Ep. 14 Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup!
December 18th, 2023
Finished.
It was finished.
Finally, Princess Guardians had finished reading Nature's journal. Even though she had threatened Nature by stating she knew all of the pink haired teenager's secrets, it had only just ended.
She had learned... many things about Nature that made her eyes widen, blood boil, or want to spill gallons of water upon the carpet. There were tons of information to comprehend. Information she wasn't even aware existed. The first quarter of the book deeply conflicted with her though because, truthfully, Nature had read every book in Equality except for the restricted ones.
Yet still, somehow, there were information located in the journal that did not belong to Nature. Other information made no sense at all on how she obtained the knowledge. Furtherly, some details were down right frightening to the apple's rotten core- giving her nightmares.
Certainly, after all she read, she hated Nature even more, but she could not help but feel... pity. For once, she, and she only, understood why Nature had a distaste for the Guardians. The Guardians were only one example of multiple horrors.
One surprise to her though was the journal was not just any ordinary notebook. It added pages if she ripped a clean page out. It was built with layers.
If you dared to flip so far, you'd reach an area where the pages disappear and compartments open up. Within those compartments were objects. For instance, leaves of all shapes and colors.
Dig a little deeper, you would come across locked pages labeled as "Secrets I'll Take to my Grave". Those pages, those thoughts, were the ones that gave the princess nightmares. Interesting enough, they had nothing to do with the Guardians. Oh, no. It was much, much, much worse.
"Guardians!" Princess Lullaby knocked on her guest room door. "Don't forget about going to the school in half an hour!"
Princess Guardians jumped at the knock and leaned the journal away from her body lying on her stomach upon the bed. "Yeah, yeah, I know!"
She listened to her cousin's footsteps disappear down the hall before resuming the book. Within one compartment, she pulled out an old letter. The letter dated back to the fall of 2013. Her sisters had sent it somehow and hoped she would write back. The letter had been torn to shreds but then, taped back together. Did Nature change her mind? An added piece of paper on the bottom said, 'They're lying. They hate me. Better off without me.'
She sighed and put the letter back into the compartment.
Half an hour later, Princess Guardians watched students of all ages enter the old school of Hillville. Any moment soon, she expected to see Nature and Foxy walk out of the pine trees and onto school grounds. She was surprised to see Mrs. Wishes had walked into the school alone as well. Finally, Nature and Freedom emerged from the forest with expressions she could not read.
Many, if not all, Equalians had heard what happened between the Guardians and Nature's family, and Nature wasn't taking it lightly towards them. What did Freedom have to do with it? Well, it was anyone's guess.
No matter the situation, the princess felt it was an opening to toy with Nature. She understood she would need to be careful though. She wasn't sure how sane Nature still was. She seemed sane, but who knows what those thoughts were hiding?
Around beginning lunch hours, Princess Guardians found Nature observing her eyes in the bathroom mirror. She hesitated at first, unsure of what to say exactly, but she shook her head and walked fully into view.
"I can help with that, you know," she said, staring coldly at the back of Nature's head.
Nature rolled her eyes once she noticed the princess in the reflection of the mirror. She turned around to face her. "Why would I want your help? I already know the answers I need anyway," Nature replied, returning the attitude.
"We should meet after school hours are finished."
"No."
"You can't say no. It won't take too long. I just want to run a few... tests."
Nature gulped, thinking of all the possible directions where "tests" was heading. "Where?" She said in a whisper.
"Hm, good question. Mayor's house."
She turned her face to her left side, "Fine."
A stall opened and a teenage girl walked out. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" The girl asked.
"No, Star, you're fine," Nature sighed.
Star had dark curly blue hair with turquoise and white highlights. Half of it was wore up into a pony tail and contained a white bow. Around her neck, she wore a dark blue scarf. The rest was the school uniform. Her eyes were turquoise with white square glasses.
"Hello, you must be the future queen I've been hearing about," Star approached Princess Guardians and stuck out her hand. The princess hesitantly shook it.
"Who are you? I haven't seen you around before," she commented, noting the teen seemed to be at least seventeen.
"She's a transfer student," Nature answered. "With her sister, Summer."
"Are you still testing for the magic school in Settle Sun, your highness?" Star questioned with a hopeful smile.
"Yes, forms are in the nurse's office," Princess Guardians proceeded to roll her eyes. "Anyway," she turned to Nature, "Meet me there at four. No later." Before walking out, she whispered in her ear, "Remember your promise."
Several slow hours later, Princess Guardians waited for Nature on the porch of the Mayor's home. Princess Lullaby had gone out with her band of friends, so she wouldn't be back for a few hours. The Mayor was also working late hours at Town Hall. The princess would have Nature all to herself for at least two hours.
Arriving two minutes early, Nature approached the Mayor's home and found Princess Guardians standing at the door.
"Hm, you actually came," Princess Guardians raised an eyebrow.
"... Let's just get this over with," Nature lowered her head to the wooden boards.
"Yes, let's."
Walking through the huge home, it was exactly how it looked the last time Nature had been there with Freedom against Jack. The Mayor seemed to have a theme for statues, maps, and red rugs. They stopped, once upstairs, at the office they had found Princess Guardians and Jack in.
Nature, turning her back from Princess Guardians, looked around for any clue of what the princess was up to or even her book that she could try to snatch back. To her surprise, the office appeared innocent and the same it had been two months ago.
Once Princess Guardians had shut the door, and locked it, Nature, avoiding eye contact, said, "So, what do you really want?"
"Hm?" She looked up from the door knob. "I already told you."
"I don't believe you."
"Why? I know you know I like to study magic."
"Then, you'll also know I know there's always a catch to the simplest things. I'll ask again: what do you really want?"
For a moment, the princess stared at the Guardian before her. "You know, you're a very complicated person. I can't decide if I should hate you or not."
"Please, do," Nature replied in a whisper.
"You're not even going to try to change my mind?"
"Why should I? You already know the truth. Anything I say will go in one ear and right out the other."
"Fine, your entire existence disgusts me, but some points I see truth to. Maybe the magic data isn't all I want. Maybe I'm doing this to torture you in a sense."
"And I deserve it," her voice returned to a whisper.
"Yes, now, the real question lies in my hands. What to do with you?"
An hour later, Princess Guardians had performed three different experiments. The first thing was to test a subject a fair amount of Equalians wondered about. The science of Nature's hair.
During the observation, Nature was easily able to pull things in and out, but Princess Guardians was clueless. She tried multiple times shoving her hand at it, however, it acted as normal hair. Learning it was the thick hair type, she tried gentler. Nothing happened! Finally, she sighed in frustration and accidently dropped her pencil into it.
It disappeared.
So, she moved Nature's hair about, with the goal to find the pencil. Surprisingly, her hand fell in and she pulled the pencil out, suddenly regretting the decision. The inside of the hair felt like she had put her hand into a spittoon filled with gushy saliva and possibly slime. Disgusted, she concluded it worked through thoughts as she successfully pulled more things out and back in.
Her next plan was to study Nature's eye color change. Luckily, the science part was easier to figure out. Similar to hazel eyes, they changed because of mood. Through an experiment with different cards of pictures, she found they could be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, brown, and white.
