Planet Aquarius

Tess watched with interest. Then Alexis and Coden ran. "Aw, man!" He mumbled to himself. he was going to follow! That was it! No more of this world. He took two steps to follow them, then paused, turning back to hand Kuoju a small device. "Lates, man!" then he took off as well, legs springing from the backpack to add a boost to his step.

He scrambled all over the city, looking at his radar constantly. He was still tracked onto the pocket watch... and if Alexandria had the watch, then he was sure to find them! Being wary of the police on the roof, Tess continued on his way carefully. Soon the radar began going off and there, by the vans, he saw them.

'Well, Liliana. Think this will be fun?" He asked his sister, who watched on as morosely as she always did. "I'll try the new shotgun!" From somewhere, he procured parts that quickly snapped together. Gears, metal bars, copper framework all stuck around teh overly-complicated gun and Tess, after he inserted the key - his own gear - fired onto the crowd.

He heard the bang himself. And was prepared to drag Alexis in front of him. Better he took the shot than she, right? He'd barely even processed the thought when The familiar tingle of magic worked it's way under his skin and he found himself racing along behind Alexis to a secluded area near a street full of vans. It only took him a second to realize what she'd done and softly exhaled.

Pressing himself against the wall of the building behind them, Alexis pulled close to his side, Coden scoped out the streets from where they stood. Picking out snipers hidden in windows and on roof tops; frozen in time. Scoped the thinned out crowds and spotted liable spies and police forces just waiting to identify and nab them. And just beyond the block he spotted Tess. A gun raised and fired into the crowd closest to them.

"Keep running, the Kids got them distracted for us." Alexis woudl hate him for mentioning the boy and then suggesting leaving him to the police forces. but every second they wasted in the 'time stop' Alexis was being drained of precious energy.
"Don't drop the time stop until I say!"

Dragging Alexis fast behind him, he raced down the street. Into what he could only assume by the building structures was a residential block. They made it a least two blocks down when he finally gave Alexis the signal. "Let it go if you haven't already!"
They had to be safe in this area. He couldn't see any visible camera's. And kept to the obvious blind spots where the snipers behind them couldn't seem them even from their perches. Then casually ducked into what looked like an apartment complex. Only able to assume it would be safe to hunker down for even a little while to catch breaths and redirect themselves.

Alexis barely kept herself standing after that extended time stop. They made their way inside an empty apartment, after Alexis picked open the door using a few tools she pulled out of her pocket. It had taken a little longer than she normally would have liked, her hands kept shaking and jittering out of her control. She clenched her fists as she shut the door behind them, leaning against the door in a makeshift barricade. Hopefully the sudden jump in space would confuse whoever was that was tracking them virtually. But if they could search for them through other means, it wouldn’t take them that long to find them….

As she slid down to the floor, she focused on trying to make a portal. There was nothing she’d like better than putting this world behind her. Not even a decent hello. All she got were rude people and these police. And she hadn’t even done anything wrong this time! There was that one student who was nice though…. She couldn’t blame everyone she supposed…. And the other kid. Guilt wrenched at her as she mumbled spells under her breath to try to make a portal without causing as much strain. He wasn’t from this world either…. He just wanted to leave as well…. “….He was just a kid…” She mumbled to herself.

She felt torn between going back and rescuing the kid and getting Coden and herself out of here. Who knew what was happening back there… She didn’t hear anymore gunshots, which could be good or bad. Then again, it was hard to hear much at all, her heart pounding far too fast in her ears, her breathing rather ragged…. She needed to get this portal made. She glanced languidly up towards Coden, her vision blurry as more magic was poured in, not hearing the sirens and cars on the streets below, “……We gotta….. get the kid…. Can’t leave him behind…. After that…..”

Tess was stunned. He shot the gun, aiming for a car gaining on Alexis and Coden. And then, suddenly they were gone. The boy looked up from his gun, removing the gear key so he could dismantle it and shove it back into his backpack. But they were gone! How did that happen? What it a teleporter? Or maybe something else? Tess haaaad to know!

"Come on, Liliana!" He said, stuffing the weapon away and standing briskly. "We have to figure out what they did!" there was not even a bang. More like a pzztch! as a bullet whizzed past Tess' head. Goggles pulled down quick, zooming in to find 3 snipers targeting him. "Shit!" He made a queer motion then. It saved his life.

