The War of the Stories

The True Villain?

*Angelyn's POV*

My eyes widened with shook as I saw the rocket head towards the hovercraft. I leaped out of my tree and darted through the battle to reach Paris, fending everyone off with my spear.

"Paris! The hell did you just shoot at that hovercraft? You do realize Olivia was in there, right?" I shouted at him.

I stalked closer to Paris. "If that was an explosive, whatever we are? We're done. You don't just get to murder our friends."

Pairs's eyes widened in surprise. "Woah, woah, woah. Calm down Angelyn, okay? I'm not that cold hearted."

"Then what was that thing? I will actually kill you if Olivia ends up dead because of you." Nionnien said, stepping between the two of us.

"It was a tracker. I wanted to track the Hovercraft so she wasn't brutally executed while we had no idea where she was." Paris said, annoyed. "Do you honestly think I would kill any of you?"

"We only doubted you for a few seconds, Paris. It just- looked like an explosive rocket. Is it really such a surprise to find everyone suspicious?" Cade and Hermione said in perfect synchronization, stepping out from behind a shadowy tree. "This is a war, after all."

Percy Jackson walked up behind us and cleared his throat. He cradled a small creature in his arms. The thing that had defended Paris from that axe. I looked closer, then stumbled back in horror. It was Firestar, the main character from Warriors.

I looked around the battlefield, where the war was still raging. There were cat carcasses everywhere. It really was true then. All you have to do to beat an army is cut off the head of the snake.

*Olivia's POV*

After being hauled into the Hovercraft, I was tied up, blindfolded, and then whoever was responsible shoved a cloth into my mouth. This was not a good feeling. I'd never have thought I'd be in this kind of insane situation. Thinking to myself, I regretfully recalled the survival skills class my dad has wanted me to take a few years back. I could have learned some basic knots or something to understand this mess because I doubt they taught how to escape from a kidnapping.

Desperate, I began to mess with the knot blindly. Through the duration of the trip, it seemed to loosen slightly. But as I felt the tremors that signified we were about to land, I quit, deciding that it wouldn't be wise to mess with the ropes while I was being transported to some darker prison.

Someone picked me up, and carried me through several long twisting pathways. I could hear some muted conversations that quickly trailed off when whoever was carrying me passed by. After what seemed like far too long, I was dropped on a rock floor. I could hear voices drifting into the room.

"Yes, we'll interrogate her as soon as we can." A female voice said.

I heard a swish of fabric and a door shutting.

"...It's a shame that darkness didn't work Countess." said a voice smoothly, obviously picking up whatever conversation they'd been having beforehand.

"I must admit, even I was amazed at their power! Je n'ai jamais entendu parler d'un tel pouvoir auparavant! Vraiment étonnant!" said a third voice. This Countess, perhaps? With a name as vain as that, she'd have to be French.

"Never in all my years of living have I come across a spell as powerful as the one those twins cast. My crow, Diablo, would have brought me news of such an event happening." said the first voice again.

A crow? That sounded familiar... Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. That was it! That was definitely one of the last voices I'd have expected to hear. A villainess from my childhood. And the Countess... that's a harder one to place. Then it occurred to me, it was a book Cade has gone about a few months back. She was from The Emerald Atlas.

"Come on, honestly! The two of you need to stop bemoaning the failure of spells, and actually put some effort into winning this war. Seeing that I'm the superior here, you two need to follow my command." Screeched a much more familiar voice.

I'd only heard it in the movies. But I've heard about too much about her from Nionnien, Angelyn, Paris, and Elijah. Bellatrix. The woman who ordered the execution of Matthias. She had to be the only one mad enough to start this war.

I struggled with the ropes a bit more, and to my surprise, after a few minutes, they fell off. I spit out the cloth, and ripped off the blindfold. There was no way I was going to be able to deal with the three of them, so I decided to run as fast as I could as soon as I got a chance. And either way, knowing that these three woman are in charge is going to help our side.

I stood up very slowly, careful not to make any noise. I blinked a few times, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Then I looked around. I was at the end of a dead end hallway, chiseled roughly out of stone. The only exit was through an elegant wooden door that looked ridiculously out of place in the rocky corridor. And of course, that was the door that Bellatrix, Maleficent, and The Countess's voices are emanating from. Just my luck.

"I believe it's time to torture information out of our little chickie!" I heard Bellatrix cackle.

I swore. Trust my luck to get worse. Thinking quickly, I ran towards the open door, then quickly entered the room and ducked into the space between the door and the wall. Luckily, everyone was too distracted to see me, brainstorming various nasty ways to torture me or something. But at the same time, exiting the door also triggered some kind of alarm.

"Quick! We have to append the intruder!" I heard Maleficent shout.

The three woman rose from their seats at the table they'd been gathered at, and each swept past my hiding place. Bellatrix went first, pulling a wand out of her torn robes. Then went Maleficent, her green skin especially vivid up close. Then the Countess, her long, wavy golden hair moving slightly. She looked around 16 or 17, but I all knew from Cade that she was much older.

As soon as they left the room, I waited a minute before hurrying down another hallway. I could only hope it was one that led to an exit. I made several turns, looking carefully around every corner. Then I passed a doorway that made me stop in my tracks. I knew exactly where I was based on Nionnien, Paris, Angelyn, and Elijah's descriptions.

There was a wooden doorway, with a rough hole carved into it. Knowing exactly what I'd find on the other side, I took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. The stench of death and the sight of dried blood nearly overwhelmed me. Then I saw it. A battered green backpack.

I recognized it immediately. Matthias's backpack. This was the room they'd been imprisoned in. That was Matthias's dried blood everywhere. This is the room where Matthias died.

I freaked. Absolutely freaked. Throwing caution to the winds, I ran down the pathways as fast as I could, needing to get away from this nightmarish place.

Matthias was here before he died. Matthias never escaped. Matthias left his backpack. Matthias died here. Are you next? my mind taunted.

Letting out a scream, I ran faster and faster, getting myself completely lost. I ran and ran... I'd never ran so fast in my life. I ran, flooded with tears and blurring everything around me. I ran so fast that I didn't noticed a giant window at the end of one of the hallways until I ran right through it, and found myself outside. And at the top of a cliff.

I fell, hurtling down a tall mountain. I plummeted, faster and faster. It was like one of those dreams where your falling and falling and then just before you hit the bottom, you wake up safe and sound in bed. But I had a feeling that this time, there would be no waking up.