Chapter Twenty-Six

I burst through the door to our house, lungs heaving, heart pounding, not even bothering to take in the surroundings before yelling out, “Everyone get the hell out! We’ve gotta run!”

It was actually a nice house, for those of you reader’s who have never seen it. The walls were nice and sturdy, the kitchen warm and friendly. It had the best magic based technology in the dimension, responding to your every wish in a single instant. Even the rooms would shift to match their owners desires. And for food-we ate like kings. Not that such things stopped us from yelling at Omni, mind you, but it might have taken a bit of the edge off things when we saw that first meal.

“What do you mean run?” demanded Ethan. We’re eating like kings here!”

Helen whacked him over the head. “Kevin barges in here like he’s running for his life, demanding that we run with him, and you’re main concern is your mealtime?”

“It’s a very nice mealtime!”

“Ethan!”

“Look, if I can’t have the girl-and I’m not giving up on that-I should be able to have the roast!”

“Just let me pack a few things,” said Eilonwy, leaping to her feet. She was just as agile as ever, I noticed. We’d probably need that.

“No time to pack!” I said. “No time for anything-no time to walk!” With a simple spell, I bundled them into the back seat of the flying car, leaping in after them and grabbing the wheel.

“What’s going on?” asked Eilonwy, pushing her way up to the front seat.

“No time to explain-I’ve got to maneuver this properly.”

“Maneuver what properly?”

A bolt of light shot past our window. “That!”

The car shook as another blast hit, sending us tumbling to the ground. Eilonwy managed to slow our assent with her magic, but even she couldn’t keep us properly afloat.

“Run!” I cried, following my own orders.

“You’re being ridiculous,” said Phantasma.

“Rediculous? Have ya seen the army behind us?”

It was true-just one glance would show the truth of that. There were thousands of people gathered, all marching towards us, torches bearing, arms a waving, voices cheering.

“Kevin?” asked Eilonwy, “Why is the army chanting your name?”

“Look, we don’t have time to explain this!”

A bolt of lightning shot down in front of us, expanding and widening itself into a girl. “I’d say you do, Toe Heret.”

"Stay back!" I waved my sword in front of my face, warning her back. It was a rather nice sword, some distant part of my mind noticed. Most of you probably hear the words "Solid water," and assume ice. You ssume wrong. Solid water is basically just water, where all the molecules were pulled together in order to form a soid, with a stasis spell to stop the temperture from falling, and turning it to ice. You end up with a wondrous sword-ballanced, flexible, capable of cutting through anything, unbreakable-if you want it to be-and really good at slicing through mean girls. The whole not hitting a girl thing fades thin pretty quickly when a girl is trying to kill you. Plus, i could always turn into a girl myself and remove the problem entirely.

If only THIS was that simple.

“I won’t do it,” i said instead.

“You don’t have a choice.

“Why do people keep saying that?”

“Because it keeps on being true.”

“Look, I fulfilled the prophecy-I took the throne. It’s in my trunk. So just leave me alone!”

“Like I could?” The girl pulled a yellow stone from her throat-the match, in looks though not color, to my own.

“The mystery girl,” I said.

“The one and only. How else could I have used the shield to track you?”

“You did what?”

“Long story. Point being-you can’t escape. And you’re coming with me.”

“I already told you-I fulfilled the prophecy.”

“Do you really think this about some prophecy?”

“Why else would you want me to be king?”

“THAT’S why I left the house?” demanded Ethan. “Because you didn’t want to take a stinkin’ crown?”

“Shut up,” whispered Eilonwy.

“The prophecy is why they want you to take the throne-I want you to take it for an entirely different reason.”

“What? You believe in me?”

“What the fuck are you smoking? I don’t even know you, you idiot.”

“Then why do you want me to take the throne?”

“Because it’s not about you. It is about this stupid little kingdom, that the great and powerful fucking Plitora went and created. The kingdom you, in your damned little exploits, went and left without a ruler! Plitora, fucking bitch that she was, left us way to weak to keep intact unless we’ve got somebody to hold the damn wolves at bay.”

“Me?”

“What do you know! Our king to be isn’t a fucking moron after all! Look, this is not about you-for all I care, you can go ahead and rot in that chair, get sick and die, or get yourself killed in five seconds flat, so long as you leave us with a heir before you go, and so long as you take the throne in the first place, because any other decision is sure as hell gonna lead to a civil war! Even a sniveling whining brat is better than that at this point-and I’m not even sure whether I’m referring to you, or the heir to be.

So shut the hell up, sit your fucking little bony ass down, and wait so that we coronate you, my liege.”

I sat down. You would too! That girl was SCARY.

I strode forward, toward my fate, head held high. Okay, so maybe I was embracing the overdramatic a bit-acting like I was heading towards the gallows. But come on! The people wanted me to be king! An etnerity of making decisions that would run an entire universe-not just as Toe Heret, but as King as well. A lifetime of backstabbing nobles, and a castle where half the people were still willing to help out Plitora for a few gold coins. And did I mention just how much I hate politics? For goodness sake, I’m a teenager!

Didn’t matter how much I complained though-they needed me. Or the idea of me, anyway. So off I went, same as always, to embrace the destiny I’d rather have given up. You can’t run from some things.

But I didn’t have to run towards this one-not quite yet, anyway. “Eilonwy?” I asked, drawing her to the side. “I need to talk to you.”

Kevin’s ceremony was pompous, and boring, and…Oh so funny. This is Eilonwy by the way, here to tell you all about the fact that he fainted right after the placed that crown on his head. Seriously! Apparently, Phantasma decided it would be too funny to stop.

Not that I was entirely free of embarresment myself. “Laugh it up blondie,” said a girl, striding up to me. A twin, actually-probably about nine, blond haired and blue eyed. Pretty enough if she wasn’t trying to insult me.

“You’re next!” said her twin.

“I’m what?”

“The boys get the king.”

“We girls get our queen.”

“Just ‘cause Plitora erased the old traditions.”

“Doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten them.”

“So suck it up.”

“Bend it down.”

“And get ready for your queenship.”

Ethan laughed.

“Shut up,” said one of them.

“You’re a prince.”

“What!”

“Kevin declared it before he walked in here.

“He can’t do that to me!”

“He can and he has.”

“But princes are spoiled brats!”

“Yes you are. What’s your point?”

The entire thing pretty much went like that.

I woke up in bed with a start, thoughts flooding through my mind. First off-how long had it been since I had slept in a bed.

Second-what if it wasn’t real. What if Eilonwy wasn’t real. What if Plitora wanting to destroy me, and a kingdom to run-what if none of it wasn’t real.

Third thought-there’s a crown on my head, a bed five times to large beneath you, and you’re wearing a necklace/ring combo. Go back to bed you idiot, it wasn’t a dream.

And the fourth thought, as I drifted into sleep, was simpler than all the rest. My fiancée was safe.