The Magical Bond Between Two Hearts
Chapter 23: Searching for Answers
Arren got the feeling that Eris seemed a little out of sorts. It was like this since they had left her icy home. He wanted to know what was going on and why she seemed to want to leave so suddenly. Usually his teasing would annoy Eris whenever something like this happened, yet…she didn't react in the slightest to his prodding.
"Okay Eris, you're acting really weird. What is going on?" he asked as they were walking through a dense part of the candy tree forest.
Eris stopped walking as he passed by a bit, though he turned back to look at her with confusion in his eyes.
"Eris?" Arren said questioningly looking at her face.
He had never seen her so concerned and determined at the same time. Her eyes were almost glossed over, but had fire in them.
"I felt…something bad had happened. I can't explain it…I don't know what it is but I know it's important we go find Lucy." Eris explained picking up her pace now.
Arren was barely keeping up with her when he happened to look down and see something small and shiny on the ground. Picking it up it was a small ring with a green like stone in the center. It was on what looked like a broken chain, as if something or someone broke it
This ring though…where have I seen it before? Arren asked himself as he had stopped to think.
It must have been a minute before he noticed Eris coming back. She stopped as he held the ring up.
"That's Lucy's ring," she whispered in concern.
Arren's eyes widened knowing why Eris had come out here in the first place.
"We have to find her then we can't just stand here!" he shouted frantically looking around.
"Where can we go?!" Eris shouted back, "We don't even know where she went, or if someone has her!"
Arren stared at her, seeing her face for the first time. She looked so concerned and scared, more so than she ever did. He stepped towards her and embraced her gently. She felt stiff in his arms at first since whenever he had done this she would immediately pull away and yell at him. Yet in this moment Eris didn't pull away from him, but instead leaned into his hug. Arren smiled as he stood there with her in his arms comforting her.
"We'll find her, I promise that she'll be okay," he whispered softly to her, "Or at the very least the wrecker will find her."
Eris pushed a bit away from his hug to look at him. They both got the same idea in their head at that moment. Before another word was said they rushed off deeper into the forest knowing that they would find him somewhere, looking for her.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
"I know it was this way." Ralph said a bit frustrated.
"Right…not sure if retracing our steps is helping there, big guy." Vanellope smiled, but still held some concern in her eyes. She gave him a pat on his shoulder hoping it would help comfort him a bit.
He was certain that she was over here, but having searched for so long, Ralph wasn't quite sure even though the kid and Sorceress were with him to look. They ended up staring over the edge of a cliff, where it seemed she last was, but they never thought that Lucy would go this way at all.
"I'm sure we'll find her somewhere." Sorceress said trying to comfort him.
He looked at her with concern, though he did appreciate her trying to make things seem better, it wasn't helping much at all.
Where did you go Lucy? I wish I knew…
"Hey, who are those guys?" he heard Sorceress say as she pointed to a yellow haired lady and a black haired guy.
"Eris, Arren?" Ralph frowned as he ran up to them.
They looked exhausted as if they both ran all the way here. Eris seeming out of breath with Arren trying to hold her up after he had caught his breath.
"We…had to…come and find you…" Eris said trying to catch her breath.
"I told you not to run so fast." Arren said to her worriedly.
The trio looked at each other then back at the two with concern.
"How come?" Vanellope asked as she could see that Ralph was growing quiet.
They said nothing at first, slowly looking at each other for a minute. The group was in silence for another minute as the trio were eager to learn why they had come a long way. Eris took a shaky breath and held out and enclosed hand to Ralph who was the closest.
"We found this…" she said and opened her hand to reveal a small ring that was on a broken chain.
Ralph stared at this trinket in confusion. He had never seen it but couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen it vaguely before. He could see that the kid and Sorceress had gotten closer to look at it too.
"That's a pretty little ring." Sorceress commented after having looked at it for a bit.
"It is shiny though." Vanellope said frowning.
"It's…" Eris paused making the trio look at her as she took another shaky breath.
"This belongs to Lucy."
Ralph froze, finally remembering where he had seen it before. Once when he and Lucy were together she had shown him the little ring, saying that her sister had given it to her when she was a very young kid. He blinked and gently reached out to the ring, and was able to take it in his own huge hand without anyone saying he couldn't. He stared at it for what seemed like a lifetime, starting to feel much more determined to find her now than ever.
"Did you see her at all?" he asked the two with confidence.
He could tell that everyone was shocked to hear him like this, but he wasn't in the mood to give them an explanation. Arren shook his head and sighed sadly.
"We haven't seen her at all since she was getting ready to meet up with you," he answered sadly.
"Actually…"
Eris stood up looking like she had recovered from her run and stepped toward the cliff side.
"Actually…what?" Sorceress asked coming up next to her and looking at where she was.
