"Fiona!" Artie called waving to her with one hand. His other hand is full of sealed envelopes. "Wait up!" Fiona stopped walking. She's still holding Felicia. Artie stopped running in front of her and bent over to catch his breath. "One second," he panted, holding up his finger of his free hand. Fiona patiently waited.
"I have something for you," Artie said once he regained his breath. "Let me see..." he said, flipping through the enveloped. "Ah, here we go." Artie handed the envelope to her. She accepted it, smiling at her cousin. "What's this for?"
"It was a little something I made a few days ago. I was going to deliver it to you personally but I got held up," Artie replied. "It's something I made for the triplet's first birthday party. I have one for Felicia too."
He shuffled through the envelopes again and handed Felicia's to her as well. Fiona gladly accepted it and looked at the front of the envelopes. On the face of them, if their names written out in a fanciful manner, but not too extravagantly. Some of the line with the pen are wider than the rest. "Calligraphy?" Fiona asked.
"Yeah I have to take a calligraphy class now that I'm king so I was just practicing on your envelopes. How's it look?" Artie replied.
"It's not bad," Fiona smiled. "It still needs a little practice in some spots but I can see you're doing a wonderful job!"
"That's good," Artie said. "Oh, about your card. You don't have to open it right now. Just open it when you need it. I'm hoping it'll be helpful later."
"Thanks, Arthur," Fiona said.
"No problem," Artie said. Fiona snickered silently, but not enough. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's just...your crown is kind of..."
She pointed towards his crown. The crown is a little lopsided as he ran to catch up with her. "Oh, heh," Artie giggled as he pushed the crown back up. "Thanks. Is, um, Queen Lillian holding one of your kids by chance?"
"Yeah, she is," Fiona giggled. "But I can take the cards." Artie handed her the envelopes, their names also written on the front of them. "You know you don't have to call her that."
"What?"
"Queen," Fiona said. "She's not queen anymore."
"Well, yeah, but, it feels wrong if I don't. Plus, she's kind of helping me out. She's gotten me out of trouble more than once, and I'm grateful to her for that."
"I didn't know she was helping you!" Fiona exclaimed.
"Yeah, she offered. I didn't want it at fist but then she kind of helped me out of a hard place once so I kind of go to her for advice."
"Looks like she's happy to help you too!"
"I hope so," Artie said. "I don't want to burden her with anything."
"Oh no, I'm sure she's fine!" Fiona said. "She's seemed happier lately!" One of the cards slipped from Fiona's hand. Artie picked it up for her again. "I, uh, have to go find Shrek now. I want to talk to him before we head out," Artie said.
"Oh, no problem!" Fiona said. "I'll just be here helping mom if you need me again!"
"Thanks, Fiona!"
Artie entered the castle from the garden. "Now, where would Shrek be?" Artie asked himself, putting his hands on his hips. "If I was a grouchy ogre, where would I be...?" Artie stood in silence for a moment, pondering, before he came up blank. "This is not working," he sighed. "I guess I'll just have to go and find him." Artie walked a few paces before he stopped short. There came small squeaks from somewhere near him. Artie scanned the are around him but found nothing. He looked up, at the clouds. "Hm, the clouds are rolling in," he said to himself.
He looked in front of him again, the behind him. "Where is that sound coming from?" He looked towards his feet and saw a small, green bug, stuck under his boot. "Ah!" Artie cried, taking his foot off the bug. "Sorry!"
Artie bent down to the bug's level. He scanned it. "You don't look hurt," he said to the bug. Artie stood again and started walking a little before the bug jumped onto a small ledge of a flower bed elevated off the ground. The bug stopped a little under Artie's eye level. "Hello!" it said.
"Aah!" Artie screamed, falling.
"Hey, it's alright!" the bug cried. "I'm just a harmless bug!"
"B-bug's don't talk!" Artie stammered. "This is not right!"
"I'm the Ethical Bug!" the bug replied. "Some people call me Jiminy, although me and him are not the same bug!" Artie stared at him from the ground, breathing hard. The bug returned his stare until he broke it. "Hmm, that's not going to work now, is it?" the bug said, tapping his foot. "Hmm. Let's try it this way."
He jumped onto Artie's knee. "Let's start over!" he said. He held out his tiny hand. "I'm the Ethical Bug, but you can call me Jiminy!" Artie stared at him for a minute, his breathing slowed down. "'Jiminy?'" he repeated. "Like, the Jiminy-for-your-conscience Jiminy?"
"No," the bug said. "I'm similar but not exactly like Jiminy Cricket. I do help but not in a twisted mind kind of way." Artie stared at him. "Never mind, just call me Jiminy!" Artie looked at the bug, then his hand, then the bug again. Artie just stared at him in silence.
"Okay," Jiminy said, awkwardly, patting his brown suit. "Well then..." Artie stared at him in silence a little longer before he fixed his crown with one hand. "What are you doing in here? Have you always lived here?"
"Nope, I'm actually on a very important mission, which I should probably get back to!" Jiminy said. He hesitated. "Oh my! Your Majesty!" Jiminy cried, bowing on Artie's knee. Artie smiled awkwardly at Jiminy. "Well, you're a bug with manners, but you don't have to bow."
