"Thank you Tetalia." Ben said to her as the rain came pouring in over him. He was soaked to the bone and cold. She could barely look at him. All she could think about was how she had turned down the one and only chance she'd gotten to save him, Riley, and William from the storm. She hadn't even touched her blanket even though she was cold. She couldn't justify using it when two men she liked and one who had saved her life were freezing. The rain poured on all through the night. Finally, Tetalia passed out and without Ben having to ask, Abigail covered her with a blanket. And then she laid down herself. Ben and Riley pulled their jackets over their heads to keep the water out of their ears as they tried to get some rest. Will, who didn't have a jacket, slept in a ball with his face towards the ground.
The next morning, Ben was the last to wake. When he did, he noticed that the water had pooled in the cage thanks to a three inch high ledge around it. "That would explain why I woke up on my back." Ben thought to himself as he sat up. He noticed his sinuses were stopped up and that he was freezing in the morning air but felt it was best not to mention that.
"You're awake!" Tetalia said a bit relieved.
"Yep." He sneezed.
"Don't worry, that passes after a few minutes." Riley reassured him.
"Good. Has Elton brought us anything to eat?"
"Are you kidding? Mr. Selfish walked in with a hot cup of coffee and an English muffin just to 'check in' on us." Abigail replied.
"He's doing everything in his power to make sure I get sick." It didn't escape Ben's notice that Tetalia looked away from everyone when he said this.
"I should have agreed to do it." Tetalia said sadly.
"No, you made the right choice. If your father listened to you Elton would have got the treasure without a problem, if he didn't listen to you then he'd be no better off than us and Elton would have taken over the government."
"Why doesn't he do that now?" Riley asked.
"He's not interested in ruling, he just wants money."
"Why are you getting mad at him? She chose this for everyone." Will gestured towards Tetalia. It was his anger that was talking, not him. Surprised, she glanced over at him. Now Ben was really mad. Riley and Abigail looked over at him and saw the storm coming.
"She chose this? She was only following my orders when she turned Elton down. Out of everyone here you are the most responsible for this mess."
"How is this my fault?" Will almost shouted, matching Ben's tone.
"If you hadn't punched out the window we wouldn't be soaked right now." Something in Ben's eyes told Will to back down but he wouldn't listen.
"Oh, well excuse me for trying to get out of this mess. At least I tried to escape. I didn't ask to be here. I had no choice."
" You chose this when you agreed to be her bodyguard."
"I didn't have a choice. It was this or get in trouble with the law for saying no."
"Don't assume I don't know what your options were as well as you do. I didn't volunteer for that assignment either. If you were smart enough to try and escape from here what's to stop you from breaking out of jail? You HAD a choice." Tetalia couldn't hold back a sob. She blamed herself for their fighting. For the fact that the men were all soaked. And now, Will had to remind her, that he wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for her.
"Jasmine..." Ben instinctively went as close as he could to her, grabbing the bars in his hands.
"I'm sorry." The tears were running down her face as she looked at Will. "I would do anything to get you, all of you, out of this mess."
"Except disobey me." Ben reminded her. "I asked you to turn Elton down. You did the right thing."
"But look at you. If you get sick and never get out of this mess..."
"It'll be my fault." Ben cut in. "I didn't have to make that promise to your mother. I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't want to help you. It would have been easy for me to walk out."
"And we wouldn't be here right now if we didn't want to be either." Abigail chimed in.
"Me, Ben, and Abigail are all here for the same reason. Loyalty. Ben is keeping a promise that he made, and we're here to support him." Riley said. "I would rather be soaked and freezing to death than abandon my friend." He and Ben exchanged glances.
"And I would rather be here right now than play the part of the girl back home just waiting to hear any shred of news. I tried that for a day and hated it." Abigail added.
"Thanks." Ben told the both of them. He then looked at Tetalia. "So, no matter what happens to us, know that we chose to be here and we wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled as the last of her tears fell. They all moved in for a group hug.
