Reality

It had been three weeks since Queen Rebecca had taken over and Mister, Pearl and Justin had been "killed". In reality they had been sent scurrying away from the castle and into hiding in the caves behind the waterfall. The very same caves that the legend of Castle Free Sky spoke about.

The ones that his great great grandfather had supposedly hidden in after his ship wrecked into the rocks that skirted the sea shore at the bottom of the cliffs at the edge of the castle grounds.

They had been surviving by eating whatever they could find, and their patients for the situation were pretty much gone. They were cold, hungry, and mad as hell. It didn't even seem real that Caine could ever have possibly beaten Mister in that blood battle, yet here they were.

Mister sat quietly brooding by the puny fire, while Justin and Pearl gathered what little was left of their hunted up food. Pearl was becoming more and more concerned about his mood as she silently watched him from the corner of her eye. She knew that something was going to happen soon, she just had no idea of what it would be and that made her very nervous. His temper was nothing to be toyed with, and she knew it.

She watched as he sulked and mumbled for a while. He was slowly getting louder and louder with his cursing and bitching, and then just as she expected, he suddenly stood up and brushed past them and left out of the cave opening without saying a word. He had a strange look on his face and it really made Pearl worry..

"Mister, just where in the hell do you think you're going?" she asked behind him.

"I'm sick of this shit," he growled back at her without even turning his head to look at her, and never missing a single step.

"I'm going to my great grandmother's house," he huffed as he transformed. He put his ears back and he struck out into the snow. He loved her with all of his heart, but at that moment he could have really cared less weather she followed him or not.

He didn't really even get much time to think about it before the wind that was rising up from the wildly stirring ocean below him mixed with the driving snow storm above him, and almost instantly took his breath away. He held himself as steady as he could, digging his long claws into the icy terrain as he slowly climbed the stairs that were naturally formed in the cliff wall thousands of years before, fighting the intense wind and stinging snow for every single step.

Justin and Pearl were too tired to argue, they both sighed heavily and looked at each other knowingly as they shifted as well and reluctantly stepped out of the cave to follow him. They trudged slowly behind him a few yards, huddling together as much as possible to protect themselves from the blowing wind and snow, and to hopefully keep from falling to their deaths before they had a chance to starve or freeze.

The early morning storm was raging around them as if they didn't even exist in the same realm. Justin felt Pearl shiver and he tried to huddle a little closer, knocking her off balance and causing her to slip a little on the frozen rocks as they were climbing over the side of the cliff to level ground. She instinctively yelped when she felt her grip falter, accidentally getting Mister's attention.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mister lept from the thick snow and ice that was swirling in the air all around them, and he pounced dead ass on Justin...hard.

Justin let out a squeal as Pearl grabbed him by the tail and snatched him away from Mister before he could become the subject of his frustrations. Justin let out another high pitched yelp and then he ran and hid behind Pearl as she stood her ground with the growling, snarling wolf that was Mister. They squabbled for a moment before he relented and turned away to continue the long walk back to where they were going.

Their feet were freezing as they fought their way over the last steep ridge they had to pass before they could reach the shelter of his great grandmother's castle.

They all knew it was risky, because they could possibly be seen by someone patrolling the castle grounds, or the old queen's castle may have already been reoccupied since the night she died.

There was no way to really know what may lay ahead. However, they also understood the seriousness of their situation. They were simply not going to survive in that cave for much longer. Food had become scarce and firewood was almost impossible to find while staying inside their little safe zone, and out of sight of anyone else who could possibly see them. They were simply not ready to raise the alarm that they were alive yet.

Pearl was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly realized that Mister had gotten a little ahead of her and Justin, and he had disappeared into the blinding snow. They started to second guess their location, so they stopped and howled into the wind, praying he would hear them and answer.

A few short minutes later, they heard Mister howling back. The pair got excited at the thought of food, warmth, and shelter so they picked up the pace and headed in the direction of Mister's cries. He waited for them to find him, and then he led them down the trail to the castle door as quickly as possible.

By the time that Justin and Pearl had made their way to the door and into the main living area of the small castle, Mister had transformed back to his human form and found some towels to dry them all off on. He dried his hair and wrapped it up, as he stood up and handed Pearl the towels he had for the two of them. She thanked him as they both transformed themselves as well. She wrapped herself in one, while offering the other to Justin, who happily accepted.

"You two go find warm clothes and a shower, I'll start a fire and when you're finished, I'll take one too," Mister almost ordered them.

"You go first son, I'll tend the fire," Pearl replied in a motherly tone.

