There was darkness,
And then there was light.
And I felt scared—
Then, secure.
The Guard handed Hydron a new prison shirt; or, well, as new as it could be.
Hydron pulled it on over his head, frowning at how large it is, and at how eerily warm it was. And how the back had an uncomfortable sticky-wet feeling...
"To cover up the bandages," the Guard explained, laying his hand on Hydron's shoulder and walking him to his cell, ignoring the boy's half-inquiring glance.
As they walked, Hydron glanced up at the man, once again. As a prince, he had gotten pretty familiar with most of the members of the Royal Guard. However, he did not recognize this one, by voice or otherwise―granted, the only features he could really see of this man were his thin-pressed lips and a few silvery hairs.
When they made it to his cell, Hydron's eyes immediately went to Gus. He took a few deep breaths, before entering his cell. However, he felt the Guard slip something into his pocket.
"Wha-" the older man, pushed Hydron into the cell, slamming the door shut.
The blond growled indignantly, pulling himself up. "Bloody Guard..." However, when he turned to continue his rant, the man was gone.
Hydron huffed―briefly looking quite miffed―before going to sit in his normal spot beside Gus.
The blue-haired teen's fever had worsened, if that was possible. Hydron sighed, bowing his head.
'Why do I feel this way―this...worry...about him? He is nothing! Spectra's little lap dog; a mediocre battler...' Hydron sighed again.
Why DID he feel this way? Honestly, Gus and him had had no past really. And this little prison stint...
'Is that what this is about? Have I felt some "connection" through this situation? It IS possible, I suppose...'
Hydron shook his head, hating this confusion. He never used to feel like this: As though his life wasn't in his hands. Now, however, he felt his life spiraling out of control, along with his feelings and emotions. It was as though he was one of those puppets some traveling entertainers used to use―a Marionette―and his strings were pulling him in many directions at once.
It was dreadfully confusing indeed.
'I want my life back―no, not even that. I want CONTROL over my life.'
'There is a way...' a voice which sounded both like and unlike his voice hissed in his mind.
Hydron only considered the voice briefly, before smacking his head firmly with the palms of his hands.
"What am I thinking?" he whispered, jamming his hands into his pocket.
That's when he remembered the guard's actions
Hydron was careful―(glancing around to make sure no one was present)―as he silently slipped a small container from his pocket, a small scrap of parchment fluttering into his lap.
For the sickness.
Give a splash to your friend.
Then drink a bit yourself.
Good luck.
The note was written in curling handwriting―near calligraphy, in it's supreme elegance. Scribbled beneath the short note was a flower―no, a rose. A black rose.
Hydron shivered at the implications. Was the guard trying to help, or hurt them? Then again, would killing them off really be so bad?
Hydron firmly shook his head, determined to stay sane whilst he helped Gus.
He then picked up the bottle. It was rather small―only a few swallows worth of reddish-liquid full.
'It must be some sort of medicine...' he reasoned, quickly unscrewing the cap.
He scrunched his nose slightly holding the bottle away from him; it had a rather foul smell, resembling the liquor that was poured onto his arms. Despite this, however, he brought it to his lips, downing half the bottle.
Unfortunately, it's taste was as bad as the smell. Hydron winced, squeezing his eyes shut at the bitter-spicy flavor that permeated through the medicine.
It was an arduous task to force himself to swallow, but Hydron managed to do so. Immediately his stomach seemed to clench, doing flip-flops―the vile liquid obviously did not agree with him.
Hydron's face paled considerably, a few beads of sweat running from his hairline down his face, as though his body was trying to expel the "poison".
'Come on, Hydron. Come on...Keep it together...' Hydron thought to himself, before voicing those very thoughts. Unfortunately, he had to swallow several times, willing himself to not sick up.
"Come on...come...on..." Hydron curled forward, as though trying to retract into himself. The stomach cramps seemed to lessen in that position, and Hydron was able to calm himself enough to look up at Gus.
'He...he needs my help...' Hydron thought through his agony. 'Come on...come on...get up...'
The blond finally sat up, though not without great struggle. He eyed Gus, unsure, before he carefully wove his arms through the fence, touching the bluenette's flushed face. Then―with a shaking hand―Hydron placed the bottle up to Gus's lips, letting the liquid trickle into his mouth.
Gus's reaction was instantaneous. The boy's eyes flew open, showing off the near-glowing red that had overtaken them, along with his enlarged pupils. You couldn't even see the green.
Hydron quickly jerked back his hands, scooting back a few paces from the gate. "G-Grav...?" Would Hydron have not been so terrified and confused, he would have felt embarrassed by the slight stutter that escaped him.
