That was where she left me. She didn't say anything more. I was as disappointed as ever. I didn't get any more information. And, if I asked, she'd get angry at me. It was like a never-ending cycle.
But for the time being, I was stuck there with people who were too perky and way too excited to see me.
But, on the bright side, we didn't need to prepare for leaving. We just had to wait until the staff had lessened, like we'd done to go down into the dungeon the first time.
"We need to make sure that we can get the keys to the cell." Ivy explained. Once she'd said that, I knew we'd need to go through a bunch of crap to do what we needed to do and then get out. And I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant.
"I've already been told where they are. The only problem will be getting the key, which means getting past a guard, and then getting down there." After that, there wasn't much to be said between us. She didn't have anything else important to tell me, apparently.
I'd said it a thousand times: I wanted information. I didn't expect to get it, though, because she'd made it clear to me that I wouldn't. That didn't stop me from being curious. On the other hand, she could've enlightened me about the supposedly dangerous situation I was in.
"How do you expect us to get past the guard, then?" I asked. Ivy stared at me for a second. "We just have to take him out." She said "How would you like to do that, considering we have no weapons?"
Ivy fell silent. Clearly that hadn't been thought through. "We'll break into the gym first. You can grab something hard. Then you can knock him out." She suggested.
I wasn't entirely comfortable with her plan. Knock out a guard and slip into the damp, dark dungeon again? Not only did that seem like a terrible idea, our means were illegitimate.
Despite knowing I was in a tight situation, I didn't want to hurt anyone, not even enemies, really.
I was getting comfortable at the castle. I knew I wanted to continue on training. But it was like I never got a chance to speak my own opinion without being ridiculed for it. Everyone else had an extravagant plan for me, and I was supposed to blindly follow it.
Night fell quickly. It was time to leave.
Ivy cracked open the door and slipped through. We'd been almost completely silent throughout the entire day, waiting. She had her book and I just sorta watched her read while I waited for the minutes to pass quicker.
It wasn't very fun waiting in anticipation for a rescue mission or anything, not that I was complaining.
So, when the time finally came, the knot that had been in my stomach all day tightened. I couldn't help but feel impelled to ask questions. I didn't know where we were going, nor did I understand why we needed to leave so soon. I wanted to know whether or not we'd be fine or if something was dreadfully wrong.
"How are we supposed to do this without anyone noticing?" I asked. "We aren't." Ivy replied. "What? That's a stupid idea." I said. "We're just not. It's not my plan." She repeated. "Why?"
"Your mom wants to leave with a bang." She explained. "That's a lot of information." I said sarcastically. She ignored my snarky comment and kept walking. We were silently making our way down the halls.
I led the way to the gym, where feelings of disappointment enveloped me. All of the crap I'd gone through with Joey had been a waste of my time. I was just going to leave, and then I'd never learn anything that could help me.
"Go in. I'll stand watch. But if I get caught, I probably won't have enough time to warn you before you get caught, too." She said, looking worried. "I thought my mom wanted to go out with a bang." I reminded her. Ivy looked at me like I was stupid.
"Yes. She does. AFTER we get her out of the dungeon. We can't get out of here without her." Ivy told me. "Oh." I replied. Ivy looked really panicked. It always made the situation much worse when Ivy was worried.
I'd only ever seen Ivy scared a few times, and it had only ever been once we'd gotten to that magic place. Before, it'd seemed like I was invincible while she was around. But now that she'd fallen apart, so had I.
Sure, she'd been creeped out before. There were times on earth when we'd spent a lot of time together over a weekend or something where we'd have mega-blockbuster horror movie blowout.
She wasn't necessarily terrified of horror movies. They creeped her out, but they weren't scary. She had gripped my arm for half of the time. I didn't count her as being scared, but she'd left scars from her nails on my arm to prove that it'd happened.
But, then and there, we were nothing more than two pawns in everyone else's games. She was scared, and we were no longer invincible.
"We'll get through this. I'm not scared." I tried to assure her. But she didn't say anything. She wasn't backing off, either. "What can be so hard about this?" I whispered. "Everything. If they catch us, we might never get out. Someone already knows we're suspicious. It's not new." She mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked curiously. "Who knows? Who even suspects us, other than those idiots from the other night?" I asked. "I know you're left in the dark, especially lately. But I can't explain anything while we're right here. Okay?" she looked me right in the eye.
