Diane's POV

The so called 'adventure' started so early in the morning. I'm not joking, King actually woke me up before sunrise. In Earthly time, he woke me up around 5:00 AM. Breakfast is not on today's agenda yet. We started walking towards a hidden path covered by large branches. Was it weird that Purgatory was both spooky yet beautiful at the same time? We passed through underground watery caves, mountain trails, and grassy fields until my stomach started to grumble.

"Can we have breakfast now?" I complained.
"I suppose. This rocky mountain trail looks like a safe place to hide." King kept walking forward. Looking around, I don't think there's any berries or shrubs growing around these rocky terrain.
"Diane! Hurry up!" King yelled at the top. I quickly climbed after him. He led me inside a small cave where steam was emitting from.
"Are you luring me to an oven because a steaming cave is not a good sign." I stated the obvious.
"Trust me on this." he went inside first, I followed him afterwards. The inside was lit by the holes and cracks on the walls. We reached the end of the cave where a small steaming puddle is located. Breakfast is served." he took a stick laying around the floor and started poking the puddle.
"I'm sorry but...what exactly are you doing?"
"Getting breakfast.."
"By stirring the puddle?" I gave him a pointed look.
"This part of the Fairy King forest is known for it's steaming clams. The heat emitting from the water is coming from the magma pool located near this rocky mountain trail." he gave me a lecture.
"So you're saying that we're staying near an active volcano?" Is he crazy?
"Such a destructive force of nature does not exist in purgatory. Think of the lava as regular flowing water. It is dormant and harmless unless you actually touch it." Wow, Purgatory sure sounds something like out of a fantasy game.

Something snapped against the tip of the stick. King pulled out a giant clam. "These are what we call Magma Clams. They live in the most hottest bodies of water in the Forest. Yes, in puddles too."
"So..if that's breakfast. How do we kill it?"
"It's already dead the moment it opened its mouth. The boiling point of the water pouched it's internal organs." King handed me the now warm clam.
"Purgatory is such a weird yet interesting place." I admitted. The clam's organs tasted delicious. It was boiled to perfection.
"There's a lot of things to love here. What is unusual to you...is normal for me." King kept on poking around the puddle. We ate around 20 clams. I moaned at the yummy flavor.

When I opened my eyes, King was sitting in front of me. He extended his hand signalling that he wanted me to open my mouth which I did. I sat there munching on the food he fed me. King smiled as he and I didn't let go of our staring contest. A blush formed on my face. "uh..t..thank you..." I aid after swallowing. That was unexpected.
"You're welcome. Let's hurry. We are about to cross the next arch."
"The next arch?" If I remember correctly, Helbram and I passed through an arch as well when I got here. The arch transported us elsewhere in the forest.

Later...

We arrived at the rocky arch. The other side looked the same as the rest of it's surroundings. I wonder what happens when we cross this arch?
"We picked a bad time to be wearing such little clothing." says King. He started walking forward. "C'mon!" I followed. As I stepped on the other side of the arch, the topography changed. My body automatically reacted to the freezing cold.

"How did we get in the winter wonderland scene?!" I yelled out to King who was casually standing. Like the cold never bothered him anyways. My arms and legs are shivering from the coldness. Sitting down and hugging myself was my only option to keep warm. So this is what he meant by bad timing on clothing.

As I freeze to there here, I felt something warm and soft cover me. I looked to see King wrapping his cloak around my body. His face was so close to mine.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think this through. Wear that, it will keep you warm until we reach the next arch." he said while tightening the strap on my neck line. I blushed at this closeness.
"W..w...what about you? Aren't you gonna get cold?" I looked at his attire. He basically has dark jeans and a sleveless turtle neck top.
"No need to worry about me, Diane. I've walked these parts before. You'll get use to the cold." he helped me stand up.

King didn't feel like walking anymore so he floated above the snowy ground. "Give me your hand. I'll guide you through this mini blizzard." he said.
"O..Okay..." I was nervous as I extended my hand. My plan was just to loosen the grip a bit because my nervousness will make my hand sweat even under this cold but King had other plans. He intertwined our hands and gripped it tight.
"No matter what happens, I'm not letting go. Okay?" his words made me blush even more. Good thing the snow is hiding my face. As cliche as it sounds, his words made my heart melt. I feel like fangirling at his sweetness.

