SUMMARY: AU: When R'yn's first infiltration assignment turns out to be more than he expected, will he succeed or, better yet, will he survive a day in the presence of an enthusiastic human girl who decides to make him her new best friend? Ryan/Kelsey.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from PRLR, or any of the Power Ranger incarnations for that fact, because if I did I'd bring back some of my favorite characters for Ranger reunions or do short looks at what happened to past teams and couples or… okay, I'll stop and let you read on and enjoy.
A/N: This was inspired, in part, from PinkRangerV's fic. "Daughter of the Gods," which is now under the name "Chronicles I: Operation Lightspeed," one of her newest stories and a seriously awesome reworking of the PR Universe. Both of them are awesome, and if you like the Lightspeed Rangers, then the latter is turning out to be fun already, so go read it! On another note, I'm nervous about this, but think it came out well. Enjoy!
"…": characters talking to each other
'…': characters talking to themselves
(…): extra facts about something in the story
Trees and Teeth
Room of Pillars, Tomb of the Demons, 4th Day of Akhet, Sunrise, 4,985 years since Imprisonment – Ruins, 100 miles from Mariner Bay, CA
In a darkened tomb, complete with spider webs hanging from numerous corners and twirling around the carved pillars, a trio of dim lights flickered into being along with a few torches suddenly flaring to life. After a moment, the wisps of light solidified into three forms, one leaning against a pillar, one standing next to the first one, and the third, smaller one, in front.
"How are you today, R'yn?" one of the beings asked, now seen to be a monster-like creature, golden armor and fangs seen everywhere on the body. A red star on the chest marked him as different, more powerful, than the other two beings in the room.
"الأب, Father, I am well," the addressed being answered, now seen to be a young boy dressed in dark shorts and a dark top. His feet were bare except for a small anklet, the dim metal flaring to life briefly due to the torches.
"Excellent. Now, R'yn, I, that is to say, we," the third figure smirked as the sound of a nail file on nails cut through the tomb's silence. "Would you like to say something?"
"Actually, I would," the voice, now heard to be female, purred the figure straightening up from her position. Walking to the kneeling figure she used one long nail to gently lift up the boy's chin, continuing, "R'yn, we have a mission for you." The young boy's eyes lit up.
"What is it?" As hard as he tried, the boy, R'yn, was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. He'd been dying to get his own mission for years now, ever since he'd followed his "Uncle" Loki around on a scouting mission around some dump called "Blue Bay Harbor".
"Reconnaissance," the male-demon interrupted smoothly, shooting a look at the female who sulkily removed her hand from where she had been about to tousle R'yn's hair. "You are to disguise yourself as a young human boy and blend in for one day. You are to begin construction of an identity so that you can slip in and out of the Human Realm on future missions. Do you accept?"
Yes, Fath –" at the look he received R'yn realized that he should be more formal now that he was officially accepting a mission. "Yes, Diabolico. I understand."
"Good." Turning to the female, Diabolico held out a clawed hand and the woman silently placed a sheaf of parchment in her fellow demon's hand. "Now. Here is your mission. Memorize what is written there then go see Loki to get a transportation spell." He smirked at the excitement that once again flashed across his protégé and, dare he admit it, pseudo-son's face. "If there's one thing that the fool's good at it is transportation spells."
"Okay," R'yn chirped sounding entirely too happy for the female's mood. Scowling, she waved her hand in the air and drew a small dagger out of her personal collection of weapons, hidden in a multi-dimensional pocket of her making.
"R'yn." The boy looked up at her, eyes widening at the small dagger. "Catch." The dagger sliced through the air and R'yn easily caught it, sheath and all. "A reminder that this mission is not fun and games."
"I understand Au – er, Vypra." R'yn looped the dagger through his belt, returning to his task of memorizing the parchments. The female, now known as Vypra ignored the look Diabolico gave her, shrugging it off.
"What? He needs to remember that all missions are serious and not fun and games." She pulled her nail file out again and took it to one rather long nail, filing it down to suit her tastes better. Diabolico sighed.
"Ready." R'yn's eyes glowed dimly in the torch-lit room as he handed the sheaf of parchment back to the male demon, who took them and with the flick of his wrist burned the mission order, the ashes filtering down to settle around R'yn in a circle. "Oh yeah, I burn them, huh?"
Vypra scoffed at the juvenile response before inspecting her nails, deeming them perfect at the moment. Ignoring Diabolico's glare she reached out and tousled R'yn's hair, to which he batted her hand away and came away unscathed; he was the only one to manage this without being decapitated.
"Yes. Are you prepared to take on this mission?" Diabolico's red eyes glowed in the tomb.
"Yes, I am." R'yn bowed before leaving the room to get a transportation spell from Loki. As he left, the two high-level Daemon turned to each other and smirked.
"Think he'll do fine?" Vypra absently asked ignoring the gleam that appeared in Diabolico's eyes.
"Worried? My, my, Vypra. Who knew that an adopted Daemon would melt the Ice Queen's heart, hmm?"
"Bastard," Vypra hissed before stalking out of the Room of Pillars Diabolico's laugh mocking her as she left.
