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/Back in Tokyo, Li's P.O.V.
"Deported?" Li echoed. Then his eyes narrowed with realization. "So it happened to all the others too…"
"I escaped them, but now part of me wishes I hadn't. I should be asleep most of the night, but I stay up worrying." Mike admitted. They were sitting in the living room. The grown ups were in the next room, and Li could hear Tamao crying from where he sat on the couch. "I'm particularly worried about Sophia. I mean, she's so young."
"Yeah. I hope she and the others are alright." Raiko, Faust's son, replied quietly. "The men weren't allowed into Germany, so I guess I got lucky. Li? How come you weren't deported too?"
"They didn't know I was there." Li replied quietly. "Athena had locked me in the closet and told me to stay quiet. They took her and figured she was an only child. Now I feel like a coward."
"I wonder what they're doing right now…" In the other room, their parents were discussing the same thing.
"Stop crying, Tamao." Ryo said gently. "I'm sure Sophia's okay."
"She got deported! How is that okay?" Tamao sobbed.
"She has several strong friends looking after her. She'll be okay." Hao squeezed her hand. Sniffing, Tamao hugged him, as if trying to draw strength from him.
"Mike avoided deportation, Li was hidden, the others are gone and we don't know where they were taken. What a world." Yoh said dejectedly. Shinigami knew that he was upset that he hadn't been able to protect his son, or her, when those men broke into their house.
Ren sighed softly, startling everyone. He had been so angry before, and suddenly he was being as quiet as a mouse. "I hope they're okay…"
/Outer Ring, Deep Blue's P.O.V.
"Ready?" Minty asked her brother in a hushed voice. Deep Blue twisted the rock in his hands, swallowing hard.
"Gonna have to be." He replied. As the patrol men were walking along, Deep Blue pitched the rock away from the crevasse he and his sister were hiding in. It clattered to the floor. Started by the noise, the men ran off, thinking a captive was trying to get away. Minty and Deep Blue took off in the other direction. Looking up, Deep Blue could see Zephyr and Flame sitting on the library roof. Minty followed his gaze and nodded approvingly.
"Looks like Sophia found Tatiana. Good. Everything's going smoothly." Minty panted.
"Hey! You! What are you doing on the walls?" The shout sounded from behind them, freezing them in place.
"Uh oh, we've been spotted! MAKE A BREAK FOR IT!" Athena yelled from behind them. Deep Blue looked over his shoulder and saw several men running towards them, with Athena and Drake a few paces behind. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Keep running!" Drake yelled. "We can't outfight them but we can outpace them! Whatever you do, DO NOT slow down!"
Hana was waiting at the other end. "Drake, that's your cue!" Drake launched his pendulum. The end locked around the edge of the library roof.
"Everyone, hold on tight." Deep Blue squeezed Drake's arm so hard he was surprised he didn't snap it as they flew over six flights of sandstone bridge. Drake released the pendulum and all five of them tumbled through the window and into the library.
"Guys! Hurry!" Sophia cried, watching guards gather. Six exploded into the library and Deep Blue could do nothing but run.
"It's now or never, guys! Get on the roof!" Minty screamed. Deep Blue understood. If they messed this up and failed to escape, the guards would be twice as careful next time. They would never be able to get away. Escape had to be now or it would definitely be never. Pulling onto the roof and helping his sister on after him, Deep Blue looked up at Tatiana's majestic winged spirit.
"Now Tatiana, now!" Zephyr extended his wings and hovered just in front of the roof. Tatiana looked back.
"Everyone on!" She cried. Hana leaped on and helped Sophia get on after him. Deep Blue practically hurtled onto Zephyr's back and looked up. "Minty! It's not far, just jump!" Minty edged towards the end of the roof, an uncertain look on her face.
"They're getting closer!" Athena shouted. The guards were on the roof now and running towards them. In desperation, Athena grabbed Drake and Minty by the arm and leaped aboard, nearly losing her footing.
"Go!" Tatiana cried, and with a snort Zephyr took off, leaving the guards stuck on the roof. With a few flaps of the wings, they left the sandstone building behind. One of the men had succeeded in grabbing Zephyr's leg. Sophia grabbed Athena's lightning sword and smashed his hand repeatedly with it. He let go and fell like a stone.
For a moment, none of the shaman spoke. And then…
"WE'RE OUT! YAHOO!" Sophia squealed in delight. Hana gave his cousin a hug and grinned from ear to ear.
"I'm free." Tatiana looked dazed, as if she thought it were all a dream. "I'm finally free."
"Damn right!" Athena shouted, looking extremely pleased with herself.
"We're out, yeah!" Deep Blue shouted. Minty was so overwhelmed that she didn't speak.
"Before you get too excited, remember we're not totally out of the woods yet." Drake warned them. As Zephyr landed, Deep Blue spilled over the side and kissed the ground. "Skench will probably send search parties after us."
"He can do what he likes, we're NOT going back. Not for anything." Athena declared. "We're getting out of this damn canyon if it's the last thing we do!"
"Yes!" Minty exclaimed. "I'm not going to let this dumb place keep me from my family!"
