Lucien finally forced his jaw to shut and the loud click of his teeth seemed to be resonating in the stunned silence. He frowned trying really hard not to draw any rash conclusions and turned towards still gaping Leones who supposedly led them here. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" his patience was rapidly wearing out. At the moment he couldn't agree more with Hugh and his statement, "We travelled this far, in a really hectic time, just before the coronation, to meet three eccentric teenagers?" he scowled at dumbfounded Shine, "Where are the sages we were supposed to meet? We don't have time for some stupid pranks…"
"Oi!" the trio objected half-heartedly, somehow used to this kind of treatment, but still reluctant to accept it completely.
The Patriarch coughed in his fist trying to cover up the growing embarrassment, "Your Majesty… How should I put it? It is neither prank, nor did we lose our way," he straightened his spine and gestured towards the now slightly scowling hosts, who didn't rant at them and actually held back ready ripostes to the 'joke' and the 'prank', only because they didn't want to be also labelled as brats, "Let me introduce to you properly Lady Maeve, Lord Aidan and Lady Ronit. I assure you, they are the people we've been looking for."
Lena made one hesitant step forward while eyeing suspiciously the floor beneath her feet, wondering if it wasn't going to disappear suddenly. Then she evaluated the trio, who, for now, were curiously returning her examination in silence. Unconsciously she clenched her fists and asked in a voice, carefully devoid of any emotions, "Before we begin this 'proper introduction', I'd like to know how did you learn about this classroom," she surveyed the interior of the room until her searching narrowed gaze returned to their hosts once again, "How is that you were able to reconstruct this particular room?" her expression darkened gradually until it became almost threatening, "A room from the other realm, if I may add?"
Hearing that accusation, her startled companions quickly looked in her direction, once again unable to comprehend what was in front of them. They stole a sideways glance at Hugh. After overcoming the first shock, he too was now strolling between the desks, touching their tops, his gesture slightly distracted, but face somehow solemn, if not guarded.
"Do you recognize this strange chamber, Ley?" Michael asked warily.
The woman nodded without turning towards him, her intense gaze never leaving the fidgeting 'hosts'.
"This is some kind of replica of a room from the school we attended in the past," Hyun-min touched the chalk and draw a thin white line on the blackboard, a little surprised that it actually worked, "It's called a 'classroom', and here young people are being educated," he looked over his shoulder at the young man called Aidan, "Answer Lena. How did you know about it?"
The Leone slowly put down his boots from the desktop, but before he could answer the 'uniform-girl' rushed with an explanation, "It was hard not to notice the way you entered our realm," her lips curved in a slightly embarrassed smile, as she peered up at the Korean, "It disturbed the matter of this world. You were after all, somehow going up, against the stream and shredding the veil separating the two dimensions. Because of this disruption Maeve had a strange vision, or more like, a glimpse of the other realm."
The other girl sighed heavily and finally put down the pencil, "We knew that sooner or later you all will arrive here, and Ronit wanted to make the meeting more comfortable for you. We adapted this floor using this hazy vision," she shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not like we knew you would become more distressed instead…"
"Why the hell are you talking 'WE' in the same sentence as 'adapted the floor', huh?" Aidan folded his arms angrily and pointed with his chin at his companions, "You only provided me with this glimpse, the rest I had to do all on my own." He turned to Ian who was experimentally touching the seat of the chair with his fingertips, "Don't fret, you can sit on it safely. It won't disappear, I made sure of that."
"What are you?" Ley scowled, "Some crazy prophets, just like Gideon?" she crossed her arms defiantly, refusing to sit down on something so unnervingly familiar, but which turned out to be some kind of a trick in the end. She eyed suspiciously the trio only to blink in surprise. All of them had the same jewel, strangely in the shape of a diamond with sharp lines. Unusual, since thus far she saw on Leone only round shaped stones. She herself had something like a dark drop in the middle of her forehead.
The Patriarch forced himself to smile and shook his head, "They are not prophets, my dear. They are the Chroniclers…"
Sean cursed under his breath, a few invectives picked up from Ley, as he stumbled on something for the hundredth time in this overwhelming darkness. How the heck can Ley and Michael wander here with such ease without any source of light is beyond me!
His own lantern had unfortunate accident with a certain deep hole, probably filled with old rainwater, judging by the stench. How was he supposed to predict that the handle of the hatch will be loose and rusted due to age and he'd have to jump backwards in order not to lose his toes? He was fortunate they didn't end up crushed completely by the round metal door! As it was, he was somewhere deep within the hidden passages of the palace, without any light, wandering aimlessly, desperately looking for ANY exit. Judging by the loud protests of his stomach, it's been a considerable while, since he entered the passage in Ley's room. Sean wondered if anyone would even notice his absence and look for him. Then he remembered Cid's scowl and Sharris' elated smile for 'Troy' and his mood plummeted even more.
It was supposed to be a wonderful adventure! He planned to unveil the mysteries of this huge complex, a treasure or two would be nice too, but no! His luck sucked! He liked this term of Ley. It described perfectly his foul mood at the moment. Sean tried to console himself with a firm conclusion that this corridor has to led somewhere, but try as he may, he was fed up with constant stumbling. He had a few nasty bruises, he cut his lip as he 'kissed' the ground accidentally, his hip hurt after he bumped on some kind of fallen rock and he desperately wanted for someone to finally take him away from this awful place!
He was so focused on his self-pity that he didn't notice when the floor gradually lowered until he stumbled over yet another annoying piece of old pavement and lost his balance. Before he knew what was happening, he was rolling down with a terrifying speed like some overgrown snowball made out of human body.
Only thanks to the training he received from Ley he managed to slow down his fall while praying for the corridor to not to turn abruptly. He didn't want to end up smeared on the wall only because the turn was too sharp. He'd never see the end of their jokes after that…
Finally, the world stopped spinning, though the same couldn't be said about his poor abused head. The prince slowly sat up and warily checked his skull for a fracture. Then he ripped off his one sleeve and dressed his bleeding right palm with a handmade bandage, while muttering another tirade about the frigging darkness.
Suddenly Sean frowned. Was it only him or it was somehow brighter here?
He raked his hair in puzzlement over just why it might be less dark here, but the moment he touched his head something sticky caught his fingers. He grumbled annoyed at the old webs that were stretched from wall to wall, when something tickled his palm. Slowly he lowered the hand to his eyes only to see the contour of the biggest damn spider he ever saw in his entire life, its size surely that of a plum…
Sean's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers and with a loud yell he jumped up while waving his hand frantically, his panic overriding the soreness of his body. The only thought dominating his mind was: get that thing the hell away from me!
He was waving his arms wildly while trying to get out of the webs in record time, when his heel bumped on something. He fell backwards, his limbs rotating desperately in the air, as he futilely fought to regain his balance. Sean reflexively shut his eyes awaiting the unpleasant meeting with the nearest wall, but nobody could be more surprised than him, when he didn't meet the hard surface, but fell further on his butt, his feet still in the corridor.
When the cloud of dirt settled down once again, Sean mopped his face to get most of it out of his eyes and warily looked around the room half of him ended up in. That was indeed a ROOM, though it was masked is some way. If not for the attack of that eight-legged monster, Sean would probably walk past it without thinking twice.
It was probably the most dusty place he encountered thus far, but at the same time, in here he could actually see his own fingers once again, and the air was more humid. That had to be an improvement of sorts, or maybe not?
Thankfully the monstrous spider didn't follow him here, and he could look around the room without fighting off another panic attack. The alcove was weird. Apart from the mess inside and far too many webs, it was actually small. There were strange metal pipes and tubes coming out of the walls in chaotic disarray and one huge horn in the shape of an opened flower.
Why the heck add ornamentation next to the crude pipes, and a flower at that? As he crept closer he noticed a mass of tiny levers. Sean rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Ley always warned him not to touch something he had no idea how to use, but… As it was, he would never leave this cursed place… and he WAS curious just what might happen…
Before he could change his mind, he quickly tried to push the closest lever, but all that tension and excitement was ruined once it turned out the lever was so rusty that it was permanently blocked.
Huffing in irritation that nothing seemed to work for him today, Sean angrily kicked at the entire machine. That was a huge miscalculation on his part, since he only managed to injure himself even more, namely, his right big toe.
He was hissing another curse while kneeling down and massaging the abused limb, when something gurgled within the pipes and then…
"…you… late Pe…r…" a voice of some stranger echoed in the room, emanating from the horn, apparently.
"…my apologies… Lor… Re…" something gurgled in the apparatus once again and the voice of another man trailed off.
"…what… Dimitri..?"
"…left… probab… Sevia… no furth… trac…"
Frustrated Sean grabbed the rock lying nearby and hit the pipes once again, already learning from his own experience.
