Cye’s Fight The Sequel to Cye’s Struggle.

Part 7

Chapt. 19. Nightmares and Dreams.

Cye’s eyes slowly fluttered a few times before they finally opened. He blinked twice, then almost got scared, thinking he had gone blind. He moved his hand out in front of him and waved it back and forth. He couldn’t see it. He could see nothing. He began to panic. Then he remembered they had shut the light off.

He reached over to his right wrist wanting to flick on the light of his watch to get the time. His wrist was bare. Where was his watch?!

He frowned. They had stolen it. That watch, it had been a Christmas present from Kento. Maybe that was why they took it, because they knew. Cye sat up against the wall, drawing his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. Guys, where are you? Why haven’t you come?

Cye didn’t need a mirror to tell how he looked. He could feel it. His clothes were shredded here and there, his light brown hair looking as if it hadn’t been washed in a year, his teeth felt furry, his skin incredibly filthy, and his feet were bare, with an inch of dirt under his toenails.

How could they do this to me? his mind wondered. Why do they want me so bad? I’m not that strong. Not strong like the other Ronins. He coughed slightly in the dark and shivered. The place was getting so cold.

He laid down on the floor, trying to get warm in the dirt that laid there. His eyes closed and his body shook from the cold.

Talpa watched Torrent on his viewing mirror, seeing everything the boy was doing. His face was emotionless, yet hard and cold. He did not care that Cye was lying there, practically freezing to death, nor the fact that he looked awful. He only cared about torturing him.

"Maybe tomorrow I’ll send him to the Gargoyals for a time being," Talpa spoke to himself. "Or maybe I’ll let Delia try her hand at him again. Should I send him to the Netherpools? So many ways to torture, so little time."

Badamon suddenly appeared before him, bowing as he did so. "Master Talpa, permit me to speak as I have overheard your thoughts about Torrent."

Talpa’s eyes flashed red. "Permission granted."

"Sire, why not make the boy into a slave? We could force him to work for us, by threatening and punishing him."

Talpa scratched his chin for a bit as he thought about it. "Let me think about this for awhile."

Badamon bowed and vanished, leaving Talpa to his thoughts.

The Spirit of the Ancient stood before the five Ronins, Anubis, White Blaze, and Mia. "Good, you are all here. Well done, Halo. The four Ronins and their tiger shall entered through the gates. The young woman and Anubis shall stay here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ancient One," Ryo answered.

"And we’re more than ready to rescue Cye."

The Ancient nodded grimly. "You must understand that Cye of the Torrent will not be the same as you once you knew him. He has been struggling day in and day out with each beating that has overcome him. As of now he is being watched constantly and can only do so much. Take heed when you rescue him you do not demand he talk to you about his ordeal. He will do that in his own time."

The last two sentences seemed to be directed at Ryo, and he looked away in shame.

"We understand, Ancient One," Sage said softly. "And we are ready to rescue Cye."

The Ancient nodded. "The journey will take days as Talpa has rebuilt his kingdom. Cye will not be where you expect him to be. Follow your heart and you will be guided." The four of them nodded and White Blaze roared softly.

The Ancient raised his staff and waved it a few times as it jingled loudly and the light flared from it. And the doorway to the Dynasty appeared.

"Good luck, Ronins!" The Ancient said and vanished without a trace.

"Be careful, you guys!" Mia said with a hint of worry in her voice.

Rowen looked back at her and smiled. "Don’t worry about us, Mia! We’ll be fine!

"Yeah, we’ll rescue Cye and come back as good as ever!" Sage encouraged.

"Let’s go, guys," Kento said with fierce determination.

"Right," Ryo said. "Everyone to arms!! Armor of Wildfire! Dao Jin!"

"Armor of Halo! Dao Chi!"

Armor of Hardrock! Dao Gi!"

"Armor of Strata! Dao Inochi!"

The mystical armors formed upon them with power and speed. They grabbed their weapons, and with a wave of good-bye at Anubis and Mia, went through the doorway with White Blaze.

