A/N: Just a quick note. I am SO sorry for disappearing for almost a year! I've just been having a really hard time with life lately, but things are definitely looking up from now on. Don't expect to wait so long for the next chapter, I promise I'll come out with it in a reasonable amount of time! Now, on with the fic! (finally...)

* * *

The afternoon shone on a strange scene. A group of a little over twenty men were huddled miserably together around a bon fire. Though not physically restrained, the group were undeniably prisoners. The bumps and bruises all of them sported were testament to what happened to those who tried to flee. They kept giving their captors disgruntled glances, but made no move against them. They'd learned better.

Said captors were not heavily armed. In fact, between them, the only armament they had was their weapons. Not what you'd expect to be able to intimidate such aggressive men. And the fact that the captors numbered only two, not to mention the fact that they were only teenagers, added insult to injury for the poor bandits.

But then again, when your captors were leaping around at heights of twenty feet or more while fighting at ridiculous speeds, it was understandable that the bandits were so cowed.

Such was the scene that Rei woke up to.

"Baka Onii-san! You're not supposed to use magic!" he heard Ranko say as he slowly regained consciousness.

"Oh stop whining like a GIRL!" Ranma shot back. The next thing Rei heard was a loud explosion. Opening his eyes, he saw a smoking Ranma go flying over his head, although he -was- laughing. Sitting up, Rei looked around. To his left were the wide-eyed bandits he'd fought. Wondering what they were gaping at, he glanced to his right to see Ranko storming after her brother. Rei was startled to see she appeared to be...glowing. Red. Well, at least he knew why the bandits hadn't killed them yet.

"Doesn't this just beat all..." Rei muttered, running a hand through his hair distractedly. It was enough, however, to bring him to the two martial artists attention.

"Oh! Hey Rei! Finally awake I see." Ranko said brightly, battle aura disappearing almost instantly.

"Yeah, you were out of it for a whole day!" Ranma said, peeling himself out of the Ranma-shaped hole in the tree.

"Um, yeah. What happened?" Rei asked, once again eying the bandits.

"Well, apparently one of those idiots hit you with some sort of knock-out drug; Balio and Sunder kidnapped Akane and Ukyou 'cause they think one of 'em's princess Nina; Ryoga and Ryoko went off to Wyndia to get the authorities to come take these guys off our hands; and we're busy watching over these guys while we wait for 'em to get back." Ranma explained.

"They tried to run away earlier, but we...er, -convinced- them to stay." Ranko said, grinning evilly and cracking her knuckles. "Other than that, we haven't had much to do."

"Balio and Sunder...got away? Why didn't you go after them?!" Rei demanded, lurching to his feet to glare at the twins.

"Hey, we couldn't just leave these guys in the middle of the road!" Ranma snapped.

"Besides, we didn't see which way they went. You were the only one who saw, and you were unconscious. So don't go blaming it all on us!" Ranko added.

"They were long gone when we woke up, so we wouldn't have been able to catch 'em anyways." Ranma said a little disgustedly. Seeing Rei's tightly clenched fists he added consolingly, "Don't worry, we'll find 'em. Those girls are too stubborn to get killed, and where they are, Balio and Sunder are. Right?"

"I guess so..." Rei said, relaxing before his claws cut into his palms. Then he realized something. "Wait a minute! I'm still in my hybrid form. I thought you guys were scared of cats!" Both teens twitched.

"Rei. Don't say that word." Ranma said forcefully.

"Besides, I don't see any of those things here. Just Rei. Right Ranma?" Ranko said, giggling a bit.

"Yep. It's only Rei. Heh." Ranma answered with a smirk. Both teens then dissolved into hysterical laughter.

"Well, doesn't that just beat all..." Rei said, raising an eyebrow, "I think they -are- more insane than me.

* * *

A lone traveler sighed as he made his way down the road in the morning light. He'd left Wyndia the previous day, and had found to his great annoyance that the rumors of monsters along the road were true. It wasn't a problem for him; he was a merchant, used to fighting bandits, and these monsters weren't that much more difficult. But there were so damn many of them! He was exhausted from all the fighting yesterday, and today was looking to be just the same. He'd already fought five groups this morning!

He blinked as two blurs zipped by, the wind from their passing nearly knocking him back a step. Looking over his shoulder, all he could see was a distant dust trail as whatever it was had already passed out of sight. Turning angrily back to the trail, he marched on, cursing the stupid monsters for making him this tired. Now he was hallucinating!

"Oi!...How much...further...we gonna run?" Ryoko gasped out to her brother.

"Almost...there...." he replied, just as out of breath. They'd been running for over a day non-stop. It had been Ryoko's idea to try, Ryoga recalled sourly. 'If we ran at top speed, we'd probably miss all the monsters! Remember, it took us five days to get here, and we don't have that kind of time if we want to rescue Akane and Ukyou!' she'd argued. He gave in, mostly because she was right, but also because he was curious just how far they'd get before they had to stop.

