"JACE!"

I threw my pillow at the wall and yelled from frustration.

Jace came to my room looking glum.

"What were you thinking?" I asked, furious.

He shrugged.

"I can't believe you would spill my perfume into my water! I could have died! Where is Janet? She's in this as well, isn't she."

At the mention of Janet, Jaces face turned sad.

"No Janet isn't in this."

I frowned. "Is everything ok?" I asked. He didn't have his usual smirk that he has when he pranked.

He shrugged and sat on my bed. "Janet." He said as a way of explanation.

"What about her? Is she ok!?" I asked, worried.

"She's fine. Perfect." He said. I could hear a little sarcasm.

"So what's the problem?"

"She......changed."

"How?"

"She's not her tomboy self anymore. She's acting like a girly girl."

I chuckled. "Well she is a girl, Jace. And besides, this is the age at which a girl acts like a girl."

Jace shook his head. "Look Mickey, I know her more than anyone and she's not acting like herself."

I nodded, not really understanding.

"And she's been hanging out with Justin." Jace said, bitterly.

And that's when I understood. "Where is Janet right now?"

"She's getting ready to meet up with her new friends." he said sadly.

"Ok. Go call her." I ordered. He got up and left.

I knew that Janet wouldn't just leave Jace for her friends if he just asked her to stay with him.

A few minutes later Jace walks in closely followed by Janet. My mouth dropped open when I look at her.

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes but my eyes weren't playing tricks.

"Janet, what do you think you are doing?!" I exclaimed.

Janet frowned. "What?"

"What are you wearing?!" I shrieked.

"See what I mean." Jace said, leaning against the wall

Janet looked down at her attire. "What's wrong with it?"

She was wearing a mini skirt that barely covered her thighs. Her shirt was tight and showed her stomach and she had on black high heels in which I'm sure she had no idea how to walk in.

"What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it? Dude, what isn't wrong with it! Take it off right now." I commanded.

Janet crossed her arms. "No."

I raised my eye brow. "Excuse me."

Janet shrugged. "You can't tell me what to do." And with that she stormed off. I stared after her, completely bewildered.

"Meet the new Janet." Jace sighed.

I shook my head. "These new people she calls friends, they're bad influence. I've never even seen Janet in a dress forget what she's wearing right now."

Jace shrugged. "I tried telling her to cut it out but she won't listen to me."

"Well I'm calling mom. She definitely won't allow Janet to step out of the house dressed like that." I said, taking out my phone.

*****

"And she wanted to go out dressed like that?" Danny asked.

I nodded my head. "I don't know what's going on with her but its not good."

"What did your mom say?"

"Oh she was furious. She grounded her for a week."

We were silent for a few minutes, lost in thought.

"Want something to eat?" Danny asked.

We were sitting in Danny's living room, talking.

I nodded. "Sure."

He got up and left to get some snacks. I sighed, thinking about Janet's peculiar behavior.

"Here are some Oreos." Danny said, tossing me a pack of Oreos and a bottle of water.

"Thanks." I said as he sat down next to me.

"No problem. So what's going on with Tori and all?" Danny asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing really. The guards haven't reported anything unusual."

Danny nodded. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

I didn't reply instantly, thinking about it. "Well, I don't think she is lying but I feel like she is hiding something."

Danny nodded. "Anyway, how are you're lessons with Jemin going?"

I smiled. Instead of answering, I decided to demonstrate.

I looked at Danny's bottle of water and it started floating. Then I slowly tipped it over, spilling water all over Danny's head.

"Wow. That was unnecessary." Danny whined, grabbing a towel.

I continued to laugh at him. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

Danny shoot me a glare. Then his expression softened. "It's so cool that you can do magic. It's unbelievable."

I laughed. "Seriously, I'm used to it. It's not that crazy anymore."

"It is for me! I'll never get used to it."

I gave him a sad smile.

He noticed my expression and frowned. "What's wrong?"

I shrugged.

"Mickey, are you blaming yourself again?" he asked sternly.

I sighed. "I can't help it. Maybe if I tried harder then...." I trailed off.

"Mickey, look at me." Danny demanded. I looked up at his bright blue eyes.

"Kate's death was not your fault. It was Robby's and Jared's."

I nodded. "I know but I just feel like if I tried harder then I could have saved her."

He shook his head. "You tried your best."

