Evil Remains

Episode 1: Prelude to Terror

            The night air hung low in a small suburb outside of Boston.  Beneath the night sky lay a small house, not a house that would make anyone stop and stare, nothing particularly special about it.  A woman, a man, and two teenage girls inhabited the house.  The teenagers seemed to be normal girls, not anyone who would intrigue interest on the basis of mysteriousness.  Yet they were not normal girls.  They had received power in the form of two mystical Japanese armors.  They older sister weld the power of plant life while the other the power of ice.  They had been captured and controlled by the most evil power that existed, only to be saved by the ones the evil force had forced them to fight.  Those saviors were five teenage boys, the Ronin Warriors.  Assisting the boys, the girls had helped to destroy Kubi, the emperor of the Evil Dynasty.  Then they had returned home, to people who knew nothing about the harrowing events that had occurred in Japan.  They tried to settle back into their normal lives, but everyone could tell that something had changed.  Even as the two tried to adjust to a normal life, evil was stirring.  It would be only a matter of time before their world was rocked once more, theirs and the other Ronin Warriors, for once evil has been released it is not long before it strikes.

            Sarah sat at a desk, typing on a computer.  It was Friday at six o’clock pm in Boston where she was, and Saturday at eight o’clock am in Toyama, where Rowen was talking to her over the computer. 

            I’m going to Ama no Hashidate again later today, Rowen typed into the computer, then sent the message across the internet lines to Sarah.

            Again? She asked.  This was the third day that Rowen had gone to Ama no Hashidate.

            Sage thinks something is wrong, he asked me to go and do something I have never done before.

            What? Sarah asked with bated breath. 

            Go up.  As high as possible, see what’s below.

            Sarah stared at the words on the screen.  Go up?  As in space? She thought.  What would that do to help?

            He thinks I might be able to sense where the evil is coming from.  He wanted me to take him up, but I think that could be dangerous for both of us.  Rowen sighed, Sage had argued about that with him for a long time.  He still did not believe he would be able to sense anything, especially from the void of space.  Not to mention the ruckus his landing could cause on Earth.  Yet Sage had been so worried, and it was not like Sage to worry like that without good reason.

            Have you sensed anything? Rowen asked.  Perhaps Sarah’s strong intuition could pinpoint the evil and he would not have to risk being discovered by plummeting to the Earth.

            Now that you mention it… Sarah typed.  Rowen held his breath.  If she sensed it halfway across the world, then Sage could be right, the evil might not be in Japan.  I’ve been sensing evil for a while.  Katie felt it too.  At first we thought it could be the lasting effects of our old alliance with Kubi, but each day it gets stronger.  It seems so close. 

            I’ll definitely have to check it out then.  Rowen sighed audibly.  He began to reconsider taking Sage with him.  He could go where no one else could go, but that did not mean that he wanted to.  I have to leave now, if I want to make it to Ama no Hashidate and be orbiting the Earth by nightfall.  Bye.

            Talk to you later, bye.  Sarah closed the laptop and sighed.  The separation had been harder than she thought.  She wondered what it was about Rowen that made her instantly fall in love with him, and wondered why she felt like she had already known him.  So much had happened to her since the beginning of spring.  After the abduction by Talpa, and becoming Kubi’s warlady, then the shocking realization that she was a Ronin Warrior with mystical armor as well nothing had been the same.  She remembered watching that huge symbol lift into the air, and the exhilaration of feeling everyone’s powers so close.  When she returned to Boston, everything was different.  No one there knew what had happened, why she had changed.  Her friends noticed something was strange about her, but only one seemed concerned.  Christa had known immediately that something was off about Sarah.  She had always known more about her than anyone else.  Sarah sighed as she remembered how many times she came close to telling Christa the truth, but she never did.  Everyone had kept asking her to talk about Japan, but most of her memories of Japan were staying at Mia’s house, the day she went shopping, going to the city to get to Rowen’s apartment, Han’a High School, and the airport.  She had not visited sacred shrines, museums, or seen historical sites.  She made up stories of places they had gone, and people they had stayed with.  Everyone would freak out if they found out she had stayed in a house with a twenty-year old woman and five teenage guys, so she had censored that. 

            The hardest thing for Sarah was to not be able to tell her parents what had happened.  She usually told her mother everything, but Katie and Sarah had agreed to not let their parents know about being Ronin Warriors.  Sarah had told her mother about Rowen, but she said she met him at school.  Katie and Sarah also told their parents about their other friends, Sage, Sai, Kento, Mia, and Ryo, but also created different scenarios of how they met.

