Chapter 3:

Saturday Morning.

Dunwiddie Forest 1 hour after the death of 14 guards.

"There is nothing here?" A cute little voice proclaimed with a slight whine. A young girl with bright orange hair, wearing all black clothes and had large greens eyes, was on the scene.

"Hey!" One guard quickly moved towards this girl. "This is a crime scene young lady, someone as young as you should be in bed by now." He lightly scolded.

"What happened?" The guard sighed and gently spun the girl around and began to push her away.

"Look why don't you head on home before your mommy and daddy get worried about you." The orange haired child dug her heels into the dirt as she was pushed away.

"Just tell me what happened, I won't tell anyone I promise, were a lot of people killed here?" She asked.

"I cannot tell you that. Don't worry your little head over it." The guard watched the child slump her shoulders before she began to walk away. "Just follow the path and it will lead you back to the village."

"I know the way." The little girl pouted and walked off. Once she was far she quickly climbed up a tree and sat on a branch where a figure was waiting. "Yep, there was a lot of dead people there, a lot of blood."

"Did you find out where the ghoul went?" This figure had a black cloak over his body and he had a deep voice.

"Nope." The figure facepalmed himself. "Did I do something wrong?"

"For the love of God. Ivy, you had one job, find out where the ghoul we have been hunting had gone too and come back." Ivy crossed her arms over her chest.

"I tried too but they kicked me out but I do know where she is," Ivy answered.

"Realy where did she go?" Ivy smiled.

"TWo guards said that she had been taken to the castle on orders of the king," Ivy answered as she looked up at the figure with big eyes. "So do I get what you promised me?"

"I will buy you a candy bar once that girl is captured do you remember why we are here?" Ivy nodded her head.

"We kill ghouls and sell their eyes." The figure reached down and patted her head gently.

"Yes we do, now how do we get into the palace?" Ivy giggled at that.

"Well, I've always wanted to play princess Jimmy." The large figure groaned.

"My name is not Jimmy."

"I know." Ivy jumped up and onto the man's shoulder. "It is just more easy to say that than your real name."

"You do realize that obedience was part of the deal when I adopted you right?" Ivy pulled the hood of the man revealing a hard looking face with a short grey beard and mustache.

"You also said that I could have fun," Ivy smile slowly disappeared and was replaced with a wrong. 'Without a ghoul to kill I cannot have fun."

"Then you figure out if she is actually in the palace, do not engage if she is." Ivy cheered loudly and jumped off this mans shoulder and to the ground.

"Don't worry Jimmy!" Ivy gave the man a thumbs up. "I'll find where she is hiding faster than you can candy."

"Candy", Ivy pouted.

"You said it too fast!"

"Will, you just go and do your job!" Ivy disappeared from sight as she sprinted towards the royal palace.

The man's name was Jing- Shuan a former general known turned bounty hunter. A hunter that specialized in the killing of ghouls, the child was named Ivy. They were known across the dark parts of the world as, the grim reaper and his vicious raven of death. A duo with over 100 ghouls heads under their belts.

A Room In Enchantcia Castle.

A girl by the name of Ember eyes slowly began to flutter open, "where am I?" She looked all around her and finally noticed that she was sleeping in a very comfortable bed. Ember rolled to her left and tried to leave the bed but noticed that her hand had been cuffed to a metal pole next to the bed.

"I see that you are awake now." Ember eyes turned towards the voice. Her eyes finally adjusted and she could make out a woman wearing a red dress and blond hair had just entered the room. "Are you doing alright?"

"Where am I?" Ember asked in a frightened voice.

"Well… right now you are in one of the many spare rooms in the palace." Tilly reached into her bag and pulled out a thermos. "Have you ever had hot chocolate?"

"What is chocolate?"

Tilly smiled as she poured two cups, "why don't you take a sip of this just don't drink it too fast."

"Can you take this cuff off of me please?" Tilly set their drinks down and pulled a key from her pocket.

"That depends on a couple things are you gonna try and leave?" Ember shook her head. "Ok." Tilly gladly uncuffed the girl's hand and then gave her a cup.

