Ch. 15 - Deepening

Running. It always seemed to be needed when my body least wanted to. I ran anyway. The street was mostly empty save for the few individuals coming out of houses to peek in the direction of the smoke and flames. Kari lagged behind a little, but ran after. Kittra was ahead yet, and rapidly scanning for danger.

We cleared the residential zone and hit the main street in two blocks. My eyes widened drastically as I saw the police station, just off the main street. It looked like a meteor had come down, blown through half of the foundation of the building, and continued through to leave a burning rut a block long! Kittra slid to a halt just in front of me, and looked at the destruction with a dispassionate stare. Kari finally caught up, and put a hand to each knee, panting to my right.

"What, did it get hit by, a meteor or something?!" I asked, shocked by the level of damage.

Kittra stared intensely at the hole, as lapses of flames spread, and chunks of the upper levels continuously crumbled. After several seconds, she shook her head slowly, eyes narrowing. "Too smoothly cut, and not enough depression. This was an attack," she muttered, ears tucking back.

Frowning, I ran towards the building rapidly, as I saw people start to gather. "Stay back!" I shouted out over my shoulder as I ran. Kittra slid to a stop at the edge of the hole, and I realized just how deep it was when I got there. It was thirty odd feet down, and cut through the top of the lower level. What did this?

A light groan came from my left, suddenly. Turning, I saw Nishia crawling out of a small pile of bricks. She was badly burned. Moving my left hand out, I projected a barrier over top of her as Kittra ducked under it to help her from under the building. We moved her into the street, and Kari crouched next to her immediately and began healing. "Are you okay, Nishia?" I asked softly as she winced and glanced up.

"K-Keith. What are you doing here?" she muttered weakly as Kari tended to her side first.

Kittra bent over and examined her as well. "No vitals hit it looks like. Her side wound is the worst, but the leg is bad too," she analyzed.

Kari nodded gently. "I'll heal her leg next, then."

"Was there anyone else in the building?" I asked her.

She nodded weakly. "Tyra and Paru were both here too. Paru was napping upstairs and Tyra was in the first basement," she informed.

I sighed and glanced up at the crumbling upper stories. "Paru's in the most danger. Come on, Kittra," I muttered, running for the remains of the stairs. Kittra ran after carefully, and we both climbed our way to the second floor, mindful of loose seeming steps.

"Someone was after something in the lower floors, I muttered as we entered the remaining half of the upper hallway.

Kittra's ear twitched as she checked around the corner quietly. Not that anything could hear me even, with the chunks of building periodically falling. She turned back around and nodded to me. "Weren't they keeping that one guy in the basement?" Kittra pointed out.

I blinked, then groaned. "Didn't consider that. They might be after Karumi's remains, too, for some reason," I speculated, following her around the corner.

Kittra stopped at a door and listened intently. My hearing picked up a light whimpering on the other side. It sounded pained, but I went by my typical motto of better safe than sorry. Kittra glanced over at me as I drew the black blade out of my left hand and offered it to her. She nodded gently and took it before pushing the door slowly open.

My breath caught as both of us peeked into the room. It was a small bedroom, with a large segment of the right wall missing. I scanned the room rapidly while pushing energy up into my eyes, ignoring the throb of reluctance my body seemed to give. My eyes picked up a frantic aura almost immediately. "Other side of the bed," I warned.

The Hellcat nodded gently and advanced into the room, circumventing the bed with a wide berth before glancing around the side. She stared for a few seconds before relaxing a bit, reporting, "It's the mutt."

"Paru?" I asked softly, walking around the edge of the bed. I saw the short Growlie curled up against the side of the bed, tail tucked between her head. What looked like a steel support rod passed through her calf cleanly at a thirty degree angle. I traced the drag marks exiting the small pool of her blood back to the non-existent wall, and surmised that she'd been there when the blast hit. Maybe a closet? She wore nothing but fur, so it would make sense, if not be entirely irrelevant.

Kittra leaned down to help her up, but she yelped and cowered away from us. There was no helping it. "We're friends of Patrick's, don't worry," I explained, trying my best to smile at her as I extended a hand.

Her ears peeked and she glanced over at me, eyes partially glazed over from the pain. "You're K-Keith then?" she asked, wincing and coughing as the smoke got thicker.

"That's me. Can you lift her, Kittra?" I asked softly, crouching to avoid the smoky haze.

Paru got to her hands and knees suddenly, and shook her head. "I can move with some help. Are the other two okay?" she asked.

