Into the Beginning of the End
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Four
The scrolls avalanched onto the table. Kayura, Kale, and Sekhmet stared in awe at the mountain of paper that blanketed the oak slate. "Sorry," Dais mumbled quickly before diving into the mound in search of something. He grumbled as other scrolls cascaded to the floor, spreading the chaos. "Aha!" he finally cried, triumphantly he freed himself from the jumble with a select few, wrinkled and worn-down, scrolls. He spread them out for everyone to see.
But before they could gather around him, the rings of the Ancient's staff began to chime and shimmer brightly. "What?" Kayura gasped as it lifted itself upright. The light crawled up to the orb where it blazed with power. For a moment, it compressed the energy until it almost was a solid ball of light.
Then it released the power in a blast of flaming golden light, blinding everyone in the room. After a few moments the chimes stilled, and slowly everyone's eyes adjusted back to normal.
"Anubis!" Kayura cried when she saw her predecessor standing before her. She ran over and embraced him in a hug.
"Welcome back." The other former warlords followed her to Anubis.
"Kale, Sekhmet, Dais," Anubis nodded to each in turn.
"The Ancient One has good timing," Dais said, waving the scrolls in front of his comrade's face.
Anubis smiled back. "Shall we get to it then?" he asked, glancing down at Kayura, who had finally released him. "What have you got for us, Dais?" The illusionist carefully unfurled the first scroll and laid it outstretched for everyone to see. "I know that image!" Anubis cried. "I saw it in the temple of the Jewel of Life!"
On the scroll was a rendition of the Armor of Inferno surrounded by the nine armors of the Ronin warriors and warlords. The swords of Ferver were on the armor's right, and the red Jewel of Life was on the left. "So? What's this all about?" Sekhmet asked.
"Well," Dais began slowly, "we all know of the armor's virtues, right?" Everyone nodded, and he continued. "And if I were to do this," he waved his hand over the paper and used the power of his armor to change the image. Where each armor had been, now resided the symbols of their virtues. "You all still know who is who."
"Yes. Go on," Kale encouraged.
Dais let the spell fade as he pulled out another scroll. "Well, I found this." The second parchment was in worse condition than the first, but the images could just be made out. It was covered with kanji that were aligned like the first scroll had shown under Dais' spell. "What is this?" Kayura asked, looking the scroll over. "These kanji are poorly written. I can't read them."
"I think that these kanji represent another set of armors." Dais sighed, "That is if these two scrolls were made with the same theme in mind."
"But from what you showed us with the first scroll, that would makes sense." Anubis turned the scrolls towards him. "Wait! What's this here?" he exclaimed, as he pointed to the right side of the central kanji.
On the kanji's left was the black half of a yin-yang. Where the weapon should have been on the right was nothing but a smear. "I couldn't find anything on that, but this other parchment did mention something about this second set of armors." Dais pulled out the final parchment.
It was a lengthy scroll, but the Warlord of Illusions knew where he was going. "This section here." He placed it before everyone to read to themselves, but they screwed up their faces in confusion instead.
"Dais," Sekhmet whined, "what is this scribble? We can't read this nonsense."
"What do you mean you can't read it?" Dais admonished. "Didn't Talpa ever teach you the ancient language in all the time you served him?" Shameful silence rang through the room. "None of you?"
"I learned a little," Anubis admitted. "But Talpa never taught me enough to read these old texts. Only enough to announce new laws to the city."
Dais let out a long sigh. "Fine." He picked up the scroll. "I'll read it."
"I think not."
"Who's there?" Kayura demanded, swinging around with the staff ready.
"I am the lord of this realm. Akumara." He stepped into the light, revealing his immense and heavily armored form. "I believe you are intruding in my throne room."
"But, how did-" Kayura stammered as Dynasty soldiers in dark grey armor encircled the table. "What-"
"How did you get here?" Anubis demanded for Kayura. 'Why didn't the Ancient's staff warn us?' he thought.
"I've been here since the dawn of time." Lord Akumara's eyes sparked when he caught Anubis glancing at the Ancient staff. He gazed at Kayura for a moment, "I recognize your blood, girl." Kayura stared at the demon. "You come from the guardian clan of the Mortal Realm." He laughed. "No doubt you wonder why your precious ancestors' staff failed you." He stepped closer, and the circle of soldiers closed in. The warriors now stood back-to-back; Dais clutched the precious scrolls to his chest. "You forget, child, that this is the Nether Realm and that the power of the Mortal Realm is limited here."
"Stay back!" she warned, aiming the staff's sphere at the demon lord. It glowed a ferocious gold in warning. She willed it to shoot at Akumara. It didn't. Instead the sphere of light grew larger and larger, until it engulfed Kayura and the warlords in a bubble of gold.
