Hello again! Sorry it took me a few more days to get this chapter done, but it is longer so there you go ;P
Feel free to drop a review and tell me how you're liking the story, or your theories as to what's going to happen, because I'd love to hear what's going on in your beautiful brains!
I don't own Sofia the First. But any character that isn't related to the canon is mine x)

Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Endeavor

In the darkness of the night, a princess flew atop a frightfully large bird. They had been in the air for just a short time before they landed on the grounds of a castle with onion shaped domes, similar to the ones that topped the previous. This castle was much larger though, and the moon's beams streaked through the clouds, illuminating a thick wall that encompassed the castle grounds.

Zeleny landed in the middle of the courtyard behind the grandiose building. "Follow me, printsessa. Vasilia's dungeon is this way." The bird whispered.

The large bird moved somewhat slowly and gracefully, gingerly sinking his large talons into the soft grass as he sauntered from side to side with each step. He led her to the door of an underground cellar and wagged his long beak towards it. "In there."

Sofia nodded, trying her hardest not to concentrate on the large bird. She grasped the freezing handle and heaved the large, wooden door wide open. She accidently let it go too soon, causing the door to bang loudly against the castle wall. Sofia flinched at the obtrusive sound.

"Hurry, Printsessa. I'll keep watch, you go find your family. Once you get them, there is a key at the foot of the staircase. Then, escape though the tunnel that leads out of the castle grounds. It is beneath the stairs in their cellblock. I'll distract Vasilia." Zeleny ushered her down into the cellar, gently nudging her with his beak.

Sofia stopped her decent and turned to face the bird one last time. "Are you sure you'll be ok?"

The cikavac smiled. "My dear printsessa, you flatter me with your concern. You have done enough worrying about me, and for that I am truly grateful. I will be just fine. Now go."

Sofia forced a weak smile and then turned back to the cellar. She grabbed the inside handle and braced her back and shoulders against the door, making sure that it closed gently. The door only made a few quiet creaks and a soft thud as it latched.

Sofia was surprised and glad there were torches already lit along the wall as she climbed down the stairs. There was a wispy, gray fog hovering near the floor of the dungeon, and for some reason, it reminded her of a picture she'd seen once; though she couldn't remember what of, or where. She tried to shrug off the strange feeling as she rounded the corner and came into a dimly lit area with prison cells lining the walls. She peeked her head around the corner and listened for any guards that might be nearby. No sound, save the sound of the torches burning, graced her ears: no plodding footsteps, no muted conversations, were there even any guards down here? She slowly came out from the corner and tiptoed down the hall, glancing at each one of the cells. They were all empty. A chill ran up Sofia's spine as she felt like a pair of eyes was glued to her back. She whipped her head around, ready to run, but she saw nothing there. Breath hitched in her throat and she swallowed hard, grasping her amulet out of reflex. She wasn't sure why she held onto it so tightly, but it did make her feel a bit better.

She continued walking in the dank hallways, listening for any sound other than her own footsteps. There were so many hallways leading to different sizes of rooms, it seemed like she was walking through a maze all alone. A few times, Sofia ran into a dead end and had to re-trace her steps back to where she was before. After the fourth time of having to do so, Sofia groaned loudly, not worried about alerting any guards that may have been down there. She was sure she had been wandering the same corner of the dungeon for the past five minutes, and since she never once heard any inkling of other people, guards or prisoners included, she took slight comfort in the fact that she was the only one walking around down there. Though her feelings of unease had not completely subsided, she was a little less on edge once she realized that she was alone. It was a blessing and a curse. On one hand, she wasn't as worried about getting caught; on the other, she couldn't shake the feeling of being followed.

As she wandered longer and longer, she thought more about her family: Papa and his wife, Anya and their children—her little brother, Ian, and her litter sister, Anastassia; what was going to happen to them? Was she going to find them? Were they even here, or had Zeleny made a mistake? Why hadn't she just waited and made sure to get help? What was she thinking? How could she have thought she was going to save her family when she didn't have any help, other than a strange new bird that was easily the most terrifying creature she'd ever laid eyes on? No. She couldn't let her fear or doubt get the better of her. Help would surely come soon. There was no way her parents would leave her here. She straightened her back and squared her shoulders. Even if she didn't find the way out, she would find her younger brother and sister, and her papa's wife. Her stepmother? Sofia shrugged her shoulders; it was the technical term, so she guessed she'd stick with it.