Ember held the cup in her hands for a while, enjoying the warmth coming off it. She gently held it to her lips and took a sip. Her eyes lite up like stars and a smile appeared on her face, "this is delicious!"

Tilly was happy to see the child's smile, " I'm very glad that you like it." Tilly reached into her bag and pulled out ink and paper. "If you don't mind I would like to ask you some questions."

"What kind of questions?" Ember asked.

"Well, I have a couple questions regarding you, and what happened last night," Tilly responded. "If there is a question that is too hard to answer or two personal then you do not have to answer it. Is that fair?"

"Can I ask you questions in return?" Tilly nodded her head yes. "Then I guess it is ok."

"Thank you very much. My first couple questions are very simple, are you a ghoul?"

Ember looked towards the ground, "yes… I am."

"How old are you?"

"10."

"Finally what is your full name."

"Ember Zamantha Bloodmoon." Tilly wrote it all into her notebook. "What is your name?"

"My name is Matilda but everyone calls me Tilly." Ember nodded her head. "Do you remember the events of last night?" Ember once again nodded her head. "Can you tell me what happened last night?"

"I…. I killed a lot of people." Ember whimpered.

"Do you remember the woman you fought last night?"

"Yes… she wanted to take me in and I was gonna hurt her to get away." Ember answered.

"Can I ask why you were eating that man last night or why you eat people in the first place?" Ember took a steady breath as her hands started to shake. "You don't have to answer the question."

Ember shook her head, "no…. It's fine…. Ghouls have to eat at least one person every 30 days, if we have more food then we don't have to, and we can go as long as 5 months without eating a person. But I didn't have anyone to give me food so I was always hungry… I didn't want to kill anyone but I had no choice."

"What happens if you don't eat a person?"

"It drives us… it makes us change, we become more monster than human and we do bad things." Ember reached up and wiped a tear from her eye. "I didn't wanna hurt anyone but I lose control of my hunger and then I hurt people."

"Do you wanna take a break?" Tilly asked.

"No."

"Ok," a knocking was heard as King Roland and Queen Miranda came into the room. "Ember this is King Roland and his wife Queen Miranda they wanted to join us is that ok?"

"It's their home. It would be disrespectful if I said no right." Miranda was quite impressed with her politeness.

"It is your choice, we want you to be as comfortable as possible." Roland pulled two chairs out and sat down. "If you want us to leave we will leave."

"You can stay," Ember answered.

"Thank you." Miranda took a seat on the edge of the bed Ember was in and gently patted her leg.

"Alright, are there more ghouls in the world?" Ember nodded her head.

"Our homeland is deep on the Mystic Isles. However, some ghouls have chosen to leave and stay here with people." Ember took a sip of her hot chocolate still amazed by the taste.

"Is there a way to distinguish between a ghoul and a human?" Miranda asked.

"Well as long as our eyes don't change and we don't use or powers or get caught then no," Ember answered.

"Is there anything special about your eyes?" Roland asked.

Ember took a deep breath and her eyes changed the area around her eyes turned black and her pupils became blood red. "They let us see in the dark better than any creature."

"May I ask a question?" Ember nodded her head towards King Roland. "What powers do ghouls have?"

"We have superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as very fast healing," Ember answered. "Although we have fast healing, we still feel the pain very much."

"I see, do you recall pulling an arrow out of your stomach while you fought a young woman?"

"Yes."

"Have you heard a legend regarding a powerful ghoul king from the past?"

Ember shook her head, "well no I don't know much about my homeland, I've been traveling this world for a long time."

"Do you have parents?" Tilly asked.

"Gone….", Ember began to shake a bit as tears flowed from her eyes. "I don't know who my parents are or where they went. All I know is I was kicked out of an orphanage for hurting a kid, I was tortured in so many kingdoms and now I'm here."

Miranda reached forward and patted the girl's shoulder. "Poor dear, you shouldn't have gone through any of that." Ember sniffled a bit before breaking down into tears.

"I hate this!" Ember cried in fury. "I hate killing people and I hate eating people! I don't wanna live this life anymore!"

