By Akuma-chan
Note: This story is a "What If . . . " story, with the what-if being "What if Cye had been born a girl?" All the events that took place in the thirty-nine episodes of the television series (since that is all this poor, deprived author has seen) took place exactly as they did--though perhaps the petty squabbles between Cye and Kento were slightly different. Only three changes have been made: (1) the rooms: Riyo and Rowen, Sage and Kento (horrors!), and Cye by herself. (2) Cye and Kento have been betrothed since childhood by parental arrangement. (3) Cye's name--it's Sei. I don't care what you think, about it, either.
They all stood staring at the heavy Gates. The skies turned threatening, and the wind picked up. The drivers of the limos bolted into the woods.
"What the hell . . . ? Talpa! How can that be!?" Ryo shouted. The winds were heavy, obscuring his words. The rain beat heavily down on them from a sudden cloudburst.
"We killed him!" Sei shrieked. Her hair whipped around her face, and she trembled.
"Wrong, Torrent!" Talpa's voice said. "Thanks to Wildfire, I still live!" Ryo paled.
"I see you're still a lying worm, Talpa!" Cale shouted. Talpa's laughter sounded again.
"It's no lie, Cale, my Warlord of Corruption," he said. Cale snarled wordlessly, denying the title. "Since Wildfire lives, so do I."
"We can fix that for you!" Kento said, stepping forward. Sei reached out a hand towards him, then stopped.
"Kento . . . " she whispered. Then, she straightened and, tucking her hair behind her ears, called her armor orb to her. Seconds later, she wore the lower armor of Torrent.
"Sei!" Kento said, surprised. He knew how much she hated the armor--it was far too revealing, she felt. In seconds, he had followed her example.
Miya hovered in the background as the Ronins and ex-Warlords transformed into their lower armors. Talpa simply laughed. "Puny insects!" he gloated. "There is nothing you can do to stop me! It's already too late!"
Sage seemed to come to some realization. "Ryo! He's going after Ulley!"
"What!?" Ryo shrieked. He whipped his head around sharply as White Blaze loped into view, favoring his left foreleg. In his mouth, the tiger held a piece of Ulley's favorite stuffed animal and a short length of chain.
"What do you want with Ulley, Talpa!?" Sei demanded angrily. Talpa laughed again.
"You will see, little girl. You will see . . . " The great, ugly doors swung slowly shut against the sounds of Talpa's madness.
The house was totally wrecked when they finally got there. Miya found what remained of the stuffed animal White Blaze held the arm of. She sank to her knees, tears filling her eyes. "Oh, poor Ulley! He must have been--be--so terrified!"
"This is all my fault . . . " Ryo started.
Sei whirled and slapped him solidly. "Don't start that again, Ryo!" she screamed. Everyone stared at her, stunned. "Your damned guilt complex just gets in everyone's way!"
"Hey, calm down, Sei!" Kento soothed. Sei turned on him.
"I am calm!" she screeched. Then, she collapsed to a seat on the floor, hugging herself. She started to cry. Sehkmet, concerned, reached out to her. She slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone!"
"Sei, hon, c'mon. There's no need to cry," Kento said, kneeling beside her. Sehkmet ground his teeth as Sei buried her face in Kento's shoulder. Kento rocked her slowly back and forth.
"It's not fair!" she sobbed. "It's just not fair! Why can't we just lead normal lives!? Haven't we done enough!?"
"We don't have much choice, Sei," Rowen said somberly. "Unless you want to abandon Ulley."
"Rowen!" Sage and Ryo gasped, shocked at their friend's uncharacteristic cruelty. Sei sobbed harder.
"Take that back, Strata," Sehkmet snarled, grabbing Rowen's shirt. Rowen brushed him off.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Kayura snapped. Rowen and Sehkmet glared at each other, but obeyed.
"Look, we're all upset at this," Cale said. "But that's no reason to take it out on each other."
"Cale's right," Sage agreed. "And it's been a long night. Let's all just go to bed and get some sleep. We can come up with a plan in the morning."
