The cottage was clearly old, its design that of older architecture. It was built of stone and wood and the door was slightly open, inviting them in.
Jay touched the door, pushing it open with one hand. "What's a cottage doing all the way out here? Isn't this kind of deep in the woods to live?"
"Someone must have valued his or her privacy," Cole said, following after him. "It seems there was more than just one person living here."
"Whoever it was, they weren't planning on coming back." Nya noticed. "Everything is tidied and stored up properly."
Zane examined the home, looking in the bedrooms. "All the inhabitants were female. Why would they leave clothing here?"
Lloyd went into the uppermost bedroom. Opening a drawer, he saw a journal, and what was inside completely surprised him. "Guys? I… I think I know who used to live here."
"Who?" Kai asked, coming up behind him.
Lloyd handed the journal to him. "Princess Harumi."
Kai scanned the journal's contents, eyes wide. "That's incredible. Why would a princess be living so far out in the woods?"
"To avoid the curse?" Zane proposed. "Perhaps the terms of the spell were not well defined. It would make sense for there to be attempts to circumvent its power."
"It's like the legend goes. She was hidden here for the first 16 years of her life so the fae wouldn't find her… He was telling the truth…" Lloyd looked around the room, tapping his fingers nervously against the wood of the nightstand. "I can't believe it."
Kai put a hand on his shoulder. "It's real, Lloyd. Princess Harumi isn't just a story."
He sighed heavily. "This– this changes a lot. She was… is a real person. FSM…"
"Of course she was. Did you think she wasn't?" Kai asked.
"I dunno. All the stories my grandfather told me just seemed like that. Stories. But she actually lived here. She grew up here. And she's been asleep all this time because a fae didn't get a party invitation." His eyes hardened. "That makes me mad."
Cole took the journal and flipped through the pages, scanning the contents. After a few moments, he placed it where Lloyd had found it originally. "The only thing to do about it is to break the curse. She was the girl who had no choice; destined from birth to suffer. You are the only one here who can end it."
"And if I can't?"
"You must, or we all sleep." Cole looked him in the eyes, brows furrowed in determination. "You are the one who has made it the farthest; you are the one who will end it."
Lloyd rubbed his eyes, staring around the room. "One hundred years… I have to finish it. This has gone on long enough. No one should have to sleep for this long, much less be cursed at all. I have to help her."
"We will all be with you," Zane assured him. "Every one of us."
He nodded, taking one last look around the room. "We should go. The longer we tarry here, the more the curse will start to affect us."
"Lead the way," Kai said. "It's time to wake the princess."
As they set off again, Lloyd couldn't help but think about Harumi. The princess. The girl who didn't have any choice. Her destiny was picked out for her, just as all of theirs had been. He knew how it was to have your destiny and future picked out for you, and if he could be the one to break her curse, it was worth it to do so. It would be worth the danger to help someone else, much less a princess who was fabled to be beautiful. "I guess we shall have to see. Maybe her and I will connect…"
The last leg of the trip was only a few hours, and they made good time. In order to conserve energy, they barely talked, more concerned with making sure that they didn't get attacked by the dragon. Just as night began to fall, the walls of Ninjago came into view. They were gigantic, covered in curling vines that went all the way to the tops of the walls. Beyond, the roaring of the dragon could be heard.
Nya looked up, craning her neck to try and see the top of the tall stone walls. "Okay, we need a plan to get inside the kingdom at all. There is no way we can climb the wall and we don't really have much time to look for a door or gate. We've already spent too much time here."
"What can we do, then?" Skylor asked. "If we can't go up or through, there's no way past."
Lloyd frowned, touching the vines that crawled up it. Then he smiled as an idea came to him. "Anyone up for climbing the vines?"
"Are you kidding? Climbing vines are not the safest thing you can do to get over something." Jay paused. "Trust me, I know."
"It is a better idea than wasting time searching for a gate," Pixal said. "If I can strengthen the vines, then they might be able to withstand the weight of eight people."
"Plus, these vines are old. They've been growing for all these years undisturbed. They should be relatively strong enough for us to climb up." Lloyd lightly tugged on one, but it barely even moved. "See?"
Jay sighed. "I guess that's really our only option. At least it shouldn't take long to get up."
"For you, anyway." Nya grinned.
Pixal smiled at their interaction. She took a slate pencil from her pocket and approached the wall, where she inscribed a small rune. After doing so, she put one hand on it and one hand on the vines. "Crescere."* Immediately, the vines began to lengthen, their diameter increasing.
Slowly but surely, the vines expanded to the point where they trailed a long way on the ground, with enough snarls and kinks to create ample footholds. Once the spell finished, she stepped back. "Now we may climb."
"Okay, that is so cool." Nya smiled at her, grabbing onto one of the vines. "It's official, you're awesome."
Pixal only smiled at the compliment, bowing her head in thanks.
Climbing the vines were much easier than they would have been before. While it wasn't as easy as it could have been, it certainly wasn't impossible either, which was good, because once they got to the top, they could see all of Ninjago, including their main foe.
Jay swallowed, staring at the dragon, which was clearly visible from the top of the wall. "FSM, that thing is huge. How're we supposed to get past it to get to the palace?"
"We don't," Cole said, helping the last climbers up. "Prince Lloyd does. We are the distraction and vanguard."
Nya took out her sword. "You'd better run quickly, Lloyd. Once it notices that there's someone heading for the castle, it's going to go after you."
Lloyd sized it up, glancing at the horizon. "I don't think it's a good idea to attack right now, honestly. It's going to be dark soon."
"Are you sure? It doesn't expect us to be here." Nya glanced back over at it. "This could be the perfect time."
Lloyd shook his head. "We need to rest and set up a watch. First thing tomorrow, we'll do it, but we need to be able to see, and we can't do that in the dark." He set his sword into its sheath. "Tomorrow, we free the princess."
Tomorrow, they will either succeed or fail. Tomorrow, the curse will be broken.
Latin for "grow"
For anyone who has read OLS's A Bride for a Prince, you'll be familiar with her adding in the notes at the bottom for what the words mean. Pixal is truly amazing!!
Do tell me what you though of this, believe it or not, we only have two chapters left and an epilogue!!!!!!! I can't believe it, but it's true. The next chapter will be the meeting of the Lloyd and Harumi, and I am planning for it to be amazing!!!
So, in honor of that, I would LOVE it if I could get tons and tons of reviews. I really want to know what you guys think, and I'm not above ransoming some of the oneshots we have planned, or worse, the epilogue (dun dun dun). I love this story, and I want it to get lots and lots of love. I GIVE ALL YOU WHO REVIEW COOKIES. I am also not above bribing you guys hehehehehe.
Welp, that's my little rant at that end lol. Chapter 12 may take a bit to publish because there's a LOT of description I need to put in. It shall come though, I promise.
Have a good rest of your week, you guys!!!!