It was probably a bad idea to eat before they left, because when they landed at the small rocky outcropping after light leaping, Dex's stomach decided to empty all of its contents onto a large, random flowerpot forgotten at the entrance of the whirlpool.
Keefe suspected the owner of the pot would find the flowers dead in a day or so.
"Sorry," Dex slurred out, wiping whatever was on his face off with a sleeve. Keefe went to pat his shoulder, then thought better of it.
"You're good," Keefe said with a grimace as the smell reached his nose, even through the potent flowers.
Dex coughed. "I thought we were kidnapping Elwin?"
"Change of plans. First we're gonna give the rings to your family and Foster's family."
Dex nodded and said, "So. Do you have a plan?"
A furrow formed between Keefe's eyebrows, and he frowned, deep in thought.
"This is the most secure city." Keefe said slowly. "There's only this entrance, and I'll bet they have guards down there right now, waiting for unsuspecting elves to show up."
"Probably."
"We were unsuspecting. Now we're suspecting, but we still need to get in."
"Yep."
"Unfortunately, it doesn't help. Because suspecting won't help because they'll just knock us over the head."
"Basically."
"But—since we were unsuspecting, and now are suspecting, but they think we're unsuspecting, we have the element of surprise."
"True."
"That won't help us if they have ogres or goblins down there, though."
Dex squinted at him. "You don't have a plan do you?"
"Well, I'm not Sophie." Keefe winced. "But if we get captured, at least we'll get into the containment cells."
Dex continued, "So, basically, we're trying the element of suprise?"
Keefe nodded. "They'll never know what hit them."
Dex seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea, but he shrugged. "Alright. Let's get recaptured."
"More enthusiasm, Dexy," Keefe said, as Dex prepared to jump into the whirlpool.
His friend rolled his eyes. He stepped off the outcropping, and as he fell, his voice faded away. "Let's get recaptured!"
"That's the spirit," Keefe muttered.
He jumped.
Dex was already off the sponge when Keefe landed. His hands were in the air, and a grinning ogre held a spear to his back.
Keefe opened his mouth to speak, and Dex let out a hiss. The ogre pulled the spear back slightly.
"You're the one Alina said to watch for." He motioned Keefe forward. "No talking, or we'll gut your little friend."
"You'd be surprised how often those words are used to threaten me." Dex muttered.
The ogre scowled and jabbed his back again. Dex grunted.
As soon as Keefe stepped off the sponge, another ogre grabbed his arms and roughly bound his hands behind his back. Then he shoved a balled up piece of cloth and gagged him. "For good measure," he smirked.
***
"She'll be here to question you in about twenty," one of the ogres said conspiratorially. "So I'd get your story straight now, while you can."
They were stuck into separate cells. Dex was four rows down, and Keefe could only talk to him if he yelled.
It wasn't really the best way to be subtle.
"Dex!" Keefe hollered. "Are you able to escape?"
A few beats later, "I can't hear you very well!"
"Are you able to escape?" He yelled again.
About three seconds after saying it, Dex answered. "'Are you ready to wait?' For what?"
"ARE YOU ABLE TO ESCAPE!" Keefe hollered. "Escape, not wait!"
"Oh. No, I don't want to throw up again!"
"No, that's not—" Keefe rolled his eyes. "Good lord."
"I'd take some water though," Dex yelled after a moment of silence.
"I don't have water!"
"I know you have water, I already heard you!"
Keefe smacked his palm to his forehead. "Dizznee will be no help, apparently." He stared at the lock.
Maybe if he cried for long enough, he could lubricate the lock and undo the—
That didn't even make sense.
"Come on, Sencen," he muttered. "You're only in detention after school. Not during. You still know how to think."
He examined the lock again.
Thinking hard, he worked at unwinding his shoelace from his boot. Taking the metal tip, he inserted it as far as he could into the lock.
Keefe attempted to tug it out when he realized it wasn't going to do anything. It wouldn't move. He tugged harder, and when the shoelace seemed to get more stuck, he sat back on his heels. Absentmindedly, he scratched his foot, wrinkling his nose at the feel of his wool sock.
"Good job," he muttered. "You did horrible."
Thanks, his brain replied happily.
He stood up, grasped the shoelace, wrapping it between his fingers, gave it a solid yank and...
Fell forward as his cell door flew open.
Keefe rubbed his forehead—which would definitely bruise up later—and stood. He walked around the door and gave the shoelace an experimental tug.
It didn't budge.
Shaking his head, he went back into his cell—making sure to keep the door wide open behind him—and tugged his laceless boot back on.
"Oh Dexy," he sang. "Where ya at?"
***
"This it?" Keefe held up the pick Dex had designed and hastily constructed for their "adventure." Keefe would've been able to pick the locks without it, but it went faster, and he didn't have to work as carefully, so he'd let the machinery do the job.
