As the nine so called heroes saddled up their well deserved horses and packed the supplies that had been gifted to them, the terrifying thought of how close they actually were to the island that surged with evil crossed their minds. Deep down, none of them wanted to leave the safety of Therondia, none of them wanted to walk straight into potential death. But no matter how many times those thoughts crossed their minds, the importance of keeping their kingdoms safe surpassed it all. Sure, none of them were really supposed to be heroes, but if that's what the world believed they were...then that's what they had to be.
Corrine and Bai were working on preparing the horses for travel, well, Corrine was technically the only one truly working. Bai was currently harassing a poor stable girl with his horrible jokes and obnoxious 'bad boy' demeanor.
Corrine rolled her eyes and leaned up against her horse, arms crossed in an irritated manner. "Bai Hua! How dare you!" Bai immediately spun around and looked at her with a blank stare. Corrine marched over to him and interlinked her arm with his. "I cannot believe that you would spend time with another female on our anniversary!"
Bai began to stutter but no words followed as his eyes shifted between Corrine and the maiden he had been trying to impress. The girl shook her head in disgust and walked away.
Bai shoved Corrine away. "Dude! What the hell was that?!"
"One, that was a little reminder as to why we are actually here and two, I was saving a damsel in distress."
"She was not in 'distress'," he groaned as he curled his fingers to make air quotes.
"Whatever, go finish saddling up."
"Go finish saddling up," Bai mimicked back in a childish tone.
Corrine shot him a glare.
"Okay okay, I'm going!"
Corrine returned to packing canisters of water into the satchels that dangled from the horse's side when Andrea tapped her shoulder. Corrine turned around to face her.
Andrea cocked her head to the side, motioning to Eros kneeling before a little girl who was handing him a small yellow flower. "Looks like you got some competition."
Corrine smiled as she watched Eros accept the flower with a smile. "My money's on her," she chuckled.
Andrea's eyes shifted to another maiden that was hurrying in Eros's direction carrying at least four bouquets of flowers. "Uh, well, Pretty Boy might need a little bit of saving now," Andrea laughed.
Corrine let out a soft chuckle. "Oh, I've been waiting for him to be swarmed by girls since we made our appearance."
Andrea gave her a nudge. "My money's on you this time."
Corrine gave her a playful salute. "Sir yes sir."
Corrine slowly approached Eros, watching as the girl shoved the pink flowers into his arms, pecked a quick kiss on his cheek, and skipped away happily. He stood there, completely dumbfounded, not having the slightest clue as to how to react to the sudden affection. He spun on his heels to face Corrine, eyes still wide with shock and extended the flowers out to her.
"I got you flowers," he spoke sweetly.
Corrine let out a laugh and took the flowers from his hands. "Oh, did you now?"
Eros bowed with a smirk. "Only the finest flora for the finest maiden in all the lands."
Corrine gently clutched her imaginary dress and curtsied. "You're too kind, my good man."
Eros could feel his heart flutter inside his chest. To him, she couldn't be more perfect. When he was with her, the feeling of being alone or not fitting in simply because he wasn't a god completely faded away from existence and was replaced by the sense of utter acceptance and belonging. He knew that his parents and grandparents loved him dearly, but unlike most of them, he had never had that taste of being a god. Knowing what it feels like to have the world completely adore you for the heroic deeds you had done. Maybe Eros was finally getting his chance at being the hero, being 'god like' in some way. But even then, the fact that they were supposedly saving the world didn't change his desire for her presence and what she made him feel, she made him feel wanted...needed.
And him to her? Of course, the adventure alone brought that feeling of adventure and excitement that she had been craving for years, but she couldn't recall the last time someone went running through the forest with her. Those countless hours she would spend racing through the woods, training, only to be told that she was being reckless, irresponsible, non princess like. She didn't realize that she truly needed the voices telling her such things because if anything it made her train harder. What she needed was someone to rebel with her. Someone to break the boundaries that the world held against them.
Aurelia tugged on Darron's sleeve as she stared at the couple. "What does pink mean?"
"Love and affection," Darron answered.
"I knew it!" She squealed back.
Darron nodded to the hundreds of flowers she had been stuffing in the satchel that hung from her shoulder. "I think you have every blessed flower in the kingdom."
Aurelia locked her eyes on a patch of pale green flowers ahead, grabbing Darron's hand before she took off towards them. "I don't have those!"
Darron jolted forward, almost tripping over himself and falling into Axel. "Excuse us!" Darron shouted.
Nizhoni and Axel dove out of the way before the eager girl could plow them over, laughing at the sight.
"I haven't seen anyone so excited about something in my life," Axel chuckled.
"Every flower counts," Nizhoni responded with a sweet smile.
Axel interlaced his fingers with hers. "Not even all the flowers in the world could keep my eyes off you."
Nizhoni leaned her head on his shoulder. "Never knew it would take the world to come to a potential end for me to meet someone I can't scare away."
He gave her a playful smirk. "Don't worry, baby, I am fearless."
She rolled her eyes. "Who knew that someone could make me smile after saying something so stupid."
He clicked his tongue. "What can I say, I'm full of charming surprises."
