#diasparklez

Where it had once been a red and gold hallway with dim lighting and puzzles to find the new exit, they instead landed in a grand hall with arches ceilings made of obsidian and the walls lined with impossibly dark blocks. It was lit with deep purple torches that made their shadows stretch and contort into inhuman shapes. The hall was deathly silent with only the sounds of their breathing, shuffling, and footfalls to fill the silence.

Karl, ever the optimistic one, broke the silence. “Well, this is lovely, isn’t it?”

He spoke at a normal volume but his voice echoed all throughout the hall. Tom and Karl seemed to have the same idea and spun around to face each other with huge grins on their faces. The gods knew where this was going but were too slow to stop the inevitable. The hall was filled with ‘REEEEeeeEeeEeE’ as the two champions screamed at the top of their lungs to hear the echoes bounce off the walls and ceiling.

Dec, understanding the importance of being quiet, was frantically trying to tell them to “be quiet guys please you are going to get us killed!” and other things along those lines. He was, of course, ignored.

Mianite put his face in his hands and heaved a deep sigh. Why was he hopeful that they could take this seriously? Really, he should’ve known. He pulled his hands away from his face and watched as Karl laughed at Tom, who was trying not to pass out from screaming. He did love his champions laugh and while he enjoyed seeing him having fun, Ianite and Dianite would rip his head off if he encouraged them. He rarely chatted with the Captain, but he knew from what his Champion has described that he is deeply humble and kind, but is also dangerous and ruthless with his enemies. If they manage to get him back, he would like to get to know the Captain better.

Ianite has never been more disappointed in her life. Well, there were some other things, but this had to be up there on the list. She watched as Tom lunged at Karl for laughing at him, but Karl dodged and ran away while yelling “it isss what it isss” and the two dissolve into laughter. She was grateful for the Priest trying to force them to cooperate....even if just for a little bit because now he is also chuckling, but she expected more from them considering they know that their friend may be in serious danger. She felt frustration bubble in her chest. What did the Captain ever do to deserve this fate? Guilt played at her mind—she had to calm down before she incinerated one of them, then the Captain would never forgive her. She couldn’t live with that on her conscience.

Dianite was torn between reveling in the chaos unfolding around him and forcing the champions to be quiet on concentrate on their mission. While he hadn’t seen Tom this carefree and happy in a while—it made him happy to see him enjoying himself—now was really not the time for fooling around. In the past, he loved watching the three of them squabble, laugh, and confuse their enemies with their carefree nature, but that was with Jordan. Jordan, who could help them fight better as a team. Jordan, who had their backs. Jordan, who helped them out of sticky situations. Who would help them now? He’s barely holding himself together with Jordan’s disappearance (he misses him so much); he couldn’t handle having his champion ripped away from him as well. And he knew for a fact that Mianite couldn’t either. And Ianite? She would be beside herself with guilt if all things went to shit. And so, he pushed down his chaotic nature to address the champions and bring—he shivered and nearly gagged—order to their actions.

Dianite turned towards the zombie, who was happily chatting with Dec and Karl trying to formulate a plan, when he abruptly stopped talking and doubled over. Lava began dripping from his mouth as his god punished him for being reckless in an urgent situation. His friends, while startled at first, recovered and tried to soothe him and tell him it would be ok, but what came from Tom were choked noises and gasping breaths.

Dianite turned towards Mianite as his eyes glowed red. “Will you not punish him, brother? He is also making a mockery of the situation. We don’t have time for this. His voice deepened and warped like the nether portal itself. Though he spoke calmly, his rage cut through the other five beings.

“No, brother.” Mianite responded. “I won’t punish him. He’s done nothing to warrant my wrath. While they haven’t taken the situation seriously, I don’t see why you couldn’t have just told the zombie to stop fooling around. No need for,” he gestured wildly towards Tom with his hand, “this.”

Mianite looked back at Karl who was trying to keep a nearly unconscious Tom speaking. The caveman was telling jokes and wild stories with a strained smile but was close to tears as the stress of watching a friend lose a battle got to him. Karl sensed his god looking at him and looked up. He glanced at Mianite with a desperate expression—a plea to help—and turned to Dianite.

