Disclaimer and stuff: Um…I'm pretty sure you can guess.

Note: Alright, so Sashia can use just a little of her symbology, but only a small amount. She has the restraining bands on, only they don't work 100 percent on her. She still can't summon massive amounts, or do much with it – I didn't want her to 'overpower' the other characters though I think she's cool. XD

Inside My Heart

Chapter 8

Another day had come and gone on the surface of Elicoor. Roger, Fayt and Gates scanned the landside, hoping that they would spot anything before all light was lost.

Gates was worn out. His body ached slightly for rest, but his mind wouldn't let him. He had worked nearly nonstop the whole day in the lab. His eyes burned from staring at screen after screen all day. He pushed himself not to let in to his fatigue. He couldn't give up. He had to find his sister.

Fayt had dozed off and on through the day, but still felt the lack of sleep weigh on him. Out of the three, Roger was in the best condition. He had gotten bored aboard the Silver Fox and the results had ended with a long nap.

The three had spent a good ten minutes searching. They stayed within talking range, but scattered slightly to cover ground. Tension built in the air. If emotion could manifest then the atmosphere around them would have been perceived as a thick fog. Lucky for them, the dusk was clear. Cold, but clear.

Roger, who was stationed between the two, was the first to notice the disturbance that approached. "We've got trouble!"

As his words alerted his comrades, a group appeared in the open space in front of the Menodix. Roger immediately drew his axe and took a step back.

Gates recognized the leader of the group the second he had turned to see what Roger was talking about. Gates forced his anger to calm. He needed to keep himself rational if he hoped to come out of this battle alive. He readied his hands at his throwing knives and waited to react. He bit his bottom lip and suppressed the urge to yell.

Fayt had drawn his sword and was locked in a staring contest with Luther.

"You know boy, playing with sharp objects can get you hurt," Luther's voice was thick and dry.

"Bring it on!" Fayt readied himself.

"Yeah, get ready for a whippin'," Roger added.

Luther laughed. Fayt could swear that his laugh sounded like that of a mad man. He shivered.

Luther pointed to the three. "Go men!"

The group followed orders, spreading out to take each target with the odds of four to one.

Gates didn't hesitate before unleashing a stream of knives at the four men heading his way. His knives took out two of the four before he ran out of ammo. Out of the two remaining, one had been hit. He would focus his attack on the injured first.

The two stopped a few feet short and aimed their weapons at him. He charged his energy, ready to counter the attack. Before the men could fire, he released an energy wave at the injured one, taking him out. As the man fell, Gates was dumbstruck to see him disintegrate into nearly nothing.

Then, a question he had asked earlier came to mind. While out searching for any clues about his sister's abduction, he had found it odd that a fight could take place but there were no bodies or blood left on the ground. If the enemy simply dissolved, then there would be no hard evidence to leave behind.

His momentary hesitation was soon disturbed when he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He looked up at the last man. The barrel of his gun pulsed with light. Gates cursed to himself as he felt himself fall. The first rule in battle is not to let one's self become distracted. He had not followed the rules, and therefore had gotten hit.

Gates fell back, and down one of the embankments. He rolled a few times before stopping. His head throbbed from the hard impact of the roll. When he stopped he noticed that he was completely surrounded by darkness. He scanned the area, trying to stay awake. He had rolled down a small hill. Night was now present. He couldn't see over the hill and assumed that the man couldn't see him in the darkness.

He tried to get up, but all strength left him. He became dizzy. He felt his head pound and knew he had hit his head hard on the way down. He resisted, but was unable to stop himself from passing out.

Roger hardly gave any thought to the fight when it started. He started in his usual manner, and used his size to his advantage. Keeping low, he dodged around the first attacker and positioned himself between two of the four men around him. He quickly raised his weapon over his head and swung the axe a full 360 degrees.

Both men fell. Roger had to jump quickly to the side to avoid being crushed by one of them. As soon as he had cleared the fallen soldier, the third was on top of him. The man grabbed his axe and pulled Roger off the ground.

