Chapter Text
"GUYS, HURRY UP! OUR PARENTS ARE ALMOST THERE!" Cynthia said urgently as they ran through the woods, panting. Finn was once again in the trees, jumping from branch to branch. Arrow and Frosta were on the ground with Cynthia.
"WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK WE'RE DOING?!" Frosta asked sarcastically, panic in her voice. After running for a few more minutes, they skidded to a halt to avoid falling into the big drop they saw below.
Just across the drop they saw the back of the castle, the only thing breaking the sheer wall was Cynthia's room window. The tracker pad started beeping, Cynthia pulled it out, and she saw four red dots, representing her parents, already in the Bright Moon castle, heading towards their room.
"QUICK! ARROW! TELEPORT US INTO THE ROOM!" Cynthia said urgently as she and Frosta put her hands on his shoulder, Finn leaped down from the tree branch they were in and put their hand on Cynthia's shoulder.
"HANG ON!" Arrow said, then they all disappeared with a trace of purple glitter. They reappeared in Cynthia's room. Everyone hurriedly hid their stuff in an attempt to look like they hadn't just been in Mystacor.
Right then, they heard knocking.
"Are you guys in there?" It was Glimmer.
"Alright guys, I'm going to open the door. Just act natural." Frosta whispered. She walked over to the door to open it.
"Frosta! Great! For a second I thought you guys ran away or something. How were our kids?" Glimmer asked. Frosta looked to the side nervously, remembering that they actually did run away to follow them to Mystacor.
"Pretty good! They behaved and listened to everything I said!" Frosta said, her voice was unnaturally high and light, with an unnaturally wide smile on her face. Finn, Arrow, and Cynthia were huddled together. Their eyes were very wide and they also had unnaturally wide smiles on their faces. Except for Finn's tail idly flicking, they made no other movements.
"Wait, actually?" Catra asked, unconvinced.
"Yep!" Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, and Micah stared at them suspiciously for a moment.
"Ok! You really are the best babysitter!" Adora muttered that last part to herself. "So now that that's all good, Frosta. You can go back to your kingdom." Adora said
"Thanks! I had so much fun babysitting them! Byeeeee!" Frosta said as she walked down the hall, keeping that unnaturally happy demeanor as she walked. Everyone else stared after her.
"Ok, now that we're back from Mystacor, I have more meetings! Ugh, I really hate meetings!" Glimmer groaned.
"They're not that bad!" Micah said as he followed her, trying to sound optimistic.
"Aaaand the paperworrrrk." Catra also groaned as they walked down the hallway. Glimmer slowed to match Catra's pace and walk beside her.
"At least we got away from Aunt Casta being so overbearing. Imagine if she found out we held an alliance meeting without her." Glimmer whispered to Catra. She went back to the front to lead the way to the lounge.
"I guess." Catra muttered annoyedly, "Hey Sparkles! Wait up!" She called as she rushed to catch up to Glimmer
"Are you guys coming?" Bow asked Finn, Cynthia, and Arrow.
"Sure! In a minute!" Cynthia responded.
"Ok, but don't be long." Adora told them, then they followed Glimmer, Catra, and Micah. Their footsteps receded down the hallway.
Cynthia slowly walked up to the door and looked in both directions for any guards. She closed the door slowly and cautiously. Arrow, Cynthia, and Finn immediately relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief in unison.
"Ok, now that they can't hear us, we just have to figure out what to do about what we found on Mystacor." Cynthia told them as she walked back over to where they were sitting, she was still speaking in a low voice. Finn's eyes flitted to a ball and they went over and pounced on it.
"We should tell our parents. Maybe they'd know what to do with it." Arrow suggested.
"Sure, we should totally do that. If you wanna be grounded for a month." Finn retorted sarcastically as they played with their ball.
"Maybe we should find out more about what that thing is before we do anything else." Cynthia thought aloud.
"We could talk to our Great Aunt Castaspella! Or our Grandpa, Micah, about it!" Arrow suggested. "They're sorcerers, they might know something about this magic book!"
"Or our grandpas, Lance and George might know something about it-" Cynthia added.
"What if we called the others and find out what they know about it?" Finn suggested excitedly, interrupting Arrow. Completely ignoring the ball they were playing with a few seconds ago.
