Chapter Eight: True Confessions
Cye locked his apartment door behind him, not even bothering to turn on the overhead lights. He flopped onto the sofa and turned on a small table light, deciding that in his current mood he much preferred the shadows.
It had been a long, difficult day --- hell, it had been a long, difficult several days, and he was tired of it all, he mused darkly. Tired of being in danger, of living his life under the shadow of the armors. Tired of the fruitless search for Ryo, who for all he knew might not even still be alive. Tired of the constant arguing between the other Ronins, tired of being the peacemaker. He had had it up to here with Sage's icy stubbornness, Kento's lack of seriousness, and Rowen's well-intentioned blunders. And while there had been no new demon sightings in the last couple of days, the fact that the thing was even out there in the first place added even more fuel to his anger. If I ever find out who released this thing into the wild, that person had better know a good funeral director, he thought savagely. So much for being the pacifist. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that this irrational bad temper wasn't like him at all, but he couldn't seem to shake it…and if the truth were known he wasn't sure he really wanted to.
He stewed for a moment more before he realized that his answering machine light was blinking, and he reached over to check his messages with an annoyed sigh. The first message was from a telemarketer, and he promptly skipped over it. The second was from the formalwear shop, reminding him that he needed to make an appointment to have his tuxedo fitted for the Date-Navarro wedding. If there's even still going to be a wedding, he thought cynically, but he made a note anyway.
The third message was from Rowen. "Cye, it's Rowen. I've found out some more information on our friend, something you need to hear. I've already talked to Sage, but it didn't go too well…apparently he got a visit from our friend over the weekend. There's something else wrong too, something he's not telling me about, but he's kind of upset right now and I don't think it would be a good idea to push him. Anyway, call me as soon as you get this; I'll be in my office until about five-thirty and home after that. Thanks, buddy. Talk to you later." Yeah, right, Cye thought rebelliously. Solve your own damn problems, genius. He skipped to the fourth and final message.
"Hi, darling, it's me," Emiko's voice cooed. "I know you've been really busy lately, but I was hoping we could get together for dinner soon, maybe this weekend? We really need to spend some time together and talk about where our relationship is going. It seems like you're avoiding me, and I don't know why," she said plaintively. "You know, a friend of mine told me that she and her husband went to couples' therapy, and it worked for them. Maybe we should consider the same thing. Of course, you know I'm not trying to pressure you, honey, but, you know…our relationship is important to me, and I'm sure it is to you, too. At least I hope it is. Oh, by the way, you need to let me know when your friend's rehearsal dinner is so I can make sure I can be there with you, and I need to know what you think I should wear to the wedding. So call me back soon, sweetie, I love you," she chirped.
Cye groaned and stopped the tape. Oh, God, Emmy, not now. He had enough problems; he didn't need to deal with hers as well. He had heard the faint hint of a whine in her voice, and it was usually his cue to run to her side, or at the very least call her and spend at least an hour reassuring her that he still loved her. But for some reason, he couldn't seem to make himself reach for the phone.
Couples' therapy, Cye thought with a roll of his eyes. That was for married people…and despite the rather unsubtle hints she had been dropping lately, Cye had no intention of marrying Emiko, at least not yet. Nor was he going to attend some therapy session just to placate her; if something was wrong with their relationship, they would have to fix it themselves. No way was he going to make a fool of himself in front of strangers to save their romance…especially when he wasn't even sure it was worth saving anymore.
Cye's cynical musings screeched to an abrupt halt. Had he just thought…? Yes, he had indeed, and equally surprising was the fact that he felt no remorse over it, either. His earlier anger was forgotten; it wasn't important now. Suddenly the truth was right in front of him, cold and unavoidable.
I don't love her anymore.
Cye leaned back against the sofa and sighed. So there it was. He didn't love Emiko anymore, and the knowledge brought with it only relief and a sort of gentle regret.
When had he stopped loving her? They had met by accident, literally bumping into each other in the middle of a crowded department store. He had helped her gather her scattered packages and she had thanked him, but she seemed so shaken by the incident that he had offered to buy her a cup of coffee as an apology. She had shyly accepted, and by the time they parted ways nearly two hours later Cye knew Emiko Satoya's entire story.
