Shrek The Fourth

By AllzStar

Chapter Ten

"Life is a stage and the men and women are all merely actors on it." – William Shakespere

Shrek, Donkey, Puss, Snow, Cindy and Sleeping Beauty stared at the end of the string, their hearts sinking. "Does this mean Artie just went on without us?" asked Cindy anxiously.

Shrek shrugged. "He said if anything happened to the string that he'd follow the trail and we were to go to Far Far Away."

"Why?" Beauty wanted to know.

"No idea. Maybe that's where he reckoned the trail would lead." Shrek scooped up Puss and put him on his shoulder. "Well, we'd better get going if we want to get there before nightfall. It's probably only a few hour's walk from here."

Snow White crossed her arms over her breast. "How do you know?"

"I've been here before," Shrek explained, "And ogres have very good sense of direction."

"Whatever," snapped Snow White. But she followed Shrek and Donkey anyway, in between the other two Princesses.

The walk was a lot longer than a few hours. Five and a half hours later, they arrived at the front gates of Far Far Away. Shrek stifled a gasp when he saw the state of the place. The gates were closed and he grabbed a rung in each hand and stared, fighting back tears. Where's Fiona and the kids? he though anxiously.

The Princesses stood beside Shrek and gaped at the village, too. They stood there for a very long time taking it all in. Cinderella began to sniffle and Beauty was wide awake for the first time in weeks. Shrek was the first to come back to reality. "How do we get in? The gate's locked."

Cindy frowned. "What? It's too early for the gate to be locked. It closes at sundown."

They all looked at the horizon to see that half the sun was hidden behind the hills. "It's still too early."

Shrek sighed and kicked the gates down. He waited for guards to come and attack him and his companions, but none came. He lingered a while longer, wandering slowly into the village, but nothing happened. Deciding he might as well hurry while he still could, he broke into a run, Puss bouncing on his shoulder and the others shouting for him to wait up. But he didn't care. He had to find Fiona and his children. Oh, and Artie and Libby, of course. And Queen Lillian.

As soon as they burst through the doors of the castle, they were surrounded by guards. Charming, Shrek noted, was not among them. He and the Princesses took take of them easily, and then headed straight down to the dungeons. The first person Shrek saw when he skidded around the corner was Fiona, locked in a cell with the ogrelets.

"Fiona!" Shrek cried. He hurried over to her door and reached through the bars, taking her hand in his own.

"Shrek," Fiona said desperately, "You've got to get Artie and get out of here. Charming is planning on killing the entire royal family and marrying Elizabeth so that he'll officially become King!"

Shrek blinked. It all fit. Of course it did! Why else would Charming try to capture Libby and kill Artie? It all made sense! If Shrek, Fiona, Queen Lillian and Artie were all out of the way and Charming married Libby, there would be no one else to intervene.

Shrek's hands clenched into fists and his nostrils flared. "He won't get away with this."

"He will," Fiona said tearfully, "Charming and Elizabeth are getting married in ten minutes and then Charming's going to come down here and kill us all!" She let out a sob. "It's over. He's finally won. And that poor girl will have to suffer because we weren't quick enough."

Shrek was astounded. He'd never heard Fiona talk this way; he'd never seen her give up. "No, it's not over. We aren't going down without a fight. And there is no way I'm letting Libby be put through this." He looked around. "How can I get you out in a way that doesn't involve breaking down the door?"

"You can't." Fiona looked helpless. "I've already tried."

"Alright," sighed Shrek, "I guess I have no choice. Get away from the door."

Fiona scooped up her children and backed up against the far wall of the cell. Shrek took a bar in each hand and pulled them apart, grunting loudly in the effort. The ceiling shook and for a moment it showed signs of collapsing, but it held off long enough for Fiona to scramble out the hole Shrek had made in the bars, clutching the babies to her chest.

Shrek and Fiona kissed sweetly before Shrek continued down the isle, breaking Queen Lillian, Gingy, Pinocchio, the wolf and the Three Little Pigs out of their prisons. But he could not, to his dismay, find Artie.