Roger let go of the weapon. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he charged straight for the man's knee. His mark was dead on target. The man followed his companions to the ground, releasing the axe on his way down.

Roger jumped as he retrieved his weapon. It was getting dark and his visibility was hindered slightly. He turned sharply to confront his final adversary. Instead of finding the man ready to fight, Roger felt a sharp pain in his chest. He tried to ignore it, taking a step toward the man. His vision started to blur. His head began to spin. He willed his eyes to open but they would not obey. He felt himself fall toward sleep with no way to stop the fall.

Fayt, on the other hand, had hardly broken a sweat taking down the small group which attacked him. He stood in the middle where the fallen man should be. He had been slightly surprised to see them vanish, but seeing Luther back from the dead made anything seem possible.

Luther smiled at the blue haired boy in front of him. "If I remember correctly, Fayt, I owe you a death of gratitude." Luther smiled at his play on words.

Fayt took a step forward and readied his sword. "This time, I'll be sure you stay dead."

"Oh, and I suppose…" Luther stopped talking. He put his hand to his ear. His smile faded. "No, this will not do. This will not do at all. Sorry to be so short with you boy, but it seems your friends are trying to ruin my fun."

Before Fayt could blink, Luther shot him with a sedative dart.

---------

As the four of them left the room, Sophia took up the rear. She paused and took a quick glance at the STU on her way out. She knew she wasn't safe yet, but she felt better knowing that she could put some distance between herself and the machine.

Then her eyes drifted over to the spot that had once served as the final resting place for the guard.

-Flashback-

Mirage and Cliff had no sooner moved to free Maria, when Sophia hastily exited her cage. The cage made her feel cramped. Even though everything surrounding her felt like a huge prison, just being out of the cage was a small relief.

She was content with watching the couple bust the lock on Maria's cage, when movement caught the corner of her eye. Turning sharply, she saw the guard get up. He moved slow and was still shaky from his encounter with Mirage.

She knew she had to do something, and fast. She didn't want anything to interrupt Maria's escape. She quickly scanned the room. There were a few feet between her and the guard. Her eyes darted to the side. In the space between her and him, to the side, was a desk covered with various tool. The tools appeared to be surgical.

The tools weren't what got her attention. She saw something else that would help more.

Sophia sprinted the short distance to the desk. The tools, which looked sinister close up, were arranged neatly on a large round metal plate. Without regard to any ruckus she would cause, Sophia lifted the plate and spilled the tools across the table.

Holding the plate with her right hand, she twisted her body. The plate was heavy, but her determination kept her hand steady. Throwing her body weight into it, she launched the plate at the guard like she was throwing a Frisbee.

The plate hit its mark, colliding with the guard's head. The guard fell back against another desk covered with computer equipment.

By this time Maria was free. Cliff, Mirage and Maria all turned from the fallen guard and to Sophia. Sophia smiled and gave them all a thumbs up.

Mirage smiled back and nodded. "Okay guys, let's get out of here."

-End Flashback-

Sophia had been disturbed to see the guard vanish. Nothing remained of their assailant.

She was about to turn and follow the others when something got her attention. Resting on the table the guard had fallen on was another device she recognized. She moved quickly to retrieve it.

"Hey, Sophia, come on!" Maria shouted as she peered around the corner of the door. The alarm was still blaring and shouting was the only way to communicate.

Sophia nodded and joined her friends in the hallway.

"What do you have there?" Cliff asked, pointing to the device in her hand.

She held up the small metal box for the others to see. "It's used to open the restraining bands."

"How's it work?" Maria asked.

Sophia shook her head. "Don't know."

"Bring it with you," Mirage said. "Once we get out of this, I'm sure Gates can figure it out."

---------

Before Sashia could push the open button on Peppita's cell, Albel had taken down moron guard number one. Within the mere seconds it took for her to move from Peppita's cell to Adray's, Nel had done away with moron guard number two.

Sashia turned to the open area and viewed the scene along with the two newest escapees. They all watched silently as the guards disappeared into thin air.

"Whoa!" Peppita exclaimed, standing beside Sashia. "Did you see that?"

Sashia nodded.

