The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter One: Bloody Messages

(Ria)

My name is Ria Carmichael. I'm a fifteen year old Virginia native currently located in Boston, Massachusetts. I've got short red hair with charred ends, green eyes, and an amazing story. So amazing that you might not believe me at first.

My story began last year, when I was fourteen and my Great Aunt Sally and I were moving out of our cramped apartment and into a more comfortable cottage. I found two things that changed my life. The first thing was my pet, Tiger Lily. Tiger Lily is like all other pets in that she's friendly, loyal, and needs to be fed and taken care of. She's different because she's a full grown Siberian tiger. Yup, a tiger.

The other thing I found was a red marble that turned out to be an armor orbe, a device I can use to call apon the Wildfire of the Senshi, a powerful armor I use to battle evil. That's why I'm also known as Ria, Wildfire of the Senshi. I'm one of the five Ronin Senshi. As the Senshi of fire, I'm expected to lead the other four on our suicide missions to protect the Mortal Realm from Trulpa and the Evil Dynasty.

Trulpa is an evil demon woman who's well over a thousand years old. She's from the Nether Realm where she commands her massive empire, the Dynasty. So far we've only faced her four favorite generals, the Dark Warladies, and her mindless henchmen, the Tin Cans. Oh, and we've fought her, too. But it took the powers of all five of us to create the Inferna, a cool armor with a ton of power that I can weld to take down massive evils like Trulpa. We think there's more out there, but we aren't looking forward to meeting them yet.

But we aren't alone. Anubis is our trusted friend, teacher, and ally. He's over four hundred years old, but he surprisingly only looks about twenty or twenty-one. Anubis is the current bearer of the Ancient One's staff, a golden walking stick with six rings and some cool decorative do-dads, that can do some seriously cool magic. The Ancient One is the guy who created our armors and originally defeated Trulpa. But he died and Anubis was his only student, so he got stuck training us.

Then there's Mike and Sue Lee. Mike is a graduate student that had what used to be our greatest resource for information on the armors, but has since been replaced by Anubis' scrolls. He's still a good friend for moral support and lets us use his home for housing purposes and meetings. Sue Lee is a sweet little girl whose mother he was a good friend with. After Sue Lee's mother perished in a car crash, Mike found that he was entrusted with her in her mother's will.

That's basically everyone who's a help, aside from the other Senshi and our families. I'll introduce them later. First, I gotta get into this story.

~

It all started a few months after we'd defeated Trulpa in our first war with her. While Anubis was still insisting the war wasn't over, we were all skeptical in one way or another. Me, I guess I was a little less skeptical, since when I dealt her the final blow she did say she'd be back, but I still thought it was getting to a point where she wouldn't come back. Maybe she gave up?

Anyways, it was in mid-May when the second war began. I happened to be enjoying a long, relaxing soak in a nice, warm bubble bath. I was humming to myself, letting the strawberry and cream scent from the water relax me. Since the war, I began to understand more and more how precious life was and how it was something you couldn't waste. Every chance I got I took a bubble bath or watched a sunrise, since I didn't know if I'd ever get another chance to. I know the other Senshi did that, too. They took extra time to spend with their families, did more things, and spent less time doing boring, repetitive tasks.

Suddenly, I felt a chill enter the bathroom. I shivered, looking back down into the bubbles. "Maybe I'd better go get dressed," I mumbled, not really happy with the premature ending of my bath. I stood up and reached for the drain plug, pulling it out. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my bare torso and stepped out onto the warm, fuzzy bath mat. After brushing my teeth and gargling, I left the bathroom to proceed into my bedroom.

Once I stepped inside I went over to the dresser and glanced casually up at the mirror. I stepped back and nearly tripped over a loose article of clothing (okay, my room's a mess, big whoop). There, in the mirror, was my name written in thick, running blood. I wasn't sure what to do.

Without even bothering to get so much as a bathrobe, I darted downstairs in my towel and quickly picked up to the phone. I dialed the first number that came to me and dialed it. I didn't even remember whose number it was. I just hoped it was another of the Senshi's.

"Hello?"

Phew. Thank the Lord it was Rona.

Rona Santana is also known as Rona, Strata of the Senshi, being the Senshi of the Winds, Sky, and Song. According to Anubis, she's the first Ronin of Latin decent, which he kept looking up to see if it was some sort of a sign. Rona was the oldest in our little group as well as the resident female Casanova, chef, and genius. And the only one who rides a motorcycle. Don't think she's perfect, though; she's a horrible athlete (minus archery and running) and tends to be a little more skeptical than the rest of us at times.

"Rona, it's me, Ria," I said.

"Ria? Is something wrong? Are you okay? You sound like you're ready to cry!" she said.

"I am!" I said. "Rona, I'm so scared!"

"I'll come right over, don't go anywhere!"

~

"Whoa," said Rona. This was the first I'd been in my room since I'd called Rona. I'd gotten dressed in the basement, my clothes straight from the dryer. Still, I was nerve wracked and didn't really want to go back inside there.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we should bring Keisha or Anubis in here," said Rona.

I stared at Rona. "Anubis is NOT coming in my room! Sally will flip!"

"Well no kidding, that's why we're going to bring Keisha over here!" said Rona.

Keisha Narrlobi is our psychic. To our enemies, she's Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, drawing her powers from not only the psychic world but also the earth and the spirits of the Earth. Like Rona, she's the first of her ethnic group (Keisha's African American) and unlike Rona, she's an exceptional athlete. And since Keisha wasn't male, Sally would allow her into my room.

"Now we just gotta call her," said Rona. "I can't figure this out at all."

"You're more of a logical thinker anyways," I said. "Keisha's the mythical thinker, Sara and Sam are the quick, creative, and destructive thinkers, and I'm the leader."

"Ha, ha," said my pink haired friend. "Let's just give Keisha a buzz and let her figure this one out, okay?"

"Fine," I said. "But this is creepy. You think Trulpa's finally bouncing back?"

Rona took on a serious tone. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, Ria. We need to keep on our toes."