On the farm, Serena was working hard with her mother, and her mysterious new trainer. She was now being pushed far beyond any limits she had ever conceived. Swords clashed in a furious display as both her mother and Jindrax put her through her paces.
She had quickly found out that his nickname of "the Master of Blades" was not simply a matter of arrogance. He was easily as strong as any Nighlock she had seen the Rangers battle. Having to tackle both of them at once with live blades was a terrifying, and dangerous exercise, but one that had honed her into a condition and skill she couldn't believe, and returning her to a confidence she had long since forgotten she had in her, that had been taken from her.
She could feel the breeze from blades passing mere millimetres from her body as she avoided attacks, feeling no fear of misjudgement. Her blade sent theirs aside and responded with attacks that sent them back. As Jindrax swung a beheading stroke, she pulled down only just low enough to allow it to pass over her, but close enough she could hear the whistle of the blade through the air, and feel it take some of her hair.
She lashed out behind her with a hard kick as her mother attacked, winding her, before disarming her with a sharp twist of her wrist, sending her mother tumbling into the bales of hay in the corner.
As Jindrax came for her again, she snatched up her mother's sword in her left hand, into a back-handed grip and spinning, clashing with his own sword several times as he recoiled to prevent ending up being sliced apart. She finally hooked up his sword, and with a sharp motion, she sent his sword spinning high into the air.
Kicking his leg away and sending him to a knee, she drove her mother's sword diagonally across the back of his neck. She caught his, and drove it the other way, capturing his head. She spun away, falling to a knee, and brought Kasamune under his throat, completing the triangle of blades, leaving him under no false impressions he was defeated. Breathlessly, she just waited for him to hold up a hand to indicate his surrender.
"Could you help me?" Jindrax asked her mother as she came back over. She took away the other two swords, leaving Serena to sheath Kasamune once more. He smiled at her.
"Your form is easily one of the best I've ever seen." He told her confidently. "You're easily ready for Dekker."
"But Serrator..."
"No, Serrator is not your main concern." He told her with a sigh. He took Stephen's Power Disk, and handed it to her. "Your main concern is Dekker."
Before she could answer though, the door to the barn opened, and an Asian Woman entered.
"Toxica?" He asked her.
"Dayu sent me away." She informed him. "Serrator made a big move, she seemed to think that he was close to whatever he's planning with Dekker."
"Wait, who are you?" Serena's mother asked her.
"Serrator's got some plan involving Dekker?" Serena asked her. Toxica just nodded.
"She said he's always been part of some huge scheme he's had cooked up. She said he cursed the two of them in the first place as part of some huge scheme to take both worlds for himself." She continued as she looked to Serena. "She sent me away because she...well...she didn't sound like she intended to come back."
"No, that's not why she sent you." Serena sighed, searching her heart. Through all of this, through all of her pain, and all of her grief and anger, there was one thing that seemed to come through as she heard this. She remembered learning about Dekker and Dayu's story in the Tengen Gate. She remembered seeing her anguish when she thought Dekker was dying. Something hit her, and it hit her in a place that she had frozen out in her quest for vengeance. Dayu was just like her.
She had lost the man she loved, the only difference was, that no matter how remote, she still had a chance to get him back. She had pursued that chance without losing hope for centuries, clutching at any opportunity to keep him alive, even if it was a cursed life, just so she could continue her quest to find a way to return him to her. She took insane chances, and risked her own destruction several times, all for a hope that frankly was so slight, it was virtually non-existent. It was the same passion with which Serena pursued her revenge on Serrator, and it was the same passions he knew that she would pursue any chance to see Stephen again, even if it was only for a second. She took a deep breath.
"She wanted you to tell me." Serena told them, looking to the Power Disk. "It's time I went back."
"But Serena..."
"No mom, don't you get it?" Serena asked. "The pieces all fit! If I end Dekker's curse, if I help him and take him away, Serrator's plan will never succeed!"
"But Serena..!"
"Serrator hurt me, but that's not why I'm doing this." She told her. "Dayu's suffered just like me, but her pain's lasted for centuries!"
"Serena...!"
