Ronin Warriors 1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors. Aya and Leena, however are my creations and I would appreciate that no one else use them without asking permission first.

A/N: Just to avoid any later confusion, I want to mention that I also have this story up on Quizilla under a different name. I opted for "Leena" when I first signed up, but sadly, it was taken. (tear drop) So just for argument's sake, "Leena" and "Zallian" are one in the same. I just want my story to be read!

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**Descendants of Light and Dark - Prologue**

by Zallian

The metallic clank of armoured footsteps echoed through the 16th century dynasty castle hall breaking the unnatural silence that seemed to permeate the air. A row of blue flamed torches, which seemed only to cast eerie shadows on each wall and around every corner rather than light the way, lined each side of the hall breaking the otherwise plague-like darkness. A mortal man may have had trouble finding his way in such a place, but Dais, who had served this realm and its Lord for over four hundred years, had grown quite accustomed to these surroundings. To tell the truth, in his opnion, the water lily beds of the castle gounds and the eternally starlit skies of the Nether Realm may have truly been a sight to behold had it not been the home of demons and the souls of the damned.

Dais continued down the hall toward Talpa's throne room. He'd been summoned there alone which was a suprise to him cosidering his recent failures with Kento. Though this was most likely another scheme to try and capture one of the Ronin's armors or interfere with their progress, he couldn't help feeling that this new task was going to be different somehow. Like more weight rested on the completion of this one task than any of his previous endeavors, and that it would be more difficult than he could ever imagine.

From the other end of the hall, Dais could see the throne room entrance slowly coming into veiw, and continued to approach with growing anticipation. Upon entering, the giant empty throne could be seen at the end of a columned and cavernous chamber with an aisle in its center, which was lined by blue flamed candelabrums, and led from one end of the great hall to the other. When Dais had finally reached his destination, he kneeled in front of the enormous throne to await his instructions. At that moment, the air in the room became quite cold, and a wind that seemed to come from nowhere passed over him causing the flames to dance about madly and almost go out, and then the ghostly apparition of his master's head appeared in front of him.

"You know why I have summoned you." Talpa's voice boomed and echoed throughout the chamber. "As of yet, you have failed in any attempt whatsoever to make yourself useful. I have given you immortality and power beyond your wildest dreams. The least you could do is what I ask of you"  
"We've done the best we can, Master, but these Ronins are not to be taken lightly. The five of them become stronger each time we do battle!"

"SILENCE! You think I don't know this! That is why I am sending you to earth to bring back a couple of 'new recruits', so to speak, one of which is my own daughter, and the other,  
the daughter of that cursed monk"  
"New recruits, master? If these girls truly are who you say, that would make them over 1000 years old. How is it that they have not yet died?"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME, DAIS!! ONE OF THEM ALONE HAS ENOUGH POWER TO DISINTEGRATE YOU WITHOUT THE USE OF HER ARMOR!! Which is why it is imperative that you sway both of them to join our cause!"  
"Forgive me, my lord, but where and how am I supposed to find these girls?"

"They are at a place called Bay Island, Virginia in the Americas. There, you will pose as a foriegn exchange student at the local high school. You will know when you are in their presence for you will feel a change in the atmosphere around you. Befriend them and gain their trust, and once you have, bring them back here to me. And you must act quickly, for that traitor, Anubis is searching for them as well. Now go! And do NOT fail me again!"

"Yes, Master!" said Dais, and his body was engulfed in blue flame and transported away.

"Good." Tulpa growled with the throne room chamber now empty, "For if you fail me again...your suffering will be legendary!"

To be continued...

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A/N: Heh heh, this is just a taste of what's coming. This is my first fic too, and I have really big plans for it, so please rate and tell me what you think. 

A/N (again): Nothing new here, I'm just going through and correcting some spelling errors and type-os. Sadly, I'm not getting the kind of reviews I was hoping for though. So if your reading this for the first time, or even if you've read through it once already, please rate and review so I know whether or not to complete it.


	2. Dream Sequence

**Descendants Of Light And Dark: Dream Sequence**

by Zallian

Thunder and lightning tore across the night sky and rain poured from the heavens adding an all more ominous aura to the chaotic scene in the village below. Hordes of bodiless samurai armors swarmed the village on the backs of demonic looking horses with glowing red eyes and firey manes and tails. Under the instruction of a particularly fearsome and unmerciful demon lord and his generals, the cursed army ransacked and set fire to every building, hut, and dwelling and slew every villager in their path without discrimination, with the rain and mud making it that much harder for them to flee.

"Grandma, I'm scared!" cried a child of about seven still clutching her doll just inside of the entrance way of their home, which at this time was one of the farthest points from the mayhem. Her hair was quite messy from being woken at such a late hour and tears streamed steadily down her cheeks from wide and reddened brown eyes.

"I know, Minako, I know," said her grandmother kneeling down infront of her, tears welling in her finely wrinkled ice blue eyes. She also had the look of being suddenly woken from a deep sleep as her untidy graying hair fell loosely to her waist over the dull pink shawl that she had draped around her shoulders. "Now listen closely to me, dear," said the elderly woman as she put two aged and trembling hands around her granddaughter's shoulders. "As soon as we step outside, I want you to run as fast as you can away from the village!"

"But Grandma!"

"No buts! Run as fast as you can, and don't look back no matter what you see or hear! Do you understand?!"

"Yes," said Minako with as sob. Her grandmother wrapped her arms around her tightly with tears finally spilling over the brims of her eyelids.

"I love you, Minako. You look so much like your mother. Don't ever forget that, okay..." At that, voice cracking and hands trembling,  
Minako's grandmother released her grip and drew back the reed door to their hut, and the two stepped out side where Minako took off toward the edge of the village just as her grandmother had instructed her to do.

Minako ran trying to banish from her mind the sights of her disemboweled, impaled, and beheaded friends and neighbors that littered the path as she passed, and she covered her ears to try to block out the sounds of gargled screams and the cries of babies being silenced. The pounding rain stung Minako's skin and blurred her vision as well as her frightened tears, and it seemed as though it were raining blood instead of water as all the puddles were dark and red, and the ground seeped thick red liquid when stepped on.

Minako's heart jumped with a glimmer of hope as the village's border came into veiw. She dropped her hands back down to her sides and a slight smile graced her lips.

"Look, Grandma, we're almost there!" she shouted, sounding hopeful and out of breath. "Grandma...?"

There was no response. She stopped only to find that her grandmother was not by her side nor was she anywhere in the immediate area. A bloodcurdling scream split the air causing Minako to whirl around in time to see her grandmother, still infront of their home, being run through by one of the bodiless armors.

"GRANDMA, NO!!!!!!" she shouted letting her grief get the better of her and falling to her knees.

The noise caught the attention of the armored spirit. It pulled it's sword from the lifeless woman's body with the sickening sound of steel sliding across bone, and let the body drop hard to the ground pouring out ounce upon ounce of blood. The spirit then gave its horse a good swift kick to the abdomen silently instructing it to charge at the little girl.

