Chapter 57

The area ahead sounded busy. As we proceeded, the tunnels and rooms were much better maintained. More lighting, less dirt, more signs of travel. This was both good and bad for the two of us. By Chani's guess, we were actually fairly close to the surface now, maybe around the third floor. That made me think that where we were heading was the main camp. But, with all the extra lighting, it was getting harder and harder to find spots to hide, especially with Chani being about as tall as a minotaur and nearly twice as wide.

"Okay." I whispered to her, "Be ready. I don't know what's in the next room, but it sounds like their main camp. Since the only way in that we can get to..." We looked down and over at the archway into the next room, "is too small for you to fit through easily, I'll go ahead, scout, and return."

"I will wait, and be ready." She replied, quietly getting the bow we'd taken ready.

We'd laid all kinds of web strands around the place on the way here. It wasn't much, but it did tell us a few things. Even with the 'sloppy' appearance of this Familia, they did maintain regular patrols. This worked in our favour for the most part, allowing us to time our moves. Waiting until about half way between two patrols, I quietly dropped from the ceiling and quick-stepped towards the room with all the noise.

Peering around the corner, my tails flat to the wall to keep them out of sight, I was able to see just how... vast... this operation really was.

First, the room was big. Like... Fit the entire bottom half of I AM GANESHA, twice, big. From one end to the other, there were neat piles of materials. Metal, brick, barrels...

And cages. Near the middle of the room, where ten meter tall pillars of stone supported the ceiling, were rows of cages. I couldn't count them all from where I was, but there were a lot. Near that, were meter tall, solid looking boxes. Smaller monster cages maybe?

I couldn't stay where I was long, so I took a chance, darting into the room and towards a neatly stacked heap of stone bricks.

"How long do you think Ganesha Familia will hold off on killing those monsters on the eighteenth?" I heard a voice ask, maybe two stacks of stone over from where I was.

"Who cares?" Another voice replied, "I mean, while they are occupied there, we can move our newest acquisitions up to street level, and then out of the city with the next caravan."

"Heard those bastards with Hermes outed one of our buyers."

"Bah, once we get some of these to Port Melen, it won't matter. Dix might be crazy, but he's got connections."

"HEY! Get back to work you slobs! These monsters aren't going to load themselves! We're expecting company any time now!" The third voice was harsh and deep, like someone who was used to shouting, all the time. I heard the sound of a metal bar being kicked, "Hear that? Once we get you to the surface, you'll never be seen again. I'm sure some idiot noble will be happy to buy you."

The two I was listening to grumbled, but started walking away.

I was still fairly close to the edge of the room, and if I remembered right, I had maybe another minute before a patrol would come in the way I'd entered. I moved one of my tails slowly, taking hold of a thread of silk that I'd tied there, and putting it in my mouth.

"I'm fine. Proceeding." I looped the thread over my ear quickly.

"Ten seconds."

Quickly tugging the thread off my tail and dropping it, I peeked around the stone pile then moved away from the door. Trying not to panic, I zig-zagged my way towards the cages.

That's when I smelled food. The air in this room wasn't moving much. Being so open made it almost impossible to find the draft we'd been following to get here. That meant I'd almost ran into a group of people sitting around what smelled like a passable stew. I was hiding behind one of the massive support pillars now too, giving me a better view of the room as well.

"You would think they'd have left more than one person at home." One of them said, stirring the pot.

"It's a good thing they didn't." Said another. "She wrecked poor Bob, and that shabby looking God that was there was something else."

"Too bad we didn't have time. That little Goddess had such a rack on her!"

I felt my blood starting to boil as I realized they who they were talking about. My golden tail wrapped itself around my leg and constricted hard enough to actually hurt, and it brought me a little clarity again. Clenching my teeth, I looked left, then right, then up, before climbing up the support pillar as fast as I could.

The light wasn't really able to reach the ceiling, but I kept my motions slow, so I wouldn't draw the attention of anyone who chanced to look up. Keeping an eye on the five around the stew pot, I did a quick look at how many people were actually in the room.

