September 20th
After the 1:45pm plane
landed at Tokyo Airport, five girls emerged from the airport dragging their
luggage.
"Tokyo, Japan," said Jessie.
She was the tallest member of the group, with long dark reddish-brown hair
and dark brown eyes, wearing a red and gold tie-dye T-shirt, light jeans,
black high-top sneakers, and shades. She inhaled deeply. "Can you smell
that?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's exhaust,"
said Casey. She had dirty-blond hair and was wearing a yellow tank top
and blazer, shorts and keds.
"No," said Jessie, "it's
freedom! I'm free!"
"You're twenty-two, Jessie,"
Gwen said, leaning against the wall. Gwen was wearing a light orange-colored
shirt with jeans and keds. She pushed her shoulder length pale brown hair
behind her ear and sighed.
"That doesn't matter to
her parents," said Joana. She was about 5'2" with dark brown hair and eyes,
and looked like a kid sister when she stood next to either Jessie or Gwen,
who were both 5'10", and Casey or Twyla, who were 5'6". Joana had on a
pink T-shirt, light jacket, and loafers - her famous boat shoes.
"I'd still love to know
how you managed to actually convince your parents to let you come to Japan
with us," said Twyla, sitting on her suitcase. Twyla had milk chocolate
brown hair that extended to the middle of her back. She was wearing a light
lavender sweater, dark jeans, and low running shoes.
"Easy," said Jessie, "I
told them I was going to Chicago."
The others gaped at her.
"You haven't told them?" exclaimed Joana.
"Do you actually think
that my parents would let me travel on an eighteen hour flight, non-stop
to Japan?" asked Jessie. "I don't think so."
"How did you get them
to believe that you were going to Chicago?" Twyla asked.
"Bless my Aunt Gail,"
said Jessie, "I told her that I'd bring her back a kimono. Don't worry,
my parents will know that I'm in Japan when I send them a postcard. Taxi!"
After the girls settled
in at their hotel and ate lunch, Jessie took a shower, humming "Anywhere
Is" while lathering her hair.
The other girls were lying
on their beds. Since there were only four beds, Jessie was glad that she
had packed the air mattress.
"What's the first thing
you are going to do?" Twyla asked.
"Sleep," the remaining
trio said in unison.
"I'm not getting up until
tomorrow morning," said Casey, flopping backwards on her bed.
"Me too," said Gwen.
"See ya!" said Jessie.
She was dressed in another pair of jeans, a T-shirt with a white tiger
and an orange tiger lying in a meadow, a denim jacket and her black high-tops.
"Where do you think you're
going?" asked Joana.
"Since all you jet-lagged
people are going to sleep away this beautiful afternoon," Jessie began,
"I'm going to give myself a little tour of the town."
"You're nuts," said Gwen,
"you'll get lost."
"I can read," said Jessie,
grabbing her room key.
"How is it that you were
able to sleep on that plane and not suffer from jet-lag like the rest of
us?" demanded Casey.
"Oh the wonders of modern
technology," said Jessie and pulled a small bottle out of her backpack.
"You had Nytol?" Casey
and the others gave Jessie looks of hate.
"Maybe next time you guys
won't threaten me to leave my guitar at home," Jessie said.
"We don't hate your guitar
playing," said Twyla, "we just don't need to hear 'Koom-bi-ya' at three
o'clock in the morning."
"It wasn't 'Koom-bi-ya',"
said Jessie, "it was the ending song to 'Soul Blazer'."
"Sounded like 'Koom-bi-ya'
to me."
Jessie stuck her tongue
out at Twyla and tossed her the Nytol bottle. "I'll be back later," she
said.
"Be careful," said Joana.
"Yes, mother." Jessie
closed the door. She walked to the elevator and went down to the main lobby.
She left the hotel and walked down the sidewalk, looking at all the sights
and listening to the sounds.
Almost like home, only
it's a few thousand miles away, Jessie thought.
"Going somewhere?" a voice
asked.
Jessie turned around and
saw a young man about her age standing a few yards away from her.
Who the hell is this
freak? Jessie asked herself. He was dressed completely in black with
a black trench coat. His head was shaved bald and he had black shades.
