This is my favorite chapter in the first part of the story. I know I keep saying the action will pick up every chapter, but this is truly intense. So, without any further ado, read and enjoy! :)
CHAPTER 7: ICE OVER THE SUN
10 days until…
He had never meant for this to happen, had never even thought it might happen. It just hadn't been on his radar, not something he'd ever considered. And yet, it had happened.
He knew it was entirely his fault.
Luigi Cacciatore stood on his back porch, staring vacantly at the town. The capital city of Solaria, the city of Helios, was situated near the ocean. The arid planet rarely saw any rain, although there was no shortage of underground water. Water on the planet circulated through rivers that emptied into oceans, which were fueled by underground water that burst to the surface. Wells were very common across the planet. The king's palace, in particular, had no shortage of irrigation for its royal gardens.
Luigi turned around and went back into the house. His wife, Liling, was sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly stroking the strings of a banjo and humming to herself. But there was no commitment to the movement; it was a failed attempt to distance herself from the world. Giving up, Liling tossed the banjo aside and looked up at Luigi. "What could we have done?" she asked.
Luigi shook his head. "I don't know if we could have done anything," he said. This was not the truth; he knew there was very much he could have done.
"We were never home," Liling's voice rose in distress. "I mean, we were around when she was very little. But once we got that promotion from the King, we had to send her to Melody. Or at least, we thought we had to. What if we had taken her around the world with us? We could have kept her safe there."
"You know very well we couldn't have," Luigi said flatly. His mind was actually not on how their lives could have been different, or even the circumstances surrounding Aria's birth. It was on something else.
It had been years ago, before they'd parted with their little girl. Luigi was kneeling on the floor, and five-year-old Aria was standing in front of him. She put her tiny hands in his large ones. "Daddy," she had said, "I wanna be a singer."
"You do?" Luigi asked, stroking her golden curls. The five-year-old girl looked so cute back then, with an adorable chubby face and wide blue eyes that could beg for anything they wanted. They stared into his eyes, melting his heart.
"Yes," she said. "I wanna be like Al and Chunhua, and sing to queens. I wanna be an opwa singer. I wanna be special."
"You're already special, Cadenzie," Luigi told her. It was the pet nickname he had given her at that time.
"But I wanna sing," she said, and a pout came across her face.
Luigi knew he would follow-up with this conversation. He had been in the Solarian Army, and had fought countless battles against villains of the Magical Dimension. When he had been promoted to Commander, he'd planned victories against insurgent rebels and showed them no mercy. But the one person he could never say no to was his own daughter.
So he and Liling had talked about it, and they had agreed that they would send Aria to Melody to study as an opera singer. She would go to the then-unknown Singers' Academy, which would not achieve interrealm fame until 1005, about three years into Aria's training. Liling herself had been a graduate of a sister school of the branch, the Musicians' Academy.
They had been able to let her come home every spring break until she was twelve, the year she entered secondary school. Since then, their jobs had taken off and she had been forced to stay at the school for breaks, with only occasional visits from her parents. They'd told themselves that it was for the best. After all, there were circumstances surrounding her birth, circumstances that warranted the utmost protection…
Luigi looked at his wife. They both stared at each other, having resigned themselves to the present. They would have sat there motionlessly for the next few hours had a loud knock not reverberated from the front door.
"Who's that?"
The dark-skinned girl sat in her room at the Glacian Castle. She gazed up at her harp, absentmindedly pulling at the strings. And yet, they could not distract her from her pained thoughts, unable to provide her with her usual escape. Frustrated, she put her hands in her lap and stared at the ground.
There was something charismatic about Aria. For reasons she couldn't put her finger on, she liked her. Aria was humorous and friendly, and though she appeared sharp-tongued at times, it appeared that she would be a good friend to have in this dark, lonely castle.
Angéle had explored the entire castle, trying to find other people to meet. None of the other servants would greet her. The cook laughed at her, dismissing her as the "Queen's girl" and had left her off. Three times a day, an unfortunate servant would be sent up to the sixteenth floor to bring Angéle food, but that was it. There would be no one else.
But then Aria had arrived. For the first time, Angéle had a companion on the sixteenth floor. And not just any companion – one who was a musician, just like her. She hoped they could spend more time together.
Angéle wasn't intuitive. She couldn't see how badly damaged Aria was, how much pain she had gone through. She still had a childlike innocence about her, though she was fifteen years old. All she saw was a girl who, although clearly lonely, could become a good friend. It would be nice to have one at last, before… She winced. Don't think of that, don't think of that…
Even before Angéle had ended up on Glacia, she'd never truly had a friend. She'd been homeschooled, taught everything she needed to know by her parents. Her father had taught her various different languages of different realms. Her mother had trained her to learn the ways of the priesthood, people who arguably held more importance than the king himself. She had also taught her daughter to play the harp. Angéle's magical abilities also had been evolving at an unusually fast rate, and her parents had encouraged her magical ability by continuing to teach her their skills. By the time Angéle was twelve years old, she had earned her Enchantix and was a full-fledged fairy. Her abnormal magical maturity caused her to rise in prominence, and the entire realm knew her as a child prodigy. But her skill also meant that she was isolated from other children her age, and never got the chance to play like a child should. The only person she'd had for company was truly her mother. Despite her desire for Angéle to grow, she'd never pressured her or pushed her. Instead, she'd gently encouraged her, and with that encouragement, she'd helped her daughter grow.
And then, a week after her eighth birthday, she'd died. It had all been so sudden. Angéle could vividly remember her mother screaming, dying slowly as she watched, powerless to do anything… She had lost one of the most pivotal people in her life, her friend, mentor, and mother all in one.
