Chapter 31 Betrayal?

"I can't believe we are actually doing this." I heard Kameron muttered.

"Well believe it." I replied.

We were standing in front of The Gate. It was 9pm. Luckily our parents were not coming home tonight. They told Alex the butler to watch over us. We found a way to sneak out but I still felt guilty for doing that to Alex.

"Lets get this over with." Fany said.

Fany has been in a bad mood ever sine she found out that we were suspicious about her and Stark. I couldn't really blame her but she has to understand the situation we were in. And of course, I didn't tell her about Stark and Cole.

All is fair in love and war.

"Ok. Lets stop stalling and get in there." Gomin said, stepping through.

We followed him. It was dark and cold. We were all dressed in fully black. We were prepared for anything and everything. Fany used magic to store our food and other necessities so we didn't need to carry bags.

"Lets hurry up. The longer we stay, the more we are at risk of dying." Kate said, bluntly

"Geez, since when did you become so blunt?" Kameron asked.

Kate shrugged. "I guess I've been spending too much time with Stark."

We made our way. Everyone was quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Me, I was worrying about everything. Will we find The Great Book? Will Danny be ok? Will we all make it out of here alive? Will Robby come back? All questions with no answer.

After a few minutes passed by, Kameron and Kate started arguing about nonsense. I couldn't blame them, they probably wanted to get their minds off of what we were doing.

I turned towards Fany. "Are you sure we are heading the right way?" I asked.

She nodded. "Positive."

Fany was the only one who knew the way around Dormaselor. Her and Stark have been here before, during the war.

"I'm just saying, your pranks are meaningless." Kameron was saying.

"Meaningless? They are not! It makes me laugh and I like laughing so they are very meaningful." Kate replied.

"Well, they aren't even good."

Uh-oh.

"Oh. So you think my pranks aren't good enough?" Kate asked with a raised eye brow.

"Yup." Kameron replied, popping the p.

"That's funny, I'm sure I remember you wearing makeup once. I wonder what Livy would say if she knew?" Kate said with a smirk.

"You have no proof. I'll just deny it." Kameron replied, calmly.

"Oh shoot, your right. How can I be so forgetful. You are truly smart, my dear brother. If only I had pictures of every prank I've ever done on others?" Kate dramatically said, sagging her shoulders. Then suddenly her eyes lit up

"Wait a moment, I think I do. Don't I Mickey?" She asked me with a smirk.

I giggled. "I'm sure you do."

Kate looked at her brother. He tensed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, wouldn't I?"

After 2 hours of listening to Kate and Kameron bickering and Gomin bragging, we finally got there.

And I wanted to turn around and go back home to my mom.

It was a castle from your darkest dreams. It was very high up, I couldn't even spot the top. There were statues of gargoyles on each window. The whole castle was pure black. I shuddered. It must be really dark inside.

"Are we going to do this?" Gomin questioned.

"Yup." I replied. I took a deep breath and looked at the small group. "Guys, this is very dangerous. And we might not all make it back alive-"I started but Kameron interrupted me.

"Yes we are. We all are."

"Ok. But if your scared and you want to leave, no one will hold it against you." I finished.

"I'm all in if you are." Gomin said.

"Of course we're in." Kate and Kameron simultaneously said.

We looked at Fany. I was worried about her. She looked pale and her breathing was hard. She looked back at us.

"Don't look at me like that. Of course I'm in." she stated, definitely.

That's when I realized how wrong I was. Fany was 100% without a doubt on our side. I can't believe I ever suspected her. I smiled.

"Thank you and I'm really sorry." I said.

"Ya, ya. It's fine." she said, waving her hand.

"Well lets go, shall we." Kameron said, leading the way.

We reached the front gate. I was about to open it when Fany stopped me.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

"Uh, going in?" I said, feeling foolish.

"Someone can see us, I know a secret entrance that we used when we tried to sneak in a few years back." she told me, gesturing to follow her.

We circled half way around and can I say the place was HUGE.

"It took us 4 years but we finally made our own way through the palace. It was hard work, sneaking in and out unnoticed. And especially sneaking in Laris since we get affected really fast." Fany explained. She was on her knees and digging through layers of leaf and sticks.

She continued explaining. "It's not noticeable and even if you step on it, you won't fall. Also, we had the best Laris do magic, so it's undetectable. See, we might have made peace but we still had our doubts." She finished. She looked tired and even more pale.

"Thank you so much Fany, but I really think you should go back." I said, worried.

"Ya. You don't look so good." Kate said.

"Geez, that's what every girl wishes to hear. And besides, you guys need my help. You don't know your way around the place." Fany said.

She did have a point. "Ok but if you feel even a little sick, promise you'll leave." I said.

"I promise." She promised.

I nodded. "Ok so what exactly is this? How do we get in?" Gomin asked.

"It's a long jump but it leads to the basement. No one usually goes there. I'll go first in my small form just to make sure. Just give me a second." And with that she shrank to her little size and flew through the hole.

"Guys, where exactly will we be looking for the book. It's in here but where exactly?" Kate asked as we waited for Fany.

"I've been thinking about that. I think the riddle that Sam gave Jemin will help us with that." Kameron answered.

"Ya but we still haven't solved it." I said.

"Well we're about to be tested to see how we do under pressure because we need to solve it as soon as possible." Kameron said.

I shook my head. "This is the most reckless thing we could have ever done." I said.

Gomin smiled. "Welcome to The Other World."

