Chapter 8
Journey
"Come on, gramps. Food isn't going to serve itself"
Third Person's Point of View
It's been hours since they departed from the castle. Kichi was dying of boredom because he wasn't used to a trip where he had no one to talk to since Hiro was outside maneuvering the carriage. Kichi just layed inside while suffering from motion sickness. Besides silence, he was also not used to vehicles moving. He seems to think that this journey is hell since this is his first time riding a carriage without doing nothing with a few more hours before they reach their destination.
His head kept spinning as he was getting dizzy while anticipating to hurl. His stomach grumbled and he could feel stomach acids rising to his throat like a lump of bitterness wanting to get out of his mouth. He tried to hold back from vomiting but figured it was impossible so he opened the door of the carriage even if it was still moving. He could've just puked by the window but no. He decided to jump off the carriage, vomit, and lay by the ground since he couldn't stand up very well because he was feeling woozy.
Hiro felt that something fell off of the carriage so he called Kichi to look outside if something slipped from behind. He received no response however except a groan. He looked back to check what happened and saw that Kichi was on the ground with a puddle of vomit beside him. Hiro sighed in disbelief and stopped the carriage to make sure Kichi's okay. He wondered why the queen appointed such a troublesome companion for him.
"W-wait f-for me!" Kichi shouted with a fainting voice while trying to frantically wave his hands to signal Hiro.
While the young knight was busy fixing the situation, Xael's (who was still in the shape of a horse) feet were getting numb from galloping. She couldn't keep up that much since she didn't get much sleep and she forgot to have breakfast. She was sweating (mentally sweating since it is biologically impossible for a horse to sweat) from this tiresome journey and mentally complained of how long she's going to keep this little act. She could almost scream in relief when Hiro stopped the carriage to mend Kichi's situation and ultimately collapsed on the grass side of the road which the other horses also did to take a rest.
When Hiro analyzed Kichi's situation, he just laughed in disbelief with Kichi's antics. He offered a hand to him and before Kichi could even grab his hand, they were both startled by a loud scream.
"HHHIIIMMMEEE!!"
Both of the two men turned to where it was coming from and realized that it was getting louder and closer until they saw a female figure. It was oddly familiar to the both of them.
"Is that Br--"
Hiro couldn't finish his question when the girl tripped from a rock. He tried to catch the woman but it was too late and she fell face-flat on a mud puddle. She was lucky enough that it wasn't from Kichi's puddle of vomit.
Hiro's instincts were first to react and tried to help her stand up. He immediately ran to the carriage after helping her to grab a clean cloth to wipe the mud off.
"Here. Use this," he said and offered the cloth. She hesitantly accepted it but he assured that it was clean. She just shrugged it off then proceeded to wipe the mud off of her skin
"Are you okay, Bree?" Hiro asked because he could see her knitting her eyebrows. She answered him with a sigh and told him that everything's fine.
"Why are you here, by the way?" Hiro asked.
"I have come here to tell you about hime's disappearance," she said in a flat tone.
"Xael? Why? What happened to her?"
"Well...I was supposed to wake her up so I can prepare her for the day. On the way to her room, I decided to glance outside a window not because I wanted to see you."
"So you wanted to see me?" Hiro asked with a cheeky grin.
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Now pay attention. I saw Kichi levitating some cases and you talking to the castle's hostler—the usual stuff. What was unusual is I saw hime beside the carriage acting a little bit weird while carrying a case. She tried to put it on the back of the carriage but panicked when Kichi was getting close to where she was. Right before Kichi could see her, she transformed into one of the horses. I thought I was getting delusional since I haven't had enough sleep but when I checked up on her room, she wasn't there. So I ran down the staircase to tell it to you guys but you two were already gone," she explained without breathing.
"So you came all this way to tell us that one of the horses is Xael?" Hiro asked with one of his eyebrows raised.
"Yep."
"Why didn't you just inform the queen?" Kichi butted in.
Bree raised her forefinger and opened her mouth to prepare to explain but realized that she got nothing.
"I..I obviously didn't think this through. I panicked, okay?"
Hiro turned his head and walked to the sleeping horses and tried to figure out who was Xael. One of the horses looked at him so he concluded that it was her but it ate grass. He had second thoughts of which was which because they all looked the same so he decided to bribe her out.
"Xael. I know that you're one of these horses. Reveal yourself now, young lady. I won't tell the queen about what you did but you shouldn't have been doing these reckless things," he said while staring at them intently one by one.
Silence. None of the horses answered him. If random people walked by, he thought that they would think that he is cuckoo.
Hiro sighed when she didn't respond so he just continued to talk.
"Okay, if you're not going to talk, at least transform back into a human so you can take a rest inside the carriage. I know it's been tiring for you," he requested but still no response. He was about to give up when one of the horses suddenly glowed and transformed into Xael.
"Ok, you found me," she said without looking at him.
"Hime!" Bree yelled and immediately ran up to her. She instantly hugged her and began crying because she thought that she lost her so Xael tried to comfort her.
Hiro let the two women have their moment and walked back to Kichi who was still on the ground while looking at the sky. He looked at the time and it was already noon. His stomach began growling which was followed by three other more.
"Uhh, I think I'm pretty hungry now," Xael said to break the awkwardness.
"I think I need something to bite as well," Bree agreed.
