Archive of Our Own

“Hank…” the redhead whispered under her breath. She was half asleep, but she was lying down in the same cave as he was. With them in such close-quarters, clearing her mind of him was next-to-imposible.

They had broken up after the misunderstanding between the two of them, back when the group had saved the Cloud Bears from Venger and his army of orcs. She thought he would die for him; that he would die for the whole group. She thought he was strong, and noble, and good. And he was, in the end, though by then her feelings about him were conflicted. Something had to be done. Perhaps she would have forgiven him more easily had he not aimed his light arrow at Bobby. But alas, he had done that, and her loyalty toward her brother ended up overriding her love for him (despite Bobby’s protests that he was fine). It was a sinking betrayal in her mind—although it turned out in the end to all be part of his grand plan to defeat Venger’s forces, she had still felt that he was careless in not informing the group of his plan—and so she of course became enraged. Her boyfriend had no right to even pretend to threaten her brother without both her and Bobby’s consent beforehand, and so she had to step away from him after Venger’s departure and contemplate how she was to deal with him. She soon devolved into tears and hoped that no one (least of all Hank) saw her.

Luckily, Diana found her. “You can tell Hank that you need to take a step back from the relationship if that’s what you need,” she advised. Sheila was hesitant about proceeding with this advice though: won’t Hank hate me if I break up with him? Will we not be able to be friends again? But Diana told Sheila that if a breakup would help make Sheila less angry about the situation, then she should do it. “If you don’t trust him, you have the right to express that to him. And it doesn’t have to be forever, Sheila. You guys can talk about resuming the relationship if things get better.” Thanks for the advice, Sheila said to her with a faint smile. Then she left to confront Hank.

He was actually quite understanding of Sheila’s frustration with him. “I don’t hate you,” she conceded. “B-but I just don’t know what to think of this.” Hank held out his hand and she gripped onto it tightly. Prior to that night, she thought she would have stayed with Hank forever—that they would have both graduated high school and then gotten married some indiscriminate number of years later. They were close to each other, and it was astounding just how many times Hank had protected her and saved her life throughout their time spent in the realm. She admired him, and stood by him out of loyalty. How would it feel to no longer feel such an emotional, intimate love with someone?

She was bitter the next day. She walked behind the rest of the group, averting her gaze from Hank. She did not want any of his attention. Eventually they stopped nearby a river, where Hank, Diana and Bobby went to fish. “Hey Sheila,” Bobby exclaimed. “Wanna join us?”

“No,” Sheila growled, stomping away to a nearby thicket.

“Fear not, Thief,” a high-pitched voice echoed behind her.

“Dungeon Master?” she blurted out, turning to face the small wizard behind her.

“Dungeon Master, I felt that Hank betrayed me,” she said, her voice cracking. She was hoping for Dungeon Master to say something encouraging to her, some hint on how things could be the same again, even if it was just one of his standard cryptic riddles. She needed something, just something from him.

So she was completely alarmed when Dungeon Master’s response was simply, “Don’t worry, Sheila: you may find love where you least expect it.”

“What do you mean, Dungeon Master?” she yelled at him. “Back on that tree where we broke up?” But with that, he vanished.

Eric walked over to the thicket, stooping over to see Sheila crouching in front of the patch where Dungeon Master had stood moments before.

“So Dungeon Master was spouting off his crazy nonsense again?” he asked.

“Leave me alone, Eric!” she retorted. Eric, intimidated by the unusual anger in her voice, left.

So, there she was, trying to sleep, thinking about her ex-boyfriend and the riddle Dungeon Master had presented to her. It had to mean something: his words always do, after all. A warmth filled her chest: somehow, she knew, I’ll figure out this puzzle and reconcile with Hank and all will be forgotten.

That was when she heard the sound of a girl sobbing. Somebody help me!

Sheila got up to further pay attention to the sound. The girl kept crying out. I have to help somehow… Sheila thought.

So, she got up. At the sight of movement Uni woke up too and moved to Sheila’s side. “I should wake the others up,” she whispered. But her heart began flaming with independent ambition, and so she decided, “on second thought, I don’t need them.” After all, the less she could see of her ex, the better.

