Lily and Malroth made their way back to the farm, they were greeted by Molly who quietly gave them both cabbages. Before they could thank the woman, she shooed them away, gesturing to the Warden who was waiting for them. Lily and Malroth walked over, brows raised at his laughter. "Did you enjoy your stay in the Hole? Was it absolutely frightening?!" He slammed the two weapons in his hands down, laughing even louder. "We have a weed problem, why don't you two go pull them, hm?"
Malroth grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her over to where Molly stood. "Hey, we need more of your monster munch crap."
"I'm sorry, dears. I gave you my last batch." Molly frowned, but it quickly turned into a smile. "Tell you what, if you use Frogstool and dry grass, you should be able to make it just fine." She watched the young builder run over to the fire and quickly mix the two ingredients into monster munchies. "O-Oh… my. I wasn't expecting that so quickly."
"I have a timer that I'm on, and we have to get back to our friends." Lily turned to Malroth, nodding to him. "Tonight, has to be the night that I break that hammerhood out."
"But the guards will notice if he's gone in the morning, how would we get around that?"
"Simple." Lily dropped down, scribbling in the dirt with her fingers until the outline of a plush was in the dirt. She looked up at Molly, grinning. "Do you know where I could make something like this?"
"Well… there might still be an old sewing machine in the storeroom, I don't know if she still works or not." Molly watched as Lily and Malroth took off, disappearing into the depths of the storeroom. "My, my. You two will surely be great on your own, I have no doubts you'll be able to escape."
"Now, we just have to figure out how to get to the crematorium and Hole with no concern of the guards…"
"Hey! Six-two-zero-seven! You look like you're up to no good. Get your boney butt over here!" The guard at the entrance to the farm shouted at the three of them.
Lily looked at the other two before going over to the guard, eyeing him carefully. "What?"
"I've got a job for you – some bony fidey building work. The watchtower over there has seen better days. The platform at the top has some great big holes in it, which makes keeping an eye socket on all of you a bit of a risky business."
The two friends looked at each other, grinning as they looked back at the guard. "Consider them fixed!" Lily and Malroth took off, easily finding what they needed to patch the platforms back up. The two climbed up the ladder, Lily eagerly fixed the platform as Malroth looked out over the main yard. "It rubs me the wrong way how happy they are to let you build when it suits them. And to add insult to injury, we can barely se the Hole from this town. This has been a huge waste of time."
Lily turned, looking at the area they could see. She slowly followed Malroth down to tell the guard that one was finished before they headed off to the other tower. They explained that they were there to fix the holes under the orders of one of the other jailers. This jailer threw a little fit but let them up. Malroth watched over the yard, seeing the path to the Hole just fine. He pointed it out to Lily who looked over it carefully, nodding as she memorized the path.
"Hey…" The jailer that sent them on the building trip caught Lily when she went to go past him, he looked around all frantic like. "The nights are pretty lonely on Skelkatraz… Could you make something to warm my bones? Something… something like a book of blue prints, perhaps?"
Lily pulled away, frowning at him. "You want me to do what now?"
"You heard me… if you find one lying around… just like… toss it on that table over there. It'd make the night watch a lot more interesting."
Lily left the guard and ran around, talking to the others again and getting more information from them. The last one used himself as a shield so the guards and warden couldn't see him hand a pink book off to Lily. "Here, take this. I was having a smashing time cleaning the cells the other day, and accidentally smashed one of the other prisoner's storage chests… It won't do me any good, I hope you find a use for it."
Malroth reached for it, glaring at Lily when she smacked his hand away. "Hey…"
"Maybe when you're older you can see it!"
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm older than you!" He lunged at her, growling when she shoved it in her pouch. "Whatever, keep your secrets." He nipped at her nose and headed for Molly and the storeroom.
Lily carefully stuck the book into her pouch, frowning at the other prisoner before rejoining Malroth and Molly. Malroth let Lily take a snooze on his shoulder, eyeing the pouch she had shoved the book into. He looked over, seeing Molly sorting things in the storeroom, not paying him any mind as he slowly reached over, carefully pulling the book from Lily's pouch and putting it in his own.
When the group went back to their cells, Malroth grabbed Lily, kissing her gently. "Good luck tonight."
Lily smiled into the kiss as she slipped into her cell, a sigh of relief leaving her. They'd been home soon, they had to get back. She curled up on her bed, waiting for the guard to lock her cell and then blow out some of the torches nearby like usual. When he was gone, she set to work, moving her bed and the blocks blocking her path. She set the blocks back and climbed down the stairs. "Alright, here's the plan!"
