Disclaimer! I do not own any characters belonging to the shows. All rights belong to the creators.

CHAPTER 129

Quartz studied the door, running her hand over the smooth wood. It would be easy to disintegrate.

Lyle held Harmonic with one hand, using the other to pull up Wjat. The chimera child said nothing, and silently followed Lyle as he pulled him along.

Quartz closed her eyes, counting to ten. Then she opened them, placing her palm on the door.

"By my powers of reversal, I command you to return to the earth! Crumble into dust!"

The door creaked loudly, then splintered down the middle, before crumbling into dust.

Lyle was impressed. "That could really come in handy in a pinch. Can you do that on people too?"

Quartz flinched, turning to look at him with a somewhat disturbed look. "I-I've never tried. I'm n-not sure I'd want to."

Lyle blinked. "Oh. Sorry about that. Guess it would be pretty messy if you did that on a person."

Harmonic stuck her tongue out. "Ew. Gross."

Lyle smiled at her.

Quartz coughed. "Ahem. Now then. Let the escape commence!"

She turned and dashed down the long yellow hallway, hearing them follow behind her.

However, their escape was not to last. The door on the other end of the hallway slammed open, and several guards rushed through, holding guns. "Freeze! You're not going anywhere!"

Lyle snarled, pushing Wjat and Harmonic behind him. "Come and get some you ugly freaks!"

Quartz was impressed that he would say that while staring down a gun barrel.

However, much to everyone's surprise, a yellow ball of electricity shot through the door, taking down guard after guard.

Bullets flew everywhere, and despite Quartz bravery earlier, she was now feeling quite scared. Lyle came to stand beside her. He had not transformed yet, but he was tensed.

"It's okay. I think that Neko is helping us."

Quartz did a double take. "A-Akeno?! That can't be!"

But it was.

Akeno clawed and spat viciously, expertly dodging the bullets. "Raaaorw! Tell me where that idiot Tsukumo is!"

The guards didn't answer, so she proceeded to claw them up even more.

Quartz and Lyle watched in stunned silence as every last guard was clawed into unconsciousness.

Akeno stood still, bits of splattered blood all over her. She was breathing heavily, laughing quietly to herself.

Quartz noticed someone else in the doorway. "GaleWing? Is that you?"

The person looked towards her, expression serious. "Quartz? So you managed to escape right before we busted you out. Pretty good. Who are the others?"

Lyle stepped forwards. "My name's Lyle. The girl is Harmonic. And the other kid is Wjat. But they did something to him. He's very unresponsive."

GaleWing calmly walked past Akeno who was still emitting an aura of gleeful victory, and went to Wjat. He peered into the expressionless sandy yellow eyes, then checked Wjat's pulse.

"Hm. I'm no doctor. But I believe his soul is in a dangerous condition. He's almost nothing more than an empty vessel. We need to figure out where this happened. If we make him touch the object that put him into this state, it'll bring him back to normal."

An unholy screech ripped through the air.

Akeno twitched, her ears pricking. "That sounded like that idiot bat I'm looking for."

She was about to leave when GaleWing stopped her. "You will stay with me. I don't want you rushing to your death. That will make a lot of paperwork. Oh, and a lot of people would be sad too I suppose."

Akeno snorted, but stayed put, tapping a foot impatiently.

GaleWing, stared at her for a second to make sure she wouldn't leave, then turned back to Wjat. "I'll carry him. Lyle, do you know where he was taken?"

Lyle thought for a second. "Hmmm…I really don't know. But, if I follow his scent trail, I should find out where they took him."

GaleWing nodded, picking up Wjat and holding him carefully. "Alright. Lead the way."

Lyle grabbed Harmonic's hand and took off, sniffing the air every so often.

Akeno was right on their heels, looking impatient. "Do we really have time for this? I want to find Tsukumo."

GaleWing frowned. "Quit your bitching. We'll find him afterwards. These kids need help."

Akeno growled, but didn't say anything else.