"What about the assassin?" the first voice emerged more clearly, "I hope they won't be able to connect you to his demise?"
"I assure you, my lord, after I disposed of him and left your gift, I made sure no trace would lead them to us."
"I hope so, Peter," the other man seemed a little annoyed for some reason, "To think he would be this careless to attack her during the banquet, what an amateur!"
"I couldn't agree more with you, Sire…"
"Anyway… where is she now? Did you find anything about her current whereabouts?" a hopeful note crept into man's tone.
The other one cleared his voice in a slight discomfort, "Unfortunately, no… Perhaps, she left Sevia? I overheard the cook who was complaining good-naturedly that her kitchen was raided by 'Ley' again. Isn't that her nickname? Why would she need so much food if not for a longer trip?"
"She raided the kitchen?" the other man chuckled abruptly, "The future queen? Ha! She's more amusing, than I initially thought! Hm, if that's so… then, maybe, she indeed left Sevia. But what for?" the voice wondered aloud, "I feel that this is important… it's itching, this lack of knowledge!"
"Shall I see more into it?"
"Do so. We have to make sure she'll ascend the throne. Ensure Dimitri won't try anything with our lovely 'Queen' again."
"…I …certain…ll…" the horn screeched strangely and the voices died permanently, no matter how many times Sean hit it with his makeshift hammer.
"Damn! Just when it was starting to become interesting!" the prince huffed in irritation and threw his 'hammer' behind angrily, while eyeing the apparatus resentfully, especially the dents he made. Too preoccupied with the machine he didn't notice that the rock he threw away hit a hidden lever on the opposite wall.
Suddenly Sean felt a fresh breeze on his neck. He pivoted on his heel and noticed with confusion mixed with elation a contour of light that appeared before him.
"Thank goodness!" he gasped in relief, "A frigging door!" he leapt in that direction and pushed it without hesitation. It turned out he used too much strength, and on top of that the door was actually oiled...
Nothing could tamper his good mood, not even the fact that he was lying face-down on some kind of fluffy carpet. As he rolled on his back, he stared blankly at the ceiling only drinking in the atmosphere of peace. That was a normal room, not another hidden passage.
A normal room?
Sean slowly sat up only to gape at the alcove. "It's Queen Eleanor's quarters…" he mumbled weakly. He was there only once, when Ley had to choose her own room and Sir Wulf tried to persuade her to take the Queen's alcove, which she naturally rejected on the spot. The prince glanced up speculatively at the door, still cracked open, that led to the hidden room with the strange machine, "It's rude to eavesdrop on your guests, Ellie…" he muttered tartly, completely ignoring the fact that he himself was curious of the men's discussion about Ley.
LEY! They were talking about Ley! Sean surged to his feet in a sudden realization "I have to tell Cid!" he was halfway to the door when he paused, growled and marched right back. He grabbed the ottoman near that weird thingy with mirror, women used to make themselves more pretty and cheat unaware men with that. Then he wedged the stool to make sure the door won't close on its own during the time he'll fetch Cid.
Sean nodded proudly to himself, satisfied by how clever he was and marched to the door, though his stride was slightly wobbly since he limped on the right foot after the nasty encounter with the just mentioned machine.
Cid was at his wits end.
When shaken Sharris burst through the door of his temporary office, he knew something had gone awfully wrong. The girl babbled that she couldn't find Sean. When he delicately pointed out that perhaps the rascal wandered off somewhere, or maybe he was currently sparring with Frey, she immediately shot it down by assuring she already talked with the Aran prince and he hadn't seen Sean since yesterday.
Then, pacing in agitation in front of him, the petite blond grumbled that she checked the kitchens, the gardens, the audience hall, talked with children and even searched the library, but to no avail. She didn't see Sean since her archery practice with Troy, and that was hours ago!
Anybody she'd asked had seen not a trace of the Laoudian.
That was alarming… NOT a 'trace' of the usually loud runaway prince?!
In the end, a little worried, Cid went with Sharris through the people, Sean might have gone to, once again. Still, nobody had met him and that unnerved the big man even more. Since the Kabul knight didn't want the guests to find out that the certain successor to the throne was currently missing, he only asked for help people he trusted most.
They've been already searching for three bloody hours, but it was as if Sean disappeared into thin air.
"Jesus! Ley will seriously kill me…" Cid muttered as he entered his room to gather his thoughts, readily followed by Sharris. He only managed to reach his wardrobe with intention to fetch the cloak, the girl hot on his heels, when the door burst open and the cause of all that secret 'search' appeared in all his glory. Sean was dirty as sin and had bruises all over him. His clothes were ripped, in some places beyond any repair. He was limping. His hand was dressed in a bloodied makeshift bandage. Dust and some webs were covering his entire frame. He hobbled inside the room, babbling about some Ellie, eavesdropping and Ley.
The Kabul knight snapped. "Where the hell have you been!" he bellowed while shaking the damn troublemaker, successfully interrupting the kid's babbling, "Do you even know how worried we were?!"
At first the Laoudian gaped at him openly. He was shocked that someone would actually interrupt him telling the important news. Then his chin wobbled slightly and he sniffled loudly, "You were really worried?"
"Of course we were!" Sharris growled, though her relief was evident in her tone, "How could you disappear for half a day without a word?! Do you even know how hard we searched for you?!"
"You searched for me?" now his eyes were all teary.
Cid pinched the base of his nose tiredly, the profound relief overwhelming, and then he hugged the brat strongly while covering his face with his chest, "Dammit, Sean, a guy shouldn't cry…" he petted the prince's back reassuringly and then ruffled his messy hair, though he regretted it as soon as he saw his dirty palm, "Just where did you disappear to, huh? And who the hell is Ellie? What have you done with yourself to end up in this state?"
"I'm not crying!" Sean rubbed his eyes defiantly, "I went to the hidden passages, and before you'll start lecturing me," he raised his hand seeing the deepening scowl, "There is no bloody way I'll ever enter them on my own again, thank you very much!" he sighed and wobbled towards the bed tiredly. As he flopped down, his grimace something between pain and relief, he announced proudly, "The man, who killed Ley's almost assassin is called Peter…"
"The Chroniclers?" Hyun-min echoed, "Of what?" he eyed curiously the trio, but somehow he couldn't imagine them sitting at an old desk in the dim light of the candles and scribing the history of… what exactly? Their region? Tribe? Continent?
"We aren't typical chroniclers… Though, this term is the most precise to describe us," Aidan stood up. It turned out he was almost as tall as Eric or Cid, though he was lanky where they were muscular. His silhouette was more like that of a runner or swimmer, though his supposed 'youth' of teenager might have something to do with that too. "And let's clear something up," he folded his arms naughtily, "We may look quite young, but we are no 'BRATS', 'JOKE' or 'TRICK', is that clear, young man?" he eyed Lucien pointedly with his strange almost colourless irises, "Child, didn't you warn them properly beforehand?" he turned to the Patriarch with an arched brow.
"Lord Aidan… Even if I told them, I doubt they would have believed me. Besides, it is a secret of our people. The decision to share it with them was entirely yours. I thought that by accepting this meeting you decided to share some of your wisdom with them too. Who am I to tell you what to do? It's not like I could dictate you the way to appear in front of them either…" the Leone cringed slightly, "Though, I never expected you to show them your true selves. Normally, you try to disguise a little, to appear more like people view sages, to fulfil their expectations."
"He's right Ai…" Ronit sighed heavily, "Would you really feel better if we changed ourselves to look a little older?" she cocked her head curiously.
Lena leaned on the wall near the entrance and folded her arms, "Don't bother. Now there is no point in doing that, since we have our time of 'freaking out' behind us already."
She thanked for the torturous hours spent under Miriam's demanding care. Now she was able to hide her emotions a little better, showing only those she wanted to be seen, or more like, those that were safe to be shown. It turned out that the 'training' paid off tenfold, just as before with sudden question of Lucien about jealousy and now, when the three 'teenagers' were constantly stealing almost hungry glances in her direction.
Michael tried to sort his chaotic thoughts a little, but constant itching of goddamn tattoo was successfully distracting him. The nervous atmosphere hung between the two groups, like calm before the storm. Then the Sevian noticed this strange discreet focus on Ley.
"Why are you eyeing me like that?" Lena cocked her head casually, her lips curving in a sarcastic smile, "First time seeing a person from a prophecy?"
Their hosts blinked in surprise and glanced at each other guiltily.
"What? It's not like I have two heads…" Ley snorted derisively.
