Courting The Jester

Chapter Fourteen

“It’s one thing to be alone.
It’s another to know that you are.”

-untitled-

Mia lay in the darkness listening to the sounds of her own breathing. She counted the beats of her heart between the time she sucked in a small pocket of air until the moment it left her mouth with a soft whoosh. She closed her eyes and concentrated on this, letting everything else slide from her mind. She counted over and over again until she knew exactly when her heart quickened and when it slowed. Nothing else changed. Nothing else was different. She reached three and her heart skipped an off beat. Mia opened her eyes and stared at the empty dark room. Nothing had changed, absolutely nothing.
Except that she wasn't alone any more.
Mia forced her muscles to remain relaxed and soft, her breathing slow. Tiny signs. That was all she had to go by. She wasn't Cassie, she couldn't sense the malevolent presence with a disability-bred heightened awareness. She wasn't White Blaze, with animal instincts. She wasn't Nikki, who somehow managed to fall apart emotionally every time He came around, without even knowing why. No, Mia wasn't any of them. All she had to go by was her brain. And her brain told her that the most amusing place for him to be right now would be right next to her on the bed, watching her scan the room for him. He was right there. He had been right there the entire time.
Mia stared up at the darkness, counting her heartbeats between breaths. She waited for what seemed like an eternity and then she felt it. Just a subtle shift, a corner of the sheet moving when she didn't. The instincts she did possess screamed a warning, but the young woman remained still. One...two...three...
"I have a proposition for you," Mia whispered up into the darkness. The sheet shifted again, and despite her fear she had a momentary feeling of elation. She had known where he was this time. This time for one moment they were on equal footing. She felt the warm breath tickle her neck, sending a shiver through her body. Cool lips brushed her earlobe as Damian whispered,
"I'm listening."

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The world was a hard place, as Ryo Sanada could have told anyone. It doesn’t matter what you want or where you were planning to go; life has a way of lifting you up and slamming you down right where it wants you. Off the top of his head he could think of a thousand different moments in his life that he wished had gone differently, but there was nothing he could do about them. That was partly where Ryo drew his strength from. He had no choice in the path that life had led him down, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t follow that path with as much courage and honor as he could hold inside his body. Ryo would roll with the punches and come up swinging. But the girl in front of him right now, the one that was making him want to tear his hair out in frustration, wasn’t like him. In fact, she wasn’t like any of them. Ryo was starting to believe that there wasn’t a single brave bone in her body; that she was a case study of pure aggravation. The girl in front of him wasn’t rolling with the punches…she was swinging punches before the fight even started. And right now, that girl was refusing to budge.
“I’m not going in there.” She flapped her hand in the direction of the stone monstrosity not fifteen feet away from them, its gigantic doors looming forebodingly over the group. Ryo stood in front of her, his massive body armor making him seem much larger than he actually was. A forced look of patience was on his face, but his brilliant blue eyes glittered with what could only be taken as intense irritation.
“Nikki, we have to go in there. We have to find a way to defeat this Damian guy. I need everyone with me to fight him, and I can’t spare anyone to leave out here with you.” Ryo’s voice was kind and sympathetic, a sharp contrast to his gritted teeth. This was really the last thing he need right now. The dark haired woman in front of him had her hands on her hips and her small feet planted in the dirt. The look of stubbornness on her face was so complete that the image of a mule came to mind, short and reluctant and pissy. Behind him Cye snorted and Nikki gave the Ronin of Torrent a dirty look. Ryo took a deep calming breath, feeling the rising frustration coming off of Sage and Kento. Rowen was oddly neutral, seeming content to watch. Mia was no help here; she had sunk further inside herself with every step they took towards their destination. She had paused at the door and stood silently, eyes closed. That was when Nikki had decided to throw a hissy fit.
“I don’t have to go anywhere. In fact, out of everyone here, I’m the least equipped to be going anywhere near this place. Do I look like I can protect myself?” Nikki demanded, stamping her foot.
“Maybe you could bitch the bad guy to death,” Cye suggested mildly. “We haven’t tried that approach yet.”
“Don’t you start in, Torrent!” Nikki snapped. “I take that crap from Rowen all the time, I don’t have to take it from you too.”
“We’re wasting time,” Kento said shortly. He walked up to where Mia stood closed eyed in front of the large building, and he stared up at the huge stone door. It looked incredibly heavy and strong. Kento wondered if it was possible to be able to move it, even with his strength. He quirked an eyebrow at Mia and quipped,
“Does anyone have a van handy?”
Mia said nothing in reply. Kento sighed and gave her a long worried look. They were losing her bit by bit, if they hadn’t lost her already.
“How do we get in here, Mia?” Kento asked seriously. The red-head opened her eyes and smiled tightly.
“Just knock on the door, Kento. They’re not trying to keep us out.” He gave her a hard look, then strode up to the door. Hardrock pushed on it lightly. It didn’t budge. He gave it a hard shove, but there was still nothing. Mia leveled a sardonic look at Kento.
“I said knock, Kento. You can’t force your way in these places.” Mia’s eyes glazed over as she muttered, “You have to go willingly.”
Kento gave her a long searching look, then rapped his knuckles against the door. It swung effortlessly aside.
“Nikki, we need to go,” Ryo said, reaching out to take a hold of her arm. She swatted his hand away, the __expression on her face flashing from stubborn to terrified back to stubborn so fast that Ryo wasn’t completely sure he had seen it. She shook her head stiffly, eyes flickering as she stared down at her feet, as if she was thinking very very quickly. It was something Rowen often did when trying to solve a particularly tough problem. Before she had a chance to say anything, Cye stepped forward, gripping her elbow firmly.
“Enough, Nik. We’re running out of time.” She continued to stare at the ground, shoulders tensed, seemingly oblivious to Cye’s words. Then Mia’s soft voice spoke up.
“Nikki. We need to finish this. Now.” Mia’s voice turned hard, and Nikki’s head snapped up. She glared at the other woman angrily, then yanked her arm away from Cye. From his stance by Sage, White Blaze growled warningly.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Lead on, oh great leader,” Nikki said sarcastically, marching towards the now open door, her words unclear as to who she meant. Halo’s light didn’t penetrate deep enough into the shadows to show what lay beyond the door.
Cye gave Rowen a pointed look, indicating that Nikki was his responsibility now. Rowen merely relaxed his stance. Cye’s __expression became disgusted and he turned on his heel, striding after the dark haired woman. Rowen just shrugged as if to say that he certainly wasn’t going to waste his time trying to keep Nikki safe. Ryo actually agreed with him, as he too moved towards the entrance of the last remaining structure in this underground hell hole. Nikki had paused at Mia’s side, where the red head stood gripping her necklace in her hand. Then Mia stepped forward and disappeared into the darkness, the Ronin Warriors trailing behind silently. Their brightly colored armors blended into black, until not even Sage’s blonde hair could be seen anymore.
Nikki stood outside the door, staring up in dismay. A trickle of air brushed her neck, eliciting a small whimper. Where’s Cassie when I need her? Nikki thought bitterly. The blonde woman had always calmed her, even in times like this. Nikki had never felt so torn in her life. One part of her wanted to dash in behind them to face their enemy, one part was screaming that they needed to come clean before things got any worse, and one part of her wanted to get the hell out of there, regardless who got hurt in the aftermath. She remained motionless for a long moment, fighting with herself. She almost turned around. But two pairs of blue eyes won out, one unseeing but infinitely kind and another angry and confused. Taking a deep steadying breath, Nikki plunged into the dark.

