Arisa shrunk as a cold breeze blew past her. She folded her arms, rubbing them. Despite having worn a sweater, she still could feel the chilly air penetrate in her skin.
She gazed up. Through the space between the tall trees, she could see several clouds hiding the night sky. She returned her view back to her front, fixing the hair that had moved over her face thanks to the breeze. Maybe it was because it was really a late hour and the summer had only started, but she found the weather a bit too cold for the season.
"Seems like Garoh has succeeded to summon the special woods," whispered Kazuya.
Arisa focused on the only area that had illumination. Through the many trees, Arisa spotted Garoh's silhouette, careful peering by the tree that hid him from the guards not far from him.
Arisa exhaled, a sudden nervousness flowing within her.
"Now we only have to wait," she said, trying to keep calm. "I hope the scent caused by Garoh's woods, won't take long to confuse our targets."
Kazuya chuckled quietly. "You're so impatient."
Arisa narrowed her eyes and wished the clouds hadn't hidden the moon so that Kazuya could see her glare.
"If we weren't in the enemy's territory," she said, returning her view to the front, "I wouldn't mind waiting. And this weather isn't helping."
Arisa crossed her arms again as another chilly breeze blew past her. She wished she had equipped herself with warmer clothes. Kazuya chuckled again before he focused on the scene behind his tree. As both awaited the signal of their companions, Arisa remembered the tour the team had earlier.
After crossing the green forest, seeing a small number of animals behind the chariot's window, the team met their tour guide right at their transportation's stop. She remembered the small robot standing on the ranger's shoulder, working as an assistant for fun facts.
During the one hour they spent exploring the wonders of the National Park, Arisa was fascinated with every side of the cave they walked by and its history. Some areas had a smooth surface, while others had rough to spiky walls. With the many caves the area had, Arisa still was amazed that it was believed this attraction had yet more caves to be discovered.
Later that day, they thought of a plan to access the cave. Noticing that the entrance was protected by two guards and a medium-sized robot, the team had to come with a plan to enter the cave at night without causing any trouble.
Remembering that tour, Arisa hoped that they wouldn't take long to find the Master's hideout if the cave turns out to be the area where it was hidden.
"Oh." Arisa blinked twice. "The lights are off."
"That can only be Thelma," said Kazuya. "We'd better prepare ourselves."
Arisa nodded and peeked by her tree. With no illumination, Arisa could barely see the shadows of the cave's entrance.
Time went by and Arisa heard her heart thumping. She inhaled, attempting to calm herself. She didn't understand why she was suddenly feeling so nervous at a crucial time like this. She closed her eyes, telling herself everything will be fine.
"The voice seems to come from around here," said a male voice in the background.
Arisa almost jumped when she saw two armed men pass by a few trees by her side and running deep in the woods. She touched her chest, feeling her heart hammering against it.
Warm fingers curled around hers. Despite not seeing his face, Arisa understood that Kazuya was trying to comfort her. She smiled, holding his hand.
Time seemed as if it was frozen as the two waited for their companion's signal.
"The path is clear." Thelma's voice rang in Arisa's ear. "You can come now."
Kazuya didn't drop his hand from Arisa's and quickly guided her to the cave's entrance. They didn't take long to pass the many trees and meet a girl holding a bright stone that illuminated a small part of the entrance.
Sounds of dripping water filled the silence as Arisa examined her surroundings. She could barely see the staircase that lead to their area.
"Sorry I took long," said Thelma, her voice quiet. "It's hard to adjust a robot with one hand busy trapping the captured light."
Arisa gazed at the glowing stone her friend was holding, remembering that Thelma had taken a few of those crystal-looking rocks in Ribawe. She still was amazed by how Thelma was able to trap the entrance's light so casually.
"As long as we succeeded with the plan, it's fine," said Kazuya, his tone quiet.
"We should go," said Garoh. "Before those guards return and find us here."
The team nodded before Thelma accessed the entrance with the only available light glowing in her hand. As they carefully walked on the stairs, Arisa felt a bit warmer. They didn't take long to reach a wider area with weak illumination.
"I guess I was able to capture light until here," said Thelma, looking around. "Well then, it seems this improvised lantern is no longer needed."
As soon as Thelma opened her hand, the bright glow on the stone vanished, returning to their original source.
Garoh walked forward, relaxing. One blink and the curly-haired young man was substituted with dark blue-haired one.
"You deactivated the disguise," said Arisa as they resumed their walk.
Garoh nodded. "It's to save my magical energy. If the Master is actually here, I don't want to fight it using only my fists. Besides, it seems no one is here, so it's safe. If we spot any trouble, I'll reactivate the spell."
"That's a logical strategy," said Kazuya, looking at Arisa. "We should do the same."
Arisa inhaled and closed her eyes, relaxing. A few seconds later, she felt lighter as the rune was no longer consuming her energy.