"No… you certainly do not, but..." Aidan strolled to her, his gaze as if searching for something, "It's the first time we are meeting a person who has cheated her fate… That proves that some things can be changed." His strange eyes bored into her, and she had really hard time to appear nonchalant. Suddenly he grinned and winked at her cheekily, "Can you really blame us for hoping to escape our fate, as you did yours?"
Ian experimentally sat behind a desk and touched the surface before him in amazement, "Why are you talking about Ley like that?" he peered up at them and only now noticed just how long the thin braid of Aidan was. It almost touched the floor. "Damn… just how old are you to grow your hair so long? Certainly no teenager can have it this long!"
Maeve clapped her hands in mock applaud, "Oh dear~ We have someone clever here," she sashayed towards the chieftain and now everyone could see that her hair was just as long as her companion's. The Leone perched her hip on Ian's desktop and raised his chin with her forefinger, "Though… nobody taught you not to ask a lady about her age, hmm?" she purred provocatively.
"Oh cut it out!" Ronit snapped, her hands akimbo and one foot tapping in irritation, "If you continue like this, there is no bloody way they'll be relaxed around us!"
The beauty reluctantly released Ian who was blushing furiously. She shrugged as if she just couldn't help herself and had to tease him a little.
"How old?" Lena's voice cut through the silence.
The Patriarch fidgeted uncomfortably, "I don't think we came here to ask ab…"
"I asked…" the woman promptly ignored him, "HOW old are you..?" she cocked her head and narrowed the eyes thoughtfully, "You called the Patriarch a 'child', and he is over 87 now…"
"What?!" Hyun-min's voice rang above the others', equally stunned. The Korean turned to the embarrassed Leone who looked around the age of Lena's 'adoptive dad' and scowled, "Freaking elves?" he grimaced and knitted his brows almost accusingly at her, "You never said I ended up in some Lord of The Rings realm! Just don't tell me they have dwarves or, God forbid, Orcs?! Where are you hiding your hobbits, huh?!"
"Your doppelganger went mad," Michael observed discreetly.
"I don't take any responsibility for what this nutcase is sprouting!" Ian objected hotly.
Lena shrugged, "As far as I know they don't have dwarves, hobbits or orcs, and they claim to no to be fairies either… what can I say? You try to label them somehow because my imagination is failing me here!"
"Damn…" Eric stared at the Patriarch, "I knew you are an old geezer, but I never dreamt it was to this extent! You seriously can be senile at times…"
"Oh, shut it!" his usual adversary folded his arms angrily, never expecting in his entire life, that he'd be embarrassed of his age, "I'm in my prime!" at their disbelieving expressions he amended petulantly, "Among my people that is…"
Lucien slowly sat on the nearest chair and gaped at the slightly flushed Leones. Then his dazed gaze sharpened once he met Shine's and the young king growled "You sly bastard! Just how old are you, huh?!"
Shine's expression hardened in a neutral mask, only to crumble and snap to Ley pleadingly.
She flashed him a toothy smile and answered, readily turning him in, "Forty-nine, only one year younger than Gideon. You see, they don't age like most of us. That's why they isolate themselves and constantly wear veils and masks outside. Any normal person would freak out if the man he met in his childhood stayed the same during his entire life," her smile widened even more when the second in Leone scowled at her. He teased her far too much lately, it was only right she had her little revenge now. It served him right! "I hope I don't have to remind you all, that this secret is not to be shared with anyone outside this circle, hmm?" she arched her brow pointedly.
"As if anyone would believe us!" Ian snapped a little disturbed by the ancient creature sitting casually on his desk.
Hyun-min tried really hard to make himself accept these new revelations, though his rational modern mind was arguing feverishly while flashing the scenes from any fantasy movie he ever saw almost mockingly. Finally, he rasped, "HOW old?"
Ronit sighed heavily and jumped on the teacher's desk only to sit there, cross-legged, "You have to understand that even among Leones the Chroniclers are something almost as mythical as you perceive our tribe at the moment," her face saddened and she shrugged almost apathetically, "In all eras within Leone there have to be three Chroniclers who are responsible for recording all that is happening in the world. Only when one dies, usually because of some grave wound, sometimes inflicted by the Chronicler himself, another one is born, so the 'triad' is maintained," she raised her sad gaze and smiled melancholically, "The certain shape of jewel is a proof that a baby will become one during the awakening…"
"We didn't age a single day since our awakenings," Maeve interjected impatiently, "As for our age? I'm the eldest here, though after half of the millennia, you just stop counting." She glared at the dumbfounded people and finally shrugged reluctantly, "It's just too depressing..." she added almost apologetically.
Lena nearly slipped down the wall in shock. She certainly didn't expect 'that'. Those three people looking like teenagers were basically… like some beautiful butterflies caught within a drop of resin, no… Not resin anymore… in actual amber.
And here she thought sometimes that HER fate sucked big time.
When she glanced around, she noticed that her white-faced companions decided to make use of the courteously prepared seats. They didn't want to humiliate themselves by losing their footing after hearing yet another bombshell.
"Your existence proves that the future, the fate, or whatever you call it, might be changed," Aidan's intense gaze was making Lena more and more uncomfortable, "If your fate could have been altered… then, perhaps, there is still some hope for us. So, we can try to live, to participate in the history of this world, not merely observe it from afar."
"An altered fate? Mine?" Ley cocked her head in a total puzzlement.
Seeing her confusion the lanky Leone smiled and proposed, "Perhaps we should explain it from the very beginning?" he made one step backwards and spread his arms in almost theatrical manner.
At his gesture the light in the room dimmed considerably and some kind of pearly fog appeared at their feet, causing some of them to flinch involuntary, "I'm too tired for something more complicated. This time I'll stick to elementary knowledge and a mere illusion. There is no need for panic, it's just a harmless image," the moment he snapped his fingers the mist solidified and now it was almost as if the entire alcove was filled with the half-transparent water reaching only a few inches above the desktops.
"Imagine this realm as a huge pond," Aidan's steady voice echoed in the classroom, calming his agitated guests. His tone was so enchanting that even the young canine peeked from the hideout under Eric's seat warily, "People are born and they die, it's the never-ending cycle. Every human while coming into this world can more or less influence the reality, surrounding him. Though, not too much," at his words on the surface of water appeared many ripples, as if it was raining, though there were no clouds above. Little by little the ripples disappeared and the surface became even, just like in the beginning. The invisible raindrops continued to fall from above, but from the bigger perspective and scale, the surface stayed calm, almost unmoved.
"Every realm is restricted by some limitations to ensure it'll continue to exist. True, sometimes there appear a ripple big enough to cause a considerable disturbance. Nevertheless, this world was created to deal with unexpected disruptions trying to regain the balance once again. Usually, we don't even notice such interventions," a faint smile appeared on Aidan's lips.
"And thus we continue to live unaware of this eternal process," he looked at the Patriarch and the clear pity written all over his face spoke of what was to come now, "But sometimes… there may appear a person who just with his or her existence isn't creating mere ripples… but strong waves leading to a huge storm, threatening the existence of the entire system and its equilibrium."
The moment the words left his lips, a huge bubble appeared in the middle of the classroom. It looked very out of place in this peaceful rain, like some kind of repulsive lichen, that everybody grimaced in distaste. Suddenly the surface of the sphere bulged and a tiny person huddled in a foetal position appeared.
"We call these people 'the Children of Chaos', monsters or simply degenerate. They don't feel fully connected to this world, so they have less reservations to begin with. Basically, we all have a silent voice within ourselves called conscience, which watches over our conduct, and sometimes keep nagging us until we return to the right path. It's some kind of survival instinct, without it we would be labelled by the system as a threat and later on, could be even disposed of. It's like a warning bell, alarming not only its owner, but also the realm about possible upcoming trouble, giving a chance to change before it is too late."
The little person started to grow, the hair became long curls and soon a little transparent girl only few years old stood on the broken bubble clad in a simple white nightgown, which was fluttering as if moved by some invisible wind. When the features of the transparent creature solidified Michael's startled gasp resonated within the room.
"Yes…" Aidan nodded solemnly, "Eleanor was one of them." He searched the eyes of her blood relatives ,"She was a malfunction, an error which occurred in this realm by mistake. No wonder… given how many people exist here, of course, a failure is bound to appear. A failure that simply has no instinct to care about the good of the universe as a whole. She is consumed with her own desires and greed that could be never sated. That kind of individual doesn't have the 'warning bell', so the system is only alarmed by the effects of his or her actions and the storm." The familiar figure grew up a little bit more, and with that, the water at her feet started to look as if it was boiling. The next thing they knew, the miniature girl started laughing maniacally and a wave similar to tsunami appeared with the girl in the middle of this hell. At her simple gesture her private 'tsunami' widened the circle around her and it was now visible just how much it disturbed the natural course of things.
