*1 year back*Zane gulped. Alfred was looking right at Zane and he asked,"Who are you?""I am.....Uland Perkins, sir",lied Zane"Are you sure you're a part of the royal army? You look too young",said Alfred"Youngest in my year",laughed Zane. He was fighting the urge to say that he was the same age as the boy they were torturing in the tent, but he couldn't give up his cover.Daisy nodded at Zane from the crowd. "You're doing good""Okay. Are you sure you're up for the task? You can go in? No puking?""I am sure, sir",said Zane. He picked up the knife and headed for the tent. He entered and found Derek lying down. He had bruises all over his body. Alfred sure did his part before the game started. Derek's eyes were closed, he was holding his left leg and breathing heavily. It was a deep cut. Zane sat down and said,"Give me my face back you moron"Derek opened his eyes in surprise. "Zane?.....You didn't use the forgetting potion?"Zane smiled at him and said,"No...ofcourse I didn't. H
*1 year back*It was all blurry for Zane, what happened last night. He remembered sticking a knife inside Derek. He remembered walking out with a bloody knife and Alfred taking it from him, he remembered people cheering, Alfred congratulating him. And then he remembered, walking out and away from the tent. He ran and ran, until he was at home. He locked himself inside until Daisy knocked and said it was her. He remembered him sobbing in her arms, and her giving him tea to drink and from there, he didn't remember anything. He remembered He woke up. It was morning. The sun was shining and birds were chirping. His muscles were aching. He looked at Daisy, who was standing a feet away from him."You're awake",said Daisy with a smileZane nodded."I don't wanna talk",said Zane shaking his head. "I know....and I won't force you to",said Daisy. "But just so you know... you've been asleep for four days""W-what?",exclaimed Zane. "Yes ...",said Daisy. "You needed rest...a lot of it, I guess.
*1 year back* "I know this is difficult Zane but pull yourself together!",shouted Daisy. "I CAN'T!",shouted Zane, throwing a vase on the ground. "You said that we could go to Helmfirth in a week!""I know what I said Zane!",shouted Daisy. "It's not my fault that they have shifted the dates! They said that we could march to Helmfirth today! They have the machine to transport us to Helmfirth, I cannot help this, okay? There was a complication and Alfred said that there would be no armies marching to Helmfirth. For a long time"Zane was stuffing a bag with clothes when Daisy frowned. "Zane? What are you doing?",asked Daisy"I'm going to the forest of deception",said Zane. "I'll keep jumping into portals, I don't care where it leads to, I'll keep jumping in until I find the right one.""What are you going to do about the dangerous creatures that reside in the forest?",asked Daisy. "That's what my weapons are for",said Zane, walking towards the armory room and picking up a knife and ch
*2 months back*"No,it's tasty",said Zane, smiling at Daisy."Come on Zane, you know I can understand when you lie",said Daisy. "Yeah",said Zane, embarassed. "Okay..it's very bad. I'm sorry Daisy but there's just too much cocoa powder in it"Daisy had decided to bake a cake with Zane. It took a lot of time and a lot of bickering, but they finally made it. "I love it",said Daisy, looking down at the cake. "It's not perfect, but atleast it's ours"Zane nodded and said,"I can work with that...not perfect, but ours."Zane drank water and said,"Okay, but we're not having this for lunch""Ofcourse we're not",said Daisy. It had been eight months since Derek died. Zane still missed him. A lot. He didn't show it infront of Daisy, but he still sorely missed his best friend. Sometimes at night, he would start crying. When Daisy and Zane were baking together and saying cheesy stuff to each other, Zane kept looking at Derek's room, wishing Derek would walk out of there and make jokes about how
*2 days back*It was all a blur. Zane could barely remember how he got in the castle. Why couldn't he remember anything? He was dragged, yes, but mostly he was made to walk. He was bleeding, from his nose, his hands were tied. He was starting to remember how it had happened. Zane remembered standing outside the house, against Daisy's orders. He was enjoying the weather, planning on running. He had been walking, he had gone too deep inside the forest. He had never been there. He had been feeling hungry so he had plucked a very delicious looking apple from a tree and taken a few bites . He heard a noise behind him, when Zane turned around , he saw Xavier and two other guards staring back at him. Xavier had instantly recognised Zane, but what he couldn't figure out was how he was still alive."You!",Xavier had exclaimed."You're dead!"Zane was high. He was very high. "You smell funny",said Zane, laughing. Xavier's men had looked at each other, confused. But then they saw the apple in Z
*2 days back*Xavier knocked on Daisy's door. She opened it and greeted Xavier with a smile. And as soon as as she looked at Zane, standing with Xavier with his tied hands, her smile disappeared. Her face, which was pale before, paled even more. "Z-Zane?",she blurted out."Oh no no",said Xavier, "Don't worry, this guy is not the prince of Byrandan. We killed him, remember? I caught this guy in the forest today. He claimed that he was a friend of yours. He's most probably a shapeshifter"Daisy looked confused and looked at Zane,"Are you not Zane?"Zane nodded and said,"I am Daisy""No we killed Zane",said Xavier."No you didn't",said Zane. "Listen Daisy, I'm sorry, I was wandering in the forest and they caught me. I had to take your name or he would have taken me to the palace. I thought....we could explain everything to him...maybe he could help"Daisy looked a little angry but she nodded,"It's okay Zane. Come in Xavier"They sat Xavier down. But Xavier wouldn't let her untie Zane. D
