Chapter 8

"What do you want with Rinfi?" Sage asks to whoever is speaking through me.

"Want? I want nothing from Rinfi. I want what was taken from us. Rinfi is the passage for my success. She will let this happen. Do something about it," we say to him.

"Then I am to assume I am speaking to Oura? I wish to speak to the other woman in there."

"There is no other woman in here. There is only me," we say, pointing to my head. "And then there is Rinfi." I hit myself in the chest. Damn, my knuckles hurt.

"And what about Kindra? She must be in there somewhere," says Sage. "Haven't you noticed that on your body's forehead?"

My hand touches my forehead. We scream in pain and then I am back in my own body again. I can move my hand, my arm, and I give my leg a good kick, just in case. My body is my own again.

"Sage, that was epic. Thanks."

"The symbol on your forehead serves to protect you. I figured there had to be a reason it was staying there," explains Sage.

I get up and stare at my reflection in the computer monitor. Yep, the symbol is gone.

"What were you dreaming about, if don't mind me asking?"

"Nothing really," I lie, not wanting to admit to dreaming about killing a man. "I don't even remember it."

"If you say so…"

I think of a fruit, in case Sage can read my minds. He looks like he could read minds. I stare at him. Banana…banana…

"Are you thinking about bananas?" he finally asks. Okay, that is a bit creepy.

The rest of the guys do return to the room shortly after. Most of them hadn't even left the house. The discussion changes from legends to facts. Legend: Greena wrote and finished the other half of his manuscript. Fact: Anubis knows where the man died. Well, Anubis only knows where Green was buried. Perhaps Greena died nearby, I would know.

Plans are set to head out tomorrow on a grave robbing adventure. The adventure is rated PG-13 for action violence, language, and sexual tension. I hope I'm going.

Kento argues I should stay home since I am still in recovery, and he doesn't want to accidentally almost kill me again. Cye argues with Kento that that is not a valid reason for me to stay home. Kento then apologizes for almost killing me again. He has apologized so much to me that for a second, I wish he had killed me.

Anubis argues I should accompany them since I may have some connection to the burial site. Sage agrees. He has been watching me the entire time of the discussion. I can feel him staring right through and watching something behind my eyes.

Ryo argues we need more sunlight and fresh air in the room, completely changing the subject. Rowen says nothing. The silent smirk on his face reads: "Oh boy. This is going to take awhile." And it did.

After dinner and after still no resolution over my attendance tomorrow, I go out for a walk to clear my head, take in the fresh air, and to avoid Sage's stare. I'm not supposed to be out on my own. This is why it is 2 in the morning and the whole house is asleep.

I must admit, I somewhat want Oura to appear so I can fight her. There is something in me or in my forehead that hurts her so I want to give her as much of it as possible. I rub my forehead for good luck.

I walk along the shore of the lake behind the mansion, carefully creating small ripples in the water with my finger as I pass. The powers I had before everything went completely bad shit are still there. Watching the waves more back and forth because of the small flick of my finger makes me happy. I ain't some naïve, innocent fourteen year -old. Power and control are very sexy, adult things to have and wield. Behold my power, small waves! Kneel before my sexiness!

This walk is helping me get things straight and clear. I remember events that only my brother and the Ronin Warriors should remember. Since those events happened, I have developed the knack for moving things with my fingers and mind. Maybe, on occasion, I destroy things like little cute lake docks.

Childhood events I had suppressed to my dreams are now coming back to reality. Oura is evil. Kindra is not. I don't know about Becka since she killed me in my dream, but I technically killed Oura. But Oura is or was technically me? There are three armors, and two of the armor wielders may be in my body. Maybe this explains where my powers come from. Magical people go in and magically powers come out of me, but if I met Oura when I was a kid, why do I just now have these powers? Why not have powers when I was kid? That would have made elementary school and middle school a little easier. Jokes about my weight? I could toss kids off the roof of the school. Happy thoughts.

"And I don't think Becka is in here," I say, thumping my chest. "She's in a dream world, a place between 'now' reality and 'then' reality, like the past but not really. Damn, this is confusing."

My walk takes me all the way to the other side of the lake. I can see lights turning on in the mansion. Either everyone is getting a jump start on the morning, or someone escaped from her cell. I managed to get all the way over here before anyone noticed I was gone. I even got pass the tiger. Kudos to me.

