Chapter 8

Next day the troopers split up to make preparations for the unexpected. Having agreed that the most likely explanation for the recent trouble was youja all they could do now was to gather knowledge so that when the time came to act they would be ready to move. They did not know when something might happen, nor where, or what the event would entail, but it was virtually guaranteed that some youja would show.

Toma and Shin left early that morning for Tokyo and were gone before anyone else had waked. Their goal was twofold: to purchase enough food and supplies that the five of them and Nasté could live comfortably for a long while, and to interview Jun's classmates at Keio University Hospital to discover who else had disappeared and what, if any, relationship she or he had to Jun.

Ryo was the next to depart and he went alone despite vehement objections from both Shu and Seiji. He wanted to find his great tiger Byakuen and to think without distraction. As the trooper who spent the most time with Jun Ryo felt as though he should have noticed anything unusual, especially with regard to the use of his armor. The trooper of fire could not shake the idea that Jun's mishap during their last playful spar was closely related to his disappearance.

Finally, upon request from Nasté, Shu and Seiji stayed in to help her prepare her house for what she called 'inevitable destruction.' Neither of the two could argue with her when she recounted the number of times that her beautiful home had been ruined by battles, and so extra measure were being taken to protect the place against any fighting. Their day was spent reinforcing doors and windows, moving furniture out of pathways through the house, and ensuring that every room with a lock on its door was fortified to act as a makeshift bunker in case they were cornered.

By mid-afternoon Nasté's house seemed as much a bomb shelter as it did a comfortable home for six and the three exhausted workers reclined quietly in the sitting room. Only now, after all of the work was complete, was the reality of the situation hitting home and no one knew what to say to break the mounting tension.

Nasté dabbed absently at her face with a wet cloth as she flipped through the pages of a popular magazine while Shu and Seiji shot occasional glances at her or looked between each other with expressions that were full of meaning. They wanted to keep their guard up; the youja were known to strike while the warriors were separated, but after more than an hour of idleness even they could no longer focus on readiness.

Ryo returned late that afternoon to find Shu quietly sleeping on the sofa while Nasté prepared dinner. He poked his head in and offered her a pleasant greeting, accentuated with a growl of satisfaction from Byakuen, before retreating back into the house. As he passed the rear door he looked out to see Seiji seated on the veranda and stopped, somewhat intrigued, before altering his path to go outside. He closed the door behind him so suddenly that he heard a quiet thud as Byakuen's nose made contact.

"Was it too loud inside for you?" Ryo said casually and took a seat beside the trooper of korin on the stairs leading into the yard.

Seiji looked moderately unkempt, a far cry from his generally flawless appearance. His face was flushed and beads of sweat clung to his forehead as if he had been working quite hard. He stared into the forest with a blank expression, apparently in deep thought, and seemed as distant as he was disheveled.

"No," Seiji replied.

"I wanted to catch you alone before everyone else came in and we had our typical little pre-fight meeting."

Seiji looked at Ryo curiously. "What for?"

Ryo did not answer for a long time but instead met Seiji's stare with an expression of moderate concern. "Are you okay? What were you doing out here?"

"I was running," said the trooper of halo, and as he turned his eyes back to the forest his brow furrowed and he looked severe. Ryo knew that that was the end of Seiji's answer. "Why did you need to talk?"

"I don't think you should be angry at Jun."

Seiji looked incredulous. "What?"

"Let me start over," Ryo stammered, stunned by Seiji's mutinous reaction. "We should all be angry at him for what he did to Nasté. Having said that, I don't think any of us can deny that there is some special circumstance here."

Seiji held up his hand and Ryo paused, confused by his companion's sudden calm.

"Why are you talking to me about this?" Seiji said.

"Well, you just seemed really upset."

Seiji let out a genuine laugh and folded his hands behind his head. "I was upset!" he cried and then went calm again. "But now that I've cleared my head I understand that he wasn't himself. He hasn't been for a long time. I feel kind of stupid for not realizing it earlier."

"Oh."

"We need to do something," Seiji continued grimly. "I've got a terrible feeling about this whole thing, especially knowing what we know now. I mean, had we known about the hallucinations, the mood swings, the whole thing a little earlier we could have intervened. But instead we all just attributed the changes to stupid things because we didn't know any better. We were wrong to assume that Jun would automatically come to us with a serious problem like that, he's not the type to ask for help especially if he thinks that others will be put in danger."

