Young Writers Society

Vincent awoke to the cold splash of water on his face. He shot his head up and looked around the room, full of a few men looking his direction. They had him tied to a chair, sitting next to... someone else? Who was also tied up? They splashed water on the other man before turning back to Vincent.

"Morning ladies!" the man closest to them shouted.

Vincent looked at him and blinked, "Are you part of the rebels?"

When Télos woke up, the first thing that he felt was freezing cold water hitting his face. He registered that before any of the other sensations - the rope around his wrists, sitting on a chair, or feeling like he was sitting close to someone else.

"You could have just shaken me awake," he muttered, tired. "That's mean, Aleks-"

The other sensations finally clicked.

He was tied up in some room with some player he had never seen before. There were other players in the room, too, but they didn't seem like ones he usually encountered. Their outfits were too serious and drab. Just as he came to that conclusion, he came to an even more startling one: they had talked.

And Télos hadn't seen any white words above their heads.

His golden eyes widened behind the wet black bangs that were now plastered to his forehead. They couldn't have been chosen. Hero, Oracle or him would have known about their arrival ahead of time. But players didn't talk like actual people unless they were chosen, which meant...

...he had to be on Earth.

The people looked between the other man and Vincent, seemingly trying to size them up.

"Where are the two of you from? Cus if definitely ain't from around here." The one closest to them spoke up, "And normally if something were to get this close to our camp, we would know before they did."

Vincent watched as the man spoke. He wore unusual clothes- nothing like they had back in the kingdom. A lot of them also seemed to be carrying this piece of metal at their hips. Maybe they were weapons?

"I'm not exactly sure how I got here." Vincent told them.

They began looking between one another.

"Demons?"

"Can't be, they was holy water we splashed them with."

"Angels?"

"They don't look uptight enough."

Vincent pieced together that they were probably trying to figure out if they were friendly or not, so he decided to interrupt, "Where I'm from, they call us huuumans," he emphasized the word so as not to confuse them, "Have you heard of them? They look a lot like you, but they dress better. Although we do have a bunch of talking animals as well, which you guys don't seem to have a problem with here."

"I'm also not sure how I got here," Télos managed to get out, giving a shaky smile as he glanced over at the player - the human - next to him. He was starting to get a sinking feeling in his gut. He didn't really know about demons and angels. Lex hadn't explained them in too much detail. But he did know that they weren't human, and that gods were supposed to be a little more important than them.

Télos gulped.

If they didn't like angels and demons, what would they think of a god? He was already used to the endermen not liking him. Besides, he was the one who was tied up right now. Even if he did get himself free, he'd have to fight everyone else here. He probably could do it, but they had those unfamiliar metal weapons.

Aleks? Lex? he thought, desperately hoping that they would be able to hear him right now. Are you on Earth?

Why the Nether would we be-

We aren't, Lex replied, quickly cutting Aleks off. Are you okay? You sound scared.

Télos gave a nervous laugh that probably should have been in his head.

I think I'm on Earth, he whispered.

Aleks made a scoffing noise. Lex was just silent. Télos could feel the eyes of his captors on him; he knew that the laugh was making them uneasy, too. But after a moment of prolonged silence, Aleks and Lex finally seemed to get that he was telling the truth.

I'm tied up right now, Télos said. I might be able to fight the players around me, but they have strange metal weapons I've never seen before-

Those are guns, Lex explained. They shoot projectiles. You could probably protect yourself with your gold, but it wouldn't be a good idea to fight them. Do they know who you are?

Télos shook his head, forgetting for a moment that his chosen weren't actually there. Giving the captors another nervous smile, he replied with a silent no in his head. I don't think they would be as friendly as they are right now if they did.

Aleks swore.

I'll help you, Lex promised. Just let me know what questions you have when they come up.

Télos resisted the urge to give a nod.

Then he turned his attention back to his captors. They seemed like they were done staring at him now; they were all trading each other looks in between glancing at the prisoner beside him.

"So do we," one of the captors said with an eye roll. "Now, where exactly are you from? We don't have all day."

Télos awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I'm, er, not really sure how I got here, either?" he said. "I was just with my friends before I woke up in this chair. But I'm from..."

He faltered.

Lex, he frantically asked, where am I supposed to say I'm from?

Where are you right now?

...On Earth?

Lex sighed. Say you're from a small town no one's ever knows about.

"...a small town no one here probably knows," Télos confidently finished.

The man shifted his attention back to Vincent, "What about you, pal?"

Vincent blinked at him, "I'm from Wonderland."

The crowd looked at him blankly. Giving a deep sigh, the man asking the questions swung his fist at Vincent, missing by an inch as Vincent weaved his head before the punch could connect. The man looked between his hand and Vincent, clearly caught of guard.

"I'm sure that would've hurt if it hit me, sir," Vincent glared at him, "But I'm not sure what you're trying to hit me for to begin with."

"They're clearly just some loonies man!" Someone from the back of the building shouted.

"Shut up!" The man in front of them shouted back, "What are your names?"