She explained it as quickly as she could to Brownbeard and Splodger, eager to get moving. When everyone was satisfied, Lily and Splodger took off through the tunnels and into the crematorium. They slipped through the unlocked door and around back, climbing up and over rocks as quietly as they could. Lily paused towards the top, seeing Barbara, the cat hanging out nearby. "Oh hey, that big prisoner said to say hi to you."
Lily reached over, gently scratching the cat's ears before rushing after the slime. She frowned when they got to the sewers. "Augh… this is probably the most disgusting adventure I've ever been on…"
"This is no time to complain." Splodger hissed at Lily. "We're on a jail break here! Not a looxury trip."
"I know, I know." Lily whined as she slid down into the sewers, making sure to stay quiet as they traveled beneath multiple guards. The two made their way up the cliffside, pausing when they saw a man running across the yard. "Oh… shit." She gasped, digging through her pouch and growling to herself. "The book. Damnit, Malroth. You're lucky I won't need the damn thing." She hissed quietly to Splodger.
"That guy is from block two, we can try our luck that way or I can give you a lift up the cliffs." Splodger expanded as Lily climbed on and the two bounced up the cliffside until Lily could make the smaller jumps herself. She looked around, seeing some vines that she could grab onto. She let out a breath when she finally reached the other side, knowing full and well that she more than likely wouldn't be getting back this way.
"Look over there! That must be the hole that one prisoner talked about." Lily and the slime made quick work of the sand blocking the hole. Lily tried her best to not squeal as she and the slime landed on the ground just behind the guard, luckily they landed quietly. Lily slowly got off the slime and quietly opened the chest that held the key. She snatched it up and trotted over to the door that led down to the Hole.
"There it is, hey there little guy-!" Splodger jumped back, squeaking when the Hammerhood slammed his hammer down in anger. "Oh, boy. This won't be easy."
"No… no it won't." Lily quickly unlocked the door and dove behind a small wall of rocks, tossing the monster munchies in the direction of the hammerhood. She listened to it eat before it waddled over to her, purring happily. "Hey, that was easier than I thought it would be." She laughed and set the doll in the cage before running back out and leading the way out of the cave.
The three looked around, seeing two paths, the rocky cliffside or the risky run through the yard. Lily pulled out blocks of left over sand and rocks she had gathered before, glad she had them as she built them a makeshift stairway up the cliffside.
They picked their way along the cliffs and then finally back through the crematorium before running through the tunnel back to Brownbeard. Lily let out a sigh as she started up the stairs. "Alright, keep it down, I'll brainstorm with Malroth about what we can do to get the hammerhood to break down the walls and then we'll be home free."
The next morning came with a surprise that made Lily fill with dread as she stood in the corner while the Chief Inspector came around and had a jailer inspect her cell. "Jailer. Is that prisoner hiding anything from us?"
"No ma'am, Chief Inspector, ma'am! Nothing suspicious to report!"
The Chief Inspector looked past the bars and Jailer, right at Lily. "I will ask you one question, would-be-builder. And I want you to answer me truthfully… are you or aren't you up to no good?"
Lily couldn't help her smile as she shook her head. "No ma'am, Chief Inspector."
"No, you aren't, or no you aren't… not? Hmmm… you're a tricky one, alright. I'll keep my eyes on you, that's for sure."
Lily watched as the Chief Inspector left, leaving Lily alone with Malroth before roll call. She quietly explained everything that happened the night before, narrowing her eyes on him. "Speaking of last night… a certain book has gone missing from my possession."
Malroth only raised a brow at her before running ahead, laughing loudly. "No idea what you're talking about, Lil!"
When they got to roll call, the skeleton was glaring down at the two of them. "I was told you two are far too comfortable here, obviously since you like to be late to roll call every morning." He crossed his arms, a smirk in his tone. "Perhaps you'd like to call block two your new home, six-two-zero-eight. As of tomorrow, you'll be staying there! We just have to get the cell cleared out for you."
"What?!" Malroth's jaw dropped as he looked to Lily, eyes wide. "Lil, that can't happen!"
"Also, don't get too many ideas, that boat that's moored at the dock will be at the seabed tomorrow!"
Lily and Malroth sat near Molly, trying to think of how to get the Hammerhood to listen to them, but Lily was at a loss. "Molly, what do we do?"