Swing Set, Green Street Park, 1 April 1989, 9:00 AM – Mariner Bay, CA
A shimmer of pale light was the only sign that something was off in Green Street Park; R'yn praised his "Uncle" Loki for being a master of transportation spells. Brushing the dust off his garments, he looked around, momentarily blinded by the bright colors around him. Noticing that no one was around, R'yn moved closer to the green thing in front of him, a hand reaching out to touch it, recoiling not in fear, but a sense of disbelief.
'How can it feel like stone, yet not look like it?' Shaking his head in amazement, R'yn looked up and marveled at the thing ('No, it's something called "the sky" according to Diabolico.') that was above him, the white items in it moving slowly. Looking around, he nervously fiddled with the small wrist gauntlet that Loki had given him, which had a built-in communication chip and wondered if he was really ready for something this big.
"I can do this," R'yn told himself ignoring the slight twinge of fear that flew through his mind at the thought that he was all alone, no more training missions, no more Loki or Vypra or Diabolico or –
"Oof!" R'yn felt himself flying forward as something ran into him behind and , not prepared totally forgot the lessons that had been drilled into his head from the time he began training, which was to always be prepared for a fight, meaning be prepared to tuck his body inward and roll back onto his feet in a matter of seconds. Needless to say, his falling face-first onto the ground would not have prevented punishment; in fact, he would have been reprimanded harshly for forgetting rule one in his training.
"Ohmygosh! I am so sorry! Are you alright?" R'yn heard a voice that was very different from what he was used to: young, female and not like Vypra's cool tones at all. Rolling onto his back and backflipping to his feet, R'yn took in the sight before him: a being not unlike himself in size with long, curly hair darker than his and lighter than Vypra's that hung down her back, a torn, bright garment that hung from her frame, dirt stains all over said garment. Torn (and thin looking) leg guards were present as well as scuffed footwear (this made R'yn suddenly concerned about his own lack of footwear but upon looking down was relieved to see that Loki had apparently given him some basic boots rather than have him return from the mission to report his failure due to a lack of proper footwear), but what kind of (well, a lot) freaked R'yn out was the look of concern on this being's face.
"Are you alright?" it, no, she (the file he'd read helped him out here) asked again, moving closer. Up close, R'yn noticed that she had the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen.
"Uh, yes, I am fine." R'yn mentally slapped himself for not using informal language, figuring that he'd ruined his infiltration mission already. Luckily for him, all the girl did was wrinkle her nose and move closer, severely invading his personal space.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" R'yn snapped losing his temper and wondering yet again why his first mission was not going to plan. The girl's face changed, hardening and her eyes turned to chips. R'yn watched, fascinated and then remembered his mission. Bowing, he apologized and hoped that it would be accepted, that the girl would run off somewhere else and leave him alone to complete his mission. Unfortunately, that was not what happened, for the girl instead stepped closer and examined him before coming to a conclusion
Sticking out a hand and grinning, the girl watched as R'yn reached out hesitatingly and grasped it, shaking it as the girl's grin stretched further. "So, my name's Kelsey, Kelsey Winslow and I want us to be friends because you're much cooler than the other boys that I know because they're all wimps!"
'Does she ever breathe?' R'yn's face remained stoic, no emotion flickering across it. The girl, no, Kelsey his mind corrected, frowned and pulled him closer (thereby severely invading his personal space yet again), looking into his own blue orbs.
"So, what's your name?"
"Uh," R'yn froze, realizing that he had been so distracted by Kelsey's arrival and his interaction with her that he had neglected to create an alternate identity that would allow him to undertake further espionage missions in the Human Realm.
"Did you hear me?" Kelsey asked again when her new friend remained silent. R'yn withdrew his hand from Kelsey's and proceeded to run said hand through his hair while absently noting that it had been pulled back into a small rattail.
"Yeah, I did. And my name's…" R'yn trailed off for a moment before he furtively glanced around and his mind came up with a name. "Name's Marco Fen. I'm ten and I'm not from here."
"Really?" Kelsey's eyes, if possible, lit up further before she continued, "That's awesome! So, do you kinda need a guide around Mariner Bay?" R'yn, er, Marco smirked and nodded. 'This is perfect. This will help me, plus it gives me an anchor for this identity here.'
"Sure, why not?" Marco strutted a few feet away and looked back, arching an eyebrow in a manner that would have made Diabolico proud. "Are you coming?" Kelsey grinned and ran towards her new friend, who was absolutely cooler than any other boy she'd met before, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the park and further into the city.
Open Air Market, Lafayette Square, 1 April 1989, 11:00 AM – Mariner Bay, CA
After two hours, R'yn-in-the-guise-of-Marco felt that he had enough information to create a fairly accurate profile of Mariner Bay, at least, for the purposes of this visit. He had identified the key buildings, such as City Hall, the police and fire stations, the food sources, the public media outlets and the schools, or what his friend called "brainwashing centers."