As Sheila and Uni walked down the sandy valley, the girl’s voice crescendoed, and soon Sheila heard the voice say, “Help! I’m in here!” from a cave to the left of her. She turned to the cave and proceeded towards the girl.

The first thing Sheila saw when she first caught sight of the girl was her long, golden hair. Like Hank’s, but longer. The trapped girl then turned around.

“Please. Help me. I-I-I’m trapped by this spell,” the trapped girl said in an eerie voice, as if she were under a spell.

“What can I do?” she asked the trapped girl. Uni let out a bahhh in agreement. She noticed just how loosely her silk purple dress adorned her shoulders, the tips of her sleeves bound by violet ribbons. Her eyes gleamed violet, never wavering from Sheila’s gaze. She is beautiful, almost like she’s some magical being, Sheila thought in awe.

“Reach…your hand through,” the girl replied. “And maybe you can pull me out.”

Hesitantly, Sheila did as the girl asked, touching both her hands against the transparent barrier between her and the trapped girl.

“Ughh…ehh…” she heaved, pushing against the barrier as hard as she could. “I don’t think…I can do it!”

“Oh please try,” the trapped girl said, a miserable note lingering in her voice. “I’ve been here ever so long.”

“Uhhh…uhh…eh,” Sheila heaved again, finally maneuvering her hand through the barrier like it was liquid. Taking her hand in the trapped girl’s, they both saw the transparent barrier dissolve.

“You did it! The spell is broken!” exclaimed the golden-haired girl. Sheila grinned, for she had done something on her own, for once.

“How can I ever thank you!” she said, stepping forward to hug her. Sheila flinched and was caught off-guard by this movement, but she soon settled, comforted by the embrace of the girl who was apparently her new friend.

“It was nothing…friend,” Sheila said, bowing her head. “What’s your name?”

The golden-haired girl stepped back. “Karena,” she said, still in her almost mystical, dream-like voice.

“Karena,” Sheila murmured in turn. Yes…Karena, my new friend.

Sheila and Karena exited the cave and walked down the rocky gorge for a while, chatting as they went.

“I’ve never seen you around here before…Sheila. Are you a visitor in these parts?”

“Yes, I am,” she answered. “I’m actually not from this world at all, though. Me and my brother and my friends…we accidentally got pulled from our own world and are now here.” Tears began to trickle down her eyes. “And I’m tired of having to fight monsters nearly every day”

Karena opened her arms and embraced Sheila. Sheila in turn rested the head on Karena’s shoulder. “T-thank you, Karena,” she mumbled.

“It means nothing to me, my dear. I hate this place too.”

After a minute or so of hugging, Sheila wormed herself out of Karena’s warm embrace.

“Are you from another world too?” Sheila asked.

Karena immediately shook her head fervently and her eyes grew dark, as if she was haunted by something. “No,” she answered. “But I have an annoying brother I have to deal with.”

Sheila grasped Karena’s hand and looked her in her glimmering purple eyes. Oh they are so pretty, she thought to herself, before redirecting her attention to the topic at hand.

“I have an annoying brother too,” Sheila said. “He always wants to fight. He thinks he’s brave, but I’m worried for his safety. He’s so young…”

“Mine is older,” Karena told Sheila. “He also loves getting into trouble,” she said, laughing. Then her eyes became haunted again. “We fight a lot. We hate each other’s guts, and Dad is never there to keep him in check.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, Karena. You look like a very nice person”

“I haven’t heard anyone call me nice…” Karena said in an eerie tone, “...in a long time.”

Sheila felt chills zap down her spine at this statement, though she wasn’t quite sure why. She shrugged it off though. “You deserve it. You are the nicest friend I’ve met here.”

“What about the friends you came into the realm with?” Karena asked.

“Thing is…” Sheila began, sighing. “Most of them weren’t really friends. I mean—we knew each other, but we weren’t close. Except my brother, of course.” Then, more quietly, “and my boyfriend.” She paused. “He—I trusted him, and—well, he broke that trust. I-I can’t be around him anymore. It makes me so upset because h-he acts like he’s braver, and smarter, and stronger than everyone else. And I hate it, hate it.”

“I’m sorry, Sheila. Is there…anything I can do to help you?” Her gorgeous violet eyes gleamed at her. They’re beautiful, like Hank’s, Sheila thought with a pang of sadness rippling through her heart.