"Well… I don't know if it'll work, but the Children put up this sign when they were building a temple and they built a wall in the wrong spot… the Hammerhood they were using smashed the wall to pieces-" Molly watched as Lily jumped up and ran off, going into the depths of the storeroom to make whatever idea she had come up with.
An hour or so later, Lily emerged and held out a sign to Molly. "Do you think this will work?"
"Why! I do think so! That looks just like the signs the Children used all those years ago." Molly put a hand against Lily's cheek, smiling. "Look at you, quite the builder indeed." The old woman sighed, looking between the two friends. "You know… there's something that has always bothered me, the real Hargon passed away a long, long time ago, but back in the day, they say he had the whole world under his thumb."
Malroth put a thumb to his lips, thinking to himself for a moment. "Lily, didn't you say something like that before?"
"And what's more, even though he's long gone, this world of ours still seems to be shrouded in his lies… as far as I can remember, Hargon and the Master of Destruction he summoned were defeated by three heroes… The Scions of Erdrick. But no one here, not monster, not prisoner, not even the most devout of the children, seems to have a clue about any of that."
The old woman started pacing as she spoke to Lily and Malroth, having noted the spark in their eyes when she mentioned that Hargon was dead from what she knew. "I'm from a town named Burrowell, you know. One day, I was walking in the mountains that lead to Rendarak when I got lost in a snowstorm." She sighed, an almost dreamy look coming to her eyes. "As I was trying to make my way through the blizzard, I stumbled upon a hidden valley, one that was strangely familiar, and yet unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It was peaceful… and warm."
"Man! You really know how to tell a tale!" Malroth burst out laughing and holding his gut as he threw his head back.
Lily frowned at Malroth, something had been off about this place, something in the back of her mind this entire time had been bothering her. She remembered Saffron telling her about Moonbrooke, even Tiny mentioned it. Hopefully things would start making sense when they got there. "Molly-"
"Why don't you come with us? You can tell us how the story ends while we sail away into the sunset." Malroth interrupted Lily, still laughing from what Molly had told them.
"No, I don't think I will. Someone has to stay back and tell your story of how you escaped, to give hope to the other prisoners." Molly smiled before waving her hand to the bench. "You have a long night ahead of you, why don't you rest?"
Later that night, Lily waited until the guards were done locking up her cell and moving on before she threw her bed to the side and dug her way down to the room where Brownbeard and the two monsters were hiding. She shoved some of the cabbages into Brownbeard's hands, giving him a grin. "Here, you need to eat. Are you feeling alright? I think this is the furthest I've seen you from your boat since I met you."
"Oh, I got sick earlier, but I should be fine." Brownbeard slowly munched on the cabbages, watching as Lily slapped a sign onto the wall that led to Malroth's cell.
"Did you think of a slooper plan to get us out of here!?" Splodger jumped around, watching as the hammerhood set to work on smashing down the walls. Before long, Malroth jumped down and patted the hammerhood on the head. "This is gooreat! Now, time for our gooreat oozecape!"
The five headed through the tunnels, breaking down wall after wall until they came up to a dead end. "Really?! We did all of this fucking work, only to be stuck-"
"Mal." Lily laughed as she touched his arm, bringing him down from his little fit. "There's a wall right here."
"I can smell the salty air from here! We're close!" Brownbeard cheered, dancing in place as he waited on the hammerhood to get to work on the wall that blocked their path. After a few strikes, Lily and Malroth started to gag from the horrible stench that wafted into the room. "Ope, we found the sewers, I believe."
"Again?" Lily let out a whimper as she slowly began to wade through the water. She let out a noise when arms wrapped around her middle and picked her up, she looked over, seeing Malroth holding onto her. "Mal?"
"You've waded through enough shit to last you a few months." Malroth laughed as he jumped up onto the walkway that was on either side of the sewers. The group stopped though when a walking corpse slowly picked itself up, moaning at them.
Splodger bounced up, getting in front of Malroth when he set Lily down and prepared to attack. "W-Wait! I know that scent! Th-That… that's my goo friend Gottfried… it has to be." Splodger bounced over to the corpse, tears welling in his little eyes. "Gottfried? Is that goo?"
The corpse groaned but reached down, lightly touching the top of the slimes head. Lily covered her mouth, trying to stifle the whimpers that left her. "How did he die?"
"I have a feeling, but we'll just have to-" Malroth paused, breathing in deep as something catching his attention. "Lily… give that zombie some munchies… I smell trouble."
