The Ladies of War
(Nakeisha)
I woke up about four hours later, and my clock read eight thirty. I looked over at Zera, who was just sitting on the edge of her bed. She stared at me for a moment before holding up her orb for me to see. I reached down and fingered my orb, and it let me know that last night wasn't just some dream I had.
I got up, and we didn't say a word to each other while we brushed our teeth, took our showers, and got dressed. I threw on jeans and a T-shirt, and Zera did the same. I felt there was an understanding between us, but what it was, I wasn't exactly sure. Since I met Zera, we had made a connection, and I felt we understood each other, but last night had taken our bond deeper than I could have ever imagined. However, I felt that if I made the plans, Zera would follow. Whatever happened, I knew Zera had my back.
We went down to eat breakfast with my dad and mum, and we did so in the same compulsive silence towards each other that we had observed all morning. However, we both said the traditional greetings to my parents. Sean was yet no where to be seen, and I was incredibly thankful that he was probably still sleeping.
When I had finished eating, I looked over at Zera, who was done with her food, too. Her gaze told me to make the plan because she was ready. I stood up and walked over to grab my school bag. "Dad, Zera and I are going out for the day. I think we're probably going to end up at Sengoku University to do some research. Is that okay?"
"Sure, but . . ." my dad said, but Zera and I were out the door before we could really hear the end of his sentence. I looked over at Zera, who ambled along beside me.
"What do you think we'll find at the University?" Zera asked.
"You don't think it's a good plan?" I asked and tried to stop myself from sounding defensive.
"No, I'm not doubting your plan, but why that particular place? It's curiosity, Nakeisha," she said as we stopped to wait for a bus.
"Well, it's a large place with a good library, and if we hit a road block, we can get help," I rationalized why I had chosen that place. Well, I didn't know why, but the reasons I said made sense. It just felt like the right place to look for answers, and I couldn't explain that any more than I could explain the fact that I levitated off my bed last night.
When the bus pulled up, we boarded and took seats by each other in the back. We sat quietly as we rode towards the University. Zera sat beside the window, but I looked over her to stare at the world outside the bus. The day was a clear one, and there wasn't even the faintest trace of clouds in the sky. People were already bustling around, even though it was before ten o'clock on the weekend. As we approached the University, I noticed some of the buildings began to take on a more uniform design.
I wondered where our search should begin, and I had a hunch 'glowing orbs' wouldn't turn up useful information. At the same time, I remembered the metal plating we had worn last night, and I thought that might turn up in something.
We arrived at the University rather quickly, and when we got off the bus, Zera followed me towards the large, double doors that led into the library. Once inside, we seemed to depart from the noise that characterized the bustling city during the day time. Silently, I walked over to a set of computers. I sat down, and Zera pulled up a seat beside me. I set my fingers on the key board, but I had no idea what to look up first.
"Armor," Zera whispered. My eye brows furrowed together as I fixed her with a confused glance. "You heard me. That's what we had last night."
"Okay," I muttered as I typed in the world 'armors' under 'search key words.' Needless to say, we had quite a large list. I pulled out a notebook, since it would cost to print, and I scribbled down some titles before tearing out the paper. Zera took it without a word and disappeared into the shelves.
I copied down some more titles before I typed in the words 'search titles.' Here, the list was more narrow, and I copied down most of the book names the search engine produced. Then, I, too, went into the many shelves of the library to hunt down some books. As I began to find the matches the search produced, I flipped through the index to find out what the book specifically mentioned about armors. However, many of the titles seemed useless for our purpose.
"Nakeisha, I found it," Zera whispered. I gave a slight start because she had startled me. I turned around to look at her, and she thrust a book in my face. Mythological Weapons was the title of the book, and I read that it was written by a Dr. Koji Eiji. I put one of the books I had down, but I took with me two more books I had gathered in my search. One was about a history of samurai armor, and the other book was a relatively thin volume about the function of various weapons. We went to an empty table, and Zera opened the book up to a specific page.
She put her index finger under one sentence that read, 'The mystical armors are attributed with various virtues.' I looked at it, and I reread it a couple times. Yes, that seemed to correspond with what had happened to us last night. Then, Zera abruptly shut the book, and I opened my mouth to shout, but she had opened it again to the back.
I looked at the author information page, and as I skimmed it, I realized why she had been so excited. It said that Dr. Koji was a professor of romantic literature at Sengoku University. "He's here?" I asked Zera.
"Let's ask a librarian where we could find him," Zera suggested. I stood up and led the way over to the help desk, which was where one of the librarians was working.
"Excuse me, could you tell us how we could get in touch with Dr. Koji?" I asked her and held up his book. "We're doing some research, and we wanted to ask him about his book."
The librarian froze for a moment, and I thought she wasn't going to answer us. The look on her face seemed to imply we were joking, but I fixed her with a stiff, unyielding stare. Finally, she said, "Do you know Dr. Koji died about three months ago?"
I blinked a couple times. He was dead? Well, of course the book had been published before then and wouldn't have noted he had passed away. Now, I knew why the librarian thought we were being annoying.
"Oh, we really didn't know. Would we be able to contact anyone else who would know a lot about mythical weapons?" I asked the librarian. This time, she immediately started to look something up in her computer.
"Well, you'll have to make an appointment with any professor, but I won't guarantee they'll have time to see you." With that, the librarian scribbled some names and building addresses down on a piece of paper. She handed it to us, and Zera and I went away from the desk to sit back down at our table, which wasn't empty now.
"So, who are we supposed to look for?" I grumbled. "What if none of these professors contact us?"
"I know," Zera mumbled, "I really wanted to talk to Dr. Koji. The book was published a little over two years ago, and I hoped he was doing more research. That one sentence is all he really says about what we need to know."
I sighed and leaned my elbows against the table. I rested my chin on my bawled up fists as I tried to think of how we could get more facts. "Do you think there would be any grad students who knew on what Dr. Koji was working? Maybe they would know more than the professors."
"Yeah, we might actually get to see them," Zera grumbled. She opened the book and began to skim through the spot where she had shown me the sentence. I caught a glance at the top of the page, which bore that specific section's title, 'The Mystical Armors.'
"Excuse me," the man, who had been sitting at our table, said, "I don't mean to interrupt your studying, but I couldn't help but over hear you were talking about Dr. Koji's research."
"Yes? Do you know about it?" I asked hopefully.
"No, I don't, but I know that his grand daughter, Koji Mia, helped him with much of his research," the man told us.
"Can we contact her?" I asked the man.
"Well, she walked in with me, and I think she went over that way," the man said and pointed to another corner of the library. "There's another group of desks in that corner."
"Thank you so much," I muttered, and I thought I might have raised my voice too loud. Zera thanked the man, too, and we went in the direction the man had told us. Would we really get this lucky? But then, when we reached the corner, we saw three people sitting at the desk, but only one of them was a woman.
I approached her, and Zera followed like my shadow. "Excuse me, are you Koji Mia?"
The woman with the lanky, brunette hair pulled her head up from her book. "Yes, I'm Mia. Can I help you?"
"We wanted to talk to you about your grandfather's research," I told her as Zera showed her the book. Mia opened her mouth, but she didn't say anything, although she gave us a curious look. "You see," I continued to talk, "we came across something, in our own research, that we think relates to what your grandfather wrote."
"What is it?" Mia asked.
"We'll show you in some place more private," Zera clarified. For a moment, I thought we had made her suspicious, and she didn't look like she would help us. I felt a slight resentment to Zera's last statement. I would have been perfectly happy explaining everything to Mia here, but no, Zera made a request that made us look like con artists.
