Chapter 11
"Haven, tell me you didn't do this," said Arielle.
"I will but you won't believe me," Haven said, "'Cause it isn't true. 'Cause I did do it. No use denying it now. Proof's in your hand."
Arielle dropped the goblet on the floor.
"Thing about magic: pretty mess-free. Doesn't really leave any clues. Except to the common Witch. Didn't think you'd think about something like the crest. I mean, 'duh' moment for the day. No idea why I didn't realize that was gonna come from mixing the poison into the kids' drinks and fixing the tray."
"So everyone else was telling the truth," said Kelly.
"Oh, totally. Mars is a loony, Saffron is way too touchy, Karen is a bit over-cranky, and Brad has horrible timing with the music. Or incredible timing if you look at it my way."
"Confession time," said Ryan, "Here's your chance out."
"No, here's your chance out," said Amanda, preparing to open the doors, "If these open, we know it was Haven. If not, she's clean." She hesitated and finally pushed the door… It opened. She turned back to Haven. They got her.
Brad looked at his sister. "Haven, you didn't."
"What?" Haven asked, glaring at her brother, "You trusted me? No, you didn't. You never did. NONE OF YOU! My whole life I did nothing but dream about taking the throne. I never once fell in love, I got straight A's at Witch U…and then my own sister snatches it from under me, even though she had a fiancée. So Brad gets married and I'm stuck as what? The alternate? The advisor? No! I'm a cook! Where does that put me? What does that make me? Nothing but the queen's baby sister."
"Only the firstborn can take the throne, Haven, and you knew that," Arielle said.
"Unless, of course, the firstborn is 'a tampered Witch.' You had a boyfriend, Brad had a girlfriend, I was a virgin my whole life! Where's the justice in that? It was supposed to be me! And now you and your boy finally snap and you decided to hand over the throne. Do you choose your own sister? No, you went with some stupid Halflings! I'm not gonna stand for that. What other option do I have than to get rid of them and make you finally see what's right in front of you? I am the rightful queen of Anasala and NO ONE is taking that away from me!" She took out her wand. "I'm the one who deserves the crown, take everyone else and knock them down!" She waved her wand at them and everyone was knocked into the walls. While they were recovering, she raced out of the room through the open doors and made a run for it.
Kelly was the first one up. She ran out of the room and chased after Haven. Ryan followed. Then Mars and Arielle.
"Stay here!" Arielle called to everyone else, "We'll take care of this!" Before anyone could object, she zapped the doors closed again.
"Wait!" Amanda started after them. She ran up to the doors but didn't get through them before they closed.
Haven ran past Jupiter's hall. As she kept running, she looked back and saw Mars following closely behind, followed by Kelly, Ryan, and Arielle. She started to run faster.
Kelly stopped at the hall as Jupiter approached her. "Jupiter."
"What's going on? Where were you?"
"In the banquet hall."
"For 4 days?"
"Long story. Long story short: Haven, Arielle's sister, tried to kill me and my brother and now we're chasing her."
"I'll help."
"You don't have to—"
"But I want to."
Kelly smiled. "Thanks."
"You better keep going."
Kelly nodded and ran.
Jupiter stared after. "No idea…" She snapped her fingers and disappeared.
Back in Acmetropolis…
Daniella finally stopped screaming.
Rev stopped running in front of her.
"Rev…"
Rev turned around and saw her holding a tiny baby roadrunner. He smiled.
Daniella smiled back. Then stopped smiling. "Look out!"
Rev whirled around and kicked an oncoming wind Golem (which was no easy feat without super speed, I might add; luckily, he did have super speed). "So-a-name…it's-a-girl-right?" Daniella nodded. "How-about-Rebecca?"
Daniella thought about it. "Too simple for a Witch. Needs a spin of a touch…2 Ks instead of C's?"
"Perfect."
Daniella looked at the clock and stopped smiling. 11:55. It was almost the end of the year…
The rest of the group raced up.
