"That is true, now that Azazel's gone it's kind of hard to remember that he was once a huge problem that plagued the entire realm." said Ollie as he chuckled and Matt chuckled in agreement.
"But I mean dude, before you learnt about Azazel or even came to the witch realm in the first place, didn't you have something you liked doing?" asked Ollie while Matt shook his head leaving Ollie was shocked, obviously waiting for an explanation.
"But why??!" asked Ollie as he was certainly shocked, he had never once met someone without any hobbies and he could tell that Matt was not lying, he truly had nothing he liked doing.
"Well back in Sunset village I really had no time to pursue other interests, after all we just moved there and I was still settling into life over there, and my parents worked all the time and they were rarely home and since I was the oldest, I always had to take care of my siblings." said Matt.
"My afternoons always went like this. I got back home from school, either I went to go pick up the twins from their own school or Evie sometimes did that on her way back from school then I had to make lunch for them and take care of Noey, and then I had some time to do my homework, then after that I had to start preparing dinner." he explained.
"And then after dinner I watched my siblings and made sure that they all went to bed at the right time and then finally once they were all asleep I had some alone time. I usually spent that time alone watching tv and then I usually fell asleep and I didn't wake up until my parents came back home." said Matt.
"Oh my goodness Matt, that sounds really stressful..." said Ollie as he being an only child, he could never imagine taking care of someone else other than himself. He was always by himself and yet here Matt was who was used to taking care of his siblings by himself all the time.
"I know it does sounds stressful and it was, but not to me, I was used to it by then, and things didn't always used to be like that. Before we moved to Sunset Village my mom used to stay at home all day, I don't know why we moved, my parents never told us the real reason, but once we did, things changed and my mom had to start working which left me to take care of my siblings." said Matt.
"And you know how much of a handful all my siblings can be." said Matt as he chuckled and Ollie chuckled as well.
"Yes that's for sure, I like them all a lot, but I can't imagine having to take care of all of the time, and I do mean to offend you." said Ollie.
"I'm not offended at all, I get you, I love my siblings a lot, but I needed a break at one point it felt like my life was just this rotating cycle of the same activities, it was school, home, school, home" said Matt as he sighed.
"But don't you like reading?" asked Ollie.
"I do, but only minimally, the only reason I started to pick up on my reading skills was because Annie really loved reading, and I wanted us to have something to talk about." said Matt as he smiled.
"Ahh I see... so you truly don't have anything you're interested in?" asked Ollie for confirmation as Matt nodded.
"So now you can see why I feel so pathetic without any drive." said Matt sadly.
"Don't say that Matt, everyone feels a little lost sometimes, it's only normal, it's part of life to go through ups and downs and rounds and rounds." said Ollie.
"Take me for example, there was one time where I was certainly fed up with my life, it felt like it was the same routine over and over again, even my favourite pastime sword fighting started to feel boring since it was only always me, it was predictable." said Ollie.
"I have to say that my life was boring... until the day that I met you guys." said Ollie as Matt smiled.
"I'm not joking, it was literally a relief to meet you and Maddie. That day that I came to the Palace and for the first time I met you and Maddie who was far from friendly, I had heard of all your adventures and I really thought that you were so cool." said Ollie as Matt chuckled.
"And even though I will admit that my timing of appearance was off with Annie being in a coma and everything, I was really looking forward to meeting her and getting to know her and you guys under calmer circumstances. It was like a breath of fresh air to meet people my age for a change." said Ollie as he laughed.
"Now I am sure that you are wondering how this corelates to what you're going through, what I mean to convey is that sometimes in life... you need a change that ushers in a new chapter of your life." said Ollie as he smiled.
"And I think that in your case, Artrovan is that new chapter. Trust me when I say that you will learn a lot there and you will enjoy your time there. You will have so many resources to develop new skills and interests." said Ollie.
"So I guess that what I'm trying to say is... don't worry about it Matt, because life won't always continue the way it is, it always changes, and I am sure that your skills will develop later, you don't need to rush or feel bad for yourself. Just enjoy the things you enjoy and other things will be added later." said Ollie.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have very good advice?" asked Matt as Ollie laughed.
"Well no, not really, only my mother but I think she's only flattering me." said Ollie.
"No she isn't, she's right, you have very good advice and you always know the right things to say to make someone feel better... thank you Ollie, really." said Matt as he smiled.
"You are really a true friend." he said with a bright smile as Ollie smiled as well.
"No need to thank me, I am sure that you would do the same for me if I was the one feeling bad about myself." said Ollie as he smiled.
