Note:
Welcome to the sequel to "Clinging To Promises"! :) If you haven't
read that yet, I suggest you do so because everything in this fanfic is
directly based off the events that unfolded in the one prior to it! ^_- All my
thanks goes out to Suzy for the beta-read, for she is my little sister. ;P Just
a fair warning, there is strong use of the idea of miscarriage, so if you can't
handle that, then you may not want to read this. And I hope you guys enjoy this
because I've been certainly having a blast writin' this sequel! :)
Written By: WhiteZeo
Dear Dana,
It's me, Ryan. You're probably reading this and wondering what the hell Evan is doing in the middle of your quarters. Well, this letter's to explain that.
You know when I told everyone Victoria was dead and that she committed suicide? I wasn't telling you everything. Victoria's dead, but there's a way to bring her back through demonic magic. The catch is I have to willingly serve Queen Bansheera, as does Victoria. I know you're probably pissed at me, but I had to do it. I can't live without her, Dana, and I do love you and Dad, but this is just different. I hope you understand that.
I'm leaving Evan with you. No way will I let him grow up the way Victoria and I did. Besides, he has a prophecy to fulfill, even if Bansheera may think it doesn't exist anymore. I know you'll take good care of him; teach him everything you can, but never tell him where Victoria and I are. It'll be hard for you to lie to him, but do it for me. I'd much rather have him believe that we are dead than know that his parents are the ones leading the attack to destroy his world.
I hate doing this, but I have no choice in the matter. I love you, Little Sister; don't doubt that. I'll see you around.
Love,
Ryan
***
It's been nearly eighteen years since I first read that letter from Ryan. Eighteen years filled with horror and tears.
After Ryan left us to be with Victoria, the first few weeks were calm. Then outta nowhere, Ryan and Victoria reappeared on the scene looking twice as big and bad as they had the first time.
They were merciless. Ryan attacked the city with his Max Solar MegaZord while Victoria infiltrated the Aquabase and tore it to pieces; Dad and Miss Fairweather barely made it out, and a lot of other good people weren't as lucky. Miss Fairweather saved Evan single-handedly as well; Ryan sings her praises even now. Thank God she saved him, because I really don't think I would have been able to forgive myself or faced Ryan again if Evan has...well, you know.
Within a week the city was completely demolished. Bansheera created a barrier around Mariner Bay, calling it her "domain"; we haven't had outside human contact since.
Mariner Bay is now simply a demon's paradise. They thrive on the surface, living in the lap of luxury. Bansheera even moved Skull Cavern into the center of the city; it looks absolutely disgusting there. I can't imagine living there for my entire life like Ryan and Victoria have.
Speaking of living conditions, I bet you're wondering where the heck I live. All of us - you know, Chad, Kelsey, Joel, Carter, and Miss Fairweather - live underground in the hidden nooks and crannies of the old Mariner Bay Subway line. At first it was hard going, but after being here for so long we've developed a good-sized community of survivors at around one thousand. It's the best we could really hope for.
Sitting up in my bed, I look down at Carter. Yeah, I eventually did marry him - after my dad died two years following the dive underground. I needed to someone to rely on and there was Carter, who accidentally got me pregnant and we got married, living happily ever after. The end.
No, that's not how it happened, but I swear, it sometimes feels like it happened in that kinda stupid fashion. I do love Carter, but complicated things like what happened with us just get a billion times more complicated with the hand-to-mouth existence we lead.
Anyway, I'm gonna wake this lump next to me up; he needs to get ready to train with Evan.
***
A person fell flat on my stomach as my wake-up call this morning. This really puts things into perspective - which one sucks more: being an orphan, being an orphan with crazy, annoying cousins, being an orphan and living underground...damn. There are just too many fucking options.
"Avery..." I growl, kicking the seven-year old hyperactive bomb off my bed - actually, it's more like rolling her off my bed. Why the hell did Dana and Carter decide to have another kid after Karilee? I'm bettin' a million rations of pineapples that Carter did it to just like spite me or something half-assed like it.
Oh...didn't realize you were there. I'm Evan Mitchell, the said orphan with crazy cousins living underground in a subway. Really, it's all I remember so it doesn't bother me too much...but when the survivors start remising about topsoil, I sometimes think they're lying.
The survivors are what we call the people who originally lived through the Hell that turned pristine Mariner Bay into Bansheera's Bed and Breakfast. I'm a survivor too, but I don't really refer to myself as one; I was only like a month old when all the crap went down, so I don't remember what life topsoil was like.
Dana's always telling me how Angela saved my life - Angela Rawlings that is. You know, formerly known as Miss Fairweather? Yeah, her and Joel hooked up when I was six; I remember thinking she had cooties back then. Then again, everyone had cooties at that time - that was when we had the lice outbreak.
Every time Aunt Dana decides to ramble about the past, she's always been pretty good about talking a lot about my parents 'cause she knows that's all that really matters to me.
My dad was her older brother, Ryan, and my mom was his girlfriend, Victoria. Bansheera's servant, Diabolico, held them captive until they escaped and my dad became the Titanium Ranger. They had me and then a week later died in a set explosion created by Bansheera. My dad's powers were stripped from him and now Bansheera has one of her goons running around with them, using them to hunt us (the rebels) down.
Sometimes though, as she tells the story, I feel like Dana's not telling me everything; she's holding something back from me. When I was younger I really didn't care, I just loved the idea that my mom and dad were sorta seen as heroes. But now that I'm eighteen and those fantasies don't hold me anymore, I find myself pestering her more about it. However, I usually know when to back down - after all, her memories and stories are my only link to my parents; it's not like Carter's gonna up and start talking about my parents if I asked him to.
