Disclaimer: …You know.
Warnings: Rowen says hell…twice. Bad Rowen. ^^;
A/N: A bit more backstory…. If I remember correctly, things should be picking up in the next chapter. ^^ Um…not much to say…. *shrugs* Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Four: In Which Denice and Amanda Explain…Stuff
"Lead us to the closest room with a bed," she instructed without preamble. "It will not do for him to lay on this floor."
One of the Kayuras nodded immediately, turning on her heel and leading the way, lights flaring on ahead of her. The two winged girls followed on her heels.
"Here," Kayura said. She threw open a door and everyone trooped into the lavishly furnished room. After placing the unconscious boy on the bed, the black-haired girl spun around to face Kayura.
"You have no amulet," she stated.
"What?" Kayura replied blankly, looking down at her chest. "Oh, of course! That amulet was possessed by a nether spirit until Wildfire destroyed it. That is what kept me under Talpa's control. I would not have attacked your village otherwise."
The girl nodded, evidently accepting the explanation. There was a moment of silence.
"Uh…," Cale finally said. "Do you mind giving us your names?"(1)
"Weren't you listening when we told you the story before?" a Kayura snapped immediately, but she was ignored.
"I am Denice," the girl said and then nodded over to her light haired other half. "She is Amanda."
And she turned her back to Cale, walking over to stand beside Amanda. Seconds later, there was a blinding flash of light. When it cleared, the blue-haired boy was sitting up in the bed, wide awake with his mouth open as he stared at the two girls standing by him, Amanda leaning on Denice and breathing heavily.(2)
"Strata!" Cale snapped, calling his attention to him.
"What the hell…?"
Sekhmet began giggling for no apparent reason, earning himself several odd looks, before all attention was turned back to the bed.
"How do you feel?" Denice asked Rowen suddenly, eyes trained on his.
"Good,"
Rowen replied, staring back for a moment before blinking and leaning suddenly
back from her. "Your eyes are red!"
"Well aren't you the clever
one?" Denice replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'd advise you to relax,
Rowen of Strata. Your wounds have been healed, but you have lost a lot of
blood. You will need rest before you do much physical activity."
"All right," Rowen replied slowly, sounding uncertain. "But the Warlor—" He had glance over at the Warlords and Masho, finally noticing their doubled numbers. "Two of each…."
"Well done, Strata," Dais muttered. "But you're only halfway there. We're not exactly the same person. Well, Kayura might be, but other than that…." He shrugged.
Rowen stared around at everyone, looking incredibly confused.
"Perhaps we should explain what we know," Denice smirked suddenly. "And we should introduce ourselves to Strata, seeing as he had never met the majority of us. Perhaps there is a room we can all fit in?"
"There should be," a Kayura shrugged. "But is Strata strong enough to walk?"
Denice shrugged as Rowen slowly stood up. He took a couple of shaky steps forward before stumbling, and being caught by Denice.
"Apparently not," Denice said calmly. "Amanda, your staff is on my back with my glaive. If you get it, you should be able to use it to walk. Just try not to drop it this time?"
"Oh, shut up," Amanda muttered, reaching for a small bronze scabbard on Denice's back that nobody had noticed before. She pulled out a small metal bar before backing away. Swaying slightly on her feet, she held it out in front of her. It glowed white as it extended to be slightly taller than her.
"Show us the way, Kayura," Denice said, shifting Rowen so he could lean on her shoulder as they walked.
Kayura nodded slightly and then once again left the room, walking more slowly than she had before in order to keep at the pace of the two weakened people. There was about a five minute walk before Kayura threw open another door and they all went inside. Amanda dropped onto a chair with a soft sigh as Denice dropped Rowen onto a couch before sitting down next to him. The Warlords, Masho, and two Kayuras quickly followed suit.
"I suppose we should start with introducing ourselves," Rajura began rather hesitantly after a few moments of silence. "I am Rajura."
"I am Anubisu," Anubisu said.
"Naaza," Naaza continued.
"You already know my name," a Kayura laughed, acquiring a confused look from Rowen.
"But for purpose of telling us apart by names, you can call me Kay(3)," the other Kayura added.
"I'm Amanda," Amanda said after Kayura and Kay were done.
"And I am Denice," Denice finished.
Rowen looked around at everyone. "It's…er…nice to meet you," he said. "But what the hell is going on? And where are the others?"
The Masho and Warlords exchanged nervous glances.
"They must be in Tobraea's dungeon," Cale finally said slowly. "If they have not been killed already."
"What?" Rowen gasped, trying to jump up, but was pulled back by Denice. "We've got to save them! …And who's Tobraea?"
