[RW fanfic: Ancient Meets Modern]

[Hillbilly Hikari]

Prologue

Deep teal eyes reflected data off her computer screen like flawless pools of water. Mia had been working obsessively over the past three years, since the destruction of Talpa, at her job with the Tokyo International Library. She had been searching through hundreds of ancient texts from all over the world trying to find anything to bring their makeshift family back together. Since Talpa’s death, Sage’s abduction, Luna’s death, Mukala’s possession, Suzinagi’s revenge, the warlords’ wish to integrate into the real world and various other mystical occurrences, no one had really had any time to mourn the loss of their friend and mentor, Anubis. It had been hardest on the Warlords; since they had fronted the money to build an addition to the manor, they now lived in that part of the manor, but they were still so elusive even though they were within shouting distance now and certainly members of the “family”.
The boys weren’t handling the mourning very well either. Ryo seemed to be having the hardest time since he’d just lost Luna, a woman he loved deeply, but he had to deal with finally mourning a good friend as well. All of the boys had returned to Tokyo University for their education but it was as if all their passions in life had suddenly dwindled. Cye only cooked when necessary now, if Rowen picked up a book he set it down moments later in sad contemplation, and Kento didn’t eat as excitedly anymore. Sage was his normal quiet and contemplative self only with an air of soft sadness floating around him. Mia was running out of ideas; her resolve to find something only strengthened. There had to be something. Pulling her chestnut auburn hair back into a messy bun, she tried to remember what Kayura has said. She had mentioned to Mia an old spell but quickly withdrew from the idea of bringing Anubis back. So Mia was running with the idea on her own; but finding the spell was proving to be far more difficult than she first imagined.
Her delicate fingers typed a new search phrase into her literary database and then pressed her fingertips into her temples willing the coming migraine to go away. Her database was the most extensive in the world, especially in regards to ancient texts. Her family had been generations of archivists and scribes. Every time she thought she found something, she’d run with that line of research only to come up with a dead end. But she wouldn’t give up. This was her family now and she wouldn’t watch it fall apart. Her heart was too connected to them all.
The unfamiliar beep of a search match barely enticed her out of her reverie. Her ocean eyes were dull from exhaustion but glowed with the light from the reflection of the computer screen as her fingertips brushed across the digitized words.
“A Five Point Convergence,” her energy renewed, Mia hunkered down to heal her family; it would be a long night.  

[Hillbilly Hikari]

