Author's Notes: This is the beta-read version of this chapter finally up. Thanks to Menecarkawan!

Song: 'Disco Time' by move


Ch. 8: The Hidden Kingdom

In the end Soshlan accompanied the group the remaining way to the port. Harry laughed silently during that time because of Luna's way of flirting with Neville, or at least to him it looked like flirting. Luna suddenly asked Neville: "What's the name of your new summon?"

Neville's eyes illuminated with happiness. "His name is Meles."

"He is very cute," said Luna dreamily.

Neville went thoughtful: "Well, I don't know much about that. Maybe..."

"Is he very powerful?" Luna asked interested.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure he is!" Neville decided to add the last to impress her a little. It made Luna laugh. Dianeia was expressionless, Soshlan was grinning at Neville, and Janryu was rolling his eyes.

They arrived at the port and saw the ship ready to sail so they quickened their pace, paid the fee at the entrance, and finally boarded the ship. Harry finally asked again the question he had tried to ask Dianeia before: "How many lands do you have in this world? How many countries?"

"Not too many. At least the records state that this world is smaller than yours... Who knows? No one has ever been able to confirm it."

The ship started its sail at that point and Harry went to an area with Dianeia, Luna was with Neville while Soshlan and Janryu looked at each other and went to opposite sides. They had decided not to be together as one was light and the other dark. There were still prejudices and none of them knew how to get along with the other.

Harry turned red before asking a question that he had been dying to ask Dianeia. "How does this world take to mixed marriages?"

Dianeia looked at him curiously: "Well, it depends. We've met Soshlan who is obviously the result of a mixed marriage, but elves have always gotten along very well with fairies. In the case of my race, they don't allow them. Only once a young man rebelled because he wanted to marry an elf girl. He was expelled from our people and never seen again. I still don't know if the elf people accepted him, but maybe they did. The elf people have always been more open-minded. Still, I don't think any of the light races would allow a marriage with a dark creature, like for example a fairy with a vampire like Janryu... That would probably produce a chaotic result. I've never met anyone from a mixed marriage like that. I hope this answers your question."

"How about someone of your people with a human?"

Dianeia looked nervous all of a sudden. "They would never allow it. If I were to fall for a human the first to exile me would be my parents."

"How about age differences? How do they treat that aspect?"

Dianeia smiled: "There's no age in love. That is the concept in this world at least. Of course, you cannot marry a small child... Children are allowed to marry from age fifteen and up. I have a friend who is ten years older than her husband... I also know someone who is twenty years older than his wife." She laughed after saying that and then looked at Harry as if searching for something in his bespectacled eyes. "Why do you ask, Harry?"

Harry wasn't able to answer that question as he felt swords and spears being pointed at him. He quickly turned around and saw that his friends and companions had also been surrounded. A man opened a parchment and suddenly read aloud: "These children are now under the custody of King Vicfer for their own protection. It is the mission of our kingdom to protect the children that haven't fallen into the hands of the dark lord. The children will be transferred to our kingdom, which is hidden from the dark realm..."

Harry interrupted the messenger. "Wait a minute! You cannot take us against our will! We have a mission to complete!"

The messenger glanced at Harry. "Children don't go on missions. We have a capable army that is being trained to go against the dark lord's fiends. This is the first time a child has tried to stop us from guiding them to protection..."

"You don't understand! We came from another world and in order to return to our world we have to stop the dark lord and rescue the children!"

"I'm sorry, child. You can try and convince our king once we are in our land. I simply have orders to rescue all the children I can and take them to our king. You can request a hearing once we get to Franya," There was pity in the messenger's eyes.

"This is kidnapping! You are doing the same thing the dark lord is doing! I don't see the difference!" Harry had already been disarmed and was being held by three guards from the kingdom of Franya. His friends had also been disarmed, including Dianeia. Maybe they thought she was a child too because she still had a child like face at twenty-two. Harry was furious.

"There's a big difference, child! The dark lord drinks the children's energy! Our king doesn't do anything to the children! They are placed in mansions and have toys, clothes, food, everything! They also have parks to play! They are happy and not under sleeping spells! When there have been parents involved we've properly asked for their permission to protect their children! In your case you don't seem to have a guardian."

