Cye’s Fight

Ryo, Anubis, and White Blaze were all soaking wet when they came through the front door. All three were very discouraged.

"My gosh!" Sage said as he came into the living room. "You guys better go change before you both catch colds!"

Anubis nodded. And headed for his room to change. He was very quiet and troubled.

White Blaze took the liberty of shaking himself dry, getting Ryo and Sage wet. For once neither cared. Ryo looked at Sage. "We searched everywhere, Sage. It’s like he just vanished into thin air! I can’t even reach him through the link!"

Sage closed his eyes, wishing that when he opened them, Cye would be right here in the room with them. He slowly opened his eyes. "We know who’s got him, Ryo," he said barely in a whisper.

"Talpa," Ryo said quietly. And his fists clenched down at his sides.

Cye let out a scream as the whip slashed at his bare skin, right across the back. He was chained in the throne room, his face facing the wall, and the chains cutting into his wrists, causing them to swell and bleed. Only moments before he had been stripped of most of his clothes, except for a pair of boxers they had left on him, buy even that was quickly becoming shredded with each snap of the whip.

SNAP! He hollered again, trying to free himself from those chains. It only made things worse for him.

"Yes, holler out your pain!" Sekhmet laughed as he snapped the whip at his back again. "Show us how much you hurt!"

Cye’s body quivered and he bit his lip in pain. Tears welled up in his eyes. How much longer are they going to continue to beat me? he wondered as he felt another stinging blow.

Cye sniffled a little. Somehow he felt strangely comforted. His body relaxed and he let out a deep sigh.

Sekhmet stared for a bit. He looked back at Talpa, wondering what to do next. Talpa glared at the young boy, and came over to where he was chained. He came to his side, and jerked his head to look at directly at him.

"You may think that is over, boy! But I hold you in my grasp! I control all that you do and all that you see."

Cye glared back, trying not to show his fear. He spit at him. "You’ll never control my soul, Talpa!" he growled through clenched teeth.

Talpa’s eyes narrowed angrily. With one blow to the head, Cye was unconscious.

Kento let out a sigh as he stared out the bedroom window. Lightning flashed across the

sky and thunder rumbled. He hated to think of Cye being out there in this horrible storm. Was he lost? Was he safe? Was he with Talpa, or was he? Kento threw that thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of his best friend being a prisoner of Talpa again, or even dead. He would go insane if he thought and believed that. So what could he do? He knew Cye was out there somewhere. If only they knew where! He saw a jeep pull up toward the mansion, the wipers flying across it. Mia and Rowen

were back finally. He wondered if they had any luck at the Police. He watched as they climbed out of the jeep and made a mash dash to get out of the pouring rain and into the house. Kento left the window and headed for downstairs.

 "So they can’t do anything right now?" Sage was asking Mia and Rowen when Kento

walked into the room. Both were soaked, but neither seemed to care. Rowen shook his head as he grabbed a kitchen towel and tossed it at Mia, then grabbed another one. "They said he has to be missing for twenty-four hours," he explained as he rubbed his short hair dry.

Sage nodded solemnly as Mia rubbed her hair furiously with the towel. "If I were you

two I’d go and change." Both nodded and headed past a silent Kento. Kento watched them go up the stairs then looked toward Sage who sat down on the couch with a dejected sigh. Kento suddenly felt out of place.

"Did, um, Ryo and Anubis come back yet?" he asked, quietly.

Sage looked up and nodded. "They’ve been back for awhile now, Kento. I think Ryo’s

taking a shower though, and Anubis is probably meditating. They were both pretty soaked when they came in."

Kento nodded sadly and sat down with a sigh. His stomach growled, but he ignored it.

He didn’t feel up to eating at the moment right now. All he wanted was for Cye to come home and be safe.

Ryo stepped out of the shower, feeling slightly better. As he dried himself off with the huge towel he longed to hear Cye’s voice. But all he could hear was the rain, thunder, and the others downstairs. He wondered how Cye was doing at this very moment. None too good, no doubt. It didn’t seem fair, Ryo thought to himself as he slipped into a pair of red jogging pants. Why couldn’t the Dynasty just lay off? Or wasn’t the Dynasty involved this time? If not, then where was Cye? Was it his fault that Cye was missing? Maybe he shouldn’t have been arguing with Anubis. It was obvious that Cye had had heard them fighting about him. Now he felt low. And guilty. It was all his fault Cye was missing. Would he ever come home?

 Cye’s eyes fluttered a few times. His fingers twitched and curled. He let out a soft moan as his brows furrowed. His eyes slowly opened, and he found himself lying on the hard cold floor of his cell.

How long had he been out? he wondered. It felt like it had been for quite awhile. He raised himself up onto his knees and pain shot through his back like a raging fire. He grimaced, his jaw tightening with pain. Tears came to his eyes as he forced himself to stand.

