In the middle of a forest, a tiny winged pony is galloping with its hooves along the narrow path and towards the east. When it saw the mountainous terrain ahead, it started to flap its white wings, the same color of its mane and flew above the mountains.
The sun was about to peek on the horizon, its rays were starting to eradicate both the darkness and the cold that the night brought, encouraging and pleasing anyone who laid their eyes upon the sun's grand entry into the world, signaling another start for a new day.
The tiny horse, while flying in a rush, saw another one of its mates below. A huge white ostrich with two heads was noticeably trekking the mountains while carrying a basket of freshly picked fruits in its both beaks, its body size the same as that of an average cow. Similar to the tiny winged pony, the huge ostrich was also in a race towards the east.
However, the winged pony was faster as it had wings that help it fly quicker along with the wind. When it passed the mountains, it saw an enormous clearing. What once stood an entire kingdom, the East Kingdom, is now a land full of green grasses and rows of a kind of strange flower that only showed itself after the fires.
What was once a ruined kingdom full of phantom knights and beasts lurking in every street, now has become a garland of white blooms that sparkled under the daylight.
The white flower, the first of its kind, has five round white petals and its red nectar even looks sweet. Each one of them is a delicate work of art. Its sweet fragrance strangely puts anyone who breathes it in into a good mood. However, what makes it the more stranger is that during the night, the color on its center travels through the petals, painting its entirety with the color of glowing red. These rows of glowing red flowers, together, create an illusion and fills the night sky with a red light as if the ground was on fire.
The winged pony made a sound as it circled the clearing for a while to admire the fantastic scenery before going straight into its destination, which is a cave on one side of the mountain that faced the direction of the fallen kingdom.
The cave was enormous but it was hidden under layers of inconspicuous vines. It flew past the vines and into the cave, through the tunnels, and towards the other end.
When it was about to reach the opening, it closed its eyes shut for a while to adjust to the light, and as soon as it opened its eyes once again, it saw a huge city underground.
The light from the sun didn't reach the ground under the lands of the east but the lights scattered around it made it look as if numerous stars were gathered here to illuminate the darkness under.
Human settlements can be seen everywhere that stretched as far as its eyes can see, with a few beasts in every corner, and several white creatures that were scattered amongst the humans, living together in harmony and peace. What was once a group of people who were oppressed and turned into slaves has become people who sing songs of hope, full of vigor and vitality. What was once enemies, people and beasts that didn't come together before, has now lived in unity as if they grew together.
The winged pony was pleased to hear the laughter and singing of the beings under the ground. He looked back to the opening and it saw the ostrich that just arrived. The ostrich went directly to its human companion and gave the basket so the pony didn't bother to greet its mate. Besides, it had better things to do.
White tents filled the underground city as temporary settlements. The pony saw the humans working together, either to cook food, wash their dirty laundry, heal the wounds of others, and greet those who just arrived.
The underground city is filled with tents that had expanded as years went on. It wasn't just a simple city, it was a community.
The pony then looked ahead and saw a different looking tent at the farthest corner from the opening. Unlike the white tents, the tent ahead was black in color. That is where its destination.
It made a sound and dashed forward. As soon as he arrived, it stooped to the ground and landed with its hooves. When it was finally prepared, it pulled the cloth that was covering the entrance and walked forward confidently.
"Kirin, is that you?"
A gentle voice of a woman sounded behind the blinds that covered another division of the tent inside. The pony heaved its chest as it stared at the blinds and saw the woman's shadow that was being reflected on it by the candles around, showing her slim figure and her delicate lines. A breeze wafted through the tent, making the candles flicker and the shadow move, but the woman remained hidden behind the blinds.
The pony made a cute sound, to show its respect and love to the one who it considers as its savior. Upon hearing the approval of the creature, the woman laughed softly, "Did you deliver the letter?"
When the pony made a sound again, the woman shifted in her seat, making her shadow move as well. She then stood to the ground and spoke, "Very well. Good job, Kirin. Now, you can go play with the others."
