Disclaimer: Don't own RW cast, so there! J

Unexpected Consequences

Chapter 8.




General Anthony guided Thunder to a more suitable area in the training room as the king and queen left them alone, going to attend other matters. The general would report Thunder's progress to Thaitus later. Thunder watched the general closely, eyeing his every move, as he seemed to circle him like a shark circling its prey before making the final kill.

"You seem strong enough," the general said, "but I can't tell for sure. So, I'll start you off easy to see how well you do, then move the level up if you fare well enough against me."

"Fine with me," Thunder replied with a nod of his head.

The general stepped back and then suddenly he came at Thunder quickly, with a fist held out in front of him. Thunder saw the punch aimed directly for the area between his eyes and he suddenly held up his hand and blocked the punch, gripping the general's fist and keeping it from hitting him.

Anthony nodded his head, though he was a bit surprised. He wasn't expecting Thunder to know how to block. He tried another move, a front snap kick. Thunder quickly turned his body to the side, and used his right arm to block the move, bring his forearm and elbow down on the general's leg, causing him to stagger back some. When he regained his balance, the general rubbed his beard. "You block quite well. I'd like to see a punch as well. Next time throw some fists in when I attack."

"Yes, sir," Thunder said.

The general came at him again with flying fists, and this time, Thunder not only blocked, but he punched as well. The two stayed in one spot, throwing punches, blocks, and kicks. This went on for twenty minutes or so, and neither seemed to be tiring. Anthony was impressed with Thunder's ability, but he had one accord up his sleeve, and he wanted to test Thunder's ability on it. He flipped away from Thunder and landed a few feet away from him Thunder watched him closely, waiting to see what he was going to do. Then suddenly he saw five daggers coming at him. His eyes widen, and his first instinct was to duck, but he realized the general wanted him to block them. Just great, he thought. Suddenly one of his arms went up and at the last moment he suddenly brought his hands down upon the daggers, striking them to the ground, two and two and one a time. The daggers fell to the ground.

Anthony nodded his head in approval. "You fight better than I thought you would. Your father will be pleased."

Thunder kept an inward sigh within himself. "Is the training session over?" he managed to ask politely.

"Yes, I think you did well enough for today. Tomorrow, I'll take you out to some of our secluded areas and see how well you train in different environmental settings," General Anthony told him.

Thunder nodded, and the General led him out the door and to the throne room. As they walked, Thunder kept his silence. He could have easily have taken the general, but a true warrior never attacks fully without reason. So he had held back, not wanting to show his true potential. The general led him through several hallways, passing servants and guards, all who bowed in respect to Thunder, which made him sweatdrop a little. Having all of this attention wasn't something he was used to, nor would never be. Did he actually walk through these halls as a young child? The memories didn't come to him. All he could remember was the boat, his gentle parents, his mother's beautiful bedtime song, his father's hearty laugh. He held his tears back. He missed them so much. Why did they have to die? he wondered. There was no answer to his question, and he had no choice but to follow the general to the throne room.



Flash let out a huge sigh, as no one seemed to know what to do. She finally put her foot down. "Time out! I know German! You don't live almost three years with a native German and not learn the language."

"Question," Rowen said, "are you fluent?"

Flash raised an eyebrow. "I did say, you don't live almost three years with a native German and not learn the language didn't I?"

Rowen turned bright red, Rekino smirked. That would show Rowen, she decided.

"Hello! Can we go now?!" Hana and Shades both said at the same time.

Ryo nodded. "Yes, let's get going."

All of them headed off through the streets, searching for some way to get to the palace. Finally Ryo had an idea. "Why don't we just hail a tax, and get a ride so far to the castle, then take it from there?"

"Works with me," Scorpio said.

"Fine with me," Sage said.

"Alright, let's do it then," Rekino said and whistled.

A black car pulled over, and they all got in. Flash spoke to the driver, after handing him money, and the driver headed off for the castle.

"Wow," Ryo said in awe. "That place must have over a hundred rooms."

"How can you tell?" Sage asked.

"Just guessing."

"Oh."

"I don't care how many rooms it has," Scorpio said with a shake of his head. "All I know is my best friend is stuck there, and I know he's not happy."

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror at him, but said nothing as he pulled close to a curb and parked across the tall iron gates that stretched over three miles in perimeter.

"Well, this is it," Flash said as she opened her door up and jumped out. The others followed suit, and after looking both ways, they crossed the street.

