Chapter 3

 

Rowen stood by the window, his gaze cast down in his glass of wine he was holding.  In all his 28 years, he didn’t think he’d get to the point where he’d have to give this much information about his personal life.  He glanced at Monica, who was sitting on the loveseat.  She was also nursing a glass of wine from dinner and waiting for him to bring the topic up first.  Rowen was trying to figure out how to tell her to make it believable, yet, without lying to her.  She needed to know in case “things” happened.  Monica decided to brave the elements first.

“Rowen, I don’t know what this staff is, let alone what it’s for.  I could be wrong for assuming, but your reaction on the phone tells me that you know something about it.”

“You won’t believe me if I do tell you.”

She cocked her head to the side, regarding him.  “How do you know?”

He decided to go for it.  What is the worst she would do?  Laugh?  He doubted she would tell him that she didn’t want to see him again.  He’d have to be honest.  She see right through a lie.

“Alright.  Here it goes.  About fifteen years ago, fourteen to be exact, Lord Talpa, ruler of the Nether World, wanted to expand his empire to our world.  At that time, my friends and I were bequeathed superpowered armors and weapons to protect the mortal world.  We had a mentor, the Ancient we called him.  He owned that staff until he died.  The current holder is a young woman.  She went back to the Nether World after we defeated Talpa and his Dynasty.”  He sat down beside Monica.  “The major question is: why is the staff here?  I think something is going to happen.  We aren’t going to like it, whatever it is.”

“Maybe it isn’t the Dynasty.”

“Maybe.”

“What do you suggest I do with the staff then?”

Rowen looked at it.  The staff was laying on the coffee table.  Mercury was napping against the handle.  “I don’t know.  If they Dynasty is returning, you should probably hang on to it.  If something comes up, it may be able to offer you some protection.”  He held his head down and closed his eyes.  Lowering his voice, he added, “I hoped it was over for good.  I don’t want to go through this again.  I can’t do this again.”

Monica gently placed a hand on his back.  “You did it before, you can do it again.”

Rowen turned to her.  “You don’t understand.  It was mentally and emotionally taxing on us, not to mention physically.  The nightmares are just ending.  My life was actually starting to be normal again.  I don’t want to go through that again.”

  “Rowen, you don’t have to do it alone,” she replied.  “I’ll be here for you.  I’ll help you in any way I can.”

Rowen held her gaze.  Feeling the moment, he leaned in to kiss her.  Just as his lips barely brushed hers, the phone rang.  Monica cursed in her mind.  Dammit!  We were so close.  I bet that’s Cameron.  She grabbed the phone.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

“Hi, Cam.”  Monica shook her head.  Perfect timing.

“You’ve been holding out on me.  Spill it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Rowen put his hand on Monica’s knee to get her attention.  He softly whispered that he’d hall her tomorrow and kissed her softly on the cheek.  He knew that it would be a while.  Monica walked with him to the door and closed it as he left.

“Mika!  Are you listening to me?”

“Sorry, Cam.  What was that?”

“I said that I just talked to Ryo and he said that Rowen was at your place.”

“He was.  He just left.”

“He did?  What happened?”

Cameron doesn’t know about the staff.  I’ll wait to tell her about it, not at least not before I get the okay from Rowen.  “We just talked.”

“And?”

“And I cooked dinner for him.”

“And??” she asked, more persistently.

“And…that’s it.”

Cameron paused.  “That’s it?  No action or anything?”

“None.”

“Bummer.”

“Even if there was, I probably wouldn’t kiss and tell.”

“Monica!  That’s no fun!”

“Well, I’m so sorry.  I wouldn’t want to tell his business.”

“It would be your business, too.  Besides, I’m your friend.  You’re supposed to tell me these things.  It’s written in Best Friends for Dummies^®.”

Monica laughed.  “All right.  Point made.  If anything happens, I’ll tell you.”

“Why, thank you.  You are too kind.”

Cameron started to talk about her recent date with Ryo.  Suddenly, there was a scream on Cameron’s end.  Monica yelled her name.  Monica heard the handset drop to the floor and a masculine voice laugh.  He told her something.  Monica thought it sounded like he said that her friend would be joining her soon.  Monica hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rowen rode home, thinking about Monica.

She took the news pretty well, even I was being vague.  There is just so much to tell her.  We have to take it one step at a time.  I don’t know how much she can take, but I don’t want to overload her with too much information all at once.  Hey, maybe Mia still has all that info she gathered at the beginning.  I’ll call tomorrow and ask.