He bent down, as if to pick something up. And a bullet aimed for his head whizzed past. Leaping off the building, the spider like legs came from his pack, grasping onto the next one. Quickly, he made his way across, jumping rooftop to rooftop. It was going swell. That is, until he was shot in the leg. The surprise and force of it had him tottering, Twitching and screaming with pain as he fell off the side of the roof. Gloved hand shot out, wanting any kind of ledge to grab onto.

A balcony railing stopping his fall until he slipped off. Then some clothes wires acted as a net for him, until the pressure snapped them and he tumbled down some more. Finally, he found something - the wall. He flailed for it, grasping it, falling still has friction wore away at his glove, his hand and his fingers.

finally meeting pavement next to what looked like an apartment complex, he lie there, clutching his leg and moaning in pain

Skittering to a window looking out over the street, Coden kept an eye out for familiar vehicles and new snipers in neighboring buildings. They didn't appear to have been followed too closely. Tess had definitely taken the attention off of them for a while.

Backing away form the window, Coden went to inspect Alexis. She was looking ragged. Worn out. The time stop couldn't have taken up that much magic, could it? kneeling beside the moipai, He noted her digression in attention span, like she was slipping out of consciousness. Snapping his fingers by her ears, Coden tried to take her attention of the magic he knew she was trying to work.

"Alexis, stay with me. Don't you push yourself. You need to rest. We'll pick up the kid later, okay? He'll be fine. He's a good strong boy. Smart..." Empty promises. Just to ease his companions mind while he attempted to draw her out of her magics.

Then the gun shots sounded. They were distant, but close. "Stay put and relax, Alexandria." Coden gave her soft pat on the cheek before returning to the window. Timidly he peeked out through the curtains and the blinds, searching for the source. He was about to turn away when Tess, of all people, simply fell from the sky into the side of the street.
He should leave the boy there, he thought to himself. Regardless that Alexis wanted to ensure his safety. His own fondness for the young lad crept into his mind, though. Besides, if the authories foudn him first, they migth assume and look for Alexis and himself in the area.
Before he knew it, Coden found himself moving Alexis and bolting out the door.

Gathering up Tess only took a few precise moments. Waiting, scouting, running when he knew the coast was clear.
Fumbling with his jacket, Coden tore it off and wrapped it around the boys leg, and heaved the boy onto his shoulder. Then raced back to the empty apartment before any local residence spied them.
Back in the building, Coden unceremoniously dropped the boy on an open kitchen counter, pinning him down to keep his hands away from his leg. "Alexis, lock that door and get over here!"

Alexis had forgotten the difficulty that one could have on getting into certain worlds, or in this case, out. Magical barriers and aspects of the specific universe, alternate physics and laws made some worlds harder to get into than others. Fragment had no barriers at all, due to it’s chaotic and troubling orgins, where this place seemed to try to shield itself away, and there were actual spells in place guarding it. When she was out in the Void, it had been easy to summon up the magic inherently available in the plane to get into this world after Coden. But trying to break through them without that support…. It wasn’t fun.

When Coden moved her to open up the door, the small tear in spacetime that she managed to create dissipated, leaving her to stare at her hands. Upset at herself that she couldn’t even keep something like that open, much less it not already made and stable. She wished so hard sometimes that she could use her powers right sometimes… It was a big letdown to have the powers without being able to use them all the time…

Coden’s serious tone broke her out of her thoughts, she had been sleepily staring off at nothing as her mind wandered. She realized what had happened to the boy and she made her way to her feet, fumbling with the locks as her mind began to rush off ahead of her. She went up to the two of them, looking rather grave at the wound that the boy received. There was a lot of blood, and the aura inside his leg didn’t look any better. A shot on that part of the leg could kill a person, they’d bleed out. Without a word she pressed her hand firmly on the wound, her hand soaked in blood as the boy jolted due to the pain. Counting backwards under her breath she tried to focus on the magic, focus on the blood, keeping herself situated as much as she could in reality.

