DOUBLE VISION


By: Lady*Wildfire*Star (yes I keep changing my name & I might change it again, just so you know!)


Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Warriors. I wish I did. The only thing I own, is the characters that I created.



**Thank you very much to everyone who read this and reviewed! I truly appreciate it! Please continue reading & reviewing! **



Rated: PG-13 , and I'm pretty sure by now that it will remain PG-13. If it changes you will know.



Author's Notes: 1). First off I'd like to say that Mia is quite a bit out of character in this chapter, it's because of the memory dust from chapter three. (Just refreshing your memory about chapter 3)

2). Yes this chapter seems a little bit far-fetched but everything will make sense in the end.

3). These will be used to indicate Kayura and Anubis talking to each other telepathically through their connection. If it gets confusing in any way, just ask!

4.) This is another chapter that went through a lot of revision, I'm still not satisfied with this one either. A re-posting is possible.




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Chapter Four: Ice



The golden sunlight gently poured in through the beige blinds of Sage and Rowen's room, and it's only occupant Kayura shifted slightly. The glittering sunlight shone down into Kayura's face burning into her closed eyes , begging her silently to awaken. Kayura knew consciously she was starting to wake up , but she tried to stay in dreamland with Rowen. For once her dreams were not plagued with atrocious visions of the Dynasty and Anubis was absent this time as well. A small smile crept over her face as she awoke. Kayura was not quite sure where she was at first, but then she realized. She was at Mia's mansion, in ROWEN's room. The navy haired woman sat up and looked around, immediately noticing that the presence of the blue haired man was missing from where she had slept. Wishing he would have woke her up before exiting, she stretched and looked around the room. Sage was also awake and not present in the room. Kayura laughed to herself, she was a restless sleeper and she hoped she had not kicked Rowen or anything like that in her sleep. She thought for a moment about her feelings for Rowen, what did she really think of him? She knew she was attracted to him, but it did not stop at that. Kayura, however knew she did not love him. She could, given time. It had been so long since that word had crossed her mind, she remembered the last time, and shuddered at the thought. The slate blue- grey eyed woman had once had an infatuation with a former warlord, and thought she was in love with him. Sekhmet, a known womanizer, who had believed love was more poisonous then he was. Kayura had been enamored with Sekhmet and he had made it obvious he desired her, but it stopped at that. She cared for him and he did not care for her. And then there was Cale, who had an obsession with her. She sighed, that had been a disaster. Kayura was deep in thought, about old times, when Sage came rushing through the door.


"Did you hear that?" he questioned her frantically.


She tilted her head to the side, which showed her confusion as she voiced it, "Excuse me? Hear what exactly?"

"There was a loud sound that came from upstairs. And I - " Sage stopped abruptly and ran back out of the room. 'That Halo is good looking, albeit strange' , Kayura thought. She gave one final satisfying stretch and decided that it would be a good idea to get out of bed.



*******


Downstairs in the kitchen....



Mia stood before Ryo, Kento, and Rowen with her make up on rather dark and her hair a mess. She wore a little ebony tube top and equally tight black hot pants with the words Playboy Bunny 2004(hehe see I listen to my reviewers ideas) on it. They had never seen her dressed like this, not wearing hardly any clothes(except Sage who had walked in on her undressing once and blushed profusely), and could not tear their eyes away from her. They had no idea that Mia's body looked like that. She certainly did not wear clothes that showed her thin stomach, her model perfect curves, and broad chest. Mia had one arm placed against the wall and was leaning into it and looking at all of them seductively. She sauntered over to Ryo and leaned down against the table to look at him. When she spoke they noticed the nature of her tone, her voice was somehow not the Mia they knew. "Hello handsome." Ryo raised his raven colored eyebrows at this, but did not speak. Mia pulled a chair out from underneath the table and sat down next to him, pulling the chair really close to him. Leaning into him, inching closer to his face, she asked "Do you come here often?"


Ryo choked out, "I live here."


Mia nodded slowly as if confused, and began to twirl her burgundy hair around her finger. Then she noticed Kento gawking at her as he leaned forward to look around Ryo to see her. She jumped up at once and went over to him. Mia sat down on Kento's lap and leaned over to squeeze his biceps that were exposed because of the tank top he was wearing. "Do you work out?" she questioned him in a sultry voice, that was definitely not Mia Koji's. All Kento could do was nod because words were lost to him. Then , Mia turned her attention to Rowen and licked her lips. She had opened her mouth to speak to him and was climbing off Kento's lap when the back door opened, announcing someone's arrival. Everyone turned to see who it was. Cye walked through the door and it was a moment before he noticed Mia in her present state. When he finally looked up , his eyes widened in surprise.


