This chapter might be super offensive, so just a heads up. Regardless, long chapter incoming, let's go baby!
Chapter Nineteen - Kingdom Come.
By 10:58 PM, I arrived at the village, dictated by a slight clearing in the forest. The moon was still out, though now an green aurora lit the sky as well, giving off a beautiful green glow along the countryside, so despite how late in the night it is, the entire area was so well lit that I will not need any flashlight while traveling outside. I was on a giant path that led into the middle of the town, the town square, and in the middle of that was a fountain that didn't run water at all. Past the fountain did the giant path lead directly through the stone bridge I saw earlier into the mountain. The entire town was lifeless however; there were no streetlights, lanterns, nor torches lit anywhere, doors and windows were boarded up, and it seemed as if there were frost-coated roots, moss, and mold growing along the walls of the dilapidated buildings, as if the town was abandoned for so long that nature was taking back the land it lost long ago. Even the castle itself, while eloquent in comparison to the entire village like a noble who walks upon the poor, was completely dark, with no lights on whatsoever.
"Man, what happened here?" I kept a tight grip on my battle axe. Sure, this entire village is dead, but given that Cartman holed himself within that giant castle, I have an eerie feeling I might be walking into an ambush soon. My heart was beating rather quickly, and despite the frigid air, I could feel the sweat drip from my forehead.
Snoopy and Woodstock gave off low whines. I could tell that both were panicking within, as if something would jump out at us like a horror movie. When we reached the fountain in the middle of town, I looked within. There was nothing but leaves, pine cones, tree bark, and chunks of ice within. I looked down at both. "It will be fine. Sorry for yelling at you guys earlier. You're Charlie Brown's dog, right? Think you can sniff him out? Because wherever he is, Cartman would be there too." Snoopy gave me a thumbs up with his right paw before pointing towards the castle. "...of course they'd be there. Let's keep going."
It took four more minutes to reach the bridge, yet those were the longest four minutes of my life. Snoopy, Woodstock, and I were constantly scanning our surroundings as we slowly approached the bridge. So cautious that something might jump out of the shadows, I could feel myself shaking in nervousness a little. After all, without the seven others I came here with, I am extremely vulnerable.
Speaking of who, now with them being gone, now I fully understand what it means to have others around, and now I fully understand what it takes to be a leader. Because honestly, I'm starting to think they carried my ass a bit. Was I right to be angry at them wanting to give up on Ray? Sure. But leaving them behind wasn't right of me. I thought what I was doing was setting an example by showing that I refuse to give up on Ray, but in the end, maybe I was being a bit selfish, and now I'm alone with no one by my side.
At the bridge, I looked over the left side. About sixty feet down the gorge was running water. I looked back at the castle again, which on my side was a very large set of double-doors that towered well above twelve feet high and eight feet wide. The structure was still well kept and clean, so it was majestic in comparison to the rest of the village. The glass windows were mostly dark however, with dim lights shining periodically, so I know that people are within the castle, likely KND.
When I reached the middle of the bridge however was when I saw something that made my heart stop. Four boys unfamiliar to me stood at the end of the bridge I was going to cross to, all with shields and swords. "Crap..." I took two steps back and turned around...only to see four girls unfamiliar to me standing at the end of the bridge from where I came, all with shields and swords. "Shit."
"Stan Marsh, huh?" one of the girls called out. "His Holiness, Eric Cartman, wants you. You're in trouble now."
I turned towards the girl. "Eric Cartman? Shouldn't your leader be named 'Mitch Conner'?"
"Plans change, Stan. People know the truth, but it matters no more, as he will carry out our will, he will allow children to take over with Everlasting Christmas," one of the boys said. I turned around to face him.
"You don't know what that really means you assclown!" I yelled. I gripped my battle axe tightly as Snoopy growled at the boys. "And what the hell does he want me for anyways?!"
"He only wishes you to join the rest of your fourth grade class - to watch the final solution unfold," another boy answered.
"Final solution? Wait...fourth grade class?!" That's when it hit me. The party I traveled here with would be fine - but the rest of my fourth grade class must have been kidnapped. "What the FUCK did you do to them?! Why?! How?! And what about the Slytherin kids, huh?!"
"We didn't need those Harry Potter dorks," one of the girls replied. "Besides, our Lord Commander Cartman wants everyone from Herbert Garrison's class. His agenda is righteous and just, and we are to remain devout."
"Come with us quietly," another boy stated, "or we will deliver you in chains and blood."
I gritted my teeth as a growled angrily. There is no way in hell I'm going to let a bunch of dorks and freaks from this so-called "Kids Next Door" lay their creepy, dirty hands on me. I gripped my battle axe tightly. "Over my dead body, assholes! Bring it on!"
The assailants all raised their swords. "KIDS NEXT DOOR! BATTLE STATIONS!"
Snoopy and Woodstock went off to the side, though for my sake, it was better they did not intervene. As for the others, the eight KND members all charged straight at me, like two walls seeking to crush me. But I was prepared. I raised my left foot, and as soon as they were next to me, I slammed my foot on the ground, casting Thunder Clap, blasting them with concussive force. Taking a more aggressive, Berserker Stance, I spun around once with my axe, striking them all with Whirlwind. Just two attacks felled all of my adversaries.
"Ooooooooooh!" Snoopy and Woodstock both exclaimed.
"And that is how the Alliance does it," I grinned. I glanced around at the others, who were currently downed, cut up and bleeding. "I suppose 'quality over quantity' doesn't mean much to fatass, does it?"
"This isn't over..." one of the girls groaned weakly. "...not by a long shot."
"Kiss my ass, idiot," I sneered back. "I got a fat turd to beat down, and you're not getting in my way." I nodded at Snoopy and Woodstock. "Come on, you two."
