Wakfu

Worthy of the Crown

Chapter Ten

Neverland

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning."
- J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

When the sun rose the next morning on Moon Island, Yugo found himself alone. But he had a plan. He yawned, stretched, and went to work.

He found Adamaï near the ship and Amalia in the village, and he told them his plan.

"You call that a plan?" Amalia retorted skeptically. "That doesn't sound like it will work at all." She didn't mention the angry words she spoke the night before, but Yugo could tell she regretted them, and Yugo was ready to move on and accept her apology, unuttered as it was.

"Yes, but that's the plan," he explained. "The plan is to fail. That's how it will work. No one will see that coming. We can't fail! Unless we succeed, but if we do, we'll win anyway."

"Makes sense to me," Adamaï said.

"No it doesn't," she scoffed.

"The only thing I'm worried about is the Captain," Yugo said. "She brought us all the way across the ocean, and now..."

"We're not good luck for her," Amalia noted. "I'll talk to her, You two go get started on the Zaap. You'll want to ask Botan permission first."

Yugo nodded as Amalia walked off. "Hey, bro," Adamaï said. "I bet I can find the chief before you can."

"Yeah? And what happens to the loser?"

"He'll be related to me."

"We'll see. On your mark..."

"Get set..."

"Go!"

Yugo zaapped through the village, looking for anyone who looked especially chiefy. Now what did his mask look like again? No, this was taking too long. He switched to Wakfu-vision and scanned the village. One of them stood out, the most powerful creature there. In a tree.

"Moon!" he called out, zaapping up to the local god. "I need to talk to you."

"Ook?" Moon asked, offering him a banana-citrus.

"No, not now. I need to find the chief, Botan Fucus. Do you know where he is?"

"Ook!" Moon said with a nod. "Ack awap, ock mopu ip, eep emep gip."

"Uh huh, uh huh. Maybe you could just point me in his general direction, that would be—"

"Found him!" Adamaï called out.

"Dang it! Already?"

"I'm confused," the chief said, stepping out onto the balcony of his treehouse. "Was I supposed to be hiding?"

"No, you're fine," Yugo said. "I'll talk to you later, Moon."

"Ook," Moon stated.

"Thanks, you too." Yugo jumped through a portal and landed on Botan's balcony. "Good morning, Chief. Did you sleep well?"

"Um, yes, I did." He seemed to have taken being woken up by a playful dragon well. He was cool like that, but living with Moon probably got him used to that sort of thing. "What are you doing here?"

"We need your permission to build a Zaap portal," Adamaï said.

Botan paused. "Zaap? What is a Zaap?"

Yugo realized that there weren't any Zaaps on the island, and they probably weren't in the tribal lore. "It's a portal that lasts forever and goes really far," he explained. "It's an issue because it can be accessed from both sides—"

"And the other side of the Zaap leads to the Enutrof Kingdom," Adamaï added.

"And you remember Ruel, don't you? He's an Enutrofs, and they aren't dangerous, but they might try to dig for gold and sell you stuff if they get through—"

"While on this side of the Zaap, you're spitting distance from an expanding imperial superpower. Chances are, pretty soon they'll burn down your forest and replace it with an impregnable fortress of doom with canons the size of volcanoes."

"Do you really think they would?" Yugo asked.

"I can't see them doing anything else."

Yugo nodded thoughtfully. "You may have a point. So anyway, our Zaap portal could be a way in and a way out, which could be good and bad depending on a lot of things, and we wanted to know where we could build it."

Botan paused. Yugo couldn't see his face through his mask, but the chief had thoughtful posture even if his mask didn't change expression. "This Zaap construct would need to be somewhere we could access and control," Botan mused. "Your friend Ruel...he was the one with the shovel, correct?"

"Yeah, he likes his shovel," Yugo replied. "It's an Enutrof thing. I think I've only met one who didn't carry one."

The chief sat for several minutes in his thinking posture. "Danger from one side, to open up trouble from another," he mused. "An exit…and an entrance." Botan's vegedoll started giggling hysterically and rolling around on the floor. Yugo and Adamaï shared a concerned glance, but Botan didn't seem to notice. "I see," he said at last. "I think I have just the place."

