Chapter 25 - Keys to the Past
Meanwhile, in a heavily dark and forested area of the fantasy section, a certain evil sorceress and her raven were plotting something. "Eddie, I think it's finally happened!" Malaria said with an evil grin, "I think Bethylasia has finally been found!"
"Oh boy, that's great!" beamed Eddie, "Now what?"
"We just wait until the right time," said Malaria, "I can sense that there may be a party coming real soon!"
"A party?" cried Eddie as he grabbed a party hat and put it on his head, "I just LOVE parties! Especially the kind where you get to show off your dancing skills – I could show you the latest dance moves, and…"
"It will be a grand and wonderful party," continued Malaria with a smirk, "Bethylasia will have her moment."
"Who cares about the princess?" said Eddie as he danced the Bossa-Nova.
"And then, I will frighten her with her greatest fear and kill her!" finished the sorceress.
"Okay, then – kill her?!" cried Eddie as he stopped dancing and his party hat fell off, "But your Excellency, why? What about the party?"
"That's the place I'm choosing to kill the little brat," laughed Malaria, "I'll transform into what killed her friend, and then I will finish her off!"
"But why not just forget about her and your cousin and get a life?" asked Eddie with concern.
"Oh, not to worry, I'll get a life," said Malaria before laughing, "HER'S! Not to mention the lives of her little animal friends and her grandfather!" The evil sorceress then went back to work looking at her spell book for more evil magic.
In the meantime, after being comforted by the Pagemaster, Bethylasia was ready to go back to the palace. But then she noticed the book animals and stopped. "Um, Grandfather," she said, "I need to talk to these guys for a moment."
The old wizard nodded and let his granddaughter get down on her knees. The book animals gave her sad looks, and Sci Fi said, "Sweetheart, we're so sorry we let you down."
"No," said Bethylasia, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have eavesdropped, I shouldn't have gotten angry, and I shouldn't have hit you in the face, Sci Fi. I'm so sorry for everything!" She then embraced all her friends in a big group hug.
Sci Fi nuzzled Bethylasia's cheek while shedding a tear and said, "Bec-er, Bethylasia, nothing was your fault. Mystery and I were just trying to help you, but the Pagemaster misunderstood what was going on."
"She's right, honey," said Fantasy, "And we never wanted any kind of reward. The only thing that matters to us is helping you help us break this curse."
"Aye," said Adventure, "The sooner you break this curse, the better. But for now, I think ye should spend time with yer long-lost grandfather and remember all the happy times before anything bad happened."
The Pagemaster then put his hand on Bethylasia's shoulder, indicating that they should get moving. "I'd say that I think we're all even now," the girl said with a small smile.
"Of course," said Mystery, "You can't stay mad at your closest friends forever, you know."
"Good luck, sweetheart," said Sci Fi, "And remember that we're all here to help you if you need it!"
Bethylasia got up and walked with her grandfather while looking back at her friends. The animals all smiled at her before they decided to go their own ways back to the palace.
Back at the palace, the Pagemaster showed Bethylasia a secret room in the cellar. Inside, there were the stone bodies of the royal family all huddled together. Since that dreadful incident, the Pagemaster had ordered his servants to keep the stone family in that very room to rest in peace until the lost princess could return and break Malaria's curse. Bethylasia sighed and said sadly, "I remember now. It was an awful day when your cousin killed Grandmother and turned the others into stone."
"Yes," said the Pagemaster, "But tomorrow night, we shall have a bittersweet celebration. We will remember your fallen family, but we will also celebrate your return until you decide to end my cousin's evil curse once and for all!"
Bethylasia smiled a little bit as she then noticed a dusty chest. "Grandfather, do you know what's in here?" she asked. The Pagemaster just smiled and used some of his magic to open the chest. Inside, there were old pictures of the royal family, along with some of the children's most prized possessions. "Oh, all my drawings!" Bethylasia cried as she searched through pieces of paper with drawings on them. She held up one of them depicting the palace chef and laughed, "This one's my favorite! I remember when I showed it to everybody, and Donovan made me so mad! He said it looked like a horse vomiting out spaghetti! He was right."
The Pagemaster laughed and said, "When I hear your laughter, I hear my wife laughing." He then reached into the chest and pulled out the book he gave to Bethylasia on her seventh birthday.
The girl gasped and said, "Hey! I think I know how to open this!" She took off her necklace, inserted the book charm into the keyhole, turned it to the left, and the book unlocked! Bethylasia opened it up and saw pieces of the past on pages. "This was your book of secrets and events, wasn't it, Grandfather?" she said. The Pagemaster nodded as Bethylasia turned a few pages and saw a picture of her and her grandfather reminiscing happy memories.
"Just watching you smile reminds me of your father," said the Pagemaster, "Crown Prince Matthias. If he saw you right now, he would be beyond delighted." The wizard then reached into the chest and took out a jeweled box. After blowing the dust off a bit, he opened it and revealed a golden tiara with a red ruby in the center. "Do you know what else you inherit?" he asked his granddaughter, "You inherit the beauty and intelligence of your mother, Natalia, Crown Princess of Libralia!"
The Pagemaster placed the tiara on top of Bethylasia's head, and the girl looked at herself in a nearby mirror. She was surprised and delighted when she saw her reflection. We then cut away to the next morning when Bethylasia was in her bedroom, looking at herself in the mirror again. This time, she still had the tiara, but she also had her hair done in a high bun, and wore a silvery white gown with a halter neckline, long, white gloves, a deep red sash going across her chest and around her waist, diamond earrings, a gold necklace with a shiny pendant, and white high heels with bows on them. Bethylasia smiled as she turned around and admired her new dress, while Fantasy and Sci Fi looked on in awe.
