Disclaimer: I think you can guess.
Note: This story takes place about one year after Talpa's defeat. Due to instances of violence, language, and sexual innuendos, I'm rating this story PG13, so don't say I didn't warn ya.

In, through, out. In, through, out. The evil energy of the Nether Spirits coarsed through his body in streams of black, glowing light, throwing him into spasms of pain. Rowen let out another cry of agony as he strained against his restraints.

"It'd hurt much less if you'd stop fighting it, Rowen," Syria suggested darkly from her vantage point far off to the side. But her words fell on deaf ears, for Rowen was in too much pain to hear even his own screams. Once again, he was chained, only this time, the dank basement containing the Nether Pools was his residence, replacing the dark stone cell of earlier. His body, and the pool he knelt in, was surrounded by Nether Spirits which floated in the air above, their eery chanting flowing through the room in quiet whispers of, to them, unintelligible speech.

Syria watched in plain disinterest from where she stood leaning against one stone wall near the door. This was taking much longer than it should have, and her patience was growing thinner and thinner with each cry the Ronin boy gave. She'd been watching for hours, waiting for the boy's will to collapse and give in to their desires. After all, when the Spirits were finished with him, she was to have her way with those pesky traitors. And - ooooh - how she'd enjoy that!

....no....... must.... resist... evil influence...... must.... hold.. out.... until....... others..... come................ can't..... much..... longer........ pain........ too much........... no........... must.............. y-yes................ no......... yes.....

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Rowen finally cried, pouring every last ounce of strength he had into one last protest, his body and soul breaking under the severe stress imposed upon him over the last two weeks.

Syria's head snapped to attention, out of her own thoughts, and noted the strength of the energy flowing through the Ronin's body now that his resolve had collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. Syria looked at his prone, nearly totally engulfed form hungrily, a wide, blood-thirsty smile creeping across her face and making her eyes sparkle with anticipation. It won't be long now...

Six pairs of eyes widened to see Anubis's ghost materialize on the grass in front of them. "Anubis, you heard our call," Ryo said, stepping forward in his sub-armor, which his three Ronin companions also wore as they stood to greet their dead friend.

"Yes, I came immediately," Anubis paused. None of them would notice it until later, but the ghost was just emanating feelings of dread and fear, even more than the situation called for, or so it seemed. "You're really going to just go into the Dynasty and fight your way to him, then?"

"If that's what it takes," Ryo said, looking him in the eyes evenly.

"If you're certain," Anubis replied with a sigh. "Mind if I impart a bit of information before you rush headfirst into battle?"

"Do tell," Cye said as those previously sitting on the newly re-built porch gathered around the manifestation of Anubis's spirit.

"Well," he began, "You remember that I told you I couldn't enter or even see into the Dynasty? And that I can't contact Kayura or the others?" All nodded. "I'm fairly certain I've found out why."

"And?"

"Nether Spirits. They're blocking all my attempts to enter. Which means that either they've a new Lord, or-"

"Or Talpa's behind this," Sage put in softly.

"My thoughts exactly."

A heavy silence fell over the assembled group as each tried to come to terms with what their new information might imply.

I can't believe Talpa's still alive after all that...but what is his plan?

So the bonehead's still alive...let's see how long that'll last!

Why won't he just die and leave us alone?

I'll kill him if he's hurt Rowen or Blaze!

Oh, no. Rowen. And now the guys'll all go off after him...please, Kami-sama, help them.

Talpa's got Rowen? Oh, well. Ryo and the guys'll save him!

The silence was short, but stretched painfully longer, finally being interrupted by Kento's stomach growling as loud as a lion's roar. Everyone turned to Kento, who was grinning and blushing sheepishly. "Say, uh, I'm all for kickin' some ass and all, but, um...could we eat first?"

Everyone groaned in exasperation, trudging back up the steps and into the house.

Some time later, the group rejoined in front of Mia's house, their stomachs satisfied and their minds psyched for the inevitable battle ahead.

"So, Anubis. How're we gonna get in, anyway?" Ryo asked with total seriousness.

"I believe I can send you four through if I occupy the Nether Spirits in the meantime," he replied, noticing several pained winces on the "you four" part. "The only problem is that I won't be able to bring you back right away if there's a problem."

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to stay there awhile, then, won't we?" Cye responded with mock confidence.

Anubis saw right through him, but just nodded slightly and asked, "Then is everyone set?"

"You're certain you two'll be all right?" Ryo asked Mia gently, his concern obvious.

"Yes, Ryo. We'll be just fine. Now go," she responded, equally gently, and giving him a soft shove towards the others.

"All right. I suggest you all armor up. I've no doubt that we'll meet with some sort of greeting on the other side," Anubis told them.

