Not here

"Mom, Dad" called Annie as she walked into the lounge with a smile as Lisa, John and Curtis turned to look at her.

"Hello Sweetie" said John as he smiled and he looked at Annie.

"Oh Annie…" said Lisa as she sighed and she looked away, she felt like she was going to cry any moment now.

Maddie who was standing right behind Annie looked at Curtis, she could tell that this was a family matter, so she would just stay quiet, after all, she was not family and she did not want to interfere.

"Mom, is something wrong?" asked Annie as she saw that her mother looked upset.

"No Annie… nothing is wrong" said Lisa as she lied and she looked away, she could not let Annie see her like this, she was supposed to be the parent here, and not the other way around.

"Are you sure Mom, because you don't look so good?" asked Annie as she was worried, she really hoped that her mom was not sick, because if she was, she would not go then.

"I am fine Annie, really" said Lisa as she sighed.

"Dad, I don't believe her, what's wrong?" asked Annie as she turned to look at her Father.

"Your mom is fine, sweetie, she's just a bit emotional" said John as he looked at Annie and he smiled, he did not want her to be worried.

"Are you sure?" asked Annie as she walked closer to her parents.

"Yes darling, your Father is right, I am just a bit too emotional" said Lisa as she smiled and she looked at Annie.

Annie looked at Curtis, if both her parents were lying he would tell her the truth right??, right?? She thought he would, she did trust and believe in him.

"Annie, you worry too much, everything is perfectly fine" said Curtis as he smiled, he could sense that Annie was worried, and he did not want her to worry when there was nothing to worry about at all.

"Alright, if you say so Curtis" said Annie as she was reluctant to believe any of them, but then maybe she was just seeing things.

"Have you packed yet?" asked Curtis as he was just trying to change the subject.

"Yes, Curtis, Maddie and I are all packed and ready" said Annie as she smiled and she nodded her head, she looked around, she was looking for Matt, she thought that he would be here by now, or maybe he changed his mind and he wasn't coming along with them.

"And Matt?" asked Curtis.

"We don't know where he is" said Annie.

"We thought that he would be here with you already" said Annie.

"No, he's not here" said Curtis as he shook his head.

"Well anyway, we have to be prepared, we will leave in an hour" said Curtis as Stella was still preparing some things for them, like the Carriage that they would use to travel down to Caligo.

"Okay" said Annie.

"Mom, Dad, are you guys already packed?" asked Annie as she smiled and she looked at her parents, as they both looked at each other and then at her, and then they looked at Curtis.

Annie could sense that something was wrong here, why were her parents acting so… weird??

"Is something wrong?" asked Annie carefully as she looked at Curtis, she knew that there was something that he was not telling her yet again, and she was really tried of him not telling her everything from the start.

"Nothing is wrong dear… it's just that, we will not be going with you" said Lisa as she cleared her throat and she explained.

"What??" asked Annie as Maddie had the same reaction that she did, why weren't they going.

"Why?" asked Annie as she looked at both her parents.

"Well we discussed it with Curtis, and well, it would be better if we stayed here" said John as he looked at Annie and Annie shook her head.

"But that makes no sense" said Annie as she looked at Curtis and Maddie did the same as she agreed, she knew that there was something more that Curtis was not telling them yet again, she was getting tired of this.

"Look Annie, it will be better for less people to go to Caligo with us" said Curtis as he tried to explain as best as he could, if John and Lisa went along with them, they would be dead weight, not only would he have to protect Annie, but them as well.

Caligo was not a place for humans, it was somewhere very dangerous, so Curtis concluded that it would be better for them to stay here in the Palace, where they would be safe, as long as Stella was here, they would be better off here.

"Curtis is right Annie, Stella told us that Mount Caligo is a very dangerous place, and it would be better for us to stay here" said Lisa as she smiled, that was the main reason she was upset and why she had disagreed with Curtis in the first place, but she knew that his was right, what help could they possibly render to a matter that involved magic.

"But…" said Annie as now she was sad, she had always had her parents with her, right by her side, no matter what, so going alone now… it was… heart breaking for her, she had not been away from her parents for long, but now… she didn't want to go if they were not going with her.

"Don't be like that Annie" said John as he smiled.

"But I want you guys to go with me, you always do" said Annie as she knew that she sounded like a little girl right now, but she did not care, they were her parents after all, and she loved them, they were always there for her, but now, they wouldn't be.

"Aww my girl" said Lisa as she sighed and she walked to Annie as she hugged her.

"I would love to go Annie, believe me I would, but your Father and I can't it's for our own good" said Lisa as she sighed and Annie hugged her.

"But there is no need to worry, we will always be here for you, no matter what" said Lisa as she smiled, it was the truth, it hurt her more to let her daughter go alone than anything else, if she had her way, she would have gone with her.

"Don't be sad Annie" said John.

"You won't go alone, I mean for one, you have Curtis, Maddie… and *sigh* Matt" said John as he sighed, he wondered where that boy was when you actually needed him.

"It won't be the same" said Annie, she had never been alone before, never.

"Oh it will be Annie, and when you return, we will of course he right here waiting for you" said Lisa as she smiled.

"Okay?" asked Lisa.

"Okay" said Annie as she nodded her head.

"Come give me a hug" said John as he smiled and he opened his arms wide as Annie walked to him and she hugged him.

Maddie felt like crying… she had never seen so much love in one place, it made her heart want to explode, for one, she had never grown up in this sort of family, where they all actually cred for each other… if she was the one in Annie's shoes she would have gone away without even caring if her parents would miss her or not, probably because they wouldn't but… Maddie felt jealous, but in a good way, she wanted what Annie had with her parents, but she knew that it was impossible.

"I will miss you mom and dad" said Annie as he broke her hug with her Father.

"And we will miss you too" said Lisa as she smiled and Maddie smiled, now she actually knew just how important family was.

"Don't worry about anything, she will be fine, I will make sure of it" said Curtis as he gave a reassuring smile.

"We trust you Curtis" said Lisa as she smiled.

"Oh dear, please forgive us, I didn't notice you there" said Lisa as she smiled and she looked at Maddie.

"That's alright Aunt" said Maddie as she smiled, she did not mind at all.

"I will miss you as well" said Lisa as she smiled and she walked to Maddie as she gave her a hug, which surprised Maddie.

No wonder people liked hugs so much, when hugged by the right person, it made you feel warm, and loved and appreciated.

"I will mis you too Aunt" said Maddie as she smiled and Lisa broke their hug.

"Well I think we should get going now" said Curtis as he was sure everything should have been ready by now.

"What about Matt?" asked Maddie as she looked at Curtis.

"He should either meet us there or not, we don't have much time" sad Curtis.

"Alright then, let's go" said Annie as she looked at Curtis, he was right, they did not have time on their side.

"Okay then" said Maddie as Curtis led the way and they all followed after him.