And I was suddenly feeling very alone. Almost thirty people. One, a big bald headed man with a black tattoo over his face, was overseeing the loading of one of the solid monster boxes. There were others loading up carts as well, but for the most part, there were quite a few just sitting down, weapons at hand. I even recognized a few of the patrol groups, just sitting and chatting amongst themselves. I couldn't make a mistake here.

Slowly, and hoping that the ceiling was just as sturdy as it looked, I moved myself over the cook pot. From this high, I'd have to make sure my aim was perfect. Pulling out a re-purposed potion bottle, I looked at the amber liquid inside. Chani's poison was a strong paralysing agent. Mixed with food, it might not work as fast, but...

I waited until it looked like enough of them were looking away, the one with the ladle especially, and I upended the bottle.

And sighed quietly as I scored a perfect hit, the one with the ladle not even noticing as he simply kept stirring, mixing in the venom.

I made my way to the pillar nearest to the monster cages, watching as the big man lifted the last crate/cage onto the cart. Then I heard a new voice.

"Gran! Are you still only loading those?" The voice came from a tall wide shouldered man with black hair and what looked like a pair of goggles on his head.

"Sorry brother." Gran grunted, securing the double stacked crates on the back of the cart with rope. "So how much longer do you think we have?"

"If they haven't found another of our entrances, we should have a little while yet. Even if they have, it won't matter." The man laughed, "We have all we need now. Once we get you out of the city..." I saw his head turn towards a cage, and heard a familiar cry of alarm.

It was Wiene. I knew that sad noise anywhere.

"Yes..." The man trailed off, getting closer to the cage and squatting down, "That stone on your head is worth at least three more floors of material. And the rest of your friends... That might let the next generation keep building." He laughed cruelly, his hand reaching into the cage and tugging back. "Nothing to say? Monster? Are you just going so sit there and cry? Pretending you're a real person?"

I couldn't see into the cage, as it was covered from the top, but I could make out the sound of Wiene crying as he pushed and pulled her into the bars over and over again. If I was angry before, I was furious now. It took everything I had just to stop myself from dropping down and letting my madness run wild.

Mikoto had a point. If that was the only way I could fight, then I would be doomed to an early death, or retirement, though I suppose death would mean an early retirement by default.

I shook my head once to clear it, taking a look around the room again, to make note of where people where. Gran and his brother were still talking, a patrol had changed, and a few more people had joined the others around the stew pot.

I looked back down at the black haired man as he stood up, spitting on Wiene. "Once the others are loaded onto the carts, started getting them up to the surface." He said to Gran, "Use the entrance near Soma Familia, it was clear as of the last patrol."

"Sure thing Dix." Gran said, "What about it?" He pointed to Wiene.

"We'll let it watch, and once all the other monsters are gone, I'll rip that stone off her head. Maybe I'll use it for spear practice first... But no killing... not until I have that stone..."

"SIR!" My head whipped around to the sudden shout, spotting a man standing at a much wider entrance to the room, "Reports from above! We have intruders coming in from one of the entrances! They passed the door!"

Dix's attitude went from 'playfully murderous' to 'outrage' like a switch being thrown. "What!? How did they do that without a key? That's how those doors were made!"

"Uh oh." A new voice said, laughing, "Maybe it was those Amazon? They did have a key, right?"

Black clothes and dark blue hair. That was probably Ikelos, if Bell's description of him was accurate. Dix swore, then, "Useless Amazon... Couldn't even throw the key away like I told them." He raged a moment more, then was suddenly ice calm, "Fine. Let's meet them. Who's here..." He looked around the room, then spotted the people eating, and a couple of the other smaller groups who were just chatting or playing cards on one of the stone piles, "You lot! Follow him up and take out the intruders!"

And just like that, the room started to empty out. If my guess was right, that would be either the Hestia/Takemikazuchi alliance, or maybe Hermes Familia. But if I had the key from the Amazon... Maybe Fel's had made a copy?