"Well," Mia finally said as she looked back down at her book, "let me finish this and mark my spot. Then, we'll go outside and talk."
I was surprised she'd given into Zera's request, but in minutes, Mia had closed her books and stashed away the ones she needed for her own research. Then, she got up and motioned us to lead her out of the library. No doubt, I thought, she was suspicious of us. I would have been more than a little wary of our story, and I doubted I would have trusted two young girls like Zera and I to have artifacts. However, Koji Mia followed us outside, and then, she gestured for us to follow her.
She took us to a relatively secluded spot in a green on campus and motioned us over to a bench underneath a tree. "Please," she said as she gestured for us to sit, and when Zera and I sat, Mia sat beside us, but she turned so that she could still face us. "Alright, ladies, what is it you wanted to know?"
"What can you tell me about this?" Zera said as she pulled the orb with her ko kanji on it out of her pocket. Mia gasped and was visibly shocked as Zera showed it to her. I sent Zera a sharp glance. Why did she show Mia our hand so soon?
"Where did you get this?" Mia whispered as she held out her hand to touch it, but then, she withdrew her hand as if afraid to touch the orb. "I would have said it's an impossibly for you to have that in your possession, but obviously you do."
"We didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying," I snapped. Mia looked at me, and then, she shook her head.
"No, no, I would think that would be hard to steal, but how did you get it?" Mia asked again. "You see, I was under the impression that someone else owned that orb."
"It came to me," Zera began, "when I was asleep last night. I entered a dream, and that is where I found it. I woke up with the orb, and the kanji was glowing on my forehead. It was not stolen, and Nakeisha has one, too."
This time, Mia gave a start and almost slid off the bench. I half expected her to laugh us away after what Zera said. No sane person could believe that story. "C-can I see it?" she stuttered slightly as she composed herself again. I grudgingly pulled out my nin orb, and I was irritated that Zera had us reveal these to this woman so soon into the conversation.
Mia examined my orb with a taunt face before saying, "How did you come by your orb?"
"The same way as Zera, for all intents and purposes," I told her, and I tried to keep the edge out of my voice, but I was a bit cross. This woman had implied we stole these orbs, and then, why had Zera showed them to her? I wanted to just talk about the book and try to glean little useful clues, but Zera seemed to have a different idea in mind.
"What do you mean? Could you describe your experience, too?" Mia asked me.
"Okay, well, I had a dream, too, and I woke up hovering over my bed," I muttered, hoping I didn't sound totally crazy. Mia's eyes widened slightly, but she only gave a small nod in acknowledgement. "Well, I went back to sleep, went farther in my dream, and I woke up with the orb."
"Where you hear in Tokyo three months ago?" Mia asked us.
"I was still in Russia," Zera replied.
"I went to America to visit my relatives there," I told her, and I wondered why she wanted to know our whereabouts then. Was there an art exhibit or something at which these things were shown? Did she still think we stole them?
"The point is," I picked up the conversation again, "that your grandfather seems to be taking about what we have. Would you agree?"
"Yes, I would completely agree, and I do know that he was talking exactly about your orbs. Do you know what they are?"
Zera flipped open Dr. Koji's book and read, "The mystical armors are attributed with various virtues. We have the virtue and the armor, so I was thinking that these are mystical armors."
"You put on the armor?" Mia gasped, and her mouth hung open as she stared at Zera and then at me. "You never told me. That is very important!"
"Well, there wasn't much to them," I confessed. "The armor only consisted of metal plating . . ."
"All over your body but on your face," Mia finished my sentence. I stared at Zera, and I had no doubt now that this woman was authentic. "You didn't put on the armors," Mia clarified with a wave of her hand. "You only put on the sub armor. The actual armor is much more powerful."
"Well, how do we put it on?" Zera asked. For a moment, Mia only stared at her, and I wondered if she would tell us. Not for the first time, I wished Zera had been more discreet.
"Well, I don't have a clear idea of how you don your armors, but I do know that 'Dao' and then the name of the virtue, is a way to summon the power of the Ronin armors. Since they are all related, then maybe it would work for you," Mia said, but I could see in her eyes that she thought that last bit of information might have been against her better judgment. "But why would you want to wear them?"
"Well, they came to us," Zera said and simply shrugged. I bit my lower lip because I watched Mia tense up slightly.
"If you don't think they're supposed to be with us, then doesn't that mean there is something wrong?" I asked her. This time, Mia's eyes lit up, and for a moment, she just stared out into space.
"Yes, that's exactly what it means," she muttered as she stood up and grabbed her bag. Before she left, she told us, "Meet me outside the library. I have more information back at my apartment, and I want to get it. I'll pick you up soon, okay?"
"Where are we going?" I asked her.
Mia had started to walk away, but she glanced over her shoulder and said, "I want to show you some more, but if something is wrong, we need to find the Ronin Warriors. Read the book. It explains more than I can tell you right now."
With that, she strode away and left Zera and I sitting on the bench. When she was gone, we just stared at each other, and I pocketed my orb. Zera, however, just stared at hers for a moment. "Nakeisha, look at it," she muttered.
I shook my head, but I leaned over to stare at her orb as she held it in the sunlight. "Zera, you shouldn't have been so open with her. She was suspicious of us the entire time," I began to lecture Zera, but then, I caught my breath. Instead of shimmering in the sun, her orb, which I thought should have glimmered like a pearl, remained cold and dark. "Zera, the sunlight doesn't even seem to be touching it."
"I know," she whispered, and then, she finally pocketed her orb, too. Instead, she glanced down into Dr. Koji's book. "The Ronin armors gather their powers from nature," Zera read aloud to me, "and they were attributed the virtues of jin, rei, chi, gi, and shin."
"That's not us," I muttered as I stared out across the quiet green. "Mia seemed to know that, too."
"Yes, she didn't tell us nearly enough," Zera said as she continued to skim through the book. "I showed her my orb so she would know we were authentic. I didn't think she would have told us nearly what she did if I hadn't laid it all in the open."
"Well, I would have preferred to be more covert," I grumbled, but there was no point arguing after the fact. I fingered the orb in my pocket, and out of curiosity, I removed it, too, and twirled it in the sun.
I watched, and while I held the orb, it appeared not to be there for a moment. I could still feel it in my hand, but the sunlight seemed to go right through it. Zera glanced up at me while I twirled the sphere between my fingers, and we only locked gazes for a moment. Oh yes, these were much more than two pretty pearls. I stuffed mine back in my pocket and stood up. Zera shut the book and followed me as I walked across the green.
We walked side by side, and it didn't take long to reach the doors of the university. There were a couple of stone benches below the steps, and I sat down on one. However, I looked up at Zera and waited for her to sit, but she didn't move. Instead, I watched as her back tensed. At the same time I saw her freeze up, a shiver rushed down my spine. I turned my head and looked around, but only the noon time crowd bustled around us.
I stood up, too, and looked up at Zera. She felt the cold chill, too, and I knew she sensed the danger, too. Had we let our guard down? Maybe studying our orbs in such an open place hadn't been the best idea, especially if Mia thought something was wrong.
Zera barely moved her lips when she spoke. "We're being watched. Go in the opposite direction I do."
I didn't nod, and when Zera walked one way down the street, I turned and strode in the opposite direction. I knew that if one person was watching us, he or she couldn't follow both of us, but if there was more than one? Well, then they would have to split their forces. Would that give us a better chance? I hoped it would, and as I kept walking, I felt myself begin to sweat, and it had nothing to do with the noontime heat. I kept walking, and when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, I began to zigzag across streets and make more random turns to loose that presence.
