"What are we supposed to do now?" Emily asked.

They hadn't moved from Bane's living room, still reeling from the realization that Andie, their friend and companion in battle, had been taken without their even noticing and to the Demon Realm, no less, where only demons and evil creatures lurked. Or, so they assumed, having never actually set foot there. But if Andie really was there, then there was only one thing to do.

"Well, that's a given, isn't it? We go to the Demon Realm and bust her out of there!" Jessica exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

She looked ready to go there right then and there. Isabelle caught her arm and pulled back into her seat.

"Don't be an idiot, Jess. The worst thing we could do is rush into this. It's obvious why they did this." she said, frowning thoughtfully.

"Why?" Emily asked, looking worriedly outside as if expecting the demon ruler to come back and finish what they'd started.

"Why would he only take one of you?" Aera asked, looking confused.

"It's not to take her powers," Balon said. "That can only happen with her consent, and I can't see her doing that. She's as stubborn as they come."

In a less critical situation, Bane would have cracked a smile. But not now.

"What I don't understand is how they got through the barrier... Bane places it around the house every night!"

"She may have stepped out of it or something..." Emily said. "Or maybe their combined power was too much for the barrier..."

"Come to think of it, how are you still here, Adena?" Bane asked.

"Well, I was in my human form, as we'd all agreed." she said. "I guess that makes our bond work differently, somehow."

"Do you think you'll be able to reach her if you try in your spirit form?" Isabelle asked.

"We don't know," Balon said. "But I'm not taking the risk."

"If he's torturing her, tho-" Terra began.

"Don't!" Emily squeaked, shuddering. "Don't, Terra."

"Whatever he did to her, she would never let him take her power." Jessica said.

"I agree." Emily nodded.

"Okay, that's all very good, but that doesn't tell us how to get her back..." Bane pointed out, pressing his forehead onto both his hands.

"I don't know if that's a good idea..." Balon said carefully.

As he'd expected, Bane's head shot up, his blue eyes like ice.

"What?" he asked coldly.

"Bane, it's obvious that he's using Andie as a lure to get the rest of you over there..."

Slowly, Bane got up. The girls dared not move or speak. They had never seen Bane like this. Of course they'd only known him a few months, but...

"You're actually suggesting we leave her there?!"

Balon seemed like he was forcing himself not to shift uncomfortably.

"... No, of course not..."

"Yes, you are!" Isabelle said, interjected, getting to her feet, her eyes wide and disbelieving. "You're saying she's a bait, and implying we'd be going right into a trap, which would be foolish!"

"And it would be!" Balon retorted, determined not to lose face. "She wouldn't want you to just throw everything away for her sake!"

"You don't know her!" Bane shouted, so loudly that they all jumped. "You watched them all, but you never really paid attention!"

The electricity between the two men could have lit the whole house comfortably.

"You never cared about them as people! Only as utensils against evil! To replace you! Because you gave up!"

"We did not give up!" Balon shot back furiously. "We did what we had to! We were weary from years of battling! You wouldn't understand, you're still a child!"

"And so is Andie!"

This time, it was neither Bane or Balon who had spoken up. It was Adena. She had stepped forwards, her green eyes flashing indignantly.

"Adrianna is eighteen years old." Adena said in a cold, tense voice. "Eighteen, Balon! She has barely begun her life. And you would leave her in that dreadful place, to wither before she's even bloomed?"

Balon's careful facade was no match for his love's glare. He averted his eyes and bit his lower lip. He still did not move, though with difficulty.

"And pray tell, if we were to do that, what would her friends tell her family? That she just disappeared with no further explanation? Do you not think her family would move mountains to find her? As I would for you? Or you for me?"

Balon was at a loss for words. No one dared move or speak. Green eyes stared resolutely at the gray ones.

"... What do you want me to do, Adena?" Balon finally said. "If they go there, he'll have all he wants, they'd be playing right into his devilish hands!"

"Do you think they are foolish enough not to realize that?" Adena snapped. "They are young, not mindless."

"I never claimed they were..."

"Yet you crave control over their every move, disparaging what you disapprove, even when there is nothing wrong with it," Adena replied sharply.

"I'm trying to keep them safe-"

"You're trying to make them like you!" Adena snapped, her eyes glistening dangerously. "But they are not you! They are not us!"

Balon's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I never suggested that-"

"You dictate every step of their lives! You force them to push aside things they want to satisfy your wishes!"

Adena stepped forwards.

"What if it were me?" she asked, in a calmer voice. "Look at me and tell me you would leave me if I had been taken captive."

Balon would never argue his way out of that, and he knew it.

"Of course not..." he said quietly.

He reached up to touch Adena's face but she stepped away.

"Then how can you ask Bane to do that?" she demanded coldly. "How can you ask any of them to sacrifice someone they care about? Someone they love? Yes, Balon. Love. You are not the only being capable or deserving of feeling love for someone."

Balon's eyes widened, his jaw dropping.

"I would never say-"

"You did!" Adena interrupted shortly. "When you forced Bane to grow up alone, when he'd already lost his mother!"

If the silence was tense before, it was positively deadly now.

"How can you say that?" he asked, stunned.

"You were satisfying only your desire for companionship!" Adena told him angrily. "You could have let him live his life normally, with friends and ordinary pastimes, and still teach him how to fight and who he was! But you wanted his sole attention, so you told him to stay away from everyone else."

"That's what made him the warrior he is now!"

"He is a boy, he is no warrior!" Adena shouted.

"If I'd let him socialize, he could have made the circle form before he was ready!" Balon argued, getting angry, now. "I had no way of knowing who you and the others had chosen! And if I had not been careful, that could have been the end of everything!"

"Enough!" Terra put in sharply. "This is getting us nowhere. Adena, everyone has their opinions and reasons for their actions. Balon, if you're ready to help, we'll gladly use your input, but if not, don't you dare get in our way."

Not even a dragon would have dared argue with the fierce glint in Terra's eyes. She turned to the others.

"If she really is in the Demon Realm, I can only see one way to get her back."

Bane and the girls thought they knew where this was going, but they weren't sure they liked it. And sure enough...

"We'll have to go in ourselves."

*******************

Oh, things are getting tense over here! Can you feel it?

How will they get through the barrier? Will they get to Andie in time? Let's find out!