"Very well," said Thelma, "where should we start our first investigation?"
Arisa understood her friend's question. They had reached an area that had three different paths to follow.
"This place has so many caves," said Kazuya, folding his arms. "It's difficult to choose which area we should check first."
"True," Thelma agreed. "We could split but that would be too risky and there's another problem. How will we know the exact place where it's hidden?"
A quick silence fell as the team thought of a way to solve that obstacle. Arisa thought of the dream controlled by Eklipta. For sure that dream wasn't random and probably was trying to give her hints somehow. As she remembered her necklace, a realization struck her.
"The one holding Eklipta shall be the one to find me," Arisa whispered.
She opened her shoulder bag, looking for the necklace that was still glowing with weak light.
"Of course," said Thelma. "Based on those words, the necklace is the one that will guide us to it."
"Then we'd better start exploring the caves," said Garoh, walking on the path in the middle. "It will give us a sign when we'll be close to it."
The team agreed and followed Garoh's lead. They decided to revisit the areas they had passed by with their guide that afternoon. Since those caves had illumination, it would make it easier to examine their surface.
For several minutes they explored wide caves with smooth walls that were beyond they reach. They examined the glowing necklace to see if it would give them a hint. As the item didn't show any changes, the team went on with their search in other visited areas. Still, Eklipta didn't show any reaction.
As the team was losing motivation, Garoh suggested them to visit new areas. Noticing that the unexplored sides had no illumination, Thelma materialized four lanterns to help them see.
They walked for several minutes, passing through areas that had narrowed paths and sharp shards decorating their surface.
"The ground is slippery here," said Garoh, holding Thelma as she almost fell, "so be extra careful."
"Okay," said Thelma as they resumed their walk. "Thank you."
As only their footsteps filled the silence with an echo, Arisa placed the lantern by her side in an attempt to see the walls of this area. The white light displayed yet another rough surface. Arisa grabbed her necklace. Still no sign.
"The Master better be in this place," said Thelma, sighing. "It would be so sad to find out that our guess was wrong after we reached so far."
"If it's really here," said Kazuya, examining yet another surface, "it will take days until we find it. This place is huge."
Arisa couldn't help but feel a bit down with Kazuya's statement. He was right. According to their guide, Mammoth Cave was so big it could become a world of its own.
"The stars really didn't want anyone to find those Elements," complained Thelma as they strolled to another side of the cave.
"Yeah," said Garoh. "I would have done the same thing; they are powerful items after all."
A quick chuckle echoed in the atmosphere.
"But Garoh," teased Thelma, "you've done it. You were a star before, remember?"
Garoh chuckled as they kept exploring the cave. Reaching a new area that was a little wider than the previous one, Garoh slowed down.
"What's that?" he asked.
Arisa wondered the same as she noticed a speckle of light coming to their way. A bark leaped Arisa's heart. It didn't take long for them to spot a few other lights flying on towards them with an extra red and blue light flashing in the darkness.
"Uh-oh," said Thelma, turning around. "They found us. Run."
The team followed her, having difficulties to increase their pace as the area was too dark and the ground slippery.
"What is it?" asked Arisa, returning her balance as she almost fell.
"Those are security robots. The ones that can fly," said Thelma quickly. "I guess the guards noticed that something was wrong and sent them here to investigate. I thought the short circuit theory would be enough to fool them."
Nervousness flowed in Arisa's veins, increasing her heart's beating rate. She hoped they would succeed escaping them since being captured would mean they would have to use another form to run away. Thinking about that other method, she thought that they would fall in a troublesome situation. Using their powers would alert Taurus that they had reached his land.
"If this place wasn't an underground area and wasn't so dark," said Kazuya, trying to keep up with the girls' pace."We could escape using flight."
Before anyone could say anything, Arisa heard a robotic voice in the background, stating that they were the Rangers of Kentucky and ordering them to stop.
Arisa glanced over her shoulder for a second. Her eyes widened, noticing that the lights were growing brighter the more those machines approached them. She attempted to increase her pace even more, but being in an area that was at her disadvantage, it only made her legs feel heavy faster.
"We'd better activate our disguise," said Garoh. "Just in case."
Arisa didn't complain and quickly focused her magical energy on her palm. As soon as she felt as if something was pulling her down, she understood that she had succeeded activating the spell.
As the team kept running with difficulty, they automatically entered another passageway with spiky walls and rough ground.
"We didn't visit this place yet," said Arisa as they ran deep in the area.
Garoh stopped, switching off the light. "You should do the same. Maybe this way we can mislead those machines."
"That's a good idea." Thelma switched off her lantern. "The ones chasing us better not be the types that have infrared cameras. That would be troublesome."
Pitch black darkness filled Arisa's eyes as she switched off her lantern. A brief silence fell before the mechanical sound of floating robots broke it. Arisa tried to remain calm as her heart spread worry.
