A/N: sorry guys, the story got kind of weird again, so I had to change a few facts... I changed some scenes in chapters: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16, mostly scenes with Leopold in it. Thanks! Don't forget to review!
Chapter Eight
Leo didn't know how long he stood there staring at the sky. Soon he began to feel the cold night wind and turned around to go inside. Wait a minute. Leo frowned, looking around him. It was the first time he noticed his surroundings. Where was he? There was a strange castle standing on where his castle used to be and everything around his looked unfamiliar–the gardens, the stables... Leo slowly made his way towards the castle and walked inside. There was no one around. His face contorting in a frown, he started searching for people and walked towards the kitchen.
He pushed the swinging doors of the kitchen open and walked in, his now-padded feet making no noise in the clean kitchen floors.
"Hello?" Leo whispered, his voice an echo in the large kitchen. A slight breeze ruffled his fur, and then nothing. "Is anyone here?" Leo walked further into the kitchen, another breeze dancing in his feet.
As Leo stood in the kitchen looking around him for any sign of life, another breeze whistled by his ear. It almost sounded like it was saying, "Yes, master?".
Leo frowned. Did the fairy do this to the servants here? But into what? Wind? Their spirits maybe? What else did the fairy leave him? He walked out of the castle and started to explore.
~~~
Aglaia sneaked a look at Alessia and copied how she cleaned one side of the kitchen. They had divided the work between them and decided to do the same chores at the same time. Having lived in the land of fairies all her life, Aglaia did not know how things worked. Scrubbers and soap were foreign to her, though the latter bore a resemblance to fairy sapouni, a substance not unlike oil that fairies use for their baths.
"Charites?" Aglaia looked up to see Catarina lounging on the couch. She had claimed to have a dizzy spell a few minutes after they started cleaning and lay down on the couch, not moving ever since. "Scrub harder at that spot over there. You didn't get all the dirt off." Catarina smiled sweetly as she pointed to a spot on the floor. Aglaia saw Alessia look up and glare at her sister, who didn't seem to notice. She gave Aglaia an apologetic glance and resumed her cleaning.
Before Aglaia can continue scrubbing, there was a knock on the door. Catarina immediately rushed to the door, an eager look on her face. Alessia moved closer to Aglaia and whispered, "She hopes for a prince or someone of royalty to come rescue her and always comes running whenever someone knocks." Aglaia craned her neck to see who was there as Catarina opened the door. A disheveled boy of about sixteen stood by the door.
"I have a message for Mario Giovanni. Is he here?" The boy peeked behind Catarina's shoulder. His eyes met Aglaia's for a second, then wandered elsewhere in search of Mario.
Catarina's face mirrored disappointment as she walked inside, leaving the messenger by the door. "Papa! Someone is here to see you!," she cried out and sat down on the couch again.
Soon enough, Mario came down the staircase. He walked over to the door and frowned at Alessia and Aglaia for leaving the messenger standing by the door, ignoring Catarina's display of indolence on the couch.
"What is it?" Mario stood by the door, observing Alessia and Aglaia's work on the floors, seemingly uninterested in what the messenger has to say.
"A year ago, you sent out five of your boats into sea to trade," the messenger started. Mario tapped his foot impatiently. "Yes, and none of them survived from a storm. We already know this. This is why we are living like this!" Mario gestured to the quaint house.
"Well, one of your ships was found along the coast of Kirmal, with everything intact and all the goods safely stored in the ship."
~~~
"There is no news of Aglaia, your magnificence." Thais fluttered nervously around Akakios as he boldly made the next suggestion. "Perhaps, your gloriousness might want to find another bride."
Fool. He does not realize how beautiful Aglaia is. He did not know himself. Until that one day he flew over to her house for a meeting with her father and saw her through the window. A vision of loveliness sat in front of a dresser. Someone knocked at her door and the vision quickly slipped on a ring on top of the dresser. When the fairy turned around to face the window and him, it was to his great surprise that the vision of loveliness was none other than Aglaia herself. From that day forth, Akakios went out of his way to please her and earn her hand in marriage.
At first he thought it would be an easy task, since he was the ruler of the fairies. They would be thrilled to have Aglaia marry him. But he was wrong. Gennadius declined his offer of marriage, even when Aglaia's imminent leadership came up.
"Perhaps a more beautiful bride would be more suitable for your eminence." Thais ventured on, emboldened by his master's silence.
Akakios glowered at Thais and looked away, thoughtful. Aglaia might be hiding in her beauty, thinking he didn't know about it. Of course! He could ask his servants to find a beautiful woman, in favor of Thais' suggestion. His servants will never know that it is Aglaia he is still searching for and will think he has given up on her and rejected her, rather than the other way around. He would just have to tell his servants he has given up on fairy women and find a human woman with surpassing beauty to make up for her humanity. And with Aglaia's beauty, it is without a doubt that he will find her soon enough. The perfect plan.