"I promise I'll explain everything if we get out of here. As soon as we get out of here." I offered. No matter how much I wanted to, part of me refused to believe her. I still knew I had to get us out, though, and that I had bigger things to worry about.
I looked her in the face. "We'll get out. And then you can tell me everything." I told her sternly. She stared back at me, her face void of emotion. "Promise." I added. She still didn't look convinced.
I wasn't sure just what I was thinking at the time. I didn't know what to do, I was stressed, and everything was happening quickly. I wanted to be sure that everything was going to be okay, and I wanted her to believe it would be okay, too.
So naturally, I kissed her. At the time, it seemed like a fair idea. It seemed like a great idea. I didn't think it would make me look stupid.
I sighed. I really needed to stop making a fool out of myself. I quickly just snatched a metal club off the wall and slipped out before someone noticed I was there. No doubt Joey kept a close watch on his wall of weapons.
It seemed safe enough in there for the time being. I got in and out with no trouble. I shut the door quietly behind me. It'd been relatively easy to get in there. Nothing had happened when I opened the door. And, since flashlights weren't invented, I was sure security systems weren't either.
Ivy didn't say a word to me when I came out. It made me feel like crap, but I was also slightly thankful that she didn't talk. I would've had no idea what to say if she'd spoken to me. We just walked along in painstaking silence to our next destination.
"Where is it?" I whispered. "It's..." she didn't finish. She just looked around. I was sure it was difficult to talk to me, but we still had a job to do. "Over there." She pointed.
There was a room directly across from where we were standing. It had light pouring out the bottom. "We have to get in and out without letting the guard trigger the alarm." She told me.
"Why is there an alarm?" I asked frantically. "They have some kind of system here. It'll literally wake everyone up. They'll all have an idea of who it is." She glanced at me, but she hadn't really looked at me since I'd gone in the gym. I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.
We cautiously made our way towards the door. "Don't wizards have x-ray vision or something so they can see what we're about to do?" Ivy shook her head. "Great." I replied.
Feeling a little reckless, I barged through the door. The guard was dosing at his desk. Behind him was the whole wall hung with keys. A red button was positioned in the small room, right next to the guard's desk. The guard himself looked a bit startled at first.
He didn't seem to think about pressing the red button next to him that would trigger the alarm that would most certainly wake the entire castle. "State your business." He said groggily.
I walked in a bit further. The guard clearly had brown eyes, which was important. "I'm not really in the mood for that." I said honestly. "But thanks." I swung my club. It hit the guard's face, making a sickening crack sound. The man fell forward. I turned back towards Ivy. "I've always wanted to say something dramatic like that."
But my victory was very short-lived. The guard was knocked out—but not before he reached the red button.
And, just with our luck, he just barely managed to push it in.
The loudest siren I'd ever heard in my entire life ripped through the air. I felt my eardrums were about to get blown out. I couldn't explain much more than that, but it obvious: everyone can hear it. Everyone was probably awake.
"Get the keys!" Ivy scolded. I ran over to the back wall and frantically read the labels. I snatched the ones for the dungeon off their hook and sprinted out of the room with Ivy at my heels.
I slammed the door behind me just before we raced throughout the castle in a frantic attempt to escape the everyone in the palace.
I was terrified. Ivy had been right. We needed to be extremely careful. If I'd just been a little more calm about the situation, the guard might not have sounded the alarm. The warlocks probably had a pretty good idea who was causing trouble.
And Ivy had said it herself: someone was already aware that we knew everything. I didn't know who, how, or why, but I didn't think Ivy was lying. If it was true, then what? We were in more danger than we were before.
Ivy and I tore down the hallways and flung open the doors to the dungeon, not taking much care to cover our tracks. We just raced down the stairs at lightning speed. My breath was burning in my chest as we gained more and more momentum, going faster and faster by the second.
At our pace, it didn't take any time to reach the section of the dungeon that we needed to be in. We frantically searched to find the right cell in the darkness. They tried to shout at us to get our attention, but it was still dark.