She was an office worker in a large downtown accounting firm. Her parents were elderly, and lived so far away that she was rarely able to visit them. She had been dating someone, and in fact they had discussed marriage, but that had come to an end when she discovered her former boyfriend was cheating on her. She had actually caught him in his apartment with another woman, Emiko explained sadly. Touched by the downcast look in her eyes and outraged that anyone could treat this delicate little waif so cruelly, Cye found himself asking her out. She had accepted, and so the romance had begun.
It had been all right at first, Cye thought. She was like a fragile doll that had been broken and inexpertly mended, and he looked forward to seeing her blossom again. He didn't mind that her feelings bruised rather easily; not everyone could be as strong and independent as Mia or Sage's then-girlfriend Carey, and besides, he liked having someone to care for and protect, someone who needed him. Let Ryo have his brainy, self-sufficient scholar Mia; let Sage have his fiery Hispanic ballerina who could make the walls shake when she yelled. Cye was content with his sweet, gentle Emmy.
But as the months passed, he began to wonder if he might have made a mistake. What he had taken for delicacy was in fact an astounding helplessness, and he sometimes thought that if her emotional bruises were visible on her skin he'd be arrested for assaulting her. She no longer simply needed him, she clung to him like a limpet…or a net. He quickly learned to tiptoe around her moods, because the slightest hint of criticism could send her into either floods of tears or a sulk that would last for days.
Of course, Cye thought wryly, she didn't always cling…particularly not when he wanted to hold on to her. She could complain for hours about how terrible her supervisor was, or how no one in her office seemed to like her, or the way they would heap work on her and then complain if it wasn't done exactly right; but the minute he tried to tell her about his work her eyes would glaze over and she would either fidget in silence or find something else to talk about. He enjoyed cuddling after they made love but Emmy always pulled away, something that made their nights together seem cheap and sordid to Cye. And whenever he was tired or unhappy or just in need of a shoulder to lean on, the rare occasions she actually tried to help always ended in her bungling it so badly the resulting mess had caused him to forget his own problems and focus on reassuring her. But when Cye began to feel restless, overwhelmed by Emiko's selfishness and immaturity, she would suddenly turn sweet and adoring, cooing about how glad she was to have found someone as wonderful as him…he was so different from the other men she had dated, men who had gotten what they wanted from her and then dumped her without a backward glance. He was such a good man and she knew he would never hurt her, she would say trustingly, and Cye's resolve would disintegrate like a sand castle in a typhoon. How could he even think of leaving someone who loved him so much, who had been betrayed so many times before? Wasn't he better than that? And so, caught between her manipulations and his own guilt, Cye would try even harder to make the relationship with Emiko work…after all, he told himself, he loved her.
Until now. Cye sighed deeply and stared into space. It was time to stop deceiving himself. He no longer loved Emiko, and if he were to be completely honest he wasn't sure he ever really had. He had cared for Emmy, yes; he had wanted to protect and shelter her, but that had been sympathy, not love. Besides, he was tired of always being the sheltering one --- he wanted someone who would shelter him once in a while. He wanted something like Sage and Carey had, where the strengths of one bolstered the weaknesses of the other and vice versa, each giving and taking equally, fitting heart, mind, and soul together in a partnership so perfect it made you believe in the existence of soulmates. He did not and would never have that with Emiko, Cye realized. He was the strong one, she was the weak one. He gave and she took. He did not have a partner; he had a child, and it simply wasn't enough anymore.
But how to tell her? That, Cye knew, was the thorny part. No matter how gently he tried to break it off with Emmy, it would not be painless or easy. It would take all of his mediating skills, and he really couldn't spare them right now, he thought ruefully. He shook his head and stood up. What he needed now was to immerse himself in something mundane…and his thesis would do nicely. A discussion of the impact of industry on the freshwater ecosystem of Japan should take his mind off the tangled mess the rest of his life had become.
