Diane's POV
The so called 'adventure' started so early in the morning. I'm not joking, King actually woke me up before sunrise. In Earthly time, he woke me up around 5:00 AM. Breakfast is not on today's agenda yet. We started walking towards a hidden path covered by large branches. Was it weird that Purgatory was both spooky yet beautiful at the same time? We passed through underground watery caves, mountain trails, and grassy fields until my stomach started to grumble.
"Can we have breakfast now?" I complained.
"I suppose. This rocky mountain trail looks like a safe place to hide." King kept walking forward. Looking around, I don't think there's any berries or shrubs growing around these rocky terrain.
"Diane! Hurry up!" King yelled at the top. I quickly climbed after him. He led me inside a small cave where steam was emitting from.
"Are you luring me to an oven because a steaming cave is not a good sign." I stated the obvious.
"Trust me on this." he went inside first, I followed him afterwards. The inside was lit by the holes and cracks on the walls. We reached the end of the cave where a small steaming puddle is located. Breakfast is served." he took a stick laying around the floor and started poking the puddle.
"I'm sorry but...what exactly are you doing?"
"Getting breakfast.."
"By stirring the puddle?" I gave him a pointed look.
"This part of the Fairy King forest is known for it's steaming clams. The heat emitting from the water is coming from the magma pool located near this rocky mountain trail." he gave me a lecture.
"So you're saying that we're staying near an active volcano???" Is he crazy?
"Such a destructive force of nature does not exist in purgatory. Think of the lava as regular flowing water. It is dormant and harmless unless you actually touch it." Wow, Purgatory sure sounds something like out of a fantasy game.
Something snapped against the tip of the stick. King pulled out a giant clam. "These are what we call Magma Clams. They live in the most hottest bodies of water in the Forest. Yes, in puddles too."
"So..if that's breakfast. How do we kill it?"
"It's already dead the moment it opened its mouth. The boiling point of the water pouched it's internal organs." King handed me the now warm clam.
"Purgatory is such a weird yet interesting place." I admitted. The clam's organs tasted delicious. It was boiled to perfection.
"There's a lot of things to love here. What is unusual to you...is normal for me." King kept on poking around the puddle. We ate around 20 clams. I moaned at the yummy flavor.
When I opened my eyes, King was sitting in front of me. He extended his hand signalling that he wanted me to open my mouth which I did. I sat there munching on the food he fed me. King smiled as he and I didn't let go of our staring contest. A blush formed on my face. "uh..t..thank you..." I aid after swallowing. That was unexpected.
"You're welcome. Let's hurry. We are about to cross the next arch."
"The next arch?" If I remember correctly, Helbram and I passed through an arch as well when I got here. The arch transported us elsewhere in the forest.
*****
Later...
We arrived at the rocky arch. The otherside looked the same as the rest of it's surroundings. I wonder whathappens when we cross this arch?
"We picked a bad time to bewearing such little clothing." says King. He started walkingforward. "C'mon!" I followed. As I stepped on the otherside of the arch, the topography changed. My body automaticallyreacted to the freezing cold.
"How did we get in the winterwonderland scene?!" I yelled out to King who was casuallystanding. Like the cold never bothered him anyways. My arms and legsare shivering from the coldness. Sitting down and hugging myself wasmy only option to keep warm. So this is what he meant by bad timingon clothing.
As I freeze to there here, I feltsomething warm and soft cover me. I looked to see King wrapping hiscloak around my body. His face was so close to mine.
"I'msorry. I didn't think this through. Wear that, it will keep you warmuntil we reach the next arch." he said while tightening thestrap on my neck line. I blushed at this closeness.
"W..w...whatabout you? Aren't you gonna get cold?" I looked at his attire.He basically has dark jeans and a sleveless turtle neck top.
"Noneed to worry about me, Diane. I've walked these parts before. You'llget use to the cold." he helped me stand up.
King didn't feel like walking anymoreso he floated above the snowy ground. "Give me your hand. I'llguide you through this mini blizzard." he said.
"O..Okay..."I was nervous as I extended my hand. My plan was just to loosen thegrip a bit because my nervousness will make my hand sweat even underthis cold but King had other plans. He intertwined our hands andgripped it tight.
"No matter what happens, I'm not lettinggo. Okay?" his words made me blush even more. Good thing thesnow is hiding my face. As cliche as it sounds, his words made myheart melt. I feel like fangirling at his sweetness.
