Chapter Fifty One: The Help

After the tensions of the day, Penny and Ember decided to stay with Raven and would traverse back to the Kingdom in the morning. Since they had not been discovered, it would more than likely be safe to return. If they were confronted about Raven's absence whatsoever, they would lie and say that they had not seen her since bumping into her in town. This was not going to be the best plan but it would hopefully work until they could figure out what to do from there.

Aurora still wanted Penny, and they knew this. Raven had explained to them how Aurora had been trying to separate them so that she could isolate Penny which confirmed their suspicions. This was also the reason they would need to communicate and stay very close to one another, because If they were to separate, it could throw the entire mission off balance.

Ember felt strongly that at some point, Aurora would try to dispose of her. But, she was confident she could handle the Princess should the need arise. Penny was also confident in her ability to dismantle anything that Aurora threw her way.

Raven, however, was a bit more cautious when it came to the way things were handled. She knew the cleverness of Aurora and wanted to keep things going smoothly.

The alliance would be coming very soon. And that would change the landscape of the Underworld forever. This concerned Raven as she had no idea what that would truly entail other thall others are giving Aurora an immense amount of power.

Though one of her fears was that with the control of witches and Vampires, the need for lycans would be nonexistent. And though the Princess had promised peace for the entire Underworld, that did not necessarily she was being truthful with how she accomplished this. For many years, Raven had sympathized with the Lycans, feeling as though they themselves were isolated much like herself. Not being able to achieve their true strength for fear of what they could do with such power. And since Aurora had no issues with Raven being held back, she doubted that Lycans meant all that much more to the Princess.

And on top of all of this, Raven still questioned Penny. There was something about her magic, her energy, her power that was so familiar to her. And despite confronting Penny about this, she still felt there was something she was missing.

Penny tried her best to get comfortable on the bed she had chosen to sleep on for the night. There were only 2 rooms and Raven had taken the bigger room, though Ember had decided to stay awake and keep watch in case anything should happen in the night.

As she rolled around, groaning at her uncomfortably, Penny could not help but think of all that had happened today. Did she really have feelings for Ember? Was this something that she had been ignoring? Did she even find Ember attractive?

Despite her age, Penny had never really fancied anyone before this encounter with Ember. This was partially due to the fact that for the most part, Penny had rarely met anyone around her age.

Emotions were confusing for young Penny and though she tried her absolute best to confront them, she had trouble. It was like an uphill battle in a hurricane for her and this only made her more stressed than she needed to be.

" We are really different.." Penny thought to herself pertaining to Ember. " There is very little we have in common except that we want to grow stronger and we want to save this world" Penny tried to face every possible scenario in which she and Ember would be compatible but she couldn't seem to find a single good and solid foundation for what she had done.

" I mean..and Ember is..I don't know" Penny tried to dismiss her thoughts about the kiss and did all that she could to force herself into a deep sleep.

" But what if - " the thought shot into Penny's brain and she immediatly cut it off. " No! That's not what this was. That's not what this is! " Penny screamed at herself internally.

After battling her thoughts for several more minutes, Penny finally decided that she would have to get up and find something else to do because sleep, was never going to happen under these conditions.

Once she had made her way out of bed and out of her room, her eyes shot right to the front door. On the other side, Ember was sitting, waiting, and watching for any intruders. " I want to talk to her.." Penny said to herself as she approached the door before stopping herself. " But..I can't" Penny took a few steps back, refusing to remove her eyes from the door.

" No..I have too " Penny convinced herself as she forced herself to walk to the front door, turning the small handle and freeing the door from is fixed postion before stepping outside into the darkness. However, once outside, instead of being greeted with Ember's face, she was greeted with the face of someone she had never seen before.

This figure, was dressed in a black cloak and was quite tall. The figure said nothing as Penny watched from a distance, asking the figure to identify itself.

" Who I am, is not important. I have come to inform you that the human has been taken" The figure announced which made Penny take a more defensive stance. " What do you mean she has been taken? Who took her? " Penny demanded as the figure continued to just stare at Penny from the darkness.

" ANSWER ME! " Penny, now shouting at the figure who did not seem botherered by Penny's more serious tone whatsoever.

" She has been taken to a place of darkness. A place of conflicting and truth. She was...taken by what those that you call Vampires" The figure answered and then continued. " This was done solely under the order of Princess Aurora" .

Penny had suspected as much but the Vampires aiding Aurora so quickly was a little surprising.

" How do you know all of this? And I need a location so that I can get her back! " Penny announced as the figure stepped forward, only a small bit.

" I know this because I am the knower of such things. I am informing you of this because I know your father and owe a favor" this figure knew Penny's father? Had her father sent this person to her? More and more questions began arising within her head.

" I would advise that you discuss what to do with your mother before making any hasty decisions. If you use your intellect, you can get her back. But those that go to such places, rarely come out the same. You may not want her back" And with that the figure vanished. Penny was shocked at what she had been told but knew she needed to save Ember. And she would do whatever it takes despite the warnings that this " help" had given. But for now, she would need to speak to her mother, and Penny knew, things could only get more complicated from here.