Sorry this took too long. This was harder than I thought it would be and work and life kept getting in the way. Also, I want to thank Stone-Man85 for help with one scene and with proof reading this. Read and enjoy.
Chapter 9 Truth and Answers; Mastermind Revealed
Another Part of the Castle
It was a dark room with only a few beams of light shining through the holes in the ceiling. Cobwebs filled every corner of the room. The air was stale as the sound of chains slowly dangling from the walls gave the room the feeling of hopelessness for those who were imprisoned or lost in the room. The walls were made of stone while the floor was covered with bones from creatures of all shapes and sizes adding to the feeling of dread in the room.
Suddenly, a brick began to vibrate a bit as muffled voices were heard behind the stone. Suddenly, the brick began to slowly shuffle from the other stones. After a few minutes, the stone finally fell, and landed with a loud thump. Dust rose up from the ground as the voices became clear.
"Now WHERE ARE WE!?"
Out of the hole in the wall came Iago, Sebastian riding on the bird's head, and Dax carrying Eric's bag as best he could despite the size difference. "Cold, dark, empty," Dax began to say as he looked around, "Looks like a dungeon. A really, really big one."
"Oh mon, this place is bigger than the palace," Sebastian said as he looked around from Iago's head, "It will take hours or even days to find anyone in here!"
After Eric had been taken by captive by the giant and Pacifica, Iago, Dax, and Sebastian who were hidden in Eric's bag the whole time followed after him without being noticed. Once they arrived at the castle, they entered a hole on the side to avoid being seen by other giants and had been wondering the caves until they reached a dead end.
"It will take ten times that long to search the entire castle," Iago said as he flew around the room looking for anything valuable, "Not a sign of life or even a pinch of gold in sight! What a waste of my time on a stupid legend!" Iago then landed as he marched around pulling feathers out of himself out of anger, "Look at this. Look at this. I'm so ticked off that I'm molting!"
Dax looked away with an evil smile, "Either that, or it just means you're ready to mate," Dax joked to himself.
Sebastian looked at Iago with deadpanned looks at the parrot's attempt to show his frustration. "You're pulling the feathers out yourself mon," Sebastian said as he simply hung on for the ride, "Plus we here to look for Ariel, Arista, and Eric," he said as he hung his head down to give Iago a stern look, "Not look for gold!"
"Hey, I want to save the teens too along with having to be the bad news bird for an angry king of the seas," Iago replied back as he walked around looking for anything valuable, "I just consider the gold a bonus. If there was ANY HERE!" After he yelled out in frustration, he kicked a rock nearby out of frustration, only to begin hopping on one foot as he held the other in pain from the impact.
"If you're finished Iago," Dax said as he looked above him for signs of an exit, "We need to find a way out of here and the teens. There's got to be a way out of here."
"Yeah, yeah," the parrot shot back as he continued to hold his foot in pain. Then he looked at the medium sized stone with a glare as he grabbed the sides of it, "No rock is going to get the better of this bird," he exclaimed as he began to push it over.
"We don't have time for dis Iago," Sebastian told him, "Besides, there no way you'll push that over!"
With a look of frustration on his face, Iago used all the strength his bird body had to accomplish his task, "You'd be surprised what a little anger and determination... Will. GET YOU!" With a final push, Iago successfully pushed the stone over. "HA! What do you think of that crusta- cian..."
As soon as the stone was turned over, a blinding light shined in the room blinding all three creatures as they covered their eyes. As soon as Iago's eyes adjusted to the light, he opened them slightly, only to go bug eyed at what he saw along with Sebastian and Dax. The shining stone sparkled in the faint light revealing what it really was... A big hunk of pure, 24 karat gold.
"Gold... Gold. GOLD," Iago weakly said before the realization sunk in and he yelled out as thought he was the happiest bird alive. "I'M RICH! I'M WEALTHY," Iago yelled out as he flew all around it with Sebastian hanging on to dear life. Iago then landed on the gold and hugged it, "I'M COMFORTABLE WELL OFF! I'M THE RICHEST BIRD ALIVE," he yelled in joy as he rolled all over his prize.
Dax and Sebastian who was thrown off when Iago flew like a maniac thanks to gold fever, was now sitting on top of Eric's bag as they watched Iago continue to cuddle his new riches. "I can't believe him! We're in the middle of a giant filled castle, we have no idea where we are, and all he can think about is a big piece of gold," Sebastian said with a glare, "Right Dax?"
"So many clams..."
Sebastian looked to see Dax in a daze as drool oozed from the side of his mouth, "I could buy so many clams with that egg," Dax said as he moaned in delight as the thought of a truck dumping clams at his feet. His dream came to an end when a surge of pain went through him. "OOWWW," he yelled out as he looked at the source of the pain. It was Sebastian giving him a glare and had Dax's tail in his claws. "Uhh, sorry," Dax said getting the message as he stroked his tail, "Just out of curiosity Iago," Dax said as he looked at Iago, "but how do you plan to- to- to-"
"I'll figure something else," Iago said as he gave the two a glare, "But I don't plan to leave my ticket to easy street here to gather dust forever!" Iago then noticed that Dax and Sebastian were acting strange. Dax was staring in fear as he stood still while Sebastian had a similar expression as he hid behind Dax's tail shaking. "What the heck are you two looking at," Iago said in an annoyed tone as he turned around, "You two look like you've seen a- a- a- a-"
Iago began to turn white at the sight before him. There standing over him was a tall shadowed figure staring at him. The shadow stood twelve feet high leaving the three sidekicks feeling very small at the moment.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GIAAAANT," Iago exclaimed as he began to push the egg to safety, "No way I'm letting some human eating caveman take my GOLD!"
