I didn’t get much sleep last night after thinking about his words (and looking for a way out of this room). Then I heard the explosions in the middle of the night, which made me start to think. The cause of those explosions were my sister and her friends saving that fake in that stupid pink dress. I tried to yell for them to see me in this tower, but none of them could hear my pleas or even looked in my direction, especially not Olivia.  

I have to warn them, but I couldn't do that in a room, especially without them looking for me, and that’s a fat chance with the phony around.

 Maybe I could use his deal to my advantage, but it is too early to say; I don’t even know what the whole deal is. But I got my chance after a long sleepless night when I heard knocking at the door with a familiar voice, “You ready to talk like adults now, Mr. Jackass?” 

I sucked up all my pride and said as nicely as I could, “Stop calling me that, and yes, what do I need to do as one of your…” 

“Nymphs? And all you have to do is look pretty and follow the rules, buuuut I’m willing to let you try to escape.” He explained as he walked in like the cat who caught the canary. 

“How gracious. Again, I still don’t see the point of this deal or if it helps me, but I’ll take it.” I held out my hand for a shake. 

“So eager, I still have to explain one more thing.”  Again with that used cat’s smile. “There is one little thing, you can’t tell anyone. Your real name or where you came from. But if you share more information with me. I’m fine with that. Isn’t it a pretty fair deal? And you get a cozy life here.” 

Why doesn’t he want me to share my name? I don’t know what this jerk is planning, but would it make my escape easier if I could tell people my name or raise suspicion? This is my best option, plus, how is he going to keep me from telling people who I really am?

“Fine, I take your deal. Besides, I'm confident I can still escape even without people knowing my name.” 

He raised his hand to shake, and I did the same. 

“With this deal, I gain your name and past. You will not be allowed to share it with anyone else. I will feed you, protect you, and give you the title of The Emperor’s Nymphs.” As he said that, a light circle appeared around our hands. 

“Good. With that being done, I will get Ladon to come and show you to the Nymphs’ tower, where Maia will show you how to live as a Nymph.” He explained ever so casually, and before leaving, he added with a cheery voice, “And one more thing, your new name is Oak. See you soon, Jackass.” 

 I want to hit him… again.

 Not too long after he left, the gold-haired snake furry… I think they're called scalies? You know what, I'm not going to get into that. Well, he showed up, and after releasing me from my ankle chain, he told me to follow him. I will admit that it would have probably been a good time to run, but I don't know exactly how I got in that room, so following him was perhaps the best option. As we walked through –I'm guessing more secret hallways, (geez, how many secret hallways does a castle need?) He started to say, "I know this is not ideal, but you did pick the best option. Plus, the other nymphs are nice. I think you might like it here. The Emperor was being gracious to you." He just kept going on and on about stuff like that. I'm not sure if he was trying to make me feel better or make it sound like the guy who wants to take over my world and is a literal villain sounds like not a bad guy, and I'm not sure which one is worse. 

After all the walking (again, how many secret hallways does a castle need and why are they so long?!?) We got a door which led to, I'm guessing, a normal part of the castle, by the fact it had actual windows and excellent carpets and paintings and all the stuff you see in one of those fairy tale movie castles. " We must hurry. Normally, servants don't come down here, but we still can't take them having a chance of seeing you."  His statement may sound weird, but this could help me. When he had his back turned to me, I made a run for it.  And here is my chance!

…

I wish I could say I made a run for it, jumped out of the window, and made it to my freedom, but I underestimated how fast this guy was. Let's just say I was carried to the next door. And I was too embarrassed to scream out for help. 

Luckily for me, the next door was the final door before he dropped me. And there I saw her. 

She looks so much like this Ladon with the golden Snake eyes, but she didn’t have a snake tail, and her golden hair was curly … just like Olivia's. 

Her voice was sweet like honey. "Hello there, I am the personal maid, caretaker, and protector of the nymphs that live in the castle. My name is Maia, I am taking you are the new Oak. All the other nymphs have been told and are extremely excited to meet you." After saying that, she bent down and reached out her hand to help me up off the floor. She was extremely beautiful. I couldn't help but look at her. She looked more like a princess than a maid. 

After I got up, Landon instructed her, "Keep a close eye on him and make sure he knows all the rules of being a nymph. It would be troublesome to explain to other servants and even royals why a nymph starts acting out." And with that, he left me with the golden-haired beauty. 

As he began closing the door, she responded, " Yes, Darkon, I know how to do my job." She gains a little smirk after hearing yelling from the other side of the door. "Don't use my first name in front of others!"

"Sorry, my brother can be a little uptight, trying to make everything run as smoothly as possible, even with the emperor's weird requests. He even tried to convince him to keep you locked up. But I know Emperor is a smart man, I think it would be fun to try to see you escape as well. I might even help you. It can get boring around here at times." She gave me a little wink.  “With that being said, I should get you cleaned up and introduce you to the others." 

I think I like her more.