"Even then, the realm tries to protect itself from this disease which surely with time only spreads," the tall Leone raised his palm and, as they followed with their eyes after his gesture, they saw a tiny shinning bubble slowly appearing from the depths of the pond, "Only then, the system truly interferes in order to return to the way it was before," the warmly glowing sphere grew bigger, "The realm is sending cure for the disease."
Just as the bubble was about to break and another little human could appear, a huge wave hit it from the side shredding it viciously before it could even 'give birth'.
"But this time the Chaos was gifted with the tool with extremely sharp senses…" they listened with slightly widened eyes to this surreal tale as if under a spell, "It turned out the little princess quickly located the danger and got rid of it before it could become a real threat to her."
The listeners didn't know why, but the sight of shredded glowing sparkle slowly fading was terrifying and devastating at the same time. While the first disturbance was repulsive and strange, that one was somehow reassuring.
And it was already exterminated.
"This situation was without precedent. Never before an error would be this dangerous, and the fact she managed to destroy the only thing which could dispose of her, proved that a new procedure had to be issued. The last resort…"
The first sparkle faded and disappeared without a trace, but then, when the last word of Aidan echoed in the room, another one, almost its twin, lit up far far away from the vicious princess, who became a little bit older.
"This time the system ensured that the 'serum' would have enough time to mature, so it would be able to fulfil its task." The bubble broke and a tiny black-haired infant 'hatched', wearing the same white gown as the Kabul princess. In the blink of an eye it started growing up and a miniature of Ley appeared causing her bigger version to turn pale.
With one graceful whirl the water disappeared without a trace and the two unnervingly familiar transparent silhouettes, now that of adults, were standing in the middle of the room in front of each other, suspended in the air where the water surface had been.
"Since one malfunction appeared, his complete antipode was created, gifted with as much power as her opponent," when the Leone clapped once, Eleanor was standing on some kind scales, taking one side for herself.
"And now we are coming to an interesting part…" Aidan turned to Shine and the Patriarch, "The moment when the original fate of the Child of the Prophecy was altered," he glanced at Lena, "From the very beginning nothing seemed to work properly. Because of someone's intervention you ended up too close to the ultimate target, and once again your life was endangered before you would reach maturity. Then you actually left this realm and grew up far away beyond the reach of the system, only to return recently," the man turned his unnerving eyes towards the scales and lifted his finger slightly. When he did so, the miniature of Ley floated to the scales and slowly took place facing Eleanor. The scales were perfectly balanced once again.
"The purpose of your existence was solely to get rid of an error for the system, hence the power given to you. Tell me… What do you see on the scales?" Aidan's face turned solemn, though his eyes twinkled strangely, "What is the nature of the scales? What might be the possible consequence if the equilibrium is the most guarded and protected limitation of this realm?" he paused, "What would have happened if you succeed and killed Eleanor?"
Lena's eyes widened in shock and instinctively she donned her usual neutral mask. She fisted her palms and tightened the folded arms, suddenly chilled. Finally she raised her chin defiantly and shared her only conclusion, "Even if the 'error' is erased, the balance will be still disturbed…" her eyes never left the image of the scales suspended in the air, which suddenly looked sinister, "This time by me…" she turned to the sages, "And the disturbance of the balance has to be eliminated…" Ley whispered.
"Ding-dong! Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner!" Maeve applauded mockingly, "By the way," she cocked her head and smiled serenely, "I have to admit, you look good for a corpse~!"
"What the bloody hell–!" Eric surged to his feet knocking down his seat and causing the panicked wolf to seek a new refuge, "Who the fuck decided that?! WHO?!" he growled through his teeth menacingly, clenching and unclenching his fists in agitation, barely containing his urge to spill some blood, "My baby girl is NOT some disposable tool to be exterminated the moment she served her damn 'purpose'!" he bellowed, the tendons bulging at his neck dangerously.
The other men followed his suit, and were standing at the moment, their poses indicating they would readily pounce at someone, given the slightest excuse. Everybody seemed shocked, even Shine and the Patriarch didn't know about this original 'plan'. Instinctively Lena's companions moved closer to each other, as if in order to fight off any danger. Though, without their weapons they'd have to use fists in order to get out of here safely.
"Sit down," Ronit ordered in a calm voice, "We are only explaining the initial fate, which had been changed already."
Aidan was staring at his illusion intensively and then glanced over his shoulder at their guests, "Wanna know how it was supposed to end?"
The travellers looked at each other hesitantly, unable to make decision whenever get the hell out of this crazy room, or stay and hear the rest. Lena pushed away from the wall and strode to the deceivingly young Leones. On her way there she brushed Eric's rigid back with her hand reassuringly and noted, "I'm alive and whatever was supposed to happen, didn't occur." She met his eyes and saw a true fear lurking within. "I want to hear this tale till the end. Besides, we came here for a reason," her lips curved in pale lopsided grin, "Aren't you even a little curious what was changed, father?"
The grey eyes widened, the previous defensive fury and protectiveness was immediately quelled by growing elation, "Say it once more, I think, I didn't hear the last part correctly…" he looked like an eager puppy, wagging his tail in agitation, "Pretty please?" the sudden change in his behaviour was so enormous that it was the hosts' turn to gape openly.
A carefully prepared chiding scowl slid down from her face. Lena snorted, seeing how the huge warrior, who was ready to hack some heads off just a moment ago, changed into 'this', "I can't spoil you too much now, can I?" she delicately pushed him to the nearest seat, "As soon as we will learn something useful, we will get the hell out of this nuthouse, I promise…"
"You take it far calmer than I expected…" Maeve observed petulantly, a little disturbed that her words didn't have the desired effect on Lena.
The Korean woman blew at her fringe, which was quite long now and got into her eyes easily, and snorted in disbelief, "What? I'm supposed to faint or start blubbering some nonsense and wailing, stricken with panic?" she folded her arms defiantly, "I knew there had to be some catch in this bullshit prophecy," she shrugged casually, "It's not like I expected to survive it at all. From the very beginning I didn't care whenever I lived or died. Only my revenge was important to me, the rest…" she shook her head slowly, "At that time, it was completely irrelevant to me."
The heads of her companions snapped back to her, various scowls telling volumes just what they thought about that kind of attitude.
"What?" Ley frowned, "It's the truth…" she was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable under their silent accusation, "Oi! Only later I started to care a little bit more," she chewed her lower lip at their furious narrowed eyes, "If I assure you that I don't think that way anymore, will you stop glaring at me like that?"
"I certainly hope so…" Eric stood halfway to his seat and loomed over his daughter, "Don't you ever sprout this kind of nonsense!" he waved his finger at her, "Do you hear me? Never again!" and then he started lecturing her about the wonders of life and world, and how foolish it was to decide something so rashly when she only lived this short.
As his tirade was still going on, Maeve's jaw sagged in shock. She turned to the Patriarch seeking for some confirmation, "Is he always like this? One second bloodthirsty avenger and the other one like…" her words were failing her.
"Ridiculously dotting father?" Shine prompted helpfully, the usual teasing sparkle slowly returning to its rightful place.
"I don't know him too long, but this split personality seems to be a permanent part of that eccentric mule's psyche," the Patriarch muttered tartly under his nose.
"Don't go behind people's back telling silly stories, you damn ancient geezer!" Eric scowled in return, his arms crossed defiantly, the lecture temporarily on hold to Lena's profound relief. Now that she had some time to fight off her growing bewilderment, she firmly decided that from now on, she wouldn't breach this kind of topic in the presence of the Aran king. EVER. That's for sure…
"And you say that 'we' are weird…" Aidan shook his head in disbelief.
Cid was eyeing the dents in the machine and glanced at Sean arching his brow pointedly.
"What?" the prince pouted, "It did work when I hit it! Really!" he frowned at the offending apparatus which now seemed to be dead no matter how he looked at it, "Maybe we should hit it once more?"
"And destroy it completely?" Sharris snorted derisively.
"Oi! That worked last time!"
"Children… silence! As it is, my head already hurts due to the lack of sleep. Don't torment me with your quarrelling," the Kabul knight rubbed his eyes tiredly feeling as if insides of his eyelids were covered with annoying grains of sand. "It's past midnight already, there is nothing we can do at the moment. And I'm in no rush to risk destroying it completely by experimenting further. I guess we will leave this matter for tomorrow."
"But, Cid–!" both rascals complained in unison, not wanting to leave the new mystery unsolved.
"I decided already," the big man shook his head in disbelief, to think Sean was treated by Gideon just minutes ago, and now he was as eager as in the beginning. Damn, this fast metabolism of brats… Perhaps he was getting too old for that? "Shoo! It's not going anywhere, and on top of that, we're the only ones who know about it. Quit stalling and off to bed with you!"