"Evan!" Avery's whining totally breaks my thoughts. "Mommy told me to come wake you up!"
I lie back down in bed and hide underneath my blanket. "Yeah, well, tell you mom I'm awake and that you did your job."
I didn't hear any movement. That blonde ball of sugar is still here.
"I'll play with you later on, Avery."
The door to my room creaks open and then slams. She's gone.
I am NOT looking forward to going to training. I mean, I love being a ranger - I feel like I was born for it - but I hate my trainer: Carter.
He hasn't liked me since day one or whenever I first remember him, and I'm willing to take a wild guess that he didn't like me when I was born either. Karilee says it has something to do with an argument he and my dad had over my mom back in the day. 'Course Kari would know: she's Carter's oldest child and my other crack-headed cousin.
Not that I don't adore my fourteen-year old cousin, who plays those stupid few mp3 files of 'N Sync that she was able to salvage on her computer non-stop, but sometimes I swear Carter gives his precious daughter special treatment. Like today, Kari doesn't have to train with me because she trains every other day, but I have to train everyday and nearly die from exhaustion in the process. It's not like he wanted her in the first place when he found out Dana was pregnant with her...that's another story entirely.
Whatever, I've gotta get ready for training, so if you'll excuse me...
***
As my eyes open, I feel Bansheera turn me toward the other side of the bed, which I already know is empty; Ryan never stays asleep long enough in the mornings to greet her.
Bansheera's disappointment etches across my face and soon enough her spirit leaves my body and floats off. I sigh in relief as I do every morning when she vanishes. It feels so good to control my own actions; I never realized it until that bitch started occupying my body.
Yes, you hear right. Queen Bansheera possessed my body nightly in order to take advantage of my lover. And I would be Victoria.
No, I am not dead. Ryan brought me back to life with his sacrifice. He sacrificed his freedom and life for my own, pledging forever allegiance to Queen Bansheera so long as I live.
Early on, when I found out what he had bargained for me, I was tempted by suicide many times; I left Ryan to keep him safe from all this evil and if I had to do it one more time, I would. Unfortunately, the other half of the deal was that every night Queen Bansheera would be able to occupy my body and make love through me to Ryan. At first, it was hard for me to deal with, but after so many years it has become fairly normal to me; I just force myself to pretend her actions are really mine, and I make it through the night with some semblance of sanity.
Anyway, when Bansheera occupies my body, she can read my thoughts. It took five thwarted suicide attempts to for me to realize what was going on. I've been able to figure out how to hide certain thoughts from her over the years, but still she has destroyed my life...has taken my seeds of hope away from me, time and time again...
...I need to go and see Ryan.
***
More sweat beads at my temples and slides down my face. I barely register it as I continue to furiously pound the punching bag before me. Imagine it's Bansheera...imagine it's Bansheera...imagine it's Bansheera...
After all, Bansheera only stole everything away from me. Well, maybe she did give me back Victoria on some level, but she was the one who killed Victoria and took advantage of my distress when she made her bargain: Victoria's life for life-long servitude to her from the both of us, and the chance to bed me every single damn night through my lover's body. It's disgusting, and that's not even the half of it.
Victoria's been pregnant over a dozen times in the last eighteen years; I'm not sure on the exact number of times; I stopped counting after her fifth miscarriage. And trust me when I say that it isn't a problem with Victoria's body that causes this.
ARGH! I punch the bag furiously fast for a few minutes, but it still doesn't help me drive the pain away.
You know, half of the time, Victoria doesn't even know she's pregnant until Bansheera aborts it from her body; the last time - the most recent - she didn't know either.
Victoria came stumbling into the training room just about four mornings ago, AFTER Bansheera had left her body. Her cheeks were streaked with knowing tears as she clutched her stomach and winced painfully. Just looking at her appearance, I knew what was happening, just as she had known at the first sharp pain.
It happened right there in the farthest corner of the training room on the mats. I could only watch and help her through the pain as our tiny child was flushed from within her, stained with blood. Victoria's eyes were bloodshot and terribly dry as I met her gaze with my blurry eyes; her tears had run dry long before mine.
Afterwards, she cleaned up the mess of bodily fluids and healed herself once she regained her strength. Then, she simply left me alone sitting in the corner to grieve; I wasn't shocked by her leaving, we had gone through the process so many times that everything was routine.
This is Bansheera's game with us. She always takes away anything that could possibly give Victoria and I hope. A child is pure and innocent and good; it is hope, so it must be eliminated.
There is one thing that gives us hope that Bansheera hasn't managed to get her hands on: our son.
Evan is our hope. Victoria knows about how I left him with my sister in the knowledge that he would survive and thrive with her. We both were and still are sure that had we brought him with us, Bansheera would've found a way to kill him; without us, Bansheera can't get near him because she doesn't know the first place to look.
I know where the rebellion hides. I've spoken to my sister, I've seen my son as he's grown up; Victoria hasn't been able to have the same chance because we fear Bansheera finding out about Evan through Victoria's thoughts. So all Victoria knows is that Evan is safe and has certainly grown up; I hate having to keep her in the dark, but it's absolutely essential for Evan's protection.
***
Evan strode into the training area about an hour later, easily catching Carter's eye because they were the only two in the room. He knew Carter was going to yell at him for being late when he was actually on time. "Forget it, Grayson," he cracked at Carter, glaring at the older man as he removed his sweatshirt. "I know the punishment. Fifteen laps - I've got it covered; don't waste your breath."
Carter visibly tensed at the tone that Evan took with him, but didn't bother with punishing the young man any more. "Fine," was all Carter grumbled tersely. "Start."
