Chapter 22 (Doubts)

Kat stood staring at the rushing waters of a stream deep in the forest. She stared down at her distorted reflection, at the short blond hair, and the almost painfully obvious blue streaks gracing two for-locks of hair.

"I serve Bademon, but if I go back, he'll kill me. He made that clear. But I can't beat all of them! I could try to pick them off, but eventually one of them would get me!" she sat down and stared at the light blue sub armor she wore. "So now what?"

She turned and walked into the dense forest covering. Selecting a thick-trunked tree, she climbed up and settled herself in a high branch. Staring up at the moon and stars, she thought long and deeply.

She awoke to the sun shining into her eyes as it peeked over the edges of the forest. She hugged herself, partly from the cold of the morning dew, and partly from the sudden rush of memories of her dream.

"Rowen, gods I was dreaming of him!" She thought to herself. As she made her way down from the tree, she caught the sound of voices carried on the wind. They were already up. She turned and ran in the opposite direction, away from the voices and deeper into the woods. For most of the day she moved senselessly through the forest, half thinking about all the things that had happened to her. Finally she saw the sun setting, causing long dark shadows to fall from every tree and bush.

Sighing, she steeled herself mentally and began to slowly walk toward the house. She didn't see any other choice, or any other way to be happy, then being with them. Being among her friends and…him.

 Chapter 23 (Angry Words)

Alexis and Irene sat on the porch steps starring at the woods. They had banished their sub-armors and were wearing their cloths signifying, ironically, their status in the Dynasty.

"Irene…"

"Yeah."

"Do you think she'll ever join us? She has to know that she can't serve Bademon now. He'll kill her if she doesn't kill us."

"I hope she will." Irene said softly.

"I feel so stupid." Tears started down her face.

"Why?" Irene looked at her quizzically.

"I don't know, for betraying my heart. I knew it was wrong what I was doing. I should have fought harder against Bademon."

"Fought harder, is that possible? I don't think it is. From what I remember of the experience you fought as hard as you could. That night when they tortured you all night, non stop. You survived that, you fought as hard as you could."

Sage and Cye walked out onto the porch behind the two girls who looked up at them, then stood on the second to last step facing the two solemn men.

"You lied to us from the very beginning." Sage said.

"Sage, what could you possibly expect…" Alexis whispered.

"You have to understand!" Yelled Irene at the two young men.

"Sage, you made me remember! You're eyes... they saved me. I couldn't admit to that though, if I had I would have been killed rather then tortured! If you don't understand the consequences that would have come upon me for saying that I had fallen… in love with the enemy… Bademon would have killed me."

"What about you Irene, why did you lie to me?" Cye had an unusually icy stare on his face. 

"Cye… you baka, you think the consequences would have been any different for me if I had said that I had fallen for you!"  She calmly stared into his eyes continuing, "I'm sorry to cause you any pain Cye of the Torrent, but the way I acted was only pretend. I did it for the dynasty, and no more. I don't know what's going on with me right now. I need to figure it out, but I can tell you all now, I am not going to rejoin the Dynasty," and with that she turned away from Cye and would not look at him.

Alexis looked into Sages eyes and saw the contempt he held for her at the moment. "Forget it Irene, they don't understand. They don't understand the lives we led before we became Warlordesses, that made us believe everything they told us. They'll never understand." Alexis pushed past the two young men and ran up to the room that Ryo had shown her to. Irene followed suit. 

Chapter 24 (Departing Phantom)

Alexis tossed and turned in her sleep, her body felt on fire. Flames so hot as to burn the skin from her bones. She was so hot that her sweat dried on her flesh without providing relief from the heat. Her mind wouldn't let her wake up. She was trapped in the dreams. Bruises and cuts appeared on her skin where there had been none. The screams never left her throat.

The blackness inside her that had pushed back her soul was rising, unable to keep its hold on her. The spell that had been performed was powerless. The Dyanasty was loosing. Finally, Alexis shot awake and the spirit left her. It floated infront of her before vanishing into the night.

Getting up from the soiled bed, covered in blood, she made her unsteady way to the bathroom where she grabbed a cloth and began cleaning her wounds.

Irene again could not sleep, it wasn't what she had said to Cye. She had to be honest with him, and she could not feel sorry for him but… There was a burning, a throbbing inside of her. Sweat began to drip from her head and her hands became clamy. She knew something was about to happen… she abrutly got up from the bed throwing the covers off her hot legs.

She began to get up, but suddenly it came… the same searing pain as before. She could hear some sort of gurgling coming from within her, she felt like she was going to cough up blood or some hot liquid that seemd to boil inside her. The pain was very intense, God! She was in so much pain! She felt the trembling come over her lips, she wanted to scream, she couldn't, she couldn't scream… but… it hurt so much! Finally she fell to the floor crying in agony as she felt something erupt from inside her.