Ryo, Sage, Cye and Kento suited up without complaint, now donning their full armors and itching for action. Anubis watched them sadly, reminiscing on the hundreds of times he himself had made a similar transformation. My God, how valiant we all were in the beginning. I still marvel at the sight of these brave youths. Don't they see the bleak truth of the world around them? No, no I suppose they don't. Gods know we never did. But in this, perhaps the most important battle they may ever face, how can they not see just how close to the edge they are? Strata is the key, and without him to guide the way, all is lost.

His thoughts trailed off there, and he turned his eyes, or the present manifestation of them, anyway, up to the bright noon sky above. Staring into the clear blue of day, on a star that only he could see, he made a wish that only he knew.

"'Kay, Anubis. We're ready."

Anubis nodded. "Everybody, brace yourselves," he said in warning. Then, in an odd burst of light, a portal opened and swallowed Anubis and the four remaining Ronin Warriors, immediately dissapearing again, leaving behind a fearful Mia and a waaayy too cheerful Yuli.

On the other side of the portal, the four Ronins gasped as they took in the all-too familiar sight of the Dynasty, just crawling with husk soldiers as they came at them in huge swarms, making them appear to be a sea, a rushing tidal wave coming to claim them. Only a moment later, Anubis appeared beside them, his temporarily solid form collapsing from exhaustion into Sage's arms. "Ryo, what should we do? We can't leave him here," Sage asked.

"I-I don't know....just stay with him and protect him till he wakes up," Ryo stammered slightly. "Fight off as many of 'em as you can and make sure you aren't seperated from him," he broadened, before joining Cye and Kento as they began to fight off soldiers from every direction.

"This should be interesting," Sage mumbled under his breath as the first onslaught of soldiers made their way to him and Anubis's unconsious form behind him.

For the longest time, the four warriors fought, giving their all into fighting back the soulless swarm. Every time they seemed to be getting somewhere, another bunch would pop up, putting them right back where they started. Dodging, attacking, counter-attacking and all over again, they fought until they couldn't fight anymore. And then they fought some more.

Sage had long since lost sight of his friends, but he could sense that they were still nearby, fighting for all they were worth just like he was. The occasional burst of light denoting a sure-kill lit up the odd sky of the Dynasty. Soldiers had them surrounded on three sides, up to a wall of the Dynasty's gates, and it took all the concentration and skill he possessed just to keep them away from Anubis until he gained enough strength to bring them back out.

Another eternity went by, then finally, the solid form of Anubis's ghost began to come to, slowly and groggily at first, then very suddenly when he realized the situation they faced. In only the blink of an eye, he was standing, using his superior intuition to locate the other Ronins, even as far as trying to locate Rowen, but only the four nearby registered, so he took what he could get.

In a sudden burst of light, Anubis, Sage, Cye, Ryo and Kento all disappeared back the way they'd come. Instantaneously, the four Ronins reappeared in the same place they'd left from, all in battle stances, Anubis following a few moments later. Mia and Yuli were still sitting on the porch where they'd been before.

"You're back!" Yuli cried, jumping up and running to greet his friends. He was just about to start an "I knew you could do it" speech, when he realized that there were as many there now as there were before. "Ryo, where's Rowen?" he asked with a confused pout, his innocence heartbreaking.

Ryo kept his gaze fixed on Mia, who stood a little behind Yuli, hugging herself tightly, her eyes telling how distraught she was. "We...we couldn't get to him. There were soldiers...everywhere. We barely got out ourselves."

Yuli looked ready to pout a lot more, but everyone was distracted by Sage promptly fainting then and there, his armor and sub-armor departing to reveal the shirt and jeans he'd been wearing before. As everyone present crowded around, his kanji flared to life in a brilliant show of light, then faded away completely almost as suddenly. Anubis leaned over him, checking his vitals.

"He's exhausted. Completely drained physically as well as emotionally and psychically," he pronounced after a few tense moments.

"You were on the other side for nearly two hours. I can only imagine the strain if you were fighting all that time," Mia commented, noting how exhausted and beat-up they all looked.

"No. This is more," Anubis interjected. "This goes far beyond the physical strain of battle that the others have. It's more reminiscent of an encounter through a psychic link of sorts. Has he or Rowen ever had any known psychic experiences?" he inquired.

"Well, they haven't ever said anything about it, but I think that they're more strongly linked to eachother than to the rest of us," Cye offered.

"And Sage always seems to be able to read into things we can't," Ryo added, the only way he could describe his friend's keen intuition. Anubis sat in thought over Sage's body for a long moment, then said, "I think Sage could be feeling the effects of Rowen's condition through their link, and even vice versa. It would explain the levels of psychic activity I noticed in him when we first arrived back here."

"So Rowen might be hurt somehow?" Cye asked fearfully.

