Kingdoms United Academy [DRAFT ONE]

36. Mechanical Heart

The Next Day-

     The entrance to the tunnel was wide and dark, like a gigantic maw ready to devour them. 

     Cinder contemplated for a moment why it was a tunnel, of all things, but she had no time to think before the group stepped into the path. 

     With a click from a floor tile and thuds that progressively got quieter as they sounded out into the distance, floodlights and ceiling lights turned on to shed nearly blinding light in the tunnel.

     "A new anti-Crispy defense system, maybe." Criss turned to look at Crispy, who was clutching his sides as he walked forward.

     "Be ReaDy fOr tRaps."

     Linnea opened her pocket to look at Squishy, who was burying himself in a pile of lint to shield himself from the light.

     "What time even is it?" Cinder asked. She whipped out her cell phone and pressed the power button. It didn't respond.

     Linnea looked over at the bricked cell phone. "Oh."

     Crispy narrowed his eyes. "So tHat's wHY We dOn't haVe coMpUTers. It'S tHE mAGnetic fieLds."

     "Huh?" Linnea tilted her head. 

     "Magnetic fields here are wonky," Criss summarized. "It's also why we couldn't have just gotten a map-- we needed a guide. No map here will be accurate without working compasses and we'd be easily disoriented."

     "Ah, yeah," Cinder murmured.

     "wE've GottA geT mOving. i bEt thE alArms hAve aLrEady sOunDed."

     A familiar, raspy, buzzy, voice came from behind. "They have."

     "syNiStAr?!"

     "Little Star? I'd hoped you'd gotten out, but it appears you've wasted your chance at freedom."

     Cinder and the others turned around to see Synistar and Lucy standing solemnly in front of them. Lucy's hammer and Synistar's hands appeared to be new models.

     "i haVen'T wAsTed iT! i'm mAkinG thIs rIghT!"

     Lucy looked away from the conversation, her face screwed up with grief. "By dying to Pythias? Your only promise was to never return if you got out."

     "And now," Synistar continued, "we're stuck on opposite sides of the battlefield, equally sworn to our compatriots to kill each other if it's the last thing that we do."

      "i SweAr i wOn'T--" Crispy's hands balled up into fists.

      Synistar shook her head. "It's not about you killing us. Crispin, are you sure that this is something worth dying for?"

     Crispy narrowed his eyes. "alL of iT iS."

     "We're really sorry," Lucy sobbed. Tears fell to the ground. Her makeup smudged as she wiped the tears in her eyes away, leaving massive smudges of eyeliner, blush, and face paint along her whole face.

      Lucy readied her hammer, and Synistar's palms hinged open. 

     Cinder charged before Synistar could shoot. She gripped her staff tightly as she willed that balls of fire surround her. Cinder sent them shooting away as Synistar's hands formed a shield around her and Lucy. The fire glanced off the hands, and the coating was unharmed.

     "It's a new, heat-resistant model," Synistar commented. "Before, I didn't figure Dev's kid would take exactly after him."

     Cinder gripped her staff tighter and took a step back before Synistar could retaliate. "What exactly is it you know about my dad?"

      Synistar's hands started glowing and whistling, powering up for a blast. "We royal guard are less like a guard force and more like a band of secret police intended to carry out Pythias's will. He showed up on my list as a rebel, and so he had to be killed lest I suffer a fate worse than death."

     Lucy ran at Cinder from the side with her explosive-loaded hammer. "Synnie searched long and hard. She was about to suffer consequences when she found evidence that he'd escaped to the human realm, with ten illusionist rings that disguised the wearer in tow. But she followed."

     Cinder jumped backwards and barely escaped the blast. She could feel the heat of it on her face.

     "His disguise was strong, so I returned after five years, hanging my head in defeat." Synistar's hands shot the bolt. 

     Cinder leapt to the side. The bolt of ice grazed her staff, which began to frost and crackle. 

     "He fought long and hard after I found him at the tether again. He refused to give up. My body was almost entirely burned away." Synistar's hands whistled again.

      Lucy attacked Cinder again. Cinder managed to block the impact with her staff, but shards of glass and droplets of ichor went everywhere, including in Cinder. Her wounds burned. She was knocked to the ground.

     Synistar walked towards Cinder steadily and gracefully. "I was not allowed to die. Pythias kept me alive. I was too convenient to lose. I built a new vessel for myself."

     "Don't hurt her!" Linnea screeched.

     A crossbow bolt landed squarely in Synistar's eye. Or perhaps it was a camera. Either way, it didn't matter. She wailed out in what sounded more like shock than pain as Lucy rushed to her aid.

     Criss sheathed their billhook and ran further into the tunnel, beckoning for the others to follow. "Go!"

      Linnea grabbed Cinder and picked her up before she could react. She was being carried away from the battlefield, but what she noticed more was the firm and strong grip from the normally gentle Linnea keeping her from falling.

      She yelled out of shock, but she could feel her face burning up. Cinder wanted to remain in Linnea's arms forever. 

      Crispy pointed left when the group came to a fork in the path, and soon they were navigating winding, stale, white hallways that felt more like a hospital or prison than a castle.

      Finally, the group came to a set of black doors, where Crispy signaled to halt. A muffled tune drifted through the air from within, but none of the children dared open them. 

      "i'D sAy it'S sAfe tO rEmoVe thE gAs mAskS nOw."

     Linnea whipped hers and Cinder's off and gave Cinder a massive kiss on the lips. Cinder's knees gave out. 

     "We're here!" Linnea cheered. "We made it! We're alive!"

     "We can do this," Criss asserted.