Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Moon Rose's Second Blooming - Dais Story Part 3 ❯ Moon Rose's Second Blooming ( One-Shot )

Moon Rose's Second Blooming

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors. I just play with them.

Two months after the fight with Garon...

It was a bright, sunny afternoon. The gang had decided to go hang out at the amusement park. Dais stopped at the bank to pick up some quick cash. The Ronins had gone on ahead and the ex-warlords waited for him outside.

Dais stood in line waiting patiently for his turn with the teller. Yet his danger sense, being tuned to goons from the Dynasty, could not warn him of the danger about to unfold as five men separated themselves from the crowd and pulled out guns, each threatening the life of a different bank patron.

"Everyone shut up, keep still, and do as you're told and no one will get hurt," one of the men instructed. Dais instantly switched to samurai mode and judged the situation, looking for the point to strike without hurting the hostages.

In the corner, a young girl, probably about seven, with platinum hair squealed in fright as she clung to her mother. Dais knew instantly what would happen and swiftly dove to knock the girl out of the way as the gun from one of the men sounded. Dais grunted in pain as he felt the slug tear into his side. The mother screamed in fright and Dais attempted to knock her down, but the bullet was faster and struck her straight into the heart. Dais winced as her body crumpled to the ground, but held his hand to the young girl's mouth to keep her from screaming.

The gun man laughed, and in that instant, he was bested by the samurai. As the other three ex-warlords arrived upon the scene to deal with the other gunmen, Dais tackled the one that had fired the shots and wrestled with him on the ground till the gun went of and the life vanished from the gunman's body. Dais rose up and pushed away from the gunman to make sure the young girl was all right. "Are.. you okay?" he asked with concern, while fighting his body's will to send him into the abyss of unconsciousness from loss of blood from the gunshot wound.

She stared at him frozen in shock over the events that had just taken place to shatter her life. It was then, as he got a good look at her that he saw it. It had to be Mitsu's spirit within her for she looked just as she did when she was taken away from him. Dais gasped at the sight, but was instantly distracted as pain flared from within him. Unable to fight the abyss and stand up to the pain and loss of blood, he feel to the floor unconscious.

"DAIS!" the other three warlords gasped in unison as they rushed to his side. Anubis took charge of looking after the little girl while Sekmet and Cale fretted over Dais.

"And arrow or katana wound, I can deal with. No problem. But a bullet? I don't think so. This is out of my hands, guys," Sekmet said as he and Cale discovered the wound.

"Paramedics are on they're way," said one of the security officers that were now flooding the room. "What about the woman?" he asked. Anubis shook his head slowly. "Oh man. This isn't good," the officer commented.

"What's your name, young one?" Anubis asked turning to the girl, whom he now held in his arms. The girl whimpered and shrunk with fear. Though, as soon as she did, she turned to look at the unconscious Dais who was receiving first aid from Sekmet and Cale till the paramedics arrived. She frowned and spoke softly, "Will.. will he be okay?"

Anubis blinked with surprise at her actions, but answered, "Yes. Not to worry, young one. But what about you? Can you tell me your name?"

The girl wore a face of sorrow, yet she finally answered, "Sheini."

"Sheini, huh? Do you have a daddy somewhere?"

Sheini looked up at him with pain filled eyes then shook her head.

"Do you know of any other family we should find?" Anubis asked, trying his best to not make her anymore frightened than she already was. She hesitated a moment, then looked back up at him and shook her head.

"Me and Mommy are by ourselves," she answered.

"I see. Well, you needn't worry about a thing. We'll see to it that you are taken care of, all right? Nothing to fear. And if you feel like talking or asking questions, you have only to do so," he smiled to her as warmly as he could given the current situation. He really hadn't a clue how bad Dais was hurt, but he wasn't going to allow the girl to worry over it. She had enough to deal with as it was.

Dais awoke to a bazaar smell and found himself in a recovery bed in the hospital. He could tell by the fuzzy feeling he had that they'd removed the bullet and loaded him up with pain meds. He wasn't quite sure he liked the idea of the pain meds. He preferred having a clear mind even if it hurt a bit. With all he'd been through in his life, pain certainly wasn't a problem. He made a mental note to instruct the doctors at a later time not to do that anymore.

