And You Thought
It Couldn't Get Worse
By Lacey Ruby
Out, out brief candle
"YOU WHAT?!!" Damien yelled.
"Geez brother. Turn up your bell tone. I said, We failed.' I told you we would." Mikal grinned.
"Shut up! How could you possibly fail against little girls?!!"
"Oh lighten up. You of all people should know what little girls can do!! Kuyira kicked your butt the first time you met!" Mikal chuckled good naturadly, which is strange because as an evil guy he should chuckled bad naturadly.
"Don't remind me. If you have to get the girls one at a time, then do so. Then get the ronins and traitorous warlords." He frowned at his brother.
"I'll get Innocence firstshe's very trusting" Mikal smiled. "but waitdon't we need Kale first?"
"Get him. And Mikal?"
"Yes?"
"Blow out that candle."
"Do I have to? It'll be pitch black."
"We're bad guys; we're supposed to live in dark places."
Mikal blew out the candle and grinned as he heard his brother stumble into things, swearing.
"I need a bigger house," Mia complained to Kuyira as she watched the guys wrestle around the house, destroying everything in their path.
Kuyira nodded and continued sharpening her daggers. "You knew this was bound to happen sometime."
"You punched me!!" Ryo yelled at Rowen. They rolled around, knocking down Mia's books.
Kento munched on his sixth sandwich near Dais, who was presently studying the accounts on the table.
"Sehkmet, your poison almost burned through my armor!" Sage ducked a punch and kicked Sehkmet hard.
Anjel walked through the fighting guys, smiling. Dodging them, she waved at Kuyira. "Thanks Kay. These clothes fit well." She put her hand in the jean shorts' pockets.
"The tang top feel okay? It's not too tight, or too loose?" Kuyira asked.
"Nope, fits fine." She smiled.
"You bastard! Let go of my hair!!" Sage's voice burst through.
"So where'd you get the anklet from?" Mia asked, washing a pan.
"It was a welcoming gift from the Ronins. Cye gave me mine"
"You deserved that punch, Ryo!!" Rowen's voice raised louder.
Anjel grinned. "Rowen gave Ami hers and Sage"
"Let go Blondie!!" Sehkmet yelled suddenly.
"gave Kat hers," Anjel finished.
"Oh? That was nice" Mia murmured.
"When-? Nevermind," Kuyira went back to sipping her tea.
"Shouldn't someone stop them?" Ami asked, eyeing the brawling boys.
"WellI don't want to get into the middle of it" Mia frowned.
"Hey! Where's Yuli?!" Kuyira looked around.
"Yuli?"
"Mia's sonshe adopted him a few years back" Kuyira still couldn't see him.
Anjel turned around to see Kat get knocked down by an angry Ryo. Kat wrapped her legs around Ryo and rolled him under her before smiling and punching him unconscious. "Maybe Kat knows?"
Mia stared aghast at the girl Anjel had just mentioned before shaking her head. "I don't think she would"
"Did you just see that?! She took Ryo down like he was nothing!! She is some fighter!!!" Kuyira grinned and went back to sipping her tea.
"Tai-Bo lessons. We all took them: Ami, Kat and I" Anjel waved at Kat as she came up towards them. "Hi!! We were just talking about you."
"Nothing bad I hope," she sat down wearily.
Rowen looked at the unconscious Ryo and shrugged. Walking over towards the girls, he looked amusedly towards Kat. "Thanks Kat-kun."
"Just Kat to my friends," she smiled at Rowen.
"Anjel-chan! You'll never believe this! I just checked my email and I finally checkmated Tyler-kun!!" Ami burst into the room, happily.
"You won?!" Anjel grinned and gave Ami a quick hug. "I'm so excited for you!!" She turned quickly to Kat. "Did you hear?! She won the tournament!!"
"I know! Congratulations!!"
"Hey, has anyone seen Yuli?" Mia's voice called out.
