Chapter 5

One Curse Broken

   They only made it halfway around when there were three loud, deep bell chimes BONG!! BONG!! BONG!!

   At the first BONG, Justin's protective and fight or flight instincts kicked in. He stiffened, gabbed Gus around the waist in a protective stance and began a steady but unconcerned walk toward the door.

   "Don't look back and keep moving, Justin said in a low, urgent voice, "Whatever's supposed to happen is going to happen. And it isn't good."

   BONG!!!

   "Just get to the door," Justin murmured.

   "What about my sisters!?" Gus cried.

   "I don't know! I - wait! There might be one chance!" Justin delved into his pocket and brought out the whistle that Michael, the Blue Fairy had given him. He held it tightly and prayed quickly: Dear God...and Michael wherever you are...for once...just this once....let all of royal blood and who know the sting of unrequited love hear my note and follow it to safety! Please Michael please!"

   BONGG!!!!

   Justin blew his whistle and it s high, clear note added to the deep timbre of the bell.

   And it worked! Every prince, every princess, looked up, perked up their ears, and abandoned whatever they were doing. They walked toward the sound.

   Justin moved closer to the door and blew again. Everybody followed

   And just in time. As the last bell faded away, the floor rumbled and shook, the center of the room collapsed and the tables fell into a void. Then, out of that void, a huge pillar of flames shot out.

   At the same time, the hundreds of extra people dropped all pretence, exploded, and transformed into beings made of fire! They weren't people at all, but demons, netherworld creature made of the flame and fire in which they dwell!

   All the princesses screamed and ran, and Justin blew his whistle again. He was at the doors. He was through them. He blew again, long and hard. Everyone followed him, avoiding the fire as best they could.

   Justin held onto Gus with a death grip and held the door for the stream of ladies and their now freed princes to flee into vestibule. He did a quick head count, found that they were all there and then turned to look inside.

   It was a nightmare. All four quarters were collapsing and fire was everywhere. The once beautiful bride high above everything else, now had a dress that was continually burning. She had sprouted leathery wings, her ears were pointed and furry and her teeth were as sharp as daggers. She looked like a gargoyle.

   With a piercing bat-like shriek, she took off and flew straight towards our heroes. Justin slammed the inner door with a crash and bolted it. There was a sickening crunch and the door dented outward a little.

   "Everybody RUN!!!!!" he yelled.

   Everyone screamed and ran out of the castle and down to the boats. Justin and Gus and his prince got into their boat and the rest of them piled into their own as well.

   It was none too soon, as the island was breaking, great cracks appearing making loud reports like gunfire. The cracks belched fire and lava and soon it was obvious that the island was liquefying.

   All the princes rowed double time, and Gus was helping his like before but still it was not fast enough.

   The lake began to boil. Soon it was a rolling boil and sitting in those boats was like sitting in a cooking pot.

   Fortunately, the island gave a particular noisy fart and there was an earthquake. This caused a tidal wave and all the boats were able to ride the wave to the opposite shore. All the princes leapt out, grabbed their charge and placed them onshore. It was just in time. A second later, all twelve boats caught on fire and were burned to cinders.

   But the dancing siblings were already hotfooting it down the marbled walkway past the diamond trees. But this part of the dream world had also become a nightmare. The green peaceful sky was now an angry red, filled with clouds of ash. The ground on both sides of the road had become lava pits and fields as well. Only the walkway remained and they ran as fast as they could down it. The diamond trees sank into the lava and broke apart into shards and then were consumed. Everybody was very careful to avoid the broken pieces but some were not able to entirely and sustained a few cuts here and there.

   Then they were past and the gold trees were also melting and sinking straight now into the molten quagmire. The tops of the trees were melted into strange, twisted shapes and you could barely see that they had been trees at all.

   Then they were past that heading through the grove of silver trees and they were as the gold ones were. It was a burning hell and not a fantasy land that they once knew and they ran fast enough to make the devil take notice.

   "It was somewhere at this point, that there was a BOOM!! BOOOM! BOOOOMM!!! It came from far away but sounded as if it were right next to them and they saw that the entire black castle exploded into splinters and was sinking into the ground.

   They all quaked in horror but continued on. Soon they reached the stairs and one by one entered the door that would take them up. Justin made them all pause 3 seconds each, and then let the next one through so there wouldn't be a mash up.

   Soon there was only Gus and Justin left. They looked upon hell and saw that the island far away had sunk away and the great boiling lake was now draining into it. Everything was burning, fire sprites were jumping from tree to ruined tree, and far away they saw a square of the marble walkway explode. Then the next and the next.

   "Go!!!" he yelled to Gus.

   "I don't want to leave you!" cried Gus.

   "I'll be right behind you...I promise! Now GO!!" Justin pushed him through the arch.

   Gus gave an agonized look back and then ran for it.

   Justin waited three seconds, looked a final time on the doomed realm and then ran up the stairs and didn't look back.

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   The eleven princesses' and Gus' bedroom was dark and peaceful and quiet.

   Then, faintly, seemingly from nowhere, came bloodcurdling screams of fear and distress. As they got louder, you could tell it was coming from below. Of course, there was no one there to hear these things but if there were, the listener would have been very puzzled indeed, and then astonished beyond measure at what happened next.

   Fortunately, YOU, know what's going on and so you won't be astonished to learn that in due time the secret staircase opened up and one by one disgorged princess after princess, prince after prince, from oldest to youngest until Gus was crawling up, a stitch in his side.

