-Chapter 19-
With great caution and trepidation, Jaden stepped through Sapphire Pegasus's portal, leading the group as they took their first steps into the nearly forbidden sixth dimension. Even just standing there in the woods, Jaden could feel the malevolence in the air around them. To be honest, it didn't surprise him one bit that other dimensions had problems with this one. The whole place just felt evil.
"I swear, why does every portal we take spit us out into the middle of the woods!?" Chazz groaned, annoyed that they were once again stuck in the middle of nowhere, and on top of that, he was just frustrated by the simple fact that they were even in the sixth dimension to begin with. He was totally down for rescuing the little prince, especially if it meant potentially thwarting Yubel and saving all of existence. But he still wasn't too partial to the idea of doing all of it on Viper's turf.
"Well, you see Chazz, from what I've learned from my own studies, it seems that most often times, the dimensional veil is thinnest at a distance from large populations." Bastion explained, laying down some generally basic knowledge about dimensional travel he would have assumed most everyone would already have known. After all, it did seem to be fairly common knowledge. "Of course, those rare few like Prince Syrus, who can breach the veil wherever is needed may be able to pinpoint more specific and unconventional destinations should the need be dire."
"Sure. Whatever." The raven haired warrior disregarded. His remark was more an air of his grievance than a request for an actual answer, so to be honest, he really couldn't have cared less about what Bastion had to say.
"Alright, focus." Alexis scolded as she narrowed her eyes at the two chatter boxes. She didn't want to spend any more time in that place then they had to, and her tolerance levels for bullshit were just about nonexistent already. Needless to say, she was becoming even more of a no nonsense woman than she already had been by the minute. "We're here to rescue Syrus, not stand around complaining about the woods and discussing the minutiae of inter-dimensional travel. Now, Viper's fortress shouldn't be too hard to find since it's absolutely massive from what I hear. But we have to be quick and efficient. He's not gonna just give Syrus up all nice and easy."
"No, of course not." Jaden nodded in agreement, starting to worry for the little bluenette all over again. Feeling Jesse's fingers curl between his own, he looked back at the emerald eyed beauty, the gentle smile on his face as the two held each other's hands offered Jaden a small comfort in the midst of all of his worries and anxieties about what the future would hold for them. He certainly welcomed Jesse's kind company.
"Well, I reckon we'd better get moving then." Jim observed, looking around at their surroundings, he too could feel the malevolence in the air around them. On his back, Shirley squirmed and growled, hating the atmosphere around her just like the others did. The only thing keeping her from causing a scene was the simple fact that Jim was there with her, and that he was safe. So long as the man wasn't in any immediate danger, she knew she would be able to keep her cool despite how much she wanted to just go crazy.
"Jim's right." Hassleberry agreed, starting to feel a little strange being in that place himself. If he didn't know any better he would've said he could actually feel his eyes changing their forms back and forth, his animal side starting to become more agitated by the thick and dark aura covering the surrounding area. He wanted to offer them his aid in saving the prince since they had saved him and Jim, but honestly he worried that if they couldn't get this all sorted soon, he wouldn't be able to keep himself in check long enough to complete the mission with all of the darkness around them sending his animal instincts into a tizzy. "Doesn't seem like we're gonna have much time to lollygag about."
"Agreed." Chazz nodded, actually finding the new additions to the group to have more sense than he thought. Uncrossing his naturally crossed arms, he walked past the group, intent on getting this over with as fast as possible, if only to be sure Crowler didn't have to spend too much time inevitably sitting around fretting over him like he usually seemed to do when he went out on a mission, though he'd never had to rescue royalty before. Gesturing for the group to follow, he managed to still maintain his cold and distant demeanor despite how he was honestly starting to grow a little fonder of the party than even he expected to. "Let's mosey."
"Let me go!" Syrus demanded in frustration, struggling against the burly soldiers dragging him through the fortress' dark and quite frankly freezing dungeon. Having been unbound upon being passed over to the fortress guards by Axel, he'd had his chance to try an escape with his portals but before he could do a thing he'd been thwarted once again which was increasingly more annoying the more he thought about it. Though having his hands rebound in front of him rather than behind his back was certainly preferable. Somehow there was more remaining dignity in it to him, though also being dragged around like a child's security blanket eliminated almost all of the dignity he thought for even a second that he still had.
