"Are we there yet?" Anya whined while pulling on Kaitlyn's arm.
"For the last time, Anya I d-don't know. I-I m sorry," Kaitlyn moaned in defeat. Lars stopped walking and turned around and walked towards Anya. She laid her head down thinking she was in trouble. Lars bent down, lifting her head to make eye contact, he smiled while whipping the smudge off her face. Her red fur still glimmers even though it was covered in shit.
"There's no need to complain, Anya we are here," Lars said with a smile. Kaitlyn turned away and crossed her arms, her gaze meeting with Zac: he just shrugged. Lars resumed his walk forward. This time he was practically running. Everyone ran too to catch up, but it seemed Lars was a bit faster. The irritating and burning smell of piss and shit began to make its move. The stench and clusters of shit got worse as they threaded along, making it challenging for one to run. Zac spoke up and they decided to run a bit slower so as not to accidentally hurt themselves or anyone with his fire magic.
"Huh the sludge stopped. That's fine with me. I was starting to get worried my coat or even my suitcase would get covered in that filth." Raymond said, wiping off his suitcase with a clean hand. Soon after the group heard aggressive banging and crashing noises. The group ran up to find that Lars broke down a wall that revealed a passageway. Black particles swarmed around the axe like bees around a hive once Lars threw it over his sturdy shoulder.
"Hey, what the hell took you guys so long?" Lars said while spinning the Axe of the Oppressed around like a flag.
"Sorry, but you run too fast. You are literally a different species." Zac said while panting trying to catch his breath. He slouched over and took deep breaths of air, but first he made sure his tome was in a good condition. He wiped his glasses off and glanced at Lars.
"Oh sorry, I just got really excited. Sorry you guys are unbelievably slow." Lars said, playing with his axe.
"It's o-okay Lars," Kaitlyn said while crossing the threshold into the passageway. The sewer water and shit began to dry into everyone's clothing, Lars' fur, and of course, Raymond didn't have a spec of shit on him and the shit didn't even sink into Anya's fur. It's as if the clumps were afraid to touch her fur. The air quality was different here and it felt nice for everyone to breathe in, especially Kaitlyn and Zac since they are humans. Everyone else followed after Kaitlyn. After five minutes of walking in a quiet line, they approached a spiral staircase.
"Hey Kaitlyn let me take the lead on this one. Just in case my brother is there," Lars said almost wanting to shove her aside but he didn't.
"S-Sure," Kaitlyn nodded while stepping aside to allow Lars to pass her. His tall figure loomed over Kaitlyn once Lars was in front of her. Every know and then she glanced up and Lars and back down at the metal coated stairs. They began the ascension of the spiral staircase. After eleven dreadful minutes of stepping, Lars halted as he faced what spread to be the backside of a bookcase. Lars felt around for a switch or lever to see if it could be opened from the back side. Lars sighed as his efforts were in vain.
"Of fucking course," Lars said while gripping on to the Axe of the Oppressed. He swung the Axe around, chopping down the bookcase as if it didn't even exist. From the other side a scream rang out. The group filled the room to find an older female ark in fancy clothing who just spilled her afternoon tea on herself.
"Oh Lars my dearest, you nearly gave me a heart attack," she said in a soft, angelic voice.
"Oh mother," Lars said sympathetically as he dropped the Axe of the Oppressed to hug her. The black particles swirled downwards and disappeared, but the diamond still remained black.
"I'm so sorry for not being able to see you at all this year," She said, tears streaming from her eye. Her wrinkled cheeks began to puff and she buried herself into Lars' chest covered in cuts and wounds.
"It's okay I understand,"
"Lance has been keeping me on a tight leash as of late. He thinks that we were plotting something against him! Sadly he was right,"
"Haha, that's probably the only thought he has had right dammit. As his advisers fill his brain with lies only for them to gain more money and power,"
"Sorry I wasn't able to get your father's armor to you. Making sure that The Axe of the Oppressed wasn't destroyed was the most I could do with all the restrictions that Lance has put on me,"
"Speaking of, where is my father's armour that may help me win against Lance,"
"Your father's armour is in the armory down the hall,"
"Thanks mother, then that's where we are heading,"
"Wait be careful even though the guard staff in the castle is lower than normal,"
"Yes Mom I will," Lars said while hugging his mother back. His mother backed away from Lars and Lars gave back a hopeful and determined smile.
"Your Majesty, may I leave Anya with you? She is too young to fight and I don't know if I could live with myself if anything happened to her," Kaitlyn asked, pulling on Anya's lukewarm hand.
"Of course, it would be my pleasure to look after an Ark with such rare coloring," Lars' Mother smiled as she inspected Anya's questioned color scheme.
"But I want to go with you," Anya begged reaching out for Kaitlyn. Tears began to flow down Kaitlyn's face and she bit on her lip. She held her head down solemnly and looked at Lars and Zac.
"Please you have to stay here Anya! I would die if you got hurt..." Kaitlyn said as she began to sob.