They hadn't missed -all- the monsters, though. Just most. Whenever a group was fast enough to actually get in front of the two running teens, they'd just plow through them without stopping. It was a very fast way to travel, but it was -extremely- tiring. And they'd had to ditch their packs and weapons a while back to keep going. No matter. They'd just pick them up from where they'd hidden them on the way back.

Cresting the next hill, the two teens sighed in unison. There, at last, was Wyndia. Coming to a stop, Ryoga bent over, trying to catch his breath, Ryoko mirroring him.

"So...now...what?" she asked.

"Now...we go talk...to the King. Right?"

"Yeah. Get him to go pick up the bandits." Ryoko agreed, straightening.

"Well, nothing for it, but to go." Ryoga said, straightening as well. "But this time, Ryoko, we -walk.-" She grinned a little sheepishly.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

* * *

The guards at the gate didn't pay the two martial artists much attention when they entered the gates of Wyndia. It being the end of the night watch for them, it was understandable the guards merely waved the two teens in without a second glance.

"Hmm, they fixed this place up since we left." Ryoga commented, indicating the street they'd fought the Nue in. The rubble from the collapsed building had been removed, and already the skeleton of a new building was in its place.

"You're right. Well, what would you expect? I mean, we've been gone for over a week, haven't we?" Ryoko said, shrugging. "But 'Nii-san, I'm starving! Could we stop to get something to eat? Please?" she asked imploringly.

"Huh? Well, we shouldn't waste any more time, ya know." he replied. Just then, his stomach growled, only to be answered by Ryoko's. "But then again, we don't want to collapse before the King, so let's go!"

"Oi, how 'bout the bakery? We could get some nice -bread-." Ryoko said, grinning at him while pointing at the shop. Ryoga awarded her wit by glaring at her.

"Real funny there, sis. But its here, we're here, so let's eat."

Upon entering the shop, they were greeted with the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread. Walking up to the counter, which was being run by a girl about their age, Ryoga smiled.

"Hi there! You got any food for hungry travelers?" he asked, not noticing the girl's blush.

"Why, yes we do! Fresh from the oven this morning, and 50 yen a roll." the girl said, smiling prettily at him.

Oh yummy! Ten each!" Ryoko exclaimed, leaning around Ryoga eagerly. Apparently she didn't notice the suddenly crestfallen expression on the girl's face, because she continued, "We can eat them on the way, right Ryoga-kun?"

"Hai, hai," Ryoga said distractedly as he fished through his belt pouch for his money, "That's fine, imouto-chan." Once more, both teens were oblivious to the girl's happy smile. "Here we go!" he said, pulling out the correct amount of change.

"Just a moment, please." the girl said, bowing as she hurried to fill the order. She quickly stuffed twenty of the bread rolls in a bag, then with only a moment's hesitation added two extra ones. "Here you go! Thank you, and come again!" she said, handing the bag over with another blush to Ryoga.

"Thanks a lot!" Ryoga said, taking the bag.

"Bye-bye!" Ryoko added, and the two teens exited the building. For a moment, all the girl could do was stand there and sigh, then a sudden thought struck her.

"They look just like those...no, I must be mistaken. They were too nice for that." she said to herself, nodding in absent conviction as she returned to her job. Out side, Ryoga was tossing a couple rolls to Ryoko as they continued their interrupted journey.

"What was that all about?" he asked, biting into a roll. "I mean, not that I'm complaining, it is free food, but wasn't that girl acting a little strange?"

"You are so clueless, 'Nii-san." Ryoko said rolling her eyes. "If you don't get it, I'm not going to explain." Stuffing the last of the meager (for them) meal into her mouth, she started up the stairs that led to the gates of Wyndia castle, Ryoga trailing a few steps behind, still confused.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, the two teens had to dive to the side to avoid the rather sharp sword that was suddenly occupying the space they'd been in moments before.

"What the--" Ryoga cut off as he was forced to dodge yet again, the tip of the sword narrowly missing his face. He tripped over a plot hole and went crashing to the ground. Before he could even make a move to get up, the sword was at his throat. Looking up its length, Ryoga was greeted with the sight of a man fully bedecked in samurai armor, wearing a rather superior look on his face.

"Hold foul knave! Your atrocities end here, for you have now come face to face with the supreme might of the royal guard captain of Wyndia!" the man cried, gesticulating wildly with his free hand. Ryoga blinked up at him.

"Excuse me?" Ryoko asked, confused and not at all sure if she should help her brother or merely pretend anything to do with the lunatic with the katana didn't exist.

"And you!" he whirled on the startled Ryoko and began swinging madly at her, forcing her to dodge frantically. "You vile enchantress! Using your other-worldly wiles to lure away royalty! Such treachery I have never seen!"

"Oi! What're you talking about?!" Ryoko demanded, catching his sword between the palms of her hands, stopping it dead while Ryoga got back to his feet.

