Wilford gave Nathan a shrug in response, telling him flatly. "You have a better idea? Cause from where I'm standing... If you can't get the blade back from Anti. Then this whole quest is for nothing. And Anti didn't give the blade to Mark... So, he's holding onto it for some personal reason. Now, I don't know the guy... but I know Dark. And he only holds onto things that mean something to him. So, if Anti is like him. Then he's holding onto it for some emotional reason. Right?" Illinois hugged Sean close, uttering out darkly. "Ya... to kill Sean with it. Anti is not like Dark. He's chaotic and irrational." Wilford raised an eyebrow, stating back bluntly. "According to whom? In our family. I'm the irrational one." Sean thought about it before interjecting in softly. "Wilford is right... Anti has had times that he could have killed me, and he hasn't. He's resisted Mark from the start. Maybe... Maybe we can talk to him and figure this out. At the very least, we have to try. Time is running out. Mark is going to find us." Akern rose from the bed, telling the others a bit reluctantly. "I think this is where we must split up." The others broke into loud disagreement, until CyberNateic whistled to stop them.

When all eyes turned on him, he informed them coolly. "I'm must agree. If we all show up at Anti's door, he's going to come out ready for a fight. If Sean has any hope to talk to him... He has to go alone. Anti will feel less threatened." Bandit scoffed, snapping out. "And what are the rest of us supposed to do? This is our fight too! What if things go bad?!" CyberNateic smirked, telling them calmly. "Trust me. We are needed elsewhere. Sean will not be at Anti's alone. There is someone waiting to guide him to Anti. And..." CyberNateic turned his eyes on Sean to say excitedly. "If you want to defeat Mark... You'll need him because HE will be Mark's destruction or his salvation." Sean rose to his feet, asking perplexed. "What do you mean? Who is he?" CyberNateic's eyes flashed before he told him reluctantly. "Time doesn't want me to tell you. Just trust that you will have all you need. But the outcome will depend on you." To the others, he told them swiftly. "King Nathan can't be moved yet. So, we will stay for a bit longer. Then we will travel to the Heart's Casino." CyberNateic lifted his chin with confidence, telling Illinois seriously. "We'll meet you and Sean at the Casino. Where we will end this."

S34N passed around breakfast and they eat in the awkward silence. Everything was ridding on Sean getting the blade from Anti... but could he do it? When he finished eating, Illinois gathered up only the supplies that they'd need. Including some food and water for Sean. Sean said his reluctant goodbyes to them in the hopes that he'd see them later. Then approaching the door, Sean raised the Ring of Wonderland to point it at the door. S34N grabbed his arm, warning him seriously. "When you use the ring... They'll be onto you. You'll have to move fast and find whoever is there waiting. My only advice for the Blood Hunter is... to be careful and move quickly. Because he'll show you no mercy and you should show him none." Sean nodded, then closed his eyes to try picturing the Kingdom of Clovers. A red light beamed out from the ring and the door changed to reveal a sandy open plain that was surrounded by mountains with traces of green. Stepping through with Illinois at his back, Sean coughed as the sand and bright sun hit him. As Illinois stepped through, the portal behind them closed. Glancing around, Sean asked him over the wind. "Do you see anyone?"

Illinois pulled up his bandana from around his neck, coughing out. "No. Just a lot of sand. We should-" Illinois stopped mid-sentence and looked around with worried eyes. Sean whirled around to see nothing, before asking him. "What? What did you see?" Illinois shook his head, telling him. "I thought I saw a shadow... Come on. Let's get out of here. I don't like this..." They started walking, when Sean got a look at the spot they came from. Sitting randomly in the sand was what looked like a little stone wall shrine. Why was that so familiar? On the shrine a little lizard scurried up onto the top and stared out at him with a tail of pure silver. Backing up, Sean told Illinois nervously. "Illinois...? I think I know this place..." Illinois kept walking, telling him over his shoulder. "Let's keep moving while you think, because this place is giving me the creeps." Sean reached back to grab Illinois's arm as the top of the mountains moved. Stopping short, they both looked as a large figure rose from its slumber and took to the skies on four narrow wings make of rock and ruins. It almost looked like a massive flying snake. Illinois stumbled in the sand, uttering out on horror. "Oh shit... PHALANX! RUN!"

