I'm writing this in history lmao
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Allesandro slid down into the sewer grate, Alden sliding down right behind him. Allesandro heard Alden nearly gag when he landed in the sewer water.
"What is in this?" Alden asked.
"I don't know, and I really don't want to know," Allesandro responded. Alden agreed and followed Allesandro down the sewer.
"How do you have this place memorized? Have you been here before?" Alden asked after some time.
"Leto showed me a holographic projection of their old blueprints. I have a photographic memory, so does Amalia." Allesandro explained, taking a right. Allesandro held a wooden torch out and was navigating around while Alden keeps an open mind out for any intruders.
"Uh, Allesandro?" Alden asked.
"Yeah?" Allesandro asked, twisting the sewer grate into the barracks.
"There aren't any guards in a 50-yard radius." Alden discovered.
"Really?" Allesandro asked, confused. They planned it so they would enter the Barracks at the transition time during dinner. But no guards in a 50-yard radius? That is bizarre.
"Do a mental track. See it for yourself." Alden said quietly. Allesandro opened his mind and scanned his surroundings, feeling his mental waves soar through the hallways and ceilings.
"Where the hell is everyone?" Alessandro cursed. Allesandro strode over to the blueprint table and scanned over everything, looking for where the children are kept.
"Okay, it seems Amalia is being held in their southernmost containment facility. There is a shed that you can hide out in while I go in and get her-" Allesandro was cut off as he felt a screeching power in his mind, overpowering his Telepath powers. Alden felt it too, and they both fell to the ground in pain.
"You think you own us?" A voice cried out in their heads.
"We refuse to be treated and traded like tools!" Another cried out. Allesandro felt a familiar transmission fill his head.
"Keep on putting on the pressure! If we keep on overwhelming them, we will be home free!" Amalia transmitted to all her fellow slaves. Allesandro pushed the pain down to the back of his head and ran over to the window. He nearly choked when he saw his daughter standing on the turned over prison carriage, yelling over the crowds of other rowdy slaves. She was stoking the fire of the slave's fury and helping the young children.
"Look at her go," Alden said in amazement. Suddenly, the massive wooden drawbridge was forced downward, landing with a large thunk onto the dirt road leading away from the castle.
"Everyone go! Grab children if you can! Mansi, Nour, meet me where we arranged!" Amalia yelled over the rushing slaves. Two kids nodded and ran down the dirt road with the other slaves. Amalia was moving to join them when she thrown down into the dirt by a whip.
"NO!" Allesandro yelled, pounding his fist onto the glass. Amalia looked up from the dirt and was whipped once again by a Nevenseen soldier. Allesandro felt his body fill with rage, not even realizing that his single punch to the glass cracked it.
"Alden, you need to go help the other slaves. I'm not leaving here without her." Allesandro snapped, storming out into the central courtyard where Amalia lay bleeding. Alden nodded and rushed over to the escaping slaves. Allesandro finally noticed the crack he made in the windowpane and realized that this was the fastest way to get to his daughter. With two more swift punches, Allesandro felt the glass shatter. His knuckles split, and his hand stung, but nothing stung more than watching the Neverseen start to circle Amalia. He pulled his menacing hood over his head and raced on top of the rooftops, quickly and silently slicing his blade across the throats of any who got in his path. Allesandro jumped down from the roofs and behind a prison cart. He put his hand up to his mouth and made the universal signal that he knew Amalia understood.
A Sparrow call.
Amalia stopped her whimpering immediately and darted her head up. She took cover and covered her head, taking shelter from the fight that she knew was about to happen. Just at that moment, Allesandro broke through his Vatarian form into his Pancras form, hearing the satisfying shriek of one of the Neverseen members when he bared his fangs and his golden eyes, his robes dotted with red bloodstains. Three members ran at the mere sight of him, and the other goons nervously raised their weapons. Only ten members to take down.
Childsplay.
