The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty: Getting Cye Back

(Sara)

Things were set for the plan. I was going to be the bait, which didn't make me feel exactly safe, but I did keep in mind that Kento was very close by and that the other Senshi (plus Cara, who was finally allowed her armor) were not much farther away. Anubis was with the Senshi. Sage was the closest, in case anything went wrong. In fact he was standing next to me, he was just invisible.

The plan we had relied on a large amount of ifs. So our leader came up with a back-up plan. If we failed, Ria had given us specific instructions to place our hands between our knees and prepare to kiss our butts good-bye.

The place? The top of the Prudential building. It was nighttime, so no citizens would be likely to see us, unless some idiot decided to play Human Fly. Several crates had been placed on the roof sometime earlier, which provided good hiding places for Kento. The stage was set.

"You nervous?" asked Sage. It was actually really weird listening to him and not being able to see him. Kind of like his voice was coming from everywhere at once. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was looking in the right direction.

"Um, yes," I said. "I am nervous."

Sage chuckled. "That's expected."

"Well you have to shut up once our brainwashed friend gets here," I said. "You're supposed to be back up in case something goes wrong." I sighed heavily. "The smoke balls are going to be great."

"Yeah, they'll make Kento's entrance look GREAT. I just hope he can keep up the role," said Sage. "If not, then we might actually have to go with Ria's pathetic excuse for a back-up plan."

"Well, for Cye's sake, he'd better keep the role up," I said. "If he doesn't, we're all doomed. Even Cye. He'll be trapped forever. . ." I saw a shimmering light in the sky. "That had better be him."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash before my eyes. I winced, placing my arms over my eyes. Once the light died down, I looked towards the light to see Cye standing before me. He had his hands on his hips and looked just as angry and as evil as before. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"You already know why I'm here, Cye. To save you from Trulpa's clutches!" I said. I clasped my hands together. Time to play the pathetic wuss. "Please, I beg of you, try to fight off the spell that has entangled you."

Cye laughed. "Cye is gone. I, Destiny, am here instead. I am the Child of Destiny, and on behalf of my mistress, Lady Trulpa, I will destroy all her stand in her way. She will control the Mortal Realm! You are all doomed!"

"You lie!" I said. "I know Cye is struggling to fight whatever evil spell has overtaken this body! You can't deny that! He's still in there, waiting to have this curse broken!"

"Maybe so, little mouse, but what brings you here?"

"Because I wish to battle you," I said. "And NEVER called me LITTLE!" I drew my dagger from behind my back (it had been secured in the belt loop of my jeans) and tried to hold it so I looked like a threat.

Cye started to howl with laughter. "You call THAT a weapon?! Pathetic, little Senshi, absolutely pathetic! But let's fight, shall we?" He drew a larger version of my dagger. With that, we began to stare each other down and began to pace around in circles.

Wait for him to make the first strike, then avoid him, I reminded myself. Just as planned, Cye lunged at me. I jumped out of the way and began to avoid his thrusts and lunges. This went on for roughly three or so minutes before he had me pinned against the ground. I stared up into his eyes fearfully, although I knew that he wouldn't be able to hurt me.

"Today is a good day to die, isn't it?" said Cye.

"No, I'm not afraid of you. You can't kill me. Partners in arms can't kill each other," I said. I grinned. "Face it, Cye. You can't lay a finger on me."

"Oh? Well you're forgetting that my powers from the Armor of Cruelty aren't at all related to you," said Cye. He grinned. "Now you're going to get it, little brat. You will all see the power that my Mistress has."

"Uh oh," I said.

BOOM!

"HALT!"

Cye looked up, his eyes growing wide as he saw Trulpa had suddenly appeared before us. "Mistress Trulpa? What are you doing here?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I did not authorize this destruction!" said Trulpa, her arms folded.

"But you sent me to do her in!" said Cye.

Trulpa screeched. "I SENT YOU TO CAPTURE HER, YOU IDIOT!"

