Alright so this chapter is pretty short, and we're still gonna be in MK's pov for this chapter and the next. However, there's an important plot twist in this chapter so just be ready for it.

Also, I think because this chapter is so short, I'm gonna post both 29 and 30 today. Tomorrow, we'll head back and see what Nod's up to. XD

So yeah, Chapter 29. Enjoy!


Chapter 29:

The Way I Had...

(MK's POV)

"Agh!" I yelled as the former general dragged me harshly down an extremely tight, stone, spiral staircase, completely dark save for only a mounted torch at the base, and then a chain of them that extended all the way down a long hallway. There were dozens of rooms, stone on all sides except the front, which was caged in with metal bars.

"So is this the place where you torture me to get information? Or where you gloat about how incredibly genius your takeover plan is?" I asked mockingly. Oren just snorted, before unlocking one of cells down a ways and tossing me inside. "Um the second one sounds about right."

I jumped up before he could shut the gate, and began throwing a glowing gold fist at him. He didn't flinch or really react at all as my hand grew closer, but mumbled a few inaudible words and help his open hand out.

My hand collided with his and, without any warning, there was a huge sparking explosion as I was suddenly thrust back against the floor of the cell.

"Ugh... H-how did you...?" I stuttered. He had just taken the entire blow to his bare palm, and didn't have so much as a scratch on him. How was that even possible? Oren smirked.

"Old trick. I've just disabled your powers temporarily."

My jaw dropped in shock, and I aimed my hand at him again, but just as he'd predicted, there was nothing. Not only that, but I felt nothing. That electric charge that buzzed through me like an adrenaline rush when I used my powers...

It was gone.

The man's smirk widened. "Yeah learned it from the old priest of Willhollow He's actually locked here somewhere. This is where I keep 'high-level criminals' a.k.a. people who I need to keep out of my way. He simply knew too much about what I was up to."

I scoffed, though I was still sore from being blasted back by my own power. "So how long have you actually been up to this little plot? Since Tarren got the letter?"

To this, Oren surprising let out a cackle. "Oh no darling, I was planning this takeover years before that. Ever since Old King Coal of Willhollow passed away... In fact, I'm the one who killed him, and poisoned dear Queen Rheina."

I gasped, remembering the picture of the king and queen in that hallway. "Oren how could you?! She was a mother, she had children! Think of how much you were hurting Tarren and Jenni!" I yelled. He turned away, letting the insult fall on deaf ears. I shook my head in disbelief. This man had absolutely no heart.

"Dear, I don't think you completely understand...I had been living in the shadow of the royal family for my entire life! King Darius was a fool, who tried ruling his kingdom like a weakling would. Softly... a powerful place such as Willhollow should be ruled by someone who knows how to conquer the world!

"If I were king of this wretched place, we'd have taken control of the entire forest!" He yelled, almost to himself, and I felt myself moving away from him, afraid despite the cell's bars separating us.

Oren smirked once more. "But I suppose that doesn't matter now. Soon enough, I'll have all the power I need, thanks to the Lady of Destiny herself."

I glared. "Like I'd ever help a monster like you..."

"Oh I didn't expect you to. No, no, you can never control someone more powerful than yourself, no matter what form of blackmail you can come up with."

Then he moved towards me, wrapping his hands around the bars, causing me to move to the back of the cell, back against the wall. "No darling, I plan to drain you of every last drop of that precious magic of yours. Why do you think I forged that letter that Tarren got? I needed to get you and your all your bells and whistles to Willhollow."

My eyes widened, a gasping breath escaping my lips. "You... you forged the letter? The one that Tarren's mom left for him?! That was a fake?!"

Oren smiled. "As was the silly tale that you had to marry Tarren to save Willhollow. You see, I needed something that would keep you here long enough that I could find out more about your powers, and how much effort I'd have to put into removing them and such. A wedding seemed as good as any other plan..."

I starred at the stone-tiled floor of my cell, feeling the soft, almost-ragged breaths in my throat. Despite the fact that I was locked in a cell by a madman bent on taking over Willhollow and disposing of all my friends and me, only a single thought registered in my brain.

I don't have to marry Tarren.

"So... all those stories and prophecies about the Lady of Destiny are fake..."

"Oh no." Oren contradicted. "No, only the one about you needing to marry the prince. The rest about the Lady of Destiny coming to Willhollow to save it are all real tales written by the Great Prophet centuries ago."

"And you aren't afraid that you're the one I'm supposed to save it from?" I asked, although my threat didn't seem nearly as threatening as when I'd had my powers.

Oren laughed. "No, not really. You see milady, the stories may be true, but they hold no resonance with me. I don't believe in prophecies, and I don't believe in destinies. I do however believe in power, and you my dear happen to a lot of it. So not to be too greedy... but I'd like to have it for myself if you don't mind."

