Young Writers Society

Kasis

I heard somebody leave the cell, then a few moments later I heard someone walk past. I looked around the corner as sneakily as you can in full armour, and noticed that the cell seemed to be empty. I grinned and quietly made my way towards it.
All was silent inside. The lack of screams and sobs suggested that they hadn't started the torture yet. That'd make my job harder, but I could always come back afterwards if she wasn't persuaded.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside, wasting no time.
I opened my visor and said "Good evening. My name is Kasis Balti, and do I have an offer for you."

Fenezari Thaertus

I watched as Delilah walked away and looked into Morgan's eyes filling with mixed emotions, " I heard everything, my friend I knew you cared for the young abnormal Delilah, but now you have made her our princess my friend." I looked down at the ground briefly before continuing, " I'm a little sad honestly Leopold left mere moments after I had finished charging my tower's lights. Without him here you are my last reliable human friend in the castle. Uncle is still wandering around the lands of this world so I can't spend time with him. So I wanted to make friends with Delilah. Now she is your daughter so I make an offer and a suggestion. First my suggestion announce your adopted daughter as our crown princess. Now for my offer and request I would like to befriend your daughter and become her personal guard."

Morgan looked at me with an expression of shock, amusement, and oddly enough a slight amount of sadness, " my friend I disagree with the idea of announcing her the crown princess now not with Them causing so much trouble through out the kingdom. But, I would gladly accept to you attempting to become her friend and allow you the honor of being her personal guard. You feel it's necessary she's in danger and you're one of the most powerful sorcerers I know." Morgan placed his hand on my shoulder and I saw a slight gleam of happiness in his eye.

I smiled with delight, " Thank you my friend I've just told Pellentesque to monitor her on her rounds. If there's even a hint or her life being at risk he will immediately return to me and we will be there as fast as we can go."

I placed my arm over his shoulder and walked with him back to the castle walking and talking with him.

Leopold Thaertus

My cousin was truly a great friend to me before I left he had given me gold for my travels and the money to replace all of my weapons. A new bo, two fans, a new throwing needle supply, and a new glider; I couldn't fuse with Ventus once on the inside of the resistance so the glider was an unfortunate necessity. I left early that morning after my cousin and I shared a breakfast detailing plans. My cousin had sent one more thing with me so that he and I could easily stay in touch, he had sent with me mirror ice a piece of ice that when used with it's copy could send messages. The ice remained in my satchel incapable of breaking. I set off in the direction of the closest resistance base that I knew of. After getting a running start with my glider I was off.

Jasmine

"My name is Kasis Balti, and do I have an offer for you."

I eyed the new figure distrustfully, looking behind him to see if he had brought anyone else with him. From my quick glance, he seemed to be alone, and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, raising myself from the ground to see him closer.

"A deal?" I repeated sceptically, trying to mask the nervousness that had flooded me when he had entered my cell. The Captain might have hurt me before, but at least there had been a barrier between us to offer some form of protection then. "I thought I made it clear that I have no intention of complying with any of the King's requests. I'm fairly sure that includes your little deal. So I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."

The man - Kasis - tilted his head slightly, an amused smile playing on his features. "This has nothing to do with the King. And I think you would be more than interested, if you had any idea of what I am suggesting to you."

I hesitated, watching him uncertainly as he spoke and not knowing whether or not to believe what he was saying. He wasn't in league with the king? Yet... he was wearing a guard's uniform, and had somehow gotten the keys to my cell in order to get in here. He must be lying. I met his gaze again, suspicion colouring my tone as I spoke. "What makes you think I should trust you?"

Kasis

"What makes you think I can trust you?"
I grinned. "Well, of course, you can never know for sure if you can trust someone. Learned that when I was a poor street urchin."
I walked a bit closer to her. "However, I would like to remind you, whatever-your-name-is, that it is either my offer or torture."
She looked at me silently, seemingly sizing me up. I could tell that she wasn't going to be easily persuaded, but I'd dealt with her type before. I had a knack for this type of thing.
I stood patiently as she stared at me. She finally spoke.
"And how do I even know they torture people here?"
I chuckled. So naive, I thought to myself.
"You are a part of the resitance, yes?" I asked her. She didn't reply. "And this resistance you're in, they're fighting against the evil king, right? And what kind of evil king doesn't do torture?"
Groundbreaking logic, right?
I jangled the keys. "And, of course, I can offer you freedom, and possibly even some information about the crown."

Jasmine

I stared back, hypnotised by that one word, my eyes watching the keys as he jangled them in his hand. Freedom. "You... You can get me out of here?" I asked tentatively, my aggression and mistrust fading away even as I tried to hold on to them, to make sure I didn't fall into what could easily be a trap.

