Hi guys. I've punched out another chapter and boy...this one's pretty short and kinda lame. (to me at least)

So, I just wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! XD OMG, 40 reviews. I feel so happy and some of the things you guys have said are just so inspirational that I just want to write more. Thank you again.

I know this story is pretty long and all but I've realized that it's almost impossible for me to write short stories. i always put way to much thought into it all.

Anyway, I can't wait to write the next chapter but it's going to have to be put on hold for a while due to school starting tomorrow. ;( But don't you guys worry, I will keep posting whenever I find time and you can bet I will finish this thing, even though it's taking me forever.


Chapter 29

CRAP, A CAPTURE

"Okay, we're here," Paulo said when he finally reached the top of the cliff.

He turned around, waiting for the two teens, and smiled when he saw Fakir nearly dragging Duck the last few feet. Once she reached the flat land, she collapsed to her hands and knees and laughed breathlessly at the two guy's expressions.

"That…that was way harder to do…than I expected," she panted.

"What did you expect? Stairs?" Fakir asked and helped the bird-girl to her feet. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Easy for you to say," she pouted.

"Sure is," he said, and tried very hard not to grin.

"Okay kids, if you head that way," Paulo said, pointing off into the distance, "you'll soon get to the nearest town. It should take about an hour, given the good weather."

"I don't think we could ever thank you enough, Paulo," Duck said. "You and Palimony were just so nice to us. We probably didn't deserve it."

"Are you kidding?" Paulo laughed. "You two made us very happy. We wouldn't have missed meeting you for the world."

"Really?" Duck asked.

"Cross my heart," Paulo said, making and 'X' over his heart. "Now, don't forget our offer. You two are welcome back anytime."

"Thank you, Paulo," Fakir said. "We won't forget about you and I promise, we will visit you again."

Paulo smiled even wider and before either of the teens knew what was going on, he collected them both in a big bear hug.

"I sure am gonna miss you kids," he said. "I hope everything turns out well for you."

"So do I," Fakir gasped.

Paulo let the kids down, his eyes watering slightly, and he said, "Now go on. Get to your friends."

"Okay," Duck said, hugging him quickly. "We'll see you soon. Bye."

"Bye kids," Paulo said and watched the two disappear down the path toward the town.

Fakir turned back once more to see Paulo go back down the path they came and sighed.

"Is something wrong, Fakir?" Duck asked.

"What? Oh, no, I was just thinking," he said. "If we don't stop the Raven, those people will probably die. I just…I couldn't imagine them being killed. It wouldn't feel right, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she said, her face becoming downcast with thought. "They are way too nice to get punished because of the Raven's stupid…destroying stuff. Now we just have to stop the Raven, for the people like them."

She looked over at Fakir with a big, persistent smile and laughed as Fakir chuckled a bit at her energy.

"You sure know how to make situations like that a bit less horrible," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm just glad that even through all of this crap, you still can find something to smile about."

"Of course," she said proudly. "If I didn't smile then…um, things would be very…frowny."

She grinned sheepishly, making Fakir rolled his eyes and snicker.

"Duck, you still cease to amaze me," he said.

"I try."

They walked for the hour it took to reach the town, talking about things that Duck hoped would keep Fakir smiling and he kept trying to get some sort of serious conversation out of her but, did it work? Nope, not at all. She skipped around, picked random flowers and tried to even start a game of tag but Fakir just kept walking, shaking his head and failing at hiding his grin. Now that he had his smile back, it was hell for him to try and stay serious around Duck. She somehow figured out what made him laugh and she just kept at it, not letting him get a break.

He was dying. There was nothing he could do to stop her and to be completely honest, he wouldn't have wanted her to stop. It was the first time in forever that he felt happy. He could let himself smile without turning around to find something that pissed him off. The hour it took to finally reach the city was one he was glad to have spent with Duck, even though he was never going to admit it to anyone, even Duck.

When they finally got into the town limits, Fakir had to force himself and Duck to calm down. It took quite a bit longer to get to stop cracking jokes and doing something outlandish but once he contained her energy, they made their way into the town slowly.

Now, unlike the village with Charon, this town had a good portion of metal buildings and several more people than the village. Fakir had to keep a hold on Duck, once again, to keep her from wandering off and/or getting herself into some sort of trouble.

"So…where are we going?" Duck asked, absently looking at a shop they passed. "Do we know where the others are going to be?"

"I told Altor to meet us at the first Inn he could find," Fakir said.

"But…what if we didn't make it?"

"Then he would have had to continue to find the pages himself," Fakir said, scanning the buildings.

He stopped when he finally found an Inn and they went inside to the front desk. He stopped in front of the desk where a rather large woman stood. She had large, dark eyes and her dark brown hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head. She had a light pink dress on with an apron over the skirt and just from the way she moved about behind the counter, it was obvious she had a lot of energy.

