CHAPTER ONE

A NIGHT IN FAIR GROUND

It was ten in the evening when Mrs. Shirley Wu decided to lock the Fair Ground Central Library. She herself have been busy all day, and even though the mayor said that there would be no day offs for her, she decided to make one on her calendar. She used to be a little rebel in her highschool days, and never had she expected that she still have the attitude even though she was known for her high education.

After switching off the lights near the entrance/exit, she closed the wooden doors and locked it by whooping around the chains on both of the handles. She sealed it with a padlock, and then went away, putting her coat on as the cold rain breeze passed by.

Wet bushes in Union Street have grown taller than before with moist purple flowers blooming on each of the houses. Some were planted on the ground, others in pots while some were left crawling as vines on the walls. The mayor was obsessed with violet, and so he ordered all of the people there to plant purple flowers in honor of his dead son. And because his son was already dead, he also ordered some of the men in the road repair department to fix the cemented road once more but this time, with a hint of purple color mixed on the gravel.

Somehow, she thought that she was colorblind because of this insane implementations, and once questioned her mind if she was walking on the street of repentance. Walls here were painted in blue except for one. She stopped.

It had the painting of a red lion, standing on its feet with its claws out, facing the left side. Before the mayor's son died, he painted this without stop while reciting "I could see them killing his people. Soon it would be me..." Even until now, she could not get it off from her head.

She continued on her way until she reached an ice cream store. Mrs. Wu scrambled for her bag to find her wallet when the lights of the shop went out. The street went dark but at least the stars were there for her.

A loud horn bellowed and vibrated her soul. Caught in the act of it, she watched the place change. The houses turned into mountains, the road turned rough and the purple plants turned into tall trees. Wonder, shock and bewilderment mixed inside her and the hairs in her elbows stood up.

For a minute, she took her time to gaze around the trees. She slowly touched the rough barks, then those big piped roots and the earth that smelled moss and rain on her palm. When she went on further to touch another tree, the structure suddenly moved.

Mrs. Wu backed off and then backed off again when all of the trees started to sway. Their branches shook, and the leaves flew down, some in swirls and some on a straight landing immediately. Out come from the plants were people, hundreds of them, holding swords while wearing emerald tunics. Their skins were in different shades of browns, and their heads were leafy that turned out to be their hairs.

The horn sounded for the second time.

And these leafy haired people started to run, their feet making impactful stomps on the ground. The swarm headed for the East, and Mrs. Wu despite of her aching knees, followed them as if she was also a part of their group.

They all went across a stream, and then they reached an open meadow. The woman stopped and let these queer people pass through.

Right at the moment the last leafy haired warrior ran past her, she averted her gaze at the field. Strange warriors-mythological she thought, were screaming and letting out battle cries. Each have different weapons to defend themselves: claws for cheetahs and black panthers, blade wings for griffins and shadows and etcetera.

Ogres ran

A lion came running to the fields and jumped over a man. But the human kicked his face, tried to stab the animal on the sides but failed when the big cat bit his arm and threw him to the ground. And to this, the said human shouted, "Thanatos."

Dark lightning struck the animal with speed, and the man wasting no time, ran to the prey and stabbed its chest.

From afar, she heard everyone shouting, "THE KING IS DEAD!!!!"

Ceantaurs, fauns, the green haired warriors, the cheetahs, fairies and bears went away. The shadows cornered them, and some of the ogres caught them by their bare hands. The others who attempted to fight back were slashed, but if an ogre was there, their heads were bitten off like candy. Seeing this, the prisoners didn't fought anymore and knelt on the ground while raising their arms up.

The dwarves chained them all, and after that, they were forced to stand up and walk even if others were wounded from the battle. The man who stabbed the lion was escorted by two ogres, and off they walked to the west. Mrs. Shirley waited for their figures to disappear until minutes later, she saw them a mile away. She silently left her post and walked along the stained grass with her brown boots.

Her legs hurried in haste when she saw the body near. Then she knelt and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiping the blood from its chest slowly. The lion feeling someone was there, opened his eyes.

Mrs. Shirley didn't ran away, although she wanted to. She was caught by the cat's sorrowful eyes while his mouth let out deep gasps of pain. Then it let out large tears, and the woman, driven with remorse, pet its head since she doesn't know how to treat him. In her mind, she could've saved it if only the stab was on its arms or stomach.

The lion's tail started to twitch and he started to slam it on the ground as he let out a hoarse roar. Mrs. Wu just held his face. With a last pounce of breath, he once again closed his eyes, and they never opened again.

A sad melody echoed from the trees, sounding like matured professional choirs as the voices started to blend harmonically. Even if Mrs. Wu used to be a rebel, she had a soft heart for the ones she loved. She didn't knew this animal, but unexplainable grief made her heart grieve internally, as if someone stabbed her chest too. And that was strange because she didn't even knew him.

The moon appeared behind the clouds, the very same moment when the lion's body glowed gold. It lasted for a minute or two, and the next thing that happened, he broke down into small crystal diamonds. These diamonds started to gather themselves into groups as if they had each of their own minds to do so.

After forming strange figures, they glowed gold, and behold, five things were made out of those minerals. A white cloth, a long blind fold , a mask , then a circlet crown and another circlet crown with a pointed front design. She hesitated to pick them up first because those weren't hers. But she thought in herself that she'll keep it in honor of the lion's death.

Mrs. Wu lifted them and walked back to the forest.