The Symmetry of Good and Evil

by Verve's Twilight

Part 3

Ryo sat looking up at the glowing stars that faded slowly above his bed. The hours became later and later. Seconds joined to bring minutes that congregated to form an hour, and then another hour reared back his head and swallowed the present. Ryo silently fought the battle in his head. We have defeated Talpa, a single fact he had told himself a thousand times over, but yet it refused to settle in the back of his mind. Wildfire, what are we to do next? Was our battle your only reason for claiming my body and life? Was that the final fight of legendary good and perpetual evil? For every answer he never received, even more questions crowded his head. They forced his eyelids open and tamed the dragon of sleep that roared in the back of his mind. Ryo rolled himself tightly in his bed and shivered as his mind battled his destiny. He wished that he could cry out, he wanted to scream. The urge to jump from his bed and tear savagely at his room until his energy was gone tugged at his fingers. He restrained his thoughts of violence, contained the rage within his soul. Sweat began to bead onto his forehead and he closed his eyes in search of preserving relief.

I am here Ronin’s.

The message shot through his mind as he sat up straight in his bed. His heart flooded his body with blood, and his eyes where wide open shaking with a new strangeness. His lips softly curved themselves around the newly forgotten word.

“Anubis.”

Ryo shot from his room and into the hallway where the other Ronin’s and Warlords stood in a whispering conference. They had all heard the same, simple phrase in their dreams. They had all heard the voice of their dead friend. When they saw their leader across the mansion they took off, in a knowing pursuit. Faces froze as terror, chilled by the midnight’s biting wind, streaked into their hearts. At the forest’s boundaries, and into its heart, a yellow light was pulsating, and advancing on the mansion. The cynical laugh that rose into the air meant everything and nothing to each armor bearer. The tension in the air meant the return of evil, and the end of their respite.

The whites of eight eyes burnt panic-laced holes into the strange scene before them. Each iris was open and black with the strain of showing the mind the darkness that encased them. One ventured spoken wonder.

“What’s going on?” Kento’s lips where tight against each other and small beads of water formed around his white, clenched knuckles.

“I don’t know,” Ryo didn’t turn his head to speak, “I don’t like the looks of this.”

“I don’t like how this feels.” Sage added, almost whispering.

The harshly simple dialogue rested uneasily over the others. The maniacal laughter reduced to a murmur that vibrated their inner ears. Sub armor suddenly appeared and eight bodies stood in anticipation for battle. They waited.

The yellow light spilled onto the clearing before them. Angry fingers of light twisted into the grasses, grabbing greedily at the winking stars. Then, the laughter’s volume increased and the field became saturated with the furious light as a dark figure immerged from the foliage. As it advanced, with casual even steps, Ryo realized the wondrous truth.

“Anubis?” His voice scratched a quite notch in time. Darkly lined eyes were closed, and blazing hair fell around a turned down face. A terrible smugness pulled at the corners of is mouth. He wore an armor of gold and black, eerily lit by the pulsating light. It is him! Ryo’s thoughts confirmed his words.

But, Ryo was not the only one to see the true identity of the peculiarly armed warlord. Yuli had also known that something was coming, and watched from the shadows as his former friend appeared before the others. When he was sure, and the excitement of reunion became too much to bear, he burst out of his safety’s hold. His little legs pumped excitedly, carrying him towards Anubis, his little lungs panting while calling his name. The frozen stare of Anubis fell upon the boy and his hand quickly raised, aiming for Yuli. As Anubis’s arm began to glow Sekmet grabbed Yuli by the neck and threw him to the ground. Sekmet’s arm cover the boy as his body fell to the ground. A golden sting of energy burnt through the air over them. The crackling of sudden heat hung over them long after the lighting crashed into the wall behind them.

“Ronin’s, TO ARMS” Colors flashed as energies churned to meet their chosen owners. Light fell to the darkness as the bearers immerged for battle. Anubis’s laugh escalated.

“Man, that’s getting’ real annoying real fast.” Cale gritted his teeth, his patience ground to the grain by the pressure of combat. He growled, “I’m goin’ to but an end to that.”

“You think you armors can stop me? They are nothing compared to my Armor of Reality!”

Armor of Reality? Ryo thought. Another armor, how could Mia miss something like that? Before answers could be given, actions fell to the hands of conflict. Cale was running at Anubis with his no-dachi poised above his head. He crossed the field in a flash of light, but when he was simple inches away from delivering a momentous blow, Anubis shot straight into the air. As blade met air two arms froze. Cale’s eyes shot wide in fear as he felt the ground begin to surround hi feet and the very air around him compress, to hold his body in place. Anubis cast his yellow light to the others as he fell through the sky. They became immobile and helpless. Kayura was the only one who could resist enough to keep her head free.

“What have you done to us?” Her eye’s pleaded with him as he landed, lightly, infront of her.

