Cameron was laying on the bed Mikayla had woke in. Hands propelled behind his head, his feet dangling pass the bed, he noted the bed was 1.70 meters in length. He lay there looking up at the contoured ceiling of the prison cell, trying to extinguish the events of the day, to find where he went wrong. He woke from his slumber an hour ago to see the two girls have disappeared, locking him in the shoe box cell. He tried calling for the two guards waiting for him by the door, but they were unresponsive, conversing between themselves seeming to have forgotten all about him, works of the little prince he notes. He goes back to the other day when he danced with Olivia, and when he slipped the dragon ring on her finger, he wonders if he had explained and she would have come willingly, he didnt know.
He was still lying on the bed when he heard the cell door lock click interrupting his thoughts, followed by a footstep, the heavy stomp of the leather boots clacking with the chiseled red pavement, strode in stopping at the center of the room, where Cameron was laying sprawled on the floor just moments ago. Cameron rose from the bed resting himself on both his elbows, releasing a deep breath, meeting eyes with his visitor.
'Oh brother!' He says to the man 'How may I be of service?' He finishes releasing his arms and falling back on the bed.
'They escaped' responds the man calmly looking at his brother's too big figure on the tiny bed.
'Oh no, they just went for a bathroom break' Cameron responds standing up to meet his brother eyes contently watching him. 'I'm sorry' he says finally bowing to the king in front of him.
'Its okay' the king replies turning to leave the cell, 'they will be back' he finishes sliding out the cell, his dark cloak fluttering behind him.
**********
John was sitting by the pond looking out the horizon, trying to remember the sunrise he watched with his son just moments ago when he heard footsteps approaching him from his back.
'i don't suppose you are here for the view' john responds eyes situated on the dark cloud coming their way. 'I expected you to come sooner' he says finally looking back to see the hooded figure standing a meter away from him. 'but thank you for waiting until my son left, thank you for letting me have my moments with…'
The raspy bark of his dog Rufus breaks the conversation, making both of them turn to see a brown dog appear between the bushes, baring his fangs to the figure standing with the sword raised to his owner. The figure pulls out their sword holding an attack stance, making john stand up to stand between them hand out stretched to defend the brown dog. 'no please don't he is all Frankie has' he says looking at the hooded face of his visitor, 'go to Frankie Rufus' he says looking back at the brown dog still growling at the hooded figure, 'RUFUS! GO TO FRANKLIN!' john screams turning the dogs attention back to him, 'go' he says to his dog with desperate eyes that makes the dog whimper.
Rufus stood looking at his human, his fur still perked up from his encounter with the hooded figure, pleading him to run while he attacks slowing their visitor down. John was looking at him the way he looked at him on Frankie's birthday, when the fish he and Frankie caught later that day slipped from his grip, rolling across the kitchen floor landing between the barbecue and him. He had ran away with the fish after, ignoring his human's pleads while they both crawled to the fish, bellies on the floor, tiring to reach first without provoking the other. Although he knew his human forgave him for that, after bringing him a squirrel in repercussion for that delicious fish with red meat. He knew if he didn't run now his human would not forgive him, and the strong scent of metal clashing with blood on their visitor suggested if he didn't run now, it would kill them with both in an instant.
He doubted the dark figure came for him, no one every tries to harm him, he was the good-est boy. Only the lady human next door liked to chase him with a stick whenever he peed in her flowers, but now she always gave him a treat after he bit that man climbing through her window last summer, and his human always loved him.
He must have come for John, the sweet John who gave him belly rubs until he fell asleep. The John who takes him on his daily quest. The John who would carry him back after his feet were too exhausted from their walks. The John who would sneak pieces of his food from his dinner under the table, hiding from Frankie, who snuck bigger pieces of his dinner on the other side of the table, but they didn't need to know that. The John who would rescue his ball for him after loosing it behind the pointy bushes. The sweet John, the human John, his human John. He didn't understand why this visitor wanted to hurt his human, but he never much understood humans, he only knew he had to run to Frankie now.
Rufus turns from his human in defeat looking back only once to see the tip of their visitors sword extruding out of John's stomach, a trail of blood gushing out from his stomach and mouth, he smiled then, that same goofy grin after every walk, after every dinner, after every belly rub, after every happy moments, it was the grin that said good boy.
