FicWad

Jin: Oh, if you have any suggestions, any at all, feel free to tell us! And if you find any mistakes, tell us in your review too! Like sentence structures, grammar, spelling, etc. etc. etc.

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Chapter 2:
New Friends

Recap:

"Who are you?" she said, glaring at him.

"Don't you remember? We talked on the phone, didn't we?"

Krist stared at him with frighten blue eyes,

`What am I gonna do?'

The man laughed, his brown hair shifted as he raised his head and snickered at her. His cold black eyes bore into her determined-although frightened-eyes. The cruel sound of his voice echoed through the empty cabin, tearing through the peace, changing it into a deadly silence. Managing a glare, Krist spoke with an angered voice.

"What do you want?"

She stood up in front of the bed so that the stranger couldn't get to the boy. He laughed again.

"Doesn't that seem like a stupid question to you? I could've sworn I answered it over the phone."

He took a step forward, drawing a knife from his belt. "I want the boy, so hand him over, or I'll take him by force." Smiling wickedly at Krist, he eyed the boy on the bed, "Oh, how rude of me, I know you and you don't know me, the name's Basta, it's a pleasure to meet you, believe me. My master would be so pleased to hear that I met the oh so hopeful Krist. You're the talk of the Underworld, you know that?" he continued his stroll towards them. "Stay back, Basta!" Krist took a step backwards, glancing at Kai.

As fast as a cat, he lunged towards her, grabbing her wrists, he sent her flying towards the other wall. He grabbed the bed sheets and wrapped them around the unconscious boy, smirking at the fallen girl afterwards. Krist glared at him with pure hatred. "You can't do this!" she stood up and grabbed the sleeve of his black shirt. She pushed him on the bed and grabbed the bed sheets that were wrapped around Kai. Basta's flesh touched the boy's flesh and he screamed out in pain. "AAAHHH!!!!!!" he clutched his right hand, dropping the boy on the wooden floor. He muttered silent curses as he searched for something to cool down the pain. Krist grabbed Kai and dragged him to the next room, literally. 'Well, I guess muscle DOES weigh more than fat...' she thought as she was dragging him.

When she reached the next room, she locked the door, panting heavily as against the wooden wall. On the other side, Krist heard the man's faint curses and his loud footsteps. She covered her mouth fearing that he could hear her heavy breaths. Her heart was beating so rapidly and loudly that she was sure he could hear it. After what seemed like hours and hours of waiting, the footsteps slowly disappeared down the stairs.

Krist waited for ten more seconds before she let out her breath. She breathed heavily, a few sweat beads falling down the side of her face. The atmosphere was so thick with tension that you could've easily cut it with a knife! Slowly, she crawled towards the unconscious boy, still taking in deep breaths. "We'll be okay," she whispered, looking around the room for something, anything that could help them survive this living nightmare. She laid his head on her lap, running her fingers yet again through his blue/gray hair. "I promise we'll be okay..." she said again, trying to convince herself that they would be safe. Just by thinking that gave her hope, just a little, but hope nonetheless. 'I wonder why Basta was burned when he touched him..."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Basta rammed through the door, just as a bull would ram through a wall to find its young. He stood up, staring down at Krist with the cruelest smirk ever. His wicked grin completed his outfit: a black coat with black boots, and a pair of black gloves to go with. He laughed, throwing his head back. He laughed like a pirate would if they found buried treasure. Krist glared at him, sitting up and keeping a firm grip on Kai.

He laughed yet again, snickering at her futile attempts to protect Kai from him. "Get back," she hissed, glaring at him with the most hateful eyes, "Or you'll regret it." "Was that supposed to be a threat?" he turned his nose up at her and kicked her, as if trying to show her that he was superior. "Sorry Krist, but you're not in any position to be throwing threats around. Now I'll give you one more chance to cooperate and if you do, it won't hurt, a lot." "Over my dead body," she growled, narrowing her eyes at him. "Oh, with pleasure..." he sneered, and reached for her bare neck. Krist kept her eyes narrowed at him, and stayed as still as death. She watched him with the most loathsome glare, making sure that he felt the hatred.

Once his hand brushed against her neck, a group of people fell through the roof. The five wore a black coat that shielded them from sight. She took advantage of this three second wait and kicked Basta in every man's week spot, then pushed as far away from him as possible with the boy. "Oof!!" he said and fell on the ground. "You little--" "Rot in hell," she spat and he was sent flying through the air magically, as if her hatred punched him straight in his guts. As he soared through the air, he coughed out some blood.