"Release my noble blade from your tainted talons, you witch! You miscreant! You scoundrel! Your heads will roll for this! Resisting arrest! Assault of an officer! Let go you rogue!" he ranted, tugging futilely at the sword still firmly caught by Ryoko.

"Hey! Don't talk abo--" Ryoga began in an outraged voice, but broke off as Ryoko kicked the man in the shins.

"How dare you call me that stuff!" she cried. The man howled in pain and began hopping on one foot, one hand on his abused leg and the other still doggedly clutching his immobile sword.

"You wicked trollop!" he screamed, still hopping and not seeming to notice Ryoko's quickly reddening face. "You low-down, monstrous, filthy degenerate! I'll bring you to great justice, you abominable lowlif--"

Ryoko let go.

With a shriek, the man lost his balance and went tumbling down the long flight of steps the teens had just come up. Ryoga blinked after him, then looked warily at his still glowing sister.

"Um, is it just me, or did that guy remind you of anyone?" he asked, hoping to distract her from any homicidal urges.

"Hmm? Oh, you're right!" she exclaimed, red battle aura dying away. "He sounded a lot like Kuno used to. Wonder why?"

"I just hope he's as resilient as Kuno." Ryoga muttered, glancing again at the stairs. They went a -long- way down...

"Never will I allow such a travesty to come to pass! I will smite the foul curr who dares to try and steal away the fair princess!" the man cried, voice becoming louder as he came charging back up the stairs.

'Whoa. Deja vu.' the twins thought, before they were forced yet again to dodge his wild swings. Ryoga was starting to get annoyed.

"You should be more careful with that thing," he said with a frown, dodging to the side. "Someone might get _hurt!_" and with that, Ryoga snapped a kick at the man's wrist, causing his sword to go flying. Continuing through the move, Ryoga smashed his leg into the armored chest, causing the man to go crashing to the ground. Ryoko caught the wildly spinning sword as it came down, then pointed at the fallen man. The move couldn't have been done better if they'd practiced it.

"Now," she said, pressing the cold steel against the man's throat, "Who are you?"

Drawing himself up as well as he could manage while lying in the dirt, he proclaimed proudly, "I am Yamamoto Kisaki, captain of the Queen's personal guard, undefeated master of the Art of the Sword, defender of the just, and smiter of the uncouth! I am heaven's champion on Earth, and I will see that your misdeeds against the crown do not go unpunished, for I am the Fiery Phoenix of Wyndia Castle! (Wydnia Castle...Wyndia castle...wyndia castle....)" and a gust of wind rushed by, ruffling the twins' clothes!

For a moment there was silence. Then Ryoga and Ryoko both threw back their heads and began laughing.

"The...Fiery Phoenix?!" Ryoko gasped, tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks. "That's worse than Blue Thunder!"

"Smiter of the uncouth?!" Ryoga echoed, pounding a fist on the pavement as his legs gave out. "Smiter!? Oh, I am Yamamoto Kisaki, and in the name of the Queen, I will smite you!" This mockery caused Ryoko to sink to the ground, clutching her stomach as she laughed. The sword slipped from numb fingers as she gasped for breath between laughs.

Kisaki regained his feet and his sword as the two teens continued to laugh their heads off. Glaring down at them, he struck a triumphant pose.

"Ha! See how you cower in righteous fear of my venerable might? Is it not proper for you to crawl on the ground, begging for me to spare your pitiful existence?" If he expected answers, all he got was more laughter. "Very well! Since I am under the merciful Queen's orders, I shall spare both your lives, villains! You are to be imprisoned until the eminent Queen has time to deal with the likes of you! MEN!" he roared the last bit at the castle gates. The gates opened, and two guards shuffled out, obviously not pleased to be there.

"Take these felons to the dungeons! They are to be kept guard over, so assign yourselves to that mundane task. Now take these crying wretches out of my presence." Kisaki said, toeing Ryoko who had joined her brother in pounding the pavement, gasping out snatches of Kisaki's introduction speech in between sniggering.

Rolling their eyes at their leader's pompousness, the two guards split up, each to a teen, and half-carried half-dragged the two incapacitated martial artists into the castle.

"I vonder if we should put zem in ze loony bin inshtead?" one of the guards asked thickly as Ryoga burst into fresh peals of laughter at something or another.

"Nah. If I know our captain, and I do, then he was just being his normal annoying self." the other said irritably, trying to keep Ryoko from slipping through his grasp. She seemed completely unaware that she was even being handled.

"Shtill, I vonder how zhese kidz can shimply laugh at ze captain?" the first guard asked. "Are zey jusht shtupid?"

"Or are they that powerful?" the second guard finished. He shrugged. "Well, if they -are- powerful, they sure didn't seem to be able to keep their heads in a fight. But I heard they kidnapped princess Nina. She's not exactly helpless, not with the training captain Tiris put her through. I wish he'd return." he said, finishing on a sigh. Ryoko finally succeeded in slipping all the way to the ground, still laughing. "Oh for heavens' sake!" he cried exasperatedly, then picked her up in a fireman's hold. She weakly beat against his back, trying to catch her breath.

