The following day, June 26th, at 8:00 am, Owen heads to the mission prep room. He walks in to see only Cora and Dori.

“Good morning, you two,” he says, looking around for the rest of his team.

“Good morning, Captain.” Cora and Dori respond.

“Do you know where the others are?” Owen questions. Cora and Dori shrug their shoulders in confusion. Then, Nash yells from the medical center. Owen turns around to see Nash sprinting toward him.

“CAPTAIN! I’m SO SORRY!” Nash yells.

“Hey! Calm down. What happened?” Owen asks, catching Nash.

“It’s Zeke, sir. He’s missing!” Nash pants looking up at Owen.

“WHAT!” Owen shouts, dropping Nash.

“I’m not surprised!” Cora says, laughing. Owen turns to Cora with a scary look. Cora stops laughing immediately and hides behind Dori. Owen takes a deep breath and hits his hand to his forehead.

“What am I gonna do with that kid?”

Meanwhile, Zeke and his group are on their way to one of the Daunt bases. Elliot is driving with Zeke in the passenger and Kai and Nora in the back seats.

“We have about another hour till we get there,” Elliot tells the group.

“YES! I can’t wait,” Kai says, laughing and playing with his fire, heka. Zeke turns around and glares at Kai.

“If you jump out and expose your position, consider yourself dead,” Zeke says seriously. Kai sinks to the back of his chair.

“Y-yes, sir,” Kai pouts.

“I’ve never seen you like this, Kai. Are you scared?” Nora says, teasing him.

“This is no time for jokes! Rue’s life is at stake. We can't risk anything, got it!” Elliot says fearfully. Zeke studies the map as they continue their drive to the Daunt base.

Simultaneously, Owen, Cora, Dori, and Nash hop in a Lost Haven vehicle.

“What the hell are they thinking? This is supposed to be a stealth mission!” Owen says angrily and starts the vehicle. Amina walks out and notices Owen.

“Good morning, Captain.” she waves innocently.

“Not now!” Owen dismisses her.

“Gasp!! Why are you so mean?!” she starts tearing up. Cora gets an idea and yells,

“Get in the car!”

“H-huh?” she stutters.

Dori grabs her, and Owen starts speeding away.

“I’m sorry, Amina, I didn’t mean it,” Owen apologizes, hoping she’ll forgive him.

“I don’t understand what's happening right now,” Amina says, confused, and dries her tears.

“Long story short, we’re short-handed and need you for a mission. Captain is just a little stressed right now. Forgive him.” Dori says, smiling at Amina.

“He is not forgiven! HMPH!” Amina yells, crossing her arms.

“Siiiggghhh! Listen, this is what happened.” Cora explains to her about Rue and Zeke.

“Oh my gosh! Is Zekey ok??” Amina asks, worried about Zeke.

“He heals fast normally but not with sage bullets. Those could've killed him.” Nash explains.

“We have to hurry, Captain! Zeke is in trouble!” Amina says, shaking Owen's chair. The vehicle begins to swerve left and right.

“Amina sweetie,” Owen pauses, “I KNOW!!” He yells, adjusting the wheel of the vehicle.

“So mean!” Amina pushes off his seat and cries again. Owen sighs and prays Zeke and the others will be okay.

After an hour of driving, Zeke and his group make it to the Daunt base. Elliot parks near trees and bushes, hiding their location. They all start setting up a camp, and Elliot sets up a table with a map on it.

“Princess, go over the plan with them again. I’m gonna scope around the base.” Zeke says, putting on gear.

“Why am I ‘Princess’? I don't get the name-calling. Anyways, listen up.” Elliot goes over the plan with the two while Zeke walks away. He looks at the base from a distance and comes up with a way in.

“Where did they put you, Red?” They probably put her in a cell. He thinks to himself, feeling guilty. Zeke continues to walk around, looking at the base. He spots an entrance with a few guards and then leaves with a plan in mind.

“There’s a back entrance here,” Zeke points on the map, “We enter there and sneak to the prison cells.”

“That's where the Redhead is?” Kai asks.

“They most likely have her there. If she's not there, we’ll split up and search on each side of the base.” Zeke says, sitting down and packing potions in his bag.

“We can’t risk contact, though! Kai, I'm looking at you!” Elliot says, pointing at Kai.

“Don’t worry. I'll keep an eye on him,” Nora replies, patting Kai’s back hard.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Hey! I’m not a child,” Kai says, pouting.

“Haha, You’re acting like one right now!” she continues patting his back harder as she laughs. Zeke stands up and is ready to head out.

“If you don’t wanna be left behind, I'm leaving now,” he says, walking to the Daunt base. The group quickly gathers their supplies and follows behind Zeke. They sneak in without the guards' noticing and find the security room. Outside the room is two guards standing watch.

“Silent Thunder!” Elliot shocks the guards quietly, knocking them out cold. Elliot lays them on the floor softly. The group heads in and locks the door behind them. When they enter, there’s a symbol on the other side of the door. Elliot’s face goes pale. His breathing quickens, and sweat begins to drip from his face.

“You shoulda let me take them out,” Kai complains.

“Either be quiet, Little Savage, or I'll knock you out,” Zeke demands. He sits in the chair, searching for Rue through the cameras.

“Yay! I got a new nickname!” Kai shouts with excitement.

