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This story
happens right after the Ronins have beaten Talpa. It has
been a couple of weeks since that time and the Ronins, Mia, and
Yuli have settled into a quiet life. Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento,
and Rowen went back to school to finish, but still wish they were
somewhere else. Mia went on to teach at their school and
they see her everyday. Yuli found his family but still visits
everybody at Mia's house. In the past week, Mia had been
sick and can't get enough sleep. This is where the story
opens.
"Uggh!!"
A loud sound came from the bathroom. The Ronin Warriors
have just started to sit down on the dinner table. They
stopped what they were doing when they heard the sound. They all
looked at the bathroom door. Mia emerged from the door,
wiping her mouth.
She looked up and saw five pairs of eyes on
her. She looked around her and tried to figure out if she
had put on two different socks or something like that. She
cautiously walked to the kitchen and went about her business.
The guys looked at each other and shrugged.
They went on eating or preparing for school. As the chatter
started up again, Sage came to Mia. He seemed to want to
ask her something but was hesitant to pry. Mia noticed Sage
standing next to her, thinking about what to ask her.
"Can I help you Sage?" Mia asked.
She went over to the table and put more eggs on Kento's plate.
He gobbled it up without another thought.
"Um...Well..." Sage started.
He kept looking at the others then at her. "I was wondering
if you were feeling okay."
"I'm feeling fine," Mia answered
cheerily. She gave him a smile to let him know that she
was. He knew better. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you've been sick
for the last week, especially in the morning," he said, fully
giving his attention to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Sage, if I wasn't okay, I would tell
you guys," she said still avoiding his gaze. "Now,
sit down and eat. We're going to be late."
He did as he was told and ate. He told
himself that she probably was right and he shouldn't think about
it if she wasn't. While they ate, Mia busied herself with
cleaning the kitchen.
"Aren't you going to eat, Mia?" Rowen
asked.
"I already ate," she answered from
behind the counter.
They looked at each other and knew that she
was lying.
"Are
you sure?" Cye chimed in. "You better make up
your mind before Kento eats everything up." Everybody
chuckled at this remark, except Kento who gave a low growl in
between bites. He tried not to let his friends' teasing
about his appetite get to him.
"I'm sure," Mia said getting up from
the floor. "In fact, I'm still full from what I ate."
"Really, what was it?" Ryo said.
"What was what?" Mia asked truly
confused.
"What did you eat?" Ryo rephrased
his question. "We were all up early, Mia. We
didn't see you eat anything."
"Look, I don't want to discuss this any
further, okay." She went over to an empty chair and
picked up her bag. "If any of you want to get to school
on time, you better be at the car in five or I leave without you."
With that, she left and they started to eat
quickly or grab their bags. As they all headed for the door,
they heard a loud thump in the living room. They rushed
to the room and found Mia lying on the floor with all her papers
next to her.
When they got to her, she was unconscious.
Ryo, Cye, and Kento picked her up and put her on the couch.
Rowen called the doctor while Sage got a glass of water.
They tended to her until the doctor came.
"Don't worry, you're just fine,"
the doctor said as he stood. "She's just a bit tired.
Stress and all. A little rest would do you some good."
"How much is a little?" Mia asked
the doctor.
Rowen stayed behind while the rest went to
school. Since his classes started later than the others,
he watched over Mia while the others went to school to tell her
classes that she was going to be late.
"A couple of weeks," the doctor answered
bluntly.
"A couple of weeks!?!" She
tried to get up but Rowen restrained her. "I can't
afford to do that. I have a job that need me even as we
speak. You must have done something wrong."
"I'm afraid not, Miss Koji."
He packed his bag as he got ready to leave. "I can
tell that you've been working rather hard this last week.
And according to your friends, you've been getting little sleep
because you were up at night throwing up. A week or two
away from school and house work would get you back into shape."
"I don't want to take a leave. I
have to work," she protested.
"Mia, the doctor's just trying to help,"
said Rowen. "Why don't you listen to him?"
"Why don't you go to school?" she
shot back.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about.
You are a young woman with a career that is just starting.
You live in a house full of adolescent boys that are probably
driving you up the wall. I'm surprised you haven't pulled
all your hair, or at least turn them all white with all this stress."
The doctor looked at her and waited for an answer. "Take
my word for it: You need a vacation. Get away from everything:
routines, people, the house. You'll feel better when you
come back."
