.:Legacy of the Wind:.
PART FIVE: THE RAGE OF WAR
By: Hoshi-chan
Night was falling as the sky grew dark. Jessica and Kayura had still not awoken and the group had become worried if the two would ever wake up. Kento stood, leaning against a window and looking out into the sky.
"Guys!! Hey, guys!" Dais said to the rest of the group. "It's Kayura... it looks like she's waking up!"
Kayura slowly fluttered her eyes open and looked up at the group. "H-hi..." she said softly.
"Kayura!! Oh, Kayura!! You're alright!!" the group said happily.
Kayura smiled at the group, then remembered about Jessica. She tried to sit up abruptly. "J-Jessica..." she said, looking around frantically for her. "Is - is she alright?"
Sage smiled. "Yes, she's going to be alright... although she doesn't seem to be waking up..."
"Oh, that's good..." Kayura said as she laid back down. "You know... when... when Jessica did that magic? That sword in the wall..."
"Y-yes, we know..." Sekhmet told her.
"But... how am I still alive? It went clear through me... a-and... yet... I'm still here... alive..." she trailed off.
"Yes, we know that, too. We are all healed. But, Jessica isn't awake to tell us what happened... so we are totally clueless right now..." Cye said.
"But... oh! Her leg!! She's injured!" Kayura exclaimed at the sight of Jessica's open cut and blood stained clothes.
"I guess she couldn't heal herself when she healed the rest of us. But, how did she heal us, kill all of the warriors, and not heal herself? I just do not understand...." she said, gazing out the window that Kento was leaning in.
"Yes, I know..." Ryo said thoughtfully. "Well, we'd better get moving, or we could get caught by troops again and since we're still very weak and all... well, let's just not get caught, ok guys?"
"Hmm?" said Kento, who was still looking out the window. He turned from the window and looked at Ryo. "Oh, yeah. Well, what are we wainting for?? Let's go!"
Sage and Rowen just rolled their eyes at Kento. "Will he ever get it through his head that this is not a game? We're not on a vacation, ya know," Sage commented.
"Yeah. But, you know Kento..." Rowen replied.
Ryo walked over and picked Jessica up, while Cye and Sekhmet helped Kayura up, each supporting her as the group made their way through the winding castle.
A while later, after the group had been searching for the exit for quite a while, about an hour at least, Ryo yelled out to the group. "Hey, guys! I think..... I think she's waking up!" he said as he bent over and gently laid her down on the floor.
Jessica groaned a little, and fluttered her eyes open slowly. Everyone... everything were just big blobs... everything just melted into the next thing. Her vision was blurry and the bright lights... which weren't very bright at all, gave her a headache as she groaned and tried to sit up, which just made her dizzy. She grabbed her head. "Ohhh... what happened?" she quietly said just above a whisper.
"Whoa, you mean... you mean to tell us that you don't remember, what happened? You don't remember a thing?"
"N-no......" she said, looking up at Cale with a puzzled and confused look on her face. "Wha - what are you talking about? All I know is that I have this splitting headache...... and my legs..... Oh! M - my legs!! What happened to them?" she cried as she saw the bloody mess.
"Jessica? Jessica!! Listen to me!" Cye said, trying to get her to listen. "We were in a battle... and everything looked bad. You got hurt badly and... well so did we. Kayura almost died. She had a sword go clear through her... we were almost done for." he said quietly.
"But... but then you came out, despite the pain from your legs and that you could hardly walk. You - you saved all of our lives..." Dais continued for him.
Jessica just stared at the ground through her hands as a tear slid down her cheek. "I - I... all I remember is... and... Oh, I just don't..." she said and started crying. "I remember some of it now, I remember watching all of you and... hurt badly... you were all hurt very badly and Kayura... and I knew that I had to do something... Hei No San..." she whispered.
"Hei... what?" Mia asked.
