Liana stared wide eyed at Corinne as the men passed by.
"You really are in trouble, aren't you?" she whispered.
Corinne looked over at her and nodded "More than I knew." she leaned back against a tree "We're going to have to take an alternate route than before. It'll take longer, but hopefully, we'll be able to avoid those guys." Corinne pulled out the map "We should be at the end of this kingdom in three days. Then we'll take a ship to..." she cocked her dead "Dulcenia. Then we'll pass through Paladia. Go across the mountains into Appolonia, and... discuss the next one-third after that." she flashed Liana a weak smile "We're going to be walking... forever. It's not too late for you to turn back."
Liana shook her head "It was too late when I said I'd come. I'm not going to desert you now."
Corinne smiled with relief "Thank you."
Liana nodded "But yes, let's avoid those guys."
Corinne slowly stood up "We'd better travel through the woods for right now. Just to be safe."
Liana stood up "Alright." then she followed Corinne back through the trees "She's definitely someone to trust." She thought "And she definitely needs help."
As they walked, there was very little conversation. Corinne's eyes and ears were wide open as she slowly and quietly picked her way through the woods.
About an hour later, they ran out of trees.
Corinne glanced around then stepped out onto the road "I think it's clear." she suddenly froze as a loud thumb sounded behind her "Or not."
"Well, what do you know." Drake growled "You have a twin."
"Which one are we after?" Heinrich asked "Because we're supposed to get the musketeer."
"Twin?" Corinne thought "They can't tell the difference between me and Liana! Even though we're wearing different clothes!"
Liana glanced at her, apparently thinking the same thing.
Drake seemed confused for a moment "You're right. And His Majesty doesn't like us doing anything but what he says." he faced the two girls "Which one of you is the musketeer?"
Corinne looked over at Liana, then very slowly moved into a musketeer pose.
Liana smiled slowly, then copied the movement precisely.
Heinrich glanced back and forth between them "Um..."
"Get ready." Corinne whispered.
Liana nodded slightly.
"We only kidnapped one!" Drake shouted, grabbing Heinrich's collar "So how come there are two of them?!"
"Run!"
The two girls spun around and sprinted down the road.
Drake released Heinrich's collar and ran, but tripped over his partner's foot and landing in the dust with a *THUD!*
"Great." Corinne groaned as they ran "We just started and they're already onto us!"
Liana glanced around "Corinne. I have an idea. Follow me!"
Corinne nodded and slowed down half a pace so Liana could take the lead. Then they picked up speed again. Some more woods appeared ahead, and Liana ran into them. Corinne right behind her.
"There's a short cut ahead that will actually get us through a big leg of the journey." Liana said "Unfortunately, they can get through it too. But we'll be safe on the other side!"
"Okay." Was all Corinne could think to say. She could hear the men rushing behind them.
Corinne followed Liana between two identical trees. There was a slight dizzy feeling but, other than that, nothing. A few moments later, they left the trees.
Before them was a large clearing. In the clearing was a small pond, then on the other side of the clearing was a large lake.
"Great." Corinne thought "We're trapped." but she continued to follow.
"Believe in all that cane be" Liana sang quickly, taking Corinne by surprise
"A miracle starts whenever you dream.
Believe, and sing from your heart you'll see.
You're song will hold the key."
Liana sang it faster than it was supposed to be sung, but it was urgent! As soon as the last word of the song left her mouth, she shouted "Melody!"
Suddenly, a huge castle faded into view and three ladies ran out onto a bridge that ran to land.
Corinne's eyes widened. The Diamond castle! That story had been true!
The two girls ran across the bridge.
"Ah." One of the ladies on the bridge said. Then she turned to the red headed one "Melody. Would you please?"
Melody nodded, then she lifted a pearly white flute and began to play. A few seconds later, the men froze.
"Whoa." Corinne said around gasps of air "Nice... flute."
"Corinne." Liana said smiling, also gasping for breath "These... are the muses. Phew!" she shook her head "Dorothy. Phaedra, and Melody."
"Hi." Corinne smiled, then took another deep breath and put her hands on her knees "Liana. You can run!"
The other blond laughed "I kept having to speed up to stay ahead of you!"
