Tangled Up in You—Version 2!
A/N: See previous disclaimer from Chapter 01. A special thank you goes out to bStormhands for incredible help in writing this. In this chapter, and several to follow, I leave the traditional 'Tangled' storyline and go off on a well thought out, and vital to the story, tangent. This path is vital to the development of my future plot as it allows me to introduce more OCs in a controlled manner, as well as flowing into both my re-write and the soon to be published 'Dark Force Rising' on fictionpress . com. I hope you enjoy this and what follows and can patiently wait until I return to Gothel and her protagonists… I promise you that you will not be disappointed. When I promise something, I 'Rapunzel Promise…' In this chapter we learn fully of Lady Annabella's abilities and something more…
Chapter Twenty-four: Lady Annabella Metes out Justice
"While I was awaiting the proper moment to give the signal to attack, Lady Annabella and Andrew were quickly reaching their target and learning something of vital importance." King William remarked to the trio, an unusual grin on his face; the grin directed at the two teenagers.
"What…" Amanda and Rupert quietly asked, not able to read the king's expression.
"You will see." William replied as he winked at Catherine.
Lady Annabella, still savoring Andrew's touch as he continued to hold her hand, was simply amazed at how quickly and closely they were able to approach the very house containing the evil Mordecai and Andrew's sister, Katelyn. They soon found themselves right outside one of three well-guarded gates that allowed entry into the compound. They used all available vegetation to mask their location as they formulated a plan of attack. As they silently observed the routine of the sentinels and deduced their unremarkable and easily defeatable guard routines, Lady Annabella was both amazed and alarmed as she felt Andrew probing her very thoughts.
"Andrew, what are you…?" She huskily whispered, both disturbed by and elated at the feeling.
"Shhh…" Andrew softly replied as he tenderly stroked with his thumb the hand he still held. "Please trust me, for I too originate in Avandell. I am sure you know this to be true as you can feel that I have nothing to hide from you. This is our joined destiny. We must join our minds to prevail. This is what has prevented me from freeing my sister for so long. It was foretold to me that one would come to assist me."
"Do you know more of our joined destiny? Is it me?" Annabella involuntarily asked, her mind unavoidably wandering from the task at hand as she both looked at their joined hands and took in Andrew's handsomeness.
"Yes. It was foretold to me that you would come at the proper time. But now is not the time, my darling. I will explain all when we complete our task here. I ask for your indulgence and patience for just a little while longer." Andrew replied as he reached up with his free hand to tenderly caress her cheek, a happy smile gracing his features.
"I understand, my dear Andrew. I can see there is nothing to be lost by waiting just a little while longer and keeping focused on our mission here." Annabella remarked; she smiling and leaning into and savoring the gentle touch of he who she somehow knew was her soul mate.
"Thank you, Annabella."
She was rendered speechless by the feeling and simply nodded in reply.
Lady Annabella, the ever independent and fearless teenager that she was and normally unwilling to let her guard down for even a single moment as she felt it signified weakness, found herself drowning in the feeling of becoming so in tune with another so gifted. She had never felt this way about anyone before and was at first reluctant to embrace it, though this did not last for long. She opened herself up to Andrew and reached out to him as well. As they crouched in the shadows they both slowly allowed the other into their thoughts. At first, their two auras, his royal blue and hers hunter green, fought each other for supremacy as they were both fiercely independent and wary of others. The two teenagers, finally succeeding to calm their minds and savor the growing feelings of affection, soon found that the two auras began to merge into one. As they did so, they were able to not only feel what the other felt, but also to see what the other could see…
"Like us!" Amanda and Rupert both happily exclaimed, the memory of their earlier connection still so fresh in their subconscious.
"Yes, indeed. They are more like you than you realize…" King William answered; a soft smiled gracing his features.
"How did it help?" They asked; neither of them picking up on the king's tone or the implicitness of the knowledge that William was actually talking about Amanda's aunt and uncle. Two wonderful individuals that she would soon meet, finally.
