A Summer Of Missing Princesses

I enter Fairrest Castle with Zachary, Wisdom, and Miranda at my side. The first person to greet us is the castle guard, Magnus.

“You’ve returned! And you brought Miranda!” Magnus exclaims, “Come quickly, we must talk with Tillin!”

We follow Magnus down the hall to one of the many rooms. Tillin is sitting in the middle of the room with the other princess around him. He appears to be in the middle of telling them a story. Zachary runs up to greet Tillin.

“Tillin! We did it! It was so epic! Why, I wish you were there to see it!” Zachary says.

“He did an excellent job, sir. He’s a natural with that sword,” Wisdom says, backing Zachary up.

The other princess stand up upon seeing Miranda. They file one by one over to meet her.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” Mór says to Miranda.

“So these are the other six princesses who went missing?” Miranda asks.

“That’s them! And it’s about time I get everyone home,” I say.

The six princesses introduce themselves to Miranda and she smiles gently at them.

“So, what are you planning on doing with that box of vampires?” Miranda asks Wisdom.

“These vampires will meet their fair punishment back on Vamp where they belong. Hopefully, no more vampires will trouble you,” Wisdom says.

“Thank you,” Miranda says, “And you, Selima, was it?”

“Yes, I’m Selima,” I say.

“Thank you. Keep being awesome, alright? The universe needs more brave swords-women,” Miranda says with a chuckle.

“It’s not a problem. I’ll keep on doing what is right, even after all of this is said and done,” I say.

“Selima, I highly suggest you see a doctor, though! You are unwell, still!” Wisdom says.

“I’m fine. I don’t know why you keep insisting that I’m ill,” I snap at Wisdom, I then cover my mouth, “Sorry...”

“So I guess this is goodbye. We may never see each other again, but I will always remember this day,” Miranda says.

“Goodbye!” I cry out.

“Goodbye!” the other princesses also say.

“Farewell, may your return trip be smooth,” Miranda says.

Tillin and Magnus walk us back out of the castle. From there, we make the long trip all the way back to Savan where we left the ship.

“So... Landing gear?” I ask, suddenly remembering that we still have no landing gear.

“UGHHHH!” Wisdom groans in annoyance.

It is still night time when we arrive at the spaceship. Wisdom hands me back my space suit.

“Well! I guess I’ll just have to make due with what we have!” Wisdom announces.

The other princesses and I watch as Wisdom glows slightly. Her eyes are shut tightly. A few scraps of additional metal come flying over and drop in front of her.

“Yes, that will do... Now, I just have to construct, attach, and rewire...” Wisdom mutters, sorting out the metal scraps.

“You’re seriously going to build landing gear? How is that going to work?” Sìneag asks, watching Wisdom.

“Listen, sweetheart... I’m a vampire princess. I can do things other beings cannot,” Wisdom says with a giggle, “I’m old. I have experience.”

“Sweetheart? Now you listen here!” Sìneag begins, but Wisdoms shuts her up.

“Shhh... Be quiet...” Wisdom says.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Sìneag remains silent. Wisdom works on constructing our landing gear. Meanwhile, Mór and Korallee pass out some of our space snacks and we eat. Wisdom briefly pops back into the ship and snags a treat for herself.

“Need anything else?” I ask.

“Nope, I got this... Just keep an eye on the vampire box,” Wisdom says.

The vampire box is on the ground closest to me so I prop my foot up on the lid to prevent them from opening the box. EpicCourage is leaning back in her seat, relaxing.

“Are you excited to see your brother Epsilon again?” I ask her.

“UGH! Epsilon! I don’t know. I’ve felt more relaxed without him hanging around, but at the same time, I KNOW the others will need me back home soon,” EpicCourage says.

The spaceship lifts a bit off of the ground, causing things to slide around. The vampire box slides away from me, but Korallee catches it and holds onto it. A few strange warbling noises come from the ship and the control panel flashes. Wisdom reappears in the doorway afterwards.

“THERE! Landing gear! No more crash landings!” Wisdom says, tapping Sìneag on the head.

“FINALLY!” Sìneag exclaims.

As we close up the doors to the space ship, Sìneag begins ranting about who knows what. I guess being quiet for that long was stressful to her.

“Next stop...!” Wisdom says, dramatically flipping a few switches and pulling a lever, “Jebbron! EpicCourage, this is your stop, correct?”

