The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Ever Pathetic First Battle by Lord Kamusa

(Anubis)

It was nice seeing Kento again. I really did miss him and the others, and it was probably a good thing for my mental health to have one of them around again. But now I had to worry about two of them. Trulpa must have still had something planned, and, trouble was, none of us had the slightest clue what. Was she going to try and use those two as bait to trap Kento again? Possess Sage (can't possess Torrents, after all)? Kill them?

I could tell Kento was worried about them, despite his light hearted conversation with the girls. They seemed to like him, which, wasn't a surprise. When he wasn't on the battle field, he was a very charismatic young man. Though I think all of us could see that the one most interested in him was Keisha. Sara had supposedly seen the two kissing, which I wasn't sure what to say to. They'd only known each other for roughly a day. Kissing already? What was it about those two?

"Well, where are we now?" asked Ria as we were stopped at a red light. I looked around myself. We were in a city almost as busy and crowded as Boston.

"We're in a city, that's for sure," said Keisha. "Sorry if I don't know the name, but, I can feel Rona nearby, I just don't know where."

"I'd check a mall if I were you," said Sara. "You know Rona- anywhere she thinks she can find new friends or cute guys, she'll be there, and since it's a Saturday during the summer. . ."

"True," said Keisha.

Kento sighed. "It's a Saturday, and she HAD to go a mall," he said. He groaned, not sounding very happy with the whole situation. "Great, just great. Why don't girls understand that it's suicide to be at a mall on a SATURDAY!?"

"I agree," I said. "Be warned, about a week after I arrived in Boston, the girls took me shopping for clothes. It wasn't fun."

"Oh joy," said Kento. "I get to be their personal play toy." I laughed. As did the girls. Kento whimpered.

~

We went to a fairly large, one floor mall in one of the shopping districts of the city. "She's definitely here," said Keisha, looking around. "I can't see her, but I can definitely sense her."

Ria sighed. "Should I yell at her for running off, or should I just strangle her?" she asked. She cracked her knuckles in case she chose option two.

"No, this is my fault, Ria," I said. "She and Sam had every right to be angry."

"But storming off like they did?" said Kento. He shook his head, folding his arms. "I'll admit, back in Japan Cye and I did that on occasion when we got into a fight or something with Ryo or one of the others, but we were never gone longer than a few hours, tops. That just gets everyone else worried and all flustered."

"You were also fifteen and not old enough to drive. How far could you have gone?" I said. "In the case of these two, Rona has a motorcycle."

"She's eighteen?" asked Kento, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, the American driving age is sixteen," said Keisha. "I drove, remember?"

"Oh," said Kento. "I was gonna ask, but the last time I asked a girl how old she was I got slapped."

Keisha giggled, placing a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Poor guy," she said. "I'm sixteen. No big deal. C'mon, let's go find Rona."

We started looking in stores and trying to decide where she'd go. "Well, she wouldn't be in the Men's Wearhouse!" "What about KB Toys?" "Hey, look, Coconuts!" "What if she's in the bathroom?"

Then we walked past the food court. I eyed the Orange Julius counter hungrily. A worker was handing a woman a cup of the cold, fruity goodness that I am convinced is the greatest achievement of mankind to this date alongside tissue boxes, computers, and Kids in the Hall. "Orange Julius. . ." I said.

Ria sighed. "Anubis, you've never been able to say 'one' and 'Orange Julius' in the same sentence. Didn't you get in trouble with security for grabbing that kid behind the counter because you'd already had about five?"

Kento slowly turned his head to look at me. "Five?" he asked. "Sheesh, is it a beer or a fruit drink?"

"Well, he's got an idea there. Rona likes Orange Julius too, but it isn't pumping through her blood," said Sara. She smiled cheerfully. "Maybe she got hungry? We'll scan the food court and Anubis can have an Orange Julius. ONE."

I frowned. I headed to the Orange Julius counter and ordered the largest size they had before joining the girls in their search. Before long I saw that Keisha had located Rona in the corner of the food court, who looking depressed over a slice of pizza. I could see the other three already on their way over. So I started over as well. They stood up so Rona could dump her plate and started heading to a door.

Once I reached the door, the other three were already there, Keisha introducing Kento to Rona. She hadn't said he was a Ronin yet, so Rona kept making jokes about Keisha getting a boyfriend. Both Hardrocks blushed.

