CHAPTER 38: Taken
Around 1: 30 in the morning, rain began pattering down from the sky, growing colder as time went by so that snow began to fall on the silent grounds. Trees swayed in the blowing wind, the sounds eclipsing the much softer sound of something small rolling across the floor within the temple.
Shizuru woke with a start, sweat rolling down her forehead. 'Just a dream.' A dream filled with images she'd rather forget but couldn't put from her mind. She looked over at Keiko, slowly relaxing when she saw her and Puu sleeping peacefully. 'I need a smoke.'
She flipped back the covers, about to get up when her hand landed atop something round. 'What?' Shizuru picked up the object, bringing it closer to her. 'A marble? What's it doing here?' And why did she have such a bad feeling about it.
Keiko stirred, a hand slipping from beneath her blanket and onto the wooden floor...right atop another marble.
Shizuru's eyes widened and she rushed to get it away, she never made it.
Koto's ears twitched at the soft sound and she blinked cyan-green eyes open. "What is that?" she mumbled sleepily. A small bright ball rolled across the floor from the darkness, and without really thinking, Koto reached out and trapped it in her hand, picking it up and smelling it.
"Hey Koto, is this yours?"
Koto sat up, gazing over at Juri who yawned and held out a green marble.
Koto herself yawned, shaking her head. "No, I don't know where they came from."
"They?"
Koto held up her own black marble. "See, I have thi-" It was all she managed to say before the room grew silent once more.
The red marble fell from above, tapping Yukina on the forehead so that she woke, catching it as it rolled down. 'Strange, where did this come from?' She looked over at Botan and Fay, but neither was awake. She was about to put the marble down when she glimpsed the slightest glint of light before another marble tapped Botan on the head.
The girl grumbled and turned to the side, the marble to rolling down and making a tapping sound as it hit the wooden floor.
'Maybe I shouldn't bother her.' But it just seemed so strange to Yukina that marbles would fall from the ceiling. She looked up. 'Maybe there's a hole up there somewhere and…they're falling from the ceiling.' It seemed highly unlikely though.
When she saw the light of a third marble, Yukina threw back her covers and stood. 'I'll just ask everyone about them tomorrow.'
Botan woke as Yukina knelt near her. "Is everything alright, Yukina?" she asked stifling a yawn.
Yukina turned to her with an apologetic smile. "Yes, it's just that this fell from the ceiling and I thought I'd pick them up." Yukina picked up the violet marble and showed it to Botan. "It fell on your forehead, didn't you feel it?"
Wiping tears of sleep from the corners of her eyes, Botan stretched out a hand.
Yukina placed the marble on her palm and Botan brought it closer to inspect. "From where in the ceiling would this fall?"
Yukina shook her head. "I don't know, but I saw another one near Fay."
Botan wasn't spiritually aware like Shizuru and Kuwabara, but this was starting to give her a bad feeling.
She tossed back her covers and stood. "Where?"
Yukina stepped closer to Fay, squinting to see better in the darkness. "There."
The golden marble had stopped its progress across the floor at Fay's elbow.
Botan quietly stepped closer, leaning down to gather the marble when Yukina's surprised gasp stopped her. "Yukina?" Botan looked back at her, but the girl was gone. 'Oh no!' she turned back, only to have the marble she held drop to the floor when she disappeared.
Fay bolted awake, her eyes wide with shock. She'd been slowly waking when Botan had called Yukina's name, but Botan disappearing right in front of her fully woke her. "Botan! Yukina!" She scrambled out of bed, her right hand landing on something round in the process. She picked it up, knowing by the feel what it was. 'What's a marble-'
Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Kuwabara's loud scream.
"Shizuru! Yukina!"
'Shizuru too?' Fay felt herself grow cold. Had they been kidnapped because of her?
The sound of footsteps reached her and she headed for the door. She was inches from opening it when the golden marble hit the floor and disappeared along with the other marbles, leaving no trace of any of the girls behind.
Kuwabara woke from a nightmare, bolting out of bed and slamming his door open. He ran to his sister's room only to have his fears confirmed. "She's gone! Keiko's gone too!" Puu flew out of the room, his voice raised in panic.
Other doors had opened while he'd checked on his sister. Hiei had run to open another, eyes widening in disbelief. "They're all gone!"
Kurama peered in behind him while further down, Chu opened the last room door.
"Koto and Juri aren't here either!" Rinku exclaimed.
