"Damn it. I can understand them not getting along, but we don't need her running off." Kai thought to himself while searching the halls for her.
"And with how long this friggin' corridor is who knows where she's hiding?"
His body darted in and out of offices, utility closets and any other place he could think of that she might be hiding in, but none of them contained the upset girl.
"I guess the only reason what happened before bothered Saya is because of what that guy did."
A second later his temper rose and one of his fists clenched.
"Well it isn't like it wasn't the same thing for all of us. You're not normal if it doesn't bother you when someone gets skewered dozens of times while being trapped in a tiny claustrophobic box. That bastard. He's gotta be sadistic or something."
As Kai made his way down the hall one of his hands tried to turn a doorknob, only to discover it was locked.
The door was solid as well so he couldn't see if there was anyone inside, but it was unlikely that she would have come this far only to lock a door so he kept going.
He must have continued making his way through the clean, but powerless hallways for at least another five minutes befpre Kai noticed something on the floor.
It was just a torn up book. Nothing special to most people. But…
"The pages got torn out of the cover." He remarked while kneeling down and picking up both, the cover in one hand and the still-glued-together pages in the other.
His mouth curved upward, forming a smile he hadn't made in a year.
"And some change."
He slid the pages back between the cover, the title of it momentarily seeming to change to that of another book.
One that Riku used to have.
And he felt an extra-charged spark go through his brain and dropped the things back to the floor while running back the way he'd come.
"It's unlikely. But maybe…"
"Saya," David began from the other side of the doorway, causing her to lean forward and look at him from her own side.
"I understand your feelings towards Diva. I think we can agree that we all feel the same way. As much as we can. But you said it yourself, we do need her to defeat that man you encountered earlier tonight."
Saya looked down at the ground and nodded her head.
"For now, please refrain from saying anything out loud that may upset her. We don't know how long it will take for her powers to return but it would be best to play it safe."
It took her a few moments before she could respond.
"I understand. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. She doesn't have them back yet. At least I highly doubt she does. Kai will be able to bring her back."
Once again she nodded her head.
"I know. He's good at doing things like that." Saya spoke quietly, remembering the multiple times he'd helped her figure things out.
"But what about when she regains her powers? I might be able to fight her but I'm not as fast as her. We couldn't do anything to keep her from getting away.
"Saya," Haji began with his normal monotone.
"If she were to get away, I could chase after her."
She shook her head.
"No, Haji. She's too strong. I couldn't let you get hurt like that. And don't forget that her blood would do the same thing to you that mine did to her chevaliers."
"I understand."
David pulled what appeared to be a small hand-sized box from his back pocket and opened it, a rod and other things inside of it.
"Diva's…characteristics, may not be as much of a problem as previously thought."
Her head shook a bit in confusion.
"I don't understand what you mean, David." She replied as he began using the various things in the small box to clean his favored revolver.
"S-76. Subsisto-76 is its full-length title."
"Subsisto? Is that Latin or something?"
"Yes."
"I thought it was strange before, that you wouldn't explain what it did."
David himself nodded while sliding the rod into the barrel of the gun.
"It was because Diva was here. I didn't want her to know what it did."
"So? What does it do?"
His hand hesitated as it began to put the rod back into the "cleaning-box" and he looked at her.
"Its purpose is somewhat difficult to explain but I can tell you what I do know about it."
"Come on, Riku. Just open the door. Okay man?"
No reply.
"Lewis made your favorite food. I bet you're hungry."
Still nothing.
"Riku…"
He hesitated.
It was something Kai rarely did these days but he did.
Ten minutes had passed as he thought of whether or not to act on what he'd thought.
Then he hit himself on the forehead and decided to get on with it.
"Are you in there?" He asked the locked door, unsure if she was or if he was just acting really stupid.
No reply.
"Look, if you are, we need to be ready to go when that helicopter gets here."
Still nothing.
"Oh man, what the hell do I think I'm doing?" He asked himself out loud.
"She's not him. I can't believe I'm trying to do something stupid like this." Kai continued while starting to look around again.
As he began, however, an unexpected voice did speak out from the other side.
"He told me to do this." Diva's voice all-but whispered to him from the inside room.
Kai walked back over to the door, still not making an effort to just break it down.
"You mean…"
"Riku did."
