The loud siren rang throughout the cell, as all the guards immediately stopped what they are doing, and rushed to their designated prisons. Some had stopped to pick up their weapons, or check the places for traps, but most had charged in immediately without hesitation. They were greeted with an empty cell, doors opened with a paper note hanging on the wall. It reads: 'See ya later, idiots!'

Needless to say, everyone was stunned, some was even irked by this odd turn of event. The guards on duty of cell five were knocked out cold, and cups of sake was broken around them, indicating whoever broke the prisoners out had striked in the dark. The prisoners' weapons and belongings were gone. One of the guard tried to wake his friend up to interrogate him.

A few minutes later, the silver-haired archer burst in, and demanded angrily.

"What happened here?"

One of the guards who were knocked out earlier, shakily stood up and bow on one knee, with left hand curved around right fist and put it in front of his chest. "Sir Issac, the prisoner had escaped! We were playing cards, when the auburn haired girl from earlier knocked us out with the back of her sword! We do apologize for our less than desirable actions—"

The archer, who is now identified as Isaac, was livid. "Your only job is to guard the prisoners, and you couldn't even do it?!" He furiously turned around. "What are you idiots waiting for? Search for them immediately!"

A choruses of 'Yes, sir!' replied him, as Isaac anxiously bit his lip. This could turns out both ways for their plan, and he hoped his lord wouldn't be too mad about this new development.


"What do you mean Derek is trying to murder the princess?!" Axel dropped his jaw on the floor, exclaiming in horror.

Everyone else whipped their heads around and make the universal sign for 'silence'. The self-proclaimed terrorist immediately shut his mouth. Olivia felt the urge to smack him upside the head, but kept her cool. Now is not the time for dramatic acts. They are on the run, and it wouldn't be much longer until the guards discover them.

"Lukas, remember how you got caught in Derek's room?" Petra inquired. It's best to started at somewhere after all.

Lukas nodded. "I do-wait, how did you know?!"

"That was me. I accidentally kicked the closet's wall." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I'd thought that I'm done for sure, but he caught you instead. Sorry about that." Petra turned serious once more. "But anyway, Derek and Isaac planned to murder the princess tonight, and release us in the morning, so we will escape and become the ultimate criminals, blamed for her highness' demise. Derek had a fake will from the princess to give him the throne ready. If the intel are correct, which I know they are, that guy will act at twelve sharp. That's the gist of it."

"That bastard!" Lukas hissed.

"Luckily you got us out in time, huh?" Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, chuckling lightly despite the situation.

Axel coughed, effectively grabbing everyone's attention. "What should we do now, beside the obvious of course. Should we rescue the princess? Or just leave her there and get out of here?"

Everyone pondered for a moment, until Ellegaard speak up. "Personally, I think we should rescue the princess." A questioning glance from Olivia made her elaborate further. "I mean, if we escape now, this Derek can pin the blame on us after he kill the princess. If we rescued her, maybe she will forgive us and helped us find the Zircon gem. Remember, time is of the essence here. If we became fugitives, every town we come across will report on us, making our search harder than it already is, therefore hindering our search."

Jesse has to agree with her. That is sound logic indeed. "Alright, we will help the princess, then. Any objections?"

When silence ensued, he continued. "Any ideas where we should start?"

"I snatched two maps from those guards, and found an underground tunnel that will lead us outside. Just in case shit hit the fan, we will have an escape route ready." Petra smirked, and take out two maps from her pocket. A location was marked with a red X, as the meeting point. "We should divide into two groups as well. One will go outside, testing the underground tunnel for traps or the likes, while the other will be tasked with rescuing the princess. It will cause a lot of unwanted attentions when we are traveling with such a big group like this. And then we can divide the map between two groups."

"That's right. Just in case you fail to rescue the princess, the other team can find the Zircon first, bring it back home to fix the pillar and come back here with reinforcement—" Gabriel was interrupted by Lukas.

"Wait, why do we have to find the stone first?! You have seen what the princess could do! She can just order our execution on the next day, should we be caught before then!" He exclaimed.

Olivia said. "No, Lukas. Gabriel is right. We don't know how much longer the pillar will hold without the gem. It can collapse in a month, a week, tomorrow. Hell, it could be collapsing right now! If that happen, Beacon town, Redstonia—our people—will suffer, Lukas. We can't just put our lives above the whole world. It-It's just not fair to them."

Jesse turned away with a pained look marring on his face. "I really hate to say this, but Olivia is right, Lukas." He ignored Lukas' scandalized look and continued. "Should one team is captured, the other must bring the Zircon back at all cost."

The blond gritted his teeth, but he knew that Jesse is correct in his judgement. "Fine, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." He spat.

"Trust me, no one here does." Gabriel placed a comforting hand on Lukas' shoulder.