"Where are you going, Ikelos?" Dix asked as the blue haired God turned and made for the same far exit.

"I'm pretty sure I'd just get in the way if I stayed. Don't die now." the God showed no concern for Dix as he waved and kept walking.

"You, you and You! Get these waggons moving! Gran! Load up that last one. We'll come back for the rest after we clear out the vermin!" Dix shouted out to the few people who were left.

"SIR!" This one came from the other end, where I'd entered.

"WHAT FUCKING NOW?!" Dix screamed, back in angry mode again, his outburst making the newest messenger cringe.

"Many of the monsters from the Eighteenth are on their way here! Ganesha Familia has pushed some back, and the entrance at the eighteenth has been left open!"

To my surprise, Dix didn't yell, but instead started to laugh. Half insane by the sound of it, he just plunked himself down on a stack of metal picked up a long red bladed spear, and roared with laughter. "Let them come! I'll just kill them ALL for their troubles. Have the patrols fall back here, and when they arrive, we'll just slaughter the useless things!"

"Yes sir!"

The room of thirty or so was now down to five. Three waggoners, who were getting up onto their seats and getting ready to urge the bored looking horses onward, Gran, who had just exited a cage with a tied up bundle of green feathers over his shoulder, and Dix, who was quietly sitting on the stack of metal beams, the butt of his spear on the ground and leaning on his shoulder, and... a book in his hand.

A little, beaten up leather bound book. No bigger than your every day paperback. He was flipping through it like there was nothing wrong.

Giving the rest of the room one last look, I slowly moved along the ceiling until the support pillar was between me and Dix, as well as the three waggons. As quickly as I dared, I climbed down, my tails wrapping around my torso to keep my profile as small as possible. When I finally touched down, I took a deep breath, then peered around towards the cages. I could only see into three of them. One was empty, save for a scattering of green feathers and blood. The second, at first glance, held a very big snake, but after following the body with my eyes, I spotted a pale patch of skin and an arm. Covered in blood, dirt and missing patches of scales, I could see it was at least breathing, if nothing else. The third cage held what looked like a gold feathered version of the harpy. Equally beaten and missing many of her feathers, she was gagged as well.

I knew there was a fourth and fifth cage behind the pillar. One held Weine, and the other I couldn't see. Looking around for available cover, the only cage I could even attempt to get to was the one holding the snake.

Then I spotted Gran again, coming back towards the cages. Wordlessly, he unlocked the one holding the gold feathered girl, heaved her, struggling pitifully, to her feet, punched her in the gut once to knock the breath from her, then slung her over his shoulder like a sack.

Trying not to growl, I waited until he started turning, then slipped a little closer towards the middle cage.

Still unable to see either Wiene or Dix, I kept low to the ground, using the snake's large body to hide me as I got closer. Within arms reach of her, I reached through the bars and lightly brushed my silk clad hand against the pale skin of her arm. "lido sent me." I whispered.

There was hardly any reaction. I felt like I might be too late to help this one, but her hand twitched, slowly closing into a fist. Before she could, I placed two potions into her hand.

"Hey Brother?" There was a muffled grunt of pain as Gran called out from the waggons. "What about that one?"

"Which one?" His voice was calm again, and I could hear the quiet sound of paper as he closed the book.

"drink, quickly." I whispered to the snake lady. I took a good look at the bars of the cage, feeling a little panic as I realized they were adamant. Unless I had time, and was really determined, I couldn't break her out from this side.

I watched the arm slowly vanish into the coils as the conversation continued, "The big one. I mean, it's huge."

I heard the distinct metallic noise of fine steel being tapped against something, "Well, since we only have the three waggons. Footsteps, and the sound of the butt of the spear being tap-tapped against the stone, "I suppose we can just dispose of it. It's magic stone should be worth quite a lot."

The snake lady moved a little, and I saw part of her face peek out from the coils of her body. Her eyes were pleading, and I knew I had to make a choice now.

I popped up to my feet, planting them firmly and taking in a deep breath as Dix and Gran looked at me in surprise. Reaching into my coat, I took hold of two bottles and pushed the corks down, yelling at the top of my lungs.

