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"What do you think did
this?" Kento asked as all five of them looked down at
the hole.
"I think the better question
is, who did this," Rowen said. He was in the
middle of the hole, sifting through the dirt.
"You think the Dynasty was planning something again?" Cye asked.
"Even better, I think they sent out the little kiddies again."
"You mean to tell me that
those kids made this hole?" Kento looked around
with incredulous eyes. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Actually, I think only
one of them made it." Everybody turned to their
resident genius.
"What do you mean one of them?" Ryo slid down next to him.
"That's what I meant. Only one of those two made this hole."
"How?" Sage asked. "This thing is pretty big. And how are you sure?"
"Call it my gut instinct. It just doesn't seem right though."
"What do you mean?"
"Why would they attack
out here? I know we weren't far away but it's still
far away. Who could they have been attacking?"
"The answer to that would
be me." The voice resonated from the woods. A
figure moved and all of them got ready. A monk emerged and they
somewhat
relaxed.
"You're the Ancient Mia told me about," Sage said, stepping forward.
"Yes Halo."
"Okay, so they're attacking
monks now, what does that tell us?" Kento blurted
out. "Their parents didn't teach them much, but where does
that leave us?
In big trouble, that's where!!"
"Kento, calm down." Cye ran after him as he went back to their camp.
"And he's right," the Ancient said.
"If one of them can make
this, that means they were just playing around with
Cye and Kento a couple of days ago," Rowen said thoughtfully.
"Why did they attack you anyway?" Ryo asked, turning to the monk.
"He didn't intend to miss
but his brother deflected it. The boy was mad to
find that his brother was having doubts about where they stand.
He's like
his mother in that way but he reacted like his father would."
"Where are they now?" Sage helps both Rowen and Ryo out of the hole.
"Back to the Netherworld
I suspect. I felt the presence of the Warlord just
as they left me."
"So, you're an ally for us." Ryo looked him over from a distance.
"Mia told me that the Ancient
was the guiding force behind the armors," Sage
explained. "She couldn't tell me much more since the files
on him were
destroyed."
"So, why come out now?" Rowen asked, dusting himself.
"Before, your trouble was
only on the surface," the Ancient one started. "I
knew you could fight your physical battles. The mental demons
were a
different story. Only recently have events unfolded that I felt
I should
intervene."
"What do you mean by that?" Ryo took a step forward.
"I should have been here
when Mia was taken but things delayed me. A vision
told me of identical armors grazing this earth. I didn't think
I made any
identical armors."
"How do you explain those
two then?" Rowen asked. "From what Cye and Kento
said, their armors were almost identical to the Warlord of Cruelty's
but with
different colors and weapons."
"That's when it dawned
on me. I didn't make the armors. All I could figure
out was that Talpa had made them. And these armors are different.
They are
empty."
"Of course they're empty. Talpa didn't make those kids. Did he?"
"Those armors are empty
in another way. Your armors already had their
virtues. Theirs were just made as hollow vessels."
"And that means…?" Ryo turned around, already getting frustrated.
"It means that those kids
made this hole on their own," Sage slowly said.
"The power that did this came from them."
"Oh, great! More good
news!!" Ryo threw his hands up in the air. "Not only
do we have to contend with four adult Warlords, we have to worry
about two
little ones, too!"
"That is the reason why
I have come." The Ancient stepped forward. "Power
like that should not be contained alone."
"What do you want us to do about it?"
"Persuade them to join you instead of against you."