Author's notes: This is my first fan fic; hopefully you all will enjoy it.
Chapter 2: In Which the Fate of the Universe Lies in a Young Woman's hands
My dear diary......
A young woman wrote in her journal with her white quill. She leans against her chair and sigh. She was having a hard time thinking about what to write in her journal. My father gave me this journal with all his love, I shall write all my hopes and secrets in it. He was the only one who actually knows how I feel and what I want......I shall give my very best, she thought.
She sat in her chair touching the hand-crafted patterns on it. "Sigh, mother never cares much about me, mostly she only cares about our Cafata."
Hoping for inspiration, she gazed around her royalty room. Her room was huge! It had cravings and a painted picture of angels on its ceiling. The floor was entirely made of marble. There were windows located on one side of the walls. Pictures of angels, mermaids, unicorns, dragons and phoenixes hung on the walls. Most of the furniture in her room is made of marble, but wooden furniture is all reddish brown. The crafted designs on them are all beautiful. Such rare wood and excellent craftsmanship can only be found in her world. Her king-sized bed was grand, and it was also specially made of marble too! It was wonderfully soft when one rested on it, with gold to blend with the marble and again pictures and carvings on it. It was all grand. To make it all grander, a marble fireplace crafted and all, stood next to the ceiling.
Nothing seam to inspire the young woman, she then got off her chair sat in front of her dressing table. She then pick up her, again, wonderfully crafted hair brush and began brushing her beautiful hair. She gazed into the mirror and began to dream away. She was ever so beautiful, her skin was as white as snow, her lips were pinkish and the unique thing about her was the color of her eyes. One side is fresh green while the other is calm blue. Her wavy fair hair is deep brown with curls on their ends and her hair was long until her back! She was slim everything she did is always graceful.
As we all know, she has a perfect complexion, but she still seam sad even though she looks happy every time, only her father out of all her relatives knows about her unhappiness. It is because of her smile, or an "angel's smile" which has a happy and gentle, never sorrow meaning in her world, this smile deceive of her people but only her father, who really understands her.
She stopped brushing her hair suddenly when she saw the reflection of her window with the rays of sunlight coming through it. She smiled and rushed back to her chair to continue writing her journal. She smoothens down her beautiful white dress before she sat on the chair. She dips her quill into her ink bottle and positions it on the spot where she had stopped. But again she lost what she wanted to write and lean back on her chair feeling quite depress.
One of the windows is left open. Suddenly, a white cat with matching white wings flew in and landed on the window sill. The white cat resembles to a Turkish Angora, if it doesn't have wings. It looks around for a while, when it saw the woman, it flew down landed on her table. It then pulls its wing back into its body, hiding it all. And is now looking like your average Turkish Angora cat.
The woman saw the cat, she stroke its soft fur. She suddenly smiles and tickles the cats chin, which cat response in a purr.
"Polly! Thank the gods! Now I know why I kept you as my cat, you are such a miracle worker!" she said happily.
The woman dips her quill into the ink bottle again and started writing. The cat grins adorably as it sits on the table seeing its mistress is out of her depression and also quite attracted to the way the quill twiddles when it's being used.
My dear diary,
As usual Cafata is in its peaceful state, not much excitement here for it's always peaceful. (Unless we have to deal with island Elmus, our enemy)My mother told me that soon, Cafata will be passed on to me just like her mother passed it to her. But, I have to get married or fall in love in order to take over the throne! Yet, there is a part of me that doesn't want to be queen, and a part telling me that I would be awful being one. Oddly, I came to notice that I have never fallen in love ever in my life, it makes me feel so......different.
I just really hate to be cooped up in the castle just for my safety. So what's the use when you know about different planets, places and worlds, when you can't go out to see them for yourself? My people think I am happy, but inside me it's like a canary wanting to escape from its cage. For me life is disappointing, and it will go on and on, never stopping.
I wish that once in my life, I could explore other worlds, see and try different things. Now that wasn't so much to ask for isn't it? But when father agrees, mother rejects, there is no way I could seek for my dreams. Sometimes when I was young, I used to cry silently, wishing with all my strength to God, to take back the gifts he gave me when I was born, but it never came true. Precious the gifts are, but it all cost my freedom.
