PART THREE: THE TRUTH HURTS.....THEIR JOURNEY BEGINS
By: Hoshi-chan
"Would someone care to explain exactly WHAT is going on here?" Ryo said.
"An explanation will come in due time," Kayura started. Breakfast was immediately forgotten as she continued, "there's been...... threats........ in the Netherworld. By an awesome force." Kayura explained.
"The dynasty!" Sage exclaimed.
"No, this force is much greater than the dynasty ever was or can be." Kayura said sadly.
"Zagoto........." Jessica quietly mumbled through her shaking hands.
"H-how....." Rowen asked.
"Right, as usual." Kayura went on, "Zagoto sent in his warriors into the Netherworld..... he's...... interested in it highly........and Earth as well........ after he retrieves the Jewel of Life, which he plans to get." Kayura said, turning to Mia. "You must protect the Jewel of Life WITH your life." she said. "If he should ever get his hands on it......... I do not want to think of what could....... of what WOULD happen......" she said sadly.
"Oh!" said Mia. "B-but...... why?"
"Power, more or likely. That's all he is...... is power-hungry. Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet have remained in the Netherworld to fight off any threats imposed upon them from Zagoto. But, just them and I are not enough...... that's...... why I came to you."
"You want us to help you fight off this creep?" Rowen said, more than he asked.
"Yes, I ask of your help in assisting us fight off this great evil."
"You bet."
"When will we be leaving?" Ryo asked.
"I was...... hoping...... as soon as possible. As soon as you can be ready. The threat is increasing every day. There's really no time to loose." Kayura explained.
"I guess, then, the soonest we can be ready to leave is tomorrow," Ryo said, slowly. Almost sadly.
Jessica sat in her chair thinking that if she didn't move, that if she didn't make a sound, that they would just forget that she was there. Forget that she even existed altogether. It would have been better that way........ No such luck.
"So, uh, Jessica? How do you exactly fit in with all of this?" Rowen asked.
"Yeah. I don't exactly see how you know about....... us....... or Kayura or...... Zagoto." Ryo added.
Jessica just sat there and squeezed her eyes shut tight. 'Just go away!' she thought. 'No more fighting!! I just can't take it!!' Jessica wanted to scream at them all to just leave her alone.
"Jessica......?" Kento asked quietly.
Kayura walked over and kneeled down next to Jessica in the chair. "Listen, I know that this is hard for you. It's hard for all of us. But you can't keep this a secret forever. You at least owe them an explanation."
"But....." she whispered to Kayura. "I don't............ remember. Anything."
"Just tell them what you DO know. What you DO remember." she said softly.
Jessica fingered her silver necklace and watched it sparkle as a tear fell upon it. 'There's something about this necklace..... the key to my past.......... but.... what?' she thought as she slowly looked up from her hands and saw everyone looking at her, which made her want to cry even more. The look on their faces - shock, amazement, suprise, and was there even fear? 'I - I can't......' she thought. 'But.... I must. I owe it to them........'
Jessica took a deep breath and started her story, her voice quivering with each word, as if she might very well burst into tears again. "I - I don't remember much about my past. I don't remember anything about my past, at all, except of someone telling me that I needed to find the Ronin Warriors, someone who loved and cared for me very much........" she said as another tear fell upon her necklace. "I..... needed them to help me.......... remember my past. I know Kayura from the Dynasty..... just....... flashbacks..... And I know Zagoto because I thought I defeated him...... 150 years ago." Tears started welling back up in her eyes. "I only remember me, and my cat Magic, a-and my silver necklace with the light-blue crystal-looking thing on it....." she said. "My necklace........ Magic watches over it for me sometimes. I don't know anything else..... th-that's all so far......." she said, standing up. "But, I can tell you, I can assure you that I will fight Zagoto beside you....."
"No!" Sage said, jumping up. "We-we can't let you risk that!! Risk your life!!"
Jessica just smiled, despite the atmosphere and situation in the room. "You don't know the half part. And neither do I....... but let me assure you that I will not let you down. I am a courageous and noble fighter..... and I will stick by your side the entire way......" Jessica thought, startled 'Where did that come from?' she thought, unsure if it were her who said it, or someone else. A warrior within? 'I am a fighter? How?'
"But - " Cye started.
Kayura held up her hand. "No, Sage, Cye, let her fight. She is true to her word and will be very helpful in time of battle."
'I am?? How?' Jessica thought.
Suddenly, Jessica remembered Magic. "I - I have to go home t-to feed Magic....." she stuttered.
"Ok, I..... guess I'll drive you back to your house then." Ryo said, standing up.
"I will, too," Rowen said and stood up also.
Cye watched as they left the room. "Jessica is involved in this? I - I don't believe this....." he said to noone in particular.
"Yeah, and I don't even have an appetite anymore." Kento said.
"Heh, THAT'S a first." Sage said from the back of the room.
Mia left the room and returned with two boxes........ one of which contained the Jewel of Life, and the other which contained the five Ronin's glowing Orbs.
"I never thought that we'd ever have to use these....... again....." Mia said.
"Yeah," Sage, Sai, and Kento agreed.
"So, we'll...... be set to leave tomorrow, then?" Kayura dimly said. Four heartbroken 'yes's responded.
"I am very sorry that I had to bring you such grim news, but it was either I came to ask for your help, or let the Netherworld and Earth be...... taken over and destroyed...."
"We understand, Kayura. It's....... not your fault." Sage said as they all sat in silence, waiting for Ryo and Rowen's return.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ryo, Rowen, and Jessica sat silently in the car as Ryo drove to bring Jessica back to her house. Jessica looked out the window the whole way home, praying that neither one of them would talk to her. Rowen sat silent in the front passenger-side seat, looking out the window as well at the passing landscape and houses that flew by.
