The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Three: Battle on Doomsday Avenue

(Keisha)

Kento, Celeste and I had left Celeste's apartment nearly an hour earlier and had started walking along the eastern sidewalk of Doomsday Avenue (Anubis would have killed us). Celeste had retracted her wings, so she hardly looked like the Flitteree she really was. Kento had been provided with some street clothes, since the bright orange and white subarmor would attract some very unwanted attention. Basically, we blended in pretty well (except for me- we couldn't do anything about my ethnic background).

We could see Trulpa's castle looming ahead, a giant balcony that must have been used for Trulpa to gloat the centerpiece. We could also see the monstrosity that was Magna Wretch from the front. Still, we had a mission.

Kento and I were walking next to each other in an almost awkward silence. Ever since I'd blurted out that I was in love with him, we hadn't spoken much since leaving Celeste's place. It seemed kind of. . . weird. And to top it off, I hadn't a clue if he felt the same way. I mean, yeah we've kissed, but a kiss just doesn't mean as much in today's world as it did thirty years ago. I was so confused.

"You two seem unusually quiet," said Celeste. "Nervous about the fight?"
I briefly exchanged a look with Kento and both of us immediately looked back at Celeste, not so much as half an answer between the two of us. We weren't nervous about some dumb old fight- we were born to fight and we'd been trained to deal with all the stress and anxiety that comes with being a Ronin.

Celeste just smiled. "Ah, I get it. Not sure what to say about Keisha's little comment before I saved you? Kento, you're surprised at the remark. Keisha, you can't believe what you said. Well, I can see it in you both that there's most assuredly something there, you just aren't ready to admit it."

Neither of us said a word for the next ten or so minutes. The silence was shattered when a horde of Dynasty soldiers came trampling from out of the palace, led by two Warlords, Cale and one of the Venoms. I screamed, Kento yelled, and Celeste summoned her wings and flew upwards. "Get ready to fight for your lives!" she cried, pulling some sort of a gun out from behind her.

Kento and I transformed into subarmor and immediately began to cast spells and take down Tin Cans. Somewhere in the midst, Cale and (presumably, due to the male voice) Sehkment were barking out orders on how to attack. I just concentrated on taking down the Dynasty soldiers, but I wasn't having much luck. They were just coming and coming. Eventually, I sensed an ax coming down to strike me down, but I couldn't react quickly enough. enough.

Lucky for me, Kento did. He twisted the arm of the Tin Can off, wrapped an arm around my waist, and jumped, bringing us both onto a small perch of a street light. I looked up at Kento, who just smiled before sending a wave of rumbling earth over the crowd of Dynasty soldiers. I joined him, taking down more. NOW we were in business.

"AAHHHHH!"

I looked up and gasped. A few flying youja guards were giving Celeste quite a beating. Our friend wasn't having much luck in fending them off. Even with her weapon helping her, they were still winning. Two guards held her back, the Flitteree woman struggling against them. Before I knew it, three Nether Spirits appeared out of no where and began to chant. A small blue portal opened up. Celeste screamed as the guards threw her in. Once she was gone, the Nether Spirits sealed the portal. "CELESTE!" I cried.

"Keep fighting!" said Kento. "That was just a portal- all they did was kick her out of the Nether Realm to get her out of the way. If anything she's safer wherever she went then she is her. DON'T TURN YOU BACK!" I believed him and knocked a flying youja guard over the head with one of my nunchaku.

We fought wildly. Kento was tossing Tin Cans left and right as they tried to climb the street light while I created more and more earth waves. But still, they kept coming. Kento went back to the waves with me, but it still wasn't enough. We concentrated harder and harder but they still kept coming. Our fight was getting more and more futile. I was getting frightened. If they captured Kento, he might die, and I didn't want to think about that possibility.

Soon, Cale and Sehkment were apon us. Cale raised his hand and the Tin Cans stopped. They stopped fighting, stopped coming, stopped moving. All stood at attention, waiting for their Warlord's orders. "Good," said Cale. He turned his attention to us. "Kento of the Hardrock and Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, your time is up. Empress Trulpa requests you both in her fortress immediately. I would suggest you come peacefully."

