Sylvia really didn't like her life very much at the moment.
Of course, she didn't really expect it to be much better than it was. She was an eleven-year-old street urchin, after all. What else could be expected?
Though perhaps stealing food from right under the Nomadic Empire Royal Guard's noses wasn't the brightest idea the young Zbornak had ever had.
"Hey, you! Stop!"
Sylvia rolled her eyes as she used her tail to knock over some barrels behind her, hoping that it would slow her would-be captors down. Like hell she'd stop, the second they caught her they'd throw her in jail!
"Sorry!" She called to the shopkeeper whose display she had ruined, ducking into a nearby alleyway and grabbing a scarf off of a clothesline overhead, wrapping it around her head to disguise herself.
"A little early to be getting into trouble, isn't it, Sylvia?" One of the shopkeepers teased from her kitchen window.
"'S not trouble if you don't get caught, Mrs. O'Leary!" The young Zbornak replied as she finished disguising herself, turning to exit the alleyway and escape her pursuers.
"Gotcha!" A guard yelled just as Sylvia walked onto the main path, grabbing her by the back of her scarf and turning her so that she was facing him.
"I'm in trouble." She squeaked as the guard started to drag her away. The Zbornak kicked her legs erratically, struggling against the larger alien's grip.
Okay, Sylvia, old girl, think! How are you gonna get out of this? She thought, lifting her tail so it wouldn't drag on the ground and get covered in dirt, mud, and other various things you could find on the ground of the marketplace.
Sylvia paused for a moment as she looked at her tail, then grinned, swishing her tail and knocking the guard's legs out from under him, the man screaming like a yearling as he fell flat on his face, losing his grip on the blue Zbornak in the process.
"See ya around, sucker!" The young girl called as she scampered off, tossing the 'borrowed' scarf to the side.
The guard growled as he got up, gritting his teeth as he dusted off his uniform. "Grr... you little twerp!" He bellowed, starting after her. "You just earned yourself an extended sentence, missy!"
Suddenly, another guard grabbed him, stopping him in his tracks. "Oh, forget her! We've got bigger problems than some thieving street urchin! Didn't you hear the newest order! The prince has gone missing! We're supposed to search every nook and cranny for him, or else we're looking at some major repercussions!"
The guard that had been chasing Sylvia glared at the path his would-be captive had disappeared down, growling for a moment before pulling away from his colleague's grasp.
"Grr... fine! Whatever! But I don't see what all the fuss is about! That kid always runs off on trips like these, and every time he's come back to the embassy safe and sound!"
His fellow guard slapped him upside the back of his head. "Idiot! Don't say that out loud! Do you know how much trouble we could get into if the captain were to hear you say something like that?!"
"Well, it's true!"
Another slap. "THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD SAY IT! Besides, this is one of the outer planets! You know what they do to high-society types in this kind of place?!"
"Oh, please! A little roughing up might do the naive little guy some good!"
Yet another slap. "DO YOU WANT TO GET US BOTH FIRED?!"
Sylvia chuckled as the pair began to loudly bicker, calmly strolling out of the nearby empty passageway she had ducked into.
"Heh, thank you little prince!" She said happily to herself as she took the slightly crushed loaf of bread she had stolen out of her pack, taking a bite out of it as she sauntered through the busy bazaar. However, just as she was starting to relax about her situation, something (or someone) collided with her gut, knocking the wind out of her lungs and the half-eaten loaf of bread out of her hand.
"Oh! Sorry!" The person who had accidentally run into her apologized as the Zbornak bent over, groaning in pain as she tried to breathe.
"What... what the hell, man?!" She managed, glaring at the other alien, who turned out to be a well-dressed orange Star Nomad with a short braid and looked to be no more than maybe eight years old. "Ain't... ain't anyone ever told ya to watch where you're going?!"
The Nomad gave her a sorry look, then glanced back down the path, cringing as they looked back at Sylvia before grabbing her and pulling her into a close lane.
"H-Hey! What the heck are you-?!"