Minako scrambled to get up and run but was knocked back down when she almost ran headlong into another of the demon horses that had appeared behind her. She let out a loud gasp. The rider on top of this horse was not like the others. This one had a feminine body where the others had none at all, and the armor was that of a ninja, not samurai. The armor was mostly black with blood red boots, sash, arm and shoulder pads, and on the torso, also the color of blood, was a horizontal diamond shaped patteren like that on the back of a serpent,  
and hanging around the warrior's neck was a golden pendant in the shape of the kanji symbol for evil. Protruding from the armored pads on each of the forearms was a thirteen inch blade, and in the warrior's right hand gripped loosely by her side was a long handled scythe with a glowing red orb embedded in the head of the blade, and black and red webbed wings spanned from her back. All this was nothing compared to the sight of the warrior's face though. Her dark brown hair blew violently despite the heavy rain and her pale and sunken skin gave her the look of a ghost and seemed as though it were devoid of human emotion. Her black soulless eyes stared unblinkingly at Minako for what seemed like an eternity before tightening her grip on her scythe.  
In a matter of miliseconds, with one swift upward movement, and without saying a word, the female warrior swung the scythe slicing the girl's throat. Blood sprayed from the wound and splashed the woman across the face as Minako fell lying front side down with her head turned to the side, her eyes wide in shock as she drowned in her own blood.

"Did you enjoy watching that girl die!"

The dark warrior turned her head to the side and peered behind her with her left eye, her expression unchanged, searching for the source of the voice. Another armor clad woman hovered a few feet behind her suspending herself by beating her enormous light blue feathered wings.

Like the dark one, this warrior wore a ninja style armor. It was mainly white with cerulean blue trim, sash, boots, and pads, and had a tear drop shaped pattern on the torso. Her slightly tanned skin was accented nicely by her flowing golden blonde hair and greenish brown eyes which seemed to be glowing with rage. She carried a golden staff,  
its hilt end in her right hand and the other hand closer to the head, which had a cerulean blue orb encircled by a golden ring with six other rings connected to it and a spearhead on its end. "Answer me, demon!" she shouted.

The demon then turned the horse so that she was now face to face with her new adversary. She lowered her scythe back down to its position at her side, and tilted her head ever so slightly so that her eyes could not be seen beneath the bangs of her hair while her lips curled into a mischievous grin where there had once been no sign of emotion. "Mind your own business, priestess, and perhaps we'll let you live."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not just going to stand by while the innocent suffer at your hands!"

"Well in that case," said the demon urging her horse into a charge and lifting the blade end of her scythe high into the air, "prepare to Burn In Hell!!" And with that, she leapt off of the horse beating her wings furiously and sank her blade deep into the earth. The earth trembled and began to split apart in a web like fashion swallowing up the demon's dark horse and continuing toward the preistess shooting up fire and deadly steam with each crack.  
The preistess dodged the attack by taking flight before the steam and fire could reach her, but the demon was counting on this and quickly followed. Once out of harm's way, the preistess took a moment to survey the area to see where her enemy had gotten to when she felt a rush of air fly past her in an upward movement. She looked up in time to see the demon take her scythe in her left hand and begin to swing it downward in full force so that the inside arc would have caught the preistess around the middle from behind. In a last ditch effort, the preistess thrust her staff upward, perfectly aligning the spearhead with the soft spot in the middle of the demon's coller bone. And then...

Aya shot straight up covered in a cold sweat. She looked around for a moment taking in her surroundings before falling back onto her pillow. "Thank god," she sighed, "it was just a dream."

To Be Continued...


	3. Normality

**Descendants Of Light And Dark: Normality**

by Zallian

Aya lay in her king Sized bed for a moments still contemplating the events of her dream with her waist length dirty blonde hair laying about her pillow full of cold sweat, making it look stringy and unwashed. Early morning light began to spill through the lace - curtained bedroom windows illuminating the room with a pale blue aura and a digital alarm clock atop an oak night stand to the right side of the bed changed 5:53.

A soft thud just outside Aya's bedroom door jolted her back to reality. Curious, Aya shot up, threw off her silk comforter, turned off her alarm clock, (since she was already awake) and went to investigate the noise. She pulled the bedroom door open slightly and peered through the crack. Everything seemed normal for a darkened upstairs hallway of a suburban home at six a.m. except for the sounds of someone moving something heavy on the steps below the polished cedar banister and the light that was on at the right end of the hallway in Aya's parents bedroom. Aya cracked her door a little more to get a better look. She was so distracted by the shadows moving about in her parent's room that she didn't notice the dark figure moving up the stairs and down the hall toward her until it stopped right infront of her.

"What are you doing?" called a man's voice from the darkened hallway. Aya let out a short high pitched scream and covered her ears while taking a few steps back.

"It's okay, it's okay," said the voice as a shadowy hand reached inside of Aya's bedroom and flipped on the lightswitch. "What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, dad, it's you," said Aya breathlessly.

"What's all that racket, you two!?" called a woman's voice from the bedroom down the hall.

"Nothing, honey," Aya's father answered with a laugh. "I just scared the crap out of our daughter, that's all. So what's wrong, kiddo," he said leaning in the doorway of Aya's room.

"Nothing." said Aya catching her breath and lowering her hands, "I must've just forgotten that you guys were leaving today, that's all."

"Oh, well okay. Are you sure you're alright then?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well, in that case, I'll leave you to get ready for school," said Aya's father pushing his weight back onto both of his feet. "Meet us downstairs when you're done though. I know you know the drill, but there's still a few things we want to go over with you before we leave."

"Okay dad," said Aya, and she closed the door as her father went to help his wife finish packing.

Aya's parent's (well adoptive parents) were archaeologists as one might guess from all of the glass shelves and cases that lined most of the walls of their home each containing fossils, bones, ancient forms of money, pottery, scrolls and the like. They spent a lot of time away, over seas at dig sites and conferences, but they always made sure to spend quality family time with Aya when they were home and called her often when they were away. To tell the truth, even if Aya never met her real parents, that would suit her just fine as she always imagined them to be like the family she had now.

Aya made her way over to her dresser and looked at herself in the mirror and a pair of blooshot blue-green eyes stared back at her.

"Get a grip, Aya," she said with a sigh and shook her head as she began to search her dresser drawers for her outfit for the day.

* * *

A shrill high pitched alarm broke the early morning silence of the small trailer park home. It rang for five minutes before a sleepy black nail polished hand finally reached up beside it to turn it off, but ended up knocking it to the floor instead. "Shit!" the groggy teenager cursed as she sat up and leaned over to pick up the alarm clock. She shut it off and placed it back on her night stand and fumbled around for the switch for her bedside lamp. She turned it on and flopped back down onto her pillow and raised her hand to her forehead to wipe away some of the sweat. "That dream again," she mumbled to herself.

Like Aya, Leena had been having these strange and vivid nightmares. The only difference was that Leena had had them ever since she could remember (which oddly enough, was only about three years back), while Aya had only been having them recently. She let out a sigh and sat up, threw her covers off of her, swung her feet around, got up and made her way across the acid green carpeted room trying not to trip over the various articles of clothing and debris strewn across the floor. She picked up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her computer desk, got out a cigarette, put it to her lips and lit it. Leena then picked up a pair of baggy, red trimmed bondage pants from the floor and pulled them up to her waist. She then grabbed a black girls tee featuring Slipknot from the chair by her computer desk and pulled it over her shoulders. She pulled her wavy dark brown hair back into a sort of half ponytail leaving the bottom layer and her dyed black bangs down, and then proceeded to do her make-up. She outlined her almost black eyes with eyeliner and black eyeshadow and blotted the black lipstick on her lips until they were a sort of pinkish grey.  
Once finished, Leena grabbed up her school bag, shut off her bedroom light and set out into the kitchen where her father lay passed out on the kitchen table, a bottle of rum in one hand and a cigarette with a long stem of ash in the other.

