I'm updating again cause I've been gone and you guys deserve an abundance of updates to make up for it. So yeah. Here I am, writing the next chapter. For you guys! Enjoy!

An Eye for a Trio

Aki decided to scope out the Shrine and make sure nothing was wrong with it. As she scanned the room, she noticed a hallway next to the Dark Sage bedroom. Aki, being the curious cat that she is, quickly looked around before approaching the hallway and heading down the eroded corridor.

The only thing in the hallway was a lit doorway at the other end from where Aki stood. As Aki approached the shining door, a man came up behind her and clasped a hand on her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"You're a little snoop, aren't you?" The man had a husky voice that rasped against her eardrums. Aki turned and elbowed the man in the jaw, causing him to stumble back.

"Well, that hurt. That's quite the blow you got there," the commented. Now Aki could see him, she gave him a once over. He was fairly tall, 6 feet she guessed, and was dressed in an oak brown cloak. His features resembled his first impression – dark and troubled. He had black hair and almost black eyes that seemed to pierce through Aki's demeanor. He seemed rather melancholy as well, which puzzled Aki.

"Who are you?" Aki demanded, catching her breathe from the surprise attack.

"Nosy, are we? Just hold on a second," The man said putting his hand up, and using his other to hold his chin.

"I don't have a second, tell me who you are," Aki commanded with a determined, serious tone.

"You have the manners of a squirrel. Yeesh, you don't even know who I am and you're already prepared to pummel me into the ground!" The man held his jaw and groaned a bit, trying to stretch his mouth open but having it prove to be too painful.

"Look, I have reason to be a little skittish-"

"I know, you're school is in pieces, five of your students are possessed by evil soul pieces and 4 of your 'good-guy' students are dead, one of which is the niece of someone you look up to. It's an awful situation, especially since the five living Sages blame you for this."

Aki looked at the man with the most shocked expression she had ever produced.

"If it helps, it's not your fault. You could have never predicted this."

Aki staggered back a bit, absently putting a hand on her stomach, "How did-"

"It's my gift. I can read memories. My name is Simon, before you demand it from me again," the man jabbed as he clutched his jaw again.

Aki disregarded the jab and continued her interrogation, "Why are you here?"

The man laughed at her, "Don't you know who I am? As their gatherer, I'd expect you to at least recognize the Gate Keeper when you see him. "

Then it clicked, "Oh! God, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you!"

Aki helped Simon out of the hallway to the dining table where she sat him down next to a fairly confused Satoshi.

"Uhhhhhhhh, who's this? Red?" Satoshi questioned, gesturing to Simon and using his nickname for Aki.

Aki glared at the flame man, "Don't call me that."

Satoshi rolled his eyes and turned to Kaido was sitting across the table from him, immersed in his textbook on the Spirit Shrine, "Kaido, who is this?"

Kaido looked up from his incessant studying and regarded the new presence with a look of awe, "The Gate Keeper? You're still alive?"

Simon nodded with a slightly sullen expression, "Yep, still breathing. I can't die. Pity."

Satoshi furrowed his brow, "You want to die?"

Simon nodded with certainty, "I've been alive for centuries. I've had enough of this world. However, no one has come along that is fit for this job, so I'm kept alive to do it. Thankfully they let me keep my youth."

Kaido was thoroughly intrigued at this point, "Really? How old is your body, then?"

Simon gave slight smirk, "Sixteen."

Aki gave a silent chuckle as Satoshi's jaw dropped.

"You've been sixteen for centuries? That sounds awesome," Satoshi gave enviously.

Simon shook his head, "Not when you're holed up in this Shrine, watching over a portal the entire time."

Kaido leaned in, he looked like a child in a candy store, excited and eager to accumulate more knowledge, "The portal? Where is it? Can we see it?"

Satoshi started waving his arms around, demanding attention, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is with this portal and what does the Gate Keeper do? I'm confused right now, and explanation would be nice."

