❥The Heir of the Elves「PopPixie After Story」

❥Chapter 2: The Disappearance of Frederik von Kamelot.

Melina and Kaylee were still hiding from the ghost behind the desk in the study. ''If we can find a way to weaken the ghost, we might be able to open the door'' Kaylee suggested. ''Then we'd be able to leave''. She already had the perfect plan in mind to do that, and held her hand out towards Melina. ''Did you bring the secret weapon with you?'' It took Melina a moment to realise what Kaylee meant with 'secret weapon'. She felt around in one of the pockets of the leather jacket she was wearing and eventually held out a small shaker with a red cap on it. ''Pepper?'' Kaylee asked out of disbelief when she took the shaker out of Melina's hands. ''Seriously? I asked for purifying salt. How could you bring pepper? Those are two extremely different things''. Melina shrugged. ''It's not like I had time to go to the supermarket to buy puryifying salt against ghosts'' she replied with a sarcastic tone of voice. Kaylee sighed upon hearing that. ''Well, this won't work againt ghosts''. ''If you're not going to use it, just give it back'' Melina said while sulking. She tried taking the pepper shaker from Kaylee, but instead of grabbing it, accidentally pushed it out of her hands, resulting in the shaker hitting the floor. A big cloud of pepper flew through the room. ''...And this is why out of us two, I'M the assistant here'' Kaylee said while sneezing. Melina had to sneeze as well. A few seconds later, a third sneeze could be heard throughout the room, which made Kaylee and Melina swap glances with eachother. ''Wait a minute... ghosts don't sneeze'' Kaylee concluded. A dark figure appeared from behind one of the bookcases. The figure ran to the door to flee the room, but Kaylee and Melina were faster and had already jumped on them. ''Aaah! Get of me!'' a voice yelled. It was the voice of a girl. The girl from the painting in the living room...

Melina didn't even give the girl time to rest and immediately jumped on the case to interrogate her. ''Why are you pretending to be a ghost?'' ''Mind your own business'' the girl snapped at her while struggling to break free. ''And let go of me!'' The girls did what she asked them to, but still kept an eye on her so she couldn't just run away. However, the girl wasn't done yet. ''And if you're not leaving soon I'll call the police. You're not even allowed to be here!'' ''We could say the same about you'' Melina replied. While Melina and the girl were yelling back and forth at eachother, Kaylee searched deeply in her memories. She knew she had once read a newspaper article with the name of the daughter of the scientist in it, but what was it again? Then it came to her. ''Wouldn't the police be happy to see you, after you ran away from home, isn't that right, Donna von Kamelot?'' Kaylee asked. Donna's face grew gloomy upon hearing what Kaylee had said. ''How... How do you know my name?'' ''The portrait in the living room. You're the girl from the portrait, it was obvious once I realized that''. For a moment, Kaylee turned to Melina, to give her her well-known 'glad I did my research' wink, before continuing. ''So, tell me. What are you doing here and why are you pretending to be a ghost?'' Donna crossed her arms. ''I don't have to tell you anything''. It was obvious to her that she had lost this fight, but that didn't mean she would voluntarily tell them anything. ''That's right, but we're journalists fo the local newspaper, and we can write an article about the so-called ghost here that doesn't exist'' Melina chimed in. ''I'm not hurting anybody!'' Donna reacted fiercely. ''All I'm doing is living here by myself. The ghosts are only used so uninvited people won't come in here, like you two! If people will believe the house is haunted, they at least leave me alone!'' ''But-'' ''No buts!'' Donna snapped at Melina. ''Just go away!'' The tone of her voice was filled with anger, but behind her eyes, tears were forming. Melina looked at her, noticing her tears, and for the first time, felt sympathy for Donna. There must have been a reason for Donna wanting to stay, and her wanting to be left alone, but what was it? She wondered. Had it something to do with the disappearance of her dad? ''Are you here because of your dad?'' she asked. He's missing, right? We just want to help you'' Melina tried, when Donna once again made it clear to her that it wasn't any of their business. ''I don't want any help! Especially not from an elf like you!'' Donna yelled out of anger, and ran off. In shock from Donna's reaction to her, Melina froze. She was used to pixies not liking elves, but this? This wasn't what she had expected at all. Kaylee softly tugged at her arm. ''Let's go. She doesn't want our help'' she quietly spoke and turned around to leave. Without replying, Melina followed her out of the room. Donna watched them from a small distance away.