The tiny pony was overjoyed to hear its savior's praises and was excited to go out to play so without hesitation, it dashed outside the tent, leaving the woman behind.
The woman can only laugh but she cannot stay comfortable for too long since she had too many to think of as of now. Not being able to sit idle even if she was supposed to rest, she grabbed her robes and draped them unto her body. She wanted to disguise herself but her floating hair wouldn't allow her to, but at least these robes will cover most of her darkened figure.
The woman gently walked out of her tent and towards another white tent to the side, all the while receiving several greetings from the others whom she passed by. When she arrived, two girls who were on each side of the opening were alerted and immediately bowed in respect. The woman gestured for the two to step outside for a while and the two happily obliged.
"Fae, did you come here to tuck me into bed again?"
Umi gently smiled as she saw another woman who was already seated on her bed and is about to get up.
"Do you perhaps know that the sun just rose?"
"You need rest to heal completely, Shiera." Umi walked towards the side of the bed and patted the woman's head. "If you weren't so stubborn to come with us to the south, I would've not been this strict to you too."
Shiera smiled weakly. "You have always been strict with me."
Five years ago, since the incident with the Mad King at the tower, Umi has done several things that could even make Mochi not be able to predict the storyline anymore. That kitten wouldn't be able to win any bet with his friend so easily this time.
Five years ago, since their escape from that dreadful tower with the Mad King, she had found a haven. Or rather, she made one.
Underneath the several mountains that separate the east from the other continents, Umi used her powers to build something to hide unto. She first carved a small cave underground for them to hide unto, and then later decided to expand the cave under the lands of the east.
Umi did it with a few weeks only, maybe because her powers really had the capacity to do so, or maybe because she was full of rage at that time and wanted to destroy everything that she had laid her eyes upon. Crazy enough to drive herself wild, she saw the soil and the rocks underground as an outlet for her pent up emotions. Umi had slept another week after she was satisfied and Shiera took it upon herself to take care of the girl.
"Sleep for now, Shiera. I demand you to sleep for a week." Umi's face was serious but later on, a laugh escaped from her lips.
"That's a bit excessive. I don't know anymore who's the older one here," Shiera replied in a serious tone but she was also laughing.
Umi glanced at the pale skin of the woman on the bed and she immediately felt warm. Umi, who didn't have a mother figure growing up, found motherly love from this woman, even if Shiera already knows that she isn't her real daughter as she has claimed to be before.
Thinking of her real daughter, Shiera stopped laughing and her face went uneasy as she touched the amethyst pendant of her necklace that she wears all the time. "What do you think Rosalyn is doing now?"
Umi, who has been reminded of someone who contributed to her demise, hid her bitterness from the woman and smiled gently. "The fortress is the safest after this cave, she must be doing well."
Shiera, who found out that her companion wasn't her daughter when Umi confessed to her after she woke up from her coma for a week, put her hand into Umi's arms. "You should go back to your room, Fae. Take a rest too."
The woman on the bed, after lying down, slowly moved her hand to have a feel on the scars of Umi's skin. She then spoke in a low voice, "I hope you're still aware of your limit, Fae"
Umi just gave the woman a smile before turning back. When she was about to go out, she looked behind and spoke to the woman, her voice weak. "I know what I'm doing, Shiera. This war has to come to an end."
Going back to her tent, Umi threw her robes and settled down again in her bed behind the blinds. She then picked up a piece of cloth on her bedside table. On the cloth, there was an embroidered emblem of the Tower of Magic, the same piece of cloth that she cut from her laboratory gown from the tower, and the same cloth that she had with her all this time.
Looking up at the ceiling, her thoughts traveled deeper into her mind, reminding her of the things she had painstakingly done to come to this point.
Umi recalled how she had bought all the valuable treasures from the villages of the East Kingdom using all her gold and jewelry. After gathering the valuables and items she needed, she remembered how she claimed her identity in every village, declaring to be the long lost princess of the east using the emblem as proof, and urged the people to move. She was then reminded of how she fought all the phantom knights and beasts when the people were finally on the move towards the cave she built. She thought back to how she blasted fires to the villages until she put the capital on fire and until the whole of the east was engulfed in her powerful flames.
