Ronin Warriors
Warrior Call
By Janime Lee
Chapter Twenty-nine
Waking the Dragon - Part One
"No."
"For everything that is holy and good that remains, Kaosu, see it from my view."
"I don't have to, Michael. You only see one path; you always did, even then. But listen to me on this: you will not do anything to her."
Michael stared at the golden pane and shook his head sadly. Despite not being able to convince the Ancient One of his suggestion, the Cavern Watcher should have just gone ahead and do what he believed was necessary.
No, he didn't just believe.
It was necessary. Too long the Cavern Watcher had seen the rise and fall of eras on Earth; and he had taken part in many of history's events. Though he would never admit it aloud, there were some he regretted.
Yurei had pulled the Ronin and Warlords into Jessie's mind, and there was no telling what would happen to them if he had done what would maintain the balance.
He had no choice this time.
Michael stepped closer to the golden pane, examining the cracks and discoloring of the "glass" within. He frowned at the nine colored shards within the pane, representing each Ronin and Warlord within Jessie. Raising his hand, the Cavern Watcher reached out to the glass. He paused, frowning as another colored shard appeared and watched as two of the three largest cracks moved towards it.
Michael watched in disbelief and his hand dropped to his side. "Kaosu, you fool," he said in almost a whisper, "You still won't accept that she is no longer yours."
-*-*-*-*-
"You think she's like this because she saw us naked?"
"I seriously doubt that, Kento," Rowen said.
The Ronin and Warlords turned their gaze from the just barely covered Jessie to the circle of Nether Spirits. So far the dark entities hadn't given any inclination of detecting their presence, which was a good thing. Their trek through Jessie's mind gave the nine armor wearers a deeper insight into Jessie as well as more of her memories, some where she had been a little more than violent towards another classmate in elementary school.
"Okay." Cye spoke, "So how do we wake her up?"
"You don't." Yurei materialized between them and the Nether Spirits.
"Haven't you had enough of your little masquerade?" Sekhmet frowned.
Yurei tilted her head, smirking. "Bothers you, does it? Very well, since you so kindly insisted."
Her face changed from Jessie's visage to one of Japanese descent; her hair turned from the rich red-brown to a dark aqua. Only her eyes remained unchanged from the ruby coloring.
"Better?" Not expecting an answer, Yurei looked at Jessie over her shoulder. "What do you see when you look at her? A poor gaijin that has been caught in something beyond her control? Somehow I doubt that theory. Your Ancient One has been watching over her for centuries." She turned to Ryo, "You as well, Wildfire, but he has watched over her more than you. Why is that, I wonder."
Ryo said nothing.
"Aren't you just the tiniest bit curious?" Yurei stepped closer, and everyone tensed. "Don't worry, I have no desire to fight you here, so close to her. It could do some real damage and we can't have that, now can we? So let us take it elsewhere."
She snapped her fingers and the ground beneath the Ronin and Warlords vanished. They fell and landed in some kind of thick liquid.
"This is almost as bad as the goo." Said Kento.
"It's worse." Cale replied.
The Ronin looked at him and saw the troubled recognition in the looks on the three Warlords faces.
Kayura swallowed nervously. "Are we in..."
Dayus nodded. "We have to get out now."
"What is this?" Sage demanded.
"Don't ask," Ryo said, "Just move it."
"Don't think so." Yurei floated above them perched as if on an invisible chair. "As I said, I couldn't have you near her for this. Since all of you are here, I might as well get it over with now. I was planning to wait until after I had complete control over the Dragon Child. However, you know how some things go and your next move is forced."
Nether Spirits appeared in a circle around the Armor wearers.
"Do me a favor and try not to scream too loud." Yurei said as the dark energy started to form around them.
-*-*-*-*-
"Grandpa!" Jessie ran to the gray-haired man and hugged him tightly around his waist.
He smiled down at her returning the hug. "How's my little girl?"
"Thanks for taking her for the weekend, Dad." Rita said.
Fingers twitched.
"I wish dad wasn't so mean to us..."
"Sometimes people just are, honey."
Eyelids tightened.
Grandpa's gone...
Who can I go to now?
Hands balled into fists.
"Family doesn't have to be blood. It's who you care about and who cares about you."
She felt their pain, their anguish as the darkness and evil that had invaded her body and soul threatened to engulf not only her, but those who had come to mean so much to her.
They were her family.
