After the race, Ryu and Ken were in high spirits.
"You nearly lost to me" Ken smirked.
"Nearly, you're good I'll admit it but you're still a thousand years too early to challenge me" Ryu teased him.
"That was superb! These are the sorts of things you should invent instead of that ridiculous thing I don't like to mention" Nadia praised Ryu.
"I've never done something like that before. It felt amazing!" Atlanta said with a distant look.
Ken squeezed Ryu's hand.
"Ryu, what's that thing Nadia doesn't like to mention?" Ken asked.
"Stand back Ken, this is going to be a blaze. FIRE…" Ryu was about to perform the ridiculous jutsu.
"Don't even go there!" Michael and Nadia growled as they formed seals for retaliation.
"Oh man!" Ryu slapped his forehead.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The sun was beginning to set. Rokkan stared at the stars in silence while holding his pendant.
"Gaiden huh? The dragons should have known all this" Rokkan wondered.
"The dragons have been sleeping for centuries. They are probably unaware of all that happened during their sleep" Tanya reasoned as she walked towards Rokkan.
Rokkan looked around. His friends were chatting happily. They didn't seem to be so worried.
"How does Ryu always recover so quickly? For an ordinary human, the trials he has faced would have crushed their spirit permanently" Rokkan said.
"Perhaps you are underestimating humans" Tanya said with a smile.
"I mean, he feels guilty for a lot of things at times. It's almost as though he feels responsible for all humanity. How could a human feel such a thing?" Rokkan asked Tanya.
"I don't know much about him but in the short time I've known you all, I can only say that Ryu is Ryu" Tanya said.
"And how did you let go of your shyness so quickly?" Rokkan asked Tanya.
"It wasn't easy…but I'm not sure. After I argued with you, I dreamt of you" Tanya said.
"How nice" Rokkan said with a smile.
"Not nice Rokkan. I saw you die. You were held to the ground by shadows and killed by a kunai from the trees" Tanya's voice shook as though she were forcing herself not to burst into tears.
"Ouch. That doesn't sound so pleasant" Rokkan winced.
"I have never been so scared in my life. Your pendant does protect you Rokkan. I don't know why but I believe it is more than just a gift. It glowed and spoke, I think with Gaiden's voice. I knew I had to get it to you no matter what. Since then, I've been feeling changed, emboldened" Tanya said.
"And you're telling me all this, why?" Rokkan asked.
"I'm afraid Rokkan…" Tanya finally let her tears flow.
Rokkan who seemed to be reflecting deeply on her words suddenly sat up.
"You don't need to be afraid, Tanya. I'm here. I'll protect you, I promise" Rokkan declared.
"I don't doubt that but…I'm afraid…afraid for you. I can't shake that image from my head" Tanya sobbed.
"Don't worry Tanya. If it will make you feel better, I promise to live through all this. I have dreams for my village, my ryu" Rokkan promised.
"I know you have an important part to play in stopping Nemesis and probably resealing Shekan if he awakens. I don't want to be in the way but…if you don't make it, I don't know how long I will" Tanya said, trying to shake away her tears but now, there were tears in Rokkan's eyes too.
"I will make it" Rokkan said with certainty.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Ryu lay down and stared at the stars in silence. The sky had the navy blue colour of night. A full round moon shone in the starlit sky. The only thing that spoiled the beautiful picture was the three moons of Tristran that remained in the sky day and night. They had formed a semi-circle around the white moon. Michael sensed Ryu's anxiety and came to lie beside him.
"It's scary what happens when the fourth, fifth and sixth moon finally appear" Ryu mumbled.
"You can almost see the six moons in a circle around the white moon. It's easy to see that the remaining three moons will join these in a circle" Michael said with a faint smile.
"You seem way too comfortable imagining something as catastrophic as that. Have you finally become retarded?" Ryu asked.
"Everything looks gloomy but look Ryu, the White moon still shines and its light won't fade, not even for the moons of Tristran. In this intense darkness, you Ryu are the light" Michael said with a faint smile.
"Huh, you are beginning to sound like Meena" Ryu said seriously.
"Like Meena? I think you've become a little rusty at joking" Michael said as he made a crazy face.
Ryu burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Ironically, your jokes keep getting better!" Ryu said, trying to contain his laughter.
"Hey Ryu!" Rokkan called.
"What's up Rokkan?" Ryu asked.
"Come over here" Rokkan called.
Ryu and Michael hurried over to his side. It was quite late.
"I wonder what Meena wanted to tell us. She's eerie" Rokkan informed Ryu. "It's almost as though she had information that could help us on our quest" he said.
"Eerie did you say? She's in fact quite like you, do you know?" Ryu teased Rokkan.
"Hey! That's not funny!" Rokkan yelled.
"Come on, you're the smart and resourceful guy in the team" Ryu said.
"Thank you Ryu. I think I'll take that as a compliment" Rokkan said.
"Take it as an ordinary statement" Ryu said in a mocking tone.
Suddenly, Meena showed up behind them.
"Mm-hmm!" she cleared her throat quite elaborately.
Ryu and Rokkan turned to face her.
"WHOA HEY! Don't be doing that!" Ryu scolded her.
"Shut up Ryu" Rokkan muttered and punched Ryu in the shoulder.
"I see you're enjoying the night. Come on in. I made some soup" Meena invited them.
Ryu made a weird face at Rokkan, and then he smiled.