It had been three years since Leena came to stay with this family and things had gone no where but down hill since she arrived. Her mother died of sickness after the first year, and six months later, her father was discharged from the military due to injury. He became consumed with grief over this paired with the death of his wife and eventually, he turned to alcoholism and using Leena for a scapegoat. When he drank, he became violent and though he had yet to hit her, (an event that she wasn't going to just sit around and wait for as she spent as much time as she could at Aya's) he often verbally assaulted Leena or destroyed her things.

Leena set her school bag down in a chair next to her drunken father and walked past him to make herself some toast to take with her. She made her breakfast and returned for her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and was about to make for the door when her father's hand shot out and grabbed her roughly around the arm, pulling her back. "Where the hell do ya think you're goin'!" he said in a slur, breath reaking.

"I'm going to school, asshole!" Leena shouted as she yanked her arm out of his grip and walked away.

"Hey! If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back!"

"Fine, I won't!" Leena called back before slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Aya cursed to herself as she drove along. Her parents always went over with her phone numbers and what hotels they would be staying in whenever they went on a trip, but this morning, she really needed to be out in a hurry. She was supposed to pick Leena up on her way to school, and now she was running really behind. She turned right into the trailer park district and spotted Leena soon after on the left sitting on her school bag at the end of her lawn. Upon her ride's arrival, Leena stood up and went over to the passenger's side door, opened it, and shoved the last bite of her toast in her mouth as she climbed in. "Hey Leena."

"Hey," said Leena after swallowing. "You realize we're going to be late again, right? Harman's going to have our asses."

"Yeah, I know," said Aya. "I couldn't help it. You know how my parents get before they leave."

"At least your folks care about you..." Leena said under her breath, slouching and staring out the window.

Aya glanced over at her friend, and she noticed a few small bruises forming on her lower arm in the shape of finger marks. "So he was drinking again, was he?" she finally asked, her eyes returning to the road.

"Yeah," the other girl replied, her voice even softer than before. "It keeps getting worse and worse. I'm sorry, Aya, but if he ever hits me, you'll probably never see me again. They'll lock me up for what I'd do to him."

"Do you want to stay at my place for a few days then?"

"If you don't mind."

The girls pulled into the parking lot, late as they had predicted. They gathered their things, slammed their doors shut and raced into the school building and were half way to their classes when all of a sudden..."Freeze, ladies." Aya and Leena stopped dead in their tracks and turned around to see a middle aged woman wearing a dull pink dress suit with straight shoulder length light brown hair, her arms crossed and a glare in her eyes behind a tiny pair of rectangle spectacles. "Hi, Mrs. Harman," said Aya, slowly waving her hand and forcing a smile. Mrs. Harman only scowled more at this. "My office. Now."

* * *

Aya and Leena sat in the priciple's office with their eyes glued to the floor as they listened to Mrs. Harman drone on about the repercussions of tardiness. They'd heard this lecture a million times, but she just never seemed to change her tune.

"I would have expelled you two a long time ago if it weren't for your grades. I'd get your parents in here for a conference, but yours are always away on vacation it seems, and you, your father never returns my phone calls," she said motioning toward Leena.

"I don't suppose that there's any way we could avoid going to detention, is there?"

Mrs. Harman gave Aya a dirty look, but then her face softened as a thought crossed her mind. "Actually, there is something you two could do for me." Aya and Leena exchanged puzzled looks as she continued. "There are two foreign exchange students starting school today, and I believe that the two of you share your second period classes with them. What I want you to do is introduce yourselves, and perhaps show them around campus a little, you know, help them to get a feel for things around here. It'll save me a full hour out of the day."

No sooner did she finish, the bell rang announcing the end of first period.

"Looks like you two had better get going," said Mrs. Harman. At this the two girls promptly rose from their seats, picked up their belongings and made for the door. "And no more tardiness!"

To Be Continued...

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A/N: Anubis and Dais make their appearance in the next chapter, I promise. 


	4. First Impressions

**Descendants of Light and Dark: First Impressions**

by Zallian

The school bell rang echoing through the empty halls and signalling the start of second period.

"_Great_," Leena thought to herself as she slammed her locker shut, "_First my dad this morning, then I miss my first class thanks to the stupid priciple, now I'm late to my second one. This day just keeps getting better and better_." She let out a sigh as she began down the hall toward her classroom.

* * *

Dais slouched in his seat feeling a million pounds lighter and cooler now that he was no longer wearing his armour. In place of his bulky steel maroon colored breast plate he wore a plain white t-shirt which hugged his slim but muscular form and a pair of torn light colored blue jeans in place of black leg guards. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had gone anywhere without at least wearing his sub-armour and to tell the truth, he felt a little self-conscious. Especially since just a few moments ago, Dais had been made to stand up in front of the class and introduce himself for the second time today. Luckily for him, four centuries had allowed him the time he needed to study the cultures and languages of the world as they evolved, so conversing in a different language wasn't that difficult, and if the rest of the day went as smoothly the morning, he was sure that fitting into a modern American high school would be a piece of cake. The only problem was, he had yet to meet anyone 'whose presence changed the surrounding atmosphere'. 

He watched as the proffesor, who earlier had introduced himself as Mr. Bordman, set his briefcase on his desk and began to unload its contents. Mr. Bordman then picked up a text book and began thumbing through it as the bell rang signalling the start of class. Just then, a young girl rushed into the classroom letting the door slam behind her, her hair a little messed up from running and the chains and straps on her baggy black pants jingling as she walked. Immediately, the room temperature felt like it dropped a few degrees, and Dais couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding wash over him. It was as if the life force of everything in the room was slowly being sucked away.

"Miss Rein, you're late again," said Mr. Bordman setting the book down on his desk. "I was begining to think you'd had enough of detention."

"Don't get write up happy just yet, Mr. Bordman," said Leena handing her teacher a small slip of paper. "I have a note this time."

"Very well," he said reading over the note and then tucking it away in his desk. "Go take your seat then."

Leena walked to the side of the room that was opposite of the door and took a seat next to the window, Dais's eyes (or eye) never leaving her as she moved.

"Please turn in your books to page 294 to the start of Act 2," said Mr. Bordman picking up his book again and walking around to the front of his desk. "Oh, and since Eric is absent, Dais, would you please read the part of Duncan?"

Dais nodded in response, momentarily called back to reality before returning his attention to Leena. He just couldn't understand how so much power could be emanating from one single girl. She sat with her head resting in her left hand, elbow propped on top of her open book and a pen in her other hand while the mid-morning sun streamed through the window next to her giving her a sort of reddish gold aura.

"_She's actually kind of pretty..._" Dais blushed slightly at the thought.

Feeling his gaze on her, Leena turned to see the newcomer not only staring at her, but also going a bit pink in the cheeks.

"_Dais..._" she thought, "_That name sounds familiar. Come to think of it, he looks a little familiar too._"

She shrugged it off, gave him a little smile and returned her attention to the front. Leena let out a gasp and stiffened in her seat at the site she beheld at the front of the room letting her pen fall between the isles. Noting her strange behavior, Dais turned to look at the spot that had Leena so captivated and looked back at her again bewildered when he saw that there was nothing there.

There, standing next to the teacher's desk was a little girl no older than seven, her short black hair, long white nightgown, bare feet and even her little home made doll all wet and covered in mud. Her skin was a sickly shade of blue, and her neck...across her neck was a long deep gash from which the blood flowed in torrents staining the front of her nightgown and dripping onto the floor where she stood and the deep brown pools of emptiness that were her eyes stared emotionlessly back at Leena, boring into her very soul. And then, as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone.