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up!" The soldier to his right spat out, yanking the small prince further down the dungeon corridor, dragging him around by his bound wrists, the soldier wrapped his large, meaty hand tighter around the prince's tiny wrists. The two men were growing ever weary of the little prince's struggles and annoying periodic demands to be released. A minuscule cry escaped from Syrus's lips at the forceful forward pull he would've fallen were it not for the soldier's tight grip on him.
"I'd keep quiet if I were you, highness." The other soldier mocked, fiddling with the ring of keys he held in his hands, isolating a particular one before shooting the bluenette a slight glare of his own. "Or if you'd prefer to keep yapping, we can always just gag you again. Your choice."
"Um, no. I actually wouldn't prefer that." Syrus thought to himself, daring not to speak again he shook his head in response, really not liking that idea. To be fair, he wasn't exactly a fan of his situation to begin with anyway.
"And don't even think about trying to use that annoying little 'power' of yours." The soldier chuckled darkly as they approached the deepest cell block, the dark heaviness in the air somehow growing even heavier the further they went. "If you haven't noticed, there's an anti-magic field around the entire fortress. And Lord Viper's had it calibrated just for you. See it's set to dampen your annoying little powers."
"Meaning, no portals for you, highness."
Chuckling to themselves, the soldiers dragged Syrus down to the end of the corridor where they reached the deepest kept cell. Reaching for the keys he held once more, the left soldier strolled up to the heavy iron bars, fiddling with the lock for a moment before the door screeched and creaked open. Struggling as best he could, Syrus pulled against the soldier's hold on him, though he knew with how small and weak his body was, his struggles weren't going to be very effective. Dragging the little bluenette over to the iron cage, chuckling quietly to himself, he threw the young prince down onto the cold stone ground of the cell, a small cry tearing itself from Syrus's lips from the impact of his fragile body on the hard ground.
"Welcome to your new home, your highness." The soldier with the keys chuckled, slicing the boy's bonds off, the two soldiers grabbed Syrus by the arms before he even had the chance to stand. Hoisting him up from the ground, the two forced him onto the stone bench in the back of the cell, forcing his little wrists into the shackles on the wall on either side of his body. Locking the iron manacles in place around his wrists as Syrus pulled against them all he could, but swiftly he surrendered to the futility of trying to struggle any more.
"Better get used to the view." The soldier chuckled, securing another pair of shackles around the boy's ankles, further restricting Syrus's little body to be absolutely sure he wouldn't be going anywhere. "Because these bars are the only thing you'll see for a long time."
"My brother will put a stop to this." Syrus countered, maintaining what little of a calm and elegant composure he could muster. He had faith that once his brother learned of his abduction, Zane would do whatever he had to to see him rescued. So no matter how honestly scared he was on the inside, he wouldn't give these villains the satisfaction of seeing his fear for themselves, determined not to bring any more shame onto their family than he already had in his adorable gray eyes. "I don't think I'll be here as long as you think."
Growling under his breath at the little prince, the ruder of the two soldiers shot Syrus an irritated glare. Had they not been ordered to leave the boy unharmed he would have allowed himself to strike the little one. But still he snarled at the boy, tired of his annoying chatter.
"I told you to keep quiet, kid!" He said, angrily stepping closer to the restrained bluenette. Pulling out a thick cloth from a pocket on his armor he caught a glimpse of Syrus's eyes widening a little at the realization of what was about to happen. "But it looks like you need a little help with that." Joining in the act, the second soldier stepped forward, grabbing a fistful of Syrus's light aqua hair he forced the prince's head back, a quiet cry escaping from the boy's lips. Not giving him another moment to speak, the soldier tied the thick cloth he held tightly over Syrus's mouth, finally muffling his annoying chatter.
"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you, highness."
