Chapter 16

A flash of fire erupted from Tatsuya. Her eyes widened, and she let out a shriek. Mr. Okizari shouted and jumped back.

"DAMN THIS HUMAN BODY!" Mr. Okizari shouted, he covered his face as the fire burned in front of him.

The flames still kept coming, and her body began to crackle with electricity. Her hair turned to fire; her eyes were orange. She dropped to her knees as her arms shook and her shoulders hunched forward. She let out a pained sound and her whole form started shaking violently. Tears ran down her cheeks, and her lips curled downward into a frown.

She cried out in pain and fell unconscious to the ground. When she fell her hands slowly released their hold in the air. The flames flickered for a moment and stopped coming.

The room was dead silent for quite a few seconds. Nobody dared to move or even breathe. Even Mr. Okizari was shocked by what had just transpired. I turned around to look at the other members of the team; all of them had blank expressions. I stood up and walked to her unconscious body. I let out a sigh and knelt beside her.

"Are you okay...?" I questioned softly.

She didn't reply or stir; she just lay there motionless. The fire surrounding her had disappeared too, leaving her completely vulnerable. I looked back over my shoulder at the others. Their eyes were filled with worry, and they were whispering among themselves. Finally, Mr. Okizari broke the silence and cleared his throat.

"Well. That could've gone better than expected." Mr. Okizari commented, before looking back at us and continuing to dust the burnt suit.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, SHE COULD BE DEAD, AND THAT'S ALL YOU SAY. TO THINK YOU WOULD HAVE THE HEART OF A HUMAN IF SOMEONE DIED!" Kaida yelled painfully.

"I'm giving you four days to make sure that girl gets through this ordeal alive, and she better has answers for me. Do I make myself clear?" Mr. Okizari said coldly, looking down on us with pricing eyes. He walked out the door, locking it behind him.

"What'd I miss?"Tatsuya groaned as she sat up on the floor. The others ran up to her side.

"... So, does anyone know why we were charged with treason," I asked.

"He mouthed the words 'I lied' before I hit him with the blast of fire," Tatsuya groaned. Mr. Okizari returned to the room and slammed open the door, startling all of us. We jumped slightly as he stood above us in front of his table. On top of the table laid an array of various papers and folders with notes written on them all over it. Mr. Okizari walked over to the chair next to the table and sat down, leaning back comfortably as he looked down at us.

"I figured the quickest way to get the information would be to tell you everything that had happened at the village. I guess you still have questions about what happened." Mr. Okizari calmly stated.

"Yes... we do," I replied nervously.

"Well, to begin with, there was something I had to clarify about your friend, Zaya," He paused before continuing. "I can assure you she is dead." He explained, "However when it wasn't the first time she hid things from the village. So it was a possibility that she had something suspicious going on when I saw you in the crowd." he pointed out.

"... What do you mean?" I mumbled. I knew there was still hope for her, but I just wasn't sure how far she would go before giving in.

"That's what I'd like you to discuss in your own words and tell your story." Mr. Okizari responded. He leaned back further in the chair and sighed as he waited patiently.

"You mean... she told you what happened that night?" Kaida whispered. Mr. Okizari nodded, a faint smile playing upon his lips.

"Yes. She told me how you and the amulet are associated with each other," he responded.

"Wait... she did that on purpose?!" Tatsuya exclaimed angrily. Mr. Okizari glanced back at Tatsuya.

"Didn't I just say that?" He questioned. Tatsuya bit his lip and lowered her head.

"She's been lying to us this entire time..." Ryoko stated.

"No! No! She wouldn't do that!" I argued.

"Ayla's right!" Tatsuya added.

'There has to be a reason! Why else would she do that? Why else would she lie?'

"Are you going to start talking?" Mr. Okizari asked.

'Don't say ANYTHING. He's lying to you,' Talila told me.

'How do you know?'

'When you were in the police station I could sense that the police officers were acting very weird.' She explained.

'Now that I remember the officer was a little off on his motions.'

'Yeah... maybe you should just play along for now. Maybe this will end soon,'

Mr. Okizari sighed, interrupting our conversation.

"Give us time to take all of this in and then by tomorrow we will give you the answers you want," I suggested.

The man looked up from the table and smirked.

"Is that all you ask for?" He responded. With that said, he left the room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, the whole team let out a collective sigh of relief.

"We were never charged with treason," I exclaimed."Why would Mr. Okizari think such nonsense?! This is serious!" Tatsuya yelled exasperatedly.

"He probably knows something about us, and wants to use it against us," Kaida retorted.

"We have to leave now!" I snapped.

"What's our plan?" Ryoko asked.

"I know I am not on good terms with you guys right now, but I could break the walls with dried mud bricks," he suggested.

"Do you think you could do it fast and soundlessly?" I questioned.

"I'll try my best," he answered.

"Ryoko, are you able to transform into a dragon?" I requested.

"Yes, but I have to touch the animal to transform." He clarified.

"Alright, good thing we have Dalinda," I stated.

"Kaida, you grab Dalida and our bags," I ordered.

"No problem." She said,

"Tatsuya do you think you can Fireflex?" I asked. She looked at her hand; sparks flew then fire lit up in her palms.

"Yes," she replied.

"Good. When Krios breaks the wall Kaida will grab Dalinda and our bags. Then Krios and Tatsuya will fix the wall stopping any guards from following us. By that time Ryoko should have transformed by touching Dalinda. That's how we escape." I explained; they all nodded in agreement.

Our plan was set.