Illinois grabbed Sean's arm and pulled him into a run, while Sean yelled out. "Who?!" Illinois tried to take him closer to the walls of the mountains, answering frantically. "A Colossus! But I don't get it... They've never woken up before! They preexist Wonderland!" Sean saw the great beast circle the canyon like it was looking for something with slight agitation. Pulling free of Illinois, Sean stopped again to look it over as his memory recalled them. They were believed to be large carvings that someone in the past made. They were practically tourist attractions. A type of Seven Wonders thing. Only... it was alive now! Illinois started to grab his arm but stopped as he saw someone crest the sandy hill on a large black horse chasing after Phalanx. Phalanx started to flee, but the person encouraged his horse to go faster. Phalanx glanced back lazily, its eyes lighting up as the ground exploded in different places trying to knock the horse away. The horse agilely dashed between the blasts of sand, running up toward the narrow wings. Illinois gawked at the person, blurting out in disbelief. "Who the fuck...? What is he doing?" Sean narrowed his eyes on the person, realizing who he was looking at. Was that Wander? HIS Wander? He hadn't seen him since Wander was... younger. The man he was watching was anything but that little kid that he remembered.

Phalanx turned sharp and the horse went into a drift across the sand to follow, while Wander lifted a bow and fired an arrow at a spot under the belly between the wings. The arrow hit the mark, causing the colossus to groan and drop his wings to drag across the surface of the sand. Wander rode up quickly toward one of the wings and leapt off his horse to grab the wing. Phalanx exhaled heavily, lifting his wings from the sand as he took to the skies. Sean could barely see Wander anymore, but asked Illinois curiously. "What do you think he is doing?" Illinois kept Sean close, uttering out. "I have no idea... Do you know him? He looks like one of yours." Sean huffed, honestly replying. "I... I'm not sure." Phalanx soared around, then with a sudden jerk, he crashed into the sand as a black smoke spewed from his back. The black smoky tendrils reached out and surrounded Wander before he fell to the sand unconscious. The large form of Phalanx crumbling into lifeless ruins. Sean started to walk toward Wander, until more black smoke leaked from the form of Phalanx and took the form of what looked like gnarly humanoid birds with glowing bright white eyes. Fluttering over to Wander's body, one picked him up to put him over his shoulder. Then they began to sink into a shadowy circle, prompting Sean to ran after them.

Illinois rushed after Sean, blurting out. "Sean! Wait!" Not wasting time, Sean snatched up a bit of rumble from the fallen colossus and threw it at the shadowy figure holding Wander. He had expected the rock to go right through its smoky form. Instead, it passed through it, but seemed to hurt it as if he'd been solid. Dropping Wander, the things turned to attack him. Feeling the ring pulse, Sean lifted his hand and the ring pulsed with a bright red light that made the creatures squeal before fading away. With them gone, Sean dropped down beside Wander and touched his neck to feel for a pulse. He was alive... but something was wrong with him. His skin looked grey and felt cold. Turning his arm over, Sean asked Illinois anxiously. "Illinois...? He looks... infected..." Illinois reached down to touch Wander's head, saying softly. "It sure does look that way. I've never seen anything like this... but it seems so similar to the nightmares." Sean glanced around and saw the large black horse standing a few feet away, just watching them. Getting to his feet, he told Illinois hopefully. "I'm going to try and get his horse. We can't leave him here in case those things come back."

Illinois snatched his wrist, pulling on it enough to draw his attention back when he said in a protective tone. "Sean, are you sure? Look." Illinois carefully pulled down the headband a bit on Wander to reveal small horns just above his temples and hidden perfectly within his messy brown hair. Sean swallowed but told Illinois coolly. "Yes. I'm sure. CyberNateic said we'd meet someone here and he's the only one around. Plus... He's family. I'm not leaving him until he can tell me what's going on." Illinois looked reluctant but scooped Wander up into his arms. With Wander in their possession, the large black horse cautiously moved closer to them. Allowing Sean to touch its soft warm nose. Taking the reins, Sean pointed off into the canyon more, informing Illinois only a little confidently. "I think we want to go that way. It should take us through a tunnel and across a bridge to the Clover Kingdom." Illinois started walking beside him, while Sean led the horse and asked with slight concern. "You remember this path enough to know if Anti has changed it in some way... right?" Sean winced, mumbling out honestly. "Not really... I've been here only a handful of times."