Rufus ran, the scent of metal and his humans blood sticking to his nose, reminding him of his humans bloody grin. He pushed his feet faster, trying to reach Frankie before their visitor decides to visit him next, he knew his scent was getting weaker which meant he was not following him, but he couldn't stop running.
'RUFUS!' He hears the familiar voice of his friend calling for him, he stops then looking behind him, ears perked up to the sound coming from the same way he ran from, 'RUFUS!' He hears it again, coming from the woods behind him where he saw his humans bloody grin with a sword in his stomach.
He runs back the same path jumping over his ball he came looking for while playing with Frankie, coming to the clearing next to the lake where his human and their visitor was just moments ago, both gone leaving only a pool of blood behind them.
'RUFUS!' He hears this time behind him which makes him jump in surprise to see the hooded figure with the crow on His head facing him, 'RUFUS!' The crow screams again mimicking his friends voice, causing a whimper to escape from him.
'Now now, crimson. Don't scare the little puppy' says the figure stroking the crow sitting on their head, now masking his humans voice. Rufus quivers at the menacing sound of their visitor causing him to whimper further shaking in fear. 'Its okay little puppy, I only want your soul, i promise it will not hurt' the figure says kneeling to hold Rufus by the mouth, paralyzing him, 'much' they finish opening their mouth exposing a gaping hole of a thousand teeth and thick dark tongue come out with its tip opening to hold Rufus by the mouth, consuming his soul, joining his mind to their mind.
'QUACK!' screams crimson, suddenly hit off the creatures head landing a meter away. 'Get away from him lady' screams a little boy shooting rocks from his slingshot with his small trembling hands, causing the creature to fall to the ground flat, releasing the dog from their grip. 'Are you okay buddy?' Frankie asks kneeling beside his quivering friend.
'Quack' Screams the crow standing up to rest on his owners head, 'stay down bird!' Frankie says taking a rock out of his blue hoodie pocket stretching his slingshot as far as possible, striking the crow on his wings, making it cry in pain.
'lets get out of here buddy' says the 5 year old to his friend picking him up like a bride and sprinting through the woods heading for their house.
'DAD! DAD!' screams the little boy frantically looking for his dad in their house in every room, 'DAD WHERE ARE YOU?' he asks coming to the living room where Rufus lies on the couch shivering and whimpering, 'he is not here Rufus' the boy says to his friend whimpering on the couch eyes situated on the bay window of the living room, 'we have to get you to Dr. Richards Ruf, he will know what to do' Frankie replies running outside to their garage missing the hooded figure standing outside the window, eyes borrowed on the dog lying on the sofa silently quivering with fear, smiling a hundred smiles.
**********
'we've reached land' perks up Craig, bringing the sail down, bringing the boat to the deck next to another boat with a green embodiment, the red haired boy climbs up the deck looking around them to see a forest behind a small clearing, 'it seems there may be civilians here, its better to conceal our appearances' he says looking at his friend with the sleeping girl in his arms, the fiend nods continuing up the deck to the clearing, setting her down on the grass.
The little prince then heads to the deck sinking their boat to the bottom of the lake, 'lets go look for clothes to change into' he says looking back at his friend standing next to him.
'what about them?' Craig whispers, making them turn to look at the two girls by the grass, the blonde braiding her friend's Afro waves.
'we can come back with clothes for them' replies the little prince heading to the two girls, 'we are going to look for clothes to mask our appearance' he says crouching to look at the blond girl with crinkles between her eyebrows, 'we will be back' he says seeing the wrinkles fade and be met with a small smile.
Olivia nods going back to braiding her friends hair, she sections the brown locks to four parts, using her hair pin she found dangling by the left side of her hair, managing to survive the ordeal of the last two days, 'this is not nearly as good as you do but, you will kill me when you wake up to find your hair tangled and not in a protective braid' she says finishing the third section of her hair, 'you taught me better than that' she finishes stroking the ends of her friend's hair holding them in for the braid.
