I'm baaaaaaack! Remember to enjoy this! We see more Squint and Opal and a scene concerning Avci… remember to review when you're done! ;) to everyone that plans to review, here! Have a cookie! (::) but only if you review! XD

Squint sputtered in shock, eyes widening to the absolute maximum, ears tensing and muscles tightening. "You- Ya mean ta tell me Raz's ma was a queen?!"

Opal nodded, hesitantly laying a hand on his wrist, the gesture both comforting as well as worried, discreetly checking his pulse. It was hammering much faster than usual. "Now Squint, please calm down. It was only revealed but a few hours before."

Squint's eyes were glazed and the doe wasn't sure that he'd heard her. "But… but that means…"

"Yes?"

"Doesn't that make her a… a…" he couldn't seem to get the word out.

Opal nodded. "Indeed, a princess. The Princess of the Gryphons, to be precise. Only heir to the throne."

His shock further bloomed, if possible. "Gryphons?"

"Indeed."

"Are these things even real?"

Opal nodded. "Quite real, yes."

"…Wow."

…

Avci had taken leave back to their home, to their palace hem back on the Gryphons island. So many of their subjects had heard of their momentary disappearance, and many a question were asked. He'd bitterly answered vaguely- a 'possible lead', was all he would say.

He paced the halls, heading for his mother temple. It was at the heart of the palace, a large, hollow cavern. A deep, round pool, perfectly crystal clear water, with a small island just big enough to lie down on right in the center. His mothers' statue, made of dull gray granite, stood in the very center, on a shining golden pedestal. He walked cross the water towards her, willing the water to let him cross. "Oh Mother…" he shimmered to human form and knelt before her respectfully, folding his hands. "I… I apologize. We- We have failed you." His voice was low and laced with sadness. "We could not reach our precious sister in time. She-" he swallowed thickly, a taste like bitter acid in his mouth. "She was murdered my Kertenkele."

He could feel the temperature dropping sixty degrees in the next two seconds. In his current form, his lips turned blue and his cheeks flushed red at the sudden change. Even in her current state, Kari's magic was still very powerful. Of course, she couldn't break her curse- only a magic item of power could break it. "But not to worry… we have found a young girl, with a pure heart. She has volunteered to save you."

The temperature raised again.

"Mother…" he lay his hands on the pedestal. "When our Raz's coronation comes… do you believe she will survive the great task? If insanity pursues her mind… we will have no ruler." The temperature dropped so low frost spread on pond's surface. "I apologize… I am ridiculous. Our Raz was raised to be strong and skilled. She will survive. She must."

He didn't know why or how it happened. Maybe he was distracted. Maybe his senses were fried from the exhilaratingly depressing day. Maybe he'd been placed under a minimal curse.

But before he could comprehend what happened, suddenly, someone had their hands around his neck and were injecting something sharp and long deep into the vein on his wrist. He just had time to manage to pry the attacker off and throw them to the ground. For just a split second he glared, rather surprised at the young woman about his age picking herself off the ground, trying the long needle of steel out of his wrist, embedded an inch in.

Then suddenly his hearing hit mute, high pitched buzz echoing in his eras, before his vision clouded over with a million colors and he collapsed to the ground, out cold.

She grinned and wiped a spot of blood off her lip. "You're mine!"

…

"Ok, ok… I think I got it this time…" Gupta waved his hands out in front of him. "You want me to believe that Raz is a lost princess and you're going to age one year every week for the next six weeks so you can bring her back to life by holding some magical scepter?"

Opal nodded, sipping her cup of hot herbal tea, sitting on her new bed. "That is correct."

"…Its official, you're both insane!"

Squint frowned. "Ok, dude, seriously. That's been official about me for years. But I swear- she was twelve years old a couple hours away!"

"Uh huh."

Opal smiled minimally at their arguments. Squint had been trying to convince his brothers for over an hour of their predicament. "He speaks the truth. Lord Zalim is causing my rapid growth. I am willing to sacrifice myself for my Lady."

"Stop calling her your Lady!" complained the badger. "She's not a lady!"

"She is." She insisted gently. "Upon marriage engagement, she is the proper Lady here."

"She's not engaged!"

Opal sighed and sipped her tiny chalice of tea. "Believe what you want, my friend. Even without the marriage, Lady Raz had royal blood in her veins."

"How you gonna prove that?"

"When she rises, her mother will explain everything. And her brothers will show you- they hold much magic."

"We're her brothers."

"Her biological brothers."

"But… but…"

Opal giggled. "Don't worry. I can only guess how hard it is for someone not born into a magic world to grasp the concept."

He rose a brow. "You were born here?"

She nodded. "I have served under Lord Zalim from my time as a newborn. My soul belongs to him."

Squint looked on n disbelief. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "Yes. Any and every child born here belongs time him. He is our ruler. We must obey his every whim, and if he is not pleased with us in the slightest, he will take our life."

"Wow. Now that's what I call a strong ruler."

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in forever- I'm dying of strep throat and a cold combined… bleh. Ok, I'm not dying, but I feel like I am! Remember to review!