After Arinia had fallen asleep, Archie asked, "Can you pick up the story now?"
"Of course." Mark replied.
"What happened?" Archie asked.
"Well, I spoke to Arinia for a few minutes, then I told her to try to get some more sleep." Mark replied, with his gaze focused on Arinia.
Archie chuckled, "Just like you did a minute ago. You really do worry about her, don't you?"
"Yes, I do worry about her. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her since I loved her." Mark replied after a pause.
After a moment of thinking Archie questioned, "I assume that you hoped that Maxie would give you something to feed her to keep her alive, is that what happened?
"Yes, I did hope that." Mark replied with his gaze still on Arinia.
Now Archie asked, "Did he give you something to feed her?"
Mark hesitated for a moment before he said, "He did, but I accidentally dropped it when Maxie pronounced that Arinia had a fever……."
"What did Maxie do when he discovered that Arinia had a fever?" Archie questioned.
"He told me to pick her up and to follow him since he wanted to put her in their infirmary." Mark replied.
"No doubt about it, Maxie was up to something….. Do you know what?" Archie asked.
Mark thought for a minute before he said, "Well I remember that Maxie had said something about sending a ransom note to her family."
"How much did he want for her?" Archie asked.
"Maxie wanted a million dollars for her, and he said that he'd kill her if he didn't get it. When I found that out I tried to protect her as much as I could even though I was a prisoner just like she was." Mark replied, while shaking slightly.
"I see, now how was Arinia faring?" Archie questioned.
"Arinia was losing a lot of strength and she coughed a little bit, probably from the formation of her pneumonia…….." Mark replied while still shaking.
"Poor girl……. I'm so glad that she's still with us……." Archie said.
"Me too, I don't know what I would've done if Arinia had died…….." Mark said.
"Let's not talk like that…… She's alive and she's getting better, that's what we should be concerned about, not the fact that she almost died." Archie replied.
"You're right, her being alive is more important than what almost happened to her." Mark replied.
"Now tell me how you rescued her." Archie said.
"Maxie let me stay with Arinia overnight, but he didn't place any guards, I don't know why…… Maybe he thought that they'd frighten Arinia too much, or he might not have thought of it. Anyways, I waited until after midnight when every one had gone to bed, then I unhooked Arinia's IV bag from the stand that the Team Magma doctor had put her on before she had gone to bed; before I lifted her up into my arms and wrapped her into a blanket and tucked her IV bag into her blanket. After doing that, I left the infirmary being very careful not to make any noise or to awaken Arinia as I crept through their base to the entrance. When I reached it, I took her out of their base and headed towards Fallarbor. Then once I reached the desert I plunged into it and headed to the far eastern corner of it, and made a secret base for us." Mark replied.
After a moment of thinking Archie asked, "Then you probably set up a bed for her and laid her on it, before you began waiting for Michael to come to your secret base. Is that what happened?"
After a pause Mark replied, "Yes, that's exactly what happened; and when he came to our secret base and saw Arinia, he said that she needed a doctor immediately. So I scooped her up into my arms, and Michael helped me to wrap her into a blanket, tucking her IV bag into it as we were doing so. Then I carried her to the entrance to the entrance of our secret base and Michael took another blanket and covered Arinia's head with it, so that when we took her out into the sandstorm the swirling sand wouldn't awaken her. We carried Arinia out of the desert, and through the Fiery Cave to the base of the Cable Car loading dock, and once there we boarded the cable car and rode it to the top near Mt. Chimney. Then we carried her down the Jagged Pass and into Lavaridge where we put her into the hospital."
"Thank you, Mark, I can figure out the rest from there. Arinia's very lucky to have you to look out for her…….." Archie remarked respectfully.
"What's going to happen now?" Karania asked.
"I'd like to know that myself." Steven said.
"Well, I was hoping that you could come with me so that I can decide what I should do to protect your daughter." Archie said.
"Of course, I'll be glad to." Steven replied.
"Don't forget about me, I want to help too." Rosella said.
"As you wish, dear." Steven said.
Archie, and Arinia's parents now left the room to go discuss with Archie what should be done to protect Arinia; and everyone else remained with Arinia.
~*~
Meanwhile, a Team Magma grunt, who was disguised walked into the hospital and inquired about Arinia. "I'm looking for a girl named Arinia." The grunt said.
"Oh, you mean Arinia Avalon, she's here do you want to see her?" A staff member asked.
"Not at the moment, I just wanted to know if she was here so that I could bring her a gift later." The grunt replied.
"Okay, hope to see you again later then." The staff member replied.
The grunt left the hospital and walked to the edge of town and radioed Maxie. "Boss, I've got news." The grunt said, speaking into the radio.
"Have you located Arinia Avalon, yet?" Maxie asked, speaking through the radio.
"Yes, she's being held in the Lavaridge City hospital." The grunt replied, as he spoke through the radio.
Maxie grinned evilly at his end before he spoke into the radio again, "Good, come on back to our base, I have another mission for you concerning Arinia."
"Yes, master Maxie, I will do as you ask." The grunt answered. The radio crackled and their conversation ended.
~*~
Back in Maxie's office, Maxie was still grinning evilly. "I will have you as my prisoner once again my dear Arinia." Maxie laughed after he said that. All Maxie could do now was wait for the grunt to come back so that he could put phase two of his plan into action.