Return of the Elementals

Chapter Eleven

Without hesitation, we turned heel and began to bound back home. If Hiryur had managed to breach our shield, that could mean he was taking our friends and family, luring us into his trap using them as bait. My heart pounded in time with my frantic footsteps as we rounded the corner. An airship was parked on the ground, its sleek metal shape just shouting evil. Armored soldiers guarded the doorway, a ramp leaning on the ground inside.

I could see my mother and father, handcuffs tying their hands to their backs, their eyes panicked. A guard poked them in the back, his spear serrated and its handle tainted with dried blood, bringing back memories of being a prisoner in the Destruction Dragons' headquarters. I wanted to scream, wanted to break into a run and kick the guards' asses for doing this to my parents, but I didn't want to alert Hiryur. 

"No!" I could hear my brothers chime in a whispered unison as my father disappeared into the ship, and the guards behind him scurried into the opening, the bridge folding into a door. The sound of engines roaring to life filled the air, and before we knew it, the airship was levitating into the darkened sky, my parents and friends hostage aboard.

"We gotta go after them!" Osomatsu cried out, his voice tinged with fear and.. was that guilt? "It could alert Hiryur to our position, and..." Akira trailed off as he noticed our faces contorted into sorrow. "Alright, we can go after them, but be careful!" he shushed, his eyes darting around. "How? We can't fly up there!" Choromatsu pointed out matter-of-factly. "I'd offer, but I'm going to stay here and make sure nothing bad happens," Akira said.

"We have to do something, brothers! Mommy and Daddy and Totoko-chan and Iyami and the professor need us!" Karamatsu cried, his eyes wild with panic, a look I'd almost never seen before on my stuck-up brother. "I think I have an idea, ya idjits," Chibita said, his eyes narrowed as if our panic was just another argument to him. "Eh? What is it!" Jyushimatsu piped up, his smile fading off his face like fabric in the sun.

Chibita knelt on the ground, his knee resting on the bumpy asphalt. He placed his palms into the ground, and his face twisted into a look of concentration. I was confused. What the hell was he doing? The ground rumbled beneath our feet, and we sharply turned to watch the street corner. Was something coming? "Relax, idjits," Chibita's voice sounded so tired. "Chibita, darling, what are you doing? What exactly is the plan to catch up with Hiryur's craft?" Karamatsu asked, and I felt my eyes instinctively roll into my head.

Chibita didn't acknowledge Karamatsu's question, instead smirking as the ground broke free from the street, floating an inch or two above the deep chasm that had once been the chunk of ground's resting place. "Holy shit!" Jyushimatsu perked up, his smile crawling back onto his face in excitement. "Whoa, what the fuck!" Todomatsu cried out in shock, gripping onto the side of the chunk of rock in fear, his knuckles paling white.

"Are you kidding me?! Isn't this damaging the city? We're gonna have to pay for this, Chibita! We're NEETs, we're not rich!" Choromatsu squawked like a hen, sitting down and crossing his arms. Chibita shot my brother an icy stare as we rose and rose into the ashy sky. "Seriously? The whole fucking city's in shambles and you're worrying about the cost of tearing out the road?!" Chibita shouted, rage building upon his face.

Osomatsu reached over and patted a very exasperated Choromatsu. "Don't worry. We can discuss the ethics of property damage later," he said. Choromatsu rolled his eyes. 

I could feel my heart pounding. What did Hiryur want with my friends, with my mother and father? With the professor? Was this part of his plan? Did he want this? Was this a ploy to lure us into a trap? I sat down, my head a blur with questions whirling through my brain like a tornado.

The ground shrank as the patch of ground Chibita was controlling gained altitude. I could tell we were all thinking the same thing: was this the end? Nobody spoke, allowing the rumble of the ground section to boom around and under us. At last, Hatabou spoke.

"So, what are we going to do when we get up there, jo?" he asked, his voice trailing off. "I suggest we split up," Choromatsu piped up, and Todomatsu groaned. "Seriously? We did that LAST time and look at how THAT worked out!" he snapped, shooting a ferocious glare at Choromatsu, who rolled his eyes yet again. 

"Well, yeah, but this is different, Totty," Osomatsu assured,  the expression held within his eyes unreadable. "He's right, brother.  We have more hands than we did last time," Karamatsu pointed out, Todomatsu rolling his eyes. "I say we go for it. Better for us to not get caught," Chibita piped up. 

"I'll go with Jyushimatsu," Karamatsu suggested almost immediately. Choromatsu rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright, I'll take Totty with me. Osomatsu-niisan, you go with Ichimatsu. Chibita, you pair with Hatabou," he assigned, his finger doing the matching for us. Todomatsu squawked. 

"How are we going to go in unnoticed, though? I'm pretty sure they're assigned to murder anyone matching our descriptions just prancing through," Osomatsu asked, stroking his chin in pondering.  "Let me guess, we're gonna steal the armor off of certain guards to blend in like we failed doing back in the Dragons' headquarters," Todomatsu murmured, rolling his azure eyes. "I mean, that WOULD work because stealth isn't exactly our forte," Choromatsu considered.

Todomatsu let out a long sigh, clearly annoyed.

"If it means saving Mom, Dad, Totoko-chan, Professor Dekapan and Iyami, I'm all for it," I blurted out, not sure what compelled me to speak. "Me too!" Jyushimatsu piped up, extending his sleeved hand into the middle of the circle we'd subconsciously formed, and I played my hand atop his sleeve. "Me three," Karamatsu placed his hand on top of mine, and I could feel my skin crawling up my back. I made a mental note to hose this hand down when I could.

"For Mom and Dad!" Osomatsu jarred his hand into the circle. "For our friends and parents!" Choromatsu exclaimed, his hand wrapping around Osomatsu's. Todomatsu grunted. "Fine, whatever," he grumbled, adding his hand to our pile. "For everyone!" We all called, thrusting our hands into the air, Todomatsu remaining silent.

I glanced upwards. The belly of the ship was in plain sight, and whatever lay in store for us, we were almost ready.