"Nishia's okay and outside. I haven't run into Tyra yet," I told her. Kittra helped her up and braced her against her shoulder as she walked, hobbling on the injured leg.

We made our way into the hall and around the bend again. I noted she was a little off balance from the leg, and using her free arm to hide her chest, but otherwise seemed okay. Other than the leg wound and injured modesty of course. They were lucky they were in such solid condition after an attack such as this.

Kittra and I made it to the stairs, when the entire building lurched. My eyes widened as I grabbed the outer railing to catch my balance. "We need to get out of this building fast. Get her to Nishia," I ordered, continuing down the stairs rapidly.

"Keith, whatever did this is still here, don't do anything reckless," Kittra warned, following me to the bottom of the stairs.

I turned and smiled assuringly at her, as she reached the bottom. That's when I felt the support wall in the first basement give out.

My eyes widened yet again as my world lurched backwards! Kittra winced and grabbed Paru to steady her. I hesitated, balancing on a forty degree angle, before the upper floor have way. Kittra's eyes widened as she tucked her ears back and reached out for me rapidly. The first floor wall gave out as she did, unfortunately. The floor went out from under me, and I felt my heart skip a beat as I fell backwards. Kittra tried to lunge and grab me, but the building was following behind her. She yelped and tucked her tail away from falling debris, then was forced to leap over my collapsing section with the panicking Paru, sliding to the main entry instead. That's the last I saw.

"Keith!" I heard screamed out by her as I landed on my back and rolled along the chunks of flooring. Pain burned along my side and back, but I scrambled backwards through a nearby door frame as the entire section we had been in became just so much rubble.

My breath caught as the debris smashed up into the doorway, wedged off from just crushing me by what appeared to be the burnt remains of an office desk! The door frame and entire wall gave out a sickly groan, and I gulped, scrambling to my feet and running through a door to the side of the room I found myself in.

There was a shattering noise as I dove through the door, and I briefly caught sight of desk shards embedding themselves into the lockers on the other side of the room I had just exited. I hit the ground on my stomach and slid, the air rapidly exiting my lungs as things briefly went black.

* * * * *

"You brought her back rather than Keith?!" Kari asked, standing up to stare in disbelief at Kittra, standing there supporting Paru.

Paru winced and shook her head. "She's telling the truth. All of us would have ended up down there, if she'd tried any harder to catch him!" she backed up.

"Convenient for you. But maybe he'd at least have someone to defend him now," Kari shot back, eyes narrowing now.

Kittra winced and shook her head. "I'm sorry! He's important to me too, remember?"

Kari swallowed softly and looked away. "You know I'm not strong enough to protect him. Please, Kittra," she muttered weakly.

"Don't fight, you two. Go and get him while Kari heals the wounded, Kittra. It's that simple," Nishia pointed out, testing her newly repaired wounds gently with her hands.

Kari nodded weakly and walked up to Kittra, taking hold of Paru as well. "I'm sorry, Kittra. I'll heal Paru."

Kittra nodded and helped steady the Growlie as Kari lowered her to the ground. "I can still feel him, as I'm sure you can as well. Let me try to find a way down," Kittra replied, hesitating, before adding, "Or make one."

"Kittra," Kari called, as the Hellcat ran back towards the ruined structure. She stopped and slowly turned around, glancing back at Kari. "Teach me to be strong too, for both of us?" she asked upon eye contact.

Kittra smiled suddenly, but nodded. "I know how you feel, and promise to train with you," she agreed.

Kari grinned and nodded too. "It's a promise, then. So now you need to rescue him and keep yourself alive, you hear?"

Kittra smirked and ran towards the remains of the police station.

* * * * *

Sitting up, I let out a low groan and felt my head. Drawing my hand back, I saw a bit of blood on my hand and sighed. It was still wet. I hadn't been out for very long. My attention shifted to the red smear I made on the hard, concrete floor briefly, before I looked up to take in my surroundings.

My breath caught and my mind reeled as I looked upwards. All thought and awareness locked onto the single restraining table in the center of the room. It was rusted and black, with the strong smell of blood and detergent which failed to mask it. My eyes traced the dark stains running down from the metal cuffs on each arm extension. I felt the contents of my stomach churn as that familiar cold seeped back into me.

My eyes opened to looking at the floor again from a foot and a half away. "It's okay, Bro. You're free still and not there," a voice in my mind assured. I felt paralyzed as I realized I'd backed myself into the corner of the room. Sheer terror stopped me from looking up at that thing. That horrible object, like a blackened blot on my memory. My mind reeled and my body sickened whenever I'd even considered that event.

