The Bond is Broken

Don't freak out when you read the title!!

"Good morning!" Auntie Em sang, throwing open the curtains, letting the sunlight flood the room, practically drowning Nikki.

"Later.'" Nikki mumbled, and pulled the blanket over her head.

"C'mon, sleepyhead!" Auntie Em chided. "Don't make me get Poxy to drag you out of bed!" Nikki was awake in an instant. Poxy, who was already up and dressed, laughed at her sudden alertness. Nikki stuck out her tongue at him.

Getting up, she took a quick shower, put on the brown dress with a pink sash that Kenaria offered her, and let Vessian do her hair in a curled ponytail.

When she was finally ready, Poxy told her the fairy queen, Queen Thalia, had requested her audience in Vinessan's quarters.

"What for?" Nikki wondered out loud.

"Most likely because she wants to talk about the Bond." Poxy guessed, and Nikki was silent for a while. "Poxy," Nikki finally asked. "Tell me about Sasailya." Poxy glanced at her. "Not much to tell." he said. "I don't know a whole lot. Zectractra is a prison; no way out, and all evil thing live there." 

"Like banshees and trolls." Nikki clarified, but Poxy shook his head. 

"Only demons-beings who truly go out of their way to be evil-live in Zectractra. Banshees, trolls, goblins, gremlins, boggarts, cyclopses, chimeras, and other beings like that live in the Cursed Lands. Most of them do not purposely cause harm, but their nature is harmful to others. Banshees, for instance, don't hate people, but they automatically scream when they see possible food options. And so, they must live away from the people of Ellaria. Unfortunately, this has made a great many of them upset, and the Council knows that if demons were to escape Zectractra, they would have practically all of the Cursed Lands on their side."

"What about Ellaria?" Nikki asked.

"Well, Ellaria is divided into fifty separate areas, some of them underground. I usually fell asleep in geography, but I do know that the witches, sorceresses, vampires, and werewolves live at the border of Ellaria. They have other means of satisfying their gruesome needs, so they didn't have to be banished to the Cursed Lands, but they still needed to be distanced from the rest of Ellaria.

Underground, a good chunk of Ellaria is left alone, because it goes too near to the Cursed Lands border. Half of the leftover Ellaria is a giant mine, where the dwarves, gnomes, and coblynaus live. The other half is divided up among the three races. In between the underground and the above ground, the brownies have dug tunnels and created their own cities, making sure that there are brownies for each house in Ellaria, so they can fix things at night when they please. Above all this, the rest of the races live. I can't remember all of them; just a few. The fairy kingdom is sort of close to the Cursed Lands, and the kingdoms of the witches, unicorns, satyrs, and dryads surround us. The giants kingdom is the biggest, and the leprechauns' is the smallest."

They stopped talking as they approached a simple, wooden door. The guards flanking it silently admitted Poxy and Nikki, and the two entered a room, filled with beautiful paintings, a four-poster crib, and lots of toys littering the floor. Near an open second door that revealed the royal gardens, Filaria and Vinessan sat, Vinessan fiddling with a small contraption. Upon her sighting of Nikki, she reached up and burbled to be held. Filaria picked up Vinessan and silently handed her to Nikki, with a friendly smile.

Nikki bounced Vinessan on her hip, and started as Queen Thalia glided in from the garden. Her long train to her dress dragged behind, and and her long blonde hair was up in a bun, revealing her long pointed ears.
"Come, let's talk." the queen beckoned to Nikki. Gulping, Nikki slowly followed her into the garden, hoping for the best.

"Hey, dude, do you want to know how Nikki is doing?" Henry's eyes were wide, and frightened, as he confronted his friend, Peter.
"Who?" Peter's puzzled face stared at Henry.
"My sister! She disappeared, and now there's just some weirdo's baby in her place. I'm freaking out, man!" Henry was practically shouting. Peter backed away.
"You're freaking me out, Henry." Peter looked terrified.
"Henry!" Patrick, Kenneth, Tim, and Oscar jogged up, stopping once and they reached Peter and Henry, bent over, and gasping for breath.
"What's wrong? After you starting spouting Nikki crap, you took off. What's your deal?" Oscar demanded.
"Guys, this isn't funny!" Henry screamed, clapping his hands over his ears. "Where is Nikki? I swear, I'll never prank you guys again."
"Do you need to go home or something?" Tim looked absolutely mystified, and a little worried. "We could even just skip our trip to the skate park, if you just calm down."
  "You aren't even going to the skate park, moron! We were going on Friday, and today is Thursday." Henry exclaimed. His friends stared at him.
"Today is Friday, Henry." Kenneth was very calm, and slowly approached Henry. "Now, I think you need to call your mom, and go home." He attempted to place a placating hand on Henry, but Henry jerked away.
"You guys are all just insane!" Henry yelled, and sprinted away from his friends. He was scared and utterly confused. He needed to go home, think things over. His thudding footsteps turned homewards.
Throwing open the door, he raced past his shocked mother cradling that little freak in her arms, and burst into Nikki's room. In a panic, he began to search for his sister, hurling items around, looking for a sign, a clue, something to prove he was right. He ignored his screaming mother, and just looked harder. His mother disappeared, and he heard her shouting into the phone for his dad to come home right away. Henry sank to the floor, his face an expression of defeat.
Nothing showed his sister-his real sister-had been here. She had vanished without a trace. A car came roaring into the garage, and his father ran inside, slamming the door inside. His parents came pounding up the stairs, and the strange baby was crying. Henry just sat in the middle of the ransacked room, his face in his hands, oblivious to his parents soothing arms, hugs, and his mother dialing some psychiatrist's number.

