“Here’s what we’ll do, Ariel. We’re going to sneak our way to the underground mall and hide for a bit. We’ll sit tight for a bit and then find a way to escape. I can take care of the hooded men. Follow me, okay?”

“Uh… okay. You’ll also help me find my mom and dad, right?”

“Oh, of course! I’ll do anything I can!”

Amanda and Ariel find their way to the underground mall. Luckily, they were already pretty close and by the time they emerged, the halls were eerily empty.

The two descend the stairs into the mall. No one is there. It’s a bit dark. Most of the lights are out, strangely. They honestly could have heard a pin drop. Ariel snuggles up to Amanda.

“It looks scary, unnie…”

“Don’t worry. I’m here. Let’s go find a hiding spot.”

Amanda puts her hand out and a glow of light begins to shine from it.

“You’re a Light Adept, Amanda-unnie?”

“Uh… yea. You know what a Light Adept is?!”

“Mmm!” Ariel says, nodding.

This girl is something. Amanda says in her head.

“Anyhow, let’s go.”

The two slowly tread through the mall, looking for an inconspicuous place to take refuge. They soon come across a closed toy store. It’s a bit dark with most of the lights out.

“I think there could be a storage room where we can hide. Want to see, Ariel?”

“Okay.”

The two slowly tread in and find their way to a mysterious door.

“I think we’ve found a potential hiding spot. Let’s take a look.”

Amanda feels for the doorknob and turned it as far as she could. Giving a slight nudge, she opens the door and quickly puts out her hand back out as a guide light.

-

Andrea and Aisha make a mad dash towards the underground mall, and thankfully, there’s none of the hooded men that the passerby spoke of. As they run down the halls, they find the number of people running dwindling as they check every corner.

Eventually, it's only them. Just the two girls.

“I need to catch my breath…” Aisha pants. She's surprised she can keep up with Andrea.

“Ok. I’ll check this corner.”

Andrea peers over the side. There are hooded men. She quickly snaps back.

“Oh, no! What do we do? I saw hooded men! Like the ones that that lady warned us about!” Andrea whispers.

“YOU’RE KIDDING.”

“I-I-I wish I was…”

“AAAARGH!” a girl screams in the distance.

Andrea and Aisha freeze.

“W-w-who was that?!” Aisha whispers.

Andrea and Aisha slowly peer over the corner. Amongst the hooded men was a girl that they’ve grabbed by both arms. They quickly throw her onto a chair and cuff her to it.

“Tell us now. Why on earth did you think that that was a good move?”

“I told you already. Nobody lays a finger on my brother!”

“You let your stinking brother get away from us even though he was the one that screwed up. He knows he should have given me that bag of chips and drink!”

“He was being a good brother by getting it for me!”

“ENOUGH!”

Another hooded man grabs a walkie-talkie from his pocket.

“Boss. We’ve detained a straggler. Let a young child get away from us after said kid refused to hand over some goodies.”

“Of all things, you have to contact me that you detain someone over THIS?! Sigh… just watch over whoever you have. Just as long this person remains unharmed. We’ll make an example of her when the time’s right. Until then, if you or any of our soldiers contact me over some menial matter as you have just stated to me, I will SLICE YOUR HEADS CLEAN OFF.”

Andrea and Aisha shiver as they watch the exchange. To make matters worse, Andrea recognizes the girl.

“Oh no… that’s Adele… what is she doing here? How could she get caught?!”

“Wait… what?!”

-

The room is pitch black. It’s cold.

As Amanda closes the door behind her, there’s a tap in the room.

Someone is there.

Amanda feels her hand tighten. She glances down quickly to see Ariel snuggle up even closer.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Please… help me…”

Amanda’s body jumps a bit. The voice is that of a girl. It sounds older than Ariel’s but a bit younger than her own. Her hand is also tightening from Ariel’s grip.

“Wh-who’s there? Show yourself!”

“P-p-please… d-d-don’t hurt me!”