He paused in his thoughts.

God, why did Cameron have to call?  We were so close.  I thought for sure Monica would try to pull away, but she didn’t.  That’s a good sign.

He caught himself licking his lips.  He sighed at the thought.

I guess that will have to be a treat for another night.

Rowen opened the door of their apartment to find Ryo running around.  He was looking for something.  The phone was pressed to his ear.  He could barely make out a hysterical female on the other end.

“Wait, calm down, Monica,” Ryo said into the phone.  “How long ago was it?”

Monica?  Rowen thought to himself.  Why was he talking to her?

“We’re on our way out the door…No, stay there…I understand, but it would be safer for you to stay home…yes, Rowen just got here.  He’s going, too.”

“What’s going on?”  Rowen asked.  Sage had come from Ryo’s bedroom holding Ryo’s armor crystal.  Rowen noticed that Sage was wearing his undergear of his armor.

“Found it,” Sage announced.

“Thanks, man,” Ryo answered.  To Monica he said, “We’re gonna check it out.  I’ll call you.”

Ryo hung up.  Holding his armor crystal, he changed into his undergear.

Rowen was getting irritated.  He wanted to know what was going on.  “Is someone going to clue me in or am I supposed to know this already?”

Ryo explained it quickly.  “Monica was in the middle of talking to Cameron when she heard her scream on the other end.  She said that she heard a man in Cameron’s apartment.”

“Oh, God!”

“Monica wanted to come, but I told her to stay put.”

Rowen changed into his undergear.  It had been years since he’s had to wear it.  He swung his arms, getting accustomed to the armor again.  The five of them leave the apartment and run at tremendous speed to Cameron’s apartment.  Ryo didn’t have a key to get in, so he broke the door in.  Sage, Kento, and Cye stood by the front door while Ryo and Rowen searched the apartment.  Ryo found Cameron lying on the floor of her bedroom, face down.  He checked her out.  No pulse, no breath.  Cameron was dead.  Shock overcame him.  Ryo could barely move.  They sensed the negative presence of evil nearby.  Rowen had to forcefully pull him up from Cameron’s side.  They took the easy way out…jumping through the window.  Hitting the ground, the apartment exploded.  Anger and the need for revenge overcame Ryo.  He knew it was the Dynasty.  Soldiers charged from behind buildings, lots of them.  The guys weren’t doing to great.  The soldiers were tougher than they realized.  The Dynasty tin cans have either been taking their vitamins or they guys have been out of commission for a long time.  The Ronins didn’t even get a break to change into their armors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica was pacing her apartment.  She hoped Cammy was alright.  She looked at the clock.  It’s been nearly an hour.  Ryo should have called by now.  She heard an explosion in the background.  What was that??  Looking out the window, she saw smoke billowing in the air.  Cameron’s apartment was in that direction.  Monica picked up the phone and called Cameron.  The phone kept ringing.  Her answering machine didn’t pick up.  Monica called Ryo’s apartment.  They weren’t home either.  Their answering machine kicked in.  She hung up instead of leaving a message.

A metallic clang came from the closet where Monica put the staff after hanging up with Ryo.  She opened it to find the head of the staff glowing and the rings moving.  She nervously grabbed the handle, extracting it from its hiding place.  With a flash of light, an image projected from it.  She saw Ryo, Rowen, and Sage.  They were with two other guys in some kind of outfit fighting armored soldiers.  They were getting a serious butt kicking.  She recognized the street.  Cameron’s apartment was near there.  Grabbing her purse, she left her apartment.  Monica put the staff in the backseat.  The rings were moving faster.  She didn’t know what was going on, but she sped to their location.

“Rowen!!” she called, jumping out of the car.

“Stay back, Monica!”  he called to her.

She ignored him, pulling the staff out of the car.  She wanted to help.  She had to help.  Monica ran to where they were standing.  As soon as she got there, the staff flew out of her hand, floating in the air.  The staff flashed again, disabling the soldiers.  With that, Ryo called the Ronin Warriors to arm.  Monica watched as they transformed into awesome armors.  The staff disappeared during the transformation.  Monica ran back to her car.  She didn’t want to get caught in a crossfire.  Within minutes, the soldiers were wiped out.

