NOTE: okay, so slow was an understatement. Between grad classes, teaching a high school creative writing class, work, and juggling family commitments I've had virtually no time to write at all. But here, created in 15 minute writing segments once every few days, is the next installment. Things are beginning to calm down for me, so I'm hoping to have more nights like tonight where I can be up til the wee hours and spend them working for you guys. If anyone is still around, thanks for sticking with me through the long wait.

Chapter 10

Jun prowled around the outside of the black spire, darting between the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings and watching as the wounded and exhausted humans slaved away making progress on the enormous tower that seemed impossibly fast. Jun knew that the people before him had not rested since work began and he wondered as he stared at them how such an enormous effort could be sustained, especially considering the physical condition that the workers were in.

Clearly these people were victims of a disaster. Their bodies were covered by bruises, scratches, and cuts of every size and degree of severity. Blood caked thick on their skin and their worn out clothing hung in tattered strips on their slight frames. They did not speak, in fact they made no noise at all, and they never looked up from the ground even when carrying enormous loads of stone. They seemed to be in a trance, completely mindless and without capacity to feel, emotionally or physically, because if they could feel anything Jun was certain that they would not be working.

Jun had come to this place with purpose, not to ogle the lost disaster victims slaving away over the construction of the tower. He had come to this place to search for a prime spirit that he knew as the Guardian of Souls, whose white glowing servants Jun had last seen near the humans. It was Jun's goal to find one of these servants, who he knew to be good, and convince it to lead him to its master.

It did not take long for Jun to find what he was looking for. As he rounded a corner and peered down the long corridor between buildings he caught a flash of white as a figure turned down a way leading back toward the tower. He knew beyond doubt that this was one of the good spirits because the glow that followed its incorporeal form had been unmistakably gold.

With renewed focus he started after it, walking with long strides and checking carefully for foot soldiers at every one of many intersections. The area was crawling with them; they patrolled almost every alley at the spire's perimeter and no exit from the clearing in which the tower sat was without sentinel. Only the cross streets, including the one that Jun was presently walking down, were empty.

At last Jun came to the street down which the spirit had moved and as he peered down the way he could see it floating along some distance down the path. It was oblivious that Jun was behind it.

Jun quickened his step and began closing the distance separating him from many much needed answers. As he walked his mind began to race with memories of the benevolent Guardian and his heart swelled with hope. Before he knew what he was doing he was running at full sprint, and moments later caught up with the spirit as it passed through a wide intersection.

"I'm looking for your master," Jun said quickly as he walked in step beside the white spectre. "I need to speak with the Guardian, there's been a problem."

The spirit continued along, offering no indication that it recognized that Jun was even there. Jun remembered then that the last time he had interacted with these beings he had had to identify himself with the yoroi ball before they would acknowledge him. Perhaps now was no different, perhaps these spirits owed some allegiance to the armor.

"My name is Jun," he said, almost frantic now. The spirit stopped immediately and rounded to face him. "I bear the armor—"

Jun stopped quite suddenly and stared blankly at the spirit. The thing was no longer looking at him. It was looking past him, back down the way that they had come moments earlier, and Jun understood that something had crept up behind. Yet Jun dared not turn around; it could be a human who had escaped, perhaps a foot soldier who was checking to see what a human was doing away from the work site.

At last he turned and his breath caught tight in his throat. He was staring at a broad black robed chest, and as his eyes moved up its form his heart sank low in his stomach. He wished very much that he had been facing a foot soldier, or an angry Chiharu, or the other troopers, but instead was standing two inches from the Arbiter himself.

"It was foolish for you to return to this place," said the Arbiter in an even and nonjudgmental tone. "Where is the armor orb?"

"I guess I lost it."

"You will wish you had lost it before I am through with you," growled the Arbiter, and with a wave of his hand a swarm of youja soldiers and jet black spirits poured from every path until Jun found himself surrounded, unarmed and alone, and completely unprepared to face such an onslaught.

The Arbiter's eyes seemed to smile. "Yes," said the spirit, "you will tell me where you have hidden it."

