Something to think about: There are many different definitions for the
word "staff."
A group of people who serve a leader or an executive of a company,
organization, or institution
A stick, rod, or pole, such as a stick used as a support while walking, or
a rod used as a symbol of authority in ceremonies
When Dais and Kale looked through Kayura's open door, they saw her talking with Sekhmet. The former warlord of Venom appeared impassive as usual, but a certain sternness in his features hinted that something troubled him that he wished to keep secret. Kayura noticed Dais's and Kale's hasty arrival and said to them; "I assume you also wanted to ask the Ancient about your grandfathers."
They nodded.
"The Ancient One told me about them a few days after Talpa was defeated. He wondered if you knew or not. If you forgot, he did not want you to know until after you were living peaceful lives or were already following the ways of your ancestors. Your grandfathers had the seasonal Ronin Warrior armors, which the Ancient One gave to them. Your grandfathers were Ronin Warriors." Then, she told them everything she knew.
Oleiriset glanced over the various weapons of torture. His hands shook nervously at the sight of some, his throat clenched at the sight of others, and his muscles tensed at the sight of the rest.
"Which would you prefer?" Naga asked calmly as she walked to the table side across from him. She rested her hands on the side of the table opposite Oleiriset and leaned against it.
The advisor trembled slightly. "In reality, I prefer the less painful ones. However, in reality, weapons of torture must be painful." He sighed defeatedly and tried to steel up his fear. He knew which tactics would work best. "There is a machine that was used for centuries against our most dangerous enemies. You refused to use it against Sekhmet because the machine would have killed him at his age when he was captured. I wish for that one to be used."
"Are you sure?" Naga stared at him with wide eyes, alarmed.
Closing his eyes, Oleiriset nodded hastily and tried to focus on his mission. "We of the snake blood heal quickly and we must also act quickly. The Ronin Warriors on the mortal world are going to be destroyed sooner than I expected."
Naga grabbed a few of the items on the table and walked over to the machine in the corner to begin preparing it for the torture. While she did so, she said, "I do not understand your obsession with killing the elemental Ronin Warriors."
"I do not understand your obsession with Sekhmet. I know you had fun with him for the first few years, but then you got tired of him so you kept him in his cage all day. At the meeting two days ago, you acted so adamant to retrieve him and I thought you finished mourning for your father."
After a brief sigh, Naga spoke honestly and contritely, "Our people are complacent, Oleiriset. When we had Sekhmet, our blood felt safe and secure, but now the younger generations question why the older generations need him. In order for the younger generations to understand the older generations, the younger generations must experience the pain and loss that the older generations experienced."
"Elaborate," the advisor said, temporarily forgetting the planned torture. After Naga did so, he commented, "You wish for the illness of our blood to continue."
"It is no longer an illness!" Naga shouted, "It is now our culture!"
Shocked, Oleiriset stared at her. For years, he wondered if she knew about the illness, but he certainly never believed she would find and admit the truth about the illness. In that sense, Naga knew more about the snake demons than her advisor knew.
Breathing deeply to calm herself, the queen then inquired of her advisor, "Now, tell me why you are obsessed with destroying the elemental Ronins."
Mia was late so Ryo decided to make a sandwich while he waited and he made one for White Blaze, who looked hungry. Then, they sat by the curb of the dirt road and ate contently. Nothing threatened mortal world for almost a year. Wanting to celebrate, the Ronin Warriors and their friends planned to get together for a few days.
After finishing his snack, Ryo relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing across his face. Acting like a typical cat, White Blaze rested his head on Ryo's lap.
"Do you know what would be great, White Blaze?" Ryo asked his childhood friend to start a conversation. He listened to his tiger's purring, which sounded strangely somber to him, and said, "Well, you probly think now is great."
Ryo sighed. He still kept his armor orb with him and he hoped that one day he could no longer carry the armor orb. Yuli, long ago, stopped carrying the Jewel of Life with him because there was no need. The Ronin Warriors wished that in a few more months they could leave their armors behind to live a completely normal life without fear.
