While getting into the castle hadn't been easy, Calvin had a feeling this was going to be the easiest thing they did in the future.
Slipping through a city, without bumping into anyone or making noise had proven to be a challenge, particularly since they were invisible, and no one knew to clear a path for them. The Rangers had inevitably taken the long way to the castle. However, they were finally there. Brody led them to what appeared to be an isolated corner and Preston dropped the invisibility spell. As he panted heavily, Calvin put a hand on his back.
"You did awesome."
"Let's not do that again," Preston said.
"We'll have to get back to Mick," Brody reminded him.
"Do you?" Preston challenged. "I mean, if we go back to the past and stop all this, it won't really matter if we see Mick or not."
"We'll play it by ear," Levi reasoned. The Rangers weren't sure of anything now, except that Madam Oedius had the only machine capable of taking them home. Unfortunately, as the Rangers looked around the halls of the castle, they were quick to realize they didn't know their way around at all. Finding the time machine would mean searching every inch of the castle. From what they had seen of it, the castle was huge.
"Should we split up?" Hayley asked. She didn't want to leave the other Rangers. Without any kind of power, there would be no way for them to communicate. If anything happened, it would be impossible for the others to know about it in time to help.
However, the castle was so big, if they didn't split up, not only would it take too long to find the time machine, they had a bigger risk of all being caught. A big group moving through the castle, especially when they were who everyone was looking for, was difficult to blend in.
"We'll stay together," Brody decided. It was for the best. At least if they were caught, they would all still be together. It was bad enough they had to leave Mick and Kelly behind. "We should start from the bottom and move up."
"The bottom?" Preston asked. "Of the castle? Where the dungeons are?"
"We don't know there are dungeons," Brody said.
"It's Oedius, there are dungeons," Preston concluded.
"It could be where Sarah is hiding," Levi said. "If she's here, I doubt Madam Oedius would just let her walk around."
"Worth a shot," Calvin agreed. He poked his head around the first corner, peeking to make sure that the Rangers had the all clear to move. He waved to the Rangers to signal it was time to go and they raced to the next corner, moving as quickly and as quietly as they could.
They were lucky enough to find stairs leading down shortly after beginning their search. The bottom of the stairs was dark as there was little to light them up. It smelled terribly of sweat, urine and… death? The Rangers didn't want to think about it. However, knowing how cruel Oedius could be, if she did have prisoners, it was likely she didn't care if they lived or died.
"This is… deeply depressing," Hayley whispered as she pulled in close to Calvin. She couldn't imagine anyone having to come down here, even just for a few minutes. As they walked by a cell, it was confirmed that Oedius did keep people there. At the back of the first cell was a man. He was sitting on the back wall, barely able to hold himself up. He hardly moved to look to the Rangers as they walked by, and whether he was concerned about the visitors or not, the Rangers would never know. His face didn't change.
"I don't think she would keep the time machine here," Brody said. "It's too valuable to her."
"But Sarah…"
"We'll keep looking," Brody promised Preston. It wasn't easy to find their way around. The dim lighting made it hard to tell if the darkness at the end of the hall was the end or if they could keep going. Slowly, the Rangers moved their way through the prison, keeping an ear out for any strange noises, or the sound of someone coming, and they were looking into each cell.
None of the prisoners looked well. In fact, they all appeared close to death, if they weren't dead already. Brody was starting to hope that they didn't find Sarah down here, as it wasn't likely they were going to find her in a good way.
The Rangers thought they reached the end. There was a wall right in front of them and nowhere else to turn. Brody breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking at least they hadn't found Sarah and she wasn't in a bad way. But then Preston called for everyone to look at the wall.
"It's a door," he said and pushed. The door was heavy. He couldn't open it by himself, but he did feel it move. Levi pushed with him and they managed to open it just enough that they could slip inside.
The room on the other side of the door was about as well lit as the rest of the prison – maybe a little more. Still, it was rather dark. The Rangers looked around and this cell wasn't much different from the others. There were no windows and no beds. There was a bucket in the corner, but the smell coming from it was revolting. It clearly wasn't there to provide drinking water.
