For my family and friends,

Thanks for being there for me and making me laugh.

Chapter 1

Ever since I was a little girl, my mother has always told me not to go into a certain door. I can remember her saying,

“Mercedes dear, don’t go in there or I’ll lock you in your room!"

Or

“MERCEDES!! What are you doing by that door again? Do you want me to lock you in your room?”

She never told me why I couldn’t go in that door, but I always tried. It was near in the darkest wing of my home.

When I say “darkest wing” I mean the darkest wing of my castle. I am the heir to the throne and future ruler of Zacedonia, a city surrounded by iron walls, bolted shut.

My city, which I will soon rule, is not a city where there are classes or districts like some of the books I have read.

My city is like a free city, you can choose who you want to be and where you like to live. We don’t use money or coins or pounds, instead we use kindness levels.

The door was a dark, almost like a black, wooden door with a silver handle.

Usually our doors weren’t this color, but this one was. Some days I would sit and stare at the door for hours. The handle would always be cold, like dry ice. Too cold to touch...

I have always wondered about something, whether it’s the door or the walls, it has always interests me.

“Mercedes, lunch is finished, It is your favorite,” said Madame Lou who suddenly was behind me. “You should not be near that, bad things happen when someone goes down there.”

“Down there?” I asked, confused.

“Oh!” her eyes became wide. “I meant in there”

“Hmm, okay,” I knew she was lying, the way she fumbled with her lemongrass colored dress. “I’ll make my way downstairs”

I walked down the red carpeted stairs, I then could smell the lobster sandwiches and butter melting slowly down the lumps of potatoes. I could hear the murmur of the palace guests and Madams. Once I walked in the room, their attention turned to me.

“Welcome fellow guests of Zacedonia,” I started. “I have called you all here today, to notify everyone about the murders in the west citizen area. Does anyone know anything about this?”

A small lady came upon me, bowed and smiled a small smile. She looked about in her 60’s. She looked stressed, but I knew she was an elder of the city.

“My name is Ammie Emery and I know that the murderer is not from Zacedonia He’s the only one not wearing bright colors, He wears grey,” she said with a hint of fear in her voice

“Dark Colors?” my mother and Queen of Zacedonia asked with a slight hint of confusion. “No one wears dark colors but the-”

“The what?” I asked sounding a bit demanding.

“Nothing,” she replied with a quick and quiet voice, almost like a whisper.

More lies I thought to myself that’s another thing are there people in that door? What is in there? That question always ate at my soul. Why can’t I go in there?

At that moment my devious plan hatched. I was going in that room.

“Mom, I don’t feel good. May I be excused?” I asked my mother who then nodded at me. Thank you I mouthed at her.

I spent hours in my room detailing my plans. Soon before dinner I was to be tutored because I wasn’t allowed in the school of the city with children and teens. I told her I was still not feeling well, and I asked if I could not be disturbed until breakfast the next morning. I spent a few more hours on my plan. The right time finally came, and I tiptoed out of the door.

I walked down the corridor to the dark wing. The door was so dark, it was hidden in plain sight. I turned the handle then I heard the cough of the guard who guards the wing.

I hid in the curtains next to the door.

“Hello, who is there,” He asked. I could not breathe. I was too scared to. He coughed again, “Gah, it was probably the cat.”

The cat Sweet Pea, Mom’s cat. He was a strange little black cat with white hairs and yellow eyes. He guarded the door as well as the other guard Steve did, except Steve didn’t scratch the life out of you.

I heard him walk down the hall. I looked out the curtain and he was gone. I slid over to the door, and said,

“Lemongrass,” and the door made a whoosh sound and opened. I looked inside, it was pitch black.

I stepped inside to find a switch but instead there was no solid ground. It was like I fell into a hole, a never ending one, but I knew I landed when I felt the sharp pain in my head and couldn’t see anything.

Chapter 2

“What is she doing here?”

"How would I know

“Well, maybe she is just lost?”

“Yeah well, there is a problem”

“What now, Grey?” the voice I thought was named Ash said.