“Congratulations, Little Savage!!” Nora says as the two jumps together, celebrating.

“We NEED to hurry. This isn’t just any Dauunt base.” Elliot says, slamming his hands down on the table near Zeke. His hands begin to shake.

“We’re not leaving till we find Red,” Zeke firmly tells Elliot.

“What’s wrong, Elliot?” Nora walks over to him.

“T-this is a branch of the Shadow Daunt base. One of the most dangerous lawless associations in this country.” Elliot says, recalling his past.

“AAHHH!!!” A young Elliot screams as scientists shock him.

“This one is very nice. Turn up the voltage to 100,000,” the scientist says.

BOOM! An explosion goes off. Elliot's restraints are released, and he falls to the ground. A woman picks him up and bolts to the exit.

“Elliot!! Please be alive…”

“SHOOT THEM!!” The guards yell. The woman throws Elliot out of the base.

“I’m sorry, kid. You have to go on,” the woman says, blood running down her face and looking at Elliot.

The memory ends.

“If Rue is here, getting her out is impossible!” Elliot yells discouragingly. Zeke walks over and is inches away from Elliot's face.

“You can always leave! I told you not to come anyways, Princess, especially you.” Zeke emphasizes knowing Elliot's past.

“Did you know this was a Shadow Daunt base? How could you lead us here!” Elliot yells and grabs Zeke's shirt gripping it tightly from anger.

“You need to shut up!” Zeke places his hand over Elliot's mouth. Elliot is heated and sweats profusely. Nora uses her water heka to cool him down.

“Yes, I knew. That’s why I told you all not to come,” Zeke pauses, “Owen knew too.” He backs off Elliot and resumes searching through the files.

“Captain Owen would’ve told us!” Elliot shouts quietly.

“No, he wouldn’t! He planned to go to the other base on the other side of Ovidinia! He knew if he took you here, you would freak out! But this is where Red is!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just know it. Ok!” Zeke says, looking back at the cell cameras.

“She’s not in a cell. Someone on her level is getting tested on like a rat.” Kai says, walking to Zeke.

“And how would you know?” Zeke questions.

“We all felt it, right? Her heka, it’s different. Makes me go crazy when I feel it,” Kai smiles creepily.

“Now, thinking about it, you might be right, Kai. Shadow Daunts look for people with abnormal heka and experiment on them. I should know.” Elliot rubs his hands.

“So then, where do they experiment?” Nora asks Elliot.

“I-i’m not sure. I haven’t been to this specific base before,” he responds, trying to forget all the horrible memories.

“But you have been to a Shadow base. Where was it at in the other one?” Zeke asks, turning his chair towards Elliot.

“Well, if I remember correctly, it was two or three doors down from the cells we were kept in.”

“Alright, we'll split up into two groups. Princess and I will find the experiment room. Mermaid and Little Savage, you go scope around in secret.” he looks at Kai, “See if the guards slip up any information about Red.” Zeke commands, and the group begins part two of their mission.

In experiment room number four at 11:05 am, Rue is covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. She’s with another prisoner who is also injured. An unknown man walks in and asks,

“How is she doing?”

“She’s still refusing, sir. If we keep this up, we could potentially lose our specimen.” one scientist says, typing information on a computer.

“Listen, if you want the pain to stop, you have to make the man feel your pain!” the unknown man demands.

“I won’t do it,” she says, coughing up blood. He tells the man in her room to attack her again.

“Now Ruin, use it!” The unknown man is revealed to be Shura.

“TRANSFER RECALL!!” Rue yells as the other man screams in pain. He passes out, and Rue falls to the ground.

“HAHA! AMAZING!” Shura shouts and walks into her room. “I am proud of you, but you disobeyed me. Now it’s time for punishment.” He smiles and drags her by her chains.

“They’ll come for you,” Rue says quietly with a shaky voice.

“What was that?” SLASH! He whips her back with a metal rope. “They’ll never come!” SLASH! Rue screams in pain.

“Y-yes, they will. Z-Zeke-”

“Zeke? SLASH! He’s the reason you’re here!” Shura laughs at how pathetic she looks.

“AAAHH!” she continues to scream as loud as she can.

“That’s not true! Rosepass wasn’t his fault!”

“Rosepass? Oh no,” he pauses, chuckling, “HA! This was planned from the BEGINNING!”

“W-what?” Rue is at a loss for words.

“Your ‘savior,’ Zeke! Oh, he is a genius! We made a deal at that Daunt Base. Did he not tell you?” he smirks.

“He agreed to let me go if I told him information about his precious Forbidden Forest, and that’s not all!” Shura grabs Rue's face.

“You’re LYING!” she attempts to say.

“Oh? I'm not, child! Zekey also agreed to come to this base with you! He agreed to give you back to me! Haha!” he laughs hysterically. Shura squeezes Rue's face and throws her on the ground.

“AAH!” she cries out. “N-no, that can’t be.” Rue is in disbelief. SLASH! He continues to whip her.

“Indeed, it’s true, my Ruin. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity when my underlings saw you at Rosepass.”

“I-i don’t believe you,” she says, passing out from the beating.

“You’ll see soon enough, Rue Elinora, daughter of Edme Elinora!” Shura calls in a guard to carry Rue out.