"That's... actually not bad idea Finn. Your brain's actually working for once, I'm surprised." Cynthia said as innocently as possible.
"Hey!" They complained and bristled with indignation.
"It's true though." Cynthia said bluntly.
"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, what do we do? I have no idea where to start."
"I have no idea either to be honest. I'll come up with some sort of plan, but until then... I don't know... just don't bring up anything about the book, or Mystacor. We don't want our parents getting suspicious." Cynthia said. "And we should probably go with our parents, we've already spent too much time here. Let's go before they think we're up to anything." She added
"Ok, let's go." Arrow agreed, and with that, he and Cynthia left the room. Finn was too busy playing with their ball to notice anything that was happening around them.
"Finn! Come on." They heard Cynthia's voice calling them, which jolted them out from the zone. They looked around and saw the room was empty. Cynthia and Arrow were standing at the door. Then they went over to them and walked out into the hallway, absentmindedly taking their ball with them.
***
As Bow walked down the hallways with Glimmer, her dad, Adora, and Catra. He kept wondering about what Castaspella had said about the legend of the Spirit Stone. How supposedly it was connected to the runestones.
Could it possibly be the answer we're looking for? Could that legend Castaspella told us about have some truth in it?
"Hey... uh... Micah? Dad? Sir?" Bow asked uncertainly, unsure how to address the older man who was also his wife's dad.
"Bow, we've been over this already, several times actually, you're my baby girl's husband, just call me dad." Micah smiled a little at his nervousness.
"Yeah Bow, you don't have to be so tense." Glimmer said as she walked back towards Bow, put his arm around him, and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"You just need to loosen up, you're family, I love you and so does dad." She looked up into Bow's eyes.
"Thanks Glim." Bow said, then he took Glimmer by the waist as Glimmer put her arms around his neck and they quickly kissed each other on the lips before they let go of each other. Adora and Catra stared at them, then exchanged awkward glances.
"So... uh... what was it you were going to ask me?" Micah asked awkwardly and glanced sideways.
"Oh- uh... yeah, so... Castaspella told us about the legend of the Spirit Stone, could that legend somehow have some truth in it?"
"Like she said, the Spirit Stone is just a story for children. I don't think it has any truth in it. Besides, when we saw the Moonstone dimming, we also saw the moons dimming. I think it has more to do with the moons."
"But we don't know that for sure! And the legend had to come from somewhere, I don't think stories about things as important as Etheria's magic come out of nowhere. We could be getting somewhere here. If we could just find out where it is and what it is exactly, I'm sure we could get something out of it at least!" Bow countered
"Bow's right, stories don't come out of nowhere. I believe it might have something to do with the Spirit Stone Aunt Casta told us about." Glimmer agreed.
"In my opinion, the Spirit Stone is just a legend, but if you guys believe it has some truth in it. We can find out more about it in the library at Mystacor." Micah told them as they reached the lounge. The rest of them sat down on the couch while Micah walked towards the doors which opened into the corridor leading into the war room. He stopped and turned around.
"Glimmer, you coming?" He asked.
"Sure! In a minute!"
"Ok, but don't be long." His footsteps receded as he walked down the corridor.
"All right, time for meetings... hours and hours of endless meetings, ugh... here we go." Glimmer groaned.
"They're not that bad!" Adora tried to sound optimistic.
"Nah, I agree with sparkles. If I was stuck in boring meetings all day long I would literally DIE of boredom. I have literally no idea how she does it." Catra said as she absentmindedly checked her claws while laying down on the couch. Adora looked over at Catra and scoffed in annoyance.
"Catra, get up and sit straight."
"Make me." She looked at Adora challengingly, a mischievous look lit up her eyes.
"You think I can't?" She asked, returning the challenging look. Then she pounced on Catra, and the two wrestled on the couch. Glimmer and Bow looked at each other in exasperation as they continued to wrestle. It finally ended when Catra pinned Adora to the back of the couch, Adora was in an upright sitting position, and Catra was standing over her.
"Looks like I win, princess." She said tauntingly.
"Oh, do you?" Adora challenged as she put one hand on her waist, and the other on her back, and without warning, pulled her in for a kiss.
