Gwen lost Artie in the school's second courtyard, but she did manage to find a stable, so she went ahead and booked Montague there for the night. It only cost ten farthings.
Alone, she stomped through one of the castle's outside corridors and called for her brother, "Come out, come out wherever you are!" She sounded like a mom when she did this. Little did Gwen know, but she was heading in the direction of the orphanage. A few younger kids rushed by her.
They almost knocked her to the ground. "Whoa!" the young woman shouted. She almost yelled, "Watch were you're going!" but then she saw how young the kids were. Just looking at them, she could tell they were orphans. That must've meant she was nearing the orphanage. If she was going to find Arthur, that is where she had to look first. Or maybe not. Now in the orphanage cluster of buildings, her eyes rolled over to a fountain that had a reproduction of Bernini's David on top of it. Bernini's David - a wonderful piece of Baroque artwork. Gwen recognized the person standing over the fountain. Arthur. There he was. Just at the sight of him, the young girl felt a pinch of excitement.
Artie did not notice her. Right now, he was in the process of making a wish. His hands were at his chest, and this caused his sleeves to roll down a bit. For the first time, Gwen noticed the chain on his wrist, and her eyes widened. Wait a minute! The wolf she met also had a chain! This just confirmed it! Artie was indeed the wolf she met!
After a moment of silence, the young boy opened his eyes and removed his hands. A coin, which had been resting in them, splashed into the fountain's water, and Artie watched as it sank to the bottom. What was his wish? He couldn't say it out loud. After all, that was bad luck.
Gwen rested her hand on her sword hilt and slowly approached his back. "Artie?" she asked in a small voice.
"Gwen!" he yelled. Whirling around, he quickly slid his sleeve back over his chain and asked her, "What are you doing here?!" in a slightly annoyed voice.
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked as she gestured with her finger for him to come here, "You and I need to find Illusion."
"Ha! I certainly hope your joking!" sarcastically laughed Artie, "You did not have to follow me here! Why don't you be like any other woman and terrorize your suitors instead of me?"
"Terrorize?" As the words sank into her system, anger replaced Gwen's feeling of excitement, "What happened to you? You were so nice to me in the forest!"
"In the forest? I don't know what you're talking about." With that, Artie crossed his arms and turned away from the girl.
"Oh please." Gwen scoffed, "Don't you play dumb with me, Arthur."
"It's Artie! How many times do I have to tell you that? I like to be called Artie!"
"Whatever. Fess up, kid. You're the wolf I met. Just look at your wrist." Quickly, Artie held his chained wrist behind his back.
Gwen placed her hand on his shoulder and said in an annoyed voice, "Come on. Illusion is waiting for us."
"Pfft." Artie scoffed, and he removed her hand from his shoulder, "You mean Illusion is waiting for you. You just want to use its power so you can become a dumb musketeer, right?"
For a second, Gwen hesitated, "N-No. I'm going to use it to bring our family back together. We're going to Saudi Arabia, kid, whether you like it or not!"
"Ooh, Saudi Arabia huh? Well, you have fun playing around in the sand. I'm going to stay where it's cool. I'm sure the Ottoman Empire loves enslaving little girls who want to be musketeers."
"Ooh!" Gwen snapped. She clenched her fists and puffed out her cheeks. There was no way this cowardly teenager was her brother! She refused to believe that.
Artie shoved by her shoulder and stomped down the courtyard.
Behind, Gwen shouted at him, "Get back here!" but he refused to listen to her.
As he made his way through the courtyard, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. What was his destiny - for people to just pick on him the rest of his life? That sounded accurate. Why did Arabella curse him instead of someone else? Why didn't she curse Gwen for Pete's sake? In his mind, Artie was nothing but an un-confident baby who knew he would never live his dream.
Five minutes into his "Time to beat myself up" walk, he ran into Percival who seemingly appeared from out of nowhere.
Hand on sword hilt, he glared at the un-confident teen. "Afternoon?" Artie asked in a "Just let me through" voice. Percival did not move from where he stood. It wasn't long until two familiar figures snuck up on him from behind. Dex and Rex, Percy's goons. Gulping, Artie peered back to them.
Then, facing Percy again, he asked, "What do you want now, Percival?"
"Grab him," was all Percy said. Artie's eyes widened, but before he could protest, Dex and Rex grabbed his upper arms. He tried to break free, but the bullies held him tightly. With his hand still on his sword hilt, Percy approached him. He brought his finger to his chin and studied the scrawny boy up and down, "Hm, so you're the boy my father is looking for? Ha. Then this will be easy." With that, he drew his sword and held the blade up to Artie's neck, "Now tell me what you know about Illusion, unless you want your pretty little head served on the king's dinner plate." Artie flinched and clenched his teeth when he felt the weapon's cool blade. Illusion? What was Percival talking about? He had no idea where the legendary mirror was. Sure, Percival always bullied him, but he never tried to kill him. What was going on here? Considering he lived in Baroque Europe, there was not a lot of school security that would accuse Percy of attempted murder. In fact, this is how disputes were usually settled back then - through gunfire and sword fights.
"What do you want from me?" Artie asked in his best manly voice, "I know nothing of Illusion!"
"Is that so? We'll see about that, loser. Now shut your yap, and let my sword do the talking."
"You don't want to do that," a young, female voice suddenly asked from off to the side. Guinevere.
She stood with her hands on her hips, and she glared at the bullies. "Gwen?" Artie asked.
Dex, Rex, and Percy stared at the determined girl. "Ooh." Percy sarcastically chuckled, and he removed his blade from Artie's neck, "Look what the loser dragged in. His own personal bodyguard. Hello, princess."
Here, he came within reach of Gwen who admitted, "You're disgusting! Trust me, you do not want to kill this un-confident boy. After all, he holds nothing of interest. In fact, I'm sure that with one flick of my finger, I can send him flying off the face of this earth. If you want a good fight, you need to pick it with someone you're own size." She chuckled and pointed at herself, "Like me."
"You?" Percival scoffed, "Please, I don't have time to fight with princesses like you."
"Is that so? Then draw your sword." As she said this, Gwen pulled her sword out of its scabbard and pointed it at Percival, "I challenge you."
"You make me laugh, woman, but if you say so." Percy tightened his grip on his sword and edged even closer to the young woman.
Nervous, Artie broke free from Dex and Rex and said, "Um, Gwen, I wouldn't do this if I was you. He's Number One in knight class."
"We'll see about that." It was time for Gwen to get retribution against Sir Elwin when she challenged him in the village, and boy, she was excited.
She tapped blades with Percival and positioned her feet.
He nodded when he saw her determination, "Very well, but I'm not going to be responsible for your remains when you lose."
"Gwen, stop." Artie frightfully spoke, but she ignored him. She didn't need a man to tell her what to do, especially one whom was younger than she. She and Percival stared at each other for a while, and then...BOOM! The dual started.
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