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Outside the cave a beetle crawled up the arm of a statue. Its hard dark body made clicking noises as it scurried across the face of a stunningly beautiful woman, her perfection marred only by the look of horror the artist had carved into her countenence. A small breeze brushed the beetle, causing it to cling precariously to the statue until it once again had its balance. The beetle quickly hurried off. The __expression on the statue’s face remained the same.

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The darkness only remained for a second, then the group stepped out into the light. They were in a perfectly round domed room, the walls covered with beautiful pictures and tapestries, the dome painted in bright colors. Gleaming gold veins curled through walls, glittering as they peaked out from behind artwork. Sweet fresh air filled the room, and Sage took a great long breath, enjoying the taste after the damp acrid air of the cave. Several hallways forked away from the room, running further than the eye could see, each gilded in the same showy decorations. It was beautiful. It was opulent. It was incredible.
Mia stepped into the middle of the room, staring up at the domed ceiling in wonder. Around her the Ronins moved towards the walls, eyes wide. Rowen motioned Sage over to a particular piece that sat in a small alcove next to where a hallway started. It was a tiny piece of glass, fashioned so delicately that neither man wanted to touch it. It was swirls and specks, all intricately interlocking. Rowen’s jaw had dropped.
“Sage!” Rowen whispered, “Do you know what this is?” Sage shook his head. A shiver of excitement went through the Ronin of Strata.
“It’s a galaxy,” Kento said, coming up behind the other two and staring over their shoulders at the priceless piece. Ryo moved to see what the others were looking at. A huge grin split Rowen’s face.
“Not just any galaxy, Kento. Our galaxy. Exactly. Down to every last star I can recognize! It’s….amazing!”
Ryo shrugged, his interest lying in other things besides astronomy. He looked back to where Mia was standing, her feet planted in the middle of the circle, her red hair falling down her back. Her eyes in her upturned face were once again closed, and if he didn’t know better Ryo would’ve sworn that she looked almost in physical pain. White Blaze crouched at her feet, eyes glowing and tail twitching. Cye was further to her right, staring at the wall opposite of them in wonder. An alarm went off in Ryo’s head and he swung around to where Nikki had just appeared, paused in the doorway. Her face had gone completely white.
“Mia?” she whispered, hands tightening into small fists. “Mia? This isn’t right.” The red head said nothing, but all five Ronins turned to stare at Nikki. Nikki took one step forward and stopped, gasping as she whimpered almost to herself.
“It doesn’t look like this…”
They only had a moment’s warning this time, that same high pitched shriek as before. The Ronins instinctively surged towards the center of the room. Even Rowen who had not been at Mia’s when it had happened before, took one frantic step towards the girls. But it was too late. They heard Mia laugh, a soft hopeless sound, then the world once again exploded and everything went black.

