Armor of Hope
Armor of Hope
by Lira

Part Two:Teenage Troubles

Darkness. Everywhere there was darkness. No light whatsoever. Total nothingness. And yet, there was something. There had to be some sort of ground for the black-haired boy to stand on as he tried to discern where he was. He heard a voice whispering something in the distance, but he couldn't make out what the voice was saying. Slowly the voice became clearer.

"I can't tell yet what the danger is, but it's very near...Very soon the Ronin Warriors are going to face their worst enemy yet...Much worse than even Talpa and the Dynasty...But how can one fight an enemy that comes from within?"

He recognized it as Amalthea's voice. He remembered hearing her say the first part, but not the rest of it. An enemy that comes from within? What did that mean? An enemy stronger than Talpa?! How could that-

Soft, cruel laughter echoed through the darkness and he spun around, automatically dropping into a fighting stance. "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice echoing unnaturally. "Show yourself!"

The laughter came again.

"Dammit! I don't have time for these games!"

The laughter stopped abruptly. "Ryo, I'm surprised! Such language from the leader of the Ronins!"

Ryo felt a brief stab of fear. That voice. It-It sounded like his own! But...That was impossible!

"No, Ryo. It's not impossible." A light appeared suddenly, a cold, dark light illuminating a familiar figure.

Ryo took a step back in horror with a soft gasp. It was...himself! And yet, not himself. The other's Wildfire armor was red and black, rather than red and white, and his eyes glowed with a cold light.

The other smiled cruelly. "Yes, Ryo. I am you, and yet I am not you."

"Who-who are you?" Ryo asked. "WHAT are you?"

"I am Aku, the dark side of you that you see every morning in the mirror," the other smirked.

"No. That's-that's impossible! I'm not evil!"

"Is it? Everyone has their dark side. Including you, virtuous Ryo of Wildfire." Aku sneered as he said the word "virtuous". Then he laughed that frightening laugh again and he crossed his arms. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you, Ryo of Wildfire. Keep in mind what I've said. Bye."
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Ryo sat up with a gasp, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. That had been the most terrifying nightmare he'd ever had. Even more so than the ones he'd had after the battle with Talpa. But what did it mean? He glanced at the mirror over his dresser and shuddered involuntarily. He quickly got up and walked over to the mirror, half-afraid of what he'd see. Nothing. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Ryo..."

He let out a frightened yelp as the reflection grinned evilly at him and he grabbed the nearest thing he could find, smashing it into the glass, shattering it. He stared at the broken glass, breathing heavily. He heard his grandmother coming down the hall-at least he hoped it was his grandmother.

"Ryo? Are you all right, grandson?" called his grandmother's voice.

"Y-yeah, Gramma," he said shakily. "I had a nightmare that was a little too vivid." He blinked in the sudden bright light when she turned on his bedroom light. "I kinda broke my mirror, though."

His grandmother, a kindly woman with warm and laughing eyes, looked at the shards of glass all over the floor. "What was it this time? Another floating mask?"

"Uh-uh, Gramma. It had to do with a mirror."

"Oh? Well, we can get you a new mirror in the morning-"

"NO! I mean, no, Gramma. I-I think I want to go for a while without one, please."

"If you say so, Ryo. Go ahead and sleep with that over-grown house cat of yours outside, if you want."

"Thanks, Gramma." He looked again at the broken mirror and shuddered at the memory of what he'd seen. He had to talk to Amalthea and the other guys as soon as possible. But for now, he needed sleep. He grabbed a blanket and a flashlight, then stumbled downstairs, trailing the blanket behind him as he yawned widely.

Whiteblaze looked up as he approached, rumbling softly. The white tiger watched as Ryo lay down beside him, covering himself with the blanket. Whiteblaze let out a rumbling purr and licked Ryo's face, then curled around the boy, both falling into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
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The combination of bright sunlight and Whiteblaze' rumble of greeting awoke Ryo the next morning and he looked around groggily. "Hn? What is it, Whiteblaze?" He looked up to see a familiar black-haired woman smirking down at him. "Ack! Lady Kayura!" He sat up quickly, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

Kayura laughed lightly. "And a good morning to you, too, Ryo of Wildfire! 'Thea has asked me to tell you and the other Ronins to come to her apartment. She has some more information about the enemy."

Ryo nodded. "And I think I might have some information about the enemy, too. I'll tell the others."

