Immortality (Sequel to Apprentice)

Chapter 5: I can hear you calling for me

Robin's POV

"So where did Deamon disappear off to?" Ryan asks. We're sitting on the sofa, me, Ryan and Liam, awaiting mum and dad's return. "I'm not sure. He went into the sky, so I'm guessing Voxeltopia" I guess, stretching out across the soothing cold black leather of the sofa. The portal outside ripples loudly, and mum flies through. My mouth opens to smile until it drops. Something wasn't right.

Her face was pale, and she was shaking terribly. Her eyes were full of fear, and she flew quickly through the wall. She stood there for a moment, her eyes distant, not focusing on anything. "M-mum? What's wrong?" I ask, concerned. In answer, she lets whatever she was holding drop out of her arms. I scoop it up-dad's cloak. And a note. 

It took me five tries to read it, to make sense of it. Ryan and Liam crept over my shoulder, reading it too. Looking up, mum has collapsed to her knees and has buried her face in her hands, silent sobs racking through her body. "He has Mitch, too?" Liam asks, voice quivering. Mum looks up, eyes brimming with tears, and she nods.

Just then the door opens, slamming hard as it shuts. Deamon flies in, face pale. "Guys, Mexxy has taken Rid-" he stops when he sees mum on the floor, hand trembling as she reaches for the note and reads it again. "Teleport us to him" she whispers, cradling Ridge's cape as if it was the last thing alive on the earth. "I can't" he replies simply. I look up at him angrily and his eyes flicker to me before dropping. "What the hell do you mean you can't?" Liam snaps angrily, rising from the sofa and bawling his hands into fists. "Mexxy took my power away. I've been suspended from the Voxel Box for giving away information" he grunts, barely taking in Liam's challenge. 

For a moment, there is silence and all of us sit on the sofa, agonizing and trying to come to terms with the situation. My dad had been taken. Liam's boyfriend and soon to be husband had been taken. Mexxy was raising an army to kill us all. It was hard to take in, in such a short amount of time. It was like being shot, except we were all just stood there, wishing and hoping and pleading that this wasn't happening, that this was just some sick nightmare, and mum would wake up in dad's arms and Liam would wake up in Mitch's arms and I would be laughing and messing around in the nether with Deamon. Not this.

"What do we do?" I whisper, breaking the silence. Ryan's face had been crumpled for a long time, and he kept shaking his head, refusing to believe that his dad had gone. He was only young and it was still a lot to take in. Even mum, who was trying to stay strong for us, had her eyes shut and was trembling. For a moment there is more silence. Until mum finally swallows, and stands up. Our eyes flicker to her and she swallows again, holding herself together before casting an eye round.

"We can't sit around and do nothing, that's for sure. I say we round up the Yogscast and Team Crafted, get them all together in one place, and tell them what's going on. Some of them may want to join us on our quest. We're going to have to go find them" mum declares finally. "Will dad be ok, mum?" Ryan whispers, sounding 5 years old again. Mum pauses for a moment, eyes flickering slightly, before she turns to Ryan and smiles weakly, pulling him into her arms. "Of course he will" she whispers, squeezing him gently. I stand up, and mum pulls me into her arms, resting her head on my shoulder. I needed her, but she needed me too. 

Mum tilts her head to look at Liam and she grins weakly. "Get here, you're family too" she grunts and he smiles slightly, getting up and joining the hug. Tia looks expectantly at Deamon who rolls his eyes and wraps his long arms around us all. I flinch a little when his hand brushes my back and he avoids eye contact with me.

Mum notices immediately. "Did you kiss my daughter?" she snaps at Deamon who awkwardly backs away from the hug. We let go of each other to stare at Deamon expectantly. "Maybe" he mutters, shifting awkwardly. She stays quiet for a moment, studying him with wary eyes, before sighing. "Ridge is gonna kill you when he finds out" she murmurs, before leaving and quickly shouting, "Get everyone from Team Crafted and the Yogscast onto the flower field ASAP. Time to get this show on the road."

