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"So you can talk," Conner said, staring up at the lion while Bree hid behind him.  To say she was scared was one thing, she was terrified.  She had never been around magic before, and this was a lion.  A lion!! It could eat them for dinner!

"Yes, I can talk," the lion admitted. "I'll answer whatever questions you have, just please don't call that woman here." ^Okay.  The lion didn't look all that bad, he even seemed friendly.^

Conner seemed to smile, but Bree couldn't see, she was still hiding behind him.  "Why are you so afraid of Mother Goose?"he asked.

"I'm not afraid of her, it's her stories I can't stand." The lion shook his head.  "Over the years she's told me some outlandish secrets that I never wanted to know- and she never spares the details! If you knew half the things I know, you would look at her differently too.  It's too much for one lion to bear!"

"Is that why you look so concerned all the time?" Conner asked.

"That's part of it," the lion said, and then there was a second of silence. When the lion spoke again, he spoke with sadness and whimpered like he was about to cry.  "I'm also afraid of heights and these people keep putting me on top of very tall things!  And they separated me from my brother when the Red Lion Brewery was demolished and I don't know where he is!"

The stone lion sniffled into his stone paws.  Bree felt sorry for the lion, but a piece of information about the second lion came into her mind.  She stepped out from behind Conner to share it with the lion. 

"Oh, you're talking about the second lion statue," She said, fulling stepping out from behind Conner.  "He's still around! They painted him gold and put him on display at some sports arena."

The South Bank Lion was happy to hear this and looked a little less concerned.  "That's such a relief," he said.  " He always loved sports."

"Can he talk and move like you?" Conner asked. 

"No, he's just a normal stone statue, but we're made of the same artificial stone," the lion said.  "I was the only lion Mother Goose enchanted."

"Why did she enchant you?" Conner asked. ^Seriously? We are here to learn where a portal the Land of Stories is and you're asking the statute why he was enchanted? Why?^

"In the mid-1800's Mother Goose used to visit her friends at the Red Lion Brewery every Sunday night," the lion told him.  "Around the same time she had just started training that horrible gander of hers to fly around.  He was a horrible flyer and every so often they would crash into me on the roof.  One night they were a little too careless and hit me so hard I was knocked off the roof and shattered into pieces on the ground.  She magically put me back together and cast an invincibility spell on me so I wouldn't leave such a mess the next time they knocked me off the roof."

"Ah, so that's why you stayed in such good condition during the war and the demolition," Bree said. 

"But that doesn't explain why you can talk," Conner pointed out. 

"Well, after a few years Mother Goose's brewery friends started dying off," the lion explained.  "She wanted a friend who would stick around and give her an excuse to come back to the brewery.  And unfortunately, she chose me.  Although I don't know why she gave me the ability to speak when all I ever did was listen."

"Speaking of listening," Conner said.  "do you remember her mentioning anything about the Brothers Grimm and sabotaging a portal. 

The lion scrunched his forehead, obviously trying to remember.  "It rings a bell," he said.  "Was this the same time that she led the French soldiers into a trap?"

"Yes! That's it!" Conner exclaimed with a jump.  Bree stepped a meter away in surprise.

The lion's eyes grew wider and wider and he nodded his giant stone head.  "Oh boy, do I remember that story," he said.  "I wish I could forget it! It gave me nightmares for fifty years!"

"Do you remember where the portal was that she trapped the soldiers inside?" Conner asked the lion. 

"I do," the lion answered.  "It was deep in the Bavarian woods, between twin trees that grew between twin medieval castles.  The only reason I remember that is because I'm a twin myself."

"Where is Bavaria?" Conner asked. 

"It's an old country that's now a state of Germany," Bree said. "Two trees between two medieval castles seems pretty easy to find."

"Oh, you wouldn't find the trees and the castles anymore," the lion told them regretfully.  "They're gone."

"What?" Conner and Bree asked together in disbelief.  They had come all this way for nothing.  "What do you mean they're gone?"

"After the Brothers Grimm tricked the soldiers into entering the tampered-with portal, Mother Goose grew paranoid that the soldiers would find a way out, into this world, so she asked her friend Ludwig for a very large favor."

"What was the favor?" Conner asked.

"She asked Ludwig to build one of his elaborate castles on top of the portal, so if the soldiers were ever to re-emerge from it they might be tricked into thinking they had arrived in the fairytale world."

"He built a castle for her?" Conner asked in disbelief.  "That is a big favor."

