The small boy sat cross-legged on the floor, staring up at the woman before him. He pushed his little blonde curls out of his face as he leaned forward slightly, hanging onto every word she said. His mom seemed to be especially agitated today. She came to visit once a day, usually at dinner time. It was his favorite part of the day.

His mommy was beautiful. He was sure that there was no one as beautiful as she was. Even when she was upset and pacing, she was beautiful. Maybe someday he could grow up to be that beautiful. So beautiful that people just couldn't help but stop and stare for a minute as he passed. But he didn't look anything like his mommy. She had long dark hair and pretty brown eyes, whereas his hair was curly and yellow. He didn't even have the same eyes. His were a bright blue.

"Adin, are you listening to me?"

Adin blinked several times before smiling up at the woman and nodding. "Yes, Mommy."

She rolled her eyes. "Adin, we've talked about this and I'm getting tired of repeating myself. Don't call me that."

Adin lowered his head to stare at his hands which were folded in his lap. "Yes, Mo- Ma'am."

"That's better. Now, did you hear any of what I just told you."

He once again looked up at her wide eyes. "Yes, Ma'am! I hear every word."

"Good. I'm counting on you, Adin. There could be trouble, but you're a big boy now. You can handle it." She crouched down in front of him and cupped his cheek in her hand. Adin leaned into the touch. Mommy didn't like to be touched. She didn't like hugs and she didn't give kisses but once in a while she would pat him on the head or touch his cheek. He loved it. "Don't disappoint me, Adin. I don't want to have to punish you."

Adin nodded fervently. "Yes, Ma'am. I will do my best."

Mommy smiled and straightened back up. Adin's smile dropped when she took her hand away but was quickly put back in place when she waved at him. "I'll be back tomorrow. You be a good boy."

"Always!" He beamed. He loved his mommy but he didn't love her punishments. The small boy unconsciously rubbed circles around the scar on his knee that he'd gotten from his last punishment. He didn't like upsetting his mommy. She was scary when she was angry at him. He wasn't going to disappoint her. Not this time. She had called him a big boy and that's just what he was going to be. She'd given him a big boy job and he was going to show her that he was ready for it.


Taryn POV

"You're sure this is going to work?" I questioned, eyeing the flower vase on the floor. A slight purple glow radiated off of it, alerting everyone to the magic inside of it.

"Of course it will." Isis huffed. She was getting tired of me questioning her methods.

I tilted my head slightly, frowning at the vase. "Right, and when I go to jump into it and it inevitably shatters under me, I expect you to pay the doctor bill to remove all the glass from my skin."

Isis huffed. "I really hate working with you. When will you accept the fact that my magic is powerful and I can control it enough to keep it from killing you?"

I shrugged, never taking my eyes off the vase. "Probably never."

Dixie rolled her neck back and let out a frustrated sigh. "How long are they gonna take in there?"

"They should be back any second." I said, trying to sound reassuring. It was hard since I wasn't sure of anything myself.

"What did Sam have to talk to him about anyway?"

I shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe she just wanted to say goodbye. He is her son after all."

"Yeah, you have a point."

Isis scoffed. "I think it's a little more than just a goodbye."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, peeling my eyes away from the vase to look up at her.

"You mean you don't know?" She laughed. "Oh boy. This is going to be fun."

"Don't know what? What are you hiding?"

Isis waved me off. "Forget it. Here they come."

I looked up to see August coming through the door, Sam right on his heels. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost. His face was pale and his hands were shaking. He was trying his best to hide it, but he couldn't fool me. Something Sam told him had really shaken him. Behind him, Sam's eyes were red and puffy. She'd been crying. Hard. What in the world had they been talking about?

"You're sure?" Sam asked August. It sounded more like a plea.

August set his jaw and nodded once. "More than sure."

Sam looked utterly defeated as she motioned for him to join me and Dixie.

I watched him carefully as he approached us. When our eyes met, he smiled. A genuine smile. As if he hadn't just come out from the backroom looking like he'd just signed his death warrant. He placed himself in between Dixie and I. His hand slid into mine, interlacing our fingers. Leaning over, he whispered, "I love you." into my ear and squeezed my hand before letting it drop. It sounded like a goodbye and I hated it. If he thought he was going to be getting away with doing anything stupid he had another thing coming. I didn't know what he and Sam had talked about back there, but I was ready to protect him with my life. He wasn't going to be doing anything reckless any time soon.

"Good. Now that we're all finally here," Isis threw a pointed look at August, "let's get you kids back inside the curse."

"We're literally the same age." I pointed out.