"They will not be killed," Denice snapped suddenly. "Tobraea will be more likely to hold them as hostages to negotiate with the seasonal bearers. He will let your friends go only if they hand over control of the Dynasty and the Youjakai. We cannot allow that, as the dimensions will give them powers they could not have otherwise. He and his men have already destroyed my entire village. We were all warriors. If he has these worlds, he will go after the Mortal Realm and Ninjenkai, and we will not be able to stop him."
"But where did their armors come from?" Rajura asked suddenly. "The only mystical armor I have ever heard of existing was Talpa's broken down armor."
"That is what we do not know," Denice murmured, shaking her head. "But they are capable of crossing both Realms and dimensions, as he had gone to both the Mortal Realm and Ninjenkai, as well as the Youjakai before coming here.
"Wait, wait, slow down," Rowen muttered, shaking his head. "Youjakai? Realms and dimensions? Mind explaining all this for me?"
"Mortals," Denice groaned. "Amanda can explain that much better than I can…."
"You never paid attention in school, did you?" Amanda asked.
"Why would I? I had much better things to do."
Amanda laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Warriors," she sighed. "There are three different Realms. You know of two—the Mortal Realm you live in, and the Nether Realm we are in now. The last is the God Realm, where the Gods live. Nothing but a God or a raw soul may enter there. Both the Mortal and Nether Realms have an infinite amount of dimensions, with varying amounts of differences. Our two dimensions are extremely close to one another, which makes dimensional travel between them easier than it would normally be. The Youjakai is the equivalent of the Nether Realm, and the Ninjenkai is the Mortal Realm."(4)
"…Oh," Rowen said.
"However, this brings up another problem," Kay said suddenly, eyes on Amanda. "How is it that you can travel between dimensions?"
"I don't know," Amanda shrugged, sounding embarrassed. "I wasn't paying attention that day."
"But that was the day I paid attention," Denice laughed. "Everyone in my Nether Realm clan has another half in her Youjakai clan. Amanda and I are in essence the same person.
"The history behind this is pretty much that the Gods made this the main difference between our dimensions. The Youjakai clan were a clan of Healers, while my clan was a clan of Warriors. Each of my people had small bronze horns to blow when we needed major healing from our Youjakai halves. They have been given the ability to cross dimensions and Realms, but it only works if we are in need of their help."
"So, if you hadn't blown that horn…," Kay murmured.
"Then you may have killed me, but would then have had to fight another of my clan. Injured as you were, you would not have won."
"Well, I suppose I had to lose some time," Kay shrugged. "At least you were a worthy opponent."
"I should certainly hope so," Kayura smirked. "I'd hate to think I could have lost to a weakling."
"You do not sound as if you believe I could beat you," Denice said.
"Perhaps I don't," Kayura returned.
"Maybe we should have a bit of a battle," Denice suggested with a grin. "After we get rid of Tobraea, of course."
"Maybe we should," Kayura agreed. "But first we must figure out what we need to do."
"We must save the Ronins and Troopers first," Denice said. "We will need the Kikotei and Inferno if we wish to win, as they are far more powerful than us. We will also need new bearers for the Ogres. Kayura will not be able to handle the staff, her jitte, and the armor all at once."
"Anubis and Shuten are both dead," Anubisu said. "The armor will stay with Kayura and Kay unless they return to life. That will be impossible."
"It won't," Amanda interrupted. "We can bring them back, but first we need Kikotei and Inferno. I am not certain of the ceremonies…."
"But I am," Denice added. "We must save the Ronins and Troopers first. For tonight, however, we rest."
A/N: Hm. Nothing to say…. Hope you liked this thing. ^^ Next chapter, next week!
(1) *pokes Cale* Idiot.
(2) Bad sentence, I know. Did anyone follow it? *reads it again* I think I understand what I said….
(3) Kay would be the…Ronin version.
(4) This way of explaining weird things that should be able to happen seems to be running rampant throughout my Ronin fics. I need a new idea. ^^;
Thanks to:
Nell- Well you should make some excuses for reviews yourself, shouldn't you? You need them. Oh, and tell chibi werewolf club that none of that will happen, becuase Bailey-chan is too...too...well, you fill in a word there. I'm certainly not.
Harry2- Swiftgold's site is the best, isn't it? ^-^ I think I should submit this to her site, but.... Well, let's just put it that I'm a lazy bum, so.... And don't worry about the Cheesy Announcer Guy, I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon. *hides her frying pan*
Wildfire Dreams- Thanks. ^-^