A/N omgs my pumpkins I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo so so so sorry for not updating, okay so I'm in yr 11 right so like I've been choking on preparing for exams and assignments and my midterms (I think) because (here in Australia) my HSC(high school certificate) and ATAR depends on this (a mark that allows me to go university) so I've been busy trying to save my ass. And like every time I decided to finish and update a new piece of homework/assessment would come in due the next day or so, I'm so so so sorry again i hope you can understand, and thank you for reminding me to update i love how people love my work thank you so much pumpkins for being understanding and thank you for staying by my side. I know you will understand me, so wait for me, (P.S. thx for reading this big ass paragraph)
Now onto the story.

3rd person P.O.V:

It was the second day and today the children would be doing business, they will be discussing trades between the kingdoms, for what their kingdoms needed the most, so they woke up and got dressed 'appropriately'. Vivian wore a more poofy pink dress that split in the middle to a lighter pink material with designs on it, Sofia wore a thinner purple dress with blue, and Hugo wore a dark blue regiment tunic with a royal cloak hung from his shoulders held up by gold. They made their way to their royal conference room. Sofia, Vivian and Hugo sat down in their chairs on their respective side of the shifting table, right now it was a rectangle.

Not too long of sitting in silence, their 'stewart' announced the arrival of the protective kingdom, they stood, faced each other and bowed before they also took their spots on the shifting table, as it rearranged itself into a square table. About five minutes later did their stewart declare the appearance of the extravagant kingdom, everyone stood and bowed to the centre, bowing to each other. The shifting table rearranged itself for the last time, into a triangle, and everyone took their places.

"The conference shall now take place," professed the stewart, he bowed down and closed the door behind him.

They all looked at each other and let out a small laugh, quickly fixing their attitude they began their bargaining. Talking about all the trade needed for each kingdom, an hour had passed where they decided to take a quick breath of fresh air. They walked out into the pavilion where a small layout had been set up, silver berry juice and cheese crackers. The girls giggles filled the skies, while the chatter of the boys swirled around the clouds. Once again however they were back in the room where another hour had passed before the final decision had been made. The blue kingdom had the majority of the crop goods, 40% would stay in the kingdom while the other 60% would split between the two kingdoms. The Extravagant kingdom supplied materials like blankets and clothes, so 48% would stay while the rest 62% was split between the other kingdoms and lastly military equipment was 50% to stay in the Protective kingdom and then 25% for the other two kingdoms.

They ended the meeting there, giving in the recording to be sent to the fairies while Sofia, Vivian and Hugo, walked the others out, watching them leave their gates.

"Uh, I thought we would never finish, '' chided Sofia, as she stretched her arms above her head, a small yawn escaping her now pale lips.

"I hate to break it to you Sofia but today we're also going to visit the village to check and make sure everything is in law and order," Hugo reminded, unclasping his cloak and dragging it to his room to change into more comfortable clothing.

"Well at least we'll be moving," Sofia added, following the footsteps of Hugo and changing.

Hugo put on a pair of black trousers, and a navy steampunk inspired button up jacket, Sofia and Vivian went ahead and dressed in more simpler clothing as well, with sun hats to match.

They got into their carriage and rode into the village. First they just circled around the main streets in their carriage, and then proceeded to get out and look around to make sure the economy was doing well.

They walked around the smaller business, checking that they weren't struggling in any way. They smiled at the simple yet elegant town. They walked around making sure that law and order was in balance. After around an hour they made it to a vast meadow with mellow honey marigolds, baby pink and blue hydrangeas to the left a wild foret to the right and in the middle was a luscious green blanket, a clear stream ran through all three of these separate floras but, all together they created a magnificent sight.

Sofia and Vivian giggled as they ran down the hill, transitioning into a roll as they fell down gracefully, their chortles filling the sky, they gazed at the clouds before their sight was changed to a view of Hugo and a basket, his smile told them everything. They stood up, and set up the picnic he had brought and enjoyed their free time before they had to go back to the castle..They drank, and laughed, they talked and ate.

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Vivian being who she was nagged ", uh, guys, I'm trying to enjoy the sun, let me take a nap, you guys go and take a walk, your queen commands you."

She didn't give them a chance to answer as she lied down and put her sun hat over her face, underneath she had the most smug face ever, it almost made an imprint on her hat. Sofia and Hugo shook their heads in a joking manner before doing as 'their queen' commanded. They walked beside the stream and into the forest, they didn't go too deep but not that close to the edge ethier.

"She's quite something isn't she?" giggled Sofia, playing with her amulet. She followed a small worn out path, lifting her legs in a way in which she felt free.

Hugo let out a laugh, before replying to sofia ", yeah she isn't she." He had his hands behind his back and walked beside Sofia in a less cleared path, not that it bothered him much. He had a few questions on his mind but didn't know how to bring it up to her. Lucky for him she took care of that.

