Must have at *least* four to six reviews if you want to see the next part. Otherwise, tough chance! -Genius Writer Seth N Jones
*Part Two: Air Night Soul, Life Hope Love*
Ryo awoke early the next morning by the soft sound of something humming through the air. He dressed quickly and went downstairs. Lana was missing, but so was White Blaze. He caught a glimpse of what seemed to be like Rowen's shirt outside the window and went to investigate.
What he saw surprised him. Lana held a long, wooden staff in hand, her eyes covered with black cloth, and fought against an invisible foe. Her long brown hair was no longer braided, now it was tied off about mid-back. White Blaze lounged in the sun, another wooden staff near him.
Ryo crept up to them and grabbed the staff. White Blaze growled what seemed to be a warning, but Ryo quickly motioned for him to be quiet. He got closer to Lana and one of her swings got so close to him that he reflectively blocked it.
Lana suddenly turned to him and began to fight him. Ryo had to quickly block a flurry of swings and blows so not to get hit in the head or chest. Then Ryo turned offensive instead of defensive.
Ryo swung at her head, then her feet. Lana ducked the first and did a backwards flip through the air, landing a few feet away. The staffs cracked in the cool, morning air as blow after blow was blocked.
Ryo was surprised when one of Lana's swings tore his staff away from his hand, sending it flying through the air. Lana jumped up into the air, grabbed it, and landed back on the ground in front of Ryo. Both of the staffs pointed at the ground, the back half up against her arms. Lana was breathing heavy, as if it has been a long time since she done it last. And she did it all without seeing.
Lana propped the staffs against her shoulder and pulled off the blindfold. She immediately flinched when the sun hit her deep blue eyes. But she smiled at Ryo.
"Nice try, Ryo," she said. "My father has a habit of sneaking up on me when I practice." She smiled. "You're a bit rusty, but then again, I was taught to use a different fighting technique."
"Taught?" Ryo questioned.
Lana nodded. "My father taught me many forms of archery, sword fighting, and hand-to-hand combat." Her smile grew wider and she put up her hands. "Want to try me on the last one? I haven't got a good fight in ages."
"Uh, maybe some other time." Ryo looked slightly scared of fighting Lana and she laughed.
"If it's all right with you, do you think I could make breakfast for you guys? It's the least I could do."
Ryo laughed. "Sure. I bet Kento would like that."
The sun began to set when Rowen sat in his room, thinking. He and Lana ran back up to her house for a few things, since she's going to be training with them for a long while. A cool breeze blowed in from the window, and with it, a strange, melodious tune.
Rowen wondered downstairs and out the door. He followed his ears to where the music came from. It was sad, as if in mourning. He soon stopped at his favorite place where he did his homework when he was in school.
He looked up and saw Lana in a tree, her eyes closed, playing a violin. The song went on for a few more minutes, and when it stopped, Lana looked down at Rowen. She placed her free hand over some kind of necklace.
"I'm sorry if disturbed you, Rowen," she said softly.
"That was beautiful."
"Thanks. My father taught it to me. I owe a lot to my father." She let go of the necklace and jumped out of the tree.
"What's that?" Rowen asked, pointing at the necklace.
"Something I got when I was young." She held it out slightly so Rowen could see. One side said "Air Night Soul" and the other said "Life Hope Love." "I would never take it off for the world."
They started off toward the house when Lana stopped. Rowen turned around to see what it was and saw her in the black and silver sub-armor.
"What is it, Lana?"
"A shift in the shadows." She glanced around the trees carefully as she picked up a small rock. "Right. . . there!"
She threw the rock and was rewarded by a loud *clank*. Suddenly, Dais appeared hanging by his feet. Lana jumped five feet back and was about to call on her armor when Rowen stopped her.
He looked at the former warlord. "Why are you here, Dais?"
"Lady Kayura sent me out to find some information about the new threat and I decided to check on you guys."
"We had a little trouble in the past week." Rowen went on and told him about the new warlords and their attacks.
Dais listened carefully. "I'll report this." Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.
Lana relaxed slightly and her sub-armor disappeared. "I wish you guys will tell me how many of you are out there," she growled.
Rowen laughed and began to tell her about their fight with the dynasty.
A loud noise woke Rowen up. It was late at night and something just crashed. A bright light filled the room, followed by another crash. It was just storming.
But something else was not right. Between the thunder strikes, he could hear a soft crying. He got out of bed and went down stairs. He caught a glimpse of Lana. She was sitting straight up on the couch, where she agreed, or forced the others to agree, to sleep. Her hands covered her ears and she cringed as another lightning bolt lit up the air.
