Yuki closed her eyes, furious and trying her hardest. If I can't use my powers for this, then I shouldn't have them at all! Lemme see… Focus now, Yuki… focus! She felt Laura's hand on her shoulder and power surged through her. Suddenly there was an image as vivid as could be right before her. Thankyou, Laura! Now… hm… Show me where Matt is.

            The familiar sensation and she was there. She felt somewhat sick, probably because she had used a lot more energy trying to see the present rather than people's memories. She would've let out a gasp had she been in her human state at the time. Matt was slumped on one side of Rage, Raven on the other. The view shifted and she saw a dead guard, his eyes glassy and open. She felt like she was gonna be sick… Then a cloak covering something up… She was terrified to see a hand protruding from beneath it. Now… show me how to get there… Yuki felt a strong jerk somewhere around her navel and she was showed the inside of the cell she and many others were in. It slowly guided her through a long dark corridor, and then into a filthy, grimy old room with about twenty some-odd doors. An odd sensation went through her as her vision went right through the door and it showed the same scene with Raven, Rage, and Matt.

"Yuki." Said Laura, her soft voice somewhat sharp with concern now.

"I know how to get to Matt and Raven and Rage." And Xeno was with them to… and the hand from under the cloak thingy… That must've been… Yuki's head whirled at the realization. Another fresh wave of panic hit her. And Matt slumped against Rage like he was injured gravely or even… "We have to hurry!"

Her fastenings that held her stationary snapped like brittle twigs as her power welled up within her once again. She looked over and saw that Laura was looking at her with a look somewhere between surprise and fright.

"Yuki…" she said apprehensively as Yuki approached her to unfasten her bindings.

"Hm?"

"… In your world you know what sorceresses are, right?"

"Yeah.  I go to a school to assassinate them. Why?"

"Do you realize what your power is?"

"Er… No."

"You're linage is of sorceresses… the most powerful sorceresses."

"So am I?"

"…No, only a few things that aren't sorceress power related are obvious in you… Who's your mother?"

"Nakisho Kaida."

"…As I thought. You know who she is, don't you?"

"…Whatcha mean?"

"She's the daughter of Ultemecia."

"ARE YOU TELLING ME—"

"Calm down!" hissed Laura. "You said yourself we had to hurry, and this is no time to dawdle about your powers or your linage! People's lives are depending on us! Now c'mon!" she grabbed Yuki's arm gently and dragged her to the door. "Now these are mage-proof. They are immune to our powers. They aren't, however…"

"Yuki-proof!" Yuki grinned deviously and rather evilly.

"Or idiot-proof." Laura laughed.

"Let's hit it!"

Yuki thrust her arm out, and it glowed with power. The door swung open. They found themselves face to face with a huge, muscular guard. Although powerful, though, he looked about as smart as a blown-out light bulb. He stood there stupidly for a minute before he opened his mouth to shout and reached for his sword.

"ES-" He bellowed, but got no further. Yuki had drop-kicked him hard, and the air was knocked out of him. He looked dumbfounded that he had been hit. "… Hey… You hit me!" he stammered.

"In the words of the preps, DUH!" she slammed the dull end of the sword into the side of his head and he drooped to the floor. 

Laura grinned. "Even in this world I know what preps are…"

"Yep." Nodded Yuki, a look of determination on her face. "Now let's go." She ran as fast as she could until she got to the grimy gritty room with so many doors. She looked extremely distraught. "I can't remember which door it was!"

"Kuso…" muttered Laura under her breath. "Well, there's one solution to that… wha's his name again? Ragen or something like that?"

"Rage."

"RAGE!" Laura said loudly.

There was a rustle of movement inside one of the cells and a loud thud. And a curse. Then…

"Hello?" came a tired voice from inside.

"Yep." Laura beamed, "Right one."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Y'know yer a redneck when…"  She drawled.

"Oh shuddup."

"Here goes…" Yuki threw out her arm again and the door flew open with such force it hit whoever was behind it hard in the face.

"(&%^&&*_(" (a/n: that translates to something that would raise the rating of this story to R) Rage said loudly, holding his nose with both hands. It was bleeding profusely.

"I'm so sorry!" cried Yuki.

"S'okay." Rage said gruffly, still holding his nose.