“She’s awake”

They turned to me. They had red-gray hair and had pale skin. As I was studying them, I noticed that their eyes were black. Not a single strip of white or any other color. Just black.

“Oh no. What’s up with her eyes?” said Ash.

“That’s very rude to say Ash,” said the older one about in his thirties.

“Well there is something wrong with her eyes,” said Ash. I thought to myself, There is something wrong with their eyes.

“My name is Mercedes, I am Heir to the throne of Zacedonia and I am very sure there is nothing wrong with my eyes! I demand you tell me where I am and who you are,” I said, being a bit harsh.

“Your Majesty,” Grey bowed. “My name is Grey. I do not have a last name, and I am nothing important. I am a widower for my wife is dead, along with my three young children. You are in the Underworld.”

“I am Ash. I have only heard of Zacedonia in stories from the elders. I did not think it was real,” said Ash, the younger one, who was about sixteen or seventeen.

“How do I go back to Zacedonia?” I asked with a hint of sadness in my voice.

“There is no way back,” Ash said. “that I know of. I may have an idea though.”

“Yeah, and I know exactly what you mean. We’ll have to give her a makeover,” said Grey with a smile. “I’ll call Mareena”

He took a small block, thin as ice out of his pocket of his black jeans,tapped it a few times, and put it up to his ear.

“Hey! Mareena! How are you?”

There was a pause.

“Oh yes I’m doing good! I just have one problem.”

Another pause.

“You won’t believe it if I told you. Just come over here.”

A very long pause. I wondered how he could communicate with a small block. It was impossible.

“See you later.” and Grey set the block down. I could see little tiny numbers. He caught me looking at it.

“I take it you’ve never seen a phone before then,” Grey said. Ash snickered in the corner. Phone. Phone. I had never heard the word phone before.

“Phone,” I whispered. “Can I see it?”

“Here you go,” Grey handed it to me. I looked at it with curiosity.

“Hello,” I said into the phone. Grey and Ash snickered.

“No honey, you have to-”

“OPEN THE DOOR GREY!!!!” someone yelled from outside the small house. Ash ran over and opened the door. “Can’t open the door anymore, huh Grey?” said the woman. Grey blushed as a beautiful woman around the age of Grey walked in.

She wore a black jumpsuit to match her eyes, that were also black. Her hair was a different color though. It was the color of a black swan.

“Oh my!” she gasped. I figured she saw my eyes. “Dear, what’s wrong with you.”

“ She is from up above, Zacedonia,” said Ash pretending he was a poet.

“I can speak for myself, Ash,” I said, giving him an evil glare.

“Okay, Okay!” he said all innocent. “Jeez, girl.”

“Feisty, isn't she?” said the woman. “I am Mareena.”

“So I’ve heard,” I glared as I spoke these words.

“Well then, why am I here then Grey?” she asked, being demanding.

“Oh! Well we need to give her a makeover. Get her out of that horrible bright green nightgown and find a way to cover her eyes,” said Grey, twisting his mouth as he said the words “bright green”.

Now that I think about it, I saw no color through the windows of the house. The only color I could see that wasn’t black, gray, or white was the orange-red flames of the torches that lit up the streets.

Mareena came to me, used a tape measure that she had pulled out of her hair, which I thought was strange. She muttered something that I could not hear. She told Ash to go pick up black fabric and something else that I couldn’t hear.

She took off my shoes and set them in a drawer. She stared at me a while longer. Then the thought came to me, could they even see anything?

“Mareena, I was wondering, can you guys see anything?” My voice quivered thinking it could’ve been offensive.

“Of course dear! How else could we tell your eyes weren’t black like ours are!” she smiled almost laughing.

Ash came a few minutes later, carrying a small basket, also grey, with black fabric in it. Mareena pulled a sewing needle from her hair, again I thought it was weird. Then she got to work. I was watching her closely, sewing the fabric together making another jumpsuit that looked exactly like hers.