"I-It was here," I whispered, barely audible. That chair. This room. In my mind, it was always somewhere else. Because such a place couldn't possibly exist in this town, or on earth even! If it was allowed to exist, that would mean such things were actually justified! Allowed to exist by all those supposedly just and good.

Shaking, I managed to crawl to the other wall and feel upwards towards the mirror. "Just get out of this place, Keith," Jessica ordered in my mind.

I nodded weakly and felt that the mirror was broken a few inches past my fingers. My mind screamed as I let loose a wave of telekinesis from three hastily formed glyphs, and shattered a five foot long line directly down to the base of the mirror. Not wasting any time, I scrambled haphazardly over the barricade, rolled once, and crashed into a desk chair.

Just laying there, I felt my heartbeat slowing finally, and swallowed, vehemently pleased to simply put distance between myself and that hell. I escaped. Something I'd desperately wanted the last time I was there. Finally letting my eyes focus again, I stared up at the chair I collided with. I sat up and took in my thankfully new surroundings. A part of me was expecting to see the restraints again. "Keith," was suddenly muttered quietly.

My attention snapped to the partially melted wall, then down along it to the burnt bookcase that had seemingly fallen in the attack. It was an ancient looking thing, and doubled up into two columns of dark wood. Tyra was looking over at me, her lower stomach and downward pinned under the massive chunk of wood.

I crawled towards her immediately, forming glyphs in my mind as I went. They came slower, and I felt tired as I fought for the energy to power them. The smell of blood returned, but I tried my hardest to push it back. The symbols completed, I extended my right hand and released them. The sphere of energy drifted down and under the wood, between the floor and the shelf. I triggered the spell, then, and it slowly expanded, pillar of bone lifting the heavy wood up and off the battered NurseJoy. She scrambled from under it, sending books sliding every which way, and immediately hugged me.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly, pulling back and looking her over. Books had obviously hit her on the way down as she had numerous bruises and scrapes, but appeared reasonably okay.

She nodded weakly. "The shelf was too heavy for me to get, but I healed most of the other wounds," she muttered. She looked really tired.

"Well I'm glad you're okay. Nishia and Paru are safe already," I informed, glancing around for another exit.

She nodded weakly and looked over at the side door I'd just spotted. "We need to secure the contents of the vault before we excape," she muttered.

I groaned uneasily. "Whomever did this is still here, down here somewhere."

"Even more reason to lock it down. The Dark Queen's remains are here," she warned.

I frowned. "Karumi's dead," I reminded, shifting over to the door and listening. My overly sensitive ears picked up very soft talking through the door. I couldn't identify the voices, but they sounded a little ways off.

"Dead concerns me when talking about a powerful necromancer," Tyra muttered.

I put a finger to my mouth to motion to her to remain silent. Well this was a predicament. Whomever was talking was probably the cause of this damage. The door was warm to the touch, and I could only guess at how hot the main hallway was. Why did it have to be fire? I hate fire. No offense, Kittra. Options, options. Go back the way I came? I don't enjoy the thought of going back in there. Well, I doubt I could. Not that it mattered as my impromptu entry no longer existed. Could we manage to sneak out through the flames and not alert them?

I shook my head. "We don't have many options. We either wait here quietly to be rescued, or try to sneak out," I finally summed up.

Tyra shook her head wearily. "I'm going to go seal the vault no matter what you decide to do," she replied, shoving past me.

"Tyra! Do you even have combat training? Whomever is down here blew a twenty foot hole through at least sixty feet of earth!" I pointed out, grabbing her arm.

She turned around abruptly and glared right into my eyes. "Keith, I have a duty. One that extends beyond my own personal safety. I would have thought you of all people would understand that," she retorted sharply, pulling out of my grasp.

My eyes widened as she simply turned and opened the door. Duty? No duty in this town was worth dying over. What could be that important? It bothered me that I couldn't think of anything practical. The blast of heat dulled my senses. It was like she'd opened the door to a furnace. Flames were everywhere in the main hallway, and it looked like a gateway to some private hell. That might even be literal if we run into the attackers.

There was a loud crash before I could so much as take a step, however. Through the flames, I saw part of the ceiling collapse. I kind of figured, with all of the damage, it would be happening shortly. Kittra followed the chunks down, however, surprising both myself and the suddenly on guard Tyra. I blinked, and Tyra straightened from her guarded pose.

