Peekaboo

The Princesses of Avondale: Lauren, Ariel, Chelsea, and Amy all sat on the couch in their castle, back in the main kingdom. On a piece of furniture that resembled a coffee table, a magical crystal ball sat on a stand; they had found it in their storage unit...well, Lauren had at least.

They were checking in on Patrick Kane and the “rescue” troupe, who had just found the two Dallas Star players.

“He’s doing good so far!” Amy cheered and clapped her hands together.

“I still feel like we should be doing something more,” Chelsea sighed, leaning back.

“But what can we do? The prophecy isn’t about us and we are princesses!” Lauren scolded, shaking her head.

Ariel slapped her friend in the shoulder, gently. “So, that doesn’t mean anything. Princesses can still be tough and fight! Fiona proved that in the ‘Far Far Away’ kingdom.”

“That’s true,” Chelsea and Amy stated in unison.

Lauren stood up and faced her friends, who were all talking amongst themselves. They seemed serious about wanting to go and help Patrick out. The fourth princess was not amused. “But we still shouldn’t get in the way. You never know what could happen and besides, you said it yourself, Kaner’s doing a fine job with his hockey friends.”

“Why are you so against us helping out?” Ariel asked.

“It’s just...we’re helping him out in a way. We need to stay here and keep an eye on the kingdom. What if Nemo sent troops here or his dragon out again? Someone needs to remain here to hold down the fort so-to-say!”

Ariel sighed and leaned back into the cushiony comfort of the couch. Then she nodded and smiled. “You were always the smartest one of us. You’re right, Lauren. And you have a point.”

“Thank you.” Lauren smiled sweetly at her and sat back down.

There was a moment of silence between them, before Amy piped up with, “Anyone want some cookies and tea?”

There was another murmur of conversation. Then Chelsea and Ariel chimed in unison, “Yes, please!”

Lauren shook her head though. “Maybe save one for me when I get back, but I need to go do something real fast, okay.”

Amy looked at her, with excited eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Can we come?” Chelsea added on.

“No,” Lauren remarked. “I have to meet with someone and talk to them, but don’t worry, it shouldn’t take too long.”

The three princesses sighed and then got up and walked off to the kitchen, while Lauren got up and walked the opposite way.

She turned back and saw Ariel looking at her, strangely. Before the redhead could speak, the older one spoke instead, “I’ll be right back and then I promise I’ll join you for tea and cookies. And then we can continue to keep an eye on the kingdom and Patrick.”

Ariel seemed to take that in and smile once more. Then she trotted off after the other two. Lauren breathed in and out in relief and resumed walking off, toward the wings of the palace. She continued on, heading down the opposite wing of the one that they had taken earlier to show Patrick the prophecy, which was completely and utterly fake. It was made up after all by her.

She came to a dead end that ended at a closed door. She turned back to make sure she wasn’t followed and when the coast was clear, she stuck a key into the hole, turned it and opened the big door.

Lauren emerged into a dimly lit tunnel that was lined with torch light. She took one of the torches into her hand and continued walking down the tunnel. She hoped that this was all worth the outcome. After all this was Jonathan Toews’s fault!

The princess emerged on the other side after a few minutes of walking in the darkness. She stood at the edge to the other side of the island kingdom. A little boat was conveniently accessible to her. She got in and began to row herself toward the forest on the other side of the island.

After she landed on the shore of the forest, to make sure she wasn’t found and there was no curiosity or questions from the other princesses, she whipped up a small breeze from her magic and sent the vessel back to the pier. She could always get it back later on. She was no stranger to this method anyway.

When the boat was out of sight once more, Lauren smirked and turned on her heels. She walked into the forest and came to a hidden cottage place. She walked inside and over to a cabinet. She opened it up and found three items inside: a magic orb, holding some kind of blue-ish energy, Jonathan’s shield, and a lock of Patrick and Jonathan’s hair, which were both sealed in a jar.

She remembered how her and Antti Niemi had come to successfully get each item. Yes, she was working with Lord Nemo. She’d been faking her “forgotten memories” and her kindness toward everyone. She had to keep the facade and act going. When Jonathan and Nemo had first arrived to Avondale, accidentally, she’d taken a liking to the Blackhawks’ Captain. But he’d turned her down and it hurt her. A lot. She had never had her heart broken before and she had never known a guy to say “no.”

Instead, he’d fallen in love with Ariel and together they had led the kingdom together for a little bit. They ran it and were great as a team and couple. They kept the place safe and worry free and were popular. But that only angered Antti and Lauren. They met up and it was an instant match. Neither liked Ariel or Jonathan and with Lauren’s help and inside knowledge, she’d help Nemo to become the big bad and exile the brunette king.

