"What do you mean by we have to go to a mountain?" asked Maddie as she was seriously confused and she had just asked the question that everyone had on their minds as well.
"Well yes Maddie, when you put it like that, that is what I mean" said Curtis as he replied.
"This is crazy Curtis" said Maddie as she was never one to hide how she felt, and right now, this entire situation was crazy to her. Curtis came along, saying that he had found a way to get Annie's powers back, and yet here he was talking about a mountain.
"Curtis, I am confused, what does a mountain have to do with me getting my powers back?" asked Annie as she could not understand.
"There is a witch legend that talks about the eternal springs, from where the eternal waters of life spring forth from" said Curtis as he began to explain.
"Those eternal waters, have been known to cure many things, be it sicknesses, wounds… it has even been known to grant one eternal life… immortality" said Curtis as everyone listened to him intently.
"Many Witch folk believe that the waters are just a myth, but I for one, know that it is true" said Curtis.
"Father Abraham, the one who created me, told me about these waters once, he had been there, in seek of desperate help when Azazel first began to chase after him, he drank from the water, and although he was not privileged enough to receive immortality, all his wounds were healed" said Curtis as Stella was busy in her own thoughts, she knew where Curtis was going with this story of his.
"The water has healing powers" said Curtis.
"So do you mean that I can get my powers if I drink the water?" asked Annie as she wanted to make sure she knew just what Curtis was trying to say.
"Well that's the thing Annie…" said Curtis as he paused.
"There is not a hundred percent certainty that you will get your powers If we manage to go to the mountain" said Curtis as everyone sighed, their moment of hope was now shattered by uncertainty.
"Oh Curtis" said Maddie as she sighed, he had gotten their hopes all high for nothing at all, what was the point when they were not sure that they would get Annie's powers back in the end.
"Everyone please calm down, let us hear Curtis out" said Stella as she snapped out of her thoughts and she looked at Curtis, now it all made sense, but the truth was that, just like everyone else she thought that, that eternal water was just a legend, but now that Curtis mentioned it, it had to be true.
"Curtis please continue" said Stella as she gestured that Curtis go on as he nodded his head.
"I know that you all blame me for giving you false hope, but… this is our last option, our last resort" said Curtis as everyone else was still sceptical about this whole thing, to them all, it felt like a dead end.
"Wait…" said Annie as she spoke and everyone turned to look at her.
"I… I mean, Curtis is right… this is our last option" said Annie.
"And well how will be know if it will work or not, if we don't try?" asked Annie as everyone else had to admit that she had a valid point there.
"Annie is right everyone… we need to try first" said Stella as she agreed with Annie.
"But I don't know about this Annie…" said Matt as he was still having doubts, this was all just too much, and his main concern was that Annie would be okay, he did not want her to get hurt at all.
"Matt…" said Annie as she looked at Matt.
"Trust me…because I trust Curtis" said Annie as she looked at Curtis and she smiled at him as he smiled at her.
"And I know that he will never do or say anything that will put me in danger" said Annie as he had sure confidence in Curtis.
"And if he decided to tell us about this mountain and the eternal waters… then… then it means that he has hope that this will work, even a little bit" said Annie as in all honesty, at this point she was desperate, she was tired of being wake, of being frail, she was tired of it all.
"Thank you Annie" said Curtis as he smiled.
"Alright then sweetie, if you trust him, then so do we" said Lisa as she forced a smile.
"Thank you mom" said Annie as she smiled at her mother.
Annie looked at Maddie, she could tell that she still did not like the whole idea, Maddie met Annie's eyes, as Annie smiled at her and Maddie sighed in defeat, how could she not say yes to that cute, little innocent smile of Annie's.
"Curtis you better have a valid plan" said Maddie as she looked at Curtis.
"Believe me I do…" said Curtis.
"But first, before anything else, we need to journey to the mountain first" said Curtis.
"Wait Curtis" said Stella as everyone turned to look at her.
"Yes Stella?" asked Curtis as he looked at Stella.
"Which mountain are you referring to?" asked Stella as she wanted to be sure of if her thoughts were on the right track.
"Mountain Caligo" said Curtis as he replied and Stella sighed internally, it was just as she feared.
"Alright you may go on" said Stella as she did not want to interrupt Curtis any further she would just speak to him later, in private, because she was not sure of this at all.
"So as I was saying the name of the mountain is Caligo" said Curtis.
"It is one of the oldest mountains in our realm" said Curtis as he explained.
"But before we can even think of going there, we need a plan" said Curtis as he looked at everyone and Maddie looked at Annie as Annie looked at her and then at Matt.
…
"Annie what do you think of this whole mountain thing?" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie, they were back In their own room.
