Chapter twenty five

The remaining days on the ship was normal, no creatures, no spirits, no new happenings, nothing, it was a normal trip the rest of the way, Viper seemed to be happy for that as she slept the rest of the way, Ryoko kept persuading Tatsuya to teach her 'yeri' but he disagreed as he wasn't sure she could actually attempt it and wasn't ready to see her separate from existence forever.

They had been at sea for another weak before finally arriving at their destination, the deserted kingdom.

"well Hazuki wasn't joking when she said it was a destroyed city" Karla said looking around

"are you surprised?" Viper asked being the last person to descend the ship"

"why would I be?" they looked at the disappearing ship one last time before continuing their journey through the city

"did anyone ever see the captain?" Haru asked

"no"

"well that's only natural" Ryoko said walking with her usual smile which seemed to piss Viper every time

"what do you mean natural" Elena asked

"yeah nothing has really been natural this whole trip has it" Viper said

"the ship never stopped moving did it?"

"well no so?" Viper asked

"Hazuki said he was to guide us, no one said he was to make any contact with us, nor was he to help us, or steer faster from danger, so even if we had died on the way he would continue here and return" Ryoko finshed

"oh wow"

They continued using the map given to them, the map seemed to have a lot of short courts and was weird looking as observed by Ryoko.

"look!" they turned to Elena to see what she was talking about

"what?" Tatsuya asked

"there are people up front, a lot of people" she said

"people? In a deserted city? Are you sure the water didn't wipe out your brain and eyesight?"

"wait she's right look" as they approached they began to see the people

"it's some sort of trade going on, no it's not a trade, theres some kind of trafficking going on there" Ryoko said

"how can you tell, and what kinds of trafficking" Haru asked

"from the smells of it there are drugs being sold there can't you smell it?" she asked as they got to the entrance

"no" they all answered before going in, the people there were all wearing scarves that covered their faces like masks so in order to not stand out the group got out masks as well but Ryoko kept her smile on with no covering

"Ryoko what part of not attracting attention doesn't get through your thick skull" Karla asked keeping her eyes forward

"huh? Attention? Oh don't worry no normal person would notice me just like that you know" they walked into a kind of bar and went straight to the counter not minding the stares of curiosity they were getting.

"what will you get?" the man at the bar asked, he seemed to be more or less uninterested and was just doing his job

"what would you give tired travellers" Haru asked

"we have coconut water, quite refreshing actually" he said

"ok get us six thank you very much" she said putting some money on the table

"you have money" Elena asked

"yes actually" she said

"you see the group that just walked in?"

"yeah they're travellers by the looks of it, should we tell the boss about them?"

"yeah that's a good idea, come on"

"boss we've got news"

"it better be interesting you know I'm not interested in anything mediocre in other words, if you're bringing something to me, there should be some tragedy at the end of the story"

"y- yes boss, we have visitors"

"visitors? Here? How did they get here, so far from civilisation"

"they're travellers by the looks of it, two kids below thirteen, two others about fourteen to fifteen at the least then a woman, and an elf warrior"

"elf? What about the others are they human?"

"no three are just dragons but the two kids are dragon royalty, one of the west and one of the east"

"dragon royalty? How do you know"

"the two haven't mastered 'miri' by the looks of it, especially the one of the east her aura was all over the place, she's powerful"

"wow, now this is information I would love to get every single day" the boss stood up and walked out of his place and to the bar sitting at the far end

"you were right, that aura is overwhelming, it's powerful and so out of control, how beautiful, but they're so young still fresh, time is all I need" he watched the group for a while before walking up to them

"hello there, you must be new here"

"oh yes we are actually" Ryoko said with a smile which he returned

"and you are?" Viper asked in her usual irritated tone

"I own this place and a lot of better ones in the city, my name is Levi" he said extending a hand which Ryoko took happily

'oh the feeling, such power, it truly overwhelms me' he thought

"I hope you enjoy your stay here" with that he left

"such power such aura, such blood lust, watch them till they leave, give me any other information you get got it?" he left without waiting for a reply

The men went back to the end of the bar and sat observing every move the group made

"we're being observed" the group looked to Ryoko who was calmly drinking her coconut water

"at the end of the bar, the darkest corner, there are two men seated there their aura and chi are quite hidden but I can feel them watching us" Viper looked at her before standing up and bending to take care of her shoes all the while directing her senses towards the end of the bar, she stood up and sat with the others acting easily as nothing had happened

"she's right tit's faint but they're there"

"should we do something?" Elena asked all the while ready for battle

"no not yet, if we move immediately they'll know something is wrong wait we'll leave soon" they nodded at Ryoko staying at their seats quietly

"I need to use the bathroom" Karla said leaving them at the bar

Ryoko wasn't very keen on letting Karla go on her own as she wasn't sure what would happen in this place

"so where to next " Tatsuya asked

"actually I'm not sure" Ryoko said taking out the map

"what do you mean you don't know" Viper asked in a slightly raised voice causing Haru to pinch her

"look, the map has a pretty blank space here" she pointed at a spot on the map that had no specification

"so whats that supposed to be" Tatsuya asked

"a desert" Elena and Haru said at the same time

"a desert?" Ryoko asked looking at it again

"yes see? It's not blank, it's an empty space meaning there's nothing there" Haru said

"oh so we're going into the desert next? Cool" Ryoko said her smile returning to her face

"why are you smiling idiot, it's a desert" Viper shouted earning unwanted stares and a smack from all four of them

"oi sorry I din't think it would be so loud" she said looking at them with a slight pout

"where is Karla she should be done by now right?, I mean why so much time to use the toilet" Tatsuya asked earning worried glances

"I can't find her" Ryoko said looking forward the whole time

"what? Of course you can't you haven't left your seat yet" Haru said

"no, I can't feel her chi anymore, it's like it disappeared" they looked to each other before rushing out the bar and started looking for her.

They got to the beginning of the desert where the last of Karlas chi was felt.

"this only means one thing" they turned to Ryoko slowly backing away from her as her aura and chi became dangerous and overwhelming

"she's been taken"

"boss!"

"I can feel it from here, the bloodlust its so strong, mind telling me what happened?"

"one of the members-"

"which one?"

"one of the younger girls was taken"

"ah I see why the other one is so distraught, I have a new assignment for you two, do not let them out of your sight, understood?"

"yes boss"

"but why are you suddenly so interested in children who can't even control their own chi"

"because this little children could turn out to be something, interestingly sweet"

"got her?"

"yeah and just in time too the rest might come searching"

"we're too far gone they can't get us easily, we'll be gone by then"