Mia walked over to Cye and draped her arms around him, "You have the most beautiful eyes, I've ever seen" she said .


"Thank you very much." he said with a smile. "Oh and the accent." She laughed a laugh that did not belong to Mia Koji and leaned forward. "You're just too cute you know that?" Mia tightened her hold on Cye and was about to kiss him and he was making no effort to refuse her attempts. At that moment, Sage walked in.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" he yelled. Everyone looked at Sage surprised that he had lost control, and Sage was quite surprised himself. He stared at Mia and Cye , turning red with rage. 'Nobody knows about his feelings for Mia but me' thought Rowen. 'Looks like they all do now'. Mia immediately released Cye and walked over to Sage. She let her messy curled hair down but accidently dropped the hair tie and bent over to pick it up.


Once she had picked it back up she said, "Damn you're the best one I've seen so far." The other guys rolled their eyes at this, Sage really had a way with women. Mia's hand came up and caressed Sage's cheek, as she looked him up and down. She took her finger and traced along his rosy lips. The burgundy haired woman leaned forward into Sage and gently smelled him. "Mmm. What kind of cologne is that? You smell so good", Mia said as she batted her eyelashes. Sage grinned big, 'finally the attention I deserve, but what's going on with her?'. Mia then noticed Sage's smile , "That smile. You have very sexy smile." Mia pulled Sage roughly to her and kissed him passionately. Sage tried to resist for a second but then let himself be subdued by Mia.


After a few moments he pulled back, "Okay what's this about? What's going on?" Sage asked. Mia looked at him innocently, a blank expression in her forest green eyes. Mia then proceeded to jump into his arms and try to kiss him again. Sage , once again, gave up resisting.


Kayura, who had just entered the room, was wondering the same thing as Sage had been. The first thing she saw was Sage and Mia, and she didn't know they were together. There was no indication from them that they were yesterday, a hint of Sage's feelings were visible, due to the fact that he couldn't conceal his jealously well. She raised an eyebrow at this and then turned to the other Ronins. Ryo, Kento , and Rowen were sitting at the table. Kento and Ryo's jaws were dropped open , staring at the scene in front of them. Rowen was studying them with a bewildered look on his face. Cye stood next to the back door, arms crossed over his chest , looking rather miffed about the whole situation.


Kayura strolled over to Rowen and whispered to him so only he could hear, "What's going on in here? Is this a normal occurrence?"


Rowen whispered back, "No. This has never happened before. Mia doesn't even look like herself and she's sure not acting like herself."


Kayura turned to look at Rowen and he looked at her but before she could speak, White Blaze came running into through the back door and grabbed Cye's pant leg and began whipping his hand back and forth, as if to play tug of war with his pants. (Yes I know, a lot of sudden entrances) However, it wasn't a game for White Blaze who then bit Cye's leg .


Ryo ran over to White Blaze and began making efforts to draw the attention of the large tiger, "White Blaze! STOP IT! Leave Cye alone!"Ryo yelled. Cye was screaming at the tiger for him to let go, and all this noise was the only thing that could tear Mia away from Sage.

She broke the kiss and released her tight hold on Sage to hide behind him, "HELP! A tiger! Protect me from him!" yelled Mia dramatically.


Ryo had finally managed to get White Blaze off of Cye, but White Blaze still growled ferociously at Cye.


"Sorry Cye, you know he never does that to friends. White Blaze is only like that when he feels threatened. I don't know what's the matter with him lately." Ryo stated.


Mia put her hand up to her forehead, "I feel like I'm going to faint. Please carry me up to my room, so I can sleep for awhile", she said to Sage.


Sage didn't have much to say. Just as the other guys he was shocked by this recent turn of events. "Are you okay, Mia?"was all he said. Then he scooped Mia up into his arms.


As Sage walked away carrying Mia, the occupants of the kitchen could hear Mia ask , "I'm fine. But whose Mia?" Then everybody was silent, contemplating these bizarre events.


Kento was the one who finally took the floor. "Damn! Who knew Mia had that kind of a body?"



************



A large smoke colored cauldron sat over a pile of hissing crackling orange flames. Inside the cauldron was a putrid brownish-yellow substance that was boiling and emitting a horrid smell. Fiera took a ladle and began to stir it as she read what to add in next.


