Whose up for some more action?!

Chapter Twenty

You need power, little one.

I don't...

You're wasting away, and your poor ronin can't save you.

He will.

Enough of this, let me wake you and you will rule this world for me!

No.

She felt her eyes flutter again, to see a bright light. The sunlight was cascading through the window onto a glowing figure. Out on the lake there was the shadow. Two more voices joined hers, neither that she recognized, but they both told the monster no for her as well. However, underneath all of that, someone else was calling her name, someone so old she didn't think they had a name.

Her eyes fluttered shut but she opened them again to see Leea and Ruby pacing the room. Leea, her beautiful best friend, had her hair pulled into a loose braid with wisps of hairs flowing free. She wore a pair of shorts and a tank top, which were flattering to her full figured form with long legs. Ruby seemed much her normal self in her normal red and black seifuku.

"Leea, Ruby!"

They ran over to her and hugged her, she felt her strength leaving her again. "It's coming through the void, you must leave town."

Leea held her hand and said to her, "you're alright, the boys can't hurt you..."

"The boys saved me," she groaned as pain shot through the top of her head to every nerve in her body. "You must leave Japan because the void is open."

Leea's words went silent, she only saw her lips moving. She turned her gaze to Ruby, who starred into her eyes. She had never seen the girls eyes so dark and intense, they almost seemed inhuman.

I won't let them have you.

Leea watched her friend slip back into unconsciousness, and looked at Ruby. "She's delusional, I bet you they drugged her."

"Perhaps," Ruby said as she went to the window and looked out on the lake. Dark clouds were moving in, lightning hitting the mountain with crazy force. She closed the window tightly and locked it, "I think we should leave."

Leea saw four of the boys returning without Rowen, "hey, where did that loser go? Are you nuts, we can't leave Hoshi with them! Look what they have done to her!"

"Do you always ask so many questions," Ruby replied as she walked back and gently ran a hand over Hoshi's hand, feeling the scars. "she won't last much longer, you will not leave this room Leea. Hoshi needs you right here."

"Ruby, what are you talking about? What are you going to go do?"

Ruby's eyes flickered red and Leea shivered as she commanded, "you will not leave this room. Do you understand me?"

Leea nodded meekly.

Ruby walked past her to the door and quickly went down to the hall to find Mia. She wasn't happy to see her, of course, but Ruby didn't care about that nonsense at the moment. Mia said to her, "you know more about the nether realm than you originally let on."

"Perhaps, I know first hand," Ruby smiled as she picked up a sword from Mia's desk. She slipped it through the belt loop on her skirt.. "Hoshi is sick because of the ronins armors, everyone but Rowen's. She's connected to their virtue but their lust for battle is poisoning her, Strata is the only one keeping her alive and perhaps Halo. But mostly Strata protects her because he loves her. He would sooner destroy the armor than give her up, and it understands that he means to do it. This disconnect though will destroy the ronins. The ancient one really fucked this up."

Mia looked at the girl whose eyes kept flickering red. "One who has forsaken power will return by hands scarred and wise...you are?"

Ruby nodded silently and thumbed the handle of the sword, "Ill do as much as I can, please look after Leea and Hoshi and do not leave this house."

Ruby turned to walk out of the room and quickly descended the stairs. She saw the boys coming from the forest through the back window. Sage was carrying a silver sword, which only worried her slight, and she shook her head to clear her mind. She looked at White Blaze, there was clouds forming about the lake darker than she had ever seen naturally.

You decide to fight this time?

"I do, but only for her sake," Ruby told the old deceptive tiger. "Do intend stay in that form, Old One?"

The tiger smiled up at her, It is the best I can do in this world.

"Suit yourself, just don't call me coward when your not much better," Ruby replied as she walked out the back door. She drew the katana from it's sheath and pointed it at the boys as they approached. "You will not set foot within this house."

Ryo grumbled, "jesus, are all these girls crazy?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "are all ronins idiots? You're killing her, and if you return to this place without Rowen. She will die."

"And what you'll fight us if we don't believe you?"

"If I must," Ruby said as she looked at the silver sword. The Fenris emblem on its hilt. She would not be able to defeat such a strong blade with what she had, but they didn't know that. She took a step forward and drew a line in the ground with the katana. "You underestimate me."

Cye held out a hand, she knew he was the softer one, even Rowen probably would have become defensive. "It's exactly what Raleigh told us," he said as he tried to stand between them.

