Chapter 3
Byakuen slammed on the breaks and Mia jumped off his back and ran to the
back of the house. As predicted, Shin was out in the water. "SHIN!!"
"Mia!" He rushed out of the water to greet her. "What brings you here?"
"Plenty. There's a dragon in the city and Ryo and Touma need your help. They
can't handle him alone."
"I'm there." He grabbed his trident leaning alongside the house. It was a
tight squeeze on Byakuen but nobody noticed. Byakuen made record speed back
to the city. Mia slid off, and nearly had a heart attack. It had been so
long since she had seen a once active city be turned into a ghost town
within hours. The city was abandoned, the buildings wrecked and burning, and
the dragon running rampant. Ryo and Touma were having no luck fighting the
dragon, it seemed to be laughing at their attempts to slay it.
Shin joined the fray in an instant, and found the dragon's weak spot! He
stabbed the base of its tail, heard the dragon howl in pain, and felt the
steel-plated tail slam him into a building. Now the warriors had it even
tougher, the dragon kept an eye out for its tail and kept it swinging faster
then ever. Anytime one of them got close, WHAM!! and watch them fly straight
into a building.
"Stay back, guys! I have an idea," Touma held out his bow and arrow. Taking
careful aim, he fired two arrows in succession, and blinded the beast. It
roared in pain and swung wildly, Ryo and Shin stuck their weapons deep into
the base of the tail. The dragon fell with a thud, creating a
mini-earthquake that knocked everyone off their feet.
"You think you've outwitted me?" It growled. "You will pay for this and
Arago will see you all in hell!!"
During all this, Mia could have sworn she heard the clanking of the rings of
the Ancient's staff. "But is he the real Ancient or imposter?" Her mind asked. She had no time to think, there was a massive explosion. She shielded Anubis best she could, and then blacked out.
* * * * *
Her eyes fluttered open, and heard a sigh of relief.
"Anubis!" She cried out to the man holding her.
He shook his head. "I am Shuten. Nasuti and I heard about the dragon, and
came to aide our friends, but our efforts were futile. The Ancient protected
us best he could, but the dragon's attack was quicker. He only had time to
shield us."
"So it was the real one. I heard his staff before I lost consciousness."
He nodded, "We were lucky. The imposter might have killed us all off."
She nodded, and took in the full damage. The dragon was gone and the city
stood despite all its pain, but no humans were around except for her and
Shuten. Her calls merely echoed among the shaken buildings, laughing at her for even thinking her friends could still be around.
Mia sighed in defeat and sat down, holding her knees to her chest. What was
she going to do? She tensed a moment, the calmed when it was only Shuten
wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She wasn't sure how to act around
him. He was much more serious then Anubis, and they were strangers. Each was in love with the other's twin, and who knew where they were.
"I know this, our twins are still alive. Tulpa and his minions all have
supernatural powers, which affect us as well as them. If they were to die,
so would we." Shuten tried to comfort her.
"And he won't, because we're still alive and we'd still be able to somehow
kill him." Mia thought out loud, "So he'll keep them alive so we can be
captured and then all killed at the same time, so there will be no loose
ends running about."
"Exactly what I was thinking."
"We will find them, all of them, alive and well." Mia said confidently.
Shuten smiled, "Hai, but first I think we need some sleep. The dawn is
almost upon us."
"You're right," She followed out into the Yamato Plains, and they laid
together in a grass patch similar if not the same one that she and Shuu
slept in.
"I'm a light sleeper, so I'll be sure to protect you." Shuten said, smoothing out his bed.
Mia just stared at him; she was just thinking that. Shuten chuckled at her
surprised expression, "You're just like Nasuti." He fell back on his
makeshift bed and stared at the sky. "Just like Nasuti…" He whispered sadly,
his mind elsewhere.
Mia sat next to him, "We'll find her, Shuten."
Shuten turned his head toward her, and she nearly cried out in pain. Here
was her love's copy, which looked every bit as handsome as Anubis, but she
wasn't free with him like she was with Anubis. He was in love with another,
even if it was her own twin. She looked away, tears in her eyes. She
couldn't stand his beauty, to be near him and yet so far away; to be
tortured like this was just too unfair!
"Mia?" Shuten gently asked. "What's wrong?"
When she ignored him, he turned her head to face him. Mia broke down; he was just too beautiful, in body, mind, and soul.
Shuten quieted her and held her close, knowing what bothered her so. It hurt
him too, sometimes he would look at her and think it was Nasuti, then a
nagging reminder that it was Mia, and Nasuti was in the clutches of a demon.
"We'll get thru this, Mia," He said while stroking her hair. "We'll get thru
this together."