"Okay," Anya said while rushing back to hug Kaitlyn, knowing she might never see her again.
"Hey Kaitlyn, are you coming or not?" Zac said from the door of the chamber while itching the itch on his forehead. He simultaneously whipped out his tome and flipped to a random page.
"Y-yeah sorry I'm coming," Kaitlyn said as she wiped off her tears. She rushed towards Zac and waved bye to Anya. The group exited the chamber and traveled down the hallway.
"Which room are we looking for?" Zac questioned while whispering and reading and lip syncing spells.
"Be quiet dumbass!!" Lars whisper-yelled.
"That room," Lars pointed towards the next door on the other side of the hallway. The group creeped across the hallway into the room, firmly closing the vast and large door, it was like one of those dungeon doors with many details carved into it. Raymond was the last in, he locked the door behind him and wiped off his coat and adjusted his gleaming halo.
"Lets hope no one with keys needs to come in," Raymond said, looking back at the door.
"Y-yeah," Kaitlyn said while browsing the arrows on the wall. The flint at the tip of the arrows were shiny and illuminated whenever Raymond moved around. They peaked her interest but she dismissed them. Lars immediately headed for the armor stands in the back.
"It's here," Lars said with his eye wide open.
"What is?," Zack asked with curiosity, lifting his head out of his tome.
"It's my father's armor. It will help me with defeating my brother," Lars said determinedly while lifting the chest piece off the stand. Its weight was nothing like that of The Axe of the Oppressed. He lifted the chest plate over his head and slipped it down his chest and fitted it in place.
"You won't be able to fly though Lars," Zac pointed out as he noticed that Lars' wings were covered by the chest plate. Lars tried to stretch his wings but the armor and his wings didn't budge.
"It won't matter, he has his own amour he wears. Even if his wings are free he won't be able to fly as the amour will wight him down," Lars said while slipping into the platted leggings. Then, he stepped into the boots, and lastly he strapped in a skirt like piece that held the chest plate and leggings together.
"Sadly there doesn't appear to be enough amour for all of us," Kaitlyn observed while pointing to the amourstand next to the one Lars' fathers was on. On that armor stand was only a leather chest plate.
"You should take it. It's better than no armor at all." Zac smiled at Kaitlyn while closing his tome and placing it carefully onto his belt. He quickly adjusted his glasses and observed the details carved onto the door.
"O-Okay," Kaitlyn said while grabbing the chest plate of the stand and putting it on her body. She walked back to the arrows, contemplating whether or not to take them. She looked back at Zac, Raymond, and Lars and filled her quiver with new, sharper and what appeared to be some explosive arrows that had a shiny tip. The wooden part of the arrow was instead replaced with a type of greenish brown color, copper maybe. While the others traded in the weapons for new ones as this journey left them weather and dull. Raymond was sharpening his blade with a whetstone as his sword was custom.
"If we are done here we sould head to the throne room as soon as possible," Lars spoke up. Lars began to walk out into the hallway but Raymond grabbed his arm pulling him back into the room. Raymond whispered into Lars' eardrums which were right under his twisted, and fire red horns.
"There are guards going towards your mother's chamber," Lars ducked down below the glass pain on the door and listened to the guards chit chat as they walked down the hall.
"Hey, too bad we are stuck on vault duty when there is a peasant uprising to quelle," The first guard said, laughing it off.
"Hey, someone has to guard the vault, and I'm pretty sure His Majesty can handle himself," the second guard said.
"I just hope he reasons with them this time. As he killed those who began to storm the middle of the city,"
"Yeah I hope so too, the taxes are way too damn high and the city hasn't been improved since Lance took the throne,"
"Hey don't talk like that do you want to disappear!" Both of the guards began to laugh as they continued to pass the armoury and the royal chamber down to valt.
"This is our opening to catch him off guard in the throne room when he gets back," Lars whispered, gripping his weapon of destruction.
"Yeah let's go now," Zac said, adjusting his glasses in the meantime.
"Hey, I have to go to my lab there so I can rig all of the magical energy I have been storing to explode. I can have it blow up the guards quarters and that should help," Raymond offered.
"You do that, and meet back up at the throne room when you're done. The people's sacrifice will not be in vain," Lars said. Raymond exited the armoury and traveled down the same way the two guards did, his lab coat swinging behind him.
"Okay where's the throne room Lars?" Zac asked impatiently.
"It's near the center and we are going to have to enter from the center hall," Lars said eagerly.
"O-Okay let's do this guys!" Kaitlyn exclaimed while placing her arms on Lars' and Zac's shoulder.
"Yeah, If we have gotten this far we can do anything," Zac said, somewhat flustered. But then he glared down onto the glove on his hand with the purple diamond lodged into it and chuckled.
"Everyone, it is time to take back our country and free those who are deemed unfit to live freely!" Lars announced to the last nine rening inverted arks from Kenssey Hill Mental Institute. They shake their heads nodding before leaving the armoury. Lars led the way down the hallway in the opposite direction that Raymond and the guards went.