--------------

Nikki coughed as she came to, choking on dust and stale air. Something heavy was pushing all over her body, crushing down painfully into her ribcage. Panicking momentarily, she shoved as hard as she could against the object. It didn’t move. With a cry she struck at it with her hands, hitting as hard as she could. Her mind flashed to an image she’d seen on television of an earthquake that had sandwiched a double decker freeway back home. Cars and people had been crushed between the layers. She’d always thought that was a horrible way to die. Nikki wasn’t about let it happen to her. She shoved once more, adrenaline racing through her veins and giving her more strength. The object crushing her rolled off and grunted in pain.
Grunted?
Nikki sat up and instantly felt horrible as brown eyes met disgruntled sea blue. Cye remained on his side where she’d shoved him, his armor looking like he’d just been tossed into a blender. The parts of his body not completely protected by the Ronin armor, mainly his face, were scratched and bruised. Nikki looked around her and realized why Torrent was so beat up. They had been thrown down a hall, far away from the center room where they’d been attacked. A Cye-sized, foot deep scrape had been dug out of the stone floor for as far as she could see. Nikki shook her head in wonder. She remembered walking into the room, then hearing the sound that always came before the shockwaves. The guys had all jumped towards her and Mia as it hit…Cye must have gotten to her right before they were thrown. Nikki blushed in embarrassment as she turned back to Cye.
“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly, crawling to his side. Cye coughed loudly then spat gravel out of his mouth. He gave her one more glare then nodded.
“I’m fine,” he stated, armor creaking as he gingerly stood. He looked around them, eyeing the plain stone walls of the narrow corridor. His eye sight had always been good, but in the dim light provided by the lit torches on the wall, he couldn’t see all the way back to the center room. Cye decided he didn’t want to know how or why the corridor was lit, or by whom. Grimacing against the pain in his back from being thrown so far, Cye leaned over and pulled Nikki to her feet.
“Are you hurt?” Cye asked her. Nikki shook her head, deciding against mentioning her ribs. Cye looked around one more time, head tipped to the side.
“Well,” he said in a matter of fact manner, “We probably should try to get back to the others. We obviously came from that direction.” Cye pointed at the trail his scraping armor had left for them. Nikki just shrugged. She didn’t have any better ideas than to follow Torrent back the way they came.
Cye said nothing as they walked, his armored feet clinking with disquieting regularity in the silence of the corridor. Nikki drifted closer to then further from his side. She unconsciously sought the protective shadow of the Ronin armor, having seen its strength and knowing its power. Yet her brain told her that hiding behind the target made you more of one. Plus Cye’s returning abilities of empathy were making her uncomfortable. Nikki never knew just how much the soft spoken young man actually knew about her thoughts and feelings.
As if on cue, Cye turned his head and gave her a tight smile.
“It’s not like I try to pry in on everyone, Nik,” Cye murmured, sounding slightly unhappy. “It all just kind of happens whether I want it to or not. I can’t control it very well yet.”
Nikki flushed but still gave Cye a sympathetic look. He had never liked her, but he had always tried to be kind to her. Nikki knew that it really wasn’t Cye’s fault he was an empath. It definitely wasn’t his fault that it was all hitting him at once like this. The truth of matter was that if his memories hadn’t been taken from him, his control over the gift would have been much more complete. But like so many things, Cye’s empathy had been a liability and couldn’t be overlooked.
For his own good, Nikki thought sadly as she looked ahead. Cye’s head snapped around and his eyes bored holes into her, but Nikki didn’t acknowledge him. Cye seemed to struggle with something before his face smoothed. He tipped his head again to the side and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Nikki, can I ask you something?”
“What?” she asked, voice suspicious until she saw the honest open way Cye was looking at her. This wasn’t Rowen, she had to remind herself. Cye didn’t look at life like a chess game; he didn’t try to outmaneuver her until she was cornered.
“What, Cye?” she repeated in a softer tone.
“Well, something just occurred to me. You girls said that Damian is a being from another realm.”
“Yeah. And?” Nikki asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You said that what we see isn’t really him, that it was just part of him, an astral projection.”
“Not quite,” Nikki corrected absently, peering ahead into the dim light. “It’s his essence, the heart of what he is. The form we see is how he sees himself, what he believes he is. He’s evil, but he’s got a twisted sense of humor that dominates everything else. Most bad guys want to take over the world, like your Talpa tried to do. Damian just…is.”
Cye pursed his lips, hand instinctively brushing his yari for reassurance before he continued. They had already come at least one hundred yards, making him wonder just how far that shockwave had actually thrown them.
“But the kind of power he has here to attack us is so great. Does that mean that he’s even stronger in his true form?”
“Yes.” Nikki’s reply was curt, and her shoulders had stiffened. Cye continued on, ignoring her reaction to the questioning.
“Then why doesn’t he just come here in his true form? With that kind of strength, imagine the damage he could cause!” Cye exclaimed in horror. Nikki shook her head, staring unseeing ahead of her.
“He can’t. Or won’t really. It’s complicated.” Cye arched an eyebrow at her.
“Try me,” he challenged. Nikki rolled her eyes then narrowed them. She ran a hand through her hand thoughtfully.
“Think of it this way. Everything is made of up parts. There’s the biological parts, like organs and blood and stuff. Then there’s the emotional part, or soul if you will. It’s made up of your thoughts and your dreams and feelings, but most importantly your energy.”
“Go on,” Cye encouraged. She was starting to get excited, her hands flapping vigorously as she spoke.
“I’m going to throw some physics at you here, but stay with me. Believe it or not, energy is tangible. If you turn on the gas in a gas stove, the gas catches fire and transfers energy in the form of heat to your burner. Put a pot on the stove and let it sit for a while, then grab the handle, you’re going to get burned. You’re being burned by energy in the form of heat. The emotional part of you is energy, and while that presents a problem if you’re trying to get energy from one realm to another, it’s not as big of a problem as the biological part.
“The emotional part of you is tangible, but very liquid. Think about it in terms of water. If you lift up a handful of water and spread your fingers, the water runs right through. It moves around the barriers of your fingers easily, flowing past on the path of least resistance. Taking that part of your self between realms isn’t the hard part. If there’s some sort of hole between each realm, some sort of pathway, then the energy can get through. But like the burning gas heating the stove, the energy has to be changed into a form that is useful in the situation, namely useful in traveling between realms.
“The physical part is different. It is tangible too, but it’s made up of more solid material. Think about Star Trek. When they beamed up Captain Kirk, they messed around with the atoms that make him up. I won’t bore you with the theories on that stuff, but traveling between realms is the same thing. Instead of water in your hand you have sand now. Pick it up and spread your hand and it still flows through, but little grains still get trapped and hung up. Your atoms get hung up in between the holes, and the next thing you know you’re stuck in between realms in some sort of stasis that I don’t even want to imagine.” At this Nikki trailed off and shuddered. Then she launched back into her explanation with a force that would have made Rowen proud.
“So for Damian to travel his entire self between realms, it is much harder and also a bigger risk. As far as Mia or I could tell, he did a kind of combination when he came. He brought his emotional part, but he also brought some physical part as well. We call that his essence. He’s here, but not all the way. That means that when he attacks us, the attacks are more powerful than they would be if he was only emotionally here. We can hurt him, but not very much because the main part of his physical body is still in his own realm.”
Cye took all this in, trying to process it all. Then confusion spread over his face. “But then how does it work with us?”
“Well, when you guys traveled back and forth from earth to the Nether Realm, the best that Mia and I could come up with was that the armor worked as a sort of protective vessel. Then when Mia and Yuli went there as well, the power of the ancient acted as a kind of pseudo protection. Did it ever feel weird for you during the transitions from one to the other?” Nikki suddenly asked curiously. Cye thought about it, hand rubbing his lower back as he walked.
“When you bring it up, yeah. I guess so. It kind of felt like I was being squeezed all over, as if putting on too tight of clothes. It would tingle, then burn, then we’d be through. It was never something we talked about.”
Nikki nodded as if he’d just supported a theory of hers. He had in fact.
“That feeling was from the physical part of you going through the…the fingers if you will. They ‘Captain Kirk’ you, beam you through the holes, transfer you from one place to another, from one state to another, using your energy to do it.”
“But doesn’t that use up your energy? Your emotional part?” Cye asked her worriedly.
“Energy doesn’t disappear, Cye, but yeah…it gets transferred away. When you go between realms you lose part of yourself. When your body comes too, it’s much harder and you lose even more of your energy. It’s very dangerous. That’s why Damian doesn’t bring too much of himself over, that’s why you guys have the protective armor, and that’s why it was necessary for the ancient’s power to be there to protect Mia and Yuli. That’s our theory anyway.”
“If Damian’s so much stronger in his realm, why doesn’t he take us back there and fight us? Why even mess around here at all?” Cye wondered. Again Nikki shook her head.
“He can’t take us against our will. That’s too hard. It would be like trying to tear through six feet of concrete with your bare hands. And when you throw in the wills of your armors, it’s even more complicated. Your old armors had wills of their own. When you and Kento and Sage were kidnapped by the Dynasty, Mia figured that your armors didn’t fight the jump between realms for reasons of their own. Maybe they wanted the fight taken to the Nether Realm, where there were more enemies to face. I don’t know. But Damian can’t take any of us against our will.”
Nikki took a deep breath and looked up. Then she gasped. Cye instinctively reached for his yari, then realized what had caused Nikki’s shock. Where the round room had once been was now being blocked by a sheet of rock. They were sealed away from their friends. Nikki stepped forward and placed her hand against the rock. Right in the middle of the wall, at exactly her eyelevel, there was something scratched crudely into the stone. Cye noticed it as well and stepped forward to see it just as Nikki jerked back. She quivered and turned her back as Cye stared in disbelief at the rough smiley face staring back at him.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cye asked. Nikki gave a weak laugh and leaned back against the corridor wall, sliding slowly down to the ground, her elbows on her knees.
“Is there some bizarre obscure reason why this thing is here? Some hidden secret you girls neglected to tell us about?” Cye voice had become slightly acidic. A lot had just been thrown at him the last couple days, especially the last couple hours, and the girl next to him was radiating an overwhelming amount of fear and…amusement?
“No, Cye,” Nikki said, burrowing her face in her hands. Frustrated Cye leaned over and gripped her chin, pulling her face up so she had to look at him. Her dark brown eyes were red rimmed and wet.
“Then what Nik?” Cye pressed letting go of her head. She laid her cheek against her arm and gave him a tired smile.
“I like smilies. That’s for me.”
“Why?”
“Cye, haven’t you figured any of this out yet? There is no reason. There hasn’t ever been a reason. It just is.”

