Revelation
(Rowen)
"Ariel!"
She was running before I knew what happened. Kayura sprinted after N'deki while Ryo and I took the hint and followed. I knew no one named Ariel, but I saw White Blaze in the direction Kayura ran. When we reached her, Kayura called, "What are you doing?"
Then, when I was probably only seconds from her, N'deki tottered on her knees before she fell to the ground. Kayura let out a wail as she approached the unconscious girl. On the ground was a purple harpy, and this was presumably what N'deki had been kneeling over, although I had no idea why. The creature was panting and gasping when we reached it and N'deki.
"Kayura! Her heart stopped! I felt it stop when she healed me!" the creature screamed in a hoarse voice, and I wondered why N'deki had wanted to save this thing. Instinctively, I grabbed an arrow, but I didn't move to fire it.
Kayura didn't ask questions or hesitate. She dropped to her knees and placed the staff on N'deki's chest. The girl, still clad in the Oni armor, didn't move as Kayura pressed both of her hands on the staff. Immediately, it began to glow, but for a moment, N'deki didn't respond. Then, she took a gasping breath, and the blue tint left her lips as her eyes opened and flickered before they shut again. Her last gaze looked peaceful, and when she went unconscious, the Oni armor dissolved and left her in the sub armor.
"What a close call," Ryo muttered, and I deftly nodded as Kayura pulled the staff away from N'deki.
I stepped away from Ryo to look down at the girl's face. She was definitely the girl I had seen when we went to visit Cye. "Kayura, you have some explaining to do."
"Rowen, I know, but we have to leave before we draw more attention," Kayura said as she looked up at me while still holding N'deki with one arm. "Take her, Rowen. I will get us back to the manor."
I stashed my arrow away before I kneeled down and pulled the limp girl up into my arms. She was a petite thing, so she wasn't heavy in the least. Kayura then stood up and placed both hands on the staff. "Grab onto me," she instructed. Ryo, the harpy, and I didn't hesitate to each place both of our hands on Kayura. White Blaze came over and leaned his body against Kayura's legs before she raised the staff and slammed it into the earth.
The entire world seemed to shake, and for a moment, I had a feeling we were nowhere at all. Then, I blinked and realized we were standing on the gravel drive at about the time we would have left for school. However, it was summer break now, I reminded myself, so we wouldn't be going to school for a couple weeks. I stared around at the familiar surroundings, and I only removed my hands from Kayura when she moved away from us. I was the first one to follow her into the house, and I went into the living room and lay N'deki on the couch. The girl didn't stir, though, and when I heard the door shut, I took off my armor, as did Ryo.
"So, Kayura, what happened?" I asked her again. Instead of answering immediately, Kayura motioned us into the kitchen, but her gaze lingered on N'deki as she left the room. I eyed up the harpy creature as it followed her, and after the shape shifter, I had an inherent distrust of strange creatures.
However, when Kayura pulled up a seat at the kitchen table, the harpy, Ryo, and I did the same thing. Overall, it was an odd sight having two Ronin warriors, the Ancient's Heir, and a harpy sitting around our kitchen table.
"Ariel," Kayura began by turning to the harpy, "what happened?"
"We were attacked," she whispered, and I realized this harpy, Ariel, was the reason N'deki had gone spastic. I kept my eyes on the creature while she spoke.
"I know. Your attackers have them," Kayura whispered.
"Who has what?" Ryo asked.
"In a minute, I promise," Kayura told us. She turned back to Ariel and commanded, "Tell us what happened when you came into this world."
Therefore, she was from the Nether Realm. Well, that didn't exactly boost my trust in her, and the harpy seemed to sense my scrutinizing stare. She shifted in her chair and pulled her enormous, violet wings up to hide part of her chest, and only her huge silver beak and her head were completely visible.