Nature already knew the information though thanks to Hannah. Still, because Nature thought of the Guardians, Princess Guardians was surprised to see a bright red. They also turned purple because Nature realized the princess could then read her like a book.
After another experiment, Princess Guardians found an alteration within the genes of the cells, located in the iris, leading to the change.
Finally, the last experiment she wanted to conduct upon was the amulets. Nature had not been able to take them off since she put them on, and they were still rings of pink and purple sapphires too. The princess couldn't pry them off. They stuck like glue, or that they were a part of Nature then.
The amulets could sense the danger they were in, being in the hands of her, and the anxiety conflicted onto their vessel. Therefore, they were not going to budge.
Nevertheless, Princess Guardians had a theory. From the book, she obtained the knowledge of how they were either a curse or blessing, but it bothered her Nature barely even acknowledged their existence. It was a solid acceptance they were there and not leaving. They owned her. Therefore, she wondered if they were somehow emotionally connected to Nature.
Since she couldn't take them off, the princess improvised. She worked at her subject's hands, specifically the one with the pink sapphire. She chipped its diamond structure, which was painful for Nature, with a probe that resembled a dentist tool. When a piece came off, Nature fainted.
Then, Princess Guardians stopped and returned the piece to where it came from. The piece fit back in and mended together like it never came off.
A thought came across her as she watched the phenomenon. If the amulets broke, would it have the potential of killing her? The piece she had broken off was as small as a crumb, yet the effect was strong enough to cause Nature to become unconscious.
Before proceeding, she waited for Nature to wake. When Nature sat up, she was in excruciating pain, mainly in her left eye. The princess was going to look at it, but Nature slapped her away with one eye being red and the other purple.
Nature dashed out of the room in advance of Princess Guardians being able to react. She darted through halls and opened doors, trying desperately to find her journal. Opening the last guest bedroom door, she saw it sat on the bed.
Quickly, she scooped it up and headed to the balcony to climb down the vines attached to the house. Unfortunately, Princess Guardians grabbed her arm before she reached the edge of the balcony. She grabbed the book at one end, and Nature had the other. They pulled in a fashion of tug-of-war for the poor journal.
"Give it back!" Nature yelled in annoyance.
"In your dreams!" Princess Guardians refused.
From the sky, Dasher saw the fight happening. She flew down between them, causing the journal to fall from both their hands and onto the floor. Princess Guardians dove for it and succeeded.
"What is going on here?" Dasher began to question. "Why are you guys fighting? Come on, Nature, or you might faint again like you did towards the Guardians."
"But-!" Nature started as Dasher picked her up. "Dasher!" Then, they took to the sky. "No! Dasher, put me down! Please!"
As she struggled to get out of Dasher's grasp, Princess Guardians waved and grinned before going back into the Mayor's home.
After a difficult flight of wiggling, Dasher dropped off Nature near the school. Without a moment's hesitation, she abandoned her best friend and fled into the forest. She ran until she tripped over a rock in Aqua Fell.
Lady was by the water, reading a book to the flowers. She sensed Nature's presence and closed the book.
"Tnemom a tiaw," she calmly said to the flowers. Then, she rose and walked towards the aurora. Right at the borderline, Nature laid on the grass weeping. "Hello, Nature."
Shaking, Nature lifted her head towards Lady's voice. "H... Hi," she mumbled between sobs.
Out the kindness of her heart and curiosity, Lady lead Nature back to the water. She left her there for a few minutes, then, returned with tea. The flowers were silent around Nature, for they too were curious but not for the reasons Lady was.
"You seem upset," Lady insisted a cup of tea towards Nature.
Feeling like a burden, she reached for the cup, hands shaking the whole way. "I... I'm... sorry," she whispered, breathing heavily
"For what?"
"I... show up... like this, and... you... make tea..."
Lady kindly smiled, "No, you're fine. I was in the middle of reading a book to the flowers, but I don't mind the company. Besides, I was beginning to think I'd never see you again."
"W... Why?"
"You certainly gave everyone a scare with Jack," Lady took a sip of her tea.
"You... were there?"
"Of course, I was. You don't remember?"
"I can't... remember anything after approaching the... the Dark Magic Monster."
"Hm, how strange you are. Well, I'm sure it will come back within time. Now, what happened? You're shaking like a leaf."
Nature lowered her head towards the warm cup of tea in her lap, "It's nothing."
"Mm, what have I told you about lying to me? There is something."
"Well, um... do... do you know any of the Royal Family?"
"The Guardians speak of them from time to time."
"Oh, well, one of the princesses... Princess Guardians... stole my journal, and... she's using it against me to... experiment."
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "You must be frustrated."
"I... I suppose," Nature looked at the amulet with the pink sapphire.
Lady noticed and slowly started to reach for it, but Nature quickly moved her hand away. "What did she do?" She became serious and worried.
"Uh, I'm... not sure." The tears became worse. "I just... she... it hurt so bad-!"
"Nature, you know I won't harm you, right? Please, let me see."
Hesitating, she inched her hand towards Lady. Gently taking Nature's hand, Lady looked at the sapphire. From what she could see, there was no mark. However, when she touched it, Nature winced and covered her left eye.
"It's okay. I'm finished. You don't know what happened?"
"I... bl- blacked out."
"Lay down for a moment."
"Lay... down?"
"Yes."
Slowly, Nature laid down in the grass, being careful not to spill the tea. Lady rose and sat back down in front of Nature's face. Then, she dipped her hands into the water.
"Close your eyes."
In a moment of silence, Nature felt a cold drip of water fall onto her left eye. Within a few seconds, she began to feel better and sighed in relief.
"You can open now. I'll take that sigh as an all better," Lady smiled down at Nature.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Thank the water."
Nature sat up and looked at the water, a sudden sadness filling her.
"Okay, what else is eating you up?"
"Huh? Nothing! Nothing..."
"Lying again?"
Nature sighed, "I don't know. I'm just confused, I guess. I don't know what I'm supposed to do as a Guardian without being so... so judged. What am I supposed to do? Smile and wave? Sit still? Look pretty?"
"You really should learn to relax and clear your mind," Lady said, a bit amused. "You need to find your place. Your purpose. You have to fail before you can succeed."
"I just want to be useful."
"And you will be, but you're young. You need to learn who you are before you can make such decisions. Consider the water for a moment. Do you think it was always like this?"
"I don't know."
"It was not always like this. Once upon a time, there was only land here. Over time, erosion and deposition caused its shape to form. Then, normal water filled the structure. It was used for cleaning, bathing, drinking, and travel. Many years later, it began to change into what it is today. It has a story, and so do you. You used to be a regular stream, but now you are changing into something more. Something extraordinary. You must understand your fate depends on which path you take."
"Path?"
"There are always two sides to a story. Mercy or genocide. It's an endless tug-of-war. You must choose one."
"Yeah, Nature, which will you choose? I personally think mercy is boring, but that's my opinion," Nemon appeared between them.
"What? I thought... I thought you were gone!" Nature scooted away.
"Why? Because Jack lost?" Nemon laughed. "That's cute, Nature! Just because Jack's gone, doesn't mean I'm done with you!"
