Caution: do not approach this story unless you are heavily armed and only under the supervision of a combat-ready army! You have been warned.
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Soft humming could be heard in the depths of the dark. He could see the faint silhouettes of five figures gathered around a bed and a sixth lay beneath the raggedy sheet and blanket that furnished the worn mattress. He stepped forward, wishing to be able to see the six forms better. But the darkness only hid their features further and somehow he couldn't seem to get any closer.
Listening to the soft humming, he realized the sweet sound originated from the figure lying on the bed. He was aware that the other five were crying and he had a fairly good idea of why. Still, despite his efforts against it, the dark would not permit him to confirm his suspicions or satisfy his curiosity.
A current of undeniably strong energy eddied forth from the figure on the bed. It was full of joy, pride, love of life and other things he couldn't identify, determination, and a rather dominant sense of happiness and childish giddiness. The energy current was so strong and radiant that it began to overwhelm him.
Then, a bright, blinding flash of white light stole the scene from his eyes and swept him away from the sight he'd been witness to. He pushed against the light, attempting to regain his vision, but the light pushed him back and away.
"No. I have to see who they are," he shouted to the light. "Let me see them. Stop! Let me go back! No! Let me see them!"
But the light just kept pushing him away.
* * * * *
"Sshhh," a melodic, gentle voice whispered in his ear, freeing him from the light. "Awaken, Korin. Do not fear the light; it is only a dream."
Sage opened his eyes and looked to the side. He was sitting upright in bed, hands clenching the sweat dampened bed sheets in tight fists. Zephyr's starlit, gentle silver eyes met his own wide and dilated grey-violet ones but instead of imprisoning him in their enchantment for once, they conveyed a feeling of calm and peace, pushing away the last effects of his dream. Slowly, he began to become conscious of his surroundings and realized what it was she had said.
"What? The light? How did you know?" he questioned.
Her eyes broke the gaze and closed as she turned her face from him. She moved away, her toga sweeping about her ankles and making soothing rustling noises like a breeze through trees. Her gentle silver hair swayed and a soft, warm breeze wisped about the room. She walked to a big bay window, standing straight as she looked out upon the night.
Seeing that she wasn't answering the question, Sage asked again, "Zee, how'd you know about the light? How'd you know what I was dreaming?"
She sighed, her back still turned to him, and suddenly leaned heavily against the sill of the window, bowing her head low. Her hair fell forward and danced before her face in a concealing manner. Sage blinked, thinking he was imagining things. For a moment, he thought he'd seen a teardrop fall to the floor, the starlight reflecting off its surface. But there it was again, and again. Zephyr was crying.
He swung his legs off the bed and walked slowly, quietly across the thickly carpeted floor until he was standing a mere three feet behind her. "What's wrong, Zee?" he asked. "What is it?"
She remained silent, silver-like tears still falling unchecked to the floor beneath her feet. A strand of her hair danced out and stroked his arm, as if encouraging him. Her silence spoke of pain and grief and he was compelled to help her. If Cye had been there, his empathy would've been overwhelmed.
Sage tentatively reached out and ever so gently wrapped his arms around Zephyr's waist. When she remained unresponsive, Sage pulled her back to him and hugged her. "You can tell me. I'm here for you. You can tell me anything." He bowed his head and rested his cheek on hers. Her tears slid down his skin, and he had the impression of a soft breeze caressing his face. "You don't have to be alone. You can tell me."
"Dream," she said finally. That one word split the silence into a thousand shards of surprise in Sage's mind. He pulled away just a little so she could speak without him feeling the movement of her jaw.
"What?"
She was still crying silently. She stared out at the starry night sky, her eyes reflecting the pinprick-like light of the stars studding the velvety blackness. "Dream," she repeated. "When I told you that I believed each of you had mystical abilities without your armor, I did not mention what Rowen's was."
"So?"
"Rowen has the power of dream."
Sage thought that over for a moment. "Which means?"
"For a starters, he may occasionally dream of the future. He may also manipulate reality slightly through a dream. His dreams may give answers to problems and questions that would otherwise not be answered. There are countless other potentials capable of the power of dream."
"Wait. What does Rowen's power have to do with how you knew about my dream?"
"Through what is left of my bond to him, I witnessed one of his dreams. You saw it through the bond I established with you in the past. The dream only allowed you to see it because it has some connection to you in all likelihood."
"So Rowen's dreams can see and change the future and give us answers to problems. Sounds like a pretty powerful ability."
"Not really. You see, the power of dream is one that is somewhat 'wild'. It has a will of its own--"
"Like with the death dream."
"In a way, yes, except that if the keeper of the dreams is properly trained, they may be able to control them with time," Zephyr explained. "However, it is rare that the dreams keep any but one of their capabilities once they are 'tamed'. The keeper must choose one facet of the power and that will most likely be the only one left after the taming. Though, if the keeper allows the dreams to remain wild, they will keep all their powers. Yet, in that case, the dreams would only come to the keeper of their own accord."