The girl continues braiding her hair into one piece after finishing her friends hair, she looks around the clearing, eyes focusing on every element of their surrounding, she looks at the path the two boys took, the earth draped in dead caramel leaves and pine needles caught in clumps of moss running through the earth and continuing up the tree barks, she thought they left already leaving them stranded here, she thought she could collect branches from the forest behind her and start a fire, she could only guess with the dense buildup of the tall trees, almost brushing the sky, masking her of the other side of the green wall. She might need a sharp stick while she is at it, she don't know what she would find, and catch a fish in the lake. She looks at the deck they came in seeing a single boat, slightly smaller that the one they came in, floating about on the right side, and when the dawn comes they would use that boat to sail away from this place, she didn't know how to of course but she saw Craig and if a 13 year old can do it so could she, but for now she needs to build a bed out of the leaves discarded on the ground not yet subjected to the moss.
A small breeze hits her from the right carrying the sweet scent of herbs combined with sun heated earth, she took a deep breath inhaling the smell of the forest, she closes her eyes inhaling the fresh air, the foul trench of the decaying moss, the musky smell of the earth covered with grass. She scrunched her eyes inhaling more air into her lungs tasting what she caught, she smelled something else.
'blood' she says, her eyes opening wide, the hairs on her arm standing up.
She looks to her right trying to see what caused the smell of blood, when she felt a hand grip her shoulder turning her to face a set of red eyes almost bulging out of their socket, she could feel his hand shaking on her shoulders, sending his thrill through her body.
'we have to go' the little prince says through raspy breaths, his friend standing behind him looking around the clearing his red hair brushing the air as he moves, 'NOW'.
**********
Mr. Donald Hurley was the town baker, every morning he would bake loafs of bread, one for every person in town. He would bake them in many kind, white bread, brown bread, sourdough, corn bread.. every morning at dawn, and deliver until noon to his customers. He would always make sure to take a dozen chocolate chip cookies for his buddy's son, 'not for the dog though' he would always say to that little boy looking down at his clutched hands, eyes staring down at the brown bag containing the cookies, then he would look up to meet the baker with furrowed eyes and tight lips 'yes, sir' he would say with a curt nod, and he would run to the house; the brown bag held above his head his dog running after him barking all the way.
Donald parked his truck 3 blocks from the blue frame house, where Mrs brown lived with no Mr brown, he was on the other side of town, hands wrapped around ms Shelly head buried in her brown locks smelling her sweet scent of lavender. The town pub held a poll on the number of cats Mrs brown would end up owning this week, he bet 4, she was on her third cat.
He rang the doorbell of the last house on this street with 2 loaf of wheat bread in his hands, he counted to 10 then to 20 and he rang the doorbell again, this time a woman swung the door open wearing a robe tightly wrapped around her small waist, her eyes were wide open looking at him for second before a sense of realization came and she greeted the baker.
'Good morning Mrs Brown' He had guessed she was wearing nothing underneath the robe with how she hid her frame behind the door after seeing him.
'Good morning Mr Hurley' she said sinking to the door, eyes focused on the floor.
'How are the boys doing?' He asks handing the bread out to her.
'Boys?' She questions finally meeting his eyes.
'Sylvester, biscuit and patty' he says his arms still stretched out 'the cats'
Her eyes flash with recognition, her mouth forming an O she heads inside the house leaving the baker on the door step, his arms outstretched with the bag containing the loaf. She returned moments later with a towel wrapped around in her arms with a goofy grin plastered on her face.
'This is princess Vonsuala' she says exposing the small kitted wrapped in the towel.
'A fourth cat?' He asks looking up to see her eyes fixed on him, waiting for his reaction, 'That's wonderful Mrs brown'
'Isn't she? I found her on the streets by the...' school he thought she was about to say, where ms. Shelly works as the homeroom teacher, she stopped herself her smile dropping for a second before she continued, 'she came right to me and started hitting my feet with her little paws' she says kissing the kitten on her white paw, 'I just couldn't leave her' she finishes looking back at the baker.
'Truly Mrs Brown that is wonderful' he says extending his arms out more handing the bag to the woman, 'Now if you will excuse me, I have doors to knock' he says turning to leave the porch with the woman standing behind him, he could feel his eyes on him as he trampled down the steps and up the walkway. He looked back to wave good bye as he reached the street turning to the left heading for his truck, and on to his final delivery.