*2 days back*Zane let himself get dragged by Xavier. "Stop",said Zane, as soon as they were in the clear. "I want to talk to you about something""Talk to me about what?! Huh?",shouted Xavier, turning around and punching Zane in the face, again. This time, Zane hit back. He had his hands tied, but he still hit hard. Soon they were trying to get on top of each other, hitting each other. "I just wanna talk",Zane breathed out. "I don't. You took away my love from me. I used to blame myself, for losing her. But no. It was your fault. You came along!",said Xavier his face contorted with rage."I'm sorry",whispered Zane, trying to sit up."What?!",shouted Xavier."I said I'm sorry",said Zane. "I can't do this anymore. I love Daisy too...I want to protect her as much as you do. But if you take me to the prince, she won't let go of it. You wanna win her back. I can understand that feeling, but you can't do that by killing me. She'll die with me. She'll come to rescue me everytime and I'd
*1 day back*Zane had never seen Daisy, act this crazy. She was throwing stuff one moment, then holding his hand the other. She was crying one moment and then hugging Zane, the other, and doing both, another moment."I- I can't let you go Zane",said Daisy, sobbing. "I-I just c-cant""I know",said Zane, wiping his tears. "But if you don't, you'll die""I don't care",said Daisy. "I don't care""But I care, love",he whispered, holding Daisy by her chin. "I care about you. I can't lose you too""We will die together then",said Daisy, holding Zane's hand tightly."I don't care about my life",said Zane, "Nut I care about yours. I can't watch you get tortured. I can't watch you get hurt. You are....the love of my life, Daisy. You're the light to my dull, monotonous world. You are everything to me""Then don't leave me Zane....",sobbed Daisy. "Please don't leave me. I'm scared""Don't be... we'll figure it out",said Zane"But....it's only 4 hours to eight o'clock. I - I hate Xavier",said Dais
*1 month later*Zane, the king of Elysium, had a very lonely life. Yes, he was a king, but he had no queen. He had cleared out his feelings with Natalie and now there were no hard feelings between them. Natalie had understood that Zane didn't like her like that anymore. Laurel was too in love with her husband, Liam. "Miracles happen",Zane had said to himself when he heard about Laurel and Liam. Daisy was still under the effects of the Forgetting potion. Zane had not talked to her since he had last left Pamlivam, but now that all the kingdoms were merged together, Zane saw her almost everyday. She went on with her life and Zane thought it was for the better.But one day, he crossed paths with Daisy and she bowed her head and said,"My king" and then started to walk away.It was weird, but Zane pulled Daisy in for a hug.Daisy was scared, but she went on with it."Are you okay, my king?",she asked, concerned. "Please remember me",said Zane, unable to control himself anymore. "Please"
*Present day*When Zane walked out of the cave with the sword in his hand, he was a better man. He was radiating power, he was more confident, more powerful than ever before. Scarlett nodded at him when she saw him and said,"Hand over the sword Zane""The sword has chosen me",said Zane"It doesn't work like that",said Scarlett. "I've been working hard to find this sword. You do not get to steal my glory from me""You are not after glory, Scarlett",said Zane, wisely. "You want to bring back your dead mother....you can't do that"Scarlett's face paled. "I can and I will. Now hand over the sword.""Take it from me",he said.Scarlett did not hesitate. She toon out her own sword and said,"May the sword belong to whoever wins"At that very moment, the forest rumbled. The ground shook. The trees were disappearing. "Run", shouted Mick, leading them all out of the forest. Zane gripped the sword tightly and ran out. The trees were falling down. Soon, they were out of the forest. All the trees
*Present day*It was beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful things Zane had ever seen, apart from Daisy. The sword of Bane stood there, embedded in stone. It radiated light. Pure light. Zane could feel its power in his veins. He felt like the sword was calling out to him. Zane had tears in his eyes, they were not there because Zane was emotional, but because the light was too powerful for Zane to be directly staring at it.It looked like a regular sword, with a blue stone embedded at the hilt of the sword. The blade was blackish and looked very sharp.Zane reached his hand out to hold the sword when he heard a sound behind him. Zane turned around to see his father standing there."Dad?",gasped Zane. "You've come such a long way Zane",beamed his father. He looked pale and grey. Another figure formed beside him, it was his mother. "How are you, my son?",asked his mother. "I- I'm good mom",said Zane, this time, with tears of sadness. "I miss you both"Another figure solidifie
