After crossing the barrier, they were now back on the vast land of the burning desert. Lily was now leading them towards the ‘only’ cactus in the entire desert. After a long, tiring walk with frequent quenching of thirsts, they reached it. Lily and Jack did what they did before. When the stone Hourglass came out and the sand was drained, Lily touched the glass which once again turned to dust and now she was ready to place it back in the box.
At last she could get rid of what changed her life forever. It was like a great burden was taken away from her shoulder. She felt free. While placing the pen in the box, she whispered to it, “Goodbye, you little disaster.” and she kept it there, successfully. There was no repulsion this time and no worries. And they reversed the mechanism.
“At last, it's all done.” Lily said with a heavy sigh.
“Indeed. I feel quite happy that I was of some help to you all, to be a part of this crazy insane journey.” Ahens said.
“Well, we still have a part of this journey left.” said Accalia. “To Home.”
“Well before we move, I've got a question.” Lily said.
“Ask away.”
“Can the Verum be used again?”
“No. All five turns are over.”
“So, it is technically.... Useless now?”
“Why, kind of. But it is an artefact. Though it was never used until now, it was just being a ‛museum piece’ for two thousand nine hundred and ninety-four years.”
“Wow, that's a big number.” Jack commented.
Accalia chuckled, “That is, which means these artefacts are here from 975 B.C.”
“Now that's spell-bounding!” Lily exclaimed. “Can't imagine this place being that old.”
“There's a lot of time to admire this place, but for now we need to go home.” said Accalia. “There is a surprise waiting for you both.” She winked with a smile and they disapparated to the beginning of their journey.
“Lily? Want to do the honours for the last time?” Accalia asked.
“Sure.” Lily said. “Better to end this together.” She looked at Jack who nodded back and they casted the defensive shield. And with a glow of light, they stepped back to the outskirt of Waldora.
Looking at the vast landscape, both Lily and Jack felt like they were back home. Lily exhaled heavily when she heard someone call Accalia’s name. Looking at that way, they Matilda running towards them. They all speedily walked towards her.
“Matilda. It is nice to see again.” said Lily.
“Oh, Lily! Good to see you alive.” Matilda exclaimed. “So everything went as planned it seems. What about Impraedo?”
Lily’s face fell and Accalia noticed that. She said, “We have a lot to tell you. And this is evidently not the place and time.”
“Indeed. Yes. Let’s get going. You all must be too tired to stand.” They started walking towards the palace. “Do you know you were gone for three days?”
“Three days?!” they both exclaimed.
“I didn’t even feel anything. No tiredness, no hunger.” Jack said.
“Me neither.”
“No one knows how time works in there. It is actually irrelevant and as the atmosphere remains same all the time, it is even harder to tell. Moreover, no one has ever spent this long span of time in the realms.” They walked and they reached the market place. It was morning time and people were busy with their works with fresh energy.
They entered the palace and parted with Ahens on the way. Now they were heading to… not to their room coz the were walking on the different floor.
“Where are we going exactly?” Jack asked.
“To the Living Hall.” Matilda answered and without further questioning they walked through the decorated corridors to a lavish, grand door where two guards resided who opened the gate for them. They entered into an opulent room with lavish, huge, white pillars. That room had every kind of royal luxury one can ever have.
They could hear indistinct chattering of people from the door. Entering further in with tiredness, when they were to sit on the couch, they became shell-shocked all of a sudden.
There, sat on a pair of couches, were Jack’s parents, Brandon and Beatrice as well as Lily’s mother, Luna. They too, were stunned to see them back. Luna, Brandon and Beatrice ran to them to give them a tight hug. Lily and Jack were still muddled about the situation yet pushing the thought aside they gave in the long, warm hug. How blissful moment that was! Accalia and Matilda smiled from the side, seeing them having a beautiful family moment.
Despite the happiness of the seeing their parents again, there still hovered a confusion as for how they were here and to erase it Accalia elaborated, “It does not seem like it but one day here is 33 hours in your world. You stayed here for two days and next afternoon you left for the realms. That’s when Matilda suggested with the idea to bring them in. and I totally approved it as they must be super worried about you both.”
“We actually were.” Beatrice said. “The first and the second day went very rough for us worrying about you two. We constantly phoned Ben.”
Remembering their excuse, Jack asked, “What did he say to you?”
“Oh, of course you made up lines of excuse.” Brandon spoke up. “After a point of time we sensed he was hiding something, but before we could further investigate, we were brought here and then everything became clear to us.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Sanders came to me to know the whereabouts of you, if I knew any.” Luna said looking at Lily. “I have phoned you like over a twenty time in all. In the end, finding no other way, we were ready to bring the cops in in this matter… when three black-cloaked men knocked on the door and-”
“-and told us that they knew where you were.” Beatrice finished her sentence. “And Your Highness herself came to pick us up.”