Leena just sat there staring blankly into space for a few moments unable to process what had just happened. "Leena," she heard a voice calling from a distance.

"Leena. Earth to Leena." Leena snapped back to reality to see Mr. Bordman waving his hand infront of her face. "Mind telling us what just happened?"

Leena thought only for a second and then let out a little laugh. "I just remembered that I left my lunch money at home, that's all," she said scratching her head, not thinking that it would be a good idea to tell the class that she had just seen a dead girl standing next to the teacher's desk. Mr. Bordman shook his head and walked back to his desk. "Okay Josh, continue."

Out of the corner of her eye, Leena saw Dais giving her a concerned and bewildered look and blushed in embarassment. Not wanting to meet his gaze for a second time, she covered the right side of her face with her hand and burried herself in her textbook until the end of class.

* * *

At the same time... 

Aya sprinted down the hall and arround the corner clutching her books as she ran. "_Damn it. At least Leena's locker is just down the hall from her class, mine has to be on the other side of the freaking building_," she thought to herself as she looked down at her watch upon hearing the bell ring. Unfortunately, this caused her to run headlong into another student knocking each one of them to the ground and spilling her books and assignments all over the floor.

"Oww, that really hurt," she said rubbing her head. Aya opened her eyes to see a young man in tan colored khakis and a white button up dress shirt with long auburn hair and emerald green eyes rubbing his forehead in the same fashion as she. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said getting to her feet and starting to blush. "Are you okay?"

"I feel like I just got hit by a train," the young man replied,"but I'll be alright."

Aya let out a giggle and offered him her hand. "Sorry about that. I'm Aya."

"Anubis," he said taking her hand and letting her pull him up.

Oddly, as Aya's hand touched his, all the pain in his forehead subsided. "_Could she be one of them,_" he thought, noting this sudden change.

"Anubis, huh?" said Aya. "You must be one of the foreign exchange students principle Harman told me about. What class were you heading to?"

"Um, well, I dropped my schedule..." Anubis said motioning to the pile of books and papers all over the floor. "_'One of the foriegn exchange students'?_" he thought, "_That means Talpa must've sent one of the others."_

"Oh, right," said Aya dropping back down to the floor to pick up her belongings, "Here it is!" She handed Anubis a piece of paper with his course schedule written on it. "Let's see, looks like you're in Chemistry, room 108. That's the same as me!"

"Is that so?" Anubis said looking his schedule over.

"You're in the way wrong part of the building though. Come on," Aya said motioning for Anubis to follow her, "I'll show you where it is."

* * *

Lunch time... 

Leena made her way through the crowded tables with her tray in one hand and her books in the ohter.

"Hey Leena, over here!" Leena smiled as she saw Aya waving her over to the table where she was sitting, and was a little surprised to se her sitting with someone new.

"So who's the new guy?" she said.

"Leena, this is Anubis, Anubis, Leena," Aya answered as Anubis extended his hand and Leena shook it. "Hi," she said, and sat down.

"We ran into each other this morning, quite literally, I might add," Aya said with a giggle. Anubis just smiled, blushing slightly and looked away.

"That reminds me," said Leena, shoving a chicken tender into her mouth, "I met the other guy this morning." She paused for a moment, remembering the incident. "Well, sort of, I didn't really get a chance to talk to him."

"Is that him there?" Anubis asked, pointing to a silvery haired young man just now coming out of the lunch line.

Leena turned to see her classmate as one of the school jocks purposely and forcefully pushed past Dais causing him to almost drop his tray. "Watch it, eye patch," the jock taunted as Dais scrambled to keep his milk from falling. Dais glared at the kid for a moment, but decided for the better and sat down at an empty table at the other side of the cafeteria and began to eat his lunch.

"Looks like he could use a friend," said Aya sympathetically.

Having watched the whole scene, Leena stood up without saying a word and began to walk toward the opposite side of the cafeteria. "Hold on," Anubis called. "Maybe he likes to eat alone."

"Even so, Mrs. Harman wanted me to show him around school. And it couldn't hurt to offer," Leena said not taking her eyes off of Dais. "Besides, it sucks to be alone all the time, believe me."

* * *

Dais sat there silently eating his lunch. He hated this place. All they did was stare at him and pick on him about his eye. If only he could call on his armour, that would show them. Just then, a kid walked by singing 15 Men On A Dead Man's Chest. "_That's it!_" he thought. "_Time to teach these snot nosed little brats a lesson!_" He stood up, slammed his hands down on the table and redied to call his armour. 

"That's enough, Kevin!" a girls voice called from the end of the aisle. The boy that was singing stopped and gave Leena a dirty look while she continued. "You're one to talk, we can smell you coming from a mile away. Go take a bath you asshole!" Leena walked right up to Dais and took a seat infront of him, and that same feeling of foreboding washed over him as she did.

"Thanks," Dais said sitting back down.

"No problem," Leena replied. "You know, if you don't stand up for yourself, they'll keep on you all year."

"Wouldn't that get me expelled though?" Dais said trying to sound modest.

"Depends on the situation. Most of the teachers here are pretty lenient if you have a good reason. I'm Leena, by the way," she said extending her hand.

He shook her hand nervously, wondering if she wouldn't suck out his soul if he touched her. "I'm Dais," he replied when she didn't. "Here, you dropped this earlier." Dais pulled out her pen and set it down infront of her.

"So, you forgot your lunch money, huh?" he said, noting the tray of food infront of her.

Leena looked down at her lunch. "Oh yeah," she said with a nervous laugh and picked up her pen to put it away.

"So what really happened this morning then?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Dais curled his lips into a mischievous little grin. "You'd be surprised."

Leena stared down at her tray for a few minutes trying to figure out a way to change the subject. She might tell Aya later, but she didn't know Dais enough to really confide in him just yet. "Anyway," she finally said, "I just came over to ask if you would like to join me and my friends." Leena poitned to a table across the cafeteria where Aya and Anubis were waiting for her. Dais looked over to see Anubis glaring back at him. "_Anubis_..." he thought.

"I think I'll pass," he said, not thinking that this would be a good time or place to launch a full out attack.

Leena gave him a puzzled look, but then stood up. "Well, alright then. In that case, why don't you meet me after lunch and I'll show you around school?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you later then?"

"Later," Leena said with a little wave and returned to join Aya and Anubis for the rest of lunch.

To Be Continued...

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know this was a long one...and they get longer... And yes, they are studying Macbeth in that first part. (Can you just picture Dais reading Shakespear!?) I wanted to make the whole high school thing seem as realistic as possible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Laters!! 


	5. Strength Revealed

**Descendants of Light and Dark : Strength Revealed**

by Zallian

A black porche wound up the driveway of the large and secluded home which overlooked the small caostal town below and the two occupants chatted on about the day's events. "So what did you think of them?" Aya asked not taking her eyes off of the road.

Leena slouched back in her seat staring out the window, right hand and cigarette hanging out of it, thinking for a moment. " Anubis is nice, though, I don't know, he seemed really skiddish around me. Almost like he's afraid to trust me. But you two act just like old friends," she said flashing Aya a smile.

"Okay, so what about this Dais? I didn't get the chance to meet him today, so come on! Details!"

"Well," Leena started returning her gaze to the outside of the window so that Aya couldn't see the slight change of color in her cheeks. "He's pretty anitsocial from what I could tell. And like you saw eariler, the town jocks seem to have found a new target for their daily harassments, but when he talked to me...he just...well, he has a way with words. It's kind of charming really..."

