Me: Well, soon wasn't as soon as I'd hope, but real life likes to steal me away, so…
Mushra: YOU ABANDONED US
Me: Noooo I didn't, chill out-
Mushra: YOU LEFT US TO ROT
Me: You're spending too much time with Heather-
Mushra: half of this is you, don't lie
Me: sshhhh *puts finger to his lips and ignores his glare* Welp, here we go, hope you enjoy!
Chapter 5—Adventures In Enterran-Sitting
"Heather, really, this is NOT the time!" Winter complained, as she felt this too serious to joke about.
"Tension easing, sorry." She raised up her hands defensively, and fire shot between the three of them, causing the sisters to yelp in surprise. Heather just stared, wide-eyed and surprised, then she stared at her hands accusingly. "You weren't supposed to do that."
Winter took a breath and sighed, looking to the young boys who were still snoozing away. She ran a hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
Jaden knelt down by Sago where he snoozed. His brows look furrowed and she reached to brush hair from his face and he whined in his sleep. She had a smitten-by-cuteness flip of her stomach before sighing. What were they going to do with these three?
"Okay, well, obviously, we need to get them out of here. But are we doing that travel size or normal size?" Heather questioned then.
"How can we get them normal size—back the way they're supposed to be? We don't even know how they changed, all we know is their age was reversed back and in the process, their power was taken and given to us…" Winter stated. "Why, though?"
"Why cause these three to revert to a younger age?" Jaden spoke up then, still knelt by Sago's tube, but looking to the other two. "They're weaker this way, more defenseless, and heavily so without their power in a world like this… Why they gave US their power is a bigger question."
"Well, it can't be OTP reasoning's, because obviously there's an OC trying to ship himself with us." Heather commented.
Jaden raised a brow aTnd the interpretation, but fandom talk aside, she was correct. "Exactly…so why would he equip us like this?"
"Beats me… Come on, let's try and figure this out, stop sitting around." Heather stated, looking to what had to be the control panel connected to all the tubes, her fingers hovering over the buttons.
"Are you crazy?" Winter asked, coming over and pulling on her arm. "We don't even know how that works!"
"Yeah, so we should at least try, shouldn't we?" Heather continued looking over the buttons with Enterran lettering. "It's better than sitting here and angsting over the situation. Okay, this button….I think, the symbol is Enterran for…transfer…?"
"How do you know that symbol anyways?" Winter asked, sounding only slightly doubting, but mostly curious.
"I think it is. I've seen it on some of that carts and on some trucks back in New Yora, obviously used for taking stuff to other places. Of course, transferring is a little different than transporting, so maybe not the same…"
Jaden stood and went to join them, and pointed to a bigger button. "That one is begin, I think. So, once we figure out what to begin, we know where that's at?"
"…I think…I think that's A…Oh, and these are B and C…Oh!" Winter exclaimed, looking from the panel to the tubes. "That's to connect to each one of those!"
The three of them put together their coupled understanding of the Enterran language and did their best to figure it out together, but the longer they tried, the more they realized they didn't have enough understanding.
"What's the use….even IF we understood their language, we don't know how different this technology would be from what we understand of our own.." Winter stated.
"Well, we can't wait here either way. Let's get the boys, and lets find a way out of here." Heather stated, skirting around the panel and going to wake Mushra. The young violet-haired boy whined as if he were angry he was being woken. Winter went to wake Xavier, but gave a great sigh. "Something wrong?"
"Are we even going to be able to find our way out of here? It took us long enough to find this place, and it was more of an accident than knowing our way." She stated, running her hand through the young boys hair, gently stirring him. "I'm just worried, is all…"
"We have no idea where to go and what's waiting for us or even if we're being watching at this very moment, but you know what?" Jaden spoke up then, looking to her sister and friend. "We can't wait here. It would do us no good. We need to be on the move, and we need to be together. So let's get these three up, and let's get going. Okay?"
The other two nodded.
