Double Vision By Lady*Wildfire*Star
****Disclaimer: I do not and will not EVER own the Ronin Warriors. I still own my characters that I created.
**Thanks everyone for reading & reviewing this! As I always , I really appreciate it.**
*Author's Notes: Actually for once, I don't have any for you.
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Chapter 5: Truth
Kayura opened her pale slate blue-grey eyes to look around to where she was. She had not left the lake, and all time seemed lost to her. She watched the trees dancing as the breeze whistled through their branches. It had not been long since she spoke to Anubis, yet something seemed uneasy with her. Try as she might she could not believe that another armor existed, what a ludicrous thought. Maybe it once did, but she was certain it wasn't real now. How did she know? She didn't, but it was a feeling she had. She knew that she had just spoken to Anubis, it was most certainly him, but his information had to have been wrong. She might have been told about this ice armor along time ago, but it had always been myth not truth. 'There could be no truth in this legend', she reasoned, ' because if it was real then it would have been obtained long ago. And even if it was real, then it could not be very valuable , because Talpa was defeated without the use of it.' Kayura sighed and stood up to begin her walk back to the house.
******
"Kidnap who, Master?" questioned Cale.
"Kayura, I know she is going to go after that other armor. If it even exists that is. We cannot have her interfering with the Ronin Warriors' demise," stated Talpa.
Cale and Sekhmet exchanged questioning glances. Clearly, neither one of them wanted to be the one to kidnap Kayura . Mia was one thing, she was not an experienced fighter, and rather vulnerable. But Kayura? Not only did she have an armor, and her old star swords, but she was powerful. In their opinions, they had better things to do than waste their time with some stupid girl.
Silence.
"Do not trouble yourselves with deciding who will go, I want both of you to go," an amused Talpa said.
"Yes master", repeated Cale and Sekhmet at the same time. They knew that with Talpa there was no point in arguing anything. Any sort of argument resulted in time spent in the torture dungeons.
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Anubis had finally made it, he was in Siberia. He had used some power from the Ancient's staff to transport himself here. Snowing was pouring down upon him and an icy wind blew into his face making him squint his emerald eyes to keep out the cold. Before him stood the entrance to an old icy cavern. Anubis thoroughly believed that the eleventh armor was hidden here in this remote frozen location. He took a deep breath, and inched closer to the entrance. Darkness, nothing but endless pure darkness. Anubis shook the staff and it began to glow. The light from it washed over the walls of the shadowed cave and Anubis peered inside. Indeed, the cold was much more vicious inside the cave than it had been outside. But no matter, he knew he had to go inside. He couldn't send Kayura and Wildfire into danger, and he also wanted to know for himself if the old legend was true.
******
Kayura walked peacefully through the woods on her way back to the mansion. The wind was so loud and it blew through the trees creating quite a noise. The leaves crunched beneath her step , and a single bird seemed to be chirping an alarm, to warn someone of a nearby danger. All this noise stopped Kayura from hearing two figures sneaking through the trees, approaching her cautiously. The armored figures walked swiftly, afraid their armors would cause too much noise and alert their prey. She was unarmed and would be an easy target, if one agreed with the technique of attacking the enemy from behind. Kayura stopped walking, realizing she could not see the mansion. She had not heard the noise. The navy haired woman then knew she went the wrong way after leaving the lake. She was trying to get her bearings and about to turn around when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand came up to cover her mouth. Kayura's muffled scream could be heard as she felt the coldness of an armored hand over her mouth. She at once recognized the grey armor before the man could speak. She knew it was Cale. Kayura lurched forward in an attempt to run, but then she saw Sekhmet in his sub-armor. He also came from behind her and had an evil grin on his face. She writhed and wiggled against Cale's hold trying to kick or punch anything she could get a hold of. So two of the missing warlords were here? Why did she have the instinct that they wanted to harm her? The lifeless look in Sekhmet's eyes only heightened her suspicions.
"So we meet again, Kayura" It was Sekhmet's snakelike voice that finally ended the silence. Kayura tried to speak but her words were incomprehensible because of Cale's hand over her mouth. Sekhmet rolled his eyes, "Take your hand off her mouth you damn idiot. I cannot understand what she's trying to say!", he screamed at Cale. Cale removed his hand from Kayura's mouth so she could speak.
"What the hell is going on here? Where have you been?" cried Kayura.