He stood there, gasping, waiting for the pain to go away as he kept one hand firmly against the wall to keep himself upon his feet. Finally the pain subside.

Bloody, he thought to himself. How am I ever going to get out of this? The others are probably worried sick now. He frowned, seeing Kento in his mind. And Kento was probably a nervous wreck. Cye let out a soft groan as he tightly closed his eyes. I shouldn’t have run off in the first place. And he sank to the floor as he wrapped his arms around himself and cried.

Ryo tightened his fist as he stared out at his window toward the volcano. White Blaze laid across his bed, watching the young teen. He already knew that his young master wanted to go back out there and search for his friend, but this storm was too dangerous. Lightning struck the ground constantly, the wind currents were getting stronger and higher. The thunder was so loud it made everyone jump.

Ryo watched the storm, deep in thought. Okay, I know I was worried about Cye being lost out there, when I already know that Talpa has him. I know he’s not out in this storm, but still I’m worried about him. Who knows what Talpa could be doing to him? I don’t want Cye out in this storm, and I don’t want him with Talpa. He closed his eyes in pain. Ancient, please let Cye be okay.

Rowen looked up from the table as the lights flickered off, then came back on again. Sage let out a sigh as he set his cup of hot tea down. Mia was already in the kitchen drawers searching for some candles and matches.

"It won’t be long before that electricity goes off altogether," Rowen stated as he stared at his drink. Steam rose from it, drifting up toward the ceiling.

"That’s why I’m bringing out the candles," Mia said as she set several candles in the middle of the table. She stood two up and lit them, the flames dancing happily on the wicks. She handed a few to Sage along with some matches. "Could you take these out to the living room and set them up, Sage?"

"Sure." He left the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned and sat down, in deep thought.

"There has to be a way for you to find Cye!" Mia exclaimed.

"We already know where he is," Rowen stated quietly. "But this storm is too dangerous for us to go out there and get into the Dynasty, even if we did have the Jewel of Life and the Magic Staff."

Mia frowned and folded her arms on the table. Outside lightning lit the sky and thunder cracked loudly, as if a semi truck had slammed into the house. And all the electricity went off.

Kento frowned in the dark. Great, he thought. Stupid storm. Then again, Cye loved storms have the time. He would always sit right at the window and watch in fascination as the rain would come down like a waterfall. On occasions they had to restrain him just so he wouldn’t go out and play in it. Once he had done that, he ended up with pneumonia.

Kento left his room, carefully feeling his way around so he would not bump into anything or anything. He made it downstairs just as Anubis was going into the kitchen.

Mia, Sage, and Rowen glanced up at them. Kento leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, staring down at the floor as Anubis sat down.

"Did you find anything?" Sage asked the ex-Warlord.

Anubis nodded. "You were right, Halo. Cye is definitely in the netherrealm, and it was Talpa who kidnapped him to begin with.”

Kento’s eyes narrowed tightly as his fists clenched at his sides, a low growl came from his throat as Rowen said, "Then we have to go there and get him."

White Blaze whined a little, his fur standing slightly on end as his ears pressed back. Ryo glanced back at him, wondering what was wrong with the tiger. He sure seemed agitated about something. He shook his head and looked out the window again. It was hard to see now, with all the lights off. Lightning gave him only a slight glimpse of what was outside. He knew it was useless, but he could imagine Cye coming toward the mansion, soaked to the bone. There was no such luck. Cye was trapped and was waiting for them to free him. And as much as Ryo wanted to, he knew they would do Cye no good if they went out into this storm and got themselves killed. He could only hope that Cye wouldn’t give up on them.

Lightning flashed again as White Blaze whined a little louder. What was wrong with him? Ryo wondered as he watched the sky light up again. He didn’t see Cye, but he did see something else. His face took on a horror and he could already feel the winds coming from it. He quickly opened his window and raced out the door.

"EVERYONE, BASEMENT NOW!!!"

They all heard him just as the tornado sirens came on. Mia quickly blew out the candles as Rowen and Sage went through the house, opening the windows as fast as they could and unplugging electrical appliances. Kento grabbed some flashlights and batteries as well as a portable radio. Anubis led Mia downstairs into the basement as Ryo grabbed several blankets and the first aid kit.

"Let’s go!" he shouted to Sage and Rowen after Kento passed him on his way into the basement. The two Ronins came quickly and ran down the steps as fast as they could with White Blaze right behind them. Ryo shut the door and locked it and ran down the steps, just as the tornado struck full force.

Cye was still crying to himself. His body trembled as the tears ran down his face, only to drip to the hard stone floor. Why? he thought to himself. Why does this have to happen again? Why couldn’t Talpa just leave his friends alone! He was making them suffer by causing him to suffer and that wasn’t right.

"Crying again, are we, Torrent?"

Cye looked up through red, wet eyes. Delia was staring at him through the small barred

window, an evil glee on her face. He shuddered slightly. Delia smiled cunningly. "Well, I’m here to make you feel all better." She paused. "Well, actually, I’m here to make you feel worse, but either way, it’ll be pleasant for me."

