~The Day They Finally Arrived at Cedia~*Johan's POV*
I silently growled to myself.
Nas suggested that me, Savina, and Peewee go undercover as a trio on a diplomatic mission from the King to open up trade relations with Cedia. Everyone instantly agreed to it, and the Smurfs were happy to hide in either Peewee's hat or the pocket of my coat.
But for my own safety, I had to wear a disguise to hide who I really am.
I wore a deep blue hat to hide my ears, my tail was hidden in my shirt as well as the Medallion, and I gave my cape to Savina(but she said she'll give it back after the mission). But I still wore a cape, this one was a darker yellow then my shirt, to help hide my tail.
But the main reason why I was silently growling to myself was because my ears were very itchy and felt cramped under my hat, and everything was slightly muffled because of it as well. And my tail also felt cramped tucked in under my shirt.'It's only been a bit over a week since my werewolf side has reawakened, but I'm already used to them.' I thought as I left my cabin and went to the deck.
Peewee dressed a bit more fancier then usual.
While Savina wore a slightly dark blue dress with some silver, a silver tiara with some diamonds, black small heeled shoes, and of course my cape. Her hair was in a braid.
I kept myself from blushing when I saw how beautiful she looked.
"Hey Johan!" Ember said as he, Nas, and Coral walked up to me. "Um... Is it safe for us to call Johan his actual name?" Brainy asked as he, Savina, Peewee, and the rest of the Smurfs joined us. "I mean, it might make Eowyn suspicious if a sixteen year old black haired young man with hazel brown eyes with the exact same name as the missing Cedian Prince shows up on a diplomatic mission." This caused all of us to stay quiet until Grouchy spoke. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, I hate it when Brainy's right. Even if what he says is true."
"So Johan has to go by a different name for a while?" Peewee asked.
We all nodded our heads.
"But what name should I go by?" I wondered out-loud.
"What about Patrick?" Clumsy suggested. "Why Patrick?" Nas asked him. "There were these two times we went to an alternate dimension. Patrick was one of the humans who helped us while we were there." Gutsy explained to the rest of us.
"I guess I'll go by Patrick while we're in Cedia for a while." I said.
"Okay!" Nas said. "Now that that's settled, let's go over the plan." We all then gathered around. "Me, Ember, and Coral will return to the Verdant Peaks where we Elemental Wolves live and explain and get everyone ready." He said to us. "Then we'll go undercover into the place as people sent by the King on a diplomatic mission so we can figure out any weaknesses she might have." I said. I could feel my ear twitching under my hat. "And we'll smurf around the castle to see if there are any magical creatures like us that have been captured by Eowyn." Brainy said, motioning to himself and the rest of the Smurfs.
When land started coming into view, the Elemental Wolves took to the air and started flying towards the mountains.
As we got closer to Cedia, my home, I went to the bow of the ship and leaned against it. When we were close enough, I could see the city. It looked so dull, lonely, depressing, so much goodness taken away from it, the complete opposite of the bright and cheerful Cedia the Elemental Wolves told us about. Even with my werewolf hearing, I couldn't hear any music.
"Are you alright Johan?" Savina said as she came to my side.
I looked down towards the sea before answering her. "Even if I don't remember, it saddens me to see the kingdom where I was born ridden of its freedom." I said. looking towards Cedia again before I continued. "Even with my werewolf hearing, I can't even hear kids having fun. *sighs*I don't know if they'll ever recover. If I'll ever recover." I gripped the railing. "The day my werewolf side re-awakened, the day I was told who I really was, I somehow had a nightmare that showed me what Eowyn did to my parents."
I could no longer hold back my sadness. Tears fell from my eyes.
"I felt shocked and scarred when I had it. But now that I know that the people I saw die in my nightmare were my parents, I... I don't entirely know how I feel." I wiped away my tears. "I'm sad that I never got a chance to both know them and that I miss them. But I'm also confused about the fact that I miss them even though I don't remember them."
I then felt a hand on top of mine.
I looked over and saw that it was Savina who had placed her hand on top of mine. I was unable to keep myself from blushing at this.
"Johan, I can see that this is confusing for you, but I know that you'll pull through. You always do." She said to me.
"Um...! We're getting really close to the port!" Peewee said to us from the wheel.
I quickly went to take over the wheel.
When we were at port, we were greeted by none other than Eowyn herself. She looked exactly like she did in my nightmare, when she took the kingdom from my parents. The same black and dark purple outfit, the same ghostly waving, slightly pale purple, hair, and the same terrifying eyes. I backed away to make sure she couldn't see me as I started panicking.
"Johan?" Clumsy said from my pocket.
"She looks exactly like she did when she..." I couldn't continue to speak because I could feel myself starting to have a small panic attack.
I had just calmed myself down a minute before Eowyn boarded the ship. But I was still surprised to see who boarded with her.
It was a female brown haired werewolf, about ten years older than me or so, with a pair of feathery back wings on her back. She wore a dress that was red at the top and the long skirt of it was black. And, for some reason, her deep green eyes widened when she saw me.
"Hello. I am Princess Savina. And these are my escorts, Patrick and Peewee." Savina said as me and Peewee went to either side of her. All three of, reluctantly, bowed down to Eowyn. "Welcome to Cedia. I am Queen Eowyn. And this is Chancellor Kiana." Eowyn said as she introduced herself and the Chancellor. I kept myself from growling when Eowyn called herself the queen of Cedia.
She only has the title after killing my parents and forcefully taking control of the kingdom!
'Stay calm Johan.' I told myself. 'When the time is right, I'll free my home and make that witch pay for her crimes.'
A few minutes later, we were in a carriage that was taking us to the Palace. On the ride, I was able to look out the window and saw people that were obviously being forced to look happy by traitors that Eowyn made her guards, causing me to, once again, keep myself from growling.
'I wonder what is the perfect punishment for traitors like them?' I wondered as we arrived at the castle.
It was still as grand as the Elemental Wolves said it was back before Eowyn took over. I even saw paintings of past rulers, my ancestors, before my parents. I noticed that many of them bear resemblance to myself. But I was both angry and sad that there were no portraits of my parents.
"What is the matter?" Chancellor Kiana asked me in a slightly strange accent.
"Nothing." I lied. "Just curious about which of these rulers were the ones before Queen Eowyn."
"I'm afraid their painting is...uh...being restored. Someone accidentally ripped it." She replied.
"Were you close to them?" I asked her after seeing a slight sad look appearing on her face. "They were my Aunt and Uncle." She replied, surprising me. 'That means she is My cousin.' I realized before Kiana continued. "My Aunt Petra used to be a normal girl living in the village, helping my grandmother, Patrica, in a sweets shop, along with my mother Flora. But she eventually married King Duncan and became Queen of Cedia." She explained. "What happened to them?" I asked, curious if she knows the truth. "I do not know." She replied. "I was locking up my grandmother's sweets shop when they... Passed on. But they didn't have an heir to the throne so, Eowyn took the throne." I couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not. I couldn't even tell if she was telling a half-truth, or was being forced to.
I looked towards Eowyn and saw her looking back at me and Kiana, mainly Kiana.
'Well, that makes the chances of her forcing Kiana to lie more likely.' I thought before I noticed Peewee let the Smurfs look around the palace. I decided to do the same. 'I hope they find and free any creatures that Eowyn has captured and free them.'