Chapter 24: Hell and High Water

As the sun was setting in the west of Hell, a soft wind blowing across Bluewater Marsh and the sounds of wildlife calling out to the falling darkness, Rose (in the guise of Violet), Scotty, Lugh and Sir Jack arrived at the shore, all able to see the silhouette of the walls of the penitentiary. "Now remember, Clay is the warden of the prison. He's a big fucker and he's gonna be hard tah take down," Rose explained. "He'll have guards everywhere, but killin' 'em ain't gonna be that hard."

"It doesna look that fortified," Lugh said. "How many of Aynaet's kids are in there?"

Rose sighed as she began checking her weapons. "Seventeen. All very capable warriors...which is why there are twenty guards assigned tah each of their cells. Now we wait fer Coral tah call."

As she pulled out her D-Call device, Lugh smirked as he eyed it. "What is that thing?"

"It's a communications device," she replied. "It kinda works like a cellular phone, which I'm sure ya have no idea what I mean."

"Darrach's mentioned somethin' like that before," Jack answered, folding his arms over the horn of his saddle. "Somethin' about frequencies and wavelengths?"

"Yeah, that's how a cell phone would work in the future, but these? These operate on magic and technology." Just then, her D-Call device started to ring and she put it on her earlobe. "This is Violet," she said, switching to her Welsh accent.

"It's Coral. Dad's a mad bampot!" Rose heard Coral yell in a very thick and almost incomprehensible Scottish accent. "If yoo got plans tae get my siblings outta Sisika, yoo betta do it now! Umber's loading 'em up on Hell and High Water and is headed fur Guarma!"

"Dammit," Rose said. "Alright, where are you?"

Rose heard a few gun shots and some shouting. "Trying tae buy yoos time! I hope yoo brought backup!"

"Shit." Rose hung up her D-Call device and looked at her companions. "We gotta get over there now!" she barked before pressing a button on Holly's saddle. "The wing button on yer saddles, press them!"

Jack and Lugh did as they were told and all the saddles sprouted white feathered wings. Holly jerked around a little while the other two horses bucked in excitement. "Oh, this is gonna be good!" Doc laughed.

"What's goin' on?" Jack asked as the wings began to flap.

"Clay is puttin' the prisoners on Umber's ship!" Holly neighed loudly as she and Rose went into the air. "Dammit Holly, yer fine! Stop bein' such a god damn baby!"

Doc, Tessa and Scotty quickly flew up, Lugh and Sir Jack laughing hysterically with the horses. "This is terrifyin' but it's great!" Tessa shouted.

They all got higher into the sky, flying over the water towards the island. Rose could see Lilly's children being loaded onto a menacing looking pirate ship with Umber's sigil on the sails, but a lot of them were causing trouble. She could see shots being fired towards a small building and she assumed Coral was in there. "Coral must be in there," she said, pointing at the building in question. "Ya both go help her, Scotty and I will handle the rest. H'yah!" Scotty followed Rose as they made their descent, grabbing her black recurve bow and arming with one of her special arrows. "Cernunnos, do we got any blessed weapons yet?"

"We currently have ten ready for deployment," Cernunnos replied from the drone. "Darrach said the drone has a weapons system, if you require it."

"Awesome sauce," Rose said as she continued shooting guards down, landing on the island with Holly neighing and braying loudly. "Help me mow these bastards down."

Guards were shooting from afar but Rose directed Holly into a corn field for cover. Scotty hovered over the field as little gun barrels appeared from its shell, immediately opening fire on all the guards surrounding the area. They all went down quickly and Rose popped out of the field with Holly. "I really do like this thing," Cernunnos chuckled as he flew next to Rose. "Who would've thought such a tiny little thing could cause so much chaos?"

"Wait until I show ya what a piece of C4 can do," Rose giggled.

Scotty and Rose continued to fight their way further into the island, more guards popping up but they both took them down without a hitch. "How are things on yer end, Pops?" Rose asked into the acorn com she had gotten earlier.

"We're heading fer the boats. There's a big fella...dressed up like a fecking pirate!" Sir Jack replied.

"That would be Umber," Rose answered, hiking Holly to fly once more. "He's even bigger than Clay. What else are ya seein'?"

"All but three of the king and queen's children have been loaded onto the ship. We're making headway but we could use yer help if yer done playing with yer food, little lamb."

