Dark Chocolate, White Diamonds

By Dixxy

Chapter Nineteen: Where We Belong

(Keisha)

I nearly screamed. Kento was too weak to try and fight off Simon/Talpa, and I wasn't sure if I had the power to try and take him on either. I wasn't sure if I could concentrate on that! I'd just watched the building my grandmother and brother were in explode- I couldn't think straight enough to do something like that! "No! You can't take him away from me! Kento!"

Simon raised his hand, causing it to glow orange. Kento fell to his knees, his arms crossed over his chest. His entire form was glowing his armor color, the Armor of the Hardrock struggling to remain with its bearer. The outline of the armor appeared in a ghostly form around my boyfriend, causing Kento to cry out. The process was hurting him. Possibly even killing him.

I reached to my armor orbe. I held my hands over small marble, concentrating on my own armor. "Hardrock of the Senshi, help the Armor of the Hardrock!" I cried out. A beam of orange light shot from my hands, lending my strength to my lover. The strength seemed to help, but Kento was still caught in the deadly game of tug-o-war. If I didn't do something fast, I was going to loose everything. Kento was all I had now. I wasn't going to loose him, too.

I closed my eyes, still concentrating on the lending of my energy. Simon/Talpa and I were fighting over Kento's armor and even Kento himself, trying to either destroy or save him. I used every ounce of strength, emotion, and magic in my entire being, forcing it through my armor orbe as I fought to keep my lover.

But Simon/Talpa was getting stronger, too, and I wasn't sure how long the two of us could hold out. I could feel my energy being depleted and I was loosing my hold on the armor- Talpa almost had it in his grasp. He was going to win. Kento was going to die, I was going to become some sex toy, and the Mortal Realm was going to get screwed. No! I couldn't let that happen!

"Hey! I don't think so!"

WHACK!

"AHH!"

I collapsed, trying to regain my own energy. I saw Kento had stopped glowing, he, too, trying to catch his breath. The two of us faced each other, wondering what had stopped Simon/Talpa. We looked over to see Simon/Talpa lying on the ground, his Staff embedded deep into his chest. His eyes were frozen open, pure white from lack of life. Blood seeped from the open chest wound, staining the snow he lay in.

The two of us watched as Simon/Talpa's body vanished, taking the evil spirit with it. I almost heard Talpa's screaming in the background somewhere, devastated that it had lost. Kento and I exchanged looks, wondering what was going on. The sound of crunching snow took my attention away from my boyfriend long enough to see who was coming over to us.

"Hey, are you two all right?"

I looked up and beamed with joy. There, pulling the High Priest's staff out of the ground, stood Evan. His clothes were covered in dust, and he had a few cuts and scrapes on his arms and face, but other than that, he was all right. "Evan!" I screamed, jumping up and throwing my arms around his neck. "Oh Evan, Evan, Evan! You're alive, you're alive, you're ALIVE!"

Kento was kneeling on the ground, a bit dazed and tired looking. Still, he had a very satisfied look on his face to see that Evan had pulled through for us. He chuckled, then coughed. "Good to see you're still with us," he said, panting. "For a second there we thought that you were killed when that building collapsed."

Evan grinned, patting the staff he held tenderly. "This staff protected us when the building exploded. That Simon guy went off by himself after the fact and left this behind. I decided to follow him, and I decided I should take it," he said. He grinned. "Trevor's gonna be so jealous that I have a staff and he doesn't. . ."

I gasped. Then, I crossed my arms and tapped my foot at my older brother. "Evan, you're not going to actually use that, are you?" I asked. "I mean. . . it's got to be teeming with dark energy that we don't know anything about! It was used by a man who worked for TALPA of all demons!"

Evan shrugged. "I might. Maybe Anubis could purify it or something so it's safe to use. I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines watching you all run off to certain doom- do you know what it's like not knowing? It's agonizing! So, I want to help out. And face it- you guys could use the help," he said.

"You were a huge help tonight," said Kento. "You saved our lives. We owe you one."