The guys came over and thanked Monica.  She smiled.  Looking over the guys’ shoulders, her smile dropped.  They turned to see what she was looking at.  A huge pagoda-styled castle was sitting on a dark cloud and hovering over the city.  A giant floating head appeared.

“Talpa!!”  they all cried.

Monica’s heart quickened with fear.  Rowen was just talking about him a couple of hours ago.  He really was back.

The head spoke.  “Ronin Warriors, I am flattered you remember me.  It has been a long time.”

“I thought we destroyed you!”  Ryo yelled.

Talpa laughed.  “You didn’t think you got rid of me that easily now, did you?  I’m sorry to disappoint you.  Let’s make things easier this go around.  Just surrender your armors to me and you will not have to live with this curse the Ancient one placed on you when you were children.  Since you have all grown up now, I don’t think you don’t want the burden of those armors anymore.”

“We wouldn’t give you our armors then, what makes you think we’ll do it now?!”  Sage asked.

“Ronin Warriors, I see you still plan on resisting me.  I think you should know that I’ve been busy while I was gone.  You will not defeat me again.”

“Think again, psycho-brain!  We are gonna send you home for good!”  Kento added.

Talpa laughed again.  “We shall see about that.”  The head disappeared.

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Ryo sat at the dining room table, staring down in a cup of tea.  He had told Monica about Cameron.  She took it really hard.  Ryo knew how much Monica loved Cameron, probably more than he loved Cameron.  Ryo sighed.  Suddenly he burst into tears.  Why?  Why are we still cursed with this?  Why can’t we finally settle down and raise families of our own?  Maybe we should join a monastery.  At least monks don’t have to worry about heartbreak.

The other guys didn’t know what to say.  They’d seen Ryo cry before, most out of frustration.  These tears of sorrow were agonizing.  Rowen paced nervously around the apartment.  When Ryo told Monica about Cameron, he held her as she cried all her strength away.  He had laid her in his bed and stayed with her until she cried herself to sleep.  Even with an IQ of 250, Rowen had no idea how to help or comfort her, other than to just be there for her.

The next morning, Rowen stuck his head in his room to check on Monica.  She was gone.  He looked out the window.  Her car was still in the parking lot.  He asked the guys if they had seen her.  Everyone said no.  Kento suggested that she may have gone out for a walk.  She did have a rough night last night.  That slightly eased his mind, but something still didn’t feel right.  He paced nervously.  He hoped to God she was alright, especially after last night.  He really didn’t want her to be out there alone.

Sage suggested they go for a little ride.  “We won’t be gone that long, twenty minutes tops.  She’ll probably be waiting for you when you get back.”

Rowen acquiesced.  It was apparent to Sage that Rowen felt more for Monica than he’d admit.

“Monica was probably hiding and is laughing at you right now,” Kento said, with a smile, hoping to cheer Rowen up.

“I’m not laughing.”

Rowen sat in the front of Sage’s jeep, arms crossed.  He stared out the window, halfway hoping to see Monica walking down the street.  A figure appeared in their way.  It wasn’t Monica.  Instead, it was a man in a pink and green battle armor.  His arms were folded in front of him.  Six scythes were mounted on his back, a nun chuck with a bola was fastened to one of his arms.  His face was partially covered.  Both of his eyes would be showing if he didn’t have a patch over the left one.

The five men jump out of the jeep.

“Dais!”  Kento exclaimed.

“You remember me, Hardrock,” the man responded.  “I’m quite flattered.”

Soldiers appeared.  The Ronin Warriors called to arm and battled.  Dais stood off to the side and watched the fight.  After fourteen years, they were still putting up a good fight.  He and the other dark warlords would have to be careful.  Dais snapped out of his thoughts as he realized the still hardheaded Kento of Hardrock was coming for him.  He easily and effortlessly jumped out of the way.  Soon, the soldiers were destroyed.  Dais jumped in a tree, locking his legs around a branch to hang upside down.  He grabbed his scythes off his back.

“Web of Deception!!” he cried.

Spider webs shot from the blades of the scythes.  The Ronins were ensnared in his web.

Dais laughed.  “Although you are all ‘tied up’ right now, I will share my little secret with you, Ronin Warriors, especially you, Rowen of the Strata.  I have your friend.”

“You lie!”  Ryo shouted before Rowen could respond.

A soldier appeared, holding a kicking and screaming Monica.  Rowen shouted her name.  Monica struggled to get free but the soldier had an iron grip on her.  The soldier disappeared again with Monica.

