RW4

Chapter 4
Out of the Frying Pan
By Nat

It was exactly 2:03 in the morning and Emmy had been too scared to sleep. She had already finished the book that had been in her backpack and looked at her photo albums and scrapbooks but she was bored. Shadow had been gone for the last day, going back to her �brother.� She sat cross-legged on the bed staring at the wall. I�m thirsty and hungry. Wonder if Mia and the guys mind if I go on a middle of the night refrigerator raid, she thought to herself. She shook her head but temptation got the better of her and she silently crept out into the hall.

Carefully, she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The moon shone in the window illuminating everything in an eerie silver light. She shivered. Quietly opening the refrigerator she looked around. There was orange juice and milk and of course a tiny bit of Orange Kool Aid left from dinner. She grabbed the Kool Aid and was just reaching for a cup when the kitchen light switched on with a click.

Emmy screeched and dropped the container that held the Kool Aid, spilling it all over the floor. She looked up and saw Rowan standing there in only boxers and an undershirt. He looked at her questioningly, then at his watch, then back at her and then back at his watch.

�Do you have any idea what time it is?� he questioned her. Emmy was still trying to slow her heart down and catch her breath from the scare. She barely nodded.

�Around two in the morning. Why? I just wanted a drink. I�m sorry if I�� Rowan put his hand up to stop her.

�No it�s okay. I just heard someone down here and I thought Kento was raiding the refrigerator again. It�s a hobby of his.� Rowan looked down at the spilt Kool Aid. �Here let me help you clean this up.� They hurried and cleaned the Kitchen floor up then Emmy got the Orange Juice out and poured herself a cup.

She sat silently at the kitchen table as Rowan made himself a sandwich. He came over and sat down across from her and quickly devoured his food. Emmy grinned. �You know you are just as bad as Kento. You just don�t eat as much,� she commented. Rowan laughed.

�I guess so. Anyways, what are you doing up at this time in the morning? I thought you would be in bed sleeping,� Rowan said. Emmy sighed. She would�ve liked to be if she wasn�t so scared of having another nightmare about trying to kill one of the warlords. Anubis had been first, then two nights ago it had been Cale and then last night she had almost destroyed Dais. She looked up into Rowan�s eyes.

�Can you keep a secret?� Emmy asked him. He nodded. �From the other guys?�

Rowan sat back on this and seemed to consider her wish then slowly nodded. �I�ve been having these nightmares about trying to destroy the Warlords,� she said noticing Rowan�s raised eyebrow. �Anyways, I�m always in this castle but always one of them comes to fight me. I would blow them off if they didn�t seem so real. So tonight, I�ve been scared to go to sleep. Weak huh?�

Rowan shook his head. �Not in the least. I remember back when we were fighting Tulpa, after we had defeated him I used to get nightmares and for a time I was too scared to go to sleep,� he explained. Emmy looked straight into his eyes then swiftly turned away. Fighting the warlords wasn�t the half of it though, she thought to herself.

Thinking back to the rest of her latest dream she remembered stopping the Ninja�s and then trying to rescue her sister Nerissa. But I don�t have a sister, she argued to herself. And I certainly don�t order around Ninja�s and my name isn�t Niana like everyone in my dreams calls me.

Emmy stood up and stretched. �Well I think I�ll go back upstairs now,� she mumbled. Rowan got up and looked at her.

�You okay, Emmy? No of course not. I just want you to know that we�re all here for you. If you want to talk or anything we�re here,� Rowan said placing a hand on her shoulder. Emmy looked down, biting her tongue and praying she wouldn�t cry. She tried to nod but she broke down.

�It isn�t fair,� she cried softly. �All I�ve ever wanted was just to live peacefully and normally and it gets taken from me. I never even got to say goodbye to my parents or my friends and I�ll never see them again.� Rowan�s arms encircled her and she placed her head into his chest. He began to gently stroke her long hair.

�You know, maybe a little sleep wouldn�t hurt you. Maybe because you�re so stressed out you�re causing yourself to have nightmares. Do you think it could be that?� Rowan asked. Emmy sniffed and pulled away, shrugging.

�Who knows,� she muttered. She looked up and gave him a weak smile. �Sorry I usually don�t break down like this. But just�it�s�. Oh I hate this. Can�t even say how I feel. If I had a piano I would be able to put it out,� she grumbled.

�You play piano?� Rowan asked. Emmy nodded, looking down shyly. �What else do you do that you haven�t told us about?�

Emmy sighed. �Not much besides drawing and dancing and playing street basketball. I sing a little but that�s only if there is nobody else that can do it,� Emmy explained. Rowan lifted her chin up.

