Chapter 24: Grail Retrieval Under Way
'Hang in there, Dad. We're coming,' Gilbert thought as two guards stopped Roderich, Elizabeta, and Vash at the palace gate.
"State your business," one of the guards commanded.
"We're here to deliver the ammunition the King ordered," Roderich said.
"I see," another guard said. "Well, go on inside, then." Roderich, Elizabeta, and Vash then drove in.
"That was almost too easy," Roderich commented.
"Just shut the hell up and keep driving or I'll beat you with my Peace Prize!" said Vash. He took out a Nobel Peace Prize and held it in Roderich's face.
"Vash, cut it out!" Elizabeta said. "And how did you get that thing, anyway?"
"My dad," Vash replied.
"Your dad?" Roderich and Elizabeta asked him.
"Yeah," said Vash. "He won it when we were all nine, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, how could I forget?" said Roderich. "You were rubbing your father's victory in my face for days."
"Let's just focus on the damn mission at hand here," said an exasperated Elizabeta.
They parked the truck and got ready to unload the boxes containing their friends, when some palace workers named Mey-Rin, Bard, and Finnian came up.
"Would you like us to help you unload those things?" Bard asked.
"Yeah, sure," said Roderich. "After all, a great pianist like myself can't be seen unloading boxes!"
In his box, Gilbert facepalmed. 'Geez, Roddy, you're such a drama king...or drama queen...whatever!'
"Okey-dokey," said Finnian. He took the box containing Gilbert, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino, Yao, and Kiku and threw it, just barely missing his two companions.
"Whoa!" Gilbert and the other kids shouted as they were hurled through the air.
"YAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Feliciano screamed as he held onto his brother.
"CHIGIIIIIIIII!" Lovino screamed louder.
"Ouch!" the children yelled as they hit the ground. The others in the rest of the boxes yelled in pain when they hit the ground as well, until Mey-Rin and Bard stopped Finnian.
"Finny!" said Mey-Rin.
"Stop that!" said Bard. "The King's gonna be bloody angry with us, he is!"
"AAAAAHHHH, I'M SO SORRY!" Finnian exclaimed. "I didn't break anything, did I?"
"Let me take a look," said Roderich. He opened the boxes to see if everyone was okay. Once he was satisfied that nobody was dead or hurt, he closed the boxes again. "No, everything's fine. No broken stuff."
"Phew," Finnian said in relief. "That's good."
"We'll help you get the rest, we will," Mey-Rin said. She and Bard helped Roderich, Elizabeta, and Vash lift the boxes, then carried them to the weapon and ammunition storage room.
"Thanks, guys," said Vash.
"No problem," said Bard.
"Happy to help," said Mey-Rin.
"Hope to see you around," Finnian said. he and the other two left to go do their tasks.
Vash made sure that they were, indeed, alone. Then he spoke to the boxes. "Okay, all clear. You can come out now."
The others opened their boxes and got out.
"Thank God!" said Gilbert.
"I was getting bloody cramped in there," said Arthur.
"I think I twisted my spine or something," Kid complained.
"Man, it was hard to breathe in there," Knuckles said.
"Yuck! Wakko farted in here!" said Dot. She and Yakko climbed out of their box, gasping for air and holding their noses.
"Hey, I can't help it," said Wakko.
"You're gross!" said Dot.
"It wasn't that bad," Wakko protested.
Sharnid sniffed at the inside of the Warners' box. "BLECH! Ugh, gross!" He stumbled back, covering his mouth and nose. Then he threw up all over the floor.
"Gross," Felli said in her usual monotone voice.
Rouge took out a map and unrolled it. "Now, here's the layout of the entire palace."
"Where'd you get that map?" Nina asked.
"Oh, I've got my ways, I've got my ways," Rouge said in a mysterious manner.
"You stole it, didn't you?" Knuckles asked.
"Okay, so I stole it," Rouge said, annoyed. "These people stole something from Suujiku."