"So now what?" Shades asked.

"There has to be a tour somewhere, right?" Rowen said, looking up and down the street.

"But where?" Hana asked, almost getting frantic again. A warning look from Rekino calmed her down.

"Hey, guys!" Sage cried. He had wandered down the street a bit, and was now calling them over, as if he had found something. They all came running to him, and saw what he was looking at. "Look, that tour is just going to the castle themselves. We can go with them."

"Right," Ryo said. "Let's go.

Ryo, Rekino, Hana, Sage, Rowen, Flash, Scorpio, and Shades, all joined the tour group and acted ingenuously, as if they had been there the whole time. No one paid much attention, other than a few usual glances. The tour lady was speaking in pure German, and Flash could understand what she was saying. She stifled a yawn, and Sage raised an eyebrow at her. Whatever the woman was saying must be boring.

"What is she saying, Flash?" he asked in a low whisper.

"Just the usual stuff. 'Stay in the group, don't wander away, and don't touch anything in the castle. If you're in the presence of royalty, bow to show your respect.'"

"That should be easy enough," Ryo said.

"That king doesn't deserve to be bowed to," Rekino said in a harsh whisper.

A few minutes later, the tour lady began to walk toward the main gates, the group of twenty people, plus the eight teenagers all followed. There were two guards at the main gate. They opened the gates and allowed the people in. They walked down a wide and straight path made of marble and brick, and came to another set of gates. Two guards were here as well. After walking through another set of gates, they finally came to the castle itself.

Scorpio stared up at it. "Hang in there, Thunder. We're coming," he whispered.



Mia had just fallen asleep when Josephine and Amaya walked in. When they saw she was asleep, they made it a point to be extra quiet as they walked further into the room. Amaya sat down in the big green stuffed chair and Josephine took the rocking chair. The baby, Hiroshi was sound asleep in the incubator on the left side of Mia's bed. Both Guardians stared at him, smiling. They wondered what it would be like to have a baby so beautiful, to be proud mothers. But yet, each of them wanted to wait until they got their lives in order.

Josephine let a sigh out as she looked toward the TV. She didn't want to say anything, but she felt bored. There wasn't a lot to do at a hospital, and who knew when Cye and Kento were going to show up. She shifted on the rocking chair and sighed through her nose. 'I should have brought some magazines to read or something,' she thought to herself. She had taken a look at the magazines the hospitals had provided, but after seeing what was in them, she decided not to bother with them.

Amaya herself was deep in thought. She wasn't bored like Josephine. Instead she was thinking of the others, and wondering how close they were to getting Thunder back, and if they were having any problems at all. Lately Amaya kept getting strange feelings, that something was about to happen to one of them, but she didn't know who or what it could be. All she could do was hope and pray everything would turn all right out in the end. She glanced over at Josephine and shook her head at her friend's thwarting behavior. Jo always had to find someway to entertain herself in the hospitals and blowing bubbles in her drink was one of them apparently.

"Josephine, must you do that in Mia's room" Amaya asked.

"I'm bored!" Josephine whined as she continued to blow bubbles in her pop. "Mia and Hiroshi are fast asleep, Cye and Kento haven't made it back yet, all the magazines in this place are completely boring…"

Amaya sweatdropped at her friend, but there was little she could say. "Well, calm down and relax. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

Josephine cast a glance at her. "Yeah, sure," she said and went right back to blowing bubbles.

Amaya shifted positions in the chair to get more comfortable. 'Cye, Kento, hurry up.' Amaya didn't know how long she could stand it here with Josephine aka Lucy Ball. Amaya was in deep thought about her feelings when something or should I say someone brought her out of it. SLURP! SLURP!

"That was a great soda!" Josephine said content with herself. At that moment Hiroshi woke up at all the commotion.

"WAAAAAA! WAAAAAAA!"

"Oh great going Nurse Betty!" Amaya said rolling her eyes at the Lady Hardrock.

"No problem! I have this situation under control." Jo said and picked up the baby, who then began to move towards her boob, "Oh hell no! Amaya, get the Boogy!"

"I thought you said you had everything under control? And why are you calling Hiroshi…Boogy?" Amaya asked as she took the baby from Josephine.

"Ok first of all I have no milk for the child and at this point the only person who sucks on my boobs is Cye. Second, Boogy is a name I give to babies because of a noise they make." Josephine replied. At that moment Cye and Kento walked in. Amaya and Jo both gave the quiet finger.