He looked on the passenger seat to check on the bag of chocolate chip cookies before he headed to the forest where he would die saving the little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes and his brown friend, but he didn't know that yet. He was thinking about the bet he won and how the lads would laugh and clang their drinks to princess Vonsuala.
****
Frankie ran to the back heading for the garage, to look for his bicycle his father got him last month on his 5th birthday. He spotted the red bicycle with black seats, and the black box his father attached on the front, a seat for Rufus.
He rolled the garage door open, up to his shoulders, and went to the front of the house, bending down to avoid the door. He pushed his bicycle to the front porch, where he saw the door to their house lying ajar, thinking his father arrived, he run up the stairs calling for him.
'DAD! DADDY!' He called out running to the living room with a wide smile, looking for his father's big frame and beard face, he found comfort in. But freezes when seeing the creature, mouth gape ajar exposing its hundred teeth, holding his friend by the face, white mist leaving his friends body to the creatures mouth. Rufus whines loudly waking him up from his trace.
'NO!' He screams pulling out his slingshot from his back pocket swinging it straight for the creatures mouth. The creature screams in agony chocking on the rock, 'GET AWAY FROM HIM!' he screams at it, swinging another rock aiming for the bird, knocking it down for the second time, causing the creature to fall to the ground whining in pain.
'Ruf are you okay?' He questions his dog, reaching over to hold him out the house. He slowly picks the weak body of his friend, holding him up in his hands, heading for the door. He loses his balance when a hand grabs him by the ankle, falling to the ground, he looks over the slumped figure of the creature still holding on to his legs, its mouth gape ajar, growling lowly. 'LET.ME.GO' he says kicking the creature's hand with every word, before preceding to pull out the rock from his pockets, hitting the creature on its gaping white eyes rendering him free, he swiftly picks himself up grabbing for his friend, running to the doors and down the stairs to his bicycle. He gently places Rufus on the black box in front of his bicycle before he is thrown to the left landing on his back, he coughs fighting the pain in his ribs looking up at his friend shake in fear, the creature standing beside him eyes stationed on the boy. The boy slowly backs away from the pale bluish face of the creature with its bony features and long scissor hands draped in black, the creature moves slowly to him dragging his dark cloak with him, white eyes still glaring at the boy.
'GET AWAY FROM ME!' The boy screams eyes wet with tears. 'MY DAD WILL BE HERE ANY SECOND NOW AND HE WILL KILL YOU, SO YOU BETTER RUN FROM HERE' he says looking around the house for his father.
The creature picks Frankie up by the throat meeting him face to face, feet dangling from the floor. Frankie looks at the creatures albino eyes, void of existence, sending a shiver down his back.
The creature holds onto Frankie for a moment then proceeds to open its black tangent mouth exposing its hundred teeth.
'NO! NO!' Screams Frankie trying to wiggle out of the creatures grasp, knowing what comes next, he closed his eyes freeing himself from the creatures gaze, then he felt his vision turn from dark to bright white in a matter of seconds, sending him to oblivion. He found himself paralyzed and unknowing, he forgot who he was or what was happening to him, he only knew about the bright light.
Then he felt warmth, the kind of warmth that engulfs you, bringing comfort. He felt at home. He felt like a baby still in its womb, he felt safe, he had no memory of his past 5 years. All he knew now was the comfort, it was like a mothers womb.
It was quiet so quiet he thought he imagined the horn, then he felt himself being swung to the back, he gasped for a breath for only a second before it leaves him, when his back hits a tree. He opened his eyes slowly bringing his face from the dry grass to see the creature have disappeared, he looked around slowly fighting the ring in his ears and the glare in his eyes. He couldn't fight, so he lay and he rest closing his eyes, but this time going to the dark.
'Come on Frankie boy, I got you' he hears a man say picking him up with a grunt, then proceeding to run, the quick waft of the breeze hitting his cheeks. His eyes were still closed but he knew the man from the sweet smell of vanilla and flour stuck on his clothes.
'Rr....' he managed to say with short breath tugging at the bakers shit with such little force.
