Chapter Four

Trouble on the First Day

Lucinda was enjoying the rest of her morning in contentment. It was her first official day in the Royal Preparatory Academy and she already met almost all of the students, friends had been made all by a simple curtsy and showing nothing but smiles. James and Sofia had taken it upon themselves to show her around the school, Amber would have joined them if she hadn't had dancing lessons. The trio wandered around the school grounds, Sofia showing the various places around the school that would be used for certain events, James introducing her to the very building where their play would take place in about a week, until it was time for their sorcery class. The fairies had left to attend yet another fairy convention and left Lucinda in charge of the class that day, the other royal students had been told before hand by the Headmistresses that when they weren't available for sorcery class, Lucinda would take over as her skills in the arcane arts were superior to theirs. No one dared to complain, not even a snotty princess that went by the name; Deidre. The lesson went well accordingly to plan until two students from the nearby sorcery school named Hexley Hall came running in, causing many princes to stand up angrily, and Lucinda glancing left and right in total confusion.

"You two again?!" James growled, clenching his fists.

"What do you want with us?!" Prince Desmond demanded, stretching his arms out in front of Sofia.

"Haven't you caused enough problems for us when you decided to fill our school with bubbles?" A Prince named Fredrick accused.

Zandar narrowed his eyes in warning. "If you plan on doing that, you'll find that we are ready this time." He took on a defensive stance.

"Wai...wait...wait!" One of the students stuttered out with her hands in the air. "We're not here to cause any trouble!"

"Who are they?" Lucinda inquired curiously.

"Students from Hexley Hall." Desmond answered with a frown. "They come to Royal Prep yearly during Hexley Hall Prank Day. They once tried to fill the school with bubbles but Sofia put a stop to that." At Sofia's incredulous look he quickly added. "With some help of course."

By then, the girl had already recovered from her breathlessness. She still kept her hands up to prove her point that she wasn't a threat. James wasn't convinced just yet. "Listen to me. You have to! I know what I did last year and I am sorry! I am truly sorry for all that!" She ratted off. One could tell that she was frightened and nervous at being stared by one if not three angry princes that were ready to tear her to shreds. She took out her wand and tossed it aside to further prove her point. "I am not here to cause any pranks!" She sank to her knees and sobbed. "I swear..."

"Amy's right..." The other student said softly. "You have to trust us..."

"Elliot has went bonkers! Totally nuts! It was so unlike him!" Amy blurted out. "He's threatening to blow up the entire school!" She looked towards her fellow student. "Tell them Kurt! Tell them what Elliot said to you!"

Kurt shuffled his feet nervously. "Well...He told me that he wanted to plant a firecracker in the basement of Royal Prep so that the whole of Hexley Hall could enjoy the fireworks, and he wasn't bluffing either, I could see the look in his eyes. He wanted me to join him in the prank, but I knew it was dangerous and I swore an oath last year that I would leave you all alone and never prank again. So I told him no. He left angrily and refused to talk to me, saying something that the princes and princesses will get what's coming to them. I ran immediately and told the Headmaster about Elliot's insane plot. He instructed me to come here and warn the Headmistresses of Royal Prep, it turned out that Amy had overheard everything and was determined to come with me, and here we are." He recounted the events.

"So where are the Headmistresses?" Amy asked anxiously.

"Um..." Sofia started and shot a glare at her brother and Desmond to silence them. "The Headmistresses are away for the annual fairy convention, leaving our friend, Lucinda, a fellow Princess. Hailing from the Kingdom of Corona." She answered, still glaring at her other classmates. She tilted her head curiously when she noticed that both Kurt and Amy were staring at Lucinda with wide eyes, whispering her title softly and she watched in amazement as Kurt joined Amy on the ground, keeping his head bowed. "I take it you know her." She asked.

"Not personally, no." Kurt answered, keeping his head lowered. "Name's Kurt Longbottom, at your service, Your Highness."

"Amy Granger, a half-blood witch." Amy introduced herself. "It's a real honor to stand before you, Your Highness."

"Ah...um...the honor's all mine." Lucinda replied, urging the two to stand. "So what is this I hear about your friend. Elliot is it?" Both Kurt and Amy bobbed their heads up and down. "Any ideas where we can find him?" She inquired, her face serious and her tone clearly meant to the others that she wasn't playing.