"But..!"
"No 'buts'! God knows, I probably need rest the most of you all," Cid muttered tiredly, "We wasted the entire evening to look for you, Sean, Don't push your luck with me today, especially, when I'm this exhausted. I assure you, I'm even crankier than before, when I snapped at you."
That one warning successfully silenced any other protests.
When the big man finally managed to herd the brats out of the room and firmly closed it with the key that he got from Sir Wulf, he sighed tiredly and mumbled a silent promise to himself, "Oh, Ley… I'll make sure you will pay for this…"
The lonely cloaked silhouette was sneaking between the shadows until it reached an old abandoned house on the outskirts of a certain city. The person looked around for the last time, to make sure that no one was following and then pushed the door. Surprisingly, despite its old perished look, it didn't crumble at the touch, and, more importantly, the hinges didn't produce any noise.
The shadow slipped inside and carefully closed the oiled door, which from the street once again looked just like before. With a few learned steps the silhouette avoided the cracks in the floor and one or two holes in the staircase. In moment the shadow reached the second floor and pushed another door, only to meet the blade of the stiletto pointed at the neck.
"Didn't I tell you to give the signal if it's you? How many times do I have to remind you to knock this code before you remember to do it?"
The intruder pushed away the blade angrily, "Cut it out, Nicole!" the man finally tossed back his hood, the same tribal tattoo glittering in the candlelight, "I have important news and I simply forgot about it."
"You always say that, but it turns out to be a failure," the woman, Nicole, finally stepped aside and let him enter the room.
The windows were shut close and the old rugs were wedged between slits to prevent the light to be seen from the outside. There were several people within, though not so many as in the beginning of their journey, when they left Sevia, since some of them were sent for a reconnaissance. The rest sat or laid on the makeshift pallets, their moods foul.
"You told us that we will find here a refuge and perhaps a man ready to pay for our services, but it turns out he left for Sevia some time ago to meet that 'Child of the Prophecy'," the man tossed his cloak at his sleeping place and rubbed his hands while blowing at them, "Damn, it's chilly outside…" he muttered a little distracted, "Ah! By the way, there was an assassination attempt on that woman. Though, it failed," he added.
Nicole shook her head, the black curls dancing around her tanned face, "If these are your good news, then I seriously don't know what are you calling the bad ones."
"Oh~! But I have good news, that's for sure," the Jegger glanced over his shoulder and smirked at her, flashing his white teeth in the semidarkness, "Guess who I encountered during my little trip?"
"I don't have patience to play with you."
"But we all know this man~"
"Quit stalling and spill it."
"Spoilsport!" the man chuckled, "One name: Dimitri… Rings a bell?"
Everybody reluctantly took their places once again. This time even Lena joined them and sat on the desktop, her legs swaying almost childishly in the air, as if she was trying to appear as unmoved as possible.
Seeing her stubbornness Aidan only smiled and returned to his tale, "As you can see, another being was brought to life as soon as the threat appeared, a being evenly matched with the error," he glanced at Ley for a moment, "Just as you said, once the threat disappears, the 'serum' can't possibly stay in this realm, since it isn't balanced by anything," the Leone folded his arms slowly, "That's why from the very beginning you were supposed to eliminate each other. Literally."
At his words the two tiny figures looked at each other as if only now noticing their existence and glared in unison. "The way this self-defence mechanism was created, hypothetically, both of you were ought to awaken to your full potential in almost the same time. Since Eleanor was a little bit older than you, I think, her awakening was supposed to trigger yours." Suddenly some kind of halo appeared around half-transparent silhouettes, until their entire frames were swallowed by tiny flames.
They were exact opposites, while tiny Lena with her long black hair was surrounded by white pearly light, Eleanor stood in the middle of a black inferno, her blond curls swaying in the invisible wind wrathfully.
"We are guessing that in the crucial time both of you were supposed to inflict some fatal blow at the opponent and die together." The two miniature figures lunged at each other and after a brief battle their auras pierced each other at the same time, causing the image to freeze for a second. Then a small explosion blinded the shocked observers. When they could see once again, there were two lifeless bodies lying on the scales.
Maeve looked curiously at Ley, who, unlike her companions, just paled, but managed not to flinch, "That way the ultimate balance of the universe would prevail. The task is fulfilled, the equilibrium protected, the threat dealt with without any nasty consequences and further complications."
"You are speaking as if the world has the mind of its own, or as if there was someone orchestrating this all…" Eric gripped his desk, and it groaned under the pressure, "If there indeed is someone who protects this fucking 'balance', I'd like to know who the hell is he to give him a piece of my goddamn mind!" at this moment, judging by the fierce expressions of the other men, they couldn't agree more with this statement, "Humans aren't some frigging toys to be discarded like this!"
"We do not know if there is a person responsible for the safety of this universe. Usually we simply call it 'a fate', a 'lot' or a 'destiny', as if that was going to explain anything. Sufficient to say…" Ronit examined Lena curiously, "Despite the best efforts of the 'system', you survived."
"How?" the Patriarch frowned, "If some force, influential to this degree, is determined for a certain outcome, how is it possible that Ley escaped her fate?"
"Oh… just think a little, child…" Aidan chuckled, "Who interfered, and more times than once? Of course, it was your rebellious daughter, Ariana…"
"Her sheer stubbornness seriously surprised me here…" Maeve added, "To think a child as young as her would have enough resolve to brazenly cheat fate like this…"
"Ariana?" Shine stared blankly at the sages, "My crazy little sister?"
"Oh cut it out~! There was not a day when she was truly mad. A little depression after a murder of her son doesn't count," Ronit chided him jokingly, while waving her hand dismissively, "Perhaps you should learn something from her for a change, hm?"
Lucien frowned. He was understanding less and less, "Are you implying that the previous Queen of Kabul managed to trick this 'destiny', that, from the very beginning, orchestrated Ley's death?"
Aidan glanced curiously at Lena, "What was the main reason you had to take the trouble and personally reach Sevia, hm?"
The eyes of exotic woman widened suddenly as she finally grasped at what he was hinting.
Michael blenched as he whispered, "…the Queen was supposed to die by Ley's hand…"
"Bingo!" the lanky Leone grinned from ear to ear, "See? Now, tell me, o Child of the Prophecy, did you kill the 'malfunction'? Did both of you awake at the same time?"
Lena didn't even pretend anymore that she wasn't shocked, "Neither of that happened…" she whispered as if to herself.
So many things were happening around her, that she didn't pay much attention to the fact, that this silly 'prophecy' wasn't accurate at all. She went all that way back to Sevia, and, in truth, she didn't even scratch Eleanor, so much kill her. As the things were, all this high-sounding prophecy was a huge swizz, since the ultimate condition was actually never accomplished. True, she went back as instructed and even faced the Bloody Queen, but it wasn't her who dealt with Eleanor.
"I knew something was missing …" Shine muttered through his stiff colourless lips.
"I guess the stubbornness of Ariana comes from the fact that she was the victim of her own fate. After all, it was foretold she'd give birth to the 'cursed creature'," Maeve shrugged, "No wonder she was so adamant to protect the other person who was also about to face her own demise because of a 'destiny' which she loathed so much."
"My Ari did?" the Patriarch asked weakly in total bewilderment.
"Perhaps, instead of labelling her as crazy, you should have observed her actions some more before giving your verdict," Aidan pointed out delicately, "Ariana was the first person, as far as we know, who changed the fate in this realm."
"How is that you know so many details?" Lena asked suspiciously.
"Because this happened once before?" Maeve arched her brow and snorted at their terrified faces, "No! We are not that old, it's simply the knowledge passed down by from other generations of Chroniclers," she eyed her nails briefly, "Every few thousand years the major disturbance appears, usually in the moment when the system is overloaded, so to speak, and the most susceptible for perpetrating a mistake. Sometimes, in the most tragic cases, it may lead to a reset of the entire realm. This was a never-ending cycle: the failure appears and its opponent was created, they eliminated each other, and the situation repeated itself after some considerable amount of time," she toyed with her white strand idly.
"This is the first time that the circle was broken," Ronit whispered in an awed tone, "For the first time, an individual actually refused to accept this situation and went against the fate itself, successfully releasing the victim in the process."
"This is all a speculation on our part, but we think that Ariana somehow learned about the details of your destiny and this mechanism. By some means, she managed to hold back your awakening while tapping on the power by herself. Just think about it, she could send you anywhere, even right back to Aran where she already had been. And what did she do? Why didn't she send you back to your family once Eleanor sensed the threat and tried once again to get rid of it?"
