Chapter 3
“Now, Megan, Kento has four siblings,” Robyn explained, “Rinfi, he’s 15, Yunis, he’s 13, Mei Ryu, he’s 10 and Chun Fa she’s 7.”
“Ok, 15, 13, 10, 7, Got it,” the brunette replied.
“Now Chun Fa, she has a crush on Cye, and well, she is very…” Robyn trailed off.
“She’s a bit, protective?” Megan suggested.
“Yes, very protective, so just to warn you,” the red head remarked.
“Got it,” the girl responded.
Cye, Robyn and Megan had met up with Rowen and Sage, and were a few houses away from Kento’s. They had to stop by Ryo’s to get him since his phone wasn’t working. The guys chatted and teased behind the girls. Soon the gang came to Kento’s house. They all strode up ready to eat, when Kento reached for the door knob; it turned automatically, opened and from inside the house came a happy squeal as a small girl, with blue-gray hair in small pigtails, ran out and raced to Cye, hugging his legs.
Megan looked at Robyn, “Chun Fa?”
Robyn nodded, a happy expression on her face. Suddenly Megan felt a strange feeling spread over her, she looked down and saw a pair of 7-year-old eyes staring up at her.
“Oh, Hello,” the brunette greeted politely.
“Are you Cye’s girl friend,” the question shocked the girl a bit, but instantly a confident smile arose from the confusion.
“Why yes, I’m a girl, I’m his friend. So I’m a girl friend, like Robyn,” the Nightling answered, hoping the young girl would understand. She seemed to, she glanced at the red head and then back at this new friend.
“You’re a lesbian?” Chun Fa asked.
Megan shot a dirty look at Robyn, who smiled innocently.
“Why, yes, Chun Fa, I’m with Robyn,” Megan replied.
Kento couldn’t help but laugh, Rowen turned away so no one could see his tears of joy. Robyn smiled and threw her arms around Megan’s shoulders. Ryo laughed almost too hard, Cye just put a hand to his forehead. Chun Fa nodded and grabbed Cye’s hand, leading him inside. The others followed. Kento had stuck to his word; the American could smell the hotdogs and burgers.
“Hey Ryo!” a young brunette boy chided happily, “Want to play some soccer?”
“Sure Mei Ryu,” the raven-haired teen answered.
“Soccer? Did some one say soccer?” Megan asked.
Ryo stopped and turned to face her, “Yeah we’re going to go play, you can come if its O.K. with Mei Ryu.”
Mei Ryu stared at the brunette girl for a minute; “Girls can’t play.”
“What?!” the Nightling roared.
“Well they can’t,” the young brunette replied.
Megan growled hatefully, she loved soccer, loved it.
Suddenly a firm hand grasped her shoulder, the girl turned her gaze to the person behind her, the blue-haired teen smiled, “We’ll all play, lets go out back.”
Megan smiled and thanked Rowen mentally.
Soon everyone ran out back to play. Ryo had picked Mei Ryu, Sage, and Rowen. Megan had been given Kento, Robyn, and Cye to work with; they marked the goals and appointed positions. Kento was Megan’s goalie; Mei Ryu was Ryo’s. Ryo suddenly set off at half speed, Megan followed easily, he turned, she followed, and she then took her turn. Sweeping her foot infront of Ryo’s she captured the ball, kicking it to Cye. Rowen ran to the ball first, but fortunately had seen his plan and ran towards him, leaving Ryo to Robyn. She ran side by side with the blue-haired whiz kid, just as the brunette was about to get the ball, their feet tangled. Both fell to the ground, but instantly Megan was up, following the ball. She caught up and turned, kicking the ball to Cye.
“Man, she’s strong,” Rowen huffed. He got up quickly and followed.
“Did little Rowen get hurt?” Robyn teased from her position on the field.
The keeper of Strata gave her a stern glare before going to cover Megan. Sage was covering Cye at the moment and Robyn, Ryo. At the present time, Megan had the ball.
“Robyn go to the goal!” the brunette called to her friend. The red head nodded and ran to the goal, full speed. Megan kicked it to Cye.
“Cye, kick it to the goal!” the girl ordered. The British teen nodded and kicked. The ball soared over the heads of Ryo, Sage, Megan and Rowen. It landed a foot away from Robyn, she didn’t hesitate, she kicked and in went the ball.
***
When the game ended it was one to one, a tie. All the players, with the exception of the goalies, were bruised and scraped. All of them flopped down on the chairs infront of the table, exhausted.
“Megan, Ryo? You guys O.K.?” Robyn asked the panting duo.