"Well…"
Andrew and Annabella, still crouching right outside the main entrance gate of Mordecai's estate, used their growing connection to actually see inside the entire house. They were both amazed at how clearly they could see every detail of the interior. They could sense both the anger and dismay the other felt at the sight of Andrew's sobbing sister; a huge pile of unremarkable rocks before her. Annabella, unwilling to take it for another second started to stand up when she felt Andrew gently pulling at her hand. She looked down at him for a moment in shock before calming herself…
"Shhh, Annabella my darling. I feel your anger. But, most importantly, I also can feel your impatience. These are the wrong emotions to feel and only strengthen what we must face. Please believe me when I say that I too feel exactly the same as you; but that there is a better, a more subtle way…"
"There is…?"
"Yes, my darling. Please feel my emotions."
Lady Annabella was absolutely shocked by what she was about to feel. Nothing in all of her learnings and conversations with Mistress Cassiopeia, her mother, even began to prepare her for the shock of what she was to witness. She could easily see that Andrew was both concentrating very intently at front of the house yet was quite relaxed at the same time.
"Do you feel my emotions?" Andrew softly asked as he continued to focus all his energy on one particular area at the front of the house.
"Yes, I do. You are so calm, even in the face of the brutality your sister endures. But I do not understand."
"Mordecai's house is enchanted and feelings of anger and agression fortify its defenses. What is needed is a large amount of positive energy; energy that will overwhelm it. That is why I have been unable to prevail previously. I did not possess enough positive energy. Now, with your help, I can channel this energy in such a way as to defeat this enchantment and render Mordecai vulnerable to normal weaponry. But first, let me get rid of our three uninvited guests."
"Our three uninvited guests…; what…?" Annabella began to ask before her thought was interrupted by Andrew.
"Watch the three guards." Andrew replied with a grin, as he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly there were three very bright glows and the three guards had vanished into thin air, their weapons clattering onto the ground where they once stood. Lady Annabella was thunderstruck for she had no inkling that such power could exist.
"Andrew!" Lady Annabella blurted out in a coarse whisper. "Where did they go?"
"I sent them many miles from here. By the time they realize what happened, where they are and manage to return, the battle will be over and my sister will be free. Now, let's move closer to the house."
"But… How did you gain such power?"
"I will explain all, I promise. Suffice it to say that you too have the same power I have. You just need to learn to let it flow through you, as I have."
"Ok…, I guess." Lady Annabella responded, no other words coming to mind as she reeled from yet another shock. "Let what flow through me, Andrew?"
"The Wirkungen."
"The what?" Annabella replied, her confusion written across her face and prevalent in her thoughts.
"The Wirkungen is the life force that connects all living things to all other living things. In other words, through us flows the power of the entire universe. There is nothing beings such as us cannot do when we set our minds and our hearts to it. Some of us, such as those who call Avandell home, are actually able to channel it in such a way that we can do what many of the locals would consider magic or witchcraft. We must therefore be very careful on how and when we use it. Let's join our minds again, and I will demonstrate our power for good. Just follow my lead, my darling Annabella, and we shall prevail."
"Ok. I trust you, implicitly, my dearest Andrew."
Andrew could only respond with a bright smile to her encouraging words.
Andrew reached out, yet again, towards Annabella; stating, "Now focus your thoughts on that tree that seems so out of place. It is, in fact, the source of the evil enchantment."
"Ok."
"Remember, only happy thoughts." Andrew reminded her.
"I've got it, Andy." Annabella replied, though not sure where the nickname suddenly came from, but quite able to think of how happy she could be living out the rest of her life with a remarkable young man named Andrew.
"I know you do, Annie." Andrew laughingly replied as he not only quickly felt he was winning her heart over but also feeling her 'tough guy' façade slowly crumbling in the face of his charm.