Speaking of his friend, Kelsey Winslow was proving to be a veritable mystery, as not only did she chatter nonstop, but she tended to avoid certain parts of the city, such as what Marco had classified as an elite community, not unlike the various layers on which he and his adopted family resided, the "peak" of living according to Loki, who had taught Marco-slash-R'yn that the lower-classed a Daemon was, the lower the communal layer on which he or she lived, which also played a hand in the level of power a Daemon possessed. In fact, some Daemon were so weak that they did not have corporal form, but relied on Jinxer (R'yn personally thought that the Creator-Daemon was freaky as hell) to give them physical shape if needed.
"This way, Marco!" Kelsey pulled R'yn, er, Marco from his thoughts and away from what seemed to be a gate of some kind, the motif of an animal on his legs in base relief. "I need to change clothes again." Another thing: as soon as the two kids had left the park, Kelsey had pulled Marco into a store where she proceeded to find a changing stall and changed out her garments for something resembling Marco's outfit: shorts, a tank top with sleeves, and soft shoes which he'd come to learn were called sneakers. Then, one human hour later, she'd changed again, pulling her hair into an elaborate bun that she'd coached Marco into helping her create in addition to a different colored top, different shoes and longer pants. When he asked why she kept changing clothes, she'd refused to answer, instead explaining to him the flood that had happened in the city almost one hundred (human) years ago and how her family had been one of the few families to return and help the survivors.
"What is this?" Marco asked eyes wide open at the sight (Kelsey had already changed into a different colored pair of pants, another tank top and the same sneakers from before, plus she had let her hair hang down again). What seemed to be thousands of multi-colored stands with different things present lined the streets in front of him, and thousands of people milled around. Having never been subjected to large crowds of (human) people before, Marco was naturally scared; Kelsey, though, didn't have that inclination for her wide grin returned and she dragged her new friend directly into the horde of people, not noticing that he was giving himself a pep talk, something about how he had to make his mission a success, and this was one way to do so.
"This is the Open-Air Market!" When no impressed exclamation came from her friend-slash-tagalong, Kelsey stopped and looked at her friend, asking, "Marco, you don't have these where you're from?"
After a minute in which Marco glanced around he replied, "Well, I guess we kinda do, 'cept it's different." He wasn't lying. Once a year (in Daemon terms), the entirety of his adopted family, as well as all of the Daemon classes came together at what was called "Gathering," trading weapons, secrets and plans on how to escape their prison/tomb and take revenge on the mage who'd trapped them and their beloved Queen Bansheera in the first place. Marco had been allowed to attend his first such gathering two years before, and had successfully traded some homemade weapons for what Vypra had later told him were powerful transformation pieces, which would allow him to later take on multiple appearances, animal and Daemon alike. Apparently, the original owner had been wasted on homemade alcohol, also known as "Blood's Juice" and when he came to had attempted to cry thievery to reclaim his weapons, but Diabolico had stopped the attempt stone-cold; literally. The Daemon was trapped on the lowest level of communal living, stripped of his powers until his punishment was finished.
"Not often, though. My, uh, parents didn't want me going outside for a while 'cause I was sick and all." This wasn't so hard, to make up a new identity; however, had he already said that? Yes or no?
"Wow! That must have been terrible!" Kelsey exclaimed clearly sympathetic with her friend's plight. "So, you've never seen the ocean?"
"No. Where I'm from, uh, there aren't many large bodies of water." Marco paused then remembered something (later, R'yn would question himself as to where the thought had come from and wonder why he had thought of it in the first place) and, frowning, added, "But, I sorta remember being fascinated by something called a, uh, shark? Yeah, a shark."
"Sharks, huh? Human or animal?" At Marco's weird look, Kelsey flushed and muttered something about being an idiot but then looked at her friend and grinned again. "Never mind that. I think I have the thing for you." She resumed her mad pace through the crowd, Marco now at her side rather than behind her, having proved that he wasn't a spy from her father or evil stepmother to track her down and make her return to said parental units' ongoing marriage, one where she wasn't eve n noticed, much less wanted by said evil stepmother.
After a few minutes of weaving amongst the adults present and apologizing to those they ran into (Kelsey was awed at how well Marco avoided running into people whereas she tended to do it every thirty seconds or something), the two kids arrived at a booth that Kelsey promised had exactly what Marco needed.
"Ah, there you are!" an older voice exclaimed and Marco looked up and saw an older male with pure white hair, dark gray eyes and what seemed to be a scar cutting across his nose and down the right side of his face. "Miss Winslow, you get prettier each time I see you!"
Kelsey frowned and glanced behind her for something that Marco didn't catch, but when she was apparently satisfied, the blue-eyed female turned back around and grinned, bouncing on her toes to try to see over the counter. Marco counted himself lucky to be taller than the girl next to him, though he could barely see over the top of the glass counter.
"Gideon! How ya doing?" Kelsey's greeting threw Marco off a bit as he'd gotten used to her semiformal mode of speech; total informality, the kind that Diabolico had advised he use in the mission assignment that he'd forgotten to burn had been something that he hadn't expected Kelsey to use. The man didn't seem to mind the greeting; in fact, he laughed?
"Still have that spunk, huh?" At the look he received, Gideon chuckled again and continued, "So. What brings you here again, with a friend no less?"
