Chapter 10: Pandemonium
A cool breeze blew over the Yaichi Sea as Xion held his harp in both hands, while staring down Umio and her soldiers. "Please Umio, you don't want to fight me." Xion said as his hair blew in the wind. "It is not my intention to kill you." Umio raised her right hand and yelled, "frontal assault!" Several soldiers rushed forward with swords bared. The first soldier slashed horizontally, in which Xion simply sidestepped to avoid. The second and the third came together swords at the ready. Umio smiled, knowing there was no escape. Just as the swords where going to meet their mark, Xion plucked the first string on his harp. A beautiful low note sounded, and the blades of soldier's swords shattered. Umio looked in awe, then she suddenly smiled as the first soldier raised his sword over Xion's turned back. As the soldier brought the sword down Xion simply smiled, as he plucked two strings of the harp. A strong note sounded, and a rainbow flashed as all three soldiers were sent flying in all directions over the sea. This guy is really strong, and I have don't have time for this. Umio thought. Xion looked down at his harp, and then back at Umio, and said, "the silver dragon grows tired of this. I've come to give you advice on your assault against the fire kingdom." Umio thought before saying, "okay, what is your advice Xion?" Xion smiled and said, "Vayne is expecting you to attack from the front of the kingdom. If you attack from the south side, you will avoid the fire archers and most of the soldiers." Xion then took a few steps back and raised his harp and said, "Silver Dragon: Transform." The harp glowed with a bright light and became the Silver Dragon once more as Xion turned his back to Umio and the water army. Xion climbed atop the dragon's back and the wind blew fierce as the dragon flapped its wings and gaining altitude it rose above the sea scattering rainbow feathers.
Umio knew what just happened couldn't have been an illusion, the feathers and her fallen soldiers were proof. Whether she chose to take Xion's advice was strictly up to her. "General, are we going to take Xion's advice?" Frost said as he joined her at her side, looking up at the silver blot in the sky that was Xion. "Yes, I don't think he would show up here with false information. I don't know why he's chosen to help us, but I don't think he's misleading us." The soldiers were walking across the water to rejoin the group. "We are unharmed, the attack just temporarily stunned us." They said as they reached Umio. "Okay," she said. He didn't hurt them, but who was he? She thought to herself. "Onward march! We attack from the south side!" Umio yelled, as the army let out a battle cry. Meanwhile, Andrew and Damien where on the edge of the Kamon Desert focusing. "We have to conceal ourselves before we get any closer." Andrew said, looking down and Damien. "I know." Damien said focusing more. "Dark Arts: Disllusion!" They both said in unison. Darkness covered both of them and began to shift and change colors until they were the same color of everything around them. They weren't invisible, but had just become human chameleons. "Lets go Damien." Andrew said, as they began to walk across the desert. They walked in the scorching sun, and were suddenly shadowed by something huge.
Andrew looked up and his eyes watered at the sight of The Phoenix flying gracefully above them. Its red and gold plumage shone with a great fire that gave a dazzling light, each flap of its wings made the fire dance. "Just keep moving it hasn't spotted us." Andrew said, as The Phoenix flew ahead of them. They continued to walk until they could see two fire soldier lookouts with binoculars. Andrew and Damien approached the soldiers still concealed and began to focus. "I'll take the left, you take the right. And be sure not to mutilate their faces, we need them intact." Andrew said to Damien. "He's as good as dead." Damien said, then said "Dark Arts: Kain's Lance." Darkness grew long and sharp above Damien, as one of the soldiers said, "what the-"but, his last words where muffled as blood gushed out of his mouth. He looked down at the dark lance that had impaled him, and wrapped his hands around it to try and pull it out, but Damien focused and the lance pushed the soldier to a boulder, sticking him to it. The second soldier turned to help him, but Andrew placed his hands on the ground and said, "Earth Arts: Quicksand." The soldier stopped in his tracks and gasped as he began to sink into the ground. The quick sand made him sink quickly until only his head was shown. Andrew removed his hands from the ground and got a good look at the soldier's face, and the placed his hands back on the ground. The soldier let out a scream that was muffled as he