Chuckling darkly to themselves, the soldiers left the cold cell, locking the heavy iron door behind them they left the little prince locked up in the dark. Sitting there in chains, Syrus sighed quietly to himself as he lowered his head in shame, hating himself for winding up locked up in their enemy's dungeon. If he had only been able to get away when he had the chance, none of this would have ever happened. But he was too slow and weak to even have the chance to try. As much as he wanted to think it wouldn't be true, he knew his brother would never forgive him for disgracing their family like that… disgracing him…
"I'm sorry, Zane…"
In the brush and back woods on the outskirts of Viper's vast and extensive grounds, Axel wandered in the shadows, a wish for vengeance growing in his heart. And a wish to bring Viper down.
"He's gonna wish he never cast me out." He thought to himself, reflecting on what had happened back when he first brought Viper his pet prisoner. He felt like something had been screwy from the start, the entire mission hadn't sat right with him, and once he saw how small and defenseless the little prince was, Axel could feel deep within himself for once in his life that what he was doing was wrong. The prince's body was so small and frail, but still he could feel something strong within him. There had to be more to the prince's kidnapping than even Axel had been told. Still, he had a new goal now.
"If I can find that old tunnel, there won't be a thing they can do to stop me."
Wandering further, Axel kept his eyes out for any signs of the alleged secret tunnel. If he could find it, he would be able to sneak back into the fortress dungeon undetected. But that was precisely the issue. It was a secret from a long long time ago, long before even Viper's time. No one knew where the tunnel was or even if it was real or not. No one had ever escaped from Viper's fortress before, not in over two centuries, and no one ever found the escape route. That was when the story of the secret tunnel originated. Counting on what truth he believed there was in the story, Axel searched for it, hoping the old story was true, and he could steal the young prince back to spite Viper for banishing him.
"Damn thing's gotta be around here somewhere.." Axel thought to himself, sifting through every piece of land around him to try and find a single sign of the legendary secret tunnel. After searching for what seemed like an eternity, Axel heard a rustling from somewhere nearby. Quickly hiding himself behind one of the many trees around him, Axel kept his eyes on his surroundings, looking and listening for any sign of people around since he figured that was the most likely scenario. Listening intently, he could hear voices approaching slowly from the eastern edge of the woods, coming directly his way. A large group by the sound of it.
"The hell…?" Axel thought, watching as he saw the group start to appear through the trees. They seemed to be a motley crew, it was easy for him to tell they were all from several different dimensions, having traveled through the majority of them several times in the past. It was strange for him to see such a mismatched group of people wandering about the outskirts of the sixth dimension together. Yet at the same time, it more or less revealed to him the purpose of their visit.
"We've been wandering around for hours!" Jaden whined, starting to get antsy having not yet found their way out of the woods, wasting time while his dear friend was in danger. "Are you sure we haven't just been going around in circles?"
"What kind of a question is that? Yes, I'm sure I'm sure!" Chazz nearly shouted, his eye beginning to twitch in frustration with Jaden's annoying questions. The warrior led the group through the woods, assuring them that even though he had never set foot in the sixth dimension before, he knew where he was going and what he was doing. Alexis rolled her eyes at their arrogant navigator, just glad they had enough competent members in their team to cancel out Chazz's idiotic tendency to occasionally feel the need to prove how good he was in almost every situation. "We haven't passed this area even once!"
"Well uh, not to be that guy or anything but... " Hassleberry spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the warrior as he recalled a very important fact "literally none of us have been here before. You couldn't possibly know the land well enough to make that call for sure."
"Oh yeah, well I don't see you stepping up to be the navigator, dino boy!" Chazz exclaimed, swiftly whirling around to face the muscular youth, his twitching eye twitching even more as he waved his fist in the air in frustration.
"No, but I do have stronger instincts than you do!" Hassleberry countered, his eyes flashing reptilian for a quick second, bearing his teeth at Chazz, who was honestly really starting to get on his nerves as he was sure the others could agree. "Probably a better sense of direction too, from the look of it."
"Oh yeah!?"
"Alright, that's enough." Bastion scolded, stepping in between the two quarreling teens. Not surprised an argument had already managed to break out, but still he had little patience for such behavior. "This is no time to stand around squabbling."
"Bastion's right." Jim added, reaching back and patting Shirley on the head, feeling her start to squirm in her carrier on his back. "I think Shirley senses something nearby."
