April 27, 2019 (11:45 AM)
A/N: For convenience, A), I'm making it so there is a longer gap between TRR3 and TRH, and B), we're ignoring timezones. Also, I'm shrinking the world of TRR for faster travel times. Constructive criticism would be appreciated.
It was another day in Cordonia, while Riley and Liam were chatting in the throne room.
"Are you thinking about an heir, Riley?"
"Yeah, I mean, we're gonna need one for the future of Cordonia. I'm still pretty nervous, thinking about it."
"Don't worry, I think you'll be a great mother."
"Thanks."
Hana walks into the throne room, carrying a notepad.
"Are you guys still thinking about the heir?"
"Yeah", Riley replies. "It's just that there's a lot of pressure. But don't worry, I'll get over it."
Hana opens her notepad. "Well, since you're having trouble coming up with names for the baby, I found some more you could consider."
Liam sits down on the throne. "Ok, lets here them."
"Well, for a boy, Nemesio sounds like a pretty name. It means justice. There's also Terry and Enzo, both meaning leader, and Cato, which means smart."
Riley nods. "Sounds good. Anything for girls?"
"I have Advika, which means unique, Abigail, which means beauty, Azar, which means fire-"
"Hey Hana, maybe you could give them a girls name that doesn't start with A.", said Bastien, followed by Mara.
"Oh right", Hana says. "Hmmm, I have Moon, which obviously means moon, and Venus, which is another name for bea-"
Suddenly, a huge blue circle appeared in the throne room, and what seems to be like a medieval, alternate, universe seems to be inside it.
"Riley, Liam, get back", said Mara, as she and Bastien took out guns and pointed them into the circle. Riley and Liam instinctively backed up, Liam in front of Riley as to act as a shield. A group of people suddenly came tumbling down, all screaming. The weird blue circle soon disappeared.
"Ow! Hey, maybe a warning could help", said a young woman with red markings on his face.
"Sorry. An apple doesn't feel pain", said a young man that couldn't be identified, as everyone was in a very messy pile.
Mara pointed her gun at a woman in the middle, who was wearing armor and had a sword on her. "Everyone, you have three seconds to explain who you are, where you came from, and what the hell that blue thing was.
Everyone in the pile seemed to slightly reorganize themselves. Mara was still pointing her gun at the same woman and Bastien guarding Riley and Liam. A handsome man with light brown hair, blue eyes and a red marking on his chest stepped forward in front of the armored woman, while placing himself in front of Mara's gun at the same time.
"Who do you think you are, threatening a queen like that. And why are you here, nobody invited you."
Mara shot the branded man's leg. As the branded man fell to the ground, the red-marked woman went to help the branded man while the armored woman unleashed her sword and pointed it at Mara's neck.
"Put your weird-looking weapon down, and perhaps I shall spare your life."
Bastien shouts, "SECURITY! GRAB THEM!" Soldiers gather around and take drag the dungeon one by one, while the sound of clashing metal is heard, frightening Hana. Someone, the same person that said that apples didn't feel pain, started shouting for everyone to calm down, but no one seemed to hear. Fire starts spreading out of nowhere, and while the servants pour water on the fire before it burns the entire place down, there's still a smokey black spot where the weird people once stood. Everyone from the blue circle is locked in a cell in the dungeon (it's probably a prison, but we're calling it a dungeon anyways)
"Keep a good eye on them", says Mara. "We don't know what they're up to."
All the soldiers leave, except for a few guarding the dungeon exit. A young man with a thin mustache and long black hair turns to a high school boy with prosthetics for both arms.
"Whitlock, are you absolutely sure we're at Stormholt? Because this seems like an entire new world."
April 27, 1109 (10:45 AM)
"Yeah, I'm actually surprised that we managed to rebuild everything within four years."
"Four years is a long time, Whitlock", says Dominic.
"Four years might as well be 24 hours considering what had to be rebuilt", Whitlock responded. "The maze, all the laboratories, all the houses. Not to mention convincing everyone it was safe. We also had to add new things, like air defences."
"Might as well learn from your mistakes", said Raydan.
"Yep. Hey Whitlock, did you make any progress on that weird blue crystal from the spirit world I gave you three years ago?", asked Sei.
"Yeah, and it's actually pretty interesting. I still have it in a safe. Hang on, let me go get it."
Whitlock went down a flight of stairs and soon emerged with a glowing blue crystal.
"That think has gotten a lot brighter than when I gave it to you", said Sei.
"I think it's because I've been studying and experimenting on it. What I found is that this crystal may have the power to teleport objects, and most likely people, in a matter of moments. It's quite fascinating."
Raydan was skeptical. "Whitlock, are you sure? That seems a bit far-fetched."
Whitlock turned to Kenna. "Hey Kenna, did an apple appear on your throne chair a few days ago?"
Kenna was surprised, and nodded her head. "Well, Kenna, that was the work of this crystal combined with that machine over there." Whitlock motioned toward a decent-sized gray rectangular prism with many buttons, a door, and a spot for the crystal.
Adder looked at her watch. "Guys, weren't you supposed to leave half an hour ago?"
Kenna looks at Adder's watch. "Shoot, we were. Hey Whitlock, could that machine get us back to Stormholt?"
"Yeah. Let me just change some numbers and it'll be good to go."