He worked for an hour before writer's block set in. His screensaver came on, but he didn't mind. His mind was a blank, his eyelids were heavy with fatigue, and he could not think of a coherent sentence to save his life. So he just sat there, his chin propped on his hand, watching the animated fish and waiting for inspiration to strike. He didn't even notice when his eyes closed.
He was swimming through a blue, blue ocean. Fish of all shapes and sizes swam by him, as gaily colored as a carnival. A killer whale greeted him, nuzzling his hand like a dog that wanted to be petted. Sunlight filtered down through the water, casting dappled cerulean shadows, and the whole thing looked like a cathedral.
Emiko swam by; at least, she was Emiko from the waist up. The lower half of her body was a huge fishtail. Her dark hair floated around her face, longer than he had ever seen it, and she was weaving the strands into a delicate net. She waved the net at him in greeting, then turned away and headed for the surface. Cye frowned. Didn't she know mermaids were helpless on land? But she was not his concern now, and he dove deeper. Something was calling him.
It was dark in the lower reaches of the water. The fish vanished but he barely noticed, intent on following that strange call. It wasn't until the waters turned inky black around him that he realized he was alone.
Well…not quite. A tentacle slashed at him out of nowhere, and he barely managed to evade it. It was followed by a second, then a third. He avoided both of them, but he didn't see the next strike and the thick limb wrapped itself about his waist with a force that took his breath away. As he struggled to break the thing's grasp, the rest of it appeared.
A huge, scaly, leprous head, razor-sharp fangs dripping with ichor, eyes that glowed a lurid blood-red as it caught sight of its prey. In the back of his mind Cye knew he had seen it somewhere before, but that was not important now. He could sense its mindless hunger and it revolted him; this creature existed only to devour and destroy. The tentacle tightened around his waist as the thing's excitement grew. It wanted to feed, and it wanted to feed now…but Cye had other plans.
His trident appeared in his hands as if by magic and he severed the creature's tentacle, darting quickly out of its reach. Freed, he brandished the trident and prepared to call his armor to him. But instead of attacking, the beast opened its fanged mouth. A shrill scream emerged. Cye floated there, wondering what to do next, and the monster screamed and screamed and screamed….
Cye awoke with a start. His head was resting on his arm, the computer was still showing those ridiculous animated fish, and the monster's shrill cry continued to echo in his ears; it took a moment before he realized it was the sound of the telephone ringing. He reached awkwardly for it, still trying to blink the fog from his mind. "Hello?" he mumbled.
"Cye? Cye, is that you?" It was a woman's voice, and it was very familiar. Still, it was another second or two before he was able to attach a name to it.
"Sayoko?"
"Oh, Cye, thank God. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to reach you."
Even through his fatigue and the disorientation of being suddenly awakened, Cye heard the agitation in his sister's voice. A feeling of foreboding swept over him. "Sayoko, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Cye, something has happened. It's Mother. She wasn't feeling well today, so she went to take a nap in the afternoon. She didn't come down for lunch and I decided not to wake her, but then she didn't come down for dinner, either. I went to check on her, and…and I found her.
"Cye…you need to come home."
"The doctors said it was her heart," Cye explained three days later. Kimiko Mouri's funeral was over, and the Ronins were gathered in the study of Cye's childhood home in Hagi. "They said it just…gave out, that she was just too tired to go on," Cye continued softly, hesitantly, as if he were trying to translate the words from a language he didn't know. "Apparently she was a lot sicker than any of us knew…it was only a matter of time."
"How are you holding up?" Rowen asked.
"Well enough, I suppose. It hasn't really sunk in yet. It's kind of funny, actually…I've known for a long time that this day would come; I thought I was ready for it. But I'm finding out now that I'm not nearly as ready as I thought I was." Cye paused, and his eyes filled with tears. "The worst part is, I never had a chance to come home and see her one more time. I was always so busy…I never had the chance to tell her how much I loved her," he finished, his voice catching.
Sage reached over and laid his hand over Cye's. "She knew, Cye," he said gently. "She always knew."
"I know that, but…" Cye looked up, and his turquoise gaze locked with Sage's violet one. "Knowing that someone loves you isn't the same as hearing them say it," he said quietly. Sage lowered his eyes.