"Mmh! Mmm..." Catra's eyes widened in surprise, then she kissed her back and put her arms around her. They kissed again, and again, until it turned into a full blown make out session.
"Seriously? Right now? You guys have to do that RIGHT NOW?!" Glimmer asked in exasperation. "Whatever, I'm going to the meeting." Glimmer said as she went into the corridor her dad went into. Catra and Adora were oblivious to what was going on around them, they were too busy making out. Bow was stuck watching them, until he felt his tracker pad vibrate. He took it out, and saw that Entrapta was calling from Dryl.
"Uh... hey guys? Entrapta's calling." Catra and Adora looked up from their makeout session, but they were still holding onto each other.
"Oh really? Why?" Adora asked.
"Dunno, we're about to find out I guess." Bow picked up the call, and saw Entrapta's face staring back at him.
"Oh, hi Bow! I've got something important to tell you! I was researching on Etheria's magic and I found something interesting."
"Can't it wait?" Bow asked.
"No, it can't! We need to figure this out as soon as possible!" Finn, Cynthia, and Arrow walked into the lounge and sat down, Bow watched them as they walked in and sat down, Entrapta followed his gaze. Catra and Adora quickly straightened up and sat next to each other awkwardly as soon as they saw them coming in.
"What's going on?" Cynthia asked. She sat neatly on the seat next to Arrow, who was also sitting neatly. While Finn was laying down on the space next to Cynthia, their arms and legs sprawled over the couch.
"Queen Entrapta's calling to tell us about something she discovered." Bow said as he looked over at Cynthia. "So what were you saying?" He looked back at Entrapta on the tracker pad.
"Where was I...? Oh yes! I picked up something interesting in my research..." Entrapta continued to ramble about her research. Finn and Catra were just doing their own thing, not paying attention. While Adora, Bow, Cynthia, and Arrow payed close attention.
"...And then I came upon something called the legend of the Spirit Stone. I think it was connected to Etheria's magic in some way, I'm not sure how though..." Finn's ears perked up at the phrase 'Spirit Stone.' Cynthia and Arrow's eyes widened and they exchanged glances. Bow's, Adora's and Catra's eyes widened too at the words. Entrapta was about to speak, but Bow beat her to it.
"Wait! Castaspella told us about the Spirit Stone at Mystacor today!" Bow realized out loud. Entrapta stared at him blankly.
"You know, Castaspella? head sorcerer of Mystacor?" Entrapta continued to stare at him blankly.
"The floating kingdom with the castle and hot springs?! You've been there!"
"Ohhhhhhhh! Anyway, I have a theory on how the Spirit Stone can be connected to Etheria's magic. I made-"
"Is this Spirit Stone by any chance a huge giant crystal that's supposedly connected to the runestones?" Finn asked as they made several hand gestures to show what they were talking about. They spoke very fast, without pausing for even one second to take a breath. After speaking, they crossed their arms and tipped their head to one side with a smug look on their face. Cynthia and Arrow looked at them in fear. They shook their heads and made an X with their arms, trying to tell them not to say anything, but they ignored them. Bow, Adora, and Catra looked at them in surprise.
"Who said that? You know what the Spirit Stone is?! Can I see it?! Can I touch ittttttt?!" She aggressively grabbed the tracker pad and pulled it closer to her face in excitement.
"Uh... Finn said that." Bow turned the pad toward Finn so she could see them.
"How did you know about the Spirit Stone?" Adora asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Catra backed Adora up. Finn was about to speak, but Cynthia cut them off.
"Uh... Arrow found out in one of his history books?" Cynthia said nervously, then she glared at Finn. The room went silent for a moment. While Adora, Catra, and Bow stared suspiciously at them. Entrapta looked around nervously.
"Ok, but we need to find out more about this spirit stone as soon as possible! The 12 moon eclipse is coming soon and we might be able to make this spirit stone stronger in the eclipse, restoring the magic! I have a theory on how it might be connected to the magic and how we can restore it! I made several models and charts-"
"Uh... maybe you could show those at the next meeting?" Bow suggested.
"Oh, sorry." Entrapta looked down, her spirits dampened. "I'm just so excited! I can barely contain it!" Bow realized she was hurt, and quickly responded.