"Seems like it." Jesse nodded, holding Jaden's hand as they were walking, he gave the brunette's hand a squeeze. Narrowing his eyes at the two arguers, Jesse lowered his voice to a hushed yet stern whisper. "So keep it down already! You could give away our position!"
Hearing a rustling from behind him, Chazz turned back forward on his heels, mentally kicking himself as his eyes beheld the sight of the sixth dimension mercenary stepping out from the brush, his strong and hardened eyes narrowing at the group ahead of him. Swiftly taking a step forward, Alexis raised her hand to Chazz, smacking him as hard as she could on the back of his head.
"Dammit, Chazz!" She scolded, planting her hands on her hips, she couldn't help but take her frustration out on him. Besides, as far as she was concerned he deserved it. He always did in her eyes. "Look what you did!"
"What I did!?" Chazz scoffed, annoyed that she had deigned it necessary to hit him yet again, though at the same time he wasn't at all surprised by it by that point. Honestly just so long as she wasn't trying to run him through with her sword, he would prefer she hit him with her hands to most anything else should she feel the need to strike him with. Of course, he really would prefer she not strike him at all. It was starting to get really old.
"Who are you?" Jaden asked the stranger, placing his arm protectively in front of Jesse, unsure if the stranger was dangerous or not but not willing to risk his partner's safety. "What do you want?"
"I think I'm the one who should be asking you that." Axel corrected as he examined the group further, not exactly impressed if he was being honest. "You guys aren't exactly from around here, you know."
"And just how do you know that?" Alexis inquired, more than ready to draw her sword at a moment's notice should the need arise.
"Because if you were in the city, you'd all stand out like sore thumbs." Axel scoffed, definitely less and less impressed by the second. But still, it was entirely possible that they could prove useful to him in his mission, so he tolerated their incompetence. "You'd probably be imprisoned on top of that. We don't take kindly to visitors here."
"Well then, why haven't you tried to attack us?" Hassleberry questioned, raising an eyebrow at Axel, starting to feel a little concerned. "What do you want?"
"Simple." Axel answered "You're here to rescue the prince. Right?"
"What makes you think that?" Jesse inquired, repeating Alexis's question as he and the others were starting to get more confused than concerned.
"Because people don't just come to the sixth dimension." Axel replied, stating the pure facts of the matter as he was apt to doing. "Not unless they have a really good reason, or no other choice."
"And if we are?" Jim added, wary of the man just as the others were. "You gonna try and stop us?"
"Not exactly." Axel answered, shaking his head at the ever wary team of misfit warriors. His eyes stern as they had ever seen in a person before, he looked them over again, sensing a strong light within the brunette and the emerald eyed beauty. There was something more to them than the rest, it was strange but somehow he knew he could trust them. No matter how incompetent and dysfunctional they all seemed to be. "Because I'm trying to rescue him, too."
"You are?" Jesse asked, wrapping his arms around Jaden's again, he peeked forwards towards Axel, not at all expecting him to say something like that. "But why? If you're from this dimension, then shouldn't you be happy he's Viper's prisoner?"
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Axel chuckled, turning his back on the merry band. "But that's where you're wrong."
"Well then what's your deal? Got some kind of problem with Viper or something?" Alexis interrogated, more or less demanding an answer from the mysterious man since he didn't seem to be too fond of answering their questions directly in a timely manner, and time wasn't exactly something they had too much of.
"You could say that." Axel chuckled under his breath, turning just slightly to look back at the blonde beauty, a deep frown plastered on his face at even just the thought of that villainous man. "But whatever. If you people really want to get that runt of a prince back, you'd better come with me. Since it seems you all have hopelessly terrible senses of direction."
"Well why don't you try navigating through the middle of nowhere in a dimension you've never even seen before!" Chazz fumed, terribly insulted by Axel's insinuation, especially since he'd taken enough flack from the others about their location already.
"Too bad I've seen 'em all, then." Axel chuckled at Chazz's outburst, taking a small amount of joy in pissing the young warrior off in all honesty.
