JUST LOVE Chapter Nine Ryudo groaned groggily in his sleep as rays of sunlight touched his face. He groaned again and rolled around on the couch he slept on. After a few more moments, he finally woke up. He sat up from the couch, yawned, and stretched his arms out. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was 7:00 AM Ryudo got off the couch slowly and quietly so he would not wake up Roan and Melfice, who slept on the other couches in the living room. Ryudo went upstairs, to the bathroom to wash his face and gurgle water. When Ryudo was done with his morning bathroom ritual, he went downstairs to the kitchen. Ryudo found Elena cooking breakfast in the kitchen. "Good morning princess," Ryudo greeted. Elena turned around from the stove and smiled. "Good morning Ryudo," she replied cheerfully. "Ugh, you know, you don't really have to do this," Ryudo groaned and put his hand on his forehead. "Ryudo, I am just trying to help." "I know... thanks." Ryudo noticed that the table has not been set yet. "I'll set the table for you." Ryudo walked over to the cupboards and took out plates, glasses, spoons, and forks. He put them on the table and arranged them. "There, it's done," he proudly announced. "Ry... Ryudo?" Elena asked nervously. Ryudo turned around to face the EX-Songstress. "Yeah, what is it?" "About last night..." "Forget it." Elena's face crumpled. "Oh." "Wait... Elena, I..." "No, it is all right," Elena interrupted. "Thank you for setting up the table. Breakfast would be ready in a few minutes. You better wake up everyone, we have a long day ahead of us." "Okay," Ryudo nodded and left the kitchen. *** Lance walked down a street to go back to Ryudo's house. He ended up sleeping somewhere else for the night since there was not enough room at Ryudo's house. There were three bedrooms upstairs and the women took one each while the men decided to sleep on the couches in the living room. There were only three couches in the living room so Lance decided to spend the night in another place. The Ninja stopped walking as he sensed someone following him. "Someone else is out here," he whispered to himself. He turned around and narrowed his eyes. He paused for a few seconds and then threw a shuriken at a garbage can. The garbage can fell on the ground and Lance saw an old man, the village elder, who was hiding. "What do you think you're doing?" Lance glared. At the sight of Lance's glare, the village elder stood up and ran away. He tripped though due to nervousness. When the elder looked up, Lance stood right in front of him. Lance crossed his arms over his chest and gave the old man an icy, cold glare. "Why are you following me?" The old man kept his mouth shut. Lance snarled silently and bent down. He clamped onto the elder's throat with his right hand and raised him in the air. "Now tell me, why are you following me?" The elder still did not reply and the Ninja only tightened his grip. The elder began to gag and managed to speak, "let go... of... me first..." Lance scoffed and dropped the old man. "I was following you to see if you're one of them," the elder said. Lance cocked up an eyebrow. "Them?" "The Cathedral Knights." Lance chuckled a bit. "You're mistaken old man. I'm not with the Cathedral Knights. I'm here with Ryudo to find the Cathedral Knights." "Ryudo is here? Why would Ryudo travel with the likes of you?!" Lance chose to ignore the elder's last comment. "Yeah, he's here. He's staying at his house. It sounds like you know something we don't. You better come with me to his house and don't try to refuse because I'll drag you there if I have to." The elder gulped nervously and nodded. "I... I'll come with you." "Good." Lance turned around and started walking again with the elder trailing behind him nervously. *** When Lance and the elder got to Ryudo's house, they found everyone eating breakfast in the kitchen. Lance entered the living room first and pulled down his mask. "There's someone here you need to see," he said coldly. The Ninja narrowed his eyes at the trembling Elder and nudged his head towards the others to tell him to come forward. The Elder entered the kitchen. "Ryudo!" Ryudo stood up from his chair and walked over to his foster father. "What's happened here? Why is the town so... quiet and empty?" Ryudo asked right away. The Elder looked around the kitchen and saw Melfice. His face went pale, his heart stop beating, and his body felt cold. Ryudo's question did not register in the old man's head. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Melfice. Ryudo tapped the Elder's shoulder. "Hello? Are you there?!" "Me... Mel... Melfice..." the Elder stammered. "Oh, right." Ryudo smiled embarrassingly and calmed down the old man. "It's okay Elder. You have nothing to worry about. That's the REAL Melfice." The old man frowned. "Real?" "It's a long story." Ryudo told the Elder about what happened the past few days; his journey to Cyrum, the attack on Cyrum, St. Heim and the underground factory, and how they got to Garlan. "So... you're saying the Melfice we buried a year ago was not the real one?" the Elder said and eyed Melfice suspiciously. Melfice stood up from his chair. "Elder, I'm sorry for everything, for shaming this town and for Reena. All those things I did were wrong and I don't expect you to forgive me. But, let me make it up to you." The Elder and the rest of Garlan have lived in shame and humiliation in the past because of Melfice's crimes. When Melfice betrayed them, they lost their best swordsman, they lost the person they mostly depended on, and they lost their sense of security. However, part of that was their fault. They blamed Melfice for all of their problems but what they did not realize was that there was still something they could do to make it all better again. The Elder already forgave Melfice for shaming the town, but for killing Reena, he did not know the answer. "I... I don't know..." he said sceptically. Millenia scoffed. "The man said he's sorry so why won't you just forgive him? You can't hate him forever! Besides, he was possessed by Valmar!" The Elder cringed a bit from Millenia's harsh tone of voice. "Look, there's something we need to know about Gatta and the Cathedral Knights. Do you know anything?" Ryudo asked again. The Elder looked at Ryudo and nodded. "I don't know about Gatta but a few months ago, the Cathedral Knights attacked this town. Gatta and our swordsmen tried to defend the town but were no match for them. No one got killed but they were badly beaten. The Cathedral Knights took away all of the defeated swordsmen and the rest that didn't fight. Most of the young men in town are swordsmen so the only people left in Garlan are old men, women, and children. Everyone is just afraid to come out, afraid that the Cathedral Knights will come and get them." Roan frowned. "But did the Cathedral Knights attack again after that?" "No," the Elder answered. "What about Gatta? Why would he be commanding the Cathedral Knights?" Elena asked. "Whoever created the Cathedral Knights must have some control over Gatta," Tio replied. "The Cathedral Knights are abducting people. This is something new. Ryudo, what should we do now?" Millenia asked. Ryudo was surprised that Millenia finally talked to him. "She's not mad anymore," he thought and answered, "I'm not sure. Melfice, what do you think?" "We should go back to St. Heim and check out that underground factory. I'd like to know more about those Cathedral Knights and maybe I'd find something about me," Melfice replied. "We should split up too. Some of us should go to St. Heim and some should stay here and keep watch," Ryudo suggested. "I'm definitely going to St. Heim," Melfice said. "I'm going too. There's probably more action there," Millenia scoffed. "I want to go too so when we are done investigating, I can check up on Cyrum," Roan said. "Same here," Tio added. "All right, that means me and Elena will stay behind here," Ryudo approved. "Ryudo, are you not forgetting someone?" Elena asked. Ryudo looked at Lance and his face crumpled. "Oh, I forgot you were standing there." Lance gave Ryudo a mocking look before he pulled up his mask to cover the bottom half of his face. "I'll stay here and keep you company." "It's settled then. Me, Millenia, Roan and Tio will go back to St. Heim and the rest of you will stay here." Melfice looked at Millenia, Roan, and Tio. "Start packing, we're taking the next flight to St. Heim." Millenia, Roan, and Tio nodded and left the room. "Don't get yourselves killed," Ryudo said. "We won't," Melfice replied and followed Millenia and the others. "What about me, what should I do?" the Elder asked. "Just