Rowen walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lana jumped and looked to Rowen with tears in her eyes. She started to cry all over again and Rowen sat down beside her.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"My parents died in storms," she answered back. Rowen put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "My mother went out to do something on a stormy night. They found the car off the road, crashed, but never found a body.
"My father also did the same thing and died. But right before he died, I caught a vision, a flash of where he was at. But I saw nothing of my mother." The tears still fell. "Now every time there's a thunderstorm, I'm afraid that I'll see the face of someone I care, then hear that they died."
Lana quieted, her shoulder still shaking with silent sobs. But soon she fell asleep, as did Rowen beside her.
*You are strong, child. Stronger than the others.*
*What do you mean?*
*You have more power than the others, and can easily turned against them if you turn to evil.*
*I will never turn against them.* *Remember, young Ronin. Life must prevail over death. Air Night Soul. Life Hope Love.*
"Lana. Wake up." A pair of soft lips pressed to her's. "Wake up sleepy head."
Lana blinked her dark blue eyes a couple of times to clear them and saw Rowen kneeling beside her. She smiled lightly. "Morning."
"The storm's over."
Lana sat up and yawned. "I know. Thank you for staying with me last night."
Rowen turned a little bit red. The doorbell rang and Lana frowned. She stood up and answered the door. Standing there were three men and one woman. "May I help you?"
"Are you Lanèna Vampirra?" asked the woman.
"Yeah," Lana said carefully.
Rowen came up beside Lana and blinked in surprise. "Lady Kayura! what brings you here?"
"Dais told us about your troubles and we came to ask if you know any more information."
Rowen nodded. "Come on in," he said, leading them into the living room. "I'll tell Cye we have guests."
Lana stood nervously as the three former warlords and Lady Kayura looked to her. "Miss Lanèna-"
"Just Lana, please."
"Very well. Lana, do you know why this new threat wants you?"
Lana shook her head. "No. I found out less than a week ago about my powers and know nothing else of it. I don't even know the attacks until someone else shows me."
Lady Kayura frowned. "Someone else? You mean the Ronin Warriors know your attacks."
"No. Something takes over my body, like what happen when I first transformed. A power fills me and I let it take over."
"Aren't you afraid that the person that is taking over might use you against us," Dais asked.
Again, Lana shook her head. "I know the power is of the good. He's been helping me."
"He?"
Lana nodded. "He identified himself as an Ancient."
"Anubis!"
Ryo walked down the stairs, running his fingers through his black hair. "Did someone say something about Anubis?"
Kale turned to Ryo. "Lana saying that Anubis has been helping her."
"Lana said that?"
Lana shook her head. "No. It's just when I fight, if there is a stronger attack my armor can do, a power takes over and helps. And in my dreams, something or someone's been counseling me, to be careful of my powers."
"Is this the first time he contacted you? I mean, is this the first time he contacted you after you met the Ronins."
Lana nodded. "The only other thing that's been bothering me is. . ."
Rowen walked back from the kitchen and glanced at Lana, seeing the uneasy look on her face. "You don't have to tell them," he whispered.
"I have too," Lana murmured. She looked to Lady Kayura. "I have visions, during thunderstorms, of when someone close to me dies or is coming close to death."
"What?"
"First it was with my mother, Violet. She had to do something in town and it was storming. My father told me to go to bed and when I woke up, it was still thundering. But my dream was when her car ran off road and fell into the trees. The car was found, but not the body.
"The second only happened a few months ago, with my father. It was storming, and he had to do something in town also. I woke in the middle of the night after the dream and went downstairs to get something to drink. I saw my father pull on his rain coat and I ran toward him, telling him not to go. He was really worried because I was crying like a five year old and asked me what was wrong. I told him about the dream and he said that it was just a dream, nothing more."
Lana stopped and took a shaky breath, already tears falling down her cheeks. "They... They found the car crash and the body the next day."
Her knees got weak and she slid to the floor, crying freely. Rowen kneeled down beside her and placed his arms around her. "It's all right," he whispered.
*Be strong, young Ronin,* a soft voice called in her mind.
Lana abruptly stopped crying with a gasp. "Anubis?" she whispered.
Everyone looked toward her and she just stared into the space in front of her. *You are the Warrior of the Night,* came back the answer. *You need to be strong for what happens next.*
The pendant around Lana's neck glowed for a second when suddenly an explosion rocked the house. Lana looked up and her eyes were glowing a light blue. She stood up and ran out of the house, looking at the woods near.
"Armor of the Night!" she yelled, "Tao Mikomi!" Blue, black, and silver energy surrounded her and suddenly she appeared in the black and silver Armor of the Night.
A black and white figure emerged from the woods, a staff in hand. He looked to Lana and yelled, "Attack!"
