Chapter 7

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A few weeks after I visited Skully, my tenth birthday came up. Izzy suggested we have a party, but I didn't want to. I suggested we have a picnic together instead, which we did. I enjoyed the time we spent together.
Later that evening, Izzy's father asked to see me. When I got there, Izzy and Cubby were there as well. 
“This had better not be a surprise party,” I said suspiciously.        
“No, no it's not, I promise,” said Izzy, laughing, “ We just want to see something, that's all.”                                                         Her father explained, “ We want you to put this on,” he said, pointing to a crown in a glass display case, “ that's all.”                        
“ Oh, okay,” I replied, “ but why?”                                      “ We’ll explain afterwards, depending on the result.”                    

I agreed to it, though still not sure why I had to put on a crown, of all things. The king unlocked the case and took out the crown. I felt kind of awkward, with Izzy and Cubby looking at me expectantly. I felt like there was something they were not telling me, but before I had the chance to ask, the crown was on my head.

At first, nothing happened. Then, after a few seconds, there was a blinding flash of light, which stopped as quickly as it had started. When it had stopped, I blinked a few times, readjusting to the light.

Izzy was lying on the floor, moaning in pain. I swam to her side and knelt beside her, along with her father and Cubby. I forgot the crown was on my head. No one else seemed to notice.                                                    “What's wrong with her?” I asked, alarmed.                                 “I don't know,” the king replied, his face screwed up with worry, “ We need to get her to the doctor.”                                      “ I’ll take her,” I said, picking her up, “ I know where to go.”

I swam as fast as I could and, to my surprise, we were there within a few seconds. The doctor took one look at Izzy and took her out of my hands into the theater.                                              “ What's wrong with her?” I asked anxiously.                           “ I'm not sure,” he replied, “ I've never seen anything like this.”            
“Will she die?” I asked, alarmed by his previous answer.                  “I don't know,” he said, putting a stethoscope to her chest. “Oh no!” he cried suddenly, “no, no, no, no, no!”                                 “What, what is it?” I asked, frightened, “ Is she…?”                    

He did not reply. I fell to the floor, tears beginning to stream down my face, just as Cubby and the King arrived. Some of my tears fell onto Izzy. I felt strange and thought I heard a piano. There was a sudden pain shooting up my tail as I fell to the ground and there was the sound of metal hitting the ground as the crown fell off my head and everything went black.

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