The Underdog - The Secret of Moonacre Fanfic

Commitments and Hollows

I had crashed into the beautiful, brave, and momentarily angry Maria Merryweather. She spun around on me. As she approached me, she raised her hand to strike me across the face. Confusion struck me until I saw my father coming down from the other fork in the path. He had a smug smile on his face, and I felt vile as I saw him.

"You! How could you betray me like that?!" Maria screamed, swinging

"Maria, wait." I said calmly.

I grabbed her wrist firmly and moved her behind me. Confusion covered her face as a gasp escaped her lips. Bracing my knife in my hand, I turned to my father, holding it firmly against his throat as he had just done to me moments ago. His eyes looked angered, but I wasn't going to back down.

"I will not let you take her father." I growled, feeling my heart beating.

"Put the knife down, boy." He growled back.

"Father, please, you have to listen to what Maria has to say!" I raised my voice

"Traitor! You are nothing to me now!" Father yelled

Looking in his eyes, I knew he meant it. In that moment, he knew I wasn't about to leave Maria's side for anything. I growled and shoved him back, away from my blade. I grabbed Maria's arm, pushing her forward as I ran ahead.

"Go!" I growled to her

"I'll know where to find you again!" He called to us

Stopping to look back at him and to let Maria catch up, I put my knife safely back on my belt. I remained behind her as we raced through the forest, Dulac and the others right behind us. We broke out into the clearing in front of the tree that we had been looking for. This clearing split off onto several riding paths. Grabbing Maria's arm, I ushered her inside the hollow and followed after her, pressing us further back, attempting to blend into the shadows of the roots.

"Robin, look at this." Maria whispered

I turned to look, seeing her hand brushing against what looked like a door. She looked back at me, flashing a smile. I reached for my chest as I felt the familiar pounding that she always caused. It creaked open as she pushed on it, and we ducked inside. I was focused on closing the door quietly when I heard Maria gasp. Looking around, everything was covered in layers of dust, perfectly preserved. We only had the sunlight streaking through the roots to see by.

"Where are they..." Maria whispered, "It's her's. It must be."

Maria held up the dress that had been at the end of the bed. I carefully too it from her, placing it on the old, rotting wooden chest at the foot of the bed. Maria continued her mumbling as she looked around. She placed a hand on the horses head on the mantle and caused a passage way to open up. I looked up at her. This girl was beginning to scare me with all these hidden secrets. It was almost like she knew her way around this place.

I peered into the darkness ahead of us in the tunnel. Maria moved around the room some more, investigating everything slowly. I looked back at her and stood slowly as she reached out to a statue. There was a soft glimmer of light as she touched it and pulled something off of the bust. Turning around, she smiled at me and held out her hand.

"The pearls!" I exclaimed

Dulac had heard me. I rushed to the old wooden door and began pushing back against it. He was stronger than I was. I grabbed a broken broom handle and thrust it horizontally against the metal bearings. Backing up, Maria ushered me into the secret tunnel through the fireplace. Right as we ducked inside, a stone rolled back into place, and Dulac had broken through the wooden door. We remained frozen as we heard his outraged yell.

I looked at Maria as out eyes adjusted to the near pitch-black darkness of the tunnel. I leaned back, letting my hat and head hit against the stone wall. I closed my eyes and let out a breathless chuckle. The things that this girl got me into. I would've sworn that she was a De Noir if I hadn't known any better. 

Opening my eyes, I saw that she obviously didn't understand how I found humor in the situation. I leaned forward and stood up. I turned and offered her my hand, which she took. In her other hand, she held a firm grip on the Moon Pearls. She looked at them and then up at me.

"Well, Princess, you got us in here. Let's see if you can get us out." I said.

"We need to hurry before it's too late -" She nodded

"The 5000th moon. I know, Princess." I said.

We stood there for a moment, her hand still in mine. It was much smaller than mine. She noticed too. After a moment of silence, she pulled her hand back and slipped past me, leading us on into the dark. I attempted to get a grip on my emotions as we walked through the dark. I traced my hand along the wall and repeatedly hit my head on the low ceiling. 

""It's so dark in here." I complained

"Moon pearls, we need your powers now." Maria whisper echoed

"Ahh!" I grunted at I hit my head again.

"Robin, shhh..." She shushed me

The tunnel was lit with a bright light coming from Maria's hands. I glanced at her to see the Moon Pearls glowing. Maybe there was more to this story than what Father had told us. We wandered for what felt like forever, and I began to worry that we had missed the moon rise.

"We're lost." I tried. "Maria."

"Shh. Robin, come on. Don't you see, she is showing us the way." Maria said

I looked around, but couldn't see anything except for the dark tunnel and the walls lit up by the pearls. I worried that maybe Maria had hit her head on the wall and I hadn't noticed. Shrugging it off, I trusted her.

We soon began to hear roaring water and saw moon light. There was an opening to the tunnel coming up. And we could hear voices. Maria ran ahead and I tried to follow as we broke out into an amphitheater and to a sight I'd never forget.

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