59 One Lucky Man (1/2)

To the side, Akira and Ryuji walked towards them with wide smiles on their faces as Akira said, ”Axel, we found a way to op-”

Once he was close enough, all the words he wanted to say became scarce as he stared at Axel in shock. A violent aura surrounded Axel as he made hole after hole in the cage, tearing the bars apart with his hands.

Next to him was a frozen Morgana that did his best to become one with the air.

Sweat dripped down Ryuji's head as he looked towards Morgana and whispered, ”Yo, Morgana. What pissed Axel off?”

Morgana visibly shuddered as he shakily pointed towards the torn papers on the ground. Akira sneakily walked over and scanned the papers before coming to a stop.

He picked up a picture off the ground and showed it to Ryuji. A gasp escaped Ryuji's lips as he yelled, ”Shiho!?!”

Axel's hands suddenly stopped, causing everyone in the room to flinch subconsciously. He slowly turned towards Ryuji as he hoarsely said, ”That's right. Kamoshida is planning to legally 'own' Shiho. Apparently, he's already talked to her parents about 'taking her to the championships' and they aren't that against the idea.”

Walking over to the frozen trio, Axel took a deep breath as he calmed down, ”After we get what we need, I'll be heading over to Ann's house. I'll inform her of what's going on and we'll try and get Shiho out of there.”

Everyone's expression was grave but none more so than Axel's. Shiho was a very good friend to both Ann and himself.

If he let anything happen to her when he could have done something, he knows that he would regret not helping her.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he turned towards Morgana and said, ”Now that we have a map, what's our next plan of attack?”

Morgana's eyes widened as he stuttered, ”A-Are you talking to me?”

”Obviously. You seem to know about these palaces more than anyone so it makes sense to ask you for our next step.” Said Axel, staring at Morgana with a weird look.

Taking a breath, Morgana met Axel's gaze as he said, ”I meant, your the leader. Your supposed to tell us what to do.”

”Morgana, get rid of that type of thinking. There's one thing you need to remember. A leader is only as good as his team. We each specialize in different things and together, we make a force to be reckoned with. So, when I need some help, I'll be sure to ask you guys. That also goes for all of you. If you need help, be sure to ask me as well as the team.”

Axel's little speech seemed to ignite something inside everyone as they stared at him with a fiery look.

Morgana grinned as he lay the map on the ground, ”So, while I was… waiting for you guys, I noticed something odd. There's a room with three different symbols on it, a king, a queen and a slave.”

Ryuji gave Morgana a confused look as he said, ”And the symbols are important because?..”

”That I don't know. However, look at this.”

Taking a book out from god knows where, Morgana opened it and on the first page was the symbol for Slave.

”My guess is that whatever is in that room needs the books that represent 'King' and 'Queen'.”

Axel and Akira both agreed with Morgana's guess while Ryuji was still a little confused.

After spending a few minutes resting in the room and discussing their next plan of attack, the group quickly left the room and continued forward. They had a map now so navigating the dungeon was a breeze.

Obviously, they did run into the occasionally shadow but Axel and Gemini took care of them quickly.

As the group moved through the dungeon, Axel suddenly stopped as he said, ”Akira, what time is it?”

Akira took out his phone, only to turn pale as he yelled, ”Guys! I need to go home quick!”

A surprised expression appeared on Ryuji's and Morgana's face as the stared at Axel. The young man in question only shrugged. His internal clock was forced by Olivia to be on time.

He shivered when he rembered the punishment she gave him when he was late to wake up.

Looking over the tired faces of his friends, Axel smiled gently as he said, ”Alright men, it's time to go home. Actually, let's go to Le Blanc. I feel like having some curry.”

”Oh hell yeah! I could definitely go for some food.”

”Sorry Axel. Let's come back later.”