Noelle slowly blinked her eyes open, taking in the green scenery around her. Small houses dotted the street and people bustled about. With a smile on her face, she realised she was in the Lost Forest. She quickly spun around to see if Lolita was still with her - for she did not trust her alone - and she was getting up from being sprawled on the ground just like her.

"Oh my God, we made it!" Lolita sighed in relief, throwing herself on the grass and spreading her limbs out. Noelle slowly stood up, stretching her aching body. Without waiting another moment, Noelle grabbed her wrist.

"Come on! We don't have a moment to lose!"

The two girls ran as fast as they could in the direction of Delilah's castle, from which the tallest tower was peeking out over the top of the trees. They burst through the gates, ignoring the guards that shouted at them and bounded through the maze-like corridors to reach the Queen.

"Wait!" Lolita suddenly said, stopping Noelle in her tracks. "H-How do you think they feel about me?"

Noelle took a deep breath. "They are not happy... nicely said."

Lolita's shoulders sank. "I guess I'll have to work extra hard to make them like me again," she muttered, downcast.

"Tell them what you told me. About Adron's plan," said Noelle, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lolita nodded after an afterthought.

The doors swung open to reveal Queen Delilah sat delicately on her throne, her crown neatly placed atop her head and her staff in hand. As soon as Noelle and Lolita entered the room, her head turned to greet them, as did everyone else's in the room. Noelle noted that all of her friends were present, along with a few nobles.

"Noelle!" Roland exclaimed, his face cracking into a grin. "You're okay!" He ran towards her, giving her a heartfelt hug which she gladly returned. Zuzanna was next in line and threw herself at Noelle as soon as she had detached herself from Roland.

"I was so scared," Zuzanna whispered into her ear, her hands wrapped around Noelle's neck. She could feel her warm breath on her neck and the light wetness of her warm tears. "I-I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something happened to you!"

It happened so fast that Noelle did not even have time to speak. Within a moment, Zuzanna's lips were on hers, a quick flutter, only a gentle breeze across her lips, like the wings of a butterfly. It was short and sweet, but it unleashed a wild flurry of colours and emotions Noelle never even knew were present. Her own subverted Pandora's Box had been opened, letting out all of her feelings for the world to see.

She did not care that everyone was watching, that her friends cheered and the nobles gasped. Delilah's face held a small smile as the two broke away, and while it lasted barely a second it felt like aeons to both of them.

"Good to see you back, Noelle," Jawad joined in, offering a smile of his own. She and Zuzanna were still a red, awkward mess, but she grinned to show her enthusiasm either way.

"Good to be back," she said.

Karol, who always cared for her well-being, thoughtfully asked, "are you alright? Zuzanna said you were taken by Adron to save all of us!"

"That was a very brave and noble thing to do, Noelle. You sacrificed yourself to save the Lost Forest and the people of the rebellion... and for that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you," Queen Delilah said, rising from her throne. Noelle bowed on instinct.

"How do you make it out?" Jawad asked the question everyone wanted to hear, which brought Noelle to the uncomfortable and tense topic of Lolita. She angled her head towards the girl, who was standing by the door awkwardly shuffling her feet. Until that moment, Lolita had tried to stay out of sight but gave a timid wave when all eyes turned to her.

"What is she doing here?" Roland snarled, and Lolita flinched at his tone. Immediately, all of the others were on the defence and even the Queen's expression turned menacing.

"Wait! She's here to help," Noelle said, standing in front of Lolita and blocking her from the others.

"Here to help? She betrayed us!" Jawad reasoned. "She's the reason why Adron knew where the Lost Forest was and why he kept finding you!"

"I know, but she helped me out of the castle," Noelle still defended Lolita, not once moving from her spot. The girl looked at her with silent gratitude. "Plus, she has information on Adron!"

"If she has information on Adron," the Queen interrupted. "Then she may speak."

Lolita stepped forward, shrinking further under the weight of everyone's gaze on her. Until something inside of her changed, and she stood taller, prouder, and looked Queen Delilah straight in the eyes.

"Adron isn't going to keep his promise," she began with determination. "He plans to invade the Lost Forest again and kill anyone involved in the rebellion, and he's going to use weapons unknown to anyone before. Noelle and I destroyed his weaponry, but we don't know how much is left. For all we know, higher security arms may be hidden somewhere else."

