The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Three: Warrior Meets Senshi

(Sage)

SLAM!

I woke up from my little nap with a start. What the heck was that? I sat up and looked around. My eyes were kind of adjusted to the shadows, but I couldn't see if I had been joined by anyone. Or thing.

I shuddered at the thought and stood up. I had to keep my mind off of "things" joining me. I had to remain positive, or I'd never get out of there alive. If I had a choice at all in the matter. Of course Trulpa wanted me to remain in the Dynasty for all time. I listened carefully, and sure enough, I heard breathing. I began to slowly walk to the source of the breathing.

"Who's there?" I asked.

No answer. The breathing quickened its pace.

"I hear breathing. Are you mute? Deaf? A combination of both?"

Still no answer, but the breathing seemed to disappear. Well, if there was someone there, they were aware of me.

I took in a deep breath, then cleared my throat. "Look, if you're here than you're either here to kill me or you're against Trulpa. If you're against Trulpa I don't want to hurt you. I don't like her either. If you're an executioner, well, you'll have to fight me to the last to get your job done, cause I'm not going down easy."

"How can I trust you don't work for Trulpa?" The voice was quiet, so I couldn't determine a sex. But I could detect an Australian accent.

"Because I'm a prisoner like you are." With this I began to advance again.

"How do I know you aren't some kind of a Dynasty trick!?" At this point they stopped disguising their voice and I was positive it was a female. I got an inkling it was one of the Senshi.

"I don't wish to harm you," I said. "Um, Ms. Senshi."

"How can you tell I'm a Senshi? It's pitch black in here. Maybe I'm NOT a Senshi," she said. "Maybe I'm a big, ugly, man eating monster! Ha! Take that, whoever you are!"

"Well, let's see then," I said, activating a light spark. I heard a scream and once my eyes adjusted I saw the Halo girl, her head down and her palms outstretched in front of her. She was also shaking like a leaf.

"I, I'll hurt you, I'm, I'm not afraid to, to do it," she said.

I laughed. "I couldn't hurt you even if I tried," I said.

The girl looked up slowly and ran her eyes up and down me. Her eyes widened and she gasped in surprise. "You, you're one of the Ronin Warriors Anubis told us about!" she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? He did?"

Her demeanor suddenly changed from surprise to anger. "Stupid liar," she said.

I sighed. "I'm going to assume you're mad because he didn't tell you he used to work for the Dynasty? Right?"

"Bingo," she said. "Why did he lie to us like that!? Why am I asking you, I don't even know you!" She turned her back to me and started to walk away, swaying her hips as she did. I wasn't sure if she was leading me on or just generally being a bitch, but either way, I had to second her notions.

"Well, my name is Sage Date, but I'm better known around here as Sage of the Halo," I said, extending my hand. My partner in arms turned around to look at me in interest. She started to walk back over to me, slowly, looking at my hand as if it were a smoking gun. The girl nervously took it. "I don't bite," I said, laughing slightly. "Now, what's your name?"

"My name's Samantha Thomas, Sam, Halo of the Senshi," she said. She sounded nervous and unsure of herself, which she had been for most of our short conversation. Considering I didn't have the Virtue of Wisdom for nothing, I figured out what was wrong with her.

"Are you scared of me?" I asked. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's not what I'm afraid of," said Sam. "I could take you if I had the chance to." She lowered her eyes.

"Well, are you afraid I'm going to think lowly of you? Cause I don't have a reason to," I said. "I don't know much about you either and what I know doesn't seem so bad aside from the fact a person can't get two words out of you without a struggle."

"I'm afraid that I'm supposed to end up marrying you and bearing your children like it or not," she said coldly. "Well, let me tell you this, SAGE. I'm no man's woman and I'll-"

I coughed. Nah, I choked. "Hold the phone, you think we're what?!"