Ruby smiled, she knew she liked Cye. He was reasonable like Rowen. The others were had very strong fighting spirits.

Kento growled, "what if their both in cahoots with each other, and their plotting something for the nether realm. I still don't believe our armor is doing that to her."

"Believe what you want to, Hardrock, and Hoshi will not live long," Ruby said as held out the sword once more. "Is it more important to fight, or to save your friend's heart and soul?"

The boys seemed to shake themselves out of their anger at the mention of Rowen. Even Sage looked a little bewildered.

"See?! Even I can see that your losing control to your armors," Ruby snorted softly. She was terrified, but they seemed to believe her bluff.

Cye looked at her, "but how did you know of ….you're just Hoshi's student."

"She's in on this," Sage said as he gripped the Fenris blade that made Ruby uneasy.

"Why did that dumb yojimbo give you her sword," Ruby said she rolled her eyes, she hoped if she bluffed some more they would get the point. She slipped a foot forward and gripped the human sword in both hands. "I do not like fighting, but I will, If I must."

"Knock it off," said Cye. "You can't fight a girl, Sage!"

Sage winced a little and almost looked like he was going be sick.

Ruby turned her eyes to the clouds. She felt something coming through the void. It was an old creature that was for sure. She didn't know exactly what, but she felt a chill up her spine. The ronins were distracted with her, and didn't notice the nether realm til a flash of lighting hit the lake. They turned around promptly and instantly put on their armor in several flashes of brilliant lights.

Ruby walked up next to them trying to be confident, she was literally quaking in her boots though, as a creature began to emerge from the water. It was ten feet tall, and made of pure muscle. It's skin was cracked like molten lava and its eyes glowed the same deep red. It also had eight large arms, and a head with a face on front and back of its head. She cursed to herself as she realized what it was.

"Fuck," Ruby cursed aloud and the guys looked at her. "Hecatone."

"You know that creature, I told you she was in on it," Kento said accusingly to Cye.

Ruby shook her head, "jeez, you have a thick head, Hardrock. I know of it, and I don't think I ever wanted to meet one if I did, which we are."

The creature seemed to shift through space, and twitch like a time lapsed video in reality. It opened its drooling mouth and roared a glowing acid that burned the ground.

"Well, if you know of it, what does it want," Ryo said in disgust.

"It smells death," she said as she glanced back at the house. "It smells a dying soul. Use that sword well, Halo, it might be the only weapon here that can hurt that thing."

Sage looked at the shining silver blade, "how do you know all this?"

She looked over at them, her's eyes flashed to a brilliant red as the beast charged at them. A sword appeared in each of the creatures hands. It lunged at them, and they evaded its rush. It turned to Ruby, and smiled as a kanji appeared on her head: Passion. She held out the sword, and rushed the beast back and the creature lost an arm, however it took only moments for the arm to regrow.

"It regenerates," Ryo said shocked. "what sort of monster is this?"

"An old one," Ruby said as she flicked the blood off her sword. The beast roared as each of them tried their weapons and their sure kills, but the weapon that stung the creature the most was the silver sword.

The creature roared in pain and grabbed Ruby around the waist in one of its huge hands. She wedged her sword in its neck as it squeezed her, and it roared but she could feel herself losing breath. She yelled at Sage, "that sword should be able to use your thunderbolt!"

Ryo nodded but it was Sage who said, "it'll hurt you!"

"It'll take more than a ronin to kill me," she laughed as the boy charged up a thunder attack. She saw Cye's eyes grow wide with despair, but she winked at him to calm him. She felt the attack coming and she pushed away. She rolled as the creature fell dead and ashen, Cye came to her side to help her up. She felt a little bruised, and her hair and clothes were singed, but she had lived through an atomic bomb a ronin's attack wasn't going to hurt her.

The boys took off their armor, and the three of them looked to each other and then at Cye. "What's going, why are we so angry," he asked solemnly. She could see each of them with quaking fists.

"I told you," she said as she stood up and pushed away from him. "Control goes both ways, ronins, the thing about Talpa's armor was that it was uncontrollable, when the ancient place the virtues on it, it became a two way path. Yes, you can control it but it can manipulate those truths within you to find its own strongholds in your bodies. Especially, that blasted inferno armor. That thing is a monster in and of itself, and it's itching to fight with the thing that's coming through the void."