Blue soldiers poured out of the woods and Lana pulled the two swords from off her back. "Dark Illumination Affect!"
Black lightning flew from the crossed swords and into the army destroying quite a few. Kale, Dais, and Sekmet appeared in their armors, and Lana glanced at them in confusion. Rowen, Cye, and Ryo also ran out in their armors.
"I hope you guys have good attacks," Lana muttered to the former warlords.
"Ryo," Rowen called. "Go into the Armor of Inferno."
"Right!" Energy filled the air as Ryo called on the armor. The powers of Sekmet, Dais, Kale, and Lana streaked toward Ryo, creating the white armor.
Lana fell to her knees, crying out in pain, her hands pressed to the sides of her helmet. Rowen ran to Lana, seeing her eyes wide with pain. "Ryo! Hurry! Lana might go into shock!"
Ryo nodded, calling upon his attack. "Rage of Inferno!"
Flame filled the morning air, heating it up instantly. The attack got rid of all the soldiers, all except for the warlord. The Armor of Inferno disappeared and the energy streaked back to the owners, but Lana was still on the ground in pain.
"Anubis!" she cried. "Help me!"
"I'm afraid that poor excuse of a warlord is dead, Lady Lanèna," the other called out.
Lana suddenly stood up, her eyes glowing bright. "I could say the same for you, Tiema. At least I died honorably. But I can't say the same for you. Air Night Soul, Life Hope Love."
Lana extended her hand to Rowen, and he took it. Rowen could feel some of the energy drain away from him. Lana pointed to the swords on the ground with her left, tattooed hand and they rose in the air, making an X. "Dark Beam Destroy!"
Tiema jumped out of the way before he was hit by the attack. The warriors were left standing there, the enemy disappeared.
"Do not take the energy from this armor," Lana said suddenly. She turned toward the others, her eyes glowing a soft blue. A white glow surrounded her armor. "The wearer of the Armor of the Night could die if the energy is ever taken away."
"Anubis? Is that you?" Ryo asked.
Lana turned to him. "In a way, yes. I have been helping this young warrior with her new found powers. Just never let this human, armor, or power fall into the wrong hands. It will be fatal to the entire world if you do."
Lana suddenly closed her eyes and collapsed into Rowen's arms. Her armor immediately went into Lana's regular clothes. There wasn't a threat in sight so they walked back into the house. Sage and Kento just reached the first floor as Rowen walked up the stairs to lay Lana on his bed.
Sage blinked. "What happened?"
"Oh, Lady Kayura and the others came to visit, we met up with another warlord, Anubis temporarily took over Lana, learned that if we ever take the power of the Night Armor away it would kill Lana. . . and that's about it," Ryo finished.
"Oh," Kento said. "When's breakfast?"
Rowen looked down at Lana as his armor faded into his clothes. *What will happen now,* he thought.
Lana suddenly awoke, blinking her midnight blue eyes. The sun was still high in the air, but she could tell it was past noon. Silently she made her way out of the room and down the stairs.
Ryo, Cye, and Sage were sitting in the living room watching TV, Kento was no where in sight, and neither was Rowen. Lana shook her head and walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple, and sat down at the table, reading a book.
"Hey guys!" she heard Rowen suddenly call. "Have you seen Lana?"
"I thought she was still in your room," Cye answered.
"No, she isn't."
Lana shook her head in amusement and placed a piece of paper in her book to mark the place. She took another bite out of the apple and walked back into the living room. "I'm right here."
Rowen jumped and then turned, smiling. "I was wondering if you would like to go into town with me. I have to pick up Mia and Yuli anyway, and if we go in early enough we might be able to go by mall first."
Lana shrugged. "Okay, that's fine by me."
Rowen looked inside the book store window at Lana. She crouched down, looking at a few books at the bottom of the shelf and picked up one, glancing through it. Lana looked up and smiled at Rowen, but then frowned when she saw the brown box under his arm.
Lana paid for the book and walked out of the store and Rowen walked up beside her. "What's the package?" she asked.
Rowen shrugged. "A little something I picked up while you were busy with the books."
Lana got into the Jeep and shut the door. Rowen handed her the package. "Open it."
Lana raised an eyebrow and opened the package, pulling out a black motorcycle helmet. One side said Air Night Soul, while the other said Life Hope Love, both in English, but also in kanji. Air and Life were in dark blue, Night and Hope were in silver, and Soul and Love were in gold.
"I can't accept this," Lana murmured.
"Think of it as a late birthday gift."
Lana shook her head. "It must have cost you a fortune. There is no way I can take it."
Rowen just sort of smiled and narrowed his eyes. "I won't let you ride your motorcycle without one. If it weren't for your sub-armor, you would have been killed."