However―circumstances being as they were―Hydron just felt a whole bunch of different emotions, as he watched Gus struggle to breath. The boy knew the logical decision would be to crawl forward and help the boy (his friend?)...or would the logical decision be to just leave the boy to his fate (all Grav would do is betray him, eventually)?
Perhaps it was due to the physical strain, which Hydron wasn't able to decide either way―for at the moment, the blond passed out.
There was darkness all around—it was shifting, like a never-ending nightmare.
And something…something about it felt dangerous.
Hydron brought his legs up to his chest, curling up in a ball—the world was so empty, and here he was: just suspended mid-air…
Suddenly, he felt something in his hand shift, slightly. He jumped, but pulled his hands up to his eye, nonetheless. He peaked through the crack-
And inside was a bright and shining light, like his own tiny star…
But it was stuck. It was caged within his hands. He wanted to set it free…
Hydron thrust his arms out, his palms opening up, pushing the star out into the darkness, liberating it-
The explosion was unexpected.
The star exploded, it's light reaching out and surrounding Hydron, filling up the horrifying darkness with light.
And Hydron was afraid—if only for a moment.
But then he felt another emotion overwhelming that fear. He wasn't totally sure what that emotion was; it was something he wasn't entirely used to.
He felt…safe…and secure…
The light didn't try to crush him and suffocate him as the darkness had…it wrapped him up in a comforting embrace…
Hydron didn't jerk awake, which was pretty abnormal. Instead, his eyelids fluttered open, and he felt better than he had in a long time.
He was worried that if he sat up and looked around, it might disrupt the bubble of peacefulness and calm that surrounded him.
However, when he heard some shifting in his neighboring cell, Hydron quickly rolled off his cot, turning around to look at Gus.
"Morning, sleepy-head."
Hydron gaped at the bluenette. Granted the boy didn't look very well-off yet, he was AWAKE, and his eyes were not red any more.
"You…you're awake…" Gus raised an eyebrow, a rather tired smile, gracing his lips.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Obvious."
Hydron swallowed, though his throat seemed to be…not working correctly. He brought a hand up to his hair, running it through the dirty blond strands, before he started twirling that one strip of hair.
"You look confused," Gus observed, pulling himself up to lean against the wall. He pushed his own hair away from is face, revealing how dirty the once-vibrant hair had gotten.
Hydron sighed heavily, sitting down beside Gus. "I'm not. I'm…I suppose I'm…happy, that you're alright…"
Gus laughed, and it was only then that Hydron became aware of how much he had missed the sound.
"Don't strain yourself, Hydron. Wouldn't want people to think that you can actually feel emotions!"
Hydron smiled slightly, but remained silent.
Gus cleared his throat, before he murmured, "Aren't you going to eat that?"
Hydron looked at the boy confused, before he noticed the empty tray in Gus's cell. Immediately, he was crouched over his own, devouring the disgusting trash…
Only it wasn't disgusting trash—not today. No; it had flavor, and there was no mold on the bread. And there seemed to be also—dare he say it—bigger portions!
Hydron glanced at Gus, whose face showed the confusion Hydron was feeling.
"Mine was like that too," he murmured. "Did I miss something when I was asleep?"
Hydron wiped his sleeve across his mouth. He briefly considered telling Gus about his little "episode", and the subsequent meeting of that mysterious guard…
But Gus had enough to worry about—he didn't need to get worked up over Hydron's problems.
'Plus,' Hydron added mentally, albeit reluctantly, 'I don't know how I would feel if Gus didn't act worried about that stuff…if he just brushed me off…'
Hydron shook his head. "Nothing happened, that I can think of…but…" He leaned as close as he dared to the gate separating them. "We need to get out of here, and soon…" he whispered.
Gus's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "And you've came to this very dangerous conclusion, because…?" It wasn't like Gus hadn't had similar thoughts, but this was a very high-profile part of the dungeons—this is where all the extremely dangerous and hated criminals are kept. Not only would it be hard for one of them to escape, but for both of them (who were not in very good health as it was) to escape…well, it seemed impossible.
Hydron looked down at his lap, his fingers tugging on a loose thread. "You know…we won't be able to last much longer under these conditions…it was a miracle…" Hydron shook his head, tugging on that piece of hair. "We just need to go. You know this," he whispered.
Gus did know. He knew that if they didn't escape the dungeons, they would probably…he didn't want to think about that.