As mother said "You are as delicate as a rose." But inside me, it's saying "Even a rose has its thorns." But, I think my mother might be right, I'm a rose without any thorns. I'm still disappointed how boring Cafata can sometimes be......
Before the young woman could finish, she is stopped by the blowing of the horns. Her cat jumped and could have almost fallen off her table. The woman got quite a shock herself. The emergency horns, thought the woman, something is very wrong. The horns kept on blowing out loud notes, the woman could even see pigeons flying past her windows as fast as they could. She then quickly squiggles......
until now.
And she finally ended her diary. "Let's go," she said loudly and rushed to her double-doors, with her cat obediently following after her. The woman slams open the double-doors and walk quickly down the passageways of the castle. She rushed down the spiral staircases which seam to never end. She remembered when she was young; it took 285740 steps to reach where she is going now! But she shows no sign of tiredness, maybe she just got used to all that climbing.
Every single wall in the castle is made of marble. The scene was almost as wonderful as the woman's room. So are the ceiling and floors. She rushes through the corridors, halls and all. Finally, she reached to the throne room, still calm and cool. Only her cat seams a little out of breath.
The throne room was filled many, many people and it's full of chattering voices. All of them are all chattering excitingly; not even noticing that the woman has already came. Three thrones are located on a flight of stairs, only one throne is smaller but empty, and sitting on two larger thrones are a man and a woman quarrelling like barking dogs.
There is a remarkably long table with mouth watering foods on it, sitting in front of it are all the people there is in the throne room. They are all sitting in couples, like husband and wife. Doesn't seam really like family at all, when they were all screaming and shouting. Once, the woman could hear someone shouted "She is much too young! Doesn't even have any experience! Wisdom can't be any good if she doesn't know what to do!" Then, the woman on the throne's piercing voice; scream "She is gifted to remember everything! Why did you say she can't do it? She is the last queen and our last chance! She is a great deal old enough to......"
"Good afternoon father, mother, great ancestors," said the woman as she did a curtsey and her cat did a low bow.
The throne room immediately turns into silence and everyone in it looks at her, although she could still see some of her ancestors muttering and whispering.
"Good evening, Catherine. I suppose you heard our conversation just now" said the woman sitting on the throne.
"Why are the warning horns blowing? Something serious has gone wrong, what has happen?" asked Catherine worryingly.
"Well dear, it's none of your business really. Nothing at ......"
"Oh, come off it Angela! You know entirely that this situation is about her!" shouted a woman from the table.
"Angela, my mother is right. Tell Catherine the big news," said the man sitting on the other throne.
"Be quite already, David! You are never good at dealing with Catherine. You never think what is best for her at all. Just leave the talking to me!" said Angela haughtily.
How could you ever say that? thought Catherine. You are the one who never thinks of me! Catherine bit her lips, bearing her anger; hoping she wasn't seen doing it.
Angela sigh, and finally said "Catherine, I trusted you once read one of the histories of Cafata about Devil's Dust?"
"Yes," replied Catherine. "The Great Angel defeated the Devil and his dust is banned into the dreaded forest of Delfrum. That is also when The Great Angel presented Cafata to Dew Drop. The beginner
of our generation and achieved the tile as the mother of Cafata." Catherine could see her extremely great, great grandmother from the end of the table blushing. Even after thousands of years, she still is a young woman! Even Catherine's mother and father, and her other ancestors has never grown old throughout the years. But still remain the same age.
Angela sighs again and said "Someone has unlocked the barrier which protected the Devil's Dust. We indicated that that person also held the Devil's staff, Elfarium. This is a serious offence, which that person not just managed to slow us down from knowing this, but that person is also a witch! Witch! Witches are such enemies to us, the Cafatians that we all concluded that the witch planed on getting rid of Cafata!"
"Mother, for heaven sakes, not all witches are evil. I've notice many are good witches. I have been observing them and they did a lot of healing for other, helping others. They are ever quite clever at doing spells and putting them into a good cause, just like us Cafatians and....."