"I'm not too sure, Your Highness." Amy replied honestly. "Elliot has his own hideout that we don't even know."

"He could be anywhere!" Kurt proclaimed. "We have to stop him. He may be our friend but I won't hesitate to use my wand against him if I have to." He added swiftly.

Sensing the repentance of the two pranksters. James shared a glance with Zandar, Fredrick and Desmond, before the four of them stood up glared at those who were about to argue. "We'll offer whatever aid you desire. You two are masters of pranks and antics. You know Elliot's movements. You know his fears. And you know him personally." James spoke for the four. "So let me ask you one question. How can we prank another prankster?" He said gruffly. All eyes now shifted from James to the two former troublemakers.

"Elliot is playful at times." Kurt answered truthfully. "But he can be quite serious if he wants to."

"Bubbles. He likes bubbles." Amy piped in. "He gets distracted by them easily..." She trailed off.

"Relax Amy." Princess Vivian reassured from her seat. "You are among friends here."

Amy nodded. "I know..." She said softly. "But the things I've done to you all..."

"Is in the past." Fredrick interrupted before any of the other princes could. He gave a hard cold gaze towards any who would speak out against them. "She is sorry for her errors. Can't you all just give her another chance. Kurt too. If the two of them are willing to turn on their friend and stop all these pranks, they can consider me an ally. I would gladly stand by their side if it truly meant a stop to the pranks." He stated confidently. Lucinda gave him a nod of approval for his actions which he returned firmly, he saw James and Zandar nodding along to his speech and Desmond moving to stand by Kurt's side. "Right. Without further ado, what's our plan?"

Kurt looked thoughtful. "First, we have to ensure that all the other students are safely away. I don't want to risk any injuries if Elliot's prank gets way too overboard and destroy the entire school." He suggested. He was relived to see that many of the royal students were satisfied with his idea. "Second, we have to find a way to lure Elliot out of his hiding spot. Corner him and take him down by force if necessary. I would rather put an end to his pranks by the means of diplomacy but if it gets out of hand..."

"We'll figure something out." Lucinda piped in. "I would rather settle this matter peacefully than harming another student from a different school, let's just try to settle this as calmly as we can. As you said before, this Elliot is playful, so we may be able to use that to our advantage." She added. "But we'll go with your plan first Kurt. The younger students and those whom are not involved must be within a safe distance from the school." She pointed out.

Sofia pondered for a minute. "After the alliance treaty that was signed between Corona and Enchancia, a small regiment of Coronain knights are present in the village of Dunwiddie and around the countryside, the nearest being the one in that fort." She pointed her finger towards the castle in the distance. "It'll take them at least two hours to ready their horses and arrive." She said slowly. "That's if we manage to get a message out from Royal Prep."

Lucinda started grinning like a fool. "That's where Rune comes in. I can scribble a message and have him deliver it to the fort." She explained excitedly.

"That's an excellent idea Lu!" James agreed almost immediately. "Go and do just that." Lucinda pulled him in for a peck on the lips, leaving him stunned and the entire class laughing at the small sweet gesture. He touched his lips as Lucinda disappeared in a whirl, and cleared the desk of unimportant papers as Desmond approached with an entire map of Royal Prep, which the said prince kept after a small encounter with an evil fairy. "Here's what we're going to do. Sofia. Vivian. Clio. You three are in charge of gathering the other students and getting them to safety, get them to the forest and hide out until the situation clears out. No matter what. The younger students MUST leave the school premises. If the older students wish to help us then by all means let them. We need as much manpower as we can get." The three princesses gave him a firm nod as they left with the other students in tow, those that remained consisted of Zandar, Fredrick and Desmond. "Right now we need to-?!" He was interrupted by the sight of his twin sister. "Amber? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"And isn't Lucinda supposed to be teaching you magic?" Amber retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Sofia came into our class and demanded for those whom did not feel capable in holding a sword or a wand to leave the school premises, well, only three left. The rest are here." She gestured to the crowd standing behind her. "This is our school and unlike last time, we're more than ready to play our part." She nodded at James' smile. "So where do you need us, James?"