"Good luck, Ronins," Anubis repeated the Ancient’s words. He slowly turned and headed back for the house, then stopped and looked back to see Mia still standing there, watching the place where the four teens had once stood."Mia?" he called softly.

She turned around to look at him.

"Why don’t you come inside? It may take a few days for them to return with Cye."

Mia swallowed, but nodded and followed him in. She wasn’t sure if she could stand the thought of Cye or the other Ronins being gone for that long without worrying about them. It would simply drive her mad.

Kania tossed and turned on her bed as her nightmare progressed on. She saw Talpa beating Cye literally, she saw herself being threatened in front of him, saw Talpa’s angry look at her betrayal to him. She saw the Warlords stripping her clothes off, forcing her to stand naked before all of them. She saw Cye’s innocence taken away viciously by both Delia and Talpa while she was forced to watch. And then she herself was forced upon Cye, forced to rape him. She screamed out in agony, the sound stretching across the castle. Kania sat up in a cold drench sweat, the blankets tightly wrapped around her. Her mouth and eyes were wide open as the dream was still fresh in her mind.

It took a few minutes for her brain to register where she was. Calm down, Kania. It was just a bad dream.

She sat up somewhat shakily and took a look around. She was still in her room, and there was Delia asleep on her own bed. Kania’s lips curled in disgust as she untangled the quilts from her body and slid off the bed. She walked to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water then dried it with a towel. As she gazed into the mirror her mind focused on the boy kept in the dungeon. She hated to think of him lying on the hard cold floor in all that dirt while rats and bugs ran over him, and probably fed off him to. Getting food to him was easy, but getting a blanket to him was another. She wasn’t sure how much longer it would be before Talpa found out. All she knew was that she had to get Cye out of her before her nightmare came true.

Cye himself was dreaming, but it was no nightmare. In his dream he was in the living room with his friends, watching Kento and Ryo play a videogame, Rowen reading a book, Sage on the phone, Mia cooking dinner, Anubis watching Ryo and Kento play, and Yulie brushing White Blaze.

And then his head to turned to see someone else there. Cye stared at the man with the shoulder length auburn hair, the sapphire eyes, the mustache and the beard very neatly trimmed, and the robe, the bright white robe with the dark blue slash that seemed to sparkle and glitter like a thousand diamonds. Cye had never felt so much love, so much heartache, so much suffering, and kindness, and pity, and compassion from one man ever before.

The man was walking past everyone in the house, giving them each a sad look as he did so. Cye grimaced and looked down, then felt compelled to look up as the man stared down at him.

Cye looked into his eyes and felt incredible calm and peace. The man spoke. "If you and your friends choose Me, you are choosing life. However if you deny Me, you will be choosing death. The choice is yours but it will be fatal. Make the right decision, Cye of the Torrent. Choose Me and life, and I shall be with you always." The man shimmered, then faded away.

And Cye snapped awake.

Cye's Fight

The sequel to Cye's Struggle

Chapt. 20. Halo’s Light.

The netherealm was pitch black as far as the eye could see. Ryo frowned, trying to get a feel of the place. It seemed so strange as it had never been like this before. What was going on?

"Ryo?" Kento's voice called from somewhere. "Where are you, man?"

"Right here, Kento. Rowen?"

"Yeah, Ryo?"

"Just making sure you were there. Sage?"

No answer.

"Sage?"

Silence.

Ryo began to worry and apparently Rowen and Kento did too cause all three of them shouted out Sage's name. "SAGE!!!"

"D...ar..k..," his voice came back shakily. "T...too dark." Ryo sighed in relief as he felt his way over to his friend. Though he could not see, he found the blond haired warrior kneeling on the ground, shaking. Ryo held him as the others found their way over.

"It's okay, Sage," Ryo soothed. "You're all right."

Sage continued to shake under him with fear, unaware of the army that was surrounding them.