Her father had gone mad with sorrow after her death. He'd banned Angéle from leaving their home, making sure there was always someone to watch her. He'd gone paranoid with a fear that he'd lose Angéle too. So she'd lost a part of herself too, keeping to herself and avoiding the press – until she was captured by Queen Isolde.
And here we are, thought Angéle, lovingly tapping the side of her harp. It was the only thing that kept her anchored here, the thing that gave her relief when there was nothing else. I don't think I'll ever get out. She bowed her head.
She wondered how her father was doing, now that she was gone. He had probably fallen even more apart, torn by the loss of both his wife and daughter. Another thing she was responsible for, of course. She wondered how he would feel if he could see her now, completely powerless in more ways than one. Not only could she not do anything about her declining world, but she couldn't use her magic at all. After years upon years of gifted magical ability, the arrival to Glacia had been a severe detriment to her system; within days, she'd gone from having strong magical ability to none at all. Queen Isolde hadn't put the same magical restrictions on her as Aria, simply because she hadn't needed to; the castle had drained her energy the moment she'd arrived. She couldn't even perform the simplest levitation spell.
The castle had been steadily draining her energy, but now she felt it even more so. Her very life essence was at stake. These past few weeks had taken away even more of her spirit, making her feel weaker and weaker.
I'm never getting out of here, she thought silently. And I can't do anything. Not about Father, not about Mother – nothing. I'll be stuck here till the end of my days, never leaving this castle.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and then she lifted her hands. Fingers strummed the harp, the notes ringing in the air like lost jewels. Jewels that would never be cherished or loved or found.
"Strike!" yelled Isolde.
Aria lifted the Axe above her head. She struck it straight at the ice-formations that Isolde had just created. Concentrate, concentrate… she willed herself. The Axe shined a menacing purple light. She released it, and it hurtled into the ice with a deafening crash.
"Fascinating," said Isolde, walking towards the blasted shards. "But not strong enough." She turned towards Aria, her eyes narrowed.
"Think of a time when someone insulted you," she said. "A time when he or she shattered your confidence, exposing you to the world. When was that?"
"I" – Aria didn't have time to think. For a moment, panic overtook her as she thought of the many times she had been insulted in person, or behind her back. She squeezed her eyes shut. Not that again, don't think of that again…
"You coward!" Isolde screeched. She flew up to Aria, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You cannot shut the memories out. No longer. You must let them fuel you, giving you the power to turn your revenge on those who deserve it! The world will answer to you one day, Aria! Now think! You must prevail!"
Aria's eyes flew open. She thought about the times when she had been bullied, backstabbed, and insulted. To stabilize herself, she reminded herself of the ways she had overcome it and risen to power, through excess practice and sheer gift. Anger began to bubble in her as she thought of her parents.
They truly didn't care about me, she thought. They cared about me even less than all of those other people. Obviously they thought that I was weak or stupid, which is why they sent me off. She gritted her teeth. Well, they're wrong! They will suffer for what they did!
It's wrong… the voice inside her head argued. You can't attack people just because you hate them. But that voice was beginning to diminish, and though she didn't realize it, so was her sense of rationality. She clenched the Axe tightly, and a purple snake began to slither around it.
"You're doing it," Isolde's cold voice penetrated the air. "When you're ready, face it towards the ice boulder, and strike!"
Aria hefted it as high as she could. She aimed the blade towards the ice, and swung. An even faster swirl of light burst out, hitting the ice. A terrific explosion banged all across the icy plains, one that could be heard for miles.
She held the Axe to her chest, suddenly exhausted. Isolde motioned for her to fly down, and they both stood on the snow.
"So much more powerful the second time," she mused. "Very interesting"… For a second, the queen's eyes looked contemplative. Then she shook her head. "No matter. Your next mission is going to be soon."
"Where are we going?" Aria asked.
"Solaria," the queen answered. "Your birth realm." She looked straight at the girl. "I want you to give them hell."
Aria clenched her fist and stared up at the sky. I'll do it. She vowed that, by the end of the day, her parents would be the subjects of merciless and unconditional pain.
Darius stood outside the house with Maire, along with a few of the palace guards. They were dressed semi-formally; Darius wore a white-button down shirt and navy blue slacks, and Maire wore a yellow floral-print dress which she'd borrowed from Darius's mother. Darius wore a magimask such as to disguise his face. Despite their nice appearance, not to mention the royal fabric quality of the clothes, they did not look out-of-the-ordinary, as their visit was meant to be quick and quiet. They didn't want any paparazzi taking any photos.
"Make sure not to look as if you've seen the place before," he whispered to Maire.
"Sure, spoiled brat," Maire snapped. She clearly wasn't thrilled about having to work with him; disgust showed in every part of her face. She'd already made enough fuss to wear the dress. Darius sighed and looked ahead.
He wished Maire would be nicer. He'd found her attitude amusing at first, but now it was just tiring. How in the realms did I end up with her? He couldn't wait until this visit was over.
The door opened and a tall man with brown hair and a brown moustache came outside, squinting at the bright light. He looked at the two of them in surprise, and said something in Helian, presumably, "Who are you?"
"Hello, sir," Darius said, walking up to him and shaking his hand, speaking the Common Tongue. He was fairly sure that this man knew the Common Tongue; after all, he was a general and a diplomat. "Are you Lord Cacciatore?"
"I am, yes," he answered, looking a little taken aback, and surprised that they were speaking the Common Tongue. He squinted at them, probably only just realizing they were foreigners. "What is it that you need, sir?"
Darius bowed slightly. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Prince Darius of Fulgur, and this is my friend, Maire Griffin of Summa. We are friends of your daughter's – Maire goes to Alfea, and I just graduated from Red Fountain." He saw the man's eyes widen. "If you don't mind, we have a few questions about our friend. Would you please let us in?"
