His exhausted footsteps approached the secluded white gazebo. Tired and annoyed he sought a place to rest. It was his second time on the palace grounds. This time he came of his own accord but was no less anxious. He rounded the corner and was met with an unsuspecting stare. Her pale, delicate frame draped gently over the bench. Everything about her screamed royalty but there was something in her eyes that told him that despite her petite stature, he should refrain from provoking her.
She looked as though she was sizing him up, deciding whether or not she cared to treat him suspiciously. "Who are you?"
The second she opened her mouth and that commanding yet somehow innocent tone escaped her lips, he knew exactly who she was.
"...who am I? Who are you?" He countered.
She leaned on the armrest of the bench, propping herself up with her elbow.
"I asked you first."
He frowned at her childish retort. "Well, I asked you second."
Silenced washed over them. Both staring blankly at each other in an awkward air of uncertain humour. Tobi sighed. "You....you're the Queen's daughter aren't you?"
She smiled. "Hmm? What gave you that idea?" She asked coyly as she rolled off the bench.
"You're just like her. I'm Tobi I-"
"Mr.Spy! She mentioned you in her letter."
Tobi sighed. "O-Oh? W-well I just came back because I have uh...things to tell her."
Astrid hopped off the bench. "Yeah? Well, then I'll take you to her. You came on a good day. We're having a big festival for my brothers since it's their birthdays!"
Astrid grasped Tobi's wrist and began to drag him out towards the crowd gathered further away.
"Wait...Wait a second!"
Astrid continued to skip forward, ignoring Tobi's pleas. Despite how demure she looked, she had quite the grip. She only stop when the distinct rustle of leaves caught her attention. Both Tobi and Astrid remained silent. Tobi's hands hovered over his guns as the rustling got louder. Before they knew it a dark, mist began to emit from the surrounding shrubbery and blue, vein like marking began to appear in the pond just in front of it. Astrid's first instinct was to get her mother but when she turned to run, the mist seemed to move with her and promptly blocked her path. It had grazed her arm ever so slightly, earning a pained gasp from the girl as part of the hand that it touched, force over with ice.
"Hey! You can fly yeah? Hurry up and get us out of here!" Tobi said with an increasingly alarming undertone.
Astrid looked back at him, slightly embarrassed. "Right, about that...I can't fly...my brothers are the dragons. I took after my dad. I'm a water nymph."
"...so we're trapped?"
"...basically."
The two stared at each other for quite some time. Letting the severity of the situation sink in. Astrid was the first to break the silence. "Hey, why don't you just start shooting randomly. I'm pretty sure we'll hit something eventually." She suggested.
It was a stupid idea but without any other plan, he decided to go with it. Besides, if something really was hiding in the bushes, perhaps they would get scared and run out. He pulled out his gun and began shooting around the pond but to no avail. Eventually, he let a bullet fly in the direction in which the rustling originally came from. It seemed to have hit something because the darkness stopped seeping out and an eerie silence replaced the blaring gunfire.
"Did we get it?" Tobi questioned.
"Maybe?"
They stepped closer to the bushes behind the pond and waited. For anything, a sound, movement, some kind of confirmation that they had indeed hit something. They got more than they bargained for when the darkness abruptly spread across the area at an alarming rate, opening a portal. A strange sensation filled them. Like they were falling but yet they were still standing upright. It took them a moment to realize that they really were falling as they began to fall into the void beneath their feet and before they knew it they were plummeting into the darkness.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Illya abruptly stood up, her face pale and her head pounding.
"Illya? What's wrong? Tekina asked worriedly.
She wobbled, her unsteady feet doing little to keep her standing. Sora got out of his seat and held her up. "Do you need to go inside? Maybe get out of the heat? I know you've gotten better over the years but your body is still quite weak."
Illya shook her head, the incessant aching of her head dulling at the sound of her husband's voice. "No I...where's Astrid?"
"I saw her head further into the gardens earlier," said Sora.
"Well she's not there anymore," said Illya breathlessly. It seemed as though Illya's prophesied darkness had come sooner than expected and now they really were in a rush against time.
"What!" Sora signaled for his aids. "Head to the west end of the garden! The Princess is missing! Search the area and find her!"
Sin was having a casual chat with some court ladies when he spotted his parent's distressed expressions. He excused himself and sped over to them with much haste."What's going on?"
"Illya says that the Princess went missing," Kaito explained.
Sin, although worried, waited for his mother to say something. For a while, there was no response. That was until her legs gave buckled beneath her and she took a tumble. Tekina and Sora quickly got a hold of her and gently set her down on her chair. Tekina went to ask if she was alright but stopped when she noticed Illya's eyes had started to glow with shades of violet and gold.
Illya saw nothing but darkness. It felt like she was drowning. In the midst of trying to find even a sliver of light, she heard the distant call of her daughter. She began following the voice and it eventually lead her to a whirlpool of dark energy, no doubt from Henaer's void. In the center were Astrid and Tobi, struggling to stay above the waves of darkness that bared down on them. Illya tried to reach out to them but within seconds her irises lost their glow and their colour returned to normal. Tekina and the others watched Illya pull herself out of her trance.
"The void..." She mumbled. "They're in the void of space...Henaer's."
Sin frowned. He knew he was unable to do anything as the only person able to enter the void and survive would be his mother. Tekina and Kaito glanced at each other.
"Who...is Henaer exactly? I mean I've read a few books about her but there aren't very many and the way you speak of her makes it seem like...do you know her?" Tekina asked.
There was a long silence. "She's my aunt."Illya waved over Seibel. "Summon Erebus at once. We need to get moving."
"What are you planning to do?" Asked Kaito.
"Erebus was my teacher when I was trying to master the power of my mother's void of time. He's the gatekeeper to a small part of Henaer's void. I need him to help open the entrance if I am to retrieve Astrid and Tobi."
Illya placed a hand on Sin's shoulder. "Go and chat with the guests. We wouldn't want to raise any panic. I know you're worried but try to stay calm."
Sin nodded reluctantly and returned to the guests. Illya grabbed the wine out of Tekina's hand and drank it all in one gulp. "Everyone else. follow me...and bring some more wine."
Tekina glanced at the bottle on the table and grabbed a few. She could use a good drink and it looked like Illya did too.