"White Blaze, what I want to do when I am older is: I wanna buy a trailer and travel. I need a lot of money, of course, but after I get the money, I will travel. And you can travel with me. And. I might have a wife when I am older. I dunno. Women scare me. Sage's horror stories about women are just. I don't wanna think about them."
Exhausted, Kayura collapsed on her chair. She massaged her head with her hands and tried to relax. Then, she straightened her long robes. The staff glowed brightly. Quite annoyed with her never-ending lessons, Kayura grabbed the staff and shook it gently to get the spirit's attention.
The Ancient One's spiritual voice called out, "Kayura, calm down."
Kayura stated sourly, "I spent all evening and all night - twelve hours - copying notes from your lessons. Then, I spent all morning - five hours - organizing those notes and studying the notes from previous lessons. I need some sleep!"
Because his tone was usually somber or melancholy, it was difficult to decide if his variations of those two emotions leaned towards sadness or happiness. "There is a person at the gates. If you clear your mind, you can sense his presence."
With a small agitated sigh, the last true descendent of the Clan straightened her posture and smoothed away her exhaustion and annoyance. Then, she stretched out her mind, touching everything in its pure form. First, her mind filled the room, then the castle where she sensed the release of physical and mental energy (Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet were practicing and thinking), and finally her mind went outside the gates.
Kayura gasped in shock at the stabbing pain that entered her mental vision outside the gates. A man's life energy abandoned him in hasty chunks, leaving him weak and helpless. Firmly holding the staff, she flung open her door and ran off to aid the visitor.
Hearing frantic footsteps, Sekhmet took himself out of his semi- meditative trance and stared curiously at Kayura as she ran into the training hall. His armor granting him a moment of empathy, Sekhmet sensed that she was terrified about the condition of a person. Considering the feeling of Kayura's fear, Sekhmet assumed the person was probably near death, before Kayura shouted out to them that she needed their help and incidentally proved Sekhmet's prediction correct. As he followed, he mused over why he understood everyone's emotions except his own. In truth, Sekhmet rarely felt any emotion and he wondered if such a thing was possible for him.
He then examined the minds of Dais and Kale. Unlike Kayura, their mindset was more dutiful than worried. What should he feel?
The gate opened, revealing a man covered in the shredded tatters of a cloak and rocking back and forth in a pool of blood. Dais and Sekhmet instantly ran towards the sides of the area with their weapons drawn to find and to attack any people who hid nearby to kill the victim. Setting aside worry and revulsion, Kayura cautiously examined the man's wounds. Puncture marks caused by sharp needles covered the man's entire body.
The man's pleading stare implored her to act quickly to help him. In that instant, Kayura felt a strange bond between herself and the man. She did not have time to ponder over that matter, however.
"Kale, help me carry him inside! Grab his legs; I'll get his arms," she called out. The former warlord of Corruption obeyed immediately. Together, they firmly yet gently lifted up the man and quickly carried him inside.
Dais and Sekhmet slowly backed away from the sides until they were certain that the man was safely in the castle. Then, they closed the gates and ran ahead of Kayura and Kale to prepare the proper medical supplies with which to treat the man's injuries.
"I heard about things that could inflict that type of damage, but I never saw the effects of the weapon until now," the Ancient One told Kayura, who relayed the information to the former warlords. "I know only snake demons have that weapon, but that was 500 years ago. I know nothing about them since then. I am certain that over the years, other people were able to get the weapon."
Kayura looked at the faces of the former warlords to see if they had any major reactions that she should inquire about. Finding none, she said, "The man is healing faster than both the Ancient One and I expected. He should regain consciousness this evening. After he wakes up, I will ask him who attacked him."
At first, after the defeat of Talpa, the former warlords tried to atone by doing what Anubis did and be monks. They felt uncomfortable and ill suited for the task and after a few months, they decided to wear their armors to practice for battle again instead of easing their minds. However, they never tried to gain a perfect grasp on their armor's trait until they learned that their grandfathers were Ronin Warriors.