"Sage is right," Miya said. She turned to Kayura and the ex-Warlords. "I'm sorry there's not much room, but the attic is open to you. Kayura, maybe you could have Sei's spare bed."
"Speaking of which . . . " Kento said. "She's cried herself to sleep. Anybody wakes her up, they got me to deal with!" He glared around belligerently as he stood, Sei fast asleep in his arms. Then he headed for the stairs. Kayura followed quietly.
Kayura woke sometime after the sun was up. She rolled over to see the time. 8:30 am. <Still too early,> she thought, groaning softly. Then, she heard weeping.
Sei cried softly into her pillow. Kayura rose and went over to her. The girl was still fast asleep. "No . . . " she muttered. "I don't want to! Please don't make me!" Kayura frowned compassionately.
"Sei," she whispered, shaking the other girl's shoulder. "Sei, wake up." Sei came awake with a start. She sat up, wiping at her face. She stared at the tears on her fingers, surprised. "What's wrong, Sei?" Kayura asked.
"N-nothing," Sei said. She curled up in a ball, her nightgown draped over her knees. She buried her face in her knees and wept silently. Kayura touched her shoulder again.
"Come on, Sei, you can tell me."
"It's just . . . " Sei hesitated. "Well, I just . . . I don't want to be a warrior!" she cried. "I want to be a normal girl with a normal life! I want to be a wife!"
Kayura smiled gently. "There's no reason you can't be both warrior and wife," she said. "I'm sure if you gave him the slightest hint, Kento'd have you at the altar in seconds. Sehkmet'd have you there even faster."
Sei laughed a tiny laugh. "That's true," she admitted. Her sea-blue eyes clouded. "But I don't want to be a warrior. I didn't in the first place, but--" She stopped, biting her lip.
"But what?" Kayura asked.
"But I couldn't let Kento go off on his own like that. And I did know a lot from practicing with him." She glanced up, shame-faced. Kayura smiled peculiarly at her. "Well, the big lug can't take care of himself!" she cried defensively. "He needs somebody to look after him!"
"I didn't say anything," Kayura said virtuously. "Sei, whether you want to now or not, you accepted your armor freely, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah--"
"And that means you have a responsibility. You can't just give it up like that."
"I know, I know," Sei said impatiently, waving her hand. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"This is true," Kayura admitted. Both girls giggled. "Well, maybe we should go see if anyone else is up."
"Okay." Sei stood. "Um--Kayura, who dressed me in my nightgown?" she asked suddenly, blushing.
"I did. Kento offered to, but I chased him out," Kayura said, smiling slyly. Sei's blush deepened. "Don't worry. I'll protect you from your big, bad fiancee!"
"Kayura!" Sei protested over Kayura's laughter.
"All right!!! Waffles!!!" Kento bellowed, tearing down the stairs. Sei smiled as she set down a huge plate of waffles at Kento's customary place at the table.
"I thought this'd get you up, Appetite. Uh, your fly's down." Sei blushed a bit. Kento flashed a startled look at his jeans and sheepishly pulled up the zipper. Then, he pulled the yellow shirt he had in his hand over his head. He plunked down in his seat and started to wolf down the waffles.
"What's that delicious smell?" Dais asked, sniffing. He came down the stairs, followed by Cale. Sei smiled up at them.
"G'morning!" she caroled. "Kayura, we'd better make another double batch of batter; I don't think what we've got will be enough!"
"Okay!" Kayura called back from the kitchen. "Um, show me how again?" Sei chuckled and headed for the kitchen. By the time she returned, Kento had finished his firsts, and everyone else was lined up at the table, drooling.
"Well, since Kento's had his firsts, I guess the next batch goes to U--" Her smile dropped away. "Um, who's next?" she asked. There was a moment of silence before Ryo volunteered.
"Me!" he said, raising his hand. Sei smiled again and put down another plate.
"You're not mad at me for last night?" she whispered. Ryo shook his head.
"You were right," he responded quietly. Sei smiled again and straightened. She returned to the kitchen and emerged seconds later with more waffles.