“This? A simple restriction move. On of the many ways that I can control your reality. It’s a great improvement of those silly chains. But, I have become much stronger since you left me in the nether realm.

“Left you?” Kayura almost screamed. “We thought you were dead!” Anubis’s eye’s flashed a brilliant red as he charged her, nostrils flaring. An accusing finger led his diatribe.

“Did you ever think to check for a pulse?” Kayura’s shock caused her to lose her control over his restriction, and she surrendered to its force. Anubis saw her freeze and his angry face washed away to revile a twisted joy. He continued. “You left me there, near death. When I awoke the realm was gray and barren. You were its apocalypse.” He swept his hands to include all eight attentive statues. “I survived, though. I endured because of a single force that held my soul from the greedy hopes of death. This Armor of Reality held my heart from the brink of destruction. Then there were the others, those in the Renaissance. They restored my body and taught me the ways of my armor. They are my true masters, where my heart and loyalty now lie. But, they wish you dead for what you have done to there home. I wish you all dead for what you did to me. You that would leave me to suffer, and leave me to die, must now die yourselves.” Anubis’s smile grew across his face; the muscle’s in his cheeks stretching with the rare use. “Now all I have to do is simply touch your armors that incase you and your powers will be mine.” He approached Ryo’s frozen form and slowly reached his fingers to the clear shell of air that surrounded him. The tips of his hands sizzled with energy and anticipation, as they were centimeters from Ryo’s forehead.

An animal roar broke the stillness of the moment, and caused Anubis to drop his hand. His attention turned to the roof where the sound had originated. There, instead of the animal that he had expected to find, stood the figure of a human, silhouetted by the midnight moon. He could tell that it was a woman and as she leapt from the rooftop to the ground the light caught the contrast of her black and white clothing. She wore a straight cut pants that flowed in agreement with her downward descent One leg was white, the other dark. Her shirt was a fighting twist of black and white, each mirroring the other. The cloth appeared at her left hip, wrapping across her body up to her right shoulder were it connected to a black cloak. The cloak wavered and fluttered in the air, but somehow dissolved into the darkness, disappearing completely as she landed. The absence of the hood revealed her face. A strip of bi-colored cloth concealed her eyes. Her Hair was the nighttime moon held back in an intricate bun by the long ends of her mask that played easily in the wind. Two pieces of hair flew free slightly in front of her ears, above her temples.

She approached Anubis with an easy, but tense, stride. She was only a foot away before she stopped. They stood there, staring at each other, and being stared at by eight silent eyes. Anubis made the first move.

His arm shot into a punch that she blocked easily. She took the fist in her hand and pivoted on her heel, twisting her body to kick his open side. Her took the full blow of her foot, wincing at the meeting strength. He flicked his wrist, powerfully, in an attempt to through her off balance. She took the push and used it as the leverage for a backward flip, extending her leg to kick him with her upward streak. He was prepared and rolled away, easily avoiding the attack. They were farther away and Anubis shifted an arm forward, grasping his wrist with the other hand, and sot a bolt of yellow energy. She turned away from the speeding heat with one full turn. She stopped with her palm thrust out at Anubis, poised to destroy. They were caught in a stalemate of power, the sizzling sound of energy in their hands forming to meet the chilled air.

Anubis grinned and she returned his unexpected sign.

“Seems we have a tie.” He said it slowly, standing cautiously.

“Really?” Her guard never lifted, “I think I can fix that.” Anubis’s smile faded as the roar he heard before repeated behind him. Then he gained sudden confidence. “Do you think I would be that stupid? There’s nothing behind…” His words where cut off as he was knocked over by a black blur. Another roar vibrated through the air as the large bear turned around and swiped at Anubis, batting him back to the earth as he tried to stand.

“Hurt’s to be wrong sometimes.” Her face was grim as she said those words and walked towards Anubis. He opened his eyes and growled angrily at her, the muscles around his mouth twitched.

“I will not be defeated.” He tried to grab for her foot, to throw her off balance. Before he could reach his goal her hands shot to his face and a white glow attacked his head. His world went dark.

Sekmet watched as his former leader got the crap kicked out of him. Part of his heart remembered the man who had strived so hard to make him look so bad, that part cheered the strange heroine. He was torn on whom to cheer for, until he saw the white energy that shot from her fingers, straight into Anubis’s head. His friend’s body twisted and turned beneath the currents of foreign power. He saw the man writhe in pain and agony.

He didn’t notice the “attacker.” The way her face twisted with a terrifying mixture of pain and sadness. He didn’t notice the way the colors of her robe began to dance, violently. The blacks attacked the white and tried to eliminate them from her person. But the whites began to grow and steadily pushed the darkness back into its former position. No further, no closer. As suddenly as her siege began it halted. The aura disappeared and she stared at the still body of Anubis. Sekmet saw her shake her head once and kneel down next to the broken warrior. She placed a finger to his faint Kanji, he could barely make out her sounds, but they were not words he knew. His face flamed and anger he didn’t know possessed him fought the barrier that held him, he was able to yell.