"I flew through the portal and looked for cover. I crashed into N'deki's room by coincidence. I didn't know she was special, but when she healed my broken wing, I realized she had incredible healing powers. However, healing my wing took a lot out of her," Ariel noted as she looked over at Kayura. "She had all these dreams, Kayura. She said she was channeling a spirit, and she thought it was the spirit of the armor."
"Dreams?" Kayura asked.
"Yes, she had dreams about the armor, and in at least one, she saw . . . Talpa," Ariel whispered the name. Ryo and I locked glances. I knew we had killed Talpa, but I was itching to have N'deki awake so I could question her directly.
"Anyway, the armor came to her this morning, and we were attacked," Ariel continued. "We just ran. We raced through the city just trying to escape the attackers, but they caught us. N'deki summoned her armor, but her attack seemed off kilter. I can't really say, Kayura, because I went down early, so I don't know what happened between her attack and when you came to aid us."
"That will do," Kayura said, and now, Kayura focused her attention on us. Even though she appeared calm, Kayura's face had developed a drawn look, and she had purple bags under her eyes. "Now, I can answer what happened."
"I want to hear it," I told Kayura.
"According to Ariel, the Warlords were attacked," Kayura began. I leaned across the table, suddenly realizing this could be worse than Cye's little surprise. "Well, they gave up their armors."
"How do you know?" Ryo asked.
"I'll get to that," Kayura said and held up a hand. "Just be patient. Anyway, I had a dream, and it told me to venture to the valley of the Ancient's clan, which is where I grew up. In that valley, there is a cave at one end, an evil cave of sorts, and I was told to enter it. In the back of the cave, I found these.'
Kayura laid an interesting looking bag on the table, and when she opened it, I could see it was filled with scrolls. They looked older than the Ancient One's scrolls, and I wondered who had written those.
"I thought it was an evil cave," I pointed out as I continued to stare at the bag.
"Yes, but the staff protected me, and White Blaze helped me," Kayura said as she removed the scroll bag from the table, "but that's not the important part of this tale. When I left the cave, I saw . . . well, let me explain the eyes first."
"What?" Ryo and I asked at the same time.
"When the Ancient's clan still lived in our valley, before Talpa came and took me, the cave was used as a place to sentence the worst criminals to death. Essentially, it was death by starvation, and the Ancient had to pronounce that punishment himself. When I was a little girl, I saw a person sentenced to death in the cave.
"In our clan, we also had nine Elders, and those Elders effectively ruled the clan. However, the Ancient still governed on the utmost important issues, but it was the head Elder that really held a lot of the clan's governing power. In their lifetime, the Elder's took one apprentice, and when they died, that apprentice would fill their position. When I was little, the head Elder was preparing to choose his apprentice. There were many tests one had to pass, and Kikyo was the person many thought would get the apprenticeship.
"However, the Elder chose a boy named Akito to become his apprentice. I heard it said that Kikyo went to the boy in anger, and they fought. She said it was an accident, but the boy had fallen and smashed his head open on a rock. It was discovered that Kikyo did it, and she was brought to be punished. The Ancient sentenced her to die a cruel death by starvation in the cave.
"I was there, the day she had to go through the shaming ritual of walking into the cave, and the last time she got to pause to look back at everyone, I saw a pair of burning eyes appear over her head. Out of the shadows stepped a woman, and her very presence made everyone shudder. She held out her hand to Kikyo, and even though the Ancient told her to resist, Kikyo had no reason to listen to him. She took the woman's hand, but while she did, the woman fixed her evil gaze on me. Then, Kikyo and the woman disappeared as quietly as the woman had come."
"That's a tragic story, but what does that have to do with N'deki's armor?" I asked.
"You see, when I came out of the cave, I saw that same woman with Kikyo. Instead of being a girl, though, Kikyo is now a woman, as am I. They had the Warlords with them, and that is when I noticed the Warlords weren't wearing their armor."
"Wait, wait! The Warlords don't have their armor?" Ryo blurted out as he leaned half way across the table to Kayura. "You were serious about that? Does this woman have them?"