It seemed to work, but when I felt the chill get suddenly stronger, I made a sharp turn into a small alley. There, I lost the presence, and I kept walking only to come out in a parking lot. There was grass growing through the cracks in the pavement, and I noticed only several cars parked in between the buildings.
Then, a jolt of cold fear shot down my spine. There was another exit set between two buildings that led to a side street. It seemed only big enough for one car to enter and exit the parking lot, though. I had my hand in my pocket, and I touched my nin orb as I felt a tingle run through my body.
I turned behind me and saw a very ordinary man standing the in alley way from which I had just come. He was in a black suit, and there seemed to be nothing extrodinary about him. However, I felt a strange aura coming from him, but then, I felt another presence behind me. In the car entrance stood a woman, also dressed in a simple black suit, and I felt the same aura from her.
I was trapped. They had cornered me in this deserted place.
The woman moved first, and her speed was super human. However, I had my hand on my orb, and as I squeezed it, the sub armor, as Mia called it, covered my body. When she slammed into me, the armor kept me from being hurt. With the grating of metal on concrete, I slid across the pavement. The man moved next, and I scampered up and pulled out a burst of speed. His elbow left a hole in the concrete where I had fallen before, but I was up now.
They had succeeded in getting me farther from the exits. They had backed me into a corner, quite literally. I scowled at this pair of clearly non-human figures that stood before me. "What do you want?"
"Show it to us," the man spoke in a halting, monotone voice. His appearance might be normal, but there was a bestial quality to his voice. It was as if his vocal cords weren't made for human speech.
I set my jaw as I stared at them. "You want the real armor? Fine. Have it!" I spat. "Dao Nin!"
The first thing I noticed was that there was added weight on my chest, shoulders, and legs. The second, and most shocking, part about summoning the armor was when the helmet came on my head. It covered my hair and my neck, and the closest thing I had ever come to wearing something like this was when I wore a bicycle helmet, but that couldn't do the heaviness of this samurai head piece justice. Then, when I felt the power surge taper away, a silver facemask slid across my face and obscured everything but my eyes. I could still breathe, but there was a feeling of confinement in this helmet.
However, the two strange creatures in front of me grinned, and their mouths stretched back to their ears and revealed too many sharp teeth. They were going to attack again. I steadied myself for the blow that would come.
Their leaps were synchronized, and as they came towards me, I had the impression that their shapes were changing. They were so fast I couldn't tell.
The woman smashed into me, but the man's attack never came. He was decapitated, and the woman was distracted by her comrade's death. That is all it took for the sword to find her neck, too.
I knew it was Zera before she spoke, although I couldn't recognize her. A brown headpiece, with two massive black metal spikes jutting from where her forehead might be, obscured her hair and her face, and a red faceplate hid everything but her eyes and mouth. I wondered if my helmet looked just as threatening and bizarre. I just knew her, and it was only party because I knew no one else would be coming to aid me. She was wearing an armor, too, and a red cape billowed behind her.
"Let's go. Two followed me, too," she said as went over to a motorcycle. Her voice sounded odd behind the facemask. It seemed muffled, yet she also sounded more unyielding than ever. As she hauled the bike off the ground, I realized she had driven it in here because it hadn't been in the lot when I entered.
She stowed her sword in a sheath that ran sideways across her back. "You can drive one of those?" I asked as I ran over to her, and I noticed my voice had a strange quality behind this mask, too. When I moved, I caught site of three scythes on my right and three scythes on my left. I also noticed that, while I could still see the darker green sub armor, there were pink, metal arm guards on my wrists. Attached to them appeared to be a mace of some sort and a pair of weapons that looked vaguely like two nunchuks held together by a chain.
"My brother worked on bikes," Zera said as she started the motorcycle. I wanted to find out if she had the credentials to drive it, though, and I realized she probably never got a license. However, at my hesitation, Zera snapped, "More will come."
I agreed completely and jumped on behind Zera. I wrapped my arms around her waist as she gunned the bike and shot out of the parking lot. No sooner had she pulled out than I saw two creatures dart through the air.
Zera glanced into the rearview mirror, so I knew she saw the several bat-like creatures that had followed us. "We need to loose them. You fight, and I'll drive."
"I can't use these!" I shouted as I peered at the scythes attached to my back. I had never been trained to use weapons! What was I supposed to do?
"Learn how!" Zera yelled as she made a quick turn. We were going entirely too fast for the crowded Tokyo streets.
I snorted. "That's easy for you to say. You got the sword and not these random blades on your back." Then, before I could say anything else, Zera shot around a curve entirely too fast and zipped through a red light. "Don't wreck!" I screamed.
Zera only laughed. "Nakeisha, we're in full body armor. Wrecking will not be a problem," Zera said as she continued to chuckle. That burned me on the inside, and I bit my lower lip. I looked down at the mace on my arm. I peered over Zera's shoulder and looked into the rearview mirror. They were above our heads, but I didn't think they were close enough for me to hit them with the mace. I had no idea how to wield nunchuks.
Then, one of the creatures dove down at my head. I pulled the mace off my arm and swung it at the creature. It connected with a wing, and the creature went off balance. It splattered against a wall, but there were two more to take its place.
I swung again, and I caught another creature in the side. This one almost fell out of the air, but it recovered. The second one reached for me with its claws, and it was almost close enough to pull me off the bike. I took the mace and brought it down upon its skull. I heard the bones crunch, and the creature fell on the pavement.
Then, I took a final swing, and the remaining creature dodged it. However, I pulled the mace back towards me, and when I did, it caught the creature and snapped its wing. It fell into a car windshield, but I turned around to look where Zera had taken us. We were near a highway, leading out of the city, and the sign that said Odawara caught my attention.
"Get on the highway! Let's go find Seiji!"
"What?" Zera asked as we were rapidly approaching the ramp to get on the highway.
"If any more come, we'll loose them on the highway, and Seiji's boarding house might be safe!" I shouted to her. I couldn't see her face to read her reaction, and I wasn't sure if she liked my reasons. Honestly, I just felt going to Seiji was the best thing for us to do. Why did I want to find Seiji? Did I think he knew about mystical armors? Not really, but I felt he would believe us and aid us.
No matter what she thought, Zera made the turn onto the entrance ramp. We accelerated as we reached the highway, and in what seemed seconds, she was cruising ahead of everyone else. I looked down at the speedometer and realized she was going one hundred and twenty miles an hour!
I sighed and leaned against her as everything passed us by in a blur. I kept looking into the rearview mirror, though, just in case something started following us. As we got off the highway and turned on the road that led to Seiji's boarding house, I thought we really did loose them. Zera, however, kept going ninety miles per hour.
I looked up and saw a dark shape. Zera swerved to miss it, and I saw it was some huge bear like creature. It had a rider, but I couldn't distinguish anything about it. I swung the mace and kept the creature from pulling the bike on its side.
How did they know we would be heading towards the boarding house? It hadn't seemed predictable, but here were more creatures.
A creature ran towards us, and I swung the mace out in front of the bike. It connected with the rider and knocked it off. Zera still had to dodge the rampaging bear.
"Zera, the driveway!" I shouted. She made a hairpin turn onto the gravel drive.
Zera was still traveling almost ninety miles per hour. Then, she cut the curve too sharp. I thought my attack had knocked us off balance, too. I saw a creature lunge from a bush.
It all happened too fast. One moment, I was on the motorcycle. The next, I lay sprawled on the gravel drive. I looked around, but I couldn't see the bike. I had heard the crash, but I couldn't find Zera.
I heard growling. I rolled over and raised myself off the ground. My body ached, but as I sized up the three bear creatures, their riders, and several other creatures that looked like minotaurs, I realized that Zera had been right: wrecking would not be a problem. I could live through it. These things had come here to kill me.
