Chapter 13

Prison Break

She was out in that field once more. Fire raged around her in every direction, its smoke creating a heavy curtain between her and any other person. Over the roar of the flames, she could hear screaming all around her, pounding against her eardrums to the point where it was almost deafening.

Ichigo blinked soot and ashes out of her eyes. She was here for something, but she couldn't remember what

A loud scream ripped through her like a bolt of lightning.

Jumping, Ichigo whirled around. Berry had appeared out of no where, her white gown dyed crimson in her own blood. There was a large gaping hole in her chest where Ichigo could clearly see her heart pumping blood through deceased arteries as well as out and over onto the girl's body.

"Berry?" Ichigo gasped.

"Why?" Berry croaked.

Ichigo's bottom lip trembled as the corpse started walking towards her on jarring limbs.

"How could you let this happen to me?' The corpse repeated, advancing on Ichigo, "You promised to protect me! To protect all of us!"

"Stop!" Ichigo cried, throwing a hand out in front of her, "I tried! I'm so sorry! I tried!"

"Oh, but you didn't try hard enough." A soft, playful voice said from behind her.

Ichigo froze as she felt two small hands ghost over her waist, followed by arms that hooked around her middle.

Eyes blown wide in terror. Ichigo shifted to glance at the being behind her. It was Tart, alive and whole, his arms wrapped around her middle with his small head resting against her shoulder.

"Tart?" Ichigo breathed.

He smiled playfully at her.

"It's all well and good as long as you and Kish are ok." Tart continued, but something was terribly wrong.

"Tart?" Ichigo repeated, then gasped as his arms took on a vice-like grip.

"The rest of us can die as long as the two of you are safe."

Ichigo opened her mouth to retort that that wasn't true, that she had tried to save them, protect them, what did she try to do?, but the words stuck in her throat as another scream ripped through her. Before her eyes Tart was burning! Pale skin quickly withered away to black before the skin seemed to peel off all together, melting away from the latticework of pink muscle underneath. This too was consumed by the flames, leaving nothing but charred remains. One of his eyes pushed out of its sockets, hitting against her arm before it fell to the ground.

Ichigo's scream increased in volume as blackened, crumbling hands gripped her by the shoulders.

"NO!" She cried, trying her best to twist out of them, "Let go of me!"

"ICHIGO!"

"Oh come now, Kitten, don't be that way. Take a good look, after all, this is your handy-work." The corpse of Tart whispered to her.

"NO!" Ichigo cried again.

The hands tightened on her. They were shaking her.

"ICHIGO!"

With a gasp Ichigo lurched into consciousness, rapidly blinking away tears. She could make out a faint orange glow that rose into a black abyss above her. Instantly thinking it was the fire, Ichigo screamed loudly. She flung herself backwards, hitting her head against something hard. Ichigo groaned loudly as her head rang like a gong, white splotches dancing across her vision. Something warm instantly cupped her cheeks, holding her head in place.

Slowly, her eyes began to focus. She could make out a messy blur of green and gold against the glow of the orange fire. The outline of a face soon followed before she could clearly see Kish before her, his golden eyes wide with worry.

"Kish?" She murmured as if she wasn't quite sure he was there.

"I'm here Ichigo." He murmured in response, as if he could read her mind. He gently wiped her unshed tears away with the pads of his thumbs, "Are you alright?"

"It's all my fault…" Ichigo breathed, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

Kish frowned, "What's all your fault?"

"That Tart and Berry are dead! If it wasn't for me, both of them would still be alive! Both of them would still be alive and none of us would be in this situation right now!" Ichigo sobbed.

Kish's frown deepened.

"I should never have trusted you! Any of you!" Ichigo suddenly cried.

Kish leaned forward to the point where their noses were touching, his eyes locking onto hers with a penetrating gaze. Ichigo gasped at the intimacy of the contact; her cheeks reddening in the process.

"Get a hold of yourself." Kish said in a low voice, "You aren't going to believe me, but none of this is your fault. You may like to think you had a choice in the matter, but you never did. Genri and Sensana would've gotten all of you here one way or another. Maybe there were actions that could've prevented Tart and Berry's death, but it does us no good to focus on the "what-ifs". It happened. They're dead. There's nothing you can do about it."

Ichigo ducked her head, biting her lip as more tears spilled out over her cheeks.

"However," Kish continued, "Your girls are still counting on you. They need you to be strong for them now. If you allow depression to consume you, then you'll become a liablility."