Ryo turned down a familiar street, and Jessica knew that she was almost to her house. When they got there, Ryo cut the engine and the three just sat there in silence again for a minute or two before saying "You'd...... better go feed Magic, now." and staring straight ahead.
'They're not...... mad....... at me, are they?' she thought, terrified. "Y-you aren't......mad at me? Are you?" Jessica asked timidly. The first thing she's said since Mia's and not bursted into tears.
"What? Oh, no. It's just......." Rowen said, turning around. "We weren't ready for a blow like this. To learn that....... you....... of all people, are connected to us. In whatever way you are, I don't know. WE don't know. But....... you are and that's the point and if you want to fight with us against this....... Zagoto person, then.... I'm more than willing to let you."
"Yes, I agree. Just......" Ryo said, turning to Jessica with a small half-smile on his face, "No more suprises, ok?"
Jessica laughed in spite of herself. "Ok...." 'But how do I know for sure? That's the point. I DON'T......know anything.......' "I.... guess I'd better go, now, Magic is probably angry with me, I've been away for so long......"
"Yes, we'll....... pick you up tomorrow, then? Around......... 10:30? I don't know what time the guys want to...... leave ...... we'll call you. Ok?"
"Yeah, sure." She said, climbing out of the car. She walked up to her front door and opened it, turning around as Ryo started the car and closed the door as he drove off. Almost at once, Magic leaped up at her, almost as if saying, 'Where were you? Where's my food? How could you leave me alone here all by myself like this?'
"Oh, Magic!!!" Jessica cried, as she buried her face in his soft black fur. "It's all just so..... unreal! As if I'm walking in a dream.... a horrible, horrible nightmare that can't be real........ but it is!"
Magic's ears stuck straight up. 'What?' he thought. 'What's wrong, my mistress? What has happened to make you so sad and upset?' He brushed up against her, trying to comfort her. But as a cat, it was very hard to do. So instead, he took her necklace in his mouth and tugged on it.
"Wha-what are you doing, you silly cat?" Jessica almost had to smile at her cat. Magic really was beautiful, a rare black Korat with two white paws, he really was remarkable. She had received him as a gift from a...... friend? A very, very long time ago......
Jessica stood up to get him his food. She opened the pantry door and grabbed his bag of cat food. She poured it into his bowl and set it on the floor, where he hurriedly ran over and began eating the food up as if he hadn't eaten in a week. Jessica then began to make arrangements for her trip tomorrow. Magic looked up from eating and observed her scurrying around the house, gathering up items and looking sad. Magic licked his lips and meowed, asking her what's wrong. Jessica heard him meow and turned around, smiling at him.
"Oh, Magic. You won't believe...... what has happened. What I have discovered." Jessica sat down wearily on the couch and Magic jumped up into her lap. "You know those five guys that I've been hanging around with, huh?" she said, scratching him behind his ears. "Well, I went to the carnival with them last night and....... saw......... Whitney." Magic stopped purring and looked around worriedly. 'Has something happened??' Magic thought. "Then I - I blacked out and....... when I woke up I was at Mia's house and then I fell back asleep again." she paused, a tear rolled down her cheek. "At breakfast that morning, of all people," she laughed, despite of everything, "it was Lady Kayura. She was there on account of that...... the five guys were...... the Ronin Warriors." she whispered.
Magic jumped up. 'H-how can this BE? Right under my nose and I didn't even realize it?? Oh, how could I have been so STUPID? Now all of our problems will be solved!! The Ronin Warriors have finally been found........' Magic purred excitedly and rubbed up against Jessica.
"B-but," Jessica said in a tone of voice that made Magic stop dead in his tracks, "Kayura was there to tell the Ronin Warriors that...... Zagoto....... has returned and is more powerful than ever, and will stop at nothing to retrieve the Jewel of Life and rule over the Netherworld and the planet Earth......" Jessica wiped the tears from her face and sniffed as she said, "And I have decided to join them in fighting against Zagoto. It's..... the least I can do. We are going to leave tomorrow........ and, naturally," she smiled through her tears, "I'm going to take you with me. How can I leave you behind after all that you've done for me?"
'No! No, this can not be!! Zagoto is DEAD!! He was defeated 150 years ago....... by..... an unnamed source and amazing power...... he can not be back! Oh, this shall mean trouble for us all!' Magic jumped down and sat pouting in his usual patch of sunlight under the window in the livingroom.
Jessica just sat there on the couch for a good long while until, when the phone rang an hour and a half later, she moved.
She needn't ask who it was, for she already knew. It was Rowen. "H-hello?" she answered, her voice trembling.
"Jessica?" came the voice from the other end of the line. "It's me, Rowen."
"Yeah." she said quietly into the receiver.
"Yeah, well, umm, we've decided to leave around...... 9:00, so we'll come to get you at 8:45 then, alright?"
"Sure, that's...... fine." she answered.
"And Jessica? I'm...... sorry. For what's happened. We all are. And, we'll still always be the guys that ya met at school, k?"
Jessica had to smile. "Yeah, ok Rowen. I'll...... see you at 8:45 then?"
"Right. Bye...."
"Bye, Rowen." she said quietly and hung the receiver up.
If she was going to go through with this, she had to have a better attitude. If you went into the Netherworld to fight some evil trash with an attitude like that, they'd eat you up!! 'C'mon, girl!! Pull yourself together! We've got a job to do, and save the world, I might add,' She said to herself. 'I've GOT to get my act together. Think straight. And practice my fighting....'