I sighed again. "Lets change the topic."

Danny nodded. "I have a question. You guys still don't know where Sinaya and Rodger disappeared too?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Sinaya and Rodger both said the same thing. They said they fell asleep then just passed out and haven't woken up until the day I broke the curse."

"But that's crazy!" Danny exclaimed.

"Ya. Jemin and I came up with some theories. The first one is that they were probably under a sleeping spell that lasts very long."

"But how come they weren't under the spell when you broke the curse?"

"That's what we were wondering. So we thought that maybe they did wake up but then had their memories erased every time they went back to sleeping."

Danny nodded, thinking over what I said.

I felt my phone vibrate and looked at my phone. I had a message from Sinaya.

~Having a meeting with the other royalties. Wondering if you wanted to come with me?~

I groaned. I remember the first time I went to this kind of meeting, feeling excited. That was also the first time I met James who told me that it would be boring. But it wasn't.

Until the second and third and fourth one.

I knew Sinaya asked me to come with her so she wouldn't get bored. I sighed.

"Who texted you?" Danny asked.

"Sinaya. She asked if I wanted to go to another meeting with her."

"Ha ha. Sucks to be you."

I stuck out my tongue. I typed a quick text to Sinaya, agreeing to go with her.

******

"Why did I agree to come with you?" I asked for the hundredth time.

Sinaya smirked. "Beats me. Everyone else said no."

We were both sitting in the car along with James and Miranda.

"It's fine Mickey, I was dragged along as well." Miranda said, staring daggers at James.

James gave his signature smirk. "I didn't force you to come."

Miranda rolled her eyes. "I don't really mind anyway, I think the meetings are quite interesting."

James and I stared at her, our mouths wide open with disbelief while Sinaya nodded.

"It's not that bad." Sinaya added.

James shook his head. He turned to face us. "No. It's horrible."

"James, keep your eyes on the road. I don't feel like dying today." Miranda exclaimed.

"Yes little sis." James replied, chuckling.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "If I die young, it's because of you."

James nodded. "I'll remember to include that on your gave marking."

I chuckled and Sinaya rolled her eyes.

"I'm stuck with losers." I heard Miranda mutter.

Ten minutes later we arrived at the Larington palace. Our parents were already there along with the Carsim king and queen.

We went up to the meeting room, knowing that's were they'll be.

"Took you long enough." the king of Larington, King Destin teased.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "We didn't take that long, dad."

King Destins wife, Queen Linda smiled. "You are 30 minutes late."

The Carsim king and queen, Philip and Ella chuckled. "That's the earliest they've ever been." Queen Ella stated.

Jordan walked up to James and gave him a kiss on the cheeks. "Lets get started."

James groaned. "Why are you so eager?"

Jordan rolled her eyes. "It'll soon be our turn to rule these kingdoms, James. You have to start being serious."

James shrugged. "Don't remind me."

King Sorak laughed. "Lets start."

*******

It was exactly 2 hours and 14 minutes later when we heard a crash.

We were discussing on what to do about the shortage of water at Carsim territory when there was a noise coming from up stairs.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at each other.

"Who was that?" Tara asked.

"I don't know. There is no one here except us." King Destin said.

"Ya. You know no one is allowed here if we are having a meeting." Queen Linda said

"It sounded like it was coming from the 6th floor." Jordan said.

We all paused, wide eyed. And at the same time, we all got up and raced upstairs. Because located at the 6th floor is The Orb.

The Orb is this circular object where one side is red and the other white. It shows the balance between good and bad. It's highly guarded with locks, a password and it reads your finger print because only a Carsim, Lari or Chari loyalty can get access.

When we reached the door we stopped in our track. Standing there was a girl. Well, I assumed it was a girl from her body figure.

She was dressed all in black and had a mask over her face. But what scared me were her eyes.

They were red. Completely red, not a single white part.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sorak demanded.

I wasn't sure but the girl smiled.

Then she bolted for the window that was next to her. James raced after her but the girl was too fast. She stood next to the window and glanced over her shoulders. Then she jumped out the window.

🔸🔸****🔸🔸
(A/N). As promised, I tried to make this chapter longer. And I dedicate this chapter to @books_books_booksAML since she was the first to read the previous chapter and comment that it was short. And I also know its almost your birthday. So happy early birthday!

Until next time, take care❤