In another corner, someone lay with their back to the Rangers. A thin and torn old blanket was on top of them. There was no pillow to support their head and they were laying directly on the cold, hard ground. Right next to them was a plate with a rotten… fruit – Brody couldn't tell what it once was. A molded half-loaf of bread, and an empty pitcher of water.
He signalled to the others to wait as he slowly approached the person. He could see their ribs moving as they breathed, indicating that they were still alive, but he had no idea who this was, or if they would be friendly.
"Careful, Brody," Levi told him, but Brody held his hand up, asking him to stay quiet. As he approached the person he knelt. Very gently he placed a hand on their shoulder.
It was as if he woke the dead. The person jumped up, turned around and looked to Brody in panic. Brody didn't know whether to smile or if his heart should break when he saw her.
"Sarah?"
She dove into his arms, holding him tight. Brody hugged her close and assuming she recognized him, he waved for the other Rangers to come closer. Brody let go of Sarah so the others could have a look. Preston came right next to him and Sarah moved into his arms. The blue Ranger held her close, gently, but Sarah gripped him tight.
"I thought you left me," she whispered. Preston shook his head. She was his best friend. He would never leave her behind.
"We're gonna get you out," he said. It wasn't what they had come for. They needed to find the time machine, and dragging Sarah around the castle with them might only slow them down, but he knew he couldn't leave her here. No one seemed to protest, though. They all had the same thought.
"Has it really only been a year?" Sarah asked. "You… you just got here… right?"
"Not even a day ago," Preston assured her. "We came right for the castle, first thing. We wanted to find you."
It wasn't a complete lie. After Mick told them what had happened and what they needed to do, they had come to the castle. They had always intended on helping Sarah, if they could find her. But their goal had been the time machine. It was only luck that Brody wanted to start exactly where Oedius was keeping Sarah.
Suddenly, Sarah stiffened up. Preston worried she was having a seizure, certain that in these conditions, she was very likely to have them. He pulled away, but Sarah was looking at him, completely focused on him.
"You have to leave," she said. She pushed him away. "If it's been exactly a year, she'll know you're here."
"We have to find the time machine," Preston told her. He started to get to his feet. He tried to help Sarah up, but she refused and looked to the door in a panic. Hayley was holding it propped open, so they wouldn't all be trapped inside. That was dangerous. If anyone came down, just to check up on things, they would see the door open. They would tell Oedius the Rangers had arrived.
"She doesn't keep it here," Sarah said. She looked to Preston and begged, "Please, just go!"
"It's not here?"
"GO!" Sarah shouted and with the little strength she had, she shoved Preston. He stumbled backwards. She wasn't strong enough to knock him over, but he knew what she meant. He refused, though, shaking his head. He offered her his hand.
"Not without you."
"She'll know," Sarah said. "I won't tell her you were here, I promise. Just, please, go!"
Preston shook his head, but he didn't know what else he could do. He didn't care that the time machine would take them back to the present. He didn't care that once that happened, Sarah would never have to suffer like this. He wanted to help her and he was sure the others did too.
At least, he knew for sure Calvin wanted to help. The yellow Ranger made his way over, then grabbed Sarah and threw her over his shoulder.
"Upsy-daisy," he said. Sarah smacked him on the back and demanded he put her down, but Calvin argued.
"You're coming with us."
"This is kidnapping!" she screamed. "Let me go! I want to stay!"
"Can you shut her up?" Calvin asked Preston. He nodded his head. He didn't like to use magic that could hurt his friends, but he knew in this case, silencing Sarah was for the best. His magic took away her voice, so though Sarah could try to scream, nothing could be heard.
"Search the castle?" Levi asked as he turned to Brody. "Or take her back?"
"She says the time machine isn't here," Brody said. He looked to Sarah, who realized yelling was futile and looked to her friends in annoyance. "We can go back, get a little more information, and figure things out from there."
"Sounds good," Levi nodded. "Preston, any chance you can just… zap us back?"
"I'm pretty wiped," Preston sighed. "I could try… but there's a chance things could go horribly wrong."
"We'll sneak out like we snuck in," Calvin said. "We did it once. At least this time, if we're spotted, we just know to run a little faster."