The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Slowly, Jackson's mouth pulls into a smile as he realizes that this isn't a maze at

all.

It's a cage.

A cage with nothing in it. And if there's something that the Atalaxians have built here that they're either trying to keep in, or protect themselves from? Well. That's something he wants to know more about, isn't it?

Eager for the first time in days to have something to do, a problem to work on, Jackson strides forward.

With his long legs and magic pulsing through his veins, Jackson crosses the Land of Darkness at a pace faster than most people can run. It only takes him about fifteen minutes to reach the first set of iron bars that align with the outer rim of the castle. When he gets there, Jackson frowns, taking the iron in his hands.

Because upclose he realizes that this enclosure is much less impressive than it looks from afar. Jackson shakes the bars and finds that, absurdly, they move - not rigorously rooted in the ground or anchored to each other. He huffs a bit in derision, thinking that whoever made this cage did quick or lazy work with it, and that if he had been in charge -

But Jackson wipes the thought away. He's not in the business of making cages, is he? No, he grew up in a cage - a mental one, if not physical. And the realization of that confined upbringing over the past nine months does not make him very fond of any attempts to keep free things bound.

He snarls lightly and takes the bars in his hands, calling on his magic and pulling the metal hard to the side. The bars bend...almost too easily.

"Honestly," Jackson murmurs, glancing at the bent bars as he steps through them. "Whoever made these could have at least tried."

But he puts the thought aside and moves forward through the maze. Of course, he doesn't bother to try to find his way through or around the maze of cages. Instead he just moves forward, just casually calling on his magic and pulling the bars apart every time he comes to a new fence, as easy as pushing a little branch aside while walking through the forest.

About halfway through the maze of cages something hits Jackson's nose and his head spins to the left, his eyes immediately finding a small, dirty patch of white cloth in the distance. He sniffs again and then turns, moving faster now through the cages, heading directly for it. Because he's sure - absolutely sure - that it smells like her.

Ariel. She's been here - within the past few days, at least, she's been here.

Jackson's heart begins to pound as the pile of dirty white cloth comes into sight because - what on earth is that? That's not...that's not.it couldn't be a dress, could it?

But as he gets closer, pushing through fence after fence, Jackson's fears subside as he realizes that it's certainly not her. That it is, instead, a big pile of bedding.

Jackson comes to the final fence and leans against it, frowning down at the dirty duvet and collection of pillows resting there. Because...what the hell?

Why is this...here, when the rest of the cages are entirely empty? And why on earth does it smell like his mate?noveldrama

Jackson sighs, confused and frustrated, and turns his back to the cage, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he leans against the bars and stares down at the ground. Because he just doesn't get it why the hell does this elaborate system of eages exist? And why are they empty, except for a whole bunch of blankets that just smell like Ariel?

Is he just...wasting his time here? Should he -

A gasp sounds out behind Jackson that makes him freeze. Because...he could

swear...

"Jackson?"

He turns immediately, his hands

grasping the iron bars, and stares in shock at the pile of bedding piled in the dirt of this wasteland. Or, more specifically, at the beautiful girl now seated in its center.

Jackson's breath heaves from his lungs in a single shocked huff.

Ariel stares back at him, her eyes wide, her mouth open in a shocked "o."