Unanimous

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Kenneth?"

Gail stared at her best friend, mouth wide open in shock.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Not only had Kobe kidnapped her, but Kenneth too. She thought back to her conversation with Amandine, another very close friend. She remembered how she had been so sure of the fact that Kenneth would've told her if something had been pushing him to run away.

She had been right after all.

Kenneth, in the meantime, was just staring at her with a blank face. His cat ears stood straight up which meant that he was very alert, though he certainly wasn't showing it.

Gail ran towards her friend and wrapped her arms around him. Tears escaped her eyes again, but this time out of relief and happiness.

That was until she was rudely pushed away and fell down on the ground. With a bewildered look she stood up.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, rubbing her now sore elbow.

"You are not to move from that couch until master Kobe is back," Kenneth said monotonously.

Gail was left stunned. What had happened to him? He spoke of Kobe as if he were his boss. Master, that's what he called him now.

"Kenneth, we have to get out of here! Please, let's go and try t-"

"You are not to go anywhere, master Kobe said," Kenneth interrupted.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you acting so irrational?" Gail said, shaking the neko boy, like she could make all the nonsense leave his mind that way.

She was suddenly ripped away from him, this time by much larger hands.

"I would appreciate it if you left my servants alone," Kobe's cold voice said from behind her.

With a lot of effort, Gail was able to free herself from his grip; though it was very clear that Kobe was just letting her be.

"Servant?" Gail yelled. "How dare you even say that about your friend! You are his equal, not his boss!"

Kobe laughed. It was a short, humourless laugh that could give anyone the chills.

"That's where you're wrong, fairy girl," he said and roughly grabbed her hand again, pulling her with him.

Before they exited the living room Kobe turned around and addressed Kenneth.

"Make a room ready for her. If you're done, go back to your chambers."

Kenneth nodded and left.

~

"After more than hundred years of not being called to Fortania, we get summoned by a bunch of younglings."

In front of the twelve Tormundia students stood three girls who had to be around 16 or 17 years old. They wore beautiful long sleeved Sabrina gowns which made them look gracious and powerful at the same time.

"Not to be offensive or anything," Matthieu said, "But I think we're kind of about the same age."

The girl with the shorter, brown hair laughed.

"Don't you know who we are? You must know, obviously, since you're the one who summoned us."

Everyone looked at Matthieu accusingly.

"We thought that we would get to see our missing friend's ghost. But it seems that Matthieu, here, isn't really the biggest talent when it comes to spells," Anaïs said.

"So it seems indeed," the blond girl said sceptically.

The third girl suddenly spoke up with a delicate voice.

"We are the three witches of the Interval. Our names are Alda," She pointed at her short haired companion, "Kelsey", now she gestured to the blond girl, "and Shauni.

For thousands of years we have helped all kind of creatures survive everywhere in the universe. We are besides a few exceptions the only living people who can travel from one dimension to another. With the spell you used, you must have tried to achieve something that was impossible. My guess is that your missing friend is in another dimension. Since the power of a spell only works in your own world, we have been consulted instead."

Amandine stepped forward with a pleading look on her face.

"You have to help us. Three friends of ours are gone and we have no idea where they could be. Yet I can feel that something is terribly wrong!"

Shauni exchanged a look with the other witches before answering: "We will help you, but first we need to search for their presence in other dimensions. It should only take a few seconds."

All three of them took each other's hand and started mumbling incoherent words. After a few seconds they were finished.

"We now know who and where they are," Kelsey said.

"That's amazing!" Amandine exclaimed enthusiastically.

Alda shook her head. "I wouldn't be too thrilled. There are many things we are not allowed to tell you. What I can say is this : Do not worry about Kenneth, who is in the same place as the other two, yet his mind is somewhere else and safe. Kobe's mind has darkened beyond repair so don't fear for him either. The only one who is truly in danger is the fairy, Gail, who doesn't realise what trouble she is in. You have to get her away from there as soon as possible, before it is too late."

The younglings didn't know what to do nor say. Only Amandine still seemed determined to find out more.

"Where are they and how will we get there?" she asked the witches.

Shauni strode forward and handed Amandine two objects.

"This is all we can do for you. Your friends reside in a dimension called Agmardor, a place feared and avoided by many. By us too."

Amandine stared at the little cube and the scroll in her hands.

"This is a portal. It now looks like a cube, but when you throw it on the ground it will burst open and reveal a hole that will bring you to Agmardor. But be careful. The portal isn't that powerful and will close sooner than you will have been able to jump, so not all of you can go to Agmardor. Some of you will have to stay behind. The scroll shows you the way you will have to follow to get to the castle at the end of the kingdom. That is where you will find your friends," Shauni explained.

Kelsey put her hand on Shauni's shoulder. "It is time for us to go. We can only stay in one dimension for a certain amount of time. I wish you all good luck."

And with those words the three witches slowly turned see-through again, before the only thing that was left was the smoke of the candles.

Amandine opened the scroll and the others gathered around her to be able to see it too.

"Map of Agmardor," she read and looked what they could expect on the mission to save their friends.