His senses coming back to him, Alexander groaned as he felt his entire body ache. He opened his eyes, and looked around in bewilderment for a second before realizing that he was looking at the car’s wrecked interior. He pushed himself up and saw the unconscious Katie, blood dripping from her temple and the back of her head.
“Gods, Katie!” Alexander glanced at the driver, hoping to ask for help but saw him unconscious as well, his large body lying on both the driver seat and passenger’s seat.
He dug through his coat pockets and finally found his phone. As he heard his father’s phone continuously ring, he saw a figure approach the car from the windshield. They were quite a ways from the city. Judging by the forest around them, they were probably near the palace… that means the one approaching could be palace staff.
He rushed to the cracked window and pounded on it, attracting the person to his side. The person, one of the male
“That’s the Levee manor?” Alexander peered from the tinted car windows. “Its size rivals that of the palace!”“I remember the previous owner of the Levee house wanted to have their own palace so they always renovated it. The current duke and duchess just refurnish everything depending on the occasion,” Katie answered, putting on her olive green trench coat. “Are you ready?”“Why did I agree to this again?” Alexander inquired, buttoning his midnight blue coat. “Your injuries still hurt, don’t they?”“You had the choice to stay, didn’t you?”“I wouldn’t have allowed you to go on your own!”“Exactly!” Katie chuckled. When their car rolled to a stop by the palace entrance, she took a deep, calming breath. “Let’s go.”Upon exiting the car, a tall, tanned man with slick brown hair greeted them warmly
A few days later, Katie sat in front of her study table, singing a song at the top of her lungs. She danced a random choreography while staying seated, but her hand bumped into the papers on her table, causing her small stack of homework to fall to the floor.“Ah, crap!” Katie muttered under her breath, crouching to the floor to pick up her lessons.She heard her bedroom doors open, and a figure crossed the threshold to her bedroom, their hands akimbo. She looked up, only to meet Arden’s brilliant blue eyes. He looked at her with the expression that she usually associated with his 'doctor mode': worry.“What’s up with your expression?” she asked and resumed picking up her papers. “I told you my bruises are no longer visible.”“That’s not why I’m here.”“Why else would you enter my bedroom like it’s your living room?”Arden was taken aback by Katie&rsquo
Can you hear me?“Who's there?”You! Are you the oracle?“What?”You can hear me! You can set me free! Please help me.“I don’t understand.”Please. I was told you already know this place!“You know that's not usually the case. I don’t know where-”Katie’s eyes fluttered open and she found herself hunched over her study table. She felt her stomach growl and realized that she hadn’t eaten breakfast after getting ready to welcome the Pipers’ return.She exited her room and headed towards the kitchen, fanning herself with her hands. Did the palace get warmer?When she reached the kitchen, the lingering aromas from the dishes made her stomach growl louder. She pat her stomach and headed to the table where her breakfast sandwiches were placed.“Princess, you came later than expected to
“Ah, then… Perhaps you should go check on him,” the queen said, giving her niece a small push toward the palace doors. “Alaster and I have much to discuss. Don’t forget to button up your coat.”Katie nodded and walked to the greenhouse, appreciating that time given for her to thik. She wasn’t satisfied with her aunt’s answer but… It was no use pressing her. She knew that her aunt had much to hide. After all, it goes along with her position.What would make aunt start such a club? Does she believe that the descendant of the war god is revealed soon? What significance does the descendant and the relic have in this peaceful era.“Katie!” Alexander ran to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.The prince’s gesture brought Katie back to reality, but what startled her most was the Prince’s demeanor. Was he this cheerful before?“Hello, Prince Alexander&rd
“Feel Alexander…” He remembered his mother’s words before she died. “The gods can be perceived with emotions.”He remembered his mother’s death. It had been… so long... or was it longer than he thought? Was it a year? He was a child… so it was years ago. Before his mother died, he was not the type to believe in things such as magic or deities.His parents did always urge him to acknowledge the unknown… and that was his mother’s final wish for him. For a change, he started to study various mythologies but he never did quite feel anything towards them. He accepted his father’s offer to ally with Aelysia and they were in the Aelysian palace a month later. Before his mother's death, he would have found the idea of marrying someone from a religious country useless but perhaps if he could study Aelysia's rich history, he could find the engagement a fruitful one.At first, the clueless princess
Katie sat on a swing, kicking at the sand beneath her feet. She thought back to the palace maids. They looked… scary. The staff was the scariest people, in her opinion. They could freely enter any rooms in the palace without arousing much suspicion. They were also the most outspoken people.“Maybe I should have replied,” Katie wondered. “Will I gain their respect if I do that?”She exhaled audibly and scanned her surroundings. She realized that she had been in Aelysia for so long but she never knew any places aside from places she had visited for courtly affairs. She never would have expected there was a playground at the foot of the hill.She looked up. It had started to snow. She stretched her arm out, accumulating snow in her palms. It was these occasions that she always felt nostalgic. Somehow, memories of her family had always been associated with snow. She thought it was because she left her family during winter time.