Evan threw his head back and laughed as if Kento had just told the funniest joke in the world. "You guys? Owe ME one! Gee, isn't the fact that you guys saved the world a few times good enough?" he said. He composed himself and cleared his throat. "Consider it even."

I smiled, just happy to see him alive. My brother was alive. He wasn't hurt. I still had some of my family left, and that made me feel a whole lot better with my situation. I hugged him again. "I don't care about that right now," I said. I looked at them both. "Let's just figure out how we're getting home and get there!"

The sound of clanging rings answered the question for us. We turned to the golden light a few feet away as Anubis appeared before us, decked out in the Ancient's Robes, the Rice Bowl Hat, and the Staff of the Ancient One. He raised the tip of the hat up to see us, a look of bewilderment on his eyes. "Are you three all right- THE DARK WING?"

"They're gone now," said Kento. "Evan and I took care of them."

"So I can see," said Anubis, raising an eyebrow and scratching his chin. He looked at me and frowned. I blushed, hiding behind Evan. "You do realize that I AM going to have to ask about that outfit of yours, Keisha, but for now, I think now is a good time to go back to Boston and have you three tell us exactly what happened."


Anubis brought us straight to Mike's house, where we found the other Ronins were all waiting patiently for us. As soon as we walked in through the front door, all of them swarmed us, asking about a million questions at once and giving me warm greetings due to my extended absence.

"Hey! HEY!" said Anubis. "Back off! Back OFF!" He started to swat at them with the Staff, connecting the big golden ball to Sage's head. The others back off, but all still looked antsy to know what had happened (and the last Flitteree wobbled off on a desperate search for aspirin).

After everyone got settled down, Kento, Evan and I explained what had happened over the past several weeks (though Kento and I left out the whole "virgin sacrifice" and "virgin sacrifice who wasn't a virgin" part). The others nodded along, all seeming to be waiting for something. What, we didn't know.

"And that's what happened," I said.

"And?" said Sage. "Last night?"

Kento and I both froze. Evan and Anubis gave us odd looks. "What, what do you mean, last night, Sage?" Kento said nervously, pulling at the collar of his T-shirt. "All of this pretty much happened today- the kidnapping, Talpa, me using the Armor of the Soul, Evan getting that staff, and so on. What else are you talking about?"

"Don't try to cover it up," said Ria. "Last night, Mrs. Lewis made Sara go check on Cye because he would've been alone during that big ol' storm we had. When she went, she found both Cye and Sage in the dark, so of course Sara's mom decided that we had to check on you, too, Kento." She winked. "I, for one, am impressed at your bold disregard of morals and Keisha's grandma's wishes for not seeing Kento- bet she would have been pretty pissed if she found out the two of you were in the sack-"

"WHAT?" Anubis and Evan said in perfect unison.

Suddenly, I felt very small, and from the looks of it, so did Kento.

"Talk," said Sage.

Kento and I were both cherry red and sitting as far away from each other as possible. We had HONESTLY thought we were alone and, at that, alone for the night. With that storm outside, who'd want to leave the house? That was a simple question with a simple answer. Someone who had the power to TELEPORT would want to leave their house. And now the two of us were in deep trouble.

"Er. . . in our defense the clan wanted a virgin," Kento said hopefully.

"Did you know that BEFORE you did anything?" Anubis asked.

"Um, no," my boyfriend replied.

"Aw, lay off 'em, guys!" said Evan. "Grams was ASKING for that to happen by separating them. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. So, considering how close they were by their hearts, souls, and armors, it makes sense. And for another thing, did you forget what we all, minus Anubis, are?"
Silence.

"Can we say 'teenagers with raging hormones'? I'll be willing to bet that the two were hugging and kissing each other when they met up after Keisha got away and things got a little out of hand. It happens. It's not an excuse for what you did, but it did save my little sister's life- I'd rather see her alive without her virginity than dead with it," said Evan. He turned to me and Kento. "Just don't do it again, all right?"

"You're not upset with us?" I said.

"Nah! Of course not!" said Evan.

