The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Five: Major Revelation

(Anubis)

We took Cara's advice and waited for Cye to come and challenge us. Rona chose a spot far away from civilization so that no civilians would get hurt in what could be a potentially dangerous battle. Tiger Lily also waited with us, sitting by Ria.

Kento and Sage were sparring, practicing kicks and punches on each other. I noticed the two of them seemed so much different from the year before. Being Trulpa's prisoners had certainly taken a toll on the two young men. The boomerang and pair of nunchaku they both had snapped onto their subarmor was proof. They'd been changed forever. Their lives would never be the same again.

Ria, Rona, Keisha, and Sam were all doing their usual preps of stretching, letting a few practice kicks into the air, and occasionally sparring. Keisha and Sam occasionally stole a glance Kento and Sage's way, but aside from that the four of them seemed perfectly normal as Tiger Lily watched them.

It was Sara I was worried about. Normally, she too would be sparring and preparing for the fight. Instead her large, pink eyes were gazing skywards. I frowned. Poor girl wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation. The one who was supposed to be one of her closest friends and if worse came to worst protector, was now the enemy.

I was sure Cara felt similar to that. Cale had been awful to her since being brainwashed. Before, I recall them being moderately good friends, but nothing intimate. Usually having tea together or something not too visual, considering she'd been blind. Speaking of whom, Cara was back in town with Mike and Sue Lee, me with her armor orbe in my tan satchel.

As for me, I was bewildered. Why were there so many strange connections to my old armor? I couldn't see Osiris playing a hand in it, so why was the fourth power related to that armor? Why did Cye carry a whip and why did he have yellow streaks of hair? It just didn't make any sense.

"Well if THIS isn't interesting I don't know what is!"

"Cye!" cried Kento. We looked up to see the now brainwashed Ronin standing on top of a tree. Sure enough, he matched Sara's bizarre description to a tee. I couldn't believe that this was the kind-hearted Ronin Warrior I'd known only a year before. "Cye, fight it!"

"Why should I?" said Cye, jumping down, doing a flip, and landing on his feet. He placed his hands on his hips and stared us all down. "You do realize Trulpa will STILL accept the Senshi into her Dynasty. Even you and Sage have that opportunity. Only Cara and Anubis will have to suffer the consequences." When he said my name, he said it, differently, like he was almost teasing me.

Sage began to walk towards the smaller of the Ronins. "Cye, what's wrong with you? What has Trulpa done to you?" he asked. "This isn't like you. And I don't think anyone here likes it."

Cye laughed. "She has done nothing to me except shown me her ways."

"And put you on some sort of a weird power-drug," said Kento.

"I was born with both the Torrent and Cruelty powers, you ignoramus," said Cye, sending a cold glare Kento's way. "This is something that probably would've happened anyways, so just deal with it."

My eyes widened. "How is that possible!?"

I heard an all-too familiar laughter echoing through the trees. "Trulpa! Show yourself!" I demanded. Trulpa obeyed, materializing behind Cye. She placed a hand on his shoulder, then grinned darkly.

"Hello, Anubis. Lovely surprise?" she said.

"What have you done with him!?" demanded Sage. Both of the young Ronin Warriors stood at the ready. I wasn't sure if they were preparing to cast a spell or call up their armors. The girls looked prepared as well, except for Sara, who had hesitated to draw her dagger. I held the Staff at bay, eyeing down the evil empress.

"Pathetic," said Trulpa. "Don't you see you can't stop me now?"

"We know you have Talpa's powers, but we can still defeat you!" said Ria. "We've got help, right, gentlemen?" She turned her eyes to Kento and Sage, both of whom nodded.

Trulpa laughed evilly. "Oh, that's not ALL I have, my dear little Senshi," she said. She turned to me, narrowing her eyes in a teasing way as he grin grew. "Anubis, maybe I ask you a question?"