I walked to the direction of where Kingwas pulling me to. I wasn't focused on the road, I was more focusedon King. Is there a law about crushing over a guy you just met? Ifso, then I should be arrested. Why am I suddenly being woed by thisstranger's actions? I wonder if I'm that cheap to like a guy all of asudden. I bet King doesn't feel the same way. He is taking good careof me because I'm the Queen. I'm the only one who can save Purgatoryfrom Gloxinia's reign. He is making sure that I'm not hurt. That'show a loyal servant would do for their Royals right? He needs me andI have to be in best shape to get this mission done. That'sright.....I'm just......a Catalyst. Nothing more. Once this is allover, I can get my wings and go home.
A frown formed on my lips as I thoughtof this painful truth. I looked at King's view from the back. Helooked serious and determined to get this done. I wonder if therewas a time that he didn't worry on his problem for once and justrelax. The blizzard had died down. Right now, it was just a regularsnow day. "So..King..."
"Yeah?" he didn't turnto me. I had to get closer so I picked up my pace till we werewalking in the same level.
"What's your sister like?" Hewas startled a bit then his expression changed to a smile.
"My sister's name isElaine...and she is the best sibling I could ever ask for. Elainealways had my back. I may be the eldest but it feels as though she'sthe one ruling because of her position. Even when she's busy, shealways finds time for me. I'm the one who adjusts to her schedule bystaying at her post everyday." I smiled seeing him blush as hetalked about his sister.
"You must really miss her huh?"
"Ido...very much. It's been so long. I'm scared that she might notremember me or........." he bit his bottom lip. "or........lostfaith that I would save her." King stopped moving. He floatedstill on his spot somehow remembered the past. I looked down to seehis hand trembling within my hold.
"Hey..." he looked atme.
"We're gonna get through this. We're gonna save yoursister and the whole fairy forest no matter what." looks likethat cheered him up.
"Spoken like a true Queen." Ipouted. "I know...I know....you don't want to be calledthat."
"Actually...this will be the only time that I'llconsider you calling me that." I gave him a wink. He snickered.That's a sign that he was done mourning.
"What about you?"
"Hmmm?"
"What about your siblings?"it was like his Sad Illness transferred to me in just minutes. I didn'tlet the past drag me down.
"I don't have any. Not anymore."My mouth formed into a straight line. I felt indifferent with mybackstory.
"You don't have to tell me if it's that bad."
"compared to your backstory ofa curse, a locked up sibling, a rebel with a criminal record and abounty on your head, mine is nothing like the pain you're enduring."It's not a big deal. "I'm okay telling you. Nothing out of theordinary. I was an orphan. My dream got crushed when the perfectfamily I envisioned didn't happen. I got adopted by parents who onlyadopted me to be their housekeeper. Their children were the worst. Mystep-siblings bullied me at school and made sure my life at home wasalso hell. I was a cry baby once but after a neighbor reported howthey abused me, That family got what they deserve. I'm nottraumatized by it if that's what you're thinking." I finished.
"I'm more concerned at the way yousaid it without any emotion." King frowned. "Are you hidingthe pain?" My pride triggered a bit from that statement but Imanaged to shift the answer.
"I admit, It was hard to getover at first but after I came of age and decided to be independent,living alone in my teenage years made me feel free." I hope hegets the idea to drop the subject.
"Is it the reason why you joinedthis so called 'Sorority' in the first place?" He didn't dropthe subject. King pushed forward the matter. "Did you join justto feel like you need to belong somewhere?" I bit my lip. I'mnot gonna cry no matter how right he was. Yes I'm covering the painof not belonging anywhere. I want to feel like I belonged even if itmeant going to extreme measures. I'm that desperate. It'spathetic.
"You're like a closed book. The cover says it allbut I don't judge by the cover."
Obviously my pride was much bigger. Ilet go from his hold and walked away "So, where to next...."
"NoDiane...." I didn't let him finish. This conversation is over.How did this turn into a heart-to-heart moment?
Normal POV
Diane blocked out King's calls. Shedidn't listen to his warnings. Suddenly, the ground rumbled fromwhere she walked on. The snow fell along with her. "Agh!!!!" Diane had just walked straight to a cliff hidden under piles ofsnow. She plummitted down the dark trench. The mission hasn't evenstarted yet she's already falling into her doom.
She thought it was all over butsomething caught her in mid-air. "There was a reason why Istopped moving forward...." King had caught her. He carried herbridal style as he floated up to the other side of the cliff and satdown on the snowy pathway. Diane's heart was still beating from theadrenaline. On instinct, she hugged King real tight. "It'sokay....it's okay....I'm here. You're safe now." His words hadlittle effect as Diane was struggling to keep her heartbeat steady.
