“They’re here!” Emily declared as they walked up the driveway that once belonged to the Fenmores.
“Dexammo hycerius!” Brent chanted, which prompted the nearby streetlight to extinguish. Once they were shrouded by the shadows of nightfall, he asked Emily, “How can you tell?”
Emily vaguely answered, “I can sense it!” Brent, Anad, Lonan, and Allison all looked at each other and shrugged. Emily very tentatively gripped the latch, and she slowly opened the door to survey the scene inside.
The entire house appeared empty, not even any furniture adorned the place, so right away, they knew the options for hiding spots were very limited. Even still, Emily, Brent, Anad, and Lonan scoped out the area for potential traps. Torunn and Elska also visually searched the area, but they were desperately seeking some glimmer of hope for their rescue. Allison had a feeling that Emily had been right about the ICI’s presence in the building, but she wanted to find them for entirely different reasons! She clutched the Sirvard twins tightly, and she knew from the others’ perspective that it appeared as though she did this in order to exert power over them, but in reality, she was preparing herself to get them out of harm’s way when her team finally emerged and the showdown began. She thought if she could just separate herself from the others, she could teleport them to saftey, and that notion helped her come up with a clever idea idea on how she could do that without creating any suspicion with this crew! “We should split up to find out where their trap is. That way, if they capture one of us, the rest of us can go help them escape.”
“Good idea!” Emily agreed to that plan. “Anad, Lonan, you two go upstairs. Brent, you help Blythe search this floor. I’m gonna check the basement.”
“Why do you want the basement?” Lonan questioned.
Emily replied, “Just a hunch. Keep quiet, and as soon you hear any fighting going on, you know what to do.” Everyone nodded and went their separate ways.
As soon as Emily was out of sight, Allison knew she had to find a reason to make some noise. She had a strong inkling that Emily’s hunch would prove to be correct, and while Anad and Lonan probably had enough barriers to muffle any sort of confrontation, she knew Brent would it. She suggested to him, “They’re obviously not in here! Why don’t you check the backyard?”
“Stop telling me what to do!” Brent snapped.
“I will when your incompetence wastes precious time!” Allison felt disappointed that he didn’t go along with her recommendation because it would have been easy to disappear if they weren’t in the same room, but she decided that an argument over ego might distract him enough to buy Stephen, Alastair, or anyone else in unit some time.
Emily chanted, “Lumenia minimius!” as she crept down the basement stairs. The faint glow that eminated from her body illuminated the path directly before her, but she knew that she wouldn’t get the full picture of what waited for her down there until she got closer, and she had to mentally prepare herself to fight whatever she encountered right away. As she got got closer to the bottom, she saw a small mass in the distance, and she grew curious about what lurked down there. It didn’t move, which she found very odd. When she had almost finished descending the staircase, she could see the figure more clearly. Cara sat perfectly still and stared at the ground, not even glancing up when Emily neared her. Emily felt certain that she had walked into a trap, and she raised her hand in preparation to hex whatever jumped out of the darkness…
She almost leaped out of her skin when Stephen emerged and stood before her! “Surprise!” he said to her with a wry grin.
“Get out of my way!” Emily growled. “Or-!”
“Or what?” he interrupted her. “You’ll kill me? Don’t forget, you already tried that. Didn’t work out too well, did it?”
Emily sneered at his snide remark, but as she eyeballed the rest of the room, she didn’t see a hint of any ICI agents or any person with magical abilities that could assist him. She only saw Cara, and based on the fact that she still hadn’t moved , she felt sure that she was a fake. Emily chanted, “Doleteum!”
Stephen fell down in agonizing pain, and Emily loomed over him as she scathed, “You fool! I have the upper hand here! If you attempt to fight back, you’ll find that you’re outnumbered! I know why you’re here! You actually believe that you can talk me out of this! I’ll be sporting; you have three seconds to tell me whatever you wanted to say s your final words! And… go!”
Although he was still hurting a lot, he rolled himself up so that he could look her straight into here eyes. “I should have told you this a long time ago… Emily, I love you!”
Whatever Emily had expected to hear from him, it wasn’t that! “You… You what?”
