Chapter Two: Sheila's Return

(Cye)

After school, I waited outside of Ariel's school. The bell rang and I prepared myself for the horde of kids that were about to come running out. Sure enough, a stampede of children ranging in ages from six to twelve ran from the school. I sought refuge in a nearby tree. Finally I saw Ariel walking out of school with two girls about her age, talking away.

I jumped down from the tree and walked over. The two girls with Ariel looked up. One of the girls was tall with emerald green hair in two pigtails. She was wearing a cute little green dress. Ariel's other friend had short, chin length pink hair and midnight blue eyes. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans. Ariel looked up and waved. "Hi Daddy!"

"That's your dad?" asked the girl in green.

"Hi sweetie," I said. Ariel smiled. "I see you've made some friends."

"Yup!" she said. "This is Skye," she said, referring to the girl in blue, "and this is Starr."

"Pleased to meet you girls," I said. "All right, Ariel, let's head home, shall we, or do you want to stay and chat with your friends until their parents get here?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," said Ariel. She and her friends began to talk, so I got out some homework. After ten minutes, Skye and Starr's parents still hadn't shown up. The school was deserted.

Click. Click. Click.

"Who's that lady?" asked Starr.

"She looks. . . weird," said Skye.

I looked up and my heart stopped. There, standing in a green suit dress stood Sheila. "Long time no see, Cye, long time no see."

I stood up. "What do you want?"

"You and I made a deal seven years ago that if you kept your mouth shut I wouldn't be forced to kill you, but you blabbed, so now, I'm back," she said. She started advancing on me. I stepped backwards.

"Uh oh, this looks like trouble," said Skye.

"What's going on? What happened between you and that bad lady seven years ago!?" asked Ariel.

"Ariel, get out of here, now!" I said.

"Daddy, I'm not leaving you!" said Ariel.

Sheila stopped and turned around. "Ah, so this is what you've grown into," she said, stepping towards Ariel.

Instinctively, I ran over. "Stay away from her!"

"Make me," said Sheila. "Ronin."

I froze, as did Ariel. Skye and Starr just stared. "Uh oh," said Ariel slowly.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"I ran into some old friends of yours, by the names of Kioko and Kayura. They trained me as your old adversary Sehkment once was," said Sheila. "You see, I'm his heir."

Ariel went back to confused. "Daddy, fight her!"

"I, I don't know if I can," I said.

"Why!?" asked Ariel.

"He can't hit a lady!" said Starr.

"She's no lady," I said. Sheila slapped me.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance. But, Talpa doesn't want that," said Sheila.

My eyes widened. "Talpa?!"

"Yes, Talpa," said Sheila. "You think that you finished him off? No, no, he's much too powerful for that."

"Stay away from my Daddy!" said Ariel, taking out the Jewel of Life.

Sheila slowly turned around. "The Jewel of Life won't work on the one who gave you life."

Ariel blinked. "What?"

"I don't care if you like me or, I don't like you, nor did I like carrying you for nine months," said Sheila.

"Ariel, I think she's your mother," said Skye.

"My. . . mother?" asked Ariel.

"I should've killed you, too, brat. You could've ruined me," said Sheila. "But now I have the Dynasty."

"The Dynasty's bad!" said Ariel. "I don't care if you're my mother, you're bad!"

Sheila chuckled. "Maybe I am, maybe I am. Your father certainly thinks so," she said. She glared at me. I closed my eyes and winced. "Either way, he's coming with me."

"No!" said Ariel. Before I could even try to escape. Sheila grabbed the collar of my shirt and everything went black.

(Ariel)

"Daddy!" I cried. He and my mother were gone. Is that why he avoided talking about my mother? What did she do to him?

"Ariel, what just happened?" asked Skye, just as the actual sky began to turn gray. "I have some money, we could go back inside and call a pay phone."

"We have to call my house first," I said. "I know I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about this, but, do you believe in legends?"

After we got inside, I told Skye and Starr everything, from when Sehkment kidnapped me when I was four and how I got involved with the Ronin Warriors. The school was completely deserted, the lights were off, and the phones were dead. It was really scary. "Do you think the other Ronin Warriors are gonna show up?" asked Starr.

"I hope so," I said. That was when I heard footsteps.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Skye.

"I don't know," I said, poking my head out of the door. I saw something coming down the hall. "I don't know what it is."

"That I don't like," said Starr, biting her fingernails.

Skye poked her head out. The figure noticed and started off at a run. Skye and I screamed, dragged Starr out of the room, and ran.

"Ariel!"

"Sage?" I asked. "Is that you, Sagey?"

"Yes, what are you doing still here?" he asked once he caught up. "Who are your friends?"

"Skye and Starr, but that's not the important thing! A mean woman took my Daddy away! She said her name was Sheila, and she said she was my mother," I said.

"What!?" asked Sage, wide eyed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nuh-uh!" said Starr. "A woman named Sheila really did take Ariel's dad away. In a second they were gone without a trace!"

Sage looked serious. "Sage, is my mother really dangerous?"

"You're too young to understand just how much trouble she is," he said.

"And you don't' know how much trouble you're in, Halo."

"Cale!"