As I turned to finish crossing the bridge, that was when six more kids, three boys and three girls, appeared at the other side with swords and shields. Hearing footsteps behind me, I cranked my head to see three more boys and three more girls, all with shields and swords as well. Well, if I wasn't in trouble before, I certainly am now. Eight I could take on. Twelve more though? This is getting old and bad - fast. Snoopy, with Woodstock on his head, clutched to my right leg, whining in fear. I gripped my battle axe tightly, taking on a more-balanced, Battle Stance.
"Seriously, where the fuck do you all keep coming from?" I muttered underneath my breath.
"Time to meet your maker!" One of the boys from the town side of the bridge yelled.
"You're not going anywhere!" A girl from the castle side of the bridge added. "KIDS NEXT DOOR! BATTLE STATIONS!"
It was at that moment I realized: I fucked up. Was it just for me to call out my party on them giving up on Ray? Perhaps rightfully so. But still, I could have been better understanding on how they felt when Cartman's words tore into them, perhaps worse than how his words tore into me. Hell, Wendy even gave her all to try to help out with the Ritual of Summoning, and what did I do? Effectively spit in her face. In fact, all of my party gave their lives to help me out on this dark quest, and here I was, abandoning them in this frozen wasteland in a foreign country.
Perhaps in the end, Cartman was right about me: I act like I'm the main character and that the world revolves around me.
I let out a harsh exhale. "Now I'm starting to see the appeal of quantity over quality. These odds are bad any way I look at them." Tightly I gripped my axe, awaiting my doom, as the forces on opposite sides of the bridge came forth to collide to Snoopy, Woodstock, and me.
But before they reached me, a shill voice came from the town side of the bridge - one I was much too familiar with. "That's some loser talk right there, Stan!"
I gasped. "Bebe?"
It wasn't just Bebe, who arrived at the scene in her moonkin form - no, it was most of the others alongside Mr. Hankey (who was riding on top of Kyle's hat), minus Chris. The girls came in, green lightning, bullets, shadow bolts, and frost bolts blazing at the kids. Tyler, Kyle, Wendy's demon, and Ellen's wolf charged head on, whacking and tearing away at the forces. "RETREAT!" I turned to see the kids at the castle side begin their retreat, but Chris materialized behind them, spinning around casting Fan of Knives, spraying a bunch of throwing knives at the retreat, knocking them down. In the end, a grand total of twenty KND children were lying down bleeding on or by the bridge.
I was shell-shocked. I didn't expect them to come to my rescue. Back in the woods I treated them so harshly, only for them to come back and save my ass. "Guys..."
Bebe shapeshifted back into her human form. She placed her right hand on my left shoulder. "You hurt, Stan?"
I shook my head. "No."
But Wendy came up from behind Bebe, shoving her aside, opened her arms wide, and threw herself at me, hugging me. "Stan, you're okay! I was so worried something would happen to you!"
With my right hand, I lightly patted Wendy's back. "Why'd...you all come back?" I croaked.
As Wendy removed herself from me, and Bebe put both her hands on Wendy's shoulders, Kyle walked up to me. "Dude, you're totally right. Ray needs us and we can't abandon him now. Not like this."
Chris was leaning on the side railing of the bridge. "I shouldn't have brought up Ray like that, what the hell was I thinking?"
"It's fine," I quickly reasoned. "I...was a jerk to you all." I turned my attention to you. "Especially you, Wendy. I shouldn't have said what I said back in that cave. I'm sorry I was mean to you all and left you all behind." I exhaled as I let my head fall down. I couldn't face any of them. There was dead silence for several moments.
But then Ellen spoke up now. "There's a reason we made you leader, Stan: you just lead by example. Instead of cowering like we did, you went forward to try to stick to your guns and rescue Ray yourself. If that's not heroism, then I don't know what is."
Kathy placed her right hand on my left shoulder. "With you with us again, everything will be alright."
I tried to smile, but I couldn't. The words that the Kids Next Door spoke to me earlier still resonated in my mind. I shook my head once more. "No. It's not fine. It won't be..." I sniffed as I did my best to hold back tears. "They have our entire class."
But Kyle sheathed his axes and folded his arms; he wouldn't have it. "Do you really think that's going to stop us? First of all, Mr. Hankey already told this to us anyways." Mr. Hankey nodded in confirmation. "And second of all, we still got a job to do. A quest to embark on, and no matter how high the stakes continue to rise, we'll see it through the end."
"Fatass is in that castle, right?" Bebe pointed down the castle. "There's no stopping us now!"
"Now is the time for us to really show what the Octopath Travelers are made of!" Wendy added.
I couldn't help but look at each and every one of them. They all smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. "You're right. You're all absolutely right. We still need to rescue Ray and end Cartman...but this time, we do it together. As the Octopath Travelers." As we all circled up, I placed my right hand in the middle in the air. "Who's with me?" Without hesitation, everyone, including Snoopy, placed their right hands (or paw) on top of mine. Then we lifted them all up.
"Let's do this, Octopath Travelers!" we all cheered.
Ellen was the last to enter the castle inside, so she shut the door. We were in a rather dark hallway, courtesy of being near midnight. There were no sources of light alit anywhere, aside from moonlight shining down from the front window above the front door. There were various statues of elves and reindeer made of stone, though many have fallen over, broken on the ground. The carpet was torn, rotted, and decayed. The walls were chipped and cracked, and the ceilings hung chandeliers that were tilted, as if about to fall, whose candles were completely unlit. Overall, this castle was extremely unkempt.
"Snoopy, you can sniff out Charlie Brown, right?" Snoopy gave me a thumbs up before taking the lead, constantly sniffing the ground. "Alright, let's follow him." Snoopy ended up leading us straight down the hall.
While walking, Bebe, still in her human form, had her mace out, gripping it tightly with both hands, even though it was light and small enough that she only needed one. "Spooky-ass castle...of course Cartman would find himself here."