Eris turned to the trio in uncertainty, "Something happened here, and I think she might be in danger," she explained, "Something or someone was here and I think they had the intent in finding her. She is down there…." Eris pointing down toward the bottom of the cliff, "Don't ask me why but…I just know."
"You're sure Lucy's down there?" Ralph asked furrowing his eyebrows.
Eris gave him one confirming nod, looking at each individual here.
"Okay, let's go then." Ralph said walking towards the edge of the cliff and looking down. He could feel his small friend clinging on tightly to him.
"This is somewhere I haven't even explored. Are you sure about this Stinkbrain?" Vanellope asked unsurely.
He nodded once at his friend, then turned to Sorceress holding out his hand. She nodded as well and took his hand as the three of them jumped down to the bottom of the cliff.
"Good luck," was all he could hear Eris say as they made a speedy descent down.
Ralph was used to falling from very high places (he was thrown off the Niceland Building all the time after all), and was able to land on the ground without so much as a bruise or scratch. Sorceress was lucky enough to float down to the ground slowly even though she was holding his hand as he had landed before her.
"Please don't do that again!" the kid shouted as she was still barely clinging onto his neck.
Ralph could not help but chuckle and apologized, but his attention was soon turned towards the forest ahead. It wasn't at all like the candy cane trees he would always walk through to get to Sugar Rush's track. These trees were a lot darker in color and the feeling was not as comforting and safe, but more foreboding.
"Let's go then," he heard Sorceress say as she had walked forward a bit. He gulped once, held the ring tightly in his fist and started to follow.
Sorceress looked back seeing that he and the girl were following. She was used to dark places like this since her game was just like this. However, she was contemplating something even before she had met up with Ralph that day. It was something she had been tossing around in her mind for about a year now, and wondered if she would tell him about it or not.
She wondered if Ralph would understand her feelings towards him, even though she knew that he already had feelings for the one they were looking for.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
Everything was black for Lucy at first when she started to stir. Soon she realized that her world was coming back as she slowly opened her eyes. Yet she still thought she was in the dark from where she was.
Am I…alive? Lucy thought as she struggled to sit up, feeling pain coursing through her body.
"You shouldn't move around too much. That curse did a great deal on you."
Lucy froze as her vision started to clear up more, and turned to the source of the voice. Her eyes met a man that looked back at her with a mask over his eyes. It took her a moment to recognize that it was Shane. She pushed herself back away from him frightened.
"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you Lucy. I saved you after all." Shane said to her trying to sound comforting.
She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something back.
But to her horror, no sound came out.
Lucy panicked and tried again and again to say something but did not have any luck. She looked at Shane after her fifth try with a look of plea.
"Calm down, you're alright for now," he said as he got closer and placed a hand on her trembling shoulder, "Seems like it's already made you unable to talk like the other shadows."
This only made Lucy freak out even more as she was now shaking violently.
This can't be happening! Why can't I fight it back like I did before?!
"I feel your pain Lucy." Shane said as if he knew what she was thinking.
She looked at him then gave him a glaring look. She wanted to know what was going on, and for him to start explaining.
"Okay…I'll tell you everything," he said giving one sad sigh before continuing, "I know you because we were childhood friends from a long time ago. I've been looking for you ever since we had gotten separated…"
Lucy grabbed his arm and frowned, I don't remember you at all! I would have remembered that….
Wait…
She suddenly recalled the sudden flash of memory she had before her uneventful fall off the cliff. Wide eyed she looked at Shane with confusion and curiosity.
"I assume you don't remember me at all. It was a long time ago…" he said sighing sadly again.
He gently removed her hand from his arm and held it in his hands, "You had fallen down the cliff from those twin shadows. I was able to catch you as you were floating down and got away…"
Lucy frowned and squeezed his hands, wondering how she could communicate with her voice gone. After thinking she reached for the brush she always had behind her ear and started to make letters with the special paint she used:
I was floating? What happened, who were those two? she asked with concern in her eyes.
"The two twins you saw are the best minions that the Shadowman has other than I." Shane explained after seeing her writings, "They work best together, making their attacks and their strategy a lot stronger than they would alone. It would be best to stay away from them for now."
He turned away for a moment as he was getting something from behind his back. This left Lucy to think about what she had heard. She noticed now that her clothes were different, it was no longer the lilac dress she picked out but a blue dress with sleeves that covered her magical tattoo on her left shoulder. What was even stranger was the fact that she was wearing the same colored shoes.
How on earth did my clothes suddenly change, and why am I wearing shoes?!
Lucy took a deep breath before she freaked out again, then turned her thoughts to what Shane said to her before.
If what he says is true, then…everyone that knows me is in danger. I'm in danger. I have to get stronger…
She flinched as she noticed Shane holding out something. She gingerly took it to find that it was a dark cloak. She frowned at the cloak then at him.
"Use this cloak, it'll help you hide yourself from the twins." Shane said as he was getting to his feet.