"So where the hell did they go!" Yusuke shouted in anger. "We didn't sense anyone!" He turned to Kuwabara. "Can you hear any music?"
"What's music got to do with the sheilas' disappearing?" Chu asked.
"Don't you remember?" Touya asked. "Fay told us about a small Magus girl who could hypnotize with her music."
"Oh, right." Like everyone else he focused on Kuwabara. "Any music, mate?"
Genkai joined them catching Puu in the process. As if knowing they needed silence, Puu subsided as Kuwabara closed his eyes, trying his best to concentrate. Finally he shook his head. "No. Whoever took them, it wasn't Mjrn."
"Dammit! Then who the hell did!" Yusuke barely restrained himself from punching a hole in the wall. "They took them right from under our stupid noses and none of us caught even a hint of their energy! All we had as warning was Kuwabara's too late feeling!"
Kuwabara clenched his teeth, his hands in fists. "Sorry guys, if I'd just woken a little sooner."
"Standing around will accomplish nothing, whoever took them can't have gone too far," Kuronue said.
"Aye, he's right. If we go after them now-"
"It will do us little good." Kurama replied grimly. "These beings we deal with use magic, as well as portals. No, going after them will not give us the desired result."
"Calm down, all of you." Genkai said evenly. "Shouting, and blaming ourselves won't bring them back, what we need now is a plan. First off we need-"
"I know exactly what we need." Hiei interrupted her, looking just as angry as Yusuke and Kurama felt. "Mary Anne!" he shouted in a commanding voice.
'That' right!' Yusuke thought. 'She might know who's behind this, or we can always drag it out of her.' This time he wasn't playing the nice guy.
"I take it that was supposed to accomplish something?' Shishi asked when seconds ticked by and nothing happened.
"Maybe she didn't hear Hiei; heck I don't think she even likes him. Mary Anne!" Kuwabara shouted.
Genkai sighted inwardly. 'Dimwits.' "If you're done being idiots, then listen." Genkai interrupted before Chu and Rinku, who looked as if they were about to try, could give it a go.
"Not just anyone can call on the Guardian of Mid- Earth. In the former Guardian's time, I was one of the few chosen to be able to do so. However this is a different Guardian, and while I doubt Mary Anne bestowed that honor on Yusuke, Fay seems to have passed that ability to him."
That took him by surprise. "Why would she do that? Not that I'm not grateful and all but…never mind, that's not important." He took a deep breath and gave it a try. "Mary Anne! Get down here now before I drag you back myself!"
Dressed in faded blue jeans, black sneakers, and a dark blue cardigan sweater over a light pink long sleeved shirt, she appeared in the middle of the hall between the boys, a coffee mug cradled in her hands. "Oh look,' she drawled sarcastically, glancing at the new additions. "You multiplied." Woho, not.
"I don't suppose anyone cares to explain why I was dragged from a long awaited overnight camping trip at half moon bay's beach, with my friends, to this world…again." She took a sip of the hot liquid inside her mug and waited, not that she had to wait long.
"We don't have time for your sarcasm!" Hiei snapped impatiently. "One of the factions has kidnapped m…the girls, take us to them now!"
Mary Anne tilted her head in his direction, her gaze glittering in warning.
Kuwabara shivered. 'Did the room just get a whole lot colder or is it my pajamas?'
"Care to repeat that a little more coherently Hiei?" Mary Anne asked mildly.
"It's just as Hiei said." Kurama spoke up instead. "Someone kidnapped all the girls, not just Fay. We know it must be someone from the factions, yet we are unable to tell who it is. We did not even sense their presence." He admitted in frustration.
"That's right! I thought only Mjrn could do that!" Yusuke said.
'She's smaller than Hiei.' Touya thought studying the Guardian. 'Yet there's something dangerous about her, something chilling…dark, if not evil.' He glanced at Genkai. He could tell that she knew, yet she didn't say anything to try to curve the others words, to make them more polite, at least those but Kurama. He couldn't help wonder why. He turned back to the conversation. 'Maybe it doesn't matter.' In an odd way, she seemed to like the group…or so he hoped.
'Strewth! This Sheila's got more power hidden than Urameshi.' Chu had sensed it just for a second, when she'd appeared. 'So, this is Mary Anne.' He could only imagine what a brawl with her would be like.
Curious, Rinku had stepped closer to inspect Mary Anne, but as soon as the mug in her hands shattered, he stepped back in surprise. He wasn't the only one; the others looked on with varying expressions of surprise as the liquid mixed with blood and streamed down her hand from the cuts she'd inflicted by holding the pieces too tightly.