"The armors? No, she doesn't because the warlords, and myself, have given up our armors," Kayura finished her statement.
"What? Why? Kayura . . . why?" was all I could ask. Why would she give up her armor?
Now, Kayura's eyes misted slightly. "Because they would have died if I'd fought with my armor, Rowen! When they were attacked, the Warlords knew they couldn't beat this woman. In combat, I couldn't defeat her, so I let my armor go. The staff protected me from her power."
"Don't you have your twin jitte?" I implored Kayura. "You should have done something!"
"Rowen, I renounced by Star Swords because they were a symbol of Talpa's power over me." Kayura paused and stared down at the table. "Besides, Kikyo had my Star Swords. She decided it would be amusing to copy my armor, too."
"Wait, Kayura, aren't you supposed to be the last of the Ancient's clan?" I asked that clarifying question. However, Kayura only chuckled.
"Everyone seemed to think Kikyo dead, but her and that woman are alive and well, I assure you," Kayura muttered, and when she looked back up at us, her eyes pleaded with us for understanding. "The reason she imitated me, no doubt, was for the effect it would have. You see, Kikyo was my older sister."
(N'deki)
I was in the grocery store scanning a list Mi Sang had given me. I walked over to the produce section.
Was I dead? I didn't think so. I had passed out, I thought, but then, I had seen Kayura. Did that mean I was alive? Why was I running another errand for Mi Sang? Where was Ariel?
That is when the explosion happened. The glass in the windows shattered. I shrieked and dove on the ground. I heard more things shattering, and I covered my head. I wanted to reach for my armor orb, but I couldn't. I tried to move my hand, and then, I realized I couldn't.
As I lay cowering in the fetal position, I knew I was seeing the past again. I wasn't doing this now, but I had lived this scene. This dream was like the other dreams expect I was seeing the world through my own eyes again. However, I was sure I didn't have the armor because I would have used it already.
I heard more crashing noises. I didn't look up, but I didn't want to see what was happening. I felt an iron grip on my arm. I screamed, but I was jerked upright to stare into the faceless solider that had pulled me off the floor.
The soldier threw me into a mass of people. The crowd jostled me around, and I could barely find my footing. I tripped and stumbled, but amid all the chaos, I knew my mouth was moving.
"Mi Sang! Mi Sang!" I kept crying out my stepmother's name. I couldn't hear myself, and over the screams and yells of the throng of people, I knew no one else would hear me either.
I kept screaming as I was packed against strangers. I heard screaming and wailing, and I didn't know if I was crying or not. One thing I did know was that I was terrified. The other dreams had been horrible, but this one was worse than seeing the war through Anubis's eyes.
This had happened to me.
The soldiers hoarded everyone through a tall gate. As I was shoved along, I craned my neck upwards to see it. The gate was massive, and as I stepped through it, I knew why it fascinated me. Even though I didn't know my thoughts from when I was captured, I knew what I would have thought. That gate was a portal to another world, and as I was herded like a cow through it, I realized that it was still captivating.
The scene changed. I would have gasped if I could. Instead of being taken prisoner, I was strolling through downtown Tokyo. What I was doing, I wasn't sure myself. Was I shopping for Mi Sang again?
As I looked to my left, I saw five familiar figures. I stopped to watch them from the opposite side of the street.
Lily, Nilla, Tomo, and Lee formed something of a square as they walked down the crowded sidewalk, and bringing up the rear was Akio. I could see Lily and Lee's mouths moving, but I couldn't tell what they were saying.
The explosion was so sudden. I screamed and ran for cover under the building's overhang. I knew who was causing this, but I didn't understand why there were two attacks. However, I once again crouched down and put my hands over my head to protect myself.
"No! No! No!" Lily was wailing, and I looked up to see her face contort in horror. Then, I knew that this had happened before; something in Lily's face told me this wasn't the first time she had seen these attackers either.
