Ch 17
With the pearl of live increasing its power through each of the ronins, it reached through to the two prisoners which were being held in the spirit nexus. Somehow, the pearl's power connected and sent the Dark Harpy flying against the wall which in turn made her drop the vile and it spilled all over the stone floor.
Dark Harpy screeched in fury as her eyes burned. She clenched her claws and glared heatedly towards them. "I don't know what just happened, but it won't help you."
Just as she was about to charge them, Kento's dormant powers finally fully broken free. His eyes morphed from his deep gray-blue to a brilliant orange. He snapped his constraints like they were nothing and then within a blink of an eye, Kento gave one swift punch squarely into the Dark Harpy's abdomen and sent her flying back through three sets of stone walls and then collapsed onto the floor.
Kaye stopped pulling at her constraints and looked at him in awe. "Kento?"
The ronin of Hardrock glanced back, he seemed to recognize her somewhat and then slowly turned around.
"Kento, it's me…Kaye. Don't you remember?" she asked as she took notice of the change in his eyes.
The orange ronin frowned deeply as he held his head and shut his eyes tightly. "Kaye…It's happening…I…I can feel it…"
Kaye looked at him in concern. "Kento, you can fight it…Please…Kento…You're the one that's in control, not the other way around."
"I'm trying, but…There's too much power, I can't…" Kento replied as he kept struggling for control.
"Don't you dare talk like that! Yes you can! You can control it!" Kaye pressed on.
Kento yelled in frustration as he was still fighting. 'I have to regain my control…Kaye's right, I can do this…I have to…' He yelled again, this time for some reason the pearl of life reacted to the extreme power that is residing inside Kento.
Within a blink of an eye, a light shrouded both of them and then they and the pearl were gone. The Dark Harpy's castle as well as the castles that belonged to the spirit hunters started to crumble. The three spirit hunters mounted their dragons and took off, while the Dark Harpy was sliding through a hole that lead to the outside and was plummeting towards the chasm below. A few seconds later, all four castles were gone, leaving not a single trace of anything or anyone. The spirit nexus started to rejuvenate. Where there once was death, is now life. Trees started to grow back, flowers back in bloom, rivers and streams started to flow again. But what was more important, the spirits that were once captive are now free to move on.
Two familiar auras started to glow around the bodies that were surrounded by their friends and Nubia.
Ryo peaked and then smiled in relief as he could see that Kento and Kaye were starting to wake up. "Guys!"
"Ryo, what?" Cye asked as he was surprised by Wildfire's urgent tone.
"Look! They're waking up! They're back!" Ryo replied as he now could finally feel relieved.
The other ronins and Nubia watched carefully. Kento and Kaye groaned with a deep frown as they were starting to come around.
"Wait…Don't touch him." Nubia warned as her eyes narrowed and backed away a little.
"What, Nubia.." Rowen started to ask but was suddenly interrupted when the same power that was fighting Kento for control carried over to the land of the living.
The ronin of strength roared angrily as he rolled off and glared at each of them with his orange eyes, breathing hard, hands clenched.
"Kento, it's us…We're your friends." Sage informed him as he could see that he was confused about who they are. "Try and remember. We're not going to hurt you. Just calm down…"
"Don't come near me!" Kento roared as he jumped over and then turned around watching them closely.
"Kento, what's wrong with you?" Cye asked as he looked at him in concern.
Kaye groaned as she started to carefully sit up. "When we were in the spirit nexus…Something caused Kento's dormant powers to fully break loose…Now he's fighting to control them."
"What!" Rowen asked in shock as he helped her to stand, frowning deeply in thought. "Man, I wonder if it had to do with the pearl of life."
"The pearl of what?" Kaye asked in slight confusion as she was still working on getting orientated.
"The pearl of life, it helped to bring you two back from the spirit nexus." Nubia replied as she looked around with narrowed eyes.
"Nubia, what is it?" Sage asked as he glanced over towards her.
"I just realized something. Since the right souls are back where they belong, then that means Shen and Jia Li are somewhere around here looking for a portal to escape. I have to find them, those two are my main concern. I can't help you with your friend, I'm sorry." Nubia replied as she spotted them making a break for a hidden portal. Once Shen, Jia Li and Nubia were through, the portal closed and the only ones left were the ronins and Kaye.
Kaye looked over towards Kento with concerned eyes. "Kento, I know you're in there somewhere..." she told him as she was starting to try and make her way to him.
"Kaye, don't, it's not safe to approach him." Rowen said as he was holding her back. "Besides, you and Kento are not back to full strength yet. Neither of you should be up."
"Rowen, I don't care...We vowed to each other that we'll be by one another through everything, I'm not going to stand by and watch him fight this on his own." Kaye shot back.
Rowen could see the determination that was shining in her eyes. He knew that look, and there was nothing that was going to keep her from changing her mind. "Alright, we'll make our way to him, but stay close." The ronin of Strata smiled a little when Kaye gave him a small nod and with that, they started to make their way over to him.
The power Kento was fighting was getting more and more intense. Winds were howling, trees started to uproot, huge waves churned in the nearby lake, and the ground started to shake.
"Kento! Try and calm down, you're making the whole place around us to break apart!" Ryo called out to him.
"Can't you see that I'm trying to! Something's wrong, it's taking over! I can't stop it!" Kento called out as the power increased with each passing moment.
