Wonder Lost

Captured

When Isabella woke up, she found herself in the same castle she dreamed of, where she found Simon captured. She sat up, looking for Leo and Tony. Her cell was against the wall, and she saw Tony in a cell across the room. In the center of the room was an elevated platform where Leo was being held. He was on his knees in a chokehold by Liam.

“It’s a good thing you woke up, little Isabella. We didn’t want you to miss the grand finale!” Liam exclaimed.

“Leave him alone!” Isabella yelled. Liam’s grip tightened.

“Any last requests?” Liam asked.

“Don’t hurt Isa,” Leo breathed. She couldn’t think of any way to stop him.

Suddenly, the front doors burst open, pouring out soldiers. Isabella assumed that they were Beatrice’s forces, but they were more than a couple. There were about thirty soldiers and they lined up almost immediately, bows drawn.

“Ah, what a pleasant surprise. Guards get them!” Liam shouted, letting Leo drop to the floor. He walked to Isabella, sword in hand. She backed up in the small cell, merely a few feet from Liam. Instead of attacking her, he pressed a button near her cell door, and walls of glass started to surround her. They soon stopped advancing once she had a cell of about 9 square feet.

“You and your friends… always ruining my plans,” Liam said. “But now… they will pay.” He pulled a lever and white smoke started to fill the chamber. Three soldiers advanced on Liam, but he easily defeated them.

“What are you doing?” she demanded as the gas rose to her nostrils. She began to cough, the smoke suffocating her. “Help!” Isabella cried, gasping for breath. The gas was suffocating her, and knowing Liam it was probably poisoning her, too. She saw Leo darting toward her, but before he could get to her, Isabella’s world went black.

Beatrice’s army attacked Liam, but they were outnumbered by at least one to three. Liam managed to defeat eight soldiers before breaking a sweat. He finished off three more when suddenly he stopped and gasped, staring at something across the room. The army, surprised by this pause, followed his gaze.

Tony and Beatrice were holding down a struggling girl with short, blonde hair and piercing green eyes. Her light green dress was wrinkled and her black shoes kicked Beatrice and Tony.

“Daddy! Tell these people to let me go!” The woman cried. She kicked Beatrice in the shin and Beatrice’s knee buckled. Tony tightened his grip on the girl’s wrist.

“Ruby!” Liam cried. He cut his way through the army. “You let my daughter go, or else I’ll kill Rose Jacobs and Elizabeth Accard!”

“ATTACK!” Beatrice cried. The army attacked Liam and more troops entered through the main door. Tony dragged Ruby to the car as Beatrice ran over to Isabella’s cell.

Beatrice pulled the lever and the white smoke started to disappear. She pushed the button to open her cell, but nothing happened. Pulling out her sword, Beatrice sliced the glass into two parts, the piercing noise vibrating throughout the castle.

“Isabella?” she said. Isabella groaned, unconscious. Leo managed to get to Isabella’s cell, kneeling by her. His face had many small cuts, but his hand had been cut deep.

“Can you get her to the car? I have to command the army,” Beatrice asked. Leo nodded and as Beatrice retreated, he gently picked her up.

Leo brought her to the silver car, where Tony, Cora, and Simon were waiting.

“Bella!” Simon cried as Leo sat down in the backseat. “What happened to her?” Leo recapped for him as Tony drove away.

“Leo…” Isabella muttered. She stirred, her eyes fluttering open. Isabella’s head was throbbing and the bright lights of the car weren’t helping it.

“Who’s Leo?” Simon asked.

“That would be me. Nice to meet you,” Leo said, extending his hand. Simon shook it as Isabella sat up.

“Isa, turn around,” Leo said, pointing at Simon. Isabella turned and gasped, but regretted it because it made her headache worse. She gently leaned toward Simon and gave him a long hug, finally getting to see him after months.She plopped back into her seat, her head pounding.

“Do you feel okay?” Simon asked in a raspy voice. Isabella smiled and nodded.

“Just a… smeared… headache,” she said. Suddenly, she felt very lightheaded. Simon was saying something with a confused look on his face, but she was focused on a pain in her elbow. Raising it, she found a small needle in her arm. Leo pulled it out and she thought she was watching something out of a television screen. Isabella only visited her father’s office once, when her mother was ill and no one could watch their children. She saw a television one time, the brown and white images flying by her awed eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Simon asked. Before she could answer, an image passed her mind.

