For Her Hand

Chapter Forty-Eight

It was as Seth had anticipated. The power plant was under heavy surveillance by Team Flare. Several guards were stationed around the outside, and he was willing to bet there were more, aside from the one's he'd just dispatched, waiting on the inside. Glancing back at the unconscious bodies of the grunts he'd knocked out, he signaled the others that it was safe to approach the plant. Shauna looked down at a few of the grunts and shivered as she saw weapons at their waists. Thankfully she didn't have to go through that horrifying experience ever again.

"I managed to get one to talk before putting him out," Seth said as they approached, inputting the code they'd set up to enter the plant as he spoke. "They're drawing power from the plant. That's about all he was willing to tell me. Whatever they're doing they must really not have wanted anyone to know about it if they were willing to put this much effort into guarding the place..."

"It certainly was a bit much wasn't it? I mean, they all shot at you," Serena said in a worried tone.

"They've all got poor aim. The way they hold their weapons is amateurish at best. They weren't going to hit me anyway," Seth replied with a reassuring smile, motioning to Cerise who had his back the entire time. "Now, why don't we take a look inside and see what all the fuss is about?"

Moments later, the group found themselves walking down the first hallway of the power plant, taking note of how empty it seemed at first. They had half expected there to be more grunts stationed behind the first set. Judging by how things looked inside, they could deduce that Team Flare hadn't anticipated anyone getting by their outer guard.

"Something doesn't feel right," Seth said as he paused to look around.

Relaxing his breathing, Seth began to concentrate and dip into his aura well, his eyes illuminating as he focused on the path in front of him. Seeing things more clearly now, he could deduce that there was a struggle in this hall. He could sense the life energy of several individuals at the very end of the hallway.

"There're people still in here, this way!"

Seth took off running, the others following his lead. As they reached the end of the first floor hall, Seth halted in front of a large steel door. Seth could hear people talking on the other side, and from what he could gather, Team Flare had changed the code on this door as well. Sighing, he stepped back and withdrew his sword from its hilt.

"Hey, can you all hear me in there!?" Seth called out, earning a surprised response.

"Arceus above, is someone out there!? everyone, someone's here!"

"Someone's here?"

"We're saved!"

"Yes, we can hear you!"

Seth smiled, relieved that everyone behind the door seemed unharmed.

"I'm gonna need you all to move as far away from the door as possible. I'm going to knock this door down!" Seth called out to them.

"Knock it down? how do you propose to do that? this door is solid steel," said another individual from the other side.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this one. Now, you either move back or someone's going to end up flatter than a Stunfisk," Seth warned as he lowered his stance, drawing his blade back so that the point was extended toward the door's center.

Seth glanced back at the others, a trickle of sweat rolling down his face as he saw they had stepped back too. He needn't ask their reason for doing so. He knew full well why they were staying clear.

"Alright, we're clear of the door on all sides! I don't know what you plan to do, but we hope it works!"

Seth set his eyes on the door, all the while tapping into the well of aura springing up from within. Harnessing it, he formed it into an outward manifestation of light that set his body ablaze in a brilliant display of purples and blues that intermingled in an elegant dance around him.