The Armor of the Soul
By Dixxy
Chapter Forty-Five: Last Night in Boston
(Ria)
Anubis told us that he was going to send us to the Under City the next day. He wanted to give us a day to prepare for what lied ahead. We were told that the desolation of the Under City was something that we wouldn't ever forget. The crime, the low morality, and the sickening reality of it all that such a place to could exist. Murders were a daily occurrence, even common. Prostitutes thrived. Drug dealers made fortunes.
But we all still wanted to go. Sage, Cye, and Kento's lives depended on that.
We were all outside training the day we were to leave. Rona and I were sparring while Cara was exchanging tips on sword training with Sam. Whenever Rona and I took short breaks, I would watch them practice a few techniques together, each gaining knowledge from the other. Keisha and Sara were fighting with some long, wooden bows, but Keisha was doing unusually poor. Sara was getting in more hits than usual and Keisha had hardly gotten a single blow on the other Senshi. She really missed Kento and it was showing.
I didn't quite understand her heavy hearted feelings. She'd known him for maybe a week at best, yet she was acting like it was her husband or son that had been captured by the Dynasty. I realized it must have been something to do with the armors, maybe the fact that they'd accidentally contacted while in the Dynasty.
Once night fell, we headed inside. Keisha was still looking depressed, but tried to participate in my pep talk as much as she could. Cara sighed heavily and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Keisha, your feelings are normal."
"I, I don't get it," said Keisha, looking up at the former Warlady. "I've known him for what, maybe a week, and I'm this upset over it? I mean I know I should be worried but, why at this degree?"
Anubis walked in and saw the solemn look on Keisha's face. "Keisha, you and Kento may be soul mates. You share the same armor and what could have started as a simple link could have accelerated when the barrier broke and you lost control of your powers."
Keisha looked up. "How's that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Because if I'm right, it means he misses you, too," said Anubis. "Don't worry, Kento's one of the toughest Ronin Warriors I've met. All of them from his generation are real troopers (Dixxy's Note: No pun intended) and all three of them will be fine." Keisha nodded, but she didn't appear to look much better, if at all.
"What's the plan, Anubis?" asked Sam.
"Well, Mike and I went to a thrift store. We'll need to blend in, and quite frankly, your modern day clothes won't fit in," he said. Mike came in with two armfuls of bags. "For humans, most wear clothes similar to those that were in style during the 1970's and 1980's- lots of bell-bottoms and patchwork denim. Which is why Mike and I took a quick trip to a thrift store, a Goodwill store, and a vintage store."
"Weird," I said. Mike dumped out the clothes and we all looked over several different jackets, shoes, and pants. The pants had bright, pastel patches and had brand names like Jordache and Guess. The T-shirts consisted of tie-dye and belly shirts. The jackets all had things like "Members Only" written all over them or were easily ankle lengths. The shoes were high tops, many splattered with paint, though a few denim boots worked their way in as well. There were also a few long trench coats worthy of Punky Brewster or Clarissa Explains It All. I felt like I'd been sent into an 80's time warp.
"Wow, we could put Punky Brewster to shame with these," said Sam, pulling out a long, patched up denim jacket. She tried it on. It went down to her knees and flared out around her waist. "I kinda like these!"
Anubis smiled. "Good, but be aware this isn't a dress up game."
"We know, we know," said Sara. "Hey! I love these boots!" The smallest of our numbers help a pair of patched, denim boots. They went up well beyond her knees. Of course, she liked weird clothes like that. Heck, Sara was a 1980's pop culture fanatic. She doesn't listen to groups like Baha Men or N*SYNC. She listens to Duran Duran and Hall and Oats.
"Sara's going to love the disguises," I joked as I picked up a pair of ripped jeans. "Hey, 'Nubis, you sure you didn't travel back to the 80's to get these outfits, or Sara's closet?"
"Hey!" said Sara. "I don't dress like that!"
Sam snorted. "Yeah, she's right, she doesn't dress like that. But on the other hand, she's the only person in the entire city that I know who actually HAS any Michael Jackson CDs."
Sara blushed furiously. "His early stuff was good!" she defended.