Rose and Lizzy were held in a chamber. She was looking at it from above, and the surrounding area was familiar. Isabella realized it was Liam’s castle, and she saw the car driving away from it. Rose was crying in Lizzy’s arms, both of them tiny compared to the size of the prison. Their cell, one of thousands in the room, was all the way in the back of the hallway, surrounded by bones and dust.

Liam teleported into the room and furiously opened their cell door.

“Come here!” Liam snapped at Rose. When Lizzy held onto her, he got even more angry. He grabbed Rose by her little shoulders and dragged the poor, crying baby to the adjoining cell. The common wall was stone, instead of bars.

“You will not have the pleasure of being by each other’s sides while my young daughter is being held captive. No food either!” he shouted, storming out of the room. Rose cried louder as tears filled Lizzy’s eyes. “And if you wouldn’t like to die, then SHUT UP!”

“Stop!” Isabella cried. She wasn’t in the vision anymore. Tony stopped the car.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked. Isabella looked around at the worried expressions of her friends.

“Go back. To Liam’s castle. I know where they have Rose and Lizzy.” Tony nodded and turned the car around in the middle of the road. He accelerated as Isabella repeated her dream.

“So, who’s going to rescue them?” Simon asked when Isabella finished.

“Isa and I could go, because you need to have the car ready to leave and, Simon, no offense but you’re too weak to fight.” Both Tony and Simon nodded.

A few moments later, they arrived at another entrance to the castle. Leo and Isabella exited the car.

“Wait!” Tony cried. He walked to Isabella, taking out two black boxes. When Isabella looked closer, they seemed to have buttons on them.

“If you get captured, press this button,” Tony said, pointing to a large button at the top of the box. “If you are escaping with the children, press this button,” he said, pointing to a second button at the bottom corner of the box.

“Okay. Thank you, Tony,” Leo said as they grabbed the boxes. They walked to a gray door and waited.

“I hope you know where to go, because I don’t think Liam has a map of his castle hanging on the wall,” Leo whispered. Isabella guided him to a back door. Someone opened it and walked away, going to the other side of the castle. Isabella grabbed the door before it closed and they entered Liam’s castle once more.

Isabella led the way, hiding behind bushes and open doors. Sword in hand, Leo followed closely after, looking out for Liam’s bodyguards. Isabella began to forget her dream, including the path that led to the cells. Suddenly, a door opened in front of them.

“Well, I don’t care about if you don’t know, just find them! Both or one, it doesn’t matter to me. Bring them to me alive,” a familiar voice shouted. Isabella tried to get into Leo’s hiding place, which was behind a thick shrub, but Liam saw her.

“Alas! Look who it is! One of the very people whom I was just speaking of!” Liam said. Isabella heard a trace of an accent that she hadn’t heard before.

“You’re not from Duestro, are you, Liam? You can’t be ruler of Duestro unless you were born here,” Isabella stalled as she pressed the top button of her black box. She nudged Leo with her foot as if to say, Get out and find our siblings when Liam leaves!

“I don’t care about being ruler of Duestro!” Liam shouted, his eyes full of hatred.

“Then why are you attacking us?”

“Because you killed my brother! You deserve to pay a far—"

“I didn’t kill Maximus! Will did, while Leo was helping me! And you already killed Will! We’re even now. If anything, I had it much worse. You killed my parents, two brothers, imprisoned my other siblings, and are trying to kill Leo and me!” Isabella shouted.

“Actually, I think you got the better half, because Max was my only brother. In fact, he was my twin,” Liam said miserably. Isabella almost felt sorry for him. “You only lost three-ninths of your family, when I lost a fourth of mine. My parents never liked me; they always thought that when Max would rule Duestro they would be rich and famous. But Max was always there to cheer me up. He always encouraged me and was always there for me. And when you killed him,” he snapped his fingers and guards took her hands roughly, “you killed half of me.”

Isabella did the math and concluded that three-ninths were more than one fourth.

