The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 25 - Search party

           "Katherine! What happened?!" The emperors stopped in the doorway when they spotted Owen. A couple of them reached for their weapons. "Oh, it's just Owen," Pix said, relieved. "Hi," Shelby waved. "Who's Owen?" A few people asked. "I'm Scott's best friend," Owen said, "And what in the world are so many trespassers doing in Llama Land? Oh, hello, Pix, Shelby, I haven't seen you for a while." "Owen was a llama of Scott's," Pix whispered to everyone. "Scott and Shelby turned him human, and apparently he thinks he rules Chromia and that it's called Llama Land. He's not a threat." Everyone lowered their weapons. 

           "So what are you all doing in Llama Land?" Owen asked again. "We're all friends of Scott," Shelby said. Owen nodded, his disposition becoming friendlier at once. "Oh, okay. Speaking of, where is Scott? I haven't seen him for a while and this pink lady was in his bed," He gestured at Katherine, who shrugged somewhat self-consciously. Pix and Shelby looked at each other. "Uh, Scott's kind of in trouble." "Trouble?" Owen's ears perked up. "What kind?" "He's gotten himself captured by a demon," Joel said. Owen made a weird face. "O-kay." He trotted out of the room, rudely pushing a few emperors out of his way. "Uh, Owen, where are you going?!" Pix asked, sounding slightly panicked. "To go get Scott, of course. What else?" 

           "But you don't even know where he is!" Katherine said exasperatedly, as the emperors followed the llama-turned-human. Owen stopped and turned around, annoyed. "Of course I don't, but I will soon. Now stop following me, I'm going to get Scott." "How?" Jimmy asked skeptically. "Oh, llamas have an incredible sense of smell. I can track him." "Uh, the wolves already tried that," Shrub said, patting her wolves. "Oh, I don't mean scent trails, I'll just smell his general direction. He smells like poppies, anyway, it shouldn't be that hard." Owen started sniffing the air, and everyone looked at each other. "Well, let the llama try, there's no reason not to," Oli pointed out. Suddenly Owen spat in Oli's face from a few meters away. Oli gagged. "What was that for?!" "To tell you I've found some the scent, of course. Scott taught me to do something like that. Although he did complain about the spit." 

           Owen then spat in another direction and headed off that way. Confused, the emperors just stared at him walking off into the distance. "That's in the direction of Animalia," Joel said. "Well, now we know where the Scotts are!" Sausage said happily. He started to follow the llama but Pearl grabbed his arm. "Hold on, Sausage, but we need a plan before we go storming into that place." "Some of us should stay here." Everyone looked at Princess Katherine and fWhip began to protest. "I know, I know, no splitting up, but I don't think it's a good idea to bring Oli along." Everyone looked at Oli, then at the Crown on his head. Everyone started nodding. "I can stay here with Katherine and Pearl," Oli said. "To also watch the place in case the Scotts escape by themselves." 

           "I think I'll stay too," Count fWhip of the Grimlands said abruptly. "I'll be working on the anti-possession potions." He pulled the vial of the Fae elixir out of his utility belt and showed it to the others, emphasizing his point. "Okay," Gem nodded. "fWhip, Oli, Pearl, and Katherine will stay here, and the rest head to Animalia. I think the stealthiest should lead the way, just in case there are any traps." "Guess that means me and the wolves," Shrub said. "And they're also animals, so they'll fit into Animalia, right?" "I'm stealthy too!" Sausage said, jumping up and down. "Are you sure?" Joel asked skeptically. "Hey, I'm a literal assassin, I'm stealthy." "You had to ask me for permission to kill me," Lady Katherine pointed out, and Sausage blushed. "That was my first mission; we don't talk about it."

           "Okay, Shrub and Sausage go in first, everyone else follow at a safe distance," Gem said, sounding like she was already regretting having Sausage go first, and he hadn't even done anything yet. Suddenly God Joel clutched his head and winced. Everyone looked up at him concernedly. "It's okay," Joel waved them away. "It's just a migraine. I've been having it for a while now. I'll be fine in a bit." Wizard Gem nodded and turned to follow Owen, who no one could see even in the distance anymore, but as she did so fWhip grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. "Gem, promise me you'll stay safe, okay?" Gem nodded and hugged him. "You too, fWhip." The twins disconnected and went off in opposite directions, Gem with most of the other emperors towards Animalia, and fWhip with the rest of them back to Scott's house. 

           fWhip got to work as soon as possible, setting up brewing stands and rummaging through chests for various ingredients. Katherine and Pearl tried to help, even Oli sometimes, but when the bard tried to be of assistance he ended up blowing up more test potions than fWhip did. Why do potions have this annoying habit of exploding in your face all the time?! Then again, gunpowder's a key ingredient so I probably shouldn't expect any less. Eventually, at the end of a very long day, fWhip finally managed to mix a concoction that looked just like the one the Fae had given them. And when he performed a test using a drop of both, the results made fWhip leap up in joy so strongly that his chair fell over and clattered on the floor. 

           "Katherine! Pearl! Oli! I did it!" The alchemist hooted, dancing around and punching the air in victory. Oli gave a whoop and joined him in dancing unpredictably around. Katherine and Pearl smiled at the two boys having fun and celebrating. "The potions are ready?" fWhip poured out more of the mixture into about a dozen more vials, and they each took one and drank. "As soon as the others get back we're giving this to them," fWhip bubbled, and Katherine laughed at his excitement. He's really having fun brewing potions and causing explosions. 

            Katherine then yawned, touched her head, and decided to retire. It was nighttime already, and she felt fatigued from brewing messy potions all day. And she had a headache that needed to be slept off. The princess excused herself and went up to the bedroom, this time staying away from Scott's bed. She settled comfortably under a pink blanket, and wondered what the others were doing, and if they had rescued the Scotts yet. She tried to think about what they could be doing, and soon found out that her head felt too fuzzy for thoughts. Maybe she was sleepier than she thought. But as a few more minutes passed without a wink, Katherine tried to grasp onto something to think about, but words were slipping from her mind. She could only think of one. 

           Fading...