While Ozai cleaned the living room, Shintaro and Linda agreed to call everyone upstairs into the master bedroom to speak about their thoughts on Ozai. Shintaro was perched on the foot of the bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands folded in front of him. Linda was sitting on his left side, her legs pulled up on the bed in a crisscross position and her hands resting on her ankles. Amy, Nanami, Abby, and Rachel were sitting on the floor, gazing up at Shintaro and Linda expectantly. Ruby, Moon, Zeke, Gabriel, and Falte were standing behind them, each looking curious - though Zeke looked more impatient than curious. 

"We are gathered here today to discuss the subject by the name of Ozai," Amy said in a mock-serious tone, assuming a matter-of-fact face. She giggled at herself and lowered her hand again. "At least, that's what I'm guessing." 

"You're right," Linda said after she and Zeke rolled their eyes at Amy's ridiculousness. "Rachel and Nanami weren't there for this, but do the rest of you remember when The Dark Lord mentioned him?" 

Everyone but Rachel and Nanami nodded their heads. 

"Didn't he ask Dad where Ozai was?" Abby said nervously, casting a glance at Shintaro. "If this is the same Ozai, what does The Dark Lord want with him?" 

"This is the same Ozai," Linda confirmed. "Based on the snippets of his thoughts that I can hear, he's absolutely terrified of The Dark Lord, and he's not kidding about hiding from him. Ozai hates The Dark Lord on a personal level, but I'm not sure why." 

Shintaro peered at her curiously with a frown. She hadn't mentioned anything in their previous conversation about Ozai disliking Brethren with a personal passion. This only raised more questions inside of Shintaro, ones which he needed to focus on later. 

"If Brethren is looking for him," Falte said suggestively, "that has to mean he's a powerful Dark. Is Brethren scared of him, or is he just looking for him because of his magic? If Ozai is powerful, Brethren might fear that his role could be taken from him."  

"We suspected that at first," Shintaro said lowly, cracking his knuckles absently. "But why would Ozai be this afraid of Brethren if he was planning to overthrow him? Though I thought that before, I don't think that is the case. Ozai doesn't like Brethren, and he's been residing here to escape from Brethren - because he somehow knew that The Dark Lord was going to break free." 

"We have yet to figure that out," Linda said conclusively, ending any further discussion about Ozai planning to overthrow The Dark Lord. "Shintaro made a guess that Ozai was a spy sent by Brethren - and he obeyed because of his terror of The Dark Lord - to figure out where we were going to hide and take residence there to screw with us; or bring the information back to the Darks.

"But unless Ozai is lying to himself in his mind," Linda added with a shake of her head, "I don't think he's a spy. People lie with their mouths, not with their minds. His mind is somewhat hard to read; but from what I've gathered, Ozai is a simple man trying to live a simple life away from the struggles of being a Dark." 

Shintaro hesitated before adding the next part, but he knew it needed to be said. He took a deep breath and let his eyes trail along his friends, lingering slightly on Falte and Abby. "I'm not sure yet, but Ozai could be similar to Kai. Although he is one, Kai is completely against the ways of the Darks. He will only use his magic for the good of others, and he doesn't hold the same ... murderous desire that most Darks do. 

"Ozai could hold the same intentions that Kai does," Shintaro said lowly, lifting his hands and resting his chin against his knuckles. "He could be staying here because he doesn't wish to be found by Brethren and be forced to work under him. He could dislike the ways of the Darks just as much as Kai does. 

"But we won't know this until we figure out more about him," Shintaro added. "We're going to have to keep a discreet eye on him while we stay here. While we're here, we could also figure out what our next move is going to be. But first, we have to figure out if we can trust Ozai or not." 

"I think he's a good guy," Abby said quietly with a small shrug. "He's been really nice, and he doesn't seem intent on hurting us or turning us over to the Darks." 

"He could be faking it," Linda said bluntly. "But there's a good possibility he's not. We just have to keep a close eye on him; and once we learn that we can trust him, we'll start asking him the questions." 

~

The moment Shintaro opened his eyes, he knew that he was dreaming. He was standing in the middle of his childhood bedroom, his eyes on the closed door. The lights were off and the beds empty, leaving a trail of dread in Shintaro's stomach. He didn't know which memory this was going to be, or if this was going to be a memory at all - but he didn't want to find out. He wanted to wake up, right away. 

Shintaro gazed around the room, willing his mind to think of the room he was currently sleeping in. He figured if he tried to make his mind focus on something else, he could manipulate the dream into something, anything but a memory. 

