Susie and the Silencer: Chapter 2 – The Silencer Helps

Chapter 2 – The Silencer Helps

As the silent man and Susie make their way through the ruins of the island, Susie asks, “So, how many more heads do you have?”

Two heads come out from underneath the man’s cloak. One has no face at all and appears to be hollow while the other head has an arm like the other one, but this one has a blade coming out of its palm.

“Wow! You sure do have a lot of weird heads. What does this empty one do?”

The hollow head spits out a piece of chocolate that lands on Susie’s lap.

“Oh, so it can create small objects?”

The man shakes his head to confirm it.

“That’s so weird. Can you use one of your heads to tell me your name?”

Sounds come out of the head with mouths, but the only sound it can make is screams at various volumes.

“Oh, I guess not. How about I call you the Silencer?”

The man turns his head around to look at her.

“Do you like that name? My dad used to tell me about this man known as the Silencer who would silence his enemies and protect his loved ones. Despite all the good he does, he must keep what he does a secret so that everyone he loves and protects can stay safe.”

The man now called the Silencer nods his head then looks forward.

“Speaking about my dad, I’m sure he’ll give you lots of things for helping me out. He’s rich and always busy. He tries to give me things to show that he still loves me, but I wish he’d just stay home at least for a while. I know his job is important and all, but still ever since my mom died, he hasn’t been the same. I don’t even think he’s smiled since then.”

The Silencer lowers his head then raises it and looks around.

“Huh? Do you hear something?”

Susie closes her eyes and listens closely to the silence and hears the faint sounds of a circus. When she opens her eyes, she sees the circus down the street. They get closer and closer to the circus as if the circus itself is moving closer to them. As they go into the circus, they find the usual kinds of actors that someone would find in a circus such as animal tamers, clowns, entertainers, and the like along with exotic animals dressed up in circus clothing. Everyone, including the animals, smiles at Susie and the Silencer as they walk. Susie returns a kind look while the Silence does his best to appear as friendly as possible with his head with mouths smiling at them.

Further into the circus, Susie and the Silencer find people and animals flying around without any wings or clear source of their flight. Susie watches them in amazement while the Silencer watches them and looks at Susie’s amazement. The entertainers and animals wave and say goodbye as they near the exit and the two wave goodbye as well.

“Goodbye! Thank you for the amazing show!” Susie says.

“You’re very welcome, little princess! It’s always a pleasure entertaining family!” one of the clowns respond.

“What is he talking about?” Susie says to herself in a low voice.

Once they get further from the circus, it disappears into sparkles.

“Whew! I’m glad we made it through that,” Susie says.

The Silencer nods in agreement.

“I wonder if anyone got caught in that circus. I didn’t see anyone cleaning the floors or animals and I didn’t see anyone getting kidnapped. Being rude to those people makes you their servant until you pay them back for your rudeness or for judging them by their appearance.”

Susie and the Silencer continue on their way until they come across a large ravine separating one half of the island from the other. Water from the ocean is blocked off by a makeshift dam made of fallen buildings on both sides. The drop into the ravine is steep, but not too far of a fall. Inside the ravine is wreckage from the city rearranged as if a massive creature took the pieces of the buildings and made their own. The Silencer uses his head with its extending eyes to look around. He turns around and shakes his head at Susie as if to tell her that there isn’t a way to get to the other side.

“There has to be a way across. I think this may be another fairy tale. I remember something about a young boy finding a large canyon on his way home that was created from an earthquake. He could see his home in sight but had to patiently go around to get there.”

The Silencer looks at Susie and shakes his head.

“We have to try. My dad is probably on the other side. I need to get over there to see him.”

After he considers it, the Silencer starts walking to one end of the ravine.

“Thank you, Silencer.”

The Silencer nods. While walking to end of the ravine, the two come across a cloaked man with a stand full of food.

The man gets up and asks them, “Would you like something to eat? The road to the next town is long and taxing.”

“No, thank you,” Susie responds.

“It’s your funeral, young lady. I’ll be here if you decide to change your mind.”

Susie makes sure that the man is far away before telling the Silencer, “We should watch out for strangers. They’re going to be trouble.”

The Silencer nods his head twice to completely agree with her. They travel a far distance until they come across an ordinary-looking man driving a horse-drawn cart. The man stops the horse a fair distance away from them and gives them a friendly smile.

“You two look like you’ve come a long way. How about I take you somewhere you can rest?” the man says.

“No, thank you,” Susie says.

“What about you, big guy? You must’ve been carrying your daughter for a while now and are aching from head to toe.”

The Silencer shakes his head to say no.

“We’re not related,” Susie says.

“Hmm. Okay. It’s your call.”

