When I had come to my senses, I found myself in a dark place, a crack of light shining through the darkness in the wall. The air smelt musty, and I still felt drowsy and weird from earlier.

I sat up and realised that the rope that had been tied around me was gone, but my hands were now tied together with string. When I tried to squeeze them out, the string only tightened.

Suddenly, I felt something grab my arm and pull me back down. I screamed out before my mouth was covered up by another hand.

"Shhhh! It's just me".

I squinted my eyes, and as they adjusted to the darkness, I caught sight of red hair which was tinted slightly brown in the dark, and a pair of glimmering amber eyes.

Robin. 

I sighed with relief, as he removed his hand from my mouth. "You sure know how to make noise". He commented. I glared at him.

"You just jump scared me, idiot! Why couldn't you just call out my name like any decent person would"? I scrambled to sit up , and rested my back against the wall. Then I suddenly remembered how the little boy had injured him. "Hey, that wound in your waist...does it still hurt"?

"I can take a small scratch. I had to make sure it was you and not one of those little maggots that we let capture us, which was why I had to jump scare you. I'll kill Al when I see him, if he isn't too naive to allow those kids to kill him first". Robin said, coldly.

"Speaking of Al...where is he"? I asked, suddenly alarmed.

"They took him in a different direction than us. I didn't see where though, because one of those baboons decided to throw dirt in my face which made me pass out. What was it, their magic baby powder or something"?

"Chill out with the names, dude. And that magic baby powder seemed to work on you, seeing as you passed out". I laughed. 

"Oh shut up. I didn't see it coming. Besides it was probably magic, I obviously wouldn't have passed out from normal dirt".

"I hope he's OK. He seemed to trust those kids, right"? I said, remembering how Al had told Robin not to attack.  Robin snorted.

"Al's smart when he wants to be, I'll give him that. So I'm sure he knows what he is doing. I still wish he let me punch that kid a little more, though..."

"Is that seriously all you care about? Honestly, Robin, the more I get to know you, the more arrogant you seem to become". I said, annoyed.

I wasn't looking at him, but I knew he was glaring holes into the side of my head. "They deserve it. They can't freakin' attack a bunch of strangers they don't even know. And they should learn some damn respect, because I don't tolerate ignorant..."

"You've called them enough names in the passed five minutes, Robin, I think you should cool down and we should both try and work out how to get out of here". I decided reasonably.

"You don't have the right to tell me what to do".

"Cool, so Imma decide how to get out myself then, and I'll leave you behind to be immature and grumpy". I started crawling around to see if I could discover any clues of where we actually were.

The place was small, and the walls were rocky and made of earth. I made my way to the crack of light, and moved my hand around on the wall to see if I could find a handle or something.

"We're underground". Robin said from behind me. I stopped and turned to him.

"They've buried us alive"?

"No, stupid, I don't think they'd keep us in an open space with a crack for air if they had buried us. It's obviously some kind of prison".

"Ok, but you don't have to be so rude about it. What do you think they will do with us? Just keep us here"?

"Not sure. I doubt this is permanent. They'll probably come to get us soon", Robin replied," I don't know who these kids are, but they're obviously trained well in fighting. They could be the children of soldiers...or..."

He was interrupted when there was the sound of chains outside the wall and the crack widened, becoming a small entrance out of the prison.

The sunlight shone in brightly, causing my eyes to burn, after being in the dark for long. A small face appeared, and I recognised it as the wild haired girl who had tied me up earlier. "Out". Was all she said.

I climbed out of the entrance, followed by Robin, who had fury radiating off of him. Al stood before us next to the blonde boy who Robin had punched earlier.

I looked around at our surroundings. We were in what looked like a ruin of what was once a town. The buildings were crumpled, and half burnt, many of them without rooves. Piles of wood and stone were littered all over the floor, rubbish and old random object like pots, barrels broken mirrors lay scattered all over the place.

The girl used a small knife to cut the strange string from our hands. immediately, I went to hug Aladdin, who looked safe and unharmed.

"I hope you guys are OK". He said, as Robin came towards him giving him the evil eye.

"We're fine. Now explain what's going on". Robin demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"I had a talk with the leader and explained in detail why we chose the yellow road". Aladdin said.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'd like to speak to this leader of their's, because I seriously have a lot to say to him". I butted in, placing my hands on my hips. 

"I am the leader. What is it you want to tell me"? The blonde boy asked me, and I looked down at him in shock. 

"This place was once a village", Aladdin started,"the place I told you guys I had visited when I was younger. It was raided a few years ago by some urchin elves, and so all the children were taken to a hiding place under ground. When they came out the next day, the village had been destroyed, and all the adults  and older children killed. They are the only ones who live here now".

I felt my heart drop at the story, as the children emerged from the ruined buildings to crowd around us. "That's terrible..." I said quietly. 

"They weren't just elves who raided this place. There were wizards too. Genies to be precise. All dressed in black with white hair just like Aladdin's. That's why we attacked you when you came. We thought they were sending more from the urchin kingdom to come and kill all the survivors".

"So you're the one taking care of the rest of the kids here, huh? Why don't you just go to the next town over, its a couple of hours away". Robin asked, and I noticed his tone was calmer, gentle.

"This area is under an eternal spell. Nobody from this place can leave this territory, else something bad will happen to them. People used to try all the time, but they would return injured, and some never returned at all". The boy replied.

"I don't remember things being like this the year I came to visit", Aladdin said,"It must have happened after we left. But these kids have handled things so well for three years on their own. They learnt how to fight, even to kill, and have spared no mercy to elves that try to pass through here. I think people from Morgiana heard this, and became scared to come here again".

"This place is the easiest route to the urchin kingdom, so they pass through here often. It gives us more opportunity to kill them. However, when I spoke to Aladdin, he told me what you guys were doing here, and I could see he wasn't lying. I apologise for our attacks". The little boy said.

"Hey, it's completely understandable. I guess I would've done the same". I said. I crouched down to his level, and held out my hand to him. "I'm Jessika. Now you know we're friends, we promise to help you guys out, OK? I'm sure the curse in this place is something to do with the urchin kingdom. Once we get there, we'll find out".

He took my hand, his small but firm. He smiled. "My name's Peter. I trust you guys. I want to come to the kingdom too, but I can't. I want to get complete justice for our village".

I smiled. So that's who he was. I stood up. "Huh. Makes sense, I suppose".

"What makes sense"? Aladdin asked. 

"I'll tell you later". I replied.