"PLAN B!"

Smoke. Thick, dark, almost totally impenetrable smoke. The same stuff I used in the war game, in this nearly windless place, it started filling the room with its inky darkness very fast. The first bottle I flicked at Dix himself, my curse making the bottle, but not the smoke vanish instantly, the second I threw behind me for maximum coverage.

And the third, thrown by Chani, would obscure the entrance and give her the perfect cover to get to the ceiling.

Dix was no amateur, I could hear him back up away from me. Gran too, kept his cool, but the three waggon drivers, or more importantly, the horses, went nuts. That left me with just the two leaders to deal with. Using memory, and the feeling of the expanding smoke flowing through the fur of my tails, I darted around the cage towards where I knew Gran would be.

"Damn it!" He shouted as he turned towards me. "Brother!"

"Don't die." Dix said coldly, his footsteps retreating.

Gran's voice gave me the last hint I needed, and I aimed a punch towards it's source... Only to be blocked by a meaty forearm. He used my instant of surprise to try a stab at my ribs with a nasty looking knife, but I slipped the strike narrowly, the sound of the blade rasping over my scaled coat hurting my ears.

Then there were more noises. Far more than just myself and Chani could make. Shouts, growls, roars of pain and rage. The area outside the black smoke suddenly irrupted into chaos.

"KODORI!" It was Bell's voice.

"SECOND PILLAR!" I shouted back, blocking that knife again, though only just, Gran was very strong, and I could feel my feet sliding back along the floor as he tried to drive the point towards my face.

"Gonna gut you, Fox. Finish what those Amazons started." He taunted, pressing hard, my knees slowly bending against his strength.

I took in a shallow breath, the thick smoke swirling around the two of us drying out my throat. On his hip, I spotted the object I was looking for, and even as I was slowly pressed towards the floor, one of my tails flicked out between the two of us, the head of a small fox popping out of it and taking the keys in its mouth.

"You..." I grunted, "Talk..." I quickly reversed my grip, both my hands wrapping around his wrists, "Too..." I let out my breath, and became motionless. "Much."

"What?!" He tried to push, pull, and otherwise escape from my grip. But the status on my back made that impossible. "LET GO!" He tried to kick at me awkwardly, but he couldn't get enough power behind it to actually hurt me through my empowered toughness.

Then, with the ominous sound of a rusty gate opening, followed by the rasp of sand being poured over tile, an even darker shadow loomed behind Gran. He was helpless as the snake lady wrapped around him, and bit his shoulder.

Then I let go, picking up the keys with my little fox manifestation, and running towards the still screaming horses and the swearing drivers. Behind me, I could hear monsters and people fighting it out, screams and roars followed by the sounds of scattering stone and metal. But that wasn't my job right now. I nearly ran right into the side of the first waggon, bracing my hands against it so I didn't smash my face into it with all the dark smoke still obscuring my vision. It was the work of a moment to find the driver, grab him, and elbow him in the face until he stopped resisting. Feeling along the side of the waggon, I made it to the back and quickly tried the keys on the lock of the barred cage there. It opened on the second key, and I threw open the door and hopped inside.

Two feathered women, one with green the other with gold. Bound in rope and chain and gagged. They were just barely awake, but when I started to check their bonds, not caring about where I touched them in my haste, they started to struggle.

"Lido." I said to them, trying to fit a key into an metal shackle. "Bah, this is taking to long... Sorry." I took both of their wrists, and smashed the two metal shackles into each other. They made a distressed noise as the metal cut into their wrists, but then looked at me with wide eyes as the bonds disintegrated, being used as weapons against each other. "Next the collars." I told them, the two of them bracing against the rough movement as I dissolved the metal around their throats. "Here." I put my rookie supporter's knife into the hands of the green feathered one, "Cut the ropes and gags off, I can't. Drink these after." I put down two potions between them and ducked back off the waggon.