Jackson stopped. "Ok, no way I'm gonna step into that machine. I'm going by horse"
"Suit yourself", said Whitlock as the machine buzzed to life. He typed in a string of numbers. "We're good to go. Stormholt, here we come."
Sei, Whitlock, Kenna, Raydan, Val and Dominic walked into the machine, and soon disappeared.
"Well, better get going", said Jackson. "Well, Adder, are you coming?"
"No, I'm staying here for an extra day. See you later, Jackson."
And with that, Jackson went outside, mounted on his horse, and took off.
April 27, 2019 (11:48 AM)
"I mean, I did all my calculations correct. I triple-checked everything. We should be at Stormholt."
"Maybe Stormholt in another world. That's one way to explain all this craziness. Dom, can you melt the bars and get us out of here?"
"I've been trying", said Dominic. "I swear my power's were working earlier, but now they've just... disappeared."
"Try harder, lowlander."
"You try, Sei."
Sei goes to the bars and tries to melt them, but nothing happens.
"My magic's gone as well."
"Well", Whitlock said. "We're stuck here. Might as well figure out where we are. Okay, so what do we know about this place?"
"Our magic doesn't work", Dominic starts.
"This must be related to Stormholt, Whitlock's calculations couldn't have been that off", Raydan adds.
"Does the spirit world work?", asks Annelyse.
"I've tried that, doesn't exist here", Sei answers. "Why don't we try something simple to get our answers?" Sei turns to the guards. "Hey, where are we?"
"You're in the Dungeon of Cordonia."
Raydan asks, "How far away are we from the ocean?"
"Which ocean?"
Startled, Raydan adds "The one closest to us...?"
"The Atlantic Ocean is 8,478 kilometers."
Whitlock says, "That means if this were our world, we'd be in the Stormholt castle."
"Alrighty, what dumb questions can we ask here?", Raydan asks.
"Dumb?! Raydan, we're in a dungeon, and you're gonna ask about stuff that we already know", exclaims Annelyse.
"Well hey, basic questions mean basic knowledge about this place, which is probably gonna get us further than their queen's favorite type of chocolate."
"Good point", Annelyse says. "Hey guards-"
"You have the right to remain silent."
Whitlock asks, "Uh, what's that?"
"Anything you say can be used against you in court. Thus, you have the right to remain silent. No more questions."
"Well, I don't think we're getting any new information anytime soon", Val says.
April 27. 1109 (10:45 PM)
In Whitlock's lab, Adder's talking to Zenobia, Diavolos, and Helene who came earlier, when Jackson comes in again.
"Done with Stormholt business already?", asks Diavolos.
"Do you know where Kenna, Dom, Annelyse, Raydan, Whitlock, Val and Sei are?"
"I thought they went to Stormholt in Whitlock's machine thingy", says Zenobia.
Jackson responds, "Well, apparently not, because they haven't arrived."
"Are you absolutely sure?", asks Adder.
"Yes, I've asked the staff, they never arrived. I don't think Whitlock's machine worked."
"They can't have just disappeared. They must have gone somewhere", Helene responds. "Well, the best thing we can do is to rest here and figure this out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Helene, we have seven people missing, five of them are royalty, and you're just gonna put it off", scolds Jackson. "Have you ever learned that time is the essence? They could be in danger!"
"Helene has a point, Jackson. We're not gonna be much help sleep-deprived. I've learned that the hard way. And if they're truly in danger, I think they can handle themselves, and it'd be the getting to Stormholt that'd be the problem, and I think they can wait a night. You can follow us, I think there's a spare room for you", defends Adder.
"Fine", Jackson says, as he follows everyone to the guest house. "But this better be the right decision."
April 28, 1109 (7:17)
Zenobia wakes up to the light of the sun and a lot of noise. She gets out of bed to find that she's the last one to wake up.
"You guys are awake already? And I thought today was one of my early bird days."
"Why have you been sleeping for so long?", says Adder. "Getting you 'beauty sleep'?"
"Yes."
Adder sighed. "I should have expected that answer."
30 minutes later, Jackson starts. "Well, now that we're all ready, we might as well get started on the issue at hand. We have seven missing people, and no knows where they went. The original destination is the Stormholt castle, and I'm willing to bet that it probably had something to do with that machine. Any ideas on where to start?"
"Well, we're might not get too much staying here", says Adder. "Me, Zenobia, and Diavolos will go back to Whitlock's lab and check the machine. Jackson and Helene should go outside and see if there's anything that could help us. And maybe take some of the papers as well for reference."
Soon enough, Jackson and Helene were walking around the Foundry. It was only 8 AM, but the sun shone bright like it was noon.
"So, uh, what are we looking for, exactly?", questions Helene.
"I... don't actually know. Maybe find out more about teleportation? I'm sure there's a library somewhere", answers Jackson.
A moment of silence lingers as the two wonder around the Foundry. Inventions are being made, discussions are held, people are going to work.
"So, uh..." Jackson says, trying to break the silence. "It's a nice day out, isn't it?
"Nice?", remarks a familiar voice behind Jackson. "I swear to non-existent god it's so bright my eyes might bleed, and it's not even noon yet." Both Helene and Jackson turn around.
"Long time no see", Helene responds, while Jackson says, "You?! Aren't you supposed to be locked up?"
"Well", replies Hex. "I guess I got mercy and only got four years of dungeon time, so I'm technically free. What are you guys doing here anyways? People don't usually wander around a foreign, busy city with no intent of accomplishing something here?"