N/A: A two chapter update! I hope everyone is enjoying this story. :)


Power

Chapter Twenty Nine


When the light finally dimmed a few seconds later, Rachel was shocked to see that not only was the cockatrice dead-it was a skeleton. "Oh my god…"

"Damn."

Sage lowered his sword and stared, "Holy shit."

"Too bad I beat you here first," Kento half joked, "You could have killed it sooner and we'd all be for the better."

"I wouldn't have known to do that though if Sileny hadn't told me too," He admitted as she walked up beside him.

"No one seriously hurt?" She asked.

"We're all fine," Cale answered.

Rachel darted across the room and hugged her best friend, "What about you two?" She asked looking between Sileny and Sage.

The blonde nodded, "We're fine. We didn't run into any trouble on our way."

"Three down and two to go," Sekhmet commented. "Do you three have any idea where Ryo or Cye might be?"

The trio shook their heads.

"I keep trying to reach out to them," the blonde said, "I'm not sure how to put this but I know they hear me they just can't answer.." a dark distant look came to his eyes.

Kento picked up on it, "We'll find them. Just keep at it buddy."

"I hate to-what's the expression-rain on the parade here," Cale started, "But we aren't even sure where to start looking. This will take a long time and the four of us need a rest."

"We can walk slow," Kayura looked from him to Rachel, "You still have the compass right?"

"Um..." Rachel reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out what was left of the compass.

"What the hell happened to it?" Sileny asked with wide eyes.

"Well I fell through the ceiling and it had to have broken when I landed. Honestly I'm shocked my skull didn't break open, I landed on a cement floor." She put the broken remains back into her pocket, "I'm not sure it was working anyways."

"Me either," The older girl agreed. Pointed to Sage with her thumb she added, "We passed his room twice."

"Wait what?" Cale was genuinely surprised.

"My room was by the grand staircase you passed by twice." Sage answered, "I never heard or sensed you guys though."

Kento crossed his arms, "The girls got as far as my room before the floor gave out under them. I didn't sense them either but I heard them scream when they fell."

"You were on the other side of that wall?" When he nodded the Swedish girl looked up to Rowen.

"I was in the room above the conservatory." He paused, "Wait did you land in Sage's cell?"

"It was in his lap to be exact."

The blonde nodded, "Yes it was. Thanks to that I was able to move again."

"Sure you land in the room with the one we were looking for first," Kayura gave an exasperated sigh.

"Hey!"

"Chill Kento, finding you and Rowen is a very, very, very, happy bonus." Sileny explained, "We went looking for you first," she looked at Sage, "Because you're the only one who can talked to everyone."

"Good idea," Rowen admitted, "But-no offence-that's not working out so well."

"Maybe we can find clues in the cell that held Kento since it's closest," the white haired warrior suggested.

"I am not going back in there." Kento glared, "its small and the incense that was lit in there make room stink like hell. Besides there isn't much in there."

"There wasn't much in my room either," The archer added, "The seat they put me on and a little table that… that also had incense burning on it." He looked at Sage, "Your room too?"

He nodded, "The burner the incense was in broke when Sileny fell in. You think that has something to do with it?"

"It's possible. If it was just us in the room with that stuff."

"What did it smell like?" Sekhmet asked, "Maybe I can help. It wouldn't be unusual for incense to be used as a drug."

"I don't know how to describe it."

"Me either."

"I do," Sileny put her hands on her hips, "It was like a woman wearing too much of that really strong expensive perfume."

Kento gave her a thumbs up, "Perfect analogy."

"Then yes that's probably what was keeping us from sensing you and vise versa," The poison warrior added, "I learned how to use drugs in incense long before meeting Talpa. It was a useful trick to subdue an enemy's senses or even kill them without getting my hands dirty. How did you all get out of your rooms?"

"I heard the girls scream and I wanted to go help them, next thing I heard was the sound of the incense burner breaking. After that I was able to move and open my eyes."

"I heard mine break too after hearing Kayura and the vampire fighting."

"I think Sileny and I broke the one in my cell after we fell over."

"If you two just knocked it over then how did these two-"

Rowen interrupted the other blue haired warrior, "Kento probably broke his and didn't realize it. These burners are ceramic which is from the earth. Kento arguably has the strongest protective instinct out of all of us since he's the eldest in a big family. I bet that's how his broke."