"Shh!" The orange alien whispered quickly, covering the Zbornak's mouth with their hand and glancing out into the street.
"Where's that little brat?!" Someone just out of Sylvia's sight yelled, their voice angry and rough.
"He's got to be around here somewhere! Keep looking!" Someone else yelled. "That little twerp is gonna make us a shitload of money when we hold him for ransom!"
Ransom?! Sylvia thought as she looked down at the kid. Just who in the hell is this weird little kid, anyway?!
After a moment, someone scoffed. "He's not in this corner! Move your asses, we've got to find him before he gets to the guards!"
The kid shrunk back into the shadows as a group of hulking, angry-looking aliens that Sylvia recognized as being part of one of the gangs that roamed the worse (well, worse than most of the others) neighborhoods in the Capital.
A few moments after the gang had passed, the orange alien sighed, taking his hand off of Sylvia's mouth and cautiously stepping into the light, peering around the corner to make sure that his would-be kidnappers were really gone.
"Sorry about that, miss!" The tiny kid said cheerfully as he turned to face the Zbornak, sticking his hand out for her to shake. "My name's Wander! What's yours?"
Sylvia hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between the other alien's face and hand before cautiously shaking his hand. "Uh... Sylvia."
The Star Nomad grinned at her. "Well, it was really nice to meet ya, Miss Sylvia!"
The little prince waved as he ran out of the alleyway. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've really gotta get back home! Thanks for not letting those guys know where I was hiding!"
Sylvia stared after him for a moment, then shook her head, sighing as she turned and started walking in the opposite direction from the young prince.
"Weird little kid..."
Sylvia shook her head, snapping herself out of her reminiscence. She didn't have time to be sentimental, Wander's life could be in danger, dammit!
She had to do whatever it took to bring him home.
Even if that meant putting up with super-annoying undead future husband, as much as it pained her to admit.
"This way, Bones, no time for sightseeing!"
"Would you stop with the 'Bones' thing?! Bad enough that that jerk Magnum keeps calling me that, I don't need you to start doing it too!"
"What? I'm sorry, all I heard was 'blah blah blah I'm a whiny baby blah blah'!"
The prince regent rolled his eyes. "What the hell is your problem with me, anyway?!"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because you lied to my best friend for months on end?!"
"I... I didn't lie! I never said that I wasn't... well, you know!"
"Newsflash, dingbat! When a person meets someone new, it never really occurs to them to think that they might be a reanimated corpse with lightning powers!"
"I..." He growled. "Skeleton. Ske-le-ton. Corpses are fleshier."
Sylvia rolled her eyes, then freezing for a second before quickly pointing her gun straight at Thatcher's head. The skeleton's eyes widened as he stared down the barrel of the rifle, both his jaw and his fists clenched tightly in an attempt to stay calm.
"Wh- What the fuck are you-?!"
"Don't. Move."
"Y-You- do you not realize that you're pointing a goddamn rifle at my head?! I couldn't move if I wanted to!"
Sylvia rolled her eyes, adjusting the barrel of the gun and pointing it a bit higher, just above the king-to-be's head. "Not pointing the gun at you, Bonehead! Now duck!"
Although he wanted to argue with her, the skeleton instead did as she commanded, ducking down just as the captain shot out eight rounds, the hellbeast that had been slowly creeping up on Thatcher screeching as it died, dissipating into a cloud of black smoke.
"You're welcome." The Zbornak stated flatly as she opened her knapsack, pulling out a tray of bullets and reloading her gun.
Thatcher rolled his eyes, but reluctantly muttered muttered a quick "Thanks" as the captain finished reloading her weapon, following her into the next room.
The second they entered the room, the doors slammed behind them, a sound like a lock clicking following soon after.
Sylvia ran over to the door, attempting to pull it open.
"Don't just stand there, Bonehead! Help me!" She yelled with some difficulty as she pressed one of her legs against the cold steel door, trying to increase the force with which she was pulling.
"Y'know, insulting people isn't the best way to get them to help you-!"
"NOW!"