Dax and Sebastian on the other hand, did not share Iago's bravery or love of gold as they made a break for it. Due to the way they came in being out of reach, the two jumped behind some nearby rubble to avoid detection. As Dax looked around the corner, he saw Iago continuing to save his gold. "Iago, forget the egg and hide somewhere," Dax yelled out.
"Forget it! I'm not letting my new nest egg be crushed by a giant," Iago yelled out as he continued to push the egg away.
Just then, Iago felt a nudging on the back of his head. "What the," he asked as he and the others look to see something that left them shocked. In the beams of light, the shadowed creature was revealed to be a gosling with golden yellow feathers, brown eyes, and long eyelashes. It kept moving its head side to side looking at the three sidekicks looking confused by the gosling.
"Hehehe, I knew we weren't in real danger," Iago said, "Who's afraid of a baby bird, right guys?"
"What's a baby doing here," Sebastian asked not believing it, "This would be the last place an infant should be!"
Suddenly, the chick began to nuzzle next to Iago, "Hey! Knock it off," Iago exclaimed not liking the attention, "I'm not a babysitter!" This only caused the chick to rub more against the parrot.
Dax and Sebastian laughed at the sight of Iago being smothered by the baby eyed chick, "It looks like it likes you Iago," Dax said between laughs, "Hey, maybe you could start a babysitting service!" As Dax and Sebastian continued to laugh, Iago looked at them with an annoyed face, only to go wide eyed.
"Yeah mon," Sebastian joined in as a large shadow loomed over the two laughing critters, "Then you'd have all the money you'd want. As long as you worked for it!"
"Meeeh, go take a swim in a tolet bowl, both of ya," Iago groaned.
But then something happened, no one ever suspected. The little Gosling stepped back for a moment, shaking as its left eye twitched. It groaned uncomfortably, until... a Golden Egg shot out of her pooper.
All three furry sidekicks blinked at that, as Sebastian looked to Dax, as he asked, "You just saw dat little Goose-ing lay a golden egg, right?"
"Yes," Dax nodded.
"Good bird," Iago patted the bird's head. "This is it guys," Iago exclaimed as he flew all over the egg, "This is the stash I was expecting when I came up here! Our ticket to easy street back home boys!" Iago began to imagine his life in Port Royal with his riches. A throne room filled with gold, rows of the finest and juiciest fruit money could buy, him scratching his back with a golden back scratcher, and the world's softest and most comfortable pillow.
"A lot of good all that gold is going to do here," Sebastian pointed out to the day dreaming bird, "We need to get out of this-"
"Hurry up! We need to get ready for tomorrow!"
The four froze as soon as they heard the thunderous voices and the vibrations of large footsteps beneath their feet.
"Okay, time to go," Dax cried as he looked around, "Ditch the gold unless you'd rather end up a snake!"
"Sure," Iago exclaimed as he forgot all about the gold egg he found while the chick followed after him, "Who needs one egg when I have an infinite supply of them right here," he said while patting the chick's head.
"A lot of good dat will do if we can't get out of here," Sebastian yelled out in panic as he looked around for anything to hide in, "There's got to be-"
Suddenly, the chick began to peck at a large stone as if it was trying to move it out of the way. "I think my investment is on to something boys," Iago said as he started to push the stone. Dax and Sebastian joined in on the four and finally pushed the stone away revealing a large hole.
"Oh no. There's no way I'm going down there," Sebastian said, "We don't know what's down there! It could be something worse than what's in here!" The next thing Sebastian knew, he could feel a powerful grip around him.
It was Dax who holding Sebastian, "I'll take what's down there over what's in here," he said as he jumped down. Both of their screams echoed through the dark hole. Soon, Iago's was joined as he and the chick entered the hole.
What they failed to notice though was a dark shadow rising from the side of the room. It looked around before releasing a cry of emotional pain. It then moved towards the hole and looked down hole with rage in its eye.
After a few minutes, the four animals flew out of the hole and ended up in a pile. "Well, we ditched that problem," Dax painfully said as he laid on the bottom of the pile, "But where are we now?"
The three looked as they saw they were in a long corridor. It was filled with knocks and crannies from side to side and cobwebs where ever there was space for it.
"Nowhere to go but forward mon," Sebastian said after fighting his way free of Dax's grip.
"Hold on guys! My Nest Egg doesn't want to go," Iago said as he tried to lead it forward, "Come on, follow Uncle Iago." The Chick however backed away in fear, as if it knew something bad was down.
"I don't know about your Nest Egg Mon," Sebastian said as he started crawling into the cave, "But I need to find the King's daughters if I want to stay in one piece."