“Leave him alone already. Haven’t you done enough?” His scarlet voice ripped through the silence. The bear and his keeper turned two pairs of steel set eyes to his nearly frozen form. He glared angrily at her, but she smiled. Stunned, he his eyes went wide at the bizarre response. She stood and addresses him with a calm voice. Her words floated through the air and were more like poetry, with rhythm and emphasis.

“He was attacking you, and yet you would defend him?” His mouth was frozen again and he could not respond. “Know this, I did not kill him, I saved him. He will not know what has happened, only what happened before his death.” Her voice rested on that word with a betraying finality. Her eyes traveled to each fearless hero, locking with their eyes in a compassionate stare. She spoke, “So you are the ones who desolated that realm. I see that you are all great spirits with immense amounts of goodness in your hearts. You are not, however, legends. For legends are the heroes of the past, and you, Ronin Warriors are the champions of the future.” Her grave expression rested on Ryo, and then she closed her eyes. Knees bent her fingers entwined with the earth and the grass began to faintly glow. Each person felt the shields around them fade, and finally disappear. They did not approach the strange woman; distance seemed to be the proper luxury. When she finished releasing them she stood and slowly gave a smile that spoke more of tire than of joy. With a rustle of fabric she leaped high into the air and faded into a static cloud of sparkling bits of energy and feathers.

Their eyes followed the strange sight and lingered on the winking stars. A forceful grunt brought their attention back to the ground. The ivory bear was sniffing the limp warlord’s body, but then turned to the others feeling their eyes on him. His lightly roared and touched his nose to the earth. It was, perhaps, the equivalent to a human bow. White fur turned slowly against the nighttime’s sister color. Soft pads against soft grass echoed slowly against the air as the animal faded into another place.

Jaws where returned to their original settings as everyone remembered the gravity of the situation of the warlord before them. What had she done? Was he dead? Was he okay? Were they okay near him? Kayura ran to his side, and saw his unconscious state.

“Sage, can you help him?” She turned to the others; each had a different state of doubt playing with their faces. A flash of moonlight crossed Halo’s eyes.

“He tried to kill us Kayura.” His face was solid, except for a crease of thought across his forehead. “He may be immobile now…” His words loomed like fog in the air.

“Damn it!” Her eyes flew to each of the warriors before her. “He saved me… us, from Talpa. We are obligated to help him. Can’t you see that?”

“That was a long time ago Kayura.” Rowen took a step towards her and put a hand on her elbow to lift her away from Anubis. She was about to shirk away her burden, when a low moan rose from Anubis’s still form. She jumped away from him and pushed Rowen back with her arm.

The darkness began to fade from Anubis’s mind. The sparkling essence, that strange feeling that coursed through he body moments before, began to dissolute in his blood. He keep his eyes closed but put a hand to his head while propping himself on his elbow. His eye’s slowly opened, revealing the scene before him. Everything was coming back to him now…

Death and dying were all consuming things. The cold grip closed around the heart and froze the once living cell. Then it took a tighter hold, not content to simply freeze the heat, but stop the soul as well. Around her the stale winds danced and slowly wore at the hills, and the gray sky shimmered as it melded with the stagnant horizon. This was the aftermath that washed across her view and hung sadly in the Nether Realm.

She stood with a glimmering bowl of water, the little scared liquid that was still left. Staring deep into its endlessness, she became lost in meditative thought. A scene played out before her. A woman without armor was defeating an armored man, whom they had sent, she was mot pleased.

“Ledan.” A dark man appeared behind her. He spoke her name several times before she was aware enough to respond. "Ledan, what do you see?”

“The armored one has forsaken us,” words flew as she tore her gaze from the night fight in the water and stared at the horizon. A single finger in the water caused a ripple that shattered the image.

“How? Was he defeated?” Anger gripped his brow, but his poise was stiff and chilled.

“It’s unsure.” She read the question in his eyes and elaborated. “Centimeters from victory, he stopped. There was a woman, on whom we do not know. She attacked him, and somehow changed his aura. His loyalty is with the Renaissance. She turned from him with sadness. He nodded stiffly and grunted lowly.

“He was a valuable asset.”

“Yes, Sirus. A great friend.”

“Perhaps,” he was answering her comment, though it had not been a question. “We shall all meet now.”

“As you wish, Sirus.” She bowed low to him, her straight purple hair falling around her deeply tinted skin. His body became a solid black silhouette, and then drained from the screen. She did the same, turning entirely silver to transport to their meeting place.

Whew! That one’s been a long time in the making. Sorry if there are any major errors, I just can’t look at the thing anymore. Well, what do ya think? I’m rather proud of it so far. Next chapter? Meet the bad guys!