"I can't even see." I was trying to tell everyone that I couldn't see anything, but that changed quickly. A sudden burst of light erupted in the darkness, potentially blinding me and everyone else.
When the light came down to a mild glow, I realized I was somehow coming from me. "Oh." I mumbled.
I guess I hadn't realized what they'd meant when they said I had powers—but they were serious. I was really glowing. The light was coming from just under my skin. I was like a human flashlight.
But with the light came the realization that a guard had followed us down. "The key, Cyrus!" Ivy shouted. I quickly jammed the key into the lock of the cell and twisted. All the people who'd been inside poured out before the guard could even react.
He actually looked rather dazed. He wasn't moving to attack us; he was just staring at us. It seemed like he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing.
The alarms were pounding over our heads, so the guard was the least of my problems. There was no doubt that everyone as awake. It was just a matter of time before the figured out what was going on.
"Any way you could just make the guard disappear?" Ivy whispered. He was just standing there. Staring at us. He had this expression of shock virtually seared into his face. It looked like he'd just completely frozen.
"We got him." One of the guys in the background told me, clutching something I couldn't see. They moved towards the guard, who was too dazed to realize that he was about to get knocked out.
My mother turned towards me. "What?" I asked. "We need to move out. Now. You let him signal the alarm and now..." she started to lecture me right then and there, but I didn't bother listening.
It was a stupid decision to lecture me about how I needed to be more careful. I honestly didn't think it was the time to lecture me. That, and I was slightly angry at her for getting Ivy to keep important information from me.
Ivy had said she wasn't allowed to tell me anything—but no one else could've told her to keep all the information away from me. And there she was, lecturing me, when we had more important things to worry about.
"Mom, come on. You said we needed to go." I cut her off. She sighed and nodded.
I led everyone up through the pathway to the stairs. About halfway through, where the lights were beginning to flicker again, there was a massive group of people waiting for us.
"Ah, there they are." I recognized the voice from the other side immediately. It was Dana. I didn't know what I was supposed to do—but I knew we were probably screwed right then and there.
I looked at Ivy to help me, but she didn't have anything. "GO!" I heard someone behind me scream. The 6 other guys and my mom all screamed at the same time, "DURATUS," or something of that nature.
Since I wasn't really used to the whole magic thing, I didn't really understand what was going to happen. But all of the movement in the dungeon just stopped, aside from the 7 others with me. All I could hear was heavy breathing from behind me.
"Let's get out of here." One of the guys from behind me pushed passed. "But they're right there." I said obliviously. Ivy shushed me. "They're frozen. They all used it as a backup plan, I guess." Ivy said calmly.
We struggled past all the people who stood in our way. Everyone in the castle had seemed to know exactly where we'd be headed, why the alarm was triggered, and who knocked out the guard.
All of us made it to the top of the stairs. "Get me the things, boys." I heard my mom say in front of me. The extra guys stopped walking and immediately opened a closet door to the right. I tried to see what they were grabbing, but mom stepped in front of me.
"You two should get out first. No doubt there'll be more people headed our way. Keep your guard up." She drew a sword from a nearby suit of armor and handed it to me. "Be careful. Don't hurt yourself. We'll meet you at the gates when it's done."
She shuffled past Ivy and me, taking care to make sure that I couldn't see what they were doing. Ivy and I exchanged glances of confusion, but walked towards the front of the castle, anyway.
"What do you think they're doing?" I asked. I was trying to eliminate the awkward feeling I'd created between us. Believe it or not, I wanted to make things to back to normal, even after I kissed her, which, again, was one of the stupidest decisions of my life.
"I don't know. But they really wanted to get rid of us. And they didn't let us see what they were doing. Doesn't sound too good to me." She said. Lucky for me, Ivy seemed to be acting relatively normal. That was, until we managed to find our way to the front.
"Why did you do that back there?" she asked quietly while we waited. I knew exactly what she was talking about. "Do...?" I asked obliviously. She looked at me like I was stupid. Obliviously I knew what she was trying to ask.
"Come on, Cyrus. You're going to make me say it?" she asked. "No. Sorry." I mumbled. "I don't know why I did it, to be honest. I guess I was worried about how the whole thing would turn out. You were right. I was worried, too."