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When she finally regained consciousness, Mia opened her eyes to find that she was all alone. No….no White Blaze was still there. She’d just heard him rumble behind her. Mia sat up and rubbed her head, fighting the nausea that accompanied the movement. She stood gingerly, looking around her. A door had slammed down between the room and each hallway, effectively sealing her off from where she assumed the others had been thrown. It had to have been a shockwave, only that would have knocked her out so fast and so completely. But in a place like this, a shockwave should have brought the building down on their heads. They should all be dead.
Mia once again stared up at the domed ceiling, now dark cold stone, free of any decoration or beauty. Several ancient torches lined the walls, the smoke of the flames leaving a bitter smell in her nostrils. Just like before…Mia shivered despite herself. She knew this place. She had known this place the moment they had reached its doors; she had known it when they had first stepped into the room. No number of beautiful decorations could hide what had happened here. This place was in her dreams, somewhere her mind fled from and yet was forced to return to on a nightly basis. Some places you can never escape from, mentally. Physically either. She was sealed in, with no way out. She was going to die here, all alone in the place where she’d betrayed herself. Where she’d betrayed them all. The irony was more than she could handle and she stared to laugh. Her laughter echoed off the walls, surrounding her until it turned into sobs.
Mia sank to her knees. Teardrops glittered as they hit the stone beneath her. She raised her face once more to the ceiling, tears streaming down her face. She was ready for this all to be over. Like Nikki, she too had had enough. White Blaze watched impassively, never once moving any closer to the crying woman. His tail twitched and he too looked up at the ceiling. Ignorant of such things as irony and remorse, the tiger waited for what he knew would eventually come.