“No…being my friend is enough,” Sheila told the golden-haired girl.

“Well, I want to be your friend, too,” Karena said, and Sheila’s heart fluttered. She felt awkward around this particular girl, but she certainly wanted to do anything that would make her happy. After all, she loved her and would do anything, to make sure this friendship survived.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Karena?” Sheila asked.

“Yes, actually,” Karena answered. “My brother wanted to take my power away from me, so he stole my ring of power and put it into the Citadel of Shadow. Do you want to help me retrieve it?

“Absolutely!” Sheila said enthusiastically. “I can easily help you, Karena! I may not have a magic ring, but I do have this!”

With that, Sheila reached back for her purple hood and pulled it over her head. With that, Sheila vanished.

“Wow,” Karena said with awe. “You do have something that can help me.”

The two continued walking down the gorge until they reached an area close to a rocky bridge. Then they stopped for the night.

When dawn encroached on the land, Karena woke Sheila up. “It is time for me to retrieve my ring of power, Sheila.” Sheila quickly got up and followed her across the rocky bridge.

“Where is your ring of power?” Sheila asked, wondering why they had to cross such a precarious-looking piece of land. We could easily fall to our deaths! Sheila thought.

“I told you,” Karena answered flatly. “My brother put it in the Citadel of Shadow”

The two girls continued walking down the bridge. Sheila then for the first time since she met Karena, remembered her friends back at the cave. Sensing a connection, she said, “My other friends and I just found one. A bright blue ring!” She couldn’t believe she had forgotten that, because she had last seen her friends less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Really?” Karena piped up, though a landslide below soon interrupted the budding conversation.

“Woah. Look out!” Sheila warned her friend. Uni let out a cry of distress, and both Karena and Sheila delicately walked further on the bridge, checking every step as to make sure that they did not accidentally slip and fall along with the rocks. Sheila unfortunately mis-stepped, a rock came loose, and she eagerly exclaimed: “Karena! Help!”

Thankfully Karena reacted quickly, reaching out her hand toward Sheila; she seized onto it and Karena pulled her out. “You’ve got to be more careful,” she scolded. “I need you.”

Sheila didn’t like being scolded, but she grinned at the “I need you” part of Karena’s statement. Hank never treated her this way! She thought with a sense of pride.

“There it is,” Karena said as soon as the two finished crossing the bridge, pointing at what looked to Sheila like one of those haunted houses she saw advertised around Halloween. “This could be very dangerous, you know,” Karena added, warning her friend of the dangers the Citadel of Shadow might harbor.

But Sheila was unfazed. “Don’t try and talk me out of it! We’re friends!” I cannot bear to lose this girl without me knowing. If I can help her, I will.

Thankfully though, Karena shared her feelings on Sheila’s presence in this mission. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, embracing Sheila. The redhead could feel her cheeks flaring up, and worried about what Karena might think if she noticed it. She was starting to suspect she had a little crush on the golden-haired girl: she was just too much of an enigma not to be fascinated by.

Uni seemed suspicious of the plan though: she let out a deep grunt expressing her disapproval toward the mission. Nevertheless, the young unicorn followed Sheila and Karena into the Citadel.

Once they were inside the Citadel, Karena led Sheila to this door and reached the handle. But upon touching it, the golden-haired, violet-eyed girl was thrown backwards, Uni let out a scared cry, and, turning backwards, Sheila saw that her friend was unconscious.

She darted towards the unconscious girl. “Karena, what is it?” she yelled. But Karena looked unshocked.

“My brother. He’s put a spell on the doors.”

“Nice guy,” Sheila said sarcastically. Karena was all serious, though.

“We’ve got to get my ring back, Sheila. I’m afraid—you’ll have to do it for me.”

Uni was upset that Sheila kept moving towards the door, but the redhead ignored her. She successfully opened the doors and saw the pedestal where Karena’s ring was emanating red energy.

“Please, Sheila,” Karena begged, holding out her palm in anticipation of the ring.

“All right,” Sheila told her. Her heart was beating fast, full of anxiety. Any number of things could go wrong: she could fall off the rocky bridge like she did earlier, and Karena would not be able to save her: the damsel in distress she was. Or what if the ring killed her? But she had to go. Anything for Karena, she promised.

