"This area looks familiar," Marcy said, looking up at the trees and leaves scattered all over the ground.

"That's because you've been here before," Weland told her.

"Aileen and I found you in that spot."

Marcy looked to the spot between the roots of a tree and she remembered the shock of seeing Aileen's wings. 

"What in the world?" Chandra spoke up.

She was holding a metal box with a leather strap. Marcy gasped and ran up to her, grabbing the device saying, "My camera! What on earth happened to you poor baby!"

Thankfully there was no real damage and it still worked perfectly.

"What's a...A camera?" Chandra asked.

"Well it a...It takes pictures and videos."

"It takes what?"

"Pictures. Here, I'll show you."

Marcy quickly told Chandra to smile and snapped a portrait of the elf, immediately showing her the photo.

"How did you do that?" Chandra exclaimed.

"Well you just press the button and it takes a picture."

"But how?"

"Well I...I don't really know the mechanics of a camera. All I know is that it takes pictures of things."

"What about a video? What's a video?" Angelica asked.

Marcy pressed a button that had a red dot on it and told Angelica to say something. Then she replayed the video for everyone to watch.

"Say something!" "Why should I say something? What are you talking about?"

Everyone was dumbfounded and Marcy could not help but laugh at them. She had never met anyone who did not know what a camera was, much less a photo or a video.

"We'd better get going," Cephalus said distractedly, looking down as he walked down the path that led on for what seemed forever.

The sky was growing dark and stars popped out everywhere like little diamonds. It was magical; the streams of moonlight shining through the trees, the full moon in the sky. Everything was so picturesque. And now Marcy had the perfect opportunity. She pulled out the camera and pointed it at the sky, using the tree tops as a frame for the moon. Chandra insisted on seeing the picture and as they walked on Marcy taught her how to use the camera and the different settings for different conditions. The elf learned quickly and before long she was taking pictures of every owl she spotted and every flower that looked more beautiful than usual. Marcy found quite enjoyable to see the enthusiasm of her friend and was content to just watch while they continued on their way.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

"You lost Diomedes once Hammond, I'm not letting you take control of him again. Those two have got the better of you more than once and was I forgiving? Yes, yes I was," Berglund explained.

"However, a second time is too much. I'm putting Butcher in charge, maybe he can achieve what you couldn't."

"Butcher?" Hammond felt his face flush at the mention of that name.

Butcher was the one real enemy Hammond had in the thief ring and now he was being promoted above him.

"Why him?"

"Because, he's the biggest man around. Nearly seven foot."

"But I clobbered him in the ring, don't you remember that? It's not all about size, it's about technique," Hammond argued.

"I'm hoping the twins will see his size and not even try it."

"Hoping? You did more than hope with me! What makes you think Butcher will be able to keep them here?"

A small smile crept across Berglund's face and a knock resounded on the door. It opened and Demetria came walking in, her black robes trailing behind her elegantly.

"My plan isn't to keep them here."

              "We have to get out of here," Diomedes said, feeling the sides of the stall.

"Dio, have you seen the new guy? Here's nearly seven foot!"

"Dagon do you want to be left to the tender mercies of Hammond again?"

Dagon put one hand to his head, remembering the throbbing headache that had only just passed.

"You're right. We should probably get out of here."

The brothers began looking for some way to get out and make their way to the secret entrance. Even though they had not mentioned it before, the both of them had also seen the boulders as well, only unlike the others they actually new what it was for. 

"Dagon...You're not going to believe this," Diomedes said, his voice slightly bewildered.

"Believe what?" Dagon asked groggily.

"Our friend has gone to sleep!"

"He what?"

Dagon struggled to his feet and looked over the stall door. Sitting in an old chair stood the guard, fast asleep and snoring to high heavens. Diomedes pushed the door open quietly and snuck out, Dagon right behind. The two snuck across the dirt ring and down a long wooden hallway, leading out into the evening light.

"Dio, I don't like it," Dagon said once they made it up the beach.

"Don't like what?"

"That was too easy. Last time we tried getting away that lady came. But this time it was all so quiet and simple. It shouldn't have been that easy."

"You know something, you're right...Didn't she look familiar to you?"

"Actually I was trying to place where I had seen her before."

"That was Laura. You know, the lady who wanted to go up the mountains?" Diomedes explained.

"Yeah...We'd better not go back to the passage just yet. Let's send them for a loop first," Dagon suggested as they climbed over a fallen log.

Diomedes moaned and began a steady jog, thinking of how long they would be 'sending them for a loop'. Thirty minutes was a lot of time to be jogging but it seemed more like five minutes to the twins who were positive that Berglund was not far behind them, especially after they heard something echo down a hollow log. Diomedes was not sure but he could have sworn it was a voice.

Keep going, keep going, Dagon breathed in and out. Sure they were fit, but fit can only go so far when you've been recovering from a concussion. 

"Hey, Dagon are you alright?" Dio stopped abruptly.

"Yeah. Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well I just remembered you were the one who got hit on the head."

Dagon shook his head and laughed in a tired manner.

"You're such a mother hen."

Diomedes shrugged and was just about to start jogging again when a voice, sounding strangely familiar, called his name.

"Dagon, I think that knock did something to your voice," he commented. 

