Strength of the Heart
Chapter 4
By Butterfly

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Mia slowly walked through the doors. She sat at her seat, not waiting for Rahucas to pull out her chair. Rahucas sat across from her, a smug grin planted on his face. "Tonight you will watch as your precious ronins are destroyed!" Mia didn't say a word, she only stared at her hands which were fiddling with the table cloth. "Kayura!" He bellowed. Kayura instantly appeared before him, kneeling in her brothers presence. "I want you to put the final plan in motion. Go and get the Ronin warriors!" "As you wish." Bowing one last time, Kayura teleported out of the room.

Mia bit her lip. She needed to get out and warn the ronins of Rahucas plan. "May I be excused?" She asked as politely as she could. Rahucas lifted and eyebrow, wondering just what it was that Mia was up to. "Yes, go right ahead." Mia quickly exited the room and returned to her bedchamber. "Warlords!" Rahucas yelled. The three ruthless men appeared before him. "I want you to keep a close eyes on Mia. She seems to be up to something and I don't want anything interrupting my plans, UNDERSTOOD?!" The three warlords shook their heads and headed toward Mia's room.



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Sage held his head, the splitting pain grew worse. "Sage, Sage what is it?!" Rowen yelled placing two hands on his best friends shoulder. "I... I" Sage struggled to speak against the intense pain he felt. "I... sense something .... horrible!" Ryo's head shot up, and anger filled his face. "It must be the dynasty!" Sage screamed out again, the pain growing more intense by the second. "Sage of the halo..." A voice called out in his mind.

The voice seemed so calm, soothing and familiar. "Who ... who are you?" The other four ronins sat bewildered. "Sage buddy, it's us your friends. What's up with you?" Kento asked. "Sage of the halo, come to me ... you must come!" Sage stood up, turning he raced out of the door. "Sage! Where are you going come back!" Ryo yelled. "We gotta follow him." Cye urged, and the rest of the ronins took off after their friend.



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Kayura stood. Her small figure alone in the forest, covered by the shadows of the gigantic trees. She smiled as she saw him. 'Sage of the halo,' She thought. 'You and the rest of those pathetic excuses for warriors are running straight into my trap' Kayura laughed as sage stopped only a few feet from her. "Sage." She called to him. "You've come..." "Who are you?!" He yelled. "What is it you want with me?" Kayura smiled wider. "You shall soon see, my little warrior."

The other four ronins raced up behind sage. "Whoa, who's the babe?" Kento inquired. Rowen squinted his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. "I dunno, but she looks so familiar." Cye chirped. "Hey! Who are you?! Are you from the dynasty?!" Ryo yelled at the strange figure.

She took a step forward. From behind her, a large dynasty gate shot out of the ground, and towered over them. Kayura laughed as the moonlight came down, showing her face to them. The ronin's took a few step s back. "Kayura! What are you doing here? What has happened to the dynasty?! I thought you were taking care of it?!! What has happened to Mia??!!" Ryo called out, just barely containing his rage.

Kayura stepped back, and the doors to the gate began to open. "Follow me! If you ever want to have your questions answered. Otherwise, it's the end of Mia." Kayura jumped back into the gate and disappeared. Without hesitating Sage and Ryo jumped in, following her. The other ronins stood wide eyed for a few seconds, and then jumped in as well.



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"I've got to get out of here. Oh I just hope this works." Mia held up her orb, her clothes were stripped away and replaced by a light pink subarmor. "Now, If I'm right... Rahucas has already gotten the warlords to watch over me.." She slowly eased her door open, and peeked outside. Sure enough the three thick headed warriors were there. "now, how in the world..." Suddenly, Seckmet and Dais disappeared. Mia listened closely as cale began mumbling to himself. "Of course I can take care of the wench myself, I'm much stronger.. but that didn't mean I wanted to. GGGRRR I shouldn't have opened my mouth."

Mia smirked. "This is just the luck I needed! I bet I can get past cale easily ... now I have to find out if they have gotten the boys yet or not." She sighed heavily. "Oh well, here goes nothing." Mia charged out of the door, taking Cale head on. This, to say the least, surprised him.



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"Whoa dudes, where the heck are we?" Kento asked. "I think it's safe to say, that we're in the dynasty my friend." Cye replied. "Now we have to find Mia." Sage interrupted. "Yeah, and I'm betting she over there in that castle." "I think you're right Rowen, so let's get moving. Ronin Warriors, to arms!"



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