Evan rolled his sharp green eyes, tossing his gray ragged sweatshirt aside and starting his laps. At first, Evan totally despised the laps Dana's husband and his ranger predecessor made him do, but after awhile he didn't really care. First of all, he knew there wasn't anything that he could do to change the situation, and secondly, the time taken up by the laps meant less time spent with Carter and more time to be alone and think.
When he ran, Evan thought about his life and tried to remember even the smallest thing about his short life topsoil. There were times when Evan could remember how his father used to smell when he cradled him in his arms as a baby: a strong sweet, sometimes musky, but always sweet. He could faintly recall his mother's tresses of red bronze and how he loved to reach for them because of their unusually pretty color. But that was all he could remember. There weren't any pictures of either of his parents anywhere; Dana had always claimed that time had flown so fast during that short period that they were with the other rangers and they hadn't the time to take any pictures.
Evan clung to the past tightly, trying to relive it in his present, and that was how he had lived for most of his life. As a child he was deeply introverted from anyone who hadn't known his mother or father, and even then, he had clung closest to Angela until she had died in one of the Titanium Ranger's attacks when he was ten. Her death brought around Evan's evolving from a shy and meek boy, to a fighter for vengeance and retribution: for his parents and for Angela. That was how he got into the mess of training with Carter daily for the past eight years.
That was how he became the lone Red Ranger.
***
Blindly, Victoria ran frantically down the halls of Skull Cavern, her long bronze hair whipping behind her and her breath coming in rasps. Her skimpy silk green nightgown hung off her shoulders sloppily as she darted around, trying to avoid running into the filthy human servants that walked the halls.
"RYAN..." she bemoaned, turning into a deserted corridor and collapsing to the ground.
Hearing Victoria's cries for her lover, a young dark-skinned girl rounded the corner and ran to the woman's side. Unlike the other humans that had been loitering in the halls, this girl was far superior to them in status due to her clean appearance. "Mistress!" she pleaded with Victoria, clutching the sobbing woman's arm and struggling to pull her up from the ground. "Mistress, PLEASE! You are ill! You must return to your quarters."
Victoria turned her head and looked at her personal servant, Isabella. "You don't have any siblings, do you, Isabella?"
Isabella shook her head, playing along with her mistress' game; Victoria usually had these bouts of madness and she always managed to ask the same questions time and time again. "No, Mistress. I don't have any siblings or relatives," she quickly answered, heaving Victoria onto her feet. "Now, please come with me. You need to rest."
"What about your parents?" Victoria continued to babble, walking along with Isabella. "Are they dead?"
"Yes, they are dead, Mistress."
"Did you love them?"
"No, Mistress."
"GOOD!"
They were nearly to Victoria and Ryan's quarters when Victoria asked something of Isabella she had never asked before.
"Have you ever wanted children, Isabella?"
The tall and young raven-haired girl stopped dead in her tracks before she attempted to answer while opening the door to the room before her. "Yes, Mistress. I have wished that one day I might be blessed with children," Isabella answered hesitantly, but truthfully as she had never before.
As Isabella slowly ushered her into the room and onto the unmade bed, Victoria blurted out her secret. "I have a son, Isabella. A beautiful baby boy. Looks more like me than Ryan, but I would suppose he has Ryan's-"
Just then, Ryan burst into the room, stopping Victoria mid-sentence and catching a glimpse of Isabella's shocked face. "The servants told me something was wrong with Victoria. Has she gone...?" Ryan trailed off, not wanting to call his companion delusional or crazy because she wasn't either at all.
Isabella simply nodded dumbly as Ryan took Victoria into his arms and rocked her back and forth, calming her madness. "Master?"
"Yes, Isabella," Ryan replied in a somewhat preoccupied manner.
"Do you and Mistress have a child?"
Isabella quickly caught the stiffening in the man as he hesitated to speak. However, Victoria whispered quietly, "Yes."
Ryan looked appalled at his companion for a moment, then realized slowly why she had told Isabella the truth.
Victoria has found Isabella in the wreckage of a building after a short altercation with a group of rebels just about twelve years ago. She had heard whimpering and followed her motherly instincts to discover a six-year old Isabella with a broken arm. Victoria instantly took to the girl the moment she saw her with long dark braids and pained brown eyes.
Victoria healed Isabella and then brought the girl back to Skull Cavern with her. She made sure that Isabella was cleaned up and given the best clothes. When Bansheera found out about Victoria's new friend, she fought with Victoria against it, but eventually lost because on the subject of Isabella, Victoria had more want than Bansheera's hate. So with that, Isabella became Victoria's private servant and learned everything from her mistress.
It was only year later that Victoria explained her reasons for taking Isabella under her wing. "She reminds me of myself," she had told him," but more so, she reminds me of Evan; they're the same age and both struggling without their real parents."
"Are you sure you want Isabella to know?" Ryan looked his lover in the eye and she nodded her answer.
Isabella was clearly confused. "Master? Mistress?"
"Isabella," Ryan began, "please sit down..."
***
After training alone with Carter for the entire morning, Evan headed towards the Hall - the name for the dining hall where rations were served - in search of his aunt.
As her wandered through the many corridors, girls and women alike ogled at him like he was dessert. Evan simply rolled his eyes at their antics. Here they were trapped and being hunted down, yet all these women could think of was frivolous things like kissing him. Yes, he was handsome and he knew that because every freaking person told him so as he grew up, but he didn't think that was important. What was important was reclaiming the topsoil from the demons, and even if it was a job he had to do himself, he was going to do it.