   "Is that everybody?" Melanie asked.

   "Wait!!..."wheezed Gus, "One more...there's one more! Don't close it yet!"

   "What are you talking about Gus? We're all here....All here....Close it Melanie! Close it!" shouted a confusion of voices.

   "NO! We need to wait for Jus - Britin! He came down to dance with me! He helped us escape! You cannot leave him down there!" Gus yelled.

   "What do you mean, he followed us down!?  Isn't he sleeping over..." A quick check confirmed that Britin was NOT there, sleeping the deep, drugged, dream state of the damned. "Damn you Gus! Didn't you drug him, like you were supposed to? Now he knows everything!"

   "No, I didn't, and I'm glad!! He saved all our lives and besides, he already knew everything! So keep it open for a minute longer!"

   And it was at this point, that the wayward man with the heart of a prince popped out of the stairwell and collapsed on the rug.

   There was a magnificent flash of flame out of the hole. There was a terrific rumble and smashing and crashing as the entire staircase collapsed on itself and fell into the bottomless void! There was another belch of flame.

   Melanie jammed the rose with her closed fist. The rose mural closed back up and the rumblings and heat were at last cut off.

   Then a wonderful thing happened. The rose mural tiles began to turn over and slide and rearrange themselves and add onto each other. It was turning predominately white. It was still changing. It was almost done. It pulsed once with a bright light and was done. Instead of a rose there was now a fantastic tiled mural of a magnificent white swan with its wings outstretched!

   Everyone ohhh'ed and ahhh'ed and made various other noises to show their appreciation.

   "But what does it mean?" Melanie asked.

   "It's a tribute to the one that saved your life...a celebration of the triumph over evil and the breaking of the curse...and a seal to the underworld that you can never return to," said Justin clearly, and then hacked out a smoker's cough.

   "And how do you know that?" Melanie asked rudely.

   "I know it!" Justin said definitively, and otherwise refused to explain himself.

   "Oh, Justin! I'm so glad you're OK!!"Gus shouted and threw his arms around his neck and climbed into his lap where he refused to be dislodged.

   "Gus..."Justin said warningly.

   "Oh, throw me a bone will you!? I'm sure Brian won't begrudge you a little hero worship!" And Justin had to laugh at that and besides the persistent little twink wouldn't move anyway.

   But that was not the end of the wonders. The twelve princes whom they had brought up from the netherworld began to shimmer and ripple as if they were being looked at through water when the water is wavy and agitated. And then with a final wave, their outer appearance melted away and their true forms were revealed. At last, they were free of their bondage.

   Many of them looked much different. A few were similar to their spellbound forms but others were downright different. Some were stubbly and rugged. Many were not as muscular as they were. A few were out and out poindexters, with thick glasses and greasy hair and pocket protectors. As pointed out earlier, Melanie's prince melted away to reveal a princess with long blond hair.

   Ironically, Gus' prince melted into a being that was most like his outer shell. He was rugged and handsome with a cleft in his chin. And free at last, he revealed to Gus that he was straight as an arrow.

   "I guessed that," Gus said, "It's OK. And I'm sorry if I did anything to you while you were enchanted. If they are agreeable, you can choose one of my sisters if you'd like to marry her."

   "I'm sorry that I'm not what I appeared," the blond said to Melanie, "This must come as an awful shock. But I want you to know...I  got to know very well down there and I still love you. My name's Lindsay by the way."

   "Truth be told....I rather prefer this to your masculine form. Besides, I got to know you awfully well as well and I don't care! I love you too Lindsay!" And Melanie moved in and before you knew it the two women were making out like gangbusters!

   Justin and Gus looked at each other and exchanged a look and smothered laughter. They got up from where they sat on the floor.

   "We'll understand if you're disappointed too," said the other princes, "We know we're different than what you wanted. If you don't want to marry us anymore, we'll understand."

   However, the eleven princesses were narrowing their eyes and lining up in front of them and then surrounding them.

   "Ohhhh no you don't! You're not getting out of your deal that easily!! We've danced our feet to the bone to free you and you promised to marry us and marry us you will! GET ‘EM GIRLS!"

   And with that, they pounced. The princes never stood a chance and in a few seconds, they didn't want to. The princesses, pulled at their shirts and then pants. Buttons went flying everywhere. Clothing was ripped to shreds. Pants were pulled down and twelve girls and eleven men with gloriously hard dicks fell to the floor in a mass of mixed up and rolling limbs. The mass of men and women rolled back and forth and around in a wanton display of carnal lust and sex. In ten seconds there was an orgy of such size, passion and intensity going on, that there had never been anything seen like it in 10,000 years and moreover would not be seen in 10,000 years hence.

   Gus and Justin looked on at this scene in wide-eyed horror. Then, Justin just placed himself in front of Gus a little, put a hand on his chest, and pushed gently backward. Step by step, they back up until they were slowly and carefully, backing towards the door and in this fashion they got the hell out of there.

   It wasn't until they were out in the hall and closed the door firmly behind them that they were able to able to breathe a sigh of relief.

   "My God! I've never seen my sisters like that ever! And those poor guys! Some of them looked like captive animals! Are you sure they'll be all right Justin!?"

   Justin smirked. "Oh, trust me Gus! They'll all be JUST fine!!"

TBC