The blade came down in a flash of silver and gave Anita a nasty cut across her cheek.

"Ugh! You imbecile!" She cried and moved backwards.

Joseph unsheathed his sword just in time to parry the Prince's next strike. The king's sword felt heavy against the statue's blade but Frances managed.

The two royals parried and thrust and did all sorts of sword related terms as they moved across the room and up the opposite steps on the East Wing. Anita, on the other hand, glared menacingly at Bree. She flicked her wrist and Bree levitated into the air.

"Oh no, you don't!" Melinda spat in rage and quickly grabbed Bree's leg. The green wisp of smoke might've looked weightless but it began to play tug-of-war with Melinda, constantly pulling aggressively at Bree while her mother struggled to pull her back.

"The party's just begun!" Anita smirked. All around the castle, guards began to troop out in their disheveled armor. Some looked like they had been sleeping, others looked like they didn't understand why they were being called out. Frances recognized these guards to be King Adam's. He wondered where they had been and why they were showing themselves now.

In the opposite direction, the huge double doors burst open and King Joseph's troops poured in. They wore green armor that looked like it had been crayoned by a kindergartener yet brandished extremely dangerous swords and spears.

Joseph grinned from ear to ear like a maniac when he saw them meanwhile France's heart did a triple back flip. Soldiers kept pouring in like sand from an hourglass until Adam's guards were outnumbered ten to one.

"Kill them all! Including the royals!" Anita yelled.

The fight began with a loud war cry from the enemy ranks.

Frances risked a glance across the room where Melinda still surprisingly kept her footing and prevented Anita from yanking Bree across the battlefield above pointy spears and bloodthirsty men. His father had carefully stashed his mother at a corner and also joined in the clash.

This little distraction gave Joseph an opening and he knocked Frances from the top of the East Wing stairs to the ground. The King grinned wickedly and flipped his sword like a samurai. Obviously his age hadn't affected his sword skills at all meanwhile Frances had gotten rusty after taking a break from swordfighting for so long.

"I told my daughter to take pity on you." Joseph said. "I told her you could be different from the rest of them but now i see, you're all the same."

Frances glanced up at his face, holding onto his broken rib. As the king jumped down the stairs and walked toward him, he began to notice the mirage around Joseph. Behind his eyes were a number of other eyes like a series of overlapping translucent pictures. He realized King Joseph wasn't just one person the same way his daughter was.

In the King's body lived an ancestry of men...almost like his bloodline. Frances gasped and moved backwards. Looking at the King was normally jarring enough as he was twice the size of a regular man but realizing a couple of ghosts lived inside him took the first place prize for weird.

"You see, don't you?" Joseph asked, taking slow calculated steps toward Frances like a predator cherishing its few moments of victory before it ripped its prey apart.

"All my descendants who were never given a chance to rule are going to sit with me...." He pointed his sword directly at France's jugular, "..on your father's throne, which will never be yours. Same way i was denied my rights. You will be outcast, young prince. Your family will suffer what i went through."

Joseph twisted his sword and one fluid swerve was enough to split Frances's throat but another blade countered the strike.

Frances only had enough time to register the chills that ran up his spine as King Adam glared at Joseph before an episode of Clash of Kings began.

"Not my grandson!" Adam bellowed and furiously whacked his blade upside Joseph's head.

Frances hastily got up and took the sword of a fallen soldier. He glanced at Anita who was oddly enjoying the tug-of-war between herself and Melinda as if she secretly knew that the constant pulling would separate Bree's limbs from her body.

Frances attacked from behind, swiping his legs under Anita so she fell on her back. The green mist dissolved and Bree fell but Melinda quickly intercepted and the pair hit the ground with a shocking CRUNCH!

Frances pointed the end of his blade at Anita's face. "You're not really that strong and powerful. You just use tricks and glamour to get around which is really not that impressive, you old hag."

