Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Dragon's Wrath ❯ For My Beloved ( Chapter 19 )

A evil, still Draconai Navcase followed his evil master through the halls of the base. Soldiers snapped to attention as their evil lord and his emissary passed by, ending at a door, which was unlike all the other doors. Reaching from around his neck, Ceiphied brought out a key and placed it in the lock, and turned it, opening up a chamber. The sound of snoring filled the air as Ceiphied walked in and Navcase tiptoed ever so slightly, as to not disturb the slumber of whatever was in this chamber.

"Don't worry. They won't wake up. Unless I will it." Ceiphied explained.

Navcase looked at his master curiously, as he gasped at the sight of thousands of sleeping Draconai. But there was one thing that was odd. They were all female! He had never seen one in all his years, even before the curse.

"But, I thought there were no females..." Navcase asked.
"There are. These are my daughters. They are special to me." Ceiphied explained.
"How?" Navcase asked.
"No matter what humanoid they couple with, their child is always a Draconai. However, being dragons, the gestation period takes many years. However, after Drakka placed the curse upon us, we learned that my daughters, and other females were affected differently. Instead of being restricted from assuming full Nether Dragon form, the females can only remain Draconai for a limited period of time. However, they retain their draconian power of metamorphosis, making their job easier."
"But if they are so useful, then why..."
"Are they all asleep? Because a wise monarch always knows that there are those within his rule that would love nothing more than to overthrow me. By mating with my daughters then they have the opportunity to create a child who could carry that out in time. So, I keep them locked in here, under a mantle of sleep until I need them. But I would like to show you my greatest trophy." Ceiphied said.

Leading him over to one corner, he found a beautiful bed. What was left of Navcase's humanity wept at the site. Lying in that bed, her long, gorgeous black hair resting on the pillow, her angelic face, all the more heavenly staring back at him in slumber, completely, and totally, a Draconai. He stepped back slowly.

"Yes. Don't fight it. That is your beloved Yuriko, whom I took from you so many years ago. So, even if you regain your humanity, I still have a trump card...

The scene changed to the two of them on a hill, long before Ceiphied ruined their lives.

"Shinta-chan?" she said.
"Yes Yuriko?" he heard his younger self say.
"When we get older, let's get married." she said.
"Married?" he heard himself say, with a confused look on his face.
"It's what grownups are supposed to do when they love each other." she said.
"It is?" his younger self said.
"Uh-huh." she said.
"Yuriko?" his younger self asked.
"Yes?" she said, slightly starry eyed.
"What's love?" his younger self asked.

She instantly got a evil look across her face and smacked him, before pinning him down trying to kiss him.

She got an evil grin across her face.

"I like Shinta-chan better." she said, tackling him to the floor again, trying to kiss him.
"Yuriko! Please! Get off me!" he said, struggling to get free

Navcase fought his way through soldier after soldier, who had cleverly led him in the opposite direction. And then he heard a sound, which pained him even now.

Yuriko's scream.

He watched as his younger self ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward her room, cutting down every Draconai in his path, thrusting the doors open, only to find her room empty, except for a note.

Ceiphied, Lord of the Draconai, had taken her captive, it had said. He was to go to the Nether World to face him. Navcase had gone.

"Ceiphied!!!!!!!!" he heard his younger self scream. "Come out!"

Navcase watched as the Lord of the Draconai came forward. He was about as ugly then as he was now.

"Ah, Navcase. I trust you got my message."
"GIVE HER BACK!!!!!!" his younger self demanded.

Ceiphied motioned. Yuriko stepped out. He and his younger self gasped at the horror that Ceiphied had concocted. He had turned her into a Draconai.

"If you defeat me, I break the curse and you can live with her peacefully. But if I win...you BOTH belong to me."

He had remembered how angry he was during that fight, and the battle raged, with Ceiphied as the victor. Even without his armor, he was still powerful.

"O' powers of supreme evil in the Nether World...O' ancient lord of the Nether Dragons, heed my command..." Ceiphied said.

The sky above the base turned completely black, and thunder and lightning crashed as Ceiphied continued.

"Bestow upon these unfortunate weaklings, the curse of the Draconai!!!!" Ceiphied roared.

