Chapter Two

Kayura sat in the hot water of the bath, letting every ounce of cold disappear from her bones. She laid her head back and starred up at the ceiling as she thought about Steve. It felt like hours since she had seen him, but she was concerned. Time fluxed in the Nether Realm, it was never extreme, but it always happened. Hours could be minutes on Earth, or days in the Nether Realm would be weeks and weeks there. She hoped it wasn't the latter as she sunk into the water to wet her hair. It was still cut tragically, but she hoped she could pin it nicely.

She slipped out of the water and dried off completely and then rubbed the fine fragrant oils that were left for her into her skin. She slipped on a robe and went to the attendants waiting for her in the next room over, who helped her slip into the layers and layers of silks. They tied her obi tight and intricately while another applied makeup to her skin. She looked through the vast array of hair ornaments but settled for something simple and red to clip her wild bangs to one side. She looked in the mirror and gulped. She sat there quietly as the attendants left her to compose herself. The door opened and Rowen stepped in, "you look beautiful."

She looked back at him, "I don't know this girl."

He raised an eyebrow, "this is how you used to dress all the time, Kay."

"Back when Badiman controlled me," she said touching her face. "I thought I missed this but I don't know it at all. It's not me."

He sat down next to her and placed his hands on his shoulders, "no one is ever the same person they were years ago. Perhaps, you aren't either?"

She looked at her long time friend and kissed his cheek softly, "no, I don't think so."

He hugged her softly, "this is going to be hard, you know..."

She hugged him back, "I want to go back, I don't care."

He nodded and held her close. He loved her like a sister, and he wanted to protect her but she wasn't as delicate as the silks made her look. He kept forgetting, she was a skilled assassin and thief but there was still a young woman in her heart who never had a chance to be normal. He let go of her and stood up, holding out a hand to her, "well, then?"

She nodded and stood up. She slipped on some geta, which put her a few inches taller. She took his hand and wrapped her hands around his arm. He wanted to help her a lot more than she was going to let him and he was okay with that. She was fiery and stubborn, and he could see she was determined to do something about whatever was bothering her so much. He hoped that Steve was as nice of a guy as he presumed he was. He had concerns but from what little time Rowen had spent with the man because of Tony, he was definitely not Tony.

He couldn't help but ask, "is he worth it?"

She looked at him with big eyes and then turned red as they walked along, "I mean...its only been a week but...I feel like...I don't know..."

He smiled, "you know Hoshi and Kento kissed on the first day she came back to Japan?"

Kayura looked at him, "while you and her had been dating off and on since you were fifteen..."

"My point is, Hoshi loved both of us early on..." He paused, "if you say you love him, I believe you. It's hard to win your heart and the one other person who did, let it go. So as far as I'm concerned, as long as he doesn't do what Ryo did, he's a grade A champ."

Kay smirked, "when did you get so smart?"

He shrugged, "the IQ has to be handy somehow."

They came to what used to be Talpa's old thrown room. She remembered it had been destroyed when the Owari first awoke, but the castle had been put back together almost exactly the way it was. The same turns and corners, but it was the cold that permeated the doors that bothered her. Rowen paused before he opened it, "you've seen her once before..."

Kayura nodded, "I have."

"Let's hope this is easier than that," he said pushing it open.

Kayura wasn't surprised the room was dark as the entered. Rowen let her go as she walked forward and sat on her knees and lowered herself into a bow. "It's about time you got here."

Kayura recognized the voice that spoke to her and lifted her eyes to see another familiar face. She never changed, the golden beast. She didn't know if she had name, she just appeared from time to time much the same Suzunagi did or the Ancient One did. She wore a white silk kimono tied with a golden obi, her long golden hair cascaded over her shoulder in waves. Around her neck was a crystal orb but Kayura couldn't make out the Kanji because it was fogged over. She raised a clawed hand to it and smiled, "you have never seen it before, have you?"

Kayura shook her head, "I apologize..."

"No, no need," she said with fanged grin. "I can't use it anymore, I no longer subscribe to its virtue."

Kayura nodded and realized she could feel something watching her from the dark. "I apologize, I never learned your name?"

"Bastet," she answered as took a candle and lit it with the flick of her finger tips. The rest of the candles in the room lit up subsequently and Kayura look into the eyes that had been watching her and felt her breath caught in her chest.