"DIO! ARE YOU DEAF?" it was Chandra and she was perched on a branch in the large tree right above them, Marcy right behind her on a lower branch.

Something flashed in her hand and Chandra tossed a metal box down to Marcy who promptly burst into laughter.

"That's priceless!"

"Where is everyone else?" Dagon asked.

"They went back to the entrance after we saw you running off the beach. We were told to catch up with you but we got tired and were going to go to sleep in this tree when we heard your voices. Why did you circle back?"

"They were probably being followed," a familiar low voice answered.

Dagon switched his gaze to the trunk of the tree and a silhouette with impressive antlers walked out of the shadows.

"You're here to?" Diomedes smiled politely.

"You don't think I'd leave these two idiots to look for you, do you?" Adrastea answered in her regular tone, walking out of the shadows.

"Why Stea, I didn't know you cared," Dagon joked, twisting her words.

Marcy and Chandra quickly slid down the tree trunk and gestured for the boys to follow, Adrastea taking up the rear where she was less likely to get caught up in some ridiculous conversation. 

It was about 1 a.m. when they finally made it back to the entrance. The rest of the group was trying to catch some shut eye while Adrianna stayed on watch, making sure there were not any unwanted guests. 

"What took you so long?" she asked, stretching her arms and yawning.

"Does it matter? Let's just get this over with once and for all," Adrastea muttered, walking up onto the rocks and pointing at the mark.

"Better get started."

Dagon sighed and pulled the medallion over his head, climbing to the top of the pile and pushing it into the mark. After a moment of silence the whole pile shifted and the bolder rolled over on a rope mechanism revealing a hidden staircase. 

"Well that wasn't so hard," Marcy smiled, starting to really enjoy herself.

Dagon grabbed the torch that Diomedes had lit and careful walked down the steps into a long dirt passageway.

"Look familiar?" Diomedes whispered to his brother.

Dagon smiled and nodded, remembering the time they had stumbled upon it in the castle when they were trying to get away from their lessons. It was a long time ago but the the memory was still quite vivid. 

Chandra came down the steps behind them and let out an excited giggle, feeling the air of adventure all around her. To Dagon it was an all too familiar air that he would rather live without, but he let her enjoy the moment while it lasted. No point in spoiling everyone's good mood when it was soon to disappear. 

The passage was long but incredibly straight, obviously heading in a very specific direction...That direction only known to a handful of people.

"Are we almost there?" Chandra asked Diomedes.

He in return just rolled his eyes and mentioned something about three year old's under his breath.

"As a matter of fact, we're there," Dagon replied for his brother gesturing to a ladder in front of them and a trap door.

He quickly climbed up the steps and after a moment of listening slowly opened the trap door, climbing out of the hole into a tightly fitting room that was pitch black except for a single dot of light coming out of the wall.

"Where are we?" Chandra inquired.

"Would you stop asking questions?" Diomedes requested in an aggravated tone.

Dagon ignored the two and put his eye over the small hole, promptly pressing on a panel, allowing the wall to swing open. The party spilled out into a long hallway draped with tapestries and paintings, a burgundy carpet running in both directions. Once everyone was out Dagon pushed the door closed once more, where it blended into the rest of the artwork as a painting of the royal family.

Marcy gasped in awe at the beautiful art piece and brought her camera up to take a picture, but no sooner had her finger left the button did she realize who the painting was of.

"Wait a minute, that's-"

"Ookay, I think we should get out of site," Adrastea quickly cut in, dragging Marcy down the hall.

Chandra looked from the painting to Diomedes and back again, a small smile growing with every double-take.

"You know, Marcy could be right," she whispered.

Diomedes elbowed her in the ribs but no one noticed. They were too busy taking Adrastea's advice and getting out of site.

"What do you plan on doing?" Sylvia inquired when Cephalus looked out the window of the king's private study.

"It's almost over my friends," he spoke, his voice low and strong.

"Those people down there know that Berglund is not their king and they are more than willing to let someone else take his place."

Everyone looked at Dagon as if on cue and the twins gave up any hope of keeping it a secret. Not that they had done a great job of it in the first place, but they were still hoping.

"But there's one little problem," Dagon began.

"You're half Nymph? Well don't worry about that. The other half is what counts."

Chandra caught her breath and looked at the twins in utter astonishment, Marcy and several of the others following suit...Except of course for Adrastea.

"So you just want us to saunter on down there and declare our rank as royalty?"

"Not quite...First we have to get a little something out of Berglund," Cephalus answered, the wheels turning in his head.

"And what would that be?"

"We need him to confess that all he wanted was the royal treasury. And if he followed you as I thought he would, we just need a witness to do the rest of the job for us."

"I don't understand," Marcy spoke up.

"Berglund needed the secret passage in order to get all of the gold out without being spotted...Is that correct?" Adrastea answered in her regular 'not caring' tone.

Cephalus nodded and turned to the others, a small and slightly mischievous grin creeping over his face.

"And here comes the fun part..."

- Hey peeps, sorry this took so long! I apologize profusely and assure you that it will not happen again. Now hold onto your seat belts ladies and gentlemen, our tale is coming close to an end! Comments and votes are greatly appreciated :D Thank you - Anna