stay here in Garlan and watch over the people," Ryudo answered. "Right," the Elder nodded and turned around to leave. "I should be going now. Good luck to all of you." "Thanks," Ryudo replied and watched the old man leave. Melfice and company then entered the kitchen with all of their supplies. "We're all packed up. We're going to be leaving now," Melfice announced. "Okay, good luck to you guys," Ryudo said. "Be careful," Elena said. Lance did not say anything. "..." "You take care too," Roan said. "We will see each other later," Tio added. "Try not to mess up," Millenia said half playfully. Melfice and company turned around and left the house. "What about us Ryudo? What are we suppose to do now?" Elena asked. "Hmm, the Cathedral Knights came to Garlan just to take all of the swordsmen away. What could they be up to?" Ryudo frowned. Lance crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door way. "That's what the others are going to find out. Our opponents are strong and there's plenty of them. We barely escaped last time." "Yeah, I know. There's two things we could do; learn how to beat our opponents or train to make ourselves stronger," Ryudo agreed. "We can always train ourselves but what about learning how to beat the Cathedral Knights? Where could we find that kind of information?" Elena asked. Before Ryudo could answer, a young boy, about twelve years old, stormed in the kitchen. He was full of sweat and he was panting real hard. "...Ryudo..." he managed to say between gasps. "Who are you?" Ryudo said. The young boy finally caught his breath. "I was sent here by the elder to ask for your help. There's a madman outside. You better hurry..." "We'll check it out." Ryudo turned to Elena. "Elena, you stay here." "But I want to help too," Elena protested. "You might get hurt out there. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," Ryudo smiled assuringly and exited the kitchen with Lance. "Good luck," Elena whispered. As Ryudo and Lance stepped outside, they found bodies, dead bodies missing arms and legs. The bodies lay in puddles of blood and the smell of blood filled the area. The two looked to their left and saw a man thrust his five foot long katana into a woman's stomach. The man had long, black hair that was tied into a ponytail but a few strands fell on his face. He was a bit handsome and sported purple eyes. The man was a bit tall and his body was well toned with muscles. He wore a purple Ninja gi and at the back of his gi shirt, he had the crest of Valmar. The man withdrew his sword from the woman's stomach and laughed maniacally. "Die, pitiful human." He brought his katana's blade to his mouth and began to lick some of the blood off. After licking the blood off of his katana, he chuckled, looked up, and narrowed his eyes at Ryudo and Lance. "Hello there." Ryudo glared ice cold daggers at the mystery man. If looks could kill, the intruder would have been gasping for breath on the ground. "Why did you do this?!" "Nekura..." Lance thought and unsheathed the Falchion. Nekura ignored Ryudo's question and chuckled. "Tell me, is there darkness in your hearts?" "What are you talking about?!!" Ryudo growled and took out his Maken Valborg. Nekura looked friendly all of a sudden. "Ooh, there IS darkness in your heart." "Shut the hell up! You'll pay for killing these people. Prepare yourself!" Ryudo said angrily. "Oh, come on now. It doesn't have to be like this," Nekura smiled. "Arr..." Ryudo snarled and hurled a Burn! spell at Nekura. Nekura slapped the ball of fire away with his hand before it hit him. The Burn! spell hit a house instead and set it on fire. Nekura's friendly face vanished and returned Ryudo's deadly glare. "If that's what you want, then so be it. Die!" he growled under his breath and unsheathed his katana, Zankuro. Ryudo ran towards Nekura with his sword held up high, ready to strike down the enemy. Ryudo brought his sword down but Nekura blocked it with his katana. Ryudo gritted his teeth and forced all of his strength into his sword, trying to break the enemy's defence and cut him down. Nekura grunted and managed to push Ryudo away. He then side stepped just in time to avoid Lance's Falchion, who sneaked behind him while he was busy. Nekura countered by kicking the Ninja on the stomach. Lance gasped a bit in pain and fell on