She turned down a particularly dim hallway that had only two lanterns lighting the way. She was nearly to the end of the hall when she heard the distinct, far-away sound of someone coughing. Sofia ducked into the shadows and listened. The incessant cough persisted and worsened as it went on. Nails seemed to dance around violently in the person's throat, like a fork in the garbage disposal. Sofia put her hand on her own throat and cringed as the coughing continued. After a few long, painful moments, the person's cough began to calm and eventually stopped.

"Mama, ty v poryadke?" the little voice of a young child was a welcome sound to Sofia's ears. Though she didn't understand the language, she knew that had to be one of her little siblings. She jumped up from her hiding place and ran in the direction where she heard the cough come from. She listened as the conversation continued to guide her in the right direction.

"Da, Kolokol'chik, ya v poryadke." That had to be her stepmother. Left turn.

"V samom dele? Potomu chto kazhetsya, chto ty stanovish'sya khuzhe." Right turn.

"O, malen'kiy kolokol'chik, moy kashel' mozhet pokazat'sya khuzhe, no ya chuvstvuyu sebya namnogo luchshe blagodarya meditsine." Their voices were getting louder, and more distinguishable, even though she still had no idea what they were saying.

"Meditsina ot ved'my ne goditsya! Navernoye, ona delayet tebya khuzhe!" Just as the little girl finished her sentence, Sofia burst into the large room where the woman and the younger girl were. The girl and the woman looked at her, both of them with widened, icy blue eyes. The woman's hair was a color between dark blonde and light brown, and it was pulled back by a dingy, light blue bandana. The little girl had a messy mass of curly, brown hair the same color as Sofia's.

"You! Are you—do you know—Birk Balthazar?" she said through labored breaths.

The woman stumbled to her feet and held on to the cellar bars. "How do you know my husband?" she said in a thick accent.

Sofia tried to calm her breath as she walked closer to cellar bars. "My name—is Sofia—"

"So you're the reason we're in this dungeon!" shouted the little girl suddenly, her face turning red as she jumped up from her seat. Her accent was not nearly as thick as her mother's.

"What?" Sofia gasped, recoiling from the younger girl's apparent rage.

"Anastassia! You know who put us here! Do not blame Sofia!" The woman said harshly, scolding the young girl. "Please excuse her." She said, turning back to Sofia. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? How did you know to come here?"

Sofia took a few more deep breaths before she was able to breathe normally once again. "That's kind of a long story. I can tell you on the way out of here." Said Sofia as she glanced around the room. Just as Zeleny said, there was a staircase directly across from their cell, and just at the foot of it was a key ring hanging on a hook. Sofia hurried and grabbed the key, then jogged over to the cell and unlocked the door.

"I don't understand. You must have come here all the way from Enchancia!" said the woman.

"Yes. Can you walk on your own?" asked Sofia, offering her a hand after she opened the door.

"It is difficult, but yes. Ian is the one who cannot walk well yet." Anya responded—her 'w' sounding more like 'v'— and gestured to a small baby boy, sitting up amidst the fog on the ground.

Sofia took a step towards the little boy, but Anastassia got in her way, stretching her arms out wide. "I can carry my little brother! I don't need your help!"

"Anastassia! Prekratite nemedlenno! Ty slishkom slab, chtoby nesti svoyego brata, i Sofia pytayetsya nam pomoch'! Chto, yesli papa poslal yeye syuda? Vy krichite yemu v litso, kak vy tol'ko chto s ney sdelali?" Sofia wasn't sure what Anya said, but from her tone of voice and the way that Anastassia reacted, she had obviously scolded the child.

The little girl looked down at her feet and then reluctantly stepped aside. Sofia looked from the girl to her stepmother, who gave her a nod of approval. Sofia picked up the baby and held him on her hip. "Hi, my name is Sofia. It's nice to meet you, Ian. Papa has told me all about you." She said softly. He looked up at her with big blue eyes and smiled, showing his two bottom front teeth that were growing in. Sofia giggled. He was surprisingly easy to carry, and when he saw her amulet, he immediately picked it up and began inspecting the gem in his tiny hands.

"That's my amulet. It's very special because my dad gave it to me."

He glanced up at her and cocked his head to the right. "Papa?" he cooed.

"He's asking if our papa got it for you. We know you're our half-sister." Anastassia spat.