"Keep 'em coming!" Sage said, grinning. "We're all starved, aren't we, guys?" There were cheers from all the guys, and an indignant gasp from Miya.
"And what about me!?" she said. "Don't I get fed, too!?"
"Oh, come on, Miya," Sei laughed. "You know how much they complain when we eat first!"
"And these three are no different," Kayura said, jerking her chin at the ex-Warlords. She handed another plate to Sei. "Dais first, then Sehkmet," she said in a stage whisper. "Or else we'll have a mutiny on our hands."
"Hey!" Dais and Sehkmet chorused. "That's not true!" Sehkmet continued. "I would wait forever to receive anything from your delicate hands." He stared at Sei with adoring eyes. Sei quickly put the plate in front of Dais and retreated to the kitchen. Kento kicked Sehkmet under the table, scowling darkly.
"And I suppose I am to go unfed, too?" Cale grumped.
"Well, I had better get mine soon," Rowen said. "This is too early to be up otherwise!"
"Rowen, you'd sleep your life away if we let you," Sage sighed. Kayura carried out a plate of waffles.
"Sei's taking care of a sticky problem--"
"Very bad pun, Kayura!" Sei called from the kitchen. Kayura laughed.
"So it was," she admitted, handing Sehkmet his plate. Sehkmet sighed unhappily and began to eat. "Let's see . . . I guess it's just me, Sei, and Miya now!" she teased.
"Not even!" came from Sage, Rowen, and Cale, outraged. Kayura smirked and retreated to the kitchen.
They sat around the dining room table, the dishes pushed to the side. They discussed plans in depth. After a while, Kento banged his fists on the table impatiently. "Jeeze! You're all talking this to death! All it boils down to is we go into the Netherworld and fight our way to the Castle, rescue Ulley, and come home! So why don't we go, already!"
"Much as I hate to say it, Kento's right," Rowen sighed. "It's the only thing we can do."
"I'm coming with you," Miya announced suddenly. They all looked at her. "I still have the Jewel of Life, and I'm certainly not staying here by myself! You have to agree, it's far too dangerous. Look at all the times I've been taken hostage by Talpa's minions already! And they already have Ulley."
"She is right," Dais admitted.
"She was always a valuable hostage," Cale added. "You all cared about her so much even back then. She's safer with us."
"I don't like it!" Ryo protested. "She's too vulnerable. She can't fight, can't protect herself, nothing!"
"If you think so little of me, you can move out of my house, Ryo!" Miya snapped, rising. Ryo blinked, startled. "You're not leaving me behind because I'll follow you. I'll just wind up there one way or another, anyway! So if you don't like it, that's just too bad!"
Kayura applauded. "Brilliant, Miya! That's just what he needed to hear!"
"What is this, 'pick on Ryo week'!?" Ryo demanded peevishly. "Why are all three of you ganging up on me like this!?"
"Because you're a male chauvinist pig," Kayura responded sweetly.
"With a huge guilt complex and delusions of being useful," Sei added. Ryo gaped at her. So did everyone else. Sei looked back loftily. "It needed saying," she defended herself. "Ryo's ego has gotten way out of bounds lately."
"Well, excuse me!"
"His day's not going very well, is it?" Cale muttered to Sage. Sage grinned and shook his head. Ryo sniffed and glared at them both.
The Netherworld was just as deceptively beautiful as the Ronins remembered it. The Castle loomed on the horizon. Kayura and the ex-Warlords gazed at it with a combination of wistfulness and determination on their faces. "He's there," Kayura said quietly.
"Let's get going, then," Ryo said, all business. He shot a hard glance at Miya as she stepped forward, the Jewel of Life dangling from her throat. "Miya, you stay in the middle."
Miya nodded. They all moved forward at a brisk walk, waiting for the attack they knew was coming. Some five minutes later, they stopped waiting.
The battle that followed was fairly typical. Miya ducked and dodged as best she could, White Blaze constantly at her side. The Ronins and ex-Warlords called on their armors and slashed at all sides. Kayura screamed a blood-chilling war cry and leapt into the fray.