"Not in this world! I already told you I am not from this world!" But his words were ignored. They had already been taken into custody by those guards and soon were locked in a room in that ship. There were guards in front of the room in constant watch.

Harry stared at Dianeia questioningly and mildly angered: "Did you know about that kingdom?" She nodded with a lowered gaze. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought the chances of encountering them were odd. I was wrong, but something worries me. They seem to have been alerted by someone that there would be children on the ship."

"It could have been anyone..." said Neville.

Dianeia shook her head. "Humans wouldn't even bother. I have a feeling my older brother Zheylks is behind this. It's almost like they were expecting us to board the ship."

"I should have known there had to be someone trying to stop the dark lord in this world, but how come the dark lord hasn't attacked Franya?" Harry asked.

"Because the kingdom is hidden by magic," replied Soshlan. "The kingdom of Franya has always been hidden. That's why I can understand Dianeia in thinking that the chances of meeting guards from that realm were odd. They also depend a lot on creatures alerting them to where children are as they started the children protection laws some time after the dark lord started to kidnap them. They were already far behind... They are probably the only kingdom going against the dark lord in this world. I have to recognize that their king has guts."

"Are they taking vampire children too?" asked Janryu looking at Soshlan. The elf-fairy shrugged. "Because so far, well, I don't even know if the dark lord takes vampire children. I always thought he didn't, but I still hid whenever the shadow freaks came, plus I lived in some woods... I don't know many vampires because I've always been the adventurer type and ran away from home at fourteen."

"I do think they take all the children, Janryu," Dianeia stated expressionlessly without even looking at the vampire boy.

Soshlan looked hopeful: "Maybe I'll discover that at least one of my friends was taken by this king rather than by the evil one..."

The doors of the room opened and two men entered. One of them was Zheylks and the other man wore clothes similar to Zheylks', but he had bright and glittery scarlet hair that fell down to his mid back and red eyes. He also wore a bandanna. His clothes, instead of dark green like Zheylks, were dark brown.

Dianeia stood up and glared at the two men. "So you are behind this! Why?"

"It's for your own good little sis'," replied the red haired man. The redhead looked less serious than Zheylks. "We have to take you to our parents. It's the elder's order."

"I won't leave them and that's final!" Dianeia's usually pastel pink eyes had a dangerous gleam that made them shine like the gemstone hidden on her head. "I didn't know you needed help from Rhoggel, Zheylks. You should be ashamed!"

It was Zheylks' turn to glare. "I didn't need help from him or anybody. He came along by himself."

"So how many of my siblings are on this ship?" Dianeia asked furiously.

Rhoggel replied with a smile: "Me, Zheylks, and Dionaius."

Dianeia looked horrified. "Dionaius is here?" In answer to her question, another man entered the room. He had silver hair down to his waist and wore silver clothes and a silver bandanna that almost blended with his hair. His eyes were a blue-gray colour and he looked too silvery, reminding them of Angelus who looked too white. Dionaius also had runes encrypted on the back of his hands, his forehead, and cheeks. He was the one that looked the most like Dianeia, except for the visible dark blue triangular runes carved in his skin.

Harry had noticed Dianeia feeling uncomfortable at the sight of Dionaius even if that brother of hers looked younger than the other two. Harry already knew that Zheylks was the oldest, but why was she so intimidated by the silvery one?

Dionaius approached Dianeia and grabbed her hands, locking his eyes with hers. "You have to come with us. Please don't defy the elder, Dianeia. Please."

"Not even you will convince me, Dionaius! I'm not going back! Not until I can bring Nhuriel back with me!"

The younger of the brothers looked taken aback, but after having his gaze locked with hers for a while lowered his eyes in defeat. Zheylks wasn't going to give up that easily though, and approached the girl too and tried to grab her, but Harry interfered. "You should abide by what she says!"

"You cannot protect her, human child! Do not interfere!" Even Zheylks deep voice was intimidating, but Harry didn't care.

