Greysons of Grimoire

by Tpaul Homdrom

  Annabelle hadn’t lost her sisters. Her sisters thought they’d lost Annabelle.

  Why was the King lying so much? And why didn’t he do a very good job of it?

  What if he wasn’t lying, though? Or what if he was only lying about some things, but telling the truth about others? What if he really did need Shana to stop the Endless Night? What if he really was trying to save the universe?

  Could Shana just walk away from that?

  But…

  Annabelle looked so frightened. And Shana had seen the little girl’s desperation in the grove, her hopefulness that someone would finally be able to get a message to her sisters that would set her free.

  But Annabelle had also changed her mind when she learned that Shana had the Dreamer’s Heart. What did Annabelle need the Heart for? Shana coming to the King didn’t seem to have helped Annabelle at all.

  The King might be telling the truth. The universe might be about to be swallowed by eternal darkness, and Shana might be the only person who could help him stop it.

  But Shana just couldn’t ignore the frightened little girl. And she couldn’t bring herself to trust the King who hid his face.

  How do I save her? How do I get out of here with Shias and the others? Do I just escape with Annabelle’s message? Shouldn’t I take her with me?

  What can I do for her?

  “Shana?” Shias asked softly.

  Shana realized all of her friend’s eyes were on her. They were waiting for her to deal with things, trusting her to make the right call.

  But what was the right call?

  We can’t fight our way out of here. And even if we could, we have no clue where the exit is.

  “I’ve heard some things about Annabelle’s sisters,” Shana said, playing for a partial bluff. “And I know she didn’t lose them. One of them asked me to find her.”

  “Is that so?” the King asked, his tone dripping with suspicion.

  Play it cool, Shana! Don’t be so obvious.

  “That’s right,” Shana said. “Maribelle’s been looking everywhere for her little sister. The way she told me, she thought Annabelle was the one who’d been lost.”

  “Very interesting,” the King said slowly. Annabelle had lifted her eyes, watching Shana hesitantly.

  I really hope I’m right about what you can do, Annabelle, Shana thought, meeting the girl’s eyes. Of course, Annabelle couldn’t see Shana’s eyes through the sunglasses, but she hoped the girl understood what Shana was trying to do.

  Shana had remembered Annabelle saying “I can take them” in the grove. Neith had instead stepped in and taken the Dawn Riders to the Radiant Palace, which was clearly not located anywhere ordinary. It would take magic to get here.

  It would probably take the same magic to get out.

  If Annabelle could get them in, then Shana was desperately hoping the girl could get them out.

  “So I find it hard to trust you, King,” Shana said. “Maybe you were misinformed about Annabelle’s situation, though. I get that you’re trying to help her. But maybe she didn’t tell you everything.”

  “So what would you have me do?” the King asked.

  “I’d ask for two things,” Shana said, pouring sweetness into her voice, doing her best to sound respectful. “One: set the children tied up in the forest by Grimoire free. Not just the ones in the grove we saw — all of the missing children and adults. Send them back to their families. They’ve been gone for too long. And two: set Annabelle free. Let her go back to her sisters. She’s been gone for too long.”

  “And if I do those things… will you and your friends stay here?” the King asked.

  Shana’s heart pounded. The King wasn’t asking for only Shana — he intended to include her friends in this bargain.

  How do I save everyone?

  “I can’t accept that much,” Shana said. “I’m grateful for your offer, but my friends and my brother deserve the choice to go home. I… I can stay. But only me.”

  That was the hardest part to say. Shana was hoping she could get away, too. But… well, if the King agreed to all of these conditions, Shana could work out a plan over time to escape. And she knew if Shias got away, he’d be able to put together a plan to free her.

  That’s what Shias was good at. Planning. Thinking things through.

  If Shana had been good at those things, she wouldn’t have gotten everyone into this mess. It was up to her to pay the price.

  “We’re not just —” Kathryn started to protest, but Shana elbowed her friend in the ribs, shutting her up.

  “Trust me,” she said softly, barely moving her lips. “Please.”

  “I can let your friends and brother go free,” the King said. “And… I can release the children. But Annabelle stays.”

  That’s what I thought.

  Shana had been banking on the King being unable to let everyone go. For whatever reason, he needed Annabelle, and was forcibly holding her hostage. She guessed the King also needed the missing children as well — and Shana’s other siblings might be among them, along with Rae’s dad — for reasons Shana couldn’t guess.

  “Please,” Shana said. “Maribelle misses her so desperately. Can’t you allow her to go free?” As Shana pleaded, she kept her shielded eyes on Annabelle, desperately hoping the little girl had the insight — and the courage — to understand what Shana was asking her between the lines.

  “My King,” said one of the servants in the white uniforms, a tall and lean woman with harsh features that reminded Shana of her kindergarten teacher who’d been a little too gung-ho about disciplining students. Her hair was a silvery white, but her face showed few signs of age. “I do think this has gone on long enough.”

