Disclaimer: Let's see…. Ten dollars. A shitload of stuffed animals. 300-something books. CDs. Folders. Paper. Fanfic ideas. Action figures of Talpa, Ryo in Inferno, Ryo in Wildfire, and Kento. Hey, I'm getting close!
Warnings: None.
A/N: Hm…. Nice notes, eh? ^^;
Chapter Twelve: In Which a Lot of Random Stuff Happens
"Do you think he really might die?" Rowen asked, leaning back on one arm.
"There is a very likely chance that he will once we go up against Tobraea," Denice replied, standing at the entrance of the tent and watching the people outside. "These people are not particularly well-known for their abilities to fight, though their magic is great. However, he will have all of us to protect him when he needs it. And I will not let him die."
"Funny, you two don't seem as if you like each other very much."
"We don't. But he is a prince, and many of his people are still alive. Since he is the last of the royal line, his death would bring chaos among the survivors."(1)
The was a slight pause.
"And what about you?" Rowen asked softly. "Will you die to protect him?"
"If it is necessary," Denice murmured. "I am the last of my people. I am not needed."
Rowen sighed and stood up, walking over to the melancholic girl and wrapping his arms around her waist as if to comfort her.
"You are needed," he whispered softly. "I need you."
Denice smiled softly, turning around to face him. She said nothing, only wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning against him. Words weren't needed—they both understood. Perhaps too well.
"Is everyone ready?" Kino's voice rang out through the still air. There were soft murmurs of assent and several nods of heads in reply. "Then let's go."
Kino turned sharply on his heel, leading the way towards the cliffy horizon. Those left of the village watched with grim faces as the warriors (…and healer…and mage…) marched away.
Sekhmet yawned widely, following at the end of the line. He had figured that it was best if he stayed as far away from Denice as possible on this little trip. The black-winged princess didn't seem very happy with him for some reason. He guessed the sleeping-during-an-important-meeting thing had confirmed her suspicions that he really was a Class A Moron.
The decision only caused him to pout, angrily kicking a rock ahead of him as he walked. He knew he could act pretty stupid sometimes (okay, most of the time), but Denice didn't need to hate him for it. The truth was that the idiot thing was only really a mask. The other Warlords had become accustomed to his random idiocy, so he continued to act the part. Why was Denice so blind?
He gave the rock a particularly hard kick and watched in surprise as it flew forward. It hit one of the light blue armored boys and bounced harmlessly off his foot with a loud clunking sound. The boy must have felt it, though, because he stopped suddenly and looked behind him.
"Oops," Sekhmet said softly, and the boy burst out laughing.
A few hours passed before Kino suddenly stopped, pointing straight above him.
"There," he stated, eyeing the jewel that was hanging off a cliff a good twenty feet above his head. "There was no way for me to reach it when I first saw it, or I would have taken it to my father before."
"This is it?" Kayura asked blankly. "I mean, no traps, or—"
"I've never tried to get it before. There might be."
"Well, it's about time somebody found out," Denice said, spreading her wings out. "Anything in particular I should know about the thing?"
"It's called the Jewel of Life," Kino responded brightly.
Denice gave him a dirty look before suddenly taking off with one powerful beat of her wings. She was hovering before the jewel in seconds, and she gently lifted it from its position before gently floating back down.
"That was simple," she said.
"Yes," Kino agreed, glaring at her. "If you can fly."
"We should get going," Amanda said hurriedly as Denice's mouth opened to retort. "It's a decently long walk…."
"Can't we just teleport there?" Dais asked grumpily. "Or did Tobraea take over our castle too?"
"The Ronins and Troopers cannot move about the Dynasty as well as you can," Denice replied, a single eyebrow raised. "And Tobraea would notice."
"Damn," was Dais' response.
With a slight laugh, Denice brushed passed him as she waved her hand to signal Kino to return to the lead. He did so with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
As Denice passed by him, Sekhmet glanced at the jewel hanging from Denice's hands. His eyes widened as he recognized the pendant, but where was it….
And it suddenly hit him. He quickly pulled the chain from around his neck and ran to Denice. When he skidded to a stop in front of her, he immediately realized that she was now utterly convinced that he was a complete lunatic.
Resisting the urge to scowl, he instead pasted a smirk on his face and held his Jewel of Life out to Denice.
"Where'd you find this?" Denice asked, snatching it from him.
"In your graveyard when I was on watch that night," Sekhmet replied, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I don't know why, but I forgot about it until tonight."
