II. Portal Developments
Calonia and Argenia were two countries that were always at war. Now, the reason for this enmity was the very formation of Argenia. Calonia used to be a huge country...but due to some political and religious differences in the outlooks of the people, a lot of the states split up to form individual countries. Argenia was one of these newly formed countries, and what remained of Calonia, wanted its territories back.
Anatoly and Egor drove around eastern Pentin for about three hours, but to no avail. Although some people did tell them the locations of the people with the names "Antin" and "Nina", none of the sources located ones that were twins or with the surname "Gregory". The scientists were on the brink of giving up, but halfway through their journey back to the lab, the trunk of their car started to vibrate with sudden, loud sounds. They quickly pulled over to check what the source of the sound was.
As if they hadn't already been shocked enough, they found the purple box in the trunk of the car. And what's more, sitting next to the partially open box, was Dobby.
"Dobby, what are you doing here?"
"We've run out of time. If the twins don't enter through, war will be unstoppable. The sea dwellers and werewolves are advancing towards our fort, and we need to prove that there is faith in the treaty. Please, take me to the twins. Let me talk with them."
"Dobby, we've driven around half of the state, and haven't found a single trace that could confirm that the twins even exist. Could we both help you instead?"
Dobby then proceeded to become oddly quiet. He started to frown, and had a very angry expression on his face. He thought about his next move for a while, and after giving it a few seconds, he looked back at the scientists.
"I trust you two, but please do not betray us. This is the last resort. Hold your breath."
Egor and Anatoly were dumbfounded. They had no idea regarding what Dobby was about to do, but they found it best to listen to the otherworldly creature.
Dobby muttered, "I hope you understand, Your Majesty."
And with that, the box's lid shot off once more, and the purple mist started to ooze out of it. The scientists gasped as the fumes began to surround them all, and they suddenly felt as if someone had punched them in the gut. The fumes started to circle them, and within the blink of an eye, they were sucked into the box.
Calonia had managed to regain most of its territories, but except for Argenia, most of them were insignificant. The two nations had had multiple wars in the past, but by the end of each one, both nations were left terribly damaged, with no clear victor. Calonian citizens and Argenian citizens mutually hated each other due to their religious and political differences.
Loud ringing sounds kept attacking the scientists' ears, and only stopped once they realized that they were their own screams. As the mist settled, both of them dropped onto the rough rocky ground, and it was only a few seconds later that they realized they weren't on their planet anymore.
Dobby chuckled, "Phew, we're here everyone. Welcome to Pixland, Anitia."
Egor and Anatoly looked all around them. Despite being well accustomed scientists, they were still learning. And now they were in an alternate dimension, the lands of Anitia. They looked around them; Anitia was like any bright imaginary world that was aired on kids channels. It was bright, colourful, simple and full of different fairytale characters. There were phoenixes gliding through the clouds, gnomes and pixies roaming through little streets and some totally unseen creatures running through the green forests.
They were both rendered speechless, and Dobby guided them to the Royal Court, where the Dukes of the Pixland and Pheonia stood.
"Welcome, travelers. We assume you both are the ones Dobby was received by the other day." Pavlov the Duke of Pixies said, after which he turned to Ikar, the Duke of Phoenixes.
"We cannot let our foes see them, Ikar. They may mistrust us even more if they interpret it as us receiving help from the overworld."
"I agree, but what's our next act? The twins haven't arrived yet, and the Were-Aqua troops are advancing with speed enough to bring them here in less than three days. We have nothing to show them."
"Hmm. Perhaps these two said scientists know where they are, then?"
"No...they don't know their location. We have little to no hope now, and our own courtiers are beginning to lose faith. Our solution lies in the Overworld, and dangers are nearer."
Ikar asked the two men, "You two, have you looked everywhere for the twins? Are you sure there's no trace of them?"
Anatoly said, "Not everywhere. Not confirm."
Ikar then paused midway through his reply and said, "Wait. The twins knew about the Were-Aqua pact...they knew how much destruction it could bring about; they wouldn't refrain from coming here unless they genuinely couldn't. Maybe, and I really hope I'm wrong, the twins could be in danger themselves."
