Chapter 6: Another Gift Found
Ben sat on the edge of his bed and sighed as he finished the letter from his grandpa. It was short and sweet, and something Ben was not expecting. Usually his grandpa trusted him and went along with what he had to say. But not this time; this time his grandpa did the opposite.
Ben,
Just keep watching…I know she's the one.
Grandpa
It was harder than it looked. Max should know that hanging out with servants all day long is something princes don't normally do…even for him. He wasn't complaining; he loved spending time with the beautiful hazel eyed girl, but this was going a little too far. He had been here for a week now and he found nothing out of the ordinary when it came to Gwen. She was a normal adult, just like everyone else. Sure she was different in her own way, but nothing that depicted her from having powers.
He wished he could give up and go back home. He missed home, but most of all he wondered how the city was doing now that he was gone. He was sure that grandpa would take care of criminal acts for the time being, but he missed saving the lives of his own people. He missed the transformations he could do in a matter of seconds. Oh and how he just wanted to tell someone about it. Not even his own mother knew, but his best friend did.
He looked at his watch. No, he couldn't do it…too many people would freak out at the sight of him. And what would Kevin do if he found out? Kill him probably with an iron fist…literally. Plus Charmcaster was here; her and Hex had been coming around Omnitrix way too much to find out more about the 'monster sightings.' Imagine what she would think is she saw one here…total chaos.
A servant knocked on his door.
"Come in," Ben replied, pulling his sleeve over his watch quickly.
"Your highness, your breakfast is ready. Shall we bring it in?"
"Yes, thank you," Ben stood up from his bed and sat at a near by table, where some servants brought it in and served it on the table. They left quickly and he took a bite.
This was going to be a very long adventure than he ever anticipated…
Gwen finished making Kevin's bed and cleaned up his bathroom. He was already out for the day, which meant Charmcaster is an early bird, like herself. She grumbled while fluffing his pillows. She heard their dates have been going perfectly and that Charmcaster was slowly, but surely, falling for him. She also saw them linking arms and holding hands the other day. It simply made her sick to her stomach.
She finished his room quickly (she was getting used to it now) and went downstairs. Kevin told her that he would be in the kitchen and told her to meet him in their when she was done cleaning. The chefs were cleaning up by the time she got there. She saw Kevin tasting what looked like chocolate, and showing a very pleasant face.
"It's perfect, she'll love them," Kevin said to the chef, as his head was nodding happily to the king. She sighed once more, knowing chocolates would be served to Charmcaster, and came forward. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," Gwen replied. She couldn't help but wonder why Kevin always stared into her eyes so deeply. She was happy, though, that Charmcaster was no where in sight. She was probably still eating breakfast. "So what's on the agenda today?"
Kevin pulled out a note from his pocket and handed it to her. As she opened it, she noticed it was extremely long and had some of the most expensive stuff she had ever seen on it. The next thing Kevin did was handing her a bag full of gold.
"This is the stuff Charmcaster needs from town," he pointed to the shopping list. He then pointed to the money. "And this is the spending money you'll be using."
"She needs all of this?" Gwen widened her eyes as she saw how long the list was. It mostly composed of beauty supplies, hair supplies, clothes, earrings, shoes, and other miscellaneous things with her sizes right next to it.
"What can I say, she's a woman of expensive items, which is why you'll be going to this place," he said as he handed her another piece of paper with a stores name on it. Her eyes widened even larger. Of course she would want to go to The Silver Shadow; it was the most expensive and popular store there was in Bellwood. Only the rich of the city went there and only the finest people shopped there. "That place is pretty nice, which is why she has had her eye to shop there for a really long time."
"But she's not even shopping, I am," Gwen glared at the paper. She looked at Kevin, who seemed amused and realized that she went out of term again. "I'm sorry."
"Hey don't be, I know you don't like her…though I'll never truly understand why," he said, as she looked down and away from him. He suddenly felt guilty. "Hey, tell you what. How about I ask Julie to accompany you on your little adventure today and then we'll be even. How's that sound."
"Now that's a plan," she winked. "Just one question though. Why didn't you ask someone else to go shopping for her?"
