Asaki begins to look around confused as candlelight begins to flicker and glass begins to crack. She flinches as the stained-glass windows explode and shatter all over the room and darkness envelops them.
She opens her hand towards the floor and Kasei flies into it. The fire rod instantly transforms into a long dagger.
The teenager flips the dagger towards her in a 360 degree, slicing the chains from her manacles. She holds the dagger in the direction of the chanting, trying to figure out where to strike.
Her ears twitch, trying to pinpoint Khora, but the panicked screams are too loud. Above the noise, she manages to hear a woman's piercing scream.
Khora: "That will make your case somewhat more difficult, foolish ones..."
The teenager becomes even more confused when the lights come on, as shouting guards rush at them. She looks all over the place then spots the queen, bleeding.
She is taken by surprise as the guards seize them. Her left hand, the one with the dagger in it, is held away from her and to the side. Out of sheer reflex, the teenager bends her other arm upwards, a ring on her finger begins to glow. (If anyone remembers, this is the ring that Tenshin gave her in C&CF.) Instantly a glowing saber is at the guard's stomach as his halberd is at her neck. But Soul Reaver's message breaks through her mind before she can strike.

- It seems our situation just got a lot worse... but please, don't attack if at all possible... otherwise we will never find out where Stavarus went!-

She grits her teeth and glares at the guard, the sabre instantly dissapearing in a flash. Her brow twiches once as she drops the dagger on the floor.

Asaki allows herself to be captured once again and locked in a cell. She kicks the door in frustration then listens as the guards leave. She grips the steel bars, wondering who it was that dismissed them. She looks around on the ground then reaches down and picks up a beaten spoon from the straw. She holds it outside of the cell and watches the vague reflection of Zalvock and her sensei. She throws the utensil back on the ground and continues to listen.
Her ears twitch, trying to make sense of Zalvock's words.
Then she hears Soul Reaver's voice in her head once more.

- It seems I've been summoned to an audience with Koshima... though I am uncertain what she wants from me, it would seem by her stealthy measures that it is against the wishes of the queen. I will telepathically let you know what is going on while I speak to her. I think that perhaps out of all the people here she might listen to reason.-

She listens carefully, keeping silent. She manages to hear, "...chambers, exactly two floors above your cell," from Zalvock.
Once she is certain that Soul Reaver and Zalvock have left, the teenager releases her grip on the bars. She lets out a low growl and backs up against the wall, crossing her arms.
"Kuso."
A small, snake like figure approaches her cell and slithers between the bars. In a glow of bright green, Kasei transforms back into a fire rod.
Kasei: Back already? By the way, thanks for the crash landing back there. I figured it was part of a plan of yours so I stayed lying there, wondering if you were going to come back. When you didn't, I realized that you had let yourself get captured again. *sigh* What a shame. And I was actually thinking you were getting smarter.....hey...what's wrong?
"That Koshima is in a private meeting with my sensei."
Kasei: So?
"Let's just say I trust her about as far as I can throw her."
The teenager approaches the door and grips the bars once more. Kasei hovers beside her.
Kasei: ........she doesn't look that heavy.
"Baka! Damate!"
Kasei: Take it easy! I was joking.
"........!"
Kasei: ......What are you going to do?
"*sigh* I don't know. And that's what's really getting to me."
The teenager abruptly turns and punches a hole in the wall.
"I can't take in anymore!! They can just sit there and make assumptions of us without any proof! Without any just means! When they don't know a thing about us!"
She pulls her fist out of the wall and growls.
"We're wasting time here with these fools!! It's driving me insane! That and you!"
Kasei: Don't be jealous of my ability to go in and out as I please.
The teenager growls and kicks Kasei out of the air. The fire rod hits the bars, bounces off the ceiling and riccochets on the ground to a painful stop against the stone wall.
Asaki begins to approach furiously, then stops sudddenly, in shock. A small grin spreads across her face.
"That's it! Kas', you're a genius!"
Kasei: I feel more like road kill.
"You can leave! You can go in and out as you please! You can be my eyes and keep tabs on that Koshima and at the same time be certain she doesn't try to destroy my sensei!
Kasei: I'd think Koshima would be the one who'd need protection should she try anything....but I'm game. Where are they?
"Upstairs. Two floors. Just be stealthy about it."
Kasei: No problem.
The fire rod instantly changes into a black crystal ball about the size of a baseball and bounces up the stairs towards Koshima's chambers.
It rolls into the room and hides near a curtain, watching Koshima and Soul Reaver.

Meanwhile, in her cell, Asaki sits on the ground with her eyes closed, concentrating. Her light glowing aura around her. She can see the figures of Koshima and her sensei displayed in her mind, but the sound is somewhat muffled...