Nobody slept that night, or at least soundly. They took turns pacing the floor, and sitting on the floor, or lying on the floor. A few of them did doze off at times, but woke worried that they had missed something. Kashikoi stayed near the door in case a message did come for him, though not a soul passed by the door all night. Ryo and Magma bunched up a pile of hay and took turns leaning on each other. At one point during the night Magma had ended up with her head on Ryo’s lap and Ryo was lightly brushing her hair. Then later their positions were reversed and Magma was the one combing her fingers through Ryo’s black locks. Touma could only sit for a few minutes at a time and seemed to fall asleep on his feet as he paced back and forth. Shin and Katie were along another wall silently fussing at each other, though not loud enough to have bothered anyone. Shin was trying to get Katie to lie on his lap like Magma was Ryo, but Katie didn’t want to. She wanted to lay with her arm under her head, so Shin then tried to lay next to her, but Katie couldn’t sleep with him that close. Shin finally stood and followed Touma around for a bit, and Katie lay down and dozed. Shin sat down next to her and watched her as she slept, but she was not asleep for long and frowned when she found Shin looking down at her. Seiji was the quietest of the bunch sitting in the center of the room, his back stiff, and his legs crossed. A couple of times Touma could be found waving his hand and snapping his fingers in front of Seiji’s face to see if he was awake or not. Neither action seemed to give him any answers to that question.

 

              There had been just the hint of a sunrise when they finally heard footfalls in the corridor outside of their cell. Everyone stood and waited, their hands clenched around their yoroi orbs in anticipation of what was to come. The door opened to admit a young man, about the same age as Kashikoi and a hoard of other soldiers their swords drawn and pointing at the assembled group.

 

              “You are to hand over your crystal spheres,” The young man commanded. Ryo tightened his muscles and stepped forward pulling Magma behind him as she tried to keep him from right out attacking them.

 

              “Ryo, hand it over,” Touma stepped forward and in front of Ryo, “We can’t fight here without killing someone. Shu has already caused enough trouble, we can’t afford any more.”

 

              “But we can’t just give up our yoroi!” Ryo argued but took a step back because he knew Touma was right.

 

              “Kashikoi, your traitorous attitude especially pains the Queen. You and your friends will only have a day before she has time to sentence you to your fates,” The young man walked over and took Kashikoi’s hand, “you had the makings of a fine warrior, I only wish you could have seen fit to trust the Queen you gave your oath too.” The soldier than went around and collected the five crystal orbs and left, their footsteps disappearing in the morning light.

 

              “I understand that there was nothing we could have done, but now what are we going to do. At least before we had our armors we could have broken out of here. Without them we really are stuck in a dungeon. On top of that we still don’t know where they have Shu or what is going on with him. He could be hurt or anything!” Katie started pacing the stone floor and it took her a few steps to realize that the flooring had changed beneath her. She looked down and saw springy green grass under her feet. She looked up and around mocking the others as they did the same.

 

              “Where are we?” Shin asked blinking in the brightness of the rising sun.

 

              “He slipped me a transportation spell, and a note. It was from General Gijutsu. It just said to run,” Kashikoi looked down at the grass beneath him and closed his eyes.

 

              “So what now?” Touma asked turning to where he could just make out the top of the palace in its cliff.

 

              “We run,” Kashikoi took a deep breath and turned to face the others, “This spell can be traced. We need to get away from here. He said we would have a day before they check on us again, we need to use that to get as far away as we can.”

 

              “But what about Shu? We can’t just leave him!” Katie exclaimed her voice cracking as it went up an octave in anger.

 

              “I don’t think there is anything we can do right now,” Seiji walked over and put his hand on Katie’s shoulder, “Shu is not injured, but there is something else going on.”

 

              “I know,” Katie mumbled as she looked down at her feet. Magma watched as her cousin narrowed his eyes and looked over her shoulder to Touma behind her. Touma raised an eyebrow in response and then glanced quickly over to Shin who was talking with Ryo and Kashikoi. Seiji glanced over at him as well and returned a look to Touma. The two seemed to have a conversation in this way and stopped only when Ryo brought the meeting to order.

