CHAPTER 12

The sun is out already. Monsters are busy with their everyday routine, while Lucy and the others,the same everyday routine.

Some monsters had gone to the river,close to the forbidden forest,and they caught some intruders,Demons.

They brought them back to the castle,to lock them up."Master would be please when he sees these intruders",a monster said, pushing the ones in front of him,into a dungeon.

One of the demon they caught,was a greedy demon.He held so many precious and shiny stones with him,like they were his life.

In the process of pushing the demon,a red stone fell from his hand,"No!,my precious stone "," Shut up ugly",one of the monster shouted at him,slapping his head.

The stone was laying outside of the dungeon entrance, and it glowed so well,that once someone sees it,he or she is tempted to steal it.But the stone wasn't ordinary at all.

Not long,Lucy came by,looking so dirty.She was angry that she had to go and clean the monsters chamber,causing her to look like a pig,"God!,am so filthy ",she cried.

She was about passing the dungeon, when she saw the glowing red stone on the ground, and became attracted to it." Wow!! ",she exclaimed, looked round,to see if anyone was coming,then she slowly bent down and picked it.

She raised it up to see it clearly, and smiled happily," Wow!,it's so pretty",she complimented.

Quickly, she hid it in her dress and walked away.

She hadn't reached far,when a beast came to meet her,and told her that Reed needed someone to clean up his room."Really?!,OK am going",she said, and without wasting time,she rushed to his room.

Lucy stood in front of Reed's room,dressing herself up well.Then she noticed that she was still filthy, and wondered what Reed would say when he sees her like this,"Who cares.Maybe..maybe he'll gaze at me,with a charming smile and say,'Hey Lucy Darling, why the dirty dress?'.Then I'll say,blushing like a queen,'Oh Reed!,I got so dirty because of the love I have for you'.Ohhh!!",she shrieked out in excitement. "I can't wait!", she rushed inside.

Meanwhile,outside the castle,Zipora had entered into the land,in the disguise of a normal woman.

She could see how the people were busy up and down,and found it as an opportunity to execute her plan.

Slowly, she bent down,pretending to pick something, and released her serpents," Destroy whatever comes your way",she ordered and they moved.

Inside Reed's room,Lucy was mesmerized by the sight of it.It was like a room meant for the Royal family."Oh my!!,My house can't even reach this room,not even a bit",she jumped up.

She walked in closely,and found Reed,putting on a top.Her body shivered as she turned back quickly.She began to blush.

Reed spotted her,and wondered what she was doing in his room,"Yes?!,what are you doing here".On hearing his voice, Lucy turned back to look at him.She smiled like a child and said,"I was told that you needed someone to clean up your room,so..I came".

Reed wasn't pleased with the fact that Lucy came,instead of someone else.He sighed and said,"Can you go and call someone else pls?","But why?,don't think i can't clean.Look at my dress",she began to show him her dress,"..it shows that I've been working hard,and I can clean your room","Go!",he ordered, pointing at the door.

Lucy was upset.She frowned and turned to leave,when Reed called her back,"Yes?!",she answered, looking happy.

Surprisingly,she became angry on hearing what he said,"Get..get Deborah to clean up my room","Deborah?! ",she was shocked. Reed didn't answer her.

Lucy didn't want to call Deborah. So she thought of doing something, so that he won't send her to call Deborah again.

She thought and had an idea," Instead of calling Deborah, let me do the cleaning in front of him,so that he would agree",she smiled,rubbing her dress.

She suddenly felt something in her dress,and remembered the red stone,"...the stone".A smile appeared on her face,"If I give Reed this stone,he'll love me.But if I hand it to him,he may throw it.Maybe I'll slip it into his pocket,later he'll see it,and become marvelled ",she thought,looking happy.

Quickly, she acted as if she was about to clean.Instead,she bumped into Reed,and acted as if she wanted to fall.

Reed quickly held her,and this gave her the opportunity to put the stone inside his pocket.

She looked into Reed's eyes and said," Can't you see that destiny wants us to be closer to each other","Why don't you go and ask that destiny of yours,what I did to those women that said what you just said","Huh?!".

Without hesitating, he dropped her hard on the ground, allowing her to scream in pain.

That's when the cyclops came in, "Master!,the intruders have been locked up"," Good. Pls!,take this bag of dirty outside and call Deborah ",he begged,walking away.

