The Armor of the Soul
By Dixxy
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Getting Anubis Back
(Sara)
Once I got half of my chores done and paid off Emily and Trevor to split the rest (I loose more money that way. . .) I headed straight to Mike's house. This was important! So important I actually took out my bike and hopped on.
Okay, so biking through Boston is anything but fun. Too many pedestrians. And other bikers. I was nearly pushed into the traffic three times, nearly crashed into a baby carriage, and collided with a pizza delivery man. By the time the old woman in the walker started to swear and spit at me I was near tears.
Once I finally did get to Mike's house, only Sage and Kento were in immediate contact. Mike and Cara had gone out early to go grocery shopping while Anubis was still in his little state of shock. Sue Lee was still asleep. The boys in question were huddled over a notepad, several crumpled papers surrounding the two. Neither looked like they'd had much sleep. They did, however, wake up once I filled them in on my dream.
"Cye came to you in your dream?" said Kento.
"Yes," I said. "He said that Trulpa combined his armor orbe and the Jewel of Death into one unit. And when he isn't wearing the Jewel of Death, he's still under some of its affects."
Kento frowned, his grip on the pencil in his hand so hard I heard a snapping sound. The two halves fell to the ground, barely making so much as a thud as they hit the carpet. "I'm going to skin Trulpa alive for this. This is bad."
"What kind of affects?" asked Sage.
"I'm not sure, I'm assuming it's just that he still looks, demonic," I said. "But he did say he could gain control of his body."
"Well, maybe if we could try and get the Jewel of Death off of him we could at least get him out of Trulpa's hands," said Kento.
"That sounds like it's the only thing we CAN do," said Sage. "Question is, how?"
"No idea," said Kento. He sighed, looked at the notepad, then slightly raised one of his eyebrows. His gaze averted between me and Sage. "I've got a question. How the heck did Cye appear in Sara's dreams?"
"Huh?" asked Sage. "Well, it probably had to do with the armor link, right?"
"Well then, you try and appear in one of Sam's dreams tonight and I'll try getting into Keisha's head. If it works, then that answers the question, but if not, then Anubis is going to have to come out of withdrawal and explain this one to us," said Kento.
"Should I tell Sam and Keisha?" I asked.
"That could accidentally trigger a psychological switch we don't want triggered, so no, definitely DON'T tell them," said Sage. "I'll call a meeting here tomorrow and we'll find out, okay?"
~
The following day, the other Senshi and I met in Mike's living room. Kento was hunched over the back on the couch, Sage sitting side saddle on the back with his arms folded. "Glad you could all make it," said Halo.
"Well, what's your new development, gentlemen?" asked Ria.
The Ronin Warrior of Hardrock turned his attention to his partner in arms. "Keisha, did you happen to have a dream involving me in any way, shape, or form?" asked Kento.
Keisha shook her head. "Nope, not to my knowledge."
"Sam? Same question," said Sage.
Sam snorted. "Why would I want Fudge Boy in my dreams?"
"Hey!" Kento said, taking obvious offense.
"I didn't mean Kento, I meant ME in your dreams?" asked Sage. "Did you see ME in your dreams? Not Kento, ME. Did you see ME in your dreams last night? And don't worry, everyone, there is a valid point here."
"Well, no," said Sam. She grinned and shrugged. "But there WAS a troupe of dancing trout wearing pink and green tutus. It was actually pretty funny, especially after they started dancing to 'Living La Vida Loca'."
"I, don't want to know," said Sage. He looked over at the rest of us. "Well, we tried an experiment last night. See, Sara claims that Cye spoke to her in one of her dreams. So we decided to try and speak to you two in your dreams."
"It didn't work," said Keisha.
"Obviously, so that produces the question of HOW Cye did that. Is it an affect of the Torrent Armors? The Jewel of Death? The desperation of this situation? Whatever Sara had for dinner a few nights ago?" said Sage.
"No, whenever food speaks to me it's usually curry and at that, usually in Pig Latin," I said. "But I haven't had curry for a few weeks, though. It wouldn't have done it NOW of all times."
"But your mom's curry can last a good long while," said Ria. The other Senshi nodded in agreement, adding in comments of what my mother's curry did to them. Cara asked Mike what curry was.
Kento laughed. "Pig Latin? Ha!"
"So then it looks like Anubis has to come out of his little shell and talk to us, because it looks as if he's the only one who'll have the slightest clue as to what's going on," said Sam.
"Easier said than done," said Sage. He looked up towards the stairs and frowned. "He's a total wreck. What we have seen of him isn't good at all. I don't think I've ever seen ANYONE this depressed, and there were days when the three of us were pretty depressed during our captivities."
"Er, I'll talk to him," I said, standing up. "Anyone going to back me up?"
"I'll go," said Kento, standing up after me.
~
Anubis' room was unusually dark. The only light came from several candles, all lavender scented. "It's been like this," Kento whispered. I saw Anubis on his bed, lying almost perfectly still. "He hasn't eaten for days. Don't know about the bathroom."
"Let's not go there," I said. "Anubis?"
Our teacher only slightly moved.
I got fed up. "Anubis? We all know you're upset about Cye being captured. We all know you're shocked because he's your son. Well we can't get him back if you don't get off your lazy ass and help us!" I said, waving my fists around the room. "You're acting like a five year old!"
"You needed help?" said Kento, stepping closer to me. This would turn out to be a bad idea. One of my fists, as it was flailing around, knocked- no, smashed- into his nose. "OW!" His hands flew up to his face.
"So stop slugging around like it's the end of the world and DO SOMETHING! It isn't the end of the world until Trulpa kills each and every one of us and she's FAR from done that!" I said.
Anubis sat up. In the dim light, I could see tears in his teal eyes. "You, you're right, Sara. I can't be sitting here in the dark. I'm just being selfish."
"No, you have a right to be upset, but you have to do something to correct being upset," I said.
"Can I go downstairs and have Sage fix my nose? I think you broke it," said Kento, whimpering. He shuddered suddenly, making a gagging sound as he did so. "Oh man, I think I taste blood."
"Um, yeah," I said. "Sorry about that."
"Consider it forgiven," said Kento, his voice having a slightly nasal attribute now that I'd broken his nose. "You were in a fit of rage that all vertically challenged women have. My mother's like that." I could hear a slight slip of depression as Kento mentioned the woman who brought him into this world. He might never see that woman again, I thought drearily. "I'll go downstairs now."
"Come on Anubis, we've got some new developments that you'll want to know," I said.
"Like what?" asked Anubis. I sat down beside him and told him about the dream. "I'm glad he's all right, but dream skipping is a bit unusual."
"Dream skipping?" I asked.
"It's a special psychic ability that few lay claim to. But how did he manage to obtain that?" he said.
"Maybe being the Child of Destiny?" I suggested.
"No, the prophecy would have said something about that. Unless. . . hmm," he said. He went into a three-ring binder he used to store ancient drawings and sketches and flipped through the pages. "A-ha!"
I looked at the page he'd stopped at. "That's the Armor that Kaze wore!" I said. I looked over the black and blue armor carefully."
"This is the Armor of the Soul, as he might have mentioned," he said. "If I'm right then I know where the dream skipping came from!"
"Really?" I said. "Kaze had to do with this?"
"Not Kaze, but the ceremony to gain Kaze. I'll explain it downstairs, this is absolutely huge!"