 

              “We’ll split up and go in separate directions for the moment. We’ll meet up in a few days to the south,” Ryo explained pointing in the general direction, “Touma you will go with Kashikoi straight south, he thinks he may know where everything started. See if you can’t figure something out. Shin and Katie will head west, and Magma, Seiji, and I will go east.” Magma noticed Katie’s head jerk up at the announcement, but she bit her lip and kept whatever thought she had to herself. Touma and Seiji just nodded and after a minute geography lesson from Kashikoi the three groups split off to meet up again in a few days time.

 

-----

 

              The chair that sat in the throne room had been carved out of the same rock as the rest of the castle.  The artist that had been commissioned to create it chose to carve all the different flowers that existed in the kingdom into it. Some of these flowers were now extinct and others were so abundant many called them weeds. The chair had not been carved for comfort for the king that ruled at the time did not plan to spend much time sitting in it. Up until a few days ago, the current queen had only sat in it one other time, at her coronation. She sat there now, her back straight as a board looking down at the young soldier that had given Kashikoi the message and had taken the yoroi orbs from the Troopers.

 

              “Your highness, I have brought the crystal spheres as you commanded,” He kneeled down before the throne and held out his hands on which he held a black velvet bag containing the orbs.

 

              “Good,” She stood and walked toward the soldier reaching for the bag as she did so. She picked it up and felt the weight of it, a smile stretching across her face, “Come!” The soldier lifted his head and looked around, wondering whom she was talking to. A shadow in the corner of the room moved slowly along the outside wall behind the columns that lined the room and only when it reached them did it walk out into the middle of the hall. He was tall but stout, broad shouldered and muscular. He wore some sort of lightweight armor that looked to be made of a dark orange metal and some kind of white material. His hair was dark but not a sleek black, but more the color of a dusty night sky. His eyes were a dark blue that pierced him as he tried to look at the man. He knew who he was, had been one of the many who had faced him when he had appeared through one of the portals and caused a lot of chaos. Yet he had killed no one in his urge to take revenge for what they had done to his world, but he had been difficult to subdue. It had taken a dozen men at least to pin him down and keep him from destroying anymore of the castle. He knew they had taken him to the queen, but no one knew what had happened to him since. The soldier turned his gaze away from the warrior in orange and bowed again before turning to leave, however there was an annoying tickle in the back of his brain that told him that something was different, something was not right, but he could not pin point what it was.

 

              “As you described,” The Queen beamed at Shu as she opened the bag and pulled out one of the clear crystal spheres that were contained within.

 

              “Yes, your majesty,” Shu bowed his head to the Queen.

 

              “And you say without these they cannot call upon their retched armors.”

 

              “Yes, your majesty.”

 

              “And you said that when five of them combine their powers an even more powerful armor is created?”

 

              “Yes, your majesty.”

 

              “And do you wear this armor?” The Queen was starting to get excited and paced in front of Shu.

 

              “No, your majesty.”

 

              “Have you ever tried?”

 

              “No, your majesty.”

 

              “Why not?”

 

              “The power of that armor comes from the sun, we assumed that only the one that wields the armor of fire is able to wear the armor of the sun.”

 

              “I see. I will have to think on that then,” The Queen had resumed her pacing and then stopped before him and started looking him up and down, “As for you… you said your name was Shu, correct?”

 

              “Yes, your majesty.”

 

              “I don’t like it, and it doesn’t mean anything either. From now on I shall call you… Kentou (劍刀), my double blade.”

 

-----

 

              Shin followed Katie through the thick forest wondering if she knew which direction she was even going. They had not talked since parting from the others, and the few times Shin had started to say something Katie would suddenly interrupt him, wanting to climb a tree or a cliff to get her bearings. When she came back down, she would march off again as if he hadn’t said a word. Shin was getting frustrated. He was worried about Shu, and about the others, but he was most worried about Katie. For the past few months she had been avoiding him, and shrugging off his advances. Yet she still called him her boyfriend, and told him that she loved him. It just didn’t make sense.

 

              The sun had started to set, they had been walking all day and Shin knew she had to be getting tired, yet she showed no sign of slowing down. He looked around and saw a small alcove high in a rocky cliff where they could start a small fire and still be able to see the land around them. He rushed up to her and grabbed her arm forcing her to stop.

 

              “Shin, let go.”

 

              “It’s time we made camp for the night.”

