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PART NINE

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As she slowly opened her eyes, Olivia remembered the curse that William the Sorcerer had put on her and she panicked, knowing she wasn't in the fortress. But after a few deep breathes, nothing had happened. She was out of the fortress and she wasn't dying.

She had to be in the Other World. Perhaps the curse was void here.

Her surroundings had been nothing but darkness and silence until a light seeped into the room. She could see the shadow of a man trying to wrestle with her until the man was able to blindfold her and her world became dark once more…

With numerous pointy swords behind him, Prince Peter was led through the rocky valleys of this strange new world. It was mostly desert and hardly a single tree or piece of grass around when he finally arrived at an ancient stony castle…as equally run down as King Walter's.

Inside the castle however, it seemed much more elegant. Everywhere Peter look there were paintings and sculptures and even tapestries of a man who looked very similar to King Walter only dressed more like a militant. And guards were everywhere. Peter was even pushed down a whole aisle lined with guards on each side.

And that's when the king finally appeared.

"Welcome home, Peter."

Peter looked around but found not a single familiar thing surrounding him. He still had trouble believing that William's spell had really cast him back into a world that was meant to be his true one.

"So it's true?" Peter asked. "You're really my father?"

The king nodded. "This King Walter from the other side knew of magic beyond anyone's reach and he had a magical ally. That was how he was able to invade this world and steal you when you were a small ailing boy. Do you remember, son?"

Peter said nothing.

"But I had formed my own revenge against him. I have created more power and more magic that will smite his armies…and I've done it for you, Peter…" The king had noticed the dark frown on Peter's face and added, "…unless you have become loyal and attached to the other world…to him…"

"I want nothing to do with that man who called himself my father," said Peter. "But I want nothing to do with you either."

The king asked coldly, "then what do you wish for me to do?"

"To let me go and leave me alone."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, son."

"What if I told you I don't care to become king of any kind?"

"That, my son, is something you may want to reconsider." He snapped his fingers and Lord Newton appeared pulling along with him a woman with a blindfold over her.

Peter recognized the long blond hair immediately and his heart sunk. Olivia had a few cuts and bruises on her head and as the blindfold was removed, one of her eyes was now blackened.

"Olivia?"

"So is that her name?" The king smiled. "It seems that my men were unable to get some answers out of her but now I have no doubt in my mind that you should be able to provide them for me."

Peter growled, "What do you want from me?"

"When the king from the other world…from Olivia's world came and stole you, you were wearing your royal family ring. MY ring. I need to know where that ring is now."

"What? But…what does that have to do with her?"

The King then took Newton's staff and struck Olivia in the stomach. She screamed in pain. "It will if you do not answer me."

Peter looked to Olivia and as much pain as she was in she gave Peter a stern look, one that screamed to him to keep quiet.

"I don't have it with me anymore," said Peter.

The king struck Olivia again.

"STOP IT!" cried Peter.

"Then where is it now?"

"I sold it, alright? I sold it months ago."

"To whom?"

Peter remained hesitant for a second but once he saw the king's grip on the staff get tighter. "Markham. His name's Markham. He's a pawn dealer."

The king smiled. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it son?"

"Sire," said Lord Newton. "Should we begin sending search parties to the other side?"

"There will be time for that. You may send Olivia back downstairs. I wish to speak to my son alone now."

Olivia was dragged away with the others as they left the great hall only a small number of guards remained in the room preventing any sort of escape Peter might have had in mind.

But with Olivia in their possession, it was rather hopeless.

The king went to sit back on his throne and said, "you didn't think I actually intend to kill her did you? Yes she is apparently the other's side 'secret weapon', the one meant to destroy this very world you were born into. But believe it or not, it is important that I keep both of you alive."

"I have trouble believing that," said Peter.

"You do not know of the prophecy of the Seers? The one that concerns the both of you?"

Peter didn't really care to hear about the prophecy but then he remembered Walter telling him that he could never be with Olivia because of it. He needed to know exactly why…

"The prophecy…" explained the King. "…decrees that one world will survive and one will be destroyed and he who was stolen shall hold the choice in his hands. And it shall happen on the day when he and the Gate Keeper become one."

"I don't get it," said Peter.

"Oh I think you do, Peter. You see it is no coincidence that the one who is guarding the gate to both worlds is in fact a woman…one you have come to be very close to. Suppose the two of you would reach the point of coming together physically with all the power she possess but lacks control? It just might be enough power to destroy one universe or another."

Now it was all making sense to Peter. He and Olivia could never be together because it would lead to the destruction of one world. And if Peter had known the truth of his origins and of the prophecy he would've likely chosen to save this world. But now he didn't know anymore. He felt like an outsider here. This couldn't be his true home if he was feeling this way. All he wanted now was to get to Olivia and go…anywhere…screw the prophecy. He didn't care which world would survive as long as the two of them stayed together…

"You're not gonna give me a choice, are you?" he asked his father.

"Once I have my men retrieve your royal ring. We will have everything we need to destroy the other world. Until then, you can make yourself at home."

…

Olivia was pacing around in her new prison, not as dark as her first one, and not so isolated either. It was damp and dirty, and clearly not cleaned out as the skeletal remains of the last occupant was lying in the straw bed.

And leaning in the cell across from her own was a skinny and older gray haired man who gave her a smirk and a wink. "Like your new digs?"