Sekhmet smiled, "Working for our master." Kayura's eyes grew wide at this, knowing at once what he meant. "And I'm sure you will be delighted to hear your going to be reunited."
"No!" she bellowed , "What's wrong with you? Are you crazy? Talpa is DEAD!"
Cale leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear, "No but that's where you are wrong my dear. He's very much alive." Cale brought his other arm to encircle her waist as well and pulled her roughly against his body. He caressed her stomach and slowly brought one hand up to her chest, and Kayura cringed with disgust, knowing that the real Cale would not normally do that. Realization hit her and she knew that the only way that they would act like this would be because they were being controlled. Talpa really was back and that's why all these strange things had happened lately. "If I could just get away to tell the Ronin Warriors. They need to know the truth', she thought desperately. She struggled against him, failing her arms like mad and trying to kick him. Cale tightened his hold on her by grabbing her arms and holding them in front of her. It was easier than trying to dodge Kayura's frenzied punching. Using one arm to hold her tight , he grabbed her hair and pulled hard forcing her to look at Sekhmet who had just told her that she was to come with them immediately.
"I am not going anywhere with you! How are you so weak that you are allowing yourself to be brainwashed once again!" she yelled at them, and then spat in Sekhmet's face. Sekhmet brought his right armored fist up and it connected with her jaw making her yelp in pain.
"Now you can go the hard way or you can go the easy way, Kayura. But whatever way you choose you must know that your coming with us. How many times do I have to tell you that?"hissed Sekhmet. Kayura continued to struggle a little even after being punched in the face. She stopped moving when Sekhmet dropped a little copper colored sphere to the ground, and a split second later the sphere erupted and there was a bright light. The light enveloped the trio and it felt as if she were falling through a hole in the ground and her whole body felt like it was tingling. Then all she could see was black as she lost consciousness.
*******
The golden sun was descending through the sky, disappearing through the trees. The colors surrounding it was of soft pinks, reds, and orange with a slight tinge of violet shadowing the background. As darkness arose, Rowen Hashiba's fear rose with it. Why had Kayura not come back yet? Where was she? He was on the wooden porch in that very spot, holding his book from earlier but still not reading it. Sage, who was outside with Rowen, sensed his nervousness. "I'm sure, she's fine", Sage told Rowen , although that was not what he felt. Sage, being very perceptive of harm , almost knew something was not right.
"Think she could be lost? It's really easy to get disoriented in there, that forest is like a maze" said Rowen. Sage said nothing in response , but stared out into the distance at the setting sun.
"You guys, it's dinnertime," said Mia who had just emerged through the door. Mia was back to herself again completely. No uncharacteristic clothes, dark makeup , or strange voice. It was back to the good old Mia Koji, only she looked exhausted. Sage stared at her wondering what had caused her actions earlier and if she even remembered it. Rowen could only ponder where Kayura was. Mia noticed Kayura had not been inside, and she wasn't outside either. So where was she? "Where did Kayura go?"asked Mia.
"Good question," said Rowen , "We don't know that either."
"She said she was going to talk a walk, she needed to think," stated Sage.
Mia sat down next to Sage and asked him how long she had been gone, and Sage told her quite awhile. Rowen sighed and blew his blue forelock out of his eyes which had come out of the headband that he always wore. "I'm going to go find her," the blue haired man told them, "I know these woods really well, and it's getting dark. She should not be wandering through the forest alone at night."
"Rowen, I'm sure she'll be back soon. You don't need to do that just yet,"protested Mia.
"If she gets back before I do, keep her here," Rowen said as he got up.
"Is there any way to stop you?" questioned Sage knowing all too well what his best friend's answer would be.
"Not a chance," said Rowen as he stalked off into the forest.
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"Kayura! Kayura! Is it really you?"
Kayura stirred and opened her eyes. She was in some sort of dungeon, and the smell was rancid. There she sat on the damp cold ground. Kayura tried to get up, but she was chained in a upright position to the wall. The navy haired woman looked for the source of that familiar British accented voice. 'Was that who I think it was', she wondered. Her blue-grey eyes scanned the premises, it was almost completely dark with the exception of dim blue flames mounted on the walls in torches. Metal bars surrounded her. So she was locked in, a prisoner. Kayura felt her cheek stinging and then all the events from earlier came rushing back to her.