Before he landed, one of the people who fell through the roof kneed the man in his stomach with the strength of a thousand oxen and punched him in his jaw with the agility of a cheetah. The person jumped back and then another one jumped in the air and plunged towards the ground with his fist. Soon afterwards, the ground opened up and swallowed the screaming Basta. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!! THAT BOY'S SOUL WILL BELONG TO AKKINON!!!"

And then the ground closed, swallowing him whole, making him part of the planet. She glared at the spot where he stood, as if Basta could feel her intense gaze. His evil scent still lingered in the wooden air.

"Hey,"

She looked up and her glare dissolved into a smile. A boy with golden eyes and hair as golden as the sunset smiled at her.

"You did well, for a girl." He lightly punched her in the shoulder, and sat down next to her. Krist raised a warning brow. "And what's that suppose to mean?" He chuckled, amusement gleaming in his sunset eyes. "I'm Kouske, you must be Krist." He shook her hand and smiled, his gaze slowly moved from her to the boy in her lap. "And this must be the lost boy, what a pity...There's no sadder sight than a young pessimist...famous words of Mark Twain..." Kouske sighed depressingly, staring at the unconscious boy and ruffled his hair; his gaze slowly fell to the boy's arm, blood still dripping down the flesh.

"You should do something about that arm,"

Krist nodded, her stare lingering on Kai just a while longer, before gently laying his head on the ground and walked towards the kitchen where the first aid kit laid. Kouske's golden eyes lost its happiness, despair and pity took its place. All was silent, as if the world was frozen and time stood still. But of course, someone had to break the silence.

"Kouske, tell her to hurry up, we have to go before Akkinon decides that this situation needs an army of the undead to get the kid."

He turned around and a teenager stared back at him.

Kouske sighed despondently, ruffling Kai's hair once again. Kai slowly shifted his head, a frown playing on his lips; he moaned painfully, causing Kouske to raise a curious brow. 'What's he dreaming about?' The teen was a head shorter than Kouske, who was six foot four. His grass green hair glimmered slightly in the sun, and he has light green eyes. Behind him was girl with shoulder length light brown hair and light brown eyes to go with. Beside her were two other people, a red head with aquamarine eyes, and an African with black hair with red highlights, her brown eyes glinted with curiosity. The short red head had a cylinder bag on her back that held the finest arrows ever made.

Krist jogged back with a first aid kit in her hand. She bent down and began cleaning the wound. After she was done cleaning, she did a second one, just to make sure it wasn't infectious. The green one growled impatiently; Kouske glanced at him with curiosity.

'Misoka's usually patient and calm...what's up with him today?'

"Krist," he said, taking a step forward. "Oh, hi, who are you?" she asked, stopping for two seconds only to take in his appearance, then continued working. "My name is Misoka but that's not important. How long is this going to take?" Krist racked her brain for an answer, but she continued working silently and diligently. "Um, about five minutes at the pace I'm going." "That's five minutes we DON'T have..." "What do you mean?" Krist knotted her eyebrows as she worked, wondering why Misoka would say that. Suddenly, the sunlight disappeared. Krist slowly got to her feet and walked hesitantly towards the door with everyone else behind her. They looked through the window and saw thousands of demons flying in the sky. They had a red X on their chest, and they were heading this way!

She dropped the bottle she was holding and stared at them with wide anxious eyes. Krist grabbed the bandages and began wrapping them around Kai's arm quick as lightning but as careful as a doctor.

"Keep on working, Krist," said the African.

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a beautiful sword from its sheath. It was about three feet long with strange incantations on it in turquoise. It looked so sharp that it seemed it could cut a leaf blade if the leaf fell atop it!

"The name's Cher by the way."

Cher glanced at Krist and Kai one last time before jumping through the roof and into the sky. She landed on a surprised demon; it screeched angrily at her and slashed at her with its sharp and powerful claws. The demon's blood red eyes narrowed when she dodged its attack.

Its wings were black bones, and its unusually long arms had razor-sharp claws. Only its hands were a pale blue, everything else was black. Its forked tongue slipped out of its mouth and hissed at her. With a fast swift, she chopped off its head and jumped onto the next one.

