"They heard what we're planning. And they're going to take it straight to the Raven." Chevalier sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. "There goes our element of surprise."
Siegfried's whole body was shaking. "I can't do this..."
"Sig, calm down." Chevalier walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm taking care of the crows. They won't get to you as long as I'm here."
"It's not those crows I'm worried about! Just look at what they did to you, Chev! How am I ever going to stand a chance against the Raven?"
"Prince, you're not supposed to. The only chance you have is to take out your heart." Lorelei shook her head.
"What? But you said that was the last resort!" Chevalier held onto his sword. "If he couldn't defeat the Raven in this other world, than he would shatter his heart. And you said you can't look into that."
"I know what I said, but I just know this is going to happen. No matter what. We might as well prepare him for it."
"I still can't fight or shatter my heart. They took my sword." Siegfried said quietly.
Pausing from their quarreling, Chevalier and Lorelei looked at the Prince then at each other.
"What?" Lorelei spun around, scanning every inch of the clearing. Then she looked at the Prince, who held his hands over his face.
"I dropped it when we ran inside. I didn't think-" Siegfried's voice was cracking. "I thought they were going to try and kill me-"
"This is bad. Chevalier, which direction did they fly off in?" Lorelei rushed to the pond and dipped her fingers in.
"All directions. I didn't see them carrying anything, though." Chevalier crossed his arms again. "Why is that so bad? Can't we just do the same thing to another sword?"
She shook her head. "No, we can't. The water's no longer enchanted. And I can only pour that much of my own energy into a single object. I can't even do simple magic now." She waved her hand at the ground, but not even a single blade of grass rustled. "All I'm good for now is giving my soul to Tullia."
"That isn't true." Chevalier looked at her. "Just because you can't perform spells doesn't mean you can't fight." He unhooked a sheathed knife from his belt and tossed it to her.
Lorelei shook her head. "I can't fight. I know the way I'm supposed to be. So what do you expect me to do?"
"To stop acting stupid and show some guts. You said seeing the future changed you. But I remember how you were that first day we met. You wouldn't let anyone or anything get in your way." He reached for her empty hand. "Not even me."
"Hm." Lorelei grinned. "You're right. No one." She pulled her hand away and lifted the hood off of her head, to reveal her jet black hair. "Not even me. Let's go save the Prince, shall we Sir Knight?"
"I'm right here, and honestly this seems like the worst possible time to be flirting." Under any other circumstance, Siegfried would have been overjoyed to see Chevalier even speaking to girl, but given the present situation, he thought it downright inappropriate.
"Right. Sig, you need to get to a safe place. Lorelei and I will figure out a plan to get your sword back before tonight." Chevalier pulled out his own sword. "Let's go."
Chevalier and Lorelei ran into the forest, going deeper and deeper. Swinging his sword in front of him at the foliage, he yelled back at her. "The first time he saw the Raven was in the very center of the forest. We can extend our search from there. We're getting close."
"I don't think we'll have to search much farther than that- look!" She pointed at a chasm in the ground, precisely in the spot Chevalier had said the Prince had seen the Raven. They stood on the edge of it, staring down into what seemed to be a bottomless pit. "The Raven has got to be down there. I'm not sure how deep it is, but we have to jump."
"Are you crazy? It'll kill us both."
"We- we won't die that way, Chev. That much I know to be true. But-" Lorelei turned towards Chevalier, who did the same. "I also know he's down there. And he's the one who kills you. I'm just not sure when." She grabbed one of his hands in each of hers this time. "You don't need to die now. I'll go down there by myself, because I know I'll get out alive."
Chevalier stared at her with his mouth open. "You know, you really aren't the same girl I met two weeks ago." Then he realized something. "For years Siegfried's been trying to get me to fall in love with someone." He smiled at her. "Why didn't you show up sooner?"
Lorelei blushed slightly, but it quickly disappeared. "Chev, there's a lot you need to learn about me." She put her feet on the ledge and leaned back a bit over the chasm. "For starters, I don't remember myself before two weeks ago. And do you honestly remember yourself before then?"
"Of course I do." But suddenly he wasn't so sure.
