Empress of Time

Chapter 9: Death in the Depths

Tyler

"Hmm? Why are you limping, Kisa?"

"Oh um... I guess I over-exercised my muscles," she bent down, massaging her feet.

"Here, sit next to me and spread your legs out in front."

She sat down, carefully stretching her legs out in front of her. "Ah..." she squinted.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"Yeah but... better than yesterday."                                                                                                       I casually grabbed one of her thighs with my hands. She flinched and grabbed my hand as her face flushed a bright shade of red.

"Ah! Wait! You don't have to heal me! I'm fine," she blushed.

"I don't mind. You need to be able to swim today anyway."

"Oh... yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize." I slid my hand down to her ankle as the light healed her pain, grasping her tiny ankles. She felt so delicate in my hands. After I finished, I felt Clarissa hugging my waist.

"You haven't talked to me all morning," she frowned, squeezing my sides.

I uncomfortably leaned in the opposite direction, her hair grazing every corner of my face. "You could have talked to me first."

"But I was tired."

"So was I."                                                                                                                                                She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Why have you been acting so passive lately?"

"I'm not. I'm just trying to concentrate on this mission. So should you."

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"Hey, lovebirds! Can you be quiet? We're trying to prepare for battle later," Lucia tossed a pillow between us.

"I'll help," I stood up, eager to escape her presence.

"M-me too!" Clarissa huffed, walking in front of me.                                                                             

We all clamored around a map that Ryan had traced out. He has written certain weaknesses and pinpointed various locations of the enemies we faced yesterday.

Victor pointed to a location in the middle of the ocean. "I believe this is where Seto's assistant is hiding. I'm not saying it's going to be easy getting there but it's definitely something we can handle."

I nodded. "So, who are we going to confront first?"

"Well, after the event yesterday, I managed to analyze the scene a bit. There's a passage east to where we were fighting which would allow us to avoid the sea monsters and head right into the sharks and jaw-fish," Victor replied.

"Do they need water to survive?" Cassie asked.

"I'm not too sure. That's what Ryan and I were wondering. We were hoping we to lure them above the sea or trap them in those air bubbles you can create, assuming they're gill-reliant."

Clarissa leaned forward. "I was experimenting with some techniques in the bath yesterday with wind and water. If I can coordinate my attacks with Cassie, we may be able to push the water off the ground for a longer period of time, since the sea monsters yesterday showed us how well they can swim in the water."