Deep within the dungeon, Allen and King Lynn remained confined to their cell. They had since moved past their previous conversation and had begun spitballing ideas for how to get out. Allen paced like a caged animal from one corner to another, tapping his chin as he considered various ideas.

“... You’re sure there’s no spell you could do to get us out of here?” He asked with a frustrated edge to his voice.

Lynn, who remained sitting with her back against the wall, shook her head. “I told you already, they confiscated all our weapons. I can’t do any magic without my scepter.” 

Allen let out an exasperated groan in response and slammed his fist against the nearest wall. Lynn gasped at the sudden noise. Seeing her reaction, Allen made an effort to relax himself. He sighed as he let himself collapse to the ground next to Lynn. “Sorry,” he muttered, “I just don’t know what we’re supposed to do. We can’t physically break out, there are no guards around we could convince, no other prisoners… We’re trapped, all alone here!”

“Yeah, that tends to be how prisons work,” Lynn mumbled. “Remind me to improve the conditions in our castle dungeons, this is absolutely terrible.”

“If we ever get out of here…” Allen’s eyes narrowed. Lynn glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. Usually, she would attempt to say something encouraging, but she was finding her hope running dry. Instead, she halfheartedly put a hand on his shoulder in hopes that it would at least provide some sort of comfort.

They sat there together in silence for some time, staring at the ground with blank expressions. Neither was happy with the current situation, but there was nothing more they could do than sit and wait for something to happen.

Eventually, an approaching sound pulled them out of their minds. The distinct rhythmic tapping of footsteps echoed louder as they grew closer. Lynn and Allen looked at each other with wide eyes. Immediately, Allen jumped to his feet and rushed over to the bars of the cell to catch a glimpse of whoever it was. He gripped the metal tightly, praying it was someone reasonable.

Allen squinted as he spotted a silhouette advancing toward the cell. Suddenly, he gasped and took a few steps backward as he finally recognized who it was. “Charlie–?!” Lynn perked up upon hearing this. She quickly stood to get a better look. Sure enough, Charlie revealed herself, peering into their cell.

She smiled widely at them with watery eyes. “Guys! Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” 

Allen looked at her with disbelief. “You came back…”

“Of course I did! I-I’m so sorry for leaving you here, Zack wanted to go alone, but I needed to make sure he didn’t get hurt–” Her expression abruptly turned grim as tears began to fall down her face. “W-We have to get out of here, now! Come on, we don’t have much time–!” She fumbled with the keys in her hands, trying each one on the cell’s lock.

“Whoa, Charlie, what’s happened?!” Lynn stepped forward and began to reach a hand out to comfort Charlie, but Allen stopped her. He stared at Charlie, his brows furrowed with suspicion. He wanted nothing more than to trust her, but he couldn’t help but hesitate. He knew that the demon could be right behind her, waiting to lure them into another trap.

Eventually, Charlie managed to get the cell open. She pulled the bars away with a resounding clang. “Okay, come on, let’s go! We gotta hurry!” Without another word, she bolted away towards the dungeon’s exit. Lynn glanced at Allen, then pulled away from him to follow Charlie. Allen hesitated a moment before pursuing them.

“Hey Charlie, wait up!” Lynn called out to her as she ran. “We’re gonna need to find our weapons if we’re going to fight Zaru!”

Charlie froze in her tracks. She slowly looked back at Lynn. “Fight him?!” She frantically shook her head. “No, no! No, we need to leave! As soon as possible!”

“Eh? But our whole plan was to come here and beat him up so we could save Alayna!”

“I’ve seen what he can do…” Charlie wrapped her arms around herself, shaking. “If we want to escape with our lives, we can’t face him!”

Lynn stubbornly held her ground. “I’m not leaving without my sister.”

Charlie stared at Lynn with dismay. The thought of seeing Zaru again terrified her… But she knew she wasn’t going to change Lynn’s mind on this. And she wasn’t about to leave them alone again. So she took a shaky breath and nodded slowly. “...Okay. Let’s find our weapons. We should still avoid Zaru if we can, but… We’ll save your sister, I promise.”

