"The memory that once made you happy, now makes you sad.
The love that once fulfilled you now leaves you empty.
The warmth that once caressed you now left you hurting.
Thousands of kinds of medicine have been made to cure all sorts of illnesses and diseases yet, NOT ONE has been created to relieve us from the pain of losing our loved ones.
Simply because ...
'There is NO such thing'
Death is indeed, such a terrible, terrible thing.
It robs you of your life, of your future, of the people you treasure.
The person whom you were just laughing with a moment ago, is now gone … just like that.
It won't give you time to prepare … oh, no it won't. It won't give you a choice.
And all we are left to face with is the cold and bitter truth that …
we will never see them again ...
we will never see them smile again, be angry, or sad ...
we will never hear their voice again … talk to them ...
we will never feel their warmth … their presence ...
we will never, ever, do the things we wished to do with them ...
the plans you both made for each other ...
the future that you planned and longed for ...
the hope of being together till you both grew old …
ALL GONE.
Just like that.
And the hardest part?
'There is no turning back'
How we wished it was all a dream.
That when you wake up, all is but a simple nightmare.
That everything wasn't true and that when you woke up, you'd still see them lying next to you ...
But instead, you wake up in disappointment.
All that's left is pain.
PAIN that DEMANDS to be felt!
It hurts ... so much!
so much you can't bear.
to the point that you just wish to join them.
or that you died instead.
For this pain is worse than death itself.
It tortures you ...
It weakens you ...
And it kills the very life in you ...".
With eyes that stared into nothingness, Rania got dragged, along with tens of thousands of other candidates, to the inner courts of what seemed to be a palace covered with gems and marble stones.
They were being led by their captors whose appearance have been affected by the different countries and regions they had gone to. Some even had snowflakes attached to their clothes which obviously was brought about by the cold weather.
Some candidates were tied with vines on their wrists. Some were asleep and being carried over the shoulder while others seemed bruised and injured from trying to fight for their lives. Some looked scared. Some looked tired. Some looked curious.
But there were also very few that were still able to walk with dignity and courage.
It didn't take that long for the last batch of candidates to arrive - for they all came through teleportation holes or magic circles that were cast by the Magus they were with. And as they all assembled, a tall and handsome figure appeared in front of everyone. He had short and wavy gray hair that matched his gray eyes, wearing gray robes that extended to his feet.
He opened his mouth, bent his knees, and began to speak with his deep voice which echoed throughout the whole court.
"Oh reverent king whom heaven favors, please grant us, your lowly servants, of your magnificent presence on this hour".
Soon after this calling, a giant ball of white light came rushing from above the ceiling to down below, in front of everyone and in front of the kneeling man who spoke.
Once the light had faded, it revealed a tall young man that seemed to be no older than 25. He had golden hair, bright aquamarine eyes, pale skin, a perfectly slim but muscular physique, and a very handsome face. Too handsome in fact, that everyone who saw him was set on a daze and adornment of his beautiful visage.
Everyone except for Rania who still, continued to stare at nothingness.
He was wearing a white, long sleeve shirt covered by a white tunic suit with mandarin collars, both of which had golden embroidery intricately designed at the seams, hems, and ends. Beneath, he had white pants and white boots with golden linings. He also wore a golden bracelet with crimson jewels on his right arm and different kinds of jeweled rings on his fingers. Lastly, was his large, furred, red cloak that extended to his feet, and a simple yet elegant golden crown on his head. His whole outfit radiated elegance, making him look like a celestial prince and its perfect fit to him only made his slim but muscular figure more adamant.
After a few moments of silence and awe to him from the crowd, he finally spoke.
"So ... these are the most beautiful and pure of the human race?" he asked in a mocking tone. His voice was deep and very intimidating.
For a normal human standard, each and every woman inside the inner courts were too beautiful for their own good. Different types of beauty could be seen everywhere - some were angelic, some bewitching, some were like a goddess, a doll, or a model, and many other forms of beauty enough to be the top among billions of women on the whole planet. Yet, this king was still unsatisfied. Perhaps their race just really had a very high sense of standards when it comes to beauty.
"Unfortunately, these are the best they have to offer, your majesty," replied the kneeling man who summoned the king.
"I see," the king noted while raising his left eyebrow, "How disappointing. And to think I have to sleep with such low lives."
"Indeed, your majesty! That's what I told th-" blurted the green-haired girl who stabbed Zeid.
As soon as Rania heard that devilish voice, she snapped out of her own depression and looked begrudgingly at this wicked woman.
With all hatred and rage boiling in her heart, she stood up and prepared herself to shout.
Noticing her anger, was a kind and gentle-looking, young woman with pastel pink hair and a pair of blue eyes, and rosy white skin. She immediately went to Rania to stop her of whatever she was about to do for it may bring harm to her and to everyone.
"Uhm … Excuse me," she said as she approached Rania, quickly grabbing her by the hands and rubbing it to calm her down. "My name is Azalea. What yours?" Her voice was that of an angel, so soothing to the ear.
Rania who was looking with killing intent at the green-haired girl a moment ago was now staring at Azalea. The young woman held her face and made sure Rania focused on her.
"Look here … I understand you may have been very frustrated, or more. In fact, everyone here feels the same way. We have all been separated from our families to our loved ones. But please … please don't do anything that will endanger your life. It is not worth it. Not the least," Azalea pleaded.
