Chapter Twelve: Mia, Yuli, and a Big White Kitty

I tried to train Kojiro for the next few hours, but I was having trouble with my moves. I kept thinking about Ariel. Kojiro slapped a hand down on my shoulder. "Cye, she'll be okay. Right now they'll want to keep her alive."

"You're right, but, I, I should've woken up, I should've been able to-"

Kojiro put his other hand on my other shoulder. "Cye, calm down. There's nothing more you could've done. Worst case scenario is that she's scared. They're probably treating her all right. And who knows? Maybe she's giving THEM the run around!"

I laughed. Ariel could be a handful at times, but I didn't think she'd actually do that. Besides, the Dark Warlords had short tempers, they'd probably threaten her life and she'd shut up. "You obviously don't know the Dark Warlords very well."

"Ouch, well, she's smart, she'll shut up," said Kojiro.

Anubis, who had been meditating, stood up. "Anubis?"

"I can sense Mia, Yuli, and White Blaze," he said.

"Who?" asked Kojiro.

"Mia and Yuli are two civilians that helped us out during the Dynasty's first two raids, plus, Mia housed us. White Blaze is Ryo's pet," I said.

"Oh," said Kojiro.

"Rrooaarr." I smiled. White Blaze was standing right behind Kojiro.

Kojiro stiffened, then turned around, screamed, and promptly jumped into my arms. White Blaze stared at Kojiro curiously, blinking.

I laughed, putting down Kojiro. "Koji, it's just White Blaze."

"THAT'S a PET!?" said Kojiro.

"Technically, White Blaze is a guardian tiger, he was supposed to make sure that the five of you got together and got along," said Anubis. "He usually attaches himself to Wildfire, though."

"Oh, I see," I said. Kojiro was a little edgy, but he rubbed White Blaze behind the ears. White Blaze purred, then looked up at me and jumped on his hind legs, putting his front paws on my shoulders, knocking me to the ground. He promptly began to slurp my face. "Hey, stop, that tickles! Hey, I'm glad to see you two, now get off!"

"Rrooaarr," said White Blaze, temporarily jumping off. I sat up and shook my head.

Kojiro laughed. "You look like shit, man," he said.

"Not funny," I said. I concentrated on my powers and doused myself with water, which for the most part rid me of the tiger slobber.

"Cye." I looked over to see a young woman and a young adolescent looking at me. The young woman had short brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a denim jacket over a pair of jeans. The boy was around twelve, with black/brown hair just bellow his ears, one of which had a golden hoop in it, large blue eyes starring at me. He was wearing a black T-shirt and baggy jeans

"Mia? Yuli?" I asked. "Is that you? You both look so, different."

"So do you," said Mia. "You cut your hair."

"So have you," I said nervously. "It's, nice to see you again."

Mia looked at me. "Why did you leave? What happened? For goodness sakes, we thought the Dynasty killed you! How could you just-" Mia was obviously starting to loose her cool.

"Mia, please, calm down, let me explain," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"All right, but this had better be good," she said.

I frowned. "I know you're mad, but I had a fairly good reason to leave," I said. I looekd over at Kojiro and Anubis. "Mind if I tell them in private?"

"Not a problem, dude," said Kojiro. "So, Anubis, tell me more about these powers, eh?"

I turned back to Mia and Yuli. "Okay, do you remember that about a month before Shelia left I was a little, messed up?"

By the time I was finished, Mia was sympathetic. "So you left because you thought that we were going to disown you or something?" said Mia.

I nodded. "Sage and others, especially Sage, they always put down teen parents-"

"They wouldn't. They are your friends. Don't worry about it," said Mia. "They were all given a course on teen parenthood, and they have an idea on how tough it is. I have a feeling that what they got was nothing compared to the real thing."

I laughed. "They have no idea, trust me."

Yuli nodded, looking at me in a whole new light. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said. "It's been difficult, but, I've managed, somehow. But now I've got to get her back."

"You will," said Mia, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Just relax, think over your every step, and you'll get her and the guys back."

I sighed, but nodded anyways. "But I've got to worry about training Kojiro and Chrono, the ex Warlords except for Anubis, rescuing the guys and Ariel, plus there's Talpa to worry about," I said.

Anubis and Kojiro came back. "So, you've died. What's it like?" asked Kojiro.

I looked at Kojiro. "Typical armor high. Kento and I were off the walls when we first got our armors," I said. Mia nodded, looking at Kojiro fire question after question at Anubis.

"Kojiro," I said, "lay off Anubis, ask questions as you need them answered."

Kojiro shrugged. "Hey, if that's how it works, that's how it works. So our mission is: find Chrono, break into Dynasty, save Ariel and your old friends, kick Talpa's butt, and get home in one piece?"

"Basically," I said. "But I'm telling you, it won't be easy."

Yuli tapped my shoulder. Boy, he'd gotten tall. "Cye?" he asked.

"Yes, Yuli?" I asked. Yuli placed something in my hand. I opened my palm and saw the Jewel of Life. "If you find your daughter, let her wear it. I can take a little better care of myself now than I could all those years ago. Ariel's a little kid; she's practically defenseless. This will help her."

I clutched the Jewel of Life and nearly cried. "Thank you," I said, giving him a quick but tight hug.

"Jewel of Life?" asked Kojiro.

"It's one of the sacred treasures. The Nine Mystical Armors, the Three Magic Armors, the Ancient's Staff, the White Armor of Inferno, the Soul Swords of Fervor, and the Jewel of Life are all used in the battle for the Mortal Realm," said Anubis. "The Jewel of Life is also known as the Heart of the Ancients. It contains a great amount of power, but it can only be controlled by the pure of heart."

"Is this one of those things you have to see to get it?" said Kojiro.

I nodded. "You'll hardly believe it when you see it, Koji."