"Yeah?" Nature rose, feeling a new bravery. "Well, you lost... to me!"
Nemon swallowed thickly, "You won by mere chance!"
"Did I? You knew! You knew all along! You knew I was a Guardian and stayed! You stayed to watch me suffer and get in the way!"
"Smart, you are catching on," Nemon grinned.
"Did you possess him? Did you make him turn away? Did you tell him to do all those terrible things? Kidnap my friends and hurt his own blood? Why? What do you want from me? I don't even know you!"
"So many questions," Nemon said in a teasing tone.
"Answer me!"
"So demanding and curious."
"Why have you done this? They did nothing to you!"
"So sure of herself, not seeing the bigger picture."
"They were innocent people! Jack was an innocent man!"
"It's always about someone else with you, isn't it? Have you ever thought maybe you are the problem? The cause? No, you're too distracted to think about yourself. Maybe that's what's wrong with you."
"Wrong with Nature? No, there's something wrong with you," Lady corrected with a serious tone. Nemon swirled around.
"Who asked you, old woman? Don't you have flowers to drive you mad?"
Lady laughed, "You're one to talk! I know who you are, and if you're smart, you'll leave."
December 19th, 2023
Nature was miserable.
She was losing her mind without her journal. How was she going to get it back from Princess Guardians? Simple. She wasn't.
The painful truth of the matter made her feel like a stray dog trapped in a cage under the abuse of a harsh master. She was whipped from yesterday, and now, she was under the pressure of keeping quiet as she walked into the cafeteria, seeing the princess innocently talking to her group.
The sight made her loose her appetite, so she slowly walked to her table, eyeing the students following her figure move across the room. Foolishly, Princess Guardians sat on the table talking away. Dasher shifted around uncomfortably. Nature sat down next to her, across from Freedom.
"And that's why green frogs are required for the poison potion," Princess Guardians finished explaining.
"Foxy, why do you even need a poison potion?" Butterfly asked.
"It kills weeds and there's a weed growing up the side of the house we can't get rid of," he answered.
They got into another discussion about chemicals, but Dasher ignored them. Instead, she turned to Nature.
"Hey, I saw you walk in. You looked like you could jump off a cliff or something. Are you alright?" She asked.
'How ironic,' Nature thought. 'Not a bad idea though.'
"I'm fine," she lied with a smile.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright, but why are you not eating?" She lowered her voice. "Are you cutting again?"
"Don't worry about me. I haven't," Nature reassured her. "I'm just not hungry."
Dasher scooted a water bottle towards her, "Well, at least stay hydrated."
"Okay."
"No, no, no! Pi is a number that lasts forever, but, mathematically, it equals 3. 14 on a calculator! Even seventh graders know that," Princess Guardians rolled her eyes at Butterfly.
"Well, it's just that-," Butterfly began, becoming embarrassed. "I thought pi was the largest number."
"It is the largest number!" Foxy encouraged her. "It never ends like never ending pie."
"Well, isn't that sweet?" Jewel joked.
"Ugh, that was terrible, Jewel," Nicole giggled.
"You all are unbearable," Princess Guardians looked up at the ceiling. "Except Foxy. He's actually sweeter than 3. 14."
Nature crushed the water bottle with her hands, recognizing that as flirting with her brother. The water gushed out onto the table. The group jumped at Nature's reaction.
"Was... was that flirting, darling?" Jewel asked.
Realizing Jewel was right, Foxy blushed.
"No!" Princess Guardians quickly denied, also blushing.
"If you say so."
"Anyway," Freedom changed the subject, "Nature, have the Guardians thrown anything else at you?"
"No," Nature smiled, happy to hear Freedom voice over her annoyed thoughts.
"Good, then, are you free?"
"Always-!"
"Actually, Nature and I have plans," Princess Guardians looked at her own nails. Then, she snapped her neck back at Nature. "Right, Nature?"
She wanted to say no, but she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't. "Yeah...," she crushed the bottle farther with a threatening voice, making the group nervous. "Plans."
"Oh, and, by the way, I changed up your schedule."
"Really?" Her voice high pitched into a pretend shock with more danger. "Why?"
"I'm going to teach you spells, potions, magic. That kind of curriculum. You need serious help."
"I don't need your help with anything."
"Well, too bad," Princess Guardians returned the sass. "You don't have a choice."
"Nature, break is over," Princess Guardians stated, setting a container on a wooden table. She put her glasses back on.
Nature rose from the tree she was sitting against and huffed over to the wooden table. She sat down on a bench, across from the princess. They were outside on the front side of Hillville's School though it was freezing like a shaved lamb in Antartica. Mrs. Wishes' kindergarteners were anxiously watching them while the children had recess.
"What's next?" Nature sighed.
"This is a type of spell I learned from Technique Class. You attract light to inside an object, and it will replace the darkness. It's a blinding spell."
"What makes you think I can attract light?"
"You keep freezing your feet with ice. I think you can handle a little light, Nature."
After explaining the procedure, Nature focused her attention on the cube container. Thoughts, feelings, and attention played an important role in channeling the radiance of the light. Slowly to not disturb Nature, Princess Guardians leaned down to the container's perspective.
"Easy, Nature," she warned as one side started to create snow crystals. "Calm."
Right at that patient moment, Freedom strode over to them exclaiming, "Hey, guys!"
Gasping, Princess Guardians jumped to shush him, but the container exploded into dust in her face. In reaction, Nature ducked under the table. When she came back up, the princess' face was scorched by the explosion.
"Thanks, both of you," she crossed her arms. "That should have killed me."
"Unfortunately, it didn't," Nature weakly grinned.
"Sorry," Freedom apologized.
"It's fine," Princess Guardians waved it off, rubbing the contents off her face. "Sometimes I forget how dangerous you are." She glared at Nature. "You need to get yourself under control before someone gets hurt!"
"What do you- mean...," Nature trailed off as she looked around, seeing all the new ice. The table and benches were as solid as rocks but cold as ice. "It's not my fault!"
"Nature, can I barrow you for a moment?" Freedom requested.
"I suppose I can share for a minute," Princess Guardians sighed in annoyance.
"I meant alone."
"No, she's technically in class. My class."
"The last hour for classes is over."
"Your point is?"
"She doesn't have to stay."
"She's my student."
"Well, she's my girlfriend."
"Oh, I know what you are. She's not going anywhere until I'm finished!"
Freedom shook his head, knowing quite well Nature did not want to stay. "Come on, Nature," he grabbed her hand.
'Yes, take me away!' Nature pleaded in her mind. As they started to leave, Princess Guardians grabbed Nature's other hand.
"She's not leaving!" Princess Guardians pulled Nature towards her.
"Yes, she is!" Freedom pulled back.
"No, she's not!"
Going back and forth, they pulled for claim over who Nature would go with. The experience not only embarrassed her, but also made her feel like a shiny object. They stretched her arms more, so Nature began to groan in pain.
"Stop it!" She yelled at the both of them. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
Hearing her cries, Freedom let go, not wanting to dislocate her arm. Princess Guardians let go too and crossed her arms as Nature fell onto the snowy ground.
"See? Staying!" Princess Guardians said in a victorious voice. Nature rubbed her arms, wincing at the touches. The Sports Club came around the front to go to the field, but they stopped when they heard the commotion.
