Chapter Sixteen: Hello and Good-bye

      Ryo and Lita sat down on the rock by the lake where they had departed from earlier. Since they were the first to arrive, time went by slowly.

    "I wonder where the others are?" thought Lita out loud.

     "If I know them, Kento is at a restaurant, Sai is staring into a pet store at the fish, Rowen is in a library and Sage is flirting."

     "So what else is new?" said Lita, smiling. She raised an eyebrow at three figures approaching them. She stood and Ryo got into a fighting position. Soon, the three figures, who had seen Lita and Ryo, starting running at them. Ryo eased and Lita looked at him and said,

     "What are you doing?"

     "You're kidding? That's Kento, Kale, and Rose."

    "How did you know?"

    "I smell food."

    "Oh," said Lita as Kento, Kale, and Rose stopped in front of them.

     "We brought back some food, or what was left, after those two were finished," said Kale, nodding his head toward Kento and Rose.

    "I was hungry," said Kento and Rose at the same time. Kale just rolled his eyes and handed Ryo and Lita each a small brown bag. They sat down and opened them. Inside were a small drink, fries, and chicken. Ryo and Lita began to eat. Kale, Kento, and Rose sat in silence as the others ate.

    "Save any for us, Kale?" asked Sekhmet as he peered over Kale's shoulder. Sai and Selene were behind him. Sai sat next to Kento and Selene sat next to Rose. Kale handed out the bags. On inspection of hers, Selene said,

    "Did you guys get me a salad? I'm a vegetarian."

    "Veggie what?" asked Kale and Sekhmet.

    "I don't eat meat," said Selene.

    "We did. The third one from the bottom, Kale," said Rose, tossing him the bag. He grumbled an apology and handed Selene the salad. She thanked him. Kento turned to Sai and said,

    "This stuff is good Sai, but not as good as your cooking."

     "Gee, Kento, don't talk with your mouth full," said Sai, slightly embarrassed.

    "You cook?" asked Rose.

    "Well, um, yes I do," said Sai.

     "Bet you're not as good as Selene here," said Rose.

     "Come on Rose, I'm not that good," said Selene, turning pink.

     "I bet Sai could cook better then her," said Kento.

    "Says who?" asked Rose, standing.

    "I do," said Kento. Selene was about to intervene, as was Sai, when Ryo said,

     "Who is that, coming our way in such a hurry?"

     "I don't know, but they are carrying something or someone," said Lita.

     "With luck, it's either Sage, Crystal, and Kayura, or Rowen, Amy, and Dais," said Ryo shrugging his shoulders.

     "The one that they are carrying is shaking, like they are in severe pain," said Lita.

    "Or having a seizure. That's Dais!" said Kale, running up to Amy and Rowen, and quickly picking up Dais. He was still shaking vigorously, but Kale held him down.

    "What happened?" asked Sekhmet. Amy and Rowen were too out of breath to say anything comprehendible. Rose handed them their dinners, which they ate quickly, as if they hadn't eaten in days. Rose shrugged, but Rowen and Amy where more relaxed and able to tell them what happened.

    "Dais was poisoned. Is Sage back yet?" said Rowen in a worried tone.

    "No, but unless that's a centaur with two heads, then that's he and Crystal, along with Kayura next to them," said Amy.

    Everyone looked to the horizon, where a black creature with four legs and two heads galloped next to Kayura. As we approached, it was seen to be Sage riding behind me on a horse. Sensing that Dais was in trouble, Kayura quickened to a run and ran ahead of me. I put the horse into a gallop, and reached the others. Sage jumped off and I followed suit, letting Starlight go to the lake for a drink. As I approached them, I saw that Sage had his hands above Dais's body, and that they were glowing green. Soon, Dais's body was surrounded by a green light. In a few minutes, Dais opened his eyes. Everybody relaxed. Kayura, Sage, Dais and I were given our own food. I sighed happily as I saw that Rose remembered that I liked chicken tenders and hated burgers.

     "I think we should relay to each other what happened, so that we have a better understanding of the situation," said Kayura.