"Are Rowen's dreams still 'wild'?"
"Yes."
"So what kind was the one we just saw?"
"A Prediction."
"Then what was it predicting?"
"I do not know."
"Oh well. We'll figure it out." He rested his cheek on hers again. The two of them stood there together for a long time, simply looking at the majesty of the night. It was late enough that most of the city lights has been extinguished for the night, allowing a few of the brighter stars to show their faces and beam down on the earth. Time ceased to have meaning and there was only the night.
"I wish Hypnos were here," Zephyr said abruptly in a barely audible voice, startling Sage.
"Hypnos?" he asked, pulling away to get a good look at her.
She turned her eyes on him, still crying silently. "An old friend of mine from ages and ages ago. In many ways, he was the god of sleep. I wish he were here so that he could put me to sleep. He could give me a dreamless restful slumber."
"Are you tired?"
"No. I simply do not like being awake right now. Consciousness means thought and pain."
Her last word reminded him of something. "Zee, your legs!" She grimaced at his exclamation. "How'd you walk in here? Dice had to carry you to bed."
"You would have kept dreaming if I had not. Your need to awaken was greater than mine to 'stay off my feet,' as many of you say."
"Zee--"
"I am quite alright."
"Let me see," he said in the same voice he often used with his younger sister, Satsuki, when persuading her.
"Fine." She lifted the skirt of her toga up to her knees and looked away. He winced at the sight, forcing himself to keep looking so he could examine them.
"I could heal you a little," he offered, "but not much. Ryo's Flare is a little too strong for a complete heal."
"I would appreciate it."
"Okay, here goes." Sage set his right hand against her left shin, grimacing at the feel of her feverish skin, and called on Halo to help him. A few minutes later he sighed and stood. "That's the best I can do. Feel any better?"
"A little," she said and dropped her skirt. "Thank you."
He watched her face. "Zee?"
"Yes?" She was wiping her eyes and face, her hair dancing up to assist, stroking her face.
"Are you lonely?"
She paused, hand in mid-rise, her hair still wiping away tear-tracks. "…Y-yes."
Sage didn't say anything but just pulled her to him. She was unresponsive for a moment. Then, she wrapped her arms around his waist, clutching the back of his shirt, and buried her face in his chest. She wept freely, but still quietly, allowing herself only to make occasional sounds.
"I am so alone. I have been alone for so long. I am the only one of my kind left. There used to be so many of us. But people just stopped believing and we died out. I watched my best friends die. I saw Ares fall from his chariot, Hera shrivel away, Aphrodite fade. Even mighty Athene was lost in the end. When she died, Zeus knew it was over and stopped fighting death. I am the only one. The only one. I am all alone."
"Sshh. It's okay," he soothed. "You wanna tell me 'bout it?"
"I-I…I do not know if I can. I have not told any one before."
He was pulling her slowly back towards the bed. He sat her down on it and kneeled on the floor before her. He reached up and wiped away the fresh tears, her silver hair dancing about to help. "How do you do that?"
"How do I do what?"
"Your hair. How can it move like that?"
"It always has. It is part of the way I am. I do not control it."
"Okay. You wanna tell me now?"
"I…I…"
"You don't have to," he told her.
"I want to," she said. "I simply need a place to begin. I can not start at the beginning for there is not one."
"That's okay."
"People believed the gods into existence," she began. "The gods relied on their belief to survive. People believed in a god of the west wind whom they called Zephyrus. But I had existed before that. I was the wind and I was not a god or a goddess. I am a spirit or something along those lines.
"There were hundreds of gods, goddesses, spirits, nymphs, and such. My best friends were the four seasons. Spring was the optimist of the group, always believing things would get better when they were at their worst, just like the way her season promised new life in the face of the winter's death. I remember how she was always interested in the old mystics.
"As for Winter, she was always logical and she was certainly the most beautiful of the four in spirit. She could seem harsh and cold at times but she had an inner beauty that Aphrodite's physical beauty only barely surpassed.
"Summer was always the one to bring fun to the scene. She could come up games in the blink of an eye. She was a little naïve but she certainly made up for it by dispelling boredom for the gods. Summer was at the level of the Muses when it came to entertainment.
"When it came to looks, Autumn was the beautiful one. Aphrodite did not like her much because of that. Autumn was always so colorful in so many ways. She could sing in such a way you could not look away or stop listening until she ceased. She was going to teach me to sing but never had the chance. She was very agile and lithe, and she could dance like the wind itself--"
"Can you dance?"
"Of course. Please do not interrupt."
"Okay."
"Now, Autumn was the quiet one. She offered comfort to anyone who sought it from her without hesitation. Before the end came, she was going to wed Eros. He was quite stricken with her and she truly loved him. Eros saw many things in Autumn the rest of us never did. She was the keeper of my secrets.