“Correct!” EpicCourage confirms.

“Okay, well, you know, we’re going to have to cross through that black hole again,” Wisdom says.

“Well, we got through it the first time, we can do it again,” I say.

The others nod their heads. Wisdom pulls another lever and the spaceship begins to speed across the ground faster and faster until the wheels are lifted from the ground.

“We have lift off!” Wisdom announces.

The world outside the window whizzes past us. Before long, the ground becomes smaller and smaller until the planet is just a small ball below us. Once again, we are surrounded by the now familiar dark and starry vastness of space itself. So long, Drayzeen, may your future be bright.

“I’m happy knowing Drayzeen still exists,” Wisdom says, piloting the ship towards the black hole, “I was concerned about them when I heard about their fate. Though I knew deep down that they had to still be out there somewhere, you know?”

“Yeah,” I respond.

“Hang on tight, we are approaching the black hole again!” Wisdom announces suddenly, “Well, technically, on this end, it is a white hole... Eh, reentering from this end is a lot harder...”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, the white hole is the opposite of a black hole, which is why it is on the other side... Rather than sucking stuff in, it spits things out. Which is how we were able to emerge from it. Soooo, we will need a lot more force to fly through it...” Wisdom says, activating the force field.

“But, we CAN get through, right...?” Aleena asks, trembling.

“Of course we can! We’ve beaten all the other trails thrown our way, a white hole will not stop us!” Wisdom says, pressing a lever to speed the spaceship up further.

“Please let this work...” I whisper.

The white hole, as Wisdom mentioned, appears to be pushing back on us. The ship rattles violently as it goes against the flow.

“Aaaany second now...” Wisdom says.

A flash of light envelopes us before everything falls into darkness again. We made it into the center of the black hole! The deafening silence begins to choke at me once more. I dare not move as I cannot even see.

The darkness and silence continues on for some time before a tiny amount of light appears in front of us. I hear a little rumbling, almost like a voice, coming from the driver’s seat. Wisdom must be trying to say something. Then, with a bang, we zip out of the black hole.

“Now wasn’t that something?!” Wisdom asks, her voice returning to normal speed.

“Ugh, that was sickening...” I moan.

“Sickening? It was epic!” Wisdom says.

EpicCourage looks over at us. Wisdom then laughs and continues piloting our spaceship away from the black hole.

“We’re almost home,” EpicCourage says.

“Yep! Just gotta look for Rigel, right?” Wisdom asks.

“Yes,” Mór and EpicCourage confirm at the same time.

They look at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing. Wisdom grins.

“Rigel is just up this way,” Wisdom says, “Now that we are back to our own skies, I can navigate with better clarity.”

With how fast our ship can travel, we find ourselves nearing Jebbron pretty quickly. Like before, the planet just pops into view once we get close.

“Why does Jebbron appear to be invisible?” I ask.

“Oh, it’s a curse. A very, very, very long time ago, our ancestors were sent off to live on Jebbron as we made some terrible decisions on Earth. To protect the other humans from knowing about us and being badly influenced, our planet was made nearly invisible,” EpicCourage says, “And it has remained that way ever since.”

“Oh, I’m sorry...” I say.

“Half-humans are cursed beings. Driven from our homes by our sinful nature,” EpicCourage says.

“I know a few half-humans back on Earth, though,” I say.

“Me too,” Mór says.

“Perhaps, then, one day, we can be reintegrated into society...” EpicCourage says.

“Well, not exactly a good idea right now... I mean, back on my home island, we are on the verge of war because of my STUPID father!” Mór says.

“Oh, never mind, then,” EpicCourage says.

“But it IS possible for half-humans and normal humans to be friends...” Mór says.

“I agree. Timber is a friend of mine,” I say.

“Okay, I’m going to land is in the dog kingdom this time,” Wisdom says, “Now that we FINALLY have landing gear!”

“Alright, thanks,” EpicCourage says.

The ground grows closer and closer as we enter the atmosphere. Wisdom activates the landing gear. We descend until the wheels hit the surface, causing us to bounce a bit. The spaceship then rolls a few extra feet before coming to a complete stop.

“MUCH BETTER!” Sìneag exclaims.

“Alright! Canen Kingdom, Jebbron!” Wisdom says.