Adray stepped up and put his hand on Sashia's shoulder. "Good going young lady." He turned to look at Albel and Nel.

Albel stood with his back to Nel. He was relaxed and stared lazily back at Adray. Nel, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to pounce on Albel from behind. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. Her eyes burned with anger and didn't stray from the Airyglyphian's back.

Adray sighed. "We should be going."

Sashia nodded again. The alarm continued to ring, but the sound decreased slightly in volume. "Yeah. No tellin' when we'll be overrun by more moronic idiots. Let's move."

Adray was first to head for the hall, Peppita fast on his heels. Sashia followed right behind the fair haired girl. Without a word, Albel fell in line behind Sashia. Nel grunted as she took the rear.

"This isn't over, Nox."

He stopped and turned. He smiled. "I should hope not."

She growled at him. Her hands refused to release the fist she had made to take down the guard. Her fingernails dug slightly into the skin of her palms.

Hearing the exchange, Sashia stopped and took a step back. "Come on you two, geez. Now's not the time."

Neither moved. Both continued to stare at one another, acting as if no one else were around.

Sashia shook her head. "Would you two get over it and get to movin'! Really, you're starting to sound like an old married couple."

That got their attention, as well as the attention of Adray and Peppita.

"What?" Nel almost screamed.

Sashia put her hands on her hips and smiled sweetly. She looked from the slightly shocked Albel to the angry/shocked Nel.

"Yeah. You both remind me a lot of my parents." Her smile faded. "And unless you want to end up dead like them, you'll get to movin' and save this little quarrel for later." She turned her back to them. "I doubt Luther's going to be happy to find out we're loose. So let's make tracks!" She started to walk toward Adray.

"Luther?" Peppita looked slightly up to search Sashia's eyes. Surely she had misheard her, or she was talking about a different Luther.

Sashia looked from Peppita to Adray, who questioned her with his expression. Sashia ran through the previous night's events. Adray had been drugged before Luther had revealed himself. She could only guess that Peppita had received similar treatment.

Albel walked past Sashia. "The worm's back."

Peppita watched Albel walk by. "Oh, that's not good." She shook her head vigorously. "Not good at all."

Nel finally released her fist and walked to the group. She had to keep her mind on the main events, and take care of the other events later. She stopped by Sashia and nodded.

"Let's go." Nel said to Sashia. The group started their trek down the hall. "Who are you anyway?"

Sashia looked at the red head as they walked. "Sashia Keen. I study under the guidance of Mirage Koas."

Nel felt better knowing a name to the new girl, and even better to hear a familiar name mentioned.

The feeling was short lived when Peppita looked around at the group. Her face grief stricken. "I hope Sophia's okay."

---------

Luther wasn't happy at all. He ordered the two remaining men to lug his newest prisoners. With a touch, Luther activated the P.T. and returned to his ship. He was welcomed with the unpleasant sound of the alarm.

"Deactivate alarm," he ordered the ship. He had programmed the ship to respond to his voice alone and he was able to command it from any location he wished.

He turned to the men behind him. "Take them both to Lab 4C." The report he had received earlier alerted him to the fact that all the prisoners were roaming the ship. He didn't want to take any chances that what happened three years ago would be repeated.

The men silently followed his orders and parted ways with him. He hastily made his way to one of his many labs. The labs were used for various things, mostly research and data collection. There were four labs set up for extensive research, but he was saving their use for more important things.

He would not let them get in his way this time. They had taken the Eternal Sphere and his life from him. They would not be allowed to delete him permanently. That he would be sure of.

Instead of sitting in the chair, he flung it to the side and started typing on the consol. "Find them, Sadie. Give me each of their locations."

"Yes sir," an electronic female voice replied. "Locations found. Level 1, Section 2A: A1, N1, P1, A2, and unknown. Level 4, Section 6E: S1, M1, C1, and M2."