Anita sat up on her elbows, vigilantly watching the pointy blade two inches from her face. At that moment, Bree began to stir. It seemed the hard-on collision had knocked Melinda out but had woken Bree up.

She groaned and turned sideways, unaware of the ongoing battle around her and accidentally tripped a soldier.

"Whoops! My bad, what the hell is going on here?" She asked dreamily and stood up.

"Let's see how brave you are against your sweetheart then, shall we?" Anita said and sent a gust of green waves toward Bree.

"No!" Frances yelled with an arm stretched out as if he could catch the smoke and shove it in his pocket. He had been under the influence of Anita's magic in Bree's world a couple of times and had almost killed her. Now, it was happening in reverse.

She was in his world and about to kill him. He couldn't hurt her even if he had to.

He watched as the green smoke twirled around Bree, going in through her nostrils, her ears, mouth and eyes. When the last of the smoke seeped in, Bree giggled frantically.

"Okay, that was plenty ticklish." She wiggled, jutting her fingers in her ears to clean them of any leftover magic smoke.

"What?" Anita asked looking baffled.

"What?" Frances gawked.

Bree shivered a little bit then stared at both of them. Then she realized they were waiting for some sort of explanation, which she didn't have.

"Don't look at me! I don't understand either." She shrugged.

Anita went full berserker, blasting Bree with green fumes that just seeped into her like she was a living vacuum and also filled the hall with lots of giggles.

"An outrage!" Anita screamed and threw her hands up in frustration. "My powers are unparalleled."

Frances resisted the urge to grin like an idiot. Even without doing anything, Bree still had that power boosted, confident and persuasive look about her that seemed to say well, now you're paralleled, stupid! Whatcha gonna do about it? Her confidence wasn't powerless against Anita at all. It was a perfect superior.

"I'll kill you all!" Anita screamed.

"Okay, shut up already!" Bree said rolling her eyes. Her butterscotch colored hair seemed blonde in the dim lights of the castle. She had been lying down for quite a while so one side of her hair was flattened against her face but in a cute way, Frances thought.

Frances walked behind Anita and grabbed both her arms. She didn't blast him with any fumes because she had literally exhausted herself from using up so much tickle magic on Bree.

Bree walked towards her, fishing around her pants pockets then pulled out a red vial.

Anita backed up slightly looking frustrated as though she had some bad history with a tiny bottle. "Not that again!"

"Night night, Annie!" Bree said and dumped the contents on Anita who immediately slumped and began to snore.

"One down, three to go!" Frances said allowing Anita drop to the ground.

The pair looked around realizing Joseph's army were now lesser in number and a couple of new faces had joined the fight on Adam's side.

Frances gazed up at the balcony where Adam was staring down at something, probably Joseph. For a minute, Frances registered how his grandfather's posture was more rigid reflecting the exact way Joseph had loomed over him. Frances felt queasy. He mentally switched Adam with Joseph and discovered there wasn't much difference between both men.

He pushed the thought aside. Adam was good and not as maniac brained as Joseph and he definitely didn't have ancient ghosts living inside him.

The fight was over. They'd won.

"Okay, i take it back. Three down, none to go." He said.

A thought suddenly struck Frances like lightning.

"Grandma!" He shrieked and dropped his sword, bolting out of the castle in 0.2 seconds. Somehow, he had dragged Bree with him.

He hurriedly placed her on the horse he'd come with and took the reins then galloped as fast as he could to the old palace. He didn't know where it was, he wasn't sure he would find it again but he knew Belle had been there.

He mentally kicked himself, then slapped himself then kicked himself again. He'd left Belle behind even though a part of him was sure he'd heard her voice in that labyrinth of terrifying pillars.

"Do you know where she is?" Bree asked over the wind. Lost in his thoughts, he had almost forgotten she was right behind him. Her warm hands atop his shoulder and her breath on his neck were the only reminders that she was there.

"I do, i think!" He shouted back, muttering the last part.

