Lost (Trequel to "Sight")

Escape?

The guards stared at the teens with narrowed eyes. Kenny laid beneath them, too terrified to get up, and they were holding Viper back by his arms. Rose reached for her bow, only for one of the guards to draw their sword. It was seven against maybe twenty. The odds were not in their favor.

    Instead, they all held their hands up, the necklace dangling in Rose’s palm.

    The guard who had drawn his sword watched Rose. “Now, give me the necklace.”

    Rose glanced at everyone, but no one objected. She slowly walked forward. The guard outstretched his palm. Time seemed to stop, and Rose got a good look at his appearance. He wore a normal Neserdnian guard uniform-- a faded orange, button up suit jacket with large shoulders and many medals hanging from it. His pants were tan, and he wore chocolate brown heeled boots, and he seemed to be about 17. Though what really stood out was his skin tone and eye color. While his hair was brown, he was very pale, and his eyes were a brilliant green. Most Neserdnians had tan skin with dark eyes…

    Rose had finally reached him, and planted the necklace in his hand. Then that’s when chaos broke loose.

    The guard grabbed the necklace tightly in his hand, then turned around while kicking another guard in the face. They fell to the ground, causing the others to direct their weapons at the strange guard instead of the teens.

    Viper reached into his boot, only to pull out a knife and started maniacally swinging it around. Rose finally came to her senses and knocked an arrow into her bow, threatening to shoot anyone who came near her. Musica raised up her fists, ready to punch anyone in the face.

    The strange guard turned back to Rose, reaching out an empty hand. “Come on!” Rose grabbed it, and she was led out of the room. The others soon scrambled behind.

    But they didn’t stop once they exited the castle. They continued running. Running and running until finally, they knew they were safe.

    They stopped, trying to catch their breath, doubled over, clutching their knees. Rose looked up at the guard who had helped them. Why had he helped them?

    “Who… who are you?” she asked.

    He took one last deep breath before answering. “I’m Nova. From the Society. Thorn sent me here. You may have met her-- pixie cut black hair with the most intense green eyes?”

    “Oh, yeah. Her.” Rose recalled the very friendly member they had met earlier. “And she sent you here why?”

    “She honestly didn’t think you’d be cut to retrieve the necklace. She figured you’d need some help.” Nova nervously scratched the back of his neck.

    “Well, I guess she was right,” Rose grumbled. “Are we really cut out for this?”

    “Relax.” Noa waved a hand at her. “You’ll get better the more you do it.”

    “Thanks, by the way,” Rose smiled at him. “Without you, we would’ve ended up in jail."

    “No problem.” Nova smiled back at her. Varian watched them with narrowed eyes.

    “So,” Viper said, breaking the tension. “How do we get back to our little village?”

    Varian took out his map, observing his surroundings before saying, “That way.” He started walking in the specific direction, the others tagging behind.

                        . . . 

    It didn’t take very long to get back to the small village they had found Oskar in. Nova had given the necklace back to Rose, who stored it in her satchel.

    “Alright, so all we have to do is find that cafe again,” Rose thought aloud. She turned to her fellow Coronans. “Do you guys remember where that was?”

    Varian tapped his chin, turning his head around to observe the village. “Well, there’s the shed we had slept in. So that means that the cafe should be just down this path.” 

Viper nudged Rose’s arm. “You’ve got a pretty smart boyfriend, there.”

“B-boyfriend?” Nova asked.

“Yeah.” Viper shook his head. “Too bad he’s already taken.”

Nova raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t question it. Instead, they all started following after Varian, towards the cafe. 

Oskar had been right. He was at the very cafe they had been in earlier. Did he spend his whole life just drinking coffee? Or did he just like to spend some time alone, sorting his thoughts?

He glanced up at the approaching teens, his eyes widening to see that they had doubled. “Oh, I see you have found the Society. Greetings.” He dipped his head.

Rose took out the onyx necklace. “We’ve got it.”

Oskar gasped as he took the necklace. “Ah, yes. I haven’t seen this in years.” He draped it over his shoulders. “Thank you all for retrieving it for me.”

    “Yeah. Well, we did what you wanted. Now can you tell me where my mom is?” Varian asked, crossing his arms.

“Right.” He stood up, touching the onyx on his necklace. “Well, I met Ulla in this very town. She was at this cafe, so I decided to sit next to her and have a conversation-- it was nice to have someone to talk to again. The next day, though, she left.”

“And…?” Varian urged him.

“And… that’s it. I have no idea where she went.”

    “You WHAT?!” Varian shouted. “You mean to tell me that we got that stupid necklace for you-- risking being thrown in jail-- only to find out that you don’t even know where my mom is?!”

“Now, calm down-”

“No! I will NOT calm down!” Varian fumed. His face was red from anger. “I haven’t seen my mom in thirteen YEARS! I thought I had finally gotten close enough to figuring out where she was, and then you tell me you don’t even know where she is!” He raised a fist.

Fear. Fear spread throughout all of them. So sudden and out of nowhere. They shivered, and their eyes widened. Every positive thought that they once had disappeared, replaced with their worst fears.

Then it was gone. As well as Oskar.

Huge shout out to Waterbottle123drink for letting me use their OC Nova.