Hey everybody! Okay so I'm really sorry (again) for this chapter's lateness. This chapter was SUCH a pain in the butt to write you guys! You have no clue! Plus not to mention the fact that when this was almost done I had to start over from the beginning because it got deleated so I basically had to write this thing twice! ;A; But it's out now so better late than never eh? Anyway so after doing some estimating I THINK (I might be wrong) but I think this might be the second to last chapter of this story. After this there is only about one more (Or two at the most) Johan and Peewit belong to Peyo Jo belongs to CartoonCaster21 Livy and Nanu belong to me Enjoy!
"Oh no! I'm blind!" the jester paniced at first before his eyesight adjusted. "Oh wait, no im not. Nevermind...now where am I?"
He looked around the room. It was dark and far off he could hear water slowly dripping. He moved his leg and heard what sounded like a chain being dragged against the ground. He looked down and realized that he was chained to the wall by his ankles and also his wrist. How did he get like this?
Suddenly the memories came flooding back to him. "Hogatha!"
"You called? *snort* "
The blonde jester jumped a bit startled and looked up at the bars of the cell he was in and there was the witch herself, a sinister smile on her lips.
"What're you doing here?! Where am I?!"
"Your in my castle of coarse." Hogatha said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The dungeon of my castle to be prescise. *snort*"
Peewit blinked and reeled back in surprise. He flashed back to the last time he and the others were here several months ago. Livy had been kidnapped and Jo, Johan and Peewit had set off to rescue her. After man mishaps, Johan getting turned into a bird, and Livy and Hogatha switching voices, the four teens hade managed to defeat the evil witch after destroying her locket.
"Wait a second," Peewit started as realization hit him. "How are you even here right now?! We destroyed you the last time!"
Hogatha's sick evil smile morphed into an expression of fury. "I'm well aware of what you and your little friends did to me. Which is why *snort* I'm here in the first place." She paused in her speech and reached down her shirt and pulled out a locket. Inside the locket was a green stone separated into nine parts. However, one of those parts was missing completely and the other appeared to only hold half a gem. "Look familiar?"
The short boy looked at the locket and his light blue eyes widened in recognition. "Yeah. That's that locket of yours that got destroyed last time...wait if the locket gets destroyed then how is it and you still here?"
"The locket is my life force. *snort* However, unlike a normal humans I have nine lives like a cat. If the locket is ever destroyed I lose one of my lives." the witch explained pointing to two empty sockets where part of the green gem stone would be. "I had already lost one life when I met you miserable brats and then you caused me to lose another!"
"But your back now so what's the big deal?!"
"*snort* The big deal is that if it wasn't for you I would still have eight! And so, since you took one of my lives I decided to seek revenge on that little brunette wretch since she's the one who broke my locket in the first place."
"If you hadn't have tried to steal her voice you wouldn't be in this mess." Peewit grumbled.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"N-Nothing ma'am!"
Hogatha glared at the teen before snorting. "That's what I thought. Anyway, after spending some time calculating I figured that the best way to get back at that girl would be to go after the one person that she cares most about. After all she caused me to lose my Lizardy-poo and if I can't have true love than neither can she!"
"Lizardy-poo?" Peewit snickered.
"Yes! Oh I was planning on using her voice to impress him and make him love me even more. But of coarse you and your friends had to come and play hero and try to rescue her." Hogatha growled.
"But what about Johan? How did you find him?"
Hogatha smirked. "Mere coincidence really. See deary my plan was the same. Make Johan fall in love with me and forget all about Livy. In order to do that I used a spell which caused him to forget everything about her but remember everything else. But as luck would have it that was the day that I spotted him in the woods on the way home. I managed to lure Johan away from the other knights when they stopped to rest and once he was alone, I knocked him out with a branch and took him back to my castle where I casted the spell on him. It wasn't long after that you lot found him and took him home and then, "Heidie" came into play."
"But if the spell was only supposed to make him forget about Livy then why is Johan acting so mean lately?" Peewit asked.