"Then why don't you just take it already?!" I yelled. "Why go to all the trouble of locking me in a cage? You should just take these damn powers I don't want them anymore!"

These powers, this ability I had been given as the Lady of Destiny...All it had done was hurt the people I cared about. Nothing good had come of any of these things... I just wanted them gone. I wanted to be normal again...

"Oh, well the procedure to revoke your powers can only be done beneath the light of a full moon, which isn't until tomorrow night, midnight exactly."

I gasped. "The ceremony heal Willhollow... You were planning to take my powers then?"

"Well yes! Of course then you had to decide to run out on us last minute and we couldn't have that. Honestly child, you've made these last couple weeks or so much more difficult than they needed to be"

I was going to make some snarky retort, but we suddenly heard heaving footsteps coming from the staircase that I'd first entered from. A man suddenly appeared.

"Lord Oren. We need you up top to give orders, sir."

Oren turned back to me. "Well, duty calls! If you have any more questions I'm sure your prison mates would be glad to fill you in. They haven't had any new friends in quite a while."

And with that, the man walked off after one of his thug servants, but turned back once more before disappearing to wreak more havoc upon Willhollow

"Oh, and Mary Katherine?"

I looked up at him.

He grinned. "You might not want to be so ready to throw away your powers, considering there's a little to no percent chance of you actually surviving the ceremony..."

And then he disappeared up the stairwell, leaving me alone in this tiny stone cage, where the next time I was to see daylight, was when I was taken to be slaughtered by a criminal mastermind!

Without Oren's presence there to make me suck it up, the full gravity of the situation began weighing down on me like an avalanche. Willhollow had been taken over. I wasn't sure who, if anyone, had escaped.

Tomorrow evening, they were going to kill me. I was going to be dead.

And Nod was never going to know.

He was going to go back to Willhollow, believing I was getting happily married at this exact moment. He was going to go back home, and probably sulk for a long time. He'd move on eventually though, and find someone else, someone who wasn't going to hurt him the way I had...

I figured the news would reach him eventually, but not in time to be able to do anything about it. What really disturbed me the most, more than dying itself, was that I was never going to see him again. My last memories of him were going to me watching him run off while I accepted Tarren's proposal, or him saying he wished he never met me...

That was when I began to cry.

I don't remember how long exactly I sat there, clutching the moon necklace and letting the silent tears fall down, but I was dragged up out of my sorrows by a voice. A withered, but strong-willed voice.

"Milady?" It said. I looked up, and saw that right across from me was a little old man, possibly shorter than I was, and skinny to the bone. He wore raggedy pants and a torn up shirt, and had a beard that would've made any fairy tail troll proud.

"W-Who are you?" I stuttered, rising shakily from my curled up position on the floor, and walked towards the bars. He looked like one of those old hillbilly dudes, the kind that hitch-hiked on trains in movies and stuff.

"Milady, I am Aaron, the Prophet of Willhollow. It is my honor to finally meet the legendary Lady of Destiny."

I scoffed, "Yeah well somehow I'm not feeling so 'legendary' right now... but thank you. Are you the one Oren was talking about? The man that he said 'knew too much'?"

The priest sighed. "Yes that is me. I saw in one of my visions, Oren coming and destroying Willhollow with fire and light erupting from his hands... And when I tried to warn the people, they brushed me off as having finally lost my mind. That was when Oren locked me away here, and told the people I had died of old age."

I let out a shaky breath. How many other people had this monster hurt behind the scenes? "When did that happen?"

To my surprise, the priest smiled. "Not long after-"

We were cut off by the groggy voice of someone in the cell to the left of the Aaron. The priest smiled. "Not long after he took her actually."

I raised an eyebrow as the woman moved to the front of her cell as well. She looked unwell and skinny, body covered in filth. Her hair might have once been a blonde or light brown color, but now appeared dark from being matted with dirt.

The one thing that struck me about her however, were her eyes. They were a honey-brown, more faded here, but still frighteningly familiar. It was then that it struck me who she was, and at the same time who she couldn't be...

"Oh...oh my gosh...Y-you... Y-you're..."

The lady smiled sadly. "Yes, I am."

Then Aaron spoke to the woman."Your majesty, I would like to introduce you to the Lady of Destiny. Milady...Her majesty, the queen of Willhollow. Queen Rheina."


XDDD Yes I just went there. I really do enjoy trippy plot twists/ cliffhangers, and probably assume I'm better at them than I actually am. Regardless...

Now I'm gonna go get ready to see Frozen for the third time. Such a great movie... But yeah trippy stuff. It's gonna get trippier too.

Until then!

~Macy