"When the end came, no one was prepared for it. It started without warning. People simply ceased to believe in the gods and nymphs and spirits of the land. Iris came back one night, after delivering a message for Zeus, in awful shape. She collapsed in the middle of the Hall of the Gods and despite everything our healers did for her, she died by the next morning. Before she died, she told the healer in her chambers that the people were not believing any more.
"Athene figured out that the loss of belief in higher powers had killed Iris and she told Zeus. There was nothing he could do. By the end of the day, seven of the lesser gods and attendants had died.
"The next day, Autumn fell ill. She asked Winter to kill her so that she could be spared the pain. Winter refused but after an hour, Autumn was in so much agony that Winter complied and ended her suffering. Eros used one of his arrows, untipped in the desire of love, to kill himself and he lay down with Autumn in death. Aphrodite went into shock when she discovered her son had killed himself and became unresponsive to anything.
"That same day, over two hundred spirits of the land died. They didn't suffer though, for as soon as they showed symptoms of death, they came to an appointed place. There, Artemis and Apollo would give them the mercy of instant death by shooting them down with their arrows.
"Winter hated herself for having to give death to Autumn and she killed herself by means unknown to us. Knowing Winter, she most likely simply lost her will to live and let that kill her. Even Spring lost hope rather quickly and died with the passing of her hope. Poor Summer could not bear the solemnity and grief anymore after that and she killed herself by absorbing the harsh cold Winter created even in death. The four of them all vanished, along with Eros, his hand still holding Autumn's.
"After a week, all the land spirits, nymphs, and attendants were dead. Then, Ares was out in his chariot when he simply fell from the sky. He disappeared with no more than a flicker of flame. Apollo and Artemis came stumbling back to the Hall and they lasted only an hour before they vanished also. They died at the exact same moment, holding each other's hands. When the three of them died, it told us that not even the higher gods were safe from the end.
"Two weeks after that, Aphrodite, still in a state of shock, was sitting at the banquet table when she simply faded away before the eyes of everyone. That same evening Hera was at a window when she just dropped and shriveled up. She died and vanished quickly but with much pain. Soon after, there was only a handful of gods left. They died one by one, until only Athene, Zeus, and I were left.
"I am wise, but Athene was far wiser. She was the very essence of wisdom itself. She comforted her father in those moments towards the end of the end. In private, she told me that she knew this was indeed the end of the gods. She said that she believed I had survived so long only because Fate and Destiny had a purpose in mind for me. Athene believed that there was always a reason for everything.
"She gave me her blessing and told me to remain hidden while she returned to her father. When I asked why, she informed me that she knew she was about to end and wanted Zeus to see it. She said that once he had been told there were no others and he saw that even his favorite child had been defeated by the end, he would allow himself to end also. She did not wish for him to keep fighting, for she knew he was suffering.
"So I complied, and I watched her return to her father, Zeus, and tell him I had died. Then she knelt before him and placed her head on his knees. She told Zeus that she loved him and said, 'this is the end of the gods, Father. Do not fight it any longer. I will be waiting for you in soul when you cross over to join us.' And then she went limp and vanished. Zeus wept over the place where Athene had just been and I could tell he had given up, just as his daughter had said he would. A mere second after she had been lost to the end, her father disappeared with a final bolt of lightning.
"That lightning bolt destroyed Mount Olympus, the Hall, and every trace of the gods in a moment of white light. The next thing I knew, I was somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, carried by my wind. Since then, I have simply been the wind. I gave up this form," Zephyr gestured at her body, "to become no more than the element I am. Then, Rowen accidentally called on me and I found a purpose in life again. That was the night I bonded with you."
She paused and raised her hands to stare at them as if there were something wrong with them. "Without Rowen, I am alone again. I cannot bear to be alone anymore. If I could change, I would degenerate back into my purest, true form in a moment. I do not know why I even thought I wanted to live again anyway."
She'd started to cry again and before he knew what he was doing, Sage stood and bent down, kissing her eyelids. "Don't cry anymore, Zee. You aren't alone and Rowen will be back." He got to his knees again and took the wind elemental's hands in his own. "I made a promise once to Rowen. He doesn't remember it but what I promised, in my exact words, was this: It's gonna be okay. I promise you that now."
Zephyr shook her head and said, "No. I appreciate your promise, but it will not be okay. Nothing will ever be o--"
Sage had wanted to stop her and hopefully convince her of his promise. The only way left had been something very unexpected. He kissed her. He could tell she was surprised but that was all right. When he pulled away, she just stared.
"Y-y-you…you k-k-k…you kissed me!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, I did. What's so surprising about that?" he asked jokingly.
"N-no one has ever d-done that b-before!"
"Well! Now, that's a surprise. You're so beautiful, I'm surprised that you haven't been kissed millions of times!" he said.
She just stared at him. "I-I--"
"Really, Zee. I never thought I'd see you at a loss for words. Maybe I can help." He kissed her again.
