(O/N) was busy talking with her Keepers when she noticed the small team who went to scope out the train yard had finally returned.
She dismissed her Keepers and began walking toward them. They've been gone for over an hour. They should be moving into the train yard by now.
But Axel was able to reach the trucks first and met up with Jules who had a look of anger, frustration, and pain on his face. It made (O/N) stop in her tracks.
"What's going on..?" (O/N) asked as she moved closer to them. Her eyes looked around the trucks, seeing other Capturers get out who were either injured and needed medical help or who were still able and immediately getting to work. But she didn't see her daughter or (Y/N). "Where are the girls?"
Before her husband could speak, an injured Dog came stumbling out from the last truck while clutching his injuries. (O/N) saw him and immediately rushed toward him. "Dog!?"
The spider demon flinched when he felt her carefully inspect him as she always does when he got injured but this time he couldn't look her in the eyes. He was filled with shame and fear. When she tried asking him what happened, he couldn't speak...
"They took them..." Jules lowly spoke, his fist clenched tightly around his gun. "They took her..."
"What..?" (O/N)'s heart dropped and the sound of her heartbreak made Dog feel evermore guilty.
Jules slammed his gun onto the hood of the truck. Axel had a horrified expression and looked to the rest of the team that had gone out. "What do you mean they took them? The Elitists? What happened down there?!"
"They were waiting for us! Except this time it wasn't like their other attempts at ambushing us. They had a demon who was stronger than we expected." Jules exclaimed. They were lucky that none of them were killed when trains began to move in an attempt to crush them and corner them off. "But they separated us from (Y/N) and Blythe was with her. Dog ran to find them but when we found him, he was pinned to the wall by metal and the girls were gone!"
A horrified gasp came from the Head Keeper. Jules immediately went to comfort her but he needed to make plans quick. Those crazed demons had his daughter.
"Shit..!" Axel cursed. "We need to go now! If they touch that girl-"
"Half our team is already out of commission. We'll just be throwing ourselves to them." Jules gritted his teeth while holding his wife close. She didn't want to imagine what horrid plans they had for (Y/N) but she especially didn't want to imagine what they were going to do with her daughter. What if they learn about her abilities? What if they tried to turn her the same way Zankoku tried to do so long ago? What if they kill her?! What if they-
(O/N) soon had a pained look on her face as her hand went to clutch her heart. Memories from so long ago, the fear of being kidnapped and not knowing what your fate holds. The stress from the situation was beginning to take a toll on her.
Her husband and Axel both looked at her in worry and Axel immediately went to go find a doctor.
Dog couldn't help but feel responsible knowing that both (Y/N) and B would say he wasn't. But he was the last one with them and felt responsible of their safety at that moment. He allowed himself to freeze up and that caused both girls to get taken away by the Elitists.
"We'll get them back." Jules leaned closer to his wife and held her tightly, hoping that this didn't put too much pressure on her heart. "We know where the asylum is, that's where they took them. Blythe is capable in these situations. W need to have faith in her."
"But what if they change her? What if they hurt her? She's not a demon!" (O/N) choked as her emotions rise up. "My baby..."
"They're not..." Dog muttered, making the parents turn back to him. Dog made promises to both girls to keep them safe. This was hurting him just as much as the parents. "I'll go after them. I'll get them back..."
(O/N)'s eyes widened and she immediately shook her head. "You can barely stand! Dog, no!"
"Someone has to protect them until the others get here..." Dog protested. If only 12 go after them now, that would only leave more people getting hurt. They needed 11, the Outsiders, and Edith's group if they were to stand a chance against the Elitists. But Dog didn't like the thought of B and (Y/N) up there alone.
He was the fastest and knew the ins and outs of the asylum. His injuries will be fully healed in time. "I'll be fine. I know how to get around the asylum. I'll bring them back."
(O/N) wanted to refuse this again but the Chief knew that it was their only option if they wanted to save their daughter and the girl before the battle started. He felt comfortable having someone on the team go after them. "Just make sure they're both safe. Once the other groups get here, we'll be there in no time to get you all out. Understood?"
"Jules!" (O/N) tried to say but Dog nodded his head as he turned to leave. The Head Keeper watched him go, desperately. "Just stay safe! Please!"
