(Hey everyone, haha, sorry for like...the 6-7 month wait. Golly, I can't believe it has been that long. Here I am with the next submission though! I have tried to improve my writing over the past 6 months, so tell me if it is better or not. I do love critiques. I didn't have this edited by others like I usually do, so there might be a few more grammatical mistakes than usual. I don't know. I edited it myself, and it seemed fine. Anyways, enjoy, and expect each chapter to come once a month like in the past, or sooner if I have some more free time. Anyways, enough of my ramblings...)
Chapter 15: A Hero in all the Wrong Places
Anjil opened her eyes, only to close them again. She hadn't adjusted to the light, wherever it was coming from, and it resulted in blinding pain. Even when she put her hands in front of herself to block the light, she could still hardly open her eyes, and even then her vision was blurry and distorted.
“I am glad to see that you are okay,” a familiar voice said.
Anjil tried to stand up, but her legs felt too weak, causing her to stumble back down to the makeshift bed. “Sanjo, is that you?”
“I see that your hearing is as good as ever,” Sanjo remarked.
Anjil didn't reply, waiting patiently for her sight to return. After she was able to comfortably open her eyes, she found herself looking around in confusion. Metal bars blocked her from the outside world. Two small, single-sheet beds lined the outer walls of the cube-shaped cell they were in.
“Where are we?” Anjil asked.
“In a prison I guess. Jath probably had other work to do, and didn't have time to look after us,” Sanjo assumed. “Though, I don't understand why he didn't just kill us...”
Anjil paused and looked away uncomfortably.
“Well, it doesn't really matter. I think what is more important is figuring a way to get out of here, and see if we can find out what happened to the rest of our group,” Sanjo said, quickly changing the subject.
Anjil's eyes widened in shock as the memory of the ship sinking flooded her mind. Each scene played out in her mind as if she were there again, “Yoshiken!” She shrieked, blinded by tears, recalling the piercing bullets and his collapse into the vessel.
Her cry continued until a bellowing voice rang out from the other end of the hall. “Quiet down! Ya sound like a screamin' banshee!”
Anjil continued, despite the warning. Her ability to control her emotions had left. She cried, and would continue to cry until she felt sick.
Loud footsteps echoed down the corridors until they were in proximity of the cell. A dwarf with a dark aura around himself stood in front of the cell door. “I said to shut up! Don't make me come in there.”
“Leave her alone!” Sanjo shouted. He could smell alcohol coming from the dwarf. “Go and get drunk somewhere else. We don't want your insults, or your stench here.”
The dwarf gave Sanjo a sinister look before bursting out in laughter. “Bwahaha! Don't mind if I do! I'll just leave you two to your comfortable quarters.” The dwarf walked away and grabbed a flask of ale from where he had been guarding the entrance. He took two large gulps and began to sing familiar pirate songs to himself.
“I wouldn't listen to a jerk like him.” Sanjo said, turning around from the cell door to face Anjil. While her crying had stopped, tears still poured down her face, and her breathing was heavy. “Cheer up Anjil, the others are stronger than we give them credit for. Who knows? Maybe they are okay after all. Once we figure a way out of this place, we can go and search for them.”
Anjil continued to keep her head down. Sanjo let out a small sigh and walked to the back of the cell. He concluded that if they were to escape, he would have to start planning now. He began to search around for anything left behind by perhaps a past prisoner that would help. He looked in small cracks in the wall, and underneath the frames of the cheap beds. Before he took his head out from under his own, he noticed something scratched into the wooden frame. It was faded, and the only words he could make out completely was “...14...months..Xeebyrot Prison.”
“Hey Anjil, I think I found out the name of this place.” Sanjo said.
Anjil, once again, didn't respond, and kept herself quiet.
“We must be far from Yoshi's Island, because I have never heard of this place before. Apparently, it is called Xeebyrot”
Anjil's eyes widened, her head propped up, her tears stopped, her thoughts shattered. “What...did you say?” She replied, her tone of voice still reflecting the previous lamentations.
