Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has anything even remotely to do
with the Ronin Warriors, although I wish I did. Anything that is original,
like the girls, are mine. Blah.
Note: -* words* - means shared thoughts between the girls.
Chapter 8 By: Soulful Gray
Less than a moment had passed before the other Ronins had Lin surrounded. She barely noticed past the horror of what she had done to Sage. Her defense potions had been made for times of sheer danger- so she'd never used them before- not for times of emotional upheaval.
"What the hell did you do to him!" Ryo yelled at her.
"Oh God, I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, on the verge of tears. "I didn't mean to-"
"Just what the hell are you anyway?" Rowen asked snidely as he and Kentoe moved to life the frozen block of Sage. Lin winced at the tone and avoided their eyes. "Some kinda witch?"
"Not exactly," she mumbled.
"Well just what 'exactly' are you, then?" Ryo snapped.
She shrugged. Robyn had never really explained what they were outside of sisters. There had been the comment about her not liking the word "witch" since it sounded kind of mean, but other than that, there had never been any discussion over what they were.
Ryo tried using his armor to melt the ice from Sage's form, but the magical substance was stubborn and only seemed to frost over more. Lin, wanting to make amends, reached for her bag, but stopped when she received suspicious glares from the majority of the others.
"I'm just going to turn him back," she explained softly as she pulled out the vial that could be what she willed it to be. Right then, it would be something to thaw out Sage.
A few drops at the frozen Ronin's feet were all it took before it started to work. The potion spread like wildfire and covered his whole frozen person before the ice started to crack and break away.
Sage gasped as the warm air hit him and oxygen slammed into his lungs. He seemed to be okay after the potion began working to warm his skin. He willed away his armor and gratefully let Rowen and Kentoe hold him up. He was staring at Lin, his eyes shining with a mixture of emotions she didn't feel like identifying. So she looked away and saw Katrin sitting a few yards away, crying and being consoled by Cye. Lin felt a moment of hope. Cye, Robyn had told her, was the Ronin of Trust. Surely they had an ally in him; surely he could see they meant no harm.
"Where did he take her? What's going to happen to Robyn?" she asked brokenly, the first of her tears making paths down her cheeks. Her heart felt empty where Robyn's connection had been. It hurt to think that her sister's link with her might never be restored.
"We don't know," Kayura said, coming to crouch in front of her. "Lin, why did you hide this from us?"
"Robyn said we should."
"We? You all can do this?" Kayura asked, surprised.
"No," Katrin said, finally coming up with Cye beside her, tear tracks drying on her cheeks. "Lin's good with potions and I can conjure things. Robyn can do both and more." Her voice was soft, kind of achy, because, Lin knew, she was feeling the same thing Lin did: emptiness.
They turned to Katrin. "So you've all had this and not told us?" Ryo cried, outraged. "You could have been helping us a little bit ago-"
"You didn't even need help!" Katrin yelled. "He wasn't even fighting you! He was after Robyn and that's it!"
"How do you know he was just after her!" Kale yelled. "Why didn't you tell us!"
"We didn't know until just before it happened," Lin said unhappily. "Robyn told us he was after her and-"
"You let it happen," Kentoe finished snidely.
"She did! She let it happen! If I had known before she did I wouldn't have let her near that damn door!" Lin yelled, shooting to her feet. "She knows things, Kentoe, that you would never comprehend!" She sighed. "She has foresight and she put it and two other powers into some cards. She used the card of feeling and knew Kaiden was after her."
"Then why did she let this happen!" Mia cried. This was the first Lin or Katrin even noticed her there. "If she knew what he was thinking, she could have done something, surely!"
"She saw something else," Katrin explained. "Something important, but she didn't get a chance to tell us what it was. It made her give in."
"That really helps," Wildfire muttered. "Then what happened to my sure kill?" Ryo asked vehemently. Lin was getting pissed at his continuous attitude towards her and Lin.
"Robyn manipulated it," Katrin answered.
"Oh, so now she can control our armors!" Kentoe bellowed.
"No. She just controlled the flame. She's got elemental powers." She really wanted to hit one of them.
"Can we stop with the yelling?" Cye asked gently. "It's not getting us anywhere. Besides, we really should get Sage inside." Sage, meanwhile, had been silent through the whole exchange, staring at Lin and shivering.
"Not to mention I'm getting a headache," the blonde said softly. "I don't know about you guys, but I trust them, and yelling at them isn't going to help." The Ronin of Wisdom was actually being wise at the moment! "Anything they can do might help us get to the bottom of things."
Lin looked down, avoiding anybody's eyes. She'd been counting on Cye, more than anything, to come to their defense; she'd expected Sage to be the one to hate them the most.
"How do you know that they can be trusted?" Ryo asked stubbornly.