"I'm not a liability for mourning over my friends." Ichigo hissed through clenched teeth.

"You are if you can't move past it."

"And how exactly do you suggest I do that?"

"By breaking your friends out." Kish replied.

Ichigo blinked in shock before returning her gaze to meet Kish's.

"How?" She asked in a small voice.

Kish glanced around. Guards still lined the room, but while they didn't look particularly attentive, Ichigo could tell they were still focused enough on her and Kish.

Smirking, Kish reached into his pocket.

"What are you doing?" One of the guards suddenly called.

Kish withdrew his hand, the flickering of the flames glancing off of something gold.

"You didn't-" Ichigo began.

"Hands where I can see them!" The same guard yelled, advancing on the two of them.

"Use it wisely." Kish winked, placing the small oval-shaped pendant in her hand before taking to the air and vanishing.

"Where did he go?" The guard gasped, stopping short next to Ichigo.

"No idea…" Ichigo muttered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. She inhaled sharply as her injured limbs protested against the sudden movement.

"Mew Ichigo, you should stay in bed." The guard cautioned gently, laying both hands on her shoulders as though he were about to tuck her back in.

Ichigo brushed his hands aside.

"I've been in bed for long enough." She replied.

"You're still injured." He protested.

Ichigo smiled weakly at him.

"I'm sorry." She said.

The look of confusion barely had time to register on the guard's face before she delivered a well aimed punch to his solar plexus, pushing the air from his lungs. He gave a broken gasp before crumpling at her feet.

"You'd think in a society that has both male and female warriors they wouldn't let their guard down around a little girl." Kish commented dryly, suddenly at her side again.

"Says the guy who had his ass kicked by this little girl." Ichigo replied tonelessly.

"Can't argue with that."

"Did you take out the rest of the guards?"

"See for yourself."

Ichigo scanned the room. Sure enough, the waulrinswi who had been standing guard were knocked out cold, and slumped against each other.

Ichigo turned back to Kish, holding her pendant between her thumb and forefinger.

"When did you get this?" She asked.

"While you were asleep. Told the guards I had to use the restroom and knocked out the guy they sent to watch me. It's weird," Kish frowned, "Less than half a year ago I couldn't even take one member of the royal guard. Now it's as if their movements are slow and predictable."

Ichigo chose to ignore his musings as she turned her pendant over in her hand. Like Kish said, she had to be strong right now. The rest of her team was counting on her.

"Were you able to get the rest?" She asked, indicating the pendant.

Kish patted his pocket.

"All here. The security for them was disappointingly lax."

"And when we do break them out, where will we go?" Ichigo asked.

"Back to the cave." Kish replied easily.

"But what about Pai and Arnes and the kids?"

"We'll take them with."

But Ichigo was already shaking her head.

"No, we'll never make it far with two children and an army against us, and the Waesf Aleurs out there."

"Then what do you suggest?"

Ichigo folded her arms, glaring at the floor as she raked her brain for an idea.

"We'll break the other Mews out and give them back their pendants." She said slowly, "I'll feel much better if they're able to defend themselves."

"Then what?" Kish prompted.

"Then we find Genri and devise an offensive plan against the Waesf Aleurs. I don't intend to sit around until the next attack."

"And he doesn't intend to actually work with you!" Kish exclaimed, "Ichigo, if you even try going to him, he'll just lock you and all the other Mews up again! Hell, he might even decide Pai's family was involved and kill them all!"

"Well we don't exactly have an escape shuttle we can run to!" Ichigo countered.

Kish was silent for a moment before exclaiming, "We might not need one!"

"How in hell do you figure that?"

"The Mew Aqua!"

Ichigo laughed derisively, "The Mew Aqua got you into this mess! What makes you think it'll work now?"

"Because the Mews will be the ones operating it."

Ichigo snorted, but Kish held up a placating hand.

"Listen, I know it's a long shot, but hear me out. The Mew Aqua gave you the power to defeat Deep Blue. It had enough power to direct us here, and as far as I know, it still works. It's an abundant source of power, and most likely what Sensana hopes to invoke with a blood sacrifice, but why is she so sure it'll work?"

Ichigo raised a brow.

"Because it'll be infused with the power of the Mews!" Kish exclaimed, "Don't you see? Your magic is what brings that thing its full potential, and I'll bet you anything that the five of you can use it to make a portal back to Earth!"

Kish's eyes were wide with excitement, as if he'd finally been able to unravel a great mystery.

