The End of Pain

After school Sage returned to his house. His grandfather greeted him, his sister Daioa was on the phone, his mother cooking, his father most likely working, and his younger sister Nina was at the table doing homework.

"Sage, do you have any homework?" his mother called as Sage climbed the stairs to his room.

"No, Mom! I finished it in school," he answered truthfully.. She nodded, and he went to his room to change out of his school uniform. He pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans and a green shirt. He found his tennis shoes where he left them last. He put them on, then went back downstairs.

Daioa hung up and glanced at her brother. "Where are you going?" she asked, wondering if he had a date. Hm, he wasn't wearing any extra cologne.

"Over to Rowen's," Sage replied as he started for the door.

"Sage, dinner will be ready in an hour and half," his mother called. "Make sure you're back by then." Sage nodded, bowed to his grandfather, and went out the front door. He went around the shed, and opened it, and brought out his 15 speed bike, a Mountain Roadmaster, black and green in color. He quickly hopped on and raced off for Rowen's house.

The trip didn't take long. He was at the little red house with white trimming before he knew it. He hopped off and went up to the door and rang the doorbell. There was no answer, so he rang again. After three times, the door was yanked open.

"Yeah?!"

Sage stared at the man before him. He was dirty, drunk, holding a quart of beer, and looked as if he wanted to punch Sage for having to open the door.

"Is Rowen here?" he asked calmly, one violet eye staring straight at Rowen's father. God, he would love to punch the man right out for what he was doing to his best friend. He kept his arms at his sides.

"Not here," the answer came back gruffly.

"Where is he then?"

Rowen's father took a drink from his quart. "In the hospital!" he snapped before slamming the door shut on Sage's face.

Sage frowned. Why was Rowen in the hospital? What had happened? His eyes widened. Unless..... He quickly hopped onto his bike and peddled off.

Star stared across the yard as the wind blew her hair behind her. She took the liberty of putting it in a pony tail just to keep it out of her face. That dream still would not go away. She had never dreamed anything like it. What could it mean anyway? Seven armors? Just who or what were these armors?

'Star, you will know the answer when it comes.'

Star whirled around, expecting someone to be behind her. Nothing. And yet the voice had been clear as a bell. What did it mean? And who was it that spoke to her?

"Hey, Star-chan! Whatchaya daydreaming for?"

Star turned around to see Firestorm hanging upside off a tree branch at least ten feet in the air. For once you could actually see both eyes.

She walked over to the girl. "I had a very strange dream last night, Firestorm. And then just a minute ago, I heard this strange voice. It said, 'Star, you will know the answer when it comes.' " She crossed her arms and frowned.

"Talk about weird!" Firestorm said as she began swinging from the branch. "What was the dream anyway? Was anything said?"

Star opened her mouth and spoke mysteriously. "Torch of spirit sought through seven. Drinking strength from immortal fire. The darkest prison sheds the light. Churning beneath a swirl of salt. Twirling with a burst of fire. Burning within a throne of rock. Gleaming with a burst of power in the night time sky. Floating amongst the eyes of ages, unmoored in the stream of the sky."

Firestorm's eyes widened. "Whoa spooky!"

Star nodded solemnly.

Unknown to them, a character with blond hair had overheard. He did not reply to them, but the poem had him thinking. Could there really be two new armors? And if there then who? Could those girls be bearers of mystical armor as well? But that was impossible! Wasn't it?

He had no time to sort this out now. He had to find Rowen.

Cye and Kento arrived at Mia's house not long after 5. Ryo was outside fixing a banister that had been broken during one of the battles they had had.

"Hi, Ryo!" Cye greeted as the two came closer. He smiled at their leader. "Finally fixing that, eh?"

"Hey, it's not my fault it broke when I jumped on it!" Ryo protested as he placed a nail in the proper place and hammered it in.

"Mia inside?" Cye asked.

Ryo nodded, his mouth full of nails.

"Great, I'm starving!" Kento said and went inside. Cye only shook his head and turned back to Ryo.

"So have you talked to Rowen yet?"

Ryo shook his head and took another nail out of his mouth. "I haven't seen him all day, and I haven't heard from him either."

Cye let out a sigh. "Hm, I wonder where he is."

Sage had looked all over for Rowen, having no luck at all. Finally he used the link they all shared. The hospital. Rowen was in the hospital! He pedaled as fast as he could.

Rowen was asleep when the nurse came up to him. "Rowen?" she called softly. No answer. She tried again. And again, finally he opened his eyes. "Unnn, uh, what?" he asked sleepily.

"You have a visitor," she said and moved aside, allowing the handsome blond haired boy to step forward.

Rowen saw him and smiled weakly. "Sage," he said happily.

Sage peered down at his best friend with concern. He saw the bandages wrapped around his head, and his skin was paler than usual. He turned to the nurse. "Excuse me, do you mind if I visit with him alone?" he asked politely. The nurse stared into his eye, never having seen that type of eye color before. She wondered if he wore contacts, but after careful looking, she saw that it was his true eye color. Finally she realized what he was asking, and nodded. She turned to Rowen. "If you need anything, just press the button, OK?" Rowen nodded and she left.