"Because Robyn was right when she said my sword has a soul." Shivering, Sage continued. "Quite frankly, if my sword's soul says they can be trusted, I believe we can trust them." His piece said, he began limping towards the house; his joints were still slightly frozen and the potion was only working on the surface. Rowen ran up to help the blonde warrior along and slowly everybody else followed.
Later that day, after a slightly calmer interrogation, Lin was parked outside on the dock, dipping her feet into the cool water of the pond behind Mia's house. It was pretty warm outside and a swim would have been heavenly to relieve any sort of stress, but the stress she was carrying would have sunk her like a rock.
She sighed. She hoped Robyn was okay. After that move she pulled on Kaiden with Ryo's sure kill, she wished she could know what had become of the huge guy, whether it had actually hurt him or not. She hoped it had hurt him.
"Hey." She jumped when she heard the voice and swiveled sharply so she could see Sage, who was standing behind her.
"Oh. It's you." She turned back around.
"Yeah, it's me." Uninvited, he sat down next to her.
He was the last person she wanted to see. Aside from messing with his hair gel and spicing up his floss, she had never wanted to really harm him. Okay, that was a lie; she had wanted to harm him on several occasions, but she never would have gone through with the wants. She felt like slime for using one of her stronger defense potions on him without just cause. He'd only been trying to keep her away from Kaiden.
Sighing, she stared down at the water and let the burning need to apologize wash over her.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, refusing to look at him.
"For what?" he asked just as softly.
"For... everything... The ice... your gel... Everything."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because I had no right to do those things to you." It was easier than she thought it would be. She felt a burden being lifted from her chest. "I especially had no right to use that ice potion on you. I didn't mean to, really. It just happened. I- I wanted to get to Robyn and-" she stopped blabbering when his hand came to rest on her shoulder and she had the sudden fear that he might tell her he'd forgive her only if she did something. Slowly she looked over at him.
He wasn't smiling at her, but she didn't get any sort of threatening feel from him. She suddenly had to fight to remember why it was she'd pulled her little pranks on him; then it finally came to her that she'd thought him an egotistical flirt. She wondered if that were really true.
"I know you didn't mean to use that potion on me," he assured her. "I know that you wanted to get to her. I don't mean to sound like I was trying to let Kaiden get away with Robyn, but I wanted to keep you away from him. I didn't want anything to happen to you."
Lin drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. She wasn't sure what to say to that. It was almost easier to hate him. "Why are you being so nice about this?"
"What, and give you another reason to pull a prank on me?" He was chuckling as he said this and Lin winced. He noticed and sobered. "I'm sorry; that was cruel of me."
"I don't know. I guess I expected you to hate me or something."
"Or something." He smiled. "Those words hold a lot of possibilities. I feel a lot of things for you and hatred is not one of them."
Lin couldn't help it, and for the first time since Robyn had been taken, she smiled a bit.
And then she started crying and Sage wrapped his arms around her.
*Lasheen's Place
Robyn was dropped, rather unceremoniously, on a cold stone floor once Kaiden finally appeared somewhere. It had seemed like forever since he'd grabbed her and left the Ronin world with her.
She rolled to her stomach and then sprang to her feet. She was in some sort of stone room, probably in a castle by the looks of it, but there were no windows to tell her, only a single wooden door. She glanced around a bit before backing towards the farthest wall and glaring at Kaiden.
He didn't seem to even notice her and she stared at his back. Ryo's sure kill, which she'd manipulated, had left a nice burnt field of flesh on his back. However, her smug feeling of success dissipated as his back slowly began healing over, leaving only clear, smooth skin. She "grumphed" and crossed her arms over her chest.
"So you're the bad guy, huh? Not much of one. Or are you just a lackey?"
"I am Kaiden the Hunter," he said monotonously. She rolled her eyes.
"Wow. I'm dazzled. So where the hell am I?"
"You are where the Overseer wishes."
"God you're boring," she muttered. She decided to quite playing games and flicked her wrist a bit, willing a ball of flame to appear so she could knock him out, destroy the door and get the hell out of there so she could complete a certain self-appointed task.
"What the fook?" she looked at her hand and flicked her wrist again. Nothing. She tried again, and again, and again, and then finally it hit her.
She could feel a heavy source of power somewhere nearby and it was smothering her magic to bits. She wondered why she hadn't felt it before, when it occurred to her that it was fading away. -Hmm. Must only be able to feel it when I try to use my powers,-she thought. -But I wonder if it will do that to my cards?-
To test it, she called up one of her cards, the card of feelings and peered into it, willing it to show her Kaiden's mind. When it came up, she breathed a sigh of relief. It must be that only regular powers could be blocked, not her special ones. She saw again what she had viewed earlier and winced at the vision. Then she put the card away before Kaiden finally turned around or something.
