The 10th Warrior: Chapter Eleven, By Dera Gallilean

The 10th Warrior
Chapter 11: Hoopu's Gift

Talpa screamed out in pure agony, still unable to move thanks to Ryo in the Inferno and Makoto in the Whirlwind. Sage couldn't watch as Talpa's body evaporated from the combined powers of he and his allies. Instead, he felt her soul cry out in pain as he thought about the loss of one of his best friends and the brown-haired girl he'd grown fond of during the accursed war against Talpa. The light faded off and Sage was left with his friends and allies to stare at the large fragments of the dark armor Talpa had been wearing.
"So, that's it now," said Kento unhappily.
"Talpa's been defeated once and for all," agreed Kayura from where she stood with the Warlords.
"But at such a price," said Mia, a tear tracing its way down the side of her face.
"They were both excellent warriors," said Kale sympathetically.
"We're not gone yet, Kale."
"But thanks for the compliment."
Everyone looked to Talpa's armored shell to Ryo shouldering Makoto, who was holding a crystal in her hand. Sage felt a smile spread over his face as he and the others all moved to their friends' side as one.
"You guys are okay!" exclaimed Yuli excitedly, wrapping his arms around Ryo's legs.
Ryo released Makoto as he laughed and grinned down at the younger boy. "Yeah, we did. Just when the attacks hit Talpa, a really bright green light surrounded Makoto and I and shielded us."
"Makoto?" asked Mia curiously.
Makoto's smile grew brighter and she held up an emerald crystal.
"What is it?" asked Cye, looking over Kento's shoulder to see.
Makoto looked upwards a moment and then began to recall...
"Are they going to do it?" asked Makoto as she stood straining besides Ryo.
She sensed that Ryo was nodding and felt relief. Death wasn't a new thing to her. She'd died a few times already. The only thing different about this deathwas that she was dying to protect the entire world, not just her friends or allies.
... Makoto. ...
~Hoopu? Long time, no hear. Come to say good-bye?~
... Not quite. I have a farewell gift for you before I join Anubis and the Ancient in the Afterlife. ...
~It's a bit late to give me a present. I'll be dead soon,~ thought Makoto with a chuckle, while continuing to use her armor to paralyze Talpa.
... I shall always remember your cheerful attitude, Makoto - but for now, I have something I must do. I am going to unlock your Sailor Crystal. ...
~My Sailor What?~
... All Senshi have their own Sailor Crystal� that carries the power of their stars, Makoto. You hold the Jupiter Crystal or the Emerald Crystal in its older terms. With it, you can transform into Eternal Sailor Jupiter and protect yourself and Ryo of the Inferno. Then you must use it to destroy the dark armor of hellfire so Talpa can never return, split it into four and give them to the people you trust most. ...
~I understand...but why didn't you unlock the crystal before?~
... You weren't ready to have it yet. You still hadn't come to your full potential. ...
~And I am at it now?~
Hoopu laughed lightly.
... Ah, my Makoto. You came to your full potential when you gained the one element you needed. Just as your friend Usagi's crystal was formed by the purest emotion of love - you came upon it yourself. ...
~Sage.~
Hoopu once again laughed and this time, Makoto felt a warm stirring within her.
... The crystal is now yours to call upon, Makoto. Once I am gone, time will speed up again and you will have to be fast and protect Ryo from the blast till you can be reunited with Sage of the Halo. ...
Makoto realized that Hoopu was indeed holding back time and she smiled.
~Thank you, Hoopu. For everything.~
The spirit hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek before moving away again.
... As long as you hold onto your virtue of Hope, I will be near, Makoto. Stay strong. ...
"Before I had a chance to say anything, I heard Ryo said that I'd be able to actually meet the Ancient and the crystal appeared in my hands. I don't quite remember how I did it, but the crystal created a shield around us that kept us from being vaporized," finished Makoto, without mentioning the part about Sage.
"Cool! Can I see it?" asked Yuli eagerly.
"Not right now," said Makoto quickly, eliciting laughter from her friends.
When then laughter died down, Kayura cleared her throat and looked at the armored remains around them.
"Whirlwind, you said that this spirit Hoopu said you were to split the armors?"
Makoto blushed as everyone looked at her and she nodded in embarrassment. Sage smirked and guided her to the front of the group.
"Do your stuff," he whispered into her ear before moving back.
After a moment of self-consciousness, Makoto raised her crystal into the air and closed her eyes. Everyone stepped back as lightning shot down from the skies and entered the crystal, causing a wave of green energy to circle out of the bottom to travel down Makoto's body, replacing armor with a silk green dress that hung off her shoulders.
Then, there was a resounding crack as two feather white winds spread from her back and into the air and her hair broke out of its ponytail and spread out behind her. Sage's breath caught in hios throat as his eyes took in her seeminig ethereal beauty and he watched in awe as a bright green light from the crystal shot outwards to the shards of metal laying before Makoto.
All the pieces arose from the ground and slowly began to circle around herr as they began to glow. Then they seemed to clump and mold into four separate groups and shrivel up into four round orbs.
Everyone watched as the orbs seemed to dance up to Makoto and glow with individual kanjis and colors. One was an ice blue with Chishiki (Knowledge) glowing upon it. A second was a dark maroon color with Gaman (Patience) on it while a third was silver with Ginyuu (Courage) emblazoned upon it. The fourth was and eerie black with Rei (Courtesy) glowing on it.
She slowly lowered the crystal to her chest level and the crystal rose from her hands and moved into her body. Sage heard one of the Warlords make a quesy sound as the four orbs did the same, but he didn't turn to smirk at them as Makoto's eyes opened a moment in disorientation.
"Makoto?" asked Sage, moving to her side.
"Sage, I don't feel so good," she whispered and then passsed out; Sage catching her in his arms as she changed back into her shorts and white T-shirt.
Kayura was instantly at Sage's side and she waved the Ancient's rod over Makoto limp form.
"She'll be all right," said Kayura with a smile. "She's just tired. I'll send you back to Lady Mia's home so she can rest."
"What about you guys?" piped up Yuli from the back, pointing to Kayura and the other Warlords.
"We'll remain and repair the damage to the Nether World that Talpa has inflicted upon it," said Dais solemnly.
"It wasss once a beautiful plasssse," said Sekhmet, his voice tinted with regret. "We will repair it."
Ryo nodded and extended his hand to Kayura. "Then this is good-bye for now."
"Indeed," said Kayura, taking Ryo's hand awkwardly.
The two groups exchanged pleasant good-byes and well wishes and Kayura raised the Ancient's staff.
"Farewell, Ronins. Give Whirlwind my regards."
"Don't worry, Lady Kayura, we will," said Rowen with a broad grin.
The rings on the staff began to clang and in the next moment the Ronins, Mia, Yuli, and White Blaze were gone.