"Mjrn puts up battle fields that can't be sensed. She may be good at disguising her energy but you can sense her if you're careful about it." She explained softly, heatedly.
"But you're telling me that some moron with a death wish, knowingly and explicitly broke the rules of this war!"
"Calm yourself, this temple has stood for a very long time. I don't want it brought down because you had a tantrum," Genkai said calmly.
Eyes flashing, Mary Anne whirled to face Genkai, words perched on her lips but at Genkai's stern look, Mary Anne hesitated, stood still for a few seconds and finally calmed down.
"Let's just say I like the rules, they're there for a reason." She shook out her injured hand, letting go of the pieces she still held.
"Ye're going to help us then, right?" Jin asked.
Mary Anne glanced at him and shrugged. "I don't know who took them and where, but I do know who might know." She looked around at the others. "Everyone else planning on going in their jammies?"
"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right out!" Kuwabara ran back into his room, others following his example.
"I take it you'll actually be helping us this time around?" Hiei asked in a disinterested tone. "Or was the blood just for show?"
Mary Anne muttered a few words, passing her left hand over her injured right one. The blood and liquid disappeared, the cuts healed up and the mug was back in her hand, although empty.
"As much as I'd like to tear the heads off whatever faction did this, I can't go that far without being given the authority…at least when I'm not in a temper. Since Genkai took care of that, I'm going to have to play nice and ask permission, as much as I dislike the idea."
Hiei smirked. "It seems we might not be that different after all."
Mary Anne chuckled darkly. "I wouldn't know. You're the first who tried to bully me and lived to tell about it. I much rather deal with annoyances quickly. By-"
"Cutting off their heads." Hiei finished for her.
Her lips curled into a half smirk. "Yeah, that."
Maybe that's why they didn't like each other; both would prefer to take off the other's head.
"I'm ready, let's get going!" Rinku ran out of his room, back in his usual clothes. "So where exactly are we going?" he asked Mary Anne.
The small guardian turned to him, frowning. "Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry. My name's Rinku, I'm a Yoyo Master and one of Fay's best protectors. This one just caught me off guard. It's not going to happen again."
"I see…" They were taking along a kid who liked to use his yoyos as battle tools? 'He doesn't look much older than my brother...then again, there is Mjrn.'
"If you're worrying, don't." Mary Anne turned to another of the new additions to the group. A short blue-green haired demon. "Rinku can take of himself, and his appearance is deceiving."
Rinku grinned. "That's right. I beat Kuwabara without even trying."
"That's not true, you little punk!" Dressed, Kuwabara ran out, glaring down at Rinku. "That was cheating! If you hadn't used your yoyo trick I would have taken you down!"
"Like I haven't heard that before." Rinku retorted rolling his eyes.
"I wouldn't go around bragging about it,' Mary Anne drawled. "Beating Kuwabara isn't much of an accomplishment."
Rinku burst out laughing while Kuwabara turned his glare on her. "You're lucky you're a girl you know!"
Mary Anne waved his words away. "Alright, children. All of you ready?"
"Yeah, let's go kick the bad guy's ass!" Yusuke said slapping a fist against his palm.
"Then hang on to your lunches boys. I hear this is a rough ride for first timers." As she spoke a large golden circle inscribed with runes flared up beneath them, large flowing words filling the inside. Mary Anne spoke a word that thundered around them, and the temple filled with silence.
'That was such a boring movie, I almost fell asleep.' Isis stuffed popcorn into her mouth as she exited the theater. 'Not bad.' She was of course, referring to the movie. While most people liked movies whose plot line kept them entertained, Isis preferred the type of movie that was so uninteresting; she could just fall asleep and have a nice long nap. Strange? Perhaps. A waste of money? Definitely, but someone had to do it. And this was exactly the type of stuff she liked to do when not looking for dancing whales or dolphins.
'Now all I have to do is wait till tomorrow and I'm off to San Francisco.'
This time she would see a dancing whale, or dolphin, either suited her as long as she saw one.
Isis yawned as she came to a stop at the light and waited for her turn. 'I'm tired now.' Sure she'd been half asleep in the movie theater but half asleep didn't count as fully asleep.
The light turned and she walked across, heading down the walkway instead of waiting for the train as she usually would.