            Sarah stood up and opened the plain white front door of the house they lived in.  She stood out on the porch, inhaling the night air.  Winter had arrived and each night was colder than the one before.  Sarah could feel her body absorb the cold, could feel ice channeling throughout her.  As the bearer of the Armor of Glacier her armor gained power from the cold, and the armor was a part of her body now.  Everything about her had changed.  When she used to insist that the heat stay up in the house, now she reveled in the cold.  Sarah held out her hand and concentrated.  Ice formed in her palm and shaped itself into a perfect sphere.  Sarah placed the sphere on the porch railing and admired it.  The idea that the ice had come from within her was a bit disturbing, but yet comforting all the same.  She was no longer a normal human; she was a chosen one.  Chosen to bear armor and follow the example the Ancient One had set to protect the mortal world from forces of evil.  She never had to wonder why she was born, or what her role was anymore, she had a purpose.

            Katie stood in her dressing room at the modeling agency.  She admired herself in the mirror.  She wore a long light green evening gown, trimmed with ribbon and lace.  Her long blonde hair was tied up in rings at her back, interwoven with live green vines.  Even her eyes were accented with green make-up.  One of the vines drooped, slowly dying.  Katie sighed and put her hand to the vine.  Her hand glowed and the vine was revitalized and alive again.  She smiled and walked out into another room.  A set made to look like a forest was to be the backdrop for the photos of her.  She stood with her hand against a real tree.  From above her the set crew released leaves.  Light flashed in her eyes as the photographer began to snap photos.  Katie viewed the falling leaves and thought of the sakura blossoms that had once floated around her when her Armor of Redoak was revealed.  It seemed so long ago now.  Her friends had not noticed much change in her as she was always a bit aloof.  She also did not feel the need to talk of that time much.  Her sister Sarah constantly brought it up whenever she was in the house.  Sarah had always preferred to talk her way through events.  Katie knew that by discussing it Sarah felt she was keeping the memories alive, and hanging onto something that she cherished.  Sarah’s feelings for Rowen Hashiba had not dimmed, but Katie knew that her sister was beginning to realize that they would most likely never be together.  Being a Ronin Warrior was all that linked Katie and Sarah in Boston to Sai, Ryo, Kento, Sage, and Rowen in Japan, and all fervently hoped that their armors would not be needed anytime soon. 

            After the photo shoot Katie changed back into her comfortable jeans and green sweater.  I wonder what Sage is doing right now, she thought.  There was something about Sage, something special, that she had to admit attracted her to him.  At first she thought it was the normal flirtatious charms he used on all girls, which caused them to swoon, but then she realized that it was something else.

            At Ama no Hashidate the wind blew through the trees, rustling their leaf-less branches.  The water was icy cold, and the beach deserted.  A solitary blue-haired Japanese boy walked down a steep path to the beach, hugging his dark blue jacket close to him against the bitter air.  The sky grew dark as Rowen arrived at the water’s edge.  He pulled his crystal out of his pocket and looked at it.  Then he heard footsteps behind him.  Rowen whirled around while donning his undergear and came face to face with Sage.  “Sage, you startled me,” Rowen said.

            “Sorry, I just wanted to be here, to make sure everything’s okay,” Sage said.  He kept his gaze steadily at Rowen’s eyes.  Rowen seemed anxious and was breathing rather heavily.  “Are you alright?” Sage asked.

            “Yeah,” Rowen responded.  “I’m just a little nervous.  Oh, by the way, Sarah and Katie felt the evil too,” he added.  Rowen looked up at the night sky.

            “Rowen, maybe you shouldn’t do this.  You probably won’t be able to sense anything anyway,” Sage said.

            “No, I want to do this,” Rowen said.  “We all need to test our limits right?  Well, this is my chance.  At least after today I will know if I can do it or not.” 

            “Alright, I’ll be here waiting for your return,” Sage replied, placing an encouraging hand on Rowen’s shoulder.  “Be careful, and don’t stay up there too long.”  Rowen nodded, his eyes still fixed on the sky overhead. 