"Because I trust you. I've been robbed before in the past…you know, other servants running off with my money and moving to a different city. But with you, I can trust you."
She didn't know how or why but another blush crept on her cheeks. "Ok well I'll get right on that, bye!" She turned and ran away as quickly as she can. The only thing that made her blush even more was that she could hear the echo of his chuckle coming from the kitchen.
She couldn't wait to go shopping with Julie, even if the items weren't for her. She had never been shopping before. The only time she sort of did was when she was with Verdona buying some herbs for tea.
She chuckled to her self as she looked at the shopping list once more. The Silver Shadow; she once thought of stealing a bracelet when she was on the streets from that very store. But after seeing someone else get caught and punished severely, she decided that there was no way. Their security was tight and absolutely no one could get in unless you'd been planning the robbery for months. But, hypothetically, if you could get away with it, you'd be able to buy your own palace by the beach or the hills.
She found Julie in the laundry room folding some clothes.
"Stop working, we're going shopping," smiled Gwen.
"Very funny, and next we're going to ride in a carriage through the hills with our prince charming right next to us," she said sarcastically, continuing to fold the clothes.
"I'm serious! I have the shopping list right here…it's for Charmcaster."
"Another hilarious joke…wow Gwen you're just cracking them today."
Gwen sighed and shook the bag of gold. Julie's head jerked right up and looked at Gwen.
"No way!"
"Oh yeah, both of us are going shopping…but not for us of course."
"Well I wasn't expecting it, but hey it's better than doing this," Julie exclaimed, throwing the basket of laundry on the floor. "Is Ben coming too?"
"Um…I don't think so. He's been up in his room all day."
Julie couldn't help but frown. But her face lightened up.
"Hey, girls night out is fine by me…or day out in this case," she giggled.
"Well we better get going then, because Charmcaster's creepy stuff isn't going to buy themselves."
Ben sulked some more on his bed. Ugh, he had to get up and get moving sometime. He had to go watch Gwen…He didn't know what was wrong with him. He wished he could see his grandpa right now and tell him that if he wanted to know who this girl really is, then he should watch her himself. But he couldn't…not while his grandpa was in charge.
And how could he say no to him? He practically raised him…a way better father than his own dad could ever be. He was bored out of his mind. He wanted to go down and find Julie, but his legs just wouldn't comply. Kevin's palace was big…it would probably take hours to find her…
Julie…he loved thinking of her name and think about her in general. How could someone so beautiful wind up here? As a servant? He loved everything about her. He loved her eyes, her smiled, her hair, her wonderful laugh, her intoxicating smell…he loved her. He admitted it; he loved her. A prince fell in love with a servant.
He didn't care…
After this whole Charmcaster ordeal was finished, he would make sure she returned with him to Omnitrix and marry her…some way or another. His father certainly wouldn't approve…but his grandpa would be just fine with it. He could only imagine kissing her on her luscious full lips.
He got up swiftly; he needed some air. He walked out onto his balcony that faced the city, and breathed in slowly.
He would have to tell her everything about him. His past, his identity, his watch…but he knew that she would never care. Even if he could turn into twenty monsters, he knew she would look at him the way she always has. He loved that about her. She doesn't think he liked her in the same way…oh but how wrong she was…and maybe he liked her even more.
He would tell her…he would tell her everything tonight after borrowing some of Kevin's horses, and taking her on a ride himself. He would tell her his feelings and whisk her away to his own palace, where he could take her out of those servant clothes and into some beautiful ones just like her.
Only problem was…Gwen. He still had a duty assigned from his grandpa. He was so frustrated. His plans were always collided with his grandpas…aw who was he kidding? His grandpa was practically his life. His grandpa never really asked Ben for anything as it was. He had to watch Gwen…no horseback riding…no truth…
Although his thoughts were extremely important to him…they were suddenly erased when an explosion in the distance went off and a tornado of fire rose into the air…
"I can't believe we're going to this store!" cried Julie, gazing at the luxurious gates in front of them.
"I've never actually been inside…only saw it from far away."
"At least you've seen it…I've only heard about it," replied Julie, as they took their steps up the stairs.
