The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 31 (Happily Ever After?)

Mala gazed at her mother with a proud, but worried heart. She wanted to be strong like her some day, swift and just, but the bloodshed was nauseating. Now the only question was how would the blood and bodies be removed from here? She turned her mournful gaze to Martin's body, unable to push away the feeling of guilt. She could have done something, she should have done something! Tears stung her eyes as Tabitha looked her way. "Why? Why did he have to die? I know he did bad things, terrible things, but…why?"

The doors burst open, stunning Mala as she turned to see Aveline rushing in with Astor and Cece. Aveline's wide eyes fell onto Martin and she slowly cupped her mouth. "No! I could have helped him! I'm too late…" Aveline's eyes drifted towards Tabitha, freezing as even Cece tensed. "Oh my god, you're…"

"I did what was necessary," Tabitha replied with a quiet voice. "He had an opportunity to turn from them when he broke up with my daughter. He could have turned away, but lacked motivation or ability. He became trapped, death was the only answer." Aveline clenched her fist and bowed her head, she was grateful that it was all over, or for the most part, the Lamonts were no longer a threat. However, she was far too pissed that a ghost killed Martin at the worst possible time!

"That can't be! I can't accept that! I was trying to save him too! He could have had a life! He could have been free." She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and scoffed at the ghost. Tabitha closed her eyes and dipped her head downward.

"I am sorry Princess Aveline, my initial task is to rescue the royal family. Not to save the Lamont. If you wish to save Martin, there may be a way. Perhaps consulting with the sorcerer you met…" Aveline raised an eyebrow and looked over to Mala. Oracle? Did she mean Dakota? How could Dakota help her, and since when did she ever turn to black magic? What good would magic do, and why turn to it? Wasn't there another way to save his soul? There had to be. "Either way, your father and your lover are trapped downstairs. My sister and brother in law as well…" Mala gasped and quickly grabbed Tabitha's arm, asking her if it was okay to see them. Tabitha smiled warmly at her and slowly nodded her head. "Like me, they have looked for you. Maybe you can be with your family for the first time."

Mala cupped her hand over her racing heart and looked to the door that Tabitha had been heading towards. Tears ran down her cheeks as the hope of finally being with people who cared about her delighted her mind. "Do you really think they want anything to do with me, Mom?" Already doubts were entering her mind, and quickly what was to follow were the thoughts of where the Bransford family lived, in America. Her face dropped and her hands lowered to her side. "T-They live in America, I want to be with Art…"

"You're fine," Aveline grumbled. The princess rose up from kneeling beside Martin's body and wiped her brow with her arm. "Mr. and Mrs. Bransford are moving to Sviederbach, they're being reinstated as a noble family." Mala's lips turned up and her excitement once more spiked. "When exactly did Martin break up with you, Mala? Why was this such a 'pivotal' moment?" Mala raised an eyebrow and gestured towards Martin's body, remembering all the attacks the family imposed upon him. The sexual abuse, the physical and emotional abuse, everything was an act to control him.

"Martin had been through so much, and a lot of it was his trying to protect his brother, or even me…" Aveline raised an eyebrow, placing her hands to her hips. Mala walked beside Martin's body and knelt beside him. "It was a loveless relationship we had, but we had a mutual understanding that his family was a massive danger. This whole hunt he formed, it was more his Aunt's idea, put into action by his Dad. He knew his father wanted to kidnap everyone, and when tasked with giving his own 'personal touch', he decided to make a 'hunt' out of it…" She paused for a breath while the others gazed sadly at the bodies on the floor. Her eyes clenched shut and her lips formed a small grimace. "He knew you would be able to kill them, doing so in order to save your family, and he…didn't see any escape other than death…from his family."

"So that explains all this bullshit he just put us through." Aveline crossed her arms as Mala slowly pushed down Martin's eyelids. She rose to her feet, taking a heavy breath and meeting the Princess's eyes.

"Yes. Shortly after the death of Aunt Regina, just a few days ago, he broke up with me. He wanted to set me free and actually took me to the apartment, telling me to go to Art." When this happened, she'd been very scared and confused, it took her an hour of wandering the campus before she even decided to go to Art's place, but she never made it.

"What happened?"

"His father caught wind of it, and Aunt Erin was actually threatening to come down here." She brushed her arm and slowly shook her head. Martin forgot Chuck and Ethel had been in the castle, so when he did what he did, they figured it out. "He just wanted to set me free, so I could be safe from his family. Turns out, they forced him to come back after me. I wandered about the campus, and by the time I decided to go back, he was there. Maybe if I cared a bit more, I could have done something to change that, I could have found a way for him to escape his family…he tried to do that for me…"

Aveline swept her arm through the air "He should have told me all of this. I could have helped. I'm royalty, I know ways of protection, use me, damn it!"