"I'm with Sebastian on that," Dax said as he followed after him, "Besides... No way I'm eating dirt instead of clams for the rest of my life in here."
Iago watched as the two went into the darkness of the cave and looked at the scared chick. He flew in front of the chick, "Okay, I get it. You're scared of whatever is in there," Iago says, "Heck! I didn't want to come here. But we can both agree the sooner we get out, the sooner we'll be safe right?"
The chick looked at Iago, moved its head to see the cave, and back to Iago. It nodded nervously showing it was still scared. "Good Nest Egg," Iago said as he led the chick after the other animals in the shadows of the cave.
As the four walked forward, the feeling of the cave being endless became more noticeable to them as every corner looked the same to them. "Where the heck is the ending to this hole," Iago exclaimed as they continued, "You'd think whoever built this cave would've have put a signpost or something!"
"What I want to know is, who built this cave in the first place," Dax said as he looked at the dark ceiling, "There's no way the Giants could've-"
Before anyone could answer, they heard the sounds of something shaking and breaking. The sounds became louder as though the source was coming closer. All four stood still as statues until Dax worked up the nerve to look behind him.
"Well? What is it mon," Sebastian asked Dax. He didn't respond though as he turned around with a face as pale as a ghost, "What mon? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Dax gulped as he took a deep breath, "You two ever seen that movie starring Harrison Ford where he ran down a cave just like this," Dax asked the two of them.
The Chick didn't respond but Iago and Sebastian shook their heads. "I don't even know who that is mon," Sebastian said looking completely confused.
"We're about to relive one of his most famous scenes," Dax said as the shaking sound grew louder.
"Is that a bad thing," Iago asked now sure how to feel about that but could feel the fear in Dax's voice.
"Only if you're the stunt double and you can't run fast enough," Dax replied, "Which is what we should do NOW!" Then he started to run as fast as he could with the others left behind. They turned to see the source of Dax's fear and became just as white with fear.
There above them, hanging from the celling by spider threads, was a large and heavy round stone. The shaking sound was causing the threads to break making the stone come closer and closer to the ground.
"Time to run like the otter said," Iago said as he grabbed Sebastian.
"Hey! What are you doing you crazy bird," the crab exclaimed as he was forced to stick his claws out.
"Giving the Nest Egg some motivation," Iago said as he stuck Sebastian claws into the back of the Chick. It squealed in pain as it started to run as Iago threw Sebastian onto the Chick as he flew after them.
"Oh no! Not this again," Sebastian yelled in despair as he was forced to hang on for dear life again. With every step the chick made, the poor crab was swung side to side. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and followed by the sound of something rolling faster and faster. Sebastian looked back to see that it was the boulder and it was getting closer.
After a minute, the three caught up with Dax who was still running for dear life. "Did this Ford person manage to out run the boulder," Sebastian asked Dax.
"Sure he did! But that was a movie and this is real life," Dax yelled as they kept running with the boulder picking up speed, "We don't have plot armor like in stories and movies!"
As the four jumped through a set of stalagmites and stalactites, the boulder slammed into the sharp stones and came to a halt. The Dax, the Chick, and Iago began to catch their breath from all the running and flying they did. "Well... That's now how it ended in the film," Dax said as he stood with his back against the boulder, "But this works too," he said with a relived look on his face.
Suddenly, the boulder exploded sending fragments of stone all over and filled the cave with dirt. The three began to cough as they recovered from the unexpected blast. "That didn't happen in the film," Dax said as he looked at the three, "But we're still good right guys?"
"SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP," Iago exclaimed in horror while the Chick's baby eyes opened wide in fear
"MOTHER OF PEARL," Sebastian yelled as he shook and stared with fear all over his face.
"What's with you guys," Dax asked in confusion. Suddenly, a blob of green slime landed on his shoulder as if answering Dax's question. The otter looked at his shoulder with wide eyes before looking back at his friends and then above him.
There standing over him was a fearsome sight. Eight eyes stared down at him as slime dripped from two large fangs connected to large mandibles. Its body was white with eight legs and a large end section with two spikes sticking out of the end. The creature revealed to be a new born spider let out a hissing sound as it's fangs and two smaller mandibles moved around in anticipation for the sight before it... Nurishment.
Dax looked back down with eyes open wide enough to fall out of the eye sockets, "Spi- Spi- Spi-" Dax said as he tried to spit out what he was saying, "SPI- HAbblub! HIBIJIBIJIBJIB..."
"I believe what you're trying to say is... RRUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN," Sebastian finally exclaimed as the four ran for their legs and wings could carry them. The spider ran after them past the remains of the stone which had been its egg down the seemingly endless cave.
Meanwhile
"This is bad. This is so very bad!"
After hearing Ursula's speech, Jack, Chamo, and Arista were moving through the tunnels again while following the giant that took Ariel and Eric. Light shined down through the holes in the ceiling slightly illuminating the cave. As they moved through the tunnel, Chamo was panicking at this new turn of events as he sat on Jack's shoulders.
"Isn't fighting giants the activity you two do every day," Arista asked with confusion at their reactions, and concern for her sister's life in her voice, "The fact that you're getting upset isn't making me feel any better about this rescue."
