Part 11: Death of a Warrior
-February 10th, 2000-
Sage was a nervous wreck. At that current moment in time, he was wringing his hands, pacing back and forth in front of the door to Raye's room, muttering to himself. Anybody who looked on him for only a second without knowing him really well would come to the conclusion that he was crazy, not incredibly nervous about something. "No, that won't do," he whispered to himself, "That'll sound like I'm insane."
"How about just saying 'I love you' and telling her all the things that you love about her?" a voice inside his head told him. A smile lit up on his face as the thought popped into his head. That's perfect. I'll go in there and say that I have something to tell her and that it's really important, he thought. He took a deep breath and stopped his pacing, moving towards the door.
As his hand was poised to knock, he wondered again why he was even doing it. Because you're envious, that's why, Sage told himself. A few days ago, he spotted Ami and Rowen sitting on the couch in the living room. He had his arm around her and her head tucked under his chin. She was resting up against him, tracing patterns on one hand while his was in the process of stroking her hair. They were talking about something that Sage didn't understand and when Ami was in the middle of a sentence, Rowen snuck in a kiss, which lasted quite a few seconds. Sage had never seen Rowen look so happy and found that he was not jealous, but simply envious. He wanted a relationship like that and he wanted it with Raye. That is was possessed him to tell her that he loved her. But, there was something that was holding him back and it was the thought of her laughing in his face and rejecting him. A part of him wanted to keep his feelings a secret, but the other part of him told him that if he didn't tell her, his life would be filled with regret that he never did tell her. I need to make a choice. Do I tell her or do I not tell her, Sage thought as he ran a hand over his face.
He made up his mind and went over to knock on her door. He heard a muffled, "Come in," coming from Raye before he opened her door and walked in. He found her sitting on her bed in jeans and a tank top, brushing her long, wet hair and having great difficulties. "Having problems?" he asked as he shut the door behind him. Raye turned, mid-stroke, to look over at him. "Oh, hi Sage and, yes, I'm having problems." Sage walked over to the bed and climbed onto it, kneeling behind Raye as he took the brush from her hands and started brushing her hair for her. "Thanks," Raye said, "As much as I love having long hair, I hate it when it's wet. Sometimes I just want to cut it."
"Don't ever cut your hair," Sage said, horrified at the thought, "It's way too beautiful to cut." Raye blushed to the roots of her hair, which went unnoticed by Sage, and said, "You really think my hair is beautiful?"
"Yes, I do," Sage said sheepishly, "And it would be a shame to cut it." Raye chuckled a little.
"Well, then, I won't cut it. I would hate to disappoint you."
"Thank you," Sage said, "That's a relief." Raye laughed again and Sage smiled down at her. He looked down at her as he brushed her hair. From his bird's eye view, he could see the gentle sloping of her chest from above the neckline of her tank top and he nearly choked on his own breath. Coughing slightly, he tried his hardest to avoid blushing in case she looked up at him.
After a couple of moments, he finished brushing her hair and handed Raye back the brush. "There you go," he said, "All finished."
"Thanks," Raye said, "I greatly appreciate it." Raye got up and put her hairbrush on her dresser.
"So," she said, "Why did you come down here? I mean, I don't think you came to see me to brush my hair, although I'm very grateful for that." By the time that Raye sat down on her bed again, Sage had already made himself comfortable on it. Raye settled herself right next to Sage and looked at him expediently, as if waiting for him to say something.
"Well," Sage started out, trying to eliminate the butterflies in his stomach, "I came down here because there's something important I wanted to tell you." Raye's face took on a look of genuine concern and she laid a hand on his knee comfortingly, urging him to continue.
"Well, Raye, you see, we've known each other for over a year and a half now. We've been through a lot together and we've seen a lot of things. In this time, we've gotten really close, to the point where I feel I can tell you anything. I guess what I'm trying to say…"
Suddenly, the door burst open to show a breathless Serena. "Hurry up you guys. There's an attack in the middle of the park. It's a big one. We're going to need everyone for this one." Raye rushed to her feet and was out of the room in an instant. Sage felt disappointed create a pit in his stomach, but he found quickly that there was no time to dwell over it. As Serena said, there was a monster attack and part of the mental oath he swore as a Ronin Warrior was to protect the Earth from any evil that may harm it.
