Choices, part 1
Looking down on the woods near Mia's house, an observer could see a young American woman walking slowly down the
path. She was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket and was carrying a duffel bag. She was walking slowly and looked very
shell-shocked. If that same observer could hear her thoughts, he would have learned some interesting things. The young woman
had been having a very, very bad day. Much of which was the observer's fault.
'What a horrible day. Because my flight was at such an ungodly time, I have been awake for about thirty hours. My carry-on
got caught in the airplane door, which was one of the more humiliating experiences I've ever had. The plane had tech problems
and had to land in Japan. I got attacked by strange-looking thugs in an alleyway while I was sightseeing. According to a news
program some very polite young man translated for me, the airport, my plane, my luggage, and most of the surrounding area got
blown up. When I called my aunt to inform her I was all right, I discovered that she'd quit her job, sold the house and
everything in it, and disappeared off the face of the earth. I got on the train to get to a different airport and must have left at the
wrong stop, because now I'm totally lost! So, I'm stranded in Japan and I only speak about sixteen words of Japanese, seven
of which can't be said in polite company. Why me?! This was supposed to be a summer vacation in Australia before I start
work in September! Now, I have no house, no job, no family, and no country!'
~It could be worse, milady, you could have been in the airport when it blew up!~
'And now, I'm hearing voices in my head. Great, just great!'
~Technically, I'm not a voice, I'm...~
'Shhh! Why did all the birds stop singing? Why is it so quiet all of a sudden?'
With a *bwamf* noise, the observer made himself apparent.
"Well, chosen one, at last I've caught up with you. You will not escape me this time. My Master would enjoy the pleasure of
your company--in the Shadow Realm."
'Right, there is a man in dark green armor with a glowing spear flying in front of me. Flying! On wings, no less! Okay, I now
declare myself officially insane.'
~Milady, now would be a good time to run, or fight, or scream, or something!~
'Enter the voice in my head. You want a scream, you get a scream. /H-E-E-E-L-P!!!!!/ Was that loud enough for you?'
~Yes, people three universes away probably heard you.~ The voice went from sarcastic to concerned as the woman dizzily
collapsed to her knees. ~You shouldn't have yelled that loud, now you've exhausted yourself.~
As the darkness of unconsciousness washed over her, the woman looked up at the glowing, winged figure advancing
menacingly toward her and thought, 'Why me?'
***
In the middle of washing table tops in the Nekohanten, Mousse looked up as a scream of ~H-E-E-E-E-L-P~ echoed through
his head.
***
In Greenwood hall, Shinobu looked up from his history homework as an echoing scream for help washed through his mind.
***
At the Cherry Hill Temple, Rei dropped the broom she was using to sweep the steps with a gasp, as a scream for help echoed
through her thoughts.
***
Sage looked at the scene in front of him with amused disbelief. No matter how often he saw this, he still couldn't believe how
much food Kento could scarf down. Sai was trying to distribute dinner evenly, but was having difficulty. It didn't help that
Kayura and her ex-warlords were there as well. It was the anniversary of Talpa's defeat, and the Ronins had decided to have a
party. However, if nothing was done, the only one eating was going to be Kento. Sai was scowling at his friend in a very irate
manner, Rowen had actually put down his book to glare at 'the human garbage disposal,' the warlords were staring in
shock (insert blinking here), and Ryo and Yuli looked like they were about to do something drastic. Sage opened his mouth to
intercede when a mental scream tore through his mind. ~H-E-E-E-E-L-P!!!~
Sage had jumped up and armored in a few seconds. Looking around he saw that the rest of the table had done so as well (those
that could.) As a group, they ran for the front door. Whiteblaze met them at the porch and they were gone, leaving Mia and Yuli
blinking confusedly in the dining room.
They had not gone far before they heard sounds of battle and flashes of light in the woods ahead. When they arrived at the
scene, they saw a winged man in dark green armor with a glowing spear. He was using it to throw what looked like black
lightning at a figure on the ground. All they could see of the figure was a shadow with blue wings spread wide, to shelter the
form collapsed at its feet. The bolts would bounce off the figure's wings to strike nearby trees and rocks.
"You can't keep this up much longer, Guardian. Soon you shall weaken, and the Chosen Key will belong to my Master."
