Chapter 6

 

Rowen tried fighting soldiers and keeping his eyes on Monica at the same time.  He saw Sekhmet appear.  He fought hard, trying to get to Monica to help her.  He managed to get rid of enough soldiers to make his way over there.  She was lying face down on the ground several feet away from Sekhmet.  Rowen ascertained that she had tried to run, but Sekhmet had done something to her.  He might have poisoned her.  Sekhmet was walking towards her.  Rowen fired three arrows at him and ran to where Monica lie.

“You’re too late, Ronin Warrior.  She’s just been infected with my poison,” Sekhmet complained.

“For your sake, you had better be lying.”

Sekhmet motioned towards the unconscious Monica and chuckled.  “See for yourself.”

Rowen eyed Sekhmet then turned his attention to Monica.  She lay still.  Rowen checked her pulse.  He could barely feel it.  He placed his ear to her chest.  Her breathing was shallow.

Sekhmet’s chuckle turned to a laugh as he saw Rowen’s hard exterior turn to pure putty as he delicately examined the young woman.  He disappeared, leaving Rowen to wallow in misery.  Well, his job was done.  That was both of the women.  The Ronins will be easy to crush now and Talpa can rule over the mortal world as he always dreamed.

Rowen looked up to find Sekhmet gone.  Turning back to Monica, he gathered her in his arms with tears in his eyes.  If there was an antidote, Sekhmet had it.  Everything had an antithesis.  He was sure whatever poison Sekhmet used had one, too.  The major question was if he could save her in time.  Once inside the apartment, Rowen laid Monica on his bed.  He shed his armor so he could maneuver better while tending to her.  The other guys kept asking if there was anything they could do to help.  Rowen was getting annoyed with them.  It seemed like everywhere he turned, there was a new body in his way.  Kayura ushered them out.  Rowen sat on the edge of the bed, holding Monica’s hand.  Her eyes were partially closed.  Rowen offered a silent prayer.

Please, please, please don’t take her away from me.  I love her.  I need her.  I will do anything to help her get through this.

“Rowen,” Kayura said.  “Why don’t we let her get some rest?”

“I’m not leaving.  I want to be here when she wakes up,” Rowen answered, not taking his eyes off Monica.

Kayura didn’t respond.  She quietly slipped out, leaving him alone with her.  she went in the living room where the others were.

“How is she, Kayura?”  Cye asked.

She shook her head.  “Not good.”  She lowered her voice another notch.  “I don’t think she’s going to make it through the night.  I’m sure Rowen knows that.  Right now, he’s okay, but still.”  She shrugged.  “He’ll have a hard time if she doesn’t make it.”

“Can we go in and see her?”  Kento asked.

“Not right now.  Let Rowen have a little more time with her alone.”

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

The next few hours dragged by.  Monica was slipping in and out of consciousness.  After several failed attempts to snatch a nap, he got up to stand by the window.  He was watching the darkness, listening to the silence.  He was trying to concentrate on the sound of Monica’s breathing.  He wiped tears from his eyes as he remembered the nights he slept with her and listened to her breathing.  He was worried he’d never get to hear that sound again.  A sudden gasp brought him to her side.  Gently, he put his arms around her, pulling her into a sitting position.  Her breathing started to sound less restricted.  She slipped back out of consciousness.  It was so sudden, he thought that was it.

“Monica!!” he called, shaking her at the same time.

Everyone burst into the room.  Rowen was crying, trying to get her to wake up.  Soon, her eyes opened.  Rowen was relieved.  He kissed her and softly caressed her cheek.

“Rowen…” she whispered.

“I’m here,” he said.  “I’ll take care of you.  Just hang in there, honey.  I’ll get the antidote from Sekhmet and you’ll be okay.  You have to fight it for me.  You have to hold on until I can get it.”

“Don’t worry about me,” she whispered.  “You need to defeat the Dynasty and protect the mortal world.”

“I will, and after I do, you and I can get married and we’ll go on a big honeymoon.  We can go anywhere you want.  We’ll have two or three little Monicas.”