            “Armor of Strata!  Tou-Inochi!” Rowen called out.  Sage stepped back as a brilliant light surrounded his friend.  Bolts of brightly colored silk descended unto Rowen and wrapped around him.  Then his armor appeared.  Rowen waited a moment for the last of the sakura petals to fall around him before trying what he had never tried before.  Rowen stepped into the water.  He closed his eyes and the kanji “intelligence” appeared on his forehead.  In a burst of light the blue sphere appeared around Rowen and he began to float.  Rowen opened his eyes and with a shout shot into the air with lightning speed.  Rowen moved faster then he ever had before, and could see nothing as the air shot by his face.  Before he knew it felt himself leaving the atmosphere of Earth.  He stopped abruptly in awe, and stared at his surroundings.  The silence around him was deafening, and yet he felt relaxed.  The blue glow that surrounded him intensified as he stared into the blackness of space.  Then he shook his head and remembered his task.  He turned to the Earth and gazed deeply at it, willing himself to sense evil.  However, within the firmament he could not sense anything. 

            Sage sat down in the cold sand, his crystal firmly in his hand.  “Come on Rowen, where are you?” Sage murmured.  The darkness seemed to be closing in around him.  Sage had been torturing himself with worry since Rowen left, regretting asking him to test his limits.  “Calm down Sage, if something was wrong with him, you’d know,” he quietly reassured himself.  Then he jumped up at the sight of glimmer of blue light moving in the sky.  The light began to descend toward the Earth.

            As Rowen began to descend to Ama no Hashidate he was careful to control his speed so he would not create any craters and cause a disturbance.  He abruptly stopped himself from his fall just below the clouds covering Ama no Hashidate.  Sage sighed with relief as Rowen slowly lowered himself to the beach and unarmed. 

            The two pushed open the door to Mia’s house and were greeted by Sai, Kento, Ryo, Mia, Anubis, and Yuli.  “How’d it go?” Mia asked, scrutinizing Rowen who was suddenly very tired.  Sage walked Rowen over to the couch.  When Rowen sat down Sai thrust a drink into his hand.  Rowen examined the glass and noticed that it was a sparkling juice. 

            “I believe some sort of celebration is in order,” Sai said, filling more glasses from a fancy bottle. 

            “So how high did you go?” Yuli asked.

            “You all know about this?  I thought it was just between me and Sage,” Rowen replied, dumbstruck.

            “Well, as Ronin Warriors it’s necessary for everyone to know what’s going on with our armors, and besides, the crystal would have alerted them anyway.  I just thought you’d be too nervous if you knew everyone knew,” Sage shrugged.  Rowen nodded.

            “So, how’d it go man?” Kento asked impatiently, leaning forward in his chair. 

            “It went really well.  I moved so fast to get out of the atmosphere that I don’t really remember what it was like, but when I reached the firmament…” Rowen closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.  “It was endless, and silent.  It was so peaceful, so very peaceful.  There’s nothing on Earth that even comes close to it.  I could have stared out into the blackness forever…”

            Sarah walked out of her suburban home, and into the bitter winter air.  She hugged her arms around herself, more out of habit than necessity and hurried down the sidewalk.  She passed a middle school girl who was staring absently at the snow banks.  Sarah heard a whisper and turned to the girl.  She was motionless.  “I wish…” Sarah heard the faint whisper again and scrutinized the girl, whose lips had not moved.  “If only…” Sarah pulled a hand through her mahogany hair.  She looked around for a source of the sound, but finding no one else there turned and continued to walk down the street.  She reached a small one-story house surrounded by tall pine trees.  She rapped on the blue door and waited, snow beginning to fall.  Finally a soft click cut through the air and the door opened. 

            “Christa, hey,” Sarah said.  The short blonde stepped aside as Sarah entered.

            “Hi Sarah,” Christa responded in a smooth alto voice.  She locked the door as Sarah pulled off her shoes.  “Did you walk here?”  Sarah nodded.  “But it’s like five degrees outside.”

            “I know, but the cold doesn’t really bother me,” Sarah said.  The two entered into normal conversation, school, gossip, then Christa switched on the television and grabbed some snacks.  They sat watching a DVD of their favorite anime until Christa left the room for a glass of water.  Sarah heard the NBC news jingle and looked up from her Doritos. 

            “Doctors and police still have no new information on what caused Emily Benick’s death.” The newscaster began solemnly.  Then the screen switched to a hospital while a doctor wearing green scrubs spoke into the NBC microphone.

            “It appeared that all of her energy and life force had been drained out of her body.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  It’s as if she just died.  Illnesses have been ruled out as everyone who knew her have said she was always very energetic and did not seem sick at all.  Her primary care physician also informed us that Ms. Benick had been to her office for a routine check-up just a week ago and was in perfect health.  It’s quite frustrating in the medical profession for this to happen, there’s no reason that Ms. Benick should be dead right now.”