Chamo turned to look at Arista with a panicked expression of his own. "Upset?! Upset is finding out your folks threw out your favorite collection to make room for books on dental hygiene," he ranted as he paced along Jack's shoulders, "Upset is finding out your favorite cigar brand has been replaced with an inferior one that's double the price! This isn't upset kid, this is panic! We're practically at the door step of Giant War II!"
A silence filled the cavern after Chamo's freak out as the group stood still as the Ermine continued to pace. He then looked at Jack who had a calm expression despite their situation, "And how are you so calm about this?!"
Jack looked at Chamo with a calm expression, then at Arista, and took a deep breath, "First off, I want to apologize for my friend here. We do fight giants but we never thought a beanstalk would actually be a factor in this," he told Arista in a calm voice, "Which I would actually like to ask you about later. I apologize again for not asking sooner." He turned to look at Chamo, "Second, I admit. This beanstalk is a new issue, but panicking won't get us, Arista's sister, and her friend out of here. So, I'll panic after we're all safe." He then knelt down, picked up a rock, and looked over it before smelling it.
Arista just stared for a moment as she took that all in, 'It's so hard to tell whether he has his head on straight or not,' she thought as she watched him. "I agree. We should find Ariel and her friend and leave before we're discovered," she responded as she raised an eyebrow as Jack licked the rock.
"Right, well we're on the right path," Jack said as he stood up and started down the cave again, "They most assuredly went this way."
After a few minutes of walking, the three emerged from a medium sized crack in the wall. As they emerged from the cave, Arista was left speechless as the sight before her. They were now outside again as she could see bits of the blue skies in the distance, but above her was the underside of the land. Large towers of stone stood up supporting the castle. The towers were uneven stones with cells scattered all over the tower. Beyond the stone towers were more patches of land connected to each other by smaller mountain roads. Some covered with greenery, others were grey and exposed. On one was a small waterfall that fell towards the ocean clouds below. Behind the explorers were more cells with piles of decaying human bones next to each cell and to the side was a stone staircase with brown roots holding it in place.
Arista backed away in fear with her back against the wall as she continued to look down. "You all right," Jack asked her, "You can easily become overwhelmed and dizzy the first time you look down a drop like this."
Arista looked at the calm Jack and nervously nodded, "Yes! It's just... I'm not used to the feeling of quickly falling down and going up like before in the forest. What do you call that feeling," she asked trying to sound unnerved.
"Gravity, ma'am" Chamo answered as Jack made his way along the stone path like this was nothing, "It's the force that weighs everything down to Earth."
"Yes... That," Arista replied as she nervously moved against the wall with her back to it, "In the ocean, you can go up and down and not feel like we're being dragged down like that."
"Sounds great for exploring high and low places," Jack replied, "Much easier than worrying about avalanches and weak branches."
"Jacky, all that climbing and jumping experience is what keeps you in shape," Chamo said reminding his partner, "Even though I do agree that it would mean less slamming into trees." This earned a laugh from Jack and a slight giggle from Arista as she continued.
As they moved down the along the path outside, Jack discreetly stole glances at Arista as a thought ran through his mind. "So... You are... Princess," he finally said even though he was afraid he was intruding on her personal business.
"Yes. I'm the fifth oldest of seven daughters," Arista answered with a slight bit of proudness but mostly overshadowed by the fear of her situation. Then she looked at him a little insulted by the question, "Is that a problem?"
"No, no. Not at all," Jack said quickly trying to not sound like he was insulting her, "I just didn't think the descendants of King Neptune would be here at the same time as a new beanstalk." He chuckled a bit from the cosmic coincidence, "I honestly never thought it would happen."
"I actually had forgotten all about this place until a few days ago," Arista admitted.
"Well, I for one could tell that she was a princess," Chamo admitted as he looked ahead, "She has an air to her fitting of royalty." Then he put his head next to Jack's ear, "Plus she has the body type matching that of a princess. Either with her tail or legs," he whispered while raising his eyebrows and giving a sleazy smile. Then he returned to normal, "There's something that's bothering me about all this though," he said while looking at Arista, "How did-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAHAAAHHHHHAAAHHH!"
"I HAVE TOO MANY RICH DREAMS TO DIE HERE!"
Suddenly, the sounds of screams of terror filled the air causing the three to turn in the direction of the voices. The feeling of the ground vibrating was heard and felt as the voices grew louder. From out of the hole, came Dax, the gooseling, and Iago and Sebastian riding the baby goose flying out of the hole in a panic and fell onto the floor.
"Chamo," Jack spoke up with a stunned expression on his face as he noticed the baby goose the most of the new faces, "I might be seeing things, which is quite possible considering everything I've been through, but is that what I think it is?"
"Indeed it is," Chamo said in equal surprise, "A golden gosling... I thought the giants ate them all!"
"Sebastian," Arista exclaimed as she saw the crab breathing extremely hard, "What are you doin-"
Before Arista could get an answer, the spider's two front legs emerged from the hole as it pulled itself up revealing its head. It released a roar that caused everyone to scream in fear again as more venom dripped from its fangs.