“I want a Rowen, too.”  She could barely get it out.

Rowen let out a big sob.  “Of course.  We can have a Rowen, too.”  He paused, tears threatening to choke him.  “I love you, Monica.  I’ve wanted to say it for a long time, but I wasn’t sure if you loved me.”

She smiled and raised her hand to his face.  “I do.  I do love you.  I always will.”

With that, her breath faded away.  She died in his arms.

“Monica??”

Rowen checked her pulse.  There was none.  His crying got harder.  After laying her back on the pillow, he laid his head on her chest.  She was gone.  He heard Sage call his name, but he didn’t respond.  He couldn’t.

Everyone stood in the room, sharing Rowen’s pain.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the entire apartment.  Kento was standing in the corner, wiping tears from his face.  Cye and Kayura were sobbing, Ryo was almost there.  Sage was standing near Rowen in case he lost it.  He remembered how volatile Rowen had gotten when Monica was abducted.  Now she was dead.  How would his dear friend handle this?

Finally, everyone left Rowen alone with her.  It was morning when Rowen finally emerged from the room.  His face was flushed and his eyes were puffy from fatigue and crying.  He’d been up all night.  That was evident from his disheveled appearance.  He sat at the dining room table, his aching head resting on his folded arms on the table.  He heard the clatter of glass.  Holding his freshly tear-stained face up, he saw Cye withdraw his hand from placing a cup of tea in front of him.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

Cye gave him a kind, sympathetic smile.  Ryo sat down with Rowen.

“How are you feeling, dude?”

“Like shit.”

“You look like shit,” Ryo responded with a smile, trying to use a little humor to lighten the depressed mood.

Rowen laid his head back down.  He started crying again.  “God, I want to die.”

“What?  Why?”

“I can’t live without her, Ryo.  I don’t want to live without her.”

“I know how you feel.  I’m still having trouble being without Cameron.”  Ryo reached out and took Rowen’s hand.  “Just remember.  We’re all in this together.  The five of us have been friends for a long time.  We all have each other.  You won’t have to deal with this alone.”

Rowen nodded.  He forced himself up from the table.  He showered and changed his clothes.  He tried not to look at the now dead Monica on his bed.

His friends offered their condolences, but they were irritating him.  He knew they were just trying to offer some comfort for him so he tried not to snap at them.  To get away from death hanging in the air, he decided to go for a walk.  Monica was gone.  Thoughts of suicide ran through his mind.  In the middle of plotting his self-destruction, soldiers appeared.  Rowen stopped walking.  He didn’t armor up, he didn’t even transform into his undergear.  A soldier stepped forward.

“The Dynasty has come to claim this world as its own.”

Rowen really wasn’t in the mood for this.  “Take it.  As a matter of fact, just kill me.  It will be one less Ronin to worry about.”

The soldier just stood here.  The other Ronins saw the interaction from the window and ran outside.  They were all in full armor.

“Need a hand?”  Sage asked, holding his sword ready.

“Not unless you’re going to help them put me out of my misery.”

They all looked at Rowen, dumbfounded.

“You okay, man?”  Kento asked.

“Do I fuckin’ look okay!” he snapped all of a sudden.  He exploded into fresh tears.  As soon as he was able to speak again, he added, “What do I have to keep living for?”

“The safety of the mortal world.”

“Fuck the mortal world.”

Sage spoke up.  “Rowen, we understand your pain, but you gotta snap out of this for a little bit.”

“Sage!”  Ryo reprimanded.  Before Rowen could snap back a remark, Ryo suggested he go back the apartment and lie down.

“I can’t go back there,” Rowen muttered.

He sunk down to his knees and buried his face in his hands.  He was crying…again.  Everyone stood silent; even the soldiers.  As much as they didn’t want to, the Ronins would have to fight without him.  At least for now.  The fighting commenced, Rowen moved out of the way.  His heart just wasn’t in it.

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

 “Good.  Things are going just how we planned,” Sekhmet said.