The other guard nodded knowingly, not having nearly as much trouble as Ryoga seemed able to stagger along through his own laughter. "Zen ve vouldn't have to put up vis zat idiot!" he agreed. "Vell, here ve are. Jusht put zem in ze shame cell?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll take the first shift. Get a couple of the boys to write up a duty roster. Man! It's been so long since we've had to do guard duty for prisoners." he complained, setting Ryoko down next to her brother. They both weren't showing any sign of stopping any time soon.

"Right. Vell, have fun." the second guard said, closing the cell with a sharp clang. He saluted the other man, then made his way back up the stone stairs.

"Great. Guard duty over a couple of lunatics." the remaining guard muttered. He sat down behind the small desk and put his feet up, tilting his chair back. Within minutes he was asleep, oblivious to the laughter still ringing through the dungeon.

* * *

{A/N: Reviewer Wereryu64 asked to see more of Nina, so let's see how she's doing. ^_-}

Nina stood in battle stance, wand at ready, arms held protectively to her body, knees firmly together, bouncing slowly. A look of determination on her face, she declared, "This time I'm going to do it!"

She charged at the Goo, which seemed to be having trouble with its lunch for some reason, screaming prettily. Swinging the wand, she landed a blow with a solid thunk (for 2 points of damage!) but overbalanced and continued onward, wing-like "ribbon" fluttering pitifully as she landed face-first in a conveniently placed pile of mud.

Tiris pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes tiredly. "Good try, Nina," he said, massaging his temples against the impending headache. "We'll have these monsters routed in no time at this rate."

"Really?" Nina exclaimed excitedly, causing Tiris to wince. "I'm glad I was appointed such an important task then! But..." she trailed off.

Tiris waited a moment, but as Nina didn't say anything, he asked, "But what?"

"Well, it's just, traveling all the way to Nerima, all these monsters and this whole forest. It's all so...big!" she said mournfully to the sky.

"Watch your shoe, Nina," Tiris said curtly.

"Huh?" Nina said, looking down as the Goo started spreading all over her foot. "EEEEEEEEEK!"

Tiris massaged the bridge of his nose as what remained of the goo went flying past him. It was going to be a long day. Again.

{A/N: Please don't kill me! *Runs and hides*}

* * *

Silence. Then: "I'm bored."

A huff. "I'm bored and hungry."

A pause. "I'm bored and hungry and tired."

Silence again. "I'm bored and hungry and tired and thirsty."

"Well, I'm bored and hungry and tired and thirsty and starving."

"No fair! Starving and hungry are the same thing!"

"Well, I -am- hungry."

"Oh will you two shut up!" Rei yelled, stalking over to where Ranma and Ranko were lying in the grass. "You've been doing that for the past six hours! Find something to do if you're so bored."

"But Rei," Ranko whined, looking up at the tiger-boy as he stood over them, glaring, "We've already sparred, practiced our magic, played with the bandits, sparred again, created a new spell, sparred yet again, and argued when we weren't sparring! There's nothing else to -do!-"

"And Ukyou was the only decent cook! I mean, Ranko just plain sucks." Ranma added.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly, aiming a kick at him.

"At least Ryoga and Ryoko have something to do. I'd rather be looking for the girls than watching these idiots!" Ranma continued blithely, jerking a thumb at the huddle of bandits.

Looking at the sorry lot, Rei had to agree. Cowed by the constant fighting from the two martial artists, the group didn't even bother glaring at their captors, just stared glumly into space.

"Well, you're the ones who didn't want to just leave them here." Rei said, crossing his arms.

"True." Ranko said with a sigh. "I just wish there was someone else to watch them for us."

No sooner had the words left her mouth when the three teens heard the approach of many feet. Looking up the road, they saw a Wyndian patrol come marching over the hill.

"Great!" Ranma said, leaping to his feet. "Now we can go after Ryoga and Ryoko!" The soldiers had spotted the teens and the leader was pointing in their direction. A moment later the patrol had all drawn their swords.

"HALT!" the leader cried, but before either he or his men could make another move, the three teens were bowled over by the stampeding bandits.

"YOU'VE COME TO SAVE US!!" Mr. Spiky Fist cried, eyes brimming with tears as he hugged the leader's legs. "Lock us up! Take us away! JUST GET US AWAY FROM THOSE LUNATICS!"

"I'll never fight again! I'll never do anything bad ever again!" Another bandit was sobbing into a confused soldier's shoulder.

"Right! You've got them now, so we'll see you later!" Ranma said cheerfully, grabbing his pack. Ranko and Rei followed suit, though Rei was looking oddly between the two teens and the struggling soldiers. The twins gave a last cheerful wave and bounded off down the road, faster than a horse could run. The leader was sputtering and trying to disentangle Mr. Spiky Fist from around his legs.

"No! Let go! Stop the--I said let GO! Men! Detain those crimi--DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

"Well doesn't this just beat all..." Rei muttered, shrugged, then sped off after the twins.

