Chapter 3
"Mato!" Yuu cried, fearful for her friend's safety.
Saya struggled to hold her friend back as the dust slowly dissipated. The two waited with breaths held and tears barely held in their eyes. Not for the first time Yuu wished for Strength's power.
A soft coughing finally broke through the dust, revealing Starfire with Mato's inert form in her arms. The girl had been rendered unconscious by the shockwave from the blast.
"Kuroi!" called Saya as she ran to the alien with Yuu trailing behind, "Is she all right?"
"She will be fine," responded Starfire, "she is just asleep. She should awaken soon."
"Mato," whispered Saya as she took the sleeping girl and set her on the ground, "thank you. Starfire, is it?"
"You are most welcome," she replied, "but you must leave! It is too dangerous here."
"But what about our friends!?" asked Yuu frantically, pointing towards the ruined arcade, "they're still in there!"
"We will retrieve them! Please trust us."
Yuu did not look convinced, but admitted that she could do nothing to help.
"Strength could help," she whispered to herself, unaware that the alien had caught the apparently nonsensical English word.
"Please, help my stu- no, my friends," begged Saya.
"We most certainly will," she answered, before turning to Robin who was trying to get his bearings, "friend Robin, there are people still inside!"
"Raven! Can you feel them in there?"
"Definitely," replied the sorceress, "there are at least twenty kids in there, but as for their friends… one is unconscious but otherwise unharmed. The other one though… what the!?"
Raven fell out of the air as her power was suddenly drained out of her.
"What in Azar is that!?" she growled as her power spiraled out of control.
Our apologies, said a female voice within her head, but we need to be born here.
Before she could question the oice, hver mind went under.
Kagari had never felt so scared. She had been in a constant state of terror ever since the madman with the high-powered laser had entered the building. The two had tried to leave but a well-aimed beam had marked a line in front of them. A single day into their vacations, and they had become hostages.
Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, the madman started tinkering with his left gauntlet. A test fire on one of the nearby machines resulted in an explosion that toppled the building and launched him out through the wall.
Now she was pinned under the rubble as she clung to Yomi's unconscious body. At least the madman was gone.
She wanted to leave. She wanted to go home. She wanted to stop clinging to Yomi's arm like a newborn.
She hated being so dependant. Despite having met some improvement since she left the wheelchair, she still found herself relying on her oldest friend for homework and help with studies. Things that normal friends did anyways, but her own dependence annoyed her to no end.
But now Yomi was out for the count, and she felt more helpless than she ever had in her life. She needed help. If not for herself, then to help her best friend.
The friend that she had hurt so much in her desperation to keep her in her life.
She had no idea why Yomi had stuck with her for as long as she did. The scar in her chest was still visible if one knew what to look for, not to mention that in her envy she very nearly ruined the greenete's friendship with Mato.
"Help me," she whispered, "I want to go home. I want to talk to Yomi again. I want to beat Yuu at that stupid game of hers. I want to argue with Mato again."
As she spoke, she did not notice the strand of black magic that ran over her friend.
"I want to let Saya-sensei braid my hair this time. I want, no, I need to apologize to Yomi and Mato. I owe them so much. I hurt them so much. I need to talk to them. I need help. Please help me."
The strand touched her.
"Do you wish to save her?"