He unlatched the door, let Dex out of the cell, and tossed the pick to him. "The door's this way. We have about eight minutes before Alina comes to question us, so we have to hurry."
He led Keefe down the hall, ducking past guards as they patrolled the halls. They came to the door quickly, and Keefe watched behind them while Dex attached the pick to the lock.
"Done," he announced quietly. "Give me your rings."
Keefe blinked, prepared to enter the keep door. "Why?"
"I have to give them to them." He frowned. "Did that sentence sound weird to you?"
"I can help," Keefe said.
Dex shook his head. "I have to do it, 'cause if they see you, it'll cause a reaction. Either they'll try to kill you, or they'll raise the alarm. Honestly, the second one's worse."
"Gee, thanks Dizznee." Keefe grumbled, but he checked his timer, and simultaneously dropped the other rings into Dex's hands. "Try to hurry. We have to get out of here."
Dex disappeared into the cell keep.
He came back two minutes later than he was supposed too
"Come on." Keefe urged. "We have to go."
"Hold on," Dex fumbled with his lock pick. "Just gotta..." he but his lip, bobbing his head as he counted under his breath. "Done."
"Okay," Keefe turned around and went to open the door, but it swung open.
He stumbled back.
Alina stood in the doorway alone, hands on her hips. She smiled. "Ah. There you boys are."
"Alina." Keefe tilted his head. "The haircut new?"
She flushed scarlet, one hand reaching up to smooth the mussed up locks that were cut short in uneven spikes. She pursed her lips. "Something your little girlfriend's mother contributed."
"Geez, even Alina knew before us?" Dex muttered.
"We weren't even dating then," Keefe hissed. "Also, not the time."
"Attention back here, boys," Alina reminded them.
Keefe glanced back at her. He shrugged.
"I thought I'd find you here," she said. "Though I wonder how you got out of your own cells."
"Magic," Keefe lied.
"Hmm." She gave him an unimpressed look. "How long did it take you to realize the door was unlocked the whole time?"
Dex shot him a look. "You didn't try opening it?"
"I didn't think about it," Keefe said in a hurt voice.
Dex rubbed his temples. "How does Sophie deal with you again?"
"Rude," Keefe muttered.
"Did you notice the locks were different on these cells?" Alina asked Dex, who had hidden his lockpick behind his back. "That's why you weren't able to get in."
With a flash of relief, Keefe realized that she thought they hadn't been able to get in—instead that they were trying to get in when she caught them.
"What do you want?" Keefe asked, glaring at her, keeping up with the story she'd conveniently created for them.
Alina tilted her head. Finally, she said, "I came to offer my condolences."
The glare became real, and Keefe stiffened. "What?"
"Your mother. Gisela was a good friend. It's too bad she betrayed us." She sighed heavily. "It's too bad her body is somewhere out in the ocean surrounding us."
Keefe lunged forward, but Dex grabbed his arm, holding him back.
"Take her name out of your mouth," Keefe warned her, anger clouding his vision. "Or you will regret it."
"What will you do?" She asked, clearly enjoying his loss of control. "Kill me? Become Vespera? Do what your mother couldn't?"
"You don't deserve to mourn her," he said softly, in a dangerous tone.
Alina smirked. "Did you mourn her? The mother who ruined your life? Can you even call her your mother?"
"Keefe," Dex whispered urgently. "We gotta get out of here."
Alina clicked her tongue. "Uh-uh. Not so fast, boys." The rooms temperature dropped ten degrees as she said, "REVENITE."
Dex released Keefe's arm, pupils growing dilated.
Keefe cursed under his breath and backed away. "Dex." He warned. He ran into the wall. "Come on, man."
His friend prepared to jump at him, and Keefe searched wildly for something to protect himself. His instinct would probably rear up when Dex attacked him, but by then it'd be too late since Alina could just re-hypnotize him.
His eyes landed on the false light spilling in through the window.
And idea formed in his brain.
Keefe's hand drifted from his pocket, wrapping his fingers tightly around the crystal.
Dex jumped.
Keefe held the crystal up to the light just as Dex's hands wrapped around his neck.
A/N: I'll have you know I forewent finishing my homework to speed write this so I could publish it on the first minute of the first day of the first month of 2022.
In other words, to publish this at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2022.
I did this last year, though I wasn't having writers block at the time (cough cough A CURSE) and I figured since I wasn't able to publish another chapter on the last few Sundays, or on Christmas, I should at least do an update on the last day of 2021 and one on the first day of 2022. So here we are!
I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I actually had a ton of fun writing this one, even though I struggled a little.
Question of the day: what are your New Year's resolutions, if you have any?
Updated: January 1, 2022