"Around the school." James replied, his eyes returning to gaze at the map. "I need one group at the entrance and another in the Headmistresses office. Who knows what Elliot might be thinking of? He might be after the spell book for all we know. From what Kurt had told us, Elliot plans to plant a firecracker in the basement, so we'll need another group there as well. And after what happened in the greenhouse two years ago, I don't want another repeat about being stabbed from within." Amber nodded in agreement. Desmond coughed. "Right. We don't want to end up like Desmond, whom saved us all by jumping onto Miss Nettle and wrestling the wand out of her hand and getting trapped in the process." He smiled sheepishly.

Amber ignored her brother's antics and turned to face the others. "Hilde. Jun. Take half of the crowd with you and hold down the Headmistresses office." She pulled out her own wand and held it tightly. "The rest of you will hold the main entrance. Hugo, you're with me. We're taking the basement. Let's move out." James grabbed her arm before she could make a move and held her tight, taking her totally by surprise but she returned the hug nonetheless.

"Take care sis." James whispered into her ear.

"You as well, brother." Amber whispered back, the two siblings parted and smiled.

Lucinda returned to the classroom after sending her pet falcon with a missive of great importance, the first thing she saw had her smiling widely. Four princes and two former pranksters leaning over the table and discussing their next move in hushed tones, she decided to play along and placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes dangerously as she approached. "I bumped into Amber along the way here and she told me what was going on, and I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. The six of you working together?" She asked incredulously, pointing an accusing finger towards James. "Who are you? And what have you done to my betrothed?!" She demanded causing nervous snickers and chuckles going around the table at James' facial expression.

Desmond rolled his eyes and answered. "We decided to put those rivalries and hatred behind us for good. A wise girl once told me; 'The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less you are capable of loving in the present'." Everyone gave a nod of agreement. "Thus, we will work together to stop Elliot. One way or another."

"Let me guess, that girl is none other than our Sofia?" Lucinda shook her head in wonder and amazement at the words of her friend.

"I meant no disrespect of course," Amy said with a glare towards Kurt. "But any plan with Kurt in it, will only end in chaos." She muttered.

"Hey, we have a new plan now!" Kurt retorted with a pout.

"Fine, indulge me with this brilliant plan of yours."

Kurt bowed dramatically. "Considering the fact that our dear Elliot loves to play with bubbles, we will conjure as much bubbles as we can and lure him to the massive field right in front of Royal Prep. Once he's there. We will use our sticking spell and stick him to the ground. That is Plan A. If that were to fail, we have another plan, but it might hurt Elliot a little." He used his fingers to show a small margin. "Just a little bit. We'll lure him into the greenhouse with the same technique, and once he's in there, Prince Desmond will sprinkle some Venomous Tentacula seeds and hopefully the plant will scare him to submission...and we have to destroy the plant later." He finished with a grin.

"I like Plan A better." Lucinda concluded with nods from Amy and those present. "Try not to hurt him in any way. He is your friend after all." She pointed out. Kurt nodded in embarrassment. "Right! Let's get to work! Time for the prankster to get pranked!" She proclaimed as the others set off to see it done.

And that is exactly what they did. Kurt and James teamed up and hid themselves behind the stables as they waited for Elliot to take the bait. Amy and Lucinda started spraying bubbles all over the vast field with hopes of Elliot falling for the trap, Zandar and Fredrick hid behind the clock tower, constantly popping their heads out to take a glance. Sofia, Vivian and Clio waited outside the school compound with the other younger students, their fingers twitching nervously as they watched their friends taking positions across the ground and yet they can't lift a finger to help them without abandoning the younger students. Desmond grabbed his bag of seeds from his bag and waited via the greenhouse just in case the first plan went downhill, he breathed slowly as he leaned his head against the door leading outside, his hands playing with the seeds. Hildegard and Jun stared anxiously at each other, they and four others were in the Headmistresses office with wands at the ready, their fingers tightened around their wands at the silence around them. Amber and Hugo hid behind a wall directly beside the stairs leading to the basement, according to what Amy and Kurt had said about Elliot's plan, the stairs will be the only entrance. Everyone was prepared to do what was necessary to defend Royal Prep. Everything was in place.

The only thing that they all hated was - Waiting.