This time, when he pulled away, she looked him in the eye and whispered, "Thank you." Then, she closed her eyes and fell asleep sitting up.
"Zee? You awake?" He gave her a gentle shake. When she didn't respond, he laughed and picked her up. He carried her back to Mia and Dice's room and put her in Mia's empty bed. Dice was sleeping soundly in the other bed. There was a little clock on the dresser between the two beds and a quick look at it told him that it was 3 a.m. He and Zephyr had been sleeping since around five in the afternoon. They must have been really tired.
Now that he thought about it, he was still tired. He returned to his and Danji's room. On the way, he remembered that he hadn't seen the doctor in the room when Zephyr had woken him up. He ducked his head in the door to the den. Ohhh. Duh, Sage. I should've known.
When Mia had given up her bed for Zee, she'd taken one of the sofas and was now sleeping there. Danji had apparently come to the den at some hour of the night and was now sitting on the arm of the sofa at Mia's head, running his fingers through her hair, and looking down at her with a smile. Mia sighed in her sleep and turned over on her side. Danji pulled the blanket Mia had gotten from somewhere up to her chin and kissed her cheek. Then, he stood and headed towards the door Sage was peeking through.
Sage ducked back into the hall and ran swiftly back to his room. He dived in his bed, yanked the sheets and blankets up over his head, and feigned sleep, feeling very childish, embarrassed because of that, and yet finding it oddly exhilarating. He barely made it before Danji came in and tucked himself into his own bed. Sage waited a good ten minutes before he dared to move again. When he did, he looked over at the sleeping doctor with a smirk before settling back to sleep himself. It was only as he was drifting out of reality that he wondered where that earlier feeling of childishness had come from.
* * * * *
If a maid from room service had come in the Royal Suite that morning, she would've stared in stunned silence for a moment and then gotten out of there as fast as possible.
The scene in Rip's 'Sweet' Suite was the very essence of chaos. In the short time they'd been there, the four Ronins, three elementals, one doctor, one young woman who was the so-called 'responsible adult', and one large Siberian white tiger, had turned the suite into ground zero of some unnatural disaster. Of course, thanks to Rip's orders, no room service was allowed to visit the Royal Suite.
Everyone, even White Blaze, was rushing about in a frenzy, looking for lost shoes, socks, shirts and other such articles. Only Zephyr wasn't participating in the commotion, for two reasons. One, she didn't have any possessions to have lost in the first place. And two, she was showing no signs of waking up any time soon.
At some point in the morning, Dice had carried the wind elemental into the den and placed her in the love seat that seemed to have been christened by the others as 'Zee's spot.' It didn't matter how much yelling and hubbub went on around her, Zephyr would not wake up.
But that didn't matter in the confusion of that morning. Rip's father had arranged for a so-called 'minor' distraction to take place near Hogo Heart Hospital, where the media was still gathered in hopes of a big story break involving the tiger and missing people.
A group of actors had been hired to claim that the people and tiger had been staying with them and had just boarded a plan to the U.S.; and from what little of the morning news reports the people in Rip's suite had seen, the distraction was going extremely well. To the point, in fact, that that one particularly nosy reporter who'd forced them to flee from the upstairs office at the hospital, Borum, had taken the first available flight for the U.S. to chase them down.
Rip's father had also hired a rather extremely expensive private flying agency to take his daughter and company, exotic animal included, south to Brisbane, Australia. The agency was instructed to take all security precautions and to keep the entire transaction under wraps.
Several rental cars had been signed for under Rip's father's name for up to two months, in both Japan and Australia. This was also done in secret and was to be kept out of sight, too.
While the media was distracted, the group was going to make some quick stops at their homes in order to explain things to their families and get anything they wanted or needed to bring along. Several times, one of the group would take the liberty to express their gratitude to Rip, until she finally told them all-rather loudly-not to thank her any more. Attention of that sort had always bothered her.
Cye was still searching for his jacket. The light blue suede jacket hadn't turned up and he couldn't seem to find it anywhere.
"Sage, are you sure you didn't put it somewhere?"
"I already told you…NO! I took it off Zee and set it on the coat rack by the door. If it's not there, it's not my fault."
"Oh, alright. Thanks anyway." Cye checked by the door again, found nothing, and went in search of someone else to interrogate. "Hey, Kento!"
"What?"
"Have you seen my ja--"
Kento interrupted him. "Nope. Sorry, bud. You're on your own."
"Fine. Thanks for nothing," Cye said good-naturedly and stuck his tongue out at his friend. Then he turned to chase down a figure in an old, beat up, red-sweater that was running for a bedroom door and hopping up and down to pull on a shoe at the same time. "Hey, Ryo! Have you seen my jacket?"
