(Abigail's POV) 

I awoke with a yawn the next morning and sat up in bed. My sleep had been both comfortable and apparently undisturbed, which was reassuring. 

Until I saw that. 

As I glanced over at the wall nearest my window, I saw a crumbled paper riveted to the wood by an arrow. Though the sight initially terrified me, my curiosity won and I instinctively rose to investigate. 

I yanked the arrow out of the wall and dropped it. With shaky hands, I unfolded the paper and read the scarlet handwriting. It read, "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are. I understand why you wouldn't trust me, but it would be in your best interest to do so. Choose the brighter path." 

Whatever that means. I thought. 

Brushing the matter aside, I crumbled the paper and tossed it into the waste bin. As it hit the bottom, a sharp rap on the door snatched my attention. With a huff, I stomped over to the door. 

"Who is it?" I demanded as I opened the door. 

An olive-skinned man with greasy, slicked-back hair gazed at me with his beady eyes. He seemed confused. "Umm...I was sent to see if you were awake, madame." 

I raised an eyebrow. "Well that's new. I don't know how I feel about being called that." 

"Ultimately, that is irrelevant to me. Emperor Pietrovo's personal film director, Jamente Wanzo wishes to meet with you as soon as you are able. He awaits you in the banquet hall." 

"They don't waste any time, do they?" 

"I suppose not. When may you be ready, that I may come and escort you there?" 

After a moment of thought, I shrugged. "I can go now." 

The man raised his eyebrow. "You aren't ...groomed, though. Don't you want to make a good impression?" 

"Ultimately, that's irrelevant to you, mister. Now take me where I need to go." 

With a shrug, the servant turned. "Very well then." 

I quickly slipped my shoes on, and then I silently followed the greasy-haired servant down the lavishly-decorated hallways of the palace. It seemed every new section of walkway had a different color and pattern of carpet, yet they all charmingly blended into one another...somehow. All was perfect order among the guards lining the walls as well. They treated me with utmost respect. 

Finally, I was ushered into the royal banquet hall, where hundreds of empty tables waited. Only one single table was occupied, by one single occupant. He was a grave, silvery-haired man who eyed me curiously as I took a seat. 

I gave him a smile full of professionalism, but lacking any real depth. "Hello, I'm Abigail Wilde, and I presume you're Jamente Wanzo?" 

The man nodded. "That I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, darling." 

My first instinct was to recoil at the pet name he'd addressed me with. After all, only Baird got to call me that without repercussions. But nonetheless, this man eyed me with a rather disinterested appraisal that eased my mind a bit. 

"I'm glad to meet you too." I finally replied. "So, you're a...director?" 

Jamente nodded. "I am. Emperor Pietrovo's personal film director." 

"I've heard that much already. He seems to take much delight in me." 

Jamente closed his eyes and bobbed his head. "I suppose he would. He has quite an eye for the...choice and fair ladies." 

"So I've noticed. So, how's your job work, exactly? You just make movies for him?" 

"Essentially. Much like the royal playwrights of old, I commission films for his majesty's good pleasure. And he has made a specific request to have your fair face appear in one or two of my newest films." 

"Sounds like objectification to me, but I guess that comes with the job." 

"Miss Wilde, may you stop running your mouth? I have a tight schedule. Now, I am formulating casts for two of my newest movies, and you shall have an opportunity to pick between them." 

"Okay..." I trailed off, unsure whether this was a good thing. 

"The first is a film adaptation of Emperor Pietrovo's favorite comic book series, The Dark City. I have three female roles open: The protagonist's sidekick, the antagonist herself, or a tough policewoman who also happens to be the protagonist's lover. In light of your excellent work portraying Dara in The Clumsy Gang, I find the last role most suited for your talents." 

My face brightened. "That sounds very interesting! I remember reading an issue or two of those comics, and I loved her character! I've always wanted to play a character like that!" 

"I see. Now, the second movie is called A Brighter Path, and it is a fictional retelling of the knightly exploits of Warvon of Alconte, in the years before he became Emperor. It has great promise despite its shaky script, and the cast I have gathered so far is a 'happy bunch', as the Odegoans say." 

I nodded calmly, but a thousand things were running through my mind. A Brighter Path, I thought, Why's that sound so familiar? Where have I seen that recently? Just when I'd hit a mental roadblock, the memory hit again me like a dump truck. 

It was from the note I'd found in my room this morning! 

But how trustworthy is that note? The most likely person to leave something in my room would be that vile Emperor himself. It's probably got something...racy in it. 

I finally opened my mouth to speak to Jamente. "What's the Parental Advisory level?" 

"Only four, actually. Some mild language here and there, a little blood at times, and a heartbreaking death or two. No indecency in the direction I perceive you to be thinking." 

"Alright, then." I replied before sinking into my own thoughts again. Perhaps I am assuming the worst of that note, but something seems sketchy about this all. I guess there can't be too much harm done following the directions, but still...I dunno. 

With a shrug of my shoulders, I locked eyes with Jamente. "It's a hard choice, but I think I'll pick A Brighter Path." 