*Present day*There was small cave and a bulky figure was standing at the entrance. It was Mick. His face lit up when he saw them. "Hey guys!",he said, smiling at them. There were several fresh cuts on his face, but he didn't seem to mind. He then looked at Zane and froze. "Zane! Oh my God!"He went over and hugged Zane and Zane hugged him back. "It's good to see you""You too",said Zane."I'm going to need to hear everything, Zane",said Mick, then turning around and looking at Scarlett and bowing down, he breathed out, "My queen""Is this the cave?",asked Scarlett"It is",said Mick. "Yang and I have been searching for this cave for two years, and we found it. The sword of Bane lies inside. But we can't enter""Why not?",asked Scarlett. "There is a protective layer of something invisible here",said Mick, touching the entrance of the cave, it looked as if there was nothing there, but Mick's hand and touched something hard in the air. "Have you found out how to get inside, yet?",aske
*Present Day*Zane was looking at the different kind of weapons in the armory. Laurel and Natalie were packing their bags. Scarlett's bag was already packed.They were planning on heading towards the forest of deception. Mick had sent a message explaining something weird going on in the forest that could probably lead to the sword of Bane. "How do we know where Mick is, exactly?",asked Zane"He sent out a signal from his scroll. We just need to follow the signal with ours",said Laurel, handing Zane a weird square device. That showed a red dot in the forest and Zane supposed that's where Mick was. Soon all of them were done packing their bags. Zane, Laurel, Natalie followed Scarlett out of the doors. No guards accompanied them. It was supposed to be a secret mission. Natalie kept glancing at Zane. But she couldn't muster the courage to talk to him. As soon as they were about to enter the forest, Natalie held Zane's hand and said,"I'm sorry Zane.....I don't remember killing your m
*Present day*It was a tempting offer. A very tempting offer. Could the sword really have that much power? Could it really bring back the dead? Could it bring back his people? Derek? Could he see him again? His mother. His father. He looked at Scarlett, she did not look like she was lying. He did not smell any lies. "If I tell her everything, what's the worse that could happen?",Zane thought to himself. He could not think of any reason bad enough to not take a chance. "Okay",said Zane finally."I will tell you everything that happened to me....but I need your word that you will help me find the sword""Yes, you have my word. But I will be the one bringing back the dead, because I will be wielding the sword once you will help me find the sword.""Deal",said Zane. He took a deep breath and started with his story. He really told her everything. His entire journey. He told her how he met Derek, how he ended up in Pamlivam, how Daisy found out he was a vampire and how everything from th
*Present day*When specks of light fell through Zane's window inside his little cell, he made out that it was morning and that he should probably wake up. He looked around and there was nothing other than a roughly made, very uncomfortable bed, and a bottle of water. He got up and gurgled with the warm water for a while and drank the rest. He found a nice corner and started doing warm-ups there and then did a whole lot of hard-core exercises. "That's so unlike you Zane",came a voice from the shadows.Zane was startled but he tried to hide it. "What are you doing here Scarlett?" "This is my kingdom. I can go anywhere I want to""You sure can. Why didn't you return to your family?",asked Zane curiously"This kingdom, this palace, it just felt like home""No, Scarlett this is not your home. These are not your people, your folks will think you died. And the only reason you stayed is because you got addicted to power. Accept it""Yes....power, it is a very interesting thing, very hard
*Present day*Zane climbed down the stairs, whistling and entered the throne room. "Hey Scarlett",said Zane, acknowledging Scarlett's presence in the room. Scarlett said nothing. She simply tilted her head and looked at Zane with more curiousity. Zane had to take a long look at Scarlett's face to comprehend that she was infact not sleeping, it was dark where she was sitting. The light wasn't reaching her face. The throne was placed in an elevated platform and there weren't any torches there. Scarlett stood up and walked a few steps and the light fell on her face. Zane stifled a gasp. Her face had scratches all over. And she had put red paint on both her cheeks with two fingers."Uh....cool make-up",said Zane, staring at Scarlett. "How've you been?""Why are you here Zane?",asked Scarlett, ignoring Zane's question. "I..... I've returned, my friend. What do you mean 'why are you here'? I-I came back!",said Zane"I am not your friend. Once you leave Helmfirth....there is no return",
*Present day*When Zane woke up, there was a loud knocking sound on his door."Wait a minute! I'm coming",shouted back ZaneHe opened the door to Natalie."Hey",said Natalie. "Why did you lock the door?""Ever heard of privacy?",asked Zane sarcastically"No, I mean yes, but you never lock your door during the daytime",said Natalie"Then I guess there are things about me that you don't know",said Zane"The queen has demanded to see you",said Natalie."Yes, and I would like to see Scarlett too. It's been a minute since we last had a chat. Just let me come down in ten minutes",said Zane"Ten minutes?!", repeated NatalieZane didn't reply, instead, he tried to close the door, which Natalie blocked with her hand."No wait!", replied Natalie. "What are you going to do in there for ten minutes?""It's none of your business Natasha", replied Zane"It's Natalie",she said fiercely. "Oh yeah?",mocked Zane. "Because Daisy told me otherwise""D-Daisy?",said Natalie, smiling. "You met her?""Yes",