As Red and Olo neared the bottom of the stairs, a man with a bright orange tiger pelt draped over his head pushed past them and headed up the stairs.
Olo looked back at him, biting down on his lip. He quietly said, "Young Prince Oaxaca, I almost didn't recognize you."
The young man in the tiger pelt froze in place mid-step.
Olo walked up to him slowly, staring intently at him the entire time, "Now young prince, I know you must be quite upset with the treatment your father just received, but I can assure you that is all for the greater good of our nations. Now I'd advise you to follow the instructions that were relayed by King Esa…"
Olo put his hand in Prince Oaxaca's face, with his palm open. Black runes began to form around his arm and spin like a tornado.
He continued, "Or you may have a problem with me. I can see you've become quite the warrior in your own right, but I can assure you, you don't want any problems with me. Now what'll it be, prince?"
Prince Oaxaca still stood completely frozen, and tears began to fall from his eyes.
Olo laughed heartily and put his arm down, patting the prince on the back with the other arm.
"I'm only jesting Prince Oaxaca!" Olo exclaimed, still laughing, "Why in the world would we have a problem? We have never had an insubordination issue with the beautiful country of Zaitya, and not once have they failed to follow through on an instruction given to them," Olo got close to Oaxaca's ear, "And we won't be starting now, will we?"
Oaxaca shook his head and ran back down the stairs at full speed. The other lords and barons loitering around the area followed behind him as well.
Red and Olo continued, pushing past the wall of knights still holding back individuals at the front gate.
"You put on quite a show back there Olo," Red stated nonchalantly, both of his arms placed behind his head "You really know how to put fear into the hearts of the people."
Olo sucked his teeth, "Not all of us get our sick thrills from killing others needlessly. Sometimes that intimidation is all you need to make others fall in line."
Red shook his head, "A little show of force gets your point across more effectively. But besides all of that, what are your abilities anyway? Since we're both Grand Officers, we should both know what the other can do."
Olo stopped walking and laughed. Soft at first, but after a moment it quickly exploded into an unhinged cackle.
"Red, I want you to understand only one singular thing. Even if you forget absolutely everything else, remember this: we are not friends, and we are certainly not allies. I want my abilities to remain a mystery to you until the moment I kill you. And rest assured, I will be the one who takes your life. You will not be returning from the campaign with us, I will personally make sure of it."
Red rolled his eyes and put his arms down by his side, "Do you really wanna make me your enemy, Olo? We don't have to wait for the war, we can finish it right here. I promise someone at your level cannot compete with me."
Olo turned and scratched his head, "Hmm…maybe not. You know Red, I'm shocked you haven't asked me yet."
Red turned to him quickly, "Asked you what?"
Olo shrugged his shoulders, "Oh I don't know…maybe where Yasuke is exactly? Or why exactly we put him there."
Red ground his teeth, "I was going to let Yasuke tell me himself. I don't want to hear whatever fabricated-"
Olo paced around in a circle, "Fabricated? I don't mind selling you the truth. After your group's successful mission stopping Jeannot, as well as the additional information they brought back regarding some other members of the Seraphim. Yasuke went up quite a few spots, Officer Third Class to Commander First Class."
Olo shook his head, and continued, "Since you were gone, he was reassigned to my squad. As you heard, we were spread pretty thin between monster attacks and Socotra soldier sightings, so we were constantly on missions. In just three months, Yasuke went on sixteen successful missions. Since Yasuke was proving himself quite useful, and it is our tradition to always have at least five Grand Officers at a time, there was talk of Yasuke getting that promotion. Hell, he was even assigned a small squad to take command of."
Olo put his hand over his face, leaving only his eyes visible, "But you know, a little birdie told me that Yasuke and his dead friend Red had been planning a coup. And Yasuke wanted to finally put it into motion with his new friends."
Olo's hand slowly slid down his face, revealing a sickening ear-to-ear grin, "So we ransacked the decrepit building Yasuke and his squad called home, and we made them all confess to their wrongdoings! They were plotting against the king and our wonderful country, so we put them right where terrorists belong!"
Red grabbed Olo by his armor and slammed him against the wall. Before Red could raise his fist, Olo had his crown dagger pointed at Red's throat.
Red took a deep breath, "I'll ask you one more time bastard, where is Yasuke!"
Olo cackled, louder this time, "We put him under the castle and threw away the key! Right where the filthy dissident belongs!"
Red yelled aloud, "Anybody who questions even one policy in your beloved country belongs under the dungeon?"
Olo pushed Red off, "The law is just because it's absolute. If the law is not absolute, then it's not just."
Red scoffed, "That logic isn't based on any fact at all. You just think it sounds about right, don't you?"
Olo took off his helmet, "Whatever you say, Red. Just keep in mind what I said. When we get past the country of Oldum in our campaign, maybe I'll take a swing at you with my sword. Maybe I'll get the other Grand Officers on my side to take you down and maybe we'll just report you as another casualty on the battlefield."