"A handful of powdered earth worm and two drops of vampire bat's blood. Hmmm I wonder if I have any left?" she said aloud. Fiera crept over to her inventory cupboard and began to search through the jars, vials, and bags of ingredients. True, her cupboard had been in disarray since she moved into Tulpa's castle, but it was still possible to find things. She pulled out a velvet bag full of powered earth worm and found a small vial of vampire bat's blood. Back at the cauldron she took out a handful of powered earth worm and threw it in. The brew hissed and changed to the color dark green. Then she promptly added two drops of vampire bat's blood, and there was a small flash of light. 'I should have this memorized, I've been doing this for years' she thought as she stirred the brew. She closed her eyes and slowly remembered how this all came about.


It was a long time ago, back when she and others lived in Daemonicus's castle, in her native land. Life was pleasant back then, it was a time when Fiera was not cruel and evil. True, she had not been born a vampire, although she was a witch, she was good natured. It was a stormy night, and on stormy nights she could be found reading in library or her study. On that particular night she had been sitting in her study reading about ancient forms of medicine when one of the servants came running through the door. "My lady! My lady! You have to come with me!" the servant screamed.


"What tis it?" Fiera demanded , worry beginning to take hold on her.


"It's Master Daemonicus, he's been attacked." Fiera got up and raced after her servant who was running towards the dining room. Once in the elaborately decorated dining room , she found that the servants had hoisted Daemonicus onto the table. Fiera ran to him and began to ask him what happened but all he said was he could not remember. She felt for a heartbeat, he had one but it was not constant and it seemed to be skipping beats. Fiera examined him looking for any wounds, and she was puzzled about what was wrong with him until she moved his head slightly to the right. There she saw two small holes had pierced his neck. Her eyes lit up in horror, as she grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the blood coming from the holes. She knew what it was that had happened.



Snapping back into reality Fiera realized that her brew was beginning to boil over, she cursed as she poured water onto the flames. The flames sizzled and went out, and she returned to her cupboard once more to fetch the final ingredient. She added a strand of hair from a Pegasus's tail, and watched as the potion thinned out and turned black , like a tar substance. Fiera knew she had to wait a while for this potion to cool, so she sat down and her mind began to wander again.


The next morning after Daemonicus's attack Fiera had decided to go to his room and bring him breakfast, hoping he would want to eat. Fiera entered the room , "Good morning, Master Daemonicus", she chirped. He lay in his white silk sheets upon his bed, with his back propped up by a pillow. He was staring at the floor , looking rather pale and his face was becoming devoid of any color at all.


"How are you feeling now? Better?", she asked as she came over to his bedside table and delicately sat down the silver tray of food she brought. Fiera slid a chair over next to his bed and sat upon it. "You really should try to eat."


Daemonicus did not look at her and he did not speak to her at all. Moments flew by without any interaction between the two. Fiera pleaded, "Please tell me, do you remember anything at all ?"


Daemonicus now turned his attention to her and nodded slowly. "Tell me what happened to you, so I may understand. Are you in pain? Perhaps I can brew you some medicine. Just tell me what's wrong!" Fiera begged.


Daemonicus pointed to the holes on his neck , "It is inevitable that I shall join the realm of the immortal, Fiera."


"How did this happen to you?" Fiera could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes, threatening to spill over.


" I had forgotten to feed the horses earlier , so I went to feed them. I heard a cry coming from the forest, it sounded like a someone was in trouble. I followed the noise and became disoriented as to where I was. It truly is a labyrinth in there, and in no time at all I was extremely lost. In the middle of the forest was a clearing , and upon a stone sat a crying young girl. I walked over to the young girl and asked her where he parents are. She told me she had become lost and could not find her way, and that something had followed her. I told her to take my hand and I would help her find her home but as she stood up , the bushes rustled. A dark figured emerged , it was woman, her clothes torn and ragged. Even though I could not see her well , I knew something about her was off. She ordered me to step aside , but I refused. She laughed at me, saying that I could not kill her. I wondered why she had said that. The young girl hid behind me and the woman lunged onto me. She was not bigger than I am but her strength felt as if it was the strength of several men. I did not want to hit a woman, but she kept lunging at me and I kept trying to push her away from me. It was then that the little girl , walked out from standing behind me and walked closer towards this woman. I was distracted by the little girl's actions and as I watched her the woman threw me to the ground and held me there. "Remember this night well, my child" ,she said to the little girl, "The night we took revenge upon the great Lord Daemonicus."