Pushing the doors of the Hall open, he spotted his aunt and his two cousins quickly; it was still a bit early and not everyone had arrived for lunch. "Evan!" Avery squealed happily as she also noticed him walking toward their table.
"Hey Avery," he greeted, smiling a bit at the kid then glancing over at her sister. "What'd you find now, Kari?"
"Nothing," the older blonde answered, absorbed in the archaically old laptop computer before her that took the place of her lunch. "Just writing in my journal."
"Oh." Evan shrugged, sitting down next to Dana at the table. "I need to talk to you."
Dana faced her nephew while taking a large swig from her beat-up tin coffee cup. "You do? What about?"
"I had another flash while I was training this morning." Evan's voice had dropped many tones as he spoke of delicate subject, but Avery still managed to eavesdrop as she leaned across the table as far as she could.
"OOH! You hadda flash?!" the little girl eagerly piped up.
Evan gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Yes, I did," he yapped at Avery. "And you know what? I had a flash you were going to die tomorrow!"
Avery instantly shut up, her cheery demeanor falling as she returned to picking at her lunch with her fork.
Dana simply shook her head at Evan's antics. "You DO realize she's only a seven-year old, right?"
"But she's so damn annoying!"
"And you're an only child who can't cope with having cousins/siblings!"
"You know that's not true, Aunt Dana. I had Kari! And she NEVER was as annoying!"
Realizing that Evan was not about to let go to the subject until she did, Dana returned back to their original topic of conversation. "What did you see this time?"
"I saw a flash of a woman in a green dress; she felt familiar, but she was far away and I couldn't see who she was," Evan slowly described, racking his mind for the vision and its important details. "Then I saw Vypra fighting me near one of the ration hideaways."
Dana mused on the information. "Sounds like Vypra might be trying to stop our teams from bringing in the ration delivery today," she hypothesized, purposefully avoiding the first half of Evan's flash.
"What about the woman?" Evan pushed eagerly, taking good notice of how his aunt had ignored that part of his vision. "What does she mean?"
Dana looked Evan directly in his sharp green eyes and quietly gave him his answer. "Your mother was wearing a green dress the last time your father saw her; really, the last time anyone saw her."
"Oh." Taking a few moments to absorb the new information, Evan bit his lip, slowly and painfully closing his eyes. He then opened them once more, with a renewed fire burning within them. "So, when's the next delivery?" he asked in an urgent tone.
"Within the hour." The older woman frowned. "You'd better get going right now if you want any chance of catching her."
"Alright." Evan stood up from the table and kissed his aunt on the cheek. "I'll be careful."
Dana grinned slightly at his insistence. "I know you will."
As Evan left the Hall, Avery watched him go and then turned to her mother. "Mommy, does Evan hate me?"
"Yes, he does," Karilee proclaimed with a snort, closing her laptop as she finished with it.
"Kari." Dana gave her oldest daughter a warning glare and then gave her attention to Avery. "Evan's just got a lot of things to do, Avery. He doesn't hate you."
"Oh." Avery pursed her lips in hard thought. "Why does Evan get flashes and we don't?"
"Evan's mommy was special. She knew all kinds of magic and she just gave her magic to him. That's why he gets those flashes."
***
"I wish I could meet your son, Mistress," Isabella sighed to Victoria as the older woman returned to her quarters from a meeting with Olympius.
"From what Ryan tells me he's not very big on girls swooning over him, Isabella, so don't think you can catch his attention that way," she laughed, stripping from her black cloak and gown.
"Oh, no!" Isabella exclaimed and blushed, seeing she had been misunderstood. "I want to meet him because he's with the rebellion!"
"SHUSH!" Victoria quickly placed her hand over the young girl's mouth. "Do not even mention that! Bansheera might hear you; that demon has ears EVERYWHERE! Besides, I'm going off to fight that rebellion you're so fond of right now!" Easily, she slipped into her breastplate as she spoke, then pulled on her gloves and armbands.
"Olympius' orders, Mistress?"
Victoria put on the rest of her armor and lastly, attached her sheathed sword onto her waist. "Of course, his orders. Why would I fight my own blood willingly?"
***
Evan walked around the topsoil of the ration station as the group of men finished hauling all the rations into the back of their truck, stolen from Bansheera's henchmen.
"Can you guys be a little faster about it?" Evan called back, ever wary of the upcoming attack he had envisioned.
"We're trying, Evan. Believe me, we're trying," one of the older men replied hastily, while they pushed the last barrel of rations onto the rickety truck. "There. We're good to go."
Just as his words reached Evan's ears, Vypra and her battalion of battlings turned round a darkened corner of a nearby semi-demolished building. "How perfect," Vypra crooned gaily toward the startled and frightened men scrambling into the truck. "You finished just in time for us to ruin it all. It's always such fun to watch you rebels lose hope."
Standing between the ration truck and Vypra, Evan coughed loudly and noticeably.
Vypra did a mock double take at Evan and laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Red Ranger. I didn't forget you standing there, trying to save the day."
Evan folded his gloved arms across his chest and shook his head at Vypra. "You're a riot, Vypra. I beat you down continuously and you STILL come back for more. I never took you for a masochist, but-"
"BATTLINGS, ATTACK!"
The flock of battlings quickly took off toward the ration truck and hideaway, and Evan looked on as the truck narrowly escaped from the attack, speeding off and down one of the narrow, deserted side streets. With the ration delivery safely out of the way, Evan went to work on the battlings, pulling his laser pistol from its holster and firing on them, one after another falling.
Vypra easily caught onto his game and threw an energy blast at his hands, forcing him to throw his gun aside. "Come and play with me, Red Ranger," she taunted him when he spun around to face her. "I'll give you a real challenge."