I walked to the direction of where King was pulling me to. I wasn't focused on the road, I was more focused on King. Is there a law about crushing over a guy you just met? If so, then I should be arrested. Why am I suddenly being woed by this stranger's actions? I wonder if I'm that cheap to like a guy all of a sudden. I bet King doesn't feel the same way. He is taking good care of me because I'm the Queen. I'm the only one who can save Purgatory from Gloxinia's reign. He is making sure that I'm not hurt. That's how a loyal servant would do for their Royals right? He needs me and I have to be in best shape to get this mission done. That's right...I'm just...a Catalyst. Nothing more. Once this is all over, I can get my wings and go home.

A frown formed on my lips as I thought of this painful truth. I looked at King's view from the back. He looked serious and determined to get this done. I wonder if there was a time that he didn't worry on his problem for once and just relax. The blizzard had died down. Right now, it was just a regular snow day. "So..King..."
"Yeah?" he didn't turn to me. I had to get closer so I picked up my pace till we were walking in the same level.
"What's your sister like?" He was startled a bit then his expression changed to a smile.

"My sister's name is Elaine...and she is the best sibling I could ever ask for. Elaine always had my back. I may be the eldest but it feels as though she's the one ruling because of her position. Even when she's busy, she always finds time for me. I'm the one who adjusts to her schedule by staying at her post everyday." I smiled seeing him blush as he talked about his sister.
"You must really miss her huh?"
"I do...very much. It's been so long. I'm scared that she might not remember me or..." he bit his bottom lip. "or...lost faith that I would save her." King stopped moving. He floated still on his spot somehow remembered the past. I looked down to see his hand trembling within my hold.
"Hey..." he looked at me.
"We're gonna get through this. We're gonna save your sister and the whole fairy forest no matter what." looks like that cheered him up.
"Spoken like a true Queen." I pouted. "I know...I know...you don't want to be called that."
"Actually...this will be the only time that I'll consider you calling me that." I gave him a wink. He snickered. That's a sign that he was done mourning.

"What about you?"

"Hmmm?"

"What about your siblings?" it was like his Sad Illness transferred to me in just minutes. I didn't let the past drag me down.
"I don't have any. Not anymore." My mouth formed into a straight line. I felt indifferent with my backstory.
"You don't have to tell me if it's that bad."

"compared to your backstory of a curse, a locked up sibling, a rebel with a criminal record and a bounty on your head, mine is nothing like the pain you're enduring." It's not a big deal. "I'm okay telling you. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was an orphan. My dream got crushed when the perfect family I envisioned didn't happen. I got adopted by parents who only adopted me to be their housekeeper. Their children were the worst. My step-siblings bullied me at school and made sure my life at home was also hell. I was a cry baby once but after a neighbor reported how they abused me, That family got what they deserve. I'm not traumatized by it if that's what you're thinking." I finished.

"I'm more concerned at the way you said it without any emotion." King frowned. "Are you hiding the pain?" My pride triggered a bit from that statement but I managed to shift the answer.
"I admit, It was hard to get over at first but after I came of age and decided to be independent, living alone in my teenage years made me feel free." I hope he gets the idea to drop the subject.

"Is it the reason why you joined this so called 'Sorority' in the first place?" He didn't drop the subject. King pushed forward the matter. "Did you join just to feel like you need to belong somewhere?" I bit my lip. I'm not gonna cry no matter how right he was. Yes I'm covering the pain of not belonging anywhere. I want to feel like I belonged even if it meant going to extreme measures. I'm that desperate. It's pathetic.
"You're like a closed book. The cover says it all but I don't judge by the cover."

Obviously my pride was much bigger. I let go from his hold and walked away "So, where to next..."
"No Diane..." I didn't let him finish. This conversation is over. How did this turn into a heart-to-heart moment?

Normal POV

Diane blocked out King's calls. She didn't listen to his warnings. Suddenly, the ground rumbled from where she walked on. The snow fell along with her. "Agh!" Diane had just walked straight to a cliff hidden under piles of snow. She plummitted down the dark trench. The mission hasn't even started yet she's already falling into her doom.

She thought it was all over but something caught her in mid-air. "There was a reason why I stopped moving forward..." King had caught her. He carried her bridal style as he floated up to the other side of the cliff and sat down on the snowy pathway. Diane's heart was still beating from the adrenaline. On instinct, she hugged King real tight. "It's okay...it's okay...I'm here. You're safe now." His words had little effect as Diane was struggling to keep her heartbeat steady.

