The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 11 (Scavenger Hunt)

Aveline groaned and slowly opened her eyes, wincing as the sunlight stabbed her. It was the next day already, had she been out that long? The last thing she remembered was hugging Astor, then someone showed up. Gasping, she called for her brother. When she tried to move her arms, she could feel them wrapped around the back of a chair with metal handcuffs rubbing her wrist as she struggled. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see Astor sitting beside her, his head resting on her shoulder and his eyes shut. Unconscious, no doubt.

She turned her eyes and saw they were seated on a balcony, overlooking all of Sviederbach. In front of her, Martin and Mala were standing with their backs turned to her. She looked over her shoulder and spotted Roffe, and the rest of Parliament, with their heads bowed. Suddenly, it was hitting her, the gravity of her situation. "My family, they have my family…" She clenched her teeth, her throat rumbled and her fiery glare fell upon Martin's back, burning him. "Martin Lamont! What the hell have you done to my family? Where is my father!" Martin flinched and spun around, smirking dangerously at her. "If you've done anything to my mom and dad, I swear to god-"

"So glad to see you awake, Princess." Martin stepped forward and pointed his finger at her. Mala looked over with sad, guilty eyes. Aveline wasn't sure what to think in regards to her, it didn't seem like the girl wanted to be here, so why was she involved? "Check your neck, Aveline." Scared and angry, she lifted her hand and felt a strange metal collar around her throat. She gasped out and started tugging at it, cursing it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Try to take it off, and all I have to do is press a button, you're done."

"You fucking asshole!" She growled and quickly looked to Astor, he had the same collar around his neck. "Take it off him, he doesn't need to be involved in this! Remove it! Bring back my father! I swear when I get out of this seat…"

"Such language for a Princess." Martin pulled a remote from his pocket, turning on a nearby projector that shot a hologram up in the air. It revealed several camera screens focused on every member of her family. "There they are…"

Her heart stopped when she saw Gunther and Ander together, struggling against their own bonds. Everyone else was still unconscious. "Where…where the hell are they, Martin?"

"I'm getting to that."

"Where are they, damn it!" Gunther and Ander were together, Frankie and Karin were together, Cece was alone and confused. Noak and Astrid were together. Ty, Tinka and August were all together, Rocky was with her children, Kuno and Michael were together, but Mia was alone. She felt an emptiness inside as her eyes widened. "Oh god," she whispered, "You fucking separated the twins! You idiot! Never separate the twins!" Yelling was getting her nowhere. Whatever Martin wanted, she didn't care, she just wanted her family. "Fine Martin, what do you want? I swear though, if you hurt my family, and if you dare do anything to Astor…you're going to regret ever being born."

"Now now Aveline, is that any way to talk to the potential future King of Sviederbach?" Her face fell and her voice grew flat. It was hard to believe the words that just came from his mouth, but yet, she felt she should have expected it.

"What?" She turned her eyes to Roffe and he looked away shamefully. The papers in his hand told her there was nothing she could do to change the situation. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Martin had just nabbed every heir to the throne, as well as anyone else that could potentially try to move in, such as the Bransford family. "Shit, he's done his research…" If she tied anything, he could kill her with that remote, or even her relatives. In which case, the next direct link to the family that was present were the Lamont's.

"While yes, my father and grandfather still live, that does technically mean one of them will take the throne." She didn't care, she still wanted to know what the collar was for and how to save her family before he hurt them. Ander started to stir, slowly opening his eyes and groaning loudly. She was glad to see he was okay, but upset that she let him get in this situation. Martin folded his arms over and narrowed his eyes. "However, we're giving you Hessenheffers a fighting chance."

"You better pray I don't get my hands on you," she snarled. He rolled his eyes and spread his arms out, scornfully smirking at her. Mala looked to Martin and trailed her eyes down towards the remote. She had a hungry look in her eyes. But was she strong enough to make any sort of movement for that remote?

"You're on live, Aveline. Those collars not only will explode if I press this button, but they also have a camera attached to them. Currently that camera, and the cameras set up wherever your relatives are, are all live on every television set in Sviederbach…so all of them will see the fall of the Hessenheffer clan, and the rise of the Lamont's! As it should have been centuries ago, my family will finally take the throne."

"You're insane!" She thought she heard a little bit of Sara in her tone, but thought better of it. If it was Martin's goal to torture her, to torture her family, he had another thing coming. It would be better if he just killed her directly, because there was no way she would let herself be tortured by this man. "What are your intentions, Martin?"

