The Lost Ring
Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a princess Nea and a princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. They had just brought some rare Thistleweeds to Lady Jewel from Allaymia so she could create a force field around the city in case it was attacked, but now they needed to find Tuck at Cedar Landing so they could reunite the last crystal keeper with the black crystal.
Our adventurers headed back Cedar Landing, only when they arrived they learned that Tuck and those he was training suddenly got news that Morrenvale was in danger and had to head up there.
“Oh no!” Lulu said. “I sure hope Princess Ellery is okay?”
“I’m sure she can handle herself.” Nea responded, “Remember that magic wand she has?”
Lulu nodded and they immediately headed north to Morrenvale. Before they arrived, they were stopped right outside one of the nearby villages by a lady who was talking with none other than Princess Ellery and Darius.
“Ellery!” Lulu said, so excited to see her best friend.
“Lulu!” Ellery replied giving her a hug. “We could really use your help!”
“Yes, we heard that Morrenvale might be trouble!”
“Oh no, I don’t need help with that.” Ellery assured her. “That’s under control. My friend, Annette, here is getting married today and she’s lost her wedding ring!”
Phin and Coryn immediately looked at each other and frowned. Clearly they were not very interested in a wedding ring adventure.
“Atheria is under attack and we’re finding a wedding ring?” Phin said under his breath.
“Shhh! She’ll hear you!” Ellery responded, “Give the poor girl a break. It’s her wedding day. Will you help us, Lulu?”
“Of course we will.”
Phin looked at Coryn. “How about we head to Morrenvale and find Tuck? We can meet you there as soon as you find the wedding ring and save this wedding from destruction.”
Phin’s sarcasm was not lost on Nea. They all agreed and split up.
Nea walked over to Annette, who had resumed talking Darius’s ear off. She was very thankful to have help and explained how important this day was and how much she loved the very special man she was marrying.
“Where did you last see the ring?” Nea asked.
“In my cottage by the water. But it’s very, very messy.”
“We’ll take a look. We should start there.”
“How about I stay with Annette? Maybe I can help calm her down.” Darius offered, noticing she was in state of panic.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she replied. “I have so much to do today. It’s going to be the biggest most beautiful wedding!”
So the three princesses headed to her cottage. On the way over, Ellery ran into Asher, a boy they had run into a few times on their adventures. He was helping the baker with the cake for the wedding.
“Hello Asher, how is the cake coming?” Ellery asked.
“Terrible!” he gruffed. “This is the worst wedding I’ve ever heard of. She wants vanilla cake with berry filling. The baker’s not going to be able to do that - even with help!”
Everyone was extremely surprised, Asher was always such a polite and nice guy and especially when it came to helping out. He loved baking food too - especially desserts. For him to be so mean and angry over a wedding cake was unbelievable.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Everything is fine. Leave me alone.” He said rudely, then he walked off.
Ellery, Nea and Lulu just stood there thinking, “This is very, very odd. Why is he so angry?”
But they continued on. When they got to the cottage they looked underneath her bed, behind her cabinet, in her dresser and all around the cottage. They looked in her jewelry box, under her chairs, around her table and even outside on the patio but it wasn’t there either. There was one place that they hadn’t searched, which was a large chest in her bedroom.
“Should we look inside?” asked Ellery.
“I don’t see why not.” Lulu said.
“It looks private.” Nea protested.
“She wants us to find the ring, doesn’t she!” Lulu argued.
“Fine!” Nea crossed her arms.
They opened the chest. One would think there would be blankets, or clothes or other things a person might normally store in there house. What the princesses didn’t expect to find was a large piece of tranium.
“What’s she doing with tranium?” Ellery asked.
“I don’t know but why SHOULDN’T she have a huge piece of tranium.” Nea said, feeling guilty for opening the chest. She reached over and closed the chest.
“Now, how are we going to find that ring?” Nea continued, changing the subject.
“Well, what if we put ourselves in her shoes.” Ellery said. “If I came home with a ring, what’s the first thing I would do?”
And the three princesses went back to the front door and acted like they had just come home with a beautiful ring.
“Well, sometimes I’m very thirsty when I come home.” Lulu said.
So the princesses walked over and got themselves a drink of water.
“I usually want to sit down and rest.” Nea said.
So they all walked over and plopped on the sofa at the same time. It gave way and was very comfy.
“This is a pretty comfortable sofa.” Lulu said. “I would be tempted to take a nap on it.”
“That’s it!” Ellery said. “Maybe she did. Did anyone check under the pillows? Sometimes I lose things there!”
And as they started to pull away the cushions the black box came into view. It was a small black box and when Ellery opened it, she confirmed there was a ring it.
“This has to be it!” Lulu said.
So they ran out to this small chapel near a dock where Annette was going to get married. When they got there everyone preparing was in the most foul mood, arguing and complaining and yelling at everyone. The coordinator was yelling at the band, the band was annoyed because they were starving, the officiant was fuming about one of the bridesmaids for some reason and the groom of the wedding was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Annette was over in the corner sobbing with Darius. Her whole wedding was falling apart and she didn’t know what to do.
“This is a mess!” Lulu said out loud.
“Yeah, everyone is arguing and fighting with each other.” Ellery agreed. “Shouldn’t this be a day of celebration?”
“I have an idea.” Nea said.
She immediately gave the ring to Annette who was so thankful.
“This is the ONLY good thing that has happened today.” She said giving Nea a huge hug. Then reverted back to sobbing, but this time into Nea’s shoulder “If only you could fix everything else.”
“Maybe we can.” Nea said, looking at Darius.
She pulled Darius away and started to share her plan. Even his bear, Rose, who he rode on liked the plan. She was getting a little tired of all the emotions flying around.
“You still have the white crystal?” she asked.
Darius nodded. “I do. But this a lot of angry people, more than I’ve ever been able to help. And they are all very worked up about different things - and with each other. I’m not sure it’ll work, but I can give it a shot.”
“Maybe we just go one person at a time?” Nea offered.
“Yeah, I’ll see if I have it in me.” He agreed.
Then he began one person at a time, walking up next to them and putting his hand on their shoulders. At first they gave him huge scowls but when Darius asked if they’d like help, most of them said, “yes”. Darius had realized that in the end, people often just want someone to help, or to listen to them for a second. When Darius spent a minute understanding how they felt, one by one they opened up to the power of the white Devorian crystal. When they did, their hearts began to fill with patience, happiness and a curiosity to understand. Their faces began to get softer and brighter. And eventually they began to smile again.
What followed was now, instead of everyone arguing with each other, they started asking each other if they could help and get things done faster.
Now there were a few of them that gave Darius a mean look when he tried to listen, but when they began to see everyone else change around them, the joy and happiness was contagious and by the end of it, even they came around.
As soon as everyone was back to normal, Annette ran over to Darius and gave him a huge hug. The officiant, realizing it was about time to start the wedding called everyone to attention.
The bride and groom had a magnificent wedding. It was a wedding that started there at the chapel, but soon a large pirate ship called “The Bellona” entered the harbor and docked. Nea and Lulu didn’t realize it, but the bride they had helped was the very same bride that Captain Rustin was marrying. And this was the very same wedding ring they had found on the Sanguine Island after he had invited them aboard his ship. The great Pirate Carmella’s ring.
In true fashion, Captain Rustin sailed in right as the officiant was about to start. And before the ceremony was over Carmine and Zag arrived to enjoy the festivities, they had remembered their invitation and made a special trip back to attend. And, as luck would have it, Phin and Coryn arrived to with some new knowledge about the last crystal keeper that they were ready to share, once the ceremony ended, of course.
The end.