"Marco's cool; he's not a wimp," Kelsey stated emphatically, which sent Marco's developed "Danger Alert System" flaring; just what was she hiding?
"I see." Gideon flashed a white-toothed smile at Marco, who subtly recoiled and took a step back, not used to seeing teeth bared in such a manner; the fangs of his family were more than enough. "How did you two meet?"
As Kelsey explained her encounter with Marco in the park, the Daemon agent wandered around the shop, eyes peeled for something of interest. He spotted jewels of all sorts, types and rarities that would make Vypra grin and start planning multiple heists to steal them all on the off chance that one of them would allow her to do something to fully resurrect Queen Bansheera. He spotted vials that were supposedly filled with nothing, but because of his adoption into the Daemon clan he not only had Daemon blood running through his veins, but had the ability to spot the telltale signs that some of the vials weren't empty; in fact, some had colorless smoke or potions in them. Though not sure what the smoke or potions represented, Marco knew that they might come in handy. Then, he noticed the tags attached to them and, squinting, realized that the Human Realm didn't have a barter system, but was more of a cash economy.
"Best of all, Gideon, he's not a stuck-up wimp like the other boys that I know!" Kelsey proclaimed finishing her monologue just as Marco realized that he hadn't been given any type of currency with which to purchase anything.
"لعنة, Damn," Marco muttered cursing the lack of foresight his family had, not suspecting that the economy had changed so much in almost 5,000 years or that he would need some kind of spell or charm to allow him to create the illusion of anything he might need for usage, or, better yet had allowed him to take the transformation pieces he'd bargained for in case he needed them.
"What's wrong?" Kelsey chirped and Marco, not expecting her to get that close to him without his permission jumped and fell backwards, cursing as he did so. "Oops, sorry." Gideon merely laughed, absently noting that he was always entertained by something that the Winslow heir did whenever she happened to visit; today was no exception, as she'd brought a friend with her, something that hadn't happened before.
"'s ok," Marco muttered climbing to his feet quickly. Looking at the girl who had unknowingly helped him accomplish his first mission, he replied, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."
"Don't believe you!" Kelsey chirped much to Marco's annoyance. She looked up at the collection of jewels and empty vials and bottles and tilted her head. "What's so interesting about these?"
"I, uh, well, I think they're kinda cool looking," Marco responded, desperately trying to stop himself from blurting out that they were coveted and would bring a high price at the next "Gathering" and, luckily, managed to keep his tongue. That is, until he saw Kelsey reaching for a pretty blue bottle decorated with yellow stars and a crescent moon. Marco felt his breath catch.
"No!" Reaching out, he knocked the bottle with the pretty designs on it out of Kelsey's hand with one of his own, catching it with his other hand to prevent it from breaking open and releasing what he had been able to preliminarily identify as a sleeping agent of some kind that, when inhaled in large quantities was fatal. Kelsey stepped back as Marco reverently placed the blue bottle back on the shelf, eyes wide.
"What was that about?" When she didn't get any response, Kelsey asked again, the tone in her voice stating that she expected an answer. When Marco looked up, she wondered why his face was suddenly unreadable, and if honest with herself, knew that she did not enjoy it in the least.
Marco didn't respond, grabbing another bottle that he knew was truly empty and placing it in Kelsey's hands, quietly murmuring that it suited her better. Kelsey held it up to the light and softly smiled at the colors that flickered in the late morning sunlight. Gideon watched with narrowed eyes, curious as well as to the boy's sudden movements and his concern over the one bottle and not the other.
"Pretty," Kelsey whispered completely enamored with the bottle. As she leaned in closer, it was suddenly snatched from her grasp and she watched with wide eyes as Marco placed it on the counter. "Marco?"
"What can I trade you for this?" Marco asked gruffly, not totally understanding what he was doing or why. All he knew was that he needed to get this for Kelsey somehow, and if bartering in a society whose economy didn't even stick to traditions was what he needed to do, then so be it.
Gideon didn't respond for a moment, beyond surprised that this kid would try to barter for a glass vial when he knew (or, seemed to know) how unlikely it was that he, or any shopkeeper for that matter, would willingly bargain for any good with the knowledge that no money was incoming.
'Perhaps he's broke? But, those clothes look too high quality to be rags, or anything of that level. That bracelet, too….'
"Tell you what," Gideon said willing to play along, "I'll trade you this bottle for that pretty little bracelet on your wrist." Marco froze and for a moment, R'yn's terrified thoughts broke through the temporary wall that had been erected to keep the two identities from merging.
'No, no way that I'll let it go! Diabolico, Vypra and Loki'll kill me, and Jinxer'll send me down to the lowest level forever, and I won't get to help Queen Bansheera rise, and-' R'yn's thoughts were suddenly halted by the realization that although he was concerned about losing the gauntlet and even feared severe punishment, he was willing, in some part of his mind, to part with it. Biting his lip nervously, R'yn-as-Marco gently unclasped the piece of metal and placed it on the counter, shocked at just how incomplete he felt without the dull-appearing piece of metal securely fastened on his wrist.