"Hugo, about yesterday, thank you, for being there, I probably would've been more stressed out if it weren't for you, so,thank you," she looked at him ,gave him a small smile, before turning around and going back to the picnic spot.

He followed, also bringing up last night with an inquiry of his own ",it was nothing, but speaking of what happened, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it was just some nightmare so don't worry much about it I'm fine, really," she replied, giving him a look of reassurance, and he smiled and somewhat the weight on his shoulders, ceased to exist.

As they reached where a sleeping beauty should've been, their faces of content turned to one of horror. In her place, laid shriveled pieces of her pink dress, the pale girl nowhere to be found in sight. Sofia's panic quickly turned into one of control but as they were running back they were stopped by someone who they had no power against.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"James come on, we should get back to the castle now, we have to prepare for our ball tomorrow, today we get to taste test," Zandar exclaimed from the carriage. He stood waving from the coach.

James came running and they went back to their castle, but the whole way through he had a nagging feeling at the pit of his stomach but ignored it. When they arrived at the castle the servants had prepared everything with colours and flavors ranging from three options to ten. While they started, James forgot all about the nagging feeling. His smile had returned and Desmond and Zander were no longer worried.

That is until they got a message from the Blue kingdom, James read the letter and as he got closer to the bottom the faster his heart beat.

"What is it, James?" asks Desmond, his eyes filled themselves with worry.

"It's the blue kingdom, they're requesting military back up, they'll be here soon, but I don't remember when we were assigned to give military back up, what if something happened to my sister, or-" before he could finish his panic, he was interrupted by his guests.

"Sofia, what's going on?!" James basically yelled. His heart ceased when he noticed a missing member ", and where's Vivian."

Sofia avoided his eyes, Hugo looked away, guilt spreading across his face, he sighed before he looked up, and responded with ", we don't know, we were having a picnic and we went off and when we came back she was gone, parts of her dress were left behind."

Hugo winced as he heard James scream ," What?!"

James snarled before running off, just when Desmond and Zander were about to go after him, Hugo held out his hands in front of them ", this is an individual task for James, your task is only to do the behind the scenes work from here."

"What do you mean?" questioned Zander.

Hugo just smirked. Sofia smiled, she felt a bit bad but she knew the end result would totally be worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The plans of contacting the adults were thrown out the window as the others wouldn't allow it, of course they did this with the knowledge that Vivian was fine. James, too busy , didn't think of contacting the adults. And before they knew it he had finally set up a plan to find Vivian. With the help of Zander and Desmond; he finished earlier than he had expected. James got the troops ready and he set off, an army of at least 100 men riding behind him, they set foot to the picnic area that Vivian had last been spotted.

When they arrived trackers got to work immediately, James hopped down from his horse and looked around, when he saw the material of Vivian's dress stuck on the landmarks his heart sunk down to his stomach, he closed his eyes and counted to ten before he continued on, and not to long after they found her trail.

Following it into a dark road, they soon found themselves at an abandoned railroad, found out to be an old tour road. Before he could take a step further he was stopped by one of his holographic guards, "sire, we cannot come any further than this, I'm sorry sire, but we'll have to go back, and get re-"

"No, if I must I'll go on alone, I will, we cannot risk a life just for the sake of cowardness!" Harboured James, and with that he turned himself back and rode in, following the rails.

James found himself at an abandoned park, one almost like a zoo. Hoping off his horse he raced around looking for any clue as other Vivian might be, he searched for any clues of her clothing, a mark, a trial, he called out her name while doing so hooping or a report even though he knew the chances were slim. And no matter how long it took he didn't give up, but as more time went by the more anxious James came, he could almost feel the waterworks coming.

And just at that moment his eyes caught onto something, a flower, but it wasn't just any flower, it was the artificial flower pin James had made for her, looking around the closest thing he saw that could represent where someone could keep a hostage, was a cave, probably once used as an elebear cage.

Grabbing the rail, James jumped over the fence that seemed to draw all life out from existence, and drew his sword. He walked cautiously towards the entrance and made sure that nothing could get in his way. His sword illuminated enough light for him to see. Two minutes in and his first challenge was met.

At least 100 feet in, growling noises seemed to grow at the approaching footsteps and when light shone on what creature was making such a piercing noise, at least 50 small goblins appeared in sight screeching at the blinding light that was not known to them. Wanting to get rid of such a nuisance they ran at James, but with his rage they stood no chance.

As they ran at James, he sliced left and right, but no matter how many he sliced more and more seemed to be coming from nowhere, one of the ugly things somehow got James to shoot pain up his leg as he had almost sprained his ankle . In frustration James screamed a battle cry and ran straight ahead slicing anything that got in his way. Panting he sliced what seemed to be the last one, as they retreated.

He limped forward, carrying most of his weight on his left leg. He sat down on a rock and looked around for anything that could assist him, he found what looked like what once was a spear, he broke it in half with his knee and ripped his sleeve off and used the two as a splint for his ankle. Giving it a few steps, the pain lessened.