''Think she'll be alright?'' Kaylee asked Melina when walking down the stairs. She occasionally thew an insecure glance backwards in the direction that Donna had disappeared to. ''Who knows'' Melina replied to her, not interested. After what Donna had said to her, she couldn't care less. Kaylee wanted to reply, but got interrupted by a loud noise which sounded like falling furniture, followed by a scream coming from upstairs. It took the two girls less than a second to turn around. Without thinking about it they ran back upstairs to see what was going on. They stumbled upon a fallen cabinet, with underneath... ''Donna!'' Kaylee proclaimed. ''Help me!'' Donna panicked. ''I'm stuck!'' The cabinet had fallen on top of her, trapping one of her legs in the process. Kaylee tried to lift the cabinet, but it was way too heavy for her. Despite that, Melina tried as well. She had completely forgotten about her issues with Donna. ''It's too heavy!'' Kaylee let go of the cabinet. ''Maybe we can use magic?'' she asked Melina, who shrugged in response. It was worth a try. Both her and Kaylee held out their hands towards the cabinet at the same time, and tried their magic on it. Slowly the cabinet got lifted up in the air a little. Melina offered one of her hands to Donna to help her, but it took one look at Melina's elf ears for Donna to hesitate again. ''What are you waiting for? Grab my hand! Now!"' Melina yelled at her, which made Donna take her hand just in time, as they weren't able to hold the cabinet much longer. With a loud bang the cabinet fell on the floor again, this time without Donna under it. ''Are you okay?'' Kaylee asked Donna concerned, but Donna looked away. ''Or you can just say 'thank you''' Melina said sarcastically when Donna didn't respond to Kaylee's question. Then Donna spoke. ''Why are you helping me? You're an elf'' she murmured. ''...Thanks'' she eventually added under her breath. ''I have no idea what you've got against elves, but just because we're different doesn't mean we can't help eachother'' Melina replied, even though she wasn't sure if Donna deserved her help after how she behaved. ''Can we go home now?'' she asked Kaylee. Now that Donna was saved, they had no reason to stay anymore. Kaylee nodded. ''We'll just have to find another scoop somewhere''. The two girls turned to leave. ''Wait!'' The sound of Donna's voice stopped them. ''You're looking for something to write about, right?'' Donna asked. ''Then I might have an idea...''

Not much later the three of them were gathered in the living room downstairs. They were still using the flashlights, as well as candles, as lighting so no one outside would be suspicious. ''I want you to write an article about the disappearance of my dad'' Donna spoke. ''I thought you said you didn't want our help? What changed?'' Melina asked with a sceptic tone. ''You helped me, so I changed my mind''. Donna crossed her arms. ''Do you want the article, or not?'' she added when Melina's look towards her didn't change. ''We'll take it!'' Kaylee quickly replied before Melina could. She made a small notepad and pencil appear with her magic to take notes, and waited for Donna to start.