"Good point," said Knuckles.
"And it's not like I'm taking the map home with us," said Rouge.
"You better return that when we're done," said Sonic.
"Don't worry, I will," said Rouge. "Now, here's where we are"—she pointed to a place on the map that was labeled "Weapons and Ammo Storage"—"and there's a few places where the Holy Grail is most likely being kept. One would be the Treasure Room, and the other would probably be the King's bedchamber." She pointed to the Treasure Room and the King's bedchamber. "The prisoners are most likely in the dungeons, and a few of them are probably in either of these towers. So we'll probably have to split up into different groups. A handful of us will go look for the Grail, and the rest of us will look for either the prisoners or the King."
With that, the kids all split up.
Gilbert and Ludwig were walking the halls of the palace, lost.
"Gilbo, what if we don't find Daddy?" Ludwig asked. he was getting scared about being lost in such a huge, strange place. "This place is big."
"Don't worry, bro, we'll find him," said Gilbert. "Come on, we've gotta keep looking for the dungeons." he and Ludwig kept on walking.
"I think we're getting close," said Tails.
"Yeah, but I didn't bother to copy Rouge's map," Vash said. "How are we gonna find our way to the dungeons?"
Patty went up to a guard. "Excuse me, sir, could you tell us where the dungeons are?"
"Patty, you idiot!" Vash said to the girl.
"Vash, cool it," Liz said quietly. "Relax, okay? Ticktockia has been known for not hiring the best guards, so we're alright. Most of these guards are idiots."
"Gladly," said the guard. Lucky for them, he was indeed an idiot, and talked like a hippie. "Just go down the hall and make a right, Missy."
"Thanks!" said Patty. "Come on, everyone." She led the others down the hall, towards the dungeons. Unfortunately, they quickly found themselves surrounded by a bunch of more intelligent guards, who knew that Vash, Gilbert, Ludwig, Liz, and Patty weren't supposed to be there.
"Looks like they got better with hiring guards," said Vash.
"Okay, so I was wrong," said Liz. "Oops."
"Uh..." Gilbert said. He gulped and grabbed Ludwig's arm. "W-We'll be going now...RUN!" he pulled his baby brother along, trying to get past the guards.
"Oh, no you don't!" a guard named Clovis yelled. he pinned Gilbert down while another guard named Schneizel forced the kid to let go of Ludwig's arm.
"Gilbo, help me!" Ludwig cried as Vash, Liz, and Patty were pinned down as well by the other guards.
"West!" Gilbert shouted. "Let my brother go!"
"Come on, guys," the leader of the group of guards, Raditz, said. "Let's throw these kids in the dungeons."
"No!" Gilbert and Ludwig cried, trying to get free of Clovis and Schneizel.
The guards dragged the kids down the rest of the hall and stopped at several cells.
"Make yourselves at home," Schneizel said in a not-so-nice tone as he and Clovis threw the Beilschmidt brothers in one cell. The other guards did the same to Vash, and the Thompson sisters. The cell doors slammed and were locked.
"Let us out of here!" Gilbert shouted as the guards left. Then he sat back, buried his head in his arms, and started bawling. "I wanna go home!" It was Gilbert's turn to be the crybaby, which made Ludwig take over the position of tough brother.
"It's okay, Gilbo," Ludwig said, trying to make his big brother feel better. "We'll get out of here, don't worry."
"Gilbo? Lui?" a voice asked. The boys turned and smiled when they saw who the voice belonged to: their missing father, Claus.
"Dad!/Daddy!" the brothers exclaimed. They ran to Claus and hugged him.
"What are you two doing here?" Claus asked.
"God came to our house a while back," Gilbert explained as he wiped his eyes and nose. "He said we had to go get the Grail back."
"Yeah, and we got a team together," Ludwig added.
"How are we gonna get outta here?" Gilbert asked. "I just wanna go home."
"I don't know," said Claus. "But don't you worry, we will. And we'll get the Grail back, and return to Suujiku."