'Don't worry I got you, I know exactly where to go'
'Ruf' he says in almost a whisper catching his breath
'Rufus? Is he here?' Asks the man setting him down in the van, fastening his seat belt. 'RUFUS! ,COME ON BOY!' He screams running back to the house. The man sees the small brown figure of the dog lying in the bicycle box. He runs to the dog hearing his small whimpers of pain, 'come on boy, I got you' he says picking up the dog carrying him down to the truck he parked by the side of the road.
'Let's get out of here' the man says to himself driving off the road, not missing the dark figure standing by the house in the side view mirror.
**********
'Where are we going?' Questioned the blond girl looking behind her every few steps, not knowing what to look for.
'Shelter' Craig says looking to the sky following the girls search. 'There was a house in the woods, if we can find alcohol and pour it on ourselves or around us we should be safe' he says this time looking to his left then right and behind.
'Safe from what exactly?' Questions Olivia looking around them once more following the red haired boys line of sight.
'The eclair' replies the little prince walking in front carrying the sleeping girl on his back.
'The French pastry?' Questions the girl tilting her head, and stopping in her tracks to look at the two boys in front of her.
'No. The creature' Craig replies matter of factually. Continuing to look around the forest.
'The creature?' Olivia questions again, this time amusement evident in her voice. Making the red haired boys turn to look at her with narrowed eyes.
'This is not a joke, keep walking' he says beckoning her over with his arms.
The group reaches the clearing to the house by the lake, they sprint through the dry grass eyes trailed on the small house with the red door. With every step they hear a rustle from the bushes behind them, a footstep equally running towards them. Olivia turns her head back to look at the source of the sound expecting to see a deer or a bunny even, 'eclair, so stupid' she thought before settling her eyes on the dark figure with thin limbs and pointed fingers, that look like swords attached to it. it's white eyes trailed to their back, a dark shadowy cloak blazing with the wind, running at a full speed towards them.
'What is that?' Olivia almost screams, her eyes not leaving the figure just meters away from them. She sees the figure close the distance fast approaching them quickly with its arms outstretched in an attack position, she feels her legs go limb and her vision starts to blur, if it was tears or sweat she didn't know it then and she didn't care she could only think about those white eyes.
She felt her body starting to slow down with every second, she could see the creature only had 10 meters left between them, and then he would plunge those fingers right through...
'MOVE IT!' She heard Craig yell while pulling her by the hands, yanking her out of the creature's trace.
'We won't make it!' She screams back at him, the house seeming very far away now. They run a couple of steps reaching the pavement when Craig pushes her out of the way landing a few meters away, he swiftly turns around just in time to pull out his sword meeting the creature head on.
'CRAIG NO!' screams his friend from the porch gently putting the sleeping girl down and running to the red head.
'ARTHUR STAY BACK!' Craig screams back, looking back at his friend for a second, losing an opening for the creature. A second later the tall figure of the boy was swung to the right, landing a few meters away from Olivia's body. The girl looks at the scene before her as the little prince does not falter from his steps as he sprints towards the creature. his sword outstretched.
The little prince swings first trying for the creatures head. the creature's long sharp fingers meet the metal sword with a clash. Grabbing the weapon in place. then with the other arms the creature strikes the little prince torso earning a striking scream from him, the creature holds the little prince with his figures driven inside the prince's torso, looking at the boy with a cold expression.
The screams of the boy doesn't stop as the creature pulls him closer, hands still inside the boys torso, he pulls the boys tear stroked face and pale face closer to him until he is mere inches away and it opens its hundred teeth mouth, the shrill screams from the boy getting louder.
'STOP!' Olivia screams, only it wasn't the brown eyed girl with golden hair, it was a glowing figure eyes burning like the sun, her hair white glowing like light, it was blinding to see. 'LET GO OF HIM' she says again her eyes burrowed on the creatures white eyes.
The creature flanges the bloody and pale body of the little prince, landing him next to his friend, starting to wake up from the hit on his head.
Olivia looks at the two figures on the floor lying next to each other, and she thinks about this morning where she found them in that place crying and scared.