"Where…we… Who are you?" one of the boys spoke—Sago, sounding so different, and he was rubbing his eyes and brushing his hair from his face, pouting.
Jaden looked down at him, taken aback at hearing such a young innocent voice, the other girls too, but they were gathering the other two who were more drowsy than Sago was alert. She looked him over and offered her hand, which held and offered the blue cape she'd been carrying. "I'm a friend. I'm here to protect you. Okay? Do you trust me…?"
He watched her for a moment, seeming confused and perhaps even a little scared, but slowly he nodded, and reached to take the cape and put it on, and then her hand and Jaden helped him out and pulled him close to her leg as she stood, looking to the others. Winter brushed her hands through Xavier's short hair to sooth him, and Heather was failing to sooth Mushra, who whined and reached his hands up at her.
"Look, dude, you're gonna have to walk eventually because if I carry you now, you'll get too heavy and then you'll be spoiled and hate the walking, so just walk for now please?" she bargained with the little boy.
"Carry -hic- meeeee." He complained, tears welling in his eyes as his hands opened and closed, his palms possessing the purple jewels still, but they didn't shine. It was as if no light whatsoever was absorbed into or reflected off of them.
"Come on, be a man little guy!" Heather stated, ignoring Winter shaking her head, as Heather knelt in front of Mushra. Only to have the little man guy collide into her and hug her around the neck. "…You sneaky little devil."
He whimpered and didn't let go. Realizing this, the young woman wrapped her arms around the toddler with a sigh and stood straight.
"When you get back tall again, you are NOT going to hear the end of this. Just warning you. LET US VENTURE ON!"
The little boy in her arms laughed as Winter came up beside her. "Considering we're trying to sneak out, how about we venture in a quieter manner?"
"~Venture oooon~." Heather whispered then, making Mushra laugh as he nuzzled into her neck and yawned.
"Okay, I'd say oldest first, but oldest is holding infant, so I'll walk first, we group the boys in the middle?" Jaden offered, heading for the door and beginning to open it, poking her head out the room.
The other girls only acted in agreement, Winter waving Sago over and Heather taking one part of the rear and Winter taking the other as Jaden lead the way out. Exiting careful and slow, the further they went down the hall, the more their pace picked up and soon, they were on a fast-walk path through the maze of the palace once again.
"Ok, not that turn, I remember that one from before." Heather spoke then, still cradling the young Mushra in her arms, as he snored off and on. "Let's take this other turn because I don't think we came that way."
Jaden nodded and lead them further, finding the next turn like any other—as if made of ice almost, white-blue and colored with silver snake designs or candles and so on.
Sago suddenly continued further, a little quicker past Jaden, causing her to grab his shoulder.
"Sago, you need to stay between us." She told him, pulling him back.
"Why?" he looked confused.
"It's dangerous, okay, and we need to protect you."
"I can fight for myself! I can help!" he offered.
Jaden sighed and shook her head, and she kept the walking going as she spoke. "That's courageous and helpful of you to offer, sweetie, but who we might face…they've got power, power that you're not ready to face, because you don't have your own power. But we have…some, so we'll protect you, okay?"
"But I can do it!" he stated, confident.
"Sago, just let us handle it if anything happens, okay?" she said in a bit of a final voice and the little boy lowered his head and kept his gaze down.
Jaden neared the wall to check in one of doors, one of the few on their path, but the door was locked, so she continued on. When suddenly there was an older voice right beside her.
"Sweetie? Did you seriously just call Sago sweetie? You're never living that down." Heather told the other girl, a smirk clear in her voice from what Jaden heard, though if she turned to look, she'd see a smile quirking.
"It's how I talk to kids, and you know it, shush."
"You better hope he doesn't remember this, by the way." Heather stated and Jaden glanced back at her, before going to another door, only finding it locked. She stood by it, listening for what might be beyond it, but when there was no noise, she continued on.
"And why is that?"