He was a pretty boring person, quite the opposite of what she'd thought up. She'd figured him for a great warrior with a bad attitude and a feather stuck up his ass for his master. She'd thought he would fit behind the picture of a poison edged sword, when really, his huge glowing sword looked almost... pure, and he looked simple, if huge. He was so monotonous, hardly the type to fit in with mean-spirited bad guys.
-Quite stereotyping, Bird,- she admonished to herself.
But then again, he was a bad guy, and that made him fair-game for pity and attempts to pull him to the side of good!
"So why'd your Overseer ask you to kidnap me?"
"For a reason."
"What reason."
"One of them."
"Okay, so if I asked you to shove a feather up your ass and move it around, would it tickle?"
He didn't say anything.
"The Overseer calls," he said after a moment's silence and he opened the door. Robyn figured it would do no good to try and run at the door- who wanted to get a face full of wood slammed in their face?- so she stayed where he was. He stepped through and closed it. Immediately after the door disappeared.
She felt like a dumbass. She should have run at the door! While it still existed!
"Grumph," she muttered and began pacing.
"Okay, let's see. Special powers, special powers. Foresight, Feeling, Past... Zoning... Hmmm. I wonder if that would work. That's not really a power so it might be a moot point. Although, my Blessed Realm isn't exactly a regular realm of meditation." She went on and on, talking to herself and on her last path, she ran smack into something.
Kaiden's solid chest blocked her path.
"Do you mind? I was pacing."
"The Overseer wishes to see you."
"Joy. Now I get to meet Mr. I. M. TheMan." She rolled her eyes and followed him. She hadn't been able to get a clear view of the "Overseer" so she didn't know what the hell he looked like. In fact, it seemed that Kaiden had never once laid eyes on the big guy's face.
"So what's he going for? World takeover? Multiple World takeover? Planetary Bitch-er-ization? He's just a huge pimp isn't he? He's got hoes lined up all over the world to start a huge global bitch-ery. I bet they've been masked and spy on us all, planning to turn us into obedient little bitches by examining our every move and devising strategies of molestation." She was quite for a moment as she thought. "I wonder what tools the hoes would use on us for their evil, questioning probe-ish-ness. Did you know, there's a lot of different-"
"Silence," he said shortly.
"-little gadgets out there you can use for sexual torture and other such things that have ANYTHING to do with the little three-letter 's'-word that starts with 's', ends with 'x' and has an 'e' in the middle?" Innocently she peeked up at him. They'd paused and he was staring at her with a weird... bored look in his eyes.
"Are you finished?"
She stood there in silence for a moment.
"Yup." She nodded and they continued.
"Why'm I not chained or something?"
"The Overseer did not request it."
"Okay then. And if I were to run?"
He didn't answer and she didn't try it.
Finally they came up to the door and he opened it for her. She passed through with a bounce to her step and he closed the door behind her.
The room was dark and she peered around for any sign of life in the spacious place. There was nicely formed... throne- there was no other world for it- on the far wall, and on one of the arms rested a crystal ball. There was a long table pushed to the side, and it was ornately carved and thick. It looked old too. There were a few tapestries on the walls, no windows and all and all, the place looked completely barren.
"Hello," came a pleasantly husky voice, and she turned in surprise. The voice sounded slightly feminine, but also masculine, and it kind of fit the being that stood before her.
Long white hair, gray eyes, a body that was slim and willowy. She didn't seen anything that would make the being a female, but she didn't seen any signs in its face that it was male.
-Looks like Mr. I. M. TheMan has become I. M. TheIt. Lacking a Mr. I wonder if they have a title like Mr. or Mrs. for Its? Mistits? Mst.? This merits pondering.- Feeling just a tad bit weird, she faced the being with curiosity. She also sensed something familiar about the being, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. It was as if her memory was purposely packing its bags, hopping a flight to Timbuktu, and avoiding her like the plague.
"The Overseer, I'm guessing."
"Yes. I'm very pleased to meet you, Angel."
Robyn's eyebrows shot up. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not an angel, that's for sure."
"On the contrary, a few people think you're an Angel." The voice creeped her out and a chill went up her spine.
"Like who?" she asked coolly.
"Myself for instance... but that's only because I've heard you referred to as one so many times, it's stuck."
"Anyone else?"
"Kaiden. He's so simple-minded, really." The being's hand waved in the air dismissively. "I bet you wonder why you're here?"
"Among other things." Robyn tapped her foot impatiently. "You know, for being dubbed the bad... person, you're not quite what I expected." 'What' certainly was an understatement.
"That's flattering," the being whispered and slid smoothly across the room. Robyn stiffened as the Overseer passed her and headed for the throne. Gracefully, it sat down and leaned back. It placed it's hand on the crystal ball and played it's fingers over the sphere lovingly.
"I have you here for a few reasons. Taking over that silly little Mortal Realm is only one of them, but it's not really my biggest concern at the moment. You have something I want."