Kasis nodded once, the smirk still present on his face, and I glanced towards him uncertainly, my gaze darting away for an instant before settling on his face once more. "I... How am I supposed to know you're telling me the truth? You look exactly like them."

He looked down at himself in mild surprise, gesturing at his clothing once before speaking. "This? It's a disguise. How else am I supposed to get you out of here? Now, are you coming, or not. I'm perfectly happy to leave you in here to get tortured, if that's what you'd prefer."

My mind flickered back to the sensation of the Captain's hand against my throat, crushing my windpipe and cutting of my air, and I nodded to myself for a moment, swallowing thickly. "Fine." I said, more to myself than him, and my gaze hardened. "But if you want me to do anything for you, you'd better take this collar off of me first."

Kasis

"Excellent! Now, let me just explain for a moment."
I cleared my throat. This was the moment of truth.
"As you... probably don't... know, I have spies everywhere. Kind of one of my hobbies."
She looked at me, surprised. I grinned inwardly. I wasn't worried about being open with this; nobody would believe a prisoner.
"Except your resistance. So, the terms of your freedom are these: In return for your freedom, and inside information about the Crown, you become my informant inside the resistance."
She looked angry at me suggesting such a thing. I took it upon myself to reassure her.
"Don't worry. You are not betraying your friends. Like I said, I'm not in league with the Crown. I'm just interested. And besides, to reveal your infromation would be to reveal my spies, a fatal mistake." I emphasized the word fatal.
She nodded.
"And don't think of trying anything. I hold a grudge." I warned her. I opened the collar slowly, keeping my guard up constantly. I knew these resistance types could be a bit unpredictable. "I'll escort you to the gate. Make it look official. Like a transfer. From there it's up to you not the be caught. Please try not to. The life of the very nice man who lent me his uniform is at stake."

King Morgan Darkrai
Outside the Aradian Castle

Fenezari and I spoke about our friendship together as we walked to the castle. Half the time in our conversation, we laughed at those moments we pulled pranks on Uncle and not once did we get caught in the act by his spirit-owl. Those were good times, before my parents were murdered and I turned cold during my training as a Dark sorceror. I sensed Kali was coming, so I stopped walking to let her perch on my shoulder. I asked, What's the news, Kali? Like Fenezari, I could talk to my spirit-dragon with my thoughts at any given time.
Kali answered frightenedly, The Fire sorceress has escaped! That Metal sorceror let her out!
My blood ran cold, increasing my Dark power. I commanded coldly, Merge with me, Kali. We have ourselves a little mouse to catch. I felt Kali snake herself through my chest, but I held back the transformation. All I allowed to happen was the highly sensitive sight. That was when I saw Pellentesque for the first time. Smiling warmly, I said, "Such a beautiful bat you got there, old friend." After that, I took my leave for the gate as fast as my empowered legs can take me. I hollered at the Fire sorceress, "Halt, in the name of the king!"
Someone else yelled, "Get that guard!"
I gulped. I should've known I ran into an ambush. I was surrounded by masked women and men. I fought as they closed in on me. Using my water power, I fought well. The Fire sorceress helped her comrades wear me out. Before they got close enough to seize me, I murmured a small spell that erased the memory of my face from the Fire sorceress. Such a spell was something Kali taught me on my first year as Aradian king. If They knew she saw me, then I was doomed to die. As they tied my wrists together and put a hood over my head, they stayed quiet. After this, they pushed me in various directions, taking me somewhere I had no clue of.
Kali told me, Don't worry, Master. I'm still with you. You're still merged with me.
I shivered. I've become a prisoner, Their prisoner. I kept my mouth shut as I was led away from the castle. I felt my heart break. Not only was I taken from the castle, I was being taken away from my precious Deliah. Tears escaped from my eyes. I was being stolen from my only child, my adopted daughter Deliah.