Simon nodded, "I am the Gate Keeper, which is pretty much how it sounds. I watch over the portal to the realm of the illuminated and make sure anyone undeserving never crosses into it. Not only do I body block the bad people from getting in, I decide who it is that must stay out. Apparently I have a good eye for it. Being able to read memories helps in that aspect though, so I suppose that is what made me such a good candidate for the job."

If it were possible, Kaido leaned in even further, "You can read memories?"

Simon chuckled, "It is my reward for being such a good, dutiful Gate Keeper."

Satoshi became visibly uncomfortable at the amount of interest Kaido seemed to have in the Gate Keeper, and he shifted around a bit in his seat, "We should get the Sages out here and get them started on some training."

Aki nodded in agreement, "Right away."

The two redheads went off to gather up the Sages as Kaido kept questioning the all-too-intriguing Gate Keeper, his eyes sparkling with a boyish wonder as he lived out a dream of his.

/

Stephanie stopped at a park bench near the outskirts of Neo Domino and put Zebel's still unconscious form on it as she took a breather. Sigi plopped herself next to the boy's slumbering figure.

"Are you sure they're this way Kaemon? It seems odd for them to stay in such a remote place," Sigi asked, unsure of the emotional girl's reasoning.

Stephanie nodded half confidently, half tuckered out, "Of course I'm sure. Do you think I like tiring myself out like this?"

Zebel's form started stirring awake on the bench at the sound of the girl's voices. The powerful possession sat up and rubbed an eye, "Where are we?"

Stephanie smirked, "On our way to killing the rest of those pests off."

Zebel smiled groggily before realising the shortage of Soul Pieces, "Where's Chiyo and Kaori? Shouldn't they be coming with us?"

Stephanie's smirk grew even bigger, twisting into a grin, "Chiyo was being an annoying bitch, so we left her and the witless wonder behind."

Zebel's face fell, "Why on earth do you think that's a good idea? Chiyo is a good fighter, we need her."

Sigi chuckled, "Is someone scared of a little frisk with only half of the Sages left?"

Stephanie began laughing with Sigi at the Soul Piece of energy, mocking his apparent fear. Zebel, growing frustrated, stood and slung Stephanie over his shoulder. Both girls were taken aback as he started continuing towards the now visible Spirit Shrine. Both girls froze as they watched him walk. He turned back towards Sigi, "You coming or what?"

Sigi stood in a haste and caught up with him, remaining silent as they continued on towards their assault.

/

Satoshi scratched the back of his head nervously as Jeff stepped up to begin his training session.

"Alright, now make sure you hit me, if you don't that gives me an opportunity to get a decent attack in on you, and if I'm Zebel, that is not a good thing. Got it?"

Jeff nodded, determined and focused. Satoshi positioned himself and prepared to accept the Rock Sage's attacks. Jeff eyed a hunk of rubble near the entrance of the Shrine and using his powers, hurled it at Satoshi, who just narrowly dodged it.

"Not good enough Jeff," Satoshi called.

Jeff huffed and spotted another large piece of rubble, hurled it, and again missed Satoshi.

"God damn!" Jeff shouted as he repeated the same routine over again.

"You can do better than this Jeff!" Satoshi called, noticing a bleeding slice on his arm as he kept dodging.

Jeff launched rock after rock, growing more and more frustrated until he finally picked an especially large rock, shooting it with all his might at Satoshi, who dodged at the very last second. However, the rock shot straight through to the entrance of the Shrine and hit someone else – Zebel.

A shout of pain was heard from outside the building, and everyone tensed up. The three Soul Pieces emerged from the entrance and walked in confidently, save for Zebel who was clutching an injured arm.