Harry started to glow and a magical wave pushed Zheylks away from him and Dianeia. Dionaius leapt back gracefully just before the wave could push him too. "You are powerful, human child, but I still don't think you can protect her," stated Zheylks.

Dionaius did something that alarmed his older brother then. He approached Harry. "Please protect my twin sister. I know you can, child from another world." He turned to Dianeia. "Be safe. There are ways to escape from Franya."

"DIONAIUS!" Zheylks was furious as he slapped his younger brother. "I knew I shouldn't have let you come! You let her do as she pleases!"

Rhoggel interfered at that point by grabbing his older brother's arm. He shook his head. "We will leave this room now. We can always avoid going back until she finally decides. That way the elder won't know."

The three brothers left the room and Dianeia looked miserable. Janryu suddenly surprised her by asking: "So how many brothers do you have anyway?"

Dianeia laughed a little. "I have seven brothers and three sisters."

Janryu blinked. "Whoa! So many?"

Soshlan was looking curiously at Dianeia and started to speak: "You are from the Leiflathren Valley, aren't you? You belong to the winged..." Soshlan wasn't able to finish his statement as Dianeia covered the boy's mouth and shook her head. She was amazed that the boy could know so much, but she didn't need everyone to find out, including the guards and possibly unwanted ears outside the room.

"Not here. Too many people." Soshlan nodded in understanding and muttered a 'sorry.' He then smiled at her. "Thanks," she added because the boy would keep quiet, then turned to Harry. She spoke in a very low voice: "If the king doesn't allow you to have a hearing with him or simply opposes letting us go we will escape. Dionaius will help."

Neville glanced at Dianeia: "How do you know he will help us escape?"

"I have ways of communicating with my twin that my other brothers cannot detect. We can speak telepathically without anyone hearing our telepathy, in this case, my other two brothers. I think it's because of the being twins bond. How do you think Dionaius suddenly knew that you were from another world?" The young woman winked at Neville.

That night they all slept together in that room, but everyone woke up to Soshlan's screams in the morning. Harry wondered what in the world was happening and quickly put his goggles in place to see Luna and Neville grabbing Janryu and separating him from a screaming Soshlan.

"YOU WERE TRYING TO BITE ME! I MEAN, YOU ACTUALLY BIT ME!" exclaimed the boy in horror as he noticed droplets of blood staining his clothes.

"I WAS JUST CURIOUS! I WASN'T GOING TO MAKE YOU A VAMPIRE! AS IF BEING BOTH ELF AND FAIRY WASN'T ENOUGH!"

"I DON'T LIKE YOUR CURIOSITY THEN! I DON'T WANT YOU CLOSE TO ME EVER AGAIN!"

"IT WAS JUST A TASTE YOU IDIOT! JUST LET ME CLOSE THE WOUND!"

"I DON'T WANT YOU NEAR ME, YOU FREAK!" At that, the boy started to cry and Dianeia quickly got by his side and rubbed his back. She couldn't heal the wound though. Only a vampire could heal that kind of wound.

"Just let him close the wound with his vampire magic. It will be alright, Soshlan." The boy nodded and Neville and Luna freed Janryu. Janryu approached Soshlan and got his fangs barely on Soshlan's neck making a strange liquid come from them. The liquid closed the wound and Janryu stepped back. Soshlan kept sobbing on Dianeia's chest this time, which was something that made Harry uncomfortable for some reason. "Hush, hush... You're fine, Soshlan."

"He's horrible! Now I will never be able to show my face to my parents, or the elves, or the fairies ever again because I was touched by a vampire! He violated me!"

Luna approached the sobbing boy and spoke in a soft voice. "That is just prejudice. It's true that he did wrong and he should have asked for your permission, but your people rejecting you just because he took a taste from your blood; it's unnerving and plain stupid. If they are like that, I would rather avoid them instead of Janryu. I'm just being honest."

Soshlan looked at Luna with disbelief and then at the rest of the faces in the room. "So you all think that what the vampire did was funny?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't approve of what Janryu did, but I don't approve of prejudice either. If you will not be able to get along then I won't have either of you with me."