"Leena?" said Aya pulling into the driveway, a slight grin on her face. "Do you like him?" They came to a stop.

"What?!" Leena turned to look at her friend, but then realizing how red her face had gone decided to stare at her shoes instead. She sat there for a moment, now thoroughly embarrassed, then grabbed up her things and exited the car slamming the door behind her and began walking toward the house.

"I knew it!" Aya called to her friend, following suit and catching up. "You like him! It's written all over your face."

"Whatever," Leena said rolling her eyes, "Just open the door."

Aya gave a little giggle before fishing for her keys and unlocking the deadbolt, and once inside, she punched in a few numbers on a wall panel before closing the door behind her and Leena. The two girls then made their way up the stairs toward Aya's bedroom. Leena picked up a fairly new acoustic guitar, one of the many items she'd left at Aya's house from before, flopped down on Aya's bed and began to pick out a slow mournful melody while Aya made her way across the room and took a seat at her vanity, opened the drawer and began pulling out various cosmetic items. Leena glanced up at Aya, noting her behavior. "What are you doing? Normally, you go straight to the books."

"Oh, nothing. I just have a date, that's all."

"A date? Wait...not Anubis!!" Leena said sitting up in shock and hitting a sour note as she did.

"What's wrong with that?" said Aya turning to face her friend.

"You just met the guy!"

"Hmm...well you do have a point." Aya looked down at the floor for a few minutes in thought, and then back at Leena with a wicked little smirk. "In that case, I guess you wouldn't mind going with us."

"What?! No way, I'm not letting you drag me into this!"

"Oh come on! You never even go out, let alone meet anyone new. This'll be fun."

"That's not true. I met someone new today."

"Only because Mrs. Harman threatened you with detention. Do you really think you would have even talked to him if it weren't for that?"

Leena fell back against the headboard once more. "Hmph, fine, I'll go with you on your stupid date. But I'm taking Blue with me," she said picking up her guitar once more and plucking at it's strings.

"Fair enough," said Aya turning back around and opening small compact of blush.

"So have you had anymore dreams lately?" Leena asked as she continued to play.

"Yeah," Aya paused for a moment as she blotted her lips, "I had one last night. Why?"

"Did you ever see anything from your dreams while you were awake?" Leena just blurted it out. Once she realized what she'd said she stopped playing and looked up to see Aya staring at her with a concerned expression on her face.

"No, did you?"

"Today in English class. I saw the little girl...you know, the one that gets cut down by the demon. One minute she was there, and then she just vanished. It was enough to give me a good scare at least."

"Did you tell anyone else about it?"

"No."

"Maybe you should keep it that way. Seeing things that aren't there isn't a good sign you know."

"Yeah, my dad would just love a good reason to send me away, wouldn't he?"

Aya paused for a moment. "About that...I've been thinking...would you like for me to ask my parents if you could just stay here until you're finished school?"

"You don't have to do that, Aya," Leena interjected.

"Just listen for a minute. You're 18 now, so if you wanted to move out, he couldn't stop you. And my parents like you, and you wouldn't have to put up with his crap anymore."

Leena smiled inwardly at the idea. A home where she was welcome and loved. If she'd ever had it before she couldn't remember and was always a little jealous of those who did. "I guess that would kind of make us like sisters, wouldn't it?"

The two gave a little laugh and as they did, the door bell rang. "He's here!" Aya said as she jumped up and darted out of the room. Leena shrugged her shoulders and continued picking away at the strings on her guitar. It only took a minute before Aya ran back into the room and grabbed Leena by the wrist. "Come on!" she said as she pulled her friend off of the bed and out the door.

* * *

Aya and Anubis walked by themselves leaving Leena and "Blue" to spend some quality time atop one of the many over sized stones that littered the beach. The sun sank beneath the town while a pale but darkening blue aura began to rise up over the ocean and Aya let out a little squeal as a cold wave broke over her bare feet. 

"I don't understand one thing," Anubis said all of a sudden. "The two of you are such good friends, and yet you have nothing in common. You're like polar opposites."

"Well, I guess it's because we were in foster care together before we were adopted," Aya began as she retreated from the water's edge. "That and neither one of us can remember anything before that. We were always told that it was a severe case of amnesia due to car accidents, but you know, neither one of us has ever seen any paper work. So when everyone else was giving us strange looks and whispering behind our backs...well...I don't know. I guess it was just nice to know that there was someone else who knew what I was going through."

"Maybe something happened to you that was not meant to be common knowledge," Anubis replied avoiding Aya's gaze.

"Hmm. Maybe..." Aya started as she plopped down beside him in the sand and wrapped her arms around her knees. She seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments before she finally replied. "You know, in a way, I kind of don't want to know the answers. I mean, it would be nice to have my memories, but what if something really terrible happened? I have a good life now, and if I knew the truth, I don't know if I'd still be the same person or not." Aya turned to face Anubis who had now taken a seat next to her. "In all honesty, it kind of scares me."

"That's nothing to be afraid of," Anubis said, a reassuring tone in his voice. "It is in the nature of men to let their futures be molded by the events in their past. We have been fortunate enough, however, to have been granted the gift of free will which allows us to choose our own path rather than the ones which have been laid out and expected of us to take. Unfortunately, most men live their whole lives without ever realizing this."

Anubis reached over and wrapped his arm around her as he said this, and Aya hesitated for only a minute before relaxing and leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder. He didn't know why he did it. Perhaps it was hundreds of years with no one but Talpa and the other Warlords for company. Whatever the reason, he couldn't help but feel comfortable around her as she seemed to breathe life into everything she touched.

Suddenly and all at once the sky began to darken and the wind began to pick up, but this was not the warm late summer breeze that was so common during this time of year, this wind was cold and chilling to the bone. Anubis stood at once knowing all too well what was happening.

"What's going on?" Aya asked as she got to her feet.

"Something is about to happen that you may not understand just yet!" Anubis said searching the beach with his eyes. "I promise I'll explain everything later, but right now I need you to get behind me!" He then muttered a quick prayer to the Ancient One, summoning forth the staff and braced himself for the coming assault.

* * *

Leena plucked lovingly at the strings of her guitar as she let the melody carry her temporarily away from reality and the soft evening breeze combed its way through her hair. She stopped momentarily to take in the view as she breathed in a deep cloud of smoke from the cigarette dangling loosely at her lips and turned to get a glimpse of her friends cuddling in the sand. "_Are they holding hands?!_" she thought, a slight look of shock crossing her face. Disgusted, she turned her gaze back to the sea. "_Damn, she works fast..._" 

Just then, an icy chill of a wind caught Leena off guard as an array of black clouds choked out the remainder of the daylight. Sensing that something was wrong, Leena immediately stood and began to look for the source of the disturbance and almost fell from her spot when she saw that at the base of the boulder that she was sitting on stood the same pale faced little girl she had seen earlier that day, still clutching her doll, and blood still gushing from the wound in her neck. The girl stood motionless for a moment and then in one slow distinct motion, she turned and pointed toward the boardwalk behind them before vanishing just as she had earlier. There, balanced atop the boardwalk railing, with arms crossed, stood a bulky figure clad in a magenta colored armour with six scythes protruding from its back and a helmet adorned with two massive black spiked horns staring in the direction of Aya and Anubis.