Hogatha snorted and laughed evily. "That's the beauty of the spell! It slowly but steadily eats away at the kindness in ones heart leaving only hatred and anger behind. Soon your friend shall only be a shell of his former self, never being able to experience happiness or joy ever again! And the icing on the cake?" she pulled out the locked once more, this time pointing to the socket with half a gem. "See how this has half a stone? Well I that's because I'm using Johan's love to regain the life you and your friends stole from me. True love is one of the few most valuable things in the world strong enough to replenish my life crystal. And that's not all~"
"What more can you possibly do?!" Peewit gasped.
"During my time at the castle I've come to realize how...dingy, mine has become. I could really use a new one. Along with the kingdom that comes along with it." she grinned evily.
"You wont get away with this!" Peewit threatened.
"Oh is that so? *snort* And who is going to stop me, hmm?" the red headed witch smirked, placing her hands on her hips. "The wretch is gone, Johan is under my control and the only person who knows about my plan is locked up in my dungeon. Far away from the castle."
Peewit opened his mouth to retort but no words came. She was right. Not even Jo knew where he was right now and no one else knew about the trick.
"I'd love to stay and chat longer but I'm afraid I must be going. True love to destroy and kingdoms to take over afterall." Hogatha chuckled. "Got lives to ruin and all. Oh but don't worry *snort* you wont be alone."
Hogatha stuck two chubby fingers in her mouth and let out a loud whistle. The sound of wings flapping was heard and in came a familiar looking vulture.
"You stay here and guard the boy, Harold." Hogatha ordered. The large vulture let out a caw and perched himself on a nearby bird stand which Hogatha had for him. Peewit cowered back as the bird of preys beady black eyes glared at him.
"Good boy." Hogatha praised. She smiled wickedly and touched her locket, and it began to glow white along with the rest of her body. Once the glow died away, standing where the witch once stood was Heidie.
"Toodles~" she laughed as she began to leave, encasing the room in darkness once more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
While this was going on a lone traveler on horse back walked down the lonely dirt road. The traveler held their head low and the occasional sniffle could be heard emitting from them. The figure lifted their tear stained face and looked ahead.
"Where do we go now, Brownie?" Livy asked in a soft, sad broken voice. The brown mare neighed in response. Livy sighed and ordered her horse to continue onward.
They walked in silence for the majority of the journey. The only sounds being Brownie's hooves on the ground, Livy sniffling and the crickets chirping.
Livy lifted her head and lazily glanced ahead. She sniffled and blinked back more tears as she took a look at her surroundings. She suddenly heard a rustling up ahead and looked ahead. At first she didn't see anything but then out from the bushes slithered a scaly, black-
"SNAKE!"
The snake suddenly turned his head forward and opened his mouth letting out a loud threatening hiss. The action spooked Brownie who loud out a frightened neigh and reared up on her hind legs. Livy screamed as she lost her grip and fell onto the ground. The snake slithered away and Brownie ran forward, scared to death.
"Brownie, no! Wait! Come back!" Livy called desperately but the mare was long gone. Livy sighed heavily and slowly stood up. "At least things cant get any worse."
BOOOOOOOOOM!Thunder boomed and lightening flashed and the rain began to pour down in buckets at that moment, instantly soaking Livy to the bone.
For about a full minute Livy just stood there. Her body still and her expression blank. Suddenly her shoulders shook and she began to laugh. Not a normal laugh though. Oh no. This laugh was insane and broken. The laugh of someone who had reached their limit and were on the edge of insanity.
"Oh wow. Just wow. This-this is...this is great! Just great! This is just the cherry on the crappy sundae that is my life huh?! Is that it?!" she screamed looking up at the sky as the rain continued to pour down. "Somebody up there just LOVES to get their sick kicks out of my misery! Everytime! EVERYTIME I get just the TINIEST bit of happiness in my life it's ripped away from me! My parents! My home! And now Johan! EVERYTHING! WHY?! WHAT DID I DO?! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"
Thunder roared again and Livy felt her legs give out from under her and she collapsed to her knees. "Why...?" she whispered. The rain pelted down on her back and she covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
"Livy?"