The two teenagers, their two minds once again as one, focused their happy thoughts, thoughts that centered on the adoration that they felt for the other, against the tree of evil. First Andrew and then Annabella raised their open right hands towards the tree. Andrew, standing to the right of Annabella, placed his left hand around her waist to help steady them as she leaned into him for support. As they faced towards the tree, standing almost cheek to cheek, they pushed out with all their might and energy. The combined happy aquamarine aura slowly moved towards the black aura emanating from the tree and surrounding the lands around the house. Small tendrils of aquamarine energy soon began to lead the front edge of the expanding bubble of their aura. The aura of evil, emanating from the tree, soon felt the encroachment of the happy thoughts and struck back at them, fiercely.
"Ow." Annabella remarked at the sting of negative energy as it hit her hand, while maintaining her focus.
"Yes, it can be painful. You did very well in maintaining your intense focus. But now watch what we can do…"
"What did they do?" Amanda asked, enthralled with the story.
"They used their happy thoughts to find the one weak point of the tree of evil's aura."
"Happy thoughts?" What happy thoughts?" Amanda asked.
"The one weak point? Where was it?" Rupert asked.
"Why, their thoughts of total adoration for the other; of course."
"Oh…"
"Well, you see, this evil tree seemed to have one little area right where its roots began at ground level that did not seem as strong as the rest of the tree and well…"
"What can we…?" Annabella reluctantly asked feeling defeated before she even began, before suddenly stopping as she easily sensed where Andrew had focused his happy thoughts and allowing him fully into her sub-conscious.
"Annie. We need to…, hit…, it…, right…, THERE!" Andrew stated as he suddenly took over control of both their happy emotions, emotions of love and wonder, and let loose with a massive spike of positive energy. The aquamarine tendril of positive energy, this time surging out with an unbelievable amount of massive positive potential, struck dead center on the weak point of the black aura of evil and quite easily and suddenly slammed through both the aura as if a hot knife through warm butter and then into the tree itself and for one split second it seemed as if nothing happened. The black aura, briefly expanding for a moment around the impact point, suddenly retreated back into the tree causing the tree to begin an ominous glow, leaving the house completely unprotected, before...
"GET DOWN, ANNIE!" Andrew yelled as he turned away from the house and tree, pulled her down to him and covered her with his body.
Annabella, too shocked by his warning to heed it, could only let herself be pulled willingly into his strong arms as he turned his back towards the house and covered her.
The ferocity of the shock wave as the tree exploded into many millions of tiny splinters knocked Andrew back several feet, across the street actually. As he soared across the street, he pulled Annabella into him and used his powers to lessen their coming impact with a row of hedges and the brick wall behind them...
"Were they alright?!" Catherine, this time, asked; frantic, while Rupert and Amanda stared with wide eyes at their King.
"Of course." William replied simply as he grinned at the looks of relief on their faces.
"But…, how could they not be hurt?" Catherine asked, not quite believing what she knew in her heart to be the truth.
"Well, you see, it seems that Andrew's connection with the Wirkungen went far deeper than most and gave him the power of levitation."
"LEVITATION?!" They asked in unison, awestruck by the thought.
"Why yes. Just as it appeared that they would be severely injured in their smashing impact into the ground…"
As the pair flew across the street Andrew, still tightly holding on to the shocked and listless Annabella, reached out with the Wirkungen and not only slowed their fall towards what should have been a massively painful impact with the ground but also reoriented them so that they softly landed on their feet, their swords out at the ready.
"Wow!" Amanda, this time, shouted.
"Awesome!" A similarly amazed Rupert shouted.
"Yes. Yes it was. Andrew and the now alert and happy Annabella, swords at the ready, ran together towards the front of the house…
"Let's go, Annie!" Andrew shouted as he took her hand in his and sprinted back across the street towards the evil lair of Mordecai.
"With pleasure, Andy!" Annabella replied, sporting a huge grin on her flawless features.
Mordecai, shocked by the destruction of his enchanted tree of evil and the irreparable damage to his once impenetrable house, could only stare with complete and total apprehension of the sight of the splintered stump of the tree that had once seemed so invincible as he looked through the massive opening in the front wall of his house. Before him, not even five feet away, standing taller than ever and even more imposing in his all black uniform stood Lord Andrew of Avandell, his sword held at the ready. Beside him, and drawing even more apprehension from Mordecai, stood the daughter of Mistress Cassiopeia, Lady Annabella; she too well armed with the Sommerswerd.