Jessica walked down to her basement where her training equipment was all there and waiting. She threw off the sheets that covered the equipment, and set to work. Punching, hitting, dodging; she practiced it all and more, all to get ready for the long and strenuous battle that was SURE to be fought. 'And it won't be easy.......' she thought and she punched the bag harder and harder as all the anger flew out from her mind through her hands. She swung around and kicked the bag soo hard, that it burst. She stopped then, panting, and thinking about her past. What she remembered of her past, and her future, or what was left of it. 'I can't let it end this way.....' she thought as she walked upstairs and realized that an hour had gone by since she walked down into the basement.
She walked upstairs and climbed into the shower, then put her pajamas on and finished gathering stuff to bring with her that she'd need for her trip to the Netherworld. She opened up the trunk at the foot of her bed, pulling out her battling clothing - that looked very much like Lady Kayura's except that Jessica's were a light blue and purple-ish in color. Jessica took it and hung it in front of an open window to rid it of it's dust that it had collected over the years. 'It's funny,' she thought, 'I don't remember how I got this or why, or when I ever used it, but it seems as if I have somehow.... before. In my past...'
Jessica then walked back up to the trunk and dug around in it even deeper until she found two pouches that contained a dagger in each. The sacks hung on either side of her waist. She set these on the table by her battle outfit, as she called it. She then dug out her soft leather boots that had hidden discs in them that she could use to throw at enemies and hurt them badly. She sighed at the sight of her clothes and weapons and the nightmare that she was living in finally became real. She set a grim expression on her face, her jaw set, and was determined to defeat Zagoto for the last and final time - if it were the last thing she did.
In the very bottom of the trunk, Jessica found a picture of a woman and a small girl, taken a very, very long time ago. 'Could this be..... me? A - and my...... mother?' Jessica thought. 'I - I do not know......' She looked up from the picture and out her bedroom window as the sun began to set, playing soft colors of gold, purple, pink, blue and lavender against the darkening sky. Another tear slid down her cheek, and the room became darker as the sun set. Pretty soon, Jessica was bathed in darkness, much as she would if she did not fight Zagoto......... much as the whole WORLD would be covered with his evil blackness. "I - I've GOT to do this. I can't back out now. I must do this for me..... and for the entire planet!! And for the Ronin Warriors....... and most of all for my parents........ who I don't even know....."
Jessica sat there at her trunk where she fell asleep that night, and woke up in the same place early that morning. Jessica woke up and looked up, noticing the sky brightening as dawn approached. She saw Magic sleeping on the foot of the bad, right above from where her head was resting on the trunk's closed lid. She quietly got up, trying not to disturb Magic and tip-toed out of the room, grabbing her 'fighting attire' and headed to the bathroom where she got ready to go and put on her clothes, hanging the pouches with the daggers on either side of her waist, and slipping her boots on. Then she twisted the sides of her hair and joined them together in the back in a braid, much like a Queen Guinevere look. Two long strands of hair fell lightly around her face, and the rest cascaded down her back. Then Jessica looked at the time. It was only 7:45. She still had almost an hour to get ready....... to leave......
She stepped downstairs and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. She sat there, looking at her cereal getting soggy in the cold milk. She didn't really have an appetite, but she had to eat something before leaving. Of course Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet had to have something to eat there, so they wouldn't starve.... she smiled. 'But Kento just might.....' she thought and smiled lightly. She played with the cereal in her bowl and finally sighed and stood up, carrying the bowl over to the sink. 'I'd better just grab a pop-tart or something to eat on the way to Mia's.....' she sighed and grabbed a pack of them. Not to mention a bag of pretzels, her favorite.
Jessica ran back upstairs to double-check everything and to make sure that she wasn't forgetting anything. She tickled Magic's stomach who then stood up, stretched, and rubbed against her. "C'mon, you silly cat. We've got to get ready to leave.... soon!!" Magic hopped down off the bed and Jessica followed him through her bedroom door. When she reached downstairs, she placed some food in his bowl for him to eat before they left and grabbed her knapsack that was laying next to the table. She needed that to carry her stuff around in, not to mention snacks that they may need on the way......
Jessica was sitting at the table watching Magic crunch on his food when there was a knock on her front door. She sat up. It was time to go already?? Sure enough, the clock confirmed the time as she stood up to let the guys in. They were trying to make light of the situation, but noone could hide the fact that they were about to face a dreadful and treacherous battle. "Do you...... have anything to eat?? I worked up an appetite driving over here....." Ryo asked.
"Shouldn't Kento be the one asking that?" she laughed and handed Ryo the bag of pretzels she was holding as she bent down to pick up Magic, who had already finished his food. Magic now looked at the five in a whole different way than he had before. 'I can now activate the jewel!! And help my mistress!! But, how?' he thought and meowed to the five sadly.
"Hey, little guy!" Rowen said, scratching Magic's chin. "You're coming with us, too!! We wouldn't leave you behind."
"Yeah. Well, I guess it's........ time to go now, guys." Cye said from the back of the group. The others sighed and and nodded in agreement.
Jessica turned to Magic, who was staring up at her from her feet and said, "Let's go now, Magic. Our adventure awaits....."
The six walked out the door and climbed into the van, and Ryo started driving over to Mia's, munching on pretzels all the while. "Hey...... don't be hogging them all!!" Kento exclaimed from the back seat and reached over Jessica's shoulder trying to reach the bag.
"Kento, haven't you eaten enough already??" Sage said from next to Jessica.
"Well, I didn't want my food to go bad while we were gone!!" he said sheepishly.