Kayura handed him a piece of paper. "Here's the address to 'Thea's place. Good luck." She smirked mischievously. "You'll need it when you see what she's been up to. Bye!" She vanished with a laugh, leaving Ryo looking confused.

"What did she mean by that?" he wondered, then looked at the paper. "Hey, this is right next door to Rowen's! I'll call Cye and Kento and tell them to meet me there after I call to see if Sage's already there. You wanna come, Whiteblaze?"

The white tiger rumbled agreement and followed him into the house.
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"Ryo, what do you think Lady Kayura meant?" Cye asked as he and Kento followed Ryo and Whiteblaze.

"About what?" Ryo replied with a yawn.

"About what 'Thea's been up to."

"Hey, dude, you look bushed," Kento remarked. "Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

"Not much. That's why I need to talk to Amalthea. I think I may have gotten a clue to our enemy."

"Really?" Cye looked at Ryo as they came to Rowen's apartment. "What is it?"

"Let's just say I now have a thing against mirrors," Ryo said vaguely as he knocked on the door.

There was a loud thump from inside, then they heard Rowen yelling at Sage.

"Sounds like Sage dumped Rowen on his head again," Cye grinned and the other two chuckled.

A moment later, Sage opened the door with a faint smile. "Good morning, guys. Come on in. Rowen will be ready to go to Amalthea's soon."

"Where's Mrs. Hashiba? Still at work?" Cye asked.

Sage shrugged. "Ro said she was working overtime at the hospital."

"Bummer," Kento said. "Hey, is there anything to eat? I'm starving!"

"You're always starving!" Sage snorted with a smile.

"What's wrong? Mama Faun locked the fridge on you again?" Cye teased.

"Naw. Pop locked the kitchen door," Kento grumbled.

The others laughed.

At that moment, Rowen charged into the living room, tripped on a lamp cord, and fell flat on his face.

"What was that? A new attack to use on your enemies?" Kento hooted. "What're you gonna call it? Strata's Klutz Attack?"

"Shove it, Kento!" Rowen snapped as he stood up. "I'm not in the mood for jokes." He hissed in pain as he cradled his right fist, which was wrapped in bandages.

"Hey, Ro, what happened to your hand?" Ryo asked.

"Hurt it last night. I broke my mirror," Rowen mumbled.

"You, too?" Ryo asked in surprise. "You had a dream about a mirror image?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I had a similar dream. Only I used a baseball bat on my mirror."

"What's all this about breaking mirrors?" Kento demanded. "Don't you guys know it's seven years bad luck to break a mirror?"

"Which would you rather have? Bad luck or a slit throat?" Rowen snapped. "I-"

"Let's save it to tell Amalthea," Ryo interrupted. "Let's go."

The five boys and Whiteblaze trooped out of Rowen's apartment and to Amalthea's. Kento knocked on the door while the others waited.

A moment later, the door opened and the five Ronins gaped at who was standing there.

"Dais?!" they yelped.

The white-haired Warlord of Illusion grinned. "The one and only! Come on in. 'Thea's got breakfast for everyone."

"Alright! Breakfast!" Kento rushed past Dais and into the apartment. "I'm hungry!"

"Um... Dais? Do you know there's a very large black spider on your head?" Cye asked, eyeing the giant tarantula he'd just noticed.

"Eh?" Dais reached up and grabbed the huge arachnid calmly. "I was wondering where he'd gotten to!"

Rowen muffled a laugh as they entered the apartment.

"Is it just me, or does he look different from the last time we saw him?" Sage said quietly.

"YAAAH!" Kento's startled yell interrupted them. "SEKHMET, GET THAT SNAKE AWAY FROM ME!"

"What's wrong? Never saw a python before, Hardrock?" Sekhmet's voice taunted.

"GET THAT THING OUTTA MY FACE! HELP!" Kento bolted back into the living room and took shelter behind Ryo and Sage.

A moment later, a smirking Sekhmet followed, draped with several enormous pythons.

"SEKHMET!" Amalthea yelled from the kitchen. "Quit scaring Kento and put those blasted snakes back in their cage! It's bad enough Dais' spider's always running around loose!"

The green-haired Warlord scowled, but obeyed.

Dais snickered and left the room. "Go ahead and sit down somewhere, guys!"

The five Ronins looked at each other.

"Those two...look different," Ryo said, blinking.

"No kidding, Ryo," Kento replied. "You won't believe who I saw sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea!"

"Who? Saber Stryke?" Rowen smirked.

"No! Anubis!"

"What?!"

"Hey, everyone! Come and get it!" Amalthea yelled.