After dodging around a panicking horse, and feeling my way towards the second waggon, I started to smash the locks off them with my still armoured left hand. There were alarmed noises and squawks from inside, but I ignored them as one after the other I broke them open.

"So you're Bell." I heard Dix shout over the noise, followed by a blast of sound that came from the surface side archways.

"I will clear the smoke!" It was Fels, "His curse on the monsters drops his abilities too!"

The distinct sound of Bells daggers, the minotaur horn knife and Hestia dagger clashing against another weapon. "Meddling skeleton!" Dix shouted, followed by another blast of sound, and my smoke cloud suddenly thinning out around me.

I found myself suddenly looking into the eyes of a very small hell hound, and behind it, the waggon driver, who was about to stab at me with a spear.

"Burn that guy." I said to the hound, moving to the side so the spear missed me, and turning the hound around, and watching as it let out a small, but very focused blast of flame into the man's face. "Good critter." I said, putting the hound down on the floor to join the others I had already broken free.

"Miss Kodori!" I heard Fels call out, "Send them this way!"

"You heard him, go!" I shoo'ed the critters away, opening the last of the smaller cages with my fist and plucking out a needle rabbit who's bloody fur had settled into the shape of the cage. "Oh, Chime's mom." I said, putting her down and pushing the rectangle rabbit towards Fels. "Pet you later."

"The flesh may have rotted off my back, but I am still level four." I heard Fels taunt as I watched him throw someone across the room with another blast from his leather gloves. "I will cover this side! Help him!" Fels's hood turned towards me, then back to where I could see Bell and Dix fighting.

Pausing only to grab the still flaming face of the driver and slam him into the ground, I started running towards them.

It was like everything started to move in slow motion. Bell was pushed back by a vicious kick that slammed him into the support pillar. Dix backed up, slashing the cruel looking red spear head across the bars of Wiene's cage, once, twice.

Five steps.

Bell was recovering, still full of fight, but too slowly to reach Dix, who was now holding Wiene by the throat, ignoring the tiny hands as they pushed at his face to try and keep him away.

Four steps.

Bell and I were about the same distance from the two of them now.

Three steps.

"So you want to save her? How about now?"

Two steps.

Both Bell and I, without longer weapons, couldn't stop Dix, as he took hold of the Gem on Wiene's forehead, and pulled.

One step.

But it was too late. Wiene screamed in pain as the teardrop shaped gem was plucked from her forehead, taking with it a small spurt of blood and a little skin. Her tiny hands clapped themselves over the wound, even as Dix pocketed the gem and jumped away. I hop-stepped after him, while Bell went to Wiene.

"Oh look at that." Dix taunted as I threw a punch at him, "It's resisting." He easily slipped a second punch, and I could tell why Bell was having such a hard time with him. He was arrogant, but skilled. A category 'B' adventurer. "No good though, haha!" He finally looked at me, slipping another punch and swatting me with the shaft of his spear, "You're annoying." He said as I was swept aside and into a waggon.

The smoke all but gone now, I watched as Wiene started to change. The inky black robe she was still wearing started to expand, her back doubling, then tripling in size, until, with a sudden snap of fabric, two massive wings spread out from her back. She was crying, as Bell tried to hold her face and calm her down, but even as her arms and legs grew, and her face started to stretch and grow, her eyes were locked on Bell's.

"Quite the show huh?" Dix said, an instant before he kicked me.

Grunting in pain as I was caught off guard, the kick slammed me back into the waggon, and with the sound of splintering wood and a twist of vertigo, the waggon shattered and flipped over, burying me under it and a pile of broken cages.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" I heard Bell shout as I got my bearing again, followed by the clash of metal.

"Giving up on that monster so soon?" Dix taunted, a roar of some monstrous creature echoing through the air and hurting my ears.

Taking a deep breath, mostly to check if I'd broken any ribs, but also to heat up my magic, I opened the bottle of healing pills and emptied it into my mouth. Swallowing a couple, then clamping my jaw shut and holding the rest in my mouth, I stood up.

