The Armor of the Soul Chapter Thirty-Nine, a ronin warriors fanfic

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Kaze's Aftermath

(Sara)

I led Anubis downstairs. The group was oddly quiet as he took a seat, the binder in his lap. Everyone looked anxious to know the latest. "Well? Are you okay?" asked Sage.

"I'm fine, Sara slapped some sense into me as well as breaking Kento's nose," said Anubis kind of dryly.

"We know that," said Sam. "Sage fixed it."

Kento rubbed his nose, smiling. "It's good as new, too!" The others giggled.

"But I figured something out. What Cye did is something known as dream skipping. Dream skipping is a rare magical ability in which you can visit other people in their dreams. The Ancient One could, and sometimes, still can do this."

"Mmm hmm," said the group.

"And it doesn't seem as if he's done it before, from what Sara said."

"Mmm hmm."

Anubis frowned at us. "Stop saying, 'Mmm hmm'. So, since it seems as if he hasn't done this a large number of times, it must be an ability he gained recently. If it had to do with him being the Child of Destiny, I would've found something on that by now, though I will admit there's a lot I don't know."

"So how'd he get that power?" asked Rona, crossing her legs.

Anubis lifted up the binder and showed the group the drawing of the Armor of the Soul he'd shown me. "That's the armor Kaze was wearing," said Ria.

"I remember seeing Trulpa and Brenamon playing with the helmet of this thing. That's the armor Kaze had?" said Sage.

"Yes," said Anubis. "This is the Armor of the Soul. It goes into a class similar to the Inferna and Inferno's class. It's a mega armor, so to speak, but it can only be activated by those whose souls have been linked and bound together tightly. In order for Kaze to have been able to wear that armor, your souls must have been mixed together in a magical blender, so to speak."

"Magic blender?" said Kento. "Wait, weren't our souls already linked because we're all Ronin Warriors?"

Anubis shook his head. "That's a soul tie, meaning that your souls work together to create something like the Inferno or the Ronin Warriors. The next step up is soul bind- what's happened to the three of you- and it's only topped by the soul mate."

"So then that means that we could activate the Armor of the Soul?" said Sage. "But isn't it evil?"

"What part of 'no armor is good or evil' do you kids not understand!?" said Anubis. "Kaze was evil, so, therefore, the armor did evil. If you hold it, it will do good, since YOU'RE good."

"Oh," said Sage. "So what does that have to do with Cye's dream skipping?"

"Simple. It was an aftereffect of the Kaze experiment," said Anubis.

"An after effect? You mean like another consequence?" said Kento.

Anubis nodded. "Exactly. Your consequences were extra powers. Cye's was dream skipping. The both of you, I don't know."

I blinked. "Wouldn't Kento's eye of the future be a power?"

"No, there's no way to tell where it came from. Could be something he was born with and is just now awakening to, could be the result of his soul coming in contact with Keisha's at the time of the Break. We may never know," said Anubis. "But as far as what the abilities are, the Staff can help figure this out."

Sage blinked. "How's it gonna do that?"

"And can it make microwave pancakes, too?" said Ria.

Anubis wisely chose to answer Sage's question. "Simply press your hand against the gold orbe. The Staff should force you to use whatever power it is you've been given unless it's something very obscure, such as Cye's ability."

"That's it?" said Kento.

"That's it. Sage? You first," said Anubis.

Sage nervously stood up and walked over to the Staff. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand over the orbe, looked at the rest of us, and gulped. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, placing his hand on the orbe.

Sage promptly disappeared.

"Cool!" said Ria, standing up. "What did he do?"

"Huh?" came Sage's voice from seemingly no where.

"Where are you?" asked Sam, whipping her head around. "I don't see you."

Sage's laugh could be heard. "Sam, what are you guys talking about? I'm right here! I haven't moved since I placed my hand. . . on. . . the. . . Staff. . . What the hell happened to me!?"
"I think you've been given the ability to become invisible," said Anubis. In a sudden blink, Sage was visible, his hand just above the staff. The blonde Ronin Warrior looked more than a little confused. Then he smiled. "That could become VERY useful."

"Oh, believe me, I know," said Sage. He brain seemed to be working in overtime as a smug grin crossed his face. "I could sneak into Trulpa's stronghold and she'd never know it."

"Until her power sensors go off," said Kento. "Forgot about those, didn't you?"

"Shut up," said Sage. He sat down on the couch next to Sam.

"All right, Sage is the Invisible Man, so what is Kento besides the Human Garbage Disposal?" said Ria.

"Man, you're snippier than usual today," said Rona.

Ria smiled. "I'm in a good mood."

I turned my nose up in disgust. "There's a pretty bad situation and you're in a GOOD mood?"

Our leader shrugged. "Well, it could be worse," said Ria.

"Please don't say that, you'll just jinx it into getting worse," said Keisha. She looked over at her partner in arms and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kento looked at her in response. "All right Kento, your turn."

Kento gulped. "I'm can't spontaneously combust or something, can I?" he asked.

"Uh, no," said Anubis. "Just. . . just put your hand on the Staff." Kento gulped, blew up at his bangs, and mumbled something under his breath. After making a quick fist, he touched the orbe.

He immediately turned into a duck.

"Kento turns in a duck?" said Keisha.

"Quack! Quack? QUACKQUACKQUACKQUACK-" was Kento's answer.

"Shut up or you'll be swimming in orange sauce!" yelled Ria. Kento the Duck promptly shut up. The green and brown mallard that was once our friend sat on the floor, looking around in curiosity. He then turned up to Anubis.

"Quack?" he asked.

"Ah, must be shape shifting," he said.

"But why a duck?" I asked, picking him up. "He's a cute ducky."

"Quack," he said as I began to pat his head.

Keisha laughed, taking him out of my hands. "What else can he turn into?"

"Probably most other animals, other people, and any other living creature. He could be a very effective spy as well if he can act as well as he can shape-shift," said Anubis.

"Cool!" said Sage, who had somehow gotten in Keisha's lap. But yet, Sage was still sitting next to Sam. It didn't take too long to figure out what happened, especially from the expression on the face of the Sage sitting next to Sam.

"Kento, cut it out," said Sage. Kento/Sage just snickered and turned back into Kento after getting out of Keisha's lap. He then sat back down next to her. She giggled, looking at him with shimmering eyes.

"Can we all see problem about to arise from this?" said Ria.

"What do you mean?" asked Kento, grinning as he put one of his arms over the couch directly over Keisha. The other Hardrock didn't seem to notice the gesture and continued to pay attention to the conversation at hand.

"If you dare try the inch and grope trick you'll be eating through a straw for the next decade, Duck Boy," said Sam, raising her first. "You got that? Or do I have to elaborate for you?"

Kento blinked. "Inch and grope? What's that?"

Sage translated that phrase into Japanese. "Get it?" he said.

"What?! I always do this!" said Kento, waving his hands around. "I'm not that kind of a guy!"

Anubis sighed heavily. "Well, this could be interesting. I think I may have a plan of attack to at least get Cye back on our side. We might not be able to fully break the curse, but we can at least get the Jewel of Death into our possession."

"We're listening," said Ria. "Is it sneaky, deceitful, and all out dastardly?"

"No, not really," said Anubis. Ria visually displayed her disappointment by pouting and folding her arms. I shook my head. Sometimes, the other Senshi never ceased to amaze me.