"Hold on you two, where do you think you're going?" asked a buff guard standing in the front.
"Shopping, what else?" said Julie, crossing her arms defensively.
"Only people with money can shop here…only a high status person," he stood his guard. Gwen rolled her eyes. Typical. It would be someone like him to judge so fast.
"Look we got the money and we got a list…we're going in," snapped Gwen. The guard didn't seem satisfied as he continued to stare. Gwen held up the bag of gold in frustration. "We are under the order of King Kevin…now let us through." The guard's eyes widened and let them pass quickly.
"Well that was unnecessary," remarked Julie.
"Don't blame them…it's what they do. They want no one stealing anything from this place…it's really tight around here."
"Yeah, and you would know a lot about that," Julie said sarcastically. Gwen kept her mouth shut. Even though Julie was kidding, she still struck a nerve. "Let's just do-,"
Julie stopped as she took a long look inside the building. It was absolutely incredible. It was certainly no palace, but it was still amazing how a simple store could look like it. Drapes were set and hanging everywhere, and the colors around them were extravagant.
"We're definitely not out on the streets anymore," said Gwen, staring around. "We might as well begin."
"But we can take our time though, right?"
"Oh yeah," smirked Gwen, looking at the list as they made their way into more of the store.
It had been an hour before they got half of Charmcaster's list completed. And by that time, they were exhausted. The store had subsections, all divided into different categories.
"I never thought shopping would be this extreme," said Julie dragging her feet with the amount of bags in her arms.
"You can say that again," replied Gwen, looking at her list. She realized that they were at the front of the store again. "I think this is the place to get her gold earrings."
"Please be right. I don't want to have to go to the back again. Maybe we should ask someone…"
"Ok fine, I'll ask someone," Gwen rolled her eyes, looking for anyone that would care to give her an answer. Most of the people tried not to stare or diverted their eyes away from them. But then Gwen saw a man in a nice suit, meaning he worked in the store and went up to him. "Excuse me, is this the place where I can get some gold earrings?"
The man looked down at her as Gwen made a soft gasp. He had a large scar across his cheek, and one of his eyes was missing. He grumbled when he saw her. "My dear lady, none of the stores will matter in a couple of minutes." He walked away quickly.
"Well that was rude," said Julie, putting her bags down and sitting on a bench for a few seconds. Gwen stopped though; she watched as she saw the man go to where more men stood, that were wearing the same fancy clothes.
"Hey I think we should get out of here," suggested Gwen.
"What? But we're not even close to finishing…we still have a lot of items on the list."
"Yea but…I'm getting a real bad vibe right now, I think we should go."
"A bad vibe? Gwen please, you sound like someone who could see the future…and we both know that's not possible. Now let's go into the store, get the earrings and finish this stupid list before I get more blisters on my feet."
Gwen wasn't satisfied still. She looked around…where were all of the guards? They were always around at the front of the store. Everyone else was acting normal, except the men who were standing in the front minding their own business.
"Julie we need to go now!" Gwen said frantically, lifting her up off the bench.
"Gwen get off, what are you doing? What about the stuff?" Julie asked, but there was no time for a reply.
All of a sudden, many men came out of the stores with swords and other deadly weapons threatening the people. Mass hysteria went on as shouts and screams of people burst through the air. Gwen and Julie fell on their knees as people all around were pushing and shoving to get to the front. Unfortunately the doors wouldn't open, and men surrounding them made it even worse. A cannon shot was fired and the people became silent.
"Everyone shut up!" a man voiced to the crowd. Quivering women and worried men stopped what they were doing and looked at the man. Gwen figured he was the leader. "We mean no harm…unless you do something to provoke us. This is a burglary, obviously everyone needs to remain calm and shut the hell up while my men and I steal the money out of every store in this joint. Is that easy enough for you people to do?"
Some people nodded their heads, while others didn't say anything at all as a swarm of men carrying swords were behind them. Then a lonely man had to say something in the crowd.
"What happened to the guards?"
"Use your imagination," the leader chuckled, as you can hear glass breaking and smashing. Then some more men entered the front carrying large crates and began spilling some sort of powder all over the floor in a line.
