"Ask me." Macrena urged Noraya to ask her about anything she wanted to know about her. "I won't read any of your thoughts," she assured her.
Noraya let out a sigh for the nth time. Although she had decided to let her stay in her house, sometimes, she was still curious to know about her true identity. She had a little reservation about her reasoning that she had amnesia, but she did not ask her about it and waited for her to be comfortable to tell her. Now, she was allowing her to satisfy her curiosity.
"Who are you, and where are you from?" Noraya decided that if she wanted to know who this woman is, she would have to start from the very beginning. Maybe she wasn't even telling her real name.
"My name is Macrena. I belong to the family of Santi from the kingdom of Akijam." Her eyes were looking straight to Noraya's eyes.
Noraya took a moment to comprehend her answer. 'Is she some kind of princess from wherever kingdom it is?' "W-what kingdom are you talking about?" She kept herself calm even though what just Macrena said was ridiculous for her.
"Your mother's story about a goddess, I guess you have to believe it now."
Noraya creased her brows. "What do you mean? Don't tell me you are a goddess too?" Her eyes were starting to bulge now. She remembered how she asked too many questions about the goddess in her mother's story.
"Yes, I am from the world of gods. I am a goddess." She honestly answered.
Noraya exhaled. As much as she wanted not to believe her, her sudden unexplainable appearance and her ability to read minds was hard for her to comprehend and was keeping her to understand. Now her mind was conflicted.
"Okay, tell me how and why did you come here? Did you specifically came for me? What do you need from me?"
Macrena noticed that she was more open to explanations now than in the past days. "I was framed up for a crime I did not commit and was forcibly sent here as a punishment of the crime. I did not come for you specifically." She only answers her question so as not to confuse her more.
"What crime?" Noraya was getting interested in her story now. It seems that her answers were making sense to her rather than when she first saw her.
"I was accused of murder."
"What?!" Noraya's mouth fell open again. She can't count now how many times Macrena gave her a shock since she met her.
"Like I said, I was accused of doing it. It's the reason why I became so interested in Mrs. Harvey's son. He is the man that I killed supposedly."
"But how? Is it the reason why he's missing?"
She shook her head. "If he is dead, his body should have been found. But her mother said they didn't saw his body and you just read that he is alive. Someone might have taken him."
Noraya was getting more confused about where the story is going. "Can you please tell me what really happened so I can understand. I am starting to have a headache now." She massaged her temple and leaned her head on the sofa.
Macrena sighed and began to narrate what happened in the sacred forest that day.
-----
Forest of Fireflies, Akijam
It was one of the typical days for Macrena. She was strolling through the kingdom and was on the forest of fireflies with her two servants.
The forest is a sacred place between humans and their world. Humans are not able to enter the forest because of the spell that protects their world from humans.
However, on that particular day, they saw a human walking through the dense forest and looking for a hunt. She did not suspect that something was not right on that day.
One of her servants, Mylo, got curious about how the human looks and went beyond the boundaries without noticing. It was already late when she warned her servant and was immediately turned into a deer.
When a creature from their kingdom crosses the boundary, they were automatically turned into an animal to disguise themselves. That is part of the spell that was cast on the entire forest.
The man with a hunting gun immediately noticed the deer trying to hide from him. He chased the animal through the forest.
Mylo, in her panicked not to get killed by the hunter, tried her best to run and hide. But the hunter was fast and was able to aim at her.
Seeing that the hunter was about to shoot her servant, Macrena made a wind to throw off balance the man. The man stumbled on his tracks but quickly regained his posture. This time he grounded himself and aimed once again.
Macrena whipped a stronger wind to throw the man off. This time she was not able to control the strength, and it made the man threw himself into a tree and landed unconscious.
She was sure that the man was not dead when they left him in the forest and went back to the palace without thinking that someone witnessed what happened in the woods.
The next day, a report came to her that someone saw a dead man in the forest. According to the news about the man, it appeared that it was the same man that they left in the woods yesterday.
"I am certain that the man was dead, your highness." the messenger confirmed.
"How could it be?" She was sure that the man was alive. She is not stupid, not to tell if the man was dead or not. She made sure that the man was going to live before they left him in the forest unless someone or some wild animal had killed him after they left.
Although Mylo and the other servant testified in her favor, confirming that the man did not die when they left him, she was still convicted of murder. The fact that she used her magic against the human and that the man died.