"What?" Jessica turned around to face him, laughing. "You mean to tell me you ate all the food in your house?? That was, like, a month's worth of food! You shoulda invited me over!!"
"It wasn't like I didn't have help, mind you.......... and we did try to call your house but you didn't answer."
"Oh, that was because I was probably asleep." she said, turning back around and petting Magic's back.
"Well, here we are." Ryo said, turning into Mia's driveway. "Netherworld, here we come!!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Kento, Sage, Cye, Ryo, Rowen, Jessica, and Lady Kayura were all seated in Mia's livingroom waiting for Mia to show up with the Jewel of Life, their doorway to the Netherworld. Noone spoke; Jessica stared at her hands, and Sage and Rowen mostly stared out the window. Only Magic seemed to not realize the awkwardness in the room as he walked around to the guys and rubbed up against them. Jessica had to smile as he jumped up into her lap and tugged on her necklace, then jumped over to the guys and walked across all five of their laps. 'Silly cat.....' she thought as she held her necklace in her fingers. He'd been doing that since they got there. It was as if he was trying to tell her something.......
'Doesn't she get it?' Magic said as he jumped back up into her lap and tugged on her necklace with his mouth. 'I don't exactly know what the secret of this necklace is, or what will happen, or how to activate it...... ohhhhh.' Magic said as he gave up and plopped down on Jessica's lap.
Finally Mia walked into the room, holding the Jewel of Life in her hand as she walked over to the quiet group. "Well, I guess its time....." Mia said quietly as they all stood up, surrounding Mia and the Jewel. Jessica held Magic in her arms as Mia held up the Jewel and they were all surrounded by a light. When the light cleared, they were standing in a dark and bleak world.
"Ohh...." Kayura gasped. "This was not as I had left it..... he's..... sending in more and more warriors every minute, and just us four couldn't keep up with their multiplying numbers." She buried her face in her hands. "I.... hate to see it this way....."
Magic leaped from Jessica's hands and smelled the air. 'This place seems awfully familiar.....' he thought as he explored the area that they were in. He heard a faint noise and he looked up, straining to hear any sound. There is was again!! Magic ran in the direction of the noise.
"Magic? Hey, Magic!!" Jessica cried as she ran after him.
"Wha - hey, Jessica!! Come back here! It's too dangerous...." the others cried as thy ran after her.
Magic continued to run, the cries becoming louder and louder still until finally he could see three figures up in the distance surrounded by millions others. Jessica stopped directly behind him, and the others right behind Jessica.
"I - it's Cale, Sekhmet, and Dais!!" Kayura cried as they all almost fell to the ground. They were fighting off the warriors fiercely as the five Ronin Warriors called their arms and ran towards the three. Kayura armored up, also, and ran towards them, right behind the Ronins.
"What a way to start out here. This isn't exactly a great first impression..." Jessica muttered. She stayed behind to protect Mia in case they snuck up on them. Jessica heard a sound from behind her and whipped around, her fingers curling around her daggers on her waist. She saw a shadow moving right behind Mia. "Mia, watch out!!" Jessica cried as the figure ran towards Mia.
Jessica jumped towards her, shoving her out of the way while kicking the warrior in its gut, sending it flying against a crumpled building. She ran towards the fallen warrior, who was trying to stand up, and jabbed her dagger into it's chest. It's eyes popped open wide as it screamed with pan, then closed. She withdrew her dagger as she heard a scream from Mia.
She turned around to see Mia surrounded with warriors.
"We know you have the Jewel of Life, and our master wishes to posses it." one snarled.
"Never!!" Mia screamed, looking around desperately for a way out of their closing circle around her. Mia looked up as she saw Jessica running towards her and kicking the warriors out of her way. She slashed at them with her daggers and had them all taken out in a few quick jabs.
"C'mon, Mia!" Jessica said, grabbing her wrist and running. "We've got to get you out of here." She found a suitable hiding place and turned to her. "You stay here. I must go help the others..... please watch after Magic, ok?" she half smiled then ran towards the others. Magic frightfully jumped into Mia's lap and surveyed the battle scene.
Sage was throwing off the warriors effortlessly while Rowen was showering them with arrows. Ryo and Kento were making their way through the mass of warriors; stalling them so Kayura and Cye could get the warlords to safety. Jessica ran up to Kayura and Cye. "There's a place.... over there...." she said pointing to where Mia and Magic were. "Mia's there..." she panted.
"Thanks," Kayura said as Jessica ran head into the battle, slashing the warriors effortlessly as she made her way to Rowen. "Need any help??" she half-jokingly said.
"Nah, we're just getting the crap beat out of us, but we've pretty much got it under control...." he replied as a warrior jumped at him. Jessica dug her dagger into it's side, and it fell to the ground. "Thanks..... Rowen said and continued to shoot one arrow after another at the endless amount of warriors that faced the five.
Kayura and Cye returned to the battle scene and started swiping and hitting them with their weapons. Ryo tried to shake off the warriors on his back, but where he realized he couldn't, he drew his katanas above his head, gathering energy, then bringing them back down again, crying, "FLARE UP....... NOW!!!!!" and knocked out a whole line of them
"Use your special attacks, guys!" Jessica yelled to the others who nodded. All around you could hear the cries of the other five's moves and the crash as the last warrior finally fell down. "Phew!" Jessica said as she wiped the blood from her arms from the cuts she got.
"Hey, you're bleeding!" Kento cried.
"Oh, nothing major." she smiled. "Watch...." She chanted some foreign words as the others watched in amazement as light poured from the wounds, then disappeared and they were magically healed. "I can only do that to me, and only if I have minor wounds and a decent amount of energy left."
