Freedom... //Yakusoku No Neverland

148] Were Going Now

親愛なる友人に向かって—

We managed to reach the capital, turns out the Goldy-Pond Kids brought the disguises and had us wear it.

"The festival... It's already started." Emma stated as we hid behind an alleyway.

"Yeah. We ended up cutting it way closer than planned...." Ray reminded her.

"I wonder if Oliver's group is alright..." I mumbled to myself.

"All we can do is believe in them." Ray assured me as he patted me on the shoulder.

"Yeah..." Emma muttered.

"Norman is most likely at the tifari assembly hall... Inside of that castle." I inquired.

"... We need to hurry." Emma said.

{Emma... She's determined. No matter how much that promise with the one is bothering her, she knows she has to focus on this situation right now.}

"GYAAA!"

"What!?"

"UWAA!"

There was an explosion, destroying a small market beside us.

"Its started... Norman's attack...! He already started it...!!!" Ray groaned, lifting up his mask.

"Emma? Y/n? Ray?!?"

We turned around and saw Gilda, Don, Hayato and a quiet girl.

"Don... Gilda!!!" Emma yelped in surprise as Gilda rushed in to hug both of us tightly as Don tackled Ray, almost tipping him over.

"I'M SO GLAD! YOU TWO MADE IT BACK SAFELY!" Gilda cried. After she finally let us go, Emma turned to Hayato.

"It looks like Hayato is with you too." Emma remarked.

"And this girl is Ayshe." Gilda introduced me to the other girl.

"Hey." was all I could say to her..

"Also..." Emma paused as she looked around, seeing two more hooded figure behind them.

"Sonju... Musica...!" Ray exclaimed S we saw the two figures. Ray was catching along with the two, and Emma seemed like she was about to cry.

"Emma—"

I jumped over, tackling Musica into a hug, "MUSICA!!!!! I'M SO SORRY!!!!!"

Although, being on the floor, she giggled a bit as she put an arm around my neck and the other was playing with my hair.

"Its okay. Thank you. All for the sake of us demons..." Musica reassured me.

"I'm so glad your okay...!" Emma said as I got off Musica and allowed her to get back up to her feet.

"And I'm glad you are too." Musica said.

"We're absolutely going to stop Norman." Emma declared as she held Musica's hands.

"By the way, Emma, Y/n, you guys and Ray being here means... That you did it!?" Don asked.

"Yup! We forged a promise! With the one." I rejoiced happily.

Don and Gilda celebrated happily, "But the fulfillment is being put on hold for now." Emma told them. Though, it didn't ruin their mood.

"Alright! Just as planned, huh!" Gilda said.

"What about Oliver's group? They said they'd Escort you with horses but... Did they all go back?" Hayato asked.

Flashback to 2 days earlier Morning

"Wait. Just what is that...?" Oliver asked as he reached his arm out to signal the others to stop.

"A demon army... A huge one." Nigel stated.

"Where are they headed to? The capital?" Gillian wondered.

"No... It's the opposite." Zack pointed out.

"No way. Are they looking for our hideout...?!?" Ray gasped in shock as he realized.

"It should be fine to drop you off here." Oliver said as we got down the horses, "Everyone else, get back to the hideout and let them know. So they can prepare for anything that happens."

"Yeah, you've helped us out plenty. From here on, we'll go on foot." I told him.

"No, wait. If the army just keeps filing through in succession like this... Then you're going to need to use some kind of detour to the capital." Nigel said, his arm stretched out to point at the army.

"It'll be okay. You've brought us this far. So we'll definitely make it in time and stop Norman." Emma reassured them.

"First things first. That army is bad news. This is surely just a fraction of them. And judging from this scale, this is probably the capital's army that Norman drove away." Ray explained.

"If they are, does that mean they saw through his plan?" Zack asked.

"No, we can't know that yet... —but if that giant horde discovers the hideout... It won't even compare to the damage that we suffered with the Ratri Clan attacked." I informed them, remembering the events of that attack.

"It's all right. Leave this to us. You two head to the capital and make sure to be careful." Oliver instructed us.

Present

"And so, we arrived just a bit ago... We need to hurry." Emma added.

"But this works our just fine. Since we were able to meet up with you..." I told them.

"But there's one more cause for concern." Ray informed Gilda and Don, handing them a letter.

"What is this letter..." Gilda questioned.

"Norman's handwriting... Ah!" Don gasped.

"This is the recipe for a “poison” that Norman made." Ray explained, "Norman is most likely planning to use it on those in the castle, and even the masses outside of it. So the first thing he's planning on is wiping out the demons in the royal capital. Nothing has happened yet. But with Norman, he definitely already has it set up. If something happens before we make it back, I want to mitigate the damage as much as possible. And now that Musica and Sonju are here... That becomes even more possible—probably."

"All of our lives should be a top priority of course. If things start to look even a little dangerous, escape right away." I told them.

"Emma, take out your hand." Sonju told her. He left a little gadget, perhaps a transmitter on her palm.

"What's this?" Emma hummed.

"Once you get inside the castle, if you need help, call us with that. We'll come running right away." Sonju told us.

"If you push it, it's makes a sound and we'll know your current location." Don explained.

"Then, if anything happens I'll notify you with Morse code." I told him.

"Leave the outside of the castle to us. But if you guys are in trouble, just say something." Musica said.

"Thanks. We'll be off then!" Emma waves goodbye as we started making our way towards the castle.

"Ah, Emma there's one more thing."

{We're going now. Norman!!}

Days/hours to finish: 1 day
Word count: 1055