Ϫ

Chiharu spent the days after Jun left her feeling alone and afraid, huddled beneath a wooden staircase staring at the yoroi orb. She had spent most of the first day waiting hopefully for Jun to return. At nightfall on the second day she began to worry. But now, on the third day after his departure, Chiharu was beginning to feel genuinely afraid. Her fear amplified by exhaustion and hunter, the only thing that kept her from setting out to search for her lost companion was the knowledge that outside of the compound gates lurked an army of youja soldiers. Jun had trusted her with his strange broken marble, and was counting on her not to get caught.

She had explored the massive place in her days alone, as much to get a lay of the land as to pass the time until Jun returned. She had wandered through all of the buildings and explored every hallway and room that she could find. The largest of the three buildings was in particularly bad shape; walls were broken, holes gaped in the floor so deep that she could not see the other side. Crimson ceramic roof tiles littered the ground around the building's entrance and the foundation was beginning to crumble; this was where Chiharu found her most recent hiding spot.

That night she sat in the open on a high stair, staring uncertainly between the strangely colored nether world sky and the black tower looming in the distance. She had a bad feeling about that place; she wondered how a spire could go from a single story to twenty or more in a matter of days. And though the place certainly was unnatural in its construction it did not seem inherently bad; it was simply a building that had gone up quickly. But all the same her stomach fluttered whenever she looked its way.

Chiharu relegated herself to staring at the yoroi ball as she rolled it absently between her fingers and wondering if Jun was okay, if the two of them would ever find their way back home. She wondered if Jun's friends would find her and how she might know that it was them. He said that they would have orbs that matched his, though she was not certain how she would know that they were carrying them; how does a person under siege demand that a complete stranger, or many complete strangers as they case seemed, produce proof of identification?

She went to bed that night with a mounting sense of dread and her discomfort, both physical and mental, would not let her drift off to sleep.

As the time passed she began to wonder if perhaps Jun was angry with her because she had lied to the policemen, or what she thought were policemen, about her status with him. Perhaps he was staying away to punish her. But though he had every right to be angry with her she never felt like he actually was, she never believed that he had the capacity to be so cruel.

She dozed feeling uncertain about everything, uncertain about herself and her motives, the decisions that had brought her to this place, and about what she hoped would come of it all. The only thing she could decide was that she wanted to get home alive; anything else that happened or came of the whole experience could be dealt with later.

Chiharu could not say for certain when it was that she realized that there were people milling about outside of her hiding place. Their voices were faint but unmistakably human, speaking in hushed tones and in words that sounded vaguely familiar, though she could not make out the words. It could have been the sleepy haze or some panic built over the last days spent alone, but Chiharu was frightened by the sound.

Noiselessly and with one ear always focused on the voices, Chiharu moved away from the hole that served as the entrance to her hovel and crouched in a dark shadow beneath the stairs. There she sat, watching intently as shadows passed the entrance, blocking out the dim nether realm light. They looked almost as one long and jagged form, broken only by small slivers of orange light.

When the shadows passed Chiharu breathed a long sigh of relief and felt every muscle in her body relax. The voices were growing quiet again.

But then they stopped altogether and Chiharu felt panic again. A pointy shadow poked its head through the entrance hole of her hovel and stood there for a long time, apparently peering through the darkness around the space. Chiharu wondered what it was, how it might look in the light. It seemed like a monster in silhouette.

"Shu, you idiot," said the voice, "the armor is resonating here. After this spot it dies off again."

"It's not my fault," came the angry response from who Chiharu assumed was Shu, "I don't want to be here at all. Leave it to Jun to pick the most inhospitable-"

"That's enough," came a third voice, and it sounded angry like a parent scolding an unruly child. "He did the right thing in coming here, there aren't any soldiers anywhere near this place. Had he gone anywhere else he'd have been overcome by sheer numbers."

The realization that these people were discussing Jun hit Chiharu like a lead anvil. At once she produced the fractured orb from her pocket, where she had completely forgotten about it, and stared dumbly as it glowed a faint black light. It pulsed warm in her hand, felt comfortable to her, and tentatively she regarded the shadow in the door.

