Rush

"What is your plan, genius?" Silas asked as they watched the man charging at them and Ace only jumped away from him with Silas still hanging from him.

He jumped off the walls and reached behind the man and began running away.

"That is your plan?? Running away?" Silas shouted, still following him.

"Just shut up." Ace said, pulling the boy and carrying him on his back as they ran through the tunnels, taking every turn they saw in front of them as the walls seemed to change.

"Put me down!" The boy shouted, hissing in pain with every movement as blood trickled down the wound to their uniforms.

"If my theory is correct." Ace stopped in front of the wall. He looked to the left and saw a pathway there.

Turning to the right he only saw more walls and frowned slightly before walking there and looking at it.

"Shouldn't we be running? That or attacking?" Silas asked, sitting comfortably on Ace's back. "What are you doing?"

Ace completely ignored the boy as he called Cleo.

"I am here." It said, smiling at him. "I never left and was hiding in your hair."

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid of being seen?"

"I am invisible now. You are the one that looks like an idiot talking to nothing." It chuckled as Ace raised an eyebrow at it.

"Never mind that." he sighed. "Do I have a potion that can help me with this?"

He looked at the wall in front of them as the putrid smell fill his nose again. "Oh no. Not this again."

"I got it." Cleo said, turning into a dialogue box and it was written there, "If you are unable to summon your mana to your hands, summon them to your legs."

"Can I do that?"

"Do what?" Silas asked, looking over his shoulders. "Who are you talking to, Prez?"

"Shush." Ace said, looking at the dialogue box. "Ok then."

He took a step back, holding Silas with his hands holding the boy up as he forced the mana to go to his legs and not to his hands, instantly feeling lighter. "Wow."

"What are you doing?" Silas asked, concern all over his face as Ace got ready to charge at the wall.

"You talk way too much." Ace said running to the wall and, with one swift kick, broke it down only for them to see one more wall.

"What was the point of that?" Silas shouted as Ace almost lost his balance, a throbbing pain on the leg he used to kick the wall.

"I almost forgot to mention." Dialogue box Cleo appeared stating, "Since you have never used mana on your legs, you need to be careful and start small otherwise you could destroy your nerves and bones."

"Now you tell me." he rolled his eyes as the whole place started to shake.

"What is happening?" Silas asked, getting off Ace's back as the place continued to shake more and more.

"Do you know what an illusion spell is?" he asked, looking at Silas with a pained smile on his face as it hurt to even try and walk.

"Of course I do."

"Do you know what it takes to break an illusion spell?"

"No. We only learn that later on." He said, frowning. "Do you know?"

"Of course." He shrugged with a smug look on his face. "I studied up."

Liar.

"What about the illusion spell?" He asked as Ace began to stumble over his own feet while the place continued to shake as little parts of the place started to break away.

"You see, an illusion spell, a GOOD illusion spell, is powerful enough that you would not know if it even is in place. But it has a major weakness."

"And that is?"

The entire tunnel seemed to contort and fade away until they were in a room that smelled awfully strong of iron and is decorated with brown stains all over the stone walls and floors.

There were also rusty chains covered with blood all over the floor.

"Once you go against the illusion, you break it." He said, smiling as he played with the chains at his feet. "It is simple but it's hard to pinpoint because the illusions tend to change as they wish. Especially when they feel threatened."

"I see." Silas nodded, suddenly hissing in pain as Ace made his way down the only path available right now.

"You ok?" He asked, pausing for a second.

"I am fine." He said in a voice that sounded like he was in pain.

"If you say so." Ace mused. "I will get you to safety, ok? Just hang in there."

"You make it sound like I am going to die." Silas chuckled before falling silent. "You know, you are so different from what I thought you would be."

"Oh? And that is?"

"You are not as much of a stuck up as I thought you would be." He laughed. "Especially for a prince."

"So you knew." Ace paused, looking at him from the corner of his eyes. "Yet you deliberately spoke to me like you wanted to be hanged."

"You are the president aren't you?" He mused. "You may be the prince in the outside world but here, you are just a president."

"You make it sound like the president does not have any power of their own." He retorted back as the putrid smell filled his nose once again. "Ugh. We got company."

"He's here?" He asked, bracing himself. "Let's take him down once and for all, maybe he will know where my sister is.

Ace couldn't help but chuckle at his dedication to his sister.

"What?" He asked, looking sceptically at Ace. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He said, frowning as the smell grew even more. "Listen to me, he is putting up a spell that makes me smell that awful stench.

"If I breathe it in too much, I will not be able to use my magic for a while."

"And?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "What am I supposed to do about that? Are you worried about me? Remember that I landed a hit on him while you ran away."

"You are really getting on my nerves." Ace released his hands and the boy fell from his back to the ground with a loud 'thud'.

"Hey! What gives?! Ach-!" Silas shouted as another sharp pain ran up his arm.

Clutching the arm, he glared up at Ace. "You scu-"

"Shhh." Ace said, holding his hand up. "I am trying to think here."

"Is that why you dropped me?" he hissed, forcing himself to stand up while still clutching his bloodied arm. "I take back everything I said to you."

"You didn't even say much." Ace argued back. "You really are testing my patience here, Silas. Maybe I should leave you to take care of this on your own?"

"Do you think I would be afraid of that?" he sneered. "I have taken care of everything on my own before and I am not afraid to do that again."

"Calm down." Ace placed a hand on the boy's shoulders, smiling innocently. "I am not going to leave you alone to deal with this. I was only teasing."

"Why are you saying that like I care?" he swatted his hand away from his shoulders, frowning.

"That little smile at the corner of your lips told me." Ace teased just as they heard a scream once again. It is coming from further in the place. "That is definitely a trap."

"Does it matter?" Silas asked, running in that direction as fast as his legs would allow him to.

"Guess not." Ace said to himself, shaking his head and running after him. "Hey! Wait up! I haven't even had the time to come up with a plan!"

____________

"I … I can't anymore." Fira gasped as her hands trembled. "I can't hold this up any longer, vice president. I … I am reaching my limit."

"Leon! Are you almost done?" Grecia hissed at the boy, losing energy herself. "Can't you find them at all?"

"He is hard to find." He argued back as spell around the place began to crumble away, slowly. "Why is he so hard to find? I will need to give him a good talking to when I c-"

"LEON!"

"Found him!" He shouted, tapping on the screen as Ace's figure appeared on the screen, fading in and out.

"What are you waiting for?" Grecia hissed. "Pull him out! Now!"

"I am trying." Leon pushed his hands into the screen and grabbed onto Ace's shirt, pulling him. "I am sorry, president. I hope I do not get killed because of this."

As he tugged at the boy's shirt, he instead felt someone pulling back at him and, before he knew it, he was sucked into the tablet.

Just as Fira collapsed to the ground, completely drained of magic and heaving while her hand rested on her chest.

"Are you ok?" Grecia asked, grabbing onto her shoulders with trembling hands.

"I am," Fira said, leaning back against the wall amongst the chairs and tables all around them. "I just hope they are."