Chapter 53

Five minutes before….

Hono POV

I went numb when I saw Ritsu go down that hole….. I could barely even think straight…..

This guy…. Just sent my first friend to his death and I did nothing….

I could faintly hear the chains that bind my seal start to break. My skin was starting to turn to scales and my wings erupted from my back again.

I had little resistance forcing 2nd seal out; it was easy.

I was pushing 3rd seal if I didn't watch it.

Blue fire and red fire was pulsing from my body as I fixed to charge at the computer virus with all my might, "What did you do to Ritsu?!"

The computer virus was too busy laughing at his handiwork to notice me, "Hahahahahahahahahaha (even more giggles)! That's what you get for taking me on, kid!"

I almost savored the look on his face when I punched it, "What the (giggle?)?"

I punched him right through the wall into another room. I stood still to let the virus see me through the rubble.

The computer virus struggled to get up and once the ash cleared, he got a good look at my form. His words said it all, "That form… (surprised giggle), don't tell me you're actually going 3rd seal…."

Then he smirked and giggled in a way that made me want to kill him even more, "Do you really want to risk breaking your seal (confident giggles)?"

I clinched my now sharper teeth and said my voice low and starting to gain velocity, "There might be something missing in that Archive of yours…. It missed a clear detail about this seal…"

He lifted an eyebrow, "Oh (giggle)? Well show me then, I dare you!"

With pleasure, "The Dragonid seal won't break completely… if the user is angry enough summon their dragon state without forcing it…."

"Ha….?"

I didn't give him anymore time. I concentrated all the magic power the seal was giving me into my right hand, "Blast of the Frozenflame Dragon's rage!"

A blast of blue fire almost bigger than the room itself was shot right at the computer virus while he was too shocked to create a portal.

It disintegrated him in an instant.

I huffed, "Don't… mess… with a dragon…."

I started to feel dizzy for the first time in my life. I tumbled over to the portal, almost closed because I "killed" its creator.

It was also there, that I felt a tear escape my eyes for the first time…

I jammed my fists to the ground, "Why?! Why did he choose Ritsu?!….."

I could hear my tears reaching the floor. I thought my parents leaving was bad, but now….

Loosing someone feels even worse….

I looked down the portal one last time out of spite, but I saw something….

I saw a small creature….

I watched in awe as I saw the creature getting closer, and it wasn't until it came out of the portal that I realized what it was carrying….

It was carrying Ritsu….

No way….

The tiny light blue cat fainted and its wings disappeared once it was high in the air, causing both it and Ritsu to fall to the floor unconscious….

I struggled to run over to him, "Ritsu!"

Ritsu started to regain consciousness once I got to him, "Where… Where am I?"

I tackled him with a bear hug, "You're alive! I can't believe you're alive!"

He struggled against my grip, "Huh? Hono…. What's going on?... You're not like this…."

I forced myself to back away, "Sorry… You just came out of a portal, remember?"

Ritsu stared off into space trying to remember, "Oh yeah…." He looked around, "Hey… Where's…."

He started tripping over to where that blue cat was; "Hope!" he yelled desperately.

"Hope?" I slowly walked over.

Ritsu tried standing up holding the cat in his hands, "That's what I named her…" he looked at me in the eyes, "this is the Exceed that was in the egg Ren carries all the time…"

"So you mean…." I started, "The egg that would never hatch…. Saved you?..."

Ritsu's voice had a light laughter to it, "Crazy, huh? It's a miracle!"

"So that's Happy and Carla's daughter?!"

Ritsu smiled widely, "Yep!"

I'm in shock… "No way…"

Suddenly I heard tapping in the ceiling, "Umm, Ritsu. Do you hear anything?"

He looked up, "Uh. Not really."

I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds until I heard screams.

They sound like…

Then part of the ceiling collapsed.

Man, I just keep getting shocked…. "Leah and Mia?!"

Leah was standing over Mia with a large iron hammer in her hands and Mia looked like she was about to trip her. Ritsu and I could only stare at them.

"Don't go down there, you…. You dumb changing monster!"

"Don't even try to stop me, Iron Ears! I can't let my own brother and friend loose when I'm standing right here!"

"You'll ruin everything! Do you trust them at all?!"

"This isn't something I can take risks with!"

"At least don't fight me with my own hammer!"

I'm going to stop them now, "HEY!"

They stared at me wide eyed in the middle of a wrestling position… "Welcome," I had my arms out.

Leah blinked, "Hi…. Uhh… What did we miss?"

I looked at them blankly, "An entire fight…."

Ritsu scratched his head with a free hand, "Were you both watching us this entire time?..."

Leah looked away, "Uhh, no… What would give you that idea?..."

They were watching us…. I face palmed, " I'm not even going to ask…."

"How'd you guys get here?..." Ritsu asked.

Mia cut it short, "Long story. We have more important things to do, like rescuing Ren and beating that question guy…"

"Question guy?…." Ritsu and I said in unison.

"I'll explain after I beat him to a pulp!" she screamed at us.

Ritsu had an "I'm worried for you" face before his eyes narrowed seriously, "What's this about Ren getting captured?"