Well, so much for going to the amusement park today. Today's event pretty much shot any major entertainment plans for the next week right to hell. Still, he couldn't get over that little girl. How she bore such a striking resemblance to Mitsu. He was sure the mother had perished, but at least he was able to save the little girl. She was so young and had so much to live for, for her life to be taken away in such a manner.

Dais was drawn out of his reverie as a nurse entered to check up on him.

"Well hello there. Nice to have you back with us. How do you feel Mr... oh dear.. it seems they accidentally missed putting in your last name," she said, glancing at the chart on her clipboard.

"Figures. Actually, I don't think the rest of them know my family name. Apologies. Kuroda," Dais answered.

"Ahh.. All right then. Kuroda Dais? That correct? What about a middle initial?" she probed.

"Umm.. Dais is a nickname. Jirougorou is my birth name. But whatever. Most have never heard that name anyway," he answered. "Can I.. make a request?"

"Depends. What's the request?"

"Whatever the hell kind of pain killer crap they stuffed in me, make sure it's not done again. I'd take pain any day over these annoying side effects," he grumbled.

"Well, now that's not something I hear often."

"Yes well I grew up in a place where this kind of stuff didn't exist. They made medicines to ease pain, sure. But I was rarely ever lucky to get it. I've experienced every level of pain imaginable so naturally something as low key as projectile removal isn't going to be a problem. I can't stand feeling like London in the morning," he explained, gritting his teeth a bit.

"Oh really. All right. If that is your wish, so be it."

"Bah! Reminds me of all those times Sekmet spiked the drinks and/or food with his crazy junk just to see what would happen," Dais said more to himself than her with a funky scowling glare.

"Aside from the fuzziness, how to you feel. Any faintness? Nausea? Pain? Etc?"

"No. How can one not be with this junk coursing through their veins. No. And anything else is none of your business," Dais answered, trying his best not to let his irritation at the pain killers show too much but failing.

"Ahh.. I see. A feisty one, you are, Mr. Kuroda," the nurse said with a stern look.

"Lady, if you have no clue the extent of how much of a pain in the ass I can be. Consider yourself fortunate," he replied with the warrior's spirit gleaming in his eyes. The nurse seemed to get the message to tread carefully this time as she flinched slightly at the look he gave her.

"Yes, sir. You'll be moved to a room upstairs in a minute or so. The doctor will see you there. He had an emergency to tend to at the moment," she said then turned and left, hoping with all her might that she wouldn't have to deal with that man anymore.

A fifteen minutes later, Dais sat in his private suite glaring in complete and utter boredom at the world outside the window beside the bed. It took all his might to resist the urge to summon his kanji ball to him and get the hell out of there to let his armor heal him so he could get back to his life. Fortunately, he was also saved by the arrival of the doctor.

"Hello Mr. Kuroda. I hear you are bouncing back quite nicely from your eventful day," the man asked him with a slight smirk.

"Sure," Dais answered disdainfully, crossing his arms across his chest. "When am I getting out of this dungeon?"

"We'll keep you over night just to make sure there are no complications. Then you should be heading out of here by tomorrow afternoon. However, you should plan on a nice week long recuperation vacation after that," the doctor answered.

"Is that so? Is there any way I can talk my way out of a stay at Hell Hotel? After everything that's happened in my life, I don't take too well to being anyone's prisoner. Doctor or otherwise," Dais said with a piercing glare.

"I'm afraid not. That nurse wouldn't take too well to seeing you back in here again for complications or rupturing that wound," the doctor answered.

"Oh really? I could always try a bit of intimidation. I'm told I'm a master at that," Dais said, not backing down.

"I don't think so. I've seen patients far rowdier than you. I doubt you could do any thing more," the doctor answered boldly. "Besides these orders are house rules."

"House rules or not, I don't care. And as for your doubts, you are far too naive. It's what you don't know that you should worry about. Especially when dealing with me. But if you think you know better, then go right on ahead and be ignorant. I don't much give a damn," Dais instructed.

"I heard that!" came Cale's voice as he stepped into the room. He couldn't help but chuckle at Dais's words, being one that would say the exact same thing. "Should I even guess how long it will take you to get out of here," he said with a Cale type hard grin.