Chapter One

“I’m not sure I understand, Mia,” Kayura stated frustrated, her beautiful turquoise eyes filling with confusion and a headache, “What does this have to do with Anubis?”
Mia had come to their section of the house late that night after the Ronins had retired for the evening. She seemed so excited, but that merely grated on the nerves of the surviving warlords and priestess at being woke in the middle of the night and brought down to their workshops. It had been a tough squeeze to fit them all into the common area between the Sekhmet’s apothecary, Dais’ pottery outlet, and Kale’s gallery. Realizing they needed to contribute to the house finances, the three warlords operated under aliases to sell their skills in the real world. How weird would it be to buy something from someone who was half a millennia old? Sekhmet sold his herbal remedies to cure aliments, while Dais and Kale’s artwork were now the most sought after in the art world, which brought in huge revenue to help.
“What you’re talking about won’t work,” the serpent warlord commented looking up from Mia’s research, “Ten points of power in five points of convergence? There are only nine armors to begin with!” Being an ancient alchemist, Sekhmet was well versed in mysticism, and his patience was waning quickly.
Mia unfurled a layout detailing the placement of armors with the chant, “I thought of that too. And I came to find out that there are ten armors. I remember the armor Kayura wore originally and did some research on it as well. Its called the Armor of Misery. In all honesty, it’s not that powerful in comparison to the other nine; but it has enough for what we need although it could very easily be destroyed during the ritual.
Kayura listened intently although unsure of whether or not to be insulted, “In any case she still carries it within her as well as cruelty.”
Dais sat forward his lone piercing eye settling on Mia’s form, “That still presents the problem of ten in five. Somehow I think you’ll have a hard time convincing the Ronins to help us with Inferno. They haven’t exactly been receptive to the idea of using their armors after what has happened over the past few years.”
The fire of determination set into Mia’s eyes, “You leave them to me. We’ve all become a very close family, all eleven of us. I will not see it fall apart.”
Silence ensued for what seemed like an eternity. A small glimmer of hope seemed to flicker within the small group. Anubis had been a strong force of keeping them together both when they were all evil and good. They all had missed his dearly. Spending centuries with the same people seemed to endear you to them even if you didn’t like each other very much. No one would admit it but they missed Anubis, he had sacrificed his life force to free Kayura. His death had been unnecessary and went against his written destiny. They had to change that, he deserved a chance to fulfill his destiny.
Kayura spoke first, “Let me see the incantation. I’ll need to study it for the ritual to take place.”
Mia looked ecstatic but looked to Kale for a final confirmation. As Anubis’ best friend she’d have thought he would’ve spoken up before now. He looked conflicted by letting the past go and needing his brother back. One could always see Kale’s physical pains or was always reminded of them, his scar always seemed to hit you before anything else; but his emotions were always so hidden deep inside, it would take some one strong and persistent to break through that barrier.
Not wanting to get his hopes up too much too soon, his voice did not betray his small flicker of hope, “If you can convince the Ronins to help then I’ll go along with it, but if not it doesn’t matter anyways,” with that said he stood and strode up the stairs to his bedrooms allowing his hopes to fly in the privacy of his mind.
Mia inhaled almost nervously, “I’m sure they’ll agree. Anubis meant a great deal to them as well.”
The rest of the ex-Dynasty warriors stood and hugged Mia goodnight. Sekhmet gave a gentle kiss on the cheek, “Good luck Mia.”
“Thanks,” with a gentle good night said she walked back into the main portion of the house deciding on coercion tactics to use if necessary. She had one week.

**********

Confusion filled violet eyes watched intently as Mia paced in the computer den seemingly talking to thin air as though trying to convince it of something. He let out a small laugh that ruffled his blonde hair as he watched her get angry at the air for disagreeing with her. After a few more minutes of this he was ready to burst so he thought it best to interrupt the argument, “Mia?”
She jumped startled as Sage stepped down into the den, his usual khaki pants and white polo unwrinkled and gorgeous on him as usual, “Sage……uh….how long-“
“I didn’t see anything you didn’t want me to,” he cut her off with a grin.
“…..right…..great.”
He let out a low laugh, “C’mon we’re all waiting for you,” he grabbed her arm and led her up to the living room where the other guys were lounging on the furniture. A lump suddenly formed in her throat, what if she wasn’t as convincing as she wanted to be?
“Its about time, Mia,” Kento joshed, “We’ve been waiting here forever.”
“In other words, its been five minutes since Kento shoved food down his throat,” Kento merely stuck his throat out at Cye.
“Um, well….I need your help with something. Uh, all five of you as a matter of fact,” she started very nervous as Sage took a seat to listen to her request, “The past few years have certainly been no piece of cake. And we’ve all lost people very close to us.”
Melancholy silence filled the room as she continued, “Something has always happened to keep us for mourning properly, and the past year its hit us all so hard that life has become almost unbearable emotionally. Our family has become detached and almost lifeless-“
“Now Mia-“
“That’s going a bit far-“
“We’re not that bad!”
“Would you guys shut-up and listen!?”
“But-“
“I FOUND A WAY TO BRING ANUBIS BACK!!!!!!!” Mia shouted over the din causing immediate silence and wide eyes. Not exactly the way she had been hoping to bring the subject up. Unprepared for the obviously stunned silence, she continued much calmer, “I’ve already spoken to the warlords and they’re willing to try the ritual with your help. We need Inferno to do the ritual properly which means everyone’s help. I know they were much closer to Anubis than you guys were, but it could only bring good for him to return and-“
“If it’ll bring Anubis back, then I’m in.” Ryo smiled at her look of relief.
“Yeah, Mia. Why didn’t you just ask? Of course we’ll help,” Cye and Kento high-fived.
“Oh really?! I knew I could count on you guys! C’mon get your shoes we gotta go!!” Mia said excitedly and grabbed her jacket.
“Uh…..now? This is happening now?” Rowen seemed slightly confused.
“Why wait till the day of Mia?” Sage calmly put on his shoes.
“Well, I was afraid if you had too much time to think about it you would change your mind.”
Ryo ruffled her hair as he stood ready to go, “Silly girl. This is what family does for each other.”
Mia held back tears as she looked at the men in her life ready to walk out the door at a moments notice. She’d been silly to doubt them; they’d certainly never given her a reason to doubt them. Kento held out her pink jacket as he slid on his black leather one. It was autumn in Japan, a chilly one. A smile graced the faces of their group, but it would be one of renewal.