Jessie's eyes flew open and she fell to the rune seal beneath her. The Nether Spirits appeared startled by this momentarily before they began to focus their energies on putting Jessie back into a comatose state. She collapsed on the ground almost falling back into darkness but Jessie resisted and slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees. Pain wracked through her but she refused to cry out.
Focus.
Jessie sat back, holding her hands before her.
Take what is theirs.
She moved her hands in circular motions, drawing the power away from the Nether Spirits.
And send it back to them.
Jessie forged the energy into a large ring surrounding her then made it shoot out at the dark entities. The impact of their energy returning to them, colliding with their energy focused on Jessie was too much and the Nether Spirits disintegrated. Jessie sighed and looked at the seal beneath her as it faded away. The she got a look at herself.
"Well, if this isn't embarrassing," she muttered as she picked up the sheet that had been covering her and wrapped it around her body.
"You've been through worse."
Jessie looked to her right.
"In previous lifetimes," said Kaosu.
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Jessie said.
The Ancient One smiled then led Jessie-thirteen and Jessie-seven out from behind him. Jessie looked at her two younger personas -- the happier memories and the sad, angry ones. Jessie-seven let go of Kaosu's hand and walked over to her older self. Jessie-thirteen held onto the Ancient One.
"It's alright," He said, "Go on."
"No!" the young teen shook her head, "I'm afraid... if I remember... Little One..."
"Bad shouldn't block the good," said Jessie-seven. She took Jessie's hand and they both held out their other hands to Jessie-thirteen. She looked at Kaosu and he gave her a smile of encouragement. Cautiously, she moved from his side and stepped towards her other selves.
Holding hands, the three Jessies closed their eyes. A pillar of light surrounded them, and when it faded, Jessie stood wearing a cream-colored shirt, loose pants and tan knee-high boots. She opened her eyes and looked at Kaosu. "Why did you make me forget you?"
"We will talk," he promised, "But right now you are needed."
"You're not coming with me?"
"I'm afraid that you must face this on your own, just as you will have to face what you buried within yourself for so long."
Jessie nodded, and then the Ancient One faded away. She snapped her fingers and Bongo rose from the ground next to her.
"Come on, boy," Jessie started walking towards the crater Yurei had dropped the Ronin and Warlords in. "Let's give the Dynasty Princess a proper welcome."
*_*_*_*_*
Not good, Anubis thought, watching helplessly as the girls and the one boy step closer to the Ronins and Warlords.
*_*_*_*_*
Yurei sat perched in the air above the Nether Pit. It wasn't as strong as a true Nether Pit but it was effective. Hearing their cries of anguish was almost musical to her.
"It won't be for much longer," she said even though they couldn't hear her over their own screams. "It all depends how quickly your own friends kill-"
Something slammed into her and she tumbled in the air. Steading herself, Yurei saw a deformed being dive into the Nether Pit. Seemingly unbothered by the dark energy, it wrapped long tendrils around each Ronin and Warlord, and the creature catapulted itself along with its nine charges out of the pit.
A bolt of white energy, pure and untainted shot down and struck the Pit. The Nether Spirits within let loose anguished howls before desintergrating, leaving no trace of it ever existing.
Impossible! Yurei quietly screeched.
A power suddenly surged about. It felt ancient, the kind of power that had existed long ago and was nothing more than a memory.
"Good boy, Bongo."
Yurei turned and looked downward. Jessie stood with hands resting on hips and looking thoroughly pissed off.
"Jess..." Sage whispered as he and the others stared in surprised relief.
"You!" Yurei glared at Jessie, "Those Nether Spirits were created directly from Talpa! The Emperor himself gave them to me! Those runes were older than Badamon! There's no way you could have escaped!"
"I admit I had a little help but I did all the work and let me tell you, those Nether Spirits didn't like having their own power shot back at them."
"No mortal is that powerful."
"You're forgetting a couple important details, Yurei," Jessie smirked. "I'm the Dragon Child. Also, you're inside my mind, which makes it my world and my rules. What I say goes. And you are about to learn the meaning of the phrase, 'Payback's a bitch'. Because right now," twin scimitars appeared in her hands, "so am I."
If any fear festered within Yurei, she didn't let it show. Instead she just smiled and let out a chuckle. "Does the little gaijin want to play? Be careful, you might poke your eye out with that. Running with sharp objects is dangerous, you know." She clapped her hands together, summoning dozens of Nether Spirits.
"Those things are really getting annoying," said Jessie. "You've already met Bongo, so why don't you get to know the rest of my inner demons."