�You sound like one talented girl. There is no reason to be ashamed of anything you can do and are proud of,� he told her. Emmy smiled.

�Thank you Rowan. Thanks for being a good listener and an encourager,� Emmy said. She yawned. �You know what bed doesn�t sound so bad,� she lied. �Do you have double A batteries mine died earlier this evening and I can�t work my disc man.�

Rowan nodded and walked over to a kitchen drawer, taking out a pack of batteries. �Here take them. Mia has a bunch more. You�re going to bed then?� Emmy nodded, mentally rolling her eyes. I don�t like to lie, but I am not going to bed until I get looked over by a psychiatrist and they tell me why I�m having those dreams.

Emmy crept back upstairs with Rowan and went into her bedroom. She smiled and said goodnight, then shut her door. She listened as Rowan went down the hall and shut his own bedroom door. Then she turned around and took her disc man and replaced the batteries.

Screw sleeping, screw the night, she thought sourly. I never really liked the night. All of a sudden she wasn�t in the bedroom anymore. She was in a meadow. Two women stood in front of her. Both were tall but one had silver white hair and the other Night sky black hair. The one with silver hair had on dark purple armor and the one with black hair had on light purple armor. They stood by a very large cat. He looked like an overgrown Shadow.

�Lady Annet of Day and Lady Marie of Night I have brought you to meet the Ninja leader Niana. You will be reassured we are not attacking the Lady Warriors,� the large cat said. Emmy nodded and began to speak even though she did not control the words.

�I have sworn the Lady Warriors allies to the Ninja�s there would be no reason to attack. We have helped each other in the past. Why would I want to attack you now?� Emmy/Niana asked. Mentally she was screaming for the vision to pass.

The one with silver hair shook her head. She spoke in a soft, melodic voice. �That is what we came to ask you. We have confirmed that it was Ninja�s who attacked us. But we wanted to come and seek favor in your eyes,� Annet replied bowing.

Emmy/Niana quickly made her stand back up. �I do not know of any attacks against the Lady Warriors but I swear I will see to it that whoever it is will stop. The Ninja�s cannot afford to lose any allies. Not when the Dynasty is trying to��

The vision quickly faded and Emmy found herself back in the bedroom. She began to curse and mutter words even her friend Tish would have been appalled to hear. Slowly the anger faded and it was replaced with fear. What is happening to me? Why don�t the visions and the dreams stop? Emmy wondered. She walked over and sat down on the windowsill. She sobbed and sobbed until the sun came up.

Rowan walked into the kitchen just in time to be tackled by Kento who was trying to escape Cye�s wrath. Rowan looked up at his big friend and laughed as he saw the traces of batter around his mouth. Cye�s shouts from the kitchen proved that Kento had not asked to taste the batter. �You know you only do it to yourself,� Rowan said as Kento helped him to his feet.

Kento quickly left, muttering about life being unfair while Rowan walked into the kitchen narrowly dodging a cup aimed at his head. �Kento I swear to�oh Rowan. I�m sorry,� Cye apologized sheepishly. Rowan grinned and nodded.

�Don�t worry about it. I just wanted to talk to you about Emmy,� Rowan said in a hushed voice. Cye turned and looked at him.

�What do you mean? What�s wrong?� Cye asked, beginning to get worried. Rowan took a deep breath.

�She was down here last night and we had a little talk. I made a promise to her but I can tell you she isn�t sleeping. She told me she was going to get some sleep but I�ll bet she didn�t get a wink last night. I�ll also bet that she�s been up since about three in the morning yesterday. See what I�m saying?� Rowan asked. Cye nodded thoughtfully.

�If she won�t rest tonight I�ll intervene. Poor girl is so stressed it�s affecting her sleep cycle,� Cye said sympathetically as he flipped pancakes.

Just then the kitchen door slammed open and Emmy walked in. She would have passed for a ghost had it not been for the extremely dark circles under her eyes and the little color she had in her cheeks. She silently grabbed a banana and poured herself some milk. She was turning to leave when Cye called after her.

�Don�t you want any pancakes? They�re the best you�ll ever have,� he said. Emmy turned around and placed her milk on the counter, tore a piece of a pancake off, ate it then turned around and left.

Cye looked after then at Rowan. �What�s this promise you made to her?� He asked suspiciously.

Rowan shook his head. Immediately he had a spatula in his face. �Rowan you know I can find out. And I can involve the guys very quickly. If you tell me now I might forget to mention it at breakfast,� Cye threatened.

Rowan sighed in defeat and told his friend all of what Emmy had told to him.

The breakfast table was booming with laughter and food as everyone dug in. Everyone except Emmy who just kept looking blankly at her lap. She seemed to be fighting some inner battle.

