Chapter of the Swan- Return of the Princess Ch. 6

Rue and Uzura had finally gotten to Drosselmeyer’s grave.

They were hiding behind a large bush, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, minutes later the Edel puppet and the stuffed raven had arrived and landed right in front of the headstone. Odd enough, the raven hopped over and a small pebble fell out of its mouth, right into the dug up grave. It shimmered for a second, but then the light faded. Then, the Edel puppet walked forward (and since it was small with strings attached, it looked creepy) and suddenly disappeared from view. It took Rue and Uzura a few seconds to realize that the puppet had jumped into the dirt. A few seconds later an even stronger light practically blinded the two girls. Then the puppet climbed out, hopped on the raven, and flew away. Rue turned her head to Uzura, who simply shrugged. They both suspected that the items had flown back to the rooms that they came from. “I wonder what that was all about,” Rue asked Uzura on the walk back. “I don’t know-” Uzura stopped to yawn, “-but hopefully it was just for show.”

The next morning, Duck and Mytho didn’t come to school.

Fakir said that Duck didn’t even wake up, and that in the middle of the night, he could have sworn he heard her screaming. According to the gossip that was traveling around school (which Uzura learned to be fluent in) the same had happened with Mytho, and the nurse was with him. During their lunch hour, Fakir, “Arasah,” and Rue decided to check in on them.

Mytho’s dorm room was easy to get into, since the nurse hadn’t closed the door all the way. “Nurse Madeline?” Rue quietly said. The middle aged nurse turned around with worry on her face. “How is he?” “I-I’m not sure,” the nurse admitted. “He won’t wake up, but I can’t find anything wrong with him.” “What did you do to him?” Uzura demanded. “Nothing that he didn’t choose for himself,” Drosselmeyer responded. “And you might want to keep a closer eye on your present, little Uzura.

Uzura wasn’t even faint. She was shocked. And angry. “Can I check z--?” Uzura stopped herself. She thought that she was over that. Nurse Madeline shrugged. “I honestly don’t care. I can’t do anything else to help him.” Uzura moved her way over to Mytho’s right side, where she saw him place the ring. Sure enough, it was still on his finger, glowing. She could actually hear the sizzling. How the nurse had missed that, she didn’t know. She slowly and cautiously took a hold of the ring and slid it off of Mytho’s finger. There was a bright red mark where the ring was.

Mytho gasped, as if he had woken up from a horrible nightmare. Maybe he did. “Omigosh. That-that was--” Mytho turned to the current redhead. “Thank you, Arasah,” he said with a faint smile. “Well, I’ll be,” Nurse Madeline said, scratching her head. “What did you do, Arasah?” “Oh, um…his sheets. I noticed that they were a little tight. They must have been preventing him from breathing properly.” Worst lie ever, she was thinking.

The four were now on their way to Fakir’s house (“To get him some fresh air,” as Fakir said to get Mytho out) to save Duck. “What’s weird is that I didn’t put on the ring. I locked that thing in a drawer,” Mytho said. “I had a dream that the ring was coming after me, though,” Mytho continued. He had the attention of the three. “It was…floating. No. It just appeared in thin air and then…I don’t know how to put this…it attacked me? I remember screaming…then…until Uzura woke me up, there was nothing.” That explained the screaming. “I bet the same thing happened to Duck,” Rue said, clinging to Mytho’s arm. “But when I saw Duck, she wasn’t wearing the tiara. She was unconscious. That’s it,” Fakir added.

Uzura shook her head. “ I don’t think Drosselmeyer wanted you to see. Fakir, I’m holding Mytho’s ring right now, and if it were mine, I’m pretty sure I’d be out right now.” For the first time, everyone noticed that Uzura was slow. “I think that the items have special purposes. Rue and I saw our puppet and raven flying last night. They went to the dug up grave. The raven dropped a pebble or something, and I think the puppet activated it. Both Mytho and Duck screamed last night, right? That stone must have had something to do with it.

“I think that the raven and puppet come to life to serve Drosselmeyer, and the ring and tiara are powered by…by…” Rue, Mytho, and Fakir stared at Uzura, urging her to go on. “By the person that the item belongs to.” Mytho felt sick. “Wha-what?” “I think that the ring was draining your life source, Mytho. I think that Drosselmeyer was out to kill you, and Duck too.” Mytho was now lightheaded.  “I don’t think I need to say what the pen is for,” Uzura added quietly.

Everyone hurried and found Duck still in bed, as white as a piece of paper. Without a second thought, Fakir ripped the tiara from her head. Within a second, Duck was awake, gasping for air. Then she shook her head and cried. Fakir put his arm around Duck, understanding how terrifying it must have been. He turned to the rest of the group. “Drosselmeyer’s not getting away with this.”

Duck had fallen asleep again, along with Mytho, Uzura, and Rue. They stayed overnight at Fakir’s to make sure nothing happened. They also locked all the doors and windows, despite the “force field” around the house that kept Drosselmeyer out.

But Fakir wasn’t sleeping. He was writing like a madman, attempting a story to keep Drosselmeyer from attacking anyone whether in the house or not. He was so determined, it was a miracle that-

SNAP!

He broke his pen.

After muttering a few choice words, he grabbed a nearby pen and started writing again. But something was off. The seemed familiar, but it was… “Oh, damn,” Fakir muttered. It was Drosselmeyer’s pen. It shimmered, and then engulfed the entire room.

Fakir screamed.