Before Catherine could finish, she was cut off by her mother's scream "How dare you compare those cold-blooded witches with us Cafatians! You must have sneaked out of the palace again, spying on those heartless things!"
"They are not heartless or cold-blooded! I've saw them, they even had families! Polly is a cat himself, and most cats help witches. How can you hate them if the cats help them?" replied Catherine angrily.
"First of all, cats are a part of the fairies around here! Fairies and cats mixed well together, they had created a strong bond of peace. But witch cats choose to help the witches; some even help them to cause horrors and chaos. Secondly, Polly is granted to be the heaven god of all animals. Therefore he is as important as you! As you had already known, Polly had been morphing slowly. Years later, hopefully he will be less childish!" said Angela loudly. "Because of your rudeness, Catherine, you shall have to be confine in the palace for another ten more years!"
Polly spat at Angela when she said that about him. But he calms down when Catherine stroke his back. Catherine felt tears crowding up her eyes. Why didn't I control myself? Now my freedom is definitely gone, I can't wait that long, thought Catherine. She hid her tears and stood straight bravely, as if she willingly accepts her punishment. The ancestors pitied poor Catherine, but none of them could do anything about it since in Cafata, the queen has all the power and is even at a higher level than the king! Not even Dew Drop, the mother of Cafata, could deal with this situation.
David lost his temper himself; he slams his hand on his throne with a loud BANG! Everyone stared wide eye at him. Some of the ancestors even stopped breathing for a while. "Angela! You are just too harsh with Catherine! She is old enough to take care of herself. And she deserves her freedom." shouted David angrily at his wife.
"I'll decide when Catherine will get her freedom. You have not control of that. What I do is for her own good. And you stopped caring for her when she turned eighteen. But I won't have that!" said Angela confidently. "Now, if you would excuse me. I would like to talk to my daughter privately without any interruptions. Come Catherine, and don't bring your cat with you."
Angela stood up from her throne and walk down the steps stiffly, but in a royal sort of way. She led the way to the balcony in front of the throne room. Catherine had absolutely no choice but to follow her "Over Protective" mother. Polly looked anxiously at Catherine as she followed her mother, hoping his mistress won't get into even more trouble.
The wind blows through her silky hair, the fresh air brushes through her nose. The balcony is awfully wide. She often wondered how was the castle build entirely out of marble? Because the balcony itself was made of marble too! The parapet surrounding the wide balcony has crafted angels on them. Angela placed her hands on the parapet, looking down and then sniffed the air. When Catherine came beside her she said "Smell the air deeply"
Catherine took a deep breath and hurriedly claps her hands over her nose and mouth disgustingly. "What is that stench? It's horrible!" cried Catherine.
"From my long experience, that stench is the beginning of a new evil, my dear," said Angela.
"It is very bad for a new beginning. Can't you stop it?" asked Catherine worryingly.
"No, I can't. But there maybe hope if you stop it, Catherine." Angela said.
"Huh? What can I do? I never face evil before!" retorted Catherine.
Angela smiled sweetly at her daughter, hoping it would calm her down. Catherine could be really excited at times, she thought. "My dear, look down." Angela said.
Catherine obediently put her head a bit further out and looked down. It is very beautiful view from here, everything looked so peaceful. From where Catherine is to the ground, it is about 19 meters high. And there she saw, all the people of Cafata, Cafatians, gathered together. There is so many of them that they look like ants crowding together, stretching across field after field.
Just like Angela said before, the citizens of Cafata are all indeed fairies and cats. Oddly, their sizes are as big as humans and wear fancy clothes, since there are no poor citizens in Cafata. They all cheered when they saw their princess looking at them from the balcony. "All hale the future queen! All hale the future queen!" cheered the Cafatians.
This happens to be a shock of Catherine's life! The horns had stopped blowing; only the cheers of the Cafatians could be heard. She looks at her mother menacingly, praying she hasn't heard what her people had just said.
