Princess Departing
"Let me out!" Bean cried with her hands grasped around the bars of the small window. "Let me out now!"
"Sorry princess, no can do," said Turbish.
Bean kicks the door to her holding spot, causing Turbish and Mertz to jump at the suddenBANG. "GODDAMN IT!" She yelled as she sat on the cold stone floor, placed her knees to her chest, and buried her face between her legs.
The Princess and sub-demon were inside a room down the stone hallways. The knights didn't know where to place Bean since she would easily escape her room. So, they decided to put her in the high-security meat vault. The room had an overwhelming smell of blood and meat. Sitting next to Bean was a hog's head, a goat's head, and a ham on a bone. Luci reached over and grabbed a piece of meat that was hanging on a hook and gobbled it whole. He let out a loud burp and sighed while rubbing his full stomach.
"H-Hey! Don't eat the meat in there!" Mertz shouted.
"Too bad, loser!" Luci laughed. He turned to Bean and frowned slightly. "Look on the bright side, Bean. At least we have all this high-security meat we can eat!" He broke off a piece of goat meat. "Here, this will cheer you up!"
"Not now, Luci," said Bean, her voice horse from all the screaming she had been doing for the past half hour. "Nothing's going to make me feel any better till we're far away from this hell hole of a kingdom." She raised her head from her thighs and stared at the puddle of blood on the floor. "Man...I wonder where they are right now..."
"Probably far, far away right now. If we did escape, we would have a lot of ground we need to cover," Luci tosses the raw ham into his mouth. "How about using some magic to blow the door down?"
Bean rustles her snowy white hair. "I've been trying! UGH! I don't understand why I can never use it when I need it the most!"
"You really need to hurry up and get the hang of that already," said Luci.
"You don't think I've been trying?!" She snapped her eyes onto Luci and glared.
"How long have you been hanging out at the bar this week?"
Bean stared at Luci for a moment. "Okay...fair enough," She turned away from the demon. The Princess could hear the sounds of Turbish and Mertz's armor clanking as they straightened their posture.
"Greetings, your Highness," said Turbish.
"Tavish?" Bean gets to her feet and clings to the iron bars of the meat door. There her brother was, still wearing his formal attire when they were all on the boat.
"Can you two please leave my sister and me alone?" Tavish asked.
Turbish shook his head. "Sorry Prince Tavish. King Zog has given us strict orders to keep a watchful eye on the Princess."
"I see," Tavish crosses his arms. "Well, I was going to add a few extra coins to your checks, but—"
Turbish and Mertz's eyes widened. Mertz cleared his throat. "Okay! Take all the time you need, Your Highness!" He and Turbish quickly left the two of them alone.
"Money talks," said Tavish, watching to see if they walked far enough away. He steps closer to the door. "Bean, are you okay?"
Luci hops onto Bean's shoulders. "Nope, she's about to start crying like a baby any minute now!"
"Shut up, Luci!" said Bean, blushing a bit.
"Hold on," said Tavish, checking to see if anyone was around and kneeling to the door lock.
"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to peek her head through the iron bars.
"Shh! I'm going to try and get you out of here," Tavish whispered.
"You don't have the key?"
"No, but I got some lock picks from Miri I can use,"
"Oh no," Bean sighed.
"What?" Tavish looks up at her.
"You're terrible at picking locks, Tavish,"
"No, I'm not. What are you talking about?"
"You break all the locks every time you try!"
"I've always been good at picking locks!"
"No, that was me!"
"Just keep your voice down and let me do this!"
"Oh god..." Bean shook her head.
Tavish reaches into his pocket, takes out a few lock-picking tools, and gets to work. The Prince placed them into lock and began moving the tools around. "Alright...I think I got it..."
SNAP!
"Damn it!" Tavish cursed.
"Called it," said Luci.
"Silence!" Tavish whispered and yelled.
He places another set into the lock.
SNAP!
"Damn it..."
SNAP!
"Damn it!"
SNAP!
"DAMN IT!"
"See?" said Bean.
"OH TO HELL WITH IT!" Tavish shouted. The Prince placed his hand around the lock, and a surge of black and green lighting blew the lock off the door.
Bean and Luci step out of the meat room. "Why didn't you do that from the beginning?"
"Just shut up and run!" Tavish shoves Bean, and the three of them make a run for it.
*
Bean, Luci, and Tavish had retreated off to Bean's room. The order hit Tavish right in the face as he stepped through the door. The twin had forgotten how foul his sister's room could be from time to time. But that wasn't what he would comment on at the moment.
"I'm starting to see why I don't come in here," said Tavish. The Prince had his thumb and index finger clenched around his nose.
"Yeah, yeah, my room stinks, I know," Bean replied, rushing over to her clothes closet.
"I heard about what happened. Well, I heard different versions of the story. What's this about Koga taking Oona hostage and then running away with Elfo and that other man?"