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO!!!!!!!!" Navcase screamed into the blackness.

He found himself, awake in his bed at the palace, dressed in his Seishi clothing. It had been a dream.

Navcase tiptoed down the hall, past the loud rumble of Yuri's snoring, the low musical sounds of E.M.U. that lulled Suiren and Yoko to sleep, to the stairs, which he slowly descended carefully to the kitchen. He could not sleep; the nightmare was too powerful. Perhaps some tea would help. As he started to boil water, he felt a presence. He gripped his sword tightly, and headed towards the hallway. Who could possibly be up at this time of night? Other than him, anyway. He went into the stance for Battou-Jutsu, just in case. He would use the Ikazuchi method, one that led with the sheath, to ensure he did not harm anyone he was not meant to harm. He stood ready, as the footsteps came closer and closer...he sprang at the last possible moment, bringing his sheathed sword to bear on...

...a very frightened Ayame. Navcase breathed a sigh of relief and placed his sword back into his sash.
"Jeez...You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?" Ayame asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Navcase asked.
"Couldn't sleep. Being next door to the pneumatic drill doesn't help either." Ayame explained.
"You mean Yuri." Navcase reasoned.
"Yeah...we tried to tell her she snores and keeps most of us up but she refuses to believe. Which is why I try to get most of my sleep during the day, when she's training."
"Which may explain why I see you resting in the pool so often." Navcase said.
"Yeah. I can snooze for hours without even having to worry about Sakura or the others." Ayame explained. "So, what brings you here?"
"Couldn't sleep either. I had a horrible nightmare." Navcase explained.

Ayame sat down at the table, while Navcase retold in vivid detail the story, of how his fiancee Yuriko was kidnapped by Ceiphied, cursed, and was being used as a trump card against him.

As she listened, she became more and more intrigued. Navcase so down in the dumps, plagued by a horrible nightmare...it made her sad to see that her beloved was this way. There had to be a way to cheer him up. Yuriko was his fiancee, how long ago? And Ceiphied's magic must have done something to her to make her forget...she would not hold onto this love for THAT long. Then she had it. She and Navcase would go break into Ceiphied's and free her. Navcase would be reunited with Yuriko, and he would be so grateful that he would willingly go with her! Navcase would be all hers, at last. Forget Rowen. She could finally be with Navcase.

"Come on!" she called, dragging the Sword of Heaven to the door.
"Where are we going?" Navcase asked, curious.
"To get Yuriko back!" Ayame said.
"But do you have any idea how hard it is to get into Ceiphied's fortress?" Navcase asked.
"You can explain on the way!" she said as they headed out the door.

From behind the hall, unknown to Ayame, a form emerged, clad in trenchcoat and carrying her swords.

"So...it looks like Ayame's gone out without permission...and she's taken Navcase with her...oh, this'll be fun." Sakura said, heading back upstairs to wait for the right time to spring this on her mother.

Meanwhile...

"There it is." Navcase said, pointing down to the military base which Ceiphied now held as his own. "We'll have to be careful." he explained.

The two carefully touched down within the walls of the base. Looking around, there were guards everywhere, fast asleep, lying on the ground snoring. Navcase placed his finger to his nose, reminding Ayame, as the two tiptoed past the slumbering soldiers towards the front door, keeping their ki as low as possible as to not startle them, coming upon the main entrance. Navcase pulled on the door with Ayame's help, very carefully pulling the large steel door open before stepping in and closing the door behind them.

"Okay, now what?" Ayame asked.
"We need the key. Ceiphied never lets it out of his sight. He never lets anyone near that room. You're as good as dead if you do." he explained.

The two tiptoed through more rows of sleeping guards, going down hall after hall as quietly as possible, making sure not to wake anyone up. Ayame thought to herself as Navcase led her down hallway after hallway. He was so handsome when he was determined. Him and her, together...this was like a date or something. She would make him so happy when they freed Yuriko. So happy he would forget about Yuriko and go with her. They could not have possibly been pining for each other this long...

Ayame's thoughts were cut off as Navcase stopped suddenly.

"This is it. Ceiphied's chamber." Navcase whispered.