The man hesitated for a moment, probably on the verge of kicking them out and refusing to say anything, when Maire added fiercely, "We're her best friends, so you'd better let us in and tell us what the hell is going on."
Darius shot Maire a warning glance. Why does she always have this gift of infuriating everyone? But it seemed to have worked. The man's eyes widened, and he opened the door, allowing them in.
The house was in disarray – expensive-looking glass objects sat on top of cluttered books, threatening to fall and smash on the floor. Silk clothes were strewn all over the chairs. A dark-haired woman sat on the plush sofa, absent-mindedly holding a banjo. It only took one glance to see that the family was very wealthy, but that it didn't look after its house. The very sight of the room gave Darius a headache. If I was to keep my room like this, my mother would be furious.
The guards began to follow them into the house. Although they were dressed as civilians, it was easy to make out they were powerful and well-trained. Lord Cacciatore looked at them nervously.
"Don't mind them," Darius said. "They're just here because of me." He looked at the guards. "Um, guys, do you mind waiting outside? If there's any danger, we'll leave right away."
The guards complied, walked out of the door and pulling it shut.
"We weren't expecting guests," Lord Cacciatore said awkwardly, moving a few clothes off the chairs and tossing them on the floor. "Um – have a seat."
Lady Cacciatore finally looked up. The banjo fell to the floor with a crash as she stared at Maire and Darius, having only just noticed them. "Who are you?"
"They're friends of Aria's from Magix," Lord Cacciatore said. "And they've come to ask us about our daughter."
The woman began to tear up, her face becoming beet-red. "Oh, my," she said.
"'Oh, my' is right," Maire said furiously. "You lot ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You never loved Aria as you should have. You just sent her off to some fancy private school, where she pined for you day and night. You literally neglected her! What kind of crappy parents would do that? She never even got a visit from you guys, or a letter saying that you loved her! And now you're sitting here crying because she's turned into a psychopath!"
"Maire," Darius said warningly, but Maire ignored him. She glared at the two of them, her face becoming as red as her hair.
"It's your fault that she turned into a psychopath! Both of you! If you had loved her as she deserved, and taken care of her, then she wouldn't have killed Galatea! I mean, I have a mother who just kicked me out of the house, but you both kicked her out before she even turned six! What kind of parents are you who would" –
But Lady Cacciatore stood up, her face the reddest it could possibly be. "That is enough," she snarled, her fierce voice cutting through the air. Maire shrank back, and the woman glared at her. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, but it had the sharpness of a thousand knives.
"You who have only known her for three years just stand there and assume what my husband and I have gone through. Do you not, for one second, think we blame ourselves for what our daughter has become? The decisions we made in her childhood will haunt us for the rest of our lives. But we would not have sent our own child, our flesh and blood, so far away from us if we'd had any choice!"
Silence took over the room. Lady Cacciatore glared at Maire, and then sat back down on the sofa. For a while, no one spoke. At last, Darius opened his mouth to ask the question that everyone was thinking – but then thought better of it. They had made a bad impression (no thanks to Maire, of course), and as they were the guests, it was their job to make amends.
"We apologize," he said, giving Maire a firm glance. For once, she didn't retaliate. "We should start again. I'm Prince Darius of Fulgur, and this is Maire Griffin of Summa. What are your names?"
"I am Lady Liling Xu of Solaria," the dark-haired woman said softly. "And this is my husband, Lord Luigi Cacciatore of Solaria. He is the Commander of the Solarian Army and Advisor of War to the King, and I am the Ambassador to the United Realms for Solaria."
"Yes," said Darius, glad to be done with introductions. "And… well, we're here because we wanted to know if you had any insight on what happened to Aria. So, um… why don't we start over and start talking about what she did and why she did it? We all have her best interests at heart, I assure you."
"We know very little about why she did it," Luigi said sadly. "We have not seen her for the last four years."
How does anyone get by like that? thought Darius. The most amount of time he'd gone by without seeing his parents was a week. Sure, he'd been in boarding school all of this time, but he still managed to get in a video call every Sunday. That really sucks. His pity towards Aria grew even stronger.
"You haven't even heard from her?" Maire asked, narrowing her eyes at them.
"Well, we have," Aria's father admitted. "We… well, before we went her to MOA, we gave her a Book of Faithfulness to take with her. Think of it as the bible of the Helian religion," he said in response to Darius and Maire's confused looks. "We meant it to be something she drew comfort from, something she could remember us with. But… when she was fifteen, we received the book back at our place, with no return address. She'd sent it back without a note." He buried his face, and Liling began to cry.
Ouch, Darius thought, wincing. That must've been a slap in the face. The thought sent a wave of pity through him, and for the first time, he began to feel sorry for Aria's parents. He forced his pity out of his mind and began to speak.
"Well, we've been doing a bit of searching around," he said. "We have a few theories." He drew out the pink book from his pocket. Liling stopped crying, and her eyes rose as she saw it. "This is Aria's diary. She kept it during her years at Alfea."
Luigi looked surprised. "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" he asked.
"Of course not," Darius replied, passing it to him. Maire looked about to protest, but clearly thought better of it.
Luigi flipped through the pages silently. "Fascinating," he murmured. "And… so sad." His eyes began to fill with tears as he saw the diary entry where Aria was blasting her parents. He handed it back, obviously too overwhelmed to read.
"Like I said, we do have a few theories," Darius said. "But you – you said that you didn't have any choice about sending Aria away. Well, we were wondering – what was so bad that she had to be sent away when she was young? It might help us piece together what happened to her."
Liling and Luigi looked at each other. Finally, Liling spoke.
"I think we should tell them, Luigi," she said. "After all, they've come all this way. And they clearly have our daughter's best interests in mind, even though one of them is a little – wild." She cast Maire a dark look. Darius couldn't say he blamed her.