**********

Kayura’s heart pounded in anticipation mixed with fear. She knew the ritual backwards and forwards, but what if something went wrong?? Gentle breezes skirted through the clearing as if it was worried as well. A shiver ran down her spine, but she soon realized it was not from the chill of the fall air. Her violet eyes scanned the tree line looking for some sign of the Ronins; unconsciously she wrung he hands together in worry. Were they coming??
She turned and faced Sekhmet in her priestess clad body; he merely stared back with her emerald eyes with his jaw clenched. Only time would tell the outcome of the day. Looking more intently at Kayura, he could see her visibly shake; whether from worry or fear he couldn’t tell but he felt the same. Could this really work?? Could they get back their brother-in-arms? He ran a strong hand through his lucid jade hair so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice how uncomfortable the rock he was sitting on had become.
“They’re not coming!” everyone startled at the sudden statement from Kale, “I told you, I told you she wouldn’t be able to convince them. They don’t care the way we do!”
Dais watched his scarred friend pace in anger. Kale had been the one most against the ritual. If it didn’t work he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle losing his best friend all over again, and yet Kale had wanted this so badly. The illusionist thought about how all the warlords had become close friends over the many centuries they had been together, but none were closer than Anubis and Kale. And since his death Kale had not had a close friendship with anyone, it was as if he was afraid to lose another friend if he got to close. Dais understand vaguely how he felt, but not so much that he didn’t want more friends in his life…or possibly something more. He breathed in the deep autumn air, he loved the fall; he just wished he had someone to share it with. His lone blue eye widened, he couldn’t be thinking of this now. They had a task; he needed to stay focused on that.
“What’s that Kale? We don’t care??”
The group of four looked up to see the Ronins and Mia striding into the clearing, Kento holding his arms wide as if to say “ha-ha-told-you-so”. Smiles graced their faces and they came to sand next to the newest members of the family, Kayura gained welcoming hugs from everyone and the warlords got the standard warrior clasps. Mia had to hold back tears again as she watched the happiness that had been gone for so long grow once again in the eyes of the people she loved most.
“C’mon! Let’s get this party started!!” Everyone laughed; Kento sure knew how to lift nervousness from the heart.
“Um, okay. We’re going to form a staggered nine-point star. With Ryo and us four in the center,” Kayura placed the five into a perfectly spaced five pointed star starting with Ryo to Kale to Dais to Sekhmet and ending where Kayura would stand, “And then you four will stand a little farther back but in the blank spots here,” She placed Sage between Ryo and Kale, Kento between Dais and Sekhmet, Cye between Sekhmet and herself, and Rowen between her and Ryo.
She swallowed hard as she took her position in the star. This was it, no turning back, “Okay, call the spirits of your armors.”
Each armor wielding individual crossed their arms over their chests and searched deep within themselves. Their souls were connected to the armors, they knew each other, knew their presence. An unspoken bond was made and held between each of them. The strength, power, and virtue all grew steadily until they all opened their eyes and a mere ghost of their armors lay over their corporeal bodies. Ryo closed his eyes once more and called out to the other Ronins’ armors. He need dire, his soul beckoned to theirs, to aid. His body glowed a pure white before fading to the ghost of Inferno. They were ready. The priestess felt all eyes settle on her, waiting for her to begin.
You can do this. It’s no different than any other spell…just concentrate. She breathed deep and allowed the stillness of the clearing settle into her heart and mind. She held out her hands and the Ancients’ Staff appeared in her grasp. Turning it, she held it upright vertical to the ground, one hand behind it making the sacred gestures of her people. Slowly she felt the power of the ritual build, it was overwhelming. Everything in their vicinity seemed to still with its presence. The very earth stopped breathing in anticipation.
Her melodious voice began chanting, pouring her heart into it, she chanted clear and strong.