"If they access this area," whispered Thelma. "It will be even harder to run here without hurting ourselves."
"If they pass by here, we won't have any other choice but to use our powers," said Garoh, his tone quiet. "Let's hope they're not running along with an Earthling."
Arisa really hoped that the robots were the only things chasing them. Despite them using their powers being a risk, they could still escape and hide from the Emperor's eyes. She couldn't imagine them using their powers on an innocent being who was just doing their job.
"Seems that the previous robot passing by was the last one," said Kazuya, breaking the deep silence.
Before anyone could release a breath of relief, Arisa noticed a bright light surrounding her wrists. One blink and that light turned into two glowing ringlets.
"What's this?" asked Garoh.
"Microbots," said Thelma. "Someone must have sent them to handcuff us. Since they're so small, we couldn't hear them coming."
"That's right," echoed a voice in the background, slowly approaching them.
The team didn't take long to see two armed men with a floating robot illuminating their path.
"You're under arrest."
--♐♑♓--
Arisa found herself in an office. Sitting along with her companions close to a desk that had a computer and files on it, Arisa felt uncomfortable with the glowing ringlets placed on her wrists. First, it made her arms feel heavy, she could barely move her fingers. Second, it tainted the image of who she really was, making her look like a criminal.
The middle-aged man in light brown uniform was busy typing something on the computer in front of him. Arisa gazed at the gray floor, worry flowing in her blood. It had been more than an hour since they were stuck in that room with that man and slowly, slowly, she was feeling the effects of the rune.
"When are you going to release us?" asked an impatient Thelma.
The man didn't remove his gaze from the screen. "When you finally say the truth."
"We already said the truth," said Garoh. "We're not related to those people. We are tourists who lost touch with our tour group and were lost in that cave."
Arisa couldn't remove her gaze from the ground as Garoh repeated their excuse. It was ridiculous, but she hoped it would work. Apparently the rune of disguise had another flaw. If someone took a picture of them or filmed them, they could see their real selves. They hadn't noticed that the cave's entrance had cameras watching them.
"If you really are lost tourists," said the ranger, looking at them, "how come that girl was with you. The camera captured a video of her talking to them."
"Again, I have nothing to do with them," said Thelma, sighing.
The ranger frowned. "Then why were you with them? If you really are innocent, why were you walking around with that wanted girl and messing our robot to not make a move on the strangers that it found were a threat?"
As silence fell, Arisa couldn't help but feel uneasy. She couldn't believe how the worlds were seeing her that way only because her King wanted her dead.
"Who are you people, actually?" the ranger asked again.
"Our documents already told you who we are," replied Kazuya.
The ranger returned his view to the screen. "Fine. You'll spend the night here as I finish this document to transfer you to another prison."
Arisa gulped, her legs trembling. Being transferred meant more trouble as by that time, their disguise would be off. She gazed at her companions, her expression displaying the need of them to do something. She saw the boys attempting to break the ringlets on their wrists with no success.
As time went by, the symptoms of dizziness started to bother Arisa. She looked around, breathing heavily.
The sound of a creaking door broke the silence. When the team gazed at the office's entrance, they saw a tall person in casual clothes and a cap, closing the door.
"Hello, Mr. Edward," said the person, turning around. "I'm here to remind you about that favor. I received your response, but you didn't give me a signal."
From the person's delicate voice, Arisa guessed the individual was a woman.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said the ranger, quickly standing up. "I'll take you there right away. Something came up and I forgot about it."
"It's okay. As the chief of the rangers, you have a lot of responsibilities," said the woman kindly. She then gazed at the people sitting close to the ranger's desk. "I'm guessing these people are the reason."
Arisa didn't see the woman examining them with interest as her body was slowly trembling.
"Yes," replied the ranger, nodding. "These criminals were caught invading Mammoth Cave."
"We're not criminals," protested Garoh, his tone irritated.
The ranger gazed at him. "Then who are you?"
Before anyone could answer, Arisa fell on Thelma's shoulder.
"Nadia!" called Kazuya, his tone worried.
Thelma attempted to wake up Arisa by shaking her shoulder. Arisa slowly moved away weakly, groaning.
"It must be the rune," said Garoh. "Deactivate it."
"But..." said Arisa weakly. "But...it will bring more trouble."
Kazuya gazed at her from Thelma's side. "Deactivate it. Your life is more important than saving us from trouble."
For a few seconds, Arisa hesitated before she relaxed and no longer felt a force consuming her energy. As a gasp filled the silence, Arisa breathed heavily.
"You are," said the woman, her tone quiet. "You are the girl my husband has been having nightmares of."
Arisa blinked repeatedly to clear her vision. Despite feeling uneasy with those words, her body was too weak to process what that woman meant.
"Mr. Edward," said the woman, smiling, "please let me take care of these people."