Robyn crossed her arms over her chest. "Wow. You've really got your priorities straight, haven't you."
"Hmm, indeed."
"So what do I have that you want?" Robyn asked smoothly.
"Let's just say that it's something I can't get until I take on the form of one Gray-Eyed Angel."
Robyn blinked. "Okay then. So that means what to me?"
"I'm going to steal your body and put you in this shell that I own."
"Alrighty then. Unfortunately, that doesn't conform to my schedule for the next few bajillion years. I just don't have any time on it for body- snatching, so if I could just fit you in on the triple-bajillionth June on the second Tuesday, for about two in the afternoon, that'd be great."
"You've a very disagreeable attitude."
"I wonder why," Robyn replied dryly.
"But since I'm in such a good mood," the being stood. "I've decided to show you just what it is that I want, that you can give me."
The being picked up the crystal ball and tossed it to Robyn, who caught it clumsily and stared into its depths.
Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Anubis, writhing on the floor in pain as some invisible energy licked at his naked skin. He looked like he was being torn from the inside out.
"Anubis," she whispered. When she'd seen him in Kaiden's thoughts, he'd seemed perfectly fine. In the vision before her, he was nude, pained, and appeared malnourished.
"Yes, it's quite unfortunate. But look closer and you'll see what he's dreaming of."
Angrily she did, and was shocked to see a vision of herself, lying on crimson sheets with a pair of fluffy white wings on her back, wearing a nightgown and looking for all the world like a gray eyed angel.
"So you think that if you become me, you'll get Anubis?"
"Exactly. You see, though I myself can claim that title-" suddenly a pair of huge white wings sprung from its back and Robyn jumped a little, "-he doesn't see me as his vision of salvation, his link to something outside of his pain. You are what he dreams of, and I must admit that I'm jealous." The beings closed it's eyes, and when they opened they were changing to something akin to melted silver. "I'm not pretty when I'm jealous."
"You're not pretty anyway, so don't worry about it." The being was beautiful, but its aura was slimy with greed and lust and Robyn was disgusted.
"So if you'll excuse me, I'll just be on my way," she said snidely, but a slender albeit strong hand reached out and gripped her shoulder.
Without thinking, Robyn cried out her rage and swung her fist back.
Anubis's pain stopped suddenly and he wondered why. He hadn't been under for more than a few hours when it suddenly paused. This was unusual to him. He hoped Lasheen was through with his sick little games. Doubtful, but a man could hope, couldn't he?
He started violently when a door appeared on the wall and was thrown open.
"Dunno how, but I did it. Let's get your poor, redheaded, buck naked and quite fine ass outta here!" His vision was a bit blurry and all he could see was a blondish head of hair as someone leaned over his prone body. It was female. Her voice was pleasantly husky, with a strange drawl to it. He wondered who she was.
"'Nubis, you're as light as a feather!" she cried as she lifted him up after throwing something- some piece of cloth- around his hips and tied it tight. "God, when I get you home you're not leaving the kitchen till you're stuffed like a Thanksgiving Tom!" She began hauling him out of the room and running down a long hall. She was pretty strong; then again, he was very light, but she was also huffing a bit after a few moments, her breathing strained.
"I vow to start working out after this!" she wheezed as she rounded a bend. "Hell and Hellfire! A window! Yippers!" She was running towards a sudden spot of light and Anubis winced.
"Okay. There's absolutely no freaking dag-blasted way I'm tossing you out that window. Then again, what choice have we? I'll toss myself out at the same time! There's water. Can you swim? Hell, I'll tow you." He felt wind, blessed wind, rushing around him before freezing water replaced that and took his breath away. Air again as the girl towed him upwards and they surfaced.
He gasped as they broke surface and she cried out.
"Shit! I dropped it!"
What felt like a slimy tentacle reached around him and she screamed out rage as she pummeled the limb and stabbed it with something before it disappeared. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Anubis and looked up at him. His vision was clearing and weakly he looked back.
"Anubis, close your eyes and concentrate on what I'm telling you." She closed her own- there were beautiful gray- and he followed tiredly. "Imagine a world that is dark. There's a tree in the center of everything, old and twisted. It's branches are bare of life, but the tree is still alive. Tall grass waves around it's roots, which are massive, and fireflies glitter around the shoots of green. Stars are burning brightly in the night sky, and this world feels safe."
And suddenly, he felt something open in side himself and a thought poured in.
-*Anubis, I welcome you to my Blessed Realm. Here are souls are safe. Our bodies are left behind, but will return to us when I will it. Open your eyes.*-
He did and stared down into the face of his salvation.
**************************************************************************** *****
Yeah, this chapter was kind of corny. I know you're probably wondering how the hell Robyn did what she did, but I'll tell you next chapter! Tee-hee!
Oh, and please go to my bio-page and click on my home-page! I have no art up on my site and I'd really really reall 'preciate it if you'd take it into consideration? Pwease???
