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"If you want your children to be intelligent,read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them morefairy tales." - Albert Einstein
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The four were hesitant to go through Caeshire's city gates, that wasn't even a question. What if Onyx knew or could sense that they were coming and was waiting for them with an army of guards at her beck and call? What if the potion didn't work at all?

            Aura waited with bated breath as their horses crept into the city. Her eyes widened in shock, and relief, when she and her friends were met with people strewn across the street, away in a distant dreamland. Others were slouched against the stone and mortar buildings, quietly snoring.

            "God if only I had my phone right now," Carolyn joked as Robin whipped their horse's reins, sending them flying down the cobblestone street.

            The four quickly and carefully navigated their way through the city and across the bridge that connected into the marketplace in front of the castle. As its sterling white towers loomed above them, the fear of Onyx waiting for them began to take hold of them once more.

            As they cautiously entered the grand hall, they were greeted with servants resembling the people in the streets—completely out cold, some with their buckets of suds spilled across the glossy floors.

            Robin led them down the familiar path to the dungeon, each of them slipping past the giant of a guard who was blissfully unaware as he dreamt above the clouds.

            Drip...drip...drip...

            Carolyn gritted her teeth at the familiar, chilled atmosphere of the dungeon. The looks on her friends' faces depicted a similar disdain for their current position. She rubbed her wrists in an attempt to rid of the memory of rusty chains clamped tightly around them.

            They four quietly descended one of the staircases to the first level of cells, the twins' bracelet chains emitting an almost undetectable glow. It brightened the second the four moved closer to the staircase that led further down into the depths of the dungeon.

            Aura took a deep breath as her bracelet's glow grew stronger with each step she took. Down and down they went, further into the darkness that was only combatted by the orange glow of the torches on the damp walls.

            The bracelets led them down one of the four corridors of cells that broke off from the main area, their lights sufficing better than the torches with each turn. And with each turn came more and more cells, its occupant's sentence growing more gruesome than the next.

            They eventually met a dead end of the maze, yet the bracelets became almost blinding. The wall was blank apart from the two torches that clung to the stone.

            A puzzled look overtook Robin's face, his eyebrows knitting together.

            Carolyn huffed in frustration, turning on her heal to retrace their steps. "They're probably malfunctioning and are trying to lead us to the Portal's Grotto."

            Aura grabbed her sister's wrist. "But Gran said that the bracelets would help us find what we need! And I'm pretty sure we need our dad."

            "That dealt with finding the items. C'mon we're wasting precious time. I want us to find Anthony, and maybe even Felicity...preferably together," Bailey said, backing away from the wall.

            Robin ran in from of her and Carolyn. "No, Aura's on to something." He pointed to the wall, walking back towards it. "There's something that doesn't add up. No other wing of this dungeon has a dead end. There's always a cell right here..." His sharp eyes examined every brick until he noticed a dull spot on only one of the sconces' iron surface.

            An ear-splitting creaking bounced off the dungeon's walls as Robin pulled on the sconce. A skinny section of the wall between the two torches shifted back and to the side, allowing entry into a narrow, curved hallway that was blanketed in darkness. The only semblance of light was a distant glow from around the bend.

            Carolyn led the four of them as they walked single file down the corridor. As she rounded the bend Carolyn's breath hitched in her throat, her feet frozen in place.

            Aura's heartbeat reached an erratic rate as she stared at the back of her sister's head, too far back to see past the bend of the wall. Is Onyx here? Is this where they die? If she was, there would barely be a way for them to escape.

            Carolyn blindly reached behind her and grabbed Aura's trembling hand, giving it a hard squeeze before leading her out of the corridor.

            The passageway fed out into a small room, which was mostly taken up by an even smaller cell. There was the smallest sliver of a window, where a single blade of sunlight shot into the space but was quickly overpowered by the light of the torches mounted to the opposite walls. In the cell there was only a small bucket it the corner and a wooden board clamped to the wall, with a puny mattress on top.

            Lying on the sad excuse for a mattress was a tall man, no older than 40, with strong features and dark brown hair. A short, yet untamed, beard clung to his chin as years of dirt and grime clung to his face. He was still fit, but his raggedy clothes hung a little loose on his frame. He was visibly pale from so many years away from the sun.

            Carolyn and Aura edged closer and closer to the bars of the cell as flashes from a worn newspaper article with a photo of a smiling couple filled their minds. Carolyn's eager eyes scoured the room for a key to the cell, but to no avail.

            Robin rummaged through Bailey's satchel before finding a loose bobby pin and swiftly went to work. In less than a minute the cell door let out a painful screech as if it hadn't been opened in years.

            Bailey could barely grab the antidote fast enough before Aura snatched it out of her hand and scurried into the cell. Her shaking hands fiddled with the lid before it finally popped open. She carefully poured the blue liquid down the man's throat, stepping away and grabbing ahold of her sister's equally clammy hand.

            Nothing happened at first, until the man's eyes shoot open without warning. Aura and Carolyn stumbled backwards as the man sat up and looked around the cell until his gaze landed on the twins.

            He slowly stood up and easily towered over the two girls, yet he radiated nothing but kindness, especially his crystal blue eyes that quickly became glossy the longer he stared at them.

