The Duke and Duchess

By: Coneflower

The sky opened and four figures fell to the ground. They all expected a heavy impact, but found they had landed on a soft, cushiony padding.

Mush opened his eyes slowly, and ran a hand over the pillowly cushion under them. "Hey, it's a cloud. We landed on a cloud! But, how?"

John looked down at his right hand. It was glimmering. "I think I did it."

"Is your hand…?" Racetrack squeaked out at John.

Blink nodded. "Anything is possible. I guess this must be one of John's talents he's been given."

"Yeah, it is. I can feel it" John added. With a swipe of his hand, the cloud vanished and the glimmering stopped.

The four boys unceremoniously fell a foot to the ground, landing on their rears.

"You could of warned us before dropping us to the ground" Race spat out, rubbing his back end.

"Sorry" John mumbled, doing the same. "It's going to take some time getting use to these powers."

Blink stood first then helped his cohorts up - one by one. He peered around. They were in a grassy meadow with trees surrounding the outside of it. "Wonder where we're at?"

Right as he asked that, the sound of horse hooves could be heard. The Revelators turned in the direction the noise was coming from. In the shadows of the trees, a man could be seen riding a horse. He was heading straight for them.

"Kid, what'll we do?" Mush asked timidly, his head shifting back and forth from their leader to the approaching horseman.

Blink raised a hand. "Let's stay here. Maybe this man will help us find the first amulet."

The boys obeyed, staying put. The man on the horse was approaching quickly. His long, brown hair bounced on his shoulders as the horse galloped roughly into the clearing. At the sight of the four oddly clothed young men, the knight-like man halted.

Blink, Mush, and Race couldn't believe their eyes. The man in front of them was Jack Kelly, one of the newsboys back at the Lodging House. The only thing different was the longer hair, growing beard, and older complexion. "Good day, sirs! May I question what thoa hither?" …and the English accent.

Blink shook his head, trying to regain his speech and understand what the man just said. He swallowed. "We're visitors from another land?" He tried not to make it sound like a question, but it came out like that.

Jack's duplicate nodded. Then his attention was caught by more hoof sounds coming their way. "Good sirs, will thee please assist me in ridding thy burden of the men who advance toward here?"

Race scrunched his face and murmured to Mush, "Is this guy for real?"

"Want to help this man get rid of those men coming?" Blink glanced around his cohort. Confidence was etched in their faces as they agreed. He looked back at the horseman. "We'll help."

Right as Blink said that, four other men dressed in guardsmen armor, rode up.

"Art thou ready to die, Bale?" one man snarled.

"As ready as thou art is, Yorkshire" the man called Bale retorted.

Mush elbowed Race. "Just how are we going to fight these guys? They got weapons."

John heard him, and leaned over to Mush. "Just have faith in the talents that you've been given."

"Uh…" Mush stared, dazed at the answer.

"Vigil mentioned you were the strength of the band, maybe that's it" Race added, trying to get his friend to comprehend.

Mush nodded then turned to Blink. He was standing confidently next to Bale, who had dismounted from his horse by now.

All four adversaries dismounted from their horses as well. They draw their swords. Bale did the same. He glanced at Blink. "Where is thy weapons?" he whispered.

Blink looked to him and grinned. "You'll see."

The adversaries advanced. But, they suddenly slammed their swords into the ground two feet before Bale and the Revelators. The men looked up startled at their actions that they were not controlling. Bale chuckled in surprise and humor.

"Carrying the banner!" Kid Blink shouted, moving to attack one of the men.

John followed his lead, shooting a flash of light at one of the adversary's eyes - making him temporarily blinded. Mush joined in next. He swung a fist at one of the men's faces, knocking him out cold in one punch. Mush shook his head, stunned at how strong he had become.

Racetrack, in the meantime, was witnessing his friends discovering their talents. He thought if theirs was amazing, his was too. He strolled up to the last adversary, smirking at the man struggling to retrieve his sword from the ground. Race felt a twinge in his finger. He lifted his index finger, and flicked it in the air. The sword automatically was released making the man stumble backwards. The end of his sword impacted with his helmet of mail. He started to tremble, dropping his sword in the process. Race casually walked up to him and pushed him over with his finger. The last adversary fell to the ground with a thud!

By now, Blink and John were finished knocking out their opponents. Bale was standing next to his horse looking rather amused. Blink turned to him and said, "You're not surprised by our talents?"

An impish smile, that greatly resembled Jack Kelly's, crossed Bale's face. "Nay, my friend. I gathered by your foreign clothing you were of unique decent."

Mush and Race frowned. They had hardly any clue what this man was saying. It seemed Blink understood at least some of his words, and John was proudly standing there. He is a quiet one - they noted. "Ye accompany thee bback to my kingdom? Thy talents may come of use in thou dire situation."

Blink turned to his companions. They nodded, finally understanding something Bale was saying. "Yeah. We'll go back with you to your kingdom."