Vincent pursed his lips, wondering if he was just going to get attacked for telling them the truth again, "Vincent Kingsley."

Télos nervously glanced between Vincent and their interrogator. The man had lashed out at Vincent for something that seemed like the truth - would he get hurt for saying his name, too?

...But it wasn't like he had any choice.

"I'm Télos," he quickly offered.

The man gave him a look and gestured for him to go on. Télos faltered again; he had forgotten that most people had last names. But what last name could he come up with on the fly? He couldn't steal Oracle and Hero's - they were gods like him, too. They didn't have last names.

"Bailey," he finished, suddenly remembering that he could use Lex's. "Télos Bailey."

"Hey!" Someone shouted from the back, "Their initials are TV!"

"Shut up!" The man in front of them shouted back.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but could you untie us? My hands are pretty uncomfortable right now." Vincent wiggled in his seat.

The man glared at him, seemingly considering it, "We took all your weapons, so there isn't much you could do to get away. Speaking of which," he looked over to a table nearby that had a sword laying on it, "Who the hell still walks around with those things?"

Vincent scoffed, "I'll have you know that was hand crafted by one of the greatest sword-makers in the kingdom, just for me. I thought I lost it."

"Yeah whatever buddy," The man walked over and began untying them, "You guys try anything funny, you're dead. Got it?"

"Mhm."

As the ropes tying Télos to the chair fell to the ground, he gave a frantic nod.

"Got it," he repeated. He rubbed his wrists to get some feeling back into them. He was suddenly hit by a sense of déjà vu that he hadn't expected. He was used to people being suspicious of him at this point after everything with End. This was different than that. There was a good reason for the suspicion back on his actual world; this was like before. Back when Robra first started to...

He pushed the thought away.

He didn't want to think about that right now.

He got to his feet.

"...So are we free to go?" Télos asked, a hopeful tone to his voice.

The man frowned.

...He knew he was being too optimistic.

"You guys are staying here for now," the man said. "These two will escort you."

He gestured at two muscular men who suddenly stepped forward from within the crowd of people. Both of them were easily taller than Télos. They were also armed with what Lex had called guns earlier. The two men escorted Télos and Vincent out of the room into a dreary-looking town. The skies were gray and dark. A heavy, dense fog lingered in the air.

Télos didn't know a lot about Vincent, but he did know he liked him better than the two escorting them. He also remembered a few tricks from when he wanted to get out of school as a kid.

He held his hand in a fist at his side - perfectly hiding the gold nugget he made appear in the palm of his hand. The two men were so busy watching the road ahead of them and staying by their sides that they didn't notice Télos throwing the nugget off down a street.

It made a very audible noise as it hit the ground.

The men turned. After a moment of hesitation, they both started to move towards the source of the noise - unable to see the little golden nugget hidden in the mist.

Télos grinned and grabbed onto Vincent's wrist.

"Come on!" he mouthed, gesturing off towards one of the alleyways. Before Vincent had a chance to reply, he quickly - and quietly - led him away from the two that were supposed to be escorting them around.

Without warning, the man grabbed Vincent and led him toward an alleyway. Were they making an escape? Was he trying to re-kidnap Vincent? Who knew.

As they came to a stop behind a small building, Vincent took note of the odd outfit the man was wearing. "What's your name?"

Télos blinked.

He had given his name back in the room they were held captive in earlier, but Vincent must not have been paying attention. In retrospect, it was a surprise that Télos actually knew Vincent's name - there were so many other things to focus on back there.

"I'm Télos, go-" he started.

He froze.

He knew that Vincent had to be from another world like he was, but he suddenly remembered Lex mentioning that the way people viewed gods depended on where they were from. He had no way of knowing if Vincent's world had a good view of gods.

"Télos Bailey," he awkwardly finished.

Vincent eyed the man up and down. He was oddly friendly for having just been tied up in a room full of strange people.

Unless.

This was a part of a test from the Kingdom? Maybe they wanted to see how quick he was to trust someone? Then again, the man, Télos, seemed to be genuine in his confusion as well.

"I'm Vincent," he stretched his hand out, "Vincent Kingsley. Nice to formally meet you, Sire Bailey."

He shook the extended hand.

"Just Télos is good," Télos quickly clarified. If Vincent kept calling him that, Télos was sure he would get confused and think that Vincent was somehow talking to Lex. Lex was the only Bailey he knew.

He pulled his hand back and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm guessing you're not really sure how we got here, either?" he asked.

Vincent rubbed his chin, "Last I remember I went to bed last night and then woke up here."

Vincent looked around, or as much around as he could. The fog was still fairly heavy around them, but he could make out a forest nearby.

"None of this looks even slightly familiar to where I'm from. Unless this is some faraway city I've never heard of, there's no way I'm still in Wonderland." he looked over at Télos, "Are you from here?"

Télos shook his head.

"I'm not from here, either," he admitted. It wouldn't hurt to say where he really was from, right? The only people who knew of his world were the ones who lived on it and the ones from Earth. "I'm from a place called Minecraftia. One of my ch-friends is from here, but I've never been here before."