"This doesn't mean anything!" Freedom argued.
"Yes, it does! Also, do I need to remind you who you're speaking to in such a manner?"
"Now you're making excuses?"
"Excuses? It's a plain fact, so unless you want to end up like your brother-."
"Ugh, you're such a headache!" Freedom scoffed. "Are you alright, Nature?"
"I'm fine...," Nature replied neutrally though she wanted to knock their heads together.
"This is no way to talk to your princess, or... or your future queen!" Princess Guardians rambled on about herself.
"When you become queen, I think I'll have to bury myself alive... twice!" Freedom rolled his eyes.
"Freedom!" Nature gasped in fear.
"How nice! I'll even help you!"
"Princess Guardians!"
"Oh? Then, perhaps you should join me!" Freedom fought back.
"You're just jealous I've been filling Nature's free time!"
"Jealous? What would I need to be jealous about? I'm just acknowledging you're invading Nature's time!"
"I'm not invading! I am simply educating information."
"Yeah, more like gathering information!"
"Argh, would you two shut-!" Nature began but a hiccup interrupted her.
Without warning, the ground cracked and caved in as a sinkhole from beneath them. They fell down six meters before smacking onto cold, wet dirt. The Sports Club and Mrs. Wishes ran over to the hole, seeing it was at least thirty-six inches wide. The three should have broken a few bones, but, as they sat up, they felt little pain besides sore backs.
"Are you guys alright?" Mrs. Wishes called down.
Freedom groaned, "What do you think?"
"Did you do that?" Princess Guardians questioned Nature.
"How would I have caused this?" Nature glared, followed by a hiccup.
"We were talking, you interrupted, hiccupped, and the ground clasped!"
"What are you- hiccup!- trying to say? This is my fault? I did it- hiccup!- on purpose?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if you did!"
"I would never hurt- hiccup!- Freedom on purpose!" She scooted towards him. "But you- hiccup!- can die in this- hiccup!- hole!"
"What did you just say to me?"
"You- hiccup!- heard me!"
"Guys, come on! Don't fight!" Freedom attempted to stop them.
"Now you're trying- hiccup!- to stop the fighting?" Nature facepalmed. "If I recall correctly, you and Princess- hiccup!- Princess Guardians were just arguing!"
"Yes, but-!"
After another hiccup, flames spread around on the dirt. In a panic, Freedom picked Nature up and both Princess Guardians and Freedom flew up. They flew out of the hole, feeling the intense heat of the flames that wished to devour them whole. Freedom put Nature down on her feet on the snow.
"Mm, what were you saying about Nature making the ground collasp?" Freedom asked.
Again, Nature hiccupped and froze her feet with visible ice. Another hiccup, the ice and snow were melted but the ground cracked.
"Wow, Freedom, do you have a girlfriend now?" Brisk laughed with a few others, but deep down, he was secretly jealous.
"Shut up! Would you- hiccup! - like to fall down a hole- hiccup – with flames too?" Nature burst, causing more flames which hit a few trees. "Oh, no! Can someone- hiccup – get Dasher?"
"If you wouldn't have bothered us or left when I said, this wouldn't have happened!" Princess Guardians scolded Freedom as a member of the Sports Club went to search for Dasher quickly.
"If you would just leave Nature alone, I wouldn't have to!"
On and on once more they went, slowly upsetting Nature. There was no way she knew how to control it, but she felt the fire growing and ready to scorch.
"Arguing again?" She hiccupped. She slammed both their heads together. Not only did it send them onto the snow, but also created an electrical shock through them. "Oh! Sorry..."
Holding her head, Princess Guardians yelled, "What exactly are you sorry for? The shock, knock, or Freedom?"
Taking offense to her words, Freedom shook his head.
"What in the Equality happened here?" Dasher exclaimed from the sky. She flew down and looked at the burning environment and deep hole. "I left you alone to go to the field and this happens? Oh, hang on a second... Princess Guardians, now what did you do?"
"Why is this all of a sudden my fault?" She snapped.
"Obviously you ticked Nature. You're always ticking Nature."
Nature hiccupped, causing the snow to turn purple. Another hiccup and the fire turned blue. Yet another hiccup, a nearby snowman came to life! It moved around and started screaming it was melting because of the fire. Hiccup! Part of the school wall turned from concrete to quartz. Hiccup! A tree who had not been affected by fire suddenly had leaves budding out of the tips. Hiccup! The Sports Club began to feel sad and afraid- like how Nature felt.
Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup!
"Okay, that's it!" Princess Guardians leapt onto her feet and grabbed Nature's wrist.
"What are you doing?" Freedom demanded.
"Seeking professional experienced help!"
"You can't! Her family's going to flip!"
"Do you want Hillville to burn down?"
"Argh," Freedom covered his eyes. "Fine!"
On the train, Princess Guardians and Nature sat in a cart on the way up to Settle Sun. It was a personal cart, so they were alone. Nature tried desperately to calm herself, hoping she would stop hiccupping. Alas, nothing was working. Because of the failed attempts, she was shaking and felt nauseated. Princess Guardians sat there, quietly watching her.
Nature was also asking a million questions between hiccups like: Where are we going? Why are we going? Who are we seeing? How is it going to help? Are you crazy? Won't this cause more problems? The list went on until the princess grew tired of her anxiousness.
"Will you calm down?" Princess Guardians rolled her eyes.
"It's your fault," Nature mumbled sadly with another hiccup. Again, the questions continued but with more worry than before. Finally, she broke into tears, making it worse.
Princess Guardians moved oddly close and put her hands on Nature's shoulders, shaking her. "Calm down!" She firmly ordered, but Nature wept harder. "CALM DOWN!" She yelled, leaning in and...
Kissed Nature on the lips.
With zero expression, she pulled away while Nature sat speechless. She could care less what Nature thought of it. It shut her up, didn't it? Nature didn't even move though. She was too deeply confused and horrified to say anything. One thing she was certain of was she was disgusted. Those lips weren't Freedom's at all- not even close.
After the ride on the train, the two hurried off to the castle in silence. Nature's hiccups were still present, but luckily there was no side effects. The guards let them right in and Queen Sun was, as always, on her throne signing papers.
"Mom!" Princess Guardians exclaimed. "I need your help!"
"Guardians, what are you doing here? Nature, what are you doing here?" She asked in shock when she lifted her eyes.
"Nature has hiccups!"
"...And?"
"And it's destructive!"
"Maybe- hiccup! - it's not- hiccup! - not anymore," Nature suggested.
"We did not come all the way up here just for them to stop!" Princess Guardians complained.
"It's not- hiccup! - it's not my fault!"
Rising up and spreading around the ceiling, an iceberg emerged from the floor near the left side of the room. The guards moved to the right side of the room before the iceberg could crush them in a haste.
"Oh- hiccup! – no! I'm- hiccup! - so-!" Nature started but the princess covered her mouth before she could hiccup again.
"Now do you see what I mean?" Princess Guardians stressed as the floor started cracking.
"Oh my...," Queen Sun stood wide eyed. Nature made muffling noises. "Guardians, let her speak!"