''It all began on a rainy day when I was at home with my dad. My mother and my dad's assistant weren't at home that day, it was just the two of us. I was in the laboratory with my dad, watching him working on one of his experiments, when he asked me to go get something for him. When I returned, I heard several voices coming out of the room. They sounded threathening. 'You won't be able to get away this time', one of the voices said, followed by another voice that asked if there was anyone else at home. My father told them he was the only one there. I took that as a sign and hid, and from a crack in the doorway I saw my father getting tied up by a few elves. One of them, the one ordering the other elves around, was a man with dark red hair wearing a tall cape. The others called him 'The Wolf'. The Wolf ordered them to take my father away. The last thing I saw that day was my dad being taken away by them. He never came back''. Donna paused for a bit and stared down at her feet. ''I wanted to do something but I... I was too afraid... There were so many of them, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Later that day, my mom came back from the market. I told her everything that happened and we went to the police, but no one believed me, we were living in a pixie village with no elves around after all. They all thought I made the whole story up for attention, and that my father left on his own as there were no traces of an abduction to be found'. Her voice trembled a little. ''My mom believed me, of course, but there was nothing we could do against those elves with just the two of us. So eventually, we moved to another village, far away from here. Mom didn't want to stay after what happened to dad, she missed him too much. My dad's assistant moved to another laboratory and I haven't seen or spoken to him since''.

''But if you moved away, then why are you here?'' Melina asked her. ''My mom started dating someone and moved in with her new boyfriend. He's terrible, and I just can't believe that she forgot about my dad so easily''. ''Did you talk with her about that?'' Kaylee continued writing on her notepad. Donna nodded. ''She's convinced that he's dead, and that we need to move on with our lives without him, but I'm sure he's still alive somewhere!'' Her voice sounded hesitant however. ''That's why I ran away. I didn't want to stay there, and I thought that if I went back here I might find clues about my dad's abduction. Information about where they're keeping him, or something like that, and I was right. I found a stack of letters written by The Wolf's minions. They needed my dad's help for something, I don't know exactly what it was, but my dad kept refusing and they weren't happy about that. That's why they took him. The letters were send from an address in Pixie Village. I thought about going there by myself, but what chance do I stand against those elves when I'm alone?...' Melina felt bad for Donna and her situation. She imagined it was terrible to be all alone. ''Isn't there anything we can do to help? We can go to Pixieville with you'' she suggested. ''Yes!'' Kaylee agreed. ''Then we'll have an article for our newspaper, and you'll get your father back!'', but Donna shook her head. ''The Wolf might have a whole army of elves around him. We don't know how dangerous he might be''. ''But there should be at least something we could do, right?'' Disappointed, Melina looked at Kaylee, hoping she had an idea to back her up. Kaylee was deep in thought. ''Maybe...'' she began. ''...I might have an idea. My family once told me about a wise elderly pixie woman named Ninfea. She is said to be very powerful and has fought against the elves several times. I don't know where exactly she is, but she lives somewhere in Pixieville. Maybe she can help us''. Donna wasn't convinced just yet, but Melina already loved the idea. ''That's perfect!'' She rested her hand on Donna's shoulder to cheer her up. ''Let's go together. Anything's better than staying here and doing nothing, right?'' she tried to convince her. Slowly, Donna nodded.  ''Fine. We'll go''.

At the same time in Pixieville, at the headquarters of the elves, Mabel, Veronica, Sean, and Derek kneeled in front of The Wolf's throne. ''What do you mean 'we couldn't take the girl with us'?'' The angry voice of The Wolf thundered through the throne room. ''You four failed the mission I assigned you, which comes at a price'' he continued his rage. Silence. No one dared to speak up against The Wolf. ''Mabel and Veronica, the two of you shall be cleaning the prisoner cells. I want everything so perfectly clean that I can see my own face in it once you're done. Sean, you will be helping me the upcoming few days, and Derek... I have a special chore for you in mind''. Mabel and Veronica exchanged a frustrated glance with eachother upon hearing their punishment, and fear could be seen in Derek's eyes. ''Not the isolation cell...?'' ''Exactly, the isolation cell''. After hearing that answer, Derek started rolling around on the ground, pretending the idea alone already made him suffer. ''Please, master! Have some compassion! Not the isolation cell!'' he begged, but it didn't make any difference. '''Scuse me, sir'' Mabel spoke. ''But why is Sean's punishment different from the rest of us? Shouldn't we all be getting an equal punishment?'' Derek quickly got up from the floor and accusatory started pointing his finger at Sean. ''Yeah! What she said! Give him the isolation cell!'' ''I've given all of you an equal punishment. Sean's punishment will not be any easier than the ones you've gotten, I can assure you that'' The Wolf replied. ''But...'' ''No buts, Mabel. Leave, and I want you to think deeply about what you did wrong and how you can fix your mistakes''. The Wolf stood up from his throne and turned his back at the four as a sign that he wanted them to leave the room. With a defeated feeling Mabel stumbled out of the room, followed by the others behind her. ''This is not fair'' she murmured under her breath, while still loud enough for the others to hear, once Veronica had closed the door behind them. ''Why are you always getting preferential treatment?'' Derek spit on the floor and threw an annoyed glance at Sean. ''The Wolf's favorite'' he added in a mocking tone of voice, but Sean didn't reply. He stood frozen in front of the door to the throne room.