With Jonathan out of the way, Ariel was chased out of the kingdom and to the tower, where she was essentially “trapped” there by one of Lauren’s spells. Then Lauren made everyone forget the take over and change, even Amy and Chelsea, by taking their memories, which were concealed in the orb in the cabinet. Tyler had to be a little dirty thief and find it. He had successfully stolen it, but unfortunately for him, Lauren had found out and sent the Shark henchmen out to get it back and to also capture the young man in the process. If he was still around to continue on with his thiefly ways, then he’d be a problem and therefore had to be taken care of.

And so Tyler was captured, kidnapped and locked away in Nemo’s castle.

And when Jonathan had arrived in Avondale again, she’d been on it. She quickly contacted the ruler to let him know. While she kept her facade and act going, Jonathan was kidnapped by the dragon, which was conjured up in this very cottage and spot by Lauren.

The wicked princess laughed and grinned with her cleverness. “One more ingredient,” she said to herself and closed the cabinet once more.

“It’s coming, it’s coming!” a voice stated, behind her.

The door to the cottage shut once again and Lauren spun to the newcomer, smirking. She folded her arms and cocked a pose. “Nemo?”

“That’s Lord Nemo to you, missy.”

“Whatever, Antti, how’s our precious Blackhawk Captain hostage?”

Nemo stepped up to her and moved his staff in a circle before him. “See for yourself.”

Lauren snickered to herself, as she saw the scene in an aura of magical light.

Jonathan was struggling in the chains that were restraining him. But Nemo had added an extra touch to him, right before he had left. He told Lauren that he didn’t want Jonathan attracting any attention, so he had found another cloth and had wrapped it securely around the Blackhawk leader’s mouth.

“Nice work.” She could hear Jonathan’s muffled cries, as he desperately pulled at the chains holding him. “Can’t have him getting things easy now.”

“Right.” Nemo waved his staff in a circle again and the image vanished.

“How about the thief?” Lauren hinted at, slyly smirking.

The Shark goalie waved his staff again.

This time an image of Tyler Seguin appeared over the Shark head of the golden scepter.

Lauren grinned, watching the Dallas Star forward struggling in his restraints now. “If only he weren’t a thief...I might--might--be attracted to him!” the princess stated, rolling her eyes.

“Well, thanks to your skills, you were able to track him down and steal what he stole.”

“The energy to activate Patrick’s little hockey stick-sword?”

“Yeah. He’s calling it Showtime apparently!”

“He named his weapon?”

Nemo sighed and moved his scepter again. The image of the struggling Tyler vanished. The two stood there, laughing and sharing smirks and clever villain glances with one another.

Lauren broke the awkward moment with, “You know, I can’t help but say if Amy were here, she’d be head-over-heels in love with that thief! She has a thing for cute men...”

“And, she’d love a bound and gagged Tyler Seguin, right?” Nemo raised an eyebrow.

“Chances are she’d find him irresistible! But enough about the Pretty Boy, let’s talk about how we’re going to get the last ingredient: Patrick Kane’s precious stick-sword, Showtime!”

“Shouldn’t be too difficult for you to figure out.”

“Then why did you ask to meet me here at the cottage?” Lauren demanded, frowning. “If that’s all you want to say--”

“No! I wanted to let you know about something,” the villain tapped his scepter on the ground twice and another image emitted from it. This one showed Patrick Kane and the group, as they discovered the Dallas Stars. Lauren glanced at it and shrugged. The Shark continued on, “See the blond eskimo.”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He needs to be dealt with!”

“Why?”

“Do I have to tell you why?”

“I’d like to know.” Lauren folded her arms over her chest once more.

“I can’t tell you, but just take care of him for me. Just know that he is a threat to my --our-- success and he must be stopped!”

Lauren cocked her hips to the side, striking a pose. She looked at her partner, the wicked villain of Avondale. Then she decided not to push it. She’d find out sooner or later anyway. That she was sure of.

“Alright. What do you want me to do with him?”

“Just take him and put him in the cell next to his Dallas teammate in my castle.”

“Fine. What’s his name?”

“Valeri Nichushkin.”

Notes

Oh no....what's Nichy got to do with Jonny and Patrick????
So, how about that for Lauren, eh? Did you see that coming? Did you think that it was only Nemo who ran things? No, it's actually Lauren. She is the one behind EVERYTHING!! It was her ideas and Nemo's help. But she is the lead villain in this piece, not necessarily Nemo.
So there you go. More answers and more questions, eh?


Next up: Blizzard stuff and trouble!