~She will choose by her own free will and in her own time. I swore that long ago and will ensure her freedom! Besides, I don't
have to keep this up much longer. Are you guys going to stand around all day, or what?~
"Huh? Guardian, what trick is this?"
Ryo grinned in a feral fashion and spoke to the shadow.
"Excuse us, but can we join the party?"
~Be my guest.~
The winged man flung his lightning at the group of armor-bearers, but they all dodged and pulled out their respective weapons.
The man, seeing he was grievously outnumbered, flew out of range.
"The nine rings might have saved you this time, but I will destroy you and gain the chosen key the next time we meet."
He disappeared, leaving the glade full of confused, adrenaline junked, magical samurai, an unconscious girl, a rapidly
dissipating shadow, and no answers.
***
'Well, that was an experience. Where am I?'
The woman looked at her surroundings. She was in what looked to be nothing but star-filled sky. There was no ground or floor
and for some strange reason, this didn't bother her.
~Somewhere between asleep and awake.~
'Oh, you again. Hey! I can see you now.'
Facing the woman was a young man. He was about five foot ten and had black hair and bright green eyes. He also had fangs.
'Fangs? Oh well, I always thought those looked cute. After all, look at Ryouga from Ranma. Your wings aren't half bad either.'
The young man gave her an amused look. ~Thanks, I think. I'm not sure if being compared to Ryouga is a compliment though,
he's always lost.~
'So what happened anyway? Did my "Knights in Shining Armor" show up or am I going to be horribly tortured sometime in the
next five minutes?'
For some reason, this seemed to strike the young man as horribly funny because he started laughing.
~Oh no, your "knights" showed up all right. They're waiting for you to wake up.~
'First, who the hell are you?'
~I am your Guardian. I make sure your freedom to choose is maintained.~
As he spoke he looked up and smiled wryly.
~Looks like Halo got impatient. Oh well, you mustn't keep your hosts waiting.~
A bright white light was filling the starry sky, as if the sun were rising.
'No! Don't leave! I want some answers, damn it!'
~I'm always with you.~
***
The Ronins brought the unconscious girl back to Mia's house and set her on the sofa. Mia and Kayura sat with her and the guys
all went to the living room to discuss things until she woke up.
"Well, first of all, she is a very powerful telepath." This from Kale. "I'm a very weak telepath, but I heard her loud and clear."
"Kale, I heard her and I'm not a telepath at all," was Kento's reply.
"And what about that shadow. Who was he?" Sai asked with a concerned look on his face. "And what is his connection to the
girl?"
"For that matter, who was the Lightning Maven with the wings?" Sage looked vaguely miffed.
"You're just irked he stole your attack," Kale smirked at his former rival.
"Don't you two start that again. We have enough to worry about without you two sniping at each other. As to the villain with the
wings, does anyone remember what he said? It would be a way of figuring out what is going on." Rowen, ever logical, looked
expectantly at the group.
Ryo who had been silent up to now spoke. "He called us the nine rings. I know in some legends we're called the 'armors of
chains,' but what's this about rings? I think Mia should look into it with her computer. It might refer to a different part of the
armor legends."
Everyone looked thoughtful at this statement. Sekhmet suddenly snapped his fingers and looked at the other ex-warlords.
"Hey! I remember why that sounds familiar! Didn't the Queen of Secrets always call us the four rings? For that matter, the kids
did too."
Dais looked up with an odd look on his face. "You're right. You know, I'd almost forgotten about them. I wonder what ever
happened to those two."
Kale sighed. "I wish Anubis was still around. They were always closer to him than the three of us. He might have actually known
why they called us that."
The five Ronins were looking at each other in confusion. Kento looked at the reminiscing warlords and asked, "Excuse me? I
hate to interrupt, but could you explain to us what the heck you're talking about?"
The warlords looked at each other and then Kale spoke. "Well, about fifty years ago or so, Talpa's brother Zarn married a
being called the Queen of Secrets. We were never on a first name basis with her or anything. Anyway, ten years later she had
twins. Two girls named Madoka and Aristan. When their father died, Talpa took over their education. We kind of figured this
was without their mother's consent. At any rate, we ended up taking care of the two of them most of the time. About three
days before you guys showed up, they suddenly wiped out half Talpa's forces and disappeared."