"Food!" Kento bolted for the kitchen, the others following more slowly.

The first thing they noticed was that Anubis was indeed at the table, as was Kale. Amalthea was by the stove, cooking something that smelled delicious.

The red-haired girl turned around when she heard them enter and grinned. "Hey, guys! Glad you could make it! I-Kento! Get away from there!" She brandished a wooden spoon and chased Kento away from the food that was on the counter. "Sekhmet! Dais! Get in here! Have a seat, guys. Soon's everyone's at the table, we can eat."

The five Ronins sat down and watched her as she began flipping pancakes in a haphazard way.

"I got a question, 'Thea," Kento suddenly said. "How come the Warlords look different and why are they here?"

Amalthea turned around and grinned sheepishly, placing a hand behind her head. "Well...It's my fault and..." She trailed off.

"Are you going to tell them, or should I?" Kale chuckled.

She made a face at him and continued. "I did a spell to resurrect Anubis and I goofed it up. I turned all four of them into teenagers no older than you guys. Kayura refused to let them stay at the palace with her so I got stuck with them."

"Why'd you do it?" Sage asked.

Amalthea was immediately serious. "The enemy. Very soon the Ronin Warriors are going to face their worst enemy yet. Much worse than-"

"Than even Talpa and the Dynasty," Ryo and Rowen finished.

Amalthea blinked at them. "How'd you know what I was going to say?"

"It's a crazy story," Ryo said wearily. "You wanna tell them, Ro?"

Rowen shook his head and laid it on the table. "It was scary enough the first time."

Ryo nodded and continued. "Well, last night, I had this nightmare. I was in this dark place and I heard Amalthea's voice talking about the enemy being worse than Talpa and all that, then she said, 'But how can one fight an enemy that comes from within?' Then I heard cruel laughter, but I couldn't see anything. Then the owner started talking and I recognized it as my own voice, but it wasn't me talking. Then this guy appeared in front of me who looked exactly like me, but he called himself Aku. He had on Wildfire armor, only it was red and black. He said he was the dark side of myself that I see in the mirror. I panicked, then I woke up." He rubbed tiredly at his eyes and sighed. "But that's not the worst part. I was still freaked out from my dream and I looked at my mirror. At first everything seemed normal, then right in front of me, my reflection whispered my name and smiled evilly at me. I was so scared I grabbed a baseball bat and broke my mirror."

"What's a 'baze boll bat'?" Dais whispered to Sekhmet, who shrugged.

"My dream was almost exactly the same," Rowen added. "Only my reflection called himself Jaaku and I broke my mirror with my fist."

Amalthea frowned thoughtfully and sat down between Kento and Kale. "An enemy worse than Talpa that comes from within..." she mused. "It makes sense. I mean, the only warriors stronger than Talpa are yourselves. It would be very hard to win a battle against yourself, because you have the same strength, you think the same, you fight the same, and you can anticipate your moves. How can you fight an enemy that knows your every move and thought?"

"We assume the reflections cannot work together as a group until we learn otherwise," Anubis said softly. "Ryo and Rowen, did either of you get any clue as to how many reflections there are?"

The two boys shook their heads.

"The reflections might be able to pass through mirrors," Dais commented.

"That's the first intelligent thing you've said, Dais," Amalthea said drily. "He has a point. Ryo, you're the leader. What do you think we should do?"

Ryo groaned and copied Rowen. "I can't think straight. I'm too tired."

"Me, too," Rowen agreed. "Can we take a nap first?"

"I don't see why not," Amalthea replied. "Kale, why don't you show them where the spare rooms are, please."

"Sure."

"Well, 'Thea," Cye said as Kale left with Ryo and Rowen following. "What do you plan to do about the Warlords?"

Amalthea smirked. "I've already enrolled them in school. They start Monday."

"No way." Kento stared at her. "Are you nuts?! They'll create total havoc! They'll-"

"They'll be company for you in detention," Sage snorted.

Kento scowled. "Watch it, Halo. I know where you live."

"Your point being...?"

"Geez, Kayura was right. You guys sound exactly like the Warlords." Amalthea grinned at their shocked looks.

"Scary thought," Anubis chuckled.

"I was wondering, if there are reflections of the four of us, what will they be?" Dais asked abruptly. "Or maybe there aren't any reflections of us because we've been to both extremes."

Everyone stared at him.

"Uh...Sage is usually the one to think of stuff like that," Kento said at length.