"What do you want, you old weather wind bag?" I snapped. Several of the Senshi (I'm not sure which ones) gave cheers of agreement. Whatever that Dynasty leech wanted, I was sure it was going to end up being bad.

"Ooo, touchy, touchy," said Trulpa, shaking her finger. "I know that you and Dais have a history of getting drunk and on occasion not remembering a thing of what you did. According to Sehkment and Cale you've done everything from sleep around to getting arrested."

"I didn't know he had it in him," mumbled Sam.

Trulpa ignored Sam and continued on. "And you went to many different countries to do this. Italy, France, Russia, England? You've been on almost every continent on this pathetic planet with the other three."

"He's been around," said Kento, looking back at me in amazement.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked, slightly embarrassed. Getting drunk and not remembering what I did while I was drunk wasn't exactly flattering. It was VERY humiliating. "I don't know what you're getting at, Trulpa. I've put all that behind me. I serve the Ancient One now and I don't get drunk anymore."

"Yeah, now he gets his highs off of Orange Julius and French fries. It's the American way!" said Ria, throwing a fist high into the air.

The demon empress ignored Ria's comment (as did most of us- she really needs to know when to keep that mouth of hers SHUT). "You know the tale of the Child of Destiny, correct?" said Trulpa.

"Yeah. Anubis told us about that," said Rona, cutting into the conversation. "The Child of Destiny is the first child born to one of the armor bearers, either male or female. But none of the armor bearers have HAD children yet, so there can't be one!"

Trulpa grinned smugly. "Not until sixteen years ago."

"What!?" I asked. "The Child of Destiny has been born!? But who? How!?"

"Anubis, Anubis, Anubis, why do you think I brought up those late night rendezvous of yours?" said Trulpa. She started to gently scratch the side of Cye's neck. As she did so, it slowly dawned on me what she getting at. Why my drunken escapades had been brought up. "Cye here was conceived one of those nights."

I froze. The battlefield was silent. The girls stared at me, unsure what to think. Kento and Sage kept looking back and fourth between each other, Cye, and me. I just stared at Cye in disbelief. Could she be telling the truth? Was Cye REALLY my son? My child? My flesh and blood?

"Cye is the Child of Destiny?" Sage squeaked, finally breaking the silence. Then he fumed. "That's why you singled him out when you found out Anubis was alive again! Kamusa found out Cye's parentage and you got angry!"

"Then that big secret he was keeping from us was that! You told him and made him hold it in!" said Kento. Both he and Sage looked BEYOND angry. I have no idea how they held themselves back.

Trulpa laughed, pleased with herself. "I thought it was amusing, but when I realized the amount of power that he has at his whim, I decided to make use of it," she said. "And now I have him under my control."

"Then why did you create Kaze is you were just going to use him as the Child of Destiny anyways?" asked Ria.

"That was actually my original intention, you see. A tri-mutantal with four power sources was an incredible opportunity, I couldn't refuse it," said Trulpa. "This has proven to be the better deal, however. With the added power of the Jewel of Death, Cye easily matches and exceeds Kaze's powers."

"Oh my God," said Sage.

"Let him go!" Sara cried out.

"How about no?" said Trulpa. "Cye, we will return to the Dynasty to plan the next assault on these little rebels."

"Wait! Don't go! Cye! Fight it!" Kento yelled. "I know you can hear me! Please, try and fight the spell Trulpa's cast on you!"

Trulpa laughed as the two vanished in a burst of smoke. I fell to my knees, still staring ahead in disbelief. The Child of Destiny had been born, and he was MY son. I wasn't sure WHAT to think.

"Anubis, we've got to get back to Mike's a find a way to rescue Cye," said Kento. I hadn't noticed the strongest of the Ronin Warriors at my side until he spoke up.

"My son. . ." I said.

"He's gone into shock," said Sage. "Kento, pick him up and get him back to Mike's. I don't know what we're going to do next."

"My son. . ."