Maybe it was his appearance, yet Jessie could tell there was something
off about this stranger and it gave her the creeps. She knew one guy back
home that dressed like this and he was as sweet as pie, but this person
was making all her intuition alarms scream.
"Anyplace but where you're
going," Jessie said, turning around and continued her way, walking very
quickly. After a few minutes she turned around to see if he was following
her. He was gone. Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. She looked forward
again and almost bumped into the stranger. She jumped back.
"Looking for me?" he asked.
Like I'm looking for
a plague of locusts, Jessie thought. "No," she said, "look pal, I don't
want a date. So go take a hike."
Jessie took off again
quicker than before, her intuition telling her that the stranger was following
her. She broke into a run, weaving her way through the city streets, her
heart beating fast from both running and fear.
I hope I lose him soon,
Jessie
thought as she turned a corner, before I get lost.
"What is he doing in there?"
Kento asked. He was waiting outside a small gift shop with Sage, Rowen,
and Cye, while Ryo was inside talking to the clerk.
"Lord knows," said Cye,
peering through the glass at Ryo, who handed the clerk some money, waved,
and left the shop.
"Sorry that took so long,"
Ryo said, stuffing his wallet back in his pocket.
"What did you get in there?"
Cye asked.
"Nothing," said Ryo innocently
with a smile.
"Yeah right," said Kento,
"you got something for Mia, didn't you."
"Maybe, maybe not," Ryo
said as they walked down the street.
"You two are so mushy
together, it's sickening," Rowen said.
"Guys, guys," Ryo held
out his hands, "you'll understand when you meet your perfect girl."
"If she's a great cook,
I'll know," Kento said.
"There's no surprise,"
said Cye. "If she a sweet old-fashioned lass, I'll find her."
"If she has the same taste
in literature as me," said Rowen, "she'll be mine."
"Will that be before or
after you compare your I.Q. to hers?" asked Sage. The others laughed.
"Okay, wise ass," said
Rowen, "what do you want in a girl?"
"I don't know," Sage said
and he opened his arms. "Sooner or later she'll come running into my arms."
At that moment someone
did and rather hard, causing Sage to lose his balance and fall backwards.
Sage grabbed Rowen and Ryo. Poor Rowen grabbed nothing but air. Ryo grabbed
Kento, who grabbed Cye, and Cye suffered the same fate as Rowen. All six
fell to the ground like dominos and lay there stunned for a moment.
It was just a figure
of speech! Sage thought. Something heavy was on top of him and he smelled
lilac shampoo.
"Ow, hurt, pain," said
a female voice as the weight lifted off him. Sage opened his eyes and saw
a pretty girl with dark reddish-brown hair, wearing a T-shirt with two
tigers, one white, one orange, lying in a meadow, and quite a few necklaces
and earrings.
Whoa, baby! Sage
thought. Be careful what you wish for, it may come true. It does!
You idiot! Jessie
scolded herself as she rubbed her forehead. First day in Japan and you're
already making a fool out of yourself! You'll be lucky if this guy you
nearly turned into road-kill doesn't sue you for damage!
Jessie opened her eyes
and saw a very, very attractive, cute blond guy lying beneath her.
Hello handsome!
Jessie felt like she was in ancient Greece and she had met a god from Olympus.
He was perfect. The way his hair flopped over his violet-hazel colored
eyes and the brief feel of the wonderful muscles hidden beneath that green
shirt. Cupid had let the love arrow hit Jessie right in the heart. For
Jessie, it seemed that the world had faded away and nothing existed except
for them.
"AH-HEM!" someone cleared
his throat, bringing Jessie back to reality. She looked to her right and
saw Rowen, a rather pissed off look on his face. To her left she saw Ryo,
Kento, and Cye, looks of annoyance were staring at her. Jessie felt her
face grow warm.
"Uh… sorry," she said
standing up and jumped over them. "I did bump…uh…knock you down. I didn't
mean to… um… do it on purpose. If I see you again, I'll make it up to you.
Bye!" She took off down the street and around the corner.
"That's the fastest relationship
you ever had, Sage," said Ryo.
"Yeah, faster then Kento's,"
said Cye.
"Hey!" Kento yelled.
They stood up, brushed
off dust and looked down the way Jessie had run.