"Um. How are you?" The now terrified Mordecai mumbled; his power all but destroyed.
"How are we?" Lord Andrew spat back.
"Now, now Andrew. We can be more civil than that, can we not? I do believe WE are doing quite well, Mordecai. Thank you very much." Lady Annabella replied as she took a lesson from Andrew's play book and, instead of using her sword in anger, used her head instead. "I do not think the same can be said for you, though."
Andrew couldn't be happier at Annabella's change of tact as she faced down he who had caused so much pain to so many people. He said as much to her through their now cemented link with the other.
"Wh… What are you going to do with me?" The absolutely fearful Mordecai mumbled; his attention firmly on the two teenagers.
"ANDY!" The quite surprised Katelyn yelled out as she walked towards the tattered remains of the front of her former prison and saw her brother turned savior and ran out towards him.
"KATIE!" The similarly surprised Andrew yelled in reply; as he knelt down to hug his sister.
Mordecai, seeing Andrew distracted by his reunion with his sister, he attempted to flee…
"Flee?" Rupert asked.
"He didn't get far, did he?" Amanda asked, somehow knowing the answer to her question even as she asked it.
"That is quite right, Amanda. He did not make it far at all. He made it maybe one step or two before Annabella took matters into her own hands, I might add…"
"Oh…, no…, you…, DON'T!" Annabella stated as she reached out with her free left hand. The power of the universe, finally free to flow through the young seventeen year old as she no longer blocked its flow with her impatient thoughts and feelings, surged massively out of her body and reached out and took hold of the now quite impotent Mordecai and lifted him up over fifteen feet in the air as if a rag doll and then threw him bodily against a nearby wall where he hit with quite the loud thud, as if but a child's play thing, before falling to the ground head first and knocking him completely unconscious. While the amazed Andrew and Katelyn hugged each other in total joy and watched in absolute awe and wonder, Annabella, finally free of her self-induced inhibitions, now quite easily channeled the massively powerful Wirkungen to securely tie him up, as well. Nearby vines, responding to the slight hand motions of Annabella, surged towards Mordecai and securely wrapped him up in a cocoon of vegetation as if he was but the prey of a spider. Finally with a snap of her fingers, the now powerless Mordecai found himself secured in an inescapable enchanted cell back in Avandell, never to unleash evil on the world again; to the great delight of Annabella's mother, Cassiopeia, who found herself quite shocked when, with a sudden bang and flash of light, the now humble Mordecai materialized.
"Ah, my dear Annabella; how proud I am of you. You have done so well, AND learned not only how to use the Wirkungen for good but also that you do indeed have a soul mate with which to share your life…"
Andrew and Katelyn; both completely awestruck by the sight of Annabella so easily dispatching the evil Mordecai without a negative thought herself, stood there a brief moment before they both ran over to her and wrapped her up in tender hugs of complete gratitude.
As the three broke apart, Andrew and Annabella continued to stand there. With Katelyn giggling in the back ground, the two teenagers, standing there eye to eye, paused a moment to see what emotions they could deduce in the eyes of the other. Seeing nothing but total adoration, they both leaned into the other and…
"ALRIGHT!" Amanda and Rupert both shouted in glee; neither of them waiting for the rest of the story.
"Yes. It is quite the story, is it not?" William asked the two young people, smirking at the timing of their interruption.
"I just love happy endings. Katelyn is free…" Amanda dreamily replied.
"I am sure you do, but this part of the story is not over yet. Not by a long shot. It doesn't end with Katelyn's freedom."
"It doesn't?" Amanda replied; the confusion etched over her face. "Then what does it end with?"
"No, it doesn't end with her freedom, although that is a most wondrous event. In fact, it ends with something infinitely more wonderful. But rather than tell you now, let us get back to the battle I was engaged in. I promise you will soon know the rest of the story. Ok?"
"Sure. I guess…"
"As I stated previously, the sun had just begun to properly illuminate our targets while keeping us concealed in the shadows…"