Mya: Yay! My sister came back.
Me: She's been here the entire time you baka.
Mya: Yeah I know but she hasn't really been here if you get what I mean. And don't call me a baka.
Me: Yeah, I get what you mean and I only called you that because you had it coming.
Mya: No I didn't, you're just being rude again.
Me: Am not!
Mya: Are too!
Me: Am not!
Mya: Are too!
Alicia: Are you two going to keep fighting the entire story or are we actually going to move on?
Me and Mya: Yes ma'am. (lowering our heads and walking away)
(Amery's P.O.V.)
It feels so weird to not have the urge to get up every few hours. I like being able to sleep through the night and not just cat nap, it's much more refreshing. On top of that, I'm really tired of eating that sloppy, gooey baby food and drinking that bland formula. Yuck! That real lunch that Angelina made earlier really hit the spot.
Even though I couldn't do anything, I've been having those dreams again. Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if they were dreams or memories, or maybe both. A few times, there were these five girls that all looked like star guardians like us but I don't recognize them. They knew me though. When they saw me, they stopped and smiled. One of them, what looked like the leader, ran up and hugged me. When I asked her who she was she frowned at me then started laughing. "Oh Amery, you're such a jokester. I know it's been a while." she would say.
Other ones I'm sure were one of those foresight dreams. I was sitting in a cafe with Mya, Alicia, and Angelina like any regular dream. But out of nowhere, they all disappeared. In front of me stood my mother and father dressed in what looked like royal attire. They smiled at me then they too disappeared. Then I was in a forest and I could hear the quick rustling of leaves behind me. Even though I didn't know what it was, I ran. I kept running until I didn't hear the leaves behind me anymore. I stopped to look around and something fell out of the tree behind me. I turned to see a figure staring at me. I turned to run again but another figure had dropped behind me while I wasn't looking. I ran straight into the figure and before I could look up to see who it was, I woke up.
I knew they were just dreams, but none have ever seemed so vivid. Those were the nights I was most restless.
(Mya's P.O.V.)
AS we sat there laughing at a cartoon on T.V. I noticed that Amery had just stopped. She just sat there, blankly string off toward the wall. I tapped on her shoulder and motioned for her to follow me while Angelina and Alicia weren't paying attention. We slipped out the back door and walked down the hill a little ways. Amery still hadn't spoken a word as we sat down.
I looked at her and said "What's going on?"
Amery looked up at me a little confused and said "Nothing."
I made a fake buzzer sound and said "Nope, wrong answer. Try again."
Amery giggle a little then sighed. I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her. I could see the doubt in her eyes. But why was it there?
"Amery come on, talk to me. If you can't talk to your sister, who can you talk to?" I said as sisterly as I could.
She looked up and me and said "I'm still having those dreams."
I looked at her confused for a moment. "But nothing's been happening besides mom and dad hiding. Tell me, what were the dreams about?"
Amery sighed and said, "Well there's been two repeating ones. The first one seems more like a memory than a dream. There's these five girls that I don't recognize, but somehow they know me. They were being super sweet but when I asked them who they were, one of them just laughed and thought I was joking. In the other one..." then she stopped.
"Amery come on, what happened in the other one?" I asked
"I was being chased. I have no idea who it was though. I was just, running. Then I came into an opening and one of them jumped in front of me. I tried to turn around and run the other way, but another was behind me. That's it." Amery said, looking down at her hands.
"Amery..." I said, looking sympathetically at my little sister.
She looked up at me with tears swelling up in her eyes and said "I'm scared Mya. What if something is out there? What about mommy and daddy?"
Amery started to cry and I heard the back door open. Alicia and Angelina walked down the hill and looked down the hill to see me holding Amery as she cried. They walked further down the hill and sat down on either side of us. We just sat there while Amery cried and did our best to comfort her fears. What happened next destroyed our progress entirely.
(Author's P.O.V.)
To Angelina, it almost felt like history repeating itself. It had been a really nice, sunny day but out of nowhere, a cloud cover rolled over and hard winds started blowing. As they looked out in the distance, it was still sunny everywhere else. A large lightning strike hit the ground in front of them, causing them all to jump back. Alicia and Angelina jumped in front of Amery and Mya and Mya knelt down and held Amery close to her. When the flash disappeared, there was a strange boy, probably about ten, in dark blue armor standing there.