"She really must have
been in a hurry," said Rowen. "Next time, Sage, don't drag us down with
you."
"Hey, I didn't know that
would happen," Sage protested. "I wonder if she's all right."
"Well, why don't you go
after her?" Rowen asked. "She ran into your arms, didn't she? Your perfect
woman is getting away."
"Knock it off," Sage was
getting annoyed. "She's probably long gone now anyway."
"Come on, guys, let's
go," said Ryo. "Hey, what's this?" He knelt down and picked up a necklace
off the ground. It was a half of a yin yang. Its color was a sparkling
red and had a smaller black and white yin yang inside. A strange tingling
sensation went through Ryo's hand and his Wildfire Armor flashed in his
mind. He gasped.
"Ryo, you all right, buddy?"
Kento asked.
"Yeah," Ryo answered,
still looking at the pendant. "The chain is broken. I wonder if it belongs
to that girl?"
"Wouldn't surprise me,"
said Rowen, "she was wearing enough jewelry to open her own boutique."
"If we see her again,
ask her," Cye said.
Ryo put the pendant in
his pocket and they continued their way.
A loud scream echoed through
the streets causing the boys to turn and face the opposite direction.
"What the hell…" said
Rowen.
"Who was that?" asked
Cye.
"Do you think it was that
girl?" Kento asked.
Suddenly, Ryo bolted down
the street. "Guys! She needs help!" he yelled at the others. "Don't ask
me how I know, but she needs it!"
"You must be deaf! Cause
you sure don't listen!" Jessie shouted wiping the blood from her mouth
with the back of her hand. The stranger had cornered her in a dead end
ally.
"You're coming with me,"
he said, reaching for her.
I don't think so!
Jessie thought. Swiftly, she grabbed his extended arm, tripped him, and
threw him to the ground. Jessie was grateful of the brief karate lessons
Twyla had taught her.
The stranger turned around
and glared at Jessie. His shades had fallen off and she looked at his eyes.
They were completely black. Not white with a dark iris, completely black.
"Oh my God," Jessie whispered.
Before she could take another breath, the stranger lunged at her and pinned
her against the wall, hand around her throat.
"Where are the others?"
he demanded.
"I don't know what you're
talking about!" Jessie said as she tried to pull his hand away from her
throat.
"Don't play games with
me," he said, tightening his grip. "I know that you didn't come here alone.
Tell me where the others are and I'll spare your life."
"What guarantee do I have
that you won't kill us if I do tell you?" Jessie was willing to die right
there then to put her friends' lives in danger.
"It seems that you won't
unless you tell me," he said.
Jessie brought her leg
up fast, hitting him in the crotch, which would send any man to the ground.
It didn't affect him.
Not even a twitch.
THAT'S SUPPOSE TO WORK!
Panic surged through Jessie. Her last idea of escaping had failed.
"HEY!" a voice yelled,
echoing through the ally.
The stranger and Jessie
looked towards the entrance. There stood Ryo, sweat dotted his forehead
and his breathing was quick, evidence that he had pushed himself past his
running limit.
"Let her go!" Ryo shouted.
"Sorry, but she has a
little bit of information I need," said the stranger, "and I'll take it
at any cost."
"Wanna bet?" said Ryo.
The stranger narrowed
his eyes at Ryo. "There's something about you," he said, "what could it
be?"
Cye, Kento, Sage, and
Rowen arrived at the ally.
"Ryo, why did you-" Rowen
stopped when he saw Jessie's situation.
"Now I see," said the
stranger, "you are five of the Chosen Ones to bear the Armors of the Nine,
aren't you?"
"How does he know that?"
Sage whispered. Ryo shook his head.
"You may have defeated
our Master," the stranger continued, "but only for a time. The circle is
near completion. The question is, will you protect your charges?"
"Who are you?" Cye demanded.
"And what do you mean by 'Master'?"
"Maybe I should refresh
your memory," said the stranger, "and give our guest here a review of what
you battled." His eyes began to glow eerily and his shape began to change,
growing taller and the clothes ripped revealing hideous colored armor and
matching helmet.
Fear spread throughout
Jessie and she looked to the five at the end of the ally, a pleading look
on her face, begging them for help. Horror and recognition displayed on
their faces.