"Don't be, you found out more about the magic than most of us, as far as I know, and we might be getting somewhere because of you! So show us what you found at the next meeting, and we'll go from there." Bow said, her face brightened up again.
"Ok, thanks Bow!" Then, for no apparent reason, Entrapta went silent and glanced nervously to her right. Bow followed her gaze, but he couldn't see anything.
"What are we looking a-"
"Ok gotta go bye!" Entrapta said hastily, then ended the call as fast as she could.
"Wait! Entrapta!" Bow tried to stop her, but he found himself staring at a blank blue screen. Finn and Cynthia were looking at each other in excitement. They didn't even have to do anything, and their parents were already kinda convinced to go to the Spirit Stone! Now all they had to do was wait for the meeting to do the rest.
"So... now what?" Catra asked
"I guess we just wait to see what the next meeting brings." Adora responded, and shrugged. Just then, Glimmer burst into the room, Micah followed more calmly.
"Hey guys! This meeting was surprisingly short! And I brought back a bunch of paperwork, I know it's exhausting, but we need to get this done by tonight! So let's get working!" She threw a huge stack of papers on the table.
"Uuuuuuuggggggghhhhh! Not againnnn!" Catra groaned. Adora took the papers and divided them into 5 even stacks. She slid one stack to Bow. The papers spread out all over the table.
"No no no! Stay in the stack! Don't spread out!" Adora fumbled to collect the papers together, but Bow was already collecting them together.
"Sorry!" Adora said guiltily.
"That's alright, thanks!" Bow took out a pen and started writing. Adora passed another stack to Catra, who didn't even bother to look at it. She put 2 stacks in front of a space next to where she was sitting for Glimmer and Micah.
"Ugh, fine." Catra complained, but started writing the paperwork.
Glimmer and Micah went over to the couch to take their share of paperwork and write it. Glimmer took hers and sat next to Bow to write it. She looked like she could barely sit still. Catra noticed this and immediately raised an eyebrow
"What are you so excited about? When you left you were groaning about the amount of meetings today." Catra asked as she looked at Glimmer.
"Because first of all, I just found out have no more meetings today, so we can have the rest of the day to ourselves! And second of all, I just realized something! In a week, the 12 moon eclipse is coming! I can't believe I forgot about it!"
"So what did you have in mind for the eclipse?" Bow asked, Adora looked up from her paperwork.
"Before you say no, dad and I already talked about it. Me, Arrow, and Cynthia will connect to the runestone and use our spells along with dad to strengthen our connection to the runestone and restore the magic, and we could convince the other princesses to do the same! Not the spells, of course, but the runestone magic! Maybe that will do something."
"What?" Cynthia looked up in surprise and fear.
"Uh... we actually had something else in mind." Bow told her, Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief.
"What?" Glimmer asked, a hint of hurt in her voice.
"While you and, uhh... dad were in the meeting, Entrapta called and told us about the Spirit Stone, she's gonna explain more about how it's connected to our magic at the meeting. And we might go find it and do something with that at the 12 moon eclipse."
"I don't know... this Spirit Stone is definitely worth looking into, but we don't even know where it is, is it really worth it? For a legend we don't even know is true? For the eclipse, we should stay here just to be safe... " Glimmer said hesitantly. Bow realized that Glimmer was a little hurt by what he said, so he put his arm around her and consoled her, Glimmer leaned against his shoulder
"We'll find out more about the meeting tomorrow, and then we'll see if this Spirit Stone is worth looking into or not. But for now, we can try your idea, how's that sound?"
"Ok, thanks Bow." Glimmer looked up into his eyes.
"No problem." Bow kissed her forehead.
Finn looked away in disgust, Cynthia looked around uncomfortably, Arrow watched them in adoration.
"Arrow, Cynthia, I need you both to help me and your grandpa with the runestone." She looked over at where they were sitting. Cynthia looked at her in fear.
"W-what?" Cynthia asked nervously.
"We're going to the runestone right after this paperwork, I need you both there.
"B-but I can't..." Cynthia argued.
"It'll be alright! I'll help you!" Arrow whispered. Cynthia sighed.
