Shattered

Isolated from the rainforest's villages, a building constructed out of mere stone gleamed throughout the woods. Stuck within, tied to the wall, Chiaki unconsciously hung.

Animals from land and sky fled the scene, some butterflies, trampled over like flowers by the running men, lost their lives.

"Chief! The outlanders! They found out the truth!"

The man leaped over fallen branches, diving beneath a bent tree. He vaulted over another, followed by a group. They halted, coming face-to-face with the entrance door.

The door opened.

Hywel exited, marching forward, his arms crossed behind. With a menacing glare, he stared them down. Thoughtless, he proceeded.

"The scouts..." he asked, "Huh?" the man responded. "Have they found the white-haired pirate's crew? They've been gone for hours."

The man denied, "No, sir! They're still looking. They searched most of the forest but found nothing. They spread into two groups; one searching the Vulone Island and the other Nimos Island."

Hywel rubbed his chin, thinking steadily, coming to a feasible conclusion. He ordered, eagerly yet strictly, "Send another group to the Sanctum City. I'll interrogate their second in command. Let the scouts know to inform me immediately upon locating the non-natives. If they do, make sure they retrieve the chip their navigator found. It cannot escape our grasp any longer."

The men accepted their orders, "Understood! Henchman! Send group 'A' to sector one and another to sector two! Surround the Sanctum City and keep a lookout! Captivate any residents in your cross of fire and lure them inside their homes! I want the streets to be empty!" They dialed the scouts while Hywel paraded indoors.

-

Inside, Timothy waited for Chiaki and Elliott. The rooms were empty, and numerous Scanara Tribe people returned to their surveillance over the forest.

Elliott arrived, but Chiaki didn't.

He asked, "Have you seen Chiaki? I thought she was behind me." Elliott blinked, confused and guiltless. "I thought she was with you. Did she run off into the forest?"

Something didn't sit right with them. Neither of them had an excuse or an answer to that question. Quickly it became a suspicion.

"You two!" the door slam opened, "Bad news! One of the onlookers noticed your friend getting lugged away through the forest, tied up." Olishia entered.

It concerned them both. Unable to tell where they carried Chiaki.

-

Running from the Seraphs, Tarot dashed behind a building.

"Conceal..." he whispered.

The man caught up to him and snuck a peek behind the alley, "Where did he go? He was just there!" one claimed as the others examined the alleyway, from bottom to top.

"He's not here. Spread out!" they rushed in different directions, and once the coast was clear, Tarot materialized in front of a wall.

He used invisibility to his advantage and escaped the guards.

He peeked from the corner, making sure none of the guards got left behind, and exhaled warmly, "Works like a champ." He scratched his nose proudly and expressed a cheeky smile.

Ready to move on to his next location, he froze. Somebody busted him — a child.

"Um... hello." The boy's voice scared Tarot, causing him to jump on the spot, "Whoa! Kid! W-What are you doing here?" Tarot sweated in a shameful way.

"I-I've been hiding. H-Have you seen a woman with long brown hair? Her eyes are all flashy and cat-like. She also has her hair shaped like a feline."

Tarot relaxed, pressing his palm on his chest, "Geeze, you scared me, kiddo. I thought you were out to get me. But why? Why are you looking for her?"

The child fiddled with his fingers, becoming shy and embarrassed. His cheeks were visibly red. He had a lightly-toned complexion, something the Seraphs and the townies didn't have on the Sanctum Islands.

"Her name's Shanya. She's from the Armagh Desert — her homeland. She came to the Sanctum Islands in hopes to find a doctor who could help Zayha's infection. Zahya's my older sister, and Shanya's her bodyguard."

Tarot couldn't do much other than try to help, "If you want, I can help you find her." The boy's eyes sparkled, "Really? A-Are you sure it won't be a bother for you?"

Tarot peered into the street, "Don't worry. No problem. But keep tight and don't go loose."

-

The caves never ended. It felt like Aurora was looping, returning to the same place over and over again with a serial killer chasing her throughout the tunnels.

"Where am I now?"