Lucy looked back down at the cloak and blinked once. After staring at it for what seemed like a long time she put it on and pulled the hood over her eyes to hide most of her face. She stood up slowly, brush in hand and wrote: Why are you helping me?
"Because I want to help you cure the curse and defeat the Shadowman, so that you can be happy."
Shane put a hand on top of her head and patted it once before turning away and going deeper into the trees. Lucy stared at where he disappeared for a moment before following him.
The two dark figures had been walking for a while when Lucy could hear something behind them. She stopped and turned to the source of the sound, but all she could see was darkness.
Be brave Lucy. You got to fight back to defend yourself. No one's here to save you…
She tilted her head as the sounds came closer, as if it was something big. Before she could walk forward to find out who it was Lucy was pulled back by an arm and was pushed back behind a tree. She struggled and was able to get free to see that it was Shane that had grabbed her. She frowned at him for pulling her away, but her expression softened when she heard voices coming their way.
These voices…why do they sound familiar?
Lucy leaned forward to try and hear them clearly, but frowned again as she was pushed back by Shane once again.
What gives? she wrote to Shane angrily.
"Stay…here," he simply said as he left her side towards the voices.
For a moment Lucy had no idea why he would want her to stay in one spot. She knew that whoever they were, they were not shadows. She could tell if one was here if she felt a sudden fear, and a very cold chill. But this was different. Leaning forward again she listened.
"I think we're lost guys. There's no way she could have gone this way."
Lucy let out a quiet gasp and headed quickly towards the voices. She knew who they were, and why they were here.
But she could also feel a cold chill through her body.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
"You can't just give up like that. We have to find her." Sorceress argued as she was leading on through the dark forest.
"I'm not saying I'm giving up at all! I'm just…thinking that she couldn't have gone this way." Ralph replied back frustrated.
He still had the ring in the same hand, having held onto it since he had taken it from Eris. Vanellope had since gone ahead with Sorceress as he was falling behind a bit, even though he could catch up to them in a heartbeat. This did give him some time to think, and hope that he could find Lucy soon.
Suddenly a small sound made him stop in his tracks. It didn't sound at all like something coming to attack them, but somehow Ralph figured that they were being followed. Looking around he took a few more cautious steps before hearing something behind him.
"Who's out there?!" he shouted into the dark with his huge fists clenched and raised to confront whoever was following them.
There was silence for a moment before he heard footsteps coming towards him slowly. A dark cloaked figure stepped out to the side from behind a tree. Ralph was caught off guard as he just stared at the figure who was looking back at him as well. He could not see any of their face, or anything else for the matter.
Is this a shadow? was the only question that came to Ralph's mind.
The figure stared at him for another few moments before retreating back slowly a few steps. Then they ran in the opposite direction.
"Wait, hold on!" Ralph called and ran after the figure.
Though no matter how fast he ran, he could not seem to catch up to the figure. Finally, after what seemed like hours he stopped in a lit up clearing. He stopped and looked around for the person to see where they went, but there was no sign of them anywhere.
"Ralph!"
He turned back to see Vanellope and Sorceress having caught up with him and panting.
"S-Sorry for leaving you like that," he said chuckling nervously.
"How come you left us so suddenly?" Sorceress asked.
"We were being followed, so I confronted them."
"And…?" Vanellope pried on.
Ralph hesitated and frowned, "Whoever it was didn't have any intention of attacking, but they ran away before I could say anything."
"That's odd." Sorceress said frowning as well.
Suddenly Ralph felt a chill go through him, as if something bad was coming their way. He looked around and had a look that said he was going to face anything. What he heard were low growls and howls all around them in the dark trees.
"Um guys?" Vanellope said nervously and pointed all around them.
At what looked like shadowy like dogs.
All at once they ran towards the trio with their fangs bared. Ralph was quick to react and was able to push and punch them away from himself and his friends. Some of them cowered back, but there were still more coming at them.
Now it was Sorceress's turn to fight them off, as she used a magical lightning attack on a group of them. Some disappeared right as they were hit, as she was able to wipe out most of them. But there was still more of them coming.
"Great, there's too many of them." Sorceress said annoyed but with a bit of fear in her voice.
"Stay close you two." Ralph said as he prepared to defend against this big pack of shadow dogs.
As they slowly drew near he pushed away each one that attacked, until one of them found their teeth in his arm. Cringing Ralph threw the dog off of him with one of his hands grabbing onto it. Sorceress immediately grabbed a hold of his arm as he had almost staggered to his knees. By now they were all closing in as the trio could not react in time.
Ralph thought that it could get no worse than this, when he was surprised to see the same cloaked figure from before rush out in front of them, with a sword in hand. The figure was no less a person.
He watched in confusion and in curiosity with Sorceress and Vanellope at his side as the person standing in front of them was about to confront the dangerous dogs that surrounded them.
And for a moment Ralph thought that he saw the person smile in a very familiar way.