"Lily!" Nilla lunged over and encircled the other girl around the waist. Then, Nilla yanked Lily back under the building's overhang on the other side of the street. Lily was still screaming, and she had begun to cry, but Nilla's face had turned hard and fierce.
Gold began to pour down into the streets. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. However, I didn't feel enticed to go chase after the gold like so many of the onlookers had begun to do. I wiped my nose on my sleeve, and I hadn't realized I had started to cry because the tears had started to fall silently.
"No!" Lily kept screaming, but this particular wail was ear splitting. "Tomo! Lee!"
The two boys had rushed out into the street and begun to grab up the gold. I stayed safely under the building, but Tomo and Lee certainly weren't alone in the street. More and more people poured out of buildings to go and take the treasure falling from the sky.
My eyes fell on Akio, who stood mutely at the edge of the overhang. He had gone over to Lily and Nilla, but he hadn't hid under the overhang with them. He stopped, and Nilla shouted something, but Akio only stood there as if deaf and blind.
Then, he charged out into the street. He was closer now, so when he yelled, I could hear him. "Tomo! It's not safe! Get out of the street! It's not real, Tomo! Lee! It's a trick!"
I realized I had never heard Akio shout before, and that fact alone would have moved me possibly to do something. However, as he grabbed his brother's arm, Tomo punched him in the gut. Akio staggered backwards, his mouth widening with his eyes, in shock. Then, Akio recovered and charged back into try to grab Tomo again. Lee and Tomo were engrossed in collecting the gold, and this time, they both converged on Akio. I realized they thought he was trying to take the gold.
I had begun to cry in earnest now. The scene was horrible, and I couldn't control my trembling. I pulled my knees under my chin and just sat on the street. I watched as everyone fought each other, and behind them all, I could see Nilla and Lily. Nilla's face was set in a scowl, but it was Lily who was the worse of the two to watch. She was still shrieking, and her normally bubbly features were contorted with tears.
It all ended as quickly as it began.
That's when I knew I had lost my memory. It had just ended.
I opened my eyes, but this time, I realized I was lying down. I heard purring, but before I could move, there was a wet kiss on my cheek. I turned my head to look at the face of the white tiger that had been at the battle.
I tried to smile, but my lips felt dry. Instead, the tiger leaned in and licked me again. I wiggled my fingers before I picked up my hand and reached to pet the tiger's head. I didn't think I could reach him, but the tiger moved his head so it would be easier for me to pet him. He rested the side of his head against my stomach, and I could feel his purring rumble through my body.
"That's not the point."
I realized I could hear talking, and it was Kayura who spoke.
"I thought the fact that Cye kept quite a large secret from us quite a valid point," the blue haired warrior spoke next. "Besides, if we had known that the Warlords had given up their armors, we wouldn't have reacted the same. I assure you that would have taken priority."
"All the same, you don't know where Cye, Seiji, and Kento are," Kayura spoke again. I knew it! Cye, Seiji, and Kento were involved in this! I moved, and the tiger lifted his head off my chest while I tried to stand up.
"They shouldn't be hard to find. When they know what's happening, there won't be a problem," Ryo said. I put my legs over the edge of the couch.
"Yeah, but that still leaves three armors out there," the blue haired warrior spoke again.
"And the Warlords," Kayura said in a softer voice.
"Kayura, I hate to say this, but I don't think any of us are very keen on going to save the Warlords," the blue haired warrior said again. "For us, they're not worth it."
"Yeah, sorry," Ryo added, "but if she's got them, and if this woman's as powerful as you think she is, they're probably dead anyway."
There was silence, but I had stood up before I realized it was quiet. As I stood dumbly in the room, I could almost eat the tension that had followed Ryo's last words. However, the tiger padded into the kitchen, and soon, I heard the grating of chair legs across a linoleum floor.
Ryo and the blue haried warrior were the first two that came into the living room. The tiger plodded in behind Ryo but came back to sit by my side. For a moment, the three of us just stared at each other, but Ariel burst between them and came over to me.