"He will so turn that lesson you just tried to teach lil him. That's practically the same reasoning he had for his and Mushra's—" the younger version of the hot head made a hmmm noise and bumped her chin raising his head up, "—not you kid (at least not yet)—" and he lay his head back down, so she continued, "—their little sexist We Fight, You Be Saved attitude. Granted, we have better reason, because they're all toddlers now, and even more vulnerable but….maybe…they…had a point… We're not as equipped for their world as they are…"
"Mighty big of YOU, to be the one admitting that." Winter cut in.
"Yeah well, let's hope they don't remember this, right? I don't need either of the twerps rubbing it in my face."
Jaden came to a halt then, for something ahead. "Well, we're equipped now. How about we show what we got?"
"Right now, is it really the right—ooh…" Winter questioned, as she had been more focused on her sister, but then she saw what was ahead. She moved the young Xavier behind her as Heather put Mushra down, much to his distaste.
Heather and Winter passed Jaden as she knelt down and turned to face Sago at his height. "You're the oldest of you boys, you got to protect those two for us, okay? Can you do that?"
Sago watched her, look back to the other two, then back to her and nodded slowly. He turned to the other boys and lead them further back down the hall as Jaden stood and went to face the group huddled at the three-way-fork in their hall. Armored reptiles, equipped with weapons aplenty, some not seeming to need them, as they had their claws, or their teeth.
"I bet I can get more encards than you two." Heather challenged with a smile, earning a roll of the eyes from Winter and a laugh from Jaden.
Heather launched first, and went hard—she used what was called by Mushra the Flaming Cross of the Phoenix—she cut through a great deal of the warriors who then launched at the three of them, though she underestimated the power of the attack and found herself ramming into a wall to be slowly surrounded.
And Jaden was heading right her way, using turbo blast to knock them back, picking up a weapon or two and tossing them back to take them with later. She knocked or blasted most her adversaries back to make her way to Heather, who then sent a blast of flame just past Winter, cutting down some of her adversaries.
"Watch it!"
"Sorry!"
Ice and earth began to break its way through the floor or apart as the earthy spike jabbed and cut and carded a few of the men, though Winter stopped the progression of the earth as to prevent slicing the cards. The girls knew enough to know that destroying a card was just as bad as killing someone in this world.
Jaden and Heather were now fighting side by side, Heather sticking mostly to blasts of flames, careful to only give enough energy to card them (some there were some spurts that were too much), while Jaden summoned forth an aqua dragon clumsily. It didn't last long, but it did its damage.
Winter took up a sword as a lizard Enterran clawed and chomped at her, trying to hold him off as he advanced so quickly and fiercely. Jaden hurried to help just as Winter shoved him off and cut him down, leaving only a card. She shivered and shook it off, just in time to have Jaden shoved into her.
A snapping turtle Enterran had shoved her aside, bringing his limbs in and suddenly racing for the boys, gliding now as it was only a shell, spiked back and spiraling towards them. All three of the women raced after the creature. Winter threw up her hand, causing pointed earth to break its way up through the ground, creating at least a two part triangular wall between the boys and the turtle.
The creature rammed into it, spiraling back a bit, only to have a watery dragon take it up in its teeth, briefly before falling into nothing, but it spiraled further towards the girls.
A spear was grabbed, and suddenly Heather raced with it in hand, jumping and bringing the pointed end down just as the creature revealed its ugly face from out of its shell, and then he was nothing but a card, just narrowly avoiding being carding as it landed right by the blade of the spear Heather still grasped.
The three of them huffed a bit as they looked at the ground covered a bit in yellow and orange and black cards.
"….Went a little Mushra there, didn't ya?" Jaden asked then, and Heather just laughed through a huff.
"Ah, I couldn't help myself. All those times cosplaying or acting it out?"
"Heather…?" a small voice spoke.
She looked, just as two heads poked around the earth wall, brown hair and purple. Soon, the three of them came out from hiding and came walking over.
"You guys okay?" Winter knelt down, checking over the two smallest, and they nodded.
