By Akuma-chan
"How is she, Kento?" Ryo asked, concerned. Kento looked at him somberly as he came down the stairs. He shook his head.
"Not so good. She's still out cold, and I think she's got a fever," he said quietly. He slumped down on the couch, resting his forehead on his palm. Dais touched his shoulder compassionately. He glanced up, smiling wanly. "Miya's with her. She'll take care of everything . . . I hope."
"Of course she will," Rowen said soothingly.
"Kayura, why'd you try to stop us, anyway?" Sage asked curiously, turning to look at the forlorn woman. Kayura toyed with the rings on the Staff before looking up.
"I could feel what had happened. If you'd lived with Talpa's presence for as long as the four of us did, you'd have known, too." Her eyes fell again. The three ex-Warlords shifted uncomfortably.
"I see," Sage responded. The room fell silent. Then, Miya came to the railing.
"She does have a fever," she informed them. "She's resting about as comfortably as she can. I don't know how much good the armor is doing for her, though."
"She was probably hurt far worse than is evident," Dais said. "The armor can only do so much."
"I'll go sit with her for a while," Kayura volunteered suddenly. "She may be having nightmares."
"Why would Sei have nightmares?" Ryo asked, perplexed.
"Well, she was having one the other morning. She wants a normal life more than you can imagine, Ryo. This whole thing about having to fight--it's really tearing her up. And she was pretty close with Ulley," Kayura explained.
"Almost as close as Miya and Ulley," Cale contributed. Miya closed her eyes tightly against tears. White Blaze rubbed against her hip.
"I don't find it so hard to understand," Rowen said. "I was kind of hoping for some peace and quiet, myself."
"Talking about it isn't going to make it happen," Sehkmet said firmly. <And I have a feeling it's going to be a long, long time before we see peace again,> he thought.
Sehkmet rolled over in his sleep, grunting. Cale opened one sleepy eye and glared fuzzily, then went back to sleep. On the third cot, Dais snored away. An oddly-shaped shadow touched the slumbering men briefly in a flash of silent lightning.
Sehkmet groaned and shivered. "Cale, dammit, did you leave the window open again? 'Scold!" His response was a boyish chuckle. A shiver of dread ran down his back. He woke, not moving.
"I know you're awake, Sehkmet," Ulley's childish voice said. "You might as well get up." Sehkmet rolled over and sat up, finding himself in the middle of a river, fully dressed. "This place is where the boy would come to play often," Talpa explained, smiling. Sehkmet shifted, trying to control his dread.
"What do you want from me, Talpa?" he demanded.
"What did I ever want from you, Sehkmet?" the boy countered. "Your armor. Your service. The rewards this time will be far more tangible."
"I won't join you!" Sehkmet shouted, leaping to his feet. He balanced easily on the slippery rock. Talpa, on the far bank, merely lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"No!"
"Come, Sehkmet, return to my service," the boy-demon coaxed. "I can give you so much!" His voice was soft, and his eyes stared into Sehkmet's. Sehkmet tried to keep his mind his own desperately.
"No!" he moaned, clutching at his temples. "Damn you, no! All you ever did was use me--use us! I'll never believe your lies again! I'll never join you, not for anything!"
"Not even if I give you . . . Sei?" Talpa smiled evilly. Sehkmet stared at him, indecision written across his face.
Sei sat bolt upright, screaming at the top of her lungs. Kayura caught her shoulders gently, trying to push her back down on the bed, but Sei thrashed away, screaming again. In seconds, the room was full.
"Sei!" Kento shouted, eyes wild. He rushed to her side and grabbed her arms. Sei tried to pull away, sobbing incoherently. She was still in the grip of her nightmare. "Sei, wake up!" Kento shook her until she came to her senses. She collapsed against his chest, sobbing softly. Kento wrapped his arms around her tightly, trying to reign in his panic.
"What's going on?" Ryo asked, concerned. He looked at Kayura, who shrugged helplessly.
"I dozed off," she murmured. "I don't know what's going on anymore than you."
