Day: 1230

Days Left: 4250

Lives Saved: 6

Jules was sure he was lost, all the fluorescent emerald trees looking identical. Usually, at this time, there would be at least a faint sign of smoke rising above the canopy from the fire to heat the food, but Jules guessed that that fire would be put out. So, with no reference to go on, Jules just went in the vague direction to the village, hoping that he would find it eventually or the river from the Raining Marshes.

He focused on what he would say to his friends to persuade them to confront Annika with him, and then what he would say to the people that he had been lying to, pretending to be Kai; that was a conversation he was not looking forward to, especially as many of them had confided in 'Kai' about rather personal things, despite Jules doing his best to avoid them. And then there was, of course, how long this charade had gone on and how the real Kai had been imprisoned all this time.

But in the back of his thoughts, Jules could not help thinking about Talon, how scared they looked, how without them their chances of succeeding were considerably lower, and then Jules wondered what it was like to lose his memories like Talon, or like Sumit and Oscar; the only true death in the Eternal Abyss. That's what he would be risking. If he was to rally people against Annika, how would she react? Would she snap? Would she finally use one of the bullets?

These thoughts were cut short before they spiralled out of control as Jules spotted a group of seven in the distance through the trees. Recognising them, Jules waved his hand and rushed over before stopping, remembering that he was still disguised as Kai.

"Kai!" Sumit called out, also waving back.

Jules paused, confused, as Sumit, Rin, Corinna, and Lili did not appear to be restrained despite Rita, Rachel, and Bert walking alongside them. Neither party seemed to be a prisoner.

"What's going on?" Jules looked at everyone, sensing no ill will.

"The other group attacked our village," replied Rin, an almost smile on her face to see Kai safe perhaps. "Were you there when it happened? Where is everyone?"

"Uh..." Jules hesitated, looking between the group that believed him to be the real Kai and then to his friends.

Rita frowned as if studying him. "Which one are you?"

The others looked at her in confusion.

Jules sucked in a breath and let out a long sigh. "I'm not Kai; I'm Jules."

Lili's eyes widened, then turned into a scowl. "This is Jules?" she asked Rita. "The one who infiltrated our group?"

"I'll apologise properly later!" said Jules quickly, not wanting an argument to unfold at this moment. "But right now, we need to get back to the camp! Annika has the real Kai, and Ms Ivette, Oscar, Princess Alfreda and Calixte held captive!"

"Where are the others?" asked Lili. "Where's Calanthe? The imps? Mr Dex?"

"Aren't they at the village?" Jules looked at Rita.

Rita shook her head. "They were all gone. They must have taken them to the camp."

Jules swore under his breath. "I must have just missed them on the way here." He wished for once that he had a better sense of direction.

"Then let's go," said Lili sternly, eyeing Jules warily as she passed and marched onwards through the forest, everyone following her.

"What was your plan?" asked Jules, struggling to keep up with her long strides. "How are all of you working together?"

"They didn't know about your existence," answered Rachel. "Nor Talon. Was any of it true?"

Jules shook his head. "I was never hurt, and it was Annika that beat up Talon; she lied about everything! These guys weren't a threat to us! They weren't going to attack us!"

"She's planning on trying to make a peace treaty with Annika." Tall Rachel motioned to Corinna, who smiled at being mentioned. "Though if I were in her position, I wouldn't. Annika had no reason to attack."

Jules looked to Rita, unbelieving that the infamous lapdog of Annika even had her doubts.

"We'll see what she has to say," Rita eventually mumbled. "We're supposed to be a team, yet she kept us all in the dark and lied to us... that is if any of this is true."

Jules nodded. "Right, we want to keep it somewhat civil." Especially if Annika was feeling particularly trigger-happy, Jules thought to himself, thinking back to Talon again.

"If she's done anything to our friends, then the peace treaty is off the tables," grumbled Rin.

"Agreed," said Lili.

Corinna gave her a look.

"The peace treaty is off for her specifically," Lili explained. "We'll see about everyone else."

Jules winced, hoping nothing too horrific had happened at the camp to upset any possibility of peace.

