Ronin Warriors: The Second War
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“The Armor of Time”

The Ronin Warriors, Hariel, Sekhel, and the former Dark Warlords arrived at Mia’s house in Japan, Ryo and Rowen carrying Anubis’s dead corpse, which occupied the group’s newest treasure, the Armor of Time. By the time the group arrived, it had already become morning again. It was about six in the morning, as near as Kale could tell from the position of the sun in the sky.

Mia was sleeping, but Yuli had been in the kitchen looking for something to eat for breakfast. He now sat on the back porch, and was surprised to see the Ronin and Warlords approaching slowly. He ran into the house to wake Mia, and both soon emerged, Mia in a pink bathrobe, rubbing the sleep from her soft auburn eyes. When she saw Ryo and Rowen carrying a man clad in a white Armor that looked nothing like the Ronin or Warlord Armors, she ran out to meet the party.

“Ryo, what happened?”

“We met Lial. She killed Anubis just a minute or two after he saved our hides. If not for Hariel, we’d all still be there fighting for our lives, much less our Armors.”

Hariel interjected, “That’s because you still don’t understand your power. You were starting to fathom what your Armors could be capable of before Sekhel enhanced them. Now, they’re a whole new ball game for you to master. Even I don’t know my full power. There’s still a lot that I have to learn about the Armor of Light. I’m afraid that even Sekhel has no clue just how powerful this Armor is or can become.”

Mia looked at Anubis, wondering what could have killed him apparently so easily. Kayura walked by Rowen and Ryo, staring blankly at the ground as she walked. Yuli walked up beside her and tried to get her to say something, but she refused to even look at him. Sai ran up and pulled Yuli off to the side, explaining to him that Kayura was going through a really tough time and needed to be alone.

Ryo and Rowen lay Anubis down on the back porch, leaving Hariel and Sekhel to attend to the body. Inside, Kayura was sitting on the sofa in the living room and crying softly. Sai walked over and sat down next to her, placing his left hand on her right shoulder. He was the first, besides Kayura, to power down to normal clothes, and he seemed to think that maybe he could get her to talk that way.

“Kayura, please, let me help you.”

“No, Sai. I can’t. You don’t understand!”

“Don’t understand what?”

“How I felt. You could never understand. You’re too young.”

“Please, Kayura. You need to trust one of us. You can’t just lock all your emotions inside. It’ll just eat away at you until you can’t recognize yourself, and then maybe more. It’ll just end up hurting you more. Trust me Kayura. I know.”

Kayura leaned against Sai, crying harder. He turned himself and her to allow him to take her into his arms. Her head rested firmly on his shoulder, her face buried into his sweater. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her securely, but not tightly. He just held her as she cried into his shoulder. After a while, he kissed her lightly, as close to her forehead as he could. As he did that, she relaxed her grip on him and looked up at him.

“Sai, thank you. I had forgotten how good it could feel to cry.”

“Anytime, Kayura. I hope you know I’m here for you when you need me.”

“I know. I just wish I could feel the same way about everyone else.”

“What? Don’t you trust them?”

“Except for Ryo and you, there’s still some animosity toward me in all the others. They don’t seem to trust me as much as you and Ryo do.”

“Hmm . . . . I hadn’t noticed.”

Just then the others walked in. Kayura left, heading for Mia’s room, where she found a change of clothes that, surprisingly, fit her small frame. When she returned, the others were talking about their battle and what they should do about Anubis.

“I think we should give Anubis a proper burial and try to get Kayura to wear the Armor of Time. It’s the right thing to do,” commented Ryo, sincerity in his eyes.

“I agree, but would Kayura really be able to wear the Armor? It transferred to Anubis as soon as it formed!” interjected Sekhmet.

“Yes, I would be able to wear the Armor of Time. It is intended for the bearer of the Armor of Cruelty and the Staff of the Ancients. It transferred to Anubis because he is the rightful owner of both the Armor and the Staff when he is alive. Since he’s dead again, I’ll be able to wear it if I can keep my emotional composure.”

Sai looked with his eyes full of concern. “What if you can’t keep your emotional composure?”

“Then I’ll die. The Armor of Time would explode, taking me and the Armor of Cruelty, not to mention the Staff, with it.”

Hariel broke the odd silence that formed in the room. “Kayura, what do you know of the Armor of Time? It seems to rival my Armor for strength.”

“Yes, Hariel, it does. When the Ancient sacrificed himself to give the Ronins a bridge into the Dynasty’s stronghold, he gave the Staff to Anubis, hoping that a new power he created in the Staff would serve Anubis well. That power is the ability to form the Armor of Time. When the Staff, the Armor of Cruelty, and the Warlord Armors combine their powers, the Armor forms itself around the bearer of the Armor of Cruelty. The Armor was originally intended to fight Talpa, but it seems only right to use it now to defeat the new Dynasty, under Talpa’s daughter, Lial.”

