"Ohh," Mia groaned, putting her palm to her forehead,"Oww," she winced, rubbing her throbbing temple.She sat up slowly and opened her eyes, her surroundings were a monotonous, hazy blur as she blinked to clear her eyes. Everything came into view as she looked around.
"What happened?," she mumbled, standing up and dusting herself.
"This place-" she observed her surroundings.
To her surprise, nothing had changed. The books were untouched, their pagers intact, the liquids stirred gently in their beakers and the quills quivered as a gently zephyr danced in. Nothing was disturbed.
"I must have had a relapse of the fever or something. Must have hallucinated," Mia rubbed a hand over her face,"the exit is not here, ought to get going".
She moved quickly, to get out of the creepy room, the only thing that changed was that the first part of the room seemed as if it had been through a dust storm, a thick coat of dust covered the ancient tomes and shelves and Mia's footsteps printed into the dust coating the floor as she hurried out of the room.
"The exit must be in the other room," Mia said, wondering that why Kira and Cathy hadn't bothered calling her when it way past ten minutes. A horrible thought struck her then.
"Did Kira and Cathy abandon me?," Mia asked no-one, her anxiety level rising." Nah, Cathy would do that but never Kira!" She reassured herself," what if Cathy did something to her?," Mia shuddered and slapped herself. "Stay positive!".
She thought of a reasonable explanation as she entered through the other door, already open. She found herself in a wide passage with clear flames lining the walls.
"Kira? Catty?", Mia cupped her hands around her lips and called out." Where are you?". She advanced through the passage when she saw something that made her dance with joy.
Big, bright, silver letters floated up in a corner of the wall. They spelled out:
Emergency Exit ----->
The arrow pointed her to go straight. "Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air and forgetting all about the whereabouts of her lost friends, ran forward happily.
After a few seconds, she came across a polished, door.
"The exit is here- Kira? Cathy?," Mia wondered,"Deceivers! Liars! Tricksters! They abandoned me..the..the-", Mia spat as rage enveloped her and she kicked the door." At least I'm free! I hope a guard caught them!".
As if Mia had accidentally summoned them, there was the heavy pounding of boots and burly guards came rushing straight for her.
"No, please!", panic choked me and she gulped as her heart pounded and her forehead throbbed.
The guards didn't listen to her but headed straight for her.
"Noo!", Mia closed her eyes and screamed as the guards rammed into her. She was still screaming when they left.
"What the-", Mia cried as she realized that the door behind her was open and the guards had vanished." Where'd they go?" Mia pondered, the only way they could've passed her was to go through her.
"Maybe I fell and did die on the stairs?".
The door swung shut, jolting Mia to her senses.
She took a deep breath -pushing Cathy and Kira and the vanishing guards to the back of her mind- tightened her palm on the knob and turned. The door opened slowly and Mia emerged from the dark palace, blinking in the soft sunlight and when she saw what lay before her, she had to blink multiple times before she could believe it.
What she expected to see was the same ransacked milieu, the same wrecked surroundings but instead what she saw was the exact opposite of ruined.
In front of her was a beautiful place. The sun shone softly upon the painted white roads and the marbleized footpaths gleamed. Translucent cube-shaped houses in soft colours lined the roads, shimmering under the light. Plethoras of trees with fresh purple and blue leaves rustled as the wind carried the mellifluous songs of lone birds and the delicious scent of rain.
"The wind.." Mia whispered in awe as she closed her eyes and inhaled the addictively sweet and fragrant air around her, when she squinted, she could just barely make out faint colours. Pastel pink's and sky-blue's tinting the redolent breeze.
"This is beautiful!", Mia looked at the sky which was a sweet blue. She moved forward and stepped on the ruby and emerald stepping stones in front of her.
"Wha-", Mia cried as her feet sank in the stone." Ohh!", Mia exclaimed, moving her toes. The stone looked like it was hard but was actually really soft and furry. Mia smiled and jumped on the topaz stone as her feet sank in the amber fur.
"Where am I?", she wondered out-loud as she stepped on the aqua and jade footpath. Everything seemed happy and..and beautiful here! Even the people!
Mia looked around and started observing the people as she walked in no specific direction. Mia was shocked to see that the people appeared out of thin air! There would be a sizzle of colour and the person would walk out of the curtain of colours..just like that!