"Are you so sure he's even still there?" Sekmet commented as he entered the room. Dais shook his head slowly as he chuckled.

"You boys know me far too well," he said. The doctor was mean while giving the other two inquisitive looks.

"Well with all the time we've spent together, how could we not?" Anubis said as he appeared behind Sekmet.

"No matter what you say, you will be staying the night sir. Should you try and leave, security will make sure you can't," the doctor said with a glare. To this Cale and Sekmet busted up laughing with their warlord type laughter.

"Surrrrrrrrrrrre they will!" Cale snorted.

"They haven't a chance against him! With the Lord of Illusion, they'd be too busy chasing after their own shadows to notice his departure, let alone stop him. That is if he even decided to leave through the front door!" Sekmet boasted.

"You know Sekmet. Another time, your insane boasting would get on my nerves and make me knock you through a wall. But that one was actually pretty good," Dais said with a smirk. Anubis just sighed and shook his head, knowing that no matter what he could say, Cale and Sekmet were right. No doubt the first time the doctor turned his back, Dais would be gone.

"Is that so?" the doctor argued.

"Unfortunately for you, they are correct. No matter how hard you try to keep me here, it will be wasted effort. No quicker than you can blink an eye I will be gone. So you'd better save yourself the trouble and just give me the what should be done upon my leaving speech. Or, you can just leave and be thankful you won't have to deal with me any longer," Dais said.

"No offense, sir. But in this hospital, what you speak of is impossible. We're use to the tough patients attempting to leave," the doctor said.

"Oh really? You think so?" Dais said calmly as he closed his right palm then opened it again, tossing the kanji ball into the air, then catching it again as it appeared in his hand.

"Dais! Don't you know it's suppose to be me being the asshole?" Cale groaned.

"Not with the junk they loaded me up with. Sekmet would be proud of that crap!" Dais answered. Just after the words had left his mouth, everyone glanced at Mia as she entered the room with Yulie in tow. As everyone's eyes returned to him, just as predicted, they found him gone.

"See? Told you," Sekmet said in a completely unsurprised manner.

"What the.. " the doctor started, disbelieving his own eyes.

"Well, given his comment on my liking whatever drugs he was stuffed with, I believe I should go make sure he arrived at his intended destination instead of Siberia or somewhere bazaar like that," Sekmet said and promptly left the room to find a place where he could teleport from without being seen.

"What? Where'd he go?" Mia asked with shock.

"Where do you think he went?" Cale said with a glare. "Nothing more to see here. I'm off to play some kick the can. I just hope Dais has enough of his brain intact to not be overly ambitious till his armor has a chance to heal him," he said as he turned and pushed his way out, not caring if the doctor heard that or not.

"Don't waste your time trying to find him, doctor. He's no where any of your friends could find him," Anubis said with a frown before following Cale, leading Mia and the others waiting outside along with him.

"What about his things at the desk?" the doctor asked.

"They are no doubt gone through thin air just as he is. Dais is the Master of Illusion. No one on earth nor else is as good at the art as he is," Anubis said, then left the doctor to himself.

In the four days, Dais had seemingly disappeared from existence, he made a pilgrimage to his homeland. In the meadow where his village once stood, he made his peace. When he wasn't roaming quietly, reliving the past, he was hanging upside down from the trees that shadowed the mountain stream, letting his armor heal him slowly, both physically and mentally.

When his stay in his homeland at last came to an end, he quietly moved through the night to return to the Koji manor. He had used his abilities to keep tabs on the rest of the group, and thus he knew Mia had allowed the young girl to come and stay at the manor till permanent residence arrangements could be made. So as not to wake anyone, Dais slipped into the den to occupy the couch for the remainder of the night.

The next morning, Yulie and Sheini were the first ones up and so played a quiet game of hide and seek downstairs. It was Sheini's turn to hide, and the moment Yulie started counting by the stairs she was gone.

"Ichi.. ni.. san.. go.." Yulie counted with his eyes tightly shut. Sheini grinned and raced through the house as if she were the wind. Though, as she stepped into the den to hide, the game was instantly forgotten upon discovering Dais there. Her fascination with him out weighed the urge to leave him be and she quietly shut the door behind her before approaching the slumbering man stretched out on his stomach on one of the room's two couches, his face facing her.

