Two Worlds Apart

XVI

"You came," Penelope didn't expect her voice to be so breathless, but Shawn only inclined his head. "Why?" 

Shawn considered her question for a moment before replying cooly, "I wanted to know what an angel like you would want with a demon." 

Penelope only watched him for a moment. "I liked dancing with you," she admitted quietly, completely off-topic. 

Shawn c****d his head to the side. "Oh, did you?" He stepped forward, extending a hand. "Would you like to do it again?" 

Penelope's cheeks flushed as she looked down at his hand, An invitation. 

A f*******n one, perhaps, but that wasn't going to stop her. 

Penelope took it and Shawn placed an arm on her lower back, while Penelope twined hers around his neck. They began to sway back and forth, shuffling along the rooftop. Shawn extended his arm and Penelope twirled out and away from him, giggling. 

Of course, life was far from a ball. 

Valerie sent Terrance and Camilla to search the Queen's palace, while Charles and Leo scanned the villages and downtown. Valerie would take the outskirts by herself, near the borders of Celestia. 

"So, how's it feel to be a lowly Queensguardian?" Leo asked Charles as they scanned downtown for any signs of their missing friend. 

"Shut up, Leo," Charles grumbled. 

"Ah, but you can't give me orders anymore. So... no," Leo replied spryly, grinning. 

Charles only rolled his eyes. But as the pair began to fly toward the villages, his mind wandered to Valerie, as it often did. 

She could be so cold sometimes, but... in the end, he still loved her. And maybe he always would. But Charles frowned as he thought about it. Because Valerie didn't love him back. 

And that was the moment that Charles realized she never would. 

Of course, Valerie's mind was somewhere else. "The Queen will kill us," she muttered, scanning the forests for any sign of Penelope. She was panicking about what would happen to the Queensguard if Penelope had gotten herself into trouble. The Queen showed no mercy and would punish everyone if something happened. "Please be okay, Penelope," she murmured. 

"I can't believe this is happening. Do you think she's okay?" Camilla fretted, nibbling at her lip. 

Terrance was resting a casual arm around her shoulder as they stormed through the corridor. "Pip's strong; she can take care of herself. I bet she's perfectly fine," he reassured Camilla, who seemed to relax slightly at his words. 

Slightly. 

Camilla and Terrance had always had a very good relationship. Terrance was very protective of her, and Camilla would always defend him. The two got along very well and had been close for quite a long time. 

"Maybe we should check the roof?" Terrance suggested and Camilla nodded. The pair flew out of the nearest window and up, up, until they eventually reached the rooftop. Truthfully, they didn't expect to find anything, but the sight they beheld instead was much worse. 

Penelope was dancing with a demon. 

Again. 

Camilla landed first and promptly gasped upon seeing her best friend with her arms wrapped around a demon's neck. When Terrance took in the sight, he didn't say anything, and instead, his expression turned icy cold. 

Penelope jumped upon their harsh landing and immediately stepped away from the demon. Shawn. "Oh, uh, Cami! Terr! What-um-what are you two doing up here?" 

Before either of them could respond, three more figures landed beside Terrance and Camilla. Charles and Leo stood on opposite sides, of course, with Valerie next to Leo. 

Valerie's face hardened at the sight before her and she stepped forward, palming two beautiful daggers. "Step away from him, Penelope," she growled. "Before someone gets hurt." No one could tell if it was a threat or not. 

But before anyone could react, the door to their right burst open, and a group of Celestian sentries stomped toward them. They immediately grabbed Penelope and Shawn's wrist, locking them behind their backs and shoving them back toward the door. 

But the most surprising part was the locks they also put on the rest of the Queenguard's wrists. "What's going on?" Terrance growled, trying to wrench free. 

"Queen's orders. She needs to... speak with all of you," the sentinel answered flatly and shoved him through the doorway, along with the rest of the group. 

It was a quiet journey to the Queen's throne room. No one bothered speaking; they were all too worried about what would happen to them. 

When the group finally reached the large doors to the throne room, a voice called from behind them, "enter", and the Queensguard and sentinels walked to stand before the Queen. 

And the sight they saw was quite perplexing, to say the least. Five other demons were kneeling in front of the Queen, bound in the same shackles as the Queensguard. 

The Queen lifted a dismissive hand when the Queensguard knelt before her. "Sentinels, you may go." They immediately stepped back from the Queensguardians and Hellguardians, leaving the room and their captors at the Queen's mercy. 

"My dear Queensguard," the Queen began, smiling as she admired her nails. "The beloved protectors of Celestia. My greatest warriors. Angels that I can trust with anything. Or, at least, that's what I thought," her tone darkened and the smile on her face was immediately wiped away. "You betrayed me, all of you." 

There was a pause and Valerie dared to step forward. "Permission to speak, Your Majesty?" she asked. The Queen inclined her head and Valerie took in a shallow breath. "We were going about our patrols as usual, but when we were all supposed to meet up at Halo's to come back here, Penelope never showed," Valerie explained and Penelope ducked her head to hide her flushed cheeks. "We then went out to look for her and found her on the roof with... the demon. We'd just arrived on the scene when your sentinels dragged us all away." 

The Queen chuckled darkly. "I don't care, Valerie. I trusted you and was betrayed. You," she gestured to the leader, "should have taken better care of your Queensguard. And interaction with demons is only allowed during the Winter Ball," she then tossed a glance at Penelope. "I don't particularly care what happened. You will all be punished." 

The angels knew better than to object. 

"And as for you demons," she eyed the horned figures kneeling in front of her, "you will join them. In the Hall of the Damned."