"Gunpowder?" squeaked Julie, shaking in fear. More men began bringing in the rest of the people that were in the back to the front.
"That's all of them boss," said the guy with the scare, throwing a woman to the floor.
Good, are most of them finished yet?"
"Yeah, you know how fast we are…" smirked the guy with the scar, seeing his comrades bring in loads of gold and money to the front.
"Excellent…then I guess it's time to start the next plan," chuckled the leader. Gwen didn't know what to do. She knew what the guy was going to do next, but she didn't know how to stop him. And just as she thought, he took out a match, stroked it against the wall, and threw it on the floor, watching the flames rise gracefully. "Fire is beautiful, isn't it?"
A load of people shrieked and screamed, tears pouring from their eyes, just wanting to be released. More men came from the back.
"Boss, we lit the rest of the place."
"Even better, let's get out of here before the smoke rises," replied the leader. "Sorry all of you were misfortunate enough to be in this situation, but I have to make a statement. I guess you could say I was lying when I said there would be no harm done."
And with that, all of his men eagerly left, locking the doors behind them and leaving the wretched people to burn. More women and children were screaming, while the men were trying to think of a logical way to bust out of there.
"What are we going to do?"
"How can we get out of this?"
"We have to figure out a plan!"
"What about the children?"
"Gwen I never wanted to go out like this," sobbed Julie, pouring her eyes out while holding on to Gwen as tight as she could. Gwen, on the other hand, remained as calm as possible. She had to think, she had to think of all the possible exits there could be. But this guy was smart, whoever he was, he knew what to do and how to execute it. He wanted everyone to die just so there would be a new masked criminal in town.
"We have to take out the fire! I've got loads of gunpowder in my store and underneath the place!" said a store manager, sweating immensely.
"Gunpowder? But that means the whole place is gong to explode!" said another man. More crying was heard as everything soon became lit with fire. The fire rose and the smoke became more intense. Julie winced when she heard a man screaming more fiercely than anyone else. She immediately diverted her eyes away when she saw him rolling on the floor burning. "Once those crates get lit…we're done for."
It was only a matter of minutes before Gwen could hear faint crackling and then a huge explosion lit off and blew everything this to pieces. A roaring tube of fire erupted into the air, and the whole building was soon lit with fire.
Once Julie thought she was dead, she opened her eyes…only to see a pink shield surrounding her.
She glanced around; she was not the only one. Everyone that was in the building was surrounding by the mysterious shield. Although she was grateful for the shield, she was also suffocating from the smoke that was corrupted inside. Once the explosion was over, the shield disappeared and the fire was around everyone once again. Many people were coughing, but extremely grateful that they were not blasted.
Julie then looked at Gwen, who looked dizzy and fatigued.
"Gwen, are you ok?" she coughed.
"Yeah, just dizzy from the smoke," she spoke softly, trying to keep awake while holding her head.
Just then, the wind became cold and the air became frigid. And soon, there was no longer any fire, but ice that surrounded them. The fire had disappeared and the place was covered in ice. People stood up and were shocked. Then a blue hooded figure came up from the ground.
"Big Chill," whispered the hooded figure, freezing more of the place. Just as everyone thought they were safe, they began to scream again when they saw the monster approaching them. "Is everyone ok?"
"Stay away from us!" screamed a woman, holding her child away from Big Chill.
"Please, is there anyone hurt? I'm not here to hurt you," Big Chill tried to reason with them, but they still were afraid.
"Can't you people see he saved us?" yelled Gwen, which immediately got Big Chill's attention.
"What are you two doing here?" Big Chill asked fearfully. Gwen and Julie exchanged looks.
"Do I know you?" Gwen asked skeptically, raising a brow. Big Chill shook his head.
"Um no, never mind. How did all of you survive that explosion?"
"We don't know. A pink substance formed around us and protected us, but we have no idea how it got there," spoke a gentleman from the back. Big Chill didn't know what to say to that.
"And what are you doing here? I thought all the monsters were in Omnitrix…what are you here?" asked Julie, not afraid of the monster, but still keeping her distance.