"Very well," Luigi said, letting out a sigh. "I'll start at the beginning." He looked at Darius and Maire. "Eighteen years ago"…
"You ready for this?" Sharzad asked him as they headed towards the spacecraft.
Daewon rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about? I was born ready," he said assuredly, grinning his toothy smile. She didn't smile back.
Daewon felt himself deflating a little. Sharzad was a good friend, but she never seemed to be interested by much that he had to say. Although he wouldn't say it out loud for fear that she'd laugh at him, he liked Sharzad. For one thing, she was brave and she could be very kind. For another thing, she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Her waist-long auburn hair curled slightly at the ends, in an extremely cute way, and her big eyes were a warm brown color, so friendly and inviting.
But she simply didn't seem interested in him beyond the limits of a platonic relationship. From what he had been told, women were usually attracted by male displays of grandeur and confidence. But not Sharzad.
The pair soon fell into an uncomfortable silence as they arrived at the spacecraft, climbing aboard. A new guard was waiting for them. Sir Arishtat was waiting for them.
"Good morning, Your Highness," he said, bowing to Sharzad. He turned to face Sharzad. A rather uncomfortable look appeared in Sharzad's eyes, but she didn't say anything. She simply climbed aboard, with Daewon and Arishtat following behind.
The two witches were already there, grumbling to themselves about how badly they'd slept and how tired they felt, and how much they didn't want to have to work with Sharzad and Daewon. Would it kill them to try keeping a low profile for once? Daewon thought with irritation. He watched as Arishtat strode up to them, his boots clicking against the floor.
"Greetings, Etsu and Akane," he said crisply, walking up to them. His stance was taut and tall, and Daewon saw the two witches glancing at each other. "Or rather… Stormy and Darcy, the two surviving descendants of the Ancestral Witches."
The effect was instantaneous; Stormy shrieked and Darcy fell over, gasping. Daewon stared at Arishtat in shock. How did he know?
Only Sharzad seemed unsurprised, in a rather resigned way. Daewon looked over, and saw that Stormy and Darcy had picked up on this as well. The curly-haired witch strode forward, glaring at Sharzad.
"You!" she burst out. "You traitor! You went and told him – you broke your end of the deal! And now you're going to have us sent back to" – She ended, her voice shaking.
"Halt, Stormy," Arishtat commanded, striding in-between them. He glared at Stormy, a cold glare in his eyes. Looking alarmed, Stormy backed down.
"I can assure you that Her Highness did not tell me," he said. "I was the one who found out, through your poor attempt to potion me."
"So go ahead," Darcy said with gritted teeth, "and call out the Fulgur Guard to arrest us. What do you think you're going to accomplish from that, you poor protector of pixies? You gonna get a hundred men to knock us down?"
"I won't," Arishtat answered calmly. "Not unless you give me a reason to," he added, looking at the stupefied looks on Stormy and Darcy's faces. "But I will be watching this 'mission' to Glacia, as you call it. I will come with you to collect all of the shards, and to the realm of Glacia. Do you hear me?"
Stormy and Darcy looked furious. "This warrior is not coming with us!" Stormy bellowed. "He is going to ruin our mission!"
"How so?" Arishtat asked calmly.
"Well"… Stormy glared at him, at a loss for words.
"If your intention is so pure, then you will not mind me coming along with you," he said. "After all, it is in all of our interests to keep the princess of Fulgur safe and well. Am I right?"
"You" – Stormy looked as if she would have welcomed a volcano storm at that moment.
"You're right," Darcy said immediately, covering her sister's mouth. "I hope you'll excuse my sister. She's going through some… problems at the moment, which is why she's acting out-of-control. Shut up," she added in an undertone, glaring at Stormy.
This guy is cool, Daewon realized. He stayed calm throughout his entire speech, not even raising his voice once. And yet, he had been able to shut them up through logic and reason. Daewon knew if Stormy had spoken to him like that, he would have ripped her apart.
The two women sat down together, muttering to each other; Sharzad sat in a corner and checked their flight location on a screen. Daewon glanced over at Arishtat. The guard was sitting down at the computer, his black hair obscuring his face; Daewon caught nothing other than an austere expression. He then looked up at Daewon. "Hello," he said crisply. "You are Lord Daewon of Melody, is that correct?"
"Yes," said Daewon, rather taken aback. "I – so you're, um, the guard accompanying us on the mission?" As soon as he said that, he felt like a complete idiot.
"That is correct." Sir Arishtat began to type on the keyboard.
"Woah, that is cool," Daewon stared at the control panel. There were tens of buttons, all with different commands, but Arishtat knew all of them; his fingers moved effortlessly to each key without any hesitation. "I took a basic flying course at Red Fountain, but nothing this sophisticated. That's some real kick-in-the-butt program. What model is this spacecraft?"
"It is the Electrical Model 55.0, released in the fall of 1014 by Zoomix Corporation," Arishtat said, sounding very much like a textbook.
"That's awesome," Daewon said, gazing at the computer in awe. It told him everything, from the ship's planetary and outer-space coordinates to what the weather was in Barq. "You should take me on a spin one day. Maybe you can teach me to fly this thing."
"I am not sure that royal policy would allow it, sir," Arishtat said in his formal, clipped accent, "though I am sure that would be enjoyable."
"Dude, learn to loosen up a little," Daewon laughed. "I was only putting it out there. You don't have to be so uptight all the time."
A hint of a smile appeared on Arishtat's face. "This is a high-pressure job, Lord Daewon. But I understand that I may have made you feel uncomfortable. Might we start again, sir?"
"For starters," Daewon grinned, "maybe you should stop calling me 'Lord Daewon' and 'sir'. Just 'Daewon' would be fine. I mean, I don't mind being called 'sir'," he added mischievously, "but they beat lots of humility into you at the Academy, and they'll whip my butt if I go back to school all inflated."