"Aunt Danni! Uncle Rev!" Sarah cried, "I think the Golems…oh…"
Daniella smiled as Rev helped her stand up. "Named her Rebekka, but that's a story for later. We need to get Kelly and Ryan back here now!"
"I know their week's almost out," said Nadine, "But Arielle's with them, so they should be safe!"
"It's not that!"
"Then what's wrong?"
Back in Anasala…
When her 4 pursuers were far enough behind, Haven turned 2 corners and hid in a panel. "OK, need a spell to go faster…oh! The Run-a-Marathon spell!" She pulled her wand back out. "Skip it, jump it, hippity-hop, run 22.6 miles then stop!" She zapped her feet, hid her wand, and ran for it. Before even Rev could've taken a step, she was in the courtyard outside the door. "Love that spell. And you don't get motion sickness 'cause it only affects your feet." Suddenly, she heard approaching screaming. She dared to look up and Kelly and Ryan dropped on her.
"Alright, that's starting to get annoying," Kelly told her brother.
Suddenly, the doors to the castle opened and out came Arielle and Mars.
Haven started to run again but Kelly zapped the ground in front of her and she tripped…on a pineapple.
"Magic block came in handy," said Kelly.
Haven started to get up and run.
Jupiter appeared behind a nearby tree and looked at Haven. She remembered how Kelly had said she'd try her and her brother and became angry.
Haven tripped again. She gave up and turned back to them. "Arielle, you can't punish your sister like this, can you?"
"Oh, don't worry. You'll only be living without magic for 2 years."
Haven scoffed. "No big deal."
"2 human years."
Haven stared at her. "That's 2 decades! I can't survive that long without magic!"
"You can and you will. Or I'll turn you in to the Council and give Mars here a little blonde raven friend."
"Crow!" Mars snapped.
"Whatever!" Arielle snapped back.
"Alright, fine," Haven said, sitting up on the ground, "Turn me in. Take my magic. It's not gonna help your little mortal friends."
Kelly and Ryan realized that meant their family.
"What'd you do?" Kelly asked.
"Little psychic doesn't know? I sent an army of Golems after them. By now, at least one of them should be dead."
Kelly whirled around to face Arielle. "We have to get home."
Arielle looked at the horizon to see the sun setting. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you're too late."
"We may still be able to save them!"
"I know that, but you can't open the portal."
Back in Acmetropolis…
Sarah looked at the raging storm headed for them. "Why can't Kelly and Ryan come home?"
"We've been trying to tell you guys," Daniella explained, wrapping a blanket around baby Rebekka, "Ever since Eronor's attack, the Council has only allowed each Witch or Warlock a round-trip ticket once a year—Anasalan or earthen, whichever passes first. If you don't use your return portion of the trip before one ends, your stuck until another passes in the dimension you came from. And it's past midnight on New Year's Eve."
Sarah looked at the clock and saw it chime midnight. Daniella was right. Her brother and sister were stuck.
"There's gotta be some way we can get them back!" Tech cried.
"Well, how have you been communicating with them?" asked Austin.
"The headphones and Witch's Glass!" Lucy cried.
Wendy summoned the Witch's Glass from the tower. "Oh, please let them be OK!"
Back in Anasala…
Haven had been taken care of and now Kelly was pacing as she ranted to Ryan and everyone else.
"I can't believe we're stuck here!" Kelly ranted, "We can't just be stuck here!"
"I'm sorry, kiddo, but that's how this works," said Karen, "You can't go home now."
"We have to!" Kelly said, holding back the tears, "Our family's in trouble!"
"There has to be something we can do," Ryan said.
"Well, you could—" Carmen started, "No. But, maybe—uh-uh. Or how 'bout—girl, I got nothing!" Suddenly, she felt a vibrating in her pocket. She gasped. "The Witch's Glass!" She pulled it out and answered. "Wendy!"
Kelly snatched it. "Aunt Wendy! Please tell me you're OK!"
"We're fine! We were worried about you!"