Mia, Dice, Sage, and Danji were all in the dining room, eating breakfast. They'd only had to go through their usual morning rituals in order to be ready. It seemed they had been the only ones with the presence of mind to prepare the day before. Dice was sipping her coffee quietly on one side of the table, Sage was doing the same at the end closest to the door into the den, and Mia and Danji were sitting side by side on the side opposite Dice, holding hands under the table as they munched on some waffles.
Dice stopped sipping her coffee. She set the cup down on the polished rich wood of the table and leaned back and slumped in her chair. She absently stirred the coffee with a spoon in one hand and fingered her orange lock of hair in the other, twisting, pulling, and running her fingers through it.
Mia got up and carried her dishes through the door leading into the kitchen, finished with her breakfast and unaware of Dice's actions. Danji picked up his own breakfast dishes and followed Mia; also unaware of the way his best friend was acting.
Sage watched the two go, smirking as he thought of what the couple was doing alone in the kitchen. He took another long draw of his coffee, relishing the morning ritual that had become automatic. Since he'd been old enough to drink it, his father had insisted on he and Sage drinking it together every morning. His father was American and drinking coffee in the morning was practically an American tradition. Mr. Date had wanted to leave at least some of his western heritage imprinted in his son.
Then, Sage finally took notice of the other person in the room. He took a good long look at Dice. She was staring listlessly at nothing, her hands moving without her. Sage decided to bring her out of her trance.
"Yo, Dice! Care to join us back in the land of the living?" he called to her.
Dice jumped and yelped. Her coffee cup tipped, prompting another jump and yelp. "Oh, Lord," she moaned at the mess. She headed in a hurry towards the kitchen. Sage got over his initial surprise at her reaction to his waking call quickly and leapt between Dice and the door.
"Sorry, can't let you go in there," he explained.
"Why? I need to get something to clean up this mess."
"Because. We don't want to interrupt."
"Interrupt what?" Dice asked. She was still speaking in her usual soft, almost-too-quiet, shy voice but she was getting slightly impatient.
"The, uh…oh, here," he gave up and opened the kitchen door just a crack. "Take a look."
Dice peeked into the kitchen and turned back to him. She was about to say something but then her eyes got real big and she looked back through the crack again. When she finally turned back to Sage again, her eyes were still wide and she opened and closed her mouth several times without getting any sound out.
Finally she said, "My bad."
Sage couldn't help it. He laughed. Dice just stared at him. "It's not funny," she pouted. That made Sage laugh even harder. Finally Dice couldn't help it either. The two of them sat down on the polished wood floor of the dining room and laughed until the kitchen door opened.
Still laughing, the pair on the floor looked up at the two figures looming over them. "What's so funny?" Mia asked.
Dice wiped her eyes and let loose one last giggle before saying, "Um…nothing, Mia. I just spilled my coffee and--Ohhh, no!" She jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen. She found a towel and ran back to the table, where she set to sopping up the rapidly spreading puddle on the fine wood. She was chanting, "No, no, no, no, no! Oh, no, no, no!"
Mia got a towel and helped Dice with the mess. Sage watched the earth elemental carefully before deciding to talk to her later. Danji wanted to speak to him. "Hey, Sage, do you think you could spare a moment?" he asked.
"Sure, Doc." The two of them walked out of the dining room, out of the suite, and down the hall. "Sooo…what did you want to talk about?"
"Uh, well, about Mia. Just a few questions I don't want to ask her directly."
"Like?"
"Like, what's her favorite food, her worst enemy, her favorite pastime. Stuff like that."
"Okay. Lessee…Mia's favorite food is some Italian dish called lasagna. Her worst enemy: a girl from her school days named Mai and her older brother Damar. Her favorite pastime: messing with her computer, embarrassing me and the other guys, and she does something up in the attic every day for a couple hours but we have yet to find out what. Does that cover it?"
"I guess…why're Mai and her brother Mia's worst enemies?"
"Mai was popular when Mia was in high school and Mia being partly French-blooded and raised in France and America most of her life, she was an outcast for a long time. One of Mai's all time favorite things to do was pick on Mia and Damar loved to help, though he's a 'half-and-half ' himself. Mia never liked to talk about it but whenever Mai or Damar's name comes up, she gets really, really mad. She even hit Cye once for just saying the name Mai. Ryo has a scar on his left shoulder to show for a trip-up he made last year."
"Oh. I get the point. Let's change the subject, now."
" 'Kay. So, how long've you known Dice?"
"Why? You don't have your eye on her, do you? Cuz if you do--"
"Wow. PBB case, aren't ya?"
"Huh?"
"PBB-Protective Big Brother. Kento's got it bad when it comes to his siblings. Even Cye has it over his older sister. You seem to have PBB for Dice."
"Uh…well, we've known each other for a very long time. We met when she was about five and her family still lived in Japan. We've been best friends ever since.
"Dice's mother is full-blooded Japanese and her father, David Salem, is American but he's lived in Africa since he was five. When Dice was seven her family moved back to her father's home in Africa. Dice has a remarkable talent with children and she always wanted to be a doctor," Danji told Sage.