The cyclops dragged Lucy outside, from Reed's room.

Meanwhile, Deborah was done cleaning the castle passage, when Blue came to meet her with a ball." Hey Blue!",she said,stroking his mane.He dropped the ball in front of her,with a smile on his face.She understood him immediately,picked the ball and said,smiling, "So you want to play right?,OK let's play".

She threw the ball,and he rushed to get it.He was quick in catching the ball.

Something then happened, that made Deborah wished she never played with Blue.She threw the ball again,so that he would get it,which he did.

She then told him to bring the ball back,but he refused.

Instead he threw the ball, allowed it to hit a shield that was up,which came thumbling down,and knocking off the head of Reed's statue," Oh my goodness! ",she screamed.Fear gripped the both of them.

The head scattered into pieces. Deborah was afraid,"what if Reed sees this?", she panicked." Blue!,what do we do?",no response, "Blue?!", she called again,turning back.

To her greatest surprise, Blue had reached far,almost out of sight.He ran away for his dear life.

Deborah was shocked," You little devil!!",she said,lookingpset.

"Hey!!",a voice said.She turned back in fear,and saw the cyclops," oh o!"."Who did this?",the cyclops asked,looking at the scattered head on the floor.

Deborah didn't know what to say,she was scared, "Em..well,you..you see"," Keep that to yourself. Master is calling you".

Deborah's heart began to pound, "Does he know already?,or did that little devil report me to him?.I won't spare Blue". She thought,as the cyclops led the way.

Reed came back to his room and found Blue,laying in his own bed,as if he was sleeping, pretender.

He went to the window to look outside.He was just looking at the sky,when he heard a knock on the door," Come in",he said.

Deborah came in,looking scared.She spotted the pretender on the bed,and wanted to throw her shoe at him.

Reed turned and saw Deborah, holding her shoe on her hand."What are you doing?".She looked at Reed,smiled and dropped her shoe down,"Nothing!".

He folded his arms,faced the window and said, "I need you to clean up my room quickly, then go for training with the others"," OK",she said.

Deborah began to clean the room,at the same time, peep at Blue,who opened his eyes and saw Deborah.

He had a smile on his face, making Deborah annoyed.

Reed was still standing in front of the window,when he began to feel strange.

He was sweating seriously like a running tap,and thought it was because of the heat.

He opened his shirt, still feeling unease and restless.

All of a sudden,a beast came in with speed and said,"Master!,we're under attack".

Reed and Deborah looked at the beast,when suddenly, they heard screaming.

Reed looked through the window,and saw the people running up and down for their lives,and something was attacking them.

Deborah came close to the window,looked closely and became stunned,"Is that a giant snake?".

indeed it was,Zipora had turned into a giant snake, harming people,while her serpents were coming close to the castle.

"Quick!,get the monsters into position", he ordered, as the beast rushed out quick.

He looked at Deborah,and told her to join them," OK",she said, about to leave.

Suddenly, Reed began to feel weak.He couldn't see clearly nor could he stand well.

He fell to the ground and groaned in pain.

Deborah heard the noise of something or someone, dropping to the ground.She turned and saw Reed on the floor,"Reed!",she was shocked and rushed to him.

Blue too got up and rushed to him. "What happened Reed?!,what's wrong?!", Deborah was asking him,looking scared.

She touched him,and found out that his body was cold.

She became shocked even more," He's cold!.Reed?!,pls get up!",she panicked.

Reed kept on groaning in pain,sweating seriously. Deborah couldn't bear this.The way he was groaning and holding himself tight,as if he had an internal problem, made her worried.

Thinking of what to do,Deborah was confused.How to save Reed now was problem.

Her fear increased the more,when she heard the voices of the monsters, shouting that the snakes were too much and they were entering inside the castle, "What can I do?", she asked herself, twisting her hands in fear.

She was panicking on what to do,when she noticed Reed,struggling to get up," Reed?!",she called out, helping him up.But he was still weak,and his body had turned cold,"I'm OK ",he said,holding Deborah's hand tightly.

The way he held her,made Deborah to know that he was in serious pain." No you're not,you're weak and cold",she said,supporting him so that he won't fall.

Reed and Deborah could hear the loud noise outside,and it sounded serious.

Deborah didn't know what to do,as she held Reed close,thinking of a way to help him.