“Please, Sheila, hurry, there’s not much time,” Karena said, continuing to urge Sheila. Sheila began gritting her teeth. She was tired of Karena continuing to egg her on. She’s almost annoying as Hank, she reflected. Almost.

She grabbed the ring from the pedestal, instantly heard something scary she couldn’t quite identify, and yelled “KARINA, I’VE GOT IT!” at the top of her lungs as she dashed back toward her friend.

“Sheila, hurry!” Karena said, seemingly concerned for the redhead’s safety. Sheila could not see a thing, but she could hear explosions and guessed that whatever Karina saw scared her to death.

Sheila crashed on the stone floor of the Citadel of Shadow after returning with the ring, huffing and puffing right at Karena’s feet.

“I’ll take my ring now,” she insisted, not very kindly. Karena now looked akin to one of those pretty sorceresses she always saw in movies back at home. She was stunned by the sudden unkindness from Karena but soon the girl followed up with a flat “thank you.”

Sheila held her hand with the ring out toward Karena. “Sure,” she said, in reference to her friend’s request, but as the golden-haired girl turned her back to her, she said, “huh?” Had she somehow done something wrong? She didn’t think so, so why did Karena seem to be mad at her? She had to get her trust back somehow!

Uni grunted at the situation again. “Karena?” Sheila petted the unicorn’s mane and walked up to the golden-haired girl. “Karina! What’s the matter?” But Karena simply looked at her darkly, even more like one of those sorceresses from the movies.

“You have served your purpose,” Karena said, in a voice like one of those cartoon villains from her childhood. Her beautiful purple eyes briefly flashed unattractive, malicious red. She-she’s a monster? Sheila thought, beginning to panic.

“What?”

“I needed you to break the spell guarding my ring. Now that I have it, I don’t need you any longer.”

“But—I thought we were friends!” First Hank, now her?

“You thought wrong!” Then Karena let out a villainous laugh—again like those villains in the movies.

“What?” Karena snapped, turning her head around. She at first was confused by the girl’s action, before seeing clearly what had happened. At that moment, Sheila’s old friends came barging through the Citadel door. “Sheila, we found you!” exclaimed Diana. “Are you okay?” asked Bobby. “Who’s your friend?” asked Hank. Sheila knew Hank meant no harm by it, but was still embarrassed that he asked her about the girl that she happened to have a crush on. And I don’t think he would approve, Sheila thought. He comes from a very conservative family, and besides, even if he was fine with it, he wouldn’t be fine with me having a crush on one of the bad guys.

“Her name is Karena,” she said, not dwelling too deeply on the mixed emotions the mention of this name now stirred in her. Then everyone heard another explosion and turned around. A large man dressed in red and black slowly walked through the threshold. “Venger?” everyone yelled, surprised. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though, knowing Karena led us here.

“I thought I would find you here, Karena,” growled Venger

“You know Venger?” asked Eric.

Sheila side-eyed him. Of course she does. Everyone who is evil knows Venger!

But what Sheila heard next surprised her too.

“Welcome…brother.” Karena said, holding back a blast of blue magic Vanger sent her way.

“He’s your brother? You’re his sister?” Bobby asked. Uni also echoed the group’s confusion.

“Well, you’ve done it, Sheila,” said Eric.

“I shall destroy you, and your young friends.”

Sheila had a lot of questions on her mind, but she was so scared she couldn’t think to ask them at this very moment.

“Hey—she’s—she’s not our friend!” Eric complained, gesturing towards Karena. “She’s Sheila’s friend!”

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Hank insisted.

“Somebody…think of something!” Eric whined, obviously panicked.

“This way, guys!” Hank said, pointing towards a pathway that could lead to their escape. Bobby smashed the gray brick wall at the corner of the Citadel the group ran to to escape Venger and everyone in the group ran quickly out of the building.

“Where’d you meet her, Sheila?” Diana asked.

“She was trapped in a cave!” Sheila answered, frustrated.

“You rescued Venger’s sister?” Eric asked.

“She didn’t tell me that part,” Sheila responded. I guess I should’ve figured from her description of Venger as older than her and the fact that he is a bad guy. But I thought there were a lot of older brothers who were bad guys out there.

