"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Peri asked me, as we climbed through the vent in the castle.

"Positive," I told her, coughing a little because of the dust.

"It's disgusting in here… why don't they get a cleaner or something?"

"I don't know," I said, trying to kick open a hatch at the end of the vent.
"You know I thought castles were supposed to be clean."

"Uh-huh…"

"What about…"

"Get out," I ordered.

"What?"

"I kicked it open, shut up and get out!"

"Fine, jeez." She crawled in front of me and jumped out of the vent. "Anger management…"

I followed her as she walked down a dark corridor with black and cherry red striped wallpaper.

"Do you even know where we're going?" She asked me.

"I have… some sort of idea," I told her truthfully.

"Shh…"

"What?" I asked.

"Do you hear that?"

I paused for a moment so that I could listen. "I hear nothing, except your loud breathing."

"I'm going to ingore that insult."

"Good. You better."

"That doesn't even make sense." She rolled her eyes as she made her way down the hall and tried to open a door. It was locked.

"Just keep going 'til we find some clues."

MMFFFPPHH! NO!

Okay, that time, I heard it.

"Y-you know blue is this year's gre…"

"I SAID GREEN! ARE YOU STUPID?"

Peri and I exchanged awkward and confused looks as we listened to the argument in the room in front of us.

"YOU MAKE ME SICK TO MY STOMACH. GET OUT, JUST GET OUT!"

We heard footsteps towards us, so we ran. We hid behind a corner, and a girl who looked about 12 or 13 walked out. She was only a few years younger than Peri. She had sleek black hair and bright, green eyes.

As I peeked my head out from the corner to see where she was going, she saw me and gasped. Damnit. "Who are you?"

We had nowhere to run. We had no choice but to introduce ourselves. After all, maybe she could help? "I'm Calcite, and this is my sister, Peridot."

She bowed. "It's nice to meet you, but you shouldn't be here. If Queen Serpentine finds you, you'll… you'll…"

"We'll what?" Peri asked.

"You'll either be sentenced to slaveryism," – I was pretty sure that 'slaveryism' wasn't a word, but I kept my mouth shut – "like me, or worse, like my sister."

"You have a sister?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Her name is Citrine. Since she is 17, she was imprisoned. On her 18th birthday, she will be executed."
I'm 17, I thought. I don't want to be executed.

"Come with me," she told us as she walked down the corridor.

"Where are we going?" I questioned, vaguely suspicious.

"I'm taking you to see Lady Celestite. She'll know to what to do."

"Who's that?" Peri asked her softly.

"She's the Queen's daughter. Celeste won't imprison you like she will."

Her hand was wrapped around each of our wrists, so I quickly pull away. "You don't even know us. Why would you help us?"

"You're the girls from the legend, aren't you?" She asked, a bit too optimistically. "Air and water," she added.

"Possibly…" Peri mumbled, a little suspicious.

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"I'm water. If I believe hard enough, I can feel another person's emotions."

"You can mind read?" Peri gasped.

"If we combine powers, we can defeat the Queen and help my sister! Please, come with me to the cells. I'll show you. Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Jade."

We followed her down some uneven stone steps and even had to cross a rickity bridge over a dark pit to go to the cells. I was puffed out, but we made it eventually.

There was a cell with an odler girl inside, sleeping in the corner like a cat would.

"Citrene!" Jade whispered, cupping her mouth so that it reached her sister.

Citrene slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Jade? What are you doing here?"

"Peridot and Calcite are here to brake you out!"

Peri realised what she meant, so she closed her eyes and held her hand up to the cell bars. In a few seconds, they slumped and curled, melting into the ground.

"Woah, cool!" Citrene gasped. "They're one of us."

"I'll take you both back to the ship," I nodded to them, walking back up stairs. This was all happening so fast. "We'll sort everything out then, and plan the battle."

"HOLD IT!" A pair of feet walked slowly down the stairs in front of me with a few (what looked like) soldiers walking behind. I looked up, startled. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"