Chapter Twenty-Seven
New as of May 8, 2008
"So, are you going to go on another date with Ryo?" Kayura teasingly asked her fellow guardian.
Elayne gave a snort, "You go out with Rowen first, and maybe I'll think about dating him again in the next lifetime."
"Oh harsh," Hotaru commented with a wince, as she walked with the pair. "If you keep saying things like that people are going to start to think you don't love him anymore."
"Hold it back up, when did I ever say that?" the young woman demanded of her little sister, violet eyes narrowed.
The youngest of the Senshi smirked, "Oh you don't have to say it nee-san, we can see it in your face. Can't we Kay-san?"
"That we can," the Lady Ancient cheerfully quipped before laughing at the look of pure murder on Elayne's face.
The Secondary Guardian was quick to turn the attention off of her, saying smugly, "And what does that say for you and blue-boy hm?" Before glancing at the eighteen-year-old Hotaru, "Or a certain Seasonal you've become awfully close to lately?"
Kayura scowled and did not bother to offer that with a retort, mainly because she was taken by surprise at Hotaru's reaction.
Hotaru flushed pink, and quickly turned her head away, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Uh huh sure you don't," Elayne said with a smirk, "As such I'm certain Trista-tachi won't know what I'm talking about either."
"Don't you dare tell them!" the Senshi of Saturn shrieked chasing after Elayne who had started to laugh and jog away.
Kayura gave a shake of her blue-head slowly following after the pair. The large group had split up no more than an hour ago, everyone going off with someone they normally were unable to be around.
What had amused Elayne, up until the point she and Hotaru had steered the conversation towards "the date," was the fact that Kento and Kirstin had gone off together, and it appeared that a few other Ronin (Elemental and Seasonal alike) had vanished with a Senshi.
Suddenly the Lady Ancient became aware of the fact she was being followed, and she halted turning her head to look at her pursuer.
"Rowen?" she blinked a few times in confusion.
The archer gave a grin, "Sorry, didn't mean to come across as a stalker. Just wanted to get away from the ogling."
"You just can't handle being drooled over, can you?" Kayura snorted down a laugh, and waited for the young man to fall into step next to her before resuming her walk.
"I feel like a piece of meat," the Strata Ronin grimaced, raising an eyebrow at Elayne who had stopped ahead of them and caught Hotaru in a headlock.
"Prime cut?" the Secondary Guardian cheerfully queried before saying to the small Senshi, "Now, you take it back imouto."
"How can you deny true love?" the Senshi of Saturn queried before chortling at the look of abject horror on her sister's face.
Elayne's eye twitched as she harshly rubbed her knuckles against the girl's head, "You little snot!"
Kayura and Rowen both laughed at the pair, and the young woman finally gave up, settling to cross her arms over her chest and sulk.
"I'm trading in my henshin pen for a lifetime supply of rice wine," Elayne announced before she resumed her walk.
Hotaru, Kayura, and Rowen could only helplessly laugh at hearing this statement, leaving the Secondary Guardian to roll her eyes.
Much Later
"It's always good to get out, and always wonderful to come home," the Seasonal of Winter announced as he walked into the Shinwako mansion and nearly threw himself on the floor. His feet were absolutely killing him, of course after walking that much it couldn't be helped.
"We're considering this home now?" an amused Kayura queried as she and the others trailed into the house.
Cale gave a loose shrug of his shoulders, "It's better than nothing."
Kento flopped down in a chair and leaned back into it, "Man, what a day. Glad Mama wasn't expecting a big crowd today."
"Yeah, simply because we make up a small province," the Seasonal of Summer snorted out as he rolled his eye.
Cye merely shook his head and stretched out his arms, "Always nice to see them."
"Always better to see them leave?" Sekhmet queried with a grin.
"That's not nice," Anubis reprimanded his comrade.
Elayne let out a strangled noise in the back of her throat, "Anubis, that is not what he meant. And you weren't even there the entire time."
"Yes, just where did you vanish to anyway?" the Ronin of Wildfire asked with a raise eyebrow.
The Spring Seasonal coughed into his hand, "Nowhere. Ah, so what did I miss, aside from everyone over analyzing your date?"
"Oh just a few of your buddies making out with girls," Ryo retorted saying to the looks he was getting, "As in Senshi."
"What?" Kayura blinked, "And I missed this?"
"You and Rowen were too busy in your dark corner," the Ronin of Hardrock assured her before chortling at the look on her face and quickly ducking the punch she threw his way, only to get caught and trip over Rowen's foot.
There was a slight twitch to Rowen's eye, "If you guys don't quit with that, we're going to have problems. Capiche?"
Any serious response to that was lost as everyone in the living room proceeded to burst out laughing. To this the Ronin of Strata simply growled, and leveled a hateful look at all of them.
Sage simply bit down a yawn, cast a glance at the clock, "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I need sleep."
"Oh, were you making out with someone too Sage?" the Ronin of Trust queried, then gaped when the swordsman merely, asked, "Jealous, Cye?"
"Good shot, Halo," the Winter Seasonal chuckled after his rival, who merely waved off the praise and disappeared up the stairs. Within a few minutes, everyone else had headed off to bed…Except Ryo. His eyes were on Elayne who had sat down in a chair and said nothing more; she had not even acknowledged the others as they left.
The Ronin of Wildfire cleared his throat and her eyes opened, "I talked with Serena earlier. It seems that she and the Senshi have been seeing snippets of the past lives, too. They just weren't affected like the guys were."