 

              “We can still go a bit farther before it gets dark,” Katie argued trying to pull her arm from Shin’s grasp.

 

              “But not before you or I collapse from exhaustion,” He pulled her back toward the cliff and showed her where he planned to stay. Reluctantly she agreed and climbed the cliff seeing what, if anything, was using the alcove already. She called back down that it was empty and had been used as a look out, there was already a supply of wood to use for a fire as well as some flint and tender to start it with. They didn’t bother with cooking any food, there wasn’t time to hunt, nor were they particularly hungry. Shin got the fire started and Katie went through the supplies that had been left and found a couple of blankets they could use. She laid hers down by the fire and crawled underneath it turning her back to Shin.

 

              “You take the first watch, I’m too tired.”

 

              “Earlier you wanted to hike another hour,” Shin commented sitting down on his blanket opposite of her.

 

              “That was before I climbed a sheer cliff.”

 

              Shin watched her for a bit, but could tell that she had not relaxed enough to fall asleep, “Katie, we need to talk.”

 

              “About what?”

 

              “You, and me.”

 

              “Is this really the time?”

 

              “I think it is something we need to do before anything else happens. I can’t read you anymore, I have no idea what you are going to do and that won’t help any of us if it comes to an all out battle.”

 

              “Alright fine. What’s wrong?” Katie turned around and propped her head on her hand.

 

              “That's what I want to know,” Shin sighed, “What is wrong?”

 

              “You’re going to have to be more specific, what about us is bothering you?”

 

              “Ever since we all moved to Tokyo you have been avoiding me.”

 

              “I have not!”

 

              “When did we ever do anything?”

 

              “We went to the movies a couple of times, and out to eat.”

 

              “With everyone else. When did we ever do anything with just the two of us?”

 

              “I don’t know, when did you ask?”

 

              “Every time I asked you said you were busy. I eventually found out that you had been with Touma the whole time. You guys aren’t secretly going out or something are you?”

 

              “Hell no. Touma was just helping me with something.”

 

              “With what?” Shin asked scooting a little closer to her.

 

              “He’s been tutoring me,” Katie sighed and sat up.

 

              “He is a grade below us and he failed the advanced placement tests too,” Shin sighed. He hated to admit it but he liked being a grade ahead of the others, having different experiences and not having to share everything with them.

 

              “He didn’t fail them, he actually did quite good on them. They just felt that it would be better for him to stay in his proper grade, and his mother agreed.”

 

              “Still I would know our material better than he would.”

 

              “Shin he’s not tutoring me on new stuff. He’s trying to help me catch up with all the old stuff. I barely passed last year, with everything that went on there was hardly any chance to study. I honestly don’t see how you guys did it.”

 

              “It’s just memorization.”

 

              “Which I am bad at. Okay. Does that satisfy you? Can I go to sleep now?”

 

              “No. That’s just… there is more.”

 

              “Like what? I am tired, I don’t want to talk about this kind of stuff.”

 

              “At Nasuti’s, when I kissed you, why did you flinch? And when you were talking to the teacher, why did you say that you didn’t want me to kiss you?” Shin noticed Katie take a quick glance up at him, but just as quickly averted her eyes into the fire. “That’s not all either. When I hug you, you stiffen up, or brush me away. When I move close you scoot away. Why?”

 

              “I don’t know,” Katie mumbled as she turned a little away from him.

 

              “What do you mean you don’t know?”

 

              “I don’t know!” She turned and glared at him, “I guess I’m just embarrassed when you do it in public.”

 

              “You do it when we are alone too. Even now you are turning away from me. Did I do something?” Shin frowned at her begging her for some sort of answer.

 

              “Will you stop doing that!” Katie exclaimed and stood up.

 

              “Stop what?”

 

              “That look. The puppy dog eyes.”

 

              “I just want some answers, Katie.”

 

              “And I don’t have any to give you. I honestly don’t know. You are the first guy to ever show any kind of affection to me and I am so grateful for that. I just… It’s different now.”

 

              “How?”

 

              “I don’t know, Shin,” Katie sighed letting her head fall back and she stared at the stars in the sky, “I guess… It’s just not comfortable anymore.”

 

              “So, you don’t love me anymore?” Shin took a deep breath, he had been debating all kinds of reasons, even this one, but he had hoped that he had been wrong.