"Sing with me! There's aint no mountain high enough, aint no valley low enough, aint no river wide enough to keep from you! Yeah there aint no mountain high enough…." With high spirits, the group of friends marched up and down the winding, twisting ledges of the canyon with great purpose, setting a course for home.
"There's only one problem." Drake said suddenly. Deep Blue looked over his shoulder at him.
"What?"
"I have no idea where we are."
/Back at Aegolius
"What? Some kid shaman got away?" Skench's voice was cool and collected..
"Yes sir." The guard replied. "They snuck through a hole in our patrols and used one of their guardian ghosts to fly deeper into the canyon."
"Which ones got away?"
"Sophia and Hana Asakura, Minty and Deep Blue of the Aniu, Athena Tao, Drake Deithel, and Tatiana Odymanta." Skench's eyes narrowed at the names.
"The Odymanta girl has already tried to escape. Did you think that was insignificant? Why didn't you put a guard around her dorm?"
"We had assumed she had learned her lesson." The guards replied quietly.
Skench turned around. "The Asakuras and the Tao were a rare prize, and I expect their immediate recapture. But if you find the others, you have the orders to do what must be done."
The guard paused, but then he spoke. "Very well."
"Round up a search party, find them, and bring them back. Do not fail me, Heath." Heath bowed and left. Skench turned back and looked at a picture of the escapees. "You can't shake me that easily, children."
/Somewhere inside the canyon, Sophia's P.O.V.
Sophia sat down, breathing hard, a frightened expression on her face. The ledge was still crumpling at the edge.
"We're going to have to be more careful around the edges. Are you alright, Sophia?" Hana asked, helping Sophia to her feet.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." She replied breathlessly. "I'm okay."
Hana looked upwards, to the top of the rock they were resting on, to where Drake was standing. The homing pendulum was out, and Drake's face was creased with concentration.
"Well? Any luck?" He called. For a moment, Drake didn't reply. Suddenly he slid down and pulled his pendulum back.
"I can't get a direct lock on the place outside this canyon, but we're headed in the right directing. But it's far. There's still something like a week or so journey before we're out of the canyon. And then, hopefully there will be a town or something not to far away and we'll bee able to refresh our supplies and get directions."
Deep Blue's stomach growled. "Did we forget to bring food?" Minty asked anxiously, squeezing her brother's hand in concern.
"No, but we're going to have to try to conserve it. We're a long way from any general store." Tatiana replied, pulling a few apples out of a duffle bag. "We should eat these first, before they go bad."
Everyone took an apple. Sophia crunched on the core and asked "can I take a drink?"
"I'll go with her." Minty carefully lead Sophia down the rock and towards the river that cut through the canyon floor. Food and water were top priorities, but there were some other things to worry about-shelter, weather, and Aegolius patrols. That's enough for us. Sophia thought. Now we finally have a chance at getting home.
"I wonder how far this canyon is from our home." Minty said, as if reading Sophia's thoughts.
"It's gotta be a long ways, I suppose." Sophia replied, splashing her face with nice, cool water. "I mean, if they traveled long distances they would have a chance at losing people who were following them."
"How much longer are we going to have to be running for our lives, our freedom?" Minty sounded far off, as if she was thinking of something else. "How much longer until we can finally cross the boarder and get home?"
"I don't know." Sophia replied quietly. "But I do know that we have to keep going. We can't give up now. We've escaped the main canyon, we can escape this."
Minty managed to smiled. "Yeah." She stood up. "Let's go. We've got ground to cover before it get's dark."
/Several hours later
Sophia sat down, breathless. "The scenery sure doesn't change much. Are you sure we're going in the right direction, Drake?"
"This place is basically a giant bowl." Drake replied quietly. "Everywhere except backwards is the way out."
"I suppose so." Tatiana sat down and broke her ginger snap in two."Here. We can share."
"Thanks, Tatiana." Sophia took a bite and smiled hugely. "I love ginger snaps. Mom bought a bunch of packages once, and I ate the entire contents of one of them before the night was out. She was really annoyed with me after that."
Tatiana giggled. "I remember sneaking brownies at night when I lived at the shelter. Boy, did I get into trouble for that one." They laughed at the memories.
"It's getting late." Athena observed. "I'll do a night shift. You guys rest."
"How about you, Athena? Did you ever get into trouble for something like sneaking cookies?"
Athena shrugged. "No. Well, unless you count the time I ate six pieces of cake during my tenth birthday party. Dad really chewed me out for that."
"SIX pieces?" Minty laughed. "You must have really liked that cake!"
"While mom is bad at making most foods, her cake is the bomb." Athena declared.
"Yup, I remember when she whipped up one for the gathering." Deep Blue licked his lips. "Your mother rules, Athena!"
Everyone chuckled. Sophia walked in a circle before lying down. "Great. It's even colder out here than it is in the main canyon!"
Hana frowned. "She's right." He nuzzled his head into his arms. "It's cold out here."
"We'll sleep in a group." Minty said, dragging Deep Blue over and lying down next to her brother. "Good night."
"Good night."
"Good night. See you in the morning."