Serena followed Mentor Ji deeper into the caverns beneath the temple. If it weren't for the torches he lit, by now the caverns would be completely pitch black. She was starting to appreciate exactly why this place was kept such a secret and constantly guarded. Antiques and treasures lined every chamber and corridor, from vases and weapons, through to gold and jewellery. A handful of any of it would easily have bought her parent's farm a hundred times over. If nothing else, the valuables inside would have made it a target well worth risking an attempt at a robbery, but she had a feeling that she wasn't here to admire the treasures amassed over centuries, Daisuke clearly valued the secrets contained within much more highly.
He brought her to a second chamber, a little larger than the first. This one had more murals, depicting what appeared to be more of the legends. This one though had a massive collection of treasure, amassed around a large golden statue. Serena recognised the figure as being Dekker.
"Alright, that's a little odd." She commented. "Why would anyone build a statue to the man who killed more of the legendary samurai than anyone else?"
"This chamber is dedicated to the next part of the legend, the downfall of a warrior." He told her, picking up a handful of powder and making his way to a brazier. "It begins where we left off, with a man and a woman very much in love. His older brother Yarrick informed their father of Dekker's love for Dayu. When he expressed the wish to marry her, his father refused to release her, fearing a scandal. He also refused to allow Dekker to march with the Shogun's army. Dekker left in search of The Cursed Warrior to prove his worth to his father."
"He went out looking for The Cursed Warrior?" Serena asked him. Daisuke nodded.
"Knowing the peril he faced, Dayu did what any woman in love would do." He told her. "She prayed."
With that, he sprinkled the powder over the flame, at which the background shifted into a new image. Kenzo arrived and watched on, seeing the story unfold before them.
Dayu was on her knees in the family shrine, praying intently. Serena could see from the intensity in her expression that she was sincere in her desperation for her prayers to be heard. She saw the unmistakable form of Master Xandred appearing behind her.
"They are not listening." He announced, causing her to turn around with a start. The look of fear in her eyes was evident. "I have heard your prayers Dayu."
"Begone!" She willed him. "I have no wish to speak with you! I..."
"You wish for Dekker to return to you." Xandred responded, clutching his head. "It drains me to be in this realm, so believe me when I say that you can take what I say as important."
"I have nothing to say to..."
"I can bring him back to you." Xandred told her. "As Lord of the Nighlocks, I can protect him and ensure he returns to you."
"OK, and she didn't see through that?" Serena asked sarcastically. "Hey, I'm a big red scary daemon that wants to take over the world, but I want to help you now. Give me a break."
"Love can make a person do things they normally never would." Daisuke told her. "He offered her the chance to see the man she loved again. How many would be able to say honestly they wouldn't consider such an offer in her position."
"The Cursed Warrior exists, this much I can assure you." Xandred told her. "However, he could search for longer than either of you will live and never find him."
"What do you want?" She asked him.
"I will make you a deal." He told her. "If you will swear to come and serve me, to play your shamizen for me as you do for this family as a Nighlock, then I will guarantee..."
"Why would I agree?" She asked him. "What is the point of him returning if I will never see him again because I am in the Netherworld?"
"She has a point." Serena pointed out. Daisuke just sighed and gestured her to continue listening.
"That is not the deal I will offer you." He told her. "I will guide Dekker to The Cursed Warrior..."
"But..."
"Silence!" He roared, causing her to quail in fear. "He will defeat him, and he will return. I will promise you this, and I will promise you that you will be reunited."
"If I..."
"You will only come and serve me on one condition." He told her. "As long as the blood of an innocent never adorns your hands, I will deliver all I promise, and you will have your life with Dekker."
"You are a Nighlock, how can I trust you?" She asked him. He just brushed her face with his hand and nodded.
"How can you not?" He asked. "So do we have a deal? Shall I save the life of your beloved?"
"Yes." She whispered gently, nodding. "Yes, we have a deal."
As Xandred disappeared, the doors opened, and Yarrick came in, with a woman Serena presumed was his wife. Yarrick came over, slapping the back of her head.
"How dare you come here again?" He demanded of her. "Did we not make ourselves clear on this matter?"
"I apologise." Dayu told him.
"I believe this time a harsher punishment is in order." Yarrick's wife told him, looking to Dayu evilly. "I would lash her back bare and have her sleep outside with the cattle."
"Whatever my bride commands." Yarrick told her, taking up some rope. Dayu just held her hands together in front of her and remained on her knees dutifully, waiting to be bound.
The image faded and Daisuke looked to her, almost awaiting a response. Serena just seemed confused.
"So what happened next?" Serena asked him. Daisuke smiled and threw another handful of powder on the flame.