 

              “NO!” Katie spun on her heels to look at him, “I do love you… but it feels the same as with the other guys. It’s not a lovey dovey kind of love, but a more hey we saved the world and I have your back kind of family kind of love.”

 

              “So I’m just one of the guys?”

 

              “You’ll always be a little more than just one of the guys, but yeah, I guess.”

 

              “Go to sleep. I’ll keep first watch,” Shin turned to face the cave entrance, but did not look at Katie again. She stood facing him for a bit but then wandered over to her makeshift bed and lay down. She was quiet for a bit but then Shin could hear her sniffling and he wondered why she was crying, he wasn’t the one that had broken up with her. However, he did understand what she had tried to put to words. Their relationship had started to feel a bit forced, even the kisses he had tried to give her, he started to wonder if he had done it to show even himself that he still loved her. He did of course, but was it more like the love he had toward the other Troopers?  No, he was sure there was more to it, but then maybe the others felt the same.

 

 

              To the east Magma, Seiji, and Ryo had set up their own camp for the night. They had made their way out of the forest and into a large prairie finding it difficult to stay hidden. They had decided not to make a fire, but were lucky enough to have come upon some fruit trees as they left the forest and made sure to grab enough to last them for a day or so. Ryo had volunteered to keep first watch, but had fallen asleep before they had even settled down. Seiji took the first watch instead and told Magma to go to sleep, unfortunately Magma could not get to sleep and found herself sitting next to her cousin looking up at the stars.

 

              “Do you think Shu is okay?” Magma asked as she watched a shooting star glide across the inky blackness of the sky.

 

              “If I remember right, a couple of weeks ago, you were telling him all kinds of ways he could go and kill himself. Now you are worried about him?” Seiji glanced over at her with a smirk on his lips.

 

              “I was just kidding, he knows that… right?”

 

              “Yes, I’m sure he does,” Seiji smiled outright now and leaned over to bump Magma on the shoulder, “And I am sure he is alright. He knows how to take care of himself.”

 

              “Still, I can’t help but worry,” Magma sighed and looked over her shoulder at Ryo.  

 

              “I have to admit, I’m a little worried about you and him.”

 

              “About us?” Magma spun her head around and stared in shock at Seiji, “What about us?”

 

              “Settle down, it’s nothing as serious as what’s going on between Shin and Katie…”

 

              “You see it too?”

 

              “I think Ryo and quite possibly Shu are the only ones that don’t. Which might be a bad thing since Shu might be involved.”

 

              “Shu? How is he involved? Oh… How long has he liked her?”

 

              “For a while. Maybe even the same time as Shin, he just didn’t know quite what to do with her.”

 

              “Katie did tell me how horrible he was to her at first. Always bullying her and picking on her… he still does it but she said it’s not as bad as it was.”

 

              “That’s how Shu picks up girls. He’s tried acting a bit more suave but is just out of character for him.”

 

              “Wait, you said you were worried about Ryo and I, whatever for?”

 

              “Magma, you are a very strong young lady. You are as independent as they come, and could protect yourself without any problem.”

 

              “Comes from being part of the Date family, full of strong women,” Magma smiled at him.

 

              “Yes, it is. The problem is, when you’re with Ryo you act like any other damsel in distress. You hide behind him, you let him tell you what to do… I just feel like you are compromising yourself when you are with him.”

 

              “I like him a lot Seiji,” Magma frowned and looked behind her again at Ryo’s sleeping form, “He has a need to be able to protect people, surely you are aware of that.”

 

              “Completely. But that doesn’t mean that you need to play helpless just to be with him. I think he needs someone who is just as strong as he is, not someone weaker,” Seiji pulled Magma back around to face him, “He doesn’t need someone at home to protect, that would only cause him more grief. He needs someone who is not afraid to come out on the battlefield with him and help him to keep the big picture in focus; someone to help rein him in when he starts to go hero crazy. He needs someone to help protect him from himself.”

 

              Magma sat and stared at her cousin wondering just how much of her true nature he could sense in her. “Ryo said he was happy I found out about you guys, that I now know everything. But for me to be on the battle field with him…”

 

              “It would be like any of us on the battle field as well. You said it yourself, you’re smart enough to know when to run and hide. And if all else fails, Byakuen will always be there to protect you.”