Sanjo was caught off guard by Anjil responding, and was confused at what to say for a second. “Nice to see you feeling better. It wasn't too important, I was just saying how I think we are in a place called Xeebyrot.”
Anjil cast such an expression of astonishment that Sanjo immediately knew something was awry.
“Is there something that I should know?”
Anjil turned away from him, trying to find the right words to say.
Sanjo shrugged and decided to change the subject. “Whatever, I can tell that you've heard of this place at the very least, so when we find a way out, you can direct us where to go.”
Anjil tried to reply. “I....uhhh-”
A clicking sound was heard near the cell door. Anjil and Sanjo turned their heads, but didn't see anything. Sanjo walked to the entrance to investigate the matter. He put his hand on the cell door, and it slowly opened. A key rested on the ground. “I don't understand...how did this happen?”
Sanjo just kept staring at the opened door, bewildered. Without saying a word, he motioned his hand to Anjil, signaling for her to come closer. “I don't know what is going on, but I say we take this opportunity to get out of here,” Sanjo whispered. “This is too strange though, and I am willing to bet that it is all a trap so keep your eyes open.”
Anjil nodded, and they both exited the cell. They could hear loud snoring near the end of the prison hall, and as they crept closer, they saw the dwarf from earlier deep in slumber with a bottle of whiskey on the floor.
“That is strange,” Anjil commented, “a few minutes ago he was completely awake. Could the alcohol really do this to him in such a short amount of time?”
“I don't think so. I think his whiskey must have been drugged. If his friends are anything like he is, then I wouldn't put it past them to pull off a prank like this.” Sanjo replied. “This is almost too lucky for us.”
They continued to walk up the stairway, and near the top was Anjil's staff and Sanjo's two swords. Sanjo couldn't believe his eyes. “There is no way that this is a coincidence. Someone here is on our side and wants us to escape.”
They grabbed their individual equipment and started to tread down the next hallway. Various rooms lined the walls, each looking just as plain as the last one. As they approached the opposite end, they noticed shadows coming their way. They quickly ran into the nearest room, which appeared to be an empty dormitory.
“I have an idea,” Sanjo said quietly, immediately whispering something to Anjil.
Two koopas clad in strange armor casually advanced down the hall, heading towards the stairway.
“I still don't understand why we were sent to help guard the prison. It is not like Valtur can't handle it himself.”
“Yeah, it is strange, but orders are orders.” the other replied. “We must have gotten a new captain, because I didn't recognize the man that gave the assignment. Once he figures things out I am sure we will get-”
He was interrupted by a swift blow to the side of the head by the hilt of a sword.
“What the-!” the other responded, before being taken out by the end of a staff.
Anjil and Sanjo dragged the two unconcious koopas into the empty room. They quickly began to take off the armor and place it on themselves.
“It is really tight...” Anjil lamented, trying to suck in her abdomen to fit better.
Sanjo was, at the same time, trying to squeeze a helmet on his head. “What do you expect? It was made for a koopa. I would rather endure 30 minutes in this ridiculous armor though, than spend another day in that disgusting prison.”
Anjil nodded, and after the armor was secured, they casually walked out of the room and further into the complex. After passing a number of other hallways, they found themselves in the main corridor. The main hall was much more crowded than any of the other passageways, with people coming in and out of different rooms at a constant rate.
The two yoshies paced through the crowd, making sure to not arouse suspicion. They passed by koopas, goombas, humans, and even other yoshies. They had no problem keeping themselves calm and collected, until a group of familiar faces crossed their path.
Jath, along with the rest of his team, walked through the crowd and into a large chamber. The room looked like a spacious lounge, with many large rectangular tables set up in an effective pattern. Anjil and Sanjo didn't hesitate to follow from a distance. They sat at another table close to the one that Jath was occupying, making an attempt to gather any information they could.
“It was my bullets that beat ya to the kill!” Jan gloated in Ziarre's direction.
“If I wasn't busy holdin' down the bloody ship, then me sword would have ran him in right after ye left port, ya bloke!” Ziarre replied, slamming down her bony, decrepit hand.