Leah hopped to her feet quickly, "If we don't find Jackson in…." she counted on her fingers, "45 minutes… She's going to die!"

What?

"We need to go!" She started looking around for something.

Mia suddenly grabbed her by the collar causing her to fall; "You destroyed my path system…" she told her darkly, "We have to go on foot now thanks to you!"

"What?..." she squeaked out.

Ritsu ran into the room I discovered suddenly, sniffing the surrounding area.

"I smell something…."

I sniffed too, there's definitely something in the air… "I do too…."

"What?" Leah broke away from Mia's hold.

"It's…" Ritsu started.

"Aunt Maylon and Makio…." I finished.

Leah and Mia's eyes widened and they ran over into the other room. I followed them.

Leah spoke quickly, "Let's follow their scent! They're our best bet at this point!"

Ritsu spoke weakly, "You do know that we can't run, right?"

Leah stopped dead in her tracks in her sprint down the room's hallway, "Huh?"

"We can't," I confirmed bluntly.

Leah blushed slightly before turning and running anyway, "Well… I'll just go without you then! We have to save Ren as fast as we can!"

Mia did an enraged growl before chasing after her, "What do you think you're doing, idiot?! Are you that stupid to leave your only guides behind?!"

Mia turned to us and asked one question before starting to charge again, "and is that an Exceed in your hands, Ritsu?..."

She ran off before she could see Ritsu's nod.

As they both ran into the distance, and both Ritsu and me sighed.

"They're more alike than they'd like to admit, huh…" Ritsu mumbled to me.

"Heck yeah…."

We started walking down the hallway, following Makio's and Aunt Maylon's scent,

But I couldn't help but notice the questions on the wall…. and that I could actually sense the heat increasing.

…..

Finally with Amber and the blonde guy….

Blonde guy POV

"Idiot"

Throughout my entire walk with Amber, I heard this word the most.

And judging that I'm completely terrified, this word is pretty accurate.

"Amber… It's dark…. and there are sounds…. and ghosts….. and monsters…." My voice got higher with fear after each mention of my fears.

Amber's eyebrow twitched when she heard ghosts and monsters, "If there were ghosts here we'd be dead by now, idiot!"

It took me a second to realize that she was right.

And the reason why she was right was little offending, but I'll tell you why later…

"You're so cruel…." I moaned to her leaning on her shoulder.

She glared harshly at me, "Can you please take this seriously?! Hundreds of people are dying right now, and all you care about is your fear of the dark? You really are an idiot…"

I flinched, "You didn't have to take it that far, Amber…."

She turned around sharply, "I do have to take it that far! Don't you realize this is a time to swallow all of your stupid phobias and focus? Come on! I've seen you do it before!"

"This is a time to freak out…" I moaned defensively, "We're not facing anyone yet…"

It was after that, that she lost it, "Do you want me to beat you to a pulp?..." her eyes had a death glare.

"No…." I don't really want to die today…

Her death glare didn't go away…. "Then shut up and help me fix this."

I curled into a ball in the nearest corner, shivering.

And Amber started saying personal things again, "Come on, idiot! You're no better than your brother right now!"

I flinched and stopped shivering. No better than my brother?...

"Don't mention him…" my voice was shaking.

Amber sighed, walked over, and apologized, "Sorry, that's something sensitive for both of us..."

I nodded and turned around. Am I crazy or did Amber just apologize to me?

I saw angry eyes instead of sympathetic eyes though… "But it doesn't mean you don't deserve a beating for being a coward in a time like this though…."

I guess not…

My eyes got small, "Huh…?"

It was less than a second before Amber started to fight me, and like always she ended up beating me into a corner….

My mother would not be happy with me right now, but she was never happy with me so it doesn't really matter….

I sat up with my back cracking while Amber glared at me, "Ow…." I groaned.

She swiped her hands, "Now that this is over with, let's get going, idiot."

The "idiot" she said sounded affectionate…

….

No me! Don't get any crazy ideas!

I rubbed my head as I followed behind her. I should of expected a beating eventually…

I flinched again. It doesn't change the fact that it's still dark in here…

I did a high pitched little screech that made Amber glare at me again, "You're not a little kid anymore, grow up…."

My voice was shaking for a different reason now, "I can't help it…"

"You will help it if you don't want another beating…."

I tried to be quiet after that.

We kept walking until we found another staircase, and we walked up it without question. I know we're past the second floor now, and I'm sure we're out of that maze….

I hope….

I sighed with happiness when I got to the top though. Ahh! Beautiful light!

Amber sighed, but didn't say anything. I guess me being happy doesn't make her angry.

I really should have realized that after how long we've known each other…

There wasn't another hallway in sight; just a large, almost ornate door.

"This must be the third floor…" Amber said in thought.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

She looked at me skeptically, "This game is fairly easy to read. The only hard part of this hideout is that freaking maze…."

I sweat dropped. Why haven't I read the game before now?

Amber walked towards the door, "There's no need for us to stay out here and stare with all of what's happening outside, let's go in."

I gulped and nodded.

