Twisted Nightmares

2 - Plan Of Action

Beatrice sat at the edge of her bed, looking up at the badly decorated ceiling. When she was younger, her father had always told her to look to the stars for guidance. So, she got a bunch of glow in the dark stars and stuck them to her ceiling, that way, whenever she was upset she could look up at them. The rest of her room was covered in posters. One showed the knight from the kingdom over, who was said to have defeated a dragon with his bare hands. Though it was silly, Beatrice liked believing in things like that. Not that it wasn't possible seeing as nightmares plagued the earth.

Lily had the room next door to her, and they were both still trying to convince the Sandman (aka Beatrice's adopted father) to have a door into each other's rooms. He usually just smiled and said something like 'maybe next year'. It had been four years. It didn't matter though, as they usually had a sleepover in one of the rooms every night. They talked about what demons they were gonna hunt, and if princesses really had it good or if they were forced to smile and wave. Weird discussion to have, but to them it was the funniest thing in the world.

Beatrice pushed her thoughts away, and headed to Lily's room. She'd told her boyfriend about the incident with the Dark Breath, and he had been up all night researching a cure. Liam and Beatrice loved spending time in the library. Everyone else was usually off training, so they had peace and quiet. Most of the time. When Lily barged in, everything turned loud and everyone got giddy. Beatrice knocked at her best friend's door, itching to get this curse out of her.

Beatrice felt terrible about not telling her dad about what happened in the Blood Forrest that night. She had sworn Lily and Liam to secrecy, and it was hard to keep herself from spilling. Sandman could sense something was wrong, but his daughter was turning seventeen in a few months. He just assumed it was hormones. But he was far from correct. Beatrice's heart had been plagued with darkness, making her more tired and angry.

It was still growing, and that was why they needed a cure, and they needed one fast. Beatrice could here Lily bounding around her room humming. She'd most likely slept in, forgetting about what she was supposed to be doing with her best friend. "Lily, c'mon!" Beatrice whined, knocking on the door again. "Coming!" Lily called back. Beatrice's shoulders slumped. She was sore from the hit, and her body was not cooperating. "Stupid Dark Breath, and his stupid..darkness." she muttered, kicking the wall for something to do.

"Oi, don't damage my wall." Lily said, opening the door. Beatrice laughed and linked arms with her friend. "It's my wall too." Beatrice joked back. Lily huffed, but couldn't help but giggle, and the two made their way to the library.

･ ｡ﾟ☆

"See, the thing is Hope, Joy and Charity are all..well dead." Liam said, seeing Beatrice's smile falter. "Well, how do we cure it then?" Lily asked, obviously upset with the result of his research. "They left behind stones. The embodiment of what they stand for. White for Charity, blue for Joy and turquoise for Hope." He answered. "Well where do we find them?" Bea questioned, side glancing at Lily, who stood with her arms crossed.

She was obviously ticked off about not being able to tell the Sandman. But she made a deal. And Lily was never one to break a deal. Even if it was hurting her friend, which she never wanted. But this is what Beatrice wanted. "Well, I have a map here..." Liam said, moving stuff around his desk. "Aha! Here." He handed the map to Beatrice, and stood behind the two girls, studying the map with them. There was three x's, each color matching Hope, Joy and Charity.

"Guess we've got a plan of action then." Beatrice said, rolling up the map and shoving it in her satchel. "I guess we do." Lily said, and Liam nodded along. "Before you impulsively go on a quest with out telling anyone, let's pack." He said, not really giving the girls a choice. "But-" Bea started. "No buts. I am not starving for some stones." He joked. But deep down he knew this situation was much worse than just a bunch of stones.

Darkness plagued Beatrice. And it wasn't going to be easy, to get the light back.