The door opened suddenly, startling Shintaro into whipping toward it again. Light spilled into the room before he could get a look at who had opened the door, and Shintaro flinched away from the blinding whiteness. When he looked up again, his brother was standing in the doorway.

But almost everything about him was wrong, indicating that this was not a memory.

Cami was years older, probably close to the age he'd been before he'd died. His blond hair was growing just past his ears, waving over his forehead messily. He was standing hunched forward; but if he stood up straight, he would have reached Shintaro's chin. His body was thin and frail, just like it had been in the later years of his life. He was deathly pale, like someone had covered his skin in a dull white paint. He was clutching the door handle so hard his knuckles were turning whiter than his skin as he leaned heavily on the door. His face was contorted with pain, his eyes wild and wide. His mouth was open, his chest rising and falling unevenly as he gulped for air. 

"You," he spat suddenly, through a gasp. His wild, green eyes darted along Shintaro's face, taking in every detail with an emotion that Shintaro would never have expected to see in his brother's eyes - loathing.

Shintaro took a bewildered step back, opening his mouth to say something; but nothing came out of his mouth or to his mind. Terror and upset confusion filled his heart as he watched his brother stumble forward toward him. 

"You traitor," Cami seethed, and immediately after, he sucked in a long, staggering breath as if just saying two words had been too much. But he wasn't finished speaking either. He took a stumbling step forward and nearly collapsed forward. "How could you? How could you? You failed, Taro! Father is your responsibility, and you've failed! He's free, he's free, he can do what he wants, and it's your fault!" 

Cami broke into a fit of coughing, staggering sideways. Shintaro leaped forward and reached out to catch him - but Cami stretched out his arms and shoved Shintaro away. "Don't touch me!" he yelled, his green eyes wide and full of frightened anger. "Don't touch me, leave me alone!" 

Shintaro felt like he was going to collapse as well. His heart was shattering in his chest, the pieces falling away into nothingness as he watched his crazed brother. He couldn't stand this anymore - he needed to wake up. He had to wake up! 

This isn't real, Shintaro told himself over and over again as Cami fell to his knees, wheezing. This isn't real, this isn't happening. It's a dream, it's fake. Cami would never blame you. Cami's not here right now. Cami is peaceful where he is right now. This isn't real. Cami isn't suffering anymore. Cami would never say this to you. This isn't real. Wake up. Wake up. 

But seeing his brother like this was tearing him apart from the inside out. He could feel tears beginning to form in his eyes, threatening to spill over. His throat was tight with the effort not to sob, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. 

Cami's coughs abruptly stopped; and right after they dissolved, Cami sharply looked up and narrowed in on Shintaro. "Millions of innocent people are going to die, Shintaro," he said in a softer tone. "All because of you. You should have done something!" His voice raised to hysteria again, and he shot to his feet, wobbling only for a moment. 

Shintaro couldn't retreat as Cami rushed toward him, hands extended to close around Shintaro's throat. He was frozen in place, all the nerves in his body suddenly failing. He sucked in a sharp, shaky breath as Cami's hands wrapped around his neck. 

Together, the two brothers barreled backward. Shintaro landed harshly on his back but felt no pain. Cami's frail body thudded atop of Shintaro, but his hands never left Shintaro's throat. The urge to breathe wasn't in the dream world, but the terror of being unable to was real. 

Acting instinctively, Shintaro grabbed Cami by the shoulders and hauled him off. Cami grunted as he landed heavily on his side, only to erupt into another fit of wheezing coughs. Shintaro rolled onto his side, sat up, and scooted over to Cami. 

He gently rolled Cami onto his back, though he knew that it would do nothing to help. His brother's eyes opened and darted around the room quickly before landing on him. His hand was covering his mouth as his shoulders shook with coughs. 

"I'm sorry," Shintaro heard himself say. His voice sounded wrong in his ears - strangled, shaky, and broken. "I'm sorry I didn't try hard enough." He knew that talking to his dream brother would do nothing, but he couldn't force himself to stop. "I won't fail this time, Cami. He's never going to torment anyone again." 

Cami's green eyes rested on Shintaro's yellow ones, his coughs fading away. The wildness in his eyes was gone, replaced by a still peace. Shintaro took a long, shaky breath. 

"I promise."

~

WOw, AnOthER LoNg ChaPTer. 

Yeesh, this took a while to write XD. 

Not as long as some of the Escape chapters...

GOSH...

But hey, it's out!! 

WHOA, Shintaro's dreams get INTENSE!! 

I'm sorry I make you suffer so much Shintarooooooo

FORGIVE MEEEEEEEE

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, thank you guys so much for reading this long chappy!! 

I LOVE YOU!!

P3ac3!!~~~