Ryan quickly mutters about going to go get the Yogscast, whilst Liam hurries out, shouting about getting Team Crafted. Leaving Deamon and I on our own. I glare at him and he continues to stare at the floor. "I'm sorry" he murmurs, looking up with innocent eyes. I stare at him as he stares at me. His eyes were a pale brown, and they were the colour of oak wood. I continue to gaze at him, wondering if I should forgive him or not. "I was just confused that's all" he sighs, and gently pulls me in for a hug. I instantly wrap my arms around him. I felt safe in his arms, and I snuggle in to his chest. 

"It's ok" I reply, before I pull away and fly upstairs to find mum. She's bent over the bed, trembling as she reads the other side of the note.

The first clue:

The place where you and Ridgedog first met

"Mum?" I ask gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looks at me, determination in her eyes. "Do you know where that it?" I ask her. She nods, and we silently fly out of the window, clutching the note. There was no more time to stand and do nothing. 

Hovering over the flower field, we watch the crowd murmur. All of Team Crafted and the Yogscast were there. Mum takes her place at the front, and watches as the crowds turn to us. Lewis and Simon step forward, along with Sky and Deadlox. The true leaders of the two groups. "What's going on now?" Simon snaps. Lewis holds his hand out to pat the dwarf on the shoulder soothingly. The spaceman turns to mum, tilting his head, wisdom glowing in his dark brown eyes. "Tia, what's going on?" he demands. 

"Ridgedog and Mitch have been kidnapped" she begins. There are hisses and murmurs from the crowd as they confer. Sky shushes them quickly. "By who?" Deadlox asks. "Mexxy, also known as the king of the Voxel Box. Ridgedog used to rule it, but he was kicked off for being insane. Ever since then, Mexxy has held a grudge against him, though I'm not sure why he wanted to kidnap him now, of all times..."

"I know" I say timidly, and all eyes swivel to me.

"What?" Mum frowns at me. "Deamon told me. Mexxy wants to go to war with us all because we have Golden Desert Eagles" I explain, shooting a cutting glance at Deamon, who refuses to meet my eyes. 

Angry yells and accusations fly out of the crowd, most of them from Simon and Sky. Mum raises her hands up for silence, as does Lewis and Deadlox. "War? Against demigods? Well, we're screwed then, aren't we?" Simon snaps, and Sky nods his agreement furiously, shaking. He'd had a bad run in with Mexxy and refused to talk about what torture happened to him there. 

"Before there is a war, Mexxy obviously wants to get to us by kidnapping our close friends" Tia goes on, ignoring the shouts. "Ridgedog is no close friend to us!" a voice calls out from the Yogscast. It's either Rythian or Duncan, but I'm not sure. "So we have been asked to go on a quest to find Ridge and Mitch, who are being held together captive somewhere. Those of you who want to join us to help save their lives may join us, but you can also stay here. Anyone want to help us?" she finishes.

There's an awkward silence over the crowd so only the slight breeze ruffling the grass could be heard. Until Lewis steps forward. "I'll go" he announces bravely, walking slowly up to mum who smiles in relief. "What the bloody hell do you mean, you'll go?" Simon snaps, but is looking uneasy at the sight of his partner up at the front. "Please Simon" I beg, widening my eyes in a puppy dog eye look. He sighs and grumbles a bit, but straightens up and marches across to join his partner by his side. 

"I'll go too" Sky announces, dragging Deadlox to the front. I grin at the two who smile uneasily back. This was not the easiest decision. "I might as well go. Bit boring at the dirt factory nowadays, what do you say Sjin? Lets go kick some demigod ass" a familiar voice echoes in the crowd, and you can almost hear his smug grin. "Sure, why not?" the soft voice of Sjin replies, and the dirt duo step onto the platform to join us.

"Me too!" a voice rings out from the Team Crafted crowd and Ashley steps out, followed by a nervous looking Munchingbrotato, and he was closely followed by Ryan, who proudly struts his batman suit on stage. I can see Duncan gingerly stepping onto the stage, sulking over to Lewis and Simon and shooting glares at Tia, who nods at him blankly. 

"So where do we go?" Sips asks, leaning against Sjin. "The clue says where Ridgedog and I first met. That's on the coast next to the gold mines." Tia explains, before she sets off, slowing down to allow them all to catch up. The quest had begun.

Note: Sorry I'm taking such huge gaps in between chapters, I've been busy lately :D