Rowen noticed though as his kanji flashed him a warning. And one by one the others felt the danger. Rowen scowled though. Now he knew why the netherealm was so dark.

Kania walked down the hall, heading toward one particular room. She passed several soldiers who ran past her with spears in their hands. She paid no attention to them, but kept going. Finally she came to the locked door. One quick look around told her it was safe, and she unlocked the door and walked inside, shutting it behind her.

Cye was sitting up against the wall, deep in thought. He didn't notice Kania standing there as he continued to think until she cleared her throat, then looked up, blinking at her.

Kania wasn't sure what to say to him. He looked so innocent looking at her that way, and those eyes...those eyes.... she could get lost into them. They were so beautiful, like the color of an unpolluted sea.

She frowned at his condition, seeing how he was dirty and marred. She could bare to look at him no longer like that. "Get up, Torrent. You're coming with me."

Cye pressed himself against the wall, his eyes wide with fear. Kania mentally slapped herself. She had forgotten. How could she have been so stupid? She looked down at him gently.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm taking you to get a shower and some clothes." She held out her hand, waiting for him to accept it.

Cye stared at him, hesitating. He was afraid to say none of the least. What if this was just an illusion, or if she was going to do the same thing Delia had tried to do? But then a sense of calm overcame him and he slowly reached out and grabbed her hand.

Kania smiled a little. She prayed to whoever was listening they would not be caught. And then she vanished out of the cell with him.

Ryo's katanas slashed through metal making it apparent that another Dynasty tincan had been slaughtered. He heard whistling sounds and more clanking, and could tell Rowen was firing off arrows. He grimaced. This was very bad. Already his left arm was slashed up pretty good, and his right shoulder hurt like crazy.

There was suddenly a cry of pain to his left. He didn’t need a light to tell him who had been hurt. His eyes widen with horror. “ROWEN!!” he cried, hearing the blue haired archer’s tortured scream.

“ROWEN!” Kento cried as he twirled his nanjinta around furiously, impaling several soldiers on impact.

Sage’s eyes blinked several times as the scene came into focus before him. Everything was so dark, yet he could he sense where his friends and where his enemies were. Rowen. He was in trouble. Just like before when he had sacrificed himself to Cale to save him.

Sage’s eyes widen as he sensed his friend in dire pain. The others were trying to get to him but they were continually blocked by the oncoming soldiers.

“AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!!!!

Sage’s head snapped up and his eyes flashed dangerously. NO MORE!! With a burst of speed he never knew he had he raced past Ryo who was struggling against a soldier and beating the crap out of another, and past Kento who was still swinging his staff around like there was no tomorrow.

He finally got to where Rowen was. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!!” He lashed out with his nodatchi with one swift movement, and the impact of metal upon metal was heard, followed by a familiar clinking.

And then it suddenly got bright. The remaining soldiers backed away, their eyes a little wide as Ryo and Kento turned around and suddenly gasped.

Sage stood there, glaring angrily at the soldiers who had dared to hurt his best friend. They could all see that there was one thing different about him. He was glowing like the sun.

Cye’s Fight Sequel to Cye’s Struggle

Chapter 21. On Their Way Through

  Ryo, Rowen, and Kento all shielded their eyes as they stared in amazement at Sage. He stood there, standing against the Dynasty soldiers who were slowly backing from this unexpected development. Sage’s eyes flashed ice blue as he raised his nodatchi high above his. Light and power was drawn into a singular sparkling energy that seem to grow in power. With a loud cry, he called his surekill. “THUNDER BOLT CUT!!!” The power went forth in a fast moving energy, too bright to see. There was an explosion, and the entire area shook from the force of it.

By the time Ryo dared to open his eyes, the Dynasty soldiers were gone, and Sage was back to normal, kneeling down by Rowen.

Kento’s mouth dropped open. “Sage, man! How’d you do that?!”

Sage made no reply as he healed his friend. Rowen stayed still, allowing Sage’s healing touch to flow into him. When it was over, he took Sage’s hand and stood up.