"Bite me, you jackass," I said. Kento gave me a surprised looked. I shrugged.

"Snippy tongue, dark one," said Sehkment. He folded his arms as he stared us down. "Just come along now and make your ends easier. If you go quietly, you won't go as painfully as we had originally planned."

"We aren't going to surrender," said Kento. "We're going to fight right up until our dying breaths if that's what it's going to take." He narrowed his eyes. "If it weren't for the fact that I know you've been brainwashed. . . I don't know what I'd do to you!"

"Fine then, if that's how you want to play. . . DAIS! DARIA! NOW!"

Before either one of us could react, a giant, wet, and sticky spider web net fell on top of us, bringing us to the ground. I panicked, trying to claw my way out, but only succeeded in getting myself even more tangled in the web. Kento had the same luck and was looking so. . . forlorn. So defeated. He was frightened, a look I'd never seen in him before. The Tin Cans around us began to laugh.

I felt sticky arms grab me and pull me close to the body it belonged to. I looked up to see Kento's tear soaked face looking down at me. "I'm sorry, Keisha. I'm sorry I couldn't stop this."

"Don't, don't blame yourself," I said as the Tin Cans lifted us up and threw us into the back of a dark wagon. I felt the sticky stuff fade away, leaving us free to move again. Like we'd have the privilege in the coming days, though. . .

The wagon started to move, bumping and chucking all the way. Kento took my hands, squeezing them. "I. . . I. . . Keisha. . . I, I love you, too," said Kento. I could hear in his voice that he was fighting back another wave of tears. He knows he's going to die, but he's not ready yet, I thought. "I'm sorry I couldn't admit it earlier, and I'm sorry I had to admit it like this."

I could feel my own tears begin to form. We hugged, letting our emotions take control. "I, I don't want it to end like this," I said. "I don't want to loose this world. I, I don't want to loose the Mortal Realm. And, and I don't want to loose you. I know I've found my soul mate. I don't think that I could bear it if I lost you this young."

"I'm so sorry. . ."

~

For the first hour of the ride to Trulpa's castle, we just held each other, each of us occasionally crying, both of us were knowing what was supposed to come. Kento was going to die and I was probably going to follow soon after. It just wasn't fair! I loved him and now I was going to loose him forever?

It wasn't until something very unusual happened that I began to think otherwise.

We had been making our slow progress in the silence only broken by tears and sobs when Kento suddenly grew very quiet and very calm. "Kento?" I asked. His body had gotten strangely relaxed. "Are you okay?"

Kento's eyes slowly opened, but instead of seeing the gray blue I was used to, I saw a milky white color. I nearly screamed. "The Demon Empress will fall at the hands of those whom she treated worse. The Sword of a Fallen Warlord shall aid the three in their fight for revenge. . ." he said in an eerie monotone before he fell over.

"Kento!" I cried, catching his head in my lap. Kento slowly blinked and looked around, confused. His eyes had returned to their normal color and it didn't seem as if he recollected any of what had just happened.

"What happened?" he asked. "How. . . how did I end up in your lap like this?"

"You went into a trance and said something about a prophecy," I said. "' The Demon Empress will fall at the hands of those whom she treated worse. The Sword of a Fallen Warlord shall aid the three in their fight for revenge.' What did that mean?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like something's going to interfere with Trulpa's latest scheme," said Kento, still looking generally concerned. He sat up and looked at me, placing his hands on his thighs. "Maybe there's still hope."

"I hope so."

"So do I." He held me tightly, kissing my forehead. I turned my head up, tears flooding my vision. I tilted my head up and we shared a second kiss, knowing it could be the last one for either of us. I felt his tears mix with mine, his fingers carefully running through my hair. I savored the moment, knowing it could very well be the last kiss either one of us ever had.

Click.

It took us less than a second to pull away from each other and dry our tears. Four Tin Cans came in, three of them restraining Kento while the last one took me by the shoulder. "Say good-bye, Hardrocks, this could very well be the last time you see each other," said one of the Tin Cans (I could tell which one). The three holding Kento escorted him out of the wagon. He sent me a forlorn look as he was led out.

"I love you," he mouthed to me before he disappeared into a swarm of Tin Cans.

"Kento . . ."