"Well hello there, princesses. Not the way I'm use to seeing you, but still nice to see you either way." the man said, bowing with his arm crossed over his chest and the other down to his side.
"Who are you?" Alicia called out, her and Angelina standing in front of Amery and Mya.
"You need not be alarmed. Do you not recognize me Lady Mya?" he said, looking specifically at Mya.
Mya examined him for a moment then stepped forward.
"Chanten?" she asked.
"Yes, my lady." he said, kneeling before her.
Mya looked back at Amery and smiled.
"Don't you remember Amery? It's Chanten, the son of the captain of our royal guard. He was like your best friend when we were little, that is, before we met Angelina and Alicia." Mya said cheerfully.
"Umm..." Amery said, stepping slightly forward, but still clinging to Alicia's leg.
"Lady Mya, correct me if I'm wrong but, isn't Small Lady Amery a little smaller than before?" Chanten asked.
"You're correct, my old friend. Due to recent events, she's been reduced to this age." Mya said.
"Small Lady Amery?" Amery said, her face showing that things were starting to click. "Mya, I do remember him! Chanten!" she said, running toward him with arms wide open.
Chanten greeted her with open arms. He held Amery away from him and just looked at her for a moment, smiling.
"I remember when you were this small the first time. My, how time has passed." he said sarcastically.
Amery squirmed free and ran back toward Mya. She stood next to her and held her hand almost protectively. She shut her eyes and placed her other hand over the crystal heart relic around her neck. Her and Alicia, Angelina, Mya's casual clothes disappeared and they were now in their princess forms.
"Now that's the princesses I know." Chanten said, smiling gently.
"What are you doing here Chanten?" Mya asked.
Chanten's face suddenly went grim and he looked down at Amery with sympathetic eyes.
"I'm afraid, my Ladies, that my father has asked me to take you back with me." Chanten said seriously.
"What do you mean? We can't go back! We have to find mommy and daddy!" Amery cried out.
Mya grasped Amery's hand a little more firmly, then she calmed down.
"Why do we need to return? What has happened?" Mya asked calmly.
"Your parents have been away too long. Your people are starting to get restless, they need someone in command. Lady Mya, you are the next in line to rule and I figured you wouldn't want to leave Small Lady Amery here without you." Chanten replied.
Mya stepped in front of Amery and spoke. "You're right, I wouldn't leave her here without me, but I also cannot leave. As Amery said, we have a mission here. We have to find our parents, that was Kenalia's wish."
"Kenalia is back? Should I tell my father to increase security around the kingdom?" Chanten said in a shocked, alarmed tone.
"Yes she is back, and no you don't need to be concerned with security. During the final confrontation, before our kingdom was restored, Amery healed the shadow from her and she is now back to her original state." she said calmly but then looked down at Amery. "However, Amery's destiny did come true in a way. She did "die" as the princess of tragedy, and was reborn as the princess of rebirth."
"So she was reborn to this state?" Chanten asked.
"Not exactly. She was reborn as a baby for a while, but just yesterday, Kenalia came to visit with us and restored her to this age." Mya explained.
Amery just smiled at her sister, then ran forward to Chanten. She held his slightly larger hands in her smaller hands and smiled up at him.
"I wish we could come back with you Chanten, but we gotta find mommy and daddy first. Then we can come back and it can be like before." she said seriously, but still smiling.
Chanten smiled and looked down at his best friend.
"I'm sorry Lady Amery, but that can't happen." he said smoothly.
Amery looked and him confused for a split second before he held Amery close to him tightly. Amery struggled and pulled away as best she could, but no sooner did Chanten release a light powder that put her to sleep, laying her gently on the ground.
"Chanten, what are you doing?!" Mya asked as she ran madly at Chanten and Amery.
As Mya approached Chanten, he again released the powder, also putting Mya to sleep. He ran forward quickly to keep his princess from hitting the ground.
"What did you do to them?!" Angelina cried out.
"Don't worry yourself Nightenian princess, their just asleep thanks to the pollen of the Tempora Lilly, a flower grown only in the royal gardens on Crentel. And they'll stay like that until I awaken them." Chanten said
"Look, I don't know much about you, but you need to let Amery and Mya go and leave, now." Alicia said sternly.
