They traveled for nearly two days by train, in that time Opacho had mapped out the whole car and the only escape she had was the bathroom. Yech! Also in that time she annoyed Xiang-Chang to the point of no return, almost. He couldn't hurt her in the slightest bit or Luchist and Jeanne would do some very unpleasant things to him in return. So now she sat across from him, drumming her fingers in an irritating manner on the table as he tried his damnedest to pretend she did not exist.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"NO!" He roared at her.
She fell silent in slight shock. He sighed and began to hum. She began humming too. He glared at her and she was staring at the endless sands, seeming oblivious of him. So he opted to drum his fingers until she did the same thing. But she actually had rhythm and was learning piano. While she moved her hands, Xiang-Chang growled and quick as a viper stabbed a long knife into the table, between her small fingers.
"Whoa, awesome! You timed that perfectly!"
"What are you talking about? I missed." He snarled in annoyance as she paled and pulled her hands off the table.
Five minutes went by and she moaned softly. He jumped to his feet, ready to tan her backside when she jumped up and away from him.
"I gotta pee..." She whined.
He stared at her for a moment before growling, grabbing her arm harshly and practically throwing her into the bathroom at the back of the car. He stood there for a moment while she crossed her arms and glared, tapping her foot like her Papa does when her Dad was in trouble.
"What?"
"Hello! I'm a girl!" She waved at her body, gripping her dirty skirt for emphasis.
He turned his back to her and she balked at him.
"Get out! You'll look over your shoulder! I know you will you Pedo!" She screeched, looking indignant and ready to scream til the cows came home.
He stared at her in shock before he stormed away, cursing at Opacho in Mandarin. Once the door was firmly shut, she turned to the toilet.
"Ugh, I'll never gripe about using a bush or sand dune as a bathroom ever again!" She hissed before she kicked the rotting floor boards and yanked the toilet away from its weak fastenings before she jumped and pulled on the Emergency break. The car jerked as the ones behind it collided with it before the train as a whole slowed to a stop. As soon as it was slow enough for her, she jumped down, tucking into a ball and rolling away from the wheels of the train before she got up and ran for the ruins that were in the distance, bullets rang out hitting sand and ancient sandstone. She dove into the temple and yelped when suddenly her feet flew from the floor as she floated nearly upside down.
Mar-ko walked up to her from seemingly nowhere, completely whole and terrifying as he smiled mockingly and wagged a finger in his face.
"Tch, tch, tch, little princess... That was very naughty." He mocked while she whimpered in fear before the bracelet began to hum and suddenly she was seeing a new location, an island surrounded by the sea. It was such a rush she fainted...
"I can't believe you got rid of the plane." Hao griped, staring moodily at the passing desert below the hot air balloon.
"Oh stop whining." Horohoro said. "It's cheaper, do you know how much money we were spending on gas?"
"Well, I suppose Ren's got enough hot air to spare for this flying death trap." Hao said lazily, eying the Chinese man arguing with Ryu about something. Silva paced around the deck, looking nervous. "What's your problem?"
"Considering how our last flight ended, it should not be any surprise that I am not exactly comfortable with heights." Silva replied tersely.
"Ooh, the big bad Medji is scared of heights." Hao taunted. Silva glared at him and then walked over.
"The sigil of the Medji is not given out lightly." He said evenly to Hao, eyes dropping to his covered wrist.
"I already told you I don't believe in that destiny crap." Hao growled.
"You may be wise to, your child is at the center of destiny and if your husband's dreams and visions mean what I think they mean, then you are far more involved in this destiny than you can imagine." Silva said softly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Hao growled.
"I cannot say for certain, I only have my suspicions." Silva's eyes flicked over to Yoh, who was rereading his notes on the Year of the Scorpion. He'd been sleeping even worse now, waking up screaming in Egyptian things that didn't make sense to Hao.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to either of them." He vowed.
%&%&%&%
When Opacho came to she had to cough sand out of her mouth. She sat up and wrinkled her nose, finding herself in what appeared to be an abandoned courtyard in the ruins. She was barred in on three sides by crumbling walls and her leg was chained to a metal peg stuck in the ground.
"I really think that's a bit of an overreaction." She said out loud to herself. Of course, she had managed to escape through the bathroom, so maybe it wasn't. She walked over to the peg and wiggled it. It was stuck tight, requiring more than her strength to actually pry it from the ground. She paced to the end of her chain, kicking her leg out and making it rattle.
She did this a couple times, testing how strong the chain was and trying to think at the same time. Her fathers knew where they were right now, but they would be moving on to the next place soon enough. She didn't know if they would get to this place in time to rescue her, so she needed a way to communicate, tell them where she was going to be next.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Opacho backed up as Xiang-Chen stalked towards her. "Stop that!" He demanded, looking murderous.
"Whoa, back off buster!" Opacho replied, showing him the bracelet. "You can't touch me, remember?" She reminded him cheekily. "Not until we reach the temple anyways."
"And when that time comes, I will take great pleasure in killing you myself." Xiang-Chen hissed.
"Well, until that time I think you should be a little nice to me." Opacho replied, trying desperately not to show how afraid she was. Her dad had taught her that, never let them see that you're afraid, it throws them off and makes it look like you have the upper hand. "Now, where's my water?"
Xiang-Chen made a face and thrust a canteen of water at her so hard she thought her chest would bruise. He began to stalk off. Opacho couldn't resist one more jab at him.
"What, no ice?" Xiang-Chen halted for a second, his shoulder muscles tightening. He shot her a poisonous look over his shoulder and continued to stalk off.
"Make sure she doesn't move!" He yelled at someone she couldn't see.
Opacho waited, counting to one hundred slowly in her head once, and then for good measure one more time in Egyptian. When she was sure she was alone she dumped the water on the sand and got down on her knees to start sculpting...