The doctor left after making sure Rowen could
follow all his instructions. Rowen walked the doctor to
his car and watched him pull away. He got back inside and
found Mia trying to get ready. He stopped her just in time.
"Mia," Rowen said, taking her bag
away from her. "Remember what the doctor said:
No stress."
"But I have to go teach," she said
as she reached for her bag. "Rowen, I'll just go to
school to tell them I won't be there."
"The others have already done that for
you." He went to the other side of the room still carrying
her bag. "I'll stay here all day to look after you
just like the doctor said."
"I thought I told you to go to school!?
You're going to miss out on the day's lesson." Mia
was trying to make him go. It wasn't working.
"I'm sorry Mia. I'm just going to
miss school today to look after you. When the rest of the
guys come back, we'll discuss this."
Rowen spent the day trying to prevent Mia from
doing anything. He succeeded most of the time but being
with the Ronins for so long, Mia picked up a couple of tricks
that fooled Rowen. She still hadn't done anything major
when the rest got home.
They all discussed what happened that morning.
They all agreed that Mia had been working late into the night
and waking up early in the morning. They all decided to
send her on a vacation. Against Mia's requests and in between
Cye and Kento's arguments, they agreed on sending Mia to Paradise,
a mountain resort. Since it wasn't winter yet, vacationers
won't be going to the resort for another couple of weeks.
They had picked the perfect time to send her since there won't
be many people up there. She was set to go in two days,
which left her only time to pack and call the school about her
hiatus. When she
left, all of them wished she would come back feeling a little
more free and changed. They had no idea how "changed"
she would be.
I can't believe
I got talked into this, Mia thought as the bus carrying her to
the resort stopped. She picked up her carry-along and made
her way towards the door. Even though winter wasn't officially
there, Mia saw there were a lot more people there than she thought.
I hope the guys know what place they're putting me in.
As she got off the bus, a man in uniform came
up to her. He was carrying both her suitcases with relative
ease. He sat them down next to his feet while he reached
into his coat and pulled out a piece of paper.
"Are you Ms. Koji?" the man asked.
Mia looked at him, stunned. "Yes, I am,"
she said as she tried to figure out who this was.
"I am a guide here hired by your friends
to help you with anything," he said cheerily. "My
name is Osuna. If you would need anything, I'm the person
to call on."
"Well, thank you."
Mia followed Osuna to her room. She thought
that the guys worried about her more than she did about them.
When they got to her room, Osuna gave her the
keys to the room and left his number with her. He left the
room, telling Mia that he would only be a ring away. She
quickly unpacked her bags since she would be there for the next
two weeks. She
decided to explore the resort before the sun started setting.
She took a coat with her and stepped out unto the world.
The resort was less crowded than at the bus
station. Good thing the resort was like a small community,
not needing all those people to make it feel alive. Perfect
for someone like Mia. The streets were lined with shops
and crafts stores. Mia guessed that this was the front of
the resort. The recreational facilities must be in the back.
She mingled with other people, going into shops, talked to people,
and seemed completely at peace. All her worries seem to
leave with the bus that brought her there.
She left a small diner at around ten o'clock
and decided it was a day. Besides, she was suppose to call
home the moment she got there. She thought better of it
and thought that it was their turn to worry about her. As
she walked the almost deserted streets, her mind began to wander.
Suddenly, her vision focused on somebody she thought she knew.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again to make sure. True
enough, it was somebody she knew. Somebody she knew a long time
ago.
But he couldn't be alive, could he? she thought.
There he was, under the lamp on the corner of the street she was
on. She had already looked a couple of times and had confirmed
that he was Anubis. How could that be possible? I
saw him die the last time the Ronins fought Talpa. He gave
up his armor to Kayura to save her. That can't be him, could
it?
She decided that she had to get to the bottom
of this. She headed for the lamp where the man - Anubis?
- was under. Her path was suddenly blocked with a flood
of people coming out of a restaurant. She lost sight of
him for a second but got through the crowd okay.
When she got to the lamp, he was gone.
She looked around and almost gave up when she caught a glimpse
of that familiar cinna-brown hair. She followed it, always
disappearing around a corner and appearing long enough for her
to follow again. She went down one street and up another
when the figure disappeared around another corner. When
she got there, all that met her was a wall. She turned around
and couldn't find any other way out but a door on one of the walls.
She got there and tried to open it only to find it locked with
a "Closed" sign hanging on the window. She looked
up and found herself in front of
a store called "Edo: Gate to the Inlet".
