Dangerous Curiosity

Secret Adventures

Once Upon A Time, there were two children. Best friends actually. A brave and adventurous little girl named Anna and a bright and clever girl named Emma. They each grew up in royal families. Every Time they would see each other, they would roam the castle and find new places to explore. But one day they came across something different and dangerous. Something they didn't know was dangerous until it was too late. Their story begins with a laugh.

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Emma woke with a burning sensation in her eyes as her mother slid open the curtains and giggled watching her fumble out of bed. "Oh, get up Emma! The King and Queen of Misthaven have made plans to get together again!" Her mother said with a smile on her face that made Emma grin. "Really? Will Anna be accompanying them as well?" Emma asked. Her mother walked across the room and stood at the foot of her bed. "Why of course. That's why you need to get up. Go fetch your clothes and be on your way to greet them." Her mother insisted.

Emma jumped up off of the floor from which she had fallen and ran to the cupboard. "I'm so glad. Anna and I can explore the castle more!" Emma was in a great mood. Spending time with Anna was when she enjoyed life the most. Being that she was an only child, Emma never had anyone to explore or go on adventures with. She was really thrilled that Anna was coming. "You two be careful. I don't want you to go and get yourselves hurt. You know what that means? That means sta-" her mothers words were cut off by Emma's. She knew what she was going to say. She'd said it a million times before. Emma finished her sentence for her, "...staying away from the dungeon. I know!" She sighed.

"And?" Her mother asked.

Emma rolled her eyes as she struggled to put on her red vest that laced all the way up her back. "And don't go into the west part of the castle. I got it. What's in there anyway?" She asked curiously giving her mother a questionable look. She finally was able to put on her vest so she reached down to slide her boots over her feet. Emma's mother tilted her head in thought. "I don't quite know, my parents always told me it was much older than the rest of the castle and not safe for that reason. So I never went there, but enough of that. I think our guests are here." Her mother reached for Emma's hand right as she finished lacing up the strings on her boots. They hurried through the corridors of the castle to go and greet the guests.

Emma chose to wear her red vest with her outdoor pants. She always wore that. She had long blonde hair that was always in her face. It was braided into a single braid all the way down her back so she didn't have to worry about it being in her way. When her and her mother reached the doors of the castle, Anna squealed and ran past Emma's mother up to Emma giving her a hug that nearly nocked both of them to the floor of hard stone.

"Anna!" Yelled her mother Queen Alice, "That was not lady like! You need to bow to your hosts before running right past them!" Queen Alice looked at Emma's mother as if to apologize for Anna's rudeness. Emma let go of Anna and Anna walked back to her mothers side. She bowed down before Emma and her mother and spoke "I'm sorry ma'am. Thank you for having us." She gave Emma's mother a sweet smile.

Emma's mother brought her hands together and gave Emma a loving grin. "You are most welcome child." Anna chuckled. Emma's mother continued, "Now run along girls, I know how much you love to play. Also Queen Alice and myself have some catching up to do." Her mother flicked her wrist and motioned for the girls to go. With two giggles from the girls, they ran off down the corridors of the castle to explore like they always did.

They were both breathing heavily. "Hey." Panted Anna. Emma turned around to look at her. She wore grey pants with a brown vest and boots that laced up to her shins. "What?" Asked Emma. Anna waited for a moment trying to catch her breath so she could speak. Finally she spoke, "let's go explore the dungeon. It'll be more fun than the kitchen or the dinning hall." Emma knew Anna, she knew that she always had a thirst for adventure but this was what Emma was clearly told not to do.

She gave Anna a disapproving stare. "No, you know we're not allowed to go there." She explained. Emma didn't want to disagree for she too was curious of the place. But she knew she had to. Anna sighed, "oh come on Emma, it'll be fu-"She pleaded. "Dangerous actually" interrupted Emma. Anna shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms. "Okay well if not there then... How about the west wing of the castle?" She whispered. Emma didn't know what was in the west wing, she really wanted to go in. The dungeon was different, she had been in there before and wasn't curious about what it looked like or who was in there. She thought long and hard while Anna stood next to her shaking her hands together as if begging Emma for approval. "Please, please, pleaseee!" And whispered, shaking Emma's shoulders.

"Oh alright! But just for a little while. I don't want us to get into trouble." Emma finally said. Anna jumped up and down, "Yes! Now let's go!" She whispered excitedly. She grabbed Emma's hand and started to run.

Anna had long red hair about the same length as Emma's. Her face was pale and fair so every time she was up to something her face grew bright red. Emma noticed this about her.

They were in the east wing of the castle so they had to pass many guards to get to the west wing. The guards didn't think much of them because they always ran up and down the corridors when they were together. Eventually they reached the entrance to the west wing and there was a guard there who Emma didn't know. She had never been to that side so she never came across him. "Anna," she whispered. "We need to sneak past him to get through." Anna's face went into her thinking mode. "Okay," she said. "I have a plan."

Anna searched the walls around them and her eyes fell upon the candlestick that was lighting up the corridor. She walked up to it and grabbed it off of its stand. Emma looked at her with concern, "what are you doi-" she was cut off by Anna who threw the candle and it's stand across the corridor. It made a really loud crash and the guard jumped up rushing over to see what the noise was. Anna pushed Emma against the wall and they stayed there until the guard turned the corner to investigate the noise. Slowly Anna looked at Emma, "Now's our chance!" She whispered taking off toward the door. Emma disapproved of her distraction but wasn't about to take the blame when the guard got back. So she ran along with Anna. The door to the west wing was large and dusty. Anna tried to open it but was struggling. "Help me before we get caught!" Anna begged. Emma grabbed the door and helped her pull. It was much harder to open than the other doors of the castle. The guard was coming back, they could hear his armor against the stone hard corridor. "Hurry pull!" Emma stressed. Her heart was pounding with fear and excitement. They finally got it to open just ajar and Anna slid in first. Once she was in Emma followed just in time. Once the guard came back, they were able to close the door quietly enough to where he didn't hear them. They fell back with a thud against something hard. Shaking her head, Emma gave a sigh of relief. "We did it." She whispered to Anna. But Anna didn't hear her, she was now standing up looking at the west wing of the castle in awe. She was completely amazed at what they had just discovered.