"When she turned fourteen, her family sent her back to Japan to live with me. She somehow managed to get an early medical degree a month before her sixteenth birthday and got a job at the hospital. Dice sends half her paycheck back to her family in Africa every time payday comes around. We're like family. She's my little sister and I'm the big brother she always wanted. She has four younger siblings, three of which are triplets. Family is very important to Dice."
"She kinda spaced out back there," Sage commented. "You and Mia didn't seem to notice, being so, uh, involved at the time."
"What do you mean by 'she spaced out'?" Danji asked, concerned.
"Well, she was just staring out at nothing with a real blank look. Her hands were doing things without her."
"Like what?"
"She was stirring her coffee with one hand and kind of toying with that one odd lock of hair with her other hand."
"What did her eyes look like?"
"Well, that little squiggle of color kinda got a little bright. The rest of her eye color got a bit brighter, too, now that I think of it."
"Uh, we better go back. Now." Danji turned and practically ran back through the corridor in the direction they had come. Sage stared after him with a confused expression before running after the doctor.
* * * * *
"Kayura, wake up!" Cale shouted in the Ancient's ear. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
Kayura didn't respond. She was thrashing about on the floor and screaming like someone was gutting her.
"Lemme try." Sekhmet pushed Cale aside. Ducking Kayura's arm, the Warlord pinned her to the floor by her shoulders and put his mouth right next to her ear. He drew in a deep breath and then bellowed, "OHHH, KAY! IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP RIGHT NOW, I'M GONNA LET CALE KISSSS YOU!"
Kayura promptly bolted upright, wide-awake, her hand automatically shooting out to grasp the air where the Ancient's Staff would've been under normal circumstances. When she didn't feel the comforting rod of the Staff under her touch, Kayura seemed to realize where she was. For a moment, she looked about to say something rude to the other two Warlords. Instead, she let out a little scream and leapt for the cell door.
"Hey, Kayura, what's wrong?" Cale asked in a bewildered tone, watching the bearer of the Armor of Cruelty peering through the window bars.
"Uh, I dunno," she replied, absently. "I just had a dream's all." She kept glancing about her in an anxious manner.
"You okay, Kayura?" Sekhmet looked around for the invisible enemy, unconsciously dropping into a defensive stance.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Shut up," was the distracted answer.
The two men looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "What kind of dream did ya have?" they both asked.
"About Strata…and Dais…and Halo…and someone rather young and ancient…and some other people I couldn't see…but it was just a dream," she told them. "I, uh, I think."
"You think? But what was it about?" Cale questioned.
"Umm…well, Strata's armor was gone, Dais was in a helluva bad mood over it, and then Strata had a dream--"
"A dream within a dream!" Sekhmet interrupted.
"Shut up!" the other two shouted at him.
"Okay," he said sulkily. "Ya don't have to shout. Sheesh. Act as if I were annoying you or something."
"Shut up!" Cale repeated but Kayura, who was already in a bad mood, took a more direct approach.
She raised her hand and concentrated. Cale, realizing what she was doing, jumped out and grabbed her wrist but it was too late. A small golden orb of light flew at Sekhmet, crackling with power. From then on, everything happened too fast for second thoughts or doubts. Sekhmet ducked and dived out of the way, and the orb struck the wall. But instead of blowing up the stone mason-work, the power orb made an angry crackling noise and bounced off the glassy black stone.
"Oh, maaan!" Cale grabbed Kayura around the waist and threw her to the floor, then dropped down himself. The power orb screamed across the room towards them, growing in power as it went. Cale glanced back at it, noticed it was flying lower and lower, and quickly maneuvered to hunch over Kayura, who was about to get up. In the split second before the orb struck, he thought, Kayura, you so seriously owe me for this one.
The orb hit and blinding pain seared up his back, stopping only when it crashed into the back of his head. He gritted his teeth and fought not to cry out. Finally, everything stopped and he was only aware of darkness reaching across his vision. He welcomed it, wanting the relief and solace the dark had always offered him. He didn't know that there were two figures bent over him, that one of them was trying to keep him conscious and the other was trying to apologize. He knew only that he was in pain and he surrendered to the dark in hopes of reprieve.
He never heard the words whispered in his ear. "I'm so sorry, Cale. I'm sorry. Please…don't go."
* * * * *
"Well?"
"Sir, the Life Ronin is disarmed. The armor previously in its possession has been stripped. The Life Ronin is now in a state in which we may be rid of it without further ado. What do you wish, sir?"
Lumen was once again in the chamber, standing before the pool of oil-like liquid. His vivid neon purple eyes were carefully downcast, never straying from the leather moccasin-like coverings of his feet, as he reported to a higher power. The voice of his master echoed throughout the room, appearing to come from nowhere. The power in that voice was unmistakable. There were no slithery undertones present in the voice as with Lumen's voice and the voices of some of the guards.