In addition to practicing, Dais and Kale began discussing their childhood while Sekhmet intently listened so quietly to the side that he seemed nonexistent. Their conversations usually started with their grandparents and trailed off into various topics like poetry, girlfriends, politics, and the troubles of growing up. The more that Dais and Kale discussed their family and their childhood, the more Sekhmet remembered his own. Well, Sekhmet never forgot his past; he merely never thought about it, but as he listened to his comrades' conversations, painful memories floated to the top of his brain and he experienced new emotions that he couldn't name.
The injured man awoke in the evening, more or less, as he planned and as Kayura predicted. Kayura, following the Ancient's instructions in tending for the sick and hurt, asked him if he was feeling better and told them that he was safe - common sense questions that most people usually tossed aside for the sake of curiosity. When the former warlords arrived, the major questions began.
The man, however, asked the first question, "Where am I?"
"You're in the castle of the Ancient," Kayura answered. Talpa's castle was renamed the castle of the Ancient because the spirit of the Ancient One had been the guiding force in the nether world after Talpa's defeat.
"Good," the man said with a smile of relief. "I was afraid I got lost on the road. I wanted to come here."
Considering the man's wounds, Kayura and the former warlords believed he wanted to go to the castle for healing and protection. However, the man's tone made them slightly suspicious.
Finally, Kayura let go of her curiosity and asked him, "What is your name? Who hurt you?"
The man replied, "That should be obvious! Queen Naga of the snake demons personally tortured me." He cast his gaze downward at the floor and shuddered convulsively. In truth, he almost died from the torture. After a moment of silence, he said, "Oh, my name is Oleiriset."
"Why would she want to hurt you?" Kayura needed to understand as much of the problem as possible. Once she had all or most of the details, then she would be able to plan an attack against those who threatened the peace.
"I think you can guess why!" Oleiriset chuckled nervously, almost hysterically.
Arms crossed, Dais sternly ordered the man, "Explain why you say that."
"Because you have a person with snake blood in your ranks," he replied, pointing to Sekhmet. Then, he said to Sekhmet, "Naga has been disconsolate ever since her little pet ran away. She occasionally enjoys toying with people who have at least a small portion of snake blood in their veins, but are not full-blooded. I am half-snake demon."
Sekhmet winced slightly. His mouth twitched a little. His stance solidified angrily. His comrades stared at him so he said gruffly, "What the man says is true." Confirming what the man said about his own heritage was the most that he spoke about his past.
Kayura glanced from Sekhmet to Oleiriset. The mention of snake demons disturbed Sekhmet and anything that bothered the impassive former warlord of Venom worried Kayura. She did not know how Sekhmet would react if she pressed him for information. "Is there anything else that you can tell us?"
"No," both Oleiriset and Sekhmet replied at once - Oleiriset's voice smooth and calm, Sekhmet's voice rough and angry.
They contemplated the situation until Oleiriset asked them to leave so that he could rest. As they headed towards the door, their visitor added, "Sekhmet, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"
There was nothing objectionable in Oleiriset's request so Sekhmet complied. They essentially had the same atypical features - large eyes with colored, almost invisible lids and hair of an unnatural hue that refused to grow properly. Sekhmet, however, was taller and bigger in build than Oleiriset was.
Oleiriset promptly spoke without restraint, "Sekhmet, you should kill Naga."
"No."
Oleiriset sighed, "Why do you refuse? Naga tortured you multiple times each month! She might desire to abuse you again and come back for you!"
Sekhmet clenched his fists vehemently. He had no idea how to explain his conclusions. Having rarely thought much about anything, all of his wisest ideas seemed to come from pure instinct. "I don't believe you," he replied although he did not know why.
Oleiriset ignored that comment and continued, "Well, if you do not wish to avenge your own honor, what about Nazaka, your grandfather? I was there, Sekhmet, when they murdered Nazaka. They cut open his body and mutilated him. They rejoiced at his death. Huge festivals were held because he was brutally slain! And the village never mourned for him who defended them over several decades from the snake demons! Why do you refuse to kill his killers?"
