The two apprentices quickly hid behind a pillar as a pair of centurion knights flew by, followed by a regular centurion. As it grew silent, Pikepaw glanced around the room to make sure no one else was coming before they took off for the next available hiding place.

They started going down a long hallway when they heard Palutena's voice, and dove behind the white gargoyle guarding the entrance, just as the goddess came down the hall, with three centurion strongarms.

"We need to come up with a new plan. I'm losing my patience with how long it is taking you to find those kids."

"We have no need to look for them, my Lady. They've already fallen for our trap."

"What trap?"

"Their mother is in our custody, and they don't know where she is. No doubt they will be looking for her; they're kids. It's perfect bait. They will find her down there, in that prison, and inevitably expose themselves. They will be in the perfect place for us to capture them too. The only way out is the way in, and by the time they realize they had been spotted, it will be too late."

"Hm. Not a bad idea. Very well, I'll trust you know what you're doing, and relieve you three of your patrol duties."

The three centurions bowed, and took off back down the hall. Palutena headed the other way.

Pikepaw and Mintpaw looked at each other in shock.

"We can't let them catch us!"

"How? They know we're looking for mom. There's no way we could do that!"

"I don't know. But I'm scared of what they might do to us if they found us. What if they decide to kill us?"

Pikepaw didn't have an answer for that question, because right then, a centurion shot several arrows at them, drawn by the faint rustling of their wings on the rough stone wall. Without thinking, Pikepaw tightly gripped his sister's arm.

"Run!"

Millie's ears twitched at the soft rasping of a key in a lock. She slowly opened one eye, and saw her captors set a small tray of food down in the middle of the floor. Reluctantly, she sat up and stretched each of her limbs, then got into a crouch, and started eating, not once looking up from the tray. The food in it was bland and tasteless, but she didn't care.

Licking the last traces out of the bottom of the tray, she briefly groomed her face, then retreated to the back of her cell, where she proceeded to resume sleeping. The centurions quietly picked up the empty tray and locked the door before leaving, their footsteps growing fainter and fainter until the only sound in the otherwise dark, static prison was the rhythmic whisper of Millie's breathing, as she drifted into a deep sleep.
That was pretty much all she did now, was eat and sleep. At times, her motherly instincts would kick in, and she'd stay awake, worrying about her little ones, but only a short period, after which she'd doze off again. She knew in the back of her mind there was nothing she could do about them, except what was necessary for her to stay alive, in hopes that they would eventually find her there. They were asleep last time she saw them, and were undoubtedly looking for her, out of sheer confusion.

But even as she sprawled out on her side, her ears seemingly pricked, she didn't stir when the silence was broken by chaotic sounds coming from outside...

Pikepaw briefly glanced back at his sister to make sure she was still following right behind him before he dove around the corner and down another corridor, just as a band of centurions came down the hall in pursuit of the two. Mintpaw yelped in fear as an arrow flew just mere inches from her face, but she didn't look back and focused on keeping up with Pikepaw.

Heading down another hall to a large room, Pikepaw was alarmed when he heard a loud cry of pain, and he skidded to a halt, glancing over his shoulder to see Mintpaw stumble and fall to the ground. She was quick to get back up and resume running, but as the two took off, she began to fall behind, and Pikepaw kept having to stop so she could catch up with him.
At the first chance he had, he shoved her behind a marble statue so he could examine her, and found it was a deep cut in her ankle. Not deep enough to make her walk with a limp, but enough that she couldn't run for as long of a duration before it would start hurting, and she'd have to slow down to a walk in order to ease the pain.

It barely registered when a centurion strongarm smashed apart the statue, revealing the two. Both apprentices immediately bolted, but Pikepaw quickly noticed Mintpaw wasn't following him, and he quickly stopped and looked back, his eyes widening in shock when he saw Mintpaw running back the way they came.

"Mintpaw, what are you doing?! Don't run away!"

She glanced back at him but kept going, as a centurion shot a bunch of arrows at her. Pikepaw watched her disappear down the hall before he took off as well, spreading his wings and flying out of the room, taking cover in a thick shrub as he flew outside. The centurions pursuing him stopped dead upon coming out into the open air, glancing around in utter confusion. They soon retreated back inside, not thinking to even look for him.