Bean explained who Oscar was, the dragon's key, and Zog and Koga's confrontation. "And now they've run off somewhere...probably already far off..." She reached into her closet, grabbed a few traveling bags and clothes, and tossed them on the bed.
"My favorite part is when Koga was kicking all the knight's asses," said Luci, hopping onto Bean's bed.
"So, that man ashore was a grand wizard from an academy who studied dragons. He owned a key that could take you to a world where dragons inhabit it? Well...that is a lot for me to process," said Tavish, rubbing his chin. He places his eyes on Bean's bed, which has a sword and a few rations. "Wait...what are you doing?"
"What's it look like I'm doing?" She replied, stuffing those rations into a brown bag.
"You're not thinking of going after them, are you?!"
"Yes, I am," said Bean, simply as she placed her sword around her waist.
"Bean, no," Tavish walks over to her. "You can't do that. This is far too dangerous!"
"Yeah, danger and I are old friends," said Bean, swinging the bag over her shoulder and grabbing the grappling hook off the bed. "Luci, come on—"
Tavish placed his hand tightly around Bean's arm. "Bean, no, I can't just let you go out there and get yourself killed!"
"Let go of me, Tavish!"
"No! I'm not letting you run away again like I did last time! It's much safer here at the castle than being out there—"
"NO IT'S NOT!" Bean screamed, yanking her arm away from Tavish. "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE!"
The two of them stood there in silence. Tavish lowered his eyes to the ground, and Bean looked away.
Tavish opened his mouth to speak, but his sister spoke first.
"I'm not good at being a princess, I'm not good at doing royal work, I'm not good at—at anything like you are. All I do is drink, fight, and throw my guts out every single day. I don't fit In here at all. But, when I'm with Elfo, Luci and Koga...I don't feel like I'm useless. I feel like I'm becoming someone better...and I know Zog doesn't care...he made that clear today." Bean turns away from her brother and places the grappling hook on the edge of the window.
"Bean..." Tavish whispered.
Bean turned to him.
"I...I..." Tavish's eyes glistened a bit. "Please be careful out there..."
Bean's eyes began to water. She drops her bag, rushes over to her brother, and wraps her arms around him. The two would tighten the hug on one another before Bean gently breaks away. "Whenever you become King... I know you'll do a great job in changing this place."
"I'll try my best, sister," Tavish smiled.
"You better," Bean returned the smile.
The Prince wipes his eyes. "You two should hurry and gain some ground while you still can. Father is still getting his knights together to go after Koga."
"He's still picking knights?"
"Well, he's picking knights that aren't afraid to go after Koga. I'm sure he's going to end up forcing people at this point,"
"I'm surprised he hasn't done that already," said Bean, walking over to the window. She takes one last look at Tavish. "Well...I'm out of here."
Tavish smiled. "Good luck, Bean,"
"Thanks, Tav. See you, bro," The Princess replied. Luci hops on her shoulders and descends to the ground. Bean unhooks the grappling hook and heads off into the forest.
"I gotta admit, that was the most wholesome I've ever seen you two act towards one another. Even though it made me sick," said Luci, gagging a bit.
"Well, I was saying goodbye to my older brother, so...yeah, I wanted to hug him and say something nice," said Bean.
Bean and Luci were walking through the enchanted forest. Luci led the way, the tip of his tail lit ablaze. Nighttime was falling upon the two, and the sounds of the forest were growing louder and louder.
"Do you think we should make camp?" Bean asked.
"Yeah, that sounds good," said Luci.
Bean had gathered sticks and rocks and created a campfire. She sat before the fire and watched Luci lay in it, making a fire. Bean placed her elbows on her thighs and blankly stared into the fire.
"Oh crap..." Luci groaned.
Bean snaps out her gaze and looks at Luci. "What is it?"
"I forgot about Pazuzu,"
"Pazuzu?" Bean suddenly remembers. "Wait, isn't that one of the demons you went to high school with?"
"Yeah. We ended up talking for a bit, and it turns out we have a lot more in common than we thought. I said if I ever decided to open up a bar, I'd have him be one of the bartenders,"
"Aww," Bean smiled at Luci.
"Shut up," said Luci, looking away, embarassed. "I just thought that now that we ran off from Dreamland, I probably won't be able to do that."
"Oh," Bean frowned. "I guess that's my fault, huh?"
"Yeah, it totally is," Luci replied. "But, it's whatever. It's not like I could leave you all by yourself anyway."
"Awwwww!" Bean gleamed.
"Shut. Up." Luci walks out of the fire and sits on the ground. "Let's just get some sleep." Suddenly, everything went dark. "Hey, who turned out the lights—AHHH!"
"LUCI?" Bean sprang to her feet. "WHO'S THERE? LET GO OF MY FRIEND YOU-you...oooooh..." She felt her eyes grow heavy and fell onto her side. The last thing she saw was a foot of a dark figure standing in front of her. And she drifted off to sleep.