'BIG MISTAKE' she says holding her arms out releasing a big surge of light hitting the creatures gaped mouth running towards her. She hears it scream in pain contracting to itself, and she hits it again using her other arm for double the power. The creature doesn't stop screaming as it falls to the ground losing its form, nothing but black dust left.
Olivia looks back to the two figures lying limp, she walks to them as the dust that once killed John, Frankie's father, blows away towards the forest. She reaches the two boys lying side by side and she stretches her hands hitting them with another surge of light, her eyes and hair glows brighter her feet leave from the floor, lifting her up. Then slowly she brings herself down meeting her feet on the ground, the light stops leaving her arms and her color returns, the bright glow leaving her, she blinks once then twice and she shuts her eyes falling to the ground unable to stay awake.
**********
'Princess, can you hear me?' She hears a voice say. Before she slowly opens her eyes, she sees the two boys face
What happened?' She manages to say turning her head slightly to look around the room.
'You saved us, that's what happened' replies Craig, his eyes shinning still burrowed on her.
'What?' She says again trying to decipher his words, and remember the events that happened moments ago.
'Let's give her time Craig' replies the little prince helping her up from the couch, she sits up on the gray dusty couch Rufus was on moments ago, massaging her throbbing brain, 'what is that smell?' She questions her head still bowed between her hands.
'Whiskey' replies Craig bringing another bottle to her face, 'just in case their friends show up looking for vengeance' he shakes the bottle bringing her attention back to him.
Olivia looks at the boy with a blank look, 'what?' She questions her mind still looking for answers to what happened.
'The eclair' Craig replies again looking at the girl with furrowed eyes, mirroring her expression.
The girl continues to look at him for a moment before her gaze drops on the bay window in front of her, she looks past the glass seeing the clearing with a dead gaze, the events of the afternoon resigning to her.
'You should pour this on you, they smell living creatures from a mile away, so the alcohol can help with that' Craig replies handing her the bottle of whisky.
Olivia takes the whiskey from his hands slowly, with no response looking at him blankly, 'where is Mk?'
'She is upstairs...' the prince replies leaving out the last part ...sleeping.
She picks her self up from the couch standing alongside the two friends, 'we have to get that flower'
'I know, but we need rest first' the prince replies placing his hands on her shoulder gently, trying to bring her gaze to him. 'Let's take in the night and we will go first thing at dawn' he says meeting her blank expression 'I promise' he finally says to the girl eyes boring into her, she registers his words proceeding to nod slowly with a small smile she says 'thank you'.
**********
'So whose house is this?' Olivia questions opening the fridge to find a lasagna wrapped in foil on the second row.
'Maybe a victim of the eclair, no one was around when we woke from unconsciousness' Craig replies coming back from outside, with empty bottles of alcohol in his hands.
'So should I heat the lasagna?' She questions looking at the boy
'Yea' he says uncertain himself but very hungry, 'and if they do come back I will personally make them a lasagna' he finishes dumping the bottles in a trash can, 'and buy them 2 dozen alcohol' he looks back at the girl standing by the fridge with a raised brows and wide eyes 'the day after tomorrow is the yearly kingdom banquet, so it common for houses to have this much alcohol'
'The what?' She questions setting the tray of lasagna in the oven to heat.
'Its an annual banquet held by each kingdom for other kingdom's royal families to attend, the day after tomorrow is the dark kingdom's yearly banquet' he explains joining her on the small dining table by the window.
'That means Arthur's family will be at the banquet too then?'
'Not really' seeing the confused look on her face he continues, 'the eastern kingdom disappeared from eyes long ago, before the northern war started'.
'The northern war?'
'The strike of the northern kingdom on the southern kingdom' says the little prince walking in the kitchen with empty bottles in his hands like his friend moments ago.
'Wait what?'
'okay I think we should start from the beginning' says Craig looking a his friend as he joins them on the small dining table, 'would you like to do the honors?'
'i don't even know what to explain, or where to begin' he replies
'start from the beginning'
'okay' he says, 'we are on a different wold from where you lived, the other dimension to be exact. We call our world Ladon, its like earth but here. Ladon is separated into 4 kingdoms, the northern kingdom or the light kingdom, the western kingdom or the dark kingdom, the southern kingdom or the underworld and the eastern kingdom or the sky kingdom'
'that's your home right?' she questions standing up to bring the lasagna from the oven.