"I count myself very luck to have a friend like you." said Matt.
"I feel the same." replied Ollie as he smiled.
"Now I think that we should get going before the girls start wondering where we are." said Ollie as he laughed.
"You're right, especially Maddie, she won't be happy that we are spending more time together because for some odd reason it concerns her?!?" asked Matt in disbelief as Ollie just laughed.
"Bear with her, she doesn't want me to take her place in the group or something, I wonder why she worries though, no one could ever take her place." said Ollie.
"Yeah right, not even if they tried." said Matt with a snicker as he and Ollie stood up and left the courtyard.
...
"Hurry up Annie, I'm hungry, like seriously hungry." called Maddie while she waited for Annie to get out of the bathroom.
"Stop rushing me, I don't get why you're still here, just go ahead." replied Annie from the bathroom.
"I don't want to go alone, it's boring." said Maddie.
"Since when did you care about going alone? You leave me behind all the time." replied Annie.
"Just... how long do you think you will be in there?" asked Maddie.
"For at least ten more minutes now please leave so I can have some peace of mind." said Annie as Maddie scoffed.
"Fine, I'll see you later." she replied as she left the room.
Maddie tsked as she walked out the room. She didn't always like being alone, but Annie had just woke up being very annoying today.
Maddie sighed as she walked down the stairs through the empty halls as she remembered that they would not be eating in the main dining room, so she turned left and tried to find the other dining room.
On her way she suddenly entered into an empty ballroom thinking that it was the dining room. She saw a young maid mopping the floor manually.
"Excuse me, can you help me, I'm sort of lost." she said as the maid ignored her and pretended as if she had not heard her.
Maddie sighed already sick on this treatment. Whenever the workers saw her it was like she did not exist and it was very irritating, at least when they spoke ill of her she could still talk to them, but now she could not.
"Look, I just need directions, you don't even have to say anything, just point in the right direction and I will be gone." she said as the maid carried on like nothing was happening.
This behaviour alone was enough to drive Maddie off the edge, she had been dealing with such bad treatment for the longest time and this was the last straw.
Her eyes instinctively went to the bucket filled with soapy water in the corner. She walked straight to it and without taking a second thought she tipped over the bucket causing the water to spill all over the shiny marble ground.
Her intention was to elicit some kind of reaction, any reaction at all from the maid and it seemed to have worked as the maid was forced to look at the mess Maddie had created as she gasped.
Her eyes darted from the mess to Maddie who had a cynical smile on her face as if asking, 'Yes, I did it, what are you going to do about it?'
"Oops..." she said with a mean smile. What? Could you blame her? She had been trying all week to get some kind of reaction from any of the workers yet, she was so annoyed and she was on her last straw.
"I'm really sorry dearie, my foot slipped, I guess you have to clean the floors again." said Maddie with a shrug as she stepped in the puddle of water and jumped in it twice deliberately splashing water everywhere.
Maddie observed the young maid's reaction, she refused to say anything but her eyes were already welling up with tears as she looked wrong which she was.
Maddie could not help but feel a little bad for what she had done to the poor girl, but all she wanted was an explanation. She did not mean to be mean, but it was just an innate part of her nature, she could not lie that she felt a little guilty, she couldn't imagine what Annie was say if she saw and heard what she had done.
"Isn't there something you should be saying to me?" asked Maddie as the maid shook her head violently.
"I mean I just ruined all your hard work and I kind of did it on purpose, mean I know, but you should say something." said Maddie as the maid still kept her mouth shut furthering annoying Maddie.
It was like this maid had been previously threatened not to say anything no matter what she did to her. All Maddie wanted was a reaction and a good explanation and yet it seemed like she could not get one.
Maddie sighed as she moved closer to the maid who instinctively moved back until she had no where else to move to as she was trapped in a corner with Maddie towering menacingly in front of her.
"Look, I am not in the best of moods right now, and I can't assure you that I won't take out my anger on you, I already proved that I'm not mentally stable, so your best chance of getting out of her is opening your pretty mouth and telling me what I want to hear alright." said Maddie as the poor maid nodded in fear of her life.
"Great, now tell me what your name is." said Maddie.
"My... my... my... name is... Adi... miss." replied the maid in fear as her lips quivered.
"Aww, Adi, what a cute name." said Maddie as she played with a strand of the poor maid's brown hair causing Adi to be even more scared, she would be lying if she said she did not know Maddie's reputation not just as Azazel's only daughter, but also as the scariest so called 'friend' of their beloved Prince Oliver.