"Excuse me," Fakir said.

"Who's there?" she said and looked at the two teens. "Oh, is there something I can get you kids?"

She had a very thick Southern accent and Duck stared at her, half in wonder and half in slight fear. She was kinda creepy to Duck but she didn't seem to bother Fakir.

"Can you tell me if someone by the name of Altor checked in within the past two days?"

"I sure can check for you kids," she said and started flipping through a book with names. She let her finger slide down the names and when she couldn't find the name, she shook her head. "Sorry, kiddies. I haven't seen yo're friend."

"Hmm," Fakir thought for a second. "How about Rue?"

"Let me see." She skimmed over the names again and again shook her head. "Nope, no Rue."

"Mytho?" Duck asked.

"Let's see," she skimmed and her face lit up as she found the name. "Yes, there was a nice young man who came in with a party of three others. They were nice kids too, except that blonde youngin. She was a bit strange."

"Leave it to Lillie to creep someone out," Fakir sighed. "Can you tell me what room they're in? We need to see them immediately."

"But of course," she smiled. "They're in room 216. It's right up them stairs and to the right. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," Duck waved as they headed toward the stairs.

The counter lady was right. It was very hard to miss because it was the only door on the right. Fakir knocked and waited for someone to answer but no answer came. He knocked again, a bit harder, and he heard shuffling and whispers inside.

"What's going on?" Duck asked.

"I don't know," Fakir shrugged. He knocked harder. "Hey, guys, it's us. What's going on?"

They heard gasps and a squeal from the girls and not long after the door was thrown open by Femio.

"Mes amies," he said and pulled Fakir into a hug. "We were so worried. We sought zat you were taken by zee beeg black birds."

"What? What do you mean?" Fakir asked, pushing himself from the French boy. "What's going on?"

"Rue and Altor were taken away by the crows," Lillie said. "Not at the same time, mind you. I was afraid that they might be after me and Pique again but…we weren't so lucky."

"Wait, Altor? Why was he taken?" Fakir asked.

"We don't know," Mytho said, stepping forward. "We had just reached the town when Drosselmeyer came in and took him."

"Drosselmeyer?" Fakir then looked at Duck. "The hoover board."

"What about it?" Pique asked.

"Drosselmeyer tried to take Duck but when we got away…he must have taken the hoover board," Fakir said, his face now frantic. "The Raven probably wants him to make more hoover boards then he's going to kill him."

"How do you know that?" Lillie asked.

"Because that's what he does to all the inventors!" Fakir growled. "Once their use has been used up, he kills them. That bastard is going to kill my brother!"

"What's going to happen to Rue?" Mytho asked.

Everyone looked at Mytho.

"Is…is she going to be okay?" he asked.

"She's the Raven's daughter, who knows what he'll do to her," Fakir grumbled, running his hand through his hair. "Look, we need to find those pages before the Final Countdown but also before Altor and Rue get killed. Did you find any information on those pages before they were taken?"

"Uh…I sink I heard Altor talking to a man about an auction at some house where zee pages might be," Femio said. "I only heard part of it zough."

"Do you remember what house?"

"Non, but Altor would know," Femio said put his hand to his forehead dramatically. "I am so very sorry. I am no good. You should just leave me, I am of no use to you."

"I wish," Fakir mumbled.

"Fakir, we need to go get Rue and Altor," Duck said, gripping his arm. "I…I don't think I could ever…live without knowing Rue's okay. Please, she's like my sister."

"I know Duck but it's too dangerous," Fakir said. "We wouldn't even be able to get in past the front gates."

"Not unless we use the map," Mytho said.

"Oui, but Altor had zee map with him when he was taken," Femio said sadly.

"We could always use Pique's powers," Lillie said happily.

"There is no way in hell I'll trust Pique's powers to work until she gets her elegance back," Fakir said.

"Fine, be that way," Pique pouted and crossed her arms.

Everyone stood there, thinking, and no one knew what to do. As the silence grew, Fakir started rubbing his injured shoulder and it became unbearable for him to think.

"Okay, so, we can't use the map or Pique's powers, what other choices do we have?" Fakir asked, making everyone look up.

"Um…" everyone thought for a while.

"We could just walk up to the gates and get captured," Lillie said.

Everyone stared at her like she was crazy (which she is) but once Fakir finally understood what she said, he thought that maybe it could work.

"She might have something. If we can create a diversion, maybe someone could sneak into the castle and rescue Altor and Rue and get out before anyone knows what happened," he suggested.

"Who would make the diversion?" Duck asked.

"Pique and Lillie," Fakir said. "The King is already kinda pissed at them and if Pique wreaks havoc with her magic then someone could get into the castle. But who will be the real question. Duck and I are already on Drosselmeyer's kill list and Pique and Lillie already have their jobs, so that leaves Mytho and Femio."