"Speaking of 'love', where's yours, Sage?" Kento asked. "Don't tell me she's so mad at us she won't even come to Cye's mom's funeral."
"Carey couldn't make it," Sage explained. "One of the other lead dancers got hurt and Carey's covering her roles until they can find someone else to fill in." He sighed. "Maybe it's just as well --- we need some time apart right now. We got in a huge fight the other day, and I said some things I shouldn't have said. Now it's like there's a huge wall between us, and I can't seem to break through it. I know I was wrong…but I don't know how to make things right between us again."
Silence fell over the little group for a moment. "Guys…this brings up a problem," Rowen finally spoke up quietly. "We still have the Devourer after us, and this may be just the opportunity it's been looking for. With his mom gone, Cye is the most vulnerable of us now. We have to find a way to protect him."
"I know this probably isn't the best time to bring this up, but --- how do we know that this demon didn't kill Cye's mom?" Kento asked. "I mean, it's gone after all four of us and failed. What if it's decided to raise the stakes?"
Sage and Rowen both started to protest, but Cye gently stopped them. "It's all right. I have to admit, I thought about that when I first got Sayoko's call. But I really don't think the Devourer is behind this."
"How can you be sure?" Sage asked.
Cye shrugged. "Mum has been sick for a long time, ever since I can remember, really. I spoke with her doctor when I got home. He said her heart was so weak, it's a wonder she lasted as long as she did. She was in constant pain, and when she wasn't she was too tired to really do much of anything. These past few months she hasn't even been able to do any of her pottery work, which I know frustrated her. It's no way to live, and I'm sure it was hard on her. I think she finally just decided that it was her time to go." He smiled faintly. "Besides, if the Devourer is trying to weaken my defenses this way, it's failed miserably. It hurts to lose Mum, especially since I wasn't there to say goodbye. But I can't help but feel a certain relief, too. She was suffering for so long, but she put on a brave face for me and Sayoko. Now she doesn't have to do that any longer. Her pain is over and she can rest. She's at peace now, and as much as I'll miss her…I'm glad she's not hurting anymore," he said softly.
Rowen laid a hand on Cye's shoulder to comfort him. "Cye's right. Besides, the Devourer wants us as confused and fragmented as possible, and hurting our loved ones is only going to do the opposite. No, whatever moves it makes, it's going to direct them at us. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it even can kill."
Sage raised an eyebrow. "Rowen, I've seen this monster up close and personal. Those teeth and claws aren't just for decoration."
"Yeah, and what about its other attempts?" Kento added. "It knocked you down the stairs, it tried to flambé me, and Cye almost drowned after he met up with it."
"Exactly --- almost," Rowen replied. "Have any of you noticed that whenever it caused any of us serious physical harm, it made sure the others were or would soon be nearby? When it attacked me it left my front door open so that when Sage and Carey arrived, they knew something was wrong and went to look for me. Besides, if it wanted me dead so badly, all it had to do was bash my head in with the wrench after I was unconscious. Kento, when it lured you into the shed, it asked you where the rest of us were. It didn't start that fire until it knew that we were close by and could get you out in time. And when it got Cye, it knew that Sage would follow him downstairs shortly."
"And now that I think about it, that thing was incredibly strong…it was able to pick me up with one hand," Cye mused. "It could have snapped my neck like a twig, but it didn't."
"Right. It banged you up to get your attention, but it knew better than to kill you."
"Okay, but what about Sage?" Kento asked. "The Devourer didn't lay a finger on him."
"Yeah, well, it had other tricks up its sleeve," Sage replied dryly. "The Devourer has a lot of psychic strength as well, and it almost burned me out. God only knows what would have happened if I hadn't been able to shield against it --- or if it had tried harder," he added with a frown.
"So why didn't it?" Rowen pointed out. "Were you alone in the dojo when it showed up?" At Sage's nod, Rowen continued, "That's why. It knew there was no one nearby to help you, and it didn't want to risk hurting you."