“Perfect! I can see my castle from here! AND it is still in one piece and not burned to the ground. That’s a good sign!” EpicCourage says.

I once again hand my space suit off to Wisdom and she puts it on. Then, Wisdom opens the spaceship for us.

“We’ll walk you in,” I offer.

“What! I’ve done enough walking!” Sìneag exclaims angrily.

“Want to stay in the spaceship alone?” I ask, helping Aleena out of the ship.

“N-no...” Sìneag says and quickly joins us.

We walk through the field we landed in and enter the main city of the kingdom. Dogs and Dog People are going every which way. The sun is high in the sky, so it must be a busy hour. When the people see EpicCourage with us, they bow respectfully.

“I’m home everyone!” EpicCourage announces.

“It’s about time!” some random citizen cries out.

“Let me guess... Epsilon was a jerk the whole time I was away?” EpicCourage asks.

The people nod. EpicCourage groans in frustration before walking quicker towards the castle. We follow after her. The castle guards see EpicCourage approaching and quickly step aside.

“Your highness! Great to see you again! Please go speak to your brother Epsilon!” one of the guards says.

“That’s EXACTLY where I’m headed...” EpicCourage grumbles.

We enter the castle and find that banners with pictures of Epsilon have been strung up everywhere. Where the fountain was previously, there is now a statue of Epsilon. None of EpicCourage’s other siblings are to be seen.

“THE FOOL!” EpicCourage barks angrily.

“He’s in the throne room...” one guard whispers to EpicCourage.

EpicCourage waves for us to follow so we do. She throws open the doors to the throne room and finds Epsilon reclined on one of the thrones. He’s only got a silk towel wrapped around his waist, and that’s it. Surrounding him are some of his many siblings, fanning him or feeding him an assortment of treats. By the size of his belly, I think it is reasonable to assume he’s been chilling like this the entire time we’ve been away.

“EPSILON!” EpicCourage barks loudly.

“Huh...? Oh... EpicCourage...” Epsilon says, opening his eyes and seeing his sister in the doorway, “I thought you died.”

“I DIDN’T!” EpicCourage yells, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR CASTLE?!”

“It’s MY castle now! I’m King Epsilon now!” Epsilon argues.

“I’ve only been away for a few days!” EpicCourage argues.

“A few days...? Why, it’s been six months!” Epsilon argues.

“EpicCourage... I’m sorry...” Theta says, hanging her head in shame.

“I’m going to have to take the throne back, now,” EpicCourage says.

“Hah! Just try and get me off this throne!” Epsilon says with a sneer.

EpicCourage marches right up to him. Without warning, she grabs him by the arms and tosses him to the ground. Then, she sits in the throne herself. Epsilon groans in pain.

“That was easy,” EpicCourage says.

The siblings drop the treats and fans and instantly begin to celebrate. Epsilon transforms into a very fat dog and slowly waddles away, defeated.

“We missed you soooo much!” Prince Mu exclaims.

He transforms into a dog and begins to lick his sister happily.

“I missed you guys as well!” EpicCourage says, “I’m so so sorry for whatever Epsilon put you through...”

“It was like a nightmare...but now you’ve come and woken us all up,” Prince Mu says.

“Thanks, heroes,” Theta says to us, “Thanks for bringing EpicCourage back safely.”

“What’s going to happen to Epsilon?” Korallee asks, curiously.

“He’ll face his proper punishment soon enough... And don’t worry, I won’t be killing him,” EpicCourage says with a laugh.

“Well! Okay!” Korallee says and laughs as well.

“By the way, where is Beta?” EpicCourage asks.

“Uh... Well... Epsilon had him thrown into the dungeon under some false claim that we weren’t allowed to dispute. He’s still alive, but he’s been down there for a long time,” Theta explains.

“Well! Bring him back up here! Quickly!” EpicCourage commands.

Some castle guards in the room then hurry off to release Beta. Well, I sure am glad they got that sorted out quickly.

“Will you be alright, now?” I ask EpicCourage.

“Yes. Thank you... Good luck on the rest of your journey!” EpicCourage says.

“Hmmm, well, then, next stop is Vamp,” Wisdom says, “But, will you guys be able to make it back down to earth safely?”

“I flew the spaceship up to Vamp, I should be able to fly it back down,” Korallee states.

