Jacen’s POV:
“I was born ready,” I replied Cassie. My brother, Amelia, and I reached the hall where all year students were seated. They are all chatting, laughing happily. But Iam not in the mood for it. I can only expect the worse.
“I can’t believe Dorothy returned,” Amelia said. She isn’t angry at me now. We can’t be angry with each other. We need to be together to find Sydney.
“Indeed, she returned,” Noah told. Amelia doesn’t know what happened when we are with Kassidy and the Queen.
“Where is the Queen? There’s no sign of her and Kassidy?” Noah said after a pause of silence in the three of us.
“I don’t know,” I answered, looking at Dorothy and Cassie on the stage. There’s no sign of Peter too. She is planning something bad and worse.
“Silence,” Dorothy shouted in the mike, silencing everyone. She took a deep breath and smiled in our direction before started speaking.
“I know you are all clueless about what’s going on. I will tell you why I called you urgently. I got some sad news to share with you, students,”
She faked a frown on her face. She must have created whatever the sad news is.
After a sharp inhale, she continued. “It’s time for you to hear the truth. My sister, Queen Victoria, has a daughter named Sapphire sixteen years ago. She died of a disease. The new first-year student, Sydney Marin learned about our family secrets and tried to impersonate herself as the dead princess, Sapphire. She made up a lie by telling her she’s Sapphire, a Slateville princess who is not dead. But the truth is, Sapphire is dead. Sydney Marin is an imposter. I planned to execute her. She ran off to some portal with the help of Kassidy. She is a student who graduated from this academy a year ago. She helped the imposter escape from this academy. But still, Queen Victoria and King Peter believed her and ran after her. Their emotions and feelings hid the truth that Sydney wasn’t their daughter. They can’t see the truth when it’s about their dead daughter. They believed her lie and ended up entering the same portal to hell.”
When Dorothy finished, I can’t believe I heard a fucking lie and can’t prove to the others it’s a lie. I want to shout and tell it’s a lie.
“How can she lie like this? Sydney’s not an imposter,” Amelia talked, keeping her voice as low as she can.
“Yeah, but what did Dorothy do to the Queen and king. I won’t believe they ran off to the portal without a plan,” Noah said. Iam regretting this moment. My brother and I would have known something if we stayed with the Queen. But we politely obeyed and left the hall.
“No. Dorothy must have done something to the Queen. We must find her,” I told and started listening to what she’s saying next.
“My dear students, the Queen and King can’t return to Slateville ever again. They both are dead. The imposter is also dead,” Dorothy said as a fake tear left her eyes. Sydney can’t be dead. She is lying. It’s hurtful to hear those words. I won’t believe her.
“They aren’t dead. We need to leave the meeting right now,” Suddenly Noah stood up.
“Where are we going?” Amelia asked in shock. Some of the student’s attention turned towards us as Noah stood up angrily.
“We need to find the King and the Queen. What else can we do? Let’s head back to the throne room,” Noah said, making his way to the exit door.
“Wait, Noah. She isn’t finished speaking. We need to hear what she’s planning. No sudden action without a plan,” Amelia warned, grabbing Noah’s arms.
“It’s always about the plan. What if we can never find a perfect plan?” Noah questioned her and shrugged her hands off him. That’s when I heard Dorothy saying something about Kassidy.
“We are going to execute Kassidy tomorrow for helping the imposter. She deserves to die for helping Sydney.”
“Oh my god,” Amelia said as Noah become much more determined to get out of the hall.
“We need to save Kassidy. You are right, bro. Let’s go,” I told as he rushed towards the exit. Some of the professors called the three of us, but we didn’t stop. Dorothy must have seen us going out. She didn’t try to stop us. She is thinking we are not capable of stopping her, but we are going to prove to her that she’s wrong.
We breathlessly made our way to Kassidy’s room. When Noah opened the door, the whole room was a mess. A total mess.
All the things are broken, but that’s the worst part. The portraits are all broken and cracked into many pieces. Every portrait is purposefully destroyed so it won’t be used again. How can Sydney make her way home when it’s all broken?
“This is hell portrait,” Noah said, taking the portrait, but the pieces fell when he lifted it from the ground. I carefully stepped forward, avoiding the glass pieces.
“It’s too late,” Noah muttered. I took the broken pieces of that portrait in my hand and looked at it helplessly.
“Way too late. How can we reach Sydney without this? Victoria should have heard us. I need Sydney back,” I shouted, closing my fist with the glass piece inside it. I closed it tightly till I fell, my blood flowing from my palm.
“What the hell are you doing, Jacen? Are you stupid?” Amelia yelled, trying to get the glass out of my hands.
“Yes, Iam stupid. Get away from me,” I yelled back, throwing the glass piece. I don’t know what to do. I kicked the nearby table, threw the flower vase, and made a mess in the room more than they already did. Still, I can’t feel calm.
“Stop it, Jacen. This is not the solution to get Sydney back.” Amelia shouted from the top of her throat.
“We are going back to our home. Our mother always has a way to help us. There will be some hell portrait somewhere in Slateville and we are going to find it,” Noah told me. Yes. Nina. My mother has a way to find the portrait.
“We are leaving the Academy today,”