 

              “Speaking of big cuddly cats, Byakuen wasn’t in the house when we left was he?”

 

              “No, I don’t think so, why?”

 

              “Ryo was in bed and Byakuen wasn’t next to him… it just seemed odd.”

 

              “You have a point, whenever Ryo is down, Byakuen is by his side. Maybe he had just gone out to hunt or something.”

 

              “I bet he is upset with us leaving,” Magma smiled and yawned.

 

              “At least Nasuti will have some company,” Seiji smiled and nudged Magma back toward where Ryo lay, “Best get some sleep, I’ll wake Ryo up in a bit to take over and then I’m going to bed.”

 

 

              Touma and Kashikoi had taken their time moving south and rested during the day rather than travel like the others had. Then, once night had set in, they moved quickly and quietly toward their destination. Touma did not ask Kashikoi where they were going, but trusted the young man and followed without question. They traveled out of the forests and through the lowest of the fields before coming upon a large blue lake.  The sun was just rising as they looked down over one of the small villages that were scattered along the shore of the lake, but as far as Touma could see there were no people. There were piers and boats anchored along the shore, but no fishermen readying the boats to go fishing.

 

              “Touma, sir, we can rest down in that village,” Kashikoi pointed to one of the small grouping of huts and started down toward it.

 

              “Wait, isn’t there a chance someone in the village will expose us?” Touma scurried down the hill to catch up to Kashikoi.

 

              “No, these villages were abandoned months ago. Look toward the other side of the lake,” Kashikoi pointed toward the horizon. Touma shielded his eyes from the rising sun to the left and looked out over the lake. In the distance Touma could see the light of the sun starting to reflect off of the lake, but the other shore was still covered in dark shadows.

 

              “I don’t see anything, sun’s not high enough.”

 

              “It won’t matter how high the sun is, it stays hidden in shadows,” Kashikoi explained letting out a large sigh.

 

              “Is that where we are going then?”

 

              “NO! No one can survive there, and everyday it spreads father and father. They evacuated these villages when the shadow hit the lake. What you see is only half of the lake.”

 

              “Half…” Touma shook his head and followed Kashikoi down into the village. They took shelter in the first hut they came to and laid down. It was after noon when they both woke up and started to look around the village. To Touma it looked as if the people had just dropped what they had been doing and left. Food was left in the middle of preparation, and clothing still hung on lines to dry. There was one hut, however, that had sustained a lot of damage. Touma walked up to the door and peered into the hut. The outside of the hut had singe marks where the flames had licked out of the door and single window. The inside was completely black from the flames and smoke that had consumed whatever had been inside. Slowly he made his way inside and to the blackened table he had seen from the light of the window. He could feel the crunch of burnt debris on the floor and was surprised that the wooden hut with grass roof had survived at all. He took another step closer and heard the crack of glass. He bent down and picked up the broken piece he had stepped on and held it up to the light from the window.

 

              “This is where we think it started,” Kashikoi announced causing Touma to jump a little in surprise.

 

              “It looks like a science experiment went wrong,” Touma looked at the broken piece of glass and could see the curve of a beaker in its shape.

 

              “Science is forbidden.”

 

              “Forbidden, why?”

 

              “Science is the opposite of Magic. The more science that is known the weaker the magic is.”

 

              “Then how could this create the blackness across the lake?”

 

              “No, you misunderstand,” Kashikoi stepped out of the hut and looked out over the lake, “This failed experiment was bad enough that it caused the magic in all of the kingdom to weaken. It was just enough for us to notice, and just enough for the magical boarders to the north to weaken enough for the blackness to seep out.”

 

              “The North? What is to the north?”

 

              “That is,” Kashikoi said pointing across the lake, “Darkness, and no magic. The Queen’s ancestor had erected the magical barrier that kept the darkness to the north.”

 

              “And now the barrier is completely gone. The Queen had been trying to prevent the spread of the darkness, but you have been preventing it.” Touma and Kashikoi both ran from the hut to see who had spoke. On the edge of the lake, stood a familiar figure. Touma stepped in front of Kashikoi to protect him.

 

              “What are you talking about? She was trying to destroy our world!”

 

              “She has tried everything in order to stop the spread, but the only solution was to send the blackness into another world. Now that you don’t have your armor she will be able to complete her plan and save this world.”