"What do you know of Adron's battle plan?" Queen Delilah asked. Anyone present listened intently with open ears to Lolita's next words.

"He plans to use the air force. He wants to attack from above and drop bombs on the Lost Forest, so we would need to stop his army in mid-air. He knows it would be dangerous to attack from the ground because he lost a lot of his men in the last battle. They're planning to attack from the east," Lolita explained. Delilah solemnly nodded her head.

"If what you say is true," she started to say, "then your past actions may be forgiven. That is if your friends agree."

Lolita looked pleasingly at Noelle, who in turn turned to her friends. Roland was violently shaking his head, glaring daggers at Lolita, Jawad and Karol were unsure, looking at the reactions of the others, and Zuzanna was looking convinced.

"Well, she did tell us valuable information," reasoned Zuzanna. "And she also helped Noelle escape from the castle. Noelle trusts her, right? And I trust Noelle."

"I suppose you have a point," Karol said. "But I don't know..."

Jawad rolled his eyes. "Noelle is the leader here. I'll go along with whatever she thinks is right."

That only left Roland, who Noelle knew would be the hardest to convince. Of course, she was not demanding that everyone had to trust Lolita, but she hoped they would at least give her a second chance. For Noelle was a firm believer that people could change and learn from their mistakes, and that second chances could be given. However, never for the same mistake.

"Roland?" Noelle asked hopefully. The boy stared at Lolita with a dead look in his eye, before shifting to Noelle. His eyes softened when they met hers, yet his mouth was still carved into a stiff line.

"Fine," he finally said, and Noelle allowed herself a breath of relief.

. . .

Zuzanna had asked Noelle for a moment alone, and she gladly accepted. There were so many things she wanted to talk about, but she did not know where to begin.

As they walked around the Lost Forest, Zuzanna held Noelle's cold hand in her own warm one. Noelle did not know where they were headed, but she followed Zuzanna's lead.

"How did you and Lolita manage to escape?" Zuzanna bombarded her with questions. "What happened at the castle? Sorry."

"It's right," Noelle sighed. She did not want to talk about it, but there was no reason to keep it a secret any longer. "I arrived at the castle, and Adron demanded I immediately get married to him. So I did. Later, Lolita told me that she wanted to help, but I did not believe her at first. She later told me she knew Adron's secrets and she wanted to help me escape, but first, we bombed Adron's weaponry chamber."

"You got married?" Zuzanna interrupted, her face ashen and aghast. "Is that why you have the ring?"

Noelle looked down to see what she was pointing at and realised that her finger held a silver ring adorned with small, white diamonds. Quickly, she squeezed it off of her finger and threw it into the bushes, reluctant to keep any reminders of Adron on her.

"How did you guys find the Lost Forest again?" Zuzanna asked.

"We stole one of Adron's horses and made it to a village where three witches live, who told me a prophecy before. Delilah had told me in private that they are her mothers, so I thought that they must be able to get us here," Noelle said, a small smile on her face as she recalled what she liked to claim was a brilliant plan.

"Do you remember the prophecy?"

"Yeah... I do."

"Can you tell me?"

Noelle could remember the witches' words word for word, for they played on repeat in her head ever since she heard them. She looked to Zuzanna, who was gazing at her expectantly.

"You'll find your love, you'll meet the one, soon this nightmare will be gone, but only when the battle's done," Noelle said. She was positive she had said the prophecy right. "I'm still thinking about what it means though," she equivocated.

"To me, it sounds like you'll finally get together with whoever you love after we win the battle. Then you'll be able to go home... because the nightmare is over," Zuzanna said slowly, thinking about her words. She looked to Noelle hopefully. "Find your love, huh?"

Noelle smiled slyly. "I think I have already found her," she said, flashing a grin. At her words, Zuzanna blushed scarlet, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear.

Noelle smiled at her softly, staring into her dark eyes. They were like fountains of smooth chocolate that she wanted to drink in and drown in every time she looked at them. She wanted to swim in and explore their depths, longing to find the secrets they held. Though she knew that it was an impossible dream, a childlike fantasy and that someone like Zuzanna's eyes were impossible to ever fully discover. It was an insult to limit her to that.

"You have pretty eyes," Noelle said absentmindedly. Her eyes flicked down to Zuzanna's neck, where a white bandage was wrapped around the wound that Adron had caused her. The fire in Noelle ignited as she remembered her pain, all at the hands of King Adron.