Ops Vox
Cruor ut Cruor
Ten Loricatus Quinque Cuspis
Rectum Fides Justicia
Vita Sapientia Diligo
Fidelitas Obsequium Pietas
Serenus
Una nos Iunctum
Una nos Dico
Anubis

Colors suddenly erupted all around, out of a vortex of energy. Trillions of color particles swirled around it pulsating like a far off galaxy of power. The chilled sky reflected the brilliance perfectly while its colors reflected on the faces of the ten waiting to reach their goal. The colors separated towards the nine. All was silent and still while they marveled at the sight. But the daze was quickly replaced with shock as two black skeletal arms reached out of the vortex causing all the colors to disappear. They sunk deeply into Kayura’s soul, and did not remove themselves as she stood unable to crumple or scream in pain. Her eyes widened to the point of expressing the most excruciating pain imaginable as the hands twisted and jerked till they found their prize. She felt her personal Armor of Misery burst inside her, destroyed forever. Her scream unexpectedly erupted as they pulled themselves out holding a beautiful gold sphere only slightly bigger than a marble. Cruelty.
Everyone stood transfixed afraid of the hands’ purpose with the armor. Was this supposed to happen? No one was prepared for them to crush the globe into oblivion. A painful jerk reverberated through all the armors as though something had been ripped from their souls. The hands opened once more as if to prove the armor was truly gone but instead held a small gold light sphere that shined and shimmered brighter than anything they had all seen. The hands melted away as if they had never been, but the light remained; growing and twisting larger by the moment until it was impossibly large for such a small energy. It gradually expanded to the perimeter of their nine pointed star before contracting into the profile of a man.
Insufferably slowly the shine of the light faded to reveal a man; a man with shoulder length auburn hair and piercing turquoise eyes. Clad only in midnight blue body armor, he looked around almost confused at his surroundings. Comprehension slowly dawned as he recognized his friends, his family.
Mia walked up from her position away from the ritual and gently hugged the man she’d come to view as an older brother, “Oh Anubis, welcome home.”  

[Hillbilly Hikari]