Bree started thinking about this castle, something about where it rang a bell in her head.  When she thought of it she gasped and clutched her hands together, startling Conner and the lion. "Wait a second, are you talking about King Ludwig II of Bavaria?" she asked.

"That was his official name I believe," the lion said.  "Mother Goose always called him Ludwig or Wiggy."

Conner looked very confused, apparently he had no idea who King Ludwig II was.  "Who was he?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the mad fairytale king?" Bree asked him.  Conner shook his head.  "He was addicted to building lavish places for himself, all inspired by other places he had visited around the world."

"He sounds like someone Red Riding Hood would be friends with," Conner said, and then stopped talking about it because he saw Bree's confused face. 

"The last home Ludwig built for himself was Neuschwanstein Castle," Bree continued.  "It was inspired by all his favorite childhood stories and looks like something you'd find in a storybook.  It's considered one of the wonders of the modern world."

"Wait, is considered, meaning the castle is still around?" Conner asked. 

"Oh yes," Bree said.  "It's easily one of the biggest tourist attractions in southern Germany.  It's always been a mystery as to why Ludwig built it, but now it all makes sense."

"But what happened to the portal? Is it somewhere inside the castle?" Conner asked.

"I'm assuming so, but I wouldn't know," the lion said.  "I've lived within a five-kilometer radius my entire life."

"Do you know how we can check the portal to see if it's open or not?" Conner asked. 

"Let me think, let me think," the lion said, closing his eyes. "Yes! The Bavarian portal can be accessed when a person of magical blood pays eight notes on a special ancient panpipe."

Conner paused for a moment, probably thinking about all the information they had just been told.  "If it has to be played by someone of magical blood, then how did the Brothers Grimm open the portal for the French soldiers?"

The lion scrunched up his nose in disgust, he must not like this part of the story.  "Mother Goose took a dagger and made a cut in her hand and one in Wilhelm's Grimm hand," he said.  "They held their hands tightly together and let the magic flow into Wilhelm's blood.  I really wish that she had kept that part of the story to herself- the thought of blood makes me especially squeamish since I don't have any myself."

"And where can I find this panpipe?" Conner asked. 

"I believe it's with the rest of Mother Goose's Otherworld belongings in a vault in a Monegasque bank," the lion said.  "And I only know that because she measured me one day to see if I would fight in there too.  Thank goodness I was too big."

"So, where is the bank?" Conner asked. 

"Monegasque means it's in Monte Carlo," Bree said. 

"Right," Conner said.   "So where in Monte Carlo is the bank?"

The lion seemed to think for a second then wore an unhappy look.  "I don't remember," he said with a frown. "If only my mind were as concrete as the rest of me."

Conner looked disheartened and started to pace the sidewalk, thinking.  He suddenly jumped an ran to his suitcase.  He popped it open and rummaged through it when he found what he was looking for he stood up and inspected whatever it was. 

"I think I know where to find the fault," he said eagerly to Bree.  "What time is it?"

Bree looked at the screen of her phone.  "It's almost four in the morning," she said.  "Wow, time flies when you're talking to an enchanted statue."

Conner looked at the lion one last time. "Thank you so much for all your help, but you'll have to excuse us now," he said.  "We have to get to the train station as soon as possible."

The lion seemed sad but his face returned to its normal concerned expression. "Good luck," he said.  "And next time you see Mother Goose, please tell her I understand she's a very busy woman and there's no need to visit me...ever again."

Conner nodded his head and took off speed walking along Westminster Bridge.  But Bree wanted to say a proper goodbye to the lion.  She stepped forward to the lion and cleared her throat. 

"Conner is a little crunched on time, so that's why he didn't give you a proper goodbye.  But, you really have helped us, and to think, if Mother Goose and her goose hadn't knocked into you all those years ago, we wouldn't be here.  And you wouldn't have two new friends who will remember you for forever." Bree said. 

"Thank you," the lion said sweetly.  "It's nice to know that I won't have to live any longer without having a new friend."

Just hearing that made Bree's disposition change altogether.  Sure Conner had seen magic so many times before, but she hadn't.  And it made her so happy to know that she had made that lion's century. 

Bree realized that she was going to lose Conner, so she picked up her suitcase, gave the lion another nod, and ran after Conner.  Once she caught up with Conner, she thought about how lucky she was to be on this adventure. 

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THANKS FOR READING!!!
BYE BOOK-HUGGERS!!!
TLOSGEEK2-OUT!!!