Courting The Jester

Chapter Six

"How are you doing, Rowen?"
Rowen gave his friend a withering look from where he lay sprawled on his bed. He had one foot propped up on the wall at a bizarre angle; an uncomfortable position if Sage had ever seen one. He had his arms folded underneath his head, but even hidden, Sage could hear the fingers tapping rapidly on the headboard.
"Oh I'm great," Rowen replied sarcastically. "Dinner was nice, don't you think?"
Sage sighed and sat down on his own bed, elbows on his knees.
"Come on Rowen, they didn't mean it the way you took it. Everyone's a little strung out right now, and everyone's confused," Sage tried to smooth over. Rowen just snorted and turned his glare to the ceiling.
"I especially liked the part where Ryo threatened to kick me out of the house," Rowen continued bitterly.
"Rowen, you started yelling at Mia and that Nikki girl again. Of course that's going to cause a problem." Sage ignored the scowl on his best friend's face and continued on.
"I know you're upset, but try to think logically for a moment, okay? Mia's been right by our side since the very beginning. She's taken care of us when we were hurt, and she's kept a roof over our heads when we needed one. She worked just as hard to defeat Talpa as any one of us and put her life at risk countless times. Every single one of us wouldn't think twice about coming to her defense, so how did you think they would react to you…"
"Me what?"
"Treating her like the enemy, Rowen! You turned on both of them like they were the bad guys. Mia's never once given us any reason to think that she wasn't completely trustworthy. She didn't deserve that, especially not tonight. She'd already had a rough day as it was. They got in a really bad car accident on their way from the airport."
Rowen was silent for a moment, his bare foot thumping steadily against the wall. Then suddenly he sat up, turning intense dark blue eyes on Sage.
"Then why did they walk home?" Rowen demanded. "She's smarter than that. They were both injured, even if not badly. It's moronic to just walk away from a car crash, and that road has plenty of traffic during the afternoon. Someone would have been by to help them."
"They could have been in shock Rowen," Sage interjected, "Mia might be tough as nails, but even she can get shook up."
"Fine," Rowen abruptly conceded the point before plunging ahead. "But does that explain what she did when they got here? The outside of the house is trashed, Sage! It's like a hurricane hit it. Instead of asking what happened, she just ordered us to clean it up, like it was nothing. Does that make sense to you? Since when did Mia not want to know exactly what happened to her stuff? She's as anal as you are!" That got a dirty look from Sage.
"Like it's not true," Rowen dismissed his friend's reaction. "And I'm still bothered by the whole car accident thing. Did anyone see her call the police? Or the rental company?"
"Actually Cye was talking about that with her before dinner. She contacted both."
At this Rowen paused, and Sage took the opportunity to try to head his friend off.
"See Rowen, it's not as weird as you think. And Mia's not mad at you, in case that's bothering you. She was a little irritated, but now she's just worried about you. Her friend seems offended, but she'll get over it."
"Nikki never gets over anything," Rowen muttered under his breath. Then he seemed to realize what he had said and his eyes widened. He stared accusingly at Sage.
"See?" he cried, rising to his feet to stomp across the room. "Why do I know that?" he demanded of himself, shaking his head vigorously. Blue strands failed to cover up his frustrated expression. "There's no reason I should know that!"
"Rowen, you guys have managed to cross each other more times than I can count in the last four hours. Isn't that reason enough to assume…"
"But I'm not assuming, Sage! Listen to me, damn it! No one's listening to me! I don't think, I know. I know. Explain that to me. Explain it to me, because I don't understand." Rowen plopped back down on his bed, head in his hands. It was the most upset Sage could remember his friend being in a long time. Sage sat back and looked at Rowen for a while, knowing that anything he said right now would go in one ear and out the other.
Sage had to admit, when he'd first listened to Rowen's rant downstairs, he'd thought that his friend might have slipped a little. The others were in various stages of worry and frustration, going back and forth between this disturbing new enemy and the crazed new version of Rowen. Rowen was familiar and easier to deal with than what had happened outside earlier, so Sage could see how the guys had gravitated to jumping down Rowen's throat. But there were a couple things bothering him too.
Sage hadn't missed how half-heartedly Cye had joined in on trying to contain Rowen at dinner. While most of the time Rowen had gone back and forth between glaring at Nikki and Mia, and then the rest of them, Cye had been focused only on Mia. He had watched her all night, completely ignoring Nikki until the girl had started yelling at Rowen. Even then his eyes had kept going back to Mia.