Chanten looked down and sighed. "I don't want to do this, believe me. Amery and I are were very close friends when she still lived on Crentel, and I would never do anything to upset her or hurt her. But I have to, for the sake of our people."
"Do you think Amery and Mya would ever be happy there after you stole them away from the life that they had gotten use to? Or before they could find the king and queen and help them? What is going on in your head?" Angelina asked him, half angrily and half inquisitively.
Chanten looked down at Amery and Angelina could have sworn she saw tears dropping from his eyes. He looked up at Alicia and Angelina and waved them over.
"Please, come take them. I have the antidote for the Tempora Lilly pollen. After you give it to them, they should wake up within a couple hours." he said sincerely. He leaned down and kissed Amery's forehead before looking up at them regretfully and saying; "And please tell them I'm so, so very sorry."
Chanten backed away from the girls and Angelina, who had picked up Amery, took the antidote from Chanten. Without another word, he disappeared just as he came.
(Mya's P.O.V.)
The next day...
"I can't believe that Chanten would do that to us! I mean, he use to be so sweet. But I guess that's what happens when he grows up with the royal guard." I said, still baffled at Chanten's actions.
"Sissy, you heard what Angelina said though, he said he was really sorry." Amery paused and looked at the ground. "He wouldn't have if he didn't have to. He would never do that to me. I'm his baby girl. That's our thing, he's my big brother and I'm his baby girl. We made a promise that we wouldn't hurt each other, EVER!" Amery said, little tears welling in her eyes.
All I could do was watch as my little sister ran crying out of the room. There was nothing more to say, and Alicia and Angelina knew that. All three of us stood there for a moment before I left to follow Amery. As I approached her room, I could still hear her crying, but she was also mumbling something under her breath. I turned the corner and saw Amery sitting on her bed with her head in her hands.
"I have to see him, I have to make sure he's okay." I could hear her saying.
I watched her from the hall, trying to give her space. But when glowing things start appearing in her room, I have to step in.
(Author's P.O.V.)
As Mya walked further into Amery's room, she could see Amery reaching into the glowing orb. She pulled out what looked like a glittery, gold key.
"Amery, what is that?" Mya asked.
Amery looked up at Mya, startled. "Um, I don't know."
"It's the first of the special gifts you will receive Amery. You will need to help you in the near future." they heard a soft, female voice say.
"Why? Who are you?" Amery asked.
"You'll find out the answer to both of those questions soon enough, young one. For now, you find the king and queen. But first, you may want to go check on that royal guard." the voice said, causing Amery to blush fiercely.
"Okay, but will I see you soon?" Amery asked quickly.
"Time will tell little princess. Time will tell..."the voice said as the glowing orb vanished.
For a moment, Amery and Mya stared at the spot where the orb had been in disbelief. Then they looked at each other.
"So... Are you going to go see him?" Mya asked.
Amery blushed again and nodded, then looked down at the key. I was about the size of her palm and had a gold chain on it she assumed to be as a necklace. She put the chain on around her neck then motioned Mya over. Mya took her little sister's hand and watched as Amery closed her eyes and held the key close, concentrating. In the blink of an eye, Amery disappeared, leaving an awestruck Mya next to where her little sister had just stood.
When Amery opened her eyes, she was no longer standing next to her sister in her room. She was in the middle of a little town with people in tattered clothing walking all around her. Suddenly she felt someone pull her by the arm and put a hand over her mouth. She tried to struggle but couldn't escape.
"Princess Amery, please calm yourself. It's just me Chanten." he whispered in Amery's ear.
Amery stopped struggling and turned to face him. She paused for a moment at the person she saw in front of her. It was Chanten, but not the same one she had seen the day before. His right eye was bruised and he had cuts on his arms. Amery couldn't hold back the tears as she saw the horrid state of her best friend. Chanten kneeled down by Amery and gently wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay, these marks will go away. I'm just glad you can be happy, baby girl." he said with a smile.
Amery wiped her tears and looked up at her big brother. He smiled at her sweetly and took her by the hand.
"This isn't a suitable place for a princess, let me take you to the castle. Even if you're not staying, you can at least see your home." Chanten said, pulling her in a different direction, only to be stopped by something that knocked them both down.