'yes we are sky people' says Craig with a grin, bringing plates and forks from the cabinet, setting them down on the table as his friend brings glass and a jar of water from the tap.
'long ago we lived as one, the four kingdoms, in peaceful harmony, until the north attacked the south. No one knows why they attacked, and it happened so suddenly, no one was prepared for it, causing the southern kingdom's fall. The residents of the south took refuge in the western kingdom, chased out of their home' the prince says drinking water from the green painted glass.
'why the west kingdom? why not the eastern kingdom?' Olivia questions finishing the first slice of lasagna, going for another serving.
'because the eastern kingdom disappeared just before the attack from the north came' Craig replies going for his third serving.
'disappeared?' she questions looking up from her plate
'every kingdom is special in their own way,every royal from each kingdom has a distinct gift resembling their land. The north has energy blast and healing ability'
'like how you blasted the eclair from existence and healed both of us' Craig replies putting his fork down on his plate picking up the dishes from the table taking them to the sink.
'the western kingdom' the prince continues seeing the look of worry in the girls face, 'they can travel between dimension and time and and teleport, the southern kingdom can create illusions and change form, and the eastern kingdom has mind control and telekinesis'
'so how do I know you are not controlling my thoughts right now?'
'because my eyes are not glowing' with this Olivia responds with a raised eyebrow, 'like this' he says his eyes glowing red.
'so what did you do? convince me you didn't Fart ' she says looking at him with tilted eyes and a small smile.
'no even better' he says smiling himself, turning his gaze to his friend's back by the sink. Olivia turns her head to see a row of plates gliding behind the boy, 'hey Craig' the prince calls out making his friend turn fully to find two plates floating directly on his chest and one directly on his groin, 'looking good'
'ha ha very funny' says the boy turning back to the sink.
'everyone's eyes glow like that?' Olivia questions looking back at the little prince's eyes.
'only royals, when they use their gift' he replies setting the plate down in the cabinet, his eyes losing the glow.
'red?'
'for the eastern kingdom royals, blue for the south, green for the west and yellow for the north'
'So how did the whole kingdom disappear?' she questions running back to her first question.
'our kingdom exists on mountains, so my great grand father, the late king Pseudos raised the kingdom from the ground setting it in the clouds, where no one would find it'
'why did he do that?'
'no one knows, he died shortly after'
'I'm sorry'
'its okay, I never knew him' he says smiling a little at her comfort, 'so, no one knew where it was or what happened, so they all just migrated to the west, the residents here are a mix of west and south'.
'so on the banquet, who is coming?'
'all the kingdoms visit stopped after the great war, but every kingdom still continues to throw big parties celebrating their land and their kingdom'
'well that sounds lonely'
The little prince shrugs as a response, 'i don't know the war was fifteen years ago so I never knew what it was like to have combined celebrations' he says looking at her, 'but yea it is fun to meet other royals'.
'what makes you think I am a royal?'
'did you not see what you did back there?' he says, she replies by looking down at her hands avoiding his eyes, 'and that time on the boat I tried to see what was in your memories and I saw the northern kingdom, or from what I know in books, and you were with your brother, twin, running around in the halls, you were so happy. I saw your brother chasing you with a sword and both of you with white hair with a crown on your heads, then your mother called you for breakfast and…'
'stop' she says bringing her hands up with her head still bowed, 'my brother and I were abandoned in an orphanage the day we were born, and he died from a car accident, I grew up with my two best friends from the orphanage, Noah st.Clair and Mikayla Johnson, who is lying in a sleep slumber upstairs'. she finishes slamming her hand on the table, her eyes glassy and hand shaking she turns from the red eyes of the little prince looking out the window.
'I'm sorry, I should have been more considerate' the prince says softly trying to calm her down, 'but I promised you next thing tomorrow we are going to bring her that moon flower, and she WILL wake up' he says emphasizing on the will.
'why are those things only found in the western kingdom anyway? It doesn't seem wise putting a flower for visitors in the least hospitable place' she whines looking at the humored face of the prince.
'its not the most hospitable, but it also is the only place that has access to doors between worlds, so it is only them that grew those flowers'
'where do they grow it?'