"No! She'll hiccup again and cause even more trouble! Do you know what she did? She set the school yard on fire, mom!"
"Fire?"
"Yes, fire! Surly you've seen this sort of thing before! What do we do?"
"Guardians, how many times do I have to tell you just because I am a thousand years old does not mean I have answers to everything?"
"Sister!" The doors slammed open and Princess Moon walked in. Luckily, no guards were harmed. "The school is on fire and- OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!" She looked up at the glacier.
"The school is on fire. I know," Queen Sun sighed.
Prying Princess Guardians' hand away from her mouth, Nature exclaimed, "Dasher- hiccup! - should be- hiccup! - taking care of- hiccup! – it!"
As the floor cracked farther across the room, Princess Guardians covered Nature's mouth again. Nature attempted to resist, but the princess wouldn't let go.
"Mother, there has to be something to at least make them slow down!" She pleaded.
"Wait, I'm confused. What's going on?" Princess Moon questioned.
"Nature's hiccups are like ticking time bombs!"
Breaking free again, Nature said, "This wouldn't have started if you- hiccup! - and Freedom weren't arguing- hiccup! - like I'm an object or something- hiccup!" With that, the wall the guards were against cracked all the way up to the ceiling, diminishing the structure.
"Now look what you've done!" Princess Guardians scolded her by covering Nature's mouth.
"Oh, boy...," Queen Sun mumbled.
"Well, on the bright side, you might find a spell of some sort in the Icelands," Princess Moon offered. "Crystal was just telling me of a book she read of lowering magic levels the other day-."
She was suddenly cut off by a news reporter, journalist, and their crew entering the throne room. "Your highness! I am so sorry to interrupt, but it's an emergency!" The news reporter, Jenny, exclaimed. "The fire department is on fire!"
Another group burst in with a weather reporter yelling, "Your majesty! There's a tropical rain storm down in Fruit Acres! It's washing away the snow, causing a massive flood!"
"Your majesty!" A florist crashed through the door in a gasp. "The tamed bewitched forest is out of control! It's spreading up over the Wall and down into Hillville!"
"Oh, me, oh, my! Your highness!" The donut boy rushed in out of breath. "Old Man Grumpy is flirting with Ms. Witch and made friends with Mr. Lonely! It may snow!"
Just then, one of the crew members of Jenny's yelled, "Golly gee! The other news reporter got arrested for copyright!"
Crying through the great doors, a sore teacher complained, "Oh, your highness! The children have gone mad at Settle Sun's school! They demand more homework! The Kindergarteners are being arrested for terrorism! They're threatening to burn the school down!"
"You think that's bad?" A male politician who came in with her questioned in frustration. "The Atheists in the Icelands just claimed to have discovered a God! They call it Christianity, and they declare the Guardians preposterous imposters!"
"Ya'll listen up! The end is near! Buckle up your quick remarks and make room for the possible!" A cowboy came through the door, swinging a rope around. "Pigs are flyin'!"
"Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!" A skittish messenger boy opened the door with an angry mob behind him. "Your majesty! The Villains wish to form an alliance! It must be a trick!"
Another teacher from the Magic Academy (Magic School) rushed in. "We need immediate help! The witches have hexed themselves!"
The sea of people began arguing over who's problem or news was most important, all missing the irony of the subjects. Somehow, they were too worried about their own problems to notice the cracks and iceberg freezing the room. Princess Guardians, Princess Moon, and Nature hurried to Queen Sun's side before they were involved.
"I blame Nature," Princess Guardians voted.
"Now, Guardians, it may only be a coincidence," Queen Sun warned her.
"Coincidence? I think not! She obviously caused all these problems!"
Queen Sun sighed, shaking her head, and instead, turned to her sister. "You mentioned a spell of some sort?"
"Yes," Princess Moon nodded. "But it's in the Icelands."
"Alright then. Go you two! Crystal and mom should be there at the Glazed."
"But what about this mess?" Princess Guardians glared down at Nature, who stood silently.
"We'll take care of it. Just find that spell."
'All things shall parish from under the sky. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live never to die,' a radio on the train to the Icelands played. The train rose up over a few mountains. The tips of the mountains had snow clouding them, and the temperature was slowly decreasing into colder terrain.
There were only a few people in the train, two of them being Princess Guardians and Nature. The tracks were icy so the ride was slow. Every minute that passed, Princess Guardians was sure Nature was going to hiccup. Nature actually fell asleep, laying across a cushion, though, but the princess did not let her guard down.
They were in a cart room alone even though there were plenty of cushions with tables for more people. For the first time, she took a look at Nature like she was another being. Well, she was another being. It was more of the first time she was able to completely look at Nature without anyone being there or for experimental purposes.
The sight confused her.
From what she read; Nature was terrible; a despicable creature, yet somehow, she could not entirely hate Nature. To her, Nature was fascinating- a mystery. In some magical way, only Freedom seemed to be who she would spill tea to. Why?
Love.
Upon the entries in the journal, Nature seemed to have a problem, especially in her youngest years, with emotion towards different aspects. Out of every emotion though, love was the hardest for her to manage. She was never sure what "love" truly was.
Over time, some of those emotions began to be like any other person but it was a long, long time. She tried to love, or change, through different ways like her family, friends, the land, the people, and she even went as far as nature itself. However, Princess Guardians noticed she never attempted to love herself.
There was a great deal of self-disgust and selfishness holding her back. Whenever something good happened to her, she'd always make up ways to spoil it. It was almost as if she was afraid of happiness. Of laughter. Of the good in herself.
But despite it all, Freedom made her feel love, and, in the princess' eyes, she loved him so much, she faced Jack without an ounce of knowledge of what she was getting herself into. She was confident they would lose, but she'd fight for him. Like any other moment in her life, she held back from admitting it. Somehow, she did accept him out of everything else.
Princess Guardians sat back on the cushion for a moment, wondering what triggered Nature to become so powerful. Was it that love? From one class a few years ago, she learned one of the most powerful kinds of magic was love.
Though love seemed lighthearted and an emotionally beautiful way of looking at it, it did not quite fit the bill. When Nature approached the Dark Magic Monster, it was angry at first. But then, it died down to Nature when those colorful lights appeared. What happened that day? Why was she able to overcome the darkness?
Why couldn't Nature remember any of it?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a vine growing beside her waist. She looked over at Nature. The young Guardian slept without a sound other than light breaths, dreaming peacefully. Whatever she was dreaming about, it was causing a bed of white tulips to form under her, along with a few vines with more of the flowers.
Then, she whispered, "I'm sorry," in her sleep.
Picking one of the white tulips, Princess Guardians felt every part of it. It felt smooth and soft and smelled as real as a real one as well.
"Why did you say that?" Princess Guardians said to herself but directed it at Nature. "White tulips are a great way to say you're sorry, and they're used for funerals. Why did you say that?"
Once the train stopped, Princess Guardians awoke Nature and they got off. In the Icelands, it was always cold and night. It was sort of like Russia and Greenland combined. The size was more like Maryland though. The icebergs and mountains reached the clouds. Only a few places were level enough to build towns, though, not many lived in the Icelands. It had its own kingdom called the Glazed made out of ice and crystals.