"If someone could do something like this for me, would you not want them to?" Serena asked her. "All I've ever heard is that the Blessed Warrior is all about compassion, that Kasamune was created to be the opposite of Urumasa. What could be more compassionate than releasing two people in pain from their torment?"
Her mother just breathed a sigh and nodded. All her daughter had said made sense. She just looked back to her, with a few tears in her eyes.
"My daughter, the Blessed Warrior," she declared, brushing some of Serena's hair out of her eyes, "you have no idea how proud I am of you."
"Well, I guess we better get going." Jindrax stated. "I think we may have outstayed our welcome."
They quietly left the barn, and went on their way to continue their journey together. Serena's mother put her arm around her and they turned towards the house.
"I'll help you pack." She told her.
"Thanks mom." Serena answered. "For everything."
Back at the Shiba House, Ji and Antonio were keeping a constant bedside vigil on Jayden. The whole house was on something of a strange timetable, they all trained when they could, and ate whenever they felt like it, but on the whole everyone was just kind of...drifting. The atmosphere was definitely tense, and more than a little silent. No one wanted to say it, but it was clear that there was one consistent feeling in the house. Everyone was scared.
This was, to date, the single most convincing defeat they had ever suffered. Their battle with Xandred had been disastrous. They called Super Mode, the Bullzooka, the Shark Mode...they had pretty well thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him, and they were so desperate that if they had one to hand, they'd have tried it. Yet, even drying out, even with his power dropping so fast, he had to only have barely enough to keep him in existence, he still defeated each of them in turn as though they were nothing.
Mike came into the main room from the dojo, where he had been working out, figuring out his limits with his injuries to find Emily finishing a phone call.
"How is he?" Mike asked. He didn't need to specify that he meant Jayden. She just shook her head.
"There's no change." She told him. "I was just calling Kieran to tell him I need him to cover for my training session."
"I guess playing teacher can wait." He replied, sitting with her and putting his arm around her. Emily's wounds were relatively minor, only really cut and bruises, but he could still see that she was troubled. "So, want to tell me about it?"
"It's Jayden." She said in a voice so quiet that it barely carried. "I can't...I can't help feeling..."
"This is the d-word thing again isn't it?" He asked her. Emily just nodded. He had talked to her a lot about it after Stephen was killed. She had only ever known one person that had died, and it had happened only a few feet in front of her. The day Stephen was killed had greatly shaken her.
"When I looked at Jayden lying there, with all those machines and tubes, he looked so much like Serena." She told him. "What if...?"
"Emily, we can't think like that." Mike interrupted her. "We know Jayden. He's the strongest..."
"What does that matter?" Emily asked him. "Serena was strong, but she got sick. If it wasn't for Kevin and the Swordfish disk, she'd probably not be alive today!"
"Emily..."
"What about Stephen?" She asked him. "He was gone, just like that!"
"Emily..."
"Life is fragile Mike, no one knows that more than me!" She screamed at him. "The way Xandred beat us down, he barely even broke a sweat!"
"Don't you think I know that?" Mike asked her. "He took me down in one hit! I didn't even see the attack that took me out!"
"He was drying out so fast, he maybe had two minutes, and he took us all down!" Emily reminded him. By now, Kevin and Mia had heard her outburst and had come in.
"Emily..."
"We threw everything at him!" Emily screamed at Kevin. "All our skill, all our power, every weapon we had, and even three quarters of the way to becoming a giant raisin he barely even noticed!"
"Emily, is that what this is about?" Mia asked her. "You're scared?"
"Of course I'm scared!" She called out as tears started to run down her face. "Everything we've done, all that training, all that symbol power, everything we have and he barely even noticed!"
They all just stared at her. She had only said what they were all thinking, what they were all feeling, but something had just broken the tension.
"He could have killed us all!" She sobbed. "If he wanted, he could come back and take all of us out, and there's nothing we can do about..."
"That is ENOUGH!" Ji roared as he came into the room. He was clutching his ribs, and moving a little slowly. They were only bruised fortunately, but he was still impaired. He looked over them all. "Do you think this is what Jayden needs? Do you really think this is going to help him?"
"What's the point?" Emily asked him. "What does it matter if..."