With tears starting to swell up in the corners of her eyes, and hatred all over her face, Rania spoke bitterly, "That woman ... killed … my fiance … in front of me! If they didn't need us in the first place, why bring us here? Why kill our loved ones? Our families? Our friends? Just why?!" her resentment was too extreme to not reverberate to Azalea's heart.
Azalea frowned and loneliness can be seen in her eyes.
"Honestly, I am as clueless as you are. I don't know as well," she replied with hesitance in her voice. "But what I know is that we must do everything to survive. We'll never know but maybe ... just maybe, there is hope by the end of the tunnel." Azalea kept on holding Rania's hands tightly. Though she was trying to calm her, she herself was trembling in fear.
Rania felt the trembling of her hands. Reason came back to her. She was very angry, yes, but she shouldn't act recklessly and involve anyone.
"If that king doesn't need us, why doesn't he just return us from where we came? There are tens of thousands of us here. He can't possibly sleep with all of these women. He should just choose whom he likes ..." Rania replied and alas, she went back to her depressed state and stared to nothingness once more.
Azalea's brows furrowed. Then, she thought for a second and nodded approvingly afterward.
"Yes, you're right. He doesn't need all thousands of us."
With all the courage and bravery she could muster, Azalea walked towards the front row of the crowd. She clenched her small fists, then gathered all her courage and began to speak, interrupting the king and other men on stage who were talking to each other.
"Your ... highness" she began. A faint tremor could be heard from her voice. Then after gulping, she continued, "I beg you to forgive my rudeness, but … if I may interrupt for a moment".
And there was silence.
The king's attention was caught immediately for it was very brave indeed to dare speak in front of such a crowd. Without knowing what rules she may have been breaking, customs, or traditions. Without knowing what price it had to pay. But nonetheless, the king, now interested, did not speak a word but waited to listen to whatever this brave girl had to say.
Though frightened, Azalea bowed her head.
"Thank you for letting me speak".
She breathed heavily and continued once more.
"As ... you may have noticed, your Highness, there are tens of thousands of women in this place. And hearing your conversation, I believe we are all gathered here to serve you, your highness.
But then I believe that you have your own standards and preferences. These women brought in front of you now were all chosen based on the preferences of their captors, and not by you, your highness. So if I may imply, that ... your Highness, why not -
Why not, in this … sea of ten thousand, choose your thousand. And in that thousand, choose your hundred. And in that hundred, choose your ten. And lastly, in that ten, choose your ... the one and only.
I may not yet be knowledgeable of your culture, your politics, and rules but even so, I believe these bunch are too much for your highness. So for those whom you won't be needing ... will your Highness, please ... return them to their homes?"
Azalea's heart pounded very rapidly after finishing her speech. Will she be dead now? Will the king be angry and kill her and everyone else in this place?
A moment of silence passed once more.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" the king laughed so loudly that it echoed through the whole courts. "Hahahahahahaha!" He laughed again for almost a whole minute.
The whole crowd, including all the Magi, were perplexed.
"Woman," he said after recovering from his amusement. "What is your name?"
"My name is Azalea, your highness," she answered and curtseyed afterward.
"Hmm … Azalea, that was very brave of you indeed," the king said half laughing. "Certainly, I don't need ten thousand women to join me in bed. So why not? In return for you amusing me this day, I will give you what you want."
"But your majesty - " the kneeling man interrupted.
"I don't want to hear any objections. I have been amused! And what should I reward the one who gave me amusement? Nothing?"
"B-b-ut..."
"Silence! My decision is final! I will choose my hundred and let go of the remaining! Make sure to bring them back from whence they came from!"
A moment of silence took place once more.
Everyone was in disbelief, but after a few of them started clapping their hands, the remaining women felt relieved and jumped in delight! They were overjoyed! For what greater news could they receive on such a tragic day such as this? They all went to Azalea to thank her. Everyone started crying tears of joy. Azalea tried to look for Rania to thank her for the idea but she couldn't find her due to the crowd swarming to her. She thought she'd just thank her later.
After a few more moments, the king indeed, chose his 100 candidates and commanded the rest of his race to return the unneeded women to their families.
Out of the chosen hundred belonged Azalea and Rania, and many other friends whom we are yet to meet.
It has been a very long and tiring day, full of emotional roller coasters. The candidates were, later on, brought to their assigned quarters to rest and prepare for the next day.
Meanwhile, at one of the most renowned hospitals. In a certain dark room with a very tired mother sleeping in a corner, the sound of a cardiac monitor could be heard.
Toot … toot … toot …
And in its bed lay a heavily injured man - his upper body covered in bandages.
"Hey, have you heard what happened to the guy in room 302?" asked a curious nurse patrolling the area.
"Yeah, apparently he got stabbed in his stomach, poor thing," replied the other.
"So I've heard. But do you know what's more interesting?"
"Uhm … he's very handsome?"
"No! Silly … the thing that stabbed him!"
"The thing? Shouldn't it be who stabbed him? Like a relative or something?"
"No - it is right - the thing that stabbed him."
With confusion on her face, the other nurse asked, "Okay… then, what is it?"
"It's a spear! And not just any spear … for it was made with ice".