Serena was sitting in her hotel room, taking care not to bleed onto the upholstery as she waited for Vincenzo to come and attend to her. In the meantime, she was scanning the parchment into laptop.
"So what do we have here?" Serena asked Hayley as she continued to wait.
"As you thought, it's another clue." Hayley told her. "It's a passage written by Masamune himself."
"He wrote this?" Serena asked, a little surprised. "What does it say?"
"I'm not sure yet, it's encoded in some way." Hayley told her. "It'll take me a while to figure it out."
Just then, Serena heard a knock on the door.
"Porter." She heard Vincenzo's voice call through. She got up and made her way to the door, opening it ajar to ensure he was alone, before letting him in. He was carrying a large case with him. As he came in, he saw her and let out a whistle.
"Wow, Hayley wasn't kidding." He commented. He sat her down on the bed, and started to look at her injuries. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I doubt you'd believe me if I told you." Serena replied. "She said you can help, but..."
As he opened the case, her mouth hung open in surprise. It was far more extensive than a first aid kit; indeed it looked just short of an emergency room in a case.
"Trust me; I know what I'm doing." He told her as he took out a needle and some disinfectant. "Would you like some anaesthetic before I start?"
"No thanks." Serena replied. "Something tells me I won't be here long enough to recover."
"Alright, just let me know if you change your mind." He told her, threading the needle.
Back at the temple, Antonio was looking in on the others with Daisuke as attendants saw to them.
"They look pretty bad." Antonio sighed. "There's no way they'll be ready if that Nighlock comes back."
They were all currently in beds, resting from their beating. The attendants had done all they could for their injuries, and right now they were just ensuring they were comfortable. Antonio still couldn't help feeling like if he had gotten there a little sooner, if he hadn't argued with Dekker so strongly when he heard they were in danger that perhaps the battle would not have gone so badly.
"My attendants are skilled healers." Daisuke assured him. "They are in the best of hands."
The Elder Guardian looked sympathetically at the Gold Ranger as he started to walk away.
"Jayden's gone." He muttered.
"You did what was best for him." Daisuke said as comfortingly as he could. "I do not have the means to heal him here. It was doubtful he would have survived."
"I know that." Antonio sighed. "It just doesn't exactly make me feel much better about the fact that right now he's in the hands of a psycho that wants to kill him."
"I understand that you care about him." Daisuke continued. "It is only natural that you worry. However, there are more important matters at hand."
He handed the Black Box to Antonio.
"But Jayden..."
"There is nothing you can do for him right now." Daisuke interrupted him. "However, if we do not get the Black Box running, then in time the power of the Nighlocks will overwhelm us."
Reluctantly, Antonio took the box into another room to get started. As much as he hated to think of it, right now Daisuke was right. He couldn't do anything for his friends, or for Jayden. The Rangers would recover in time, and he was sure it would not be long before Jayden resurfaced, but for now, the only thing he could do was try to programme the Black Box, something he was sure would be the ultimate test of his skills.
Meanwhile, Dekker was carrying Jayden down a stream far from the temple.
"Saving you has become an unfortunate habit." He commented. "One I soon hope to break permanently."
With that, he dumped Jayden rather unceremoniously into the water. Jayden spluttered as he pulled himself to the surface and glared at Dekker indignantly.
"Stay under." Dekker told him. "This stream was blessed by holy men long ago. The purifying waters will purge the poison from your system in time."
"Then what?" Jayden asked him.
"Then once you've recovered your strength, we will finally duel." Dekker told him. "And Urumasa will be satisfied once more."
Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, Master Xandred and Octoroo were looking out the window, watching as evil energies infused themselves within Arachtheor.
"His mutation will be complete shortly." Master Xandred declared proudly. "Then he will be completely under my control."
Octoroo watched on, thankful that by the time the mutation was over, he would be unable to talk. The last thing Octoroo needed was to be fingered for his part in the scheme to overthrow Master Xandred. Right now, the Lord of the Nighlocks believed that he was only following Arachtheor since it was a convenient way to cripple the Rangers. He wasn't happy that in the course of the battle that they had failed to acquire the Black Box, obviously the Rangers had hidden it before they could do a proper search. Still, with the Rangers down, and Jayden poisoned and destined to die unless Dekker did something to help him, it seemed like the plan had advanced their schemes considerably.
