Kyra screamed in pain. The pain was too much for her. Yet she didn’t give a
damn. The burning whip lashed again and again. But she thought of what they
taught her at the Jedi Temple, to welcome pain with open arms as you would
welcome healing.

She vaguely remembered something Yoda told her. “Welcome injuries as if they
were medicine, you must. Take both good and evil, light and darkness together,
you should. Find that they are brothers, you will.”

She relaxed and focused on the burning whip. Suddenly the flames joined her
subtle aura. They became—no, they were her. They trickled through her body like
a gentle stream of water, nursing every wound, scratch, burn, and scar.

Kyra signed in relief. She was whole again. It was cut short as Julien tossed
back in her prison and she hit the wall, hard. He slammed the door, making it
echo in the cell. She drew herself into a ball, whimpering, knowing that her
time was running out.

Meanwhile, the Ronins and the Warlords had just left a council meeting with the
Gods about their problem. The council had decided to help by providing supplies
for the journey and enlisting advice against certain creatures.

Rowan hugged Lena and Olwen. He had become very good friends with them and would
miss them terribly. “Hey, Blue-Boy. Take care, okay?” “You too, Olwen, Lena.”
“Don’t forget to write.”

“I won’t. Bye!” He replied and caught up with his friends. Both girls watched
the group disappear into the dark night, dangerous, strange, and forbidding.
“Godspeed, Ronin Warriors. Godspeed.” Said Lena, and both retreated back to the
caverns.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Signs of a Summoner

They arrived at the whirlpools at 1:00 am. Which was surprising in a scale of 1
to 10. There was a limited number of morning people in the group. Cye was the
one who usually got up first, then the others followed in random order, Rowan
being the only exception.

But today things changed for them, as Rowan was anxious to find his love and
pummel Julien to his death. Soon they found the entrance. They were about to
cross it when they heard a deep booming voice challenge them.

“I am the Guardian of the Gates of Meimon, none shall pass through! So, give up
on whatever quest you’re doing, mortals, for it is in vain.” Rowan could not
believe it. He ran up on a rock formation and shouted; “Let us through, you
bully! We have to go through!”

He cried as he pounded his fist against what he thought was rock. Suddenly the
rock started to shift. In fact it wasn’t really rock at all. It was a behemoth
of a serpent. A winged behemoth of a serpent. He turned to look at Rowan with
one of its eyes.

“And if I didn’t?” Rowan was at loss for words. He could feel the creature’s
penetrating stare on him. “I’ll fight you!” He shouted drawing his armor orb.
“Armor of Strata, Dao Inochi!” He was suddenly in his armor and ready to fight.

The battle began. Soon, 2 hours passed and they were still going at it. Rowan
had gone into his sub-armor. Things were starting to look bad when
suddenly—“Guys, why did Rowan disappear?”

“Dunno, Cye. What’s going on?” “Holy Shit! Everyone take cover!” Cried Anubis.
They did and they also found out why. A sleek dragon had appeared with the words
‘Mega Flare’ flashing above.

It suddenly threw a ball of energy at the boss, completely depleting its health
points. Rowan appeared to see his enemy half-alive. He felt pity for the snake,
and decided to help it.

The Guardian was very surprised to see that Rowan did not kill him. So after a
few minutes, it turned to Rowan. “Do you want me to serve as your eidolon?”
Rowan blinked. What was the creature talking about?

Chapter Sixty-Six: Of Guardians and Eidolons

(Cut!!!!!!! Things are starting to get a bit complicated right now. This is one
of those times when you are assigned or want to do a simple mission. Only
drawback is that it gets more complicated as it deepens.

Such is the case with our fave anime cuties as they undergo a harsh journey
below sea level in a path known as the Meimon WaterWay. But what’s up with
Rowan?

Are there things about him we cannot fully comprehend? And what about those
eidolons in the background, the dragon and winged sea serpent? Read on to find
out.)

Rowan woke up, dizzy. He was lying on a mossy kind of surface. He sat up, and
started to check his bearings. He saw a set of stairs and went down. Grumbling
voices were heard not far off.

He steeped into what looked like a kitchen and was greeted by the only human
voice in the kitchen. “Morning, Rowan.” “Morning, Shuten. What’s going on?” “Oh,
Bahamut and Leviathan are having a fit.”

Rowan blinked slowly, and fell off the chair, coffee mug still in his hand. “Oh
dear.” Said Anubis, and picked him up and laid him on the couch. The others came
down to see a huge winged snake, a very huge dragon, a former Warlord and a
passed-out Ronin.

After a few minutes’ time, Rowan regained consciousness and both eidolons
explained everything to them. “What I don’t understand is how were you able to
summon me…if you didn’t have a sumonner’s horn or never junctioned me in the
first place?” Said Bahamut curiously, filing his horns.

“Yeah. Come to think of it, I’ve been wondering myself, Ro’. Ryo admitted. The
others murmured their agreements to that remark. After a long period of
nerve-shattering silence, Anubis spoke up. “Rowan, do you have gemstones,
authentic ones?” “Yeah, why?”

“Because in Gaia, you can learn certain abilities or in some cases, eidolons if
you equip them as an add-on.” “And how does that FFIX info relate to this?”
“Sekhmet, its quite simple.

Gaia has the same gemstones that Earth has, but that’s where the similarity
ends. The gemstones in Gaia are exposed to magic constantly, whereas the ones in
Earth are not.” “So what you’re trying to say is…”

“That one stone got exposed to magic.” “But how?” “I think it was Rowan’s armor,
Sage.” They looked at Rowan to see him pull out something out of his pocket. It
caught the sunlight, which glared off in all directions, blinding them for only
a few seconds.

It fell on the moss with a thud. It glinted one more time, and stopped. Bahamut
picked it up and stared at it.

After a few seconds, he started to chuckle, which turned into roaring laughter.
The boys blinked. What was it that Bahamut found so hilarious that he couldn’t
stop laughing?