“You can see for yourself that I’m telling the truth this time,” Dais said.  He jumped down from his perch.  “You boys are more than welcome to come after her.  I assure you, she will be well taken care of, provided she cooperates.”

“Dais, I swear, if you touch one hair on her head I will personally make sure you suffer,” Rowen said.  He was seething.

“Hahaha, I’d like to see you try.”  Dais disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica woke up, her head throbbing.  She looked around her.  She remembered falling asleep in Rowen’s arms, but that was it.  Where is she now?  It was kind of like a studio apartment, but it was hexagonal.  The roof was made of bamboo.  It was nice…kind of cozy.  It wasn’t home, though.  She was still wearing her clothes she had on the night before.  There was a kimono in one of the corners.  Someone entered.

He was extremely handsome.  He had shoulder-length silvery white hair.  There was a patch over his left eye.  He didn’t look old, perhaps in his 20s.  She could tell that this man could be dangerous if she crossed him the wrong way.

“Hello, Monica,” he said in a silky voice.  Under different circumstances, Rowen would have had to deal with competition.

“Who are you, where am I, and why am I here?”

“I am called Dais, the Warlord of Illusion.  I serve the emperor Talpa.  I brought you here at his command.”

“Why me?”

“That is something you’ll have to take up with Lord Talpa yourself.”  He approached her.  Monica involuntarily took a step back.  “If you cooperate, you will be treated with honor and respect.”

“And if I don’t?”

Dais softly touched her face.  “I would hate to be Rowen of the Strata when he learns his woman hasn’t been a good girl.”

He laughed as he left.  As soon as the door was closed, she sank to the floor and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rowen was restless for the next few hours.  Ryo was furious.  He wanted revenge for Cameron and he was upset about Monica.  Kento wanted to charge in and attack the Dynasty.  Sage kept preaching that they needed a plan, but wasn’t offering any suggestions.  Cye tried to calm everyone down.  Rowen suffered in silence.  He wanted to go in after her, but he knew they needed to tread carefully.

Ryo snapped at Rowen.  “Man, you’ve been quiet the whole time.  Don’t you even care that they’ve got her?  They’ve already killed Cameron.  Imagine what they could be doing to Monica.”  Everyone tried to shut him but, but he didn’t care.  His hostility had been pinned in all day.  He needed to get it out.  Rowen’s calmness was setting him off.  “Maybe you don’t care what they do to her.  Maybe you don’t love her.  You’ve never said you do.  Hell, you never even talk about her.”

Anger and fear for Monica pulled Rowen up out of his chair.  He grabbed Ryo by the neck of his shirt.  The momentum knocked them to the floor.  Rowen’s fist was balled and raised.  Now Ryo regretted talking too much.  Rowen was just about to let it go when Kento and Sage pulled him off Ryo.

Rowen pushed them off of him and sat down.  He dropped his face in his hands.  He was trying to hold back tears that kept falling.  Removing his hands, he revealed tears they have never, ever seen.  In the fourteen years they’ve known each other, they have never seen him cry nor act this way about a woman…for anyone for that fact.

“You have no idea how scared I am for her, how I wish I could hold her and protect her from everything.  You have no idea of how badly I wish I was there instead of her.”

He paused.  Lowering his voice a notch, he continued.  “I’ve never been in love before.  Having parents who rarely showed love to me, I never learned how to love in return.  I never understood the true meaning of the words ‘I love you.’  Then I met Monica.  She never demands love or attention.  No, I haven’t told her I love her.”

Rowen smiled.  “In fact, I think she’s just as scared of the whole love thing as I am.  She understand me and I think she understands how much I feel for her.  That’s all that matters to me.”

Rowen stood up, wiping his tears away.  “We have to come up with a plan.  We’ve defeated Talpa already.  Twice.  He’s going to try hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  I can almost guarantee that Monica is being used as bait to lure us to the Dynasty.  He knows that I, no we, will do anything and everything we can to get her back.  We need to play our cards right.  One wrong move and I could lose her.  I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t, man,” Sage said.

“Yeah,” Cye agreed.  “We’ll bring her back.”

“And we’ll make the Dynasty pay once and for all for bringing their ugly faces around our world again,” Kento added.  He was ready to go.

“The Ronin Warriors are back in business,” Ryo said.

 

 

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