"Enter" said Ollie as he looked up from what he was writing as he sat down on the desk in his study, he was doing some of his assignments.
"I do hope that I am not disturbing you" said Christina as she walked into Ollie's study with a smile.
"No… not at all Mother" said Ollie as he stood up in respect to his mother as she smiled and she sat down and then he sat down.
"What are you doing Ollie?" asked Christina as she smiled.
"Just some of my assignments Mother" replied Ollie as he looked at his mother.
"I see" said Christina as she smiled.
"Yes Mother" said Ollie.
"You do not look happy Ollie, what's wrong?" asked Christina as she smiled at him.
"I am not happy Mother" said Ollie as he replied, he was not one to hide his emotions, if he was not happy, you would know, and if he was happy, it would be obvious to see.
"Is if because of the abrupt departure of your friends?" asked Christina as she smiled and Ollie did not have to say anything, because it was obvious that, that was the reason he was unhappy.
"Ollie I…" said Christina as she sighed.
"Mother, I thought you would have refused and insisted for them to stay for a few more days" said Ollie as he sighed, he knew his Father did not like his friends, so he was obviously happy that they were gone now, which is why he relied so much on his mother.
"I am sorry Ollie, but they had their reasons for returning, and you must respect that" said Christina sadly.
"You know that they could not stay here forever" said Christina.
"And you can always go and visit them at the Palace" said Christina as she smiled.
"I know mother, but I also know that Father will never let me leave the Castle, he dislikes it when I do" said Ollie sadly.
"Do not worry about that Ollie, from now on, you are allowed to the Castle, as long as you inform me or your Father earlier" said Christina as she smiled.
"Are you sure about that mother?" asked Ollie.
"Of course I am my boy, believe me, I have spoken to your father, and he will be lenient with you from now on" said Christina as she smiled.
"Really Mother?" asked Ollie in surprise.
"Really" said Christina with a smile as she nodded her head.
"Oh thank you Mother" said Ollie as she smiled.
"You do not need to thank me at all Ollie" said Christina as she smiled, he was her son, and she would do anything for him, she loved him like she loved her own soul.
"Thank you Mother" said Ollie as he smiled, if there was someone he could always count on, that would be his dear mother.
"How about you give me a hug?" asked Christina as she smiled.
"Of course Mother, thank you" said Ollie as he smiled and he stood up and he gave his mother a hug as she smiled.
"Thank you my son" said Christina as she smiled.
"So what is your assignment about?" asked Christina as smiled and she broke their hug.
"Well I have to research about all the different witches living in our realm" said Ollie as he smiled and he went back to his seat.
"Well that seems easy enough" said Christina as she smiled.
"Yes seems, but it is not mother, all witches include the mountain dwellers" said Ollie.
"Well that is an awfully advanced assignment for you" said Christina as she smiled, most witches did not even know about the mountain dwellers, they were a group of witches that decided to cut themselves off from the rest of the Realm and live in the mountains.
"I know mother, but Father asked me to make sure to carry out a thorough research" said Ollie as he sighed.
"Oh my…" said Christina.
"Your father and his methods" she said as she shook her head.
"Don't worry mother, I will be fine" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Oh I know that you will be my son, but regardless good luck" said Christina as she smiled.
"Thank you Mother" said Ollie as he smiled and Christina smiled at him.
…
"Ahhh it feels sooo good to be back in our own room" said Maddie as she groaned in happiness and she fell flat on her bed.
"Oh I missed you bed, even though the bed in the Castle was much more softer, but I still missed you anyway" said Maddie as she spoke to her bed as if it could hear her, and that in turn caused Annie to laugh at Maddie's silliness.
"What??" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie.
"You look very silly right now" said Annie as she laughed.
"Well my dear Annie, I am just so happy to be back in the comfort of my own home, and yes, you heard me correctly, I consider the Palace like my home" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Well I have to agree there… it does feel like home" said Annie as she smiled, the Palace was like their home, even though it wasn't.
"So what do you think Curtis wants to talk to us about?" asked Maddie.
"Because he looked very serious" said Maddie.
"I am just as clueless as you are Maddie, he didn't tell me anything at all" said Annie.
"But you are right, he looked very serious… so serious that I am worried it's going to be bad news" said Annie as she sighed.
"Aww Annie, don't think like that, you can never know for sure until Curtis says It himself" said Maddie as she smiled.
"But I mean, the way he announced that we were leaving the Castle was so sudden" said Annie.
"I agree with you there, even though I am happy that we left, but there was something off about it all" said Maddie.
"But like I said, the only way for us to know for sure is if we go to the meeting with Aunt Stella, I am sure Curtis will explain what is going on there" said Maddie.
"You know, I hope you are right" said Annie as she sighed.
…
"We are all here Curtis… so what do you want to tell us?" asked Stella as she looked at Curtis, they were all in her office right now, and she was as clueless as the rest of them were.
"Yes Stella is right Curtis, we are all clueless here, what is it Curtis?" asked Lisa as she was getting worried.
"Curtis, I really hope its not bad news" said Maddie as she was sitting next to Annie and Annie turned to look at her as she wished the same as well.
"Everyone please calm down, it is not bad news at all" said Curtis as he finally spoke up, now he was sure of what he was saying.
"Oh thank goodness" said Stella.
"So what is it then?" asked John as Curtis looked at him.
"I have found a way to get Annie's powers back" said Curtis.
"You have??" asked Maddie and Matt in shock as Stella was left speechless as she seemed to be thinking.
"Yes… I have" said Curtis as he looked at Annie while she was frozen… did she hear right?? He had found a way to get her powers back, she could not believe it, but at the same time, she knew that he would fulfil his promise, he never broke his promises, never ever.
"Oh Curtis, this is wonderful news" said Lisa as she smiled, but Stella stayed quiet, she could sense that there was a clause coming up.
"Yes it is but…" said Curtis as he was cut off.
"But what?" asked Annie as Curtis looked at her, it really broke his heart that his good news would soon be overshadowed, but she needed to know, that would be the only way they would be able to get her powers back.
"But… its not going to be easy to restore them" said Curtis.
"How do you mean?" asked Annie.
"What I mean is… your powers won't just come back… and I am not sure of if the solution I have found will give us a hundred percent Insurance that your powers will be restored" said Curtis sadly as the room went quiet.
"So you are saying that there is a solution, but at the same time, its not sure?" asked Maddie as everyone else nodded, she had said what was all on their minds.
"Yes… like that" said Curtis as he nodded.
"Unbelievable" said Maddie to herself as she scoffed.
"So, what exactly is your solution then Curtis?" asked Stella as Curtis turned to look at her, she still did not know what he was playing at, he was being mysterious and uncertain.
"We need to go to the mountain" said Curtis and Annie was getting more confused every passing second.