Memories

By Dixxy

Chapter Four: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

"Hey, Glenn, wake-up!"

Glenn groaned. "Too early. . . need sleep. . ."

"C'mon, Glenn, it's time to get up! Your dad said it was okay!"

Glenn blinked. He looked over his shoulder to see the man from the previous night was looking at him, a big smile on his face. Glenn gave him a weak smile as he yawned, stretching his small body. "Oh, hi Curtis," he said. "How are you this morning? Did you sleep well?"

"Just great," said Curtis. He sprung himself into a standing position and looked at the young boy eagerly. "Now come on, come on, come one! Hurry! Go and get dressed so we can get an early start on our absolutely wonderful day of fun and games! The later you sleep the less we get to do!"

The small boy nodded and crawled out of bed. Curtis left to room to allow him some privacy as he started to dig through his trunk, looking for something to wear. After finding something that he thought would be suitable (just a dark green shirt and brown pants), he closed up his trunk, pulled his boots on, and walked out of his cabin.

The two walked down the deck, Curtis asking Glenn if he'd slept well and if he was ready for the day to come. Glenn continued to nod enthusiastically, excited about what he'd be doing with Curtis. But, what would they be doing? Curtis hadn't told him exactly what they'd be doing or where they'd go once they were on the mainland. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise?

Eventually, they reached the gangway, which was already set up. Glenn looked around and saw that the sky was still a very orange color, the two moons still high in the sky. It wasn't too long after dawn. Glenn raised an eyebrow. Was everyone really up that early? If his father could help it, he slept in as late as possible. Maybe he had some sort of important Deva business to do.

Curtis extended an arm, gesturing for Glenn to go first. The young boy smiled brightly at Curtis as he walked down the plank and onto the Zenan Mainland. He stopped abruptly at the bottom, getting used to feeling. "So this is the Zenan Mainland," said Glenn, looking around in awe. "It's amazing!"

"Isn't it?" said Curtis. "Now, let's get going already."

Karsh and Dario high fived each other, laughing giddily as they pointed at the ship and each other. The two were now hiding behind a large pile of crates that must have held imports from other parts of the world and exports that would be heading off to other parts of the world. "Karsh, my man, you are SUCH a genius! Sneaking off the boat was a great idea!" said Dario, holding his stomach from laughing so hard. "Now we can check this place out for REAL!"

"Yeah, we aren't going to be stuck in that Gurdia Castle fer this whole trip," said Karsh. He grinned. "Let's go and see if we ken find ourselves some trouble ta git into! Ah bet they've got lots of adventures just waiting to happen!" Dario's eyes lit up in a way that told anyone who knew him well enough that something devious was being concocted in that blonde head of his.

"Yeah, lucky for us someone put the gangplank out early," said Dario. He sighed, tapping a finger against his cheek. "I wonder who did that, though? The captain said that no one was supposed to leave the ship until around nine, and it's just barely after five-thirty!"

"Yeah, drinkin' ten glasses of water before bed makes a great alarm clock!" said Karsh. "But this'll be good. Now we dunt have to worry about swimming in the harber. We're perfectly dry!" He put his hands on his hips, smiling to himself. "Who kers if it was a wee bit odd?"

"Still. . . something doesn't seem right," said Dario. He looked over at the ship, then blinked. "Hey. . . Karsh. . . someone's coming off the boat right now." He waved his best friend over to where he was watching the gangplank. Karsh shrugged and joined his friend, the two spying on the people getting off.

"One of 'em is kind of short. . ." said Karsh.

Dario's eyes widened. "That's Glenn!" Dario hissed. "Who's that with him?"

"I dunt know!" said Karsh. He looked at Dario. "Yer right- something IS fishy."

"I say we follow them and make sure that they don't get into any trouble," said Dario. Karsh nodded, seeing that something most definitely was up. With that, the two began to quietly follow the five-year-old and his suspicious looking companion. This just isn't right. Glenn, Little Brother, why are you with that strange man? Don't you know you could be in serious trouble?