Leena let out a gasp at the sight of him and as she did, the figure turned and glared at her for a moment through one icy blue eye. The next chain of events happened so fast that they seemed as a blur. Without Leena ever noticing it, the armour clad figure vanished from his spot and appeared again behind her. It wasn't until she could hear his breath behind her that she realized what was happening, but by then it was too late. Leena was backhanded by his metal glove and sent flying from her spot toward one of the wooden beams on which the boardwalk rested, blood spraying from her head where she had been hit. The guitar smashed against the rocks, and Leena braced herself for impact, but it never came. Instead, she found herslf suspended by an invisible force and unable to move, and she caught a glimpse of it just as her vision began to blur. "_A spider web?_" she thought as the black wave of unconsciousness won over her will to fight.

"Leena!" Aya cried out upon seeing her friend take the full on blow, and tried to run to her, but was stopped by Anubis' outstretched arm.

"You have no business here!" Anubis shouted at the assailant.

"On the contrary, traitor, Master Talpa requests an audience with these lovely ladies, and he sent me as their escort," he growled returning his attention to Aya and Anubis, bowing sarcastically.

"If you want them," Anubis challenged, "You'll have to go through me!"

"Gladly!" the spider-like demon replied as he removed the blades from his back and extended them, and with a downward swing, wrapped them around the Ancient's staff knocking it from Anubis's hands before he could use it's power.

* * *

"_Talpa..._" Aya mouthed the name over again as the scene between Anubis and the armour clad warrior played out before her. A thousand memories washed over her all at once as she watched, playing over in her mind as if she were watching a movie. She closed her eyes as she let the visions of her younger self in another place and time fill her and the kanji symbol for innocence began to glow on her forehead in a bright cerulean blue. She saw her family, her mother, father, brothers, sisters, and even other villagers, a small band of monks and priestesses all living together peacefully and happily. Then she saw them murdered all save for her and her father by the black and red winged demon from her dream. And finally, she saw the dream itself, and a tear forced itself out as Aya's eyes shot open again. 

Aya doubled over in pain as a white aura encompassed her body and a pair of light blue feathered wings sprouted from her back tearing her flesh. The symbol on her forehead glew even brighter, and a lite, form fitting cerulean blue trimmed pearl white armour replaced her clothes as she regained her composure and a long golden spear tipped staff formed in her hands with a cerulean blue orb as its headpiece.

* * *

"_Damn!_ "Dais thought to himself, noting the transformation taking place. "_I'd better make this quick before it gets too complicated._" It wasn't too bad at this point, but the situation had the potential to become quite messy, especially if Leena awoke to her powers and Anubis decided to call on his armour. He quickly closed the gap between Anubis and himself, vanishing halfway and reappearing behind him before sending an armoured elbow crashing into the back of Anubis's head. 

With Anubis now unconscoius in the sand, Dais placed the scythes back onto his back and did a quick scan of the beach only to find that Aya was no longer present. Skeptical that his opponent would just up and disappear, he made his way back to the spot under the boardwalk where Leena was beginning to stir. He reached the base of where he kept her captive and began to remove the wispy threads that bound her, but moved away suddenly when he was almost impaled by Aya's spear tipped staff. Dais whirled around to see a very pissed off armour clad Aya hovering just above him a few feet away, arms crossed and glaring at him through glowing greenish-blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Dais growled, "Have I ruined your evening?"

Aya extended a hand toward her staff, and it glided back into her hands as if obeying a command. "Where is my father!?" she demanded. "Why does he bear the staff of the Ancients!?" her voice rose as she motioned toward the unconscious Anubis. "Where is Kaos!!?"

Dais glanced over at Anubis and then back at Aya before he realized that she could only be talking about one person. "You mean that monk? Anubis didn't tell you?" He let out a mischievous laugh. "He's dead. Talpa killed him."

Aya lowered her eyes at his words. "You lie!"

"My dear girl, I have never told a lie in my life. I only find the doubt and darkness in people's hearts and bring them to light. Here, let me show you...Web of Deception!" he cried as once again he removed the scythes from his back and extended them so that they burried themselves into the nearest target and white sticky webbing shot in every direction as they hit.

"I don't think so!" Aya shouted as she began to spin her staff above her head with both hands and a pale blue barrier formed itself around her body sheilding her from the majority of the attack. It was to no avail however as Dais' attack took the desired effect. Aya watched as her assailant multiplied before her eyes from one into about one hundred and his arrogant laughter filled the air.

"Which one am I, little girl! Choose carefully now, one mistake could be fatal!"

Aya cracked a little smile at this. "But you should worry more about your own mistakes, and less about mine."

"What do you mean?"

"You've already shown me the extent of your power. Now let me show you mine!" Aya replied as she began to beat her wings heavily carrying her high into the air. "Armageddon!" she cried out taking her staff into her right hand and throwing it spear first into the clouds. Rays of hot white light illuminated the beach despite the dark and stormy landscape and seconds later the sky turned to black and fiery red as a shower of meteors began to pummel the earth eliminating most of the warlord's clones. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, only two remained.

"Impressive," the demon and clone said in unison. "But you need to work on your aim. I'm still here! _That was too close,_" Dais thought to himself. "_I need to take care of her_ _**NOW**_." Dais vanished and appeared again behind Aya and took hold of her staff leaving her defenseless while his clone extended its scythes so that they entangled themselves in Aya's hair and yanked her to the ground with one hard downward swing.

* * *

Leena let out a soft moan as the throbbing in her head brought her back to reality. "_Why can't I move?_" she thought. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that she was still hanging from the web-like substance under the boardwalk. She struggled for a moment to free herself until her attention was drawn away from her own predicament to two figures fighting in the sky in the distance. Leena recognized the male as the warrior who had struck her earlier, but the female...Leena gasped. "_Aya...she's...the preistess...from my dream! But how!? Why!?_" All of the questions in her mind began to melt away however when she saw Aya begin to plummet to the ground. "Aya!" Leena cried out, struggling even more fiercely than before. "_Damn it! She's going to die! Aya's going to die, and there's nothing I can do!_" Tears fell in streams down Leena's cheeks at the thought, and she began to struggle more fiercely as her emotions ran wild. 

At that moment, a red mark began to show on Leena's forehead, the Japanese symbol for judgement. Black and red armour replaced her clothes, the same sort of armour as Aya's, and a circle of blue flame began to burn away the webbing. Leena screamed in pain as her canines and fingernails began to lengthen and sharpen and a pair of red and black bat-like wings ripped through the flesh of her back, and her eyes went from almost black to completely pitch, including the whites. Her bounds now loosened, Leena fell hands and knees to the ground letting the transformation complete itself. Once finished, Leena raised her gaze to glare at the armour clad figure attacking her friend. She shot her right hand out as if feeling for something that should have been there and wrapped her fingers around what seemed to be air as a long handled scythe appeared in her grasp in an upright position, a glowing red orb embedded in its blade. Leena pulled herself to her feet and readied herself to take flight, a mischeivous smile gracing her lips.

* * *

Aya hit the ground hard creating a small crater in the sand with the impact. The wind knocked out of her, Aya tried to push herself back to her feet, but collapsed again as her strength left her. She looked up through blurred vision as her oponent came to stand over her, and the last thing she saw before unconsciouness won over her will to fight was his black armoured hand reaching out to her. 