Sam stepped in before Isis could argue back. "It's now or never."

I groaned. "I choose never."

August breathed a sarcastic laugh. "I don't think we get a choice."

"You won't let me have a choice."

He shrugged unapologetically. "If it means keeping you alive, then no. You don't have a choice."

I glared at him. "I hate you."

"I love you too." He grinned.

Dixie gagged. "Let's just get this over with."

"Ladies first." I bowed slightly, motioning toward the vase.

Dixie shook her head, copying my motion. "Age before beauty."

"How old are you? That comeback is invalid until your age is confirmed."

She grinned. "You used to know. You'll probably know again soon as your memories keep returning. That makes it valid."

"That's not fair."

I wanted to smack the smug look off her face but I was stopped when August laid a hand on my back. "Together?"

I shot one more glare at Isis who was looking far too pleased with this whole thing. My eyes lingered on Sam for a minute. Her eyes were glued to her son and she looked like she was trying not to cry. My heart clenched and I looked over to find him smiling down at me reassuringly.

"Are you sure? I mean maybe Sam is right. Maybe you should stay here."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about this. Maybe you'd be safer out here."

"And so would you, but that doesn't mean you're staying behind."

"Because I can't, August." I shot back. "You're the one who keeps saying it. I wouldn't be going in if I didn't have to. You don't have to. Something about this is starting to feel off. I'm starting to think we should take Chord instead of you."

August tried to mask the hurt written plainly across his face. "I'm not letting you go in there without me, and I'm also not letting you stay out here. You don't have a choice in the matter, sweetheart."

Sam's voice was a little too hopeful as she stepped forward and said, "I'm with Taryn. It would be much better if we sent Chord with them instead."

"Would you two just stop?" August threw his head back in exasperation. "I can make my own decisions about my own life."

"Now you know how I've been feeling, sweetheart." I patted his head. "Doesn't feel very good, does it?"

"I'm tempted to play the mother card and make you stay here." Sam grumbled, mostly to herself but we all heard it.

"Don't you dare." August warned.

"As amusing as this all is," Isis interrupted, sounding highly annoyed, "I can't keep this portal open forever. You either go now, or none of you go at all."

August took both mine and Dixie's hand. "Chord isn't here so it looks like I'll have to go." Before anyone could protest, he pulled us both with him as he jumped through the vase.


Adin's POV

His mommy had told him that his job was going to be very important. He believed her of course, but he still didn't like this. She hadn't told him that he'd be stuck in the dark like this. Adin was a brave boy, but he didn't like the dark. It was cold too. He could hear the sound of water dripping somewhere but he couldn't tell where. The sound echoed throughout the room and seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

The room he was in was large and filled with all kinds of treasures but he couldn't see any of them. He'd managed to feel around until he'd located what felt like a blanket, though the material was a lot scratchier than any blanket he had at home. Still, it offered warmth and he hastily wrapped it around his shoulders. Slowly, he sank down until he was sitting on the damp, rocky floor. Pulling his knees to his chest, Adin did his best not to cry. His mommy had promised he would meet some new people soon. Hopefully, whoever these people were, they would be able to take him out of here, or at least turn on the lights.

He took in a deep, shaky breath and swallowed hard. "Please," his small voice echoed throughout the large room, making him feel more alone than he'd ever been, "please hurry. Please find me."


Taryn's POV

I was blinded by the sun as I slowly blinked my eyes open. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't completely uncomfortable. That was new. Isis must have been feelings generous. The next thing I noticed was that I was warm. Pleasantly warm. Like waking up on a beautiful spring morning and feeling the sun on your face.

As my eyes adjusted, I found myself lying on the grass. The bright sun bathing me in warmth. It was beautiful and I wanted to stay that way forever.

Unfortunately, my bliss was interrupted by someone's frantic shouting. "Jasmine! Jasmine, where did you go?"

I groaned as I stretch and curled back up, muttering a soft, "Go away."

"Don't tell your father to go away."

I shot up, the word 'father' grabbing my attention. "What?"

"Oh good. You're up."

I looked over to find a short little man come running up to me. In a way, he reminded me of Belle's father from the Beauty and the Beast tale. He was charming and seemed friendly enough, but I knew better by now than to simply trust anyone.

"I am now."

"Excellent! Your suitor is here to see you. Do try to make it look as though you weren't just sleeping." His tone was caring but I didn't care.

"Who cares if I took an afternoon nap? I'm tired."

The old man laughed. "You are your mother's daughter. Now prepare yourself! He'll be walking through that gate any moment."

Just as he said it, the gates burst open and a man, extravagantly dressed from head to toe in jewels and gold, strutted towards us.