Review! I beg of you!
-Gray
Note: -* words* - means shared thoughts between the girls.
Chapter 8 By: Soulful Gray
Less than a moment had passed before the other Ronins had Lin surrounded. She barely noticed past the horror of what she had done to Sage. Her defense potions had been made for times of sheer danger- so she'd never used them before- not for times of emotional upheaval.
"What the hell did you do to him!" Ryo yelled at her.
"Oh God, I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, on the verge of tears. "I didn't mean to-"
"Just what the hell are you anyway?" Rowen asked snidely as he and Kentoe moved to life the frozen block of Sage. Lin winced at the tone and avoided their eyes. "Some kinda witch?"
"Not exactly," she mumbled.
"Well just what 'exactly' are you, then?" Ryo snapped.
She shrugged. Robyn had never really explained what they were outside of sisters. There had been the comment about her not liking the word "witch" since it sounded kind of mean, but other than that, there had never been any discussion over what they were.
Ryo tried using his armor to melt the ice from Sage's form, but the magical substance was stubborn and only seemed to frost over more. Lin, wanting to make amends, reached for her bag, but stopped when she received suspicious glares from the majority of the others.
"I'm just going to turn him back," she explained softly as she pulled out the vial that could be what she willed it to be. Right then, it would be something to thaw out Sage.
A few drops at the frozen Ronin's feet were all it took before it started to work. The potion spread like wildfire and covered his whole frozen person before the ice started to crack and break away.
Sage gasped as the warm air hit him and oxygen slammed into his lungs. He seemed to be okay after the potion began working to warm his skin. He willed away his armor and gratefully let Rowen and Kentoe hold him up. He was staring at Lin, his eyes shining with a mixture of emotions she didn't feel like identifying. So she looked away and saw Katrin sitting a few yards away, crying and being consoled by Cye. Lin felt a moment of hope. Cye, Robyn had told her, was the Ronin of Trust. Surely they had an ally in him; surely he could see they meant no harm.
"Where did he take her? What's going to happen to Robyn?" she asked brokenly, the first of her tears making paths down her cheeks. Her heart felt empty where Robyn's connection had been. It hurt to think that her sister's link with her might never be restored.
"We don't know," Kayura said, coming to crouch in front of her. "Lin, why did you hide this from us?"
"Robyn said we should."
"We? You all can do this?" Kayura asked, surprised.
"No," Katrin said, finally coming up with Cye beside her, tear tracks drying on her cheeks. "Lin's good with potions and I can conjure things. Robyn can do both and more." Her voice was soft, kind of achy, because, Lin knew, she was feeling the same thing Lin did: emptiness.
They turned to Katrin. "So you've all had this and not told us?" Ryo cried, outraged. "You could have been helping us a little bit ago-"
"You didn't even need help!" Katrin yelled. "He wasn't even fighting you! He was after Robyn and that's it!"
"How do you know he was just after her!" Kale yelled. "Why didn't you tell us!"
"We didn't know until just before it happened," Lin said unhappily. "Robyn told us he was after her and-"
"You let it happen," Kentoe finished snidely.
"She did! She let it happen! If I had known before she did I wouldn't have let her near that damn door!" Lin yelled, shooting to her feet. "She knows things, Kentoe, that you would never comprehend!" She sighed. "She has foresight and she put it and two other powers into some cards. She used the card of feeling and knew Kaiden was after her."
"Then why did she let this happen!" Mia cried. This was the first Lin or Katrin even noticed her there. "If she knew what he was thinking, she could have done something, surely!"
"She saw something else," Katrin explained. "Something important, but she didn't get a chance to tell us what it was. It made her give in."
"That really helps," Wildfire muttered. "Then what happened to my sure kill?" Ryo asked vehemently. Lin was getting pissed at his continuous attitude towards her and Lin.
"Robyn manipulated it," Katrin answered.
"Oh, so now she can control our armors!" Kentoe bellowed.
"No. She just controlled the flame. She's got elemental powers." She really wanted to hit one of them.
"Can we stop with the yelling?" Cye asked gently. "It's not getting us anywhere. Besides, we really should get Sage inside." Sage, meanwhile, had been silent through the whole exchange, staring at Lin and shivering.
"Not to mention I'm getting a headache," the blonde said softly. "I don't know about you guys, but I trust them, and yelling at them isn't going to help." The Ronin of Wisdom was actually being wise at the moment! "Anything they can do might help us get to the bottom of things."
Lin looked down, avoiding anybody's eyes. She'd been counting on Cye, more than anything, to come to their defense; she'd expected Sage to be the one to hate them the most.
"How do you know that they can be trusted?" Ryo asked stubbornly.