The three adults watched as Ember's hair slowly began to turn snow white, "no no no no no! Stay inside!" Ember held her head in pain as her body violently shake.

"Ember!" Miranda looked on in concern.

"Sleep," Tilly pulled out her wand and hit her with the same basic sleep spell as before. Ember fell onto the bed asleep and her hair turned back to its black color. "Poor girl."

"She is suffering." Miranda gently pushed back Ember's hair. "What are we gonna do Roland?"

"Right now the only ones who know that Ember is a ghoul, are a couple members of the guard, ourselves and the children." Roland placed his hand on his chin in a thinking matter. "We couldn't just pretend that Ember isn't a ghoul, and keeping her in the palace could cause problems in the long run."

"And there is no promises that if we ask the guard, they would just stay quiet about this," Miranda added. "She seems like such a sweet girl, I would just hate for her to be any more pain because of what she is."

"Sofia did mention that Orion was coming today to see Ember perhaps he will know what to do," Roland answered.

"I can't believe it." Tilly looked down at Ember in amazement. "Ghouls are real, ghouls are mentioned in the legend of the reality stones. This could prove that the map I have to the time stone is real…. Do you think that Orion would let Ember stay with me?"

Roland turned towards his sister in surprise, "are you serious?"

"I always wanted someone I could call my own." Tilly smiled at her brother. "Besides I would rather she come and live with me, then possibly be sent back to her isle or even imprisoned."

2 hours later.

.
Sofia had met Orion and Chrysta on the steps of the palace, "Princess Sofia, a pleasure to see you again."

"Nice you see you again Orion," Sofia said politely.

"I did some digging and found out that while the story of the ghoul king is nothing more than a legend. The ghouls do exist across EveRealm and the isles. They had dwindled in numbers over the years but they do exist." Orion explained.

"Then how come there are no records of their existence other than stories?" Sofia asked.

"The idea of beings that are forced to feed on others for their powers to work, would put fear in the hearts of many. So the council agreed to hide their existence from the whole world as long as the ghouls didn't go overboard and try anything deemed evil. If a ghoul was caught then it would be put to death."

"What is gonna happen to Ember?" Sofia asked in concern.

"I would like to meet her before I give my information to the council right now only I and Chrysta know," Orion answered.

"What happens after you meet her." The young protector asked.

"After that, I will pass judgment and either I bring her with me to face higher judgment from the council. Or we try and figure something else out." Sofia sighed a bit in relief.

The group arrived at the room where Ember waiting and King Roland was waiting outside. "Orion pleasure to have you back in Enchantcia."

"The honor is all mine," Orion replied with a bow of respect. "I understand that there was an event that happened last night, which ended in the deaths of 14 guards and 1 man correct."

"Sadly yes." King Roland answered. "I do not believe that she was in true control of her powers to an extent."

"Allow me to meet with her," Orion answered.

"As you wish." Roland opened the door, and the angel-winged man walked inside and closed the door behind him.

"You must be the little ghoul I have been hearing about." Ember jumped as she faced the larger man. "Do not be alarmed I just wanna talk to you."

"Don't worry," Tilly replied. "Orion is a wise man he is not here to hurt you."

"I understand that you have been killing people." Ember looked towards the ground in shame. "I just have one question for you. Do you regret what you have done?"

"Of course!" Ember cried out. "I don't wanna hurt anyone, but without food of some kind I lose control and go on a frenzy!"

"I wanna make sure of that." Orion held up his hand and it slowly became yellow. "Tell me the truth."

"What do you me…." Ember's eyes went yellow and she seemed to be almost in a trance. "Asl me your questions and I will answer them."

"Truth magic." Tilly looked on in surprise. Truth magic was an extremely high level of magic that only someone who is skilled in light magic can use. "Is this necessary?"

"Yes," Orion responded. "Tell me do you really regret the pain and death you have caused?"

"I am deeply sorry, every since I was born I had no one and everyone was scared of me. I couldn't control my powers so everyone thought I was a demon. If I didn't feed on humans I would die, and I don't wanna die. I love the animals on this earth, and when the people hated me, the animals cared for me." Ember answered.

"How many people have you killed?" Tilly rose to her feet.