*

With her followers finally settled after the harrowing cries of the amphibian man, their wounded treated and their temporarily dead out of sight and out of mind, Annika finally had some semblance of relief that her plan was going to work.

But what was the rest of her plan? After she captured these threats to her, what then? Would she keep them forever? What would she do with them after learning all of their secrets? What if the same happened with that Kai, where her followers would disobey her orders and talk to them when she wasn't looking?

No, they wouldn't dare befriend them after that princess slaughtered so many. Perhaps she should let the princess escape and cause more carnage to further cement the idea that these people are dangerous.

"They're back!" yelled a guard, almost stumbling to the ground as they rushed over to Annika in a frantic panic. "They're back!"

"Excellent," said Annika, gathering up any remaining confidence in her plan and authority in her voice she had left. "Everyone prepare to restrain the prisoner; we do not want a repeat of last time..." Her voice trailed away as the group sent out to the village returned but not with the person she expected; there was no sign of the blonde handless mute woman, the apparent enemy leader, the last person of note they needed to capture. No, instead was the tall blonde woman with an elaborately braided hairstyle, the muscular man with a black curly mohawk, and... and seven young children.

But what scared Annika the most was that these people were not prisoners; they were not restrained in any capacity and had their masks and weapon in their possession, walking equally alongside those who should have been their captors.

Everyone else in the camp fell silent as they noticed the seven children. They whispered to one another in shock, horror, and surprise that even one child would be imprisoned in such a cruel place as the Eternal Abyss, let alone seven.

No...

Annika glanced around at her followers, seeing the expressions on their faces, a few looking to her for answers.

No, no...

Jules' reports stated that the seven imps rarely took off their masks! Why are they all in their human forms? Why are they here? Why are any of them here! They were ordered to keep the non-essentials back in the village! Not bring them here, especially the children!

"What is going on?" asked Annika, she straightened herself to appear unfazed, but she could not control the crack in her voice.

"Where is Rita?" She was the person she had put in charge for this excursion, not because of her competency, but rather because of her fierce loyalty, and yet she was missing, alongside a few others. Rita wouldn't have disobeyed her like this. Where was she? "Well?" Annika pressed when she did not receive a response straight away. "Why did you bring them here?" She looked to Junior, who was near the back of the pack; however, he remained unresponsive. What the fuck was he doing? Was he going against her plan?

The man with the mohawk, which Annika remembered from the reports, was called Dex, spotted the four of his friends captured and tied to the trees at the edge of the camp. He then scowled and turned to Annika. "You better not have hurt any of them."

"Hurt them? If anyone here is a danger, it is your lot," snapped Annika, motioning over to Princess Alfreda. "You should have seen what your dead friend did to-"

"Where's Jules and Talon?" asked Bruno, searching around.

"They went back to help you guys," replied a nearby follower. "Did you not see them?"

Bruno shook his head.

"Apparently, these guys did not hurt Jules and Talon," said Bam, looking to Annika for answers.

Annika swallowed. "And where did you hear this?"

"From these lot," said Bam. "They had no idea that Jules infiltrated their base and never met Talon either-"

"You trust them!" Annika laughed. "Come on, Bam, you're smarter than this-"

"Well, I don't know what to believe now," said Bam gruffly. "That's why we came back and brought them here to clear everything up, to find out what's going on-"

"No, what you have done is bring back a group of dangerous prisoners who sought to hurt our people!" Annika addressed everyone in the camp, looking around at them. "Have you all forgotten what happened just moments ago? How many we've lost? What about in the past when we were attacked? Other prisoners and monsters seeking to take what is ours? This is just like then! Only instead of brute force, they use lies and manipulation to-"

"They have children with them!" Bruno shouted, regaining the attention as all eyes set on the seven children holding imp masks. "How can they possibly be a threat to us? Would they risk attacking us when almost half of their group are kids?"

Bam frowned and asked Annika, "did you know this? Did you know they had children amongst them before we attacked?"