"Hei No San..." Jessica trailed off and looked up to the group. "It - it's a power that I have... inherited from my... mother? I... I'm not completely sure just yet. It takes all of the damage inflicted upon the mystical armor and their wearers and is paid back double to each individual evil warrior. But... it only works on outside mortals... such as yourselves. I am a mortal, but all of my inherited powers can not be used on me, except for my one which I use only when I have a respectable amount of energy left..."
"That sucks... but.. you're still very weak..." Sage said sadly.
Jessica smiled weakly. "Yes, as so are all of you. My powers can only heal your outside wounds, not restore energy lost during battle, unfortunately." she tried to explain.
"Thank you, Jessica. For risking your life to save us.... and... well, just thanks." Kento said as he leaned in and gave her a hug. Jessica smiled.
"You're welcome..." she said back. "No problem. And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat if I had to without thinking about it twice....."
"And you can bet that we'd do the same for you." Rowen said.
"Well, guys, sorry, but we've got to get out of here before any other warriors discover us here and we get caught off guard." Ryo said seriously, standing up and looking out the window at the lightening sky, which was turning shades of gold in the morning sunlight.
Rowen and Cale bent down to help Jessica up. They helped her as she limped along with the group through hallways and such until they found a safe spot. Just then, Jessica notived that Magic was missing. She looked around frantically. "Magic? Magic!! Where's Magic?" she asked.
"Magic? Oh! Um well I haven't seen him since...... since...... we left for the battle. Ohh no! I hope he hasn't hurt himself or gotten lost!" Mia said sympathetically.
"Oh, Magic......." Jessica said sadly. "I hope that........ I hope that he didn't.... he didn't....." she needn't need to finish the rest of the sentence for they all knew what she was thinking.
"Hey, Sage," Kento called to Sage. "You can heal people, right? Well, then, why don't you heal Jessica's leg?? It has already stopped bleeding so it shouldn't be that hard to heal......." he suggested.
"Oh, would you, please, Sage? I'd heal myself, but I can barely stand up...... and I am so weak...." she said.
"That's not a half bad idea......." Sage said, walking up to Jessica. He kneeled down next to her leg and proceeded to try to heal the deep cut. But, Sage tried his hardest to heal her legs, but he was just too weak still from the last battle, and he nearly fainted. Cye caught him and helped support him so he wouldn't fall.
"C'mon, guys. Let's get out of here before anything else happens." Ryo said to the group.
"Yeah, good idea," the warlords agreed as the group made their way down winding stairs and dark cooridors.
"Thanks, Sage, I know you tried your best........" Jessica said as she winced from pain from her leg.
"You ok?? No problem." He half smiled at her.
"Ya, sure, I'm fine. It's just....... when you have your leg half cut off, it tends to hurt a little sometimes." she tried to joke.
"Yeah...."
When they reached the bottom of the stairs where the entrance they came in through was supposed to be, they discovered that it wasn't there.
"Where did the entrance go?" Kayura said, looking around with a confused look. "It was........ right here, wasn't it?"
Sekhmet and Dais stopped walking and looked around also. "You're...... right." Dais said.
"Could this be some..... trick? Or illusion?" Sekhmet wondered out loud.
"Probably so," Kento said. "But, maybe we could try to..... to blast through a wall......" he suggested.
"That's not a bad idea, Kento." Cye praised. "It just might work! Let's give it our best shot!"
Rowen took Jessica as Cale joined Ryo, Kento, Sage, Sekhmet, and Dais. Dais set Kayura on the floor beside Jessica and Rowen before joinging up with the others.
The seven combined their powers with each other, what little power they had left, and tried to break through the wall.
"Thunderbolt Cut!"
"Super Wave Smasher!"
"Flare Up Now!"
"Iron Rock Crusher!"
"Snake Fang Strike!"
"Black Lighting Slash!"
"Web of Deception!"
They yelled as their attacks combined and formed one large super attack aimed directly at the wall. The attack surged through the wall, revealing the crowds of warriors huddled directly outside. The force from the attack itself knocked out half od the sitting ducks and the force of the exploding wall took out a third of what was left.
"Oh, man!" Rowen moaned. "This is just NOT one of those days.........."