Susie and the Silencer travel a long distance with no way across to the other side in sight. The Silencer uses his head with extending eyes to look for a way across and for more strangers. They’ve come across many people who offer food, water, and transport to help them get to their destination all of which they’ve denied.

“Are you tired?” Susie asks.

The Silencer shakes his head.

“Really? We can rest if you need to.”

The Silencer shakes his head again.

“Did whatever give you multiple heads also give you strong legs? You can really walk.”

They continue traveling this long road and come across a crowd of people sitting around a fire. The Silencer takes out his head with a gun in its hand and his head with a blade in its hand and aims straight for the campers.

“Wait, Silencer, we don’t know if they’re part of the fairy tale yet.”

The Silencer holds Susie on his back as he sprints past the campers who take knives out of from underneath their clothing and chase them. With his head with a gun, the Silencer shoots several of the campers, but they are only slowed down even when shot in the head. Despite the almost inhuman speed that the Silencer can run at, the campers manage to stay right behind him. They start lunging with their knives to cut at Susie, but the Silencer manages to use his blade to keep them away from her and catches one in his hand before the knife hits her in the face. They then start throwing their knives. The Silencer dodges them then catches an incoming knife with his head with a hole in it and tosses it back out at them.

“Look ahead!” Susie says.

A bridge materializes into view with a group of guards wielding spears around it. The guards catch sight of Susie and the Silencer and move to defend them.

“Go across the bridge to safety!” one of the guards says as he moves past them, “We’ll hold these thieves off!”

“Thank you!” Susie says.

As they cross the bridge, they see the thieves and guards disappear along with the bridge itself once they’re on the other side.

“Whew! We finally made it here. It took forever, didn’t it?”

The Silencer nods his head as he continues walking.

“And you haven’t even stopped walking. Haha. You’re amazing.”

The Silencer looks at Susie to see her smile. He then turns his head forward.

“I wonder where my dad is. The last time I saw him he entered one of the bigger buildings, but since everything is torn down, I can’t tell one building from the other.”

It isn’t long before the Silencer takes a sharp turn into a building.

“Do you think this is the building my dad is in?”

The Silencer nods his head then uses the head with an arm to point at a destroyed car in the streets.

“That’s my dad’s. You know that’s my dad’s and you think that he’s in here?”

The Silencer stays silent and doesn’t even move his head.

“Did you know my dad? Did you work with him?”

Again, the Silencer does nothing.

“Say something or answer somehow.”

With his head with a blade, he stabs the wall and releases a gas that knocks Susie out. He makes sure she’s still alive before wandering the halls of the quiet building. Something is here and he knows it. His head with an extending eye scans the rooms. The head with a gun in its arm shots a shadow that disintegrates into dust. The Silencer scans his surrounding area before looking at Susie again then leaving the building and heads in the direction of the nearest end of the island.

Susie and the Silencer: Chapter 1 – The Silencer Arrives

Chapter 1 – The Silencer Arrives

On an island far away from all civilization, fairy tales come to life, though not the kinds with happy endings. All the people on the island are trapped in the corrupted fairy tales or live with a curse on them. A mysterious effect of the fairy tales is that no one dies or is capable of dying. Everyone who is left on the island is trying to make their way off since they can’t contact anyone for help and the people who happen to land on the island suffer the same fate as the people who are already there. There doesn’t seem to be a happy ending for the hundreds of people trapped in this nightmare.

Susie is a little girl caught up in this mess and tries her best to survive. She’s barely been able to since most people are out for themselves and since fairy tales are typically about girls her age, she’s been a constant target. As of now, she’s managed to not die or be cursed. She’s scavenging around for food and comes across a supermarket. There is spoiled fruit outside of the supermarket on the floor, broken concrete, and other signs that a struggle took place here. Going inside the store, Susie finds that it’s mostly empty with various degrees of spoiled food on the floor. That is until she hears a noise in the back. Cautiously walking to the back, she opens the door with a blinking light behind it before backing away when she sees a hand reach out. A large fat green monster in a chef’s uniform walks out the door with a meat cleaver and a pan.

“I almost had you, little rat,” the chef says.

This chef is known as the monster who cooks up little children if he finds them stealing food. This version of the fairytale is the one that tempts children with food by leaving it out to lure them in. Susie runs through the store and tries to find something fresh to eat. The chef breaks through the shelves and debris to get to her. When he does, Susie offers him a bunch of canned vegetables. He takes and crushes them before turning them into an apple. The chef then holds it out for Susie with a gentle smile on his face.

“Thank you for the food, little missy. I’m sorry if I mistook you for a common thief,” he says.

“No, thank you for the apple.”