Lana sighed and buckled her seatbelt as Rowen pulled out of the parking lot. "You might have won this round, Warrior of Air, but you will not win the war."
Rowen just laughed as they pulled up to a train station and saw Mia and Yuli standing outside, waiting for him. "Hi Rowen. Who did you bring with you?"
"Mia, Yuli, this is Lana Vampirra. She meet all of us about a week ago. Lana, this is our friends Mia and Yuli."
Lana smiled as she shook Mia's hand and Yuli's. "I hope the boys have been good to you," Mia said.
Lana nodded. "Better than yo-" Lana suddenly stopped, her eyes wide. She turned and looked to the sky.
"What is it Lana?"
"Danger," she whispered. She looked around and saw absolutely nothing move, not even a leaf. In a flash of silver, she was suddenly in her sub-armor.
Mia jumped. "Another Ronin?"
"Long story," Lana answered as they backed into the shadows. Moving her hand a little, the shadows surrounded them and hid them. Tiema suddenly appeared, floating over the buildings.
He glanced around and studied the shadows for a moment. "We have four more warlord threats," Lana murmured. "I think this one controls time."
Tiema suddenly twirled his staff a little and everything slowed down suddenly, then the world exploded in a ball of light. Lana cried out in pain as she flew through the air and crashed into the ground.
"Armor of Strata!" Rowen yelled. "Tao Inochi!"
Lana staggered to her feet and glared at Tiema. "Armor of the Night," her voice suddenly filled with rage, "TAO MIKOMI!"
Blue, black, and silver energy filled the air and surrounded Lana. As soon as the energy was absorb into her body, black and silver armor covered her. She wasted no time in her attack. As soon as she pulled the swords from her back, she jumped into the air, her eyes glowing a bright blue.
She swung her sword at Tiema, black lightning arcing away from it. Tiema dodged it and Lana moved her right hand and silver energy shot out. He also dodged that but Lana moved her left hand suddenly and a piece of metal flew into the air, hitting Tiema in the back.
Tiema cried out and moved toward Lana. Time suddenly seemed to slow down more. "Time Stream Disruption!"
Tiema suddenly disappeared before Lana's eyes! She looked around frantically and suddenly saw a flash of white wear Rowen, Mia, and Yuli were standing.
"Rowen!" Lana screamed. "Above you!"
Rowen looked up and saw the threat. He covered Mia and Yuli just as a bunch of debris fell over them. Tiema just smiled as he looked up at Lana. "Agree to join us and Empress Vionite and we might spare your friends."
"I'll never join scum like you!" Lana rushed forward, but Tiema suddenly disappeared again. She landed beside the large pile of concrete and metal and tried to dig through. When that didn't work, she raised her right hand and silver energy shot forward, destroying the larger pieces, and then raised her left hand, moving the smaller pieces with concentration.
Pretty soon, Rowen's blue armor appeared and slow stood up. He and Mia were fine, but Yuli still sat on the ground. A large cut ran from his shin to his knee, bleeding.
"If we don't stop the bleeding soon, he might go into shock," Mia said.
Lana kneeled beside Yuli, her armor fading into her clothes. "This won't seem very safe," she muttered as she pulled out an army knife, flipping up a blade. "But it's the only way."
Rowen frowned, but his eyes suddenly went wide as Lana slit her wrist. "Lana! What are you doing!?"
"You'll see." She wiped the blood that collected around her wrist and fingers, and then smeared it on the cut. The pain on Yuli's face suddenly disappeared and she did it a few more times.
After a few minutes, she pulled out a small cloth and wiped the blood away from her wrist, then Yuli's leg. All that was left was a small line of red on both.
"It's strange," Lana murmured. "I never got sick any day of my life, never had any bruises or my cuts would disappear the next day."
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know. Every time I go to the doctors, I leave with nothing wrong with me, blood clean, perfectly healthy, no type of sickness. And it seems my blood has a numbing agent. The cuts I get would only hurt for a flash, but then stop. And it numbed the pain around Yuli's cut."
Yuli pushed himself off the ground and took a step. "My leg feels like new!" He stood on the leg that was injured, and then fell.
Lana caught him before he hit the ground and picked him up. "It appears that it numbed his whole leg," she murmured as she smiled. She looked around and frown. "You might need to go back into your clothes. Rowen. It appears that Tiema's time stop has worn off."
Indeed it has. A few people around them blinked as if waking up from a long sleep and the wind blew Lana's loose hair back.
"We better get back to the house," Rowen murmured as his armor faded away and he picked up a few pieces of Mia's and Yuli's luggage.
