Arthur and the Invisibles 4: Defender of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 14: Evening the Odds

Working their way down from the tree, Arthur and Darkos managed to make it back to the clearing in good time, where Selenia had already awoken, and had begun to look for them.

"There you are!" She groaned irritatedly as Arthur wafted a huge leaf from his face and emerged into the clearing. 

"You almost sounded worried." Arthur said with a sly grin, which initiated Selenia's face to redden significantly, and her eyes darted down to the floor.

"Well...!" She stammered. "I...didn't want to be alone with Beta! Have you heard his snoring?" She excused, gesturing to Beta, although she herself was still red in the face. However, taking a moment to listen, Arthur was made aware for the first time since he'd met him, that Beta was quite a loud snorer. But by the time Arthur had decided to make a comment, Selenia had moved quickly over to Beta, and brought her leg backwards some, before forcefully swinging into into Beta's arm.

The force from the kick sent Beta sprawling a few feet across the clearing, which was accompanied by a frightened yelp. Leaping to his feet with surprising speed, Beta spun round to face his sister, his face scrunched into an expression of pure, unbridled anger. 

"Thrown out a flower, thrown onto  a butterfly, submerged in water, can't I ever  have a normal awakening?!" He yelled at her, only succeeding in planting the seed of a wide smile that quickly blossomed over her face. Beta breathed a deep sigh, throwing his arms up in hopelessness. "What time is it anyway?" He asked, peering up through the thick strands of green that lay above them. "It's still night!" He exclaimed in frustration. Arthur turned to Selenia. 

"Beta has a point Selenia, it is a bit early." He commented, gazing up at the dark blue expanse of the sky. Selenia took a moment to mirror his gaze. 

"If you two weren't colourblind, you'd notice that it's already getting lighter. We're all up now anyway." She added. Looking down from the blurry expanse above them, she moved her eyes to Arthur, as did Beta. "So, what's the plan?" She asked with folded arms. Arthur turned to Darkos.

"Darkos? Do you mind..." He motioned to the top of the vial.

"Sure." Darkos stated, before, by using a small branch as leverage, he leaped upwards, and managed to scramble onto the vial's cork by grasping the chunky rope beneath it. Arthur gestured to the small, paper sign on the side of the vial.

"We found out yesterday that no matter what we do, we really don't stand a chance against M and the professor while we're this size. So...I brought something to even the odds." He explained. Beta tilted his head in slight confusion, but he quickly noticed Selenia's ears spring upwards and his eyes widen in the realisation of his plan, before shortening again in apparent anger.

"No." She ordered. "Not again."

From Selenia's reaction, it appeared that Beta had caught onto the plan as well. 

"Arthur..." Beta murmured in awe. 

"The Professor has those...smoke...things! What happens if you grow, and he just shrinks you back down again?" Selenia groaned. Arthur's mind became briefly clouded with fear, derived from the fact he couldn't answer. Luckily, Darkos decided to pitch in.

"The smoke vials only shrink you once the smoke has rendered you unconscious." He explained, withdrawing his blade and beginning to cut into the fabric of the cork. "Your family were caught by surprise and weren't able to escape it. If you're careful, you'll probably be able to avoid it." Arthur gave him a quick smile.

"It doesn't matter!" Selenia yelled, catching all of them off guard. Arthur slowly turned to face her, and was quite surprised to see the beauty of her brown eyes stained with the shimmering sparkle of tears. But she kept her eyes locked with his. "Not. Again!" She choked as the tears began streaming from her eyes.