Ryder, Benedict and Antoinette were resting and setting up camp with all three helping out one another in gathering resources.
Meanwhile Hugo Grimm continued his relentless pursuit after his humiliating defeat against his ex-lover Antoinette.
He eventually stopped by another town and entered inside a pub where he approached a group of mercenaries, drinking liquor and playing cards.
"Well hello there, fine gentlemen..." Hugo said, sitting down with them.
"How bout I give you guys an offer..." Hugo continued.
The group of mercenaries listened closely to Hugo's offer and they agreed to his offer.
"Very well...we'll do it...Hugo..." The man replied.
"I'm glad you're willing to accept the offer, Lorenzo..." Hugo stated.
"As long as you keep your end of the bargain then me and my gents are going to assist you in your pursuit of those pricks..." Lorenzo replied, standing up from his chair.
"Then let's get started shall we?" Hugo stated.
*Meanwhile back to Ryder, Benedict and Antoinette standing by a fire place*
"It won't be long before Hugo finds us again, so it's best that we must be prepared..." Antoinette stated.
Ryder was sharpening his blades and Benedict was polishing his shield and sharpening his axe.
"I must say, that is a very nice shield you have there..." Antoinette said, approaching Benedict.
"Thanks, it's one of the main things I use in combat, I often pair it with my axe..." Benedict replied.
"Interesting..." Antoinette said in fascination, sitting down next to him.
Ryder notices the closeness between the two and could not help but feel jealous between the two of them.
"Um, so anyways guys, I think we should rest considering our current situation, we need rest to regain more energy." Ryder stated.
"Yeah, he's got a point Ann, let's rest..." Benedict said, lying down to fall asleep.
"Alright then..." Antoinette said lying down as well.
Ryder followed on suit, but was watching over in case of any threat approaching their area.
*The next day arose*
Ryder, Benedict and Antoinette went up and ventured out somewhere else and as they were walking, they found familiar faces approaching towards them.
"Well, I'll be, it's truly you..." A voice called out.
"It's good to see you in top shape, Ryder..." Lucien said approaching Ryder.
"Lucien, good to see you man..." Ryder said as he was rushing to hug him.
"It's good to see you still alive, Captain Astaroth..." The Clypean soldiers said, approaching him.
"And so it seems you and that Gladian soldier decide to work an uneasy alliance to locate me and Rapier?" Benedict responded.
"Yes, sir...we decided to form an alliance in search for the two of you..." The Clypean soldier replied.
"Oh, if you guys don't mind, we brought ourselves a friend..." Ryder stated to their soldiers, introducing them to Antoinette.
"Our friend here Antoinette, has taken care of us for a while and helped us evade a bounty hunter from trying to kill us..." Benedict continued.
"If that is so, then we are thankful for taking care of our respective captains, fair lady..." Lucien and the Clypean soldier said, kneeling before Antoinette.
"No need to express too much gratitude, kind gentlemen, I simply entered into their crossfire but then again I am happy to help them as well." Antoinette said with a smile.
"Come with us, we have set up camp and I'm sure you guys are probably exhausted from moving one place to another." Lucien stated.
"That would be quite nice...come, let us follow them!" Ryder said excitingly, following Lucien and the other soldiers.
"I see that your friend Ryder is quite energetic..." Antoinette chuckled.
"Sometimes I think he acts like a child..." Benedict said, shrugging it off.
"Come on let's catch up with the others..." Antoinette said, rushing to keep up.
Benedict simply chuckles and follows on suit.
The group settled down to the camp where the soldiers started celebrating the return of their respective captains.
Benedict and Antoinette were inside a tent and they sat next to each other, eating a meal, Benedict felt very shy towards her.
Antoinette scoots closer to him, much to Benedict's surprise.
"You don't have to act tough around people sometimes you can act soft and let your defenses down just so you don't feel insecure you know..." Antoinette said, looking at him in the eyes.
Benedict felt a bit flustered after hearing Antoinette's sincere and heartwarming message.
"My my, your face is all red..." Antoinette chuckled.
"S-Shut up..." Benedict looked away, embarrassed about showing his romantic feelings.
"How cute..." Antoinette said, as she leaned closer.
Both of them were about to share a tender and passionate moment when a Clypean soldier suddenly entered inside the tent.
"Captain Astaroth, we got some trouble..." The Clypean soldier stated.
"Duty calls..." Benedict said as he stood up.
Both Benedict and Antoinette went outside the tent and went to find Ryder.
"It looks like we ran into him again..." Ryder said, drawing out his rapier swords.
"I ain't going to let you guys get away, that would honestly ruin my reputation besides, I still have a score to deal with..." Hugo said, firmly gripping his lasso.
"You never know when to give up, don't you?" Antoinette sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I let that slide for one time, now it's payback..." Hugo said as he charged towards them.