Jessica winced as pain from her wounds surged through her entire body. She wsd in no condition to help the Ronin Warriors, the Warlords......... her friends. Rowen walked her over and sat her down in a safe place in the shadows where she would be safe and unseen.
"Stay here," he instructed as he turned and ran to to his friends, aiming his bow with arrows on his way.
Kayura stood up. "What are you doing?" Jessica said to her. Kayura just looked on straight ahead.
"I must go fight with them," she said bravely.
"But..... you are in no condition to fight now! You'd get yourself killed!" Jessica tried to reason with her.
"Yes, I realise that," she said, turning to smile sideways at Jessica, "but that's a chance we'll all have to take. If I don't help them, we'd surely loose this battle with no chance of winning whatsoever. This is for the best. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself......." Kayura said as she jumped into the battle scene.
"No, Kayura! Wait....!" Jessica cried out to her. But it was too late and she was already gone. 'Good luck, Kayura. Ronins, Warlords. Good luck.' she said to them silently. Now all she did was pray for their safety and for their energy to be replenished in order for them to not fail. For them to win. Jessica wished that she could be out there helping them, but she couldn't stand up, let alone fight. She'd be an easy target for sure.
The first wave of warriors knocked Ryo, Sekhmet, and Sage down. Kenti grew furious and begin attacking them with all that he had. But everything was almost useless. They were jsut too weak still, eventhough Jessica had healed them with her magic and such.
Rowen ran into the battle, yelling "Arrow Shock Wave!" and released an arrow, knocking out the whole line of warriors ontop Sage, Ryo, and Sekhmet. They tried to get up while Rowen held them back with a wall of arrows, one after another. He succeeded to thin out the oncoming line a little, but not enough.
Kayura jumped into the midst of the battle and fought her way out of the closing circle. As a last, desperate attempt, she used her super move as Jessica heard her scream, "Quake With Fear!!" and the warriors were blown away from around her. But, the blows from the warriors, and the fact that she was still weak from the previous battle, left her weak and vulnerable. A warrior caught her offguard from behind and she fell softly and silently to the ground. Jessica watched it all as if it were in slow motion.
"Noooooo!! Kayura!!!" Jessica screamed to her from her hiding spot, unheard by the others. Jessica tried to hold back tears. "If only I...... I had tried to get her to listen to me......" she cried and tried to stand up. Pain surged up through her legs and body from the attempt. She fell back down onto the ground. "I must help them," she said, now crying, "But I can't! I can't......." she said, tears falling freely from her eyes and sparkling as they landed on the stone floor. Noone could hide the fact that it looked hopeless for the Ronins and Warlords.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Jessica. She gasped. "Wh - Whitney?"
"Yes, 'tis I. I have come to forewarn you of Zagoto's evil power. I can not stay long. I am still on your side, though, and I always will be....." she said as she jumped out of sight. "Just remember that.........." she said and was gone.
"Nooo!! Come back.......!!" Jessica cried, reaching up for where Whitney had just been. "Come back...." she sobbed. 'Why do I always feel like this? It's like I'm not even controlling my body or wmotions at times.......'
Jessica looked back up to the raging battle. It had moved more outside the castle walls, leaving behind the victims fallen to the nine warriors. She strained to see any sign of the Ronin Warriors or Warlords. She just barely saw the two bodies of two of the Warlords laying lifelessly among the bodies of fallen warriors. She gasped upon seeing them.
"Oh, nooo!!" she wailed. "Dais!! Sekhmet!! Noo!" she cried out. There was noone to save them now. "It's...... hopeless......." she realised as she cried into her hands. Jessica struggled to crawl to her two friends that were so dear to her, despite the burning pain from her legs. She pushed her way slowly and painfully towards them, moving across dead bodies of the warriors and dodging their swords and daggers. When she was about halfway to them, she could clearly see the battle outside the crumbled castle walls. The remaining six were giving it all they had.
She continued to make her way to Dais and Sekhmet. When she finally reached them, her legs were bleeding freely again because of her long and painful crawl across the hard, rough castle floor. She was startled to find Dais still breathing and conscious, just hoarded with pain which was written all over his face.