Stephen managed to pick himself up to where he could kneel, and he repeated, “Emily, I love you!”
“Doleteum!” Emily tried to use that spell on him again, but this time, he ducked and she missed.
As he picked himself up, he went on, “After I lost my parents, I spent my whole life avoiding settling down anywhere ’cause I didn’t wanna get close to anyone only to have them brutally taken away from me. I never thought I’d get convinced to call anywhere home, and then I met you. Your sense of adventure intrigued me, and the more time I spent with you, the more fun I had! You made me feel safe and wanted, and that’s when I realized that home isn’t a place you go, it’s who you share it with! I finally figured out where I belong, and it’s with you!”
“Stop it!” Emily shrieked. She tried to curse him again, but she missed.
Stephen continued, “Emily, you need to come home! Not just for my sake! Your grandmother is absolutely heartbroken to see you in such danger!”
Emily sneered, “What are you talking about? I have Xavier’s powers, and no one’s more talented at magic than him, so why would I be in any danger?”
“Emily, Xavier is just using you!” Stephen entreated her. “Do you think that after he forces you to do his bidding that he’ll let you return to the throne? No, he’s after the crown, and once he’s got his claws on that, he won’t need you anymore! Don’t think that loyal service will spare your life! He views his followers as disposable, do you really want a person like that running your kingdom? Imagine what he’ll do to it!”
“Don’t listen to him!” Emily addressed herself. “He’s trying manipulate your heart just like the Nymph Queen of Good did to King Alexander! Don’t it happen to you!”
Stephen differed, “I can change your mind, but I can’t change your heart! You’re brave, kind, clever, you have so many admirable qualities that no person can change! You truly care about people, and you took the throne to do some good in the world! Do you want Xavier to erase all of the good you’ve done for your country?”
Emily’s scowl became more and more pronounced the further he went on. She seethed, “You’re the one that wants to doom our country! You want to keep sorcerers in the shadows and let the world just run amok! The world would be so much better off if I ruled over it!”
“Sorcerers and sorceresses have tremendous influence over other nations!” Stephen argued. “Amouraq doesn’t rule by force but by friendship! They use their skills to help the world solve their most difficult problems, and everyone looks up to the citizens of your country for that. Amouraq doesn’t have to demand loyalty, their allies give it to them willingly! King Patrick told you this before he died, remember, Emily?”
“Emily can’t talk to you!” Emily spat. “Doleteum!”
Stephen didn’t even have to move to miss the effects of that spell. “Nice try, Xavier! Emily can hear me! She knows Amouraq doesn’t need your tyrannical dictatorship to gain respect! Emily, you’re queen of a very noble country, and your rule would only enhance that! Your country needs you!”
Emily shouted, “STOP IT! STOP IT! Exficio san… Sancruis! Exi… Sancru… Exficio…Sancruis!”
Stephen felt enormous hope to see that Xavier couldnt’ force her to do more dark magic, but Emily’s essence hadn’t quite come back yet, so he made one final plea, “Emily, please come back! Your kingdom needs you! Your family needs you! I need you! Please, come come!”
Emily’s breathing increased rapidly, and Stephen could almost see the essence Xavier had infested into her body struggling to prevent this. It didn’t stop, it only escalated! She closed her eyes and breathed faster and faster until, all of a sudden, a cold wind shot out from within her, knocking Stephen off of his feet! He quickly recovered so he could watch as Emily opened her eyes. His heart soared to see the red fade away into her natural, golden brown color! He felt almost certain Emily’s essence had returned, but he still needed to verify it before he could celebrate this victory. “Emily?”
Emily’s eyes darted around the room in utter bewilderment. “Where am I? Why am I here?” She noticed her black robes and grew even more concerned. “Why am I wearing this? What’s going on?”
Stephen stood up and gently broke the news to her, “Judith slipped the Curse of the Serpent’s Tongue to you, and Xavier took over your body.”
Emily shook her head as if her mind wouldn’t accept that story. “I remember going to sleep, and I think I had a dream! I have a few flashes of seeing you and helping these kids, and then right before I woke up, you were telling me that you… That wasn’t a dream, was it? Xavier’s essence was inside of me?” She gazed down at herself clearly feeling disgusted and violated. “It has to be true! Why else would I be here?” She noticed Cara for the first time, and she asked, ‘Who is she?”
