Serenay Moon
Special XXXXVIII: Silent Threat 8: That's the story
©2003 Kitty Ocean 

 

The footsteps through the caves were more silent than anyone would have guessed. Even with the extra weight on their shoulders, Dolan, Faye, Aure, Nuria and Qing Yuan, stepped calmly into the large room where they had split up.

The boulders had been moved, and when they all entered the room, the corridors vanished. Aure held Moka in her arms; no one would expect this strength from this fragile looking girl. But, she didn't even look bothered by the weight of this boy that controlled air.

Faye dropped Derak on the floor. The boy, almost twice her size, had weight no more than a feather to this energetic girl. She placed his sunglasses on her hair. "Okay, that was trickier than we thought." She mumbled, filling the cave with her voice.

Nuria placed Zach on the floor as well. If the Guardians had been there, they would have said they had never seen any living human being that had this physical strength. "Dolan, what went wrong?" She asked.

Dolan raised himself after putting Mika on the floor as well. Qing Yuan grabbed his collar. "You said it would work!" He yelled at him.

"Cool it Yuan!" Dolan pushed him away. "I don't know what went wrong! It should have worked."

"Maybe it was too old?" Aure wondered. "I mean, they have been hidden for so long; maybe that's why they..."

"That shouldn't matter!" Dolan snapped at her, and Aure stepped back. "Look Aure, I'm sorry, but that shouldn't matter."

"Well, apparently something went wrong!" Faye folded her arms.

"You said this would work Dolan." Qing Yuan threatened. "And now it's your job to fix it."

Nuria stepped forward. "There has to be a reason why the..."

"So that's where my jewels are!" All 5 faces snapped around, and looked at the girl who was entering the cave. "I thought I misplaced them or something like that, but it turns out you guys took them!"

"Oh great." Dolan sighed. "It's that twit who opened a shop..."

"Get lost Courage." Qing Yuan growled.

Courage stepped closer and placed her hands in her hips. "Excuse me?!" She growled to the guy who was much taller than she was. "Besides, who the hell are you?!"

"It was a hell indeed..." Faye admitted.

"But finally we shall be free!" Aure added.

Ryu appeared behind Courage and stepped closer. "Eh, you know them?" He asked.

Courage sighed deeply annoyed. "No Ryu, I don't know them! But I do know that they stole my merchandise!" Courage folded her arms and looked aside, when she suddenly noticed Zach and his friends on the floor. "Hah, I knew I was right! Hey, Zachyboy; how's life?"

But no answer came. "Oh no..." Ryu whispered. "Kitt!" He wanted to rush at the girl who changed his life, but Qing Yuan stepped before him.

"Back off." The Chinese boy growled.

"You killed them!" Ryu accused him.

Courage pulled him back. "Gosh, you're always embarrassing me!" She hissed. "If they would be dead, we would have seen them already!"

"We would have?" Ryu wondered.

"Duh!" Courage exclaimed. "I asked my best buddy to inform me when they arrive." She showed a pager. "I'm just waiting for a little beep of joy...."

"You have friends...?" Dolan was not impressed.

"Look, just shut up, okay?" Courage suddenly burst out. "I came here to get back MY merchandise!"

"No, you did not!" Ryu yelled at her. "You wanted to find out what was threatening the boarder of life and death..." Then he noticed the faces of the group before him. "And I guess we found the reason..."

"You have no right to meddle with our fate." Nuria hissed.

"As long as it includes my merchandise, I will."

"Do you even know who we are?" Dolan asked.

"Nope, but I know WHAT you are!" Courage pointed at them.

Qing Yuan stepped forward; his face looking firm as ever. "I advise you leave." He only said. "Unless you want to be vaporised out of existence."

First a snicker, then a grin, and finally Courage rolled over the floor laughing. "I'm DEAD!" She laughed. "YOU are dead! We are one big DEAD family!"

His 'kinda-not-so-great-friend' rolling on the floor embarrassed Ryu, and he was not the only one who was starting to get annoyed by her. Dolan raised his hand, and his eyes started to glow. "Dark... Spirit.... CHAOS!" 

Within seconds an orb of light formed in his hands and blasted at Courage. Ryu saw what was going to happen to his rolling friend and hesitated no moment. Courage stopped laughing when she saw the orb coming, and shocked she screamed! Just seconds before the orb would hit her, someone grabbed her long brown ponytail and yanked on it.

An explosion followed, and when the dusk cleared, all could hear Courage scream. "Ow, MY HAIR! Let go of me! Sjeez! Couldn't you have been more gallant when saving my awesome butt?"

Ryu let go of her hair and Courage dropped on the floor. "Why did I even bother...?" He wondered to himself.

"The choice is yours Courage." Aure whispered while her eyes started to glow like a diamond. "You can try and get back these jewels that grant us our powers, and get vaporised out of existence..."

"Or you can leave, and conveniently forget about all this..." Faye smirked and placed the sunglasses from Derak on her face.