Daemonicus paused then continued on, "I asked her who she was, but she refused to say. She inched forward towards me and in the moonlight I could see her face. The woman had a scar that cut clear down the left side of her face and her eyes were a piercing light blue almost white. Then in an instant I knew who she was. She was a decedent of the Sacharius family. Long ago during a great battle my family had driven hers out of this castle. When we found out what they were, a rare vampire bloodline, we vowed to destroy all of their kind. Knowing that I am of the Merdairos family and that my family had destroyed all of her family but a very few she watched me with hatred in her light eyes. She then said , "Now you will know what it feels like to be feared. And you will feel the burning of this rare pain. You shall now be a vampire like us, but from the moment you are bitten you will begin to fade away. There is only one cure that can cool this fiery pain, but you shall never find it. I hope you enjoy this burden, this curse will be the end of you." She leaned down and bit my neck hard, and even though I struggled with all my might I could not free myself. As she bit me I felt the burning she spoke of, and I felt some of my power leaving me, as well as some of my life. I closed my eyes for a moment then they were gone. Gathering all my strength I returned to the castle."



After he had finished his story , Fiera was aware of the fact that tears were running down her cheeks. "I will find the cure for you, my Lord", she vowed.


"We must find a cure, the one which she talked about. I am, although, not quite sure what she meant . But for now we cannot I am much too weak and I do not want you to wander anywhere alone" he said to her.


"In the mean time I shall use my potion skills to make something to delay this, and stop your pain" Fiera said.




And since then she had done just that. After much trial and error, she had finally found a potion that could take away some of his pain. At first he only had to take the potion once a year, but as time went on, he needed it more frequently, because the pain kept coming back. Fiera often wondered why her being a vampire did not cause her pain the way it did him. He believed it was because he was bitten by a direct decedent of the Sacharius family. Fiera knew eventually that the potion would cease to work, that the burning pain would consume him entirely, and his last bit of magic would be sucked out of him. Thus was the basis, for the plan to resurrect Talpa.


*******


A gentle breeze blew and whipped through Kayura's navy hair, the sun was behind a some stratus clouds and it looked as if rain might occur once again. It was a breezy day and somewhat cold, but none the less, Kayura and Rowen sat on the front porch of Mia's mansion, the exact same spot where they had first seen each other again after several years. Rowen was reading and Kayura was sitting close to him, looking at the book but not reading it because she could not concentrate. Little did she know that Rowen was only pretending to read, he was distracted by her sitting there.


"What are thinking about?" he asked her.


"Quiet, I'm reading."


"No your not, just like I'm not" Rowen said tossing the book aside. "What's troubling you, Kayura?"


"I did not say anything was wrong" Kayura said.


"You're thinking about Anubis and that other armor aren't you?" questioned Rowen.


Kayura stared off into the distance pretending to be watching something, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"


"I know you heard me."


She studied him for a moment wondering how he seemed to know her thoughts were elsewhere , had she made it that obvious? As she watched him watching her an outlandish thought came to her, what caused him to dye his hair blue? Kayura's hair was somewhat blackish naturally, and it had a tendency to look navy colored. " I was thinking about Anubis" she told him finally.


"What about him?" Rowen's voice sounded possibly annoyed and Kayura was taken aback by this.


"I just wonder how it could all be true, that's all. And how is it possible that , that another armor exists? You know I hate to admit it, but I don't really want to go back to fighting. I like my life as is", said Kayura.


Rowen put his arm around her gently, and carefully pulled her closer to him, so she could rest her head on his shoulder. And she did just that. "I hate to admit that I worry. And that I wonder what will happen. I can only hope that this isn't starting over again. I just want a normal life, is that so much to ask for? she sighed, " You probably think I'm pathetic don't you?"


"Not at all. I wonder the same things as you do. But it does no good to worry, I'm sure everything will be fine in the end. It always is" he assured her.


She closed her slate blue- grey eyes and breathed in his scent. She was so comfortable that she could fall asleep right there, stay like that forever.


Sage walked outside onto the porch to join them and stood silent looking out into the horizon. "Where's your girlfriend?"asked Rowen in a joking tone.


The blonde haired man turned to look at Rowen and smiled, "She's still sleeping. I've been checking on her. What do you think caused her to act like that?"


"I'm not sure, Sage. Nothing's been quite right lately", Rowen responded.


Kayura was deep in thought and could not even hear the words being said between Rowen and Sage. She was once again pondering the thought of another armor. 'If there really is an armor made of ice, then it would be the eleventh armor not the tenth . If you count inferno that is. I wonder how powerful it is, and where I would find it. Probably somewhere very cold, hidden in a cavern of some sort.' It was then that Kayura decided she should perhaps try to speak to Anubis telepathically. She knew it would disrupt her to speak to Anubis with Sage and Rowen in the background so she decided she would take a walk. 'I'll just tell them that I feel like walking around, I need some exercise or that I need to think. That's it.'Sage and Rowen were still conversing when Kayura announced she was going to take a walk.