"If that is what you truly believe, then go!" He barked, shocking all of them. Antonio was by his side, and even he was stunned. Ji's eyes were full of anger by now. "I'm serious, go!"
Emily just shrunk a little into herself. None of them had ever seen him like this. Ji came into the room, looking around them all judgementally.
"Yes, we were defeated, and yes, he could have killed us all." He continued. "However, we can either stand around and whine like children, or we can ensure that he finds out that leaving us alive to come back is his greatest mistake!"
They all just looked to him nervously.
"Mentor, we're all just..." Kevin began, trying not to arouse his anger any further. "We're all just really scared."
"So am I." Ji told them. "But we all knew what this was when we agreed to take up the fight."
He looked to each and every one of them.
"Although you were born into your training, none of you were commanded to come here. None of you were made to fight." He continued. He looked to Emily, who looked completely distraught by now. He approached her, and held up her face, forcing her to look at him. "Do you remember what Jayden said to you on that first day?"
"I..."
"Do you remember?" Ji asked again.
"Mentor, can't you see...?"
"I'm not speaking to you Mike!" He barked. "Do you REMEMBER?"
"D...d...do not accept..." She began to stammer. "Do not accept just because you were trained to do so. Accept only if you're ready to fight as Samurai Rangers...and see this to the end."
He sighed and patted her on the shoulder. He knew she was just scared and upset. He wanted to be more gentle about it, but right now, he had to make sure they remembered the hard truth, that this wasn't over, and until it was, they still had a chance, one they could not afford to throw away because of fear.
"None of you are victims. All of you were given the choice, and you all decided on your own to come here." He reminded them. "Now, for today, perhaps it would be best if you shared your fears. You are, as always, stronger together. Tomorrow, we will resume training."
"What about Jayden?" Kevin asked as Ji headed back towards Jayden's room. He just sighed.
"Jayden will rejoin us when he can." He told them. With that, he left them all to go back to Jayden. They all crowded around Emily as she sniffed and dried her tears.
"I'm sorry..."
"No, don't be." Mike told her. He saw the way they were all crowding around. "I think maybe it needed to be said. We needed it out in the open."
"We're all scared, we have been before." Kevin agreed. "I guess we just have to use that to make us stronger."
In another part of town, Melanie was at her locker with Mal when she got a text message. She checked it out and just sighed.
"What is it?" He asked her. "Is it another...?"
"No, most of that has died down." Melanie told him. "It's just...it's nothing, don't worry about it."
"What is it?" He asked her again. Melanie just shook her head.
"It's stupid." She assured him. "Just forget it."
"Melanie..."
"Before...you know...my dad." She began to explain. "I was making my arrangements for the dance. I had a dress on lay-away while I paid for it. That was just the store telling me that the lay-away period's expired."
"Really?" He asked her. Melanie just smiled weakly.
"It's not like I can afford anything like that anymore." She told him. "It's stupid anyway. I'm probably not even going. All the other kids would just be staring..."
"Melanie, that dance is, it marks the end of the year." He told her.
"Yeah, some year." Melanie grumbled. "Look, it doesn't matter. Just...forget about it."
With that, she left to go to her next class. Mal could understand her reluctance to go. Usually the dance was something of an elitist occasion, where the year's 'royalty' were celebrated, while all the other kids just kind of floated around to make them look good. Not so long ago, Melanie was planning how to make the dance her own crowning moment, but in no time at all, her world had all but crashed down around her ears.
"Hey Mal, the bell's gone." Jimmy reminded him. Mal just nodded.
"Yeah, thanks Jimmy." He told him, before heading off. There were only a couple of weeks left in the school year, and the dance was not far off. Thinking about it, maybe giving it a miss would be a good thing, but something else troubled him. Pretty much everyone in the year would be going. Even he was intending to go. If she didn't, she would probably be one of the few who didn't. It sounded like something that would just remind her how lonely she was now that most of her 'friends' now pretended they didn't even know her.
"Mal!" Spike called out. "Move it or you'll get a tardy slip!"
"Sorry Spike." He replied, starting to make his way to class. "I was just thinking about something."