"K..K...King...." Dianestarted tearing up. The tears slid down from her eyes. He finallywitnessed her cry. This was not supposed to happen.
"You're okay. Don't cry anymore."Diane didn't stop crying. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault that thishappened. I pushed you too much to answer. I understand why you wouldwalk away. It's my fault why you fell." He rocked her body backand forth while rubbing her circles on her back. Diane was startingto calm down. King sat patiently waiting for her to recover from thenear death experience. Diane gripped her hands tightly on King's top.Feeling something solid in her grasp helped her calm down.
After 10 minutes of comfortablesilence, Diane had fully recovered from the shock but she didn't letgo of King just yet. His closeness was enjoyable to have.
"Areyou feeling alright now?" Diane nodded. "Would you like meto carry you to the next arch or... are you okay with walking on yourown?" King was trying not to upset her again. Diane inhaled andexhaled.
"I..I think I can walk...." King let her go.Diane stood up but it felt like her legs had turned to gelatin. Itached from both the cold and the shock. "I can dothis...just keep....your balance.." she said to herself.
Ahand was extended in front of her. "If you don't mind, I'd liketo hold your hand again." that earned an early blush from her.She hesitated for a moment. "It's not that I don't trust whereyou're walking on, I just want to make sure that you're not gonna gethurt. I don't want to repeat what just happened."
Diane gavea weak smile. "Only..If you drop the topic okay?"
"Ipromise." King didn't float. This time, he rejoined in walkingwith her on the ground.
It was like their previous argumentnever happened. Diane was still upset but seeing King this sincere,she can't hold on to her anger for long. The two looked like aregular couple holding hands. There goes Diane's daydream again. Ifthis wasn't a very important mission, she would be happy to just playa snowball fight , form snow angels, and build a snowmen with King.
*****
Later...
The two had just emerged from thesecond arch. Diane was expecting a wasteland. To her surprise, thenext topography effect was a combination of both a wasteland a afully grown forest.
"I've never seen black and green go sowell together." The terrain looked like a wildfire had justhappened recently but the forest was full of life that it triedcovering the black scorch marks and wilted trees.
"The damageyou see are made by Gloxinia. Like I said before, he used theprevious Fairy Queens' blood to force their way in. The burns arefrom his magic mixed with the blood. Diane, your blood is the onlything powerful enough to burn through these thick trees." Inever knew how destructive I was.
"Do you see that?" Kingpointed at the end of the field. It looked like a hill but it wasround and giant trees were sprouting everywhere.
"Isthat..."
"Yes...the Fountain Of Youth and Elaine arehidden deep within it's core." Upon close inspection, it looksas though there wasn't a way in.
"Has Gloxinia found a way inyet?"
"Maybe...maybe not. Through my years of sneakingoff from duty, I would know the ins and outs of this sea offorests. I come here almost everyday but stop dead in my tracksknowing that I can't pass through without you by my side." Itsounded romantic to hear but Diane snapped out of it and focused onthe problem at hand.
"So..where's the short cut? You can'tfloat up or else someone might see us. So I'm assuming it'sunderground?"
"Your hypothesis is correct. We need tokeep a low profile." King lead me to a tight squeeze of bouldersstacked closely against each other. "This is an opticalillusion."
"How so?" King demonstrated by walkingthrough the side of a boulder.
"Amazing...." King cameout moments later.
"The shadows of the first boulders hidethe shadow of the third boulder thus blending the color of theentrance with the shadow's color." Magic sure was mysterious.
The interior of the tunnel was lit byhundreds of luminous crystals. King was first to go in. He extendedhis hand again to show Diane that everything will be alright.Dianeintertwined with his hands yet again. The two continued to walk downthe underground path.
"By the way, I forgot to ask..."Diane rubbed her chin.
"What is it?"
"If you're a fairy too........Whydon't you have wings?" That question crossed Diane's mind justnow.
"Just like you, I'd like it if you drop the topic too."he rushed that part. His pace in walking was getting a little fast.
"King.......................Itrust you." She said all of a sudden. King was silent when shesaid it but looked Diane direct in the eye.
"Thank you."he said.
Diane noticed how he was acting. Shepictured herself in King's position right now. The way this scenarioplayed out in the last arch. She didn't want to pester him with herprying. It sounds unfair that she can't know but it was better tostay out of troubled conversations for now. She'll ask him againlater after they save Elaine. This is a rescue mission after all andgetting her wings was her top priority.