Golden: The Collection

Chapter XIV: The Icy Core

The Northreach Kingdom

Astrophelle, Zephyr, Valerie, and Elliot all watched the scene unfold from above.

"Turn it off! Turn it off!!" Valerie repeatedly jabbed Zephyr in the gut.

"Alright, alright!" He deactivated his Gemstone. "Was all the vicious prodding really necessary?"

"Didn't you see what happened to the sunflower we just saved? That could be you if you don't keep your head on straight, Zephyr Astaku," the space cadet chewed him out.

They were on top of the castle. Well, fortress, as Astrophelle referred to it. It was far too blocky to be considered a castle. He was aware Northreach wasn't too keen on outsiders, but their current ruler took it to another level entirely. The structuring was all stony, leaving no ample room for sunlight to come in other than the occasional window. There was a certain dreary air about the people. He wasn't even near them, and he could tell.

It didn't help how he could feel Estrella cowering, desperately trying to burrow deeper into the nest that was considered his hair. He reached upward, gently grasping her. The comforting rubs between the antlers seemed to calm her.

"I still don't get why we only saved the sunflower," Elliot said.

"I think you mean I saved the sunflower. Not 'we.'"  Zephyr scoffed. "Our dear Astro felt guilty about standing by and watching her get the dumb Gem stolen from her, but we still need the bait," Valerie responded to Elliot. "Keep up, will you?"

"From the looks of it, the Gem Hunters are only taking the stuffed one," Zephyr observed. They followed his line of sight. Indeed, The Gem Hunters had left all but Stuffy in the hands of Northreach. The rest were to be detained, most likely.  "The other plants might be subject to a worse fate," the wizard continued.

"Very well." Astrophelle released his grip on the edge of the roof, slowly turning to face his companions. "Zephyr, I'm going to task you with pursuing them."

"Normally, I'd follow your directions without hesitation, Lune, but are you sure sending the Gembearer after the Gem Hunters is a good idea?"

"It's by a simple process of elimination. Valerie would have minimal issue reaching there, but she feels far too strongly about the situation," he explained. "There's no doubt in mind that, once she discovered their hideout, the idea of waiting would seem unappealing, and charge in there to save Lloyd herself. Chef is far too clumsy, and it's necessary for me to remain here if we're going forth with this jailbreak, as they're generally already aware I bear no ill intent. Plus—" Astrophelle held Estrella in one hand, maneuvering his free one into his pocket. "—We have communicators." He pulled out the rock, displaying it to Zephyr.

"Suppose I can't argue with that logic." He shrugged, idly twirling his wand in his hand. "Looks like they're leaving. That's my cue."

Astrophelle nodded, sending him off. "We seriously got stuck on jailbreak duty.." Elliot groaned. "It's not the fact that it's jailbreak duty. I think jailbreaks are thrilling," Valerie said. "It's the fact that it's for a bunch of plants I couldn't care less about!" Blatantly ignoring them, Astrophelle dove off the fortress. He waited until he was close to the next rooftop before pulling the umbrella open, allowing him to safely meet the floor.

He glanced back. After seeing the other two weren't far behind, he dropped down, smoothly landing along the side of the fortress. Seeing as it was a stealth mission, they wanted to knock out the guards as silently as possible. As they saw earlier, there were sirens that went off to alert the kingdom there was danger afoot. Openly stirring up trouble was something he was actively avoiding.