Chapter Three—We All Have to Go Sometime
After kissing his girlfriend goodnight, Sage wandered down the apartment complex's hallway to his room. He was lucky to have a girl so close to home, literally. Hime's lips seemed to linger on his, and Sage couldn't resist the urge to touch the skin where they met. She may have been a bit unruly at times, but then again, so was he.
Stopping at his apartment door, Sage drew in a deep breath. The portal was ajar. It didn't look so much like a forced entry as it did an urgent one. Suddenly worried about his best friend, the Ronin summoned his subarmor and charged into the living room swaddled in shadows.
The steady drip of their leaky faucet was, at the moment, the only sound. No cars could be heard on the streets below, and no animals could be heard in the garden beneath the complex. Eerily, no breaths—other than Sage's own strangled ones—sounded in the silence-choked room either. "Rowen!" Halo called, trying not to reveal the panic in his voice lest an intruder here it and act upon it.
Nothing.
"Rowen? Where are you? I know you're here! Come out now!"
Silence.
Tiptoeing over to the light switch, Sage illuminated the room with a flick of his finger only to discover the horrific scene on the floor of the kitchen.
Covered in a river of blood flowing from his mouth was Sage's lifetime best friend. Rowen's eyes were jammed tightly shut in permanent agony, and his fist clenched the portion of his shirt above his heart. Rowen's chest did not move up and down, but instead lay placid, his muscles outlined by the crimson shirt he wore. The warrior's skin glowed a sickly white and glistened as the beads of drying sweat captured the ceiling light.
Sage fell to his knees beside Rowen, shaking his friend's body frantically. "Rowen!" he shrieked. "Speak to me! Wake up, and tell me what's wrong!" He patted Rowen's cheeks gently at first then proceeded to increase intensity. "Dammit! Wake up now! Listen to me, you stubborn bastard! This is no time for jokes, not after what happened to Kento today!"
When Rowen did not respond, flinch or even breath, Sage released his friend's hand and raced for the kitchen phone. Dialing madly, he urged the residents of the Fuan household to answer the phone faster. "Come on, come on… Hello? Oh, thank God you're still there, Lady Kayura!… What's wrong? Oh God, is there a list? Suffice it to say I need you—Rowen needs you—now, as in five minutes ago!… Yes! Come on!" With that angry demand, Sage hung up the phone and waited for the mystical Lady Kayura to appear before him.
Sage was not disappointed. In mere seconds, a spectral light pulsed within the center of the room, forming the crude shape of a woman. Finally, with the completion of the teleportation, Lady Kayura stood worriedly before Sage. "What's going on? Where's Rowen?"
"Over here," Sage motioned, leading the Ancient over to his comatose—or worse, he could not tell—best friend. "He was like this when I got home, so I don't know for how long he's been there."
"Gracious!" Kayura shouted, dropping to her knees and throwing her staff aside in order to position her hands over Rowen's unmoving chest. Splinters of white light—refreshing and brilliant—shot from the Lady's hands and speared the body on the floor. Slowly, she spread her hands over Rowen, like a scanner, and that's exactly what she was doing… scanning.
Once the ritual was completed, Lady Kayura analyzed the data gathered in her head, searching for the cause and how deep in trouble Rowen was. She then stood to face Sage, biting her lower lip. "He's not dead, but he may as well be," the Ancient informed. "His soul is gone. My magic detects no Inner Light from Rowen of Strata."
"How can that be?" Sage queried incredulously.
"Listen, in addition to the missing soul, my magic indicates heavy traces of foreign magic within his skull. That must be how the sorcerer or sorceress entered Rowen of Strata's body to steal his Inner Light."
"Why would anyone want to steal someone's Inner Light though?"
Lady Kayura bowed her head in thought. "I know of two reasons. Either Rowen possessed knowledge the magician didn't want shared, or the magician was simply hungry."
"Hungry? People eat souls?"
"No, Sage of Halo, not people, creatures." She paused and unfurled a fist, counting off creatures that used souls as a staple food. "Dragons, Dualars, Weredwarves and certain races of goblins all eat souls. And the list goes on."
"I don't even know what a Weredwarf is!" Sage exclaimed angrily.
Lady Kayura spoke as she levitated Rowen's body, moving it from the kitchen floor to the living room sofa. "Weredwarves are a mixed breed of Werecreatures of any kind and the average dwarf. The combination of the two genes—Were and dwarf—creates a monster that mutates from dwarf to killing machine every full moon cycle. For some reason, they are the only species of Werecreatures that feast upon human souls."
