A New Dilemma

It was about mid-spring, several months after Kana's escape, and Serenity and Felix had taken the girls out to play at the park, since there were usually some other kids for them to play with, since it was getting warmer outside. Serenity was sitting on one of the benches, giving a small smile as one of the little kids invited the twins to play tag. This was one of the more...relaxing days.

Felix had tagged along only because he hadn't been to this place since Sven and Shaira's time. Sitting down on the bench with Serenity, he watched the girls quietly until they went off to play tag. He then turned his attention to the dirt road to the left where people were making their way into and out of town. Felix himself wouldn't mind being apart of that crowd. Since he'd quit as a ninja, he hadn't really done much with his life accept watch over the girls. Surely there was something else out there that could occupy him.

Dantes had transformed into a small child about the twins age. He'd been planning this for years and now he finally had his chance. He'd snatch them right from under their parents nose. He gave an inner laugh at the thought. "Hey, you guys wanna play tag," asked a blond haired child with bright brown eyes.

Nora happily played in the park until she was approached by a kid her age. "Sure," she said looking to Kiara. "Let's go play tag," she said. "Maybe we should get more kids to play along," she suggested.

Kiara stayed close to her sister as they played around, looking at the kid with hair the same color as theirs, as he walked up and asked to play tag. Smiling, Kiara nodded. "Yeah, the more the merrier," she said happily. "Let's go get more people to play with us," she giggled, looking to the blond boy. "Come on," she said cheerfully, going over towards another group of kids about their age.

Children made Dantes sick, but hey, as Kiara said, the more the merrier, meaning they'd get lost in the crowd and he could lead them away with no problems at all. He gave a small smile. "Okay," he answered and then followed after the twins with no hesitation. "My name is Drew, what is yours," he asked as he walked along side them.

"My name is Nora and this is Kiara," Nora said. "We're twins." She swung her arms as she walked. "This is going to be so much fun."

Kiara smiled happily, tapping one of the group of kids on the shoulder to get all their attentions. "Hey, hi there, do you wanna play tag with us?" she asked. There were at least five kids in the group, so this was gonna be tons of fun! When they all agreed happily, Kiara giggled, then looked around. "Who's gonna be it? Hmm...we should do eeny meeny miny mo," she said with a smile.

Dantes smiled as an idea came to mind. Although it would have been easier if they were playing hide and go seek, he could work with tag as well. "Alright," he said. "I'll go first since I asked if you wanted to play." He looked to everyone. "The game starts now. Run before I catch you," he said with a fake giggle of happiness.

Nora immediately took off, dragging Kiara with her. "Come on," she said to her sister. "We don't want to be the first ones to get tagged." She gave a small laugh and then hurried towards the jungle gym.

Kiara wasn't expecting someone to volunteer, but all the better! They'd get to play faster this way! "Coming," she called, giggling and running next to her sister. This was gonna be great! She didn't think someone would ask them to play today, this was gonna be so much fun!

Dantes didn't go after the twins first, but he knew just how to lure them away. It would mean tagging someone and then getting tagged again, but he didn't care. He had all the time in the world. Tagging some red headed kid, he took off in a different direction, letting two others get tagged before he himself got tagged again. He then hurried over to the girls and tagged Kiara. Looking to Nora he took her by the hand and hurried towards a building. "Come on before your sister catches you," he said.

Nora was taking a small breather from all the running, so when Drew tagged Kiara, she gave a small snicker and then hurried off with the young boy who she knew as Drew. "You'll never catch me," she told Kiara with a giggle.

Kiara hadn't even seen the kid coming when he tagged her. Blinking, she looked as the blond haired kid ran away with her sister, who was snickering at her. "Will too!" she called, running after them. She wasn't really aware of where they were going, she was too busy having fun!

Felix had saw the kids playing tag, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He figured Serenity was doing that. He didn't really think the park was a threat after all. No one did. The park was a place for kids to play. Then again, everywhere was a danger zone these days. That and Felix's guard was extra low since quitting. He'd become soft.

Dantes led both girls around the building. Only when he was Kiara come around the corner did he drop the jutsu and knock both girls unconscious. Using a cloaking jutsu (that I stole from our previous thread), Dantes left into the forest and headed for the next town over. His black eyes glowing as he made his swift getaway. Children were so easy to trap.

Serenity had watched the kids playing tag for a while, but then looked down to her phone when she got a text message from Megan asking what she was doing the next day. Once she sent the text message, she took a glance around, and then looked back to the playground. After a minute, noticing that Kiara and Nora weren't in sight, she looked to Felix. "Hey, did you see where the girls went?" It sounded a bit irresponsible, but she'd only looked away for a minute... "They were just over there playing tag." It wasn't hitting her yet, but somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a small fear growing larger.