She remembered how she was loathed by the other kingdoms who didn't know her purpose, how she tried her hardest to encourage them to move too, how she fought the phantom in front of the crowd to prove her motive, how she engulfed the west with fires too, just like how she did it with the east.
Then, Umi recalled how she accidentally met with Reyr in the west when she came back to her small village to retrieve her grandparents. Reyr was paying a visit to her grandparents at that time. He did it for a while to pay for the valiant sacrifice that their granddaughter had fulfilled. She thought of how Reyr joined her without hesitation and with the promise of not telling Obsidian about her.
Umi had decided long ago already that if she wanted to win this war without casualties, she has to cut ties with the rebellion so that the Mad King's spies shouldn't be alerted and won't connect her actions with the rebellion. Besides, the Mad King didn't know who Umi was in the first place.
The people on the territories that still haven't caught in the fire didn't know her identity and her true purpose. All they know was that there's someone who was raining fire on the whole continent. Every one of them knew her as a villain, an awfully wicked one at that.
But it was different for the people who knew the truth.
To them, Fae was a savior and the fires were a cure.
Umi recalled how she had invented a cure for the phantom using the valuables and precious items she bought after several experiments. A different one for those who were originally beasts, and a different one for the ones who were originally human.
Umi remembered how she healed Shiera.
She recalled how she didn't choose to heal herself. Because, going back to a human form means eliminating her powers too, and she didn't want that to happen, for the war is still ongoing, and she yearned to be the one to end it.
Umi will surely end it.
Thinking back to the events that happened within those five years, she felt unhappy as it was indeed depressing but she didn't want to dwell in those hard times anymore. She didn't want the readers of this story to pity her. Rather, she wanted them to be uplifted by her heroic actions. She wanted them to see her as a warrior, a fighter, and a strong woman who can do anything to justice.
Those five years were harsh and tough, but just imagining the expected reactions of a particular villain every time she puts up his claimed territories in a fire, she couldn't help but put on a wicked smile on her face.
She herself didn't want to kill the king in a flash. No, that would be too merciful. She must kill him slowly. Killing him meant destroying what he claimed to be his. Furthermore, killing him first wouldn't kill the other Phantom too. Killing just the boss wouldn't solve the other problems that he had caused during the time of his reign.
After a few moments of lying on her bed, Umi heard the cloth that was covering the entrance of her tent open slowly. Umi put back the emblem to the table on the side of the bed and got up slowly, ready to greet the arrival of someone she knew whose footsteps belong to.
"Reyr, do you have the report of the village on the South we just saved?" Umi spoke.
Reyr then walked forward to the blinds and positioned himself just before it. "Yes. The mission was successful. The people have already settled down. The King is now alerted of the start of our attacks in the South."
Umi was pleased to hear that. "Very well, you should go back now. We can't have you missing in the fortress for too long."
Reyr nodded and asked after a few moments of deliberation. "Don't you want to know how they are doing right now?"
Umi was then reminded of the people she had missed. Zevlin, Cage, Rosalyn *cough*, and the few others she had made friends with during her time there. She then shook her head to erase the depressing thoughts that were about to approach. "You should go, Reyr."
Reyr can only nod and waited for the woman to use her magic to transport him to the gates that lead to the fortress. Unlike anyone who has to come with the person to transport them, Umi was powerful enough to transport them without the need to.
When Reyr opened his eyes once again, he was already facing the gates to the place he had lived most of his life. He then walked towards the black castle ahead to fetch someone before going to the meeting with the others.
After walking a few long and winding hallways, he arrived at a room that didn't have its owner for five years already but was still being used by someone.
Reyr then saw someone who was once a boy that he had trained a few years ago, now grew up to be a righteous man with dignity and status.
Cage, who has just finished brewing a potion that Fae liked to concoct before, put away the mess in a hurry and turned to the general whom he had already considered as an older brother.
"You're here already?" Cage asked as soon as he rid the traces of his failed concoction.