"Okay, this is a little too much mythology for me."
"Nonsense! Obviously, once we've tackled the mage that did this and slayed the creature that stole Rowen of Strata's Inner Light, then you and your fellow Ronin Warriors will have to brush up on your legends. As you progress in your fighting careers, you will come across monsters and magical beings of all sorts. In order to be successful in fighting them, you Ronins will need to know what they are and what buttons to push to defeat them."
Sage sighed, his shoulders sagging. All this talk was making his head spin. He simply wanted his best friend back to normal. His mind, at this stage, could not comprehend all that Lady Kayura was saying. "I still don't understand why Rowen though. Why would any creature attack him for his soul all the way out here in Wakki? Maybe there was no secret knowledge; but if not, why him?"
Lady Kayura bit her tongue. She knew Rowen had not wanted anyone to know of his heritage, but this was Sage, his best friend, and he could be trusted to keep it a secret. "Well…" she whispered with a strained knowledge. "Rowen made me promise not to say anything, but desperate times call for desperate measures. So here goes…
"Eons and eons ago, there was a great civilization that rivals even the human species nowadays. They were known throughout the galaxies as the Celestial Warriors—a group of "knights", I suppose you'd call them—who were a chivalrous race of beings that were as pure of heart as they were of spirit. After a long and prosperous reign over the heavens, where they resided in safety, the Celestial Warriors one by one began to mix with other races. Because of this mixed breeding, the immortality inherent to every Celestial Warrior began to thin with each generation. However, the purity of mind, body and soul remained despite these mismatches; it seemed no evil could conquer the innate goodness of a Celestial Warrior.
"Suddenly though, the Celestial Warriors were susceptible to death and disease and everything else Satan and his spawn could cook up to destroy them. Gradually, the Celestial Warriors' numbers dwindled until one distant child from the lost civilization was left to carry on its legacy. That child is Rowen of Strata, the last Celestial Warrior."
Sage sat on the chair neighboring Rowen's soulless body, his eyebrows permanently squeezed in thought. "Excuse me? Where exactly did you pull that bull from, Kayura? If that ridiculous tale were even remotely true, Rowen surely would have told me about it. Besides, this still has nothing to do with why some monster would steal Rowen's soul!"
"Didn't the Ancient teach you goons anything?" Lady Kayura wailed, throwing her arms up in the air. "Rowen of Strata couldn't tell anyone about his uncorrupted genes for fear of attracting attention to himself. Why, you probably ask? Because Celestial Warriors are notorious for having pure Inner Lights. To a soul-eater, it's like shark fin soup! To a powerful mage, it's essentially a flawless get-rich-quick scheme. Steal the soul, auction it off to the highest bidder, and—kazam!—your heart's desire is as good as yours. Do you understand now?"
Fighting back tears that would only hurt him more, Sage of Halo nodded. How could this be happening? First Kento, now Rowen! Carved from the emptiness in his mind, an enticing crimson path emerged, its destination hidden far beyond the reaches of reality. The Ronin could only imagine where it led, but he feared continuing down it, for he might never return from the brink of insanity. A word was painted on every brick of the road, each in lilac so dark it resembled black. "Venture… down… my… way… Ronin… Peace… awaits… those… who… have… the… courage… to… follow… me… blindly… I… alone… am… your… savior…" Sage did not understand. Who would, it was such a cryptic message? Probably the only person who could make sense of the symbol was the one who was comatose.
"Sage? Sage! Snap out of it!" Lady Kayura ordered, tapping his cheek with the meat of her palm.
"Lady Kayura!" the Ronin squeaked as he grabbed her kimono by the collar. "We have to wake Rowen up now! How do we do it?"
Kayura touched the tip of her finger against Sage's chest, and instantly, he let go, as he no longer had control of his muscles. She backed up a few steps, drew in a breath and began. "Nearly every problem in life has two ways to deal with it. In this case, both will be next to impossible to accomplish. Option one: we find the kidnapper and forcefully take back the soul, a feat that can only be done by a fellow magician, like me. Option two: Ryo heads into Faerie Heath in order to beseech the help of Empress Haleigha, ruler of the Moonlighter Faeries. Only the empress herself can successfully retrieve Rowen's Inner Light to safety. Any way you look, stop signs mar the path."