  “Not to worry, Platina,” the King said. “It’s understandable that Shana would try to help everyone she perceives to be in trouble. She has the heart of a hero. I admire that.”

  “Annabelle,” Shana said, addressing the girl directly. “Maribelle misses you desperately. I hope you know that. And… I want to get you home to her. As fast as I can.”

  Annabelle’s eyes flashed with recognition, for a brief moment, and then she looked away. “My King, may I speak?” she asked.

  “Certainly, dear one,” the King said. “What is the matter?”

  “I… I just want… to hug Shana,” Annabelle said shyly.

  The white-uniformed woman to Platina’s right was clearly enamored with Annabelle, wearing an expression on her face of hopeful desperation. “Oh, can she?” she asked, her voice rising an octave in the space of three words.

  “Contain yourself, Hestia,” Platina snapped. Hestia gave a mournful sigh and stared at the floor.

  “Annabelle,” the King said. “I trust you. Go ahead, dear one.”

  Annabelle began to walk down the stage and along the carpet to Shana. Shana felt her heart pounding in her chest with anxiety as Annabelle grew ever closer.

  Would this actually work? It seemed too easy.

  Did Annabelle actually understand, or was she really just coming over for a hug?

  I mean, I wouldn’t mind hugging her. She’s so cute! And looks so sad. She could use more hugs. I just… I hope she has more than just a hug in mind.

  Mercifully, Annabelle arrived at Shana without anyone stopping her. Shana knelt down, so she was at eye level with the red-headed girl.

  “You really meant it about my sister?” Annabelle asked, staring at Shana with wide-eyed hopefulness.

  “I did,” Shana said, smiling. She opened her arms, and Annabelle came to her, clinging to her in an embrace.

  “You remember my message, right?” the little girl whispered in Shana’s ear.

  Shana nodded. She nuzzled her head towards Annabelle’s shoulder, until her mouth was hidden by the girl’s hair. “Can you get us out of here?” she whispered.

  “You,” Annabelle said. “And your brother and friends. But… I can’t go with you.”

  Shana’s heart faltered. “Will you… will you be all rig
ht?” she asked.

  “As long as you come back for me,” Annabelle replied. “Not just Maribelle. You have to come, too.”

  Shana blinked as sudden wetness stung her eyes. She nodded. “I will,” she said. “I’ll find Maribelle, and come back for you with her. As fast as I can.”

  Annabelle hugged Shana tighter. “Count to five, slowly, in your head. When you feel something pull at your back, give in to it.”

  Shana nodded, immediately starting the count.

  “Poor girl,” came the adoring tones of Hestia. “She so desperately needed a friend.”

  Shana was at two, and then one. Suddenly, she felt a pull at her back. Annabelle let her go, and Shana almost kept holding on. She was terrified for the girl. But…

  This is the only way, isn’t it?

  I’ll come back. I promise.

  Shana let go, as panic started to break out on the stage. The King shouted a command, but it was lost to Shana’s ears as a rush of wind wrapped around her and pulled her back.

  “Let it take you!” Shana called out to Shias and her friends. They, too, flew backwards through the air with her, as the rush of wind grew louder and stronger, blocking out all other noises.

  “I’ll come back for you!” Shana called out desperately, pulling off her sunglasses and staring through the intense brightness at Annabelle, who was being apprehended by Void. The girl looked up, and her eyes met Shana’s, fixing her with an expression of grim determination.

  And then Shana was swallowed up by a sparkling black void.

  Rushing through a starry tunnel, Shana could barely keep her consciousness as pressure clamped down on her from all sides. So she shut her eyes tight, focusing on what mattered most.

  I’ll come back for you, Annabelle.

  I promise.

  Chapter 38: Never Alone

  — G —

  “Are we there yet?” Chelsea asked.

  “You can plainly see for yourself that we aren’t,” Lorelei said. “Just like the last time you asked, and the fifteen times before that. Which must mean we’re getting close.”

  “Close isn’t good enough,” Chelsea said, kicking her feet as the girls started along a new bridge. This one had glass for its walls and ceiling, tinted in an intriguing way that reflected and played with the light of the starry sky outside, casting a variety of colors across the glass that shifted depending on how one looked at it.

  Delilah, for her part, wasn’t much distracted by the glass. She was growing to like Chelsea more now that she was seeing this immature side of her, the Chelsea who constantly asked “are we there yet?” like a little kid on an overly long car ride. She couldn’t help giggling every time Chelsea asked, even if those giggles did occasionally earn a sour look from Chelsea.

  “Two more bridges should get us to Millennium Crossing,” Gwen said. “That takes us right to the front door.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” Chelsea said.

