Meanwhile, back in the portal realm, Clause, Akapin, and Murasakiiro waited for the others to arrive with the antidote. Akapin floated around the room nervously. Clause twiddled his thumbs and tapped his foot in session. Finally, Princess Murasakiiro closed her eyes and prayed. None of them knew how long it would take or if the others would make it out unscathed.

“This is nerve-wracking,” Akapin murmured weakly.

“Why?” Clause asked. “They’ll do just fine; all we have to do is put more faith in them, you know?”

“That’s saying a lot coming from you,” Akapin replied.

“Well, I—”

“They seem to be taking a while...” Murasakiiro interrupted. The two stared at her, confused. “Oh, did I say something?” She said in a playful tone.

“Yes, you did.” Clause stated bluntly.

“Isn’t there something we can do while we wait?” Akapin asked.

“For them? Of course.” Murasakiiro replied.

She went to the other room and pulled out the blanket from under the Queen’s bed, revealing a hidden crevice with a ladder leading down. Before descending, she advised the two companions to follow her inside. Clause and Akapin weren’t sure at first, but reluctantly followed the Princess, regardless.

.-.-.-.

Heading to the Queen’s bed again, the Princess revealed another room hidden underneath. Floating pink bubbles danced and floated around the room; some even had images of pictures inside them. However, it was impossible to distinguish them from so far away. In the center of the chamber, a red cauldron with bubbling water was inside.

“Wow, I had no idea there was another room under your mother’s bed,” Akapin said.

“Yeah,” Murasakiiro added. “It’s a very sacred room, something we only use for the last resort.”

“I say, what are these bubbles floating within the room?” Clause asked.

“These bubbles represent the worlds inside of them,” The Princess explained.

She plucked a bubble out of the air and dunked it into a cauldron, causing the water to shoot out like a geyser. The remaining bubbles moved to the center and formed a pattern, turning into rainbow colors.

The water in the cauldron stopped erupting and swirled around like a whirlpool until an image appeared at the water’s surface. Clause, Akapin, and Murasakiiro gathered around to look at the picture.

The image showed blood-red walls, dull gray flooring, torches along the walls, and piles of bones and skeletons in every corner.

Akapin nodded, impressed by the scenery. “No way. You can see places from afar and watch them...?” She turned to the Princess and asked excitedly.

“Mm-hmm.”

Clause shivered and grew petrified. “My word, is that The Scorching Tombs? Why are we looking at this terrifying dungeon?”

“I’m sorry. Would you like for me to change it?” Murasakiiro offered. “Let me just change to another world—”

“No, wait, there’s someone in there. That person looks familiar...” Clause interrupted. He squinted his eyes and leaned over against the cauldron to investigate. The person on the floor was blurry, but he quickly recognized the black dress and gray hair. “Is that Glenda?!”

“Whoa, be careful!” Akapin and Murasakiiro shouted. “Don’t fall into the cauldron!”

.-.-.-.

Glenda rubbed her eyes and opened them, noticing a tall person in a black cloak standing before her, waiting for her to wake up.

“Oh, hello there. I see that you’re awake now.” The person in the black cloak said.

“Say what?” Glenda mumbled. She got up, looked around, and adjusted her glasses before finally shifting her attention back to the unknown person. “Where am I? What happened to Troy? And why are you wearing that?”

“Doesn’t matter; all you need to know is your life will end in this very room.” The cloaked person wrapped their magic around Glenda, lifting her into the air and making it difficult for her to breathe.

“I know you’re using a cloning spell...” Glenda weakly said while gripping the magic around her neck tightly.

“Oh?”

“But why? Why are you using dark magic to cause havoc at school?”

“Will you stop talking? It’d be much easier for me to—”

“No, never! Try as you’d like, but there’s no chance in—”

“Won’t you just shut up already!?” The person in the cloak exclaimed.

Glenda said nothing more, closed her eyes, and muttered something to herself. The cloaked person tilted their head in confusion, wondering why she gave up the fight just like that. She didn’t seem to care about their threats, especially now that she was about to die.