Said girl jumped and looked up and was shocked to see a familiar pair of golden colored eyes looking at her. "Nanu?"
The Creatugo walked forward, her snow white fur sticking to her body from the rain. "Good gracious! What are you doing out here? Where are the others?"
Livy felt more tears fill her eyes and she let out a sob. "Oh Nanu! It's awful! I-I..."she began to sob again, too upset to properly explain. "Everything is just so wrong and all messed up! My life is falling apart and I cant stay at the castle anymore! I-I lost everything! Johan, my home, my friends."
"Okay, okay calm down." Nanu said going over to the hysterical female, nuzzling her lovingly. "Shh, shh, it's going to be okay."
"No it's not." Livy sobbed hugging onto the she-wolf fur dear life, burying her face in Nanu's soft fur. "I don't things will ever be alright again..."
The white wolf just stayed still and quite, allowing the human girl to let out her emotions. Once Livy began to calm down a bit, she spoke.
"Livy, I know this is hard for you but we need to get you out of this rain."
"I have nowhere else to go." the brunette whimpered and shakily got to her feet.
"Well I do. I have a friend who lives not to far from here who will be more than willing to take you in." And with that, Nanu began to walk off, pausing and looking back at Livy waiting for her to follow. Livy sighed heavily and moved some of her wet hair out of her face and followed after.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After half walking, half running for a little bit, a familiar cottage began to descend into view. Livy blinked a few times and turned to the she-wolf. "Wait, this is Homibus' place. You know him?"
"Ran into him some years back while he was looking for a certain root for a spell of some sort. Been friends ever since." the white wolf explained nonchalantly as she and Livy ran to the door. Livy shivered, wrapping her arms around her body and Nanu began to scratch at the door.
"Who on earth could that be in this weather?" they heard Homnibus muse as he shuffled over to the door. The old wizard felt his eyes widen upon seeing the familiar faces at the door. "Livy?! Nanu?!"
"Hello old friend." Nanu said pleasantly, nodding her head.
"H-Hi H-Homnibus." Livy shivered, sniffling a bit.
"Good heavens child! What on earth are you doing here in this storm?!" Homnibus stepped aside and opened the door wider, ushering the brunette inside. "Come in, come in. You too Nanu."
Once inside, Homnibus draped a blanket over Livy's shoulders and Nanu shook her fur dry, accidentally getting the wizard wet in the process. "Sorry."
"It's fine." he sighed, wiping some excess water off his face. "Now why exactly are you two here?"
Livy bit her lip and looked away. "I...I need a place to stay."
Homnibus raised an eyebrow. "A place to stay? What about the castle?"
"...I don't love there anymore."
Homnibus blinked in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand?"
"Homnibus, I found her in the woods all by herself and crying. Whatever has happened to her she's obviously not in the mood to talk about it right now." Nanu explained.
Homnibus hummed and rubbed his long white beard. "Your right Nanu." he turned to his apprentice. "Livy your more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need."
For the first time in a long time, Livy felt her lips curl into a smile. "Oh thank you so much Homnibus."
"Yes, yes, yes now go change out of those wet clothes before you catch your death of cold." the wizard ordered, gently shoving the girl in the direction of the spare bedroom. "There's some spare clothes in the dresser."
Livy simply nodded at him and headed to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
"Now what's this about finding her in the woods?" Homnibus asked, turning to Nanu.
"She was too distraught to go into detail. All she said was everything in her life was falling apart and she lost her friends and someone named "Johan"...If memory serves me correct isn't that the name of her mate?"
Now the wizard was really confused and concerned. "Yes it is." he casted a worried glance at the door to the room in which Livy went in and turned back to the she-wolf. "Well, I'll handle it from here. I'll talk to her in the morning and find out what's troubling her."
Nanu smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you Homnibus." Nanu got back to her feet. "I wish I could stay longer but I am afraid I must get going. My family will be worried about me."
"Are you sure you're going to be alright in this weather?"
Nanu chuckled slightly. "I'm a wolf remember? I've been out in storms much worse than this." She walked over to the door and pushed it open and bit the wizard a farewell before running off into the rain.