"Are you okay?" Ariel asked as she cocked her head to the side in a very bird like way. However, in a very human way, she squeezed both of my armored hands between her tiny, feathered ones.
"Yes," I said, and then, I looked up at the two warriors. I addressed the blue haired warrior when I said, "I don't believe I know your name. I've seen you, though."
"Hashiba Rowen," he told me as a side comment before he said, "Ariel told us you were having dreams. What did you see? What were they about?"
I let my mouth drop open slightly, and I met Ariels's eye. I didn't know what to say, but I began by telling him, "Well, you were in one, Ryo was in a couple, and I saw the Ancient. I also saw . . . Kayura."
She appeared between the two warriors, and I was instantly struck by how different she was from in my dream. There seemed to be something older about her now, and her eyes looked puffy, even though I wasn't close to her.
"You saw me," Kayura said, and her voice sounded thin and very breakable. If I hadn't seen it, I would never have believed that this woman could have fought as fiercely as she did. There was something so fragile about Kayura, and she looked so exhausted.
"Yes, and Talpa, too," I whispered. "All of you were there. I know, that sounds like the wizard of Oz, but I saw all of you in my dreams."
Ryo and Rowen burst into laughter, but Kayura missed the joke, and her face remained taunt. Finally, Rowen recovered from his hysterics and asked me, "So, what did you see? I would really like to hear more."
"Well," I began, but I didn't know what to say. Something told me to leave the part about Anubis out for now, so I began by saying, "I saw Ryo fighting, actually, for two of the dreams. In one, he fought Talpa, and in the other, he fought Anubis."
"You're kidding," Ryo blurted out, "I mean, you weren't even there!"
"Good point," Rowen added, and I knew the next question. "So, how did you witness these events?"
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, but when I first opened my mouth, nothing came out.
"When did you see me?" Kayura asked before I could speak. Rowen frowned, but I decided Kayura's question was easier.
"I saw you when you were possessed and freed," I informed Kayura, but I didn't expect her reaction. She was holding the staff of the Ancient, or else I thought she would have collapsed on the floor. Her face drained of color as she stared blankly into space. Rowen and Ryo were looking between us, and as Rowen met my gaze, I knew I would have to tell them.
"I saw these dreams through Anubis's eyes," I blurted out, and when I said it, I felt embarrassed. However, I decided to add, "But I saw what happened to me when Talpa invaded, too. I saw my own capture."
"You weren't supposed to remember that," Ryo muttered.
"I think she's beyond the common rules, Ryo," Rowen said as he scrutinized me. I wasn't sure what he was looking for, but I felt naked under his stare. Finally he spoke again. "N'dekil, I have no idea why you would see these things, but obviously, the armor was calling to you."
"Yes," was the only word I could come up to say in reply. Then, the rings of the staff began to jingle.
(Nakeisha)
I was walking, but not really moving, through a vast desert. I realized I had nothing with me. What was I doing? Where was Zera? I knew she said she would come with me, but where was I?
When did Zera promise she would come? She told me that she had a nightmare, but she was elusive about it. Maybe she never promised to come with me. Why would we be going into a desert?
I knew Zera had promised to come with me. Maybe she just hadn't said it. Damn it, I wasn't sure, but the land wasn't hot, and the sky remained overcast. Where was I going? I kept walking, and I felt confident because I had a sensation of not being alone. I thought I might be meeting somebody. Could it be Zera? For some reason, I didn't think I would be meeting Seiji, though, even if he came to mind, too.
The dust blew threw the air, and then, the heavy curtain of sand parted. Towering above me, a shrine stood in the center of this no man's land, but there was no light coming from with in it. Every inch of the building appeared deserted, but I entered anyway because I felt someone was inside. However, once I was inside, the heat increased, but the blowing dust ceased, and I took the time to brush the sand from my body.
