*Chapter Twenty-Four*
The fireflies flitted around, and a pale white glow emanated from the tree.
You came...
My eyes grew wide at the voice that echoed in my mind.
Young one, you have the aura of the Nixeria and Phoebe. Where is the other candidate?
I didn't need to ask to know that it was referring to Neraine.
“I'm afraid she has sided with the other side.”
There was a long silence as if it were deep in thought.
Neraine has come to me -
“Neraine! She found a way here?!”
She did, it started it a disapproving tone at the fact that I just interrupted it. Her soul was already contaminated with hatred and envy when she came to me. I have explained what I should to her. I'm afraid she has made the wrong choice although it was predicted. The two candidates were similar yet opposite. If one were to fight against something, it's only logical that the other would end up somehow fighting for it. The pieces in the most ancient and powerful prophecy are almost ready. All it needs is the final piece to make this prophecy come true. This dimension along with all the other shall soon experience a terror that has never been seen before. Once the Black Phoenix is revived, there will be no redemption.
“This final piece,” my voice was surprisingly steady compared to what I felt, “what is it?”
“A mate.”
It clicked.
The reason why 'Master' made Lake bond with me. 'Master' was trying to initiate this prophecy by a forced mate. Since he couldn't get me...
A forced mate? That's against nature! The voice bellowed in my head. I didn't even notice that I had slipped it out. It is not impossible, but it is dark magic. A magic long forgotten years ago at the amount of sacrifices one needs not to mention special conditions like a full moon.
“Neraine! She will be forced to be bonded!”
Relax -
“How can I relax when next full moon is in two days?!”
No, young one, not any full moon. It has to be a Red Night.
My breath hitched. I had totally forgotten about Red Night. Red Night was like a full moon, except that the moon turns red due to some unknown reason. Red moons was acknowledged to be a bad omen in Holsina since there has always been cases of mass death in Holsina ever since ancient time. It usually only occurs around once a few years, however, the last red moon was sighted only a few weeks ago!
If you noticed, there have been some aberrant changes happening in the last few months. It's all goes back to the prophecy. I'm afraid that there is no going back now that everything has been set in motion.
“You're saying if I don't stop 'Master' all would be the end?”
Yes, I have done my job by explaining the prophecy to both of you. All that is left is for you to use your power to stop the revival of the Black Phoenix.
“I'm sorry to say this, but my power is nothing against 'Master',” I shuddered at the memory of the powerful aura 'Master' emitted when we first met.
You are not the Chosen yet, for the Chosen has power equal to the Black Phoenix.
My eyes widened. I have totally forgot about the fact that there is a chance that I might not be the Chosen.
It is true that there is another person who could be the Chosen. It's also clear in the prophecy that one of you is destined to die. What you must remember is that everything is already set by fate itself, do not dwell on matters that you cannot change too much.
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
Preparing you for the possibility that you turn out to be the Chosen one.
“I'm confused?”
That's all I can tell you. All I can do now is to wish you luck. Farewell.
“Wait, I - !”
Too late, the glow from the tree disappeared. I yelled for some more, but there was no reply. There were so many questions I wanted to ask! I yelled for some more, but there were no answers. Disappointed, I had no choice but to follow the fireflies since they'll lead me back to where I was before.
“What happened?” Ray asked concerned.
“I'll tell you and the others everything once we get back to the castle.”
“Okay. I'll teleport us back.”
Without waiting for me to respond, he took a hold of my wrist, and a blinding light appeared.
~Aria's POV~
“They've been in Holsina almost as soon as all of you reached here.”
I can't believe it. How could I be so stupid? I should have used my brain. It wasn't hard to guess that Amethyst was the one Xavier was talking about.
Don't blame yourself. What's done is done.
I gave Zach a small nod. After all, he was right.
The room was quiet, the type you would be able to hear a pin drop.
“It's hard to believe - ” Ashling started, her arms crossed and leaning against Melody's desk.
It's the truth!
“Zach, calm down,” Melody soothed him.
Zach growled impatiently but didn't argue. He stretched, and his fur stood up. His sharp curved tail brushed against the ceiling. Melody sent him a warning look as if daring him to scratch her room. I felt his fur brush against my arm as he lay down on the carpet in the giant study. His form wasn't a problem since all the rooms, including the castle was simply gigantic.
“I've already contacted Heaven. Heaven is divided into many separate parts. So far, we've only got two race on our side,” Melody informed us. There was a low whistle from Ace at the mention of two race. “Angels may have a significant advantage; however, the amount of demons and members of the Black Phoenix would outnumber us more than one to ten. It would be suicidal.”
“We need some sort of tactic,” Ace suggested.
“Definitely,” Melody agreed. “From what you've told me, I would say that that 'Master' person would be pretty furious after finding out about what you've done to all the 'subjects'.”
“I've also messed up the information in the data base. It would take a while to figure it out, but it wouldn't end up pretty once it's found out.”
“I'm curious,” Ace prompted, “what kind of experiments do they conduct?”
“It's a kind of fusion of demons with another being,” I explained in the simplest form as I can. “To enhance the abilities. It may temporarily increase their strength to a scary level, but once the fused part starts to reject to the unknown species body, death is inevitable. It won't be a slow death.”
The expressions in the room varied from horror to shock and to disgust.
“You never told us how you broke the blood oath,” Melody asked in a gentle voice.
Here we go.
“I lied,” I took a deep breath and could feel Zach turning his yellow eyes on me. This was the only thing I hid from him since the promise I made surpassed the power of a bond between mates. “I've known Ray for a while. He helped me from escaping the oath by creating a perfect duplicate of me using ice on the condition that I will not tell anyone about this and that I will help Amy as much as I can.”