“Now that those women are dead,” Cale said, “Master Talpa’s victory is guaranteed.”

“It seems the Ronin Warriors are struggling,” Dais added, “especially since the warrior Strata is refusing to fight.”

“Who knew Strata was such a softy?”  Cale taunted.

“And over a woman for that fact,” Dais replied.

The warlords laughed.  They were standing at a distance, watching the interaction.  Rowen just stood out of the way.  The warlords decided to join the action.  Without an impressive entrance, they rushed into the battle.  The Ronins, minus Rowen, fought hard.  They were getting creamed.

“Rowen!”  Cye called, under the weight of Sekhmet’s swords.

“We need your help, dude!”  Kento added.  Dais was pelting him with his nunchuckus.

The warlords eased their attacks.

“Come now, Ronin Warriors,” Cale said.  “Why are you trying to resist the Dynasty?”

“Why don’t you just make it easy on yourselves and surrender?”  Dais commented.

“We will never surrender to your master, demon,” Ryo said.

“Rowen, you have to help us,” Sage said.  “We can’t do this alone.”

Rowen answered, “Can’t you see that I don’t want to fight anymore?  It was because of our fighting that had me preoccupied and I couldn’t get to Monica.  I couldn’t save her.”

“Rowen, it’s not your fault Monica died.  Don’t blame yourself.”

“Do it for Monica,” Cye said, trying to cheer him on.

Rowen recalled one of Monica’s last requests before she died.

Don’t worry about me.  Defeat the Dynasty and protect the mortal world.

Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks.  He was a Ronin Warrior, a fighter for humanity.  Even on her deathbed, Monica didn’t make him choose between who he was and who he wanted to be.  She would not approve of his standing there and crying, while his friends fought.  Rowen watched the others struggle against the warlords.  If he continued like this, they could die.  And if they died…

He didn’t even want to fathom the thought.  He knew what he had to do.

“Armor of Strata!  Dao inochi!”

Rowen armored up and charged Sekhmet, who was fighting Cye.  He swung hard with his bow, catching the warlord off guard.  Sekhmet stumbled back but recovered quickly.  His Snake Fang Swords moved so fast that Rowen and Cye had trouble parrying the blows.  Cye got struck a couple of times.  Rowen narrowly missed getting hit.  He nocked an arrow and fired.  It got Sekhmet in the shoulder.  Cye took advantage of it and swung with his jumonji yari.  Sekhmet took a hit in the chest and fell to the ground.

Without warnings or threats, Talpa absorbed the armors of the Ronin Warriors, the Warlords, and Kayura.  They found themselves floating in a void.  They felt the energy being drained from their bodies.  It was pitch blackness.  No one could see anyone else.

“Are we dead?”  Cye asked, hoping for a response from someone.

“I don’t think so,” Ryo answered.

“Our armors were absorbed,” Sekhmet informed.

“What’s going to happen to us?”  Sage asked.

“I am unsure,” Dais offered, “but I don’t think he’s going to kill us.  At least not yet.”

Cale started panicking.  “But why?  Why did he do this?  Even when we revived the Dynasty, we stayed by his side.  Why is he doing this to us?”

“Oh, quit your bitchin’,” Kento complained.

Rowen was silent for  a moment.  “Talpa’s been hell-bent on conquering the mortal world.  Today is his day…with our help, of course.”

“What are you saying, Strata?”  Sekhmet said.

Dais answered for him.  “He means that is the reason why Talpa has been so obsessed with our armors.  He’s going to use the powers from all nine of our armors to his advantage.”

“And since where trapped inside him…”  Sage started.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Ryo finished.

Everyone pondered that for a moment…still floating in the blackness.  Kayura spoke up.

“There is a way to defeat Talpa,” she said, “but we all have to work together…warlords included.”

“Oh, no,” Kento protested.  “I’m not doing anything with them.”

“Kento, get over it and pay attention,” Sage said.

Ryo added, “If we don’t work together, it could be the end of our world.”

Kento sighed with defeat.  He knew they were right.  “What do we need to do, Kayura?”  Kento asked.