A soldier got in a lucky strike on Ryo. He fell back, clutching at his shoulder. Cale stepped in to fill his place. Miya rushed to his side. "Ryo!" she cried. Ryo fell to his knees, groaning. Miya quickly pulled out a medical kit. "What was that . . . you were saying . . . about my not being able to do anything?" she said as she worked. Ryo grinned wanly.
"Sorry," he said. "I guess I was just blowing off steam."
"That's all right. I forgive you," Miya said, wrapping a bandage around his now-bare shoulder. She smiled at him. Ryo looked away quickly.
"Hey, enough with the necking back there!" Sage called. "We've got a fight going here!" Ryo and Miya blushed furiously. Then, Ryo again called forth his armor and joined the battle.
"What's going on in there!?" Sehkmet shouted, staring at the brilliant flickering lights. He had to shout to be heard over the rising winds and the echoing unidentifiable noise.
"He's casting some sort of spell!" Kayura responded. "I can feel the magical energy building!"
"We have to get in there and rescue Ulley!" Ryo shouted. The others nodded. They all forced their way through the guards, destroying as they went.
The echoing noise was now identifiable as chanting. It grew steadily louder as they ran down the halls. Time seemed to be in slow motion to Ryo as they fought every inch of the way.
Then, utter silence fell. They all stopped, foreboding in the air. Ulley, somewhere ahead of them, screamed in utter agony. "Ulley!" Sei cried, cringing. Her sea-blue eyes were wide and frightened.
"C'mon!" Ryo shouted, rushing forward.
"Ryo!" Kayura cried, raising a hand. As Ryo and the other Ronins disappeared into the shadows, she dropped it. She turned to see White Blaze holding Miya's sleeve.
"Let go!" the girl cried. White Blaze did not obey, but turned his golden eyes on Kayura.
"I know," Kayura said sadly. She bowed her head and closed her eyes briefly. Then, she looked up at Miya. "It's no use, Miya. We're too late." She turned to the ex-Warlords. "All we can do is make sure there's a safe path of retreat. There shouldn't be that many problems."
"Yes, Kayura," the men said, nodding.
<Dammit! Whatever Talpa's done, he'll pay! I swear!> Ryo thought angrily. He clenched his teeth and continued to run. Then, Ulley appeared before them. "Ulley!" Ryo said, stopping. The others stopped, as well.
Ulley started to laugh. "Am I, Wildfire?" he asked. Ryo frowned, confused.
"You're not Ulley at all, are you?" Sage said, staring at the boy. His friends looked sharply at him. Sage kept his eyes firmly on Ulley.
"You don't think--" Kento said, eyes wide.
"It couldn't be . . . " Rowen gasped.
"Talpa!! You bastard!!" Sei screamed. She leapt to attack. Ulley let loose a blast of power that sent her crashing into a wall. She was held there for a long moment before Ulley--Talpa--let her fall.
"Brilliant deduction, my dear," Talpa said. "The boy was the perfect host. And I'll only get stronger as he grows."
"You . . . bastard . . . " Sei gasped, struggling to her feet. "You can't . . . have him . . . " She pitched forward.
"Sei!" Kento caught her. He scooped her up.
"Arrow Shock Wave!" Rowen cried, letting loose his golden arrow. Talpa flinched away and disappeared. "Let's get outta here!"
They all followed Rowen's excellent advice. They found the ex-Warlords and Kayura had opened a path of retreat, and they fled. Sehkmet dropped back to run beside Kento. "What happened!?" he demanded.
"Talpa took over Ulley's body. He hit her--hard," Kento replied shortly. <The bastard! He'll pay!> Kento was very angry.
Sehkmet put his anger into attacking demon soldiers in the city. The way was soon cleared mostly by his efforts. Dais and Kayura exchanged a glance. Then, they reached the Gates.
Temptation Teaser:
"Come, Sehkmet, return to my service. I can give you so much."
"No!" Sehkmet clutched at his temples. "Damn you, no! All you ever did was use me--use us! I'll never believe your lies again!"
"Not even if I give you . . . Sei?" Talpa smiled evilly. Sehkmet stared at him, indecision written across his face.