"You heard me. Stuck together, although you probably don't mind-" she started, now sounding more angry and upset than anything else.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "No. That's not how it works. Just because we have the same armor doesn't mean we have to hook up! Tons of ancient bearers have gotten hooked up with people other than Ronins or Warladies," I said. "We're not destined to be lovey-dovey. Most of the time Ronin Warriors don't even MEET the Senshi."

She blinked, looking at me with renewed interest. "Is that true?" asked Sam.

"Why would I say it otherwise if it weren't?" I said. "What makes you think that any of the Ronin Warriors would want to be tied down to one woman like it or not?"

"Why would it matter if all men do in a marriage is get their wife pregnant and beat them to death?" asked Sam. She then looked up at me and froze. "Mother. . ." She clenched her eyes shut and dropped to the ground, crying her eyes out.

I gawked and joined her on the floor. "Okay, I THINK I've got a good picture here on what's going on," I said. "Let's have a talk."

"Why?" asked Sam, now close to tears.

"Well, I think I have a pretty good idea where that last statement came from and I think you're also curious why we're here. . ."

~

I was right. Sam had watched her father kill her mother when she was younger. In return, she hated men. I wasn't sure how to heal those wounds, so I told her about my family. I told her about my parents, my grandfather, and my sisters. I told a few funny stories and a few kind of embarrassing stories. It got a few laughs out of her. I smiled. She was pretty when she laughed.

"So then when my mom found out that Mittens was purple, she grounded me and Kaitlyn for a MONTH," I said.

"But you were eight!" said Sam, her cheeks now a rosy pink color from all the light-hearted emotions I'd drawn out of hiding.

"I should have known not to get into Serena's hair dye," I said.

Sighing (almost) happily, Sam looked at me. "Why did you tell me all this?" she asked.

"Because I wanted you to know that not all families are like what yours was," I said. "Not every man is abusive."

Sam rested her head on my shoulder, sniffling. I gently hugged her and began to rub her back. She made no protest to the notion, seeing some sort of comfort from it. Something she probably hadn't ever gotten from a man before. "Why did he do it?" she asked. "My mom didn't want to die. . ."

"Some people are sick like that, but you can't live in the past. Remember the past, live today, and work for the future," I said. "You've got to learn to trust again."

"Can I?" asked Sam. "I mean, ten years of distrust. . ."

"You can do it," I said. "I know you can."

Sam smiled weakly at me. Then, her eyes lost some of their seriousness. "So, uh, why are we here? You never went over that," I said. "In fact, why are YOU here? Aren't you supposed to fight your battles against Talpa?"

"Oh, right," I said. "I guess I was worried about you. Okay, well, during our second war. . ."

~

". . .and if I don't cooperate, my friends die," I said.

Sam listened intently. "I don't know what she plans to use against me, probably threaten my aunt or someone I'm close to," she said. "But somehow I think that your friends staying alive is important. If Trulpa is as powerful as you say, then we're going to need as much help as we need."

Soon, the door opened. "Halos, Trulpa wishes to see you."

Sam snorted. "In your dreams. Tell her to go f-"

"Don't, Sam," I warned, placing a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "I feel the same way but unfortunately Trulpa's word is law here, and there's only so far you can push her. You nearly overstepped it by a long shot."

Sam nodded as we proceeded to the door.

~

Hi! I know, I usually don't do any author's notes at the end of a chapter, but I felt like now was an appropriate time to do so. Er herm. If it seems like there are some places that are short, repetitive, or otherwise redundant, there's a reason for it. The Armor of the Soul used to be five separate stories: Kaze, The Fortune Teller's Fortune, The Jewel of Death, The Child of Destiny, and The Under City. For many miscellaneous reasons, I've decided that it would be easier to post it on FF.Net as one story. In a way you can see where one plot line starts and another ends. Kaze ended on chapter eight and The Fortune Teller's Fortune began with what is now chapter nine. The area we are in right now, The Jewel of Death, originally began on the chapter that talked about Cara's past. Hope that cleared some things up! I'll put more notes when the other two stories start. See ya! ~Dixxy