"Because I refuse!" Sekhmet shouted. An ancient piece of wisdom that Yamanouchi Nazaka tried to teach him was imbedded in his mind. Unfortunately, he could neither identify the wisdom nor explain it.
When Dais and Kale looked through Kayura's open door, they saw her talking with Sekhmet. The former warlord of Venom appeared impassive as usual, but a certain sternness in his features hinted that something troubled him that he wished to keep secret. Kayura noticed Dais's and Kale's hasty arrival and said to them; "I assume you also wanted to ask the Ancient about your grandfathers."
They nodded.
"The Ancient One told me about them a few days after Talpa was defeated. He wondered if you knew or not. If you forgot, he did not want you to know until after you were living peaceful lives or were already following the ways of your ancestors. Your grandfathers had the seasonal Ronin Warrior armors, which the Ancient One gave to them. Your grandfathers were Ronin Warriors." Then, she told them everything she knew.
Oleiriset glanced over the various weapons of torture. His hands shook nervously at the sight of some, his throat clenched at the sight of others, and his muscles tensed at the sight of the rest.
"Which would you prefer?" Naga asked calmly as she walked to the table side across from him. She rested her hands on the side of the table opposite Oleiriset and leaned against it.
The advisor trembled slightly. "In reality, I prefer the less painful ones. However, in reality, weapons of torture must be painful." He sighed defeatedly and tried to steel up his fear. He knew which tactics would work best. "There is a machine that was used for centuries against our most dangerous enemies. You refused to use it against Sekhmet because the machine would have killed him at his age when he was captured. I wish for that one to be used."
"Are you sure?" Naga stared at him with wide eyes, alarmed.
Closing his eyes, Oleiriset nodded hastily and tried to focus on his mission. "We of the snake blood heal quickly and we must also act quickly. The Ronin Warriors on the mortal world are going to be destroyed sooner than I expected."
Naga grabbed a few of the items on the table and walked over to the machine in the corner to begin preparing it for the torture. While she did so, she said, "I do not understand your obsession with killing the elemental Ronin Warriors."
"I do not understand your obsession with Sekhmet. I know you had fun with him for the first few years, but then you got tired of him so you kept him in his cage all day. At the meeting two days ago, you acted so adamant to retrieve him and I thought you finished mourning for your father."
After a brief sigh, Naga spoke honestly and contritely, "Our people are complacent, Oleiriset. When we had Sekhmet, our blood felt safe and secure, but now the younger generations question why the older generations need him. In order for the younger generations to understand the older generations, the younger generations must experience the pain and loss that the older generations experienced."
"Elaborate," the advisor said, temporarily forgetting the planned torture. After Naga did so, he commented, "You wish for the illness of our blood to continue."
"It is no longer an illness!" Naga shouted, "It is now our culture!"
Shocked, Oleiriset stared at her. For years, he wondered if she knew about the illness, but he certainly never believed she would find and admit the truth about the illness. In that sense, Naga knew more about the snake demons than her advisor knew.
Breathing deeply to calm herself, the queen then inquired of her advisor, "Now, tell me why you are obsessed with destroying the elemental Ronins."
Mia was late so Ryo decided to make a sandwich while he waited and he made one for White Blaze, who looked hungry. Then, they sat by the curb of the dirt road and ate contently. Nothing threatened mortal world for almost a year. Wanting to celebrate, the Ronin Warriors and their friends planned to get together for a few days.
After finishing his snack, Ryo relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing across his face. Acting like a typical cat, White Blaze rested his head on Ryo's lap.
"Do you know what would be great, White Blaze?" Ryo asked his childhood friend to start a conversation. He listened to his tiger's purring, which sounded strangely somber to him, and said, "Well, you probly think now is great."
Ryo sighed. He still kept his armor orb with him and he hoped that one day he could no longer carry the armor orb. Yuli, long ago, stopped carrying the Jewel of Life with him because there was no need. The Ronin Warriors wished that in a few more months they could leave their armors behind to live a completely normal life without fear.
"White Blaze, what I want to do when I am older is: I wanna buy a trailer and travel. I need a lot of money, of course, but after I get the money, I will travel. And you can travel with me. And. I might have a wife when I am older. I dunno. Women scare me. Sage's horror stories about women are just. I don't wanna think about them."