It was then a high-pitched voice that sounded eerily familiar resonated across Royal Prep, Kurt and Amy narrowed their eyes when they spotted their friend, their plan in luring Elliot out into the open had worked perfectly as of now. Before going through with the plan, Kurt urged James and other royal students to remain hidden while he and Amy confront their friend, and if they failed in producing a sticky charm, then the royals would enter the fray. Amy gave a signal to Kurt, and the two of them emerged from their hiding spots, their wands pointed with magic flaring at the tip, their eyes carefully studying Elliot's reaction. Elliot, as it turned out was already prepared for them and turned around, smiling widely and twirling his wand in his hands.

"Finally decided to stand with me?" Elliot trailed off innocently.

"No." Amy answered coldly. Her wand trained on her friend. "We came to stop you! Stop you from carrying out your dangerous plan!"

"Oh and what do you plan to do about it mudblood?" Elliot retorted. Amy looked hurt at the direct insult that had both Kurt and Lucinda growling.

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT AMY!" Kurt growled darkly as magic gathered at the tip of his wand.

"Ah! Longbottom to the rescue!" Elliot said with a bright smile before it was replaced with a frown. "As always, like your father before you." He sneered.

"This is between you and me Elliot. Leave Amy out of this!" Kurt said in a menacing voice, taking one step forward. "When I befriended you I always thought you would respect all no matter the differences in blood, but now I see that I was misguided and blinded by your stupidity! I always believed that I could sway your misguided mind that not everything is what you have believed to be, I tried introducing you to the arts of the mundane world, at first it was working but then...you snapped." His voice had gotten softer and softer. "What happened to you Elliot? You were never like this. You were always willing to try out new things. You were never-?!" He was interrupted by fire that suddenly shot out of Elliot's wand, causing him to jump back in surprise.

"Stay out of my mind Kurt!" Elliot snapped violently, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Elliot, please, I'm begging you!" Amy cried, her tears falling freely now. "Stop this madness!"

"Why should I?!" Elliot barked, as rocks started to swirl around him. "You don't understand what I have to do..."

"Talk to us then!" Kurt yelled, trying one more time to get his friend to see reason. "We can help you."

"YOU CAN'T!" Elliot roared, sending the rocks flying towards a stunned Amy. Lucinda decided she had seen enough and leaped to Amy's defense, lifting up her two hands and producing a shield large enough to hold them both while the rocks fell to dusts around them. Elliot blinked and growled ferociously. "What? That's impossible!"

"Anything is possible, if you have the heart to see it." Lucinda retorted coldly, she signaled James and the others to show themselves. "Stand down Elliot, you have lost."

Elliot took a step back when he saw several more royal students appearing from the school main entrance, he snapped his wand towards the new arrivals but doubled back in shock when he saw even more younger students rushing at him angrily. Sofia gave a sheepish smile towards her brother when she joined him, explaining that the young ones wanted to help their seniors and she was out-voted and had no choice but to allow them to enter the school. Clio, Vivian, Fredrick and Zandar ran to Lucinda's side, taking their positions. Hildegard and Jun ran down the steps of Royal Prep brandishing their wands along with countless of others. Elliot soon found himself surrounded on all sides by two school mates and several enraged princesses and princes. Though outnumbered, Elliot wasn't about to back down easily and pointed his wand towards Lucinda, muttering out the spell that got Amy gasping in shock as Lucinda went rigid and fell to the ground, screaming in excruciating pain.

At the sight of his betrothed suffering, James lost all control. "Let's take him!" He growled as the other princes roared in agreement at the usage of force.

"I have a wand and I know magic." Elliot spat proudly, sending out spell after spell. "And you all may have wands but your magic is weak! You need further proof? That princess is one of them! Look how pathetic she is." He howled with laughter as many frowned and glared at him. James growled and charged forward only to be struck back by Elliot's fast reaction, but when he used another spell, his previous spell acting on a certain princess was all but forgotten. He was too busy laughing at the plight the royal students were facing that he did not notice Lucinda, pushing herself up, wiping a small tinkle of blood from her lips and extending her right hand. His eyes suddenly went wide. His wand clattered to the grass. His two hands immediately went to his neck as he started choking himself, everyone stared at him in confusion. His entire body was lifted a few feet into the air. He kicked his legs and tried his best to gasp for air but to no avail, his eyes then rolled back in his head as his body fell limp, Lucinda then lowered her hand and his body fell to the grass.

