Maria started walking through the darkness following the passageway. I couldn't even see 2 feet in front of me. "It's so dark in here" I exclaim.
"Moonpearls, we need your power now. Show us the way." Maria says. The pearls start glowing. I hear her gasp and I finish climbing up beside her. I struggle with the climb. "Robin, shh" she says back to me. I just stand there like a dumb person watching the moonpearls glow. That is so cool. I wish I could do that. I think to myself because seriously. It's cool. She just keeps walking down the passageway, lighting up our way.
I look around the passage at the walls, the stone has all of these cuts and gashes hidden in it's sides. You can also hear trickles of water fall from the ceiling onto the cold floor. We just keep walking and walking and walking. "We're lost" I tell Maria. She ignores me, of course and just keeps going. "Maria." I say trying to get her attention again.
"Robin come on!" she says turning back to me with a small grin spreading across her face as she turns back aroung to stare at an empty passage. "Don't you see? She's showing us the way." What? Who is she? And how is she showing us the way? I want to say to her, but I bite my tongue to refrain from talking. She follows the passage she was just staring at and we start to hear bickering. Maria immediately starts running, me right behind her. It brings us out onto a stone ledge of a row of seats to an ampitheater. "STOP!" she shouts at her Uncle and my Father. "NO UNCLE NO!" she yells.
"Father, we got them." I tell my father all while rushing down the steps. She holds out the pearls for them to see. "Look" she exclaims.
"Maria, thank heaven" Benjamin, her uncle, says upon seeing her.
"Give me the pearls!" my father growls and Maria snatches them away before he could get his hands on them.
"Those damn pearls." Benjamin says to my father, the Couer. "They've brought us nothing but heartache and grief." he tells him.
"No Uncle." Maria says boldly. We all look at her confused. "It is not the pearls, but the greed in our hearts, which brings us this misery." she goes on to explain viciously. All men, including their servant Digweed, just looks at her in shock, her Uncle's though, is pleading.
"Father" I hear a loud voice exclaim. Great more people. I think, but then I turn around to see a blonde female which is my sister, Loveday. "Why is there so much greed in your heart?" she asks him as he looks upon her with a heartbroken face.
"My daughter." he finally says. She looks toward the moon which I have just now noticed is absolutely giant. THE CURSE. Oh no. Loveday thinks the same thing and rushes toward our father. "Don't you want to be free of this darkness imprisoning you?" she asks him pleading. My father immediatly turns and points and accusatory finger towards Benjamin. "It is he!" he yells "It is he who..." he yells and is cut off by Loveday yelling "FATHER" she rushes in front of him, stopping his advance on Benjamin.
"Benjamin" she says next reaching out a hand for him to take. I just watch on curiously, wondering what she is up to. She then takes both of their hands and Maria runs over with the pearls knowingly. Loveday takes the pearls from her and drapes them across their intertwined hands. She steps away and Maria takes her place immediatly looking at my father then the moon.
"Look." she says looking to Benjamin this time. "The 5 thousandth moon. The curse it's coming true! If you can sacrifice your pride we can save our families. We can save the valley." She tells them both with confidence in her voice whilst looking back and forth between the two men. I am giving a pleading look to my father urging him to just do what she says, to trust her like I did.
"You first." Benjamin says to my father.
"No, no, after you" they say as if trying to be polite, but with venom leaking out into their voices. Maria just takes a deep breath while looking upon the two with a sort of hatred in her eyes. She drops their hands, grabs the pearls and walks away from them.
"I must do this myself." she says walking out to the ledge clearly annoyed from that display the two grown men just displayed. I don't even watch her go up at first, but my eyes slowly make their way to her as she reaches her hand up in a sort of offering gesture with the moonpearls. "At the 5 thousandth moon, I, Maria Merryweather, Moonprincess of Moonacre, do remove the curse that darkens this valley. Take back what is yours!" she yells as she thrusts the pearls out to fall int othe sea. They stop in midair and fly back to her. We watch in awe and are so confused, and I can just tell that she is puzzled too as she rips the necklace apart, separating the pearls. She flings them back toward the sea again, and this time when they come back to her, they attach themselves on her dress. I watch as she tries to remove them, but they don't do anything. She stops trying with her head bowed down thinking. I see her turn back slightly and give us a shy smile then turn back around. I didn't return the smile like I usually would because I could feel something was wrong, especially when I saw Loveday's hands fly up to her mouth, her eyes already glistening with tears. Maria takes a step forward.
"NO" I yell as I see her fall off of the cliff and plummet into the ocean. I race to the edge yelling at Maria faintly hearing other voices do the same. I reach the edge first screaming out her name and all I see when I look down is her dress flowing in the wind and her beautiful hair flying behind her, then the splash she made upon entering her icy death. I am about ready to jump off myself to try and save her when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder and turn my head to see my father. I'm holding back my tears hoping she is still alive. I think that I was starting to really like her as a friend, maybe more, but it doesn't matter now. She's gone. My father makes me stand up and as I get up there is a sudden burst of bright light coming from the moon. The curse is coming true. Is the first thing I think, but a second later, after I can see again, I realize that she saved us in time and we won't die. But she did.
Suddenly a huge wave started to form. In that wave I think horses were forming and galloping across the water. Call me crazy but that is what I saw. The lead horse though, wasn't a horse. It had a horn on it's head as it galloped ahead of every other horse in the sea and on it's back was a dark amidst the white of it's hair. I stood there with my mouth open staring at the wave as it crashed against the cliff bringing water up over it's edge. By that time, we had all backed away from the edge in awe. We all cowered when the water splashed, and when the mist cleared, the unicorn was standing where Maria had been before she jumped. She was on his back. We all stood gaping at her on top of the unicorn, I think everyone was shocked by the unicorn, but I was shocked by Maria. She looked gorgeous with her hair cascading down in waves and her dress flowing behind her. She stirred from the unicorn. "Maria" I shouted in relief with Loveday following my actions just seconds later. Maria looked around confused then looked at us with a smile spreading across her beautiful face. I walk over to my father who shows relief too, while her Uncle and Loveday go to her to get her down. "Sweet child, you're alive" her Uncle says relief evident in his voice, too.
"Uncle" she says then engulfs him in a hug. She then goes to the unicorn and strokes it and kisses it's nose, probably thanking it. She makes her way to me from there. "Were you worried Robin?" she says smirking. Again with the smirking Maria!
"No" was my reply, but we all knew it was fake when I couldn't meet her eyes, and the fact that I was about to jump off of a cliff after her. "Anyone could've done that" I add with a smile on my face as I finally meet her eyes. Loveday gasps in mock surprise and hits the back of my head and Maria just smiles and giggles that cute giggle she has. Robin stoppppp thinking likkeeeeee thattttt. She then hugs Loveday and when they break away they look at each other and a sort of understanding passes through their eyes.
"You're the true moonprincess" she says to her. Then I hear a roar and Loveday gasps from surprise when a black lion emerges from the entryway, still roaring.
*TO BE CONTINUED*