There seemed to be no hope for Rowen. Lady Kayura knew that whatever magic had been used, it was nearly beyond her scope of abilities not to mention imagination. Most likely, if she even found the kidnapper, she would die trying to fight for the soul back. On the other hand, if Ryo chose to make the trip into the heath, twice as many formidable obstacles would block him.
Lady Kayura began pacing across the floor. Obviously something else was plaguing her. "What's wrong now, Kayura? Seems like we're getting the situation under control. I mean, Ryo will do the whole faerie thing no problem."
"That's not it," she sighed exasperatedly. Boy, she'd had a busy night! "There's just a few things I still don't quite understand yet; things that don't connect, and they should. After all, every piece has to fit the puzzle somewhere. But I can't get these things to meet."
"You're saying things, as in plural."
She nodded. "Well, sure. For instance, all those soul-eating creatures I just told you about? Well, they have to literally rip apart the body to get the Inner Light—I mean, shred to smithereens—so usually there's nothing left of the victim. But if that's true, how the hell did this monster get Rowen's soul without killing his body? The other question is: Where does the magician come into play? Surely, there is a lot more to this attack than meets the eye." Kayura glanced wearily around the room, the weight of her hectic day pressing down upon her shoulders.
Kneeling beside Rowen's side, Sage's eyes pierced Strata's flesh. "What did you know, buddy? What did you know? Come back to us so you can fill us in. Tell us what Talpa's up to."
"This isn't Talpa's work, Sage of Halo. Not his style at all. Talpa never pussyfooted around anything. If he wanted it, he went out and took it, making as much noise and ringing as many bells as possible. Talpa was never one for guile or stealth."
"How true," Sage declared, smiling as he thought back to all the times they has spoiled Talpa's overt plans. "But if Talpa and his goons didn't do it, then we're still left with your questions."
"And the Ronins are left with an unknown enemy."
@~~`~~~
Mia chewed her lip nervously. Dark thoughts swelled and pulsed within her brain, visions of souls melting into one another with their pleas for savoir becoming one hellish union. She drew into Ryo's open arms even closer. In response, Ryo hugged her with all of his might, using her need for comfort to satisfy his own. But still she couldn't relax. Kento's attack had brought on a surge of well-known emotions, ranging from hate to anger to fear.
Fear. Mia feared for her own existence, for the world's existence and, most of all, Ryo's existence. She had now what she considered to be the perfect relationship. After three years together, their relationship was still fresh and exciting. But if the evil of the Dynasty had returned or something worse yet, Mia didn't believe she could handle losing Ryo. She had already lost Yuli—poor Yuli…—and she never wanted that to happen again.
The phone buzzed in the corner of the Sanada household. "Excuse me, honey," Ryo mumbled, gently pushing her off of him. He shuffled into the kitchen almost in a daze and lifted the receiver. "Hello? … What can I do for you, Kayura? … … …"
There was a long, uncomfortable pause from within the kitchen, and Mia leaned over the sofa arm to stare at her boyfriend. He stood with his eyes wide and his mouth agape. She had never seen him so frightened. "Everything all right, Ryo?" When he didn't respond, she moved to his side, placing a hand on his stiff wrist. He shook it off violently and shot her the "don't disturb me" look. Mia backed off, seating herself in a chair. Her mind was reeling. What was going on?
"There's nothing you can do? Let me talk to Sage… …" Another suspenseful halt in conversation. "I need to know everything. Tell me exactly what happened…. We don't have a while. Sum it up fast… … … … Okay, listen, I'll be over in ten minutes or less. Meanwhile, I want you to phone the others and alert them. Have Kayura do another scan, then brief me when I get over there…" Ryo slammed the receiver down on the handle and grabbed a jogging coat slung over the hallway banister. He was out the door in the time it took Mia to say "Where ar—"
@~~`~~~
Kento heard the phone ring several times on the wall, but he was too exhausted to pick it up. "Cye! Cye! Where the hell are you? The damn phone's ringing off the hook!" No answer came. "Cye!" Kento wailed with the intensity of a thousand dying cats.
"What?" an annoyed, yet familiar accent responded from the bathroom.
"Can't you hear the phone?"
"I'm busy," Cye informed with strained patience and a bit of embarrassment. "Get off your fat ass and answer it yourself!"