They are in some sort of royal dining room, hiding under the table. The table itself was around six meters along and has white cloth covered the whole thing. The setting of the place really reminded Jesse of the Murder Mansion, where Captain Sparklez was killed, Jesse realized with dry humor. There will be a murder or two tonight, depends on the situation at hands. And hopefully it won't be his team on the list.

"Alright, Lukas, Petra and Gabriel, you are with me to rescue the princess. Ellegaard, Olivia and Axel, you guys are to meet at the red X marked on the map. And here," Jesse tossed the blue flint and steel in Ellegaard's direction as she caught them one-handed. "If we aren't there the next morning, find the gem and the portal to use that."

Axel whispered, "But what about you guys? If the portal was destroyed somehow, then how would you guys get back?"

"Don't worry. Hadrian mentioned that in every world, there is a castle that held the enchanted flint and steel, like ours. We'll find them if necessary." Olivia seemed visibly relaxed by Jesse's reassurance. Axel wordlessly handed Jesse some TNT. They have been friends for a long time, and Jesse doesn't need verbal assurances to know that Axel is worried about him.

"Alright, we should go. I think I heard the alarm. They should have discovered that we'd escaped by now." Gabriel said. "I wished you all the best of luck, and pray we will get out of this mess safely."

They parted way then, with Ellegaard's group heading west of the castle to the meeting point, and Gabriel's group went south, to where they believe is the princess' chamber. They stealthily sneaked around the corner; Petra is annoyed that this is taking too long, and the princess will be long dead before they can help, but a nudge from Jesse quickly stopped her complaining. Gabriel then smacked his forehead, and rummaged through his armor. He quickly pulled out two splashed potions and sheepishly said:

"I apologize, I completely forgot that I'd pack these ahead of time."

Gabriel splashed the potion of Invisibility down on the floor, while Lukas is trying to stop Petra from strangling Gabriel herself. Jesse simply facepalmed.

They continued the rest of the way, narrowly avoiding the guards. After halfway, they used another bottle. Everything was going so well, and they have crossed three-fourth of the distance, until they dodged a barrage of tipped-arrows. Glancing at the attacker, they weren't that surprised to find Isaac holding his bow out.

"I know you are there. You can not escape me, for I am a potion specialist. I can clearly see your poor usage of it. Now, tell me who you are, intruders. And don't bother moving, I would know." His mismatched eyes glared at them. The four drew their weapon, and charged at Isaac. The archer swiftly moved out of the way, having sensed the attack coming beforehand.

The guards are rounded up and are approaching from afar, just in time for the potion to lose its effect. Jesse knew that they couldn't take the guards and Isaac at the same time, so he took the TNT from Axel and give some to Lukas to spread around the place. It is a risky plan, but the cards could work in their favor if played correctly; which the brunette fully intended to.

He set the TNT off, and the wall collapsed. Rubbles fell on the soldiers, burying them under the golden structure. Some had crossed just in time, but Lukas had shot the chandelier down so it fell on top some of them. The glass structure shattered, as blood began to pool the clean floor of the castle. Jesse slayed some who were lucky to avoid it, and set a line of fire, three rows thicks, to stop the other invading forces, with the blond backing him up. Lukas shot at the one who were trying to get the water to set the fire out. They continued to stop the guards from coming in that direction, while the princess' chamber is just down the hallway. With a large number of the guards stuck behind then rubble wall, then the few who are helping their teammates' wound from the fallen chandelier and those that were stopped by the fire, the number of enemies Jesse and Lukas had to deal with greatly lessened.

Petra and Gabriel on the other hand, are evenly matched with Isaac. The man is fast on his feet, but isn't that strong in hand-to-hand combat. He is a long range fighter, and a poison specialist, as he had bombarded the two with Harming potions times and times again, but thanks to their warrior instincts, they dodged them with few complications. They weren't so lucky with the arrows, however. It had resulted in several cuts from the Harming potion coated arrows. Isaac was pushed back, as he have to dodged both of their swords, and his bow can't be use as a shield to block.

"Argh!" Issac cried out, and fall down to the floor, clutching his arm. Gabriel's diamond sword pierced through his bicep, forcing him to drop his bow. Petra landed in a backflip, panting. Gabriel knocked the man unconscious, as blood began to pool around his arm. The soldiers cried out for their leader, as Jesse and Lukas turned around.

"Jesse, Lukas, you two should go and stop Derek. We are pretty much drained from fighting Isaac, and wouldn't be much help in taking Derek out. Go, Petra and I will take care of them." Gabriel said, and charged at the rubble, picked a rock up and threw it at the enemy on the other side of the firewall. Jesse had no doubt that the mob stuck behind the wall he blew up earlier have gotten reinforcements by now. He gave the rest of the explosive to Petra, as she nodded and went to help Gabriel finish off the rest of the soldiers on this side. Jesse and Lukas ran off.

Once the remaining soldiers were exterminated, Gabriel tied and gagged Isaac with the rope the soldiers carried, while Petra loot whatever is available from the corpses. The former knew that the princess would want to press charges, if not execute the man publicly, so Gabriel didn't kill him. Climbing on top of the rubble wall, Petra could see that reinforcement is approaching. The alarm never let off.

