A Damsel In Distress - Part 9

* MIIA - Dynasty *

***

"Are you doubting me, lil sis?" she said with another sadistic chuckle that made the girls think they're talking to the devil and not the girl they knew for over two years.

"No we have no doubt in your kindness oh mighty Raven, please excuse your little sister." Maria corrected with a smile that she struggled to keep unshaken.

"Now please Raven they're getting closer, they're here- RAVEN!"

""RAVEN!!!"" Both girls yelled again loud enough for everyone in the woods to hear, even the party.

"Hahaha!" Raven chuckled softly as she flicked both girls on the forehead. "I'd rather die a million times over than to let you two get hurt." she said in a whisper that reached both girls as a warm soft breeze that made their hearts flutter slightly.

Realising that even with the monsters' high speed they haven't reached them yet, both girls took a look behind Raven's shoulders only to see many ghostly dark hands coming out of the ground and holding the mounts together with their riders.

Even the other two guards near the artifact were bound to the ground by similar sets of hands.

**sigh** both girls were so relieved at the sight, even though they knew Raven wasn't that cruel.

"Wanna try your powers? Or do you want me to crush them already?" Raven asked with a smile.

"Err, I'd like to try but I have no idea what or how my powers would work."

"Same."

Maria said and Maya followed suit.

"Hmm, let me try this." Raven said while two azure rings materialised in her eyes, as she placed her hands on Maria's forehead. After a while, she did the same for Maya.

Using her Advanced Mana Manipulation together with Scanner Rings, allowed her to see the mana pathways in their bodies.

All the while, the monsters kept thrashing around and roaring like hungry caged lions.

"From what I can tell, Maria you've gained a portion of my powers, Mana Manipulation, as I can see the mana running through your whole body without much limitations, not only in their specific pathways."

"Makes sense I guess. You're the one who saved me and I don't know what you did but ever since then I've been feeling rather weird." Maria said with her hand under her chin.

"Uhm," Raven nodded slightly, "As for you Maya, your core is a blinding white which means you have so much ambient mana and that's is awesome, but it also means that I can't see properly, nor decide what your powers are.

"What I can tell you for sure however is that your mana pathways are closed. Forced shut to be exact, as if someone was trying to prevent you from using your powers..." she said in an enraged, yet pained, expression.

"I'll fix it for you the moment we get some time away from danger, I promise. The good news is that I can see some pathways where your mana was trying to spread throughout your body. It has probably happened when you saved me," she said with a soft kind smile.

"Alright, let's get this over with and go back home."

Not a second after she finished, the six monsters were already swallowed by the hungry void that had opened in the ground.

'Kayla, are we to break this?' she thought while inspecting the artifact.

[Yes, it should enable us to use the bracelets and transfer back to Earth.]

"Sweet. Let me take note of how it's built first, I might be able to replicate it or use something to cancel its signal" she said as her eyes turned azure again.

After a short while of detailed inspection and careful handling, she understood to some extent how the artifact was made.

Even though it was beyond her knowledge for the moment, she was sure that after some playing around she could figure out a way to replicate it.

'Maybe I could use it to protect our house from intruders, or even mass produce it as means of protection? Hmm...'

CRACK! SQUASH!!

The device crumbled under her touch so fast that she was surprised. 'Oh that's why they had six guards. The thing is more fragile than a glass cup.'

[Spacial Transfer Bracelets are online again] Kayla said as well as the other bracelets, even the ones with the other part of the group.

"Shall we grab the rest and leave this place?" Raven said with a smile to which Maya and Maria happily nodded.

Reaching the others, they saw calm expressions everywhere as the group had a little time to relax, plus the message the bracelets sent was like a blessing.

"Shall we go lads and gals?" Raven said to the group. They all nodded in agreement, expect for Camilla and Axane who had no bracelet on their wrists.

"Hey Camilla, you can have yours back..." she said as she looked down in embracement, "I'm so sorry about earlier, it was so rude of me to-"

"Awww, I love you too, lil killing machine," Camilla cut her off with a hug and a pinch to the cheek. "I love you too." she repeated again.

"Please don't call me a killing machine..." even though she complained, Raven's face was beet red and still didn't resist the embrace.

She felt like she owed her this much, especially after all that she's done to help them so far.

"Hahaha, ok I love you lil Rave!" Camilla chuckled, still hugging her, "How's that now?"

"A little bit better..."

"Hehehe." Camilla chuckled happily as she let go of the little girl.

*cough*

"Ahem!" she coughed trying to forget what had just happened.

"Hey you're coming with us too, right?" Raven said as she handed her one of the spare bracelets.

'Damn, Kayla sure was prepared. She made a spare for each bracelet. Since we had two each for myself, Maya, Maria, and Camilla. We basically have eight. Not that I can't make more.

'So, Joey, Rain, and Axane each get one. Hmm, even the baby gets one, just in case.' she thought to herself.

"Here's one for the baby too," she said as she handed Axane another bracelet.

"You were expecting to meet me and baby Rituxi?" Axane was rather surprised and grateful at the same time.

"To be honest, not specifically, but I always keep myself prepared." she said as she scratched her cheeks in embarrassment. It wasn't her that was prepared, but Kayla.