The apprentice felt a wave of relief come over him as the centurions gave up, and was about to come out of hiding, when he saw a centurion circling in the air above, like a hawk watching over its territory. The area it was surveying consisted of what used to be a dorm for Palutena's angel followers, an old training ground, and an altar where Pikepaw remembered his apprenticeship ceremony taking place, with Pit standing on top of the altar.
At first, the tom was rather baffled by the area the centurion was guarding; like the outskirts, it was completely deserted and not used for anything. The only reason the old dorm had been preserved, as he was told, was so it could serve as a memorial of the battle that left Pit as the last one of his species, and something to honor the angels that once resided in it. It didn't make sense for the area to be secured.

But after a few minutes of gazing at the landscape, he realized there was something different about it; between the alter and the old dorm, at the foot of the hill the dorm sat on, was an abrupt dip in the ground. Like there was a hole there. He didn't remember that being there before. Maybe the centurion was keeping watch over that hole?

That must be where they have mom locked up, he reasoned, if it's being guarded...That's what they meant when they said we'd fallen for their trap...they have someone guarding the prison, so if we go in there, the one keeping watch can alert Palutena, so she can send troops in after us.

For a minute, he pondered how he was going to get in there without being seen. There was virtually no cover from where he was to the hole, nothing he could hide behind or sneak around in. There was a tree he could hide in, but its placement would guarantee he'd be seen trying to get over to it. The altar was in the middle of the clearing, so trying use that as cover was out of the question. As he picked at some dry skin on his leg, in thought, he suddenly noticed a bunch of stones on the ground under his feet. On a whim, he threw one of the rocks into a bush on the other side of the training ground, and to his surprise, the centurion went to investigate. There wasn't enough time for Pikepaw to fly over to the tree, but the fact the centurion took the bait was enough for him to come up with a plan.

Gathering up a handful of stones, he waited for a breeze to come before tossing two stones in the direction of the dorm. They flew into the overgrown garden. The minute the centurion went to see what it was, he took off into the tree, and threw another stone into the shrub he'd been hiding in, as well as one in the open ground. At first the centurion didn't take the bait, but when the tom did it again, he went to see what it was. As he approached the hole, Pikepaw tossed the rest of the stones into the tree before retreating into the yawning darkness in front of him.

Mintpaw ignored the pain in her ankle as she ran down the hall. She could no longer see the centurions behind her, but she knew they were still after her, and kept going.

As she ran outside, out the main entrance, she suddenly ran into Palutena. The goddess gazed coldly at her, and tried to hit her with her staff, but the apprentice quickly ducked between her legs, and bolted. She skidded to a halt upon reaching the edge of the island. Out of fear, she spread her wings, and vigorously flapped them in an attempt to fly.

She'd just gotten off the ground when she saw Palutena come charging up behind her and ram into her with her shield, causing Mintpaw to cry out in shock as she was knocked out of the air, and began to fall. The goddess watched her for a minute in satisfaction, before she retreated back into her temple.

Immediately, the apprentice began remembering the day Pikepaw futilely tried to save her after she was knocked out of the tree in the garden. On impulse she shut her eyes, and tried to right herself and spread her wings to stop herself, just as Chiron had told Pikepaw to do when he dove.

It took her a moment to realize she was no longer falling, and she fearfully opened one eye, and instantly, both of them flew open when she saw she was hovering in the air. The edge of the island could be seen out of the corner of her vision. Glancing over shoulder, her little wings were fluttering happily, creating a faint hum due to how fast they were flapping.

Mintpaw smiled in excitement upon realizing she was flying, and started joyfully looping around, letting out a small yelp when she failed to completely go in a circle. As she came back up, she took a moment to regain her balance, then arched up her back and thrust herself forward, unsteadily flying off in the direction her brother had gone.

It took several minutes for Pikepaw's eyes to adjust to the change in light level as he entered the hole. Even though it was dim outside too, it was enough of a difference to make it hard for him to see as went down inside.

A mix of shock and horror filled him when his surroundings came into view. Numerous prison cells lined both walls on either side of the entrance, separated by stone walls. And that was it. There was nothing else in there except the prison cells, which were as bare as the room. The only thing in them was a large iron ring bolted to the wall opposite of the door, where prisoners could be restrained if necessary.

A low cat-like rumble made him jump, and he glanced around wildly, expecting to find some creature coming at him, but there was nothing. Except the faintest whisper of someone breathing, and it wasn't his own. It was slightly accompanied by purr-like sounds that occasionally rose up into that gentle rumble. Being careful not to make too much noise, he followed his ears to pinpoint the source of the sound, and ended up in front of one of the cells in the very back of the room. Inside it was Millie, sprawled out on her side. With the way her face was completely relaxed and the position she was lying in, she appeared to be unconscious, or even dead.

