My 11th fic. I'm afraid it ends in a sad way...

It was quiet at night in the Inner World, but at Arachna Castle, things were not. Sparkle, who couldn't sleep due to hearing Hunter's loud and powerful snoring, walked down the hall and sighed.

"I wish it was easier to sleep. Hunter's snoring could make the castle roof come off." she mumbled to herself. She then rubbed her sleepy eyes and suddenly noticed a light coming from another room. It was from her brother's office. She walked up to the half-opened door and looked inside. Lumen was sitting at his desk, reading a big, brown book.

"I wonder what he's reading..." Sparkle thought. Then she saw her brother close the book and and look around as if he was checking that the coast was clear and placed his book under his desk.

Sparkle then realised he was heading for the door and quickly walked off to avoid being caught. After Lumen had left, she walked into the office and walked over to the desk and picked up the book that was under it. She looked amazed.

"I wonder why he hid it down here." she thought. "I'm sure he won't mind if I take a peek at it." she chucked quietly. She held the book under her shoulder and went back to her room to read the mysterious book.

The next morning. Sparkle had managed to wake up and get out of bed (despite Hunter's loud snoring) and continue reading Lumen's book. Last night she had read five pages and a half and dozed off before she could read near the end. She then looked up and thought:

"This is no book. It's a diary!" She was stunned. Lumen usually spent most of his time taking naps, but it seemed he also liked to write a few things. "I wonder if this is supposed to be a secret diary..." Sparkle wondered.

She was then interrupted by footsteps and quickly closed the book and jumped up from her seat. Hunter, Corona, Igneous and Magma walked in the room. "Hey, guys!" Sparkle smiled sweetly.

"What are you up to?" asked Hunter.

"Oh, not much really!" Sparkle answered, chuckling nervously.

"Is that a book you were reading, Princess?" asked Igneous, eyeing the diary.

"No, not really. It's a diary." Sparkle told him, showing it to the blue-haired Spider Rider.

"Is it yours?" Corona wondered. Sparkle began to get frustrated. "What's with all the questions?!" she bellowed. "It's not mine, it's Lumen's!" The princess then gasped and covered her mouth.

"Oops. I shouldn't have said that." she muttered under her breath.

"Does he know that you're reading his diary?" Igneous questioned Sparkle, sounding suspicious.

Sparkle nodded and put the diary down onto the table. "Please don't tell him, but I took it from his office last night while everyone was sleeping!"

Everyone's eyes widened. Igneous looked stunned. "You'd better put it back before he finds out or he might be furious with you for reading it. You might not have been allowed to read it." he folded his arms.

"I guess you're right, Igneous." Sparkle agreed.

Suddenly, Lumen came into the room. "What's going on?" he asked.

Sparkle panicked and grabbed the book and tried to sneak out but Lumen noticed right away.

"Where are you going, Sparkle? The prince asked in wonder.

Sparkle smiled nervously and her grip on the diary got tighter. "Uh...upstairs!"

Lumen didn't seem covinced and walked up to her. "What do you have in your arms?" he asked.

"Nothing." Sparkle replied, still attempting to escape, only for Lumen to put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. Sparkle moved to one side to stop her brother from seeing the diary.

"Sparkle, what are you hiding from me?!" Lumen demanded, starting to get annoyed.

"I told you that I don't have anything!" Sparkle protested, moving to the other side, and then back again, fast.

Lumen then finally caught hold of his diary and took it out of Sparkle's arms. He examined it and gave a small gasp. "Wait, is this my diary?" he wondered.

Sparkle began to look worried. Hunter took a look at the diary. "So it is your diary." he said. Lumen looked at Hunter and nodded. He then turned to look at the young princess. "You took this from my office without asking, didn't you?"

Sparkle didn't answer and bowed her head a little. Lumen saw and gritted his teeth in anger.

"Didn't you?!" Lumen asked again.

Sparkle still didn't say anything.

"SPARKLE, ANSWER ME!" Lumen shouted, getting even more angry.

Sparkle started shaking and all she could muster was a little "Yes."

Lumen sighed and put the book down. He then put his head his hands and looked at his sister. "Why did you take it without my permission? You should've asked me first!" he snapped.

Sparkle started to get upset. "But I thought you wouldn't mind."

"Well, I DO mind!" Lumen yelled even louder.

"Take it easy, sire! It's just a book." Igneous intervened.

Lumen turned to Igneous and glared at him, making the Arachnian knight take a few steps back."Listen to me, Sparkle..." The Prince began. "...you should NEVER take my stuff without asking! In fact, I won't ever let you borrow my stuff even if you do ask ever again!"

Sparkle looked up at him, looking even more upset. She didn't think that Lumen would act this way towards her.

"Don't look at me like that! Don't touch my stuff EVER again! Do you understand?!"

Tears started to well up in Sparkle's eyes and she looked away.

"Sparkle, do you understand?!" Lumen yelled at her.

"Yes." Sparkle replied, weakly.

"You were not supposed to have read my diary, it's private!" Lumen explained.

"But why?" Sparkle finally spoke properly. "That's exactly why I took it! I wanted to see what you were writing about." A few more tears began to appear in her eyes.

"I don't care! You shouldn't have seen what was in there!" Lumen scolded. Did you read the whole diary?!

"Not all of it." Sparkle answered. The tears started to escape from her eyes and she began to crumble with emotion.

Lumen suddenly began to realise that his outburst had scared Sparkle, and as he let out a deep sigh, he realised he needed to apologise.

"Sparkle, I..." he started to say.

It was too late. Sparkle started crying, held her head in her hands and began to exit the room. "Sparkle, please wait!" Lumen called after her. The princess ran out of the room, and out into the courtyard.

The others looked concerned and they all turned to Lumen, who just bowed his head in shame.

R & R!