A few seconds later she lifted her hand away from the bloodless leg, bullet grasped in her hand as she set it gently on the table. Leaning on the table for support, she wobbled, trying to prevent her legs from giving out. “….I really…. Really…. Hate guns you know…”

The boy ground his teeth together when Coden roughly handled him, immediately sitting up to clutch his paining leg. Well... trying to, anyway.A strong arm pinned him down and his breath escaped in hurried gasps. Pain. So much pain. He hadn't felt anything like this for years - not since the accident that killed his sister.

He lay on the counter, trying to keep hot tears in. He would not cry. He would not cry. Not again. Not ever again. He looked over his shoulder, down to the dirty floor, swallowed and offered the empty space down there a smile. "It's ok..." He said as Alexis came back in.

The feminine hands on his wound made him want to shout again - the pain had come back! But only for a little bit. Then... nothing. He was all right, he was better. Pushing aside the arm that held him, Tess sat up, looking over his leg... and in her hand... the bullet.

Scrambling, he pulled at his pants. Was it a magnet that she used to pull it out?! But no! Even his wound was gone. "That!" He started, looking from his leg to Alexis and back again. "AMAZING!!!" Grabbing the girl's shoulder he shook he slightly "How did you do that?! What were the mechanics you used?! Can I see it?" He grabbed her wrist, picked up the tiny bullet and tossed it aside. He couldn't see anything. No machines on her wrists or hands. So... how did she remove the bullet? Tess was perplexed.

Alexis wobbled around even after Tess shook her, feeling rather lightheaded and dizzy. Finding it rather odd that he was so fascinated by her hand. She wondered if there was something odd about it. “….It’s just magic, silly…” She mumbled to the boy as she freed her hand, glancing at it for a moment before both hands gripped the counter to try to brace herself.

She pointed to Coden as she leaned up against him slightly, her eyes becoming unfocused and glassy. Her thoughts wandering off on her, “…Ask him ‘bout it…” She muttered to the boy, finding it hard to think up with an explanation for her magic to what seemed like a person who never saw it before. Considering the world they were on, that was a rather confusing thought to her…

Coden had a mental hissy fit when Tess started shaking Alexis. He was lucky Alexis had cozied into his side. Coden was particularly close to just reaching across and beating the boy down into the counter. Quietly stifling that odd obsession for Alexis, Coden pulled her carefully into his arms and lifted her feet off of the floor.

"Alexandria is good enough to heal you and let you come along. So go and make yourself useful and keep and eye out for the Authorities. We're not going to be able to stick around this building for very long if they're as stubborn as I think."
If this world was anything like his own, They'd come straight after them and raise the security 150% until they were caught. It was going to take a lot of recon and laying low until either Alexis was well enough to port them out of here or Coden found his watch and got it fixed.

Carrying Alexis into one of the bedrooms of the apartment, Coden lay the Moipai on an old bed with a lone, dusty spring mattress. He lay the elf on the bed and removed his uniform coat, still moist and just a little dirty yet from his mornings adventures. It was rolled and tucked under her head.
While peeling his wet and wrinkles shirt from against his chest the Gyspus crept to the one window in the room, covered with heavy blinds. Peeking through the small space between the window pane and the blinds, he watched outside for suspicious bodies and vehicles wandering the neighbor hood.

The boy still wanted to know what caused his leg to be fixed so easily. But it seemed that Coden wouldn't tell him. "don'tcha wonder what made him so mad, Lil?" He asked his shadow. After a moment or two of silence, he shrugged. "Well, might as well watch for the fuzz."

Hopping off the counter, platform shoes thunking loudly on the floor, Tess headed over to the door. That's when he saw it. A camera, hidden cleverly in an alcove. "Shit..." He muttered. Reaching into his back pouch, he pulled out a little piece of metal and a remote control - the kind with one button and a joystick. Flicking the metal to the ground, he pressed the button. It hopped up, springing to life. Then, pulling his goggles down and a little gear over one eye, he looked out its camera and directed it on its way. Out of the door and up the wall, it set itself on the camera... where Tess began to hack it. Ripping the control in half, a keyboard was revealed which he began tacking on immediately, gloved fingers moving like lightning.

There. That was the feed.... Tess falling down, Alexis and Coden rushing in. "Whelp, might as well delete that." He said merrily to himself, oblivious to the fact that it could mean life or death if it fell int othe authority's hands. "Aaaand.... I will set some empty shit on a loop.... Done."