Ryo heaved a long sigh and rested his chin on his hands. "So what do you think we should do?"

Seiji shrugged. "I think we need to be practical about this. If he's gone without a trace at all, and we'll find that out when Toma and Shin come home, we have to assume that he's been taken against his will. Then we'll need to find him, which we can do easily enough with our yoroi orbs, as long as he has his on him, but we ought not to do that until we're prepared for the worst. We don't know what we might be walking into."

"It seems like you've been giving this a lot of thought."

"I went running."

When Ryo rose to reenter the house he clapped Seiji happily on the shoulder, and the trooper of halo followed shortly thereafter. As soon as the two were inside they could hear that Toma and Shin had recently returned from Tokyo. Excited talk echoed from the sitting room and even as Seiji and Ryo took their seats among the group Toma and Shin began to explain their findings.

"When we asked around the college everyone who didn't see him regularly was surprised that he wasn't showing up to work. Those who did see him regularly were really worried," Shin said. "Everyone said he had a reputation for attendance, which I don't doubt."

"And when we asked about the other missing student," Toma continued as Shin paused, "we found some really interesting connections."

Toma produced a palm sized notebook in which he had scribbled notes, and as he peered at them he looked like an investigative news reporter excited about a big breaking story.

"The missing student's name is Chiharu, she's a third year medical student and apparently a lot of her classmates thought that she and Jun were an item," Toma said, and he seemed to be working to hide his inappropriate amusement. "A couple of people asked if they had run off somewhere together, but somehow I don't think that's the case."

Shin sat forward in his chair and waved for Toma to be quiet. "But we also got some conflicting news," he said. "A group of girls said that the two of them weren't very close at all, they didn't really talk outside of class. So we've got some people saying they're really close and other people saying that they were hardly acquainted, but everything is hearsay and no one can explain why she might have disappeared."

"So Jun is the best guess they could give you," Seiji said.

Shin and Toma nodded at once and the room fell into quiet. But a moment later Nasté sat straight and shook her head with finality.

"No, he didn't run off with anyone," she said curtly.

"You can't know that," Ryo said.

"Yes, I can," Nasté snapped and Ryo recoiled. "I remember that girl because he told me about her. I remember late last year he came into my office and was supremely angry, though he wouldn't show it outright, and when I asked him what was wrong he complained that he invited a girl to go out with him and she flat out refused. As angry as he was with her, he wouldn't go anywhere with her, not willingly."

Seiji shot a glance at Ryo and leaned back in his chair. "Then we need to assume the worst."

"Which means?" Shu said.

"We make whatever preparations we need to make and once we're absolutely ready we track Jun down," Seiji said, and as he spoke he produced his own green glowing yoroi ball. "I guarantee that where we find him we'll find the missing girl, and I've got a feeling we'll find the folks that were lost in the Tokyo Station disaster."

Shu jumped up excitedly. "Let's get to work then!" he cried.

The meeting broke and, despite the ominous news, the six seemed in high spirits as they began preparing for what could be a long and dangerous search.

Ϫ

Jun spent hours after the Arbiter's seizure of his armor pacing through what little floor space his room allowed and laying on the daybed trying futilely to rest. He was confused and afraid now that the Arbiter had control of his armor and, through the armor's unique powers, Jun. Any time the young warrior thought of their last meeting he felt a pressure in his chest so heavy that he could hardly breathe.

The sensation when the Arbiter had controlled him remained a vague feeling in the back of Jun's mind. When he had been forced to kneel the thought of action had been like a compulsion, something instinctive and undeniable that felt as natural in the moment as the need to eat and drink. He could not resist the command even as his mind fought in protest and in the end he succumbed to the order like a well-trained dog.

When the next communication came Jun was sprawled exhausted on the bed and staring hungrily at the green fuzzy bread on the end table. He could not recall the last time he had eaten and as much as he did not want to consider the possibility, the disgusting loaf was beginning to seem appealing.

There was no warning other than a strange desire to stand, a desire that Jun attributed to his unrelenting nervousness, and the moment he got to his feet the world seemed to collapse in on him. He could not catch his breath, he felt his feet leave the floor, and felt a rush of wind over his body. But the moment that his mind registered sudden panic the world expanded again and as he felt his feet on solid ground he opened his eyes and reeled, dizzy and disoriented.

