"You don't have to worry too much about the prince, my granddaughter will take good care of him." Granny smiled as she walked towards me.
"What do you mean by 'taking good care of him'?"
"The prince won't be able to move until tomorrow morning and he has been in that amour of his for the entire day, has he not? My granddaughter will wash him."
"But they've only met not long ago…"
"Yes. But it's fate that they would meet and it is also fate that they would be together. You just sped up the process."
"Wait… what do you mean by 'sped up the process'?"
"By meeting you of course. Ever since you walked into my shop, I've sensed a great power from you. Like a power that could change someone's fate maybe? I think you've already change many people's fates, including the prince and ours."
"I-I," before I could say anything more, granny gave her two sense before we went in search of my student and his girlfriend.
"What has happened is the consequence of previous actions, whether the action was good or bad, the outcome will always be uncertain. Your life right now has the power to change many people's fate. My granddaughter hasn't stop talking about the prince ever since you two left my shop. I may have taught my daughter everything about our tribe, taught her how to work for herself, how to defend herself as one of the last remaining descendants of our tribe. I could teach her everything but two things. That is love and the other, her future and who she will become. She has found the first and now she will slowly pave her way for the second. I'm happy for her and the prince, they have found their stride, I'm just an old granny, looking out for her grandchildren. It's getting late and I'm getting hungry, let's find that couple of yours and see about this disease."
I couldn't say anything after hearing her speech. She thought of Marlos as her grandchild even though their worlds for the longest time are far apart. Her love for tribe, her love for her granddaughter is awe-inspiring.
As we walked, we walked in silence. In the silence, I rearranged my thoughts, but my mind was never organised. It will always be sidetracked.
"That snow flower, by Marlos's mother's statue, do you think we can use it to save Rona?" My otaku self asked.
"What do you mean by that?" My logical self questioned in an accusatory tone.
"What I mean is that when the time comes, we can ask Marlos if we could borrow a pedal from the snow flower to save Rona…"
"First of all, borrow? We can't borrow something that will be getting destroyed and turned into medicine and how do think we going to repay him? What could we give back that would be equivalent to the snow flower? And second of all, that's a flower from his mother! It's the last living memory of her and it wouldn't feel right if we do something that may damage that."
"What are you suggesting then, to go to the mountains and get the flower?"
"Well let's not dwell on it now, let's see what granny tells us about the condition Rona is in before we think of what we need to do next."
"Fine… anyways, do you think Daloris means snow flower?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Out of everything we been told of them, that they are bound by nature and that they are also all about the snow flower. It's magical and it seemed like their tribe are like the gate keepers of the flower. Like they are the guardians that protects it."
"Well then, why don't we ask her to find out?"
I looked to granny who walked at her own pace and I was trying my hardest to walk beside her. She seemed to be in her own world.
"Hey granny, I was wondering if… if Daloris means snow flower?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head.
"Why yes dear. Many people call us the snow flower tribe or the tribe of the snow flower." Granny said with pride.
"And what about the queen's last name?"
"Ralmia's last name? Oh… that is actually her title. We don't actually have a last name. Her full title is Ralmia chief's daughter of the Daloris. Our 'last name', is what tribe we are in, it to distinguish us from all other tribes."
"I see…"
"And if your thinking about using the snow flower at Ralmia's grave, I wouldn't. That flower has lost most of it's magical properties. To save your friend, I advise you to head to our homeland to get the flower at it's most bloomed. But to know when we should start our journey to the mountains, we must first see if the cycle has started or is still in the incubation stage."
"Incubation stage? And why did you say 'we' and 'our journey'?"
"The name speaks for itself. It's the stage before the first cycle where the disease lies dormant and is slowly growing. After that will be the first cycle, where the disease starts to do some damage. The first cycle is where we apply the cure, not in the incubation stage because there will be nothing to cure and not in the second cycle as that will be too late. The first cycle last for a whole year, so we must give her that cure within that timeframe. And as for 'we', I'm also coming with and before you disagree, I'm the only one who can get you the flower. Our tribe guards the flower, so there are magical barriers all around the fields where the flower grows. You will never find them without me. That and there are also snow storms that are impossible for anyone other than our tribe to pass through safely."
"I see."
"No, not see. I want you to understand, the journey to my homeland is perilous and it has to be, to safeguard one of the most rarest, the most beautiful and the most powerful flower in the world."
"I understand," and I also nodded to show emphasis that I really do. As we approached the courtyard, I spotted the couple walking together from the training grounds and are heading towards us.
"Oh! There they are." I pointed so granny could see where the couple is.
I waved to them and they waved back, I gestured for them to come over.
"Hey sir." Rex greeted when they arrived.
"Hey, Rex's teacher!"
"Uh… you can call me Ryan. Rex's teacher sounds way too distant."
"Okay." She gave me a warm smile.
I turned my head to granny.
But before I could introduce them to granny, granny had rushed over to Rona.
Granny took Rona's hand and started to poke at it.