The spooked king-to-be quickly ran over without another word, grabbing the Zbornak around her waist and holding on tightly.
"Okay, on three! One... two... three!"
On her count, the skeleton pulled with all his might, which unfortunately turned out to be enough might to pry the Zbornak away from the door handle, Sylvia yelping in surprise as Thatcher lost his balance and fell flat on his back, crying out in pain when the captain landed on top of him, grateful for the fact that he had no internal organs and therefore did not have to suffer the pain of having the wind knocked- no, crushed out of him, although otherwise he wasn't exactly a happy camper.
Sylvia groaned as she rolled off the king, glaring at him from where she was lying on her stomach.
"Great job. Just... great teamwork there, buddy."
Thatcher glared right back at here. "I swear on my father's grave- which is really just the urn that's somewhere in the Royal Treasury- that if I weren't in immense pain and waiting for the life magic that holds me together to repair my fractured ribs and collarbone, I'd fire you right now."
Sylvia snorted, rolling her eyes as she got up and dusted herself off. "Oh, please. Even if you had that power- which, by the way, since your mom is still the reigning Queen, you don't- do you really think Wander wouldn't tear into you if you fired his best friend?"
Thatcher grunted in pain as he slowly sat up, the cracks in his bones finally mending completely as he got to his feet. "Like it matters. It's not as if you'll be sticking around anyway once we get back."
The captain blinked as she checked her weapon for any damage, slowly turning to look at the prince regent with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
Thatcher groaned in both discomfort and exasperation as he popped one of his shoulders back into place. "Oh, don't play dumb; I may not like you, but I can tell that you're no fool. Why would you stay if Wander leaves? He's the only reason you're here, right?"
"Well, yeah, but who said anything about Wander leaving?"
The skeleton groaned again, glaring at her. "Wh- Well, why wouldn't he leave after all this?! He's being held in some dark, cold place by a crazy ancient spirit because of something I did! This is all my fault, and he's the one paying for it! And..." He swallowed, then grit his teeth, gesturing to himself. "W-Well, just look at me! Who in their right mind would- would want to be with someone like me?! I wouldn't blame him if he left the minute we got back and never spoke to me again-!"
"SHUT UP!" Sylvia suddenly yelled, the fury in her eyes making Thatcher clamp his mouth shut. "Just- Just SHUT YOUR FLARPIN' MOUTH! Do you honestly think that he's that petty?! That he's that shallow?! Because if you do, then you obviously know nothing about Wander! He cares way too much about you to let something like that drive him away!"
The Zbornak grabbed the skeleton by the collar of his shirt, her eyes tinted with an angry shade of red as she glared at him. "You listen to me, skull-boy, and you listen good! Wander is probably worried sick about you right now, and you're standing here doubting him! So shut your motherfucking trap, you big baby, because there's no way in hell I'm going to just let you moan and groan and think Wander's going to abandon you! Wander never gives up on someone he cares about, ever!" She pulled him closer, looking him dead in the eyes. "Got it, pussywillow?"
Thatcher audibly gulped, nodding frantically. "Y-Yes ma'am!"
"Good." She shoved him away, taking a step towards the center of the room. "Now hurry it up. It won't do us any good to waste time, especially since we still don't know exactly where they're keeping Wander."
The king-to-be stared at her for a moment, then sighed, cautiously following the Zbornak.
No sooner than they were halfway across the cold, white-tile floor, however, blindingly bright lights shone on them from overhead.
"Attention, subjects!" The familiar, smarmy, Britonian-accented voice of the Demon King said over what sounded like an old, badly-maintained PA system. "The first test will begin in, oh, two or so minutes."
"Test?"
"How did he know-?!"
Suddenly, the floor in front of them seemed to fall into an endless abyss, making Sylvia and Thatcher jump back in surprise as it fell, tile by tile, until there was nothing back an endless black pit in front of them, the door to the next room at the end of a tiny alcove.
"The objective to complete for this task is for both of you to get to the other side and touch the door handle at the same time. If either of you dies, becomes too injured to move, or is on the other side of the pit when the handle is touched, you will both fail, and the rest of the floor will cave in."