the ground as he was tripped with another kick. Nekura brought his sword down to pierce Lance's heart but he managed to roll away. Before Nekura could attack the Ninja again, Skye came out of no where and attacked the enemy with his sharp talons. Skye screeched and cut Nekura's right cheek. The enemy backed away and put his hand on his cheek. He then looked at his hand, it was covered with blood, and let out a gasp. Nekura's hand and body shook violently from trying to control his anger and fury and his purple eyes burned like fire. "My face! My beautiful face! You filthy, disgusting bird!!! How dare you touch my face!!!" Nekura roared and blasted Skye away with a Gad Zap. The attack sent Skye flying to a wall and let out a cry on the impact. Skye fell on the ground with his body sizzling and smoking. "Skye! SKYE!!!" Ryudo yelled frantically and ran towards the fallen bird. He knelt beside the talking eagle and picked him up. "Skye, can you hear me?" Dark clouds began to cover the sun and thunder and lightning filled the sky. Cold winds began to blow. The sky let out a mighty roar and it began to rain violently. Ryudo felt Skye's body shiver from the sudden cold weather and cradled him in his arms. Skye moaned and slowly opened his eyes. "I'll be okay Ryudo..." he managed to say and lost consciousness. "Crazy to the end," Ryudo whispered and put Skye down. Ryudo turned to look at Nekura and scowled at him. "Sworn enemy, you shall be defeated! Take that!" Ryudo threw the Maken Valborg in the air and then went after it. When he caught his sword in mid air, he plunged it to the ground. "Sky Dragon Slash!" A huge, crest of red swords formed on the ground and the crest began to release destructive energy. "Shit!" Nekura cursed loudly as he fell on the ground. Ryudo picked up his sword from the ground. "Did you like that?!" he taunted between pants. "Idiot!" Nekura hissed as he stood up. Before he could move, Lance, who was behind him, kicked the back of his head. Nekura gasped in pain, flinched, and blood flew out of his mouth. Lance grabbed his left arm with both hands and threw him towards a trash can. Lance dashed forward with his katana held forward by both hands. Nekura snarled to himself and got up from the ground. "Enough games!" He put his right hand forward and casted a Gad Zap on the Ninja. The Ninja stopped on his tracks as the attack racked his body with pain. He fell on the ground on his knees and began to summon his magic for an Alhealer. "Oh no, you don't!" Nekura casted a Zap! spell on Lance before he could heal himself. The blow from the attack sent the Ninja flying towards where Skye was and landed beside him. "Damn, I'm disgraced..." Lance gasped in pain and the world faded away. "Damn you!" Ryudo growled and casted a Crackling spell at his opponent. Nekura raised his hand in the air and hurled a Gad Zap spell at the huge, ball of spikey ice. The Gad Zap caused the Crackling spell to shatter into tiny little pieces of ice. Nekura then narrowed his eyes at Ryudo. His purple eyes burned like fire again and put his right hand forward. He chuckled and casted a Dragon Zap at the Geohound. The spell was executed so quickly that the Geohound did not see it coming. "Dammit! Is this the end?" Ryudo asked himself as the Dragon Zap hit him. The attack threw Ryudo into the air and landed right where Skye and Lance were and stayed there. Nekura laughed maliciously and walked towards the three. He raised his katana in the air to finish Ryudo and his company off. "I wonder how their blood tastes like?" he asked himself in delight. "Hey! Stop that!" a voice cried from behind. "Huh?" Nekura turned around just in time to see Elena cast a Crackle spell on him. The attack knocked him down and Elena used this chance to run towards Ryudo. Elena knelt beside Ryudo and cradled his head on her lap. She ran her fingers across his right cheek and brushed his bangs away from his eyes. "Ryudo? Ryudo, please wake up!" Nekura cackled and stood up. "Idiot woman! Now, you will share his fate!" Nekura looked into Elena's scared, ruby red eyes. "Don't be scared. Rejoice for the two of you will be together and forever in hell!" Elena shut her eyes and hugged Ryudo to her body fiercely. "Ryudo..." she sobbed silently. Nekura put his hand forward for a BA-BOOM! and smiled wickedly. "DIE!"