* * *

In the dungeon, Ryoga and Ryoko's hysterics were finally winding down. Still chuckling weakly, Ryoga looked up and was quite surprised at his current location.

"Hey! Where'd that crazy samurai go?" he asked, looking around the small cell. Ryoko looked around as well.

"No idea. What'd they go and put us in prison for anyways?" she asked, becoming slightly cross.

"Well, that Kisaki was ranting about us kidnapping the princess. Probably some sort of misunderstanding or something." Ryoga said with a shrug.

"Great. We don't have time for this!" Ryoko cried. "We have to look for Akane and Ukyou!" She clenched her fist and looked down, "Who knows what sort of horrible things those monster are doing to them!" Her battle aura ignited as she imagined what sort of evils Balio and Sunder might be up to. "They might be locking them in dark cages for hours on end! They might be forcing them to work like slaves while they loaf around! They might be making them eat Akane's cooking!" By now, Ryoga's battle aura had also ignited as he too was caught up in visions of debauchery he imagined the chess-knight brothers to be up to.

"How dare they!" he cried, smashing a fist into the cell's door. With a clang it fell over, accompanied by a painful yelp. Blinking at it, Ryoga and Ryoko shrugged.

"Might as well go then." she said, anger momentarily forgotten. He nodded and they troop out over the bars, which didn't seem to want to lie flat on the ground. They were about to head up the passageway when a voice behind them stopped them.

"Wait! You mustn't go that way!" a smallish man dressed in ninja garb was crawling out from under the cell's door.

"Who're you?" Ryoko asked, looking quizzically down at him.

"I'm Satsuke, master ninja, and servant of the royal family of Wyndia." he said with a bow.

"Great! Then you can go tell the King that he made some kind of mistake." Ryoga said, "'Cause that weirdo at the gate seemed to think we'd kidnapped Nina or something."

"That's right! But it was the Queen's doing, you see." Satsuke explained nervously. "She couldn't believe that the princess would just run off like that, and she'd heard that the princess was last seen in your company, so she ordered all of you to be arrested on sight."

"So why can't we tell her that we didn't?" Ryoko asked, confused. "I mean, Nina went off on some sort of assignment from the King, didn't she?"

"That's right! And that's why you can't tell anyone, not even the Queen!" Satsuke said. "It is a top secret assignment between the Ice Queen and the King, you see."

"The Ice Queen?" the twins chorused.

"Yes." he said gravely. "The Ice Queen is the head of a cabal of powerful merchants. They practically run the black market, they have connections everywhere, and I've heard the Ice Queen herself is so good at manipulating people that you could sell your soul to her without knowing it. The King himself is one of her connections, and she has been helping with our bandit problem."

"Wow." Ryoko said, blinking. "So who's the Ice Queen?"

"No idea." Satsuke said, crossing his arms. The twins face-faulted.

"No...idea?" Ryoga asked, disbelieving. "But don't you guys work for her?!"

"Only a few of those closest to her know her true identity."

"Yeah, well, this is interesting and all, but we need to get back to our friends." Ryoko said impatiently.

"Yes. That's why the King sent me to you. You can't go back through the castle, the guards will simply detain you again." he explained. "So you need to go through the graveyard under the castle to get out."

"Wait. Graveyard?" Ryoko asked nervously. "I don't know about this. What if it's haunted?"

"Oh come on, sis. Don't tell me you believe in ghosts?" Ryoga asked derisively.

"Well, why not?!" she shot back. "I mean, look what happened to me!"

"I think you're just scared of the dark!"

"No I'm not! I just think it'd be easier to bust through the castle."

"Oh come on. It's just a quick trip under the castle. And I don't want to hurt people who are just doing their jobs."

"I guess." Ryoko said with a sigh. "But let's make it fast then."

"Right." Ryoga said, and they turned to leave. Satsuke, who'd been watching all this with great interest, snapped into action.

"Wait! Not that way! The dungeon's this way!" he called, waving down the opposite way.

"Oh. Right." Ryoga said, turning around. "We meant to go that way."

"Just go down until you reach the graves, then find the largest one. Answer the riddle correctly, and it will open the way out." he told them. "But watch out for the caretaker. He's a bit annoying."

"Thanks!" Ryoko called over her shoulder as she followed her brother deeper into the dungeon. Then they were gone.

"Now to clean this up!" Satsuke muttered to himself, turning to the broken cell. With lightning quick movements and a bit of duct tape, he had the door back up and in it's proper, closed position. "Perfect!" he said happily, and turned to go. Only to find he'd accidentally locked himself in the cell. "Oh dear. Well, this should be no problem for a master ninja like me to get out of!" He tugged at the bars a bit, but they held firm. "....HELP!"

The guard who'd been sleeping through all of this woke up. "I thought I heard...No, I must have been dreaming." he muttered to himself and settled back into sleep.

