It was Issa's turn to collect firewood, and she was out doing just that when...
"Hey Issa!" Eric called, "I wanted to talk to you. I need to tell you something important."
"Eric, please." Issa shook her head, "I've tried to be gentle, I don't want to hurt you."
Eric sighed, "I know, but I just have to hear you say it." He took a breath, "Issa, I-"
"No! I won't listen to this!" Issa cried, turned and tore away into the woods.
"Issa." Eric said softly as he grabbed her hand. "'No' is such an easy word. I just need to hear it from you."
"We can help Carly and Carson finish the quest, and you'll never hear from me again, just say you don't feel the same as I do."
It was Issa turn to sigh, "I'm not going to lie to you. I liked you from the moment I met you. You're so sweet and funny, but I'm not who you think I am."
"Well, tell me who you think you are, because I know I love the brave, strong, selfless girl I know you are." Eric said.
Issa laughed sadly, "Well for one thing, I'm the princess, and for another, I'm a... Shadow." She whispered the last word.
"What?! That's awesome! Does anyone else know? If you're a Shadow, where's your twin?" Eric asked on high speed.
Issa smiled, she had half expected him to be mad she hadn't told him.
"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Prince know, they practically raised me. And Carson, he, Issac and I grew up together." now her voice dropped, "But Issac is gone now."
"Gone?" Eric said, "You mean... but how...?"
"It was my fault." Issa answered in a haunted whisper. "I got him killed."
"What? I think I need to hear the whole story."
Issa was silent for a moment. "I owe him the truth.' she thought.
"There were 12 Shadows pairs, not including me and Issac. One by one they came on this quest... none of them came back. When it was our turn to try to retrieve the weapon, Issac was sure we wouldn't have a problem, but what he didn't take into account was the voice. The cave that you and your family have guarded for years... well you weren't the only things protecting the weapon, and I'm not talking about the spider.
"The voice lives in woods, it feeds on your emotions, fuels your feelings. It twists the truth and encourages your bad feelings. Well it got me. I was jealous of my brother, I thought I could be better than him. I went into the cave without him, and I ran into a full grown spider. One bite would be enough to kill anyone, and it would have been me, but Issac took my place. And now he's gone, because I'm selfish, and petty." Issa finished acidly.
"Issa, no. That's not fair." Eric said as he reached for her hand.
She pulled away from him, "Yes it is. I'm a selfish coward, and I killed my brother."
"Issa the very fact that you're afraid to hurt anyone else shows that you aren't selfish. You did something wrong, but that doesn't make you a bad person." Eric said.
"It doesn't make me a good person either."
"The world isn't divided into good and bad. You made a mistake, and someone got hurt. Learn from it and move on." Eric put his arm around her and this time she didn't pull away.
"How am I supposed to forget?" Issa asked.
"I don't want you to forget, I want you to remember, because that will make you a better person." Eric said softly, "But I want you to forgive yourself."
"But what if I make a mistake again? What if I hurt someone.... what if I hurt you?" Issa whispered.
"I'm willing to take the chance. Things hurt more when they're done on purpose."
"I would never hurt you on purpose." Issa said
"You've never hurt anyone on purpose."
"But don't worry, we're both strong, we can take whatever comes. Together."
"So," Mr. Prince said to the whole group, "Just over that hill somewhere is the rip. Do you all understand the plan? Any questions?"
Eric raised his hand. "How does he weapon work?"
"It's a wish-granter." Mrs. Prince replied, "You just have to make a wish. A heart felt wish is one of the strongest things in the world."
"Well then," Carson said with a smile, "We can wish for a chocolate cake to celebrate. I think that's as heart felt as you can get."
"Eric, I wanted to talk to you before tomorrow." Mr. Prince said, "Issa. There's something you should know about her."
"Um, sir. I already know." Eric interjected.
"What? How?" Mr. Prince sounded completely taken by surprise.
"S-She told me... just this afternoon." Eric replied nervously.
There was a long moment of silence.
"Issa has never talked to anyone about that. Not even Ms. Prince." Mr. Prince hook his head.
"Issa is a tough girl to impress, but if she's opened up to you, then you deserve her."
"Oh, thanks." Eric said, wiping his forehead, "For a second, I thought you were mad."
"No. In fact, I'm extremely relieved. Issa is going to need someone to take care of her." Mr. Prince smiled.
"Here, take this. I've had it for a long time, but you've earned it." Mr. Prince held out his old vest, "It may be a bit tattered, but I hope you can wear it with pride."
"Wow. Thank you, but are you sure? You wear this all the time." Eric said.
"Yes I'm sure. You've earned it." Mr. Prince said, then added in an undertone, "I won't need it anymore."
Eric slipped it on and smiled. The vest was warm and comfortable.
"Sorry, what was that?" Eric asked. But Mr. Prince was already gone.
"Do you think they'll be OK?" Mrs. Prince asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about them. Carson and Carly are OK. Eric and Issa are OK. It's all OK." Mr. Prince replied.
"Are you afraid?" She asked.
Mr. Prince shook his head no.
"Me neither. Maybe because we knew this was coming."
"Look at that view." Mr. Prince said.
The two of them watched the sun go down, knowing tomorrow, if they failed, there might be no one left to watch the next sunset.
EEEKK! I love this part so much! The semi-finale will be coming out on Wednesday at 2:00 pm. I hope you guys are as excited as me! OK, thanks for reading!
~ Megan