Just then Fany came up. She grew to her usually size. "There were some Maligns but it's all clear now. And I think I found a way to sneak around, unnoticed."

"Ok. Lead the way." Kate said.

"It's kind of a long jump but I cast a spell so you won't hurt your self." Fany said.

"Wow. How does it work?" Kameron asked, curious.

"It's complicated and do we really have time!" Fany exclaimed.

I took a deep breath. It's now or never. "See you guys." And with that I jumped.

I got that feeling you get when your free falling but landed on my feet without harm. Thank God.

I stepped away to let the others come. After we were all down, Fany showed us her plan and can I say, it was brilliant.

"I'm going to shrink to my small size and hide on Mickeys shoulder and you guys get to play dress up." Fany said, smiling.

"What are you talking about?" Gomin asked.

She walked over to a small closet on the far side of the room and took out uniforms. "Everyone in the palace except for the king, queen and prince has to wear this. I'll magically turn your eyes completely green and add the V but we must hurry. The spell only last for about an hour."

"What? That's now enough time. Even if we solve the riddle, we'll still need to actually find it. It's probably well hidden." Gomin said.

"Wait, what riddle?"Fany asked.

Oh ya, we still haven't told her about that. And so I explained.

"Sam did that?! You should have told Stark. He always feels guilty and blames himself. This proves that maybe Sam wasn't all bad." Fany said. She looked furious but hopeful.

"Oh my gosh, we don't have time for this, lets go." Kameron said.

We got dressed and started our journey.

"Ok. Take the second door to your right and you'll enter a room. There is a back door that leads to stairs and that leads you upstairs." Fany said, sitting on my shoulder.

We did as we were told. It was dark but we didn't need any flash lights but it was very cold. And I was tiring quickly. Everyone looked slightly pale but Fany looked even worse. I didn't think this place would affect us this quickly.

"Ok. Now what?" I asked once we got upstairs.

"I don't know. We have to solve the riddle." Fany said.

"Maybe we should look for an album." Kate suggested.

"An album? In this huge place? Come on, that's ridiculous" Gomin replied.

"At least I'm trying!" Kate said, a little offended.

"Guys calm down and think." Kameron said.

"It's always 'be calm, be calm' with you."Kate said.

"Umm, guys. People are starting to stare. Stop standing like statues and walk." Fany whispered.

It was almost midnight but people were everywhere. Mostly the staff.

"Where should we go?" I asked Fany.

"Uh. Ok do you see those stairs to your right? Go up and take the third room to your right. It's a bathroom." Fany said.

"You really know your way around here." I said, making my way towards the stairs.

"Yup. Laris and Carsims study it once their older."

We reached the bathroom. "Now what?" Gomin asked.

"Man, this is the worst plan ever." Kate said.

"Ok let's just walk around. Maybe we will find something." I suggested.

"Lets split up." Gomin said.

"No. We'll lose each other." Kameron replied.

"Fine. Lets go and maybe ask around. Fany, do you know if the Maligns keep any thing that's too precious somewhere? A place that's well guarded" I asked

"There is this room but forget it. There is no way we can go inside. It's highly guarded." Fany said.

"Well we don't really have a choice. Where is it?" Kate asked.

Fany led us up more stairs and towards a big, circular corridor. There was a door in the middle. And the whole place was full of Maligns and with guns.

"Looks like Fany was right." I said. "There is no way we can get in there."

"Never say never." Kameron said.

"Oh, I think princess is right." A voice said behind us.

We slowly turned to face the person. Cole.
*****
"Hi princess. Welcome to my humble home." Cole said with a smirk.

I coughed and said in a deep voice. "I don't know what your talking about, your highness." I was proud that my voice didn't quiver.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Don't try to hide now. Your disguises are fading. And besides, we knew you were coming." Cole said

"How?" Gomin demanded.

"You were betrayed." Cole smiled an evil smile.

Kameron took out his weapon from his belt, ready to fight.

"Tsk, tsk. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Cole said. Just then, the guards came. And man were they scary.

"Oh and tell the little fairy to go back to her normal size." Cole said.

Shoot. Fany was my backup plan. She was trying to hide but looks like our cover was blown.

She grew to her normal size.

Cole chuckled. "You guys are truly sad. I can't believe you are the Child of the prophecy. You thought you could just waltz in here and take The Great Book. And without any idea where exactly it is." Cole shook his head, amused.

"How do you know all this? That we knew it was in the palace but not exactly where?" I asked

"My father told me." Cole replied.

"How did he know?" I questioned.

"That's none of your business." Cole demanded. I saw the twitch on his clenched jaws and realized his dad wasn't telling him the whole truth. And by the looks of it, Cole was aware of that as well.

"What are you going to do now?" Kameron demanded.

"Lets pay a visit to father, shall we." Cole said. He turned towards the guards. "Get them."

We didn't put up a fight. We knew it was no use. They led us through rooms and corridors. After a few minutes, we reached our destination.

Cole opened the door and walked in. We closely followed, not having any choice since the guards were pushing us.

"Father, sorry to disturb you but our guests have arrived." Cole said.

Kind Jared was in the middle of a conversation with someone whose back was towards us.

King Jared was the exact copy of Cole except older. And his hair wasn't spiky but it fell down to his chin.

He smiled. "Welcome."

The person he was talking to turned towards us. I gasped, my heart skipping a beat. No, this can't be happening.

Fany fell to her knees and cried out. "Stark!"
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(A/N). Ok I know I'm the worst. I wanted to update two chapters today but things kept coming up. Sorry? Well hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, take care❤