Falling in love is great. Unless it's with a demon.

(16)Escape

The next few days went by very torturously slow. Most of the time you spent in your room either sleeping or staring at the ceiling. It did you give you some time to get to know Ariel and the little dragon. They were actually very friendly and you knew that they wanted out as badly as you did. You couldn't really ask them any questions that required more than a yes or no answer, but it was good enough to find a few things out. You wished you could find out how Ariel had gotten dragged into working for Sato and what awful incident had caused her to lose her tongue. But unfortunately having to things that couldn’t speak to talk to didn't make for the best conversations. You did your best though and grew closer to them, figuring that they probably didn't have any other friends down here either. You definitely couldn't see them calling Sato a friend especially after watching what he had done to poor Ariel. You noticed, however, that a couple days after it had happen her fingers were completely unbroken like what Sato had done had never happened.
"Are you a demon, Ariel?" You asked her, after looking at her hand.
She shyly put it behind her and shook her head sadly. When you asked if she was a human she seemed to avoid the question and left the room.
It made you wonder if maybe she was neither. You didn't know what she could be, but you let it slip from your mind as you had to focus on escape. You had boldly asked one day if Sato would be leaving anytime soon for a longer period of time and Ariel nodded her yes. When you asked where he was going she shrugged, but looked sad like she knew, but didn't want to tell you. It annoyed you that she would keep something from you like that, but you couldn't force her to answer, and she agreed to tell you when he would be gone, or at least... let you know some how.
Sato visited you very little, to your great relief, only once a day or so to ask if you were ready to accept being his wife. Each time you had denied him, and each time he had come close to doing you great harm, but he held back, only smiling at your reluctance and promising you'd be his soon whether you liked it or not.
You didn't know how he planned to do it, but you hoped you'd be able to escape before he could. The thought had occurred to you that you didn't know where you were or how you were going to get home, but anywhere away from Sato was better than being his prisoner. The days seemed to go on even slower as you got closer to his departure until one day Ariel came into your room and nodded when you asked if he had gone. You didn't know how much time you'd have until he got back so you acted fast explaining things to Ariel. She looked uncertain at first, as if deciding whether she should trust you, but then she must have realized that this existence was meaningless and she agreed to come with you and help as much as she could.
There were most likely many other dangers where you were being held, so you were glad for the help. You met up with the little dragon outside, who dropped the tray of food as he came up to your room and saw you outside with Ariel. She quickly got to her knees and looked into his eyes, as if speaking with his mind and he calmed down and smiled up at you, nodding his head. So you had two helpers... more than you could have ever hoped for.
It was slow walking at first, as you dodged people walking down the hallways or avoided traps set around the walls and floor. You were glad that there weren't very many people who considered staying with Sato a good thing, because there were very few people who walked by and they looked more like deformed demons set as guards. Ariel and the dragon knew the place well and led you through tunnels, and hallways until you got to an open window that was close to the ground and you thought it would be better than using the front door.
You peeked over the edge, noticing that as far as you could see was pitch black. It made you uneasy. *How are we going to find our way out of this place... and where are we anyway that everywhere I look is black?*
Ariel tugged on your arm in urgency and you understood. No time for thinking... You blocked the image of falling into a bottomless pit out of your mind and stung one of your legs over the edge of the window then the other and jumped down without making any noise. You stood there for a second gaining your balance then looked up and smiled at your companions. The smiled back and the dragon flapped his small wings and took to the air, flying down beside you. You looked up at Ariel now, who looked uneasily at the ground. It wasn't a high fall, but still a little ways and she looked like she was afraid of heights. You waved her down, trying not to be impatient, but you had to get moving or be caught.
"If you fall you can land on me," you said trying to sound reassuring. It's not like it would seriously injure you to have her fall on you and the sooner she got down the sooner you could leave.
She nodded slowly and swung her legs over just as you had done then let herself fall. A tiny squeak came from her throat as she landed gently on the ground on her feet. She opened her eyes and smiled at you.
You nodded, accepting her thanks, and started walking off into the darkness...

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Lunehtiel asked, looking at Noki.
All four guys now stared down into a seemingly bottomless set of stairs that Noki had conjured.
"It's the quickest way I know of, unless you have a better idea," he snapped taking a step down. The stairs were firm and held him and he looked up annoyed at the other three. "See? Now stop being such babies. Do you want to save Kira or not?"
Kyo was next, in his cat form. He stepped lightly onto the stairs after Noki and looked up at Chase, mockingly. "Come on I thought you were such a strong demon."
"Stronger than you," Chase said angrily going after Kyo.
Lunehtiel sighed and followed them. He never liked Noki's magic, especially when it had to do with something as important as this. He had to admit though that he didn't know of any faster way into Hell so he just had to trust that Noki knew what he was doing.
"I don't like that we don't even have a plan," Lunehtiel grumbled, taking each step carefully.
"What do you mean?" Chase asked, laughing lightly. "We're going to bust into Sato's hide out, make him regret stealing Kira and take her home safe and sound."
"But what if..." Kyo started to say, but then got quiet. not letting his setence finish.
"What if he did something to her?" Noki said, since no one else would.
Kyo nodded sadly and hung his head.
"Then we'll deal with it when he get there..." Noki said, trying not to let his emotions show. "But let's not give up hope. She's not dead... and we're going to save her."
The rest of the walk down was silent, each guy having his own thoughts. Kyo tried to be happy and optimistic, thinking of how he'd hold you where he found you.
Lunetiel thought of the fight ahead, and how many things they would have to face.
Chase thought about ripping Sato's heart out.
And Noki thought of nothing. He knew if he let his thoughts slip they would end up on you, and sorrow would take over his heart. Everyone needed to be ready for the battle ahead and thought so of you would only serve to distract them. But still in the back of his head, he couldn't help but wonder how it would be to hold you again...

You found your way through the darkness slowly, but with a sense of urgency. Anyone at anytime could go into your room and find out that you had suddenly disappeared and Sato too could be back at any moment and you knew it wouldn't take him long to find you. You held onto Ariel's hand who held onto the dragons hand and you all walked in a line feeling the ground before you with your feet.
Something strange was going on behind you though... the farther you got from Sato's mansion Ariel seemed to be glowing and it only got stronger. Her hand which was once cold as ice was warming now to the touch and she seemed to be giving off more life than she had before. It made you wonder if maybe being in Sato's house was suppressing something inside of her and now it was being released as you got away. It made you even more hopeful for your escape if maybe she had some special powers.
"Look there..." you said pointing into the darkness. But there was something glowing ahead of you. Something light... "Maybe it's a way out!" You said happily pulling them towards it. It was the first light you had seen for hours and maybe you were just too delirious to stop yourself. Ariel tried to stop you but you held them firmly and pulled them along until you got to a great hole in the ground. Inside you found the source of light, but wished that you hadn't. Heat rose up from the hole and lashed at your face, making you cough and gag and fall back away from it. It was a river of fire... not an exit.