Arista had never seen a creature like this before. One with so many eyes, fangs longer than shark teeth, and long mandibles moving around looking for food. On instinct, she grabbed onto the closest thing available, which turned out to be Jack as she held his arm tightly. "What- What is that thing," she asked in horror as she looked to Jack for answer. Jack however was standing and staring at the spider as though seeing it was a common occurrence. "Please tell me this isn't the one thing that you're afraid of fighting," she asked as she shook his arm hoping to snap him out of it.
"No ma'am," he said as pulled out a green ball, "Just unexpected," he finished as he flung the ball and it flew at the spider. The moment it collided with the spider, the ball exploded in a burst of red smoke that covered the spider's face.
As soon as the smoke cleared, everyone saw the spider was now perfectly still as it stared at them. Suddenly, the legs began to rise up, and the spider fell back down the hole it came out. A loud slam was heard and the ground shook indicating that it landed on the ground. Sebastian, Iago, Dax, and the Gosling looked down the hole to see the spider had curled into a ball.
"Phew! It's times like this I almost miss being a statue in Tia's home," Dax said gasping for air.
As Jack, Arista, and Chamo looked at the four tired critters, all three were caught by surprise for different reasons by the group. "Well, well, well," Chamo said as he jumped off Jack's shoulders, "If it isn't Guardian Dax."
Dax stopped breathing as soon as he heard that familiar voice and looked to see Chamo with a glare on his face. "Chamo," Dax declared as he jumped up and shot his own glare at the ermine, "So you're out and about again, are you," Dax continued as he marched forward.
"I could say the same thing about you," Chamo said as he marched towards Dax as well, "I see Tia finally decided to let you out again."
The two stood face to face still glaring at each other. To Jack and Arista, the two looked like they were ready to deck each other over something in the past. The two mammals then slammed their hands together and pulled each other into a quick hug as they laughed much to the teens' surprise, "Ah, you clam obsessed otter," Chamo said with a smile on his face, "Good to see you!"
"Same here. I see you're still smoking those cheap cigars," Dax shot back, "You never did have good taste."
"Says the guy who eats clams day in and day out," Chamo replied, "Ever heard of diversity in your diet?"
"Funny. So, what are you doing up here in Giant's Land" Dax asked, "Last I heard, you were hanging out enjoying the life of royalty with your previous master until he's passing."
"Well things got kind of boring and I soon found myself up here of all places," Chamo replied, "I take it the boy in the food court that was captured is your new master?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Before Dax could continue, everyone heard Sebastian yell out in horror at the sight before him. "Not again! Another one that traded her voice for legs," the crab yelled out in horror as he pointed out Arista's legs.
Arista gained a deadpanned expression as she watched the crab's mental break down, "Sebastian, I didn't-"
"I'll have to translate for her like Ariel, give her love tips, and come up with a new song to set the mood," Sebastian continued not hearing Arista's voice, "If the king finds out about this, he'll have my head for-"
SLAP!
"Snap out of it crab," Iago said after giving Sebastian a good slap in the face to calm down, "She can still talk!"
"I needed, thanks," Sebastian said before receiving another slap from the bird from the other side, "I needed that too." This earned another punch from Iago who smiled in delight at this, "You're pushing you luck IAGO," Sebastian sternly told the bird. He then turned his attention back to Arista, "Your highness, I'm glad you are all right."
"Yes I am. For the most part. Thanks to Jack and Chamo," Arista who was glad to see a familiar face said as she picked up Sebastian, "Aside from our current predicament... Have you seen Ariel and E- Her friend?"
"No. We've been going through the caves of this castle ever since that Pacifica girl made the giant deliver her and Eric to the castle," Sebastian replied as he shivered from the memory of the spider from before, "That thing made Davy Jones and his crew almost look-!"
"GIANTS," Iago exclaimed in horror as he pointed behind him. Everyone turned to see what he was pointing to. In the cell behind the group, a giant sat right next to the bars while the rest of the room was dark. He sat with his arms and head resting on his knees looking completely depressed. "Don't eat me! I'm too close to being rich to die," Iago exclaimed in fear.
While most of the animals backed away on instinct, Arista and Jack stood still as they looked up at the giant. It just sat there not giving the group any notice what so ever. The princess looked at the giant looking completely sad and could feel the sadness it was giving off. It was almost as if all the joy and life from this giant was gone leaving it an empty shell. "Jack... This giant... It's not different the others," Arista pointed out almost on the verge of becoming depressed as well
"No, he's not," Jack said looking serious, "He was like the BFG once. Friendly, fun, and free. Now he and the others have lost their inner joy thanks to Fallon and become depressed and sad in and out."
"Hang on there," Iago exclaimed as he flew up in Jack's face, "You're saying there's more than one set giants on these floating rocks!? The legend only spoke of the man eating, gold stealing, giants that invaded the Earth thousands of years ago!"
"Let us GO!"
Before Jack could reply, the sound of a familiar voice echoing in the canyon was heard by the group. "Everyone down," Jack ordered as they all hid as best they could. Across the canyon was the giant Fallon had spoken too before carrying Ariel's cage and a still paralyzed Eric in his other hand. He walked along the pathway past the cells as he banged Ariel's cage against them.