Isis disliked when people forced her into proving a point, and that's exactly what her mother had done when she'd tried talking her into trying to capture Fay again with her last Elemental.
Isis had put her foot down, and had then been forced to prove a point, so she'd moved out of the family home and into a town home her father had left for her in his will. At least there no one could bug her about the future of the Magus Faction resting on her shoulders.
As some guy or other, whose name she didn't know, had once said; some heroes are born, others are made…and two out of five of those heroes decide that hell no, they were not putting their butt on the line for people they didn't even know, turned tail and ran. Yup, that was her. And she was damned proud of it!
As far as Isis was concerned, it was the only way to stay sane in her world.
She turned a corner, unworried by the fact that she'd taken a street with little light, and not many or any, people that she could see. 'This popcorn's not very buttery.' She stopped by a garbage can and dropped it in. 'Guess I'll just make my own when I get home.' Which begged the question, why had she even bothered to buy it after the movie had finished? Isis thought on that for about five seconds before shrugging it away as unimportant. She was about to resume her walk home when a voice reached her ears.
"We have business to attend too."
Isis screeched, jumping away and hitting the wall of the large building behind her.
"Man, you have feet and shoes on. Use them to make noise!" Then the sound of the voice hit her. She would have climbed the wall if she could have. "You! I have nothing to do with it anymore! I quit that stupid war so shoo, go away and bother someone else." She made a shooing gesture with her hands.
He stepped into the flare of the streetlight above him, causing Isis to narrow her eyes. "Hold on…you're not him…so who are you?"
He wore an unbuttoned leather trench coat that reached to his feet, a silver chain with some kind of pearl hung around his neck and beneath it he wore a black sleeveless shirt, leather pants, and a silver belt around his hips. His feet were clad in black trekking boots, a surprise since Isis expected leather boots to finish the whole biker look…or the Matrix look, whichever he was going for.
This guy was a little taller, had wider shoulders, and definitely more muscle on him than the little…Hiei had, or maybe he just had a heavier built. Although his eyes were a dark violet, his hair was the mirror image of Hiei's, and he had a scar that ran across his nose, left cheek and down to just below his ear. Both his hands were hidden within black gloves that had some type of weird writing that didn't exactly look like either runes or glyphs to Isis.
"Never mind, I can take a guess. You're either an uncle or his father."
Dark violet eyes narrowed, just like Hiei's did. "What I am is none of your business. All you have to know is that I'm here to collect."
"Hey, Firez might have roughed up Hiei a bit, but he did not cause enough damage for dear ole papa to come and- shutting up." She finished quickly when he took a threatening step forward.
"That's not why I'm here. Hopefully your brain is working tonight so try to keep up."
If she were the type of person to get angry easily, and had the energy for it, she would be thinking of unleashing her last Elemental on him. Luckily for him, all Isis wanted right now was a triple scoop ice-cream and about fifty miles between them.
"In your last and only battle with the Urameshi team, one of your Elementals caused Fay damage."
"And then they destroyed my Elementals. I think that's...' Isis hesitated. "Okay, that's not a good trade. So, you're here cause you decided I needed to pay Fay back somehow. Check or credit card?"
If his expression was any indication, which she was pretty sure it was, he was disgusted with her. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes." He turned away heading across the street, obviously expecting Isis to follow.
'Why am I being punished like this?' she thought almost in tears. 'All I want is to go home and stuff myself with Ice-cream. Is that so much to ask?' Apparently it was. Shoulders sagging, Isis followed.
"So what do you want me to do then?" she asked trying to sound pitiful, and therefore useless.
"The Demon faction has kidnapped not only Fay, but six other girls. All of them none fighters. You're coming with me to rescue them."
Woah! Hold it right there!" Isis came to a screeching halt. "Have you any idea how completely psycho that faction is? I mean, have you ever seen an American Psycho? Well these guys make that look like Me, Myself, and Irene!"
He turned to look back at her. "I know what they're capable off."
"Then why the hell would you want to storm their freaken fortress of psycholoon?" She shook her head vehemently. "I am so not going. I've heard horror stories of what guards their fortress. It's a horror movie waiting to happen and there's no way in hell I am setting foot in that place, even if you knew where it was, which I doubt you do cause not even the Guardian knows where it is. Especially not when I only have one Elemental at my command thanks to sonny boy and his band of nosy men!"
"Are you done whining?" he asked, voice full of disdain.
"Not if you keep saying that I have to go with you!" she snapped.
