Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Requiem of Summer ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

Mia gaped at the four figures standing before her. The one who was standing in front of the other three no longer looked like a young teen. She was wearing simple blue jeans and a purple top, which was covered with a denim blue jacket. Her dark-blue hair was blowing freely behind her.

“It’s been a long time, Mia,” she said in her sweet soprano voice, her glossy pink lips turning into a smile. “I see you are doing well.”

Mia returned the smile, excitement running through her body. “Same to you, Kayura. You have changed a lot over the years.” She glanced over at the three former warlords. They, too, looked like they had gotten older. Dais was wearing something identical to Kayura, where he wore a denim jacket and plain old jeans. Sekhmet, on the other hand, had ripped jeans and donned a leather jacket. Mia could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a skull on his shirt. Cale was the only one who didn’t have a jacket on and was wearing just a plain blue shirt and shorts. Mia had never thought she would see the day where the Warlords would wear civilian clothes.

“I assume the Ronins are here, as well,” Kayura said. “That’s why we are here.”

“Of course,” Mia said and stepped aside so she could allow her new guests into the house. The rest of the gang filed out of the office to see who it was. “Look who showed up.”

“Hello, Ronins. It’s good to see you that you are all well,” Kayura smiled. “Everyone has changed.”

“Lady Kayura,” Ryo said as he stepped in front of everyone. He knew that the Warlords and Kayura had turned over a new leaf since their last battle. However, old habits got the best of him and he stood in front to protect his friends. “What brings you here?”

A chuckle emanated deep from within Sekhmet’s throat. “I see you still don’t trust us, Wildfire,” he said, amused.

Dais glared at his comrade in warning. “We mean you no harm. We have come because a new evil has threatened both worlds,” Dais explained. “We are here to help you.”

“It is true,” Kayura agreed. “This new evil is a threat to us, as well. Over the years we have been trying to restore the Nether Realm to a place of peace. If this new evil succeeds, then all our hard work would be for naught.”

“So you know about who this Taikoku person is, then?” Ryo inquired. “All we know is that he’s the bother of Talpa. Do you have any more information?”

“Please have a seat,” Mia insisted to her new guests. “You don’t have to stand.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I can stand,” Kayura smiled. Her smile vanished just as fast as it came. “I did do some research when I started seeing articles about missing people here on Earth. Before we settled down east of the castle, I was able to gather some old books and documents. I searched through the documents and came across some information that matched the visions that I kept having.”

“You had them, too?” Sage asked, referring to his nightmares.

The young woman nodded. “I expected you to have some sort of premonition, Sage. Taikoku was a very powerful being back then. He destroyed many towns and took many people as his slaves. That also included children. He had no mercy when it came to those he considered weak. But Talpa wanted the throne just as bad, and the two of them fought constantly. Taikoku was the oldest and had the right to the throne, however, Talpa didn’t believe that age should be a factor. Talpa managed to overthrow him and sealed him in a deep sleep. There is no further information on how Talpa did it or why he didn’t just kill off his brother.”

“His power isn’t at its peak yet. That’s why he’s absorbing the lives of humans,” Dais added. A disgusted look was on his face, something the Ronins were not used to seeing.

“We need to figure out a plan before heading over to the enemy’s stronghold,” Rowen stated. “There is no doubt that he’s waiting for us.”

Mia looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost six-o-clock. “Why don’t I cook something up real quick? I’m sure you must be hungry from your journey.”

Kayura smiled at the older woman. “That would be nice. Right?” The Warlords just nodded their heads. “It’s settled, then.”

“Great. I’m sure you guys have a lot to catch up on,” Mia smiled before heading off into the kitchen.

“We should discuss what we should do in the meantime,” Sage suggested.

Most of the men agreed. Cye rubbed his temple and excused himself. He made his way to the front door where he made his exit. The warm, gentle breeze felt good against his face as he made his way to the front lawn. He sat down on the freshly cut grass and placed his hands over his face. Tears started to slowly leak from his eyes. When he heard about Taikoku making people his slaves, horrible images sparked to life in his head. He could be making the girls do terrible things, and it was his fault that they were taken.

“Well, I see you haven’t changed.” Cye picked his head up and looked at his visitor with red eyes and a tearstained face. Sekhmet shook his head and took a seat next to his old adversary. “It was foolish to fight alone.” The green-haired man could feel the icy glare that Cye was giving him. “Easy, water boy. I heard what happened to your girl.”