Just as Rowen and Kaye were about to approach a bit closer, a huge split formed separating them. Rowen fell over to the other side of the rift while Kaye screamed and fell in. The dark blue ronin's eyes went wide as he scrambled to the side and looked down. "Kaye!"
The other ronins whipped around and saw what was going on. "Kento, I need your help over here! I can't reach Kaye, and the rift is starting to close!" Rowen shouted over towards him.
"Kaye?" Kento stated as he blinked. Memories of the two of them being together started to run across his mind. The time they met, when he proposed. The other times when they were in the worst of times and they helped each other get through them. Then, his memories of their wedding. It was the happiest that they've ever been. It proved that even though with them having mystical armors that they can still live the lives that they wanted no matter what. "Kaye!"
"Kento! Help me!" Kaye shouted to him as the rocks were starting to give way and the sides were still closing in.
'No, I'm not going to lose my wife because I can't control these so called powers. Nothing and no one will ever tear us apart. We've been through too much to lose each other, and I'm not going to let it happen now.' Kento thought in determination as he felt his fighting spirit helping him to regain his own sense of self once more. He then roared angrily and willed with everything he had.
The winds were finally starting to come down. The waves on the lake were subsiding. The ground stopped shaking, and then the orange glow in his eyes phased back to his normal color. Kento was breathing hard, sweat beating down his face, he felt a bit shaky but relieved that he finally got a hold on himself. Then he was brought back to the present as he saw the other ronins over by the rift trying to help Rowen get Kaye out.
"Come on Kaye, reach!" Cye called down to her as he was laying on the ground when Sage was anchoring him so he wouldn't fall in as well.
"You're too far Cye…Ah!" Kaye exclaimed as she felt a bit more of her footing starting to give way.
"No!" Kento shouted as he hurriedly ran over and slid arms first towards the rift. "Kaye, come on, reach for me. That's it, just a little farther, come on."
The rift was closing in at a faster rate now, Kaye reached up as far as she could. Their hands barely touching.
A deep frown was on Kento's brow as he was still reaching for her. A few times their hands made contact, and then at the last attempt their hands clamped onto each other's and with a quick motion, Kento yanked Kaye up at the last possible moment as the rift closed at the possible last second.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they propped themselves to sit up. "Kaye, are you alright?"
"Yea, I'm alright Kento." she replied with a soft smile as they kept their gaze on each other.
The other ronins looked at each other and smirked with an acknowledging nod. "It's good to have you two back among the living again." Cye told them with a smile as he looked towards the two.
"It's good to be back Cye." Kento replied as he looked back at him with his goofy grin.
"Hey, what's that?" Kaye asked as the object floated down towards them and hovered in the sky.
"That's the pearl of life. It helped us to bring you two back from the spirit nexus." Sage replied before Ryo could answer.
"We'll fill you two in later, but first, let's head inside. It's late, and I for one, am wiped." Rowen informed them as he and the others were finally standing up.
"Actually, sleep sounds good to me too." Kento yawned and then blinked as the pearl landed in the palm of his hands. Kento looked at the others in confusion as they now were heading back inside.
The next day, after Kento and Kaye were brought up to speed on what happened, Kento stood out back in the family kimono staring across the water as he held the pearl within his palms.
"Kento?" Kaye asked as she walked out back and over to his side also wearing the Rei Faun kimono.
"Kaye, I'm not sure about what they told us last night." Kento replied as he kept his gaze forward.
"You mean about us calling upon the family spirits in order to help destroy the pearl?" Kaye asked as she looked towards him.
"Yea, I'm not sure if I can control what will happen if I do use the family magic." Kento replied with a slight nod.
"Hey, you're not the only Rei Faun, I'm one too now. So that means we're in this together, and we will call upon them and destroy this pearl." Kaye said with a determined tone in her voice.
Kento chuckled as he shook his head. "You're right, you are. And you're right, we will see this prophecy through, then we can continue with our lives together."
"About time you figured it out." Kaye teased with a small smirk. "Come on, the others are waiting for us, so we can finish this."
Kento nodded and then they walked over to the others as they were standing their in a half circle. "About time, what was taking you so long anyway?" Rowen said as he crossed his arms.
"Sorry, I'm…err…we're ready." Kento quickly corrected as he saw Kaye raise her brow towards him.
"What do you two want us to do?" Sage asked as he looked at them.
"Just stay where you are, and don't move from your spot until it's finished." Kento instructed as he psyched himself up to do this.
The others nodded, Kaye stood by him as Kento raised the pearl up over his head and spoke an incantation that called forth his ancestors and asking them for their help in destroying the pearl once and for all.
An enchanted circle lit up underneath their feet and then started to rise a wall around them. The ancestors started to fly around the circle as the pearl floated out of Kento's hands and into the center way above their heads. Winds started to blow, and then each spirit passed through the pearl. It kept on changing colors, faster and faster it changed until finally it could take no more and shattered into tiny shards and rained down upon the enchanted circle and disintegrated when they touched.
The ancestors started to phase back into the spirit world one by one and the wall started to come down. Then finally the enchanted circle vanished from beneath them, and the winds died down completely. Everything was back to the way it was suppose to be.
A sole spirit stayed back, she smiled warmly towards them. 'I knew you could do it Kento.'
Kento smirked as he glanced back, 'You're welcome Aunt Meih. Now you can rest in peace.'
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AN: hey…yea guess what, this is the end to this fic…amazing isn't it… but it's not the end to my stories… ja ne