Boxes and bits of waggon exploded off of me, and I dashed towards Bell and Dix.

"Two on one? I don't mind." Dix laughed as he ducked under my charging punch, then blocked Bell's daggers. I could hear heavy footsteps rapidly moving away, "Shouldn't one of you go after her? If she gets to the surface, who knows what might happen?"

"Bell." I said through my teeth, standing between Dix and him. "Go."

"But..." Dix was nice enough, or confident enough, that he just let us decide.

"She's your daughter. You named her. You take care of her." I took another deep breath, feeling my magic get closer to the point of madness.

"I will." He said after a moment.

"Just you and me then?" Dix grinned at me as Bell started to dart off, pausing only to kick aside someone. "Sure you can do it? I'm level five you know."

Saying nothing, and focusing on him, I dashed in, hoping to get in too close for him to use his spear. He seemed surprised, but it was just an act as he moved the spear shaft back, and trying to get me to impale myself on the cruelly barbed edge. "Shame you don't have a weapon." he taunted, forcing me to dodge a punch, then dodge again as he thrust his spear at me. Slipping to the side, he missed, but he twisted the shaft and when he pulled the spear back I felt one of the barbs rip into my coat and cut into my side.

Twisting away, mostly to unjam the barb from my armour, but also to give me a little time to think, I swallowed another pill and glared at him. He just laughed, and started to go on the offensive. I knew how to fight a spear man. But Ouka was not a dirty fighter. He didn't use a spear that could cut both on the thrust and retract. Dix did however, and when ever I ducked or spun away, he would try and catch me on the return, kicking or punching to try and bracket me into getting caught. Twice more, that spear cut into me, once through the leg, a second time on my side, but each time, I simply let another healing pill slide down my throat, feeling the wounds close up.

"You know, if I wasn't holding down my curse on those monsters, I could have killed you easily by now." I narrowly missed having an ear clipped, "But it's only natural right? I mean, they are monsters. They shouldn't have reason."

I could feel my magic starting to work against my own reason now. But I managed to keep my focus, even though he managed to catch me again on the ribs, though only with the butt of the spear.

"Like you for example." He grinned, easily lifting a leg over my sweep kick, "I've heard all about you. Are you sure you aren't a monster? Like them?" He reversed a punch on me, catching me across the jaw and sending me into a sideways roll. "I wonder, actually, if my curse would work on you."

I swallowed another pill, and growled at him. That spear was too tricky, and with only one gauntlet, I couldn't use both arms to block properly.

"Though, by the look of it, you're about to lose control again, aren't you?" He laughed, blocking yet another of my punches, slashing my wrist with a quick swipe of his spear, then kicking me much how he kicked Bell, only this time, instead of the pillar, I smashed into a crate, shattering it and having a pile of random junk spill out around me.

Junk? No... Armour, weapons, a familiar pair of drake scale pants. And my Jitte!

Swallowing the last of the pills, and giving Dix a smile of my own, I picked up the Jitte with my silk wrapped right hand, and let out a slow breath. "You talk to much." I said to him, feeling my wounds healing as the pills slowly kicked in, "If you're going to fight me seriously, now's your last chance."

"Really? You pick up a metal rod, and suddenly you think you can win?" His eyes went wild, his mood shifted.

"I will not bend. I will not break." I chanted in English, centring my magic and then pushing it outwards towards my skin. I locked eyes with him, extended my left hand and made a 'come get it' motion. "I will be a wall, for the home my Goddess has made for me."

He attacked again, and in the background, I could hear the fighting change. Roars died down, though the sounds of battle continued. With the Jitte in my hand, I could use my armoured left hand to deflect the spear, then the Jitte to keep his dirty tricks from making contact. Back and forth we went, my constant fighting with so many different opponents, each with their own style, kept Dix from gaining the upper hand again. Though I knew it was a stalemate as it was. He had released his curse, and his stats had returned to level five. But his anger was making him predictable.

