Nine - A Fiery Forest!

"Oh, would you look at that?" Rouge whispered to her colleagues as they saw Bethylasia and her friends walk off, "It looks like the princess has decided to be friends with a pitiful peasant, after all!"
"What's wrong with that?" Cinnamon asked softly.
"What's wrong?!" Rouge repeated with a frown, "Princesses and peasantry don't go together!" Some of the fiery demons flew over to stop the travelling party, but Rouge snapped her fingers and sent them back. "And where you think you like fireballs are going?" she asked them with a frown.
"Either way, we have to stick with the plan," whispered Crimson.
"That's right!" Rouge remembered before she gathered her friends to whisper something to them.

In the meantime, Bethylasia and her friends had just left the village and were walking into a wooded area. "Oh, I don't like the looks of this!" Isabel said with fear in her voice, "It's dark, the wind is cold, and those woods are infamous for having wolves, and bats, and bears, and big, wild cats!"
"Oh, I think we're getting close to my section, then!" Horror whimpered, "I hate everything that goes on in there!"
"Ah, 'tis just a few trees and maybe some wildlife," Adventure scoffed, "But I've got me sword and me other pirate weapons in me pages!"
"Yeah!" agreed Sci-Fi, "My pages are chock-full of all kinds of weapons! And besides, Adventure and I are far scarier than anything we'll encounter!"
"What about Morlocks?" Mystery asked, remembering an instance when he and the other books had been transformed into animals; they were travelling with Bethylasia on her first quest, and they had gone into the world of The Time Machine, where they had to fight off the notorious Morlocks with what little they had.

Mystery's mention of Morlocks made Isabel shiver in fear. Bethylasia gently placed her arm onto the peasant girl's shoulder, giving her some comfort. "Don't worry," the princess assured, "We're miles away from the Dimension of Science Fiction. I don't think we'll find any Morlocks in these woods."
From behind one of the large trees in the woods, Dante's henchwomen gave each other evil smirks, and then motioned for the fiery demons to venture out and cause trouble.
While the heroes and heroines went into the woods, Hazel the black cat began to sense there was trouble. She gave a look of fear, and then she meowed and jumped onto Adventure's head in terror. "Arrgh!" the pirate book cried with shock and annoyance, "Get off me, ye little black panther! What are ye so worried about, anyway?"
Just then, Sheila could sense something was wrong; she meowed in fear like crazy. "Adventure, I think they're trying to tell us something!" Bethylasia said as she tried calming Sheila down.
"Uh, guys and gals," Fantasy said with worry, "You're not going to like what I see!"
Everyone looked over to where Fantasy was flying, and there was something frightening in the woods – fire burning trees and bushes!

Isabel screamed with terror and ran off into another part of the woods. "NO! Isabel, come back!" Bethylasia cried with deep concern. She turned to Sci-Fi and Adventure and told them, "Sci-Fi! Adventure! Go find Isabel!"
The two books nodded and then ran after Isabel.
"Come on, honey!" Fantasy cried out, "We need to put out this fire!" She then took out her wand, waved it, and then shot some water at a few flames.
Bethylasia worriedly looked around until she saw a small pond of water. "Water!" she said to herself, "But how am I gonna carry it?"
As if on cue, Mystery came up and took a bucket out from his pages! "Here, Bethylasia, use this!" he said.
The princess immediately scooped some water into the bucket and ran towards the flames. "Hurry, honey!" said Fantasy, "These flames are just getting bigger and bigger no matter what I do!"
And indeed, they were! Fantasy tried her best as putting the fire out with her magic wand, but it didn't help! "Maybe we need a page from you to help?" Bethylasia suggested.
"I think I might know one!" Fantasy replied with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Sci-Fi and Adventure ran as fast as they could, trying to find Isabel. "Isabel!" Sci-Fi called, "Isabel, where are you?"
Adventure stopped when he pointed a familiar girl out to Sci-Fi. "Look!" he said.
Isabel was inside a tree hollow, curled up in a fetal position. Sci-Fi ran over to Isabel and cried, "Isabel, what are you doing?! There's a fire, and you are in grave danger!"
"I'm scared of fire!" Isabel shot at her with tears in her eyes.
"But Bethylasia and the others need us!" Adventure insisted, "Come on, lassie!"
Isabel looked up and moved her head a bit. "Are you with us or not?" Sci-Fi asked impatiently.
Finally, the young peasant gave a determined look and said, "I made a promise to my family. I'll go and help!" So she climbed out from the hollow and ran back to the princess with Adventure and Sci-Fi.

