NOELLE'S POV
I wake up to a knocking sound on the door. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. It seems surreal that only 2 days ago I was still at the orphanage and now I am in a strange castle somewhere on the bottom of the sea. "Come in," I say when I hear the knocking again. Maya walks in with a plate full of delicious breakfast. "I hope there is something in there that you like," Maya smiles. "I will start a bath for you and afterward I can give you a tour if you like?" she asks. I smile at Maya and say, "That would be nice." After Maya leaves, I dig into the bacon and eggs and eat until my stomach can take no more. Then I walk into the bathroom to the big round bathtub. The bath smells like lilacs and roses. I take a long relaxing bath and put on the clothes Maya laid down for me. It's a simple brown dress that feels very comfortable. I decide I am ready and walk out of my room. In the hallway, Maya is waiting. "Let's go I have a lot to show you," she says. While we are walking, I decide to ask Maya some questions. "You have been very helpful so far, but I am not sure why? Do you live in the castle?" Maya answers, "Well I'm helping you because I want to but also because the King gave me the task of taking care of the new girls and making them feel comfortable. I live in the castle, and I assist the King wherever he needs to. The King took me in and gave me a job when my parents were no longer able to do so. I have been living in the castle for 10 years now." I hesitate, "Ow okay, do you like it here? And how old are you if I may ask?" "You can ask me anything I am 26 years old, and I love living here. It is beautiful, the work is fun, and we have the most amazing parties in the castle," she answers. I walk a bit closer to Maya and ask, "And what about the King? Is he always so rude and what happens to the girls that come here every year?" Maya stands still, "He definitely is not rude to his people, and he has always been good to me. It is not my place to talk about what happens to the girls. That is a conversation you should have with the King. It will be good if you get to know him better." I grunt and say a bit heated, "Well that's fucking hard if he just throws me in a tower without saying a word." Maya sighs, "I understand everything is new and confusing at the moment. Maybe it will help if you read a bit about our history in the library?" My face lights up, "I love reading so that would be great." We start walking again and Maya shows me the flower garden, the dining hall, the ballroom, the living room, and finally the library. "There are more rooms in the castle but that's the King's private terrain, so we won't go there today," Maya says.We go into the library which must be at least as big as 5 bedrooms. I have never seen so many books before. I love reading but I didn't get the chance to read much at the orphanage. Maya picks 2 books and brings them to me. "These will give you some more information about historic events and about how the world looks like today. I will leave you to it."I take the books and begin reading in a red book first:In our world there exist 4 Realms. The Sky Realm, the Mortal Realm, the Sea Realm, and the Under Realm. Each Realm is a home to different species. In the Sky Realm, there live angels kind, they are ruled by King Gabriel. The angel kind has the magic of air and light. They can control the weather and the King is famous for his lightning power. Some angels also have healing powers. In the Mortal Realm, live mortals, and there used to live witches. With the witches gone there is no more magic in the Mortal Realm. Since the last witch queen died no one has sat on the throne of the Mortal Realm. In the Sea Realm there live merman, mermaids, and shark men. They can choose between mortal and magic forms. Besides that, they have water magic. The Kingdom of the sea is ruled by King Roan. The Under Realm is ruled by princess Hella. She lives in the Under Realm with demons and dark humans. Dark humans are humans that have so much darkness in their hearts that they feel more comfortable around other cruel creatures. Creatures of the Under Realm have fire magic and some are gifted with mind magic.My mind is already fuzzy from all this new information, so I take a look at the second book. I open it at a page that says the battle of the Realms. It's dated in the year 2050 so it must be around 3000 years ago. In the year 2050, the under Realm was ruled by Hades the King of hell. Hades was hungry for power and wanted to take over the other Realms. The witch queen Fiona learned of his plans and tricked Hades. She made him believe that she wanted to make a deal but instead banished the King of hell. His daughter Hella was furious and started a war against the other Realms. The