The Missing Link

Warnings: Mild language and violence.


Chapter 6:

Saya was walking back when she suddenly heard some sort of conversation. It was loud. It was ferocious. It almost made her ears burst. Or so it felt like.

She clamped her hands over her ears and tried to mute or drown out the sound, but all she got was a few strange looks from the people passing by. Then she heard a crash and a scream. A huge amount of white birds flocked from a direction. Unknowingly, she took off running towards the location. Or where she thought it was.

She ended up in front of a theater looking at it oddly. It seemed empty. But she swore she heard voices and music and singing. Odd. A person brushed by her trying, as did several others, who stated their pardons and then ran, talking about an assault near a church. She tried following them, then sighed. However, she looked up as she spotted a circling crowd...around something. They were mumbling, "Hey, sir...are you all right?" And others said, "Oh, my God! Someone call for help. Someone call the police and the hospital!" A few screamed, "Is someone a doctor?"

Unknowingly, Saya pushed her way to the front, and saw an all too familiar person lying on the ground, eyes closed. Saya got on her knees and shook his shoulders. "Hey! Hey, are you okay? Hey! Wake up!"

Something grabbed her wrist sharply as she reached down to check his pulse. "Stop that, foolish girl." The cold voice sent chills down her spine. Saya looked up, then fell backwards, landing on the seat of her pants. But her right wrist was no longer being pulled back by the nook of an umbrella and instead, a gloved hand. In response, Saya frowned and made an angry fist. The eyes from the voice's owner looked at her for a brief moment, flashing for just a moment, and then Saya wanted to scream in all her rage and hit the woman. But her voice was gone and the grip on her wrist was tightening, seeming to tell Saya, "Stop now!"

Saya obliged and loosened her fist's clench, and the woman let go of her wrist, then looked to the crowd, speaking in a quick and unaccented Spanish about they being help and that the crowd needs to back up. The woman then looked at her. "All right now, call your Chevalier."

"What?" Saya said, not processing the words.

"I said call him. I need his help."

"Oh."

Silence.

"Do you not know how to call him?" She seemed exasperated and at her limits.

Saya shook her head slowly.

"What's his name?"

Saya paused for a minute. Giving her his name could be dangerous or harmless.

"Forget it." She covered her face with her hands then removed them and whistled at Saya. "Help me take him to my home."

"What?"

Ayumi grabbed Saya by the collar of her jacket and lifted her up, Saya's feet dangling from the ground, and forced her against a stone wall from the church. "I'm getting pretty damn tired of your questions. Stop asking so many! Maybe Amalia and Sofia and your Chevalier and the Red Shield put up with them, but I'm not any of them. So if you want to live and stop something that could be equal to that of a worldwide nuclear winter, you're going to shut up and do as I say! Do we have a complete understanding of one another?" Her hand was covered with a silky black glove and the coolness of the woman's hand from beneath it was enough to make Saya shudder. She gasped for a breath of air and choked back the tears, then swallowed and nodded. "Perfect. Now help me take him to my home."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's going on?" Saya asked flatly. "And who's Sofia?"

Ayumi rolled her eyes as she peeled off her jacket, however, she left her gloves on. She reached for the stove and started the kettle with some water for tea. "Do you prefer ginseng or jasmine tea?"

"I'd prefer some answers."

"Jasmine it is."

"Are you Ayumi?"

Ayumi stopped and wiped the area between her nose and mouth irately, then placed her hands on both sides of the stove. The faucet began to start dripping. "Sofia is the"

"You didn't answer my question. Did Miguel know what's going on?"

Ayumi looked over her shoulder slightly, only giving Saya enough to see the side of her face and a corner of her eye. "Miguel was on a need-to-know basis."

"And now look at him."

Ayumi whirled around and wrapped her fingers around Saya's throat. "I don't need you to tell me what my mistakes are! Listen to me, Saya! You had someone to tell you what your mistakes were! Someone to help you get back on your feet when you lost your memory. You had a family! You know what I had? Nothing! You think you know me or my life? Or what I've done?"

"I know you killed my mother!" Saya managed to get out, and to her own satisfaction, she spit it out hotly.

Ayumi's grip released and she reached for the door. "Get out."

Saya looked up as the door creaked. Ayumi looked towards the empty space outside, then saw a figure fill the doorway, her eyes darting back to Saya.

"Hagi!" Saya called, standing up. At that moment, the phone rang. "How did you know?"

Ayumi gave him a look, then looked down, shaking her head. "He's been following you the entire time. A Chevalier's duty is to never abandon his Queen. Curious as to how you found one so loyal," Ayumi began to circle around him, then grabbed him by the arm and jerked him in, slamming the door. "Did anyone follow you, boy?"

"Stop evading our questions! And what are you doing with Chiropteran?" Saya said, following Ayumi into the kitchen.

The piercing blue eyes caught brown ones, darting to Hagi's green ones for a brief moment, then moved back to Saya's. "Go back to Okinawa."

"What?"

"You two will only taint your lives with more blood. You've killed your own flesh and blood, Saya. I should think that's enough."

"Tell me what's going on with the Chiropteran. We can help." Saya pleaded, trying a new approach.

Ayumi looked from both Hagi to Saya to the kettle of boiling water on the stove, then shook her head. "I must be out of my mind...meet me at the old, deserted theater near the place we found Miguel. I think what you see will make more sense than my words. Now get out of my home."


Atagoki: Sorry I've been on hiatus. I was in Mexico. Read and review. Thank you. :3