The town called Overglazed was built around the Glazed kingdom. Buildings were lit up like a laser light show and beacons in the night. A set of lights similar to the Northern Lights covered the sky over in the mountain ranges.
Guards stood post at the entrance of the Glazed, letting them enter without stopping them. The entrance hall was made out of crystal with stained glass upon the walls. A dark blue carpet led them to a larger room with three thrones in the center. The largest was the one in the middle with two smaller slightly behind it on both sides. They were made out of blue crystal and purple cushion. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling, twinkling in the dim room.
In the middle throne sat Princess Crystal. To her right was a guard, Sir Ben, who she was flirting with. Princess Crystal had light pink hair with yellow highlights up in a pony tail. She had dazzling cyan eyes and light pink wings. She wore a white shirt with a pink and purple vest, and a purple skirt with pink ruffles on the ends. Then, she wore pink flats for shoes. She also had a magenta mantle draped over her shoulders with a golden crown that had pink crystals at the tips.
Sir Ben's hair was white with grey and light purple highlights. He had gentle light purple eyes too. He wore the usual guard uniform but with a dark purple scarf since it was cold in the Icelands.
"Cousin Crystal, what has mom told you about flirting with the guards?" Princess Guardians smiled, approaching the thrones and Sir Ben with Nature behind her.
"Oh, hello, Guardians! What brings you here in surprise?" She chimed.
"Aunt Moon said something about a book you read recently about lowering magic levels."
"Yes, why? Do you need it?"
Nature hiccupped, turning the blue crystal floor an emerald green. She uneasily smiled at Princess Crystal, who sat in shock at the sight. Princess Guardians quickly covered Nature's mouth, which wanted to let another hiccup escape.
"Gravely," Princess Guardians nodded with a sigh.
"Alright," Princess Crystal stood up. "Follow me."
As they left the throne room, Sir Ben went back to his post outside. The princesses and Nature entered a hallway, went up a long staircase, walked through another hallway, and turned into a large library stacked floor to ceiling with bookcases. They had Nature sit at a table so they could look for the book.
"So, here's the thing: I don't remember where it is in here," Princess Crystal admitted. "But it's called 'Taming the Sorcerer Within'. It was a gift from the Jinxes who had gotten it from the nearby kingdom of Athens."
"Then, we'll look for it between 'T' and 'W'."
Nature watched them silently, fighting the scratching in her throat to hiccup. She covered her own mouth with both hands as the princesses went through every book that started with the letter 'T'.
Princess Ice, formally known as Queen Ice almost one thousand years ago, heard the commotion and walked in. She was surprised to see the piles of the books on the table Nature was at. Even more, Nature was there!
"What are you doing here?" Princess Ice questioned her.
Nature shook her head violently, holding her mouth shut as tight as possible. Princess Guardians flew down to them.
"Holding yourself back? Good," she said to Nature. "Terribly sorry, grandmother. You see, we have a bit of a hiccup issue that's slowly destroying Equality."
"Aha! Hazza!" Princess Crystal exclaimed from a top shelf. "I found it! The spell is in Arabic and requires three people to preform it!"
"Will you help us?" Princess Guardians asked her grandmother.
"Well, I suppose I could."
Sitting in a circle on the carpet, the four sat down crisscrossed and held hands. They reviewed the ancient Arabic writing before proceeding. Together they chanted:
"أوه، روح الك، تهدئة نفسك. لا يوجد مثل هذا للخوف، كن هادئا الآن. كن هادئا الآن. كن هادئا الآن. دع غروب الشمس. دع قمرك يرتفع الهدوء الآن هادئ."
Nature hiccupped, making the lighting dim. Another hiccup with the chants, and a few paintings began crying blood. Hiccup! Books fell off of their shelves in clusters. The tables and chairs shook, the sound echoing off the walls. Chanting! Hiccup! Vines grew out of the walls and tore through the shelves and floor.
The lights flickered.
Tables and chairs moved or flipped over.
Word after word after word after word-
Wind blew flew the room, but there was no source to cause it.
The vines enclosed around them.
…
Then, it stopped.
The vines died.
The lights turned back on.
Objects stopped moving.
The chant was over.
Nature panted, letting her fear slowly decrease. "Did... it work?"
Princess Crystal looked around saying, "I think so."
"Thank goodness!" Princess Guardians sighed in relief. "You're not hiccupping anymore."
"Would someone mind explaining what's going on-?" Princess Ice began.
A loud crash of what sounded like glass was heard from above them. They heard it fall through several floors. They rose and looked out the window. From above them, the Glazed was collapsing.
"Move! Move! Move!" Princess Ice pushed them towards the door of the library.
They ran out into the hallway, noticing dust of glass shards collecting. As they hurdled down the steps, the stair case in back of them slowly collapsed. They made it safely to the last hallway and out to the throne room while yelling at guards to get out of the building.
Outside, people were moving away from the falling building as well. As the princesses and Nature got away, most guards along the way joined them. One of the guards with them were Sir Ben. Finally, the Glazed fully came down. Dust blinded the people standing hundreds of feet away. The sound of the finale crash echoed off the mountains. When the dust cleared thanks to the wind, all that remained was a ginormous pile of broken crystal and ash.
"I don't understand...," Nature mumbled. "Didn't it work?"
To make a report, Nature, Princess Guardians, and Princess Crystal took the train back to Settle Sun. Princess Ice stayed behind to settle the people and help look for any guards who may not had been fortunate enough to escape.
Back in Settle Sun's castle, the crowd in the throne room had grown bigger. People were exploding with questions for why there were multiple huge problems. The two princesses and Nature shoved past the people and up to Queen Sun and Princess Moon.
"Oh, you're back-," Princess Moon began.
"The Glazed collapsed!" Princess Guardians cut her off. That shut the Equalians up for a few moments, but quickly they returned to arguing.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"We were successful with the spell, but then, the Glazed collapsed!" She explained.
"If you were successful, why did it happen?" Queen Sun glanced at Nature.
"We don't know."
"Oh, Guardians," her mother facepalmed. "You can't perform spells of that type in fragile areas like that! Crystal, you should know that! Is your grandmother alright? What about the guards? The people?"
"Uh, well, majority of them are okay... How is it here?"
"What does it look like?"
"Of course," Nature lightly chuckled sadly, tears following. "Of course! It's always me, isn't it? I always screw something up! Every single time-!"
"Nature...," Queen Sun began.
"But you-!" Nature turned towards Princess Guardians. "You just had to keep me in your grasp and instigate an argument with Freedom! What did you expect him to do? Say nothing?"
"Yeah, like he's supposed to!" Princess Guardians returned the attitude.
"Supposed to? Last I checked, he's a person just like you! He has the right to have an opinion! Oh, and his was right! None of this would have happened if you had the common sense to have respect for people "under" you!"
"Excuse me? Common sense? It's not my fault you barely understand yourself! Maybe you've caused enough trouble and should go find the Guardians or something."
"Oh, okay, so, you don't want my help then?" Nature growled. "There are plenty of other places to go in the future."
"Is that a threat, Nature?" She scoffed.
"Maybe."
"Yeah? Well, I'll be damned if I let you scare me away."