"Makes sense," the young woman admitted in a quiet tone, wearily getting to her feet. "The memories are bound to return, and it's better that it happens on its own."
She knew that by this point she was running a fever and a high one at that…Her vision was slightly blurry, but she forced her eyes to refocus. Her skin had become pale, and sweat had started to trickle from her brow, but she was clever enough to hide all of this from him so that he never even noticed.
"Elayne, they need to remember," Ryo said a frown on his face, "I know you felt it, something is coming…And, in order to deal with it they are going to need their memories. They won't be able to cope otherwise."
"I know they all need to remember Ryo," her voice sounded tired, "What do you expect me to do?"
"Stop holding the armors back," the Leader of the Ronin Warriors told her, the tone was not one of demand but one of imploration. "You told them to back off and leave it alone, and they won't do anything more. You have to let it go Elayne, stop hindering them."
Agitation leaked through into her voice, as she snapped back a reply, "It isn't the armors place to let the others remember! Anymore than it's my place to keep the memories from them."
Her eyes narrowed into thin slits, "How can you accuse me of doing such a thing, Ryo?"
"Isn't that what you are doing?" Ryo demanded of her, "I'm sorry but I get the general impression you don't want them to remember at all."
"How can you say that?" Elayne was both angry and upset now, and she could not keep calm due to the poison currently toying with her system. It was just too much stress for her body to deal with. "You all died Ryo, those deaths may mean nothing to you but they sure as hell mean something to me!"
She bit down on the inside of her lip and drew blood, continuing, "I watched you die, and I felt it...I still feel that loss because it doesn't matter if you get the memories back or not, you're the same people, but you're not."
Her voice had started out strong then started to waver, and now it cracked as she told him, "The people I knew and cared about are dead, and they can never come back."
"E-" Ryo began, but it was too late she slipped back into a shadow and teleported herself up the stairs to her room. He let out a forlorn sigh, guilt starting to seep in, but he shook it off.
It was unavoidable. He had needed to tell her what he did, and while he had not meant to upset her like that…Perhaps, it was just as well. The others needed to remember, it was far too important for them not too.
The Ronin of Wildfire made it to his room after doing a light scan to check on everyone else to make sure they were indeed all right. Ever since he had figured out how to use that ability, he'd been putting it to use. Now it had simply become routine.
"Sorry, Elayne," he mumbled out sending it across to her mental line, not too surprised when he didn't get an answer. The Wildfire Ronin gave a sad shake of his head, before crawling into the bed and promptly falling asleep.
The Secondary Guardian had been minimally upset, but her real reason for leaving was due to the fact the poison had now hit her full force. She gripped the sink in front of her with one hand, while she tended to the fresh gash on her arm. It was the only way her body could get rid of poison; she literally had to bleed it out.
Elayne closed her eyes to avoid seeing the world around her spin, and took in several deep breaths. She then reopened her eyes and allowed the wound to heal over…The blood that had come out was nearly black.
'Are you all right?'
"Fine," the young woman breathed out, splashing cold water on her face. "I just need sleep, my body will get rid of it completely that way."
'What did they poison you for?'
"It's a warning Simoria, Akemliek knew my pendant was weak, and I'm certain Thanos told him what happened when we fought," Elayne ran a hand through her hair. During that fight that had occurred directly after the confrontation Inferno had initiated, the pendant had simply given out during the fight.
She subconsciously rubbed at her wrists, then realized what she was doing and stopped herself. The wards around the mansion and estate had failed twice already, resulting in her having to reset them the only way she knew how. Using her blood to boost the energy the pendant put out.
As she had never died and been born into another lifetime like the others, she was still in her original body. Her blood was ancient and due to that, magic was littered throughout it. Magic she could use with most spells and incantations.
Elayne pulled her long sleeve shirt back down over her wrist to cover the fresh scars covering her arm. In about two days the scars would fade to white and look ages older than what they were. Until then she'd just have to hide them. If one of the others saw it, they'd think she was suicidal.
"Ugh forget this," she grumbled out, before walking out of the bathroom and falling into her bed. She was asleep within moments, never noticing when the black tiger joined her and failing to pick up on what was occurring with her charges.
…Not that she could have stopped what was going on…
A/N: On second thought, I just realized that Book 3 has been updating on FFNet for two years. I think it's past time for it to be finished updating on here, so you can get to Book 4. Be warned! I have tried very hard to keep "pairings" out of TGOL until the last possible moment. Book 4 would be that moment; so any relationships hinted at before will be FINALIZED in Book 4 (yes, here's a hint the relationships actually play a pivotal role in that Book). Some are obvious, but some are not. I did not have the time to focus on all the relationships in this story simply because there are far too many characters. There is a LOT of off-screen interaction that I do not get to write about between the characters simply because it does not relate to the plot. Every now and then I get to throw one in there (Ryo's little "date") simply because a reader dared me, or it was highly amusing and somehow furthered the plot {Thanos has now succeeded in getting Universe out of the way}. But there is a lot you don't get to see; which you can fill in with your own imagination, or just assume it has to do with the past lifetimes. And that's the only real big spoiler you'll get from me. Book 4 is going to be a lot darker than any of the books previous. It is also one of the longest, in the fact I had to split it into two books (getting my Book 5 and allowing me to have my 6 book series that I wanted). There's a lot more clifhangers, and a LOT more surprises. Thank you for sticking with Book 3, and the series as a whole, it's been a long journey and it is FAR from over.
-LG