Amanda’s body shivers. It sounds fearful, yet she still can’t trust it. She knows she still has to be firm.

“We’re not one of those hooded cronies, so come out.”

There’s a pause, and then, as if like magic, the darkness in the room begins to recede. There’s actually working lights in the room, although it still feels a bit dark. However, Amanda and Ariel could now see the boxes and crates of toys. There are also some counters and a desk.

Amanda notices the darkness recede towards a desk. It suddenly hits her that this is a Dark Adept that they are dealing with. They have to approach this with as much caution as possible.

Amanda slowly trudges over, bringing Ariel with her. There, she finds a girl sitting on the floor next to the desk, all crumpled up. Indeed, she seems to be older than Ariel. She has a burgundy hat on, decorated with a black flower. Her outfit consists of a white t-shirt with black short overalls. She also has a side bag that matches with her hat. Whoever this is, this girl has to come from a nice family.

The girl seems to notice Amanda standing above her, and quickly flinches.

“I’m sorry… P-p-please… h-help me…”

“Huh? Tell me…” Amanda says as she squats down.

“M-my sister… I l-lost where she w-was… I d-don’t know where my p-p-parents are… W-when they came I g-got lost…”

This mysterious girl breaks down as she finishes her sentence. Amanda’s heart sinks. This is someone who is desperate, much more than Ariel as it seems. Ariel just wants to find her parents, yet she doesn’t seem all that scared. This girl is frightened out of her life. As much as she wants to cry hearing her story, she has to stay strong for Ariel. Taking a deep breath, she puts her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Tell me your name. Maybe…”

She quickly looks back at Ariel, who is standing up, still holding her hand.

“…we can help you.”

Amanda then lowers her hands so the girl can see them.

“Here. Hold my hands.”

The girl, wiping away her tears, slowly reaches for Amanda's hands, but stops just short.

“Don’t worry,” Amanda says. “I won’t hurt you.” She notices that the girl doesn’t dare look at her.

The girl then holds Amanda’s hands. Amanda closes her eyes as her hands begin to glow.

See? Amanda says in her head. Now you can hear my mind. We came to find a hiding spot, so please understand that we’re not here to hurt you. We’re sorry if we scared you, honestly.

Amanda opens her eyes and her hands stop glowing. The girl then raises her head for the first time. She then jumps into Amanda, hugging her tightly. Amanda is a bit surprised, but nonetheless puts her free hand around the girl and pats her back.

“T-t-thank you…” the girl mumbles with a sniffle.

Amanda then feels the grip on her left hand slip.

“My name is Ariel. This is Amanda-unnie. I’m looking to find my parents too, so come along with us! Maybe we can find yours too!”

Amanda looks back. Ariel has her hand out as if to shake the girl’s hand. This child, Ariel… sigh… she thought.

“Oh, and we can find your sister, right, Amanda-unnie?”

“Uh, y-y-yeah! Of course!”

The girl then lets go of Amanda, wiping her tears away. She grabs Ariel’s hand softly.

“My name… is Ashley… Ashley Son…”

“Nice to meet you, Ashley! We’ll be friends!”

Ashley wipes her tears away and gives a kind smile to Ariel.

Amanda moves her hand to pat Ariel on the back.

“Let’s hide out here for a bit before finding another place to hide. We can’t stay in the same spot forever,” Amanda says.

“But what about my mom and dad? What about Ashley’s family? And don’t you think is nicely hidden?” Ariel asks.

“I don’t know if those hooded weirdos are out there, so it’s best to lay low for a bit. Also, if we stick here, they’ll find us eventually.” Amanda retorts.

“I see…”

“Anyhow, let’s keep it quiet. We don’t want them to hear us if they actually come close. Hide under the desk! I’ll go shut off the lights.”

“H-h-here… I’ll help too…”

Ashley then closes her eyes as darkness begins to emanate under her. It slowly engulfs the room as Amanda shuts off the lights. Amanda then uses her hand as a guide light back to the desk. Now it’s a pitch black room aside from a small, pale, inconspicuous light under the desk.