Lucinda fell to her knees and sobbed. She had just used a dark spell. She allowed her dark emotions to fuel her powers, going against everything that Gretel and the fairies had taught her, her hatred for Elliot, her anger towards him for causing her pain, and her fear for her friends caused her to use a spell that she swore never to use no matter what. Tears sprang down from her cheeks as she sobbed silently. Sofia, Amber and the others dared not approach even when their arms were aching to help her up, they knew that she needed someone she trusted and there was none other than her future husband. Through her tears, she felt strong arms around her neck and knew that James had reached her side, she could hear his soft whispers telling her that it was all over as she tried her best to calm down. She watched through teary vision as Kurt and Amy secured Elliot using ropes, Kurt fought the urge to snap the wand there and then and he would have if Amy didn't knock some sense into him.

Lucinda hugged her knees. "Oh...what have I done?" She whimpered softly.

James stared at her. "You did it in self-defense. He hurt you. And you did it to him because you cared for us. I can't fault you for that."

"What of the others?" Lucinda bit her lower lips.

"We can't judge you for that." Zandar added from his position behind James. "According to Kurt and Amy, you just went through the most darkest spell ever known in the arcane arts, they couldn't explain how it felt like but from the looks on your face, we knew exactly how that felt. And we wouldn't blame you for going all kingdom come on Elliot."

Any other further conversations were halted when twenty horsemen bearing the emblem of Corona came riding in. Kurt and Amy dragged an unconscious Elliot and explained to the best of their abilities what had transpired, the leader of the twenty men offered to escort them back to Hexley Hall which the two humbly accepted and said their farewells to their new found friends. Kurt could now officially boast to his friends in Hexley Hall that he was now friends with the royal students, he can't wait to see their reaction when he reveal this piece of information. Amy felt exactly the same but she was conflicted, in her entire life in Hexley Hall she hadn't felt much more at ease than she was before, in school, the pure-blooded students would call her nasty names and disrupt her work all because of her blood status. She felt like leaving Hexley Hall altogether and returning to a normal school where she would be treated as an equal, that was until Lucinda spoke to her in private, the Princess of Corona urged her to take a stand against her bullies, bide her time before striking and show no sign of backing down. And that was exactly what Amy did when she returned to Hexley Hall, she took Lucinda's advice to heart and only fought back when her tormentors got on her nerve, she went straight for the one that talked the most and summoned a vortex that sent the poor sod flying into another Kingdom. And there was also another incident where she shot flames at a Professor's face for mocking her new royal friends. But that is a story for another time. After Kurt and Amy had left with the soldiers, the Headmistresses returned and gasped at the surrounding before bombarding Lucinda for answers.

"There isn't trouble is there?" Miss Fauna asked glancing around at the minor destruction.

"Why is there blood on the ground?" Miss Merryweather demanded.

"Why is that patch of grass on fire?" Miss Flora added with a frown.

"Nope. Everything went well." Lucinda reassured with a sheepish grin, nudging James on the way.

"The fire has to do with our experiment." James threw in glancing towards his sisters for support.

"We have to calculate how strong the sun was." Sofia lied but wasn't that good at it.

"And we concluded that it was very powerful." Amber stated with a roll of her eyes.

The three fairies were not amused

"So .you did not need my help at all! You should have told..." Desmond's smile faded the instant he saw the three fairies, he slapped his own forehead.

"Busted..." Sofia sighed, and looked at her siblings. "Just give up already."

Lucinda, James and Amber glanced at each other and sighed. "It was actually a fight." They said together.

"We know." Miss Flora said. "We saw how you all worked together to lure out young Elliot and we listened on as young Kurt confronted his friend which turned out to be quite a fight." She smiled sweetly before turning to look at Lucinda in concern. "Are you alright, Lucinda? Do you require any healing potions?" Lucinda politely declined and proved to them that she could still walk without wincing in pain, the other two fairies might accept it, but Flora wasn't going to easily. "Oh, I don't think so. You've just experienced the most darkest magic ever known to Man, and yet you claim you're alright. No, I'll see for myself before I deliver judgement." Lucinda gaped and tried forming some words but can't due to the fact that Fauna had just sealed her lips tight. "You're not getting away from this one, young lady."