“Yes, need water,” the brunette teen heaved.
“So Ryo actually got a run for his money?” the red head teased, handing her friend a glass of ice water.
The tiger-eyed teen smiled, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I forgot to tell you Ryo, Megan plays soccer in Florida, she’s good too. I went to one of her games,” Robyn commented.
Ryo smiled, “I bet she is.”
Ryo looked over to the brunette beside him, she was gulping down her glass of water, and after she finished she poured herself some more. Soon the food was passed around, all of the guys got 3 hot dogs and some fries, Robyn only got 2 and Megan, 3. All the soccer players chowed down their meal as quickly as humanly possible. Mama Faun scowled them for eating so fast. Megan gave her an innocent smile before gulping down her ice water.
***
After the meal the mob said their farewells and started home. Everyone was tired, besides, they all had school the next day. Soon Cye, Robyn and Megan were back home. Robyn immediately claimed the bathroom to take a shower; Cye sat on the couch, tired from all the activities. Megan sat next to him, equally tired.
“So, you have school tomorrow?” the girl asked flatly.
“Yeah, I really don’t want to have to study all night for finals,” the holder of the armor of Torrent whined.
“You know, I could always drop you off earlier so you can study before school,” the Nightling suggested.
The young British teen looked at her, a little taken back, “Really?”
“Well, yeah just get me up early,” the girl explained.
“Oh, so you can drop me off at school tomorrow, at 7a.m?” Cye inquired.
“Uh…yeah. I better go get to bed then if I have to get up that early,” she answered.
With that said she ran up stairs to get her P.J.’s on.
***
Sage yawned and got under the covers, too tired to notice the shadow flash on his wall. It was 10pm, twilight adorned the sky and the stars shone brightly as sleep touched Sage’s weary mind.
**
“Halo…”
That voice, who is calling me?
“Halo, come forth…” the voice sung, it’s haunting echo starting to scare the warrior of light.
Sage sat up, he was again in the shining forest, beside the pond, but it was night. A full moon hit the lake and shattered into a million pieces. After a moment, Sage finally noticed an elegant white form a few feet away, it stood on the lake’s surface, just standing on the water.
“What are you?” the blonde asked before he could think.
“I am innocence,” the hooded figure’s response echoed through Sage’s body, scaring him a bit.
“What are you doing here?” Halo’s keeper stood, ready to attack or run.
The woman stood still, the water beneath her feet rippled. The blonde was getting irritated, he could feel his violet eyes start to blaze.
“Well?” he tested.
The lady did not respond, instead she lowered her head to stare at the surface of the pond, it glowed and suddenly the pond itself shone brightly. Without a word the pond’s light slowly faded away.
“What are you going to do?” Sage questioned the woman.
“Sage of Halo, come to the edge of the pond,” the voice echoed.
The violet-eyed youth nodded and did as told. When he peered down at his reflection he saw the Halo armor. It held within it his stormy violet eyes. Sage glanced back up at the hooded woman, eyes wide.
“This is your true form Sage of Halo,” the figure responded quickly.
Just then Sage shot a glance beneath the lady, her reflection was a glowing creature, it could not be seen, but it was immense
“Are you going to hurt me?” the blonde questioned.
“No Sage of Halo…I am here to help you,” with that the robed lady strolled over to the warrior of wisdom.
“What are you going to do?” Sage inquired.
The woman reached over and gently took Sage’s face in her hands, her face could not be seen. She pulled him close and gently kissed him. She let the blonde go.
“I am going to protect that which needs to be protected.”
***
“Morning,” Rowen greeted Sage. Surprisingly, Rowen had gotten up early that morning to get to school. He, like Cye, had a day full of exams. Sage walked next to Rowen in silence. In no time they could see the school in the distance. The pair made their way towards the library, but something in the court yard caught their attention. A young man, in jeans and a baby blue t-shirt, was sitting under a tree reading a book, but what was unusual was the form resting beside him. Megan had her head resting on Cye’s leg , with the rest of her stretched out on the grass, her leather jacket covering her bare shoulders.
The blue-haired teen was about to call to his friend when the young Nightling stirred, the wind blew softly in her direction, playing with her hair. Cye looked over at the girl, smiling he reached over and pushed a few strands of hair from her face. Sage made his way over to his friend, who had continued to read, Rowen followed.
“Hey Cye,” the keeper of Strata greeted in a hushed tone.
The brunette looked up at his friends, “Oh, hello, Rowen, Sage.”
Cye quickly shut his book, he was in the middle of getting up when he remembered why he couldn’t. Rowen pulled off his pack and gently put it under the sleeping girl’s head. Cye nodded and stood up. The trio walked around the corner to talk.