"Ariel! Oh, my nerves are almost as shot as when Ariel first had legs," Sebastian exclaimed seeing the other princess and her future husband in the hands of a man eating giant.
"No need to fear Sebastian," Dax said from his hiding spot, "We just follow that giant to the dungeon and we'll be able to break Ariel and Eric out like that," he said as he snapped his fingers.
"There's just one problem with that idea buddy," Chamo said with a pale look on his face as he shook his head, "We're already in the dungeons and the giant just went into that room!"
"We have to move, fast," Jack ordered as the others got up quickly.
"Jack, what's wrong," Arista asked not liking the sound of either experienced explorers of the land, "Where are they going!?"
"The one place in Giants Land you never want to end up at," Jack said with a serious expression, "They're heading for-"
"The bathroom," Iago guessed, "I bet that room stinks worse than the manure piles in Agrabah."
"Nope, worse," Chamo said, "They're not heading for the-"
Kitchen
The Kitchen was small compared to other kitchens. It was your standard kitchen complete with shelves filled with spices, food, and bowls and plates in the corner. There was a fireplace a little away from the shelves that also doubled as an oven with a staircase behind it. On the other side was a table with knives and bowls leaning next to the wall. Next to the wall where the table was sat a pot full of hearts overflowing from the top with blood stains going down the container. The room was similar to the dungeon, made of uneven stones, dark, and gave off the same hopeless feeling.
The giant placed Ariel's cage on one side of the counter and toss the still paralyzed Eric onto a pile of moist batter. Then the giant went on to pick his nose and eat the snot he pulled out, much to the silent disgust of Ariel and Eric. Then the Giant rolled the dough Eric was in into a roll and moved him onto a steel pan near Ariel. After that, the giant walked over to the shelves with his back turned from the prisoners.
Ariel quietly made her way towards the door of her cage without getting the giant's attention. 'Come on. Come on,' she thought as she attempted to pull the bolt that was keeping the door locked. However, the bolt was too heavy for her due to her fatigue from not eating or sleeping recently and the bolt being too large. 'Moving heavy things was a lot easier in the ocean,' she thought to herself as she started to look around, 'If only there was enough space to water bend. Than I could free myself and save Eric.'
Meanwhile, up in the rafters, Jack, Arista, and the others stared down at the situation before them. 'It's just how I always imagined it after reading the story,' Arista thought as she remembered the nightmares from her childhood of being eaten while by the giants. "Jack, we have to do something," Arista said on the verge of panicking as she looked at Jack, "Please!"
"Never fear ma'am," Jack told her, "We just have to figure out how to do this without putting the captives in danger."
"Especially since you're down to your last sleep bomb," Chamo mentioned as he kept his sights on Ariel or rather, her assets while Dax and Iago did their best to keep the gosling quiet and calm.
Jack stared down like a hawk watching its prey and waiting for the right time to strike. 'Like Chamo said, I have one sleeping spore bomb left,' Jack thought to himself, 'Which would be easy but the risk of the giant falling on the captives and make enough noise to get the other giants' attention.' He continued to watch giant at the shelves and beams he and the others were standing on. "You thinking what I'm thinking partner" Jack asked snapping Chamo out of his intense stare as he looked at Jack giving him a sly look.
"Oh, come on! You really think he'll for that again," Chamo asked knowing what Jack was talking about from his expression alone, "You use that trick once a week."
"It works though, so why change it? Besides, we don't have a lot to time to come up with a brand new one," Jack said as he handed Chamo his blade.
Chamo looked at the blade and groaned in defeat, "Got it partner," Chamo said getting the message as he took the blade.
"Can one of you explain what you're going on about," Sebastian asked from his place on Arista's shoulder, "None of us are really familiar with your plans mon."
"You'll see," Chamo said as he quickly grabbed Sebastian, "Now come on. I'll need a hand or a claw for this part."
"HEY," the crab exclaimed as he suddenly found himself an unwilling volunteer for the operation.
"Jack!? What is he doing," Arista asked Jack in a silent but alarmed tone of voice, "What are you planning to do?"
"A rescue mission with a hint of comedy ma'am," Jack said as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a blue sack similar to the ones he used before, a bottle of water, and a long rope. He tied one end of the rope around the top of the bag, opened the top just a big, and put in a few drops of water into the sack.
"Those two are about to be made into a meal and your putting water into a sack," Iago asked in a sarcastic tone of voice as Jack tied the top of the sack, "Great plan pal! Maybe next you'll add some seasoning to the giant's meal!"
Jack jumped up and back away, "Stand back. The water takes effect very quickly," Jack told the others. Suddenly, the sack which was about the size of a rubber ball expanded to the size of a quarter of the giant's head with the sides hanging down the sides of the beam they were standing on.
Arista and the others stared in surprise of the bag suddenly growing, "What kind of water was that?!"
"Rain water. It's the pollen and the dirt that made the bag expand," Jack said as he tied the other end of the rope around his waist, "Okay, when I give the signal, push the bag down so that's it's dangling please. And whatever you do... Don't get the giant's attention."