"No!" Akumara roared. Angry emerald rays of light shot out from his eyes, but the sphere dissolved away, leaving nothing but air for the deadly rays to blast through. Jahku appeared at the demon lord's side.
"Master?"
Lord Akumara laughed deeply. "Perfect. Very soon everything will fall into place. The field is ready for play. Only one piece remains."
***
"ROWEN!!! Get your butt out of bed! We're gonna be late!" Cye hollered up the stairs. Torrent's shouts were rewarded with a heavy thud and some muffled curses. He smiled when he heard them and meandered back into the kitchen. Everyone was relaxing around the table, eating breakfast.
"Slow down there, Kento," Cye playfully scolded when he saw Hardrock choke on a mouthful of pancakes.
"Were you able to get Rowen up?" Sage asked over his cup of tea. Kento gulped loudly, earning a smirk from the blonde.
"More or less," Cye answered, taking a seat. The archer's heavy footsteps could be heard thumping down the stairs. Soon after the blue head was at the table, slouched sleepily in a chair.
Sage grinned at his sleepy roommate. "Morning sunshine." He got an unfocused glare that promised pain later.
"Why'd you wake me up, Cye?" Rowen grumbled as he began to munch on his plate of pancakes. "It's still early. We're not late yet."
"No, not yet, but if you hadn't gotten up just now, we would be. Besides," he smiled, "if you are so tired, then you can nap in the car."
"I'm ready to leave when you guys are," Mia announced as she put her dishes in the sink. "Remember that I'll drive you to the high school, but I work long after you guys get out. You'll have to find your own ways back."
"That's fine, Mia," Sage said. "We can probably take the bus."
"Well," Kento suddenly said, "I can probably stop off at home later this afternoon and pick up my van. Then we wouldn't have to carpool too much to school nor would we have to rely on public transportation."
"Yeah, but then we'd have to rely on your junky van," Cye joked.
"Junky? Ha! At least I've got a car! See if I give you a ride next time you need one!" Kento headed out of the room with his nose high in the air. Torrent let out a tired sigh at his friend's antics before following him.
"Let's get this day started and done with," Ryo sighed before grabbing his bag and heading out. Sage and a sleepy Rowen followed after him. "White Blaze," Wildfire stopped at the door where the tiger sat, "watch over the house for us." The Siberian purred in understanding and watched the warriors leave.
"Hey! I called shotgun!" Sage yelled.
"But I'm bigger than all of you! I need the extra room!" came Kento's voice.
White Blaze huffed and swatted the door closed. Ryo smiled at his pet's intelligence before squeezing himself next to Cye. Sage crawled in beside him, then Kento pushed the passenger seat back and hopped in.
"Everyone in?" Mia asked as she started the car. "Everyone comfortable?"
"Like sardines," Sage replied, annoyed.
"Can we go now?" Kento whined. Mia only smiled before sending the jeep and all its occupants on their way to the first day of school.
***
The gold sphere dissolved away, dropping its occupants with the grace of a sack of potatoes. The warriors lay dazed and sprawled out on the grassy ground. Anubis sat up, rubbing his head in an effort to stop the world from spinning. "Ow..."
"What happened?" Kayura groaned behind him.
"Whoever owns the foot that's on my head better move it before they lose it," Dais hissed. Kale quickly picked his foot off of the white head and grumbled a quick apology.
"Where are we?" Sekhmet asked as he looked at their surroundings.
"I think we're near Mia's house," Anubis announced as he stood. They had landed at the edge of the forest, near the shore of the lake. The smell of moist soil, dried leaves, and cool wind floated in the air around them. The lake shimmered calmly in the late morning sunlight. "The Ancient must think we'll be safer here." He glanced at Kayura and the staff.
"Let's go see if they're home then," she sighed. "I hate to drop in uninvited, though."
"Do you think they're home?" Dais stretched and carefully picked up his scrolls. They started walking for the house. "If they are, then at least I don't have to explain things twice."
***
Mia's jeep screeched to a halt in front of the mansion. 'Of all the times to forget my papers!' she mentally kicked herself as she ran to the door. Luckily Sage had reminded her after she'd dropped them off. She fumbled with her keys, dropping them in her haste.
"Mia."
She jumped up, startled by the voice. Behind her stood the whole group of ex-warlords, lead by Kayura, who smiled kindly. "Kayura?" she stammered. "Anubis!" She'd practically shouted upon seeing the late Warlord of Cruelty standing in the crowd. "What are you all doing here?"
"The Ancient sent us. May we come in? We've got a lot to talk about," Anubis said with a smile.
Mia glanced at her watch and sighed. It looked like she'd miss a day of work no matter what. "Sure, let me make a few phone calls first."
A/N- ~Mwahahahahahaha, another chapter at last. Hope you guys like how it's going. More stuff to come, I hope.