“What about Karena? Bobby asked, gesturing toward where the golden-haired girl lay among the ruins of the Citadel. Sheila figured that she and Venger had a fight, and that she had lost, which was why she was here now.

“What are we waiting for? Come on!” Hank commanded, leading the group towards Karena.

“Wow!” said Bobby.

“That was terrific!” said Presto.

“How did you do that?” asked Eric.

“I couldn’t have done it without Sheila’s help,” Karena admitted.

“Huh?” Eric asked. Everyone was now looking at Sheila, who stood apart from the other kids.

“I didn’t do anything. Really.” Uni squeaked in agreement.

“Nonsense,” replied Karena, approaching the redhead. “Without Sheila and Uni’s help, I would never have gotten my ring back or been able to overpower my brother.”

“Oh, you know, we’d make a great team, Karina. How about it! You care to join us?” Eric asked. Karina quickly snapped at him when he touched her shoulder, however.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Well, it—it was just a suggestion” Eric said, not really apologizing to Karena.

“I’m sorry. That–that shoulder hurts,” Karena said, excusing herself from whatever Eric was trying to accomplish with her.

“Yeah, apparently,” Eric said sarcastically. Karena ignored him.

Then Karena smiled. “Actually, there is something you can do for me.

“Name it!” Diana exclaimed.

“Anything!” offered Bobby.

“If we have it, it’s yours!” Hank said.

“I’m not so sure about this.” Sheila conceded. She’s probably just lying to our faces again. So much for a good friend…

“The ring you found,” Karena continued. “I must have it. Then and only then will I have absolute power!”

“No, Karena,” the voice of an old man echoed.

Everyone turned around and saw Dungeon Master.

“The ring the children have is not, and never shall be yours,” he said. “Be satisfied with the one you already possess.”

“But Dungeon Master, she got rid of Venger!” Diana countered.

“Only temporarily. Now go, Karena. Leave these children alone.”

“Very well,” Karena conceded. “Temporarily.” Then she vanished.

Sheila’s heart sank. She knew ever since Karena betrayed her that she had made a terrible mistake. So she knelt down to the Dungeon Master’s level and attempted to explain. “I thought I was helping her, Dungeon Master! I didn’t know who she was! I’m terribly sorry.” She meant everything she said, but she couldn’t promise that nothing like it would never happen again. After all, I always mess up. I wanted someone to love me, and I was tricked.

“You did nothing wrong, my child. You simply followed your heart, which may lead to great danger or even greater good!”

Sheila felt slightly more confident then. I’m not a terrible person! But she was still curious, so she asked Dungeon Master, “What do you mean?”

The group began to walk through the barren wasteland. “Many years ago, there was a struggle for power between Venger and Karena. In the end, Venger won, imprisoned Karena, and took her ring.”

“So, what’s so bad about Sheila freeing her?” Diana asked.

“She’s evil!” exclaimed Sheila. “I’ve seen it! And now, because of me, she’s free, and has her ring back.”

“And her power!” Bobby added.

“And now she wants our ring, too!” Presto also added.

“Wait a minute,” Eric started. “Let me guess. Karena’s ring is the other ring we need to get home. Right?” The group already knew that they needed two rings to get home, and the one they already had was one of them. Could Karena’s ring be the other one? Sheila started wondering. Or was Eric talking nonsense again?

“What?” Sheila snapped.

“That is correct,” Dungeon Master said.

“Hey, I didn’t want to go home anyway,” Eric said sarcastically. “I hate milkshakes, cheeseburgers, pizza…”

“First, we’ll have to find her!” Hank exclaimed. He was already coming up with a plan. Like he always does, Sheila thought with dismay.

“To succeed, one of you will have to be more wrong than right. But let your heart guide you, for only the heart can lead you home,” Dungeon Master said.

“He’s gone again!” Eric complained. Sure enough, he was.

“Well, if Karena is Venger’s sister, we might as well start looking at Venger’s castle,” Hank suggested.

“Venger’s castle?” Eric complained again. “Talk about being more wrong than right.”

Not again, Sheila inwardly sighed.

“Eric!” Bobby snapped.