"Neat!" Sage said. "Well, we'd better get back to the others. There may be other warriors there stalking the four."
"Yeah!!" Ryo cried as they ran to Mia, Cale, Dais, and Sekhmet. They reached there and found that all was well. Cale, Dais, and Sekhmet had regained a lot of their strength lost in battle, and Sage was able to heal what little wounds they had and they stood up, good as new.
Cale then turned to Jessica, whose hair was matted against the sides of her face, and some strands soaked with blood. "Is that..... you? Jessica??" when she nodded, Cale smiled and gave her a hug.
"Hey!! Jessica!" Dais and Sekhmet cried and hugged her also. "What are you doing here?"
"Fighting off a very old friend...... and I wish to pay him my respects, what little I have for him, at his funeral. Which WILL take place, I assure you."
"You seem pretty sure about that. You don't realize how much power he has gained since you last saw him." Dais said.
"Y-yes, I realize that he is much stronger than last time. As if time had made him stronger.... but, I assure you that he will go down. And I will defeat him for the final time."
The others decided not to question her as they powered down to their sub armors. "Well, first we've got to find out where the source of these warriors are coming from....." Ryo said, looking around. "If we attack them all at once, we might be rid of the majority of them and have a better chance to defeat this..... Zagoto..... person."
"Right." Dais agreed. "We've been trying to track them down, but they seem to come from all kinds of different places. We can't pinpoint their exact location. It's as if.... they move from day to day. But we don't know how....!!"
"True....... but what if we send out someone to scope out the area and 'spy' on these guys?? Watch where they're going to or coming from.....?" Mia suggested.
"That..... might just work!" Sekhmet said.
"But who would want to go out there and scope out the area??" Mia asked.
"Sage and I could," Rowen said.
"Yeah," Sage agreed.
"Alright, then. We'll be trying to keep an eye on you two while you're spying on those.... warriors." Mia said as they started off. Dais, Sekhmet, and Cye walked up a few yards ontop a hill, well hidden, to keep an eye on Sage and Rowen. The remaining five sat down and started trying to think of a plan.
"So, where is Zagoto?" Ryo asked. "I mean, is he like Talpa at all or.... what? We have no idea of what he is like whatsoever and we need to to be able to defeat him, or try to."
"He.... lives in a palace. More or likely Talpa's old one. But they've sealed off all the entrances, the gates have totally disappeared and we have no way of going in or out. But the warriors somehow are always able to make their way to us from the palace." Cale said. "Dais, Sekhmet, and I have been trying to follow them, as you're doing now, but with no luck."
Jessica sat quietly, thinking to herself, watching Magic playing with her necklace again. 'What's up with him and my necklace??' she thought. 'There must be some connection between it and something that's going on now.... the Ronin Warriors?? But, then it would have activated a long time ago when I first met them.... it's useless.' Magic looked up at her. 'And there's.... something..... about him, too.' she thought as she pulled him into her lap and tuned the conversation back in.
The sky started to grow night and the five had not yet returned. They were starting to get worried about them. "I hope that nothing serious has happened to them," Kento said.
"Me, too." The rest replied.
It was continuing to grow darker as they heard someone's footsteps approaching. Jessica looked up from the fire that they had made earlier. She saw a shadow coming closer. Jessica put her hands on her daggers as the figure continued to advance on the group until finally, the light from the fire revealed his face. "Rowen!" she cried. "You frightened me!!" The others were asleep.
"I'm sorry. I left the other guys to come tell you that they haven't found anything yet, but the warriors are all over the place out there!! There's swarms of them!"
"Do you need our help?" she asked.
"Oh, no, they haven't spotted us quite yet. No battles have broken out.... yet. But one is sooner or later. And I also came to warn you that the troops are moving in this direction, so it would be wise to move."
"Y-yes." Jessica said and stood up. "So we move now, or will we have time in the morning?"
"You.... should have time in the morning. But I'd suggest putting that fire out.... they can spot it from way back there. I did coming up."
"Oh," Jessica said and tossed some dirt over the fire, smoldering it. She watched it slowly die down. 'As we might?' she thought, sighing.
"Well, I'd better get back to the others. Be careful, ok? Move out early tomorrow morning. We..... should be back by then, though. I'll see ya." Rowen said and walked back off.
"Good-bye......" Jessica said softly as she laid down and watched his shadow slowly blend with the darkness and finally disappear. "Good luck." she whispered before falling into a restless sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Kayura heard some noise and she opened her eyes. The fire, someone had put it out and dawn was just breaking. She sat up and saw the others sleeping around her. But.... Jessica? Kayura looked around and saw her sitting awake, watching the horizon.
"Jessica?" she called to her. She turned around and smiled.
"Hey. Good morning." she said.
Kayura walked over to her and sat down beside her. "What's going on?"
Jessica turned to face her. "Last night when you were all sleeping Rowen came back. He told me that troops were moving in this direction and that we should move out by early morning,"
"Oh!" Kayura exclaimed. "Wh-why didn't one of you wake me up?"
"He said it'd be safe to wait until morning. And he also said that they'd be back before..... by now. And they aren't. I'm starting to worry." She said, hugging her knees.
"Yes," Kayura said, looking out upon the horizon as the first rays of dawn broke through. "I think that it's time that we went out to look for them. They may be in trouble and in need of our help."
"I agree. I think we should wake the others and start out, as Rowen instructed for us to do." she said, standing up.
"Yes," Kayura said and followed her over to where the guys were sleeping. Kayura shook on them gently. "Hey, Ryo, Kento, Cale, wake up."