Then Lorelei tumbled backwards, taking Chevalier with her. They screamed as they fell down the dark tunnel, unable to see anything. They fell for a full minute or so, then landed in a deep pool of water. They swam to the top and looked around.
"Where are we?" Lorelei asked while clearing the water out of her ears.
"It just looks like.. a normal cave." He picked something black and slimy off the surface of the water. "Laced with feathers."
"Um, Chevalier? How big do you think the Raven is?"
"Siegfried said about the size of a human. Why?" He turned around to see that Lorelei had swam to the edge of the water and was leaning over something.
"I think it's a lot worse than that." She picked it up at the edge. She was holding a crow's feather that was twice as tall as she was. "Way worse."
"You have no idea." A loud, raspy voice echoed in the cave.
"Who said that?" Chevalier shouted. Suddenly the water behind him started to churn.
"Chevalier get out of the water! NOW!"
He started to swim as fast as he could for the shore, but the water only waked even more. Once he got there, he pulled out his sword and stood beside Lorelei. "What are you doing? Get out your knife!"
Slightly annoyed, Lorelei yelled back. "Look at the size of that feather! I don't think it would really do anything!"
Out of the depths of the water, something shiny and black as pitch started to rise. As the thing rose out of the water, they could see the shape of it starting to form. Soon, a black head and body filled the large cave, and the wings of a giant bird surrounded them.
"That's... the Raven." Chevalier whispered.
"So the Knight and the wizardess. Come to destroy me." The Raven's voice boomed all around them, and he stared at them with his glowing red eyes. "They would try and kill me against the will of the storyteller? Such bold prepositions. Perhaps they will succeed. Or perhaps they won't."
"What is he talking about?" Chevalier stayed still, holding his sword in between himself and the Raven.
"We aren't here to destroy you! We are here to recover what was taken!" Lorelei stepped forward, calling out to the giant crow.
"The Prince's sword? If you do not mean to kill me, then why have you need of it?" He sounded amused.
"It belongs to the Prince! And don't speak to me of fighting the storyteller, you're the one who returned before his time came!"
"Lorelei- what are you talking about?" Chevalier was very confused about the entire conversation.
"Like I said, there is a lot that you don't know about me." She turned back to the Raven. "Now tell me, why are you coming before the storyteller instructed? The Prince's birthday is still a week away!"
"You are the one who performed the forbidden magic. I am merely trying to keep the story on it's original path, witch."
"Stop!" Chevalier did not like hearing the raven calling Lorelei a witch. Sure he'd said it a few times before, but now, he hated hearing the Raven say it. Also, he still wasn't sure what was going on. "Would someone please just tell me what you are talking about? Who is this storyteller person?"
"Oh, yes, the Knight. I'd nearly forgotten you were here. Perhaps your loving wizardess would care to tell you?"
Chevalier looked at her. "Chev, listen. It's very complicated and I don't have time to explain. All you need to know is- well we don't really exist, but at the same time, we do. It's very difficult to comprehend and I still barely understand myself."
"What do you mean we don't exist? I'm right here."
"Remember when I asked you if you could really remember anything from before two weeks ago? You couldn't, could you? That's because we don't exist. We just have roles we are supposed to play."
"Very interesting explanation. And the reason you can't see what happens after I and the Prince leave this world?" Again, the Raven sounded highly amused.
Lorelei sighed. "Because we are living in a book. And outside, that's the real world."
Everything they said, while hard to believe, made sense to Chevalier. It's ridiculous, saying that we're living in a book. So how is it that I want to believe it? It that just a sign that deep down, I know it's true? Chevalier tried to process everything as fast as he could, because, while he debated the possibility of his nonexistance with himself, the war was the Raven continued on.
He looked at her. "And your magic was forbidden because it was never supposed to happen, I suppose."
"Yes. They were never supposed to leave the story. The Prince was meant to beat the Raven by accident. And I was just supposed to sit by and watch. As a wizardess, my job, the job of every character granted with magical powers, was to make sure everything went the way the storyteller wanted it to."
"But thanks to you, I can flee this wretched world for one where I can actually succeed."