The caveman’s face contorted in anger and he was about to yell something in the defense of his friend, when he was silenced as well. He may have not been a follower of Dianite, but he was a mortal and the Chaos god didn’t want to hear him yelling any more than he already has.

Mianite whipped his head around back towards him. “How dare you do that to MY Champion?!” He yelled and allowed Karl to speak again.

“Karl, please try to keep the zombie conscious,” is all he said. The caveman nodded and rubbed his throat. He decided he hated that sensation of whatever Dianite did to his voice. Karl knew that they shouldn’t have yelled and fooled around but it’s how they cope with tough situations to make it more enjoyable and cut the tension. Did they really think he and Tom were wasting time? Well....they were but dammit these missions can’t all just be doom and gloom. Tom had been down for days now and wanted to cheer him up. Hell, Karl himself hadn’t felt right in a while and just wanted this mission to be as it normally was with laughing and screaming and fooling around. He knew Jordan was tough and a few minutes of fooling around wouldn’t hurt him....right?

Dianite didn’t cease his punishment but a grin snuck onto his face. “What, you wouldn’t punish your Champion when he’s done wrong? How cowardly. You like him or something?” He teased. While his tone was light his words promised hurt.

Mianite turned red and poked Dianite in the chest. “Don’t you even think about-“

“Boys!” Ianite scolded. They looked towards her, the older sister, like the younger brothers they were and they are in trouble. However, this time, she looked pissed instead of disappointed.

“Dianite, quite punishing the zombie boy, he hasn’t done anything else wrong than the caveman.” She ordered.

“But—“ Dianite began.

“Do not argue with me right now Dianite or I swear to mom you will regret it.” She angrily stated.

“And Mianite will you stop provoking them into these foolish acts? I saw you smiling; we are in a dire situation here and you all are acting like petulant children? Can we all focus here please?” She ranted. Ianite inhaled and exhaled slowly.

Tom was slowly regaining strength as his punishment stopped and her brothers settled into a strained peace. The three mortals turned towards her. Karl dipped his head and thanked her while apologizing for causing a scene. Ianite nodded down at him.

“You are lucky they didn’t send guards of any sort down here to see what all the noise was.” She said like a mother to a child. Karl nodded guiltily but there was a thoughtful look on his face. It was kind of suspicious there were no guards coming down here wasn’t it? It doesn’t matter now, they had to move forward if they wanted to find Jordan.

“As for you, my dear zombie,” she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him renewed strength for the journey, “ I don’t believe you deserved that punishment, but we cannot fool around any longer. Understood? Your friend’s life is on the line.” Ianite said firmly.

Tom slowly stood up, shaking slightly but otherwise ok. He nodded at Ianite, not trusting how raspy his voice probably sounded, but still thanked her.

“Thank you, Lady Ianite. I’m sorry about that. Won’t happen again, I promise.” He said as cheerily as possible though the effect was ruined by the grimace on his face. He absentmindedly rubbed at his throat. It had been a while since he had been punished by Dianite, but he deserved it, didn’t he? Guilt crept into his chest and added to the burning in his throat. What if they had just doomed Jordan? Why did he have to be so nonchalant about these situations? This wasn’t just another mission from the gods, this is truly a life or death situation and they may have ruined it!

If they did, Tom wouldn’t be able to cope with that and as he looks at Karl to make sure he is ok, he knows that Karl wouldn’t be able to either.

“Karl, buddy, I think we should hold off on the screamin and partyin till we get Jordan back, yeah? It just doesn’t feel the same.” Tom suggested. While it may have seemed like an offhand comment, they both knew the meaning.

We don’t have time to waste. We have to focus and concentrate else we lose a friend. And we both can’t handle it if it’s our fault we were too late.

“Sure Tom, I agree with ya. We can fool around later and shove our love for cappy in his face when we get him.” Casual words from Karl but an agreement to Tom’s suggestion. They both couldn’t back out now.

Tom smiled and patted Karl’s shoulder. “Glad we’re in agreement, buddy.” He turned to Dec. “Alright mister Priest, which way should we head?” he asked.