What really threw me off is that in the bottom of the gray basket there was a box, it was black and was labeled Hair Color. Now that is when I started to freak out. I liked my blonde hair, I did not want it different!

Mareena saw me. “Is the jumpsuit looking weird?”

“It looks fine,” I smiled. “I just don’t like the hair color idea.”

“Oh! Trust me, it’s not black or grey!” She said, her eyes getting wide. “It’s dark purple! Dearie, we don’t just have black, grey, and white. We also have purple!”

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly after she finished. “I usually never see black or grey, so I freaked out.”

We started to laugh. I had never thought that they would be happy, down here.

I had heard stories about the underworld. No one laughed, smiled, or even being kind. They only wore black or gray, sometimes white. Never did I hear that they laughed or even wore purple! I thought to myself, Wow, it’s not that bad down here anyway.

After about an hour of “the makeover” I was all done. As I looked in the broken mirror that Mareena showed me, I saw that for once, I actually didn’t look like a princess. My once blond hair was now a mischievous dark purple.

My bright green dress was also stuffed into a drawer and now I was wearing a shiny black jumpsuit with black tennis shoes. The one thing that was really different about me (which was very painful) was that Mareena made a drink that turned my eyes black, but only for a few days.

As I stared in awe, Mareena smiled, “My work here is done.” and just like that, she had disappeared.

“ Wow, you look-” Ash started.

“ She looks like one of us,” said Grey cutting off Ash.

“ Let’s go then,” Muttered Ash.

We all walked out the door and into the streets. The underworld did not look that nice. I noticed the streets had little rats scurrying across to the other side.

There were no flowers, no sun, not even a single piece of green grass. The street was made with stone with small cracks in it. The houses or most of them were wooden with cracked, or no windows. The roofs were made with rubber like material. It was strange down in the Underworld.

We walked for a few more minutes. There were more black eyed people, none noticed me though. They just stared as if they were scared or just weird like that.

We soon reached a circle of chairs filled with young children. In the middle of the circle of chairs was a huge black-red fire.

“Elders, I have come to hear another story of the land called Zacedonia,” said Ash.

“Shall we?” asked one of the children. She had a flower crown on her head. It was not beautiful bright colors, but instead it had black roses on it. “I am not sure if we should be sharing secrets with an outsider.”

“Well, I fear that it is not a secret for it is a story, Malachi,” said another but this was a boy, with a beard that went passed his toes.

“Fine, but I will not tell it, I always do,” Groaned Malachi. “Go ahead Chucksy, tell it.”

Chucksy started, “Once upon a time, there was a huge kingdom. It was split into two. One side was Acedonia and the other was Zacedonia. They were both beautiful. Then the two rulers, Queen Liander and King Morschin, had a huge fight about which side was more beautiful.

The day after that the rulers made the people pick sides. The war began that afternoon. It lasted 29 hours. By the end, the Acedonian army had two hundred people left to the massive seventeen hundred of the Zacedonian army.

“Oh Gosh! Why am I the one telling you this? Is it because I'm the prophet who made it? Huh? Is that why Chucksy?” Said another elder who looked like a farmer child without color. It was sad that none of the kids wore color. That was the whole point of kids, color, something the Underworld wouldn't give.

Queen Liander banished the Acedonian people to a place called the Underworld. This created a prophecy, which Bemely will now tell you.”

“No, it's just that my throat hurts,” Said Chucksy, doing a fake cough.

“Whatever! You really suck at faking stuff, Chucksy,” grumbled Bemley. “After the war, a child was born, blah, blah, blah and then creates another war and then dies.”

I smiled weirdly, “Oh, that’s nice.”

“Hmm, yeah,” he said almost like a whisper. Then BOOM, it hit me. My mother was Queen Liander. I was the child. I just was never told that I had a father.

I always thought he died in the war, but he was the ruler of this awful place. I didn’t want to start a war, I didn’t even want to die! Why did I come down here? Why did I go into that door? What’s going to happen now?