Sage turned to Rowen. "What happened?" he demanded.

Rowen blinked and the tears came. He shivered. "All I did was just sneaked out of the house to make a phone call. And then when I got up for school, he... he told me he knew what I had done and who I tried to call. That was when he took my baseball bat and hit me over the head."

"You mean the steel one you keep in your room?" Sage asked. Rowen nodded, letting the tears come down his face. Sage reached for some tissue and gently wiped Rowen's eyes. He made sure no one was watching. He placed his hands gently over Rowen's bandaged head and healed him the best he could. Rowen smiled gratefully and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Sage stepped away, frowning at his friend. He hated to see his best friend suffer like this. If only they could find out what happened to Rowen's mother! He grabbed a chair and dragged it close to Rowen's bed and sat down. He would watch Rowen until he awoke.

He saw the phone on the nightstand and reached for it.

Brrrrring! Ring! Ring!

Kento stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and swallowed as he grabbed the phone. "Koji residence."

"Kento?"

"Sage, man! What's happening!" Kento greeted warmly.

"I'm at the hospital, Kento," Sage replied quietly. Kento's eyes widened. "Wh... why are you....?"

"Rowen was hurt really bad," Sage replied angrily. "By his father. Are the others there?"

Kento swallowed a stream of curse words. "Yeah, hold on." He went out the sliding glass door and found Ryo just finishing up the banister, and Cye doing some Biology homework.

"Guys, it's Sage. Something bad happened."

They both glanced up quickly, worry on their faces. Ryo quickly took the phone from Kento. "Sage, what's wrong?"

"Ryo, Rowen's father beat him over the head with his baseball bat. I'm at the hospital with him right now."

"Is he OK?" Ryo asked worriedly.

"He has stitches and he's pretty weak. I healed him the best I could, so he's sleeping right now."

"So that's why he wasn't in school today," Ryo said. He was trying to hold his temper in. Cye and Kento watched him with concern. Finally he turned to Cye, the only one who didn't know, and explained what had happened. Cye gasped and looked almost as if he would start crying right then and there. Kento put an arm on his shoulder. Ryo eventually said, "Sage, we're coming up there. Wait for us."

"Alright, Ryo. See you in a bit."

Ryo hung up. He clenched his fists tightly and took several breaths. "Let's go!"

And all three of them headed off for the hospital.

Mia and Yulie had arrived not long after Cye, Ryo, and Kento had left. Mia saw that the banister was almost fixed, but she couldn't help but wonder why Ryo had left it unfinished.

"Maybe the Dynasty attacked?" Yulie said worriedly. Mia just smiled and shook her head. "The entire place would have been trashed, Yulie, and it's not."

Yulie only nodded as Mia opened the door, to find it unlocked. "Great!" she muttered. "He forgot to lock the door." She saw White Blaze coming toward her from the upstairs. "Good thing we have White Blaze here."

She set some bags down on the coffee table, having to run out for groceries when Kento had come in, hungry as usual. She had told Ryo and Cye she was going to pick up Yulie and go to the store, and then come right back. And now the entire place was empty.

"Hello!" Yulie called as he ran through the large house. "Ryo! Rowen! Sage? Where are they? Kento! Cye!"

Mia let out a sigh. "White Blaze, where is Ryo?"

The tiger looked at her as if to say, how should I know?

Mia sighed, then heard the phone ringing. She looked for it, and saw that it wasn't where it was suppose to be. She paged it, and found it outside. Whoever had been trying to call had hung up. "Great," she muttered. "That boy and I are going to have a talk."

All four Ronins stared at their fellow member sadly. It pained them to see him like this. Ryo was extremely angry, but none were more angry than Sage himself.

"How could he be so heartless?" Cye asked quietly. None of them knew the answer, but it looked as if all of them wanted to beat the crap out of Rowen's father.

"I still don't see why the Police won't do something about this!" Kento roared.

"Kento, Rowen and I already tried, and they didn't believe us," Sage said angrily. "We need proof."

Kento pointed at Rowen. "And you don't call that proof?!"

Rowen glanced up. "He told them I tripped and fell down the basement steps, and they believed him. If they believed him, the Police will believe him." He let out a shuddering gasp. "They always believe him."

"There, there, Rowen," Cye said as he wiped Rowen's tears away. "We'll find someone who will believe us."

Rowen nodded. He wanted so much to believe those words, but he wasn't sure if he could.

Ryo looked at him. "When are they letting you out?" he asked.

"I think tomorrow," Rowen replied.

"Good, you're coming with me to Mia's house. You need to get away from your dad."

Rowen nodded. Getting away was exactly what he wanted, only he wanted that to be forever.

A nurse eventually came into the room with equipment. "I'm sorry, visiting hours are now over until 8 P.M. You may come back then."

The four boys nodded, and turned to Rowen. "We'll see you later, Rowen. Get better soon." Cye said. "Catch you later man!" Kento said. "I'll see you later, Ro," Ryo promised. "I'll bring up some books for you to read," Sage said.

Rowen nodded and said good-bye to them as they left. The nurse quickly checked him, gave him medication, and left him alone.

Rowen smiled to himself. He had the most wonderful friends. Without another thought he drifted off to sleep.