Alexander ran everywhere around the city, desperately searching for Katie. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman dressed in a nightgown, running away from a man holding a weapon in hand. He rubbed his eyes as the woman’s image flickered. Am I seeing things again?The trees in the direction the man and woman ran to began to dance, as if beckoning Alexander to go there. Trusting his guts, Alexander followed the mysterious pair and wound up in a small playground near the forest. The woman was gone but the man was standing motionless before Katie, staring at her even as she was obviously in excruciating pain.Alexander hurried to Katie’s side, pushing the man away. “Katie! Stay with me!”The light from Katie’s eyes faded and Alexander managed to catch her before her body hit the ground. Pushing him aside seemed to have brought the man back to reality and he gasped at the sight of the unconscious woman. He looked down at
Marielle and Xena emerged from Xena’s tent, both exhausted. They both collapsed on their chairs and sighed.“Does your friend have a history with venom?” Xena asked Alexander.“I don’t think so. Why?”“The venom was neutralized when I was about to take care of it. The decay around her shoulder started to turn back to normal, too.”“Which means…?” Éclair asked.“Which means-” Marielle paused for so long, Alexander could only think it was intentionally for dramatic effect. “Either she’s immune to snake lady venom or she has really fast-working supernatural antibodies. We believe the latter is more believable, otherwise the venom would not have had any effect on her.”“That’s great! Good work, guys!” Éclair smiled. “Perfect timing, too. The food is ready.”They all ate in silence; the only
Alexander cussed and rushed to intercept them but the two paused in their tracks. Katie now stood at the threshold to the veranda, her eyes cold and piercing. Alexander feared that Katie’s eyes would turn red again but it didn’t. “Do you honestly think I have use for cults like you?” Katie tilted her head. “You have lost sight of your goals and chose to seize the power that will never belong to you,” She reached out her hand like she was asking for something. The ring tore free from the man’s grasp and slung back to Katie’s outstretched hand. “This ring is made for me alone.” The ring dissolved to dust in her hands and she took a deep breath, as if power was surging through her body. When she opened her eyes, it had taken the brilliant blue hue of the gem. The dust danced around her arm and created an outline in the shape of a sword. The shape immediately took form as Katie’s hands wrapped around its hilt. “The god’s descendant…” the man muttered, falling to his knees. He tugged at
Katie laughed as her parents shouted ‘ARE YOU CRAZY?!’ from the other end of the line. “Aren’t you too young?” her mother complained, “Who the hell are you engaged to?” “It’s the Crown Prince of Anatolia, Alexander Piper,” Katie replied. “It’s a political marriage… just to tell people that the tension between Anatolia and Aelysia is finally at rest.” She heard her elder brother laugh. “When are you going to tell us you like him?” Katie felt heat rush to her cheeks. “Alright, there’s nothing wrong with that!” “Anatolia?” her father muttered, “Never heard of that country.” “Pretty sure I didn’t too before I got here,” Katie said, nodding in agreement. “It’s a neighboring country, I’m pretty sure you’ll find it near Aelysia.” A brief pause. “Mm… nope, can’t see it,” they said in unison. Katie winced as she felt pain radiate from her left temple to the back of her head. “I think I’ll hang up now, I’m not feeling good.”