The silence was Aidan's only answer.
"She chose to exhaust herself completely and did something normally beyond her abilities: she opened the gate to another realm which she never saw, or visited," the Leone added while staring blankly at the scales, his mind far away from the alcove, "That way you were free from the influence of this realm till you reached almost full maturity, not only that… Because of this measure, you somehow formed, true, fragile, but even so, the real connection to that other world."
"Even as you returned, Ariana accompanied you, while looking after you protectively. If not for her intervention and keeping at bay your abilities, a sudden outburst of your awakening surely would kill you with the sheer amount of potential you would reach at that point. It leaves a great strain on the body and even if Eleanor failed to strike you with a death blow, you would die either way, due to the powerful abilities abruptly released from within in a short period of time," Maeve noted in a matter of fact tone, as if she wasn't talking about someone's life, but about some academic problem.
"By shredding the Bloody Queen, with the help of other victims, she interrupted the planned course of events before the entire mechanism was put in motion. She managed to forestall the supposedly inevitable fate. Not only she successfully disturbed the initial process of 'destiny' and still expelled the 'error' from the system, but she even ensured that your awakening won't hurt you in an expected fashion, causing your planned demise. Since Ariana forced back the awakening for three days and nights, you didn't go into shock, and your body managed to actually survive the entire process."
"We were witness of three great changes without precedence caused by Ariana. One: because of her, you grew up far away from the influence of this realm and could flourish freely, without a heavy burden of the duty bestowed upon you by the realm itself. That alone ensured you wouldn't be brainwashed with the image of honourable death and sacrifice for the good of the universe, as you might have been manipulated by the system here," Ronit extended her forefinger, "Two: Ariana interrupted the orchestrated course of events by using some of your powers without your knowledge and eliminating the threat on her own, permanently at that, breaking the eternally repeating circle," she added a second finger, "And the most important, three: since you still possessed the powers, though they were still in a dormant state, she figured a way to awaken you gradually and as delicately as possible, ensuring that you would survive the process this time," the third finger joined the other two.
"The fact that you are standing before us today proves that destiny CAN be changed, even within a realm as restricted as ours." Aidan turned to the shocked guests who looked almost as if they were in the same state as when they first entered this room. Finally he searched for Ley's gaze, "That little miracle caused by a rebellious child of our tribe gives us hope, that perhaps, there is still a way for us to escape the golden cage we've been trapped in since the day we were born," his smile was melancholic, though the sparkles of excitement in his strange, almost colourless eyes heralded a renewed resolve.
Chun Hei was sitting in front of her old travelling dressing table and slowly unplaited her long hair, her moves sluggish with fatigue. She was getting too old for all that! Why nobody warned her that they were leaving such a troublesome fellow behind? She certainly didn't expect that one rowdy teenager can cause so much chaos.
The Laoudian prince was indeed a handful to deal with, not only he managed to antagonize children within the palatial complex, but then he simply vanished. They spent half a day searching for him as discreetly as possible, not wanting the guests to notice that they actually lost track of the future successor of a great country. What a disgrace and political scandal it would be, if something really bad happened to him!
Thankfully, the boy was all right, minor scratches and bumps Chun Hei didn't count. A scrapped knee or two might be the best lesson for that loud fellow.
She wasn't this tired and stressed out in a long time, only now the pent-up anxiety seemed to slowly fade away, leaving behind a slight torpor.
The old nanny brushed her silver strands distractedly and then with a decisive nod headed to her bed. Foreigner was nice enough to order a wooden dais in the shape of three stairs since most of the beds were too high for her, and she had no intention to jump up on them every single time she was going to sleep. Truly, sometimes that man behaved like a mother hen, even for people he constantly quarrelled with.
Granny smiled under her nose. She remembered vividly just when the dais with a secure railing for support appeared. They had a huge argument about Freya and her attitude several years ago, and because of that, they didn't talk to each other for a few days. And then suddenly, after nearly a week, the beautiful ornamented wooden gift appeared out of nowhere in her room. When she went to Eric to talk more calmly about the problem with the princess she mentioned the dais nonchalantly and thanked him for his consideration of her poor health and old age.
Naturally he tried to play a fool and announced it wasn't his gift and that he has nothing to do with it at all. She might have believed him if not for his growing embarrassment and the fact that it was only him she talked to and complained about the furniture in this country, apparently made for giants, and that she had to use an old ottoman each time she crawled up on the bed.
Really, for such a clever man, he acted like a total fool sometimes…
The woman adjusted her pillow and grabbed the duvet to snuggle comfortably and have a well-earned rest when she felt a sharp pain in her chest, so strong she dropped the cover and grabbed at her nightgown while panting in a laboured fashion.
When the pain subsided a fracture and she could think more clearly, she closed her eyes and searched desperately for the connection to the bohoja that was burning in alarm…
The Patriarch was staring blankly into his empty hands, his mind in total chaos. Never before had he heard about this frightening mechanism, this so-called balance 'system'. Even in his wildest dreams he could never imagine that things might be this restricted, controlled by an unfathomable being for the 'good of the universe'.
This kind of slogan always heralded trouble. It was far too easy to trespass your competencies if you could always explain it by the 'greater good'.
A dangerous power…
The part of him couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his little girl, a child tried so cruelly by this 'fate', actually decided to go against the force that condemned her to death. The fact that the sages seemed to firmly believe that she had deliberately taken certain actions and precautions confused him even more. For years he reckoned that her mind was completely shattered by the destiny she was saddled with. And now he was told that if not for her intervention, which seemed totally illogical at first, another person could have died, only because someone saw it fit as a misplaced safety net.
He didn't want to openly admit it, even before himself, but deep down, all this time he felt greatly ashamed of Ariana's selfishness. The way she broke the life of other people so easily, because the mood struck her, was a great stain on his honour. It questioned the way he raised his children. He couldn't understand why she was so obsessed with the foreign infant. She could always easily find an orphan back in Kabul. Who would forbid the devastated Queen to take in some abandoned child? She didn't have to go to Aran to find a substitute, a handy replacement for her son.
And what she did?
She stole a foreign baby, a girl at that, completely different from the one she had lost, the perfect epitome of the 'contrary'. Where was the logic in that? She risked an immediate war with the big neighbouring country, if that crime was found out…
It was shaming him greatly that other people had more faith in his child than he showed in the end.
The Leone glanced sideways at his usual verbal sparring partner. It was evident to everyone that King Eric didn't know what to do with his complicated emotions. The man got used to the thought that some of his pain was caused by Ariana, and now, he had learnt that, if not for that, Ley might have died anyway.
The Patriarch returned with his gaze to their hosts. To think they loathed their fate as Chroniclers so much… In truth his tribe viewed the Triad as some constant part of their existence. The new generations were replacing the old ones, but this one factor stayed almost unchanged. As a child he never really understood why they chose to live high up on the mountain, far away from their brethren. Now he could somehow understand it better… Who would want to see the people they come to care for, dying one after another, while you stay the same, not even single wrinkle marring your face?
It was hard enough to pay attention to other rulers of the neighbouring countries whose lifespans were much shorter than his own. So, why would he expect the sages to see his existence any different? He was mere 'ripple' after all, the minor wave that would disappear almost as soon as it was born.
The Patriarch glanced at his son, who had a speculative expression written all over his face while observing discreetly the Child of the Prophecy. The old Leone sighed in exasperation. Why his life couldn't be a little bit easier, huh? Now he will have his hands full of impatient, infatuated young man, who just learnt that a fate CAN be 'changed'…
Lena was thankful she listened to her instinct and sat at some point, otherwise she might have ended up on her butt a few times already.
From the very beginning, she hated with the every fibre of her being the word 'prophecy'. Her skin practically crawled each time she was called almost reverently by the ridiculous nickname. Was it her instinct warning her that there was always some kind of price to pay? A hidden catch? She seriously didn't know, but just the idea that she could have been raised, and 'manipulated' by something to sacrifice herself, just 'because'… Only to prevent possible further danger to some kind of bigger plan, as a mere precaution…
That pissed her off royally.
She could hotly second Eric's previous outburst and would readily strangle with her bare hands whomever planned it all. She wasn't some kind of bloody vaccine ampoule, which could be immediately disposed of, once used!
Now she could understand a little bit better just why Ariana kidnapped her. Perhaps she sensed another being trapped by the fate and decided to do something about it? Perhaps she felt lonely? She sure had every right to feel thus, considering the fact she had to live under one roof with the murderess and rapist, so to speak.
Suddenly Lena froze, her head slowly turned to the eccentric trio, "What now?" her voice was carefully devoid of any emotions, "I survived… Am I not a possible threat already then?"