It wasn't a complete lie. I was worried about how everything was going to turn out, even after we'd almost escaped.
She didn't answer me at first. It made me feel even worse when she was unresponsive. I mean, it wasn't a very good time to talk about it, but I knew we couldn't ignore it forever. We had to talk about it sometime or other.
"So...that was your solution?" she asked awkwardly. "No...It was just really stupid. That's what it was." I admitted. "I was just confused." Ivy replied. "No. it's fine. It was dumb." I lied.
At least I knew never ty try anything like that. Ever again. I knew I didn't want to feel the sting of rejection ever again.
Before she or I could continue the conversation, I heard an extremely loud banging sound. The entire castle and the ground itself seemed to shake with the force of it. "What?" I asked frantically, trying to steady myself. Ivy looked just as surprised as I was.
"It's them!" she shouted over the sound. "That's what they were doing." She added, as another loud bang sounded. The castle shook violently with the force of the second blow. "We should probably move."
The two of us stepped back away from the castle just in time to see part of the castle cave in on itself. But a muffled scream shocked me right out of the trance of seeing the castle collapse.
I looked immediately to my right, where Ivy had been standing. She wasn't there anymore. I whipped around and saw Joey. I instantly knew I was in trouble—not just because he had the top of a knife pointed at Ivy's throat. Just because.
"Whoa, whoa," I said quickly. "Don't hurt her. Please." I begged. "Yeah. Sure. As if your pathetic begging is going to change anything." He said sarcastically. "What do I have to lose?" Joey asked seriously.
I thought it my best bet not to answer him. It would've been a bad idea to give him a sarcastic answer. Especially with the way he looked. But also because of the advice he'd given me. And because he had Ivy.
"She didn't do anything to you. If anyone, that should be me." I said. "She was born." Joey suggested. "You don't even know her. I knew you were ridiculous before, but now you're just making yourself look like a tool." I grumbled.
"Don't I know her?" he asked. "Notice anything particular?" he laughed a bit. "No?" I asked.
That was when I noticed that Ivy wasn't doing anything at all. Her face was blank an expressionless. I could see sweat gleaming on her forehead, and she was trying her hardest to keep the tip of the knife off her skin.
"I knew you were terrible, but I didn't realize you could stoop this low." Ivy said loudly. "Of course I would. I really thought you knew me better than that, Ivy." Joey said.
"Wait... Am I missing something here?" I asked curiously. "I'm her father, idiot. Didn't the girl mention that?" Joey asked me. I felt all the color drain out of my face. I never would've guessed. I gulped, feeling pain shoot through my chest again. "Actually, no. She neglected to mention that. Just one more thing, though."
Joey was a father? And he was Ivy's father? I was looking at the guy who'd left Ivy and her mom with a hardly-passable excuse. The suckiest definition of a father was standing right there. He was the guy I'd heard so much crap about. He was the guy I hated for hurting Ivy.
Despite the fact that I was clearly hurt, I knew I needed Ivy. "Let her go, then. What's the point in killing your own daughter?" I asked shakily. "I don't think I can do that." He started.
"I clearly understand that you both have a silent thing going on with each other." He added. "We're best friends!" I shouted. "Yeah. Everyone sure believes that." He answered sarcastically.
Joey and I glared at each other for a second before he continued. "The best way to kill the newfound king is to kill him on the inside. The best way to kill anyone is to kill them on the inside. That's the only way a person really dies." He said lowly. "No." I replied.
I couldn't keep the worry out of my voice at that point. He was dead serious. It was just a blackmail. What if he actually killed her? Where would I have been then? I would've been heartbroken.
"Kill the prince on the inside. He wouldn't object to dying if I killed his precious girlfriend." Joey smirked. "Not Ivy. Anyone but Ivy." I begged. "This reaction—this is exactly why I took her." He explained.
Distractions. Yes.
"Why did you leave her and her mom, Joey?" I asked. The question really seemed to take him down a notch. He looked at me like I'd turned purple and grown 7 extra heads.
"When did having a family become useless?" I asked. I could almost see the anger rise in his face. He was getting angrier and angrier by the second. "Quit asking me things you have no business prying into." Joey sneered.