She found herself between another cross out. They each led deeper into the cave and its darkness, preventing her from knowing which one was the exit.

But even though she wanted to escape the cave, she didn't intend to leave behind her friend, Kou.

She started feeling uncomfortable, slowly thinking there wasn't an actual way out other than to climb the hole she and Kou fell from.

She slapped her own face gently, "Come on. Come on, Aurora. You got this. Just find Kou and escape. You can do it." She braved up and prepared to move onward, but she suddenly couldn't move anymore.

"W-Why can't I move?"

She pushed ahead but only managed to move her right foot. She gazed at the floor and noticed her foot becoming crystallized. However, that was not the main reason preventing her from moving.

There was a crystalized arm firmly holding her shoe. She became astonished and scared. Then, she witnessed a bulky body shaping from the crystals beneath the floor.

"We meet again, lady."

Aurora began pulling at her ankle and yanked her foot out from the shoe, causing her to lower her foot, stepping on a sharp crystal.

From pain, she wailed. She tumbled onto the ground, firmly holding her injured foot, and the diamond man finally emerged from the crystal, watching over her slim body like a titan.

"Do you mind if I bash your skull? I'm pretty good at that."

The man laughed, terrifying Aurora, who crawled on her rear. "Is something wrong? Do you need help standing up?" He extended his crystallized arm and reached for her arm.

She pulled back as he grabbed her sleeve, causing her jacket to rip to shreds, leaving her in a tank top while exposing the silky, smooth skin on her arms.

"Aw, too bad. Let me help you with that top as well." He tried to undress her, and once an inch away from doing so, lightning zapped.

It zigzagged through the tunnel at an excessive speed that even the eye couldn't catch, and Kou's body zipped through, "Get your hands..." with sound-breaking speed and an extended leg, Kou surged toward the man's skull.

Blue and mint energy pulsed behind, trailing him in all its glory and flashy sparkles, "Off her!!" Kou's foot hit. It rammed the man's face, drilling through the diamond skin. It spread itself throughout the man's whole body, inserting a relentless force.

"Y-You think your puny legs can break through my skin?!"

The man held on strong, preventing Kou from reaching deeper into the crystallized skin.

Kou's mouth trembled in fury as he kept a fierce countenance, "Y-Yeah!" The energy behind Kou's kick intensified, "I'll do it... Right here!" it kicked up a whirlwind, "Right now!" Kou's veins beamed with a radiant blue color, charging up beyond, "Using every ounce of strength in my body!" he managed to dig deeper into the skin and understood he would soon lose his momentum.

"No matter what happens to me!" Kou used the diamond man's head to bounce back into a backflip, preparing to land. The man dragged back his heavy arm, qualified to smash Kou's face to bits, only for him to duck beneath.

"Three hits! One after another!" he hauled his arm backward, "I can shatter it..." His energy trailed behind him, wrapping around his wrist and shaping into a giant fist, "It's now or never..." his eyes flared with electricity, "I can break through..." The whirlwind strengthened, causing the cave tunnels to tremble, "I'll strike where it hurts the most..."

His sleeves ripped apart to expose his right arm, "Pressure Point... Full Throttle! Hornet..." Kou punched forward, stomping his foot on the ground to demolish it as the fist overhauled at an extreme speed, "SHOCK!!"

The enormous energy fist slammed into the diamond man's face, widening his eyes. It continued to pierce the tough skin, and as it sent a shockwave through the entire body, the crystallized skin burst into pieces.

The impact produced a strong and heavy gust of wind that pulsated through the tunnels and absorbed the diamond man into a massive wind bomb that carried him into the tube while squeezing Aurora's body against the wall from the intense pressure.

The diamond man crashed into the wall, bursting through it and sending him flying into the outdoors, high above the lower island, causing his blood to spout throughout the sky.

He passed out while experiencing the air currents stabbing his skin like a dagger. He plunged through the air to the bottom of the pit, where he crashed into the earth abruptly and violently.

The hard floor underneath him shook from the force of it.

Aurora held back her hair from the heavy wind and became amazed, her eyes fluttering in disbelief.

To be continued...