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Four
The scrolls avalanched onto the table. Kayura, Kale, and Sekhmet stared in awe at the mountain of paper that blanketed the oak slate. "Sorry," Dais mumbled quickly before diving into the mound in search of something. He grumbled as other scrolls cascaded to the floor, spreading the chaos. "Aha!" he finally cried, triumphantly he freed himself from the jumble with a select few, wrinkled and worn-down, scrolls. He spread them out for everyone to see.
But before they could gather around him, the rings of the Ancient's staff began to chime and shimmer brightly. "What?" Kayura gasped as it lifted itself upright. The light crawled up to the orb where it blazed with power. For a moment, it compressed the energy until it almost was a solid ball of light.
Then it released the power in a blast of flaming golden light, blinding everyone in the room. After a few moments the chimes stilled, and slowly everyone's eyes adjusted back to normal.
"Anubis!" Kayura cried when she saw her predecessor standing before her. She ran over and embraced him in a hug.
"Welcome back." The other former warlords followed her to Anubis.
"Kale, Sekhmet, Dais," Anubis nodded to each in turn.
"The Ancient One has good timing," Dais said, waving the scrolls in front of his comrade's face.
Anubis smiled back. "Shall we get to it then?" he asked, glancing down at Kayura, who had finally released him. "What have you got for us, Dais?" The illusionist carefully unfurled the first scroll and laid it outstretched for everyone to see. "I know that image!" Anubis cried. "I saw it in the temple of the Jewel of Life!"
On the scroll was a rendition of the Armor of Inferno surrounded by the nine armors of the Ronin warriors and warlords. The swords of Ferver were on the armor's right, and the red Jewel of Life was on the left. "So? What's this all about?" Sekhmet asked.
"Well," Dais began slowly, "we all know of the armor's virtues, right?" Everyone nodded, and he continued. "And if I were to do this," he waved his hand over the paper and used the power of his armor to change the image. Where each armor had been, now resided the symbols of their virtues. "You all still know who is who."
"Yes. Go on," Kale encouraged.
Dais let the spell fade as he pulled out another scroll. "Well, I found this." The second parchment was in worse condition than the first, but the images could just be made out. It was covered with kanji that were aligned like the first scroll had shown under Dais' spell. "What is this?" Kayura asked, looking the scroll over. "These kanji are poorly written. I can't read them."
"I think that these kanji represent another set of armors." Dais sighed, "That is if these two scrolls were made with the same theme in mind."
"But from what you showed us with the first scroll, that would makes sense." Anubis turned the scrolls towards him. "Wait! What's this here?" he exclaimed, as he pointed to the right side of the central kanji.
On the kanji's left was the black half of a yin-yang. Where the weapon should have been on the right was nothing but a smear. "I couldn't find anything on that, but this other parchment did mention something about this second set of armors." Dais pulled out the final parchment.
It was a lengthy scroll, but the Warlord of Illusions knew where he was going. "This section here." He placed it before everyone to read to themselves, but they screwed up their faces in confusion instead.
"Dais," Sekhmet whined, "what is this scribble? We can't read this nonsense."
"What do you mean you can't read it?" Dais admonished. "Didn't Talpa ever teach you the ancient language in all the time you served him?" Shameful silence rang through the room. "None of you?"
"I learned a little," Anubis admitted. "But Talpa never taught me enough to read these old texts. Only enough to announce new laws to the city."
Dais let out a long sigh. "Fine." He picked up the scroll. "I'll read it."
"I think not."
"Who's there?" Kayura demanded, swinging around with the staff ready.
"I am the lord of this realm. Akumara." He stepped into the light, revealing his immense and heavily armored form. "I believe you are intruding in my throne room."
"But, how did-" Kayura stammered as Dynasty soldiers in dark grey armor encircled the table. "What-"
"How did you get here?" Anubis demanded for Kayura. 'Why didn't the Ancient's staff warn us?' he thought.
"I've been here since the dawn of time." Lord Akumara's eyes sparked when he caught Anubis glancing at the Ancient staff. He gazed at Kayura for a moment, "I recognize your blood, girl." Kayura stared at the demon. "You come from the guardian clan of the Mortal Realm." He laughed. "No doubt you wonder why your precious ancestors' staff failed you." He stepped closer, and the circle of soldiers closed in. The warriors now stood back-to-back; Dais clutched the precious scrolls to his chest. "You forget, child, that this is the Nether Realm and that the power of the Mortal Realm is limited here."
"Stay back!" she warned, aiming the staff's sphere at the demon lord. It glowed a ferocious gold in warning. She willed it to shoot at Akumara. It didn't. Instead the sphere of light grew larger and larger, until it engulfed Kayura and the warlords in a bubble of gold.