Kento rolled over and mumbled something that sounded like, "But mom, I don't wanna go to school today. Just five more minutes......" before he started snoring again. But Ryo woke up.
"What's up?" he said and sat up. He turned to Kento and smacked him on his back, which woke him up.
"Hey........! What was THAT for??" He cried, sitting up and rubbing his back.
"To wake you up. Now, listen," Kayura said as she explained the situation.
"Whoa, and they're STILL not back?" Ryo exclaimed.
"That's not good at all." Cale said.
"Nope. So we've got to go look for them, they may be in trouble." Jessica calmly said. She looked at Magic sleeping curled up on a cover near to where she had been sleeping.
The others got their stuff together, all but aware of the danger of approaching warriors, if they were coming. They packed up and started off. Everyone was silent for most of the way until they saw some commotion up ahead. "What - who is that?" Ryo said, straining to see.
"I-I don't know....." Kayura answered. "Maybe... it's the other guys!" she exclaimed.
"Maybe..... but I wouldn't be too sure about that," Kento said. "Remember, there was only five of them..... and there's lots of those guys."
"Yeah, you're right." Ryo sighed. "But, still. They may have them, though."
"Well, how do we know for sure? That'll be a pretty risky chance to take." Kayura said, surveying the long line of now obvious warriors. "But..... it looks like they're headed straight in this direction!! We'd better move!" she yelled as they started running the other way. They found an overturned building and ran underneath the ruins, being deadly silent. They dared not even to breathe for fear of being caught.
"What are we hiding for?" Kento hissed quietly. "We should be out there fighting those slime bags!! Not running from them!! Do you want them to think of us as cowards?"
"No, Kento. But if they DO have the guys.... we do not want to fall prey to them, to, and be captured right away, now do we? We have to preserve out energy and strength in case we have to battle to free them." Kayura whispered.
"Right........." Jessica agreed and they all became silent when they started to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. They gaped at the endless amount of them. It was nearly ten minutes before they all passed through. After they had all passed by, Jessica said, "Now you see why we want to preserve our strength now instead of battling them? Look at how many there were!! Us four would have been no match for them whatsoever!"
"She's right. Now, we'd better get going before we run into them again." Cale said and they all stood up and continued their venture through the Netherworld in search of their friends.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can you see anything?" Dais whispered to Cye, who was crouched down directly next to him.
"No, I can't see anything. It's too dark. I - I hope they're all right!" Cye said, squinting into the vast blackness.
Sage and Rowen had been following a rather large group of warriors, trying to find out how they got in and out of Zagoto's palace. All was going rather well, until the large group just seemed to vanish into this huge cave. Rowen and Sage bravely followed them in, but at a safe distance. And Dais, Sekhmet, and Cye were standing guard right outside of the cave. The inside was so dark, you could barely see anything; not even your hand in front of your face.
So when the group disappeared into the cave, the three started to worry. "They've been in there for too long. I say we go in there after them," Sekhmet said as he started to stand up, but Dais grabbed him and shoved him back down.
"Don't you realize that they probably already have a trap set up in there for us? They might have figured out that we have been following them this entire way and concocted a plan to capture us. I'm just glad that Ryo, Cale, Kento, Jessica, and Kayura are still behind in case anything happens to us." Dais said.
"Yes," Cye agreed, "But they may have been captured by that other huge group of warriors that was headed in their direction. Oh, I hope that isn't true!" Cye exclaimed.
"Ssh!" Dais whispered and held up his hand to silence the other two. He could hear cried from deep inside the cave. "It's the others!! They're in trouble!" he exclaimed.
"We must go in there to help them!" Sekhmet said.
"Yes, let's go, I don't care if I'm endangering my life. My friends are in trouble, and they need our help." Cye added as the three ran fearlessly into the darkness.
Once inside the cave, the three could only rely on instinct and each other. They had no choice but to hold on to each others' arms so they wouldn't get seperated. They were deathly silent as they strained to hear any sound to the location of their friends.
"Do you hear anything?" Cye whispered quietly.
"Yes, your annoying voice. Now shutup so we can listen for them!" Sekhmet snapped.
"Whoa, calm down, Sekhmet, he only asked a question." Dais told him.
Sekhmet then muttered something under his breath that was untranslatable for the other two, and they headed deeper into the cave. A little farther down, they could hear footsteps. "Quick!" Dais said, pushing them towards what seemed to be a wall. "Stay close to the wall." The three leaned against the wall and listened hard for the footsteps to walk slowly past them, then they heard their echo as they walked away.
"Now, come on!" Cye said as the three continued to run down into the cave. Far ahead, too small yet to see who or what it was, was a small fire. "Is that.... their camp?" Dais whispered to noone in particular.
"It looks like it," Sekhmet responded, then tensed up as they heard voices directly behind them.
"Pssst!! Pssst! Guys, over here!" a voice that sounded strangely like Sage's called out to them.
"S - Sage, Rowen?" Cye called.
"Yes, we're over here!" Sage called back.
"Over where? We can't see a thing in this darkness." Dais called out softly to the two.
"Well, Sage would use his armor to help you, but then the warriors would see us and we'd all be toast, especially since the odds are way against us at the time." Rowen said.
"So, how are we going to find you?" Sekhmet said discouraged.
"I'll tap on the ground softly with this rock, and you walk towards the direction of the noise." Rowen said and started tapping the ground with the rock.
The three hung on to each other and listened hard, inching their way around the darkness until finally, fifteen minutes later, Rowen grabbed Cye's arm. "Here we are, buddy!" He happily said from the shadows as the others hid there, too.
"So, what have you found so far?" Sekhmet demanded.