The tone in her voice caused Sofia to wince. Ian put his tiny hand on her cheek and looked at her, his crystal blue eyes shining. She couldn't help but smile at his gesture. "No, not Papa. My dad, his name is Roland, but my mom always calls him Rollie." Sofia giggled. "It's funny, when I met Papa, I didn't know that's what you called him. I just wanted to call him something other than dad."

Ian smiled at her, and then turned his attention back to the amulet, petting its shiny magenta stone.

"Come on. Let's go. I know a way out underneath the stairs." Said Sofia.

Anya gave a puzzled look before she nodded and motioned for the two young girls to go before her out of the cell. She then grabbed a lantern that was on the wall and held it up in front of her. There was no regular door apparent underneath the stairway, but if Sofia looked hard enough, she could see the faint outline of where the rocks of the wall looked slightly separated in a crooked arch.

Sofia turned around and faced Anastassia, who had come up and grasped her mother's hand. "Could you hold Ian for a minute, while I open the door?" Sofia asked.

Anastassia looked at her with narrowed eyes for a brief moment, but then held out her arms and helped Ian stand while Sofia searched for a false rock that would probably be covering the keyhole. She put both her hands on the wall, and knocked occasionally, looking for faux rocks. Eventually, she came across one that when she touched it, it jiggled slightly under her hand. She carefully removed the rock to reveal a keyhole not unlike the one on the cell door. She hurried over to the foot of the stairs and removed a loose, heavy stone from the last step. Sure enough, there was a petite key laying there, black and worn. She went back to the hidden door and stuck the key in, then turned the lock. The large door made a deep scraping sound against the hard dirt as it opened inwardly by itself.

"This way." Said the princess.

Anastassia walked her little brother up to Sofia and handed her the little boy's hands. Sofia looked pleasantly surprised at the little girl, and gratefully scooped up the small child in her arms once again before ushering Anya into the tunnel and closing the door behind them. The ground was steeply slanted for the first ten or so meters as it descended below the stairway. It then leveled out, and all that could be seen was a long, black tunnel and the same gray fog hovering just above the ground.

"So, Princess Sofia. Just how, how does a young girl like you get to a prison like this? How did you find us, how did you know where the key was, and how did you know this tunnel was here, and where it leads?" Anya asked as they made their way slowly through the dark, narrow, sloped hallway.

"Oh, well, you know. Papa told me about you guys." She said somewhat nervously.

Anya raised an eyebrow. "Birk told you that we were trapped in a dungeon by an evil witch?"

"Well… not exactly. That, I learned that from… a friend."

"A friend?" Anya responded with dry disbelief.

"Well, yes and no. I guess you could say, a birdy told me."

"You are aware that I am not, stupid, yes?" Anya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course!" Sofia exclaimed, turning a light shade of pink.

"Then why don't you tell me how you got here all by yourself?"

Sofia sighed heavily. "Ok. I know it sounds crazy, but a bird really did tell me that you were here. He was an enormous black bird that came to my window and he could actually talk... I think. At first he was just there to ask for help to break a curse that Vasilia put him under. You see, my amulet has great magical powers that no one really understands and he thought it might be able to break the curse. Then, since Vasilia imprisoned him, he knew about Papa, and about you. He was the one who told me you were trapped here. Then, I got on his back and he flew me here. I meant to ask him to go and get Papa, but we flew so fast that by the time I remembered, we were already flying over Friezenburg. I'm not sure how long the flight took. I slept almost the whole way. Then he brought me here and told me about the key and the tunnel."

Anya was speechless for a moment as she marveled at the young girl before she was finally able to shut her mouth and use it to speak. "You're right. That does sound crazy."

Sofia just giggled nervously and shrugged her shoulders.

"But you know, you are truly selfless if you'd risk all of that to save us. There are no words to express our gratitude, Princess Sofia."

"Oh, just Sofia is fine. And don't thank me just yet, let's wait until we're all safe Mrs. Balthazar." Said the girl as she bounced the toddler on her side once to prevent him from falling.

"Oh please, Sofia, call me Anya." The woman said with a smile.

Sofia felt somewhat relieved inside. The title, Mrs. Balthazar, felt so strange coming from her mouth. "Right, Anya." She smiled.

There was a moment of silence before Anya spoke again. "So you say a giant bird scooped you up and brought you here in the middle of the night. What about your parents? I get the feeling that you did not tell them where you were going."