After splashing them both with Isaac's Regeneration potion, she lit the TNT, and threw it at their opponent from behind the high rubble wall. Gabriel took Isaac's bow and various arrows to fired them. They have the high ground advantage, and they will use it to the best of their abilities. Some of the soldiers tried to climb on top of the rubbles, but Petra kicked them back, landing and blocking the others' path.

"Gabriel! Fire charges incoming!" Petra yelled, as the soldiers threw a handful of flaming black balls towards them. With his left hand, Gabriel took the sword from his back and skillfully deflects the incoming objects back at the soldiers. Petra had taken all of Isaac's potions while he is unconscious, and threw down a splashed potion of Fire Resistance on herself and Gabriel. She herself drank the Strength potion on top of that, and begin to hurl broken pieces of the palace across the rubble wall.

The soldiers were in a frenzy. The enemies are attacking, they can't reach them, the fire wall hinders some of the soldiers back and the girl keeps throwing rocks at the squads, prevents the extinguishing of the fire and making specific formations impossible. It is going to take a while for all the forces in the palace to round up, as they are busy evacuating the nobles and important figures living in the palace. The princess is in danger, as the two others went down the corridor, where her highness' room is.

This is going to be a nightmare and a half to deal with.


A shrill scream reaches Jesse's ears, as he kicked the door open. There, next to the vanity desk, the princess crumbled on the floor, shaking with fear. The scythe was lodged in the middle of the mirror, as the shattered pieces of glass laid all the around the floor. On the other side of the room, Derek slowly turned his head to look at them, a smirk adorning his face. He had changed since the last time Jesse saw him. In addition to the azure armor top, he now wore a bottom pants made of the same material, and the shoes.

"It's you!" Jesse accused lamely.

Derek chuckled, "Why, hello. We meet again."

"D-Derek! How dare you commit treason against me!?" The princess, Jane, glared up at the man in azure armor. Said man just sneered.

"Treason? What treason? This kingdom is mine, princess. Leon is definitely crazy to hand the throne over to a brat like you. You are prideful, selfish, ignorant and inconsiderate. This country will be doomed under your hand!" He charged for his scythe, and was about to stab the princess when Jesse blocked it with his sword. Lukas took it as an opportunity to strike, but was kicked in the gut by a recovering Derek, and he punched Jesse in the jaw as he flew backward.

The latter landed with one hand, as the other hand grip his diamond sword tightly. He charged and swing it down Derek's right shoulder, clashing with his armor. To his surprise, Derek just stood there, smirking, and then punched Jesse upward, and perform a roundhouse kick which sent him flying to the side, crashing in to the princess' bed. Derek swing the scythe at the brunette, but Jesse held it back with his two bare hands. It was close, and Jesse can't hold it any longer.

Lukas strikes from behind and Derek turned around to blocked it. Jesse grabbed the flint and steel from his pocket and lit his armor on fire. It did nothing, the fire slowly died out as Derek slap Jesse's hands, causing the flint and steel to flew off to god-knows-where. Jesse jump off the bed, and Lukas kicked the armored man to the side. The blonde did a backflip and landed next to his partner.

"This guy's tough. Even fire did nothing to his armor." Jesse brought his sword up, putting on a defensive style.

Lukas panted, "Not even an enchanted diamond sword can dent his armor. What should we do?"

Before Jesse can reply, Derek charged and punched Jesse, to which he brought the sword up to block. His eyes widened when the enchanted diamond sword shattered, and Derek kicked Jesse towards the door using his right leg, taking Lukas along because of the momentum. They crashed violently, and crumpled. Derek pants, and wipe a sweat from his head.

"You guys are tough, I'd give you that." He slowly approached the duo, scythe in hand. As he was about to swing it down, Jesse suddenly rose from the ground and punched him in the stomach, hard. Lukas, who got ahold of the flint and steel Jesse dropped earlier, lit Derek's hair on fire. The burnt hair smelled awful. Derek was punched in the stomach, compounded with the horrible smell, cut the burning hair off and collapse on the ground, barfing.

Taking that as an opportunity, Lukas picked the princess up for a piggy back ride, while Jesse covered his back and they quickly run out of the room. Preferably, Jesse would have finish him off, but he was weaponless, and he doubt Lukas' iron sword would do much damage. Derek lunged at them, but Jesse quickly slammed the man back to the shattering mess of the mirror. The broken piece of glasses impaled whatever skin still shown despite the armor, injured the man, as he cried out in pain. Lukas ran out of the room, without much protests from Jane, as she was scared to the bone. Jesse slammed the door shut, and followed the blond.

They need to get out of here, get the princess to inform the soldiers about Derek's betrayal and be done with it.


Life ain't that easy, Jesse. Especially if you are in a book ^^