Alexander’s father bounded down the stairs, almost running into him when he reached the floor below. “Did you eavesdrop on our conversation?” Alexander asked his father, shaking his head in disbelief. “If you mean the part where you were feeling selfish, yes,” the King grinned. “It was so surprising; I thought I could die happy then and there.” “Ha. Ha,” Alexander rolled his eyes. “So let me hear this solution of yours.” “Alex,” his father raised a dark blue, velvet box. “Don’t you think it’s the perfect occasion?” Alexander eyed the box in his father’s hand, memories of his childhood flooding back to him. He didn’t know he took that box with him, nor why he even considered taking it. Alexander swiped the box from his father, giving him a grateful nod before running back to the library to finish what he started the night before. At the end of the day, late in the afternoon, Katie entered the library. “Alexander, I’m sorry we to
Katie ran to Arden’s car where he waited patiently, scrolling through his phone. When he heard light footsteps approaching, he looked up and smiled at Katie, greeting her with a warm ‘hello’. Katie stopped in front of him and spread out her arms to show her outfit to Arden, slowly pivoting in place, her grey trench coat gracefully twirling with her movements. “What do you think?” Katie asked, absent-mindedly tugging at the ends of her shirt. “I am no fashion expert but I think I look okay.” “You know I always like casual Katie,” Arden grinned. He stepped aside to open the passenger side door. “Shall we be off?” “It won’t take a while, right? Alexander’s kind of expecting me to come back early.” “Shh… I don’t want any mention of Alexander today. This is our time together, please don’t ruin my happiness.” Katie’s lips curled to a thin line. “Alright then. Where’s our first stop for our time together?” “You know I’m your pa
She climbed to her feet and wrapped her hands around herself, shivering obstinately. She sized up the palace from her spot and she realized that it was the first time she was in this sort of situation. Does the palace even have doorbells? Usually they’d be expecting her arrival so they would be prepared to open the gates but- “Katie? Katie!” She felt a pair of strong, slender hands wrap around her from behind, Alexander’s nostalgic scent reminded her of the salty air in the island of Oreis. She smiled and placed her hand on his, surprised at how cold it was. “Nice to see you too…?” she muttered. “What’s with this sudden gesture?” Alexander released her and made her face him. He smiled the brightest smile she had ever seen and cupped her cheeks in his cold hands. He scanned every feature of her face as if he couldn’t believe it was her. “Are you alright?” Katie asked, swatting his hands away. “You’re hurting my face.” Alexander
Lightning struck overhead. Kaine quickly patched up Alexander’s wound as best as he could and carried him on his back. He called out to Ryle who was still looking over the edge of the cliff as if he’ll see Katie if he stared long enough.“Ryle!” he pulled his right shoulder. “We have to go! You know this island will be gone by morning!”“But Katie-”“-Is gone!” Kaine met Ryle’s eyes. “She fell. We can wallow in that later, but we still need to make sure this Alexander lives! We can at least try to do what the real her wanted to do!”Ryle glanced at the violent waves below, already trying to eat away at the island little by little. Kaine was right, they didn’t have much time. He looked back to his friend and nodded. Kaine nodded approvingly and they ran back to town, toward the building where Alexander’s father was waiting.They rushed over to the worried Alast
When the light dissipated, they found themselves in a dilapidated cottage in the middle of the woods. Katie pivoted in place, giving the place a quick scan. It barely had anything aside from a small, wooden bed at the corner and a small table by the door.“I recognize this place,” Katie ran out of the cottage, looking at it from outside. Ryle and Kaine hot on her heels.“You’ve been here?” Ryle asked, grimacing at the sight of the cottage. “It looks like it can barely stand on its own.”“This cottage is where Miss lived. She was an augur eons ago.”“Oh wow, she is talented,” Kaine muttered, oddly cheery. “So why are we here?”Katie bit her bottom lip. “I have no idea… but I guess it has something to do with releasing Jainella.”“Then let’s get this over with. Do you know how to get out?”“Miss says it&rsquo
Xena felt her heart almost stop and she glanced up at her companions who shared the same expression: shock. They didn’t know what to do at that moment.“It would be wise that way.”They turned to the direction of the unknown voice. In the general direction it came from, they saw a red-haired woman in an olive-green dress, a theater mask over her face. Just the sight of her made the group stand on attention and bow respectfully. Katie, on the other hand, could only stare at her with eyes of… was that jealousy?“You’re the red-haired girl from Alexander’s childhood,” she muttered.“Katie,” Xena knelt in front of the princess. “She was the one who saved us when we were in the labyrinth. We practically owe our lives to her.”The woman approached Katie like she was approaching a rabid animal. “I have no intention to harm you, Katie. Please soften those eyes. There is no need
“You’re as resilient as I thought,” the voice in her head muttered. “As expected of my oracle.” “Oracle-” Katie muttered. “Then who am I speaking for?” “If I tell you now, would it satisfy you?” Katie thought of it, and the voice was silent the entire time she was thinking, as if she was waiting patiently for her answer. Katie nodded… but a doubt gripped her mind. “Actually, maybe not.” “Indeed,” the voice seconded. “Because it would be too easy then, isn’t it?” Katie replied with a nod. “Will I know soon?” “How soon is soon? But you will know the truth when it comes along.” Katie’s eyes fluttered open, the light from the cave blinding her. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she tried to move her body, but an intense pain washed over her. “Ow!” she groaned, alerting her companions. “Katie!” her friends rushed to her, the worry on their faces now replaced with relief. “How are you feeling?” Xena asked. “My stomach hurts like hell but I’m fine.” “Oh, right!” Éclair prod