Chapter 1: The Legend
As the rest of the Ronin Warriors woke and the little man sat on a little stone stool in the middle of the court. He looked around and got a curious look on his face.
"Do you five know why you are here?"
"I think it has something to do with those five girls from the white convertible." Sage said, leaning against one of the walls.
"Ah… you mean the Five Sisters. Yes, yes… And I suppose that you would like to know about the legend of the Labyrinth."
"You just told us you would tell us." Ryo said.
"Yes I did, and I shall. But first I will tell you a poem." The old man continued. "You may find this part familiar…"
"Torch Of Spirit, Sought Through Five, Drinking Strength From Immortal Fire, The Darkest Prison Sheds The Light, Churning Beneath A Swirl Of Salt, Burning Within A Throne Of Rock, Floating Amongst the Eyes of The Ages, Unmoured in the Sky… These are the Kings of Five."
"Except for that last part, it's Mia's Grandfather's poem." Cye said.
"But I'm not finished." The old man interjected. "So let me continue."
"Sorry sir." They all responded in unison.
"The Castle of Eternal Fire. The Castle of the Echoes. The Castle of the Seven Seas. The Castle of the Sylvain Earth. The Castle of the Four Winds… Five points to make the whole."
"The five sisters of the Fire's Circle, Call their Kings to them one by one. The Sister Queen of Virtue calls the King of Wildfire. The Sister Queen of Wisdom calls the King of Halo. The Sister Queen of Trust calls the King of Torrent. The Sister Queen of Justice calls the King of Hardrock. The Sister Queen of Life calls the King of Strata… Together the ten shall rule the world in peace and harmony unmatched "
"I'm guessing those are the Five castles in the poem." Kento said, pointing to the castles they could see just over the walls of the courtyard they were in.
"Correct my young friend." He said smiling. "and now you must listen to the legend."
"Is this going to take long?" Kento asked, longingly starring at the castle casting and orange-gold haze around itself.
"I see that the Sister of Justice is awake and calling for her King. She is the strongest in powers, but the weakest in mind. She may have been influenced by the Farie King in doing his bidding."
"Powers?" Kento asked curiously.
"In the mortal realm, she is called a witch. And she is the most powerful out of the five sisters."
"She's a witch? Cool." Kento said. He closed his eyes and just cleared his mind. Suddenly he saw the red head from the convertible sauntering toward him, giving him an inviting smile. He "looked" her up and down. Her hair was pinned up in a crown with his symbol from his armor carved into a piece of topaz in the center and the lose curls spiraled down from the side of her head. She was dressed head to toe in a gold dress which left so much skin exposed that it left little to the imagination. His blue eyes locked with her hazel eyes, and she blinked.
"Come join me my king. We can rule everything together." She said as she reached out and ran her fingers along his cheek bone. She then leaned forward and kissed him lightly. "Come to me Kento of Hardrock."
He opened his eyes to see Cye right in his face.
"Are you okay Kento?"
"AHHH!!!! Get out of my face dude!" Kento demanded, jumping back.
"Alright man. I'm back!" Cye said defensively. "I was just trying to make sure you were alright!"
"Settle down!" the little man demanded. "Now listen… what I have to tell you of the legend will save your lives in the labyrinth.."
The five men sat down and listened to the old man.
"Now I'm sure you know about the battle between Talpa and the one call The Ancient, but what you don't know, is that once, when Talpa was mortal, he was good and he ruled peacefully with his wife, a woman who was called Allundra. Together they had six children. The oldest two a set of twins, a boy and a girl with coppery red hair, the boy having one blue eye and one green eye, the girl having golden-hazel eyes. The girl was named Kyandra and was raised in the practice of Earth Magic. Her brother was named Anubis, and he was trained in all the fighting skills that his fathers generals could teach him. Then They had a second Daughter, Lyanda, whom was trained in the practices of Water Magic. Next they had their third daughter Kelletta, whom they trained in Air Magic. Then cam their fourth daughter Barella, who was trained in Fire Magic, and finally they had their last daughter, Erella, who was trained in Soul Magic."
"Anubis?" Cye asked? "As in the former warlord of Cruelty Anubis?"
"Correct. But I shall get to why he hasn't told you any of this himself."