It was then I realized I had been naked. I groaned, and now I was glad I could see no one else. As I noticed I was naked, I realized I really wasn't alone. All around the dark crevices of the shrine were statues, all bent and shaped in peculiar positions, but I could see none of their faces. As I looked upon them, I realized they were great warriors, rulers, or priests of some sort.
Among these carved figures, I felt embarrassed. I put my hands over my breasts, but that was silly. No one else was here except . . . the monk who stood in front of me. I wasn't sure if he was real nor not because he, too, seemed to be made of some type of marble or translucent stone. However, unlike the statues, he extended his hand above his head, and the only light in the room came from his palm.
I had no words, but I inclined my head foreword, curious to see if he would say anything.
There was a flash of light, and I opened my eyes, realizing I was staring at my ceiling.
"Nakeisha!" Zera hissed. I knew she would be here! I grinned, despite myself. She had promised to come! "What are you doing?"
I wondered what she meant, and I turned my head to the side to look at her. Then, I realized I was looking down at her!
"Shit!"
I was only inches from my ceiling, but that seemed to escape me when I woke up. How did I miss something that important? I didn't know, but it did occur to me now that I was floating in the air, levitated out of my bed. Why hadn't I noticed that before?
"Nakeisha, get down," Zera commanded, and I only chuckled. I peered down at her, both hands on her hips, and she obviously didn't think this was very amusing.
"What am I supposed to do?" I said with a little burst of giggles. "I didn't float myself up here. Sure you didn't do this?"
"Shut it," Zera snapped as she hopped up onto my bed and reached for my leg. I felt her tug at my body, but it was like I was suspended in stone instead of air, and she was unable to move me.
"While I'm up here," I began to talk to Zera, who was failing to even move my body a centimeter, "I'm going to tell you about my own freaking dream that can match yours."
Zera only grunted, which I took as a sign to keep talking. "I was in a desert, and I found this shrine. This monk, he offered me his hand, and that's when I woke up. I remember a light."
"Was he going to say something to you?" Zera asked, and all the irritation was gone out of her voice. She stopped yanking my legs, and I had a feeling this might have something to do with her dream, too.
"I couldn't tell. Something was going to happen, though. Why do you want to know?"
"Because, someone was trying to tell me something in my nightmare, but I didn't listen. I was feeling terrified."
"Maybe you should've listened," I reprimanded Zera. I watched as she cocked an eyebrow at me.
"I'm not the one levitating," she reminded me casually while she paced to the other side of the room. I watched her, and I could tell she was definitely thinking. When she came back to this side of the room, she said, "Nakeisha, do something for me. See if you can do what the man wanted you to do. See if you can make that moment you felt was about to happen . . . just happen."
"You think it will get me down?" I asked her, and Zera only shrugged. I sighed, and I closed my eyes again. I relaxed my body first, and I took many deep breaths before I began to think about my dream. I pictured the frigid image of the monk, and the light in his hand, but more than the monk, I focused on the light. It was pulsing, glowing, and I saw something inside it when I thought about it.
Instead of just the white hand, I saw a small orb in the palm. It was beating, and I watched as pink color rippled through it. How odd that I didn't see it before, but I felt drawn to it. I stared at it longer, and I felt it was now detached from the hand, and upon the smooth pearl surface gleamed nin, the virtue for endurance.
Now, I felt the orb was completely detached from the hand, and the only thing that stood between it and me was me reaching out an arm to claim it. Unlike grabbing for anything normal, my movements felt languid, slow, yet fluid as I extended my hand to take the orb.
I touched it. It wasn't in the dream, either. I touched it with my own right hand, which was the same hand I had extended in my dream, coincidently.
I heard Zera make a noise, but my eyes whipped open when I felt the pulsing of the orb flood my senses. I could see, but every image felt fused with electricity, and my entire body tingled with a sizzling current that pulsed in my muscles. I could hear, but it was surreal, and my sense had strung me up and trapped me in some moment that seemed to usher in some final ecstasy. The wind, which had blown in the desert, invaded the space around me, and I felt the levitation barrier fail, and I dropped to the floor. Inches before the ground, my fall was halted by a fuzzy, salmon bubble, and my knees, which would have hit the carpet first, hovered inches above it.