"Dais........" Jessica cried. "Oh, Dais!" she hugged him but immeaditely let go when he screamed out in pain.
"I - I'm sorry, Jessica." he struggled to say.
"N-no!! Don't...... it's not your fault....." she exclaimed as tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks.
"T-take...... these........" Dais gasped and handed Jessica two small, sperical orbs.
"Your...... your transformation orbs......" she whispered as she realised why he had given them to her. "N-no!! Don't you even think for a minute that....... that you're going to leave us!! Leave me!!"
"J-Jessica...... take them...... I'm sorry........ and..... goodbye......" he said as his hand went limp and his head rolled over to it's side, his eyes softly closed.
"N-no!! Dais!!" she cried, desperately shaking him. "Dais! Come back!" she sobbed. "Oh, please..........."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ryo and Rowen struggled to push the endless amount of warriors out through the hole in the wall. From the corner of his eye, Ryo saw a flash of metal coming towards Rowen's head. Ryo quickly swung his katana around in front of him, striking the warrior in front of him across his throat and knocked the flinging blade from Rowen's path.
"Whoa....." Rowen gasped as he realised how close his life had almost come to an end. But there was no time for thanks now, as the threat of the great ultimate battle with Zagoto grew and grew and became more realistic every day.
Sage jumped high into the air to dodge an attack thrown at him. He landed ontop the warrior and knocked it to the ground. He swung his arm around him, cutting into the surrounding warriors with his sword. He glanced up to see any chance that they ever had at winning diminish before his eyes as Cye and Kento both were struck and crumbeled in a heap to the ground.
"No!" Sage cried, blinking back tears. He rushed over to them and slashed at the warriors ontop them, punching and kicking his way through. Pure adrenelin. Shaking off the warriors on his back, he saw one charging at his with his sword. And with the warriors on his back, pinning him down, he couldn't dodge it. "Oh, no..... Ryo, Jessica, Kento, Cye......... Rowen, Kayura....... all you guys, I'm sorry........" he said and squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the moment to come. After the warrior was sure to strike him, Sage opened his eyes to see the warrior's sword just inches from his face. Sage gasped as the warrior sank to the ground, and the surrounding warriors as well, all with arrows protruding from their backs.
"T-thanks buddy....." Sage whispered to Rowen as he continued to battle off the warriors.
Cale ran over to where Cye and Kento were laying on the ground, unconscious but alive. He picked up Kento and ran with him to where Rowen had put Jessica earlier. But when he got there, he did not see her anywhere. "J-Jessica?" he cried, setting Kento down and scanning the room for her.
"Jessica! Where are....... oh, nooooo!!" he cried as his eyes fell on his three friends laying in a heap. "N-no!!" he cried and ran over to where Dais, Sekhmet, and Jessica were laying. Dais and Sekhmet were clearly dead. Cale tried to hold back tears as he learned of the loss of his two very dear friends. But..... Jessica?
"Jessica!" Cale said and shook her gently.
Jessica opened her light blue eyes and turned to look at Cale. Then she bursted into tears once again over the loss of her friends. Cale took her into his arms and tried to comfort her. "It - it's alright....." he tried to reassure her.
"N-no, it's not. It's all my fault. If only..... If I had just....... oh, it's my fault! I couldn't .......... I couldn't help them......." she sobbed into his chest.
"No! Jessica, this is not your fault. This was beyond your control. Beyond all of out control." He hugged her tighter before standing up. "I..... have to go back and get Cye. I'll be right back," he promised as he ran back into the battle, leaving a heartbroken Jessica sobbing behind. It hurt him so much to see her in this much pain, but he had to get Cye.
Jessica uncurled her hand which contained Dais's and Sekhmet's orbs. A tear fell onto one as she squeezed her eyes shut tight. After a moment, she balled her hand into a fist around the orbs and opened her eyes. Red-hot anger flashed through her eyes.