With that, the three searched the dungeon for their belongings, sticking close to one another. In Lynn’s experience with keeping prisoners, she knew the confiscated items must’ve been nearby. While they looked around, Allen kept his fists clenched tightly. Even without his weapon, he was prepared to fight anything that dared to attack.

Eventually, they struck gold. They found what they were looking for tucked away in a large chest that was not too far from their cell. It was in a small room off to the side where the prisoners were held, containing a desk and chair. Lynn raised an eyebrow at this.

“Hm, usually there would be a guard posted here. Is Zaru running this place all by himself?”

Charlie shook her head. “No, there’s definitely plenty of guards. I think they’re planning something, though,” she recalled what appeared to be a meeting between Zaru and his army. “Something that’s requiring all their attention.”

Allen grabbed his sword from the chest, firmly shoving it into the sheath at his side. “An invasion of Sarinia, perhaps…”

Lynn carefully picked up her scepter with a look of concern on her face. “We need to hurry. Our men aren’t prepared for a surprise attack.”

Sharing the sentiment of wanting to hurry, Charlie nodded as she reclaimed her own items. Once everyone was ready, they all looked at each other and signaled that it was time to go. They hurried towards the exit, holding their weapons close as they moved.

When they left the dungeon, they advanced as quickly as they could without making any noise. Charlie and Lynn carefully searched around for anywhere Alayna could be held while Allen watched their backs. It seemed that most of the rooms were empty, save for basic furniture. Some rooms, however, appeared to be resting quarters. Counting the beds provided them with a basic estimate of how many men were in Zaru’s army. The numbers were not comforting.

While they looked around, Lynn began investigating seemingly random spots. Pressing specific stones in the wall, moving around paintings, pulling books from shelves, and other odd behaviors. When questioned about this, she giggled sheepishly.

“Oh, well, y’know me. I may have had a hand in designing this place… And laced it with secret passageways, of course. Though it seems the demons had them all patched up, how boring…” Suddenly, she perked up, raising a finger in the air. “Ooh! I know the perfect spot! C’mon, follow me!”

Lynn hurried away, the other two following close behind her. However, when Charlie realized where they were going, her pace began to slow. She completely froze when she saw that ornate door. “W-Wait!” The others stopped and looked back at her curiously. “We… We can’t go in there…” She felt her heart rate speeding up. “He’s in there…”

“Who, Zaru?” Lynn questioned. Charlie gave a stiff nod. “He turned the dining hall into his throne room? That’s odd. Well, we’ve checked pretty much every other room… Besides, it’d make sense for him to keep Alayna close. She’s got to be in there.”

Charlie didn’t move a muscle. She couldn’t. When she looked at that door, all she could see was Zack being thrown through it full force… And she hadn’t seen him since. She couldn’t bear to see the same happen to her other friends.

Seeing the fear on Charlie’s face, Lynn frowned. She moved towards her and put a hand on her arm. “Hey,” she spoke in a soft tone. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together. We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?”

When Charlie didn’t budge, Lynn glanced back at Allen for some backup. He tensed, staring at the two of them. Before, he would have believed Charlie’s emotions to be some sort of demonic trickery, intended to lure them into another trap… But now, all he saw was a scared little girl. Someone he would’ve called a friend mere hours ago, and would’ve helped without hesitation… He sighed as he pushed away his doubtful thoughts. He knew Charlie couldn’t have had any malicious intentions. So he stepped closer to her and placed his hand on her other arm.

“We won’t let anything bad happen. We’ll go in, grab Princess Alayna, and get out.” Allen’s eyes narrowed toward Lynn. “And we’ll round up our army afterward to take care of Zaru. How’s that?” Lynn nodded, satisfied with that plan. Seeing that they wouldn’t be attempting to defeat Zaru with just the three of them, Charlie also hesitantly expressed her approval. With each of them in agreement, they slowly approached the door and pushed it open.