Empress of Time

Chapter 12: The Properties of Power

Ryan

"Thanks for stopping that water flow back there, Cassie."

"Ah, it's no problem. Brian was stupid enough to think that he could easily drown someone who controls water," she smiled.

"OK, so we're alive. Great. Now we have a kid following us and we have absolutely NO IDEA how to get out of here and kill that guy! This isn't the time to be celebrating right now," Clarissa frowned, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Calm down, you're scaring her!" Cassie picked up Genevieve who was already crying.

"Y-You can't kill daddy...," she sobbed, rubbing her eyes to stop the flow of tears. Cassie held her head close to her with a grim expression.

Clarrisa, however, is less empathetic in the way she breathed in annoyance. "Your 'Daddy' is a very bad man who tried to kill you!" she retorted.

"It's ok, we won't kill your daddy. We're just going to send him somewhere far away where he can't hurt you again," I assured her.

"Yeah, Hell," Clarissa muttered under her breath.

Cassie hushed her by placing a finger against her lips with a face that begged her to let go. Suddenly, the dark hallway shook as vibrations traveled up to our spines and sounds erupted all around us.

I placed my hands against the wall in an attempt to keep my balance. "What now?" I groaned.

The wall next to Clarissa opened up, sending an abounding fog abruptly throughout the room. We all coughed in response until the smoke had faded away, revealing a hazy silhouette amongst the clearing. A larger figure approached us with an all too familiar presence.

"Ha! I told you she had to be on the other side. You can hear her anywhere," Tyler's voice cried out.

As the air cleared up, I saw Tyler and Kisa in the middle of the hallway looking quite relieved. "You found us, eh?" I laughed, happy to see them safe and sound.

"What do you mean 'hear her anywhere'?!" Clarissa snapped.

"Meaning you're extremely loud and obnoxious," Tyler answered bluntly.

Clarissa scowled and slapped his shoulder. Kisa ran straight for Genevieve who gladly jumped into her arms.

"Are Lucia and Victor with you guys?" Cassie asked.

"No...," Tyler replied.

"I guess we're going to have to find them before we confront Brian...," I thought aloud.

"I can take you to daddy's chamber," Genevieve offered. She seemed quite eager to assist as indicative by the keen tone of her voice.

"REALLY?!" we yelled in unison.

"Of course! I know every room. I bet you I even know where your other friends are!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Clarissa stormed ahead, releasing the vent up frustration that she often bottled in that slender body of hers.

Tyler, however, grabbed her arm, pulling her backward with a rather irritated gesture. "YOU are not the leader, babe."

She flipped her head around, restraining the tight snarl hat barely escaped her lips. "W-Whatever..."

Victor

I backed away as the beast before me devoured everything around us. "Your plants... must be really hungry... to be able to drink up all that water..."

"Victor... these plants are made to absorb large amounts of water. It's not because they're 'hungry'," Lucia huffed.

I stared at the enormous purple plants, large enough to swallow a fat man whole with teeth wider than a normal blade.