By the light above the door, Mia could see a large picture window
next to the door saying the same words. She tried to look
in but the room was too dark. She finally decided that whoever
that was that played hide and seek with her had gone home.
She also went back to her room still thinking about the store
and the figure.
Isn't this a nice start to my vacation, she
thought as she entered her room. I leave civilization
for a stress-free two weeks and what do I do the moment I have
free time? I go around chasing a dead man. Talk about
stress-free. Talk about Paradise.
She took a shower and changed for bed.
As she lay on the bed thinking, she can't seem to get the thought
of the man she followed that night. She also can't seem
to forget the name of the store the figure led her to. She
thought nothing of it until she woke up in the morning.
But somewhere within herself, she knew there was a purpose to
the visit and that store. She would find out in the morning.
Mia stepped
out unto the sun, into the early morning bustle of the little
town. The village looked even friendlier in the morning
than the night before. The shops were just opening up and
the owners stopped long enough to wave to her as she walked down
the street passed them. The streets were lightly covered
with snow and the people cleared them away from their front doors.
Everybody seemed to be busy except Mia. I'm busy, she thought.
I'm looking for a stone.
She retraced her steps and found the store
while asking for directions. When she got to the front of
the store, she noticed a few helmets and weapons on the display
window. The name of the store was stenciled in white on
the window but didn't obstruct the viewer's perspective of the
artifacts. She looked up and found silhouettes of ancient
samurai armors on stands and glass cases. Mia has a special
knowledge about armors since she did help reunite the Ronin Warriors
all that time ago. Without her, who knows how long the Ronins
would have taken to come back together.
"Maybe it's the call of the armors that
brought me here," she said out loud. Even if the owners
didn't know about any man walking down the alley, they would still
have a good conversation about the history of armors.
She stepped in and a little bell rang above
her. She seemed to have been transported to another time.
Armors were all around her. All the weapons and other accessories
a samurai would have used circled around each individual armor.
Though the store looked small outside, the interior definitely
was larger. At the center of everything was a battle scene.
The battle consisted of four warriors, all
dressed in different armors and with different weapons, attacking
four other warriors. All eight warriors had different poses.
Their actions really made you feel like you were part of the scene,
part of a great attack with the backdrop of snow. The lighting,
expressions, and movements of the figures gave the
scene an eerie life.
"May I help you?" a woman's voice
made Mia look away from the center of the room. When she looked
up to see who had spoken, she had another flashback. She
shook her head and told herself that she was dreaming. But
when she looked again, she saw that she was right. The woman
that called to her looked exactly like Kayura.
Great, first I follow a guy that looked exactly
like Anubis, now I'm at a store owned by a Kayura look-alike,
she thought.
"Miss? Can I help you?"
the woman repeated. She stepped out from behind the counter
and stood before Mia. She was wearing a blue jumper with
a halter top and skirt bottom. Underneath it, she wore a red turtleneck
and light blue stockings with white sneakers. She looked
taller than her height of about 5'4". Mia quickly came
back to reality when she saw that the girl's similarity to Kayura
ended with their looks.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
"I was just admiring your collection here." Mia
walked over to the nearest statue. "Some of these armors
have never been proven that they even existed anymore."
"Oh, another avid collector," said
the girl.
"No, not really," Mia said as she
faced her again. "I have done a lot of studying about
them, though."
"Well, it's great to finally meet somebody
who knows the armors other than us."
"Us?" Mia asked with a puzzled look.
"Where are my manners?" the girl
suddenly said. She rushed up to Mia and shook her hand.
"My name is Royda. I am one of the owners of Edo.
I am sorry to have acted so suspicious earlier."
"No need to apologize. Besides,
I didn't think you were suspicious at all.As they started to talk
about the armors around the store, another girl about Royda's
age and looking exactly like her, stepped through a door behind
the counter. She was wearing
khaki pants and a white button down, long-sleeved shirt.
She had on boots and was carrying a clipboard. She didn't
seem to notice Mia since she was so interested with what was written
on the clipboard. She went straight to Royda and almost
ran into Mia.
"Oh, sorry," she said with a distinct
accent.
Royda introduced Mia to the store's secretary
Reva. Mia couldn't believe that girls this young could operate
such a business with such professionalism. Nevertheless,
she shook her hand and stood aside to let them talk.
Reva held the clipboard up to Royda's face.