More deformed creatures and abominations burst from the ground around Jessie. With a nod from their mistress, they jumped into the air, howling as they attacked.
Placing the scimatars in the sheaths on her back, Jessie ran towards the Ronins and Warlords. Happiness and relief swept through her and she could feel it coming from them as well. Tears stung her eyes as Sage caught her in a tight hug.
"You're okay," he said.
"Yeah," she nodded, "you guys, too. Thank God."
"Jessie," Ryo touched her shoulder, "are you alright?"
"I'm okay; took me long enough to get myself back together," she moved back from Sage but held his hands, "I'll feel better when she's out of here."
Armored knights, dragons and other mythical creatures, airships of all kinds in the air, warriors and soldiers from every era and story that Jessie had read about through her life began their assault on the Dynasty Princess.
"Oh, come on," Jessie rolled her eyes at her friends' expressions, "you guys know I like sci-fi and fantasy."
"Is that the Millennium Falcon?" Kento asked pointing to the spaceship that flew over them.
"And the entire Imperial Fleet," said Rowen.
Cye looked at Jessie. "Star Wars fan much?"
"Go through Joana's mind someday; she's a Trekkie." Jessie stepped away from the group and whistled.
Four large dragons decended from the air and landed before Jessie. "Shall we?"
"And a Lunar fan," said Ryo.
"I love those games," Jessie climbed on the white dragon. "Hank beat The Silver Star on level sixty. I beat it on fifty-seven."
"Enjoyed that, did you?" Kayura asked, sitting on the red dragon with Dayus.
"Oh yeah."
Ryo and Sage joined Jessie on the white dragon, Cye, Kento and Rowen on the blue; Cale and Sekhmet on the black dragon.
Jessie held her hands out before her and sphere of light appeared. As she tossed it into the air, a thread of light appeared from each of the Ronins' and Warlords' chests and connected to the sphere.
"It'll lead us to where you came in," Jessie explained as the dragons took flight.
They looked at each other but said nothing. How Jessie knew, they silently decided that could wait. They flew past memories, emotions; the wall barrier had now crumbled with Jessie complete again.
The dragons landed in the area where the long-tailed rabbits and the statue had appeared. Everyone dismounted and the dragons vanished. The sphere also vanished and the threads drifted downwards. Large crystals the colors of each of the nine Armors rose from the ground.
"The way back to your bodies," said Jessie.
"No offense, Jessie," Kento said, "but I can't wait to get out of here."
"Wait," Cale turned to the brunette woman, "what about Yurei?"
Jessie closed her eyes briefly. "I have to face her."
"Alone? You can't be serious!" Sage protested.
"You guys have already given me all the help you can. I'm sorry but there's nothing more you can do here. I have to do this myself." She became more serious. "And if you don't go back, all of you will die. Shikaizen has controll of everyone else and he's going to use them to kill you if you don't go now."
"The beads," Dayus looked at Kayura.
His wife nodded. "We'll go, and find a way to free them. Jessie, be careful."
Jessie nodded and looked at each of the Nine as they stepped into their crystals and vanished. Except Sage; he stopped right outside his crystal.
"Sage," Jessie walked over to him, "please."
The Halo Ronin shook his head. "I'm not leaving you to fight her alone."
Jessie's eyes softened. She cupped his face with both hands and kissed him. Sage's eyes widened in shock then drifted closed. He had kissed several girls long before Jessie had ran into him on that fateful day, and now, being kissed by her, with their souls, in a far more intimate way than one could imagine, none of his previous encounters combined could even compare to this moment.
With great reluctance, they moved apart. Jessie smiled at Sage.
"I love you..."
Then she pushed hard against his chest, forcing him into his crystal.
"JESSIE!" Sage looked at her through the green crysal, and then fade away into darkness.
-*-*-*-*-
He landed hard on his back, the impact forcing air from his lungs.
"Sage!" Rowen was at his side. "What happened?"
"Jessie," the blond coughed, "I didn't want to leave her. She pushed me out."
Rowen helped his friend sit upright, and Sage blinked at the sight of the shield dome protecting them from the Nether Soldiers surround them, along with Mia, Casey, Joana, Gwen, Twyla, Jade, Nat, Elisa and Leon bound within a very large web.
Dayus was in full Armor. "They were pretty much ready to strangle us," he informed.
-*-*-*-*-
Yurei was furious. Her Nether Spirits were destroyed. How could these simple memory fragemnts best her? She was the Princess of the Nether Realm!
