Ten fingers and ten toes

With a bright flash of light a once empty Castle lounge was now inhabited with three teenagers, two of whom looked as if their lives had just flashed before their eyes.

"Blondie if you ever do something like that again without giving us a proper warning I am going to murder you!" said Maddie as she panted and held Ollie's neck almost squeezing it, if not that her hands were shaking so much from fear.

Annie on the other hand panted and opened her eyes, completely baffled that one second they were in the Palace lounge, and the next, they were somewhere completely different, just like magic!

"You are right Maddie, I'm sorry, I do realize now that only giving that disclaimer at the last moment was wrong, but hey, you are using two hands to strangle me right now, that's a good sign" said Ollie as he smiled and Maddie scoffed at him, releasing his neck as she started to check herself for anything possibly missing.

"Blondie if something is missing on me, I am going to kill you" said Maddie as she checked herself up and down, while Ollie sheepishly smiled, meanwhile Annie was still tightly holding onto Ollie's arm.

"Are you okay Annie?" asked Ollie as his voice pulled Annie out of her thoughts as she looked at him.

"Yes I'm fine Ollie, just a bit shaken up, but that was so cool" said Annie as she laughed and Ollie smiled.

"I'm glad you think so" said Ollie as he smiled and looked at Maddie who removed her sneakers to count her toes.

"Ten fingers and ten toes, we seem fine" said Maddie as she put her sneakers back on and Annie laughed.

"Oh I think you are overreacting Maddie" said Annie as Maddie looked at her and shook her head violently.

"No way, not at all, this blondie told us that there is a possibility we might lose limbs, I'm not going to take that chance, it's better to find out sooner than later, and it looks as if I'm intact" said Maddie as she ran her fingers through her hair, checking for any hair loss, but she seemed completely fine.

"Maddie you're fine, if you really aren't convinced about that I can run a scan" said Ollie as he laughed.

"You and who blondie, don't you dare, I don't trust you, you could have almost killed us" said Maddie as she frowned and Ollie laughed and so did Annie.

"Ollie you need to teach me how to do that" said Annie as now that she just learnt of this conveyance skill, she wanted to be able to do it too.

"Alright, I will, sometime later, I'm actually very surprised that nothing bad happened, we are very lucky" said Ollie as Maddie scoffed.

"Thank you, now we have to get back to the reason we are here in the first place" said Annie as she looked serious as Ollie nodded, looking equally as serious as her.

"That's right, we need to face that Father of yours and find out what he wants" said Maddie as she looked at Ollie and shook her head.

"And I bid you good luck with that, I really hoped that could go with you, but I can't I have to leave for Agricola now" said Ollie as he sighed.

"Typical of you to obey your Father no matter what he says" said Maddie with a scoff.

"Now is not the place or time Maddie, I've already casted a direction spell on the ground to lead you to his office" said Ollie.

"Thanks Ollie, for bringing us here and helping us" said Annie as she smiled and gave him a hug.

"It's the least I could do, it's my Father that's making us all panic like this" said Ollie as he sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing serious" said Annie as she smiled.

"And what if it is?" asked Maddie as Ollie and Annie looked at her.

"We'll see then" replied Ollie.

"Anyway good luck Annie, and Maddie make sure to protect her" said Ollie as he looked at Maddie.

"Of course I will, what else would I do, you don't have to tell me that blondie" said Maddie as she scoffed and Ollie smiled.

"And please don't say or do anything that can cause my Father to be offended" said Ollie with a pleading look on his face, he didn't need his father disliking Maddie anymore than he already did.

"Like I give a damn if I do, let's just see what he wants first then I will be able to tell if I should offend him or not" said Maddie as Ollie sighed, at least she would try.

"Okay then, bye and see you soon" said Ollie as with a wave of his hand he was gone as he disappeared into nothingness.

"Wow, I really need to learn how to do that" said Maddie as she waved her hand in awe in the spot Ollie had just disappeared from.

"You and me both" said Annie as she laughed.

"Now come on, let's go deal with the problem" said Annie as she opened the door of the lounge and Maddie followed behind her.

"Now where do we find the King's office?" asked Annie as she looked around the hall that spilt into two different directions.

"Let me see" said Maddie as she bent down and touched the ground as she stood up.

"The blondie said that he casted a direction spell on the ground, which means that whichever way we go, we will be led to the exact same place" said Maddie.

"Really?" asked Annie in disbelief.

"Pretty much, so for choice sake, let's go right" said Maddie as she went in the right direction and Annie followed after her.

They both walked through the halls in silence, not wanting to direct any unnecessary attention to themselves, but the silence was only making Annie to start to worry and think of all the possibilities of what Albert wanted to talk to her about, she was starting to panic, all her fake bravado starting to diminish.

Maddie on the other hand could feel this instantly, so she stretched out her hand to hold Annie's hand as Annie looked at her.

"I know you're worried, but don't be" said Maddie as Annie sighed.

"It's hard not to be, what could he possibly want?" asked Annie.

"I don't know, but we sure will find out" said Maddie as she could still feel that Annie was uneasy.

"Look, where did all your confidence and calmness go?" asked Maddie as she smiled.

"Out the window once we got here and I realized how serious the situation is" said Annie as Maddie laughed.

"Come on, you're Annie Grey, 16 year old advanced with, the sole defeater of Azazel, if fear was a person you would have killed it several times now" said Maddie as Annie sighed.

"Don't play with me Maddie" said Annie.

"I'm not Annie, not at all, come on what happened to the badass girl who not only had her life turned upside down but faced everything thrown at her head on?" asked Maddie.

"She's tired and worried that's what" said Annie.

"Well she shouldn't be, because there is nothing the King could possibly say to bring you down, come on, we've been in the plain of Kadama for months, we've been on Caligo for months, we've faced the toughest situations, and yet we still look this good, especially me" said Maddie as Annie laughed.

"Really Maddie, really?" asked Annie as she laughed.

"Yes, that's what I like to see, you laughing and not frowning" said Maddie as she smiled and Annie smiled.

"I'm here, and I got your back always, and you know I will commit treason for you, no questions asked" said Maddie as Annie laughed.

"Don't let anyone hear you say that" said Annie as she laughed.

"They can hear me for all I care, it doesn't change the fact that I have your back no matter what, they can't throw me out of his office no matter how hard they try" said Maddie as she squeezed Annie's hand and Annie smiled.

"Thanks Maddie, it really makes me feel better to know that" said Annie.

"What would I do without you?" asked Annie.

"Probably not a lot of things" said Maddie as Annie laughed.

"Gosh, you couldn't even be humble for once?" asked Annie while laughing.

"Oh you know it's not in my personality to be, that's Matt's trait, not mine

 said Maddie as Annie laughed.

"And you are happy with that?" asked Annie.

"I know myself, and I am" replied Maddie as she smiled.

"Now we have to look like we are not fazed at all, because we are not going to make him notice that we are worried" said Maddie as Annie nodded.

"That we aren't" said Annie as she felt so much better now, she just needed a few laughs from her best friend to cheer her up, and that was more than enough to instill her with a little more confidence, she was ready to find out what was going on now.