"Kayura, over here!"
She directed her eyes to the source of the voice to find a ragged , beaten auburn haired teen. He forced a smile in her direction. His voice was different than this morning.
"Cye? Where are we?", she asked.
"Talpa's dungeon," he responded.
He was very dirty and looked like he had not eaten in a few days. He was beaten badly and some of the cuts on his face had already began to scab over. She was interrupted from her thoughts by his voice.
"It's a shame to have not seen you in forever then end up seeing you again like this. Looks like were all going to have to fight again" , said Cye sadly.
Kayura's mind had picked up on the words not seen you in forever, and wondered what he meant. "What do you mean not seen you in forever?", she asked.
"It's been years Kayura. A long time. Well...umm.. how have you been?" replied Cye.
"No Cye, it hasn't been years. I saw you this morning! What are you talking about?" she exclaimed. Surely a blow to the head had impaired his memory.
"I assure you, Kayura, that we have not seen each other in quite some time," said Cye firmly. He was beginning to wonder what was wrong with her. Was she delirious?
"No no no! I saw you this morning at Mia's house. You were standing by the back door, you don't remember? Mia tried to kiss you!" Kayura exclaimed.
" I haven't seen the others since I was abducted by Dynasty Soldiers a few days ago,"stated Cye. He had now realized what had happened. "Kayura, what you have all been seeing must have been a copy of me."
"That's why they thought you were acting strange," Kayura mumbled.
Cye heard this however and said , "It was an illusion of me."
Kayura had caught on to what he was insinuating by now. "That's why just Cale and Sekhmet kidnaped me. That's why I didn't see Dais. Dais is pretending to be you! And everyone else doesn't know!" proclaimed Kayura.
Cye used all his strength to stand up and come over closer to Kayura's cell, which neighbored his own. In the dim light she could barely see his sea green eyes. The other Cye had the same cold lifeless look that Sekhmet had, but this Cye did not have that look. Cye carefully sat himself down. " We have got to get out of here, Kayura. It looks like they are planning some sort of trap."
The blue-grey eyed woman nodded. "I wish we had a way to warn them of the danger."They were silent for a moment. The light bulb seemed to turn on in Kayura's head and she smiled with hope that her idea could work. "Unless... ANUBIS!" she said.
Cye tilted his head and looked at her, "Anubis?" he asked.
"Anubus!", she repeated. "He's not dead Cye! I've been having dreams about him and we can talk to each other telepathically!"
Cye looked at her like she was insane. "Kayura, Anubis passed. A long time ago. There is no way that you can talk to him," he told her calmly.
"No no no!", she said. "We all figured he was dead too, but he faked his death. He and I are the last of the Ancient's bloodline and we can talk to each other through a connection we share. I can let him know that he was right. The Dynasty has come back into power. That way he can warn the other Ronin Warriors."
Cye eyes widened with hope. "Excellent! Tell Anubis to explain to them what has happened!"
Kayura smiled and closed her eyes. In her mind she said 'Anubis.'
But nothing happened.
So she tried again. 'Anubis'.
Still no answer.....
'Anubis! Anubis! ANUBIS!!!!' , she tried repeatedly.
Nothing still.
Kayura opened her pale eyes again and was unable to hide her look of fear. Cye observed this and asked her, "What's wrong?"
"It's not working. He isn't answering me! We talked earlier! It worked then.", she said her voice trailing off.
Cye looked down at the ground, then back up at Kayura. "We've got to get out of here."
********
Inside a cave composed of entirely ice and snow a red haired man was investigating. So far he had checked the entire cave and there was no armor or armor orb. There was no other place it could be , every sign had pointed to this specific location. Anubis shivered, the cave wasn't too big and he was almost near the end. He had looked everywhere, below, above, beside. In every wall. There was no armor frozen within a sheet of crystal. 'It does not exist' , thought Anubis as he walked forward, and then he saw it. At the end of the cave in the middle of four pillars of solid ice something was shining atop of a large block of ice. This large block of ice looked like a crystal, and had little steps on it that you could walk up to reach the top. Anubis sprinted to the block and climbed up it in search of the glimmer had seen.
