Legends Die Hard
By: Bindy Kitty
Chapter 9: On Their Way

The most effective way to cope with change is to help create it.
L. W. Lynett


Out of all the things that Lily had done in her life, this could possible be the most important. In her hands, she held a locket of the finest silver she had ever seen, and inside of it was the most powerful relic in the world. The locket could take her and the rest of her new found friends to their destruction, or to another victory. The Ancient One had called her the Maker, but if she transported them wrong, she would be their destroyer.

"Are you ready?" Mia asked her.

That question was beginning to bug Lily. Everyone in the last 10 minutes had been asking her that, as if her answer would change.

"As ready as I'll ever be to travel through time-space." She gave her now standardized reply. She found herself again rubbing the locket with her thumb and forefinger. She had done that almost constantly since she had been given it.

"Are you ready?" This time, it was Sage asking the question.

That was the last straw. 7 people had asked her that, and Sage had just asked her at the wrong time. "No, I am not ready!!!!" She yelled. "I don't want to take you people anywhere!!! I don't want to travel through the galaxy to some stupid place that I've never even heard of!!! And what does it matter anyway if I'm ready or not!?! We have to go either way!!"

He looked at her, unruffled by her screaming, as if that was what he was expecting her to do.

"Well, I'm glad you finally admitted that." He told her. "I was wondering when you were going to say it."

He walked away, and Lily could do nothing but stare at his back as he went. She sighed, and then went upstairs to get her kanji-orb. There were only about 5 minutes left until they would all be leaving. None of them knew if they would make it through the time portal. None of them knew what Aeaea would be like. All they knew was that they would be going home, their real home.

*~*~*~*

Bri was worried. Luana knew. She knew her secret. Luana knew that Bri had let the slave go. And now, Luana knew that it was Bri's fault that King Ryko's troops knew about their impending attack on Vir Kalam. And Bri knew Luana. She knew that Luana would tell Mistress. And Bri knew the Mistress. She knew that the Mistress would have her killed. Bri knew she was in trouble.

*~*~*~*

"Mistress," Luana almost purred. "I think we should kill her."

"Really, you think so." Vanessa mused. "But Bri is such a good handmaiden."

"It is of no matter! She is a traitor. She LET the boy go. She is the whole reason why your plans are falling apart!" Luana coaxed.

"Yes, this is true, but."

"No buts my Mistress. She must be annihilated."

"As you wish Luana. But I do not desire to watch. Do the killing quickly."

"As you command, my Mistress."

Luana walked down the hall. Stalk would be a better word though. Bri, that girl. She was ruining Luana's wonderful plan for revenge on Aeaea. She knew that Vanessa was just a pawn in her plot for vengeance, but the rest of the world did not. And she must keep it that way. Vanessa was the only reason she had gotten this far. As the Daughter of King Hiro and Queen Yua, she had the hereditary armor of Friendship. And, even better, she knew the art of sorcery. True, Vanessa did have some evil in her heart, but Luana had more. Vanessa did want to destroy all that stood in her way, but after Luana had cajoled her into believing faerie tales about ruling all of Aeaea, Luana was in control. The only thing stopping her from talking over total control was that dolt Bri. And now that she had Vanessa's permission to kill her, there would be no more problem.

*~*~*~*

"Are we all ready?" Ryo asked the group. Each held a small bag of their most valued possessions. All of them were holding hands, more out of fear than affection. Ryo, then Mia, then Kento, then Circe, then Rowen, then Adela, then Cye, then Sage standing in a circle, with Lily standing in the center. In her hands, she held the locket. They all nodded their heads, and so she closed her eyes. All of them repeated the action. Lily put all of her might into concentrating on a place far back in the reaches of her memory. Her head began to spin from thinking and trying to remember so hard. She opened the locket and a bright light shot from it, engulfing the room.

Suddenly, with out warning, they were standing in a mist filled room, with door all around.

"Who dares to enter the portal of time and space? Only the worthy may enter here, you are not worthy!" A loud voice commanded from far off in the fog.

