"Alright, Quest… we may have a new plan to get the swords from the Guardian, but… you might not like it too much." Gatling explained nervously, as he entered the room. Quest was there, arms crossed, listening unwillingly as Nestor annoyed him. His eyes perked up with the news of a new plan, as he needed to do something that wasn't just sitting there, listening to Nestor.
Nestor, whom had also gotten excited with the news, stepped forward with a grin. "Quest hates everything." Nestor said. "What's the plan?"
Gatling rubbed the back of his neck uneasily, looking down and chuckling nervously. "Can you remember about eight years ago, when the Guardian had requested that Prince Nestor's father allow him to marry someone's little sister, as he had grown quite fond of them?" he asked.
Quest immediately growled, shaking his head furiously, and the sudden ferociousness of his presence made Graer actually back away nervously. "Oh no, no. We are NOT bringing her back into this!" he snarled. "Besides, she got taken away years ago! I have no idea where she is!"
While Quest had immediately known who they were referring to, Nestor on the other hand, did not. "Who? Who are we talking about?" he questioned, though everyone ignored him.
"Well, Quest, we looked into some leads that you had made all those years ago about where she might've been taken, and we actually managed to track her down. While you were asleep, I gave Alburt the coordinates, and we should be arriving now in a couple of minutes." Gatling explained, bracing himself for Quest to get angry again. "It's a good plan, Quest! She had gotten closer than any of us have ever gotten to the Guardian!"
Graer laughed nervously, nodding as he put his arm around him. "You should be thanking us, buddy, we're giving you a family reunion!" he chuckled, though Quest shot him a glare that clearly said 'Move it or lose it', and he removed his arm, terrified.
Nestor grumbled, staring at Quest. "Quest, I order you to tell me who you guys are talking about!" he exclaimed.
Quest rolled his eyes, sighing, and he pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, mumbling things that should definitely not be repeated. "We're talking about my …" he mumbled, and Nestor raised an eyebrow.
"Your what?" he questioned.
"My little sister!" he exclaimed, before he sighed and closed his eyes. "Eight years ago… the Guardian of the Shattersoul Sword admitted to your father that he was in love with my little sister, and had requested that your father grant him permission to marry her, but your father denied it. The Guardian was furious… so furious that she had to be taken into hiding, for her own protection. They didn't even tell me where she had been taken."
Nestor's mouth fell open, and he stared blankly at Quest. "You have a little sister?" he repeated.
Quest rolled his eyes, though before anyone could say anything else, Alburt stopped, alerting them all that they had arrived… wherever they were. Without them knowing, Alburt had swam through miles and miles of ocean, and they were about forty feet out from the shore of an island, but when they looked out, they noticed there were archers waiting and hidden in the forest, so Alburt had stopped. It was shallow enough that they could all walk, or swim, so Quest told him to sit and stay.
On the beach, near the shoreline, there was a tall, slender woman waiting for them, with two other women behind her. She had long black hair, tanned skin, and bright blue eyes, and she wore a golden crown in her hair. It appeared that the other two women were soldiers, as they both wore simple dark pink dresses, with golden armor and shields. They both had brown hair, also, and held spears that were pointed threateningly in their direction.
"Is that her?" Nestor asked impatiently, as they exited Alburt.
Quest shook his head, motioning for him to keep his mouth shut as they neared the shore. "No – she's the Queen." he replied, not taking his eyes away from the women.
Nestor furrowed his eyebrows, looking up at him. "I thought that you had said you didn't know where she was taken!" he accused, and Quest rolled his eyes, grumbling.
"I said that I didn't now where she was, not that I didn't know what this place was." he growled. "I didn't know that they had brought her here."
"Why didn't you check here, then?" Nestor argued, frowning. "If it had been my sister, and I wanted to find her that bad, I would've checked everywhere!"
"Shut up."
When they finally approached the women, the Queen frowned as she scanned the group, placing her hands on her hips. "No men are permitted on this island, especially not armed ones." she snapped. "State your business!"
Quest raised his hands, as a sign of peace, and he stepped forward. "We came to see Persephone." he said calmly, only glancing for a moment at the two other women, who were still pointing their spears at them, and the archers that were still hidden in the trees.
The Queen frowned, making a face. "Lady Persephone has other business that she is attending to. Why must you see her so urgently?" she asked.
"I'm her brother." Quest replied simply, as if it made the most sense in the world.
The Queen stared at him for a moment, before she looked behind her, at the other women, and they exchanged some quick hushed words, before she turned back to them. "Follow me, but I will warn you and your company now; leave all your weapons on the beach, as I have archers at the ready, and we will not be afraid to fight should we be provoked. Do not touch anything." she said.
They nodded, and complied with her demands, though Nestor was initially reluctant to leave all of his weapons behind. He then looked at Quest, and he was shocked to see that he had actually pulled his mask down, revealing his face to him for what quite possibly could have been the first time. It was that that made him realize how serious this was to him, and he decided in that moment that he would leave everything behind, as not to ruin this for him. They then followed the Queen and her bodyguards into the incredible, lush forest, which eventually opened up into a large white village, built from beautiful marble and stone. It was an incredible sight, and all they could all do was stare in awe at all of the large temples and homes that lined the cobblestone streets, and the markets which were booming with activity. Women walked around, talking amongst each other or buying some of the fresh fruits or other items being sold, but they all seemed to stop and stare at them as they passed by.