All the people in the room thought about the words Kayura spoke. Sai stood up and walked to Kayura. He whispered something in her ear and headed to his room, noting to all that he needed some sleep. Kayura followed him a few minutes later. The other warriors thought nothing of this, as Mia invited Kayura to sleep in her room and use some of her old clothes that she couldn’t wear anymore. But, the Warriors, Mia, and Yuli didn’t know that she followed Sai into his room.

“Sai, why did you ask me to come with you?”

Sai quickly kissed her lightly on the cheek. “I wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you. I’m worried about you. You seem distant.”

“I’ll be fine, as soon as I can deal with Anubis’s second death.” She lightly kissed Sai on the lips. “I’ll be in Mia’s room, sleeping.”

*****

Later that day (about noon), Kayura and Sai went back downstairs, only to find that the Warriors were outside training after short naps and that Mia had gone to the market for more food, since she now needed to accommodate extra people. Sai took Kayura to the kitchen, where he promptly fixed them a breakfast; they ate the breakfast silently. As they finished, the others walked in. Sai volunteered to fix as much breakfast as he could, but Kento was the only one hungry.

About a half an hour later, Mia returned with enough food that she needed to use creativity to figure out how to get it all in the refrigerator. Kento, however, solved some of her problem--he ate about half of the snack foods she bought as soon as she walked into the kitchen. Later, all the Ronins and Warlords, Hariel, Sekhel, Mia, and Yuli gathered in the dining room to discuss future actions. They all wondered what would happen if Kayura called forth the Armor of Time, and Mia and Yuli expressed their concerns directly to her.

Kayura decided to try the Armor out to prove to the warriors, Mia, and Yuli that she could handle its power. All of the people in Mia’s house went to the back yard, where Kayura said she’d try the power. Kayura used the Staff of the Ancients to dissolve the Armor of Time so she could wield the power. Sai and Ryo picked up Anubis’s corpse while Kento dug a grave for him. Ryo and Sai placed Anubis’s body in the grave and helped Kento fill the hole back in.

Once Anubis was buried, Kayura drove the Staff into the ground a few feet from where Anubis’s head was and called, “Ancients before me, hear my call! Please welcome Anubis back into the Spirit Realm, where he can rest in peace from now on!” The Staff started glowing, then suddenly stopped after a few moments. The warriors could hear a voice from beyond. The voice was that of the Ancient, the one who saved Anubis and sacrificed himself to help the Ronin Warriors to defeat Talpa the first time.

“My brave Ronin Warriors and Former Dark Warlords, your struggle will be long and hard, but you must continue the fight. Now that Anubis can no longer be resurrected, there will be no one to wear the Armor of Cruelty when Kayura wields the power of the Armor of Time. This could be a tremendous disadvantage if you do not handle it properly. However, as you warriors have formed a tremendous bond with each other, whether or not you want to admit it, you should be able to manage your powers very effectively with each other to form the force that will forever destroy the Dynasty. Please, Warriors. This world is depending on you to destroy the Dynasty and restore the proper order to this mortal world! Go now, warriors! Defend this world!”

All looked at each other in agreement. Yuli ran into the house and grabbed the Jewel of Life, which he kept in a secret drawer in the closet in one of the bedrooms. Kayura called for the Armor of Time, and the other warriors armored up.

“Armor of Time! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Wildfire! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Strata! Tao inochi!”

“Armor of Hardrock! Tao inichi!”

“Armor of Venom! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Illusion! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Corruption! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Halo! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Torrent! Tao chi!”

“Armor of Light! Tao inichi!”

Sekhel prepared to create a vortex to the Nether Realm, where he knew the warriors would want to go. White Blaze armored up, as well. Yuli rode on Blaze’s back for safety. Sekhel formed the portal and instructed the warriors to tread carefully, as he could not survive in the Nether Realm because of spells his brother, Badamon, placed on the realm. He then gave Hariel a small orb resembling the kanji orbs. “Lord Hariel,” he said, “this orb will give you the power to create one portal to Japan from wherever you may be in whatever realm you may be in. Use it wisely, my Lord.”

“Thank you, Sekhel.”

With those parting words, Hariel an the warriors left for the nether realm. Hariel was the last to enter the portal, and the portal closed behind him. The Armor of Time seemed to accelerate the trip, but it still took nearly five minutes. When they arrived, they gaurds and soldires from the Nether Realm were expecting them......

I know I said the story would be ten chapters, but I may not be able to drag it out that long.....Oh, well. It'll just give me time to work on my other fics. By the by, I do have a working outline finished for the Sailor Moon crossover fic, but I haven't typed it up. I'll have to wait a while before I start writing it.

Anyway, enough about that. How did you like the chapter? I know I strayed a little from what I intended to cover, but what I dropped wasn't important to the development of the story. As I said, Kayura's Starlight Swords will become an issue. This will be in the next chapter. Here's a little hint: they'll be stolen.

Okay, enough of my pointless rambling. Stay tuned for chapter six!