�So anyways Ryo we going to go to the movies tonight?� Kento asked his friend who was moving really close to Mia. Ryo growled at his friend then noticed Emmy. He looked at Mia and saw an equally concerned look on her face.

Rowan nudged him. �Don�t ask her.� Ryo looked surprised but nodded in understanding. He repeated the message to Sage.

Emmy clenched her fist and stood up. �Alright who wants to be the one who tells me why I�m here and why you all really have this interest in a girl who you just met a week and a half ago? And I�ll start you all off, tell me who Niana, Nerissa and Ancient One are. Now somebody answer my questions or I�ll ask Shadow I know he�ll answer me when he gets back,� she said looking like she was about to collapse. Emmy bit her lip as her eyes went black and she began to sway.

She was standing with Nerissa and a man who looked somewhat like herself and Nerissa. He was tall and handsome and had dark brown hair and eyes. Shadow was before them talking rapidly.

�I don�t know how it�s happened but it has. Tulpa has captured twenty Ninja�s and if we don�t act quickly they will be here any day now. You will all have to don your armor and fight him. He must not take control of the Ninja�s. We must not let him take over our home land,� Shadow explained.

They all nodded in agreement. Shadow turned to the man. �Mic, you are the oldest so you must become the leader,� Shadow said. So this is what he looks like, Emmy/Niana thought.

Mic turned to Niana. �The Ninja�s don�t respect me as much as they respect and honor my dear little sister Niana. She is a better leader than me and must become the leader of the Ninja�s,� Mic said kneeling before Emmy/Niana. Nerissa came and kneeled too.

�Nobody is a good leader like the Lady of Chaos herself. Ironic, ne? Who would have thought that little Niana could�ve become this great?� Nerissa thought. Then she smiled. �I don�t want to serve under anyone else but my dear sister Niana, the true leader of the Ninja�s.�

Emmy�s vision blurred and she found herself laying on the dining room floor with everyone looking over her. Ryo was holding her. �You okay?� he asked. Emmy shook her head then quickly stopped and nodded. With the help of Ryo she sat up and looked around. Breakfast had been forgotten on the table and she could see Cye ready with a moist cloth. She bit her bottom lip.

�Forget what I said,� she muttered as she stood up. �I don�t want to know. I�ll be in my bedroom. I don�t want to be bugged.� And with that she walked upstairs and out of sight. They all heard the door shut.

Ryo looked at Rowan. �What�s going on? She acts like the world�s coming to an end.�

Rowan caught Cye�s eye but shrugged. �She�s stressed. Let her be alone for a while. I think it�s all finally catching up with her.�

Lady Marie leaned against a rotting tree trunk. She was silently hoping Annett would stay out for a bit longer so she could rest some more. She didn�t particularly like days and preferred to rest during them but with Ken-Kal and his army on Earth, comfort was not something that existed. But catching a few z�s wouldn�t hurt anyone.

Marie was just drifting off when something landed on her chest. She sat bolt upright and looked around. It was then she spotted the cat. She growled.

�You could be nice to a girl trying to sleep Shadow,� she muttered. Shadow sat down and looked her straight in the eye.

�A new crisis has risen. There is rumor that Ken-Kal killed Nerissa and put her essence into the imposter,� Shadow said worriedly.

Marie yawned again. �Shadow I hate it when you try to test my alertness. I know for a fact he couldn�t have because Mic and Niana would�ve felt it and Niana wouldn�t have ran off to the Dynasty and Mic would still be wearing his armor and second in command of the Ninja�s. Did I pass your test?� she asked closing her eyes.

Shadow hissed. �Pay attention then if you think you are so smart. There was a small revolt in the camp. About forty men decided they�d had enough. Three of them escaped although fatally wounded. One of these was Mic. We need to find him and heal him. Got it?� Shadow asked. Marie jumped up immediately awake.

�Which way did he go?� she asked looking around.

�I know where he is. A half-mile to the north of here. I gave him an herb to ease the pain but he needs your healing skills. Can you make it?� Shadow asked but a little too late for Marie had already dashed off to find Mic. A minute later she was by his side.

Marie smiled down at him. �Hey lover boy. You don�t look so hot,� she commented.

�I don�t feel it either,� he mumbled weakly. Marie smiled trying to be strong. Quickly she went into healing mode and healed Mic of all his fatal wounds. When she opened her eyes he was sitting up smiling gratefully.

�Shadow tells me he found little Niana. Is this true?� he asked Marie as she sat down.

