Chapter Twenty: The Princess

Lysette, after the fight had went to her room to rest, laying on her bed so that she could relax. After a while, she reached under her pillow and pulled on the small black book that had once belonged to Gabriel. As she continued from where she had left off, Lysette began hearing a shuffling coming from within her room. After looking up and seeing nothing, she returned to reading, having dismissed the disturbance and something coming from one of the girls downstairs.

But then, the shuffling happened again and Lysette placed the book down, looking around the room for the cause but finding nothing yet again.

" Who is there? " Lysette called out and received no response. And after a small silence fell over the room, Lysette heard a voice she had not had the pleasure of hearing in almost two decades.

" What are you doing..? " the voice called out to Lysette.

" Gabriel? That can't be you.." Lysette could not believe her ears. She had to be hallucinating she tried to convince herself but the voice called out again.

" You are trying to change the way things are..by keeping secrets? Is that really wise? " the voice of Gabriel said, disappointment coating his tone.

" I am waiting for the right time. I cannot put too much on her. She is still young and she is not ready to know the whole truth" Lysette tried to reason.

" Not knowing the whole truth is what led us all to what happened. You have to tell her the truth " Gabriel answered, Lysette still trying to understand whether this was real or an illusion.

" Even if you had known the truth, it would have never changed things. You died because you and Kara could not make the right decisions. And neither did Shawn or Raven" Lysettes tone was becoming more assertive.

" What do you expect me to do? What do you expect me to say? At this point, she is just learning how to fight. And she had no idea what is in store for her. And what we will have to do to get things right this time" Lysette's voice was now raising even higher.

" If you don't tell her the truth, you are dooming her to the same fate.." Gabriel's voice explained. " You could not stop us from making the decisions we made. And you cannot make the right decisions for Penny. She must make them. You know this. If you continue hiding things, we will lose everything" Gabriel added as Lysette began sobbing. " I..have already lost everything. I lost my family, I lost you. And I cant have you back. And now..and now I have to fix all these mistakes because this can't keep happening.. not again..not again" Lysette continued crying as a knock on the door rang through her ears.

" Is everything okay? " Ember called out from behind the door as Lysette tried to gather her composure. " Everything is fine, don't worry about me" she assured Ember who stayed at the door for another minute before walking away and giving Lysette some space.

"I have to do this Gabriel.." Lysette whimpered, though the voice did not answer her. The voice, the hallucination, the lapse of sanity or whatever had happened was now over and Lysette was alone in her room.

" I can't tell her..not yet" Lysette argued with herself. The voice had tried to steer her away from her judgment but she had held on. This was something she believed within herself that was the right thing to do. Even if, it would possibly complicate things in the future.

" Is she okay? " Penny asked Ember who walked down the stairs, slightly confused. " Well, she was crying but she said she was okay. So I'm not really sure" Ember answered as she sat down on the couch next to Penny who had been awaiting her return.

" I guess she just needs her space or something. But she seemed stressed" Ember explained to Penny who tried to think on what the issue could be. " I know she said that keeping us alive and being on the run all the time was an issue, but this is the first time we have really felt secure and safe. So I'm not sure if that is the issue or not.." Penny remarked as the two of them began throwing ideas at one another.

" I know she misses her nephew, she seems heart broken about that" Ember remembered Lysette explaining to her how painful the loss was and how things would never be the same without him.

" Yeah she doesn't talk about him too much. She use too, when I was younger. But as time went on, she stopped talking about him as much. I know he had someone close to him named Kara but she wasn't ever really mentioned all that much except that her and.." Penny paused for a moment. " Gabriel were kind of how the world fell apart" Penny remembered that Gabriel was suppose to be her Uncle as he and her father were best friends growing up. Penny had remembered that Gabriel had done much for the homeland and that he had sacrificed a great deal to keep Kara alive. But there had always been struggles between the two..and that strained alot of things within the Underworld.

" I wish I could go there" Penny said, not thinking too much about the fact that Ember was right beside her and overhearing it. " Go Where? " Ember asked which made Penny refocus her attention to Ember.

" The Underworld. That's where I was born" Penny explained.

" To my understanding, there are several different worlds. But, in short, there is Earth, where we are now, The Underworld, where my mother was born and where I was born. It is home to Lycans, Vampires and witches. And then there is Outworld, which is where my dad was born. Outworld is kind of like, a giant prison of sorts. It is where the most dangerous of people and creatures are kept, even the ones trying to cheat death by immorality to escape their crimes. My dad was the Prince of Outworld " Penny explained as Ember looked, mesmerized by the information.

" So wait..you are..a princess? " Ember asked. "I guess technically..yes? Ive never really thought about it though. Though, the Kingdoms in the Underworld and Outworld do not exist any longer. So I guess I'm not.." Penny was not quite sure where she would stand given the circumstances and fate of the world's. Not to mention, royalty is something she felt would not really suit her.

" Well, you are still a Princess regardless. But I'm not gonna call you highness or anything" Ember joked.

" I don't expect you too. I don't think I would want anyone calling me that anyway. It seems way too..weird. Plus, Kings, Queens, and Princesses feels a bit outdated " She laughed as she thought about how corny those titles would be in this day and age.

" So when you say the world got destroyed...what do you mean? Ember asked, wanting to learn more about the world from which Penny was born.

" Well, it just kind of blew up. Some decision was made and well..it..no longer exists " Penny explained though she struggled to give the answer having not known the truth herself.

" But how would you know it was destroyed? Cause I'm assuming since you are alive, you left before it got destroyed. And so did Lysette so..of you two haven't returned to it..how would you know?" Ember had brought up a valid point. One that even Penny had not thought to ask. And if she had, the answer was given so long ago that she could not remember it.

" I'm not really sure. I'm saying this based on what Lysette has told me..I've never been there and I know that somehow I'm suppose to return someday but..I don't know what I'd be returning too? " Penny tried to explain as her own thoughts began to race with questions.

" So..if you both left and haven't returned. Is it not possible that your parents would still be alive? " Ember asked, this question sent Penny into a full blown shock. The realization that this was possible both excited and terrified Penny. If there was a possibility that they were still alive, then why had Lysette not taken her to them? All of her life, she had been told she needed to be prepared for what was to come. To be prepared for saving the world, the Underworld to be more specific. But if the world was destroyed, then what would there be left to save? Could her parents be alive? Could everyone be alive? And if so...why did Lysette run?