Royda took it and studied the inventory sheet on it. After
a few seconds, she looked at Reva.
"This is the new delivery, right?"
she asked.
"Yeah," Reva answered.
"I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Well of course there isn't, except for
one minor detail." Reva went up to the clipboard and
pointed half way down. "It says here that there were
three daggers in the crate: The Dragon, Gaiden blade, and
Blood Hunger."
"Yeah. They're all here. What
are you getting at?"
"If I recall correctly, you ordered four
daggers: those three and the..."
"Sung Rai Dagger!?!" Royda finished
for her. Royda's eyes went wide with disbelief when she
realized her mistake. She was clearly angry and didn't even
excuse herself from Mia. She went behind the counter and straight
for the phone. As Royda punched in numbers to the phone,
Reva had a chance to talk to Mia.
"Sorry about Royda's behavior," Reva
started, still looking at Royda being animated. "She
usually keeps her cool longer than all of us. Lately, there
had been a number of things that had not gone according to plan."
"Was that really the Sung Rai Dagger you
were talking about?" Mia asked. She recognized all
four names but the Sung Rai got her attention.
"Yeah, Royda has been looking for that
dagger for ages now. She came close once and now that dagger
is apparently not with the shipment."
"What do you mean you made a mistake?"
Royda's voice elevated to a violent pitch. "How hard could
it be to pack a dagger with the other three that I ordered together?"
A pause. "Don't give me excuses. I want that
dagger or the next order you pick up is your coffin."
She was about to slam the phone down when she heard a voice in
the line. "What did you say? You did not just
call me that, right? Well, even if you find that dagger,
I'm still going to send you your coffin." She slammed
the phone down hard, almost breaking it. She stood there
starring at the phone, then just turned around and went to the
door.
"I'm really sorry about that," Reva
said turning to Mia.
"You must have a great business here to
afford all this." Mia looked around her.
"Well, not really," admitted Reva.
"Most of these armors were part of Royda's grandfather's
collection already. We just knew where to look for bargain
armors."
When Reva was about to tell Mia the history
of one of the nearby armors, another girl that looked like them
came down the stairs behind a far wall. She was wearing
jogging pants and a short-sleeved shirt. She had slippers
on and looked like she just got up. As she reached the last
step, she looked around the store. She found Reva and Mia
starring at her and went to them. She was introduced to
Mia as Kala, then she started talking. "What was all that
noise down here?" Kala asked still half asleep.
"Mt. Royda just erupted over the phone,"
Reva answered. Kala's eyes snapped to attention. Hearing
about Royda's rare lose of control was enough of a wake up call.
"Really?!" she probed. Reva
nodded. "Why didn't you say so? I always want
to see Royda loose control even if it happens once in a blue moon."
She headed for the back door with eager eyes. "I also
love watching her chew those guys out."
"You're going to have to excuse her,"
Reva apologized for Kala. "She gets carried away very
quickly."
As Reva turned to the armor, Mia's eyes were
still on the door. Gradually, her attention shifted to what
Reva was talking about. Their conversation turned toward
the figures in the center of the room. Reva explained that
they had made the statues themselves. They had all learned
to carve wood at an early age and found that it was cheaper to
make their own statues than buy them. There were also other
carved figures scattered around the store.
The back door opened again and got their attention.
Mia saw another girl looking exactly like the last three except
that her right eye was covered by her hair. She was wearing
leggings and an over-sized shirt. She made little noise
with her sneakers and backed out of the door. Though the
door was only opened a second, Mia could hear Royda's voice telling
the movers where to shove their money to. Kala's encouraging
comments could also be heard.
The girl that came in looked around nervously.
When she saw Reva, she gave her a little shake of the head and
a smile. She made her way towards them and stopped before
Mia. Reva introduced the store's treasurer Kishin.
"I hope you weren't too offended by what
you heard from back there," she said as she
shook Mia's hand. "Royda's nerves have been on edge
lately."
"I suppose I would be too if I were getting
the Sung Rai Dagger," Mia replied.
"Well, I'm sure Reva has already told
you that she keeps her cool the longest around here. Losing control
is not a good thing when it's her that loses it." She
turned to Reva. "Where's Mira at?"
"I think she's still upstairs, sleeping,"
Reva answered.
Kishin quickly went up the stairs to wake the
last of the sleepers. Mia couldn't shake the feeling that
this Mira would look exactly like the other girls. She turned
to Reva to ask a question.
