"I am sure that you all know by now that Prince Ollie expressed his interest to go along with you all to Mount Caligo" said Stella as she spoke to Annie, Maddie, Matt and Curtis as they were all In her office along with her.
"But unfortunately he will not be able to tag along, his Father had forbidden it" said Stella as she sighed, she was in her office two evening's ago, when she suddenly got an emergency call from Albert, she had initially thought that maybe something very serious was happening, maybe Azazel had returned and the Realm was on the verge of collapsing.
But to her surprise, Albert had called her to warn her, saying that she should not indulge his son and encourage stupid ideas that would put him in danger, she was surprised to say the least and Albert sounded very angry.
But she had assured him that she was not quite sure of what he was talking about, all she knew was that Ollie came to her office earlier in the day to ask for information and nothing more, and it was then that Albert strictly forbade her from letting Ollie go anywhere even if he came to her, and seeing as she was only the Chancellor, she had no other choice than to listen to the instructions of her King.
"Oh is that so now??" asked Maddie.
"What a bummer" she said as she smiled, she did not even make any attempt to hide her relief or happiness at all.
"Could you even just pretend not to be so overjoyed?" asked Matt as he looked at Maddie and he shook his head.
"Hey, no, I am no pretender at all, I have done my fair share of that, and quite frankly, it's so boring and annoying" said Maddie as she smiled and Matt just shook his head as Annie did the same.
"Poor Prince Oliver" said Annie.
"Annie, don't call him poor, he is a prince after all" said Maddie as she finally seemed to remember that they were all with Aunt Stella right now, and she sheepishly turned to look at Stella who could only laugh as she shook her head.
"Sorry…" said Maddie sheepishly as she smiled.
"There is no need to be sorry Maddie, you were only saying what was on your mind" said Stella as she smiled.
"Although I do recommend that if you have nothing pleasant to say about someone, then it is better to keep it to yourself, just as a way to keep yourself out of trouble" said Stella as she smiled.
"Yes Aunt" said Maddie as he nodded her head, Stella was right after all.
Stella smiled at Maddie as she turned to look at Curtis who had been as quiet as always.
"Curtis, do you have anything to say?" asked Stella.
"How is your plan and everything else coming along?" asked Stella as she smiled.
"Good" replied Curtis.
"We will leave for Caligo early tomorrow morning, when the mist is a bit clear" said Curtis.
"What?? So quickly?" asked Maddie as everyone looked at her, she was shocked, she did not know that they would leave so soon, tomorrow was tomorrow.
"Tomorrow?" asked Maddie once again as she really wished that Curtis was joking.
"Yes, tomorrow" replied Curtis plainly, as if he did not see a problem with what he had just said.
"But, that's too soon Curtis, way too soon" said Maddie as Annie and Matt had to agree with her, it was true, they were going way too fast and too soon with this.
"I have to agree with Maddie Curtis, it is true, do you not think that leaving early tomorrow morning would be too soon? I mean we have not had enough time to prepare yet, and the Journey will not be a quick one, not at all" said Stella.
"I do understand that you all might think that we are moving too soon" said Curtis.
"But this is all necessary, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get to the top of Caligo, and if we do that and we are successful, we might have a chance of getting Annie's powers back, and once we are able to do that, everything will run smoothly from there" said Curtis.
The truth was that he did not want them all to worry, he had a strong feeling, a very strong one that something bad was about to happen, and that involved Azazel, he could not pinpoint exactly what would happen since his powers were gone as well, but he knew that it would be better for them not to be present here when anything that wanted to happen, happened.
He was sure that Annie and the others would be safer on the mountain than down here where Azazel would have easy access to them, Annie's safety was his top concern at this moment.
"I agree with Curtis, I really want to get my powers back" said Annie as everyone looked at her, she was desperate, and they knew it, but they could not blame her at all, they knew that she was tired of everything, and they were too.
"Oh dear" said Stella as she smiled sadly, she really felt for Annie, she was only a child, and yet she had so much problems to face, she was only sixteen, of how she wished that Annie did not have to go through this, but no one could choose their own fate.
"And we will Annie" said Curtis as he looked at Annie and he smiled at her.
"Well alright then, you know that we have no say in this" said Maddie as she sighed.
"And Curtis, you are the leader, and Annie follows you, so we do too" said Maddie as she smiled and Stella could not help but laugh, Maddie was always such a handful.
"Oh Maddie, don't make me laugh" said Stella as she laughed.
"What?? It's the truth isn't it Aunt?" asked Maddie as she laughed and Matt shook his head as he and Annie looked at each other and they both smiled.
"I will take that as a compliment Maddie" said Curtis.
"Anyway you take it Curtis, just know that we are all counting on you" said Maddie.
"I know" said Curtis.
"Good" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Well, back to what we were saying earlier" said Curtis.
"Since we will be leaving tomorrow, I would advice if you all pack up for tomorrow" said Curtis.
"Should we pack light or heavy?" asked Maddie as Curtis looked at her and he shook his head as he sighed.
"What, it's a valid question??" asked Maddie, she wanted to be prepared for anything, or any type of weather.
"Yes it Is dear" said Stella as she smiled.
"And because it is such a valid question, I suggest that you pack light, and have some warm clothes with you, because it does get very chilly on the mountain" said Stella as she smiled.
"Alright Aunt, thank you" said Maddie as she smiled.
"You are welcome dear" said Stella as she smiled.
"Annie, are you alright?" asked Stella as she smiled and she looked at Annie who was very quiet.
"I am alright Aunt Stella" said Annie as she smiled.
"Are you sure dear?" asked Stella as she smiled, she was worried.
"I am sure Aunt Stella" said Annie as she smiled.
"Alright then" said Stella as she smiled.
"And you Matt, are you alright?" asked Stella as she looked at Matt and she smiled.
"Yes Aunt, I am" said Matt as he smiled, and Stella smiled at him.
"Well Aunt, I will see you later, I will go and get packing" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Alright dear, see you" said Stella as she smiled.
"Are you coming with me?" asked Maddie as she turned to look at Annie and Matt and she smiled.
"Sure" said Annie as she smiled.
"Why not" said Matt as he smiled and he and Annie stood up as they followed after Maddie and Matt closed the door behind them.
"Now that they are gone, tell me Curtis, there is something wrong isn't there?" asked Stella as she narrowed her eyes at Curtis, she knew that when he was too quiet, there was something wrong.
"How are you so sure?" asked Curtis.
"You are too quiet" said Stella as Curtis did not reply.
"It is Azazel isn't it?" asked Stella.
"There is something that you are not telling us Curtis" said Stella as she knew that was the truth Curtis is always so secretive, it was just his nature.
"I do not say anything because I am not sure" said Curtis.
"But all I have to say is be careful" said Curtis.
"You too Curtis, be careful, make sure to look after Annie and Maddie and Matt, alright" said Stella.
"You do not have to tell me that Stella, I will" said Curtis.
"Have you told Lisa and John yet?" asked Stella.
"No, I will speak to them now" said Curtis.
"Alright Curtis" said Stella as she relaxed herself, Curtis would take care of everything, or so she hoped.