"I will..." Dog called back as he bit back the pain in his injuries and started dashing out.
"So what's this I'm hearing about your daughter and that demon?" Came the voice of Torres who approached the parents.
Jules let out a grunt as he began leading his wife over to the doctor to make sure her heart was ok. "Not now, Torres."
As they walked past her, the Head Keeper in training shook her head in disbelief. "Great. So now we have to throw the whole plan aside for a rescue mission now..."
(O/N) gritted her teeth as she stopped walking and Jules looked back at her with a 'just ignore her' expression. But the older woman had enough. She whipped around and started matching up to Torres. "They have my daughter! What do you expect us to do?!"
"Well maybe if you and your daughter weren't so careless around demons, we wouldn't be in this mess." Torres stated, a look of annoyance over her face.
"Hey!" Jules stepped in, ready to give the heartless woman a piece of his mind but his wife held him back.
(O/N) gave Torres a lasting look before she turned away to go seek out the doctor. "You can forget about the position."
Torres tsked as she crossed her arms. "You're going to fire me? You don't have the power, ma'am. Mrs. Sitari does."
"Sure." The Head Keeper simply said. Jules gave Torres a lasting glare before going to follow his wife and create plans for the rescue.
Back in the asylum, (Y/N) around her cell room looking for anything that can help her escape. She tried looking for secret tunnels, using her blood to cut the chain on her cuffs, and even shaking the bars in hopes that one of them was loose. But nothing worked...
Meanwhile, Yama sat across from her in his own cell trying to come up with a way to escape. It was easier the last time he was here when he wasn't locked away and had time to think up something. He looked over when he heard slashing and saw (Y/N) trying to use her vines that break open the cell. She grunted with each hard thrash as her blood collided with the bars of the cell hard but to no avail. She was becoming desperate to get out. He can see it in her eyes.
"(Y/N)." Yama spoke but she still continued. "(Y/N)!"
"What..?" She breathed tiredly. No matter how dangerous her blood was against enemies, it can't cut through metal.
"Just calm down." He said as he leaned against the wall for support. "We'll be alright."
But the girl shook her head. Nothing was alright about being in this place. "No, we need to get out of here before Zankora or Xed comes back!"
She threw her vines against the bar door and proceeded to try and pull the door open, using all of her strength but still to no avail. Yama watched her, understanding her need to get out but she'll only tire herself out at this rate. "That's not going to work. Just save your energy."
She finally gave in as she went to the bars and wrapped her hands around them as her head leaned against the cold metal. She barely remembered her previous time here due to her transformation taking so much out of her that she was hardly awake for any of it. She only remembered bits and pieces and then waking up in the mall...
"How did you get out the first time?" Yama asked, she had been able to escape this place before. There should be a way to do it again.
But (Y/N) weakly shrugged as her eyes fell to the ground. "I don't know... I don't remember."
"You have to." Yama was carefully listening out for anyone who may approach and kept his voice down as well. "If you were able to escape before, then we can do it again."
He looked down at the chains he was connected to by his wrists and neck. They kept at the wall of his cell but as he inspected them more, they were pretty old and rusty. He used his left hand to pull at the chains then used his abilities to yank them more and saw the end to them slowly give way but not enough to release him. This could work though.
"But if they catch us trying to escape, they'll kill you!" (Y/N) stated with a shaky voice.
"They're going to kill me anyway. At least that crazed one is." Yama grunted as he tugged on the chains harder. "Don't worry about me. You're the priority here."
"You are too! I'm always going to worry about you!"
"Why? They're going to put you through far worse than they'll do me!"
"That doesn't mean I can't worry about you!"
"(Y/N)-"
"Because I love you!" The girl cut him off as she had tears in her eyes and gripped the bars tightly.
He fell silent as he turned away from the chain to face her as silence fell between them. 'She...'
"... and I don't want you to die." Her words were almost a whisper but he heard each one. He was someone so important to her, someone she cared about so much. "I already lost my family. I can't lose you too..."
Yama's teeth clenched as he let his head fall. His hands that were gripping the chains loosened up. He never thought she would say it, but now that she did, it made his heart grow even more than it already was. "I love you too."
