Abduction and confrontation

Kael and Emi leave the chapel and meet up with Bella.

"How did it go you guys?"

"We didn't awaken Auntie Bella," Kael says.

Bella puts on a consoling smile before patting both of them on the back.

"Don't be too worried about it. These things happen. People very rarely awaken so early. I'm sure next year will be different for you two. Why don't I treat you two to some sweets in town?"

Kael lets out a brilliant smile before nodding his head. Emi's expression looks a little brighter before she agrees as well.

The three of them head out back towards the commercial district. Along the way, Bella turns to Kael. "By the way Kael, I seem to recall you calling me Auntie again." A playful menacing expression is on her face.

Kael's eyes go wide before he tries to quickly turn away and escape. Two lovely arms wrap around his neck and put him in a sleeper hold. Her bust presses into the back of his head.

"I'm sorry Big Sister Bella, it won't happen again!"

Bella's hold softens at his apology before she rubs her cheek gently on Kael's head. "Better not you little rascal." Bella separates from Kael.

Kael lets out a sigh of relief with a smile on his face until he feels something off. He looks around only to see that Emi is not here. His smile is immediately replaced by a serious expression.

Bella catches the change and looks where Kael is looking. She pales when realizes she lost Emi while she was horsing around with Kael.

Before Bella can act, Kael quickly heads back the way they came. He comes next to an alley and bends down to look at the ground. He doesn't know what he is looking for but he searches desperately. He finally notices Emi's shoe in the shadow of the alley. He picks up the shoe and holds it tightly.

"Big Sister Bella, go home and get mom and bring her back here."

"And what are you going to do? You don't even know who we're dealing with. You could get hurt. Why don't you go home and I'll look for Emi?"

"You're bigger than me so you should be able to get help faster. Also, I don't know if you would be able to find them. Relax, I'll just stall them and keep myself safe. Go, before it's too late!" Kael's tone is strangely commanding for Bella and she finds no room to argue.

"Alright, be safe." Bella sprint quickly down the street towards the Siren's Call.

Kael proceeds down the alley looking all around him. He soon comes across an intersection. He looks down each of the three paths before his keen eyes spot a puddle with footsteps coming out of it down one of the alleys. He begins to rush as he scans his surroundings.

After about one minute of travel, he notices some rubbish on the side of the alley. He scans through the rubbish and picks up a rusty foot-long metal pipe. He smacks it against a nearby building's brick walls. The pipe snaps in half leaving two jagged edges. He sheaths both pipe ends in the back of his pants hiding them under his shirt before continuing down the path.

A few moments earlier when the trio was still walking together, Emi was looking at Kael and Bella roughhousing.

After some girl talk with her friends a year ago, she had decided to start acting cool and elegant so that Kael would see her as a woman and not a little girl. Right now it was all she could do from jumping in between the two of them.

She felt jealous and also wanted to act that close with Kael. It was fairly obvious Kael intentionally called her 'Auntie Bella' just to get a rise out of her. It felt like a lovers' ritual that made her sick.

Just as she was about to speak up she felt her feet leave the ground. A hand clasped over her mouth and pulled her head back hard. An arm grabbed around her waist and pulled her back. She tried to struggle, subconsciously reaching out for Kael. She was scared at what was happening and a little angry that Kael was paying so much attention to Bella that he had not noticed her predicament. She was quickly pulled into a nearby alley before Kael was finally blocked from her sight. Tears started falling as the only feeling she was left with was wanting to see Kael again.

About a minute away from Kael down the alley path, 5 figures can be seen. The smallest figure is a gagged Emi. In front of her is one of the four adventurers who were kicked out of the Siren's Call yesterday, Gale. Gale is pinning both of Emi's arms above her head against the wall with one of his. Emi is forced to stand on her tippy toes, one of her shoes missing.

The remaining three figures are also part of the adventuring group. Dylan is currently hunched over breathing incredibly hard. Ned is off to the front of the pack, serving as a lookout for the group. Last, Theo is spending his time looking at Emi menacingly.

"Hurry up Dylan, we can't rest for long. We'll need to get out of town soon and hide the girl away," Gale says to Dylan.

Panting, Dylan breathes out, "I can't… too tired… stayed up all night."

"I swear you're so useless sometimes," Gale says before giving a tsk.

"I… found out about the girl… didn't I?"

"Hehe, good job with that one too. Think she's that bitch's daughter?" Theo says cruelly.

"Her looks are certainly pretty enough to be. We'll know for sure when we send a ransom letter to their home."

"Since we're taking a break, why don't we play with her for a bit. I still can't believe there wasn't a single street prostitute last night." Theo reaches over to gently touch Emi's face while licking his lips.

Ned talks over his shoulder, "Don't take too long. We don't know how long it will take for them to notice. Luckily this maze will slow them down for a bit."

Gale slaps away Theo's hand. "I'll play with her first. You can have what's left." Gale reaches down towards Emi's chest. Emi's struggling grows even more frantic as tears stream down her face.

Right before Gale is about to touch her chest a shoe flys and hits him in the face. "WHO'S THERE?!"

Gale swiftly turns toward the corner of the alley they just came from to see Kael panting. His stance indicated he had been the one to toss the shoe.

"Let her go! My mother is on her way and will be here soon."

"You mean to say that bitch is your mother and she's coming here?" Gale asks with confusion on his face before it is replaced with a sinister grin. "That's perfect. We'll ambush her here then. The town guard is still too far away from here to make it in time and she'll be defenseless with you two as hostages. Dylan! Take him hostage and let's make him watch as we play with his sister," Gale says misunderstanding their relationship.

Gale and Theo both turn back to Emi while Ned turns his head away with a helpless shake of his head.