(Seiji)
It was midday, and I had my elbow propped up against the bottom of the windowsill so that I could rest my check on my fist. We were on the bus back to the manor, and Cye, who was leaning his cheek on the window, sat in front of me. Kento sat beside him, and it was from Kento's place that we had just come. Kento and I had wanted to come home last night to see if Kayura arrived home this morning, but Kento's mum had insisted we spend the night and then eat breakfast. Cye had completely agreed, so Kento and I had contented ourselves with staying with Kento's family. However, we ended up getting a later start than we anticipated, and we missed the first bus home. Now, slightly past noon, we were on the highway to Odawara.
Now, the Kayura problem bothered me. It wasn't that I thought Kayura couldn't take care of herself, but it was the simple fact that Kayura had alluded she might need help that concerned me. I wanted to know where she'd gone, and if there was a problem, I wanted to know what it was. Maybe I was just irritated because Kayura was keeping secrets, but Kento seemed just as anxious to get back to the manor. I had an odd inkling that Kento and I were sharing the same fears about Kayura, and to share an emotion with Kento really did seem to suggest something quite important was happening.
I felt the pierce of the familiar energy before I had seen anything. I started, and my eyes were draw to the motorcycle that sped by the bus. It moved too quickly for me to have really seen anything about its riders, but the energy signals had been unmistakable.
Kento sprang up, and I thought he might barrel over Cye to try and see out the window. Cye jerked his head off the window, and he looked fazed, but he grabbed Kento by the shoulder and sat him back in his seat.
"Did you see the motorcycle?" Cye said as he turned to look at me with wide eyes.
I gave a quick nod. "And I know it has two riders."
"I know I didn't imagine it," Kento muttered, his mouth still hanging slightly open. "Seiji, Dais was on that motorcycle."
I nodded. There was no way to ignore that I had felt the energy of the Gen Masho. However, it hadn't been the Gen armor I had noticed first. What had startled me was the fact that I had felt the energy of the Yami armor pierce my brain like a knife. There was no mistake that the Yami Masho had been on the motorcycle, and that bike was headed in the direction we traveled.
"It was heading in the same direction we are," I noted to Cye and Kento. They exchanged quick glances. Did this have something to do with Kayura? Maybe she really had gone to the Nether Realm. However, there seemed to be something off about two of the Warlords riding on a motorcycle, and in any other circumstance, it might seem comical, but now, there seemed something ominous about the situation.
We got off the bus not far from the gravel driveway. We strode towards the drive, casting glances between each other as we walked. I thought Kento wanted to break into a run, but I didn't want to get worked up if nothing really was wrong. However, I tucked my orb into my palm for quick use if anything proved amiss.
When we got close to the drive, I could smell burnt rubber before I saw the skid marks on the road. Kento broke into a run, and Cye and I followed him. When we reached the driveway, I noticed that the gravel was torn up where something, presumably a motorcycle, had turned into the drive.
Then, I heard a growl. I donned my sub armor, and Kento and Cye did the same. The Minotaur like creature leapt at us, but Kento used his fist and smashed its face while Cye and I knocked it down.
From the woods, and further up the driveway, came more sounds. Kento had already clasped his hands together and shouted, "Dao Gi!"
"Dao Shin!"
"Dao Rei!" The power flooded into my body as the armor came to me. Part of the strength to don the armor came from inside of me, and that made more adrenaline course through my veins with each quickening heartbeat. Then, I wore the armor, and weight of Halo was familiar to me. I immediately drew the no-dachi and gripped the hilt with both hands.
However, the creatures that came rampaging down the driveway were not, by any means, things I had seen in the Dynasty. More of the minotaurs bore down on us, but there were also these bear like creatures with cloaked riders on their backs. I waited for them to come closer to me, but I heard Kento begin his attack.
When they were almost on me, I dove forward and sliced the legs from under a minotaur. I brought the blade up and slashed off a bear creature's head before cutting through its rider as well. I turned and stabbed the no-dachi into the stomach of another minotaur, which made it fold over and fall.
"They're coming from the forest, too!" Cye shouted. I glanced in his direction, and I could see these bug creatures snaking between the trees. Cye charged after them, but I had no time to follow him. A bat creature descended upon me, and I sliced its wing off. It fell, but I had to fend off a couple more of those creatures. The worse part was that more minotaurs and bear creatures charged towards me.
"Alright, babies, let me teach you how it's down," Kento growled. He spun his tetsubo in a great circle over his head. "Iron Rock Crusher!"
I braced myself for the power of the attack when Kento smashed his weapon into the earth. The driveway exploded into pieces, and the creatures that had been coming towards us toppled over each other and fell when the earth split. Then, they were obliterated by the power of Kento's sure kill.
Up ahead, beyond the bend in the driveway, I heard more noise. There was a yell, and it didn't sound like a creature. I looked at the massive hole in the driveway and dove into the woods to work my way towards the commotion. I heard Kento crashing through the under brush as he followed me.
Soon, emerging through the trees, we came in sight of about thirty creatures that had formed a circle. In the middle, the figure who they had trapped and were tightening the circle upon was the Gen Masho. However, at first glance, something about the bearing of the Gen armor didn't appear correct.
"Dais looks tiny," Kento muttered. Yes, that was it. The Gen Masho had a smaller stature to him than I remembered. Was my mind playing tricks upon me? Maybe, but then again, possibly not.
Kento raised his tetsubo over his head again and began to spin it. I looked over at him with his face set in a scowl, and I knew I couldn't stop what was coming. "Iron Rock Crusher!"
The second attack smashed up most of the circle, but some of the creatures weren't destroyed in the attack. Indeed, I saw more creatures rampaging down the driveway to replace those that Kento destroyed. However, there were some of the bugs, which looked like purple and pink centipedes, and more of the minotaurs coming towards us. However, out of the creatures that survived the attack, I noticed most of them seemed like armored trolls of some sort, and they were easily three or four heads taller than I was.
A pair of these creatures charged me, and I brought my blade up to strike them. However, it bounced off the chest armor, and I had to duck the blade of the second creature. I brought my no-dachi up quickly and stabbed the one creature through the neck. The second one threw me off balance, but I recovered to parry his blow. Then, I struck him in his exposed jugular, and he fell, too.
"What are you doing!" Kento shouted. I looked over in the wreck left by Kento's attack. The Gen Masho had gotten up and had obviously attacked Kento. With one hand, the Gen Masho spun the deadly spiked morning star, and with the other hand, held the nunchuks ready for use.
I watched as the Gen Masho swung the morning star at Kento, who had unlinked his tetsubo into its three sections, which he spun around to counter the attack. They went back and forth like that for a time, but I felt that the Gen Masho seemed slow.
"Come on, Dais, where's that sure kill? No taunts for me today?" Kento sneered. "I expected more from you."
I frowned as I watched the two warriors fight. No, there was something wrong about this, and I had a funny hunch that this warrior wasn't Dais. Kento was right, although I doubted he had yet come to the conclusion that the warrior wasn't Dais. The Gen armor bearer hadn't touched the six deadly kama attached to the back of the Gen armor that would deliver the sure kill.
No, this wasn't Dais's style of fighting at all. However, I noticed more creatures were closing in on the pair, and as I scanned the mass of creatures, I noticed one hung back. One of the bear creatures and its rider didn't advance but lingered in the background to observe the fight. I turned my attention to one of the bug creatures and began to fight it. I sliced it open easily enough, and then, I appeared to get ready to aim my sure kill at a minotaur.
