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"Ready or not, here I come!"

Àimèe's voice rang through the empty hallways. She had finished counting to a hundred —skipping from sixty to ninety— and is now running into random directions she thought her sister was at.

The muffled sounds of the ballroom soon grew quieter and quieter, until no sound could be heard anywhere. Looking around at where she was, Àimèe was surprised to see that the entire hallways were deserted. Add in the fact that it was dimly lit, the place looked scary for the five year old.

Hey eyes were now wide in apprehension, but she didn't stop walking. Her eyes darted from left to right, and occasionally over her shoulder to check whether there were ghosts or not.

"Boo!" A voice said, making Àimèe scream in fear and surprise. She crouched down and covered her head with her arms in an attempt to look invisible.

Suddenly, she heard a loud laughter behind her, but this wasn't a scary laughter. It was a mocking laughter.

She turned her head around and what she saw made her scowl. It was just a boy, not a ghost. To make matters worse, he was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach, tears forming on the edges of his eyes.

Now more mad than frightened, Aimme stood up straight and glared at the boy. "What do you think you were doing? Were you the one that scared me?!"

The boy, Ericson, had now managed to calm himself, but a taunting grin still layed on his lips. "Why, yes. It was none other than me."

"Why did you do that, you meanie?!" Àimèe fumed.

"Oh, calm down. Nothing happened to you, and it wasn't even that scary." Ericson said, rolling his eyes. His words caused Àimèe to gape at him, then proceeded to stomp her foot in annoyance.

"If-if you were the one who was here, I bet you would be scared too!" Àimèe stated in a as-a-matter-of-fact tone. This made Ericson frown.

"No, I wouldn't. I'm eight already. Big boys don't get scared like chickens." He said, his frown now turned into a teasing smile.

"I am not a chicken!"

He grinned teasingly, "Yes, you are. Or you wouldn't have been so scared." He taunted, "Chicken, chicken, chicken."

As he continued his ranting, Àimèe was now red in anger. Letting out a war cry that startled Ericson, she pounced on him.

"Hey! Get off of me!"

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Catherine sat there on the carpet, still crying at her misfortune. A voice that sounded coming from afar made her quieten down a bit, her sobs now turned itno Small sniffles.

She looked up, and through her blurry eyesight Because of the tears, she saw a figure running to her direction. As it grew nearer and nearer, Cath's eyes were now only mildly blurred.

She blinked the remaining tears away and looked up again, just in time for the figure to stop walking and to end up in front of her.

She studied him. He had dark brown hair and beautiful eyes that had the same color of his hair. He was wearing a cobalt blue suit and white pants. All in all, the outfit suited him.

The strange boy then kneeled before her and asked in a small tone, "Are you... Okay?"

She blinked before pouting softly and shaking her head. "My knee is hurt." she said, pointing to her knee which had a small scrape.

Stefanos smiled, and said, "Don't worry, it'll heal soon. I'll make sure of it!"

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Meanwhile, inside the ballroom, the Ginemoux couple had only began to realize that their children were missing. They started to look around and ask the people that they knew if anyone has seen the twins, but unfortunately, all replied in negative.

They're not the only ones with missing children, though. Queen Matilda Larmalart was now speaking to her guards about the missing prince, and to bring him back as soon as they see him.

"Try the library first. He's most likely to be there." She ordered them. The guards nodded and bowed as they left for the library, in hoped to find the prince.

At the other side of the ballroom, King Edmund Stormorb and Queen Beatrice Stormorb were also sending their own guards to find the missing prince. The eldest prince, Frederick, was not very worried for Frederick, because knowing him, he would be fine.

The news of two missing Prince's and two missing young ladies from a noble family now reached the attention of King Augustus Sternguard, the king of Macrocosmus. He now sent his own fleet of guards to search for the missing children, and another fleet to inform the Nobles and the Royals to go to a drawing room.

The Ginemoux couple headed there without a second thought, knowing well that the king could and would find their twins. Instead of the whole family, only the King of Zephirus, King Edmund Stormorb, went to the drawing room as to avoid suspicion.

Queen Matilda of Aqua, though, decided to follow the soldiers she had sent to find her son.

So far, only the people who were missing children were the only ones informed of their trip to the drawing room, which was to not let people be worried.

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The soldiers from the Kingdom of Aqua were now on their way to the library. They were unaware of the Queen's presence behind them, as they were too focused on finding the young prince.

Just as they reached the library, faint voices reached their hearing, making them look at the direction where it came from. After a quick glance to each other, they set off for that path.

Omce they arrived to where the sounds were from, they were met with the prince and a girl sitting down on the carpet and laughing with each other. These guards, who were only concerned of the prince's safety, stepped nearer to the two children who were too wrapped up in their own world to notice the soldiers.

Catherine let out a startled gasp as a rough hand captured her forearm, hoisting her away from her new friend. Stefanos, who saw this action, got mad and threw a glare to the soldier that took Catherine away.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Siad the six year old boy.

"Your majesty, we are here to escort you back to the ballroom. Let us leave now, Young Prince." A different guard said.

Keeping his eyes firmly on Catherine, he noticed the guard that was holding her, tightened his grip on the gilr, making her emit a small cry and a few tears ran down her smaal, chubby cheeks. This made Stefanos Larmalart snap.

He struggled against the soldier who was holding him, saying again and again, "Let me go! You, don't you dare hurt her!"

Finally having seen enough, Queen Matilda stepped into the corridor and into the view of the people there. The soldiers were the ones that noticed her and acknowledged her, but Stefanos was merely staring at Cath in worry, and Cath had her eyes clenched close.

Waving a hand, Queen Matilda dismissed the guards that were holding back the young ones. Once they were set free from their human confines, Stefanos reached into Catherine and hugged her as she cried in fear of the soldiers.

As he was doing this, he was unaware of the wise pair of eyes that were staring at him in question.

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On the other side of where the two new friends were, though, was a pair of children that didn't look like they belong here in the celebration because of their appearances.

Àimèe's previous bun was now messy and dangly, her dress had a few tears in it. Ericson Stormorb was no better. His tie was on the brink of dislodging itself, his buttons were popped, and one of his shoes were now pretty much nonexistent after Àimèe threw it out a window she saw.

The adrenaline had now taken a toll on them, ending them up into a panting, chaotic mess. Even so, they still glared at each other with hatred, neither one of them willing to surrender in the stare-down.

Sounds of footsteps snapped them out of their mini battle, and they both turned to see about five or six soldiers coming their direction. Two of them had the Macrocosmus insignia, while the rest had the Zephirus insignia.

They —the soldiers— stopped before the children, and said, "Your majesty, Young Lady, you are both to be escorted to the drawing room where your parents are at, for they have neeen searching for you All Over the place.

Àimèe and Ericson gave a tired nod to the armored men before promptly glaring at each other, then walking side by side as they were led to the drawing room where a whole lot of scolding awaited them.

What would happen now? What would Queen Matilda say of her son and this strange girl's friendship? And would Àimèe and Ericson ever make up?

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The kids at the top. Names are written there.