'there is a castle garden in the center wing, the moon flowers are there' Olivia nods at this looking back outside through the window.
'i have to go check on MK' she finally says sanding up from the chair and heading upstairs.
**********
She looks at the map again using the flashlight she found from the table by the bed, where her friend is quietly sleeping in, and checks her location for the hundredth time. She takes a left by the small creek then a right avoiding the dark forest. She goes on like this for a while, with every passing second the night darkens and her fear deepens. She thinks about the two boys she met in that prison, if it was a prison, and her friend back at the cabin sound asleep, not knowing she left the house, not that her friend will tell the difference anyway.
She was going to turn back when she noticed a black crow sitting on the tree behind her looking at her every move, she knew it was watching her this time, and she knew he was the same crow for that day where she met with Noah.
'take me to the castle' she says looking at the bird , with her hands tight around the kitchen knife she took from the house. With that the bird screams at her, and she thinks it will attack but it flaps it wings instead taking off from the tree. The bird squawks for her as it goes between the woods urging her to follow him, Olivia runs behind the bird desperate not to lose him, she ignores the scratches and cuts, stumbles and falls, her eyes burrowed on the small dark figure in the sky.
Olivia reaches a thick wall of bush, slicing it with the kitchen knife, she dives through it landing in a clearing in the middle of the forest. She lays in her back looking up at the blue sky with the crow now flying in circles above her.
Her chest lifts up and down tired from the chase as she looks up to see the sight before her eyes, a dark monumental castle with pointed archways sits idly in the clearing, its Gothic presence sending a shrill through her spine.
She stands up then to look at the castle more, then she walks towards it with gentle steps, her grip tightening around the knife. She reaches halfway through the clearing looking around her, then suddenly she ducks her head lying flat on the ground, she looks up to see the crow flying past her, its claws out stretched in front of it. She picks herself up praising herself for acting fast, then runs to the castle with full force heading to the doors, the crow following close behind.
She runs to the big gaping doors on the castle counting the meters, 30 meters, 29 meters, 28 meters…the crow sounding closer now, 25 meters, 24, 23, 22, 21…
She feels her feet leave the ground as he body sinks in, she breathes in filling her lungs rapidly with water, she struggles to come up her arms flaring, with no avail. She looks down to see her feel wrapped in a black stringy testicles pulling her down. She frantically looks around for the knife, unable to find it she twists and thrashes in the water losing her breath every second, she closes her eyes tears coming to them, or is it the water? She didn't know, she looks up at the clear blue sky and the small dark figure of the crow circling her again, she could not hear, but she thought it was crawling away, stupid useless bird she thought, feeling dejected. She looked around again the dark engulfing her, not seeing anything, she looked at her feet and the tentacles pulling at her, she could feel herself sink going deeper into the darkness, she felt her mind blur. She didn't know what to do she just kept pulling at the water frantically trying to get free, but her strength was wakening and her vision was blurring, and she was stopping.
A figure plunged inside the water heading straight to her, she tried to keep her eyes open for a while but she only saw two glowing blue dots in that black sea. She closed her eyes again pulling with all her force for one last time before falling to the sea. she felt two hands grab her by the shoulders, pulling her up from the testicles grasp and freeing her. She felt her self as she moved up reaching the top of the water, she felt as her savior carried her out of the water landing her on the ground.
'Oli! Oli!' she heard her best friend voice call out to her, pushing down on her chest with his hands, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 'wake up Oli' opening her mouth followed by a sudden waft of air bursting through her, she opens her eyes chocking on water to see the boy with brown locks staring at her, his blue eyes wide with worry, 'are you okay?' he asks gently placing his hands on the side of her cheeks.
She cant help but stare back at her best friend in awe.
"Hi Muds" the boy smiles his brilliant smile that she doesn't notice the bird coming from behind her its claws outstretched, pricking her on her neck.
'OW!' she calls out holding on her neck, 'Noah, don't leave me' she calls out to her best friend holding on to his arms desperately, feeling herself lose conscientiousness 'Hold on to me please Noah'.
'its okay I got you Oli, you are safe now' he says hugging her tight, 'I got you'.