"It would appear so, though it's very hard to tell. Sage is showing very high levels of exhaustion, as if he'd been submitted to strain like today constantly over days and days, and not only on a physical level. As I said, however, I can't be certain that's what's happening to Sage or Rowen. We'll just have to see. Anyway, I don't think he's in any serious danger at the moment, though he may be asleep for the next few days." I've got a very bad feeling about this. There's something going on here that we're missing, and it seems important.

They all stood still and quiet for a minute or so, before Yuli interupted. "So are we just gonna leave Sage out here all day, or what?"

Inside the house, Sage was laid down in his room to recover while evreyone one else gathered in the dining room to talk some more. Anubis had lef t, so it was just Ryo, Cye, Kento a nd Mia.

"One thing's fer sure, if Sage and Ro are connected or whatever, then it looks like our time's running out," Kento stated in a rare moment of insight.

Everyone was quiet for a minute or two, then Ryo said determinedly, "We have to go back in."

"Nani?" his friends exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ryo, we can't afford to risk it again so soon, not with Sage out of it and the Dynasty just waiting to try again," Cye half reasoned, half pleaded with the stubborn Wildfire.

"We can't afford to wait!" he yelled in exasperation. Then his tone softened, "Rowen needs us, and the longer we wait, the less chance we have of saving him."

"Ryo," Mia started wearily. She'd gone through this battle with herself a dozen times over the last two weeks, as had they all. "It won't do us any good to have you run in there unprepared and get yourselves killed! It won't help us and it certainly won't help Rowen! Do you seriously think that he'd want your deaths on his conscience? To know that you died senseless, preventable deaths because of him?"

No one could say a thing, or even meet her gaze.

"I didn't think so."

"But Mia-"

"Don't you 'but Mia' me, Ryo. I won't see any more of you lost because of this," she cut him off sharply, near tears.

Ryo took one look at her and knew he was beat. Moving to her protectively, he took her in his arms as she cried into his shirt. Cye and Kento ju st exchanged looks of worry. Ryo never gave up that easily.

Syria stood impatiently. It had been at least 20 minutes since the Ronin boy had finally ceased to resist the call of the Darkness, and the Nether Spirits were still at it. Suddenly, they stopped, and not a moment too soon in Syria's opinion.

Their job done, the Nether Spirits departed, and Rowen's body slumped to the ground, his chains and the pools themselves gone. Syria moved over to stand in front of his beaten and battered body, the evil grin never leaving her face. Bending over him, her eyes caught sight of an object around his left wrist. A large marble-shaped crystal, silver in color, was set in metallic black metal around his wrist. There was no clasp, and it was too tight to be able to slip off. The silver orb glowed dully in the dim room. Hmm, an interesting trinket. Interesting indeed.

Syria reached out to inspect the bracelet more closely. The instant their skin met, she was thrown backwards violently, hitting the stone wall hard. Pulling herself further upright, she shook her head to clear it out. She opened her eyes, and gasped.

"Y-You! You're dead! You can't be here! Where did you come from?!" she exclaimed, not believing her eyes. In front of her, floating in the air by a good six inches, was a boy of no more than 15 years old. He was thin and athletic, and clad in a dirty, ragged t-shirt and blue jeans that hung on his frame loosely. His skin was clear and fair, his eyes a stormy, passion-filled blue and a shock of electric blue hair covered his head in a shaggy bowl cut. His body was enveloped in a soft warm light that radiated with love and filled the room with pure light.

"Death has never stopped Good from perservering, why would it stop now?" the boy spoke, his voice warm and soothing, yet oddly devoid of emotion. "As for you, Syria, you have lost your way. You've become blind to the evil which you hate so much; let it consume and control you. Now you will see again." he smiled.

Syria shrieked in fear as her body was enveloped in the same white light as the boy. As it began to seep into her body and into her soul, one thought drifted into her mind before she passed out. Oh, how could I have have missed the resemblance between the two of you? If you aren't the Ronin boy's brother, I'll give my own life to you, Spirit Hashiba!

The ghost boy looked down on Syria, the soft all-knowing smile never leaving his sweet face. "You're finally learning, Syria. Too bad that it'll be too late for you. But not for my brother. His time is not up, yet."

Konnichi wa! You like? Yeah, well pooh on you! Oh, you do? Thanx! =)

ANYWAY, how do you like my little revelation? I know, I just can't pass up a good plot twist! Next chapter is where things start to get pieced together. You know, what the silver orb's about, how (if ever) Rowen and the Warlords are going to escape, where the hell White Blaze went to, and more!

Chapter Five: Redemption & Restitution

Send me your comments, suggestions, praise and (if you must) flames at [email protected]

Until later,
Aleksa ~~~<~~@