Part I

Maya opened her brother's door and stood in the doorframe.

 “Charlie are you ready?” she softly asked. Her brother was nowhere to be seen in his untidy room. “Charlie are you there?” she asked, a little louder this time. “Right here, Maya!” Charlie grinned as he popped out of his closet, tightly clutching a plastic sword with a leather hilt and chipped off paint. Charlie was wearing parts of a knight Halloween costume. He was wearing the silver breastplate with a golden border, the helmet with swirling patterns, but strangely not the pants that came with the set, and was instead wearing horse print pants. “Do you have mews with you?” Charlie inquired, shutting the door behind him as the two walked into the hallway. Maya shook her head. “I put Mews in Dyclon and shut the door behind him.” she declared. Dyclon was what Maya and Charlie called the treehouse their father had constructed for them. 

Charlie and Maya were what you would call Irish twins, although they looked nothing alike. Maya had tan skin, straight black hair, and hazel eyes. Charlie, on the other hand, had pale skin, light brown hair, and green eyes. They were both ten, but Maya always claimed that she was the oldest, and Charlie would groan and say ‘only by 5 months and 17 days’. The two siblings walked out the door and stood in front of the treehouse, or as Maya and Charlie called it; Dyclon. “Dragons first!” Maya said, barging in front of her brother and climbing up the rope ladder. Charlie scampered behind her. Maya opened the door and they both sat on a wooden chair. Mews walked over to Maya and greeted her by rubbing against her shin. Mews hissed at charlie, sitting on his chair, arms out to pick up Mews. He quickly retreated his arms, knowing how vicious their cat could be. It was quite obvious that the Persian cat liked Maya better, even though Charlie was the one who took care of him. He fed Mews, cleaned his litter box, and everything he could while he was around. But no love came from Mews to him. 

As if on cue, Maya and Charlie shook around berserkly in their chairs, eyes closed. All the sudden movement caused Mews to hide under the small table. The treehouse looked like a normal treehouse at first. It had two chairs, a table scattered with about ten sheets of paper with things like centaurs, mermaids, dragons, and all sorts of mythical creatures drawn by Maya and Charlie. There was also a stream of spilled water, and many stuffed animals lying about. So it seems like a normal treehouse, but with just enough imagination, it could be transferred to a magical haven for the two siblings. 

Maya and Charlie stopped shaking, opened their eyes, and looked around. Instead of a small, chaotic treehouse, was a stupendous forest with all sorts of things like phoenix’s, trolls, and many more mythical creatures (as you can see, imagination is an amazing tool when used properly). In a deep stream were at least 20 mermaids swimming around, smiles on all their faces as they played with each other. The forest was damp, heavy with dew. Maya was not human anymore- she was a beautiful blue dragon with glistening scales and deep amber eyes. She had talons almost the length of a pencil. Charlie was now a centaur and his plastic armor was now real shining silver armor. Mews was now a stunning lynx with a long, thick tail and beautiful ears, the tips of the ears black. Maya flew up into the sky with charlie and Mews following. It was like a mission where they knew exactly what to do, and so they went off in the direction of faint noise. Crossing the treehouse which was about 10 feet wide, would have taken not even a minute to cross. Now, it took 10 minutes to not even reach the end of Dyclon which was what they called the forest. As far as anyone was concerned, Dyclon did not end. As they neared closer, there was yelling and shouting. Suddenly, there was a loud caterwaul and then complete silence. Maya instantly turned around, a grim expression on her face, slowly turning to panic. “Charlie! They shot Nala! “Maya...you cant be sure it even was Nala,” he said. Maya slowly nodded even though she was sure it was Nala as she recognized her scream. They rode closer to find a sleeping pixie, who was not in fact sleeping, but dead. Nala was about half a foot tall-she was a tall pixie- had beautiful blazing hair and a summery yellow dress. Her eyes that were once so full of life and warmth, were now cold and still. “Nala!” Maya cried out, despair creeping on her face. She knew what she was going to find, but she was still sorrowful. She looked at her brother and spat out “Sigyn. She did this.”

Now you may be thinking Sigyn as in the wife of Loki? No. sigyn as in the evil manticore that brought only terror and harm to the beautiful forest of Dyclon. 

Charlie heard a rustling sound and then a cackle. Maya was now gently clutching Nala in her talons, not seeming to notice the noise that came behind them. Charlie glanced around and caught the sight of a blood-red tail disappearing into the forests of dyclon. He whispered something to Maya. All she heard was see and sigyn, but just hearing the name of the creature that did this to her friend was enough. She wanted to ask what Charlie's plan was, but he was now galloping deep into the forest so Maya followed, placing Nala's body in a clump of ferns.

As they reached a clump of trees, Maya instantly recognized the middle tree, which was also Sigyn’s castle. There was some sort of magic that made the inside of the tree a huge castle, about ten times the size of an average house. She peered in and saw sigyn filing her sharp claws, and humming along to ‘bad blood’ by Taylor Swift, as she sat on her gold throne in the middle of the huge room. Sigyn, as mentioned before, was a manticore. She had flowing red hair, the face of a human, sharp fangs, the body of a lion, and the red tail of a scorpion. Sigyn especially admired her claws, horns, and huge wings. All blood red. Maya winced at sigyns screeching voice and suddenly realized-Mews was gone! She hoped he was safe wherever he was. She guessed he was most likely where she’d buried Nala’s body. She crept inside Sigyn's chamber and Charlie followed her quietly. They hid behind a huge grandfather clock and cringed at Sigyn’s off-key singing. Sigyn suddenly stopped filing her nails and turned off her music. “I know you’re here little ones'’ she crooned. Sigyn nonchalantly examined her claws and said “oh Mews, do you want some more tuna?” Maya gasped with anger and Sigyn smiled at her, feeding at her shock, anger, and fear. Mews purred and rubbed up against sigyn. Maya was outraged at Mews at first, but then realized that he must be hungry. Maybe this was all part of his plan to fool Sigyn! Maya knew her hope was empty, and her anger burned up again. Maya lunged forward but Charlie crossed in front of her. He slowly drew out his sword and Maya followed as he crept up to Sigyn who was distracted by mews. He started to strike Sigyn when his and Maya's mother appeared in the doorway.

Part II

Where are those kids? Mrs. Hawkins-charlies and Maya's mother- thought wiping her hands on her apron. She trudged upstairs and called out their names. “Maya! Charlie! Lunch is ready!” no response. She checked in their rooms-both empty. She sighed and headed back downstairs. She put some cat food in Mews’s bowl. She was surprised when mews didn't come running like he always did. Suddenly, she knew where they were. She headed outside and heard yelling and meowing coming from the treehouse. What was the silly name her children called it? Cyclone? She called their names, surprised to hear ‘bad blood’ playing upstairs. Mrs. Hawkins climbed up the rope ladder and opened the door to the treehouse. She was amused and shocked at the sight. Mews was playing with his lion toy, while charlie was wearing what looked like Halloween costumes. They were yelling at poor Mews, and she spotted a ragged towel, covered in...leaves? She shook her head and carried mews. Maya and charlie groaned, and followed her down the rope ladder, mews easily jumping down the short distance. Dyclon shall wait another day Maya thought. It’s pizza day!