 

              “And what about our world and the people in it?”

 

              “It was bound to happen,” The figure shrugged, “We could not protect our world forever.”

 

              “SHU!” Katie screamed as she and Shin raced into the village. They took up position on either side of Touma staring at their friend, “What are you doing?”

 

              “I am taking sides, and I chose the side that needs the most help. Our world is full of evil that not even we can combat, why risk our lives all the time trying to save it when it would be easier to save this one?”

 

              “Katie, stop it,” Shin barked, “He’s not himself, the Queen must have brainwashed him or something.”

 

              “And what are you going to do, just stand there?” Katie snapped back.

 

              “Stop it, both of you,” Touma glared at the two, “Shu, what will you do with us?”

 

              “The Queen has ordered your death,” Shu smirked and clenched his fists in excitement.  

 

              “And if we refuse to give up?”

 

              “I hope you do, then it will be more fun for me.” Touma looked around frantically for a place where they could go and hide, but there was nothing close enough for them to get to before Shu could attack. He had just started planning to attack the armored warrior himself when two figures jumped out to either side of him swinging what looked like a hoe and a rake.

 

              “PSSST! Over here!” Magma waved frantically at the quartet from the back of one of the huts. They hurried over and took cover just as Shu snapped the farm tools from Ryo and Seiji and snapped them in pieces over his knee.

 

              “What about them?” Shin asked peeking around the corner.

 

              “Don’t worry they have a plan,” Magma whispered as she motioned for them to follow her, “They said that Shu has trouble fighting in two directions at once. They’re using that to their advantage.”

 

              “Even so, they don’t have armor,” Katie whined turning to look back at the mini battle again.

 

              “But they both know how to fight regardless of that,” Touma answered, “They have both been trained since they were kids to fight. They know what they are doing.” Magma led them out of the village and up a nearby hill so they could see the skirmish and still be protected, “Seiji thinks that Shu may also have the other armors as well.”

 

              “How would he know that?” Katie asked staring blankly at Magma.

 

              “He said he could feel it,” Magma shrugged, “I stopped trying to make sense of his senses a long time ago.” Katie closed her eyes tight, the sounds of the battle seemed to be pounding in her head, but she forced herself to concentrate. She could see it in her mind, a brown hazy glow and it was growing stronger. However, it was not coming from the direction of the battle, it was coming from behind. She opened her eyes and turned to look behind them just as a white shadow burst from the top of the hill and flew down over them. Katie could feel the other’s hopes rise like helium had just filled their hearts, and the crash and burn like the Hindenburg. It was Byakuen and they had all hoped he had come to help, but he ran right by Ryo and Seiji and stopped right next to Shu, turning to stand right by him. In his mouth he held a velvet bag that Shu reached down and took from him petting the tiger on the head.

 

              “It looks like I won’t be allowed to play with you any longer. The Queen wants you gone now,” He opened the bag and tipped the contents out on his hand, five armor orbs fell out, he had already donned his under armor at the beginning of the battle.

 

              “It may not be too late,” Katie exclaimed as she closed her eyes and concentrated again. Who said that they had to be holding those orbs in order to call upon their yoroi. It was theirs, and no body could wear it even if they had the orb in their hand. She called and begged for the armor to come to her, to let her wear it again and suddenly she felt the warmth of it on her and she opened her eyes.

 

              “Katie, you did it!” Magma was cheering as Shin and Touma closed their eyes to try as well. Katie turned back to the battle and rushed back down the hill to face her friend and to give Ryo and Seiji the chance to get their armors back as well.

 

              “I was hoping you would do that,” Shu laughed when he caught sight of Katie, “Now it will be more fun.” Katie could see the other four orbs pulsating with the effort of her friends, but before they could call upon them Shu had thrown them up into the air and in a booming voice armored up, “BUSOOOOO!!!”

 

              Flames and earth erupted around where Shu stood and everyone stood watching in shock. It was not Kongo that formed around the orange under gear. Instead a rush of flame darkened the light armor to a charred black color and the flames licked up and around him forming the armor he had called upon. Katie looked over at Ryo who was wide mouthed and unbelieving. When the rocks and fire fell away Shu was not clad in Kongo, but neither was he in any armor they recognized; yet they all knew exactly what they were dealing with.