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. She never thought he would say those words either.
The bars and hall between them only felt like it was getting bigger. She wanted to run to him and he wanted to hold her close. She wanted to get them both out and he wanted to protect her with his life.
But most of all, they both wanted someone to love again and couldn't live without the other.
"I'll get us out." Yama muttered as he gazed at her in longing. "And I'll keep you safe. Just save your energy."
"You should too. You're more injured than me..." (Y/N) stated as she extended her vines across the hall and inside his cell to wrap around the end of his chains. She gripped her vines tightly and waited for his call to pull.
He tells her to save her energy, yet she uses it to help him instead. He should've known better. She's his partner after all.
His left hand moved until he had a firm hold on the chain and nodded at her to start pulling. She did, tugging at the rusty old chain with all her might while he did the same, feeling pretty limited due to his right hand being useless. But together, they both were able to pull the chains out of the wall. Yama stumbled back when he was finally loose while (Y/N) fell back to the ground. Her blood retreated back to her as she looked up to see the chains out of the wall with concrete dust and chunks on the floor beneath it. Now he just needed to remove the padlocks keeping the chains secured around his neck and wrists.
"Can you pick those?" (Y/N) asked, she got to her feet and went closer to the bars again. The cuffs on her wrists rattled against the metal bars as she looked down at them. If only she knew how to lock pick herself...
"I can try." He huffed as he inspected the padlock on his wrists. He didn't have any tools to use and didn't see any laying around the cell. The same can be said with hers. But the fingers on his left hand began to move as he tried using his abilities to pick the lock instead.
"Once we're out of these, we won't be in the clear yet. There's still an entire building of demons to get through." He stated as he watched the keyhole try to turn. "Once we know for sure how to get out is when we act."
(Y/N) nodded along, having faith that he'll come up with something. "What about the Zone? We were on our way to the meet-up location where Xed ambushed us again..."
"Will they be here soon?" If the Zone and those helping were going to start the battle soon, that can be beneficial toward their escape. "The noise that they can create can keep the Elitists' attention on them and not us."
"I hope. The last I remember, the ambush didn't look good for us..." She doesn't know if the rest of the team made it out, Dog was pinned, and B-
(Y/N) quickly gasped. What about her friend? "B! She was with me last! I can't remember what happened to her..."
"Was she with you when you got caught?" Yama glanced up at her at the mention of his old friend's daughter before going back to picking the lock.
"We got separated from the others during the ambush. Dog found us and we were trying to regroup but then he got pinned..." She felt worry building up for the spider demon. "He pushed us away so we can run but..."
Yama cursed to himself when his abilities failed on him to pick the lock. He went to try again but looked up to his partner when she fell silent, seeing a loom of confusion on her face. "But what? What happened?"
(Y/N) looked down at her hands and remembered the strange thing that happened to her. "Something grabbed me... But it grabbed me by my blood."
Yama furrowed his eyes at this. Grabbed her by her blood? But no one else around her should be able to do that, not even he can. Grabbing liquid was difficult for those with his abilities and the chances there was another blood manipulator was next to none. But then he thought.
Zankoku was dead. Zankora couldn't possibly have his abilities. If she did, she wouldn't need (Y/N) as much as she does. But he remembered someone who was close to having what the deceased King once did. While not the same, but awfully close...
He sighed as he got to work on picking the locks once more. "This is just getting better and better..."
(Y/N) was unsure of what he meant but as he said before and tried to save her energy. When he needed her help, she'll be there.
But as she watched him pick his locks, a thought crossed her mind. A question she asked him before but he never gave a clear answer to. "Yama?"
"Yes?" He answered, not taking as much time as he did last time.
"Remember when I asked that... once this is all over, we can go back to your cabin? Just me and you, like before." She felt shy asking this, the last time she did he pushed her away.
But unlike last time when her request left him feeling dreadful and scared, hearing her still want to go back to his home with him despite how much he pushed her away, only made him love her even more.
"I would love to." He gave her a small warm smile as she lit up at his words. He still had his fears but also a newfound determination to keep her safe.
He couldn't save his brother, but he still has a chance to save her.