In the image, Yarrick was having his way with his brothers in practice. He was just about to finish one of them off when; the gates were kicked open harshly. They all turned and stared at the intruder.
His cloak was wrapped around him, and his hood was up, concealing his face. A large, white nodachi was strapped to his back. As he strode into the yard, Yarrick, the eldest brother, strode forward.
"Who dares enter our grounds so?" He roared. "Remove your hood!"
Dekker stopped in his tracks and pulled down his hood. In his absence, he had not aged badly. Yarrick scoffed as he saw him. His hair was longer, and he had thick stubble now, but he could still recognise the brother he treated with such contempt.
"So, you finally returned." He said dismissively. "I never thought you'd have the nerve after the way you left..."
"I have done that which none of you ever could." He interrupted Yarrick. "I will speak with our father."
"You dare to interrupt me?" Yarrick snapped.
"I will speak only to father." Dekker stated, taking a step forward. "I am here to present him with proof of my worth."
"Father is reading, he is not to be disturbed." Yarrick responded sharply. "If you have something to say, then you may say it to me."
"I have defeated The Cursed Warrior." Dekker stated proudly. He took the nodachi from his back, which Serena recognised as Urumasa. He held it aloft for them all to see. "This is the blade Urumasa. I have come to present it to father."
"The Cursed Warrior?" Yarrick laughed. "You expect us to believe in fairy tales?"
"I tire of this conversation." Dekker stated, stepping face to face with him. "You are beneath me Yarrick; I will pay you no further mind. My business is with our father."
He shoved his eldest brother aside and made his way towards the house. Yarrick's face flashed red in rage as he was dismissed like a common child. He levelled a bokken over Dekker's shoulder, at which he stopped. However, there was no fear in his expression, only anger. Dekker just looked to the wooden practice blade and turned towards him.
"I am the head of this house!" Yarrick roared. "I will not be disrespected by the likes of you!"
"You still believe me to be the boy you used to beat and bully." Dekker sneered. "Be sure you want to challenge me. It may be the last thing you ever do."
Serena felt a shiver as she heard these words from Dekker. She knew enough of Urumasa from what she had heard to know that it was a bloodthirsty blade, one that drove its wielder to bloodshed. It was no idle threat, something she was well aware of.
Yarrick prepared to strike him with the Bokken, but Dekker simply drew Urumasa and sliced the sword in half before kicking him back onto the mats. Serena watched as he strode to the mats, stalking Yarrick like a predator smelling the blood of a kill.
"Let us not play child's games." Dekker snapped. "If you believe you are better than me, then let us face the test properly. Let us use steel."
"Fetch my sword!" Yarrick ordered one of his brothers. He was handed a katana, and drew it, beginning to circle his brother. "Let us see how your 'Urumasa' stands up to Stone Cutter!"
He lunged forward, and the blades clashed once, only once. As the blades rebounded off one another, Dekker swung around, slicing through Yarrick's abdomen. Serena flinched as she saw the blow. She had been trained in the ways of the sword long enough to know that it was a mortal injury. Dekker showed no remorse whatsoever for his actions as Yarrick collapsed to his knees, dropping his sword. His hands strayed to his stomach, holding in his innards. He looked up to Dekker in horror. Dekker reached for an amulet around Yarrick's neck, bearing the family crest, and yanked it off.
"This is mine now." He announced, before swinging Urumasa one more time, striking his head from his shoulders. His three brothers, the servants, and Dayu watched on in shock. Serena could hardly believe that this was the man she had seen with Dayu earlier.
"Yarrick is dead!" One of the brothers shrieked, running over to the corpse and cradling it. He looked to Dekker in amazement. "You killed him!"
"Pick it up." He told him, kicking Stone Cutter over to him. He looked to his other two brothers. "Fetch your weapons."
"You've gone mad!" One of them shrieked.
"You didn't seem to have the same trouble attacking me when you believed I was helpless." Dekker said bitterly. "Fetch your weapons. I will be waiting!"
Serena watched on as Dekker butchered his brothers in a display that was nothing short of bloodletting. There was no reason for them to die, they hadn't attacked him, threatened his life in any way, he just cut them down like they were practice dummies. As he went inside to speak with his father, she saw Yarrick's wife running over to his corpse and weeping.
"He presented Urumasa to his father, seeking his honour. However, his father rejected him once more." Daisuke told her. "He killed his father as he had done his brothers. However, this is the part of the legend you must know."
It wasn't much longer before Dekker came out of the house, his eyes full of rage. He started to collect tar and throw it onto the house, indicating his intent was to burn it down. Dayu saw Yarrick's wife picking up Stone Cutter. She waited until Dekker had his back turned, before rushing toward him. Dayu snatched up a blade and ran, driving it deeply into her abdomen.