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The yari didn’t even leave a scratch on the stone wall. The smilie grinned crookedly, as if it knew Cye’s attempts to break through the wall had centered around it. Cye slid down to sit next to Nikki, at a loss as to what to do next. He didn’t want to risk using his sure kill with her this close and he couldn’t send her down the hall. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight, just in case something else besides just them was in the corridor, and there were no guarantees that the attack wouldn’t come right back and hit them. He’d be alright, if even more bruised, but that wasn’t something he was prepared to do to Nikki.
“We need to start moving again,” Cye finally said. “We can’t stay here. If I can’t get through it, then they can’t either. We’ll just have to find another way.”
“Or we could just wait for it to all be over. It will eventually. If we just sit here long enough, he might get bored enough to either kill us or go away.” It was the most dismal thing he had ever heard her say, and it triggered a memory in him. He could see her, smiling and laughing with Mia in the kitchen, throwing smart ass comments at a lurking Rowen. Nikki looked happy. She looked fiery. She barely resembled the ball of person next to him. Anger filled Cye, not necessarily directed at her, but getting sent that way in his growing frustration.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cye snapped. He gestured towards the wall, forcing his eyes not to focus on the drawing. “And what the hell is wrong with her too? Or us? Damn it! What the hell happened, Nikki? What’s going ON?” His last words came out as a roar and Nikki inadvertently flinched. Nikki pulled her knees tighter to her chest and looked away.
"What good will it do to know, Cye? How will it change anything?" Her voice was very quite and small, and it cooled Cye temper instantly. He tried his hardest to be understanding and patient, the way Ryo had been with Mia. Cye suddenly had the weirdest feeling that he shouldn’t be here with her. It should have been someone else.
Cye reached forward and rested his hand on top of Nikki's wrist, squeezing slightly. "It won't change anything that's already happened, Nik," Cye said gently. "But it might make the difference in what comes next."
Nikki closed her eyes, sinking down inside herself. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it. But maybe, if Cye could remember something that he had used to know, then just maybe....
"Cye? Do you remember what you did when that stuff with Rowen happened and you got inside my head, talking to me?"
"Yeah," Cye said, seeming confused by the change in subject.
"Do you remember how you did that?"
"Not really," Cye admitted, "I just felt you slipping and I went in after you."
"...You used to be able to do something. You guys all could, but you and Sage were the best at it. It was called delving."
Cye sat quietly for a moment, and Nikki could tell the words she had said had sparked a memory in the young man. Delving. Out of all of the things these guys had been able to do, delving had been the scariest to her. The thought that someone could intrude into her innermost private memories and feelings without her consent had made her nervous. It was what Sage had done to Mia earlier in the cave. Rowen had done it to her once, to find out what was really going on with her and Cassie and Mia. Nikki had only barely managed to force him out before it was too late, before all their plans were ruined. Ryo had been furious when he'd found out. He'd called it mental rape. Rowen hadn't seemed all that sorry. Rowen could be brutal when he decided he was in the right.
"You always did bring out the worst in Rowen, Nikki," Cye said softly. Nikki looked up at him, pulled out of her thoughts. Cye looked slightly pale, but there was a determined expression on his face. He moved over so he was sitting closer to Nikki. His armor clanked and smelled of metal and sweat, yet she found that oddly comforting. Nikki wanted comfort right now, she was about to do something she really didn't want to do. But unlike Mia, Nikki wasn't still convinced they had been in the right and she had the scars to prove it. It was time someone else realized what had happened, and Nikki knew that the only other person she cared enough about besides Cye to let see it was the one person she could never show.
"Is it so bad, Nik?" Cye whispered. Nikki turned big sad eyes to him, and Cye tilted his head to the side. He looked at her. He looked through her.
"Don't kiss me when you do this the way Sage did to Mia," Nikki said, the intended sarcasm falling short and sounding weak. Cye nodded solemnly and leaned over, tugging Nikki closer to him. She allowed him to tuck her head against his armored shoulder. Cye's chin came down and rested on the top of her head. Nikki took a deep breath. Then Cye delved.
It was one thing when it was done against her will. It was another entirely when she willingly let Cye sink inside her emotions. The first had been violent when Rowen had forced himself inside her thoughts, a struggle to keep him away. This was like pulling on a second shirt and feeling the extra tightness all over, as if she didn’t quite fit. There wasn’t enough room for the both of them. Nikki felt more than heard Cye’s amusement at her internal analogy, but he too seemed uncomfortable with the new sensations. Finally the tightness left Nikki’s body, and she felt Cye’s grunt of relief. Another analogy came to her mind at the experience, but Nikki tried her best not to think of it.
Very funny Nikki, Cye thought sourly to her. I’ll try to be gentle, he added sarcastically. Nikki just laughed to herself, shaking her head, and tried to look at Cye. Instead of seeing the man she knew was right next to her, everything went blurry and all she saw was spinning shapes. Nikki’s stomach lurched unpleasantly.
Close your eyes, Cye suggested. And please don’t puke on me.
I wasn’t planning on it, she replied mentally as she squeezed her eyes shut, still not used to this way of communicating.
Me either, Cye responded, not to what she’d said but what she’d felt.
This is too weird, Nikki decided. Cye again seemed amused. Nikki wondered exactly what she was supposed to do next.
Why don’t you try focusing, Nik, Cye said. Think about what you wanted to show me. Think about back then.
Nikki went silent, and Cye felt a shift go over her mind. It was like a darkness sinking in, chilling him and making the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He could feel her fear, dripping like a leaky faucet, constant and unceasing. It was then that Cye realized that Nikki wasn’t just afraid now. She’d been afraid for years. Cye pressed around her, trying to impress comfort and safety. Nikki brushed if off as is it was a speck of dust; he didn’t even faze her. Cye pulled back and waited. This was her show; she was the one running it now. He felt her steel herself, take a deep breath, then the cloudiness he’d seen ever since delving darkened and solidified into something he could actually see, something he could watch. Her words were painful as she whispered,
I was with Rowen the first time He took me…