He entered a code which carefully opened the door. As she looked in, she found the form of their evil leader, asleep on his makeshift throne, with a glint of metal around his neck...the key!

Carefully tiptoeing her way towards the evil slumbering monarch, she assured herself that she would succeed. She had to. If she wanted Navcase, she had to. Yuriko's engagement had expired the moment she went Draconai. Sure, she would make sure to have Mom cure her like she did Navcase, but she would be all over Navcase by the time Yuriko was human again. And he would love her. Forever.

She stopped, as she reached the throne. She looked around for something to lift the key off his neck without disturbing him. She found a pole lying on the ground and began inching it towards the chain holding it around the tyrant's neck. She got a hold on it and gently began to lift it upwards, however, Ceiphied began to stir, as if waking up. She quickly but carefully withdrew and breathed a sigh of relief as the evil lord settled back to sleep. She slowly and cautiously approached again, slowly but surely lifting the chain upwards, before having to give up again from another stir from the evil lord. This was more difficult than she thought. She reached out again with her pole, poking Ceiphied in the face with it, causing him to stir, and her to attempt to hide...but he remained asleep, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. She carefully placed the pole down, and started to climb up the back of the throne, hoping to lift the chain from around his neck carefully. She slowly reached out with her hands, grasping it, and then carefully lifting it, before Ceiphied shifted to the other side, forcing her to let go. As his head rested on armrest of his throne, she reached out with her hands, and slowly but carefully slipped the chain off, every so slightly. The distance shortened very carefully, and soon, she had the key in her hands. Now there was the tricky part. She tiptoed away from the throne, ever so slightly, careful not to disturb Ceiphied's attendants either. The distance between her and the door became smaller and smaller, and she made one last dash into Navcase's arms. She had succeeded! He felt so warm...she wished they could stay like this forever.

"Let's go." Navcase said, heading down the hallway, and down another, and another, through the maze of the base, until they reached the door. Navcase took the key and placed it in the lock, opening it carefully. Ayame waited at the door, fearful that the spell would affect her too, as Navcase carefully headed over to where his beloved lay sleeping. He removed the covers ever so gently, and lifted her up like a knight would carry a princess, turning around to find...Ceiphied, in Ryuujin, standing at the door, holding Ayame.

"Foolish Seishi. You see, there's a silent alarm on this room, I discovered. I used it to my advantage. Now, drop the girl or this one dies." Ceiphied ordered.

Navcase slowly placed his beloved's dormant body down on the bed once more. He then turned to Ceiphied, his anger flaring. He began to glow, as his AT field erupted before him, which he focused into an energy bolt and let Ceiphied have it, knocking him down. Then, grabbing Yuriko, he raced down the hall with Ayame behind him. Ceiphied roared behind him as he also pursued the flying Navcase towards the front gate.

Ayame was thrilled. This was not a setback. Navcase cared as much for her as she did for him. He would not abandon her.

She was cut off as she was grabbed once again...

Navcase hurried, as fast as he could fly. He knocked the door open again and proceeded to head out...before he heard Ayame's scream.

"I'll make a deal with you Navcase..." Ceiphied said.
"Like the one you made me all those years ago, that I could not win if I tried?" Navcase said, turning towards the struggling and nervous Ayame.
"I'm giving you an ultimatum. If you leave now, I'll kill her." Ceiphied said, pulling his grip tighter around Ayame, causing her to call out in pain. "However, if you stay and fight, and beat me in a duel, I'll let you leave with both of them."

Navcase thought long and hard. As much as he loved Yuriko, and wanted to be with her...he had dragged Ayame into this...more like she had dragged him. And he had a duty as a Seishi to protect her from harm. He would never forgive himself if he let something happen to her, let alone Amaterasu.

He place Yuriko gently on the ground, and laid his cape on top of her.

"First let her go." Navcase demanded.

Ceiphied threw Ayame to the ground with a thud, and she began to crawl away from the evil lord.

"Now, fight me." Ceiphied said.

Navcase called upon his Armor of Hope, and reached to his side, igniting one of his two beam sabers. Ceiphied ignited an energy blade from his arm, and charged at Navcase with everything he had, the two energy weapons clashing in midair.