"Mark my words," she vowed, "Zagoto will NOT prevail, he will NOT win this battle. He will be defeated, and as long as I'm still here, he will NEVER win," she looked over at Sekhmet and Dais's bodies. "For you, Dais.... Sekhmet....."
Outside, Cale reached where Cye had been laying and expected the worst. But to his suprise, Cye was up and fighting, still throwing warriors off like it was an everyday thing, no effort needed.
Ryo looked around and noticed that the groups of warriors were finally thinning out, and they may have a chance at winning, after all.
They struggled their way through the rest of the warriors, battered, bruised, and bleeding. But they made it. All except for their dear loss of Dais and Sekhmet. And the almost near death of Kayura and Kento. Moreso the others were so weak and faint from the battle that they wearily stumbeled back to where Jessica and Kento were.
Jessica quietly slipped Dais and Sekhmet's transformation orbs into the side pouch on her knapsack. Cale told the others of Dais and Sekhmet's deaths, and the sadness spread through the group.
"N-no!! Kayura gasped in shock and suprise.
"I - I'm afriad so," Jessica weakly said.
"Their - their armor....... what'll happen to it?" Rowen asked.
"Their orbs..... Dais gave them to me...." she said, revealing the two small speres to the rest of the group.
"Jessica! Why don't you wear one of their armors?" Sage suggested.
"That's not possible," Mia told him. "You must remember that it is not the person who chooses the armor, but that it is the armor who chooses it's wearer. And the wearer must be pure of heart and soul, inside and out." she informed them.
"Yes," Ryo stated, "But Jessica is all of that, so why didn't one choose her?" he said with a puzzled look on his face.
"Possible because either she isn't pure of heart and soul, or maybe because there were two orbs there at once, or....." Mia drifted off.
"Or what?" Cye demanded. He glanced over at Kento who was still unconscious. 'C'mon, buddy, wake up......' Cye pleaded in his mind.
"Or.... nevermind. Just maybe that she didn't want the armor or the armor didn't want her." Mia sat thoughtfully down beside Kento.
Up above the group, unnoticed and hovering, was Zagoto's apprentice, Racimus. Racimus chuckeled to himself.
"Those pesky Ronin Warriors, will they never learn?" he said to himself. "I guess it's time for my grand entrance - and the grand finale when I finally succeed in finishing them off........" he said as he faded from spot above them and reappeared silently next to the group.
"Well, well, well," he said as the group noticed him standing there and turned to face him, Rowen and Ryo jumping to cover Jessica, Kayura and Mia. They crouched into their battle positions. Racimus crossed his arms and hovered before the group. "If it isn't the Ronin Warriors and their little friends, too," he directed towards Mia and Jessica.
"Mia! Jessica! Stay back......" Ryo shouted to them as he stood up in front of the group. Mia and Jessica backed up against the wall next to Kento, who was still unconscious.
'They don't stand a chance.........' Jessica thought as she watched the battle scene unfold before her.
"What do you want?" Ryo demanded.
"Nothing really. Just your lives....... that's it. That's not too much to ask, now is it?" he chuckeled, throwing back the hood of his cloak and revealing his bright red hair accentuated by his startling deep blue eyes.
"We will NEVER give in to you..... or your master!!" Cye shouted.
"Give in to him now, boy, and save yourselves a lot of pain and trouble........" he said as he drew out his hands and throwing off his cloak. "Now, feel what its like to DIE!!!!!!!!!!" he said as he charged towards Ryo and Sage.
Sage tried to fight him off with his sword as the others jumped into action. But it was useless as they were all too weak from the previous battles.
Despite their efforts, they were being thrown around like a bunch of worn out rag dolls. Ryo jumped towards Racimus, but only to meet his fist as Racimus swung around and hit him, throwing Ryo hard against the wall. Ryo desperately tried to stand back up, but he was too weak and stayed down on the ground, unable to get back up.
"Ryo!! Noooo!!" Jessica screamed.