"Yep," Kathy added. "This is basically what we call the last level in a video game. You know, the place where you'd find the final boss." Bebe raised her right eyebrow as she looked over at Kathy while we walked. "You know, like the Tower of Sauron in Mordor from Lord of the Rings...or better yet, Icecrown Citadel from World of Warcraft. And really, this place is more like a giant evil tower...sort of. Overused trope."
"Trope, huh?" Bebe rested her mace on her right shoulder. "I read that online once, it's basically recurring themes or devices in literature, yeah?" Kathy nodded her head in confirmation as we began to head up some stairs. The stairs made a U-bend to the left, and we ended up on the second floor of the castle-tower. We then proceeded to head down another hallway. "I'm bored. Give me another trope - something that's, I don't know...out there? Notable?"
"Well..." Kathy rubbed her chin as we made a ninety-degree turn to the left down another hall. "This one ain't exactly...it's called the Bechdel Test."
"The fuck is that?" Bebe asked. "I never heard of that sort of 'test' before."
"It's supposed to measure 'women's presences' in literature or some shit, I swear I didn't make it up. Basically it has two women who have at least one conversation that's not about men."
"Wait...what? Really?" Bebe's face scrunched up. "Who made this shit?!"
Kathy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, some pissed off, fat skank on their period?" Both girls giggled for a few seconds.
"Haha, damn girl," Bebe laughed. "Really though, it seems like you'd make a great writer. Who cares what the other girls think? Calling you a nerd or whatever."
Kathy smiled. "No offense, but you could take your own advice too. I've seen your science grades - you're alot better than you think you are."
"Is that so?" Bebe sheathed her mace and folded her arms as we walked. "Truth be told, I do want to do something related to science in the future. Maybe become a marine biologist. Or a geologist. I don't know...something of that sort. I'll have it all figured out, eventually. Besides, the limestone and oak wood that this castle is made of is wearing down." It's rather uncanny that Bebe could identify what this castle is made out of.
Kathy smiled even wider now. "You might actually be a genius - and I mean that seriously. And you're right. You're absolutely right. Fuck whatever idiots like Nelly say, the two of us together could achieve greatness. Well maybe not at the same things, but you know..." Kathy scratched her forehead before continuing. "I've always admired you. You might actually be the strongest of all the girls in strength of mind."
"You've always been so supportive, but you don't give yourself enough credit either, Kathy," Bebe replied. "Though I will admit: we both have more in common than I'd like to admit. Well the difference is that I prefer taking the leading role amongst the girls."
"Look at us." Kathy threw her arms slightly up before letting them fall down. "Us running scared from who we truly are. Not able to express what we want to become in the future. Stupid bitches like Nelly, Jenny, and whatever prefer to act shallow and wage gender wars back at home or whatever."
"Maybe we should kick their asses, tie 'em up, and then regurgitate everything we learned from school, and I mean everything." To Bebe's point, both girls began to laugh loudly.
"You know, I like it when you're this agreeable," Kathy smirked.
"Don't push your luck, kiddo," Bebe snickered back.
It was kind of heartwarming watching those two interact. Perhaps there is one common bond between the two; they're afraid of who they are for the ridicule the other girls at school might give them. Bebe prefers to take the lead while Kathy prefers to be a supporter, yet still I hope they aren't afraid to express themselves in wake of being called a "nerd" or other insults.
Snoopy stopped in front of a door to the left, and a few moments later did we as well. I could hear chanting and voices inside. "Tell me we aren't going through there," Wendy moaned. But Snoopy pointed at the door with his left paw. "Crap."
"Let's just sneak by them," Chris whispered.
"Easy for you to say," Kyle muttered. "You and Bebe can turn near-invisible indefinitely. The rest of us can't." Without another word, Kyle opened the door.
In front of us was a few steps that led down into a dip of water that led into a small aqueduct that followed to the right then bent in a U-shape around the perimeter of the room ahead. Surrounded by the aqueduct was a platform raised about a few feet with benches off to the right side and an altar with fourteen candles lit aflame on it on the left side. The problem here was that there was one boy at the alter while at least thirty other children were the congregation at the right side, sitting down on the benches.
"The doorway we need to get to is to the left of the altar," Mr. Hankey said. "But there's too many of them. We'll have to sneak around, follow the aqueduct. Make sure we're not spotted."
Snoopy and Woodstock stepped in first, and some water splashed on them. They both squeeled immediately. Ellen put her index finger on her own mouth. "Shh!" Something tells me I'm not going to like this water.
When I went through the doorway and got into the water, I felt a shocking cold sensation immediately. The water line went past my shoulders, and it was so cold I could already begin to feel numb. "Fucking hell!" I whispered fiercely. Nevermind that, the floor beneath in the aqueduct is uneven, so it was easy to fall over too. Therefore, I gripped the wall to my left tightly.
"It's all sea water," Mr. Hankey whispered. "Arctic sea water."
The rest of my party didn't look any more comfortable with this than I was, as they scrunched their faces in disgust, and tried to shiver as softly as possible. Despite this hardship, as quietly as we could, we snuck up closer. From there, we had to make a ninety-degree turn to the right, then follow the U-bend around the perimeter of the room, sneaking just underneath the noses of the congregation.
"We gather here today to celebrate the coming of Eric Cartman." The boy at the altar was acting like a priest giving a speech at a church service. "He will lead us to greatness. He will lead us to victory. By his decree, the adults will be no more. No more demands. No more chores. No more drama. And no more children acting like teenagers or adults."
"May it be so," the congregation replied.
We reached the first ninety-degree turn towards the left; we were no longer sneaking away from the doorway we needed to get through. Nevertheless, I was growing cold fast. I'm afraid that if we take too long, hypothermia will start to take effect. "I knew I should have shapeshifted into my bear form, or aquatic form, or even moonkin form," Bebe whispered into my right ear. "Anything is better than this."
"Too late now. If you shapeshift now, they'll hear and see you." It's pretty obvious when she morphs in a puff of purple smoke - there would be no concealing it now.