Arishtat smiled, and this time, it was a true smile, free of any constraints. His sky blue eyes sparkled as he looked down at the teenage boy. Daewon took a moment to appreciate how genuine the older man looked with his black hair framing his face, his sky blue eyes sparkling. He looks good when he smiles…
"All right then, Daewon," he said, checking the ship's coordinates, "would you like to help me with the system as we head towards Thor?"
"That'd be awesome." Daewon smiled.
"Eighteen years ago, my wife and I had just married, and we settled down in Solaria. I, as the son of a general and a member of the nobility, was promoted to Commander by His Majesty, King Radius of Solaria. Liling was studying at the Lunarian Historical Academy, which is how we met each other." He smiled at his wife.
Darius recalled that there were two planets in the realm of Solaria. One was Lunaria, the planet of the moon, which was ruled by Queen Luna. The more prominent one was, simply, Solaria, and was ruled by King Radius. The realm was ruled jointly by King Radius and Queen Luna, though it did appear that the king of Solaria had more power. Solarian politics are… complicated.
"Anyways, after we married, we settled down in my father's house – this very house – which was my inheritance after he had died fighting in battle. But we were young, and all we wanted was a child, a son or a daughter who could be our pride and joy. Unfortunately, we could never have one. We kept on trying, and – we just couldn't. We went to the doctor, and it turned out that Liling's uterus was not fully formed." Liling blushed a little at that statement, but didn't refute it.
"So you were basically unable to have kids," Maire said dryly. "Well, how the heck did you give birth to Aria?"
"I'm getting to that," Luigi said patiently. "We were very disappointed and went home. A few weeks later, I was heading home from work, in the middle of the night, when I caught a woman standing in my neighborhood. She was tall, with long blond hair and an icy-blue glittering dress. She was a fairy. Just from standing behind her, I could sense that she was very, very powerful.
"The woman approached me and told me she knew that Liling and I were unable to give birth to a child. I was very surprised, not to mention suspicious. She then told me she had the power to restore Liling's uterus and allow her to conceive, something that was almost unheard of. Only the most skilled healers could do this, and they always charged a fortune for their work. I immediately went home and discussed this with my wife.
"In hindsight, we should have known. Such a powerful enchantment could not be enacted without some payment in return, even if it wasn't money. But Liling and I were young. We weren't experienced yet – she was not yet the Ambassador, and I was not yet a Commander, though I had served in the military. But instead, we agreed. The woman drew a triangle connecting the three of us, cut her hand to drip blood into a cauldron, and directed us to do the same."
"Blood magic," breathed Darius. He glanced at Maire, who also had her eyes narrowed. It was one of the oldest forms of magic, and was also the most dangerous. It was absolutely forbidden in every member state of the United Realms, even Whisperia. "Are – are you sure she wasn't a witch?"
"No, she was definitely a fairy," Luigi answered. "Witches are more adept at mastering blood magic, if they so choose to go down that path, but it is not impossible for a fairy to learn it as well."
"So she used your blood to hold you to your word," Darius nodded. It made sense – after all, blood had binding powers. It was more often a symbol of death – but clearly, it was also a symbol of life, if it could help Liling become pregnant. "So, what did she do?"
"She created a potion out of our blood, and gave it to Liling to drink," Luigi explained. "Then we tried for child again, and were successful. Nine months later, our very own little girl, Aria Cadenza Cacciatore, was born."
"But what about the blood?" Maire asked impatiently. "I mean, there must have been a condition that the sorceress gave you – there's no way she just helped you without some sort of price. What was it?"
Liling let out a sigh. "On Aria's first birthday, Trimensis 22 of 998, we held a party with all of our friends, to welcome her. It was a long night, a beautiful night filled with celebration – and probably the last time we were all whole again. For just at midnight, as we all toasted to Aria, Luigi and I heard a voice in our heads, the same voice as the woman. The voice said: 'I have kept my promise and given you a child. Sixteen years hereafter, she shall be mine.' "
Darius stared at Liling in shock. "This woman… she was going to have full control of Aria by her seventeenth birthday?"
"I'm afraid so," said Liling with a sad smile. "We wondered how we could possibly evade this enchantment, for we knew it wasn't for good. We loved Aria so deeply, we wanted her to be able to choose her own future, not have it dictated for her, by no fault of her own. And so, when she was five, we sent her off, placing a charm on her to protect her from prying eyes. We hoped that if we sent her to Melody to a no-name school, it would be harder for the sorceress to keep an eye on her. She expressed an interest in singing at a young age, remember, Luigi?" She nudged her husband.
"I remember," Luigi said with a smile. "She used to sing all sorts of songs she heard on the radio, and used to hit me every time I sang. Apparently I sing extremely out of tune." He sighed. "She used to be so sweet when she was young." A tear fell down his face.
"The charm held," Liling continued. "Until she turned fourteen – Melody's Recruitment Agency found that she was very strong in defense magic, and wanted her to go there. We knew that if we sent her there, the charm would be null and void, as she would be in the public eye. We tried to dissuade her from going, but for some reason, she was set on going, and we were powerless to stop her." She let out a sigh. "And then of course, that brings us to – Prince, are you listening?"
Darius had stopped paying attention the moment Liling had told them Aria's birthday; for just then, an idea was beginning to blossom in his head. Trimensis… They were in that month. It was Trimensis 12 today, exactly ten days before Aria's birthday. It hit him. "She's going to be possessed ten days from now! That's the day of the full moon!" He leapt up, ignoring the lord and lady's looks of shock, and Maire's glance of amazement. "The sorceress timed it correctly!"