Racimus laughed. "What's wrong, Wildfire? Have you no energy left in which to fight back? Come on, Wildfire. Show me your true power........" Racimus said as he floated over to Ryo and picked him up by his helmet. Ryo's face was scrawled with pain, wincing as Racimus picked him up.
"N-never......" Ryo gasped as Racimus grew disgusted with him and threw him back down hard. He then turned back to the rest of the group.
"Who is next in line??" he snarled evily.
"Ryo!! Oh, Ryo wake up!! You've got to get back up!!" Jessica cried to him.
Racimus turned to Jessica. "Your friend here is in no shape to fight me. He was just too weak and pathetic...... he learned his lesson. First I'll kill all of your friends, one by one..... I'll start with Wildfire here. And, lucky you, you get to have the honors of watching them all die, slowly and painfully......." he said, moving towards where Ryo sat on the ground once again. Racimus drew his sword and placed it on his shoulder next to his head. As he was about to strike him, Sage jumped forward and shoved his sword into his shoulder. Racimus turned towards Sage with hatred in his eyes.
"This WAS a private engagement, but since you HAD to interfere....... Sage of the Halo. Will you never learn?" he cried as he jumped towards Sage, his sword drawn up above his head. He brought the sword down upon Sage, but Sage blocked it with his own sword. Sage ground his teeth as he pushed Racimus's sword away then rolled out from under his grasp then jumped to his feet to face him.
"Why - why are you here?" Sage panted.
"I am sent here by my master to destroy the likes of you........ it seems as though you are....... interfering........ with his plans......." he sneered.
"You can try all you want," Rowen shouted to him, "but you can tell your master that he will never win! Not as long as we're around!!" he said as he armed his bow with an arrow. "Arrow Shock Wave!!" he cried as he released the arrow on a direct path to Racimus.
Racimus just grinned as he turned to face the arrow. He jerked his hand up, catching the arrow just centimeters from his face. He tossed the arrow to the ground disgustedly.
"I admire your courage and bravery, Rowen of the Strata, but it is not NEAR enough to defeat me. And if I am having an easy time defeating you, then........ then......." Racimus started to laugh hysterically, "then you are definitely NO match for my master!!"
Jessica turned to look at Kento with tears in her eyes. He was waking!! "M-Mia!" Jessica whispered to Mia standing next to her. "Kento - he's waking up!"
"Oh, I'm so glad!" she said, smiling slightly.
Kento groaned as he rolled over. "Oooohhh...... my head. My arms. My legs......... my entire body........." he said and sat up, immeaditely noticing the battle. "Wha - hey! Why didn't anyone wake me up??" he said angrily.
"Kento!" Mia scolded, "This is serious! They need your help out there!"
"Yeah, hang on, guys!! Here I come!" Kento cried as he raced out into the battle, unnoticed by Racimus. "Iron Rock Crusher!!" he cried, making a direct hit upon Racimus. Racimus fell to the ground.
Kento's attack caught Racimus by suprise. "N-nooooooo!!!!" he cried. But he quickly recovered and jumped to his feet, wiping blood from the side of his mouth. "Sly, Kento of Hardrock, real sly........."
"Yeah, well, you can tell your master for us that he hasn't won yet!! This battle is not over!!" Kento replied. "And we aren't anywhere NEAR being defeated....." Kento stopped and looked around at his friends - Ryo down on the ground, Rowen and Cye were holding their arms and wincing in obvious pain, and Sage, trying not to show any pain, had a cut directly above his left arm seeping with blood. Kento turned back to Racimus.
"Very well, Hardrock, then you shall face the same fate as each of your friends........... you shall have the honor of watching them fall one by one....." Racimus said as he jumped, sliding his sword against Sage and Cye's chests and hitting Rowen in the side of his face, causing all three to fall to the ground screaming out in pain. Racimus then jumped to Kayura and Cale and ran his sword across their guts and they fell to the floor, their faces scrunched up in pain.
Racimus turned to Kento. "Oh, darn. All of your friends are down for the count. I guess I only have you left to play with now....... So now it's your turn....." he sneered, advancing towards him. Kento just stood there facing him, ready for battle.