Something was different about Cye. Ever since that day in the forest when Sage had shown them what was happening to him, Cye had seemed…off. He was reacting to things that he usually didn't react to, and seemed constantly distracted. He'd respond to things they were thinking, but not saying, especially when it came to Ryo. When they had been attacked outside, Cye had felt the enemy before even Sage had and had been affected by it more. Even after two showers, Sage still felt dirty from the encounter. He understood why Cye had thrown up. The aura coming off of the thing was vile. Just thinking about it made Sage's skin crawl.
Cye's comment about White Blaze had stuck in Sage's mind as well. The tiger was always the first to protect them, especially Mia and Yuli. But today he had merely watched Rowen go off. Even now the tiger was behaving oddly. He'd been prowling around the house, moving systematically through each room as if he was searching for something. He'd gone through the entire place at least twice that Sage knew of, and he had still been at it when Sage had gone into his and Rowen's room.
And lastly, Sage himself didn't feel right. Ever since this afternoon, he'd felt a level of discomfort that he wasn't used to. Usually at Mia's they all could relax their guard moderately, knowing that they were all together protecting each other. Sage had been fighting the urge all night to don his armor. Why he'd been unable to earlier Sage didn't know, but when he'd regained consciousness he'd called his armor to him. It had responded without any problems. It made no sense. And the one who usually made the most sense was walking around muttering about voices and memories and had developed a bit of a twitch. Sage sighed tiredly.
"Tell me again, Rowen," Sage said softly. "I'm listening now."
Rowen looked up at him, a heavy strand of blue hair falling over his left eye. His eyes stayed intently on Sage as he spoke, voice low and heavy.
"I know her. Nikki. I know her. I don't know why or how, but I do. And I don't trust her. She…she did something. Mia too. I don't know what. I don't know why. All I know is that I have this overwhelming rage any time I look at either one of them. I…" Rowen drifted off, looking back down.
"You what?" Sage pressed gently. Rowen remained silent for a long time, until finally he looked back to his best friend. His dark blue eyes glittered with emotion in the failing light and his voice cracked.
"I want to hurt them, Seiji."

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"I'm going to kill him," Nikki muttered furiously. Mia shook her head at her friend from behind her computer, fingers rapidly clicking.
"Relax Nik, you know how he is."
"Did you hear what he called me?" Nikki demanded of Mia. The other girl nodded and shrugged.
"He called me the same."
"Doesn't that bother you?" Nikki asked, voice incredulous.
"Yes, but getting all upset isn't going to help matters. Right now we need to find out what to do about a car to get out to the site tomorrow."
"What about your old jeep?" Nikki suggested. "The red one? Do you still have that?"
"That thing's ancient, Nikki. We'd be lucky to get out there without it dying on us. Right now I need something reliable, and the rental company's not being helpful."
"You crashed their car," Nikki replied spitefully. "You crashed it and then fled the scene of the accident. Of course they aren't being helpful. When someone single-handedly manages to flip their rental car into a ditch from the center of a busy highway without any trace of an accident..."
"Nikki, quit it!" Mia suddenly snapped. "You're not helping."
Nikki suddenly grinned at her friend from where she sat across the room.
"Ha! It does bother you what Rowen said."
"Leave me alone," Mia grumped. Nikki just grinned evilly and moved to Mia's desk, sitting on the edge.
"We're going to have to take the jeep, you know. Fight it all you want, but we will," Nikki continued. Mia gave Nikki a death glare.
"You know, I liked you a whole lot better when you were several continents away from me," Mia retorted.
"But then I miss the fun of seeing your pretty face get all scrunched up and ugly."
"You're a jerk."
"It's why you love me."
"Go bother Rowen, will you Nik? I really do need to get some work done."
Nikki immediately went quiet and tugged at the old sweatshirt her friend had loaned her. It was tighter than she liked and fell almost to her knees, but Mia was taller and slimmer than her.
"I don't want to talk to him. He already…he already doesn't like me. It's not like last time," she spoke quietly.
"Last time he didn't like you either," Mia joked. The expression on Nikki's face warned Mia to drop it. Sighing, the taller girl reached over and squeezed her friend's hand.
"Honey, you can't change what happened. I don't know why he remembers the little bit he does, but maybe if you guys became friends it would stop him from digging too deep." Nikki grunted and moved away from the desk, wandering around and fingering the artifacts gathered on the walls of the study.