Dais looked up with a wry look. "Don't forget, they also stopped and tried to convince us to join them."
"I try and forget that part myself. It isn't one of my happier moments." This from Sehkmet, who was wearing a sorrowful look.
"The point to this whole story is that those two called us the four rings of the seasons. So they must have known something
about this."
Sage stood up with a determined look on his face. "We're not going to learn much of anything just sitting here talking."
"So what are you going to do?" Rowen looked at his friend with concern in his eyes.
"I'm going to wake her up and ask her what's going on."
***
"/Wait! Don't go!/"
"She's coming around."
The woman was somewhat confused. 'A man's voice? What on Earth did he just say? I knew I should have took Japanese
instead of Latin in collage. I guess he's one of my "knights". Well, I might as well open my eyes and see what's going on.'
As the young woman opened her eyes, she was greeted with an overwhelming wave of colored light. It was as bright as the
sun--if the sun were color-coded, and shaped like glowing kanji.
"/ARRRGH! Damn! That hurt!/"
The eleven people in the room (twelve if you count Whiteblaze) looked confused as their mysterious guest took one look at
them, screamed, shut her eyes tightly, and started cursing in English.
'What the HELL was that?!!'
~Did I forget to mention that?~
'YES!'
~Well, when I was shielding you from Da...umm, the Shadow Warrior, I sort of had to awaken your latent human talents.~
'Human talents? What do you mean human talents?!'
~Um, long story, do you want me to teach you how to tone it down a bit, otherwise, your hosts are going to blind you.~
Sensing the irritation in her gaze, ~Right, all you have to do is shield, like this.~
The Guardian did something, and the light that was burning her eyes even through her lids, died down to a bearable glow. She
cautiously opened her eyes to look at the people who had helped rescue her. There were a lot of them. Sitting directly in front
of her was a almost too handsome young man with blond hair and silvery-gray eyes. His was a glowing green kanji, and the feel
of his power matched that of the light that had awakened her. Next to him was a young man with blue eyes and blue hair. 'Blue
hair? Oh, well.' His kanji was dark blue. Behind him was a tall man who looked about her age. He had white hair and an
eyepatch that made him look quite piratical. His kanji glowed violet. Next to him was another blue-haired man whose kanji
glowed gold. Next, there was a man whose kanji was as deep a green as his hair. Then a young woman with no kanji, but a
intense golden-white aura all around her as well as the staff she carried. Then a bulky young man with blue-gray hair and an
orange kanji. Next to him was a young woman in a short skirt and blouse who, thankfully, didn't glow at all. She was holding
the shoulders of a boy, no older then ten, who was staring at her solemnly. Next to her was an auburn-haired boy with a light
blue kanji and a pleasant smile. Finally, there was a black-haired boy with a glowing red kanji and a tiger, who also glowed a
bright silvery-gray. She stared at them in mild shock.
"/It really makes me wish I could read kanji./"
The group stared at their guest. She was around twenty-five or so, pretty, but not stunning. (Sage was prettier.) She had
silvery-blond hair and large dark blue eyes. She was blinking at them all and looked to be in shock. All the Ronins looked down
to make sure they weren't still wearing their armor or something. She was speaking in English. Sai and Sage could understand
her easily, and Rowen was always good with languages, but everyone else was having trouble understanding what she was
saying.
"/Excuse me, are you American?/" asked Sage.
"/Yes. How do you all sleep when you glow like that?/"
"/What do you mean?/"
"/Glow. Everyone in the room does, except for them./" The woman pointed to Mia and Yuli. "/Even the tiger glows. That is a
large white Siberian tiger, right? I'm not hallucinating or something?/"
It was Sage's turn to blink bemusedly. "/No, Whiteblaze is really a white tiger./"
"/Oh good! I really don't think I can take any more shocks today. It's kinda hard to keep sane as it is. It isn't every day you get
attacked by winged men in armor and rescued by the voice in your head and a bunch of glowing teenagers./"
"/Right. Well, umm, who are you?/"
"/My name is Alex Samahian. What're yours?/"
"/I'm Sage, this is Rowan, Dais, Kale, Sekhmet, Kayura, Kento, Mia, Yuli, Sai, and Ryo./"
At this point Whiteblaze growled a little.