Pikepaw leaned against the bars of her cell.

"Mom...?"

He grew a bit concerned when she didn't stir, although her ear twitched a bit, indicating she'd heard him.

"Mom...?" he called again, louder this time.

Again, she didn't respond, but after a few moments, she softly moaned, and opened her mouth wide in a yawn as she wearily sat up, rubbing her eyes open partway.

She instantly perked up when she saw Pikepaw, and started walking over to him, but the chains fixed to her ankles wouldn't let her get close enough to the bars to lean on the them. On a whim, the tom tried to force his way between the bars, and it startled him when he suddenly tumbled over into the cell. Getting to his feet, he ran up and leaped into her arms, leaning against her shoulder as he hugged her. Millie gently wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, small sobs escaping from her throat as she set free the anxiety and dread that had built up inside her about whether or not her kids were okay.

After a minute or two, she loosened her hold on the tom so she could examine him. For how long she'd been separated from them, he looked surprisingly well, save for the minor cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs. Securing her hold on him a bit, she glanced around the prison for a second, then returned her gaze to Pikepaw.

"where's your sister?"

Pikepaw blinked and shrugged.

"I don't know. We got separated while we were being chased."

"I'm up here."

Both Millie and Pikepaw looked up, and were surprised to see Mintpaw hovering in front of the cell, her tiny wings beating rapidly to support her weight.

Millie got up and walked up to the door of her cell, reaching through the bars with one arm and propping her hand on Mintpaw's shoulder.

"I'm very proud of you, Mintpaw."

The apprentice grinned.

"I can't wait to see daddy's reaction when he sees that both of us can fly."

"Where is daddy?" Pikepaw tugged on Millie's skirt. "When will he be back? Do you know?"

Millie looked down at the tom, and was about to answer him when there was a bright flash of light and Mintpaw wildly pushed her way into the cell as a bunch of arrows whizzed past the front of the cell. Moments later, numerous centurions stormed into the prison.

"I knew they would come here. Now we can finally deal with you three."

Pikepaw and Mintpaw cowered behind Millie as the centurions came into the cell. Millie backed up until she was almost up against the wall, one arm shielding her little ones, the other in a position in which she could lash out if need be.

"You're going to have to get through me first."

"So be it."

One of the centurion strongarms came up and abruptly threw a hard punch straight at her face. She instinctively ducked, mere seconds before it would've landed, and the centurion smashed apart the iron ring that her bounds were fixed to.

Upon realizing she was free, Millie made a run for it, but the three strongarms who had captured her blocked the doorway. She rammed into one of them and pounced out of reach as the other two dove to get her. Pikepaw and Mintpaw took off after her, taking flight to avoid being crushed by a centurion knight.

Millie fled into the temple, and desperately tried to find a place to hide. The chains didn't help at all, because they made a lot of noise as she dragged them around, and sometimes she'd trip over them. Pikepaw and Mintpaw were struggling to keep up with her too, and after several minutes, as they entered what looked to have been an armory room, Mintpaw stopped to catch her breath, collapsing onto her knees the moment her feet touched the ground.

Millie glanced around wildly as she picked up the apprentice, suddenly unsure of what to do. Mintpaw was too heavy for her to carry while trying to run at the same time. It wouldn't be long before the centurions caught up to them, and she wasn't about to let them hurt her kids, nor did she want them to face losing her. Struggling to come up with any sort of plan, it took her a moment before she realized that there was a hole in the wall behind the armor set in front of her. It looked a bit too small for her, but she could think of nothing else.

Clearing away the rubble in front of the hole, she pushed Pikepaw and Mintpaw inside before she crouched down to enter it. The hole turned out to be bigger than she thought, and managed to fit through without too much trouble. She quickly grabbed a bunch of stones and pieces of armor from outside and covered up the hole, just as the thundering of footsteps echoed through the room.

"Where'd they go?"

"I'll bet they're hiding in here somewhere."

Millie felt her heart start pounding in her ears as the sound of objects being moved got closer and closer. Mintpaw shrieked when a stone concealing the hole was moved, but Millie hastily covered her mouth so the centurion wouldn't hear her. But just when the centurion would've moved enough stuff to uncover the hole, a loud cry rang out from somewhere in the distance, and the centurions took off to see what it was. As it grew quiet, Millie let go of Mintpaw as she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Mom..."

Pikepaw came up to her.

"Why are they after us?"

"And where's daddy?" Mintpaw piped up. "Is he coming back?"

Millie gazed at the two for a minute.

"I don't know...I really don't know..."