Delilah:
I called the Abnormals back to the cottages, it was just another quiet night so I ended patrols early. It was the same quiet as every other night, but I had a strange feeling. I let them go have fun for a bit, something that they didn't often get. They seemed so happy, but I couldn't enjoy it with them. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong.
I went to my bunk to write to father about the quiet night and how I ended patrols early. By the time I got to my bunk the feeling was overwhelming, it had spread through my whole body. I felt sick and dizzy. I tried to stand but stumbled and fell, hitting my head on the side of my bed. My forehead was bleeding and I felt sicker. I threw up in a cleaning bucket near my bunk then climbed up and rested my head on the window. My vision was tunneling.
Out the window I saw movement, I blinked trying to clear my vision. Them. It was Them. A large group of masked people stood by the gate. A guard approached them, I recognized that armour, its arms had been around me a few hours previous. He was soon surrounded but, I could tell he was putting up a fight.
"Everyone down, NOW!" I shouted to the Abnormals, I couldn't afford to lose them. They stared at me,
"You heard me! Get down!" They threw themselves to the floor. I watched the window. They had him and were taking him. Where were they taking him?! I panicked and began towards the door but my feet suddenly couldn't support me and I fell yet again.
When I woke up I was in my bunk. The rest of my troops sleeping. I looked out, and saw no one. No guards, no Resistance, No father. I sat up and began to cry. I cried until my body convulsed with sobs and I couldn't breathe. They took him away, they took away my only family.
Its your fault I thought, You ended patrols early, You made yourself lose him!
It was my fault, stupidly I went with thought instead of instinct and now it had cost me. I had no idea what to do, I was lost. I sat in my bunk and cried until I passed out again.

Jasmine

I was free. Free. The word felt so light and fresh in my thoughts, turning each of my steps into an almost-bounce as I practically skipped along, the prisoner surrounded by our people somewhere behind me in the small resistance entourage that was escorting him back to the headquarters. The capture of the guard had been exhilarating; the sheer thrill of being able to use my powers again surging through my every vein as I had fought once more, with the restrictions of the collar gone.

We were already in an underground tunnel, meaning we could talk freely and avoid any suspicious questions regarding the man with the bag over his head that we were transporting to the other side of the city. Charlotte walked beside me, a smile on her face as she watched me bound through the tunnel, and she shook her head in amusement. "You were only in there for two days! Was it terrible?" She hesitated, then - "Did they hurt you? How did you escape? Did you have to-" She trailed off, a sheepish look spreading across her face, and let out a soft laugh. "Sorry. Too many questions, I guess. I was worried about you, you know."

I nodded, my steps slowing slightly and my expression softening into an affectionate smile. "I know you were, Charlotte. I ..." I pushed away the memories of the collar, and of the Captain, and gave Charlotte a reassuring glance. "I'm fine. I guess it was just luck that got me out of there, nothing else."

I looked away again, all of the bounce fading from my step as I thought back to Kasis and his deal.
"Once you have escaped, acquire what knowledge you can about the history of Meredith Darkrai, and come to the Northern Bridge at three hours past midnight on the following day. Make sure you come alone. I resisted a shudder, then looked back towards Charlotte, trying to inject some of my enthusiasm from earlier back into my stride.

Charlotte

"I'm fine. I guess it was just luck that got me out of there, nothing else."

I smiled forcefully. There was something wrong. No, not wrong, different. There was something different about Jasmine. Her skip now seemed robotic, fake. The enthusiasm that had been there earlier was gone now. She wasn’t telling me everything, and I knew it, but if she didn’t want to confide in me, I wouldn’t pry. After all, she was back. She was safe.

After I had run into Chaos, he told me that a patrol was being sent to retrieve Jasmine, that there was some sort of plan. I nearly jumped for joy and about kissed Chaos right then and there, but suppressed the urge, thankfully. That would have been awkward.

The patrol had left right away, and the next thing I knew, Jasmine was running towards us, followed closely by a guard who we now had as our prisoner. It was hard to keep silent as we walked the paths back to the resistance. So many questions to ask…

That reminded me. “Who’s the guard?” I asked quietly.

Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered, confusion spreading on her face. “He looked familiar, but…” her voice trailed off.

I looked over to the man, just a few feet behind us. He wore only the clothes of a palace guard, and earlier in the battle,

I didn’t recognize his face. “A guard looks familiar?” I asked quietly, trying not to let him overhear our conversation. Jasmine nodded, lost in thought.