"We are the Ronin Warriors," Lily said with a voice that was not hers. "We are the legendary protectors of the planet Aeaea. We have been put astray from our home, and desire to go home, nay, we demand to go."

"Your bravery becomes you. The Ronin Warriors you may be. You may pass, but choose the correct door, for you may only choose once. Now, go quickly, your time grows short!"

"We will. Thank you!" Ryo yelled into the darkness. "We have to decide what door to choose. Which one?"

But it was too late; Circe was already opening one door and was halfway in. The place behind the open portal was black, dismal and uninviting.

"I guess she decided for us!" Cye yelled, as air from the door began to pull them into the blackness.

"Here we go!" Mia yelled. "Home, here we come!"

*~*~*~*

Back in his room, Anubis silently shedded his clothing to dip into the bath his servant had readied. The room was filled with the sounds of water and the smells of exotic oils and rich salts. Testing the water with his foot, he found the temperature to his liking and immersed the rest of his body.

Suddenly, a strange shock ran through his veins, making his muscles tense up and then become numb. Anubis instantly knew what it was.

"They're here."

*~*~*~*

A council of Kings and Queens had been called. Anubis, however, had kindly withdrawn, and no one had been rude enough to comment on that. The new king had a lot on his mind, and they didn't really need him for the upcoming conversation. All the battle tactics had already been discussed, and the next meeting was only about sanitation for the army.

As the conversation began, with King Ryko doing most of the talking, the other royal officers had small conversations amongst themselves. Out on nowhere, King Kale, Queen Kayura, Prince Dais and Prince Sechmet began to twist and writhe in their seats. The other Kings looked on in astonishment as each passed a glance to each other, then bolted out of the room.

Running down the hall to Anubis's chamber, Kayura said, "They're here."

"It's about time." Sechmet commented.

*~*~*~*

Vanessa sat rather disdainfully upon her throne. Her handmaiden Bri was about to be murdered by her Lady in Waiting Luana. It made her a bit angry that she let Luana talk her into glancing over the horrible act. But, it was in the past. It couldn't be changed now, so why worry about it. That last thought made her think about that Disney movie from back on Earth. What was it called…? The Puma King? No, that wasn't it. Oh well, it was of no matter.

Suddenly, a shock soared through out her body, sending her muscles into shock and then spasms.

"Dear God, what is that?" She asked the ceiling.

~*~*~*~

"Ow!!!" Lily moaned as her body hit the hard dirt ground. The other 6 fell to the ground to, echoing her discomfort.

"DEMONS!"

"What?" The seven question and turned in time to see an elderly lady in medieval clothing pointing and screaming. The other people, who before had been walking through what seemed to be a village from the 1200's screamed for their lives, running in every direction and darting into shabby buildings and taverns.

"What are they talking about?" Adela queried.

"I think they mean us." Sage answered her. He pointed to her clothes. "We're not really dressed like they are. I don't think they know what jeans are."

"Where are we gonna get clothes like they're wearing?" Kento asked.

"I know!" Ryo said. "Let's use this 'demon' label to our advantage. Come on!"

The group stood up, and brushing themselves off, the followed Ryo to a door with a sign over it that said "Dressers." He opened the door to the screams of a young girl and an older man.

"What do you want?" The older man yelled.

"We want clothes." Kento told him.

"Take anything! Just leave my family alone!" The man yelled, crawling past them out the door, with the girl close in tail.

"That was easy enough." Adela said.

"Oh man." Cye commented.

"What?" They asked him.

"Did you see what he had on?" Cye answered. "Pantyhose."

"Oh man." The other boys replied. The girls however, replied with laughter.

"Lets have a look see to what they have here." Lily said.
~*~*~*~

Bri was gone. That blasted girl had already escaped. Luana's anger was so towering, that the chest that was thought to hold Bri's clothing disappeared as Luana chopped it to splinters with the sharp axe she carried.

"That girl will pay. No one escapes from Luana. NOONE!

Chapter Ten