When Glenda opened her eyes again, however, they had turned white. The dark purple aura suffocating her changed to a bright aqua color as her magic forced the cloaked person away from her.

They flew across the room, connecting with the walls behind her, causing them to tumble down. The impact nearly caused the hood to fall off. As they got up from the rubble, she noticed Glenda, safe and alive on the ground, now with a weapon in her hands: the nunchucks. She looked up and found that their hood had slipped up and revealed their identity.

“Bridget?” Glenda gasped. “No way, you’re on their side too?”

“Does it matter? You will die before you get the chance to stop our ultimate plan!”

Glenda’s blood boiled. She’s had it with all this nonsense. “Just try to stop me now if you can then!” She boasted.

‘Bridget’ clenched her fists, pulled out a magic pocket knife from thin air, charged up with dark magic, and ran towards Glenda.

Their weapons clashed together before jumping and ducking to avoid getting hit by the other person. They threw magic at each other to catch the other off guard.

Some time had passed before Glenda, and ‘Bridget’s' body ached from all the fighting.

“Is that all you got?” She mocked. “I’ve fought pebbles that were tougher than you.”

Glenda couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion. “What? But pebbles are—”

The ground shook as a faint explosion occurred faintly in the distance.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Glenda questioned.

‘Bridget’ smiled. “Seems like the plan is coming together...” She cackled.

“You mean, you distracted me? Was it a trap?”

“Don’t say it like that; it’s more like I distracted you, making sure you don’t get in our way, and it worked, too!”

Oh no, I have to get out of here! Glenda’s eyes darted across the room and panicked. Where’s the exit? There’s got to be an exit, but how can I escape without her chasing after me?

“Don’t even try to escape; you’re not going anywhere, old lady...”

“Why you—!”

Before the two could resume fighting, however, a man’s voice echoed across the room. The two looked around, searching for the source of the sound. Glenda recognized that voice.

“Glenda, can you hear me?” The voice cried out.

“Clause? Yes, I can!” Glenda called out.

“Oh, you can hear me? That’s splendid!”

“Where have you been all this time?”

“I sadly cannot say; it’s very complicated, but you’re fighting a fake— look out!”

The fake Bridget shot beams at Glenda, blocking them off with her nunchuk without looking.

“Uh, never mind.” Clause said. “What about you?”

“Same here, really,” Glenda replied unhappily.

“Oh, wait a minute, there’s something important I’d like to tell you. I know who’s behind all this!” Clause exclaimed.

“Really? You do?”

“It’s Troy; he’s working with the clones, including the one you’re fighting! You need to get out of here now!”

‘Bridget,’ finally getting sick of her ignorance, her grip tightened as she charged at Glenda with her magic knife, but Glenda twisted the knife and pried it off from her hands again.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Glenda said proudly to Clause, “I’ll head out now.” She walked away and threw the clone against the wall, dropping the knife to the floor. After that, she used a teleportation spell and left, leaving the clone to rot alone in the cell.

Clause watched sorrowfully as the image in the cauldron dispersed and returned to plain water.

“You’ve done all you can,” Akapin said.

“You think so?” Clause replied, doubtfully.

“Yes,” Akapin reassured him.

“Guys, I got it,” Murasakiiro told them, bringing another bubble over and slowly dropping it into the cauldron.

“About time. I mean, yay!” Akapin exclaimed.

“Step back.” Murasakiiro cautioned.

“Certainly!” Clause replied.

“Will do, ma’am,” Akapin added.

As the bubble sank into the cauldron, the water erupted once more, like a geyser before settling down.

“Uh, pardon me,” Clause inquired, “But why does it keep doing that?”

“Oh, that? I don’t know.” The Princess answered.

“...Wait; are you serious?”

“Not everything will have an answer, and maybe it never will.”

“But—”

“Ah, the projection has finished,” Murasakiiro commented.

The water’s reflection showed a new image. This time, however, the location was much more unclear. Despite this, Clause, Akapin, and Murasakiiro found Bridget, Midoricha, and Gurenji walking around.

“It’s them.” Akapin deduced. “We can see them now!”

“That’s great.” The Princess replied. “Now, all we have to do is wait and pray for them to succeed...”