"Those are a lot of "what-ifs" Kish." Ichigo sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. She grimaced when her shoulder throbbed painfully, "That's assuming that all you say is true and that you know the location of the Mew Aqua." But inside, she was beginning to feel the fleeting stirrings of hope. Maybe there was a way back home after all! Perhaps she would still be able to see her mother and father again!

"Maybe." Kish agreed solemnly, "But right now, this is a better plan than turning yourself over to Genri. Besides, I think I have a pretty good idea where the Mew Aqua is being kept."

"Where?"

A groan from the guard at Ichigo's feet caused them both to jump.

"I'll explain on the way!" Kish promised before picking her up bridal-style and dashing from the room.

Ichigo felt as if the breath had been completely knocked out of her; as if her skin was straining to stay on her muscles and bones, and then, suddenly, they were completely out of the building and on the roof. Ichigo sucked in air greedily as Kish set her down.

"I hate traveling like that." Ichigo groused, holding onto Kish's shoulder for support.

"I know, I'm sorry." Kish replied, "Alright, can you see that small circle over there?"

Ichigo glanced up at him to see him pointing in a direction off to their right. She followed his finger in the direction he was pointing, but could only see the flickering of torch lights against the black night's sky.

A gentle breeze picked up, carrying with it the smell of precipitation.

"I don't see anything." Ichigo answered.

"It's towards the outskirts of the village, but still surrounded by buildings. It's kind of blue in color."

Ichigo squinted into the distance, trying to find what Kish was talking about, but she still couldn't see anything.

"You're night vision is better than mine." She finally sighed.

"That's because you're not transformed." Kish realized, "Any way, the prison is in that direction. We need to get going though. They've noticed we're gone." He held out his arms to Ichigo.

"Can't we just teleport or something?" Ichigo groaned.

"Not unless we have a seal of military clearance to get past the magical barrier they have up." Kish explained, "Come on! We've got to go!"

Reluctantly, Ichigo stepped back into Kish's arms and allowed him to pick her up before hooking her arms around his neck. Kish adjusted his hold to make sure she was secure before taking off again.

Ichigo again felt suffocated by the intense burst of speed, almost like her lungs were shriveling up due to their inability to expand with oxygen, and then she hand Kish were standing over a large pit in the ground that crackled with light blue magic across the top.

"Ichigo?" Four surprised voices called.

Ichigo fell to her knees at the edge of the prison.

"Pudding! Lettuce! Zakuro! Mint!" She called, trying to squint through the bright blue magic to see her teammates.

"Kish! How do we get them out of here?"

"The magic is connected at two ends." Kish explained, "We'll need to destroy it at the same time then move quickly. They'll know as soon as the barrier's broken."

"Where exactly?"

A hair raising shriek split the air. Ichigo nearly jumped out of her skin. Wide-eyed, she scanned the area to the best of her ability, but all she could see were the shadowed outlines of buildings against the brilliant blue of the barrier.

"What was that?" She gasped as Pudding whimpered below.

Kish stood stalk still, his ears straining to pick up on anything.

"I don't know." He finally replied, "I'll take a quick look, see what I can see from the sky. Find one of the connection points."

"But I don't even know what I'm looking for!"

"You'll know it when you see it!" Kish called hurriedly, before taking to the sky.

Ichigo jumped to her feet, glancing frantically at the barrier before her. She couldn't see anything other than the stark contrast of the blue against the dying grass.

"I'll know it when I see it." She repeated softly to herself before taking off at a run around the perimeter of the hole. She kept her eyes glued to the ground as she ran looking for something, anything, that would indicate some sort of magical presence.

"We have to hurry!" Kish yelled, landing across the prison from her, "The Waesf Aleurs are attacking! It looks like there's hundreds of them!"

Ichigo's heart thundered in her chest at the thought of those monsters swarming the village. She redoubled her efforts, ignoring the cries of the other Mews who were asking about the attackers. There would be plenty of time to explain later, but right now they were sitting ducks.

Ichigo pulled out her pendant and quickly transformed. Her sudden increase in vision almost caused her to miss it, but there it was, a small slab of white stone with a jagged rune carved into the middle of it.

"Kish I found it!" She yelled, skidding to a stop before it.

"On my signal pour as much of your magic into it as you can!' Kish instructed.

"What's the signal?" Ichigo called back.

"Now!" Kish yelled.

