CinderAmity

The Slipper Fits

The next morning, Princess Luzura, with the help of her family and friends, scoured the Boiling Isles for the owner of the glass slipper. They looked high and low and tried the slipper on every girl they met. Unfortunately, they had no luck. For the magical slipper would fit no one, except its true owner. By mid-afternoon, Luz was beginning to lose hope.

"Princess, I hate to say this, but I'm starting to think this might be a lost cause." Lilith said, sounding discouraged. "We may never find her."

"Don't say that, Lilith!" Luz argued. "I will find her, I've got to!"

"But we've barely made a dent in our search." Vee chimed in. "There's still a ton of teens to meet, and none of the ones we've met so far look anything like your mystery girl."

"And they don't even fit the slipper either." Willow commented.

"Yeah. Sorry Luz, but maybe Lilith's right." Hunter chimed in.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but what if this is all just a lost cause?" Gus nervously asked.

"No! I can't give up now." The Princess protested.

As the rest of the group argued, King looked around and noticed a manor sitting on top of a nearby hill. He quickly recognized it.

"Maybe she lives up there." He said, pointing a claw at the house.

The group fell silent and turned their heads towards the mansion, another stop on their search. In the manor, Belos was sitting in his favorite armchair and casually reading a book with a calm smile on his face; he acted as if the events from the night before never happened.

"Peace and quiet, just what I need." He said to himself, thankful the banging on the basement door stopped. Just as he finished the last chapter of the story he was reading, there was a knock at the front door. He sighed in annoyance. "Who could that be?" He set the book down, got up, and headed towards the door. When he opened it, he was taken aback to see the Princess, her mother, and her companions standing on the doorstep; King was holding a velvet pillow with the glass slipper sitting on it. But Belos kept calm, not wanting to raise suspicion. "Princess Luzura, what a surprise."

"Hello. Sorry to bother you, sir, but I was hoping we could talk to you about something." Luz said. "Do you know about the proclamation I made on Penstagram last night? After the Halloween Ball?"

"...Yes, I'm familiar with it. But I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Your Highness, but no one else lives here except me."

King paused and narrowed his eyes up at Belos; he realized he was lying. "Are you sure about that? Because I could've sworn there was a girl living here."

Belos' eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"What do you mean, King?" Camila asked.

"While I was out with Lilith delivering invites to the Ball, I stopped here and a girl with green hair answered the door." The young Titan replied before turning back to the older man. "So... could we talk to her?"

"Oh! Oh, her. I'm sorry, but she's... not here." Belos lied through a smile. He pretended to sound concerned. "But I am beginning to worry; she's been gone since last night and I don't know where she could be. I fear she might never come back."

Luz raised an eyebrow, unsure whether to believe him or not. She glanced at her companions and they all shrugged, unable to answer. So, turning back to him, she asked,

"...Could we at least come in? We won't take up too much of your time, I promise."

Belos almost refused immediately. He wanted them to leave there and then, but he couldn't say 'no' to royalty; such a thing could very well spell his doom. So, not wanting to cause a scene, he reluctantly allowed the group entry. They all thanked him and walked inside as his eyes narrowed and his lips curled into an angry grimace.