Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Dream a Little Dream - In the Beginning ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
In the Dynasty Cale and Sekhmet were having a hard time getting Crys to cooperate. Her spirit and saucy attitude had not lessened in the Dynasty as they thought it would have. She had seen some of the horrors of the Dynasty and she didn't even seem phased by it all.

"You are a spirited woman, perhaps the Master will allow us to play with you after he is done with you." Cale sneered at her from behind his faceplate.

"Only in your wildest dreams jackal boy. That goes for you too fang face." Crys replied looking from one of her captors to the other.

She was being lead to the throne room, of that much she was certain. Now she was waiting for her "formal" introduction to Talpa. All the while her mind ticked over the knowledge of what she knew about Talpa and his many minions and what all she could do to sew a little paranoia amongst the ranks.

As she entered the throne room she didn't even flinch at the large head floating above the chair. "Let me guess, Talpa, Lord of the Dynasty, future conqueror of the Mortal realm, true owner of the Ronin and Warlord armors and all around ass. Did I get it all??"

"SILENCE!" Talpa roared. This wench was indeed as spirited as his generals had reported to him. "I would know who it is that has come to this realm and knows me before I am even able to make them an offer."

"I am Crys, Q.U.B.O.T.U, Telephone operator and One that hopes to befriend the Ronin Warriors so I can watch them turn your generals against you and kick your ass."

Smirking she made a mocking little bow before she was cuffed for her impudence. "You will respect Master Talpa as it is he that will decide your fate mortal." Sekhmet glared at her.

"I think not." She replied in a low growl. "And you will be sorry that you ever laid a hand on me in that fashion, Sekhmet, Warlord of Venom." She hissed out as the welt on her face was starting to pull.

"What do you want Talpa, I don't have time to waste here all day waiting for you to scheme and plan out how you would use me against the Ronin Warriors. I know what you are really waiting for and I can tell you that it will be your downfall you bodiless prick." She took on a bored stance and expression much to the surprise of all in the audience chamber.

"I want to know how it is that you know so much about my empire and the Ronin Warriors. You are not of this land that I will conquer first and I know that all that is happening is a result of your interference." Talpa calmed some as this human intrigued him. She wasn't in the least bit scared of him and her faith in the Ronin Warriors was unshakable. What ever it was that she knew had the potential to topple his empire and he was going to find out what it was and destroy it before it could be used against him.

"Nope, sorry, not interested. See ya." Was the reply.

"You would defy the one that could give you power and immortality for this information?" Talpa's tone was dangerously quiet as he asked this.

"You heard me right the first time tin grin. Not interested. I know that your offers of power and immortality do to a person. I don't need that kind of power and quite frankly immortality would get boring after a while. I am not after taking over the world or serving you for the rest of my life, natural or otherwise so you can just kiss my ass for all I care."

Boredom, sarcasm, and anger all mixed in her voice to produce a very convincing argument, at least a convincing argument to most people. As Talpa was not most people he finally let his anger take control. "Take her away!" He commanded.

As she disappeared between Sekhmet and Cale she found herself in the pits with Anubis. As she looked over at him she remembered more and sadness entered her eyes.

"Why are you sad for me. I know you are not worried for your own sake, I did hear your conversation with Talpa. I have to admit, no mortal has ever irritated him like that and lived in a long time." Anubis smiled at what happened the last time a mortal lived. It wasn't pretty and that one was still alive somewhere in the Dynasty in the pain and agony of what had been done with him.

"You really don't want to fight on Talpa's terms do you? To do so would be to lose honor on the battlefield. Something you fought for a long time ago, wasn't it?" She asked softly. She knew that Talpa was listening to them and that this conversation would probably strengthen the resolve of two unbending forces of will.

"You know much about me for one so young as yourself. I can only wonder how." She had caught his interest with her phrasing. Her soft words were hard to catch at times with all of the Nether Spirits chanting about him.

"I can not tell you now. But please, follow your heart and your virtue of Loyalty. Your armor will not steer you wrong." She had surprised him with information that he had only recently come across about himself.

"Dark Spirits of the Dynasty, awaken the dark powers that you have given to Anubis. Return him to my side as my general once more." The two prisoners heard Talpa call to the Nether Spirits and Anubis screamed in pain as the Dark forces ignited within him causing his mind to subvert to that of Anubis, Warlord of Cruelty.

As the screams increased in volume and intensity Crys could do nothing but sit on the ledge she had been set on and watch, tears rolling down her face as she could almost feel the pain Anubis was going through as he fought to retain his own sense of self. "Fight Anubis, fight for what you believe in." She whispered as she watched him disappear before her eyes to fight the Ronin Warriors, who were still not ready to face him.

"Now you see what I can do for you, I can also kill you with that power." Talpa's head appeared before Crys as she glared at him defiantly.

"Talpa, I will never serve you. I know that Anubis's will is stronger than you give him credit for. Never, NEVER underestimate the human spirit." She spat at him. "As for getting out of here. It is true that I can't get out on my own, but that doesn't mean that I don't have any tricks up my sleeves to get out of here before you can mind wash me into a puppet."

Her defiance would have been endearing had it not been directed at him. He was enjoying her display of will. Even seeing Anubis turned back to his side had not broken this girl a bit. "Cale, Sekhmet, put her in the pit. I want to see just how strong she really is before she bends to my will."