"I am Queen Hippolyta, and I have ruled this land for centuries now, and you are some of the first men that I have ever allowed onto the island." the Queen explained.
Quest nodded. "And we are grateful, m'lady." he replied.
They followed the Queen toward the large temple at the highest point in the town, which seemed to overlook the whole island. Queen Hippolyta's bodyguards followed behind them, ensuring that none of them were to stray from the group to cause havoc or cause any other trouble. Once in the temple, they walked down a hall which was painted with beautifully vivid and tragic paintings, which Queen Hippolyta motioned to as they walked passed. "Long before men rode basteonites, and war and hatred plagued mankind, our five goddesses created the first women to live here, and created this island as a safe place for women everywhere. The land was blessed, so that no man could ever step foot onto it, unless there was direct permission granted by myself – though, after centuries of watching the slaughtering and bloodshed that were happening around us, there has only ever been an extremely small number of men that have ever been here. We have lived on this island in peace and harmony for centuries, and have thrived under the protection of the goddesses." she explained. "Persephone was considered a gift when she had been brought under our care, as she shares the name of the daughter of the goddess of fertility and agriculture."
They then came across two ornate, grandiose double-doors at the end of the hallway, which two guards stood outside. The Queen nodded to the guards and stepped inside, closing the door behind her, and the guards crossed their spears after her so that the others could not follow her. It was an anxious couple of minutes while they waited for her to return, and when she did, she smiled slightly at Quest.
"Lady Persephone may see you now." she welcomed.
The guards held the doors open for them, and they stepped into the large and beautiful room. They saw that there were balconies which overlooked the ocean, and there were multiple pedestals which all seemed to be perfectly in the sunlight, and which on one sat a girl with her legs crossed, meditating.
She had long, light brown hair, which almost seemed to be changing to a warm, golden color in the setting sunlight, and she wore golden cuff bracelets on either wrist, with a white dress with golden thread sewn throughout it, which gave the material a shining and beautiful appearance. She was pale and fair, and seemed to almost glow with a soft white light, as did everyone else on the island. They could assume that she sensed the new presences in the room near her, and she opened one of her icy green eyes, and noticed the group.
"Q… Quest?" she said, almost breathlessly and she stood and jumped down.
They stared at each other for a moment, in complete shock, before they rushed forward and hugged each other tightly. He picked her up, and she laughed. "Quest!" she said happily, burying her head into his shoulder, and he actually smiled, closing his eyes as they hugged.
"Hey, kiddo…" he whispered.
There were a couple minutes that passed in complete silence, where Persephone and Quest just hugged each other tightly, before Persephone looked back to the Queen with a smile. "Thank you, m'lady, but I wish to speak with my brother alone." she said, and the Queen smiled softly and nodded.
"As you wish…" she said.
The Queen stepped outside, along with her bodyguards, and Persephone and Quest hugged each other for another long moment, before they went right into explaining to her the whole plan. Persephone listened intently, without really showing any emotions or saying too much, and when they finished, she nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay." she agreed.
On the way back to Alburt, they stopped into what Persephone explained was her room in the temple, and she collected a few of her things before they moved on again. She and Quest did not stray too far from each other, as they both kept smiled and hugged each other again. She explained that while she had missed him dearly since she had been taken away, she was actually very happy on the island, and she hadn't realized that it had actually been eight whole years since they had seen each other last. Quest only smiled, putting his arm around her and hugging her tightly again, saying that at least they were back together now. It was incredible for Nestor to see Quest this happy – he really did love his sister. While they talked more, it was then that Nestor noticed that Persephone had grabbed a quiver filled with arrows and a longbow when they had stopped into her room. He raised an eyebrow.
"Do you even know how to use those?" he blurted out.
Persephone turned, raising an eyebrow. "I do – does the boy think women cannot own sharp objects?" she asked.
"Well, yeah! Wait, no, I mean no! Ugh!" Nestor stammered, and Persephone smirked slightly. "Alright, how about we make a bet? I'll throw a target in the air that you'll have to hit, eighty feet from here. You'll have to hit it dead center, okay? But because I'm nice, I'll give you three tries. And if you make it, I'll… I'll do whatever you want, for a whole day. And if you can't, you do whatever I want!"
Persephone smirked slightly, nodding. "Alright." she agreed.
Nestor grabbed a small pillow from his bag, which almost was shaped like a heart, before she turned and ran. Quest chuckled slightly as Persephone took three arrows from her quiver at once, and waited for the target. Nestor threw the pillow into the air, and in one fluid motion, she aimed, pulled the string back, and fired.
All three arrows went right through the middle.
Dead center.
Straight through the heart.
It took Nestor a while to return, and while he had been nice enough to actually retrieve Persephone's arrows for her, he frowned and sighed childishly. "Alright… You won, fair and square." he groaned. "What do you want me to do?"
Persephone placed the arrows back into her quiver, shrugging as she did so. "I don't know." she replied.
"Oh, come'on! Pick something!"
"I don't know!"
"Just pick something! Anything!"
Persephone looked at Quest for a moment, then back to Nestor, and before they could really comprehend what she had done, she took Nestor by the collar of his shirt and pulled him right into a kiss. After they broke apart, she chuckled a bit and looked back to Quest.
"That 'ought to shut him up for a while." she chuckled.