�It�s a little more complicated than that. She�s with the Ronin Warriors and Warlords so we can�t exactly sneak in. Shadow says he�s not going to go back because it caused a lot of conflict with the Warlords. The Warlords don�t know much and what they do know is mostly rumor so the Ronin�s don�t know the true story. Niana does have her orb but Shadow says she doesn�t know how to activate it,� Marie explained. �Shadow also tells me that the Warlords have made it look like Nerissa is the bad guys against Niana. Her very own sister betrayed her. But they don�t know that the true Nerissa was captured so if Niana starts asking questions she won�t get the true story.�

Mic seemed thoughtful. �What do you mean if she asks questions?�

Marie looked at him. �She doesn�t remember anything. She remembers nothing. Niana believes her name is Emmy. Since she disappeared she�s been living here on Earth with that name and no memories of anything. Shadow did say she�d been having flashbacks. So we know she�s very near regaining her memory. Just give it time.�

Mic shook his head. �Time is something we don�t have. We haven�t had it. Not in a long time. I found out that Ken-Kal has brought my sister Nerissa to Earth but is hiding her. He gave no clue as to where so I have no place to start. I would like to see Niana however. I�ve missed her so much. Not being able to see my sisters has hurt me. We always were together but now look at us.� Mic stood up and stretched. He turned to look at Marie. �Lead me to where she is. I won�t go in or anything I just want to see if I can catch a glimpse of her.�

Marie nodded in understanding and led him off towards the Koji manor.

Emmy was sitting looking out the window in her room when there came a knock on her door. She groaned and rubbed her neck. �Who is it? I thought I said I didn�t want to be bothered,� she snarled as best she could.

�It�s Cye. Can I come in?� he asked sweetly. Emmy weighed her options. She could be nice and let him in but then he�d want to know what was wrong and she didn�t feel like talking. So she decided to be rude.

�No. Go away. I�m tired and I don�t want to talk,� she replied. Turning back to the view outside the window.

�I�m sorry for bothering you,� came the reply. She heard him walk down the hall and leaned her head back against the wall. Another groan found its way to her lips and escaped out.

She began to hit her head against the wall softly. Emmy then pressed the play on her Discman. She didn�t want to be bothered and listening to music might help her feel better. She made sure the speakers were hooked up before putting on the song Evolution by Ayumi Hamasaki. That kind of hard sound was just what she wanted right now.

Emmy let the music take control of her thoughts. She didn�t want to think at the moment, she didn�t want feel anything. Just wanted to get lost someplace that didn�t exist but was a whole hell of lot better than where she was. She sighed inwardly and continued to look out the window.

A movement in the bushes outside caught her eye. As she looked closer there was part of a body lying there. Quickly she jumped up and ran down the stairs, pushing aside Ryo and Sage as she went. She threw open the door and hurried to the spot where she had seen the body. She looked and found what she was looking for.

A man lay there with blood stained clothing that looked like, she hated to admit, Ninja clothing. He was gasping and he opened his eyes. He noticed Emmy and smiled weakly.

�Niana,� he gasped out. �Oh Niana. You�ve returned. We thought you had died. But you haven�t.� He began to cough up blood. Emmy quickly held his head up wondering if there was anything she could do.

�Is Niana my name? Do you know me? Did I used to lead you?� She questioned without thinking. The Ninja�s eyes fell.

�You are the only reason most of the Ninja�s survived. You were our great leader, Lady Niana, carrier of the armor of Chaos. You and your brother and sister were the things that kept the Ninja�s out of Tulpa�s hands. You are�� More blood was coughed up. The man blinked. �I�m going to die soon. If you don your armor again you will remember. You must remember! Ken-Kal cannot claim the Earth as his own as long as you are alive, Niana. Please save the rest of them and set the Lady Warriors free,� the man breathed. His eyes closed and he fell limp in her arms. Emmy looked around and noticed the Ronin�s standing there.

�I didn�t do it. I swear he was just lying there and�� Emmy stopped and looked at him. Was she really this Niana? Could she be? And how could she remember her past by doming some armor?

Emmy stood up looking down at the Ninja. She felt a tear run down her cheek. Quickly she turned and headed back towards the house leaving a group of very perplexed Ronin�s behind.

Somehow she made it upstairs and into her bedroom even though she was still in shock about what had just happened. Emmy seated herself back on the windowsill and saw Kayura and the warlords pull up. She groaned and rolled her eyes. Not exactly the people I wanted to see at the moment.

Quietly she hoped off the seat and pushed the desk chair up under her room�s doorknob. Maybe they won�t come and see me, but this will just make sure. Emmy sat back down on her perch and watched below. Why does my life keep getting weirder and weirder? Why can�t for once nothing extremely crazy and chaotic happen? She asked her self. Another voice inside answered for her. You�re the queen of chaos that�s why. Emmy smiled. Yes, she certainly was.