WWW

The anchored ship rocked gently with the waves. Amalia remembered the first time she had stepped into a ship. It had cost them their entire winnings from her first Boufbowl match, but it was worth it. Saltwater wasn't a very Sadida thing to enjoy, but the promise of being able to travel to the horizon and the horizon after that, well, there were some places that you just couldn't get to on foot.

And if she wanted to stay in one place, she'd have stayed at home.

"Amalia!" the captain called. "Are you lot ready to go?"

"Yes," she said. "We're leaving. I've just come to say goodbye."

The captain looked at her solemnly, then jumped off the ship and onto the beach. "You have another way back?"

Amalia nodded. "Yugo and Adamaï are building a Zaap right now that connects to one they built before we left. We're going to try to rescue Ruel, and we'll need to come when no one expects us. And with all the nonsense with New Sufokia, it might be best if we stayed away from open waters for a while, and it would be better for you if we weren't with you."

The Captain put a hand on Amalia's shoulder. "Well, my fine flowery friend, while traveling with your group is seldom safe, it has never yet been dull, and I hope our paths cross again."

"You do?" Amalia doubted that the captain's ship could handle another voyage with them. "Anyway, I have to give you this." She handed her a bag of kamas.

"What is this?"

"Payment," Amalia explained. "For getting us this far."

"This isn't what we agreed on," the captain said. "You promised me a share of the treasure you were looking for, and unless I missed something, we didn't find any treasure."

"Yes! That's why I'm giving you this instead."

"I never would have survived Oma if it weren't for you."

"See, that doesn't make any sense," Amalia said. "If it weren't for us, your ship wouldn't have been in danger in the first place."

"This was a treasure hunt. If it were safe, it would be boring. I knew the risks when I agreed to take you."

"No you didn't, none of us did." The captain hadn't accepted payment the first time they traveled with her, and while Ruel would be thrilled for any discount, he wasn't in charge of the group's kamas anymore. Amalia was, and she paid her debts. She stood up straight and puffed out her chest a bit. "This is just allowance money for me, anyway," she explained with a hint of princess-like disdain in her voice. "Keep it. I have plenty more where that came from."

"Well, if you insist," the captain said reluctantly. "Though the real treasure of this trip was coming here. Bontarans are crazy for tropical fruit like they have here, and no other merchant will come to this island to trade because they're convinced they'll be eaten!"

"Actually, they might," Amalia admitted. "They are called Kannibals for a reason."

"All ports have risks," she shrugged. "Some have docking fees, others have primitive people-eaters." She grinned. "Like I said, safe is boring. I'd be more worried about you."

"About us?"

The captain laughed. "You're on your way to rob the most tight fisted man in the World of Twelve. If I were you, I might prefer a rematch with the Sufokians."

"We're not robbing him," Amalia protested. "We're freeing one of his prisoners."

The captain laughed again. "And I am certain that the king will understand the difference."

WWW

Yugo wrote the Draconic words on the arc of the Zaap, linking it to the one they left in Enutrof. He liked to think that he left the friends he made across the world better off than when he met them, but if the Sufokians followed them here for revenge, or just to expand their empire, then there would be nothing Yugo could do to stop them. But he could give his friends who lived on Moon Island a way out.

Yugo saw Amalia return just as he was putting the finishing touches on the Zaap. "Hey, Amalia, you're back!" Yugo called down to her.

"You built it on top of a totem," she called back. "Why are you building the Zaap on top of a giant totem?"

"I suggested it," Botan said. "If we are to open a door to a world of shovel bearers, I'd rather keep this side off the ground."

It made sense to Yugo, and Adamaï was happy to see Moon's hammer in action that made the totem, but Amalia didn't seem too pleased. But then again, she couldn't fly, either, so getting to the top would be harder for her.

"You ready, bro?" Adamaï asked.

Yugo looked down, holding on to the edge of the portal. The totem was maybe fifty feet high, so anyone coming in could get hurt if they didn't watch their step. He made a mental note to leave a warning sign on the other side. "Ready," he said.