***
“Cye, what are you doing here so early?” Rowen questioned the English teen.
“Same as you, studying,” the wearer of Torrent answered.
Rowen seemed concerned, but only Sage noticed the slight fault in his friend’s stance. For a few moments the blonde didn’t know the source of this concern but soon realized. Sage looked at the 2, they were staring each other down.
“Cye, Rowen…is this about…” the keeper of Halo let the phrase hang as he noticed the darkening of the sky. The trio looked up to see a shadow coming over the sun.
“An eclipse…” Cye stated.
The ronins felt a pain in their sides has they watched the eclipse. Rowen and Cye began to slowly walk back towards the courtyard, Sage followed as fast as possible.
“Megan…?” The blue haired youth tested.
The girl was being held up by a young man, looked to be 20, the man had black hair and green eyes. But his position seemed odd, his lips were gently pressed against their friend’s throat.
The warriors were horrified, but the trance was broken by a faint voice, “Please…let me go….let me…go….”
“Oh no, Megan!” Cye crowed. The vampire looked up at the group. He sneered then jerked the girl’s head back to mock them. Megan’s arms hung limp, the vampire leaned over slowly to finish his work. Suddenly the Nightling came alive. In a flash of movement the pale-eyed girl had a dagger plundged into the vampire’s heart.
Both bodies fell to the ground, one dead, one becoming as the first. The troupe raced over to the girl and pulled her up, Cye broke off a branch of the tree and stuck it into the heart of the vampire to finish the job. Sage gently touched the wound on the girl’s neck, a soft glow radiated from his hands as the punctures healed. The eclipse slipped from the sky, destroying the vampiric body.
Sage let the girl’s body slip into Rowen’s arms, her skin felt only slightly warm and the temperature seemed to be dropping.
“Megan?” Cye tested hesitantly, “oh God no….Megan!”
“Cye, she’s alive, the demon didn’t take a lot of blood,” the Keeper of Halo explained quickly.
The brunette looked at his limp friend, she looked so pale, so lifeless, it scared the wearer of Torrent. Suddenly a noise caught their attention, the ghastly sound that was so familiar to them. The noise stopped and they heard the doors close. Cye stood quickly to greet his friends. When Robyn and Kento turned the corner they could tell something had happened. As soon as Robyn caught sight of her unconscious friend she ran to her side.
“Cye, what happened?” the red head inquired of the young man.
“A vampire attacked her…there was an eclipse and there it was,” the English youth explicated.
“Will she be ok?” the girl questioned eagerly.
“She’ll be fine Robyn, she just needs sleep,” Sage interrupted.
“I’ll take her to my place,” the blue-haired youth suggested, “no one is there, and my room is quite dark.”
The ronins nodded in agreement, Rowen quickly shifted the limp body in his arms and stood, he motioned for Kento to follow, they then preceded to the parking lot. A few moments later the irratible sound started back up and slowly faded away.
***
The others had informed Ryo about what had happened when he finally arrived. Rowen and Kento assured the group that their friend was safely sleeping in his room. They then decided that all of them would stop by Rowen’s to talk to Megan after school. After their meeting the group split up and headed toward their classes, a little unfocused.
***
“Bbbbbbrrrriiiiinnnnnggg!” the bell sang annoyingly. Ryo stopped by his detention teacher to tell him he couldn’t be in there today, the teacher was understanding enough to excuse him. The wearer of Wildfire ran to meet his friends, “Sorry I’m late I had to talk to the teacher.”
“That’s O.K. but we better hurry so that she doesn’t freak out,” Rowen suggested quickly.
“Yeah, so lets get going!” Kento crowed impatiently.
They nodded and headed towards Kento’s jeep. You may not think they couldn’t fit but, where theres a will theres a way…in other words…they were very, very squished. Cye and Robyn looked the most concerned, though they disguised it well. After a few minutes of riding in the rickety old jeep they made it to Rowen’s apartment. They were all glad to get out of the jeep.
As soon as the ronins opened the door they could tell something wasn’t right. Rowen stepped in first, he felt uneasy in the darkened room. Sage felt it stronger than his friends, there was a taint of darkness on everything. The blue-eyed and haired youth ran to his room, opening the door, he could feel the darkness trying to grab him. Rowen growled at the annoyance and looked toward his bed, it was empty.
“Guys, she’s not here,” the confused ronin stated. The others ran to his side looking into the room.
“Where could she be?” Ryo inquired of no one.