"Do you feel any pain when I do this? Do you have any numbness on your fingertips?" Granny asked seriously.
"Uhm? Ryan? Who is this?"
"Oh she's an acquaintance with the prince. Her granddaughter is with him right now. But can you do me a favour and answer her questions? It's important."
"Okay sure… I feel you poking me but no pain and I don't have any numbness on my fingertips."
"Good. Good. Have you had any cuts recently that seems to take a bit longer time to heal?"
"I uh… yes? I think so. This cut right here."
Rona showed granny the cut on her forearm. It looked like a cut that was half way healed. There was a bit of redness on the wound where the new skin started to form over the wound.
"How long ago was this cut?"
"A month."
My jaw dropped. A month? That's a very long time, most cuts takes only about a couple of days to heal, deeper ones takes longer.
"That's a very long time… here, let me help you." Granny waved her hand over her wound and the cut slowly faded away. "There all better?"
"Yes. Thank you. Uhm how do I address you?"
"Oh you can just call me granny."
"Okay thank you granny but may I ask what is all this about?"
"Before I answer that, one last question do you feel yourself sometimes either on fire or shiver like it's winter season?"
"I used feel like I'm on fire but lately coldness."
"I see. Miss Rona, are you aware that you have the heart disease known as Dryaonia?"
"I-I no? I have a heart disease?"
"Yes. From all the answers you've given me, the disease is still very early on in the incubation stage. You still have 5 years before it reaches the first cycle. We still have plenty of time to get the cure thankfully."
"I don't understand… am I going to die?"
"Not unless we get the cure and we can't use it until we are in your first cycle. The effect of the cure won't work in the incubation stage and it will fail to work in the second stage."
"How many stages are there?" Rona asked on the verge of crying.
"Five. The first is the incubation stage, then the first stage, second stage, third stage and the last stage is…"
"Is?"
Everyone looked at each other when granny hasn't said anything for a minute.
"Granny?" I asked in concern. What could be the last stage be?
"The reason why I asked you the final question was because of the last stage. The last stage is how you will die, either your heart will be consumed by fire or turned to ice. Whatever element you felt last will be the way you will die. Right now, you said you felt coldness than at this moment in time we can only assume your heart will freeze."
"I-I…" Rona was in complete shock. "How did I even get this disease?"
"It's bloodline related."
"Bloodline?"
"To be specific, you must be a descendant of one the ancient dragon clans. I don't know much about them but I do know that they once ruled these lands, there are five of them and each clan specialised in a particular element."
"This is a lot to take in…" Rona looked down and her right hand was fiddling with the pommel of her sword.
Rex who was holding on to her other hand, pulled her into a hug. It still amazes me how big Rex really is. Rona by no means a small girl, she's is quite tall and she is also wearing amour but even then when Rex wrapped his arms around her, she was encased by him. Rona snuggled into his embrace before looking up and kissed his chin. Rex looked down to her but then looked at me.
I could see the fear in his eyes.
"Don't worry Rona." I said and Rona turned her head to look at me with tears in her eyes. "You're not going to die, we will get the cure."
"Do you know where the cure is?"
I was about to say where it was but granny beat me to it.
"It's a flower known as the snow flower and it is located up in the snowy mountains, but you can not find the flower without a guide from the tribe that guards it. I am the last living member of the tribe who knows how to get to the flower."
"I see.." Rona said, still buried in Rex's embrace. "What will happen to me in the first cycle? I could come along, so when we get the flower, we can administer the cure on the spot."
"You'll be severely weakened. It would be impossible for you to make the journey. What's worse is that the cold climate of the snowy mountains might accelerate the growth of the disease. It's best to not take the chance."
"I'll go." Rex said with a stern and forceful tone.
"How long is the journey and how long can the snow be kept out of it's environment for before it loses power?" I asked.
"Depends on how we're getting there. If you have a mage who can perform high level of portal magic then a week. If we were to go on horseback, three months. On foot, half a year. That's going there and back. As for how long, a few years."
That's actually pretty good in all things considered. High level portal magic? Hmm, I guess we do need Faron on our side more now than I initially thought… that'll be a hard task… on the bright side, we can get the flower a lot sooner.
"Sir, what do you think, how should we get there? I'm not very good with motion…" Rex admitted.
I guess Rex has motion sickness which means horseback is out. And I know going on foot takes too much time. I guess portal magic it is or… if I figure out another form of transport. Hmm… I need to think about this a bit more.
"Let me think on that for a while. I'll come up with something and we'll go from there. In the meantime, I'm starving, haven't eaten all day."
"Hey sir."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Thank you." Rona echoed as she thumped her chest with one hand, her other is with Rex.
I felt my mouth twitch into a smile at that. I'm happy for Rex, he has found someone truly special.
"No worries."
As we walked to the great hall, granny leaned over and whispered something to me. My eyes widened at her words.
"What you're thinking is correct. Faron does indeed know how to use portal magic."