"Who knows what might happen next," Lana said as she looked in the direction that Tiema disappeared.
*Part Two: Air Night Soul, Life Hope Love*
Ryo awoke early the next morning by the soft sound of something humming through the air. He dressed quickly and went downstairs. Lana was missing, but so was White Blaze. He caught a glimpse of what seemed to be like Rowen's shirt outside the window and went to investigate.
What he saw surprised him. Lana held a long, wooden staff in hand, her eyes covered with black cloth, and fought against an invisible foe. Her long brown hair was no longer braided, now it was tied off about mid-back. White Blaze lounged in the sun, another wooden staff near him.
Ryo crept up to them and grabbed the staff. White Blaze growled what seemed to be a warning, but Ryo quickly motioned for him to be quiet. He got closer to Lana and one of her swings got so close to him that he reflectively blocked it.
Lana suddenly turned to him and began to fight him. Ryo had to quickly block a flurry of swings and blows so not to get hit in the head or chest. Then Ryo turned offensive instead of defensive.
Ryo swung at her head, then her feet. Lana ducked the first and did a backwards flip through the air, landing a few feet away. The staffs cracked in the cool, morning air as blow after blow was blocked.
Ryo was surprised when one of Lana's swings tore his staff away from his hand, sending it flying through the air. Lana jumped up into the air, grabbed it, and landed back on the ground in front of Ryo. Both of the staffs pointed at the ground, the back half up against her arms. Lana was breathing heavy, as if it has been a long time since she done it last. And she did it all without seeing.
Lana propped the staffs against her shoulder and pulled off the blindfold. She immediately flinched when the sun hit her deep blue eyes. But she smiled at Ryo.
"Nice try, Ryo," she said. "My father has a habit of sneaking up on me when I practice." She smiled. "You're a bit rusty, but then again, I was taught to use a different fighting technique."
"Taught?" Ryo questioned.
Lana nodded. "My father taught me many forms of archery, sword fighting, and hand-to-hand combat." Her smile grew wider and she put up her hands. "Want to try me on the last one? I haven't got a good fight in ages."
"Uh, maybe some other time." Ryo looked slightly scared of fighting Lana and she laughed.
"If it's all right with you, do you think I could make breakfast for you guys? It's the least I could do."
Ryo laughed. "Sure. I bet Kento would like that."
The sun began to set when Rowen sat in his room, thinking. He and Lana ran back up to her house for a few things, since she's going to be training with them for a long while. A cool breeze blowed in from the window, and with it, a strange, melodious tune.
Rowen wondered downstairs and out the door. He followed his ears to where the music came from. It was sad, as if in mourning. He soon stopped at his favorite place where he did his homework when he was in school.
He looked up and saw Lana in a tree, her eyes closed, playing a violin. The song went on for a few more minutes, and when it stopped, Lana looked down at Rowen. She placed her free hand over some kind of necklace.
"I'm sorry if disturbed you, Rowen," she said softly.
"That was beautiful."
"Thanks. My father taught it to me. I owe a lot to my father." She let go of the necklace and jumped out of the tree.
"What's that?" Rowen asked, pointing at the necklace.
"Something I got when I was young." She held it out slightly so Rowen could see. One side said "Air Night Soul" and the other said "Life Hope Love." "I would never take it off for the world."
They started off toward the house when Lana stopped. Rowen turned around to see what it was and saw her in the black and silver sub-armor.
"What is it, Lana?"
"A shift in the shadows." She glanced around the trees carefully as she picked up a small rock. "Right. . . there!"
She threw the rock and was rewarded by a loud *clank*. Suddenly, Dais appeared hanging by his feet. Lana jumped five feet back and was about to call on her armor when Rowen stopped her.
He looked at the former warlord. "Why are you here, Dais?"
"Lady Kayura sent me out to find some information about the new threat and I decided to check on you guys."
"We had a little trouble in the past week." Rowen went on and told him about the new warlords and their attacks.
Dais listened carefully. "I'll report this." Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.
Lana relaxed slightly and her sub-armor disappeared. "I wish you guys will tell me how many of you are out there," she growled.
Rowen laughed and began to tell her about their fight with the dynasty.
A loud noise woke Rowen up. It was late at night and something just crashed. A bright light filled the room, followed by another crash. It was just storming.
But something else was not right. Between the thunder strikes, he could hear a soft crying. He got out of bed and went down stairs. He caught a glimpse of Lana. She was sitting straight up on the couch, where she agreed, or forced the others to agree, to sleep. Her hands covered her ears and she cringed as another lightning bolt lit up the air.