Mushra looked to Heather then, watching her as if in surprise, before a big smile of wonder grew on his face. "That was so awesome! You are the greatest warriors ever! I wanna fight like you one day!" he cheered, imitating their fighting.
Of course, Heather grew a grin most devious and pleased and she scooped the young violet haired boy up in her arms, surprising him. "You just earned yourself more carrying time, kid. You remember you said that about me."
Winter shook her head but laughed. She looked around again, as she saw her sister doing the same and picking up two swords. She took a breath. "…We did good, for beginners."
"Still gotta learn some control with the attacks." Jaden stated as she brought one of the swords to Winter, which she took as she stood.
"Yeah, well, we made it out without any—aaAAOOW!" Winter tried to say they got out without any scratches, but she suddenly felt one as young Xavier retracted his hand from touching three red and bleeding claw lines.
"Sorry, I…didn't mean… It just looked really red." The little brunet stated, looking at the red on his hand.
"It's okay." She gave him a smile, wincing as she used part of what she could reach his hand with of her dress to wipe the blood off, leaving red stains on the ridiculous dress.
Jaden was at her side then, taking the bottom of her gown, getting a grip, and tearing a long piece of it. She took her sisters arm then, looking it over.
"It's fine, Jay, don't worry…"
"I'm sure it is, but it's better to cover it anyways." Jaden said, still looking it over for any signs of infection or poison, but she saw none, from what she knew of what it might look like, and she began wrapping the cloth around the wound, continuing despite the winces and whines from Winter until she'd tied it tight and around enough. "There…"
Winter smiled up at her sister, when there was a sudden 'tsk tsk' in the air.
"Such disrespect of the garments I've gifted you with."
The three of them were on alert, all standing and wielding weapons, the sisters their swords, and Heather the spear as the boys looked curiously.
There in the middle path stood the Lord Ryuma, in all his smug glory, watching them, his cloak strategically falling to expose the snake-hilted blade at his side. He watched them with a great, freakish grin, though his eyes seemed to show irritation.
"You wanna see disrespect?" Heather asked then, taking the skirt of her dress and cutting through it in different parts three times, glaring up at him. "A dress doesn't make us your possessions!"
"Oh, but doesn't it?" He asked, and he seemed completely pleased by the idea, and he looked to Winter then as suddenly, lavender/silver snakes were forming from the silk of her gown in many places, wrapping her, sliding across her skin.
She dropped her sword, looking on the verge of panicking as she was suddenly against the wall, being latched onto the wall by the snakes, struggling as Jaden came to try and tear the things off of her.
"Stop it, leave her alone!" Jaden demanded, aiming her sword at him.
"Is that what you want…?" he asked, quirking his head, and then his eyes set on the boys, shining, and the three of them were slowly making their way forward, as if being drawn to the Lord. The snakes vanished and began slithering for the boys.
"No!" Winter threw her hand up, another rock and ice shard piercing upward, surprising the boys and knocking them back, getting rid of the snakes.
"Run, now, RUN!" Heather yelled, urging the three on, before turning and casting a flaming vortex back at Ryuma.
And knocking herself backward in the process, but Jaden and Winter were just behind her and managed to catch her and then they were running, running back the way they came and running further on into the unknown, so long as they got away from the slithering, the echoing laugh following them endlessly.
They looked back many times, and though they didn't seemed to trust it enough to slow down, there was no sign of him behind them, though the laugh echoed still, now and again.
"What the HECK does he want? I mean, obviously, he wants to return the favor to Mushra and Sago, and we're a part of that in some sort of marriage form—but why would he give us power? And…shrink…the guys…down..? And who helped him do that?"
"Ungar…has to be! Was always his little helper, wasn't he?" Winter huffed, as they were all feeling the effect of all the traveling so far, especially the current sudden running after battle.
"He? I thought…Ungar…was a she!" Heather stated.
"No, a…he."
"Gotta get…those pronouns right… And it can't just be him… He did alchemy..didn't he?" Jaden pointed out to the other two.