"There is, however, still one thing that may yet stand in our way." Master Xandred growled. "That meddling troublemaker Dekker!"
"He took the Red Ranger." Octoroo stammered out fearfully. "The Gold Ranger prevented me from following them."
"He has become an unacceptable rogue element in my plans." Master Xandred told him. "It is time we did something about him. Dayu!"
She stopped playing her harmonium with a start as he called out her name and looked to him in horror. She heard every word he had said, and she hoped that he was not about to ask what she believed he would. Unfortunately, she knew that was a vain hope.
"Go and find him." He told her. "Destroy him."
"Sire..."
Before Octoroo could protest, Dayu had gotten up and stormed from the room wordlessly. She had no desire to comply with his orders.
"Your cruelty knows no bounds." Octoroo commented as she left.
"Just don't forget it." Master Xandred replied menacingly as he strode away, leaving Octoroo alone.
Back at the temple, the Rangers were awake, and beginning to fully appreciate how hard the beating had been on them. They were all incredibly sore.
"I see you are awake at last." Daisuke commented. "I am pleased to see that."
"What happened?" Mike asked. "That Nighlock had us dead to rights."
"I heard Master Xandred." Kevin told them. He had been the last to pass out, and so he was the only one that had seen the end of the battle. "He said something about betraying him and snared the spider guy. He dragged him into the Gap."
"I guess he wasn't acting on orders." Mia grumbled as she stretched out her neck, checking it for movement. "I guess we lucked out."
"You were indeed fortunate. Things could have been very different." Daisuke told them.
"Where are Antonio and Jayden?" Emily asked him.
"Antonio is in my private chamber attempting to reprogram the Black Box." Daisuke told them. "He said he will need your power disks in time, but for now, he is just...how did he put it...hacking in."
"What about Jayden?" Kevin asked. They all remembered that the Red Ranger had been poisoned, and they didn't really know what to think about the fact he wasn't with them. Daisuke sighed.
"He is not here." He told them. "The Cursed Warrior has taken him to heal him."
"Dekker?" They all screamed as they heard this.
"But...he..."
"He said he wants Jayden at his best for his duel." Daisuke told them. "I do not have the means to heal him here. He would certainly have died had he stayed. At least this way, he will be healed."
"Yeah, just in time for Dekker to take his head!" Mike roared. "We have to..."
"You have to rest." Daisuke interrupted him. "You are no use to him in your current state. Have faith in your friend..."
"I can't just sit around." Mike told him.
"Then perhaps we can arrange for some light training for you." Daisuke suggested. "My son and some of the others are in the dojo. They are quite skilled. You will be in good hands."
"I think I might go too." Emily stated, getting off the bed. "Right now I need something to keep my mind off things."
"Anyone else?" Daisuke asked. Kevin got up and went with them as the three of them left. Mia was the only one who remained. Daisuke looked to her a little curiously and approached her. "Are you alright?"
"I just wanted to rest." She told him. "I'm not feeling much like training."
"Is something else troubling you perhaps?" He asked her. Mia just sighed as she thought about it and looked to the Elder Guardian.
"Have you ever heard the name Kasamune?" Mia asked him. He just sat down near her and looked to her.
"Masamune or Kasamune?" He asked for clarification.
"I know who Masamune was." She told him. "I was reading recently and I heard the name Kasamune, but I don't recall anything about it."
"You know, sometimes legends get confused and mixed up." He told her. "Kasamune was a very different person from Masamune, just as Muramasa was different from Urumasa. It is just their similarity of name that causes confusion."
"Urumasa?" She asked him. "As in...Dekker's sword?"
"There was another sword smith who went by the name of Muramasa." He informed her. "He operated in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. He was known for having a violent temperament, and for the extraordinary sharpness of his blades. However, because of the legend of the Cursed Warrior, and the fact his name was similar to Urumasa, there was something of a stigma around his blades."
"What kind of stigma?" Mia asked him.
"Remember that people were a lot more superstitious back then." He said in a chuckle. "It was believed that his blades carried some of his mental imbalance and drove their wielders to violence, to murder or suicide. They were described as bloodthirsty blades, and it was believed that once drawn, they needed to draw blood, even driving the wielder to self-harm or suicide if no victim was forthcoming. They were even said to be daemonic."