sunk under. Andrew and Damien began to focus, "Dark Arts: Transform!" They both said in unison. Darkness covered them both as it began to shift and form them into fire soldiers. "I'm Roland and your Pierce. I've checked their minds before we killed them." Andrew said. Damien checked his body out to make sure his art was perfect. "Remember Damien no arts. Let me do everything." Andrew said as they grabbed the binoculars and headed for the mirage kingdom. Unknowingly Sabrina and Hugo where just a few feet ahead of them. Sabrina's illusion made them look like a couple of boulders. "Hugo look, there are a couple of fire soldiers. I'm going to invade the mind of one and make him tell the general to halt the soldiers." Hugo simply nodded, this was all too complicated for him. "Okay here goes." Sabrina said focusing. As she focused she opened her book and the pages began to flutter, but there was no wind. She then opened her eyes and they landed on Pierce. "Mind Arts: Unlock." Sabrina focused as her mind slipped into Pierce's head. She was her mental self as she looked at the enigma that laid before her. Thousands of stair cases lead up, down, left, and right. Doors were at the end of every staircase, the ceiling was covered in jagged spikes which began to come down as she thought. "Whoa, what a defense! This guy has strong mental abilities." Sabrina said. As she walked up a random staircase and she reached the door and focused, and a key appeared out of nowhere into her hand and she unlocked the door to a room of darkness.
As the door vanished behind her, she looked around the room of black stone. The ground she was standing on was floating over a pit of eternal darkness. Above her was an archway floating in nothingness. "Man, I have not seen a mind this strong since I tried to unlock Alex." Sabrina said, focusing. "Mind Arts: Reveal." She said, and the ground began to rumble and stairs shot out of the ground to the archway. Her shiny black shoes were the only things that could be heard as she climbed the stairs and went through the archway. This new room, was smaller than the last and there were only two doors. The first door was locked with a huge padlock, the second was embroidered with black dragons, and dark incantations. "Hmmm… I wonder what these doors are?" Sabrina said walking to the padlocked door. She then focused and a gold key appeared in her hand. She stuck the key into the padlock and it hit the ground with a clunk. She stepped through the door, and entered a room with six beds. On each bed was a little boy dressed in different colored pajamas. Sabrina looked at the boy's face closest to her dressed in the blue pajamas. Curly black hair, cute button nose, and rose petal lips. "What a gorgeous little boy." Sabrina said and she leaned in a little closer, and saw that he was covered in a coat of darkness. "Wait, this isn't the mind I tried to unlock. Who's head am I in?" She said to herself. She went from bed to bed and saw that each bed held the same boy just in different colored pajamas. All of them covered in the darkness. Sabrina thought for a minute and then just as the answer came to her Damien appeared in the room, clutching his white fur teddy bear. "What are you doing here? Get out!" He screamed at Sabrina. Sabrina began to focus as she said, "this is your head. You must be Prince Damien. Why have you locked away your emotions like this? It isn't healthy you know." "Shut up!" He screamed and raised a hand and dark beams fired at Sabrina. "Psychic Arts: Telekinesis!" She said and before the beams reached her they bent backward to their caster. Damien closed his fist and the beams vanished. "Leave my head, you shouldn't be here!" Damien said, focusing more. Sabrina smiled and took a few steps back and said, "not until I've checked out that other door." Damien lashed out with dark waves, but Sabrina's telekinesis sent them flying back. Before he could launch another attack Sabrina floated above him and focused her long hair flying in all directions. "Mind Arts: Imprisonment!" Purple energy formed a cage around Damien, caging him. Sabrina landed back on the floor and smiled. "As long as I'm in your head, you cant break that cage." Damien simply pouted his lips and said, "no fair." Sabrina turned to leave the room her long black hair swung over her shoulders. "Now to check this other room." As she left the room she didn't see Damien with a maniacal smile on his face as he thought, open that door and your finished.
Coming up in chapter 11, Sabrina enters the room and has a fight for her mind against darkness eternal. Hugo is enraged at Sabrina's mental condition, and assaults Andrew thinking it will bring her back. Umio launches her attack from the south side, but can Xion be trusted?