After everyone had held their positions, the kun spoke again.

"Withdraw your weapons." She said in a strangled voice. It seemed she hated to lose, but she was smart enough not to poke a bear.

"But great Kun…" the man to her right tried to say.

"We are no match for him." The kun cut him off.

"You should listen to your kun. She seems to be wise." Sagiri said, shifting his eyes to look at the kun's right. Perhaps it was good that a woman was the ruler here. The men beside her were too busy trying to measure their manhoods against his to understand the weight of the matter. The fighters put away their weapons at her order, but they were still very much lurking in the area.

The kun was agile and a fighter by design. She jumped and landed from the high place without making a sound. Her two men landed beside her.

"Shall we talk in my kun house?" She said. Sagiri could tell she was too prideful, and she did not like that she did not have to fight him. He could have a talk with her. The two men beside her looked like they wanted to debate, but she lifted her hand to stop them once again.

The four moved into the central part of the city once again, and the fighters followed, but they still made sure to remain in the shadows. They went through a door into one of the tallest structures, curved from the earth itself. After several corridors, the door to a place that looked like a meeting room opened, and the two beside her came in with her. She showed him to a seat before she took hers at the end of the table.

"Ninoka, Tinka, you too sit," she said, referring to her right-hand man and her left-hand man.

"Shall we begin then?" Sagiri said. Now that she was properly looking at the Kun of Tatani, she was indeed a very beautiful woman. Even at her age, her skin was flawless and delicate. Perhaps from staying out of the sun for many years.

"I am Seya of Tatani," the kun introduced herself.

"And I am Sagiri of the south." Sagiri did the same.

"Sagiri of the south, I don't wish to make the South my enemy, too. But you came with Tagayians to our land. As a ruler, I have to give an account to my people and protect them from any intruders. Before I give you back your friends, the scale has to be equalized." The kun said her neck held with pride.

"The way I see it, you should be thanking me." Sagiri said, "You put me in an illusion, and I still bear a grudge."

"Your mind pushed you into the illusion, and you destroyed our lands. If our city had not gone further, you could have killed half of Tatani.

"But I didn't," sagiri said. "The same won't be said for when Safaya and Tagayia have been pushed enough and come for you. You are living a borrowed life."

"Are you here by the order of Tagayia so you can redeem yourself? If so, then I do not wish to have this talk!" Seya sneered.

"You seem to think you have a choice. I'll spell it out for you. Tagayia holds people I care about. You, Tatani, have to leave their lands either dead or alive before I get out of here. You also know what that means." Sagiri said.

"Why should we have to move? Were we born between Tagayia and Safaya? We have been pushed underground, yet we still have to move?" Ninoka snapped

"What if we refuse?" Seya's eyes flashed with anger.

"You will leave me no choice then," Sagiri answered. He knew what he was asking for was not easy, but he only wished Seya could see reason before. "I can do anything for those I care about. I just wonder if you can do the same for your fellow Tatani."

"You don't get to tell me what is good for Tatani when you are siding with Tagayia. In a sense, you are worse than Tagayia." Seya said, slamming her hands on the table. "I'd rather die than give in. The only reason we have been alive this far is that we have our feet in both states!! If we step out of Tagayia, we are dead."

"I'm glad you understand that. Tagayia holds people I care about. I will never dare side with my enemy. You and I are prisoners of it if you look at it. I have no choice, and you have no choice either. How long do you plan to live underground? How long do you think Safaya and Tagayia can allow you to grow?" Sagiri said in a calm voice, and Seya sank back to her seat in exasperation.

"Your enmity with Tagayia does not hold a candle to ours. They might want you dead because you killed one of their own, but they have wiped out our entire families, killed our parents and children. Don't presume to understand our animosity with them!" Tinka was the one to bark at sagiri next.

"Does their wiping out my entire clan also not hold a candle. I am the last of my clan because of them. So Tinka, do tell me what I don't understand about the pain of losing loved ones." Sagiri said, anger flashing in his eyes.

Silence cut through the room as the temperatures finally lowered.

Seya took in a deep breath before she finally spoke.

"If Tagayia wiped out your clan, why are you doing their bidding? What will you explain to your ancestors when you meet them after getting in bed with their enemy?" Seya asked.

"Like I have been saying, they hold what I hold dear, and I am a prisoner. Unlike you, I don't plan on being a prisoner for long. I will not let the one who wiped my clan go." Sagiri said in an icy tone.

"Why not join us then. I have never seen anyone of your kind or someone as strong as you. With you, we are sure to win against Tagayia or Safaya." Ninoka said.

"We won't win," Sagiri said. "Even if we do, you must be ready to stand on top of a mountain of the corpses of your fellow Tatani alone at the end of the fight. I do not fight unless my chances of winning are higher than my chances of losing." Sagiri said.

"Still, if we leave Tagayia, we are dead. I refuse to move!" Seya said.

"Why not come south with me?"