Rowen walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lana jumped and looked to Rowen with tears in her eyes. She started to cry all over again and Rowen sat down beside her.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"My parents died in storms," she answered back. Rowen put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "My mother went out to do something on a stormy night. They found the car off the road, crashed, but never found a body.
"My father also did the same thing and died. But right before he died, I caught a vision, a flash of where he was at. But I saw nothing of my mother." The tears still fell. "Now every time there's a thunderstorm, I'm afraid that I'll see the face of someone I care, then hear that they died."
Lana quieted, her shoulder still shaking with silent sobs. But soon she fell asleep, as did Rowen beside her.
*You are strong, child. Stronger than the others.*
*What do you mean?*
*You have more power than the others, and can easily turned against them if you turn to evil.*
*I will never turn against them.* *Remember, young Ronin. Life must prevail over death. Air Night Soul. Life Hope Love.*
"Lana. Wake up." A pair of soft lips pressed to her's. "Wake up sleepy head."
Lana blinked her dark blue eyes a couple of times to clear them and saw Rowen kneeling beside her. She smiled lightly. "Morning."
"The storm's over."
Lana sat up and yawned. "I know. Thank you for staying with me last night."
Rowen turned a little bit red. The doorbell rang and Lana frowned. She stood up and answered the door. Standing there were three men and one woman. "May I help you?"
"Are you Lanèna Vampirra?" asked the woman.
"Yeah," Lana said carefully.
Rowen came up beside Lana and blinked in surprise. "Lady Kayura! what brings you here?"
"Dais told us about your troubles and we came to ask if you know any more information."
Rowen nodded. "Come on in," he said, leading them into the living room. "I'll tell Cye we have guests."
Lana stood nervously as the three former warlords and Lady Kayura looked to her. "Miss Lanèna-"
"Just Lana, please."
"Very well. Lana, do you know why this new threat wants you?"
Lana shook her head. "No. I found out less than a week ago about my powers and know nothing else of it. I don't even know the attacks until someone else shows me."
Lady Kayura frowned. "Someone else? You mean the Ronin Warriors know your attacks."
"No. Something takes over my body, like what happen when I first transformed. A power fills me and I let it take over."
"Aren't you afraid that the person that is taking over might use you against us," Dais asked.
Again, Lana shook her head. "I know the power is of the good. He's been helping me."
"He?"
Lana nodded. "He identified himself as an Ancient."
"Anubis!"
Ryo walked down the stairs, running his fingers through his black hair. "Did someone say something about Anubis?"
Kale turned to Ryo. "Lana saying that Anubis has been helping her."
"Lana said that?"
Lana shook her head. "No. It's just when I fight, if there is a stronger attack my armor can do, a power takes over and helps. And in my dreams, something or someone's been counseling me, to be careful of my powers."
"Is this the first time he contacted you? I mean, is this the first time he contacted you after you met the Ronins."
Lana nodded. "The only other thing that's been bothering me is. . ."
Rowen walked back from the kitchen and glanced at Lana, seeing the uneasy look on her face. "You don't have to tell them," he whispered.
"I have too," Lana murmured. She looked to Lady Kayura. "I have visions, during thunderstorms, of when someone close to me dies or is coming close to death."
"What?"
"First it was with my mother, Violet. She had to do something in town and it was storming. My father told me to go to bed and when I woke up, it was still thundering. But my dream was when her car ran off road and fell into the trees. The car was found, but not the body.
"The second only happened a few months ago, with my father. It was storming, and he had to do something in town also. I woke in the middle of the night after the dream and went downstairs to get something to drink. I saw my father pull on his rain coat and I ran toward him, telling him not to go. He was really worried because I was crying like a five year old and asked me what was wrong. I told him about the dream and he said that it was just a dream, nothing more."
Lana stopped and took a shaky breath, already tears falling down her cheeks. "They... They found the car crash and the body the next day."
Her knees got weak and she slid to the floor, crying freely. Rowen kneeled down beside her and placed his arms around her. "It's all right," he whispered.
*Be strong, young Ronin,* a soft voice called in her mind.
Lana abruptly stopped crying with a gasp. "Anubis?" she whispered.
Everyone looked toward her and she just stared into the space in front of her. *You are the Warrior of the Night,* came back the answer. *You need to be strong for what happens next.*
The pendant around Lana's neck glowed for a second when suddenly an explosion rocked the house. Lana looked up and her eyes were glowing a light blue. She stood up and ran out of the house, looking at the woods near.
"Armor of the Night!" she yelled, "Tao Mikomi!" Blue, black, and silver energy surrounded her and suddenly she appeared in the black and silver Armor of the Night.
A black and white figure emerged from the woods, a staff in hand. He looked to Lana and yelled, "Attack!"