The next evening, a now alert Makoto laid up against Sage by the fireside in Mia's living room, laughing at Kento and Ryo as they wrestled on the floor. Everything was perfect and happy now and Makoto could enjoy her life with her new friends. She had her scout powers and an armor and Sage was definitely fond of her.
Kento pinned Ryo to the floor and and let out a whoop of victory. Ryo grumbled something indiscernibly and Kento got off of him so he could get up.
"Anyone else care to try?" asked Kento with a broad grin. "I'll make my family's special rice and chicken teriyaki meal to anyone who can beat me."
He looked over at Cye, who shook his head amidst his silent laughter in refusal, and then at Rowen, who quickly shook his head with a smirk.
"How about you, Sage?" Kento asked next.
Sage chuckled, "I don't think so, Kento. I prefer sword fighting to wrestling."
Kento looked disappointed until Makoto cleared her throat and grinned. "I'll wrestle you."
"No way!" exclaimed Kento, beginning to laugh.
Makoto grinned good-naturedly. "I did toss you into the lake a few weeks ago, didn't I?"
"You're not scared, are ya, Kento?" asked Yuli from where he sat by White Blaze.
Everyone laughed and Kento grinned. "No way. Come on, Princess, I'll take you on here and now -- and just to up the prize. If you can beat me, I'll give you the recipe."
"Deal," said Makoto with a gleam in her eye as she got to her feet.
Just as they were about to begin, Mia heard teh doorbell ring and regretfully left the room to answer it.
"Hello, Miss," said a tall, blonde-haired boy. "Are you Miss Coji?"
"I'm her, yes. How can I help you?" asked Mia in surprise, looking at the boy and a young woman with dark green hair.
"My name is Ten'oh, Haruka and this is Setsuna. We came to see if Makoto Kino was all right?"
Mia's face brightened. "You two are some of Makoto's friends?"
Haruka smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, 'mam. After we lost touch with Makoto, we grew concerned."
"Please come in. She's in the other room with the guys," said Mia, leading them in. "And please feel free to call me Mia."
Setsuna smiled at her warmly. "Thank you, Mia."
Mia merely smiled and led tehm back to see Makoto holding Kento in a headlock and neatly down with the guys cheering her on. Haruka watched with a large grin and Setsuna hid a smile as Makoto gave a large grunt and shoved Kento into the floor.
"I win!" she exclaimed in victory.
"So you did, Pretty Girl," called Haruka with a mischievous laugh.
Makoto's eyes widened and she turned around to see Haruka and Setsuna standing in the doorway with Mia.
"Haruka! Setsuna!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining as she jumped to her feet and quickly walked over to them."What are you doing back in Japan?'
"We came to see if you were all right. We didn't hear anything from you for so long," said Haruka in concern.
Behind Makoto, the boys began to exchange curious glances and Haruka gently shifted her eyes to the door. "Could we go somewhere more private?"
Makoto blinked in surprise. "...All right. We'll go up to my room. Excuse us, guys."
There was silence as the three left the room and then there was laughter as the boys began to tease Kento.
"So, why were you wrestling with the big guy?" asked Haruka in amusement once Makoto had shut the door to her room.
"No one else wanted to and he was offering some food," said Makoto with a laugh and then grew serious. "So, what's going on?"
"Well first, did you and your new friends manage to defeat Talpa?" asked Haruka.
Makoto nodded quickly and quickly began to tell her and Setsuna what had happened since they'd last talked.
"...And then I woke up this morning."
"You did just as I assumed you would, Makoto," said Setsuna with a proud smile. "I am pleased that you did so well."
"And you realize you're the strongest scout now?" asked Haruka with a teasing grin.
Makoto laughed. "Perhaps now, but I'm sure you won't let that be that way for long."
Haruka chuckled, "You're learning."