"Uh huh, whatever floats your boat."
Axel nodded up ahead to Kai and Andrea. "Looks like Andrea is actually teaching him how to flirt. I feel sorry for the saps it doesn't come natural to. Wish I knew what that felt like so I could at least have some sympathy."
Nizhoni nudged him with her hip. "Shut up."
"What?! I got the most stand offish, toughest girl in all the kingdoms." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "It's a gift."
Nizhoni could only smile like an idiot at him.
Andrea placed a hand on Bai and Kai's shoulders. "Alright," she stated. "I think your training has finally brought you both to this moment. Remember, use context clues."
"You have super senses, Andrea. Minor details are a normal for you," Bai pouted.
Andre shot him an annoyed look. "Do you want to learn or not?"
"Fine."
Andrea patted Kai on the shoulder. "Kai, you're up first."
Kai took a deep breath before he turned towards a boy with golden hair that was working in the stables. He dug in his pocket until his fingers located the pearl he had found at the shoreline on the beach that was located near the southwest side of the kingdom. He pulled it out to show Andrea and Bai.
Bai's mouth hung open slightly. "Dude the beach is like three miles from here. Did you really walk all the way there just to find a pearl?"
Kai tapped his head with his finger and winked at Bai. "It's what we call a meaningful gift, Bee."
Andrea kicked him in the backside. "Go on, we don't have all day."
Kai stumbled forward and began to nervously approach the boy.
"Hi," he spoke shyly once he reached the stableboy.
He offered him a gentle smile. "You're Kai Atlasean, aren't you?"
Kai was surprised and continued to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I am, and you are?"
"My name is Jerret," he answered as he leaned up against his shovel to give Kai his attention. "So, what can I do for one of the eight heroes?"
"Well uh-" Kai began to stumble on his words as opened his palm to bestow the pearl he scavenged for. "I uh- brought you a pearl, I hope you like it." His lips pursed together to form a smile.
A big grin slowly grew across Jerret's face as he let Kai place it in his palm. "But the beach is over three miles from here."
"Someone like you deserves to carry the beauty of the sea," Kai shrugged, his feet shuffling in the dirt below him.
Just before Kai could turn to retreat back to Andrea and Bai, Jerret shouted, "Wait!"
Kai's eyes returned to Jerret's freckled face.
"Maybe after you uh- save the world- y'know if you're ever passing through Therondia again, we could go to the beach and you can teach me how to find pearls?" Jerret questioned softly.
Kai could feel his heartbeat quicken. "Yeah, I would like that very much."
Jerret chuckled to himself and bit his lower lip. "Alright, well, you go save the world first."
"As you wish," Kai nodded.
As his friends returned to his line of sight, Andrea and Bai both gave him a thumbs up. Kai grinned proudly as he jogged back to them.
Andrea gave him a slap on the back. "Look at my baby," she pretended to fight back tears. "They grow up to fast."
Bai rubbed his hands together. "Alright, my turn."
But just as Bai was about to leave the pair, trumpets sounded through the air while the familiar voice of Aramina spoke, "If I may speak for my kingdom in saying that we were honored to serve as a refuge for you all despite the short time we spent together."
Bai grumbled to himself as he reluctantly joined the rest of his traveling companions by the horses.
"I do hope that this supplies that has been provided to you will suffice." Aramina, with Edaneus by her side, approached the royals. "I do hope you will visit again in the near future."
Applause rang through the air when Aramina finished. Throughout their stay in Therondia, the crowd never seemed to dissipate. The streets were busy constantly and wherever the heroes might be, a crowd did follow.
Edaneus was the next one to speak, saying, "I would be delighted to present my gift to you now."
Corrine stepped forward. "Please, your generosity has been more than enough."
Edaneus raised his hand, motioning to her that he insisted to do so. He carefully placed a royal purple bottle into her hand with a mysterious liquid filling it to the brim. "This is a special antidote that I have concocted. I have extracted just enough of my power that whoever may ingest this potion will be cured of any injury, sickness, or even death itself."
Corrine didn't even know how to react to this act of unmatchable kindness. She bowed her head slightly in gratitude. "The kindness of your kingdom shall never be forgotten. We may be fighting the battles, but you are helping us win this war."
Edaneus smiled, making all the wrinkles in his face more apparent. "It is the least I can do."
She handed the bottle to Nizhoni, knowing that it is best to keep it with her. Corrine, being the last one to mount her horse, hoisted herself onto the saddle and took hold of the reins. She veered away from Aramina and Edaneus, listening to the cries of joy from the citizens that stood next to the horses while the others trotted close behind. Up ahead, the gates were openly gradually to escort them back to their journey, away from the safe haven that Therondia had been for them. It was implausible as to how close they truly were to the Mistress. But what were they to do so far from safety, so far from a place that seemed to block out the evil? That, they did not know.
•••
a/n: this is kinda a filler chapter and definitely not my best work but it's fine. also this chapter is sooo cheesy it was slothful awful. literally this book gets less and less serious but i just did some insane brainstorming today and i have some plot twists in store hehe. we shall return to our crazy events rather soon so prepare for anxiety inducing situations.
leave your thoughts,, thank you for reading loves <3