He threw something small her way and Isis barely managed to catch it. 'What the…' her eyes grew wide once she realized what he'd given her.
"Where did you get this? I mean this is like seriously valuable, not to mention rare."
What Isis had caught was known to her people as a Stone of Renewal. It had many magical properties, and could be used in all types of magic. To her in particular, it meant that she could recall her Elementals without having to wait for months for them to reacquire new forms.
"Where I got it from is none of your business. What matters is that you can use it to call your Elementals. The stone is yours to keep, if you stop whining and follow."
Isis stood still in the middle of the road looking torn. On one hand, a Stone of Renewal, hell yeah! On the other…most likely certain death and having to exert energy and very likely lots of it, on rescuing a girl she had never really gotten along with to begin.
'Why do I have to get stuck with these types of decisions?' she thought miserably.
"I'm not waiting all night for you to make up your mind." he spoke patiently but there was an undertone that warned her she better give him the answer he wanted. Which, of course, she did.
"Okay, okay. Keep your pants on, I'm coming." She hurried after him, expecting him to take this at a walk, or at least she'd been hoping for it, instead he started running.
'I already hate this.' Isis gave a martyred sigh and picked up her pace.
"Obviously you don't know squat about acting!" The long auburn haired girl shouted into the building she had just exited, turned and stalked off. 'Stupid acting agency!' she tore the paper in her hands to pieces and threw it in a garbage as she passed. 'They'll be sorry when I make it big!' Fuming she stomped down the lit street. At the corner, her shoulders slumped and she sighted in disappointment.
"I take it they weren't pleased with your performance." Nina looked up at her companion.
He was about six feet ten inches, had a neatly trimmed beard that matched the combed red hair on his head held back by a leather strip. His clothing consisted of a dark brown tunic, and trousers that had leather strips wound around the legs in a crisscross pattern up to the knees, primitive looking leather shoes, and a rough woolen cloak held at the front by an intricate pin. Over his tunic he wore a chainmail jacket while on his head he wore a very old looking helmet. Around his waist was a thick rough leather belt from which hung a large double sided axe and a sword.
Why the couple that passed by didn't give him a strange look, or simply stopped and stared? Besides it being Downtown, and who was to judge here? He was also a 9th Century Viking ghost.
According to what Gunnarr had told her, he'd surrendered himself to the enemy when they'd promised to let his men go. Then while he lay dying they'd killed them, not that his men hadn't fought back.
Gunnarr had sworn not to enter the halls of Valhalla until he had avenged his fallen comrades. Too bad for him that not long after that his enemies had drowned in an ocean crossing, so Gunnarr had found himself earth bound. Unable to carry out his oath, he had wondered the world for centuries, until she'd noticed him. It was one of the curses that came with being a Shaman.
"You know they weren't." Nina grumbled sullenly. The light turned and she started across.
"And I take it you'll keep trying."
"Of course I will!" Nina replied firmly. "You know what Iliana said; I'm destined to be an actress!" Iliana being her second ghost companion, an18th Century Spanish actress who had been betrayed by her lover and left to die.
"I hate to say this...no, I do not; Iliana is a bit vain and is most likely trying to live through you."
Nina snorted. "Oh la, you don't understand."
He didn't point out that she had just said a very Iliana thing.
"What I need is someone who actually knows talent when they see it." She gave an exaggerated sigh and stopped. "Or at least something to do with my time. I don't see why my friends had to go off and do stuff without me! I mean, we're best friends! I'm entitled to have my share of their time during the summer!"
"Stop being so dramatic." Gunnarr said. "Hadyn will be back soon with information on that friend of yours, Fay. As for Madeline...you know why she's not here."
"Yeah, yeah." Nina waved it aside. She did know why Madeline wasn't there, but she wouldn't accept another kidnapping of Fay! That girl had too many I.O.U's on her plate already, how dare she be kidnapped by her grandmother, who Nina personally thought was somehow involved with one mafia or another, again!
She could always go see what Isis was up too but knowing her, Nina doubted she was up to anything more than wondering if there's a reason she should get out of bed before three on a summer day. So here she was, alone, discarded by her only friends...and alone.
'She's making that face again.' Gunnarr thought. That 'woo is me' face that she gave her parents whenever something was not going her way.
"I'm back." Out of the shadows stepped out a man of mid height who could blend into a Men In Black set. He had the suit, the hat, the glasses, and the shoes, although instead of black his hair was a light brown. He was Hadyn, her third ghost partner. He had lived in the mid 19th century and had been a spy for the U.S, until his partner had double crossed him and he'd ended up dead.