“Shut up, both of you. You would have both failed if I hadn't first captured the mage,” Ra countered, “as well as stall that swordsman.”
Jan leaned back and put his feet on the table. “Ya almost lost that fight too, if I heard correctly.”
Ra arose from his chair in anger, about to respond with some less than kind words, before being interrupted by another's voice.
“You all did superbly. There is not a single individual here that didn't do the task they were assigned.” Zerroda said, as he walked into the chamber. A female koopa with long, red hair walked into the room on his left side.
“I am sure many of you know of my personal strategist, but for those who do not, this is Kairalyn.”
Kairalyn made a small greeting gesture, and then continued to place a detailed electronic map on the table. The map showed a 3-dimensional image of a section of the Yoshian Archipelago. Kairalyn placed her palm on the hologram, and then brought her fingers close together. The image zoomed out of the Yoshian Archipelago until it outlined the whole planet.
Kairalyn continued to type on a keyboard that was connected to the mechanism. Half of the planet glowed a neon crimson, including the Yoshian Archipelago, “If you all would focus on the red portion of the map. These are the kingdoms that we have successfully conquered and control.”
“I don't understand,” Ra stated, “if you control so much, why don't we see any large-scale rebellions or revolts?”
“That is because they are being controlled via a shadow government,” Kairalyn replied. “These nations still hold their own political leaders, but we make sure that the leaders are loyal to our cause.”
“Bloody politics, I was never much for 'em. What if these 'leaders' didn't want want to obey, then what?” Ziarre replied
“They are immediately eliminated and replaced.”
Sanjo began to rise up out of his chair while whispering to Anjil, “we have to leave now. This is too crazy. We have to find and tell the others.”
“I am afraid that you will not be able to tell anyone about our plans,” Zerroda's voice declared from the other table. “Unless you wish to join your friends in the afterlife.”
Sanjo froze in fear, refusing to look up at Zerroda, hoping above all else that the statement wasn't directed at him.
“Are you surprised Sanjo? I don't think we've met.” Zerroda said with a demeanor that caused a shiver to run down Sanjo's spine. “Neither have we, Anjil. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Zerroda, the ringmaster of this operation.”
Anjil quickly rose up out of her seat, and threw her helmet off, sending it crashing to the floor. She quickly grabbed her staff, already forming the words to a spell in her mind. “I hate you. I hate you for everything you've done. I know who you really are. Your name isn't Zerroda, it's-”
“Two prisoners have escaped!” a fully armored soldier interrupted while sprinting into the room.
“Calm down,” Zerroda said, ”I have it all under control. These two are the intruders, and I intend to deal with them by how I see fit.”
“Just allow me to identify them,” the man insisted, continually walking towards Anjil and Sanjo.
“I said I will take care of the situation. Return to your post at once.”
The soldier continued to approach the two yoshies, as if he had been completely deaf to Zerroda's demands.
“Leave soldier, before I treat this as an act of betrayal!” Zerroda murmured.
The soldier stopped, and quietly removed his helmet. A middle-aged man with somewhat lengthy dark hair and a smooth complexion stared down Zerroda. “Betrayal? You know more than anyone what betrayal is.” He stretched an arm out towards Anjil and Sanjo. “Let's leave. After all, we have friends to save.”
Zerroda exploded in a sudden rage, “no...no! This isn't possible! You shouldn't be here! I saw you die with my own eyes, I was sure of it!”
“Who is this man, sir?” Jath asked
“It doesn't matter who he is! Kill him!”
Jan reached for a pistol, while Ra and Ziarre both rushed in with their weapons.
“You will not win Zerroda. Remember that,” the unknown man said, and with a snap of his fingers he vanished, taking Anjil and Sanjo with him.
Zerroda grabbed the end of the table, and overturned it in his anger, breaking Kairalyn's holographic projector in the process. “Gather everyone and tell them to prepare for battle! We cannot afford to hide ourselves from this war any longer!”