Sofia cast her eyes down to the floor as Amber's scream played back in her memory. "Not exactly. I did tell my sister, Amber. She tried to keep me from coming, but I couldn't just sit at home while I knew a part of my family was in trouble."

"You are a very brave girl, Sofia. And while I am thankful for your actions, I cannot help but think that your sister was right. You should not have come here, it's too dangerous for you."

"What about you! I heard how sick you are, and if it's dangerous for me, how much more dangerous is it for Anastassia and Ian?"

"You speak the truth, but now you walked right into Vasilia's domain and she wants your amulet. If she finds out you're here, she'll capture you and put us right back in prison."

Sofia furrowed her brow and looked down at Ian, who continued to roll her amulet around in his hands. "But why does she want it in the first place? I know it has powerful magic, but what could she want it for?"

"For something evil." Anastassia piped up, her tone dripping with malice.

Anya looked down at her daughter sadly. "Of that, I have no doubt, little bell. But I have no idea what sinister plans she has in mind. I just hope we can escape before finding out."

Sofia nodded in agreement and the group walked silently for a long while. The tunnel was completely straight. All they could see past the limited light of their lantern was a seemingly unending blackness in the dark and silent underground. The only thing that broke the silence was their footsteps, and the occasional cough from Anya. Ian started to doze off on Sofia's shoulder and as his muscles relaxed, he got heavier in her arms. Every so often, she would switch him between arms to give the other a rest. When she did so, he would only open his eyes briefly before settling back down and cuddling into her shoulder.

"Mama, my feet hurt." Anastassia said. She did not wine, she stated it, as if it were a matter of fact. It was not the way in which a small child would normally complain about walking for such a long time.

"I know, little bell. I might not be able to do it for long, but I could carry you for a little while." Said Anya.

"No, mama don't worry, they only hurt a little bit. I can keep going." Said the small girl.

Anya gave a small smile to her daughter and grasped her hand tighter. It both inspired Sofia and broke her heart. All this time while she was enjoying time with her papa, her family was suffering. All those times she'd seen heartbreak behind his eyes, even on the most beautiful days, now made sense. She had thought before that he just felt bad about what happened with him and her mom, but now she knew that his concern extended far beyond that. Guilt weighed on her heart like massive cinderblocks on her shoulders. Why did she have to get this amulet? Why was she the cause of her own family's troubles? This would have never happened if not for this dumb amulet! She found herself getting angry, wishing that the amulet never chose her in the first place. But then, a gentle voice in Sofia's mind spoke to her. She was able to help Minimus's brother Massimo finally find a place where he could be happy. Because of her, Miss Nettle was finally able to let go of her bitterness and was thriving among the people of Friezenburg. She was the only princess in forty-one years that was able to finally release Princess Elena from the Amulet. Now, most importantly, she was chosen to be the one who could rescue her own family from the clutches of a mysterious witch. The Amulet chose her for a reason, and she wasn't going to shy away from her duties as its bearer.

"I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble for you all. But I promise that I will get you out of here, no matter what." Sofia said as she looked up from the ground and at her newfound family members.

"Thank you, Sofia. But I want you to know that we do not blame you for what has happened to us. We know full well that it is because of Vasilia's greed and lust for power. We are thankful that you are the one to help us escape from her. It is beyond anything I ever could have imagined and I can't believe you would risk your life for us. We are strangers to each other, and I'm amazed that you'd do so much for someone you don't know."

"Just because I don't know you very well yet, doesn't mean we're strangers. You're part of my family. It's kind of an obvious choice." Sofia said, a soft grin spreading across her face.

The two shared a laugh while Anastassia walked between them, her face scrunching up in a scowl as she clutched onto her mother's hand tighter.

"Anastassia, what's the matter?" Sofia asked.

The small girl looked up at her, eyes filling with tears. "You weren't supposed to come and save us! Papa was! Because of you, Papa had to leave us here so he could go meet you! I know that evil lady is the one who made him go and get the amulet, but I heard him talking to Mama, and he said that he wanted to try and be your papa also. That's why he stayed away so long! He was trying to be your papa again and he could get the stupid amulet too! I hate you! But now that you're saving us, I can't hate you as much, and that makes me feel mad. And I don't like it."

"Anastassia!" Anya hissed.