"Impossible," said Rowen,
"a Nether Solider?"
"I thought they were sealed
in the Nether Realm," said Sage.
"Surprised aren't you,"
said the Nether Soldier, "I won't trouble you with the details of how I
got out. Let's just say there was one small connection you overlooked."
He laughed and looked at Jessie. "I'll take care of you after I'm finished
with these whelps." He picked her up and flung her into the opposite wall.
Jessie fell to the ground unconscious.
"Now then," said the Nether
Soldier, holding the sickle and chain in his hands. "Shall we start?"
The Ronins took their
fighting stances.
"I like the odds," said
Kento. "Five of us and only him. Just like when we started."
"True," said Cye, "but
we had our Armors and two were in danger."
"Think one of us can get
by him?" asked Sage. "We've got to get her out of here."
"Right," said Ryo, "it's
too dangerous for her now." Why would a Nether Soldier go after her?
Ryo thought to himself.
The Nether Soldier swung
the spiked end at the Ronins. They leapt into the air over the Soldier.
Cye, Kento, and Rowen faced the Soldier, while Ryo and Sage hurried to
Jessie's side.
"Is she all right?" Ryo
asked.
Sage put his fingers under
Jessie's nose. "She's breathing," he said and checked her pulse. "She'll
be fine, but I think we should take her to the hospital and have her checked."
"Look out!" Cye yelled.
The chain wrapped around
Ryo and Sage, yanking them away from Jessie.
"She is none of your concern,"
said the Nether Soldier. He flipped them into the air. The chain loosened
and Ryo and Sage landed on their feet behind the others. Kento had picked
up a pipe that was about two feet long.
"You should be more concerned
about yourselves!" shouted the Nether Soldier. He swung the sickle at them.
Kento held up the pipe and the sickle wrapped around it and locked. The
Nether Soldier tried to pull the sickle back, but Cye grabbed onto the
pipe to help Kento. The stress on the chain caused it to break and the
sickle flew through the air, landing inches away from Jessie's head.
"Imbeciles!" shouted the
Nether Soldier, swinging the spiked end at them. "I need her alive!"
First he tries to kill
her, now he wants her in one piece? Ryo thought as he ducked. Why?
What does he want her for?
Jessie groaned and opened
her eyes. In front of her face was the sickle. Jessie sat up quick and
her head began to pound from the motion.
"Where am I?" she asked
herself. Her foggy mind swirled as the memories floated back to her. She
was in Japan. Left her friends at the hotel and went for a walk. Someone
started following her. She knocked down five guys in her attempt to escape
- Jessie smiled at the memory of Sage. The stranger had trapped her in
an ally and the five young men had appeared. The stranger changed into
a weird armored soldier and flung her into a wall and she blacked out.
Noise erupted from the
other end and Jessie peeked out to see what it was.
Ryo, Rowen, Kento, Sage,
and Cye were still fighting the Nether Soldier. Their fighting techniques
were impressive, but the Nether Soldier had an advantaged with the spiked
ball and chain.
I've got to do something
to help them! Jessie thought. But what? I can't just sit here and
watch them fight! Just then the sickle caught her eye. Jessie picked
it up and studied it for a moment. Better than nothing, she thought,
standing up.
"This is taking forever!"
said Kento, breathing hard. "We'll never beat him at this rate!"
"Why don't you just surrender?"
asked the Nether Soldier. "I'll make your last moments as painless as possible."
"Yeah right!" Ryo jumped
into the air and aimed his foot at the Nether Soldier. The Nether Soldier
blocked it and knocked him to the ground. Stunned, Ryo looked up and saw
the Nether Soldier looming over him, swinging the spiked ball.
"Nice try," he said. "But
a disgraceful attempted. So I'll spare you the humiliation by killing you!"
"RYO!" the other
Ronins cried.
Ryo shut his eyes tight
and waited for the blow.
It never came.
Ryo opened his eyes and
the Nether Soldier standing there. No movement. A trail of smoke emerged
from the thin line that divided the Nether Soldier in half.
"This isn't over," said
the Nether Soldier in a hoarse whisper. Each half fell to the ground and
vanished.