Chapter Eight
Leo didn't know how long he stood there staring at the sky. Soon he began to feel the cold night wind and turned around to go inside. Wait a minute. Leo frowned, looking around him. It was the first time he noticed his surroundings. Where was he? There was a strange castle standing on where his castle used to be and everything around his looked unfamiliar–the gardens, the stables... Leo slowly made his way towards the castle and walked inside. There was no one around. His face contorting in a frown, he started searching for people and walked towards the kitchen.
He pushed the swinging doors of the kitchen open and walked in, his now-padded feet making no noise in the clean kitchen floors.
"Hello?" Leo whispered, his voice an echo in the large kitchen. A slight breeze ruffled his fur, and then nothing. "Is anyone here?" Leo walked further into the kitchen, another breeze dancing in his feet.
As Leo stood in the kitchen looking around him for any sign of life, another breeze whistled by his ear. It almost sounded like it was saying, "Yes, master?".
Leo frowned. Did the fairy do this to the servants here? But into what? Wind? Their spirits maybe? What else did the fairy leave him? He walked out of the castle and started to explore.
~~~
Aglaia sneaked a look at Alessia and copied how she cleaned one side of the kitchen. They had divided the work between them and decided to do the same chores at the same time. Having lived in the land of fairies all her life, Aglaia did not know how things worked. Scrubbers and soap were foreign to her, though the latter bore a resemblance to fairy sapouni, a substance not unlike oil that fairies use for their baths.
"Charites?" Aglaia looked up to see Catarina lounging on the couch. She had claimed to have a dizzy spell a few minutes after they started cleaning and lay down on the couch, not moving ever since. "Scrub harder at that spot over there. You didn't get all the dirt off." Catarina smiled sweetly as she pointed to a spot on the floor. Aglaia saw Alessia look up and glare at her sister, who didn't seem to notice. She gave Aglaia an apologetic glance and resumed her cleaning.
Before Aglaia can continue scrubbing, there was a knock on the door. Catarina immediately rushed to the door, an eager look on her face. Alessia moved closer to Aglaia and whispered, "She hopes for a prince or someone of royalty to come rescue her and always comes running whenever someone knocks." Aglaia craned her neck to see who was there as Catarina opened the door. A disheveled boy of about sixteen stood by the door.
"I have a message for Mario Giovanni. Is he here?" The boy peeked behind Catarina's shoulder. His eyes met Aglaia's for a second, then wandered elsewhere in search of Mario.
Catarina's face mirrored disappointment as she walked inside, leaving the messenger by the door. "Papa! Someone is here to see you!," she cried out and sat down on the couch again.
Soon enough, Mario came down the staircase. He walked over to the door and frowned at Alessia and Aglaia for leaving the messenger standing by the door, ignoring Catarina's display of indolence on the couch.
"What is it?" Mario stood by the door, observing Alessia and Aglaia's work on the floors, seemingly uninterested in what the messenger has to say.
"A year ago, you sent out five of your boats into sea to trade," the messenger started. Mario tapped his foot impatiently. "Yes, and none of them survived from a storm. We already know this. This is why we are living like this!" Mario gestured to the quaint house.
"Well, one of your ships was found along the coast of Kirmal, with everything intact and all the goods safely stored in the ship."
~~~
"There is no news of Aglaia, your magnificence." Thais fluttered nervously around Akakios as he boldly made the next suggestion. "Perhaps, your gloriousness might want to find another bride."
Fool. He does not realize how beautiful Aglaia is. He did not know himself. Until that one day he flew over to her house for a meeting with her father and saw her through the window. A vision of loveliness sat in front of a dresser. Someone knocked at her door and the vision quickly slipped on a ring on top of the dresser. When the fairy turned around to face the window and him, it was to his great surprise that the vision of loveliness was none other than Aglaia herself. From that day forth, Akakios went out of his way to please her and earn her hand in marriage.
At first he thought it would be an easy task, since he was the ruler of the fairies. They would be thrilled to have Aglaia marry him. But he was wrong. Gennadius declined his offer of marriage, even when Aglaia's imminent leadership came up.
"Perhaps a more beautiful bride would be more suitable for your eminence." Thais ventured on, emboldened by his master's silence.
Akakios glowered at Thais and looked away, thoughtful. Aglaia might be hiding in her beauty, thinking he didn't know about it. Of course! He could ask his servants to find a beautiful woman, in favor of Thais' suggestion. His servants will never know that it is Aglaia he is still searching for and will think he has given up on her and rejected her, rather than the other way around. He would just have to tell his servants he has given up on fairy women and find a human woman with surpassing beauty to make up for her humanity. And with Aglaia's beauty, it is without a doubt that he will find her soon enough. The perfect plan.