* * *

"What's a graveyard doing under a castle?" Ryoko muttered, peering through the darkness at the nearest gravestone. The whole place was lit by a few torches scattered around the chamber. "Too creepy." she shivered.

"Oh, quit being such a baby." Ryoga reprimanded. He strode up to the nearest gravestone, and slapped it. "See? Absolutely nothing wrong with--" He broke off as he felt a piece of the headstone move under his hand. "Wha?"

"See!" Ryoko shrieked, backing up. "Now some angry ghost is gonna haunt us for the rest of our lives! Oh, I knew we should never have come down here!"

"Oh please." he said disgustedly. "You've fought goos, currs, goblins, and even zombies, so why are you so scared of ghosts?"

"Well, they're just...ghosts, and...scary, and stuff..." she said unconvincingly. Ryoga just shook his head and turned back to the headstone, examining it closely.

"Hey, there's writing here." he said, squinting at it. "'_Look_ and the graves to find their (secrets).' 'Look' is painted red, and 'secrets' is green."

"A puzzle?" she asked, coming a bit closer as curiosity overcame her fear. "And...Hey! You pushed in 'secrets'! Are you sure it's okay?"

"Dunno. What if I push in 'Look'?" Ryoga asked, reaching out a hand and doing just that.

"You idiot!" Ryoko screamed, lunging at him, but it was too late. The ground in front of the grave gave way, and Ryoga fell into the pit's depths. "Ryoga!" she cried as the ground closed back up.

"I'm okay!" came a faint reply. "Just surprised. Hang on, there's a ladder over here." A moment later, Ryoga rejoined her side, looking a bit frazzled. "What kind of idiot bobby-traps a grave?!" he asked, exasperated.

"What kind of idiot meddles with thing without being careful!" she retorted, whapping him upside the head. "You gave me a heart attack! Why don't you just sit back and let an expert do this." She strode off into the shadows, searching for another headstone.

"I thought you were scared." he said dryly, rubbing his head.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" she snapped. "This isn't a graveyard! It's a puzzle! That means no ghosts." Ryoga just glared at the back of his sister's head as she peered at another gravestone. "'_This_ will open. Not (that).' Hmm. 'This' is red, and 'Look' was red, so maybe..." and she reached out and pushed against the upraised 'that', stepping back as she did so. Nothing happened.

"Well, that worked." Ryoga said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up. You probably have to push -all- the green word. Honestly, you'd think somebody replaced your brain with a roc--" Ryoko quickly shut up as she turned to look at him. He regarded her frozen form for a minute, then got the hint and turned around. There, floating and looking a bit too solid for comfort, was a slightly greenish ghost.

"Well I'll be." Ryoga said, raising an eyebrow. The ghost stared blankly at him, then opened its mouth to speak in a deep, dry, rasp.

"I am...Torast...the spirit of the fifth McNeil...No one is allowed to tresspass...in the resting place of Wyndia's royalty."

"Are we supposed to be afraid of you?" Ryoga nearly jumped in surprise, and he turned to regard his sister with no small amount of consternation. She was glaring at the ghost, arms crossed obstinately over her chest. "Ha! We killed the Nue! We're not afraid of you!" she continued, then smirked confidentially at Torast, though she was rather paler than normal. Ryoga gave her a reassuring grin, and turned back to the ghost, flashing his own smirk at the specter.

"Ha! Fools! You think we McNeils are the same as some animal like that? You can ponder the error or your ways in the grave!" Torast cried, morphing into what looked like the head of some crazy rabbit-clown, complete with festive ruff where the throat would be.

"Great idea!" Ryoga cried, then grabbed the still stunned Ryoko with one hand, and pressed the upraised 'This' on the grave. The ground obediently gave and the two teens fell to the chamber below.

"Brilliant." Ryoko croaked, shaking with relief as she dropped her brave act. "Gods, I knew this place was haunted!"

"Don't be silly. It was probably some weird monster trap or something. I'm telling you, there's no such...oh. Never mind." Ryoga said as Torast came floating down -through- the ceiling without the aid of the pit. "Right. Let me take care of it then, if you're still scared."

"Not scared." Ryoko squeaked while backing away. "Not scared. Oh no. Not at all. But you need the exercise. Have fun." He rolled his eyes at her, but got into a battle stance facing the ghost anyways.

"Amusing." the ghost wheezed, "But it did you no good! Prepare yourselves!"

"I'm ready for anything you've got!" Ryoga cried, charging the ghost.

"Sleep!" Torast cried, eyes widening as it shrieked out the spell. Ryoga was surprised to see a large pendulum appear before him. He watched, curious, as it swung back and forth in front of him, not realizing he'd stopped his forward charge. He felt his eye lids growing heavy as he continued to watch the monotonous swinging of the pendulum, back and forth, back and forth...

Quite abruptly, Ryoga slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Now it's your turn." Torast said, turning to the cowering Ryoko. As the ghost came nearer and nearer, Ryoko's eyes got wider and wider in fear. Finally, she gave in to a primal urge of all females, and screamed.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!!" she shrieked, slapping the specter away. Torast managed to stop his wild flight, right himself, then glared at her.