Light streamed in through the windows and Livy groaned softly as she slowly began to wake up. Her green eyes opened and she looked around the room in confusion before yesterday's events came flooding back to her. With a heavy heart and an aching head she slowly sat herself up and rubbed at her eyes. A flash of purple caught her attention and she turned her attention to the chair sitting in the corner of the room where he clothes were laying. No longer wet.
"Homnibus must have dried them over the fire while I was sleeping." Livy thought to herself and got out of bed. She went over and changed out of the borrowed night shirt she slept in and into her usual attire and once she finished making the bed she left the bedroom and entered the kitchen where she was greeted by a bowl of oatmeal sitting on the table, waiting for her.
"I was wondering when you would wake up." Homnibus chuckled as he shuffled over to the girl, handing her a cup of tea.
"What time is it?"
"Nearly 10:30." Homnibus explained. "You were so tired yesterday I decided to let you sleep."
Livy nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Thank you for letting me sleep here last night."
"No need to thank me Livy." Homnibus waved it off. However his expression grew serious. "Though I must ask...what happened exactly?"
Livy stayed quiet for the longest time trying to figure out where to start. With a heavy sigh she began to tell the tale from the very beginning when the gang found Johan.
"...Then after Brownie ran off, Nanu found me and brought me here." She finally finished.
The old wizard was silent for awhile, allowing the story to sink in. He leaned back in his chair and looked the young girl right in the eyes. "So what do you intend to do about it?"
Livy blinked, stunned. "Do about it? Weren't you listening?! There's NOTHING I can do about it! I've done everything I can and nothing has worked! I can't be around him anymore! That's why I left!"
"You say that there is nothing you can do. That you've already done everything you can think of to do and they all have ended in failure. You say you cant be around him anymore...but your wrong."
Livy blinked and looked at her mentor, waiting for him to continue.
"I am a very old man, Livy." he began. "And in all of my years of living on this earth, if there is one lesson that I have learned time and again to be true, it is this: Love never fails. Never. If a couple can make it through all of lifes obstacles that's thrown at them that would normally tear others apart, if they can make it through together to the end, then they can make if through anything. And they can do this because they love each other and nothing will stand in their way. You still love Johan correct?"
"...Yes..." She whispered.
"Then go to him. Johan needs you now more than ever. If the roles were reversed, no matter how much it would hurt him, Johan would stay and continue to fight for you until things were set right."
Livy was silent as she thought about this. She knew that Homnibus was right.
"But I don't know what else to do to make him remember."
"Then you just haven't found the right solution yet."
"But-"
She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Homnibus rose from his seat and shuffled over to the door and answered it. "Joannie?"
"Homnibus, please tell me you've seen-" the black haired girl trailed off as she spotted her missing friend sitting at the table. "LIVY!"
Quick as a flash, Jo bolted into the room, almost knocking Homnibus to the floor in the process and practically flew across the room and snatched up the older girl holding her tightly. "Livy! Oh thank goodness I finally found you! What the hell is the matter with you?! How dare you leave me like that?!"
Livy blinked and returned the hug, sniffling a bit. "I'm sorry Jo. I'm so sorry."
"You gave me a heart attack!" the black haired girl shrieked. Her expression softened and she looked down, more sad than angry. "I already lost you once I thought I had lost you again..."
Livy felt a pain in her chest and she swallowed the lump in her throat and hugged her friend tighter. "I'm sorry Jo."
The two friends stayed like that for several minuted before Jo suddenly stiffened and pulled out of the hug. "Girly you need to come back! Peewit's missing!"
Livy felt her green eyes grow wide. "What? What do you mean missing?!"
"He's gone! He disappeared last night after you left and nobody can find him! And Johan is too wrapped up to even notice his best friend is gone!" Jo grabbed the girl by her shoulders looking at her with worried, desperate blue eyes. "Livy please. You need to help me."
Livy shifted her eyes back and forth. Where could they look? Where had Peewit gone. But as she glanced at Jo and Homnibus one last time, realization began to set in. Her brows furrowed and she clenched her fist and nodded her head.
"I'm going back."