Even though the apple isn’t much, Susie appreciates it and walks out of the supermarket. She sees someone hiding in the distance in a rundown laundromat. The person waves her over and she goes to them. Susie goes over to find a man dressed in heavy clothes and makeshift armor made from street signs and torn leather.

“How did you survive that and get the apple?” the man asks.

“I did what Peppy did in the fairy tale.”

“Peppy? Fairy tale?”

“Yeah. That’s what the chef, monsters, and weird people are from. Fairy tales.”

“Now that you mention it, I do remember the description of fairy tale characters matching the things I’ve seen, but how do you know for sure?”

“I do the things in the fairy tales that the heroes do to survive, and it always works.”

“You did survive the chef and you are out here by yourself. I guess I’ll trust you on that. Do you want to find a way off this island together?”

“Yes! I’ve been looking for someone to help me especially since my dad is somewhere on the island and I haven’t seen him yet.”

“Did he tell you the fairy tales?”

“Yes, he told me every fairy tale I know. He probably knows even more than I do.”

“Then it’s safe to say that he’s safe.”

“But I still want to find him!”

“Of course you do. Hmm. Where do you think he is?”

“The center of the island or at least that’s the last place I saw him.”

“The center of the island? That’s the place with the most activity. I’m sorry to say, but you shouldn’t get your hopes up in seeing him.”

“What? I’m sure he’s alive!”

“If you say that he knows more fairy tales than you then he should be safe. Hey, we should find a way off this place first then come back with help. That way we can help your dad better if he’s in trouble or maybe he’s trying to find a way off the island too and maybe we’ll cross paths.”

“I don’t know.”

“Staying here talking about this isn’t going to help him or us, so we should get moving.”

“Alright.”

The man and Susie wander through the desolate island city until they reach a part that’s been taken over by a forest inhabited by wildlife that aren’t found on the island. Susie walks into the forest without hesitation while the man looks around it.

“Little girl, don’t you think it’s dangerous to walk through there? We’re probably going to find a fairy tale monster or something.”

“The whole island is filled with them no matter what direction we go in. Come on already. I don’t want to keep my dad waiting for me.”

Astonished by Susie’s bravery, the man keeps close to her. He stays especially close as they find the clothes of people on the floor near the trees.

“Hey, do you know any fairy tales about being near trees?”

“Not really unless they’re something weird about them.”

The man eventually spots grapes growing from a lone tree. He goes to and thinks about pulling them down to eat them.

“Wait, don’t eat them,” Susie says.

“Why not?”

“I think I remember a tale about eating strange fruit from the trees. The strange fruit turned the people who ate it into animals. That would explain all the animals and the clothes near the trees that don’t have fruit on them.”

“What kind of fairy tale is that and what is it supposed to teach?”

“To not eat unclean food or weird food in the forest because they could be poisonous.”

“These look like normal grapes.”

“Would you really trust something that grew on a tree that’s not supposed to be here?”

“…Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry. My hunger is getting to me.”

“You’re welcome.”

Susie and the man walk further into the forest and see fewer and fewer animals around them. They don’t think anything of it until they hear the sound of dragging and animals making loud noises.

“What was that noise?”

“I think that was the hunter in the fairy tale who would turn the animals into stuffed animals.”

“What kind of fairy tales did your father tell you because that sounds pretty adult for a kid’s fairy tale?”

“He told me all kinds. Why? They don’t sound adult to me.”

Weirded out by Susie’s nonchalant attitude toward the horror happening out of their sights, the man quiets himself and focuses on the path ahead. That is until they find a seemingly wounded hooded person in the forest.

Susie runs towards them and asks, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m afraid I was robbed by a thief who wanted my teeth.”

“Huh?”

“My teeth are my chief prizes and I was about to make a wreath out of them. All I need are a couple more teeth to make my wreath. Can I have yours?”

The person reveals themselves to be a monstrous dentist with rows and rows of sharp teeth and drills for fingernails. With a grin on his face, he starts to chase Susie.

“Get away from her!” the man says.

“Save yourself! He likes adults more because of your mature teeth!”

“Oh, is that another set of teeth that I can use for my wreath?” the dentist says as he sends out assistants made of teeth from beneath his disguise.

“Ah! How do I get rid of him?”

“Give him chocolate or candy!”

Susie loses sight of the man and hopes that he will be safe. She manages to run out of the forest and tries to find the nearest convenience store only to come across three flying witches.

“Looks like we’ve found another girl who’s run away from her parents, ladies!” one of the witches say.

Cut off by the witches, Susie runs in the opposite direction. The only way to get rid of these witches is to find her father, but she’s not sure if she can find him in time. As she starts to panic and get tired, she takes a wrong turn into a dead end. She puts herself in the corner as she thinks about what she should do and can’t manage to think of anything. The only thing she can think about is her father.