"Psst!" she whispered as she pushed aside her edginess and bravely poked his shoulder. Dais flinched then opened his eyes with a soft groan, squinting a moment till his eyes adjusted. Finding the young girl staring back at him with ice blue eyes same as his own, he gasped in surprise.

"You!" he said with astoundment as he sat straight up. The girl flinched and frowned a bit, not sure if he was happy to see her or annoyed.

"Should.. should I go?" she asked with uncertainty in her voice. Dais's eyes widened for a moment, but then it was the girl's turn to be surprised as she found herself suddenly enveloped in his tight yet gentle embrace.

"No. Please don't go. I was just startled is all. I didn't mean to frighten you," he said softly. "I'm glad you are all right."

"Oh. Okay," the girl said with a soft smile, yet sorrow over the events of that day clearly visible in her eyes. She turned to look him in the eyes, "They said you disappeared..."

"Oh yes. That," he chuckled softly. "The casting of illusions and that sort of stuff happens to be my specialty. I needed some time away from everything, so I went home for a little while."

"Oh," the girl replied simply. Dais regarded her with slightly concerned eyes, knowing there was more on her mind than just that. A moment later, she voiced it softly, "Why do people make mommies go away?" Dais blinked and sighed.

"Because this world is abound with ignorance. Those that act in such ways are blind," he said softly, remembering when he was just as blind.

"Oh," the girl said simply. Dais frowned at the look of sorrow that remained on her face.

"Come here," he said in a warm sympathetic voice just above a whisper as he picked her up and sat her down in his lap, giving her another hug. "Don't keep it in. It's okay to cry. Even mighty samurai cry sometimes," he said, holding her too him, unable to escape treating her as if she were the sister he'd lost four hundred some years ago. The girl was hesitant at first, but soon decided she liked his attention and felt safe within his arms. Relaxing, she finally allowed herself to let go of her tears.

"You're not the only one who lost their mother to people like that. Many years ago, soldiers attacked my village and took the lives of everyone there. Including my mother, and my little sister who meant the world to me. She.. looked alot like you," he said to her, hoping it would ease her pain.

"That's sad," the girl said through her tears.

"Yes, it is," he agreed. And suddenly he had an idea, though he decided to wait till she calmed down to pull it.

Just as Sheini's tears were dying down, Yulie popped his head in the room. Stunned by Dais's presence, he bolted for the stairs to alert everyone of his return. Dais grumbled and counted precisely two seconds before Kayura appeared looking as flustered as the day she fought Talpa along side the Ronins and remaining Warlords. Before she could open her mouth, Dais silenced her.

"Kayura! Apologies for being harsh, but scram. I'm busy with matters that, at this point in time are none of your business. Go duct tape the boys to a telephone pole or something," he said before turning to a surprised Sheini. "If you trust me, I'd like to show you something," he said to the girl with gently pleading eyes.

"Umm.. okay," the girl replied, curious as to what he wanted to show her.

"Dais!" Kayura complained.

"Kayura, I said leave me be. You'll have plenty of time to fret over me later. We'll be back in time for breakfast. Don't worry about it," Dais snapped with annoyance. He turned back to Sheini once again. "All right, now close your eyes and I'll show you some magic that would make David Copperfield get a blinding migraine trying to figure out how it was done," he said with a chuckle as Kayura grumbled in defeat.

"Okay," the girl said with a bit of cheer at the mention of magic as she closed her eyes as tight.

"Got them closed?" Dais said with a cheerful grin.

"Uh-huh," the girl nodded with a slight smile.

"All righty. Here we go. Abracadabra and all that stuff!" he chuckled and, with the kanji ball clutched in his palm as he held her tight, they blinked out to reappear sitting on a rock by the stream that flowed through his homeland. "Now look," he said as he pocketed the ball. The girl opened her eyes and gasped in awe.

"Wow! You're right! You are better than David Copperfield!" she said with a gleeful giggle, her tears forgotten in her childish amazement. Dais chuckled. "Beautiful huh?" he said as he glanced out across the stream to regard the meadow that lay in peaceful serenity beyond the shade of the trees, and the mountains that towered in the distance.

"Yeah! Where are we?" Sheini asked in raw fascination.