Very much tempted by the battle, Evan moved toward Vypra and whipped out his sword to meet Vypra's with a loud clang. The two danced around each other throughout the fight, each attack to weaken the opponent's defenses met with the perfect countermeasure - almost as if they had sparred with each other for their entire lives. This routine continued until Vypra finally relented, seeing her battlings had done enough damage to the rebel ration station to fulfill her orders.
Bowing out gracefully, Vypra grinned devilishly. "I'd love to continue, Red Ranger, but it seems as if my job is done for now." Within seconds, her battlings had lined up behind her, and she vanished into her aura with the winged creatures following suit.
Once they had left, Evan turned his attention back to where the ration hideaway had once stood to now see the rubble that was the battlings' handiwork. Cursing himself for being so easily swayed into the battle with Vypra, Evan returned his sword to its place and began his trek home to report his failure to the Almighty Carter.
***
"I swear, it's like that boy inherited his father's moves..." Victoria quietly muttered to herself as she walked down the halls of Skull Cavern to return to her quarters so that she could rid herself of her armor. "He's too easily lured by a fight, though; impatient. Another one of his father's qualities he inherited..."
The petite woman smiled mysteriously to herself, not completely noticing when Olympius joined her on her walk. "So I take it everything went well with your skirmish by that smile on your face?"
Startled slightly by his appearance, Victoria quickly recomposed herself and replied coolly, "Well, the ration station of the rebels has been destroyed if that's what you mean."
"Nothing else?" Olympius' voice was almost hopeful and Victoria was nauseous at the sound.
"You told me only to destroy the ration station and the truck if I could get it. I did what you asked-" The demon son of Bansheera cut off Victoria's innocent little spiel.
"You did what my mother told me to tell you to do, not what I wanted. If I had my way, all these little rebel ants would have died a terribly long time ago." He stopped before the door of her quarters and leaned on the wall across from it. "I think my mother has an infatuation with these humans and their pathetic attempts to undermine her."
Victoria placed her hand on the doorknob and leaned slightly against her door. She wasn't surprised by Olympius' casualness because he had always treated her as if she were no different than him; he didn't think of her or Ryan as humans - he had never thought of the two of them as humans because they had been bad and "demons" ever since he was a baby as Impus. Their little stint on the side of the Power Rangers hadn't phased his image of them; Ryan and Victoria had been evil much longer than good. "I think that perhaps the Queen is trying to break their will slowly, so that when they do eventually surrender, it will be unconditional." Victoria actually knew for a fact that that was exactly what Bansheera was trying to do because she had gotten the original idea from Victoria when she possessed her. Of course, the demoness had no idea that Victoria had planted that plan for her, so as to buy precious time for the rebels.
"I suppose you're right," Olympius acknowledged as Victoria slowly slipped into her room. "They are terribly stubborn. Will you be coming to dinner?"
Victoria nodded her head. "Ryan probably won't make it though. It's his weekly night patrol tonight."
"Right. I'll see you then, Vypra. Good job today."
"Thanks."
She quickly shut the door and sighed heavily in relief. "What a life I lead. One minute I'm crazy mad, and the next minute I'm cool and calm. I cover for my lover, I fight against my son, and I play friendly with demons..."
Tugging her armored wings off her back, the petite woman collapsed face forward onto her bed to take a nap before her expected, and mandatory, attendance at dinner.
"Ganbatte, Ryan..."
***
As the darkness of the natural night fell upon the conquered Mariner Bay, Ryan walked the streets confidently as the "evil" Titanium Ranger with his battalion of battlings following and ready to snap to his commands.
Early on at the beginning to the demons' reign, Ryan had suggested that he take weekly night patrols as a way of keeping control over the city and capture any of its survivors for Queen Bansheera. Of course, she had jumped all over the plan happily and had let him implement it himself, which was what he had been counting on.
The weekly patrols proved to be the perfect guise for his selfish intensions. He needed to find the survivors, needed to know that his sister was safe and that his son was alive. So, once a week, under the false pretense that he would seek and capture all survivors, Ryan set out with his troops into the deserted streets. Of course, they all split up; covering more ground, he explained, but really to allow him the freedom to pursue his own search without being caught.
It only took him a month to find them in the subways.
Dana was fine, as was Evan. Miss Fairweather - Angela - had saved his son.
It was during his second visit to the underground hideaway that Ryan had insisted on seeing and holding his son. Dana reluctantly brought Evan to her brother, and he clutched his son desperately to his chest. It was during that visit with Evan that Ryan cried tears of sorrow: tears for Victoria, for Evan, for Dana, for his father, for everyone that had suffered because of him. It was the last time Ryan demanded on seeing Evan.
Ryan snapped from his reverie momentarily to give out directions. He sent groups of battlings to the northern, southern, and eastern parts of the city while he took the western part - always.
Heading off in his direction, he didn't need to look around himself to know where he was headed. After eighteen years of tracing the same route on a weekly basis come rain or shine, he had an instinct and intuition about his direction.
Eventually, he came upon a random demolished building and looked around quickly before demorphing into his simple rebel disguise of a faded blue shirt and dirty, torn jeans. He then proceeded to climb up the remains of the demolished building. Near the back of the rubble pile there was a small hole covered over with broken beams of wood and metal. Ryan pushed aside the rubble until there was a hole big enough so he could barely slip through. Dusting his hands off on his jeans, he then carefully slid himself through the hole and fell a few feet downward until he felt his feet meet the solid stone of the old subway steps. He continued on his downward descent into the caverns of the subway from there.