"Why didn't you say so? I would have slowed down!" the two girls started laughing as they both sat down on the bridge.
"Liana." Melody said slowly "Is she..."
"A new friend?" Liana finished "Uh-huh. She needs to get back to Paris, so I'm going with her so she's not alone."
"That wasn't what I was going to ask, but... okay." Melody smiled "What about Alexa? Still not recovered from last time?"
Liana nodded "You know Alexa. She doesn't have a very big adventurous spirit." she stood up and faced her muse friend "Which is also why I have to ask if you'll go stay with her while I'm gone. I don't want her to be alone."
Melody nodded "You know I will."
"Thank you."
Corinne glanced at Drake and Heinrich "How long will they be like that?"
"For about fifteen more minutes." Dorothy answered.
"Then we better go." Corinne stood up "Thank you for helping us."
Phaedra nodded "Of course. Here." she waved towards the castle and two pegasi came out "These will take you to the edge of the kingdom. But they will go no further."
"You've already done more than enough." Corinne smiled "Thank you so much." she looked over at Liana "Ready?"
Liana mounted her Pegasus and nodded "As I'll ever be." she waved at the muses "Thanks again!" then the pagasus' took off.
"Did anyone else notice how much they looked like each other?" Melody asked.
"Yes." Dorothy and Phaedra answered.
"I wonder where..." Viveca shook her head "We've been wondering where!"
"We can't help it!" Aramina wailed "Where is she? What happened? Did someone take her? Who? Why isn't she back yet? Is she de-"
"Aramina!" Renee shouted "STOP!"
Aramina's mouth clamped shut as she stared at her friend wide-eyed.
"Renee." Viveca whispered "You didn't need to scream."
"Sorry." Renee sighed "I don't know what to do. We've looked everywhere. No one has seen anything. There's no sign of struggle anywhere. And Corinne... is still gone!"
Viveca and Aramina looked at each other. Renee normally didn't show emotion... at all. So when you could tell she was worried, you knew she was really worried.
Viveca glanced up to where Louis was standing out on his balcony staring into the distance "I believe Corinne is still alive."
"Why?" Aramina asked.
Viveca pointed to Louis "As long as he's here, Corinne's going to come back."
"Louis being here doesn't keep Corinne from being killed." Renee pointed out.
"I know." Viveca smiled "But her being stubborn and hard-headed does."
"Yeah." Aramina smiled slightly "Soooo stubborn. It's gonna be the death of her one of these days."
The other two looked at her sharply. Then they all burst out laughing.
Louis glanced down at the three girls below. The sound of their laughter carried on the wind.
It was a relieving sound. Eased the tension that had been around for the past two weeks.
He walked over to the desk that was in his room and picked up a piece of sketch paper and looked at it. Every now and then, when he was drawing new balloon plans, he'd get lost in his thoughts. Then when he'd finally come out of them, instead of a balloon being on the paper, it'd be the face of a girl... Corinne.
He stared at the paper and sighed "Where are you?"
"Sire. We bring some... rather confusing news." Drake said, bowing before his king.
"What?" The king growled.
"We do believe that that girl is on the way to Paris." Drake continued "We actually encountered her."
"So. Where is she?" The king shouted "Why is she not with you?"
"Well... she got away." Heinrich answered "But there was one other problem."
"What?"
"It appears there's two of them."
"WHAT!?" The king stood from his throne and hurled a small table across the room "What do you mean? Two of them."
"There's two of them." Drake answered "They're almost identical! We didn't know which one was the musketeer."
"Fine. I suppose you're partially excused this time." The king sat back down "Now listen to me. From now on, I don't care who is with her. Kill everyone who gets in the way!"
"Yes, Sire." Drake and Heinrich bowed the turned to exit.
"Oh." The king said "And since there's two of them... take the army."
(Thanks for all the reviews guys! I hope you find this story interesting. By the way, I was watching Barbie Island Princess the other day and guess what I saw... When Ro has a flashaback to when she's a little kid and it shows her father's ship sinking... The Nutcracker is steering the ship! I couldn't believe it! And I thought it was funny so... Thought I'd share! Laterz!)