"If I didn't know better I'd think the Devourer was actually concerned about our welfare," Cye said with a small, humorless laugh.
"In a way, it is," Rowen said. "It draws its power from living souls, remember. We're no use to it dead; it needs us alive in order to draw power from us. The purpose of these attacks isn't to kill us, guys. The Devourer is trying to demoralize us, to bring down our guards so that we'll be too confused and edgy to fight it. I mean, look at what's happening to us. We're worried about Ryo. We're scared for ourselves and our loved ones. We're constantly looking over our shoulders wondering what this thing's going to do next. It's gotten to the point where we're suspicious of everything…including each other. And instead of working together, we're falling apart, which is just what the Devourer wants. We have to get our act together because if we don't, Ryo doesn't have a chance and neither do we."
Again there was a pause, then Kento spoke up. "You know, something doesn't add up here. This demon feeds on strong, powerful souls, but if I'm understanding you right they have to be in some sort of serious emotional pain to begin with or it won't even look twice at them. So what made it decide to latch on to us? I mean, before the Devourer came along we had everything going for us. There was nothing that it could have wanted. Our problems didn't start until after this thing began attacking us, right?" He was surprised when, instead of agreeing, the other Ronins just stared silently at the floor. "Uh, guys, feel free to back me up at any time here," Kento suggested.
Finally Cye spoke. "Actually, that's not entirely true," the gentle redhead said quietly. "My girlfriend and I are having problems and we have been for a while. This sounds horrible, but I don't love her anymore and to be honest I'm not sure I ever did." A tiny, rueful smile curved his lips. "When I first met Emmy, I thought she was so sweet, so innocent and naïve. Turns out I was the naïve one. I thought that I was the one who could heal all her past hurts and make everything better again; all I had to do was prove to her that I loved her. I could never quite manage it, though, no matter how hard I tried, but instead of wondering what was wrong with her I just decided it was my fault and tried harder."
"Which really isn't like you," Sage pointed out. "You may be trusting, Cye, but you're not stupid."
"Except when it comes to romance," Cye replied wryly. "I've had some time to think over the past few days, and I've realized that the reason I clung to Emmy for so long was really more about my ego than hers. She kept telling me that I was better than the other men she had dated, the ones who had used her and then discarded her, and I let myself believe it. I thought that backing out on her would make me just as bad as them, and Emmy certainly wasn't about to disabuse me of that notion. Why should she, when it gave her so much power over me? And I wasn't going to admit to myself that she was actually using me, because it would mean admitting that I had been wrong about her and that everything we had had together was a lie. I didn't want to face the truth about either of us…so I just wore my blinders and told myself that everything would work out all right. Even when I knew otherwise," he finished regretfully.
There was silence for a few seconds, then Rowen spoke up. "You're not the only one with problems," he said with a sigh. "Sometimes I look at my life and I think, is this what I fought so hard for? To teach kindergarten-level physics to kids who couldn't care less under a department chairman who hates me, and I still come home to an empty house at the end of the day. I can't help but wonder if I would have fought so hard to survive if I'd known I was just going to wind up alone again."
"Rowen, you're not alone," Cye reminded him. "You still have us."
"Yeah, but for how much longer?" Rowen replied. "I never told any of you this, but…the time when we wore the armors and protected this world was on some level one of the best periods in my life. I had spent so many years alone, and then, all of a sudden, one day I had people who really cared about me, people who saw me as a person and who actually gave a damn if I lived or died. For the first time in my life, I had a family. But now I feel like all that's about to end."
He bit his lip briefly, then continued, "I guess Sage's engagement really brought it home to me. Soon his life is going to take a different path than ours; he'll have Carey at his side instead of us, and that's how it should be. And I know that eventually all of us are going to head out on our own roads. But there's some part of me that just doesn't want that to happen yet, or maybe not at all." Rowen smiled ruefully. "It's selfish and childish and stupid, but I feel like I'm being abandoned…my best friend has somebody who matters to him more than I do now. My family's starting to drift apart, and I'm being left behind. Does any of this make any sense?" he wondered. "I guess what I mean is, I'm afraid our lives are going to take such separate paths that we'll never be able to get them back together again. I know we can never go back…but I'm not sure I want to go forward, either."