He trekked for about twenty minutes, making a dizzying number of lefts and rights as per usual, and finally ended up just outside the outskirts of the rebel compound. Two guards stood stoically at the nearest entrance into the compound and were armed to the hilt. However, Ryan wouldn't have to worry about them because Dana waited just inside the entrance, ready to escort him in.
He approached the entrance and Dana quickly spotted him. She leaned over to one of the guards and said something to him. When she finished, the guard stepped aside and allowed Ryan inside the compound.
He calmly followed Dana's lead to wherever she was taking him and looked straight ahead. It gave him the appearance of a courier from one of the other rebel compounds, which kept the people in the corridors from examining him too much; Dana always managed to keep him clear of Carter and the other former rangers, as well as Evan.
This time around Dana led him to her quarters, knowing no one would be there and that they wouldn't return too soon. She opened the door and ushered Ryan inside, then followed him and shut the door tightly behind her.
Dana stood before him in the semi-messy room, her aged features gazing fondly at her brother's still youthful face.
Ryan simply smiled and enveloped his little sister in a hug. "God, I've missed you so much..."
"It's only been seven days, Ryan," Dana chuckled softly, pulling away from her brother's hug and unconsciously tugging her ponytail a bit tighter.
Ryan shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, making it even more disheveled than it had been. "The longest seven days of my life," he muttered, glancing at his sister. "Victoria lost another baby."
Dana's face instantly fell and her eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry, Ryan."
Her brother nodded, as Dana took a seat in a nearby chair and he continued to stand. "I know you are. And one might think I'd be so used to going though this never-ending cycle." He began to pace the room feverishly as his anger slowly bubbled. "But every time...every time she comes to me...and I see...it; I just can't lose another to Bansheera like this!!" Ryan threw his fist against the concrete wall as to punctuate his exclamation furthermore.
Dana watched her brother as he returned to his tense pacing, his pain peeling off him in large waves. "You need to calm down, Ryan," she softly pleaded. "Try not to think about it; tell me about something else."
He told her everything else he could. He told her about Isabella and how she had been brought into the small fold of secrets and lies. He told her about how restless Olympius was to do away with the rebellion, but that Queen Bansheera's implanted ideas from Victoria stood in his way and allowed time for the rebels. He even told her how coming to see her every week was a lifeline for him in a dark, cursed world. And to think, he once feared revealing his vulnerability to his sister. How he wish he could go back to that once upon a time, just to escape the hellish existence he led now...
After ranting and raving to his sister, Ryan realized how inconsiderate he was being and was just about to ask her what was happening with her, when the door of the room burst open and there stood Carter and Evan in the doorway, apparently in the midst of a heated conversation.
Dana looked quite startled, almost like a deer caught in a car's headlights, but Ryan wasn't the least bit ruffled by the sudden interruption and maintained calm composure, hiding all of his formerly expressed emotions.
Carter and Evan on the other hand, both were stunned into silence by the unexpected guest with Dana.
The current Red Ranger didn't know what to make of the situation, except for the fact that if his aunt was cheating on Carter, he was all for it. The jerk deserved to realize that everything wasn't under his control, as he liked to believe.
The former Red Ranger's first reaction to the stranger was to examine the unknown man with his wife and it only took him a fraction of a second to identify him. Even after the many years of his cowardly actions of abandoning his son and family, he retained the youthful messy look that had coldly rejected Carter years ago. "I didn't know you were expecting anyone, Dana." He broke the silence, looking to his wife for an explanation of some kind.
"I wasn't," Dana answered hastily, then continued to elaborate, "but this courier came from the North Rebel camp to inform me of some of the Titanium Ranger's movements in the area, so I was talking with him so Evan could possibly be ready for the next attack."
Carter's worn gaze narrowed tightly on Ryan, and he noticed. "Perhaps I should leave now," Ryan suggested, heading toward the door and averting his eyes from his sister's husband.
"No." Evan stopped him, clasping Ryan on the shoulder. "You were here for something important and we interrupted; we should leave."
Ryan faced his son and looked at him for a long moment.
Evan had inherited his mother's coloring with the dark hair and the lightly tanned skin, but had Ryan's stature with his height and sleek, yet strong build. He had gotten most of Ryan's facial features as well, especially the blazing green eyes that his father had once, before they had dulled and hardened.
Dana's voice broke through Ryan's awe of his grown son.
"No, it's okay, Evan. We were just finished."
Ryan turned to looked back at his sister and nodded mutely. "So, I'll just try to come back to you with those reports as soon as possible?" he questioned, feigning the continuation of their supposed former conversation.
Dana didn't even miss a beat. "Yes, that'll be it. Thank you."
"No problem," Ryan acknowledged, slipping past the two men and exiting out into the hall. He then quickly proceeded to leave the compound, and it wasn't until he had left it and was a far distance away that he even tried to breathe.
***
One would assume that eating dinner would be a pleasurable experience, but that was exactly the opposite for Victoria.
She sat on one side of the long dining table in the cold and bare dining hall - dressed in simple black as required - directly across from Olympius while Queen Bansheera kind of half-floated, half-sat at the head of the table. Before herself and Olympius were large ancient goblets filled with demon wine while only one plate of food was in front of her because demons couldn't really eat, and Bansheera wouldn't have been able to eat even if she had wanted.
So as Victoria picked at her food, the ghostly demoness began the usual dinner conversation, which wasn't really dinner conversation at all, but actually a daily update of activities. These conversations were exactly why Victoria hated dinner - it wasn't even really dinner!
"Did you destroy the ration base today?"
"Yes."
"And the Red Ranger?"
"Still as good as new and still alone."
"Where is Ryan?"