Felix had started to look at the sky, watching the clouds overheard out of boredom. He was sort of ready to go home. Glancing down when Serenity spoke, he shrugged. "No, I thought you were watching them," he said. Okay, so maybe he should have been a little worried, but he was sure they were around here somewhere. "Remember when we thought something had happened to Shaira and Sven? Maybe they're just playing in the forest or something." He shrugged again. "They're fine, you're just over thinking it." Felix should know better than to ignore a woman's institution, but hey, he was a guy, and they never listened. That and he was enjoying the warm rays of the sun.

"I was, but I just looked away for a minute to check my phone," she said, trailing off. She nodded lightly when Felix mentioned what'd happened to Sven and Shaira. Of course she remembered. "I don't think this is the same though," she said, looking around. "I'm gonna go look for them," she said, getting up and starting towards the park. Something was wrong. She could feel it. It was a strong a feeling as any vision she'd ever had.

Felix sighed when she said that this was different. "Alright, I'm coming," he said as he got up and stretched. He followed after her silently, not thinking too much of the issue. He was sure that the girls were somewhere playing and not in any trouble at all. If he only knew how wrong he was. The more disappointing thing is, even if there was trouble, Felix was unarmed. All his weapons and scrolls were stored away in his room and the temporarily retired shinobi rarely used jutsu.

Nora woke up feeling dizzy. Her blue eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, she looked around. "What's going on," she asked, though her voice was muffled, for there was a piece of fabric to keep her from speaking properly. Looking to her right and then to her left, she tried finding her sister. "Kiara?" She remembered being in the park, but after that, everything was blank. She gave a small sniffle. Where am I?

When Serenity got to where the girls had been playing, she heard a couple of the older kids wondering aloud where the kid who was 'it' had gone. Also pondering at the fact that the two look-alike girls weren't there anymore either. Serenity stopped and looked around, but after a moment, her face went a bit blank. She saw...her little girls, but it was dark around them...and...a man with blue hair? Wait, she knew that blue hair...When the vision ended only a couple moments after it had begun, Serenity paled a shade and took in a shaky breath. "O-oh god..."

Kiara had woken up several moments before Nora, and was trying to get the binding from around her mouth. She'd seen her sister wasn't too far from her. A moment after Nora called her, Kiara had managed to slip the fabric down enough to whisper. "I'm over here. Where are we..?" She was scared. Hadn't they just been playing tag with some kids? What happened?

Dantes was outside sharpening a kunai. He owed it to the old woman for telling him to wait. Now he could get back to his mission, once these brats were dead. He gave a smirk. Life just got better for him. He grinned and tossed the kunai up and down.

Felix looked at Serenity. "What?" He asked when she stopped with a blank expression. "What did you see," he asked. His blue eyes were narrow. He knew immediately that this was bad. He had to get home and get his stuff.

Nora was glad to hear the sound of her sister's voice. "Kiara, I'm scared," she said with a sniffle. "I don't know where we are," she said with another sniffle. "I just want mommy and daddy. I wanna go home."
She had begun to cry.

Serenity was sure she'd started shaking a bit. That man was ruthless, who knew what he'd do to her babies! When Felix asked what she saw, she nearly started tearing up. She put her hand to her mouth for a second before speaking. "This is all my fault...I thought he'd given up..." After a moment, she looked at Felix, and she wasn't bothering to try and hide her fear. "Four years ago, a couple months before the girls were born...Dantes Black showed up on my doorstep. He didn't seem to remember me at first, and...I-I thought he'd left, given up..." Now her eyes were starting to tear up, and she didn't bother trying to stop them. "I-I saw him, with them..."

He didn't know if he should be mad at her for not telling him this four years ago when it had happened, but at the moment, there was no time to think about it. "We're going home, now," he said as he started away. He couldn't believe this was happening. Dantes Black had returned from the Unknown after all these years? Talk about bad timing. "Do you know where they are," he asked.

Dantes sharped his kunai a bit more and then walked inside. "Hello there, Kiara and Nora. I'm a very old friend of your parents. I'm sure they're worried about you," he said with an evil smirk. "How about we play a game," he asked. "Until you parents get here, then we can settle the score once and for all, or maybe I'll just leave you dead, rotting bodies here for them to find."


Nora's eyes widened in happiness when the the door opened, only to go dim with the threat. This was no longer a happy day.

Serenity didn't protest to going home, not one bit. She wanted to get people to help her find her babies. As she walked, she shook her head lightly at Felix's question. "No, all I could see around them was darkness. But he was holding a kunai," she said, voice quivering. It was taking all she had to not just break down right there.

As soon as the door opened, Kiara felt a cold chill down her spine. Immediately she knew this man was bad. She didn't know why, but she just knew. "What...kind of game," she asked, sitting herself up. She was young, but she knew if they didn't 'play', they were dead. She wished her mom and dad were there...but since they weren't, she had to be brave, and protect her sister until they were...