I walk off into the woods, expecting a monster to jump out from behind one of the trees. I have no idea where I am going, but I keep walking, hoping that I will find something out here to answer some of my questions.

I find no such thing out here. I give up on my quest for self-enlightenment after a few minutes of walking. It is chillier out now, and I am a little worried about what is happening back at the mansion. More importantly, I am getting cold and can see my breath.

Maybe I shouldn't have left. Maybe one of the guys, not Kento, would have walked with me out here. Cye probably would have, maybe ever Rowen would have. What Rowen must think of me now? Sure I am a nerd, socially awkward, and a fat cow, but what does he think now that am some possessed sister of his friend?

What am I thinking even for that matter? Maybe this is like a manga series or video game series. Maybe I am the heroine in the making, and this is only the first volume or level or episode. And maybe, Rowen is my love interest and we are star crossed lovers, destined to be together. I know I am delusional, but I grasp and hold on tightly to that fantasy as I walk out of the woods.

"Armor of the Sun! Make up!"

"Rinfi? What are you doing?" asks Rowen, standing on the edge of the woods to my left, just far enough to be out of my line of sight and just close enough to watch my geekiness in action. I casually try to stretch out of the ridiculous pose I am standing in. I meant to do that, just stretching and yawning.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I coolly ask. "I'm being a complete geek/loser." Yeah, I actually say "slash."

"You really shouldn't be out here by yourself," he says, walking closer. "And I think you know that."

"Can't you stay out here with me, then?" I ask, getting the nerve to ask for his company. The delusional fantasy is still there and it has given me some courage.

"I mean, I don't want to be cooped up inside the house all the time. I feel much better now, honest." I cross my fingers and show Rowen my hand.

"Alright. We can walk back slow," he says, smiling. Oh my God, the fantasy is happening.

"I figured you were feeling better since you're trying to summon the Sun armor out here," says Rowen.

We are walking along the edge of the lake, slowly making our way back to the house. We're going the long way though, walking the other side of the lake instead of backtracking along the side of the lake I had already walked tonight.

"Do you think I actually have armor like you do?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. What do you think?" This is trick question. Living with numerous little siblings and one big sibling has educated me enough on the clues to a trick question. First point, no good-looking man thinks his opinion doesn't matter. Second point, him asking me a question in response to my question places the awkwardness of the conversation back on me. I have two ways of answering the question. I can either throw it back at him, or I can answer honestly and express my feelings to the man whose hair glistens in the moonlight and eyes sparkle and make me tremble.

"I think it would be kind of nice to have one," I reply. "With everything that has been happening to me and everyone around me, I better be getting one at the end of all this. A damn nice one too."

Rowen laughs. I laugh a little too. Another chill blows pass us. I should have dressed more appropriately for my big trip into the great outdoors. Pajama boxers and a long shirt really don't provide much warmth.

"Jesus, you must be cold," says Rowen, taking off his coat and helping me slide into it. It smells like him. Smells good…wait, why is he dressed like he is going out somewhere and not just coming out here to get me?

"What are you guys up to?" I ask, pointing to the now very awake mansion in front of us.

"We're heading out," he replies.

"And I'm not."

"Yep."

Great. Now I'm stuck with the big, boring house and the woman and kid. I don't even get Whiteblaze.

"But," says Rowen, interrupting my internal rant. "We also voted that one of us stays behind to keep an eye on you. And obviously, you need supervision."

"So Whiteblaze counts as a Ronin Warrior now?" I reply, again, not thinking before I blurt out whatever is in my head.

"Nah, we voted that I should stay here with you. If it makes you feel better though, it was pretty close between me and Whiteblaze."

"Let me guess. Cye was the deciding vote?"

So yeah, the guys leave me alone in a mansion with Rowen. Even the woman and the kid get to go on the adventure. It is like the guys want her and the kid to get kidnapped or something.

Kento hugs me goodbye so hard that I feel each of my individual ribs shift. Sage just stares at me for a moment and then pats me on the head like a dog. Cye kisses me on the cheek and tells me to behave. Ryo awkwardly shakes my hand, since he isn't comfortable kissing me like Cye who went before him in goodbye line.

And that is that. They are gone and I am sitting out on the shore of the lake since the dock is gone. The sand is cold and wet so I really have no plans for getting up or moving anytime soon. I think my foot is asleep. I slowly bend my foot and feel the pain of my foot sleeping. Yep, the bitch is asleep.

