The Darkness Returns Once Again
By: Rowen of Strata aka. Strata-chan
DICLAIMER: I do not own Ronin Warriors, Kendy or Maurette, so don't even THINK about suing me for money. Blah, blah, blah, etc and so forth. You know the rest, right? Everybody else in this story is mine, you hear? MINE! BWAHAHAHAHA!
Part 5:
The Introduction of New Foes
"Why do my plans always have to have a drawback! WHY?" Rowen yelled with great despair present in his voice. He had dropped to his knees as soon as Sai had walked up to him. "I'm so sorry, Sai. I really didn't mean for this to happen. Opanaroth must have created our bond faster than I originally planned."
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Rowen. Look, there are more important things that need to be done. Kendy and Maurette need our help as do Sage, Kento and Ryo. Just because we have been detached from our physical forms doesn't mean that we are totally helpless." Sai started in an effort to ease the distressed Rowen. Sai saw Rowen's spirit rise and he seemed to have renewed hope within his eyes. 'My little speech wasn't that good. Maybe his sugar-high hasn't worn off yet, but that's impossible since he doesn't have his body anymore.' Sai thought to himself.
"You're right, but how do we deal with everyone else. They're certainly not going to leave us alone after what happened." Rowen stated after turning his gaze over to the advancing crowd of students.
"We're ghosts, remember. We can just scare the crap out of them and run, you know. They've already been frightened once and just the thought of being touched by a dead person should make them turn and run in the other direction. I just cringe at the thought. Just then, Rowen decided to make the most out of this situation and touched Sai. His reaction was priceless as he jumped about ten feet and cringed when he landed. "DON'T DO THAT, ROWEN! Maybe I should look on the bright side. At least you haven't lost your sense of humor." Sai stated quietly.
"That's right. I'll touch you again if we don't get moving soon, Sai." After Rowen said that, Sai just stared at him with a questioning look on his face. Rowen slowly moved in for the kill, but Sai knew better.
"If you do that again, I'll tell the whole school your little secret and then I'll prove it to them! Ha! Make up an answer to that one genius-boy!"
"What secret? I think you two have shown enough secrets for one day." Sai and Rowen both turned around to meet the voice. It happened to come from one of the students that had been in the crowd. "Well, explain yourselves. Now!"
"Ummmm." Rowen began. "Well, we…"
"…better get going now. Bye!" Sai completed that thought for Rowen as he received a nasty glare from him. "Come on!" The two ran off carrying all of their fallen comrades. Sai felt kind of strange looking at his own body, but those thoughts would have to wait until later. There were more important things to worry about now. First of which was to figure out how to get Rowen's body back and that would be a tough task.
*****
Kendy awoke with a splitting headache as her eyes opened to a bright while light.
"You didn't expect that now did you, Quasar." Kendy closed her eyes again so she wouldn't lose her sight, but she was very curious about that voice and she wanted to know who the heck this Quasar person was. It wasn't Opanaroth because it sounded too feminine. Unless, he could disguise himself, but that was highly unlikely. As the light dimmed, Kendy opened her eyes to find herself with a small chamber. At first she couldn't move at all, but the strange grip on her was released after a few seconds of struggling.
"Pathetic. I thought the children of Maelstrom and Quasar were supposed to be more powerful than this."
'There's that strange voice again. Damn! I wish I could see better. That light damaged my vision. I should have known better. I can be so idiotic sometimes!' Kendy scolded within her mind.
"Awwww. That's no way to treat yourself now is it? That is the sad truth though. Reality is so full of suffering now isn't it?"
'Alright. I'm tired of this game.' Kendy thought to herself "Show yourself!"
"I'd be glad to and this is no game to you, Quasar." Just as that was said, a figure materialized in front of Kendy. Kendy was shocked to see that the voice actually did come from a woman. She was like nothing she had ever seen before. She had blond hair that was cut very short and she had the most piercing blue eyes. They looked like they could look straight through your soul. Her face was sleek and seemed to be rid of any human imperfections, until your eyes fell upon the eye patch she wore. She was wearing a crimson kimono that was covered with the designs of black flames around the edges. There was a dark angel imprinted on the front of the garment and Kendy wondered what it meant.