"Thunder Bolt Cut!"
At the last possible moment, I turned the surge of power and directed it towards the bear and rider. It hit the bear, which was destroyed, but the rider had leapt in the air, and its hood fell back. A white skull mask gleamed in the sun, and the mocking smile that was part of the mask infuriated me. I aimed my no-dachi at the creature and shouted again, "Thunder Bolt Cut!"
"Iron Rock Crusher!" Kento shouted as he pummeled another attack into the other creatures that were charging at me. I watched at the masked rider's left arm was hit by the attack, but the rider was still able to scamper away.
"Coward," I muttered under my breath.
"Hey!" Kento shouted again. I turned back to the Gen armor bearer, who had once again struck Kento with the morning star. Kento scowled at the armor bearer as he raised his tetsubo to strike the armor bearer. I dodged between them and caught Kento's tetsubo with my no-dachi. Kento looked surprised, but he lay off his attack for the moment.
"Let me take him!" the Gen bearer spat. "He attacked me!"
I vaguely recognized the voice, but Kento shouted, "Whatever you'd like to believe! Let's go, then! If you want a fight, I'll give it!"
I turned to the Gen bearer. "You should stop this."
I could only see the dark, chocolate eyes as the bearer said, "I'm not out of fight."
I stood there, contemplating the Gen armor and its bearer for a moment. The design of the helmet, with the two metal green horns jutting out of opposite sides, was the same, and the silver faceplate masked all but the two ferocious eyes of this bearer. In addition, the coloring of the armor hadn't changed, and the dark pink chest plate, shoulder guard, arm guards, leg guards, and the three pronged toe guards still retained the same style. However, there was something in the fit of the armor which was different, and as I stared into those burning eyes, I knew why the armor seemed to be less massive.
Instead of attacking, I hung my no-dachi on my back. I put up both hands palms out toward the Gen armor bearer in a gesture of peace. Then, even though the bearer's weapons weren't lowered, I reached up and removed my helmet. I cradled the helmet in my right arm, and the Gen bearer dropped both weapons to the ground.
Immediately, she removed her helmet, and when she did, I saw the face I had expected. Nakeisha gazed back at me, her mouth hanging open. She looked as if she would speak, but the only sound that came out sounded like 'huh.' She was speechless, and there was always something to be said for moments when Nakeisha had no words.
"Will you stop this now?" I asked her. She nodded, but then, she simply cocked her head to one side and stared at me.
"I came to find you," she said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"But you didn't know," I told her. She gave a nod that I was correct, but then simply shrugged. She had no idea why she had come, but by all the creatures gathered, I obviously figured out someone had expected her.
Then, Kento began to mutter curses from behind me. I realized it probably took him this long to recover from the shock of seeing Nakeisha wearing the Gen armor, and he, too, took off his helmet. "Okay, this is just too, I don't know . . . it's just too . . . too"
"Ironic," I finished the thought.
"Something like that," Kento muttered as he gazed daggers at Nakeisha. "It was also not funny."
However, I had began to laugh, and Nakeisha smirked back at Kento, but she didn't take her eyes off me.
"Not funny," Kento grumbled. "Seriously, she," Kento gestured to Nakeisha, "attacked me!"
"You attacked me first! You blew up the ground!" Nakeisha shouted and pointed a finger at Kento. "Really, what a bad attack!"
"It wasn't a bad attack! It's not a precision attack, you know. It's one of those destroy-as-many-things-as-possible attacks. Besides, I didn't even see you use a sure kill!" Kento retorted. With the part about the sure kill, he did have a point.
"A sure kill? Kento, if you haven't noticed, I just figured out how to use these," Nakeisha said as she gestured to the weapons on the ground. "I just put this on less than an hour ago!"
"Really? What happened?" I asked, and I realized that there was something deeply wrong happening if Nakeisha had the armor.
"Well, I put it on, and Zera and I were followed. We rode out here to find you," she said and picked up her weapons and secured them on her arms again.
"Zera?" I asked. Then, I remember that I had also sensed the presence of the Yami armor on the motorcycle. Now, I had a sinking sensation that it might not have been the Yami Masho, as I had thought. The armor bearer of the Yami armor might indeed be Zera, and that was no comforting thought for me.
"Were you two on that motorcycle?" Kento asked. Nakeisha nodded.
"Did you see Zera? We crashed, and I couldn't see where she went. I don't even know where the bike is," Nakiesha said.
"There were creatures in the woods, where Cye went!" I exclaimed and replaced my helmet on my head. Kento and Nakeisha did the same, and the three of us charged off into the woods, trying to find any trail of destruction that might show which way the battle had gone.
(Zera)
The bike flipped, and I went hurtling through the trees. I landed on my back, and the huge bear creature stood over me, and its drool dripped down into my face. I raised my hand and slashed its eyes with my claw. The monster howled, but I threw it off and drew my sword. I slashed the rider.
More bear creatures and these tall, armored creatures came thundering through the forest. I steadied myself, and then, I ran at the bear creatures. I swung the sword down on one of their heads, but the rider went to slash me. I took my claws and dung them into what I hoped was the rider's face. I felt I hit the mark, and the rider gave a horrible howl.
One of the armored, two legged beasts came at me. My eyes only reached its mid chest, so I ducked down and raced behind the creature to avoid its blow. I took the sword and sliced at the back of the creature's knees. It howled in pain, and I delivered a cut to each of its tendons.
I looked up into the slobbering mandibles of some rabid centipede. It started to crawl on me, and I pushed the body of the other creature forward so it didn't fall on me. I stuck my claw in the centipede's mouth to keep it from attacking me. Then, I brought my sword around and decapitated it. Goo spurted everywhere, and as quickly as I could, I got up and dashed away from the centipede body that was lying on the ground and twitching.
Were there no end to these things? More centipedes came charging at me from my left, and several of the armored giants came up behind me. I knew I couldn't fight them all, so I began to sprint through the trees. The forest might offer me the chance to loose these monsters.
The thundering footfalls of the large, armored creatures faded away, and I knew I was out maneuvering them. However, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the centipedes closing the gap on me. Soon, I could hear the sucking sound of their mandibles, and that's when I turned and sliced one in half.
One crawled up my body, and I cut this one in half, too. When I threw the body off me, I doubled my speed and made distance on several others that almost had me. Then, I saw my chance.
I had been moving up a hill, and at one point, part of the ground had fallen away. It was as if part of the land had been cut in half by a saw, and as I looked down, I could see the various layers of soil revealed. It was a passable distance to fall, and the land dropped away at a ninety-degree angle. The best part was that there was an up rooted tree at the bottom. The gnarled roots stuck up into the air, and they looked vaguely like spikes. I steadied myself at a safe distance from the edge of this drop and waited.
The centipedes came padding over the earth, and as they came towards me, I raised my sword. I stood my ground, and swung down to decapitate one when it came close to me. If I couldn't hit one, I would dodge it. The centipedes were moving quickly, and when I dodged, they were too close to the edge. Their momentum propelled them down and onto the tree roots.
As I kept sending them over, I heard the strange, clicking squeals as they were impaled or were injured in some way. Finally, I charged at the last one I could see and decapitated it. Then, I walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. There they were, a mass of guts and squirming, dead, or dying bodies.
Then, I looked back into the forest, which had gone quiet. I gasped as I realized I had lost all my attackers. So, I walked away from where I had killed the bugs and went farther into the woods. I heard the sound of water, and I went towards it. There was a little stream bubbling through the forest, and I began to walk along side it.