The others considered Rowen's words, then Sage sighed. "My turn, I guess," he said quietly. "Rowen said that my marriage is going to take me onto a different path, and I know that's true. But suddenly I'm not sure that it's a path I'm ready to take. And to make matters worse, lately I feel like I'm not so much stepping onto this path as being shoved onto it."
"What do you mean?" Rowen asked. "You love Carey, don't you?"
"Of course I do --- that's just it." A sad little smile curved Sage's lips. "I love her with all my heart and I want to share my life with her, but…you know, when Carey and I first announced our engagement, I thought I had plenty of time to get used to the idea. After all, we weren't actually getting married until spring. But now it is spring, and we're just weeks away from this wedding, and suddenly I've realized that I don't have any more time, I have to face this now. In four weeks I'm going to have to stand in front of that priest and promise to share the rest of my life with another person. Soon I'll be a husband, a married man; eventually I'll be a father and one day I'll even be a grandfather. And as if that weren't enough, my marriage means I'll be officially settling into my role as the future head of the Date clan, which means I'll be expected to provide the next heir and ensure the survival of my family. I'll have more responsibilities than I've ever had before; my life will never be solely mine again. And even though I've been groomed for this from birth, now that it's actually staring me in the face I just can't deal with it." He smiled wryly. "The irony of it is, when I proposed to Carey, I said I wanted forever…and now, ready or not, I'm going to get it. I guess this falls under 'Be careful what you wish for'."
Again silence, then three pairs of eyes turned expectantly to Kento. "What?" he demanded.
"We've all spilled our deep, dark, miserable secrets," Cye told him. "It's your turn."
"Oh, no, you don't. Just because you guys decided to get in touch with your inner whiners doesn't mean I have to," Kento said defensively. "Maybe you should just consider Prozac. My life is fine."
"Of course it is. That's why this demon locked you in a shed and tried to flame-broil you," Rowen replied acerbically. "Knock it off, Kento, you're not fooling anyone. The sooner you get this off your chest the better." When Kento remained mutinously silent, Rowen went on, "Okay, would you like me to start? You're twenty-four years old and still living with your parents. You have a college degree, but instead of using it you're doing the same thing you've been doing since high school --- working in your family's restaurant. You want to make a change but you can't muster up the nerve to do it, so instead you just sit there and stagnate. How am I doing so far?" he demanded.
Kento's glare could have split stone. "Rowen, sometimes I really hate you."
"Bull's-eye," Rowen told the other Ronins.
"Oh, quit gloating, you blue-haired freak. Yes, damn it, my life royally bites," Kento complained. He folded his arms across his chest and glowered sulkily. "Rowen, you and Cye are going for your Master's degrees. In a few more years you'll probably have your Ph.D's and we'll have to call you 'Doctor' or something. Sage is a kendo master and art expert who's marrying a ballerina and mingling with the rich and famous. Even Ryo --- do you know how many people I talked to at that zoo who just raved about how good he was with those animals? You guys have all found a place for yourselves, you've made your mark in the world. But what have I done? If this Devourer had taken me instead of Ryo, who would miss me? Who would care if I just dropped off the face of the earth tomorrow?"
"We would care, Kento, and so would your family," Cye said.
"Yeah, but who besides you? Next to the four of you I'm a nothing, a failure, and it's always been that way, even when we wore the armors. Ryo was our noble, fearless leader, Sage was the mystic and healer, Rowen was the brains and Cye was the mediator. But I was always the slow one, the guy with the big muscles and the big mouth and not much else. Sometimes I wonder why I was even chosen to be a Ronin Warrior. I don't have any real gifts, any high I.Q. or supernatural abilities or anything. I'm not like the rest of you --- I'm not special," Kento finished miserably.
"And that's a bad thing?" Sage queried. "Kento, you were the one who kept the rest of us from getting caught up in our own 'specialness'. You kept us grounded, buddy, and God knows we needed it. Besides, you have a degree in Criminal Justice; you're a natural for police work. Why don't you go ahead and apply?"