Arista looked at the bag and back at Jack, "Wait, what signal," she asked not sure what Jack was doing, "And what will you be-" She went wide eyed in shock as Jack moved quickly but carefully across the beam as the rope traveled with him. "What is he thinking," Arista asked in alarm at the sight of Jack heading towards the table filled with deadly knives.
Just then, the giant turned around with his hands full, and headed for the table. Arista stopped and hid behind the sack waiting for Jack's signal. At the table, the giant placed the different herbs and bottles in his hands, and glared at Ariel to remind her that he was watching her. Ariel stayed in the middle of the cage looking intimidated, mostly to keep the giant thinking she was beaten as she looked at Eric.
She could see that his head was beginning to shake showing that he was starting to break free of the spell Ursula hit him with earlier. Near him, she saw two pigs wrapped in the same batter that he was. They moved their heads back and forth as they squealed.
Ariel was broken away from her stare by the giant slamming his fist on the table. "Don't get any funny ideas, Missy," he said to her in an angry tone, "There's no water for you to dance with in here. A precaution we have been using since the olden days!" Ariel backed away in while trying to act strong but knew he was right as the fear increased inside of her.
As the giant glared at Ariel, Eric heard the giant's threatening tone against his future wife, and became angry. 'If it wasn't for that spell, Ariel and I would be out of here and he'd be out cold right now,' Eric thought as he did his best to free himself. He could move his hands a bit but that was about it. Suddenly, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. It was Sebastian who was waving his claw at him as he began to cut through the dough with the other. If Eric was able to speak, he would've told him to save Ariel first.
Eric then felt something sharp poking at his hand before he felt a handle forced into his hand. 'A knife? But- Who,' he asked himself as he saw Sebastian disappear from view and then saw the reason why. The Giant had turned his attention back to the boy and was now overshadowing him and the wrapped pigs. The giant than reached over to a cup of toothpicks and pulled three out. He then proceeded to stab one into each of the pigs as they squealed in pain before becoming silent and still. As soon as the giant reached Eric, his eyes and Ariel's stared in horror as the giant stabbed the final pick down. Eric and Ariel shut their eyes tightly as they heard the sound of the pick being stabbed.
Ariel turned away in fear, 'No! Eric! This can't be happening,' she thought in fear and sorrow as tears formed in her eyes, 'This is my fault... If I had listened to Arista and not wondered into the forest, Eric would never have come up here and he'd still be- NOOOO!'
Neither teen dared open their eyes for fear of what they would see. After what felt like an eternity, Eric however opened his to see that the pick actually went between his legs. He mentally sighed and mentally thanked Lady Luck for the save. 'That was close,' he thought to himself as he felt the giant lift the pan he was stuck to up and saw the stove he was heading for. 'Oh geez! Talk about from the frying pan and into the oven,' he thought as he began to use the knife he was given to cut himself free from the batter.
As the giant returned his attention to Ariel who was still heartbroken by her fiancé's supposed death, the giant picked up a knife that was leaning on the wall, took a pile of weeds, and began to chop them up quickly into little bits. He then put the knife down and began to place the shredded weeds into a bowl.
As the giant worked on the meal, Jack who was hiding above, lowered himself down quietly, tied the rope around the handle of the knife, and gave the rope a few tugs. 'So far so good,' he thought to himself as he waited for a response from his tugging, 'Come on Arista. The giant isn't going to work on his-'
Suddenly, the knife with the rope was pulled up into the air along with Jack who was standing on the hilt. As it rose, he saw the sack lower down which was the cause of the knife going up thanks to its weight. As soon as it reached the beam, Jack quickly tied the knife to the beam to keep it in place just as the giant began to fill the bowl with other kinds of food.
"You should consider yourself lucky," the giant told Ariel in an evil tone as Jack moved back down the beam, "You and your friend will be the first beans to be eaten in centuries." Ariel didn't answer as her mind was still racing with her beloved being dead. "The General will enjoy eating you two," the giant finished with an evil grin.
"Oh, I'm sure the General would like it. But I bet he would enjoy his meal more if you didn't make them with your mother's recipe for cooking socks!"
The loud voice and its words were just enough to break Ariel out of mental breakdown and the giant from his gloating. "What was th-," the giant said as he turned around, only to come face first with the sack causing it to explode in his face like a water balloon. Only his face filled with blue pollen causing him to cough for a few minutes as the spores entered his nose and mouth.
Suddenly, the giant's eyes began to shutter until he finally yawned and collapses forward towards the stove. Jack, who had been standing on the bag, used a vine to swing down, shoot another vine around the giant, and caused the titan to fall sideways towards the shelf.
BOOM!
The room shook from the impact as Ariel's cage fell over and rolled in a circle. The room was then filled with the giant's snoring as he slept like a log. Meanwhile, Jack climbed back up to the beam to help Arista down onto the floor near the stove. "How did you know that would work," Arista asked Jack, "I mean, the giants don't seem like they would care about anyone other than themselves."