"How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am you impertinent little--" he began, advancing again on the terrified girl, but broke off as she ran away, still screaming. "Come back! I wasn't finished wit--" but again Ryoko's hand shot out, slapping him into the wall this time. However, the screaming girl nearly tripped over her comatose brother.

"WAKE UP!! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME TO FIGHT A GHOST ON MY OWN!" she cried, hauling Ryoga up by the collar of his shirt as she began intermittently slapping and shaking him. "WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP--EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" she ended on another shrill scream as she spotted the enraged ghost charging her again, and threw the just waking Ryoga at him.

"Wha?" was all poor Ryoga could get out before he forcefully head-butted the ghost, leaving the teen stunned. Torast, however, flashed brightly before shrinking to a tiny flame.

"W-Who are you!?" the flame cried in a tinny voice. "Forgive me, my brethen...I have failed you...*Gack!*" and it fled back up through the ceiling.

"...I hate ghosts." Ryoko said shuddering. "They give me the creeps!"

"Someone get the serial number of that bot?" Ryoga asked groggily, sitting up. He shook his head a bit to clear it, then looked around. "What happened to that ghost?"

"They're just so ghosty and scary and icky and dead and pale and bad and..." Ryoko mumbled absently, still shuddering slightly.

"...Never mind." Ryoga said with a sigh, then grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her over to the ladder and back up. Ryoko seemed to be coming back to her senses, because she was climbing on her own now, though still muttering quietly. When they reached the top of the ladder, they were surprised to see a man standing nearby, waiting.

"Welcome, my little friends." the man said jovially, smiling kindly at them. "I am McNeil, the caretaker of this graveyard."

"Really?" Ryoga said, surprised. "Well, that makes things simple, then! You can tell us how to get out of this crazy place!"

"Ho ho ho ho! Crazy? This place? Why this place isn't crazy, it's just a tad dreary. Surely there's nothing wrong with that?" the man asked, eyes sparkling with mirth. Suddenly Ryoko stiffened, then turned and jumped back down the ladder.

"Ryoko?! What's wrong?" Ryoga called after her, completely bewildered.

"He's not McNeil!" came the reply.

"Huh? What do you mean? He's some sort of impostor?" Ryoga asked, turning back to the portly man.

"Ho ho ho ho! Impostor? Me? No...I am McNeil. Kassen McNeil, the spirit of the third McNeil." the man said, morphing into a bluish version of the previous ghost. "Did you think you'd be able to just wander through the resting place of those so much greater than you?" and without further warning, the ghost attacked. "Drain!"

"Ack!" Ryoga said as he felt his strength being sapped from him. "That hurt! How dare you attack me like that!" he cried, then launched himself at the ghost. He connected with a flying kick, sending the ghost hurtling through the graveyard. "You wanna use magic, well fine! Simoon!" and Ryoga cast the fire and wind spell at the just stopping ghost. It was engulfed in a small explosion of wind and fire, knocking it into the ground. Kassen flashed brightly before shrinking into a small flame.

"Ohhhhhhh! Impossible! You defeated me!!" Kassen-flame whined. "But I'm not the last--You haven't seen the last of the McNeils!" and he fled.

"Nobody told us this place was haunted!" Ryoko exclaimed, popping back up and making Ryoga jump.

"How come you're such a crybaby over ghosts?" he asked, scowling at her. "I don't appreciate you just up and deserting me like that!"

"C'mon! Can't I have one small tiny little fear?" she asked sheepishly. Ryoga just raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, fine! I'll stick around next time." she groused.

He sighed, "Let's just work on getting out of here, okay?"

"Sure."

They wandered around, coming across more gravestones. There was "After _climbing_ the tall grave, you will fall (outside)" where Ryoko pushed 'outside' in. Then came "Whether you go (above) or _beneath_ is up to you." where they pressed 'above'. After that came "What is the meaning of (green) and _red_?" followed by "_I_ remember...(You) don't know..." and finally "It _is_ a high place...But (not) here." where they pressed 'green', 'you', and 'not'. By now, Ryoga was getting annoyed.

"How many of these things are there?" he snapped as Ryoko pushed 'not' in.

"Dunno. Hey, look at that!" Ryoko said, pointing through the gloom. "That's a -huge- grave! Let's go check it out!" They scrambled down the slight incline, and approached it curiously. But before they could get close to it, a reddish ghost floated around it. Ryoko tensed to bolt, but Ryoga gave her a piercing look and she stayed, though she did back up a few steps.

"That's as far as you go!!" the ghost croaked, advancing slowly on the pair. "You deserve praise for getting this far...But!"

"...But what?" Ryoko couldn't help asking. The ghost scowled at her, and she gave a tiny "eep!" before ducking behind her brother.

"All the ghosts here sure talk a lot, don't they sis." Ryoga commented dryly, shoving her back and getting into a ready stance.