"When did Rowen ever learn to let something go once he had hold of it?" Nikki asked bitterly. "He grabs at things and drives them into the ground. It's better if we just get out of here as soon as possible."
"Tomorrow. We'll be gone tomorrow. You just have to deal with one night," Mia reassured her. Nikki nodded and wandered out of the room towards the guest room she was staying in, face expressionless. Mia watched her go, and then shook her head. One night. A lot could happen in one night. Right now the guys were all on edge, trying to figure out what had happened earlier that day. They had briefly filled her in when Nikki wasn't around, but Ryo hadn't seemed interested in her being involved and the others were taking his lead. It was fine with Mia. There were certain things she was perfectly happy not knowing right now.
"Are we playing pretend?"
The voice whispered it right behind her ear. Mia started violently and jumped up, turning around quickly. Nothing was there. She scanned the room, every corner, her heart beating wildly. She waited…but nothing happened. She slowly moved back to her desk and lowered herself carefully into her chair, still watching the entire room. The door was open and she could see the light from the living room. Sounds of the guys could be heard. Mia forced herself to breath slower. Nothing. It was nothing. She'd had a long day and she was tired. She just needed some sleep, badly.
"Poor child, so afraid…were you bad?"
This time Mia jumped out of her chair and dashed across the room, wildly yanking open a display case. She grabbed the jewel dagger on display and wheeled around, weapon held up in front of her. She pressed her back against the wall and slid towards the door, eyes rapidly going to every nook and cranny. The room was brightly lit, and she could see nothing else but her and the normal artifacts. She edged towards the door, knowing she should cry out for help. But still, some deep part of her brain refused to register what was happening and kept her from it.
"You're not here," she whispered through clenched teeth. "You're gone. This is just my imagination. You're gone." She edged even closer to the door. Three more steps. She was just imagining everything. There was no one here but her. No one.
"Will they punish you? You've been very bad, little one. I'd punish you."
The voice was right behind her and Mia screamed, jumping away from the wall and spinning around. She lashed out with her dagger but cut only wallpaper. She turned wildly, trying to find the voice. You're not here, you're not here, you're not here, Mia's mind repeated over and over again dumbly. She started to dash for the door, then froze.
"I like punishing you, I always have…"
Mia knew. No matter what her brain had told her, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. Her body started trembling violently. She instinctively whispered, "Ryo…"
Then Mia looked up.

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Cye made it to the room first, to find her still screaming at the top of her lungs. He froze in the doorframe, sea blue eyes going wide with shock. The normally pale yellow room was splattered with bright crimson, and the metallic smell of fresh blood filled his nostrils. Mia was nowhere to be seen. Cye lunged into the room, towards the sound of Mia's terror filled voice, forcing his mind not to dwell on the liquid covering the room.
"Mia!" he gasped, searching for her. The screaming stopped but a keening noise came from one side of the room.
She was huddled under her desk, knees pulled up to her chest, rocking violently back and forth. Her eyes were clenched shut and tears dripped down her face. Cye grabbed her and pulled her out, lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of the room. He laid her shaking form down on the carpet in the hall, instinct making him slam the door shut behind them.Just in case something was in there, it was now trapped. Cye pulled her arms away from her body as he checked for where she was injured, just as Kento and Ryo came plunging up the stairs.
"Cye! Mia!" Ryo cried, seeing Mia collapsed in Cye's grip.
Cye pointed at the closed door. "In there! Something…in there!" Ryo and Kento went crashing through the door, just as Sage and Rowen appeared, a frightened looking Nikki behind them.
"Mia!" Sage gasped, seeing the walls inside the study. He instantly dropped down next to her and helped Cye check her for injuries. White Blaze brushed past them and crouched in the doorway, growling.
"Nothing," Cye murmured, running his hands up and down her arms and sides. "There's nothing wrong. No wounds." Sage muttered agreement as he wrapped his arms around the shaking woman.
"Easy, Mia," he whispered gently, "It's okay. We've got you." Slim fingers dug into his skin and he tightened his hold on her. Cye turned and hesitated, loath to enter the room. Ryo and Kento were standing in the middle of the study, looking back and forth. The blood on the walls seemed to not bother them at all.
Rowen stepped into the room, looking around. Nothing had been overturned, not a thing was out of place. Not even the window was open. The place was clean and organized; it was the way Mia had always kept it.