According to the law of the land of Akijam, any creature who kills a human being of any reason will be convicted of murder and will be banished to another world and will never come back to Akijam.
-----
"I am here as a punishment of a crime I did not commit." she finishes her story.
Noraya, who was silently listening to her, found herself believing in her.
"You are saying that someone took the body of the man and declared him dead to kick you out of your kingdom?"
Macrena nodded. "When Mrs. Harvey spoke about her missing son, I had a strong feeling that it was the same man I encountered in the forest. That's why I asked to see a photo to confirm my hunch."
Noraya nodded, beginning to understand her reasoning. She found it easy to believe Macrena now that she was telling her the truth than when she was pretending to have amnesia.
"And also..."
"Also?"
"About the goddess that your mother met..."
"Do you know her?" Noraya was getting engrossed at this goddess story that she felt excited to know more.
"She is my mother. Queen Alteya."
"Really?!" There you go again; her eyes were popping out back in shock.
"At first, I couldn't believe it too. But when you showed me the mirror from your mother, that's when I confirmed that it was from my mother."
Noraya was shaking her head repeatedly. She could not believe that she was seeing a goddess like her mother too. She did not believe her mother for a long time. But now it was happening to her also.
"What kind of coincidence it is then that our mothers met before and us now."
"I don't think it is a coincidence that we met, " Macrena looked at her in the eye. "You might have the answers to some of my questions."
"What do you mean?"
"I never knew that my mother came here. And if she came, how did she enter back to our land? Nobody in our history was able to come from the human world. And what was her reason that she came here? You see, since I came here, I started to doubt what I know about our kingdom."
Noraya also looked at her. She could not understand that she was actually feeling excited about Macrena's story. It made her feel the excitement like having an adventure. Something that she haven't felt in her life before.
"I need to confirm first about Mrs. Harvey's son. If he is alive like you said, where is he now?" She looked at Noraya with hopeful eyes. "But I can not do it by myself..."
Noraya guessed what Macrena means. She wanted her to help her to find out about what really happened to Mrs. Harvey's son. "What are you planning then?" She doesn't know, but the thought of adventure was making her jittery in excitement.
"I will find out what really happened to that man to prove my innocence so I can go back to our land." Her determination to go back to their land was solidified by the knowledge that the man is alive.
"But you said, nobody succeeded in going back to your land from the human world?"
"That I will have to find out too. How my mother was able to come back and what is her connection to your mother." She looked at her earnestly. "That is when I need your help the most."
Noraya saw for the first time in Macrena's eyes her strong will and determination. It was somehow strange for her because of her first impression with her that she was weak and lost. Now she is beginning to see her as a strong individual.
All of Noraya's doubt about her was already gone. At least she doesn't have to worry that Macrena is a burglar or a member of some sort of illegal syndicate. She was more peaceful, knowing that she is not human. It is weird, but she grew up with her mother's strange encounters and stories.
After a few moments, both of them calmed their emotions and decided to eat out and head home and rest. Somehow, after telling the truth, Macrena felt secured that Noraya does not have any intention to kick her out from her house. Instead, she was more than willing to help her.
Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Akijam, Mokabe was getting anxious about how Macrena is doing in the human world. He was getting worried that she might not have found a good human being to help her or she might have ended in the worst situation. Despite his worry, there is no way that he can help her or see how is she is doing now. He thought of some solutions, but they were too risky to do and, of course, would put his life in danger. Add also the fact that King Matius was spying on him.
He did not expect that Matius will be able to banish Macrena to the human world. Matius' jealousy with Mordecu continued to Macrena, the fact that he is the only relative left of Macrena.
If Macrena will not be able to come back to their kingdom, then he would forever feel guilty of not making his promise to Queen Alteya before she died.
Mokabe let out a sigh while looking at the palace. The palace which became his second home and playground while he was growing up.
After Macrena left the palace, he refrained from going there to avoid an encounter with King Matius. He knew that the king does not trust him despite that he stood as a second father to them with Mordecu when their father left them.
He does not know what the kingdom will become if Matius won't be contented with what he has right now. He knew Matius always wanted to take the other side realm, and if that happens, a possible war will happen. If he was lucky enough, he will be able to reign in the other side, but if not, their kingdom will be under the other side's reign.
Macrena will have to be back to Akijam before that happens. But he wonders what's taking so long for Macrena to communicate with him. It was almost two months since she left.
He decided that if she does not hear from her till the end of the month, he will go and visit the Budi mountain, even if he knows that it is dangerous.