Then I felt something creeping in against my magic. Warm and familiar, it didn't intrude so much as envelop my faint aura of self enhancement. I eased back on my own magic to make room for this new presence, and grinned at Dix as I finally caught that damnable spearhead between the rod and fork of my Jitte. "Have you met my girlfriend?" He looked at me in puzzlement, trying to wrench the spear away but failing as my left hand closed on it as well.

Dropping the Jitte, I punched him square in the nose, sending him backwards but without his spear. Looking at him coldly as he recovered, and feeling seven tails,five of them mine, the others ghostly images, swishing behind me, I took the spear in both hands and snapped the shaft over my knee, tossing the two halves to either side.

"She's the most adorable golden haired fox you will ever meet." I continued, feeling Haruhime's magic take over, and begin to feed on my own, directing it, instead of fighting it.

"I suppose you're going to kill me now?" He stood, drawing a short sword from his hip.

"If you insist?" I grinned, picking up my Jitte again.

If he was annoying with the spear, he was even worse with the short blade. Avoiding my Jitte, he instead focused on my left side. My gauntlet was able to block the blade, but he used his other hand to punch, or tried to slide the blade off my gauntlet and into my face or under my coat. In response, I tightened my guard, and continued to chant, "We guard her gardens."

"With a forest of claws and teeth!" Haruhime said from behind me.

"Best girl." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

The room was mostly silent now. Dix lay on the floor in front of us, while the bodies of monsters and people lay scattered around the room.

"Finally." Dix said, coughing up a bit of blood. Our dual spell had wrecked havoc on him, clothes, flesh, his sword, a dagger, all lay broken on the ground in front of Haruhime and I. "My curse finally ends. I can finally sleep." His arm moved feebly, moving towards a pocket on his hip. "Daedalus's curse, to build Gnossis, to pass it on to the next... Ha..." He looked at me, coughed again, then smiled. It was then I noticed that the iris of his left eye was in the shape of a D. "Take the book. You'll understand if..."

He stopped suddenly, as an arrow suddenly sprouted from his chest. Turning quickly, and putting Haruhime behind me, I relaxed as I saw Chani, holding out the bow, the quiver at her hip empty. "I'm not sorry." She said with a huff.

Blinking, I looked to Dix, then Haruhime, then Chani. "Where did everyone else go?"

The answer, was 'up'. Already so close to the surface, many of the Xenos had rampaged through the room, and up towards the surface. By the time Dix has broken his spell, the fight had hit the streets.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue, love." I said as I ran, using my ears to feel for the current of air.

"Love?" Chani asked, her stride sounding a little odd with her one missing leg.

"Bell chased after Wiene-chan, while the others fought with Ikelos Familia." Haruhime replied, "I came down with the others, after we checked in at home. I was about to head up with the rest, but Bell told me you were still here."

"How is everyone?" I asked, "And yes, Love." I said to Chani.

"Lady Hestia, Lord Takemikazuchi and the orphans are all fine, if a little shaken. Asuka-san... She was hurt, but will recover." I grunted in reply, and she continued, "Everyone else went up with the Xenos, except me."

"I will make you the best cookies." I said, smiling, "And you didn't make me explode."

"Well, now that our magic is almost exactly the same..." She smiled up at me.

"Now we just have to deal with the situation up top... Chani? You might not want to be up there too, as much as the surface is where the Xenos want to be..."

We all stopped, the smell of fresh, if you counted the smell of brewing 'fresh', air wafting around us. "You're right... Tell the others I returned to our old home."

"Keep safe, and hope to see you soon." I replied, "Thank you."

"You saved me first. I'd have torn out my own stone, before letting them have their way with me." She grumbled, offering me her hand. We shook, and she turned, "Thank you, for saving me from that."

"Well." I said as she vanished into the darkness. "Someone must be holding the door open for us, lets hurry, shall we?"

"Yes." Haruhime replied simply, hugging me tightly once, then letting go to run beside me.

Notes.

This is ALMOST the end of 'book 10'. Next chapter will be 'cleanup' and 'fallout'. Then its into book 11, and all the scary crap that happens in it.

Until next time. :)