"T... tha... thank you... miss..." she said as she was literally shivering.
"There's no need for you to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you so as long as you cooperate." said Maddie with a bright smile that did nothing but send shivers down Adi's spine.
"Alright let me just get straight to the point. I've noticed lately that all the workers in the Castle have been avoiding me, they don't even answer me when I ask them questions, now what I would like to know is why that is, so please tell me, and don't you dare lie to me, I would know if you are lying, trust me, I have experience with lairs and how to deal with them." said Maddie as she smiled, she couldn't remember the last time she had to threaten someone, it was kind of fun, but she still felt bad.
"Miss... the... the Prince... he ordered that everyone treat you with the uttermost respect prior to your arrival... and the Castle staff decided that it would be best not to offend you or else we would be in serious trouble with his majesty." replied Adi plainly, she certainly did not want to offend Maddie.
"Of course... that stupid blondie." tsked Maddie in annoyance as she already had a hunch that it was non other than him, she just needed confirmation from a valid source before she confronted him about it.
"Well thank you Adi, I really appreciate your cooperation, you're my favourite maid in the Castle." said Maddie as she smiled and winked at Adi who was left baffled at the change of Maddie's aura from menacing and threatening to sweet and appreciative. It happened in the blink of an eye.
"You're such a darling, here, let me help you clean up this mess." said Maddie as she took the mop from Adi's hand as she was frozen in shock from what just happened.
"I really didn't mean to cause a mess." said Maddie as she giggled and proceeded to mop the mess she had created and she was done in mere seconds as she handed the mop back to Adi who was still frozen in shock.
"Thank you once again for your help, and I hope to see you around more, Bye." said Maddie as she smiled sweetly and left the ballroom.
"What just happened??!" asked Adi as she cowered in fear. She definitely did not want to see Maddie around again, in fact, if she happened to see her again she would run away. Quite frankly Maddie scared her to the core.
Maddie scoffed as she made her way back upstairs, she had to talk to that stupid blondie, he needed to hear an earful of all the nice, dainty words she had to say to him.
"Good morning Maddie." said Matt with a smile as he was walking down in the opposite direction of the hallway.
"Good morning Matt, have you seen the blondie?" she asked with a smile.
"He's right on his way, I left him back there, why?" asked Matt in suspicion.
"There's something I just found out that I have to talk to him about, it's nothing really serious, I'll go look for him, you go ahead." said Maddie as she smiled and walked past Matt as he stood there looking confused and disbelieving of what Maddie just said.
He just shook his head and decided not to get involved in it. He was sure that Ollie could handle himself with Maddie. So he continued on his way, he was Ollie would be fine.
"Blondie!!" called Maddie as soon as she caught sight of Ollie's blonde hair poking out the side of the hallway.
"Oh Maddie, good morning." said Ollie as he turned around to see her standing in front of her and he smiled.
"Save your stupid greeting, you and I have to talk." she said noticing that he wasn't alone, he was talking to someone, one of the butlers, well she couldn't care less.
"Okay... I will talk to you later." said Ollie to the butler as he smiled and the butler nodded and bowed as he left.
"So what is it?" asked Ollie as he faced Maddie.
"We need to talk in private, the halls have ears." she said as he was starting to get worried that this was something very serious so he nodded and opened the door to one of the rooms as she literally pushed him in and closed the door.
It was yet another living room, Maddie was starting to wonder just how many living rooms were in this Castle. How many did one family need?
"So what is it?" asked Ollie as he looked at her.
"Why the heck would you tell all the Castle staff not to treat badly?" she asked, she knew that her wording was not really right, but that was essentially what he had done.
"Is that what this is about?" he asked.
"What do you mean is that what this is about??! Yes, it is about that, and it's very important!" she declared angrily.
"Gosh Maddie, you got me worried, I thought that it was something serious." said Ollie in relief.
"Are you alright blondie??! This is serious, really serious!" she argued.
"No, it's not, I don't see why you want to make a big deal off something that isn't really a big deal." he replied.
"You are really not getting it are you?" she asked as he shook his head.
"No I'm not, please let me get it." he replied.
"You're such an idiot!" she replied.
"Stop insulting me Maddie and just tell me what makes you so angry about my request?" asked Ollie as he sighed, he really was not in the mood for this nonsense today.
"You shouldn't have asked everyone to respect me." she said as she took a deep breath, she was too worked up right now and she knew it.
"Why not? Maddie please tell me because I don't see anything wrong with it." he said utterly confused.