"Thank you Ben." Tetalia said as she looked at the people around her. "I'm glad you're all here." Will rolled his eyes from the other cage but he secretly envied Ben for his friend's loyalty. He hoped that, if he'd lost that with Tetalia, she could find it in her heart to trust him like that again.
The next few days passed by. Elton saw to it that everyone was well fed and that the window stayed open. The storms came raging off and on and as the temperatures dropped so did their spirits.
"Abigail, what does the thermometer read tonight?" Ben asked as the rain trickled in over him. He was terribly cold, but there was nothing that he could do.
"Thirty one." Worry was clear in her voice. They all knew that water made your body lose heat faster. Ben knew that he was sick. After five days of this no one could avoid it. Will and Riley were too. Abigail and Tetalia were showing signs of fighting off a cold. The lack of heat and shelter had gotten to them all. Being sick was bad enough in and of its self, but being sick and captured was torture. Ben would sit up, just to give them comfort. Although, he was pretty sure he'd been battling a fever for the past few hours.
"Now, we are ready." Elton said, surprising everyone with his presence. He snapped his fingers and two guards came in with medicine for Will and Riley. The more leverage over Ben the better.
"What about Ben?" Tetalia nervously asked.
"He's no good to me if he's well enough to escape. Just as long as he's alive long enough to get me my treasure I'm not worried about him."
"You can't do that! I'm no doctor, but even I can tell that he's not well at all. Look at him. He's burning up with fever. He can barely even sit up let alone help you find a treasure. Please, you have to do something!" Tetalia's fears were met with cold disdain from Charles Elton. He merely snapped his fingers and the guards grabbed Ben and pulled him up.
"To the palace." Ten guards with guns accompanied the group. There was no need for chains.
They all climbed into the back of a van. The windows had been tinted so that no one could see in. There were bench seats along the sides with just enough room to seat everyone. Abigail and Tetalia both climbed in next to Ben while Will and Riley sat on the other side.
Elton saw to it that the library was free of people. It hadn't taken them much to figure out which library the clue was pointing to. There was only one library in the palace before Alexandria's death. And it hadn't been touched since. A simple diversion for the palace guards was all it took for them to get in. As Alexandria hated noise while she was reading the walls had been sound proofed extremely well, so there was no reason for Elton to worry about sounds escaping the room.
"Now what?" He asked Ben. The guards let him go. Abigail and Riley rushed to his side. Ben's eyes searched the room before he replied. He couldn't hide his smile when he realized the answer to the riddle.
"See the decorative letters that adorn the bookcases? Look at the bottom of those letters and look at the top of the fire place."
"They match just like puzzle pieces." Abigail was awe struck.
"We have to find the letters that spell out just and arrange them over the fireplace." Elton snapped his fingers and a guard came up and stood behind Ben. This was Elton's way of letting the prisoners know they were to do what Ben had just said. Once the letters had been found, they were carefully placed in the right spot. This opened up a secret tunnel behind the fireplace. After they all walked in Charles looked to Ben for the next clue. Fear gripped his stomach. He didn't know where to go from here. Elton approached Ben.
"And the next clue is?"
"I..." He started uncertainly. Tetalia searched the room with her eyes. Memories flooded back to her.
"Well?" Frustration seemed to ooze from Elton's presence.
"I don't know."
The conversation faded away and memories filled Tetalia's mind; Memories of tea parties, and daily walks. Running, and playing. This had been her special place with her mother. Only the two of them ever came here. She knew it by heart even after all these years. It was as if those memories were just waiting for her to step foot in that room.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't know where to go from here. I've never been here before."
"Well, you'd better figure something out Benjamin Gates." The threatening tone of Charles' voice brought Tetalia back to reality.
This chapter goes out to Power Ranger Silver Fan who reminded me that I hadn't updated in a while. I'd gotten caught up writing another story that I haven't posted yet, if I ever do. I hadn't forgotten about this one I just got distracted.