It took much more effort than she ever thought it would to call out for help, and after three deep breaths and one utterly failed attempt at speech that came out as a choke as the words caught fat in her throat, Chiharu managed to squeak "Help!"

At once the shadows burst into motion. Three rushed toward Chiharu and two stayed near the door. They moved in near silence, with fluid motion that made Chiharu wonder if perhaps she was dreaming, but when three armored men wielding heavy blades and wearing what seemed like angry expressions hovered over her she grew wide eyed and terrified.

"Who the hell are you?" said the voice she recognized as Shu.

Chiharu wanted to speak but could scarcely even breathe. These had to be the people that Jun was talking about, the friends who had come to rescue her, but they were wearing such strange clothes and seemed so crude; how could it be that such men were good?

The irate Shu bent low and scrutinized her through the faceplate of his enormous orange helmet with a gaze as hard as stone. He stared at her as though she wasn't even human and stayed that way for a long time, but at last he relented as another figure moved in behind, clapped him hard on the shoulder, and practically threw him away.

"That's enough, Shu!" Scolded the voice, and Chiharu recognized this as the angry parent.

This new man kneeled before Chiharu and removed the light blue helm of his armor, then examined Chiharu with the benevolence of a holy man. He smiled then, held out his heavily armored hand, and Chiharu felt her stomach roll.

"My name is Shin," he said quietly, and Chiharu took his hand, "the idiot that was yelling at you is Shu, and that is Seiji," Shin motioned toward the green armored man standing some distance away.

Chiharu peered through the dark for a long time but said nothing. She felt more comfortable now that she was being addressed civilly, but reluctant even still, uncertain how to verify that these people were Jun's friends.

"You're Chiharu?" Shin continued and she nodded absently, still staring at Seiji. "Were you with Jun? Do you know where he went?"

"That idiot!" Chiharu cried, struck suddenly irate by the mention of Jun's name. "He left me here all by myself, he said he had to go find someone, but God forbid he tells me who, or where they are, or whether they can help me! I don't know where he went, or why! All he did was give me this stupid little marble, it's broken anyhow, and he didn't even tell me what good it is besides acting as a really crappy lamp."

She threw the yoroi ball unceremoniously to the ground and Shin reclined on his heels, regarding the thing with no small degree of curiosity. He touched it gingerly, rolled it around in the dirt a quarter of a turn, and his delicate brow furrowed severely.

"It was like this when he gave it to you?"

Chiharu nodded curtly, and when Shin glanced up at her he could see tears rimming her eyes.

"Seiji, get over here," Shin ordered, "and Shu, you go get Ryo and Toma, they'll need to see this. And I want food, she needs something to eat, and something to drink. We need words."

At once the green armored warrior was beside Shin, and Chiharu watched with what might have been relief and joy as Shu exited her hovel. But when she looked to the faces of Shin and Seiji her spirits fell flat again. They seemed disturbed, perhaps afraid, and spoke in voices so quiet that she could not hear them even a foot away. She reasoned that they must be trying to keep her calm, but their efforts were failing miserably.

"What is that thing?" Chiharu said quietly. "Who are you people, and how do you know Jun?"

Shin and Seiji exchanged looks as though trying to weigh their information. But then they nodded to each other, leaned back, and Seiji began the lengthy explanation.

"We, the five of us I mean, are Samurai Troopers. We were given armors," he paused and motioned to his strange plated outfit, "and were charged with protecting the mortal realm from evil sorcerers, spirits, demons, and the like."

"So you're superheroes?"

The two exchanged uncertain glances.

"We are friends of Jun's," Shin continued, electing to ignore Chiharu's statement. "You may be young to remember, but ten years ago there was an incident in Shinjuku where-"

"All the power went out, and there were images of crazy ancient buildings, and there were storms but only over Shinjuku, and the news couldn't get in and the military couldn't account for anything," Chiharu completed Shin's thought. "Yes, I remember. I was terrified."

