The world before them put Sylvia in awe. When they crossed the gates, it had silently closed behind them. Now they were in a dense jungle in the humid air. It was twilight at this time and the stars began to slowly cover the sky. Well, what they could see of it anyway. The thick trees covered most of their view.
"Welcome home, Sylvia." Alexander spoke with a smile at her.
"Doesn't feel like it." She muttered back. All in all, she hated it here. The moisture was sickeningly thick. She has always loved hot, sunny places. Places that vibrated with life and happiness and were free of scary beasts. This forest, however, didn't really look like it was filled with butterflies and bunnies. No, it screamed of elephant-sized snakes that could swallow you whole! And even if it did have bunnies, she doubted they were friendly.
"Sylvia, be nice." She heard Keira say in her mind. She groaned internally and faced the two men. "Can we get going now? I really don't want to be here all night!"
"What did I say about being nice, Sylvia?"
"Oh screw being nice!" She told Keira.
~*~
Alexander watched as the two girls took in their surroundings. The guardian seemed unfazed by all the thickets and the known prowlers of the night. He assumed that she had been taught all about this place. He looked at Sylvia and she didn't seem too happy at all.
"Welcome home, Sylvia." He said with a kind smile. Sylvia's answer made him frown a bit. How could she not feel at home? This is her home! He saw Sylvia glower at Keira. 'She's probably receiving a lecture from her guardian,' he thought to himself.
Sylvia spoke up again, clearly agitated by being here. "Can we get going now? I really don't want to be here all night!"
Alexander held out his hand to her. "Yes, our carriage is just up this path." He motioned at the moonlit trail behind him.
Instead of accepting his hand, she marched past him. He notice Sylvia's guardian shaking her head but then followed after her.
He grunted, "Getting her to like me is starting to be a pain."
Ambrose chortled beside him. "I feel sorry for you. But I guess it is your fault for falling in love with her."
"It's not like I chose too! It just happened!"
Still laughing, Ambrose walked up the path. Alexander sullenly followed.
~*~
Sylvia huffed in frustration as she walked up the path. "Did he say carriage?" Keira nodded in response. "A carriage? What for? Is he trying to be romantic? Because that's just stupid! I don't like him."
Keira rolled her eyes. She knew that Sylvia was in complete love with the whole romantic scene. She could already picture Sylvia dreaming about a midnight carriage ride wrapped in the arms of her love. She knew that sooner or later, Sylvia would come around. She can't deny her feelings for him for long.
They reached the end of the trail and waited for the two men to catch up.
When they did catch up, two dark carriages with gold trimmings pulled up before them. "Why are there two?" Sylvia asked.
Alexander stood next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "One is for us and the other is for our guardians."
"What?! Heck no!" She struggled out of his grasp but he firmly held her in place. "Let me go! I want to stay with my sister!" She was slowly being pulled into one of the carriages as she continued to thrash about.
