Freedom Planet: The Fire Garnet
Chapter 4: โศกนาฏกรรม (The Tragedy)
Lord Brevon's spaceship
Robot: Lord Brevon, we have tracked the coordinates of Project Horizon, It has landed on the planet's surface, we have destroyed the chaser spaceship to make sure that the chasers won't retrieve the device when we discovered the trace of the device was no longer on the ship."
Lord Brevon: "Good, prepare a search party to find it."
Robot: "Yes. Lord Brevon."
Lord Brevon: (When I find their "Project Horizon", I will strip the resources from this nuisance of a planet, and exact my vengeance on those meddlesome kids...)
สุราษฎร์ธานี พระราชวังหลวง (Royal Palace, Surat Thani)
Coral brought her guests to the Dining room, it was beautiful with an orange and gold design. As her guests were seated the waiters gave them a menu, with the names of the foods in both their language and in Saraburi. Lilac, Carol, Milla, and Torque were all excited with the selection. Lord Aawut, sitting the closest to the Princess, welcomed them.
Lord Aawut: *smiles* "I am truly happy to see you are alive, it is an honor to have you reunited with your sister."
Carol: "Thanks."
Coral: "Okay everyone, choose what you would like to have for dinner on our menu and it will be done."
Everyone looks at their menus with excitement over the list of traditional foods, Carol looks at the Curry section and decided to go for the Kæng plā s̄ī dæng (Red Fish Curry), Lilac chose the Phat Saraburi Talay (Saraburi version of the Phat Thai Talay, which is fried noodles with seafood), Torque chose the Tom Yam Goong (Spicy Soup with Prawn and Lemon Grass), and Milla chose the Yam pla duk foo (Crispy fish salad with green mango). As they finished making their orders, they informed the waiters of their choices and left the Dining room to deliver the food orders to the Chefs in the kitchen of the palace.
Carol: "So Coral, what happened to our family back then?"
Coral: "You are my twin sister, so I think you deserve to know, it started 13 years ago when we were just weeks old when the ruling head of the Srisati family Kritnarong Srisati discovered the Ankara family failed to keep an oath with his family by marrying his daughter, he pretended to be forgiving by offering the family the chance to make amends only to lure them into a death trap. They caught nearly everyone off guard over the reality that a family who was so close to the Ankara Royal family would slaughter them. They forced my grandfather to watch as he executed my family one by one in front of him, and after that he had his forces to hunt down and assassinate the remaining members of my family..."
Everyone: "..."
Coral: "We were separated in order to help make sure we weren't killed with the rest of the family, but the Srisati military engaged and shot down the Airship Carol was being escorted on into flames, by the time anyone came to the rescue the whole ship was consumed by fire, and everyone that was on that airship was believed to be dead... including Carol."
Torque: "Don't be so sad, Carol is still here and you're not alone, you have good people to help you."
Coral: "Thank you, I thought to myself that it was the worst thing that could ever happen to me when I realized I had to marry a member of the family who slaughtered mine, but now that I know Carol that you aren't dead I have the courage to do what I must do. We will need your help to ensure the marriage alliance is a success, and to be ready to face the inevitable threats to our world."
Carol: "Don't worry sis, Team Lilacs always got your back!"
Coral: "Thank you, Carol, this means so much to me."
The waiters came back after 15 minutes, serving them the dinners they have ordered.
Carol: *smiles* "Cool, this curry is sweet and spicy, I love it, definitely my new favorite!"
Lilac: "Wow, Saraburi cuisine is really good at making spicy food so delicious."
Milla: "Wow, this Khao Niao Mamuang tastes so amazing!"
Torque: "I'm just glad I didn't accidentally ordered fried Duck."
*Everyone laughs*
Lilac: "But how did you and Carol managed to escape from assassination?"
Coral: "Lord Aawut saved both of us, he had a friend who served the Srisati family who managed to warn Aawut about the assassination plans on the both of us before they got to us."
Lord Aawut: "His name was Kamon, he was an old friend of mine, you two were blessed that he came to us, otherwise none of us would have lived to see the light of day again. I carried her and had Mali carry Carol to safety, I hadn't heard from her after the Airship was destroyed ever since."
Coral: "But enough about history, it is time to get down to business, I need you to do a favor for me, I need your help to ensure the marriage will go on protected from any threats, and that the secrets buried deep underneath the Fire Temple remain all in secret."
Milla: "What is underneath the fire temple?"
Coral: "T̄ĥả k̄hxng mạngkr, in your tongue it's called the dragon's lair, it's also called the sanctum of the dragons, a place of great power where the Fire Garnet was born, crystals light it's immense caverns where trees and plants grow with cavern spring rivers flowing through the place that gives it life. Those who discover it's secrets will learn the power to harness the ability to create and control both life and death Itself. It's called the Kảneid h̄īb, in your language it's called the Genesis Ark. It has a writing in ancient Saraburi text, saying Cetcảnng k̄hxng kār s̄r̂āng."
Lilac's group: "!?..."
Milla: "What does Cetcảnng k̄hxng kār s̄r̂āng mean in our language?"
Coral: "It means The Will of Creation."
Coral: *nervously inhales* "Should these secrets be discovered by the wrong people, it would put the whole world in grave jeopardy, and perhaps... event bring back the Demon of the Black Sun as well."
Lilac: "We will never let that happen!"
Coral: "I'm glad to see your determination, I have faith in all of you."
After Coral and her guests at dinner finished their main courses, the waiters return with the dessert menu's, Lilac ordered Itim (Ice Cream, less creamy but sweeter than what she tasted before, served in a liquid nitrogen filled hot pot), Milla ordered Khao Neow Ma Muang (Sticky Rice with Mango), Torque ordered Tao Huay Nam Khing (Soft Tofu and Sweet Croutons in Ginger Water), and Carol ordered Taung Muan Sot (Sweet Rolled Sesame Pancakes). The group enjoyed the Royal dinner, and afterwards they were shown their rooms by the Princess in the Palace where they will stay for a few nights before accompany her to the Royal marriage in Chiang Mai in the coming days.
ห้องพัก, สุราษฎร์ธานี พระราชวัง (Guest Rooms, Surat Thani Palace)
Carol: "Oh cool, I never seen these flowers before, what are they?"
Coral: "They are called Dragons Blood, in our language they're called Leụ̄xd Mạngkr, they're my favorite flowers."
The flowers were shaped like Adenium obesum, with the edges of the flowers black and the center Sanguine (blood-red), it has a deep smooth spiced like scent which went well with the theme of the bedrooms. The bedrooms had a good view above the Palace with a gentle breeze coming in through the open balconies from the very warm night, fortunately the beds had very light sheets which also helped made it more bearable.
Coral: "I will leave you guys to unpack and settle in, I have business I have to attend to, I wish you all have a pleasant rest."
The Princess along with a couple guards left Lilac and her friends to their rooms.
Torque: "According to the tracker, Project Horizon landed somewhere in this country, If we don't get to the device before Lord Brevon does before the wedding, it could put Coral into harms way."
Lilac: "First thing tomorrow we need to find a way to search for the device while not disrupting the Princesses duties."
Milla: "Agreed, I'm so *yawn* tired."
Carol: "Me too... well good night guys."
And so, our heroes prepared for an early morning start to retrieve the device Torque lost on his way crash landing onto Avalice, and with it, the beginning of a great journey through the beautiful but dangerous regions of Saraburi outside the relative safety and stability of the capitol provinces of the troubled country...