            The man let out a shaky breath. "I'd thought I might never see you again." He opened his arms, the twins running into them without hesitation. He placed kisses on the tops of their heads as Carolyn couldn't help but smile in the long-awaited embrace of her father.

            When the three pulled away, Robin and Bailey bowed to the king.

            "Your Majesty," Robin started as he straightened back up, "we don't have much time—there's no telling how much time the sleeping spell has left."

            Despite the confusion on his face at the mention of the spell, the king shook his head. "No, not without my wife," Anthony said sternly as he walked out of his cell.

            "We don't know if she's even in here," Carolyn said, waving her arms in a large circle.

            Anthony stood his ground. "She's here. On her most recent, generous visit Onyx gloated that she had finally captured her."

            Bailey ran a hand through her hair. "This dungeon is enormous. Even if we start now, there's a good chance we won't find her before people­—more specifically guards— start to wake up."

            "We have to at least try to—" Aura said before her head erupted in a searing pain.

            Carolyn ran to her sister to comfort her, but the second her hand touched Aura's shoulder the same pain crashed over her as well.

            The echo of water gushing from a fountain filled the twins' ears as the smooth sensation of marble danced across their fingertips. Glimpses of stained glass encapsulated their vision.

            As the pain mellowed, Aura and Carolyn were left light-headed, holding onto one another to stay upright. They quickly explained what they had seen to their concerned friends and father in between gasping breaths.

            Anthony's bit his bottom lip as he thought until his eyes lit up. "I know where you were seeing." Without missing a beat, he beckoned the four to follow him through a second hallway that was tucked into the opposite corner of the room, hidden on the other side of the cell wall.

            "We called it the charm room because the Fairy Godmother had enchanted it to protect anything inside of it from invasive or harmful spells," he continued as they trekked up flights of stairs. "The Story Almanac was kept there all those years ago before..." Anthony trailed off as they came to a dead end. He pushed against the wall, forcing it open like a jammed door.

            The five piled out into a long hallway that was blanketed in cold, grey as sunlight fought to break past the heavy curtains that hung over the floor-to-ceiling windows. The soft blue paint had grown discolored over the years; the golden, flowery molding on the walls luster property of the past.

            Expertly crafted paintings covered the walls, showcasing the Heroes of the Stories in their best attire with their loved ones also depicted scenes from their harrowing quests. The art stretched as high as the towering ceiling. Despite its beauty, the room seemed to have been forgotten. Layers of dust piled on top of broken pieces of furniture scattered around the room as the lacquered floors hosted a multitude of cracks. Large cobwebs grew in the molded corners

            Carolyn's stomach dropped as they reached the double doors at the end of the hallway, where a painting with a golden frame laid in a crumpled mess on the ground. Even with its numerous tears and shreds, she could still make out her parents' charming smiles and Onyx's pale complexion. She bent down and flipped up a piece of canvas that was still partially attached. When lined up, it showed Felicity and Anthony holding two swaddled newborns.

            She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand wrap around her shoulder. In a flash she had spun around and latched onto the person's wrist. Carolyn's heartbeat slowed once she was met with Robin's surprised eyes.

            He intertwined his hand with hers as they caught up with the other three.

            Anthony led them through the maze that was the Crystian palace, moving swiftly and almost excitedly—like a child running around a playground during recess after being couped up in their classroom for hours. When they reached the top of another flight of stairs, they were met with a small group of guards dogpiled on top of one another, still very much under the influence of the sleeping spell.

            Aura and Carolyn looked at each other before nodding and quickly grabbing the swords from the guards' scabbards, redistributing them to their friends.

            Anthony led them around one final corner, but the twins, Bailey, and Robin froze at the sight of fiery auburn hair.

            Hunter slouched against a simple white door, her one hand loosely around its handle, the other clamped around her sword.

            Carolyn's bracelet emitted a soft glow as she stepped closer to the door. She was hesitant to make any sudden movements or sounds, afraid that any wrong move could awaken Hunter at any moment.

            Bailey tightened her grip around her sword's base as she stepped closer to the sleeping woman, her grey eyes igniting in rage.

            Aura placed a soft hand onto Bailey's forearm. "Now is not the time."

            Bailey brushed passed her and Carolyn to the front and kicked Hunter's body out of the way as if she were a pile of clothing left on the floor. She quickly turned the doorknob, the group met with the calming rushing of water as they stepped into the room.

            The charm room was the brightest space in the castle by far, painted in a rainbow of hues as sunlight streamed through the unobstructed stain glass. In the center of the marble floor stood a modest fountain, where a feminine figure sat on the edge.

            Even though her features were hidden in shadow as the bright light shined around her, the sun could not conceal her hazel eyes. She stood up, her hands flying to her mouth. "Anthony...?"

            Without hesitation Anthony ran to Felicity, spinning her around in the air before sharing a tender kiss. They pulled the twins into their embrace, erupting into a fit of overjoyed laughter.

            Bailey smiled at the reunited family, but quickly said, "I really hate to break up this moment, but we really need to get out of here before the sleeping spell wears off."

            "Too late," replied a raspy voice behind her.