Victoria took a sip from her goblet before answering her queen's anxious voice and was about to when a clean, freshly dressed Ryan walked into the dining hall. Following in his lover's lead, he dressed in a simple silk shirt and slacks, completely black. "I'm right here, my queen," Ryan answered smoothly, a smile dancing upon his lips.
Quickly, he made his way to Victoria's side and just as he sat down, one of the servants hastily set a plate of food and a goblet of wine before him. "You seem quite pleased with yourself, Ryan. I assume, you succeeded in your rounds since you returned so soon?" Bansheera questioned lightly - her voice suddenly filled with emotion, something that it had been lacking when speaking with Victoria.
"Actually, I unfortunately didn't, my queen," Ryan replied, taking a long drink from his goblet. "The night was too cold; no rebel in their right mind would have been out wandering on the streets. That is actually why I returned."
Victoria watched happily as she took a backseat to Ryan and he continued his conversation with Queen Bansheera. He was quite the actor; twenty years before he wouldn't have been able to lie himself out of a corner, but now he did it with flawless grace. Lying had become necessary to both of their survivals and so they took the art to a level of perfection.
She had never been comfortable under the scrutiny of the demoness who possessed her, and it was because Bansheera possessed her that Victoria was immensely uncomfortable. That, and she continually threatened her life, but Victoria believed she was okay - after all, without her, Bansheera would have NO relationship with Ryan whatsoever...right?
Pulling away from her reverie, the Asian beauty continued to eat her dinner meagerly while starting up a conversation with Olympius on the status of the demonic shield surrounding the city, drowning out the thoughts of a jealous, envious Queen Bansheera.
***
"Why the Hell was Ryan here?"
Carter's voice managed to remain toneless and cold as the words left his mouth, betraying his emotions.
Dana turned around from where she had just shut the door to the room following Evan's recent departure. "Couldn't wait one minute, could you?" she spat spitefully, sighing and leaning heavily against the door.
Carter didn't even blink at her words, his jaw only tightened and his veins slowly beginning to throb. "Why was he here, Dana? You said Ryan committed suicide all those years ago. You said that Bansheera must've stolen his morpher. You said that Vypra must've betrayed Ryan for Bansheera. You told us all THAT!" Carter's brown eyes burned with anger and betrayal. "YOU LIED!"
"I did lie." Dana calmly and freely admitted, meeting Carter's furious gaze with her calm blue eyes. "But if you're going to try to send me on a guilt trip, you're not going to be able to because I don't regret hiding this from you; you might've just ruined it all with that impulsive temper of yours."
Carter's rage slowly cooled down a little bit to allow for a small amount of confusion to rise. "So, what really happened? What really has been going on?" he asked, then added, "I promise I won't blow up at you."
The blonde woman arched her eyebrow warily, but still told the story.
"Ryan's letter didn't tell me that he had committed suicide to be with Victoria. His letter told me that he had left to join up with Bansheera in a deal to bring Victoria back from the dead. He had made a literal deal with the devil to save her - his service and never wavering loyalty as well as Victoria's for her life to be spared," Dana hesitated momentarily on whether to tell Carter about Victoria's struggle with Bansheera and quickly decided not to; she didn't think Ryan would take kindly to her telling Carter about that particularly delicate situation which was already hard enough to deal with.
"He had no choice, BUT to attack us on that day with Vypra. After our retreat underground, Ryan came searching for us, hoping to find us all alright."
"You mean his son," Carter muttered under his breath.
Dana blinked at him angrily with a glare. "Of course he was checking if his son was still alive - what do you think has kept him and Victoria going all of these years?! You'd do the same thing for Kari or Avery if you had to and you know it!"
Carter sat down at the edge of the bed, sufficiently rebuked for the time being.
"As I was saying, Ryan found us after a month of searching. Because everything was so chaotic at the time, he was able to blend in with the rest of the survivors and found me. Ever since, we've been having secret weekly meetings, always changing our rendezvous points for the sake of avoiding all of you; Ryan wasn't ready to deal with all of your reactions and even now, I don't think he is." She paused, musing quietly on her brother. "He has enough to deal with, playing Bansheera's loyal little soldier."
"What about his looks; his age? He doesn't look a day older than twenty to me."
"Bansheera has "gifted" both of them with eternal youth; she's quite fond of both Victoria and Ryan." Of course, Dana didn't care to completely divulge how fond Bansheera had become of Ryan for the sake of some semblance of privacy for her "younger" brother.
Following her words, a hush fell over the both of them until Carter once again dared to speak.
"So he knows? He knows about Evan...about everything?"
Dana nodded. "If you're referring to if he knows Evan is the Red Ranger now, yes, he knows and so does Victoria; they know about his visions too. From what I understand from Ryan, Victoria doesn't particularly enjoy fighting her own son, but she enjoys tutoring him in her own way."
"Does she know if Evan's magic will evolve to something more than his visions?"
"She believes he has a lot more magical potential, but she doesn't know what it will manifest as because he grew up with us and wasn't raised to have a demonic nature like her. His powers may never even come to evolve."
Carter nodded understandingly, his features much calmer than before. "Well, it's too bad because we could really use some of that demonic magic on our side." He glanced over at his wife and hesitated slightly before again speaking. "You're not going to tell Evan, are you?"
"No," she easily answered. "There's no way I could tell something like that to Evan; I can't imagine how he'd react to hearing that he'd been lied to his entire life. Besides, Ryan wouldn't want me to tell him."