Rose smirked at the nickname. "On me way." More guards appeared but Rose had no time for them now. She urged Holly onwards into the sky, bullets zinging around them as she put her bow away. Scotty buzzed around her, aiming its lens towards the large pirate ship on the east side of the island. "Let's hustle!" Rose kicked Holly's sides and the horse flew faster. Cannon fire echoed around them and Rose grumbled when she saw cannon balls flying at them. "Evasive action!" she yelled before pressing another button on the saddle. "And dunna ya dare get freaked out, Holly!" she added as handles popped from the saddle. She gripped them and Holly screeched in fear as Rose took control of the steering and moved out of a cannon ball's way.

"How are you doing that?!" Cernunnos laughed in awe.

"Settle down, Holly! Yer fine!" Rose snapped at the screaming horse. "It's the saddle! It's better on computer program mounts and Morgan."

"You mean Lilly."

"Right," Rose said with a clearing of her throat.

She focused on not dying as she landed Holly on the docks, pulled out an M79 grenade launcher, the name, "Thumper" engraved on the side, that was hooked up to the saddle and aimed it at a grouping of guards who were fighting with some of the prisoners she recognized as Burgundy, Viridian and Sapphire.

"Burgie, Viri, Saphy, get outta the way!" she yelled in Violet's voice. The three ran for cover and Rose pulled the trigger, a loud thunk erupting from the barrel. An object went flying towards the guards and an explosion occurred, knocking the guards away and their bodies being ripped the shreds. She chuckled and held the gun with one hand, studying it before looking at Scotty. "The M79 Grenade Launcher, designed in 1953 by the US. I call him "Thumper"."

"Violet!" a man's voice shouted from the rails of the pirate ship, his long, reddish brown hair whipping around his bearded face. "What the hell are ya doin'?!"

Chaos ensued around her as the three royals she just saved went back into action with Lugh and Sir Jack, fighting anyone who dared to come close. "Sorry, Umber!" Rose shouted back as she reloaded the gun with a special grenade and aimed at the hull of the ship. "Mother Dearest sends her regards!"

The double agent pulled the trigger and a grenade flew before attaching itself to the hull. It beeped a couple times before it exploded, eating away at the wood to make a large hole. Rose holstered the gun on her horse before pulling out a rapier and pistol, then she charged towards the ship, violet colored dragon wings appearing from her back. Scotty quickly followed behind as she flew off the dock and dove into the hole. Once Scotty and Rose were in, her wings sunk back in and the hole disappeared, the pieces moving back into place. Guards in what looked like the cargo hold were all aiming at her and the acorn drone with guns.

"Put your weapons down, Your Highness!" a guard yelled.

Rose nodded and slowly lowered her weapons to the floor, placing them carefully before hesitantly standing with her hands up. "I hope ya got somethin' up yer sleeve, Cernunnos," she mumbled quietly.

"I do," Cernunnos replied into the ear com. "When I say look away, you do it."

"Princess Violet, under the command of Prince Umber, I hereby place you under arrest and-"

"Now!"

Rose turned her head and a loud bang was heard, followed by screaming and coughing. "Thanks, Cernie," she giggled.

"Ugh, don't call me that," Cernunnos groaned through the drone.

Rose bent down and felt around for her weapons and sounds like firecrackers went off as she scrambled around. Rose finally grasped them and stood, looking at the guards were on their knees and covering their faces. She moved through the smoke with Scotty immediately, opening a door and seeing the remainder of Lilly's loyal offspring in cages, all dressed in black and white striped prison clothes.

"Violet?!" they all shouted, some gripping the metal bars that held them.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Steel asked angrily, a man with short, cool gray hair and cool grey eyes.

"Getting you lazy louses out of here, what's it bloody look like?" Rose snapped as she took her pistol and fired at the padlock.

"But you're on Dad's side!" Aureolin, a young man with bright yellow shaved hair and eyes fumed bitterly.

Rose removed the padlock and opened the cage, letting the captives out. "Not anymore," she answered. "Mum's at Mount Hagen with...others."

"Is it The Griffin God?" Saffron asked, a man with golden yellow curly locks and eyes. "And The Four Horsemen?"

"Yes but I don't have time to explain everything else," Rose said when she shot another padlock, opened it and let more people out. "Why the hell is Umber using just regular old padlocks?"

"Because you cannot escape anyway," a female voice said in the dark.

Rose pointed the tip of her sword towards where the voice came from, narrowing her eyes when she recognized the voice. "Hazel," she mumbled. "I should've known you'd be in on this."