"Thanks Arrow." Cynthia whispered back. "Alright, I'll be there." She still wasn't sure how she would do the magic, but she felt encouraged by the support of her brother.
"Good." Glimmer said. "Now, do you two want to help us with this paperwork?"
"Sure!" Arrow and Cynthia said in unison, as they went over to where their mom was sitting, and sat next to her.
"Here, take these ones, I'll do the rest." She split up her stack of papers and gave some to Arrow and Cynthia, and went back to her writing. Arrow and Cynthia also took a pen and started writing. Adora looked over at Finn with a questioning look.
"You wanna help?" She asked them.
"Not me, I'm good." Finn said as their eyes widened. They shook their hands and scooted away from Adora.
"Yep, definitely my kid." Catra quipped.
***
"Wait! Slow down! Where are you even going?!" Cynthia asked as she barreled through the trees, getting caught on branches, struggling to keep up with Finn. Cynthia was about to go to magic practice, but she had panicked and run away from Bright Moon instead. It was a good way to escape the pressures of being a princess. Finn saw her and decided to come along. She knew there was no way she could stop them from coming.
Now Cynthia was running through the woods, away from magic practice, struggling to keep up with Finn as they ran. She thought about how her kingdom was counting on her to be a good princess. Her mother was counting on her.
Mom... she thought. She'd heard the stories of how she and the rebellion freed Etheria from The Horde. It was also no secret that her mom, Queen Glimmer, was the rebellion's leader. And she too was expected to be this... leader, who would lead the kingdom through every problem and make them strong. But she had no idea how to be that, she had no idea to be what they wanted her to be. She had no idea how to be what her mom wanted her to be.
As the future queen of Bright Moon, she was expected to know exactly what to do and how to do it, but the truth was she didn't know what she was doing half the time. She didn't even know if she wanted to do this, but it's what's expected of her. No matter what she wanted. She didn't know how her mom and Arrow did it, it was always hard for her to keep up.
Speaking of her mom and brother, they were both so good at magic! Being good at magic, it was another thing that was expected of her that she didn't know how to do. Her mom never seemed to struggle with using her magic, and if she ever did, she never told them. And Arrow, he was a good brother, but it secretly bothered her how easily he was able to use magic.
She didn't think much of it at first. When she was little, she just assumed that it was because she was little and it would take time. But alas, she never learned how to control her magic, and it bothered her. Especially when Arrow started easily teleporting around the castle. Her mom had always seemed so proud of him, but her...
"Cyn, you ok?" Finn's voice broke into her thoughts. She looked up in surprise.
"Huh- oh yeah... Fine!"
"Are ya sure? Ya kinda zoned out there for a sec."
"Yeah, I'm good." She shook her head once again to clear it of any worries and doubts, and continued to follow Finn. She was here now to escape all of that, not dwell on it more.
"Oooook then... hurry up! We're almost at Razz's house!"
"Wait, we're going to Razz's-"
"Race ya!" They said as they pushed Cynthia and ran ahead.
"Hey! Not fair!" She said, laughing as she ran to catch up to them. After a few seconds they caught up to Finn.
"I'm gonna beat you!" She taunted.
"No! I am!" They countered, then Finn and Cynthia started pushing and shoving each other.
"Wait! Slow down, we could trip over something-" She felt something break her run, and she felt herself falling.
"AHHHHHHH! Oof! Oh! Oomph!" They held onto each other and felt themselves tumbling into a clearing. Until at last, they stopped tumbling.
"Uuuuugggghhh..." Cynthia groaned as she lifted her head. She looked around, and saw Finn on top of her, also looking disoriented.
"Get off me!" Cynthia pushed Finn off of her and stood up.
"Ohhh... I think I broke my tail..." Finn groaned as they stood up and stretched.
"Oh, we're here!" Cynthia said.
"Huh, wha-?" Finn followed her gaze, and saw the tiny little cottage where Razz lived.
"Oh, we are!" They agreed.
"Well hello dearies! You're just in time!" Razz was walking out of the cottage to greet them.
"You knew we were coming?" Cynthia asked as Razz walked up to them.
"Of course I did! Mara and your grandmother told me you were coming! She wants to talk to you." Razz said as she brought the two inside their home.