Bebe groaned softly as she folded her arms while traversing the canals. "I don't know what's worse, the shit-smeared waters we were in back in the North Park sewers that made us super grody, or freezing to death in Arctic sea water. Who even has water flowing through this castle on the second floor anyways?"
"Um..." Honestly, I prefer treading in sewers smelling like shit over possibly freezing to death here. "...the first one maybe? And to your second question, I don't really know."
As we treaded through, Bebe paused her speech for a moment. "Maybe you're right. Ugh, I guess I've been complaining alot recently."
"Don't worry about it," I replied. "Save your strength for when we finally face that fatass. It's all his fault anyways."
We took another ninety-degree turn towards the left, and now straight ahead of us past the altar was a staircase that lead out of the aqueduct onto the main floor, and even further past that by about twenty more feet was a large pair of wooden double-doors. "Don't rush it," Kyle warned. "The ground here is still unstable. Take your time."
"Let us have a moment of silence before we begin our prayer," the boy at the altar spoke, before dead silence swept over the room. We had to be extra quiet now.
Snoopy and Woodstock were the first to make it up the stairs. I was second (or third, depending on how one looks at it). After a minute or so, we finally reached the back door behind the altar. Luckily, the candles at the altar was the only light source at the room, and there was a big half-wall between the altar and the double doors where we were blocking line of sight, so we were hidden and in the shadows.
But when I looked back from where we came from, I could feel chills: Chris was stuck at the bottom of the stairs of the canal. He was trying to pull his left foot free, but of to no avail. Looking back at us, I could feel the fear in his eyes. Fortunately, Bebe and Wendy immediately rushed over as quietly as they could, while the others began to open the door. I could hear the entire "church" service sound out their next prayer.
"Hail Cartman, full of grace, Mel Gibson is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst children, and blessed is the fruit of thy hand, Mitch Conner. Holy Cartman, father of all, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our deaths. Amen." Holy shit, I knew Cartman brainwashed them, but this? This is just disgusting.
By the time the "prayer" ended, Bebe and Wendy managed to yank Chris's foot from whatever uneven surface it was stuck under. However, they were a bit too loud; the water splashed and at that moment, a flashlight shined down upon the three. "IT'S THE OCTOPATH TRAVELERS! GET THEM!"
We were already past the doorway. The aforementioned three ran as fast as they could to us. Luckily for us, the door opened outward in our direction, so Ellen pushed the left door shut while Tyler did the right door. From there, Kathy saw a wooden board standing upright at the door hinge on Tyler's side, so she pushed it left to let it fall. It neatly landed within two metallic holders, acting as a medieval door lock, and by extension barricade. Seconds later, they were yelling banging on the door harshly and rapidly, but of to no avail.
"BLESSED ARE THE WICKED, WHO ARE HEALED BY MY HAND!" Damn, the altar boy (who was now on the other side of the barricaded door) must be a huge fan of Deadpool 2 to quote that movie.
"Holy f-f-fuck, that's scary!" Kathy harshly exhaled.
"Let's get going as fast as possible." Yeah, I'm most certainly with Ellen on this one.
The next hallway we were in wasn't really a dead end, but instead, it just immediately made a ninety-degree turn towards the right, so we were now going in the direction we originally were when we first entered the castle - north. We were all shivering, but this hallway now was well-lit with two long lines of open flames at the sides going straight ahead. Maybe it was for in case anybody fell into the freezing water - a genius move on the architects' parts in retrospect.
"Stupidass cultists, all of them are. Fatass must've scrambled their brains up real nice it seems." Chris had his arms folded, shivering still. He seemed to be walking normally despite being stuck just now. "Heh, funny, I thought for a second there...you were all just gonna abandon me."
"We wouldn't even dare to do that to you," Kyle retorted.
"Hmph..." Chris put his hands in his pockets. "I...g-guess I l-l-learned something today." At that moment, all of us turned our attention towards Chris as we walked. I would never expect Chris of all people to give a learning speech. He started constantly clasping his hands together, sorta reminding me of Rebecca Cotswolds as his voice quivered. "It's too easy t-to focus on those who h-hurt you, especially with said p-people around..." Not really surprising given that Bebe and Wendy viciously gossiped about him (along with gossiping about others) in the past. "I used to think that the others in our class cared none about me...but now that they rely on me...I r-realized that it's believing in others that makes us strong."
Kyle let his face fall. "Yeah, I guess I wasn't too nice to everyone. I couldn't help but notice whenever you're with your little brother, you'd often teach him otherwise. To fear others. You'd show him to others who were getting harassed, bullied, or gossiped about at school. You even admitted this to our classmates a few times too."
"I wanted to show him that life wasn't a stupid children's movie." Chris shook his head. "I guess all I'm doing is giving him anxiety issues - damn he's gonna turn out worse than me." He looked up at Kyle now. "How can you and Kenny possibly shelter your own siblings when you know that there's darker aspects out there?"
"I can't speak for Kenny," Kyle replied. "As for me, I don't know...I always kinda wanted Ike to look up to me, like a paragon or some sorts. Now that I think about it...this does seem a bit selfish of an intention." Yeah Kyle, this does sound a bit selfish indeed.
"Guess your method proved better than mine." Chris let out a sigh. "Still, I can't imagining trying to shelter anyone, not after what I've been through. I'm just afraid he's gonna get deceived by those he thinks are friends and learn the truth about others the hard way."
"Maybe there's something we can learn from each other. It's clear both of us are doing two extremes to try to teach our younger brothers...and obviously it's not working." Chris nodded at Kyle in agreement. "I guess that is a lesson for myself - the extreme way usually isn't the best way most of the time. Most of the time."
"I mean, I don't have Danny do everything by myself." Chris scoffed as he put his right hand on his right hip. "What? Just because you see me steal from people means it's just for myself? I've given alot to Danny - money, toys, that sort of stuff. The way I see it, I was never intended to be alive in this planet, so I'll take what I think I deserve, and I'll make do. But at the same time...I'm not proud of where I came from, or who I am."