“Hmm, okay!” Wisdom says, “Let’s go!”

“Bye, EpicCourage!” we call out as we leave the castle.

“We’ll soon be back to Earth again,” Mór comments, but then she asks, “And what of my fate? My father doesn’t even want me to come home...”

“Hey, you could come with me to Tellis,” Korallee suggests, “My family might be more willing to let you stay.”

“Really...?” Mór asks, “But, I’m not even a Tellisi.”

“If there’s one thing I know about Tellis,” I say, “It’s that they are ALWAYS welcoming people with open arms.”

“...Then I will accept the offer...” Mór says.

We reach the spaceship and climb in. Luckily, nobody touched our stuff while we were away.

“It sure has been fun exploring outer space with you guys,” Wisdom says, “But I also miss my library. I do love books.”

“Well, it is only a little ways away. We can have you back home in a matter of minutes,” Mór says.

“True,” Wisdom says, checking to make sure we are all in the ship.

The doors to the spaceship close. Wisdom works her magic with the switches and lever, and, soon enough, we are on the move again. The ship moves faster and faster until we are once more blasting off into space. Wisdom smiles.

“When I get home, I’m gonna take a bubble bath,” Sìneag says, “And then sleep in my own bed.”

“Good idea,” Aleena says, “Though I don’t know how well I’ll sleep with all this excitement!”

“I’ll be preparing a room in my castle for my new friend,” Korallee says, “And then I’ll introduce you to my brothers. They’re a part of my father’s army.”

“You have brothers?” I ask, “I didn’t see them.”

“Hah hah, yeah! I have four brothers!” Korallee says, “Any more than that and it would be too many.”

“And I’ll be packing my things for Mycono,” I say.

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot you would be coming to Mycono!” Sìneag exclaims, face-palming.

“And I still need to say goodbye to my friends. Rider, Eric-James, Ruadh, Timber... Oh! And I have something for Timber!” I say, suddenly remembering the gift.

“And as I said, I miss my books so I’ll probably snatch a few from the library and relax,” Wisdom says, “But, Selima, I still worry for you...”

Again with this nonsense. Yeah, I get it, Wisdom, you think I can’t take care of myself just because I got a bite on my wrist... It’s fine! I’m not going to die! Of course, though, I don’t say these things to her. She’s heard my response enough times.

“I hope you enjoy your books,” I say instead.

“Aw, thank you!” Wisdom says, “Well, here’s Vampiro!”

Outside the window, we are greeted by the unbroken line of planets orbiting the moon. The lid to the vampire box is still securely in place, luckily. Wisdom pilots the ship to the third planet in the line and begins the descent.

“A fantastic end to our journey. I will remember you guys for all eternity,” Wisdom says with a grin, “Especially you, Selima. You’re something else entirely.”

“Thanks,” I say.

We drop into the darkness that is Vamp. Much to my surprise, there is a party of vampires waiting for us with their magic lanterns. The head of the group is King Zesty himself. Wisdom carefully lands the ship, trying not to run anyone over while the craft taxis to a stop.

“Dad!” Wisdom exclaims, popping the door open.

“Wisdom!” Zesty exclaims.

“Did you arrange all of this for me?!” Wisdom asks, gasping in surprise.

Even with the light of the lanterns, it’s kind of hard to see the people standing there. Wisdom hugs her dad tightly before her mother approaches for a hug as well.

“I had a really fun time!” Wisdom says, “We flew through a black hole, and then a white hole!”

“Amazing! I guess all the classes you took when you were little paid off!” Queen Vanessa says.

“Yeah, and I was able to help Selima to help others in need!” Wisdom says, “What’s more, Drayzeen is still in existence!“

Wisdom hands the box of vampires to her father. He peeks into the box curiously.

“Ah! So I see! You found some rogues!” Zesty says with a hearty laugh.

“They were exploiting a human princess for blood!” Wisdom says, “And then they tried to hurt Selima!”

“Hah hah hah! I’ll make sure to punish them well!” Zesty says.

“Good luck getting back to Earth! Perhaps we’ll meet again in the future,” Wisdom calls to me.

“Huh? What do you mean? Are you coming to Earth?!” I ask.

Wisdom just waves at me and walks with the crowd back towards the vampire castle. Well, just a few more stops to make.