"Orion enough you are going too far!" Tilly snapped.

"I have lost count, I feed once every month or I risk death and I have been tortured by the humans that have captured me. Those who tried to kill me I have killed them in self-defense." Orion let out a steady breath, this magic took a lot out of him.

"Do ghouls only feet people?"

"From what I know yes, I do not know much about my people only what seems to be a book my parents left for me."

"Where is the book?"

"I no longer have it. It was stolen from me when I was 6 years old." Orion waved his hand and his spell broke and he dropped to one knee, and Ember fell back in bed very tired. Once Orion had recovered, he stood to his feet.

"She is being more than truthful Matilda," Orion spoke.

"Just call me Tilly." Tilly helped Ember back to a sitting position. "What is gonna happen now?"

"Well… I will not be taking her into the council. I just need to figure out what to do with her now." Orion answered.

"I'll take her off your hands." Orion turned towards Tilly who was gently rubbing her back. "I want to adopt her as my own."

"Are you sure that is a wise idea?" Orion asked.

"I am very sure," Tilly answered.

"Alright you can do as you please, but she is under your care if anything happens you are gonna be held responsible." Tilly nodded her head.

"You mean that?" Tilly looked down at Ember with a smile. Ember had tears running down her face, "you wanna take me your child?"

"I do." Tilly gently wiped a tear from Ember's eye. "I really truly do, you deserve so much better than what you have gotten."

Ember began to cry tears of joy as she spun around and hugged Tilly. "Thank you!"

"You are very welcome." Tilly hugged her tightly

One Hour Before Orion Arrived.

A young child by the name of Jenny had been given a once and a lifetime offer. She had been an orphan in The Dunwiddie Orphanage for a while now, and her wonderful work effort around the village. Had reached the palace, and thanks to Queen Miranda she had been offered a job to work with the castle staff! Jenny had gotten her belongings together in a suitcase and was waiting for the couch to come to get her. "Hey, are you Jenny?" Jenny turned to her left and saw a bright-eyed, orange haired girl come running over to her.

"Yes I am, and who might you be?" Jenny asked.

"I heard your good at helping people, can you help me really fast." The girl had tears in her eyes. "I lost my puppy somewhere in the woods over there, I need someone to help me find him."

"Of course," Jenny dropped her suitcase and quickly followed the girl to where her puppy was. She led her deep into the woods and out of sight. "What was his name?"

Jenny let out a started cry as the girl wrapped one arm around her neck, "Sorry about this but I have some investigating to do and with you going to the palace like everyone keeps saying. You are just what I need!" Jenny tried to scream but then her neck was snapped!

Ivy let go of the girl and watched her limp body fall to the dirt, "oh wait… I wasn't so supposed to kill you…. Oh well!" Ivy took Jenny's clothes off of her and licked her lips. "Now to get rid of the evidence." Ivy dragged the poor girl's body to the edge of a river and pushed her in.

Once she had gotten dressed she waited for a coach to come and pick her up. "You must be Jenny correct." A certain well-dressed older man came out of the coach. "My name is Baileywick the castle steward it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you very much Mr. Baileywick." Ivy did her best curtsey. "Can we leave as soon as possible I wanna get started in the palace as soon as I can."

"Eager to work I see." Baileywick opened the door for the child. "Well, you will begin working in a couple days. The staff is very excited to meet you."

Ivy giggled, "I am very glad to be of service."

Once they had arrived and Ivy had gotten the chance to met the staff, a really nice band of workers. She had been given a very nice little room, a couple of dresses for work and for her days off. She had changed and pulled out her a small wand, "open." A small mirror portal opened and Ivy waved at Jing-Shuan. "Jimmy!"

"Are you in the palace?"

"Yep, I killed a girl and took her job here," Ivy whispered.

"You killed a girl!"

Ivy quickly shushed him, "don't yell your gonna get me caught."

"For the love of God Ivy!" Jing-Shuan snapped. "I said don't kill anyone!"

"Well, I couldn't get the job without her dead." Ivy snapped right back. "Don't worry her body is in the river near the Dunwiddie Orphanage, can you get it and do something to it?"

