C19 Final Curtain Call

Theo stepped off the carriage and surveyed her allies gathered before her.

"Is Danny with you?" Crawford asked, his voice tinged with apprehension.

"Yes, why?" Theo replied warily.

"Just tell her to stay close," he answered, the urgency in his tone palpable.

"I'm right here," Danny interjected sarcastically. "No need to remind me."

Theo shot her a stern look before turning towards Crawford and nodding.

"We have one last chance to be heard by the Council," he declared, as the group crowded around him.

Silas was the first to welcome them at the entrance of the chambers, taking Theo aside to apologize for their past interaction. "Please trust me on this," Silas said earnestly. "I know that I can help you get back what belongs to you—your father's legacy." He offered her the keys to her old childhood home in exchange; she knew it was her only hope of salvaging what little she still had of her father.

Theo shifted her weight from foot to foot, clearly uneasy. She glanced up at Silas, a look of anxiousness in her eyes. "What happened at the White Castle...it's complicated," Theo said, clenching her fists. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else." Theo proceeded to tell Silas everything that happened in the White Castle.

"That lowly creature is still alive? I can hardly believe it!" Shocked to her core, Theo now realizes that Silas had known about her father being trapped there all along.

Steeling herself for the confrontation, Theo strode into the Council chambers. Every eye in the room was upon them as they advanced up to the podium. Silence descended like a heavy fog over the white-uniformed crowd as Theo took a deep breath and began her story.

“We set out on our journey to find my missing stepbrother Caleb...” She paused briefly, her voice shaking with emotion. “We soon realized there were others searching for him too -- strange creatures that seemed determined to get to him before we did so they could destroy him. We had no choice but to fight them off and keep going...”

Theo went on recounting all of their adventures until she revealed why it was so important for them to find Caleb. The audience leaned forward, rapt with attention, hanging onto every word she spoke. When she finished, an eerie hush fell over the chamber once more.

She then recounted her terrifying encounter with the creature, Zandra, in the White Castle. She told them how she had managed to trap her father there for years without any of their knowledge.

"I know you won't believe me," Theo said passionately, her voice ringing out across the Council chamber. "But my father's been a prisoner of Zandra's for all these years."

The members of the Council gasped in horror and disbelief as Theo spoke. One or two of them even stood up in protest against what she said.

"This is preposterous!" one of them shouted.

"How can we trust what she's saying?" another asked.

Theo held her head high and continued to address the council with poise and confidence. "Please believe me when I say that every word is true."

Finally, when Theo finished with her story, there was an almost palpable silence in the room as everyone absorbed what they had heard. Realizing this was their only chance at getting justice for all those affected by The Dark One's evil actions, Crawford stepped forward and presented his arguments to affirm Theo's words while Buzadu offered support where needed.

After much debate and deliberation between all present parties, it became clear that they were indeed dealing with something supernatural—something beyond what any of them had anticipated.

Theo then boldly declares to the council that enemies lurk within Ravensky not outside of it, and the only way to reveal them is if they are let back in. The council's response is flat-out refusal. But just before they have a chance to react further, Theo walks down from the podium to the table in front of the chamber and slams down the special stone gifted to her by the sage in the secret chamber. Addable gasps filled the chambers.