Chapter 24

Once the world stops spinning around, I look around myself and find that I am in a colossal, brobdingnagian throne room.

I rub my eyes, unbelieving, and look around again, but my surroundings don't change.

Did I really just transport from my school to this... this... palace??

In the words of Nikki Maxwell, SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

The room looks like a typical fantastical throne room one sees in movies.

Two rows of purple-clad soldiers holding gleaming silver swords line the huge room, one row on either side. A lengthy, grand crimson carpet stretches along the middle of the throne room, all the way up the steps leading to the raised platform at the front.

Situated on top of the platform is a brown podium, to the left of which stands a regal throne encrusted with jewels with a tall sceptre leaning against it, standing amongst white marble columns on the edges of the platform connecting up to the ceiling.

Behind the rows of soldiers, a number of balconies can be seen looking onto the throne room, with large banners hanging down the walls, royal red with the emblem of Queen Bella drawn on them-- a gleaming silver sword with a black hilt pointing downwards, with a pair of white feather wings around it.

On the wall behind the platform, the front wall of the colossal room, a number of purple panels can be found, three on either side of the main panel in the middle.

Bright golden light shines upon the room from regal chandeliers hanging overhead.

So this is Queen Bella's throne room.

There is only one word that can be used to describe this place... Magical.

Apart from the soldiers lining up the sides of the room, the room seems to deserted.

I walk over to the nearest soldier and peer into his face, but he keeps his serious face and continues peering downwards.

If I didn't know better, I'd say these soldiers were asleep, standing up and with their eyes open.

Professor Zinc's voice breaks me out of my reverie.

Without beating around the bush, he gets right down to business.

"Let us go and get her majesty to begin with the session, shall we?"

Abruptly, he begins marching towards the right without waiting for a response, and I rush to catch up with him, bemused.

We walk into the next chamber, and Professor Zinc heads over to a... coffin.

I walk up beside him and peer down at the coffin curiously.

Professor Zinc proceeds to knock on the top of the coffin awkwardly and say, "Lana, send the ogre out."

He glances sideways at me nervously, and adjusts his sentence quickly.

"Er, I mean, send her majesty out. The girl is here."

As we wait, Professor Zinc tells me nervously, "The ogre is Queen Bella's code name, you see."

I nod my head politely, a ghost of a smile touching my lips.

In a moment, the coffin opens up automatically and Queen Bella steps out, perfectly dressed with not a hair out of place.

She wears the exact same outfit as she did when she entered my dream a couple of weeks ago.

I did have a suspicion that Queen Bella is a fairy, but a vampire? No way!!

Queen Bella lets out a soft, tinkling laugh and responds, "Oh, I'm not a vampire."

Did she read my mind??

"I did actually. That's one of my many magical powers. About the coffin, though, that's just a tool I use to jump into humans' dreams."

She holds out her hand to me, fingers pointing downwards.

"Nice to meet you in person, Ms. Isrania."

I shake her hand softly, afraid that her dainty little hand will fall off.

"Pleasure's all mine, ..." I trail off, unsure of how to continue.

"'Your majesty' will do," she says, reading my mind again.

"Right then, let's get on with the session," Queen Bella says to Professor Zinc.

"Of course your majesty," he responds, bowing down.

I follow them back into the throne room, wondering what this is leading to.

Queen Bella walks up onto the platform and takes her place on the throne with Professor Zinc and I following.

Her majesty picks up her sceptre and waves it around the room, leaving a trail of red sparkles behind.

Within a second, the room becomes full of people standing upon the lengthy crimson carpet.

Professor Zinc takes his place to the left of the throne and clasps his hand, while he gestures to me to stand in front of the podium.

I scan my eyes over the crowd and find not only humans, but faeries, gnomes, centaurs, pegasi, and whatnot present too.

Queen Bella's voice rings out over the room, loud and clear.

"Creatures of the magical kingdom, you are here today to witness a memorable occasion."

Pointing towards me, she continues, "Rhea Isrania, you have been charged with revealing your powers to the entire world. How do you plead?"

With downcast eyes, I respond softly, "Guilty."

"Very well. Your powers shall hereby be robbed of you and you will return to Earth without any memory of having them. The rest of the world will forget about them as well."

Queen Bella raises her sceptre...

"Wait!" I break in. "Please... isn't there something you can do to let me keep my powers?"

Queen Bella shakes her head firmly. "No exceptions."

"Oh come on... there has to be something?" I ask desperately.

"Well there are the Bellan Games," Professor Zinc blurts out, then silences himself with a glare from her majesty.

"The Bellan Games... what are those?" I ask curiously.

"Oh it's just a bunch of tests which, if you pass, lets you alter the consequences of your punishment slightly. But very few people make it through alive and in good health," Queen Bella waves her hand dismissively.

"No problem!" I exclaim, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'll do it."

"Mind you... the Bellan Games are fatal," Queen Bella says grimly. "It'll be much easier to just give your powers away."

"No, no... I would like to try my luck at the Bellan Games."

"Very well... then there will be no power usurping here tonight."

A collective groan rises over the crowd of creatures.

"Alright then... we shall commence immediately. This meeting is adjourned," Queen Bella waves her sceptre again and the crowd disappears, leaving behind only the lines of soldiers.

She walks over to me and gestures towards Professor Zinc.