"I get it, you're the result of an unwanted pregnancy," Kyle spoke bluntly. Wendy and Ellen both flinched from Kyle's words. "But just because people treat you like a parasite doesn't mean you have to live up to be one, you know what I am saying?"
Chris was dead silent for a moment. Then his face softened immensely. "I...h-h-have been very resentful of others...even y-y-you guys."
Kyle lightly patted Chris's back with his right hand. "I don't understand though, how could you say earlier we've been good to you?"
"You guys kept me around, and even offered me to tag along with you guys, for better or for worse. So I figured that I'd return the favor." Chris sighed deeply. "You know, I've always admired your speeches. Your courage. I c-c-could never do such a speech-"
"You just did one yourself just now, in front of others you're not on greatest of terms with." Kyle eyed Tyler and Kathy briefly before looking back over at Chris. "Besides Tyler and Kathy, you seem pretty close to them. But the others though...you have alot more courage than you give yourself credit for."
"I...I g-g-guess," Chris quivered. "I j-j-just need some time...to process it all...you know. I also promise to stop stealing and scamming. I know you guys hurt me in the past, but I didn't do you guys any favors either. I'm sorry, you know?"
Kyle nodded and took his hand off Chris's back. "Take it easy, bro. We would never dare leave you hanging."
I would have never expected the intelligent Jew and the remorseless, yet insecure thug to find some common bond with each other. In the end, however, I suppose it makes sense, and really, my respect for both grew immensely. Kyle was willing to admit his faults, and truthfully, I was rather wary of Chris for most of the year (though people like Craig and Clyde let him around), but seeing him lower his guard around us and talk about his brother really did put a smile to my face.
This next room was extremely large however, and now it was lit somewhat with blue lights amongst the walls, though still it was rather dark. The room was a rectangular shape, where our doorway was just at the left corner, the left wall and the right wall was the short side, and the back wall and opposite wall is the long side. Our pathway turned into a balcony that hugged the left wall until it went halfway (about thirty or so feet) then made a ninety-degree turn right, going between six large containers of freezing water, before reaching the right wall, then hugging that wall until reaching the other doorway, at the far-right corner. And below our pathway were various conveyor belts that intersected over and other each other, and despite how we were technically still on the second floor of the castle, we could see the bottom floor in this room six stories down.
The issue was that the opposite wall had a platform that towered a bit above the pathway we were on, and four wooden ballistae overlooked our pathway. Four KND kids each oversaw each ballista for a total of sixteen KND agents.
"Maybe if we walked quietly, we could bypass them," Ellen said quietly.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen." Ellen is definitely too optimistic here.
We reached the hard-right turn, and went right. As we began to cross past the water containers, we saw at least twenty KND kids ahead of us coming towards our direction. My left ear perked up upon hearing cranking, so I turned towards that direction, and the ballistae that were resting on that platform started cranking its bolts towards us.
"KIDS NEXT DOOR! BATTLE STATIONS!"
"Shit!" Wendy muttered. "That is not good, not good!"
The middle-left ballista took the first shot. Its bolt was about half as long as the flagpole at the front of our school, though it was just as thick. Landing just a few feet in front of Snoopy (as the dog took the lead). The entire bridge we were on shook harshly, and we briefly fell to the floor. "Jesus Christ!"
The KND members in front of us stopped their charge and instead turned their attention to the ballistae. "Hold your fire, HOLD YOUR FIRE!" one of the children yelled. The children manning the far-right ballista ignored the warning however, and it fired anyways. This one overcompensated as well, landing just behind us, and the bridge shook again. "I SAID HOLD YOUR FIRE, YOU IDIOTS!"
"We're trying to do our jobs here!" one of the children from the ballistae yelled.
"They're gonna blow this bridge!" Kyle yelled.
I had to think of something fast. It's quite clear (to me at least) that the KND is just trying to create as much chaos as possible to halt our advance. I went to the left side of the bridge and leaned over. The conveyor belts were completely inactive, and nothing lied on top of them - though this was likely due to the fact that it's May and not December currently. Perhaps with clever jumping and landing skills, we could all make it down safely. Thankfully, everyone in my party was healthy and fit.
"We have to jump!" I concluded. "It's the only way!"
"Stan, are you crazy?!" Kathy yelled back.
"Do it!" Mr. Hankey yelled.
The ballistae on the far-left and middle-right both fired again, though it narrowly missed us. Instead, one of the bolts punctured into the south wall. The other pierced straight into the southeast-most water container, causing water to spill and spray all the way down to below.
"He's right!" Bebe yelled. "Jump!" Without further hesitation, Bebe was the first to make the jump off the bridge where we were on.
Next came Snoopy (and Woodstock), then Kyle (and Mr. Hankey), Wendy, Tyler, Chris, Ellen's wolf, Wendy's demon, Kathy, then Ellen in that order. I was last, making sure that the rest of us made it. It was a tricky fall - I had to make sure I landed on the conveyor belts just right. Fortunately, there were two things going for me: first, they were inactive, and second, they were large and sturdy enough to support the weigh of multiple children at once. It does make sense, given that Santa transports many packages every Christmas. It took a grant total of one minute and thirty-seven seconds to finally reach all the way to the bottom - falling down six stories safely and surely.
Given that one of the large water containers was struck by a bolt from a ballista, there was now freezing sea water that was knee-deep, though I could see drains on the floor, so the water level was lowering...very, very slowly, not quickly enough for the drains on the floor to be that relevant right now.
"More cold water, just what we all need," Ellen complained.
"We all made it, we're all safe." I looked around, and everyone was completely safe and intact. It didn't appear that anyone got injured on the way down.
There was still shouting from up above us, the children's voices echoing down. "YOU MORONS!" one of the girls from up above yelled. "WE TOLD YOU TO STOP SHOOTING THOSE BALLISTAS!"
