Ancient Prophecy.
Chapter Seventeen:
"On man! Guys we have a problem!" Mikey yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran downstairs waving a piece of paper and looking frantic.
"What is it Mikey?" Don asked as his youngest brother ran into the room.
"Raph's gone!"
"What?!" Don stood up and winced at the still sore wound. "Get the others, now!" Don went to find Elyssa and the other resident witches whilst Mikey ran off to get the rest of the ever growing family.
"Raph took off?" Casey asked as they all gathered in the living room.
"He's gone and we don't know when he left!" Mikey said panicking, "what if he left first thing this morning and we never noticed? We all left him alone to sleep cause of last night and now he's gone and . . ." Splinter stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and took the note. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breath upon reading its contents then passed it to Elyssa.
"It says; Yuri's alive, don't ask me how I know I just do but she needs help. I'm going to find her, don't come after me it's too dangerous right now. If I don't come back then I love you guys, just don't repeat that if I do. Signed Raph." Elyssa looked over at Rose with a shocked look on her face, "Is that possible, could Yuri be alive?"
"Anything's possible Lysie you should know that by now." The old woman replied, "You said that when Ursa Killed Yuri, her eyes glowed red and that glow surrounded Yuri before she disappeared?"
"That's how it happened." Leo nodded itching to go after his brother.
"I have been studying what Serena managed to translate from the tomes along with the tomes my Lysie recovered and it speaks of a dark one locked away in a void of darkness, stripped of her powers. One book mentions that she is linked to a hell dimension where the demon god residing there has the power to grant her certain powers should she offer him gifts. Perhaps Yuri was that gift."
"But Yuri's not a thing to give away!" Mikey exclaimed edging closer to the door so he could be the first to go after Raph.
"We know that but Demons have a very different view on life, they view those who are weaker than them as inferior." Rose explained, "However, you told me that Zuko revealed she was chosen by not only Mab but also the gods for some great deed. That would make her very desirable to a demon lord or God. It's most likely the creature she sacrificed Sayuri to may have desired Yuri as some sort of slave." She turned to her two granddaughters, "Elyssa, you and Marissa use your magic to see if you can find Raphael." The two nodded and with a blink they were gone, "Michelangelo, have you seen Duchess this morning?"
"No but . . ."
"Go and see if you can't find her somewhere on the farm would you, I have my suspicions about that cat." She watched the youngest turtle go and stood in thought for a while.
"What's wrong with Duchess?" Leo asked thoroughly confused at this point, "And why would some demon want Yuri as a slave just cause she's chosen?"
"Well you see there are many different kinds of demons, as I am told you discovered when you were under the tutelage of the tribunal. Some are your stereotypical type who feed off the despair of those who would live in the light. Others are essentially on our side, to a certain extent. They will ally themselves with the forces of good and fight against those who would wish to destroy freedom and peace." Rose glance around to make sure she had everyones attention as she had no desire to repeat herself, "One of these demons was, most famously, known as Aradia keeper of the lost. This demon was touched by the light and legend has it, had a major role in the separation of the lost cities and this world."
"Wait Sayuri once asked me if I had any books on those. What does this have to do with everything?" Serena asked.
"I believe that Yuri hails from the world created to house those lost cities. It's said that Mab and her faeries used all of their power to separate the worlds so that a void of darkness could be created, but it was too much and the faerie folk died out, or so they say. As with all legends that are based on truth, that truth can be tainted with time."
"But what does this have to do with my son's new cat?" Splinter asked trying very hard to understand how everything was connected.
"Yuri could understand that cat easily," she pointed to the ginger tabby curled up on top of a shelf, "now all cats can do some interesting things, that's why the Egyptians worshiped them so many years ago and also why we witches often use them as familiars to strengthen and help our magic. But like the tainting of legends their power has diminished over time mainly due to the considerable reduction in the use of magic over the centuries. Duchess it seems has been immune to that and I have sensed on many occasions that she has some sort of power within her. Now Aradia was said to have fought against the darkness and lost, very little is said of what happened to her but there are some theories that say she was changed into an animal form by the darkness."
"So you think Mikey's cat is this Aradia demon?" April piped up before Casey could say something stupid.
"It is possible, you see how else could Raphael be so sure of Yuri's survival and need of rescue if someone had not shown her to him. As I have already mentioned Aradia is keeper of the lost, she was given that job by the gods themselves and it involved finding those of importance who have been lost to those who need them. Namely Yuri. Aradia obviously feels that Raphael is the best candidate to rescue her considering his obvious feelings for the girl."
"But to take him unarmed and alone?" Leo seethed, "That's suicide and where would they be going?"