"This is where I grew up," Dais said as he hopped off the rock then picked her up and carried her across the shallow stream to set her down in the grass on the other side, so she didn't have to cross in her currently bare feet.

"It is? But.. where is your house?" she asked with a perplexed look.

"You tell me," Dais challenged with a smile, trying an experiment. "See if you can see where it is. See with your mind's eye what is not there, then tell me where it is."

"See what is not there?" the girl questioned with complete confusion.

"Yes. It's only a theory, but I have a darn good feeling you can do it," he said, hoping with all his soul that he was right.

"But how?" she asked, still no closer to figuring out what was suppose to be happening.

"Close your eyes, and see through your mind. Listen to the spirit of the land, and the voices of the past. Hear and see and feel the presence of the lives that called this place home," he instructed.

"Okay. I'll try," she said in a I'll-give-it-my-best-but-I'm-not-promising-anything sort of tone.

As Sheini closed her eyes to concentrate on her task, Dais too reached into his mind. 'Serenity...' his mind whispered as the kanji symbol flared briefly upon his forehead. 'Friends of the past, I beg your help just this once. Please, if this girl truly is who I think she is, show yourselves to her and return to her the link to the past. I ask nothing more than for her to be allowed to remember.'

Standing there, focusing upon the land through her mind, Sheini found the calmness of mental clarity and vision came amazingly easy to her. For a minute or to, the picture was fuzzy and hard to grasp, yet as she sounds of the falls up the stream a ways crept back into her ears, her heart throbbed as though life at suddenly been returned to her and took in a slow gasp. The sounds of the water's movement lapping against the deepest part of her soul triggered the images she was told she would see, and suddenly, there before her mind's eye, she could see the village in all it's glory. The people happily going about their daily business. Kids playing in the fields. The sounds of paradise, a village unspoiled and innocent.

Listening, watching the scene her mind showed her, she discovered herself turning to admire the flowers that grew in the forest along the water's edge, and even some within the stream. The image was so vivid, she could feel everything she saw, could even smell the sweet fragrance of the flowers she adored. Then, a cheerful chuckle met her ear and she turned to see a young boy, looking to be about fifteen, looking back at her. He wore the same appearance as her but only in a masculine way, attached to a strong over-protective big brother's heart. She heard him call her name, Mitsu, and say she was silly as he watched her look over everything as if it was the first time she'd ever seen it. In response, she heard herself say to him that it was he that was silly.

Sheini laughed softly in a bit of awe at the images she saw, and in that was returned to the present as that same chuckle, only a few years older in sound, met her ears, causing her to open her eyes and turn to look at him.

"Did you see it?" Dais asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yes! I did! I.." she said, stopping herself as her memory suddenly drew her back to it and forced her to turn and look at the meadow where the village once stood. There, it began to swiftly recant the story of her life and her past to her. She drew in a breath as the images got increasingly darker and more serious, her face going blank as she watched the story unfold in her mind as her memories returned to her in a gushing stream. Dais watched with a slightly puzzled look mixed with a bit of dread as he had a vague idea what she was seeing. Though he wished with all his heart he could stop it, he knew that he mustn't. She needed to know all of her past, everything. No matter how much it would tarnish the view.

Sheini watched in horror as the scenes of the attack flashed through her mind at near the speed of light. Then, they burst past the moment of her death to go on to tell history's story threw the eyes of her spirit as she watched her brother's struggle with Talpa take its course. The story followed through the battle with Garon and finally came to end with her departure from the field that day, telling her brother she wouldn't be far. Yes, the events of that day at the bank were horrible. But, through it all, she could now also see the light. She knew despite her losses, this was how it was suppose to be. No matter what, her brother would always be there to protect her. The mood upon her face lightened as the images faded away to leave her back in the present.

Sheini turned to scan her surroundings for Dais, who'd moved while she was reliving the past. She found him standing in the fields near the hillside, staring up at the sky, his mind clearly elsewhere. Without a word, she bolted across the meadow to tackle him to the ground, hugging him with all her might. Dais yelped in surprise as he found himself being knocked to the ground in a power tackle hug. Dais blinked in momentary shock at getting the stuffing hugged out of him by his sister, but, in the next moment, shock gave way to tears as he hugged her back as tight as he could without hurting her.

