The Evil ~ YouTuber Fanfiction ~ (Book 1 of the Arcane Powers)

[20] captured

For those of you in the comments section, I hope you're happy with this chapter's POV.

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- Max's POV -

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Max wasn't sure what to make of his life. His best friend was turned to the Evil, and his first actual love interest was into someone else.

He said he was fine with it, but deep in his heart, he was fuming.

Since Okward had trained him yesterday, Max had all day to think about his life.

Max thought about it until he laid down in his makeshift bed of pillows, slowly drifting to sleep.

***

Max awoke to a loud zap! outside.

He opened his eyes groggily. "Wasgoinon?

Sky was already up, his sword summoned and in his hand. "I don't know, but it can't but good."

"Where's Okward?" Shelby asked, summoning her pink sword.

Nick looked around. "Yeah, where is he?"

"Guys?" 

It was Jin. He was standing by the door, holding a piece of paper. Now that Max looked in that direction, he noticed the door was ajar, the cold, morning breeze blowing in his face.

"There's a note," Jin said. He opened it. "To the Seven," he read. "We have your teacher. We will turn him, if you do not hand yourselves over to the Evil. Sincerely, Heath Zander, Head of the Evil."

A moment of silence passed over the teenagers. Jin stuck his head through the doorway. His mouth dropped open. "There's a huge crater where the bridge should be."

Max walked over. The bridge was gone, a pile of debris the only sign it ever existed. Ross joined him by the door. He frowned. "I can fix it, but I'll need help. Nick?"

Nick nodded, coming over. 

"I need you to build a bridge made of dirt. Just any platform will do," Ross instructed.

Nick held his hands out. Some dirt flew from the bottom of the lake, creating a bridge of mud.

"Max?" Ross asked. "Can you heat up that bridge?"

Max spread his hands. White hot flames shot out, creating a smooth surface of clay. Ross went next. Nothing happened.

"I made sure the bridge will stay by solidifying the water where it touches the bridge," Ross explained.

"Well, this will have to do," Shelby said, cautiously stepping on the surface. She walked across. A scorch mark was on the ground by the bridge. 

She touched it. "Something happened here."

"Okward," Nick said. "He must've blasted the ground with lightning."

"Hey guys?" 

It was Cory this time. He held another piece of paper, but this one was different from the first. "There's another note."

He opened it, but then immediately frowned. "It's blank."

Shelby looked like she was deep in thought. She snapped her fingers. "Maybe it was from Okward. Maybe we have to say a password like with the door, something like Heptad--"

Words started appearing on the note, like an invisible pen was writing the letter.

Max read it.

To the Seven, and ONLY the Seven -

Do NOT show this to anybody other than yourselves. If you are reading this, then that means I'm either dead, captured, or worse.

"What could be worse than being dead or captured?" Ross asked.

"In Okward's case, it would probably be being turned," Cory said.

Anyways, there is something I must tell you. There is a group of people who are in hiding from both the Evil and the kingdom. They are working against the Evil. Their leader is a good friend of mine. I want you to find these people and tell them this password: Live in Heptad. They will know what it means. To find these people, follow the old nursery rhyme. Goodbye.

 - Okward

Shelby's mouth was open, and Cory's face was expressionless. Ross looked confused. "What does he mean, 'the old nursery rhyme?'"

"He means the one where you go to your grandmother's house."

Max instinctively summoned his bow and drew it back. The stranger raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, a crooked smile on his face. 

"Hey," he said, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you."

"Who are you?" Jin demanded, summoning his wand.

"My name is Preston Arsement," he said. "I'm from the Live Rebels. The group of people Okward was talking about. I'm here to help you to them."

Max eyed him suspiciously, before slowly lowering his bow. He didn't desummon it.

"Fire, huh? You're the new Seven of Fire?" Preston asked. He grinned. "That's cool! I like fire."

"You like fire? Well, if you like a fire tipped arrow in your heart, then feel free to try leading us into a trap," Max snapped.

Preston laughed. "Hey, like I said, I'm here to help you, not hurt you. What makes you think I'm going to do the latter?"

"Your timing. We get attacked, and you suddenly pop out of nowhere!" Cory shouted.

Preston crossed his arms. "Cory, right? The new Seven of Shadows? If you really are the Seven of Shadows, then you'll know a thing or two about teleportation. The Live Rebels recently received a distress signal from a close friend of ours. They sent me to go check it out, when I found the remains of a battlefield."

"If you're here to take us back, then just go on already! We need to find him! He's in the Evil, and we need to get him back!" Shelby cried.

Preston nodded. "I will lead you to the Live Rebels, once your friend learns to trust me." He looked pointedly at Max. 

Max glared at Preston, before slinging his bow over his shoulder. "Fine. But I won't desummon it. There's something about you that I don't like..."

Preston shrugged. "Okay. I'll lead you to them right now."

Max stayed behind, making sure everyone went out. Sky stopped by him. He grinned. "It's okay. I'll bring up the rear. You go ahead."

Max sighed. "Whatever, man. I just don't trust this guy."

Sky looked at him seriously. "Max. If there's anything I learned from guard training, it's to never trust a stranger unless they give you some form of recognition, like, a password or something. Keep an eye on him."

"Hey, you two coming?" Preston yelled.

"Yeah!" Sky shouted back.

Max gripped his bow. Something about him...

***

- ???'s POV -

Little did the Seven know, everything was going to plan...