"Anyway… As I was saying… Each of the sisters were trained in the magic of the element which ruled them. And while Allundra was carrying the youngest of the sisters, Talpa, decided to build each of the girls a Castle, from which they could rule the kingdom from, together with the men they chose to be their kings. Now, Kyandra, being the oldest, was the first to be courted and she was courted by many of the kingdom's finest and strongest men. And she had set her eyes on a visiting merchants son from another land, but Anubis, being her twin would have the final say on whom was worthy of his sisters hand and challenged all who came to a test of strength and wits, and this included the merchants son. You, my friend Kento, are the incarnation of that young man."
Kento looked at the old man and shrugged.
"Goes to show, even in past lives, I had good taste in women." And he grinned and continued to stare past the old man's shoulder at the gold castle beyond the old man's shoulder.
"Now, with Lyanda, she had taken a secret interest in one of the palaces cooks, and would spend hours in the kitchens talking to the young man. When palace guards weren't looking, the two would steal away to the beach to be alone with each other and talk and laugh and swim with each other."
"And I supposed that man was me." Cye said, motioning to himself. The man smiled and nodded, continuing his story.
"The third daughter, Kalletta, had started paying attention to one of palace archers, and would spend hours upon hours watching him train secretly, drawing sketches of him while she watched."
"Me." Rowen said, again, the old man smiled and nodded.
"The fourth daughter, Barella, was wild and untamed and would spend days away from the palace in the local village, frequenting taverns and inns. On one of her adventures, she meet a young man who was a common soldier in her father's army. He taught her everything he knew about fighting and they became lovers. She was the one who went directly to Talpa and told him that she had found her king. Talpa was taken aback by this, but he also expected it from his fourth daughter so her to declare him as her future king and beloved. This act of rebelliousness by Barella, inspired both Lyanda and Kalletta to ask the same of their father. And he allowed it."
"Finally was the youngest and fairest of the five sisters, Erella. Erella was quiet and had attracted the attention of the handsome son of a neighboring kingdom. He would come to visit her as often as his duties as prince would allow. On one visit he went Talpa and asked for the girl's hand in marriage and Talpa, starting to change good to evil at this point allowed it, but only on the condition that the princes kingdom surrender to him and allow him to be the absolute ruler of that kingdom. The prince did not agree, but instead, went away in the middle of the night with his love, Talpa's youngest daughter."
"This started a war between the two kingdoms which lasted for years, and finished the transformation of Talpa from good king, to evil tyrant. The fighting pursued for years with out end. Then one day, during what would become the final battle, Talpa was killed by the prince, which ended the war."
"Sage… you always were a big trouble maker." Ryo teased, then cringed when he got socked in the arm. "Sorry."
"After the war, all but Erella's husband had been killed, and as monument to them and as a favor to the four sisters as an apology for the war which had killed their husbands, he finished the five castles, but he had his court wizard put a temporal spell on the land which placed the kingdom in a different existence from the mortal world. He also commanded that wizard to stay and guard the Labyrinth to help they souls of the ten lovers be reunited. After he had made sure the castles were completed, he committed suicide, so that his wife's sisters would not have to bear to look at the man who had caused the death of their husbands."
"Shortly there after, a monk traveled into the land to investigate reports of a mystical armor which had been found by the spirit of an evil spirit. I believe that you know the rest of the story from there."
"The Ancient..." Cye trailed off
"And Talpa…" Ryo added.
"Correct." He answered.
"And you're the wizard." Sage said stunned.
"Correct again M'lord." He smiled.
Kento was totally enthralled by the golden castle by this time and was having an impossible time not jumping up and running to Kyandra. Kento was pulled back by the old man placing his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Kyandra is calling to you, but you must understand, that she is under the power of the Farie King. She is not the good woman she should be. It is your job to release her from his power. But your job will be the hardest because you will be fighting her. The others will have to fight guardians. The Farie King has control over her because he derives his power from the same source she does. The Earth. What ever you do, you must not let her seduce you over to the his side."
"Tell us about this Farie King." Cye asked.
"The Farie King is their uncle. His sister was Queen Allundra. And he wishes to control everything in the mortal world. But to do that, he must willingly get the sisters and their husbands to follow him. And he will do what ever he must to achieve that goal."
The old man looked at Kento.
"I cannot keep you here much longer, so I send you five out into the labyrinth, just remember, follow the path which matches the seal on your armor. And do not let the Farie King get the better of you. What ever you do not let him get control over you. Particularly you, Kento of Hardrock."
Kento looked at the old man and thought about what he had just been told.
"Thank you." He said and headed off on to his path into the labyrinth.
"Be careful, your highnesses." The Wise Man called after the five men.