"Now there's another thing you're wrong about." I said. "You think your daughter hasn't told me a thing about you? You think she doesn't hate you? And you think she hasn't told me that?"
That took Joey down just enough to give me my chances. I knew, because he didn't even try to defend himself. "Get out of my way, kid. She dies tonight whether you want her to or not." He said shakily. "Not tonight." I replied.
"Despite the monster you seem to be, I don't think you're capable of killing her—no more than I would be." I said.
"I am!" Joey reassured me. "You just love her." He sneered. "You should, too." I replied. I could see Joey's knuckles turning white from his overly-tightened grip on his knife. "No." I answered; bringing up the sword my mom had lent me.
In a flash, I shoved the tip of the sharpened blade through Joey's hand, narrowly avoiding Ivy's throat. They both screamed at the same time. Ivy was clearly afraid, and Joey was clearly in a lot of pain.
"I can't believe you did that." Joey looked utterly shocked to see his own blood dripping from his hand into the grass. I was pretty surprised that I'd done it myself.
Ivy raced towards me. She sorta half-hid behind me to get some distance between her and Joey. "Get out of here." I said shakily. Joey didn't seem to need to be told twice. He got up and sprinted into the dead part of the forest, no questions asked.
I turned back towards Ivy. We just stared at each other for a second. "I can't believe you did that, either." She said.
"Anyway," I changed the subject immediately. "That's your dad, then." I said awkwardly. "That's my dad." She mumbled. "Is this what he left you guys for? War?" I asked.
We didn't talk much after that. I could tell she didn't want to talk to me, and I wasn't going to push it. I didn't have to.
Soon enough, my mother came rushing out of the castle, accompanied by the 5 other guys she had with her. "Let's go!" she said cheerfully. Her and the 5 other men led us into the green half of the forest.
They took us deep in. The trees quickly began to get thicker and closer together as we went further and further in. The moonlight was almost completely blocked out by the leaves. I could only see a few inches in front of me.
Ivy was gripping my shoulder for support. I knew she was having trouble comprehending her encounter with her dad. I'd only expected it to be difficult, considering the way her dad had treated her.
I couldn't comprehend that Joey was the guy I'd been hearing about for so long. He'd been right there, training me for days. Ivy had known, and she hadn't told me. I hadn't noticed a family resemblance or anything. They were polar opposites, even genetically.
A few people came closer to Ivy and I, but I didn't pay much attention—not until someone actually ran straight up to greet me. "Hi!" she said cheerfully. "I've been waiting ever since I was little to meet the prince." She said confidently.
I glanced over at Ivy for help. But she was still looking vacant, and she hadn't even looked up when the stranger had come to greet me. So I just tried to be as polite as I could.
"Well...thank you." I said nervously. The last thing I'd expected was to be crowded and treated like I was a celebrity. "I'm so excited that you're going to be the king one day. I've heard so much about you. Everything that's coming will be so great." And, after that, I stopped listening.
I didn't want to hear about myself from some girl I'd never met before. She was creeping me out, but I could easily block her out. Just smile, nod, and act like I was listening.
"Have you picked out a queen yet?" the girl asked. 'Queen' snapped me right out of it. "My what?" I asked. "Your queen!" the girl laughed and playfully punched me in shoulder that Ivy had her hand on. Ivy's hand fell limply back to her side, making her look up at me.
I wondered when it had been decided that I had to pick some kind of queen, and how that was fair.
I was confused. "Why in the world would I have to do that?" I asked her. "Did you not know?" she replied. "Exactly." I said. "You have to have a queen in order to gain full responsibility in the kingdom as king—oldest rule in the book." She said obliviously, as if I was already supposed to know.
While I was talking to that stranger, the whole world seemed to be lining up to meet me. I had to say that I felt under pressure, even though I didn't know what I was really in for. I was just scared to meet all those people. There were lots of people.
Not only that, but Ivy had also mentioned that she would explain everything to me. We were out. She was allowed to tell me and uphold her promise. I was excited to finally hear everything.
That was where she left me. She didn't say anything more. I was as disappointed as ever. I didn't get any more information. And, if I asked, she'd get angry at me. It was like a never-ending cycle.