Kento grinned.

"That makes sense but what about you?"

He shrugged.

"Air pressure," Sileny offered. When they looked at her she added, "If Rowen's theory about Kento is right there's no reason it wouldn't work for him too. You all have a protective instinct and you did hear Kayura fighting and wanted to help. So if Kento's earth ability can break the burner there's no reason you couldn't do the same with air pressure."

"I'll buy that," Sage looked between the two, "However this means we have to find Ryo and Cye, break into their rooms and destroy the burners. Cye can't do it on his own and I can't see Ryo doing it either unless he somehow sets the room on fire."

Sekhmet blinked, "Lets hope Wildfire does not do that, that could backfire and cause the drug to kill him."

The three Ronin glared in silence.

"Moving on!" Rachel voiced loudly, "Lets move away from this place…" she glanced uneasily at the skeleton, "We have our friends to find and no real clue what else we might run into."

"Rachel is right," Dais agreed. "The other two hallways are still blocked, either Kento moves the rubble or we go back the way we came."

"If we split up we could cover more ground," Cale suggested. "One group heads back and the other tries one of the two hallways."

Kayura shook his head, "I don't think splitting up is the best idea. We can be a stronger force if we stay together. Besides Rachel and Sileny need protection, we can't protect them efficiently if we are in a smaller group."

The truth hurts, Rachel looked down.

"You three decide," Sileny looked at the Ronin. "Do we go forward or head back?"

"Since Rowen was on a different floor there's no reason to think Cye and Ryo aren't either," the Ronin of Hardrock said, "I think we should go back and try one of those grand staircases you guys passed."

"That's something I can actually agree with," Sage nodded.

"I'm for it," Rowen agreed. "If we don't find anything we can always come back this way and try again."

"Right, lets go then," Cale began walking, "We don't know how long this will take."

"I'll keep trying to get ahold of Ryo and Cye," Sage fell in step with his former rival.

The group moved together back down the hallway, Rachel and Sileny ended up in the middle of everyone it would just be easier for them to be protected that way. Sage and Cale took up the lead, Kento and Rowen walked on either side of Rachel and Sileny, while Dais, Sekhmet, and Kayura brought up the rear. All the warriors had reverted to wearing their subarmor since it was easier and quieter to move around in.

A thought struck the young German girl, "Sekhmet?"

"Yes?"

She looked back at him, "What would this incense drug do to Cye since he is still recovering?"

"I don't know for sure, though it is likely to stall his healing from the manticor poison." He looked thoughtful, "How are you three fairing with your wounds? That could give us a better answer."

"We weren't the ones poisoned," Kento said, "I feel fine by the way."

Kayura jumped in, "No but you three did get severely injured-Sage even went to the hospital."

"I'm fine," the blonde said.

"So am I."

Cale glanced at them, "Maybe when we stop at the stair case, the doctor and her assistant should have a look at you three or even all of us."

"I don't have anything here to-"

"If we stop and take off our subarmors we'll be venerable." Rowen stated. "Haytie just lost three of his soldiers and three of us are awake and moving. If he's half as possessive as they said he was I don't think he's going to just sit back and let us just walk around."

"I know you guys are tired," Rachel said, "But Rowen is right. And in any case I don't have anything here to tend your wounds with. No one here looks or acts badly injured-I'm more concerned with Cye's condition right now if this drug is stalling his healing or making things worse."

"I will examine Cye when we find him," Sekhmet said. "Now as I was saying earlier, since these three don't feel any different it is entirely possible that Cye and Ryo are just fine. At the same time I do agree with Cale, Rachel should look at your injuries."

"But I just said-"

"I know you can't do anything for them-and I'm not asking you three to get into your street clothes all at once either-I think you can at least look at them to see if they are healing properly since you are the only one who's seen all their injuries from this war. It would be good to see if the drug has affected them unknowingly since it will affect their fight." He saw Strata getting ready to argue, "If it is then that will put Ryo at a disadvantage too because of his arm. He can't use both his swords with an injured arm."

The energy between them grew tense.

"When we get to the stairs Rachel and I will look at you three one at a time and very quickly. Then we are moving up and on with this."

Rowen glared and looked at her "Sileny-"

Azure eyes glared death up at him, "What?"

"…Never mind." He glared ahead of him.

I don't like it either Rowen, Sage said to him, We have to do it anyways.