The Search For Peace

Chapter 12

Alyssa felt groggy as she lifted her head from the ground, the aftereffects of being rendered unconscious hitting her once again. As much as she wanted to avoid it, here she was, lying on the cold floor of a cell, not knowing what exactly she did to deserve this sort of hospitality. She didn't even know much about the clans before this day, and she was slightly regretting that fact. If she had known about the Capricorns and how much they loved attacking people, she would've at least read an article about them out of curiosity.

As her vision cleared, she realized her hands had been tied behind her back, the meek yellow lamps dimly lighting the metal bars in front of her. She could make out the silhouette of a person seated just outside at the foot of her cell, his head drooping as he slept. Some guard he was. Other than his snoring, the dark hallway was eerily silent, that is, until the steel entrance in the distance screeched open.

"God dammit, let me go!!!" Someone screamed, a female to be exact. Alyssa pushed herself closer to the bars to see who exactly was being dragged into the jail this time, but was only able to make out the booted footsteps of the captors. Her sleeping guard had also completely woken up, blocking the view even more. Giving up, she slumped, waiting for them to pass by instead. But, to her surprise, they stopped exactly at her location. And the person being thrown into her cell was...

"Harmony?!" The girl abruptly moved out of the way as the brunette came crashing at her feet. "Wha...how...?" She was at a loss of words at the scene unfolding before her eyes, her gaze darting from the guards closing the bars once again, to the girl groveling on the ground beside her.

Harmony gritted her teeth and turned her face to growl at the men who had brought her here. "God, you don't have to be so rough! You're throwing me around like I'm some sack or something!" She was clearly enraged, the strands of her long hair all over her sweaty face.

"Sheesh, you're loud for your size." One of them snorted as he shook off the dust on his hands. To her expectation, they laughed her off and left, and she finally acknowledged the girl staring eagerly at her with her turquoise eyes.

"Hi....Alyssa...." Harmony found it hard to face her for some reason, ashamed she was here instead of out there, saving her.

"Are you okay?!" Alyssa cried. "You look terrible." Harmony was highly grateful she was more worried about her well being than her own. She didn't look too great herself, her uniform's skirt crumpled and her bubbly pink jacket falling off her shoulders.

She let out a breath. "Are you okay? We came here to help you, but..."

"Wait, we?"

"Oh, well, we all got your message so," She stopped mid-sentence when Alyssa let out a relieved sigh.

"Ah, I'm so glad! And here I thought I was going to rot here for the rest of my life. Thank goodness..."

Harmony smiled to herself, then glanced around at the place they were in. "Who would've thought a clock tower had a jail for a basement."

Alyssa's eyes widened, and she inched closer with her knees so that the semi-asleep guard didn't overhear. "We're in a clock tower? Do you think Ultima and Juliet will be able to find us, then?"

To that, the brunette shrugged. "If I had my phone with me, I'd tell them." Those bulky officers had taken the device from her, and she guessed the same thing had happened to her companion. Suddenly, she sucked in a breath through her nose and stiffened, her eyes closed. Then, she released her tense shoulders with a pout, coming to a conclusion. "We can't use our powers either."

"What should we do?" Alyssa asked with a creased forehead, her anxiety rising. "I don't even get why I was captured in the first place..."

"Yeah, that's what I'm wondering, too."

"Is that so?" They both froze when an uninvited guest joined their conversation ever so rudely. She had literally appeared out of nowhere, smirking at their horrified faces as she crouched down to see them properly through the bars.

It was the eye-patch girl, they realized, mocking them with her teleportation skills yet again. Her wild blonde hair jagged out in all directions above the black cloth over her eye, an awful cut in the evil grin she was pulling. "Yo."

"Hey, you're the one who attacked me at school!" Alyssa itched to jab a finger in her face, but alas, her hands were tied. "I swear, when I get outta here, I'll-"

Her snicker interrupted the declaration she was making. "You'll what? Kill me? You think you can, little girl?" Using her bare, muscular arms, she hoisted herself up and shifted her icy gaze to Harmony. "It's been a while, eh? Can't say I missed your stupid face, though." Harmony said nothing, her plump lips pursed as she simply stared her down.

Enjoying her discomfort, the blonde decided to continue talking.  "You know, you haven't changed at all, honestly. Still as skinny as ever. How's the curse been treating you?"

"None of your business." Harmony could feel her heart in her throat, pounding like no tomorrow. She didn't like this conversation. She didn't like the way this girl was bringing up her past. She just....just wanted to disappear....

Miss eye-patch couldn't care less though, amused by the reactions she was getting out of her two prisoners. But, just as she was about to pry some more, the guards outside the jail began to shuffle out, yelling: "Intruders!" as they did.

"Ah, looks like your friends are here." She spared them one last glance before turning to head out herself. "You two stay put while I go give them a proper welcoming." As she began to walk away in her belted boots, her mind reminded her of one last thing to say before she left. "Oh yeah, and Alyssa?" She got the attention of the auburn haired girl, her ears perked and her eyes wide open. "Don't worry your pretty little head about why we captured you. You're just...easy bait."

And with that, she closed the iron gates behind her, leaving the two girls pondering over her words as they sat helplessly in the cell.