Sky Realm fought together with the Mortal Realm against Hella. But in the end, the witches together with their queen and King got murdered. I want to read further but the next page is torn out. "Mmm strange," I think. I continue on the next page which says that Hella now rules the 4 Realms with one King as her subject and the other King as her assassin.I stop reading when I hear footsteps. It is Maya, "The King has requested you for dinner so it's time to freshen up." I didn't know that so much time had passed. I also don't really want to eat with the King, to be honest, but I walk with Maya to my room to put on other clothes.I decide to put on a green silk dress with spaghetti straps. It takes out the green in my eyes and shows my curves. I brush my hair and let it hang loose and curly over my back. I walk with Maya to the dining room. There the King sits at a table full of food. When he sees me coming in, he wants to stand up so quickly that his whole plate falls on the ground. He looks at my body from head to toe and forgets to shut his mouth in the process. I lift an eyebrow when his gaze returns to my face and the King quickly looks away. He is wearing black pants and a purple blouse. "He does look good for a jerk," I think. He stands up and holds out my chair while he says, "Thank you for joining me."I look at him strangely and think, "What the hell happened to him, he seems to have learned manners all of the sudden." As soon as I sit servants come to put food on my plate. I am getting potatoes, steamed vegetables, and smoked salmon. It looks delicious and just when I want to take a bite a man storms in. I look up and see a man with blond hair, brown eyes, and a friendly face walking towards me. He takes my hand and puts a kiss on it. "You must be Noelle, my name is Julias."He continues, "Well I must say that you are as beautiful as Roan described you." The King drops his fork with food on the floor when Julias speaks. "Julias please behave for once in your life," he grunts. Julias looks at the mess on the floor and replies, "Interesting words coming from a man that behaves like a pig." His eyes twinkle and he gives the King a mischievous smile. I can't help but laugh. After that, the ice is broken, and we have some nice conversations.When we have finished the food the King asks, "Noelle, would you give me the pleasure of giving you a tour through the city tomorrow?" I have not forgotten how he treated me yesterday, so I say, "No thank you maybe another time, I wanted to ask Julias if he wants to show me the water gardens tomorrow. Would you Julias?" Julias looks a bit guilty at the King when he replies, "Yes of course it would be my pleasure." "Okay great see you tomorrow then,'' I say. ''I am going to go get some sleep now. Good night Julias and good night my King," I say while I do a curtesy with a challenging look in my eyes. I look into the King's eyes for a while and then walk away swaying my hips.KING ROAN HIS POVRoan walks toward the sea with Noelle in his arms. She feels so soft and tiny lying against him. His mind is going crazy though. He can't believe he found her; it seems surreal after 3000 years.He is so busy in his mind that he doesn't notice that they have already arrived at the tower where Noelle will be staying. He puts her in front of the door and decides to leave immediately, he needs to set his mind right.He is so lost in thought that he doesn't even hear Noelle screaming at him. He goes for a long swim to clear his mind and after that, he is so tired that he immediately falls asleep.He wakes up the next day when it is already 3 o'clock. He still has no idea what to do about Noelle being the lost heir of the witches. Maybe it will be good to talk to Julias he thinks. Just when he is thinking about him Julias walks into his room.''Talking about the devil, I was just going to come looking for you,'' Roan says.Julia
NOELLE'S POV,The next day I meet Julias at the entrance of the gardens at 10 o'clock. I have seen the coral and flower gardens, but Julias told me that the water gardens are a bit of a walk.Maya said that they are a famous sight of the Sea Realm, so I am eager to see them.''Hi, are you ready for a walk?'' Julias asks me.I smile at him, ''It would be great to stretch my legs for a bit and now that I am stuck in this city, I better make the best of it right?''Julias puts his arm through mine, and we begin to walk.''I like your positive approach,'' he says, ''So, I am curious to know more about Noelle, tell me about yourself.''''There is not that much to tell I'm afraid,'' I continue, ''I was left at the doorstep of an orphanage when I was a baby and I have lived there till my 18th birthday. Then I planned to go explore the world and have adventures, but I ended up here instead.''Julias replies, ''It's maybe not the adventure you wa
