In the center was the book, and all of the girls surrounded it, minus Celine. Chi, Lena, Ket, Pae and Lia were slowly chanting some phrase that Celine didn't understand. It was something that sounded like "Askoin-tomoh-chay", and despite her language training, she had no idea what that meant. All she knew was that the gown she was wearing was extremely itchy, and the crest imprint was slightly burning her skin. She could feel it being activated.
Chi stopped chanting. Above the other girls, she shouted, "It is time. Sisters, let us restore the cavern so we may open the entrance."
The girls stopped chanting and nodded in unison. They raised their hands together, and darkness erupted within the circle. It faded, and it was silent for a moment, until Celine heard something like an explosion behind her. The jagged rock wall had collapsed, and she felt that they would be crushed in an imploding cave. She covered her head and ducked as part of the ceiling collapsed around her.
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Rena stopped writing the moment she heard the first explosion. It was muffled, but she could hear it just fine in the silent cavern. After it had all fallen, it was silent for an instant, then another blast, slightly louder then before. Whatever happened, it was getting closer.
She began to panic and knew it would be near her soon. She frantically grabbed the paper and stuffed it into her pocket. Rena ran to the wall of boxes and pulled one out of the wall, ripping it open with intense fear. The explosions seemed like they were already on her. It was empty, and she crawled inside; closing the lid just as the walls began to explode around her.
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Kyou sat down with his tea, extremely depressed. In only a few short days, he'd lost not only a patient, but a good friend and colleague. The medical office was run by the crown, but there had to be someone in charge, and that person had been Pad for as long as he could remember, much longer then Kyou had even been a doctor. He began to think to himself…
"Should it come to it, I'll take the position…I'll serve the king. But I don't think I want to take up the position of my murdered friend the day after he died. I don't think that would be very respectful."
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the door to the medical office opening.
"And who was that criminal/teenager/patient, anyways? Did the princess take care of her? What kind of punishment is worthy of that crazy child? Or, an even worse thought, what if Pad really had tried to take advantage of a young girl in deep-sleep?"
A pair of hands waving in front of his eyes awoke him from his thoughts.
"Hello?? Sir? Are you there?"
Kyou quickly regained himself. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking. Can I help you?"
"Yes, we've come to see a patient. We've brought outside help, I hope you don't mind."
If everyone did that, I wouldn't even have to come to work…, he thought to himself. "That's quite alright. What's the name of the patient?"
"Claude Kenni."
Kyou's heart sank. How could he tell them? "I'm afraid I…"
Kyou was cut short as the ground began to shake. An earthquake…The visitors all had weapons pulled, looking around, eyes darting side to side. Kyou's mind raced. "Please, please, it's just an earthqu-"
The floor shook with greater intensity, knocking Kyou out of his chair and pushing the visitors to the ground. The force was too great, and Kyou was on the brink of unconsciousness. He turned to see the patrons attempting to pull him to his feet. He collapsed upon standing, and then a large crash was heard.
Kyou turned to his side to see the woman and the men running out of the door. He moaned and rolled onto his back, blacking out just before the first fragments of the collapsing ceiling began to rain down on him.
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Celine slowly got back to her feet to notice the girls staring at her.
"What, do you think we'd let you get hurt?" Lena asked with a smile.
Celine looked around and noticed that she was right. All around her was strewn rock and debris, but not a pebble had fallen within an inch of her.
The room they were in had grown considerably. What had once been ten feet from wall to wall was now a hundred, and there were jutting caverns that exited into tombs, Celine supposed.
Celine decided to buy time. "What just happened?"
Lena answered. "This is the original form of the catacombs we were locked in. Only in its original form can the passage to be found.
"Sisters, let us go to the cavern. I've been looking forward to this moment."
Chi's words ended the conversation and the sisters slowly walked down one of the passageways. Damn!, Celine thought as she ran after them. The walls were still rock-laden, but they seemed much more jagged then before, unfinished, old. It was like a real catacomb rather then the ominous lair type of setting the girls had before.
They reached another room that was much smaller then the first. In it was a large crest on the floor, the same as the crest on Celine's gown. The burning feeling was beginning to recede as she moved closer to it, and she welcomed it. Her skin must be burnt white by now, but there wasn't much she could do now. She had to figure out something. Somehow.
A ripping sound in the cavern above them caught all of their attention.
"No-teleport room. Ket, take Lia upstairs and check it out."
"Right, Chi."
The girls ran up the cavern. The other four stood, facing the crest, in fear and anxiousness for the task before them.
"Once all the sisters have rejoined…we shall begin to open the passage. Take rest for now."
Celine stared at the crest, then leaned against the wall, falling to a catnap despite her fear. Remnants of the sleep dust, perhaps…
~