“I don’t know, but we should go look for her, she might be attacked again,” Sage thought aloud.
“Robyn, go with Kento, Ryo go with Cye, I’ll go with Sage,” the brightest ronin ordered. The others nodded in agreement and started out, but something caught Sage’s eye before going out the door. He looked down at the desk, it was a picture. It was a picture of the warriors and Robyn.
Robyn was sitting on her knees in a white dress, arrows piercing her back, she had wings which slumped to the ground. Rowen was kneeling, he wore a battle kimono, there was a long slash on his chest. Ryo had been impaled with his own swords, he too wore a kimono. Kento was also in kimono, he lain on the ground eyes wide open, he seemed unharmed physically but he was dead. Cye lain on his stomach a dagger in his back, his kimono was tore more than the rest. Finally Sage focused upon his own picture, he wore a kimono as the others, blood ran from the hidden space under his hair and a large gash adorned his chest. The blonde was horrified, he looked to the figure of Robyn in the middle of their deathly circle, but another figure had taken a place next to Robyn. It was a cross made of black crystal, and on it hung Megan, she wore a black dress that had been torn, on her forehead was a long slash. A poem had been printed above the cross:
I’ve drawn what I’ve seen,
Now see what I’ve drawn,
To change this fate,
It must be undone.
“Sage what are you doing?” Rowen questioned his friend.
“Rowen, look…”the blonde handed his friend the picture.
“We have to find her,” the youth affirmed, he folded up the picture and put it in his pocket.
***
It was 9 o’clock p.m. The sun had set quite a while ago. Robyn and Kento had reached the park, everyone had left to eat dinner by the time they got there. The red head had called home several times to make sure she wasn’t there.
“Oh god, where is she?” Robyn questioned the silence.
“Come on Robyn, lets keep looking,” the bearer of Hardrock proposed. The girl sighed, and finally nodded. But as soon has she took a step the pair heard a strange sound. It sounded like a flute or some kind of pipe. Robyn turned to face the direction the music came from, a hopeful look shown on her face. Without thought the girl ran towards the music. Kento followed easily.
***
A figure sat by a large tree next to a small pond, the full moon shown on the figure with uncorrupt light. As the wind blew the form played the instrument, so that it seemed the wind played instead.
“Megan,” Robyn said into the wind, gasping for breath, the gray-blue haired youth huffing behind her.
“So you’ve found me,” the girl stood, facing her friends.
“Come on Megan, lets go home, O.K.?” the emerald eyed youth pleaded.
“No, not yet…not yet,” Megan whispered, looking back to the full moon. The muscular teen pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. The wind started up again, and once more the pipe sang its mystical melody.
***
Soon everyone had found their way to the secret place in the park. Ryo and Cye were to first to show, then came Rowen and Sage. As soon as all were present they started talking about their misguided companion. She stood by the tree, playing the pipe as the wind blew. She still had her black jeans and dark red tank top on.
“What are we going to do with her?” Ryo asked in a whisper.
“I don’t know…she seems so detached,” Cye whispered back.
Slowly the wind stopped and the music ended. Soft sounds were made as the Nightling found her way to the group. All fell silent when she came near, as if she were death itself.
The lantern in the center of their circle shown faint light. The pale-eyed teen drew a circle in the dirt, she placed a green stone in the center.
“Megan? Megan, what are you doing?” the blue-haired teen questioned.
The girl ignored her friend and placed more stones on, around and in the circle. When she finished her ritual the girl replied, “Its close, this is for protection.”
“Protection from what?” Sage asked.
Stormy blue eyes stared over at Sage, a fear and hate turning within them, “from everything.”
“And what is-“ Rowen began but the girl interrupted him.
“Ice-Leaper, wolf of earth, guardian beast of the north. Come now dear wolf, come and protect us. Dawn-Treader, come great wolf of winds, wolf of the East, protect us. Sun-Chaser, wolf of flame, spirit of the South, come protect us. Night-Stalker, gentle wolf of water, spell worker, great guardian of the West, come protect us,” as the chant was spoken the Nightling moved the various stones. Slowly light flooded into the small area.
“Megan…what are you doing?” Robyn almost whispered.
“She’s like some sort of wi-”Kento began but was interrupted by a blinding flash. Suddenly the wind picked up and seemed to blow everything around the group away.
“Make it stop!” Ryo roared in the midst of the chaos.
The ronins held to the ground for dear life, Robyn had grabbed on to Megan’s arm. Oddly enough the young brunette was unaffected by the tornado around her. The last thing the Ronins saw was a small glowing orb floating just out of the pale-eyed youth’s reach.