The Escape

"C-Cheus? Cheus! Oh thank God you're here-" The princess breathed a sigh of relief, running up to her friend and wrapping her arms around him. Her panic melted as she stood there. Superman was here. He would help her save the day. He'd probably be a little disappointed that she hadn't told him about this problem until now… but they would fix everything and everything would be fine. And then she remembered they were still in the kingdom where things were going haywire… "Actually that's kind of a worry because you aren't safe here, but you and I can fix this. Okay so full story; when I started fiddling with the production levels of the springs I accidentally set in motion the escape of a hundreds of year old army with a grudge against my family. I've been locked inside the keep but now we're both here and with our combined mental power we can fix this." As her rambling slowed she realized a number of things in rapid succession.

Number one, Zaccheus hadn't moved since she touched him. His hands didn't wrap around her shoulders, he didn't bend over to accommodate the difference in height…hell she'd almost be okay with his muscles tensing as if he didn't want her there…but none of that happened.

Number two, something about him felt wrong and for the life of her, she couldn't quite place it. Her gut twisted, instinct telling her to be alert. She'd never known anger from him, there was never anything to fear when it came to Zack, and yet some small part of her brain told her to run as fast and as far as she could. She took a step back, then another. More steps until she could see him. And that's when she noticed…

Number three, he seemed to be listening to something. She couldn't hear what it was, but his head seemed to nod awkwardly before one of his hands reached to her.

" Hello Laurel, it's okay now." He said. And it all felt wrong. His voice sounded the same, but it lacked what made him, well him. It felt cold, clinical, it lacked the compassion and warmth that filled his every word. If she was honest…that tone sounded like the one she used on clients she particularly disliked. And she hated it.

" W-What's happening…" She felt herself take another step back as he took one towards her.

" Come along please, Laurel." He replied, matching each of her steps, a dance punctuated by confusion and fear and an over all sense of wrongness. But then, he looked at her, his face making a look of hurt and confusion that stuck to the princess' bones, filling her with guilt. This was Zacchues. Her superman. He was one of her best friends. One of the people she cared for most in the world, and she was running away due to some stupid paranoia induced by her sleep deprived mind.

With a soft sigh she walked to him, taking one of his hands in hers and looking up at him. And with that, a hand reached for her shoulder, gripping it not quite enough to be painful but certainly enough to but uncomfortable.

" What are you doing?" She asked, looking up at him.

" You will report to the palace for questioning and sentencing." And before she knew it, the princess was marched back to the very childhood home she'd just escaped. She was going to Maeve without a plan and there was nothing she could do about it. As fear and anger gripped her heart she couldn't help but wonder what she'd done wrong.