Chapter 3 So... Where are We Going?

Ben wasn't happy he pounded his fist against the map table.

"A true soldier?" he scoffed. "Let's not pretend there was anything noble about the way he died. He was tortured, humiliated and murdered."

"And he didn't give Logan anything, or we'd be dead now. I call that noble." Walter explained.

Page came in and added. "It was only a matter of time before Logan did this...Before he decided to hunt us down. We have to fight back."

"We're still not ready though. We need more allies. And thanks to Swift's efforts, we know exactly where to look." Walter wasn't ready to risk it.

Ben turned over to the heroes and said: "Before he was executed. The Major managed to send us a message."

Walter turned to them in turn. "A soldier still loyal to the old guard brought it to me, a great risk on his life."

"What does it say?" Elliot asked very intrigued to what the Major would have suggested.

"Well, this is Swiftie we're talking about, so it's pretty straightforward." Ben added. "You will find allies in Aurora."

"Aurora?" Raina asked. "But there's nothing there!"

"That's what I thought." Page commented.

"Maybe there is something. It's the only lead we have." Walter commented.

"Can we get on with the plan? I have an overwhelming urge to shoot someone." Ben said madly.

"First we'll need a ship. You and Ben will get a hold of one while Page and I make sure that the whole fleet doesn't follow." Walter started.

"But for the ship, you'll have to go via the back alleys. And they'll be crawling with soldiers." Page warned.

"Not a problem. I know my way around the place." Ben commented.

"Hey Ben, you'll be able to shoot something." Raina smiled.

Ben smiled and walked off to the end of the sewers.

"So... if they go there and you do that... what do I do?" Raina asked.

"You follow the Prince." Walter answered.

"Aurora is a distant place, it could be a while before we return. If there are things you need to do. Now's the time."

"It's alright Walter. But I have to ask: Who is going to keep an eye on Logan while we're gone?"

"Page." Walter answered.

"Just Page?" Elliot asked unsure if it would be enough.

"Well, I was considering Raina too, but I had the feeling that she'd want to come along."

"HA! You got that right!" Raina laughed. "Eli isn't going to leave me here in this godforsaken whole for him to go on a cruise to see beautiful women, coconut cocktails, beaches, palm trees... no, no, no. I don't think so. He's going where I can keep my eye on him!"

Walter smiled. "I figured as much."

"But if there's anything else needed to be done... you should probably do it before we go to Aurora."

"Come on Walter... was else is there to do?" Raina asked.

"I don't know maybe... refuse another time to go and kill an artist or save some animals... drag another criminal to jail...?"

Raina crossed her arms and Walter knew he wasn't making a point at all. "Alright, let's go."

As Elliot, Ben and Raina acquired the ship Walter joined them just in time to go off to the Auroran port.

Raina was confused to the unusual slowness of the ship.

"Hey Father!" She called. Elliot was surprised: She hadn't called him that in a long time.

Raina used to call Walter Father because of the absence of father figures. She only had 3 really:

The Idolus father

The Hero King

And

Walter

So when she was young she called Walter Father because it rhymed. So it stuck.

Walter turned around facing her. "Yes Raina?"

"If it's so essential that we go to Aurora, can't Elliot and I just go to the sanctuary and get transported there?" She had her elbows against the railings as she asked the question.

"If you use the sanctuary map, neither Ben nor I can come. And of course this is after all a family activity." Walter said sarcastically

"Oh?" Ben asked. "We're family now? What am I, a cousin?"

"Oh shut up Ben." Walter said.

"No but honestly! Eli and I could just use the sanctuary map to get there."

"Raina, if we were the only two to go, it'll make Walter and Ben jealous." Elliot smiled coming up behind her and leaning on the rails.

"Oh... of course they'd be jealous!" Raina smiled. "I bet Ben can't wait to slobber on half naked women!"

"Well... I wouldn't have any problem with it." Ben answered. Raina smiled.

Walter was now peacefully resting on the captain's chair, Ben was intensely concentrated in a book, and Raina had made her way to the crow's nest.

Elliot was thinking about many things at the same time... a hard feat for a guy... and wondered how to proceed with this. Not just Aurora but with his personal life as well.

What will become of his brother?

What would he have to do to take the fight in the streets? How many will die if he does that?

Elliot had far too many questions... things that Raina would no doubt help him solve, or she'll be affected by the outcome.

Raina... he thought. What's the next step?

He was utterly confused to her regard. If you would send him in an army of hollow men he could defeat them all! Lock him in a room with a hundred puzzles to be solved and he'll solve them all! But give him a girl as interesting and as optimistic as Raina and he'll request all the tutors in the land.

Women,...No Raina, Was the only thing he would never figure out. She was just so independent, original, and unique... if there were a novel about her she'd be either the main or secondary character.

The Authors can sell characters like Raina... He didn't know if they could sell an Elliot.