"How do you so much about the armors, and what is that beast," Sage asked as he looked at the sword.

"First, you promise me you won't go inside that house, and two, tell me where Rowen and that damned yojimbo is," she said crossing her arms fervently.

"Hey, we just beat that beast for you," Kento grumbled but Cye shushed him quickly.

"Fine," Ryo agreed and paused, "but you have to explain why our armors haven't been right since we beat Talpa."

Ruby shook her head, "because the ancient one was a fool to believe that he bring the balance back to the nether realm. The nether realm used to have good as well as evil, but alas when Talpa took power, most of the good had fled to earth or died fighting against him. When he had won against the Old Ones, he turned his gaze on Earth. That was the source of his power, but the ancient thought that giving the armors virtues would eventually bring back that balance. He didn't realize the darkness knew how to manipulate those virtues to obtain their means. With nothing to fight they are hungry, and that is corrupting your souls. I don't care how aligned with your virtues you are, any ideal become corrupted."

"But who are you, if you know all that," Cye dared to ask.

She bowed very low to them, "I am Ruby Kazehana of the Immortal Sword and Shield, and only daughter of Talpa."

They exchanged worried glances and looked at her then back at each other. Sage said, "we..."

"I know, I know, killed my father dearest," she said rolling her eyes. "Me and him got along as much the inferno armors do. He tried to kill me when he realized I had a virtue. Thankfully that foolish yojimbo intervened and I was able to get away."

"She mistook Hoshi for you," Sage told her.

"She did," Ruby frowned then looked up at her hair. "Oh, she did!"

Ruby ran her hands through it, and the black hair became snow white. She looked almost exactly like Hoshi, but her eyes became bright red.

"The void is open ronins," she told them, her eyes flickering like flames.. "The warlords won't be able to hold back creatures like that much longer. The Hecatones are not creatures to be trifled with. They are ravenous beasts built by Kronos for War."

The boys were quiet and kept looking her over. She frowned at their looks and demanded, "what?"

Kento asked, "aren't you a bit short?"

"And a bit human looking," Ryo added with a bad grin.

She rolled her eyes, "humans...I took this form for convenience. The smaller my stature, the lest nether energy I release. Ugh...fine."

Suddenly she had a growth spurt and she was as tall as Sage. It made her school uniform look a lot more provocative than it originally was, and she looked far more voluptuous.

"Where is your armor," asked Cye, trying to change the subject, but even he was red.

"I have it sealed away," she said as she pointed to her forhead. "My virtue gives me enough trouble as it is."

"Sorry, we thought you were an enemy," Ryo said as he looked to his friends. "Is Hoshi really sick because of us?"

"Yes," she sighed, she realized that they had calmed down significantly. "I've been trying to protect her for a long while now, but alas I didn't even know of any of this. I am a fool for trying to live as human, I guess it goes along with my cowardice."

"Cowardice," asked Kento bluntly.

"You will find that with your virtues, you will also gain a vice. Raleigh's is failure, and mine is cowardice. She thought I died, but all I did was ran as far as I could to get away from fighting him. Perhaps, if I had fought him, I would be in control of the void, and you would not have to be in this predicament," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But alas the past is the past, and I have purpose now."

"Why the sudden change of heart," Sage asked, he was clearly skeptical of her. "You're almost a thousand years old right?"

"I am an old coward, Halo, but I had given up on ever finding a purpose for my virtue," she smiled as she looked up at the window. Leea was starring back down at her, her eyes were wide with what she had just watched. Her cheeks went rosy, "because... Hoshi can be humanities last hope."

"Why," seemed to be the unanimous question among them.

"Because," she paused and tried to remove the blush from her cheeks. "The last time humans stood a chance to fight back, it wasn't because of armors or beings like myself. It was because of oracles, like her. Her abilities are damaged...but she'll do. So where is Strata and Fenris?"

"Rowen left us in the woods much like she did," said Sage as he offered her the silver sword.

She shook her head, "I can't use her weapon. I have to go find my own first." She began walking off, but stopped to look back at them, "are you coming boys?"

Ryo asked curiously, "you want us to come along?"

"What else are you going to do in the mean time," she said pointing to the house. "You can't go in there!"

The boys shrugged and walked after her, Leea watching diligently as they disappeared into the forest. She shook as Mia came and started to tell her what was really going on.