"I did what you told me," I muttered to Zera, who looked at me with a wide-open mouth. She said something quick and incomprehensible, and then, she ran over and grabbed the compact mirror on her nightstand. She ran back over, almost tripping over her own feet to hold the mirror in front of my face.
This time, I was the one who swore something incomprehensible. I looked at myself, but the last thing that concerned me was my fish like gaping mouth. Instead of my pajamas, I was wearing a pine green, metal suit. Why didn't I notice that before, or did it really feel this light?
For a while, we both were just silent. What was there to say? I couldn't tell how much time had elapsed, and I began cautiously to examine the metal plating. It was linked, not a complete full piece, but the metal overlapped me and protected everything below my neck. I flexed my arms, marveling at how flexible the metal plating was. I was fully protected, yet I found I still had a full range of motion.
"Nakeisha," Zera said, and I turned my attention to her again. "I think I'm going to hear the voice."
"Go for it," I told her, and I wondered why I let those words out of my mouth. We didn't know where this stuff came from or what it did. Why did I just tell her to go back into her dream? Somehow, I thought it was right, I guess, and it was the advice she'd given me.
Judiciously, after what happened to me, Zera sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. Still hovering above the ground, I watched her close her eyes. She was relaxed, perfectly still, then her face crumpled up in a snarl of pain or anger. I went to move towards her, and when I did, I put my feet on the ground and broke the bubble. I froze, totally still, amazed at the experience of walking with my tingling senses.
Then Zera's eyes snapped open, and her mouth opened as if to scream. Yet, no sound came from her mouth, and I just gaped at her while her entire body became covered in plating like mine, but with the exception that hers plating was maroon. Then, a light exploded on her forehead, and I jumped back at the shock. It was unnatural, and I had never seen a light explode on or out of someone's head.
I waited, but Zera recovered quicker than I had, and she stood up. Like me, she flexed her arms, and she stuck one arm up in the air and moved her hand to study the motion. I gazed at my tall friend as she systematically stretched her muscles and moved around. "What did you hear?" I asked her after I thought she'd flexed enough.
Zera stopped moving, and her gaze refocused on me again. For a moment, she only blinked, and I truly thought she forget I was in the room. Slowly, her mouth opened, and it took her longer than normal to form words, but she eventually said, "Lady of War, Daughter of the North, Child of Winter, Bringer of the Dark, Follower of the way of Final Piety . . ."
She stopped, but I was hanging on every word, and I waited for me. "Well?" I finally asked when she only stared at me. "What else was said?"
"Nothing," Zera muttered. "It was only part of the message, and then, I took my orb with ko . . . final piety . . . Lady of War . . . Nakeisha, these are armors."
It was like a Mac truck plowing into my face. I looked down at my body again, and it made absolute sense. Yes, these were armors. What else would they be? I almost laughed, but Zera's words rang in my ears.
Lady of War. That's what the shrine, the monk, and everything had been telling me. I was a Lady of War, but what did that mean?
"So, what do we do?" I asked Zera, who kept studying her hand. She flexed her fingers a couple times before looking up at me.
"I know it is right, in my gut. Lady of War. It's all true," she whispered, and I thought she was a phantom in the darkness with that eerie light upon her brow.
"Ladies of War," I corrected Zera. When I said that, the air seemed charged, and I expected something to happen, but nothing did. The room felt tense for a moment, then all the energy seemed to ebb away. For the first time all evening, I think I took a real breath, and something in my muscles relaxed.
"What time is it?" Zera finally asked as she gazed around the room and away from me.
"Four thirty four." We had acknowledged our fates . . . Ladies of War . . . at four thirty four in the morning, when the sun had not yet risen. The cars still buzzed by along the streets, and the hall light still crept in under the door crack. My family was still sleeping, and the world kept turning, yet everything had changed.