When the stream formed a quiet pool, at one of its wider spots, I stopped and bent down to splash water on my face. Before I did, I looked down at myself. It was startling to see my green eyes set amid the bright red of my faceplate. I realized how little of my face I could see, but I ignored this thought and splashed water onto my sweaty face.
As the water dripped down the inside of the facemask, I stood up and looked down at my reflection. There was no denying that I was tall, but this armor seemed to amplify that fact. I fingered one of the spikes, positioned below my clavical, but above my breasts, that jutted from the armor. It was probably no coincidence that one of these spikes was directly over my heart. This was supposed to be an armor, and that was one part of my body I didn't want getting injured.
I didn't know how long she had been standing there, but when I saw her, I raised my sword and pointed it at her. She stood almost directly across from where I stood, but a little to my right, which is probably how I missed her.
The woman was dressed in a billowing, black gown with huge, sweeping sleeves. She wore no rope at her waist, so her body appeared one black mass. Her hair was the same shade of black as her gown, but her skin was pale, and I thought it had a sickly, yellow tint.
However, it was her calm, shimmering, yellow eyes that startled me. As she stood there, watching me, as slight sigh escaped her thin lips. "I am not armed. Would you attack me?"
"Prove it," I muttered. She only sighed again, but she held her hands over her head. Her nails, I noticed, seemed unnaturally long, and they had that yellow tint I saw in her skin. However, her long nails didn't look like claws.
"I do not blame you for not feeling trusting," she told me in a quiet, even voice. She had a deeper, alto voice, and maybe the way she spoke made her voice sound reedy and a little thin.
"You look a little bit like an enemy," I spat at her, but she only shrugged.
"Is it because I am different? Do my looks threaten you?" She paused, but her face remained almost emotionless. "Did you look at yourself? Do so, if you have not."
"I did," I muttered.
"Would not many call you threatening?" Again, she paused, but she kept her eyes fixed on me. She found my gaze, and I looked into those animal yellow eyes. "Do they not think you are threatening without your armor?"
How could she know that? I involuntarily gasped, but my weapon never wavered. Slowly, I watched as the corners of her mouth tugged up into a wry grin.
"Do not be alarmed. You see, your power is what makes you so wonderful. It is true, you know, that your power is the greatest of them all," she told me.
"The greatest of them all?" I asked.
She sighed and shook her head, but her eyes stayed open and fixed on me. "Why, you were not told. There are more armors, but your power is truly the mightiest. Was it not you who saved yourself in this very forest? Did you not escape before, too? Was it not you who felt the danger approaching?"
"I did," I muttered in answer to her questions. While Nakeisha was smart and had led us to Mia, who I felt told us very little, I had been the one to realize we were being watched. I had also gotten Nakeisha out of the city safely. And then, I found a way to kill all those centipedes.
"You are ko, final piety, but your virtue may work to make others obedient and pious to you," she told me. Mia told us nothing about that, and she grinned again as she saw the confusion in my face.
"Oh, you have not been told anything of your armor, I see," she said with a sigh. "You have so much potential, but others would hide it from you."
Would they? I wondered this myself. Mia certainly hadn't trusted us immediately, and I didn't know if anyone else would react better than she had. Did this woman really know a lot about my armor? I asked her, "What do you mean?"
"It is simple. You yourself have the ability to a complete, child like obedience and respect towards another, but you may also exert that power over others," and once again she paused before saying, "You could give others cause to obey you. They would finally tell you the truth because you could make them."
"What if I didn't want to?" I asked her.
"Well, then you could be lied to forever," she said with a shrug. "You can rely on that magnanimous virtue of trust and believe that no one will ever lie to or withhold anything from you again."
At these words, my insides burned. "No," I spat. I watched as that slow smile spread over her pasty features again.
"Ah, so would you like me to tell you the truth, Yami?" she asked.
"Yami?"
"Yes, that is the name of your armor. It is a pity you did not know it. You know, that girl did," she told me. I felt anger boil in the bit of my stomach. My armor had a name and no one had told it to me. There seemed to be something traitorous about that Mia, now.
"What else do you know?" I asked her.
"Many things, but would you show me your face?" she asked me. I paused, but I sheathed my sword on my back and reached up to take off my helmet. When I did, my hair tumbled freely over my shoulders, and the cool air of the forest felt good against my sweaty skin.
"Ah, what a powerful woman. No man can equal you." When she said this, I felt pride rise in my chest.
"Tell me, what is your name, so I may have something proper to call you," she asked. I noticed she hadn't moved at all, though, and the distance she kept between us was sufficient. Suddenly, though, I wished she would come closer to me.
"I'm Zera," I told her. This time, she smiled fully, and I could see her white teeth. As she opened her mouth to speak again, I heard the sounding of something crashing through the under brush. I turned my head and gasped as I saw someone in light blue armor sprinting towards me.
As I stared, he stopped and almost fell.
"Zera!"
The warrior was carrying something that looked like a trident, which was dropped on the ground so that the helmet could be removed.
I gasped as I looked into the sweaty face of the person who had come to find me. "Cye?"
(Cye)
I had tracked the minotaur creatures and the huge, armored giant creatures through the woods. They weren't very quiet, so they really weren't hard to follow. Although they fought me, many of the giant creatures ignored me and plunged farther into the forest.
As I jabbed my yari through the last minotaur, this made me really suspicious. They were heading somewhere, and I doubted they were retreating. I began to sprint through the trees, and sweat dripped into my eyes. I closed the gap upon some of the giants, and I shoved my yari through one of the creature's back. Then, the other creatures turned to fight me. I thrust my yari upwards into one of their throats, and then, I battled the other one until I had a shot at its throat.
These ones were dead, but I heard other sounds farther off in the forest, so I followed them. Obviously, another battle was happening not too far away, but soon, the noise stopped altogether. I paused and panted as I listened to the chirping birds in the silent forest.
Then, I heard the sound of a stream trickling nearby, and I walked towards it. It was strange, how all the noise vanished, and I wondered how that battle had ended. As I stared around, I realized I had come quiet a distance from the driveway, and I wondered if I should try to find my way back to Seiji and Kento. However, I knew this stream passed relatively close the manor at one point, so I began to follow it.
I saw a patch of red, and it stood out amongst the green foliage. I gasped as I realized it was the cape of the Yami Masho. However, as I began to sprint, I noticed the armor bearer wasn't bearing a helmet. When the head turned, I realized it wasn't Kale's face that stared back at me.
I gasped and dropped my yari to the ground as I looked into familiar emerald eyes. "Zera!"
I couldn't believe it. She looked just as surprised to see me. "Cye?"
"You have come."
A chill shot down my spine, and I dove down to grab my yari. I had been a fool to drop it, but that voice put me on edge. I looked into a shaded region on the other side of the stream from which the voice had come. She stood there, robbed in black, and I noted she had hid herself in the shade.
"You," I spat. A slow grin came over her face.
"Cye, you know her?" Zera asked as she turned and gestured to the woman, who crossed, before I could blink, to stand beside Zera.
"Get away from her! Zera, get away!" I shouted as I aimed my yari at the woman. However, she just sneered at me, and her eyes widened, and suddenly, I was in my dream.
I think I screamed, and I couldn't force out my sure kill. I struggled to keep my vision clear, and I pulled my eyes away from her yellow eyes to look into Zera's green ones. However, Zera glanced between us, and I noticed a pleading look in her eyes. I realized that Zera Kolav was very confused.
"Yes, Zera, we are acquainted," she told Zera, who glanced from her to me again.
"Why are you hurting him?" Zera asked her. This time, there was no sneer on the woman's face, and I saw it grow dark. Somehow, standing in the light of day, there was something more horrible about her. Now, she wasn't a shade in my dreams any more but a living being.