“Hmm… why don’t I use this time to talk about me?” Amanda whispers.

“Great idea! I didn’t realize I didn’t really ask you about what you were doing! What do you think, Ashley?” Ariel whispers.

Ashley stirs.

“S-sure…”

-

“That’s her?!” Aisha whispers.

“Yea… it is…” Andrea whispers.

“Why don’t you do something, then?!”

“Shh! We can’t just rush in, as much as I want to! Plus, I don’t even know what to do!”

Panicking, Andrea quickly glances around the corner. She then notices one of the hooded men take out a lighter.

“Hey, you guys didn’t let me light up earlier. Gotta take care of that.”

Andrea spots the man ruffle through his pockets.

“Hmm… I’m going to give a bit of a pop to that lighter. Hopefully that gives them a bit of a scare. Stay back.”

“How are you going to do that?”

Andrea sees the man put what he wanted in his lips. Then, he shuffles to see where his lighter went. It had dropped on the floor. Grabbing it, he ignites the flame. Andrea then moves her fingers as if to snap them. She does the motion silently, then BOOM! A fireball pops out of the lighter, scaring the hooded man into dropping it.

“WHAT THE…”

“You put too much fluid in there?”

“Dude, I thought there wasn’t enough as it was! Argh… my hand kind of hurts… I’m gonna have to get this checked out.”

“Sigh… you fool! I told you you’re always lighting up at the wrong time. GEEZ!”

Aisha marvels at what happens. “How did you do that?”

“Let’s just say I have a few tricks up my sleeve…” Andrea says, as she continues to survey the situation.

“Wait… you have to be a Fire Adept! No ordinary human can do that! I saw you snap your fingers and then the lighter went kablooie!”

“You betcha I am!”

“Well why don’t I show you what I can do…”

“Huh?”

Aisha then motions her hand, and like magic, the lighter is in the air. No one aside from Andrea notices.

“Whoa… you’re a Light Adept, eh? Grabbing the lighter like that… or a Dark Adept?”

“I’m actually an Earth Adept. I’m pretty nifty with metal. Not stone, though. I don’t get why that’s the case.”

“Well whatever’s the case, let’s light those guys on fire! I can keep it away from Adele!”

“Alright, you do your thing on the count of 3. Control the flames while I go grab your friend. Then we’ll run back towards the mall.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Aisha still has the lighter in the air. She and Andrea are still the only ones that notice.

“1… 2… 3!”

Aisha ignites the flame of the lighter from afar, and Andrea then charms the fire onto the hooded men.

“What the… ah… AH! AHHHH!!!”

“Quick! Go grab Adele!”

Aisha rushes in as the men struggle to tame the fire. As much as they tried to fan them with their sleeves, the fire wasn’t going away. One of them drops the key in the process.

Adele soon notices this and also spots Aisha running towards her. She quickly motions with her foot where the key is. Aisha seems to wave her off as she stops running.

“Huh?” Adele says, confused as to why Aisha isn’t going for the obvious. But then she feels her handcuffs drop to the floor. It takes her a quick second to realize this before plopping up from her chair and dashing towards Aisha, who is now motioning her to run to her.

“Who are you?” Adele asks.

“No time, come with us!” Aisha yells as she grabs Adele by the hand.

“W-wait!” Adele screams, running as Aisha pulls her. She then notices a familiar face peer over behind the corner.

“A-Andrea?!”

“Come on! Follow me!”

The three girls run for their lives as the men finally begin to put the flames out.

“AFTER THEM!!!”

-

Just how long will Amanda, Ashley, and Ariel stay in the storage closet? Will Andrea, Adele, and Aisha outrun the hooded men? Find out next chapter!

-

A/N: Eunji and Naeun have now made their way into the story! But where is Yookyung? Will we find out who the hooded men are? Y'all will find out in due time... hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Playlist: Aerials by System of a Down