The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Six: It Begins

(Cye)

To say the least, Sage and I were pretty upset when Kento was brought in a few hours before the four days were up and even more upset when we were informed that Sam, Sara, and Keisha were captured. Kento looked worse for wear when he was brought in and it sounded like he was being rough handled in some sore spots while the Tin Cans were shackling him into place. He had a black eye, a few small cuts, and his subarmor was a little dented. Trulpa, who was overseeing this, left once they were sure none of us were escaping. The soldiers went with her, following her like loyal puppies.

"Kento are you okay?" asked Sage.

"I've been better," he said miserably. "Trulpa had me in a torture chamber for a few days."

"Not another gargoyle statue!" I said.

Kento sighed. "Nope. I was given Chinese water torture for about six hours, then I was tickled, then they used one of those pulling back breaker things-"

"Don't say anymore," I said. I really didn't want to picture him going through all of that. "Why?"
"I had a little bit of a prophecy," said Kento. Both Sage and I gaped, but he probably couldn't see us. "When they caught me and Keisha, we were tossed into a wagon, and after a while Keisha said I went into a trance and said something, which, I don't remember. Yeah, she told me what I said but I figured it be best Trulpa doesn't know what it is."

"Why's that?" I asked. "Can you tell us?"

"No, she wants to know what it is, but I can tell you something really good. Keisha and I ran into a Flitteree woman named Celeste. Nice lady. Saved our butts the first time we got attacked," said Kento.

"Yeah, we heard Trulpa ranting about the woman," I said.

"Well, she told us that before Talpa wiped out the rest of her species, she was able to save one baby who she dropped off at a door stoop in our world. Because Cye is the Child of Destiny, we're in something called the Age of Legends, where all of the Ronins of our generation have an extra power. Mine is being a seer. Celeste thinks that her baby grew up to be one of the Ronin Warriors.

"So since I'm the Child of Destiny and you're a seer then it has to be Ryo, Rowen, or Sage, if anyone?" I said. Kento nodded. "So how is that going to help us if we don't know who or even if the baby is one of us?"

"Well, if it helps any, my prophecy didn't say anything about a Flitteree. Talked about Trulpa dying and something about the sword of a fallen warrior. Question is, who's going to fall and why is their sword important to us?" asked Kento.

We didn't get a chance to discuss it further, since the doors opened at that moment. We all shut up and watched as Trulpa came in, followed by the reaming Warladies and Warlords. Keisha, Sara, and Sam were with them. I was surprised to see Sara and Sam with them. How'd they get captured? Trulpa grinned at us evilly.

"Well, well, well, it seems as if our hour has come, now hasn't it?" said Trulpa.

"Oh just shut the hell up, Trulpa, its not over until it's over," said Kento.

"You seem awfully confident, Hardrock. I'm going to love watching you scream almost as much as earlier," she said. Keisha had a look on her face at this comment that was a mix of confusion and burning anger. She shot a pained look at Kento. Since I couldn't see him at that moment, I wasn't sure if he returned it, though something told me he had.

"In just a matter of minutes the procedure will begin. These young ladies will get to witness your execution and your transformation into Kaze. Then Kaze will kill them one by one! Isn't this exciting!?" said Trulpa, clasping her hands together.

"No, not really," I said. "Quite frankly, we're just waiting for you to screw up so we can get the bloody hell out of this damned thing and blow your pathetic hide to kingdom come."

"High hopes won't do you any good here, Child," she said. I turned away, holding my head up high. "You do realize you're all going to die slowly, painfully, and oh so mercilessly!"

CRASH! BANG! "ROOAARRRRRRR!!!"
"The calvary is here!" Sara cried. I turned to see Cara and Tiger Lily had jumped through a conveniently placed stain glass window. Both looked really mad. Trulpa screamed and ordered the Warlords and Warladies to attack. The three of us watched as the battle began to commence, Trulpa trying to get to the controls while the three Senshi, tiger, and ex Warlady fought against some impossible odds.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!!

"And calvary number two is here, and just in time!" Sam said after delivering a lovely roundhouse to Sehkment. Ria and Rona jumped into the battle and started to pummel the Warladies. My father was trying to get to Trulpa to stop her from activating the controls.

He was about two seconds too late. Trulpa flipped the switch.

Suddenly, the entire room flashed bright white.

(Anubis)

"Come on, I hear commotion down this way," said Ria. We were getting closer to wherever it was that Trulpa was holding Kento, Sage, and Cye. At the end of the corridor was a set of tall doors. Sure enough, that was the source of the commotion.

"Then that's where we're going," I said. Right then, my parental instincts had kicked in and a burning anger had enraptured me. It was anger like none other I have ever experienced, even after everything I had seen, done, and been through.

Trulpa had my kid and she was going to die.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!!

The door burst open onto a fight scene. Kento, Cye, and Sage were watching from the inside of a Soul Turner as the fight braved on. Kento looked a little worse for wear, but other than that they all looked fine. The other three Senshi, Cara, and Tiger Lily were in a rather nasty fight with the Warladies and Warlords. Tiger Lily had thrown Cale into a wall. Sam was using Sehkment as a punching bag. Sara was being double teamed by Osiris and Anubra (oddly enough, Sara was winning). Keisha had kicked Kamusa AND Dais in the unmentionable place and was now fighting with Kayura and Daria. Cara was battling it out with Vanessa.

But where was Trulpa?

Rona and Ria went into the battle, Ria taking Kayura away from Keisha and Rona assisting Sara by knocking a blow to Osiris. Sam looked up and smiled at us. "And calvary number two is here, and just in time!" she said (I later learned that Cara and Tiger Lily had been the first "calvary").

Only one person was missing. That was when I spotted Trulpa struggling to get to the controls. "Oh no you don't!" I said, darting after her. Trulpa saw me and grinned, wrapping her fingers around the switch.

She pulled it.

~

Yup, I'm a cruel little Dixxy for leaving you guys with this cliffhanger. But don't worry- the next update to this story is going to wrap everything up in a neat little package. FOUR MORE PARTS TO GO!

If I get enough reviews (hint, hint) I might be tempted to post it later tonight. If not. . . I could leave you guys hanging for a few days, maybe a week, who knows? Depends on how evil I feel. But if you review. . . I'll see what I can do.

Dixxy