The Return
Chapter 12
"How is this helpful?" Theo asked.
"When did we get a dungeon?" Lily said, watching Zen-Aku sleep. They were in the Jungle Karma Pizza basement which, it turned out, was dominated by a large prison cell.
"Oh we built it," Eric said. "We always sort of figured RJ'd have to use it for something. He has a lot of enemies."
"Yeah, like all of you," Camille said. "What?" she asked when they all turned to glare. "You know it's true."
Taylor sighed and turned to Shayla. "What are we going to do about Casey?"
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this. We can only hope that Zen-Aku will know some way to help him."
As if in response Zen-Aku flinched.
"What are we going to do with him?" Theo asked.
"We wait until he wakes up," Eric said, "then we talk to him, try to remind him who he really is."
As the rangers and Shayla began discussing a strategy for getting through to Zen-Aku Camille slunk up the stairs and out the back door into the alleyway.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
Merrick, who had been attempting to roll his bike farther up the street before leaving, froze. He sighed and turned to face Camille. "What's it to you?"
"It's not, I just wanted to know what idiotic thing you're up to."
"What makes you think it's idiotic?"
"You're sneaking away and it's you -- only a fool puts on a cursed mask."
Merrick shot her a glare and pushed the motorcycle out into the street. Over his shoulder he called, "You and Lily seemed to be getting along well. Too bad you're mortal enemies. A good friend is hard to find."
Camille disappeared just as he revved up his engine.
Zen-Aku sat at the base of a tree, his head in his hands.
"RJ."
Zen-Aku growled but didn't look up.
"RJ, please!"
There was a desperation in the boy's voice that hadn't been there since he'd been separated from his body and Zen-Aku couldn't help but raise his head. Casey's tiger eyes were wide with concern and -- fear?
"RJ, you need to fight the evil."
"It's who I am," Zen-Aku said.
Casey hung his head as a chill filled the air. "They're coming," the boy whispered to himself, "they won't wait much longer and I can't fight them."
"Who?" Zen-Aku asked incredulously. They were inside his mind, nothing could touch them here.
Casey looked up at him. "Please," he said and Zen-Aku actually felt a pang of sympathy at the fear and desperation in the young man's voice, "I can't go until I know you're okay."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have to let it go, RJ. You've done horrible things, yes, but you can move on from them, become a better person."
"I canno--"
"You're a Pai Zhuq master, you took in three scared kids without any hesitation, you gave a job to a nice girl who really just needed a friend. You're a good guy, RJ, regardless of what you used to be or what Camille's spell has had you doing. And I know that when push comes to shove you're going to do the right thing."
Shayla screamed.
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked, kneeling by the princess's side.
Lily and Theo, who had both fallen out of their hammocks, stayed a respectful distance back.
"Merrick," Shayla gasped, "he's in terrible danger."
"What?" Eric asked.
"How do you know?" Lily said, kneeling down.
"I can feel it. He's -- I don't know. But he's hurt badly and he's not safe."
"Fenrir," Theo said.
"What?" Lily asked.
"Merrick made a deal with Fenrir to get Gleipnir."
"He what?" Taylor cried, jumping to her feet.
"Do you know how to get there?" Eric asked.
"I -- no."
"I do," Shayla said, rising with Lily's help. "We have to hurry."
"What about Zen-Aku?" Lily asked.
"We'll have to leave him," Taylor said. "It's not like he can cause much damage while he's caged and we don't have any other choice. It'll take all of us to beat him."
As Lily wrote a note for Fran, Eric pulled Taylor aside. "You really think we'll be enough?" he asked.
Taylor watched Theo and Lily. "Call Wes, tell him what's going on. Just in case."
Eric nodded, pulling out his phone.
"And Eric?" Taylor called quietly. "Tell the boys I love them."
Eric smiled and pulled her into a half hug, kissing her on the top of her head.
Zen-Aku smiled to himself. The rangers were long gone -- no doubt to their doom at Fenrir's claws -- and he could still hear Fran moving about upstairs. He let out a strangled cry, which wasn't too hard considering that the collar and chain were extremely painful. After the third cry he heard Fran's footsteps crossing to the top of the stairs. The door creaked open and she called down, "Hello?"
"Fran?" he whimpered, ashamed that it hadn't been an act.
Fran rushed down and gasped when she saw him. "RJ? What's going on?"
He could practically hear the cogs moving in her head, going through all the unappealing explanations.
"When -- when I get sick, I tend to sleepwalk -- and hallucinate," he added for good measure. He gestured to the cage, "This is here so I don't go out into traffic."
Fran nodded slowly, not quite believing him. He noted the mixed look of fright and worry in her eyes as she examined Lœðingr and Gleipnir.
"Fran? You let me out of here so I can go to the bathroom and I'll never ask you to come down here ever again."
"No discussion either?"
"I'll tell the others this place is taboo. So, please?"
He nodded to the key hanging on the wall behind her. He was actually pretty disappointed in Taylor. She should have known better than to leave the key so close to the cage. Fran hurriedly unlocked the door and then knelt beside him.
"Just pull it off," he said. "It comes off real --" He sighed as the weight was lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you," he muttered, his eyes closing contentedly.
There was a chime upstairs from the door. "I'd better get that," Fran said, scurrying away.
Zen-Aku watched her go. She was lucky. If she'd stayed a minute longer…. He stalked up the stairs then into the loft. He wasn't surprised to find Casey's body lying in Lily's bed, but he was surprised to see that the body was sweating. He could hear the heart going a mile a minute and the breathing was ragged and uneven.
"What the --?"
Casey looked around him. Ghosts, spirits, whatever -- they were still really annoying. The figures were dressed in rags but all were more than adept at fighting.
"No," Casey said, "I can't. They still need me."
The figure closest to him nodded slowly and Casey swore he could hear the man say, "They always will -- just as our comrades needed us."
Two of the other figures took Casey's arms. He struggled briefly but his heart wasn't in it. He squared his shoulders and nodded slowly. When his head came back up the others were gone but Casey was no longer in the forest. He was on a cliff and waves were crashing far beneath him. He sighed and sat down, wrapping his arms around his knees. He'd known it was a possibility, but he never really thought he'd end up on this mountain.
Zen-Aku tensed, listening for anything, any sign of life in the body before him. None came. Not a heartbeat, not a small gasp for breath, nothing at all. He sat heavily down in the chair beside the bed and closed his eyes.
"Casey!" he called, appearing in the forest of his mind. "Casey!" he said more harshly. There was no answer and he could no longer feel the boy within his consciousness.
He lifted his head and looked at the body once more. A wave of guilt washed over him. Casey had always been different from the others. He was truly RJ's student. He'd spent barely any time in the academy and it was RJ who taught him most of what he knew. And now he was dead.
No! Zen-Aku stood so quickly that the chair fell to the floor. Casey was the Tiger. It didn't matter if he died, he was just another animal spirit. Just another creature he was meant to kill. But, that didn't stop the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.
A howl echoed in RJ's mind. It was Merrick's Wolf zord. Which could only mean that Merrick was in trouble. RJ glanced down at Casey's body. He wasn't going to let his own actions cost anyone else their lives.