The Mind Behind The Beanie || ✔

The Portal

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"What is this a painting of?" Conner asked, pulling me from my thoughts. 

"That's a painting of a magical garden," Emmerich said.  "I don't know what it's from though."

Conner smiled so much you could practically feel it across the room. "I do," he said and then looked at Bree. "I think I've found it."

Bree and Emmerich joined Conner at the back of the room and looked at the painting.

"You want to put the weapon in there?" Emmerich asked excitedly.

Conner looked towards Bree with a sad smile, he was going to tell Emmerich the truth.  "Emmerich, it's not really a weapon," he said.   "And we're not really secret agents."

Emmerich looked at the floor and Bree couldn't read his expression.  Darn it, Conner! Why did you have to break the kid's heart? Why couldn't you just have told him after we checked the portal? 

"I know," he said. What?! Did he know this whole time? Well, there's another person we manipulated with them knowing on this trip.  Wow, I really am a bad person.  "But I thought it would be fun to pretend with you guys.   I don't get many chances to have fun with other kids; everyone who comes to Hohenschwangau is only here for a day and then they leave."

It broke Bree's heart to hear him say that, and she wanted to comfort him.  Conner may be good at talking to kids, but I know what he's going through.  I can definitely relate to this, so I going to talk to him before Conner does. 

Bree leaned down to Emmerich's level.  "Don't worry Emmerich," she said.  "We have to check something out now, and if it works, it's going to be much cooler than anything secret agents could show you."

Emmerich perked up in curiosity.  Bree nodded to Conner and he took the panpipe out of his jacket pocket.  He scanned the panpipe once more. 

"The middle cylinder should be middle C," Bree said. "At least that's how it works on the piano- my mom made me take lessons when I was younger."

"Here goes," Conner said, and Bree held her breath.  He blew the first four notes into the pipe and paused.  He played the next four notes and then held the panpipe closely, expecting something to happen.  The notes echoed in the room, like every other sound they had made in the Singer's Hall, a pure chill going down Bree's spine of how chilling they sounded in the empty castle. 

Bree started to become anxious.  The notes that had been echoing were getting louder and louder as they kept repeating themselves.  They kept getting louder and louder until the whole room started to shake beneath their feet and above their heads.  The whole room rumbled and the chandelier swung precariously above them. 

"What's happening?" Emmerich shouted to Conner and Bree and covered his ears.  Bree covered her ears as well since the noise was almost deafening. 

The only person standing still was Conner.  He stood there in the center of the hall his hands clutching the panpipe to his chest.  He seemed to be oblivious to Emmerich and Bree, he just stared into the portal. 

Bree thought that something was wrong with him and gave him a shove to reality.  He perked up and looked at Bree with horror. 

"The portal is working!" he said so softly that Bree could hardly hear it with all that was going on.

"YEAH!" Bree shouted at him, startling him even more.  "YOU THINK!"

A bright light flashed and appeared between the two pillars in the center of the platform.  The light grew and started to swirl; the larger it got the more it spun.  Soon the entire back of the hall was covered in the light. 

"Oh no," Conner said and locked eyes with Bree.  ^Seriously, you're now going to say that it's working, aren't you? Did you not hear a thing I just shouted to you?!?^ "It works!  We can access it from our side.  That means the portal has re-opened and the French soldiers are-"

The three of them jolted forward against their will.  The light had abruptly turned into a swirling vortex and was pulling them inside it. 

"RUN!" Conner yelled.  ^Finally, you get some sense, Conner!^

The three of them ran for the other side of the hall, but the vortex's pull was too strong.  Emmerich grabbed onto Bree, Bree grabbed onto Conner, and Conner grabbed onto a candelabra mounted onto the wall. They dangled in the air as the vortex only grew stronger.  Emmerich lost his hold on Bree, Bree lost her grasp of Conner, and Conner's fingers slipped off the candelabra. 

The three of them went flying through the air and straight into the vortex.

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~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~

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THANKS FOR READING!!!
BYE BOOK-HUGGERS!!!
TLOSGEEK2-OUT!!!