Don't Forget

#9 Look to the sky

Mitch had changed drastically in the two years after the squids had taken the castle. The loss and disappearance of of best friend, the deaths of most of his team, and the general stress had hardened his heart.
The GoldenEye troops and people were a complete mess for the two years after the takeover. Previous soldiers had ended up hiding for the first ten months. The remaining Generals needed time to organize a resistance. The Piscus seemed content to let them run and hide like rabbits. After two years, they still don't pose much of a threat.
Mitch had made it out of the castle with Lachlan, Vikk, and Jason. He can only assume that Rob and Preston died while buying them some time. It's even more grief on his shoulders. Lachlan and Vikk joined the attack on the prisoner's wagons two days later. It was the last act of resistance before they went into hiding. Mitch stayed with Jason.
Vikk was separated from Lachlan in the attack, and he didn't show up at the meeting point. Another dead friend. Lachlan shut down a bit afterwords. He kept going out of Vikk's memory, now in line to become a General. Mitch only hears from him every few weeks.
Jerome has simply vanished. No one's seen the furry hybrid since before the takeover. All it leaves Mitch with is regret. Their argument was the last time Mitch had seen his best friend.
Mitch and Jerome met when Mitch's father broke into an underground facility. Multiple hybrids had been trapped there for 'trespassing'. Jerome was one of them, born into captivity. Mitch's father took the ten year old Bacca with him since Jerome couldn't take care of himself. The two boys practically grew up together.
Two days before the squids attacked the palace, Jerome received a letter from Liblicen. It was from a small city with many others like him. Most of the Liblicen cities are dominated by one type of hybrid. The Baccas had heard about Jerome on the other continent, and invited him to 'come home'.
      Mitch found out about it right before the attack. He was furious that Jerome might have been considering to leave. He may never have come back if he found family on the other continent. Jerome was mad at Mitch because it should be his decision to stay or go. They both felt betrayed by the other
       Given time, the two would of calmed down and had a more civilized conversation. Jerome would never leave forever, and Mitch would've realized how his accusation hurt his best friend. They were not given that time.
The changes to the trading systems are even more damaging then Mitch's emotions. Very few humans are still allowed to run trading ships. All of those humans are managed by squids. They control what comes in and out of the continent. As it is, only one company manages to smuggle the resistance any supplies. The majority are stolen from squid supply trains. It's always a risk.
Mitch is frowning as he walks through the camp. Four others are also hidden in the continent. It would draw too much attention if they were all in one place. This particular camp is lucky to have a sorcerer. Mitch has never heard if Seto ever gave a reason for helping them, or leaving Liblicen. The Sorcerer just showed up and offered his services a year ago.
Seto had sent a messenger to Mitch, asking if he would come and see him. He has never actually seen Seto fight. The Sorcerer only ever preformed small tasks using his magic. But those rules vanish when someone's badly injured. Mitch knows how powerful Seto is based on how he can heal other's mortal injuries so well.
      This particular camp is hidden by thick forestry. Fires are put out at night, and there's a strict curfew for any who aren't on guard duty. The light or noise could attract squids. One small mistake could mean a massacre for the entire camp.
Mitch snaps out of his thoughts when someone slams into him. They both go crashing to the ground, Mitch almost impaling himself oh his own sword. Wouldn't that be an ironic way to go?
"Whoops, very sorry for that. I didn't really see you while running for my life", the teen awkwardly babbles, scrambling to his feet. Mitch sits up to see who had crashed into him. Of course it was.
     Standing in front of him was Ty, a kid that was freed in the wagon attack. Ty is skinny with long hair covering half his face, remnants of his life on the streets. Mitch briefly wonders what trouble he's in now.
     "You should really watch where you're going. This isn't a playground", Mitch snaps at him, getting up.
      "Well, I'm sorry. My unit captain is just chasing me for something that I most certainly did not do. I think I lost her on the other side of the camp", the sixteen year old smirks. He doesn't look very sorry for knocking them both over. Mitch admits that Ty could be an extremely skilled swordsman if he actually took it seriously. His trust issues are another problem. Ty doesn't work well in teams. Mitch can't really blame him for it, though. He doesn't know what it's like to never know when your next meal will be.
      "Ty! Get the hell over here!", a woman screams, bursting out from around a small building. She looks beyond enraged.
       "I gotta go now, bye", Ty spews, sprinting away. No catching him when he's trying to get out of trouble, that boy's fast. Mitch shakes his head and keeps walking. He doesn't have time to goof off like that anymore. Mitch has responsibilities and expectations to uphold.
     Seto works in a small building on the edge of camp. He's always been a little secretive and withdrawn. Mitch isn't much of the social type, either. That's why it's so strange that Seto asked for him. The two have only had a handful of conversations. Mitch can't remember doing anything that could of gotten the Sorcerer's attention.
     A little hesitant, Mitch knocks quickly on the door of Seto's building. He's just about to leave when the door swings open on silent hinges. It gives Mitch the creeps; there's no one at the door except for a fading trail of purple mist.