"Oh, good! 'Cause we're good, really! Yeah, all except for the fact that we're stuck in your crazy homeland for the NEXT 10 YEARS!"
"Yeah, we were kind of wondering about that one," said Wendy.
Sarah snatched the Witch's Glass.
Kelly saw her sister on the line and left the room, Ryan following. "Sarah, listen…we're gonna open the portal."
"We can't, Kelly," Sarah said.
"We have to try."
"It's against the rules!" Daniella snapped.
"Then we'll have to work our way around the rules. Acmetropolis is in trouble here."
Daniella looked at her sisters. She was torn. In the end, she realized it was all about her family's safety. She nodded.
Sarah turned to look at Austin, but he was gone. He'd run off when Kelly had answered the Witch's Glass. She half-smiled. She looked back into the Witch's Glass and smiled.
Daniella handed Rebekka to Rev. "Gonna need all the help we can get." She joined hands with her sisters. Sarah, Michael, Robert, and finally Jack joined in.
Kelly and Ryan looked at each other and joined hands. They closed their eyes and prepared to launch the spell… "A new era begun, boundaries to drown, new life for both Witch and mortal, magic won't decide what's best for all people, but we decide it's time to open the portal!" Suddenly, a bright white light (triple rhyme was not intended) appeared and sucked them in.
The others opened their eyes after waiting in anticipation.
"Did it work?" asked Jack.
Suddenly, they heard distant screaming getting closer. They all slowly looked up and saw the bright white light reappear and let Kelly and Ryan drop on top of the circle of Witches.
Ryan got up first. It took him a few seconds, but he finally regained his balance. "Alright, now that's just plain getting old."
Kelly slowly stood up. "I am not OK." She fell over again. Sarah helped her up.
Sophie grabbed her children and hugged them tightly. "Oh, I thought I'd lost you!"
"Mom…choking…not breathing…" Ryan managed to get out.
Sophie let go. "Heh…sorry."
"That was a close one," said Kelly, "Boy, is that a story."
"A story we should probably also tell to the others back at the castle," said Ryan, "It's already been an hour for them!"
"Oh, right!" Kelly prepared to do the spell again. "You know, I would invite the rest of you, but I'm a bit concerned about turning you into pineapples."
"Magic block?" asked Wendy.
"Totally."
"Oh, then we're safe. If it'd lasted all week, it'd be over by now."
"Right." Kelly zapped them back.
The group gathered in the foyer of the castle.
"Did you find them?" Carmen asked her sister.
"No," Karen answered, her hands on her hips, "I wonder where those little twerps scampered off to."
As soon as she said it, they started to hear screaming in the distance.
"Yeah, I totally just jinxed us."
Before anyone could ask what she meant, the gang fell through a portal and landed on them all.
Wendy got up. "You guys were right, that is annoying."
Penelope looked at them. "But…what…and…you and…huh?"
"Yeah, I don't think we really got it either," said Kelly.
Carmen smiled and got up. "You guys totally just figured your way around the rules."
"Yeah, totally."
"You permanently opened the portal?" Arielle asked.
"You're not mad, are you?"
"Oh, I'm not. You did for the right reasons." She smiled at their family. "However, the Council is not gonna be happy about this."
"Yeah, should've seen that one coming."
"But we can worry about them later. You guys need to save your world and prepare for a coronation tomorrow."
Sarah and Kelly hugged. Nadine looked at them and they pulled her in.
"Oh!" Arielle started to pull off the bracelet she was wearing. "Sophie, here's your bracelet back."
Sophie smiled and took it. "Finally. After 21 years, you're lucky you're the queen. Otherwise, I'd be zapping you right now for taking it."
Arielle smiled.
"She stole it?" asked Lucy.
"What?" Arielle asked, "No. It's just that the bracelet used to be a clouded leopard and I was always a klutz in high school so she was worried I might break it."
Kelly looked at her mom. "Skeeter?"
"Yes," the triplets and Arielle all said.
"Enough said."