The Ronins looked at Jessie,
who was standing where the Nether Soldier once was, the sickle in her hand.
She had sneaked up behind the Nether Soldier and cleaved him in half. Jessie
looked at Ryo and then at the sickle. She let it fall to the ground and
it vanished as well. Jessie fell to her knees, her breath coming in gasps.
Ryo crawled over to her
and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Jessie looked at him and
nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "You?"
Ryo smiled and nodded.
Sage, Rowen, Cye, and Kento helped them to their feet.
"You don't need to go
to the hospital or anything, do you?" Sage asked.
"No, I'm all right. But
do you know what I'm going to do," Jessie said hoarsely. "I'm going to
get a cab, go back to my hotel, go to sleep, and when I wake up I'm going
to act like this was just a bad dream." Running into you was the only
bright side of this, Jessie added to herself, leaving the ally, caught
a taxi, and drove off.
The Ronins left the ally
and headed for Mia's house, pondering what had happened.
"How did the tin can get
here?" asked Kento.
"Don't know," said Ryo.
"He said that we overlooked
a connection," said Rowen. "Do you think he meant the pillar that was in
the center of town, when Talpa connected the Dynasty to our world?"
"Possibly," said Sage,
"but don't forget the big display screen where we battled the first Nether
Soldier."
"And where we first met
the Warlords," said Cye. "Oh, that was painful."
"Come on, guys," Ryo said,
putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "They're refined now. They even
get along with each other better."
"Especially Dayus and
Kayura," said Rowen with a grin. "Tell me if you can picture this-"
"It's still hard for me
to picture their wedding even though we were there." Kento laughed.
"Just tell me if you can
see this," Rowen continued, "Kayura and Dayus as 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'."
They stopped, looked at
Rowen, looked at each other, back at Rowen. "No," all in unison.
"Why did you ask that?"
Cye asked.
"Don't tell us that Kayura
is pregnant," said Sage.
"I don't know," said Rowen,
"I just wanted to know if you could see a little kid running up to Dayus
and saying 'Dada'."
"In order for that to
happen," said Kento. "Dayus and Kayura would have to…" He didn't bother
to finish the sentence. All of them stopped and looked at each other.
"Ewe," they said together.
"Let's just push that
from our minds please?" Cye begged as they started walking again.
"Yes," said Ryo, "push
it far from our minds." He buried his hands deeper into his jacket pockets
and felt something. "Damn," he said and pulled out the pendant. "Forgot
to ask that girl if this belongs to her."
"Don't worry," said Sage.
"I have a feeling that we'll see her again."
The cab pulled up in front
of the hotel. Jessie paid the driver and walked into the main lobby. It
was getting late and she was hungry.
I wonder if they ordered
room service? Jessie thought as she walked to the elevator. She was
just about to hit the button when she remembered what happened earlier.
Oh God!
Jessie
thought. She headed for the ladies room. I can't let the others see
me if I'm a mess!
There were two reasons
why Jessie wouldn't tell her friends about the attack and rescue: one -
they would think she was crazy, or two - they would jump on the next flight
to back New York.
Jessie entered the ladies
room. No one was in there, which was good. She checked her reflection in
the mirror. There weren't any bruises or scratches on her face or neck.
That was a relief.
"Wait a minute," she said
and counted her necklaces, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Damn!" Her red yin yang half was gone. When she was a junior in high school,
Jessie had bought the best friends' necklaces and gave the other half,
which was a sparkling light blue, to Joana.
"Terrific," Jessie muttered
to herself, "just great." She left the ladies room and went upstairs to
her room. When she opened the door, a wonderful delicious smell enveloped
her. It was pizza.
"Surprise!" her friends
cried.
"Can you believe that
there is a pizza parlor just around the block?" asked Casey. "But you knew
that already since you went for a walk."
Jessie closed the door.
"I didn't go in that direction," she said, "just what the hell do you think
you four are doing?"
"Eating pizza," said Twyla.
"I can see that, but you're
eating over the air mattress and I have to sleep on that!" Jessie walked
over to them. "By the way, what kind did you get?"
"Plain cheese, mushroom
and bacon and onion, and pepperoni," said Gwen. "We travel hundreds of
miles and still eat the same food we have home."