“Where’s your boyfriend, Isabella?” Liam asked as she was dragged away by his guards.

“He didn’t come. I told him it was too dangerous,” Isabella said confidently. She hoped her voice sounded as certain as she thought it did. Liam’s bodyguards escorted her to the center room and his bodyguards stood there.

“Warren, Ulysses, you know what to do,” Liam said. One of Liam’s bodyguards stood forward, who Isabella interpreted as Warren. Suddenly, the ground shook and before she knew it, Isabella was trapped in a cell made of pure stone. One of the walls sunk into the ground, but before Isabella could escape, the wall was replaced by bars of flowing lava. Intense heat flashed against her face, and she backed up into the wall.

“I hope you enjoy your new prison cell, Isabella.” He turned to go. “Have fun in here. Sadly, I don’t think your visit will be very long.” Another servant of Liam’s summoned water and started filling the room with water. The bars of lava caused the water to steam, but soon turned to stone. Isabella let the stone bars cool and tried to kick them open.

Cracks began to form in the bar but she couldn’t kick it hard enough to break it. At this point, the water had risen to Isabella’s waist, and was still flowing, harder than ever.

Suddenly, a section of the wall opened up, large enough for Isabella to fit through. She swam through it and found herself out of the cell. She looked around and saw Warren clutching his head. Isabella approached him cautiously.

“Go,” Warren said. “Find your friend and get out of here. Liam has a secret weapon he’s planning to use: an axe that can temporarily deplete a person’s powers. Hurry!” Isabella thanked him and ran off, trying to find where she entered from. She found the exit door and walked through it, but the car was nowhere in sight.

“Tony?” she whispered. Suddenly, a siren went off. Isabella began running away from Liam’s castle. Guards bolted after her, but she had already gotten a head start. She ran at least a mile before stopping to catch her breath. As she looked behind her, the guards were nowhere in sight. She pressed the bottom button on her box, hoping Tony would drive to her. She started walking again, passing a pub and smokers. Waving her hand in front of her nose, she quickly passed them without making eye contact.

Isabella tried to find her way back to the Oasis, but with the unfamiliar streets, she quickly became lost. After walking into three dead ends, she decided to call a taxi.

“14 Maryn Street, please,” Isabella told the taxi driver.

“You alright there, dear? Your clothes are soaked. Did you take a dip in the Altwo Ocean? It’s freezing this time of year,” the driver asked.

“Um, yeah. A couple of friends pushed me into the ocean,” Isabella lied with a half-hearted chuckle. As the taxi sped by the city, Isabella tried to stop shivering. Why had Tony left her?

Finally, the taxi arrived at the Oasis’ entrance. She paid him and knocked on the door. After no response, she knocked again, this time louder. Beatrice opened the door and gasped.

“Isabella? We thought you were dead!”

“Why? Because I was captured? You’d just leave me there, with no proof of myself being killed?”

“We’re really sorry. Leo was attacked by Liam and the guys barely managed to escape.” Isabella went inside and they rushed through the hallway as Isabela quickly told Beatrice what had happened.

“I might have to check if that water’s clean. Do you mind coming into the exam room?” Beatrice asked.

“No problem.” Beatrice led Isabella into a hospital room where she sat on the white bed. Beatrice took a small vile and collected some of the water from Isabella’s arm. Isabella patiently waited, wondering where Leo was. A few moments later, Beatrice finished her experiment.

“The water is really contaminated, as I predicted. I suggest you grab some clothes and take a shower. The bathroom is right across the hall.” Isabella went back into her room, took her clothes, and went into the bathroom. When she looked into the mirror, she gasped.

Isabella’s entire body was covered in dark green water and felt slimy. Her face was grimy and exhausted-looking. Her hair had dust and fragments of stone clinging to the water. Her hands were shaking and her fingernails were caked in dirt.

Isabella locked the door of the bathroom and started the shower. As she got in, the cut on her foot started to sting. After a while, most of the water was gone and her hair smelled like peaches. She turned off the water and got dressed. When she went into her exam room, Beatrice was holding a syringe.

“I just have to give you a small immunization, just in case,” she said. Isabella sat down and the gray vaccine disappeared into her body.

