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"Have you taken care
of the girl yet?" Talpa asked the shadowy spirit
before him.
"No master." It
responded. "But she has started to use her powers. Soon
she will be on our side." Talpa seemed satisfied.
"Seckment!" He
called his warlord of venom. "Did you destroy Anubis?"
He
asked with agitation.
"No master." Seckment
responded.
"He was weak! Why did
you not destroy him?!" Talpa demanded. Seckment
cringed slightly at the anger in his master's words.
"The Ronin Warriors protected
him. He has been severely injured master,
and he will be weak in battle after feeling the sting of my poison.
He will
not soon forget it, I assure you." Seckment bowed respectfully.
"You are both dismissed!"
Talpa boomed. He watched them leave, almost
smiling to himself. Soon the girl would be in his possession.
The pesky
Ronin Warriors would not harm her, even if she was evil. This
could work to
his advantage.....
****************
"What do we do now?"
Asked Sage. He stood over the bed in which Anubis
was now laying in. Ryo and Rowen stood across from him, and Cye
and Kento
were standing at the foot of the bed.
"I'm not sure. He did
seem to be telling the truth." Rowen commented.
White Blaze scampered in and stuck his head between Ryo and Rowen
and nudged
Anubis with his nose. Still no response.
"And White Blaze seems
to be changing his mind about him." Ryo patted the
tiger's head and turned his gaze back to the unconcscience warlord.
"We'll have to wait and
see. Until we figure this all out, we'll have to
keep a watch on him." Cye stated and the others nodded.
Ryo looked over to
where Mia lay, also unconscience, on the bed at the other end
of the room.
"What about Mia? Will
she be ok?" Kento asked, seeing the worry in Ryo's
eyes.
"I'm not sure."
Rowen replied. They all turned their head towards Mia
when they heard her sigh softly. Her body stirred and they rushed
over to
her bed.
"Mia? Mia, it's me,
Ryo. Are you ok?" Ryo asked softly. Mia's eyes
flickered open and the five boys gasped. Mia finally became aware
of where
she was.
"Huh? Where am I?"
She sat up, the suddenly remembered. "Anubis!
Where's Anubis!?" She shouted in a paniced voice. Rowen
put a hand on her
shoulder.
"Mia, what's up with
your eyes?" He asked softly, as not to upset her.
Mia bit her lip and looked away from them, holding her tears back.
She
looked around the room, trying to find the words she was looking
for when
she noticed Anubis laying on the other bed.
"Anubis!" She shouted
and jumped out of bed, much to the disapproval of
the others and rushed to Anubis' bedside. She kneeled beside it
and tears
swelled up in her eyes. "Anubis, this is all my fault. I'm
so sorry!" She
sobbed. The other Ronins gathered around her, shocked by her
display.
~* Use your powers Mia. *~
The eery voice was back again. Mia wanted to
ignore it, but she knew it would heal Anubis. ~* Use them and
rid Anubis of
the poison within him. *~ The suggestion, more of a command,
echoed in her
head. Mia nodded in determination. She placed a hand on Anubis'
chest and
closed her eyes. Before the others could even question her, Mia's
hand was
glowing soft purple and soon, Anubis' body was too. Then the
light faded
and Mia opened her eyes again. Anubis stirred slightly.
"Mia! What the heck?!"
Ryo shouted.
"You're eyes aren't purple
anymore!" Rowen yelled.
"They're gold!"
Kento exclaimed. Mia's eyes widened in fear. Why were
her eyes changing colors again? She looked down at Anubis and
saw his eyes
open slowly.
"Huh....What? Where
am I?" He asked confused, sitting up from the bed.
He jumped in surprise to see all five Ronin Warriors surrounding
him and
White Blaze beside the bed. Again to his surprise, White Blaze
did not
attack him. Instead, the tiger nudged him playfully with his nose.
Ryo and
the others just stared in amazement. All of a sudden, Mia and
White Blaze
acted as if Anubis was their friend! Anubis looked beside him
to see Mia.
"Mia! You're ok!" He shouted happily. This shocked
the Ronins yet again.
Mia smiled.