Clamping up the control and moving the metal machine back to himself, he ran upstairs to where Coden was sitting with the girl. "Heeeeey..... They have cameras. We should... probably... go? I got this place in the sewers where I hang when I wanted to be alone with my sister and not have schoolmates bug me. I bet we could make it there."

As the three congregated in the apartment, the soldiers were at work, using the information given to them by the snipers to track their position. The first two had vanished without a trace, but the boy…. Well… he wouldn’t have been able to get too far away from where he landed after he was shot. Several units made their way down to the estimated location of the shooting, and began to do a grid search of the local apartment complexes for the three fugitives.

From where Alexis lay half dozing, she heard the booming of van doors being slammed open and the yelling of people down in the streets below. She haggardly sat up, staring at the unfamiliar room around her, “….Whats going on?”

“….damn it!!” Touya yelled as he smashed a nearby vase onto the floor. After Chiaki was sent back to his apartment Touya had also returned to his “mansion”. The Ichinomiya family is a well known lineage for their land and power. Due to a certain secret they are one of the few groups that are able to connect with the outer countries. Of course this is all done by slipping past the watchful eyes of the empress. The current head of the family was no one other than Touya himself. Several of his men peeked into the room he was in wondering what was wrong with their boss only to bolt away from the door running when his eyes met with theirs. There was a loud sigh before he sat down and put a hand through his rough hair. After a few seconds of silence there was a faint sound of wood creaking. Since it only lasted for a split second most people would wave it off but for Touya….He looked up at the ceiling, watching as if something was there. “Which one are you?” The man seemed to be talking in this air for there was no one else in the room which could be seen. “Dragon.” Another voice answered the question which seemed to be coming from nowhere. “What’s your message?” There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again. “I will be taking the outsiders. I would like your cooperation to send them to the ‘place’.” At the word outsiders Touya scowled. Just when he thought he didn’t want to meet them again. “Why? You know them?” Again the voice chose to take a few second of silence before answering. “Yes, in some ways. Both the Judge and the Phoenix assure they are people of no harm.” At this Touya couldn’t hide his shock. “The Judge and the Phoenix?....alright. I’ll have them over there by today.” The voice did not respond back but another faint creak was heard indicating that the voice had left. After making sure that the voice was no longer in nearby presence Touya stood up and slid open the doors. “Round up and get ready to go the Yamitsuuro! We’re gonna need to get some few guests!”

He really didn't like the idea of going back down into the sewers. That was the core of his troubles; where the worst of his day began and originated. He wasn't at all thrilled about hiding out down there...
Though as the sounds of police activity resonated from outside, Coden cringed and nodded. "That's....a grand idea...", he told Tess regretfully.

"Up and at 'em. Time to go, princess." Pulling Alexis into a sitting position he pulled on his bloodied and wrinkled uniform coat. Then helped Alexis to her feet. She was still unsteady. He didn't trust her on her feet anyway. Sweeping her off her feet, Coden turned to Tess.
"Can you get us out of here without being spotted?" It was obvious he didn't have much faith in the boy, but it was expected, since Coden didn't know him. Didn't trust him.

Tess nodded. "Of course!" But he cringed, as if smacked and he looked at the floor. "Okay... I can try... I mean, I was able to make one of their camera go away. If I can spy around a bit to find a manhole... then I can get us underground." He scratched his head and pulled down his goggles.

"Um.... ok... Let's see." Platform shoes clunked on the hardwood floor as he dashed about the room, heading towards the stairs. Pulling out that remote control again, he reached teh ground floor and looked about, fingers playing nervously on the control.

"Think there's a basement, Lil?" He mumbled. If not, he would hijack the camera again and then disable the others in their immediate area and then get into a manhole. "hmhmhmmm" He looked about more before find a metal ring on the floor. "Ahaaa~" Heading over and bending down, he grabbed the ring and yanked it up. Dust flew up and, waving his hand about, he saw just what he needed. "A manhole. Good eye, Lil." He said, grinning and putting the control away. Looks like he didn't need it. Now they could get out of here.