“Thank you, Sage,” Rowen said with a smile.

Sage smiled back. “Anything for a friend.” He turned to Kento, then looked at Ryo. Apparently both of them wanted explanations. He took a deep breath and let it out.

“I’m not really sure how that happened, you guys,” he slowly explained as the initial shock from the transformation slowly left him. “All I could think of at first was how dark it was, it was draining my energy. You know my armor gets its power from light. Well, I was weakening. But then I heard Rowen in trouble. And you guys couldn’t get to him. I was afraid, afraid I wouldn’t be able to help him, afraid that we would lose him. Each blow he felt, I felt it too, and it angered me more and more. And then suddenly I heard this gentle voice, that said the darkness has come forth to conquer, yet the light stood in its way. And the darkness retreated because the light shined through it.”

Rowen, Kento, and Ryo could only stare in amazement and possibly confusion at their friend. Ryo decided to change the subject.

“Okay, guys, we need to get moving, and find Cye.”

“Yeah!” Kento bellowed. “Talpa ain’t keeping him again tonight!”

“Right, let’s go,” Sage added.

“That’s why we came!” Rowen declared.

And the four of them set off in search of their friend.

Cye trembled as the hot water poured over his hair and back. He bit his lip, and tried his best to ignore the pain, figuring the hot water would soothe his aching muscles. After a bit he slowly relaxed as the water began to feel as it was massaging him. He stayed that way for several minutes, before grabbing some shampoo and washing his hair. After that he conditioned it, then washed his body, noting how his skin was becoming the pale color it normally was, only shining. He lifted his face and allowed the spray from the shower head to soak his face and wash away the loose dirt. He took the soap he was using and washed the remainder of the dirt away, then rinsed himself completely off. He turned the shower to cold, and stood under it, soaking in the cold water as he felt himself get slightly stronger. Finally he turned the shower off and reached for a towel.

As he dried himself off, his thoughts turned to Kania. She had been so kind to him, helping to escape during his first captivity, then showing compassion to him during his imprisonment here. What was a nice girl like her doing in a place like this? He stepped out of the shower, pondering that over in his head as he dressed in the clothes Kania had left him. A dark blue kimono that reminded him of Rowen. A sigh escaped his lips as he finished drying his hair off, then looked into the mirror at his reflection. The bruises were still here, but he was cleaned, thankfully. He could only hope that Kania was not caught for helping him.

Ryo paused in his running as he looked this way and that way. He tried to pick up Cye’s signal but it was like there was something blocking it. Where could he be? The last time they had rescued him, he had been found right below them, but now it was like he had vanished altogether. “Ryo?” He turned to see Sage looking at him. “What is it, Sage?”

Sage smiled. “We’ll find Cye, don’t worry.”

Ryo lowered his head. “I know, Sage, it’s just we seem to be taking forever, and right now Talpa could be hurting him!”

Sage frowned. “I still don’t get it. What does Talpa want with Cye? It doesn’t make any sense!”

Rowen spoke up quietly, his head and eyes downward. “I think I know what Talpa wants with Cye.”

That caught their attention as they all turned to look at him.

“Tell us, Rowen,” Ryo said.

“Cye’s virtue is trust, remember? What would happen if that trust were broken in some shape or form? Talpa might plan a way for Cye not to trust anyone or anything or even himself. Which would mean…..”

“We wouldn’t be able to call the Inferno,” Ryo said quietly and a bit angrily.

Rowen nodded affirmatively and looked down again.

“Great,” Sage said with an exasperated sigh.

“Uh, guys,” Kento interrupted, “why are we all just standing here for?”

The three Ronins looked up, and Ryo’s eyes narrowed. “Kento’s right. We need to get moving.”

The four started off, sneaking and dodging their way through the netherealm, sometimes battling opponents just to get Cye. They were getting closer, they could feel it in their hearts, minds, and souls. They could only hope they weren’t too late.