"Good…point! Jeeeez, I'm gonna kill Ryuma for wearing us out like this, among other things!" Heather grunted. "So who…would help? A scientist, has…to be…"
"Nipper?"
"No, he's Diago's loyal aid, no…he would never…work with Ryuma!"
"The bug scientist?" Jaden offered weakly. "I don't know….they could have got a hold…of Nipper…used him against his will? The bird people…did that…"
There was a yelp ahead of them, and all three of them came to a halt, only to find, the boys had tripped over each other. Hurrying to help straighten the pile of boys, the girls attempted to catch their breath.
"Whoever did this…it doesn't matter right now… What matters it protecting these three, and getting away." Jaden stated, leaned over for a moment.
"Hide."
She looked up at Sago then, and he seemed panicked, and saddened. "What?"
"We have to hide..! My momma and poppa tried to escape with me, and they failed. You'll fail, too! We have to hide…that's what I did, and they never found me…" he stated in a rush, and it greatly confused Jaden.
"They…who's they, Sago?" she asked, having NEVER heard him speak of his parents.
He shook his head. "We have to hide! The less of us, the easier, please!" he grasped Jaden's hand in both of his and started tugging her.
"S-sago, we can't separate, if that's what you mean… He'll get us that way…"
"Please!"
"Sago, he won't get us, I won't let him. Come on." She told him, determined as she stood and she began leading the group on again, and they were racing again, as slithering and hissing echoed behind them. Ahead were only the walls of the long hall, on and on and Jaden prayed they weren't running to a dead end, as they could not turn back.
They raced further and further, the boys almost tripping in the race, but they kept up, if not eventually carried by the girls.
Though the three older women were trying to keep strong, all of them were experiencing their own individual levels of panic. There had to be salvation ahead, they couldn't let the boys be taken, they couldn't fall into Ryuma's traps.
"Guys, ahead! Look, lights shining from the cracks!" Heather called, pointing out the door ahead as she put down Mushra, the young boy racing ahead as the rest of them advanced on the door. It was large, and grand, and beyond it could very possibly be their escape.
The group of them worked together to pull the big, heavy doors wide open, at least wide enough to slip through, and once done, they hurried through, squinting at the blaring light. They felt warmth, warmth that had to be the sun.
And it was.
Sun shining, on the edge of the castle, with only a thin ledge and a drop to greet them.
"No, no!" Winter exclaimed. They had been so close…
The girls pulled the boys close, but Xavier was leaning over the edge.
"Look! Down there, we could run and be free! Let's go!" he reached against Winter holding him back.
"No, you could get hurt, Xavier, no, we can't!"
"What do you know! You don't know us, we don't know you! You don't know the way out! You don't know if this is the way!" he challenged in a near-tantrum.
Surprised, Winter didn't know what to say.
"And you don't know if it isn't the way, Xavier. We need to take a safer route." Jaden stated to him, cutting in.
"Ain't no safe route for you, ladies, ehehahaha!" They heard above, and looked to see lizard enterrans coming straight for them.
"Back inside!" Heather demanded, pulling Sago and Mushra back in, only to bump into a group of the lizards, shoving them back and shielding the boys from them.
Lizards above, lizards behind them. Jaden was really considered the slide down when she suddenly saw Xavier fall over the edge….and Winter fell after him.
"Winter!"
Jaden dropped and was thanking every available higher source, if any, that there was a hole in the ice wall that she could grasp, as she had dropped down hanging from the wall, grasping Winter's wrist as she screamed.
"Let go, let go!" she screamed, as she watched Xavier recede from her…not falling, but being carried down the wall by a lithe lizard as he reached and yelled. "Jaden, they're taking him, let me go!"
"No!" she yelled back, wincing, as she felt her hand becoming sweaty. Or was it wet from the ice? "We'll find him Winter, but not now!"
Winter continued to struggle, but was soon struggling with sobs.
"You want them, you have to go through me, scaley wimps!"
