From where the heck did the Skrops get involved in this?
After the Temple of Past, I had thought that I would never meet the Skrops again. But they showed themselves to me again. Great!
The Skrops jumped from the top, their hiding place. I wondered if Colloseus had bought a few Skrops to make us go crazy. They seemed to be anxious to kill us. I had finally met Amanda and was so grateful for that. Walking around this unending maze alone was horrific and just when I found her, the Skrops appear.
They made a crowd in between me and her. I could barely see her now but managed to watch her go backwards. "They are Skrops. We had killed them in the Temple of Past. Maybe some weren't present there. We need to fight." I told Amanda but didn't get a response. The angry mob looked at me as if I had killed their brothers. Well, I had.
I unsheathed Magnum and got ready for some action. I hadn't been in a fight since my death so I had no idea if I had become stronger or forgotten everything. I heard Amanda grabbing her Blizzard which was good. Though the Skrops had the majority, I believed we could still put up a good fight together.
That thought changed right the next moment. I was attacked by twenty Skrops at once and the chances of survival barely existed. I slashed each Skrop and tried not to get stung or bitten by one of them. The noise of Blizzard's blade being slashed could be heard too which meant that Amanda had also started fighting.
I entered the room a bit and watched a few more Skrops landing on the ground from the roof. It was irritating to get some of them on my head and I had to shake them off. I believed Colloseus would be laughing at us. The very thought of it made my blood rage. I attacked fiercely and made my way closer to Amanda. She was now visible and trying to meet me too.
I almost reached to her when more annoying Skrops came down. Now I was being pushed back into a corner. One of them bit Amanda and she cried out. I once again tried to reach there but the Skrops wouldn't let me.
I watched her hand on her knees and she was breathing heavily, tired of the fight. Her right hand injury didn't help either. But luckily she knew a bit of healing power and grabbed her hand. The wound repaired itself a bit. I remembered the way she had healed my wound.
The Skrops had gathered around me, hitting and slapping me from each direction. I didn't know what to do. I closed my eyes and something sparked inside me. It wasn't Magnum. Something else happened which I couldn't figure out. I opened my eyes and looked around. Amanda was also being roundly defeated.
I had no idea what was going on but I called out to Amanda, "Listen up! Close your eyes and concentrate." She looked at me as if I had gone crazy. "You want me to close eyes in this mess?" She demanded and not knowing how to reply, I nodded. It made me look like a bigger idiot. "Just close your eyes!" I ordered and she did. I too joined her. We both had our eyes closed and enemies kept attacking us.
"Blaze, what are you up to?" Amanda enquired with her eyes closed. She didn't get the spark I had gotten but I was already into it. "Stop thinking about everything else. Concentrate." I said. I thought that she would again yell at me but she didn't. There was silence between us for some time. Then she exclaimed, "What is this?! It seems like a powerful aura."
I was happy that even she could feel it now. I had no idea how the words came out of my mind but I announced, "This is the Zantai Power. Each Xorain attains this skill and so did I. You are the daughter of Rock Flames and so you too are a part of the Xorains. You are a half-Xorain. You may have trouble but if you concentrate you can claim the power as well." After I said that, I wondered how I knew all this. Maybe every Xorain knew about this. Amanda was silent for some time.
We both needed to totally focus into the Zantai. Just when I thought my brain would explode, I got it. The Zantai power! I could look around myself even with my eyes closed. Behind my head, I could now figure out what was happening without even turning my head. It was almost like an X-ray view.
On the other side of the mob, I could see Amanda glowing. I knew even she saw me like that. We could see and find Xorains like this and could fight more fiercely. "I can see all around me now." Amanda declared. "You are a Xorain, Blaze. Maybe because of that, you are totally glowing."
I agreed. "This can answer the question as to how Raptor found Rock Flames after he was free. He used the Zantai power and figured that your father was in Foster Plaza." I said. I knew I was right. I always had this question that in this big world how Raptor had found where exactly Rock Flames was located. He may have followed the glowing figure of Rock Flames with the Zantai power and reached Foster Plaza.
I was too engrossed in my newly gained power that I didn't know what was going on outside until the noise became unbearable. I opened my eyes and saw the Skrops all over me, hitting me hard. But I wasn't frightened by them anymore. I was calm and that was exactly what I needed to unlock the Zantai power.
"Use this power to attack, Amanda." I stated and she agreed. I was all pumped up now and held Magnum with more enthusiasm. In my mind, I could hear Magnum giving me orders as to how to attack. My eyes were closed as I slashed and threw the Skrops here and there. I had total control on myself more than I had ever felt. That's when I realized that in fight, calmness is more important than anger.
I could see Amanda attacking the Skrops using the Zantai power. We both worked together in unison and finally got to each other. Now Amanda had her back to mine and we fought in opposite directions. I even helped her as I could see what was happening behind me now. In between we exchanged weapons and fought with total teamwork which I hadn't thought was ever possible. The Zantai power helped us work together.
I unleashed Magnum's power and threw the blade around the room, killing every Skrop. I then magically summoned him back to my hand. Amanda used her signature move and thrust her sword in the Skrop lying down. I was panting heavily after the battle and looked at Amanda. She too looked tired but managed to smile. "Well, glad I am a half-Xorain." She stated and we laughed a bit.
Having someone in the maze was a blessing for me. I had been feeling so lonely that I really needed another person by my side. I hadn't found where Oliver was yet but Amanda and I had our reunited. We went on wandering in the maze. My watch showed 1:28 am. We were far past our dinnertime and I hadn't known sooner that I was starving. By the look of Amanda, she felt the same way. I sat down for some time and had our dinner from our back packs and then continued. We discussed as we went. "We really had some teamwork back in that room. We worked together." I said and she suddenly stopped. She exclaimed, "It is the first line of the Prophecy!"