8 Mission Impossible

"Is-Is this a cult? Have we been dragged into the territory of a cult or a sect? Oh my god?!"

The rest of the group wanted to refute her, but they were just as clueless and helpless. They woke up without any objects or smartphones on them. Or else they could have tried to use GPS or contact the nearest police station. They had come this far already, but it looked like their situation was more grave than they imagined it to be.

Anastasia went on with her questioning:

"Where is the nearest city or town? Where is the next police station?"

Gorst had a puzzled expression on when he heard her questions and he asked cautiously:

"Po-poliis? Milady, this poor commoner has never heard of this thing I am afraid. And concerning the nearest city or town I am not sure as well. You see the Maze Forest is a very mysterious place and directions or distances are things here that can't be measured with common sense."

Anastasia frowned and told him:

"You can stop with that already. It was funny in the beginning but you don't need to call me like that anymore. Instead just tell me the truth for once!"

"I wouldn't dare Milady! Commoners need to show the appropriate respect towards exalted nobles, no exceptions haha. And neither would I dare to speak with the devil's tongue in front of you!", he said to her with a nervous smile on his face.

Nobles? The children looked around but they didn't see anyone who would fit these discriptions and the confusion remained.

Sieg went forth and talked to Anastasia while shaking his head:

"It doesn't matter right now, all we get from his mouth will be BS and other weird tales. He might be a bit mentally ill or something. But what I do remember is that he talked about a certain Boss."

"You mean ..."

Sieg just nodded.

"Tell me, where is your Boss?!"

"You want to see my Boss? I could show you ... urgh," he got hit as a warning,

"... he is north ... just go further up north. After an hour or so you will reach the edge of our encampment."

"Why where you here so far away from your camp?!"

"I-I wanted to take a quick leak and sh%&. Our boss doesn't like people doing their business near the camp. The last time it happened, he nearly stepped on some feces and after that he beheaded someone random as a punishment.", shivers ran down his spine when he thought back to that moment. His boss didn't care about justice or rules. He just beheaded someone random, so that everyone was clear that they could be the next one. That anyone could be. After that nobody dared to do it within 100 m of the outer edge. Most went even farther ahead.

"When I was quite far away, I heard some noises and followed them till I found your three Lord companions ..."

He didn't want to mention it to avoid further pain.

Anastasia asked him again:

"What are these here for? You should know what I am talking about, we found them in your pockets so don't try to deny that!"

When Gorst saw the glowing objects, after a long lasting look he felt at a loss. His final card was laid out. He had hoped to at least hold onto these treasures. But now it was too late for regrets. He told her reluctantly:

"Those are Gemini Stones, huh. You know, it is quite dangerous around these corners without a good guide. And nothing is better and more safe than a pair of Gemini Stones. The gods have forsaken me ...", he let out a small sigh. If there had been a chance to break free, he would have found his way back with those stones but now without them ... he would need Waukeen's blessing to find his way back to the camp. He also dropped his formal way of addressing, as it no longer seemed possible to take advantage of these children and get away from his current predicament.

"What do they do?", Anastasia asked bewildered. She took another glance at them and moved them around her fingers, one by one. It was obvious from Gorst's reaction that these stones had to be quite valuable but aside from their weird glowing effect and colourful appearances, nothing seemed really special about them.

"They are rare gemstones, and when broken apart into smaller fragments they are still connected somehow and find their ways to each other through their bright glowing reactions. When you are lost somewhere, small distances can be tracked back with them if at least one of the fragments ramained at your original location. I had hidden one of them in the camp so I wasn't afraid to get lost hehe. The other's would kill me if they knew I had these stones in my possession so take good care of them.", he answered with a depressed smile on his face.

Perplexed, they were finished with their interrogation for now.

Jafar and Jean were in charge of guarding Gorst with a wooden club. The others grouped up together to discuss the newly obtained information.

"Do you think that...?", asked Anastasia slowly around with an unsure look in her eyes.

"It is still up for debate wether we can really trust his words at all. We can't underestimate him again just because of his stupid acting.", Charlotte raised an objection.

Craig asked curiosly:

"What is with those stones? I have never heard of them, but their effects sound quite miraculous!"

"Never heard about them!"

"Me neither!"

"Nope."

It looked like nobody had ever heard about these "Gemini Stones" before. It was one thing for an object to be attracted to another, like a magnet. But small magnets also had limited reach and didn't have any glowing effects attached. Maybe electrical devices with GPS were up for that task but these gemstones ... looked just like gemstones! Pretty but useless.