Amalthea shrugged helplessly. "Dais isn't normally this sane and philosophical. Normally he's driving Sekhmet batty. So, who's hungry?"
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Kayura hummed happily to herself as she polished her Ancient's staff in the common room of the palace. It was shockingly peaceful without Dais, Sekhmet, and Kale hanging around and making a hell of a mess. Add Anubis, Amalthea, and the other Ronins and it was total chaos. She laughed softly. It was good to see Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet in such good spirits again. They hadn't quite been the same after Anubis had sacrificed himself to save them all-

The soft sound of glass breaking caught her attention.

"Who's there?" she called warily, standing up and gripping the staff tightly. She looked at it as the rings began chiming wildly. Danger? Here? NOW?

The soft clank of several armored figures approaching drew her attention to the one entrance into or out of the common room and she stood ready for an attack.

She blinked in mild surprise as Ryo and Rowen entered in full armor, the other three armored Ronins behind them. "Ryo? Rowen? Is something wrong? Have you met the enemy?"

The two Ronins looked at each other and smiled cruelly. "She thinks we're the Ronins, Touma," said the one who looked like Ryo.

"I wonder why that is, Ryou," said the one he'd called Touma. "Why, yes, Lady Kayura, we did meet the enemy."

Kayura looked at them in confusion, then it dawned on her when the staff kept chiming. "You! You're the enemy! But why do you look like the Ronins?"

"Because they are the Ronins in a way, Lady Kayura," laughed a familiar harsh voice from behind her.

She spun around and came face to face with...

Herself!

Her eyes widened in fear. "The kagami," she whispered.

"No shit, Lady," laughed the one who looked like Sage.

Kayura looked at the mirror images surrounding her. She had to escape to warn the-

The Ryo look-alike grabbed her by the arm roughly, still smiling cruelly, his eyes glowing with a cold light. "You're not going anywhere, babe," he hissed.
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Amalthea looked up from her pancakes the same time the four Warlords did. "Something's happening to Kayura!" she shouted.

"Are you sure?" Sage asked.

"Of course, I'm sure! Don't you think I would know when one of my closest friends is in trouble?! It's got to be the enemy! Let's-"

"Let's not rush into this blindly, 'Thea," Anubis said calmly. "We don't know whether or not our actions could put her in danger. We must wait until the enemy contacts us."

Amalthea rounded on him angrily. "What if they kill her, Toshitada?! Then we'll have lost the Ancient's staff to the enemy!"

"That's not true and you know it," Anubis replied smoothly. "If worst comes to worst, we have the Link. After all, it's not Lady Kayura they're after. It's the Link."

Amalthea scowled, but calmed down considerably. "I hate your reasoning because it's true. Dais, would you-"

The sound of shattering glass came from one of the guest rooms, namely the one Ryo had been sleeping in.

"And it sounds like the enemy has just decided to contact us." Anubis smiled mirthlessly.

Ryo staggered into the kitchen, wide-eyed and bleeding profusely from several large gashes on his fist. "They've got Kayura! They took over the palace! There were six of them, the five Ronin mirrors and a Kayura mirror. She called herself Kaiyra and said they were the kagami..." He trailed off as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

"Ryo!" The shocked warriors rushed to the unconscious boy's side.

"Get outta the way!" Amalthea commanded and shoved her way to Ryo's side. "I'm betting it was Kaiyra who told him. She's enough to make anyone freak out." She took the boy's bleeding hand and a pale white glow surrounded their hands. Moments later, Ryo's wounds had completely vanished, along with the blood.

"Who's Kaiyra?" Kento asked as Amalthea ordered Kale and Sage to carry Ryo to the couch.

"Kayura's kagami, her reflection, Kento," Amalthea replied, massaging the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Guys, I guess it's time I tell you what I learned of the enemy. Have a seat wherever you can find one."

The seven teens sat on whatever chairs were available, Kento, Sekhmet, and Dais ending up on the floor in front of the couch. A moment later, a sleepy Rowen joined them, summoned by some sort of silent call.

Amalthea sighed heavily and gestured at the air, sitting down in the "hammock" of spiderwebbing that formed behind her. "Okay. First off, the Ronins' kagami..."
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The "kagami"? Who are they? What are they after? What is the Link that Anubis mentioned? Will Ryo and Rowen ever trust mirrors again? Just how many evil reflections are there? And most of all, HOW WILL THE WARLORDS SURVIVE GOING TO SCHOOL?! Find out in the next episode: Mirror, Mirror...!