"Well, Lumen. For once, you've managed to nearly complete an entire mission without a hitch. That's progress on your part. Now, I want the Life Ronin brought here so that I may kill it personally. That way, no mistakes can be made."
"Yes, sir. I'll retrieve the Life Ronin, now, with your permission."
"Granted. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir." Lumen left the chamber.
As soon as he was gone, the voice boomed out, "Shoquia, come forth!"
A small figure shrouded in a teal cloak seemingly stepped out of the wall, moving to stand beside the pool. Unlike Lumen, the figure peered directly into the depths of the liquid-or seemed to, for the cowl of the cloak threw the face deep into shadow. "Yes?" a firm, powerful, yet feminine, voice asked. "What now?"
"Tell me what the elemental is doing."
The girl or woman in the teal cloak sighed and shook her head. "We've been over this already. You are becoming obsessive. Your servant is bringing the elemental's link here this very moment. Soon, the link will be inexistent and the elemental will cease to exist. What more is there to know?"
"Just tell me."
"Suit yourself. But after this, I'm leaving. Don't summon me; I'll summon you."
"…Agreed."
"Good." She seated herself at the foot of the pool. "I'll have to look into the future since you've messed up time so much here. By the way, that's an annoying thing, the time difference." A ring of red-tainted gold came from the folds of the cloak and was left hanging in the air. She began to sing in some lost language and slowly rose off the floor, levitating. When ring and cloaked figure were a fair ten feet or so above the floor, the ring burst into fire.
She stopped singing and began to chant. "Behold the fire, ring of gold. Come see the power, if you're bold," she chanted softly. "Time is its own master, or mistress, at will. Do not misread it or it will be still," the chanting was louder. Finally, her voice came to a crescendo as she chanted, "Come past and come present. Come night and come day. I look for the future. Behold it, I say!"
The ring's flames turned white and her hooded face looked through it, seeing things only she could see. Speaking quietly, she said, "I seek the elemental of wind. I seek the one known to mortals as Zephyr. Show this one to me."
After five minutes of silence, the voice asked, "Well? What do you see?"
"Patience. She is amongst two other elementals, four armor keepers, two average mortals, one of which is a healer, and a tiger. They are preparing to go somewhere, most likely out of the country. She is sleeping at current."
"Which ones are the other two elementals?"
"The one called Marina Kahanamoku, but nicknamed Rip, is the water elemental. Her link is the Trust Ronin. She has lived a mortal life and is not pure as the elemental of wind. The one known as Gaea Salem, called Dice, is the earth elemental. Her link is the Justice Ronin. She too has lived a mortal life and is not as the wind elemental in purity."
"What else?"
The teal cloaked figure shook her head and said, "That is all. No more may be told for now."
"Fine."
With a nod, she reached out a hand covered in teal wrappings and grabbed the ring of fire. At her touch, the fire vanished, and the ring was hidden away within the folds of the cloak. Standing in midair, she sank back to the floor. When her feet, also covered in teal wrappings, touched the stone, she said, "I'm leaving now. Remember, don't summon me. I'll come sooner or later."
"You're being difficult, Shoquia."
She laughed. "Of course, I am. What else do you expect from me? See you some time. In the future, present, past, whatever. Bye!" And with that she walked into the shadows, seeming to melt into them, becoming part of them.
No sooner was she gone than the voice muttered, "I swear, that little, annoying, bothersome--"
"I heard that!" her voice came from everywhere and nowhere, echoing as the sound bounced off the walls. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you!"
"Fine. Now, stop that."
"Alright. So long!" Silence held the room.
* * * * *
"Dice! Mia! Where are you two?"
"Back here, Danj. Why?" Dice called from the dining room. When Sage and Danji entered the room, they found the two girls still mopping up the spilt coffee on the floor and table. Danji didn't answer Dice's question but rushed over and made short work of pulling her from the room.
When they were gone, Mia looked up at Sage from where she knelt on the floor. "Umm, what was that all about?"
"I have no idea."
"Oh. Well, since you're here, why don't you grab a towel and help me out here?" It was more of an order than a request and Sage complied.
Meanwhile, Danji had yanked Dice into the room he'd been sharing with Sage. "What is it?" she asked.
"Sage said you 'spaced out' a while ago."
"Oh. I see."
"When will it be this time?"
"Tomorrow, around four in the afternoon. Did you tell Sage about it?"
"No. Should we tell them?"
"They haven't kept any secrets from us. This isn't much of anything big really, compared to their lives."
"Okay, then. Do you want me to do it?"
"No. I'll do it myself." She looked at him and bit her lip. "Danj, I miss my family. I miss them all so bad. I wish I could talk to Mom or Dad or Sharra even. I want to be with them right now. I'm getting homesick."
"Hey, I'm here for you. I'm your family-away-from-home. If you want, I bet Rip would arrange for you to go home instead of coming with us to Australia. Heck, if you want, I'll go with you. It's all up to you. It's your choice."