"He knew you'd try to do something. He never had anything to live for, when his brother died…it wasn't like he had anyone or anything left, I wasn't going to be that person, obviously." Maybe he needed someone who would have cared about him, someone to show him that there was a way to truly be free. "Say you managed to get through to him, to help him, what would it have accomplished? His family would be dead, not that it would be a bad thing. I am not leaving Art, Martin would be alone for the rest of his life fighting off flashbacks. Mom might have had a point, death might have been more merciful…"

"Death should never be the true answer…" Aveline looked to Tabitha and thinned her lips. "Tabitha, I do appreciate what you've done. I do. I just…I wish you would have held off. That's not the point now, my dad and my boyfriend are still in those cells, as are Frankie and Karin, so let's go…" Tabitha smirked and kicked open the door, then guided her hand through the doorway.

"I thought you'd never ask."

As they made their way through the dungeons, Mala couldn't help but feel a sense of terror in the corridors. She hated these places, never wanted to be in any kind of dungeon. When they made it to the King's cell, Tabitha wasted no time freeing the two captives. Aveline and Cece rushed in, hugging both Gunther and Ander before ending up in their respective love's arms. Gunther looked from his wife and smiled at Tabitha. "How can I thank you? I'm not sure I'm used to this side of you…"

"It's nothing, I just want to cross over."

"I understand. Perhaps I'll put a good word for you in Parliament, pardoning you of your past crimes."

"I don't need a posthumous honor award, King Hessenheffer. I only wish to be free from this realm and pass on to the next." Mala felt a straining pain in her chest, realizing that her mother truly couldn't stay. There was so much she wanted to do with the woman, and yet, so little time, it just wasn't fair! "I am glad you are safe, my King." Tabitha knelt onto one knee, bowing for him. Mala shifted her eyes towards the small television screen at the back corner of the cell, the collars were slowly being removed from the necks of those that had been wearing them. She was happy about this, relieved that the royal family were truly safe.

Ander stepped before Mala, smiling as he met her eyes, "So Mala. What do you want to do after all this, cousin? Mom and Dad are going to be happy to see you. Maybe we can all go out to Sviederbach's best steakhouse."

"I'd like that. I think you can make a date of it with Aveline and I'll ask Art!" She was more than happy to finally mix with them. When she looked to her mother, she was overjoyed to see her mom smiling down at her, her eyes lit up with pleasure. Aveline stepped next to Art and reached up, kissing his jaw. Mala wagged her eyebrows and rubbed her chin. "So, now that it's official you two are together, I take it that all the suitors out there can stop, right?"

"Oh yes, thank god!" Aveline chimed. Her parents laughed and Ander rubbed the back of his head, grinning triumphantly. "Of course we'll have to talk more about all this later, first we need to get Frankie and Karin!" The final step, then this process would all be over and peace would be restored.

Once they descended into the darker, lower dungeon level, they could hear Frankie and Karin chatting behind one of the cell doors. It was not long before Tabitha busted the door open and gazed in at the surprised couple. "T-Tabby?" Karin asked astonishingly. Tabitha reached forward and pulled Karin into a deep hug.

"I'm glad you're safe, Karin…and Frankie…how long I've waited to find you, to find my daughter." Mala blushed as she eyed the couple with her nervous gaze. She hid behind her mother once they looked towards her, and found herself unwittingly back in view as Tabitha stepped towards the side. She waved her fingers at them and felt her mom's hands on her shoulders. "This is Mala, my baby, all grown up…"

Karin moved before her and lifted her hands to her face, gazing happily into her eyes. "You look so much like your mother, it's remarkable…" The woman glanced back towards her sister and slowly inhaled. "Tabitha…"

"Please take care of her." Mala quickly looked towards her mother, feeling the cry of her heart as the dreadful moment of her mother's departure neared. She couldn't say goodbye, not when she just met the woman. "I've found my daughter, I've rescued you, saved the royal family…my soul has been redeemed, my work finished…I can finally go home."

"I don't want you to leave, mom!" Mala rushed forward, hugging her mother's waist and shedding her tears once more. She felt her arms wrap around her and closed her eyes as her mother gently kissed the top of her head. "Please…it's like I just met you…"

"Your aunt and her family will be all the family you need. You know I can't be here any longer. However…" Tabitha knelt to one knee, gazing still into Mala's eyes and wiping her tears away with her thumb. The woman's smile warmed her shivering heart. "I will always be with you. I love you, my angel, and nothing can ever change that. Now, you can finally be happy, and that is all that matters to me. That you are happy, Sviederbach is safe again, and everyone can be free."

"I love you too, Mom…" She looked back to Karin and Frankie with a smile, then back to Aveline, who was arm in arm with Ander. "Yeah, I think we can all be happy from here on. Finally…we can be happy…"

Tabitha hugged her tight and the others all watched with sorrowful expressions as the woman's soul began to fade. No longer was her spirit needed to be earthbound, and the soul disc's time was up. Within seconds, Tabitha's ghost was gone and silence filled the air. She felt Karin and Frankie behind her and turned as they hugged her.

There was nothing to fear any longer. Sviederbach was free, but still, it just didn't feel like a true happy end for everyone. Aveline still couldn't shake the anger that she could have done something to help Martin, but it would take a bit of soul searching before she could be certain of her next task. Somehow, she was almost certain she'd have to call upon that favor that the sorcerer Dakota owed her.

Well there's one more chapter as you know, she's going to go visit Dakota. This will lead to the final installment. As for this chapter, seems everything's okay, let me know your thoughts. Next chapter will be the last of the 2nd installment