"I'm going to help her," the red head said. Her aquamarine eyes shined with determination but a hint of fear can be seen. "Rika," Misoka placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful..." he whispered. She nodded, "I'll take care of myself, but you should tell that to Cher. She's the ruthless one,"

Rika took out a bow and arrow; she jumped through the hole that Cher had made and landed on the rooftop; she took aim, and fired it. The arrow shot as fast as lightning through the sky; it landed just as where she wanted it to land: in a demon's eye. The demon screamed in pain and fell to the ground, clutching the arrow. With great thought, it grabbed the end of the dart and yanked it out. Blood poured from the hole with its eye. It screamed when it saw its green blood; after a while, the demon fell to the ground, motionless. Its other eye was wide open and the green goo surrounded the body. Dying of blood loss after feeling the pain of pulling out an arrow from your eye, that's not a very good way to die.

"Kouske, grab the boy, we're getting out of here."

Misoka walked through the entrance that led to the hallway. He looked around, making sure that none of the demons were inside.

"What! You're not just going to LEAVE them there to fend for themselves, are you?!" Kouske cried angrily, pointing at the billions of demons fluttering in the sky.

"What do you expect me to do? Help them fight and get killed in the process? Krist and the boy come first; Rika and Cher are strong, they can take care of themselves. Once we leave, they'll follow after making sure none of the creatures are stalking them."

"Misoka! They're not THAT strong! They'll get killed right after we leave!"

Whipping around, Misoka glared at Kouske, surprised that he actually believes that.

"Do you think I like the idea of leaving them out here by themselves? That'd be the last option I'd choose but right now, we don't have a choice!"

Misoka sighed and rubbed his temple; his voice and face softened, "Kouske, you've never questioned my judgment before, why start now?"

Kouske nodded with uncertainty; closing his eyes, he argued with himself about what to do. Finally deciding, he opened his golden eyes and met Misoka's light green eyes.

"You're right Misoka, I'm sorry. I guess... I guess I just thought you really were going to just leave them...leave them to die..."

He felt guilty, guilty for doubting Misoka, and so he couldn't meet his gaze. Misoka shook his head,

"No need to apologize, Kouske. Now come on, we've got to get out of here before it's too late."

Kouske picked up Kai with care and motioned Krist to follow him. She took one last glance at the two fighting all odds and prayed for their safe return. "Krist, hurry up!" She turned around and ran after him, "Coming," she said.

Abruptly, Krist tripped over something; time seemed to move slowly. She was able to glance back and saw that what tripped her was a green beast. It had four fingers and webbed feet and its hair reached past its feet, making it look like a blond tail. It opened its mouth, showing its yellow, sharp fangs, ready to devour her. Krist laid on her back, watching it with fearful eyes, her body filled with terror, making her unable to move.

"Krist! Run!"

Kouske raced towards her, but he seemed to be moving in slow motion. Suddenly, the monster turned to stone just a few inches away from her face. Her breathing came out heavy and sweat-beads rolled down her face. Gradually, she was able to move her trembling body from underneath the beast and towards Kouske.

"You should be more careful," he scolded, lightly glaring at her, but his sunset eyes showed that he was more relieved than angered. "W-what IS that thing?" she stuttered, stepping another step away from it. She shook at the thought of it breaking out of its stone prison and lashing out at her. "It's a River Troll," he said, examining its every detail. "I wonder what its doing so far away from rivers, plus trolls can't survive in the sunlight...so how can this one survive..."

"It's under a spell," Misoka answered, walking up to the troll and laying his right hand on its head. A purple glow traced the troll's figure, and within two seconds, the stones exploded with a soft boom. Misoka turned around and walked through the cabin entrance after making sure it was clear. It seems the demons haven't noticed them yet, they were probably still occupied with Cher and Rika.

"The spell lets trolls walk by day, it's a forbidden spell that can disrupt the food chain1."

They ran out the entrance and into the forest. The shadows and thick, broad trees hid them from view. As they journeyed deeper, the harder it became to hear the battle cries and shrieks of pain. Krist clung to Kouske's left arm and tried not to close her eyes because whenever she does, the image of blood appeared. Every time she blinked, she saw red just before she opened her eyes back up. Krist was never fond of seeing blood, she liked it inside the body, not out.

"Um, Krist, not that I'm not enjoying this but, we've arrived and you have to let go of my arm so that my blood can flow to my hand..." Kouske chuckled, prying her hand off of his arm.

Krist opened her eyes and looked around. A huge palace stood before her, it was built with pure white stones, and a flag rested atop each of the three towers. The palace grounds were as green as Misoka's hair and unusual but beautiful flowers. The wind carried fallen leaves and petals of all colors: blue, white, black, purple, yellow, and pink. It was like a rainbow that races around the world with the winds! They were also on the grounds: the famous Chinese Forget-Me-Not, Asters, Roses, Moonflowers, Morning Glory, Bachelor's Buttons, and so much more! The land of flowers seemed to stretch on for miles, farther than the eye can see.