"I'm surprised he hasn't gotten a shotgun out or something yet," Ria mumbled.

"Would you guys lay off them already?" Evan said.

"Evan? Calm down!" I said. "Kento and I have kinda figured out what we did was stupid and we won't be doing it again for a VERY long time. But thank you for being so understanding." Evan nodded, calming down. I sighed heavily. "Unfortunately this isn't the end of our problems."

"You and Evan have no place to go now," Rona concluded. She leaned back in her chair, scratching her head. "Well, for tonight, you could probably stay here or with one of us. Then we can try and find a more permanent residence for you. It's not like it would be for a terribly long time, though- Evan will be leaving for college, hopefully, by next fall and Keisha the fall after."

"I don't see why Mike would mind letting you guys crash here," said Sage.

"That's right! Right from the beginning he said that he's opened his doors for any of us," said Sara.

"See? Things are turning around already, mates," said Sam. She gave us a wink and a thumbs up. "Things won't ever be the same again, but at least things are starting to get better for you two." She looked at me especially. "And don't you DARE think for one second you don't have a family, Keisha."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Us!" said Ria. "We're your friends, Keisha. We're your fellow Ronins- we'll stick by you."

"Us to!" said Sage.

"Especially me," said Kento, taking my hand into his. "I won't ever let this happen again."

I lowered my head and started to cry. "You. . . you're all the best friends I've ever had!" I looked up at them, wiping away some of my tears. "I. . . THANK YOU ALL!" Kento pulled me into his arms, giving me a tight hug. I relished in this feeling, and started to cry even more as I felt Evan and my other friends join in on the hug.

They were right.

We were a family.


That evening, I couldn't sleep. So much had happened over the past twenty four hours. . . it was just too much to comprehend in just a few hours of time. I was in my new room, which at the time was very, very bare because we hadn't gotten the chance to move things from my old home to Mike's yet. I was sitting on the edge of my bed with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, wearing nothing but a purple camisole and a short, loose pair of cotton shorts. I stood up, shaking my head.

I stepped out of my room and considered going downstairs for a drink of water. Ironically enough, I saw Kento coming out of the bathroom in an old white T-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants. The both of us stopped, stared at each other, and looked away. Just twenty four hours ago we had been in a much more. . . intimate. . . setting. I stole a glance his way as he stole one my way. Kento's eyes diverted to the floor, where his sock foot was tracing circles on the carpet.

"Kento," I said.

"Keisha," he said.

"Hello."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, you?"
"Good."

Silence. "You can't sleep either, can you?" I said.

"Not a wink," he said. He looked at me through big, blue eyes. "It was so scary seeing Talpa again, especially after thinking he was dead for long. I didn't know what to think when I realized that." He leaned up against the back wall. "So much has changed in just the past twenty four hours alone."

"Me moving in?" I asked.

"Not just that, but you are right about THAT being a big chance. The Armor of the Soul went to me," he said. "Anubis told us that means it's a multi-bearer armor instead of a uni-bearer- it can have multiple users at the same time. And it changes with each user! When Sage wore it, it had a higher concentration of Halo and Flitteree magic- when I used it I felt more earth and spirit magic."

My eyes widened. "Imagine what would happen is Cye wore that thing."

Kento bit his bottom lip. "Child of Destiny in the Armor of the Soul- I almost feel sorry for the person who pisses Cye off when he's wearing THAT thing," said Kento. He snorted, then laughed. "Trulpa better run if she ever comes around again- because we'll beat her in so bad she won't know what hit her!"

I rolled my eyes. "Kento, sometimes I wonder about you."

My boyfriend smiled and slipped an arm around my waist. "Really? What about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Kento growled seductively (though not so loud that someone would wake up). I giggled. "Keisha, you're the most fascinating creature I have ever laid eyes apon, and I love you because of that," he said, planting a kiss on my neck. I continued to laugh, enjoying the attention. "C'mon, let's go find some ice cream and see what's on TV."

"Okay," I said. "Chocolate chip cookie-dough?"
"Whatever you want, babe."

"Yay!"