"Are all of you sisters?" she asked
bluntly. Reva looked at her and almost laughed.
"No, fortunately not," she said with
a hint of humor. "Out of the five of us, only Royda
and Mira are the real sisters. The rest are just orphans
their grandfather took pity on."
They resumed their tour of the store.
Mia kept having an ear out for any other noises of people.
As a result, she missed most of what Reva had to say about the
armors. Kishin got down from the stairs a moment later.
She was followed by what looked to Mia like a miniature Kayura
of Royda in pajamas. Kishin all but dragged her to the back
door, like
meat for a hungry lion.
"Why did Kishin wake Mira up?" Mia
asked when the two disappeared through the door.
"Since Mira is Royda's little sister,
it's only logical to think that Royda would only listen to her.
Besides, Royda wouldn't dare set a bad example for the baby of
the family."
Mia more of less got the logic of that.
She supposed a group of girls would really have a powerful sense
of family within the group since there's no other to call family.
Mia was really impressed by how all five of the girls seem to
have a role in their "family." In some ways, the
five girls were closer together than most of her friends' families.
Reva noticed that Mia wasn't listening to her
anymore. She stopped and just looked at Mia for a moment.
Ever since Mia stepped into the store, Reva has had a feeling
she had known her before. Not exactly her, but someone that
Mia used to know had somehow rubbed off at her and Reva thought
that was what she felt. Either way, Mia seemed like an old
friend to her.
A little bell ring brought back both women
from their trances. They were in the back of the room already,
so whoever came in didn't see them. Reva pulled Mia behind
an armored statue. They could see that a fat man had walked
in and brought with him a few feet of snow. He seemed to
not have looked at a mirror before leaving the house because from
where they stood, Mia almost went blind for just looking at him.
He wore a purple checkered knicker over multi-colored golf socks.
His top was a multi-colored striped sweater under a bright red
jacket. He wore green shoes and a bright orange hat on top
of
his head. He took it off when he entered and exposed
a shiny bald head.
Reva couldn't help but laugh behind her hand.
Mia couldn't see to laugh but did anyway. All the man heard was
a few chuckling and looked around nervously. He thought
the statues had come alive. He was about to investigate
where the chuckling came from when the back door slammed open.
The chuckling stopped instantly and the fat man stopped on
his tracks.
Royda stepped back to the store again, clearly
calmed down but still visibly angry. She walked up to the
fat man and looked down at him (he being a foot shorter then her).
When the man looked up at her, sweat began to pour over his face
like a dam. While the fat man stared at Royda's blue eyes,
Mia asked Reva a question.
"Who is that?"
"That's Mr. Peer," Reva answered
in a whisper. "He owns the local museum here and hoping
to add another branch to it called 'Ancient Samurai'."
"What do you want Peer?" Royda asked
with a controlled voice.
"I came to visit?" was his answer,
giving her a broad grin.
"Bullshit!" Royda emphasizing
on the syllables, spitting on Peer. "We all know what
the hell you want here."
Peer couldn't answer her. Who could?
She looked beautiful with all her anger. Peer couldn't think
of anything but how her breasts heaved whenever she talked.
With her ducking low, Peer was more face to face with her breast
than her.
Sensing that Peer was undressing her with his
eyes, Royda gave him a blow upside his head. She stood up
straight and waited for Peer to get back up. Even if she
doesn't admit it, Royda enjoyed giving Peer what he deserved.
"Oh, yeah," added Reva. "I forgot to
mention that he's got the hots for Royda and wants to marry her.
He's already proposed to her twice, both times he got a broken
nose." With that, both of them started laughing behind
their hands again.
Peer heard the chuckling and looked around
again. Knowing that Royda could not be held up, he decided
not to mention the chuckling. He thought he was probably
hearing them inside his head from her blow.
"I came to see if you had all your cargo,"
he said immediately when he got up. Royda gave him a suspicious
look.
"How do you know we had a delivery?"
she asked.
"Well...not many people could miss a delivery
truck," he answered nervously. Sweat came down his
face like rain. He struggled to wipe them off his brow and
look Royda straight in the eye. He looked like he was keeping
a secret that was very near to exposure.
"Keep your nose out of our business,"
Royda said, pushing him back towards the door after every word.
All Peer could do was fall helplessly back, bracing himself from
the impact of her blows. She advanced after every push and
was almost on top of him when he reached the door.
"I think you better leave while you still
can. Besides, your costume is making my eyes hurt."