'I'll be damned…' Gideon accepted the bracelet with a nod and watched as Marco retrieved the bottle and pushed it into Kelsey's hands before fleeing.
"Kelsey?" No response. "Miss Winslow?" Ah, there it was. "Do you know anything about your friend's history?" At the negative response he received, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows. "Then, how do you know that you can trust him?"
"I, I can't really explain it, but it's, it's like I know that I can," Kelsey responded wincing at how lame her response sounded. Tilting her head, she examined the bottle then looked at the metal bracelet resting on Gideon's counter. Making up her mind, Kelsey marched up to the counter and said, "Gideon, I have a plan…"
Fountain, Open Air Market, Lafayette Square, 1 April 1989, 12:05 PM – Mariner Bay, CA
R'yn-as-Marco sat miserably on a small stone wall that enclosed a fountain, head in his hands.
"I'm so dead," R'yn muttered to himself, eyes automatically glancing towards his now bare wrist. Sighing again, he got to his feet, more than ready to return to the park where he'd first entered the Human Realm, write his report and give his findings to Diabolico and Vypra, but before he'd even taken one step away from the fountain, he heard a shout for him to stop. Closing his eyes, R'yn-as-Marco breathed deeply before opening them and slowly turning around, only to gain a puzzled look at the sight before him. Carrying a small bag, Kelsey was running toward him, obviously in a hurry.
"Kelsey?" As R'yn-as-Marco watched, his friend barely missed running into an elderly couple loaded down with packages, throwing an apology over her shoulder as she kept running towards him.
"Marco! Don't leave!" Kelsey ducked underneath a pair of arms, their owners watching the young girl with disgust, obviously resenting the intrusion into what they considered "private-time."
Marco, for R'yn had been pushed back behind the wall so as not to ruin his cover, watched his friend skid to a stop before him and automatically reached out to keep her from falling face-first into the fountain. He received a grin for his effort. "Kelsey, what are you doing here?"
"I should be askin' you that!" Kelsey proclaimed frowning. "Why'd you run off? Did you not want to be seen with me anymore?"
"No," Marco shook his head, wondering how the girl drew such a conclusion, and a stupid one at that. "No, that's not it at all. Rather," he paused and continued, "I gotta get home; dad's waiting on me."
"Oh." Kelsey glanced at the water in the fountain, the sun reflecting off the liquid for a few minutes before smiling softly. "Gotcha. Well, 'fore you go," she drew the small bag that Marco had seen earlier from a pocket and presented it to him, "a gift. To remember me by."
Marco looked at the bag oddly before slowly reaching out and grabbing it, tugging it loose of Kelsey's grip. Giving in to the temptation to open it, he parted the white, slippery substance and saw what appeared to be a much bigger version of his gauntlet with something on it. Pulling it out, he glanced at it and looked at Kelsey, obviously confused.
"It's a shark tooth necklace," Kelsey explained pointing to the sharp, pointy thing that Marco hadn't known the identity of, continuing, "You said that you were interested in sharks, and since you hadn't seen 'em before, I figured that you might like this."
"… Thank you." Marco examined the gift more closely and, seeing the clasp where it came apart quickly put it on, admiring how it seemed to fit him. Kelsey's grin, if possible, became bigger as she saw how well the dark blue and black colors of the beads went with her friend's personality, both mysterious in their own way. "I don't know what else to say but thank you."
"It's not a big deal," Kelsey waved off the praise before remembering something else. "Oh!" Digging into her opposite pocket, she pulled out the bracelet that Marco had given to the tradesman, er, merchant earlier. "Here. Both Gideon and I agree that you need this more than he does, and I kindapaidhimbackanyway."
Marco reached out and grasped the circular piece of metal, nearly sighing in relief at the warmth that he felt at having it back in his hands. Reattaching it to his wrist, the boy looked at his friend and asked, "Why did you say that you paid for this? I used this to barter for your gift."
Kelsey looked down and scuffed one sneaker on the stone pavement, unusually quiet. After a few moments, she responded softly, "I don't really know why, but I could, kinda, well," she paused before lifting her eyes to his and continued, "I could kinda sense that you needed that bracelet, though it is something a girl wears (the small smile on her face disarmed any kind of negative stereotype attached to her words, which Marco had quickly become accustomed to on his journey through Mariner Bay). Plus… you know how I've been changing clothes and things all day?" At her friend's nod, Kelsey grimaced and said, "Well, that's 'cause I'm rich. Well, guess it's my dad and stupid stepmother who hates my guts, but my family's got a lot of money, and because of that my dad's always afraid that someone's going to try to kidnap me or something and demand money to get me back."
Marco shook his head in amazement, wondering how Diabolico and Vypra would react to the knowledge that he had unintentionally befriended the heir of one of the most powerful families in the city, which in turn allowed him to gain her trust, thereby making future missions that much easier. "Well, thanks, I guess. Dad'd have had my hide if I lost this." The sun reflected off the metal of the gauntlet, which was then reflected onto the water of the fountain, creating a miniature light show.
"Uh, did I offend your friend when I ran out?"