"Why not?" Carter was intrigued. If anything, he thought Ryan might jump at the chance, given all of the circumstances. "I've never thought highly of Ryan and to deny his own son would just give me more reason-"
"Think about it, Carter," Dana snapped a bit harshly, cutting him off. She wasn't going to let him bad-mouth Ryan, not this time. "Ryan has had eighteen years filled with chances to confront Evan and tell him the truth, but he's never taken any of them because he can't face what he's done and what he's become. Ryan is the Titanium Ranger and Victoria is Vypra, a demon enchantress. How could either of them face their son and tell him that they abandoned him and became the scourge of Mariner Bay because they had no choice?! Evan would blame them for everything, and they would blame themselves for being selfish, and neither of them deserves any blame. Eighteen years of evil and pain simply can't be justified, and both Ryan and Victoria are ashamed of their choices..."
***
"So, how did your rounds really go tonight?"
Victoria crept up from behind Ryan, her arms slipping around his bare abdomen as she hugged him dearly and kissed his back softly. Ryan's gaze remained fixated on something far away - far beyond the darkened Mariner Bay below that the small view of their iron-barred window allowed - until he snapped himself out of his trance.
"What?"
"Did you talk with Dana tonight?" Victoria was now concerned as she took notice of his far-off gaze, knowing something was on his mind. She moved to face her lover. "You came back a lot earlier than usual."
Ryan turned away from the window and walked across the room to sit down on their bed. "I saw Dana." He answered somewhat reluctantly. "And I saw Evan."
Victoria cocked her head peculiarly at him and took a moment to actually absorb the shock. "Wait, you actually SAW our son?" She spoke slowly and skeptically, hoping she hadn't heard wrong.
"Yeah, I saw him," he acknowledged distractedly, his eyes cast toward the floor and gnawing on his lower lip. He then nodded casually and forced a small laugh. "I even talked to him."
Victoria literally burst with joyful laughter, grinning from ear to ear. "You actually SAW him! Evan!" She excitedly jumped to his side, plopping onto the bed. "That explains your mood at dinner; why you were so happy. This is AMAZING! What did he look like? Does he look like-"
All the while through her rambling, Ryan was solemn and Victoria almost didn't notice because she was so happy, but then quickly cut herself off when she did. "Ryan? What happened? Why do you look like you just had sex with Bansheera?"
Ryan was silent for a moment before he simply began to talk, his thoughts flowing directly from his mind to his lips. "He has your coloring, the dark hair and the bronzed skin. He's tall like me, and strong; he carries himself with confidence, and yet loneliness still emanates from him. He's stubborn like the both of us, and he doesn't seem to judge by appearance." He paused, his eyes clearly remembering every feature of his son. He swallowed slowly, repressing his need to shed tears. "He has my eyes, a bright and hopeful green."
Victoria solemnly crawled up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, whispering in his ear. "You didn't tell him, did you?"
He quickly jerked away from her touch. "I couldn't!" he cried in frustration, roughly running his hand through his hair. "I couldn't tell him! How could I?! How do I tell my son that I am his father and that I left him to become evil?!" He was breathing rapidly, frantically hoping to tell Victoria and then be rid of the problem forever. "I COULDN'T tell him!"
"But you didn't leave him for evil!" Victoria insisted, trying to calm him down. "You left him because you had no choice! Bansheera tricked you into sacrificing him for me! You left to save me! And even if you hadn't, you KNOW that Evan would have been in more danger with you than without you; it was safer to leave him with Dana! You left him to protect him!"
"I know that, you know that, but how could HE understand that?!" Ryan appealed angrily, his head in his hands. "All he believes is that we were killed by Bansheera in the attack that pushed all the humans underground, when really we left him to join up with the evil that he fights everyday! If I had told him the truth, why would he have any reason to believe me? He wouldn't! He couldn't!"
Ryan faced Victoria, his dark jaded eyes filled with tears. "He doesn't need us Victoria," he whispered painfully. "I know, both of us have been hoping and dreaming that one day - one day - we would be able to tell him the truth. But we can't do that now; we waited too long, we did nothing for too long, it's too late. It's better we protect him from afar..."
Victoria watched frantically as her lover reluctantly gave up on their dream of ever living through the Hell that surrounded them to somehow be reunited with their estranged son. She shook her head adamantly. "No...no..." She whispered forcefully. "I won't give up on this, Ryan; I CAN'T give up. Evan's my son, I can't let go of him; I can't. I won't." Lifting her eyes from where they had been staring down at the cold floor, she stared straight into Ryan's eyes. "You're going to help me, Ryan. If you can't tell him the truth, then I'll go to him and tell him the truth."
The dark blond's eyes widened. "No, Victoria, you can't. You KNOW what would happen if you did. The night after you return, Bansheera would raid your thoughts and she'd know everything; we can't afford that."
"You're her golden soldier, Ryan," she quietly stated with a distasteful snicker. "You have nothing to lose; you could do wrong and Bansheera wouldn't do anything. I have EVERYTHING to lose. She keeps me because I'm useful sometimes and because I keep you happy for her; that's all.
"Without my son - without the hope and the joy that he feeds to me everyday he breathes - without that, I have nothing in my life to keep me going; you should've just let me die at Bansheera's hand so many years ago." She reached out and touched his startled face, her hand grazing down his cheek. "I love you, Ryan, but if you're going to give up on this one last hope, then you'll be alone because I can't give up."
Slowly, Victoria stood up and slipped under the sheets of their bed. "Ryan, get up and act normal, please," she requested softly, rolling onto her side in the bed. "Bansheera's coming soon and we can't look as if we just had an argument or she'll probe my mind more than usual."
Ryan stoically stood up, extinguished the torch in the room, and fell into the bed, taking Victoria into his arms. Both closed their eyes and calmly awaited Bansheera's arrival.
To be continued...