Blue soldiers poured out of the woods and Lana pulled the two swords from off her back. "Dark Illumination Affect!"
Black lightning flew from the crossed swords and into the army destroying quite a few. Kale, Dais, and Sekmet appeared in their armors, and Lana glanced at them in confusion. Rowen, Cye, and Ryo also ran out in their armors.
"I hope you guys have good attacks," Lana muttered to the former warlords.
"Ryo," Rowen called. "Go into the Armor of Inferno."
"Right!" Energy filled the air as Ryo called on the armor. The powers of Sekmet, Dais, Kale, and Lana streaked toward Ryo, creating the white armor.
Lana fell to her knees, crying out in pain, her hands pressed to the sides of her helmet. Rowen ran to Lana, seeing her eyes wide with pain. "Ryo! Hurry! Lana might go into shock!"
Ryo nodded, calling upon his attack. "Rage of Inferno!"
Flame filled the morning air, heating it up instantly. The attack got rid of all the soldiers, all except for the warlord. The Armor of Inferno disappeared and the energy streaked back to the owners, but Lana was still on the ground in pain.
"Anubis!" she cried. "Help me!"
"I'm afraid that poor excuse of a warlord is dead, Lady Lanèna," the other called out.
Lana suddenly stood up, her eyes glowing bright. "I could say the same for you, Tiema. At least I died honorably. But I can't say the same for you. Air Night Soul, Life Hope Love."
Lana extended her hand to Rowen, and he took it. Rowen could feel some of the energy drain away from him. Lana pointed to the swords on the ground with her left, tattooed hand and they rose in the air, making an X. "Dark Beam Destroy!"
Tiema jumped out of the way before he was hit by the attack. The warriors were left standing there, the enemy disappeared.
"Do not take the energy from this armor," Lana said suddenly. She turned toward the others, her eyes glowing a soft blue. A white glow surrounded her armor. "The wearer of the Armor of the Night could die if the energy is ever taken away."
"Anubis? Is that you?" Ryo asked.
Lana turned to him. "In a way, yes. I have been helping this young warrior with her new found powers. Just never let this human, armor, or power fall into the wrong hands. It will be fatal to the entire world if you do."
Lana suddenly closed her eyes and collapsed into Rowen's arms. Her armor immediately went into Lana's regular clothes. There wasn't a threat in sight so they walked back into the house. Sage and Kento just reached the first floor as Rowen walked up the stairs to lay Lana on his bed.
Sage blinked. "What happened?"
"Oh, Lady Kayura and the others came to visit, we met up with another warlord, Anubis temporarily took over Lana, learned that if we ever take the power of the Night Armor away it would kill Lana. . . and that's about it," Ryo finished.
"Oh," Kento said. "When's breakfast?"
Rowen looked down at Lana as his armor faded into his clothes. *What will happen now,* he thought.
Lana suddenly awoke, blinking her midnight blue eyes. The sun was still high in the air, but she could tell it was past noon. Silently she made her way out of the room and down the stairs.
Ryo, Cye, and Sage were sitting in the living room watching TV, Kento was no where in sight, and neither was Rowen. Lana shook her head and walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple, and sat down at the table, reading a book.
"Hey guys!" she heard Rowen suddenly call. "Have you seen Lana?"
"I thought she was still in your room," Cye answered.
"No, she isn't."
Lana shook her head in amusement and placed a piece of paper in her book to mark the place. She took another bite out of the apple and walked back into the living room. "I'm right here."
Rowen jumped and then turned, smiling. "I was wondering if you would like to go into town with me. I have to pick up Mia and Yuli anyway, and if we go in early enough we might be able to go by mall first."
Lana shrugged. "Okay, that's fine by me."
Rowen looked inside the book store window at Lana. She crouched down, looking at a few books at the bottom of the shelf and picked up one, glancing through it. Lana looked up and smiled at Rowen, but then frowned when she saw the brown box under his arm.
Lana paid for the book and walked out of the store and Rowen walked up beside her. "What's the package?" she asked.
Rowen shrugged. "A little something I picked up while you were busy with the books."
Lana got into the Jeep and shut the door. Rowen handed her the package. "Open it."
Lana raised an eyebrow and opened the package, pulling out a black motorcycle helmet. One side said Air Night Soul, while the other said Life Hope Love, both in English, but also in kanji. Air and Life were in dark blue, Night and Hope were in silver, and Soul and Love were in gold.
"I can't accept this," Lana murmured.
"Think of it as a late birthday gift."
Lana shook her head. "It must have cost you a fortune. There is no way I can take it."
Rowen just sort of smiled and narrowed his eyes. "I won't let you ride your motorcycle without one. If it weren't for your sub-armor, you would have been killed."