Cye exhaled through his mouth, watching the smooth blades of grass sway with the breeze. It was awkward having the Warlord of Venom sitting casually next to him. He had to tell himself that Sekhmet wasn’t there to start trouble, at least not at that moment in time.

“I couldn’t just stand there,” Cye said in a low voice. The guilt was stuck on him like crazy glue. “We watched Hana’s aunt become one of his soldiers. I couldn’t allow him to take anyone else.” Unfortunately, he was too weak against that pink-haired girl. He clenched his teeth in frustration.

Sekhmet looked up at the neon painted sky of pink, purples, and oranges. He wasn’t a sensitive type of guy, but he had to admit that the scenery was quite a beautiful sight to behold. He was normally surrounded by darkness and oppression, so this was rare. Not once did he feel any joy at looking at something so peaceful and tranquil, but he kind of did now.

He placed a hand on the grass, feeling the slickness of the blades underneath his palm. It was different from the grass that grew in the Nether Realm. Their grass was stiffer and not as smooth. Was that the reason why they had to protect this world? Was it because of the natural beauty that this place produced?

“Look, things will be alright,” Sekhmet said in a very low tone. He could still feel eyes on him. “I’m not very good at this whole sentimental crap, okay?”

Cye gave a small smile and looked out into the horizon in front of him. He didn’t expect any less from the Warlord of Venom. “It means a lot, thanks.”

Sekhmet clicked his tongue. “I heard Hardrock mention that your girl is a fighter. Is that true?”

“Hana doesn’t let people push her around. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect the ones she cares for. She also has this power that a spirit left behind,” Cye explained. He didn’t really know why he was telling Sekhmet those things. He didn’t expect the former warlord would particularly care.

“The chances of spirits leaving behind a piece of their essence are rare,” Sekhmet said. “I guess Hana got lucky.” The last sentence was dripped with sarcasm, knowing that anyone who was left with an unknown power was cursed more than gifted. He got to his feet and looked down at the Bearer of Torrent. Without another word, he left Cye alone with his thoughts.

A faint sound of water dripping and hitting the ground echoed within Hana’s ears. She groaned as she opened her eyes, noticing that she was on her stomach on cold concrete. To her right, she saw vertical iron bars that encased her. She sat up and immediately placed a hand to the back of her neck, where a dull pain throbbed.

Her eyes widened as she remembered what happened before everything went dark. The horrifying image of her aunt mutating made her nauseous. Clenching her teeth together, she slammed a fist onto the hard stone below her. Another family member was gone because of her. Even though she hated her aunt for all that she had did, she didn’t want her to meet such a horrible fate. She swallowed the bile that was in her throat and cradled her now aching hand. Tears leaked from her eyes as the pain within her chest grew. When would it end? Was she a curse to all that came into contact with her?

She crawled over to the bars, wrapped her fingers around the medium-sized iron. Was she in a dungeon? The place reeked of something foul, and she didn’t want to guess what it was. Only a few candles were lit on the stone walls, making just enough light to see. There were chains of different sizes that littered the ground. Shackles that hung freely from the opposite wall held what looked like a boney wrist that was attached to an arm; the rest of the body was missing.

Fear licked up her spine as she moved away from the bars. Where was she and why was she alone? Where was Natsumi? Was she hurt? That last thought made her heart skip a beat. She had to get out of there. Getting to her feet, she created a ball of energy just large enough to do some damage. She threw the sphere like a baseball at the bars in front of her. The energy sizzled when it came in contact with the iron, making sparks fly in all directions. Hana moved herself to the back wall of the cell to avoid getting hit. The ball dissipated, leaving behind a thin cloud of smoke. She ran to the bar and saw that there was hardly any damage done to them.

Trying again, she threw another ball and, just like the first one, it disappeared with a cloud of smoke. She fell to the ground on her butt, dumbfounded. Her power didn’t work. Panic rose up inside of her as she curled up into a fetal position. What was she going to do now?

Chuckling echoed throughout the empty space. A man walked into the dungeon with an amused look on his face. His dark gray eyes smiled at the woman before him. “And here I heard that you were tough,” he smirked. Hana looked up her visitor. He had crimson hair and was clad in black sub-armor. “The name’s Sosa. I’m one of Taikoku’s loyal subjects. The one who brought you here was my sister.” He took a stroll around the dismal place. “You’re quite a looker, if I do say so myself.”