Lily nodded as she tossed the monster munchies at Gottfried's decaying body, not waiting for him to eat them. Splodger, the hammerhood and Brownbeard were there to take care of the walking corpse. She ran into Malroth's back, seeing two shadows against the wall in front of them, whoever they were, they were clearly arguing and fighting.
Lily reached up when Malroth opened his mouth to talk, she leaned around the corner, able to see the Chief Inspector, but not who the female monster was talking to. "Wh-What did you say?"
"You're interfering with the Master's plans, Inspector."
"But how?! If I let them go… then there will be an uprising! The prisoners will have hope!"
"Then deal with that hope. But the builder and her companion will be leaving, either you will stand down and watch, or they will leave by walking over your dead body."
"N-No! The Master wouldn't want thi-!"
Lily grabbed Malroth, her eyes wide as she shot forward. The two watched as the being in the red robes lashed out, a spike of ice piercing the Inspector's chest. He turned, his mask was plain and white with no slits. He dipped his head before disappearing in a small flash of light. "Wait!" Lily went to run where the being had been, her eyes wide as she looked down at the Inspector. "What the hell is going on?"
Malroth moved around the Inspector, seeing there were two bags with their belongings. "She was going to give us hope… and then try to cut us down, to squash all the hope on this island. And everywhere else."
Lily looked back, seeing the others finally coming up and joining them. "We gotta get going, she probably alerted the other guards, so they'll be on their way soon." She got up, looking around one last time. "I still never saw Tiny anywhere…"
"Who knows, maybe he's been hiding on the boat this whole time." Malroth tossed his gear on before tossing Lily her property. He watched as she quickly redressed in her usual clothes and grabbed her hammer. Before he could tell her to do so, she was already breaking down the wall.
The small group looked out over the ocean, taking in the way the rising sun turned it every shade of orange and pink. Lily let out a small breath, her body relaxing several notches as she led the way over to the docks where Brownbeard's ship was at. "You guys are more than welcome to come with us, you know?" Malroth offered as they all stepped onto the docks, looking back at the monsters.
"We appreciate the ooffer, but this is our home. My goo friend Gottfried's plan was finished, that's what really mattered to us." Splodger smiled at the other three, seeing that they weren't getting on the ship just yet. "What are goo waiting for? The guards will be here soon, goo have to get gooing."
"Lily… that dream that I had… and everything that Molly said to us… and all that stuff we've heard up until now… what does it all mean? And… that dream… it didn't feel like a dream… it almost felt like… like a vision…" He looked at her, seeing the concern growing in her eyes. "Lily… am I-"
"What are goo waiting for?!" Splodger rammed into Malroth, shoving him onto the boat. "Goo have to leave!"
"Right…" Malroth nodded slowly and held his hand out to Lily, helping her onto the boat. He looked back at the island one more time, waving back at the monsters they were leaving behind. "Seriously… where the fuck is Tiny?"
"I…Isss it sssafe?" Tiny poked out from one of the barrels, his dark eyes wide as he looked to Lily and Malroth. He let out a squeak when Lily grabbed him, holding him close. "Lily…!"
"I'm so happy to see you again! Please, don't ever scare me like that again! You can trust us to protect you, you know that."
Malroth watched Tiny, seeing something in the small dracky's eyes. He reached out, snatching him away from Lily and bringing him up to his face. He sniffed the small being, a growl leaving his throat before handing him back to the builder.
"We're home!" Brownbeard shouted, easily waking the three adventurers from their sleeping. He tossed the anchor, seeing Lulu huddled against the stone wall with a fire burning next to her. When she saw the ship, she was up and sobbing, her arms out to Lily. "You're alive!"
Lily ran to Lulu, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Lulu."
"I'm so glad you're back… I thought the Children found you and whisked you away, or worse!"
"Well, they did find us, but they sent us to Skelkatraz." Lily couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head. "But we survived."
"How did things go after we left here?" Malroth tipped his head, looking at Lulu as she pulled away from Lily.
"Well, I don't know how we did it, but with both Khrumbul-Dun and Furrowfield, we somehow managed to drive the rotters away. The others are sleeping now. We've been taking turns around the clock waiting for your return." She sighed and looked back towards the island, then back at them with a smile. "Lily… do you mind doing me a favor? I've missed you guys… and to be honest… I want to have a little party of our own, without the others."
When her friends only gave a curious look, Lulu laughed and waved at them to follow. "C'mon! I have a surprise for you guys!"