"Oh, Kento, I--I had a dream . . . " Sei cried. "Talpa was here! He was after Sehkmet, and he promised to give me to him if Sehkmet would join him!" Kento rocked her back and forth gently.
"Hey, it was just a dream, okay?" he said soothingly. Sei sobbed again.
"Was it?" Dais asked suddenly. They all turned to look at him. "Sehkmet's not here." They all looked around, as if expecting the ex-Warlord to appear out of thin air. He was nowhere to be found.
"The only reason Sehkmet wouldn't be here . . . " Cale said slowly.
" . . . is if Sei wasn't dreaming," Sage finished. "That's it, then. Talpa's got Sehkmet back under his control. He'll be after you two and Kayura next."
"He won't get us," Kayura vowed.
"Oh, God!" Sei sobbed, terrified. Kento held her even closer.
"I won't let anything happen to you, Sei, I promise. I am not going to let that snake get his hands on you!" Kento spat the words out angrily, as if they tasted bad. Sei clung to him.
"I don't think Talpa will make another move tonight," Kayura said. "But I'll be here, just in case, Sei. And Ryo . . . maybe you could have White Blaze go with them--" She jerked her chin at Cale and Dais. "--for the rest of the night? He should be able to keep Talpa away if he should make a move." Ryo nodded, and they all went back to their rooms to pretend to sleep.
Kayura proved right in her prediction. Talpa made no further move that night. It wasn't until morning his next move unfolded.
"Well, little Ronins, I see you lost some sleep," Ulley's boyish voice said not long after breakfast. Sei started violently from her seat. Kento stood quickly and put an arm around her shoulder, finishing his breakfast with the other. Sei clung, pale and trembling.
"Talpa! You bastard!" Ryo yelled.
"Really, Wildfire, is that appropriate language to use in the presence of a child?" Talpa said, appearing before them. Sehkmet was at his side.
"Traitor!" Cale spat.
"What do you expect from a snake?" Dais snorted contemptuously. Sehkmet cackled at them.
"I have my own best interests in mind," he told them, leering at Sei. Sei shivered, disgusted, and turned her face into Kento's shoulder.
"Obviously not!" Kento insisted, lips twisted in a snarl. "Or you wouldn't be here!"
"Oh, but here is where my interests lie!" Sehkmet replied. Several Dynasty soldiers appeared at Talpa/Ulley's gesture.
"Well, Sehkmet, I will leave you to your work. Please, enjoy yourself. I'll be waiting for the Armor of Torrent," the boy-demon said. His form rippled and then vanished. Sehkmet smirked.
"Attack," he ordered the soldiers. "Destroy them." The Dynasty soldiers obeyed mindlessly, charging forward to engage the Ronins and the remaining ex-Warlords in battle.
<There goes my dining room,> Miya thought, scrambling back out of the way. <Again.> She sighed unhappily. Then, her eyes widened, and she shrieked in fear as a soldier loomed over her.
White Blaze barrelled out of nowhere and saved her. Ryo glanced over his shoulder at the pair. "Good work, boy!" he congratulated.
"Ryo, look out!" Miya screamed. Ryo turned back barely in time to parry a blow. Miya winced and turned her face away, her fingers spasming in White Blaze's fur.
"Let's move it outside, boys!" Kayura snapped at the remaining Warlords.
"By all means, let us do!" Sehkmet agreed, cackling again. He seemed to find it very satisfying, for some reason. The fight moved out the front door without a pause. Miya and White Blaze followed cautiously.
"You son . . . of . . . a . . . bitch!" Sei screamed, facing off against Sehkmet. The Dynasty soldiers who had been fighting her turned their attention to the others. Sehkmet turned a malicious grin on the girl.
Tears streamed freely down Sei's face, and she held her spear with fingers so tightly clenched they trembled. "You bastard! You'll have to kill me to get my armor!"
"If that's the way it has to be--!" Sehkmet snarled, suddenly enraged. "Snake . . . Fang . . . Strike!"