"Hey Hiro! Let's eat! I'm kinda hungry myself too," Kichi followed.
Since Hiro was also hungry, he walked to the back of the carriage to get something to eat. He was searching for the basket that the maids packed for them which had food in it but all he could find were clothing, money and the compass. He realized that he instructed Kichi to bring the basket with their food from the kitchen before heading out of the castle.
"Did you bring the basket with food that I specifically instructed you to bring?" he asked as Kichi went towards him.
"Basket with food? Yeah I put it..over ...here..oh it's not here. I guess I left it somehow... Oh it was in kitchen..."
"Why...did you...forget it?" Hiro said and tried not to shout at him.
"S-sorry it won't happen again!" Kichi cried.
"Of course it won't happen again 'cause we're already FAR FROM THE KINGDOM, you ding dong!"
"I'm truly sorry," he cried.
-•-
Hiro's Point of View
Our stomachs kept growling while on the road because we haven't eaten for 5 hours. The sun was setting and it was slowly getting dark but the nearest town is still a kilometer away. The two women are inside. Bree is still in a good condition but I could tell that she'll black out any time soon. Xael slept away her hunger so I think she can still bear the pain. Kichi, on the other hand, is outside beside me and he looked like he was dead. We didn't let him inside because he might throw up again. He was sleeping beside me with his eyes up and mouth open and flies swarming him because he had puke on his clothes. I feel like I'm with a dead body, to be honest.
The sun finally set and we're still a quarter of a kilometer away from the nearest town. I decided to call it a day and make a nice campsite to spend the night. I shook Kichi to make him help me prepare for the night but he didn't move so I assumed he was dead. I stepped down from the perch and knocked on the carriage door which was opened by Bree.
"Girls, I think this is where we'll spend the night. I know we haven't eaten so I'll hunt for food from the nearby forest. Bree can you wake Kichi up so he can help you build fire?" I asked which she agreed upon.
"Alright, I'll be back," I assured both of them.
"What about me?" Xael asked.
"You've done enough trouble for today. You stay here," I scolded which made her groan.
"Don't tell me what to do. I'm not a kid and you're not my Mom. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not," she stubbornly said. She headed out of the carriage and walked towards the forest.
"Come on, gramps. Food isn't going to serve itself," she teased. I just sighed with her hard-headedness and followed her to hunt for food.
-•-
"I beg your pardon?"
"T-the princess was seen by a local merchandiser in our kingdom beside the forest accompanied by Sir Hiro and Kichi, h-heika," a knight reported with his head shooked.
"And the report also suggests that they have been accompanied by one more person, your imperial highness," said another.
The queen kept her composure at what they had said. She kept a calm and emotionless face as she slowly balled her fists which she hid under her royal cloak.
"Thank you for your report. You may now go," the king dismissed and grabbed Serenity's hand to calm her down. She forced herself to smile even if she could feel herself collapsing any time soon with her nails digging the skin of her palm.
The two knights placed their hand on their chests and bowed as they left the room. She could feel herself weakening upon the realization that she really can't stop the inevitable.
"It's happening, dear. It already started. This war can't be avoided and you know that. You need to talk to her," Fendrel said as he wrapped his arms on her waist from behind and kissed her temple to ease the tension.
"I just...I don't want to lose our daughter. I don't want to lose another person that I love. I-I can't live like this. I can't let it happen again. I-I need to find a way and save her. I—"
Serenity couldn't continue to talk anymore because she could feel a huge lump in her throat as tears began spilling from her eyes. Fendrel made her face him as he wiped her tears using his thumb.
"I know. It wasn't your fault. It's okay. Our daughter isn't fragile. She can handle this. Trust me," he said and hugged her.
"Thank the Goddess Selene for giving me a husband like you," she said and placed her forehead on his which made him chuckle.
"Talk to her," he advised and kissed her forehead. Serenity sighed and held his hands that were placed on his cheeks.
"Okay," she said and closed her eyes.
-•-
"Let's talk," Serenity uttered to the woman in front of her that was looking at the moon which didn't give her much attention.
"Sol. Let's talk," she repeated but with much more force. Solaris just glanced at her and continued looking at the sky.
Serenity didn't wait for her response and just sighed.
"She's with them and they would be near Cerulean by now. I know you gave them the compass so it wouldn't be long until they meet Maggie and Rae," she continued and glanced up fixing her eyes to the moon. Solaris still did not respond which made her anxious. For a full 5 minutes, all she could hear were the sound that the crickets were making and the whispers of the wind as they tango with the trees. Solaris didn't move by her side and neither did talk. She just stood there with her eyes locked up to the beauty of the full moon.
Serenity couldn't stand her silence anymore so she decided to break it.
"Do you...remember when we were kids? Alex and I always pulled you to play with us but you always said no. I always wondered if you hated me when we were little. But I erased that thought when you gave me this," she said and pulled out a small rag doll from her pockets which made Solaris glance to her side.
"I...I thought you gave it to Xael when she was a baby," Solaris said which made Serenity chuckle.
"I gave it to her because this was the only thing that kept her from crying," she said and smiled with a hint of nostalgia.
"I'm sorry...about what happened during the meeting," Solaris said and half-smiled.
"I'm sorry for reacting that way. I thought I was finally prepared for this day but turns out I still wasn't. So now...what will we do?" Serenity asked.
"We wait."