Sage cracked one pale blue eye open to see the golden light of the sun streaming in through his window.  He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and looked around the room.  Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and not knowing why he thought there would be, he tried to stand up.
 "Ow," he said plainly after finding it a bit painful.  The pain toll from that battle was a little higher than he had expected.  And if he was this bad and he wasn’t the worst off, how were Rowen and Ryo doing?  They took a far worse hit than he had, and he could hardly stand himself.
 Sage managed to get his body to obey and was able to stand.  He decided to check up on Ryo and Rowen to make sure that they were still alive at least.  He made it down the hall to Ryo’s room, opened the door, and peeked in.  Ryo seemed to be okay; he hadn’t woken up yet to experience the agony of consciousness.  Sage quietly closed the door and opened Rowen’s.  Rowen was also asleep.  Although Sage could only imagine what he was dreaming.  He couldn’t honestly understand what Rowen was going through; only imagine what it was like.  How close had they been?  Obviously love grows between two people when they haven’t seen each other for a very long time.  Or Cora and Rowen were soul mates or something like that, and they actually did love each other those years ago, and just didn’t know it.  Sage shook his head.  He wished that he could do something to help his friend, but in this problem, he couldn’t do a thing about it.  He closed Rowen’s door silently and went back to his own room.

 Later, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Mia were all in Mia’s study, wondering what to do about Rowen and Ryo.  The walls were decorated with Katanas and ancient Samurai helmets; along with the miscellaneous other weapons and objects.  The bookshelves were filled with disk cases and large volumes of encyclopedias and books.
 "So what do we do when they decide to attack again?"  Kento asked to no one in particular.
 They all thought a moment, considering how the last battle had gone.  Mia was the one to break the silence.
 "Ryo and Rowen are still weak.  Cora and Kayura must have attacked them with great power.  It will take a while for them to recover.  You can only hope that Tulpa will not decide to attack any time soon.  You need all 5 armors to work together, and without Ryo you cannot create the Armor of Inferno."
 "Yeah, but what if they do attack?  Ryo and Rowen will want to help, but we can’t let them, their armor might drain all energy that they have left to fight and that might kill them," Sage stated.
 "We can’t let them fight.  But how will we explain that to them?"  Cye wondered.
 "Hey, they should know already that they wouldn’t be able to fight."  Kento said.
 Mia sighed.
 "And then there’s the problem of Cora."  Sage said, implying that when Rowen did recover, he would want to set her free.
 "Yeah, what are we supposed to do about her when she attacks?  Tulpa probably wants her to take out Rowen.  What do we say to her?  Oh, sorry, you pretty much killed him that last time, go away."  Kento added.
 "We’ll have to keep her away from Ryo and Rowen.  But Rowen will want to go after her after he gets his strength back," Cye said.
 "You can’t let Rowen go after her in the NetherRealm," Mia said.
 "What?"  The other three asked in unison.
 "In the NetherRealm, the power of the Dynasty will be greater than it is here.  If there is still a chance that you can set Cora free, you will have a better advantage if she is attacking here."
 They all thought a moment.  None of them knew what to do.
 ^Mia is right.^  They heard a voice say.
 "What was that?"  Cye asked for the group.
 "The wolf?"  Kento suggested.
 "Kariudo?"  Sage guessed.
 Mia turned toward the window and saw a gray wolf standing there.  She opened the glass door and let him in.
 ^Yes, Halo, I am Kariudo.  I am the guide and guardian of the Jaded One.^
 "That explains a lot." Kento said.
 ^The Jaded One has been filled with Tulpa’s evil.  If and when she attacks again, she will be even more powerful than ever.  Turning her will not be easy, but only one of you can turn her.^
 "Rowen."  Sage said, stating the obvious.
 ^Yes.  Somewhere inside of Cora, she is still Cora.  There is still the side of her that would never heart someone she cares for.  Though she doesn’t know it, she has the power to overcome the evil that Tulpa has built on top of it.^
 "And what if she doesn’t?  What if she destroys all of us?  Including Rowen?"  Cye asked.
 Kariudo was silent for a moment.  Pondering this.
 ^I bend to the will of the Jaded One, it will not happen.^  After Kariudo said this, he walked out of the room to some other part of the house.
 "Well, that helped."  Kento said.