"Why would you help us?" Jaden questioned, very confused as to what his reasoning was. But also deep down, he could feel that Axel carried a guilt within himself. And an uncertainty about something he had done that wasn't sitting right with him. "Why do you care what happens to Sy, anyway?"
Standing there in silence for a moment, everyone could feel the tension in the air around them, no one daring to speak and break the thick wall of silence between them. The mere moments seemed to stretch for hours on end, maybe even longer. No one dared hardly move until Axel spoke again.
"Because I was the one who kidnapped him in the first place."
The entire group froze as the words reached them, they could hardly believe what he had said. There they were, in the middle of trying to find and rescue their dear princely friend, and yet also, there in front of them was the little prince's kidnapper himself. Had they deigned it necessary they'd've all attacked him at once, or turned him over to the dimensional council to answer for such a serious crime. But the only thing they could think of was how strange the whole situation was. This was the man who was sent by Viper to abduct Syrus, breaking into his castle and absconding with him before anything could be done to stop it. But there he was telling them that now he was trying to save the young, defenseless prince. It really didn't make any sense to them, and they were more confused than they were shocked oddly enough.
"Y-You what?" Bastion managed to choke out, probably more shocked than the rest of them were. The Brit just couldn't seem to get past the whole 'kidnapping royalty' part of the story, despite the fact they had already been told that he was trying to rescue the poor lad.
"Yeah, I did." Axel admitted, turning a deep glare the Brit's way, clenching his fists tightly as the uncertainty he held within himself began to creep up on him once again. "But now that's all past. Now if you or his majesty ever wanna see the prince again, I'm gonna be your best shot."
"But why?" Jim asked, taking a step closer to the ever more mysterious man, his perpetually equipped lab coat fluttering in the growing breeze around them. His only eye narrowing as he searched for an answer. "If you really were the one who took the prince, then why would you just up and decide to rescue him? Why betray your own master?"
"Because he's not my master anymore." Axel growled, an anger seeping through his words. Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it, whatever had happened to change his mind. "He turned on me. So now I'm turning on him. Good enough for you?"
"For now." Jim nodded, his calm aura gently calming the growling Shirley, having had herself convinced the strange man was a threat to her precious Jim. "But you'd better not think we won't ask you to explain yourself another time."
"Then ask me again later."
"Well, whatever your reason is, if you wanna help Syrus, then I'm willing to trust you." Jaden said. Placing his free hand on Jesse's as the bluenette held his other arm, Jaden nodded to Axel, feeling within his heart that the man's intentions were good, as mysterious as they were. "As long as you can actually help us."
"Well, that depends on whether or not we can find the secret tunnel into the fortress's dungeon." Axel explained, honestly glad that at least one of them was willing to give him the time of day without questioning his every word now. He was starting to grow rather weary of that.
"Secret tunnel?" Hassleberry asked, his confused expression not having changed or left his face since the conversation began. Jim had taken him through a similar kind of thing when he broke him out of the military testing facility back home, so he was at least familiar with the concept.
"That's right."
"Well it sounds to me like you don't actually know where it is?" Chazz observed, crossing his arms as he shot an unenthused glance Axel's way. Not entirely fond of the idea of trusting the guy like Jaden of course was.
"No, I don't." Axel answered plainly, not at all about to waste time skirting around the accusation. It wouldn't do anyone any good. "That's why I'm looking for it, genius."
"I beg your pardon, but are you certain it even can be found?" Bastion inquired, ever worried about the minutiae of the situation, and of course focusing on the worst case scenario.
"Well now that's just it, isn't it?" Axel scoffed at the acolyte, unamused by his continuation of the annoying questions. "That's what I've been trying to find out."
"Kuri kuri!"
"Huh?" Jaden asked quietly, turning to one side as the little spirit appeared by his side, bobbing up and down before floating into his face in an attempt to get the brunette's attention. Needless to say he was successful. "What's up, Kuriboh? Wanna help us look?"
"The hell is he talking to?" Axel questioned, raising an eyebrow at the strange brunette.
"Kuri!"