Chapter Two

Her heart soared upon hearing true laughter filling her house after so long. Mia rushed to finish colleting the chips to take in. It had been over a month since they had brought Anubis back from the Spirit Realm. There had been many nights like tonight where everyone had stayed up late watching movies or playing cards, sometimes even just swapping anecdotes till the wee hours of the morning. Tonight was no different as the entire group was in the living room of the main part of the house lounging about, munching and talking.
“No way!!”
“I’m serious!!” Anubis swore holding his hands up in guarantee, “During our annual clan festival, Kale got swung up so high in a sparring match that his hakamas got hooked on the tip of a pagoda arch on his way back down. It took forever to get him down!!”
Laughter erupted once more as Kale tinged a slight pink, “My father did not think I held up our clan’s honor in battle against the Ancients’ clan. I had to clean the armory and weapons perfectly for a month after that festival.”
Rowen reached for a handful of chips as Mia came to join the gathering once more, “What about you, Sekhmet?? Weren’t you around for the festivals??”
“No, my clan was a very reclusive clan,” he shook his head in response, gingerly sipping his sake, “We were very different from the clans in the valley. No one wanted us around.”
“Why?” Cye asked curiously. His former enemy and he had become friends, not best friends, but friends and he wanted to learn more.
“Excuse me,” the Venom Warlord stood and strode of the main living area and towards his apothecary. He had no desire to discuss his past, it was too painful. Too many memories left behind……too much pain.
“What did I say?”
Anubis shook his head, “Nothing, Cye. Sekhmet is very…elusive about his past. He lost his best friend in Talpa’s raids, so he chooses not to speak of anything to do with his clan or his family.”
“Poor Sekhmet,” Mia looked after the warlord with compassion, “What was his friend’s name?”
“Her name was Hikari….his sister.”
Ryo turned his blue orbs towards Anubis, “How’d you know his sister??”
Smirking, Anubis leaned back into his chair, “She was best friends with my sister, Yukiko. Like Sekhmet said his clan was reclusive, no one wanted them around so the girls would meet in secret. We never knew what happened to them after the raids. After Talpa claimed us.”
Anubis inhaled deeply, this was difficult for him. But he needed to talk about Yukiko; she had been his best friend before Kale. Talking about her helped him remember they she lived once, that there were many happy memories to be remembered. Sekhmet was not so willing to remember, he had only spoken of his guilt to Anubis one night in a drunken stupor. Being of the Serpent Clan, it took an enormous amount of alcohol to get Sekhmet drunk. He tried to tell his warrior-brother that it was not his fault; but Sekhmet would not listen, his grief was too strong…he had not protected her.
“What happened?”
Shaken out of his thoughts, Anubis looked back at his friends his family, “That is for Sekhmet to discuss. I will not violate his privacy.”
The scarred warlord looked up at the man who once was his leader, now his best friend, “What of your sister?”
“Yukiko? Yukiko was a gem. The most sought after for courting in our clan. And the most protected by my father, I don’t think he would have ever let Yukiko out of the house perimeter had she not been so stubbornly insistent. But she stayed away from the sparring festivals as he had asked her to. She was certainly a fighting force to be reckoned with. Smart, beautiful, mischievous…a true vision from Kami. Beautiful, long locks of deep rose gold, and eyes that would shame the bluest of oceans. She had the most entrancing way of healing a person. Merely by laying her hand on their wounds it would be gone almost immediately. It was always so amazing to behold. We were best friends, well as much as siblings could be.”
Everyone was listening, enthralled by his description of this miracle woman, Sage spoke up wanting to hear more, “What happened to her?”
Anubis sighed sadly, “She died. The day Talpa raided our village was the day I found Cruelty. I raced back to my village to help and found Yukiko trapped by Nether Soldiers, so many she couldn’t fight them off. I fought them off and took her to the temple. I hid her in the attic closet, so no one would find her; and then lit the beckons to warn nearby clans of the raids. But then Nether Spirits surrounded me on the roof of the temple, the last thing I remember was watching my village burn as Talpa took myself and young girl hostage for his war. I never saw my family again.”
“Did you ever go back to find out what happened??” the soft question came from Mia sitting next to Kayura in front of the lighted fireplace, she shivered with the mere thought of losing her friends and family that way.
Kayura watched Anubis’ eyes fill with too much sadness to comprehend and answered for him, “No. I was the little girl Talpa kidnapped. I was the granddaughter of our clan’s holy man, so while our clan was inherently magical my family line had all the gifts of the Ancients’ line. Our clan was the first he raided because he needed my skills for spells. Each village we raided, each clan he annihilated, Talpa would have cast two spells, 1) an immortality spell and 2) a dimensional shift spell. He wanted the villages to never age so it would be easier to keep them from weakening the dimensional plane, and then to have them in the dimensional plane to keep anyone from ever knowing of their existence throughout time.”
It was silent for a good long while, the group unsure of how to bring up a new topic without being disrespectful to the memories Anubis had shared with them. The silence turned quite eerie with nothing but the sound of the soft crackling of the dying fire. How dreadful it must have been to loose one’s family is such a way. Aware that his confession had made the evening uncomfortable, he quickly excused himself and took heed to Sekhmet’s way of evening, spent in solitude.