"I'm coming…. Oh, Danj, thanks." Then she cried a little on his shoulder, hugging him about the waist. When she stopped, the first thing she said was, "Hey, shouldn't you be off kissing your girlfriend or something?"
"What's the matter, little sister? Jealous?"
"Of course not. I'm very happy for you. You two belong together. I can tell."
Danji noted that she was blushing. Looks as if she may have a little secret she's keeping from me, he thought but knew she'd tell him in her own time. "Well, thank you. So, off we go to tell the secret of Dice Salem, huh?"
"Not just yet, later. Danj?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you always going to be my 'big brother'?"
"Dice, I promise to be your 'big brother' for as long as you want me. Or as long as Kento doesn't replace me," he added with a laugh.
"No one could replace you."
* * * * *
"Honey, I'm home!" she called with a laugh. "Hey, Fey, where are you?"
"Up here, Shoq."
She looked up. "Oh. Get down here! I wanna talk to you."
" 'Kay."
As she watched, Fey walked across the ceiling and down the wall. Wearing a brown cloth skirt with slits up the thighs and matching top, similar in style to a workout top, and being barefoot, she looked like some wild thing from the jungle. Fey's shocking pale lavender hair was cut to her jaw-line, curling inwards. Her left eye was a vivid purple and her right was a startlingly pale, pearly green, almost no color at all. She was long-limbed, skinny, and had dark-tanned skin. Her lips were naturally an icy blue color, as if she was freezing to death, and her ears were pointed at the tips. "So what's up? Whadja make me come down for? And, Shoquia, take off that silly robe thingy."
"Fine," Shoquia said exasperatedly. She shoved back her hood. Shoulder-blade-length, teal-colored hair tumbled out. She was very pale-skinned, and slim but not skinny the way Fey was. Her sharp, bright eyes were the same teal as her hair and her lips were a normal red but she'd used lipstick to paint them teal, too. When she shed her cloak, she was wearing a teal tunic that came down to her knees with sleeves to her elbows and teal sandals. If it weren't for the odd color of her hair, she'd look completely normal, unless you saw her teeth. Her two front canines were long and sharp: fangs. "I went to the sumantra, today."
Fey's eyes got even brighter-if that were possible-and she got excited. "Really? What for? What did ya do? Did you see anything? Hear anything? Did you go to the--"
"Whoa! Hold on! One thing at a time. First of all, I went because that stupid jerk doesn't know anything and it wouldn't bode well if I didn't help him."
"What did he want this time? Was it about the chimera in the stables again? Or was it the centaurs in the gardens? Or maybe the--"
"Fey! Be quiet. I'll tell you only if you shut up. And can we sit down? My head hurts from all that teleportation."
"Sure." Fey ran over to a porch swing suspended from the ceiling and jumped on it. Shoquia rolled her eyes and sat on the swing, too. "Well?" Fey asked impatiently.
"He wanted to know what the elemental of wind was doing. So I told him and left. Fey, I've been wandering…" Shoquia trailed off.
Fey fidgeted and tried to stay quiet. After a minute, she couldn't wait any longer. "Shoq! What've ya been wandering?"
"What if the elementals aren't…you know? What if I'm helping to kill them and they're not what I think? And the wind elemental…I don't know. She just seems familiar somehow."
At this, Fey actually looked considerate and thoughtful. "Shoquia, you know what you saw. I know what you saw. The elementals are…they're…I can't say it. But you're doing the right thing. And if you aren't, we'll fix it. That's all there is to it. And as for one of 'em being familiar, I bet you're just imagining things."
Shoquia looked at her friend. "Fey, sometimes you are the worst humanoid in the universe. But then, sometimes, I don't know what I'd do without you."
Fey grinned from pointy ear to pointy ear. "I know. That's what I'm here for!" She gave the other girl a hug that seemed impossible for someone of her small and slight frame. "C'mon, I wanna go see if I can catch that faerie faster than last time. You can time me."
"Oh, alright." Shoquia stood and followed Fey through a back door. "But this time, would you please try not to scare the wits out of the poor thing?"
* * * * *
"The charm soul is doubting."
"Yes, but the fated one has ceased the doubts."
"For now, anyway."
"Let's not get our hopes up yet. It may be nothing."
"…I wish..."
"Try not to agonize so much."
"How much longer?"
"It will be time soon. Only three have been awakened so far."
"But the other two may become aware soon."
"We will concern ourselves with that when the time comes."
"I suppose so."
Author's Notes:
1) Shoquia is pronounced SHOCK-UH and when Fey called her Shoq, it's like saying SHOCK. 'Kay?
2) For as many hits as this story is getting, it certainly is recieving very few reviews. Why is that? The Theria's and Swiftgold's readers have been quite nice, you know. Did I just do something wrong with you guys?
Facts of Life: Wouldn't it be nice if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings?
Next chapter: Chapter 7--Meet the Parents