"No, it's okay." Sofia stopped and turned around to face the younger girl. "I get it. I'd be mad at me too. You can be angry at me all you want, that's ok, even if you never ever forgive me." Said Sofia sadly. "But you see, that's also why I have to help you. It's because of me that you are all in this mess, the least I can do is help get you out."

Anastassia folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Well, I don't know if you can, but maybe if you actually do get us out, then maybe I can forgive you."

One corner of Sofia's mouth turned up in a half-smile. "That's all I can really ask for. I really am sorry that you guys were put in this horrible place because of my amulet. But I promise that I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get out safely. We are family, afterall, even if we did just meet a little while ago. And families should stick together."

Anastassia shifted her weight from one foot to the other and glanced down at the dirt floor in thoughtful consideration of Sofia's words. They struck her—made her feel weird. She still hated the girl, but there was something inside that made her feel bad for hating her. Maybe she really wanted to like her, but how could she when she was the girl who made Papa go away?

As Anastassia continued to ponder her confusing feelings, her mother spoke up. "I want to remind the both of you that Sofia is not the reason we were put here. It was Vasilia. Now please, let us keep going. I'm sure we've got to be getting close to the exit."

Anya was right. Not too long after Sofia and Anastassia's confrontation they saw a small set of stairs leading to a wooden door. In total, the group must have walked for a little more than an hour, as they had to stop often and allow Anya to rest. Sofia was grateful to finally see the door; perhaps there would be a village near the castle where they could find a place to rest. That would mean more walking, and out in the bitter cold of the night wind, but the door at the end of the tunnel gave her hope.

"Come on, there's the end of the tunnel!" exclaimed Sofia, readjusting Ian once again. Her arms were so tired from carrying the child, she would be grateful to have a place to rest soon.

Anya picked her head up. She had been leaning on the wall for support and was growing extremely weary, but the sight of the door brought to her a small burst of energy. When the group got near the door, Anya slumped against the wall as a wretched cough racked her body.

Sofia took the lantern from her and tried to help her get into a comfortable seated position while still holding Ian. "Here, sit down and let's rest for a while. We're going to need the strength to go out into the cold and find the closest town for shelter." She said.

The assault on Anya's lungs continued for a few painful moments and left her voice hoarse. "Thank you Sofia. Here, let me hold Ian. Your arms must be very tired." Anya responded once her cough subsided. Sofia handed her the sleeping child and took a seat on the bottom stair while Anastassia plopped on the ground next to her mother and snuggled into her arm, closing her eyes.

"Anya, do you have any idea where the closest town might be?" Sofia asked after a moment.

"It depends. I do not know where we will come out. There is a village less than five kilometers away to the North side of the castle, but if we come out at the south wall, the closest village is a fifteen-kilometer hike down the mountain. It would be risky to walk around the castle with Vasilia on the lookout, but it would be our best bet to find shelter to the North if we could."

"Well, we'll find out where we are once we're out of this place, but we can figure out where to go after we rest a while." Sofia responded.

Anya nodded and hugged her children closer to her as her eyelids became heavier. Sofia figured it would do more harm than good to not allow them to sleep for at least a short while. She was not sleepy, but her body was definitely tired from carrying Ian for so long, so she scooted over to the wall opposite her family and lay back against it. Looking around in the dim light, she noticed that the fog that floated near the ground had dissipated. In the silence of the corridor she could only hear the easy breathing of her family; the sound calmed her and the ominous presence that she had felt in the dungeon was completely gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and allowed herself to relax a little bit. She felt as if loving arms wrapped around her and her newfound family, allowing them the sweet but short bliss of rest. Even Sofia closed her eyes for what seemed like a moment.

There was no way to know how long she had been asleep, but Sofia knew they had to get going soon. When she opened her eyes, it seemed as though Anastassia had the same thought, as she was already awake and nudging her mother to try and rouse her. "Mama, get up. We have to get somewhere safe to sleep."

Anya stirred and looked up at her daughter with sleepy bags under her eyes. "Of course. Sofia, could you help me up, please?"

"Sure." Sofia said, extending both her hands. Anya took hold of her wrist and held Ian with her other arm while Sofia dug her heels into the ground and pulled the woman up, practically rocketing her to her feet. She was a lot lighter than Sofia had anticipated as the effort Sofia exerted forced Anya jump to her feet.

"Oh! Thank you. I think I can carry Ian for a while, now that I've rested a bit." Anya said smiling at the girl.