A dangerous glint flashes past Kael's eyes before they return to their normal calm violet luster. Kael has no illusions about his strength. He knows in a straight-up fight he would lose to any one of these four. His body was scrawnier than the average boy and he had not awakened an affinity yet.

However, the goal here was not for him to win the fight. He only had to stall long enough for his mother to get here and prevent Emi from being molested. He quickly worked out a strategy in his head before shifting his gaze to Dylan. Dylan was still bent over panting hard, but he was slowly getting up. With time being of the essence, Kael pulls out one of the metal pipes.

He gets a running start before thrusting the pipe's jagged end in Dylan's asshole.

Dylan lets out an inhuman scream as the pipe embeds in his ass to the other end. The jagged rusted portion of the pipe tears through his insides. He falls to the ground in great pain and is afraid to move and jostle the pipe.

The other three's heads snap toward Dylan's direction, eyes widening at the savage sight before their eyes. Kael gives them a calm gentle smile mocking them.

Gale scowls before commanding, "Change of plans. Ned, watch over the girl. We'll let her watch as we beat the shit out of her brother. Theo let's go."

Gale releases Emi and she collapses on the ground. Ned stands next to her to watch over her.

Gale and Theo approach Kael. Kael puts up both his fists in a makeshift fighting stance.

Theo gives Kael a smug grin. "Kid, what did you think was going to happen when you went up against us." A swift punch from Theo connects to Kael's liver. Kael's body is lifted and thrown against the wall opposite Emi. Pain wracks his body as he is immediately rendered immobile.

Gale watches over the scene with his arms crossed as Theo walks up to Kael and begins stomping on his body. "Look like… this is all… a pretty boy… can do," Theo says emphasizing each pause with a stomp. One stomp lands viciously against Kael's head and blood begins flowing down his face. Kael is slightly disfigured as part of his cheek is sunken in.

While all Kael's body feels is pain, inside he is satisfied. This is the only way to get them to remain here while protecting Emi. Now it is a war of attrition. Kael slightly shifts his body to avoid any hits that are too vital.

Emi, however, doesn't know Kael's plan. When Kael first arrived, a wave of relief washed over her, followed by concern at Kael's safety. After Kael took Dylan out, Emi's hope was replaced by horror at Kael's beating. She regretted ever asking him to man up if this was the result. She realized she would much rather have him stay safe than go through this. She blamed herself for being captured, not being strong enough to protect herself and him. Anger at these thugs, guilt for her emotions, and fear for Kael's safety paralyze her body. She yearns for the strength to change what is going on in front of her.

Then she felt a spark. It felt like a literal spark coursing through her body. She could sense energy all around her and more importantly inside her. She feels high at this newfound power. She acts on this impulse and swiftly stands up and removes her gag.

Ned looks over at her confused with his arms crossed before saying, "Listen girlie don't do anything st…" His voice is quickly cut short as Emi throws a punch landing on his throat. Electric arcs shoot out from Emi's arm and Ned can feel a shock pass through his throat into his spine.

His whole body tenses as he falls over paralyzed, his extremities twitching.

Emi then rushes at Gale, the man who took her in the first place and caused this whole mess. She goes to throw a fist at his turned body. However, as a newly awakened, she does not have much power in the first place. Her fist lands on his shoulder with a weak thud and only some small electric sparks shoot out.

Gale turns around to see Emi standing there helplessly with her fist outstretched and Ned lying on the ground. Anger rises within him at another fallen comrade before viciously backhanding her to the ground. Her body remains collapsed on the ground, barely breathing.

Both Theo and Kael turn to see this. Kael's face pales before he pulls out the second half of the pipe in anger. He stabs it at the bandaged portion of Theo's leg while he's distracted and it enters the wound that Melinda had given him last night piercing his artery. Theo falls over screaming. Kale slumps over having used the last of his energy.

Gale feels his anger peak when he turns around yet again to find Theo on the ground with a rusted pipe in his leg.

"THAT'S IT!" He yells out. "We only need one of you alive as a hostage. The other is expendable."

He stomps his feet before the ground shifts and rocks encase his legs. His footsteps thud louder than before. He lifts his right leg before stomping down on Kael's chest. Several vicious cracks sound out from Kael's chest.

Kael could feel his ribs pierce his lung. All that remained was a chill and his breathing slowed. As Gale was about to stomp a second time on Kale's head, a wave of water rounds the corner with Melinda surfing on top of it with her bare feet.

Melinda's breathing stops at the sight of her son as Gale looks over at her in disbelief. She screams out, "NO!" as a portion of the wave shoots out and wraps around Gale without any gestures from Melinda. The water surrounds him like a suit of armor before he can act and invades his mouth and nose slowly drowning him.

Gale flails about grasping at his throat for air but the water follows him around. All his gasps lead his lungs to fill up with water faster before he collapses the ground.

Melinda rushes over to Kael and cradles his cold still body in her arms. Kael's blood drenches Melinda's dress as she slowly rocks her body.

"No, please. It's all my fault." Melinda recognizes the four adventurers on the ground as the ones who caused a ruckus last night. "I should've cleaned up those loose ends. Please stay with me, baby." Melinda places her head on Kael's chest.

Thump. Kael's heart still beats weakly. With hope, Melinda stands up before also carrying Emi. She turns towards the four adventurers on the ground.

"Please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything I swear!" Dylan cries out, still not having turned around due to the pipe.

Melinda's gaze is cold before she replies, "Your sin is letting this happen." Dylan suffers the same fate as Gale as water wraps around him drowning him.

Theo starts crying and pathetically dragging his body away from Melinda. He feels a chill from her gaze before water wraps around him too.

Ned just glances over before looking up and closing his eyes. Melinda shows him no mercy and gives him the same slow death.

Melinda quickly rushes out from the alley on a wave towards the chapel.