"Why the hell would you change it?" Chevalier couldn't understand why, if the Prince would win over the Raven, anyone would want it to change.
"Because at the end, I was going to be forced to watch the world burn, to watch the Raven tear down the Prince and make him suffer. Forced to sit by and do nothing as every single person I cared about was wiped out. And I was forced to watch you die in vain. The Prince may win, but at tremendous, tremendous losses." Lorelei had started to cry. "I wanted to change everything! I had no idea that all of this would happen as a result."
The Knight lowered his sword, then looked back at the Raven, who was grinning. "You're still nothing but a sad, hopeless girl with a heart that actually cares. I would have thought that knowing all those deaths were coming would have hardened you. Pity. The storyteller said a girl with dark hair would be of great value to me. I guess he was only partially correct."
"Maybe if you had known, your heart might be a little softer." Chevalier walked over to her and helped her stand up.
"Oh but I did, Knight. I know everything she knows. The only difference between me and her, is that I have a defined nature, and she doesn't." He sneered. "She is unimportant. If she had followed the correct storyline, she would never have been mentioned."
Chevalier's eyes were fixed on the Raven, but he could feel Lorelei trembling. "You know, he's right. I am unimportant. I don't even know who I'm supposed to be."
"But you said you saw this, all of this in a vision. You saw yourself putting a spell on the sword, you saw yourself dying-"
"I was lying. It was the only way to get the Prince to listen to me. All I could see was the path the story was supposed to take, nothing more. But now, I've changed the story. Everything else will follow that change." Lorelei pulled her hand away from Chevalier and rubbed her own arms. "I am so sorry. I honestly and truly had no idea I would ruin everything."
"It's too late for remorse, witch." The Raven stretched his wings. "Now you have no hope of returning the story to it's original path."
"Stop calling her that!" Chevalier's blood was boiling. Not only was the Raven insulting the girl he had so quickly fallen in love with, but also he had been the reason the Prince had been thrust into such pain and suffering for his entire life. The people he cared about, tortured by this demon bird. "Now listen to me, you foul beast! The Prince has prepared for this battle his entire life, and there is no possible way that he can lose, because he is fighting for his people, and he will never turn his back on those people!"
"You are lying, Knight. The Prince has not trained for this battle a single day. He knows not how to wield a sword, nor even how to kill."
"That isn't what I meant." Chevalier sheathed his sword. "The Prince has known only one way of life since he was little: to show mercy to everything, no matter how lowly or worthless. And he will show mercy to this entire world by putting an end to you. He may not know how to harm a living being, but that isn't what you are. You are a monster. And he will destroy you."
"We will see what fate has decided for him. After all, it can't be seen." The Raven laughed, unfazed by Chevalier's remarks. "Though yours has been decided." From out of nowhere, a giant talon soared towards him.
"Chevalier, NO!" Lorelei pushed him over, just before the Raven made contact.
"Fool girl! It matters not when he dies, because I will kill him, there is no changing that fact." The Raven flapped his gigantic wings, and flew out of the hole at the top of the cave. The wind it created knocked both of them over.
They stood up, dusting off the feathers.
"Chevalier, I'm sorry all this happened. I-"
"We need to get out of here, and find Siegfried. I hope he found a good place to hide." He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and grinned slightly. "And it's okay. It isn't your fault."
"How are we supposed to get out of here though?"
"Tell me where that light's coming from. Not the hole, it goes too deep. So tell me."
"It's- it's coming from under the water..."
He held her hand out to her. "Then let's go."
Okay... so I know this chapter is a bit more lighthearted and the rushed relationship between Lorelei and Chevalier may seem strange, but I think it's very similar to what Drosselmeyer would want as far as tragedy goes. You probably all know how this is going to end, so you can probably understand what I'm trying to say here. Anyways, hope you enjoy this slightly shorter chapter. Also, hope it answers a lot of questions, in terms of how I'm translating my opinion of what a book actually is for its characters.
Sorry this chapter's a few days late! I periodically lost my charger so I couldn't get onto my computer.
And thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my last chapter! Especially to reader silentlark. (hope I don't disappoint)