Sometimes, Nina wondered if she should worry about the fact that all her ghost partners had been in some form betrayed…but she doubted it.
"So, give up the goods, Hadyn. Where exactly is Fay's grandmother keeping her?" Once she found out, she could just sneak over to England, steal her friend back and they could go have some well deserved fun. Nina could then make Madeline jealous by showing her pictures of their awesome summer.
"Your friend is hard to miss,' Hadyn said in his low whispery voice. "I consulted with many ghosts in England. No one has seen a girl of her description."
"La! That's impossible! One of her brothers told me she was in England, and Isis said she'd seen Fay when she'd gone there herself!"
Hadyn shook his head. "Then she's lying. As for her brother, maybe he doesn't know where she is exactly. I could always go check Italy if you want. Her father's family comes from there after all."
Nina grumbled sullenly. "So what, is there like some kind of big conspiracy that I don't know about! I demand to know!" She turned back to Hadyn. "Yeah, go check Italy. Leave no stone unturned-"
"Oh La! You will not believe what I have just witnessed." A voice said in a thick Spanish accent. Unlike Gunnarr, this particular ghost had not yet mastered speaking English without the accent, or at least with only a faint trace of one.
The trio turned as Iliana glided towards them. She had dusky skin, large almond shaped eyes of black, long wavy brown hair that cascaded down past her waist, and wore a long dark blue evening dress with a low back, a slit down the left side of the dress, and matching high heel shoes. In her hand she held an intricate ladies fan that, of course, had to match her clothes that day.
Nina cursed the day Iliana had learned that she could change the appearance of her clothes. She was also incredibly grateful that no one could line them up and compare, because Nina would feel like the ugly duckling…without the swan future.
Nina herself had fair skin that burned if she stayed out too long in the sun, long straight auburn hair and light green eyes. Not exactly exotic by her standards.
"Want to tell us what's making you look like the cat with the cream?" Hadyn asked.
"Of course I will, but first,' Iliana looked down at Nina. "Well, how did it go?"
Nina grimaced. "You don't want to know."
"Oh la,' Iliana waved a dismissive hand. "Those people, they do not know true talent. You are meant for the stage, querida, not some unknown little job as a Shaman."
Nina smiled. "Thanks, now what do you want to tell us, cause we need to start making new plans."
"Ah yes!" Iliana smiled smugly. "I was out enjoying the night, making my way to you, when what shall I come upon but that girl, the one with delusions of dancing whales,' she searched for the name.
"Isis." Nina provided.
"Yes, her. She is a strange one but then again...anyway, I heard her give quite a shout, so ducked back into darkness. But it was not because of me she screamed. Of course no one would scream at such an honor as gazing upon my beauty."
The trio rolled their eyes at her words.
"A little faster, Iliana." Gunnarr prompted.
"Hush you barbarian, a lady speaks." Iliana fanned herself, not that she could feel it, before continuing. "So there I was, watching as a short man, quite a rude one as well, demanded some kind of payment from Isis. I did hear Isis speak of your friend's name, Fay," She told Nina. "And that someone had caused damage of one kind or another to her. Then,' she paused for effect. "The little rude man, he says; she has been kidnapped by Demon faction along with six other girls! And she is to come to help him free them with Elementals! Then off they go into the night!" she waved her fan forward to illustrate.
Nina wasn't stupid; she knew that Isis was a Magus but…but… "Someone kidnapped Fay?"
Iliana nodded.
"That's not possible! Why would anyone want to kidnap Fay? Besides her grandmother."
Nina started pacing, biting her lip in thought. She knew about the Demon faction too, they were total loons of the worse kind.
It was one of the reasons she'd always tried to stop Fay from hanging out so much with Dante, but compared to what she'd heard about the rest of the Demons, he was almost normal. Coming to a decision, Nina turned to Hadyn. "New mission; you and Iliana go tail them, don't let them out of your sights! Get what information you can and report to me no sooner than tomorrow seven in the morning, got it?"
Iliana nodded. "Of course. This should be most exiting, I have never been sent to spy before. Come,' she gestured grandly to Hadyn. "We go."
She glided down the street soon disappearing.
"I don't need her you know." Hadyn said feeling a little insulted.
