Forgotten Magic

Chapter 47

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When I meet someone, I can always figure out within the first few minutes of knowing them whether or not they trust me. And let's just say I've known Nickolas Chance much longer than a few minutes.

It was supposed to be a normal day. I mean what do you expect? I'm basically a prisoner. What else would I do?

Anyways, I was just working on the scroll translations when someone screamed. The caravan screeched to a stop, and I nearly fell out of my chair from the surprise,

"Looks like the idiots finally managed to crash the caravan," Nickolas remarked, heading for the door. At the last minute, as I hoped he would just leave, he turned back and called, "C'mon. I want to make sure no one's dead."

I groaned and got up to follow. "I thought you wanted them gone. Now you want to make sure they're okay?"

He sort of rolls his eyes as his figure disappears from the doorway.

"Rude," I mutter, hurrying to follow. But what I find on the other side isn't a fatality, or even an injury. What I find is Lance, Hookfoot, and Eugene having a...a muscle challenge. Oh no...

"Oh brother," I heard Cass say next to me. "This could be a while"

"That's great! It means we have time for a little adventure! And, seeing qs this is the most beautiful forest I have ever seen, I say we take a hike!" Rapunzel exclaimed excitedly

"Take a hike?" Shorty echoed. "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted!" He sinks into the bushes.

"Ugh," the princess remarks. "Pascal, keep an eye on him."

"I guess it's just you and me, Caspal."

"Come on Cass!" Rapunzel begs. "Who knows what we'll find with a little exploring! Or...we could just hang out here..."

Cassandra groans. "Explore it is."

"Yes!" And before anyone could say "Hey, the prisoner's escaped", she'd grabbed both our hands and pulled us into the woods.

"Are you sure this is okay?" I asked, glancing back at Nickolas who was starting back into the caravan with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah...Raps...I hate to say this but maybe for once we shouldn't try to test my annoying cousin's nerves." Cassandra admitted as we pushed through some vines. But for once, it seemed the princess was less willing to abide by her father's rules.

"Oh come on," she begged, ducking under a low hanging branch. "When are we ever gonna get another chance like this again?"

"Rapunzel, I'm sure there will be plenty of forests just as beautiful as this one." Cass reasoned, helping me uv a steep ridge.

"Yeah," she agreed, "but not this one. We'll probably never get this chance again." She hopped across a stream as she spoke.

We went back and forth on the matter for awhile, but soon came to the realization that we'd gone too far to turn back.

But as we walked through a cave of glowing mushrooms, I couldn't help but notice the way Cass went along with Raps's crazy shenanigans. So, the next chance I got, I asked her about it.

"You like her, don't you?" I grinned.

She looks at me all alarmed. "Shhh. Where would you get that idea?"

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Um...Everything?"

She shakes her head and sighs. "Oh, of course you would know."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Now it was her time to roll her eyes. "Uh...Varian." She says it like it's super obvious.

"Who told you that?!"

She laughs. "No one had to tell me. It was so obvious. You think I didn't notice how he looked at you? Seriously, even Old Lady Crowley could've seen that."

"Cass! Ann!" Rapunzel called from further up the path. "Look! The Cliffs of Koto! Oh I have always wanted to go there!"

"Nope!" Cassandra deadpans. "No can do. We don't have that kind of time."

"Says who?" Raps insists, dragging us down a thin forest path.

"Koto? We've traveled all the way to Koto?" I wonder to myself.

Next thing you know, we've slid down the trunk of an old tree and are crouched in the bushes watching two extremely well off yet ominous people making pleasant conversation.

"Ooookay," Cassandra begins. "We should probably-" Her voice trails off as Rapunzel parts the branches and walks into the clearing. "Visit with the weird people drinking tea on toadstools in the middle of nowhere...C'mon, we gotta make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"Hi there!" the princess greets the odd folk. "My name is Rapunzel, and these are my friends Cassandra and Savannah."

"And what brings ladies Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Savannah to our humblest of abodes?" the short woman inquired, talking in an airy manner that made the hair on my arms stand on end.

"She dragged us," Cass offers.

"Uh, we took a little detour!" Raps interrupts. "Out in this beautiful countryside to see what kind of adventure we might find!"

"Ah! Well! How positively serendipitous!" the woman exclaims.

"Please!" the tall man beside her insists, hand outstretched. "Sit!"

Sort of baffled I suppose, we all plop down onto little toadstools.

"What do you mean serendipitous?" the blonde wonders.

"Strange?" I offer.

"Ah, no! Well, you seek adventure and you might say Mother and I are somewhat  aficionados of fanciful merriment," the man explains-if you can call that explaining-, while pouring us each a cup of tea from a beautiful teapot.

"I love fanciful merriment!" Raps exclaims before noticing "Wow, what a beautiful teapot!"

"Yes, it is quite beautiful," Mother agrees. "And yet, its beauty is a minor benefit next to its magical properties."

I scooted away from the cup of tea in front of me.

"Magical?" Cass repeats, inspecting the drink before her.

"Indeed!" the man exclaims, raising his arms dramatically. "All of what you see here, the cottage, the toadstools, and even the birds all exist because of this teapot."

Everything the man had mentioned, everything around Cass, Raps, and I, including the people, were brightly colored and patterned. The bird tree the man had mentioned was covered in exotic, colorful birds of all shapes and sizes, birds you'd never see in the wild...

"Uh, I-I don't...understand," Rapunzel stammers, glancing behind her as she spoke.

"How would you...like to enjoy our very modest forest...as...a bird?"

If it weren't for still being a convict, I would've bolted.