Chapter 9 "Gathering"
As Seth and Akira passed through the doors to Lindsy's house both they both found everything else forgotten as their attention was diverted to the interior of the building. Seth's arm dropped from Akira's shoulder as he stared around in disbelief.
"No way," Akira breathed as she took in everything from the marble floor to the golden framed paintings decorating the white walls and the red silk curtains hanging next to each widow.
As she continued to follow Lindsy and Dominique through the house her eyes jumped from one thing to the next. From white stone statues, of women in flowing dresses or men wearing only breaches and displaying their muscles, to paintings of dragons and expensive crystal bowls, it was all there in abundance throughout the house. Yet they passed through the house too fast for Akira to take it all in and in the next moment she suddenly found herself stepping back out into the open.
Blinking she stared at the lush green grass before her and the few trees and rose bushes that stood around the area. A few white stone statues dotted the area and one or two fountains decorated empty spots on the grass. When she looked up she started, for it looked as though the stars in the sky had suddenly grown to five times their size. Yet when she looked closer she saw that it was not stars above her but actually what looked like a net with lights hanging on it, spread across part of the garden and lighting it up.
"Akira!" a voice squealed.
Akira barely had time to brace herself before a pair of arms flew around her. She staggered a few steps before recovering herself.
"I can't believe your here!" the person who had flung their arms around her stepped back. Akira couldn't help but smile as she stared into the familiar face of a blond haired, brown eyed girl.
"Savannah," she smiled warmly, taking in the fact that since the last time she had seen the girl she had dyed the once pink streaks in her hair, blue. "Did you also come from the academy with the others?" Akira asked, affection filling her for the girl before her. Last time she had come to the future she and Savannah had become great friends, with Savannah showing her all around the city and getting her acquainted with the city life.
"No," Savannah's smile dropped a notch. "I haven't been chosen by a dragon...yet," she pouted.
"Oh," Akira replied, feeling at loss.
"But as soon as I heard what was going on I came to join the others in their quest," Savannah's eyes brightened once again. She suddenly paused, shooting a wide eyed look at Lindsy, yet the girl had already moved a good distance away. Seeming somewhat more cautious of what she was about to say Savannah leaned in closer to Akira. "Just because I don't have a dragon doesn't mean I can't be part of this," she whispered. Her eyes suddenly alighted on Seth and curiosity filled her face at once. "And who is this?" she asked.
"This is Seth," Akira smiled.
Savannah's mouth formed an 'oh' before a smile spread across her face. "Yup, he's definitely a looker. I see why you decided to keep him," she grinned making Akira blush. Seth just raised an eyebrow, looking more than amused at the comment.
"So, I think it's time you met the rest of the gang," Dominique's voice spoke right beside Akira's ear, making her jump. She turned her eyes on him, wondering how he had suddenly appeared there without her realizing. Dominique just smiled innocently at her while behind her Seth frowned.
"So," Dominique continued as he place his hands on Akira's shoulders and pushed her forward. For a second Seth seemed to tense at Dominique's move, yet it was only a second before he relaxed and followed the two forward.
"You already know Liam," Dominique nodded over to where Liam was busy listening to a chattering Lindsy, a smile on his face, "And Anita," he nodded over to where Anita was standing under a tree, talking with Gina. A little distance away from them stood Drake and Will, talking to a group of four boys. A smile spread across Akira's as she recognized two of them.
"You also know Tresus and Kirk," Dominique spoke as they approached the group who suddenly stopped talking as Akira approached them.
Akira's smile widened. Of course she knew them! They had played a part in rescuing her from being hanged by the council last time she had been to the future.
"And the other two," Dominique motioned to the two other guys who were staring at Akira with a look of disbelief on their faces. Obviously they knew who she was. One had bleach blond hair and pale blue eyes while the other had short cropped, brown hair and gray eyes. "Isaac," Dominique pointed at the brown haired guy, "and Jeremiah," he pointed at the blond one.
"Hey," Akira smiled warmly at them.
They both just nodded in reply, seeming not sure what to say as they stared at Akira in awe.
"Am I missing something here?" Lindsy asked as she suddenly appeared and stared curiously from the guys to Akira.
"No," Dominique quickly responded, smiling assuringly at Lindsy. "We were all just getting to know each other."
"Oh," Lindsy replied. Her eyes suddenly lit up once more. "How rude of me, you must all be thirsty!" she exclaimed. "Come help me get the drinks Dominique!" she gushed as she turned her eyes onto him. He never got a chance to reply as Lindsy had already grabbed his hand and was pulling him towards the house. One the way she also grabbed a hold of Liam, dragging him along to, he looked a lot happier than Dominique about it.
"So..." Kirk began, clearing his throat. "We heard you were planning to take us back to your time. Is that really a good idea?"
"Until we know what exactly is going on it's for the best," Akira replied softly.
"Yeah, but the problem is here," the guy called Isaac spoke up. "I mean as the rider of legend, can't you just walk in and put a stop to it all?"
Akira frowned.
"She could try, but she could walk right into a trap," Seth replied for her.
"Yeah right, nothing cab touch the rider and dragon of legend," Jeremiah spoke, admiration in his eyes as he stared at Akira almost as an adoring fan would. Akira squirmed uncomfortably.
"Thanks for your faith in me," she smiled, "but despite everything Redemption and I are still just a dragon and a rider, we're also vulnerable. Besides, this Steeson guy hasn't really done anything wrong yet, so we can't just exactly waltz in when we have nothing to accuse him of."
Isaac looked like he was about to argue but Tresus quickly cut in. "When do we leave?" he asked.
Akira shot Seth a questioning look.
"In the morning," Seth sighed.
"The morning?" Tresus frowned. "Shouldn't we leave now? I mean word is out that we're wanted. If they find out we're here..."
"That is true but security will be higher during the night. It's the time that you'll be expected to leave. Leaving in broad daylight is the last thing they would think you'd so, so it's best we do it that way. Besides, we were thinking that if we stayed a night maybe we could find out a bit more about your time and assess the situation a bit better," Seth spoke calmly.