"Because Robyn was right when she said my sword has a soul." Shivering, Sage continued. "Quite frankly, if my sword's soul says they can be trusted, I believe we can trust them." His piece said, he began limping towards the house; his joints were still slightly frozen and the potion was only working on the surface. Rowen ran up to help the blonde warrior along and slowly everybody else followed.
Later that day, after a slightly calmer interrogation, Lin was parked outside on the dock, dipping her feet into the cool water of the pond behind Mia's house. It was pretty warm outside and a swim would have been heavenly to relieve any sort of stress, but the stress she was carrying would have sunk her like a rock.
She sighed. She hoped Robyn was okay. After that move she pulled on Kaiden with Ryo's sure kill, she wished she could know what had become of the huge guy, whether it had actually hurt him or not. She hoped it had hurt him.
"Hey." She jumped when she heard the voice and swiveled sharply so she could see Sage, who was standing behind her.
"Oh. It's you." She turned back around.
"Yeah, it's me." Uninvited, he sat down next to her.
He was the last person she wanted to see. Aside from messing with his hair gel and spicing up his floss, she had never wanted to really harm him. Okay, that was a lie; she had wanted to harm him on several occasions, but she never would have gone through with the wants. She felt like slime for using one of her stronger defense potions on him without just cause. He'd only been trying to keep her away from Kaiden.
Sighing, she stared down at the water and let the burning need to apologize wash over her.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, refusing to look at him.
"For what?" he asked just as softly.
"For... everything... The ice... your gel... Everything."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because I had no right to do those things to you." It was easier than she thought it would be. She felt a burden being lifted from her chest. "I especially had no right to use that ice potion on you. I didn't mean to, really. It just happened. I- I wanted to get to Robyn and-" she stopped blabbering when his hand came to rest on her shoulder and she had the sudden fear that he might tell her he'd forgive her only if she did something. Slowly she looked over at him.
He wasn't smiling at her, but she didn't get any sort of threatening feel from him. She suddenly had to fight to remember why it was she'd pulled her little pranks on him; then it finally came to her that she'd thought him an egotistical flirt. She wondered if that were really true.
"I know you didn't mean to use that potion on me," he assured her. "I know that you wanted to get to her. I don't mean to sound like I was trying to let Kaiden get away with Robyn, but I wanted to keep you away from him. I didn't want anything to happen to you."
Lin drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. She wasn't sure what to say to that. It was almost easier to hate him. "Why are you being so nice about this?"
"What, and give you another reason to pull a prank on me?" He was chuckling as he said this and Lin winced. He noticed and sobered. "I'm sorry; that was cruel of me."
"I don't know. I guess I expected you to hate me or something."
"Or something." He smiled. "Those words hold a lot of possibilities. I feel a lot of things for you and hatred is not one of them."
Lin couldn't help it, and for the first time since Robyn had been taken, she smiled a bit.
And then she started crying and Sage wrapped his arms around her.
*Lasheen's Place
Robyn was dropped, rather unceremoniously, on a cold stone floor once Kaiden finally appeared somewhere. It had seemed like forever since he'd grabbed her and left the Ronin world with her.
She rolled to her stomach and then sprang to her feet. She was in some sort of stone room, probably in a castle by the looks of it, but there were no windows to tell her, only a single wooden door. She glanced around a bit before backing towards the farthest wall and glaring at Kaiden.
He didn't seem to even notice her and she stared at his back. Ryo's sure kill, which she'd manipulated, had left a nice burnt field of flesh on his back. However, her smug feeling of success dissipated as his back slowly began healing over, leaving only clear, smooth skin. She "grumphed" and crossed her arms over her chest.
"So you're the bad guy, huh? Not much of one. Or are you just a lackey?"
"I am Kaiden the Hunter," he said monotonously. She rolled her eyes.
"Wow. I'm dazzled. So where the hell am I?"
"You are where the Overseer wishes."
"God you're boring," she muttered. She decided to quite playing games and flicked her wrist a bit, willing a ball of flame to appear so she could knock him out, destroy the door and get the hell out of there so she could complete a certain self-appointed task.
"What the fook?" she looked at her hand and flicked her wrist again. Nothing. She tried again, and again, and again, and then finally it hit her.
She could feel a heavy source of power somewhere nearby and it was smothering her magic to bits. She wondered why she hadn't felt it before, when it occurred to her that it was fading away. -Hmm. Must only be able to feel it when I try to use my powers,-she thought. -But I wonder if it will do that to my cards?-
To test it, she called up one of her cards, the card of feelings and peered into it, willing it to show her Kaiden's mind. When it came up, she breathed a sigh of relief. It must be that only regular powers could be blocked, not her special ones. She saw again what she had viewed earlier and winced at the vision. Then she put the card away before Kaiden finally turned around or something.