“Can I see Leo?” Isabella asked. Beatrice nodded and led her to his room. When she entered the room, her heart shattered. Isabella rushed to Leo’s side as Beatrice stepped outside to talk with Tony. Leo’s neck had a deep cut across it and his hand looked as if it were attacked by some kind of animal.

“What happened?” Isabella asked. “Where are Lizzy and Rose?” Leo’s face reddened.

“I got to the prison cells but when I opened the door to Lizzy’s cell, the alarms came on. I couldn’t find Rose in any of the cells and then Lizzy told me that she was transferred to the prison of Liam’s partner. Before we could escape, Liam caught up to us. He swung a giant axe at me, but I dodged it… kind of. Lizzy punched him in the nose, giving us enough time to exit and lock the door.” At this point, Isabella was clutching her head, when suddenly a thought surfaced.

“Try to make a plant,” she said. Leo stared at her.

“What?”

“Use your powers and make a plant!” Isabella said frantically. Leo sat up, painfully, and tried to summon a flower with no luck.

“I-I can’t,” Leo said. Isabella groaned. “What happened?”

“The way I escaped my stone prison cell was because a person named Warren opened a hole in it. He also said that Liam was making an axe that could deplete a person’s powers, but he didn’t say for how long.” Beatrice stepped into the room.

“We have news. Liam is planning an escape from Duestro tomorrow to get more soldiers. Isabella, we need you in the flying training room while we try to heal Leo faster.” Isabella followed Tony into the training room, which was a large, dimly-lit dome with floating obstacles. She focused on flying and with strong determination she managed to get her feet six feet off the ground. She channeled her anger with Liam and flew around the room. She felt no headache or fatigue and practiced for two hours until Beatrice called her for dinner. When she touched the ground, a wave of vertigo passed her. She started to lean towards the floor.

“Careful!” Beatrice said, catching her and helping her walk to the dining room. Isabella noticed a mahogany table with plates of steak, salad, and pasta along with elegant silverware. She sat down next to Cora and Leo and helped herself to a slice of steak and some salad. As they ate, Beatrice explained tomorrow’s plan.

“At 8 o’clock sharp, we get into positions. Liam is planning on escaping at 9. Isabella, you will get ready to fly after Liam and Leo will cover the ground. Slight disadvantage to us: Liam has an axe that can diminish Leo and Isabella’s powers for who knows how long. Someone has to be covering Leo, and someone has to be watching Isabella at all times.” Isabella could only hope that she was ready.

She left the table and walked upstairs. She opened a door she thought led to her bedroom, but instead she found the room of Ruby Aroh.

Ruby was trapped in the far half of the small room, where bars separated the two women. The room was lit with a faint, yellow light and everything was coated in dust except Ruby.

“Help me!” the girl screamed. Isabella, not wanting to draw attention to herself, entered the dimly lit room and shut the door.

“Shh. I’m going to help you. Do you want some food?” Ruby nodded.

“But… but I’m freaking out. I-I’m… Santa-phobic!” It took Isabella a minute to figure out what she meant.

“Oh, you mean claustrophobic?” She nodded. “Aw, it’s okay! Come with me.” Isabella opened the cell door with a pair of dust-coated keys hanging on the wall. As soon as Ruby was free, she punched Isabella hard in the stomach and kicked her foot out from beneath her. She ran out of the room.

“Hey!” Isabella shouted. She knew it was no use.

Leo and Tony came running to her.

“What did you do?” Tony yelled. “You let her go?”

“I didn’t mean to! I was just trying to help her. She’s a child! And you’re treating her like a prisoner!”

“That’s because she is a prisoner. A prisoner of war! And anyway, what does that matter? This is to get Rose and George and Tim back. Now she’s gone! Our only plan to getting Liam to consider surrendering.” Isabella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Tony didn’t even care about Ruby! He stormed off.

Leo put his hands on her cheeks. “Isa, don’t worry. You did the right thing. I’m not angry.”

“Yeah, well you should be. After all, I’m the person who’s so bad because I tried to help an innocent child.” He kissed her softly.

“We should go train for tomorrow.” Isabella nodded and they headed into the training room.

After five consecutive hours of tiring training, they went back to bed and practically collapsed at half past eight.