Quartz pulled on GaleWing's pants. He looked down at her. "What is it?"

"When we're done with everything here, can we bring these guys with us?"

GaleWing smiled. It was a thin smile. Strange for GaleWing, who almost never smiled. "Of course. I'm not going to leave them here."

Quartz couldn't see Lyle's face, but his tail wagged happily.

Down a hallway they went, until a large black ebony door stood before them.

Lyle stared up at the door, frowning. "Wjat's scent goes past this door. But I can't open it." He blinked in surprise when Harmonic stepped forwards.

"I can open it…" She said quietly.

Lyle reached out a hand. "W-wait. How are you able to open it? It should only respond to people like the Illusionist Master."

Harmonic shook slightly. "The Illusionist is Viscan. He's….my father."

Silence filled the hallway.

Harmonic sniffled.

Lyle hugged her. "It's okay. We don't judge you. Right?" He stared pointedly at everyone. They shook their heads.

Harmonic wriggled out of his grasp and placed a hand on the cold ebony door. There was a clanking on the other side, and the door slid upwards.

GaleWing narrowed his eyes at the sight before him.

Despite the multi-cultural area, only one spot drew everyone's attention. The glowing white hot casket in the back of the room.

For the first time, Wjat moved his head, eyes staring at the casket.

GaleWing walked in first, taking one of Wjat's hands and placing it upon the casket.

In a pocket dimension.

Wjat blinked in surprise, as he felt something try to pull him out of the dimension.

The woman he was with smiled at him gently. "It seems your friends have come to save you. It's time for you to go, little one."

Wjat hugged the woman tightly. "I hope you can escape too."

She patted his head. "I have a feeling that I will soon. My son is in danger. I must go see him. If I escape, we'll all leave together."

Wjat yelped as the pulling force became stronger. "I'll make sure you escape with us soon! I promise!" His vision started getting blurry, the last thing he saw was the woman holding up a pinkie finger. "It's a promise."

Back to the real world.

GaleWing patted Wjat's face. "C'mon kid. Wake up."

Quartz frowned. "Stop hitting him."

Akeno snorted. "You want to see hitting? I'll show y-"

A snarl from Lyle shut her up.

Wjat opened his eyes, gazing blearily at GaleWing.

He blinked, then flew out of his arms, glancing around. "Huh? What…"

He was smothered by Lyle and Harmonic, who hugged him fiercely. Wjat managed to free his face, laughing. "Haha. You guys are hugging me quite tightly. Do we know each other?"

Lyle let go, looking a little embarrassed. "Not exactly. You were pretty out of it when we met. But I was worried. You were almost like a puppet. I guess I just got excited when you came back to normal."

Wjat jumped, turning to look behind him. Harmonic was playing with his tail, poking the snake's head. "Hello Mr. Snake. Wakey wakey…"

Lyle gently pulled her away. "Sorry about that."

Wjat smiled. "Oh, no worries. The snake kind of has a mind of it's own, but it won't attack indiscriminately, so don't worry."

Akeno tapped her foot. "Great. Now that we're all caught up with the niceties, let's get going."

Before GaleWing could stop her, she rushed off. He sighed. "You guys go after her. I'm going to study this casket. See if there's a way to free this woman."

Quartz looked up at him. "Who is she?"

"Tsukumo's mother."

Quartz blinked. 'That…was a rather blunt response.'

She looked to her newfound friends. "Let's hurry after Akeno everyone!"

They all rushed off, leaving GaleWing behind.

He stared at the casket, seeing the woman weeping tears of blood. "I'll get you out of here. I promise. No mother should be kept away from their child. No one…should have to suffer not having a family…"

GaleWing looked up at the ceiling, a look of restrained sadness in his eyes. "No one…"

END OF CHAPTER 129

Author Notes

-Poor GaleWing…

-Wjat is cured! Hurrah!

-Next chapter, we'll have an interesting turn of events.

-Still no spoilers. Must….resist….writing….spoilers!

-See you next chapter!