"Thank you... so do you," Zuzanna responded, inching her face closer. Zuzanna pressed her mouth against Noelle's in a swift kiss, pleasant and soft. Her full lips felt like paradise on Earth.

When they returned to London, Noelle wanted to take her out on dates every day. To officially be able to call Zuzanna her girlfriend. Right now, she was afraid to even ask, with both of them having many responsibilities with the upcoming war and too much pressure to carry a relationship between them. Once back in London, it was certainly something Noelle wanted to try, for there was no excuse for her feeling this way.

All they had to do was win the war, though that was hard when they never knew when Adron might attack. Though with Lolita supposedly on their side, they had a chance.

. . .

Once again, Noelle stood in a large crowd of people, listening instantly to Queen Delilah's speech about their new battle plan. She and her friends had spent much of last night seated with the generals and plotting their course of action.

Was it her imagination, or were there more people than there were during their first war? Ever since then, it looked like their numbers only grew as more and more people were eager to help stop Adron.

"Adron will attack from the East, approximately two days from now. He has a limited amount of weaponry, meaning that currently, we have the advantage. Furthermore, a significant number of his men were wounded," the Queen said. Noelle knew she was not the only one, but she loved listening to her talk. She commanded power and respect with every word. "Adron is planning an Aerial attack, so we need our cannons and archers to be well prepared when they come. In case of a melee attack, we also need soldiers and knights who will fight on foot."

The crowd cheered, and some already enthusiastically held their hand in the air to volunteer for a role.

"We have an insight into Adron's battle strategy, which shall be explored further. For now, we have received a prophecy suggesting our victory. When we win this, Dacnella will return to the people! LONG LIVE DACNELLA!"

The audience echoed her chant, screaming it passionately into the air. Noelle had to cover her ears from the sheer amount of noise, but she yelled along with them nonetheless.

Necessary war preparations were made, such as vital checks of all the weapons and arms as well as the medical supplies. In the hospitals, wounded soldiers from the previous battle were checked to see if they were able-bodied. Men and women from all across Dacnella volunteered to help, keeping quiet about their requests so the news would not travel back to Adron.

Soon, they had gathered an army almost twice as large as the one of the initial rebellion, consisting of people with ranging levels of experience. Those who had fought in the previous war had taken on the task of training those who were new. Karol and Jawad gave brief horse riding lessons to some of the knights, as well as taught several men or women how to hold a gun and fight.

Roland had the task of helping the archers. He expertly demonstrated how to shoot arrows precisely and high into the air, hitting all of the targets during his modelling. His students learned quickly from him, soon hitting all of the targets with ease. To his dismay, Lolita had been placed under his careful eye, and he was supposed to help her with loading the cannon and firing it. Roland insisted she was planning on blowing them up, just like she did with the castle.

Noelle and Zuzanna had both been upgraded to a gun, and after a quick tutoring session hosted by Jawad, both girls knew how to fire. Noelle had received a powerful, heavy minigun, while Zuzanna had been gifted with a rifle. Together, they were an unstoppable duet.

Several troops of soldiers were located in secret points around the forest and at the edges of it, just in case of an attack on foot. Watches were placed in the trees, and their sole job was to keep a lookout in the sky for any airborne machines.

Noelle expressed her reoccurring thought about an important factor to Karol.

"I remember that in Adron's weaponry he had tanks branded with logos only from my world. There is no way he could have gotten them from Dacnella. There's something strange going on here," she groaned, exasperated. Karol looked thoughtful.

"If he had tanks from your world, he may have other things too," Karol said. He rubbed his chin. "Maybe he has some sort of passageway or supplier he gets them from?"

"A passageway?" The single keyword stood out to Noelle. "Like a portal? That makes sense, I mean there must have been some way for Zuzanna and I to arrive here, right?"

"Yeah!" He agreed enthusiastically, already catching onto her idea. "Which means that he probably has a portal to your word from the castle..."

"...which means that if we won the war we'd have access to it and a direct passage to London!" They both exclaimed together. Noelle grinned wildly, her hopes rising.

Whatever Adron would throw at them, they would be ready. Their army was better than ever, ready to take him on and win for Dacnella. They felt unstoppable, on top of the world, untouchable. As much as he tried, there was nothing Adron could do to stop them with a demolished castle and wounded army.

Not to mention the destroyed weaponry and the inviting portal back to Noelle's world.