Back at the scene of the fire, Horror and Mystery were looking through Fantasy's pages, hoping to find a story to save everyone. "It's page three hundred and twenty-eight!" the fairy book said.
"I found it!" said Horror, "The Snow Queen!"
"Perfect!" said Mystery, "Then maybe the snow and ice will freeze those flames?"
Horror tore the page out of Fantasy and said, "Let's hope so!"
The hunchbook then gave Bethylasia the page, and the princess made it into a paper airplane. "Ready, Fantasy?" she asked when she finished.
"I'm ready!" the fairy book replied. She then used her wand to zap the paper airplane and turn it into a windy blizzard.
The page-turned blizzard blew very hard and surrounded the flames, putting out most of them. "It's working!" Bethylasia exclaimed.
Just then, Isabel, Science Fiction, and Adventure arrived. "How come it turned to winter all of a sudden?" Isabel asked.
"Thank Fantasy!" smiled Bethylasia before her expression dropped, "But I think we need more help! Adventure, do you have any stories to put the flames out?"
Adventure thought for a moment, and then said, "Isabel, turn to me page seven hundred and eighty-nine!"
Isabel opened the pirate book up, and searched his pages until she found the right one. "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea?" she asked.
"That's the one!" Adventure answered, "Tear it out and let Fantasy and Sci-Fi do the rest!"
Isabel tore the page out of Adventure, and then Sci-Fi took it and dropped a bit of substance from one of her test tubes on it. "Stand back!" the lemon yellow book ordered.

Everyone stood aside as the page transformed into a giant tidal wave and washed all the flames away! A leviathan-like submarine was in that wave as it rammed all the hidden fire demons away. When the steam and smoke cleared, there were a few burned trees, but no one was hurt. Everyone cheered and Isabel sighed with relief, "Thank goodness that's over!" She picked up Hazel and stroked her fur, making her purr.
"Well, don't forget," Adventure told the peasant with a smile, "Ye helped save us all!"
"That's right!" said Bethylasia as she hugged Isabel, "You made the right decision to come along with me and my friends!"
"I'd say we should give three cheers for Isabel!" announced Mystery. Then he and the others cheered, "Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-HOORAY!"
"Alright, that's enough celebration!" Sci-Fi said with annoyance, "Let's move on and see if we can find any more clues leading to Dante's place!"
"Oh, Sci-Fi, why did you have to spoil all the fun?" Fantasy asked.
"Come on!" the yellow book scoffed, "We're here on a quest, and we've got someone afraid of fire with us. Aren't you glad I wasn't with you guys when that Richard kid you always talk about wasn't here?"
"What's wrong with Sci-Fi?" Isabel asked Bethylasia and Mystery.
Mystery answered plainly, "Oh, she has low patience for people who are scared easily or who tend to be shy. She's also going through a certain time of the month that women and female books experience."
"I know just what you mean," Bethylasia said with a disgusted nod. She turned to Isabel and said, "Anyway, Sci-Fi also likes to be in charge and think that she doesn't need a Prince Charming to come and rescue her." Mystery gave a shocked look, but then Bethylasia added, "Except for maybe Mystery. He's her husband now!"
Mystery smiled as Isabel changed the subject. "Your highness, have you ever had a Prince Charming come and save you?" she asked, "I know it kinda sounds cliché when you're a princess, but I'm just curious."
Bethylasia became dumbfounded. No one ever asked her about a strong, handsome man coming to rescue her – let alone a prince – before. "Um… I don't know if… actually, no," she answered, "I've never had anyone rescue me. In fact, last year, I actually saved the whole kingdom of Libralia from a curse on my own!"
"She's right," Sci-Fi added with a smirk, "Bethylasia doesn't really need a handsome prince to save her royal ass! She's got friends like me, and Adventure, and Mystery, and her grandfather – the Pagemaster, himself!"
Mystery just did a face palm in annoyance as everyone kept on walking out of the forest.