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE GAWKING, CHASE THEM!" a boy retorted.
"DUDE, I'M NOT GOING DOWN THERE, I'M NOT CRAZY LIKE THOSE KIDS WHO ACT LIKE ADULTS!" another boy yelled back.
"SHUT UP!" another girl screamed. "YOU'RE ALWAYS BEING A BIG SISSY!"
Yelling and screaming then erupted from where we were above. Honestly, this is sorta expected, given that these children were actual children, and not teens or adults who happened to be in the fourth grade such as myself and the rest of my party. With such a juvenile mindset, it comes to no surprise that they'd start bickering immaturely, and it is unlikely they'll stop. At least for us, this is good; now is the time for our perfect getaway.
"Snoopy, where to?" Snoopy pointed at a doorway at the northeast corner, parallel to the doorway we saw when we were just above. "Let's do this."
The doorway was actually an elevator. We got inside, and the door closed. There were various buttons, one for each floor, though the highest story we could climb to was the eighth. "I think they're at the top," Ellen said as she pushed the eighth floor button. Once we were all inside, the door closed.
Bebe shapeshifted into her Moonkin Form. "Careful. They might try to stop us once we reach the second floor." We all drew our weapons, ready for combat.
The elevator within a few seconds finally reached the second floor...but the elevator just kept going. Nothing tried to interrupt the elevator's rise. "Huh, I guess they're still too busy bitching at each other to care about us," Kyle remarked.
"Rachel wasn't lying when she said we act too much like adults," Wendy added.
At the top when the elevator finally stopped and opened was another hallway that went right, so now we were going west again. These hallways were now vibrant and well-lit, with torches hanging off the walls. The windows outside showed that the weather was still the same; the full moon and aurora shined brightly into the hallway as well with no clouds in sight.
Ellen began to pet her own wolf in the head repeatedly. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Yes you are!"
Wendy slowed her walking pace so that Ellen could catch up until they were both side-by-side. "You already have a dog back at home, don't you?"
"That's right," Ellen smiled. "It's...a black laborador."
"That's not really that girly," Wendy replied. "I never seen your dog. Honestly I would have taken you for a poodle person."
"Me? Really? That's way too much pampering required, even for me." Ellen took her hands off her own wolf. "How about you? Don't you own any pets?"
"No, I don't." Wendy frowned. "Never had the opportunity to get one." This was mostly because Wendy's parents didn't see pets as a useful investment, at least that's what she told me. "The extent of my knowledge comes from reading books about pets...which I only bother in the library whenever I get sent to detention."
"And you don't have any siblings either?" Ellen asked.
Wendy shook her head. "No. In my house, it's just me...and me. That's about it."
"I guess it kinda makes sense when the other girls claim you're overcompensating for loneliness." When those words left Ellen's mouth, she and Wendy both grimaced. "Oh God, I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I was just-"
"Hey," Wendy interrupted. "Don't worry about it. Though when I think about it, it sorta makes sense. I guess I really do have...loneliness issues or whatever. I don't know, it sounds really stupid." Wendy sighed. "It's the first time I really talked about this to well...anyone." I guess Wendy is still a bout sour about how yesterday we refused to pay any attention to her in Middle Park. Still though, while she has brought up loneliness issues to me before, she never really went into great detail about it.
"I do have some advice, Wendy, though you may not like what you're about to hear." Wendy shrugged at Ellen in response. "I get it, you have no one to really look to, no one to really protect. But bluntly put, I feel as if you're...dare I say, overcompensating for that fact. You don't always need to be so perfect in the eyes of our peers, step above all else. Don't get me wrong, you have alot going for you, but sometimes you ought to take a step back and...reassess everything, you know?"
Wendy lightly gasped. "I can't believe I'm hearing all of this from you...but you know what? You're absolutely right. You know, I always thought you were just some shy, meek girl, but honestly, you're a really strong girl."
Ellen laughed. "Me? Strong? Heh, that's something I thought I'd never hear. I mean, I don't know, I can't say for certain I'm that strong, but...I want to make everything right for us all, you know? There's alot of bad things out there in the world growing up, but there's always people out there I'll cherish. Can you say the same?"
Wendy glanced at me for a moment as she smiled. I could see her cheeks flush, and at that moment, I could feel mine burn as well. She then looked back at Ellen. "Honestly? I think there's a few people in mind."
"I can guess who exactly," Ellen replied. "Besides, at the end of the day, I have my hopes, goals, and dreams for myself, just like everybody else. But if I had to choose between pursuing them for my own self-satisfaction, or prove my loyalty to those I love and care about, I'd choose the latter without a heartbeat. The girls can tease me for not being 'strong', but the way I see it, I would never dare put my own glory above the needs of others - it's not how I want to live my own life."
"Hm..." Wendy put both of her hands in her pockets. "I know I reiterated many times that I want to be a lawyer or something, but this is something that I wasn't sure I could admit to myself: I guess when push comes to shove, honestly I would put those I love and care about above my own needs. I just...you know...wasn't sure if I could say that to people like Nelly."
"Don't worry about bitches like Nelly," Ellen replied. "You do you."
Wendy laughed softly. "This is exactly why I say you're stronger than you say you are. I'm ashamed I haven't gotten to know you better until now when I had all year."
It was really eye-opening (for me at least) hearing both girls chat. It seems that both of them bond over the fact that at the end of the day, despite what they might claim, they would always put the people they care about over themselves. In another sense, I honestly think both of them are the social experts for this entire party, though Ellen lacks confidence while Wendy often has too much.
Snoopy pointed to the right at a doorway, but instead of a door was a metal gate. There was a lever right next to the gate to the next. "I guess it's through here." Without hesitation, I pulled down the lever, and it only took three seconds for the gate to lift fully. "Let's get in." After all of us walked in, the gate shut. We were locked in.