“Daddy…”, she whimpers as she begins to cry.

Before the witches can touch her, a figure comes down from the roof in a puff of smoke. A witch is turned to dust by an elongated hand from the smoke and the other two turn to dust by the gunshots that come from the gun that comes out of the hand. A piece of candy then comes out of the smoke and into the mouth of the dentist who screams in agony.

“Ahhhh! Not chocolate! Ahhh!”

The dentist then turns to dust and the teeth he’s collected fall to the ground.

“Thank you, stranger! How could I ever repay you!” Susie says to the figure in the smoke.

The figure just stares at Susie in silence as Susie waits for a response with a smile on her face.

“…Hmm? Is something wrong?”

When the smoke clears, Susie sees that her hero is a cloaked man with three heads. One head has bloodshot eyes and no mouth, which is a common feature on the heads. Another head has an arm coming out of its eye with the barrel of a gun in the palm of its hand and the last head has eyes that can extend like a telescope. Susie is a little scared by the man’s appearance and this gets him to turn away.

“Wait! I’m sorry if I seem afraid of you. Your appearance is just a little startling to me.”

The man continues walking while the head with a hand gently pushes her away.

“Hey! I’m sorry! We should travel together since we both know the fairy tales though I don’t know how you got rid of the witches. You also have all those heads that can be useful to us.”

Another head pops out of the man’s cloak. This one has mouths in its eyes and yells at Susie before quickly retreating back into the cloak. She’s startled by this but recognizes this as the man’s attempt to get her away from him.

“I’m not going to be a burden to you. Just because I’m a little girl doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.”

The man continues to be silent.

“If anything, can you please help me find my dad? I’m really worried about him especially since I haven’t heard or seen him since this all started. He means everything to me. Please.”

The man stops and appears to be considering what Susie said. He then turns around and stares at Susie until shaking his head to agree to travel with her. Susie smiles and hugs the man’s head.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise that you won’t regret helping me!”

The man uses the head with a hand in it to put Susie on his hutched back.

“Oh. Thank you. I was getting tired of all the walking anyway.”

With Susie on his back, the cloaked man with many heads starts their journey to find her father together.

The author's edition of Good vs Right is out today!

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In space, the Catholic Church's empire does its best to accomplish God's Will through its faithful. This book follows nine different divisions within the Church that have their unique roles to spread her influence, save souls, and crush her enemies. They will all encounter situations where what is good and what is right is difficult to tell the difference between. In the war between good and evil, sometimes the right thing to do doesn't always seem good.
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True royalty requires special training
Princess Blair and her butler Baxter are on their way to their training until they get into an accident. They survive the crash and go on to find that the place where they're supposed to train is a town full of people with half happy and sad faces and weird abilities.
What will they learn in this place where the royals go to learn?

The Bella and Her Butler: Chapter 3 – Responsibilities of Royalty

Chapter 3 – Responsibilities of Royalty

When Baxter and Blair wake up, they see that they’re a different room with everything colored black and happy/sad faces moving across almost every surface. The hotel splits apart as it separates the two from each other.

“Lesson one,” the faces say, “You must learn to be without the people you trust.”

“Baxter!” Blair yells out while reaching out to him.

“I’ll be okay, princess! Just make it through the test! I know you can do it!” Baxter yells out in response.

“You better pass it or I’m really going to have to slap you when I see you again!”

A face near Baxter and one near Blair rises up from the ground like a snake and swallows them as it transports them to their test. Baxter finds himself in the library that’s empty and dark with the man he saw last night standing above him on the second floor of the library. All the man’s spiderlike eyes stare at him in complete concentration and blink in unison. Baxter dusts himself off and stands attentive. The man walks back and forth a couple of times as Baxter awaits his test.

“My name is Master Oro and I will be your instructor for today.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Oro. I am at your service,” Baxter says with a bow.

Oro continues to walk back in forth in silence before saying, “It’s time to test your skills as a servant.”

He claps his hands as tables with silverware come down from the ceiling along with cases of sculptures, beds, and furniture.

“What will you have me do, master?”

“Clean it up.”

The sculptures, furniture, beds, tables, silverware, and books in the library come to life and start dancing and flying around the library. Baxter hurries and tries to catch and tidy up everything that’s flying around. He uses different tricks like using the sheets to catch whatever is flying and the table to block in the sculptures to try to be as efficient as possible. He keeps moving and moving as fast as he can until Oro claps his hands again and whatever Baxter hasn’t cleaned up goes back in its proper place. Whatever doesn’t naturally belong in the library like the bed, sculptures, and dinner tables go back up to the ceiling and disappear.