Olo and Red continued on, now with a palpable tension between the two of them. They walked on the side of the castle, passing through scores of individuals trying to find a way in.
Olo shot them a single look and most of them fled immediately.
They walked down a winding stone path flanked on both sides by wide bodies of water. Fish skirted across the surface of the water darting through algae and vibrant green lily pads.
They slowly walked through a clearing of large trees. The trees seemed to be alive, their branches like arms and their exposed roots like legs.
Red monitored them closely as they passed through until they finally reached a wide open grassy area, surrounded by trees.
In the middle of the area was a small pool of water. The water was a murky shade of navy blue and completely devoid of any life.
"You showing me where you plan to bury me?" Red asked facetiously.
Olo looked at him and with a monotone and matter-of-fact tone, he said, "This is where Yasuke is."
Red turned his head quickly back and forth examining the area. He slowly readied a blood dagger.
Red scowled, still looking at the pool of water, "I didn't take you to be someone who would pull a trick like this."
Olo sighed deeply, "I'm not, Grand Officer Red." He put his arm out, motioning toward the water, "My former subordinate is down there, whether he's alive or not is another question entirely. Someone was supposed to be feeding him every day. But I think that soldier died in a battle recently."
Red put one foot into the water, and to his surprise seemed to step on a stone slab of some sort.
He looked back at Olo, who shrugged and began to walk away.
Red put another foot in and stepped on another stone slab. It was obvious now that there were a set of steps in the water. With renewed confidence, Red walked down the set of steps until his head was completely submerged. After a few more steps, Red pushed up against a sturdy wall sealed by a powerful barrier spell.
Red pressed his hand against the door and poured his mana into it. The door exploded as a result, splintering into tiny pieces.
Water flooded in behind Red and revealed a dank and dark dungeon. The area was small, on one side there were a few tiny cells lined up next to each other and on the other, a hallway just large enough for one person to walk through.
Red stepped through the tight hallway slowly, while carefully examining every cell. The first two were completely collapsed with brick, moss, and tree roots all coalescing into a giant heap that large bugs crawled on top of.
The third cell was in pristine condition, and Red got a look at what the condition was intended to be. The cell was extremely narrow, with a bed fit for a child and a small hole in the ground for waste. Water dripped from the ceiling and bugs scurried up and down the walls and across the floor.
"Where are you Yasuke?" Red thought to himself, "Don't tell me you died in a place like this!"
Red slowly peeked his head into the fourth cell and looked in awe.
There sat Yasuke, on the tiny bed meditating. Although he was emaciated and quite skinny, he didn't look sickly at all. Strangest of all, as he sat alone deep into his own world, he was smiling.
"Yasuke!" Red called out suddenly, grabbing on the bars. Yasuke did not move an inch.
"Yasuke, can you hear me? Are you okay in there? I'm here to get you out!" Red called out again, shaking the bars.
Yasuke looked over at Red and gasped loudly, falling out of his meditative position.
Red grabbed the metal door off of its flimsy hinges and set it to the side. Yasuke held onto his chest with one of his hands and followed Red with his eyes as he came into the cell.
Red reached his hand out, "Come on Yasuke. I'm sorry it took so long, but I can't have my second-in-command rotting in some cell forever."
Yasuke stood up and hugged Red, almost tackling him to the ground.
Yasuke sobbed, "All this time, I've been thinking about how I can follow through on our dream, our ambition. Now that you're back I don't have to do it alone."
Red patted the back of his head, "You'll never have to go at it alone again Yasuke. Let's go."
Yasuke attempted to stand up but didn't have the strength to do so on his own.
Red grabbed him and draped him over his shoulder, setting him down on the bed.
"Don't exert yourself too much. I have a recall scroll, I'll get us right back to the old squad building. It's gonna need a bit of renovating, but it's better than here."
They both laughed, but it was cut short by a guttural cough from Yasuke.
Red dug in his small sack for the scroll, but before he could cast the spell, Yasuke grabbed his wrist.
"Before we go," Yasuke coughed, looking at a broken brick on one of the walls, "I need to tell you something."
Red leaned in as Yasuke continued, "While Olo may have been the one who threw me in here, it's your friend Day's fault that I was placed in here in the first place. She gave him the justification to do it. She caused the deaths of five men, and would've caused mine too if didn't defend myself the way I did."
Red backed up and shook his head, "Yasuke what are you saying?"
Yasuke looked down at the ground, "Red, I don't blame you at all, and I still believe in what you're fighting for. I understand that something like this is a part of the price of freedom. With you back now, I'm sure you're ready to assemble a bigger and stronger squad so we can fight our battles more efficiently."
Yasuke finally looked up at Red, "If Day is a part of the squad in any capacity, I am out. No questions asked. It's either me or her."