"Soup sounds great" he said.
"Great, the girls are already inside" Meena said.
"What? Crap! I was thinking of showing off a bit for Atlanta. Who is this Meena. Is she a witch from some distant cursed land or what? She sure knows how to ruin perfect plans" Ryu thought angrily.
"Come on, there's something I need to tell you anyway and for the record, I'm not a witch Ryu" Meena said.
"Crap! How did she know what I was thinking?! She's definitely a witch or an extremely old sage in disguise" Ryu thought.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that Ryu" Meena growled.
Rokkan slapped him on the head.
"What?!" Ryu exclaimed in anger.
"You're thinking out loud" Rokkan said.
"You're absolutely rude and you have no ounce of civility" Meena said as she led them into her cottage.
They entered Meena's hut and found Nadia, Atlanta and Tanya talking happily.
"Hey, where's Michael?" Ryu suddenly asked.
"Very funny Ryu, I've been beside you the whole time" Michael said with an irritated look on his face.
"Try to be less creepy then, little Mikey" Ryu teased.
"Little Mikey? That's a new one Ryu" Nadia said with a laugh.
"I can't believe you actually said that in front of Nadia!" Michael growled angrily.
"Actually, it's Mikey's old nickname from home. Everyone called him that, even the monks who were very strict by the way" Ryu ignored Michael.
"Sounds cute, little Mikey" Nadia laughed.
Atlanta, Tanya and Ken laughed at the name.
"And here you were trying to act like the boss of everyone" Rokkan said.
"Well, at least I wasn't called the 'Fire Demon from Hell'. You always went around burning everything in sight and you did exactly the opposite of what everyone expected you to do. Always unpredictable and immature! You were so much trouble, the Crystal ninja created an entire complex system of traps and alarms just for you!" Michael roared angrily.
"Praise me some more! Keep going Mikey! Don't stop!" Ryu egged Michael on.
"He really is a demon. Using his own brother to make himself look good" Nadia sighed.
"Wow! Ryu was that cool back in the Crystal ryu?" Ken exclaimed in awe.
"Cool? You demon, this was all a trap to make yourself look good wasn't it?!" Michael roared.
"You fell for it? That's the thing with extremely intelligent people, they fail to see obvious traps, I call this my 'Evaporating water elements effortlessly plan'" Ryu said with an evil laugh.
"L-a-a-a-a-me" the others muttered.
Meena laughed.
"Sibling rivalry is a beautiful thing, isn't it?" she said.
"Obviously, you have no siblings like Michael. He is the itch in my back, the hell in my paradise, the democracy in my tyranny, the hindrance in my efforts. He is more of an archenemy to me than Nemesis or Shekan" Ryu said.
"Likewise" Michael scoffed and turned his back to Ryu.
"Though they are twins, they are absolutely different aren't they?" Nadia whispered to Atlanta.
"They've always been like this for as long as I've known them" Atlanta whispered back.
Meena cleared her throat.
"Why are you living isolated away from the Sound ryu. It's a beautiful place" Atlanta questioned Meena.
"Yes it is, but I suppose it's only a matter of time before Nemesis attacks it" Meena sighed. "Besides, the queen and I don't get along".
"We won't let him!" Ryu declared.
"We need you to tell us how we can find the Sword Of Rai" Rokkan said.
"The Sword Of Rai? No one has talked of it in over five centuries" Meena chuckled. "Why, no one has even been to the Light ryu in ages and only Gaiden could wield it. Unless of course, he chose to pass it on to someone" Meena said as she stared at Rokkan.
"Why are you staring at me?" Rokkan asked.
"Your pendant. It looks so familiar" Meena narrowed her eyes.
Then she walked into her library and pulled out a voluminous red leather book. She blew dust from its cover and brought it to the others. There was an imprint that resembled Rokkan's pendant on its cover.
"It looks just like my pendant" Rokkan said.
"That is no ordinary pendant. It was the basis of creation" Meena said as she stared hard at the pendant.
"Basis of creation? What do you mean?" Michael asked.
"I should say that the pendant contains the principle through which the dragons created the world" Meena said as she opened the pages of the book.
"A pendant like this one was given to Gaiden by the Dragon of Destiny" Meena said.
"Hey, that looks like the Dragon Zone" Ryu noticed the resemblance of the pendant to the Dragon Zone.
"Yes, now I remember. The gem on the statue of Shekan had similar inscriptions" Michael added.
"Yeah, but Nemesis has it now" Ryu said.
"NEMESIS?!" Meena exclaimed in horror.
"Yes" Michael replied.
"That's bad! If he wanted, he could recreate many replicas of Shekan!" Meena frowned.
"That sounds really bad" Ryu said.
"But…" Rokkan paused.
"But he'd rather use it to unseal the real Shekan" Meena stated.
"So what do we do?" Ryu asked.
"You need to recover the gem and return it to the Dragon Of Destiny" Meena said.
"You still haven't told us the location of the Sword Of Rai. All we know of its location is someplace where the light changes its path" Ryu said.
"Huh, there is no way to find the Light ryu. It's a hidden ryu" Meena informed them.
"Damn! We finally get some leads and then we end up at a roadblock!" Ryu said angrily as he punched the table.
"But I'll give you something better, the origin of the code of heart and hate and its significance. Let's go outside, where you will summon your dragons. I'm sure they will be willing to tell you the truth now that you've come so far" Meena said seriously.