Once she realized that Sean wasn't following them, Veronica turned around and went back for him. ''Don't mind them'' she said to him in a sweet, soft voice. ''It's not your fault that The Wolf give you a different punishment than the rest of us. It's not like you've asked for it''. She hoped it would calm him down a bit. Sean gave an absent nod. ''Yes...'' he replied, although it didn't seem as if he had even heard what Veronica had just told him. ''Sorry, I've got to do something''. He threw a quick glance behind him, at the room The Wolf was in. ''You can go on without me''. Veronica wasn't at ease. She watched him with a worried look in her eyes. ''Okay, but... are you sure you're alright? You don't seem like yourself lately''. ''Of course!'' Sean quickly said. ''I've just been busy, that's all''. Veronica still didn't seem too convinced. ''Everything will return to normal soon, and we'll make sure to find that girl. Next time she won't be able to get away'' he added, and tried his best to fake a smile to Veronica. A soft blush appeared on Veronica's cheeks when seeing his smile. ''Alright...'' She seemed to believe him now. ''You're one of us. I trust you. Will you be at home later?'' Sean nodded, and Veronica took that as her cue to leave and hurried after Mabel and Derek, leaving Sean alone in front of the door. He turned to face the door in front of him, and took a deep breath. There was something important he had to do first. He knocked on the door. ''Come on in!'' The voice of The Wolf could be heard from behind the door. Sean opened the door. He stepped inside the room, and let the door fall shut behind him.

After having discussed the whole plan with Donna, Melina and Kaylee returned home. They all agreed on taking the train to Pixieville the following morning. Since Kaylee had family in Pixieville, she would arrange for a place to stay during their trip. ''It's been so long since I've been in Pixieville!'' Kaylee chatted with Melina while they were walking the stairs up to their detective office above Melina's house. Kaylee lived somewhere else in the village, but she went back with Melina to pick up some of her stuff she left behind. ''I've never been there'' Melina answered. After countless of stairs they were finally in front of the office. The light was on. ''Hey, did you forget to turn off the lights when we left?'' Melina asked Kaylee, who shook her head. She put her hand on the door's handle. The door was already open. Didn't they lock it? Carefully she put a step inside. ''What happened here?!'' Kaylee exlaimed. With mouths wide-open, they gaped at the mess inside their office.

At the time we had no idea that this was just the beginning of our great adventure, and that we would have to deal with a lot more than just the mess in our office. This takes us back to the beginning of the story, where we ran off the stairs, hopelessly in search for my parents.