He sighed, already feeling himself get upset.
"I don't know why I listened to him. You found me. I guess he was wrong." She once again spoke up, this time with a deeper tone of disappointment.
"Maybe he wasn't." He spoke up, more to himself than to her.
"What do you mean?"
One of Kai's hands came up and went under the collar of his shirt, pulling the "necklace" out so that he could look at it.
For some reason it seemed brighter and more polished than usual.
"Maybe he wanted me to find you."
"So you could catch me?"
Kai shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't see it.
"That's not the kind of person that Riku was. He wouldn't do that."
"Then why?"
Before responding, Kai turned away from the door and leaned against it, allowing himself to fall down it until he was sitting on the ground.
"I think he wanted me to help you."
It was faint, be he could swear he heard her gasp. Though maybe it was just wishful thinking.
After that there were several minutes of silence before she finally spoke up again.
However, this time, it seemed like she was right on the other side of the door.
"You think so, huh?" She asked, sounding like she was sitting down against it as well.
"I can't see my little brother doing it for any other reason."
"Why did you come after me?" She asked, not seeming angry at all anymore.
"We need you to beat that one guy."
"Is that all?"
"Isn't that enough?"
"Yes. But is that all?"
He managed something like a scoff; it was like Saya and Riku were combined inside her or something.
"I told you already-"
"I remind you of Riku."
He couldn't respond.
It wasn't that simple, but he doubted she would understand what he meant if he tried to explain it.
"So the only reason you're being nice to me is because I remind you of him?"
"Pretty much."
There was another silence following this and he started to feel bad for some reason.
"Why isn't Saya nice to me then?"
"I guess it's because she's known you longer than she's known me and Riku."
"'known me' hm?"
Kai didn't quite know how to respond to her last statement, and eventually just took it as her thinking out loud.
"I'll come out if you promise me something."
He didn't like where this was going, but decided to give it a shot.
"You're not getting any blood from me."
A little chuckle told him she was starting to regain her normal personality again.
"It's nothing like that, silly."
"What then?"
"I want you to promise me that you won't let my big sister kill me."
He gasped, completely taken by surprise.
"Because I said she reminds me of Riku she thinks I'll save her?! That definitely sounds like her but…"
"…until we kill him then."
He blinked. Apparently having been at a loss for words longer than he'd realized.
Eventually though he decided that he could at least do that and told her so.
A few seconds later she unlocked and opened the door, staring down at him as he leaned back and stared up at her.
It was really dark so it was hard for him to tell but…were those tear marks?
"Okay, I'll come with you."
He grinned unconsciously before standing up and leading her back towards the entrance they'd originally come from.
Neither of them really said anything while making their way to the back entrance, and he could already hear the helicopter, though it sounded like it was still pretty far away.
"It was an accident, you know." She remarked as they approached the doorway. But before he could ask her what she meant they were outside and he decided to drop it.
Kai sat back down by Saya but noticed with a bit of surprise that Diva was sitting down several yards from where he was.
From how she'd acted before he'd expected her to fasten herself to him until the helicopter arrived.
But she wasn't running away so he let her be.
"How did you get her to come back out?" Saya asked him with no particular tone.
"Just gave her time I guess." He responded as the helicopter could be heard growing closer.
"That's all?"
"You like to take a look at my neck or something?" He asked her in a tone that was harsh enough that it surprised him.
"No. Never mind." She responded hesitantly.
Everyone waited in silence until the leaves on trees began swaying by the wind the helicopter was making and they stood up.
"Hey, you stay out there and you're gonna get one hell of a headache." He spoke over to Diva, almost instantly causing her to stand up and walk back over towards the building. Though she still kept her distance from everyone.
It seemed to surprise Saya at how cooperative Diva was being and he decided to tell her something if only to ease her mind.
"She locked herself in a room." He told Saya quietly.
Her facial expression was unreadable as the helicopter's searchlight beamed down into the clearing near the back entrance to the building.
It landed and they started walking towards it, Kai glad that it would be too loud for them to speak to each other for a while.
Mizukage2, in response to your review, I guess I forgot to make it more apparent that it was the act of what Alessandro had done that had made her upset, not that it had been done to Diva. If that is indeed what you meant. But now I know what to look out for, so I'll try to make sure I say why people act a certain way from now on.