Stephen answered, “Cara Fenmore. She’s an heir further down the line from you.”
“An heir? Where are her parents?” Emily urgently probed. Stephen didn’t have the heart to tell her, but she inferred the worst from his response. “No! I killed them?” She grew absolutely terrified at the thought.
“You didn’t do anything!” Stephen affirmed. “Xavier used your body to do his evil work! Your essence saved lives!”
Emily grew pale at the reality of it all fully sunk in. “He used my body to kill heirs to my kingdom! Oh my god!” She fell to her knees and began sobbing vehemently.
Stephen pulled close to him and held her tight. “It’s not your-!”
Before he could finish his thought, he heard Brent call out, “Master? What’s going on down there?” As he chanted a spell to illuminate the room, Stephen held onto Emily and pulled her out of sight. Brent only saw Cara sitting there, so he relayed to the others, “I think she’s in trouble! Come on, guys!”
Anad and Lonan followed Brent closely down the staircase. Allison lingered on top of the staircase and knowingly watched them descend. When they reached a certain point, Cara suddenly popped up and chanted, “Constarrigo caraseptum!”
Before Brent, Anad, or Lonan had time to escape, a cage formed around them! As they attempted to hex them to no avail, both Allison and Cara chanted in unison, “Avero consimulo!” After a puff of smoke appeared and disappeared, Allison’s true form got revealed and Alastair now stood where Cara once did!
As Alastair made the cage float, Allison removed the constraints from the Sirvards, “Don’t worry, you’re safe now!”
“Don’t think that this gets you out of a serious talk about what you did!” Alastair half joked. Allison grinned as she helped bring the cage onto the main floor.
Under the staircase, Emily desperately clung onto Stephen as she sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m so scared!”
“Don’t worry, I’m here for you!” He squeezed her tightly as she took a moment to get it all out.
In the castle lounge, Amelia, Yvette, and Hugo anxiously watched the television set as Dagan and Oscar paced around the room. All of a sudden, they heard the tv set chime in with breaking news. “This is it, guys!” Dagan exclaimed.
Penny Melrose stood inside her studio with an exuberant smile on her face. “This just in, the case of the missing heirs has now come to a close, and I’m pleased to report that the Sirvard children as well as Amouraq’s beloved queen are safe from harm!” Everyone in the castle lounge breathed a sigh of relief and cheered when they heard this. “Bernard Andrew is live at the scene. Bernard!”
Bernard, who stood in front of the Fenmore’s house, delightfully detailed, “That’s right, Penny! And I’d like to add that Cara Fenmore is safe too. Actually, she never was in any danger because the ICI had Celebrity Tonight plant that story to lure the bad guys to this spot so they could make an arrest! You can see two agents bringing out the accomplices now!” The camera panned to show Allison and Alastair herding Lonan, Anad, and Brent out in handcuffs. The camera panned back to Bernard as he pressed on, “While the details of the capture are classifed, the ICI did inform us that the mastermind behind the take-down was the newly instated director of this unit! We were also able to establish him as the mystery man we saw come out of the queen’s castle. Oh, looks like we’re able to confirm their relationship rumors as well!” The camera panned out to the entrance of the house where Stephen and Emily were kissing each other passionately! The camera stayed focused on their embrace as Bernard concluded, “Their main suspect, Xavier Ryder, is still at large, and-!”
The image flickered off, and Xavier yowled from his cavernous hideaway! “How dare they! HOW DARE THEY!” He whipped his arm hard enough to knock his cauldron to the ground! He collected himself a bit, and then he avowed, “You may have bested me this time, but I’m nowhere close to finishing! I’ve got more trick up my sleeve! If you thought this one was rough, just wait ’til you see what’s coming next! You’ll regret not letting me succeed once you see my new scheme! You’ll pay for what you’ve done to me! Amouraq will be mine! Nothing will stop me now!” He maniacally cackled into the darkness!
The End
For now..
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