"You don't think that I'm going down THAT easily, do you??"
Racimus laughed. "It would not suprise me. Look at how weak and pathetic all of your friends were. You aren't much different, I can tell Hardrock. Now, you shall share the same fate as your friends....." he shouted, bringing up his sword and charging at Kento.
"Not so fast...." Kento said, holding up his naginata and blocking Racimus's sword. He pushed his sword away then jumped, landing behind him. Kento swung his naginata and and hit him on the side of his head. Racimus whipped around, his eyes flashing with red-hot anger.
"That was unnecessary....." he seethed with anger as he flung his sword towards Kento, spinning it in the air towards him.
Kento gasped and watched the sword move towards him in slow motion. The sword was headed in a direct crash-course with Kento.
"Nooo!! Kento!! Watch out!!" Mia and Jessica cried out to him.
But Kento was frozen and couldn't move. His fate was sure to be determined by the flinging blade that was hurteling towards him in the air. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to fight his way. Trying to move his legs, his arms. Finally he gave up and just waited for the moment to come.
Jessica struggled to stand, tears streaming from her eyes. She slowly watched as the sword struck Kento, cutting into him and he fell silently to the ground. "Nooooo!! Oh, nooo!! Kento!" Jessica cried. Tearms streamed down her cheeks. Jessica stood up, despite the burning pain surging from her legs and consuming her whole body.
She walked up to Racimus, her daggers poised and ready to fight. After watching the fall of her friends, Racimus was going down. He would pay. Jessica wouldn't stand for it.
Racimus snickered at her and said, "So, the little tag-along wants to play, too?? Sorry, kid, but this game is for grown-ups. Besides, isn't it your nap time?? Let me put you to sleep......." he said and charged towards her with his sword in the air. He reached out and tried to hit Jessica but she jumped, dodging the attack as the sword crashed down into the ground where she had just been.
"So, you want to play no, don't you? You will soon find out that I NEVER loose......." he growled and turned to face her. She was inches from him and he swung his sword out, cutting into her arm.
"There's..... a first...... to everything........" she said as she gasped, dropping her daggers and grabbed her wrist which was becoming saturated with blood.
'N-no!!' she screamed in her head. 'Wha-what is WRONG with me....... I am just too weak...... Ryo! Rowen!! Guys, I'm sorry....... he was just too much........' she cried. Jessica tried to fight it, but the pain was just too intense. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She felt something brush up against her upper legs and realised that they had almost just been sliced clear through to the bone. Blood seeped through her clothes as pain surged up through her body. 'I-I can't take it anymore!!' she screamed in her head as she sank down to her knees.
"No! Jessica!! You - you can't!!" she heard someone scream. Ryo? Mia? She started to close her eyes to the sweet darkness when she noticed her necklace. It has started to glow. An irridescant yellow light spilled out, washing through the room and washing over all of the fallen Warlords and Ronins, as well as herself. She looked down at her hands, which had been covered in blood, and watched as the blood disappeared from her wounds as they healed completely, leaving no trace of ever having been there. All of the Ronins and Warlords stood as the light subsided and only surrounded Jessica, as if she were glowing.
She stood up calmly and heard a voice, very familier to her. "Wh-who are you?" she called out to it.
"Th-the ancient?" Cye, Rowen, Sage, Kento, and Rowen all exclaimed at once in disbelief and amazement.
Jessica. It has been long. A very, very long time
Many, many years ago, when you were a small girl, your mother gave you a gift.
A light purple orb floated down slowly from the sky in the light and Jessica opened her hands. The orb rested in her palms only a few seconds before there was a flash of brilliant, white light and Jessica's clothes were replaced with...... an armor?
Everyone in the group gasped. "Th-there's a tenth armor? A tenth Ronin Warrior?" Mia said, amazed.
Jessica, you are the wearer or the Armor of Wind. This was the gift that your mother gave to you right before she died in battle......... against Zagoto.