Exhausted, Kayura collapsed on her chair. She massaged her head with her hands and tried to relax. Then, she straightened her long robes. The staff glowed brightly. Quite annoyed with her never-ending lessons, Kayura grabbed the staff and shook it gently to get the spirit's attention.
The Ancient One's spiritual voice called out, "Kayura, calm down."
Kayura stated sourly, "I spent all evening and all night - twelve hours - copying notes from your lessons. Then, I spent all morning - five hours - organizing those notes and studying the notes from previous lessons. I need some sleep!"
Because his tone was usually somber or melancholy, it was difficult to decide if his variations of those two emotions leaned towards sadness or happiness. "There is a person at the gates. If you clear your mind, you can sense his presence."
With a small agitated sigh, the last true descendent of the Clan straightened her posture and smoothed away her exhaustion and annoyance. Then, she stretched out her mind, touching everything in its pure form. First, her mind filled the room, then the castle where she sensed the release of physical and mental energy (Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet were practicing and thinking), and finally her mind went outside the gates.
Kayura gasped in shock at the stabbing pain that entered her mental vision outside the gates. A man's life energy abandoned him in hasty chunks, leaving him weak and helpless. Firmly holding the staff, she flung open her door and ran off to aid the visitor.
Hearing frantic footsteps, Sekhmet took himself out of his semi- meditative trance and stared curiously at Kayura as she ran into the training hall. His armor granting him a moment of empathy, Sekhmet sensed that she was terrified about the condition of a person. Considering the feeling of Kayura's fear, Sekhmet assumed the person was probably near death, before Kayura shouted out to them that she needed their help and incidentally proved Sekhmet's prediction correct. As he followed, he mused over why he understood everyone's emotions except his own. In truth, Sekhmet rarely felt any emotion and he wondered if such a thing was possible for him.
He then examined the minds of Dais and Kale. Unlike Kayura, their mindset was more dutiful than worried. What should he feel?
The gate opened, revealing a man covered in the shredded tatters of a cloak and rocking back and forth in a pool of blood. Dais and Sekhmet instantly ran towards the sides of the area with their weapons drawn to find and to attack any people who hid nearby to kill the victim. Setting aside worry and revulsion, Kayura cautiously examined the man's wounds. Puncture marks caused by sharp needles covered the man's entire body.
The man's pleading stare implored her to act quickly to help him. In that instant, Kayura felt a strange bond between herself and the man. She did not have time to ponder over that matter, however.
"Kale, help me carry him inside! Grab his legs; I'll get his arms," she called out. The former warlord of Corruption obeyed immediately. Together, they firmly yet gently lifted up the man and quickly carried him inside.
Dais and Sekhmet slowly backed away from the sides until they were certain that the man was safely in the castle. Then, they closed the gates and ran ahead of Kayura and Kale to prepare the proper medical supplies with which to treat the man's injuries.
"I heard about things that could inflict that type of damage, but I never saw the effects of the weapon until now," the Ancient One told Kayura, who relayed the information to the former warlords. "I know only snake demons have that weapon, but that was 500 years ago. I know nothing about them since then. I am certain that over the years, other people were able to get the weapon."
Kayura looked at the faces of the former warlords to see if they had any major reactions that she should inquire about. Finding none, she said, "The man is healing faster than both the Ancient One and I expected. He should regain consciousness this evening. After he wakes up, I will ask him who attacked him."
At first, after the defeat of Talpa, the former warlords tried to atone by doing what Anubis did and be monks. They felt uncomfortable and ill suited for the task and after a few months, they decided to wear their armors to practice for battle again instead of easing their minds. However, they never tried to gain a perfect grasp on their armor's trait until they learned that their grandfathers were Ronin Warriors.