He continued on, and as he did, the cave walls became more moist, it threw James off but he really didn't have time to think much about it so he just ignored it, not realising he was about to walk to his death. A low growl shook the cavern floors, and when he leaned on the walls to support himself, a foul stench filled his insides almost burning of his nose hair, however he recognised this stench, but where from exactly he couldn't really put his finger on it. Another growl, much louder this time, managed to not just shake the floors but also the ceiling, but it didn't stop after that, the ground began to shake every thud and each time it got more unstable, till James was face to face with a beast.

The thing was 5 meters tall, with legs as thick as boulders, scales lined its entire body, with a tail made of what seemed like poisoned darts. The beast's eyes glowered an evil yellow, and the second they met eyes, the beast snapped its honed teeth at James. James jumped out of the way, mouth hung open, but he shook himself out of the faze and rushed to get around, but it didn't work, with the stomping beast it could squish him like a bug. He swung his sword and sliced the beast's legs, but that only made the beast more agitated. The beast came closer to James and started snapping; he tried jumping away but it did no aid, and cut James across his arm, leaving a scarlet trail from his shoulder to his wrist. James stabbed the beast in its left eye, and it let out a deafening howl of pain, the look in its remaining eye said only one thing; you will die! And just when James was about to accept his fate, one small voice, once small cry changed all that.

"James, help!" The voice cried out, it sounded so weak and helpless, her voice sounded like it had lost all optimism, Vivian's voice, was all it took for him to wake himself up.

He also let out a battle cry like the monster had done so, and at the last second rolled out of the death trap and leaped forward and impaled the beast right from his stomach and skid it down all the way to where the back legs stood. The beast's yelp spread so far that he was sure that even his parents had heard it. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him straight under the poison dipped tail, his muscles burned but he was drunk on adrenaline that the only thing that mattered was Vivian. As the tail came crashing down James leapt through the air, but he hadn't won just yet, the force of the tail forced the ground to crack and fly , James ran and used all his speed to jump the now known canyon, and used one of the flying rocks to aid him in reaching the other side. Landing with his legs dangling down the side, he heaved himself up. And laid down on his back, panting and heaving in gulps of air.

But he forced his drained body onwards. After what felt like an eternity he met himself at bifurcate, he wanted to curse and scream, but he had no energy, so he sat for a while to draw on his spirit before he yelled out "Vivian."

He waited, in hopes for a reply, but nothing. He tried again, his voice more desperate than the last, until it became an empty echo , with only his mouth moving. He slumped to his knees , the weight on his shoulders finally too much. His eyes welled up, and his lips trembled, his shoulders quivered, his eyes blurred up, whatever hope he had left instantly cut itself away. He sat there alone, in the cold, the dark filling in his void, if one were to walk by they would've thought he was a corpse. Those dark thoughts consumed him that when a voice started calling him he didn't hear it. But the voice didn't stop, instead it got louder and more desperate until the next words were said that he finally had any reaction ", James, I need you, me, Vivian, I need James, and only him."

It was as if those words were ointment that had healed all of his wounds.

He got up and followed the right pathway, that was where her voice was coming from, but the further he wasn't down that tunnel the crazier he got, Vivian's voice seemed to multiply in his head, and come from many different directions. But he stuck by, he knew it was probably the cave playing games with his mind.

After an eternity, he finally reached an opening, the cave's stone floors seemed to merge into metal in a subtle manner. Ancient looking inscriptions lined a circle, and in the middle of all that sat Vivian.

The second, he met eyes with her he ran like nothing mattered, he ran as if he wasn't in pain. Just as he was about to grab her, he flew 10 meters back, an invisible force field; revealed itself.

He ran back and banded his fists so hard that they started to bleed. Vivian started to cry, and ran up to the glass that separated them and also started pounding on the glass like material. But nothing. They slid their hands down, and aligned them with each other's.

With their last burst of energy, they smashed their fists together, in response then glass like material finally broke away. James rushed to Vivian and engulfed her in his arms, and that's when all his emotions came falling like an avalanche, he didn't let go, if he did he feared that he would wake up at the mouth of the cave.

Without a second's worth of notice, an enhancing light shone all around, and they found themselves in the scenery of the camps infirmary. Their confusion, shock and fatigue lead them to passing out.

When they woke up, their mental states—due to all the tricks pulled on them during 'the quest'— and physical states had been recovered. And that's when the fairies explained everything. From the fact that it had all been a setup requested from their parents to the fact that the others had to keep quiet. Their parents had met up with the teachers and asked this from them, and when Sofia and Hugo wanted to find Vivian the fairies had told them what was to happen, and that was that James had a test-like quest. Of course in return for James' accomplishment, the protective kingdom did not have to hold their ball, they had done all the procedures so they passed the examination.

Thanks again pumpkins, look forward to the next chapter, and understand me if it takes a while, I have crazy teachers!(love 'em tho!) 😜