“CALM YOUR THOUGHTS NEWCOMER,” yelled someone. I looked around. All I could see was Bemley, Chucksy, and Malachi. The thing confusing me was that I saw four chairs instead of three. “YES, THERE IS A CHAIR FOR EVERY PERSON MEANING THAT I AM A PERSON TOO.”

“Where are you?” I asked scrunching my face in confusion. Then I noticed the steady breathing I could feel on my neck. I screamed, jumped, and started crying all at one second. Don’t ask me why, I just did. I was scared, and I guess that is what I did when I was scared. I heard an evil, maniacal laughter from behind me.

“I am Zorak, the leader of the elders,” said a cat. Now for a second I actually thought there was a cat face in my face as like a mask, but NO, there was an actual cat standing on two legs with the biggest white smile and the dullest gray bow tie. It was a black cat with white hairs on its head and the most lightning yellow eyes, another color.

His eyes weren’t black, like the others. He also looked familiar. “Like whatcha see?”

“No I do not, and I don’t understand why you are yelling. I don’t know how you knew what I was thinking and why you don’t have black eyes like ever-,” I said before Zorak cut me off.

“Shush! You need to be quiet,” His voice dropped to a whisper.

“ Oh um, what's your name?,” Said Zodak, quickly.

“Uhh. Nothing. Oh um, what's your name? Wait. Don't tell me! Is it Merceds?” Said Zodak, very quickly.

“No, it's Mercedes-"

“Why yes! Mercedes. Oh and I'm a mind reading thing,” Said Zodak.

“Is your middle name Pea?” I asked sounding like a detective and raising my eyebrows slightly.

“Pea, my middle name is Pea as in the green things that you eat.Yes, you are correct,” said Zodak cracking an almost happy smile. Then I knew exactly who he was, Sweet Pea, Mom’s cat.

“S-Sweet P-,” I started stammering.

“Be quiet. We’ll talk later about this. Now why did you come here?” he asked.

“Oh! I need to get back to Zacedonia,” I blurted.

“YOU ARE FROM ZACEDONIA?!” yelled Bemely, Chucksy, and Malachi.

“GUARDS!” yelled Malachi. Guards came in and took me almost like they knew I was not from this horrid place, like they knew that I'd be there. As they grabbed me, I passed out in fear.

Chapter 3

I awoke in a dark room. I looked around to see nothing but the small window of bars five feet above the floor.

Great I thought to myself. I'm stuck in a cellar and there is no way out. Am I dreaming? No, no I'm not.

Then I heard someone grunt and cough. I looked around and realized that there was another window with bars.

I tried to get up and walk over it but when I tried to stand up, I fell back to the ground. I then felt the iron cuffs cutting into my skin.

“Ugh” I groaned rolling my eyes. “Let. Me. Out. Of. Here.”

“No,” said a soft high voice. “They won’t let you out.”

I jumped. I could see a glimmer of a black eye and a little bit of a color that wasn’t black, gray, white, or purple. It was a bright pink. This surprised me.

“H-how did you get in here?” I asked.

“I wore pink,” said the person. “By the way, my name is Princess.”

“Oh,” I said looking down. “I’m Mercedes. Why were you named Princess? In this place, no one is happy.”

“I wasn’t born here. I was born in a place called Acedonia.” said Princess who I could see more clearly now. She had long yellow hair , that almost didn’t look blonde. It had dirt bits in it, and it was all full of dust.

Her skin was stained gray with dust and her eyes they were the worst of all. She had one black eye, and the other was a beautiful blue eye. She looked depressed and scared. I couldn’t blame her. “Where are you from?”

“I’m from Zacedonia. I fell into a hole and now I’m here in this dungeon. I’m also the future ruler,” I said a bit fast in the beginning but slowing down towards the end.

“Miss future ruler, may I ask you a question or it’s more like a favor?” she said with a hopeful look.

“It depends, what is it?” I said with curiosity.

“Can you promise me something?”

“I can.”

“If you ever find a way back up to Zacedonia, can you take me back, or even tell my parents I’m okay?” she said with a single tear running down her face.