Chapter 4
Celebration
"We're gonna dance"
Xael's Point of View
Darkness.
That's what I saw after reading that weird paper. I can't see anything. I can't even see my hands nor my body.
I decided to look around the place. I don't know why I even bother to look; maybe to find light? It's pointless but there's no harm in trying. There's a little hope that guides me despite the chills I'm feeling.
I stood up from where I am and walked to one direction. I can't even feel the place. It's not cold but it's not hot either.
I stopped walking because I felt like I'm going nowhere. I turned to another direction and ran until I felt a slight suffocation. I felt panic trying to rise in my chest.
Oh no. This is getting bad.
I stopped running so I can catch my breath and used my knees as support that made me look at the black emptiness I'm standing on.
I inhaled sharply and calmed myself down for a bit as I kept staring on the ground until I saw light in front of me.
I looked at the source of brightness and it had images flashing.
The light showed something and it was a mixture of smoke explosions with different colors. There was an orange bear that weirdly had a horn with Kichi sitting on its back. He also had a pig suit... I won't detail the suit. It's kinda morbid. Behind him were... books with wings?
"COME MINIONS. LET'S WIN THIS WAR...WITH PAPER CUTS MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA," he said mischievously laughing as he moved forward to charge for his aforementioned war.
The scene moved on to the general and he's dancing alone with a choir singing for him. Oh god. Another morbid scene.
Imagine a children song being sung with high notes. Childhood ruined.
"All together now," he shouted. The general really loves children songs. He was so dedicated. There was this one time that I overheard him talking to Hiro and he said that he was gonna name him Mary so he can sing Mary Had A Little Lamb to him all the time. Unfortunately, his mother didn't like it. I can feel Hiro's thankfulness to his mom.
I was getting consumed with the scene when I felt something grab my foot. Fear creeped in instantly because I was late to react when I was pulled down as I screamed so hard.
The hand finally let go of my foot when we hit the ground. Ouch. My butt hit the floor.
I stood up and rubbed my butt to ease the pain because it kinda hurts and observed the place. It was still dark.
"Of course it'll be dark. Your eyes are closed"
And...I'm talking to myself. I opened my eyes and saw a cozy couch. I was gonna sit down to relieve my butt-ache when I heard voices
"Pathetic"
"Just go back to your kingdom, princess. This isn't a place for little girls"
"No one will ever like you"
"Go away"
"Xael..."
"Xael."
"Xael!"
-•-
"Hime!"
Huh? What was that? I snapped from my train of thought and saw a rather healthy lady in front of me holding two sets of dresses.
"Which do you prefer? This or This?" she said showing me a blue dress and a red one.
"Uhmm. You pick, Precys," I told her. Her name is Precys. As you noticed, her name resembles the name Precious. She told me that her mother wanted to name her Precious but she doesn't want a common name.
"Sure, hime. Try on the red dress"
She could be paired with Ashlyn, honestly. They both look good together.
I went to change my clothes and stood by the mirror as soon as I finished,
"Oh! Hime you're so pretty "
"You're just being nice, Precys"
"Aww shucks, dear. You are beautiful. You almost resemble your mom"
Yeah, almost.
-•-
Someone's Point of View
The sunlight struck upon my cloak. The spear I'm holding shone when the rays of the setting sun touched it. I felt the wind brush upon my cheeks as my locks flew upon the wind shining its hue.
"The time has come for you...Xael"
-•-
Hiro's Point of View
The musicians by the corner played instruments for the celebration because it was the birthday of Princess Xael.
The people wore formal attires and you can almost feel the joy that's exploding in this very room.
The servants were quite busy to make sure that every guest is comfortable with the celebration.
My eyes scanned the room to find a certain someone but instead, my eyes landed on the table. The long table held the food that was prepared by the best chefs in the kingdom.
My eyes scanned the food to see if my favorite was there. Instead of the food, My eyes landed on Kichi who was circling the long table back and forth. I fail to understand why he was doing that. Probably, he was trying to pick which food to taste first. The celebration had a French themed celebration because the head chef, Ms. Jacqueline is French in blood.
The present appetizers or the une entrée in the table was three in number: Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with Fig Preserves and Toasted Walnuts, French Savory Quiche particularly Quiche Lorraine and the last is Niçoise Salad. The main course or the le plat principal are five in number: Pot-au-feu, Le Magret De Canard, Coq au vin, Couscous and La raclette. As for the desserts, there's mainly cheese and chocolate, there's the chocolate fondue, chocolate soufflé, crème brûlée, macaroons and éclair to name some.