Daisuke shifted a little on the bed.
"Indeed, Emperor Takagawa banned the blades from his court, since he had cut himself badly with one in his youth and lost many friends and family to Muramasa blades. It only furthered their notoriety." He told her. "It was all because people were fearful of the links to The Cursed Warrior."
"But it wasn't his fault that his name was similar." Mia stated. Daisuke just nodded his head.
"He was simply unfortunate." Daisuke told her.
"So what does this have to do with Kasamune?" She asked him.
"You know how I said that legends are sometimes confused?" He asked her. "Well, there is a legend, which states that Muramasa and Masamune once had a competition to see who was the superior sword smith."
"Wait, you said that Muramasa operated in the fifteenth century." Mia stated.
"Yes, the legend is impossible, as Muramasa operated long after Masamune had died." He told her. "So the legend goes, both men created a sword, and they tested them by placing them in a river full of lotus blossoms."
"So what happened?" Mia asked him.
"They say that the blossoms swirled around the Masamune, while Muramasa's sword cut everything that hit it. Leaves, blossoms, and even fish. Masamune withdrew his sword and dried it off, taunting Masamune about his blade's inability to cut. Masamune simply dried his sword and replaced it in his scabbard."
"So...Muramasa won?" Mia asked him. Daisuke smiled at her.
"A passing monk bowed respectfully and offered his judgement of the contest." He told her. "He said that while Muramasa's sword was a fine blade, it was an evil and bloodthirsty blade that would cut indiscriminately, while Masamune's would only cut that which its master willed it to and declared it the superior blade."
"So what does this have to do with Kasamune?" Mia asked him. Daisuke shifted a little closer.
"The legend goes that The Cursed Warrior was cutting a bloody path through feudal Japan." Daisuke began. "Many faced him and fell to his sword. The Emperor even offered a reward to anyone who could defeat him. So desperate was he to end the rampage that he even resorted to encouraging his sword smiths to use mysticism in forging blades hoping to combat Urumasa. Eventually Kasamune was created."
"So Kasamune is a sword." She responded.
"It was named after its creator." He told her.
"Kasamune was given to a great warrior, who went in search of Dekker. When the time came for them to face, the bearer of Kasamune, who became known as 'the blessed warrior', challenged him instead to a contest to see whose blade was superior. The Cursed Warrior accepted."
"So...they did the stream thing." Mia asked him.
"No, the test was different." He told her. "Dekker sliced through a boulder with ease, showing Urumasa to be sharp and powerful, but the Blessed Warrior chose a different test. The Blessed Warrior had her son hold a silk scarf along his arm. When she swung the blade, it cut the scarf in half, but would not cut her son. Kasamune would only cut what its mistress willed it to, and so would not draw the innocent blood of her son. The Cursed Warrior accepted that he had been defeated in the contest, and left Japan as they had agreed."
"Wait...her?" Mia asked. "The Blessed Warrior was a woman?"
"So was Kasamune." He informed her. "That is why the legend did not pass into history. People were still very patriarchal. Kasamune was not permitted to be a sword smith because she was a woman, but she learned her trade by watching her father. When she completed her task, she handed the sword to her handmaiden."
"But that sucks!" Mia shrieked. "She saved Japan and no one wanted to give her the credit because she was a woman?"
"I am afraid we were not so enlightened back then." He told her.
"So what happened to the sword?" She asked him.
"No one knows." Daisuke told her. "After the contest, the handmaiden was asked to turn the blade over to the Emperor. He would not allow such a powerful weapon to remain in his realm if it was not under his command. She refused, saying that Kasamune has only one mistress and that he was not worthy to wield it. With that, she left the city and was never seen again."
With that, he patted her on the shoulder.
"It is nice to see the young are not above learning the ancient legends." He stated. "I hope this has been helpful."
As he left, Mia just lay back on the bed and thought about what he had said. It was just a legend. Was Mentor Ji really looking for the blade of The Blessed Warrior?
A/N: Masamune and Muramasa were real historical figures in Feudal Japan, and the legend of the stream is indeed a genuine part of Japanese folklore. As for the rest of it, that was just an adaptation of my own design.