The Armor of the Soul
By Dixxy
Chapter Twenty-One: The Lonesome Darkness
(Sage)
Show me the meaning of being lonely
After the Kaze experiment failed, I was sent into my room and locked in. I tried to teleport to Cye and Kento's room, but the seal was so much stronger than during the Senshi's first war. I was alone, hurt, and a nervous wreck. I'd never been used like that, and I felt even more insecure then when I'd first been brought to the Dynasty while it was under Trulpa's control.
My name is Sage Date. But I'm also known as Sage of the Halo. I was a prisoner to Trulpa for nearly a year, forced to use magic powers I didn't even know I had for her sick and evil purposes. I think you already know how all that happened, right? Right. So I won't go over it. I don't have a reason to.
So many words for the broken heart
It's hard to see in a crimson love
So hard to breathe
Walk with me, and maybe
Nights of light so soon become
Wild and free I could feel the sun
Your every wish will be done
They tell me...
I stared at the wall from where I sat on my bed. The emerald green room was done over beautifully, as if Trulpa had instructed her most trusted decorators to do it over. Kento and Cye's rooms were nice, too. It looked really expensive, and I figured she must have gone to such extents to try and get us to change sides. But that would never happen. She wants to destroy everything I hold dear. I'd slit my own throat before joining her.
Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart
Deep down inside, I felt sick to my stomach. I'd been manipulated by Trulpa. Again. When was this going to end? When was I going to get to go home? Thinking of home made the sick feeling intensify. Even if I escaped, I probably couldn't ever go home again. Everyone thinks I'm dead. It would be weird if I went back. So I'd never see my mother, my father, my sisters, and my grandfather ever again.
Life goes on as it never ends
Eyes of stone observe the trends
They never say forever gaze
Guilty roads to an endless love
There's no control
Are you with me now
Your every wish will be done
They tell me
Eventually I felt a presence enter the room. I didn't get up. I knew who it was before I heard their voice. "Halo, come with me. Trulpa wishes to see you." Why did she have to send CALE of all people to get me for whatever she wanted to harass me about this time? Wasn't the fact I was stuck in this stupid Dynasty for the rest of my life enough?! Apparently not.
Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart
"Really, well, I don't want to see her," I said. I turned a cold glare his way. "Go away, Cale."
There's nowhere to run
I have no place to go
Surrender my heart' body and soul
How can it be you're asking me to feel the things you never show
You are missing in my heart
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
My old adversary chuckled. "No matter how hopeless it gets or how much hope you loose, you always manage to come back with a snappy comment. Now get off you ass and come with me!" Cale pushed me off my bed and drew his sword. Since I was pretty much unarmed, I stood up and followed him to Trulpa's throne room.
Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart
~
I stood before Trulpa, my hands at my sides and my head down. Not from respect, but from depression. The demon empress sat on her throne, a long sleeved, v-necked red dress on her figure. I will admit that it is a thin figure, like some models, but I'm not at all attracted to it. They say evil wears a pretty face, and in Trulpa's case, I believe them. "Halo, I have made a few, discoveries, that you might be interested in."
I didn't answer. I hated Trulpa, and perhaps refusing to answer her would get her mad. I liked seeing her mad to a certain extent. As long as she wasn't ready to kill, then it was slightly amusing. But at that moment I was so depressed that I didn't care how mad she was or wasn't.
"It would seem as if you can be of use to me," she said, standing up and walking down to me. I stiffened as she began to walk around me in a complete circle. Then, suddenly, Trulpa grabbed my hand and placed a cool, smooth object in my hand. She then closed my fingers over the object. I opened my fingers to see my armor orbe.
"Why are you giving this back to me?" I asked, blinking at her in surprise.
"Because you need it for my plan to work. The Armor of the Halo is a key element to my latest plan, you see. But the reunion is only temporary, Sagie," she said. She grinned maliciously. "And if you don't do every little thing I say, well, Kento and Cye will regret it."
My eyes widened. "You'll hurt Cye and Kento?" I asked. "No! Leave them alone! If it's me you want then do whatever you want, but please, don't hurt my friends!"
"I have them both in the gargoyles, waiting to be fried," she said. "And without you to balance the difference, they'll both be killed. Now, you have a choice. Obey me and they'll be just fine. Disobey me, and then they die. So, what's you choice, Halo? Let your friends live, or die?"
I choked on my breath. Great. Do I obey Trulpa and save my friends, or, do I disobey her and through Cye and Kento's lives away? I didn't have much of a choice. "Why do you need me?" I asked.
Trulpa sighed. "Ah, this will, perhaps, help your decision. A hundred years ago, Talpa and I were working together on a special project. One of your armor ancestors, Nako of the Halo, and the Halo of the Senshi at the time, Sachi, infiltrated the Nether Realm and stole the completed project. They then sealed it away with their armors and we shortly after killed foolishly by Talpa," she said.
"So that's why you two became enemies," I said. "Because you got mad at Talpa for killing the only people who knew where your project was hidden. So that's why you didn't have a big problem killing your own brother."
"Correct. I got the revenge I needed and got some extra power to boost. Just recently, my forces have found out where it's located, but, in order to get inside we'd need your assistance since only the two Halo armors working together can break open the seal. We'll off course need assistance from Halo of the Senshi," said Trulpa.
"And if she won't cooperate?"
"She'll obey me," said Trulpa. "If she knows what's good for her, at least."
I gulped. What was she planning for Sam?
"Until the operation, I've arranged a, special, room for you."
"What kind of a special room?"
My "special room" was a rather large, rather dark, and rather unpleasant dungeon. I created a small ball of light so I could get a better view of my surroundings. Nothing but bare, dismal grey walls. I sighed heavily.
Looking down at my armor orbe, I decided to armor up and see if maybe I could find a way out of there. Hey, I'd get out of the temple robes, which were REALLY starting to get, annoying. Not that they were comfortable, but I craved something different. Preferably denim, but subarmor was good, too.
"Armor of the Halo, Tao CHI!" I cried, backflipping into my subarmor. The cool, metallic-spandex-polyester feeling was more than welcoming. I felt a little more at ease than I had been in the past several months. Or had it been a year already? It was definitely early summer by now, and since we were captured at the end of August. . . wow, it had really been THAT long.
"Wow," I said. "It's really been a year already."
I sat down with my back up against the wall. I could feel the cool coming off from the stone onto the back of my neck. I shivered, pushing my hair down to cover it. I didn't realize just how cold it was due to my subarmor until then. My light floated next to my head, so I could see the opposite wall, but like it did me any good. Ooo, the opposite wall, big whoop.
Eventually I laid down, keeping my hands under my head. The ceiling was pretty boring, too. More than anything, I was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Yeah, I was scared, but after being in the Dynasty so long, I kind of got to know what to expect from different things and it wasn't so scary anymore. It was just, I don't know kind of normal, after a while. I still longed to go back to the Mortal Realm more than anything, but with the ways things were, it didn't look like it would happen for a long time, if at all.
Eventually I extinguished the ball and fell asleep.