Revenance
By S. Arallion
Based on "Ronin Warriors"
(the English version of the anime series "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers")
Disclaimer: All characters in this story are owned by their respective copyright holders—namely, not myself. Anything you don't recognize is my fault. I make absolutely no profit from my use of these characters. ~~Arallion
Part 6: Revelation~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've found something."
The Ronin Warriors looked up at Mia with one quick motion, freezing in whatever nervous activity they had been engaging in. "What is it, Mia?"
Her expression was somber as she began to descend the stairs. "Well, as far as I can tell," she sighed, "it's entirely possible that Anubis has been brought back to life—and under Talpa's control."
A collective groan of dismay rose from the living room. "Did you find anything else, Mia? Anything that might help us?" Ryo broke in.
Mia walked over to the couch and flopped onto it. "I might have. It depends a lot on Anubis, however…"
"How so?" Cye, sitting next to her on the couch, voiced everyone's response.
"Well, here's how I read it," she replied. "Talpa, with the assistance of the Nether Spirits, can create additional parts for the armors—they were, after all, his at one point. The effect of these additions is determined by the power of the Nether Spirits. They usually take the form of an emblem or sigil of some kind.
"If Talpa created a "phoenix" sigil for the Armor of Loyalty, it could be used to reunite Anubis' spirit with his body. Since the Armor is missing, we should probably assume that this has occurred."
"Ewww," Rowan interjected, a look of horror on his face. "Wouldn't Anubis' body have—well, sort of disintegrated by now?"
"Ewwwww…." The rest of the boys cringed at the thought.
Mia rolled her eyes. "If that were the case, it probably wouldn't work," she pointed out. "However, we never did recover his body from the Nether Realm, and we know that his death was caused by an extreme channeling of power to break the spell on Lady Kayura. That much power could have kept his body intact for who knows how long."
Cye looked thoughtful. "That counts as martyrdom, doesn't it? Maybe he became a saint. It's said that the bodies of saints are 'immune to corruption'." Five pairs of disbelieving eyes turned to him and he coughed in embarrassment. "Well, that's what I read, anyway."
Ryo grinned. "Umm… 'Saint Anubis'? I don't think so…"
"Whatever he was, we have to assume that he's alive now and he's being controlled by Talpa through the Armor," Mia brought them back to the subject. "Now, the information my Grandfather had on this was vague, but it seems to hint that this control can be broken if the subject becomes aware of it, and has the desire to break it."
An uneasy silence fell. "Do you think Kayura knows about this?" Ryo asked to no one in particular, black hair falling forward into serious eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How are you doing?" Cale yelled across ten goons at Kayura as she slashed her way in a vicious silver arc, leaving crumpling, inanimate suits of armor in her wake.
"I'm sweating," she hollered back at him angrily. "But I'm fine."
With a snort of amusement, the Warlord of Corruption hacked apart another line of goons. "Well, we can't have that," he called back. "Permission to break out the fireworks, Lady?"
Kayura cast an eye across the horde of soldiers. "I think we'd better," she yelled.
Finally! Dais' thought skimmed the surface of her mind, and she grinned as the "web of deception" launched forth ahead of them, enveloping and crushing over a hundred of the goons.
"Snake Fang Strike!!!" Another large group of soldiers exploded into smoky flames, the power of Sekhmet's attack knocking them back into each other like the mortals' game of 'dominos'.
At this point, Kayura noted the next press of attackers moving in. Drawing power into herself, she leapt into the air, the shrieking whirlwind of her magical swords enveloping her. "Star Sword Scream!" A cone of unleashed power flew out from her as she brought the weapons down in a sweeping arc. The goons nearest her simply vanished in the heat. Further away, they toppled like felled trees. She sank back to the ground gracefully, and surveyed the damage.
The portion of Talpa's army nearest them was gone—probably 500 soldiers total. More could be seen flooding into the valley, but they seemed a little less enthusiastic than before. Kayura reminded herself that the soldiers themselves were powered by Nether Spirits, not actual humans, and thus would not be affected by the loss of their numbers.
"Hmmph. Is it just me, or do they seem a little reluctant?" Cale chuckled in her ear as Dais and Sekhmet joined them on their low overlook.
"Don't be silly, Cale. The Dynasty soldiers don't have human reactions." Dais sounded calm, but one finger tapped nervously on his crossed arms.
"Why are they hesitating?" Kayura wondered aloud.
They watched the movement of the horde slow even further.
"Anubis," Sekhmet muttered, with a knowing look. Dais and Cale shot him disbelieving looks. "Don't look at me that way," the Warlord growled. "This is a typical strategy for Anubis, don't you remember?"
Kayura, having never seen the Warlord of Cruelty in action before he joined the Ancient's cause, blinked in confusion. She did sense a familiar presence, however, although it was shrouded in darkness.
Then it began—an eerie, howling wind and a strange shimmering in the frigid air. The ground trembled under their feet. An armor-clad form materialized in the air over the battlefield and descended to the earth. Through the mist that was gathering across the earth from the rapid weather change, they could see the familiar lines of the Armor of Loyalty, the green and gold surplice fluttering in the wind. A glint of shining gold could be seen on the arm bracer and leg plating.