"Oh," said Cye. "But I was certain-"

"No buts about it, let the girl up," said Trulpa. Cye did, but he grabbed my shoulder. "Good, we can have her questioned for information. Now, I want you to close your eyes."

"Why?" asked Cye. "Why do I need to close my eyes?"

"Do you dare question your mistress?" said Trulpa.

"No, Trulpa," he said. "I will close my eyes."

"And don't move," she said. Cye nodded and closed his eyes. Trulpa walked up to Cye and carefully placed her fingers around the string of the Jewel of Death. In one swift movement, she removed it, and Cye fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the ground.

Sage reappeared. "It worked!" he said.

Trulpa grinned. "I am one hell of an actor, aren't I?" she said. One bright flash and strange, squishy sound later, Trulpa became Kento. "I can't believe it worked, but dude, that rocked!"

Cye blinked and looked around. "Where. . . where am I?"

"In safe hands," said Sage, squatting down before Cye.

"Sage?" he said. "What, what happened?"

"You're temporarily free from Trulpa's control, but we still gotta break your curse," I said, I placing a hand on Cye's shoulder. Sure enough, his hair was still streaked with yellow and blue, his eyes still crimson red. It was strange to see him so calm and peaceful instead of menacing and evil.

Cye stared at me through wide eyes. "I, I really did talk to you in my sleep?"

"Your old man will tell you about it," I said. "Can you walk?"

"I, I think so," he said, Sage helping him to his feet. "But why did Trulpa-"

"Kento can shape shift," said Sage, helping Cye stand up. He grinned as he dusted the smaller Ronin Warrior off. "Anubis came up with the plan. Pretty good idea, huh? The Jewel of Death couldn't tell the difference between Kento and the real Trulpa!"

I saw the other Senshi and Anubis come over to the roof. "Is everything all right?" asked Ria. I nodded. "Great! That means the plan worked and we don't have to kiss our butts good-bye!"

No one paid attention to Ria. All eyes were shifting between Cye and Anubis. The two were staring at each other, unsure of what to say or do. What was one to do when suddenly confronted by the son or father they never knew they had. Finally, weak smiles formed on both of their faces as they embraced each other. "Cye. . . you're all right," said Anubis. He pulled back and looked at Cye. "My son."

"I, I'll be okay," said Cye, near tears. The rest of us watched in an unspoken awe. It was just a beautiful scene, bringing me close to crying as well. I'd never seen Anubis look so. . . relieved, ever since I met him. Sure their relationship won't ever be like most father-son relationships- Cye WAS already sixteen- and there was a lot that Anubis, as a father, has missed out on. Still, they both looked happy to see each other.

"I think they look cute," said Keisha, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's really sweet."

"I agree, but we have other things to do first. We've got to free him from that curse and figure out what to do with the Jewel of Death," said Cara. "I wish I could say I knew how."

"We can figure this out," said Kento. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

~

"Careful, careful," cautioned Ria.

"I know what I'm doing!" said Sage. We were gathered in Mike's living room, Sage and Kento attempting to remove split the Jewel of Death from the Armor of the Torrent.

"How do you figure this'll work, Anubis?" asked Keisha.

Anubis shrugged. "If I'm right, then their armors should, at this point, have some incredibly strong links to each other from different things that have happened to them, mainly Kaze and their initial captivity from Talpa."

"So what your saying is that our power should attract Cye's armor and NOT the Jewel of Death, therefore causing the two talismans to be separated from each other, similar to mixing iron with rice and getting the iron out with a magnet?" asked Kento.

"Basically," said Anubis, scratching his head.

"That makes sense, but what do we do with the Jewel of Death?" asked Mike.

"We'll figure that out soon enough," said Anubis. He turned to the three Ronin Warriors in our midst. Though Cye was dressed in more normal clothing now, he was still. . . strange looking. "Need any help?"

"You know, we should probably just get some rest and try again in the morning," said Sage. "It's been a long day for all of us, especially Cye. So we'll meet back here tomorrow, okay?"

"Yup." "Sure." "Fine." "All right with me." "Okay."

"Good," said Sage. "We'll see you tomorrow then."