"Here… I'm a healing mage, I'll help…" Laura reached to the soft brown leather belt of her royal purple tunic and pulled of a bag. "Special healing herbs… Here, put these on it and it'll stop the bleeding and numb it…"

"So you got my message?" came a soft female voice from the shadows in the meantime. "Thankyou."

"Raven? Where's Matt?!" Yuki cried, panicked.

"He's over here…"

Raven motioned to herself, where Matt's head was on her lap. His eyes were open but lifeless, and his breathing was getting more and more shallow. Yuki shoved her hand over her mouth and tears came to her eyes. It took all she had not to udder a scream. He was dying. She had almost come too late... Yuki held her breath, dreading the answer to her questions.  

"Raven… what happened? Will he be okay?"

"Dunno… he's been poisoned with Jenson Weed." She said, her voice wavering but remaining calm. "He came to rescue us… and he was attacked and such and…" she sighed, reliving painful memories.

Raven pressed her hands to her eyes, little stars exploding in her head and the image of Xeno with a spear in him vivid in her mind.  

"Yuki," Laura said instantly. "He needs attention now…" she dropped on her knees beside him and pulled out another pouch. She tore off a strip from the hem of her long tunic and covered it in some sweet smelling herbs. "Where's the wound?"

Raven wordlessly pointed at the scar running from the bottom left side of his face to the top right. It was bleeding slightly, but that was just an external effect… Laura quickly ran her hand over his face and his eyes were shut. Matt did not move. She cursed and put the herb-covered cloth over the wound and started working on another concoction.  She pulled a small bottle from a bag and started mixing powders and plants with it. Soon she put a stopper on the top and shook it, the contents emitting an eerie soft blue glow. Laura pulled out the stopper and put the bottle to Matt's mouth. It slid down his throat and still he didn't move.

"Whew… I'm glad that's okay now. It'll be a few minutes, but he should be okay. I'm glad we got here when we did…" Laura rocked back on her heels.

"So he's okay now?" asked Raven and Yuki almost in unison.

"Yeah."

Rage, whose nose had stopped bleeding long ago, grinned and threw his arms around Raven, who hugged him happily back. There was a low moan and Matt's blue-gray eyes opened. They looked misty and distant and confused, but that didn't change the fact that he was alive. Yuki uttered something between a squeal of delight and a sigh of relief and grabbed Matt, her arms tightly around his neck.

"Oh my God you had me so worried I thought you were—"

"Yuki!" gasped Matt. "Please… stop… choking… me…"

"Oh!" Yuki cried out, putting her hands over her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"

Matt winced, smiling slightly, and rubbed his neck. "Cripes, feels like I just got run over by a semi…"

"I wouldn't doubt that." Laura said. "You looked like you –had- been run over by a semi."

"Thanks." He muttered, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. Now that Yuki had finally let go of him and he could breathe properly Rage and Raven were practically strangling him they were hugging him so tightly as well.    

"…Hey…" he said after a minute of his mother, uncle, and Yuki fussing over him, comprehending what was missing. It had finally dawned on him. "..Where's dad?"

Raven said, hardly keeping control of her voice, "He was killed by a soldier."

Matt stared at her disbelievingly. "After all the things you've told me he did… he could destroy a soldier with the snap of his fingers… He can't be dead! He can't!" Matt stumbled back numbly.

"I'm sorry, Matt," sighed Rage tensely. "But that's what happened."

Matt swore. "I'll kill him. I'll KILL whoever did that to dad!"

"He's already dead." Said Raven dully, all the emotions drained from her. She waved her hand to indicate the dead soldier lying not far away. "I killed him."

"WHO KIDNAPPED YOU?" Matt's voice had risen to a shout. "WHO KILLED KEIKO?!"

"A man named Dameon. He wasn't the one who ordered it… he's someone's evil crony. Someone's over him… and Dameon's doing the dirty work."

"Then I'll kill Dameon. I'll find out who was over him and I'll kill whoever that is, to." Said Matt vehemently, his fists trembling with anger, and he ran as fast as he could out the door.

"Wait!" yelled Yuki.

"We gotta go after him," Rage said impatiently, "Or he'll get himself killed with that temper of his. Let's go."

Raven, Yuki, and Laura all nodded in agreement, dashing off into an uncertain future.