Sensing the danger, Princess Crystal joined her aunts by backing away slowly. The two looked like they were about to snap each other in half with the intense staring increasing. However, Nature suddenly stopped and went calm.
"We should probably fix things before they get worse," she offered.
"No, no, you were right. You make everything worse. You should go!"
"Why? I'm trying to fix the issues! It's what normal people do!"
"Like you're normal."
"Watch your mouth," Nature hissed.
"Oh, me watch it? No no no no no!" She laughed. "Tell yourself that."
"You're wasting time."
"Like your parents?"
Nature swallowed thickly, "Before anymore else gets harmed."
"Why? Do you actually care, or are you making excuses to shut me up?"
"Do you care at all?"
"There you go. Manipulating the subject to turn."
"This isn't some game we're playing!"
"That was a lie."
"How could this be more important than helping people to you right now?"
"True, I guess. It's hard to play a game with only two people, or should I say three? But three's a bit of a crowd, isn't it?"
"Shut up," Nature shook her head, fighting urges to strangle her for the last sentence.
"No need to be a lady about healing the topic. It's not like this could last over a century, or some underlying secret could come up. What's the worst that could happen though? A few hundred people could lose their lives to sweet innocent Nature. Too bad fusion only births rarely, but let's not get lost in the woods or hide in a mountain-!"
"SHUT UP!" Nature screamed.
The glass within the throne room shattered harshly, sending thousands of tiny shards falling onto the floor. The people ducked and yelled in shocked surprises. Princess Guardians took a step back from Nature. The queen's and other princesses' feet stood glued to the floor, shocked as much as everyone else. When Nature realized what she had done, she covered her mouth and fled out of the castle.
The cold night breeze hit her face as she ran into the streets. To avoid people, she headed towards the Garden.
The Garden was composed of all types of flowers, a stream, a mini maze, and the Singing Tree. A few lanterns lit the away on posts every so foot. She was near the stream but remembered the last time she was alone near water. Looking down and wandering into the rose parts, she bumped into someone's back.
"Sorry," she began to turn around, but the person grabbed her hand.
"Wasn't expecting to see you here," Freedom smiled warmly.
"Freedom? What are you doing in Settle Sun?"
He saw the look in her eyes like something had happened and wiped the tears off her face. "Never mind me. How did today go? I heard the castle is storming with people because of "strange occurrences"."
She shook her head and looked away, "Terrible. We got a spell that made my hiccups leave but it caused the Glazed to collapse."
"What? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm... well... I don't know. Princess Guardians and I got into an argument, and I... shattered the windows..."
"How did you do that?"
"Screaming..."
"Why did you-? You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"How did you know?"
"Because you would've told me by now but I'll ask anyway. What's going on between you two? Don't lie to me, please."
"... Remember when I said... I've done... things?"
"You mean when we were locked up because of Jack? Yes, what about it?"
"Well, I... wrote about those things in my journal..."
"Oh, yeah! Your journal! I haven't seen you use it in a while. What happened to it? You were glued to that thing."
"Princess Guardians has it...," Nature started to shake.
"Nature," Freedom grew worried by her tone. "What is it?"
"Um... she's blackmailing me..."
"Why?"
"For experiments."
Freedom sighed, "Of course she would. Is that what those "magic lessons" are for?"
"Sort of."
"You know what she's doing is illegal, right?"
"Yes, I do, but what am I supposed to do? You don't get blackmailed unless... you've got something to hide."
"Speaking of which, when are you going to tell me about those things?"
"Preferability never."
"You've got to tell me some day. Are you afraid I'll leave you or something?"
A pained expression crossed Nature's face, making the answer obvious. They stood there in silence for a minute before Nature turned away from him.
"You've got some nerve arguing with Princess Guardians," she kicked a stone. "You'll probably be in trouble."
"I was trying to help you," he answered, putting his arms around her. "I could tell she was being bothersome. We all could."
"Everything I do ends up wrong. I just want to do something right."
"You will. I know you will. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't expect you to be perfect right away. You're doing something brand new. Mistakes should be expected. Your mistakes just prove you're making progress. The important part is you don't give up. Believe in yourself."
"I just want to smile and be happy. Why can't I be happy? Why must I give up doing everything I love because they said so?"
"Happiness takes time. You'll get there. Give it time."
"You're too pure for this world."
Freedom blushed. "Hey, there's still time to right some wrongs. If you want, of course."
Nature took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yes, I should start with Queen Sun. I wonder how much stress she's been in today."
"Come on then," he took her hand. "We should hurry."
To their horrifying surprise though, the people who were in the castle were fleeing out of the entrance because it was on fire! The guards were busy making sure everyone got out, the Daycarers had arrived to put the flames away, and the Royal Family was stood safely on the ground outside. Freedom and Nature sprinted to them.
The night was like a lava lamp. The sky was still dark but the area around was touched in orange, red, and yellow. Mostly orange though. The air was thick with blinding black smoke filling the zone. The smell of ash burnt noses as the Equalians ran like hens. The cackling of fire reached their ears, even kilometers away.
"What happened?" Freedom asked with sorrow.
"No idea. It just started," Princess Crystal answered.
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea," Princess Guardians crossed her arms. She pointed a finger at Nature. "You did this!"
"What? You can't accuse me of everything! We don't even know if I caused the Glazed to collapse or not! Maybe, let's say, the Jinxes are secretly attacking?"
"This is not the time to quarrel you two," Queen Sun stepped between them.
In the distance, amongst the crowd, Nicole's older sister, Arizona, eagerly shouted for their youngest sibling. They were fixing old pipes in the castle but got separated.
The oldest of the four siblings, Arizona was a bit jealous Nicole had inherited the farm. Her blond, short hair was messy, so she brushed it back. She had brown eyes and freckles too. Her cowboy hat was brown with a red ribbon around the crown. She wore a red knitted cardigan. Her brown belt kept her dark blue, ripped jeans up to her belly button. She wore a dark red ribbon around her neck, tied into a bow. Finally, she also wore boots.
Nature noticed and left the small group to Arizona.
"What's wrong, Arizona?" She asked.
"Huh? Gar-," she began but Nature covered her mouth.
"Please, don't say that word."
"...Nature, what a surprise! I can't find Hazel."
"Oh, no! Hazel? When did you last see her?"
"In there," she pointed at the castle with terror in her eyes. "I don't think she's out. I've been calling her for the last ten minutes."
At that moment, Nature had a decision to make. Nicole was one of her best friends, and she cared about her family. Hazel was only around six- or seven-years old. Nature was sure if Hazel was in there, she was just as terrified was everyone else. Maybe more.
"Okay, stay here," she said.
As she began to approach the castle, Freedom noticed her presence was gone and saw where she was going. He quickly caught up to her, remembering the similar situation.
"What are you doing?" He walked in front of her.
"I have to find Hazel."
"Nicole's sister?"
"Yes."
"You're just going to walk in there?"
"Yes."
"Nature, must I remind you the last time you walked into danger you ended up in a coma for two months?"
"Freedom, this is Nicole's sister."
"There are plenty of guards. Why do you need to do it?"
"Because someone has to. Besides, they don't know she's in there! She's a child."
