The lord raised his eyebrows. "Who?"
"Helaine you baboon! Where did you put her?" Even as he snapped this, Score realized it was a little ridiculous to assume that Lord Votrin– or anyone, for that matter- would be able to 'put' Helaine anywhere she didn't want to be.
"Are you sure she didn't just leave her room?" That was Pixel, still not dressed in his balloon bottom suit, and not seeming terribly distressed at the disappearance of his bride.
"YES I'm sure. She was waiting for me to come back!"
"Oh?"
"I had to finish doing up her buttons! She wouldn't have left with her buttons undone!"
"Oh?" It was one cruel word, uttered with certainty and an arched eyebrow. "So… she was undressed, the last you saw her."
Now the guards took an interest in the conversation, turning towards Score and snickering.
Score suddenly realized exactly how it was beginning to sound. "Not like that. I mean… you know…" He trailed off weakly.
"And would you take a truth-oath on that?" Pixel asked, taking a step towards him and acquiring a characteristic Score never thought he would give the blue-skinned boy. Pixel was menacing.
"I…. I… um." Score backed away. What exactly was happening here? He felt too muddled to understand what was properly going on.
"Your majesty, is it not a crime in this Kingdom to – if I may put it crudely – fraternize with the bride before her wedding?"
"Yes!" Lord Votrin shouted. Then he looked puzzled. "No!" There was an awkward moment. "Whichever answer means PUT HIM TO DEATH!"
Things were getting out of control.
"Gladly" Pixel hissed – hissed! – as he seemed to glide up towards Score. Pixel pulled his emerald and began a spell with it.
Emerald?
"EVERYBODY COOL IT!" Score shouted. This actually seemed to work. The guards closed their mouths, Lord Votrin stopped bellowing, and even Pixel seemed to shrink back a little bit. Score gestured to the stone in Pixel's hand. "The emerald is my stone."
"Is it?"
"Yes. The emerald is earth. I'm from earth. I have the emerald."
"Are you sure?" Pixel actually seemed a bit baffled.
"YES! Clearly, you're not Pixel. I don't know who you are, but I'd sure as hell like to know what you did with my two best friends!" Score whipped out his own emerald, and, feeling cool and confident as he hadn't in several weeks now, leveled it at the face of the pseudo-Pixel.
The-thing-that-was-not-Pixel laughed. "I'm amazed it took you this long to catch on, Score. I can't believe you fell for the idea that I would actually marry that ugly cur!"
Score punched Pixel. Really punched him. Considering the magic he had at his disposal, it was a surprising move, and it caught fake-Pixel off-guard.
Pixel reeled backwards, and the guards gasped. Score spared a moment to glare at them. Did they think this was a movie? He didn't have time to answer his own question because Pixel was leering at him again, rubbing his jaw. "That's it? One punch defends the honor of your true love?"
Score didn't even think about the implications. He punched Pixel, this time catching him in the nose. There was a disgusting snap and he felt the bone break. Blood squirted and ran down Pixel's front, but still he sneered. Score punched him again. And again. Rage was boiling behind his fists. "Hit me a little harder, why don't you?" Pixel spat, sending blood to the floor. Score drew back his fist, then paused. Why wasn't this evil-whatever-masquerading-as-Pixel fighting back?
With horror he realized the answer. He must be facing another body-snatching wizard, like the one that had invaded the unicorns. The only way to get the rotten wizard out was to…
"…kill Pixel" Pixel taunted, as if reading Score's mind. "Do it. You have to. Save the Diadem, Score."
There has to be another way. There has to be another way.
"I simply do not understand" Pixel and Score turned to look at Lord Votrin, whom both had forgotten. "My daughter was going to get married to this… charlatan? Where is her real bridegroom? Why aren't you doing anything about this, Lord Score? Not that I've forgiven you for deflowering my-"
"Shut it, your highness" Score snapped, irritated. Then, he had an idea. "But good point." He turned to face Pixel-who-was-not-Pixel. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but… thanks." Score put out his hand, and Pixel warily shook it. "I owe you. Honestly, I didn't know how I was going to bump off Pixel when I found out about the wedding. Helaine is my girl, and always will be."
"What?" Faux-Pixel ignored the indignant spluttering of the king.
"Yeah. Helaine is mine. You just tell me where she is, and we'll call it even, okay?"
"You would trade the life of your best friend for this girl?"
"Basically…yeah. Pixel was the weakest of the three of us anyway. Now where is Helaine?"
"The weakest…?" Score saw a greedy look in Pixel's eye. The plan was working! "The girl… oh yes… are you sure you still want her?"
Score noticed Helaine's father turn even redder, if that was possible.
"Positive. Why?" Score really, really, really hoped the magician was as predictable as others they'd run across in the diadem. Greedy, power-hungry, a little short-sighted…
"Well, she's trash. She doesn't like you. And she's not that pretty. There are a lot of beautiful women in the Diadem."
Score made a show of sighing "I suppose, but Helaine is one of the most powerful."
Fake-Pixel smiled. "Do you really want a powerful woman? I doubt it. All the nagging, the bossiness… power-trips… you could easily control one of the beauties from the middle ring. You could make them shut up whenever you wanted."
"Good point" Score said slowly, inwardly seething. "Hmmm…." He pretended to think. "How about a deal. You leave Pixel – alive – and you can have Helaine. Then everybody's happy."
"But there is no way to leave a host alive!" Pixel protested.
"Sure there is…" Score hoped this would work. "You can feel Pixel's mind underneath, right? You have to relinquish control to him. He'll be able to push you out."
"Truly?"
"Definitely." Score was a big believer in the ability of the human mind to control its destiny. If this magician really thought Pixel could push him out – and more importantly, the real Pixel thought he could regain control of the body, then perhaps it could really be done. "We'd better go near Helaine though, so you don't make any mistakes."
Fake-Pixel grinned. "This is the beginning of something wonderful, mark my words."
"Sure whatever. I'm just glad you made me realize what a cow Helaine is. So where is she?"
"She's here. She's been here all along."
hey guyz its been a long time and im sorry but dont worry theres only 1chappie left ! R/R and i'll update sooner...