Silence fell. Ryu looked at Courage, wondering what she would do. If she would have been alive, she would have laughed at them, but now, at this moment, she was gritting her teeth. Why? What had changed her so much that she would even doubt? Then his eyes got pulled to the girl who changed his life. With one smack in the face (a quite painful one may I add!) Kitt taught him that you don't have to prove you are strong. Real friends accept you for who you are, and back at the Ancient Warriors, he found out that Aletheia, Tempus, and especially Courage, were NOT his friends!

"Let's go."

"Uh, what?!" Ryu gasped when he felt Courage taking his arm.

"I said: let's go." She repeated and turned around. Then she saw Ryu was staring at Kitt again. "Look, leaving is a better option than getting wiped from existence."

"But..." Ryu was still feeling not so great. What if they would hurt Kitt?

Courage grabbed him along. "So... well..." She waved at the 5 youngsters. "Good luck and baibai!" The 5 youngsters looked at them suspiciously while they left.

Ryu still disagreed. "But Courage..."

"Shut up Ryu!" Courage whispered hissing. "Don't worry. I'll get the big troops."

 

Aure walked at Moka. "I guess plan A failed." She said. "Now what?"

"We go to plan B." Dolan decided when he saw Zach and his friends moving.

"Man, what a dream..." Zach mumbled while he got up. "Did I fall out of bed again? Kitt, did you go all Merenieangel again?" (See: Dream Paradox)

Kitt grabbed his collar, while she still lay on the floor. "Headache..." She mumbled. "YOUR fault!"

Derak was the next to get up and noticed his sunglasses were gone. His emerald eyes looked around, until he noticed Faye, having his sunglasses on her cheery face. "Eh, guys... I don't think it was Zach's fault."

Moka noticed Aure, standing before him like an Angel, but he had felt her powers. "What... why Aure?" He asked her.

Mika got up as well. "Why did you do that Dolan?" She asked him. "You are Chosen Protectors! You should protect!"

"Guys..." Zach started. "I have a feeling that was a lie."

"Aren't we smart..." Qing Yuan sneered.

"BACK OFF YOU!" Kitt snapped at him. "I'm the ONLY ONE who is allowed to insult him, you got that?!"

"Who are you?" Moka demanded to know. "And this time, no lies!"

"No lies?" Nuria asked. "Fine." She continued. "We did not lie about our names. We did not lie about our powers. And we did not lie about the fact that we want to protect the innocent."

"Oh really?" Derak growled. "So, in order to prove that, you thought it might be fun to lie to us and even knocking us out! Why did you attack us?"

"We had no choice!" Nuria said and ran at Zach. "Please Zach, you must understand it! We had no choice!"

Zach looked away from her. "I already said it to you Nuria. You always have a choice."

"Easy for you to say." Dolan interrupted. "Everything is so easy for you. You wake up, live your day, and get to sleep again, no worries for tomorrow."

"Not worried, that one day you wake up..." Qing Yuan added. "And find out that your life is over!"

Mika folded her arms. "Jeez, just because your outfit is from 3 decades ago, it doesn't mean your life is over!"

"Eh, Mika..." Moka tapped on her shoulder. "I have a feeling they are talking about a more permanent way..."

"What?" Kitt gasped. "Are you saying... are you telling me...?"

"You are dead, aren't you Aure?" Moka asked her.

Aure looked away. "I was only 16 years old Moka." She confessed with a soft voice. "You would never understand."

"We need you Zach!" Nuria begged him. "Please! These jewels..." She showed him her ring. "They can only grant us access to our powers. But they also have a second power: they can make a dead person alive again!"

"The only catch is..." Moka had already figured it out. "That someone needs to take your place, right?"

"Wow, you sure know a lot Moka!" Mika gasped, along with Derak, Zach and Kitt.

"I went to the library when I was a kid!" Moka defended himself.

"Moka is right Zach." Nuria continued. "Someone needs to take our place... voluntarily."

"So you used its powers to hypnotise us, didn't you Nuria?" Zach looked away. "I was wrong Nuria." He stepped away from her. "You are not like all those other enemies we ever faced. You are worse, much worse."

"You are asking us to give up our lives so you may live!" Derak yelled at Faye. "That's the lowest thing I've ever heard!"

"We were too young Derak!" Faye yelled. "We are still children!"

Zach looked at Mika and Moka. "But... we're still children too, aren't we?"

"Only Kitty and Derak are adults..." Mika mentioned.

"According to law, may I add..." Moka added, and got hit by both Derak and Kitt.

"Enough!" Dolan stopped the childish fight. "If I understand right, you are not willing to trade places with us?"

"That's correct!" Zach spoke.

"But we will take your place!" Faye tried in a last effort. "We will protect the Universe in your place!"

"Eh... protecting universe; our place? HUH?! What are you talking about?" Zach asked.

"I don't care, the answer is NO!" Kitt pushed away Zach.

"In that case..." Dolan sighed. "We can't risk that you will escape." He looked at the others who nodded. "Plan C." He ordered.

Aure raised her hands. "Silent Eagle Claw!"

"Phoenix Armada!" Nuria added.

"Sapphire Shark Attack!" Qing Yuan launched his attack.

Faye jumped up, with the sunglasses on her eyes. "Emerald Taurus!"

Dolan ended with: "Crystal Unicorn Horn!"


To be continued...

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