"You will go no further. I, Galtel, the twelfth McNeil will see to that! Your trespassing days are over!" the ghost cried, morphing into it's battle form.

"You know, I always thought ghosts were supposed to be really creepy." Ryoga said, leaping at the specter. "Flame strike!" he cried, foot burning with magic as it connected. With a shriek, Galtel flashed brightly, then shrank into a tiny flame and ran away.

"But if they're all as wimpy as these here..." he continued wryly.

"They're not really scary at all, are they?" Ryoko finished, staring curiously after the flame. "I thought they were supposed to be all creepy and disgusting and scary and stuff."

"See? Absolutely nothing to be scared of." Ryoga said in satisfaction. "Now, let's go check out this grave."

"Right!" she said, becoming possessed with her original enthusiasm as she bounded over to it. "Let's see, it says: 'A treasure to he who pushes the (7) words...The path opens to he who learns the _7_ words.'" She traced a finger over the inscription. "Huh, so we were pushing all those green words for nothing then!" she said disgustedly, straightening.

"What do you mean?" he asked, peering over her shoulder.

"All those switches do is make is so you can get some sort of treasure." she explained, waving a hand dismissively at the grave.

"Treasure? Let's check it out then!" Ryoga said excitedly.

"Why? It's not like we really need it." Ryoko yawned in boredom. "We should just get out of here."

"Aw, c'mon imouto-chan!" he pleaded. "It won't take us very long, will it? It couldn't hurt to try."

"Oh, alright. But if we run into anymore ghost because of it, I will not hesitate to use you as target practice next time we spar." she threatened, then reached out and depressed the '7'. The ground underneath them opened and they fell into the chamber below. They landed lightly, then looked around through the gloom.

"We really need to learn some sort of light spell." Ryoko complained as Ryoga flared his battle aura.

"Why?" he asked, eyes focusing on a treasure chest nearly lost in the shadowy corner.

"Well, the whole battle aura thing isn't really that practical. It tires us out, doesn't it." she explained logically.

"Yeah. I guess." he muttered absently as he ran his fingers over the lock on the chest. "Well, there's nothing for it but to break it." and he gave a sharp tug on the lock. It crumbled in his hand. "...Oops."

"Don't know you're own strength?" Ryoko asked, smirking.

"Shut up. No, it was just old." Ryoga said, opening the chest. Inside was an odd weapon. It appeared to be some sort of scythe-like blade attached to a length of chain.

"That's it? Just some rusty old weapon?" she asked, disgusted.

"Seems like it." he replied, lifting the weapon out of its long-time resting place. "Hey! It's really light!"

"And in really good shape, for having been here so long." Ryoko commented, peering closely at it. "And, wow! That's a dragon tooth!" she cried, pointing at the blade-like part.

"Nice, I guess." Ryoga said. "You wanna hold onto it? It doesn't feel right, just leaving it here."

"Yeah, sure." she said, taking it from him and looping it into her belt. The two teens then turned to leave, only to come face to face with a fourth, yellowish ghost. They stumbled back in surprise.

"Stop right there!" Don't think you'll leave alive!" the ghost cried, floating right into the startled teen's faces. "I, the eight--" Ryoko roughly shoved the ghost away.

"We know, we know! You're a McNeil, right?" she asked disgustedly. "C'mon, let's get it over with!"

The ghost scowled horribly, but changed into its fighting form and charged them. Ryoga lashed out with a fist, but the ghost easily dodged it and whacked him upside the head.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly. Ryoko kicked at it, with similar results.

"Dang, this one's smarter than the others." she said, rubbing her side where the ghost had hit her. "Ghost's aren't supposed to be solid!" Ryoga edged toward her while the ghost recovered.

"I'll distract it, you use that thing on it." he whispered, pointing at the weapon still looped around her belt. "These guys are weak, so it should just...die, or whatever." he finished lamely.

"Yeah, go." she muttered. Ryoga charged the ghost, speeding up his movements as he forced the ghost to dodge more and more. The ghost retaliated after each attempt, hitting Ryoga hard. Ryoko had unhooked the weapon from her belt and started swinging the blade around in a blurring circle.

"Now!" she cried as she saw an opening, and threw the spinning blade at the ghost. It passed cleanly through the ghost, which flashed brightly, shrinking into the now-familiar flame. It fled through the ceiling without even a parting shriek.

"...You think maybe...I should have let him tell us his name?" Ryoko asked uncertainly, staring up at the ceiling. Ryoga just nodded.

"Well, let's not worry about it." he said, gesturing for her to wind up the weapon again. "C'mon, Ryoko." They headed in the only direction possible, and hopped down the shoulder-high ledge. Recognizing the place, Ryoko turned to her brother.

"...Why on -EARTH- did they make such a stupidly complicated puzzle for a treasure you could just hop up a ledge to pick up?!" she cried. He merely shook his head in disbelief.

"Let's just go back up, okay?" he said and made his way over to the now familiar ladder.