Aha! I have an idea. I still have to make him pay of what he did the other day.
I walked to him from across the room as he still kept circling around the table. I saw him drooling while biting one of his nails. Gross. His eyes were sparkling too. I think I can see my dad when he was young.
Kichi's eyes locked with the desserts particularly the chocolate fondue and chocolate soufflé drizzled with honey with a slice of strawberry as side dish.
How do I know that you ask? I'm a chocolate expert. I kind of love chocolate. A lot.
He went closer to the dessert and his mouth was still watering. He picked up the chocolate soufflé and dipped it with the fondue. He stared at it for a second and started crying.
"I think....I'm in heaven"
Before he could eat the chocolate, I walked closer to where he was and stole it from him so he turned to me and glared.
"Why do we have a thief in the premises?" I teased and clicked my tongue.
"Ehh? I'm no thief! Give it back!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, really?" I said, teasing him and hitting his head with a drumstick of a turkey.
"Ow! Give me back my chocolate! Please!" he said. I can't tell if he was angry or pleading.
"Ahhhh..." I though for a moment.
"...No," I said and ate the dessert and turkey in front of him. It was a gross combination, really.
Kichi's eyes began filling with anger.
"I'll kill you! Nobody steals my precious babies from me!" he said in a low voice craving blood to be dripped unless someone does his bidding
"Besides, stealing food is bad," he said in his normal tone while eating a cupcake.
"You just stole that cupcake on the table," I said in a matter-of-fact tone
"It's only called stealing when somebody else steals it. I'm just borrowing the food," he said and crossed his arms to his chest.
"Besides, it was intended to be our food so it's not stealing," he continued.
His eyes landed on my attire.
"Ooooohhh. You look like you have a date," he said and attempted to poke me on my waist.
I hit his head with another drumstick because of his remark and before he can poke my waist.
"This is what you call a formal attire. This is what supposedly people in this room should look. Look at yourself, who wears a pig bonnet in a formal celebration?
-•-
Meanwhile, exactly 10 meters away from the boys, was Bree staring at Hiro. She was holding a tray of croquembouche and had a fitted servants attire. Her hair was tied to a ponytail with two loose strands on the front.
"Oh, Sir Hiro. You look so gorgeous tonight. I wonder when you'll notice me," she said and blushed while setting her eyes on Hiro.
She felt a mini heart attack when she didn't realize that she was taking too long to stare at him until he looked back and locked-eyes with her.
"Eeeekkk!!" She ran away slightly tumbling because of surprise, all while still carrying the tray of croquembouche.
Hiro thought that she was one weird woman and slightly chuckled, amused by Bree's action. He thought that she acts like Xael. Cute but both in different ways.
Hiro turned his head to distract himself for a bit and saw Kichi trying to eat again. He was eyeing the macaroons and was slowly picking up the dessert to make sure Hiro doesn't see him but alas, his efforts were in vain because Hiro hit Kichi again with the bone from the drumstick he just ate.
"Stop hitting me! You shall now suffer the wrath of a hungry pig!"
Hiro just stared at him with a poker face. Kichi was summoning his magic and a blue aura surrounded him and the furnitures, slowly levitating them both. They were gathering quite the attention for sure.
"Yeah, sure," Hiro said and turned around. He blindly tossed the bone behind him and walked away.
The bone landed on Kichi's head that made his summoning stop as he fell to the ground. I guess the bone hit a nerve. Literally. He laid by the ground and caressed his head.
"Oww. Im gonna get boils in the head with this."
Meanwhile, the royal family was getting ready for the opening ceremony of the said event.
-•-
Hiro's Point of View
"Ladies and Gentlemen. May I introduce you, the royal family," The fat guy (wearing ridiculous amount of make-up while wearing a squire's outfit) announced. Weird. He was holding a scroll too.
The audience applauded as respect to royalty.
"King Fendrel and Queen Serenity with the royal heir and scion, Princess Xael, with the Lady Solaris and The Grand Wizard Kichi, accompanying them."
The audience applauded again.Wow. The scroll had immense writings. Note the sarcasm.
The royal family walked by the big doors. I can see sparkles, honestly. Too much for effects.
The king and queen appeared first and behind them was Xael in a crimson red dress while wearing a ruby necklace.
Behind her, Lady Solaris—the queen's familiar—walked forward for she will have the opening statements.