Slightly flustered, Ichigo swung her katana down at the rock, focusing all of her will power into breaking the damn thing. The blade collided with the rock where a protective wave of magic surged forth in an attempt to block it, but it might as well have been tissue paper. Her katana sliced cleanly through it, splitting the rock straight down the middle until it became imbedded in the ground.

Ichigo shielded her eyes as the blue barrier hissed then transcended into a blinding white. The next thing she knew it was gone, and an odd stillness hung in the air.

Suddenly Kish was at her side, gripping her arm painfully.

"Ow! Kish!" Ichigo complained, but he was already pressing objects into her hand.

"Get these to them now. We've got company."

Ichigo quickly looked up at him. His face was ashen, a thin sheet of sweat graced his brow. Even his breathing was haggard, but what worried her was how scared he looked.

Slowly, Ichigo glanced around, expecting the waulrinswi army to have caught up with them already. Her blood turned to ice. How could she have not seen them before? Surrounding them, as silent and black as the night were Waesf Aleurs ranging in size. Most clung like overgrown spiders to the sides of the buildings while others were emerging from within the shadows, shimmering into existence.

"Kish?" Ichigo squeaked in terror.

"Shh, I'll hold them off." Kish murmured, his eyes constantly moving as he took in their positions. None of them seemed to be moving, just watching them intently, "Get the girls to the roof tops. Now go!'

He pushed her over the edge.

Yelping, Ichigo flipped in mid air before landing catlike at the bottom of the prison.

Instantly she was suffocated by four pairs of arms.

"Ichigo!"

"What's going on?"

"Who's attacking?"

"How did you find us?"

"Where's Berry?"

"Whoa!" Ichigo yelled to halt the barrage of questions, "First thing's first." She opened the hand Kish had shoved objects into and began distributing their pendants.

"Transform now. Mint, can you get us one at a time to the top of that building?" She pointed blindly up to one of the intimidating shadows above.

"No, I'm only strong enough to carry Pudding." Mint replied, "Ichigo, what's going on?"

"No time to explain." Ichigo said quickly, "Get Pudding to the top of that building and give us as much cover fire as you can. GO! NOW!"

Nodding, Mint and Pudding quickly transformed before Pudding climbed onto Mint's back and she took off.

From above, Ichigo could already hear the sound of Kish's blades whistling through the air, followed by the sounds of growling and snarling.

"Ichigo, what's up there?" Lettuce whimpered.

"Something terrifying." Ichigo replied grimly, "Transform now and prepare to fight for your life. Their fleshy underside is where they're most vulnerable. Get to the top of that building as quickly as you can.'

"Ok." Zakuro nodded, "This way." She took off at a run for the wall of the prison. Ichigo hadn't seen it on her fall down, but there was a ledge that spiraled around the entire perimeter, leading to the outside world.

Zakuro and Mint transformed as they ran, but Ichigo was feeling more and more terrified with each step. The last time she'd faced off with the Waesf Aleurs, Berry had died. Images of the girl swam in the forefront of Ichigo's mind. Blood, there was so much blood. Staining the girl's chest and dribbling from the corners of her mouth. She glanced in fear at Zakuro and Lettuce. Would it be one of them next? Was she going to fail all of them?

Ichigo quickly swiped the tears away as they reached the surface, jumping almost immediately to avoid the Waesf Aleur that lunged at them. It missed, falling with a sickening crunch to the bottom of the prison. She barely registered the startled gasps from Zakuro and Lettuce before another one was upon them.

Ichigo jumped over the tail that swiped at her, summoning her katana to her hand.

"GAH!" Lettuce cried.

Ichigo whirled around. A Waesf Aleur had its jaw sunk deep into Lettuce's left side.

"No!" Ichigo roared, her katana glowing as her magic pooled into the blade. Acting on instinct, she brought her weapon down across the Waesf Aleur's neck. To her surprise, it cleaved the creature's head right off.

Lettuce cried out as she fell backwards, the Waesf Aleur's jaws still attached in rigor mortis.

"Zakuro cover us!" Ichigo yelled as she fell to her knees beside Lettuce. Her entire left side was stained a bright crimson, her hands pushing frantically at the head still attached to her.

"Hold on Lettuce!" Ichigo cried, hooking one hand under the top jaw and doing the same to the bottom. With strength she didn't know she had, she was able to wrench the jaws apart.

Lettuce screamed as the movement ripped her sensitive skin even more before subsiding into pained whimpers, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Ichigo bawled, throwing the head aside as yellow blood seemed to splatter everywhere.