The old man laughed excitedly. "He's here! Be on your best behavior and have fun!" With that, he turned and ran back inside the palace.

I stared after him for a moment before turning my attention to the man who was now standing proudly before me. "Hey."

The man looked me over, as if inspecting a package and I had the sudden urge to slap him across the face. I frowned at him as I got to my feet. "Look, if you don't have anything intelligent to say, the door is right over there."

The man looked offended but kept himself composed. "Respect will be the first thing we shall work on once we are wed."

I choked. "Excuse me?"

"The wedding of course will take place inside the church. From there, we will both go to live in my palace as it is far larger than this one."

I stopped him by placing a hand over his mouth. "I don't know who you think you are, but no one talks to me that way. You shouldn't be talking to anyone that way. I have half a mind to put you in your place. As it is, I need to figure out how to get out of here so I really don't have time for you. I suggest you turn your bejeweled butt around and walk right back out that gate because I have no intentions of ever marrying you." I took my hand off his mouth. My nose wrinkled at the saliva left on my palm and quickly rubbed it off on my pants. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a goblet to find."

Without waiting for a response, I pushed past him and strode toward the palace. He was obviously quite offended and stared after me until I'd disappeared through the gate.

The old man was waiting for me inside. He excitedly grabbed onto my arm and began prancing along beside me. "So? How'd it go? Is my beautiful daughter finally engaged?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, no."

He deflated like a popped balloon. His arms dropped and he stopped walking with me. "Jasmine, when will you ever just allow someone to take your hand? I won't be around forever and I want to make sure you're taken care of."

"I can take care of myself just fine." I said, stopping to face him.

"I am well aware of how independent you are." The man sighed as if we'd had this conversation many times before. "However, a young woman like yourself shouldn't be alone. Besides that, there's the law which states you must be wed!"

I rolled my eyes. "I never follow rules. Especially not stupid ones. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a real prince to find."

The man's eyes lit up. "A prince? Have you really found someone? Are you going to be married?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. Something in the back of my mind told me that was a touchy subject. Hadn't August and I talked about it? I suppose I had just assumed we'd always be together. It hadn't occurred to me that we should probably talk about it.

He sighed. "Do me a favor and don't push this one away? If you really have found a prince, don't disregard him like you have every other suitor I've sent you."

I frowned and bit my lip. There was no way I would ever reject August, but would he still want me? After everything that's happened? Even with me not having my full memories. Isis had said there was a chance I wouldn't ever completely recover all of them. What if I forgot something important and I ruin everything?

The old man took my hands in his, pulling me from my thoughts. "I just want to see you happy. That's all."

I smiled down at him and squeezed his hand in reassurance. "Don't worry. I will be."

"Now where is this prince? When can I meet him?" He asked excitedly.

I allowed a small laugh to escape my lips. "I was just about to go meet him. Perhaps I'll bring him home with me this time so you two can officially meet."

The man nodded fervently. "Oh yes! Go fetch him. I will have an eloquent meal prepared for when you return."

I gave him a grateful smile and turned to race for the door. Obviously I knew what tale we were in, but I didn't like it. There were so many treasures in this stupid story. How were we supposed to find one specific goblet among all of them? I assumed if it was in this tale, it would be in the cave of wonders. Iris would have wanted to hide it where it would be hardest to find. It would be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Then there was always the possibility that it wasn't even in this tale. We had a lot of work ahead of us. The sooner we started, the sooner we'd be able to leave.

I made it a few feet down the road, my feet carrying me at a steady pace. My mind wasn't the only thing racing though. I didn't realize how hard it had become to breathe until I was forced to my knees as I attempted to catch my breath. My vision blurred and spots appeared.

I shook my head and blinked my eyes rapidly to clear my vision. My breathing eventually returned to normal and my heart no longer felt as if it were trying to escape my chest. I groaned and punched the ground. This was getting old. I no longer felt as if my life were draining from my body, but apparently I wasn't completely fine either.

Wonderful, now I wasn't going to do anything but slow them down. No, I wouldn't allow that. I was going to finish this. Iris wasn't going to win.

Stubbornly, I pushed myself to my feet and took off at a jog again, making sure to keep the pace a little slower this time. I had to stop occasionally to allow my breathing to catch up with me, but I was still moving at a reasonable pace. I could do this. I could work around this. I wouldn't let this beat me. No matter what, I was going to come out of this alive.


new characters, new plot twists and ridiculously long update gaps...sigh. someday i'll get my life in order enough to actually get these chapters up at a reasonable time haha