"Moi?" Femio asked. "Non, non, non. You must be joking. I cannot go into a castle and be rescuing someone. I am incapable."

"Too bad. You're the only one that the King and Drosselmeyer don't know," Fakir said sternly. "You're the only candidate."

"Actually, I think that maybe someone should go with him," Duck whispered. "He doesn't exactly keep his mind on one thing."

"I know but what other choice do we have?" he whispered back. "Drosselmeyer knows Mytho and even he doesn't quite think correctly. Who knew your heart is also connected to your ability to think?"

Fakir snickered and Duck smiled. What they didn't know is that everyone was staring at them now, well, mostly Fakir.

"What?" he asked.

"Am I seeing things or did you just smile?" Pique asked, walking right up to him.

"Uh…" he stepped back due to how close she had gotten to him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys," Duck giggled. "I found Fakir's smile. That's what was taken from him."

"SO zat's why you were so mad all zee time," Femio smiled, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, whatever. That's not the subject of discussion right now," Fakir said and pushed Pique away. "We need to figure out how…"

Suddenly a scream was heard from the lobby and everyone stopped what they were doing. They looked at the door and Fakir was the first to race from the room to see what was happening. He stopped at the top of the stairs where he saw a large group of the Raven's soldiers ransacking the place. The counter lady had grabbed her pistol but it was quickly knocked from her hands.

The soldier grabbed her and asked gruffly, "Where is the girl with feathers?"

"W…what?" she asked, frightened.

"The girl with feathers, where is she?"

"Uh…up…up stairs," she stuttered.

Fakir quickly pulled behind the wall as the soldier started to head up the stairs and he tried to think. What to do? They were on the second floor and the soldiers were everywhere, how would they ever get away without getting hurt?

Well, it seemed it was up to him again. He grabbed his sword and raced back to the room.

"Guys, on my signal, you need to run down the stairs as fast as you can," he explained quickly.

"What's going on?" Duck whispered nervously.

"Raven's soldiers. They're everywhere downstairs," Fakir said. "Apparently they're looking for you Duck. Okay, a soldier is coming up right now. I'm get him out of the way and you guys get out as fast as you can. Mytho, Femio, try to keep Duck hidden."

"Okay," Mytho said.

"Oui, of course," Femio said.

"Okay, wait just one more second," Fakir said as he watched the soldier march up the stairs. He got to their door and when he went to up it the rest of the way, Fakir jumped out and knocked back against the wall. "Go, go, go!"

The teens ran out of the room as Fakir stayed to fight off the soldier and he was able to finish him off fast enough to get down the stairs just as they reached the front door. They almost got ambushed by the soldiers outside but Fakir got there in time. He kept them back as the others ran down the street and soon he was following them closely. After about a minute of running he lost sight of the others.

He slowed down a bit, which was a pretty stupid move on his part, and seconds later he felt a cloth get put over her mouth and nose. He tried to get the man off of him but the strange, sickly sweet smell from the cloth made Fakir's world spin and he soon went unconscious.

The soldier laughed as the boy fell to the ground and two more came over to check on their pal.

"Looks like I just caught the toughest of them all," the first soldier snickered. "He wasn't so hard, not to mention, he's a shrimp. Look at him. He's so skinny. How is he the 'big' threat to the King?"

"You do realize he's a Knight, right?" the second soldier asked. "That's why he's so tough. The guy has fighting in his blood."

"So? He's still a shrimp," the first said.

"Just tie him up and let's get him back to the King. Maybe he'll give us some time off for catching these stupid kids," the third said. "I don't even see why they're such a big deal. They're just kids."

"But like I said, this 'kid' is a Knight," the second said. "All these kids are probably something like it to have the king so bent-out-of-shape."

"Whatever," the first said.

He had tied Fakir's hands behind his back and his feet together and then tossed the young Knight over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They headed back to their group of horses where the other kids were being thrown into a portable jail cell. Duck saw Fakir being carried first and she gripped the bars.

"Fakir!" she cried. "What have you done to him?"

"Shut up and sit down," a soldier said, pounding on the bars in front of her.

"Come on, let's get these brats to the King," another soldier on a horse ordered.

Fakir was tossed into the cage and all the other kids rushed to his side. Duck thought they had killed him but once she saw his chest heaving up and down, she felt a bit better.

"Femio, what's going to happen to us?" Lillie asked quietly.

"Je ne sais pas," he sighed. "I don't know, Lillie. I just don't know."

The rest of the trip to the castle, the kids spent in silence, hoping that nothing too bad was going to happen to them. (Ha, yeah right. This is the freaking Raven we're talking about. Something bad is definitely going to happen. Oops, spoilers?)