“Well, er, I’m not actually sure. I’ve never been here before.” He admitted. He may be the Priest but he wasn’t a mastermind. He ignored Tom’s shout of ‘wot’ in the back and asked the gods if they knew where to go and they also replied negatively. Great, so they were now lost in a dangerous dimension with a dangerous enemy and a friend in danger. How quiant.

“Maybeeeee we should just start walking?” He suggested. It was the only thing they could do really.

“Good plan Dec. See, this is why you’re the Priest. You come up with great ideas and tell cool stories. Gotta love it man.” Tom praised and began to follow Dec. The others followed as well.

For a short while, they walked in silence until:

“Oi! Is this a door?” Karl exclaimed. He was looking to his right near the wall.

“It is.” Dec said and walked towards it. “Good work, Karl.” He praised.

“‘Course bro. I got eyes like a hawk.” He joked and winked at Dec.

“Pfffttt yeah more like a squirrel.” Tom countered with a snicker.

“Boys!” Ianite, once again scolded. The two apologized and sobered quickly.

The door was pitch black and seemed to suck all of the little light out of the room. The shadows twisted and curled around it like smoke. It had no design on it, and looked like a part of the wall except for a small cat insignia on the handle. Dec pushed it open. In front of them was a small, well-lit hallway with a gold and red carpet and quartz walls. Sea lanterns lit the hallway and they could see another door at the end.

“Alright guys, let’s go.” Dec stated and they began to walk forward once more. Before they could get to the door, however, a figure barged through and quickly closed the door behind them while shielding it with their body. Their clothes were rumpled and torn and they were breathing shakily as if they were in pain. Their whole body shook with exhaustion.

The rescue team instantly recognized this man.

“JordANNNNNNNN!” Came two simultaneous yells. Tom and Karl ran forward to hug the Captain while the other four hung back. They were cautious and wary of him. He just....didn’t seem right.

Jordan expression changed to one of utter relief and he slumped against the door as the two crushed him in a hug. Tears came to their eyes as they reunited with their friend.

While it was a touching moment, they had to get going. Ianite cleared her throat.

“Unfortunately, this dimension only allows beings to enter at their will, not exit. We will need to find our own way out.” She turned towards her Champion with an almost convincing smile of sincerity. Almost. They couldn’t tell if Jordan fell for it or not but for their safety, they hoped he did.

“My Champion, it is wonderful to see you and I apologize for taking so long to come rescue you. We hope you can forgive us.” She asked. Her body was relaxed but her eyes were tense. She didn’t know what Jordan was capable of or what state he was in, but she knew he was dangerous.

The Captain released himself from the hug and turned to Ianite. He smiled at her with his eyes closed and body relaxed when he addressed the other four.

“I can’t say how relieved I am to see you guys. I really am.” He smiled wider. His shadow stretched farther up on the door behind him. “And Lady Ianite, it’s alright, I’m just glad you came to find me.”

He looked over her shoulder to see Dec and the two other gods. His smiled dropped for a millisecond before it returned but his eyes became cold.

“And you brought the whole crew, I see. Dec, I hope you didn’t worry about me too much.” He said in a teasing tone. Dec smiled at him and forced a chuckle, but said nothing. Jordan spared a glance at Mianite but his eyes lingered on Dianite before he turned back to his friends.

Dianite knew that this was not his Captain but dammit it didn’t hurt any less when he said nothing to him and looked at him as if they were distant friends. He hoped they weren’t too late. He watched him converse with the other two champions. Tom and Karl suspected nothing which would put them in danger and make it harder for them to battle if it came to that. He glanced at Ianite. She was worrying her lip as she, too, watched them converse and knew she was worried for their safety as well.

There was nothing they could do now except play their parts and let Jordan play his. They spared a glance at Dec. His face was unreadable but he was watching the Captain like a hawk. They knew the Priest would fight to protect the other two, even if it meant harming Jordan in the process. Their thoughts were interrupted by Jordan.

“Guys, as much as I love this, I think we should get out of here before we get unalived by something. When I was running here, there was a different hallway out this door so I think we could check out what’s down there?” He suggested while pointing behind him.