"No, well, kinda," Kelsey tugged at a strand of curly hair, biting her lip. "He knew something was wrong, though, and I cleared it up. Since we're done there, what do you want to do next?"
What did he want to do next? He now had more time than he'd thought, considering that he had his gauntlet back. If honest with himself, he wanted to spend more time in the Human Realm, though he was unsure as to the exact reason. Looking around, he was hit with an idea and, smirking, turned to his friend. "How about climbing?" A smirk matched his and the two spent the rest of the afternoon climbing various trees throughout the city, from pine to maple to elm and even the occasional palm on the beach, which Marco found very interesting, as the odd fruit that grew there was hard to the touch, impossible to cut open unless it was cracked open on a sharp rock but the liquid inside was unlike anything he'd tasted before.
Soon, though, the sun began to set and Kelsey's grin faded into a sad look. They were back at the park where they had met that morning and both were not happy that they had to leave the other.
"So, where are your parents?" Marco asked swinging his legs back and forth as he tried to reach a new height on the swing. Next to him, Kelsey did the same.
She shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. I ditched the wedding today, and if they were that worried, they'd have searched for me, or at least sent out the bodyguards." Her hair, now in a ponytail flowed behind her as she flew an inch or two higher than Marco, who was enjoying the game too much. "I guess I have to go back soon, though, before they send the police again. I mean, last time they did that I was grounded for a month and not allowed outside! I was totally miserable."
Marco commiserated and said so, adding, "Agreed. My dad'll be here soon; I think. He said that he'd meet me here when the shadows were lost to the darkness."
"Your dad sounds weird."
"You have no idea."
"Miss Winslow!" came a shout and Kelsey jerked almost losing her balance but Marco's hand reached out and steadied the swing, slowly bringing it to a stop so that the girl didn't fall off it and injure herself. "Young lady, get out here right now!"
"Are those your parents?"
"No." A sigh. "My grandmother and her boyfriend. Hate them both, especially her, because she wants me to wear, ugh, dresses."
"So, this is good-bye?" Marco asked wondering why he didn't want this to end. Kelsey nodded slowly before forcing a grin onto her face.
"We can get together again some other time, right?" At Marco's nod (though it was a tad hesitant), she grinned and gave him a quick hug before grabbing her duffle and jogging off to meet her beloved (note the sarcasm) family. Marco was amused to hear the resulting yelling match between the two females included his friend insulting the money which she had used to get him his gauntlet back with a small stream of curse words that had her grandmother shrieking in outrage.
As the voices faded, Marco made sure that no one was in the park, which was followed by his arrival at the tree that he examined upon coming to the Human Realm. He gently sat down underneath it and began to meditate, with the main focus on reconciling all that he had learned today with his newly created personality of Marco Fen. At the same time, he merged with R'yn's memories so that he could access the key information he had learned today whenever needed. After he had completed this task, R'yn's eyes flew open and, bringing his gauntlet to his face he whispered the password that Loki had installed which activated the second transportation spell and vanished into the shadows.
Room of Pillars, Tomb of the Demons, 4th Day of Akhet, Sunset, 4,985 years since Imprisonment – Ruins, 100 miles from Mariner Bay, CA
As Diabolico and Vypra shot insults at each other (their way of worrying over a late-returning R'yn), the subject of their arguments walked into the Room of Pillars, grin on his face. Sensing a presence, the two senior Daemon looked down and raised their eyebrows at the boy's appearance.
"What are you wearing, boy?" Diabolico was curious and disgusted at the same time, not uncommon when he encountered something about the Human Realm that had made its way down to his world. For the boy whom he thought, at times, as an adopted son to be wearing something not Daemon forged, well, it irritated him.
"Father, Vypra, I am honored that you chose me to take on this mission, and I have much to report. To answer your question, Father, this necklace helped me fit in better amongst the Humans." Diabolico tilted his head and after a moment nodded, accepting the necklace for what it was: a human-made item with no inherent power whatsoever.
As R'yn gave his report, Loki wandered in and greeted his pseudo-nephew with a slap to the back, causing the boy to pitch forward a foot or two but he recovered quickly, earning a small smile from Diabolico. After he had finished, he took off the rucksack that he had "borrowed" from a rather rude young couple that had yelled at Kelsey and him earlier and withdrew several small bottles that he had nipped from vendors (not Gideon, for he had been kind, gentle and not tossed him dirty looks), inwardly smirking at the shocked expressions on his relatives' faces.
"Where, where did you find these?" Just as he had predicted, Vypra had pounced on the one bottle, which was encrusted with rare gems only found in the lowest level and, therefore, out of her reach unless she mined said gems herself. Diabolico had taken one look at the bottles and muttered a spell to keep Jinxer out of the Room of Pillars; he, too, did not trust the Creator-Daemon at all.
R'yn shrugged. "My friend took me to the Human Realm's version of a "Gathering" and while the Humans saw these as useless or empty bottles, they stood out to me as being powerful magical artifacts."