We were in a square room. There was another doorway and a gate off to the right, which led to a ramp that went forward, then went left to the middle of the balcony at the back wall, and from there was another doorway forward that led out of the room. However, standing on top of that balcony were five children our age, children we have yet to encounter ever.
One was a black girl with a hat similar to Wendy's but red in coloration, a blue jacket, and brown pants. She had a crossbow in her hands, and next to her was a gorilla that is actually pink with a rainbow-shaped tab sticking out its forehead. "The name's Abigail Lincoln, or Abby, and I'm Numbuh Five!"
Another was a blonde boy much shorter than the rest of us, who wore an orange jacket and blue pants. He had two maces that were similar to Bebe's. "The name's Wallabee Beetles, or Wally, and I'm Numbuh Four!"
There is also an Asian girl with a green jacket and black pants. She had a staff, though hers was black with a yellow cross on it. "The name's Kuki Sanban, and I'm Numbuh Three!"
There's a kid who is almost as fat as Cartman, who wore a brown aviator cap with goggles, a teal jacket, and brown pants. He also had a staff, though this one is wooden. "The name's Hogarth P. Gilligan Jr., or Hoagie, and I'm Numbuh Two!"
Last was a bald boy who stood in the middle, who wore a red jacket, gray pants, and sunglasses. He had a shield and a sword. "And I'm Nigel Uno, and I'm Numbuh One, leader of Sector V of the Kids Next Door!" Okay, first off, these introductions sound super awkward as fuck, and second off, nobody asked these dumb motherfuckers who they are. To me, they're all irrelevant. "And I've been waiting for the day where I can meet you guys, Octopath Travelers, I can smell the stench of adult filth inside all of you, so much so I-"
At this point, we all lost it. Therefore, our entire party yelled, "SHUT THE FUCK UP RETARDS!"
"NOBODY FUCKING ASKED YOU WHO YOU FUCKFACES ARE!" I added.
"AND WE'RE STILL NOT GONNA CARE!" Kyle added.
"YOU'RE ALL IRRELEVANT ANYWAYS!" Bebe shouted, still in her moonkin form after all this time. It seems she hasn't shapeshifted back since the elevator ride.
"YEAH, JUST FUCK OFF AND DIE, YOU ASSHOLES!" Wendy screamed.
"YEAH!" the rest of us agreed with Wendy.
The five adversaries glanced at each other. "Wow," Wally grimaced. "And I thought I was the jerk here."
"Numbuh Five agrees that they're way too toxic," Abby added.
"Geez, I know they're supposed to be brainwashed like adults, but from what I researched, and from what I see now, they're just awful people." Funny that Hoagie, the fat one, thinks we're brainwashed by the adults. He's not wrong about us being a bit awful though.
"Meanies like them have no place!" Kuki shouted. "They're all bullies! This is what happens when you let popularity at school go too far!"
"Let's greet the enemy," Nigel said. All five of them jumped down. Big mistake asshole; now that you're at our level, we can actually take you down. "I'll assume you eight have not heard of us Sector V of the Kids Next Door: the elite team. I'm a level twenty Protection Warrior, Numbuh Two is a level twenty Arcane Mage, Numbuh Three is a level twenty Restoration Druid, Numbuh Four is a level twenty Frost Death Knight, and Numbuh Five is a level twenty Beast Mastery Hunter, and we have braved many a dungeon, from the lairs of Father and the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, to the islands of the Bullies, and have even fought on the ships of Stickybeard." Wow, so not only are they completely unprepared for PvP combat, they're also boasting about shit so irrelevant that we will never hear about again and will most certainly forget in another hour or so.
"Oh my fucking GOD, they're still ranting about stupid shit?!" Kathy complained.
"Why do we even need to know about all of this bullshit, man?!" Ellen added.
"You K-N-Dorks are so fuckin' annoying, dude!" Chris seethed.
"Octopath Travelers you call themselves?" Nigel scoffed. "The way I see it, you guys should call yourselves the Delightful Dorks Numbuh Two. I'm sure Father would think you'd all fit in. Delightful dorks. The way you all swear, and the adult knowledge all of you have, and your lack of childlike innocence, I'm not surprised we're at odds."
Alright, enough is enough. "Kyle, please cast Hex on the dumbass leader before I REALLY get pissed and do something we're all gonna regret."
Kyle nodded as he brought both of his hands outward. "Frog!" All of a sudden, in a puff of smoke and steam, Nigel was turned into a small frog. The frog began to leap past us, but that didn't matter now.
"You're outmatched, retards!" Wendy cackled. "Let's get 'em, Octopath Travelers!"
This time, we just ran straight in without any second thought. Wendy casted Rain of Fire, Bebe casted Hurricane, Ellen casted Volley, and Kathy casted Blizzard, raining down fire, ice, lightning, and shrapnel down upon the other four Sector V kids. Meanwhile, Kyle, Chris, Tyler, and I just ran straight in. Kyle casted Chain Lightning, zapping all of the KND kids with lightning, Chris casted Fan of Knives, spraying knives on the KND kids, Tyler casted Holy Wrath, firing bolts of holy light upon all of Sector V, and I casted Thunder Clap, quaking the kids with concussive force. Needless to say, they went down in less than six seconds. Dungeon group my ass, it's so obvious that they weren't cut out for PvP at all, especially not against eight Rank 1 arena players.
"Ow..." they all complained, cut up and bleeding.
We turned around. The frog was in the middle of the room, and we surrounded the frog. We all took out our melee weapons; this was no real change of pattern for the boys in our party, though Kathy and Wendy both took out their daggers, Ellen drew out both of her swords, and even Bebe, who despite in her Moonkin Form could still utilize her mace. A second later, the frog turned back into Nigel's original human form.
He lied down on the ground, grinning and laughing nervously. "Hee hee...hee hee...I...don't suppose you're too happy with us?"
