No Letting Go

Isabel Night

I am very thankful that Mia is allowing me to stay at her house while the Ronin Warriors are fighting Talpa in the Nether Realm. I am very surprised that she trusts me, even after all of the terrible things I put her and Yulie through. It feels funny, having your former enemies and victims place their trust in you, but it's an emotion I have to get used to. One way or another, I want make The Ancient One proud.

It has been a quiet evening; unfortunately, it wasn't quiet this morning. At the "train tracks", or at least that's what Mia says those things are, I confronted Dais. Even though I won that battle, something wasn't right. First of all, why did Dais try to kill me with the blunt ends of his six scythes instead of the sharp ends? Another thing that puzzles me is the fact that Dais tried to physically attack me. I've seen Dais fight, and I know that physical fighting is not his strong point; I know that he is much more comfortable with mental attacks than physical attacks. A third thing that seemed unusual was the fact that Dais wasn't focused. Now I know that he is not the type of person who loses mental concentration in a battle, but it was obvious that when he tried to kill me, he was not paying attention. It may sound crazy, but I think Dais was using his emotions and not his head to fight me. It's a huge danger to let your emotions get the better of you in battle, and it seemed that Dais was not focused. It was almost as if he was letting his emotions do the fighting for him, which, after acquiring knowledge about fighting for 400 years, is a quick way to get injured or killed.

But I cannot dwell on that now, Mia and Yulie have gone to bed, and I should probably get some sleep as well. I sigh as I plop down on the couch next to the fireplace; knowing that Mia will probably give me an ugly glare because I did not sleep in the "Guest Bedroom", as she calls it, for the night.

When I fall into Deep Sleep, I have the strangest dream. I am in a grove of Cherry Blossom Trees with The Ancient One standing in front of me. "Ancient One," I say as I bow in a respectful manner, "why am I here?"

"I saw your fight with the Warlord of Illusion," the Monk replies in his ethereal voice, "I think you have figured out that Dais was not fighting like he normally does."

"Something is bothering him," I reply in agreement, "but I don't know exactly what it is that's bothering him."

"Do you have any ideas why he wasn't fighting like he normal does?" The Ancient One questioned as he pushed the subject further.

"His mind wasn't focused," I theorized. "I know for a fact that he was letting some emotion cloud his fighting abilities and judgment."

"Do you want to know why he decided to fight you alone?" The Ancient One continued.

"He was acting on Talpa's orders," I guessed.

"Are you sure?" My savior looks at me with a hint of, what the mortals call "sarcasm".

I narrow my eyes. In all my 400 years of living with Dais, I know that he is not the type of person who goes out on his own without Talpa's consent. Besides, if Dais did seek me out without Talpa's consent, that blasted floating head would see that as a sign of rebellion and put him through the same Hell I went through. Blasted Nether Spirits!

So I look at the monk again, "I would like to find out," I answer, "It's not like Dais to seek someone out without Talpa's permission."

Suddenly, we are in a large room with white and brown paper walls, a light brown wooden floor, and some tan looking furniture. I recognize the room; the mortals call it, the "Living Room" inside Talpa's castle. In the center of the room are three two person, "couches". I also notice that Cale is looking out the window, Dais is standing, and Sekhmet is sitting down. "I can't take that bitch anymore," Sekhmet growled.

I'm going to assume that the "bitch" is Lady Kayura.

"I hate it just as much as you do," Cale sighed, "but we lost our chance to get Anubis back."

"Don't blame it all on me!" Dais snapped, "I didn't see the two of you out there with me!"

"We said we'd give you the necessary support," Cale snapped, "However, we never promised we'd go out there with you."

'What in the world are they talking about?' I thought, 'Dais wasn't trying to kill me at the Train Tracks?' "What does this mean?" I asked The Ancient One.

"Watch," he whispers, "and do not worry, they cannot see us or hear us."

"Besides," Sekhmet snapped, "if we all had gone, Talpa would've noticed."

"No, he wouldn't" Cale snorted, "now that Lady Kayura has taken Anubis' place, Master Talpa could care less about us."

"Still," Dais murmured, "I wish I could have brought him back. I would much rather have him as our leader then that girl."

I looked at The Ancient One in shock; in all my 400 years of serving Talpa, I have never heard any of them say anything like that before.

"He was one of us," Cale growled, "He was our brother and friend, not just our leader. It's only natural that we want him back"

"So," Sekhmet sighed, "Do we try again?"

"When all three of us are together," Dais finished, shaking his head. "We'd also better wait until he comes to the Nether Realm before we even think about hunting him down. It will look less suspicious in Master Talpa's and Lady Kayura's eyes."

Cale smiled, "and when we have him, we will be complete. The four Seasons will cycle whole, and no one, not even those five Ronin Brats, will stop us."

"Yes," Dais agreed, "Once we…" there he stopped talking and looked around the room. I wonder if he can sense our presence. I know that the three of them did not hear us, see us, or feel our presence earlier, so I wonder why Dais feels our presence now. "Cale, Sekhmet," Dais asks, "Could you two leave me alone for a while?"

Cale and Sekhmet look at Dais strangely, but get up and leave. When they leave the room, Dais turns around and looks at where the Ancient One and I are standing. Even though he cannot see us or hear us, he looks at my savior with his mental eyes and grins at us. "Don't think, blasted monk, that just because you took Anubis away from us, doesn't mean that we have forgotten all the good memories. I won't let go of everything all four of us once had, and I can promise you one thing, we'll summon your spirit and force you to watch Anubis become a warlord again. That is a promise I will enjoy keeping."

All of the sudden, a small sphere appears in his hands, and I am thrown back to the conscious world. When I open my eyes, all I can say is, "He means it."

THE END