He leapt off the bed and ran out of Raye's room, several seconds behind Raye. I'll just have to tell Raye that I love her later, Sage thought as he transformed into his sub-armor mid-stride. Little did he know that he was running towards the fight of his life.
***
Once the Universal Warriors showed up on the scene, everyone was fully armored and ready to fight. The group of warriors was taken aback for a second at what they saw. They saw an army of hybrids, monsters that were a crossbreed of youmas and Dynasty soldiers. Who ever sent those after the Universal Warriors was trying to play with their minds by bringing back enemies that Talpa had sent after them when he was working with Metallia.
The group of 18 warriors fought quickly and expertly. All of them, save Julie and Margot, had fought against the hybrids before and it was nothing new. Margot and Julie found them to be no challenge whatsoever and proceeded in destroying all the hybrids that came across their path. The battle only lasted about 10 minutes, where the Universal Warriors managed to destroy 200 hybrids. They found that their powers were increasing all the time. A year ago, the Universal Warriors wouldn't have been able to pull off destroying 200 hybrids. Now, it was like nothing.
A throaty laugh from above them alerted them and they looked up to see one of Metallia's female generals, her long blonde hair floating above her as she descended to the ground. "I must say, quite an impressive show you all put on there. I don't think I've introduced myself yet. My name is Heliodore, your destroyer." Heliodore was smiling until her gaze settled on Raye, whereupon it settled into a look of rage. "You!" she shouted at Raye, "You bitch!" For no apparent reason, Heliodore sent out a very strong and very powerful energy blast at Raye. Raye was frozen with fear.
"Raye! Watch out!" Sage called out as he ran towards her, pushing her out of the way, getting hit by the blast instead. Raye, who was dazed from hitting the ground hard from the force of Sage's push, looked up just in time to see Sage getting hit by the powerful, even mortal, blow. For Raye, time crept along, prolonging the painful experience of watching Sage fall to the ground in a crash of armor. Heliodore, who suddenly seemed to be ashamed of what she had just done, looked on the scene with a gasp before disappearing all together.
Tears of pain filled Raye's eyes as she cried out. "NOOO!" she yelled as she rushed over to him. Her heart seemed to be pounding its way out of her chest as she knelt beside him. She could see Sage fighting to keep air moving in and out of his lungs and she could do nothing as his life slipped away. One lone tear made its way down her face and she felt a sharp jab of déjà vu. The same thing had happened three years earlier with Chad and she was damned if she was going to let it happen again. She took off his helmet, setting it on the ground, and tenderly pushed aside his hair so she could see both closed eyes.
"Sage?" she said softly, "Can you hear me?" Slowly, he opened his eyes to see his angel looking down at him with tears in her eyes. "Don't cry," he said weakly, lifting a gloved hand to pick up a tear as it carved a track down her cheek. That simple action only made her tears flow faster and stronger. Sage could feel his life slipping away, but he didn't want to go without doing something first. "Raye," he whispered, lifting both hands to remove her helmet, which allowed her hair to tumble off the top of her head and fall over her shoulder. "There's something I want to tell you…" he continued.
"No, don't say it. You're going to be okay, I know it. Just hang on," she pleaded, almost sobbing.
"No, I have to say this," he said insistently. Raye looked into his lavender eyes and saw all the love that he held for her in them.
Sage raised his hand to cup her cheek as he continued to speak. "Ever since I met you, you have been so nice to me, so open. No one has ever shared so much with me before and I never got to tell you how much that meant to me that you did that. Raye, I…" Raye waited for what he was going to say next when she realized that he wasn't breathing anymore. "No," she murmured, "No, please, don't go. You can't. I never got to tell you…" she said, choking on a sob.
Around her, the other warriors had gathered. Serena was sobbing in Darien's arms; Ami and Rowen were holding onto each other, comforting each other over the loss of a friend; Mina and Lita were hugging each other, as were Alex and Michelle; Celia had her arms wrapped around Heather; Ryo held onto Mia as she cried; Cye and Kento were standing by themselves, tears running down their faces; and Margot and Julie were holding onto each other as they cried for their new friend. Swallowing her tears, Raye whispered, "I never got the chance to tell you how much I love you." She allowed her body to be taken over by sobs as she keeled over onto Sage's chest and began to cry.