I looked back at where Kichi was sitting. The boy, he didn't even know that an intro will happen. Lucky for me, I have a keen eye. I looked at the palace doors and saw him teleport at that very moment. Blue sparkles were the evidence that he was in a hurry.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. On behalf of the royal family and the kingdom, I would like to thank you for attending this special occasion. May the Goddess Selene bless us with great harvest so we can have abundance of food for every corner of the kingdom. The princess would like to thank you all for attending her 16th birthday. Please be free to use the remaining time of the feast. Let the dancing....comence," Solaris announced.
The music became louder and shifted to another piece of music that was suited for dancing.
I eyed Xael since I want her to dance with me but the Prince of Shinea offered a hand first and she accepted his offer. Now I don't have a partner.
I saw Kichi walking towards me so I grabbed his hand and went into the dance floor.
"W-what are you doing?" He stuttered
"We're gonna dance," I frankly stated.
"B-but why me?" He asked
"Because I don't know anybody else," I said flatly
"H-huh?"
This is gonna be a long night. I didn't respond anymore because the music started so I led him. He was kind of awkwarded and didn't know how to dance so he kept stepping on my foot.
"S-sorry," he would constantly say.
I scanned the room and looked for Xael. I couldn't easily find her so in the end my eyes wandered throughout the venue only to find Xael's weird lady-in-waiting. I guess her name was Dee? Pree?
I saw that she was grabbed by the man next to us to dance and I heard her screeched because I think she was surprised.
I looked at Xael again and saw her happily talking to the prince. She was also next to the servant.
Changing of partners happened so I spun Kichi and saw that he got paired with a big bulky man. He got kind of scared and ran and bumped into a short woman wearing red lipstick and had with brown hair. She asked him to dance so he accepted because he was probably too embarrassed to say no.
Meanwhile, got paired with the weird girl.
"Hi!" I said and smiled.
"H-hi. Sir Hiro," she stuttered. She was flushed so she looked at the ground. Why do people keep stuttering when around me?
"Keep your eyes on mine..." I said and held her chin up and meet with her eyes.
"...And prepare to dance." I said and smiled.
"O-okay" she shyly said.
I chuckled slightly and noticed that changing partners was close.
"Looks like I'm gonna spin you now. Until we meet again, Ms. Brielle"
"Y-you knew. Just call me Bree," she said and smiled.
I spun her around and kept my eye on her to make sure she doesn't take the wrong foot so I didn't notice my next partner. I stared at Bree as she danced with the big bulky man. She seems to be staring in thin air again.
"Ehem," I heard my partner cough. I looked at her and got shocked 'cause it was Xael.
"Bree seems to catch your eye" she said, in a matter-of-fact tone while smiling a little.
"Well, she is cute but I don't know, honestly."
Xael paused with what I said and stared at me. She was gonna say something when the fat guy announced that the feast shall now begin.
"Well. I guess this is the part where we split," I said.
I was gonna let go of her hand but she held it tighter.
"Okay," she said. She squeezed my hand for the last time and finally let go. She walked to their table, not looking at me.
I walked towards the table where Kichi was was talking to the girl he bumped with
"....yeah, and then I tripped" I heard him say. I guess they were talking about him tripping.
"Ahem," I coughed which gave me their attention.
"Oh, Hi onii-chan. I didn't see you there. Your timing is impeccable," he said.
"Who's your friend here?" I smiled and looked at the girl.
"Zuki, this is my onii-chan, Hiro Takishima. Onii-chan, this is Zuki" he said
I reached for her hand and told her my name, "Hiro."
"Mizuki," she said so I kissed her hand and we both sat down
"So anyway Zuki-chan, I am the grand wizard here in Furia. What about you?"
"I'm a local bartender in Cerulean and I— Oh, Why are you the grand wizard at such a young age?" she asked while sipping juice.
"The grand wizard before which is my father—Alexander Tanaka—died when I was a child and Furia wants to keep the Tanaka bloodline as the Grand Wizard. I even inherited my father's spell book," he said and summoned his spell book. He gave it to Mizuki and she examined every page with wonder and a little bit of hope in her eyes.
"Curse Reversion," she mumbled.
"Oh that spell? It's about—"
Before Kichi could continue talking, a crashing sound interrupted the whole palace.
That sound caught my attention so turned my head to where the crashing sound was and it was from Lady Solaris. Her eyes were glowing and a powerful force surrounded her like a force field and began talking,
"The sun will set and the moon will rise.
Hidden is the truth, Unleashed are all the lies.
The cursed shall meet the precious savior,
To do the chosen one's only favor.
A war is seen,
Death will win,
Taking down a sister's requiem."