“If Karena is in there,” Hank said, “anyone have any idea how to get the ring away from her?”

“Uh, guys…” Eric started.

“It sure would help if we knew for sure she was here,” Diana said.

“Guys!” Eric said again.

“What is it, Eric?” Hank asked skeptically.

“Look!” Eric exclaimed, pointing towards the castle.

“Sheila!” Bobby exclaimed, a worried note evident in his voice.

Sheila snuck past the orcs with her invisibility cloak on, though this was made harder by the fact that her annoying little brother alerted the others to her presence. Luckily though, she made it to the castle and was now inside its walls, sneaking through various corridors to find wherever Karena was at the moment.

“You found me,” the familiar voice echoed when Sheila finally entered a room with red carpets and furniture of various types. “Welcome, Sheila.” Sheila turned to face Karena. Although her beautiful golden hair was no longer visible and covered in a red hood similar to Venger’s red hood, and a dark cloak that was reminiscent of Venger’s dark cloak, her evilness was nonetheless still attractive and beautiful in itself. Sheila’s breath left her as she first gazed upon this Venger-like Karena. This is who she really is, Sheila kept having to remind herself. “You have saved me a great deal of work! Give me the ring!”

Luckily, though, Sheila knew Karena and her tricks better. “I don’t have it,” said, lifting her palms towards her to show her friend she wasn’t lying. “Hank does.”

“Very well,” she conceded. She is surprisingly…calm, Sheila thought. I don’t know what to think of that.

“We shall see which he’d prefer: you, or the ring.

At that remark, Sheila put on her hood and became invisible, just in time for Karena to start attacking her with red energy. But since Karena couldn’t see her, Sheila dodged every dart of energy that came her way. “First you’ll have to catch me, Karena,” Sheila taunted. Then, as a dart nearly hit her shoulder: “You missed me!”

“Not for long,” Karena said in that eerie voice again. She began laughing evilly again.

But Sheila kept taunting her. “I sure hope Venger’s other brothers and sisters are more clever than you!”

“When I’m through with you, I’ll deal with your friends!”

“How would you know what friends are? You don’t have any!”

“You’ll never escape!” Karena growled. Just then, a door appeared.

“Thank you Karena!” Sheila began taunting again. “Your magic seems to be as unreliable as your friendship!” Sheila immediately pulled the ring of power off Karena’s finger.

“No! Without my ring I am defenseless!”

“You won’t mind if I borrow this? One friend to another?” Then Sheila darted out of Venger’s castle, and back through the line of orcs. Eric quickly fought off the orcs who tried to attack her.

Soon, the whole group was back together. Sheila tried putting the two rings together in various combinations, in hope that in just the right positions they would open a portal to take the children back to their own world. But Sheila was disturbed to hear fighting inside of the castle.

“Venger!” she heard Karena scream in agony.

“No, now Karena, I will do what I should have done years ago.

But Eric pulled her back to the portal situation. “Come on, Sheila! If you got it figured out, do it! I want to go home!”

“No,” Sheila said, worried she’d sob. She’d loved Karena, then she’d hated her, but she could not bear to hear someone die. And she had loved, Karena, after all. Could she bear to hear her die without…doing something?

“Sheila” Hank exclaimed. He’s still protective of me, she sighed. Even though he’s no longer my boyfriend.

“Venger, stop!” Karena cried out again. Then Sheila made her decision.

“Hank, I can’t let him destroy her.” Then she put on her hood again and ran back to the castle.

“Good bye, little sister,” Venger taunted, as Karena summoned energy for what would’ve been her final defense.

And that was when Sheila entered the room, ran towards her, and held onto her. “What can I do?” she asked her. I have to help, I have to help, I have to help her!

“Throw the rings at him!” she answered. So Sheila threw both of them at Venger. Venger grunted upon the rings’ contact with him, covering his head with his arms as a ball of light teleported him to another place.

“Stay away from her,” Sheila heard Hank say firmly.

“Karena?” Dungeon Master asked.

“She—she tried to help me,” Karena said.

Dungeon Master grabbed one of the rings and handed it to Karena. “This is yours, I believe”

“Thank you,” Karena said in response. She then crouched down to where Sheila lay, touching her long, narrow fingers against her red hair. Sheila loved every nanosecond of her touch. It was healing, in a way. Blinking and seeing that Venger was gone, and no one was left to hurt her, Sheila got up.