Little boys in strange outfits played with strange diamonded objects while the girls drew pictures on the ground with glittery chalk and they came alive!
An old woman tried to cross the busy street but failed multiple times when a smart guard approached her.
"Hey!? Don't you know it is against the law not to help a person in need!?", he shouted and gently took the old woman by her arm, leading her across the street.
Mia was unconsciously smiling as she observed everything.
"Excuse me miss," a male voice brought her back to her senses.
"Ye-yes?" Mia asked but realized a handsome male was talking to the lady standing right..on her!
"What even?", Mia exclaimed as she realized that she was invisible." Woah!" She cried as the man talked to the lady.
"You're blocking my exit," he replied in a smoky voice, pointing to the place where Mia and the other lady stood together.
Mia pulled funny faces at the man but he didn't respond.
"Oh sorry," the lady stepped aside and Mia did the same.
"Pfft, There is no exit here, dumb-head," Mia rolled her eyes.
"Thank you," the stranger replied.
There was a sudden shower of blue diamonds and he vanished.
"Woah!" Mia cried,"Awesome!", she poked herself but she felt solid, shrugging, she followed the marble path feeling like Dorothy when the sweet notes of a melodious voice travelled up to her and she followed the voice until she came to a beautiful couple standing on the road.
The man played the hologram of a violin- beautifully while euphonious words dripped from the woman's lips. A small crowd was gathered around them as Mia slipped in.
"Oh joy for the noble Queen and King."
Mia smiled and clapped along with the crowd as the woman's voice sang, loud and clear.
The proud, new mother and father
Mia tapped her feet to the rhythm as some couples danced.
A princess is born, so y'all sing.
Mia stopped clapping as a grave feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and she realized..
Oh joy for their royal daughter!"
The song was about her. She lowered her eyes and quickly shuffled out of the suffocating crowd.
The princess with her eyes green
And a beautiful face no doubt.
Will love her parents: The King and Queen.
And make them happy and proud.
Mia ran from the crowd, clutching her palms to her ears to block out the song, tears rushed to her eyes as the lyrics wrapped themselves around her heart, she blinked to get rid off the tears, her heart hammered and her breath stuck in her throat as she desperately sought out a place to sit.
Her vision faded from view when she decided to perch on the stepping stone, she almost fainted when she sat on the soft stone.
Strangled lyrics of the distant song floated up to Mia as she closed her eyes tightly.
They will stay by her side forever
And the princess will stay close by
They won't abandon each other, no, never.
Not until their last moments, until they die.
A single tear slipped down her cheek as the lyrics hit her hard, she blinked to get rid of her tears and the lump in her throat as she thought about her parents.
The parents she didn't even know.
Hadn't met in a long, long time.
The parents she unknowingly abandoned.
She sniffed and moved forward when she turned to look at the palace she escaped from in the hopes of sighting Kira and Cathy and giving them a piece of her mind.
"Wait, what!?", she gasped as she looked at the Black palace..except it wasn't Black anymore but was shining and shimmering like any normal palace does.
"Where am I?!", she pondered. In the distance she could see more shimmering turrets and golden domes, lured by their beauty, she absent-mindedly walked towards it. Frustrated at the unanswered questions in her mind.
What is this place? Maybe I really died and this is heaven? A heaven which looks remarkably similar to The Elemental World..
And what about Kira and Cathy? Where the hell are those two traitors? Rotting behind Vyloden?! What happened to the Blackness of the palace!? Ugh
She stopped and looked around. The other palace stood high before her with gleaming domes and polished windows. Silky Turquoise buntings and banners hung everywhere with the shining silver crescent embroidered on it. Mia slipped the sleeve off her shoulder and saw her birthmark glowing.
She put the sleeve in place and examined everything. There were more banners and sole letter waving the air which exclaimed in bright letters:
Congratulations!
Mia walked to the entrance of the palace when to her amazement, she spotted Eric slowly walking inside the palace.
"Eric!", Mia shouted and rushed up to him, he looked incredibly handsome and young in an immaculate, Blue and Silver uniform.