Luther had set the ship up to give a visual read out along with the audio. He scanned the information, reading C1 and M2 twice. "They found a way on the ship? Ah, I should have never left the Klausians for last!" He shook his head. "Sadie, inform units 2 and 4 to apprehend the group in section 2A. I'm sure the men can handle four Elicoorians and a Klausian. Send units 3, 6 and 7 to Section 6E. They will have to handle the two Earthings and the 2 Klausians. If things get out of hand, kill all but the Earthings."

"Affirmative."

---------

Gates opened his eyes. His head hurt, his body was twisted under him, and all he could hear was silence. Out of the three, the silence bothered him the most. He didn't know how long he had been out, but it had been long enough for the fighting to end.

He felt a sudden apprehension in his gut. He knew that they had lost. He knew that Fayt and Roger were no longer there. If they had won, he was sure they would have found him. But he had woken up alone.

He lifted himself up to sit. It took a great deal of strength for him to move, and sitting up nearly caused him to pass out again. His shoulder began to throb. He turned to look at his shoulder, but the dark night didn't allow any light to help. He lifted his right hand and touched the area of pain. Immediately, his shoulder turned to fire and pain shot through him.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to block the pain from his mind. Rubbing the fingers on his right hand together, he realized that he was bleeding. He wiped his hand off on his pants and set to the task of retrieving his communicator from his pocket.

His hand shook, causing him to have to try repeatedly to get into his pocket. When he finally did, he was surprised to find he could grab the object. His fingertips were slightly numb. Once the communicator was free, his fingers failed him and he dropped it.

He cursed some vulgar Klausian curses to himself as he fumbled to find the lost item in the dark. After several attempts, he finally landed his hand on the communicator. Concentrating, he held fast to it as he rested his hand on his lap.

He flipped it open, causing the key pad to illuminate. Slowly, his shaky fingers dialed the number and started to send the communication.

The screen flickered and Marietta appeared. She looked worried.

"You guys can't just run off like that. We've been scanning the surface and there was some strange activity in the electromagnetic fields," she lectured.

He swallowed and hoped that he could talk. His throat was dry. "Marietta," his voice was week. "I need…I…" He closed his eyes. His head was spinning.

"Oh my! Hang in there, Gates. I'm bringing you back to my ship."

---------

Mirage was relieved to have the alarm silenced, but she didn't feel good about it either. "I don't think that's a good sign."

Cliff shook his head in agreement.

Mirage had taken the lead. Cliff walked beside her as Maria and Sophia followed. They walked slowly down the cold hallways.

The alarm had been annoying, but the silence that followed was eerie. Eerie and unnatural.

"What we need is a map," Sophia said, more talking to herself.

Maria glanced at her. "Yeah, we do. If we could find a control terminal, I might be able to get a hold of one. Or at least find a directory."

Mirage looked over her shoulder. "Okay, we'll try to find a terminal. Then we need to find the others and then a way off this ship."

"Alright," Cliff said. "Let's see what's behind these doors."

As they walked, they opened door after door. Most of the rooms were bare. A few contained supplies, but nothing found was helpful.

"Hey guys! Over here." Maria looked back at the group before entering the door she had just opened.

Maria took a few steps in to allow room for the others. The room was a decent size. In one corner was a terminal, and in the other corner were weapons. The weapons weren't just weapons, they were well recognized. Maria ignored the weapons and went straight for the terminal.

Cliff moved to the other corner and inspected the items. He immediately set to stuffing the weapons in a bag, which conveniently happen to be in the corner also.

Sophia moved to help him. "Um…does that mean…" She pointed to the familiar daggers as her eyes wondered over to the other blades. "Who else is here?"

Mirage looked from Maria to the other corner. "Nel, Albel, Adray, and Sashia."

"And Peppita," Maria added as she typed away.

Sophia nodded. "Peppita was with me when we were…abducted."

"Well, then I'm sure they'll need these things when we find them," Cliff said. He managed to get the two katana blades, claw, daggers and bangles into the bag. He held up the spear. "This just won't fit."

Mirage took Sashia's spear from him. "I'll carry that."

"I thought you preferred to fight with your hands?" Cliff joked with her.

She smiled. "Yeah, but who do you thing taught Sashia to fight with this?"

"Good point."

"Any luck, Maria?" Sophia asked.