In addition to practicing, Dais and Kale began discussing their childhood while Sekhmet intently listened so quietly to the side that he seemed nonexistent. Their conversations usually started with their grandparents and trailed off into various topics like poetry, girlfriends, politics, and the troubles of growing up. The more that Dais and Kale discussed their family and their childhood, the more Sekhmet remembered his own. Well, Sekhmet never forgot his past; he merely never thought about it, but as he listened to his comrades' conversations, painful memories floated to the top of his brain and he experienced new emotions that he couldn't name.
The injured man awoke in the evening, more or less, as he planned and as Kayura predicted. Kayura, following the Ancient's instructions in tending for the sick and hurt, asked him if he was feeling better and told them that he was safe - common sense questions that most people usually tossed aside for the sake of curiosity. When the former warlords arrived, the major questions began.
The man, however, asked the first question, "Where am I?"
"You're in the castle of the Ancient," Kayura answered. Talpa's castle was renamed the castle of the Ancient because the spirit of the Ancient One had been the guiding force in the nether world after Talpa's defeat.
"Good," the man said with a smile of relief. "I was afraid I got lost on the road. I wanted to come here."
Considering the man's wounds, Kayura and the former warlords believed he wanted to go to the castle for healing and protection. However, the man's tone made them slightly suspicious.
Finally, Kayura let go of her curiosity and asked him, "What is your name? Who hurt you?"
The man replied, "That should be obvious! Queen Naga of the snake demons personally tortured me." He cast his gaze downward at the floor and shuddered convulsively. In truth, he almost died from the torture. After a moment of silence, he said, "Oh, my name is Oleiriset."
"Why would she want to hurt you?" Kayura needed to understand as much of the problem as possible. Once she had all or most of the details, then she would be able to plan an attack against those who threatened the peace.
"I think you can guess why!" Oleiriset chuckled nervously, almost hysterically.
Arms crossed, Dais sternly ordered the man, "Explain why you say that."
"Because you have a person with snake blood in your ranks," he replied, pointing to Sekhmet. Then, he said to Sekhmet, "Naga has been disconsolate ever since her little pet ran away. She occasionally enjoys toying with people who have at least a small portion of snake blood in their veins, but are not full-blooded. I am half-snake demon."
Sekhmet winced slightly. His mouth twitched a little. His stance solidified angrily. His comrades stared at him so he said gruffly, "What the man says is true." Confirming what the man said about his own heritage was the most that he spoke about his past.
Kayura glanced from Sekhmet to Oleiriset. The mention of snake demons disturbed Sekhmet and anything that bothered the impassive former warlord of Venom worried Kayura. She did not know how Sekhmet would react if she pressed him for information. "Is there anything else that you can tell us?"
"No," both Oleiriset and Sekhmet replied at once - Oleiriset's voice smooth and calm, Sekhmet's voice rough and angry.
They contemplated the situation until Oleiriset asked them to leave so that he could rest. As they headed towards the door, their visitor added, "Sekhmet, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"
There was nothing objectionable in Oleiriset's request so Sekhmet complied. They essentially had the same atypical features - large eyes with colored, almost invisible lids and hair of an unnatural hue that refused to grow properly. Sekhmet, however, was taller and bigger in build than Oleiriset was.
Oleiriset promptly spoke without restraint, "Sekhmet, you should kill Naga."
"No."
Oleiriset sighed, "Why do you refuse? Naga tortured you multiple times each month! She might desire to abuse you again and come back for you!"
Sekhmet clenched his fists vehemently. He had no idea how to explain his conclusions. Having rarely thought much about anything, all of his wisest ideas seemed to come from pure instinct. "I don't believe you," he replied although he did not know why.
Oleiriset ignored that comment and continued, "Well, if you do not wish to avenge your own honor, what about Nazaka, your grandfather? I was there, Sekhmet, when they murdered Nazaka. They cut open his body and mutilated him. They rejoiced at his death. Huge festivals were held because he was brutally slain! And the village never mourned for him who defended them over several decades from the snake demons! Why do you refuse to kill his killers?"
"Because I refuse!" Sekhmet shouted. An ancient piece of wisdom that Yamanouchi Nazaka tried to teach him was imbedded in his mind. Unfortunately, he could neither identify the wisdom nor explain it.