"Well, actually, not much. We've..... been following them around an awfully lot, and this is where they led us to. It's as if they know that we're following them and are trying to misguide us...... or make us walk right into a trap." Sage said.
"Well, I suggest that we get out of here while we still can." Cye announced.
"I'm all for that," Rowen added and all the others agreed as they started to run back the way in which they had come.
Soon, about thirty minutes later, they saw a light at the end of the cave. The exit!! They could see better, and when they got out of the cave, they hid in some bushes.
"So where are we going to go now?" Sekhmet whispered to the others.
"Well, I think that we should try to find the others, Kayura, Mia, Ryo, Kento, Cale, and Jessica. Then we should get ready to kick some dynasty --" Rowen was cut off.
About ten warriors had overheard them whispering in the bushes and were charging for an attack upon them. The five no sooner than jumped out of the way than a sword came crashing down into the ground where they had just been.
"Careful, guys!" Sage called to them as he ran up behind a warrior and shoved his sword through their back.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Sekhmet grinned as he knocked out three warriors with one jab of three of his katanas, and another three warriors with his other three katanas.
Rowen fired arrows into two more of the warriors' chests, and Cye knocked the other one out with a blow to his head from his Trident.
"Wow, THAT was hard," Dais grinned. "But now we've got to get out of here. Others warriors may have heard the cries from our battle and are coming to check it out. Let's go!" he said as they started running from the cave.
"I wonder where the others are," Cye panted as they ran along the road, powering down to their sub armors along the way.
"Probably out looking for us. We may see them on the way. Hey! Stop!" Rowen cried as they spotted a huge crowd of warriors marching towards them in the distance. "Let's get out of the way before they see us!" he said as the three ran for shelter in a nearby torn-down building. The line of marching warriors seemed to go on forever, until finally the line ended. They waited a few minutes before peeking out to make sure it was safe when they heard voices once again.
"Ssh!" Dais hissed. "Do you hear that? Those are not the voices of the warriors. The sound vaguely like......"
"Jessica, Mia, Ryo, Kento, and Cale!!" Cye cried as he ran towards them, who startlingly spun around at the sound of Cye's voice. They then broke out into smiles.
"You're alright!" Jessica cried, hugging them all.
"Yes," Ryo said, "I...... guess you saw that herd of warriors that just stormed by."
"Did we ever! Was there even an end to them?" Sage said. "This time we're in way over our heads. But.... if we stick together and fight 'till the end, we'll make it through. I'm not giving up, no matter what!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah!" the other eight warriors, Mia, and Jessica exclaimed. Then the group sat down and began talking seriously.
"So, have you found a way into his palace?" Mia inquired.
"Well... not quite." they told her sadly. "We think they were leading us right into a trap, so we got the heck outa there. After we got out of the cave, we were ambushed by about ten warriors, nothing we couldn't handle. We flung them off like a bunch of flies. But when you put a whole bunch together......." Dais trailed off.
"But, if we set our minds to it and work together, we'll put an end to this evil once and for all!" Sekhmet exclaimed.
"Yeah... but even if our powers aren't enough......... can we still defeat Zagoto?" Ryo said sadly.
"All we can do is try our best, Ryo. And even if we don't defeat him, in a way we'll still have won." Rowen said reassuringly.
"Yeah, you're right."
They continued to walk down the road some more, looking for anymore signs of approaching warriors as the sky grew dark overhead.
"Man," Kento said, rubbing his stomach, "I haven't eaten in ages."
"And you just now noticed that you were hungry?" Mia teased.
"Well, yeah..." he said. When Jessica pulled out a bag of chips that she had stashed in her knapsack, Kento ran over to her and begged her for them.
Jessica just looked at him and laughed as she handed him the bag. "But leave some for us!"
"Too late," Cye said, holding up the already empty bag.
"Gosh, Kento, is your mouth, like, a vacuum or something?" Rowen said, looking at his mouth in wonder.
"Hmph!" Kento said. "What do you think?"
"It must be magic they way you made those chips disappear so fast!" Ryo jokingly added.
Kento walked over to him shaking his fist. "You're right. I have a magic mouth. And I also have a magic fist... one second you see it, the next you see stars!!" The group started to laugh.
"No, Kento, that's ok. All we have to do is look up... " Jessica said, gazing up into the sky which was filled with stars.
"Yeah... it's just a shame that, if Zagoto wins... that we'll never be able to see the stars again..." Mia said, looking up into the sky like Jessica.
The group happened upon a nice, hidden spot in which to spend the night. They didn't want to risk being seen by any warrior spies, so they did not light a fire that night. The moonlight was bright enough to see everything clearly, and the place they had picked was overlooking a flat valley, that stretched on for miles. Miles before their destination at Talpa's old castle. Which was now ruled by Zagoto. Just the mention of his name or the thought of him brought anger and fear into their eyes.
It was getting late, and Jessica laid out her knapsack and curled up on a thin blanket, resting her head on her knapsack. Magic walked over to her and curled up beside her. All around you could hear yawns as the others grew tired, too. All yawns and some growling...
"Kento?" Sage said, sitting up. "You're STILL hungry? After all that food...?"
"Actually, yes, but that ISN'T me..." he said, glaring at Sage. Rowen sat up.
"You guys, actually, that's ME..." he said and smiled sheepishly. "Heh... heh... I kinda worked up an appetite now, too, now that you mention food again..."
Jessica just groaned silently and pretended to be asleep, thankful that she was resting her head on her knapsack so the others, mostly Kento, wouldn't raid it at night. She smiled and rolled over, gazing up into the sky. For as long as she can remember, and that isn't that far, she had always loved to watch the stars, gaze up into the clear, night sky. She laid like that, watching stars shooting overhead and making their way across the night sky, until she closed her eyes and softly fell asleep.