"Super . . . Wave . . . Smasher!" Sei cried at the same moment. Their powers cancelled each other out. Sehkmet moved with blinding speed and slashed at Sei's face. Sei screamed in agony and fell to her knees.
"Sei!" Kento yelled, eyes widening. He muttered a curse and struck at the soldiers around him. Then, not caring whether he finished the job or not, he ran to confront Sehkmet. "You fucking asshole! You aren't getting your slimy paws on her or her armor!"
Sehkmet fell back under Kento's infuriated assault. His eyes widened as he realized there was no way he could win. Then, he saw the others converging on him, their own opponents finished with. "I'll be back!" he snarled. He vanished in a streaking ball of energy.
Kento dropped his staff and ran to Sei's side. He dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms. "Sei? Sei, wake up! Say something!"
"Kento . . . " Sei moaned. She turned her head and pried her eyes open. "I don't feel so good." Her eyes drifted shut again.
Kento glanced up at his friends, his eyes pleading. Ryo frowned. "Hey, Sage? Remember that time Sehkmet poisoned my eyes? Didn't you do something to cure me?"
Sage blinked. "I'd almost forgotten that," he admitted. "I can try." He knelt beside Sei.
He reversed the blade of his sword and touched the hilt lightly to Sei's forehead. He concentrated. A light sweat broke out on his forehead.
Kayura went into some sort of trance. She closed her eyes and raised the Staff of the Ancient. It began to glow, and then, the light lashed out to surround Sage, Sei, and Kento.
Sei sat up, rubbing at her head. "Miya, can I have some aspirin?" she asked. Kento put his arm around her shoulders.
"You okay now?" he asked anxiously. Sei nodded. Kento hesitated briefly, his eyes shifting to the guys. Then, he leaned forward and kissed Sei's forehead. The girl blushed furiously. "Don't you go pulling anymore dumb stunts like that. That's twice now you've gotten the crap beat out of you 'cause you weren't using your head." Kento put his finger in the middle of Sei's forehead. She looked up at it, cross-eyed.
"Yeah, I forgot that's your job," she teased.
"Hey!" Kento sputtered. The others burst out laughing.
"Master, I have failed," Sehkmet said miserably, kneeling on one knee before Talpa/Ulley's throne. The boy-demon smiled craftily.
"No, I think you have not. You filled your part in my plan exactly," he said.
"I don't understand," Sehkmet replied, blinking.
"You were merely a distraction," Talpa told him. "To keep the Ronins occupied for a time while I was busy elsewhere." He smiled again. "You are not strong enough to defeat them on your own, my Warlord of Venom. You must have Dais and Cale to help you, to add their strength to yours."
"Yes, Master," Sehkmet said, utterly confused. Talpa laughed.
"You do not understand, I see. I merely had to obtain bait to interest Dais in rejoining us." Talpa frowned briefly. "I must have the Armor of Cruelty, as well," he said suddenly. "But Kayura will not return."
"Why not kill her, Master, and bestow her armor on someone else?" Sehkmet suggested.
"I believe that is actually a good plan, Sehkmet!" Talpa exclaimed, surprised. "In due time, of course. First we must take back Dais and Cale. I give you again the task of distracting them while I prepare. Attack at random places and times--drive them wild trying to guess some pattern when there is none."
"Yes, Master!" Sehkmet stood and bowed. Then, he vanished. Talpa started to laugh.
"Yes, a most excellent plan, Sehkmet! And you shall be the one to carry it out! I realize now that I failed before because my plans were not complete enough. I will not make that mistake again." The laughter continued, filling the air and ringing throughout the Netherworld.
Betrayal! Teaser:
Dais bumped into someone. "Oh! Excuse me, Miss . . . Miss Kinutani! I didn't expect to see you . . . is something wrong?"
"No. No, nothing's wrong." Iyo smiled, here eyes strangely hooded. Dais began to feel a sense of dread. "In fact, everything's just fine . . . "