"Foot asleep?" asks Rowen, passing me a can of Coke Zero. He sits next to me on the sand. He has a glass of iced tea in his hand and takes a sip. He has his pants rolled up right above his ankles so his pants don't get wet. He is just so perfect.

"Might have to cut the whole leg off," I say. I am debating with myself whether I should spill my soul to Rowen or not. The changing sky is setting the mood for something intimate.

"How long do you think they'll be gone?" I ask.

"A day or so."

"Do you really think they're going to find the second half of the manuscript of that dead guy?"

"Probably. Don't knock Anubis too hard, Rinfi. He's helped us good in the past. Even wants to help us now, after we left him for dead."

"What do you think the rest of the manuscript will say?"

"Not sure. You're sure asking a lot of questions. Something on your mind?"

The moon is pretty low in the sky. Day will be coming shortly, and I'm not one bit tired. I have slept enough these past couple of days to keep me awake for a week.

"What if the second half of the manuscript says something bad about me or these new armors?"

"What do you mean about you?" asks Rowen, eyeing me with those deep, intellectual eyes. He is trying to read me and I know it. I turn my head away from him.

"Let's just say I have a bad feeling about what that second half might say about the armors and what will happen to those armors," I reply.

"Why bad feelings, though? Because of Oura? Don't worry about it, Rinfi. She hasn't been back in a couple of days and whatever appeared on your forehead is gone now too." I then realize Sage hadn't told the guys about the possession episode that happened earlier with me and Oura. Why wouldn't he tell them? Well, I am certainly not going to tell Rowen. And with that, I tell him everything after only a minute of silence between us.

I tell him about my nightmares and about how I may have met Oura as a child. I tell him about the seizures I had as a child, the ones only family knows about. I tell him about the dream I had with Becka and about the dream I had with Greena. I tell him that I was possessed for five minutes or so by Oura in the computer room yesterday while everyone but Sage was away. And after all that, Rowen only asks one thing.

"And….?"

"And I can frickin' move things with my hand!" I say, waving my hand violently at the lake. The waves get bigger and would have soaked us if the giant blue bubble hadn't appeared around us.

"I destroyed the stupid dock! I mess with teachers' cars at school, and I am pretty sure I am the woman in the black armor, only I can't prove that yet! I am somewhat responsible for what is going on, and I am afraid the second half of that stupid manuscript will say that I need to be killed or taken away or locked away or something!" I exclaim, completely drained of the built up tension and frustration that was brewing in me. The water calms down around us and the blue bubble disappears.

Rowen sips from his glass, taking slow and cautious sips while staring across the lake.

"Sounds like you got a lot going on and you didn't ask anyone for help," he finally says.

"Yeah, I got a lot going on," I huff, too tired to yell anymore.

"Maybe we should see if you can call upon the Sun Armor. It would be nice if you got something for all this work you've been doing."

"What work? Haven't you been listening to me? I haven't been doing anything yet shit keeps happening around me and hurting people or causing people trouble. I hate having this much stuff happen around me. I tried to take Clara's advice and just go with the flow, but damn it, I am took much of a control freak. I am feel that I am not in control of things, Rowen, and I do not like that."

"I don't believe that," replies Rowen. "Look at all the work you have been doing to keep everything a secret from everyone. You've been going at this solo, but eventually, Rin, you will wear yourself out. Give yourself a break. Let us help. Let me help."

"You want to help me?" I ask. He sounds so sincere that I can't think of a sarcastic reply.

"Sure I do. I care about you, Rinfi. You want some control so let's get you some control however; I think you are being a bit too hard on yourself. You've been able to control lots about your powers."

"Try what?" I ask, completely aware I am blushing.

"Your armor," clarifies Rowen. "Let's see if you can call upon the Sun armor."

"I don't think I can do that…" I say.

"Well, if you can't do it—"

"—Armor of the Sun!" I yell, hand in the air, posing like a Power Ranger. A lifelong dream of either being a Power Ranger or Sailor Moon is coming true.

"Transform now!"

Rowen takes a step back. He drop his glass of iced tea. I am blinded by bright lights all around me. Gold energy and light from my finger nails explodes and paints itself all over my body. I am wrapped in gold ribbons. All I see is gold.

I hear Rowen yelling something, but it is just mumbles that can't get through the gold ribbon wrapped tightly around my body. I take a deep breath and let this happen.