***
The entire group of warriors watched with pain-filled gazes as Raye
sobbed. We have to do something,
Margot told Julie as she looked at Raye, her heart constricting with grief.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He isn't supposed to die, Margot. There has to be something we can do to bring him back, Julie responded. Margot nodded and the two started thinking. After many mind-wracking moments, the two of them came up with an idea. Together, they pried a grief-stricken Raye away from Sage. "What are you going to do to him?" Raye asked. Margot looked at her comfortingly and said, "We're going to try to bring him back." Raye's eyes went wide.
"Do you think you can do it?" Margot and Julie looked at each other hopefully.
"We sure hope so," Julie said, "But in order for us to try, you have to be out of the way." Raye nodded; she would do anything to get Sage back, even if it meant staying away from him forever.
All of the Universal Warriors, even Celia, watched with anticipation as Margot and Julie stood on either side of Sage, clasping hands, forming a two-person circle. They closed their eyes and gathered their power. They only reason why they thought what they were going to do was even going to work was because Sage wasn't supposed to die and they had the power to fix mistakes that went against Destiny and/or Fate. The Universal Warriors watched as Margot and Julie began to glow, the colors of their powers merging together, creating a spectacle of blue-green, burgundy, copper, and gold light. The entire group was amazed as the light spread over Sage like a blanket, swirling around him like thousands of atoms spinning around him at once.
A few moments later, the light show ended and Margot and Julie collapsed onto the ground, both of them breathing hard from the effort. "It's done," Margot said.
"If that didn't work, then there's no hope," Julie finished. Raye pushed Julie aside so she could look down at Sage, her eyes full of anticipation and hopefulness. Once again, time seemed to freeze as she watched for any signs of life. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she saw his eyes twitch slightly. "Sage?" she asked softly. He groaned softly in pain and opened his eyes. "Raye?" he asked as his gaze focused on her. She nodded and moved back so he could sit upright.
The entire group was relieved to find Sage alive. Raye, with a cry, threw her arms around Sage and, to the best of her ability in her armor, hugged him. Sage returned her hug and held her as she cried. Margot and Julie smiled weakly at each other before Alex and Michelle walked over to help the two of them to their feet. "Good job," Michelle said as she helped Julie up.
"Yeah, that was amazing," Alex said as she pulled Margot to her feet, "Thank goodness you two were here."
"It was nothing," Margot said with a dismissive wave of her hand, leaning against the taller girl.
"Yeah," Julie said, "It's all in a day's work." Alex and Michelle only rolled their eyes at Margot and Julie; sometimes those two were impossible.
***
Later that evening, Sage once again stood outside of Raye's door. This time he was going to tell her that he
loved her. He had been given a second
chance and he was going to take full advantage of it. If not for Margot and Julie, he would have
been dead. But, thanks to those two, he
was still among the land of the living.
Without even knocking, he opened Raye's door and walked in to find Raye lounging on her bed. "Hey Raye, can I talk to you?" he asked hesitantly, testing the waters. Raye looked up at him, her eyes calm and emotionless.
"You know what, Sage, I really don't feel like talking right now. Can this wait until later?"
"Yeah, I guess so, but…"
"Well, then, good night Sage," Raye said, dismissing him with no more than a second thought. His heart sinking to somewhere around his toes, Sage said, "Alright, good night Raye." He left her room and shut the door behind him. As he walked up to his own room, he felt a single tear roll down his cheek and he realized what that dreadful feeling in his heart was: he was being ignored by Raye and it hurt more than anything in the world. And the worst part was that he didn't even know why.
*************
So, a little trouble in paradise! So, the weekend's not yet over, so I'm fulfilling my promise to update during the holiday weekend. My grandfather's house doesn't have very good internet, as opposed to my room, so I couldn't get online to post. Hope you enjoyed – if you're confused as to why Heliodore went after Raye the way she did, its because Heliodore and Sage were engaged in the Silver Millennium, but he fell for Raye instead. Needless to say, she's a vindictive little piece of baggage. Well, will Raye and Sage end up together? We shall see in the next chapter: Heliodore Meets the God of Death. Till then, be nice and review! Thanks! ~DestinyBabe