"It's ok Anubis, I'm
fine." She smiled slightly. Then Anubis' face
turned serious.
"You're eyes....you've
been using your powers again haven't you?" He
asked. Mia nodded.
"I used them to wake
you up...." Anubis cut her off.
"Listen to me Mia, you
can't use your powers." He put his hands on her
shoulders gently. All the Ronins could do was gawk in amazement.
"The more
you use your powers, the more attached to the Aradia spirits you'll
become.
If you become attached to one, you'll never be able to be saved.
You'll end
up like Talpa!" He shouted to get his point clear. "Please,
you can't use
them anymore. Not for me, not for the Ronins, not for anyone.
You
understand?" He asked, as if talking to a small child.
Mia nodded.
"Yeah..." She looked
away ashamed. Anubis tilted her chin up with his
hand. A wave of jealousy came over Ryo. What did Anubis think
he was
doing?!
"It's alright Mia. I
promise I'll find a way to get them out of you. I
promise I will." He smiled down at her and she smiled back
at him.
"Thank you Anubis. Thank
you for everything." She suddenly flung her
arms around his neck. This caught Anubis by surprise. His eyes
widened and
for a moment, he paused, not knowing what to do. Then, he put
his arms
around her. "Thank you so much." Mia whispered to
him. Anubis closed his
eyes while he hugged her against him. Ryo gritted his teeth.
The other
Ronins watched in amazement, awestruck and not sure how to act.
Mia pulled
away from him, but Anubis' hand lingered on her cheek. He couldn't
help but
stare into those beautiful eyes. Ryo saw something in Anubis'
eyes.
Something close to passion, desire, and love. He looked at Mia
and saw the
same expression in her eyes. A look of admiration, love, and
adoration.
This pushed Ryo over the edge.
"What the hell is going
on?!" Ryo shouted. "I thought we were enemies!
And here you two are, looking at eachother like you're gonna sleep
with
eachother!!" Ryo glared at Anubis and he and Mia looked up
at the enraged
Wildfire. Mia blushed slightly, but Anubis didn't seem affected.
"Would that bother you
Wildfire?" Anubis asked in an all too sweet voice.
Ryo gritted his teeth as Mia blushed redder. It was White Blaze
who ended
the fight. He head butted Ryo in the leg, knocking him back a
few steps.
Ryo looked down in surprise at his tiger. Anubis smirked at him
as Ryo
glared at him. A very steamed Ryo stamped out of the room, followed
by Cye,
the ever-present peace maker. Everyone else stared a moment at
Mia and
Anubis, then left to try and calm Ryo down. Anubis chuckled to
himself.
"It's very easy to get
to Wildfire you know." He looked down at Mia as
she rolled her eyes.
"You're not making it
any easier for them to accept you ya know." She said
matter of factly. Anubis just smirked at her, watcher in intently.
Then, a
wonderful smell filled the air.
"What's that?"
He asked in wonder. Mia giggled slightly.
"It's food. You must
be starving." Before she could say anything else,
she heard a loud clash downstairs. Mia's eyes widen and she groaned,
a
sudden headache taking the place of her happiness. She ran down
the stairs,
followed by Anubis.
"I will not calm down!!"
Ryo shouted. He had stormed outside, followed
by White Blaze and Sage. Cye went to fix something for Kento
to eat and
Rowen was just in the living room reading.
"It's not that big of
a deal." Sage argued.
"NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!?!?"
Ryo shouted at the top of his lungs. Sage
cringed slightly and White Blaze's ears twitched at Ryo's anger.
The tiger
finally did the only thing it could do. He jumped up and pounced
on Ryo,
pinning him to the ground. He stared right into his eyes, as
if saying,
'I'm not getting off til you cool it.'
"Get off of me!"
Ryo tried to push the tiger off, but the beast relax and
laid on top of him. That's quite a bit of dead weight to move
without armor
on. Sage laughed at him.
"Now will you calm down?
He's just getting on your nerves. He's probably
trying to anyways." Sage crossed his arms and leaned against
the railing.
Ryo glared at his overweight tiger.
"Mia was blushing!"
Ryo protested. Before either could say anything,
they heard a loud crash inside the house.