Chapter Twenty-Six and Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Six: In Which The Oracle Stops By

    Flake woke up.  He looked at the soft blue color of the ceiling of his room.  Strange.  He could have sworn that he was in another kingdom doing something important… no.  Probably just a dream.

    He sat up.  Everything in his room looked the same.  The side desk was tidy, the closet was shut.  The window displayed darkness, so it must still be the night.  Why would he wake up in the middle of the night?  Flake yawned again and slid under the covers.  Maybe he should just go back to sleep…

    “Ah, you’re awake.”

    Flake sat up abruptly.  He wasn’t sure how he didn’t notice it before, but there, on the rocking chair, was an old man.  The Oracle.  So he was dreaming.

    “Hold on.  Why are you here?  Also, what does your prophecy mean-” Flake stopped.  Suddenly everything came back to him.  The quest, the trip through the forest, Coral Kingdom, everything.  “Wait… I’m supposed to be in the Coral Palace!  Why am I back at home?”

    “I can’t go there,” the Oracle said matter-of-factly.  “My spirit rests in the Snake Kingdom, so I can only extend my reach that far.  It was simple to just pull your spirit back here.  So here we are.”

    “Okay,” Flake said.  “I have some questions.  First off: what does your prophecy mean?  I’ve already went in the woods, I didn’t meet any foes unless you count Alder, and I didn’t discover anyone following me except Rose, but that was for a really short moment.”

    “There you go.”

    “Wait- that was it?” Flake asked.  “I thought it would be more… dramatic.  Not that I’m complaining.  It’s actually a relief.”

    “Well, the thing is, you are supposed to figure it out.  If that’s what you think it means, good for you.  But I can’t tell you anything,” the Oracle said.  “But if it’s helpful, I have a hint.”

    “What is it?”

    “Look above to history class, and down to history,” he said.

    Flake stared at him, confused.  “Wait… I don’t quite understand.”

    “You aren’t supposed to.”

    Flake frowned.  Look above.  Above?  “Breeze Kingdom?”

    “If you think so.”

    “Are you sending me on a wild goose chase around the kingdoms?”

    “If you think so.”

    Flake groaned.  “Then what about the children fleeing around the glittering sea part of the other prophecy?”

    “Figure it out.  In the meanwhile, there has been another kidnapping.”

    Flake gasped.  He stared at the old man sitting in front of him.  “There-there has?”

    He nodded gravely.  “You will soon find out.”  Then he vanished into a poof of snowflakes again.  In his place was a small slip of paper.


    Flake tried to grab it but then the whole room faded away into nothing.

_______________________________________________________________________________
    
        The world was shaking.  He was quavering, his surroundings blurred.  Strong hands were pulling him up- or pushing him down?  Flake struggled to get up and found himself face first with one of the guards stationed outside his room.  The world stopped shaking.

    “Good, you’re awake,” he said gruffly, standing up.  "We have to move you somewhere safer.  Chief's orders."

​         "Wha- but why?" Flake struggled to recall something from the dream.  Something about-

          "There has been another kidnapping.  Breeze Kingdom is on lockdown, and so will Coral Kingdom, soon.  Windy, Chief Alya's daughter, has been kidnapped.  You aren't safe here."


Chapter Twenty-Seven: In Which Someone New Comes

    “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk!”

    Snow woke up to the sound of that ear-splitting shriek and instinctively covered her ears.  Who was it?  Definitely not Jack or that other boy (who, annoyingly, would refuse to tell Snow his name).  It was too high-pitched, and it sounded feminine.  It was someone new.  Snow got out of bed and climbed the ladder to the top bunk, where Jack was still sleeping soundly.

    “Jack!” she whispered, prodding him on the side.  Jack didn’t budge.  “JACK!” she hissed louder.  Jack remained blissfully asleep.

    “WAKE UP!” she shouted, straight in his ear.  He yawned and opened his eyes wearily.  “You should stop screaming.  Some people need some sleep, you know.”

    “Someone just shrieked, really loud!” Snow said.  “Someone new?  Do you know who it is?”

    Jack sat up and shook his head.  He looked surprised.  “No.  Dad didn’t tell me that someone was coming.  I mean, he told me that you were going to come, and your brother, and that other boy, but not someone else.”

    “Wait.  You thought Flake was going to come?” Snow asked.

    “Yeah.  But he didn’t, apparently.  Maybe that’s him,” Jack said.  He sat up.  “You’re blocking the ladder, Snow.  Let me go down.”

    They both went off the bed and out of the room.  Then they heard someone shouting: “YOU BETTER LET ME OUT!” accompanied by banging on doors.  They looked at each other.

    “It’s okay,” Jack said, walking to the right side of the hallway.  “It’s coming from Bedroom No. 4.”  He lead the way until they reached a door marked No. 4, which banging coming from inside.  Then he used his big ring of keys to open the heavily locked door, which swung open automatically.

    “You better let me out of this place before I call-”  The shouting girl stopped when she saw the two of them.  “Wait.”  She jabbed a finger at Snow, who stepped back.  “You’re Snow, daughter of Chief Flake, who talked to me at the Conference, who went missing a few days ago.”

    Snow nodded slowly.  “And you were Windy something, right?”

    Windy rolled her eyes.  “Windy Cherise Louise LaBreeze the Fourth.”  She looked at Jack.  “And who are you supposed to be?  Flake’s odd replacement?  Why couldn’t you simply get the real one?”

    “I’m Jack.  Nice to meet you,” he said, holding out a hand.  Windy didn’t take it.

    Someone shoved Snow aside.  It that that nameless boy.  He squinted at Windy.  “Was it you who screamed?  That Breeze Kingdom girl?”

    “Excuse me?  I’m Windy Cherise Louise LaBreeze the Fourth,” she shot back.  “And you are Flint, son of Chief Phoenix, sort of engaged to Snow but not really, and disappeared a few days ago, about the same time as she did.”  Windy pointed to Snow.  “And you happen to be in captivity in the same place, which I am now stuck in, and we all happen to be the children of chiefs.  Coincidence?  I think not.”

    “Wait, what did you say about me?” the boy (wait- was it Flint?) asked.

    “Hold on.  You’re Flint?” Snow said, to the boy, who was peering at Windy with a confused expression on his face.

    “You mean you guys had no idea?  You seriously don’t recognize each other?  Really?” Windy said it like it was hilarious.  “Flint, this is Snow, Snow, this is Flint, and you might be married in the future, so yeah.  And if you haven’t noticed, we happen to be stuck here, so I would really appreciate if you guys would actually, like, try to escape this place?”

    “Huh?” said Flint and Jack at the same time.  Windy rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

    Jack scratched his ear.  “Um, do you want me to show you the game room?  There are lots of nice games to keep you occupied-”

    “I want to get out of here,” she said through clenched teeth.  “Maybe you don’t, but I have things I need to be doing right now.  Do you expect me to stay here forever?”

    “Well, I don’t really know anything-” he said apologetically, but Windy was already running past him.

    “If there is a way to escape, I’ll find it!” she exclaimed, running down the right hallway.

    “There is no escape,” Jack said, but Windy was already gone.