The Escape

"Ashley, Ashley," called out Lilka, "Are you OK? Let me heal your boo boos." With that, the child cast the basic healing spell on her brother, who had taken the worst damage from their uncle's attack. He got up, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then looked to his twin and friend.

"Where do you think we are? I can't tell. This isn't a place that Mommy took us when she was Megami," he stated. Indeed, the place was really strange to the trio. It appeared to be a prison cell of some sort, but the walls looked like they were made out of stones that hadn't been cut and shaped.

Lilka said, "Maybe it's a cave. Mommy always said that caves weren't fixed up, and had walls like plain rocks. So maybe mean old Uncle Vincent took us to a cave of some sort while he waits for Mommy and Daddy to look for us. Hey, I'd like to see either of you come up with a better thought."

Cecille was crying in the corner. "I wanna go home to my Mommy and Daddy! Why do I have to be here, I didn't do nothing to that man? So why has he taken me from my Mommy and Daddy?" Her eyes were red from so much crying, as was her nose from constantly blowing it. Tears were cascading down her face like some sort of miniature waterfall. The young girl then burried her face in her shirt.

Ashley noticed her distress. His mother had always told him to be nice to girls, if only so he and his sister don't make too much trouble. But he practically worshipped her, the strength she had inside that had defeated many an enemy, so he took her advice to heart. He walked up to Cecille, and held the child close to him. It reminded him so much of how his father took care of his mother.

"Don't worry," Ashley assured Cecille, "We're gonna get out of here, somehow. Mommy and Daddy will come for us, just you wait. Did I ever tell you about the time Lilka and I were taken from her by a group of meanies, and dragged to this dungeon? And how she and Daddy came to rescue us?"


Cecille listened to her friend with interest. She heard all about how his mother had lost her memory in an accident prior to his birth, and had traveled the world alone for six full years. Then, he told her all about how she'd re-met his father, and the way she'd gotten back her memory saving him and his sister. The child listened eagerly to his words, it was hard to believe he was only one year older. Ashley had been through so much more than she ever had in her life, and he'd already had a brush with death that he would never forget. Heck, it had only happened half a year ago too.

"I never knew Ashley. How did you ever live like that? Not staying in one place, I mean. You must have a gazillion boo boos after all of that," said Cecille as she stared at him.

Ashley replied, "No, I don't have that many boo boos, maybe a few tens. And it wasn't so bad, Mommy really cared about us, she always wanted to keep us safe. Even though she spoke harshly. But we didn't mind, we knew how she really felt about the two of us. Wasn't her fault that her mind went to sleep, and the mind of a woman named Megami took her place and took care of us."

Lilka suddenly saw a small fissure in the wall. Wondering if she could use it to escape somehow, she examined it. The rocks weren't too strong, but no child's hands would be able to budge them.

If she had been a little older, she probably would have silently cursed the fact that her mother never taught them attack magic. But Lilka didn't know a single cuss, as both of her mother's personalities were very wary about teaching such words to ones so young. As she looked at the wall, she suddenly got a good idea. Maybe she didn't know any offensive spells yet, but she did have an ace in the hole.

Lilka cast the spell used to summon Dist Dims. With the power of the Royal Staff, she began digging at the rocks around her. Any other staff would have been broken at that time, but this was one made of pure energy and the Guardians' power. The rocks began to break apart as she swung, and soon there was a hole large enough for a small child to walk into. She then concentrated on making a tunnel. "Everyone, follow me! We can get out through here. Don't worry, I can use this thing, Mommy taught me after she had that strange spell cast on me. Let's get going guys!"

She began the laborious process of chopping out the tunnel so it would reach the outside of the cave. When it was long enough for all three of them to stand inside, Ashley and Cecille followed. The three kept moving forward, Lilka in the lead. It wasn't long before they saw the light.

"We're outside!" exclaimed Cecille, "We must be close to home now. I'll get to see my Mommy and Daddy soon." She began to skip ahead, not noticing the tree root as she tripped over it. The little girl fell flat on her face, and began to cry like there's no tomorrow over her boo boo.

"Gotta be more careful. This place isn't familiar either, if Mommy had come her before, I would have remembered it," admitted Ashley. It was true, the boy had the memory of an Elephant. It took a lot to make him forget something. In fact, Ashley usually was the one who reminded his mother of what she had to do, in the days when her own memory was a little bit unreliable.

Cecille said, "Ok Ashy. I'll be careful. But where are we? This ain't Grammy's forest. We're not home yet, where are we?" She was about to start crying again, but Ashley put his arm around her.

He held the girl in his arms, close to his body. "I'll get you back home Cecille, I promise. Else my name ain't Ashley Alexander Enduro. Which it was, last time Mommy called to me."

Lilka sighed, something was up with her brother. He reminded her more of their father every day. Was it possible that he had some sort of crush on Cecille? She resolved to save that little piece of info for the next time they got into a fight about something, it was just too good to waste now.

They began traveling in the direction of the sun. It seemed like the safest way to go, although they had no idea what time it was and which direction it was facing. Heck, it was either that or get lost in the woods. At least with a guide, they stood a chance of finding a way out of this.

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Teefa's Last Words…

Yup, slick kids. I just love kids. Everyone says I'll make a good mom someday.