"Go figure," said Jessie,
taking a slice of pepperoni.
"So, what did you do today?"
Joana asked.
I nearly got killed
by some wacko and ran into a really gorgeous hunk, literally, fell to the
ground, took his friends with us, and they saved my life, Jessie thought
as she chewed her pizza. "Nothing really. Just walked around and looked
at a few places."
"See anything interesting?"
Twyla asked.
Boy, did I! Jessie
swallowed. "There's a book store not far from here."
"Does it have manga?"
Twyla asked hopefully.
"I told you I only went
for a walk," said Jessie, "I didn't go into any stores today. Excuse me."
She stood up, took a nightshirt and spandex shorts out of her suitcase,
went into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Something's bothering
her," whispered Joana.
"How do you know?" asked
Gwen.
"I've known her since
the seventh grade."
"Well, don't bother her
now," said Twyla.
Jessie came out of the
bathroom in her nightshirt and shorts. Printed on the nightshirt was 'I'm
tired! I'm cranky! Leave me alone!' She put her dirty clothes in the laundry
bag next to the bathroom door, and put her necklaces and earrings in a
small wooden box she had brought with her.
"There better not be any
grease stains on the mattress," warned Jessie, "because I will kick whoever
is responsible out of her bed and she can sleep on the floor."
After the pizza was eaten
and the paper plates were gone, Jessie checked the mattress for grease
stains. There weren't any and she felt a little disappointed she wouldn't
be able to sleep in a regular bed.
"How much Nytol is left?"
Jessie asked.
"The same amount when
you gave us the bottle," said Casey.
"You didn't take it?"
Joana shook her head.
"We feel asleep without it. We'll need it now because we won't be able
to fall asleep and adjust to the time zone."
"That's true," said Jessie
as she adjusted the sheets the hotel clerk had given her on the air mattress.
"We have to tell Mia about
what happened," said Rowen.
"We have to get in touch
with Kayura and the Warlords," said Sage, "they have to know."
"Right," said Ryo, "Nether
Soldiers being able to enter our realm without using the Dynasty is pretty
unnerving."
"Where do you think we
should begin when we tell Mia?" asked Kento. A wicked smile spread across
his face. "How about when Ryo was in the gift shop?"
"Don't even think about
it," warned Ryo.
"Oh, come on," said Cye,
"we're going to find out sooner or later. Might as well be sooner."
I prefer never,
Ryo thought.
They continued to pester
him all the way to the door of Mia's house, making guesses and trying to
get Ryo to tell them what he bought.
"Ryo, you are going to
tell us what you got," Sage said as they walked into the house.
"Like hell I am," said
Ryo, taking off his sneakers and hanging up his jacket.
"Hi guys!" Mia called.
"I'm in the living room. What did you get, Ryo?"
Ryo glared at Sage.
"He got you sexy lingerie,"
said Kento.
"I DID NOT!" shouted Ryo.
"He wants to see you in
it."
"WHY YOU!" Ryo took off
after Kento, who ran for the living room. Cye, Rowen, and Sage followed
suit. They ran into the living room and stopped. Mia was sitting on the
couch, White Blaze at her feet. They were not alone. Kayura was sitting
on the other couch, dressed in her kimono and the Ancient Staff lying across
her lap.
"Hello, Kayura," said
Kento, "Rowen was talking about you earlier."
"Oh really," said Kayura,
"about what?"
"About how we don't see
you and the other Warlords as much as we used to," said Rowen. He glared
at Kento, who had a triumphant smile on his face, which said, 'Now we're
even.'
"Yes, it's a shame that
we don't see each other as often as we used to," Kayura said, "but I'm
afraid that this is not a leisure trip. Anubis told me about what the Ancients
have said and he has told you as well?"
"Yes," said Ryo, "I saw
him when I meditated two days ago. What does it mean, 'the circle shall
be complete'."
"I don't know," Kayura
shook her head, "but I have a feeling that it involves the Armors and something
else. I have felt a few disturbances and I'm worried."
Ryo decided that he had
to tell Kayura about what happened in town. He swallowed before beginning.
"After she cleaved the
Nether Soldier in half, she grabbed a cab and left," Ryo finished the story.