"I don't get it," Maire said. "How did she know that Aria's seventeenth birthday would fall exactly on a full moon?"
"That must have been part of the enchantment," said Darius with a grim smile. "She obviously had a very strong command of her magic."
"Stop!" cried Liling. "What is it you're both talking of? 'Possessed'? 'Full moon'? What's going on?"
"We spoke with Priestess Saraswati Iyer, the High Priestess of the Temple of the Thirteen Realms," explained Darius. "She believes that Aria has been" –
WHAM. Before Darius could finish speaking, a loud explosion rocked the house. Maire screamed.
The four guards burst into the room. "Your Highness, we have to get you out of here!" the first guard cried. "We're taking you home!"
"What's going on?" Darius demanded, running up to the guard.
"The city's under attack."
The aircraft landed in Thor. Daewon stood up, walking shakily. He glanced towards Arishtat, who began to lead them towards the exit of the ship. "Let's go," he said calmly. "What exactly are you looking to do, Your Highness?"
"We are going to go to the Thunder Caverns," said Sharzad, glancing at Daewon. They had agreed that, this time, they were not going to be putting any guards to sleep. Fortunately, they wouldn't need to; unlike the Cave of Clouds, the Thunder Caverns was a popular tourist attraction. It wouldn't attract so much suspicion that they'd want to visit it.
"Come on," Daewon said, observing the two witches and Sharzad. "We had better get going." He began to lead the way. Daewon glanced back at the others, and then followed.
There was less chatter this time around. Obviously Arishtat's arrival had unsettled the witches, and they began to speak to each other in quiet Whisperian; what they spoke about, Daewon didn't know. This lasted for about a minute until Arishtat turned around and frowned at them.
"Speak in the Common Tongue only," he ordered. "I want to hear what you are saying. If you speak one word of any other language, the agreement will be null and void. We will call the Electrixian authorities immediately."
Darcy clamped her mouth shut. Stormy looked furious, but all she could do was glare at Arishtat. The guard returned her gaze calmly, then continued on, his boots pounding the ground.
Daewon looked nervously at the witches, then at Sharzad. "Looks like one dude no one wants to mess with," he muttered, smirking slightly as he spoke.
"Yeah," muttered Sharzad. Her voice sounded rather distant and quiet. Daewon couldn't understand why.
"Look," he said, "why are you so quiet today? What happened with Arishtat yesterday, anyways? How'd he find out?"
"The potion didn't work," she murmured. "He knew that we were potioning him the moment we gave it to him. He used an antidote spell."
"Great," said Daewon dryly. "That worked really well."
Sharzad cast him an irritated look. "You don't have to make fun of me all the time," she said sullenly.
I was just joking, Daewon thought, annoyed. Why are girls always so unpredictable? One moment they laugh, the next moment they tell you to get out. He quickened his pace. The time soon lapsed in silence.
"Here we are," Arishtat said as they stopped in front of a large cave. It had a large entrance, one that seemed to go underground.
"Glad you could recognize it, helmethead," Stormy spat. "Yes, the Thunder Caverns is it." She pointed to the cave. "We need to go in there."
"And do what?" asked Sharzad.
Darcy rolled her eyes. "And I thought the Winx were pathetic," she said mockingly. "Obviously, to get the shard. That's where we have to go."
"That's where they have to go," Arishtat interrupted. Stormy and Darcy immediately swiveled their gaze towards him, their eyes on fire. "I have no intention of letting you witches go anywhere. You shall stay under my watch."
"What?" gasped Darcy.
"You jerk!" growled Stormy.
"You haven't proven that you deserve freedom yet," Arishtat said simply. "I'm not letting you go. If you help Her Highness well enough, and show her to the right places, then we will think about whether you deserve mercy or not."
Daewon and Sharzad glanced at each other, and their gaze said one thing. We're not going to think about that. No matter how beneficent the witches turned out to be, they weren't going to let them go. Their past crimes had been too severe to warrant their freedom.
Darcy and Stormy growled together. As Daewon and Sharzad started to leave, Arishtat added, "And by the way, the second shard had better be in the cave. Daewon checked the location on a search, and it does not look threatening. But if there is any trouble… well, I will turn you in at once."
"They definitely haven't have given us a false location," Daewon muttered as they turned into the cave. It was dark and eerie, and got cooler as they descended farther in. From what Daewon had seen on the Winx Wide Web, the Thunder Caverns was a tourist attraction, created millions of years before by intense lightning storms. It was a geographical wonder prized by the planet of Thor. Today it was silent, however; it was Wednesday, and therefore not the best time for tourists to come. "They're not stupid. They know that we have the upper hand." He glanced at Sharzad, and saw that she was silent. "Can we talk now?" he asked pointedly.
"What?" Sharzad turned her gaze towards him.
"I was thinking," Daewon said as they picked up the case, "we've got to decide what to do about those witches. I mean, we can't just let them go free after this. So, what are your ideas about them?"
"I mean, I was kind of wondering," Daewon said as they walked forward. "Arishtat is one cool dude, and he's pretty dang smart. He obviously knows that Stormy and Darcy are interrealm criminals. So, why is he letting us do this? What did you say that convinced him not to turn them in?"
"Well, he may be tough, but it's probably because he's a good person at heart," Sharzad answered, walking in front of him.
"What?" Daewon stared at her, confused. What is she talking about?
"Maybe he realizes that the witches have feelings too," Sharzad said. "I mean, their sister just died. And they've lost their powers, so they're not in a position to cause trouble for us. So maybe Arishtat realized that it's right to show the witches some mercy. Plus, they're helping us find Aria, so that helps, too."
"Well, obviously, we've got to do the right thing," Sharzad said. Her voice was rather quiet and distant, and she sounded strange. "Which means we've got to help them out."