"Mmmm!" Lucinda grumbled and pouted, stomping her feet like a spoiled child. She looked at the fairies with her huge eyes, Fauna sighed and undid her spell. "Thank you, Miss Fauna." She inclined her head in gratitude. She turned to look at James. "You can go on first. I'll catch up later."

"Oh no. I'm not letting you out of my sight again." James chided as he tagged along much to Lucinda's dismay as another lecture started. "As a knight of the royal guard, I have every right to accompany you. And before you chase me away, might I remind you that we are betrothed which makes us literally husband and wife without benefits."

Sofia rolled her eyes at their banter. "So...Amber, should we go?" She asked.

"Let's." Amber agreed, casting a playful grin.

SPLAT!

"Arghhhh! Lucinda! Stop!" James screamed as he covered his face as Lucinda hurled a fresh barrel of mud towards him, he was still laughing when they came out of Royal Prep, thankfully, no one was present in the school when Lucinda tripped on her dress and fell bottom first down the stairs. Four steps. Yes, he counted. And when she stood up, rubbing her rear end tenderly, he started howling away like a puppy receiving its first bone, and of course, she retaliated by using the arcane arts. At first, Lucinda used water against him and noticed that he didn't mind water at all, she was still gritting her teeth and thinking of other ways to make him pay when she saw the mud, smirking evilly, she morphed the mud into a ball and hurled it towards James' face when he wasn't paying attention. The mud struck with deadly accuracy. And now, it was her turn to laugh. James gave a scowl as he wiped off the mud. "Ha-ha, very funny Lu." He commented when his eyes zeroed in on Lucinda's necklace. "Hey, does it always glow like that?"

Lucinda looked at her necklace in confusion. "No...As a matter of fact, I have never ever seen it glow before!" She stated, she felt the power resonating from the ruby and could feel the magic calling her to it, as if drawing her in. "Can you feel it?" She inquired, looking at her surroundings. "Something is pulling us..."

"Oh, please don't tell me that the necklace I picked for you is -?!" James' words died on his lips when he felt a tuck on his navel. "Okayyyyy...that's creepy."

"What's going on?!" Lucinda cried, holding James' right arm.

The wind started howling stronger than before as their vision blurred completely. The world around them started to spin. Before either of them could comment on anything, a bright flash of white light blinded their eyes for a second, even their ears started to ring. The wind died first, but there was a gentle cool breeze that remained blowing against their face, their vision returned slowly and the first thing that they noticed were their legs, buried under layers of thick white snow. Lucinda composed herself and waved her hands, effectively melting the snow around their legs before conjuring a shield large enough to hold them both, the shield provided the warm temperature that James badly needed. While James was still warming himself up, Lucinda took the moment to scout their surroundings, from left to right, all that greeted her was just pale white snow gleaming under the setting sun. Using one of the spells Gretel taught her, she enhanced her sight, hence granting her the ability to see even further than a normal mortal being, her eyes glowed blue as she studied the land. She was about to give up after seeing nothing but another barren wasteland of snow, that was when she spotted a small nomad village with several people running about their daily lives, she knew at once that the village was their only option.

"Where are we?" James asked the moment he got his blood running.

"Definitely not in the Northern Isles." Lucinda answered softly, she had remembered the entire map of the Northern Isles as clearly as the back of her hand. The castles and fortifications that dotted the Northern landscape could be seen every few miles, and now, she can't even find a single northern castle nor any of their forts. "I don't even think that we're in our own world." She added slowly. "Before you argue, take a minute to look around you. You and I both know that the Northern Isles is the only Kingdom that snows all seasons and you know for a fact that the rest of the continent follows the seasons, which the current is autumn." She stated firmly.

James took a look at their surroundings and had to agree. "Alright...so we're in another world? Another universe?"

"A one that is parallel to ours." Lucinda replied with a thoughtful gaze. "We won't know till we reach the village over the horizon." James stared at her as if she was crazy, for he can't see anything but snow. "Seriously James? After all the things I've learned? You can't see it without enhanced vision." She rolled her eyes.

"Guess we're walking then." James sighed as he emptied the contents of his bag. "Do your stuff, transfigure some fur cloaks for us. I don't plan on freezing to death."

Lucinda waved her hands over his books, and they slowly morphed into cloaks made out of animal fur. "We'd best get moving. It'll only last for five hours, don't ask me why. I'm still learning transfiguration and I'm not that good at it." She grudgingly admitted. James shared a laugh as the duo started moving in the direction of the village. She fingered her necklace. "I just don't get it. Why did my necklace glow?"