"Sorry about that, I guess I don't know my own strength!" A slight blush crossed Sofia's cheeks as she rubbed the back of her neck. "If you need me to take him, just let me know." She said, climbing up the short flight of stairs. She inserted the key into the hole and gave it a turn, causing a click to emanate from the door. She pulled down on the handle and pushed. To her surprise, the sun was just beginning to come up. Though the orb of light was nowhere to be seen in the sky, its glow peeked up from behind the horizon just enough to coat the landscape in a misty grey hue. Sofia held the door open for her family and glanced around, looking for which direction the sun was coming up. From the looks of it, it was coming mainly from her left and there was a large cliff not far from where they came out.

"It looks like this is the south end of the castle." Said Sofia, disappointment clouding her tone.

Anya stood fully upright after having to stoop to come through the door, and then glanced around at the scenery. She sighed heavily. "It certainly looks that way. The sun is going to start coming up soon. Perhaps if we go west, around the castle, stay in the shadows as long as possible, then we can make the rest of the trip hidden in the trees."

"I think that's our safest option right now. It's either that or try and start trekking down the cliff." Said Sofia with a nod.

"Right. Let's go." Said Anya coughing lightly.

"Do you want me to take Ian?" asked Sofia.

"No, thank you. I think I will be okay for now." After she said it though, her cough worsened. Relentlessly, her lungs convulsed; she held an arm up to her mouth to keep from coughing on her son and quickly pulled out an old rag from her dress to cough into. She laboriously handed the child to Sofia before leaning against the wall as the cough continued to wrack her body. Anastassia scurried to her mother and grabbed her arm as the woman slumped against the wall and tried to guide her to sit down. Sofia watched, a pained grimace spreading across her face. The sleeping baby didn't even stir at the horrendous noise; he was probably used to the sound by now if they had been in that dungeon for so long. She was worried that the sound would attract attention to their location, but there was nothing she could really do except wait for Anya to be able to walk again.

After a few long painful moments, Anya's cough began to diminish. Once it had subsided, Anastassia grabbed her mother's arm and clung to it tightly. As Anya stowed the rag back in her dress; Sofia saw blotches of blood that covered it. She watched with a grave expression as the woman touched her daughter's head affectionately and huddled close to the girl. They needed to get to a village as soon as possible.

"Anya, can you walk? We really must get you to a village for some help." said Sofia after a moment.

"Yes." Anya responded as she slowly put one knee up, pushing against it and the wall to get up.

Sofia furrowed her brow, knowing that Anya would not be able to walk all the way to the village without help. She bounced Ian to her side and made sure she had a firm grip on him before she walked over to his mother. "Here. Lean on me." She said, putting an arm around the woman's small waist.

"No Sofia, I could not ask you to do that." Anya protested.

"You need help, Anya. I know you're trying to be strong, but you don't have to do this alone, that's why I'm here." Sofia took Anya's arm and placed it over her shoulder.

Anya breathed a laugh and smiled, looking from Sofia to her daughter. "You sound like Anastassia."

Sofia smiled and looked at her little sister. "It sounds like you and I might have something in common, then."

The younger girl watched in conflicted awe as Sofia carried her bother and supported her mother. She trailed behind for a short while in deep thought as they slowly began to make their way West around the castle. Her brows arched down and her little fists balled up as tension passed across her young face. Something about the princess just made it impossible to hate her. It was either that, or Anastassia felt guilty for wanting to blame her for something that wasn't her fault. After a few more thoughtful moments, she hurried around and took her mother's free hand and looked directly at Sofia.

"Families stick together." she said.

"That's right." Sofia nodded with a smile.

"Oh, what a touching moment." An unearthly voice came from out of thin air just before a cloud of dark smoke swirled in front of them.

Sofia instinctively braced herself and got in front of Anya and Anastassia, making sure to turn her left side turned in toward the group so that Ian was also protected.

"Well done, Princess Sofia. I'm so glad you finally got out of that tunnel. My goodness it took a long time! Luckily I am a patient woman." From the pillar of smoke emerged a tall, slender woman. Her face like a pristinely cut, unpolished diamond with angles sharp, not yet dulled, and dangerous to the touch; her skin seemed to shine with an unearthly pallor in the shadow of the raising sun. Around her shoulders draped a long, dark indigo cloak with a large fur collar; it cascaded down to her feet, where an amethyst smoke lay wafting around the bottom, making her look as if she were hovering centimeters above the ground.