"Alright then," Jiminy said, standing. "I should be off now, Your Majesty. Pleased to make your acquaintance!" Jiminy jumped back onto the flowerbed ledge. Artie stood and dusted off his clothes. "Sorry for stepping on you," Artie apologized.
"Oh, it's no big deal," Jiminy said, waving a hand at him. "All's well!" Jiminy jumped off. Artie stared at the spot the bug was in. "Huh, strange bug," he giggled.
Artie walked into the library where Shrek, Donkey and Puss are surrounding a book. "What are we doing?" Artie asked.
"There you are," Puss said. "We were just discussing Excalibur and the place it's in."
"Where's it at?" Artie asked, approaching them and finding a clear spot of the book.
"It's in this spot." Puss pointed to a large section on the map and circled it in a red marker. "There was a Whishing Star here but...it's gone now. Anyway, the star created the Dark Forest, which had it's own trials. Since the star is gone, the forest should be back to normal but there is no way I can tell."
"The Dark Forest?" Artie asked.
"Sounds spooky!" Donkey exclaimed.
"It's not as 'spooky' as you might think, Donkey," Puss replied. "It was more of just a trial of 'get here to here while traveling through a forest made entirely of your inner thoughts' kind of thing."
"So like...waffles?" Donkey asked.
"Not unless you had the map," Puss said.
"Why is Excalibur in there?" Artie asked. "Shouldn't it be in a lake?"
"Well, it probably was at some point," Puss said. "I encountered Jack Horner and he has the sword. It was...still in the stone. Last I saw it, the rock chipped off and he lost it somewhere."
"So it could be literally anywhere," Shrek said. They stood in silence for a moment. "Well, guess we better head out now before that storm kicks in!" Shrek said, breaking the silence, in a rather cheerful tone.
"Storm?" Donkey asked. "Can't we wait it out?"
"No can do, Donkey," Artie said. "If Excalibur is out there, then someone's gonna want to try and get it for themselves."
"Well then, I'm staying inside the boat!" Donkey cried.
Artie met up with Shrek while Donkey hugged his dragon-donkey hybrid kids. "Shrek?" Artie asked.
"What? Having second thoughts?" Shrek asked.
"What? Pfft! No!" Artie said, waving a hand at him. "I actually wanted to give you this." Artie handed him a card with his name written on the front of the envelope. "What's this?" Shrek asked, staring at the calligraphy.
"It's something I wanted to give you for your kids birthday party. I gave theirs to Fiona. And Fiona has one too."
"What's it for?"
"It's for you, Shrek! It's just a card I made!" He leaned in, as close as he could get, to Shrek's ear. "And trust me, it's nothing like Donkey's Christmas cards," he whispered. He moved away again.
"He gave you one?"
"Yeah it was...something. Anyway, I wanted you to have it earlier but I couldn't get it to you. You don't have to open it now, or ever if you want to, but it's there. I hope it helps when you might need it."
"Thanks," Shrek said, hiding the bitterness in his voice. He pocketed it. "Shrek!" Fiona called. Artie moved away from them.
"Please be careful out there!" Fiona said.
"I'll be fine, Fiona! I was when we went to get Artie," Shrek replied.
"Yeah, but you almost got yourself killed, onstage, by Charming himself!"
"I was trying to protect Artie!" Shrek argued.
"I don't want any excuses, Shrek!" Fiona said. "Just be careful, okay?"
"You know I will," Shrek said. "And I'll bring something back for the kids."
"Thank you, Shrek," Fiona said, kissing him.
"Arthur," Lillian said, holding Ferguson and Farkle. "Be careful, okay? I don't want you getting hurt out there."
"I'll be fine," Artie said. "I have Shrek helping me! I got here just fine last time with him!"
"Yeah but, you're king now. You're going to have people after you," Lillian argued.
"They'll be after me anyway," Artie said, smiling and putting his hands on his hips. "I haven't died yet! Have faith in me, Queen Lillian!" Lillian smiled at Artie's enthusiasm. "I hope so!" she said.
"I have to leave again," Donkey said to his wife. She grumbled sadly. "Yeah, I know I've been leaving a lot but, this time feels like it's been forever! I don't know how long but it really feels like a long time." She grumbled and rubbed her head on him. "Aw, I'll miss you too, honey," Donkey said. He kissed her. "And I'll miss you, kids! Come to daddy!" The kids squealed and squeaked and charged him.
The ship honked, as a sign for them to get on board. "I have to go, Fiona," Shrek said.
"I'll miss you, Shrek!" Fiona called.
Shrek, Donkey and Puss hopped onto the boat. Jiminy jumped onto Artie's shoulder as he climbed aboard. "Oh, hey again, Jiminy!" Artie said.
"Pleasure, Your Majesty," Jiminy said. Artie joined the rest of them at the edge of the boat. "Be careful!" Lillian called.
"We'll be fine!" Artie replied.
"Love you, Shrek!" Fiona said, waving. Shrek waved back. "I love you too!"
Artie waved with Shrek and bid farewell to those still on the dock. "We'll be back before you know it, honey!" Donkey cried. She roared gently. "You're married to a dragon, Donkey?" Artie asked.
"Yeah, isn't she lovely?" Donkey replied. The group continued to wave until the people on the dock were no longer visible.