"I'm not in the mood for flirting, so back off."

"Who says I was flirting?" said the man. "I heard they caught someone from the other side so I thought I'd say 'hey, how's it going?'. So how was the crossing over? A bit bumpy?"

"What would you know about any of that?" asked Olivia.

"A lot more than you might think." The man tried to reach a hand out but of course he wasn't even close to reaching into Olivia's. "I'd shake your hand…but, you know…"

"Who are you?"

"I'm known in both worlds as Sam the Weiss."

"You mean…you're from the other side too?"

"Well not really," said Sam. "Home is wherever I need to be at a certain moment. Right now it's to advise you, Olivia."

Olivia was taken aback at the man knowing her name. "Are those pointy ears I see?" asked Olivia. "Are you an elf?"

"Now that is just offensive. My ears aren't THAT pointy. And I'm only one-quarter elf."

"So what possible advice could you possibly give me given my current situation?"

"Well Olivia, I know all about your special quirks and the whole saving the world bit. You're gonna need to bust out of here if you're going to save the world."

Olivia shook her head. "First of all, I can't leave Peter. And second, how can I trust that my powers will actually work here? The only thing I've ever been able to really do is to make things magically show up. And I don't think I can just wish for the keys to show up here."

"Yes, but you, Olivia…can do more than that," said Sam. "You're not letting your mind use its full potential. You don't need a key to unlock your door. You just need to 'know' that it's already unlocked."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. In fact in my mind at this very moment, the guards here are sloppy and never double check anything they do so I know my cell is unlocked…more importantly because I envision it to be."

Sam then took a moment to look at the lock and then gave the door to cell a slight push. There was a click and then the door slowly opened. He quietly stepped out of his cell. Olivia just stood there in shock.

"Need a little help?"

"You don't have any keys," said Olivia.

"Okay, then you're on your own." To Olivia's surprise, Sam began to walk away.

"Wait! You can't leave me here! Hey!"

"Just remember what I said and I know you want to stay behind for him but you know that's not the way to save him. See ya later."

"Come back here!" said Olivia. Sam had disappeared out of the dungeons and everything remained silent. Olivia sat on the floor angrily.

After several hours she looked at the lock on the door. Of course she wanted it to be unlock but that man was honestly crazy to believe that was all it took. She was scared. What if her powers had no effect in this new world and Sam was just messing with her? But there were no other options. Olivia did not trust that this king would let her live for any reason…not even for Peter.

And Sam was right. There was nothing she could do for Peter…or even her universe for that matter sitting here.

It was never easy for Olivia to close off all of her skepticism and doubt. Perhaps that what was made her weak. After all, a true warrior wouldn't be caught this easily.

She placed her hand on the door and closed her eyes. All she needed to do was push and she would have her freedom.

There was no lock, she told herself…as she gave the door a big nudge.

There was a click but she was quick to think nothing of it and the door opened out.

She stepped out quickly taking a few moments to look over what had just happened. It was too good to be true but she felt vulnerable being out of her prison. She carefully headed down the hall and up the stairs. Deep down, Olivia hoped that Sam must've gotten out. There hadn't been any sign of him as she carefully headed upstairs. If he had gotten out, maybe there was hope for her.

The stairs led up to a lower level hallway that was dark and empty. At least there were no guards but still she had every reason to be careful. She leaned her ear against some of the doors and found only silence. Opening one of the doors, a huge pile of weapons came falling out but she backed away just in time. She grabbed a dagger from the big pile of mess and quickly went into another room. It was a small storage room of clothing.

As she was looking around in this room, Olivia found a nice warrior suit that fitted her and put it on. It felt good to be in something that suited her instead of worn out dress.

The sound of footsteps began to echo outside. Olivia knew that the guards would've likely heard the noise she had made earlier. She pulled her hair up and put on a cloak to cover herself and went back into the hall.

There was no way she could get away looking like this. So she kept the dagger pocket-ready just in case.

As she went down the hall opposite of the footsteps, she ended up crashing into someone in the darkness.

Her hand tightly grabbed the dagger.

"Olivia?"

She looked up at the man who seemed familiar to her in a way but couldn't put her finger on it. But he was clearly a guard. Perhaps he was drunk or was possessed or something but Olivia had to act quickly. "Um yes. It's me."

"Oh so it was you making all that noise," he said. "I should've known, you klutz."

"Oh…yeah…sorry. I was trying to get something from the weaponry. You should really clean that out." More confidently she added. "Excuse me, the King is sending me on a special mission on the other side."

"You're going out that way? You know the guards have their own passage out behind the kitchens for our special missions."

"Sorry," she said nervously. "I forgot."

"Yeah," the guard said sarcastically. "And I forgot my name is Charlie. You make me laugh Olivia. Now get going."

Olivia gave Charlie a smile and then quickly headed in the direction of the kitchens.

…

"Sire!"

Lord Newton hurried into the king's chamber in a panic. He was in there with Prince Peter. Newton was motioning the king for a private word. The king got up and ordered his guards to keep an eye on Peter as he and Newton stepped out of the room.

"Your majesty, the Gate Keeper is gone. She's escaped from the prison. I have the army swarming every inch of this kingdom."

The king smiled as he looked back at his son. "Sire, are you not mad."

"No," the king whispered. " Keep looking but keep silent about her escape. My son cannot know. I have a plan."