Elliot: shy, troubled, almost rough- like hero...

...that had issues.

And an evil brother...

And now: Confidence problems.

He sighed. The whole thing was making him uneasy. He wondered why the people upstairs considered him a hero anyways.

He remembered his father, what he was remembered for... his qualities outranked his faults.

Proud. Trustful. Truthful. Pure. Good. Generous. The Hero King was: A Perfect Monarch.

Perfect Father… and perfect man.

Compared to such a person to oneself... would be like comparing a rock to a mountain, a drop of water to a waterfall, an individual to a creed... a son to a father.

Elliot was nothing like Sparrow... and before his outbreak: Logan was.

He always looked up to his brother... copied him, mirrored him... but now he was gone.

The person inside that cocoon wasn't his brother.

The fact remained: Elliot would never be as good as his father... he knew it all too well.

And yet, hope remained in the eyes of his subjects, his friends, his men that Prince Elliot would surpass all expectations as a monarch, as a man and hopefully if he had the guts: As a father. As he thought of all those things he thought of how weak willed he was. How strong the influence of Albion was rubbing off on him.

It seemed to affect everyone but a single person: Raina.

She had no love for hate and exterminated it where it stood, even when Elliot was tempted to keep it alive. It was hard for him to refuse certain things... Some harder than others. Things like troops from shadow organisations, or money to fund their expedition, or even refusing a job for a corrupt person that had deep pockets. Raina always came in and refused it for him, seeing that it had become necessary that she did.

That's when she knew how she didn't recognize him at first: His morality.

At the age of 17, and 18 he was entirely good, but when she met him later on he no doubt took on jobs or deals that he probably wasn't supposed to and that affected his alignment. He was darker than before. Morality darker. She hated it.

She works on Elliot's choice making really hard and talks about it when she has the time.

However Elliot often denies it, one of the faults of his father: Stubbornness.

Elliot looked up at the crow's nest, not sure if he should climb.

That decision was made for him...

A ship came in and attacked their flank.

"Ben! Ben!" Walter called "Ben!"

Hero barked and Walter saw Elliot slowly waking up from the crash. As Walter walked over to Elliot he asked.

"Are you alright?"

Elliot tried to look around but couldn't make out a single thing. It was just white and gold colours everywhere.

"Yes. Ben's not here?" He asked as he walked over to Walter.

"No. Neither is Raina. Looks like we didn't all make it. I only hope...Well, maybe they washed up somewhere else. I'm sure that's it." Walter reasoned.

Elliot wasn't so sure. What were the odds?

But Raina was a hero, she was fine.

And if she wasn't he would eternally hate himself for it.

"Walter!" Elliot said as Walter was giving up on him.

"It's alright... It's all going to be alright." He almost whispered back.

"I'll come back for you. I promise." Elliot swore. "I'll get help."

"You'll do me proud... I know you'll do me proud." Walter whispered as he fainted, leaving Elliot alone in the desert.

"Walter?" Elliot asked. He didn't get an answer.

Hero nudged Elliot to continue, like if it were a sign to move on as quickly as possible... leaving Walter behind.

He couldn't see...

"Are you blind?" He growled. "Are you blind yet?"

His vile and evil words were followed by the shrieking of the children and the gushing of sand in his face didn't make it much easier to see.

"The light in your eyes offends us! Let It Go Out!" He laughed hysterically. "There's nothing left! You're gone! All gone!" The Crawler's satisfied tone was undeniable: He got himself a hero.

The chanting of the children were confirming what the Crawler had said.

"He's ours!" Elliot could hear his heart pounding; he thought it would all end... there in Aurora. Away from Walter, Raina, Ben...Page... everyone.

And faintly he could hear people chanting... not children chanting exactly but a chorus... non-Crawler affected people.

"He's still alive. The other can't be far away." Said a bald lady looking over him. She had spiral earrings and blue lines going to the back of her head.

"Taking a nap in the sun? Typical royalty." Commented Ben, taking his hand. "You got me worried there for a while."

"Walter!" gasped Elliot who wanted to tell Ben what had happened.

"Don't worry we'll find him."

"Is Raina...?" He tried to ask.

"You just sit tight my friend." Ben added.

It was as he feared: Raina wasn't with Ben. She was somewhere in the desert... or worse, with the Crawler. His nightmare came creepy on him. I'm going to kill you all! Raina's voice rang in his head closely followed by Page screaming as Raina became the Crawler... he still didn't know what the Crawler was... but the Aurorans would surely know.

If he would wake and Raina would be dead from the Crawler, Elliot wouldn't know what to do...

He couldn't keep consciousness for much after that. He blanked out shortly after hearing a series of bullet shots get fired in the sky.

Raina ran across the desert.

"Walter!" She called. She was being chased by a new kind of creature: Desert Furies.