I decided to save them. "Let's get back outside to the car. Rona, tell us everything. We've got a few things to tell you as well."

~

"Well, any ideas?" I asked after hearing Rona's story. We'd driven to a more private area than the mall parking lot so we could talk. Rona had been on her motorcycle, the rest of us in the car. I turned to Kento. "Do you have any idea why Trulpa would want Sam?"

"Why would he know anything?" asked Rona. "By the way, who is this guy aside from Keisha's new boyfriend?"

"Would you stop that!?" said Keisha, looking a bit. . . flustered.

Kento cleared his through and stood up. "I am Kento of the Hardrock, one of the mighty Ronin Warriors, Madame Strata," he said, bowing to her. To add to her growing look of surprise, he gently kissed the back on her hand. Keisha shot him a look that he just grinned back at. Sara and Ria was back to back, bracing the other's laughing fit.

Rona's eyes widened. "Oh! But I thought-"

"Long story," said Kento, standing and holding his hands up. "Look, I don't know what Trulpa wants with Sam, but it could have something to do with Sage."

"Good point," said Ria. "But what would she do?"

"Create a giant lightning storm?" asked Sara.

"Could someone fill me in!?" said Rona, looking exasperated. "Jewel of Death? Sage? Lightning storm? I DON'T KNOW WHAT ANY OF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AND I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!!!!"

"Um, we should fill her in," said Keisha. Laughing sheepishly, we all began to explain what had happened since Rona had left Boston with Sam. Kento told her about what had happened to him and the other two.

Rona looked at Kento with sympathy. "Man, that's gotta suck royally. I hated being her prisoner for a day or so. I can't imagine nine months in there," she said. She narrowed her eyes. "We're going to make sure that she pays DEARLY for this one. That's just. . . horrible!"

"Well, the question is, how do we do her in?" asked Ria.

"YOU SHALL ALL BOW TO LADY TRULPA!!!!!!!!"

Kento rolled his eyes, then lowered them. "Kamusa, go away," he said. "I don't feel like being harassed today, I'm not Trulpa's prisoner anymore, and I'm not going back to her."

I watched as Kayura's twin brother stepped out of the bushes. "So, what are you doing here? Wait a sec, Hardrock, you weren't supposed to escape when the Kaze experiment failed!" he said.

"Oh really, like I'm SOOO sorry," he said. Kento stood up and folded his arms. Despite the fact that he probably KNEW the power Kamusa possessed, he seemed more annoyed with the last male Ancient than anything else. I'm still surprised he's alive. . . and here I thought Kayura was the VERY last of the "All right Kamusa, what's Trulpa up to now?"

"Oh, she's using the Halos to get to the Jewel of Death in the White Mountains," said Kamusa. "I'm here to kill you all."

"Is your sister nearby?" asked Kento.

Kamusa shook his head. "Nope. She's back in the Dynasty. Waiting for me."

"Good," said Kento. "Because you're going back there right now."

"No, I have to fight you all and make you bow down to my mistress before I can- GAH!" cried Kamusa as Kento lifted him off the ground by the front of his armor. "What are you doing?"

"Something I've wanted to do for a while," said Kento. He began to swing Kamusa above his head and threw him towards the beginning of the mountain range. We heard his scream until a red gateway opened, catching him. It immediately closed. "That, felt good."

I turned to Kento. "What the heck were you doing?"

"I'm sick of him," said Kento. "You have no idea how much of a pain he is, and this is the first time I've been able to get back at him. Don't worry, he'll be fine, but next time he'll bring Kayura."

"That guy was a push-over," said Keisha.

I groaned. "Well, at least we know what Trulpa's doing. So, uh, what IS the Jewel of Death?" asked Kento.

"Oh. Well, it was something Talpa and Trulpa worked on before they became enemies. Probably an evil twin of the Jewel of Life. The two Halos from a hundred years ago stole it and then hid it, but no one knows where since Talpa killed them in a fit of rage," said Anubis.

"Well, looks like Trulpa's hunted it down at least some of the way," said Rona. "She must need Sam and the Halo guy to get to it.:"

"Probably," said Kento. "C'mon, let's go and figure out which mountain they went to."