Annika hesitated. "No, of course not," she lied. "But just because they have children, does not mean that they are not a danger." She pointed to the imp masks. "From the reports Jules and Talon sent us, these imps are uncontrollable during Blood Moons-"

"They are still just kids," said Bruno. "I mean, why are there kids in the Abyss? Can you imagine what they've all been through? So how could we deny giving food to them?"

Annika groaned. "Some of them have been down here for centuries; they are hardly children! They're older than we are! They're just stuck in those appearances!" She bit down on her lip, stopping herself as she feared that she had spoken too much, perhaps revealing that she knew the seven imps were children. Fortunately, no one had caught on, at least not explicitly. However, her argument was quickly demolished as everyone watched a young boy pick at his nose and ate it; a pair of children kicked at each other in boredom, and a few others clung to Dex and the tall woman called Calathne.

"Put them with the others prisoners," Annika ordered a group of nearby followers. "Take their weapons and masks-"

"No," said Bruno firmly. Then, as the followers approached, he stood in front of Calanthe and a few imps.

Annika cocked her head to the side. "What was that?" she hissed between gritted teeth.

"We're going to wait until Jules and Talon sort all of this out," replied Bruno, his voice wobbling.

Calanthe placed a hand on his shoulder and said softly, "thank you," as she huddled three imps close to her.

"They are not here," said Annika. "They must have done something to them. Some of their group is missing, no doubt having captured Jules and Talon, hurting them-"

"Which is no different from what you've done!" snapped Dex.

"So you confess? That is what you have done! That you people have taken Jules and Talon captive and are torturing them-"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!" Dex growled, taking a step closer but was stopped by Bruno.

"Careful," he said. "Try to stay calm, or you'll face."

"I don't care about losing face!" Dex looked over in the distance at Kai, Ivette, Oscar, and Princess Alfreda tied to trees, gags in their mouths. "I want my friends back! I want us to be able to live in our homes in peace! We don't need your sodding packets or the Land of the Lost! We wanted you all to leave us alone, yet you attacked us without reason!"

"We had plenty of reason!" Annika replied, though addressing it to her followers. "What they have done to Jules and Talon-"

"We don't know who those people are!"

"Restrain them all!" Annika ordered once again. "Stop believing their lies and-"

"We're waiting until Jules and Talon get here," said Bam.

"And until they get here, they are to be restrained!"

Calanthe looked to Dex and said quietly, "maybe we should? It'll stop all this yelling..."

Dex shook his head. "We're not doing that, Calanthe. Who knows if they'll free us when the truth comes out."

The followers approached again, but Bruno, Bam, and the others surrounded Dex, Calanthe and the imps in a protective circle. However, Junior remained standing still, neither part of this group of betrayers nor appearing to be with Annika. So whose side was he on? The followers glanced at Annika for directions.

Annika paused, meeting Dex's glare as she considered whether restraining her people would be beneficial or work against her.

But that decision no longer had to be made, as, in the silence, she heard the faint sound of wings flapping.

"Talon..." she mumbled under her breath.

"Is that Talon?" asked a lackey aloud.

Annika cursed to herself, hoping only she had heard the noise. But perhaps she could use this to her advantage?

"Find them," she ordered, and a few lackeys searched around the camp for the origin of the sound.

A few moments later, they returned with Talon shuffling reluctantly behind them.

One of the lackeys approached Annika, subtly passing her a handful of packets as he whispered to her, "we found these on them. It seems they were trying to make a runner."

"Oh?" A smile crept on Annika's lips which she attempted to conceal.

"Talon! Talon!" Bam shouted over. "We need to know what's been going on!"

Talon glanced around, their body shaking as they glanced at Annika, and then their face paled as they saw Dex, Calanthe, and the seven imps. "What's..." they stuttered. "What's going on?"

"Did these people hurt you?" asked Bruno softly. "Were they the ones that beat you up and gave you those wounds?"

Talon's hand slowly reached for cuts and bruises scattered on their face, most of them healed already. "I..." They then glanced at Annika.

"Well?" she said, also putting a sense of softness in her voice. "Tell them the truth, Talon; it's okay." She placed her hands on her hips, subtly moving a part of her long coat to reveal a glimpse of her gun holster.