Standing on opposite sides of the portal, they put their hands together. Energy arced between them out to the edges of the Zaap and exploded, hurling them both into the air. A large, white flower caught Yugo before he splattered against anything. Adamaï, on the other hand, crashed through two trees and left a crater in the ground before climbing to his feet.

"Honestly, Yugo," Amalia said exasperatedly, "you're going to break your neck one of these days."

"You know, I don't think the Zaaps are supposed to explode like that," Yugo said.

"We are working with the simplest version," Adamaï admitted. "I guess we could ask Balthazar if we can add a few more safeties next time we're around."

"How?" Amalia asked.

"It's complicated, I'll explain later," Yugo said quickly. "Right now, we have a rescue mission."

"I'll race you there!" Adamaï said eagerly.

Yugo grinned. "You're on!"

"Don't mind me," Amalia said, slowly climbing up the totem. "I'll catch up later."

Yugo took one last look at the Kannibals of Moon Island, and zaaped into the portal. Rescuing Ruel could ruin their chances of forming an alliance with the Enutrof Kingdom for years, if not longer. But while there were some people in the world who could make the hard decisions, people who could sacrifice their closest friends for some metaphysical "greater good," Yugo wasn't one of them. And he never wanted to be.

"Twenty Kamas."

Yugo looked around and saw an elderly Enutrof woman sitting on a nearby stump some twenty feet from the Zaap. "Pardon?"

"Twenty Kamas," she repeated. She had poofy, white hair, wrinkled, leathery skin, and clothes that looked older than she was.

"What's twenty Kamas?" Yugo asked.

"Now isn't the time to buy stuff," Adamaï said, flying down next to him. They had entered the Zaap from opposite sides, so Yugo didn't see who got through first.

"I'm not buying anything," Yugo explained. "I just got here, and that lady over there starting saying—"

"Twenty Kamas."

"Exactly," Yugo finished.

Amalia climbed out of the Zaap, breathing heavily. "You really need to make those totems...shorter." She stopped and looked around. "So what's going on?"

"Twenty Kamas."

"I'm not sure," Yugo translated. "I think she's trying to sell us something, but I don't..."

"Fine," the Enutrof said.

"What?"

"For trespassing," she explained, standing up from her stump. "This is my land. I didn't invite you here. You're trespassing. You pay the fine. Twenty Kamas."

"Oh," Yugo said slowly. When they built the Zaap on the Enutrof side, they didn't see anyone, but they didn't stay around very long to check.

"That's ridiculous!" Amalia protested. "This is a Zaap! We built it a few weeks ago—"

"We built it a few weeks ago," Adamaï interrupted.

"They built it a few weeks ago," she continued. "That sort of thing hasn't been seen since the dawn of time. If it's money you're interested in, you could just charge a toll for everyone who wants to go through it."

"And I'm starting now," the Enutrof said. "Twenty Kamas. If you don't pay, I'll have you arrested."

Adamaï smirked. "You can try."

Yugo put a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, bro..." he cautioned.

"You can't say that this isn't ridiculous," Adamaï said. "I mean, why should we worry about trespassing? By this time tomorrow, we're going to be Enutrof's most wanted anyway."

The woman's ears perked up. "What?"

Amalia turned to her. "Are you familiar with the expression, 'I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you'?"

"What?" she said more loudly. "My hearing isn't what it used to be. I know you're talking, but all I can hear is just noise."

"Good," Amalia said, turning back to her friends.

"I suppose it's out of the question to just send her to the moon," Adamaï said.

"Do you mean the celestial body, the island, or the monkey?" Amalia asked.

"Yes."

"We can't do that," Yugo said. "We're heroes, not bullies. We have rules."

"I obey the rules of physics," Adamaï protested, hovering a few inches above the ground. "When it's convenient. Look, I'm sorry, being extorted makes me violent. But if you don't want to hurt anyone today, why don't we just leave? We can fly—"

"You can fly," Amalia corrected.

"I can fly, and we can probably break the old man out of prison before the old hag can even call the guards."

Amalia shook her head. "There are two things very wrong with that. First of all, freeing Ruel is going to be a very delicate operation. We need to plan it carefully and wait for the right time for this to work, and if we have the guards chasing after us the whole time, we lose all of that."