We didn't say anything, and really we didn't need to. The glare in all our faces told enough of the story: after all the bullshit we had to sift through in this stupid castle, we were fucking pissed. Even though I still have the Lasso of Truth on me, I said to myself fuck it; I'm not wasting any more time on the KND's stupid bullshit. Without further ado, I took the first swing with my axe upon Nigel, and the rest of my party followed suit. What's one casual dungeon tank to eight pissed off, Rank 1 arena players, really?
The end result was that Nigel was cut up and bleeding like the rest of them. Bebe shifted back into her human form. "Let's just go," Kathy said, and of course we all agreed with her. We opened the gate to the right, and followed the pathway out.
The pathway led into a spiral staircase that circled around the inner perimeter of a cylindrical tower. This followed for two more stories until we finally reached an outside area. It was just a long bridge that spanned about a quarter of a mile north to what appears to be some other structure ahead. There was no obstacle on the walkway, and the full moon and aurora shined down brightly, giving us high visibility still. So we walked, as it was the only path forward now.
Most of my party seemed to be in better spirits now. But then my eyes fell upon a certain boy. "Tyler, you haven't said much at all this past hour. You alright?" Unlike usual, he has been eerily silent ever since we first entered the castle.
Tyler glanced down at his hands and closed his fists afterwards. "Why do I fight?" Honestly, I'm not sure where Tyler is going with this, so I stayed silent. "Revenge? Anger? Justice? I thought those were my purposes. But I suppose in the end it's some coping mechanism. We're always coping with something, Stan. Could you say the same?"
I gave it a thought of a moment, but then I found my answer. "Honestly, yes. My sister, you know, kicks my ass quite alot. And my dad being a shithead. My mom sorta ignores me too." This talk caused me to frown deeper as I could feel my heart pierce. "So if you want to laugh, go ahead-"
"I wouldn't even think about laughing about your family, Stan," Tyler grumbled. "After all, it would be hypocrisy. You know my family isn't that much better."
I nodded. "How...if I may...how do you respond to it all?" There was dead silence, and honestly, I'm not sure what he was thinking. So I continued. "Me, when Shelly gets nasty, I just walk away. I...kinda pussy out, I'll admit. Just submit. It's better for me that way. How about you?"
Tyler lifted his head. "You wanna know a really fucked up retaliation? I once convinced Chris to come in and steal their belongings, just to sell that shit in Middle Park. Music players, certain types of magazines, whatever you think you might find valuable. I, of course, kept thirty percent of the revenue. And do you want to know why?"
"Why?" Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to know why.
But then Tyler continued in a way I didn't expect. "I learned an important lesson from them, that if you want to get what you want, you have to push others around and step on them, like what they did to me. So I got so used to solving my issues with anger and force...but being around you guys in the third and fourth grade made me realize otherwise..." Tyler then began to sniffle. "S-s-sorry, I d-don't like talking about this."
"Tyler, I'm sorry..." I began to pat Tyler's back with my right hand.
Tyler shook his head furiously. "I...d-d-don't want you guys to see t-this side of me. But everytime I think about home..." He began to cry as he tried to wipe away his tears. "C-c-call me selfish, b-but that was my only motivation of joining y-you guys...to g-get away from m-my siblings. B-but I'm not ready for any of this...e-everything is always beyond our control...I'm c-constantly praying we get lucky."
I patted Tyler's back some more. "Hey, it's alright. F-for the record, without you, we could never have gotten this far. You're just as important as the rest of us are." I exhaled heavily. I think I know the solution to the problem here, and this time I won't back down. "I will say this though: you can't control everything, being a control freak isn't always going to work. You have to learn to adapt, take a step back, and learn to go with the flow."
"H-how can you possibly say that?" Tyler whined. "Y-you of all people know best what it's l-like to be alone and unwanted."
"Do you really think that family is just about what's in your blood or DNA?" At that moment, Tyler began to slow down his sniffling as he glanced at me. "I've said this time and time again at school: we're the real adults in town. We're not biologically related, sure, but we're the ones looking out for each other. Is South Park ideal? Of course not, but we have to make do and adapt. And outsiders will never understand that, so they'll never cherish what we have, the people we care for, and the memories we have."
Tyler wiped his eyes one last time. "All I ever done was take from our peers...I...think it's time for me to give back what I owe. We've done alot of bad things, you and I, and others here too. But when I look at Cartman...I will never become just like him, ever. I know why I want to fight now."
I couldn't help but smile. "You do?"
"Yeah. South Park brings in alot of problems, problems no one our age should ever have to face. And now I'm sick of contributing to the mess." Tyler drew out his sword. "We have to make things better, our entire class. And right now, I think we can all agree on the best step to do so."
Now I grinned. Now he gets it. "Now you get it. We do this together."
"This is one hill I'm willing to die on. But I'll see it to the end. I...thank you, Stan." Tyler flashed a genuine smile at me.
I never thought that Tyler and I would have something in common. He's essentially the bad boy bully and I'm basically a sensitive wimp who like to often pose and give off the illusion of a jerk jock, for better or for worse. But we did relate in one way, and that was the need for family. At the end of the day, I will still hold onto my belief: true family is not in the blood, but what you can cherish together, and I hope this is something we can keep moving forward.
It turns out we arrived at the outside of an arena. There was a massive doorway blocked by a metal gate, though there was a lever off to the left side. "This is it," Mr. Hankey said. "Once we pull this lever down and walk in, there's no turning back. Are you all ready?"
"Yeah," the rest of us said. I pulled the lever, and we all walked in.
So it turns out that two days after I published Chapter 17, Sephiroth gets announced in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Am I great at predicting, or what?
Next chapter is gonna be another "boss fight", I will tell you that right now. However, I'm not sure who to put in (it will not be Cartman, he'll be saved for later). I was thinking of Nelly, though also I could do Cole and Isaac. Ultimately, I'm not sure, so next chapter will take a bit of time.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