Delila -6 years old:
The forest was dark and cold. To any other child my age it would've been terrifying to be in alone. To any normal child. I'd been living in the forest for a year, eating what berries and fruits I could find and sleeping in trees to avoid animals. I thought about my family for the first few weeks, then survival became my only though and instinct reigned. I couldn't help but think about them from time to time. My father putting his cap on me and telling me he was sorry. I very seldom cried, but something about that day was different. I hadn't found anything worth eating in over a week, and the forest looked terrifying to me. I wanted my father, I wanted my last memory of him to be a hug, a pat on the shoulder, anything. But, no, he was afraid of me. It was then that I collapsed at the foot of a tree. I cried tears that i had held in for a year. I didn't hear the crunching of leaves getting closer but I saw the shadow of a man appear. The man was tall and pale. His blue eyes seemed kind, but, it wasn't him that I didn't trust. He offered me some bread,
"You hungry, little one?"
I stared at him, terrified of hurting someone again. He kneeled so he was on my level.
"It's alright, sweetie. I don't bite."
I took the bread quickly, careful not to touch him. He opened his arms as if to hug me, I pulled my knees to me.
"Don't be afraid, little one. I won't hurt you, I promise."
No! He didn't understand! It seemed odd to me that he couldn't tell, then I realised it wasn't branded into my forehead, I looked like an average child. I shook my head.
"I hurt you! I not normal!" I hadn't heard my voice in over a year, it was soft and scared. He stared for a minuet and blinked.
"It's alright, little one. You can touch me. I'm not going to lose my magic by your touch. Come here and let me hold you."
How could I trust him? I had no idea who he was but something in his eyes told me that he was telling the truth. I went to his arms, needing the loving care of a parent. He put me in a cottage near the castle, telling me he would treat me like family since I had none. When asked my name I made the decision not to go by my given name, it was worthless and since they left me to be on my own I decided I should choose my own name. Delilah. I kept my fathers last name, along with his hat to show to myself, mostly, that he would never leave my heart. Morgan became like a father to me, even as King.

Delila- Present:
It was almost sunset when I woke up again, the troops still sleeping. My forehead hurt but the bleeding had stopped. It was bruised around the cut and would likely leave a scar. I washed it off and cleared my head. For now, Father was gone, The troops were my next responibility. I couldn't lose them, too. I didn't go through with normal formalities of wake-up call. Instead, I woke them all up at once and called them to the table.
"Troops, Abnormal, Brothers and Sisters. We have lost our King. He has been taken by the mas--Them. I blame myself. But, I am not here to discuss blame. You are now my only responsibility. I cannot fail you like I have failed the King. Until further notice, No one is to leave this cottage except me. Understood?"
They nodded.
"Dismissed. I am going to see who is left. Nobody Leaves or I will find out."
They went back to their bunks, confused to say the least. Like me this change was unsettling. We had structure, we had scheduals, I ruined that.
I put on a hooded cloak that shadowed my face so I wouldn't be recognized, then went out to find anyone to help me.

Chaos:

Charlotte seemed a little nervous when I first started talking to her, but she beamed after I told her of the plan to rescue Jasmine. She sort of stood there awkward after that before waving me a quick goodbye and smiling a very piercing smile. As far as girls go she definitely was cute according to my standards, but so were a lot of the girls I had seen throughout my life. Each of those had also come with such a large sin or shame that hurt me to think about. Maybe Charlotte is the one? But I had thought that plenty of times before and I couldn't let a girl get to me now.

As the rescue mission was taking place Merry had given me a different set of instructions. Although the rescue was obviously very important in saving Jasmine, she planned to use it as a cover for my intrusion into the castle. It didn't take me long during the commotion to sneak inside and stealthy begin my quest. The goal was to see if the queen had left a message of sorts. According to her last contact the king had been planing some way to capture and kill all of the rebels at one time, which would be impossible, unless we were all somehow together. This made me think about what could draw us all together in one place, and honestly I had no idea.

Merry had supplied me with a fairly reliable map of the palace. After thoroughly studying it I figured it would be simple to make my way to the king's bedchamber, but it was actually a lot harder than I imagined. Finally when I reached the room I began searching with earnest, since I knew the rescue wouldn't take that long and it would be harder to get out than in. If i were to be captured it would surely cause a problem for the resistance to rescue another member.

The room itself was a masterpiece of exquisiteness to say the least. The most expensive things i had ever seen were all about me. It didn't take long to discern which things belonged to the king and those that were used by the queen because of the way the room was arranged. One of them must have been very neat and I assumed that was the queen because half of the room was very clean and well kept, whereas the other half was slightly messy and unclean. A desk seemed the only logical place for the queen to write at on her side of the room, so I started there.

Inside were tons of letters to an assortment of different people. Most of the names I didn't recognize, but a few were nobles that I did know. After a few minutes of digging around I found an unlabeled letter that was still unsealed. Judging by the weight there was definitely something written on it. After scanning the page and seeing the sign of the resistance printed at the bottom I snatched it up and stowed it away in a pocket.

Most of the guards were still regrouping and trying to figure out what happened to notice my escape, as I made my way back to the rebel headquarters.

Jasmine nodded, lost in thought.

I laughed once, amused by her concentration. "Hey, I'm going to go tell Merry that we are back," I said, turning towards Merry's office. Jasmine nodded and continued walking. I smiled after her as I started walking, thankful that we hadn't lost a member of the resistance. I thought about Chaos and his plans to visit the Queen's chamber to look for information. I hoped that he was okay. The distraction had been over pretty quickly, and it wouldn't take long for the guards to run towards their king. If luck was on our side, the King wouldn't be in his chambers, but luck was rarely on our side.