"It means I'm the angel of mendacity." Kendy looked at the woman with a look of confusion since she had never been really good at vocabulary. "Ignorant whelp. Mendacity means deception and lies. Don't even relate me to that fool, Dais. My armor is ten times more powerful than his could ever be."
"Who's Dais?"
"You mean Strata didn't tell you? Don't you even remember what happened before you came here?"
"Who's Strata? Why do you keep calling me Quasar and who the hell are you!"
"You should learn to control your temper. I am called Diana and I bear the armor of Mendacity. Quasar was your ancestor and you should be the bearer of her armor! Why don't you summon it and give me a challenge?" Diana demanded as she walked towards Kendy.
"You still didn't answer my first question, Diana! WHO IS STRATA?!" Kendy screamed as the demon was almost upon her.
"Take a wild guess." Silence reigned for a few moments as Kendy waited for Diana to give her the answer. "I'm not sensing any brain activity, Quasar. Give it your best shot."
"Just tell me the answer, damn it!"
"Such vulgar language. Tisk. Tisk. It's someone very close to you. He has blue hair and….."
"Rowen!? Why did he hide this from me? That prick. I'll teach him a thing or two when I get back."
"Oh, you're not going anywhere. You armor needs to be awakened first." Diana stated as she used her telekinetic powers to slam Kendy back into her previous state of paralysis. I'll be watching you, Quasar. I will read every thought you create. I will see every movement you make. You cannot escape, Quasar. You have not even begun to see my true power!" Diana threatened as she left Kendy behind.
'I'll get you, Diana. Just you wait. Rowen will help me, but first I need to have my so-called 'powers' awakened. Then it'll be the end for you.' Kendy said as she fumed her anger. "YOU HEAR ME, DEMON! I'LL GET YOU!"
*****
"Wake up and smell the sweet smell of the dungeon, dearie."
"I don't wanna go to school today, mommy." Maurette murmured as she started to come back to consciousness.
"It's a Saturday, dearie. Now, come on and come back to consciousness. There you go."
With those words, Maurette finally came back to consciousness. She looked around for the place where the voice came from and tried to go to it, but she couldn't move. It was like someone was holding her in place.
"Who are you? Are you a friend or foe?"
"I'm whatever I chose to be."
'Hmmm. This is quite a puzzle. I hate being so unsure about this! It's so frustrating!'
"Speak up! Come on! I'm becoming very impatient here."
"Will you shut up already! I'm trying to think about how come I can't think straight and why I'm paralyzed!"
The voice then chuckled condescendingly, "I know why since I'm the one causing that sensation."
"Wha….."
A figure then materialized in front of Kendy. She had flaming red hair that flowed freely in the dank air of the dungeon. Her eyes were a piercing silver color and her face had a scar that ran from her left eye to the base of her neck. Her kimono has several ancient symbols on it, but Maurette was unable to decipher them.
"Oh, don't try to think so hard, Maelstrom. You'll find out who I am soon enough." With that, the mysterious figure left the room, leaving Maurette to her thoughts.
"Why me? What did I do?" Maurette yelled into the darkness. 'If I don't find out who that woman is and why she called me Maelstrom, I'm going to go crazy! I wonder if Kendy's alright.' Just then, a scream was heard throughout the corridors. "Oh no! KENDY!"
*****
Rowen suddenly dropped to the ground, which caused Ryo and Sage to be dropped as well. Once on the ground he did not stir until Sai came and nudged him a little. Rowen was panting heavily while trying to sit up.
"What happened back there?"
"I don't know. I just don't know!" Rowen said with exasperation present in his tone of voice. "Nothing seems right! Why am I so confused?"
"Calm down, Rowen. You aren't making any sense. Just clear your head."
"You can't possibly understand these feelings."
"Rowen, what's going on with you? You're going crazy!"
"The memories. The memories of everything! EVERYTHING! I don't want to remember! I don't want to…." Rowen then mysteriously passed out, leaving Sai with nothing but his confused thoughts and scattered plans about how to get back to Mia's.