Making their way to the entrance of a cave, Sean cautiously inched inside and out of the sandy wind. Shaking the sand off his clothes and from the horse's face, he told Illinois gruffly. "Got a light?" Illinois hefted Wander in his arms to get a better hold on him, then answered a bit strained. "Front pocket. I have a lighter." Blushing a little, Sean slid his hand into Illinois' pocket. He tried not to think about how sexual this was, but Illinois jerked a little and chuckled out. "That's not it. That's me." Sean blushed a deeper red, until he found the lighter. Flicking the lighter open, he flicked the roller to ignite the flame. The lighter gave off enough light to see a few feet ahead, but Sean hesitated to move in. He was getting flashbacks from his nightmare. The rocky walls were the same color as his nightmare and the dim lighting had him on edge. Illinois touched his shoulder with the back of his hand, asking him with concern. "Sean? Something wrong?" Sean flicked the lighter closed, turning back toward the light of the exit as he uttered out breathlessly. "I... I don't think I can do this... We'll have to find another way around." Illinois moved to the horse and carefully set Wander across the horses bare broad back. Turning to face Sean, he reached out to touch his arms and asked gently. "Sean...? Talk to me? Is it your claustrophobia?"

Sean shook his head, mumbling out between deep breaths. "No... It's... I had a nightmare in the lab... I was in a maze. I was chased by..." Realizing that what he was saying sounded stupid, he bowed his head and uttered out flatly. "I'm sorry..." Illinois hugged him close, whispering into his ear soothingly. "Don't apologize. You keep an eye on Wander. I'll go in first." Sean clutched Illinois' shirt, shaking his head in response. Illinois kissed his temple, whispering to him softly. "It's fine. I do this kind of thing all the time. Just stay behind me at a distance. We'll be ok." Reluctantly, Sean let Illinois take the lighter from him. Illinois flicked it back on, then slowly scouted ahead. Sean stood by the horse, watching Illinois check the walls and floor before venturing farther and farther ahead. When he scouted a good distance, he waved for him to come in, telling him confidently. "It's clear so far. Move slow and take deep slow breaths." Sean took a long inhale, then forced himself to step forward. As dark as the cave was, Illinois kept the lighter where he could see until he reached him. Only then did he tell him to stay and ventured out again.

The process was slow, but they were making steady progress. Illinois was inspecting the floor ahead, when Sean heard the scuffling of rocks behind him. Turning to stare into the dark, Sean called out in a spooked voice. "Illinois? Something is moving..." From up ahead, Illinois told him calmly. "Don't panic. Walk to me slowly." Sean started walking toward Illinois, but his eyes were locked on the darkness behind him, causing him to stumble a little. The stumble startled the horse, prompting Sean to panic a little as the horse tried to pull away from him. Illinois quickly told him in a comforting tone. "Whoa, easy! Sean. Sean, look at me. Sean?" Sean stopped, looking at Illinois with wide fragile eyes. Beckoning him closer, Illinois told him with a smile. "Look only at me. Come to me." Sean gulped, inching toward Illinois. When he reached him, Illinois took his hand and told him comfortingly. "It's ok. It was probably a bat or a few rocks shifting because of what I touched. You're ok." Sean nodded, squeezing Illinois' hand for a moment. When he released him, Illinois began to continue onward, telling him casually to break up the silence. "If anyone should be scared. It should be me. I was exploring an enchanted cave once to retrieve an artifact for a museum. Ended up getting chased by a damn boulder... To make matters worse... I tripped."

Sean snorted, asking curiously. "You weren't crushed?" Illinois winked at him, telling him playfully. "Oh, I was. Turns out the boulder was an illusion. A big balloon. Piloted by two rats that were paid handsomely in cheese to chase me down. I wanted to be pissed... but you should have seen their little pilot uniforms. Adorable." Sean laughed, moving closer to the horse to hide his face. Illinois snickered, standing up after checking the floor to say innocently. "It got me good though." Sean rolled his eyes, then jumped as a skeleton popped out from a narrow nook in the wall with a sword plunged through its ribcage. The blade tip came within inches of Illinois' neck, but he didn't flinch. Sean shuddered, petting the shifting horse to calm it. While Illinois reached out to lift a set of dog tags off the neck of it, causing the skull to pop off and roll passed Sean. Reading the name, Illinois sighed and grumbled out. "Ah, poor Timmy. Assistant number four. I warned him about floor traps... guess I should have mentioned wall traps. But really... after thirty-seven assistants... you either have the instinct or you don't. And he didn't." Illinois tossed the dog tags, adding as he pushed the skeleton back into place. "Besides... Now I know who he was trying to sell the artifact he stole from me too. The bastard."

Sean blinked, asking bluntly. "Who? Anti?" Illinois huffed, pointing to the footprints in the dirt as he told him a bit bitterly. "No. The Blood Hunter. I'd recognize those snazzy shoe prints anywhere. Though what he wants with an old umbilical cord relic, I'll never understand. I didn't even get to look into what made it so special before Timmy ran off with it." Sean made a disgusted face, then yelped as Wander grabbed his shoulder. To Be Continued...