"What?" Daewon stared at her, confused. What is she talking about?
"I mean, the witches have problems the same way we do," Sharzad said. "Their sister just died. And they've lost their powers, so they're not in a position to cause trouble for us. So I think we should do the right thing and show them some mercy. Plus, they're helping us find Aria, so that helps, too."
"Wait a minute." Daewon turned to face her. "Darcy and Stormy are criminals. They tried to take over the Magic Dimension barely two months ago! And you're saying we should show mercy towards them?" He could hardly believe what he was hearing. "How do they deserve any of our kindness?
"Well, maybe some people deserve second chances!" Sharzad protested. "Maybe the witches aren't all that bad. The fact that they even came to us for help proves that they may have had a change of heart" –
"'May have had' and 'have had' are two different things," Daewon answered. "You're gonna be a great guardian fairy one day, Sharzad. You're clearly not the slightest bit gullible," he added sarcastically.
Her act is kind of cute, though, he thought, feeling slightly amused. As irritating as it sometimes was when she put up her benevolent act, it could be kind of funny, too. Especially considering the fact that he always proved her wrong.
Sharzad glared at him. "Are we going to find the shard or not?" she asked.
"That's what we're here for, sap-head," Daewon answered, rolling his eyes. "So let's stop arguing and get going." The two of them continued on, and the time lapsed in silence.
And then Daewon saw it. A nuclear-shaped emblem was in the center of the cave, floating in midair.
"There it is!" Daewon said. "Let's go and get it." He headed towards the center of the cave –
WHAM. A stone beast slammed onto the ground, shielding the thunder emblem. It turned its eyes towards the two.
"I am the Keeper of Thunder," it said, its voice demonic and dark. Daewon swallowed and turned towards Sharzad; her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at the beast. "I sense that you threaten the safety of this item, so I have been summoned to protect it. You shall not pass."
"We need it to open the key to Glacia!" Sharzad protested, but the beast wasn't listening.
"I protect this shard, at all costs," it growled, advancing on her menacingly. Sharzad backed away.
Daewon and Sharzad looked at each other. Daewon had deduced two things: one; that this shard would not be as easy to retrieve as the first one. Second; they had to win against this monster-thingy in order to get the shard.
"You attack it in the eyes," Daewon hissed, "and blind it. I'll go and grab the shard."
Sharzad transformed. She flew up and threw a lightning-bolt at the Keeper of Thunder's eyes. But it merely reflected off of the Keeper's eyes. It let out a laugh.
"You expect me to be hurt by lightning, fairy of Fulgur?" it hissed. "I am made of the storm! Sixty years ago, I was fashioned in the wake of a powerful storm, and sent to defend the Shard of Thunder! I am made of the Thunder itself!" It opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar.
Sharzad screamed as the sound reverberated around the cave. Daewon covered his ears. He knew what this sound was; it was the sound of thunder. He thought of other tourists here, if there were any. If they could hear this, they'd be shocked, he thought grimly.
Sharzad tried to summon another lightning-bolt, but nothing came. She gasped in shock. "My powers!" she yelled; Daewon could only just make out what she was saying. "They're frozen! He's done something to them!"
Her powers are affected because of the power of that beast, Daewon realized. It's fighting thunder against lightning, and winning. Then he tested his own powers; a sphere was able to appear in his hands. But not mine. He gazed at the creature, amidst the deafening roar. It was then that he came up with an idea.
I'm from Melody, he thought. A wizard from Melody. I have the power to manipulate sound. He flexed his fingers, and thought, Maybe I can turn the sound on him.
He concentrated. The creature stood there, looking gleeful as its roar flattened Sharzad to the ground. Suddenly its eyes widened, and it said, "Huh?"
Daewon was closing his eyes, focusing his energy on the sound of the creature. He could hear the sound directing its intensity away from them, onto the beast. The animal's eyes widened as it realized it was being tricked.
"Noooooooooo!" it yelled as the sound hit it in the ear. It stood, immobilized, unable to fight back.
"Sharzad!" Daewon yelled. "Grab the shard!"
Sharzad got up, dazed, and flew. Diving forwards, she grabbed the Shard of Thunder, and spun back to Daewon. He could hear the creature's howl as they flew out of the chamber.
"How long is that thing going to be trapped?" Sharzad asked.
"Probably for another few minutes," he answered. "We'd better hurry."
"Yep," she agreed. "That was clever of you, by the way," she admitted, turning her gaze slightly to him. "Keeping that creature immobilized by his own sound. That was smart."
"Well, what do you think?" Daewon smirked. "I'm always smart."
Sharzad let out an audible sigh, and sped ahead of him. Daewon frowned; she didn't seem all that impressed.
I've spent two days with her, and she still doesn't seem to like me, he thought. Well, women are hard to please. I'm gonna keep trying. "Wait!" he called, speeding after her into the tunnel.
Darius and Maire burst out of the house, Liling and Luigi following behind. They gasped in horror at what they saw.
It was controlled chaos, all created by one fairy. She hovered brilliantly in the air, holding a magical axe in her hands and slamming it down, sending volts through the air. Adults and children screamed as their houses were blasted, trying to shield themselves from the falling debris.
"Come on, Prince!" the guard shouted. "We have to go!"
Maire stayed where she was. She looked up at the figure, the one who was causing destruction and mayhem. The fairy let out a bright purple glow, and she could make out a pink top and blue wings. With a shock, she realized who it was.
"Aria!" she yelled. "Stop!" It was about as effective as telling a bomb to not explode.
"Miss, you have to come with us!" the guard shouted. He grabbed her hand, but Maire wrestled herself free.
"I have to stop her!" she cried.
"The Solarian Guard is on its way!" the palace guard answered. "You and His Highness are my responsibility. We have to bring you home safe!"