"I am pleased, R'yn." Diabolico was examining a bottle that had a less lethal type of sleeping agent than the one that R'yn had knocked out of Kelsey's hands earlier. "Did anything go wrong?" As R'yn explained about the lack of a true barter system Loki hissed in disgust at the fact, pondering out loud why he hadn't noticed it on his perusal of Blue Bay Harbor. When R'yn came to the part about his friend paying for his gift, the three older Daemons stopped their actions and stared, open-mouthed, at the half-Daemon.
"What?" R'yn was nervous; had he done something wrong? He'd made sure not to tell them that he'd bartered away his gauntlet for a gift for Kelsey in fear that he'd be tossed into an extremely dangerous training session that had about a ten percent chance of his escaping without injuries; that is, fatal ones. A few broken bones and a bruised windpipe weren't out of question, though.
"Are you telling me," Diabolico began dangerously stepping forward, "that a female bought you a gift and you did not return the favor, much less do it first?"
"Uh, no, I, uh, got her something," R'yn replied stuttering at the fierce look on Diabolico's face. "I mean, it was just an empty bottle, but she, uh, seemed to really like it, and-"
"As long as you gave her a gift first, you're fine," Loki said dismissively waving a clawed hand. Ignoring Diabolico's dark look he continued, "If you hadn't given this girl a gift first, you'd be trapped in a betrothal contract of some sort that'd be almost impossible to break."
"Unless you killed her, of course," Vypra drawled feeling much better knowing that the stupid brat hadn't gone and done something stupid. "Like you did, si?" Loki sneered and barred his fangs in challenge, to which Vypra smirked in reply. She never got tired of irritating her fellow Daemon.
Diabolico snorted. "Next time, R'yn, be more careful. You may be half-Human, unfortunately, but your Daemon blood makes you susceptible to our traditions, which includes betrothal contracts. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Dismissed." As the trio of high-ranking Daemons continued to peruse R'yn's collection of Daemon artifacts, the boy bowed and retreated to a darkened corner, absently petting his tarantula spider, which he called Sechmet. After removing the footwear that Loki had created for him, he knelt and began meditating again, hoping to burn the image of his Human friend into his mind so that when he returned to the Human Realm once more, he'd be able to meet back up with her and spend more time climbing trees. The shark tooth attached to his necklace gently swung as he got into a comfortable meditation position before falling still, the bone blending in well with the ancient tableau in which he lived. Unknown to R'yn, numerous possible events of a changed future swirled around the tomb, promising that the path once straight now had twists, turns and forks.
Swing Set, Green Street Park, 1 April 2001, 6:00 PM – Mariner Bay, CA
The slow 'creak' echoed in the empty park, making it the perfect spot for two people, one female and the other male. Both were slowly moving back and forth on the old swings, the silence between them awkward and comfortable. However, it ended when a voice broke the stillness.
"So, Ryan. How've you been since we last saw each other?"
The ex-Daemon agent and current Titanium Ranger, if temporarily retired shrugged and crookedly smiled. "Eh. Fine, I guess. I've been talking a lot with Dad and Dana about the years before I was taken by Diabolico and even began to remember my desire to become a fireman like Dad." He chuckled. "I think Dad still finds it weird that I'm studying to become an archeologist."
"It's not weird. I mean, not really. It fits you." The female smiled the ever-present yellow headphones around her neck slightly moving with the swing. "Growing up in some dark and dank underground cave, being taught ancient runes, all sorts of magic and an entire other etiquette set, well, it's no wonder that you want to do something different! You're not the same kid you were then."
"I know. Sometimes, though, I get the feeling that Dad would've preferred that I still attempt to become a fireman, like he was," Ryan muttered looking at his teammate from the corner of his eye. "What about you? What's your family like Kels?"
Kelsey sighed wondering how to describe her difficult family life. "Well, let's see: first, my grandmother, who used to be money-obsessed and valued her reputation above all else is apparently as much of a sports freak as me, and we have a skating date next week. Her husband kicked the bucket after six months of marriage about two years ago; left her no money. Dad, the idiot, invested some money in some stupid business that just went bankrupt; thank God Gram stopped him from investing more than $5,000. Stepmom's dead and buried, thank God." Ryan raised an eyebrow at the description, something flickering at the back of his mind.
"I see. Not a good life, huh?"
"Hell on Earth," Kelsey quipped grinning in spite of herself. Ryan copied the gesture and soon the two were chuckling like idiots. After a few moments, Kelsey took a deep breath and asked a question that had been bothering her since Ryan had first abandoned the Daemons and joined Lightspeed.
"Ryan, where did you get the shark tooth necklace? I mean, I doubt that you ran into shark fossils underground where you lived."
Ryan didn't reply for a moment, wondering just how he had gotten his necklace and, when after a few moments nothing came to him he shrugged. Moving backwards, he launched himself into the air, enjoying the wind on his face as he began swinging. As he pumped his legs to go higher, he felt something pounding in his head, wanting to be released. Wincing, he began going higher and higher, ignoring Kelsey's shouts not to do so, too much at home in the wind, and why was his mind hurting like this, damn it? All of a sudden, Ryan blacked out.