"You and your little brother get to play a game of Scavenger hunt." He put his hand to his chest and closed his eyes. "Now my family and I, we are honest people, and I am a man of my word. So when I say this, I mean every word of it. When you find your relative, you obviously will have to fight for them. When you've saved said relative, I will personally allow them to return to where they were taken from. They don't get to remove the collar though until you manage to rescue your father and beloved boyfriend, Noble Bransford…"

"And if I fail?"

"If you fail, I press a little button on my remote that kills every one of them." Her hear dropped and Astor yelped. "And yes, that goes for the ones you've saved already."

"That's not fair!"

"Oh no my dear, it is completely fair. You see, your main goal in a scavenger hunt is to locate key items. All the other items are inconsequential unless those key items are found. Well, Gunther and Ander are the key, and luckily for you, we've put them together. You have to find them and rescue them, if you don't succeed, everyone goes in one giant blast, and my father takes the throne." She growled and narrowed her glare onto him, did they have no other choice? No, she had to save her family. The throne didn't even matter as much as her family did.

"Martin. When I save my family…" She inhaled and breathed out slowly, her rage was on a steady increase. She was ready to tear him limb from limb. "I will personally…see to it…that you and your family…burn in hell!" She gave him a cold smirk and tilted her head to the right. "You're forgetting something, Martin…"

"What's that?"

"Sviederbach Law. Two things, since my dad is unable to be active and I'm the direct heir, that puts me in charge until I can get him…" Martin nodded, accepting that was indeed law. She had the say of what happens until Gunther is returned to the throne. "Second, by law, you'd only get the throne in the last resort, should all of my family pass, yes…however, right now, you and your entire family are guilty of the abduction and conspiracy of assassinating an entire Royal Family. By Sviederbach law, that means you can be executed at any time. If I succeed, and I will succeed. You're going to be arrested and you will be executed." He huffed and tapped his chin, glaring intensely at her.

"Fair enough, I do understand Sviederbach Law. I know that if you succeed, that's what will happen. If you fail, I will still take the throne, as Sviederbach has no choice."

"I'll see to it I won't fail." Martin lowered his hand and knelt before her, curling his finger beneath her chin. She snarled and resisted the temptation to rip his finger off with her teeth.

"Don't forget the spin of the game." There was more? What else could there possibly be? Save her relatives, that was key, finding her father was the most crucial step.

"This isn't a fucking game. Also, don't touch me, bastard."

"Oh I believe you." He moved back up and turned around, walking towards the railing of the balcony. He lifted his arms and called out to the country. Aveline glared at him and started to struggle. "Your Princess has a deadline." She froze and snapped her gaze to her as her brother groaned.

"What?"

Martin looked over his shoulder, sneering with pride. "Every scavenger hunt has a deadline, dear Aveline. Just like that, you will have a time limit to finding each relative and saving them before they perish. The time will end when you've found one, but will begin on the next, and you will be given a clue on where in the world they are…it's up to you to find them before they die."

"You asswipe…I should have known you'd try something like that…" Now she had a deadline, at least it wasn't a full deadline, but dare she to ask anything more. "Is there anything else you'd like to bring up?"

"Yes, if you fail to rescue over half of your relatives, it constitutes as a complete failure. I'll kill the rest, including you and your brother." Her eyes widened and Astor let out an angry shout. "Now, I'll release you and let you on your way, you're allowed to take up whatever weapons, but if you try to strike me before even starting…I'll kill everyone now."

"Shit…" She held her glare as Roffe timidly undid both her and Astor's binds. The two of them rose to their feet and Astor clung tightly to her. "Did you seriously scatter my family all over the world?"

"Yes, and here's your first clue. You have two days to find them, I'm being lenient here." She growled as Martin folded his arms across his chest. "Terrified of the water, I almost died here, but my brother and sister pulled me out. Now again stuck here, but my brother can't help…"

"What kind of-"

"It's Kuno!" Astor exclaimed. "Kuno and Michael, they're at the lake somewhere!" Martin chuckled darkly and Aveline felt an immediate fire at her heels. What kind of bastard would trap Kuno at the lake? She looked back to Martin, then killed the last thought.

"Good luck Princess, you'll receive your next clue when you arrive there. Go collect whatever you need." Without a single word, she and Astor took off, but the first thing they would grab were her bow, and their father's sword. She was going to save her family, no matter what it took.

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