them that they could not in their lives describe, whatever it was.
All they knew was that they heard it, and then it was gone, leaving three not caring, two concerned, and one very pleased.
That scream rang throughout the halls, echoing off the stone until it came to one last hall where a person who couldn't hear it lay.
But as it echoed off the walls, that scream that rang with so much life and fear and things unheard of, it broke through a barrier that should have been unable to be broken.

And with a startled gasp, Gingka opened his eyes - really opened his eyes.