"Successfully freeing Ruel is a delicate operation," Yugo said. "Failing to rescue him is a piece of cake, and like I said, you can't fail at failing. We can't fail."

"Which still doesn't make any sense to me," Amalia said. "Second, this is our gateway into the world of crime. As far as criminal gateways go, breaking a friend out of prison has flair. But trespassing? That's nearly as pathetic as being wanted for loitering."

"So you want to throw money at that lady so you can look good?" Adamaï asked.

"Looking good is very important."

"You're only encouraging them. If you keep on paying people for this kind of nonsense, they'll never stop."

"Yes, but they'll never stop for other people," she explained. "We'll never come back here again—at least I hope not—so that will be someone else's problem."

Adamaï glared at her and turned to Yugo. "So, what do you think?"

"I don't think it's my decision," he said, writing a warning on the Zaap. "It's Amalia's. Remember when we separated our duties? Amalia was left in charge of the finances, so if she wants to give the old lady some Kamas, then that's her choice."

"Ha!" Amalia said triumphantly.

"I don't recall a lot of 'we' in that decision," Adamaï said sullenly.

"By Sadida's Garden, Adamaï, it's twenty Kamas." She approached the Enutrof woman and pulled out some money from her pocket.

"Sixty Kamas," the woman said curtly.

"Sixty...what? But...no! You said twenty Kamas. Repeatedly."

"Each," the woman explained. "Twenty, twenty, twenty. Sixty. Sixty Kamas."

Amalia counted the Kamas in her hand quickly. "I give up," she said finally. "Adamaï, send her to the moon."

WWW

The three of them then made their way to prison. They had already wasted enough time on their trip to Oma, and hopefully, the king wouldn't expect them to be desperate enough to break Ruel out for another two weeks. Unfortunately, one loud, unexpected, and painful encounter with the Enutrof security system landed them once again in front of the Enutrof King.

The king sat on his golden throne, stroking his phorror. He didn't look angry, but neither did he look pleased. If anything, he just looked tired. "So, that buried treasure you promised me. That's not coming, is it?"

Amalia shook her head. "Unfortunately, your Majesty, another has plundered the gold before we arrived." Adamaï growled at that. He couldn't say anything, though. The guards had muzzled him so he couldn't breathe fire, and had bound his hands and wings for good measure. It had been hard to convince him to put up with that, but while he didn't burn off anyone's face, he still left smoldering footprints on the way back. Yugo got off easy with just a pair of handcuffs. "Perhaps we could...reconsider our arrangement?" she continued hopefully. "Ruel Stroud is no profit to you dead."

"You can find profit anywhere, if you know how. Perhaps he will gain me no Kamas, but an example of the fate of thieves is always valuable. Stroud's fate has long since been decided, but perhaps you should focus on your own. You were found breaking into prison in the attempt to free a condemned criminal. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"Mmm hmm hmfm fm mmf mmhmm!" Adamaï growled through his muzzle. "Mm hmmhm fhm mhhmmhm mmhmmhm fm mhhm mm hmm!"

Yugo hoped that the king couldn't understand him. Threatening the king's descendants for a hundred generations wouldn't help anyone. "Ruel is our friend," he said. "He was always there for us, and we owe it to him to be there for him now."

"Right," Amalia added quickly. "And we always pay our debts. When Nox the Xelor threatened to wipe out the entire Sadida people, my kingdom's military did not stop him, we did. And between the untold destruction Nox was able to unleash and the return of the New Sufokians with the empire they are rapidly establishing, the world is not the safe place that it used to be. At times like this, it pays to have the gratitude of heroes." She gave the king a meaningful look, but he just sighed in exasperation.

"This is the time to defend your own actions," he said. "Not to excuse his. But if you refuse to act in your own defense, then you will wait in prison until I decide what to do with you."

"What?" Amalia gasped. "But...but I'm a Sadida princess. Does diplomatic immunity mean nothing to you? You can't just arrest me like some common criminal!"

"I can and I will," the king said. "And I will inform your father what you have been doing."

Amalia's face paled. "Oh please no!"

"Yes!" He turned to Yugo. "And I suppose I'll tell your king as well. Qilby is still staying with the Sadidas, isn't he?"