A woman with long, wavy green and brown hair and hazel eyes, in camo cargo pants and a black tank top approached from the dark, an evil sneer on her face and a rapier in her hand. "And I should've known you aren't my sister."

Rose smirked before handing her pistol to one of the princesses, a woman named Penny with copper hair and eyes. "Penny, get the rest of your siblings out. Coral is outside with the others. Scotty, go with 'em and give 'em weapons."

Penny nodded and the drone and her rushed the princes and princesses to the cargo hold while Rose blocked Hazel's path, her rapier still up. Hazel smirked before assuming a swordsman's pose. "Care to settle this like gentlemen?" she asked sweetly.

Rose mimicked the pose and the two circled around each other, both with cocky smiles on their faces. Hazel shouted and charged with a lunge but Rose parried before punching Hazel in the face, knocking her into the wall. With a sigh, Rose walked up to Hazel's unconscious body and pulled a collar with a purple gem from her satchel. Rose then put it around Hazel's neck, then she walked to the cargo hold.

"Ya always were a lousy fuckin' swordswoman," she mumbled before going up the ladder, the sounds of fighting like sweet music to her ears.

With her rapier in hand, Rose attacked the first enemy she saw with a feint and a thrust, stabbing and killing the guard. All the princes and princesses who were captured were fighting with guards, Clay and Umber, and so were two of the Four Horsemen and their drone. Rose didn't have to appreciate how well the mission was going when a guard tried to take her down. With a few swipes of her sword, Rose cut the guard down before going after three more. Blood spilled all over the ship deck as the fight continued on for everybody, guards falling and dying with Violet's name like a curse on their lips.

Soon Clay and Umber were the only enemies still standing, but they were getting worn down. Lugh, Jack, Coral and the others were chipping away at both the princes' will and defenses. Rose grinned before putting away her rapier and pulling out two gemmed collars, then she took out a type of slingshot and armed it with a collar. She aimed at Umber first and shot, the collar zinging through the air before wrapping itself around Umber's neck. The pirate captain went down and Clay spotted Rose as she was loading up another collar.

However, Lugh managed to knock Clay in the face with his golden spear, causing the prison warden to stumble. Rose let the next collar fly and it clasped around Clay's neck, then she walked over to the group with a smirk.

"Jolly good, boys and girls," Rose said in Violet's voice. "Hazel is knocked out downstairs...let's lock our brothers and sister up, shall we?"

"What in the bloody hell are you doing?!" Clay shouted in a New Zealand accent, getting on his feet slowly along with Umber.

People kept their weapons aimed at the two prisoners, forcing the two men back on their knees. "All will be revealed when we see Mum and Babd back on Mount Hagen."

"Why should we listen to you?" Saffron barked, glaring at Rose. "You're Dad's top dirty dog!"

Rose rolled her eyes and looked at her father and Lugh. "Could you take them down and lock them up, please?" The men nodded and grabbed the prisoners by the arms, dragging them to guide them below deck. "Cernunnos, go with them and turn off my ear com for a bit. I have things to discuss with my siblings."

"Okay," Cernunnos said through the drone.

When the acorn flew to follow his friends and went below deck, Rose snapped her fingers and appeared in her true form. Everyone gawked at her in shock. "Mom?!" they all shouted.

"Shh!" Rose snapped while flapping her hands. "Be quiet, ya feckin' dumbasses!"

"That don't seem like Mom," Penny giggled.

Rose shushed them again and huffed in irritation. "Yer mum, Aynaet, will explain everythin' later, now let's commandeer this damn ship and get the fuck outta here!" She whistled loudly. "Doc! Tessa! Holly! Get up here!" The horses neighed loudly as they gallopped towards the gangplank. When the three trotted on the wood, clopping as they got on deck, Rose walked towards the helm. "I'll take the helm. Not a word tah our guests about me lookin' like yer mum, neither."

"Uh, Violet?" Fawn said as she pointed to the horizon, a light brown haired woman with light brown eyes. "Or whatever your name is...we got company."

Just then, Scotty, Lugh and Sir Jack came up from below deck. Rose pulled out her binoculars and looked at where Fawn was pointing. Black and brown tentacles were coming out of the water and Rose gulped.

"It's Umber's god damn Kraken!" Rose yelled before looking at everyone. "Dunna just stand there! Get the fuckin' ship ready tah go!"


I'm sorry I haven't posted in like a week, I was busy with stuff in life, I apologize.