James scratched the back of his hair. "Um...well, the royal vault sure holds a lot of amulets and tiaras that had my mind spinning around, a day before the party hosted by Sofia, I knew I had to give you a parting gift. A gift fit for the girl of my dreams. At first, I chose a simple diamond necklace, thinking that this would definitely look good on you, when I caught a glimpse of another necklace hanging to the side." He smiled sadly as he gazed into the cool air. "It belonged to my mother. My grandfather had it hand-crafted in Wei-Ling and gave to her as a wedding gift, and when she...died, my father sealed the necklace away as it reminded him of her too much." Lucinda looked ready to remove the necklace from her neck, he noticed it and quickly grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her. "She would have wanted you to have it. She was always fascinated with the sea, like you. And believe me when I say that it suits you, it goes remarkably well with your blue dress."

Lucinda blushed. "Fine..." She smiled gently. "Our mothers might be gone from this world," She pointed to his heart, and placed her other hand over her own. "But they will continue to guide us and watch over us from in here." James smiled at her words which she returned. "We should keep moving." She stated after giving him a kiss.

Both James and Lucinda trudged through the thick layers of snow in silence, deciding to transfer their energy into making their way to the village instead of talking to each other, saving their stamina for the long distance ahead of them. The sun had barely set when they reached the outskirts of the village, they had taken a total of four hours walking and a few minutes of resting before they finally reached. James studied the village inhabitants and was shocked to find only children and female adults, Lucinda found it extremely odd that the male adults are totally missing from the entire village. They were both taken aback by surprise when they saw a huge furry beast at the other end of the village, Lucinda noted that the beast was a mixture between a bison and a dog, judging from its face and behavior, she also revealed to a surprised James that the beast they were staring at now does not exist in recorded human history. The truth struck them hard, that they were now travelers lost in another world.

"Come on, the earlier we're down there, the faster we can find answers. My legs are killing me." She started her descend, but just mere inches away from the village entrance, her head started to spin and she collapsed into the snow. James reached her side almost immediately. "Must...get..." She tried to get up but couldn't and her body went limp.

"LUCINDA!" James cried, cradling her head in his lap. "Anybody?! Help! I need help!" He screamed. His cries for help must have reached the village as a group of young children ran towards him, he looked up at them. "Please...help...her...she means everything to me." He begged.

He felt a soothing touch on his shoulder and turn to find a girl about the same age as Lucinda staring at him with her blue eyes. The girl was garbed totally in blue with the exception of the fur which was white, she signaled the other children to get the adults. The last thing he saw was her worried face before he too passed out from exhaustion.

Lucinda blinked her eyes twice, her vision slowly making a return as her surroundings became much more clearer, she struggled to sit up but a gentle hand immediately pushed her down. She looked up to see a girl gazing at her with a stern expression. "I wouldn't move too much if I were you," The girl said softly, her words were stern like a mother caring for her child but her eyes portrayed curiosity of a child. "Your legs fell 'asleep' due to exhaustion, your friend yelled his lungs for help and the two of you were fortunate that I was still outside with a couple of children, we heard a faint cry and rushed to investigate. We found the both of you just outside our home, your friend was cradling your head and begging us to help you at the risk of his own live. I had no intention to do that and told the other children to get the grown-ups to lend me a hand while I kept you two warm." Lucinda gave a small smile of gratitude which the girl returned. "Name's Katara by the way. Your friend has awoken just this morning, he's refusing to talk to anybody until you're awake."

"Thank you Katara." Lucinda spoke with sincerity. "For saving me."

Katara smiled and laughed. "I didn't do it alone. The other children helped. And my gran-gran was the one that fed you hot stew while you were out cold." Lucinda looked at her quizzically. "You were out for a total of three days." She explained. "But since you're awake, I want to ask you something."

"Ask away. I owe you some answers." Lucinda gave the go ahead.