"I'll go with you", offered Rowen.


"No, I need to think. I want to be alone right now", said Kayura.


"Do you think it's wise to wander off with all of the strange incidents that have been going on?" asked Sage.


"I don't think you should be wandering around alone, I don't mind going with you", said Rowen.


"I'm a big girl , I can take care of myself." And with that Kayura hopped up off the porch and was on her way.



Without knowing where she was , somehow Kayura had made her way to the lake that Anubis was at the night before. She sat down in a spot right next to where he was previously and looked into the lake at her reflection. Kayura was perfectly still for a moment taking in her surroundings, she breathed in the cold air and listened to the shrill sound of a few birds chirping in the distance. Kayura picked up a small rock and threw it into the crystal blue lake and watched the rings that the impact made of the rock created. It subsided and all was still once again. She looked around to make sure there was no one near her and closed her eyes. In her mind she said Anubis.



Kayura?


Anubis, I have a lot to ask you!


What is it Kayura?


Anubis, why does no one really know about the Silver Icecrystal armor?


Ryo of the Wildfire knows about it, or have you forgotten that? He was told by the Ancient One not to say anything.


I have forgotten. Can you tell me more about this mystifying armor?


The Silver Icecrystal armor was like a prototype of the other armors. It was the first one created and upon it was bestowed powers to manipulate ice and snow. It was also given a strange healing power, that any sickness the bearer of it might have would be cured. The armor has a guiding virtue, and that virtue is courage. The armor was found to not always be obedient however and not as powerful as originally designed to be, so it was banished.


So then it wouldn't be more powerful than inferno?


No, Kayura it would not be. This armor will not be stronger than the others even. But it would not be weak . Anyone could wear this armor, Kayura. But it was found to be disobedient to many wearers because this armor wants only to do good, and must be worn by someone with true courage. That is why, along with being the last woman of the Ancient's bloodline, that I feel it would obey you.


Anubis, where is it located?


I will give you a clue, it is frozen within a sheet of crystal. It is not yet time for you to retrieve it, Kayura . When it is time you will need to take the opposite of the ice armor's force with you to free it.


Wildfire?


Yes, Kayura. Only Wildfire could free the Silver Icecrystal Armor.


Anubis, strange things have been happening lately. The ex-warlords are missing still. Halo and Rowen, I mean Strata, have been saying that things haven't been quite right lately.


Rowen? Kayura, you call him by his first name now?


That's not the point, Anubis. Do you still feel like the dynasty is back? Torrent said he saw them.


Kayura, my advice to you is to be careful who you trust. The Ronin Warriors may have always been the protagonists in this equation, but you should always be prepared for the influence of outside forces. If the Dynasty is truly back , like I believe, they will be after you and the Ronin Warriors.


Outside forces?


Why else would bizarre events be taking place? Perhaps another force is at work here. Have you anything else to ask, Kayura?


No I do not. Have you anything else to say Anubis?


I have told you all you need to know for the time being, just be wary.


I see your points. Thank you. Goodbye Anubis she thought.


And then his voice was no longer in her head.


***********


In the darkness of his throne room, Talpa sat awaiting the arrival of two of his three warlords. Talpa had summoned Cale and Sekhmet just a moment ago and was growing impatient with their stalling. The doors screeched open and the clanking of metal upon marble could be heard approaching him at an increasing rate.



"You called , Master Talpa?" inquired Cale.


"Indeed I did, Dark Warlords. Is my new army progressing?"


"They are Master. More soldiers are being recruited each day and soon we will have enough to conquer the Mortal Realm", replied Sekhmet.


"Dais is taking a long time to acquire information for me. I believe this situation may call for drastic measures. I do not want the Ronin Warriors to feel my presence, and I feel if they are throughly distracted I can obtain their armors. What I ask you to do I cannot ask Dais to do , because he is to act as Torrent. They cannot be suspicious of him. I must draw them from the Mortal Realm. Since I have the real Torrent locked away, they cannot create Inferno and they cannot defeat me without the Inferno Armor", said Talpa.


"What ingenious plan have you concocted , Master?" asked Cale.


"You are to kidnap the girl."


***********************



Yes, I know this chapter wasn't as long as the last, sorry. Well, I made Mia kiss Sage, had White Blaze attack Cye, explained Fiera's mentor's curse, had Kayura talk to Anubis telepathically, and I revealed some of the next chapter....my work is done... for now!


- Lady*Wildfire*Star