No emotion was on Kayura's face while he
had told her everything that had happened. Fear was spread on Mia's face
and she was a little pale.
"A Nether Soldier here?"
Mia asked horrified. Her own past encounters with Nether Soldiers had not
been pleasant.
"Where did she go?" Kayura
asked.
"Back to her hotel," said
Sage, "but she didn't say where or which hotel."
"Do you actually think
that she would tell us exactly where she was staying after what just happened
to her?" Rowen asked. "I don't think so."
"Why would a Nether Soldier
go after a foreign girl?" Kayura asked, almost to herself. "Is there anything
you can tell me about her, so that I can see why the Nether Soldier was
after her?"
"Hold on a minute," said
Ryo. He left the living room and walked to the front hall. Reaching into
his jacket pocket, Ryo pulled out the pendant and walked back into the
living room. "Found this on the ground," said Ryo as he handed the pendant
to Kayura. "I think it belongs to her."
"Ironic the color," said
Kayura, turning the pendant in her hands. "But you're right. It does belong
to her." Kayura stood up, the Staff in her right hand, the pendant in her
left. She whispered a chant and the rings on the Staff began to clang and
the pendant rose from her hand. "Her intentions are good," said Kayura,
"and she'll play part of a key later on. To what, I don't know." She handed
the pendant back to Ryo. "If you find out where she is staying, let me
know. I have to talk to her."
"What about what the Nether
Soldier said?" asked Cye. "About missing a connection."
"I'll look into that.
In the meantime, stay on guard and keep your eyes and ears open if you
see or here anything unusual," Kayura instructed.
"Yes ma'am," said the
Ronins in unison.
Kayura smiled. "All right.
I'll see you later." She held the Staff in front of her. The rings clanged
and she disappeared.
"I wish we could do that,"
said Kento, "that would come in very handy."
"You'd use it to appear
in a candy shop after closing time," said Rowen.
Kento looked at Rowen,
but didn't say anything.
"Don't fight now, guys,"
said Mia, "your super is waiting on the table. If it's cold, just put it
in the microwave for a few minutes."
Later that night, Mia was
in her room reading her latest romance novel. Ryo was in his room, lying
on his bed, studying the pendant. White Blaze was sleeping on the rug.
"What's so important about
her?" Ryo asked himself aloud.
A knock from the bathroom
door interrupted his thoughts. Ryo put the pendant in his night table and
walked to the bathroom door.
Other than the hallway
and the outside balcony, the bathroom connected Ryo's room to the room
the other Ronins shared.
Ryo opened the door and saw Rowen standing
in his P-J's.
"Sage took a shower first,
I took one second. Since I don't want to become road-kill when Cye and
Kento try to get into the bathroom the same time I'm trying to get out,
I'm going to cut through your room and the hallway to ensure my safety,"
Rowen explained, walking into Ryo's room.
"Very wise choice," said
Ryo as he closed the bathroom door.
"Well, it was either that
or the bathroom window," Rowen said, "and I didn't want to go outside with
my hair still wet and catch a cold. You should hear those two. Cye wants
to go first because he doesn't want Kento using his shampoo, and Kento
wants to go first because Cye takes forever."
"You have to agree with
both of them," said Ryo. "Goodnight, Rowen."
"Goodnight?" asked Rowen
as he left the room. "Not in there." He shut the bedroom door.
Ryo smiled and shook his
head. He walked around White Blaze, lay down on his bed, and pulled the
covers over himself.
"As soon as Rowen comes
out, I'm next!" said Kento.
"Oh no you're not!" said
Cye. "I am!"
"There's more than one
bathroom in this house, remember?" said Sage, who was lying in bed, reading
a book he had started last week.
"Mia said that the plumber
called today and he couldn't make it," said Cye.
Sage looked up from his
book. "So when's he going to fix the shower downstairs?"
"He's going to call sometime
this week," said Cye and went back to his argument with Kento.
Wonderful, thought
Sage, I don't think I could stand another day listening to these two.
"As soon as the door opens,"
said Kento, "I'm going in."
"Wanna bet?" asked Cye.
"And which door would
that be?"
All three looked to the
bedroom door and saw Rowen standing in the hallway. Cye, taking advantage
of Kento's confusion, bolted towards the bathroom, slammed the door and
locked it.