"Oh, they don't," Jack said as he and Arista stood before the oven and he pulled his staff out, "But these giants get angry about anything. They don't even socks! Let alone shoes." Jack then shot a vine up to the rim above the entrance and pulled himself up. He then looked in to see a sweating and struggling Eric was able to cut enough of the dough to free himself, but he still could barely move other than his hands. "Boy, that's got to be uncomfortable," Jack said as he held onto the rim and shot a vine around Eric's hand, "I bet you'd lose your mind if you had to itch while under that crazy spell. Although I bet you'd win the world record for ignoring an itch. If people still keep track of those. I've been up here for years, so I'm little behind."
As Jack pulled Eric out of the stove, Arista silent smiled while trying to hide a laugh from Jack's jokes. 'Why am I finding that funny,' Arista thought to herself in confusion, 'How can a human make me laugh like this?!'
CRASH!
Arista was snapped out of train of thought when the sound of something smashing. She turned around to see the cage that Ariel was trapped in had fallen over and was lying on its side. "Ariel," Arista exclaimed as ran over and began to turn it with the door facing upwards.
"Arista," Ariel said in surprise, "What are you doing here?! This is the last place any of us want to be!"
"I came here to save you," Arista angerly said as she began to pull the pin out, "Why else would I be in the place I didn't want to be?!"
"So, you're saying this is my fault," Ariel retorted at Arista's comment.
"Your words," Arista said as she pulled the pin out and the door opened, "Not mine." Ariel pulled herself out and the two girls stood there with a glare on their face. Despite the reunion, the two girls were still clearly angry at one another.
"Thanks for coming for me," Ariel finally said looking away, "I thought you would return to the surface."
"I don't abandon my family," Arista responded also looking away, "I wouldn't wish being here on anyone with these monsters on the loose."
Both girls continued to look away, despite being glad the other was safe, they were still angry at one another for their words before, and now. Ariel's eyes suddenly snapped open when she saw Eric on the floor, "Eric," she exclaimed in horror as she ran over to his side. All fear of his death was gone when she saw that he was still alive and breathing, "Oh thank Poseidon, he's alive," she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly and cried tears of joy on him.
"He's alive ma'am," Jack said as he stood up with Arista standing next to him, "But he's still unable to move but whatever the girl with the crown before did to him."
"Isn't there something in your bag that could snap him out of this," Arista asked him, "We can't leave him here and Ariel won't leave without him."
"My apologies ma'am. But reversing magic isn't one of my strong points," Jack told her, "I'm a farmer, adventurer, climber, and vegetarian. Not a magician."
Before Arista could say anything else, Ariel kissed Eric on the lips much to both of their surprise. 'I can't believe she's doing that! With him,' Arista thought in shock while blushing from the memory from the beach, 'I can't look at it!' She looked away at Jack and saw him have a surprised look on his face while blushing as well. 'What's with him,' she thought to herself, 'It's not like he hasn't seen that before on the surface!'
As soon as Ariel stopped kissing her beloved, Eric suddenly gasped and his eyes widened at the energy from the kiss moving through him. He then began to breath hard as he looked at Ariel with a weak smile, "Here I came to help you," he said, "But it looks like you and the others helped me even more."
Ariel smiled as she hugged him again, "I knew you would come," she told him.
"I'd follow you to the ends of the world and back again," Eric told her as he returned the hug.
Arista looked at her sister hugging her Eric as she felt a deep confliction go through her. 'Why does this have to be so hard,' she thought to herself, 'I know my sisters and I want Ariel to come home but... Why does seeing how much those two love each other makes it seem wrong?'
Jack was looking at the two with a smile on his face feeling the warmth of the scene before them. 'Aww... Those two are really-'
"YOU'RE BRA STRAP IS CLEARLY TOO TIGHT! PLEASE ALLOW ME THE HONOR OF- GRAAACK!"
Suddenly, the warm moment ended as Ariel, Eric, and Arista were startled by the yell and painful sound. They all looked to see Chamo who had jumped from his hiding place on the table was now frozen in midair by Jack blocking him with his staff.
"Oh, your highnesses," Sebastian exclaimed after jumping off of Chamo in mid-flight and landing on Eric's chest, "I was so worried about the two of you," he exclaimed as tears in the form of waterfalls sprayed out of his eyes, "I couldn't bear to tell the King his daughters were eaten by giants!"
Ariel went from looking at Chamo to Sebastian as he cried in relief still not sure what had just happened earlier.
"You ruined the moment Chamo," Jack said a little annoyed by his partner's perverted words.
"True," Chamo said as he picked and straightened himself, "But it did get everyone's attention. So now, as the bird above has been saying for the past three minutes..."
"QUIT THE LOVEY DOVEY STUFF AND LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"
Everyone looked up to see Iago's panicked expression as he was saying something that Dax and the Gosling all agreed on.
"I have to agree," Jack said as he held his staff up in the air. The top shot a vine upwards to the ceiling above the railings. The bottom of the staff opened up like a flower as vines spread out around the bottom the teens and formed a floor of green ivy. "Elevator up," Jack said as the make shift elevator began to rise up to the ceiling.
Next Chapter
Truth and Answers; Mastermind Revealed part 3
This chapter once again turned out to be too long to for one sitting so I split it in half again. Working on the next one as soon as I can though.