“Our armors contain pure virtues.  Together, we can draw from that power and destroy Talpa from within.”

“Hey, we did that for the Armor of Inferno,” Ryo said.  “Remember, guys?”

“Oh, yeah,” Cye said, “and we did it to save Mukara from the influence of the black armor.”

Everyone channeled their energy on their powers.  Their kanji symbols glowed on each of their heads.  They felt the power of their armors fading.  It didn’t feel like they were succeeding.  Cale spoke first, saying that he didn’t think it was working.  Rowen told him to keep concentrating because Talpa was trying to resist.  Then it happened.  They felt Talpa’s resistance lessening.  One by one, their virtues made themselves manifest as their armors dissipated into pure energy.  With a blast of light, it was over.

Everyone found themselves lying on the ground.  Kento was the first to get up.  Looking around, he realized that the city was bustling around as usual.  People walked around the nine bodies on the ground, casting them evil looks.  Everyone else got up.  They were wearing normal clothes, including the warlords and Kayura.  They all cheered.  They did it.  They saved the mortal world.

The warlords didn’t know how to react.  The evil in the warlords’ hearts was purified by their armors when they defeated Talpa.  Their clothes had changed from the undergear of their armors to regular jeans and T-shirts.

“So, what will you all do now that the Dynasty is no more?”  Sage asked Kayura and the warlords.

Kayura shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I kind of like it here.  I wouldn’t mind staying here for a little while.”

“It’s a change for us,” Dais said, “but I wouldn’t mind checking it out.”

“We’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Sekhmet added.

“Well, you know where to find us if you need anything,” Ryo answered.

Rowen looked up the sky.  Now that the mortal world was restored, there was some business he had to attend to.

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

One year later…

 

Rowen looked around the airport.  He checked his watch.  His friends should have been here by now.  He had come for a visit.  It was a year ago today when his beloved Monica died at the hands of the Dynasty.  After they defeated the Dynasty with the help of the warlords and Lady Kayura, Rowen couldn’t stay here knowing Monica wouldn’t be here.  He had gone to Monica’s apartment and called her grandmother.  She was devastated by the news of her granddaughter.  After that sad phone call, he got Mercury, and left.  Now, he was back.  At Sage’s suggestion, Rowen had come for the one-year anniversary of her death.  He regretted not being able to make it for Cameron’s anniversary.  He was barely able to make it for his own deceased girlfriend.

“Rowen!”

He looked in the direction the voice came from.  He saw his four friends standing near the window of the gate, waving to him.  He approached them and they all hugged him.  They all jump in Sage’s jeep and head to the apartment.  They were still at the same place.  Cye had moved in the room with Sage.  The last time Rowen was here, he held his girlfriend as she died in his arms.  Tears spilled down Rowen’s cheek at the memory.  To get Rowen out of the apartment, Kento suggested they all go out to eat.  At the restaurant, They noticed the past year hadn’t exactly been the most kind to him.  The emotional strain was plainly written on his face.  Physically, though, he looked well.  To be on the safe side, they limited themselves to general conversation.

Rowen asked, “How are the former warlords and Kayura getting along in the mortal world?”

Ryo laughed.  “Kayura is still around.  She actually likes it here.  The warlords are a different story.  They escaped back to the dynasty, three months ago, I think.”

“They couldn’t adjust to the advancements of modern civilization,” Cye added.

After they ate, Rowen had to pay someone a visit.  Promising to meet them at the apartment, he set off towards the gallery Monica worked at.  Rowen had stopped by to break to Mr. Harold Kessler the news of Monica’s death.  He was deeply saddened by it, expecting Monica to live longer than he did and become the curator of the gallery in his wake.  Rowen noticed a young woman dusting a display.

“Miss, is the curator in?”

“Mr. Kessler?  Yes, he is.  May I tell him who is seeking him?”

“The hus-…friend of a former acquaintance.”

“One moment, please.”