Everyone looked at eachother before racing out the door, leaving Kat, Ami, and Anjel (once again) trying to catch up. Kat raced towards the lake and Ami towards the trees. Anjel sat down on the porch and hummed softly to herself. Noticing that everyone was gone, she looked under the porch to see two eyes staring at her. "You can come out nowif you want"
A small boy with brown hair came out, filthy and with a bleeding lip. He had trails of tears leaving streaks on his dirty face and looked about ready to cry again. "Who're you?" his small voice asked.
"I'm Anjel and if you come inside, I can get you cleaned up before they come back here looking for you" she offered softly.
The little boy nodded and put his hand in hers as they went inside. She quickly got a washrag and let warm water soak it. Gently wiping his mouth, she managed to get rid of the dried blood and cleaned out the rag again. With soft strokes she managed to get his face somewhat clean and sighed. "This isn't going to work. Why don't we go upstairs and run a bath for you?" He nodded slowly and led her to the bathroom.
After filling the tub with bubbles and water, she told him to get in. Running to his room, she pulled out clean clothes and got back in the bathroom by the time he'd managed to get in the tub. She folded the clothes and handed him a washrag. "Do you want me to leave?"
The boy looked thoughtful for awhile, then shook his head, saying softly, "No. Please stay" He seemed a bit embarrassed over saying it, but his eyes pleaded with hers and she gave in.
"I don't know what I'm going to doAnytime someone says they need meoh am I going to be in trouble when they get back" Anjel sat down and contemplated the little boy.
"What was that song you were humming earlier?" he asked, sleepily.
"An old Celtic song. It's very pretty isn't it?" She started humming as he nodded and he was soon asleep in the tub. "Yuli?" she whispered. "Yuliwake up Yuli!" His sleep filled eyes slowly opened and he smiled at her. "Let's get you dried off and into bed, okay?" He nodded and she handed him a towel. "I'm going to leave you alone to get into your pj's and when I get back you'd better not be asleep!" Anjel closed the door and sighed. It was getting dark and no one was home but Yuli and her. She had no way of contacting them to tell them that the little bairn was okay.
The door opened and out came the sleepy Yuli. She quickly picked him up and carried him to his room. Tucking him in, she smiled softly at him before kissing his forehead. "Off ta sleep wit' ye, lil' bairn" she said softly in her mother's Irish brogue. Tip-toeing to the bathroom, she quickly cleaned up the mess that had been left behind and snuck back into the sleeping boy's room. She sat by his bed and laid her arms down to rest her head on them. She watched the boy sleep until her eyelids drooped closed.
i
"Did you find him?" Mia asked worriedly.
Everyone shook their heads and Ami said, "Maybe he's home by now?"
"Maybe" but Mia didn't sound convinced.
They walked home in silence and stared in shock at the back door being open. Kento wanted to immediately call on his armor, but no body would let him. Rowen made sure the women stayed to the back and Kale walked through the door.
"Somebody's missing!" someone hissed.
"It's Ryo! Rememberwe left him unconscious on the floor!" Mia whispered back.
"Someone other then that!" this time it was easy to tell that the voice was Sehkmet.
"Where's Anjel?" Cye asked worriedly.
Kale stopped and swerved around. "I thought she was with one of you guys!"
Ryo came to the door with an icepack on his head. "Will you guys be quiet? Yuli and Anjel are upstairs sleeping, and I have a head ache!"
"Why is the door open?!" Dais asked.
"Fresh air? I don't knowI just remember waking up to an empty house and when I went upstairsSee for yourselves" Ryo went back to the kitchen to put more ice in his pack.
Everyone tip-toed upstairs to Yuli's room to see the slumbering Anjel slumped over his bed. "Is she okay?" Anubis whispered to no one in particular.
Sage went over to investigate. He shook his head and picked her up. "She's just sleeping."
"Put her in her room, it's the one she's sharing with Kat and Ami" Mia said softly.