NOELLE'S POV,Julias and I wait hours for Roan to come back. It's already midnight when finally, we hear the door. Roan walks in all bloody and with a sad and tired look on his face.''You are bleeding,'' I say shocked.He grunts, ''It's nothing I just need to get some sleep and then go back to the village.''I walk towards him and examine the cuts on his arms and chest, ''We need to at least clean your wounds to make sure you don't get an infection. Come on let's get you on a couch so I can help you.''Roan walks to the couch and sits down. I tell Julias to get some bandages and alcohol.''You need to take off your clothes so I can examine all the wounds. Here let me help you,'' I command.I take off his shirt and pants until he is only wearing underwear. If the circumstances were different, I would have gotten shy from such a beautiful body exposed.Julias comes back with the supplies, and I start cleaning Roan's wounds.Julias sits nex
NOELLE'S POV,I wake up by the sound of my alarm at 5 in the morning. It takes me 30 minutes to get ready and then I head out to the entrance.King Roan is already waiting in front of the door. He looks like shit; I wonder if he slept at all.''Good morning, did you get any sleep last night?'' I ask a bit concerned.''No, not much just had a lot to think about.''Before I can say anything else he walks out the door. I follow him while we walk to the edge of the air bubble. Roan stands still and looks at me from head to toe.''Considering what Julias told me about your magic I think you should be able to shapeshift into a water creature. Maybe we can try a mermaid, just think about what you want to look like. Picture everything from the breathing gills to the tail. When you have the image just say Shapolo''I look at him a bit doubtful, but I say, ''Okay let's give it a try.''I think about a long green shimmering tail, a small glit
NOELLE'S POV,The rest of the week Roan and I practice water magic every day from dusk till dawn. On the first day, he explained to me that magic can't stay inside. It is like a well that fills up, it needs to be released otherwise the well runs over. When that happens you have no control over your magic, and you don't know what the outburst will do to people close by.So, every day we start with doing some magic meditation. Simple peaceful spells just to make sure my magic does not get bottled up. The magic we do in the meditation is quite fun. I can make small rainclouds, make shapes out of the water like butterflies for example and make fun currents in the water for little sea turtles and sea horses.But that's the fun part the rest of the day we practice more advanced stuff like protection and battle magic. So far, I have been able to make a small shield. Roan can make protective air bubbles as big as cities. Today however we are going to try making a vortex.
NOELLE'S POV,I wake up hours later laying in my bed. I see Roan sitting next to me and he is holding my hand. Immediately the events of the day before start coming back to me and I start to tremble and cry.''O Noelle,'' Roan says with a warm voice and he takes me in his arms. He rocks me for a while until I start to calm down.He takes my face in his hands and says, ''I'm so sorry I was not there on time Noelle, I should have never let you go back alone.''I look away and ask, ''What happened to the men?''Roan gets an annoyed look on his face and answers, ''You don't have to worry about them anymore they are dead.''When I think about them, I can still feel them on my body.''Good,'' I say.Roan puts a kiss on my forehead, ''I have some things I need to do but I will come back later to check on you. You should try to get some more rest. I will ask Maya to keep you company in the meantime.''I still feel very tired, so
NOELLE'S POV,It feels like Roan, and I have gotten much closer since our day with the sea horses. We spend as much time with each other as possible. We also have picked up the magic practice again now that my power has come back.We just got back from today's session where I learned to make waves. When we walk into the living room, we hear voices. Roan pulls me behind a curtain, and he starts kissing me. I have to giggle because it feels like we are doing something bad.Julias walks into the room, so Roan puts his hand over my mouth to shut me up. I take his finger and put it in my mouth and suck it while I look Roan in the eyes. His breathing becomes heavy quickly and he stares at my mouth. The moment gets ruined because we hear Julias growl, ''WRAAH.''I peek from behind the curtain and see Julias stand in front of a mirror. He is getting in all kinds of bodybuilder positions while making beastly sounds. He shouts, ''YOU ARE THE MAN, YOU ARE A LOVE MACHINE.''