"Hey!" yelled Kento. "Cye!
No fair!"
"You should have been
paying attention!" Cye yelled from the other side.
"How was I supposed to
know he was finished already?"
"Hey, you snooze, you
lose. And, well, Kento, you lost."
Kento grumbled and left
the room. "I'm going for a snack," he said unhappily as he went downstairs.
"There goes the fridge,"
said Rowen. He put his dirty clothes in the hamper, walked over to his
bed, sat down and began to dry his hair with the towel.
Sage sighed and put his
bookmark in place, closed the book, set it on the night table and turned
off the lamp. He scooted down into a more comfortable position, adjusted
the sheets and blankets, laid back and closed his eyes. In his mind he
saw the girl he and the others had saved earlier that day. A light smile
appeared over his lips.
"What are you grinning
for?" asked Rowen.
Sage opened his eyes and
looked at his friend. "I'm thinking about that girl we helped today," he
said. "She's pretty. And there's something about her."
"Well, since she was pursued
by a Nether Soldier, there has to be something about her or he wouldn't
have chased her," Rowen said as he placed the towel over his pillow.
"I know," said Sage, "I
also have weird this feeling that I've met her before." He sighed and closed
his eyes again.
Maybe you should have
taken a cold shower, Rowen thought. Then aloud, "I thought you said
that you've given up being the 'King of Flirting'."
"I did," Sage sat up,
"Ronin Honor and I swear on the Ancient Staff, I did. But Rowen, this is
different. I'm serious. I've never felt like this before."
Rowen looked at his best
friend. He had known Sage since they were little kids and from the expression
on Sage's face and the tone of his voice said that Sage was serious.
"I believe you," said
Rowen, getting into his own bed. "But I don't want to see you upset if
something happens to her or if something is bad about her."
"You heard what Kayura
said earlier," Sage said defensively. "Her intentions are good. She can't
be evil."
"But what if she has something
inside her?" asked Rowen. "Who knows? She could be the reincarnation of
a dark goddess or something else."
"But she isn't!" Sage
protested. "I don't know how I know, but she's not evil!" He flopped backwards
and groaned.
You must be in love,
thought Rowen, I've never seen you like this before. He turned off
his lamp and settled into bed. "Goodnight, Sage."
"Night, Rowen," came the
sour reply.
"Okay, where's the Nytol?"
asked Casey. She closed the night table drawer.
"Beats me," said Gwen.
"Have Jessie Track it."
"She's in the bathroom,"
said Joana.
"Again?" exclaimed Casey.
"You know what pepperoni
does to her," said Twyla.
The sound of the toilet
flushing backed up Twyla's statement. The door opened and Jessie came out.
"Feel better?" Twyla asked.
"You could say that,"
said Jessie.
"Jessie, where's the Nytol?"
demanded Casey.
"It could be in the night
table, it could be in my backpack, or," she held out the bottle, "it could
be in my hand because I already took it." Jessie tossed the bottle to Casey,
walked over to the air mattress and lay down. "Now for some shut eye,"
said Jessie.
"As soon as we get the
Nytol from Casey," Gwen said, fluffing her pillow.
"Next," Casey said, entering
the room. "The Nytol is in the medicine cabinet."
After the girls were settled
into bed, Gwen brought up the next day's plans. "I don't know about you
guys," she said, "but I'm going to see that new movie tomorrow, the one
that was reviewed in today's paper. 'Phoenix: Fire and Passion'."
"That's supposed to be
the best-animated move since 'Ninja Scroll'," said Twyla.
"Didn't 'Ninja Scroll'
win some kind of award?" asked Casey.
"It was winner of the
Yobati Film Festival," said Jessie, not bothering to open her eyes.
"Why don't we all go see
'Phoenix' tomorrow," said Joana.
The others agreed. Jessie
didn't respond. There was no way she was going out after what happened
this afternoon.
"Hey Jessie, don't you
think that's a good idea?" Twyla asked. "Jessie? She must be asleep."
But Jessie was still awake,
thinking how to stay in the hotel without the others asking questions.
I'll just say that
I don't feel well, Jessie thought and drifted off to sleep.
Warrior Call
By: Janime Lee