Hugo simply ran towards them, equipped with his lasso, he tied up Ryder and pinned him down on the ground.
Benedict, armed with his shield and axe headed towards Hugo with fury in his eyes, he proceeded to swing his axe towards him.
Hugo swiftly dodged his attack and
went on to kick him in the knee and gave him a punch on the face.
Lucien was about to enter in the battlefield until Hugo's group came to stop Lucien from attacking Hugo.
"There, now you can just stay still and be a good boy, or else I will pulverize the living shit out of you..." Hugo stated, spitting at his face, then stepping over his face.
"Come on now, let's take these three, they are the only ones we need, leave them for now..." Hugo said, grabbing both Ryder and Benedict by their collar.
"Is it fine if I carry the lady?" Lorenzo asked Hugo.
"I don't mind, just make sure they are unscathed, ok?" Hugo replied.
"Sure thing." Lorenzo replied.
The group headed out and left Lucien and the others beaten up and headed to the kingdom of Gladius.
It was night time when they eventually arrive, they entered the palace and knocked on the door.
"Come inside, His Majesty has been waiting for you." Phoebus said, whispering to Hugo.
He proceeds to open the doors where the king is sitting on a chair, drinking a cup of wine from his goblet.
"Splendid job, Hugo Grimm, I see you also decided to take my advice by hiring some people to aid you." The king smirked.
"I guess you have made a fair point now we brought them unscathed and in good condition." Hugo said, putting them carefully down on the ground.
"Marvelous, now as according to our agreement, you will all be paid equally..." The king said.
The trio eventually wake up and realize they are inside the palace.
"Oh it looks like the trio are awake..." Lorenzo whispered to Hugo.
"Yup I am aware, Lorenzo." Hugo said annoyingly.
"Just letting you know..." Lorenzo mumbled to himself.
"What is the meaning of this, King of Gladius?" Ryder exclaimed.
"Don't act foolish, Rapier, I know you have sided with the enemy, you are a disgrace to your kingdom..." The king said, grabbing his collar.
""How dare you..." Benedict said, trying to get up but he gets his head pinned down by Hugo.
"That is as far as you can go buddy..." Hugo said, firmly gripping tightly.
"This will not be the last...I swear we will get revenge and expose you for your heinous crimes..." Ryder shouted angrily.
"Yeah yeah I bet you will, now take them away to the dungeon and let them rot for the rest of their lives." The king chuckled.
The guards enter inside and they grab the trio and take them down to the dungeon.
They eventually locked them in the same cell where Elara resides.
"Prisoner...you got yourselves some company..." The guards chuckled throwing them aside.
"Those bastards..." Ryder said angrily.
"Um...hey, you must be new here?" Elara said to the three of them.
"Poor girl, what are you doing in a place like this..." Antoinette said, approaching towards her.
"I have been here for the rest of my life, I used to live in the kingdom Clypeus until I was separated away from my family and taken prisoner..." Elara stated shakingly as she hugged Antoinette tightly.
"There there, it must have been hard for you..." Antoinette said comfortingly, giving her reassurance.
"Sorry, it just that i felt quite a bit lonely in here..." Elara replied, wiping away her tears.
"I see, by the way what is your name?" Benedict asked, waiting for her response.
"My name is Elara Astaroth..." Elara responded .
Benedict was shocked and immediately hugged Elara tightly.
"What's the matter?" Elara said surprisingly, comforting Benedict.
"Nothing, I'm just glad I'm able to see you again, my dear Elara..." Benedict said, letting out a year from his eye.
"Could it be..." Elara said in surprise.
Benedict simply nod to Elara's shock.
"It is, it's really you, my big brother Benedict..." Elara said happily, hugging Benedict tightly, crying tears of joy after being reunited for so long.
"Don't cry, I'm here now..." Benedict said reassuringly to Elara.
"You know as much as I'm happy to see you two siblings reunited we have a bigger issue which is to get out of here and spread word about the evils of the King of Gladius..." Ryder stated.
"Fair point, but this is going to take a while before we can eventually escape this dungeon..." Benedict replied.
"Considering the amount of guards plus Hugo and his group might be on the lookout therefore it might prove to be difficult for us to get out easily..." Antoinette sighed.
"Don't worry about it, for now let's come up with a plan to get out of here..." Ryder said.
All four nodded in agreement and decided to rest for the day.
"Looks like everything went as planned, Your Majesty..." Phoebus sighed.
"You are indeed right, we now have the heroes under our hand and they won't be able to escape, and even if they were able to escape, who is going to believe them about the nonsense lies they will spread..." The king laughed, drinking his cup.
"Indeed you are right, Your Majesty." Phoebus smiled raising his cup.
"Cheers." The both of them said.
Now our heroes have been captured by the hands of their enemies, this time will they be able to prevail and live to escape and spread the truth to the people or fail and live the rest of their lives in misery, only time will tell on what will happen to them. Stay tuned.