The first thing Bean smelled was sweetness. It immediately reminded her of Elfo. The Princess slowly opened her eyes and stared at the icing-covered ceiling.
"ElFO?!" Bean quickly rises.
"Oh, you're finally awake!" said Gwen, The grey-haired witch.
Bean turned to her. "Huh? W-Wait a second...aren't that you witch that was put under that laughing cruse?"
"Why yes I am! I'm glad you remembered me!" said Gwen, cackling.
Bean looks around the living room. The room was similar to Gwen's old home. The frosting was on the edges of the wooden beams on the ceiling and walls. "Where am I?"
"This is my sister's condo!" said Gwen. "Since the old one got blown up, we downsized. It's much more cozy, I'd have to say!"
"Where's Luci?"
"Oh, the little demon fella, he's in the kitchen with my sister!"
"COOKIES ARE READY!" said Gwen's sister Grace, stepping into the living room with a pan of cookies, and Luci was sitting on her shoulder. Gwen's sister was a bit larger than her. She had grey hair tied in a bun and wore a navy blue dress.
"Here! Would you like some slightly cursed cookies?" said Gwen, taking a green cookie off the pan and holding it out to Bean.
Bean looked at the cookie in disgust. "U-uh...no, thank you," she said, holding up her hand.
Gwen shrugged and said, "Suit yourself!" She eats the cookie in one bite.
"Sooo...why did you two kidnap Luci and me?"
"Oh, we were just playing a game of something we like to call 'Who we can kidnap the most people and make them eat our cooking!' I'm usually the one who gets the most compliments!" said Gwen. She turns to her sister and smirks.
"That's because you steal my recipes!" Grace glared.
"Oh, don't even start with that!" Gwen waves her down. She looks over at Bean. "So, Princess, what brings you and your friend out here at night?"
"Oh uh...well, jeez, I don't even know where to begin," said Bean, brushing her hair aside.
Bean summarized the events back at Dreamland, from Oscar, the dragon key, and Koga, Elfo, and Oscar running off.
Gawen gasped. "Did you just say, Oscar?!"
"You know him?" Luci asked.
"Know him, I dated him!" said Gwen.
"Are you serious?!" said Bean, shocked.
"It wasn't just him you dated," said Grace, narrowing her eyes at her sister. "You, Oscar, and that other man Malfus were all dating at the same time!"
"What was I supposed to do? They both really liked me! I just wanted to see how that would work out!" said Gwen, crossing her arms and looking away. "I mean, it started out okay at first, but Malfus started getting jealous the longer the relationship went on. So he decided he was leaving our little love triangle. Not long after, Oscar and I decided to break it off. I got tired of him talking about dragons over and over; I felt like he loved them more than he loved me."
"Jeez...imagine losing to a lizard," said Luci.
"Luci!" Bean gives Luci a scolding glare.
"No, no, it's okay. The little demon isn't wrong anyway," said Gwen. "So, if your handsome friend with the overly large sword is with Oscar and they have the key...I'm sure he will try and use it to get to the other world."
"Do you know where that is?" Bean asked.
"Nope. But...Malfus might know. He lives on the atop the highest mountain in the land. The devil's snowcone."
"Oh crap, we're going out in the cold? If I knew that, I should've brought a coat or something," said Bean, smacking her forehead gently.
"Why not cuddle up to your demon buddy?" Grace asked. "He'll keep you warm!"
"Oh, goddamn it. You just had to say something," Luci scowled.
"Thanks a lot, girls. I really appreciate the help! Who knew getting captured by two witches in the middle of the forest could be so rewarding!" said Bean, smiling at them.
"No problem, sweetie! You can consider that thanks for saving me from almost getting my head cut off!" said Gwen, returning the smile.
"You're free to stay the night if you like!" said Grace.
"Oh man, I'll definitely take up that offer," Bean replied.
And so, Bean and Luci stayed the night at the witch's condo. She slept on the couch with Luci resting on Bean's stomach. Despite having the cozy couch, Bean didn't immediately fall asleep.
"What do you think the world of dragons is like Luci?" The Princess asked.
"I don't know. Lots of fire breathing, a lot of screeching, and a lot of giant lizards flying around, maybe?" Luci adjusted himself. "Why? Do you wanna live there or something?"
"Maybe," said Bean, chuckling. "What about you?"
"Yeah, that's a hard no. I lived in hell, and we had to put up with Satan's three-headed pet dog always messing with us. I do not want to deal with dragons."
"Three-headed pet dog?"
"Yeah, Cerberus. That dog did not have a leash. Or, should I say leashes,"
"Wow...that sounds rough," said Bean, closing her eyes. "You know...maybe when we all reunite, we can finally do what Koga wanted to do for us. Take us out to see the world."
"Sounds good to me," said Luci. "Causing chaos for just one part of the world isn't enough for me."
Bean chuckled. "Damn right,"
"Now, can you shut up so I can get some sleep?"
"Right, my bad,"
Bean would drift off to sleep with a hopeful smile.