"Mitsu... Now that I have you back, I'm never letting you go," he said in a soft shaky voice as his tears mixed with her platinum silver hair.

"Silly brother," she whispered into his ear with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"I know," he whispered almost inaudibly, unable to say anything else.

For a while the two of them just lay there in the grass, basking in the joy of being able to be together again. Then Dais finally spoke up again, "So, what should I call you now? Mitsu or Sheini?"

"It doesn't matter to me," she giggled. "Do you remember the nickname you gave me?" she asked with a grin. Dais chuckled.

"Moon Rose," he grinned sheepishly, having almost forgotten that one.

"You know what's funny?" she asked with amusement.

"What?"

"It's my middle name now. Rose," she giggled.

"You're kidding!" he scoffed with humorous amazement.

"Nope!" she giggled some more. Dais couldn't help but laugh.

"You're right. That is funny!"

"I think... Mommie's passing was meant to be," Sheini said, switching gears.

"You think she's the same one?"

"Oh yes. I'm sure she was."

"I see," Dais said with a bit of sorrow in his voice.

"Not your fault," she said with a face of wisdom beyond her years.

"I know. No matter what I could of done, that part would have wound up the same way."

"And don't blame yourself for what happened to me either," she advised.

"What?" he blinked in surprise.

"Because that wasn't your fault either. You weren't a warrior then like you are now. No matter how hard you try to deny it, you know there was nothing more you could have done. Talpa and Garon were the ones to blame for what happened to me and everyone else. Not you. You were only a part of Talpa long enough to learn how to defeat him and Garon. Think of it that way," Sheini told him. Dais blinked in awe at her words, but his face softened as he realized she was right. In a way, he always knew the truth. It just took her saying it for him to accept it. The speech earned her another big hug, though Dais managed not to cry this time.

"You have always been, and will always be the treasure that keeps me going," he said softly, kissing her cheek.

"Silly brother," she said, blushing softly with a giggle. Dais smiled and chuckled back. "But I wouldn't have you any other way," she grinned, kissing his cheek in return.

"You are just intent upon making me cry again, aren't you?" he joked with a chuckle, trying to keep from doing just that.

"Well, it's not often when one sees a mighty samurai cry," she teased with a grin. Dais busted out laughing. Sheini's tummy interrupted with a rather loud growl. "Hmmm... you think they have breakfast ready yet? I'm kind of hungry," she said with a giggle. Dais chuckled.

"I don't know, but me too. Let's go find out, shall we?" he said with a grin.

"Yep! Sounds good to me," she said cheerfully.

In a flash they were back in the den. Sounds of morning chaos floated in from the dinning room and the two instantly knew food was coming shortly. They both stood up and started to walk out of the room when Sheini stopped and looked back at her brother, "Hey you. You're shoe's untied."

"Huh?" Dais responded as he stopped to glance down at his shoes to discover they were both still tied.

"Race ya to the food!" she squealed as she bolted out of the room like a bat out of hell.

"Hey you! You little weasel!" he called after her, laughing as he took off after her.

"Hey, what's up with them?" Yulie asked as he saw Dais chasing Sheini out of the den.

"I have not clue," Kento answered. Just then White Blaze appeared, blocking the pathway of course, to see what was going on. Dais and Sheini both yelped as they threw on the brakes and wound up falling on their butts just as Dais caught up with her.

"White Blaze! I was winning! Silly tiger!" Sheini giggled.

"Yeah! Cause you cheated! Rascal!" Dais laughed as he started tickling her sides mercilessly. Sheini squealed with giggle fits as she squirmed trying to get away.

"JIROU-CHAN!!" she squealed in protest, since her efforts to escape were to no avail.

"ROSE!!" Dais laughed, falling back into his old habits with amazing ease as he gave her a noogie. To all of this, Sheini squealed with giggles all over again, Dais laughing along with her.

"Uhh.. sorry to interrupt yer fun, Magic Man, but what the heck is up with you?" Kento asked with a funny look.

"Good question," Sage agreed.

"Hey, I meant to say this earlier, but you know.. Sheini looks alot like that sister of yours that we saw on that picnic that one day," Sekmet said, scratching his head.

"Hey, he's right. She does look alot like the other girl," Ryo agreed scratching his head.

