[[OOC: Noticed that someone else wrote Chapter 21. Sorry this is taking so long. And V_T, I wanted the portrayal of your characters to remain true to how you write them. That's why I asked. ]]
Chapter 22: Jailbreak!
The blue haired stranger regarded Argus carefully.
"You may use it, but if you can free me, you must free her as well" The man pointed to a woman in an opposing cell.
"Consider it done. But we must hurry."
The stranger took his pendant, and passed it through the food opening of his cell. Argus took it, and a moment later, the stranger's cage was opened. The stranger narrowed his gaze.
"Time is of the essence."
The stranger walked out of his imprisonment, and walked quickly to the opposing cell. Argus and the stranger stood before a young woman. She looked up sadly, and when her eyes focused on the stranger, they lit up.
"Gil!" she exclaimed as she came toward him. "How did you get out?"
"This man..." the man now identified as Gil said, as he indicated to Argus.
"The guards will be coming soon," Argus said as he freed not just the woman, but all the prisoners in the hall. "The other prisoners will provide us some cover, but if they are out of their cells for too long, the Nanashi will be called in."
"The who?" the woman asked, but Argus had already started walking down the hall quite quickly. Gil and the woman hurried to catch up with Argus. "Who are you, anyway?" she asked.
"My name is Argus. If you come with me, you can make it out of this prison." Before either Gil or the woman could question him, Argus had disappeared down a flight of stairs. They dashed to catch up with him.
Argus looked down the hall of the next floor. Another row of cells, but at the end, there were some guards. They seemed to be surrounding someone, but Argus couldn't tell who. He was jostled out of his thoughts by a ball of dark energy flying at the guards. He turned around quickly to see Gil standing behind him, eyes focused.
He knows Shadow magic?
The guards scattered as the ball of magic exploded out at their feet. Argus had seen that spell used before, but he had never seen what happened next. The spell started to expand in a half-sphere from where it landed, but as it approached the figure the guards were surrounding, it left a bubble of unaffected space around her. Argus didn't have much time to ponder this turn of events, as the guards soon got back up.
"A shadow mage? Call for the Nanashi!" one of the guards shouted. Another guard ran off through the stairs on the end of the hall opposite where Argus, Gil, and Gil's friend stood.
"Your magic is impressive, but it won't stop the Nanashi assassins." Gil looked at Argus, snorted, and cocked a brow upward. He then turned and fired another blast of dark magic at the guards, who fell, and this time, did not get back up. In their midst was a young girl, battered and weak, sitting on her hands and knees. Argus rushed up to her.
"Don't worry, miss: we're not here to hurt you, we're going to get you out of here."
"Why are you stopping??" Gil asked from over Argus' shoulder.
"There is something special about this girl. I've never seen Shadow magic leave anyone alone like that. I doubt that was your doing."
The girl looked up at Argus. "Help me." Argus pulled her arm around his shoulder, and helped her to her feet. "Let's go, before the assassins arrive."
"Too late!" Gil's companion shouted. Argus looked at the far staircase, where three fearsome Nanashi were standing. Gil's brow lowered in tense concentration as he saw the familiar form of the stealthy, nameless characters before him, and then dark energy lashed at the assassins. When the smoke had cleared, the warriors had not moved. Gil's eyes went wide.
Argus gripped the Dreamstone, and his hands started to glow. He pulled his free arm up, and slashed it down. A wave of energy flared across the center of the room, partitioning it. Blood dripped from his hands. "That will only slow them down." Before he had even turned around, the Nanashi were casting spells on the partition, making it fade.
"I'll hold them off." Gil and Argus snapped their attention to Gil's companion.
"Flea...?" Gil started.
"No Gil, you have to follow this man. I forsaw this even before we came here...perhaps before that..." Flea, the woman, said to him. He looked at her momentarilly, seeing that all-too-familiar expression of unrelenting passion and devotion; destiny and a kind of sad fate; death. The Wind was forever with them both, "GO!" Gil nodded and turned to Argus and the girl.
Argus started for the staircase, stumbling slightly. The wall spell had been cast too hastily, even with the Dreamstone weaking his bonds. Gil rushed up to him, and briskly threw the girl's other arm across his shoulder.
"Come on," he barked at Argus, and the three of them started off down the hall, as quickly as they could. Gil only looked back over his shoulder once and saw an eerie pink light begin to pulse from Flea, lighting the corridor faintly then he returned his concentration to helping Argus carry the girl.