Janryu looked hurt. "Hey! I have no problem by being with him... If I had a problem I wouldn't have approached him!"

Harry stared at Janryu. "Alright, but I don't want you trying to bite anyone else just because they are not human. You can always try asking for permission." Janryu looked pissed, but nodded. Harry turned to Soshlan. "What is your decision?"

The elf-fairy had stopped crying and lowered his gaze. "I'll get along with... that."

"Hey!" exclaimed Janryu, but Harry stopped him with a gesture and shook his head.

Some guards started to ask them what had happened through the door, but Harry told them everything was fine. Afterwards the guards told them that they would arrive at their destination in two days. At that moment, a person brought them breakfast.

XxXxX

Harry felt that the two days they waited were the longest he had ever had. They reminded him of the days he had spent locked in the cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys, except that at least he had company in this case.

They had finally arrived at their destination and were escorted by many guards. Harry tried to check if Dianeia's brothers were with those guards, but he didn't see them. Dianeia was also looking around, in vain, as they walked. Soon they found themselves in front of a huge castle. Harry, Neville, and Luna wondered if that castle was bigger than Hogwarts because it sure looked like it. On their way there, they had seen that the kingdom was huge. Harry had memorized that it was between mountains, but one of the guards had lifted his hand in an area and made a chant. It had caused ripples and suddenly they went through an aqueous door and found themselves inside a huge kingdom. There were townspeople everywhere and many children played around. There were plenty of parks and by the amount of children there, Harry could figure that many weren't from that kingdom, but children that had been brought. They sure looked happy. There were also many teenagers that helped the smaller children play. Other teens were in couples, almost like they were on dates. Harry considered that at least the children that had been somewhat saved from the dark lord were alright, but as beautiful and appealing as the place seemed he couldn't stay there. He sighed as he thought about this.

The castle's doors opened and they entered. After walking for several minutes, they found themselves in what had to be the throne room, but there was no king sitting on the throne. Harry wondered if he would get his hearing or not, but at that same moment the messenger left them, apparently to fetch his ruler.

They waited for some time and the messenger came back with a child behind him. Harry and the others all looked at each other thinking if this was some kind of joke, but it seemed that it wasn't. The child couldn't be more than twelve and he sat on the throne. The child had dark skin and short black straight hair. His eyes looked almost Asian and the traits as a whole reminded Harry of Indians. The eyes were extremely dark, obsidian in colour, but with a sparkle. The boy was dressed in robes that were royal blue with golden rune like designs. He also had a cape that looked as if it had been woven with pure gold. He wore what looked like a golden ribbon in a bandanna fashion around his head instead of a crown. "My messenger tells me that you have something to say. You are allowed to speak."

Harry stepped forward and bowed courteously before speaking. "Your majesty, I believe that being brought here might be a mistake. You see, my friends and I..." He signaled Luna and Neville. "...came from another world by accident. We are supposed to defeat the dark lord that is imprisoning the children of this world. Only if we succeed in this task will our exit appear before us and we will be able to return to our own world. We cannot stay here."

The child was in deep thought and spoke: "Do you mean to say that you came from the other world? The one registered in history books?" Harry nodded full of hope. "I've read young Al's story many, many times. It was my favorite bedtime story since many years ago..." The child went thoughtful again and took a deep breath. "I understand your predicament, but the problem is that you are in danger of being captured too. It would have been better if you had been adults. Why would the fates play such an interesting game by making children come to this world again I do not understand. You will remain here until my army is ready to go against the dark lord. If I see that we are losing then you will be freed to try your luck, but in the meantime, you'll be safe here just like every other child. That is my decision."

At that, the guards moved to the group and started to escort them out of the castle. Harry knew that trying to say anything else would be in vain. Now he could only hope that they would be able to make their escape without too many problems.

The guards escorted them to a house and placed them together. There was food already served on a big table and it seemed to them that they were alone in that house. Harry wondered why they hadn't placed them with other children, but there was no time to start wondering that. They had to find a way to get out of there.


Thanks to lovenotknown for reviewing!

Reviews are a very nice way to encourage an author's writing. Please Review. I'll appreciate it.