She reached behind him and for the doorknob.
He defensively tried to block her hand since he thought she was
going after his nose or the back of his head again. She
all but pushed him out of the store with a hefty shove.
As she closed the door behind her, she couldn't stop smiling at
what she had just done. She had done worse things to him,
but
that was just perfect for a day like that was turning out to be.
"OK," she said aloud. "You
can come out now Reva. I think your giggling has already
done its job."
Surprised, Mia looked up at Reva who was looking
very sheepish. Reva shrugged her shoulders and got up reluctantly.
Mia had a quizzical look on her face but got up along with her.
They emerged from behind the statue and found Royda looking at
their direction. She shook her head at them but with still
a smile on her face. They walked up to her and Mia's face
asked Royda how she knew they were there.
"I knew you weren't in the back room.
Reva wouldn't have taken you upstairs since she is very self-conscious
about the appearances of out rooms. You couldn't have left
since I didn't hear the bell ring. I heard you giggling
and the only person I knew that would hide and spy on the store
was Reva."
Mia looked at Reva. She gave her a big
grin that didn't hide any of the guilt she possessed. All
Mia could do was shake her head when she realized she had been
part of a daily routine between these girls.
The rest of the girls joined Royda in the main
room. Now that all five of them stood together, Mia really
looked confused on who was who. When they introduced each
other again, Mia felt better. She had a terrible urging
to ask Royda if they knew anybody named Kayura. She went
against it because she hadn't known these girls for that long.
They all
stood around talking and sometimes included Mia in their conversations.
Mia felt like they had known each other for a long time.
The girls, however, felt like somebody from their past had come
back to them. A small coo-coo clock rang the hour to nine
o'clock. Mia checked her watch and apologized for leaving
so soon. She had a morning workout scheduled for that morning
and was already late. She promised them that she'll be back
as soon as she can.
Royda went to the window over the door and
pulled away the curtain. The rest of them peered through
the large picture window next to the door. They all followed
the trek of the figure that just left their store. Somehow,
even when she was long gone, they still can't shake the feeling
that they had met her before.
"Was she the one you sensed?" Royda
asked Mira.
"There were two of them last night,"
Mira answered. "The first one was very strong, but
the second was definitely her. I didn't expect her to come
here but I think she doesn't know how we are."
"I hope we keep it that way," chimed
Kala. "I don't know about her, but I'm sensing something
powerful inside of her. It's grown since she came in."
"She's right," defended Reva.
"I was with her. She doesn't seem to even know that
she has that kind of power within her. If she knew, she
certainly can hide it."
"Well, I like her," Kishin said startling
the rest of them. They all looked at her to explain. Kishin
just kept looking outside. "She didn't feel very evil
and she most certainly didn't look like it. I know that
looks only count for a small percentage, but I sensed nothing
evil within her. She is the most kind person I've sensed
since we got here. I stand by her and say she's not here
to expose us. I think she was sent here by Him to find somebody
out. Somebody essential to her life."
Kishin stood there ready for their rebuttal,
but none came. All of them seemed to be digesting what she
had said. They haven't thought of that scenario before and
it seemed to them the most logical. All they can do is wait
and learn more about this Mia Koji.
Somewhere in another world,
a great group of military personnel gathered in front of what
looked like a throne room. Seated on that throne was a girl
with long white hair, wearing a menacing armor. She looked
over the sea of people and gestured at one of them on the front
row. The hooded figure seemed to glide over the floor to
her chair. It bowed low
and produced a scroll.
"We are disappointed to inform you that
your father, the Emperor Talpa, is now dead," the figure
read from the scroll. "Having no last will of testament,
the netherspirits of his domain have decided to join yours for
a more powerful Dynasty. Including with them would be his
castle and the netherworld he formerly ruled over. His dark
warlords could
be summoned but be advised, they have found the path to the truth
and would not come back easily. Do you accept these gifts?"
While the netherspirits talked, the girl had
closed her eyes and folded her hands in front of her. She
seemed in deep thought when he finished. When he asked her
the question, she looked up from her trance.
"Yes," was her only answer.
All the beings there: monsters, spirits,
her guards, didn't make a sound. They knew that whoever
tried to do that to her father would surely pay for it.
A very heavy silence fell on the crowd. Not even the newly-crowned
Empress of the Netherworld moved a muscle. They all knew that
there were a lot more in store for the people of Earth than they
thought.