He realized at once that he was back on the rooftop platform where the Arbiter had seized his armor and that the spirit was standing before him looking smug and superior. He was not wearing the armor and the yoroi orb was nowhere in sight.

"You will grow accustomed to my summons," the spirit said casually. "And you will kneel."

Jun dropped automatically to a knee, as much to catch his breath and reorient himself as to avoid the Arbiter controlling him again. He stared at the floor and breathed deeply, keenly aware of the state of his free will and dreading the moment that he knew it would be taken away.

"You will find that I am not a cruel master," The Arbiter said and Jun could hear his steps as the spirit walked away from him. Then, moments later, Jun heard a quiet scraping as of wood against wood, and he looked up.

The spirit sat at a square wooden table piled high with plates and bowls that heaped with food and drink, and as Jun eyed the feast his sense of smell seemed to return in a flash. Every muscle in his body wanted to propel him toward that table but he suppressed the urge and remained very still, staring like an animal.

"I understand that your mortal body has needs," the Arbiter said. "Come, now, eat."

Jun rushed toward the table and began shoveling food into his mouth. He did so unceremoniously, his eyes closed, his brain blank of all thought but sustenance, and he remained completely oblivious to the spirit staring at him contentedly as he gorged.

But moments later Jun stopped, quite suddenly, and turned his gaze slowly to the Arbiter. The spirit's chin rested comfortably on its folded hands and the look in its eyes smacked suspiciously of pleasurable longing. Jun understood at once that the spirit was enjoying the spectacle not because Jun was eating but because he was watching, for the first time in an eternity that Jun could not imagine, a mortal indulging its physical needs.

Jun slid around the table, his eyes never leaving the Arbiter's, and sat in the empty chair that, to this point, he had not noticed over the sight of food. From there he ate quite slowly and with his head bowed against the spirit's continued gaze, feeling somehow naked and a little embarrassed. It must have seemed silly to the spirit that Jun would need to eat.

"We have need to speak," the Arbiter said at length after Jun finished eating.

Jun did not respond. He was unsure whether to thank the spirit for the food or to simply defy him. Instead he stared at the empty plates before him and wondered how many calories he had just ingested.

"You must feel worried now that you realize that I am in control of you," the spirit continued conversationally. "But rest assured that it is not my desire to force any action upon you. I find that things run more smoothly when everyone works under his own will."

"Thanks," Jun said dryly.

"That being said, I understand that you are not the kind to work completely willingly for me, so I have prepared for you some additional incentive to do as you are commanded."

The Arbiter stood, approached the rail on the opposite side of the platform from where Jun sat, and leaned against the bannister before waving the young man over. Jun followed the order tentatively, uncertain what the spirit meant by 'incentive' and apprehensive to find out, and looked out over the nether realm.

What had not a day prior been a peaceful and quiet landscape had transformed entirely into a scene of turmoil and horror. The spaces between the many buildings below were filled with what looked like people, mortal people, who clung to each other in an enormous mob that swarmed like a colony of bees. And even from his vantage point far above Jun could tell that not only were these people distressed, they were almost all wounded and in the breaks between groups of tightly huddled people he could see many lying flat on the ground.

"Those are the missing people from the Tokyo Station disaster," Jun cried almost immediately. He turned his gaze angrily on the Arbiter and stepped away from the railing. "You orchestrated the whole thing, you bastard, and you brought those poor people here to use as leverage to get me to work for you?"

The Arbiter looked at Jun benevolently. "Those people would have died if not for my intervention, and they may yet die if you choose to continue to defy me. However, should you decide to work cooperatively they will be released in due time, unharmed."

Jun stared at the spirit, feeling mutinous yet completely helpless. The Arbiter was toying with him now, forcing him into service with a false feeling of free will. Jun could disobey orders and watch those innocent mortals be murdered for it, but even then the Arbiter could force him to act through the shadow armor. Jun truly had no choice but to follow the orders that he was given.

"I have a mission for you," the Arbiter said at last, "and a fairly simple task for one of your skill. I need you to return to the mortal realm and find your allies, the others who bear armors. From them you must bring me the strongest, the most capable, as I need a mortal to command those below in the reconstruction of my spire."

"You plan to force them to act the way that you are forcing me to act?" Jun spat.