"See?" Sekhmet crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly at the other two Warlords. Kayura had the distinct impression that he might have stuck his tongue out at them if she hadn't been watching.
A voice, harsh-edged, rang out across the valley to them. "Master Talpa bids me welcome you, warriors. You fight well. Might I ask if you come to us as friend or foe?"
The three warlords and Kayura exchanged glances.
"It sounds like him," Cale shrugged.
"It sort of looks like him," Sekhmet said, squinting in the wind.
"It could be anyone!" Dais hissed at them, his one eye flashing. "He's wearing the helmet with the face guard up. We can't tell for sure who—or what—he is right now!"
Kayura took all the comments in, and gripped the Ancient's staff tightly, sending an exploratory thought out to the creature garbed in the Armor of Loyalty. To her dismay, she found a familiar silver thread of spirit, but so entangled in the coarse skein woven by the Nether Spirits that she could not contact it individually. She pulled back, blinking sadly.
"It's Anubis," she affirmed the others softly. "But Talpa has bound him with the Nether Spirits. I'm not certain he's acting on his own initiative, right now."
The steel plating gleamed as the armor-bearer shifted restlessly. "Must I repeat the question?" the voice boomed across to them.
Kayura stepped forward, despite the worried looks of the Warlords. "You are known to me, Anubis," she began. The helm tipped slightly to the side, as if the wearer were tilting his head in consideration. "And I have considered you a friend. However, we are not friends of Talpa."
"No?" The harsh voice sounded slightly strained, but then a ringing, nasty-sounding chuckle began. "Such a pity. You see, Master Talpa wishes you to join him. I suppose this will have to be done the hard way…"
Before they could even think to react, a wave of force hit them, sending them flying backwards. Shaken, they scrambled to their feet.
"Where did he learn how to do that?" Dais spat furiously.
Kayura staggered dizzily, having taken the force without the benefit of armor's protection. "He's gotten so much more powerful…"
"Are you all right?" Cale asked, steadying her.
"I'm fine. Stop Dais," she gasped, pointing at the white-haired warlord, who was angrily striding forward. Cale leapt after him.
"Hold on, Dais," he yelled, grabbing the illusionist's armored shoulder. Dais stopped and looked at Cale ominously.
"What now?"
"Lady Kayura asked me to stop you. And frankly, I don't know what you think you can do."
Dais raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to go down and knock some sense back into that pup's skull." He started forward again, but Cale still held onto his shoulder plating. "Damn it, Cale, let go."
"No way. We need help for this, Dais. We have to get Kayura out of here safely so that she can bring the Ronins here. We can't let Talpa get our armors back again."
Dais, fuming, let out a wordless growl and stomped back to Kayura and Sekhmet. Cale followed, keeping an eye on the oddly still form of Anubis, who watched their moves impassively.
Kayura gripped the Ancient's staff again, and made a prayer for strength. "We're getting out of here while we have the chance," she said by way of explanation, just before the shimmer of teleportation enveloped them.
Anubis felt extremely weak after the power surge that had brought the four warriors to their knees. He didn't know where that attack had come from—it certainly hadn't been in his repertoire before today. Perhaps he had been in training for this and gotten hurt, that would explain why Master Talpa had been concerned about his condition.
In any case, he was simply too drained to comply with the command that rang through his head to finish them off. Whatever the attack had been, he didn't want to try it again until he was fully aware of how much power he could spare for it. He stared at the one-eyed man who began to stride purposefully towards him, and watched blankly as the sword-bearing warrior held him back. They all returned to the female's side, and then vanished in a glittering light.
Meanwhile, Talpa howled in frustration at his miscalculation. Controlling the power in another's body was not nearly as simple as Badamon had made it out to be. More training was in order, and now he was certain to have more to deal with than his former Warlords. The Dynast grumbled fitfully to himself, as he sent the command out to return.
Anubis' green eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he obeyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud cracking noise echoed through the forest around Mia's house. All the Ronins leaped to defensive postures, their quick reactions bearing witness to their nervousness. Mia and Yuli dashed out of the upstairs office and scampered down the stairs to join the others.
"What was that?" Sage asked rhetorically, looking out the windows and half-expecting to see Dynasty soldiers advancing on the house. There were no enemies in sight.
Kento trotted in from the kitchen. "Guys, I saw a big tree fall out there, a few hundred feet off the road. Looks like it was struck by lightning." He stuffed the last bite of a sandwich into his mouth, pointing in the direction of the event.
"Let's check it out," Ryo said grimly.
They all went along, feeling that it might be too dangerous to leave Mia and Yuli alone at the house. White Blaze carried the young boy as he used to, gently and patiently, with Mia running alongside. The rain fell warmly on them as they crossed the driveway and entered the thick green undergrowth.
