Draco's Predicament ✔️

Chapter 17 - Welcome To My Never Home

Lady Jane tenses up, but a second later I feel her stroke my back. "There, there," she says, and though her voice is cold, I know she cares for me.

"How did you know I was locked up by the princesses?" I mumble into her shoulder.

"You missed training. And when I gave Philip a little visit, he told me."

Somehow, I have a suspicion that Philip didn't tell her willingly. Is Lady Jane trying to drive a wedge between us? Maybe she forced him down a bottle of truth serum. Or maybe she tortured...

No. I'd suspected Lady Jane before, and look how that ended. Me, locked away in a cell in the sky, at the mercy of my pathetic sisters. Plus, having a good relationship between Philip and me is beneficial for all of us.

"I'm sorry I ran away," I say, stepping back and wiping a hand over my nose. Ugh, why am I so weak.

Lady Jane purses her lips and doesn't accept my apology. "Let's go back; I'll let my bats play around here a bit more," she smirks up at the castle.

I follow her gaze, and I see Gold fighting with a bat-monkey creature. She pauses, as if she feels eyes on her, and turns. Our eyes meet.

Subconsciously, my hand runs through my hair, feeling the sore spot where she'd mercilessly smacked me. Silently, I make a vow to exact my revenge. My eyes narrow into a cold glare at her.

Her angry gaze falters, just a bit, at my sudden change of expression. Good. Let her be scared. You smacked the wrong person, dearest sister.

Even from this distance, I hear Kyran's shout of alarm as a ball of flame is launched at Gold. He shoves her on the ground, the flame ball whizzing past where her head had just been.

Too bad. But oh well, I prefer to kill her with my own hands anyway.

Lady Jane dusts her hands off, then grabs my shoulder. In a puff, we're standing in front of the old, abandoned castle I'd scouted out.

"Walk with me, Draco."

I follow her into the castle, her heels echoing loudly in the abandoned corridors. I can see that she'd already sent some monster-maids over, as the cobwebs and dirt from earlier are dusted off. Without all the grim and soot, the interior is actually a nice dark vinyl.

Lady Jane runs her fingertips along the wall, then holds them close to inspect for any signs of dirt. I know for a fact that if she isn't satisfied, the monsters who are in charge of the cleaning will be obliterated immediately, without a second thought.

"I saw a really cool hidden dungeon floor last time, Lady Jane," I say, breaking the silence. I lead her to the bare patch of wall, and I run my fingers along it, searching for a loose piece of brick.

I hear Lady Jane's impatient foot-tapping behind me, and I wince, hurrying up the search. Finally, I find the loose piece, and I shove my elbow against it. The wall slides over easily without a sound, and I lead Lady Jane down the set of winding stairs.

The peculiar-shaped cages are still here, complete with dull and charred bones. The monster-maids must not have found this dungeon. Lady Jane doesn't say anything, but she moves forward to closely inspect each cage, and I see her eyebrows raise slightly, intrigued.

I feel a rush of pride, as always, at having pleased her. But the feeling is just slightly dulled today.

There are a few empty cages scattered around as well, and Lady Jane squeezes the metal, checking for sturdiness. "Not bad, Draco. Good find."

"Of course, Lady Jane."

We walk back up the stairs, and Lady Jane stops outside the hidden wall-door. "Give me your finger."

I do as she says, confused, and she pricks it slightly, squeezing blood out onto the hidden brick. The dark red stain, basically camouflaged against the red brick, serves as a reminder for next time.

"You know, I saw something interesting today." Lady Jane begins as we make our way upstairs.

I don't say anything, waiting for her to continue.

"A flash of blue hair, right before we started attacking. Tell me, Draco, who do you know has blue hair?"

I frown, confused at where this conversation is going. "Funneh," I finally say. "But... she's dead."

"Is she really? Have you found a body?"

I flinch. Another reminder of one of my failures. "No, ma'am."

"So Funneh is alive," Lady Jane muses quietly, as if talking to herself.

Hearing her say that sentence, a sentence I thought I'd never hear, sends a shiver down my spine. Goosebumps raise on my arm, and my vision goes white. Pictures come charging at me, too quick for me to stop and inspect each one.

I feel relieved, all of a sudden, like a weight I didn't know I was carrying has been lifted. Memories I didn't know I had resurfaced, fitting back into my timeline like puzzle pieces.

Funneh throwing her arm around me, her laugh ringing in my head.

Gold smirking at me triumphantly as she twirls the 1st-place ribbon she'd won.

Lunar fighting me for the last piece of pizza.

Rainbow reading a story to the four of us as we sit in her room, woken up by nightmares.

It's too much. Too many memories. I let out a strangled cough, backing up against the wall for support. My white vision fades back to normal, and Lady Jane is peering at me suspiciously.

"Draco?" Her voice sounds distant.

That's right. I'm Draco La, brother and protector of Funneh, Gold, Lunar, and Rainbow.

"It's Allen to you," I snarl, my hand whipping out and shooting an ice ball at her.

She seems to have already noticed something was up though, as my magic bounces harmlessly off a protective shield she has raised. "Welcome back, Allen."

Pain shoots through me, and I crumple to the ground, feeling as if something was being ripped from my heart. I cry out, pained tears rolling out. My magic. She's taking away my magic.

I hear Lady Jane snap her fingers, and suddenly, we're back in the dungeon. I'm trapped in a hexagonal cage, while she stands outside it, arms crossed.

"You woke up earlier than I expected," she says, sounding irritated. "Well, I was getting annoyed with cleaning up after you anyway, so this works out perfectly." She snaps her fingers again, and to my surprise and joy, Rainbow appears in a circular cell beside me.

She looks at me, wide-eyed and confused. I give her a reassuring smile before turning back to Lady Jane. "Now what? You want to kill me?"

She cackles, amused. "How funny, child. No, I will use you two as bargaining chips. You've been with me for a long time, you should know how I work. Speaking of, what should I do with Philip?" She frowns, thinking.

I tense up. "No, don't hurt him!" I yell, and she smiles as if she'd predicted my answer.

"Mmm," is all she says. "Alright, I should get going. I hope you two rot in here." With a poof, she's gone.

Rainbow and I turn to look at each other.

"What just happened?" she asks.