Using the armor was difficult. It was harder to pull off any of his special techniques, but it was also harder for Ceiphied to dodge them...Using his thrusters to take him skyward, Navcase crashed down on Ceiphied with Ryu Tsui Sen, managing to slash part of his helmet and take him to the ground. Ceiphied got up and dodged out of the way of one of Navcase's slashes, knocking him back with an energy bolt. Navcase charged at Ceiphied with Gatousu, but Ceiphied whirled out of the way and hit him in the back of the neck.

"Hmm, seems this armor's learned some things from you." Ceiphied said.
"Not enough." Navcase explained, charging at Ceiphied with incredible speed. "Kuzu Ryu Sen!"

Ceiphied was nailed multiple times and fell under the impact of the attack. Navcase readied his blade for another go, as he parried another blow from Ceiphied. Ayame had managed to get over to Yuriko as this fight went on, who's eyes had begun to flutter open, out of the range of the spell.

"Where...am I?" she asked.
"You're okay. I'm a friend." Ayame explained.

Yuriko, still weak, looked over at Ceiphied and Navcase fighting. "Navcase?..." she wondered.
"Yes, it's him. He came to rescue you. He told me you were very special to him." Ayame said.
"Yes, I am. And he is to me." Yuriko said.

Meanwhile, Navcase had managed to trap the evil lord in a corner.

"I may have my honor, but for the hell you have given me, you deserve none of it." Navcase declared. He prepared to use Gatousu Zero Stance, and lunged forward...

...right into Ceiphied's blade, impaling him.

Navcase gasped as the evil lord cruelly removed the blade from the hero, as he dropped to the ground, his armor disappearing as he began to bleed. Yuriko got to her feet and ran towards him through a swarm of Draconai, who were getting closer and closer to her. Ayame had to do something. She had to call her armor. She breathed a sigh of relief when a fireball crashed before Yuriko, taking down the Draconai.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Ryo called, hovering in the air with his wings outstretched. Anubis was right behind him, as the other Ronins entered, laying down cover fire as they touched down, backing in around Navcase.

"DESTROY THEM ALL!!!!!!" Ceiphied roared.

Draconai after Draconai began to glow and became extremely large in moments, assuming their true, horrific forms. Yuriko held the dying Navcase tight as the others moved in.

"He's...dying." she explained to the others.
"Let's get out of here. Hang on." Anubis said, focusing his power. Screaming at the top of his lungs, the kanji glowed on his neck once again and they instantly vanished from sight.

Ceiphied roared louder than he had ever done.

The group reappeared on the Isle instantaneously, in the Shrine of Amaterasu. Kayura came running.

"Is there any thing you can do Kayura?" Anubis asked.
"No...I'm afraid I can't...even with this staff, I'm still powerless to save him..." she said sadly.
"Navcase, no! You can't die, you just can't...you just got her back...You have to hang on..." Ayame said, tears dripping down her face. Navcase brushed them away.
"Aya-me...thank you for letting me see Yuriko one last time...goodbye...aishiteru..." Navcase said, and then he was gone.
"No...No...NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yuriko screamed, standing over her beloved. She could not loose him now. After all this time.

She screamed with all her might, as the Kanji for Resurrection began to glow on the top of her head.

"YOU ARE NOT LEAVING US...SHINTA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!" she declared, placing her hands on the hero and focusing everything she had into him...the group watched as his soul drifted back into his body, and his wound healed, as if it had never been there. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked up.

"Yuri...ko?" he said, weakly.
"SHINTA-CHAN!!!!" she screamed, wrapping her arms around him tightly, a little too tightly, for the warrior was gasping for air.
"Yuri...ko...let...go...need...air..." Navcase wheezed.

Suddenly, Amaterasu appeared in an astral projection.

"Come to the shrine at once, my Seishi. You too Yuriko." she said.

The group vanished, and found themselves before Amaterasu.