“…I…. haven’t been called that…. In ages…” Alexis mumbled sleepily as she snuggled up against Coden. Normally she would argue about being carried, try to get down on her own feet, but the thought barely crossed her mind. She was close to Coden… and she was so tired…. So tired…

She opened her eyes again when she was shifted slightly, going down a ladder in a tight space. Humid, stinky air rose up around them as they descended into the sewers. She wrinkled her nose as she glanced around. Small pipes led down into the sludge that ran down the bottom of the pipe, with a raised dryer passageway on the side for maintenance. She slowly remembered something that seemed to be important… Most people can’t see in the dark….. Her hand lifted slightly away from where it had been laying a soft purple glow radiating from her fingers. Easy for them to see, hard for others to see them from far away, “…You may need this….” She said, her entire focus on the small bit of plasma she was able to conjure.

It stunk and it was dark. An irritable disposition. Coden wondered how the boy was able to have a hideout down here with all the mess and smell. In his mind, he preyed the hide out was some unused sewer passage, relatively blocked off from smell. And decently lit. Even after adjusting to the dark, he could scarcely see the body guiding him.

The darkness was a burden, but not a problem, in Coden's opinion. So he was disconcerted when Alexis' suddenly gave them a guiding light.
"You ought to be conserving your energy. Every little bit counts in your position."

If he wasn't busy carrying the girl, he would have closed her hand and made her distinguish the tiny light.Though all he could do was scold her and hope she confided in his 'advice'.

“The last time the damn police force saw them was through a manhole so they should be around here somewhere. Find them and don’t make a ruckus while you’re at it! The last thing I want is to have those damn police rats in here and after us too.” Touya and several of his men were already inside the sewer, thanks to their secret entrances built mostly for smuggling and black market trading. No one rarely checks or puts machines in these places well…because first of all it stinks as hell and second, it is so old that people thinks it’s nothing but a piece of junk. Which is why this place was generally only known by those who work in the shadows. “The dragon wants them today. The ships leaves soon so we better find them and get them to Kouryuu asap. Now get moving!!” Despite the fact that he was the one who said not to make a ruckus, no one dared to defy his orders as they immediately took off.

Tess looked over at Alexis and her light. "That tiny bulb won't do!" He hissed, reaching into his pack again. "I got something." Gears clinked and whirred and a dull light flickered into existence. It was big for a flashlight and external gears and straps turned in the light. "Have her put it out and follow me."

He lead them through the tunnels, doing his best not to slip on the raw and stinking sludge. But the stench nor the filth seemed to bother the boy. He grabbed onto the walls without hesitation when he needed to balance himself and he sometimes took deep breaths and sighed.

The factory wasn't much better than this. His childhood was spent sleeping in places that were around the same condition.

The boy was about to turn another corner when he stopped suddenly. "Shit.." He mumbled. "Thanks for the warning, Lil." Shooing Coden back some, he whispered, "there are people up ahead... Damn rust fuckers... how did they follow us?"

He paused for a bit more, debating on if to head back and the best way to. But he jumped. "Touya?!" He gasped, looking at a spot in the ground. Then he chewed on his finger, dirty from the sludge. "The hell is Touya doing here?!

Alexis didn't give any signs of putting out the flame, but she was a stubborn girl and it wasn't entirely harming anything, besides it was leeching Alexis' energy. He left her be.

AS they trio transgressed down the sewers, though, Coden found himself standing on Tess's heels. Talking to no one and yammering about police and hunters. 'Shite...They're too fast.' "How can you tell? How many are there?" 'Shit, I could fight us out of here, but not with Alexis in hand...!' Coden looked behind himself to the place the came from, paranoid of who might or might not be lurking in the darkness.

Thanking Alexis for being so small Coden wrangled the Moipai into one arm and clasped his hand over her's and the hovering plasma. It burned and charred his palm, but he scarcely even winced. Alexis distinguished the flame and his skin healed over in a matter of moments any how. Tugging on Tess, he smacked his flashlight off.
"Can I trust you to get Alexis out of here? I can stall them if you can get her to a safe zone where she can rest and get you off the world. I have a watch to find yet anyways...."

"I don't have these ears as a decoration you know!" Touya said making it clear that it was obvious where they were. "You made an entire army search every house up there. What the hell did you do?" Before anyone could answer that question he continued on. "Eh, don't want to hear it anyways. If you don't want your asses handed over to the police dog or the empress minions it's best if you follow me. Someone is here to take you out of this wretched place. And don't say no to this because I'm not giving you a choice. If you want your princess over there to live your gonna have to get out of here pronto anyways." Touya somehow said all that in one all breath as he began walking.

