thanks for the reviews \ (•◡•) /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 10~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was working up my energy to Summon Alther. I knew Una had to come up here personally when my Magyk had built up enough to make her powerful but not too much that I could escape. She had planned to come every two days to collect my Magyk, based on her "calculations", but it sounded more like Jillie Djinn's calculations. I wouldn't have been surprised if Jillie was in league with her. She was always trying to find a way to get revenge on Marcia, but draining me of Magyk, to me, is a strange kind of revenge. But there was another thing nagging at me. I was a very distant relative of Jenna and Marcellus, since I was connected to the royal family. Jenna was Septimus's adopted sister, so I was kind of and kind of not related to him. I was already related to two of my friends. I looked at the Camera Obscura. An image of my friends, tired and worn, appeared.
"I can't find her, Beetle," Septimus said as he plopped down on one of the chairs in the Palace. "Magyk is more complicated than 'hey! I'll do this without anything at all!'"
"Gee, Sep. Didn't mean it like that. Can't you do a Fetch or something like that?"
"The problem is Sierra's a human, not an object." Septimus sighed in frustration. "We'll have to find her the old-fashioned way."
Rose slumped over. She really believed Sierra's kidnapping was her fault, despite the others' thoughts that it was no one's fault. Una was a terrible woman, and even though she was stupid, Rose couldn't believe she had managed to capture Sierra. And what would happen to her now? What if when they found her Sierra would just be a lifeless, rotting body? Alther floated into the Palace. He had heard of their efforts in Sierra's rescue. "How is the search going?" he asked as he floated over to where Septimus was sitting. He glowered at Alther. Alther, who was used to more enthusiasm from Septimus, was utterly shocked. He tried something else. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"How can you help? You're not even Living," Septimus snapped. Now Alther had become depressed. Only once had he heard that tone of voice before, a few months ago. From Sierra. Suddenly he was whisked away, leaving Jenna bewildered. Surely Alther was there just a second before? She turned to Septimus. "You could have been more respectful to him, Sep," she hesitated, before continuing. "He has always been good to you." Septimus glared at her. "Well, he can't help! That's the truth! He won't be able to help me find the love of my-" he stopped after realizing what he just said, and after discovering a change of expression in each of his friends' faces. Jenna looked confused; Rose jovial; Beetle astonished. "Forget anything I said," he muttered, feeling embarrassed.
At this point, Alther was where I was now. "Maybe you could Cause something to happen," I was saying. "To break the chains. You see that weird brick there? I could break it out and make a hole big enough for me to get through. Then I could climb up and get to the top of the walls, Fetch the bricks and stuff and put them the way they used to be. And I'd climb down to the ground and be free. Easy-peasy." Alther snorted. "Are you sure you can climb that high? And are you sure you can climb down about one hundred feet?"
"It's the only escape plan I have. And besides, how hard could it be?"
"Considering you have your Apprentice robes on."
He had a point. They went down to my knees. I said a silent apology to Marcia and ripped off half of it. Now it went to the middle of my thighs. Alther was aghast. "You know what Marcia will say about that, right?" he asked, still dismayed. "Aye, what will she care about my clothing when she finds out I had just been kidnapped and drained?" Alther nodded in agreement. "So what exactly should I do to break… that?" he asked. I thought for a moment, and Fetched a stone from the river and the foot of the walls. It took all my willpower to send it through the wall instead of making it crash into it. It landed with a thump on the floor, next to my chains. I gasped. "You're going to have to do this next part, Alther," I said, panting. He sighed and Caused the stone to land on the chains. He too, gasped for breath. "Why you had to pick such a large stone, I have no idea," he said, breathless. "To break this. And thank you Alther, I appreciate it." He managed a half-smile and left me to see if it was broken. I tried to get up but couldn't. It didn't work. I groaned, frustrated and attempted to wrench my hands free. I was thrown against the wall, the air winded out of my lungs. I put out my hands in front of me and laughed with relief. I was free! "Oh, thank you Alther!" I exclaimed. He enveloped me in a ghostly hug. I could feel my Magyk returning more rapidly than it had when I was still chained to the floor. I went over to where the weird brick was and pulled it out. A new brick took its place and the one I pulled out disappeared. Confused, I pushed it. To my amazement, the bricks surrounding the misshapen brick folded themselves up and formed a sort of… hole in the wall. Then, what used to be a distorted brick turned into a platform. I smiled. "Is this why they call that tavern in the Castle walls the Hole in the Wall tavern?" I asked. Alther shrugged. "I don't know. Let's walk out. Your escape became a lot easier."
"Told ya."
We walked onto the platform and there was a metal ladder built in. It was like Una had purposely made it this simple to get out of there. She really was stupid. I shook my head in amusement as I climbed the ladder. When I looked down, the platform disappeared, there was no "hole in the wall", and the steps that I had previously climbed faded away. I had no fear of heights, so I climbed onward and upward. It was when I reached the thick ledge that I realized that I didn't have to climb all the way down. I just needed to walk to the Ramblings, climb down a little, land on a roof or balcony or patio or something, walk through and reach the ground. Or I could Transport. I cursed myself for being stupid. I could Transport.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MEANWHILE...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jenna was taking Beetle, Septimus, and Rose through the Queen's Way. The ghost of Queen Cerys jumped as her daughter led many visitors through the door to the Queen's Room. She shook her head. Kids these days, she thought as she settled back in her chair. Marcia had again visited Wolf Boy, or Marwick, as he preferred now, in the Marram Marshes to check up on him. And the Marram Marshes was where they were going. Jenna took Rose and Septimus inside the cupboard labeled UNSTABLE POTIONS AND PARTIKULAR POISONS. She felt in one of the drawers in the cupboard, flicked the switch inside, and appeared in Keeper's Cottage. Jenna went back to get Beetle. He closed the door behind them and kissed Jenna softly. He pulled away and saw her smiling. They went to Keeper's Cottage where they found Marwick, Sam Heap, and Marcia.
"Marwick!" Rose yelled. "You have to help us. Sierra was kidnapped by Una Brakket!" Marcia stood up. "What?!" she screamed. "Marwick, please take us to her. Now." He nodded and went over to the cupboard. Marcia looked at him quizzically. Septimus walked over to where she was standing. "Marcia, you're going to have to Transport there."
"And what about you?"
"We'll stay with 409 - I mean Marwick." Marcia got a distinct feeling they were hiding something from her but shrugged it off. Sierra was in trouble and that was all that mattered. She Transported to the Palace and waited for the others to come. A few minutes later, all of them met Marcia. She was shocked. How did they get here so fast? They didn't even come through the front gates. She shook her head. It must be a Keeper secret. Suddenly, Marwick twitched. "This way," he said, running off into the courtyard. They ran behind him. All were out of breath and panting when he stopped at a dead end by the Ramblings. "Here," he whispered. Marcia was annoyed. He had led them to a dead end and Sierra was nowhere to be seen. Alther's ghost flew up to her. "Sierra's really resourceful, you know," he said. Marcia's hopes soared. That meant Sierra was there after all. But where? "Where is she, Alther?" she asked, half expecting her to come at her from behind. "At the top of the Castle walls. Transporting down here. Should be here in 3, 2, 1," at that moment a purple mist appeared in front of Marwick. He jumped back, and so did everyone else.
(back to first person)
"Hi," I said, wondering why everyone looked so relieved. And then I remembered I was kidnapped by a retarded weirdo. Marcia swept me up in a hug. I was amazed. Marcia never hugged anyone. Everyone else hugged me and I felt… happy. Everyone but Septimus. I did a quick MindScreen on him and smiled. Someone did love me after all.