"Well, that was the first time we met Jun, he was a little kid at that time, I'm sure you can imagine. We came to this place and fought against an evil emperor named Arago, he wanted to enslave humans and control the mortal realm. Needless to say, he's dead now."

"So what?

"Well, you're sitting in his old compound," Seiji said matter-of-factly. "This is the place where we fought him."

"So you came to rescue Jun?"

Again the two exchanged looks.

"Well, we're not sure what's going on, exactly," Seiji replied tentatively. "He ran off on us a few days ago, he's been acting very strangely lately. We were worried that something was wrong, come to find out that he ended up here. We were hoping that we would be able to find him through use of the yoroi balls but they led us to you instead."

"Yoroi balls," Chiharu repeated dumbly, and pointed to the orb on the ground. "You mean that thing?"

Shin nodded. "That's what we use to summon our armors. It's also a way for us to find each other in the event that we're separated. They glow brighter when we're close to one another, they dim down when we're far away. Consider them a tracking device."

"So Jun is a trooper, too?"

Again the two exchanged looks.

It was at this point that the three remaining troopers entered the space and crowded around. Shin and Seiji drew their attention immediately to the fractured yoroi ball, and only after another quiet conversation did they seem to notice Chiharu at all. When they did look to her all she could do was offer a meek little wave and an awkward smile, now understanding how disappointed the group must have been to find her instead of Jun after their long search.

But when the troopers introduced themselves they did so with gusto, and Chiharu was uncertain whether this was their typical mode of operation or if they were trying to cheer her up.

"Ryo of Wildfire," said the red-armored man, and he looked to the man on his left.

"Shu of Stone," said the one in orange.

"Toma of the Heavens," said the last, and each of them bowed curtly before giving her an expectant look.

"I'm Chiharu," she said quietly, "of Keio University Hospital?"

"Welcome to the team," Ryo said cheerfully, "let's get to work!"

Ϫ

Days passed in a haze of darkness and dull pain, broken periodically by flashes of absolute consciousness. Jun was only partially self-aware during that time, could remember little of his encounters with the Arbiter after their completion but felt acutely every sensation during their transpiration. It was like living a dream, a very vivid and intense dream; the kind that seems so real in the moment but becomes a fleeting thought lost in waking. Jun could recall fighting back against restraint, working hard to deny the Arbiter's constant stream of questions, and wishing desperately in the moment that he had never left Chiharu behind.

Jun was no longer a guest among the evil spirits of the Nether Realm. He was a prisoner now with as little freedom to roam or speak as he had ever had, and as he lay awake thinking of his current predicament he could not help but remember the masses of human slaves marching below the Arbiter's grand spire. He imagined that he was inside of that structure even now, given the rate of production the thing must have been near completion, and he must be locked away in a dark and windowless room waiting helplessly for the Arbiter's next summons.

He had been called to the spirit four times now and each visit was always worse than the last. At first the Arbiter had been quite calm, speaking as though Jun was a confused child, but as the interrogations progressed the Arbiter grew more anxious, more furious, and Jun's most recent encounter with the malevolent spirit had left the young warrior in truly bad shape. His body was broken by blows both physical and magical that left him bruised, bloody, and so sore that he could scarcely move at all.

All the same Jun knew that he was doing the right thing. As long as he stayed put and continued to boldly lie to the Arbiter as to the whereabouts of his yoroi ball, Chiharu would be safe. The Arbiter could not locate the orb without Jun's help, or so it seemed, so as long as Jun held out the Arbiter would be stuck. The other troopers would find Chiharu, find him, and then they would all defeat the spirit as they had defeated so many enemies before.

For now Jun's second most frequent thought was about the yoroi orb, all about hiding its location at any cost. The Arbiter had had it in his grasp, had wielded the powerful shadow armor, and had been able to control Jun, its proper mortal bearer, as easily as a child's plaything. But then Jun took the orb, stole it out from beneath the Arbiter in a reckless move that lost the Arbiter not only the armor's instrument of summons, but also its bearer and the girl who the Arbiter had hoped to use as leverage to make Jun cooperate.