"There it is," Kento shouted from up ahead. Next to him, Cye's mouth was open in an "o" of dismay. Looking at each other worriedly, Ryo, Sage and Rowan raced up to them.
The tree had been huge, and when it fell, it had taken several other trees with it. The botanical carnage was extreme, to say the least. What truly inspired the boys' shock was not the felling of the trees, however, but rather how the felling had been done.
The entire base of the large tree had been torn apart, as if it had exploded from the inside out. In the center of the mess stood Dais, Sekhmet, and Cale, supporting a rather shaken-looking Lady Kayura.
"What happened?" Rowan gasped. Kento and Cye were already down in the middle of it, helping the Warlords extricate themselves from the smoldering wood.
"The tree and Lady Kayura had a little disagreement on who should be where," Dais commented slyly. Kayura shot him a dangerous look, and he raised his hands in surrender. "Well, Lady, at least you didn't lose the argument."
"I didn't mean to teleport into the tree," she grumbled.
"Nobody means to do that sort of thing," Cale chuckled as he helped her out onto the grass.
Ryo looked askance at the Warlords. "So what did happen, anyway? I take it things didn't go well in the Nether Realm?"
"You could say that," Dais grimaced. Sekhmet growled something unintelligible.
"It looks as if everything we feared has come to pass," Kayura said, steadying herself with one hand on the flank of a helpful White Blaze. "Anubis has been returned to life, but it seems that he has no memory of us or the trials he went through to escape Talpa previously. I am unsure if this is because Talpa's hold on him is too strong, or if he has actually lost all memory of his prior existence. He also commands much more power than before—enough that we would have been in trouble fighting him by ourselves."
Mia touched Kayura gently on the shoulder, and looked at the others. "You are all exhausted. Let's go back to the house, dry off, and rest. We can continue this there."
Gratefully, the Ancient's descendant followed Mia back to the house, trailed by the warlords and Ronins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I believe Anubis' memory is still intact, but dormant because Talpa is personally controlling him," Dais said thoughtfully, settling back into a chair with a steaming cup of tea in his graceful hands. "The influence of the Ankoku spirits is horrible and insidious. When we experienced Talpa's 'gift' of power, I felt my own mind shrinking away from their presence. I wonder if Anubis could be in a similar situation."
The Ronins, younger than the three Warlords present, shuddered at the thought of Nether Spirits invading their minds. They had experienced the pain of Talpa's attempts at dominating their armor, but the spirits had been unsuccessful in breaking the bond they shared, and thus could not hurt them as much as the Warlords.
Mia dropped a printout into Kayura's lap. "Does this look familiar, Lady Kayura?"
She squinted at it and turned it around several times. "The… phoenix emblem?"
"Exactly," Mia said, sitting on the floor next to her chair. "It's something from my grandfather's research, and it was supposed to have the special property of—"
"Resurrection," Kayura whispered, aghast. "Of course. This is the emblem that was on Anubis' armor when we encountered him." She passed it to Dais, who nodded and passed it to Sekhmet. Sekhmet stared at it worriedly until Cale grabbed it from his hand to take a look.
"Then this part of the legend is true as well," Mia gasped. "Talpa does have the power to alter the nine Armors."
"Yes, that is true," Kayura said slowly. "However, it is difficult and would require much of his attention. Each alteration must be imbued with power of its own, which in our land would require an Ankoku spirit to inhabit each emblem. Talpa must then work through the Ankoku to control the power of the armor affected, instead of using his own influence as the armor's original creator."
"So you're saying that Talpa's power over Anubis might be less than before?" Sage broke in, with a frown. "That doesn't seem right."
"Not exactly. It simply means that Talpa's power over the armor is less direct." Kayura tossed her dark hair back over her shoulder with a sigh. "If this is truly the case, then we need to hurry back to the Nether Realm, all of us. We need to confront Anubis and break Talpa's hold before Talpa learns how to use this new power effectively."
Dais glanced over at her. "The power surge we sensed before was tremendous. It seems to me that he has already learned to use his power in this new fashion."
"No, he hasn't," Cale interjected triumphantly. "You were too ticked off to notice, Dais, but Anubis had a chance to finish us both when you started to go after him. He didn't, though. He just stood there, watching. I'd be willing to bet that Talpa miscalculated and Anubis didn't have any power left to go after us!"
Sekhmet blinked at Cale from his position on the floor. "Cale. You made sense."
"Stop that," Kayura snapped before the men could get into it. "Cale, this does make sense, but we can't anticipate that it will happen again. Talpa has probably realized his mistake and worked to rectify it." She sighed. "Many words can be used to describe the Dynast, but unfortunately 'stupid' isn't one of them."
"Right," Ryo said, hopping to his feet. "When do we go? We should make our move quickly."
Mia looked at the exhausted girl, and around at the eager warriors. Her face set. "You'll go after Kayura finishes her tea," she scolded. "After all, you don't want to be teleported into a rock by mistake, do you?"
"Oh, I wouldn't mind," Kento shrugged flippantly. The Lady Kayura's cheeks turned a faint pink as she dutifully sipped at her tea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~