Reluctantly, Kento clambered out of bed and into the living room, picking up the handset on the 15th or 16th ring. "Yello? Fuan residence… He what? … Well, is he gonna be okay? … … That's not a good enough answer! He has to be." Kento cleared his tension-clogged throat. "What happened?… Yeah, bu—… I know, bu—… Would you listen a sec, Sage? I'm trying to say something. Now, are his eyes moving under the lids? … Well, would you check? … They are? Oh, excellent. Put Kayura on… Just do it! … Fine, fine! I'll get Cye and we'll be there as quick as we can. Don't touch him until I get there. Bye."
With that cursory farewell, Kento knocked on the bathroom door. "Come on, buddy. We have to high tail it to Sage and Rowen's place. ASAP! Rowen's in trouble, big trouble."
There was a fast flushing sound from inside the room, and Cye's red face emerged shortly thereafter. "What kind of trouble?"
@~~`~~~
The group assembled in the confines of the Hashiba/Date household, Rowen in the center on the couch. It was strikingly similar to the mood in the Fuan house earlier that day; however, this one seemed far grimmer. The Ronins could hardly think in the stiflingly atmosphere.
And Rowen could hardly breathe.
"There is one option left open to us," Lady Kayura informed suddenly, severing the record long silence. "But the trouble is… only Ryo can carry it out. If he does not succeed before the time when the soul-eater decides to devour Rowen's Inner Light, our friend will die. Rowen is literally living on borrowed time."
Mia began to sob. This was just what she had always known would happen. Something would happen to one of them, and the only person who could do anything about it was her Ryo. There was nothing she could say and no way she could convince him to let someone else try.
Mia was upset.
Mia was torn.
Mia was lost.
Mia was furious.
She hated having Ryo for a boyfriend. A hundred thousand times she had cried herself to sleep, praying for the day she would wake up and fall in love with a normal guy. But to no avail. For the rest of her existence she would yearn for only one man, Ryo Sanada. And she hated him for it. Ryo didn't deserve a love that he couldn't promise that would last for all eternity. But, dammit, Mia did!
Without so much as a word, Mia got up from the couch, grabbed her shoes and stormed out the front door, leaving the room choked with stunned gasps.
The Ronins looked to Ryo for answers, but he could not supply one. "Continue," he uttered to Kayura, his eyes on where Mia's shoes had rested… right next to his.
"As I told Sage earlier, the only way for you to remedy Rowen is to venture into the Faerie Heath and consult the Empress Haleigha. I believe they will cooperate with us because of our entangled pasts. The thing about these Moonlighter sprites is that they remain invisible to you unless they feel you worthy. Ryo, you will have to gain their trust before they let you see them, especially the empress. Do you comprehend so far?"
He nodded, glancing back to where Mia's shoes had rested. "So, is that all I have to do? Ask for this Haleigha's help?"
"From now on, only refer to her as Empress Haleigha. The Moonlighters are a very proper faerie race, and if they feel offended in any way, they will not hesitate to kill you. Now you understand the dangers of the faeries themselves?"
"I see. But I'm not worried. I can't be in any sorrier shape than Rowen. That it? Cos if you're done, I got a bog to visit."
The fair Lady shook her head. "Not nearly. Along the path to their home there will be many dangers. You have to be prepared for them. These dangers are innumerable. For me to try and tell you about every one of them would take at least five years—"
"Sheesh!" Kento cut in.
Ryo quieted him with a look. "That bad, eh? Like I said, I'm not afraid of anything. Us Ronins have been in a lot worse scrapes than this one, right guys?"
The Ronins, for the first time in a long time, were speechless. They found it hard to believe such a statement. A Ronin Warrior had never been this close to death, and they had never walked a thinner line, even with Talpa. They had little idea whom they were fighting and even less over what they were fighting. It was closer to the truth to say the war had not yet begun. Ryo glared almost angrily at his companions, shocked that they would not rise to the challenge. "Maybe not, but this doesn't mean were not going to fight for Rowen's life, for all of ours." At least that got a stir out of the silent boys, and each one nodded enthusiastically.
"Then it is settled," the Lady Kayura said with a light smile. "I shall brief you very quickly, Wildfire, and your journey into the Darkness shall commence." She stood and motioned to the front door. "Shall we?" The door opened on its own, and Ryo proceeded toward it.
"Don't worry guys. I wouldn't let Rowen down for the world." With that, the door closed behind the mysterious pair, and the Ronins were left to stare at their unconscious friend.