"Charlotte!" I heard Chaos call behind me. I turned quickly as he came jogging up to me.

"You're back," I said smiling, letting out a quick sigh of relief.

Chaos only nodded. "Do you know where Merry is?" he asked quickly.

I nodded. "I think she's in her office. She doesn't know that we are back yet."

Chaos nodded again and began walking briskly towards Merry's office. I ran quickly to catch up to him. There was something about his steps that made me nervious. They were hurried. He had something important, but I could only wonder what. Had the Queen really left us a letter? If she had then there was no doubt that Chaos would've found it.

I tried not to be too excited that Chaos had returned. After all, he had no interest in girls. But I couldn't help that feeling of fear that overcame me everytime someone I was close to was in danger. Why couldn't everyone just stay safe?

Chaos turned into Merry's office, with me close on his heals. Merry sat at her desk looking at a map. She looked up as we entered. Chaos threw a few pages down on the table.

"This is important," he said in a low voice.

Fenezari Thaertus

I was still reeling from what I had just seen happen trying to focus on a plan of action. The king leader of the Crown had been taken by the Resistance. The Crown at this moment had no leader we had become a snake with no head I needed to contact Delilah. As it stood she was our princess whether known by the public or not it didn't matter for now we needed a ruler. I wasn't the kings official adviser but the only witness to his adoption of Delilah. I would need to Veronica his official adviser to ordain her as princess. Pellentesque guide me to Delilah I need to assure her safety.

She is safe at the moment master wandering around in a cloak. I would advise you head in her direction to maintain her safety. He sent me an image of her to my mind she seemed to be in a bit of a panic. I would need to arrange certain things I quickly got messengers to take messages to Veronica, Massaka, and Maya. I would need to get the attention of all of the most trust worthy members of the Crown.

For the time being I was going to take control of the situation, but there was another person I needed to contact. I drew out my piece of mirror glass and gently breathed on it. Immediately an image of Leopold appeared on the glass. I didn't hesitate to tell him what happened, " Morgan has been taken he's under the guise of a guard and they don't appear to know that it is him. Also they have made the assumption that they have successfully stolen several important documents I'm fully aware that they were taken." He gave me a grim look before nodding in acceptance. I now request two things of you watch out for Morgan it's easy to track him and that will help you find him, and continue to spy on the Resistance."

" Fenezari you are my cousin and you're my friend if that's all you request of me of course I will do it," we rubbed the fog of the edge of the screen to end our communication.

Several things that I required set into order I ran off to find Delilah. I would announce her as Crown princess as soon as possible regardless of the advice of the emergency council I was throwing together. For now though her father had been taken by the Resistance, she will need someone now most of all she was my closest friends daughter regardless of if she knew it or not I loved her. She needed a guard and I had offered that but she also needed a friend now I would find her and do my best to help her.

King Morgan Darkrai
The Resistance stronghold
Dungeons

I sat there in my cell, my face hidden by my hands. I've been in Their hands for hours, but Deliah was on my mind. How confident she must've been to watch me put up a fight against Them, but frightened to know that I was taken despite my strength. I looked at my hands. They were drentched in my tears. Suddenly I had an idea. Using what water I had on my hands, I smeared it on the bars and froze the water to the point where I could break the bars with a kick. I broke the ice and started running for my life. Kali's strength flowed through my body, increasing my speed. I was almost at the entrance when I tripped on someone's foot. I hit the ground face-down and looked at the one who tripped me. A boy of twenty-five or younger. I tried to get up, but he put his foot on my back to pin me down. I said sickly, "Let me go free, please. I have nothing to tell you or your leader."
The boy said calmly, "Let Merry be the judge of that." He pulled me back on my feet by the back of my shirt and tied my hands behind me. Keeping a dagger pointing at my back, he led me to a different cell and shackled my feet before taking his leave and closing my new cell. "You're lucky I'm not in the torturing mood. Then you would know why they call me Chaos." He left to go about his own business.
I shivered in fear. After all this time, my beloved sister Meredith was one of Them. She's become Their leader. What was she going to do to me, her only sibling and former playmate? She wouldn't lift a finger against me, not after all those years I've stood up for her and took the blame in her place when she did something wrong. All those punishments I endured on Meredith's behalf, it was because I loved her like the big brother I was. I waited for the worst to happen as I sat on a bench in my new cell. If Meredith loved me, I hoped greatly that she'll have mercy on her big brother.