 After they had finished their discussion, Mia went to check on Ryo and Rowen.  First she checked on Ryo.  Gently shaking him awake.
 "Ryo?"  She asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.
 Ryo mumbled something, but did not wake up.  Mia persisted.
 "Ryo," she said once again, gently shaking him so that hopefully he wouldn’t wake up too hysterically.
 "Huh….w-what?"  He asked sleepily, just barely opening his eyes.
 Mia smiled.
 "How are you feeling Ryo?"  She asked.
 "Man, I feel like I’ve been hit by a semi truck, over and over.  I can’t move very well, and when I do, it hurts."  He explained.
 "Here, take this," Mia handed him some pain killer and a glass of water, "It’ll stop some of the pain hopefully."
 "Thanks."
 "You get some more rest now.  Is there anything you need?"
 "No, I think I’ll be good with a few more hours of sleep."
 "Well, I’ll be back to check on you later, now I’m going to see how Rowen is doing."
 "Okay," Ryo replied, and went back to sleep.
 Mia quietly closed the door.  As she turned around, she saw Sage standing on the other side of the hall.
 "How is he doing?"  Sage asked.
 "He’s all right.  A little weak, but he’ll be fine," Mia answered.  She walked over to Rowen’s door and knocked quietly.  Getting no response, she assumed he was asleep and silently opened the door.  Sage watched her, then went in as well.
 Rowen was asleep.  Mia set down the medicine and proceeded to gently wake him up.  Sage stood a little ways away behind Mia.
 "Rowen,"  Mia said quietly.
 No response.
 Mia put a hand on his shoulder, "Rowen."

 "Rowen"
 Someone is calling me.
 "Rowen,"  A hand on my shoulder.  Cora?
 ~A figure appears.  It is Cora, her hand is on his shoulder.~
 Cora!  I won’t let you go!
 ~Rowen grabs Cora’s wrist gently~
 Cora, I’m not letting you go!

 Rowen grabbed Mia’s wrist gently, still asleep.  Mia looked confused.
 "Rowen?  Are you awake?"  she asked, puzzled.

 ~Cora fades and Rowen squeezes tighter to not lose her.~

 Rowen’s grip tightens around Mia’s wrist.
 "Rowen!  Stop!  Wake up!  You’re hurting me!"  She cried.

 "Stop!  You’re hurting me!"
 I’m not letting you go, Cora, I won’t lose you again!
 ~Rowen grips even harder to "Cora’s" wrist~

 "Ahh!  Rowen!  Please! Stop!  Let go!  Please!"  Mia almost yells.
 Sage is alarmed, and runs over to Mia and Rowen.  Rowen is gripping Mia’s hand fiercely.  A troubled look on his face.
 "Rowen!"  Sage called, and shook him.
 "Rowen!  Stop!" Mia said again.
 Sage grabbed Rowen’s arm and tried to gently pry his hand from Mia’s.  He shook him again, finding that it didn’t work.
 "Rowen!  Wake up!"  Sage yelled at him.  Then he saw the water.  He didn’t want to, but it was probably the only way to get Rowen awake.  Sage grabbed the water and poured it on Rowen’s head.

 ~Everything disappeared, and suddenly, Rowen awoke to reality~

 "Ahh!"  Rowen cried, surprised by the water, and sat upright.  He let go of Mia’s wrist instantly, not aware that he was gripping it tightly.
 "Rowen, are you all right?"  Mia asked him.
 Rowen wiped the water off of his face.
 "Uh," he said as pain suddenly became acknowledged, "Oh, yeah, I think I’m okay," he said slowly.
 "Rowen, you practically took Mia’s hand off.  Were you dreaming?  What’s the deal?"  Sage asked.
 "I-I-I don’t know," he stuttered, his head still spinning.
 Sage and Mia exchanged glances.  Rowen went on.
 "I was dreaming, and then suddenly, Cora was there.  She put her hand on my shoulder, and I grabbed her wrist because I didn’t want to loose her again.  But then she began to fade, so I gripped harder, and then you woke me up," he explained.
 "Rowen, that was my hand that you gripped.  You thought that my hand was Cora."  Mia told him.
 "I’m sorry Mia.  I just, I didn’t want to let her go again."
 "Rowen, we’ll figure this out.  We’ll free Cora," Sage said to give his friend comfort, "But you have to get your strength back before we do."
 Rowen nodded.  The pain in his body was beginning to ebb.  Although it was probably from being in so much pain and going numb.
 "Here, take this, it’ll help with the pain," Mia said, and handed him some medicine just as she had Ryo, "You’ll have to take them dry, since most of the water is on your head anyway."
 "Thanks Mia.  I’m sorry, I guess I just…"
 "It’s okay Rowen, don’t worry about it," Mia said smiling.  Then she added: "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"
 "All right," Rowen said as he finished swallowing the aspirin.
 Mia left and grabbed Sage on the way out the door, "Come on Sage, Rowen needs his rest."
 "Right Mia," Sage said as Mia dragged him away, "Bye Rowen."
 "Bye Sage," Rowen called after them, and went back to a nightmare sleep.