His new horse friend seemed to remember the way though. It zipped past trees, zigzagging through the forest at top speed like it was also eager to save Belle. They finally entered the mist. It was so cold Frances regretted bringing Bree along. The temperature seemed to have dropped a lot more than the last time. The horse trotted on faster, casually jumping over rubble on the ground.

"Where's all this ruin coming from?" Bree shouted.

To answer her question, the mist cleared enough for them to glance at the palace - that was now coming apart in large bits.

Frances jumped off before the horse screeched to a stop near the watchtower, and darted into the extremely large courtyard. The huge statues were already crumbling, the pillars gave way for the rooftop to free fall. The palace now looked like it was a couple of building blocks that had taken a hard kick.

Bree jogged swiftly behind Frances, jumping over and dodging rubble large enough to substitute mini cliffs. Frances led the way and they made it inside the palace hallway. Then came the tricky part - finding the right room.

It would've been a lot easier if half the palace hadn't crumbled on this end. Frances scanned the area as did Bree, the pair occasionally jumping out of the way of a falling pillar head.

"Let's go the other way. Come on!" He urged and led Bree back into the courtyard. A loud explosion shook the ground, pushing the pair down. A part of the roof had popped off like the top of a soda can. Rubble rained down in abundance.

"Come on!" Frances said helping Bree get up even though yellow spots made his vision fuzzy. They managed to cut through to the other side and find an entrance. This part was much calmer and the explosions were small compared to the royal rumble outside.

"This way!" Bree shrieked while pointing at one of the many entrance points. She lunged without waiting for Frances but he followed anyway.

"Are you sure?" Frances asked as more of the rubble fell behind him, blocking their only possibly exist halfway.

"She's over here." Bree said as she turned a corner and entered another large room. This one was obviously a bedroom chamber with no doors. Bree wondered why a sleeping space would be this big unless it was meant for a crowd. There was a bed tethered against the wall at the far end of the room surrounded by old furniture, broken objects, a flattering pile of golden items and of course, more rubble.

In the space between the bed, the silk material of a dress peeked out revealing the skin on someone's legs.

Frances hurriedly raced over to the bed and squatted, peeking into the dark room she had created for herself. "Grandma!"

Bree watched as a pair of delicate hands reached out to grab Frances as if he was a possession in the Lost N Found department of the palace. A woman gingerly hugged Frances. She was beautiful despite being quite elderly. She looked nothing like the woman in the picture Frances had given her.

Her tattered silk dress looked like it was made from silver and complimented her fair skin well. Her brown hair fell down in loose strands across her shoulders, though it was obvious it had once been held up in a bun. Most of her hair had turned grey but they looked like highlights, making her look all the more like a rogue teenage princess.

Frances scooped her up and she curled her arms around his neck, still visibly stricken with joy and surprise.

Bree wanted to ask a lot of questions but they didn't have time. It would be only a matter of minutes before the unrealistic palace came down completely.

Frances ran with his grandmother like she was sandpaper. He didn't trip or even stumble. He jumped gracefully with her in his arms like he was in an egg race.

The loud rumbling deepened as another roof popped off followed by another and another. It was like a force of magic hovered above them dropping bombshells across the rooftop.

Bree found herself leading the way. She cursed under her breath when she noticed the hallway seemed to elongate but she didn't stop. They had saved France's grandmother who wasn't all so granny-ish and she didn't want to kill the lady's hopes of getting out of here. Bree also wondered how long the poor lady had been sitting under that bed tent. She couldn't understand how she'd known the right way to go but then again, there were a lot of things she couldn't understand like; why Anita's magic had tickled, why Frances's grandma looked like someone she had seen before and why the palace roof was popping off like toast out of a toaster.

Nonetheless, she treaded on. A large piece of the roof fell right in between her and Frances missing them by only a quarter. Bree imagined the huge boulder flattening granny and grandson and having to go back to the castle and announce that both were floor toothpaste.