"Yikes."
Thatcher rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I can get us across these thing in no time."
Without warning, he grabbed the captain around her waist, barely letting her get out a "What the hell are you-?!" before taking off, Sylvia screaming as she was dragged into the air. However, they were scarcely a fourth of the way across the pit before a deafening, low groan emanated from the abyss below them. Suddenly, a huge, shadowy arm came up from underneath them, grabbing them and tossing them back to the floor.
"No supernatural powers are allowed to be used during the course of this test."
"WHAT?!" Thatcher yelled up at the ceiling. "WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN?!"
"How you complete the test, so long as it is done with the physical tools you already have, is not our problem. The test will begin in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
There was a shrill, deafening beep, and the ground below the two of them began to shake.
"What the-?!"
"HEY! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THIS WITHOUT A FLOOR?!"
"Oh, there's still going to be a floor." A near-silent, rising, slithering, hissing sort of sound reached their ears (or whatever they had that substituted for ears), red, angry eyes starting to glare up at them from the shadows.
"... Oh, crap."
"Basiki." Thatcher mumbled. "Why did it have to be Basiki?"
"Now, now! All you two need to do is to get over to the other side without using any supernatural powers before you are eaten by baby Basiki! Have fun!"
Sylvia grit her teeth, getting her gun out and clicking off the safety. "All right, you scaly little hellspawn! You wanna play? Let's play."
The captain screeched as she charged at the monsters, firing her gun at a rapid pace as the Basiki attempted to swarm her. Thatcher watched in awe as she fought the snake-like creatures off, scales and teeth flying all over the place.
"Don't just stand there! Help me!" She yelled at the king-to-be.
"I... I can't!"
"WHY THE HELL NOT?!"
"BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FIGHTING WITHOUT MY POWERS, OKAY?!"
"WELL THEN THINK OF SOMEWAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Thatcher groaned in frustration, looking desperately over at the pit before him, scanning for something, anything that could help them get over to the other side.
It was then that he noticed the bar hanging right over the middle of the pit. Thatcher blinked, squinting at it.
"Cap?"
"Yeah?" Sylvia answered as she kicked one of the Basiki down while simultaneously reloading her gun.
"You wouldn't happen to have a protractor on you, would ya?"
"Wh- WHY IN GLORN'S NAME WOULD I HAVE A PROTRACTOR?!" She yelled as she used the gun to knock out a particularly large snake that was dangerously close to biting her head off.
"Okay, nevermind then! Just..." He waved flippantly. "Keep doing what you're doing!"
"I PLAN TO!"
The skeleton stared up at the bar, rubbing his chin in thought.
The bar appears to be equidistant from each side of the pit, which looks to be about twenty-four feet across from where I'm standing, so if we cut that in half, it's twelve feet across, and since the ceiling appears to be about thirty-five feet... a rope to the bar would need to be about thirty-seven feet, maybe a little longer to account for how much it might need to wrap around the bar to be load-bearing-!
"Anytime now, buddy!"
"I'm working on it!"
Suddenly, there was a slithering noise at Thatcher's feet, followed by a small hissing. He looked down, screaming when he saw the snake-like creature at his feet.
"GAH!" He screeched, stamping his feet rampantly. "Snakes, snakes, hate snakes, no!"
After a moment, the snake was completely flattened. Thatcher, looking down at it, suddenly thought of something, picking it up and turning towards where Sylvia was still fighting the horde off.
"Sylvia! I need you to do something for me!"
"What?"
"I said that I need you to do-!"
"I know, I heard you, what do you want?!"
"Oh! Um, I need you to stomp them until they're flat and toss them over to me!"
"What? Why?"
"Just- just do it!"
Sylvia rolled her eyes, but did as he ask, stomping one flat, tossing it over to the king, and repeating until Thatcher had created a very long rope and most of the snakes were dead. With astounding precision, the king-to-be managed to get the makeshift line to wrap partially around the bar, tugging on it to make sure that it was tight.