The three young women laughed together a few moments and then Haruka regretfully got to her feet.
"We need to get going now. Our plane will be returning to America in a few hours and we have to check in an hour before departure."
Makoto's face fell. "You have to leave so soon? You guys just got here."
Setsuna gave her a quick, apologetic hug. "We know, but we need to get back."
"Do you have any messages to give to the other girls?" asked Haruka.
Makoto thought a moment and then nodded. "Just for Ami and Hotaru. Hold on a moment."
Haruka watched curiously as Makoto ran into the bathroom and shut the door. There were some odd lights from beneath it and soon the door opened and Makoto brought out two small boxes with a name on each.
"Could you give these to them and tell them to keep them safe for me?" she asked solemnly.
Setsuna nodded knowingly while Haruka stared at the boxes in confusion.
"I guess. What are they?" she asked.
Makoto grinned. "Something I think they will be able to watch for me while I'm here."
Haruka shrugged and handed the boxes to Setsuna, who placed them in her purse, and the three made their way down the stairs and out of the house to a rented sports car.
"Tell the others I said hi," said Makoto as she watched Haruka and Setsuna get into the car.
Haruka waved from the driver's seat. "I will. Take care, Makoto. Keep up the good job."
Haruka pulled away from the drive and Makoto watched as the car's red lights disappeared into the wooded road beyond the house. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she looked up to see Sage's sniling face.
"What was the verdict?"
"I passed the test, I guess. I've sent two of the armor orbs to my friends in America," she informed him with a smile.
"Oh?" murmured Sage, tickling her neck with his breath. "Which ones?"
"Saturn and Mercury," answered Makoto, stifling a giggle. "That tickles."
"What does?" he asked, blowing air onto her neck on purpose. "This?"
"Yes," laughed Makoto, breaking away from him and playfully hitting his arm.
He smiled and made a grab for her, but she ducked and started running for the lake.
"Hey, come back here," he demanded with a grin, taking chase.
"Oh, help, a big warrior guy is after me," joked Makoto over her shoulder. "What ever shall I do?"
She cried in surprise as she tripped over something and barely stopped herself from planting her face in the dirt. Just as she was getting up, Sage tackled her and pinned her to the ground. She began to laugh as he tickled her and she squirmed in vain to escape.
"I thought you didn't like to wrestle," she gasped between giggles.
"I'll make an exception this time," he told her as he continued to tickle her. "But if you make some of that rice and chicken, once Kento gives you the recipe, I'll stop tickling you."
Makoto continued to laugh a few moments before she gasped, "Yes."
Sage ceased his tickling, but remained over her. He found himself staring at her eyes and she blushed slightly.
"Sage?"
"I love you, Makoto," he whispered suddenly.
Makoto's eyes widened as he suddenly leaned down and kissed her soundly before lifting away again. She stared up at him breathlessly a moment and then smiled.
"I love you too, Sage," she whispered, pulling him down into a second kiss.
When she released, he rolled off of her and helped her sit up before wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Will you stay here with me forever?" he asked.
Makoto's eyes shone with the light of the full moon above and she leaned into Sage's shoulder with a soft smile.
"I will. I promise," she whispered.

�� THE END...For Now

Author's Note: This is it for "The 10th Warrior." I have set things up for a possible sequel - but I don't know when I'll write it. I have some other stories I'd like to get out first. Thank you everyoine for your support as I wrote this and your infinite patience with me. When I started this story about 1 1/2 years ago, I never imagined so many people would like it, or that it would be so long. Thanks again. Please write to me and tell me if you would be interested in a sequel to this story.