Lana sighed and buckled her seatbelt as Rowen pulled out of the parking lot. "You might have won this round, Warrior of Air, but you will not win the war."
Rowen just laughed as they pulled up to a train station and saw Mia and Yuli standing outside, waiting for him. "Hi Rowen. Who did you bring with you?"
"Mia, Yuli, this is Lana Vampirra. She meet all of us about a week ago. Lana, this is our friends Mia and Yuli."
Lana smiled as she shook Mia's hand and Yuli's. "I hope the boys have been good to you," Mia said.
Lana nodded. "Better than yo-" Lana suddenly stopped, her eyes wide. She turned and looked to the sky.
"What is it Lana?"
"Danger," she whispered. She looked around and saw absolutely nothing move, not even a leaf. In a flash of silver, she was suddenly in her sub-armor.
Mia jumped. "Another Ronin?"
"Long story," Lana answered as they backed into the shadows. Moving her hand a little, the shadows surrounded them and hid them. Tiema suddenly appeared, floating over the buildings.
He glanced around and studied the shadows for a moment. "We have four more warlord threats," Lana murmured. "I think this one controls time."
Tiema suddenly twirled his staff a little and everything slowed down suddenly, then the world exploded in a ball of light. Lana cried out in pain as she flew through the air and crashed into the ground.
"Armor of Strata!" Rowen yelled. "Tao Inochi!"
Lana staggered to her feet and glared at Tiema. "Armor of the Night," her voice suddenly filled with rage, "TAO MIKOMI!"
Blue, black, and silver energy filled the air and surrounded Lana. As soon as the energy was absorb into her body, black and silver armor covered her. She wasted no time in her attack. As soon as she pulled the swords from her back, she jumped into the air, her eyes glowing a bright blue.
She swung her sword at Tiema, black lightning arcing away from it. Tiema dodged it and Lana moved her right hand and silver energy shot out. He also dodged that but Lana moved her left hand suddenly and a piece of metal flew into the air, hitting Tiema in the back.
Tiema cried out and moved toward Lana. Time suddenly seemed to slow down more. "Time Stream Disruption!"
Tiema suddenly disappeared before Lana's eyes! She looked around frantically and suddenly saw a flash of white wear Rowen, Mia, and Yuli were standing.
"Rowen!" Lana screamed. "Above you!"
Rowen looked up and saw the threat. He covered Mia and Yuli just as a bunch of debris fell over them. Tiema just smiled as he looked up at Lana. "Agree to join us and Empress Vionite and we might spare your friends."
"I'll never join scum like you!" Lana rushed forward, but Tiema suddenly disappeared again. She landed beside the large pile of concrete and metal and tried to dig through. When that didn't work, she raised her right hand and silver energy shot forward, destroying the larger pieces, and then raised her left hand, moving the smaller pieces with concentration.
Pretty soon, Rowen's blue armor appeared and slow stood up. He and Mia were fine, but Yuli still sat on the ground. A large cut ran from his shin to his knee, bleeding.
"If we don't stop the bleeding soon, he might go into shock," Mia said.
Lana kneeled beside Yuli, her armor fading into her clothes. "This won't seem very safe," she muttered as she pulled out an army knife, flipping up a blade. "But it's the only way."
Rowen frowned, but his eyes suddenly went wide as Lana slit her wrist. "Lana! What are you doing!?"
"You'll see." She wiped the blood that collected around her wrist and fingers, and then smeared it on the cut. The pain on Yuli's face suddenly disappeared and she did it a few more times.
After a few minutes, she pulled out a small cloth and wiped the blood away from her wrist, then Yuli's leg. All that was left was a small line of red on both.
"It's strange," Lana murmured. "I never got sick any day of my life, never had any bruises or my cuts would disappear the next day."
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know. Every time I go to the doctors, I leave with nothing wrong with me, blood clean, perfectly healthy, no type of sickness. And it seems my blood has a numbing agent. The cuts I get would only hurt for a flash, but then stop. And it numbed the pain around Yuli's cut."
Yuli pushed himself off the ground and took a step. "My leg feels like new!" He stood on the leg that was injured, and then fell.
Lana caught him before he hit the ground and picked him up. "It appears that it numbed his whole leg," she murmured as she smiled. She looked around and frown. "You might need to go back into your clothes. Rowen. It appears that Tiema's time stop has worn off."
Indeed it has. A few people around them blinked as if waking up from a long sleep and the wind blew Lana's loose hair back.
"We better get back to the house," Rowen murmured as his armor faded away and he picked up a few pieces of Mia's and Yuli's luggage.
"Who knows what might happen next," Lana said as she looked in the direction that Tiema disappeared.