"No!" Serena called out, realising her mistake. "Urumasa made him immortal! He would have survived that attack!"
"Of course Dayu did not know that." Daisuke told her. "All she saw was the man she loved in danger."
With that, Dekker looked to Dayu, but Serena could see no recognition in his expression. There was no trace of the joy he clearly felt in her presence before, indeed, he looked at her like he didn't even know her. Serena couldn't help a tear leaking from her eye as she saw Dayu realise that the man she loved no longer even knew her.
"Another part of Urumasa's curse is that it represses the memories of happiness within its master." He informed her. "It makes the drive to satisfy its bloodlust stronger."
"So...it wouldn't have mattered if he came back." Serena gasped. "She lost him anyway." Daisuke pointed to Yarrick's wife.
In her rage, Dayu fell on top of her and drove the blade into her abdomen and chest, again and again, until it was completely ruined. The house now burned around her, but she didn't care. As long as Dekker was safe, she didn't care. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"It's time for you to come with me." Xandred told her. Her mouth hung open in shock.
"But...our deal!" She murmured. "I would never have to serve you unless the blood of an innocent adorned my hands!"
"You have killed an innocent." He told her.
"Ushanna was not innocent!" Dayu protested, seeing Dekker walking away on the path that would take him from her. Xandred just laughed.
"She was not innocent." He clarified. "However, the life within her was."
As he grabbed Dayu and dragged her into the underworld, Serena could no longer hide her tears.
"Yarrick's wife was pregnant." Serena commented. Daisuke just nodded. "Xandred manipulated her all along."
"Now you know of the nature of Urumasa." He told her. "Now, I will take you to learn where it crosses with the legend of Kasamune. Hopefully then you will understand."
He took her by the hand and led her to an archway over a staircase leading even deeper into the earth. As they passed through, there was a flash of light, and Serena wavered a little in her footing, and felt slightly light-headed. Daisuke steadied her.
"This information is so important; it has the highest level of security we offer." He told her. "All supernatural gifts have no effect in the chamber below this arch, including your Earth Symbol Power."
"Now you tell me." She muttered. "Wow, I feel spacey."
"It takes some getting used to." Daisuke assured her. "Of course, only the Head Guardian ever comes down here, so needless to say most get the chance to."
As they left to go deeper, Kenzo came from his hiding place. Once they had gone on far enough, he stepped through the arch, and felt his power leave him. He tried, but couldn't shift to his Nighlock form. He got a thought in his mind and smirked to himself. Heading back into the chamber, he went to the statue of Dekker, and drew a dagger, plunging it into the back of the statue's thigh, leaving a deep, though from the front, invisible split in the statue. Satisfied by his work, he went through the arch again, and headed into the cavern in search of Serena and his father.
Back at the Shiba House, Mike and Emily came back, finding Mentor Ji sitting alone in the Living Room. It was starting to get late, and they were sure the others had likely gone to bed. Emily noted that the couch was made up with bed clothing.
"Mike, I..."
"Not tonight Ji." Mike interrupted him wearily. "Maybe tomorrow."
Mentor Ji just nodded in understanding. He had already ascertained that he had hurt Mike deeply with his accusations and his lack of belief in him. He understood that Mike was still angry, and was sure that he needed a little while to calm down before he would make much headway trying to smooth things over.
"Mia has locked herself in your room." Mentor Ji told Emily. "She refuses to let anyone in or speak to anyone."
"I can't say I really blame her." Emily answered. "She seemed really upset."
"I believe the expression is 'that would be an understatement'." Mentor Ji sighed. "I know I have handled this situation terribly. I only hope the damage I have done is not irreparable."
"We have training tomorrow." Mike told him, hanging up his jacket. "I'll see you in the morning."
Mentor Ji watched him go and shook his head sadly.
"It's going to take a lot to make this up to them isn't it?" Mentor Ji asked her. Emily just rested a hand on his elbow softly.
"This might be one of those times it's best to give them space." Emily suggested.
"Perhaps you are right." He replied, looking to her regretfully. "I may have raised Jayden, but it appears I have a lot to learn about raising children."
"Maybe that's the problem." Emily commented. He just furrowed his brows and crossed his arms, like he was waiting for her to clarify what she was trying to say. "You think of us as your kids."
"In many ways..."
"The thing is, you seem to forget, we're not kids." Emily told him. "We're all adults. We're going to make our own choices in life. Even our real parents can't change that."
"I suppose you have a point." Mentor Ji responded. "I promised your families I'd care for you. I suppose at times I just forget that you are not children."
He started to make his way to the door, and turned back, giving her a little smile as he thought about what she had said.
"Such wisdom from the youngest of my Rangers." He commented. "You have all grown so much."
With that, he went to his room, leaving Emily in the living room to get ready for bed.