"Um…vacation," Big Chill answered and vanished through the walls once more, leaving the people thankful. The front doors burst open, as the knights and paramedics came in and helped the people…
"And that's what happened…" finished Gwen, standing before Kevin, next to Julie, with soot and dirt all over her face and clothes. Kevin was standing next to Charmcaster and Ben completely outraged.
"There are thieves in my kindom?"
"Yes, and they got away with it too," said Julie, looking down.
"I can't believe this," muttered Kevin, thinking of all the things he would have to prepare for.
"Your highness we are sorry-,"
"Sorry? You two were almost killed and you're telling me sorry? Don't be. With amazing luck, both of you survived."
"So…none of you were able to save my belongings?" Charmcaster said dryly. Gwen and Julie's mouths dropped, but Ben spoke up for them.
"No, obviously they didn't," Ben said sternly, making sure she heard his tone. She shrugged her shoulders, but glared at Ben.
"Ben please tell me why there are monsters in Bellwood when only Omnitrix has had the pleasure of holding them there?" she asked him, staring at him straight in the face.
"Obviously they escaped the great walls, but I'll make sure to contact my grandpa immediately."
"Kevin you must do something about this. If the people hear that the monsters are moving here, they will leave or worse, complain to you about it. We can't let them know-,"
"But they already know. Once one person sees it, then the whole city already knows. Brace yourself, monsters have landed in Bellwood," sighed Kevin. "As for you two, both of you may have the rest of the day off. After what you have been through, it's what you deserve."
"Are you kidding?" said Charmcaster, as everyone looked at her. "They are servants for a reason Kevin, put them to work like they are made to do."
"Charmcaster, they were almost killed."
"So?"
"So that means they get a free day, ok?" Ben spoke angrily. She tuck her nose up in the air.
"Fine, I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."
The four of them watched her walked out.
"You two are dismissed too," said Kevin, as she two girls walked away. Ben was waiting for it…any second now…"Ben are you crazy?!"
"What?"
"Monsters in Bellwood? Monsters in my city? You made a promise that you'd never transform here!"
"Kevin, the whole building was on fire from an explosion! What else was I supposed to do? Watch? I don't think so."
"But you had to show them didn't you? You had to show them who their rescuer was?"
"I wasn't thinking straight. I had to make sure everyone was ok before I left. And then I saw Julie and Gwen…"
"Oh yeah you got butterflies in your stomach and had to swoop her down in your arms to carry her away…"
"It wasn't like that! It freaked me out that they could have been dead in that explosion."
"You mean her, don't you? Julie."
"Well yeah, but I was scared for the both of them," Ben said. "Look Kevin, I know what I did was a mistake…but I couldn't let those people die. I had to do something."
"Yeah I know…I would have done the same thing," Kevin sighed. "A lot has happened today."
"So, you're not mad at me?'
"Hell no…never," Kevin smirked, giving him a sock to the arm. "Must have been nice getting out there once again."
"It sure was."
"And it was totally awesome how you saved everybody, I had no idea one of your monsters could make shields."
"Kevin, that wasn't me."
"What do you mean it wasn't you? You were the only one there."
"Yeah, but I didn't make that shield. You should have seen how shocked I was when I saw everyone safe from the explosion."
"But if it wasn't you, then who was it?"
"I have no idea," Ben lied.
He did have an idea…
Kevin remained silent...he didn't know what to think of that.
"Kevin, what should we do about it?" asked Ben, looking at him. "You don't think it was Charmcaster, do you?"
"No way, I was with her all day."
Ben looked down...Gwen was there.
"We'll talk about this later," said Kevin, as he saw Charmcaster coming toward them once again.
Ben had other ideas on his own...
Grandpa,
You were right, it is her…I'll keep watch still.
Ben
That was Chapter 6! Intense, I must say…
Oh and incase you guys didn't get it, the store they went to is the average day mall.
So we see Ben using his powers for the first time…and he knows the truth about Gwen, but poor Gwen still knows nothing.
Kevin is going to have to get close to Charmcaster, what will happen? How will Ben react now that he knows his cousin is still alive? What are their intentions for the future? Will Gwen ever show her secret? Find out next chapter!
R&R
Wtncgirl09