**********

A very soft knock graced Kayura’s door in the late hours the following evening. Grabbing her bed robe, Kayura opened the door only to be surprised to see Mia. She quickly let her friend in, “Mia what’s wrong? Is everything all right?”
Mia quirked an eyebrow as the sat on the end of Kayura’s bed, “Quite. Why do you ask?”
“You don’t usually come to chat in the middle of the night.”
“Okay, you’re right. I didn’t come here to chat,” Kayura sat down on the opposite end of the bed smiling, “I was thinking about last night, about Anubis and Sekhmet.”
Closing her eyes momentarily, the priestess shifted uncomfortably, it was not something she was proud of herself for doing, “What about them Mia?”
“Well, I was thinking. Anubis said he hid his sister during the raid, and Sekhmet may have very well have done the same. If you cast a spell to keep the entire area of the village immortal, it would have affected everything and everyone. It’s very possible that their sisters did not die during the raids and are just as old as you five are. And if they’re not at least Anubis and Sekhmet would get some sort of closure from it all.”
“……………that’s a long shot, Mia. A very long shot. Not to mention I doubt either of them would agree to it, Sekhmet especially wouldn’t. He barely even discusses his past little own would want to visit it.” Kayura stated adamantly, twisting her bed sheets in her fingers, “Why must you meddle to fix things?”
She merely looked down and studied the aqua color on Kayura’s bed, “Because I hate to see the per-…the people I care about saddened when something can be done about it. They have done so much good, and they deserve to see some kind of compensation for it. They deserve this chance.”
“Mia-“
“No, don’t. I’ll let you think on it. But if you do decide its something you wish to pursue, here’s the spell I found,” Mia laid a very crumpled and very old looking folded paper on her nightstand and quickly left the room.
Kayura lay back against her pillows, her beautiful plum locks splayed against her fluffy pillows. It was her favorite convenience of joining the modern world, pillows. She turned and caught the sight of the spell; sighing heavily she turned her eyes towards her ceiling. It was going to be a long night.  

[Hillbilly Hikari]

CHAPTER THREE

Ryo sighed nervously, they were never going to pull this off and Sekhmet was going to kill every single one of them personally. It was nearing winter now, and the trees had started to dull and loose their leaves for the duration of the season. He shivered slightly and pulled his jacket tighter around him as he stood guard while the other prepared everything for Anubis and Sekhmet. They couldn’t do anything to make either of them suspect what they were truly up to.

He looked over in time to see Cye light the needed incense as the very last detail of preparation. Shaking his head he caught Sage and Rowen’s eyes as they all shared the same thought……Sekhmet was going to kill them.

Kayura gathered the group together, “Now the moment they come out, we all have to join hands very quickly before they can stop us okay?”

“He’s gonna kill us Kayura.”

“No, he won’t…..well, at least not right away.” She replied to Rowen, and clenched her jaw.

“Oh yeah, delay it. That’ll make it so much less painful once he gets his hands on us.” Kento spouted sarcastically.

“It’s now or never boys. Dais, call them down. Everybody else get ready with your sub-armors.”

Dais strode to the patio door and slid it open all the way. Licking his lips somewhat uneasily he called for his warlord companions to come out for he needed they’re help with something. Quickly calling his own black sub-armor, he stood to the side to grab a hold of them when needed. The area of the back property tensed as they all stood ready, the idea of being pummeled held at the back of their mind.

Anubis walked out first too involved in conversation with Sekhmet to notice what was going on until both he and Sekhmet were too late to do anything. The other eight surrounded them so quickly one would think the devil himself were after them.

“Kayura, NOW!!!”

Nodding she started to chant:

Pectus

Pectoris ut Pectus

Pectoris

Animus ut Animus

Cruor ut Cruor

Nos Dico in

Loricatus Vox Solvo

Lost

Mia watched with both dread and happiness as the group of ten was swept up into an energy sphere and disappeared from their plane of existence, “Come home safe.”


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Bright lavender eyes snapped open at the amount of power it took for a dimensional shift. Eerie eyes as they were large but held no pupils. They were merely lavender mirrors set into a small childlike face. But this being held no childlike innocence, merely hatred, cruelty and malice. A cruel smile appeared with the awakening, “My lord, it is time for your revival, and our rule.”
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“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?!?!?!”
Everyone almost cowered away from the serpent warlord as he looked around in a confused rage. Everything looked so familiar; the way the trees grew, the way the grass lay beneath their feet, even the way the air breathed around them. It was all so familiar, but why? His pale green eyes settled on his friends, only Anubis seemed to be as confused as he was.  

