Chapter 1: Gundalia has a Rose
"Catch me if you can!", said a little Gundalian girl. She had a silver brown hair that went beneath her shoulders, shining blue eyes, and she was wearing a yellow dress. "Rose! Wait up!", an older Gundalian boy called for her. He had long silver hair with some purple locks on his forehead, bright golden eyes and he was wearing dark purple clothes. "Hurry up, Baro! Or you'll never get me!", Rose said while she was playing catch with Barodius. The Gundalian young prince was nearly exhausted but he couldn't just give up to his little sister. He tried to catch up with her but with no use, Rose has always been faster than him. In the end, he fell on the floor with exhaustion and breathed heavily. Rose came and stood above his head with a smile on her face. "Baro, you're a slow motion.", she said and giggled at what she said to her brother. Barodius just smirked and said: "Oh yeah? Well, I'm not slow motion at this!" He suddenly jumped at her and started tickling her all over her body. His fingers were moving all around her stomach, feet and armpits. "Baharo... Stohp! I'm ticklish! Hahaha!", Rose said in between her laughs. Barodius kept tickling her and said: "Only if you say that I'm the best brother in the whole universe."
"Fine... You're the worst brother in the whole universe!", she said. Then, Barodius stopped tickling and sat aside. He watched her trying to breathe and chuckled at her, "What's so funny?", Rose said with a grumpy face. "Your face is priceless!", Barodius said then started laughing loudly. Rose started chasing him, he was running away and laughing at her. "Who's the slow motion now, Rose?", he said then they both stopped. "Well, it's good to see the two royal children happy like this.", the old wise minister, Nurzake, was standing in front of them. "What do you want, Nurzake?!", said Barodius. Rose looked at the elder Gundalian with concern then said: "Is something wrong?"
Nurzake looked at the young princess for a moment then turned his attention to Barouis and said: "Your father wants to speak with you." Barodius didn't ask why, he just went with Nurzake to see his father. When they reached the emperor's room, Nurzake left Barodius alone with his father. It kept silent for a while then Barodius spoke up. "Nurzake said you wanted to see me." "Yes. You see, it's about your sister.", he said. Barodius looked at him for a few seconds and said: "Rose? Why?" The emperor turned his attention to his son, "Nothing. I just want you to protect her", he put his hands on his son's shoulders and continued, "Promise me, Barodius. Promise me that you will protect the one who holds the power of the golden Phoenix."
After what he heard, Barodius understood that his father was caring for Rose just because of the great power she holds not for her being his daughter. "I promise. It's just because she's my sister, not because of the great power she holds inside of her. Now, excuse me. I'll take my leave.", he said the last sentence with anger and left the room.
Ten years passed since then, Barodius has grown up and became the emperor of Gundalia. One day, he sat on his throne, rested his head on his hand and closed his eyes. He was thinking of the good times he had with Rose through these years. 'Now that I'm the emperor, I would be able to protect her from any harm.', he thought. Then, he began to dream:
Barodius was standing in a field full of flowers. He looked around to get a hold of his sister, but he couldn't find her. "Rose? Rose, are you there?", he called for her but he didn't hear an answer until after two minutes. "I'm here!", he looked behind and saw Rose standing in the field with her dark blue dress. They ran to each other and met at the middle. They sat on the ground and Rose picked a purple flower and showed it to Barodius. "Look, Baro! This flower is called lilac. Isn't it gorgeous?", she said as Barodius smelled the flower and replied: "Sure it is."
"Baro?", she asked getting his attention to her, "Yes, Rose?", he said.
"I'd like to go to Earth some day."
"Earth? Why?"
"I read a book about that planet and I think it would be lovely to see all the flowers and butterflies there."
"But Rose, I don't think humans would welcome us. We're aliens, you know."
"We can change to human form, silly! Remember?", she giggled and then they both laughed at what she said. Suddenly, a strong storm started and an evil laugh echoed in the air. Barodius tried to get a hold of who was there, but the dust cloud was so thick that he barely was able to see his own hands. In addition, he couldn't find Rose anywhere. "Rose? Rose! Rose, where are you? If you hear my voice, please answer me!", he called for her but with no use. She was gone.
But how is that even possible? She was with him just a minute ago! The laugh grew louder and that was starting to piss him off. "Who's there?!", he shouted angrily. But there was no answer. "Show yourself!", he shouted again. Then, he fell to the ground with his hand on his sored throat. "What's the matter, emperor? Can't keep shouting, can you?", the voice started mocking him. He got angry and tried to shout, but nothing came out. Not a single word. What surprised him is that his blood was coming out off his mouth. "What's wrong, Barodius? Cat got your tongue?", the voice was close to him. He looked up and saw red eyes starring at him. His eye widened when he saw a dark version of himself standing in front of him.
The dark shadow leaned to him and grabbed his neck. "There's nowhere to run. There's nowhere to hide. You are destined to be drowned in darkness... forever.", the shadow said then started scoffing him. "Barodius! Barodius! Barodius! Wake up!"
Barodius opened his eyes quickly. He saw Nurzake standing next to him. "Damn. This annoying dream again." "Sir? Did you have that nightmare again?", Kazarina asked as she, Gill, Airzel and Stoica entered the room. "Unfortunatly, Kazarina. I have the feeling that I'll go crazy soon.", he said as he stood up and walked to the door. "How is she?", he asked and they all knew who he was talking about. "She's doing great. And her power seem to be growing everyday.", Airzel said but Barodius didn't reply to him. Stoica jumped in front of him and said: "Don't worry, sir. As long as we have the golden Phoenix on our side, everything will be just perfect."
"Her highness is so happy. She keeps telling everyone how proud she is of her brother the emperor.", Nurzake said as he knew that this is what the emperor needed to know. "Thank you, Nurzake. That's all I wanted to hear about her.", he said with a smile then left to see his sister.