"Come," Misoka lead them through the silver gates.

"Wait a minute," Kouske stopped in his tracks and looked around, searching for something...or someone... "What?" Misoka asked, staring at Kouske with confusion. "Where's Lynn?" Kouske said. Misoka silently gasped, he looked amongst them and sure enough, the brown haired girl was nowhere to be found.

"Lynn?" Krist lightly tilted her head to the side in uncertainty. "Lynn: the brown haired brown eyed girl." Kouske explained as he scanned the fields for their missing teammate. "Well, maybe she fought alongside Cher and Rika," Krist suggested. "Maybe," he sighed, "But why wouldn't she tell us?" Misoka took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself from exploding out in anger. It barely worked. "Let's just go, we'll discuss this matter later."

As they walked down the path, Misoka curled his hands into fists angrily, but said nothing. He kept glaring at the ground, even the beautiful, clear, blue, non-demon-infested sky couldn't cheer him up. He was gloomy taken to the next level.

"What's wrong with Misoka?" Krist whispered worriedly.

"He's just mad, don't worry about it. He's the team captain, and this is how he worries about another teammate if they don't tell him that they're going somewhere. It's a-a leader thing."

Krist nodded, fully understanding. When she was back home and still living in her mansion with her father and his girlfriend, she would always pace her room, straining her ears to hear the door open and her father and his girlfriend's cheerful laughter. She continuously worried about him: Was he hurt? Did he get drunk? Was he smoking? Was he cheating on his girlfriend? Was he going to abandon her and run off with his girlfriend to the criminal life?! So many questions but of course, no answers...

They entered the palace after a long fifteen minutes. Kouske had taken Kai to room where he wouldn't be disturbed as he continued his journey in his Dreams and then walked to the ballroom, saying he needed to talk to someone. Misoka had locked himself in his room while Krist had locked herself in her own room. Sleeping soundly, she didn't notice a shadowy figure loom over her. Its bright golden eyes had black slits for pupils; it stared at her. Raising its hand, it caressed her cheek. She groaned and rolled over on her side, glaring as she slept. The sudden stroke had changed her sweet dream into a boring dream where she was stuck in school all alone. It smirked and slowly faded away, blowing her a kiss before he fully disappeared.

*

"My princess,"

Kouske kneeled before the throne. The walls around him were solid gold, the floor below him was like a mirror: it was slippery and reflected everything right back at you. Huge windows let the golden drops of the sun shine through, beautiful golden curtains that seemed to shine, even in the dark, was tied to the side so that it wouldn't interfere with the rays' journey to the silver floor below. Two large glass windows were on the far left, leading to the gigantic balcony. Before him were four steps of stairs: all leading to the three thrones. Only one, the middle and largest one, was occupied by a young woman. She wore a long sky blue dress; her soft light brown hair was tied in a pony tail that reached her shoulders; her deep, brown, mature eyes stared down at the kneeling form of Kouske.

"Rise," she commanded; he obeyed and rose to his feet.

"My princess, the boy is safe and sound: he's still unconscious and in the room. And also, Krist is here, but Lynn is missing once more."

A growl emitted from the princess's throat. Her patience was wearing each second every day. She can't stand having one of her warriors out there without her or anyone else's notice. It makes her feel, betrayed or forgotten, and she always hated that feeling. Always as a child, she was betrayed by everyone close to her. They gave into death or temptation and left her alone with dying dreams, lost hope, and a broken heart.

"Where is Cher and Rika?" she questioned, her frustration showing very well in her tone.

Rarely you would see the princess show anger, impatience and frustration. She was always calm and cheerful, but ever since Akkinon reappeared on the surface of the planet and the war began once more, you would always see this side of her. Now, you would seldom see her laugh, or smile. She wouldn't even crack a smirk!!

"They're-they're back at the cabin," Kouske just couldn't meet her gaze and so he stared at the ground, his stomach did flips as he thought about what might have happened to them.

"They fought the demons while we left, Misoka's pretty sure that they'll survive..."

"...Are you sure that they'll survive...? Do you have faith in your teammates as much as Misoka does...?" Kouske hesitated. Of course he has faith in his friends!! Why wouldn't he?!

"Of course, my lady, but...I'm just...worried, is all..."

She nodded. "I see; bring the girl in exactly two hours. That is all, you are dismissed."