Her companions stiffened immediately, expressions of absolute objection written all over their white, bloodless faces.
"Ah~!" Aidan promptly ignored their invisible fangs bared in a mute warning, "That's the beauty of it all~" his smile was almost as blinding as it was excited, "It seems that Ariana finagled the safety system completely. You see, by guiding you to another realm the last time, she renewed your connection to that young man over there," he nodded at pale and strangely silent Hyun-min.
"In doing so, if the realm would try to get rid of you, your instinct would immediately kick in and lead you through the gate to the other dimension, saving your life in the process. From that moment you ceased to exist as a 'threat' from the point of view of the 'fate'. Because of your connection to the foreign anchor you were labelled differently and moved to the other category. To put it simply, you became invisible to the entity supervising the balance in this world. Later, by awaking you slowly, Ariana manipulated the matter of your aura, and rewritten your existence to that of a natural individual within this realm," he grinned cheekily to the silent Korean, "In a way she behaved like a 'hacker' from your realm…"
The visitors visibly relaxed a fraction at these words, though half of them they didn't understand. The only important thing was, that the sage seemed convinced that the possible danger was somehow avoided.
Lena calmed down a little only to frown immediately, "A 'hacker'? And how do you know about them, huh? How did you learn about this term?" she eyed him suspiciously.
"It was a piece of information from my vision. As it was said before, it was just a glimpse, totally chaotic, hence the clothes we are wearing. I had no control over it at all. I simply remembered what was shown to me." Maeve shrugged nonchalantly and gazed at Hyun-min, "Though I never expected a visitor from another realm to have his almost identical 'twin' within this dimension," she cocked her head thoughtfully while grinning to flustered Ian.
Finally Eric managed to gather his thoughts somehow and faced the Triad, "Why my Lena shares the pain of the young King of Tamir? Why were they connected in first place? Whatever!" he waved his hand dismissively already sick of all that talk, "I don't care anymore, just break this bond, this instant!" he scowled at the sages while folding his arm imperiously.
Ronit sighed heavily and shook her head, which caused her hair to bounce silly, "We can't break this connection, though we think it will eventually fade away on its own. You see, that was one of the precautions taken by the realm. His Majesty was an important factor in order to bereave Eleanor of the part of her power. No wonder the system made sure he'll live long enough to serve his purpose by forming the link between him and the powerful 'saviour'," she winked impishly, "That way, the error was successfully overthrown and it was easier for Ley to reach the Queen. After Ariana meddled and stole the baby from Aran, Lena didn't have awareness of her status and had completely no political backing. C'mon! How on earth a mere wanderer out of nowhere could meet an influential sovereign? As it was, she wouldn't even been able to approach the malfunction on her own. But as a bodyguard of an invited king? Oh, that's a completely different story~ The 'destiny' had to find another way for the 'cure' to meet with the 'disease'. The Tamirian King simply became a stepping stone to that final goal."
"A stepping stone?" Lucien grumbled a little offended to be labelled as one.
"What can I say?" the petite elf shrugged apologetically, "No matter how nicely I spell it out for you, the facts stay the same."
Shine snorted uncontrollably, "So he did have some use after all?" he whispered conspiratorially to Michael.
"I guess so…" the Sevian muttered back a little distracted, the mark on his arm was becoming strangely hot whenever the beauty glanced his way. What the hell?! Why was he so itchy whenever the golden eyes turned his way?
"That doesn't explain why my Lena has this jewel of your tribe," Eric observed while scratching the wolf behind its ear.
"We do not know why that happened either," Aidan snapped his fingers and once again the classroom looked like before, though it's been quite a while that the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the only light in the room was coming from the strange candle-less candelabras above them. "Perhaps, that's the side effect of Ariana's meddling? Only time will tell."
"So we came here for nothing?" Ian muttered under his nose, slightly annoyed that the answers he was seeking stayed unrevealed.
"I wouldn't say that…" Maeve chided him jokingly, "No need to sound rude, kiddo," she ruffled his hair, despite his best efforts to avoid her touch.
"Since we answered some of your questions…" she turned to unaware, Michael who was immersed in his thoughts, "It's our turn to ask some," the Leone pushed away from her temporary perch and sashayed slowly to the Sevian, "It's a rare thing to meet a man so confusingly similar to our tribe and yet raised outside of it."
As she approached, Michael slowly stood up respectfully and bowed chivalrously out of habit. Actually, he didn't pay any attention to what they were talking about a moment ago, because of the infuriating tattoo. So, he didn't know just why Maeve was coming to him. In the end he allowed his old instincts to guide him.
Finally, the Leone stood in front of him a warm, inviting smile playing on her lips. The feeling of discomfort intensified. He winced slightly, but then the pressure disappeared suddenly without a trace, as if something cut it off. When he glanced down at the female in front of him he noticed that she wasn't smiling anymore. Instead a single line appeared between her graceful brows.
When Maeve saw that he noticed her strange displeasure she immediately flashed him a serene smile. A pity, he often used this particular mask himself too. He was not fooled now.
"My name is Michael of Sevia," he donned the same fake expression, carefully shielding his emotions with the ease that comes from years of experience, "I'm aware of the fact that I highly resemble people from your tribe, but due to the memory loss I never knew my parents, and more importantly, I ended up in Kabul. Though, that you probably know already…" he cocked his head and flashed her his white teeth in a fake smile, "Thus, unfortunately, I can't give you any answers about my origin."
With her pearly palm the woman slowly reached out to his cheek. Only thanks to years of training at Eleanor's court, he didn't flinch, "Poor baby… Perhaps, I can help you?" before Michael could react she looped her arms around his neck and purred to his ear while standing on her tiptoes, "I can help you regain these memories…" she tilted her head and whispered to him, her lips bare inches away from his, "You only have to let me in~"
What the fuck?! The Sevian started panicking, but the moment she moved even closer, almost plastering herself on him, he decided to screw the consequences and the blasted overrated etiquette. He firmly grasped the touchy-feely Leone around her waist and pushed away at his arm's length, "I appreciate your kind offer, but I do not wish to meddle with the past. What's done is done, and nothing will change it. For the first time, I'm happy with the life I'm currently leading. I don't need any more complications." He grabbed her wrists and started disentangling them from his neck, "That's why, once again, I'm grateful for your kind offer, but I have to decline."
The words didn't leave his lips fully when the itching on his biceps returned with a renewed force.
Maeve glared at him, her eyes glowing strangely, "What's wrong with them?" she hissed at Aidan accusingly, "Why does that man have some gold protection around his mind, the same as her?" she pointed with her chin angrily at stunned Lena, "You didn't mention this! There is something blocking me! I can't read either of them!" she turned to Hyun-min her wrists still in Michael's grasp, "What kind of connection do you have with the Child of the Prophecy, stranger? How did you become her anchor?" she asked and now everyone could see the strange light in her whisky-coloured eyes.
"That's none of your bloody busine– " the Korean snapped reflexively, but then, the moment he met her hot gaze, his voice trailed off. Suddenly he felt as if some invisible fingers were sorting out his thoughts with an extreme speed, ruthlessly discarding his earliest childhood memories. He grabbed his throbbing head in both hands and breathed heavily, while trying to fend off the invisible attacker, unable to spare even a word of warning to his companions. The second the intruder reached high school memories, Hyun-min balked instinctively and fought tooth and nail, but in the end the image of Lena appeared.
"Get the fuck out of my head, you witch!" he yelled angrily completely unaware of Ian and Lucien holding him up, and preventing from crumbling to the floor. He was so desperately protecting this most important memory, the memory no stranger had any right to pry into, that he didn't even notice the blood dripping from his eyes and nose.
The moment his tortured scream filled the room, the true hell broke out.
Michael didn't know what was happening, but even so, he instinctively tightened his hold on Maeve, whose angry glare was still focused on Hugh. When the man nearly fell to his knees, the Sevian felt as if his arm was burning alive, but even then he didn't loosen his grip.
When Ley's brother growled his accusation, the sleeve on Michael's arm caught fire and the half-transparent dragon sprang at the wrist of the female. Strangely the flames immediately died, and not even a blister appeared on his flesh. Meanwhile, the tiny golden creature lunged at Maeve and breathed a small fireball at her pearly palm, successfully distracting her.
The woman yelped and jumped backwards while cradling her slightly burned hand to her chest, her eyes wide in shock.
But the dragon didn't stop there.
It unfurled its wings and flew towards the men who stood next to each other, their stances announcing they were ready to attack, and nothing, not even their bare hands will stop them from getting out of here. Lucien and Ian weren't of much help, since they held up limp Hyun-min who was panting heavily. Eric and Shine flanked them. The wolf was in the middle, his fangs bared and fur bristled. The Patriarch outstretched his arms protectively standing between the Triad and the people he led here. As for Lena…
Lena stood next to Aidan the blade of her Leone sword firmly at his throat.