"There's nothing here," he said to Ryo and Kento. They nodded at him. Out in the hall, they could still hear Mia's quiet cries. From the doorway, Cye looked sick.
"Thank goodness none of that's from Mia," Cye said, staring at the walls. The three looked at the walls and then back at Cye.
"Umm, whatcha talking about Cye?" Kento asked, scratching his head. "What's not from Mia?"
Cye looked at Kento incredulously and gestured at the gore-covered room.
"That!" Cye said, pointing at the blood stains going up on the ceiling above them. "Everywhere! All the blood! When I got here, I didn't know if she was..." he trailed off as if he didn't want to even say the words.
"Cye?" Ryo said uncertainly, "I don't see any blood. Everything looks fine here." Kento and Rowen voiced agreement. Cye's jaw dropped.
"You've got to be kidding! It's everywhere! It's like a slaughterhouse in here. It smells like one!"
Ryo shrugged, then moved back into the hall where Mia and Sage were. Nikki remained standing a few feet away, silent. Ryo knelt down next to Mia, gently touching her shoulder. She shivered, but her tears had stopped.
"Sage, do you see anything?" Ryo asked quietly. Sage looked at the room and shuddered.
"There's blood everywhere, Ryo." Ryo nodded and stood, motioning the others to come back into the hall.
"Who sees it?" Ryo asked. Sage and Cye both indicated they did. From the looks on their faces, it was hard to believe they didn't see something. Ryo turned to Mia, seeing that she was still in no condition to tell them anything. His tiger blue eyes turned to Nikki. The dark haired woman was staring at the room with a glazed over expression of fear on her face.
"Do you see it too?" Ryo asked her. Nikki said nothing; she just continued to stare at the room, completely ignoring her friend. Ryo moved up to her, looking down as he blocked off the view of the study. Nikki started and raised fearful eyes to him.
"Do you see it Nikki?" Ryo repeated again. Nikki slowly nodded. Ryo swung around. "Close that door," he ordered, "and make sure no one goes back in. Stay together, at least two to a room. I don't know what the hell's going on, but what ever happened to Mia isn't going to repeat itself. Blaze, keep an eye on Mia, okay?"
The tiger turned to his master and growled again, tail continuing to flick, but he padded over to where Mia was. She had pulled away from Sage and sat with her head buried in her arms.
"You're okay, Mia," Kento said thickly, "We're not going to let anything happen to you." Mia nodded into her arms but didn't speak. Ryo motioned to Kento, and Kento moved over and leaned down, easily lifting her up. He carried her towards her bedroom, White Blaze in their wake. Rowen closed the door firmly shut. His eyes were on Nikki. She looked terrified.
"What do you think happened?" Cye asked Sage, since Sage was the only Ronin who could see what he saw. "It looked like someone had been torn to pieces. When I heard her screaming and went in, I thought that she…" Cye trailed off and shuddered.
"I think something's playing games with us," Sage declared, brushing a chunk of blonde hair out of his eyes. Then his eyes narrowed and he turned towards where Nikki had been slowly backing away. She stopped, a "deer in the headlights" look all over her face. Sage looked at her suspiciously.
"And I think you know what it is."

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Mia rolled over in bed, dragging the blankets with her. She buried her face in the pillow, not acknowledging the Ronin that stood guard in her room. She didn't want to talk to them. She didn't want to tell them what she knew…that it didn't matter how many of them stood watch over her. It wouldn't stop. It would never stop.
Her mind eventually shut down, the way it does when you can't face what's right in front of you anymore. Her breathing slowed and she finally fell asleep. When soft sleepy noises indicated that she had in fact gone to sleep, he moved to her bedside and sat down next to her. He ran a gentle finger down her arm and enclosed her hand with his. He stretched out along side her in the bed, one strong arm draping over her slim form. He allowed himself to breath in the scent of her hair.
"Mia," he whispered softly. She stirred restlessly in his arms and he shifted so that she had more room, entwining their fingers.
"Mia," he spoke again, leaning over her. Her hand twitched and she weakly tried to pull it away from his. "Everything's going to be okay. Don't worry," he reassured her.
Across the room the Ronin shifted positions, keeping watch protectively. The tiger started to growl.
He grinned, tightening his hand down tightly on hers. In her sleep she whimpered fearfully. He grinned even bigger as he whispered in her ear.
"I'm here…"