"Negative," Maria responded in frustration. "There are too many firewalls."

Mirage looked at the terminal. It had seemed almost too easy. There was only one guard with Sophia and Maria. There was virtually no sign of life, and they had recovered the other's weapons. To a point, Luther was arrogant and over confident. It would be too easy if he didn't also protect the data systems.

"Trouble!"

Sophia's words brought the group's attention from the terminal and to the door. Sophia stood with her back on the closed door.

Before any questions could be asked, someone banged on the door from the other side. Cliff set the bag down and quickly handed Maria her guns. Mirage leaned on the door with Sophia.

"Sophia, maybe you should stay back. Since you can't use your symbology, you might want to let us handle this."

Sophia shook her head. "No can do. Besides, it's not like I've been sitting around for the past three years." She held her hand out to Mirage. "Here, let me hold that for you."

Mirage smiled. She knew the look that was present in the girl's eyes. It was the same determination and drive that she had seen in many of her students. She handed the spear to her and readied herself for battle.

"Okay, guys. I'm going to open the door."

---------

When the alarm stopped, the whole group froze momentarily. When they weren't overrun by more guards, they began their trek again.

"What's the plan?"

"Well, I think we should find Sophia first," Peppita was the first to answer Nel's question.

"As well as Maria," Sashia added.

"Humph, I say we find a way off this blasted metal rock." Albel's tone was low but clear.

"Go right ahead," Adray said addressing the younger man. "I intend on finding the other's first. There's no honor in turning your back on friends."

"Yeah," Nel spoke as she swept past Albel. "Too bad Albel doesn't have any friends."

"Hey, aren't you being a little mean." Peppita crossed her arms.

"Bah."

Sashia shook her head. "Nel…maybe I'm out of line here but you can drop the act."

"Huh?"

Sashia looked Nel in the eyes. "Since you haven't already attempted to kill him, I assume that you aren't seeking revenge. That leaves the fact that your anger comes from some kind of emotion." Sashia shifted her gaze to Albel who was intently listening in. "Anger comes from one of two things: either you were scared, or your feelings were hurt. Since you don't seem scared, then he hurt your feelings. And feelings can only be hurt by those you care about."

"Whoa, she can fight, she's a lady and she's smart."

Sashia smiled at Adray. "Nope, just listened to my brother babble on and on one too many times. That's all."

Nel just continued to stare at Sashia…or rather through Sashia. She was overcome with a brief moment of confusion. Her confusion ended shortly after it had begun.

"Hey, we've got company you guys!"

---------

Blue Afterthoughts: Well, I know, I didn't quite get to the part of how Luther's back, but it's coming. Um…what's up with the enemy just disappearing? What's wrong with Gates (I mean, if they were shooting sedative darts then there should have been no effect on him right)? And now our crew has to fight. Finally, all this and there's finally some major fighting coming up.

Blue Reviews:

ElusiveCat: I couldn't resist throwing the Catch 22 in, that book gave me such a head ach! I can see Cliff wanting to be very protective, but he's known her so long and when I wrote that part I thought back to the game where he just leaves her on her own in Airyglyph. That, and if you read the dictionary, it hints to the fact that Mirage can take him on no contest.

Macky: Yay! I've managed to get a reader and keep 'em reading. Thank you :)

IceBlueWings: Sashia's hands aren't tied – sorry about that, I use the word cuffs trying not to sound too repetitive. The bands are designed to stop symbology all together, but the Klausian twins have a rare gene that makes their symbology a little different than others (But nothing like Fayt, Maria and Sophia) Luther didn't know this so he put them on her, only due to her rare gene, she's able to summon just a small fraction of her symbology.

Note: In case anyone is wondering, Sashia's symbology is more defensive and healing type while Gates is more offensive – just the opposite from their fighting styles since Sashia's always ready for a good fight and Gates is happier sitting behind a book or computer.

darkladyxion959: Suspenseful? Must be all those Dean Koontz books I'm reading…yay, that means I'm doing something right! And hate to burst your bubble, but Albel can not touch me for I wield the power of Amanda Nox! XD