“You’re a good servant and a good boy, Baxter. I’d even call you a man.”

“Thank you, Master Oro. I apologize for not getting everything in order in time.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. The test was meant to your ability to adapt to a challenging situation while staying as organized as possible.”

“Thank you for your approval.”

“You’ve also passed your test when it comes to serving your master though I must warn you about how close you are to Princess Blair.”

“What of it?”

“A butler cannot marry a princess even if they are of a royal line of butlers such as yours.”

“I wasn’t thinking about marrying her.”

“Now you aren’t. Your parents have told me your relationship with the princess, and it may hinder her from marrying true royalty.”

“Excuse me for asking, but why does it matter?”

“It’s a matter of tradition.”

“Sacred?”

“No.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“I see your point. I was one of the worst royals in the history of the world, but because I gave myself over to God at the end of my life, I was given this second chance. The sacred should be placed over man’s traditions if they conflict, however, this doesn’t no matter how superficial it seems.”

“Are you sure I’m not actual royalty? Let me check the files on my family to see.”

“I’ve read your family’s files every time before one comes to train here. I am certain that your family isn’t true royalty.”

“Let me take a look just to be sure.”

“Trust me. I’m telling you the truth. What reason do I have to deceive you?”

“I’m just going to make sure. Princess Blair told me to not let other people tell me what to do and push me around. I might be a butler, but I’m not a pushover.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Master Oro.”

Baxter looks through his family’s files starting from the beginning and finds that it isn’t royalty, however, one of the members did marry someone who isn’t in their files. He searches the library and cross-references many files until he finds there was a butler in his family that was actually a prince who changed his name and appearance and ran away from his family to be with a maid. Once his evidence has complied, Baxter gives it to Oro who reviews it and is shocked.

“I forget sometimes that I’m not all-knowing when it comes to these files. Thank you for the reminder, Baxter. I’ll take this as a sign of God’s Will to bring two hearts together across man’s tradition. We’ll have to rethink the way we do things especially when it comes to people falling in love. There doesn’t seem like there’s much for me to teach you either than the reminder that life never ceases to teach you. You will even be taught the same lesson multiple times and you will never stop learning. Be faithful to God and to your masters.”

“Yes, Master Oro. Thank you for your wisdom.”

“Oh, don’t thank me yet. Princess Blair is still going through her training and needs you for the last part.”

“I will be there for her. Just send me right over.”

“Of course, but I must apologize in advance for what I’m about to do to you.”

“What are you-”

As Oro touches Baxter, his body contorts as he turns into a monster.

“You will not be in control of yourself, but you will not do anything too rash. Trust in your princess that she will do the right thing.”

As Baxter was starting his test, Blair was stomping on the many happy/sad faces in a ballroom.

“You better not be harming my Baxter! I’ll beat you up!”

The woman with spiderlike eyes that Blair saw yesterday comes into the room via the two largest doors.

“Calm yourself, Princess Blair. Your anger and lack of self-control is your greatest weakness.”

“Mmmm.”

“My name is Mistress Argenta, and I will be your instructor for today.”

Blair reluctantly curtseys for the sake of the test and says, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Argenta.”

Argenta walks back and forth in silence for a while as Blair begins to lose her patience and is about to complain, but then remembers what Argenta just said, so she controls herself and waits for Argenta to speak. A shadow walks out from behind Argenta and it reveals itself to be Phillip.

“Hello, Princess Blair.”

“Hello, Prince Phillip.”

“Where’s your servant boy? You seem so lonely without him.”

“He’s taking his own test. I’m sure he’ll pass it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure. Servants aren’t as competent as us royals. Even though your servant may be a royal servant, he still isn’t much.”

“I…disagree. He’s more special than you know. I just know that he’ll succeed.”

“Oh? We’ll know if your crush will succeed soon enough.”

The shadow of Phillip disappears back into Argenta. Blair takes a breath of relief before Phillip appears in front of her in the blink of an eye with a wide grin. She manages to hold her composure by holding onto her skirt and imagines holding onto Baxter’s hand. Phillip walks around Blair a couple of times then stops in front of her.

“I almost had you. Maybe you aren’t as volatile as I thought,” Phillip says before disappearing back into the ground.

Blair holds her ground in case of more surprises. She hears the sound of something hitting the ceiling until it breaks through. This thing happens to be Baxter transformed as a monster. His face and eyes are elongated, his body, legs, and arms are skinnier, and he has a strange smile on his face.

“Baxter…What happened to you?!”

“Nothing special. My eyes have just been opened is all,” Baxter says in a possessed voice.

“What do you mean?”

Baxter walks on all fours as he approaches Blair.