Scared and alone, Henry wept.

"Nikki, let's be frank. I don't like you." the queen broke the silence. Ouch, Nikki thought, but kept silent. "If my husband had just done away with you, life would be simpler. No rumors of war with Zectractra, no grief from the Council, no humans here in Ellaria." She said humans as if they were cockroaches.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I didn't steal your baby in the first place." Nikki said bravely, and Queen Thalia turned a piercing glare on her.

"There is a good bit of news." the queen of the fairies continued as if Nikki hadn't spoken at all. "Vinessan has stopped crying as often, and seems fairly content to be with Filaria instead of you; we suspect the Bond is reversing itself."

"What?!" Nikki exploded, stopping short. "That's impossible!" Pure terror filled her heart. If the Bond became non-existent, Nikki wouldn't be needed anymore.

"Yes, it's happening." Queen Thalia seemed to take pleasure in the turn of events, but she suddenly frowned. "My husband was going to kill you right away this morning, but the Council has grown rather fond of you." She sighed as if this was all a great inconvenience to her. "And so, we are obligated to continue housing you here, for as long as you remain in the Council's favor." Nikki couldn't help letting out a relieved sigh, which earned her a vicious glare.

Somehow, the two had made a complete circle, and they now were back at the door to Vinessan's room. The queen stopped, and faced Nikki.

"I brought you here to inform you that you will be staying here, and under close supervision. Make a wrong move, and I will ensure that you are beheaded before you can say help. I'm watching you, Forrester, and don't you forget it." Queen Thalia said coldly, and marched through the door, past Vinessan, and out of the room. Nikki followed after a moment's pause, almost in shock.

"What happened?" Poxy was eager, dying for details. Nikki blinked, crashing back to reality. A huge grin spread across her face, and Poxy looked like he was going to have a stroke. "Tell me, please!" he begged, his look of anguish making Nikki laugh.

"The queen said the Bond is reversing itself." Nikki told him, and he looked horrified. "But they won't kill me because the Council likes me now." Nikki hurriedly added, and Poxy's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's great!" he burst out, and ran over to give Nikki a hug. Nikki accepted it gratefully, still trying to process her good luck.

"We should probably head back to my room." Nikki suggested, and Poxy nodded. After exchanging farewells with the royal sitter and baby, the two left in high spirits. On the way back, Nikki told Poxy a little more about her, and Poxy did likewise. On this trip, they took the long way back, and Poxy told Nikki about the palace and its works. Suddenly, Nikki looked outside.

"Oh my gosh!" she gasped. It was dark outside, the stars glittering in the sky. "We have to hurry!" She took Poxy's hand and set off in a dead run, but stopped short, blushing. "I have no idea where to go." she admitted, and Poxy grinned.

"Come on!" he started running, and laughed as Nikki came after him. The pair chased each other through the endless hallways, eventually ending up back at Nikki's room. Nikki flopped on the bed, her sides hurting from so much laughing. Poxy plopped down next to her, flushed and mirthful. He stared at Nikki, and something came across his face. He stared at her a moment longer, until he finally stood, with an air of losing the courage to do something.

"We should sleep now." he muttered, avoiding Nikki's gaze. He went over to his cot and curled up on it, obviously done. Nikki didn't bother changing; she just crawled under her own covers, confusion swelling up inside her. She wasn't sure what was wrong with Poxy, and it worried her. Oh, well, she thought, he'll get over it. So she drifted off, not quite sure she believed herself.

Author's Note

A very important chapter for the rest of the book.

Reviews

[A. L. Allen]

Yay!!! A new chapter! I'm loving the continuation, and the scene with Henry was great! :)

Uh-oh, complicating incident. I have a feeling that Nikki's going to accidentally do something to displease the council, and then she'll be in a whole heap of trouble. D:

And gosh dang it Poxy! Just tell Nikki you like her and be done with it!!!!!!! ;D

Love it, love it, love it! Keep me posted for the next chapter, and keep up the superb job! :)

[paparapapa]

Haha. You ended this chapter perfectly! It's really cute when it's the guys who likes the girl first. :)) Well, anyway, I didn't expect this twist. I thought the bond was the only thing that kept her from being killed. :)) Oh, and I really pity Henry! I hope Nikki will show herself to him soon. Great chapter! Keep them coming. :)