Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

-Mysterious castle; Mount Everest; Earth; May 12th, 2009-

“We should move before we lose any more time,” Hanna said as she stared down at the frozen body of EDJ with a critical eye. “That prison isn’t going to hold him forever.”

“Agreed,” DJ said with a nod “I’m sure EO still has plenty of guards around too. You mentioned a shortcut?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Hanna answered, turning around to point to an exit. “The doorway is right over-” she paused as she glanced around the arena. “...where’s Lui?” 

“Lui?” DJ echoed as he also turned to look around the room. Aside from EDJ’s frozen form, Hanna and DJ were the only ones in the arena. Even the bodies of the defeated guards were gone, having been dragged out by their injured companions a while ago. “That’s weird,” DJ said, stepping in the direction he last saw his Other. “He hasn’t said anything in a while… he’s not here…” DJ did not feel his Other’s presence. He was right here, wasn’t he? DJ turned back to Hanna with a quizzical look. “Did he leave the room?” 

“I’m not sure,” Hanna answered. “He just seemed to disappear…” Her brows scrunched together as her concern grew. Did he leave because of me?

DJ headed toward the open door on the far end of the arena and cautiously poked his navy-haired head out. The doorway opened into a hall. He looked both directions, but saw no one. “Lui?” DJ softly called out, not wanting to draw too much attention. He did not get an answer. DJ pulled back into the arena and walked toward Hanna. A small, green object on the ground caught his attention. DJ stopped to pick it up. 

“Did you find him?” Hanna asked, still standing guard over EDJ. 

DJ slowly shook his head as he stared down at the green and black string bracelet he picked up. He disappeared, Hanna’s words replayed in his thoughts. Where could he have gone? A feeling of unease started to creep in, but DJ dismissed it as he returned to cryomancer. “You should probably hold on to this until we find him,” DJ said, handing over the wristband. 

Hanna took the familiar object, eyes widening. “If something bad happened to him,” Hanna whispered. She shook her head, unable to finish the thought. “This is all my fault… everything… none of this should have happened.” The tears threatened again. 

“I prefer to blame EO in these kinds of situations,” DJ commented, voice calm and even as he glanced down at the frozen Evil Other. Talking about things that never should have happened… “I’m sure Lui’s still in the castle somewhere,” DJ reassured. “I can only imagine what’s going through his head right now after everything that’s happened.” Too much of a reminder. “Maybe he needed some time alone,” DJ finished. 

“You don’t think he trusts me?” Hanna asked. 

“I think he was hurt,” DJ clarified. “But not to the point of total loss of trust. Maybe he went to look for a way out.” 

“Or maybe one of the guards found him,” Hanna said, tone becoming anxious. 

DJ frowned. “I hope not.” Settling on a course of action, DJ spoke again. “Let’s go find that control room.” 

Nodding, Hanna pointed to the doorway closest to them. “This way.” She tucked the little bracelet into a pocket. 

Readying his lance again just in case, DJ opened the door and went through first. Hanna paused, looking back at the frozen EDJ, as though to verify he wouldn’t cause any more harm in his current state. She debated whether to put another layer of ice over him or to leave him as is. 

“Hanna?” DJ whispered, already a third of the way down the hall.

“Right, sorry!” Hanna let the door close and followed DJ. This hall was narrower than the previous one DJ checked, but he was still wary of stumbling upon any guards who might be loyal to EDJ. 

“You ok?” DJ asked Hanna, still in a hushed voice. “If you’re still recovering, you can hang back. I’ll take care of whatever we come across.” 

“Pfft, I’m not letting you take on the rest of EDJ’s guards by yourself,” Hanna countered, though she leaned against the wall as she walked. 

DJ gave her a dubious look. “Do you need a shoulder to lean on?” he asked. 

“Thank you for the offer. I can always use my friends’ help,” Hanna answered sweetly, but made no move to accept his assistance. “Thank you for coming to save me,” Hanna continued, tone more somber. “You and Lui were there when I needed you the most… I’m sorry for turning you away.” 