“Enough,” Hana sneered who was still on the floor. The anxiety she was feeling was slowly evaporating and was instead turning into rage. “Why are you here and where is my friend?” Her patience was growing thin, and looking at this guy’s smug face didn’t help.

He smiled wickedly. “She’s being well taken care of,” he said. There was something in his voice that she didn’t like. It was like he was mocking her or something. In a blink of an eye, he was standing right in front of her cell, bending down so they were at eye level. “Daddy Dearest is making sure she feels right at home.”

Hana could feel the blood drain from her face. “W… what do you mean?” When she didn’t get an answer, she slammed both fists onto the ground, the mixture of anxiety and rage swirling inside of her like a storm. “Tell me now! What do you mean?!” Sosa just stood where he was, grinning from ear to ear, enjoying this little game of his. “You piece of shit! If you do anything to her, I’ll make sure I burn this place down!”

The crimson-haired man threw his head back and laughed. “That’s a good one. Your power is no use here. Not while you are in this cell. You are helpless, nothing but a mere human girl.” Each word seemed to slap Hana across the face because she knew it was true. She had no use of her power while she was caged up like some sort of dog. “But don’t you worry your pretty, little face. Your friend will join you soon.” With a turn of his heel, Sosa exited the room.

“Shit… SHIT!” Hana yelled. She had a sickening feeling in her gut. Natsumi was in danger, and there was nothing she could do to help her friend. A blast of purple light could be seen within the cell, the light not making past the iron bars. It disappeared, leaving only the lit candles on the wall as the only light source.

Kodoku was leaning against the cold brick wall with her arms crossed over her chest when Sosa exited the room. She eyed her brother as he made his way past her. “Do you have to be so disturbing?”

Sosa stopped and grinned at her. “Why am I disturbing? Is it because I like to toy with people?”

“You said she was pretty,” Kodoku answered, scrunching up her nose in disgust. “A human girl is not something to be fawning over.”

The crimson-haired man smirked at the reaction he was getting. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I don’t know, sis. Her lips looked mighty delicious, and the way she was lying on the floor made her so much more desirable.”

“That’s sick! You’re absolutely disgusting!” Kodoku waved her arms up in the air before making her way up the stone steps to the first floor.

He could hear screaming from the other side of the door. Sosa licked his dry lips before following his sister to the upper level.

Natsumi lazily opened her eyes, her vision slowly coming into focus. She scanned the area slowly, and then her eyes flung wide open when she found herself in a steel chair with her hands bound behind her back. Her legs were shackled together and some sort of tape was slapped across her face. She was in a dark room with no windows, just like at her father’s house. Fear ran down her spine as her body started to tremble. She tried to scream, but it came out as a muffle.

Hot tears ran down her cheeks as the nightmares from her past surfaced. It was like she was in a horror movie and she was the bait for the monster to feed on. She sobbed as she tried desperately to free herself.

The door in front of her creaked open as a dark figure stepped inside the room with her. Her eyes were wide with pure fear to the point it felt like they would roll from her sockets. The figure lit a candle and all her fears came crashing down on her like iron bricks.

Aric stood before her with a manic smile spread across his thin lips. A black leather whip was in his hands as he eyed his frightened daughter like prey. “My dear Natsumi,” he said in a smooth voice that had a hint of bitterness to it. “We meet again.” She tried to talk, but nothing was getting past the sticky barrier. The older man chuckled at his daughter’s expense; the courage she had was no longer present. She was helpless against him, and it filled his heart with immense pleasure.

He gripped the whip’s handle tightly in his hand. “I’m sorry. Were you talking to me?” Natsumi just sat there and sobbed, tears falling onto her knees. An intense pain surged through her as the whip came into contact with her shaking form. The manic man walked over and ripped the tape off hard and fast from her mouth, causing her to yell. “Answer me!” He grabbed the sides of her face hard with his hand, making her look up into the same Persian-blue eyes she had.

She gave her father pleading eyes. “I… I’m… sorry,” she stammered as she closed her eyes tightly. Some of the sticky residue from the tape was left on her bleeding lips. Another slap of pain hit her on the side of the face. “Please… stop…”

“Not so brave now, huh?” he asked, the words covered in venom. “I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, but you decided to take the other road, the rough one. Now you are all alone.” He raised his arm and slapped her hard against her cheek, causing her to fall over onto the hard flooring. The whip cracked down on her side. Her screams of agony echoed throughout the room. It was music to his ears. “Payback is a bitch.”