  “I thought you were excited about exploring and doing lots of neat things,” Isabelle said. Her left hand held Lorelei’s right, and she swung it forward and back occasionally, dragging Lorelei’s hand with hers.

  “That was you,” Chelsea said, tilting her head back to look up at the stars while she walked.

  “No, I’m pretty sure it was you,” Isabelle said, giggling.

  “Are you talking back to me?” Chelsea asked, casting a grumpy look over her shoulder.

  “No,” Isabelle said, smiling as she did so, clearly fighting to hold back laughter.

  “Oh really?” Chelsea asked, tilting her head so that only her eyes were showing to Isabelle. From Delilah’s position, she could see what Chelsea was trying to hide from the girl — she was smiling.

  “Hey, look!” Isabelle exclaimed, suddenly pointing past Chelsea. “See? We’re almost there!”

  “Gwen already —” Chelsea started to say, but she shut up when she looked where Isabelle was pointing.

  “Wow,” Delilah said softly, staring with the rest of the group.

  “You could say that again,” Lorelei said breathlessly.

  “Wow,” Chelsea obliged, staring.

  They’d just passed a glistening blue tower that shimmered from several waterfalls that ran down its outer walls, collecting into a pool at its base to recycle back up to the top. That was quite a sight, but now that they’d passed it, they could see Millennium Vista more clearly.

  Thinking of it as a mountain more than a building seemed appropriate to Delilah now that they were this close. Millennium Crossing, the largest bridge in sight by far and decked out with silvery lights and marble statues, wasn’t far away, and beyond that loomed the impossibly huge tower known as Millennium Vista. Millions of windows dotted its pearlescent walls, and more balconies than Delilah could ever have counted sprouted here and there, with a variety of decorations, designs, and purposes — from gardens to fountains, outdoor libraries to cushioned sitting areas, and so many more, they took Delilah’s breath away. She had to crane her neck up to see the top, even though the girls were at least a mile away.

  “What’s in there?” she asked. “Why build something so gigantic?”

  “Just about everything is in there,” Gwen said, now taking the lead as they continued on, leaving their current bridge and walking a short path through numerous stalls and outdoor shops towards Millennium Crossing. “There are restaurants, amusement parks, theaters, zoos, stores, boutiques, arcades, laboratories… multiple cities could fit inside those walls. The second largest library in the Enchanted Dominion is in there, and that’s only because there are three of them, separated by category: a general audiences library, a research and scholarly library, and a music library. Each is larger in its own right than any other dedicated repository of knowledge in the universe.”

  “But there’s a larger library than any of those three individually?” Lorelei asked.

  Gwen smiled. “Of course,” she said, her eyes resting on little Isabelle. “Our destination is the largest library in the universe: The Library of Solitude.”

  “Your home’s pretty big, huh, kid?” Chelsea asked.

  Isabelle grinned. “It’s gigantic!” she said happily, stretching her arms out wide. “And it’s my favorite place ever!”

  “How did you end up leaving in the first place?” Lorelei asked. “You’ve been gone for a long time, so it’s okay if you don’t remember.”

  Isabelle bowed her head. “We all left together,” she said. “Mommy, Mari, and me. We were going to work together to find the others. Most of my sisters… they left. We don’t know where they are. Mommy thought she knew, so she took me and Mari to find them. But we were separated. There was…” Isabelle shuddered. “A lot of darkness. I couldn’t see anything. And no matter how loud I shouted, no one called back. I was all alone. Mommy had told me I could find her again using the special flute… but I couldn’t remember the song. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to get back. And even if I get back home, I don’t know if anyone will be there.”

  From what Delilah had been able to gather from what Caleb, Chelsea, and Lorelei had said about Isabelle, and how Isabelle talked about herself, the girl had been lost ages ago — possibly long before Delilah, or even her parents, were born. Delilah had been separated from her family for only a few days, and even then, she wasn’t alone. But Isabelle…

  “We’ll help you find them,” Delilah said. “If they aren’t there, we’ll keep looking with you. Until you’re with the rest of your family, we won’t leave you.”

  Isabelle looked up at Delilah with surprised, hopeful eyes. “Really truly?” she asked. “You’ll stay with me?”

  “We sure will,” Lorelei said, smiling. “We can’t just leave you at your home if you’re there alone, can we?”

  “Whatever happened to your family, we’ll figure it out,” Chelsea said. “So don’t worry.” She sighed, and it had a melancholy sound to it. “You won’t ever be alone again.”

  “I…” Isabelle started, but then s
he shook her head. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She stared at her feet, smiling, and spoke in a small voice. “Thank you so much.”

  “Gwen, you said there’s a music library,” Delilah said, staring at Millennium Vista, looming ever closer as the girls started walking again. “Do you think it might have some key to help Isabelle remember the song to get her home?”

  “That sounds like a good place to start,” Gwen said. “Finding our answers there would be preferable to facing the House of Truth.”