Jing-Shuan sighed, "fine but DO NOT kill anyone else and DO NOT engage that ghoul if it is there."

"Ok… do you still love me?" Ivy asked.

"You are my apprentice, of course, I love you," Jing-Shuan remarked.

"Then you need to trust me, I will let you know when I find that ghoul or any information I find out, bye bye", Ivy hung up her call and hid her wand in her sock. Ivy left her room and asked Baileywick if she could meet her employers as well as help serve dinner tonight.

"Are you sure you wanna jump right into the kitchen staff already? You don't have to do that today." Ivy nodded her head yes with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm not used to sitting down you see. I need to be on my feet doing something or I don't feel right. I also wanna thank the king and queen for giving me this wonderful job." Baileywick smiled at the young lady.

"Well if you can hold your excitement for dinner tonight, you can meet the royal family tonight." Ivy curtseyed to Baileywick before turning around with a smirk on her face.

Dinner That Night.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Ember asked frightened as she looked back and forth between the staff as she and Tilly made their way to the dining hall.

"Well I suppose they wanna know who you are, you are a very new and cute face." Ember blushed at Tilly's remark.

"Do they know what I am?" Tilly shook her head.

"If you want to tell people who you are, then I will support you will all my heart. If you chose to keep in a secret then I will support that as well." Tilly spoke quietly.

"What about the king and queen are they gonna tell anyone what about the guard!" Tilly gently took Ember by her shoulders. "Don't worry, they are under orders from the king himself not to leak anything that they saw, and my brother does wanna tell his children. Look at me Ember." Ember looked up at her new mother. "No one is gonna try and hurt you and if someone trys they will have me to deal with."

Ember gave a soft smile that slowly formed into a frown, "why are you helping me like this… what do you get?"

"Well I get a daughter, and I wanted to help you after hearing your story." Tilly reached out and gently rubbed her check. "I am not doing this for my personal gains. I am doing this for you."

Tilly stood up and offered Ember her hand, "come on we don't wanna be late for dinner."

"Ok", Ember glady took her hand and asked a question. "Am I a princess?"

"Yes you are." Ember's eyes lite up.

Once the dup had arrived to the doors of the dining room Ember stopped walking. "What if no one likes me?"

"You've already met The King and Queen as well as their daughter Sofia. I am sure that Amber and James would love to meet you." Tilly gave her a hug. "Trust me you are in very fine hands now."

Ember took a deep breath and she and Tilly headed inside of the dining room. "Who is that daddy?" Princess Amber asked.

"Well Amber and James this is Ember." Tilly led Ember to the table. "And she is your new cousins, I am going to adopt her."

"Seriously." Amber exclained in glee.

"Brilliant," James added.

"Ember meet, James and Amber, and you have already met Sofia." Tilly introduced.

Roland had asked Baileywick to keep everyone out while he had a very important conversation with his children.

"So you're a ghoul?" James asked in amazement.

"Yes," Ember said softly. "I didn't mean to do all of the things I've done, you have no idea how bad I feel about it. I'm a monster."

"We've meet monsters before," Amber spoke up. "We've meet evil people, people who wanted the worse, and you are not a monster."

"I agree." James added, "you aren't a horrible person."

"Now that that's taken care of how about we get something to eat, and get to know the newest member of our family." Roland clapped his hands and the doors came out and the first dishes were being brought in. Along with the servers was a little girl with a bright smile on her face.

"Ah, your majesties this young lady is Jenny." Baileywick intruduced.

"Finally we meet." Miranda gave the girl a bright smile. "Jenny, I am so happy to meet you, we heard so much about your work effort all around the village and wanted to give you something in return."

Ivy bowed her head towards the queen and king. "You have done so much for me and I am so greatful for what you have done. I promise that I will do my best here at the palace each and every day of my life."

"No need for that Jenny," Roland answered. "We know that you are gonna be a wonderful addition to our staff."

"Thank you, your majesties, now if you excuse me I have more to do tonight." Ivy bowed one more time and left the room. As she left for a slight second she and Ember locked eyes and both of them thought the same thing.

"Where have I seen you before?"