"Uh... ok, Madame Razz, you may not know this, but my grandmother died. A long time ago."
"That's nonsense! She told me you guys were coming! She said she wants to talk to you, Cynthia."
"Er..."
"Just go with it, ok? Razz can be a liiitle loopy at times." Finn whispered, they made a loop gesture with their finger on the word loopy.
"Did someone say SWIFT WIND?!" At that moment, Swift Wind thrust his head through the door. A basket full of berries was hanging on this horn."
"AH!" Finn and Cynthia jumped. "I mean... oh hey! Swift Wind! What are you doing out here?" Cynthia asked, trying to act casual.
"I'm helping Razz bake a pie, you guys really should check up on old ladies alone in the woods. Also I was bored and there was nothing else to do, so..."
"Thank you Swifty!" Razz went over to him and he leaned down so that Razz could take the basket of berries. Razz took them and put them on the table on the back wall. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes! Mara wants to talk to you, Finn, and your grandmother wants to talk to you and your brother." She pointed at Cynthia. "Where is your brother? And the rest of your friends? Their grandparents want to talk to them too!
"Er... Razz-" Swift Wind tried to say something.
"They told you to meet them at the Spirit Stone at the eclipse. The magic will be the strongest that time!" Finn and Cynthia's eyes widened, and the turned their heads to look at each other slowly, and back again.
"There's no time to waste, you must meet them at the time of the eclipse! Or all will be lost! Razz started walking out of the cottage and into the woods. Finn, Cynthia, and Swift Wind looked at each other uncertainly, then followed her.
"So... we're just following a wacky old lady through the woods, no questions asked. Oooook then..." Swift Wind said uncertainly, but followed them.
"Come on dearies! Keep up! There's no time to waste!" Razz called as she expertly maneuvered through the woods, jumping over roots and dodging bushes. Finn, Cynthia, and Swift Wind were getting caught on branches, struggling to keep up.
"Can you at least tell us where we're going?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah, where are we going?" Finn asked, their voice filled with curiosity.
"Why are we even following her again?" Swift Wind asked.
"She said something about the Spirit Stone." Cynthia replied
"Uh... what's that? And why's it so important?"
"We saw it in a magic book at Mystacor today." She answered.
"Hold on, you guys went to MYSTACOR?! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? I was wondering where everyone was. Why am I always getting left out of important things?" Swift Wind's head drooped.
"Well... we weren't supposed to be there. Me, Arrow, Cynthia, and Frosta followed our parents without them knowing." Finn assured them.
"Pleaseeee don't tell them!" Cynthia begged.
"Oooook fine, but why am I always getting left out of important things?" He complained and plodded ahead. Finn and Cynthia looked at each other and shrugged. "Also, a magic book? Do those even exist?" Swift Wind asked.
"Yep, there are plenty of magic books in Mystacor, but none are like the one we saw today. This one was glowing without any explanation!" Cynthia answered.
"And it looked really cool!" Finn added.
"You guys have got to tell me more about magic books!" Swift Wind said excitedly.
"You can't even- I mean... sure!" Cynthia responded. They continued to follow Razz for a long time. They ran through the woods, trying to keep up with Razz. Eventually, they came upon a part of the woods that they'd never even seen before.
"Where... are we?" Swift Wind asked. He looked around, confused.
"Yeah, where we at?" Finn asked, also looking around confusedly.
"I... don't know..." Cynthia thought aloud.
"Keep up dearies! We're almost there!" Razz called.
"You still haven't told us where we're going!" Cynthia complained. They arrived at a circle of trees. Firmly locked together so that no one could go in between them and see what was inside.
"Uh... what are we doing here?" Finn asked.
"You'll see soon enough dearie!" Razz walked over to the copse of trees and put her hand one one of them.
"Show us." She said, and the copse of trees opened up into a small clearing, more of those white specks were floating around. Making the place seem so... magical. Well, more magical.
"Whoaaaaaa!" Finn, Cynthia, and Swift Wind exclaimed in awe. To Finn and Cynthia, this place felt magical, but... different, like... a different kind of magic.
"Wait, it's those white speck thingies again!" Finn observed
"Oh yeah! We saw those back in Mystacor! They led us to that library!" Cynthia added.