Rowen wandered the gallery, gazing at the objects Monica adored.  These were the objects of Monica’s affection before he stole her heart.  He paused in front of a suit of Japanese armor.  There was a small brass plaque beside it on the wall: To the loving memory of Monica T. Franklin.

“That was the last piece she acquired before she died.”

Rowen turned and saw Harold Kessler, Monica’s friend and former employer.

Harold continued, “She actually acquired about a third of the pieces here in my gallery.  She never took any of the credit for any of the pieces.  I went through and put these little signs on all the pieces the got.  Do you think she would like it?”

“Yes,” Rowen answered with a weak smile.  “I’m quite sure she would not mind at all.”

“How are you holding up, my boy?  You don’t look like you’ve been handling it very well.”

“The past year has been hard, but I’m managing.  I just came for a visit since this is the one-year anniversary of her death.”

“Thank you for stopping by.”  Harold paused for a moment.  “I remember her friend, Cameron, always teased her, telling her that she had a heart of stone.  You are a special young man to win the heart of such a woman.  I know she loved you dearly.”

Rowen nodded.  Fighting tears, he answered, “I loved her more than anything.  I wish it was me that had died instead of her.”

Harold gave him a kind smile.  “Just remember that her love will always be there to guide you.”

Rowen left the gallery on that note.  Why did he come back?  His heart was aching.  He wanted to go to her apartment but he knew she wouldn’t be there.  He decided to go to the park and take a walk.  He sat on a bench and pulled out his favorite picture of him and Monica.  Staring at her, his mind reminisced to the times he shared with her.  A familiar voice caused him to snap his head up.  There was a young woman with a set of five-year-old identical twins.  The twins were running around and she stood nearby watching, calling out to the children.  It wasn’t so much as the woman that interested him.  Her voice sounded just like Monica’s.

“Nathan, put your brother down!  Nick, you won’t have to worry about him picking you up if you would just leave him be.”

She turned and saw Rowen staring at her.  She smiled at him and turned away.  One of the children was crying.  He watched as she nurtured the crying child.  His mind envisioned Monica kneeling down to tend the child, his child, hugging and reassuring him.  Teary-eyed, Rowen forced himself to turn away and walk off.

On the way back to the apartment, Rowen decided to pay a visit to the cemetery.  He kneeled down by her tombstone.  He tried to keep his tears in check.

“I’m back, Monica,” he said, aloud.  “I’m sorry I didn’t come to your funeral.  I just didn’t want to accept the fact that you had left me.  We defeated the Dynasty.  Things are peaceful now.  Yeah, I’ve been all right.  Well, about as all right as I can be without you here.  After we defeated the Dynasty, I had to leave.  Things aren’t the same without you.

“Oh yeah, I took Mercury.  He didn’t like me at first, but we’ve grown to be quite fond of each other.  He’s gotten so big, Monica, you wouldn’t even recognize it was him.  Sometimes, when he looks at me, I swear he’s giving me a ‘is my mama coming back’ look.

“I told your grandmother about your death.  She had asked how you died.  I couldn’t tell her about the Dynasty.  I just told her you were poisoned.  She was heartbroken.  She thought it was my fault.  I think it’s because she didn’t get a chance to meet me.  I told Harold, too.  He had every intention of dying before you and turning the gallery over to you.  He put a small memorial plaque on all the pieces you obtained for the gallery.  He asked me if you would mind if he gave you credit for the thing that you didn’t want credit for.  I told him no, you wouldn’t mind.  You probably would mind, but you put the time and energy in getting those items.  You deserved the recognition.”  He paused and let the tears consume him.

“I love you very much, Monica.  I just with I had told you sooner than I did.  I know you knew I did, but you deserved to hear it.  I’m not over you.  I don’t want to get over you.  I’ll probably never get over you.”

Rowen got up from his spot at Monica’s grave.  He knew that his heart would let go eventually.  He wasn’t ready for that yet.  Monica was the only woman who taught him the real meaning of what is was to love.  As far as he was concerned, he belonged with her and he would wait forever until he could hold her and be loved by her again.

 

 

 

Back to the Library   or   Back to Home