"You see," she began slowly to speak again, and each word seemed to make my ears bleed, "Your armor has also been nicknamed the jackal armor. You see, I have some knowledge of dogs, and I believe Cye does, too."
That last words were an arrow through my heart, and Zera shot me a questioning gaze. "What are you saying? I don't get it."
"Zera, don't listen to her! She's . . ."
'You are mine!' Her voice screamed inside my head, and I felt my body collapse. I caught myself against a tree and slid down along the trunk as I struggled to stand. I jabbed my yari into the ground, and it gave me something with which to keep myself standing. I cleared my vision, which had gone blurry for a moment and scowled back at her.
". . . you Zera," she had been talking, but I hadn't caught the words. However, Zera looked anxious now, but she was trying to soothe her. Obviously, I had come along to ruin the plan. "Do you want to know how Cye deceived you?"
"He came here to help me," Zera said as she looked at me for support. I nodded, but then, she spoke before I could respond.
"He will still tell you nothing," she hissed, and Zera's mouth fell open slightly as she shook her head.
"Cye tells me the truth," Zera muttered as she looked back over at the woman. Zera looked like she would take a step towards me, and I struggled to regain my strength, but that witch looked at me again. Those eye eyes sent another roll of pain through my body, and I ground my teeth together.
"Does he? Tell her, Cye, why you did not go to the party. Yes, Cye, tell her the truth," she sneered, and Zera froze. She just looked at me, waiting for an answer.
"How about you tell her, sorceress!" I spat her.
'And that is what I am, and now, I shall work my greatest magic when Zera of Yami destroys you!'
She screamed into my head, and I writhed in pain as I fell down upon the ground. I was still leaning against the tree, and I clutched my yari with a death grip. I couldn't hear anything, but I forced myself to focus. Dear gods, she was going to take Zera!
". . . is in him. Is that not right, Cye?" she said, but I had missed what she had told Zera. However, only shock flashed across Zera's face.
"What . . . did she tell you?" I said, but my voice was weak. It took effort to speak, but when Zera turned to me, she looked reproachful.
"She said you lied. She told me you've been hiding a secret. She said there was something . . . evil in you," Zera told me. "Is it true?"
"It's from her! You can't believe her!" I shouted, but Zera only shook her head.
"She's told me more about my armor than anyone. She said she'd help me use it," Zera said, but she wasn't speaking to me any more. She stared off into space, as if contemplating something.
"Zera, she's a liar! She . . ."
'Fool!'
The word burned through my mind, and I felt my jaw clamp shut to keep from crying out in pain. She fixed me with that wicked stare again, and then, she told Zera, "If he will not tell you the truth, then I must do it. He is not an armor bearer. He is a beast. He is a werewolf, Zera. He has kept that from you for over a month. And you trust this person? You call him friend?"
Zera snapped to attention, and she gaze down at me. "Deny it," she whispered. Tears, from the pain the sorceress was causing me, but also from guilt, dripped down my cheek. I shook my head as my insides turned numb.
"It's true," I whispered. Zera only gazed emotionlessly at me, but in her blank face, there was something worse than anger or rage. Her eyes were numb, and it seemed she looked through me.
"Come," the witch told Zera in a soft, soothing voice, "I will not lie to you. It is your nature to bend those you cannot trust to your will. I will show you how."
I went to scream, but for a moment, she fixed me with that ferocious, yellow-eyed gaze. 'You are mine! She is mine!'
I let go of my yari and slumped down upon the ground. I couldn't move my body. I felt like I was crushed under a mountain. I looked helplessly as Zera turned back towards her.
She held out her hands. "Come. Swear that you will honor my teachings. Give your allegiance to me."
I couldn't fight that horror I saw. The tears streamed down my face. I had lost my friend. I had failed to save her, but worst of all, she knew my dirty secret. She loathed me for it, and now, this witch would have her. Her armor would fall into evil again.
A bold of light cut between Zera and the sorceress as Zera began to stretch a hand towards her. Then, I heard the clanging, and that weight that had been on my chest lifted. I panted and gasped as I struggled to move, but I was still too weak.
The sorceress let out a feral growl as she retreated back to the shadowed place she had been when I first saw her. The staff's noise seemed to fill the entire forest, and she put her hands over her ears and shrieked. However, Zera simply stared at the staff for a moment and dropped her helmet. Then, she fell to her knees in front of it. From there, like some lifeless dummy, she toppled over on her side and lay sprawled on the ground.
I heard footfalls on the forest floor, and soon, Kayura raced into the clearing. Behind her came Ryo, who stopped and gazed dumbly down at the unconscious Zera. Then, from the other direction, I heard more footsteps.
The sorceress looked around with a sour expression on her face. Then, she locked my eyes with a hate filled gazed before she melted into the shadows.
"Zera! Zera!"
I recognized Nakeisha's voice, and soon, I was the Gen armor rush over and kneel down beside the conscious Zera. So, I thought, we hadn't seen the Gen Masho and the Yami Masho on the motorcycle, but instead, we had seen Zera and Nakeisha.
"Zera! Wake up! Look at me! Zera! What's wrong! Zera!" Nakeisha began to plead with her friend and shake her shoulders.
"Give her space!" Kayura demanded as she rushed over and grabbed the staff out of the ground with one hand. Then, she knelt down by Zera.
"Nakeisha, let her go. Kayura will help her," Seiji said as he rushed over and pried Nakeisha away from Zera. Nakeisha was violently shaking, and Seiji put his hands on her shoulders to quiet her.
"Dude, what happened?" Kento said as he came over to me. "You okay, buddy?"
"Not really," I whispered. "Help me up."
"Sure thing," Ryo muttered. Kento and Ryo lifted me up together, and I remained hanging between them with one arm slung around each of their shoulders. Kento reached over and yanked my yari out of the ground.
"Zera," Kayura whispered as she passed her hand over Zera's face. Then, she lowered the staff and let the rings rest only inches from Zera's nose. The began to jingle, and Kayura said, in a soft, soothing voice, "Zera. Zera of Yami. Come back. Do not go into a darkness from which you cannot return. Come back to us."
Then, the rings stopped clinging, and Zera gasped. I saw relief flood through Kayura's tense body as she removed the staff from in front of Zera. Now, Nakeisha did rush away from Seiji to sit by Zera's side. Kayura helped Zera sit up, but Zera just stared dumbly around the clearing as if she didn't know any of us.
"Zera! It's Nakiesha! Are you okay?" Nakeisha asked as she looked into Zera's face. Zera blinked a couple times, but her gaze slowly focused in on Nakeisha's face.
"Nakeisha? What are you doing here?" Zera muttered.
"You crashed the bike!" Nakeisha exclaimed. "I couldn't get away to follow you!"
"Oh," Zera's mouth formed the word, and then, she looked over at Kayura. She simply gazed at the Ancient's Heir, and I wondered if she would say anything at all, but then, Zera muttered, "It was you I heard."
"Yes, it was," Kayura told her. "I am Lady Kayura, and it is good to meet you Zera of Yami."
"But, as good as this all is," Ryo interrupted from my side, "Rowen and N'deki are still being attacked back at the manor! We need to go!"
"N'deki? Whoa! What did we miss?" Kento asked.
"She's got an armor, too," Ryo said as he motioned for Kento to swing me around so we could go in the right direction. By this time, I had recovered myself enough to be able to limp along between the two of them. I didn't see Seiji, Kayura, Zera, or Nakeisha following us, yet, but I was sure they were just getting Zera off the ground.