"Sage, I barely squeaked through college," Kento replied. "There were a couple of times when it looked like I might not graduate, and if it hadn't been for my tutors I probably wouldn't have. I got that degree by the skin of my teeth. What happens if I go to take the police academy exam and flunk? I'll still be stuck at the restaurant, except now I'll be even more of a failure. Maybe I'm just chicken...but I've found that when you keep your expectations low you don't get disappointed as much," he added cynically.
The four Ronins mulled this over for a while. Finally Cye said, "You know what's happening here, don't you? We each have our own individual problems, but beneath it all we're all saying the same thing --- we're facing a turning point in our lives, and it's scaring the hell out of us."
The others turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" Rowen asked.
"Well, think about what we've been saying. I'm stuck in a relationship with a woman I don't love, but I'd rather lie to myself than do something about it. You worry that your only real family is drifting apart and that you'll always be alone. Sage is scared of the responsibilities that his marriage will bring, and Kento knows his life is going nowhere, but he's afraid he'll fail if he tries to change it. It all comes down to the same thing…we're scared of growing up," Cye said quietly.
"We are, aren't we?" Sage murmured thoughtfully. "I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense."
"But why?" Kento wanted to know. "I mean, isn't this what we fought so hard for when we wore the armors? So we'd have the chance to grow up? Why's it so scary now?"
"Because it's actually happening," Cye replied. "When we wore the Ronin Armors and battled Talpa and all the others, yes, we wanted to grow up and have normal lives. But I think on some level none of us really expected we'd survive long enough to do it. Deep in our hearts I don't think we believed we'd live long enough to have to worry about getting married or splitting up the team or dealing with bad relationships or figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives. But now we've got adulthood staring us in the face and it's scarier than any demon we've ever had to deal with."
"And that's how the Devourer found us," Rowen agreed. "We may look successful and happy, but beneath it all we've got enough fear and confusion and unhappiness to feed this thing for centuries." He smiled wryly. " 'We have seen the enemy and he is us.' "
Sage grinned. "Cye, you sneak…and here I thought Wisdom was my virtue."
"Some of us are just multi-talented," Cye proclaimed haughtily. The others glowered at him. "What?"
"One of these days, Cye," Kento warned, then smacked his hands together decisively. "So. Now that we've figured all this out, how do we keep from becoming a demon smorgasbord and get Ryo back while we're at it?"
"I'm going to talk to Kayura," Rowen said. "She might have found out more about the Devourer --- its weaknesses, where it lives, things like that."
"Things we'll need if we intend to take on this monster," Sage agreed. "Meanwhile, I'll do some research of my own. What Kayura can't tell us about this thing, the legends might."
"And while you guys are finding out about the Devourer, I'm gonna find out about Ryo," Kento asserted. "This thing went after him for a reason. We'll have a better chance of freeing him if we know why he got snagged in the first place."
Cye nodded. "I have a few more things to take care of here, but I should be able to join you within the next couple of days," he said, then smiled at his friends. "Just remember, guys --- we've faced some of the greatest evils this world has to offer, and we vanquished every single one of them. And we did it with our lives and our sanity intact. The Devourer is dangerous and powerful…but so are we." He held out a clenched fist, palm down. "Are you with me?"
"All the way," Rowen assented, placing his hand on top of Cye's.
"And then some," Sage said, adding his hand to theirs.
Kento placed his huge paw on top of the pile. "Count me in, too," he said, the old sparkle returning to his eyes. "We'll teach this demon what it means to mess with the Ronin Warriors."
"Exactly," Cye replied, his sea-blue eyes alight with a new determination. "The Devourer thinks it has the upper hand now. It thinks we're too weakened and divided by our own problems to put up any real resistance." He smiled grimly. "We're going to prove otherwise."
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Author's Note: I have to apologize for the ungodly length of time it took me to put this chapter together, but I've been dealing with a swarm of personal and career upheavals, not to mention the mother of all writer's block. x_x Bear with me, though --- I think it'll be worth the wait! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated! ;-)