UNFINISHED: Prince of Madness

~ Chapter 13

Agatha was in two minds about leaving the hound corpses behind. On one hand, she didn't want to have to stare at them as they were, let alone in a few weeks' time when the bodies had begun to smell and decompose. On the other hand, she knew that there were very few ways to dispose of them in a desert - and that a cremation would have to wait due to the fact that Ruben only had six matches left, and they would have to be saved for emergencies. Thus, she managed to persuade the two gentlemen to spend a few minutes digging a small pit in the sand in which to bury the inanimate creatures. It was, she supposed, a shallow grave for them in more ways than one.
After hurriedly filling the pit up with sand, Ruben and Marcel began to walk in a way that suggested that they did not care much for the grave. Of course, it burdened Agatha slightly that lumps of wiry fur were still visible from the surface, but she shook her head and told herself to forget about it, casting her mind to other matters - such as their final destination, and what it would look like. It worked.

There came a point in the next leg of the journey - about midday - when Ruben speeded ahead, leaving Marcel and Agatha a few metres behind. He had a rather distant look on his face, as if he was pondering something deep and did not want to be disturbed. Marcel slowed slightly and said something under his breath.
"Are you okay with this all?"
"What do you mean?"
Marcel snorted. "We're essentially running away. I know our parents are... ignorant pigs to say the least. But maybe that's how they've been raised, too. Maybe that's not their fault. After all, they've... looked after us, haven't they?"
Agatha felt something in her chest crack. Marcel's words were true, and she knew it; in fact, it sounded like something she would say to him. Why hadn't she thought of it before? They were...
being selfish. 
"Yes." Agatha said sadly. "But can we turn back now?"
"Are you afraid of disappointing Ruben?"
She touched the metal ornament strung loosely around her neck, which she had almost forgotten about for a while now. The Mobius pendant offered her little comfort.
"No, I'm sure he would understand. But we've walked so far already... Shouldn't we follow this quest through to the end?"
It was Marcel's turn to think. He stared at the sand with a still silence before answering slowly.
"You're right, as usual, Agatha."
"I don't want to let you return to a place where you'll only get hurt," she whispered.
And her best friend laughed. "It's all I've ever known. I think I'll be fine. But thank you for your concern."

It wasn't long after that when a giant wall faded into view just below the giant dune they stood on. It was blurry at first, but gradually its details became clear: bricks upon bricks of bronze-coloured stone and dozens of cryptic markings engraved here and there.
Marcel was first to gasp with amazement.
"Skotadis?"
"And Anatolia." Ruben corrected, staring with that same peaceful expression, but with excitement dancing in his eyes. "That's our destination."
Agatha found herself gaping as well at the structure that seemed to stretch into the horizon for as far as the eye could see.
"And that's... the wall? It protects the city, right? Is there an entrance somewhere?"
Ruben turned to her and nodded, pointing to a spot near the ground where the faintest of a gate symbol of some sort could be seen.
"That's the main entrance to the city. However, I'm not sure..."
His words faded off, and he shook his head. "We'll just have to try it and see."
"So, you mean...?" Marcel squinted and huffed. "No one's been able to get in there for years. How were you planning to change that?"
"I'm going to hope I can undo the sealing spell."
"Sealing... spell?" Agatha repeated. "A spell that sealed the entrance?"
"Exactly as it sounds." Ruben flexed his fingers, his voice now slightly louder than it had been before - due to his rising excitement, no doubt. "But to do that, we need to get down there!"
Without giving anyone else the opportunity to speak, Ruben took a hold of Agatha's hand and Marcel's wrist and hurled himself forward, bringing them all tumbling down the sandy hill. Agatha screamed as she fell, but soon realised that the world spinning around her was actually an exhilarating experience, and with the mountains of sand to break their fall, not as dangerous as her mind had first perceived it.