“I told you already, you’re completely forgiven.” DJ glanced back at Hanna, but continued forward down the hall. “Tell me what’s ahead of us,” he requested. “I didn’t get a good look inside the control room. How many guards should we expect?” 

Hanna thought for a moment, recollecting what she saw. “There weren’t many guards at all,” she answered. “At least not when I was there. There were about a dozen techs with maybe three or four guards. The room is mostly filled with work stations and tv screens. More like a command center on a sci-fi ship or something.” Seeing the end of the shortcut, she added, “This door leads out into another hallway. The control room will be on your left.” 

DJ nodded before pushing through the door. The hallway was clear so he moved on to the control room. The guards were nowhere to be seen, but three techs were still in the room. They raised their hands as soon as they saw DJ and Hanna enter.  

“We’re taking your boss into custody,” DJ said, addressing the techs. “I suggest you either stick around long enough for the authorities to get here or hightail it off this mountain.” 

The techs quickly made their way out of the room, leaving DJ and Hanna alone. DJ put away the lance and walked up to the massive screens behind a sizable desk. He watched the monitors, seeing the techs go up and down the halls as they made their escape. DJ frowned. “He’s been keeping an eye on everything this whole time.” 

Hanna nodded. Noticing a tray of untouched snack food on EDJ’s desk, Hanna helped herself. She grabbed and stashed everything she could fit into the satchel on her belt while simultaneously taking bites of the more perishable foods. “Hey,” she said to get DJ’s attention. “Eat while you can.” Hanna tossed an apple, which DJ caught. Food supplies safely stowed, Hanna stepped up and pointed at one of the screens. “That’s the arena we were just in,” she said, unwrapping a massive chocolate chip cookie and munching on it. DJ nodded, taking a bite of the apple and moving to one of the tech stations. Hanna glanced at the station that used to have the big red button on it, but the button was missing. Perhaps it had been locked back up. When did that happen? 

“If the guards did catch Lui,” DJ started, already halfway through the apple as he turned back to Hanna. “Where would they have taken him?” 

“The dungeon,” Hanna answered in fair confidence. “EDJ had a whole bunch of plexiglass cages in there. I can’t think of anywhere else they would keep him.”

DJ finished the apple and started tapping away on the keyboard in front of him. “This isn’t it.” He moved to another station and did the same thing. “Not this one either.” DJ moved back to the main desk. “One of these has to be…” One of the monitor screens flickered as it started switching between cameras. “There we go!” He flipped between cameras and angles. 

The more screens they went through, the heavier the feeling of unease settled in the pit of Hanna’s stomach. It was either dread or the half-eaten cookie. Something’s wrong. “Where is everybody?” Hanna asked. There was no sign of life on any of the screens after the remaining technicians ran off. Where were the guards? Where was EDJ’s army? Where were all the workers? Every room was empty. Even Stitches was missing.

“I don’t know,” DJ answered with a perplexed frown. “It’s a bit disconcerting…”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Hanna muttered. She started exploring the rest of the room while DJ fiddled with the console on the main desk. There was a door nearby, but it was locked. Hanna checked the other technician stations. One of them had a number of radios charging on docking stations. She grabbed two radios and set them to the same frequency, testing that they worked before heading back to DJ. “Here.” Hanna handed one of the radios to him. “I’m no good with tech and I hate sitting around. You stay here and figure out what you can. I’ll start sweeping the castle for Lui.” 

DJ was about to ask if she was up to it after the battle, but the look on Hanna’s face indicated that might not be a question worth asking. She acted like an entirely different person when she had an objective to focus on. “Got it,” he answered. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.” 

Hanna nodded. “Your EO was using drones and a PA system in addition to all the cameras. Good luck figuring it out.” With that, Hanna opened her black wings, took flight, and left the control room. 

Headstrong, that one. DJ smiled. He looked back at the console in front of him. The computer was easy enough to figure out. It was all the extra buttons, sliders, dials, and switches that concerned him. Why is none of this labeled?