The Arbiter shrugged. "Perhaps, but perhaps not. We will see when the time is upon us."

"And if I fail?"

"Let us hope that it does not come to failure, but if it should you will understand the full measure of my wrath."

Jun slumped against the railing and stared out at the mass of people. They milled about, wandering through the alleys always in the same direction, as if they were all following a massive queue. Leading them along the way, barely visible along the perimeter of the mob, were a number of faintly glowing white spirits who seemed more as cattle herders than guides. Among the white spirits floated a larger number of black spirits, similar in appearance to the one that had led Jun to the Arbiter when he waked, and the humans shied away from them in fear.

"Where are they going?" Jun said.

"As I said, my spire must be rebuilt. Your friends destroyed it entirely when last we met. Those humans are being moved to the site of construction and will be responsible for reestablishing my empire in this world. The best and strongest among them will return here and assist me in establishing a hold on the mortal realm."

Jun regarded the Arbiter with a blank expression. "That's why I'm here," he reasoned. "That's why you brought me here, why you took control of the armor. That's why you tricked me into being alone, so you could kidnap me and control me and send me back home to destroy humanity."

"You took the armor that was rightfully mine, I would have taken you regardless of the state of my empire," the Arbiter replied and he walked back along the bannister. "But your strength makes you particularly valuable; there would be no sense in eliminating you when I can put you to such effective use."

Anger welled up in Jun again and his face flushed with heat. "I want to go back to my room," he said curtly. "And I'm going to need food more than once a day, fresh food and water, not the moldy junk you left for me when you brought me here."

"So it shall be," said the spirit. "I will summon you here at sundown."

With a wave of the Arbiter's hand the world collapsed once more, and in the next moment Jun was back in his room, dizzy and reeling. He collapsed against his bed and stared at the wall feeling helpless and alone.

Ϫ

It was dark when thick fog settled around Nasté's home. The night was quiet and moonless and the troopers, who had settled some hours before, were at ease in their beds. All but Shin were fast asleep and even the warrior of torrent was beginning to drift off, his mind racing with thoughts of the day, the preparations that the five of them had made for sudden battle, and the information that he and Toma had gathered from Jun's schoolmates.

He felt uneasy even as he lay listening to the sounds of the forest outside, even though he knew that nothing more could be done to help now. Shin understood that he needed to sleep and gather strength, but as tired as his body was his mind would not quit.

When he first heard Byakuen's low growl echo from the sitting room he thought that it was his imagination. But then the sound came again and Shin sat straight, his heart pounding against his chest, and waited. Again the sound came. Shin jumped from the bed and smacked Shu, who slept soundly in the bed beside his own, on the shoulder, then he darted from the room. He rushed through the hall, down the stairs, and spotted Byakuen near the back door.

The tiger was hunched down on his front paws and looked ready to strike. His hair stood on end and his tail was bushy and frazzled, and when Shin approached him the great cat pawed angrily at the door.

"What's your problem?"

Shin whirled about to face Shu, who stood looking as angry as he was tired, but as soon as the warrior of stone saw Byakuen's aggressive posture his mind came to him at once. Shu straightened, rushed to the window adjacent to the door, and peered through the glass.

"Go wake the others," Shin ordered. "This is it."

Shu nodded and rushed back up the stairs, and as Shin pushed the back door open to step outside he could hear Shu's cries carrying through the house. Knowing that the others would follow soon he produced his brightly glowing kanji orb and rushed off into the woods with Byakuen close on his heels.

It was not long before Shin arrived in a small clearing from which the dense fog seemed to flow. At once he stopped and stared, mouth gaping, at the five figures opposite him. They were clearly men dressed in dark clothes that blended in with the tree line but stood shoulder to shoulder in a line. Shin could see no weapons of any sort but that was not what worried him. What worried him was that the central figure of the five was Jun, whose expression read of anger and fear and a small degree of embarrassment.

Shin summoned forth his under gear and placed his hand on Byakuen's shoulder, as much to remind himself that the cat was there as to support his rapidly weakening knees.

"What is going on?" Shin said quietly. "Where did you go? Who are they?"

Jun stepped forward with his eyes on the ground. He wore his own under gear and his hands were clenched into fists at his side. When he stopped perhaps three yards away from where Shin stood he assumed a very relaxed, almost submissive posture and glanced to his left, then to his right, as though addressing the four men behind him, and then he looked at Shin directly.

