Chapter 2 - Escape

POV: Sid

I couldn't move.

Everything was dark... and cold.

My feet weren't touching the ground. It was as if I were floating.

My mind...

...

I wanted to wake up. But I felt completely drained. I...

...

Something started in my body. I didn't know what. It was like a feeling that was trying to get me out of this dark and cold state.

Somehow, I let the feeling get to me as I stirred a little and then opened my eyes. Some liquid got into my eyes, but I could still see fine through it.

'Ugh, my head's killing me,' I thought, looking from the corner of my eye. On my right, I spotted Zenet in some sort of green stasis tube, unconscious with wires attached to her body. As I turned my gaze to the left, I noticed Lena and Jesse floating unconsciously in similar stasis tunes, also with wires attached to them. 'What happened to me?'

Fragments of memories flashed up in my mind. Rubanoid being knocked down to the ground, a trapdoor opening, me falling down...

I suddenly jerked, wide awake the minute the flashbacks ended. I swum up to the surface of the stasis tube, wires falling off of my body. When my hands touched the lid of the stasis tube, I tried to push it up. It didn't budge. I was losing my breath so quickly that I started to panic. I rushed my hands all over the base of the lid and I came across a pipe. I gripped it and it turned slightly. It was difficult being submerged in liquid while trying to turn the pipe, but I managed.

I pushed the lid up and rose to the surface. I took several big breaths, my vision gradually clearing. I then lifted myself up over the edge of the stasis tube and landed on the floor, completely drenched. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in a small dark room that was about half the size of the throne room. It was probably a lab, giving the state I'd been in. My teammates still looked out of it. Whatever liquid I'd just been in - or whatever had been transfusing through the wires - really took them in a deep slumber. Why I'd been the only one to wake up, I had no idea.

As I looked around, I almost instantly noticed Rubanoid in a little stasis lock and grabbed him. I had to get out. So I ran out of the room and down the corridor. I wanted to free my teammates, but I knew that it would be risky, especially since I didn't know how and that time was precious. I hoped that they would forgive me.

I stopped running when I saw two guards at the end of the corridor. Luckily, their backs were turned. But it was more fortunate when this corridor broke into two. So, this time, I walked quietly but quickly down the other corridor, not wanting to attract the guards' attention.

Suddenly, lights flashed at the right side of the corridor and I could had sworn I heard a voice. It sounded like Kazarina's. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I didn't care. All I cared about was getting out. "Please, don't let her spot me," I said to myself as I carried on walking.

I spotted a small window and walked up to it. Once I got close to the window, I slowly peeked through it, wanting to see if it was safe to continue down the corridor. The witch's back was turned. It seemed as though Kazarina was completely focused on her experiments. I had no idea what she was working on, but I didn't want to find out. This was my first chance to escape. So I ran past the window and a few more and kept on running.

The floor became diagonal, like a steep hill. And the corridor kept going around in circles. But the good news was that I was getting far and far away from that witch and her lab.

Finally, there were doors at the end, and when I was near enough to the doors, they slid open. I entered another corridor. Oh great. It was either left or right. I had had never been to Kazarina's lab before, so I had no clue as to which area of the castle I was in or where I was going.

For some reason, my instincts were telling me to go right. At the same time, I had a bad feeling about it. As if there was trouble brewing. Then again, I'd just gotten out of trouble of being a some sort of lab rat. Plus, Rubanoid and I had had been through tough times together and we would will get out of this. I decided to go right.

As I ran down the corridor, I began panting, so I stopped next to a wall to catch my breath.

"Attention, all personnel," rang a voice over an intercom. "Attention, all personnel! Report to transport ships immediately! Repeat: Report to transport ships immediately!"

I stuck my head out from behind a corner a bit to see if the coast was clear for me to carry on. I saw a group of soldiers heading my way, making me pull my head back and press my back against the wall. I hoped they hadn't seen me.

A familiar figure rushed right past me, followed by the soldiers. I gritted my teeth as they sprinted down the rest of the corridor.

Once they were gone, I said to myself, "Ren..."

Honestly, despite the fact that Ren had always been the Emperor's favourite subject, I wasn't expecting him to still be working for the Emperor. Especially not after what the Twelve Orders had done to us. Why was Ren still doing this? What was it that was persuading him to keep going? And, more importantly, why was the Emperor so interested in Ren?

These were the questions that I wanted answered. But first things first, I needed to get out. It seemed that Ren and the soldiers were heading for the transport ships, presumably to Neathia.

A plan formed in my mind. I decided to sprint down the corridor, catching up to Ren and the soldiers. I managed to keep up, but I remained behind them, following them in hot pursuit. I heard doors whirring open ahead, and we went through.

We entered some kind of battle arena, which was situated outside and in the centre was a gigantic and black transport ship. There were more soldiers waiting on the ramp, facing straight ahead.

I quickly turned left and hid behind a crate. I was only just lucky that no one saw me. Regardless, I needed to not only focus on luck, but also the fact I had to get on the ship. But how to get on without getting caught was a big issue.

I looked around, desperate to find a solution. And then, a sign on the crate behind me caught my eye.

ARMOUR AND WEAPONRY.

I grinned at the sign and whispered, "Score."