NOELLE'S POV,I am still smiling while eating breakfast. Yesterday was such a great day. I never would have thought I would feel so good in the Sea Realm on the day I got chosen.No one is joining me for breakfast today though and the servants all seem super busy. Maya comes into the dining room, so I decide to ask her what's going on.''Maya where is everyone so busy with?''Maya walks towards me and says, ''We are preparing for the Midsummer celebration tomorrow.''I look at her curious, ''Ow what is that?''Maya already walks away again, ''I'm sorry Noelle I have so much to do still. You should ask King Roan; I think he is in his study.''And then she is gone. After breakfast, I go to the study where I see Roan covered over some papers.''Hej,'' I say.He looks up and his gaze softens when he sees that it's me. ''Hi, good morning. Can I do something for you?''''I was just wondering what the midsummer celebration is that everyone
NOELLE’S POV,“Are you ready?” I ask Gabriel.He puts on his jacket and gives me a kiss, “Yes darling, where are the kids?”“Probably at the school saying goodbye to their friends,” I answer.We walk towards the school together and I feel grateful when I think about the number of people that go there today. In the first years after the war, not many people came to Liberum to learn about magic. But with the years of peace growing so did people’s trust and I am happy to say that Liberum is now known as a place of magic and wonders. More and more children with gifts get born every day and it is great to see diversity spread.At the school, we find our 2 daughters surrounded by friends. Fiona our second child is showing off with balls of fire that she is juggling in the air. With her red hair and icy blue eyes, she is a perfect mix of me and Gabriel. However her feisty attitude she solely got
NOELLE'S POV,It is a few hours later and bells are ringing through the city to announce the beginning of the funerals for all the lost lives. At first, we wanted to make a burning woodpile for every single body but then we decided it would be more meaningful to send everyone off on small plateaus at the lake that leads to the sea in Dandion. Everyone worked together the last couple of hours to make floating plateaus for all the bodies.I leave the castle to go to the lake with Gabriel. Everywhere I go people look at me with big eyes and they either bow or clap for me. I quickly gained the image of the heroine that saved the world in the hours that have passed. Tales of how I destroyed the army with magic spread and they even sound unbelievable to me while I know that I did it. I walk to the front of the lake where Luna, Holly, Julias, and Nolan are already waiting. The sun is shining and the only thing I hear is
NOELLE’S POV,While I am contemplating what to do with Hades, I hear running footsteps. Gabriel, Holly, and Faith come running towards me. Gabriel takes me in his arms and holds me tight, “I am so happy you are okay,” he says relieved.We all look down at Hades who is still fighting to get rid of the glowing roots. “What should we do with him?” I ask the rest.Holly looks at Hades full of hate, “You should give him a vision of something terrible and let him die thinking about that.”Gabriel coldly replies, “I have no problem with that.”Faith sounds determined when she says, “No. We can’t just kill him because he will find a way to come back. To be rid of him for good I must heal him and his evil.”We are all quiet when she walks to him and sits down at his head. For the first time I see fear in Hades his eyes and he screams, “No, No, No, not her! Just kill me."Faith put
NOELLE POV,I feel nothing when I explode the dark humans and demons in the tunnel with purple light. I walk outside the tunnel and notice the inner wall being breached. Purple light radiates off my whole body and I levitate myself above the castle. I must look like a bright purple star and people drop their weapons to look at me. I open up my mind to all creatures of the Under Realm and give them visions that they are being chased by their worst fear. The trick works effectively on the dark humans, and they all start running out of the inner part of the city screaming.My voice echoes through the city when I command my people and the dragons to hide inside buildings. I hold up my arms and call out to all the water in the city to obey me. Water starts to rise up from sewers and the small rivers. It all flows back to me and forms a big wall of water up into the sky. I put my hands forward and let a tsunami carry out the demons, stone giants, and fire creatures with full for