Allesandro took the first move, sprinting forward with deadly speed. He felt his wrist blade on his left-hand open and his right-hand crackling with lightning. He sunk his knife into the first man's throat and turning around to fry another member charging him. Allesandro used his first victim as a shield as one of the members threw a spear at Allesandro. Allesandro jumped over the body and set his blade to the gun setting Maria just added. He sent two bullets into two more soldiers throats and changed his wrist mechanic back to a knife right before a man attempted to charge him from behind. Amalia sat and watched behind in wonder as her father destroyed all her attackers. He unsheathed the sword at his side and wielded both his wrist blade and sword, his sword crackling with lightning. Allesandro sliced across the abdomen of the final soldier, the soldier's body flying backward due to Allesandro's lighting conducting to the sword. Allesandro looked up and slowly phased out of his Pancras form. Amalia felt her eyes start to tear as her father met her eyes, the worry so apparent in his eyes they seemed to turn a shade darker.
"Pater..." Amalia whimpered. She couldn't move, no matter how much she wanted to run up to him. Allesandro dropped his sword and ran over, enveloping Amalia in an enormous hug. Amalia sobbed and hugged him back.
"I'm so sorry I didn't come to earlier Candessa, this place is so hard to get into." Her father whispered into her hair. Amalia nodded; she knew of all people how secure this place was.
"How did you do all this?" Allesandro asked, pulling away to look at his daughter in her eyes.
"The last rebellion made a mistake. They tried to grow too big too fast. You always said the most deadly of people are the underestimated. I created a small group that snuck in and hid all their weapons, destroyed their armor, and cleaned out their barracks. After that, they created a riot among the other slaves that pinned the blame on everyone, not a single group. And since we weakened them by destroying and hiding their gear, the slaves were able to overpower them with their sheer numbers and size." Amalia explained, not letting go of her father's chest. Alessandro pulled his hand away from his daughter's arm and saw it stained red with her blood.
"Gods, Amalia I'm so sorry. I tried to get here faster-"
"I'm okay Pater, it is just a little blood," Amalia said lightly, obviously lightheaded and weak from the whip and riot.
"Gods I need to go home, we need to go home." Allesandro panicked, cradling his daughter and rushing back to his guildhall. Allesandro sent Alden a transmission, telling him that he saved Amalia but she was injured, so he was heading back. Alden said he would meet him there, as he was bringing the slaves back to their families and telling the Inalian law enforcement what had happened, pretending to be a nearby Vatarian farmer.
Allesandro decided to take horseback, so he ran down to one of the nearby farms and stole a horse, hearing the angry cried of the farm family. He placed Amalia in front of him and galloped back, continually making sure Amalia stayed awake. He skidded into the guildhall courtyard, the horse whinnying with the sudden stop. Maria and two other higher-up members of the guild came through the front doors. Alexios snuck out the door and watched in horror as his uncle and mother carried his cousin to the infirmary, her blood dripping down his uncle's robes.
"Is she going to be okay?" Alvar asked from the hallway. Alexios has been much more cold to Alvar after he learned that Amalia was taken because of him.
"We don't know. I only saw a lot of blood, but she seemed to be still breathing." Alexios stated. Alvar wrung his hands nervously, feeling terrible about having to be saved by a six-year-old girl. Alexios got up from his hiding spot and stormed over to his mother, who exited the medical bay to address the worried members of the guild.
"Mater?" Alexios asked, pulling on Maria's skirt. Maria looked over at her son and wrapped him up in a hug, already knowing what he was going to ask.
"She is going to be okay." She whispered. Alvar heard Alexios sob in relief and pulled his mother close. After about two hours, Alvar saw his father walk into the guild, waving at Alvar. Alvar dropped what he was doing and hugged his father; a silent thank you. Alvar begged his father to help save Amalia since she saved Alvar's life. Alden quickly agreed and left to follow Allesandro.
"We can't leave them. Not yet, they need our help." Alvar mumbled into his dad's chest. Alden bit his lip and thought about what his son was proposing. But he knew that they had to go home, they had a family back at home in the Lost cities, probably worried sick about them.