Use this armor wisely. If the wearer is pure of heart and soul and strong-willed, then it is unstoppable. Hariel's White Armor of Inferno need not your power, therefore you two may fight together, side by side. A truly remarkable and unstoppable team.
Jessica, you must remember that, without love and patience, you will not win this battle. Be strong and you will fight strong. Keep your head up, and you will have the courage to fight and go on. And when in doubt, think of all the others who have sacrificed their lives for you..... some...... out of love........
As he said that, Magic appeared before Jessica. "Magic? Magic!" Jessica cried.
Magic was bathed in a brilliant white light and when it cleared, Jessica saw a man standing there before her with black, uneven hair that didn't come below his chin, slightly taller than her, and sparkling, green eyes.
Jessica looked at him with tears in her eyes. She rememberd now........ remembered it all so clearly...... "M-Magic?" she gasped. The man nodded, walked towards her and took off her helmet, gazing into her eyes. He took her chin and tilted it up towards her as he leaned down and kissed her. Jessica closed her eyes.
She remembered it all now, the dynasty, and herself serving for the dynasty, her battle against Zagoto where Magic had been.........
The kiss ended and the light disappeared as Magic returned to his cat form. Jessica looked at Magic, crying. Jessica then turned, facing Racimus with a new determination in her eyes. "You.... will...... pay!" she shouted and swooped her katanas around her body, creating a whirlwind that emited a high pitched noise unbearable to evil. Racimus dropped his sword as he grabbed his head in pain.
"Windsong....... STRIKE!" she cried and pointed the tips of her katanas towards Racimus as a high stream of energy struck and surrounded him.
Racimus screamed. "Aaaaa! Nooooo!!!! Master, I'm sorry!!" He cried and was gone.
Jessica stood panting, her katanas still potined towards where Racimus had just been standing.
"J-Jessica?" Rowen said, running up next to her.
Jessica, exhausted, dropped her katanas and fell to the ground, Rowen caught her. "Jessica!"
Jessica's armor flashed, turned to her subarmor which glowed and disappeared, replaced with her clothing. Her necklace glowed for a second more before returning to normal. Jessica looked up a Rowen for a second before she closed her eyes.
Everyone recovered from the shock and ran over to where Rowen and Jessica were.
"Is she alright?" Ryo asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Rowen replied.
"Is she-she......" Mia whispered.
"No, Mia." Kayura answered. "Merely blacked out. She just had an overwhelming experience, you know."
"Y-yes. But..... a tenth armor? How can this be? I have never read anything about it anywhere!!"
"I know. That is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you........" Kayura trailed off. "What puzzles me is how she didn't know about this. I think that she has some more things up her sleeve before we defeat Zagoto."
"Maybe. I just...... I mean, how could we not have known about this?" Cale said softly. "I remember Talpa saying something once....... about a young girl that he had captured once long ago. Something about the armor........ her armor. Maybe..... Maybe that was Jessica. But I do remember Talpa saying something about Zagoto......." Cale trailed off.
"Y-yes." Kayura agreed. "Well, this place is starting to bug me. I suggest that we..... head out before Zagoto realises that we had just killed Racimus. Who was he, anyway??"
"I think.....I think that was his apprentice?" Sage said, more as a question than an answer.
"Yes. Anyhow I think that we should head out. I agree with Kayura." Ryo said.
The others nodded their heads in agreement. "I think that we must be pretty close to Zagoto. Before he finds us....... I think that it's better off if we find him first." Sage shuddered.
"Yeah. We need to go somewhere and rest for the time being. To replenish our energy for the battles ahead....." Cye said.
Kento bent to pick Jessica up as Rowen picked up Magic, whos front leg had been injured as was stained red with blood. Jessica lay limp in Kento's arms as the group headed out through the hold in the wall they created earlier, dodging the dead bodies of the warriors and their swords. As the group wandered on, they couldn't help but thinking about the mysterious Armor of Wind and how it came to be... and why hadn't the Ancient spoken about it to them in the early years when they had first battled Talpa and received their armors themselves? It was a question that would have to be answered later on down the road...