Soul Chains

Chapter 44: All That Remains

"Can we talk about what just happened?" Nathan asks as Mikasa ties up Zen's unconscious figure with her lasso, "I mean, Ayette just single-handedly took him down."

"Not to mention Dimitri finally made a move," Ciana smirks and Dimitri blushes while averting his gaze.

"I just...I didn't know what was going to happen," Dimitri begins, his eyes flickering over to land on Ayette, "and I thought I'd show Ayette that I love her."

"I'm glad you did," Ayette smiles and takes his hand in hers, making his breath hitch as he looks at their interlocked hands before he smiles and meets her gaze.

"It is most intriguing," Reine says as she stands there pondering, "Ayette seems to have absorbed the powers of her shattered relic into her, becoming the relic itself while still managing to keep the powers she gained from Khalida."

"As soon as Dimitri's dome went down, I knew that I had to have part of it in me," Ayette says with a small grin, "he didn't take it down, so I knew it had to have come from me and that would be the only way how. Dimitri attempted to shield me from sight, but my aura shield is what actually protected us because he was too late."

"Are we going to just stay out here in the freezing cold then while we wait on the others?" Nathan asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"We don't have much of a choice," Reine sighs, her gaze wandering to the snowmobiles, "some of the snowmobiles are no longer fully functioning and we can't take Zen on one."

"Are you okay?" I ask quietly as I glance over at Mikasa, who's standing there with her arms hugged around herself and her gaze towards her feet.

"I am...okay," Mikasa smiles sadly at me, trying to be reassuring, but her sad blue eyes say otherwise.

"And I don't buy it," Kaltrina says and the seven of us turn around in surprise to see Kaltrina, Aislinn, Renee, Renji, Shitau, Tsukumi, and Phoenix standing in front of a newly opened portal.

"Aislinn!" Ciana beams and runs over towards her as the portal closes behind them.

Ciana throws her arms around Aislinn's neck and hugs her, which makes Aislinn smile.

"Hello, friend," Aislinn says and Ciana laughs.

"I've missed you and your formality," Ciana chuckles as she pulls away and looks at the others, "we missed all of you."

"I see you convinced Phoenix to come," Reine says, her eyes landing on the somewhat irritated man with crossed arms, who, despite it being winter, still does not have a shirt on underneath his jacket.

"'S no big deal," Phoenix shrugs, his eyes meeting Reine's, "originally, I refused, but then Aislinn told me the full story and I couldn't help but feel as if I had to help somehow."

"It also took some convincing from your wi--" Tsukumi starts, holding up her index finger.

"Shut up," Phoenix sighs and cuts her off.

"Aislinn, I hate to ask this of you, but do you think your family could provide us with a roof over our heads for a short while so we can deal with Zen?" Dimitri asks.

"I..." Aislinn's eyes widen and she glances off for a few moments before she nods shortly, "I suppose..."

"Tsukumi, could you take care of the snowmobiles and send them back to this address?" Reine says as she walks up to Tsukumi and hands her a paper receipt.

"Sure," Tsukumi nods and takes the slip, looking at it for a moment before putting it in her pocket.

Tsukumi holds her hands together and closes her eyes as if she's praying and the snowmobiles in the snow gain a circle of black energy underneath them before they sink down into the energy and disappear. Meanwhile, Reine goes over to Aislinn and comfortingly puts a hand on her shoulder, her eyes understanding.