In my mind, I tried to picture petit N'deki wearing an armor. I had to admit, the scene was comical. Something less amusing was why the girls had the armors in the first place. Clearly, we had missed something. I felt a pang of guilt because I felt that maybe our splitting up again had caused the disorder that happened today. In my mind, I saw Zera topple over and fall to the ground again. She seemed so lifeless.
Then, we had reached the manor. I gasped when I saw that the upstairs windows had mostly been broken. Ryo removed my arm from his shoulder and race through the open front door. I looked over at Kento, who handed me back my yari.
"You going to be okay?" he asked. I tried to stand, but my legs were still weak.
"I don't know if I'm up for fighting," I muttered, and then added, "but take me in the house. I could sit it out on the couch."
Kento smirked. "I might not fight in the house just yet. You should see the mess I made of the driveway."
Then, White Blaze's trumpeting growl came from inside the house. I looked at Kento, and he helped me through the door, although with his support, I could walk now. We went into the kitchen, and I leaned against the table. In the living room, I saw Rowen shooting numerous arrows into a couple of the armored giants I had seen in the woods. The sliding door, which was glass and led to the back yard, had been completely shattered.
Kento snarled as he unhooked his tetsubo into three pieces. "If my video games are broken, there's going to be hell to pay!"
As Kento joined the fray, I realized I heard noise upstairs, too. I looked at the steps and began to stagger up them with my yari as support. When I reached the top, I realized the loud crash came from the study. I heard White Blaze's growl come from that direction, too. Then, I heard another noise in my bedroom.
Before I got to my room, a purple harpy darted out of Seiji and Rowen's bedroom. I almost attacked, but then, the Oni armor bearer, which I had to assume was N'deki, rushed out after the harpy. They both ignored me as they darted into my bedroom.
"Help!" I heard Mia scream, and then, I quickened my pace. When I reached the door, the harpy was grappling with one of the giant creatures, and N'deki threw her kusari-gama into one of the bear riders that stood over Mia.
"Get away!" Yuli screamed, and I saw he had dove under the bed to prevent the one giant creature from picking him up. He belly crawled back out, and I saw he dangled the jewel of life from his hand. The bear rider, however, had turned to face N'deki, and with a blow, sent her flying across the room. In the process, the blow removed N'deki's helmet.
I raised my yari and went to attack the giant that had the harpy. I squatted down and aimed up for the throat, and because it was distracted, I got my shot. The creature crumpled to the floor, but when I looked over at Mia, her shirt was covered in blood.
I heard the grating of metal on metal. N'deki raised her sickle to stop the blow of the rider's massive no-dachi from slamming into her face. The rider scowled, and I lunged at it with my yari. The rider turned to parry my blow, and N'deki got away from it.
"I'll help," I heard N'deki whisper. As the rider pressed down on me, I knew I couldn't stop it for long, but the harpy was there, and when she flung herself at the rider, I had enough time to try for a killing thrust.
The rider was very quick. Before I knew what happened, it had dodged the blow and rushed over to where N'deki was kneeling. I saw her head turn, and then, I watched as she snapped backwards and landed on the ground.
Blood began to gush from the cut that went from her forehead to the back of her neck. I knew head wounds bled a lot, but I had never seen someone severely injured in the head. Mia started to cry for help, and then, there was a blur of red as Ryo charged through the door. He stopped the rider and battled it until it retreated out the window.
By then, the carpet was soaked with blood, and N'deki stared vacantly up at the ceiling. Yuli ran over and huddled by Mia, who was screaming for help at the top of her lungs. I heard the pounding on the stairs, and I pushed myself against the wall to make room.
Rowen and Kento came through the door first. Kento's jaw fell open at the sight of N'deki on the floor. Rowen ran back out in the hall and shouted, "Kayura! Kayura! Get up here! She's bleeding out!"
Rowen reentered the room with Kayura at his heals. As Kayura ran in, she let out a shriek that I'd only heard before in horror movies. Zera and Nakeisha came in next, both cradling their helmets in their arms. Seiji stood behind them, and all three stood at the door and viewed the grizzly scene.
"Help me!" Kayura called as she knelt over N'deki.
"Here," Yuli said as he handed Kayura the Jewel of Life. Kayura took it from his hand and placed it into one of her hands. Then, she grabbed the staff with one hand while she put the other hand on N'deki's back and pulled her off the floor.
"Come here!" Kayura's voice was high and pleading, "Help me!"
Seiji stepped forward first and placed one hand on Kayura's shoulder. Kayura bent over N'deki and pressed the staff to her chest. The staff began to glow, and Nakiesha and Zera, like two shadows, came over and each put a hand on Kayura. Then, Rowen and Ryo joined them. Finally, Kento and I came over and put our hands on Ryo, since there was no more room around Kayura.
I felt the energy being pulled from me, and I felt the staff draw it out of my armor. Kayura was channeling all our power through her so the staff and the Jewel could heal N'deki. I watched her as she rocked and swayed slightly while she concentrated. The staff kept growing brighter, and as its power grew, I felt my legs become shaky. I was too weak for this, but I kept hold of Ryo all the same.
I didn't know how long it took, but Kayura finally removed the staff from N'deki. The staff returned to normal, and I pulled away from Ryo and plopped down on Kento's bed in a cold sweat. Kayura still held N'deki with her other hand, and she didn't seem like she wanted to move.
"She'll live," Rowen muttered to break the silence, "but she's lost a lot of blood. She's going to need to go to the hospital. Kayura, can you remove her armor?"
"I'll drive her. Someone will need to carry her, though, since the jeep is parked down below the crater in my driveway," Mia said, and then, she glanced down at her shirt. "I'm going to change, first. N'deki can wear some of my clothes, too."
"I'll take her," Ryo said, and I realized he'd already taken off his armor. He reached down and took N'deki from Kayura, who had already removed N'deki's full armor.
"I want to come!" Yuli said as Mia went to exit the room. However, Mia only shook her head.
"No, everyone else should stay and rest." She glanced between all of us, and then, she looked down at Kayura, but Kayura only kept staring off into the pool of blood. Mia glanced around and met the eyes of everyone else in the room, though, as if she wanted this point to be perfectly clear to us. Mia cleared her throat before she spoke again.
"This isn't over, you know. There are nine armors, and I see only eight."
It was all Mia needed to say, and when she left, with Ryo on her heals, the rest of us seemed frozen. I stared down at my feet, not really wanting to look around at anybody yet. Out of all the things I had seen today, watching N'deki loose all that blood had been the most disturbing. Then, the truth was, this wasn't over at all.
A/N: I hope that satisfied some battle cravings. I really liked the idea of Zera, Nakeisha, and the motorcycle. It seemed like something Zera would do, and it added some style to their escape scene. There was never anything said in the series about the orbs looking special, but I thought they might, so I added that, too. Once again, I prefer the Japanese names for the seasonal armors.
For GS: I hope this answered the Cye/sorceress question. Cye's werewolf plot isn't over yet, but every time you asked about Cye and the sorceress, I kept thinking of this scene because this was a staple in that plot for quite a while. While the sorceress can't control Cye's spirit, she does have a degree of physical control over him. Zera is also now involved, so that's a nasty little twist that's going to cause problems. Also, the nameless sorceress is coming back later, and someone else will get to see her in action. Eventually, many of these characters in this chapter and previous chapters will get names! (Including the goddess.)
I was actually going to have the Warlords killed right in front of Kayura at the cave, but that was too simple in the end. What is the fate of the Warlords? Whatever it is, I hope the previous chapter drove one point home: the Ronins aren't keen to save them, so they're not getting any direct help from them.
I've written other random parts of this story, and once again, it's a quest of stringing them all together. So, until then, enjoy.