"Don't hurt them," Jun said, his voice full of authority despite his passive posture, and as long as he spoke his eyes did not leave Shin's. "We need to keep them alive and unhurt."

Shin's face screwed up in confusion. He could not tell if Jun was addressing him of the other men, but the boy spoke so clearly, with such a strict tone, and maintained such focused eye contact that Shin could not believe that Jun was talking to anyone else.

"Jun, what's going on? Who are these people?" Shin pleaded. "What are you doing?"

Now Jun looked at the ground again but stood straight and proud. The tone of his voice when he spoke did not match the solemn expression on his face. He looked as though someone had died.

"His Excellency the Arbiter of Souls demands submission. His empire must be rebuilt and he demands the service of humans to secure his hold on the mortal world."

Again Shin was confused. Was Jun explaining the circumstance or issuing an order? The disparity between his voice and his body language was unnerving and unnatural, as though Jun was acting according to a mandate but continued trying to defy it as much as he could, like a child presenting himself to an executive. He voice rang loud and true but there was venom behind it that Shin could not explain.

At that moment Ryo, Shu, Toma, and Seiji burst into the clearing in full armor and brandishing their weapons, clearly ready for a fight. But Shin threw out his hand, stopping the four of them dead in their tracks, and as each of the troopers realized the strange truth of the situation he lowered his weapon in confusion.

It was Ryo who stepped forward, looking immeasurably irate, and when he spoke his voice seemed more of a growl than a yell.

"Is this what it's come to?" he cried. "Is this a cry for help?"

Jun looked up, startled and wide eyed, and his brow furrowed in a look of recognition. But the boy remained very quiet and looked like he was fighting to remain calm. He opened his mouth to speak once but before any sound came out he looked away. Then he looked at Shin.

"Don't hurt them."

Shin nodded at once and as Jun stepped back into the line of his men he summoned his armor forth. As if on cue the four men at Jun's side rushed forward, drawing thick bladed swords from black scabbards on their belts and the five troopers sprang into immediate action against them.

Jun stood back and watched the five troopers at work, fighting methodically against four very human, very weak men who the Arbiter had chosen from amongst the kidnapped disaster victims to accompany him on his mission. He was under strict orders to bring back the strongest of the five which, by physical measures would have been Shu, but by intellectual measures would have been Toma, but by willpower would have been Seiji. Each of them had strength in his own right and Jun wondered how he might manipulate the Arbiter's orders to his advantage.

But as he stood inactive the familiar sensation of oppression began to creep over his body and Jun knew that the Arbiter was growing impatient. His orders had been clear: bring back the strongest warrior; the one most capable of leading the enslaved mortals in the construction of the Arbiter's new spire, and the operation was to be covert and quick. Jun had already failed in two of the three objectives; he had been neither stealthy nor swift, and the Arbiter was apparently watching closely.

The armor formed around him with unexpected speed and the moment the plates settled Jun felt an undeniable urge to draw his weapons. In a flash they were out and though Jun forced his body to be still his mind raced and his head pounded. The Arbiter was furious, was pushing Jun to fight, and was forcing the thought of action into Jun's mind until they felt as instinct.

There came a point in this struggle when Jun could no longer tell what thoughts were his and what had been placed in his mind by the Arbiter. He was confused but determined not to act, regardless of his desire to do so, because he did not know if his actions would even be his own. He pushed it all back, suppressed thought and impulse and emotion, and watched the battle raging before him with all of the clarity that his free mind could afford him.

"Tokyo Station!" He cried suddenly, and the troopers halted action to stare at him. "He took me at Tokyo Station, he's forcing me to—"

There was a sudden pain in Jun's head that was so explosive that he reeled and dropped to his knees. The glaives fell to the ground with a clatter and the young warrior clutched at his throbbing temples, oblivious to what action took place around him. He heard the Arbiter's voice in his head screaming at him to submit but the noise and the agony made Jun's body numb.

As the troopers realized that Jun had fallen and recognized the meaning of his words they rushed to dispatch the still fighting men. With renewed focus and a clear goal, the warriors knocked their opponents away and watched as they landed on the ground. As one they began their move to Jun's aid but understood that they were too late as Jun, and the four humans who had appeared with him, disappeared in a blur of black haze.