Footsteps alerted Egil to a visitor, but it was not Kallian who walked through the door. Instead, it was Melia, breathing heavily, tears in her eyes. Egil wasn't quite sure what it was about the sight, but it made the big brother in him upset. It was no wonder he made it to her side, kneeling to her eye-level, in moments.
"Princess, what's the matter?" He ran a hand through her hair, frowning. "Where is your brother?"
"Brother and the Emperor, m… my father, they…" She pulled in a shaky breath. "They were taken, forced to Prison Island and I…"
Egil had heard of Prison Island before, and it was a place he never wanted to venture. The place Zanza had been sealed, the place Arglas's body remained. The thought of going near it, seeing the body that was once his friend… it made him sick.
But a feeling in his chest pushed him to go there. Lady Meyneth, perhaps? Her heart yearned to go there, wanting to speak with Zanza… Something Egil never wanted to do, as long as he lived.
But she was his goddess, and so he would listen. He put his hand to his chest and took a deep breath. "Melia. Can you take us there?"
"I… I can try, but one needs imperial sanction and I'm unsure if I have it, I…"
"Melia." He put his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Please, this is important. For your brother and your father, we have to try."
Melia sucked in a breath, and finally nodded. "I apologize. I… I will do my best to help you reach them."
She was quick to calm herself, slapping her cheeks lightly and pulling in her tears. She was a strong one, Egil noted. The High Entia raised their children strong, if not a bit emotionally lacking, nowadays, hm?
"Egil, are you sure?" Vanea's voice was coated in worry. "Knowing who's there… will you be alright?"
"If you need to stay behind, we can take care of this." Linada added on, her tone suggesting more he should stay behind. "No need to push yourself."
"Hm?" Oka tilted her head to the side. "Someone bad at Prison Island, friends?"
"Do not worry, Oka. Or any of you, for that matter." He touched the piece on his chest once again, giving them all a serious look. "For Lady Meyneth's sake, as well as Melia's family, I will be going."
The Machinas' eyes lit up with understanding as Vanea nodded. "Of course, Egil. If that is the case… I will not stand in your way."
"Nor will I, though we'll go along as well. If it is our lady's will, we can't leave it to only you, now can we?" Linada gave him quite the cheeky smile. "Don't want you tripping and breaking your neck on your own."
"Oka go too!" Oka ran to Egil's side, hopping up into his arms. "Oka is mamapon, so she must take care of group!"
Egil chuckled a bit, a smile creeping onto his face. "Thank you all, I don't know what I would do without your support… and Linada's quips."
"Then…" Melia cleared her throat, catching their attention again. "Shall we be off?"
"Yes, please lead the way."
The fighting to get to Prison Island was hard… Two seals needed opening, and, well… The first one had taken quite some time. Egil wiped blood away from his lips with a groan, looking towards Melia.
She was clearly still upset, and panic the panic eating at her was plain to see. Egil felt bad, but there wasn't much he could do. He wasn't exactly the best with that, seeing as he had quite the paranoia problem… The fact he'd calmed her down at all earlier was a miracle, honestly.
The others would all be better at it, including… Alvis.
Alvis, the Homs had vanished after leaving them and was just-so-happening to be gone now, too. Something about it made Egil upset, put him on edge… The mysterious Homs left so much open to interpretation…
And it was hard for him to not interpret this all as something being off about him. Egil wasn't sure what it was, but he couldn't shake the feeling. Alvis was so strange, so vague… And had come into contact with the Monado! There was nothing normal about that Seer.
"Egil, time to go to next seal!" Oka pulled him from his thoughts, gesturing for him to lean down. "Oka worried too much longer will be bad for Miss Melly…"
"Ah yes, of course." Egil nodded, trying to push thoughts of Alvis to the back of his head. He didn't trust him, not right now, but that could wait. Melia was struggling and they should focus on saving her family, at least for the moment.
But it was hard to pull his mind away from him, at least fully. Just who was Alvis, why did he seem to pop in and out as he deemed fit? It was starting to frustrate and scare Egil, all at once.
Not that he would ever admit to that.
"Come on, then!" Oka smiled up at him. "Oka sure together with friends, can save Melly's brotherpon and dadapon in no time!"
"You're right." He returned the smile as he straightened up. "Let's go, then. There's still plenty of work for us to get done."
The second seal was down and Egil was exhausted. Enough so that he finally turned to Melia and let the question that had been on his mind for a while slip. "Do you know who or what took your family?"
Melia looked down at her hands, wringing them together. "A… Homs…"
Egil sucked in a breath, lowering his voice. "Alvis…?"
"No! Nothing of the sort!" She shook her head. "It was… a Homs I had never seen before. A boy with blond hair, that almost seemed to shine like gold under the light…"
Something about the description made Egil's heart squeeze… or perhaps it was Lady Meyneth's heart. It was becoming harder and harder to tell the difference each time he experienced an emotion like that.
"I see." A Homs forcing them to go to where Zanza was kept… This could not be good, Egil decided, thinking of Alvis's words about the Monado. "I… want to meet this boy."
"You do?" Melia blinked a few times. "Well… if we get to Prison Island, you should be able to. I have some words for him myself."
"Indeed, plenty to ask a kidnapper like him." Linada spoke up, giving Egil a look. "Though I suppose there's another reason you want to speak to him, Egil?"
"Yes…" He nodded, unable to bring himself to lie. "I… have a bad feeling, and I need to speak to the boy to see if it's right."
"I see…" Linada nodded. "Then let's hurry towards Prison Island."