"As you can probably guess, Yuriko is the Fifth of my Seishi, Kerai no Shinigami...Servant of the God of Death. Her power is to revive the dead and travel into the Spirit Realm to pull their souls back, should we need to. She will stay here in the palace, so that she can be with you once again, Navcase." Amaterasu explained.
"Thank you." Navcase said, as she hugged him again.
"And as for you, young lady..." Amaterasu said, causing Ayame to stop in her tracks as she tried to sneak away, "Sakura told me she saw you sneak out last night, without my permission. You know how dangerous it is there! I specifically said, no leaving the palace without my permission unless you're accompanied by one of us or if I told you it's okay. You're grounded. No TV, no music, and no sunbathing in the pool for a week"

Ayame's heart sunk as she trudged up to her room and closed the door.

"I apologize for that...now, let me show you to your room." Amaterasu said.
"If it's not too much trouble your highness...I would like to sleep in Navcase's room." Yuriko said.
"All right. If you insist." Amaterasu said.
"We're going to have so much fun together Shinta-chan! Let's go!" Yuriko shouted, grabbing the poor guy and dragging him off to their bedroom.
"But shouldn't you have Amaterasu heal you first?" Navcase said.

She stopped in her tracks, realizing that she was still Draconai.

"You're right. Then we'll go have some fun like old times Shinta-chan! Lead on!" she said.
"I wish you'd stop calling me that..." Navcase said.

Later...

Ayame sat, staring out her window into nothingness. There was nothing to do, after all, she was grounded, thanks to Sakura. But she did not care she was locked up. After all, she would still win out. Navcase needed her. And she needed him. He could not have feelings for her after all this time. She looked down from her window where she spotted the two talking. She hid herself and watched the fun.

"Yuriko...I'm so happy we're together again." Navcase said.
"Remember when we made that promise to get married on the hill? We were so young then." Yuriko said.
"Yes. And how once I walked in on you when you were getting dressed and you clocked me into the wall?" Navcase asked.
"And then chased you down with a Naginata until you apologized? Of course...Shinta-chan." Yuriko said with a small smile. "M-hmm. You know, when you first came to stay with us...I was jealous of all the attention you were getting...I asked my mom, 'What's that boy doing here? Why does he have to stay with us?' I wanted you to leave...of course, I was too young to understand the circumstances...it took me a little while, but my jealously went away...because even though it took me a little while to realize it...I loved you from the moment I set eyes on you...I love you...Shinta Tennomi...the Sword of Heaven. What an honor...we're Seishi...and most important, we're together again...my beloved Shinta-chan." she said, looking deep into his eyes...
"Okay...I admit, I wasn't wild about you at first...especially how you used to pin me to the ground and try and kiss me."

Yuriko blushed.

"But...then I found out you loved me from the moment you set eyes on me...and then one day, I realized...you were the one I loved so dearly...with all my heart...I was heartbroken when I lost you...when your family disowned me...but now we're together again...and that's all that matters. Yuriko Toumahama...Ai..."
"...Shi..." she added as she looked lovingly into his eyes.
"...teru..." he finished, closing his eyes and kissing her for the first time in ages...it felt so good to taste her lips again...to feel the warmth of her heart energy...and then a tear fell on his head.

A tear? Navcase turned his head up slowly, fearfully, and looked into the eyes of Ayame, surprised, and horrified. She had seen the whole thing. He had not realized her window was there. Her eyes were full of tears. He could almost feel her heart breaking. Yuriko looked up as well, and placed her arm around Navcase to try and comfort him, also feeling the pain she must feel.

"Ayame...I'm..." Navcase started to say before she slammed her window with a loud crash and closed her curtains.
"I'm so stupid...so stupid to believe that I could have him...SO STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!" Ayame cried as the hot tears trickled down her face. "I thought I could have him...but I was wrong...so wrong...he loves her...he's always loved her...he doesn't need me!!!!!!!!!" she sobbed.

She dove onto her bed, and began to sob, the tears flowing...and with them...the remnants of her broken heart.

Next Episode

YURIKO: Hello everyone! It's me, Yuriko! It seems that not everyone's happy about my Shinta-chan and I reconciling...
NAVCASE: Yuriko, you know I hate that name...
YURIKO: It looks like my first job as a Seishi is getting Ayame to calm down and show her we're sorry...It's next time on Ronin Warriors: Dragon's Wrath; To Mend a Broken Heart. Watch for it!