Again and again he brought down the whip to the point her skin started to bleed. Aric looked down triumphantly at the shaking body that was lying on the floor before him. Silent sobs of pain escaped Natsumi’s parted lips, her white teeth stained with blood. Her entire body screamed in pain. The clothing she wore started to absorb the blood into the fabric. No more. She wanted no more. She would rather die than face the torture again.

With each crack of the whip, scenes from her life flew past her. The time her mother died in the hospital bed, her father told her he would take good care of her if she only obeyed and was a good child. Of course that didn’t come as easy as it sounded. When she started school, she would laugh and play with the other children. One time she accidently knocked a kid off the slide. The kid slid down the plastic slide and fell to the ground. Aric was informed of the incident and punished her by beating her. He was careful enough not to leave any physical markings on her delicate skin, but the psychological markings were deeply scarred on her soul. Soon she was too afraid to do anything. She never hung out with people, and if she did, she knew when she had to be home.

Once she was in middle school, the other teens would avoid her. Others would make fun of her and how she dressed. At that point in her life, she felt like an outcast, always looking at others from afar. Her father drilled into her head that she was useless. She would never be like her mother, who was perfect. Her self-esteem was low, reaching into the dark recesses of herself.

Until she met Cye and the others, who accepted her after all the problems she caused them. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere. It was her father, who was like a poisonous leech, that caused her to become so weak and helpless. She got the courage to rip the leech from her body and throw it into the distance, but it came back to bite her.

She choked when her father wrapped his hands around her throat, his eyes filled with hatred. “What are you thinking?”

Natsumi bite her lip as tears continued to flow down her bruised cheeks. She heard the door creak open once more, hearing another set of footsteps as they entered the room with them.

“I didn’t think you were quite this brutal.” It was someone with a tenor voice. The tone in the person’s voice was filled with amusement, but just as cold as her father’s. She wanted to open her eyes and take a look at the new visitor, but she dared not to because she didn’t know what her father would do to her. So instead she listened closely. He threw her back onto the floor.

“She deserved it,” Aric said as he wrapped the whip around his hand. “This bitch had the nerve to oppose me. You know the story. That’s why I agreed to join you, Taikoku.”

The evil lord nodded his head. “Indeed. And now that we have two of the girls, that will be more motivation for the Ronin Warriors to come to us.”

A chuckle emanated deep from within Aric’s throat. “We are just going to sit back and wait for these boys to show up?”

“Of course not. I sent some of my troops down to the mortal world for some chaos. My power is almost at its peak.” Aric eyed the man in front of him cautiously. He didn’t quite know what kind of power he was talking about. Truth be told, he didn’t know if any of this was even real. To be brought to a different world with ghoul-like creatures and tinned soldiers, it was like a fantasy movie. But he did get back his daughter, and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. “Let’s get this girl back into the dungeon with her friend. I’m sure she’s getting lonely down there.”

Aric released Natsumi from her bounds. “She’s another one that I have to deal with later.”

A soldier walked heavily into the room, grunting as it picked Natsumi up by her arm. She didn’t fight. She couldn’t. Her body was in so much pain from the lashings that she just limped off with the soldier, leaving the two men behind.

They descended down the stone stairway in silence. The tin man opened the door to the dungeon and then to the cell that contained Hana. The dark-haired woman managed to fall asleep on the hard, cold floor. The rattling noise from the cell’s door roused her from her short slumber. Natsumi was shoved inside like a rag doll. The cell door locked, leaving the two trapped like rats.

Hana bolted up when she realized that the person who was shoved into the cell with her was Natsumi. Her eyes wandered over the injured girl’s beaten body. The brunette didn’t look up at her. Instead she just laid there, shaking and quietly sobbing to herself. With a shaky hand, Hana placed it on her friend’s back. Crimson slowly trickled down her bare arms. Some of the wounds were already starting to heal, leaving dry blood behind. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask, but she knew now wasn’t the time. What she did know was that she had failed to protect her friend. She pulled Natsumi into an embrace and held her against her body, hoping that the motion would ease them both.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the television set after they had eaten their meal. The scene that was displayed was that of turned vehicles, destroyed buildings, and screaming citizens. A few fires were spotted and some shops were wrecked. A gang of olive-green soldiers terrorized the city of Tokyo. Reporters tried to get a story in, but chickened out as soon as one of the soldiers got near them. The cameramen kept the footage rolling as the chaos ensued.