----------

Rowen shifted next to her, one arm reaching out to pull her into him, his leg draped over hers, their ankles locked. His mixture of rock hard wiry muscles and long limbs made her feel like she was caught in a lanky metal cage. For once she didn’t fight him when he trapped her in a cocoon of Strata, for once the closeness wasn’t suffocating and frustrating. She pressed her back into him, feeling the rise and fall of his ribcage against her shoulder as he breathed. Her fingers found his and she slid her hand beneath his larger one. His arms immediately tightened around her.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” a deep voice rumbled against her ear. She remained silent, her mouth shut. The body next to her rolled over, pulling her beneath him, and dark blue eyes gazed down with thinly veiled concern.
“You’re different,” Rowen murmured, adjusting so that his weight was on his arms and not her torso. “Something’s upsetting you.”
“I’m fine, Rowen,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice level. “Please, can we just go back to sleep?”
“You haven’t slept all night, Nik,” Rowen pointed out. “Each time I think you’re getting close, you tense up and burrow yourself as close to me as you can. You usually barely tolerate me holding you. You’re hiding, which means you’re scared. What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and looked away. A strong hand rested lightly against her jaw, tenderly drawing her face back towards his. She clamped her mouth shut. Rowen let out a long deep sigh, shaking his head in experienced frustration. Then he leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers. She remained stiff in his arms for a moment, but he started gently rubbing her arms and shoulder as he kissed her. She felt herself giving in, relaxing under his touch. She knew he was trying to wear her down, trying to make her pliable to his questions. She knew…but he was just so damn good at it. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to lose herself in his arms right now, to retreat into the safety of being his lover, to have that protection. She wrapped her arm around his neck, surprising him with her pliancy, and kissed him back more passionately than she ever had before. Rowen broke the kiss and looked down at her, intelligent eyes seeing through her, knowing something was off, but not understanding. She pulled him back down and forced him to concentrate on other things.
Much later Rowen had collapsed spent against her. His head rested on her shoulder, blue hair falling boyishly across his face, a small smile of contentment on his mouth as he slept. One arm lay draped over her stomach with the rest of his body sprawled out across the bed. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, trying to calm her racing heart.
It was her turn now.
Rowen let out a snort, the precursor to the crescendo of snores she knew would soon come. He grunted and rolled away from her, his broad back to her as he snored. She trailed her fingers down Rowen’s shoulder blade, memorizing the curves of the strong muscles. She leaned forward and lightly kissed the center of his back. Then she froze as she felt the exact same motion being done to her. He was there.
“Hello little one,” purred a voice in her ear. She froze, icy cold washing through her limbs. In a moment of pure panic, she realized that she couldn’t hold to this bargain, and she clutched at Rowen. A large strong hand grasped her wrists with inhuman speed. Pale fingers clamped over her mouth, muffling her scream effectively, pulling her naked and kicking from the bed. Damian held her up, fighting helplessly in his arms.
“He’s asleep right now, sweeting. I could kill him if I chose. He would never know until it was over. Deals can be broken.” His last words made her freeze and go still. Nikki stared at the sleeping man, a sick look on her face. They had decided to do this. It was the only option they had left. Mia and Cassie had come back alive. Damian wouldn’t kill her. It wasn’t any fun to actually kill her. Then he’d have to find a new toy to play with.
He set her down on her feet, hand still clamped over her mouth. Rowen rolled back the other way, reaching for her. He muttered in his sleep, stirring restlessly. Maybe just maybe if he woke up, there would still be a chance to get out of this. Maybe Rowen could still save her…
A soft tearing noise broke the silence of the room. Nikki quivered in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. Rowen reached further for her across the bed. Sleepily he raised his head to see where she was, but Damian had already drawn her back through the rip between their worlds. Rowen’s eyes snapped open. The tear had already closed.