"Very well, then. Actually, I am scheduled to meet with the cast and do some pre-rehearsal very soon, so perhaps you should come with me and allow me to introduce you." 

I smiled. "Sounds like a plan." 

With that, I followed the aging director out of the banquet hall, casually headed to who knows where. 

******************** 

(Baird's POV) 

"Alright Sila," Aaron began, "Slow us to Speed Setting 1. Guys, we made such good time, we already crossed the border into Kemaria." 

"Already?" I exclaimed, "It's only been half an hour!" 

"Yep, Speed Setting 3 is no joke." 

"How many are there?" 

"Five." 

"Wait, if 3 took us that far, that fast, why don't we just use 5 the whole way?" 

"Fuel, mainly." Aaron glanced back with a smirk. "But I also like to keep a couple tricks up my slee—" 

We all jumped as a loud boom resounded behind us, and a shockwave caused the whole ship to shake and rumble in the air. The Sand Dollar bobbed up and down in the sky like a rubber duck, and I could only wonder if the thrusters were failing us. My eyes darted about the cockpit in sheer terror. 

I'm not ready to die! 

"Back to 3, Sila!" Aaron shouted as he frantically swerved the ship to the left. "Do a radar scan and tell me what you see!" 

Sila clicked a button. Its calmness bothered me, merely because it served as such a sharp contrast to the horror lingering in the air. 

"Ten." the robot declared. 

Aaron huffed as he spun the wheel again. "Ten what?" 

"Fighters." 

The pilot growled. "Baird, can you read that for me? Sila can't say more than one word at once, and I need to know it all, now!" 

"Wonder whose fault that is." I muttered as I yanked my seatbelt off. I stood up and took a few steps across the floor, only to fall down as Aaron swerved to avoid one of the fighters. "Watch it!" I shouted. 

"Shut up and read it!" Aaron yelled back. 

"We've got ten...now eleven Alcontean fighters on our tail! Two of them are arming missiles!" 

"We need firepower, then! Get on one of the turrets!" 

I frowned. "I don't even know where those are!" 

Aaron sent the ship into a dive, causing me to stumble into the back of his seat. "Keira, could you show him the way?" 

She jumped up, only to fall back down. Nonetheless, she nodded and pulled herself back to her feet. "Alright, follow me, Baird!" 

The moment the ship righted itself, I made a mad dash for the exit. We're all gonna die. 

Keira and I raced down the halls, the frequent tremors of renewed blasts increasing the palpable tension as we went. I raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the lounging room where Khemera, Jedrek, and Hannah sat. 

"We're under attack by Alcontean fighters!" she frantically informed them, "I need a couple of you to come with me and man the turrets!" 

Jedrek shrugged and rose to his feet. 

Hannah also jumped up. "I can't man nothin', but you can bet your life I can woman the heck outta those turrets!" 

Keira rolled her eyes. "You realize we could all die, right? This is no time for adorability. Now c'mon!" 

With that, we raced to the end of the hall, where we dropped through a hatch and found ourselves in a tubular crossroad. I nodded with realization as I saw that the tunnels branched out four ways from the central hub we stood in. A row of flickery orange lights lined each tunnel. 

Without discussion, each one of us took a different tunnel and raced down its length. I winced as a live wire hanging from the ceiling sparked onto my shoulder. The shock was minimal, but painful nonetheless. 

When I reached the end of the tunnel, I came to a hatch, which I flung open. Sure enough, an empty seat awaited below, with simplistic controls, and a turret fastened to the end. I took a deep breath and jumped down. 

******************** 

A/N: Whew, what a chapter, am I right? First off, we gotta wonder what the deal is with Abigail and her "brighter path", and then the Sand Dollar's already under attack? Sounds exciting and intriguing, if you ask me. 😆 

If you enjoyed this chapter, please remember to vote and comment. I always appreciate that. 😁👍🏼 

So, any speculation of what this "brighter path" is, exactly? (I mean, I'm not gonna give you any hints if you're correct or not, but it is entertaining to see you guys struggling to figure out my impeccable genius. 😝) 

(No, not really, for real. Most of you that I know of that are currently reading, are great writers yourselves. 😆) 

Now, I am pretty surprised I was able to post this morning, albeit a little later than normal, since literally yesterday, not even 24 hours ago yet, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. And if you've had it done for you, you know what it's like and I don't need to give you flashbacks. If you haven't, just be thankful, because the aftermath...it isn't fun. 

What's the most major surgery work you've had done? (Or if you haven't had surgery at all, you should be glad, lol.) 

(Actually, this is the most major surgery I've had done, this wisdom tooth extraction I just had. The only other one I could consider is that I was born by C-section, but that's more my mom's deal than mine. 😂)

Well, I've run out of ideas for this note, and I'm still surprised I'm even able to do this. But you can most likely expect an update tomorrow as well, and stay tuned for that. Until then...have a great day or night, and I hope to see you in the next update! 😁👋🏻

(Do we wanna discuss the fact that on that line above, I nearly put a 👏🏼 instead of a 👋🏻?)