“Of course he is wasting no time,” Sekhmet commented as he sat back into his seat.

“Can you at least act a little bit concerned?” Kento asked almost in disbelief. The Warlord of Venom didn’t change one bit. Never gave two shits about anything.

“Stop,” Mia warned before an argument broke out. She turned her attention to the young woman next to her. “Kayura, what do we do? What can we do?”

“I think I have enough power to get us to Taikoku. I haven’t carried such a heavy load before, but I think I can manage. We have to get to him before he gains his full power,” Kayura replied. “It’s going to take all of us to work together as a team.” She looked at her Warlords. Dais she didn’t have to worry about. Cale didn’t really give her a hard time, but sometimes he would push her aside. It was Sekhmet that she had to worry about. He was getting better at being ‘the good guy,’ but sometimes he stirred up trouble where it wasn’t needed.

“Leave it to me,” Dais spoke up. “I’ll make sure they obey every command.”

“You’re like her lap dog,” Sekhmet scoffed. “Always wagging your tail behind her.”

“As the oldest, you will obey me,” Dais warned, his patience waning thin.

Cale sighed. He didn’t really speak the whole time he was there. He was observing the scene more than anything. “Calm down, you two. This isn’t getting us anywhere,” he said. “You can count on us, Kayura.”

A small smile formed on both Mia and Kayura’s lips. “Thank you, Cale,” Kayura said soflty.

Yuli, who was sitting next to Aika and her uncle, rose from his seat. He dug into this jeans pocket and took out a red jewel that was surrounded by little jewels on a string. The whole thing looked ancient to Aika as she gazed at it. “Lady, I have the Jewel of Life with me. Do you think it will work against this Taikoku guy?” he asked.

Kayura was shocked that Yuli still had that jewel. Her face softened as she smiled at the teen. “I’m pretty sure it will, but I’m afraid I’m not one hundred percent sure. Keep it, though. It might be useful,” she said.

Yuli turned to Aika and grabbed her hand. He placed the necklace into her palm. “You keep it. The Jewel of Life will protect you. It helped me when I was little,” Yuli whispered. “Everything will be okay.”

Aika stared at the object that was given to her. “This will get my sister back?”

“It’s to protect you, young one,” Kayura informed. “That jewel you possess has great power and can aid us in battle.”

“You mean she’s going into battle?” Take asked, fear clearly written on his face. “She’s just a girl.”

“Easy, Take. We’re the ones going into battle,” Ryo reassured the older gentleman. His face hardened as he looked at Kayura. “We need to take care of the chaos in the city. If we don’t, who knows what will happen.”

“At the same time, we can’t allow Taikoku to get stronger,” Sage added. “And we have the girls to rescue.”

“Think we should split up?” Rowen suggested. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “It might be our best option.”

“I kind of want to avoid that,” Ryo said with a sigh. “We are going to need the White Inferno Armor at some point during all this. I just know it.” He wasn’t wrong. The Inferno Armor was their best tool to win against this new villain, and everyone knew it. Silence filled the room, save for the commotion that was on the television.

“We’ll stay here and you guys go,” Dais suggested quietly. “We’ll fix things here while you five go rescue the women. After we are done, we’ll meet you at the castle. It’s our best bet. It looks like there aren’t many soldiers here.”

“It’s like he’s bored or something,” Kento commented.

“Could be, but I agree with Dais,” Sage said. He never thought in his wildest dreams that he would actually say those words. Dais gave Sage an approving nod.

Kento jumped to his feet and flexed his muscles. “Then it’s settled. We go and get the girls and kick some major ass.” He was itching for a good fight. It had been too long of not doing anything but every-day normal activity. He needed to get his blood pumping and his fists flying again.

“I wish it were that easy,” Rowen smirked. “We all know this isn’t going to be an easy walk in the park, but at least we have new allies this time, yeah?”

The Warlords each gave their own smile. It was definitely going to be something new for all of them, former enemies coming together as one to stop an evil lord from destroying both worlds.

Cye, who stayed quiet during the whole discussion, looked out the living room window. The moon was full and bright. “Hang in there, girls. We’re coming to rescue you,” he thought, his brows furrowed together in determination.