The Arbiter was not pleased.

It was not long before the next summons came, breaking the young warrior from whatever peace he might have found in solitude, and in a flash Jun was kneeled before the spirit's great onyx throne in the familiar torchlit chamber, feeling a mix of dread and adrenaline-fueled anticipation. He was practically conditioned by this point, like a dog salivating to a dinner bell, and so he felt only vague discomfort when the Arbiter appeared before him. There would be questions—there were always questions—and there would be some punishment when Jun inevitably withheld the information that the Arbiter was seeking. Then more questions, more punishment, the process repeated until the Arbiter lost all patience or Jun lost consciousness.

"Where is the orb?" said the Arbiter quietly as he paced slowly before Jun. "I grow tired of these games."

Jun remained quiet and stared at the floor. It was not that he had nothing to say—a thousand witty remarks flew through his brain every time the Arbiter asked the question—as much as it was that Jun was tired of the games as well, tired of biding his time until the other troopers came to his aid. He had lived the same scene for what felt like a month, and while the words changed between each encounter the outcome was always the same; Jun would end his day laying quietly in a tiny, dark room with no bed, no food, and would get very little sleep while wondering how much longer he could hold out.

"The orb, boy, where have you put it?"

The Arbiter stopped pacing and glared at Jun with disdain. His largely featureless face smacked of disappointment and well-tempered rage, an expression that Jun had come to recognize over the last days. It was no secret that the only two things on the Arbiter's mind were the yoroi ball and how best to kill the young warrior. The only thing on Jun's mind was that the Arbiter could not kill him so long as Jun remained quiet as to the orb's whereabouts.

"Where is it?" roared the Arbiter, his patience spent.

Jun shrugged noncommittally. "I guess I lost it."

The Arbiter roared a guttural sound that was so full of rage and hate that Jun caught a chill. The spirit threw back his head and stared almost longingly at the ceiling, and after only a few short moments turned his gaze back to Jun.

"Perhaps I have been too lenient with you," cooed the spirit as he began to pace once more. "Perhaps you require more motivation, some incentive to act."

"I've been known to take bribes," Jun quipped.

"Then you will not feel so uncomfortable at the prospect of bartering with lives," the Arbiter replied, unfazed by Jun's nonchalant response. He waved his bony hand once in a wide sweeping motion toward the door, and at once a troupe of frail looking people entered. "Human lives, that is."

Jun stared dumbly at the people but remained as expressionless as he could. The people standing before him, three women and two men aging from grandparent to high school graduate seemed entranced. They stood unblinking, still and quiet, and even as the Arbiter paced before them they did not move and did not speak.

"I understand that you do not have much care as to what happens to yourself," the Arbiter continued slyly, "but I also understand that you tend toward a soft spot for those too helpless to stand up for themselves. You cannot bear the thought of another taking punishment for your own wrongdoings, am I incorrect?"

Jun did not know how to respond. This encounter was no longer like the others; the Arbiter had him pinned, understood exactly how Jun's mind worked, and was now apparently keen to exploit the weaknesses that existed there. Suddenly things had become sinister.

"Some motivation to speak?" asked the Arbiter, and with a flick of the spirit's wrist one of the prisoners, a middle aged man wearing a tattered black suit with half of a blue tie still hanging around his neck, fell limp to the ground. But the death was not gruesome as the last had been, the body seemed untouched, completely bloodless, and the man's lifeless eyes continued to stare blankly at the ceiling as he lay.

If Jun had to judge, this would have been the most disturbing sight that he had beheld since Arago's invasion. It was surreal and terrifying to think that the Arbiter had the power to instantly strike a man dead with no outward signs of distress or damage. Jun wondered if he might fall to the same tactic.

"Where is the orb?"

Jun stared at the corpse on the floor before him and felt his stomach begin to churn. It was a strange sensation; he had not eaten for what felt like days and nausea was the last problem Jun thought he would experience. He wondered if the feeling was born of the anxiety that had been swelling in him. The other should have been there by now and the thought that they might not be coming had been gaining strength for some time now.