"Okay, now get over here!"
Sylvia ran over to him, shooting a few shots out at the still-growing crowd of snake-like creatures. More and more seemed to be coming out of the shadows, hissing as they slithered closer and closer to the two of them.
"What's the plan here?"
"Grab on, we're gonna have to swing across!"
"WHAT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
"No! Just- just trust me, okay?!"
The captain looked back at the crowd of snakes, then back at the pit one last time before grabbing the skeleton's arm, holding her breath as they swung across the pit. Once they were in range, Thatcher let go, both of them landing with a grunt once they reached the other side.
"Uuurrrghhh... are we dead?" Thatcher moaned, lifting himself up slowly.
"I... I don't think so. Well, you were already dead, so I'm not sure how to answer that..." Sylvia answered as she stood up, looking over at the other side of the pit, where the swarm of young snake demons was hissing and spitting angrily.
She grinned and puffed out her chest proudly. "Ha! So long, suckers!"
She looked over at Thatcher, grinning at him and swatting him playfully on the arm. "Nice job there, Bones-?!"
The prince regent suddenly cried out in pain, holding onto his arm gingerly and gritting his teeth.
"You... you okay?"
"Oh, um, 'm fine... think I might have broken my arm when I landed..."
"What?! Oh, jeez, why didn't you say something? We gotta get you to- to a doctor or-!"
"Ah, no, no need for that. I'll be fine, it'll heal on its own in a minute... I mean, you did break most of the bones in my chest when you landed on me earlier, and I'm fine now..."
Sylvia swallowed hard, feeling guilt rise up in her throat like bile. "Oh, well, um... sorry, then."
"It's fine, really." He grinned at her weakly. "I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."
Sylvia couldn't help but snort a little, despite still feeling rather bad about hurting her best friend's intended.
Thatcher raised his other hand. "Y'know, I've got two hands... why don't we end this stupid test? All we gotta do is touch the door handle at the same time, right?"
The captain grinned, walking over with the prince regent and lifting her hand and holding it just above the handle, the skeleton doing the same.
"Ready?"
"On three. One."
"Two."
"THREE!" They both yelled as they touched the door handle. For a moment, nothing happened, the room still. Then, the floor began to rumble, and in an instant every part of the tile that wasn't in the little alcove Thatcher and Sylvia were in fell into the endless abyss, the screaming snakes falling with it.
The prince regent and the captain stared out at the abyss, completely flabbergasted. Suddenly, a pair of trumpets appeared on either side of them, shooting out confetti as they blasted out a triumphant, deafening tune.
"CONGRATULATIONS!" Nox's voice cried. "You have passed this test! You have also ruined the lives of thousands upon thousands of now-childless Basiki mothers!" There was a sound like an old, barely-functioning fax machine. "Oh, look, there's our test results!" Paper rustling. "Ahem. 'You two are horrible people.' No really, that's what it says. 'You two are horrible people.' We weren't even testing for that."
Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Oh, just open the damn door already!"
"Touchy, touchy! But, a deal's a deal." Behind them, the door opened, leading into a dimly lit hallway. "Onward!"
The captain sighed, taking a step towards the hall.
"H... Hey, um... Sylvia?"
The Zbornak paused, looking back at the king-to-be. "Yeah?"
Thatcher looked down at his feet nervously. "Do... do you, um, do you really think Wander will stay, a-after all this?"
She blinked, thinking for a moment.
She remembered being eleven, all alone in the rain, hurt and cold.
She remembered Wander finding her just outside the embassy, yelling for someone to come help her.
She remembered Wander begging his mothers to let her come with them.
She remembered saying that she was just a thieving street rat, she didn't deserve the help of a prince.
She remembered him saying that who she was didn't matter, because no one should be left alone in the cold.
She remembered how happy Wander had looked when, after a week of refusing to go, she'd said yes.
She remembered how he'd never given up on her, even when it was obvious she'd given up on herself.
She remembered how happy Wander looked when he told her that his intended had finally started to talking to him, how sad he looked when Thatcher had stood him up, how he had looked at Thatcher when they were dancing in the ballroom...