     "Hello?", he calls out into the house. Geez, how does such a small building have an echo? All Mitch can see from the door way is a small sitting room with doors leading off.
     "First door on the left!", a muffled voice yells back. Mitch sighs before entering the room, closing the door behind him. None of these rooms can be very big. This room alone is almost the size of the entire building. Where does Seto keep all his stuff?
     Mitch makes his way over to the left doorway and pulls on the handle. Darkness. Beyond the doorway, everything drops away into a black void. Small wisps of purple float around the edges of the doorway. What the hell is this?
     "......Seto, do you mean the door that drops into the void?", Mitch yells, not sure where Seto actually is. This door freaks him out a bit.
     "Yep, that's the one", Seto's voice yells again from the blackness, "Just ignore the spell and walk straight through". Mitch is a little hesitant to walk into whatever the heck this doorways is, understandably. The only thing that makes him move his feet is the strong trust that Seto won't try to kill him.
     Mitch walks forward into the darkness. His feet surprisingly find solid ground. Mitch gets a brief feeling of falling and nausea, right before he walks out of the darkness. He stands still for a moment to get his bearings.
The new room is way bigger then the last. Each wall is at least 15o feet in a square figure. The wall directly across from Mitch is just a massive wall of bookshelves. The rest of the room is divided into sections with counter tops and chests. The corner to Mitch's right looks like one big potion brewery. To the left are more shelves with old looking knickknacks. Some of them look ready to fall apart with age. There's even a small lounge in the center.
There's no possible way that this room would fit inside Seto's little hut. Mitch, numb with shock, slowly makes his away across the room to where Seto is standing in the brewing area. A small bat is perched on his shoulder. That must be Seto's familiar, Phantom.
"Seto? Did you give me something to hallucinate?", Mitch deadpans, coming up next to the Sorcerer. Seto doesn't even jump at his sudden appearance.
"No, the door just teleports you to this place", Seto replies, as if it was obvious. He fiddles with a brewing stand in front of him, cleaning all the small tubes. Various cleaning supplies are scattered everywhere in the large room. Mitch wonders why Seto is now suddenly cleaning everything. The two stand in silence while he finishes cleaning the stand.
     "So, um, nice room", Mitch awkwardly mumbles, "But why'd you drag me in here?". He can't help but be impressed. Seto sighs before answering.
    "Mitch..... I'm leaving", he says, eyes downcast, "There's something I have to do, somewhere that I have to be".
       "Well, ok. When will you be back?", Mitch asks him. The few seconds of silence answer the question.
     "I'm not coming back from this one. This isn't like the few times I've left in the past", Seto explains, meeting Mitch's eyes, "This will be the last time that I see you in this loop".
     "Loop? What do you mean, Seto? Where are you going?", Mitch asks, confused with Seto's words. The Sorcerer cringes at his mistake.
     "Never mind that", Seto covers, leading Mitch back to the door. "I just didn't want anyone to send search parties for me. Don't give up with this war, and tell Ty that I said goodbye". His words are rushed.
     "I didn't know you knew Ty", Mitch chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. Seto does crack a small before becoming serious again. They both stand in front of Seto's teleportation door.
     "Mitch, there's one last thing", he says, "Look to Sky when the shadows appear". Mitch is confused about his words. Shadows? Sky? Does Seto mean to look up at dawn or sunset?
     Before he can ask, Seto shoves Mitch back through the door. He gets the same nauseas feeling from earlier. Mitch falls down onto the wooden floor of Seto's small hut. Confused, he looks back at the way he came to see a small closet. Seto cut off his door. He's really gone. Look to the sky when shadows appear?
Mitch doesn't know what to think when he stumbles out of the hut. The Sorcerer didn't make any sense to him. And now he's gone. Mitch supposes that he should tell the Captain in charge of this camp about Seto. And Ty.
A sudden commotion draws the soldier's attention. He veers off his path and jogs past a few buildings. It looks like a raiding party just got back from a hit. A small group of soldiers stand looking guiltily at each other. Three others struggle to restrain a screaming and yelling soldier. Mitch recognizes his red hair and gold 'Z' necklace. It takes a few seconds for him to hear what Max is shouting .
     "Where's my brother, you bastards!", Max screams, "You fuckers promised to keep him safe!". Max is swearing and pulling against the people holding him down. It looks like he wants to kill the returning raiding party.
     Mitch cautiously walks up and asks one of them what the argument is about. She starts to explain, but Max hears the conversation and starts screaming again, becoming less angery and more grief stricken with every word.
     "They just left my little brother when he got caught! He's only twelve.....", Max is crying by the end of it. The people restraining him let go with guilty expressions.  Mitch can only walk over and sit next to him. How similar their stories have turned out.

A/N
What do you guys think so far? I'm curious how his new writing style is turns out. Soon, it will stop taking place in the 'past' so much.

What do you think of Max's situation?

What's up with Seto?

I'm up to 30 completed chapters, so I hope you all stick around for all that I have in store!