    Ryo and Lita began telling the others about their fight with Sun Devil. How Lita had gotten her armor and about her new attack. Then Kento told the others about his and Rose's fight with Dala. Rose told of her armor and her new attack, while Kale explained what they did with his sword. Sai and Sekhmet told of their battle with Saranbo. Selene didn't add much there, but she told of the place where she found her armor. Then they all added bits and pieces of the end of Saranbo, including Selene's new attack. Dais told most of his story, until he blacked out. Rowen and Amy told of their accounts, with Sage and me translating every other word for Kento and Rose. Kayura refused to talk about the walk up, because she said just remembering it gave her a migraine. So we skipped it and went on to the battle, in its several stages, Kayura talking until she left the scene. Sage and I argued over who would go next, but Sai and Selene calmed us down. Sage went on, while I fumed. After Sage got to the part about where I ran ahead, I took over. I told about meeting up with Saber Strike, about the cave, except for the secret room, and about finding my armor and Starlight. I also explained how my leg was completely cured by Starlight.

    "Sage just might actually have competition in that department now," said Amy. I laughed and finished my story, including my new attack, which Kayura had missed.

    "Ok, I think I have it now. When your armors were created, the power level was weak. After Scarbna increased their power, you five learned your basic attacks. Now, after all these battles, your armor has reached a new level. And a new attack. Does that make sense?" asked Kayura when she had finished. We all nodded that it sounded reasonable. With that, we saw that the sky was darkening.

    "Who wants to get firewood?" asked Kento.

    "I will. I can ride White Blaze and be back in a flash," said Ryo, whistling for his tiger friend. He jumped down from a nearby cliff and landed effortlessly next to him.

    "Then I'll go as well. Starlight can carry twice my weight or more if necessary," I said. Everyone else was too lazy to object, so I called Starlight and hopped on. Ryo got on White Blaze's back and we rode off in search of wood.

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    "So, Ryo, where did you find White Blaze?" I asked, trying to start up a conversation. We had been riding for about half an hour without saying one word to each other.

    "He found me when I was seven and still lived at an orphanage," he said, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

    "Really? You're an orphan? So am I, only times two," I said, adding the last part with a hint of sadness. Ryo looked at me through the corner of his eye, when he saw a forest up ahead.

    "Wood, great. Let's go White Blaze," he said, ending the conversation. I pushed Starlight to go faster and caught up with Ryo and White Blaze. He had donned his armor of Wildfire and had pulled out his katanas. I donned my armor and hopped off of Starlight. I unhooked her armor that was around her body and laid it on the ground.

    "Need help?" I asked, noticing him having trouble balancing a load of wood with White Blaze.

    "No thanks," he said flatly.

    "Stubborn," I mumbled under my breath before unsheathing my swords. The double-edged blades cut through the trunks of trees like they were butter. Then, gazing at the trunks on the ground, I had them float over to the armor that was on the ground. I dropped them there and hooked the straps around the wood. Picking up a ring that was attached to the underside of the armor, I strung the reins through it and balanced it evenly on Starlight's shoulders. She pranced under the weight, but with a little cooing and patting, she calmed down. I hopped onto her.

     "Need help?" I asked again, still seeing that Ryo was having problems. He looked at me and let out a gasp.

    "What?" I asked before following his gaze. There, back toward where we had left our friends, was Talpa. I instantly used my psychic powers to remove the wood and get Starlight's armor back on her. Ryo had already dropped his wood and he was already racing toward Talpa on White Blaze's back. I pushed Starlight in a gallop and followed him, the sun setting behind us. I hope we're not too late, I thought grimly to myself.

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      Everyone had stopped what they had been doing at the sight of Talpa's figure. Soon, each person had donned their armor and had their weapons drawn.

    "Stupid Ronins. You will never win, but I will rule the Mortal Realm!" Talpa screamed, followed by a hideous laugh. They turned to see a red gate form behind them. The doors opened within seconds, and a black hole effect started, the doors sucking in everything. Soon, Kayura, Dais, Sekhmet, Kale, Rowen, Amy, Sai, Selene, Kento, Rose, Lita, and Sage disappeared into the door, which closed up after them. Talpa shimmered away as an angry Ryo and Crystal rode onto the scene.

     "We're too late!" said Ryo, gritting his teeth.

     "Maybe not. I think we'll just have to crash his party," I said, indicating the door. Ryo smirked and said,

    "You aren't half bad, for a babe."

    "Say that to me again, buster, and you won't have a face to smirk with," I said in the same jokingly manner he had used. In seconds, we ran at the door, and jumped toward it. Ryo pulled back with his right and I pulled back with my left fist and we slammed them onto the door simultaneously. It creaked open slowly. White Blaze and Starlight followed us into the door. Into the darkness. Into Talpa's domain, where the impossible could happen.