Streaks of purple flashed through the air as Zakuro's whip made a larger perimeter around them, somehow keeping the monsters at bay.

Ichigo hovered over Lettuce, not sure what she should do. The wounds were already festering due to some sort of poison. Lettuce's face was as white as a sheet, a damp sheen of sweat sticking to her skin.

"Ichigo I need your help!" Zakuro cried.

Ichigo quickly pressed Lettuce's hands against the wounds.

"Keep as much pressure on those as possible!" She instructed before jumping back into the fray. Focusing on how she had easily been able to slice through the last Waesf Aleur that had attacked Lettuce by focusing her power into the blade, Ichigo called upon whatever resolve that lay within her. She whirled in a flurry of movement, taking down one, two, five, seven, before her body began to scream in protest. Her previous injuries were beginning to creep back up on her, making her limbs feel like lead. It was as if she was trying to swing her weighted limbs through molasses.

"Ichigo!" Kish cried, jumping in between her and a tail that would've stabbed her through the neck.

Zakuro's whip whirled around them, knocking the surge of Waesf Aleurs back.

"Kish!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Are you alright?" He called, stabbing a Waesf Aleur that had managed to avoid Zakuro's whip.

A volley of arrows shot down from above. The Waesf Aleurs gave an ear splitting howl before backing off slightly at the onslaught, giving them a moment to breath.

"Kish, can you get Lettuce out of here?" Ichigo gasped.

Zakuro flung her whip out again as a Waesf Aleur tried to lunge at them. Ichigo managed to slice the front legs off another, sending it crashing to the ground where Kish promptly stabbed it through the fleshy underside of its head. Yellow blood sprayed across his feet, but he hardly seemed to notice the acid that was eating away at his boots.

Streaks of blue arrows fell around them, some lucky shots managing to connect with the soft underside of the Waesf Aleurs, but most happened to glance off their exterior, haphazardly flying in all directions.

"What about you and Zakuro?" Kish questioned as Zakuro's whip gave them another temporary barrier.

"We'll manage! Please Kish! She's bleeding out!" Ichigo cried, holding back a scream as her bad shoulder was accidently grazed by Zakuro.

Kish looked startled to find Lettuce on the ground between Ichigo and Zakuro, but he quickly bent down and picked her up. Lettuce groaned in protest, and Mint sent a well placed arrow through the neck of a Waesf Aleur that had tried to take advantage of Kish's distraction. It fell to the ground and Ichigo stabbed it through the gut for good measure.

"GO!" She yelled. Thankfully, this time Kish took to the air, making sure he was well out of jumping range for the Waesf Aleurs.

Ichigo back against Zakuro. Both girls were panting heavily; their bodies trembling with exhaustion.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." Zakuro confessed, snapping her whip. Unfortunately, the Waesf Aleurs seemed to be getting smarter. They were watching her wrists, calculating the movement of her muscles when she went to strike, allowing them to back up in time to avoid the whip, then press back in closer before she could perform her next strike. They were quickly gaining ground.

For her part, Ichigo was putting all her effort into each swing, but her movements were getting sloppy. She felt like she had barely cut down one before another two were upon her. Her blade flickered, but she could tell that whatever magic she had was running out. Along with her exhausted limbs, her vision was beginning to blacken at the edges.

"There's too many of them!" She gasped.

Suddenly, something snaked around her middle, pulled taught, and the next thing she knew, she was airborne.

Ichigo screamed, flailing before she was unceremoniously caught by her ankle. Her terrified gaze was matched by Kish's for a second before it returned to the ground below.

Zakuro was still down there! She was still down there and her whip was no where to be seen until Ichigo caught the handle of it dangling from the corner of her eye. Ichigo gasped in horror. If she had Zakuro's whip then that meant that Zakuro was defenseless!

Ichigo's gaze somehow managed to lock onto Zakuro's before it happened. Zakuro stared at her with sad grey eyes, a half-hearted smile gracing her lips. She said something, but Ichigo couldn't hear her. Then, the Waesf Aleurs were upon her, and the stillness of the night was punctuated by the sounds of ripping flesh, gnashing teeth, and animalistic howls. Ichigo did the only thing she could do to block out the awful noise. She closed her eyes and screamed.

A/N: I am so sorry to all of my readers! I know it's been about a year since I last posted. I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter although it is not edited XP. Edited version will be up ASAP. Thanks to those of you who have stuck with the story!