I slipped among the shadows. She was right there. Right in front of me. All I had to do was move quicker then she could and finish the job. Destroy my brother's killer. Have revenge for losing the last of my family.
Uri... Do not do that. It is not worth it.
"A- Anubis?" Kayura whirled around and spotted me.
"You? What are you doing here?" My energy was dying. I collapsed against the wall and fell into darkness.
A New Spring II: Meeting
Chapter 1(Uri)
"She is?!"
"Yes. I didn't think she was still alive. She was caught it a crossfire between the Ronins and warlords and the Dynasty. Anubis believed she was dead and it was one of the main reasons Talpa was able to corrupt his soul."
"Poor girl..."
"Poor girl?! That 'poor girl' almost got us killed! If Cye hadn't been able to block Ashitakei's power..."
"Kento, chill out. What matters is we're alive and hopefully, she is too."
"I think Anubis stopped her from killing me."
"Kayura? Uh, he's dead."
"She said his name and then collapsed. He had to have had some part in it."
"She's obviously insane. Maybe she was hearing voices."
"Honestly. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" Six heads jerked in my direction. I felt like crap and looked the same too. I knew it. It didn't matter.
"I did hear Anubis. He didn't want me to kill you. Why, I don't know. It's your fault he's dead."
"Hey, that's enough," said Ryo. "If anyone's to blame, it's Bademon. He possessed Kayura and Anubis saved her."
"Hmm..."
"You're gonna be a problem too?"
"Yes. If I can be."
"That's what I thought."
"Uri..." Kayura looked at me and smiled weakly. "If only he could see you. You're no longer a little village girl trying to be brave."
"I had to grow up," I said coldly. "When the battle ended, my friends and I were trapped in a Zero."
"I'm sorry..."
"There's nothing you could've done. We had to fight and grow strong in the Zero. wanted nothing more then to destroy Talpa and his Dynasty... But the Ronins beat us to it."
"They did." She grinned at the five boys, who were managing a form of modesty.
"Um... what's a Zero?" asked Cye.
"Zero. A Counter Realm. It's like this, only completely backwards. Where the Dynasty was trying to gain power here, in the Zero, they had power and it was hell. Talpa somehow controlled both worlds."
"Must've been on hell of a headache for him," muttered Kento. I nodded.
"And we made sure of that."
"But how did you end up in a Zero world?" wondered Rowen.
"The crossfire we were caught in must have opened a rip." Kayura bit her lip.
"I didn't actually think it was possible..."
"Huh?"
"Talpa put you there purposefully. He wanted the armors that ran in your blood. But you girls were too young..."
"That creep..." I whispered. "He sent us there so he could corrupt them?!" She nodded. "Anubis, Sekhmet, Dais, Kale, Harial, all of them? He got them..."
"Not Harial," she said. "He was only temporarily under Talpa's control. As for the others..."
"They were until we beat Talpa," said Ryo quietly. I nodded, feeling a sharp prickling in the back of my eyes. I reached up and brushed a tear from my face. Me? Crying? No way...
"Anubis..."
Chapter 2(Niki)
They have her.
"I know."
How could you have allowed them to get her?
"Master, please, forgive me, it wasn't my fault. It was Ashitakei. She isn't one of us, remember?!" I listened to the voice pleading and closed my eyes.
Hila... No. Why you? What did the traitor have to be you?
"Niki, we need to get away from here," came Kale's voice. "Before we are seen." I nodded and stepped back into the portal.
"Is it..." Anari trailed off and I nodded. "Hila..."
"Any word on if Sekhmet's effected?"
"He's not," said Sekhmet. "I mean, I am not." Anari giggled and shook her head. "Centuries in a Counter Realm and your sense of humor has remained intact."
"It had to," I said. "Or we all would've lost our minds."
"Hila lost hers," murmured Ashitakei.
"We need to focus on who is behind all this," said Dais. "Not who is part of it." Anari nodded.
"You're right. But still... where the heck is Uri?"
"She is with the Ronins and Kayura," said Kale. "She is safe."
"As long as this Strata isn't like the last one," I muttered. "Then we're screwed."
To be continued...