Dais stooped beside his victim and wrapping his fingers around her long golden braid he yanked her head up to inspect her face and laughed to himself. "Anubis, you fool. You've single handedly delivered me the daughter of the Ancient One, and made my work that much easier. I'm a little disappointed though. I was hoping for more of a challenge." Just then a long, sharp orb embedded blade curled its way over the right shoulder of Dais' armour and brushed lightly across his neck and a soft but malicious voice echoed in his left ear. "Don't cry, little boy," it hissed. "The fun is just beginning."

Dais glanced out of the corner of his eye, not yet daring to move, to see that his web beneath the boardwalk was destroyed and his hostage had escaped. "Why Leena, if you wanted to play so badly," he replied releasing his hold on Aya, "you should have said something. I would have been more than happy to oblige."

"Stand then, trickster," she said, removing her scythe from its position around his neck, "and face me if you dare. I'll even let you take the first shot."

Dais stood and turned to get a good look at his new adversary, and he couldn't believe it. At least as far as looks, she was the exact opposite of Aya. "_There's no mistaking it,_" he thought. "_This girl is the Master's daughter. I'd better be careful._" "Web of Deception!"

The webs from Dais's scythes spread over the area covering everything they touched, with the exception of the ones that touched Leena, which burst into blue flame the moment they touched her skin. The beach melted away and was replaced by thick misty woods littered with toppled monuments and ruins, and the Warlord of Illusion faded away into the shadows. Leena looked around, making sure to take in all of her surroundings.

"What's that matter, little girl? Don't you trust your own eyes?" Dais's voice seemed to call from everywhere at once.

"Of course I don't," she replied, plopping down cross legged onto the ground and folding her arms around her scythe. "None of this is real. Besides, why waste time looking for you. If you really want me, you'll do something dumb eventually to give yourself away." Leena shot a dark look off to her right at one of the crumbling statues half hidden by the shadows of an ancient building.

Her words enraged him. Normally, he could strike a nerve with a few witty remarks and a small distortion of reality, but none of that seemed to be phasing her. In fact, she was throwing it right back at him. "_Is she taunting me!? She's staring right at me! Can she see me!?_" Finally, his anger got the better of him. "Damn harpy!" he screamed as he extended his blades, aiming them for the spot where she was sitting.

Leena jumped up from where she was sitting with one beat of her over sized bat wings, missing the first of his scythes, but was hit in mid air with a second one and thrown back into a pillar. The pillar crumbled and Leena winced as she clutched at the slice across her rib cage. "Stupid insect!" she yelled. She deflected the rest of Dais's barrage by spinning her scythe in her left hand, letting go of her wound, and in her right hand she ignited a blue flaming orb. Leena hurtled the orb into the remains of the stone building under which Dais hid, causing it to burst into peices threatening to flatten him.

Fearing for his life, Dais fled from his spot. Leena was counting on this and charged him as soon as he came into view. "It's just like I said...'something dumb.' Burn In Hell!" she cried as she drove her scythe deep into the ground, and the ground began to fall away shooting up fire and steam in its wake. Dais jumped away in order to avoid the attack and landed behind Leena. "I'm impressed," he said. "Master Talpa will be very pleased as well. You'll make a fine Dynasty warrior."

Leena spun around and glared at him. "Talpa..." she said through gritted teeth. "He sent you for me, didn't he? You tell your master for me, that I am no one's servant. Unlike you, my armour is my own. He has no influence over me!"

Dais let out a wicked laugh. "Oh, but I think he does, if just his name can anger you so." He took his morning star and swung it. Wrapping its chain around her neck, he pulled her to him and laughed as she struggled to breathe. "Go to sleep, girl. It's time for this dance to end!"

"I couldn't...agree...more!" Leena gasped.

She dealt a hard upper cut to him with the hilt of her scythe knocking his helmet off, and knocking him back a few feet. Seeing only a small window of opportunity, she charged him once more throwing all of her weight into him. Straddling him as he fell and pinning him to the ground Leena raised her scythe ready to strike. Stunned, Dais looked deep into her eyes, accepting his fate and saw that the blackness in them had begun to recede. "You!" Leena's face suddenly became a combination of shock and confusion, and then she winced once more as the pain from her wounds hit her all at once.

Unconsciouness fell over her once more due to loss of blood and her body went limp against Dais, her armour and wings fading away and her clothes returning. Dais lay there for a few moments letting the recent events sink in. "_Damn,_" he thought. "_I didn't mean to be that rough on her._" He got to his feet, moving Leena off of him and reverting back into his sub armour. The forest fell away, and the beach returned where Aya and Anubis were beginning to stir, and the dark clouds were drifting away to reveal a star littred sky. "I can't take her back like this, Talpa will have my ass..."

Dais knealt down beside Leena and slipped one arm around her back and the other one under her knees, lifted her up close to him and then vanished leaving behind only Aya and Anubis.

To Be Continued...

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know this chapter's a little long, and I'm sorry for the wait. I had some major writer's block with this one. If I'm confusing anyone, please let me know, just because it makes sense to me doesn't mean that it does to everyone else. And thanks to those of you who have been reading. Keep reading, and please review! 


	6. Awakening

A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone. I had writer's block for quite a long time on this one, but I think I've got it sorted out now. I should have more chapters up in a few weeks.

* * *

**Descendants of Light and Dark: Awakening**

by Zallian

Aya was dreaming. She knew that she was dreaming. She was caught in that strange state of unconsciousness where conscious thought told her that she was dreaming and yet she found that she was unable to wake and so the events of the dream continued to unfold and she found that she had no control over them or even her own body. The world around her seemed white and fuzzy, but somehow felt very familiar. Suddenly Aya came to the realization that this was no mere dream. It was her past.

As Aya's dream body lay on the straw mat on the cool wooden floor in the lonely room she tried to think of when and where she might be. The architecture seemed distinctly asian. _"Perhaps japanese_,_"_ she thought. And the time period seemed off as well. The room was dark so it was difficult to make out all of the surroundings, but from what she could tell the finely decorated paper of the inner walls and doors were framed in a rich red colored wood and the outer walls were covered in a smooth white plaster. There were other things in the room too; statues, incense, dried herbs and such.

A few minutes passed before Aya realized that she could hear voices coming from beyond what she assumed was her room. It was two men and it sounded like they were arguing. She got up to investigate. Aya slid open the thin asian style door just an inch and peered beyond it to find the source of the disturbance. Beyond her room was a large hall with what looked like a newly erected golden buddha statue sitting in the middle of the room. There was incense burning at the base of the statue as if someone had recently been praying there. _"This proves it,"_ she thought. _"I'm in Japan in the Heian period. And this must be my family's shrine."_ At the entrance to the shrine stood a tall thin man with long straight white hair and robes who wore a wide circular straw hat and carried a golden staff with six rings connected to it.

"Father," Aya whispered

Across from him was a harassed looking villager giving him a look of deepest disdain. _"It's funny,"_ Aya thought. _"They all have hair white as snow and yet they don't look a day over thirty."_

"I'm telling you, Kaos. The people are in an uproar. The crops are drying up and they think that he's behind it."

"Satoru," Kaos said with a sigh, "you and I both know that the idea is absurd. No man can control the weather. We are simply facing a drought. And in these times of war and unrest the added stress of failed crops is putting them in a state of fear and hostility. They're just looking for someone to blame."

"I know that, but that's the least of it. His neighbors report hearing chanting and strange noises coming from his farmhouse. They believe he's practicing the dark arts." There was a moment of silence before he continued. "I'm only telling you this because I'm worried about you and your family. All it would take is one angry villager to start a riot, and if they are blaming him for these difficult times, they might blame you as well."