Hino stepped forward, tears threatening her eyes as she stared down the three murdering entities in front of her, "Seriously? SERIOUSLY!? You're back for more? Haven't you had enough? Has your blood lust not been quenched yet? Have you not taken enough life and love from us? Have we not sacrificed enough to you demons!? GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Hino began screaming as she summoned the largest whirl of wind she had ever produced. Her eyes ignited with a silver light, and everyone started covering their eyes to shield themselves from the debris. Hino slowly brought her hands up and focused all the wind into one stream and aimed it at Zebel. The Soul Piece dodged the attack, a gush of wind spilling out from the building, and a battle ensuing.

No one dare go near Hino, she remained in the centre of the room, unable to stop the hurling winds she had produced. The combat ensued around her, chaos breaking out.

Aki and Satoshi shuffled Kaido and Simon off into the semi-hidden hallway, seeing them unfit for fighting at the moment, and kept guard to make sure they weren't harmed.

Takeshi found himself facing Stephanie again, "This time I'm not going easy."

Stephanie scoffed and flicked her hair back, "I highly doubt this will be much of a challenge."

The two shot bolts and stars at each other, seemingly endlessly as they attacked and dodged as if in a dance.

Jeff and Zebel gripped each other, struggling to get a blow in. They seemed to be an even match, causing frustration in both as they fought against each other and the winds.

Ryuusei and Setsuka found themselves back to back as they faced Sigi, who had multiplied herself into three separate forms.

"We can do this, we're the bad-asses of the group… Right?" Ryuusei called over his shoulder.

Setsuka smirked at his comment, "I suppose."

Ryuusei smiled as they continued to attack the three clones of Sigi.

The wind kept blowing around the room, funneling out the entrance. Hino couldn't scream anymore, her body slowly beginning to slump. The debris in the wind managed to conk out one of the three Sigis, allowing Ryuusei and Setsuka to begin their one-on-one combat.

Setsuka created shards of ice and shot them at her Sigi, piercing random parts of her body and eventually sticking her heart, causing that Sigi to fall to her death.

Ryuusei created vines to grapple his Sigi and suffocate her to the point of passing out, or at least what he thought was passed out. He turned to Setsuka with a broad smile on his face and a thumbs up, "Well that was easy. What'd I tell you?"

As his smile gleamed at Setsuka, a vine made of light pierced through Ryuusei's chest, and an expression of happiness turned to one of realization as he fell forward into Setsuka's arms. The look on Setsuka's face turned to one of horror as she felt him go limp in her hold. The utterly shocked ice woman looked up from the dead man in her arms to his murderer who wore the most disgusting smile on her face.

Setsuka used all of her anger to create a large ice shard in the air and shoot it straight into the final Sigi's heart, instantly killing her. Setsuka felt a wave of satisfaction for a brief moment before returning her attention to the empty vessel in her grasp, horror returning to her features.

Takeshi, growing angrier with each bolt blasted as he thought of Alexianna, managed to create an extremely powerful bolt that hit Stephanie in the middle of her stomach and electrocuted her for a while, frying her to a crisp, and she fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Jeff had flung countless rocks at Zebel and was growing tired when he found an extremely large rock near Aki and Satoshi. He used all his strength to fling it straight into Zebel's form, and knocked him back successfully. The rock pined Zebel to the ground, trapping him.

"Is that all you have Ganseki? Is that all you can do?" Zebel tried to taunt, spitting blood as close to Jeff as he could.

Jeff clenched his jaw, "You want more?" Jeff grabbed Zebel's face and squeezed it as hard as he could, rousing a shout of pain from the Soul Piece. Jeff then conjured a slab of rubble and with his last bit of strength, slammed it straight into his enemy's face, knocking him out for good.

Hino's wind calmed once Zebel was out, until it came to a complete stop. All was calm and peaceful until the others slowly noticed, one by one, Ryuusei's cold, grey form resting on Setsuka's arms.

It was the first time anyone there had seen a tear leave Setsuka's eye.

END

I'm a morbid soul, I know. What're you gonna do? Please review! Second Arc is starting soon, so I'm re-opening OC submission! REVIEW!