"/Oh, and Whiteblaze. Now, what was that scene in the woods all about?/"
"/Oh, I don't know. I was just cursing my bad luck and questioning my sanity and all of a sudden, there he was, wings and all.
It's not like I asked for this, you know./"
"/What did you mean 'the voice in your head'?/" Rowan asked, looking at her in a strange fashion.
~How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a voice in your head!~ With a mental smirk, ~I'm a voice in everyone's
heads!~
Every armor-bearer in the room looked shocked. Alex just looked resigned.
"/So they can all hear you too, eh? Well this means that I'm not insane. Or if I am, I'm not alone!/"
"Excuse me, Sage, but what the hell is going on? Could someone translate for those who don't speak conversational English?
And what the hell is with that voice?"
~Well, hello to you too, Hardrock. What's your name again? I just remember your armor.~
"Kento. Who the hell are you?"
~Didn't milady tell you? I'm the voice in her head.~
"/Enough with the sarcasm, dear. What is the orange one saying anyway?/"
~In his typical impetuous fashion, he's asking for an explanation.~
"/I thought I was giving one. Oh, doesn't understand English?/"
Sai interrupted this fascinating conversation. "/Umm, could you explain things, Mr. Voice? We are all somewhat confused./"
~Just call me Guardian. What precisely do you want explained?~
"/Who that man in armor was for one thing./"
~Hmm, well, that was the Lord of Dreams, one of the Darkone's Shadow warriors. He's not the strongest in a fight, he's
much better at traps and ambushes than head-on combat. However, he is one of the smarter of the Darkone's warriors. The
other two are harder to beat physically, but easy to outsmart.~
"/Okay. Who is the Darkone?/"
~Oh, he's the new threat to Earth that you are going to have to try and defeat. Nothing you haven't done before./"
"/Question: Why does he want me?/"
~Well, to answer that, look in the book in your duffle.~
The young woman dug through her bag until she unearthed what could only be called a tome. It was a large thick book, bound
in leather, with runes or characters embossed on the cover. It even locked with a black metal plate.
Sounding surprised, "/This wasn't here this morning. All right, how do I open it?/"
~Put your hand on the plate and push with your mind. Just like you did when you screamed for help, but not as loud, please.~
Alex placed a hand on the lock plate and stared at it for a few moments. Then all the armor-bearers could feel a strange
*hum* in the back of their heads and the plate fell open.
As Alex opened the book to the place marked with a black velvet ribbon, the Ronins all stared at her and held a mental
conference.
~So she doesn't know what's going on either? What a gyp!~ Kento sounded very frustrated.
~Well, it seems the only one who has any clue what is going on is this voice. Do you warlords have any enlightening information
available to you?~ Rowan was getting sarcastic.
~Contrary to your impressions, we don't know everything. Otherwise, we'd have beaten you at the start of all this, ne?~' Dais replied
with a smirk on his face.
~I think that the voice is hiding something...~ Sage was interrupted as Alex, who has been reading diligently throughout this,
paled and gasped. Sage was at her side in an instant.
"/What? What is it?/"
Alex was staring at the book in front of her. Her lips moved soundlessly and tears were running down her cheeks.
Sage removed the book from the woman's hands. He stared at it with an unreadable look on his face.
"Well, what does it say?" Yuli asked, curious.
"I can't read it. It isn't in any language I can understand." Sage put down the book and tried to calm Alex to the point where she
was coherent. Rowen picked up the book and began to scan it. The characters that it was written in were nothing he could
read, but there were pictures. He flipped through the pages to the end. The pictures all seemed to be symbolic, representing
something else. There were always at least one golden ring in the picture somewhere. He turned to the beginning of the book
and started flipping through the pictures there. Something about these pictures seemed familiar somehow. Finally, he came to
what was a picture of the nine armors! There was no mistaking them for anything else. All nine armors, with weapons, kanji,
and element or season were in the picture. Whatever else this book might be about, it definitely involved all of them as well.