"Do you know where he was put?" Shrek asked Fiona frantically, practically running down the isle of empty cells.

Fiona, helpless again, shook her head, her red hair waving slowly in front of her green face.

Shrek began to panic. "We have to find him!" he shouted, pounding the wall with his fists in a sudden burst of frustration. "We can't stop Charming without him! WE. HAVE. TO. FIND. HIM!"

---

A few rooms away, tied by his wrists and ankles to a wooden pole in the middle of a small, dingy and empty room, Artie looked up, his eyes wide with fright as the walls around him shook and a roar echoed around the chamber from the world outside. With a surge of hope, the young man recognized the roar as Shrek's. Then his face fell as he realized Shrek was probably being killed, slaughtered while Artie at there, given up and hopeless.

The smell of burning tobacco reached his nose and Artie's smelling senses went wild. He was very allergic to cigarettes and cigars. He began sneezing uncontrollably, and his eyes watered and his felt the hives start to boil up on his forearms and bare chest (the room was so hot Artie had taken his shirt off so he wouldn't overheat). Great. Now even if he did get out of there he wouldn't be able to face Libby like this.

Libby. The name had been passing through his mind constantly since he'd last seen her, tearstained and helpless, waiting for him to tell her his secret. Why hadn't he told her? No, why couldn't he tell her? It was getting harder and harder to keep to himself, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her. To tell her that he had lied and fooled her and basically hadn't trusted him when she cared for him so much.

That was when the wall blew up.

---

Libby looked at herself in the mirror. She turned around both ways to look at herself in different angles. The dress was ivory with a tight bodice and light, puffy sleeves that came down to her elbows and a full, flowing skirt that touched the ground, hiding the little baby pink slippers she wore on her feet. The corset was too tight but she didn't dare complain. She didn't want it to seem as if she cared. If the corset suffocated her, then so be it. Artie didn't love her and never would. No one loved her. What did she have to lose?

Her hair was twisted into a messy but formal arrangement at the back of her head and baby's breath and beads had been stuck into it; it was so stiff with hairspray it probably had volume equivalent to a rock. She had smirked when the maids had tried to get her hair to cooperate. If it wasn't in braids, it didn't work unless you had five pairs of hands. That's how many maids there were, anyway.

Her face was what astounded her the most. The foundation they had used had covered up all her freckles and the light pink blush and rose gloss on her lips made her look like a completely different person. She had to admit—she looked good. Too good. She looked beautiful.

She barely heard Charming enter the room. In fact, she didn't know he was there until he wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered into her ear, "You look stunning, darling."

She gasped and jerked away from him, nearly tumbling off the hem platform as she did so. He snickered and pulled her by the hand to the floor.

"It's bad luck for a groom to see the bride before the wedding," she muttered, thrusting her hand away from his and distancing herself from him.

Charming chuckled again. "Elizabeth, darling—it's bad luck for the bride to see the groom on the wedding day."

"It's bad luck to see you any day," muttered Libby.

Her comment did not pass Charming by. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, dear."

"I'm not deaf."

"Really? Then hear this: go die in a hole." She turned her back on him and folded her arms, praying that he would not provoke her any further. She didn't feel like starting a confrontation, even with him.

"You are by far the most stubborn squaw I have ever met," Charming growled. Hatred filled Libby's being and her fists clenched. How dare he insult her! She felt him approach him, and she was thankful when he didn't attempt to touch her again. If he had, she would have belted him and ran. He'd left the door open again…as if daring her to try.

"Go away."

He chuckled, but she was serious. "Go away or I will hurt you."

He full out laughed at this. "Darling, be serious. You are a girl. I am a trained knight."

Libby snorted. "Trained knight….my ass. I bet you haven't jousted or shot an arrow in your whole pathetic life."

Charming inhaled deeply, impatience replacing his amusement. "You might want to consider behaving," he said, "Or you will not have a choice if he lives or not."

Libby spun around, her eyes wide. "What."

He smiled but didn't elaborate. "See you at the altar, dear." With that he left the room, shutting the door and locking it firmly behind him.

A/N: SO...TIRED...

R&R PEOPLE!!!