"Eric! Thank god I found you!", Mia exhaled in relief," strange things have bee- Eric?", Mia looked at Eric who just shuffled inside the palace, his cap in his hands. He either ignored her or wasn't able to see her either. The latter seemed more likely.
"Eric?", Mia said softly and for a moment, he paused and turned his head towards Mia as if he knew somehow that she was there. His soft hazel eyes were void of their warmth and looked cold and lost. He turned and walked on.
Mia followed him inside the palace and would have seen where he was going is she weren't entranced by the beauty of the palace's interior.
All around she could see silk and lace and velvet with added doses of glitter, sequins and diamante gem stones. The walls were a cheery sky blue, patterned with silver swirls. A pretty chandelier was adorned with tassels of gems that dripped from the gold structure.
Mia advanced to the royal staircase when she stopped in front of a beautiful painting of a lovely family. There stood a handsome man, tall and proud in a neatly-tailored suite with onyx cufflinks and a bow-tie, one of his hands draped around a mesmerizing woman beside her, she wore a red velvet dress and matching gloves, a diadem rested atop her luscious locks. And in her hand she cradled a little bundle of pink and silver blankets. A pretty baby with green eyes smiled for the camera.
Mia smiled herself at the happy family before realizing that she had seen that woman somewhere. She shook the thought off and ascended the exquisite staircase.
She found herself on a huge landing with brown doors everywhere you looked. There was a white door to Mia's left which was being guarded by two soldiers. Mia had realized by now that she really was invisible and sauntered up to the door. She opened it and entered.
Her feet immediately sank in the furry carpet that tickled her toes, she giggled as she looked around. The walls here were a soft pastel yellow and there were myriads of expensive-looking toys scattered everywhere. In the middle of the room was a gem-lined cradle and a handful of people surrounded the cradle.
Mia moved closer too see who the people were. An adorable baby cooed from inside the cradle, a tiny tiara adorning her curly hair.
Mia spotted the man and woman from the portrait, they were dressed royally now. The man with a crown and a velvet robe, the woman in a lacy dress and a diadem on her head. Both of them clutched each other's hand as the woman rested her head on the man's shoulder and tears slipped down her cheek. The man's head was bent as both of them stared longingly at the baby in the cradle.
Another lady with pink eyes patted the woman with the diadem.
"Miranda!?", Mia exclaimed before cupping a hand over her mouth. When she realized they couldn't hear or see her, she removed her hand." Why is she here?".
There were a few more people but Mia couldn't see them as they had their backs turned so she concentrated on the couple who looked really familiar to her now.
She stared as the woman gently lifted the baby and kissed her forehead as the baby cooed, she stroked the baby's cheek as she stared at the woman with big, green eyes framed with thick lashes. The baby clutched the woman's finger tightly as a sob escaped the woman's lips and she passed the baby -her child probably- to the man -probably her husband.
The baby smiled softly as the man clutched her delicate body in big,strong hands. He bent down and landed a soft kiss on her forehead and held her for a very long time, gazing at her sadly and sighing. He took a long breath as a tear dripped down his cheek.
"Goodbye darling Princess," the man said softly in a deep but comfortingly warm voice, the woman reached over to stroke the baby's head lovingly before the man handed the baby to the man opposite him.
The baby immediately began to wail upon being separated from the warmth of her father's hands. The other man did nothing to quieten the crying baby when her mother began singing softly.
Her voice was beautifully clear and soothing with a trance-like state to it. She sang like a nightingale as the words to a lovely lullaby escaped her lips the baby quietened down and listened intently to her singing.
"Little darling go to sleep", the baby closed her eyes.
"Look at Mother, don't you weep", the baby started snoring softly.
"Hush darling, sleep soundly my Queen", the woman sobbed before continuing.
"Close your eyes and slip into a lovely dream".
The man clutched the woman tightly. Immediate flashes of foreign memories came rushing back to Mia.
Of the softness of her mothers lips as she kissed goodnight.
The warmth of her father's eyes as he cradled her and rocked her to sleep.
And the beautiful lullabies that her mother sang to her everyday.
The woman's voice wobbled as she neared the end.
"I'll wipe your tears, fight all you fear..
"I'll always be with you..right..here", Mia touched her heart as her mother used to do so and completed the lullaby as tears spilled out from her eyes.
"Mum...".