She couldn't contain it within her any more. She fell to the floor and let out a scream. A massive shadow came forth from her body leaving Irene crumpled on the floor. The shadow was a black mist that made a sound like an evil laugh as it floated through the open window.

Alexis came bursting through the bedroom door. Sweat also covered her face and she held a small cloth to her side. "Irene, are you alright?" She asked going up to her friend who lay on the floor. Alexis began to wipe away some of the sweat.

The guys all came running into the room to see the two friends, Irene laying on the floor and Alexis hovering over her.

"What's going on?!" Asked Ryo.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing we can't handle on our own. Go away and leave us alone for now. That's the only thing you can do." Alexis turned and gave them an icy stare and she spoke these words in an enraged tone of voice.

Everyone but Cye backed away from the INCREDIBLY angry warlordess, and went back to bed. Cye stood in the doorway for several minutes before going back to bed himself. Alexis just sat beside her trembling friend. 

Chapter 25 (Insanity is a girl's best friend)

Irene moaned weakly as her eyes fluttered open to the bright sunlight. 'Everyone must be up by now' she thought as she turned and looked toward the clock. She vauguely remembered what had happened last night. "I'm free…" she mumbled "Free from the presence. Rosalie…" She remembered… Then she threw her head back into the pillows and laughed a long, hallow, maniacal laugh.

Later Cye walked into the kitchen to start making a snack for Kento. Startled to see Irene up and about, making herself some brunch. Her dark brown/black hair was a mess, more strands than usual dangling in her face and still in her pajama's. She was frying two eggs in the pan when he went toward her. She spun around and with a peculiar look in her eyes. "Stay back!" she hissed. Cye now relized what the peculiar look was… insanity. Cye began to say something but was cut off as he ducked as the frying pan came swiping past his head. "Heeehehhaa! I know what happened now.." She said in a deranged whisper.

"Wha-?" Cye began, but was interuppted a second time but luckily not with a kitchen untensil.

"Don't you see?" she giggled. "The dynasty tricked me from the beginning, when I was happy in Italy With Mama Marie and Rosalie and I thought what I was doing was right, but they tricked me good all right. Then I figured it out and then I was possed by the mist…the damn mist… but now I'm free… free!" she said as she gave a silly grin at him and stepped forward toward him and reached out a hand. Cye flinched as she slammed her palm down to get the toast.

"Irene… I think you-,"

"Hush now," she whispered putting a finger to his lips. "The Shadow is gone." She happily skipped out of the kitchen. All Cye could do for a minute was stand there. He quickly snapped out of his trance and ran the other way to warn everybody of Irene's errrrr... little problem.

Chapter 26 (To remember)

Irene smiled in satisfaction at the broken pieces of the vase that decorated the floor in an obscure pattern. After she had finished eating she had felt like smashing something, destroying something.

Everyone rushed down the stairs, Cye in the lead and Alexis behind them. They all stopped in surprise as they saw a dishelved figure come toward them. She narrowed her eyes at them.                  

"What do you want?" she asked in a hiss.

"What are you doing?!" asked a concerned Sage.

"Making the floor pretty," she said, smiling strangely. "Pretty. Like lots of flowers in a garden, unlike the world full of chaos and destruction and cruel, mean people. All in their own little place," she said as she stepped toward them, her feet getting cut by the broken pieces of the vase.

Alexis frowned at Irene and studied her closely then decidedly walked up to her and… * Smack!* Irene stumbled backward but didn't lose her balance. She turned her head back toward the group, there was a sharp red outline of where the hand had struck. She stood woosily for a moment and then mumbled. "That wasn't very nice," and then collapsed into a heap on the couch.

"That is one crazy babe," Kento exclaimed wide-eyed.

  ***

Everyone was huddled around the girl that lay on the couch. The room was silent. Rowen was the first to speak.

"Alexis, I think I should ask you what we should have asked you last night. What has happened to Irene?" There was a long pause for a moment.

"The spirits... have left us." She said slowly. "Last night their hold on us was lost."

"Then I would guess that…she's this way from shock," concluded Sage.

"Well if that's the case, it's only temporary, right?" Asked an anxious Ryo.

"Let's hope so…" sighed Cye.

"Yeah," agreed Alexis. "This definitely is not like Irene."

Irene woke up again. She put her hand to her hot cheek only to pull it away quickly from a painful sting. "Damn, what the hell happened to me?" she muttered.

"Awake?"