Marcel cursed, and Agatha sat up, her body aching again. Everything hurt throbbed; her spine, both shoulder blades, her knees and her... backside.
Marcel cursed again, and a slapping sound could be heard as Ruben burst into a fit of laughter.
"You should've heard your screaming, Marcel. It was brilliant!"
"Shut up, you delusional idiot! What was that? Were you trying to kill us?"
"Did I not make it blatantly obvious that I was trying to get us down the hill? I mean, it worked."
Agatha's head shot up to the city walls they had viewed from the top of the sand dune. Now only twenty metres away, it seemed larger and taller and more majestic than ever.
"All jokes aside, I do apologise most sincerely," Ruben said. "I forgot that you two were..."
"We're not that hardy, yes," Agatha chuckled, taking one look at Marcel's heated face as he navigated his way out of the awkward position he had fallen into and shared with Ruben. "We're getting used to it, aren't we, Marcel?"
Her childhood friend staggered to his feet in an almost drunken manner and replied in a flat voice, "Definitely, Agatha. Definitely."
Marcel extended two hands to pull Ruben and Agatha up simultaneously, and Agatha took it, saying her thanks with a bright smile and laughing along with him when Ruben fell back down.
This little adventure was actually becoming quite fun, she supposed. There was, of course, that lingering guilt knowing they had left family behind, but... it wasn't permanent, she assured herself. They would return, soon, hopefully when they had all calmed down. Or maybe visit them just the once, and resume their living elsewhere.
The concept of her own independence almost gave Agatha shivers, but in a positive way. She had longed to be able to do things all by herself - without two parents sticking their noses into her affairs - and to finally have a taste of it...
Agatha was happier than she had ever been in more than sixteen years, travelling beside her childhood best friend and a new friend she'd met in the old hospital.

Part of Agatha's brain told her it was wrong. Not just running away from home, but... with Ruben.
Part of her brain told her that Ruben was not to be trusted; that he was branded clinically insane for a reason, and that sooner or later it would get them all into trouble.
He's misunderstood, she fought back. It's because he's not a homo sapiens human, because they have powers beyond ours. Because he's different.
"But it's dangerous to be different," Ruben whispered under his breath.
Agatha's trance broke, and she stared at him in alarm. "You- You have psychic powers too?"
"No. But you were mouthing something."
Marcel nodded, crossing his arms not out of any particular emotion, but out of habit.
"Wha-at did I say?"
"'Because he's different' was all I could make out."
"I'm sorry! I don't usually s-say things aloud! I don't know why-"
"It's fine." Agatha didn't know anymore if Ruben's smiles were genuine, but this one definitely seemed so. He shrugged, continuing, "I'm glad you were thinking about me. It's nice to know people in this world actually care for others."
Ruben turned quickly at his own words, as if he had triggered a memory that he didn't want to see, and strode quickly up to the bronze-bricked and engraved wall. Marcel and Agatha swiftly followed, exchanging a quick glance behind him as he stood and stared at a particular spot in front of him that was marked by a mysterious symbol.
"It radiates ancient magic. Definitely sealed. You can't even find the portcullis," Ruben breathed, before saying, "Please stand back. I'm a bit rusty, and don't want to end up killing you."
They did so, and Agatha watched the symbol almost begin to glow as Ruben placed a hand above it and squinted.
There was an oh so quiet, low hum - seemingly otherworldly - that lasted just for a few seconds before it ceased at the same time Ruben yelped and was sent flying backwards in a straight line.
Marcel was the first to react, bolting over to check Ruben was alive, closely followed by Agatha, who subconsciously delved into the satchel she was still carrying for a roll of bandage.
"I'm fine." Ruben didn't seem the least shaken, but added in an aggravated voice, "That's too powerful. I can't undo that."
"So it's game over," Marcel huffed, hauling the other man up by the shoulders.
"Not yet, not yet. There's another entrance."
"But that will be sealed too, won't it?" Agatha dusted off the satchel scouring the ground for nothing in particular. "I'm assuming the whole wall is under the spell."
"It is. Which is why we're going to use the underground entrance!" Ruben said with feigned enthusiasm.
"Why are you so happy," said Marcel.
"It's... an... interesting passage, to say the least," was the reply. "Now, we're looking for a secret entrance somewhere along to..."
Ruben pointed left, and the other two turned to survey the wall and the desert that stretched into the distance. But there, very far away...
"That's how we're going to get in," Ruben said.