Felix sighed. Useless information. What did Dantes want from them? Or Serenity was more like it? Did he even know Felix was back in the village? His blue eyes glowed with an icy hate. If that man hurt his kids, Felix would tear him limb from limb and leave nothing but lose unattached limbs. Immortal or not, Felix would permanently put him in the ground this time. As soon as he got into the house he slipped into his jacket and grabbed his weapons. Grabbing a shirt from Kiara and Nora's sides, he went outside and summoned the Executioner. "Find them," Felix ordered. The black and yellow beast nodded as it sniffed the air.

"I don't wanna play a game," Nora whined. "I wanna go home." That did nothing more than anger Dantes. "Then you will never see your mommy or daddy again." He started for the less outgoing sister with an evil chuckle. "I'm sure Serenity and Felix would be better off with just one kid anyway."

While Felix ran upstairs grabbing his weapons, Serenity busied herself with making phone calls to ninja who owed her a favor. There were a few. And Thomas, of course, who owed her nothing, but was more than happy to help out once he heard what was going on. When Felix came back downstairs and started outside, doing a summoning, Serenity came up behind him. "I'm coming with you," she told him. She couldn't sit at home and do nothing while her little girls were out there somewhere with that monster. She wouldn't.

Kiara looked towards Nora when her sister said she didn't want to play a game. She could practically feel the anger coming from the man. No wait, she really could feel it. Kiara's eyes widened in panic when she saw the man going towards her twin. She quickly scrambled to her knees, since her feet were bound. "N-no! Leave her alone!!" she screamed, her eyes tearing up. In the same instant that Kiara screamed, something happened. It was as if the light behind Dantes was leaving and gathering into a small ball of light, and everything around it was pulled strongly towards the forming star. Kiara herself felt like she was getting pulled towards something she couldn't see. A moment later, the small star violently exploded, scattering flames everywhere and returning light to the surrounding area.

Dantes was more than delighted when the other sister begged him to leave the other alone. "Shut up," he snapped. "Unless you want your parents to be without kids altogether." He then turned back to Nora and started for her. His black eyes glowing in the darkness. It was when he noticed the disappearance of light in the room did he stop. "What, who's out there?" He pulled an extra kunai. When the ball of light exploded, he was throw back against the wall. Getting up quickly, he ran outside to meet his attacker.

Nora was horrified as Dantes continued to threaten them. When the star of light suddenly started glowing out of nowhere, she was a bit confused, but in the end, happy. "Kiara, someone's coming to save us," she cheered happily. "We're going to be saved."

Kiara flinched when the star exploded, cringing lightly when the guy ran outside. Had...had she done that? She was sure the room had spun for a moment after the guy had left. How were they going to get away? The ropes were really tight, and how long until the man knew there was no one out there to save them? Would she tell her sister? Kiara shook her head lightly and spoke quietly. "No one's here. We have to find a way out of here by ourselves." Already Kiara was trying to untie the ropes around her legs. They were tight, but she thought maybe she could slide them off if she took her shoes off...

Despite the fact that Felix was going out to find their children, Serenity had also called upon Syndryl for the first time in many, many years. Already the dragon was out walking the forest with a giant badger beside him. The dragon in human form had become friends with Zane over the years. Since Syndryl knew Serenity's scent and aura, he figured her children wouldn't be so much different. He was unknowingly closing in on the location in which Dantes was keeping the girls.

Dantes looked around, but there was nothing. Those girls weren't even ninja, so he knew they had nothing to do with this. "I know you're out there," he called. "Show yourselves or I'll kill the girls, I swear it." Dantes was fully prepared to kill everything and everyone to get his revenge.

Nora blinked. "What do you mean? That explosion was someone saving us." Nora wanted to cry even more. "Someone's going to save us, I know it. You just have to wait," she cried. "Just wait is all." She didn't know how else to convince her sister, but that explosion was their saviors doing, who else could it have been?

Okay, so there was no use in trying to tell Nora that she'd done it. Instead, she saw a knife on the floor where the man had been hurt at. That was like their daddy's. She'd seen it before when she'd snuck into his room when Nora was playing without her one day. But if their daddy ever found out, he'd be mad. So, finally having gotten the rope off her feet, Kiara looked towards the entrance and slowly made her way over to the knife. Her hands were behind her back, so if she accidentally cut herself...Kiara swallowed nervously, and picked the kunai up with her back against it, trying to cut through the ropes. When the kunai cut through the ropes, it also slid into the palm of her hand, making her give a squeak of pain.

Syndryl walked forward, looking to Zane, then around as he heard someone speaking a bit off. Of course, the looking was just for show, since he couldn't actually see anything with his eyes. It was really a force of habit by now, with the human's body he was in. "So you have them," he spoke, walking forward. He knew he had to save the girls, or else Serenity would kill him, but he wasn't used to pretending to be concerned about anything.