Well now he felt silly for saying anything. He'd still fight them off if he needed to though. "Hold on, Mutt," Coden pushed past Tess to face the dog eared foe ordering them about. The boy didn't look like he was going to stop though. And Coden didn't speak either. He looked from the dog eared boy to Alexis. She was quiet. Almost asleep, it seemed, but quiet.
Clicking his tongue, He hastened his pace to follow on Touya's heels in the dark tunnel. "This had better not be a trap of any sort, mutt."

"Hey I'm just following orders. Apparently someone form Kouryuu knows about you. If you want answers ask Dragon when you get there." Touya shrugged off the small insult (mutt) Coden said as he continued walking. Although the tunnels were pitch black and no one at the moment had any source of light, Touya walked as if he knew this place from the back of his mind. After several minutes of walking they arrived at a slightly larger area than the rest of the underground sewage. At the end there was a single door that seemed pretty normal. What wasn't normal was the cloaked figure waiting in front of the door. "That over there is the dragon. It's just a code name so don't ask me who he is. He's gonna take you to Kouryuu. Don't ask me the reason cause I don't know. My work is just to get you guys here. Hopefully I will never see you again." Touya spat out the very last part as he looked over at the cloaked figure. The dragon responded with a small nod which was apparently good enough for Touya. Without saying any more he turned to the direction the party came from and started heading back. "Don't even think of trying to get out this." He shouted a last piece of advice (?) before he melted into the darkness.

"Following Orders? How relieving....", Coden muttered with sarcasm. He continued after Touya. Always on the edge of suspicion. His only reason for continuing being because of something Touya said and something Alexis didn't. As they reached the supposed end, where 'Dragon' waited for them, Coden turned to watch Touya leave them behind. "The feeling is mutual...", he murmured.

When he could no longer see Touya, Coden approached Their remaining company with Caution and eager curiosity. "Kouryuu. I do not know this place, but it strikes a chord in my memory. Who, in Kouryuu, is giving us 'safe' passage?", he asked, determined to get a satisfying answer before they went any further in his custody.

"...the Phoenix. He is waiting for you on the ship." The "dragon" said nothing more as he pushed open the door behind him and started down the long stair case. The narrow stairs were lighted by a few lanterns providing not a lot but enough for one to walk down safely. This whole time the dragon said nothing and did not look back at all. This caution atmosphere continued until the stairs came to end in front of yet another door, this time with a red symbol of a dragon. The dragon took out a small piece of paper which looked blank and placed it on the door. A peculiar seal came up on the paper and the door. In a split second both the paper and the door disappeared revealing a small yet decent port. And in that port there was a ship docked. Not too large but armored military ship with a sense of Eastern style incorporated. The same symbol on the door was on the ship along with another man waiting for them in front of the entrance of the ship. "....I was starting to wonder when you would come. We leave immediately, the talking is to be done inside once the ship leaves this dock." The man with long black hair said, which as more like an order, as he went inside the ship. The dragon gave a look to the party waiting for them to board the ship.

All of Alexis’ focus was centered on straining out that last bit of energy out to create the small light. If they were to make it through to this safe place, they needed to be able to see… right? Then she could sleep. Once they were there, she’d give in to sleep….

Unable to see the boy’s artificial light she kept focusing even through Coden’s protest, eyes drooping shut on her. They’d close momentarily, the light flickering before jolting awake again. She hated feeling like this, the soft weight pushing down on her mind and body. Why did her magic have to be tied to her in this way? If a normal mage ran out of magical energies, they just couldn’t cast the spell… Her magic was her lifeblood, being too low for too long couldn’t be good….

Her thoughts and concentration were broken when strangely, Coden’s hand raised up to her lingering flame of plasma, completely covering it. As soon as he did that she dissipated the magic, her now free fingers listlessly brushing up against his scorched hand, feeling guilty as the nanos worked to heal the burn. As the coursing of magic dissolved back into it’s regular flow, her head nodded down in fatigue, this time not coming back up.

An impossibly short time later she as jolted awake again by the deafening sounds of an engine starting, shifting around slightly to see a ship in what seemed to be a dock. Rather confused and drowsy, her eyes followed a man she didn’t recognize boarding the ship, “…..Who’s that?”