“My eyes have opened to your abuse. To your lack of love.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it obvious? All your abuse. All the times you hit me over and over again. You take pleasure in that. You take your frustrations out on me because you can’t stand when I’m right.”

“That’s not-”

Baxter lunges forward and almost hits Blair and smashes the ground behind her with his long arms.

“It is true.”

“…Okay. You’re right. It is true that I get jealous of you when you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I’m still trying to control myself and I regret every single time I hit you or cause you any kind of pain. I promise to be better because…because I love you, Baxter.”

Blair kisses Baxter’s face, which turns him back to normal.

“Huh? What happened?” Baxter says as Blair hugs him, “Princess? I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I?”

“No, you didn’t.”

A celebration is held for the two with everyone there including Leighton, Lynette, Phillip, his dad, Oro, and Argenta. Meanwhile, a letter is sent by Oro and Argenta to their parents to inform them of Baxter’s true royal family history and to not let the traditions of men be valued over the bond that God has formed between the two. After resting for the day, they leave the town via horse-drawn carriage that Baxter is driving with their luggage.

“So, what do you think our parents are going to say?” Baxter asks.

“About what?” Blair says.

“About my discovery of my family’s royal history.”

“I don’t care what they say as long as we’re together and you better not care either.”

“Yes, princess.”

Blair holds Baxter’s hand and puts her head on his shoulder.

“Please don’t just call me princess. Call me Blair or something better.”

“Hmmm. Yes, my love.”

Baxter and Blair kiss as they ride back to their home with lessons learned and their love finally made official not by any law of man, but by the Will of God.

The End

The Bella and Her Butler: Chapter 2 – Riches and Stitches

Chapter 2 – Riches and Stitches

Upon noticing that Baxter isn’t by her side when she wakes up, Blair goes to Baxter and slaps him awake.

“Huh? What is it, princess?”

“You left me when I told you to stay with me until I say to leave.”

“Well, you fell asleep and your parents don’t let us sleep in the same bed together.”

“They aren’t here so you shouldn’t have followed that rule. I needed you here by my side.”

Leighton enters the room and says, “It’s inappropriate for a princess to sleep with her butler, Blair.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“That’ll be a problem for you to solve when you’re older. For now, just know that a princess must be comfortable by herself even when she feels uncomfortable because there will be times when you feel alone even with people around you.”

“Hmph. Okay.”

“Today’s lesson will have to do with this bag of gold.”

Leighton gives the bag of gold to Baxter who takes a look inside and is shocked.

“This can buy us a house and more! What are we going to do with it?” Baxter asks.

“Nothing. Control your spending. Don’t spend it on anything and focus on what’s really important.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Get dressed and walk around town until you figure it out.”

Baxter and Blair do as Leighton says and take a walk around town. They see the many businesses that sell various exotic clothing, decorations, and other knickknacks that catch their eyes. Blair looks at the exotic dresses through the glass and is captivated by their elegance and beauty. A little girl who looks like Blair is trying one of the dresses and spins in a way that makes glitter fly around her. Baxter stops her before she enters the shop.

“You shouldn’t buy any dresses. You already have plenty,” he says.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Baxter helps Blair walk away from the dress shop. As Blair loses sight of the dresses, the thought of buying one exits her mind, but the sight of the furniture store distracts her. She looks into the store and sees a salesman presenting the furniture and looking directly at her in an almost creepy way with his happy and frowning face extending.

Baxter tugs on Blair’s hand and says, “Come on. We don’t need it.”

“Mmmm. Okay.”

The salesman waves bye to Blair along with the chair that appears to be waving as well. With one distraction gone another comes again with an antique store. The masterfully made figures dance in place and around the store with the flames from the candles in the store dancing with them. This display of beauty captures the eyes and minds of Baxter and Blair.  Baxter manages to snap out of it by thinking about the uses of the figures and his responsibilities and tugs on Blair’s hand.

“Let’s go, princesses. We don’t need them.”

“But…but I can bring them to my parents! They can provide lots of entertainment for them!”

“We already have entertainers in the castle and if we need more, your parents will hire them.”

“But we don’t have entertainers like those figures!”

“We don’t need them. Come on already.”

“Mmmmmm…”

Blair finds it harder to pull herself away from the figures until she catches sight of the pet store with various kinds of cats, dogs, and even tigers and lions in the window. The store advertises them as servant pets, pets that act as normal house pets but can also do the things a servant can do. She runs to it and can pet the docile pets through the cages. Baxter also pets the friendly animals though he isn’t too captivated by them. Again, he tries to pull Blair away from them.

“Why can’t I take at least one of them, Baxter? Think about having animal servants in the castle!”

“We already have plenty of servants in the castle.”