"Heather!" Jaden gasped, trying to pull herself up and failing to do to enough at the moment. Sago leaned over the edge and grabbed at her wrist.
"Don't fall!"
"I-I, just get back, and stay away from those guys, protect Mushra!"
He nodded and backed up.
"Winter, I…need you to climb up, I can't pull…us up!" Jaden told her sister, as she heard the hissing and growling, and she was sure she heard the cracking of knuckles. It's one thing to know Heather was fighting somewhere, but at her side. But she was near-panicking at the thought of her friend fighting without her able to be at her side.
And then she heard the clashing, Mushra yelling for her, and Jaden demanded Winter be quicker climbing.
Only to feel the weight of her sister completely vanish.
Gasping her name with no volume to her voice, she looked around to see she'd vanished, and then she felt the slender forms of the snakes wrapping around her. She hurried to climbed up with all her might, almost slipping, fighting the snakes, but soon they were binding her and she found herself at the edge of the cliff, watching Heather being dragged off with the boys.
She just spotted the blade, when she felt the bite to her neck, and sooner than she could speak, she was under.
And as soon as she went under, she awoke with a fright and a gasp.
The slithering binding was gone (the snakes were getting old), Jaden looked around the room then and found Heather far across from her. She hurried to her feet, stumbling a bit from a rush of dizziness and she had to steady herself.
"Jaden! Are you okay…?!" Heather called, running her way, almost stumbling herself as she seemed to be a bit dizzy as well, but she kept running, Jaden doing the same to meet her.
But as she ran, she looked around the area they were in, nearly running into Heather once they reached one another, taking each other's arms.
"Jay, are you okay…?"
Jaden was looking around, shaking her head. "I don't…." she felt a rush of growing panic as she remembered the boys being taken away, and her sister vanishing. "I don't know….where…is this?"
Heather shook her head, looking about as well; they found their selves in what seemed to be a grand arena of some sort. Like those gladiator battle sorts, yet perhaps a few scales smaller, and it was with a ceiling. And all of it was made from some sort of white stone, even the ground, as cold as ice.
"Where did they take the boys? What did they do to you? They took you away so quick, there were snakes, I couldn't…" Jaden sputtered, questioning her friend, hating herself for not being quicker, stronger, though she knew it all had happened so quickly, it was hard to even think through the worry, fear and panic that wasn't exactly an everyday experience.
"They dragged me away, I almost got loose as they were taking Mushra and Sago down another hall—I saw Xavier down that hall—but then they knocked me out. Winter?"
Jaden shook her head. "She disappeared…they might have dragged her away, too… But why not bring her here with us?" Jaden suddenly thought. Whatever Ryuma wanted from them, he'd given all three of them power, he needed them powered for something. He had Jaden and Heather together, so where was her sister?
"Well, why don't we asked him, huh?" Heather asked, walking a few steps from Jaden and looking around at the levels of seats and she yelled around the room, "RYUMA! Show yourself!"
"Heather—"
"He's obviously been watching us all this time, if not keeping up with us and seeking us. The sick jerk-wad would so be watching us at this sorta moment. Show your nasty face!"
Jaden knew she had a point, and she looked around with her, waiting for some dramatic appearance of the Lord of Reptiles. Dramatically materializing (if he could do that), with the sound of hissing while he was laughing evilly? Appearing behind them to scare them? Having a grand, royal introduction?
But instead of meeting his taunting laughter, that met muffled screaming above them, light filtered in, and slowly but surely, a spherical cage of ice was being lowered down, with someone wiggling frantically inside. Jaden and Heather backed up to try and see, but Jaden noticed the blond hair before it had fully lowered.
"Winter!" Jaden called, suddenly looking for some way to reach her, as if it would materialize just from her need for it.
Then there was the sound of distant doors opening, grand doors that led in and out of the arena, and there he stood, smirking in all his glory as he came forward, Unger at his side, and great many of his soldiers and possibly a few subjects joining them.