"Dumbo, here, will guide you with the basic rules and the materials you'll need to take with you. We will begin in an hour."

"Dumbo?" I ask curiously.

"Yes. My assistant there."

Trying hard to suppress a smile, I bid her adieu, then follow Professor Zinc into the hallway outside the throne room.

"I thought you were called Professor Zinc?" I tease, a glint of mischief in my eyes.

Sighing, he responds, "I am. But the magical folk prefer to call me Dumbo because of my powers of super sonic hearing."

I let loose a small giggle.

After sobering down, I ask inquisitively, "Is this the reason you were the teacher of three of my subjects in Maple Marshrup Academy?"

"Yes that's right. I was assigned to make sure your powers didn't get revealed, and to contact Queen Bella instantly in case they did."

Soaking in that piece of information, I follow Professor Zinc... scratch that... I follow Dumbo into a huge walk-in closet.

"So let me fill you up on the Bellan Games," Dumbo starts.

"They are a series of five levels designed to amuse the folk of the magical kingdom.

Typically, the Bellan Games are used to alter sentences to crimes given by Queen Bella in her throne room, augmenting the situation slightly for the victim."

Meanwhile, Dumbo walks between the different rows and shelves, handing me several accessories.

"However, the Bellan Games are extremely hard to get through without losing physical or mental health."

He hands me a beautiful grey trench coat, extremely warm, and mutters, "You'll need that for the first level."

"What are the levels?" I ask inquisitively. "As in, what do we have to do exactly?"

"I can't really say, since the levels alter every time the Games are played. All I can tell you is that you're going to need Hermione Granger's logic and common sense, Lebron James's basketball skills, and Percy Jackson's sense of adventure."

He hands me a pitchfork next, humming casually.

"A pitchfork?" I ask, puzzled. "Why would I need a pitchfork?"

"Well, to fight with, of course."

I stare at him with a sarcastic gaze that screams, 'Seriously?'.

Disappointedly, he says, "Oh alright, you can have the sword instead."

He hands me a sword with its scabbard attached to a belt to wear around my waist.

"You're going to need a compass as well," he mutters, more to himself than to me.

He rummages through a shelf and finally pulls out one, seemingly brand-new and hands it to me.

"Where am I going to keep all of this?" I ask him.

"Oh yeah, you're going to need a backpack."

Dumbo hands me a pale yellow, Tweety bird backpack, too small to even fit on my shoulders.

"Really?" I say, heavy sarcasm dripping off my tongue.

He shrugs.

"Oh come on, there has to be something better. I'm not five, you know."

Sighing, he mutters, "You're no fun."

He takes the Tweety bag back and hands me a blue Kipling shoulder bag instead, with pink and orange swirling patterns drawn on it.

"Much better," I say contentedly, fitting everything inside it.

He hands me a cap as well, and when I raise an eyebrow at him, he explains, "It may be sunny in a couple of levels."

I fit the cap in my bag as well, a black visor.

"I'd say that's about it," Dumbo murmurs, looking around the walk-in wardrobe one last time. "Oh! I completely forgot!"

He walks over to a dressing table and picks up a makeup kit, tossing it to me.

"A makeup kit?" I raise an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Yup," he nods vigorously. "You have to look good during the Bellan Games, don't you? You may need a touch-up between levels."

Rolling my eyes, I place that in my bag as well, while Dumbo scans his eyes over the dressing table again.

"One last thing... the essentials. I advise everyone never to leave home without these," he holds up a packet of lemony mints.

"A packet of mints?" I ask incredulously.

For god's sake, this guy is cuckoo.

"Yup. They're indispensable."

"Have you lost your marbles?" I snort. "If these Bellan Games are as dangerous as everyone is implying, do you think I'd be thinking about my breath or about getting through the levels?"

He shrugs indignantly. "Well, I know I'd want to make sure I didn't have bad breath before taking on such a challenge."

"Are you gay?" I mutter under my breath, placing the packet into my backpack.

Ignoring the comment, he runs his over the wardrobe and says, "Okay, you're all set to go."

Dumbo holds out his hand for me to shake, looks me right in the eye, and says seriously, "Godspeed, Rhea Isrania. I wish you all the best."

I shake his hand gratefully, thanking him for everything.

"Now, are you ready?" he asks, making sure everything is in order one last time.

Putting on the trench coat, feeling it's lovely mink fur, I nod my head.

"Alright then."

He stretches his hand out, and I place mine on top of his.

Again, he mutters the same incantation.

"To the first level of the Bellan Games,

We shall go.

Take us as quickly,

And as nimbly as a doe."

 Once again, the incantation takes effect, and the world spins around.

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What do you guys think of the Bellan Games?

So here's another chapter, right on time! Proud of me?

The next chapter will probably be next weekend, Friday-Saturday the 25th-26th of December.

For the early update, let's stick to the same amount of votes and comments: 10 of each.

This chapter is dedicated to Mrinal1 for voting and commenting on ALL of my chapters from the beginning of my Wattpad journey. Thank you loads!

And remember... to get a chapter dedication all you need to do is vote or comment, and follow.

Picture up on top is of Queen Bella's brobdingnagian (don't you just love saying that word?) throne room.

VOTE! COMMENT! PEACE OUT!

~Xx, Ananya




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