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Shaman King: Escape from Aegolius canyon

Chapter 1

/Asakura compound, Tokyo

Hana was woken by the sounds of yelling and pounding footsteps. Pulling himself out of bed, he walked downstairs.

"Who in the world would come here in the middle of the night?" He wondered. When he got downstairs, he saw the front door broken down, a group of strangers standing in his house, and on of them was holding a gun to his mother's head.

"You damn…! What do you want?" Shinigami spat.

"We're here for your boy, and we're not leaving until we get him." The man replied smoothly.

"You know I'd never do that!" She snarled. Hana gasped. The strangers must have seen him there, for the man holding his mother promptly smiled.

"Well, in that case…" The man put his finger to the trigger.

"STOP!" Hana screamed. He ran into the room. "I'll go with you, I'll cooperate, but don't hurt my mother!"

"Hana, no! I forbid you!"

"Mom, if I let them hurt you, I'd never forgive myself." Hana chuckled tearfully. "Bye."

"Too bad, miss Asakura. All shaman children in the immediate area are being deported. We're doing this for your own good." Two of the men roughly grabbed Hana and dragged him away. As soon as she was alone, Shinigami fell to her knees and began to cry.

/A few blocks away…

There was a crashing noise outside. "Be careful, you idiot! If Hao Asakura catches us deporting his only child, we'll become human BBQ! Stay quiet." Sophia Asakura blinked awake at the noise. She could have sworn she heard someone talking outside, but suddenly it was quiet. Generally confused, she got into her slippers and stepped outside.

"Small one!" Suddenly the spirit of fire appeared next to her. "It's dangerous out here!"

"Flame, what the heck are you doing?" Sophia exclaimed. "Get back in your tablet!" She pushed the spirit into the crystal tablet, hoping none of the local shaman had seen it and gotten the wrong idea. She stood in silence for a few moments. Gradually, she heard the pitiful mews of a cat in trouble.

Sophia fell for the ruse. As soon as she got to the bridge the noise was coming from, the men grabbed her arms and pulled her into their car. Back at the house, Hao woke at the sound of someone crying.

"Tamao? What's wrong?" Tamao turned and looked at him, tears running down her cheeks.

"They took her." She sobbed. "They took Sophia away."

/Tao family residence, China

Athena had heard them coming. "Li! On your feet!" She dragged her confused brother upstairs and into her closet. "Not a sound, if you know what's good for you." She whispered fiercely.

"Sis-!" Li was cut off as Athena slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Rairaicocoon!" Athena dragged the spirit of lightning into her tablet and stuffed it into her robe pocket along with her father's lightning sword. She stood at the door and waited. When the men came in, Athena opened her arms.

"In case you're wondering, yes I am the only child shaman in the house. Now take me and buzz off."

"Li? What on earth are you doing in that closet?" Ren stared at his son as he yanked the door open and Li spilled out.

"They took her." Ren's eyes widened in horror. "They took sis!"

/Ainu village

"Not in this generation, bro. If we're being deported, we're being deported together." The girl hissed fiercely, gripping her brother's wrist so hard he was surprised it didn't break.

"But Minty-!"

"No buts, Deep Blue!" The siblings stood together as the men broke down the door and took them too. Horohoro came in just in time to see them taken away. "No…"

/Tokyo

"I told you. There are no child shaman in this house!" The girl growled. Mike had flattened himself in the upper bunk of the storage closet, begging his guardian ghost to keep the steam up to make it look like something was being cooked, rather than a child shaman cowering in the cupboards. While he was grateful that his friend Cera was covering him, he was pretty upset most of his friends had already been deported.

"Fine." The men left. Mike uncurled himself and slipped to the floor.

"Thank god." The girl murmured. She dropped to the floor, crying. "I know I shouldn't say this, but I'm so glad they didn't take you too. So glad."

/London, Britain

Drake Dethiel was walking home, keeping his homing pendulum in his pocket, looking constantly over his shoulder. But then he stopped.

"How can I be considering my own safety when my friends have been deported? What if they're being tortured, forced into labor, or worse?" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…mom…dad…" He looked over his shoulder. "I know your there. I'm a child shaman. Take me." And with that, he was gone too.

/Several hours later, Sophia's P.O.V.

Sophia blinked several times before totally waking up. There was great pain in her body. She was being carried roughly into a giant canyon. So it wasn't a nightmare. I've been snatched. Now Sophia could remember-she had tried to get away, and the result was getting the tar beaten out of her.

"In here." Sophia was pitched into a dingy room, landing badly. "Don't get any bright ideas, Asakura. There is no escape form Aegolius." The man slammed the door shut. Sophia starting crying.

"Did they hurt you too?" A soft voice sounded from the other side of the room. Sophia looked up. Another girl was kneeling in front of her, deep brown eyes soft with concern. Her hair was shoulder-length and green, a very dark green, darker than even Drake's.

Sophia whimpered. The girl gently took her into her arms. "How old are you?"

"Six. I'm going to turn seven in May." Sophia sniffed finally.

"You were snatched from your mom and dad?" She asked. "I was taken from the orphanage I lived at. I'm an orphan. My name's Tatiana. Tatiana Oydmanta."

"I'm Sophia Asakura." Tatiana's eyes widened.

"Asakura…? I can't believe it! I've heard so much about your family." She got a good look at Sophia. "…You're father wouldn't happen to be Hao, would it?"

"Yes." Sophia took out Flame's tablet. "Daddy gave me this to me two nights before I was snatched. He was going to show me how to harness the power of the Spirit of Fire, but then all this happened…" She looked up at Tatiana. "Are we ever going to get home?"

Tatiana looked at her sadly. "They're doing everything they can do make sure we can never leave. I've been here three years. I tried running away and I got caught. They beat me until I could barely stand."

Sophia swallowed hard, trying not to wail out loud. I don't want to stay here! I want to go home…I want to go home! She buried her head in Tatiana's shoulders. "I don't wanna stay." She whined. "I wanna go home." Sophia cried and cried.

Tatiana hugged her new roommate close, gently pushing stay locks of her long dark brown hair out of her tear-stained eyes. "I'm sure there's a way out." She whispered. Sophia blinked. "I just can't figure it out…"