I know I need to write and post faster. Bad me.
The Earthbound Village was still a small, filthy hovel. That had not changed. What was different, however, was that the village was now abandoned.
"What happened here?" Damien wondered aloud.
"All the houses are still standing," Joel observed. "It couldn't have been anything drastic."
Joel and Damien headed into the village. Mike stopped in his tracks once he noticed the fortress in the sky.
The fortress appeared to have been slapped together from what little remained of the Ocean Palace. The metal was corroded, and the shoddy structure made the castle look as if it was about to collapse. The castle didn't look too menacing--until Mike noticed the large metal cylinder attached to the bottom.
"There you are!" Joel came running over to Mike. "Don't run off like that! You had us worried!"
"What is that?" Mike asked no one in particular.
Damien glanced towards the sky as he approached the two. "Interesting. That piece wasn't attached to the bottom before."
Joel looked up at the object. "I'm not exactly sure, but that appears to be a cannon of some sort."
"A cannon?" Damien repeated. "Why?"
"If Pearl hasn't proven her so-called superiority to the Earthbound Ones yet, that's how she'll do it." Joel shook his head. "No wonder they're all gone. They're probably in hiding, but I doubt any shelter would protect them from a cannon blast that large."
"Damn her," Damien muttered. "Annihilating the Enlightened Ones wasn't enough for her. We lost a dynasty and all its knowledge because she gave out a few bloodthirsty orders." He clenched his hands into fists.
"So, we'll have to stop her before she uses that thing," Mike stated. "But, how are we going to get into that castle? We don't have a plane or--" Mike casually glanced at Joel, then noticed the look on Joel's face. "Don't tell me you have an idea."
"I'm not sure if this'll even work," Joel said. "But, it's probably our only chance." He turned to Damien. "Is there any point higher than this? The higher, the better."
"There's a hill up north," Damien replied. "Why?"
"When I was a kid, I used to set off model rockets. Sometimes, I'd even attach a small engine to them. That worked the same way that setting off the bombs I made might work. If I use enough firework powder to act as an extra ignition switch when I light them, they'll climb high enough into the atmosphere to reach the fortress."
"You're probably right," Mike said. "It might take out something. It's a risk, but we're fresh out of options."
"What if it doesn't work?" Damien asked.
Joel shrugged. "I'll just make some more bombs. No big deal. Why don't you think positively for a change?"
"There's one thing I'm worried about," Mike added. "Didn't most of your rockets land on the roof?"
"Uh, just a few of them," Joel replied. "But I got better at it."
Mike grinned. "More like 10 or 20."
"Who told you that?!"
Mike's grin grew bigger. "I have some very reliable sources."
Joel sighed. "That's it. I'm sealing Crow's beak with WD-40 when we get back."
"It's strange," Damien said. "If someone had come to me with a half- assed plan like this two weeks ago, I would have brushed them off with a laugh. But now, I'm ready to go for it." Damien motioned towards a point beyond the village. "There's a steep hill behind the village. It shouldn't take very long to reach it. Let's go."
***
"Where do you suppose everybody went?" Mike asked Damien as they reached the top of the hill.
"Probably somewhere underground," Damien replied. "They're very good at hiding." He looked down at Joel, who was placing his makeshift missiles on the ground. "What are you doing?"
"Even if these reach the fortress, I don't think there will be enough firepower to do any damage," Joel stated. "So, I'm going to try something else. Mike, can I see your pendant for a moment?"
"Uh�sure." Mike handed his pendant to Joel. "What are you doing?"
"You'll see," Joel said as he drew his sword He placed the pendant on the ground and stabbed the red rock with the sword. A small piece of the rock broke off. "Here you go." Joel handed the pendant back to Mike.
Damien's eyes grew wide. "Don't even tell me�"
"Exactly," Joel said as he bundled all of the explosives together with a piece of twine. "This'll let me violate the laws of physics."
"I'm getting the hell out of here," Damien said before running back towards the base of the hill.
"Relax," Joel muttered as he placed the small rock shard in the middle of the bundle of explosives. He took a book of matches out of his pocket.
"Um�" Mike began.
"What?" Joel asked as he lit a match.
"Maybe Damien's right." With that, Mike ran from the area.
Joel shook his head and lit one of the explosives. The fire spread to the other fuses in the bundle. With that, Joel stood up and started running after Mike.