She jumped startled by the fact that someone was there infact, everyone was there.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" asked Ryo. All the Ronins were cautious around her after witnessing the earlier events of the day.

"Yeah I do, I guess, thanks for slapping me Alexis," she smiled wearily. "But… I remember everything… all of it before what Bademon did to me. That shadow that left, that evil spirit that controlled me… and when I was in Italy when I found the armor and…"

Alexis pushed her back down on the couch. "You can tell us the entire thing later but right now you need some rest." Irene was about to resist but tiredly nodded and fell back against the pillow and closed her eyes. Everyone went into the other room. Cye stopped for a minute looking at the now sleeping figure of Irene, a thin strand of Black, silver and green hair in her face. As she yawned he rubbed the back of his head, one thing was for sure he'd never look at a frying pan the same way again.

Chapter 27 (Out to Eat)

Irene stood at her bedroom window. The memories were coming back to her. Memories of her home in Italy, of Rosalie, of Mama Marie, and her delicious spaghetti. The small bunny Rosalie had shoved into her face that day. Everything, the day she got her armor, that day, she left her only family.

           "I must destroy Bademon." She said quietly. "I'm coming for you Bademon. I'll destroy you!" She shouted.

"Irene lunch is done!" Came Rowen's voice from down the stairs. By time Irene walked out of the room Alexis had already started down the stairs.

"Hey Alexis."

"Hey what?" Alexis turned around to look at her friend standing at the top of the stairs.

"Let's go out to eat."

"Out? Why?"

"Because, we can celebrate the fact that we no longer have to worry about what Bademon is going to say about us failing any more missions." Irene said with a smile.

"K, let's go out to eat. Hey guys, we're not going to eat here tonight. We'll be back soon." Alexis grabbed her jacket.

Chapter 28 (Coming Back)

Ryo was looking out the kitchen window to the back yard as he slowly sipped his glass of tea. The sun was slowly setting and many thoughts drifted through his mind.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness of the trees. It was walking to the house. The sun hit the figure just right so that, as she slowly exited the shadows, her blond hair and green eyes were startling clear.

Ryo immediately jumped from his chair, causing it to fall to the floor and his cup to knock over. 'What is she doing here? Is she against us?' His mind swirled.

Kat walked steadily forward. She saw the Ronins walk solemnly out into the yard and stand in a line in their sub armors. She wondered briefly why Alexis and Irene weren't with them. When she was close enough to see the challenging spark in each of their eyes, she stopped, and stared at them coldly. For a long moment they watched each other in silence. Kat had to fight to keep from calling up a powerful tornado to sweep them all away.

Rowen stepped forward. "Why are you back?" She collapsed to her knees on the ground, something inside her trembling. She was weak when she couldn't fight. She hadn't ever realized how much she depended on the physical strength she had inherited from her dad, and the mental strength from her mom. She was weak now that she couldn't fight against them. And she was weak against him, too.

When she dropped to the ground and hung her head, the Ronins dropped their guard in surprise. This would be the time to- no! She had to stop thinking that way! She had to keep reminding herself that they were no longer the enemy. But something inside was pushing her, commanding her to hurt them. Rowen took a step toward her, and a sudden panic came over her. What was going on? What wanted her to go against her friends so badly!?

She gasped as a searing hot pain raced all up and down her body, then she collapsed. A dark shadow rose slowly, reluctantly from her form, only to be waved away by Rowen as he stooped over her. Turning slightly, he looked over at his friends with a questioning glance. Hearing no protests, he gently picked up the unconscious Warlordess and carried her into the house to recover.

Chapter 29 (Reunion)

When Alexis and Irene returned they were surprised to find all of the Ronins sitting around quietly looking quite confused.

 The look on Alexis's face was enough as she allowed Irene to move into the room.

"A friend of yours visited today, she's resting." Ryo didn't look up from the floor.

Irene and Alexis gave each other a quick glance.
          "Kat." They said in unison.

"Where is she?" Irene asked, a look of both confusion and happiness scrolled

across her face.

"She's upstairs in the last bedroom available." Sage didn't look up though he could feel Alexis's eyes starring at him with a touch of sadness written deep within their soft hazel color.

They rushed up the stairs and barely knocked before pushing the door open. Inside Kat was standing at the window.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed, resting?" questioned Irene.

"Hello to you too." Kat answered softly, not turning to look at them. "And don't ask stupid questions when it's obvious why I'm here."

Alexis sighed and moved to stand next to her. "Nice to have you with us again, anyway."

"The three storms are together again." Added Irene.

"Is anyone here hungry?" asked Kat suddenly. "Because I haven't been fed since I got here!"

"You're starting to sound like Kento!" laughed Irene.