"That's right, Catherine. Your time has come. The Cafatians gathered here as soon as they heard the horns blow. You my dear shall be the rightful and last queen of Cafata! Soon, you shall sit on the throne and your king beside you. You will rule Cafata with wisdom and power, and all this will belong to you." Angela said as she pointed to the breathtaking view of Cafata.
Catherine lost her breath for a moment, and stared wide eyed at the view. Oh my goodness, this isn't what I want! Catherine thought. I'll have to explain to her slowly or else she lost her temper again. "Mother with all do respect, I think it is too soon for me to be queen. I......"
"Too soon? Nonsense! For the most beautiful woman in the entire universe, you could be so difficult. Honestly, I haven't told you the best part yet!" said Angela happily.
"What about experience? I don't even know the first thing about being queen!" cried Catherine.
"Experience is to be learned by yourself when you are queen," retorted Angela "Now, as I was saying. I had decided to engage you to Preston, the prince of Saturn. He's such a nice young man, so very cultured and....."
"YOU WHAT!" screamed Catherine. Her angry voice even scared the pigeons, and forced them all to fly away again! This time Catherine is indeed mad. Preston is good looking, but in a way he isn't meant for Catherine. Preston and been in love with Catherine since the first day he met her, ten sending her love letters and bouquet of flowers, which Catherine found most annoying. To her, this good news meant that the sky has fallen.
"Such an ungrateful child you are. I've search high and low for a good husband for you and you repay me by screaming at me in front of all the Cafatians. How dare you!" said Angela disgustingly.
Catherine bit her lips. Thinking of saying to her mother, I don't want to be queen or get married! All I want is freedom! But somehow, she can't find the courage to say that. So she kept it to herself.
Angela smiled again and touches the diamond of Catherine's necklace. Her necklace was just a plain silver chain with an unusual diamond hanging on it. The diamond twinkles like a bright star; it was a mystery why the necklace was handed down to generation after generation. Not even Dew Drop knows why. She only passed it down because the Great Angel told her too for some reason.
"This necklace, Catherine, is a symbol of Cafata and the heir to the throne. It is a great honor you know. Please accept the fact to be queen, Catherine. This tragic about the Devil's Dust it can't be stopped. I'm just doing what the prophesy said. You, as the last queen of Cafata has the power to rule Cafata truly. You are Cafata's last hope, if we are to try to survive from this tragic," cried Angela "The fate of Cafata, the world, even the universe, lies in your hands, Catherine, and your hands only."
That's it! Mother has gone over the wall, thought Catherine.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in Catherine's mind. It rang like bells, telling her to go somewhere and it's important.
Catherine quickly scrambled and stood on the parapet! Angela was speechless and shocked to see her daughter making a fool of herself. "Dear, what are you doing" gasped Angela.
"I have to go. Mother, cancel my engagement with Preston for me," said Catherine as she look from behind her shoulders.
Without saying anymore, she jumped off the balcony!
"Catherine! Catherine!" shouted Angela.
There was a quick swish sound and crowd at the bottom gasped. Suddenly, a large white feather was blown up to the balcony. Angela caught it as soon as it got close to her. She looks down from the balcony to see if her daughter is all right. But she isn't there, and has disappeared mysteriously. Angela smoothen the feather with her fingers and whispered to herself "Catherine, I tried very hard to understand you, but you are always so difficult. You must have gone off to see those witches again. What do you see in them that make you think that they're not evil? What do I have to do to make you understand?"
"You should cancel that engagement than," said a voice from behind her.
When she turned around to see who it is, it turns out to be David, her husband. "I told you she wouldn't like Preston. But you wouldn't listen. It is you who are the one that is difficult Angela," said David calmly.
"For your information, David, I intend to let Catherine get married and be queen weather she likes it or not! It is for the sake of Cafata and ours!" retorted Angela. She then marched back into the throne room with the feather still in her hand.
"I'm sorry I have to do this, Catherine. I'm so very sorry," mumbled Angela as she looks at the feather.
By Celtic Angora.
Author's notes: How is it? If you all have been wondering what this has got to do with my fan fic, please wait patiently for other chapters. Please feel free to review. P.S. Howl and Sophie will appear in the next chapter.