"Library? What's so special about a library?" Swift Wind asked.
"Finally someone gets it!" Finn exclaimed.
"They led us to the library where we found that magic book! With the Spirit Stone thing. The one we told you about earlier!"
"Yeah... you still didn't explain why that's so important."
"That magic book showed us that the Spirit Stone may be connected to the runestones somehow. If this 'Spirit Stone' was really real, and somehow we found it, we could fix the problem with the magic! Right Finn?" Cynthia turned around to face Finn, but they weren't there.
"Finn?" She asked, looking around, and saw Finn and Razz staring down a hole in the ground in the center of the clearing. It seemed to be the mouth of a tunnel or cave, the hole was just big enough for a regular etherian to fit through.
"What's up with them?" Swift Wind asked, Cynthia shrugged.
"Come along dearies!" Razz hopped through the hole.
"Madame Razz! Wait!" Cynthia called as she, Finn, and Swift Wind peered over the edge of the hole
"Razz?!" Finn, Cynthia, and Swift Wind said in unison.
"Woooooohoooooooo!" They heard Razz's scream of excitement.
"Sounds like she's having fun..." Finn said, their tail lashing even faster and more violently than before, feet shifting.
"Wait! Finn! We don't know what's down the-" Cynthia tried to warn Finn
"Wooooooohooooooo!" They jumped into the hole.
"FINN?! ARE YOU OK?! Cynthia's eyes were wide with terror.
No answer.
"They're not answering! Why aren't they answering?! FINN?! FINN ARE YOU OK?!
Still no answer.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO THEY'RE DEADDDDDDDDDDDDD!" Swift Wind bawled as he slumped to the ground. Tears streaming down his face. "I'M SORRY ADORA! I FAILED YOU AS YOUR NOBLE STEEEEEEEEEEED!"
Cynthia was still staring down the hole in horror.
After a few seconds, they heard a voice.
"Hey Cyn! Come down here! I just slid down the funnest slide ever!" Finn's voice echoed over the edge of the hole.
"Finn! You're ok!" Cynthia exclaimed in joy and relief. She paused. "You're not hurt are you?"
"They're not dead?" Swift Wind looked up.
"You guys got to come down here and see this!" Finn called.
"Can you come back up?" Cynthia asked.
"Just get down here! It's so cool!"
"Uh... I'm not sure..." She began, but trailed off as she stared down the hole. It was dark and gaping. The shadows threatened to swallow anyone who jumped in. But it sounded like Finn was fine. What was down there? Why had Razz led them here? There must be some reason. Should she go down there? Maybe there would be answers. Answers that would help restore the magic, keep the kingdom strong, and maybe, just maybe... impress her mother. Maybe the answers that lay down there would help her for once be a good princess. Maybe... for once she'd know what to do. After a few long minutes of staring and debating in her mind what she should do, she made a decision.
"Ok, I'm coming down!" Cynthia called. Shutting her eyes tight, and crossing her fingers. She jumped into the hole.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Cynthia screamed as she jumped down the hole.
"Wait... what about me?" Swift wind, who was left staring down the hole, asked sadly.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She opened her eyes to see she was sliding down a tunnel. Like Finn said, it had sharp curves and loops, like a slide. She was actually enjoying it.
"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" She threw her arms up as she slid down the tunnel. She slid down loops and sharp curves. After a few second she saw the end of the end of the tunnel.
"Wait, no!" She yelped, but just as she did, she felt the ground beneath her give way. She hit the ground with a thump.
"Oof!" She rubbed her head and stood up. "Wow, they were right about the slide."
"Cyn! Finally! You're here! What took you so long?"
"I... er... where are we?" She asked, looking confusedly around what seemed to be a huge dome. There were openings to tunnels on all sides. Strangely, the caves were lit with magical vines that glowed white, hanging on the walls.
"Whoaaaaa!" She breathed.
"Told ya it was cool." Finn said as they elbowed her lightly.
"Come on dearies! There's no time!" Razz called as she started walking fast down a random tunnel.
"Razz, wait up!" Finn called as they ran after Razz
"Finn, wait! We shouldn't-" Cynthia tried to stop them, but by then, they'd both gone down the tunnel.