"Curtis. . . where are we going?" asked Glenn. The sailor was leading Glenn deep into some woods. They'd already crossed a big bridge and he was beginning to get tired. They'd been walking for a long time now- where was Truce? And why was it taking them so long to get there? Didn't we already go THROUGH Truce, though? Wasn't that big old ship in the Truce Harbor? If that was Truce Harbor, then why is Truce so far from it? Termina Harbor is right in Termina!

"You'll see," Curtis said shortly.

Glenn frowned. He wanted to argue, but he didn't DARE do it. Curtis was being really nice to offer to take him to Truce and he wanted to treat his new friend with respect. Complaining about not knowing where they were going wasn't very respectful. Still. . . Glenn felt odd about not being let in on what Curtis' plan was. The sailor was holding his hand a bit too tight and they were walking at a kind of fast pace.

Eventually, he heard voices. "Curtis?"

"Quiet," said Curtis, suddenly sounding very mean. Glenn was scared now. This wasn't fun- this was getting downright scary! Just where was Curtis taking him? Why do I all of a sudden have a really, really bad feeling about this? Glenn wondered. What had happened to Curtis? He'd seemed so nice and friendly back on the boat, and his father said that they should be able to trust anyone on the boat, right?

They eventually came to a clearing where they found several men in baggy blue pants, big black boots, and black jackets were waiting. Brown holsters and belts were strapped on in several places, some wearing helmets. One man stepped up. "Well? Is this little Glenn, son of the Deva Garai?"

"Yes, it's him all right," said Curtis, shoving Glenn roughly forward. "I told you I'd bring you something good. Check at Guardia Castle once the King and Queen get off the boat with those El Nido Dragoons- one of the Devas should be panic stricken when he finds his precious little boy has gone missing."

"What?" asked Glenn, who was now on his hands and knees. He looked over his shoulder, the look on his face only possible when someone, especially a small child, had been betrayed by someone they trusted. "You, you said that you talked to my daddy before we left! And what are we doing here? Who are these men? Curtis! What's going on!" He didn't CARE if he was being rude. Something was seriously wrong and Glenn wanted to know what was going on!

Curtis laughed. His look had darkened. No. This was not the man that Glenn had talked to the previous night on the boat. "Stupid kid. Like a stupid little lamb you've led yourself to the slaughterhouse," he said. "These are some very good friends and colleagues of mine. Marty, Jack, Dennis, and Aaron. The five of us are all some of the finest generals that our republic has ever seen. And you, my dear boy, are now our official property!"

Glenn's eyes widened. "You. . . you work for Porre!"

"Smart boy," said the man who'd stepped forward. Seeing that he was, indeed, in the hands of the Porre military, Glenn scrambled to his feet and darted around Curtis, making a desperate break for freedom. The men behind him swore as they started to give chase. "GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Glenn didn't listen to them. He didn't know what would happen to him if they caught him (or he went back there- yeah, just like he'd volunteer to eat anything Zippa made that started with "hag" and ended in "gis"), but he knew it would be bad. He was smaller then they were and he was able to slip through places that those men couldn't slip through. Daddy's gonna be so mad at me! Curtis didn't tell him anything! That dirty-rotten man tricked me into coming with him so he could kidnap me!

"What's his Innate Color!"

"I don't know!"

"I've got it! He's green! Quick! Who's got an ElectroBolt!"

"ELECTROBOLT! ON A FIVE YEAR OLD?"

"It'll just knock him out! USE IT! BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!"

"Fine!"

Glenn stopped suddenly, feeling a sudden shock overcome his entire body as the forest around him was swallowed in a bright yellow light. He fell to his knees, screaming in pain. No! What was happening to him! What were those men doing to him! The attack stopped, leaving Glenn feeling weak and helpless. He fell forward, loosing consciousness very quickly.

A strong pair of arms picked him up, cradling his weakened form. Glenn saw that he was being carried by none other than Curtis. The man he thought was his friend now had a crazed look on his face. He's crazy, Glenn thought to himself. He sniffled, feeling tears flow down his face. "Why?" he asked, choking on his own sobs.

"If your father and the other Dragoons don't fight, Guardia will be ours. . ."

GLENN! NO! YOU PORRE BASTARDS! Dario thought to himself, watching his little brother's kidnapping in complete horror. Karsh was silent as he knelt beside him, his eyes wide and his breath increasing in speed. His little brother. . . his only little brother in the entire world was being kidnapped by those Porre bastards!