Cye cringed. She was unlocking the door to his cell. He stood up and began backing

Away, hoping he could find a place to hide, or maybe have a chance at getting past her and out of the cell. No such luck. She was closing the door behind her. She had a weird grin on her face, and Cye could not understand what it was all about. Was she going to kill him? Torture him? She walked closer to him, causing him to back away. "Where are you going, Torrent?

We’re going to have fun together!" Cye cringed as she laughed. What would fun mean in her vocabulary? he wondered nervously. He tried to get out around her, but she suddenly leapt at him. Cye was knocked to the floor. He cried out as his shoulder came in contact with the hard floor. He struggled, but she held him tight, an evil glint in her eyes.

"LET ME GO!!" he cried as he struggled helplessly. She only laughed at him, then

ripped off the rest of his clothes. Cye gasped as he began to realize what was happening. "NO!" he cried. "DON’T!"

"Yes!" she sneered as she tied his hands and feet, then pushed him onto his back. She

stared down at his naked form, a smile on her face. "Hm, you have a nice body, Torrent. Very sexy in fact."

Cye turned his head away, red faced, completely embarrassed. He felt strong fingers

turning his head back around and found himself staring into her eyes. She smiled seductively. "You’ll enjoy this, Torrent. Trust me." She bent forward and kissed him hard. Cye cringed back, and when he felt her tongue enter his mouth, he bit her.

"OW!" she cried, as he scrambled away from her. She was checking her tongue. No

damage done, but it still hurt. Her eyes narrowed angrily, and she suddenly struck him hard across the face. Cye cried out and tried to back away some more. She grabbed him, holding him firm. Cye squirmed, not wanting any of this. "Torrent, I always get what I want. And I want you!"

She began to strip which caused his eyes to widen, and then snap shut tightly. And then

suddenly he heard Delia cry out in shock and pain. He opened his eyes to see her struggling against some invisible force. His eyes widened as she was suddenly thrown across the room where her head came in contact with the wall, knocking her out cold.

Cye started crying out of fear, shame, and embarrassment. And then he felt strong,

Loving arms wrap around him, rocking him gently, soothing him. "You’re safe now, Cye. It’s all right. Shh."

Cye was a bit startled. It was that voice! He sniffled and quieted down. Who are you?

he asked, silently.

"Go to sleep, Cye," the voice commanded gently. And Cye fell into a peaceful, deep

sleep.

He was standing on the beach, watching as the waves played along the sea. The wind

blew his hair back. It was so peaceful out here. Then he heard crunches in the sand and turned his head. Coming toward him was a young man, about nineteen at least. He was tall. At least seven feet. His skin was tanned like Ryo’s, his hair dark brown, and chin-length. His eyes, they were ice blue. He had the appearance of Native American and Caucasian. He was quite handsome in fact, and Cye found it hard to stare into his eyes.

"Hello," the stranger greeted, coming to stand beside him.

"Hi there," Cye replied with a smile, then looked back toward the sea.

"Nice day, isn’t it?" the stranger continued. Cye nodded. He was shocked. This was

same voice he had heard speak to him so many times before! The stranger continued. "Do you believe in Christ?"

Cye turned to gaze at him, wondering what he meant. The stranger smiled at him gently.

"Christ is the Son of Man, the firstborn Son of God, Who is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Years ago, the world sinned, because of the single temptation the Serpent, or the Devil as some call him. Man was cursed to die, and his soul would be forever lost into hell. And then God had a plan, to save the world from sin, and to save His most beloved creation. Human. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to be born to a virgin, named Mary, where he would take upon himself the Sins of the World. He would suffer for many. But it was through his suffering and death, that they were saved from the Second Death, which is the death of one’s spirit. Christ was called to save them, so that any who shall believe that he has come to save the world of its sin and believe within their hearts and minds that he is truly Christ, the Savior of man, will not perish, but have eternal life.

Cye stood there, a bit shocked. He had never heard this speech before. And yet this

man sounded very sincere. He felt numbed. He couldn’t think of anything else. And who was Jesus for that matter? And who was this man whose voice he recognized.

"The choice is yours, Cye Mouri."

Cye’s head snapped up to his right, only to find out that the stranger had disappeared.

And Cye was left alone.

Cye awoke, blinking in the semi-darkness. He looked around, and found himself to be

untied and fully dressed. How did that happen? he wondered. He looked around. He did not

see Delia anywhere, but he did smell food. Turning his head, he saw a plate with a steak, rice, and mashed potatoes. And there was a can of mountain dew as well! He was shocked. At first he thought it was a cruel illusion, but it smelled so good. And then he thought it was poisoned, but then a thought came to his mind. If they wanted me dead, they would have done it already, and Sekhmet would have poisoned me with his swords.

Erasing all other thoughts, he crawled to the food and ate happily.