Amber felt around the door once we reached it and said to me, "There's definitely a computer virus on the other side of this door… but it's different for some reason…." She shrugged, "Anyway, I need you to use your magic to break down this door."

"Why me?" I looked at her strangely.

"Are you that oblivious?! My magic works with your mind not objects!"

"Oh yeah…" I breathed out in reply before approaching the door.

I covered my body in magic signatures, "Crush punch!" I yelled one of my horrible attack names.

I'm pretty sure Amber cringed at it.

I punched a big hole in the door to let us see a board computer virus with flat, dark hair and small eyes. He was sitting in a chair.

"Well look who found me first," his voice was thick with confidence.

He hopped out of his chair and met us in the middle of the… pretty plain room compared to the door….

"It's nice to meet you Miss Amber and Mr…." He trailed off before I interrupted him.

"Don't even mention it," I said sharply, my mood changing with the prospect of fighting an opponent.

"Why are you even being polite?" Amber's eyes were low.

"I'm always polite to any person I'm about to slaughter, at least in person," he replied simply, "and speaking about being polite, allow me to introduce myself, I'm Lamen, head of the computer viruses."

Amber crossed her arms, "So you're the strongest virus then, am I right?"

Lamen's smile was close to a smirk, "You are correct."

I gulped. This guy is going to be strong…

"Well if you're going to be polite before you "slaughter" us, I have a few questions to ask you," Amber's eyes were sharp.

He put his hands behind his back, "It's only polite to answer at least one of them, but know that I'll only give you one answer."

Amber smirked, "Oh, I don't care if I only get one question. We'll force the rest out of you by the time we're done…"

"Confident there, are we."

Amber started her question, "If you know anything about our magic, you'll know why I'm asking you this. Why are you different than the other computer viruses? There's almost something human about you."

His voice was dripping in politeness, "Well miss you've asked me the one question I cannot answer, but I'll ask my questions about you two now. It's only polite."

We got into fighting position, "For some reason, we have no accurate information on either of you in our Archives," the virus started, "we have some close people, but they're not you. It's no wonder the training game mistook you for someone else, Mr. Blondie. "

Amber responded to him with the same line he fed us, "Well mister you've asked us the one question we cannot answer."

…..

With Jason and Reo

Jason POV

We walked up the stairs slowly and carefully, Reo leading the way. The strange heat we were feeling downstairs felt lighter, like it was only in the strange maze we were in.

So we found an exit to the maze huh… We need to let the others know….

Reo reached the top of the staircase much faster than I did, "You coming, Jason? Don't make me have to come down there and carry you!"

I snorted at his last comment; he said it with a joking tone, "I'm coming!"

I started to run up the stairs faster to catch him, huffing.

He teased me when I got to the top, "Man Jason, you're not going to be scary anymore if running up a flight of stairs makes you tired…."

That made me more confused than angry, "What do you mean by scary?"

Reo blushed a little and turned away, "Oh! Never mind then…."

Ok…. Don't really know what that means…

I pushed past Reo and looked around the room the stairs lead to. It was much brighter than the maze, which made me put my light sword away, and it had a round shape with controls of every shape and form everywhere…

I unsheathed the sword on my back, "Is this some kind of control room?"

Reo looked around, "Seems like it. The encoding on some of these controls looks familiar…"

Reo walked over to one of the controls and I followed him, "Really?"

"Yeah… I think this one is some sort of heat control…."

… Heat control? Is this why it's so hot in the maze?

The control Reo was talking about was a red button with a temperature under it; it said 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

Reo crossed his arms and said lightly, "No wonder it's so hot in that maze, this is at 96 degrees…"

Reo reached for the button and a light purple magic circle appeared while he tried to turn it.

But it didn't work….

Reo tried harder, "Why isn't it working… This should work…"

They're should be a computer virus up here… Maybe it's causing this…

I felt a presence above me once I thought that. I looked up.

There was the computer virus, trying to spy on us in whatever glory he had left…

I stared blankly at him until he noticed me.

He only came down when Reo noticed the temperature getting higher the more he messed with the control, "What the?..."

The virus landed softly on the floor and talked to me, "Well I expected you two to come here first… pretty boring…"

My eyes sharpened, "What do you mean by boring?"

He sighed, "You two's sheer presence… and you could have at least found some entertaining way to get in here. Staircases are so last week…"

Reo started to panic, "Umm Jason…. Things are getting worse here!"

I glanced at him before giving the computer virus my attention, he sighed, "It was boring without giving you some sort of incentive to beat me so I installed that temp-control button to slowly kill anyone in the maze until you beat me."

Reo almost spit, "What?!"

And I growled, "What are you talking about?..."

He looked at me in the eyes, "After failing to kill Leah Dragneel, which was boring, and after being told not to kill her, which is really boring, I had to find something entertaining, and little entertains me."

Then he sighed again, "I gave you an incentive. Incentives are entertaining. If you don't beat me in a certain amount of time, I'm going to use my ability to make all of your friends still in the maze die of heat, and I'm guessing that time…"

The virus shrugged, "is no more than fifteen minutes…."