[Hillbilly Hikari]

CHAPTER FOUR

He rounded on Kayura, glaring as his jade eyes turned ebony and filled with anger, “Where are we, Kayura!?”

Her response came in a childlike whisper, “You know where we are, Sekhmet.”

His eyes locked on each of his former enemies and warrior brothers, he then bared his fangs and turned back to their priestess, “Take us home! Take us home now, Kayura!”

“No! Not until you face what you need to!”

“I don’t need to face anything!!”

“You must face what this place holds, Sekhmet!!”

“It holds death!”

“You must let go!! And we won’t leave until you face it!” She rounded on Anubis, “until you both face it.”

“It is not right to force this on us, Kayura. From any of you.” Anubis reprimanded softly even though his heart was pounding harder than it had in any battle. His skin crawled; he did not want to be here again. This was a place of violence, death, loss.

“We know that,” Ryo interjected standing by Kayura, “But you won’t do it for yourselves. So we’re here to help you face it.”

Cye stepped forward and placed a strong supportive hand on Sekhmet’s shoulder, “Lead the way, my friend.”

Sekhmet fumed inside, how dare thy force him to live this hell? They had no idea what horrors this place held. He looked up and saw the ominous temple from his village, looking down at his boots he sighed and began walking. Oh Kami, please forgive me.

After so many centuries his feet still remembered the same dirt path through the forest, climbing the waterfall, and into his village. His breath was stole away from him when the familiar site of wooden huts entered his vision. He could almost hear the screams from the tortured and burning villagers as he had returned from finding his armor. Tears threatened to fall as he suffered through seeing his father die again, his younger brothers fight and fall and his friends scream to death from their burns. Cye looked towards him to see his body visibly shake from the memories, how difficult this must be for him. Torrent couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through; he moved forward to offer support only to be held back by Dais. His silver hair shook as he motioned for Cye not to move.

Green filled with unshed tears as Sekhmet faced Kayura with more pain than any one person could bear, “Happy now? Can we-” he stopped short and listened.

Now everyone heard it, so soft it was barely discernable from the blowing breeze. A voice like a belle wafted gently past their ears, but only Sekhmet seemed to be affected so strongly. His eyes were wide in fear and shock as if a spirit had passed right in front of him. Suddenly he began to stride forward through the village despite his apparent fear almost moments ago. The serpent warlord was moving so fast the others almost struggled to keep up with him, he stopped so abruptly and turned that the group practically ran into him. The voice was louder now, as if the owner was just inside the temple doors they stood outside of. Memories flooded his mind of the lullaby they heard, his mother had sung it to him and his siblings when they were younger, but this was not his mother’s voice. His hand fell upon the door frame but his feet seemed unable to move as his heart filled with trepidation and hope.

“Oh this is ridiculous!”

“No, Kento! Wait!” Sekhmet reached out to stop him from entering the temple but couldn’t force himself to enter.

Hardrock stepped his sub armor clad body into the main room of the temple and was almost stunned into a frozen state. There kneeling in front of the temple shrine was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Her floor length violet hair was thick and almost inflicted a compulsion to runs one’s hands through it. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale like Sekhmet’s but had the look of fine porcelain. Her many layered robe of midnight blue and emerald green seemed to swallow her small frame as she sang softly while praying. He moved forward never taking his eyes off her. Considering she didn’t move or even breath differently to show she knew he was there, Kento assumed he was unnoticed as of yet and went to place a hand on her shoulder.

He landed flat on his back completely shocked at the hand that had flown outward and served him such a strong blow he hadn’t had time to react. Looking up, Kento locked gazes with two of the most fear striking, glittering emerald eyes he’d seen since Sekhmet. She’d cast off her robes to be clad only in rather tight hunting attire reminiscent of the ancient clans. He was completely unsure of what to do, he certainly had no desire to fight back against a girl but he watched as her eyes trailed over him taking in him in sub-armor. His heart dumped into his stomach as her eyes too turned an angry ebony and a revenge filled smile showed off her fangs.