"I don't know honestly" said Annie as she sighed.
"But if Curtis says that there is a chance that I can get my powers back, I am going to go for it" replied Annie.
"I know how you feel but… I feel like this whole thing Is dangerous" said Maddie as she sighed, this whole mountain situation did not make her feel at ease at all, the fact that they were turning to a legend for help did not make her have any assurance in the supposed resulted outcome, this all seemed baseless to her.
"Well we will know for sure once Curtis Is done with his plan" said Annie as she sat on her bed.
"We just have to be ready for anything" said Annie as she smiled.
"I guess so" said Maddie as she still was not sure about this at all.
…
"Curtis, I want to know if you are sure of what you just suggested?" asked Stella as she and Curtis were alone in her office, she needed to sit him down and talk to him.
"Yes, I am" said Curtis as he replied.
"But you do know that mons Caligo Is a very dangerous mountain, in fact the most dangerous in the entire Realm" said Stella as she showed her concern.
"Yes I do" said Curtis as he replied.
"Curtis, mountain Caligo, is more than dangerous it is deadly" said Stella.
"It Is named Caligo for a reason" said Stella.
"The sheer mist that envelopes that mountain serves as a warning to all to stay away" said Stella.
"Stella you do not have to tell me all thing, I am already aware of all that" said Curtis.
"I just want to make sure that you are Curtis" said Stella as she sighed.
"Do you really think that It will be safe up there for Annie?" asked Stella as in the end she was jut truly worried, she wanted no harm to come to Annie at all.
"I will protect her even if it is not" said Curtis.
"Oh Curtis, that does not give me assurance at all, you cannot protect her, or at least not in the state you are in right now" said Stella.
"The two of you need to be very careful" said Stella.
"Stella I know what I am doing, and I am going to make sure I will do my duty as Annie's guardian, she is my responsibility and no one else's" said Curtis as he narrowed his eyes at Stella and Stella sighed, Curtis was putting her in her place, he was indirectly telling her not to interfere with his decisions.
"Fine Curtis, I hear you… and I will not interfere" said Stella as she stood down, she knew that this was no time to argue at all.
"Better" said Curtis.
"Just know Curtis, I am always here, and carry me along" said Stella.
"I will" said Curtis.
"Which reminds me… their Majesties know that Annie has lost her powers" said Stella.
"It was only a matter of time before they came to the conclusion, they can sense high magic, so it does make sense if they knew already" said Curtis as he replied plainly.
"Would you allow it if I told them the situation on ground?" asked Stella.
"You can tell them, there is really nothing important on ground that they do not already know" said Curtis.
"You trust them?" asked Stella.
"It is not a matter of trust but of commitment to the betterment of the Realm" said Curtis as he was sure that in the end Albert and Christina cared for the safety of their realm.
"You are right about that Curtis" said Stella as she sighed and she replied.
"So what is your plan?" asked Stella.
"I am not done making it yet" replied Curtis.
"But I will soon" he said.
"Alright then" said Stella as she nodded her head.
…
"Albie you know, I always thought that your name was never attractive" said Christina as she laughed and she looked at Albert as he frowned, he was here in his office trying to work, and yet here his wife was, disturbing him.
"It is the truth, ever since we were children, I always thought that the name Albert was not attractive at all, but you proved me wrong, my darling husband" said Christina as she smiled and Albert smiled, he liked being praised, he did know that he was a very attractive man, but it was nice to hear it from someone else.
"But then again, I thought it through, and I realized that you could have been given an even more unattractive name, like Angus" said Christina.
"Now that is a very unattractive name" said Christina.
"If you were named Angus, I probably would not have married you at all, what would I even call you?? Angie?? No that sound too much, An..gus, you see anyway I say it, it still sounds very unattractive" said Christina as she laughed and Albert did not look pleased at all.
"I believe that I should change my name to Angus then" said Albert as he scoffed.
"Oh Albie, you would not dare, because If you do, I will walk out the door and you will not see me again" said Christina as she laughed and Albert rolled his eyes, she was being overdramatic as always.
"Oh well then, I believe that you get my point" said Christina as she laughed.
"What are you working on?" asked Christina.
"A new treaty between the Vampire Realm and our Realm" said Albert as he replied.
"What happened to the old one?" asked Christina.
"Well nothing" said Albert.
"King Henry just expressed that he believed that the old treaty was too outdated" said Albert as he placed his golden pen on his desk.
"I see" said Christina, maintaining a good relationship with the Royals of the other realms was very essential to keep peace within Realms.
"Well let me leave you to it, I never did like paperwork, I always preferred swords" said Christina as she winked at him and she stood up as she walked out of his office and he sighed, he wondered how he got stuck with her? Even though he did love her regardless.