Yugo hesitated. "Actually, he's away, on..."

"Mmhm hmhmmm?" Adamaï offered.

"Right! He's away on royal assignment. He'll be gone for a while."

"Oh. Well, it will be for whenever he gets back," the king muttered. He motioned to some guards. "Take them away. I've wasted enough time with them as it is."

"Wait!" Yugo said quickly. "If you're going to execute Ruel, could you let us share a cell with him?" The king glared at him. "Please. He's our friend."

The king's gaze softened, and he turned away in frustration. "So be it. It cuts down on upkeep to stuff you all in one place anyway." He waved to the guards again, who dragged them away to the prison.

WWW

Enitalp eased himself into his bed. He always went to bed tired. It was the rare day that he didn't get up tired. Maybe he'd sleep better if he had a softer bed, but he didn't become the richest man in the World of Twelve by throwing money away, and just because he was a king didn't mean that he had the right to indulge himself.

"I really hoped that those Tofu people would have been able to deal with it," he said, scratching his phorror between the ears. "It seemed perfect. Getting paid for not executing someone? It would have solved everything." His phorror growled contentedly, unaware of his master's woes. "But instead, I have no reward, and an executioner to pay."

It was just another drop in the bucket, but the bucket was overflowing as it was. Enitalp, king of the Enutrof Kingdom, closed his eyes. "I just wish all my problems would go away."

WWW

"You've got company, Stroud."

Yugo, Amalia, and Adamaï were dropped into a pit and landed with a splat. Yugo stood up, wishing that the guards had untied his hands before throwing him down into the cell. He squinted in the darkness, then gave up. He closed his eyes and focused to activate his Wakfu vision.

"Ruel!" he said happily. "It's so good to see you!"

The Enutrof's craggy face broke into a grin. "Hey, kid. What news from the outside?"

"Well, we went to Oma Island to use Grougaloragran's horde to bail you out, but the New Sufokians got there first and claimed the whole thing."

"Those worthless, gutless, thieving, worm-eating fish!" he exploded. "May their shovel's rust and may they drown in the ocean's depths!"

"Mm hmm hmfmmhm," Adamaï said in agreement, still muzzled.

"So we decided that if we couldn't bail you out, we'd break you out," Yugo continued.

"And then you got captured?" Ruel guessed.

"It's all part of the plan," Yugo assured him.

Amalia snorted disdainfully. "Plan? I've seen plans before. This seems like improv. Also, how do you survive down here, Ruel? It smells worse than your bag."

"Yeah, well, I tried an escape attempt of my own," Ruel replied. "And now Philip's not my friend anymore. Also, they confiscated my bucket."

Amalia cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but Ruel didn't elaborate. "Anyway," she said, "as much as I enjoy the atmosphere in this dark, unhygienic pit of despair, I'd rather step on rusty nails than stay a minute longer than I need to."

"Right," Yugo said. "Now stand back. This is going to take up a lot of room."

"Mm mmhm mm hm hmm mm?" Adamaï asked.

"Well, of course," Yugo replied. "The guards won't even be able to guess how we got out, and I think they'll like it there."

"Can you really understand him?" Amalia asked.

"Of course I can. We're brothers."

"But he can't talk."

Adamaï growled. "So? Neither can Az. But seriously, back up, or you'll be cut in half." Amalia and Ruel pressed themselves against the cell wall. Yugo took a deep breath. "BALTHAZAR! OPEN UP!" His voice echoed through the prison, and then there was silence.

"I don't know what you're trying to do," Ruel said, "but if there's magic involved, you'll have to deal with that first." He pointed up at an anti-magic orb hanging on the other side of the steel grating.

"One of those again?" Yugo shook his head in frustration. When they were captured by the Justice Knight, he had to throw his hat at it before he could make portals again.

"Mm hmm m mhm-hmhm mh?" Adamaï asked.

"Yep."

"Hmmhmm? M hmhm hmhm hm fm mm!"

"Well, now's your chance. We may be here for a while. I don't think my hat can even fit through those bars."

"Hmm?"

"Long story. I'll tell you later."

"Hm. M hm mrhm hm."

"Really? How?"

"Hmhm," Adamaï replied dramatically.