She smiled. "Yeah. I do."
Wander sighed quietly to himself, staring up at the tiny window in the cell he shared with Peepers.
"How long have we been in here, anyway?"
Peepers groaned from where he was lying on the solitary cot. "For the twelfth time, I. Don't. KNOW! Gob, of all the people in the galaxy I could have gotten stuck with-!"
Suddenly, Tim growled, turning and facing them.
"Okay, okay, sorry! No yelling, I get it!"
Wander frowned. "Poor 'lil guy..."
"Wh- Are you talking about the snarling hellhound who's keeping us trapped in here?!"
"Didn't you see how Nox treated him? He's probably just spooked by yelling! Poor baby..."
Tim looked over at Wander, an odd, curious look in his red eyes. Tentatively, the demon inched towards him, sniffing carefully.
"Uh... can that thing understand us?"
Wander stared at him, taking a step towards the beast. "I... I think he might be able to..."
The demon and the prince cautiously inched towards each other, closer and closer until they were less than a foot apart, at which point Tim sat on his rear, sticking his snout close to the bars. Wander took one last step forward, sticking his hand out of the bars. He turned away when his hand was less than a foot away from Tim's snout, unable to move any closer. Tim gently nudged it with his nose, rubbing against Wander's open palm happily.
"Well would ya look at that." Peepers said incredulously as Wander scratched Tim's chin, the hellhound's tail wagging happily.
"Aw, you're just a big softie, aren't ya!"
Tim barked in agreement, licking Wander's face through the bars. Suddenly, he stopped, looking up at the window and whining.
"What's wrong, boy?"
"He probably wants just what we want: to get out of here."
Wander looked up at the window, squinting when he saw an odd glint from where Tim was staring. "No... no wait, there's something up there..."
The prince ran towards the wall, grabbing at a loose brick and trying to pull himself up to the window, grunting.
"Urrgghh... Peepers, help me up!"
"Hey, wait, we don't know what-!"
"Well, do you have any better ideas?!"
Peepers paused for a minute, then sighed, walking over to the prince and getting underneath him, trying not to lose his balance while the prince stood on his shoulders. Wander peeked up at the tiny alcove next to the window, his eyes widening when he saw an ornate red-and-black glass jar.
"Urf! Kid, could you hurry it up?! I have a big head and tiny shoulders; I'm not sure how well this plan was thought out-!"
Wander suddenly jumped down, the jar in his hands. Peepers collapsed to the ground, panting from exhaustion.
"Ughhh... I'm way too old for this kinda shit..."
The prince smiled as he walked over to the hellbeast, who had since turned back into the spider-like form he had been in before.
"Here ya go, Tim!" He said as he stuck the jar through the bars.
The spider-creature let out what Wander hoped was a happy screech as he took the jar from the prince, scrambling over to the center of the room and holding the jar above him.
"Wait, what's he-?!"
Without warning, the hellbeast threw the jar down, making it shatter into a million tiny places all over the floor.
"... So, we just helped him be destructive?"
"I... I guess-!"
All of a sudden, black smoke started to emanate from the remnants of the jar, swirling up into the air and forming a huge, dark cloud. Tim jumped up and down excitedly as the center began to swirl down like a tornado, faster and faster until a bright light flashed and filled the room, forcing Wander and Peepers to cover their eyes and look away. After a moment, they looked back, and where the jar had once been stood a beautiful, statuesque woman with skin as white as snow, dressed in flowing, ornate red and black robes.
"FIVE THOUSAND YEEEEEEAAAAAARRRRSS!" The woman boomed, her voice making the room shake and Wander and Peepers shrink back in shock. Suddenly, she stretched her arms out, arched her back, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Can give ya such a crick in the neck! Jeez!"
Tim screeched excitedly, climbing up onto her shoulder and nuzzling her head.
"Timmy!" The woman yelled happily, pulling him off her shoulder and holding him out in front of her. "Did you wait for me all this time?"
Tim screeched happily, licking her face.