The smile on Bale's lips grew wider. "I thank thee. We shall proceed as far as possible to thy kingdom on thy enemies horses."

John suddenly stepped up. "Can we tie these men up first? You don't want them coming to find us or warning whoever they work for that you've escaped them."

"You speak of a clever tongue" Bale commented, uncoiling the rope he had tied to his knit bag. They bound the adversaries to a nearby tree. "I have not known thy names so far."

Blink met Bale's eyes, slightly startled. What name should he give? "My names Henry" he replied, sticking out his hand to shake.

The other three followed his lead, all shaking Bale's hand.

"I'm Shawn."

"Anthony."

"Just call me John."

Bale nodding, feeling that these young men were honorable. "I am Christian, Lord of Bale. Thy may call me Bale, if thy desires to. Thee have talents beyond all measures. How is this possible?"

They heard a groan from one of the adversaries waking up. "We'll explain later. Let's get out of here before they wake up" Blink suggested.

"Aye, lets be on." Bale climbed on his horse. The Revelators, having no experience with horses aside from Race betting on them, took a couple minutes to climb on and get settled. After they were ready, the band rode off into the bushel of trees.

***

The four Revelators and Bale stopped for the night to rest. Bale informed them his kingdom was about 45 leagues from their present stop.

"Now, my friends, tell of these powers thy hold" Bale said, stoking the fire they were circled around with a stick. John had found another added talent he possessed: making fire with the swipe of his hand.

"You won't believe us if we told you" Blink replied, smiling mischievously.

Bale laughed. "Oh, after thou display earlier and thou hast created fire with thine hand, I shall believe more than before."

"If you say so." Blink hesitated, preparing his mind on what to say. "Not even 24 hours ago, an angel from heaven visited us and has sent us on these missions. She gave us these trinkets that give us the abilities to do all those things you saw."

The older man nodded, taking in all the information. "I understand clearly, my friend. Believe, I do. Much the Lord can do."

"I'm starting to see that too now" Mush mumbled, almost inaudibly, running his fingers over the gold wrist band and saying a silent pray of thanks for his talents.

Bale continued, curiously. "But, what art these missions you speak of?"

"Vigil, the angel" Race broke in, leaning forward. "told us we have to find these sacred amulets in these different times and all. There's one in this time. That's why we're heah, we just gotta find it."

"Verily, I say unto you, I shall help in the recovery of this amulet. Please say thou shall help in the fight of the land."

Blink raised a hand. "It's okay, Bale. We're here to help, no matter what." He could tell Bale let out a sigh of relief.

"Bale, why were those men after you?" Mush asked.

"Yeah. They seemed to really want you dead. Does that have anything to do with your kingdom?" John spoke up in a concerned tone.

Mush and Race exchanged a competent glances over the camp fire at each other. They were starting to know John better. The more and more they were with him, the more he reminded them of Blink.

Bale's expression sobered from a smile to a frown. "Those men were of the kingdom of Luxbey. Thou were after my head for I am a spy of my kingdom. Thy good King Richard sent thee to witness on his behalf. I witnessed harsh treatment in the land. The people were crying out for food. Rags gathered on their feet and bodies. Some lay dead in the streets. I approached the Duke and Duchess of the land. Thou laughed at me and shut the door! I threatened an informant of what hath thou doing. The news turned thou attitudes against me. I barely was delivered by the skin of thy teeth."

Race snorted at the end of the telling. "We sure know how those people feel. Dang Pulitzer and Hearst."

Bale cocked his head. "Hast thy been thru the ordeal thyself?"

"Yeah, we have" Race answered, lowering his head. "I don't know about John, but me, Henry, and Shawn worked for a newspaper distribution office." From the confused look on their English friend's face, he went on to explain what a newspaper was and how life as a newsboy was. The strike of 1899 soon came into the story. Race told about how the owners of the newspapers were being unfair. Mush took over through mid-telling. Blink lowered his head in shame at the mention of his betray of his newsboys. It wasn't anything he was proud of, to say the least.

"Thee hast been thru a battle several times." Bale stared at the fire in disbelief. "Thou art strong from this. I can tell. What is thine tale, John?"

The quiet boy looked up from his gaze at the ground. He quirked a small smile. "I don't have much of an interesting story like they do. I was born in Chicago - that's a type of kingdom in our land - to a middle class family. My father was a book keeper from New York City…" he gestured to his cohorts. "the same land where they are from. My mother was a school teacher and she was from Chicago. That's why we lived there.

"When I was seven, we were taking a trip to New York City when the some of the cars on the train derailed. I was in a few cars ahead, so, I wasn't hurt. My parents and younger brother though were in one of those cars and died. I was sent back to an orphanage in Chicago since none of my relatives could take me in.