The small missiles soared into the air and arced towards the cannon on the bottom of
the aerial fortress. When it looked as if the missiles would fall, a red light shone from the center of the bundle. Several small red lights shone from the base of the fortress.
"I get it now!" Mike said excitedly. "But, how did you know she'd put that rock in her fortress?"
"Damien said it rose from where the Ocean Palace once stood, so I assumed the rock was in there," Joel replied. "Besides, I'm sure she'd want to take advantage of her power source for as long as she possibly could."
The red lights on the fortress vanished. The red light in the middle of the missile bundle shone brightly before the missiles exploded. The explosion sent the hilt of the cannon crashing to the hilltop the three were on.
Damien approached the cannon's hilt. "Well, this is convenient."
Mike turned to Joel. "Did you know it would do that?"
"Not at all," Joel replied. "I assumed that if I put the rock in the middle of the explosives, it would react with the fortress and create an entrance of some sort. I just didn't know it would bring down that cannon."
Damien peered up at the aerial fortress. "The base of the cannon is still attached," he stated. "Once we get up there, we can find a way to get in."
Mike's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me we have to climb all the way up that thing!"
"I'm afraid so," Damien said. "Come on. Let's hurry before Pearl notices."
***
Climbing up the cannon's base reminded Joel of climbing trees. Once he had a firm grip on the sides, he was able to push himself up higher with his feet. It was the same as climbing trees with no branches. However, this was nothing like climbing as a kid. Instead of having the ground to worry about, he had to worry about falling into the ocean. One wrong move could send him careening to his death.
The sun was high in the sky when they had first started climbing, but now it was beginning to dip into the horizon. This worried Joel. If it got too dark, they wouldn't be able to find a way into the fortress. Fortunately, they were coming to what Joel assumed to be a piece of scaffolding.
Joel looked down at Damien and Mike. He waited for them to catch up to him. "Do you suppose we can get in here?" he inquired, motioning towards the scaffolding.
Damien nodded. "That's the only weak spot on the fortress I can see." Damien raised his arm. Once his staff appeared, he grabbed it and swung it at the scaffolding. One of the scythes latched onto the scaffolding and sent it, as well as a piece of the fortress, tumbling away.
"I'll go in first." Damien pushed his staff into the hole. Once he got a firm grip on the ground inside, he jumped off the cannon's base and used the staff to pull himself up into the hole.
"Okay, but how are we gonna get in?" Mike asked.
Damien extended the smooth end of the staff outside the hole. "Grab this."
Gingerly, Mike grabbed the staff with one arm. Once he had assured himself that he wouldn't fall, he placed his other hand on the staff. Damien pulled him up into the hole and placed the staff on the ground. Mike crawled away from the hole as Damien repeated the process to get Joel inside the fortress.
"We're in," Damien said to no one in particular. "We just need to find Pearl and Lavos."
"Okay, but how are we going to do that?" Mike asked.
Damien stood up and looked at the hallway in front of him. The hallway broke off into two separate passageways. One was a large, well-lit passage, but the other was dark and narrow.
"Which way?" Damien turned to look at Joel and Mike. "It looks like the passageways meet further down, but we'll have to split up."
Joel stood up and looked down the hallway. "Yeah, that one's only big enough for one person." He started to walk towards Damien. "I'll go."
"Wait!" Mike lunged forward and grabbed Joel's left wrist. "I'll go. I can use my rod as a light."
A slight smile crossed Damien's face. "I'll go. I'll meet you two where the roads cross." With that, he headed down the dark passageway.
Joel turned to face Mike. Mike was still holding Joel's wrist, and he had a determined look on his face.
"I could have gone," Joel said.
Mike tightened his grip on Joel's wrist. "I gave you my word. I'm not letting you go again."
"But�-" Joel began.
"If something happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself." Mike placed his other hand on top of Joel's left hand. "Don't worry. Stay close to me."
Joel nodded. Mike let go of Joel and began to head for the larger passageway.
"Mike."
Mike stopped when he heard Joel's voice. He turned to face him.
"I will. But what about you?"
Mike shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I'll protect you. I promise." Mike turned and headed down the passageway.
Joel stood in stunned silence for a moment. He felt himself go limp. "Mike..." he whispered in a small voice. He then looked up and ran into the passageway after Mike.
***