Yugo sighed. "See, that's the whole point of that thing, to keep us from—"

"Mhm? Mrm mh."

"I trust you. So what do you need?"

Adamaï looked up at the orb thoughtfully. "Hmf hm mm."

"Really?"

"Hm."

"That might actually work, come to think of it," Yugo admitted. "Okay, guys, you heard him. Boowolf pile!" Yugo enthusiastically bodyslammed his brother, but Amalia and Ruel just looked at him in confusion. "Guys? What are you waiting for?"

"What are you doing?" Amalia asked.

"Jumping on Adamaï," he explained.

"Yes, but why?"

Yugo sighed and stood up. "We need to open a portal to get out of here, but that anti-magic orb is stopping us from opening one, so Adamaï is going to try to use magic to break that thing, but he can't use magic with that thing looking at him, so we have to cover him so that thing can't see him. Any questions?"

"I have one," Amalia said. "What?"

"Look," Yugo said. "Just jump on Adamaï, and everything will make sense."

"Well, okay," Amalia said hesitantly. Yugo lay down on Adamaï and Amalia lay down on both of them, careful not to get too much mud on her, and then she grunted as Ruel bodyslammed all three of them. "Oof! Reul, how come you're on top?"

"Patience," he said contentedly. "It comes with age."

At the bottom of the pile, Yugo could hear Adamaï muttering the words to a spell, and above them he heard the orb start to sizzle.

"It worked!" Ruel cheered.

"Good," Amalia growled. "Now get off of me."

"Are you sure? I'm kind of comfortable right now."

Amalia shoved him off and climbed to her feet. "I can breathe again," she said. "And that would mean so much more if I were anywhere else."

Yugo and Adamaï stood up, and Adamaï's chains fell from him as he ripped off his muzzle. "And I can talk again!"

"Every flower wilts, I suppose," Amalia said.

Adamaï shot a jet of flame into the air, causing Amalia to yelp and the steel grating to glow orange. "That Enutrof should know better than to imprison a dragon!"

"Well, coming back to find us all gone should clue him in," Yugo said. "Let's try this one more time."

"I still don't know what you're trying to do," Amalia protested, but she pressed herself against the cell wall all the same.

Yugo took a deep breath. "BALTHAZAR! ONE MORE TIME!"

A brilliant white rift opened in the middle of the pit with blue lighting striking out from the center, then the light turned to darkness with lines of energy spiralling outward. It wasn't a common portal, or even a Zaap. This circle of light and shadow could break through the limits of reality to a place where time had never touched.

He hadn't talked much about what happened the first time he went into one of these portals. Everything that had happened between the World of Twelve and Emrub was too wonderful. And too terrible. Ever since the Crimson Claws, he had avoided talking about Qilby and he had barely mentioned Balthazar. There would be questions, questions that he wouldn't want to answer. But he would have to face them. Some of what he had seen was too terrible and too wonderful to keep to himself.

"Come on," he said. "There are some friends I want you to meet."

WWW

Stories fluttered from mouth to ear about a land where time never past, where children would never age or grow up. That place had a thousand names on a thousand different worlds, but in the World of Twelve and among the Eliatropes who came to live there, they knew that land as Emrub.

WWW

a/n I think I'd have more fond memories of forming dog piles with my siblings if I wasn't always at the bottom. If you're trying to decipher Adamaï's mumblings to figure out what he's saying, stop. There is no code, no secret message. The same goes for the monkey. Honestly, how much work do you think I'm going to put into this story? There are no secrets to be found.

I am not lying.

You may be wondering how Adamaï was able to break an anti-magic orb with magic, especially when he was too muzzled to speak. Well, you need to understand two very important things about magic. First, it has rules, rules that can never be broken. Second, you might never understand those rules, because the few rules that make sense can change, and the many that don't change don't make sense.

Finally, you may be wondering where Az was the entire chapter. And what about Junior, Ruel's Phorror? Was he imprisoned with Ruel, or is he off somewhere else? What? What's that? You aren't wondering where the small, adorable animals are? Well, okay then. I just won't tell you.

I'd also like to thank Suricatessen for editing this chapter. If you haven't read his stuff, you should. It's pretty amazing.