Freedom sighed, "Okay, just... be careful."
"I always am."
Slipping past the guards and scattering people, she found the entrance. Seeing all the smoke, she covered her nose and mouth with her right arm. The fire was spreading fast and managing to melt the iceberg. So, not only was the throne room on fire, but it also was starting to flood. The good news was majority of the people were out but Hazel was nowhere in sight.
"Hazel!" Nature shouted, hoping the echo would reach the little girl's ears. "Hazel!"
Deciding she wasn't there, Nature went down a hall and up a flight of stairs. She began searching the entire castle. She checked the dungeons, the offices, the meeting room, the guest rooms, the library, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining hall, the treasury, the ball room, and many other areas. She began to wonder if maybe Hazel was out already.
But what if she wasn't?
The castle was falling apart. Pillars were crashing down onto the floor, stairs were cracking, floors were caving in, and the wallpapers were stripping off the walls.
Nature reached the tallest towers. Interestingly, the towers were part of the castle but connected by a wooden bridge held up by rope. Looking down, she saw the flames on the castle's roofs. The people were a good distance away then, but she noticed Freedom in the same spot he was- waiting for her. Glancing up, the tallest towers were also losing their roofs, exposing the material they were built with.
The tower across from her suddenly lost its roof to the flames, and she heard a female shriek. There was only one person that could be. A little girl appeared in the door frame of the tower.
"Hazel!" Nature sighed in relief. The child was in tears and her clothes were slightly burnt.
Hazel often copied Nicole's look by splitting her blond hair into two low pony tails. Nicole used blue hair ties, but her younger sister preferred grey hair ties. Hazel also had light blue eyes and freckles all over her small face. She wore a yellow handkerchief, a red knitted cardigan- rolled up to her elbows, a brown belt with a silver buckle, ripped light blue jeans, and brown boots. Finally, in her hair, she wore the family's heirloom passed down from Strength, Anna.
"It's okay! Come on now!" She gestured her towards her but Hazel shook her head in fear. "Hazel, you can't stay there!"
With a loud snap with the fire, the ropes holding the bridge broke loose. The bridge fell towards Nature's side and slammed into the structure below, only to be consumed by flames.
Panicking, Nature reached out her arms. "You have to jump!"
"I can't!" Hazel cried, backing away from the edge.
"Yes, you can! I know you can! You must!"
"O-Okay," she nodded with wide eyes.
Hazel took a few steps back, ran all the way to the edge, and leapt.
'She'll make it! She'll make it! She'll make it!' Nature thought as Hazel was still in the air.
She made it nine tenths of the way there before just barely missing Nature's grasp. Then, she began screaming while on a flashing fall.
"No!" Nature yelled in despair.
In a two second decision, she leapt off the edge in an attempt to catch Hazel. Quickly, she regretted the idea. It felt as though gravity was trying to crush her down. For once, she was glad she never jumped to her death, but what about now?
Thanks to the laws of gravity, she quickly arrived near Hazel due to being heavier. She grabbed the child and held her tightly. Nature hoped herself taking the impact would save Hazel if she held her close enough. She counted the seconds they had left.
Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one...
…
Nothing happened.
The people below had finally noticed them falling, and Freedom stood mortified, stuck in place. There was nothing to fear though.
Nature was floating and still clutching Hazel for dear life. She opened her eyes to see herself in the air with no problem. Somehow, she had become lighter than air as if the air were water.
"Hazel, is this real?" She whispered.
Hazel removed her head from Nature's chest and looked in all directions. "Are we dead?"
"I don't think so," Nature said in shock and confusion. For once, she also felt like she could control it. The feeling was similar to swimming but also like out of body dreaming.
Slowly, they floated down towards the crowd and Freedom. He snapped out of it as Nature landed her feet safely on the ground. She put Hazel down and removed strands of fizzy hair out of her eyes.
"Hazel!" Arizona moved past people.
"Sis!" Hazel smiled and embraced her sister with a hug.
The princesses and queen were next to join Freedom and Nature.
"You're going to give me a heart attack someday," Freedom crossed his arms.
"You should have seen your face," Nature teased him.
"You can float now?" Princess Guardians flipped in astonishment.
"I guess," she shrugged.
"I wasn't going to say it but... I told you so," Freedom grinned.
Nature blushed, "Yeah, yeah. I'm just glad Hazel is okay."
"Physically? Yes. Mentally? Probably not."
As the Daycarers put out the rest of the fire, some people left for home while others apologized to Queen Sun. However, some were more interested in observing Nature. For example, the Jinxes. They had made it out too. The same one who was staring at Nature was doing so again. Freedom noticed him and didn't like the looks of it.
"Who is that?" He asked Princess Guardians.
"Him? He's one of the Jinxes."
"Yeah, I know that, but what's his name?"
"Samael, I believe. Why?"
"No reason..."
She looked from Samael to Freedom to Nature. "Oh, I see. Are you jealous or something?"
"Jealous? Not this again..."
"No, I meant about him looking at Nature."
"I'm not jealous! I'm being careful is all."
"No, you're being protective. Too protective."
"What would you know about-?"
"Are you two arguing again?" Nature questioned, holding Hazel's hand.
"They argue?" Hazel looked up at her.
"You don't want to know, kid. Trust me. You've seen enough today."
"You're so kind."
"And good with kids," Freedom put an arm around Nature's shoulder and shooting a cold glare at Samael.
She blushed, "Freedom, there's a child here."
"He's just asserting his dominance over Samael!" Princess Guardians laughed.
"Who?"
"Nobody," Freedom chuckled nervously.
"Welp," Queen Sun approached them. "The castle is pretty much destroyed."
"It's okay, Queeny. You'll come back even better than before! You always do," Nature encouraged her.
"Did you just call me 'Queeny'?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, well, Guardian Phoebe calls me that and-."
"And I stole it, Queeny. Sorry for lighting your home on fire. Hey! You could come live with me until its rebuilt!"
"What? Like in the Hunters' Territory? Are you insane?" Princess Crystal gasped.
"Yeah, Nature, have you seen the space in your house? There's barely enough room for me," Freedom said.
"Nonsense! My family will understand."
"Well, I don't suppose we have another choice," Queen Sun rubbed the back of her neck.
Princess Guardians let out a large gasp. "Does that mean I'll get to see Foxy more? Yes!"
"Wow, this ended better than I thought it would-," Nature began just as all the power went out. "Too soon?"
"Yeah, a bit," Freedom smiled.
Clapping her hands together, she said, "Well, really, it could have gone worse. Everyone safely got out and such. Like Hazel, and I can float! You know what that means? Flying together!"
When she opened her hands, an orb of light admitted. The center was white but the outside colors were red, green, and blue.
"Light too?" Princess Guardians instantly got curious. "You're on a roll today."
"Huh, what do you know? I did something right," Nature watched the ball float up. "In light there is darkness, and in darkness there is light."
The next day, Princess Guardians returned Nature's journal to her as an apology gift. Nature's family also welcomed the Royal Family in with whatever space they had. Foxy was delighted to see Princess Guardians and they got to work on brewing new potions. Nature practiced floating and creating more orbs of light, finding herself in a new light. She even went as far as to say she was...
Intriguing.