"Ohmygosh, Ryan! Are you okay?" Ryan's eyes cracked open to see a worried Kelsey looking down at him and, without moving Ryan realized that he was on the ground, green grass around him and blue sky above.
"Damn it." Accepting Kelsey's hand, he sat up and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, eyes silently widening at the rush of memories that appeared out of nowhere.
'Most likely caused by the fall from that damn swing…' Wincing at the sharp pain that flashed through his head, Ryan looked at Kelsey's worried face and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry 'bout me. Memory overload."
"What do you mean?" Kelsey was curious. The shark tooth necklace that always hung on Ryan's neck had intrigued her, reminding her of a friend for whom she'd bought the necklace years ago but hadn't seen since, despite her attempts between escaping her stepmother's frequent hints about sending her to Boarding School and the Etiquette Academy in Corinth, which she had escaped with the help of a few old friends who now wanted nothing to do with her. Fun days, those.
"Well," Ryan winced, "apparently, when I was ten, Diabolico began sending me on reconnaissance missions to the Human Realm to investigate and catalogue what had changed. Loki could only do so much because of his status as a full Daemon and, therefore, was unable to physically interact with the environment; because I was half-Human, however, I could take physical form. That was why I was sent on so many missions." He furrowed his eyebrows. "I kinda remember the first mission. It was here in Mariner Bay, and I materialized, uh, there."
Kelsey looked to where Ryan was pointing and noticed a fairly old looking tree, slightly burnt from various Daemon attacks not even six months earlier. Tilting her head and narrowing her eyes, she wondered why said tree seemed so familiar… then it hit her.
"Wait… you said that your first mission was when you were ten, right?" Ryan, who had by now gotten back to his feet and was leaning against the swing set absently nodded playing with a worn bracelet that she'd only seen a handful of times. "You came here to Mariner Bay first, right?" At the other nod, Kelsey inhaled sharply.
'No way. No possible way. He can't be… can he?' Stepping closer, Kelsey looked up into Ryan's eyes and caught her breath. "… Marco?"
Ryan flinched as the memories he'd created as "Marco Fen" rushed back, mixing with his time as "R'yn" and his new life as "Ryan Mitchell," effectively fusing what seemed to be three lifetimes' worth of memories into one body.
"Holy shit, the hell?" Ryan muttered head now feeling on the verge of cracking open. Eyes slammed shut as he witnessed the day he spent with a much younger Kelsey Winslow, the interaction with Gideon the merchant, his saving her from the fatal sleeping agent, the bartering of his gauntlet, the necklace, the trees, the return home, the warning...
'Oh. My. God. What did I do?' Negative memories also appeared, such as poisoning some high-ranking officials to get access to Daemon artifacts, all of which caused a tear to splash down onto the ground even as he buried his face in his hands. Kelsey noticed it and became worried. Stepping closer, she tugged Ryan's hands free from his face and forced her teammate to look at her.
"It is you." She pulled him into a hug, silently accepting that with the knowledge that he was, indeed, her first, true and real friend Marco, he must have negative memories attached to the name as well, done on the orders of his Daemon "relatives." "For what it's worth, Ryan, I'm sorry that you had to suffer."
"…"
"I looked for you again, you know," Kelsey continued absently noting that Ryan's arms had wrapped around her and the fact that she enjoyed it. "I could never find you again, though. Even had my stupid bodyguard run a citywide search, but never found anything. I know that I can't do anything to make up to you the years that you spent in the darkness, the loneliness, but-"
"No, don't." Ryan's arms tightened around Kelsey, pulling her flush against him. Looking up at him, Kelsey knew that something was different. Not quite sure what, Kelsey's eyes met Ryan's and her breath caught as he lowered his head and pressed a chaste, simple, amazing kiss to her lips, communicating the acceptance, the knowledge that he knew what he had done as a Daemon agent, the dark things he'd done, his determination to make up for the past by living for the here-and-now and the future.
"I don't want you feeling guilty for me," Ryan whispered after breaking the kiss, breath hot against her face. "It wasn't either of our faults."
"But-"
"Enough." Ryan pulled back slightly and crookedly smiled down at his teammate. "Seriously, enough. What's done is done. I'm just glad that I remember my first true friend herein the Human Realm." Suddenly he chuckled, and at Kelsey's amused (and questioning) glance continued, "I just realized that I can so make Day jealous by telling her that I met you long before I reunited with her, meaning that you're my best friend and not her."
Kelsey grinned. "Sounds fun." Her look turned mischievous as she thought of something. "Up for some exploring tomorrow, Ryan? I happen to know of an Open Air Market that'll be in town and one shopkeeper who's been bugging me for years to bring you by again."
When Ryan smiled this time Kelsey's grin widened in response. "Sounds fun. First, though," Ryan suddenly scooped Kelsey into his arms and she automatically wound her arms around his neck, "Feel like climbing more trees?" The answering grin drove the shadows of "Marco Fen" back into his mind and left "Ryan Mitchell, formerly known as R'yn" in its place, this new man (of sorts) more than willing to create a new life. He just wished that he'd gotten a chance to thank Vypra for the dagger she'd tossed at him all those years ago; it'd saved his ass more than once.