: I won’t let you do it again:

The hissing noises she made sounded as if they may have made a full sentence, but for the life of him Kento had no idea what she was saying. And he certainly wasn’t prepared to be slammed into a wall by a little slip of a girl but his temper was rising beyond control as she continued to serve him her vengeance while hissing at him.

: You b*****d!! Do you have any idea the horror you rained down upon us: She slammed her fists into him and then held him up by his neck: we had no defense against you and your kind, demon. You killed us all!!!:

Kento was trying to pry her hands loose of his neck, for a girl she was incredibly strong…especially a girl who showed absolutely no muscular structure at all. She was suddenly yanked from behind and skidded into the opposite wall. Shaking her head dazed, she merely sat up waiting for a fatal blow to land.

:Hikari? Is that you? Sekhmet looked down at the woman sitting across from him. It couldn’t possibly be. She died. They all had died. It had been centuries. If it was her, her attack on Kento had been somewhat warranted as all she would’ve remembered was armor clad demons burning and killing their clan. But it couldn’t be her.

The woman straightened suddenly upon hearing someone use snake language after so long. Someone who had a strangely familiar voice, she lifted her eyes only to lock them with jade eyes that matched her own, :Sekkie:

He gazed lovingly upon his sister, :I’m over 500 years old and you still wish to call me that?:

:Oh Sekkie!! It is you!!!: The young girl stood up quickly and ran to her brother tackling him with a hug :But I saw you leave! I watched from the apothecary, you walked into the big red gates and left!! You left me here!! All these centuries you left me here!!:

Hikari’s surprise quickly turned to anger as she looked at her brother unsure of whether or not she should hug him or hang him. Still weighing her options, Sekhmet found his heart breaking as tears started to swim in her eyes. She had been left her all alone for more than four centuries. Unable to bear that fact that he had caused this pain in his sister, he quickly closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her. Unshed tears spilled from both anger and forgiveness, she only fought him for a moment before her resentment faded away and she held him just as tightly.

: Please don’t leave again Guilt ridden shock filled his eyes as he heard her quiet plea. He hadn’t actually thought of what he’d do if she was still here. She was supposed to be dead! But he couldn’t just leave his sister here, not after they’d been reunited. Closing his eyes he made a fairly easy decision and pulled away from her only to lock eyes with her. : I have to leave…but you’re coming with me.

: Coming with you?: she peered past him at the group that had settled in the doorway :With them too?:

: Yes, we all live together in the manor. Come meet my friends.:

: Manor? What the heck is a manor?:But her question went unanswered as Sekhmet brought her over to meet the group. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Anubis and she quickly hugged him, but the other introductions were strained as Hikari was very wary of everyone else, although it was quickly learned that she could speak Japanese and not just snake tongue. Kayura watched with great interest as a terrible weight seemed lifted from him and true happiness settled in his eyes; Mia had been right.

Anubis stepped back from the group as they exited the temple. If Hikari was alive and thriving who was to say Yukiko wasn’t? But it could take forever to find Yukiko, her greatest gift beside healing had been stealth. She wouldn’t be found if she didn’t want to be found. Perhaps Hikari would know, if they were close enough she might know where she’d be.

He never got the chance to ask as an arrow hit his shoulder but was deflected by his subarmor. Knocked to the ground, he laid docile as if injured waiting for his assailant to show herself, even though his heart lifted knowing who it was. About fifty paces away in a large maple tree, a figure clad in a ebony and plum ninja outfit landed perfectly on her feet. A purple face mask covered half her face, so one could only see her slashing metallic teal eyes. Her long auburn hair swished in it high ponytail as she walked stealthily over to her prey. As soon as she was within grasping distance Anubis shot out his hand and twisted her ankle sending her flying over him into the dusty ground. Flipping back up, she met him in a warrior’s stance ready to fight.

Meeting her challenge, he merely smirked and took his stance almost bored, “Are you truly going to fight me, Yukiko and think to win?”

Seeing her resolve falter only slightly in her recognition of him, he took the time to sweep and pin her under him, “Hello, Yukiko. Long time no see.”