Katara walked over to a shelf and pulled out several books. "When we carried you in here, your fur cloak disappeared in a burst of blue light and these books fell to the ground. I wanted to know whether you're a witch." Lucinda looked alarmed and worried. "You don't have to worry, my gran-gran is the Tribe Elder and since you're staying in her hut, the tribe won't harm you as you are considered a friend." She quickly said when she sensed the girl's fear. "Please, I need some answers. If you don't tell me, I can't help you if my brother goes crazy and starts calling you Fire Nation spies."

"Fire Nation?" Lucinda repeated with a confused expression. "I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about the Fire Nation. Who are they?"

"What?" Katara was taken aback, she sat down by the bedside and sighed. How would she explain this. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. "The Fire Nation is one of the world's four nations and five sovereign states. It is an absolute monarchy led by the Fire Lord and home to most firebenders. Geographically, the nation is located along the planet's equator in the western hemisphere and is composed of several islands. For almost a hundred years, their military forces have wiped out the Air Nomads and conquered the Earth Kingdoms, and their constant raids on our tribe have left our people dwindling in great numbers." She stated with a sad gaze. "My mother died in one of their many raids, my father and all the men left the tribe to join in the war effort leaving us to rule what remained of our once great tribe."

Lucinda narrowed her eyes. "They sound like Southerners to me." She commented darkly. "They have been constantly harassing my father's forces, engaging them in naval battles around our Kingdom as they tried to expand their Kingdom, they believed that if they struck first than our Kingdom would be greatly weaken. My father and his northern allies corrected them when they smashed the Southern fleet at sea and then again at their own doorstep when they pulled down their towers and breached their walls. My father never liked to speak of his battles, but I learned from the other men what had transpired." She looked up at Katara with a sad smile. "I was wrongfully accused for misusing my spells and sentenced to die at the stake, moments before the flames could take me, the largest army I have ever seen attacked the village and freed me. I learned at a later date that my father invaded the South to free me, he killed because he didn't want me to die, and I loved him for that." She ignored Katara's earlier warning and pushed herself to sit, groaning as she did. "What I'm trying to say is...don't ever, ever treat your father like an outcast because he left. You will never know the feelings inside his heart when he left to fight in a war in order for you to live a better life, for you and your tribe. Every time I wake up and see him smiling, I would continue the day in content knowing that I was the reason that he smiled."

Katara bit her bottom lip. "I never thought about it this way..." She lowered her gaze.

"And to answer your earlier question about me being a witch, well, does this satisfy you?" Lucinda inquired, moving her hand slowly as she transfigured the books back into a fur cloak, she resisted the urge to giggle at Katara's wide eyes. Katara was about to speak when she raised her hand, her ears were sharper than any human being due to her days as a witch. "Something's coming." She stated.

Suddenly, screams could be heard coming from outside.

"Stay here and don't come out." Katara shoved Lucinda down and ran outside.

Lucinda gave an annoyed huff and pushed herself up. She walked slowly towards the exit and sucked in a large breath of air at the sight of a huge ship, she watched silently as a ramp was lowered and several soldiers rushed forward before parting to allow a single figure to approach, she narrowed her eyes when the figure spread his arms as flames shot out of his hands. The children huddled close together, hugging each other, whimpering and crying. The figure grabbed an elderly woman from Katara's grasp and spoke some words that she couldn't hear from her location, but she had already made up her mind, she had seen enough. Taking Gretel's words to mind, she wished herself to be at the front and a surge of blue light she vanished completely, the blue light surged through the air and struck the very figure that grabbed the elderly woman, knocking him back several feet. Katara and her entire tribe watched in amazement as the blue light disappeared revealing an angry Lucinda, her eyes were narrowed and lightning surrounding her hands. Several soldiers tried to rush at her, she simply swept her right arm and the soldiers screamed as they flew several feet into the air. She glanced left and noticed the other soldiers approaching, she pulled water droplets from the air and hurled them towards the oncoming soldiers, freezing them completely in solid ice. Turning her head back, she gave a curt nod towards Katara which the girl returned. She turned her glare towards the figure that had just stood up with his mouth agape.

"LEAVE THESE PEOPLE ALONE!"

Author's Note

It appears that both James and Lucinda are pulled into the Avatar universe for a short period of time, there will be crossovers between their two worlds for a few more chapters as I wanted Lucinda to have a sister-relationship with someone that understands her, and I can't think of anybody else but Katara. Don't worry, they'll return to their world in the next chapter. More details about Lucinda's necklace will be revealed in due time.