Maire ignored him. "Winx Charmix!" she yelled, transforming into her fairy form. Ignoring his protest, she soared into the sky, coming face-to-face with Aria.
Aria's gaze was bloodthirsty and terrible. She looked at Maire, a curved smile on her face, one that didn't even look like her own; it was too twisted and crooked to be hers. Maire had never seen her like this before.
"Aria!" she cried out. "Listen to me. Snap out of it! You're being possessed! You don't know what's going on!"
"Shut up, Maire," Aria spat back. "You're weak and annoying, but you're not the one I'm here for." She glared down into the neighborhood.
"Mamma, Papà, at last you show yourselves! Come out into the open, and I'll spare the rest of these nobodies from harm."
"Don't do it!" Maire yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears. Liling gazed up at her daughter, her eyes filled with undeniable sorrow.
"We made you into this," she said, bowing her head, "and we accept our fate. Come on, Luigi, let us take our penance."
The married couple walked out onto the green, holding hands. Their heads were bowed, and they were both silently crying. Aria lifted her axe up, and, before Maire could stop her, hurled a fatal blow at her parents.
But Darius leapt in front, dealing out his shield. As the attack hit the shield, the protective force melted, and he shrieked with pain as molten liquid oozed over his arm. With a roar of fury, Aria shook her axe. Jets of light flew out from her in all directions, exploding all over the town. In one strike, she slammed the Cacciatore house, and it was obliterated to pieces.
That's some crazy magic, Maire thought with horror. Houses always had protective enchantments over them, and could not be destroyed so easily. Aria had just destroyed multiple houses in a matter of seconds, something unheard of by even the most powerful wizards. Even Enchantix dust wouldn't fix this.
Aria let out a laugh, a high-pitched cackle that didn't sound like hers at all – rather, it sounded like one of a powerful and formidable sorceress. Maire inched closer to her, trying to speak without attracting her wrath.
"Aria," she called out, "this isn't you. Someone else is controlling you. Don't do this! Just because you're mad doesn't mean you" –
"Move out of the way!" a voice yelled. A fairy in a Sirenix outfit, none other than Princess Stella, the guardian fairy of Solaria, was flying towards Aria, with hundreds of police cruisers behind her. She shot a beam of sunlight straight at her.
But it only made Aria angrier. She deflected the blow, turning it on the princess. The fairy fell, shot out of the air, and her crew of policemen shouted in alarm.
Did she just attack the princess of Solaria? Maire thought. She couldn't believe her eyes. Princess Stella was one of the Winx, six esteemed fairies who defended the Magical Dimension – how could she have injured her? But she barely had any time to think of it, for Aria had turned her attention back to her parents.
Maire stared to fly towards Aria's parents. As horrible as Aria's destruction was, she had to tell them. She couldn't let them die without knowing that their daughter wasn't acting of her own will.
But Luigi lifted his head, eyes filled with tears, his gaze only for his daughter. "I know this isn't you, Aria," he whispered. "I – I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Then he collapsed into sobs.
Aria lifted her axe again, sending out more bolts. A ripple shot from her, across the entire city. Maire screamed as the force hit her, and fell down, the breath knocked out of her body.
"Maire!" Darius was running up to her, his face filled with alarm. "Look out!"
Maire looked up. The roof of a house was detaching from its base, swirling over them. I've never seen that before… She watched in horror as the roof levitated over them. Then the purple aura around the roof disappeared, and it began to fall.
Darius moved quickly. He picked her up and ran across the field, carrying Maire in his arms. At another time, Maire would've been humiliated at being carried by a boy, but everything was moving too fast for her to understand. They both fell in a heap on the ground as the roof slammed. Shingles of debris flew from the roof, and Maire winced as it hit her. Oww… She glanced at her arm, the one she had fallen on. It was bent at an odd angle, and she knew it was broken.
For a moment, her head whirled, and then she came to her senses. She was alive, lying on the ground, in a place where everything was being destroyed before her eyes. She looked up at the roof, now a heap of bricks and dust, and gasped. "Oh – no!"
The roof had fallen exactly on Aria's front-lawn. Unlike her other attacks on the other houses, this had not been a random act of savagery. Rather, it had been cruelly calculated. For under that heap, two people lay still and motionless – the very people who had brought Aria into the world.
Maire's eyes began to water as stared at the heap. Don't you dare start crying, she scolded herself. You don't even love your own mother. She had never cried through all these years, and wasn't about to start now.
Aria laughed, and this time Maire knew it was her own laugh. It was not high-pitched, but it was cold, cruel, and evil. She had gotten what she'd come for, and she would be satisfied – for now.
"Prince, miss, we have to go!" the guard barked. This time, when he grabbed Maire, she didn't resist. She allowed herself to be picked up in the guard's strong hands as he carried her off the ground.
"The Solarian Army is here!" a general shouted. From her horizontal position, Maire could barely make out hundreds of army cruisers, the soldiers armed with magical weapons. "Surrender!"
The man shot a bolt of light at Aria, but before it could hit her, she'd vanished. Simply dissolved into thin air. The soldiers gasped with shock and outrage.
"How is that possible?" the general bellowed. "We made this entire area non-transportable!"
Maire didn't know. All she knew was that this wasn't over. Aria was going to rise up again sometime, and was going to cause even more destruction than before. And they were already powerless to stop her.
I'd be pretty scared, living in that Solarian village… What about you guys? What did you think?
Next chapter:
- Sharzad and Daewon search for the last shard. During the quest, Sharzad discovers crucial information about the queen of Glacia.
- Franc continues on the yellowstone road to find Prophetess Desirée.
- Darius goes to the Council of Sovereigns, where the sovereigns of each realm vote on a resolution – one that will spell life-or-death in his battle.
Until next time!