He was a pretty boring person, quite the opposite of what she'd thought up. She'd figured him for a great warrior with a bad attitude and a feather stuck up his ass for his master. She'd thought he would fit behind the picture of a poison edged sword, when really, his huge glowing sword looked almost... pure, and he looked simple, if huge. He was so monotonous, hardly the type to fit in with mean-spirited bad guys.
-Quite stereotyping, Bird,- she admonished to herself.
But then again, he was a bad guy, and that made him fair-game for pity and attempts to pull him to the side of good!
"So why'd your Overseer ask you to kidnap me?"
"For a reason."
"What reason."
"One of them."
"Okay, so if I asked you to shove a feather up your ass and move it around, would it tickle?"
He didn't say anything.
"The Overseer calls," he said after a moment's silence and he opened the door. Robyn figured it would do no good to try and run at the door- who wanted to get a face full of wood slammed in their face?- so she stayed where he was. He stepped through and closed it. Immediately after the door disappeared.
She felt like a dumbass. She should have run at the door! While it still existed!
"Grumph," she muttered and began pacing.
"Okay, let's see. Special powers, special powers. Foresight, Feeling, Past... Zoning... Hmmm. I wonder if that would work. That's not really a power so it might be a moot point. Although, my Blessed Realm isn't exactly a regular realm of meditation." She went on and on, talking to herself and on her last path, she ran smack into something.
Kaiden's solid chest blocked her path.
"Do you mind? I was pacing."
"The Overseer wishes to see you."
"Joy. Now I get to meet Mr. I. M. TheMan." She rolled her eyes and followed him. She hadn't been able to get a clear view of the "Overseer" so she didn't know what the hell he looked like. In fact, it seemed that Kaiden had never once laid eyes on the big guy's face.
"So what's he going for? World takeover? Multiple World takeover? Planetary Bitch-er-ization? He's just a huge pimp isn't he? He's got hoes lined up all over the world to start a huge global bitch-ery. I bet they've been masked and spy on us all, planning to turn us into obedient little bitches by examining our every move and devising strategies of molestation." She was quite for a moment as she thought. "I wonder what tools the hoes would use on us for their evil, questioning probe-ish-ness. Did you know, there's a lot of different-"
"Silence," he said shortly.
"-little gadgets out there you can use for sexual torture and other such things that have ANYTHING to do with the little three-letter 's'-word that starts with 's', ends with 'x' and has an 'e' in the middle?" Innocently she peeked up at him. They'd paused and he was staring at her with a weird... bored look in his eyes.
"Are you finished?"
She stood there in silence for a moment.
"Yup." She nodded and they continued.
"Why'm I not chained or something?"
"The Overseer did not request it."
"Okay then. And if I were to run?"
He didn't answer and she didn't try it.
Finally they came up to the door and he opened it for her. She passed through with a bounce to her step and he closed the door behind her.
The room was dark and she peered around for any sign of life in the spacious place. There was nicely formed... throne- there was no other world for it- on the far wall, and on one of the arms rested a crystal ball. There was a long table pushed to the side, and it was ornately carved and thick. It looked old too. There were a few tapestries on the walls, no windows and all and all, the place looked completely barren.
"Hello," came a pleasantly husky voice, and she turned in surprise. The voice sounded slightly feminine, but also masculine, and it kind of fit the being that stood before her.
Long white hair, gray eyes, a body that was slim and willowy. She didn't seen anything that would make the being a female, but she didn't seen any signs in its face that it was male.
-Looks like Mr. I. M. TheMan has become I. M. TheIt. Lacking a Mr. I wonder if they have a title like Mr. or Mrs. for Its? Mistits? Mst.? This merits pondering.- Feeling just a tad bit weird, she faced the being with curiosity. She also sensed something familiar about the being, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. It was as if her memory was purposely packing its bags, hopping a flight to Timbuktu, and avoiding her like the plague.
"The Overseer, I'm guessing."
"Yes. I'm very pleased to meet you, Angel."
Robyn's eyebrows shot up. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not an angel, that's for sure."
"On the contrary, a few people think you're an Angel." The voice creeped her out and a chill went up her spine.
"Like who?" she asked coolly.
"Myself for instance... but that's only because I've heard you referred to as one so many times, it's stuck."
"Anyone else?"
"Kaiden. He's so simple-minded, really." The being's hand waved in the air dismissively. "I bet you wonder why you're here?"
"Among other things." Robyn tapped her foot impatiently. "You know, for being dubbed the bad... person, you're not quite what I expected." 'What' certainly was an understatement.
"That's flattering," the being whispered and slid smoothly across the room. Robyn stiffened as the Overseer passed her and headed for the throne. Gracefully, it sat down and leaned back. It placed it's hand on the crystal ball and played it's fingers over the sphere lovingly.
"I have you here for a few reasons. Taking over that silly little Mortal Realm is only one of them, but it's not really my biggest concern at the moment. You have something I want."
Robyn crossed her arms over her chest. "Wow. You've really got your priorities straight, haven't you."
