A Journey through Kingdoms

CHAPTER 47- INFILTRATION

The plan was now underway as Pyxis roamed the city streets once again, fully clad in armor. A few knights walked down, which gave his nerves a bit of a fright, but as soon as they walked past him, none the wiser, he knew he was blending in perfectly. The other two with him trailed behind as they took cover to cover, following Pyxis through the city, trying not to be caught by the knights that walked the streets. "Looks like the disguise is working!" Derrick would comment in a whisper as he watched Pyxis walk through with the armor on without a hitch. "I mean, it is a suit of armor. The only indication of who's inside is a tiny slit through the helmet where the eyes are; the rest is very much concealed." Cherry would comment as well as give her own thoughts on the matter. as they followed pyxis, they slowly made their way over to the Knight's main base of operations. It was a big building near the castle region that adorned itself with golden accents and other extravagant decorations befitting a knight station.

this place was all too familiar for Pyxis as he stood outside of the building. in the very same place where he first got a taste of freedom. thinking back on it, it didn't really feel like freedom considering where his mind was at back then. but now he was determined to write his wrongs and truly lived the life that the others wanted so much but gave to him. if not for him, then for his best friend. "Act natural, Pyxis. Let's hope you still know the place," he preps himself as he enters the building. as he stepped inside, he was then greeted by other knights going about their duties as they roamed the building. the place was littered with guards. "Oh jeez, you've got to find a secluded place," he would whisper to himself as he walked around a bit to find a safe place for Cherry and Derrick to sneak through. after a bit of walking, he finally found a spot where it was perfect for them. With that found, he walks over to a window near the entrance and signals to where he could just see Derrick and Cherry hiding.

"Is he signalling at us?" Cherry would ask as she saw Pyxis discreetly do hand signs at them. "He is," Derrick would say, as he would then try to decipher the message from his gestures. "I see. It looks like he found us a way in!" he would exclaim quietly as he glanced over at Cherry. "You got that from that?" she would say as she looked back at Pyxis making the hand signs, which seemed gibberish to her. "Well, I kind of learned how to decipher messages from gestures and stuff when Tetsuga gets really, really drunk." Derrick would admit as he remembers the times he had to decipher what Tetsuga was saying as he was at the point of drunkenness that his speech had devolved into a drunken mess of sounds. "Of course... it all leads back to him, huh?" Cherry would eyeroll at the fact that this newfound information about the boy was because of the drunken man himself. "I know. Funny how that happens," Derrick would say.

"alright, lets go sneak in. follow my lead." Derrick would then gesture for her to follow him as they both sneakily made their way across the street and over to the side of the building, slowly making their way over to the spot where Pyxis had signed for them to go. a few close calls here and there but they managed to get there without being caught. Pyxis stood from the other side as he opened the window to let the two climb in. One by one, they each climbed over the window. but then panic soon struck them as the sound of metallic footsteps start to get closer and closer in their direction. with not much time to hide the two, they decided they should hide behind Pyxis, as he stands still as if he were a decorative statue or maybe just a knight on guard. as the footsteps got closer, their identity was slowly revealed to them as they passed by.

Pyxis' eyes went bloodshot as his gaze followed the cocky knight from before. they passed by him with their hands on their back, their chin as high as it were, as their confidence in themselves was potent. as they passed by, they managed to sneak in a glance at Pyxis. for pyxis however, time had seemingly slowed down as the two met gazes. the knight was unaware of who was under the helmet, but Pyxis wanted to let him know. he wanted to punch him in the face for all that he's done to him and the others, so much so that his fist was shaking with how hard he was clenching it. Derrick would see this and decide to grab it. Pyxis would glance down at him as they were hidden behind his back. Derrick gave him a reassuring smile, telling him that now was not the time to blow their cover. Pyxis would inhale, then exhale. his nerves calming down as the cocky knight finally walks past them and disappears from earshot.

the three sighed in relief as the two hiding behind Pyxis could finally come out for a breather. "Okay, you two, I'll go find where they got Tetsuga locked in; you two go set the explosives. got it?" Pyxis would shortly brief them on what they had planned before as the two responded with an understanding nod. "got it," Derrick would say as he gave him a short salute before sneaking their way through the building with Cherry trailing behind him. now being left alone, Pyxis proceeds to start walking through the building as well. acting casually as he could so as not to draw suspicion. as he goes deeper and deeper into the building, his memories start to flood back in. the restless days and the foodless nights. it came flooding in like a river, as different parts reminded him of moments from back then. his eyes would hold a lot of melancholic feelings as they looked over everything. but not as much as when he finally got to the place where it all started. "the cell block..." he would whisper to himself as he stood in front of a long hallway with the sides having jail cells that lined all the way to the end of it. Their bars were made of iron and were so thick that your hand couldn't even wrap itself around it fully. a preventive measure to ensure that no one could slip through the cracks or file it down easily.

with a gulp, he starts to walk through. his eyes looking left and right. seeing the people he used to know in their weak state. it was a hard image to stomach as while he was out there. living the life they dreamed of, they were still here. forced to suffer like he did before they gave him the freedom to escape this hellhole. while some of the slaves were fast asleep, others were awake and would sneer at Pyxis, as they didn't know who it was under the armor and assumed it was just another knight doing the rounds. for the knights of this place, their resentment wouldn't matter much to them; they were just criminals forced to do labour. but for pyxis, he took it personally to heart, as he thought that maybe him leaving to see the outside might've caused them all to resent him. and worse of all, he thought that his only best friend would have gone and thought the same, even if it was him who suggested that he go be free and live the outside life in their stead.

he didn't want to know if it had gone that way, but he was going to have to meet him one way or another as he finally came up on a familiar cell. a cell that he had every business knowing, considering it was the very same cell where he met him for the first time. as he neared it, he slowly got a look inside and saw someone he didn't expect to be there. as he walked up to the front of the cell, he could see Tetsuga lying in bed. totally not being a sleeper. this was it; he had found him. with little room to waste, he looks around to make sure there are no other knights on guard to see him do this. once he was sure, he went and neared the bars so that he could call out to Tetsuga without having to be too loud. "psst! hey!" they would say as they called out to him in a whisper. Tetsuga would hear it as they looked towards the cells. "what, are you here to punish me or something?" he would say as he assumed it to be one of the knights making sure their life were a living hell. but Pyxis would lift up the face plate of his helmet to reveal his identity to him, and boy was Tetsuga glad as his face perked up at the sight of him.

"holy crap! pyxis! how'd you get here?" Tetsuga would ask as he quickly got up from his bed and made his way over to the bars so he could properly converse with him. "no time to explain. me, Derrick and Cherry are here to bust you out," Pyxis would tell him as they huddled from across the bars that were in between them at the moment. "hey man, who are you talking to?" suddenly, another voice spoke inside the cell as the two would glance over to where it had come from and see Tetsuga's inmate. "oh, just a friend of mine. he's here to bust me out," Tetsuga would say to them as they rubbed their eyes to see. "a friend of yours?" he would say in a questioning tone, but as soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, he met the gaze of Pyxis, who was also gazing right back at him. "... pyxis?" 0121 would mutter, as he couldn't believe who it was he was seeing at this very moment. "hey, long time no see 0121," Pyxis would awkwardly reply as his nerves were now through the roof as he didn't expect to see him so soon.

now a question raced inside his mind:. what was he going to think of him now?