The Dungeon 

Nora had always known the fact that she was prone to darkness and loneliness, as they were the only stable components of her life.

Although she had also been blessed with the brief presence of the Moon Goddess in those periods of darkness, which always had the capability of turning it into a win-win situation for her, leaving her with no weakness at that point.

But things weren't quite the same anymore; now, there was a sense of fear that she had recently generated, after finding the people she had always been in search of- and that was the fear of abandonment.

Right now, this fear had just oriented itself with the thought of her not being able to make it to the fencing session on time, and reached the level where she was convinced that no one was going to wait for her, ever again. This escalation took place real quick because of her overthinking, leading to the start of small panic attacks and shortness of breath, followed by the feeling of freezing due to the extreme cold.

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After Nora had left the cafeteria, Louis turned to Robin and asked;

"Tell me one thing, what should I consider you in relation to me? A Royal Alpha hailing from the enemy pack, or a friend who doesn't believe in keeping any type of enmity alive?"

"Depends on what treatment you are willing to project on me!"

Robin gave his ideal curt reply, thinking that it was going to be the end of this discussion and he could finally go to the dorm and take some rest after the last sleep- deprived long night, which he had spent in anxiety and tension about Nora's well being. This girl was really getting on his nerves now, but why? Did friends really get on each other's nerves like this? Or perhaps -

But before the chain of his thoughts could have come up with the next piece of concatenation, Louis unexpectedly continued their conversation, pulling all his attention. 

"Then spill whatever you are trying to hide from me, before it is too late and I become unable to help you out… because always remember, it's not just about you, but it is about Nora… our friend Nora."

'Friend'? Yes, she was a friend… a very good one indeed, but was Louis his friend, and could he really trust him? 

Because the one thing he had learnt from his childhood spent being a Royal, was that you are not supposed to trust anyone- even your own brother- regarding the protection of the things you love. Then this, this was the question of the protection of a person whom he genuinely cared about. 

Thinking this, he was about to reply that he was not going to tell anyone anything that he considered inappropriate for them to know. But he paused, as Myron's voice knocked on their ears, 

"Ah! Here you two are! Good afternoon to both of you, I am here for Princess Nora. Ma'am Romera asked me to bring her to the library as I happened to be heading out of the library -"

"What do you mean Romera has sent you? And that too now, almost half an hour later-"

Both Robin and Louis spoke at the same time and exchanged a panicked look with each other, while Myron continued with his question, steeped in more confusion. 

"Yes! She has sent me to request her presence there, but where is she? I-"

His words were left hanging in the air as both Louis and Robin grabbed their tuxedos from their chairs and ran out of the cafeteria,  giving him a clear indication that something was not right.

Myron also followed them without wasting a single minute.

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David's POV:

"Don't tell me, she is still in the secret dungeon! Be… because I think you are aware of the fact that it is still a torture cell, which torments you mentally and physically on the basis of the most frightening fear of yours… and that could be deadly!"

"You… you are joking, right?"

The words left my mouth the moment I heard the description from Henry, realizing that I had created a blunder.

Jumping off of my bed, I started my violent search for the keys to the dungeon, when I heard him speaking to me once again. 

"Don't tell me that you are not aware of this-"

"Yes! I wasn't."

I replied, still trying to figure out where the hell I had thrown the darned keys! 

"Then don't be a fool David. Because if you are not aware of the fact that it triggers a person's original fears to the point of fatality, you should be familiar with the fact that the person who has locked someone inside is not allowed to open the dungeon. Or else, they have to go through the same pain -"

"Do you think I care ? I have never let anybody else bear the burden of my mistakes. Yes, I wanted to teach her a lesson, not kill her."

Saying this, I rushed out of the palace, knowing that everything that I had added after the initial question of "Do you think I care?" was just to hide my concern for her. But why… why was I concerned for her? 

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It did not take more than ten minutes to find the Omega boy who had appeared in front of them with the message earlier, and it only took Robin the next five minutes to make him vomit out every single detail in front of them. 

But now, the question was about finding Valerie in order to locate the keys to the dungeon, as only someone from the warriors could have the keys on a rotatory basis. And right now, it was in the possession of the Moon and Eclipse packs. 

The fear of her being unwilling to help them was registering its presence in everyone's hearts. But on the contrary, she gave up the keys the very next second when she heard the statement about Nora getting locked up in the dungeon, from Robin's mouth.

Having finally crossed all the hurdles in their path, they rushed towards the dungeon, only to barge into Ryan on the way. Internally, all three of them let out a groan of frustration, knowing that this nosy person was definitely going to follow them like a herd of sheep.

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