"Ah dunt believe this! Poor Glenn!" said Karsh. He turned to Dario. "Dario, if we dunt do something soon, they'll keel him!" He bit his lip. "What do we do, what do we do?" He looked down at the ground. "Why was ah so mean to him! Why? Ah could've been a wee bit nicer to him but NO!"

"Karsh, calm down! If we panic we'll ALL die!" Dario hissed. Karsh nodded, calming down. "Okay, we have to follow these men and find out where they're taking Glenn. Then MAYBE we can rescue him, or at least find a way to send one of us back to Truce in a hurry so we can tell the adults what's happened."

"THAT'S yer plan!" said Karsh.

"I'm only twelve years old and it was short notice, give me a break!" said Dario. "Now let's get going before. . . I don't want to think about what'll happen to him!" The elder brother closed his eyes, taking a moment of meditation. "Let's go, Karsh." The two friends shook hands before heading off towards the most dangerous trouble they had ever gotten themselves into in all twelve years of their existence.

Riddel walked around the ship that had brought them to the Zenan Mainland. "Dario? Dario, where are you?" she asked. No answer. When she'd gotten up to look for Dario, Karsh, and Glenn, she'd found all three missing from their beds. Getting fed up, she cupped her hands over her mouth. "DARIOOOOO! KAAARSH! GLENNNNN! WHERE ARE YOU?"
"My dear, is everything all right?" Riddel looked over to see the concerned face of Queen Marle looking at her. The queen was wearing a simple blue dress, her golden blonde hair falling around her shoulders. "You seem distressed and I couldn't help but hear your yells. Is something wrong?"

"It's the boys," she said. "They weren't in their cabins this morning and I haven't seen them."

"I'm sure they're around somewhere. Boys will be boys," she said. "At their age they need to prowl around a little bit." She giggled, then bent down to Riddel's level and began to whisper in her ear. "It makes them feel like men instead of the little boys they are. They'll grow out of it soon enough."

"No, that's not the full extent of it!" said Riddel, shaking her head. "No one's seen them at all this morning! Zappa and Garai are both wrecks! Father's trying to calm them down and is assuring them that they're just being boys, but even THEY wouldn't hide for this long, especially if they saw the condition their fathers were in! Zappa has been pacing back and fourth in his room all morning and Zippa's been absolutely hysterical! Garai looks ready to cry, and the only time I've ever seen him cry was right after Eileen died! If something happens to Dario or Glenn, he'll just die!"

Marle's eyes widened. Her mind drifted off to the night they'd arrived at Viper Manor. When that man realized his son was in trouble he simply reacted. He didn't ask questions, didn't hesitate, he just took off for the Bluffs, running as fast as his legs could carry him. That man truly cares for his family. Those two boys are all that he has left.

As if it had been planned, one of the crew members rushed up to Queen Marle. He skidded to a stop, on his hands and knees as he sat before the queen. He caught his breath and stood up, turning his full attention to the Queen. "Your Highness, I have some rather bad news," he said. Riddel and the Queen turned their attention to the crew member. "We found the gangplank already set up this morning and one of the crew members didn't report this morning."

The Queen raised an eyebrow. "Odd. Three of the children are gone as well."

The crew member nodded. "I'll alert the captain, General Viper, and the King, milady. Something is very, very wrong with this picture. A missing crew member AND missing children? That crew member hasn't been with us very long and we haven't had a chance to fully check his background."

Queen Marle narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she didn't look like the kind, youthful queen who ruled with a kind and gentle heart. Now the Queen resembled a general or a more hardened ruler. This was a side of the Queen that few ever saw, and when they saw it, they KNEW that she meant business. Even Riddel could feel the almost negative vibe from the young monarch. "Get Viper, Crono, and the Devas RIGHT NOW!"

"Yes, your highness!" said the sailor, saluting his queen before running off.

"Marle?" asked Riddel.

Queen Marle's eyes remained narrowed she looked off in the direction that the sailor had run off in. Three of the children are missing as well as a sailor whom we haven't given a thorough background check. The gangplank was down. Those boys and that man aren't on the ship anymore. "I smell trouble."