He imagined the troopers sitting in Nasté's home practically celebrating his absence. After all, he had thoroughly forsaken their trust, he had lied and withheld dangerous information, had thrown Nasté's strict rules by the wayside, and had topped off the whole fiasco with a wicked backhand that more than justified any hate that the others might be harboring. And maybe it was the realization that yet another innocent though severely damaged human had died on his behalf that was beginning to cause Jun to feel the same sense of disappointment in himself that he imagined the troopers had.

"I don't have it," Jun said flatly and he did not raise his eyes.

The Arbiter stopped pacing at once, startled, and stared at Jun with a degree of incredulity. The response was a far cry from the boy's traditional snark and so the Arbiter was intrigued; perhaps the boy was beginning to break.

"Where is it?" said the spirit.

Jun furrowed his brow as the last remnants of defiance surged through his body. Conflicted between instinctive resistance and exhaustion he remained silent for a long while, staring contemplatively at the corpse. He could not hear the Arbiter's continued questioning over the pounding in his head and so Jun did not know that the spirit's demands were coming in increasingly irate tones. It was not until a second body hit the ground that Jun was startled back to reality.

"I gave it to Chiharu!" he cried and then choked on an enormous lump in his throat. If Jun expected to feel relief after making the admission he was badly mistaken. He was suddenly more nauseous and more anxious than ever, felt his blood pressure rising and felt his eyes growing hot.

"Where is she?" cooed the Arbiter, clearly pleased by the break. "Where is the girl now?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, come now, boy. It is not difficult for my minions to locate a mortal in this place. You have already damned her; if you tell me where she is located I may yet have mercy."

The defiance hit Jun in full force then. He looked at the Arbiter with reckless disdain and was not certain whether the rage in his gut was made for the spirit or for himself.

"I'm done," Jun said hotly. "I'm done. Send me away, kill me if you have to, you're not getting anything else out of me."

"She will die either way."

"I'm not bargaining with you anymore."

Having said what he considered to be his final words Jun crossed his arms over his chest and stared resolutely at the floor, willing the bile presently creeping up his throat back the way it came. He felt keenly the waves of anxiety radiating from his stomach and fought hard against the desire to close his eyes against the terror.

"You understand the consequences of continued disobedience," prodded the spirit. "I will find the orb."

"Then find it and be done with it."

"I will not kill you."

The words hit Jun like a freight train and against his better judgment he looked up in surprise. "Then what?" he snapped. "What are you going to do if you don't? Keep me around as a trophy? I don't know if you're aware but people like me don't make great prizes."

The Arbiter sat down heavily on the black stone seat and reclined comfortably, looking as though he was about to deliver a casual speech to a large crowd. "You went in search of the Guardian, and that is how I found you. Your actions are predictable if given enough time. It should come as no surprise to you that I was able to anticipate this move and eliminated the Guardian prior to your arrival in this place."

Jun stared dumbly at the Arbiter and rolled the word eliminated through his mind. Killed? Destroyed? Trapped? Was the Guardian gone for good or was the benevolent spirit simply no longer a threat?

"I want you to understand, before I place you firmly under my control, that there is truly no hope for you, or for your friends, or for the girl who so foolishly feel into my traps. When I retrieve the orb you will be mine and my hold over this nether realm will be finalized. Once I eliminate your companions, the only real threat to my plan, I will be able to send you to the mortal realm to secure my power there as well."

"That sucks for me, then," Jun grumbled. "But know that the others won't give up until you're well and properly dead, regardless of where I'm at or what condition I'm in. They're plenty pissed at me and somehow I doubt they'll let me be your meat shield."

The Arbiter seemed mildly confused by Jun's irreverence and sat straight on his throne, regarding the boy with narrowed eyes. And then, the spirit's patience spent, he waved his hand and watched with amusement and satisfaction as the young man fell to the ground and lay as limp and motionless as the corpses beside him.