"Good to know that this blasted sword follows me even to your domain," she bit out, barely containing her own fury, "Is that a new way to greet your guests, hm?! By spying on them?" she hissed through her clenched teeth.
Before the man could answer her, the dragon reached the huddled group and…
And in a sudden flash of golden flames it grew, until its size was that of Lena's horse, all that sharp fangs, scales and talons ready to pounce and attack. The little hatchling morphed into a real beast with huge bat-like wings. It was currently hovering above the men protectively, a little bit more substantial than before.
And next to him suspended in the air stood a transparent figure of a certain pissed off nanny…
"Wat iz te meaning of tiz..?!" the ancient woman hissed angrily, the burning fury making her foreign accent even more pronounced than normally.
Eric gaped at the shining image of the wrinkled tiny woman, whose long silver tresses flapped wrathfully in some invisible tornado of emotions, her dark eyes almost casting the streaks of lightning.
"Granny?" he asked weakly, questioning himself once again if he ever truly knew that woman.
"Wat on earth iz happening for my bohoja to react like tiz?" Chun Hei snapped while putting her hands akimbo, "Who ar yu to violate te privacy of yur guests?!" she glared at the Leones who were rendered speechless.
The dragon unfolded his wings some more, creating a protective barrier above the stunned men and released another agitated stream of flames at the ceiling. Even Hyun-min forgot about the blood running down his face at this terrifying sight.
"Enough!" Granny grabbed the muzzle of the creature and closed it firmly, the gesture unnervingly similar to what Lena did to the wolf, "I want some answers. If you burn them to crisp now, I'll learn nothing!" she lectured the dragon while waving her finger at him as if he was some innocent furball needing a dose of lecturing.
Michael's jaw sagged in shock, but soon it was replaced by a rightful outrage, "THAT 'THING' WAS RIDING ON MY BLOODY ARM THE ENTIRE TIME?!" he exclaimed accusingly while pointing his trembling forefinger at the dragon.
Chun Hei froze, and then smiled to him apologetically trying to placate the Sevian. At the moment he wasn't buying at it at all, "Erm…" she cleared her throat uncomfortably, "I'm sure I mentioned that bohoja will guard yu all in my absence…" she studiously avoided the thunderous steel-grey gaze, "In the end, it's good he was with yu, isn't it?" she started fidgeting uncomfortably, "I may have forgotten to mention a detail or two about the nature of the guardians…" she amended in a tiny voice while peering at Michael shyly.
The man gritted his teeth angrily, temporarily overcoming the panic attack since she was right. Whatever this bohoja did, Hugh stopped writhing in pain.
"What on earth are you?!" Ronit whispered in an awed tone, absently slipping off the teacher's desk to come a little bit closer.
"Yu do not have the right to question me, youngling!" the nanny snapped, "Who gave yu the right to pry into someone's mind?! Didn't they teach yu to not violate innocents with yur gifts?"
"That's my fault…" Aidan spoke for the first time, his eyes widened in amazement at the huge golden figure suspended in the air above them, "We wanted to learn about the way to free ourselves from the curse. I figured that if we won't find the answers in a normal way, we will have to use Maeve's mind-reading ability."
"So, to put it bluntly," Lena pressed the blade stronger at his throat and a single drop of blood ran down her sword slowly, "From the very beginning, this talk about the vision, was a complete bullshit. You just read our thoughts as we were climbing up this ridiculous pagoda. You had to create this room 'online' and that's why you were so exhausted."
The Leone actually smiled down at her, "I knew you were the bright one~" suddenly his unnerving eyes became hard and unyielding, "Why won't you just slit my throat? It's not like I have any attachment to this world, I'm only allowed to observe from afar," In a swift movement he grabbed Ley's hand holding the sword, "In fact, by killing me, you'll do me only a huge favour, o the Child of the Prophecy…"
Lena twisted strongly in the waist, yanked free her wrist and pirouetted sideways, safely away from his long range, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no intention to have another death weighting on my conscience," she lowered her sword and cocked her head almost provocatively, "Not enough balls to do it by yourself, eh?"
"Aidan, cut it out!" Ronit growled at her companion in a warning and turned to Ley, who retreated to stand next to Michael, "We don't want to end our lives like that, because we know very well that another Chronicler will be simply born in our place. We are well aware what kind of cruel fate it will be, so we refrain from this method. You can't possibly imagine how much we cheered on Ariana and you," she lowered her head and snorted humourlessly, "To think we, of all people, would become this impatient…" the Leone straightened her spine and then bowed slightly, "I want to apologize for all the discomfort and trouble we caused with our disrespectful behaviour."
Chun Hei pinched the base of her nose tiredly and grumbled almost accusingly, "Lena, my child, yu left some troublesome fellow back in Sevia. Because of him we had to search ze entire palace, and now yu met another annoying brats!" she raised her head and scowled, "I'm too old to teach good manners to some rascals I don't even know!" she folded her arms defiantly.
"A troublesome fellow?" Lena wiped her blade with a sleeve, "What did Sean do this time?"
"That young man disappeared for half a day without a trace! Do yu know how much we had to look for him? But no! He sneaked into zese blasted hidden passages, yu like so much!"
Ley winced slightly, "I never thought he'd have enough free time to feel this bored…" she muttered under her nose while making excuses.
"Oh! He certainly got bored after he nearly caused another war between children! Bisal and I had to take over his duties… honestly…" the nanny grumbled, "Is he really a prince?" she asked almost hopefully after a brief pause.
"He is…" Michael massaged his temple feeling an upcoming headache.
The Triad looked back and forth between the transparent creature and their guests in total bewilderment.
"What are you?" Maeve whispered while glancing down at her slightly burned palm. She raised her eyes, "You aren't human…"
Chun Hei looked at her as if she was an idiot, "Dear God! What are they teaching children zese days? Of course this is only my projection! At the moment I'm deep in trance in my own room, you foolish goose," she turned to the dragon and scratched it while whispering some kind of incantation.
When her voice trailed away, few scales separated from the huge serpent and flew towards the frozen men. They were too stunned to even flinch, and after a brief burning sensation each of them had an image of tiny golden scale tattooed on their palms.
"Now they won't be able to read yur thoughts," Granny nodded to herself in satisfaction, "Though, it'll last only twelve hours. Long enough to get out of here…" then Chun Hei glanced at Maeve down her nose, "Yu couldn't read that young man because he had my bohoja with him, and our Lena has her own protection, but that doesn't excuse what yu have done."
Ian scratched his scale and then eyed the identical one on Lucien's wrist, "So it will disappear on its own?" he just wanted to be sure.
The nanny looked at him a little offended, "Didn't I say so?"
"Just as you said everything about that tattoo to me, lady Chun Hei?" Michael folded his arms, while eyeing his burned sleeve pointedly.
Granny blushed slightly and couched in her fist to cover up a growing embarrassment, "If yu knew everything, yu would have never agreed…" she muttered petulantly.
"You bet I wouldn't!" the Sevian grumbled under his nose. "Anyway, where is my scale?"
"Yu have bohoja…"
"The hell..!" Michael snapped, but quickly curbed his unruly tongue. Yup, apparently the nerves were getting the better out of him, "I mean, certainly, it is out of the question if he is this big, besides he already left my arm, see?" he childishly showed his arm as if that was proving anything.
"Yu ar still connected, and he will eventually shrink to the previous size, don't be such a baby!" she waved her hand dismissively, already losing interest in his protest.
The Sevian hung his head slightly in defeat. And here he thought that he escaped this blasted tattoo. He glanced up only to blink in surprise. It was as if the image of the old woman flickered for a moment, only to reappear a second later.
Granny looked critically at her half-transparent palm and mumbled under her nose tartly, "I'm too old for that, I can't strain my body any longer…" she turned to Lena and ordered firmly with hands braced on her hips, "Come back home. Yu won't learn more from them, if they had the free time to pry into yur minds," Chun Hei folded her arms, tapped her little foot impatiently and turned to scowl at the sages as if some thought only now occurred to her, "If the brats will misbehave, yu can eat them…" she instructed bohoja and disappeared in a sudden flash of light.
The dragon slowly turned its big head to the strangely green Leones, the ruby eyes glowing with inner flames and yawned, deliberately showing many sharp teeth.
And the worst part of that was, that while the two groups were eyeing each other warily, nobody was sure if the nanny was joking or not…
The next part (36 raw – without beta-reading) is avaiable on Mangafox and blog Saver the New Journey.
Lillend