As soon as everything was quiet, Rena extended her hands to one edge of her box and her feet to the other edge. There was something blocking the top flap, apparently; she couldn't get it open, no matter how hard she pushed.
She put pressure on the sides, and she smiled as the comforting rip of the box sides freed her from her prison. Rena crawled out the side of the box and realized why she couldn't escape through the top flap. There was about five feet of rock all around her, and about 2 feet on top of the box itself. The only area that wasn't totally covered in rock was the spot she'd escaped from, amazingly. The fact that the flimsy box survived the explosion was one thing; the fact that she wasn't buried under an unknown weight of rocks was nothing less then a miracle.
She looked around the room in surprise. The once small box-filled room was now double in size and covered with fallen rock from the ceiling and ex-walls. There was an entrance now, however, and it appeared jagged and natural.
I don't care what it looks like; she thought to herself, it's the only way out. She climbed on top of the now rock-laden floor and made her way slowly to the entranceway. She froze, however, when she heard footsteps slowly but surely making their way down the passage. Rena looked around frantically for something to defend herself with, seeing only rocks and boxes. She opened the flap of one box to find a small rusting dagger. Better then nothing, she mused to herself as she ran to the side wall near the entrance.
The girl listened as the sounds got closer. Step, Step, Step, Step, Step, Step, Step…they seemed to be inches from her now.
Rena grabbed the figure as soon as it came into view-and then found herself on her back in an instant with a gun pointed on her. Once the stars in her eyes faded, the assailant began to look familiar.
"Chisato…?"
The figure looked surprised and lowered her gun. "Rena!" She helped the blue-haired girl to her feet. "How did you get down here?"
Rena looked at Chisato, still in a daze. "Where's Ashton?"
"He's on the surface with Jean, helping the townspeople that are left. But tell me, how did you get down here?"
"I don't…know…Celine and Chris…Claude…"
Chisato made her sit down. "Slowly, Rena. Did you come through the entrance before me?"
Rena looked confused. "I blacked out…then I was in this room. How did you get here? And how did you get to Linga that fast? You just got here this morning!"
Chisato hesitated. "Rena, we left yesterday. I think you've lost track of time."
Rena shook her head. "That's not important. What entrance are you talking about?"
"The gaping hole in Cross Square."
"What!?" Rena yelled, in shock.
"Rena, the city is wasted. An earthquake on the surface knocked everything down. A lot of death. A lot of rubble."
"…The castle?"
"Destroyed."
Rena began to think clearly. "These sisters have to have caused this!"
"Sisters?" Chisato replied, puzzled.
"They have Celine! They probably have Claude too!"
Chisato began to look frustrated. "What're you talking about, Rena?"
"As much as I hate to break up this little conversation…"
The girls spun to the entranceway to see the source of the voice. A young yellow-haired girl was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Chisato grabbed Rena and stood in front of her, gun pulled. "Who are you!?" she yelled.
Ket sighed and stretched. "I'm so tired of introducing myself. Can't you just make the assumption that I don't like you?"
The teen extended her hand and shot lightning at Chisato, who absorbed the heraldry into her weapon.
Ket looked elated. "Oh, goody! Somebody that can actually fight back!"
Chisato pushed a few buttons on her gun. "Here, you can have this back," she said, pulling the trigger. Lightning burst out of the gun, knocking the teen off guard and blowing her against a wall. Rena looked up at Chisato in surprise.
Chisato smiled at her. "What? I made some modifications."
"A feisty one!" Ket yelled from behind them. They turned to see a blast heading straight for them.
"Rena!" Chisato yelled, pushing her hard towards the side wall. The bolt surged through Chisato, every last inch of her being electrocuted. Rena watched as she was being hurt, but she noticed that the armor was reacting to the lightning.
"…little help please…Rena…?" Chisato moaned. In a flash, Rena summoned an enveloping white light around Chisato's bolt wound.
"You still move. You impress me, girl," Ket said, as she walked towards Chisato.
"I'm older then you, brat." Chisato stood and walked in the girl's direction.
"You understand nothing. You should've never gotten involved."
Ket and Chisato were inches from each other now.
"And one more thing," Ket continued, "You should've never gotten this close to me."
Ket placed a hand on Chisato's torso, and electricity rushed from the witch to the Nedian. But Chisato didn't so much as blink as she absorbed the entire blast into her armor, much to Ket's surprise. What Chisato did do, however, is push several buttons on her weapon. She then placed it to Ket's head.
"Same with you, dearie."
Before she pulled the trigger, she was interrupted by the startling scream of Rena behind her. A purple haired teen was chasing Rena around the room, and Chisato might've been amused if this all wasn't so dangerous. She turned away from Ket and readied her weapon.
"Wrong move, wench!" Ket said, escaping Chisato's reach and running to the opposite side wall. Chisato ignored her and aimed the gun at the wild child. She pulled the trigger, and a single blast pierced the girl's chest. Lia stopped her pursuit and howled in pain.
Ket's eyes widened. "LIA!" She ran to the girl and helped clean her wound. She then turned to Chisato with icy eyes. "You will die slowly for this!"
At that point, the two girls vanished.
Rena and Chisato exchanged glances. Then, without a word, they ran up the entrance to the room in the direction that Ket had come from.
~