“But we don’t have servants like these! These servants will do everything I say and will always love me.”

“But you already have servants who do that for you. Servants like me.”

Blair slaps Baxter.

“No, I don’t! You don’t do anything I say and that means you don’t love me!”

“I do everything you want me to. Even the things you don’t tell me to do, I do because I want to do the best for both of us.”

Blair stops herself before she hits Baxter again then realizes what she’s done.

“I’m…I’m sorry, Baxter,” Blair says before hugging him.

“It’s okay. I forgive you.”

The gold in Baxter’s pocket melts and forms itself into a golden heart. He takes it out of its bag and examines it.

“The gold turned into a golden heart,” Baxter says.

“I wonder why,” Blair says.

Phillip comes out of the pet store with two bags and says to the two, “I see that you’ve just been challenged by gold. I remember going through that test multiple times before finally passing it.”

“What does this gold heart mean?” Baxter asks.

“It means that you’ve found what’s really important. What’s more valuable than gold.”

“What’s that?” Blair asks.

“Do I really need to spell it out for you? No, wait. Don’t answer that because I needed it spelled out for me even though I found it. It’s compassion for one another. Loving the people around you can be something you forget to do even if you devout your life to working for them.”

Blair and Baxter look and smile at one another.

“Oh, if only I can keep remembering that lesson, so I don’t need to keep repeating the challenge. I’d also like to have that kind of look with my servant. I don’t know why I want it though. Anyways, I have to get this food back to my pet at home. We do have a meeting later today, so I’ll see you two soon.”

Baxter and Blair go back to Leighton and Lynette and show them the golden heart.

Lynette holds it up and says, “This is amazing! Always look to the heart when you begin to lose sight of what matters.” Before giving them back the golden heart.

“I trust that you’ve seen Prince Phillip?” Leighton asks.

“How do you know we saw him?” Blair asks.

“It’s all part of the plan. We know everything that will happen except for what you will do.”

“That’s a little creepy…”

“We have only your best intentions in our hearts. There’s no reason to be afraid except maybe if you don’t like big falls.”

“Big falls?”

Leighton taps his foot and the floor below Blair and Baxter goes away. Both of them fall down a large hole and land a large pile of pillows in a large room that has red cushions on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

“I’m getting so tired of falling!” Blair exclaims.

“You’ll get used to it,” Phillip says who happens to be in the room.

“Phillip, how did you get here?” Baxter asks.

“This entire town has shifting tunnels that move at the will of the adults. It’s a strange power that I hope to get when I’m older. You won’t get it when your training is done though since you’re just temporary guests.”

“So, what are we supposed to be doing here?”

“Patience is a virtue they say, and you’ll have to cultivate it here with me. Sit down and make yourself comfortable if you aren’t already comfortable sitting on top of each other.”

“Princess, we-”

“I’m fine using you as a chair.”

“Yes, princess.”

“You two appear to be closer than I thought. Why is that?”

“We grew up together. We were the only kids in the castle, and even though our parents let us play together, they told us never to be close because they said I could only marry royalty and umm…next question. I’ll ask it. Why can’t we have powers like you?”

“Because you’re not tethered to this place.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know? The people here were sinners who fell too in love with the riches, power, and everything associated with royalty and high class, but at the end of their life, they repented of their mistakes and God is letting them work their penance here as they teach others the right thing to do.”

“Even you?”

“I was at the age of reason, so yes. I would’ve been in Heaven if I didn’t fall to greed.”

“Oh. I guess you deserve it.”

“Princess.”

“No, she’s right, servant. We deserve it and we’ll serve out our penance until we’re done. Now that you’ve asked your question, I’ll ask another. I’m really curious as to whether or not you too love each other.”

“We do.”

“Hold on. I mean romantically. I’ve read dozens of stories of love affairs between royalty and servants, but most of them were fiction. I’m wondering if this is real.”

“Ummm. That’s not for you to know,” Blair says with a red face.

“Okay, I’ll ask your servant then.”

“Don’t tell him anything, Baxter.”

“I won’t.”

“Hmm. Since you don’t want to say, then I guess I’ll leave it there for now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t ask again later. We still have a little bit of time left together.”

“How much longer is this?”

“I can’t tell you that. I can tell you more about the town and its people if you’d like.”

“Okay. Tell me about your weird half happy, half sad faces then.”

“It’s a representation of wealth and power. On the happy side, you have everything you could want in the world and the means to get it. On the sad side, there’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with it and the more responsibility someone has the more they are punished if they mess up.”

“What about the powers the adults have?”

“None of it can harm you and they’re all meant to help us get to places and conduct our business. That’s all I know.”