"I lived there till I was old enough to support myself. Hull House helped me find a job at a book keeper's office and found me a shelter I could live at. But, the shelter burned down a week ago. The book keeper didn't want a homeless employee. I lost my job as well. I was going to starve and freeze to death on the street till Vigil came for me. She saved me. Thank the Lord, she did."

The mood around the camp fire was somber for the rest of the night. John's cohorts finally could put a past with the boy - it wasn't enlightening. They sleep on cloud-like cushions provided by John for the night, and woke early the next morning - riding to Bale's kingdom at full throttle.

***

"Thou may proceed inside the throne room. The King awaits."

The five progressed into the elegant room with Bale in the lead. This was an all-too-well routine for him.

"Your Majesty" Bale greeted, kneeling before King Richard - who sat nobly on his throne. The Revelators kneeled also out of respect.

"Bale, who are thy companions clothed in these strange garb?"

"These, my King" Bale said, standing. "are thy rescuers from the treacherous Duke's guards who desired to take my head. They have specials talents, and are here to help with thine mission."

King Richard nodded and smiled a warm greeting to the new arrivals. "Verily, I say unto you, I am grateful for you who delivered thy servant. Now, do you have news on our neighboring land? Is hath thy hear true?"

"Aye, my Lord. The Duke and Duchess are mistreating their people. While they sit in the comfort of satin, the people are begging for food. I have witnessed with thy own eyes. It is a horrid sight."

At that news, King Richard flamed with anger. "If what thou spake is true, I shall arm thy men instantly!"

And, he did.

The Revelators rode along side Bale and the King as they lead the troops to the neighboring land. They seized the castle of the Duke and Duchess, capturing everyone inside. It was a rather easy task since most everyone of the castle desired to live in revelry and were not on their guard.

"What has thou to say for thine self?" King Richard spat at the Duke.

"I have nothing to say for I doith what I please" the Duke sneered back. "I shall not leave this land for it is mine and I will come back to fight for it!"

"Want to bet?" John suddenly spoke up, worming his way to the front of the crowd. King Richard throw a confused look at Bale, but Bale nodded in confidence.

John raised both his hand, equally apart from each other. An electric bolt shot from one hand to the other then flew at the Duke's feet. The Duchess screamed in fright before fainted.

"What is this trickery?!" the duke shouted in a heap.

"Not trickery, but the wrath of God" John replied, not a stitch of foolhardiness on his face.

That was all to scare the Duke and his people of the castle to scramble out. King Richard banished them from the land and ordered guards to make sure the tainted people were gone for good. Then he turned his attention to Bale.

"I hath to appoint my most trusted and loyal servant, Christian Lord of Bale, as the new Duke of this land."

Bale's expression was of shock as he stepped up to the King. "Your Majesty, I do not deserve this honor."

King Richard smiled warmly, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Thy hath not know how much thy deserves this honor. Please, Bale, kneel."

With that, Bale knelt and was appointed Duke of the land. The people cried out in joy as the new ruler of their land came out to greet them. King Richard then turned to the Revelators next. "You four have been of much help. Is there any way I may repay you?"

Blink stepped up. "Your highness, all we want is to recover the amulet we were sent here for. John thinks it may be the one you wear around your neck."

King Richard touched the ruby amulet resting on his chest. "This twas my father's. But, if this is what thee desired, be glad to take." He removed it, handing it to Blink. Blink instinctively handed it to John.

John jumped slightly, like a shock of electricity had paused through his body for a second. "This is the amulet." He clinched it in one hand. With a small flash of light, it disappeared instantly.

"Where'd it go?" Mush asked, wide eyed.

"Back to Vigil" John answered. "She knows what to do with it."

The Revelators soon said their goodbyes to Bale and King Richard, thanking them for their kindness. They walked towards the forest in the direction of where they had first appeared.

Vigil suddenly materialized before them. "You have done well, children."

All four smiled at her in thanks.

"Vigil, what now? How will we get to our next mission?" Blink asked, eagerness slipping into his tone.

"You shall know in due time. First, you need to be warned of an evil force that will come in your presence. It will try every way to stop you from finishing your missions. The evil force can take any form and convince you to believe any illusion it can muster. It's name is Mephisto, an angel of darkness."

John shivered a wave of fear. "You mean this Mephisto is…"

"Yes, John. An agent of Satan. It will try to stop you, but please stay strong in the Lord and know He is your shield." She placed her hand under his chin and raised his lowered head. The others were visibly shaken by the fact also. "Do not fear. All of you are in His hands." John nodded, sharply.

"Now, my children, you need to leave. Cross your arms over each other and lock your hands together. With this embrace, you shall be able to leave every time and dimension. God bless you." Vigil melted away, leaving her warm tenderness in their wake.

"Well, come on, guys. Here goes nothing." Blink held out his hands. John stood directly in front of him, grasping Blink's hands. Mush and Race did the same laying one locked arm over their compatriot's arm and another under till they formed a web of arms crossing each other.

Only a moment later, a light shone from the middle of their web and they disappeared.