They weren't that hard to beat but Raina had to keep her strength. She shot them from a distance while running.

"Eli!"

Nothing but the sand stood in front of her, and flying darts coming from the furies crossbows were the only thing behind her. The heat was starting to sink in. She went to the sanctuary and put on something entirely different.

She put on her magical clothes that she found one day in a chest. Without the hat of course, she found that it looked weird. As she went back in Aurora the furies were surprised by this woman's ability to change quickly.

Raina turned around and flourished shot one in the face, she went flying.

Smiling she kept running.

"Ben!" She called. Once more, no answer.

She started seeing shapes in the distance and was convinced they were mirages. The desert made her believe that Elliot was next to her an hour before, what made these so different?

She shot a bullet in the air, and noticed that one fury was getting awfully close. She jumped backwards and shot her in the face. She curved and rolled and landed on her feet.

She kept on running.

Raina used that avoidance technique a lot since she was first being chased. However the furies seemed to be accumulating more and more in number since the beach. They probably never saw a human do such a distance on foot, in the heat of the desert and still be able to run and kill.

Of course, they didn't know that Raina was a hero.

"Elliot!" She called again.

This time getting an answer: A gun shot in the distance.

She didn't have time to analyse the situation. She fired 2bullets from her weapon in the same direction and used a third to shoot down a fury.

Shadows in the distance started to immerge.

Please be friendlies... She wished as she ran a little bit faster. She was tired and annoyed of running ever since the beach.

She couldn't even see the beach anymore.

The furies started to run a little faster now... Raina noticed that their aggressiveness was much bigger now.

They don't want me to get away. She understood.

In nothing but 5minutes Raina had been relieved of the chase by bumping into Aurorans and Ben, the one who shot the bullet.

"Lovely vacation isn't it?" She asked him.

"Well out of all of us I think I was the most fortunate."

"Us?" She asked. Her face became luminous and hopeful. "Where are Elliot and Walter?"

"We're going to get Walter... we found Elliot half conscious on the steps of Aurora. It won't be long now."

"Where is he?" Raina wanted to see him as soon as possible.

"Kalin's got him right now. He's right over there." Ben pointed out a man covered by a blanket, almost like a morgue blanket but Raina somehow knew that it was to keep the sand away from Elliot's nose and mouth.

She tossed the blanket over and saw Elliot who was peacefully sleeping. She hugged his sleeping body and was thankful to find him again.

She thought for the longest time in the desert that she was the only one left... She was relieved that she was wrong.

"Elliot?" Whispered a woman.

The Prince slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on the shadow in front of him. He was unsure who it was or even if he knew her.

His head was against something smooth and warm... like a lap.

"Elliot?" She repeated, a little bit more worried than before.

His eyesight was becoming clearer as he gazed upon her once more.

"Raina...?" he whispered.

She smiled. "I'd thought that you'd never come around." She flickered his hair out of his face and bent down to kiss him.

"Am I dead?" He asked her right after.

"No. But there's always time to change that." She didn't stop smiling at him.

He looked around them and didn't see Walter or Ben.

"I thought I saw..." He started.

"A devilishly handsome soldier by the name of Ben Finn?" Ben came to his side as he did he so called Grand Entrance "Not dead yet my friend."

"How's Walter?" Elliot asked as soon as he saw his friend being healed by the priestess.

"Recovering." Answered the bald lady with the stripes.

"Eli, this is Kalin. She helped Ben find you." Introduced Raina.

"Come with me Prince, I have much to tell you." Kalin got up and started walking outside.

As soon as Elliot was on his feet, with the help of Raina, Kalin was bringing him outside.

"It's so good to see you. When I was fished out at the local port and Walter and you weren't there... well, I thought it was all over. Then I realised I was being an arse and I worked my charms to get a search party out there for ya." Ben explained. "Not that Kalin here needed much persuading."

"We are accustomed to misfortune." Said Kalin. "Now it is time you saw our city."

The great rock door rolled out of the way revealing a beaten up, and broken city. It was at night time. Some memory statues were seen from where Elliot was standing. Raina came up to him and took his arm as he gazed upon the environment where the Aurorans had lived... it was horrible.

"The Crawler did this to us."

"Crawler?" Elliot asked.

"Yes, the being that you've encountered in the temple. It is a vile and horrible creature that we know not much of."

"I remember having a dream about the Crawler... it wasn't a good dream went it came up."

"Having a dream of the Crawler is never good, as soon as you wake up before you see the death of someone. Did you wake up before the Crawler killed someone in your dream?"

Elliot nodded.

"Then there isn't much to fear." Kalin said. "There isn't much he can do when you're awake. Before we get into specifics I ask you to walk around Aurora, see our city for what it is... then we'll talk of your rebellion."

Elliot gazed upon the dead and deserted city and knew why they hadn't explored Aurora before...