“I’m sorry guys…” Sheila admitted. Her heart still stung at the terrible mistake she had made from just trying to help someone.

“That’s okay,” Eric said, accepting her apology. “I mean, at least we didn’t lose the ring, right?”

“Wrong, Cavalier,” the Dungeon Master said. The ring which could have freed you is now Venger’s prison.”

“Oh, well, Karena, you can get us home, can't you?” Eric offered.

“Without the other ring? No.” Karena responded. Then a pause. Then: “Anything else within my power, I grant you, Sheila. I owe you my life.”

“All I want is your friendship, Karena,” Sheila answered enthusiastically. “And I want to talk to you, alone.”

“What? That’s all?” Karena asked.

“Yes,” Sheila said.

“Welcome home, Karena,” said Dungeon Master, taking her hand.

Soon Dungeon Master and the rest of Sheila’s friends left the room to give Sheila and Karena some room for their private conversation. Sheila looked around, her face burning from the tension in the air. Her heart fluttered, and she worried she was getting ill. Finally, Sheila spoke:

“Karena, I just want to thank you. You helped regain confidence in myself, after the mistake I made with my boyfriend… Thank you for listening to me, Karena. Thank you for trusting me with helping you get the ring.”

Karena dipped her head in turn. “Th-thank you? You were the one who helped free me of evil. I’m sorry for how terribly I treated you. You are an incredibly kind and forgiving person.”

Sheila paused, remembering how Karena had turned on her after she had gotten the ring. She still had a bad taste in her mouth after that incident, to be honest.

Karena sighed. “I’m going to take this off now. I’m tired of looking so evil and imposing.”

Sheila chuckled. “It’s alright.”

Karena took off her Venger-like red and dark purple cloak, exposing the silky light purple dress she wore underneath, as well as her stunning golden hair. She could not unsee how much it looked like Hank’s. Stunning, just like him. And she’s bold and intelligent, just like him. But she was also different from Hank. She relied more on her wits than Hank did. And she knew Venger better than Hank did.

“They held each other’s hands, and then embraced. “I love you, Karena.”

“I love you too, Sheila.”

Sheila had more to say to her, but she didn’t know if it would be worth saying. After all, though Karena said Sheila owed her her life, she had zero clue if she harbored the same feelings for Sheila as she did for Karena.

Yet, she remembered something Dungeon Master had said to her that day when she found him in the thicket: you may find love where you least expect it.

“I need to tell you something, Karena,” Sheila said. “Dungeon Master told me that I’d find love where I least expected it after I broke up with Hank. I thought he meant that sometime in the future Hank and I would start dating again. But…” She paused, wondering if she had the mental strength to move on if Karena took offense to the next thing she said. “I now think he meant that I would find you.”

Karena froze for a moment. Sheila could see her violet eyes darting everywhere, like the darts of energy she blasted earlier. Oh dear, I never should’ve said that quite the way I did…

But Karena recovered and slowly walked toward her. “I harbor feelings toward you Sheila, too. But I need to better myself before I can consider having a romantic relationship with you. I’ve made so many mistakes…”

“It’s okay, Karena,” Sheila said, nodding her head. “I understand. I just want to let you know that you are always welcome with us if you ever need help.

Karena’s purple eyes brightened. “Thank you, Sheila!” Then she paused before speaking again. “There is one more thing I want to tell you, though, before you leave.”

“What is it?”

“Just as you were able to free me from evil,” Karena said, “Venger too can be freed from evil. I don’t know how since the other ring is gone, but it is possible. Please remember this. It might save you and your friends one day.”

Then Sheila and Karena embraced once more and Sheila murmured “good bye, friend. I hope we can see each other some day.”

“Good bye, Sheila,” Karena said. “I hope we can see each other again someday as well. Just remember: I am indebted to you. You are brave and courageous and I will never forget you.”

With that, Sheila and Karena both let go of each other. They both walked out together and then Sheila turned and waved to the golden-haired girl one final time. “Good bye, Karena,” she whispered. Then Sheila turned to rejoin Bobby, Hank, and the others.