A Journey through Kingdoms

CHAPTER 48- CAPTIVITY

"Wait, do you two know each other?" Tetsuga would comment as he looked between the two in interest. "Yeah, it's kind of a long story," Pyxis would tell him, as he didn't really want to get too much into specifics considering he still had the objective of busting Tetsuga out. "Pyxis, why are you back here?" 0121 would ask as he slowly approached Pyxis. Tetsuga would slowly back away to let the two converse since he could tell that they had a tight history with each other and he wanted to have them at least catch up with one another. "I'm sorry," was what Pyxis replied as he drooped his head down. his guilt fighting to well up inside of him as he couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

"why?" they say as they stop right in front of them from across the barred cell. "Back then, i remembered you all giving me the chance to be free. i especially remembered you giving me this compass in exchange for a promise," he would say as he took out the compass that he had stashed away inside his satchel after breaking the necklace earlier in the day before he used it to essentially bash the cocky knight's head in. "I promised to you that i would go and live out my life as a free man for you all, but i wasted . all of it," he would say with gritted teeth. he would admit that he had wasted his time trying to buy back their freedom instead of honoring the promise that was given to him. even if his intentions were pure, he still kind of broke that promise of his. and that was one thing he didn't want to do. "the knight, before i left., told me that if i collected enough gold, i could buy your guys' freedom. i got so narrow-minded that i forgot why i was free in the first place." Pyxis would explain as he gripped on the bars to the point they were shaking.

"I never meant to waste the chance you guys had given me. I didn't mean to break our promise. I just wanted to live this freedom with everyone," Pyxis would say as his heart finally gave out and his emotions started to show as tears welled up in his eyes and his lips couldn't stop themselves from frowning. 0121 could only watch as he continued to let it all out. "i just wanted to live this freedom with you," he would say as tears dripped from his cheeks as those words came out from him. his head was now leaning onto the bars. his face fully downward as the tears flowed down, staining the floor. 0121 would stay silent for a moment as he took it all in. "I don't deserve this freedom. i don't deserve it at all," he would say with a shaky voice. "Pyxis" 0121 would finally speak up as he neared him before placing a hand on their shoulder through the bars.

"... the fact that even when you had attained freedom from this prison, you still had time to think about all of us. That fact alone is what makes you deserving of it. You were, by all means, the best of all of us," he would tell him as Pyxis would rear his head up to meet his face, which had an expression of reassurance. "... really?" Pyxis would say as if asking for confirmation of it. He wasn't sure if he was confident in what he had said about him. "Really, just because you got caught up in something doesn't mean you wasted all of it. That compass... I was hoping it would lead you to better things—things that you or I haven't even seen yet... and I also hoped that wherever you take it, you'd also be taking me there too with you," they would say as they grabbed a hold of Pyxis' hand that held the compass and forced his fingers to clasp it.

"You were never alone in that freedom. With this compass, I'd be there with you too," he would say. Pyxis would then flash back to the first time he had given him the device. He then remembers the similar words he said to him that day and them sealing the promise with one last handshake before he got escorted out. That feeling of guilt is now gone. but it was then replaced by something else... It was replaced by determination. "I know I messed up badly, but I've made up my mind," Pyxis would exclaim as he wiped the tears with the metal sleeve of the armor he wore. "I'm not going to run by their rules anymore. This time around, all of you are going to be free with me," Pyxis would say with a gaze that was filled with determination like no other. 0121 couldn't help but smile, as his own desire for freedom would be sparked by him. Before, he was content with living the freedom he wished for vicariously through the gift he had given, but now, seeing Pyxis like this. He decided that he wanted to live that freedom for real. together with his best friend.

"Crap man, this bromance is so good." Tetsuga, who watched it all go down, would end up in tears as he tried to wipe them away with his sleeves. "Are you... crying?" 0121 would ask as he and Pyxis would look at the man who was now bawling his eyes out quietly while the two shared their feelings with one another. "I just get emotional with things like these, okay?... why do you think I drink all the time?" Tetsuga would admit as he finally wipes all the tears away and composes himself. "Right, you are sober right now," Pyxis would say as he realized that Tetsuga would have had his flask confiscated and would leave him sober for the rest of his stay here. This little moment lightened up the emotional mood created by the two. But Pyxis wasn't done, as he still had some things to say.

"I know its going to be risky, but I want you and everyone else to come with us and break out of here," he would say as he stared at 0121, awaiting his response. "I'd love nothing more. Let's break out of this hellhole!" he'd respond in kind, as his own determination for freedom had now been realized. "That's cool and all... but how exactly are we going to do that? The place is teeming with knights left, right, and center." It was Tetsuga's turn to jump back into the conversation as he asked how this escape plan was going to work. "Don't worry. Derrick and Cherry are on their way to plant the pyrocitite to create a big enough commotion to distract the guards and give us a chance to slip out," Pyxis would tell them. but as soon as he did, another voice would join them.

"Who's on their way to plant pyrocitite?" the voice said, which made Pyxis turn to his side in a panic. and as he did so, his eyes would lay upon a sight that he didn't want to see. "I knew the little rat would come for his cheese." It was the cocky knight, and he had coughed him red-handed. "Yeah, but how did?" Pyxis would mumble, but the knight was kind enough to finish it for him. "I notice you snooping around. With how much we wear helmets, do you really think I wouldn't recognize my own subordinate's eyes through their helmet? I'm not stupid, you know," they would say in a mocking manner as they stood across from him. his confidence being exuded through his stance as his chin was raised upward.

Pyxis would just gulp due to his nerves getting the best of him. Now that his cover is blown, there is no stopping the knight from calling reinforcements and having both him, Derrick, and Cherry locked up. Now, the fate of the plan rested on the shoulders of those kids, as he hoped that by this time, they had planted the explosives and were about to detonate them to cause a distraction. Speaking of those two, we take ourselves back to when the two split off from Pyxis as they went to plant the explosives. They had snuck through the building surprisingly and made their way outside on the court yard, where they hid inside a bush, looking for a good place to plant them. "Okay, so all we need to do is plant these pyrocitites somewhere, right?" Derrick would say as he opened the sack to check on them. "Yeah, but it would be better if we didn't put them all in one spot," Cherry would add as a suggestion, which Derrick would agree with as he cupped his chin in thought.

"Right, spreading them out across the area would prove to create more of a distraction than one singular place," he would deduce. but a problem would arise with that idea. "But with only us two, we can't really detonate the pyrocitite all together if we have them spread out. We'd need more hands for it, but where would we find something like that at this time?" Derrick would say as he goes deep into thought, thinking up ways to solve this issue. As he was doing so, Cherry would notice, far off in the distance, a couple of slaves being brought out by knights as they did some midnight tormenting. Her first thought as she saw the sight was one of disgust. How sleezy do these knights get? They were supposed to be the pinnacle of justice, not some glorified bullies in suits of armor. but then a second thought popped into her head. one that could help them if they do it right.

"Derrick, I got a plan," she would say, snapping the boy out of his headspace as he looked over to her curiously. "What's that?" he asked before she detailed him on it, which gave him a big smile.