I cleared my throat. "Come on guys, this is serious. We all know that we're getting into something REALLY dangerous. More dangerous than the war. More dangerous than Kaze. A giant in comparison to the mosquito that was Shinshu. Maybe even more dangerous than within the walls of Trulpa's castle."
"She is correct," said Cara. "The Under City is much more dangerous than Trulpa's castle. Survive the Under City and you can probably tackle just about anything Trulpa can throw at you."
Anubis frowned. "But you have to be extremely careful. Naturally Cara and I will be going with you, and where we will most likely be splitting off into groups. . . just be CAREFUL."
"What? Groups? Why?" asked Rona. "What if we need the Inferna?"
Anubis snorted. "The Inferna is an ace in the hole, not a crutch," he explained. "You shouldn't rely on it against the people of the Under City- they're not demon emperors, but they ARE assassins- use your brains, not your brawn."
"I'll lead one of the groups. I may have been blind on my many visits, but if I get a map of it I should do just fine," said Cara. "I know of a few areas that even Anubra and the other Warladies wouldn't touch."
"Good," said Anubis. "I'll lead the other group, then."
"So why do we split up?" asked Rona.
"That'll make the likelihood of us all getting captured a lot less likely," said Keisha. "Ever see Saving Private Ryan? That was the basis of that whole movie. They separated the brothers into different legions so that if one of the bases was attacked, the others would be safe. If only one was still alive, they would pull him out of the army or navy or whatever and bring him home."
"I thought watching Matt Damon and his way cute rear running across the screen was the baseline of that movie," said Rona. She smiled. "He's really, really hot! I love him!"
"Rona Maria Santana. You may be a genius. You may be a Senshi. You're probably smarter than me. But yet again you've missed the point entirely," said Keisha, burying her hands into her face.
"Could you two stop arguing over the dumb movie!?" I snapped. "All right, Anubis, let's get the groups organized, figure out our plan of attack, get some sleep and be out of here by nine tomorrow morning."
The others quieted, all eyes turned on me. "Well?" asked Sam.
"Okay, Anubis and Cara each take a group, they'll be the guides. There are seven of us going, er, eight if your count Tiger Lily. Each team will have three Senshi or two Senshi and Tiger Lily. Cara, Anubis does either one of you have any healing abilities?"
"The Staff can heal minor wounds, yes," said Anubis.
"Good, so Sam will be on Cara's team- that way each team can treat injuries. Keisha, you and Sara will split up, one of you can sense Nether Spirits and the other can kill them and sense them. I'll be on Tiger Lily's team, leaving Rona to go wherever there's space left."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just filler space now, whoop-ee," said Rona.
Anubis nodded. "I'm impressed by your leadership skills finally coming out."
"She's always had them, she just normally prefers to be sarcastic," said Keisha.
I grinned. "Guys, let's get ready to go."
~
We all stood outside in our new clothes- which, made us look like we came from the Punky Brewster episode from Hell- waiting for Anubis to open the portal into the Under City. Anubis was mumbling some ancient chants while the rest of us took some time to individually think over what was going to happen, as we always did before battle. A moment of peace before Lord knew what kind of chaos would break out once we went to battle.
"We have only to wait for the portal to open," the monk said finally. He, too, was wearing the flamboyant jeans and jackets we all adorned. The Staff was no where to be seen, but we knew he could call it up on cue if need be. "It should be open soon."
We waited for the portal to open, all of us silent. Trevor, Evan, my Aunt Sally, Sam's Aunt Ella, and Rona's Dad all stood outside, waiting with Mike and Sue Lee. All were worried about us, which I didn't blame them for. The Under City was going to be very, very dangerous.
One or more of us might not come back.
Suddenly, a bright violet vortex opened up. "This is it," said Anubis. He looked at us all, then at the ground, and back at us again. "I pray that we all make it back alive." Our teacher then stepped in the portal.
One by one, we stepped into the glowing purple circle of light. Tiger Lily and I were bringing up the read. I looked back at our families, smiled weakly, and then stepped into the unknown with my faithful tiger by my side.