The Turtle and the Bird

Chapter 11

Turtle looked around. Everything seemed normal. He felt like leaving.

Apparently Bluebell had noticed it too. "We just wanted to thank you for governing Fantinova so well," she said, covering for them. "Sorry to bother you, but we were going this way so we decided to stop by and express our gratitude in person. If you don't mid, we're in a bit of a hurry now...."

The two of them started to go to the door, but the girl in the purple dress stepped in front of them. "Please stay," she said, still smiling. "I'm sure we would like to get to know you better."

Turtle and Bluebell shared an uneasy glance. "May I use your bathroom?" Turtle finally asked.

A carpet floated over to him and took him up to the second floor.

The bathroom was purple and green with a huge shell-shaped bathtub. Turtle plugged up the tub and the sink and turned the faucets on full blast. He stuffed towels and the bathroom rug in the spot under the door and opened the window.

A few minutes later, Turtle sailed out he window on a wave of water. He landed in the yard with a thunk and retreated inside his shell. Bluebell flew down and peered at him. "You okay?"

He stretched his legs out. "Fine," he whispered. "Where are they?"

She grinned. "I broke one window and went out another. They think I'm on the other side."

Turtle nodded. "We need to find the capital princesses. Do you think they might be in the other castle?"

Bluebell shrugged. "All I know is they're not on the roof. Already looked."

"Alright, let's go."

They quickly went over to the other castle. Bluebell flew in through one of the windows. She came back out a few minutes later. "They're not in there. I looked everywhere. It's completely empty."

Turtle was staring at something behind her.

"What?" she asked in an alarmed tone, looking over her shoulder. When she saw what he had, she gasped. "Their old castle!"

The old, small castle was still sitting there, abandoned and empty. They crept across the yard. Bluebell stood on Turtle's back and carefully turned the handle on the front door. It creaked open, and they peered inside.

"No one's in here," Turtle noted regretfully.

Bluebell put a feather to her lips and motioned for him to follow her. They slunk around to the opposite wall and stepped through an open doorway.

Seven girls turned their heads toward the newcomers. They were all tied together and had pieces of cloth over their mouths. Bluebell gasped and rushed over to them. She began pulling the gags down. Turtle helped, and soon they had the rope untied. The girls hastily got to their feet."

"Thank you so much," one of them said, smiling down at them.

Turtle opened his mouth to answer, but just then a freezing wind blew through the castle. All at once, they were swirling around in a deep purple whirlwind.

A man's face appeared looming over the, laughing. "You had your chance, fools!" he bellowed. "I will have the wishes!"

"What do you want with them?" Bluebell screamed.

"I want POWER!" He raised his hands, his voice echoing like thunder. Turtle suddenly recognized him as the man they'd seem studying the globe, and the one who had visited him in his dream.

"The wishes!" one of the capital princesses called out them. "Use the wishes!"

Turtle took a huge breath. "I WISH FOR EVERYTHING TO GO BACK TO NORMAL!"

In a flash, Turtle, Bluebell, and the capital princesses were back in the little castle. Everyone looked around in a daze.

"I had a hunch Erasmus was behind this," one of the princesses said.

"Who's Erasmus?" Turtle asked.

"He was the advisor to the king before us," another one replied. "He's been trying to steal power away for a while now. That was him."

Turtle and Bluebell nodded slowly.

"Well, we should get back to our castle now," a third princess said. The rest of them nodded and murmured their agreement, and they all filed through the door. Turtle and Bluebell stayed behind.

Bluebell turned to him. "Thank you for stopping him."

Turtle blushed. "I mean, that was a bit of a risky move. I have no idea what 'normal' is."

Bluebell laughed. "Well, it looks like it worked." She started towards the door. "C'mon. We'd better get going."

"Wait."

She turned around. "Yes?"

"Um, Bluebell, I, uh...." Turtle took a deep breath. "I love you."

Bluebell smiled. "I love you too."

Turtle felt a warm flush creep up into his cheeks. "Well, I guess we should get back."

The two headed for the door, wing in foot.

A/N: Welllll that's the end! Thank you so much for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it! Have a great rest of your day, and happy reading on whatever adventure you choose next! <3

~Livi