Talon's eyes lingered on the gun for a long moment.

"Talon?" Bam pressed. "They said they don't even know you or Jules."

All eyes were on Talon. They shrunk away from so many intense stares and clutched their metal bracelet around their wrist.

"They were the ones who attacked me..." Talon croaked, barely audible. "They were the ones who beat me up and..."

"What!" exclaimed Dex. "I don't know who you even are!"

"We've done no such thing!" Calanthe hugged the imps closer to her. "Please, you have to believe us!"

Annika adjusted her mask, hiding her grin. "Well, we have our answer. Restrain them."

Bruno and Bam looked at each other, then at Dex and Calanthe.

"Please," Calanthe begged, tears in her eyes. "Please believe us..."

They glanced away, pausing.

"It was them?" Bruno asked Talon.

Talon sucked in a breath and nodded weakly. "It was them."

After another moment of disbelief, Bruno and Bam took a step away from Dex, Calanthe, and the imps. The rest of their group of traitors followed, leaving the enemy unprotected.

"Sorry, Annika," mumbled Bruno. "We should have listened; they just sounded so believable."

"No..." Calanthe sobbed. "You can't do this..."

"It's okay," said Annika softly. "As I said, we've had other prisoners try to steal from us, to break us apart before, only this time they were like snakes, using their venomous words."

Dex reached for his mask, but he was immediately restrained and pinned down, the same for Calanthe, her minotaur mask seized before she could even touch it. The children screamed and wailed, battering their hands against the monsters and prisoners, who were reluctant to hurt or restrain.

"You were no help at all," Annika hissed at Junior as he approached, not standing by her side as usual but at a further awkward distance. "Why didn't you do anything?"

"Was I supposed to do something?" Junior shrugged half-heartedly.

"Yes!" Annika frowned.

Was that not obvious? He was her second in command, was he not? Her advisor, her confidant, and other personal duties, yet the man did nothing.

"It seemed like you had everything under control," he said.

Annika was unsure if he was being sarcastic or not. "You advised me to-"

"I said that you would find conflict whichever side you took," said Junior. "Whether you chose violence or peace."

"And what? Did I choose wrong?"

"With your plan, it relied on making these people look like monsters, like danger." Junior turned and finally looked at Annika directly. "You decided your own downfall as soon as it was discovered that they had children with them."

Annika scoffed. "What are you talking about? I'm winning-"

"Currently, briefly, temporarily..." Junior rolled back his shoulders. "It was sloppy how you executed all of this-"

"If you thought so, then why didn't you tell me, huh? You're supposed to be my second in command, my-"

"Am I?"

Annika hesitated. "Yes, you're-"

"Says who?"

"I say! Everyone else refers to you as so!"

"And when have I ever said so?"

Annika moved her hand, reaching for where roughly her gun would be underneath her trench coat.

Junior smirked, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Go ahead; I'd be okay with it."

"I will-"

"I said go ahead." Junior stepped closer and hushed, "I wouldn't mind, to be honest."

They stared for a long moment, neither moving nor flinching, until finally, Annika conceded, moving her hand away from her holster.

Junior sighed, though it sounded more like in boredom, and then gazed off dreamily into the distance.

"Why are you acting like this?" Annika grumbled.

"You put kids in harm's way, Annika; it's fairly easy to understand." Junior paused. "That was something you did not mention to me."

"You're no longer my second in command."

"Okay."

"And you're banished from my camp."

"Cool."

There was a pause.

"I said you're banished."

Junior shrugged. "Then go ahead and threaten me with your gun again."

"I'll just order someone to kick you out."

"Sure, good luck explaining to them why." Junior looked at her. "Oh, and it might not be beneficial for you to be turning on your own at this moment; your current morale is quite rocky, what with the children, all the prisoners, and I heard there have been some casualties too." He stretched out his arms. "I'll leave once the show is all over."

"What show?"

"As soon as Jules returns, you'll have to go through all this again. How easy do you think it'll be to threaten Jules into lying like Talon? He's been with these people for a month; that's quite some time to build up attachment, one perhaps worth fighting for."