"Unfortunately that's a question I have no way to answer, Aradia is older than any of you can imagine. There are things she would know that I could never have found out no matter how hard I tried, but if she has chosen your brother Leonardo she will protect him, of that I am sure." Rose went to comfort the young man but he stepped away.
"I'm going to look for him."
"No!" Everyone looked to Serena who had stood up and was now clutching his arm as if he'd slip through her fingers at any moment, "You can't! Rose sent Lysie and Mary for a reason Leo. You can't fight those demons without magic or magic infused weapons. Let them search for now please!"
"He's my brother Serena I am not just going to sit here and wait never knowing if he ran off to his death or not!" He yelled.
"Leonardo!" Splinter yelled making the couple turn to him, "Serena is right, your brother may be in grave danger but going out after him with no means of defending him or yourself is foolish at best. I have contacted the tribunal and they are gathering the Acolytes once more. They will be here soon." The old rat glance around the room much like Rose had done earlier, "The tribunal have agreed that we will need an army capable of fighting this Ursa. Once the Acolytes are here they will begin to gather more warriors and potential fighters which you and the other acolytes will train."
"Any who show talent in magic my family will train as well." Rose added.
"Please my sons, for now I do not wish to loose another son." Splinter walked away sighing going to find a quiet place to meditate.
"Serena, Sophie come help me gather all of the things we need to raise that spell, we'll need to include the surrounding farms if we're going to be supporting so many people." Rose turned and followed Splinter leaving the others to sit and worry about Raphael who was who knows where and possibly dead.
Xxx
"You know I'm not sure this was such a good idea to not bring weapons." Raph grumbled to the cat as he watched yet another group of demons stalk the streets of New York. If he had not known the city so well then he would not have survived this long. The only humans he had seen were being herded towards central park. "What're they doin with em anyways?"
"Most likely they will be slaves to Ursa," The cat eyed the demons with distaste, "she likes to have her slaves perform menial tasks like building her a castle or digging for valuable jewels, that sort of thing." She then looked toward her companion, "I am not like them you know." She said sounding upset, "Those demons take pleasure in the despair and fear of their victims. Their way of life disgusts me." She laughed through her nose, "Most of the humans here believe that we demons were created by some sort of ultimate evil but they are wrong. Demons are spawned from the darkness yes, but the darkness is not evil, just as magic is not evil. Demons choose their actions and who to ally themselves with, that is what makes them evil their choices not our beautiful darkness, our twilight." She growled low in her throat and shook her head, "we should be going before we're seen. Perhaps we should continue on in the sewers, we could swing past your old home, I believe your family left a few weapons behind."
"Will they be any good against those things?" he asked following the cat to the nearest manhole.
"Unlikely but I'm hoping not to have to find out."
"That so huh?" He grunted as he lifted the cover off and slipped down into the comforting blackness of the sewers.
"Have you sensed a sort of. . .buzzing I suppose you could describe it, within the hilt of Yuri's sword?" His look told her he had and she nodded pleased, "If the time comes that you should need it simply trust that the sword will help you and use it as any other sword, you'll be pleasantly surprised I can assure you." With that she trotted off in the direction of his former home ignoring her confused companion. He was almost relieved to find his home still untouched since they had left although it looked a lot more barren without the large number of people living in it. He made straight for the dojo and found a few of the practice weapons but he knew they would never be enough so instead he pushed aside one of the blinds covering the far wall and reached for the loose bricks he knew were there. Pulling them away he studied the crevice behind and pulled out the weapons he knew were hidden there. They weren't much but he had found them exploring as a child and only he knew of them and his hiding places within each of their homes. He smiled to himself at the thought that he had managed to keep them hidden, even from his own master, otherwise they would not be still be there. He pulled the sai out and frowned at how old and fragile they looked but they still felt like they would do the job so he placed them in his belt with the hilt then turned to seek out Aradia.
"I got what I need." He said when he found her rifling though one of the cupboards in the kitchen.
"Good, good, could you see if that brother of yours left some of that delicious food Klunk eats?" She knocked over a box of old cereal and it went all over the side and floor, "For hundreds of years I've wanted nothing more than to eat a large banquet but unfortunately even an enchanted demon cat is restricted to a normal cat's digestive problems. Oh what I wouldn't give for some real milk!"
"Uh, sure thing. I think he used to keep some under here." He knelt down to a cupboard on floor level and rooted through it to find some kibble. "Here it is." He poured a little on the side for her and then put the box in his pack so that she could have more later should he want it.
"I hope you've put that somewhere handy, after all I was stuck waiting for all this mess to start for centuries. All I had for years was bugs and rats, no offense," she added quickly at his horrified look, "but when it's a question of life and death I'm afraid I had no choice." She blinked, "I do hope I didn't eat any of your master's relatives."