"What happened?" Cye asked.

"Boogy tried to get milk from me!" Josephine said, "I feel violated."

Kento couldn't contain his laughter, "Jeez Jo, you would think with all the brothers and sisters you've been around that you couldn't handle that. Here, let me show you how it's done," He gently took Hiroshi from Amaya, "Hey there little guy! Why the loan face?" Kento started to make funny faces for the baby.

"Gahh!" Hiroshi giggled and pinched Kento's cheek.

Amaya softly sighed, "Now this is what you call a true Kodak moment."



Thaitus and Lila were sitting in the throne room with the commander of the German army. Commander Harry VanHoudnos had come in earlier to report the advancements in the war. The look on Thaitus and Lila's face was priceless when Commander VanHoudnos had told them the good news.

"So, you're saying the war could be over anytime?" Lila asked with excitement.

"Yes. Our forces had taken the Romans by storm. They didn't know what had hit them," Harry said, "I estimate that the war won't last but a couple more days at the most," The commander looked down at his beeper, "I'm being paged. I'll return soon," He saluted and left the room.

Thaitus jumped from his chair and grabbed Lila and kissed her fervently. He pulled away and hugged her, "This is the best news that I've heard in years!"

Lila smiled, "Certainly surprised me," She hadn't been this close to Thaitus in years, and the feelings felt wonderful. She wanted to stay like this forever; yet, a soft knock came from the door. She pulled away from Thaitus.

"You may enter," Thaitus said sternly.

The door opened and Thunder came inside followed by General Anthony. Thaitus and Lila were awaiting the news from the general to see how well Thunder had fought. Anthony saluted to his king and queen while Thunder walked over to his mother and stood beside her.

"What do you have to report?" Thaitus asked.

"Your son fights well, your highness. He seems to have been trained previously," Anthony said.

Thaitus looked at his son with amazement. The Americans had completely ruined him; yet, he was in a good mood. He turned back towards General Anthony, "Good. Thank you general. Please report to see Commander VanHoudnos as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!" Anthony saluted and left the room.

Thunder looked at his father, "You seem to be in a good mood today, father. What's the occasion?"

Thaitus smiled at his son, and Thunder almost had a heart attack, "The war with Rome is soon to be over, my son! After seventeen long years the war will finally be over! And to celebrate this occasion, the ball and wedding will be moved to an earlier date."

"Say WHAT?!" Thunder yelled.

"You heard me! The ball will be held later this evening at eight and the wedding will be in five days at the gardens to the north," Thaitus announced. He turned towards his three servants that were in the room, "Missy, go and inform the Italian royals of the news. Wendi and Jessica, gather the remaning servants to prepare the ball room for tonight."

"As you wish," The three servants replied and set out to do their assigned duties.



Borya, king of Rome, had left his castle to escape the wildness inside. He was very young to be the king. Only being twenty-eight years old, he hadn't known the experience his father had. His country was now at war with the Germans and they were losing. The king sat down on one of the many benches in his royal garden. His wife was inside talking with the Roman commanders. He had been deep in thought when a voice startled him. He jumped from his seat and drew out his gun, "Who's there?"

A deep, yet evil, voice startled him, "Young king, you wish to rule all, don't you?"

"Who are you?!" The king demanded.

"My name is Adna, I am a sorceress, and I've come here to fulfill your dreams," Adna stepped out from the darkness to reveal herself. She was much taller than the king, due to the six-inch heels she was wearing. Her dress came all the way down to her ankles, which was slit in several places, and the top had a single strap going over her breasts.

"You wish to fulfill my dreams, yet, a sorceress doesn't usually help others unless there's a price to pay," Borya stated.

Adna smirked, "In order to fulfill your dreams, you must help me. I'm dying and I need someone to pass my powers on to."

Borya seemed intrigued by her offer, "You wish to pass them onto me?"

"Yes. By doing this, you will have your dreams. There is no one to stop you," Adna said. She stood straight up and her wings appeared out from behind her. She flew up in the air and lightning flashed between her and the Roman king. She had just passed her powers to him.

Borya fell to the ground quickly. He regained his composure and watched as Adna's body vanished into thin air. He wanted to test something. He raised his arm up and motioned towards a tree. He watched in amazement as the tree completely melted. Borya laughed evilly. Now, it was time for Rome to rule over the Germans. He knew what to do. He quickly left the gardens and headed towards the castle.