---------

Nikki? Nikki, are you okay? We can stop this if you need to.
I’m okay, Cye. Just…just don’t leave me there alone.
Leave you where?
In that hell. In Damian’s world…
But I thought that no one could pass through between the realms. That it took too much energy and he couldn’t do it.
He could do it…
How, Nikki?
Because we went willingly. We gave him the strength. That was the deal. We helped him…

----------

It had been cool in her room, enough that she would have buried herself under the blankets until her own warmth built up enough for sleep. But as soon as she set foot on the other side of the tear, a wave of heat hit her. The air had a thick metallic taste, and the inner scientist side of Nikki momentarily panicked at what her lungs might be inhaling. But then the hand gripping her yanked her sideways, and the tear that they had crossed through snapped shut like a slamming door, and Nikki stopped thinking about poisonous gases. She turned around, eyes growing wide as she looked at what surrounded her.
They were in a city, something so vast that even the born and bred city girl stared in shock. It stretched in every direction, as far as she could see, streets full of…not people. They were taller than people, slimmer and more beautiful. A dark haired figure walked past, eyes riveted on her. Nikki shivered as it stared. It ignored her body, there was no interest there; it was the completely black hatred that burned in its eyes that scared her. She spun around to flee and ran into a body. She looked up Damian’s true face…

SNAP!

Nikki looked up to find she was alone in a room. It was round and plain, the dark stone giving it a dreary cast. A few small torches lit the room dimly. Nikki looked down and realized that she was wearing a long dark robe, it’s soft folds brushing her bare feet. A small carpet in the center of the room was the only decoration, and Nikki slowly moved to it. Having no idea as to what would happen next, she knelt down on the carpet and…

SNAP!

He was back. A door to the room opened directly in front of her, causing her head to jerk up. He stood there, looking down at her with an amused expression on his handsome face. Before when he had looked at her in her world, all she had seen was the dark essence that made him, the demonic interior. But now to see that part of him encased in this body was even more terrifying. It was like putting a face to the devil. Nikki shook as he motioned for her to rise and follow him. Damian strode from the room, his guards flanking him. He led her down different corridors, twisting and turning until she had lost all sense of direction. Finally they reached a set of large glistening doors, encased in a stone that looked like marble. Four guards walked forward and gave the door a huge heave. With a boom they fell slowly open. Damian looked back over his shoulder and grinned evilly.
“Your place is fine, sweeting,” he purred. “But now, welcome to my home.” Damian strode out onto a huge balcony set high above the city, cloak swirling. Far in the distance two huge volcanoes smoked and spat molten rock into the fiery sky. Damian reached the railing and spread out his hands. The resulting roar almost knocked Nikki off of her feet. Staggering, she stepped forward several feet, enough to make her gasp at what she saw. Below her stretched the people of this land, lined up in rows upon rows upon rows. They roared and screamed, hundreds of thousands of voices rising to Damian's obvious delight. He turned and looked at her pale face, mouth twisted into a smirk.
“They’re waiting for their queen,” he said, gesturing at the crowd behind him. His smile widened as he added, “They say she will lead them to a great victory one of these days. Maybe they are right. The queen is…beautiful in her viciousness. They crave blood and she gives it too them. Me, I find my amusement in other more practical ways. If we kill everyone, there’s no one to play with anymore.”
Another roar ripped through the crowd, this more angry and violent. Damian’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
“But as my people grow weary of waiting for my Queen, it is my duty as her servant to keep them occupied.” Damian strode up to her and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off her feet. Nikki tried to scream but her voice was muffled as he tightened his grip.
“Now now, little one,” he whispered in her ear as he carried her kicking and clawing at his arm to the balcony. “It’ll all be okay. You’re only serving the greater good, you know.” The roar below her became deafening as Damian thrust her out over the balcony. Nikki widened her eyes in horror as her feet dangled helplessly over the bloodthirsty crowd. His hot breath touched her ear as he leaned closer and began singing softly.
“One, two…they’re all looking at you.”
He clamped down on her neck tighter, fingernails drawing blood. Nikki started turning blue.
“Three, four…make them roar.” Damian tossed her up, causing the crowd to scream as he re-gripped her shoulder. Nikki gasped and tried to grab back onto the balcony. Damian pushed her out further so her hands touched nothing.
“Five, six…just a couple of nicks.” He nipped at her neck, biting hard enough that blood came from the cut. As if even from this distance the crowd could smell it, the gathering below roared in pleasure at the violence.
“No, please!” Nikki whispered. Damian leaned over and kissed her torn neck tenderly.
“Seven, eight…”
“Damian…you promised you wouldn’t hurt us…” Nikki cried.
“No sweeting. I promised I wouldn’t kill you. I never said anything about them.” With that, rhyme unfinished, he let her go. Nikki shrieked as she fell, kicking and flailing towards the crowds below. If the fall didn’t kill her, though it likely would, she knew that they would rip her apart. For the first time in her life, Nikki prayed. She actually saw the eyes of the front one creature as she fell right in front of it. It’s hands were reaching out towards her.
Mia, this wasn’t part of the deal, Nikki thought bitterly. Then she hit.

SNAP!

“Nine ten…do it again.”

SNAP!