''I don't see them anywhere!'' Melina yelled in despair. One after another she threw different doors open in search of her parents. ''Wait a minute'' Kaylee tried to bring Melina back to her senses. ''Let's keep calm. They can't be far away, that's for sure''. Melina nodded nervously, although she doubted it. Her parents never went away without notice, and especially not when the house was a mess and with the television still on. They had been here not too long ago. Suddenly, Melina and Kaylee looked up from a sound being heard. It sounded like some sort of banging on a door. Both Melina and Kaylee searched for the source of the sound. ''There!'' Kaylee pointed with her finger towards the pantry. ''The pantry!'' Melina exclaimed. As quick as she possibly could, she made her way to the pantry and threw open the door. Inside were her parents, tied up on a chair and with their mouths taped shut. Rapidly, she untied them with Kaylee's help. ''What happened?'' Kaylee asked once Melina's parents were freed. ''It was a group of four elves. They entered our house and made a mess of everything'' her mother told them. ''When we didn't give them what they were looking for, they locked us up in here''. ''Elves? What were they doing here? We're living in a pixie village'' Melina reacted indignant. Her father shook his head. ''They weren't from here''. He looked up at Melina. ''They were looking for you. We heard them talking about someone named The Wolf. I think they're working for him''. Melina looked at Kaylee, who looked back at her. There was that name again. It was already the second time this day that they heard it. ''But why where they after me?'' That was the only thing Melina didn't understand about the story. Melina's parents exchanged a glance with eachother, and gave eachother a meaningful nod. Then her mother spoke. ''Melina, dear, there's something we have to tell you''.

''It's about your real parents''. Once they were all sitting down, Melina's mother began to talk. ''We don't know much about them as it was a closed adoption, but I think they might be the reason that those elves were looking for you''. ''Wait... time out''. Kaylee looked at Melina in surprise. ''You're adopted?'' ''Uh, yeah?'' Melina raised one eyebrow and pointed at her elf ears. ''How else would you explain this? I'm an elf while both of my parents are pixies''. Kaylee shrugged. ''I dunno. I thought something must have went wrong genetically with your birth, which somehow turned you into an elf instead of a pixie like them''. Melina sighed. As usual, Kaylee made no sense at all. ''What? It's possible. I once read about a couple of pixies that gave birth to a healthy son which was a gnome. It's rare, but it exists'' Kaylee insisted. Melina rolled her eyes. That a couple which consisted of both a pixie and an elf would give birth to a fullblood pixie or elf instead of a halfblood, she believed. Two pixies and a gnome? That was just impossible. Melina's parents continued their story. ''We don't know the names of your parents, but what we do know is that your birthmother gave you up for adoption because she had no other choice. We were told that you would be in danger if you stayed there. She wanted what's best for you, and for her that was giving you a future where you could grow up safe and live a normal life without being in danger'' her mother told her. ''Let me guess, they're from Pixieville?'' Melina guessed. This was too much of a coincidence for one day. ''I don't know where they're from, but yes, it could be the case. Maybe they can give you the answers you're looking for''.

After talking for a while longer about the situation, Donna, and Melina and Kaylee's decision to go to Pixieville, Melina and Kaylee went back upstairs to their office. Kaylee sat down on the couch while Melina was slumped over on their office chair, trying to process the situation. Eventually, Kaylee broke the silence. ''And? Are you planning to search for your real parents?'' she asked Melina, who gave a soft nod. ''I want to know why this is happening''. Her voice sounded determined. ''And maybe it'll help us find Donna's father as well''. ''Is that the only reason?'' Kaylee sounded surprised. ''Don't you want to meet your real parents?'' Melina shrugged. ''I don't really care, honestly. The only thing I know about my real mom is that she picked my name by herself because it had meaning to her, and that she gave me this necklace''. She held up a blue necklace, which she normally had attached to the belt she was wearing on top of her skirt. ''I've always seen my adopted parents as my real parents, and that won't change''. Even thought she tried to sound indifferent about it, she secretly did hope to meet her real parents. She never really cared up until now because she had always thought her parents just didn't want to have her, but now that she knew they had a reason, her vision about them had changed a little. She stood up from her chair. ''Let's clean up a bit and go to bed. It will be a big day tomorrow and we still need to pack our suitcases''. She started to pick up some papers from the floor already. Kaylee got up to help her friend as well. Tomorrow they would leave for Pixieville.