"That's because I am her, sillies!" Sheini giggled while Dais groaned and shook his head at his friends.

"You're what? How can that be?" Cale spoke up with astoundment.

"You mean you were reincarnated?" Rowen asked.

"Hey, yeah. Cause she didn't seem to know Dais at all before today," Ryo said. Sheini looked to her brother.

"Jirou-chan, your friends are weird," she said with a humorous smirk.

"Yes, Rose. They are indeed," Dais nodded with face. In the next moment, Sheini was up and bolting for a chair at the table.

"I WIN!" she giggled as she climbed up into the chair.

"Hey you! You cheat! You didn't even say go!" Dais complained while everyone else laughed as he got up and plopped down in the seat next to her. "I'll get you back for that, you know," he warned with a mischievous grin. Sheini giggled wildly and poked her tongue at him. Half the room sweatdropped as he poked his tongue right back at her.

"So Dais, where did you run off to anyways? You know we've been looking for ya for four days?!" Kento said as he found himself a seat along with the others.

"I went home. Why?" Dais said casually as he shifted, waiting for the food to arrive.

"Bullcrap! We checked your apartment. You weren't there," Kento tossed back. Sheini blinked at the boy wit a odd look.

"Not that home, idiot! Home home. As in where I grew up," Dais answered.

"Oh," Kento nodded with a slight look of enlightenment.

Sekmet, Cale, and Anubis all exchanged looks then simultaneously smacked themselves in the forehead, chorusing, "Psych!" Sheini and Yulie both giggled while Dais smirked.

"Hey, but wait a minute. We've been there and seen that place. There's nothing there. Why'd you go back if there was nothing there but grass and.." Sekmet asked in confusion, having the last word get cut off by Dais.

"You're wrong, Sekmet! There is something there. My life. Mitsu's life. The souls that called that village home roam that land. I go there not to wallow in sorrow, but to feel it's peace. The village may no longer stand, but the land is still alive. Perhaps only those that were there when it fell can see the souls living there, happy and carefree as the day before their physical form was taken from them, but they are there. That hillside may now be only grass and memorial stones, but it is still paradise... and it is still my home. I've spent my life protecting it as, besides now having Mitsu with me, it is the only tangible thing left of my life before Talpa stepped in and ruined it all," Dais said defiantly.

"I like it too. The buildings and people are ghosts now, but the flowers by the river are still pretty and smell nice," Sheini commented.

"Wow, that's amazing, Dais. Perhaps you and Sheini can show it to us someday," Mia said as she appeared from the kitchen, helping Cye bring in the food. Sekmet just gulped in response an seemed to zone out.

Upon the arrival of the food the conversation was forgotten as plates were filled and faces began to be stuffed. It wasn't noticed till late in the meal how little Sekmet had eaten. Actually, it looked more like all the had done was pus the food around his plate.

"Hey Sekmet, are you gonna eat that or not? If not, why not give it to someone that will eat it so it don't go to waste," Kento pushed, eager to stuff his belly with whatever was left on people's plates. Sekmet sighed and stood up.

"No. Take whatever you want, Hardrock. I'm not hungry," he said then promptly took two steps and disappeared.

"What's with him?" Cye asked with a confused look.

Dais scratched his head with a pondering look then responded, "I don't know, but I think it was something I said." Cale instantly responded with a snickering laugh.

"Don't worry about him. He'll bounce back. He just doesn't like it when he's proven wrong," Cale snickered some more.

"I hope you're right," Cye answered with a sigh.

"Maybe he decided to go back to his home," Sheini replied.

"Henh. Maybe. Maybe all Dais's words went to his head. I actually don't think he's been home, at least not since the Dynasty's fall," Cale said.

"Anyone have any clue where his homeland might be?" Cye asked, with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Absolutely not a clue," Dais answered.

"Not a clue," Anubis chorused.

"Have no idea," Cale said just after the other two voiced their opinions.

"Great. Alot of help you three are," Cye said with a frown.

"Sorry," the three warlords replied in unison.

"Oh brother," Sheini said with a sigh.

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Setting the stakes for another story? You betcha! ^_~ So review, then keep your eyes peeled for the next installment to my energizer storyline... it keeps going and going and going..... ~ Penguine