The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-One: The Soul Turner

(Sage)

A day had passed since Kento had left. Cye and I were getting bored. And nervous. Where was he? Was he all right? Had something gone wrong while he had shape-shifted? I tried not to think about it. Kento was our only hope of getting to the Senshi, who were, in reality, the only people who could help us.

Cye and I had resorted to practicing some simple magic to pass the time. I had about a dozen spark balls flying around, lighting the dungeon while Cye had made a lot of bubbles that were catching the light and casting rainbows all over the walls. Overall it was a very pretty effect. Both of us were, in short, pretty nervous, but we were keeping occupied to drive some of the stress down.

SLAM!

Both of us looked up at Trulpa. I extinguished all of the balls in unison and Cye evaporated the bubbles. Our captor looked EXTREMELY ticked off. "Where is Hardrock?!" she demanded, stomping into our dungeon. In response, Cye and I shrugged. "Don't play games with me!"

"We really don't know where Kento is," said Cye. He shrugged. "He left, didn't tell us where he was going, didn't leave a number, and hasn't come back yet. He could be anywhere for all we know."

Trulpa screeched. I clasped my hands over my ears. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Yeah, not very creative, but it's the only way to describe that high pitched ear drum killer. Well, aside from that lovely little number. Either way, she was really mad at us now.

"Look," I said, "Kento's probably gone to go and get help, okay? What makes you think that the three of us are going to sit here twiddling our thumbs while we wait for you to kill us and take over the Mortal World, Trulpa?"

"He's in trouble when I get my hands on him!" said Trulpa, not seeming to absorb a word of what I'd said (though truth be told I really didn't care). The fury in her crimson eyes was beyond anything I'd seen before. She was REALLY mad and it was at the point that she was going to break something expensive.

You're never gonna catch him, even KENTO is too smart for you, you senile old woman, I thought to myself. Kento can shape-shift into anything he wants. Anyone you talk to could be Kento and you'd never know it.

"Both of you are to come with me," said Trulpa. She snapped her fingers. "Get up! Now! And no funny business, especially from you, Child." Reluctantly, Cye and I stood up and followed her out of the cell (Cye whispered something to me about a "Kick Me" sign that we don't think Trulpa heard, which was probably in our favor). "Mark my words, boys, I'll have Hardrock brought back here in chains."

"Kento's not that smart, but he's too stubborn to let you capture him," said Cye.

Trulpa turned on her heels slapped Cye hard across the face. I wanted to retort, but I stopped myself. That would only make things worse than they already were. Instead I put my arm around Cye's shoulder, giving him a concerned look as we continued following Trulpa down the hallway.

"You okay?" I whispered. Cye nodded, rubbing the red mark on his cheek as we came apon a set of tall, golden double doors. Trulpa pressed her hands together and started to chant something. Just from the beginnings of her chant I could feel my stomach begin to turn around. There was powerful magic that kept the doors locked and an even more powerful dark magic beyond them. Cye could feel it too, although he might've felt it even more strongly since he's the Child of Destiny. I'd hate to think how it would have affected Kento or Keisha, what with their psychic powers.

Suddenly, the doors swung open. My eyes widened in fear as I saw what was inside. Inside was a golden gargoyle statue. Just like the one the barriers had been broken in, and just like the one Trulpa had placed us in whenever we had tried to rebel against her. Only it was gold (well duh, I already said THAT) and encrusted with emeralds and rubies. Maybe even a few sapphires. "What the hell?" I asked. Yeah, I know, it's not very Sage-like to swear, but it was the only thing that came to mind. What did Trulpa want with a dolled up gargoyle statue?

Cye was probably thinking along the same lines from the bewildered looked on his face. His eyes were wide in shock and fear as he looked at it. Trulpa smirked, extended an arm out in a very Vanna White way as she introduced us to her machine. "This is a Soul Turner."

"A Soul Turner?" I asked. "What's it do?"

"It sucks out your souls through the pours of your skin, and begins to turn them in a large, magical basin in the center. It turns the souls until nothing is left of them, as it will wear them down. Well, once the soul is destroyed, so is the life, leaving just the body behind. Once that happens, the machine will automatically converge your bodies back into Kaze. The Armor of the Soul will then bond with Kaze and you'll be one demon for all eternity. This machine will be your undoing. No pure-blooded human can stand this. So, you'll all die," she said. "What's left of your bodies will be used to resurrect Kaze and bring him to an unimaginable level of power. This is the end of the line, gentlemen."

Sehkment and Cale suddenly joined us. Without hesitation, the two jumped us and cuffed our hands with some particularly strong shackles after a twenty minute struggle. I'm pretty sure I came close to snapping Cale's wrist and I'm pretty sure I saw Cye claw Sehkment hard enough to draw blood. But in the end, they won. They then dragged us to the Soul Turner and fastened us in, just like the last time we were in a gargoyle device. I almost wanted to cry, but I wanted to have my dignity for whatever lay ahead.

Trulpa sneered. "You hair such an heir of defiance and dignity Halo. It sickens me." She then laughed and stared me down. She had an almost sickeningly playful look in her eyes that made me want to hurt.

Instead, I chose to glare at her, mustering up as much hatred as I thought was humanly possible. "Kento is still out there, and you can't do a thing to us unless you get to him," I said. "Just you remember that. No Kento, no evil plan."

Trulpa sneered. "I'll get him soon enough. Just look at this," she said, summoning a huge viewing crystal. We saw an image of Keisha, Kento, and strange winged woman walking around some dark, dirty streets. I cocked an eyebrow. Keisha? What was she doing in the Under City? And who was the winged woman? Trulpa suddenly gaped. "Celeste is with them?!"

"Celeste, I know her," said Sehkment. "The last of the Flitteree spores."

I turned to look at Cye. He had the same feeling of bewilderment I did. What was she talking about? What was a Flitteree, anyways? Apparently, Trulpa didn't like them very much, which, for us, was a good sign.

"Fine," said Trulpa. "Get rid of the Flitteree and bring me the Hardrocks."

"Both of them?" asked Cale. He and Sehkment exchanged looks of pure bewilderment. "But. . . we only need Kento. . . why do we need the girl, too, milady? Are you thinking of adding extra power to Kaze?

"No," said Trulpa. "First off, it is obvious to me that the two Hardrocks are, ugh, in LOVE. It would be interesting to watch her as she witnesses the execution. Then I'll have Kaze kill her so that- wait a minute. What is the Hardrock girl doing here in the first place?"
"Most likely the traitors brought them here to attempt to rescue the Ronin Warriors," said Sehkment. "I'm sure that if we searched hard enough we'd find the rest of them here, too, trying to find a way into your stronghold."

All right! We might still have a chance at escaping! Now the only thing we had to worry about was Kento, Keisha, and this Celeste person keeping ahead of the Warlords. Cye and I grinned at each other. Trulpa sneered at us before sending Cale and Sehkment off. She then turned back to us. Her red eyes were glowing in a deep crimson hue that kind of creeped me out, but I tried to keep my cool. "Your little Hardrock friends and Celeste are no match for Cale and Sehkment," she said. "So I'd just wipe those pathetic little smiles off your faces."

I clasped my hands together and hoped that we'd get rescued.