The Plan

(Titus POV)

They should be here. From what I’ve gathered, the priests live on the outskirts of the town surrounding the castle. It’s a peaceful place surrounded by trees and other greenery.

Looking around, I could only slump my shoulders in defeat. I just can’t find them!

“What do you need child?”

I turned around startled, “!”

The priest apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Grover, right?”

“Actually, it’s Giles. Do you need Grover?” he asked concerned.

I sighed, “One of you is enough. It’s about Gabe-!”

“Not here.” he said sternly. “Come with me.”

I nodded as I followed him into the forest. Soon we came to a small lodging. As we went inside, the rest of the priests were there gathered around a table near the door.

“He’s here.” Giles announced.

Grover and Gregory looked over to me as their brother sat down too.

One of them cleared his throat, “Well, why did you come here?”

I looked down In shame, “Gabe didn’t kill the princess… The king did….”

“Where’s your proof?”

I placed the tape onto the table.

“Hmmm… Giles! Fetch the video player in the back!”

Giles groaned, “But I just sat down, Grover!”

The other glared at him, “This is important.”

He shivered in response before he huffed, “Fine!”

Once the priest had left, Grover motioned me over, “C’mon, sit down and relax.”

I nodded.

It is weird how nonchalant they’re being about it. It’s almost as if they already had an idea of what was going on in the first place.

I took a seat off to the side.

The old man offered, “Can I get you anything? A drink? Food?”

“N-No thanks….” I declined his offer.

He placed his hands behind his head, “That’s your choice then.”

That’s when Giles came into the room with a small TV on a cart. Before another word could be spoken, he inserted the tape and fast forward to the night that it happened.

We all watched in silence as the tape played all the way through the whole incident. I watch their reactions and noticed nothing showed on their faced but some nodding and expectant looks. Once done, Giles, carefully removed the tape and handed it to Grover.

“I see…”

No longer able to hold it back any longer, I asked, “Why does it appear you already knew?”

Gregory looked seriously in my direction, “It’s because we’ve known from the beginning and been keeping close tabs on the queen and king.”

My eyes widened.

Giles continued, “A lot of people have noticed that the queen had changed drastically when she was remarried. They have come to us with their concerns, which has only raised our suspicion.”

“Raised?”

This time it was Grover who explained it, “You see, ever since we first encountered the king, we had our doubts. We had sensed demonic energy within him, but we did not take it into account till it was too late.”

I started to panic, “The king?? A demon??”

They all nodded before Gregory continued, “We have reason to believe he is using some sort of great demonic power to conceal himself as an angel and to not get obliterated by the sun. We’re not entirely sure, but that power may have come from the demon lord himself.”

“When Gabe was sent out to get investigate on those rumors about the demon king preparing an attack the world of light…..”

Grover nodded, “He used Gabe to cover It up.”

I could feel tears fall from my eyes as a couldn’t help but sob. I fell right into a demon’s trap and betrayed my own brother.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, “It’s not your fault for the king’s actions’. So don’t go blaming yourself.”

“How am I ever going to make it up to my little brother?” I cried.

“There’s still time, if we can somehow find Gabe and convince the queen to revoke the verdict before it’s too late then we may be able to save the boy from becoming a demon.”

Gregory butted in, “Besides, from what he said to you, I’m sure he’s looking for a way back right now.”

With that knowledge I was finally able to calm down, “Y-Your right.” I stood up with newfound determination, “What are we going to do first?”

Giles grinned before laying a map onto the table, “We placed a tracker on Gabe before he was sent Into The Dark World. Let us see where he is now.”

The priest raised their hands and a floating marker appeared in the center of the map. They gasped.

“What?” I asked.

“He is in the demon capital where the demon lord resides… looks like if we are going to go retrieve him, we’ll have to recruit some additional help. We can’t just waltz in; it’s said to be heavily protected and crowded with demons.” Grover explained quickly. “Firstly, looks like we need to gather a rescue group to get Gabe and raise a protest group against the queen. That should get her attention.”

“At the same time?”

Grover nodded, “It’s going to be difficult, that’s why were going to use a plan.” He explained, “We’ll spread the word and recruit as many people as possible. Then we’ll split them into two teams. You will lead the rescue team into The Dark World. We will lead the protest. When you get back, it’ll be up to you to convince the Queen once we get her attention.”

“Okay, how can I help spread the word?”

“You will come with us and we’ll report a rumor that Gabe may have been innocent to the newspaper. Take things slow, then slowly reveal the truth to the public through the evidence you found. Also we want you to stay as the head of the royal guard and collect more evidence on the king. Then we’ll have our case.”

I wondered, “What about Gabe? Will we make it in time?”

They explained, “For now, Gabe is safe. Unless instigated by the demon king himself, the corruption process should be slow enough for us to purify him later.”

I sighed but nodded, there’s nothing I could do for Gabe now. All I can do is hope that whatever he goes through won’t be too painful for him to handle until I can go retrieve him myself.