"No ma'am, I am still the one giving the orders around here," Mister said sternly as he pointed his finger in the direction of the guest suites of the small castle. Pearl didn't have it in her to argue or fuss so she did as she was told without saying another word.

After they were gone, he built a fire with the wood that he found still stacked on the rack next to the fireplace, and he stripped himself of his wet clothes. He wrapped himself in a throw blanket he had found on the couch, and he stood there staring into the fire, quietly reflecting on the events of the last few months.

The scenes of his girl Hallie running away with his best friend, Zeek. Della and Caine and Becky, and the total downfall of his reign. That, along with all of the rest of the absolute life - changing bullshit he had recently been through, all flashed behind his eyes and took his thoughts to an even darker place. He just couldn't believe that he had allowed things to go the way that they did. How in the hell did he get himself into all of this shit?

Fucking Robert, that's how. Just thinking about that slimy bastard made Mister want to punch some shit.

He was torn from his thoughts when Pearl came back into the room.

"Okay babe, it's your turn," she said as she picked up the metal poker and stirred the fire. She had such a serene look on her face at the moment that he didn't want to disturb her, so he left the room without saying anything at all. He hoped that she hadn't noticed the tears that were now streaming down his sad, tired face.

He really didn't know why he was weeping. He guessed that it was partly because he was so tired, and partly because of all of the emotions that had built up over the last few months that had still been left undealt with. Starting with meeting Robert, losing his best friend Zeek and the love of his life, Hallie, as well as his family's lands, and on to the passing of his beloved great grandmother. All of it, going all the way down to his current situation.

He was only slightly comforted by the familiarity of his great grandmother's home and that really pissed him off, too.

He walked through his great grandmother's beautifully decorated bedroom on his way to the shower in her bathroom, and he couldn't help but to stop at the foot of her bed to pray, which is something he very rarely did. He took a deep breath as he gently stroked the soft silk comforter that still smelled like her. He finally felt relaxed enough in that moment to let the emotions out.

They came on as though the floodgates had been opened, and hell itself had come spilling out over him. He let himself shed one more tear, and before he knew it, he was on his knees, naked, and all out sobbing into his lost grandmother's bed.

Mister allowed himself to cry and beat the ultra soft mattress with his fist until he felt too tired to go on. He was weak anyways from malnutrition after the extreme blood loss he had suffered over the weeks before he ended up here. He suddenly felt hot and really sick, so he ran from the bedroom and threw himself into the shower, grabbing the handle and turning the water on as he went down hard on the cold, slick tile.

He laid on the shower floor crying and retching so long that he had begun to hyperventilate, and he struggled to breathe at all. He was so overly emotional that he had to try to fight to get himself under control, but it was no use. He kept transforming back and forth so quickly that it paralyzed him right where he lay. All that he could do was writhe in the emotional pain that had been brought on by the reality of it all. His new reality. It was all just too much for him at the moment, and his senses had been thrown into complete chaos.

This continued on until he passed out and became lost in the black abyss of his tortured mind. He had all but given up when his great grandmother's face suddenly flashed under his eyes, and he heard her voice saying,

"Wake up boy! You're not done here yet, WAKE UP!"

He suddenly felt like he was falling, down, down, down... until he finally hit bottom. He jolted awake, and all of a sudden, he was mad again. He was so angry that there were actually no words for how deep he felt the fire burning in his soul. He had never felt this way before, but he did know without a doubt, that the only solution was revenge. Revenge served as cold as possible and in the appropriate amounts.

A smile slowly crept across his face as he sat up and wiped his own tears, and he vowed that this was not over. Not yet, not ever. Not until he could go back home again, and Caine was dead.

His mind was reeling as he thought and he thought. He paced and he mumbled until it finally hit him like a ton of bricks. He suddenly knew what he needed to do right then and there. He had to see the Old Crone, his kingdom's most hidden and dirty secret.

He knew that he couldn't tell anyone, because she had been exiled years ago. The legend says it was for crimes so terrible that the Old Queen, Esmerelda, had forbidden anyone to ever even speak her name again, let alone speak of her crimes themselves.

She was bad news, and she was generally off limits, but desperate times and all.

Unfortunately, he would have to call on the sprite queen to find her, and that was by no means a pleasant task. He had no choice though, because she was the only one left that was old enough to remember the truth.

He knew he needed to wait until Pearl and Justin had gone to sleep to leave. There was less chance of accidentally being seen by anyone else then, too.

He instantly stood up and showered like a man with a whole new plan. He was so pleased with himself that he was almost giddy.