            “Now is it true that this is the third such case to be seen at this hospital?” a tall fat newscaster asked the doctor.

            “Sadly yes.  Evan Benton died much the same way as Ms. Benick, but he was in poor health at the time, and Carey Skaller is still in a coma.”

            “Thank you Doctor Gent, now Sandra, back to you.”  The screen switched back to the original newscaster, Sandra.  She waited a moment with a sad expression before speaking again.  “What is truly odd is that all three victims have been found unconscious or dead right after one of the many unexplained blackouts that have been occurring all over the city.  City officials worry if the two could be connected.  And the power officials are still looking for the source of the blackouts.”

            “Weird isn’t it?” Christa said from behind Sarah.  “It started happening just after you came back too, that’s odd.”  Sarah turned to look at Christa and then the lights flickered and died.  Sarah looked around nervously.  “I wonder who they’re going to find dead this time,” Christa sighed.

            “But on the news they said it was only three people,” Sarah said.

            “Just that that doctor has seen.  They don’t want to create mass hysteria by publishing how many people have been killed or left in a coma during the blackouts,” Christa replied, glancing out the window.  Sarah heard faint indiscernible whispering and looked around the room. 

            “Do you hear that?” Sarah asked.

            “Hear what?” Christa responded.

            “That whispering… oh never mind, I heard it earlier too, but no one was around.”  Sarah walked to the window next to Christa and stared out at the darkening sky.  Reflected in the window was a dimly blinking violet glow.  Neither of them saw it.  The crystal blinked weakly from Sarah’s coat, and then ceased to glow at all.

            One week later, Rowen and Sage walked down the dark street, wind whipping past them and rain pouring onto them.  Rowen zipped his blue coat as Sage pulled him inside of a small café.  “I haven’t felt it for at least a week now,” Sage exclaimed as they sat down at a French bistro table in the corner. 

            “Neither have I,” Rowen responded.  “And every time I try to get a hold of Sarah the power goes out in Boston.  They’re having blackouts all the time over there.”

            “That’s strange isn’t it?” Sage said.  “Remember when the Dynasty first attacked how all of the power went off?”

            “Yeah, but this isn’t the same… is it?” Rowen looked seriously at Sage.  The blonde was staring out of the window, his eyes paler than usual as he concentrated.  A trickle of rainwater ran down Sage’s neck and into his yellow button-up shirt.  Rowen stared idly at the green walls of the café.  Sage’s intuition was never off, and Rowen would rather let him contemplate what could be happening than interrupt him.

            “What do you think we should do?” Sage asked Rowen, breaking the silence.  Rowen looked up abruptly, a frown on his pale face. 

            “Well, let’s face it, we can’t miss much more school this year,” Rowen began uneasily.  “And we don’t know that anything is going wrong that needs the armors in Boston, it could be just a shoddy electrical system.  Now I’m not dismissing your worry Sage, I just think we need to consider this for a little longer.”

            Just outside of the city of Boston a woman with long dark hair walked out of a small office building next door to the city power plant.  The sky was dark, the only light emitted from street lamps.  She clutched a laptop bag in one hand a purse in the other.  She headed for the parking garage across the street, feeling as though she was being watched.  The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she spun around just as the street lamps died.  She was thrown into blackness and tried frantically to see, fumbling with her purse.  She heard a sound reminiscent of sliding mud.  She finally found a key chain with a flashlight on it.  She pressed on the button and a harsh blue glow illuminated the night.  She pointed it at the ground and witnessed that the sidewalk was coated in sludge, and it was approaching her.  She back away hurriedly but soon was caught in the sticky substance.  She cried out only once, but never again.

            Sarah turned on the television and switched it to the news station as Katie entered the house.  “The news?” Katie asked as the newscaster began to discuss the latest snowfalls on the eleven o’clock news.

            “Yeah, there was another power outage earlier, and I’m worried that someone was hurt,” Sarah explained.

            “Why would someone be hurt?” Katie asked, confused.

            “Because, I don’t know, but it just keeps happening.”  And true to Sarah’s fear, the newscaster took on a solemn expression as she began the next story.

            “After the most recent blackout Anna Milin was found dead on the sidewalk in front of her workplace.  Doctors report that Milin had no injuries, but seemed to have ‘had the life drained out of her’.”

            “Katie,” Sarah whispered.  Katie turned to her, anxiety mounting within her.  “I think, that something is happening here.  Something that we need to stop.”  Sarah had just finished speaking those words when the power died, and a purple and a green orb began to blink, illuminating light into the blackness of the room.