Well there's our happy thought for the day. She thought.

Finally, they found an exit. All the statues in the courtyard had crumbled in different fashions. Most of them lay face flat like they were bowing to the Queen in Frances's arms.

They scurried outside the gate which wasn't hard to find since the bronze gate had groaned loudly like finally, a nap break! And then fallen forward. Frances placed his mother on the horse first then Bree got on next. It was then he noticed the problem - the horse couldn't transport all three of them.

"You two, head back! I'll follow!" He shouted as the first watchtower crashed down noisily into the courtyard.

"How?" Bree yelled taking his hand. She couldn't leave him behind and there was no possible way he could escape this place.

"I'll find a way, i promise. Get yourselves to safety!" He said and before Bree could protest again, he slapped the horse and it galloped far from sight.

More rubble came crashing down shaking the ground even more violently. Frances began to notice the rubble disappearing in a fog of white. The whole place wasn't real. It didn't belong in this time. It was a structure that had existed centuries ago and Frances was sure Anita was responsible for bringing it here although he had no idea why.

More of the palace continued to disappear until only a small portion of it remained. By the palace standards, a small portion meant half the size of Oakwood.

Frances moved as farther away as possible to avoid getting impaled by the old fortress bricks.

He looked around for any form of transportation. Now he really missed those cars back in Bree's world, they were fast and efficient and somehow, always present when you needed one. He had even seen Bree call for one on her phone. He was tempted to do that but this world was very different from Bree's. It was old and rusty and falling apart while Bree's world was more of renovation and new things.

He started to miss the place. Bree's small and comfy bedroom, Melinda's cooking, even his new obsession; the television, amongst others. He hadn't gotten a chance to see what it really does. He wondered if it showed bigger pictures than the laptop.

Frances wondered if he was having all these thoughts because he was about to vanish into the unknown with a yearthousand palace. If so, then he was glad he had seen his family again and they were safe.

A dark figure zoomed overhead creating a large shadow as it went. Frances thought it was an airplane at first but then it swooped down a few meters away from him.

If it were possible for a human jaw to disconnect from their face, that was what happened to Frances. In front of him, curling up its wings and exhaling smoke from its large nostrils was a dragon.

Frances staggered. He recognized this dragon all too well much like his first years of having the finch, Jane, around the castle. Whenever she went away for summer, he would forget what she looked like but then he'd come across her during his travels probably amongst a group of other finches and would still be able to recognize her.

It was kind of the same for the dragon. It wasn't nestling amongst a group of dragons but Frances could tell this was the same one he'd been hunting on the night of his sixteenth. The one he'd seen a couple of weeks prior.

It had red protective plates for its skin like that of an armadillo and a majestic snout long enough to lift a human being. Its wings were blue and stood out like the rest of its body. When it stood up straight, it was 12 feet long in diameter and just as tall. It spouted red flames into the clouds above, dissipating the mist for a while but they only gathered once again.

Frances took in all of its beauty within a split second. The dragon stomped uneasily on the snow covered ground as if saying to him, are you gonna stand there and gawk or are you going to climb on so we can leave?

Frances shook himself out of his trance and bounded towards the dragon unsure if the creature would just snap him up with its large maw or reduce him to ashes. The dragon didn't look exactly friendly but it also didn't look like it would attack. Instead, he oozed a carefree aura like it had been sent by someone and hated his job.

Frances mounted the dragon and it flapped its blue wings. By dragon growth standards, it wasn't all that mature yet but Frances saw it was no longer a baby. It took to the skies just as the last part of the palace disappeared with a FLOOM!

From above, Frances couldn't see the landscape clearly. The dragon suddenly spewed flames as if on cue, clearing the clouds once again.

He looked down and realized the palace was gone. There was nothing underneath him except for a ice field as wide as the Grand Canyon. The dragon hovered for a few minutes allowing Frances take in the view then zoomed forward heading for Villeneuve.