"Hmm, indeed."
"So what do I have that you want?" Robyn asked smoothly.
"Let's just say that it's something I can't get until I take on the form of one Gray-Eyed Angel."
Robyn blinked. "Okay then. So that means what to me?"
"I'm going to steal your body and put you in this shell that I own."
"Alrighty then. Unfortunately, that doesn't conform to my schedule for the next few bajillion years. I just don't have any time on it for body- snatching, so if I could just fit you in on the triple-bajillionth June on the second Tuesday, for about two in the afternoon, that'd be great."
"You've a very disagreeable attitude."
"I wonder why," Robyn replied dryly.
"But since I'm in such a good mood," the being stood. "I've decided to show you just what it is that I want, that you can give me."
The being picked up the crystal ball and tossed it to Robyn, who caught it clumsily and stared into its depths.
Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Anubis, writhing on the floor in pain as some invisible energy licked at his naked skin. He looked like he was being torn from the inside out.
"Anubis," she whispered. When she'd seen him in Kaiden's thoughts, he'd seemed perfectly fine. In the vision before her, he was nude, pained, and appeared malnourished.
"Yes, it's quite unfortunate. But look closer and you'll see what he's dreaming of."
Angrily she did, and was shocked to see a vision of herself, lying on crimson sheets with a pair of fluffy white wings on her back, wearing a nightgown and looking for all the world like a gray eyed angel.
"So you think that if you become me, you'll get Anubis?"
"Exactly. You see, though I myself can claim that title-" suddenly a pair of huge white wings sprung from its back and Robyn jumped a little, "-he doesn't see me as his vision of salvation, his link to something outside of his pain. You are what he dreams of, and I must admit that I'm jealous." The beings closed it's eyes, and when they opened they were changing to something akin to melted silver. "I'm not pretty when I'm jealous."
"You're not pretty anyway, so don't worry about it." The being was beautiful, but its aura was slimy with greed and lust and Robyn was disgusted.
"So if you'll excuse me, I'll just be on my way," she said snidely, but a slender albeit strong hand reached out and gripped her shoulder.
Without thinking, Robyn cried out her rage and swung her fist back.
Anubis's pain stopped suddenly and he wondered why. He hadn't been under for more than a few hours when it suddenly paused. This was unusual to him. He hoped Lasheen was through with his sick little games. Doubtful, but a man could hope, couldn't he?
He started violently when a door appeared on the wall and was thrown open.
"Dunno how, but I did it. Let's get your poor, redheaded, buck naked and quite fine ass outta here!" His vision was a bit blurry and all he could see was a blondish head of hair as someone leaned over his prone body. It was female. Her voice was pleasantly husky, with a strange drawl to it. He wondered who she was.
"'Nubis, you're as light as a feather!" she cried as she lifted him up after throwing something- some piece of cloth- around his hips and tied it tight. "God, when I get you home you're not leaving the kitchen till you're stuffed like a Thanksgiving Tom!" She began hauling him out of the room and running down a long hall. She was pretty strong; then again, he was very light, but she was also huffing a bit after a few moments, her breathing strained.
"I vow to start working out after this!" she wheezed as she rounded a bend. "Hell and Hellfire! A window! Yippers!" She was running towards a sudden spot of light and Anubis winced.
"Okay. There's absolutely no freaking dag-blasted way I'm tossing you out that window. Then again, what choice have we? I'll toss myself out at the same time! There's water. Can you swim? Hell, I'll tow you." He felt wind, blessed wind, rushing around him before freezing water replaced that and took his breath away. Air again as the girl towed him upwards and they surfaced.
He gasped as they broke surface and she cried out.
"Shit! I dropped it!"
What felt like a slimy tentacle reached around him and she screamed out rage as she pummeled the limb and stabbed it with something before it disappeared. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Anubis and looked up at him. His vision was clearing and weakly he looked back.
"Anubis, close your eyes and concentrate on what I'm telling you." She closed her own- there were beautiful gray- and he followed tiredly. "Imagine a world that is dark. There's a tree in the center of everything, old and twisted. It's branches are bare of life, but the tree is still alive. Tall grass waves around it's roots, which are massive, and fireflies glitter around the shoots of green. Stars are burning brightly in the night sky, and this world feels safe."
And suddenly, he felt something open in side himself and a thought poured in.
-*Anubis, I welcome you to my Blessed Realm. Here are souls are safe. Our bodies are left behind, but will return to us when I will it. Open your eyes.*-
He did and stared down into the face of his salvation.
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Yeah, this chapter was kind of corny. I know you're probably wondering how the hell Robyn did what she did, but I'll tell you next chapter! Tee-hee!
Oh, and please go to my bio-page and click on my home-page! I have no art up on my site and I'd really really reall 'preciate it if you'd take it into consideration? Pwease???
Review! I beg of you!
-Gray