The tear snapped shut behind her. Nikki stumbled forward, almost tripping and falling flat on her face. Her knees hit the bed, and she grabbed onto the bunched up covers for support. Rowen’s eyes had just snapped open, and he looked startled and confused, as if he had thought he’d seen something that wasn’t there. He sat up and looked suspiciously at her. She was gasping as if she had just run very hard for a really long time. Nikki stared around the room as if trying to make sure she was really there and wasn’t being ripped apart by a vicious crowd.
“Nikki? What…? What are you doing out of bed?” Rowen rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, disgruntled. It was as if the blue haired man knew that something very important had just happened, but wasn’t sure what it was or why. “What time is it, Nik?”
“Late,” she managed to croak out, aware that she was still naked. She reached for the blankets and pulled them up to cover her and any wounds that might show, feeling more dirty than she ever had in her life. “Rowen, please leave me alone tonight, okay? Please?”
Rowen stared at her as if she was insane.
“Nikki, it’s the middle of the night! What the hell is wrong with you---?”
“GET OUT!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Rowen actually jumped at the sound. Then without a word he furiously leapt out of bed and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him with a thunderous crack. The silence afterwards was deafening, only broken by the slam of another door down the hall. She collapsed on top of the bed, rolling up into a ball, clutching Rowen’s pillow to her chest. She didn’t stop shaking until well after the morning sun flooded her room with light.

------------

…Cye?
I’m still here.
Can we stop now?
Is there more?
Just more of the same. Each time he took me there I thought I was going to die. I knew he wouldn’t kill me, but each time he made me sure that this time he would. I’d think I was dead, but I always just ended up back in my room, crying hysterically. He wouldn’t let it end that easily, I guess.
How many times did he take you there, Nikki?
Does it matter?
Yes.
….Twenty three.
Oh my god. Cassie and Mia too?
I don’t know. We never talked about it. We never…sometimes if you don’t talk about something you can pretend it never happened.
But it did happen, Nikki. What about what they must have done to you girls? You said it takes away your energy. What does that do to you.
Look at Mia. There’s your answer, Cye.
……
Can we please go back now, Cye?
…Yes.

-----------

“Fuck!”
Kento beat his fists against the wall furiously, trying to use Hardrock to force his way back to where they’d been separated. Ryo wasn’t much better, striking his swords uselessly at the smooth stone, the scraping noises making Rowen wince.
“You guys, I think we need to try to find another option,” Rowen suggested mildly. “That doesn’t seem to be working.”
“We need a plan,” Sage added. Rowen just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at his best friend.
“Yes. A plan. We need one.” He coughed pointedly, until Ryo finally stopped attacking the wall.
“What do you have in mind?” Ryo asked, looking royally pissed off. He did not appreciate the fact that half of the people he took responsibility for were missing and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Well, we already know what’s on this side of the corridor. Why don’t we try the other side? I mean, it couldn’t be any worse than this, could it?” As the words left his mouth, the sounds of marching feet began echoing down towards them, growing louder by the second. Sage looked over at Rowen and did roll his eyes.
“You had to say that, didn’t you?” Sage muttered. Rowen just shrugged apologetically. Already armed and aching for a fight, Ryo stepped forward and slid into a fighting stance. Behind him Kento was still banging uselessly against the rock.
“Kento! Leave it! We’ve got other problems right now,” Rowen said, reaching for an arrow and bringing it to his bow. Kento leveled a furious look at him.
“They could be hurt or worse, Rowen,” Kento snarled. “You don’t seem to give a shit. Cye, Mia, and Nikki could be dead over there.”
“They’re okay. We’d know if we lost Cye, and I know for a fact that Nikki’s fine.” Rowen pulled his arrow tight against his cheek and took aim. The sounds of marching had grown into a loud crescendo, covering Rowen’s added words. “I would know where she was with closed eyes. I just couldn’t tell you why.”
Finally Kento gave up and spun, brandishing his weapon angrily. Just then the sounds of marching feet stopped. They waited, muscles tight as they watched for the enemy to come bursting out of the darkness. They waited. And waited. Finally with a roar of fury Kento sprang forward into the darkness beyond the range of the torches.
“Kento! Stop!” Ryo yelled, but the Ronin of Hardrock was gone. Having no other choice the others plunged in after him, Sage’s sword throwing extra light into the hall. They found him in the middle if the hall a hundred feet down, kneeling in front of a spear that had been thrust into the ground. There was no sign anyone else had ever been there.
“What is it, Kento?” Ryo demanded, moving to his side. Kento’s face was bleak and he gripped something tightly in his fist. Ryo reached over him and yanked the spear out of the ground. Impaled between the dirt and the blade was a small piece of paper that fluttered up as soon as Ryo lifted the weapon. Sage grabbed it and snarled.
“It’s an invitation,” Sage said, answering Ryo’s questioning look. “From Damian. He wants us to join him at the ‘second seal’.”
“You say it like it’s in quotations,” Rowen murmured. Sage handed the note to him.
“It is. ‘Second seal.’” Sage stood and walked away. Rowen pursed his lips thoughtfully, only to be brought back by the slight note of panic in his leader’s voice.
“Kento? What is that you’re holding?” Rowen looked down at the small clump of red strands that Kento gripped tightly in his fist.
“His insurance policy.”
The Ronin of Hardrock stood, his face more dangerous than any of them could ever remember seeing it. He tucked the severed chunk of Mia’s hair beneath his breastplate and took the spear away from Ryo. Kento gripped the spear and very methodically broke it in half with his hands.
There was blood everywhere…
“Kento?” Sage asked, suddenly and inexplicably alarmed about his friend. “Are you okay?”
“I told him if he ever touched her again I would kill him,” Kento murmured to himself, tucking the sharp end of the spear under his arm. Eyes cold, Hardrock turned and marched down the hall, away from the protection of his team. There was nothing else they could do. Grimacing, the other three followed him into the depths of this underground hellhole.