"You bastard!" Jaden charged him then, with no weapon in hand and in her rage, the elemental power she had had left her mind and her anger was telling her to use base tools such as her nails and her fists. Ignoring Heather calling for her, Jaden leapt at him, a punch aimed right for Ryuma's jaw—only for him to so swiftly catch her wrist, yanking her punch off course and causing her to collide into him.
She tried to pull away as she steadied, but he grasped her shoulder in his other hand, leaning close with that smile on his lips. "Such improper words for a lady."
"Oh trust me, BASTARD, I have many FUCKING more for your ASS." She growled, glaring him down and trying to yank from his grasp, it was so tight.
He tsk'd again, and only laughed in her face.
"Let her go!" Heather sounded behind them, coming forward, only for some of the soldiers to charge her with their weapons, ready to battle.
"What do you want?!" Jaden yelled in the Lord's face. "What do you want with us?!"
He quirked his head with a smile; it was coy, and he spoke calmly. "I want one of your hands in marriage."
There was the clashing of metal behind them and the roar of flames, yells, as Heather was taking down the warriors keeping her from her friend.
"No, it's more than that and you know it." Jaden called him out.
"Tell your friend to stop her fighting and I'll tell you—I don't want you using up the power I've gifted you with, so soon." He offered.
Jaden looked back at Heather, who was lashing out at every soldier that got close, though obviously pacing herself as she was still learning…and then Ryuma's words registered. Using up the power? It had limits? Did this mean their power taken from the boys would run out…? If their power would run out, then they had no chance to make it out if they didn't MAKE it out before it ran out.
"H-Heather! Stand down!"
"What?!" she kicked a lizard in the face. "You kidding?!"
"Tell your men to stand down, and she'll promise to stand down!" Jaden looked to Ryuma.
He seemed to considered it, as Heather scoffed. And then he nodded. "Stand down, my warriors."
"And we were just getting started, COME AT ME BRO'S!"
"Heather." Jaden looked back to her friend. "Please, don't…don't fight. Just do it, okay? Just…stay there."
Heather stared her down, almost a look of betrayal—how could she even tell her not to fight? Not to fight back, not to try to get to her? But something in Jaden's gaze told her to stand down, and catching her breath, she backed away. Standing restlessly, she did stay put, clenching and unclenching her fists.
Jaden slowly looked back to Ryuma. "…She's standing down… Now tell us, what you want… 'Cause I'm sure, being the evil one here, you're dying to brag about your evil plan…"
He just smiled. "Oh yes, I am—you see, it is about marriage…but oh so much more!" his voice intensified with excitement. "For one of you shall win my favor, and the other will face their end…which for your kind, you humans, I've heard its much more final. Your lovers will be returned to their former selves—well, apart from that extra fool I picked up, I shall decide whether to make use of him or dispose him." There was a whimper above, which only widened his smile as he went on. "And there, your lovers shall watch, weak as Ungar has taken their power from them, and they will be powerless to stop me as I kill the loser and take the winner as my bride! They shall watch, as I replace your crown of power, with my own!" He side glanced to one of the subjects, who carried on a pillow the reptilian crown he'd once threatened to force on Yakumo, which would enslave her to him. "They shall watch, as I take what they love, and tear it from them in one way or another, and they shall spend my wedding night knowing they have failed to be the protectors they were praised as, and die knowing they could not stop me as I finally conquered, victorious! They will never beat me again!"
Jaden was leaning away in disgust and fear at that possible future, and he finally released her, leaving her to fall on her back and she could only lay there, the panic circling her heart. Their power wouldn't last…he would kill one of them, and the boys would die, too… She couldn't let that happen. "W-win your favor…? How?"
He chuckled, looking around the arena. "A battle, my dears. To the death!"
Jaden began slowly shaking her head, crawling back a bit. "No, no, never! I won't do it!"
"Neither will I! How can you even think we'd do that!?" Heather called, taking a step closer, only to cause the soldiers to block her.