Blair and Baxter make small talk with Phillip for a little while until things go silent. Baxter and Phillip can remain still and composed while Blair fidgets and keeps looking around while waiting for something the test to be over.

“How much longer do we have?” Blair asks.

“I can’t tell you,” Phillip answers.

“Can you tell me something else to make this go by faster?”

“You’ll have to get used to my presence. Did I forget to mention that? In your life, you’ll meet people who will annoy you. Even if they aren’t doing anything to you, their presence will put you on edge.”

“You aren’t putting me on edge.”

“If you say so. Your servant has been still and calm as I have while you haven’t been able to stay still.”

“Mmmmm. Fine, I’ll stay still.”

Blair tries to stay still and as calm as possible while keeping Phillip out of her mind. His smiling at her doesn’t help, so she holds onto Baxter’s hand whenever she’s feeling tempted to do anything. Eventually, a door opens itself behind Phillip.

“Oh, it looks like you’ve done it,” Phillip says as he gets up and leaves.

“We did it!” Blair says as she hugs Baxter.

“We did or rather, you did. I think you were the one who was tested the most.”

“What are you talking about? I have the patience of a saint. Now, let’s go. I’m hungry and I want to make one of your special meals for our victory.”

“Yes, princess.”

Baxter and Blair go up a long series of stairs and see Phillip waiting at the top of them with an adult man.

“This is the princess and servant I was training with today,” Phillip says to the man.

“Oh really? They don’t look very impressive,” the man responds.

“I know. Let me introduce you two to my father. He’s going to teach me how to use powers.”

“I’ll give you a display right now.”

Phillip’s father taps his foot and the stairs fold into the ground, which makes Baxter and Blair slide all the way down back into the cushioned room. The door then shuts on them locking them in the room again.

“That little brat! Uggghhh,” Blair says.

“Don’t worry about it, princess. I’m sure this is just another part of our training,” Baxter tries to assure her.

Blair punches the wall of the padded cell and starts feeling the walls.

“What are you doing, princess?”

“You know how in stories there’s a secret switch activated by a book or something in the wall. I’m looking for one.”

“Maybe there’s one behind the big pile of pillows or underneath the chairs or desk.”

“Nah, that’d be too easy, but you can check.”

Baxter checks under the desk and chairs and finds nothing, however, when he goes through the pile of pillows, he finds a hidden elevator.

“I found an elevator,” Baxter says.

“Oh, good job. I know I can rely on you,” Blair says.

The two get in the elevator and Baxter pulls them up until the elevator no longer goes up. Blair sees a nearby lever that she pulls to reveal that they’re on the top of the hotel with Leighton and Lynette along with Phillip and his father eating dinner together.

“Ah! You’ve made it just in time for dinner,” Leighton.

“Sit down and relax. You’ve done good today,” Lynette says.

“He-he and his father trapped us in the basement!” Blair accuses.

“That was part of your training. Learning how to deal with betrayal and finding hidden ways out of situations is a constant lesson.”

“You two seem better than I expected. Here I was thinking that we were going to eat without you,” Phillip says.

“Well, aren’t you two going to join us? Or do you need training in proper manners too?” Phillip’s father says.

Phillip laughs and Blair holds Baxter’s hand to control herself before sitting down for dinner. While eating, Blair looks around at the town below her. Her eyes focus on two people below them who are watching them with multiple eyes on their head like a spider along with their happy and sad face. The sight of them gets her to drop her eating utensils.

“Is something wrong, princess?” Baxter asks.

“Do you see those people down there looking at us? They have so many eyes on their head like a spider.”

“Oh, I do see them. Who are they?”

“Those will be your instructors for tomorrow. If you pass their tests, then you can leave. If you don’t, then you’ll have to take more tests,” Leighton says.

“So early?” Baxter asks.

“I’m not complaining,” Blair says.

“Who says the real training stops here? Life constantly trains you to be the best you can be. We’re giving you the essentials in our own special way.”

“We can pass the last tests with no problem. Right, Baxter?”

“If you say so, princess. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy though.”

Blair slaps Baxter’s hand.

“Don’t think like that. Think positively. We will pass the last tests.”

“Yes, princess.”

Blair slaps Baxter’s hand again.

“Don’t just agree with me. Say it!”

“We will pass the last test.”

“There we go.”

“He’s right, Princess Blair. Your positive thinking will help, but it’s going to be more challenging than you think. Half of the people we train don’t pass them the first time through. Your parents didn’t.”

“Hmph. I like those odds. We aren’t like our parents, so we’ll pass it. Right, Baxter?”

“Yes-I mean, we will pass the last test, princess.”

Blair feels confident about her abilities while Baxter tries to draw from it. Meanwhile, their final test is being constructed and will be ready for them when they wake up in the morning.