NOELLE’S POV,Gabriel immediately takes charge and gives an encouraging speech to the people. They all seem to realize that it is better to go down fighting for a better world than living in Hell. Everyone has a determined look in their eyes and seems to calmly be waiting for the doors to breach. I decide to take the small moment of peace to go look for Thorn. I find him looking much better and luckily Faith tells me she will be able to repair his wing, but he just needs rest.“I don’t need rest; I need to fight with you mistress!” Thorn says in my mind with a stubborn voice. I walk to him and give him a kiss on his snout, “You have protected me fiercely I couldn’t be prouder. Now I need you to take it easy so we can maybe live to fight another day.”Thorn follows me with grumpy eyes when I walk away but he obeys my command. I walk towards Luna who is talking with Zeus. Zeus seems very riled up making big movements with his ar
NOELLE’S POV,As soon as we fly over the wall it feels like I wound up in a storm. Fire and weapons fly around me. I see light and explosions everywhere and it is immediately complete chaos. I can feel the impact of every blow that lands on Thorns armor. I look around to find Hades but all I can see are demons, dark humans, and creatures of Hell. Hades must have put up some illusion so he and the 4 horsemen can stay out of sight and let the rest of the army do most of the fighting.I bite my lip in frustration because there goes my plan B to take out the most powerful play-ers to end the fight. I let Thorn burn demons and dark humans in the field with dragon fire, but I notice it gets heavier for him by the minute. I don’t know how much damage the armor can hold. Angels are dropping light bombs and fighting flying creatures in the air. I see many of the Under Realm army being blown up but every hole we make seems to be filled up with new soldiers just as
NOELLE’S POV,I hear Gabriel call my name somewhere in a distant place of my mind, but I can’t take my eyes off Hades. I stare at him and then I realize what is wrong, Donna is standing next to him, and she is also smiling at me. Shivers go through my body, and I want to scream to Ga-briel that something is wrong, but I can’t speak. The amulet around my neck starts to get warm and levitates me up in the air. It feels like something is trying to pull my insides out of me. I start screaming from pain and I can see purple light flowing out of me into Hades. I keep screaming until the pain stops and the last of the light flows out of me. I fall back into the ground hard and my body shakes from the impact.For some reason no one from Dandion seems to know what is going on because all around me is darkness. The only thing I can see is Hades and Donna smiling at me. Hades makes a tiny flame of purple fire in his hands and starts laughing.&ldquo
NOELLE’S POV,Everyone around me is looking pale and serious as the army comes closer and closer. The grounds seem to shake from all the marching soldiers and the war drums echo in my ears. They stop marching about 50 meters from the wall. The war drums become louder and they all start to shout battle screams in a language I don’t understand. Luna nods at a soldier on the wall and he walks towards a massive horn stationed on the wall. The horn blows a strong and vibrant call through the whole city. I can see everyone take their positions and with de-termined faces, they seem to say that they are ready for whatever comes at them.Then the war drums become silent and the front row of dark humans and soldiers starts run-ning to the wall. I can now see Donna standing a few rows behind Hades. As soon as the sol-diers walk into the magical shield barrier they explode into light. Everyone on the wall cheers because the spells actually worked. I hear running foot
NOELLE’S POV,“Where is she? Where is she?” I hear Gabriel shout. Just hearing his voice already makes my heart explode. Everyone quickly gets out of the way and then I see him. He is running to-wards me but as soon as he sees me, he stops. We just stare at each other for a moment and then he runs towards me and swoops me in his arms. I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels to have his arms around me and smell his scent. He sits down on the floor holding me and I can hear his heart beating really fast. I take his face in my hands and put my fore-head against his, tears of joy travel down my cheeks. I look into his beautiful blue eyes and sigh with happiness. He softly strokes my cheek brushing the tears away and puts his lips on mine. I lean into his embrace and enjoy the sensation of his lips on mine again. I wish this moment would last forever.I look into his eyes again and I hear him say in my head, “I have missed you so muc