Sage looked up from the sobbing woman. "Guys, I'm going to have to put her to sleep, she's not going to get calm tonight." He
laid his hands on her forehead and concentrated on sleep. Alex's sobs calmed and her eyes drifted shut. Soon, she was
breathing deeply, only occasionally hiccoughing from her crying jag. Sage stood from his place by her on the couch. "Come on,
guys, we should talk about this somewhere else. Leave her to sleep tonight and try again in the morning."
"Guys," said Rowen, "you should take a look at this picture..."
***
Alex was standing in the middle of a field. The grass was high, up to her waist, and was a dead and sere brown. She
stared up at the stars above her and waited. She could feel eyes on her, but could not see her watchers. Suddenly the air
around her turned thick, so thick it was hard for her to breathe, much less move. The moon turned red and the stars
seemed to wink out of existence. She could hear screams and sounds of death and battle behind her, but could not turn to
see or help. Finally, all was silent. The air returned to normal, and the scent of blood filled her senses. She slowly turned
to see that the grass had been burnt, scarred by fire and lightning. There were huge gouges and chasms, as if someone
had ripped the very earth apart. What was left of the field was scattered with slumped forms that bled into the poor
remnants of the grass. Alex's gaze scanned further, and she screamed as her eyes came to the figure of her Guardian. He
was pinned to a tree with a sword through his torso, his wings lay limp and broken to the sides, but he was still alive. He
looked at her and his lips were moving, but she could not hear his words.
"Who did this? Who?" she asked, horrified. The only answer was horrible laughter that filled the clearing and seemed to echo, chillingly, in the air.
"Who? She asks who?" Alex turned a little to see the speaker. All she could see was a shadow, no, it was even blacker than shadow. It was
like a body-shaped hole in the fabric of the world. The shadow laughed even harder. "Come forward, my Key, and show
her 'who did this'." A previously unseen figure moved into the scarlet moonlight. Alex screamed. It was herself.
Whiteblaze stared at the woman tossing on the couch. He didn't really know what to think about her or her shadow
companion. She didn't smell quite right and seemed to see more than the average human. He watched as the woman started to
whimper in her sleep. She appeared to be having a nightmare. Suddenly, she gave a choked scream and fell off the couch.
Whiteblaze walked over to her slumped form. The woman looked up at him dazedly. "/Well, that was awful. You wouldn't
mind my keeping you company would you? I really don't think I'll be getting any more sleep tonight./" Alex smiled at her feline
companion. "/I don't suppose you understand English, eh?/" she chuckled under her breath and stood, dusting herself off. She
wandered around the living room, picking up some of Kento's comics that were laying around. She then started cleaning.
"/Some people eat when they're upset, I clean. What do you think, kitty? Am I going insane, or is all this really happening?
Don't think you have me fooled, by the way. Even if you didn't glow, you don't look like a proper tiger. I took zoology, I
know! But I figure, what the heck? Daddy always said 'Never tick off spirits, they have more ways of getting even than you
have of running.' Except, I've been running an awful long time, kitty, longer that I knew apparently./" Alex looked at the
now-spotless living room. Her eyes were unfocused as if she saw something other than the room around her. She shuddered a little
and rubbed her arms. "/Come on, kitty. Let's see if the kitchen needs tidying./"
***
In a void of darkness, a throne that burns with cold light hovers. In that throne is a shadow, ominous and silent. Before that
shadow stands a winged man in dark green armor.
"You have failed me, Damiet. You did not bring me the Chosen Key. She is vital to our plans."
"Forgive me, my lord. The Guardian was assisted by the Nine Rings. There was nothing I could do to stop them. Not on my
own. You once told me that a wise warrior knows his limits; that battle exceeded mine. We shall have to come up with a
different plan to capture her."
"The presence of the Nine Rings worries me, Damiet. The Prophecy does not mention their contribution. This is outside of the
pattern." This from a woman in gray armor.
The shadow in the throne answered her. "Part of the Chosen Key's powers is to alter the lay of fate. Prophecy can be warped or
twisted by her will. But only after she has chosen will her full powers be released. This is why I have been sending you to...limit
her choices."
"My lord, what do you wish us to do?" This question was asked by a man in armor that was so deep a purple as to resemble
black.
"If we cannot simply snatch the girl, we shall have to lure her. I have the perfect bait in mind too."
The black void rang with maniacal laughter.
Choices, part 2