When he reached the top however he received yet another shock . There on top of that block of ice lay the remains of a broken silver helmet. One arm was there as well. Anubis picked up the destroyed helmet, knowing that this armor would not be able to be worn. It had been annihilated long ago. The emerald eyed man observed the remains of the armor. So it was no myth, yet it had been destroyed. Anubis eyed the armor with curiosity, wondering why and how it was destroyed. 'I doubt it was powerful at all', he thought, 'nothing could ever match inferno.' The remains of the metal seemed to break and crumble by his touch, it was a flimsy material and was nothing like the other armors. It did not even look like them from what he could tell. He didn't have much of an armor to go off of, a helmet and arm. But it was different somehow, Anubis could tell. Anubis reminded himself of why he had come, to make sure he did not put Kayura and Wildfire into danger. He had to tell Kayura what he had seen, she would need to know. Anubis closed his eyes and said Kayura in his mind. But she didn't answer. He tried again and was met the same response each time. No reply. Anubis suddenly felt very sick, and he knew he needed to get out of the cave. The red haired man threw down the helmet and ran down the stairs. He hurried out of the cave, but was careful not to make too much noise. He didn't need the cave to collapse on him.
Once outside Anubis looked around. It was getting colder yet. He shook the staff and then slammed it into the ground. He visualized the location he wanted to go to. It glowed and brought him to the lake by Mia's mansion. He had to go there to speak to Kayura, because for some reason she felt compelled to not respond to his pleas. Anubis' mind began racing, what if something happened to Kayura, what if she's not at the mansion? 'The only thing that could block our connection would be Talpa' , thought Anubis, 'I have to go to the Ronin Warriors, they need to know what has come to pass.' Anubis took a deep breath and looked around. 'Would they even believe me? Do they know that I'm alive?' , he wondered. No matter, it was a chance he was willing to take.
*******
At Mia's......
The blonde man was watching the trees carefully, hoping that anytime now that Rowen would return with Kayura. Although he suspected otherwise, yet another one of his gut feelings. Mia was out there with him, drinking some green tea. They were both silent, Sage wondering about his friend, Mia wondering why she couldn't remember things very well lately. Sage looked over at the burgundy haired woman. "What's on your mind?" he asked, knowing she was thinking hard.
She took a drink and then turned to face him. "I cannot remember things lately. Take this morning for instance. I cannot remember anything after I made that disgusting blue drink for Cye. And yesterday, I followed Cye upstairs because he was acting different. But I don't remember talking to him. It seems like all of my memory loss has to do with Cye."
Sage studied her for a moment with his chilling violet eyes. "Cye hasn't been himself lately," Sage laughed , "You were not yourself this morning."
Mia gazed at him with her forest green eyes, "What do you mean , I was not myself ?"
"Literally. You were dressed differently, with dark makeup on. Your hair was done all different, and your voice wasn't your own. Mia, you acted nothing like yourself", said Sage.
Mia blushed a little bit. When she woke up with clothes on that she didn't even remember she owned , she had questioned what happened. Mia got out of bed and staggered into the bathroom like she was drunk. She felt drunk too, her vision was blurred and her head was pounding. Mia also felt excruciating nauseated. When her vision returned somewhat back to normal she stood with her mouth hanging open at the site before her. She had on a ton of makeup and her hair, it was not her style at all. It was all unruly and big. She looked like a hooker! Grabbing a wash clothe to scrub off the make-up Mia noticed her lipstick was smeared horribly. And then she smelled a familiar cologne about her. Whose was it? She thought of all five boys and then at once she knew, it was Sage's cologne! 'Did something happen between us?' she wondered, 'I can't remember! She figured nothing had happened , because none of the guys would ever take advantage of her like that, especially not Sage. But that didn't mean they did not kiss or something. She smelled like him, and her lipstick was smeared.
After being silent for a moment, because she was wondering how she acted, Mia finally had the bravado to ask. "Truthfully, what was I acting like? What did I do?"
Sage paused a moment to consider his answer. "Well you were flirting with all of us guys. And saying....things." Sage didn't quite know how to answer this. "And.....you....kissed me." Sage averted his eyes so he didn't have to look at Mia when he said the last part.
"Did I?" she asked while turning even more scarlet. Sage nodded slowly and turned back to look at her.
"Hmmm", she said trying to gather her courage to say something bold, something unlike her. Neither of them spoke for a second.
"I've been meaning to do that for years,"she said.
-Lady*Wildfire*Star
This chapter was sort of short as well. I've been busy lately and I've also had writer's block! Sorry about that!
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