"But the possibility is quite high I think. The camp shouldn't be that far away and Professor Schneider and the other's went in that direction to look for help. It seems like the most probable scenario that played out.", stated Sasha.

Tony asked worriedly:

"So you are saying my brother and the others went ahead to look for help but instead ended up meeting this freak's boss?! The boss who kills random people for random reasons, that boss?!?"

"I-I didn't mean that!", Sasha wanted to take back her words as she realized the the implications she had made.

Tony urgently wanted someone to stand up and refute him but he was to be disappointed. Tears gushed out of his eyes. He already assumed the worst to have happened to his brother. Claire went up and gave him a warm hug, and he didn't stop her. He was to hopeless to think about anything at that moment.

After some seconds passed he got himself back together and declared determinedly with a rough voice:

"I will go! I have to! I can't stand here any longer and do nothing!"

"This is too dangerous Tony! You should already know that we are dealing with lunatics here! If they catch you, who knows how or in what condition you will end up. In the best case you will be caught and trafficked to some even more foreign place and in the worst case ...", Anastasia gulped down and didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to, as the meaning was clear.

Gene continued dissuading him:

"And who knows if they are really there? Do you want to throw yourself into the tiger's den without knowing if it's even worth it? Maybe they went completely off track and just need some time longer to get back here. You should calm down first and think rationally about this if you really are intent on finding your brother!"

As the talked some more sense into him, he had to take a step back and think about it again. They were right, and he knew it deep down himself. He just felt powerless about this whole situation and his inability to do anything useful.

After several rounds of discussions, where all three initial factions seemed determined to stay true to their opinion, Claire stepped out and managed to establish a general consent that everyone could agree with.

First and foremost was their safety. The scouting party should be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible.

Secondly, the mission should not be a rescue mission. It only entailed getting the right information in the least amount of time. Gorst told them, that they usually held their captives in the centre of the camp in wooden cages to avoid any escapees. Their faces turned pale when they heard of this piece of information. Maybe they hadn't even been the first people who were captured and brought to this strange place. Either way, they would only have to check whether the cages contained their classmates or not.

If not, the scouts should immediately return. If they were there, they should also immediately return as well. Safety first. With the gathered information they could then plan their further courses of actions.

This plan was full of possible holes and things that could happen in unlucky situations. If something happened and they were exposed or couldn't advance any further ahead because of uncertain obstacles, they had to abort the mission instantly and regroup with them afterwards. Otherwise worse consequences could follow.

The next thing was to decide the party members of this 'squad'. They couldn't bring in too many people as that might blow up their cover.

At first it seemed clear that it should be those who proposed the idea in the beginning. Yet Tony was cancelled out quickly. He was stunned in the beginning, which then transformed into fury and he asked angrily:

"Why?! This doesn't make any sense! My brother is somewhere out there and I have to be there for him now!"

"Man, have you looked into the mirror once? You are a huge sign screaming 'Look at me! I am here!', this is a covert mission. Spy basics 101. You are endangering the mission with your size. No jokes. If we want to successfully sneak in, we will need someone else.", Jafar told him directly in a matter of fact tone. It was painful and Tony clenched his fists in frustration. But he couldn't deny the truth in his words. Sieg and Anastasia sighed in relief and were glad about the way Jafar had defused the escalating situation.

Some were also worried that Tony was too emotional right now and might endanger the success of the mission but this was better left unsaid.

So the mission was up to Vincent and Panda. Panda got cold feet in this moment when he thought back to Gorst's descriptions of his Boss'. He regretted his decision to support this idea already. Vincent sensed this and told him earnestly:

"It's okay if you're afraid. If you want to back out, you still have the chance now before it's too late."

"No, no it's fine. A man has to stand true to his words, right? Haha, nothing to be afraid of. Just a crazy murdering maniac hahaha ...", his laughter got stuck in his throat when he came to that point. Gorst had made detailed descriptions about the camp's structure and outposts. Like the saying went, there was no honor among thieves or bandits. They found out that right now the camp's defences were at their lowest. They probably held a feast and after that they would be too drunk and confused to even notice their presence. The scouts in the surroundings would also lower their guards to take a small drinking break. If they wanted to sneak in, now was the time! At least if the information provided could be trusted... but even the smalles probability of meeting a crazy murdering lunatic made Panda's knees go weak.

"I-I will join in as well!", declared a timid but determined voice.

When they looked at the origin of the voice they were surprised to find ....