"It's no wonder the Amulet chose you. You are quite a brave girl indeed." The woman purred.

"Who are you?" Sofia asked, furrowing her brow.

The woman let out a deep chuckle. "Why don't you ask your dear stepmother?"

Sofia looked cautiously back at Anya. "Vasilia." The frail woman whispered through her hoarse voice.

"Let us go!" Sofia yelled.

"Really, Sofia, are you in a place to be making such demands?" Vasilia folded her arms and put a finger on her triangular chin. "Look at poor, dear Anya, she can hardly take another step. Just what exactly was your plan, even if you were able to escape from my castle? You have no flying horses, nor any other way of transportation. You couldn't have gotten too far away from me before I'd find you anyway. Perhaps your bravery is better stated as stupidity? There is such a fine line between the two." the woman smirked wickedly.

Sofia clenched her jaw and stared the woman in the face, saying nothing.

"Oh, Sofia. Don't look at me like that," Vasilia cooed. "I have been taking good care of your family for months now. Really, you should have seen dear Anya when she got here. She was barely alive, now look at her: walking by herself, carrying her child, you really ought to be thanking me."

"Don't listen to her, Sofia!" Said Anastassia.

Sofia looked back at her younger sister, who had come out from behind Anya's leg still clutching onto her mother's frock. She nodded at the small girl.

"Oh, the little bell tolls again!" Vasilia clapped her hands together mockingly before lazily pointing a long white finger at the child. "Little brat never has appreciated the progress her mother has made. I guess she's a bit bitter about their living conditions. Understandable. She's taken on quite a bit of hatred towards me it seems. I'm flattered, really. Anastassia indeed has the makings of a young mage, and I'm happy to provide a little kindling for the power inside of her. She quite reminds me of me, though I was much older when I embraced the true source of my power."

Anastassia gritted her teeth and glowered at the woman. "I'll never be like you, suka!"

"Anastassia!" Anya exclaimed.

"Oh! I have always liked that about you! A little bell, ringing with rage! It is music to my ears." The witch laughed.

"Stop it! We're not afraid of you! Anastassia, don't listen to her." Said Sofia firmly. The younger girl locked eyes with her sister and growled a reluctant sigh.

"Well, well! It seems like you two have come quite a ways since you first met. I guess you'd tell me it has something to 'family." Vasilia scoffed as she raised her fingers in air quotes. "Though, I guess it is quite a good thing you have developed such a strong bond already. Makes this part much more fun!" Vasilia took a ghostly step towards the family and paced back and forth slowly in front of them.

"I'll tell you how this is going to work, Sofia. Either you give me your amulet and I'll take extra good care of you and your family until Birk returns, or you refuse and I take you back to the dungeon and possibly inflict some mild torture on your dear Anya. It's your choice." Vasilia folded her arms again and smirked, her thin lips turning up in a wickedly smug smile.

Sofia swallowed hard. Vasilia had known all along that she was in her castle, but how? Oh well, she didn't have time to speculate, there was a more pressing matter at hand. "That doesn't sound much like a choice." Sofia said, chewing the consonants angrily.

"Oh, but of course it is! I can't very well let you go before Birk gets back, I'd be breaking my promise! The choice is, see your family tortured, or cared for. All you need to do is give me your amulet. It's really quite simple, Sofia." She said as she folded her slender hands at her chest.

The crease between Sofia's eyebrows grew more prominent as she squeezed them together, glaring silently at the witch.

"Ohhh, having a second thought, Sofia? I thought you'd immediately hand the Amulet over for the good of your family. I guess I was wrong about you. Perhaps you're not as pure-hearted as I thought." She said, popping the 't' at the end of the word. A deep, menacing chuckle emanated from Vasilia's throat as she kept eye contact with the princess. Sofia clutched her amulet as she adjusted the baby her hip. A dark silence lingered in the air as the wind blew past them, causing the freezing air to seep through their coats. Vasilia smirked and inhaled sharply, then spoke breathily as the air escaped her dark lips. "I guess I'll take your silence to mean that you'll keep your Amulet. Oh well, more fun for me. Maybe you'll change your mind after witnessing a little torture." Vasilia twirled her hand with a wicked grin plastered on her pale face. Her eyes glowed an unearthly magenta as a swirl of dark purple clouds danced around the group's feet. Sofia's eyes widened as she huddled closer to her family before the cloud completely enveloped them.