"I doubt it," he shook the image out of his mind, "Master Splinter's from Japan."
"Good, well if you're ready then we should be on our way. I can sense the walls the witches erected weakening as we speak, this place will not be hidden much longer not matter how deep we may be." She glanced at her companion and sighed, "It may be some time before we return to your family."
"I know." Raph studied the floor.
"I am sorry for that, but we are travelling to the place where true heroes reside, perhaps there will be a few masters who can give you a few pointers." She hoped onto his shoulder and he gave her a look, "What? You don't expect me to walk do you? I need to preserve my strength in order to get us to Minerva."
"Minerva?"
"It's what Mab named Yuri's world, she was the Goddess of wisdom and Mab hoped that with the world named after such a being, it would help the magical beings and the warriors who resided there to live in a noble and sensible way. Unfortunately, as with any race there will always be good and evil found in each and while the forces of good have kept those tainted by that evil for centuries, it seems even they did not expect Zuko." She sighed then her red eyes began to glow as she produced an orb, "Now be a good boy and follow that would you, I've raised a spell that will keep us masked from Ursa and her minions so this trip is going to be frightfully dull so I'm going to get a little cat nap whilst that orb does the job of showing you where to go."
"Great so I do all the work and you catch a few zees." He raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty much." Aradia curled up on his shoulder and was soon fast asleep. He shook his head but did what he was told and followed the ball of light.
Xxx
"So what's the deal?" Marissa asked as she flew through the air with her younger sister at her side, "Grandma never really filled me in. She just showed up, told me to pack some things and told me we were leaving. I mean she mentioned about your friends being . . . different, but she hasn't filled me in on what's going on exactly and all those boys look like they can take care of themselves."
"It's a long story but I'll try to make it brief," she started, "well first off they were normal animals but this alien goo or ooze mutated them, Splinter taught them to be butt kicking ninjas. They saved the world several times over already, more than enough to make them super hero material." She took a deep breath and chose to ignore her sister's irritated groan, "As for our current disaster, well a big bad has been resurrected and she's going to take over the world then open the gateways to another world that was separated from ours centuries ago. We knew a girl called Sayuri who was from that world and she was trying to stop all this from happening but she didn't exactly know that her brother and his wife were going to do. When it all came off they killed her." Lysie bit her lip and looked away from her sister for a moment.
"So what does all this have to do with their AWOL brother?"
"Raph's head over heels in love with her, not that he'd ever admit it. From the sounds of it he's got it into his head that Yuri's still alive somehow and is off to play hero." She sighed and headed off towards the nearest town, "He wouldn't be stupid enough to head for the city would he?" She said to herself and sent a scan around the small built up area to see if there was anyone left.
"If no one's seen him since morning then he's most likely long gone by now Lysie," Mary pointed out noticing the odd car abandoned here and there along the streets, "I mean this isn't that far away from the farm so It would only have taken an hour or so to get here if that, depending on how fast he was going and what time he left. How far away from the city is this place?"
"Two hours drive maybe, I guess. I got here by magic so I wouldn't know exactly, although the guys would know. Oh I hope we don't have to go back empty handed." They continued their search until it was too dark for them to see anything from the air and then headed home dejectedly.
"Well, did you find him?" Donnie immediately asked as they arrived looking more than exhausted.
"No sign of him," Marrisa relied patting her little sister comfortingly on her shoulder, "I'm sorry but he's nowhere to be found."
"We should be looking too!" Leo yelled in anger at his father ignoring Serena's attempts to calm him down.
"That would be unwise Leonardo." Rose stepped in for Splinter who was looking fatigued and stressed. "You boys may be enough to take one or two demons and win, but if you come across more than that you'll have no hope. And we don't have enough witches to go around so that you can join in the search." She turned to Mikey, "Did you ever find that cat Michelangelo?"
"No, she's gone too?"
"Just as I thought," she rubbed her chin, "If I'm right then Raphael will be in safe hands wherever he may go so long as he is with that cat."
Xxx
"It's about time too." Aradia grouched as they entered the cavern.
"Hey, I was just following that ball thing like you said I should!" Raph whined, "Man I sound like Mikey."
"I realise that, I just like grouching and yes you do sound like your younger brother." She hoped off of the turtle's shoulder and onto a mound of rocks that created a platform. Her eyes glowed and she uttered several words Raphael didn't understand before a light began to form between two pillars of rocks. It took several minutes but soon Raph could see something on the other side of the light and he walked closer to get a better look. As the image cleared he could see rolling hills and mountains in the background. "Well what are you waiting for, go on through! I'll be right behind you Raphael."
Yay another chappy! I'm back at college now so once my work load picks up the gaps between chapters might get long. Sorry if they do but my degree comes first. Please review, good or bad. Angel xxx