The Understudy of an Alchemist

82. Epilogue

The clock hanging above the poster bed suddenly sprung to life, chiming so loud to the point that Petunia's ears began to emit an ear-piercing whine throughout her eardrums. Groaning, she shuffled more into the plush blankets, ignoring as her hair caught and tangled, as she mashed her face into the pillow beneath her head. "Great. It's morning."

Within an instant, the realisation hit her like a thunder strike, as she sprung up from under the covers, grinning so broadly that her cheeks were touching her bottom eyelids, as she spun her head excitedly around the room, raising her hand to her face.

"Holy smokes, it's morning!!" Petunia gasped in sheer disbelief, as she untangled herself from the blankets and stumbled out of bed, heart hammering frantically inside of her chest in sheer exhilaration, because the day, the day that she had been waiting so long for, had finally arrived.

And she was going to savour every last minute of it.

Sprinting down the corridor, she eagerly shoved past multitudes of castle staff and handmaidens, waving enthusiastically to them as she barged through them. "Bye, goodbye!!! I'll miss you all.....um......." She trailed off for a moment, before adding, "I don't really remember all of your names.......but I'll miss you regardless!!"

As the staff muttered under their breaths and attempted to resume their duties while the flurry of purple hair and a massive grin sped past, Petunia sprinted down the carpeted stairwell, running her hand down the polished oak handrail as she did so, before stopping abruptly mere seconds before colliding with King Frederic, who also froze still at the sight of the young girl, the best word that she could use to describe his current expression would be outrage.

"Oops, sorry about that." Her tone was cheerful, yet the slight edge at the end of it seemed to suggest otherwise, as the man straightened his collar as if she were responsible for it becoming off centred. "I must admit young lady, it's quite a pleasure to discover that you are not indeed my child after all." She smirked as she tilted her head to one side. "Naw, I know you'll miss me, Freddykins. And to be fair, I'm pretty relieved that you're not my father after all."

She launched forward and hugged the King's rather large forearm as she said this, "Anyway, this is for putting up for me for two years." Before she released his arm and looked as if she were about to resume sprinting down the hall, until she suddenly faltered and moved his attention back him, and thrusted her leg out without warning, striking him in the shin.

As Frederic winced slightly in more shock than pain, given that the blow wasn't really that hard, she crossed her arms now, her expression a little more sympathetic this time. "And that was trying to get my sister arrested." Before Petunia suddenly flashed him a smile, as she began to run once again, calling over her shoulder, "I'll see you around, Freddy!!"

Meanwhile, in far east wing of the castle, Rapunzel continued to pace up and down through the room where a mere week ago that she had been encased in a cage made of rocks in this room under Zhan Tiri's control. Sighing to herself as she paced, Rapunzel continuously moved her attention back and forth to over at what had once been an exit out onto the room's balcony, now an empty space of rubble where the wall had been clawed away by the demon creature, prompting her to sigh a second time, running through her hair as she did so, before balking in surprise slightly as she realised that there was barely any hair to comb her fingers through. She was still getting used to the new hairstyle, she supposed.

"Enjoying the view??"

Rapunzel grinned to herself as she recognised the voice, turning her head over towards were Cassandra stood silhouetted in the doorway to the room, now wearing a dark, forest green tunic, complete with a black cloak and matching pants, heavy duty boots, and thick brown belt with a calico pouch strapped to it. The princess tilted her head to one side as her eyes fell upon her friend, her shoulders raising slightly. "Any idea where you're headed afterwards??"