Chapter Twenty one

The group was shocked to see the scene before them, they didn't advance anymore as Ryoko seemed ready to kill anyone with the aura that surrounded her.

"R- Ryoko?" she raised her head all the while not facing them

"Ryoko are you okay?" she turned to Hazuki with a bright smile her aura immediately changing

"I'm doing great so where to next" she asked

"what do you mean where to next" Viper asked

"my plan pretty much ended at finding Hazuki" she said scratching the back of her head

"oh well Hazuki do you have any idea what we should do next? I mean we can't just go back right?" Viper asked

"definitely not, no one is going back to the main city, I have someone who will help all of you become stronger, your powers have been weakened as you stayed in the city so long without training" she said walking back to the remains of her house

"who is this person"

"Kaito Gushiken, use these directions to find him" she handed them a very precise map that led them into another world all together

"what is this place, I don't remember hearing about it before now" Karla said

"it's actually really far from here, you would have to cross seas upon seas to get there and trust me it will not be easy at all" Haziku said

"so how do we cross these seas? I mean yes dragons fly but we can't fly the whole way" Tatsuya said

"you won't have to fly actually, at the end of Akira's Kingdom there is someone who will guide you across the river and into a more or less deserted place, it's not a forest though, it's actually a fallen city, being so close to the demons wasn't the best choice they made, after that you'll figure out what to do next" she said

"are you serious?" Viper asked

"yes very also you'll have Ryoko's spirit animal 'mizu no seirei' it's a lion, it can keep you underwater and it can fly, indigenous to the water dragons"

"okay then, what are you gonna be doing" Ryoko asked putting the map in her bag

"I'll go to Blackmoor and inform the king of what's happening and what Grissly is planning"

"okay then be careful you aren't really young anymore even if you look so" Viper said as they parted ways.

The four were on their own again going through the demon forest on their own, Hazuki was right when she said they weren't as strong as they should be even if Viper would have preferred to not agree, Ryoko wondered who this person could be and what kind of training she would have to undergo.

"how far is the river by the way" Tatsuya asked

"a couple of demons plus a surprise witch" Ryoko said

"how do you know" Viper asked wondering where it was on the on the map Haziku had given

"I dunno, I can just feel some presence around the forest and that's what I can tell for now" Tatsuya looked at her with a wondering look, like he was trying to understand something about her but couldn't get it.

They continued walking for a long while and hadn't met any obstructions

"looks like your feeling was wrong Ryoko" just as Viper said this they fell into the ground, Ryoko held unto the edge holding the rest

"hang on guys" she was about to climb back up but let go in an attempt to dodge a ball of darkness aimed straight at her.

When next they opened their eyes they were covered in darkness, they weren't in the forest anymore as there was no sky.

"where are we" karla asked standing

"I think we're in a kind of cave we fell remember?" Viper answered looking around

"we aren't in just any cave you know" Ryoko said staring into a space

"what?"

"we didn't fall in here by accident, we're about to meet one of the demons of the deep"

"clever girl, clever girl, visitors, visitors oh I do hope you stay for dinner" a voice said

"depends, what's for dinner" Ryoko asked stepping forward

"my secret recipe, dragon stew"

"duck!" they all dove to the ground as something swiped at their heads

"what is that?" Karla asked

"oh where are my manners I should introduce myself, they call me darkness, I've inhabited the deep for a million years" it came forward to stand before them in all it's glory

"wow I didn't think this cave was that big" Tatsuya said

It had long arms that covered the length of its body and was about a thousand feet taller that the tallest of them making it a giant

"now about our dinner plans" it started to attack again all the while laughing with wide eyes. It wasn't good in combat which was obvious by the way it simply grabbed at them

"Karla watch out" Viper shouted as it reached to grab her from where she had fallen, meanwhile Ryoko had disappeared from the scene.

The fight didn't last long as it finally captured the three of them in one long arm smiling at them revealing a row of dagger like teeth which still had the remains of victims of the past, the smell seemed to want to strangle them before it could take a bite

"I guess I should be nice shouldn't I, so how would you like to be cooked" it asked

"ever heard of a tooth brush and a tube of paste, or even a breath mint?" Karla asked about throwing up

"well then raw it is" it brought them closer to its mouth as it's smile got wider if that was even possible

"didn't your mother ever tell you not to steal food?" they looked to the voice to see Ryoko at the other side of the room holding a crystal, it dropped all of them at once before looking at it's centre

"apparently not all demons have a heart meaning you aren't even a real demon, you were turned" it began to shrivel up and turn back to what it had been originally, a boy about eighteen years old in an armour

"g- give it back, I need that"

"sorry but you were meant to have died a long time ago and it won't go back but here you go" she handed him the crystal before going to check on her friends

"how did you know" Viper asked

"it didn't have the same aura as the other demons we fought before, it was a forced aura, like it actually wasn't very used to it yet, he's about a thousand years old though, he isn't the original darkness"

"lets find a way back to the surface then" Tatsuya said