"You can? Well then, lead the way!" Jaden exclaimed eagerly. Bobbing happily, the small spirit sped off, doing his best to lead his master to find the way forward. Releasing his arm from Jesse's hold, Jaden wrapped his hand tighter around Jesse's, beckoning the others to follow as he ran forward, following Winged Kuriboh as closely as possible, pulling dear Jesse along with him. "C'mon, guys! Kuriboh thinks he can find that tunnel!"
"Uh, what?" Axel questioned, growing more confused by the second. Placing a hand on Axel's shoulder, Jim chuckled quietly to himself.
"I haven't known these kids too long myself, but I figure it's best to just go along with this stuff." Chuckling still, Jim took off as well as the others followed behind Jaden, leaving Axel to grow even more confused than he already was. He shows up and spills that he wants to rescue the little prince like they do, and almost immediately the strange kid just starts talking to the air and says he can find the secret tunnel?
"Seems a little too convenient if you ask me." Scoffing under his breath, Axel quickly pursued the ragtag group of morons. Whether he liked it or not, deciding to reveal himself to them more or less sealed his fate, he was going to have to help them now. But as strange as it all seemed to be, he could tell that in the end, he had made the right choice. Catching up to them in hardly a moment, he followed them as they themselves followed Jaden further through the woods. After what was probably only about ten minutes despite feeling like an hour, Jaden finally came to a stop before a large boulder haphazardly placed against the side of what looked to be a small cliff as if it had fallen from the level above. Looking around and seeing nothing, Jaden turned to Winged Kuriboh as the others caught their breath behind him.
"Are you sure there's something here, Kuriboh?" The brunette asked, further examining the area yet still finding next to nothing there.
"Kuri!"
"He seems pretty sure to me, Jay." Jesse said, stepping up to Jaden's side, he examined the scene as well, though not having any more luck finding something of interest than Jaden did. Stepping up to examine the scene as well, Alexis snooped around the cliff side, knocking her knuckles against the natural wall, she tried to see if she could detect a difference in the sound, like if there was a hollow section of the cliff somehow. Tuning out the bickering and speculating going on behind her she focused on her search, moving along the wall until she was beside the large, fallen boulder. Stopping in her tracks, she watched as her hair started to flutter, as if a breeze was blowing into her. But there was no breeze around them at that time.
"Hey guys!" She called, the various forms of chatter ceasing as she called for their attention. "I can feel a breeze coming from the cliff. I think there's something behind this boulder."
"Well that's one place to hide something." Chazz observed, honestly surprised none of them seemed to think of that before. Or if they did, they just didn't say anything about it. To be honest, he himself didn't pay it too much mind, so it was a little less surprising than he thought.
"Well then, we'd best find a way to move it!" Bastion asserted, taking a step forward to investigate the scene himself. Putting his gloved hand up to the edge between the boulder and the cliff face, he felt the weak breeze Alexis had discovered. "But I don't see how it can be done by our own devices…"
"You just let me handle that, son." Hassleberry chimed in, placing a strong hand on Bastion's shoulder, beckoning the others to stay out of the way. "Only one here strong enough to move the thing is me."
"Are you certain?" Bastion questioned. He was aware that Hassleberry wasn't any ordinary human being, in fact aside from Axel they were all in the know concerning that fact. But as well, they had never been witness to the boy's inhuman strength before.
"Sure am." Hassleberry nodded back in complete confidence. As the others backed away a short distance, Hassleberry approached the boulder, taking a deep breath he pushed against it with all of his might. Within seconds, they could see the large rock start to inch out of the way, the task seeming to hardly place any strain on the muscular child.
"Well I'll be damned." Axel marveled as the tunnel's entrance slowly appeared behind the moving boulder, for once impressed by something someone besides himself had done. "No one's been able to find this thing for a hundred years."
"Well lucky for you, Jaden's got a knack for making things convenient it seems." Alexis chuckled, thinking back on the time she had spent with the dumb brunette. It was a time she knew she would look back fondly on when all was said and done.
"There." Hassleberry panted, unaffected by the task on the outside, but he could feel his strength wavering for a moment within him. It seemed the small piece Yubel had managed to steal from him was going to make a difference after all. "It's open. Now let's get movin'!"
"Right." Jaden nodded, clenching his fist at the thought of Syrus being held prisoner any longer. "Sy needs us."