The charmed one eventually managed to kill the other advisor and stood up, looking confused. Oci grinned and released him from his spell, then drew one of his knives. The man blinked, staring at the dead advisor in horror, then looked at Oci. He charged at Oci, his eyes wild. Oci sighed and killed him quite quickly. "Heh. That was sloppy." He looked towards Marco, then grinned at the dead king. "Guess we didn't need this to kill him, after all!" Oci held up the staff.
Marco nodded grimly. "Guess not." he said, his voice quiet as he came forward, then sat down on the steps. He seemed melancholy, unsure of what to do.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Oci walked over to the steps and sat down next to Marco. "Uh… is everything fixed for you now, or is there more to do?" He placed the bloody knife on the steps next to him, wishing he'd brought something to clean it with him. He'd just have to find one in this huge castle. Oci peeked at Marco from the side of his eye, unsure of what to do now. Did Marco need a hug, or maybe some time alone? He had no idea.
Marco shook his head, "There's really not much else I can do.." he said softly, "I'll never find them…" he sighed, pulling his knees to his chest, feeling empty.
"Huh. Well. That sucks." Oci picked up the knife, then put it back down again. "Why won't you find them? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." He clasped both his hands together in his lap and stared at them. He couldn't imagine how Marco was feeling. Mostly because he'd never really had anyone to worry about before. Definitely not parents or siblings to care about.
Marco sighed, "I wouldn't know where to look," he said softly, "I was eight when I was last here…. there's no way I'll find them." he sighed, suddenly wanting to cry. He wanted his family back.
"Well, then, we'll just have to search the entire castle!" Oci said, not wanting to see Marco so sad. This 'looking sad' thing usually wasn't an issue, but with Marco… he didn't want that expression on his beautiful face. "There has to be someone in this castle that will know where they are! We just need to find them and make them tell us." He had turned towards Marco during this time and leaned forward slightly, wanting desperately for Marco to see a bit of hope in this situation.
"It's been over a decade." he said softly, "There's no way anyone knows…" he looked back up at him, unable to stop the glimmer of hope in his eyes as he thought it over again. Moments later, he snapped his fingers, "The dungeons! There's a secret passage that leads to a cave network that can only be opened from the outside!"
"The dungeons!" Oci grinned at Marco, glad to see hope in his eyes. "Do you think they'll be there? Or near there? Or there'll be a clue that's near there? Oh, nevermind. Shall we go?" He hoped to the gods that they found Marco's family very alive and as healthy as one could be. He didn't want to see any more sadness in that poor boy's eyes. Oh, gods, what was happening to him? Since when did he care about other people?
Marco nodded, "I doubt theyll be there anymore…. my dad was going to show…" he trailed off and swallowed a lump in his throat. "I know there's another exit to the caverns that the king never knew about." he said softly, getting to his feet, "Cmon!"
"Alright, then." Oci jumped to his feet and grabbed his knife. He quickly walked over to one of the fallen advisors and wiped the knife clean on his jacket. He then sheathed it and walked back to Marco. "Lead the way!" Oci managed to resist the urge to put a comforting hand on Marco's shoulder. He probably wouldn't like that. He probably didn't like Oci that much. Thoughts kept running through his head, as if his brain was trying to convince his feelings they were wrong.
Marco nodded, honestly grateful for the other's support and reassurance, trying to hang onto the hope the other had given him as he made his way through familliar corridors to the dungeons.
Oci followed Marco through the hallways, staying in guard in case someone decided to stop them. After all, they had killed the king. By no one stopped them. Oci didn't think anyone even knew the king was dead yet.
Marco kept going until they reached the dungeons, which were scarce of prisoners for the most part. Marco went to one of the cells in the back, checking along the back wall.
"This place sure is cheery." Oci muttered, mostly to himself. "Glad I never got to experience it." He shook his head and walked over to Marco. "So, what's the plan?"
Marco sighed, "I'm going off of almost nothing here, so I don't know." he said softly, examining every block in the wall.
"Okay." Oci nodded and started looking at the other cells. They were really deary places, and he was glad to see that almost all of them were empty. "Tell me if you need any help."
Marco kept searching the wall, before finally finding the next panel, "I got it!" he cried, pushing it in and opening up another secret door, this one leading into a natural cavern.
"Oh, nice!" Oci grinned at Marco and started towards him. "There are a lot of secret doors in here. I like it." He glanced through the door into the cavern. "Where's this lead to? It looks really fun."
Marco hummed softly, staring down into the dark tunnel. "It leads to the catacombs below the castle, which lead to seacaves that lead to the northern seas." he said softly.
"Oh, catacombs. Interesting." Oci looked at Marco. "What will we be doing down there?" He breathed in the musty air of the dungeons, wondering what the northern seas would smell like. He'd never been to the sea– it would be interesting if that's where they were going.
Searching for any signs of my parents… and little sister.." he said softly, barely managing to keep his tone even as he peered down the blackness, seemingly frozen in place.
"I see." Oci nodded slowly, then walked up to Marco and put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "Well, then. Shall we get going?" He looked at Marco with a hesitant but reassuring smile.
Marco started a little when he felt the other's hand on his shoulder, but nodded, staying silent as he took the first step into the dark tunnel.
Oci let his hand fall off of Marco's shoulder– putting it there in the first place was a mistake. "Do you need a bit of fire to light the way, or are there lights in there already?" He asked softly.
Marco hummed, lifting a hand to the wall, finding the familiar markings that lined all the passageways, lighting up the tunnel.
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