"Keith?!" she called out loudly before I could say a word, causing me to wince.

Well, she was never known for subtlety. "Kittra, I'm right here," I spoke up, deciding there was no point to hiding our presence now.

She turned and smiled towards me. Tyra shook her head weakly before hurrying past her and towards the entry to the hallway. "There you are. Let's just get out of here. This isn't our struggle now that we rescued the girls," she requested, ignoring the NurseJoy as she passed, and walking towards me.

I looked past her and towards Tyra's back as she left the room. It was strange. Attempting to be what I thought was a good person was easy. Up until now, I'd never had anyone disagree with my version of 'good' however. Kittra shook her head wearily, however, and added, "Your duty ended when you tried to get her out and she refused. What she referred to is protocol, which is different."

"You heard us," I returned, glancing back at her. It wasn't so much a question. 

She nodded once. "It's how I found your general location," she clarified, answering my statement needlessly.

I glanced back towards the door, unsure of Kittra's meaning in its entirety. "How is protocol different?" I asked softly.

"Protocol is duty dictated by someone other than yourself," she explained instantly.

I looked back at her, meeting her gaze solidly. There was no hesitation for her. "That makes it less valid?" I asked, more certain of Tyra's intent now.

"No. Simply tainted by someone else's views," she corrected.

Oh. Tyra did what she did because it was her duty. Regardless of how others thought of it. Was that the right choice? It suddenly seemed selfish to me. But admittedly, she had more clarity than I had ever possessed. It made me jealous on some level, which is probably why her words were so bitter to me. She knew what she had to do without needing to consider it. For me, who was drifting in a storm of indecisiveness and dead ends, it amazed me. But my 'duty' became much clearer as well.

"You're right. Let's get out of here," I suddenly concluded. Kittra watched me for a moment before nodding slowly.

Looking about, I wandered into the hallway and looked up at the whole she made. The blazing heat of the place was greatly diminished as it flooded through her impromptu ceiling vent. She slipped behind me, ignoring the NurseJoy slowly inching her way deeper into the complex. I momentarily had an urge to help her still, and if it were just me, I probably would. But I had Kittra and Kari now, and was responsible for their happiness as well. Going off and getting myself murdered suddenly seemed like a vaguely irresponsible thing to do.

Kittra's arms wrapped around my waist securely as I felt her legs flex and prepare for the jump. I braced for the inertia.

It was proving all too familiar at that point. A heightened sense of awareness. The feeling of my own blood beating through me. It could be distracting if I let it. Cognitive thought felt as if it had slowed down. Or had my perceptions simply sped up? Regardless, my eyes widened drastically, and it was too late by the time I even rose my arm up.

A three foot long steel pipe, one end dented to a point, smashed directly into the side of Tyra's head. There was a sickening wet sound as I screamed out and my arm exploded with energy. But it was too late. 

The small mouse pokégirl on the other end of the pipe widened her eyes and whipped her head to the left, just in time for the wall of force from my magic to collide with her. She was sent sideways fifteen feet before smashing into the far wall.

Ignoring both her, and the rapidly fading symbols in my vision, I could only stare at Tyra. There was simply nothing. My mind blanked as I couldn't look away. She was stuck there against the wall, utterly still. Her legs were at a forty degree angle, which meant the only thing keeping her up was the pipe, which had driven into the wall on the other side of her head.

My stomach churned, and I couldn't seem to stop shaking as I took a step forward, trying to pull away from Kittra. Maybe she was just unconscious? I should go help her. There was so much blood coming from her head. She needed healing!

"No, Keith! We need to go!" Kittra growled, pulling me backwards. I almost fell, and she had to wrap both arms around me.

"She didn't," I muttered, shaking my head and cutting myself off to hold back from throwing up. "I need to help her," I finally choked out.

Kittra growled and hauled me to a standing position. "She's a corpse, just like she'd hoped. You can't help her now, so help you!" she spit out, causing another spasm to run through me.

She hauled me backwards to the hole again. That did it. My world spun as she did, and I threw up. She ignored it, and pulled me into herself behind me.

"Cute technique, but you shouldn't have killed the NurseJoy in the first place," suddenly was spoken out, in an eerily calm, yet frighteningly familiar voice.

Looking up, my vision swam as I saw a red headed woman turn the corner and stare absently at Tyra. My eyes widened the moment they locked onto her.

"M-mother?" I managed to stutter out, just as Kittra jumped, hauling me upwards with her.

Chapter 15 - End