"We have to go back Alvar," Alden started. But his son looked up at him, and Alden realized he was right.
"I will see what I can arrange with Allesandro. Maybe we can come back to visit. But we can't tell another soul about these cities Alvar, not even our family. The only reason we are here is that we stumbled across the Vatarians by mistake." Alden strictly said, Alvar nodding his head with each point he made.
"I already thought of that," Maria said smugly. Maria walked up to them, her arms full of paperwork. After she told the guild that Amalia was back home and safe, every single member erupted into cheers and tears. She was now a bit more relaxed than she was in the last couple of days, her brother and niece god knows where taking on an entire castle of Neverseen.
"Use these to cover up why you were gone so long. We talked to the Gnome Queen, and we are all good friends with her. She says she will cover for you both, an apology for the Neverseen attack you were hit with while meeting with her people. She says your cover is that she asked you both to stay behind and go through elvish and gnome records, making sure things lined up and it took way longer than expected." Maria said, handing Alden the fake gnome records. She also gave Alvar and Alden two black crystals; they looked and felt like polished opal.
"These are one of the many hidden ways to enter Inalia. It will put you on the outskirts of town. Then take the carriages into town and walk to the guild. Keep your hoods up though, and try to mimic our accents, so no one will suspect you are elves. No one else can know about any of the Vatarian cities, especially Inalia. I'll set up beacons that can scramble your identifying necklace, or whatever they are called, feed when you arrive, but it is up to you to find excuses to get away. The crystals work like your teleportation crystals." Maria explained. Alden and Alvar nodded and pocketed their items.
"Also, if you guys also want these..." Maria handed the two Vackers, two scraps of clean-cut red fabric. On them, the hollow arrowhead was inked — the Guild mark.
"Show these to anybody to gives you trouble, and they will know that you are allies and under the protection of the Cyevan assassins," Maria said slyly. The scrap of fabric was like gold in Alvar's hands.
"Thank you..." Alden started, but Maria put her hand up.
"This isn't a one-sided deal. We want you two to influence the elven population about the Neverseen threat, along with keeping the elves away from the Vatarians. We want to stay in the shadows in our hidden cities, Vatarians don't have the best relationship with the elves." Maria explained. Alden agreed, and they both placed their fabric in their jacket pockets.
"Amalia, Alexios, and Allesandro are in the infirmary now. We have set you up to leave later tonight, so if you want to say goodbye now is the time." Maria said, directing them towards the medical bay. Alden and Alvar rushed towards the medical bay, desperate to find their newfound friends safe. Alden slammed open the door, startling the now awake Amalia in her cot.
"Hey." Was all Amalia said. Alden and Alvar hugged everyone with tears pooling in their eyes. They spent the rest of the time laughing and relaxing with everyone in the medical bay, then packing their things and waving everyone goodbye before holding their home crystals, and disappearing in a flash of light. Amalia walked back into her shared room with Alexios, still sore and bruised from her time with the slave traders. Her and Alexios start talking about her time in the castle, but her father knocked on her door and cut them off.
"May I come in?" Alessandro asked. They welcomed him in and stared in confusion when he was holding two white training robes.
"I promised you both training sessions, didn't I? How about we get your armor fitted?" Allesandro said, a broad smile on his face. Amalia and Alexios screamed so loud Allesandro nearly went deaf, and running over to get their first set of armor? You would have thought the world was shaking. Allesandro ruffled his daughter's hair and handed her a beautiful silver dagger, and handed Alexios a bronze gilded one. They were simple yet beautiful, a practical and beautiful gift and starter weapon.
"Meet your first weapons. Your training sessions start at the crack of dawn tomorrow." Allesandro said smugly.
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Okay, I am writing this in my history class (normally I like history but it is really boring today) and I am getting crazy glares from my History teacher so ya'll better appreciate dis chapter. I was literally looking up photos of burning castles and knives in class. Sorry, it is a lot of skipping around and shortcuts, again, doing this in class.
_Sibylline_