“Had to perform some magic. As calculation says, it was three and a half days for them without you. And even if they don’t get to see you instantly, if they at least understood the scenario they might worry less. And later that day, we had a… whole lot of descriptive conversation and now they know everything and… they seem to be loving it. and indeed we trust them with our little secret… this little kingdom.”
“It is very safe with us; I can assure you Your Highness. We won’t ever want the peace of this magnificent place to get destroyed.” said Brandon and the ladies agreed.
“It’s really good to see you all united once more.” Matilda cheered.
“Make yourselves at home. And there’s going to be a ceremony tonight at the Central Hall for a historic event of Waldora. You all are invited to it.” Accalia smiled and left them be. Lily excused herself and ran behind Accalia and called her out. Jack followed her. “You left me there with few questions.”
“Ask away.”
“Well… firstly, did you tell my mum about my powers?”
“No, none of yours. That’s for you to tell.”
Lily nodded seriously, “And secondly, what magic were you talking about? You said you had to-”
“Yes, about that. I casted a temporary spell on them, to make their aura, a magical one. Since Cassandra does not allow normal humans to access though it so I had to do it.”
“Even though it’s illegal.” said Matilda with a small smirk.
“What? Illegal?” Lily asked.
“Yes. The spell is illegal. The queen broke the law.” Accalia said.
“But it was for the good, isn’t it?” Matilda said and Accalia just shrugged.
“So, Matilda, please escort them to their room.” Accalia said and turned to Lily and Jack, “Get fresh and take rest, and… we will meet at dinner again.”
* * *
At four in the evening, Lily and Jack got out for a stroll with Matilda. The beautiful evening sky calms every mind underneath it and sauntering in the royal gardens was another heavenly beauty. Numerous unknown species of plants and trees, some useful, some not; some harmless, some not. Everything specifically detailed to them by the gardener.
When they walked out of the palace, they wandered through the streets reading their intricate architecture, the people and their nature. It was also noticed that the people were neither too rich nor too poor. It was ideal.
When they got to the crowded places, they noticed that people had a simple dress code of dark coloured robes where women wore a short veil and men wore grandiose hats. Seeing it, Lily asked, “Is there anything special today?”
“Not very special.” Matilda began gloomily. “But almost two centuries ago on this very day, Waldora fought a battle with an empire named Remyen, and many soldiers perished that day. It is a way to tribute our fallen soldiers. This was the ceremony Accalia was talking about.”
Lily and Jack simply nodded and they returned to the palace within the next half-an-hour. In the ceremony, at the Central Hall, it seemed like almost every person of Waldora was present, from Royal merchants to commoners. Wearing dark-coloured clothes, people stood scattered in every corner of the Hall.
Accalia clanged the glass to get everyone's attention and then they began, “So, we are gathered here, in this auspicious day, to pay a tribute to those heroes who held Waldora for us, who gave us a better life to lead, who are responsible of how we are now, in peace and without whom we would not have been Waldorans but Remyenites today.”
She gave a small but influential speech and then some other eminent people spoke about the matter and later Accalia led all the people towards the outskirts on the other end of Waldora where there lied a huge lake. Everyone paid their respects by floating lamps on the water. When they got back to the palace, Accalia invited them to dine with her.
It was dawn with a blink of an eye. Lily and Jack woke up late from all the tiredness they had before sleep. It was not long when they actually had to say goodbye to Waldora. But before they left the palace, Accalia had some small but special gifts ready for Lily and Jack.
After them having their breakfast, in the grand living hall, Accalia had them gathered and presented them with two identical lockets. A round, brass coin with a symbol of Waldora on it.
“A little gift from me.” said Accalia. They took it in their hands. “Now just give it a little tap. One of you.” Jack did and Accalia's hand glowed white. It was a similar coin with her and when she tapped it, a grey hologram of each other's faces projected in the air from their coins. “This will help keep us in touch. Whenever you feel like, just give it a tap.” They gave a huge smile and thanked her for the precious gift.
She excused herself with Lily to another corner, a far from the others and said, “This is for you, Lily.” She presented her with a ring. “This will help you with your emotions which in turn will help control your powers.”
Lily took it and said, “Thank you, Accalia.” and she gave a warm smile.
They got back to the crowd, “I hope you didn't mind that I snatched Lily for a moment.”
“Oh, absolutely not.” Luna said. And minutes later they had to depart from the palace and head to the outskirts. The glowing portal opened. Accalia spread her arms and Lily gave her a warm hug and then embraced Matilda too. Ahens was present too to bade them goodbye.
“I’ll genuinely miss this place and you all.” Lily expressed. And Jack definitely agreed with her.
Accalia quickly muttered, “Medies.” She casted a glittering spell on Brandon, Beatrice and Luna. Now everyone’s ready.
“Goodbye.” Lily and Jack said and with that they crossed the portal.
It was the same night time at Phoenix. The crystal water formed ripples due to the breeze. There was a crescent in the sky and had a soothing reflection on the lake water. The sound of the trees was calming and with that they walked back home.
That way their adventure and our story comes to an end, but what was still intact were the experience, the memories and… their POWERS.
* * * * *