He just chuckled, low, as he looked up toward the cage where Winter lean against the bars, shaking and shivering, tears in her eyes as she was bound in snakes that hissed and snapped at her, causing her to shake more.
"Because if you cannot fight each other…I will kill her, before your very eyes…and you will be the reason she dies. And the…boys, will be next. Your choice."
Jaden could only watch her frightened sister, feeling the sting of tears. How had they gotten into this?
She looked to Heather then, as the other woman did the same. Silence was what followed, as they only stared, saying nothing but feeling everything.
"You make your own choices, darlings, but you make them quickly—or I make it for you." Ryuma offered, folding his arms behind his back proudly.
"We'll do it." Heather spoke then, her shoulders low and the look on her face unreadable. The fire, the eternal wildness about her seemed to have dimmed out. Jaden knew what that meant, she knew…what Heather was thinking.
"No. No, Heather, I won't—"
"You have to. For Winter."
Above them, there was muffled complaints and whimpers, but it changed nothing.
Jaden hated this. Having to choose whether to let her sister die, or to kill her friend? Because that was what Heather planned, she could see it in her eyes... Whatever fate lay ahead for them, Heather knew that if one of the sisters had to live on without the other, it would be far worse.
"No, no how do we know you won't just kill Winter with the others!?" Jaden challenged then, moving to her feet.
"Oooh—because she will be my concubine. She is far too beautiful to destroy." Ryuma smiled up to the younger woman. "Now, what is your choice? Time is running out…"
Jaden shivered. This situation was hell, and she didn't even want to think about deciding.
"Flaming Vortex!"
Jaden looked up just in time to move out of the way of a flaming attack from Heather, which did nothing but singe the ground and the edge of Jaden's dress. She looked to her, as if she was crazy, but she realized…earlier, they were able to do the attacks without calling them (there didn't seem to always be a dire need to do so, just so long as you think it and visualize and feel it). Heather had called it out to give a heads up. "Heather, don't!"
"We're fighting, come on!" Heather demanded, her voice thick.
"No!"
"You want Winter to die?!"
Jaden choked on a sob then, staring down her friend…her closest friend, before lowering her gaze. And slowly, she shook her head.
There was a clap then, and the shuffle of feet.
"Then it is decided…prepare them. It is only fitting they be properly armored for a battle." Ryuma stated then, turning for the doors and making his leave with half the people and warriors, Ungar included.
Some stayed, just a handful, and they began ushering Jaden and Heather to a small archway that led to another room, where they would presumably be prepared. Still hanging above, Winter whimpered and cried out, all the noise muffled as she was being raised back up, away from her sister and friend, powerless to do anything as her crown had been removed and destroyed when she was taken away.
Darkness followed as she kicked at the icy walls, only for the snakes to tighten around her feet.
All she could do now was ache, thinking of her sister and Heather, what they were about to face. What all of them were to face, going through with Ryuma's plan. They couldn't really do what he wanted, could they?
They couldn't let him win, could they? Were they truly going to do that?
A panic attack that kept creeping up on Winter was clutching her chest then, until with a deep breath which she released as a sigh that seemed to take that wish and willing of salvation to come to them, and leave her mind to ignore the hissing, the scales against her skin, the slithering she felt upon her.
No. They wouldn't let him win. She would make sure of it.
Me: Evil guy is Evil.
Mushra: Thank you, captain obvious!
Me: You're welcome—by the way, before me and the hot head get into our outro banter, I will go ahead and give credit where it is due before hand, though you will understand better later in chapters that hold more insight on the subject, BUT—on Sago's past, I owe original ideas/inspiration to CrazyDream10 from deviantart, as this gravious deviant gave me an ok to take their original plot for Sago's past and change it a bit for my own use for my story. My interpretation is changed up to be somewhat my own, but it is inspired and taken from my fellow Sago fan, and I thank you. Sago fans forever!
Mushra: ….I'm standing right here.
Me: yes you are! Review if you like, and see you next chapter!