"K..K...King..." Diane started tearing up. The tears slid down from her eyes. He finally witnessed her cry. This was not supposed to happen.

"You're okay. Don't cry anymore." Diane didn't stop crying. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault that this happened. I pushed you too much to answer. I understand why you would walk away. It's my fault why you fell." He rocked her body back and forth while rubbing her circles on her back. Diane was starting to calm down. King sat patiently waiting for her to recover from the near death experience. Diane gripped her hands tightly on King's top. Feeling something solid in her grasp helped her calm down.

After 10 minutes of comfortable silence, Diane had fully recovered from the shock but she didn't let go of King just yet. His closeness was enjoyable to have.
"Are you feeling alright now?" Diane nodded. "Would you like me to carry you to the next arch or... are you okay with walking on your own?" King was trying not to upset her again. Diane inhaled and exhaled.
"I..I think I can walk..." King let her go. Diane stood up but it felt like her legs had turned to gelatin. It ached from both the cold and the shock. "I can do this...just keep...your balance.." she said to herself.
A hand was extended in front of her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hold your hand again." that earned an early blush from her. She hesitated for a moment. "It's not that I don't trust where you're walking on, I just want to make sure that you're not gonna get hurt. I don't want to repeat what just happened."
Diane gave a weak smile. "Only..If you drop the topic okay?"
"I promise." King didn't float. This time, he rejoined in walking with her on the ground.

It was like their previous argument never happened. Diane was still upset but seeing King this sincere, she can't hold on to her anger for long. The two looked like a regular couple holding hands. There goes Diane's daydream again. If this wasn't a very important mission, she would be happy to just play a snowball fight , form snow angels, and build a snowmen with King.

*****

Later...

The two had just emerged from the second arch. Diane was expecting a wasteland. To her surprise, the next topography effect was a combination of both a wasteland a a fully grown forest.
"I've never seen black and green go so well together." The terrain looked like a wildfire had just happened recently but the forest was full of life that it tried covering the black scorch marks and wilted trees.
"The damage you see are made by Gloxinia. Like I said before, he used the previous Fairy Queens' blood to force their way in. The burns are from his magic mixed with the blood. Diane, your blood is the only thing powerful enough to burn through these thick trees." I never knew how destructive I was.

"Do you see that?" King pointed at the end of the field. It looked like a hill but it was round and giant trees were sprouting everywhere.
"Is that..."
"Yes...the Fountain Of Youth and Elaine are hidden deep within it's core." Upon close inspection, it looks as though there wasn't a way in.
"Has Gloxinia found a way in yet?"
"Maybe...maybe not. Through my years of sneaking off from duty, I would know the ins and outs of this sea of forests. I come here almost everyday but stop dead in my tracks knowing that I can't pass through without you by my side." It sounded romantic to hear but Diane snapped out of it and focused on the problem at hand.
"So..where's the short cut? You can't float up or else someone might see us. So I'm assuming it's underground?"
"Your hypothesis is correct. We need to keep a low profile." King lead me to a tight squeeze of boulders stacked closely against each other. "This is an optical illusion."
"How so?" King demonstrated by walking through the side of a boulder.
"Amazing..." King came out moments later.
"The shadows of the first boulders hide the shadow of the third boulder thus blending the color of the entrance with the shadow's color." Magic sure was mysterious.

The interior of the tunnel was lit by hundreds of luminous crystals. King was first to go in. He extended his hand again to show Diane that everything will be intertwined with his hands yet again. The two continued to walk down the underground path.

"By the way, I forgot to ask..." Diane rubbed her chin.
"What is it?"

"If you're a fairy too...Why don't you have wings?" That question crossed Diane's mind just now.
"Just like you, I'd like it if you drop the topic too." he rushed that part. His pace in walking was getting a little fast.

"King...I trust you." She said all of a sudden. King was silent when she said it but looked Diane direct in the eye.
"Thank you." he said.

Diane noticed how he was acting. She pictured herself in King's position right now. The way this scenario played out in the last arch. She didn't want to pester him with her prying. It sounds unfair that she can't know but it was better to stay out of troubled conversations for now. She'll ask him again later after they save Elaine. This is a rescue mission after all and getting her wings was her top priority.