"She's the one that knows which way they went and time is of the essence," Nina explained. "I know you could do this on your own but the point is that they're getting away." She gestured almost wildly. "So hurry up, you can tell her to stay somewhere at a corner as look out or something."
Hadyn grinned, tilting his hat a little more to the left. "Good idea, I'll see you two later." He headed back into the darker shadows and disappeared.
"This should be good." Gunnarr said amused. "Let's make a bet; if they don't kill each other, again, by tomorrow, we go to that wrestling match in two days."
Nina snorted. "No way, you'll want to possess me again and I do not want to be asked how I managed to bring down a man three times my size and weight. I am not Isis, Madeline or Fay. I do not want to end up on camera again." Especially for that!
He chuckled, following her as she headed home. "It was only once, and that man needed to know what a true warrior fights like."
"Which I'm not!" she flung over her shoulder at him. "Thanks to you I'm now known as the girl with the hidden muscles! The boys' wrestling team tried to recruit me."
He threw his head back and laughed, as if it was something to laugh about. Deciding to ignore him, Nina headed home to wait for Hadyn and Iliana's report.
"Fay, Fay wake up!" Shizuru's words penetrated her sluggish brain, and Fay finally managed to get her eyes open, then sit up after a few more tries. "What...what happened?" she asked, wondering why she felt as if she'd been drugged with too many sleeping pills.
"We've been kidnapped! That's what happened!" Koto grabbed the bars of her prison and shook them. "And they stuck us in here as if we were birds! I'd like to know what part of me looks to them like feathers!"
"I don't wanna be kidnapped; I was having such a nice dream too!" Juri sniffed as she tapped gently at the bars.
Fay struggled to concentrate on her surroundings. They were inside a large dimly lit room, imprisoned inside what looked like oversized bird cages.
She rubbed a hand over her face, trying to wake herself up. "I don't understand. Why would they kidnap all of you too?"
"To use us as leverage against you." Shizuru said grimly. "Why else."
"Then we have to get out of here,' Keiko said trying to get the cage door open. "We can't let them use us against Fay."
"That's easier said than done. We've been trying to get out of here for the last,' Botan grunted as she tried to pull the door open by force, Yukina doing her best to help, "Hour without any success!" Her fingers slipped and she thumped back onto the ground, causing the cage to swing. The two girls stilled until the swinging diminished.
"I doubt these cages are the ordinary kind." Shizuru said rubbing her temple.
"Are you alright, Shizuru?" Keiko asked noticing the movement.
Shizuru nodded. "I'm fine, it's just this place. There's something really wrong about it and my senses keep warning me. It's like having a car alarm going on inside my head."
'Glad I'm not in her shoes.' Koto thought. That being said, she'd be even happier if she wasn't stuck in some bird cage.
"I guess we'll just have to hang on until the boys come and rescue us." Botan sighted. "I just hope they don't take their time."
Fay tried to listen to the girls speaking, but her eyes kept closing and she still felt sluggish. The fourth time this happened she tried to catch herself only to have her arm give out from under her and her head hit the bottom of the cage.
"Are you okay, Fay?" Keiko asked.
Fay struggled to her knees, swiping hair out of face. "Yeah, I'm just feeling really...really..." She trailed off, her memory fogging over for a moment. 'What am I doing?'
"Fay, look at me!"
She lifted her head and looked over at the taller girl, if she'd been able, Fay would have panicked that for a second she couldn't remember her name. "Shizuru, you're Shizuru."
The brown hair girl nodded, her gaze worried. "I thought there might be something even stranger about your cage."
"You mean besides the silver color?" Keiko asked, inspecting the cage Fay was trapped in.
"Yeah, I get a cold feeling from it, but not in the normal sense. It's...' Shizuru narrowed her eyes trying to concentrate. "It's like…a cold blooded creature, and it's trying to suck the warmth out of Fay. Don't!" She shouted when Fay closed her eyes.
She snapped her eyes open and rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm trying to stay awake, but it's getting harder."
"Then concentrate on our voices…we'll…uhhh…" Botan fetched around for an idea. "Ask you questions. We'll ask you questions and you answer them."
Fay nodded. "Okay, I'll try my best."
"What's the last thing you remember, before waking up here?" Yukina volunteered.
Trying to keep her eyes open, Fay thought back and answered.
AN: R&R, till next chapter^^
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"She was here, but now she's over there."
"Just look at my new birdie, she's so pretty!"
"…maybe these are the vampires…"
"...your friends shall end up in our stomachs…"