"Yes. We should go now, general," Reyr smiled knowingly and put his arm around the younger boy's shoulder. "You shouldn't be late to your first meeting as a general."
Cage chuckled. What was once a young boy has now turned into a fine man. His voice was deeper and his muscles are now toned. "Fae would be proud of me, right?"
Reyr smiled at the boy. "Yes, she would."
Cage has long accepted the girl's death. The grief was overwhelming but soon he realized that Fae must didn't want him to be a wreck because of her. So, when he finally overcame his anguish, he got back up, built himself up, trained further, and even became a general.
Cage just wanted for Fae to become happy. If she is watching him, he would want her to smile all the while.
If Fae was to really come back, he will be happy to be a brother to her again, even if she didn't want him as a lover. Being a brother is also a privilege, and being loved as one is an honor he would snatch at any second.
When the two have arrived at the meeting place, Cage immediately saw the back of a man who, unlike him, never accepted the girl's death. He then felt that this man was indeed incredible in all aspects. Cage even thought that if the girl's body was to be retrieved, he would still marry her stubbornly and without question.
Obsidian, within the five years after the tower burned, didn't really fall into ruin. Instead, it grew stronger and housed many people who had escaped from the fires. The fortress has become a safe place for everyone and the Mad King didn't even touch this place for he was busy enough dealing with another enemy who just showed suddenly from who knows where.
Cage thought that this meeting will be a breeze through since this is his first one, but that didn't happen for one girl suddenly choked.
"It was my fault," Rosalyn sobbed. "Please, kill me."
Since Fae and her mother were assumed to be burned along that tower, after being miserable for five years already, Rosalyn couldn't take the guilt anymore and reluctantly confessed to the others about how she was already receiving several death threats from the Mad King himself even before Fae went inside that tower as her substitute.
"I thought it was for the best." The girl, who has now grown up to be a teenager, grabbed the sides of her skirt as she faced the other generals. She then bit her lip until she tasted a bit of her blood. "I thought that Fae's death is fine, as long as it's not mine."
Her conscience has long been subdued with guilt and she seems to have aged more than she was supposed to.
She didn't expect that after that tower burned, it felt like hell has descended to the continent. Since their death, fire can already be seen everywhere and news of several towns and villages being burned isn't uncommon anymore.
Rosalyn felt that her reckless actions led to something worse. Even if their death isn't necessarily connected to the wicked villainess who is causing the fires over a period of five years already, but her conscience strangely insists that this destruction is brought upon by her evil deed. This might be her karma for causing the death of her mother and a friend, indirect or not.
It was Rosalyn's fault in the beginning. How she didn't tell Fae, how she didn't warn her about the threats written on those books and gifts she received from the Mad King's palace, how she could have saved them if she told the truth, she regretted all of them.
The other generals gasped. For years, it was the first time that the girl spoke of this matter. This sudden confession shocked their system and they soon fell into a deep silence as they can't do anything about it anymore.
But Rosalyn naively thought that if she was to confess nicely, she wouldn't be at least killed.
She thought wrong.
One man in particular wasn't clearly pleased about the confession. In fact, as soon as the girl closed her mouth, Zevlin summoned his golden sword and pointed it to the girl's neck without a hint of hesitation in his end.
His arms were already shaking due to unexplainable fury and the sword pointed at the girl's neck also shook, making it more hazardous and risky for it could slice her skin if he wasn't able to control himself anymore.
With a booming loud voice, Zevlin yelled, "Get out—"
Rosalyn couldn't help but tremble in her position.
"Get out of my sight before I slice your head off!"
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⚘ A/N ⚘
Here's a long chapter in exchange for my absence yesterday. Hihi. ☺
I hope it didn't bore you out.
Also, I have already the plot for the next arc in mind.
The genre? A horror turned into a comedy. 😂
Don't forget to vote and comment! Follow this humble author too to get faster updates! Yes, I just advertised myself.
Thank you, everyone!
You guys are awesome!
Lovingly,
-ACLIXAM
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Dear Readers,
This author loves you.
Yours truly,
ACLIXAM
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