His laughter infuriated her as the two Warlords showed up looking for all the world like they had just had their asses handed to them with a pair of tongs. Even so, she was still no match for their strength and as they drug her down to the pit a small voice in her mind screamed for her to call on the powers of the staff and just escape.

Another part of her held back, this was the Ronin's fight. Now she was in a fight of her own where it was her will and strength against a multi-millennia old demon lord. She found that as she touched the pit goo, it held her firmly, letting her move but not letting her escape the pit itself. "Man, Can't you think of anything better than mystic rubber cement Talpa?" She muttered to herself.

They had taken her knife so she wouldn't be able to cut her way out of there. She could only hope that She could get the blade back for Cye. It was an old blade by the looks of it and she didn't want to deal with a debt owed.

"We shall see just how amusing you are after we feed you with the same dark forces we gave to Anubis. His power is unparalleled now, and with the Nether Spirits reinforcing my control over him, he will remain a faithful general in my army. I think that we shall see if it is as effective, if not more so on someone that is only a mere human." Talpa laughed as he called the Nether Spirits to attend to her.

The first shot of the dark energy almost overwhelmed her, but as her mind and heart slowly started to turn towards Talpa's evil ways she saw a bright spot and her consciousness took refuge there. "Talpa, You will never get me to serve you. NEVER."

She whispered before the spirits stopped for the moment to assess that they had done to the girl. The moment the pain stopped her mind fought back with a ferocity she only had the day she had to fight to get out of the neighborhood she once lived in. She regained her mind again and as she looked up at the spirits she started to wonder what it was that Anubis and the Ronin's had done to destroy them.

As she remembered she realized that it was her memories that Talpa was after. He knew that she was not of this world or dimension. She remembered instead of her last moments with Anubis in the pit. The compassion and honor that had been in his steady eyes as he spoke with her. He was not as cruel as his title made him sound, but his time with Talpa had tainted him. He was fighting back now and it was a pain filled uphill battle for him.

"I'm sorry Anubis. I never told you what I was saddened for." She murmured to herself as the tears of pain and rejection ran down her face as she regained the last footholds of her mind.

His own fight and the pain that he went through in his last moments in the pit strengthened her resolve and her spirit flared again in defense of her mind. Looking up she heard the chanting had intensified and figured that she was in for round two.

The pain was horrific as Anubis beat them all down. What ever Talpa had done to him it has seriously juiced his powers. Fighting together the Ronin's knew that if they could get past Anubis they would be one step closer to finding Crys.

As they all got up to fight again they all realized that Whiteblaze had temporarily distracted Anubis. Taking that chance they formed up for an attack. Again they were all beaten down with the exception of Rowen, who had wisely stayed out of the way now that they were on the street level.

As Anubis set about ensnaring them all with his sure kill so that he would be able to kill them al that much easier. But as he spoke the words that would release the pent up power for the shot something glimmered in his mind, a pair of sad eyes.

Even as he released his fury into the Quake, he heard her soft voice in the back of his mind as if it were fighting to free him from something. ~I'm sorry Anubis. I never told you what I was saddened for.~

Even as the chains wrapped painfully around the Ronin and their friends, Anubis's mind was one of conflict. He knew that voice and as he thought on it he barely remembered seeing her in the pit.

His arm drew back to use the blade of the Kusari Gama to destroy the Ronin Warriors when a scream of pain and terror ripped across his mind. As it arrested his mind it also arrested his body long enough for Rowen to take the shot he had been waiting for.

The Arrow Shock Wave hit with no interference this time, as Anubis had been held in shock by the pain and agony in the tortured scream. Had he been in anything less than his full armor, Anubis would have died the moment the arrow hit him. As it was it had shut him down. The chains disappeared and as Anubis collapsed he was called back to the Dynasty.

To the surprise of Talpa and the Ronin, A new yet familiar figure interrupted Anubis's return to the Dynasty. "Curse you Monk for your interference."

In the Pit it was a never-ending torture session for Crys. She had only short breaks where her battle weary mind was able to fight back and regain a precious little amount of her mind and heart back. Even as her mind and body wearied, her spirit was strong as ever. She had told Talpa no, and he was going to have to accept that she wasn't about to join him. No matter what they did to her.

Her nerves were on fire and a part of her wanted to give in, if nothing else to end the pain. But her resolved spirit wouldn't let her. She knew that she would get out of here one way or another.

Those parts of her that she couldn't regain she knew that the Nether Spirits had started to gang up on her to take over her mind and body. She wanted nothing to do with these spirits but she couldn't dispel them or deposes them herself.

In the throne room Talpa watched the scene with a large amount of interest. Already the Nether Spirits had poured more dark energy into this human than he had needed to, to turn Anubis. He could only wonder how she was holding out so long against him and what it was that was helping her to battle back in the short periods of rest.

Before him were his three remaining Warlords and it was to them that he gave the order. "Bring Anubis back. I need that armor"

Disappearing they could only wonder what it was about the armor Anubis was wearing that would make it so special to Talpa. As they had reappeared in the park where they had felt their former comrade's energy they made certain that he knew that he was to go back with them.