Gus bit his lip, checking to make sure no Prison Guards were patrolling outside their cells. "How then?" he whispered, leaning towards their shared wall.
Hydron frowned, looking down at his hands, seemingly in thought.
Gus jumped when Hydron suddenly exclaimed "Of course!" The blond reached into his pocket pulling out Dryoid.
Gus immediately caught on. "It might work…"
Hydron took a deep breath, holding Dryoid almost reverently. "It has to. It's all we've got…"
Gus nodded, pullingVulcan from his pocket.
Hydron stood up, facing Gus. The bluenette gaped at Hydron, once again baffled by the enigma that was the former Prince of Vestal.
"You mean NOW?" Gus questioned, his unease continuing to grow.
Hydron nodded, rather frantically. Gus suddenly became aware of how…wrong Hydron looked. Hydron used to be aloof, detached—the type of person that radiated confidence. No one would ever question his sanity, because there WAS no question of whether or not the prince was sane; he just WAS.
Now though…Hydron was insane, no doubt about it. There was the hair that was bloody, and ripped out in places. There were the random twitches, that Hydron himself didn't notice when they overcame his body. Then there were the eyes: How they shot out of focus, his pupils growing and shrinking too fast…
But when Hydron nodded in answer to Gus's question, the former prince looked at him in such a way, that Gus was sure that Hydron knew exactly what he was doing.
Gus swallowed, slowly standing up.
The two boys stood, facing each other for a while, green eyes staring into violet.
Hydron cradled Dryoid in his hand briefly, the callused tips of his fingers running over the ridges and smooth skin of the Bakugan.
And perhaps it was his imagination, but…did Dryoid just give his fingers a comforting nudge?
"Bakugan Brawl!" screamed two voices simultaneously, before a loud explosion shook the whole palace.
(\/) Main Corridor (\/)
"Go! Dryoid!" Hydron shouted from his Bakugan's shoulder. Hydron's eyes were impossibly wide, as he urged his Bakugan forward. There were countless guards shooting their weapons, trying to stop his and Gus's escape.
He glanced back at Gus, who was right behind him. Gus was gripping onto Primo Vulcan, probably with every bit of strength he possessed.
'We need to hurry. This adrenaline will only last for so long…' Hydron thought, though his face was determined.
'We are going to make it…'
Dryoid got blasted with several of the odd weapons at once, causing him to jerk sideways into a wall. Vulcan rushed ahead, and Dryoid quickly got back on track.
"Come on! We're almost there!" Hydron shouted, though he doubted anyone could hear him, what with all the alarms and shouting that was going on.
Just as Vulcan burst from the palace—causing dust and debris to cloud the air—a large red…something, hit Dryoid, causing him to hit the ground.
He didn't get back up; in fact, he morphed back into his ball-form.
Hydron groaned pushing himself up to his knees. Through the smoke, he saw Vulcan—Gus on his shoulder—hesitate.
"Go! Go!" Hydron screamed hoarsely. He scooped up Droid, about to toss him again, when a large hand wrapped firmly around his neck.
"Naughty little boys deserve punishment, do they not?" Kind Zenoheld questioned darkly, his voice seeming—dare Hydron say it—amused.
"Let me go! I have been punished enough!" Hydron screamed, defiant to the end.
Zenoheld raised an eyebrow.
"You thought that was punishment?" Zenoheld pulled a metal ball—that was terrifyingly similar to something Hydron had used before—from his pocket. "Oh, my dear boy. Your punishment has only just begun!"
With that, Zenoheld tossed the ball; Hydron was not-at-all surprised when—after a few seconds—he found himself falling through a void.
And there was only darkness.
(\/) Somewhere in Russia (\/)
Alice smiled at Shun, over the picnic basket they had put together. "Are you excited to try real Russian cuisine?" she asked
Shun rolled his eyes, though a very small smile graced his lips. "A bit worried…but excited, I suppose."
"Great!" Alice beamed, before her eyes suddenly went glassy. Shun looked at her, concerned—especially when she frowned, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"What's wrong?" he inquired.
Shun's voice seemed to shake her out of her stupor, for she smiled. "Nothing. Ready to go on a picnic?"
Shun frowned, before murmuring, "I suppose…"
A/N Hope y'all liked the chapter! I bet you all are just celebrating that Gus is OK (whilst me and one other person celebrate then cry for Hydron). XD Anyway, this is, like, probably one of the longest fanfic I've ever done, just FYI. So reviewing is like, LOVE to me!
Any more guesses on who the guard is? I forget when I reveal his identity, and I am too lazy to check XD
In other words, please review!