"Having fun yet?" Jessie asked.
Yurei eyes flashed in anger. "I knew that monk would have a hand in your awakening. I should have just taken those little brats from him!"
"Oh well," Jessie shrugged, "the past has passed."
"That's a nice little phrase coming from you. I've seen some of yours."
"Keep watching. Maybe you'll learn something."
Yurei chuckled. "I doubt that. Do you think you'll be able to handle it? Everything will come back to you now that your barrier is gone. Like a dam that held back water, it's going to come so fast you'll be swept away in the current."
"I'll stay afloat," Jessie pulled the scimitars from her back.
Yurei held out her hands and the katanas appeared. They attacked, blades meeting with a metallic screech and jumped back. Yurei lunged again. Jessie parried and countered, slicing off Yurei's cloak.
Not caring of the loss, Yurei took to the air.
"CHAOS BLADE SEVER!"
The dark magenta enegery leapt from the swords and hurtled towards Jessie. She held the scimitars up in defense. Yurei smiled then stared in shock as the scimitars absorbed the attack, and then Jessie deflected it back at her. Yurei barely dodged the returned attack.
"You can't leave, Yurei," said Jessie.
"Of course not," was the response. "You can't force me out. I can only leave on my own free will."
"I know that. What I meant was that you're not leaving because I'm not letting you."
Yurei screamed as she was speared with beams of light. They pierced her wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, and hips -- every joint.
Jessie floated up to her and looked at the immobiled spirit. "You are too dangerous to roam freely. Talpa knew that you were, but not to him. You couldn't best him even if you tried. He still wanted you with him, though. Even if it meant that he had to seal you away for all eternity."
"He would never!" Yurei hissed. "He promised that I would have Kayura's body! Badamon ruined that!"
"It was an excuse Talpa needed to keep you sealed away," Jessie informed. "I saw his memories. You allowed that. Letting me witness the destruction of the Ancient Clan was the gateway to seeing the rest of what Talpa had done over the centuries."
"So you know..."
"About Susanei? Yes, I know." Jessie ignored the glare Yurei sent her. "I think she would agree with me on this."
"You can't keep me locked away forever!" Yurei narrowed her eyes. "Eventually, you'll die like every other mortal and I'll be free! Our souls will be forever merged!"
"Only if I killed myself, which was why you were tormenting me. Remember that I died once already, before you came into body," Jessie motioned her hand to the ground and a section of it rose up, enveloping Yurei, "and I have no intention of doing that again anytime soon."
The Nether Realm Princess continued her hateful gaze on Jessie until she was completely covered. Chains then appeared and wrapped around the large orb and pulled tight. Slowly Jessie and the sphere prison lowered to the ground and the sphere sank into the ground disappearing with only one chainlink visible.
"Well now," Jessie ran her hands through her hair, "time to wake up."
-*-*-*-*-
Jessie's body shuddered.
"Seems there's a victor," Shikaizen smirked. It fell as the sub-armor on Jessie brightened, the grayish tint faded leaving the gold and white unblemished.
Jessie opened her deep brown eyes and looked at Shikaizen. "So who were you betting on?"
December 29, 2008
Hello, everyone! I'm back! And ending 2008 with a new chapter.
Would you believe that Warrior Call is ten-years-old? Yes, indeedy. It was late January 1998 that I took pen to paper and started this fic. I didn't expect Warrior Call to continue like this. I originally wanted to do a short fic, and look what I have now. Thirty chapters total including the prologue. I actually went back to the very beginning and I've noticed how my writing has changed over the years.
If you average it out, that's three chapters per year. But as my best friend Angel pointed out, and I quote, "You don't write five chapters one year, six another year, and then disappear for two!"
And I do apologize for the two-year hiatus. I would've had this up sooner but my computer crashed in October. Fortunately, with help from my cousin, I was able to save most of my stuff from the hard drive to my laptop. My one drawback is that I do not have MS Word on the laptop. I'm using Word Pad. Please forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes.
Thank you Angel, Beloved Shadow, Rogue Ronin, and Dragon Dagger for giving me the swift kick I needed to get back to word-weaving.
Morgan Ray, please forgive me for not contacting you for beta-reading. If you'd like, I'll send you the file.
And to all my readers, thank you for being so patient and sticking with me.
Have a safe, healthy Happy New Year in 2009!
:blindfolds self and stands in front of firing squad:
Go ahead!
~Janime Lee