Kayura looked her over more carefully in the light before she bowed again. She sat in Talpa's thrown like a porcelain doll. She was definitely Hoshi's twin or ancestor or something because she didn't know what else she could be. She was taller than the woman she knew and had had sharper features with a more emotionless expression. Her skin was as pale as moonlight and eyes burned liked star light. Her hair was white as ivory and cascaded far past her feet and around the chair. She wore a dark blue kimono embroidered with stars and constellations. The obi was a brilliant silver with a blue tiger embroidered on it but it was the item in her hand that made Kay stop. It was the swords of Ferver.

The woman was quiet for a long time watching the female warlord before she spoke to the golden beast, "she never changes."

"That she doesn't my Lady," the woman replied.

"Do you know who I am," asked the woman on the throne.

Kayura looked up with her dark blue eyes, there was a terrible and familiar power that filled the room with a cold kiss. She said, "you are the heart of the armors."

"Is that what you all call me? It has taken me quite some time to get here," she paused to run her hands along the swords. "You have encountered the problems of bearing armor with a lot more elegance than any of your predecessors. Tell me, young Ancient, do you know who I am?"

Kayura bit her lip before saying, but she had felt long before she had ever met the woman, "it's impossible that you are...her."

"Impossible you say? Please, Bastet, will you tell this young one your tale," the woman said.

Bastet bowed to say yes, "I assume you know that the armors are drawn to each other?"

Kayura replied, "yes."

Bastet touched her necklace and the bright sparkling fiery eyes turned sad, "once, I was like your Hoshi. Willing to protect everyone and the power that binds us together but it was for naught. I was like that one you befriended, what was her name...Wanda? I could see that our world and our time together was...fated to last no more but I ended up in a new form. Unrecognizable but still me."

Kayura remembered Kunito's talk of other universes, "are saying that..."

"That I am an aspect of her, yes," Bastet answered. "I have lived a thousand years..." She glanced at Rowen then back to her, "and missed my time with a man that I loved and I still curse my existence and my foolhardiness."

Kayura then looked at the woman on the throne, "then you're..."

"Another aspect of your Queen, but my tale is less tragic and all you need to know is that I have spent my lifetimes trying to prevent the tragedies that are fated to all that bear the armors," she paused. "I have done some here but not enough."

Kayura nodded as if she understood. Aspects? Did they mean that they were Hoshi in other universes? How different were these universes to have such different versions of her Queen. She said, "why am I here?"

Bastet knelt down to her and said as she took her hand, "no matter what universe, you are always the same. You are a constant and as such we feel you can keep this realm from falling apart like so many others."

Kayura quietly pondered what she said, "are we in danger? The three kings are gone?"

Bastet looked at the woman on the thrown, who said, "the three kings were glitches...they were caused by the change of events in the universe which spawned the tear into the Red Realm. I do apologize, but it seemed you all could handle it."

Kayura took a moment to think about it, "you still haven't answered why I am here."

"There is still a problem that we did not foresee," Hikaru paused, "Talpa is growing in strength."

Kayura looked at Rowen briefly, "the Owari..."

"There is a demon lord her in this realm named Raijin who has gained in great power," she continued. "He controls all of the armors that fell into the hands of the Akuma and plans a seige to gain the ronin armors. It is not their attack that bothers me but the power that the Owari uses could summon Talpa back into existence and none of use want that."

Kayura nodded, "what do you need me to do?"

Lady Hikaru handed the swords to Bastet to hand them to Kayura, "the inferno armors have fought long enough. I think in your hands there might be a change in what they fight for. You are Lady Hoshi's right hand? Correct."

'Am I,' she asked herself.

"She is," Rowen said firmly for her.

Lady Hikaru looked at the man then back to her, "then you will be one of her two generals."

Kayura nodded.

"Another thing," she said, "This world has...powers that none of the others do. These powers that be cannot know of the armors or hold their power."

Kayura knew of what she was speaking. The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra and the world governments were definitely hungry for the power they glimpsed the day the Chitauri tore a whole in the fabric of the universe. There was definitely a lot going on within Earth politics that were unsavory to her appetite and the powers of any of the armors were more dangerous in their hands than in their own. There was definitely a whole lot that was going to change when she got back. They made far too much noise with their previous battle and far too many people knew of their existence now.

Bastet laid the swords in front of her, "you are in charge of making sure the wildfire is tamed."

Kayura nodded as she took the swords, she could feel power in them as brand new. She looked up at the woman, "the infernos are a part of you."

Lady Hikaru smiled, "yes, in a way. They are my children."

Kayura bowed as she placed the swords in her lap, "I will do as you ask."

Lady Hikaru vanished with a lingering smile which caused Rowen to get to his feet as they felt the darkness approach as the ground began to shake. Bastet smiled at the two, "she did mention Raijin, right?"