"Ugh, never mind." Cynthia groaned and followed them.
"Uh... where is it? Which way is it?" Razz muttered to herself as she walked down random tunnels and openings. Finn and Cynthia ran behind her, struggling to keep up.
"What are we even looking for? Do you even know where you're going?" Cynthia asked.
"Uh... where is it? I just have to remember..." Razz kept muttering to herself as she wandered down tunnels and turned corners. Just then, white specks appeared, rushing down the hallway toward Razz.
"Well hello there." She said to the specks as they circled her. They rushed down the tunnel and turned a corner.
"Oh! Now I remember!" She exclaimed as she followed the specks.
"Razz! Wait!" Finn and Cynthia ran after her, panting. They walked down the hall for a minute more. Until they arrived at another new cave.
"WHOAAAAAAA!" Finn and Cynthia stared in awe. The dome was HUGE. There were white specks floating everywhere. On top of that, the cave was lit with bright white vines growing on the sides. In the center, there was a circular pool, with crystal clear water. The water was completely still, not a single ripple disturbed its surface. Everything looked so... ethereal.
Huh, you'd think that in a dank cave that never saw the light of day, the water would become all murky and gross. Cynthia thought to herself.
Ripples appearing on the surface of the water thar came seemingly out of nowhere caught her attention. She followed the ripples to see Finn on all fours, lapping the water with their tongue. Cynthia just looked at Finn annoyedly for a few seconds, until they noticed her staring, and looked up and stared at her, she sighed.
"Finn, don't drink that."
"Why? It looks clean, and I REALLY need water."
"Yeah, but we don't know that it is, you can't just go around drinking from random pools of water you find on the ground."
"Well, you're not the boss of me." Cynthia just continued to stare at them.
"Ugh, ok, fineeeeee." They reluctantly got up and started looking for pebbles to pounce on. Cynthia walked around until something caught her attention, and her eyes flitted to the ground.
There seemed to be some marks etched in the dirt. Strangely, they were clearly drawn and not worn away by... anything.
Huh, weird that these markings are still here, and they're not even a little bit worn away. She thought to herself. She pulled out an arrow, pressing a tiny lever on its side. The arrowhead disappeared. In its place was a small lens. She looked through the lens to better examine the markings, following them around the sides of a pool. They were drawn in a familiar circular pattern.
It's a spell! She realized. But... what kind of spell? I've never seen anything like it. She was jolted out of her thoughts by Razz. She was muttering to herself about... something.
"How do I do it...? I just have to remember..." She muttered. She absentmindedly stepped on the markings. They began to glow white, and the roof above them started rumbling and opening. Everyone's attention shifted to the rumbling roof.
"Uh... Finn..? What's happening..?" Cynthia asked nervously as she shakily pointed to the top.
"No way..." Finn breathed in awe as they stared at the rumbling roof. "It's gonna be something big, I can feel it! It's gonna give us all the answers we need! It's gonna-" After a few seconds of opening, the rumbling stopped. In place of the cave roof, there was a circular opening aligned with the pool. Not even a single cloud interrupted the clear sky above. The only thing interrupting the clear sky was one of the moons, which was almost aligned with the opening. All but a sliver of the moon could be seen.
"Oh..." Finn said, disappointed.
"Yes! We're just in time! The moon is in the perfect place!" Razz exclaimed.
"Oh, it's... that moon... the one which doesn't do anything..." Cynthia said, disappointed.
"How do you remember all the moons? I can't even remember the first three! Why does our planet even have that many moons in the first place?" Finn complained, scratching their head. Madame Razz bonked Cynthia on the head with the end of her broom.
"Ahh!" Cynthia rubbed her head annoyedly. "What was that for?!"
"Oh, that moon does something all right. Like I said, dearies, sometimes, there is more to things than meets the eye." At that moment, the moon had completely aligned itself over the center of the opening. White light shone onto the pool, making it glow brighter than anything they'd ever seen.
"WHOAAAAAAAA!" Finn and Cynthia exclaimed in awe, and stared at the pool. Razz turned her broom over, then gently touched the water with the end of the broomstick, making it ripple. As it rippled, an image began to form on the water.