"Good boy!" She cooed, cuddling him close to her.
"Uh... hello?"
The woman looked over at the two prisoners, blinking in surprise.
"Oh! Hello there!" She greeted, bowing quickly. "Thank you so much for breaking me out of my prison! I am Nadia, Queen of the Djinni!"
"D... Djinni?"
"Benevolent spirits, dear. We're sort of like genies, but we serve no master and don't give three wishes and aren't chained to lamps or-" She blinked. "Huh. We're almost nothing like genies, actually."
Nadia set her pet down, walking over and grabbing the two prisoners. "Here, let me get you out of there!"
Without warning, the two aliens seemed to become intangible for a brief moment, going straight through the iron bars.
"W-Whoa!" Wander cried, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Oh, sorry! Probably should have warned you about that!"
"It's... it's alright, I'm okay... Peepers?"
The hunched over captain slowly gave them a thumbs up.
"He's fine."
Nadia grinned at them, her bottom half resembling a cloud of smoke the color of her balloon-like pants. "I can't thank you two enough for getting me out of there! I've been stuck in that jar for soooooooooo long! I was starting to think I'd never get out of here!" She paused, looking around at the prison. "Uh... where is 'here', anyway?"
"We're in Nox's prison cell. Not sure exactly where that is."
The Djinne suddenly looked rather angry. "Oh, that... that asshole! I should have guessed."
She suddenly disappeared, reappearing at Wander's side a second later. "Word to the wise, kid: never ever make a deal with that guy. No matter how sweet of a deal you think you're gettin', he'll always make it so that you end up losing!"
"Preaching to the choir here, lady." Peepers muttered.
Nadia smiled sympathetically at him. "You too, huh?"
"You have no idea."
Nadia laughed, then froze when she heard a low growling, rolling her eyes and turning towards the source. A hellhound was slowly advancing on her pet, who let out a terrified whine.
"Oh, please." The Djinne muttered, snapping her fingers. A giant hammer poofed into existence just above the hound's head, knocking it out with one swing.
"Whoa!"
Nadia smiled at the two mortals. "You see, boys? You ain't never had a friend like me."
She sat down, her legs become corporeal again. "Now, what else can I do for ya? Ooh! I know! How about I pop you two back wherever you came from?"
"That sounds-!"
"Wait!" Wander cried. "We can't just leave! You remember what Nox said, Thatcher and the others could be here already!"
Peepers looked over at Nadia. "Can you send us all back?"
Nadia sighed sadly. "No, sorry. I haven't used my powers in so long; I don't think I could transport more than two people safely."
Wander groaned in frustration, then paused, his eyes widening as an idea came to him. "Then... then can you give me a pair of scissors?"
The Djinne gave him a puzzled looked, but did as he asked, a pair of scissors appearing in her hand.
"Here ya go, kid."
"Thanks!" He said as he took the scissors, walking over to Peepers. "Give me your coat."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it!"
The captain eyed him suspiciously, but did as the prince demanded, handing his coat to him.
"Thank you!"
Without warning, the prince cut off one of the sleeves, tearing it up for good measure.
"Wh- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Oh, relax, you can get another one!" He chastised as he cut and tore up the rest of the coat, scattering the pieces around the room and near the still unconcious hellbeast. Once he was done with that, he did the same to his tattered robe.
"Uh, kiddo? Mind tellin' us what you're up to?" Nadia asked gently as she appeared next to the prince, who was tossing the last few pieces of his robe next to the beast.
"I'm making it look like this thing killed and ate us. That way, we can escape without Nox looking for us!" He held out his braid with the hand that wasn't holding the scissors, positioning the blades so that his hair was between them. "Also, I'm gonna need about two gallons of fake blood, your cooperation, and a mid-sized dagger."
He hesitated for a moment, looking down at his braid, at the hair he hadn't cut since he was small. Wander took a deep breath, then closed his eyes as he made the first of several jagged, uneven cuts.
His hair would grow back, but he'd never forgive himself if he couldn't get his intended and whoever was with him out of here safely.