"I understand," said Kaos finally. "It's late now. Tomorrow go and talk to the villagers. Put their superstitions to rest. I'll go and speak with my brother."

They said their goodbyes and Satoru descended the steps of the shrine and returned to the village. Kaos watched until he was out of sight then turned and approached the statue, kneeled before it and placed his hands together in prayer.

* * *

Anubis sat quietly in an armchair in the living room of the large coastal home. It had been a few hours since he woke up on the beach next to an unconscious Aya and found that Dais and Leena were nowhere to be found. Night had fallen but he managed to get Aya back to her home where he laid her down on the couch across from him. She had been sleeping ever since and in the past few minutes had begun to toss and turn. It had begun to rain and every other minute or so there was a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder. Suddenly there was a particularly loud crash and Aya shot awake. Anubis looked up as she took in her surroundings. When she realized she was in her own home she began to settle until she noticed Anubis sitting across from her. Her eyes widened as she recalled recent events and she asked, "Where's Leena?"

* * *

Thunder crashed outside of a downtown second floor apartment and rain pounded heavily on the flattened roof. Leena's head was throbbing but she didn't want to wake up. She knew that she was in a bed and it was warm and comfortable. But something was off. The sheets felt different, like satin. _"I don't have satin sheets,"_ she thought. Even stranger, her clothes had been removed. Only her sports bra and underwear remained. Also there was a stabbing pain in her ribs and it felt as though they had been wrapped. There was also a slight pressure on her mid section as though someone or something was sitting on her. Leena slowly opened her eyes and gasped. In addition to being in a strange and darkened room lying in a strange bed, the little apparition girl was sitting on her and staring down at her with her deep soulless brown eyes.  
Leena shot up barely paying attention to the pain that shot across her rib cage and quickly drew in her legs. The apparition sprang up and then landed light as a feather with both bloodstained feet on top of the covers of the bed. "Who are you?" Leena asked in a shaky voice.

"Minako," the girl replied.

"The little village girl?"

The apparition nodded once to answer yes. Leena relaxed a little feeling that the girl was not there to cause her harm. She reached out her hand to touch the girl. Leena cupped Minako's cheek and was surprised to find that she was solid though her skin was cold and stiff like that of a corpse. Leena began to cry. "I'm so sorry," she choked. "I didn't want to do all those things. I wanted to stop, but I had no control. He made me do it. I hurt so many people under his influence..." Leena trailed off lost in her own sobs.

"That's why I'm here," said Minako indifferently. "To keep it from happening again."

Leena pulled back her hand and regained her composure enough to speak. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No."

"Then...what do you want?"

"To help."

"Help?"

"The one called Talpa is gaining power once more. Soon he will once again be strong enough to open the gates between our realms. If he succeeds..."

"...the past will repeat itself," Leena finished.

Just then the bedroom light was flipped on. To the right of the bed and in the doorway of the room stood Dais wearing the same blue jeans that he was earlier that day but without a shirt. Leena went to leap out of the bed but ended up getting her feet tangled in the sheets and fell off of it instead. She quickly got to her feet and backed up against the wall sized window on the opposite side of the room. Then, remembering that she was still wearing nothing but her underwear, her face turned a bright shade of red. She grabbed the end of the sheet that now lay on the floor, ripped it off of the bed and wrapped herself in it. "I see you're awake," Dais said with a laugh. Leena sidestepped away from him and eyed him suspiciously as he moved across the room to an old dresser, took out a spare t-shirt and pulled it over his shoulders. "You...kidnapped me?" Leena said in a somewhat shaky voice remembering their recent encounter. "I prefer not to think of myself as a kidnapper. More like a personal escort," Dais replied as he began to approach her. Leena continued to back away until she ran out of wall and found herself in a corner.

"Then this isn't the Nether Realm?"

"No, see for yourself." He pointed out the window behind her.

Leena looked out of the window and found that she recognized the area immediately. It was downtown Bay Beach. Even through the dark and the storm Leena could see the tourist shops and the beach and boardwalk. She figured if she could get away she might be able to make it back to Aya's house, but then she turned back to see that she was standing face to face with her captor. She gazed at him loathingly for a moment. "What do you plan to do with me then?" Dais smiled and placed his right hand against the wall beside her head. "My dear Leena," he began and raised his left hand to gently stroke the side of her neck," if I wanted to harm you, all I would have had to do would've been to snap that pretty little neck of yours while you slept so peacefully in my bed."

A chill came over Leena's entire body at his touch and it surprised her so much that she let go of the sheet that was covering her. Dais smiled as the sheet fell to the floor revealing her curvy form and he noted that her heart rate was increasing and that she had forgotten to breathe. They might have been rivals on the battlefield, but seeing her like this only amplified his first impression of her and animal instinct was beginning to win over. Thinking this might be the best time to steal a kiss he began to lean in, but Leena quickly came to her senses. She raised her left hand and went to swing it. Dais caught her wrist mid swing with the hand he had been leaning on and Leena quickly countered, slapping him instead with her right hand. It was a hard enough blow to knock him off balance, cause him to release his hold and send him back a few steps. Leena took the opportunity to bolt over the bed and towards the door but was unsuccessful as Dais ran around the other side of the bed and slammed the door closed before she got there. He reached up to feel the welt forming on his left cheek and Leena could see him feeling the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "I taste blood," he said under his breath. He shot a look up at Leena who was now trying to cover herself with her hands. "You busted my lip!" Now he was just getting angry.

"Well you deserved it!" Leena retorted sharing his frustration. "Where are my clothes?" she demanded. "And for that matter, where is the other shirt you had? Why did you come in here half naked?"

"You're wearing it," said Dais straightening up. Leena looked down at her torso to find that her ribs had been wrapped in white polyester and that the wound was starting to bleed through. "I didn't have any gauze," he continued. "So I used the next best thing."

"And my clothes?"

"They're in the dryer."

"The dryer?"

"Yeah," Dais said. "The rain..."

Leena looked out the window once more noting the sheets of water running down it when she suddenly began to feel tired and dizzy. As the room began to spin, Leena felt her knees give way and she found herself falling face first to the floor. Dais saw as she began to fall and moved forward in time to catch her in his arms. "You should probably get some more rest," he said. "You did loose a lot of blood."

"Only because you attacked us," Leena replied in a weakened voice.

Choosing to ignore the last comment, Dais picked her up and walked her back over to the bed. He laid her in the center of the bed, then he picked up the sheet from the other side of the room and placed it over her. "A bite to eat probably wouldn't hurt either. What do you like?"

"I don't understand," said Leena.

"It's a simple question. What kind of food do you like?"

"That's not it. We fought, you injured me, kidnapped me, and instead of taking me back to the Nether Realm as you so plainly stated that you were here to do, now you're helping me to get well? Forgive me, but I find that a little confusing."

Dais sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. "I couldn't take you back like this."

Leena smiled and sat back up, "Don't tell me you were afraid you'd be in trouble for hurting the bosses daughter." Her smile faded when she didn't get a response. "Dais, if there was any human emotion left in him at all it died a long time ago. He doesn't really care for me. He only wants my power for his own." Dizziness won over once more as Leena fell into Dais's lap. He let out a sigh feeling that it would be hopeless to pick her up again. "You're not like the other dynasty dogs," she said dreamily. "It's kind of nice..."

"But how did you..." Dais began, but she was already asleep. An idea hit him and a wicked smile graced his lips. _"If I can't force her to go with me,"_ he thought, _"perhaps there is another way."_

To be continued...


End file.