"You weren't wearing it, were you?"
"Uh…."
Denice gave him an exasperated look.
"What?" Sekhmet asked, sounding rather panicked. "I'm not going to turn into a frog or a bat or something, am I?"
"No," Denice sighed, rolling her eyes. "That's why you've been sleeping so much, idiot."
"…Oh," Sekhmet said sheepishly.
Everybody laughed.
"To the castle," Kayura grinned after the laughter died down. "Shuten will be coming back to life!"
"For a few hours," Denice agreed softly.
"A few hours are better than none," Kay murmured, walking passed everyone. "And at least he'll help us."
Denice glanced around at everyone, shrugging in confusion at Kayura's comment. Then they all followed Kayura to begin the trek back to the castle.
"What'd he do? Drown?" Denice asked sarcastically, looking down from the bridge they were all standing on.
"Ha ha," Kayura said dryly. "So what do we do?"
"Well, it might be helpful if you had the staffs…."
Kayura glared at her as she and Kay called the staffs to them.
"Good job," Denice muttered.
"Denice…," Amanda said softly, "we might want to get this ceremony going…."
"Yeah, yeah," Denice grumbled. "Put the Jewels of Life on the bridge somewhere, and everyone but Kay, Kayura, and the Ryos make a circle around them…."
"What about you and Amanda?" Cale interrupted.
"Erm…oh yeah," Denice murmured sheepishly. "Amanda needs to use her power on the jewels…." She waved Amanda forward. Amanda went to the jewels and placed a hand on either one. "Okay now, Kayura, Kay, stand by the jewel from your dimension and hold the staff over it…. Ryos, both of you form the white armors…."
"With which armors?" Ryo asked.
"The Warlords, of course," Denice replied as if it should have been obvious. "Just nobody be shocked when the Spring orbs disappear…."
Ryo and Ryou glanced at each other for a moment before shrugging and calling on Inferno and Kikotei. In a few seconds, they were both fully armored, and everyone was staring at Denice again.
"Kayura, Kay, concentrate on Anubis and Shuten returning to life. Amanda, use your power on the jewels. Ryos, as soon as the rings on the staff begin clanging quickly and loudly, I want you to release your armors and return to the red armors. The rest of you, concentrate on them reviving as well." She paused slightly. "I will watch.":
Denice stepped back a few steps, eyes traveling over everybody. They all had their eyes closed and seemed deep in concentration.
"How long will this take?" Kino asked her softly.
"I don't know," Denice returned simply.
"Let's hope it won't be too long," Kino murmured. "This will not remain hidden from Tobraea's knowledge for long. If they come…."
"Then we will have to hold them off for as long as we can."
"That won't be very long."
"No, it won't. But we must try. The longer we hold out, the better it is, and the more chance they will have at winning."
"I am not a fighter, Denice," Kino sighed. "I am only a magician. I could die before I even cast one spell."
"You won't," Denice returned easily, confidently. She ignored Kino's disbelieving stare. "You won't, because I won't let you. You are needed, else your people…."
"I know," Kino said. "You will protect me until you are dead. And I will aim my spells at those attacking you, protecting you as best I can."
Denice only nodded, watching vaguely as the rings on the staff began to move, clanging softly together. It wasn't loud, and it wasn't fast, but at least it was beginning.
Though it had better progress soon, because a familiar laughter was suddenly ringing through the air. Tobraea had come.
A/N: I love cliffhangers. I also love not writing fight scenes. Sue me, I'm lazy.
Um…a little note on this chapter. As I read over it, it occurred to me that I should probably have made the Jewels of Life have a negative reaction when Denice grabbed them to back up Tobraea's comment about the "darkness" in her soul. *shrugs* Oh well.
(1) Note to self: "Surivovors" is not a word! *glares at the paper*
Thanks to:
Harry2- Uh. I am? Or, rather, we are? ^^; Okay, so I haven't read these chapters in…forever. But that's besides the point. Darkness? What darkness? I have no idea what you're talking about. *attempts to pretend she's telling the truth* Yay! No more announcer! Eh…forgive me for not dancing, but my knees hurt. ^^;
AnimegirlH- Thankies for the lack of complaint. And…my computer is evil. Pure evil. But oh well. And…no, they apparently can't come to life forever. *sniffles* But then again…who knows, ne? ^^ Hm…and I'm happy you like how the plot's going. I'm a bit iffy on it myself, but…. Eh, whatever.
WildfireDreams- So I've been reminded. Thrice.