Pavlov nodded in agreement, and turning to Dobby, he said, "Could be true, we mustn't tarry any longer. Dobby, take them back to the overworld and find the twins within 2 hours. Make haste here if you don't or when you find them. Godspeed."
Before they knew it, the scientists were back on the road, next to their car. As they regained vision, they saw the purple fumes dissipate into the air, leaving just them and Dobby. Dobby told them that he'd join them on their search for the twins, and they weren't about to complain.
They quickly resumed their search and drove in and out of every neighborhood, asking questions to the random passers by if they had had any sightings of kids that matched what Dobby had described them to be; but they're efforts were in vain.
Calonian military continuously attacked Argenia; they bombed residential buildings, defense bases, protest camps, and even schools. The political leader of Argenia was on the verge of surrendering the nation to their cold blooded and brutal counterpart. As if that wasn't enough, Calonian military took war prisoners and held them captive at concentration camps, where the victims would reportedly be forced to carry out strenuous tasks. They were kept in unideal conditions, and were treated very harshly.
These unfortunate war captives consisted of children as well.
It had been an hour and forty five minutes since they'd returned to the overworld. Hopeless, exhausted and hunger-stricken, the Anatoly and Egor decided to give up. Dobby, too, had lost hope, but noticeably didn't look tired at all. They pulled the car over at a bar that was located on the outskirts of and decided to take a break. Having told Dobby to remain in the car, and as they headed towards the door, a tall and muscular man walked out. Anatoly immediately recognized him as one of his closest friends; Yvon, a well reputed man who'd worked in the army for 3 years now.
The two embraced and Egor questioned who the man was. Upon hearing Anatoly's reply, Egor immediately said, "That's actually great...we need some help, if that's okay with you."
Yvon agreed, but told them he could only give them ten minutes of his time.
"Could we use your directory to locate these two kids we've been looking for?" Egor asked in his rough but understandable Calonian. Yvon nodded, and asked them the names of the kids.
"Antin and Nina Greogory, twins."
Yvon almost looked like he remembered something, but immediately reverted his expression and said, "Haven't heard of them."
Egor said, "Look, kind man. We've been looking for these twins for a long time now. We'll appreciate any help we can get."
Yvon started shifting on his feet and looked detached, all of a sudden.
"They're your kids?", he asked them, almost sounding worried.
As Egor was about to say no, he decided that a little lie wouldn't be a sin if it'd help him find the innocent children.
"Yes. They're my relatives, do you know where they are?"
Yvon started to protest, "Look man. I didn't know better okay, I really needed the money, and I was given orders."
Anatoly sensed the obvious, and knew something felt off. "What happened to them...what did you do?"
"I'm really sorry...please....go away. You should go. I didn't know they were Calonian."
"What are you talking about?"
"Please go...I cannot do this.", and saying so, Yvon started to walk away.
Just as he took 2 steps forward, the Egor jerked forward and held the man in place.
Egor said, "We've spent an entire day looking for the twins. Tell us where they are, now."
A trembling Yvon gazed at Anatoly to try and convince him to put off his friend. But Anatoly asked, "Yvon. Where are the twins."
Yvon decided to make a run for it, but as he passed the scientists' car, he caught a glimpse of Dobby inside and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Wha- wha- what is that? What is that!"
The duo lost their patience and firmly pinned Yvon to their car. They asked him once more,
"Tell us where the twins are."
Yvon seemed to accept his situation and waveringly replied in what was a series of sentences that included where the twins were and also his own justification for it.
Although the duo barely heard anything after he said "concentration camp".
Find out the fate of Anitia and the twins in the final part of this series,
coming soon...
*
Pardon me for the long delay between the first part and this one....had a lot going on off-screen. However, I will now return to my usual posting schedule, and you can expect the third and final part of this series by the end of the next week.
Also, this is my first time writing a series. As a result, I have little to no idea regarding how you, my audience, feel about this writing style. The only way I can know your feedback is through your comments, which help out a ton by the way. Hence, I request you to please write down any thoughts, comments or suggestions that you feel will help me get better with series-writing. You can tell me if the posts are too long, too short, too fast or too slow; I will read and consider every comment, and implement changes accordingly in future posts.
That's all for now, hope you like the next post!
Cheers,
Armaan Kothare
hmmmmm...interesting
ReplyDeletethanks for reading!
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