I saw Melody, Ace, and Ashling exchange an alarmed look. Before we could say anything, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Melody called out.
A guard dressed in impeccable black and white uniform of the Royal Guards came in and bowed respectfully.
“Princess Amethyst and Rayden was spotted by the castle a while ago.”
What?!
“Wait!” I called out.
Without waiting for a response, Zach dashed past the guard in a blur of black. The rest of us followed soon after, eager to see how Amy was.
~Amy's POV~
There was a piercing alarm. I stood up straight. A guard rushed down from one of the watch tower. He bowed respectfully in front of me.
“Princess!” a guard yelled from one of the watch towers. “Are you hurt?” the guard asked concerned.
I looked down at my white shirt that reached my thigh and my denim shorts, both were covered in blood and dirt. My right arm was caked in dried blood that I had been too busy to notice, and now that I took in my appearance, I have to admit that I looked pretty bad. The guard sent Rayden a concerned look as well, and my gaze traveled to Rayden.
There was a humongous large blood stain on his shirt where he got the wound. Apart from that a few other blood stains, he looked fine.
“We're fine,” I assured the guard.
The guard nodded.
“I will inform Her Highness of Rayden and your presence.”
I nodded at him, and he sped off after a slight bow.
“We look pretty scary, huh?”
The blood had dried so thankfully, the scent of Ray's blood on me was hard to identify. I'm pretty sure than Aria and the others had already arrived here so most likely, Melody already knows everything. That would save us a lot of time to explain everything.
I quickly picked up Zach's scent in the air, and my head snapped to the direction. Fast as a blur, a black figure pounded on me and pushed me to the floor.
“Oh my god, Zach! You're,” I was laughing too hard to continue, “tickling me!”
The licking stopped, and he pulled back to look at me. His black fur was long and sleek. My eyes widened. The last time I had seen him, I didn't have the chance to take in everything. He had the head and body of a wolf while he also had a long catlike tail. He grinned, showing me pearly white teeth and a sharp canine. His yellow pupil twinkled mischievously.
“Aw,” I scratched it behind its long rabbit-like ears, “does doggy want some tasty bones?”
Zach snapped his teeth inches away from my face, and I burst out laughing. My laughter was cut short when I felt a wet, cold feeling going from my neck to my cheek.
“Zach, that was gross!” I wiped my neck and cheek using the back of my hand, and gave him a disgusted face at the saliva that dripped down my hand.
Payback.
I glared at him with mock anger, and his whole frame shook. It took me a second to realize that he was laughing.
“I'm glad to know that you're not hurt,” Melody paused, “much.”
I smiled sheepishly when I realized all pairs of eyes apart from Rayden's rake me up and down to take in the amount of blood I was covered in.
“Rayden and Amy,” Melody lowered her voice to a perfect imitation of parents warning that their child is in big trouble, “you have plenty of explanation to do.”
The heels of my converse tapped against the marble floor as I descended down the pristine staircase. Who knew a nice, hot shower would be so heavenly? Memories came flooding back. I looked around the castle in awe as I took in every inch of the castle. It was even more majestic and breathe-taking than I remembered. Minutes passed before I found myself standing outside the dining room where Melody asked everyone to gather. With a slight push, the door swung open in a graceful arc.
Melody went to the head of an old oak table. Ace and Ashling both went to the right while Rhia and Aria went to her left. Zach walked over to a spot right by the giant glass of window. He lay down lazily with the sunlight shining on his glossy black fur with his eyes snapped shut. A servant pulled out a chair, and I slipped in with ease. Another servant brought in a bottle of what appeared to be wine, but I knew better. The red liquid swished in the spot-less glass before settling down. With a wave of her hand, the servants all disappeared in less than a second.
“So,” Melody began, straight to the point, “tell me what happened right after you left for my assignment.”
I was the one who started recalling the events with Rayden filling me in with occasional details that I missed. I told her everything except the fact that Ray is an Arcane and my reaction to everything. By the time were done, the sun was almost setting.
Melody nodded thoughtfully and took a small sip of the red liquid.
“The appearance you have right now is your appearance before you were sent to the Living World. Everything makes sense except the gap in your memory and the voice you hear.”
“About the voice,” Rayden spoke up, “I have a theory. Amy's power has been suppressed for a long time. It's not uncommon for something that is sealed to possess a conscious of its own through time.”
“The seal is done by none other than the strongest runar ever known to specialize in seal. Even someone who doesn't know much about seals knows that in order to maintain a strong seal, energy is needed, usually supplied by the caster. Since Amber has deceased, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she used someone who's close to Amy to sustain the seal.”
“I didn't - ”
“No, you knew,” Melody cut him off. “Rayden, I'm old enough to not be deceived by such a poorly made up lie.”
“You have my applause for figuring that out, Your Highness,” Rayden replied calmly. “However, your assumption is flawed. In order to sustain a seal, the person supplying the energy must be a lot more powerful than the person who bears the seal. You know the amount of power Amy possesses. What makes you think that an average runar as myself would be able to supply energy to someone like her?”
“Very well, Rayden,” Melody sat back in her chair and looked challengingly at Rayden who didn't even flinch. “You should be aware than Amber sacrificed part of her life by casting that seal - ”
“Mother what?!” I burst out.
Melody raised her hand to stop myself from saying more.
“Rayden, you should know that,” Melody prompted when rayden didn't reply. “Weren't you right there with Melody when she sealed Amy?”
There was a suffocating silence in the room; it seems that for a split second, no one neither breathed nor moved a muscle.
“Rayden, I know you're no ordinary runar. At the same time, you seem like a runar as well. I'm curious,” Melody narrowed her eyes, “what are you?”