"No!" Akumara roared. Angry emerald rays of light shot out from his eyes, but the sphere dissolved away, leaving nothing but air for the deadly rays to blast through. Jahku appeared at the demon lord's side.
"Master?"
Lord Akumara laughed deeply. "Perfect. Very soon everything will fall into place. The field is ready for play. Only one piece remains."
***
"ROWEN!!! Get your butt out of bed! We're gonna be late!" Cye hollered up the stairs. Torrent's shouts were rewarded with a heavy thud and some muffled curses. He smiled when he heard them and meandered back into the kitchen. Everyone was relaxing around the table, eating breakfast.
"Slow down there, Kento," Cye playfully scolded when he saw Hardrock choke on a mouthful of pancakes.
"Were you able to get Rowen up?" Sage asked over his cup of tea. Kento gulped loudly, earning a smirk from the blonde.
"More or less," Cye answered, taking a seat. The archer's heavy footsteps could be heard thumping down the stairs. Soon after the blue head was at the table, slouched sleepily in a chair.
Sage grinned at his sleepy roommate. "Morning sunshine." He got an unfocused glare that promised pain later.
"Why'd you wake me up, Cye?" Rowen grumbled as he began to munch on his plate of pancakes. "It's still early. We're not late yet."
"No, not yet, but if you hadn't gotten up just now, we would be. Besides," he smiled, "if you are so tired, then you can nap in the car."
"I'm ready to leave when you guys are," Mia announced as she put her dishes in the sink. "Remember that I'll drive you to the high school, but I work long after you guys get out. You'll have to find your own ways back."
"That's fine, Mia," Sage said. "We can probably take the bus."
"Well," Kento suddenly said, "I can probably stop off at home later this afternoon and pick up my van. Then we wouldn't have to carpool too much to school nor would we have to rely on public transportation."
"Yeah, but then we'd have to rely on your junky van," Cye joked.
"Junky? Ha! At least I've got a car! See if I give you a ride next time you need one!" Kento headed out of the room with his nose high in the air. Torrent let out a tired sigh at his friend's antics before following him.
"Let's get this day started and done with," Ryo sighed before grabbing his bag and heading out. Sage and a sleepy Rowen followed after him. "White Blaze," Wildfire stopped at the door where the tiger sat, "watch over the house for us." The Siberian purred in understanding and watched the warriors leave.
"Hey! I called shotgun!" Sage yelled.
"But I'm bigger than all of you! I need the extra room!" came Kento's voice.
White Blaze huffed and swatted the door closed. Ryo smiled at his pet's intelligence before squeezing himself next to Cye. Sage crawled in beside him, then Kento pushed the passenger seat back and hopped in.
"Everyone in?" Mia asked as she started the car. "Everyone comfortable?"
"Like sardines," Sage replied, annoyed.
"Can we go now?" Kento whined. Mia only smiled before sending the jeep and all its occupants on their way to the first day of school.
***
The gold sphere dissolved away, dropping its occupants with the grace of a sack of potatoes. The warriors lay dazed and sprawled out on the grassy ground. Anubis sat up, rubbing his head in an effort to stop the world from spinning. "Ow..."
"What happened?" Kayura groaned behind him.
"Whoever owns the foot that's on my head better move it before they lose it," Dais hissed. Kale quickly picked his foot off of the white head and grumbled a quick apology.
"Where are we?" Sekhmet asked as he looked at their surroundings.
"I think we're near Mia's house," Anubis announced as he stood. They had landed at the edge of the forest, near the shore of the lake. The smell of moist soil, dried leaves, and cool wind floated in the air around them. The lake shimmered calmly in the late morning sunlight. "The Ancient must think we'll be safer here." He glanced at Kayura and the staff.
"Let's go see if they're home then," she sighed. "I hate to drop in uninvited, though."
"Do you think they're home?" Dais stretched and carefully picked up his scrolls. They started walking for the house. "If they are, then at least I don't have to explain things twice."
***
Mia's jeep screeched to a halt in front of the mansion. 'Of all the times to forget my papers!' she mentally kicked herself as she ran to the door. Luckily Sage had reminded her after she'd dropped them off. She fumbled with her keys, dropping them in her haste.
"Mia."
She jumped up, startled by the voice. Behind her stood the whole group of ex-warlords, lead by Kayura, who smiled kindly. "Kayura?" she stammered. "Anubis!" She'd practically shouted upon seeing the late Warlord of Cruelty standing in the crowd. "What are you all doing here?"
"The Ancient sent us. May we come in? We've got a lot to talk about," Anubis said with a smile.
Mia glanced at her watch and sighed. It looked like she'd miss a day of work no matter what. "Sure, let me make a few phone calls first."
A/N- ~Mwahahahahahaha, another chapter at last. Hope you guys like how it's going. More stuff to come, I hope.