That was the last thing any of them remembered that night, gazing up into the sky, before they all fell asleep...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Jessica awoke to the sun beaming right into her face. She groaned and rolled over away from the light, thinking that she was in her old bed at home. It reminded her of that morning... of the mornings at her house when the sun would stream in through her lace curtains and wake her... no alarm clock needed...
Jessica opened her eyes then immediately wanted to close them again. 'No,' she thought, 'It... it is all a nightmare and can't be true...' She wanted to tell herself that what she was in was a living nightmare, that it wasn't true, that... that... everything would all be ok eventually. Oh, if only it were true...
She sat up and stretched her arms which were cramped from her hard bed on the ground. She looked around at the others who were slowly waking up too. This was only their third day in the Netherworld, their second full one, and already no leads of how to reach Zagoto have turned up. Today would prove to be a full day of hard, grueling searching for an almost hopeless entranceway into the castle.
Kento was easy to get up this time, and suprisingly he wasn't even hungry... until Jessica noticed another bag of chips missing. "Kento..." she said, glaring at him.
"Who... me?" he said defensively.
"Nooooo..." Ryo said, slapping him on his back. "The OTHER Kento, don't you know who we're talking about?"
"Ooooooh, THAT Kento..." Cye chimed in. "Yeah..."
Kento stared at the ground as his face got redder from anger. "STOP IT!!" he cried. He was huffing and puffing because of his anger, and with his face so red, it reminded the group of a joke...
"Kento!! Wow, your face... that reminds me of the day in the cafeteria!! When we commented on how, when your face gets bright red, you look like a ripe tomato!!" Rowen laughed.
"Yeah..." Kento said, slowly looking up at the group. "And then remember what I did?"
"Uhhhh...... uh-oh!!" Jessica shrieked and jumped up. "I didn't have anything to do with this!! Why are you picking on meeee??" she yelled at him playfully as he ran over and picked her up, running around with her over his shoulder.
The group laughed. "What is this about?" Dais and Cale wondered out loud.
Cye turned to them. "A reenactment of what happened during lunch one day at school, it's... an inside joke, really." he half smirked at the clueless four.
"You guys, stop!! We've got some serious stuff to do without you all running around like chickens with their heads cut off!! Now, come on!!" Kayura yelled at the six.
Kento immediately stopped running and with Jessica still over his shoulder. When Kayura was in charge, there was no fooling around.
"Come ON, you guys!! You know better than this. This is serious, and it is not something that you can just brush off as nothing, or joke around. This is something. And this something needs to be taken care of, without fooling around. That is the last thing we need right now." Mia scolded them.
"Mia, you're right. But we can't be all tense and serious all of the time, ya know? We need breaks, too, like any other human being!!" Kento pointed out.
"Yes, Kento, but..."
"You know, he's right. But you're right, too Mia." Sage compromised. "There's a time for work and a time for play. And right now is definitely NOT the time to play around."
"So, then, when IS the time to have fun? Loosen up? Joke around and relieve some of this stress that is eating away at us? SOMETHING has too or we're just going to... to crack!" Kento exclaimed angrily.
"It seems like he's ON crack..." Sekhmet whispered to Cale. Kento glared at him.
"Kento...?" Jessica whispered to him. She was being shaken around like an old rag doll, Kento still had her over his shoulder. "Do you... mind?" her face had turned faintly greenish in color.
"Oh... heh..." he said and sat her down.
"Kento... c'mon..." Mia said. "Now, this is the time to be serious. We have to figure out a way to enter into Zagoto's castle. Clearly," Mia continued, "all of the previous entrances have been blocked off and heavily guarded in case one of us would try to break through. Which IS impossible."
"Yeah..." Sekhmet said, thoughtfully, "But, what if there was one secret entrance that Zagoto himself didn't even know of? That may still be open for us to go through."
"If there is, then you guys would be the ones to know about it." Ryo pointed out.
"Yes, but there were soo many entrances into the castle itself that I didn't even know them all," Cale said. "And Tapla made the passageways and such soo confusing that, unless you knew where you were going, that you'd get lost and get stuck in there..."
"Well, there's obviously one place that we've overlooked. There HAS to be a way into the castle. Because how else are the warriors able to enter and exit the castle?" Rowen added.
"Right," Kayura agreed. "But we've searched all over. And even since Dais, Cale, Sekhmet, and I have been here, we haven't been able to detect where they're coming from. It's like... he's hidden it. With... magic or something..." she said thoughtfully.
"Well, what are we doing, just sitting around here doing nothing?" Jessica said standing up. "If we want to find this entrance, then we have to get up and look for it ourselves!!"
"Yeah..." the others agreed and stood up, also.
The group quickly packed up and started off towards the valley below. Dais, Cale, Sekhmet, and Kayura led the way in the direction of Zagoto's castle, since they knew it so well.
"Don't ya think... that... if you were going to hide an entrance to your castle, where would you hide it at?" Cye said, looking around thoughtfully.
"That's a good idea," Kayura praised. "But the thing is, is that we're not Zagoto and we definitely DO NOT think like him. So... how to find the entrance..."
Suddenly, in the clearing up ahead, there was a rustling sound and the spot seemed to vibrate and waver, much like a mirage on a hot day. "Wha... what IS that?" They exclaimed, jumping back and getting into battle stances.
At last, a figure emerged from the porthole-like thing. Jessica gasped.
Ryo groaned. "I thought you said no more suprises..."