Ray's stomach grumbled. "How much longer are we stuck here, Velocis?" He whispered.
Velocis rubbed his golden head. "Just until I can get us out of here, hold on just a bit longer."
He backed up to the very rear of the cell and braced himself with a running start. One deep breath and he slammed into the cell door, bouncing right back off on to the dirty cobbled floor.
Lyra sat across in the opposite cell, her head tilted up to ceiling. "Your form was off again."
Velocis sat back up. "Well why doesn't Zephyr do something!? He should be able to fit through the bars as an eagle."
Zephyr, leaned against the wall, shared a not-so energetic tone. "And get us all killed? We can't just go out there blindly."
Velocis rubbed his head harder. "What about you, Goddess? You'll be dead soon anyways, might as well go take a peek for us."
A small rock flew through the bars and smacked against an invisible barrier before reaching Velocis.
"They'll be fine, Serendelle is still here right? So Sachi must be as well!" Lyra dropped back down onto the cold floor.
Silence filled the air. Nobody wanted to believe it, but Sachi was gone, and they had no idea how much longer he'd live for.
Ray lifted his head from his knees. "Is Sachi... coming back?"
No one responded.
A patter of hurried footsteps echoed down the stairwell. Not as heavy as Kaelthar's, in fact they were only barely audible even though the area was so quiet. They stopped right before entering the holding cells along with a single, loud deep breath.
Dion appeared in front of Serendelle's cell. His outfit and demeanor had completely changed again. An all black set of leather clothes with a matching cowl on his back.
Lyra peered around the bars of her cell. "Come to stab us in the back for real this time?"
"Oh, shut up. Sachi's not dead, and I know where he is." From out of one of his many pockets, a set of keys jingled. He quickly slid them into the lock of the cell and turned.
"And you're just gonna... lead us there? And expect us to believe that?"
The door clicked and creaked open.
He sighed. "When he spoke to Kaelthar, I was listening. And he knew. Bastard was trying to get himself killed just to prove a point!"
He moved to Lyra and Zephyr's cell next. In the dim torchlight, Lyra could barely make out the features on his face. The way his face contorted like he was angry.
"And I get it okay!? I get that I was blinded by his lofty promises! So I'm gonna find that bastard Sachi and apologize to his face, alright!?"
The lock clicked again.
"If Sachi knew I was listening, then Kaelthar did too. I'd rather get out of here before he knows."
Lyra didn't move despite the cell door now being open. "You say "I" this and "I" that, why free us if you don't plan on taking us with you!?"
"Because I don't expect you to come with me. Not only will we be sprinting through hell, but you'd be traveling with someone untrustworthy. It's better if you find somewhere to live quietly until I bring him back."
The last lock clicked.
"So there you have it. In about an hour, the main hall will be empty for a few minutes, except for the night patrol. But those dipshits are always sleeping anyways."
His storage realm portals opened up in front of Lyra and Ray, dumping their gear in front of them, along with a shiny new bow for Lyra, and a small shield for Ray. He lifted the hood of his cowl up, covering is short silver hair. He turned and began to move back towards the stairwell. A jumble of footsteps followed him.
He turned again. "What the hell are you doing, I said hour, not second!"
Her fancy new bow was slung over her back. "Sachi is out there somewhere waiting for us. No way I can just sit back and wait to be saved again.."
Ray struggled to carry the buckler properly. On top of that, his legs shook as he walked. "I-I don't want to leave Sachi alone either! I didn't like it when I was alone."
Dion sighed. He opened his storage portal again and grabbed his silly-looking pointed helmet.
"Here," He placed the helmet on Ray's head. The helmet looked like it was barely stable on such a small head. "This will keep you safe, so you don't have to be scared anymore."
Ray clasped the helmet down with one hand. "This will..?"
Dion nodded. "It kept me safe for a very long time."
Ray nodded in return, holding onto it a little tighter.
"If you really want to follow me, then I have some things I have to clear up..." He reached for a small opening on his leather vest, opening it just enough for a small snake to slither out.
Instinctively, Lyra leapt back, trying to hold her scream in.
The snake dropped onto the ground, and in an instant transformed into a tall woman. Her smooth, dark green hair was slicked back into a ponytail. Her green leather coat looked expensive, and her copious amounts of jewelry made it seem even more so. The coat was long enough to act as a dress, covering the fancy designer shorts that accompanied it. The coat wasn't long enough to cover her tattoo-filled legs. The design were all Asgardian themed: Gods, places, and stories. "This is Loki, the Goddess of Trickery."
She reached her hand out of her pocket and towards Serendelle for a handshake. Her nails were as sharp as daggers.
Lyra looked towards Zephyr. "Can God's even touch each other? I thought that was forbidden."
"Only if it's not malicious, or anything that would be considered 'interfering' with the nature of the game."
Serendelle reached her hand out as well. "It's very nice to finally me-"
She quickly stopped her sentence when she noticed a barrier had appeared between their hands. She looked up to see Loki's unbothered smile.
She put her hand back in her pocket and spoke with a deep voice. "Aww, I must've been too obvious."
Dion gave her a light smack on the shoulder. "Cut that out."
She rolled her eyes. "You know we don't work well with others."
"Well get use to it."
She signed and became a snake once again, crawling up Dion and wrapping gently around his neck.
He began to walk towards the staircase again, only stopping after a few steps.
"One more thing... Sachi won't be the one who kills Kaelthar."
"It'll be me."