Hellfire | Isle of the Lost

TWENTY-FIVE: The Mistress' Curse

"So, the spirits made us see our worst fears?" Evie asked Helena. After they left the Underworld, the traveling teenagers made a silent agreement as to not speak about what just happened. But the blue haired princess was curious as to how it all happened in the first place, so the Underworld princess had to explain.

"Yeah, but I don't really know how it all happened in the first place. But apparently the more scared you got at whatever you saw, the stronger the spirits got in return. And they would have continued to get stronger and stronger until..." 

Jay noticed that Helena had trailed off. "Until what?"

"Until you begin your real journey to the Underworld."

"Wait, so how did you solve the riddle?" questioned Evie. 

"I answered it correctly."

"Yeah, we know that, but what was the answer?"

"That's not important," the Greek girl replied, keeping her response vague. The last mission was still a tender subject and she had no intention of discussing it with the others anytime soon. 

 Evie took the hint that Helena no longer wanted to discuss the Underworld mission and dropped it. The five continued walking through the Fortress, the only source of noise being the sound of their footsteps. 

Carlos still hadn't said a word since they were freed from the spirits. Mal knew that he wasn't exactly talkative, but she would've thought that his curiosity would lead him to ask questions. But then again, neither did she. Mal didn't want to talk about their last mission with anyone, especially what she saw when the spirits got ahold of her. 

The villain children then walked through a corridor hung with purple and gold pennants and great tapestries, depicting all the surrounding kingdoms. It was hard to tell one from the next, though, mostly because the dust was so thick. As they walked, they even made tracks across the dusty stones, as if they were instead trudging through hallways of snow.

But on they went. The corridors bent and twisted, the floor sometimes seeming uneven, the walls angling one way or the other, making them all feel as if they were in a dream or a fun-house or someplace that didn't really exist. A fairy tale come to life.

A castle—only, the way castles looked in nightmares. Every wall and every stone was rendered in shades of gray and black, a faint green glow sometimes seeping through a wedge here and there.

Mother's home, Mal thought every time she noticed the green light. The total effect was excruciating for all five of them - even for Mal. Or, especially for Mal. 

The cracked stained glass windows were the only other source of color. The old glass was mostly broken, and sections of the windows lay entirely in ruins, their shards dashed across the floor. Mal and the others had to step carefully to avoid slipping on one of the pieces. The long, window-lined corridor gave way to an even taller and wider corridor, and before long, Mal knew they were approaching some place of significance, a great chamber, perhaps even the heart of the castle itself.

Mal walked toward her fate, as Evie had said. Her destiny, if that's what it was. Mal could feel it, the now familiar pull toward something unknown, something that perhaps belonged only to her. It was there in front of her, buzzing and vibrating, just as it had been since the first moment she'd stepped inside the Thorn Forest. It pulled at her, beckoned her, even taunted her.

Come, it said. Hurry. This way.

Was it really destiny calling to her, after all? Or was it just another failure waiting for her in the throne room? More confirmation that she would never be her mother's daughter, no matter how hard she tried?