After left alone, Niken's feet went limp and now sitting down. She hugged her knees in her arms, recalling a name.
Richard.
What a weird name. But the last person she was seeing was, in fact, her older brother. The brother that she loved so much even though the brother liked to tease her.
But something was strange.
It has been twelve years since that night, why was her brother's face still the same as twelve years ago? As if his brother was not aging at all. And why did his name become Richard? Moreover, why was she called Niken? What exactly happened?
Niken held her head with both hands, which began to hurt.
"Somebody, please help me," she whispered by continuing to hold her head while screaming in pain.
'Aaaa! Please!'
Niken gasped. That voice again.
'No! Save me!'
'Please, stop!'
'Aaaaaa!!!'
Lately, she often heard the screams coming from different people. Niken didn't know where the sound came from or how she could listen to it.
For years she had been trapped in this dark place. No matter how hard she called someone, no one would give a response. No matter how far she kept going, she could not find a way out of the darkness.
She couldn't hear any voice either aside from her voice. Sometimes she would act like a crazy person who was talking to herself. Laughing alone or even screaming like an insane person. She felt the pressure of her soul was too much. She couldn't run nor ask for help.
She was alone.
She was left alone.
But at certain times, sometimes she could feel the warmth throughout her body. It's as if someone was hugging her. She felt very familiar with the hug—a hug from her brother. Yet no matter how much she called her brother, he never appeared before her.
Last month, not only did she hear screams from people, but she also felt that there was alien energy entering her body. She felt something was scratching her barrier. It was not hurting her, but it was relentlessly scratching it as if it wanted her attention.
The noise was quite annoying her to the point she felt like to destroy something. Lucky for the source of scratching sound, she was too lazy to investigate it.
Next, she felt another alien energy forcing its way to enter this place. That was the purple knight who she kicked out earlier.
Listening to her, seeing her beloved brother, for some reason, she felt the urge to get out of this gloomy darkness.
However, when she heard the screams, she became afraid once more. Somehow she got to know who was screaming for help. They were all time-controllers, her people.
How cowardly she was. She was a royal princess. She was their protector, yet she was afraid to come out.
She remembered that night when the Elementalists hunted them. She saw her brother's bleeding a lot. She saw with her own eyes; her brother died in her arm. She didn't even know whether her parents still alive or not. But when she saw his brother was dying, she knew she had been left alone.
If she came out right now, would the pursuers target her? Would she be killed this time? Seeing his brother was alive despite his unchanging appearance, she felt relieved. At least her brother could alive and stay healthy.
Even if her brother protected her with his life, she wouldn't come out. She didn't want to let someone die because of her. It's better here. She didn't care if her body was dying or not, at least she would not feel the pain. She wouldn't let people around her sacrifice their lives to a scaredy-cat like her.
After being convinced of her decision, Niken laid down and closed her eyes.
'When will you stop hiding?'
Niken rouse right away, hearing that voice. She shed a tear seeing a face that she familiar amidst her long memory.
"It's been a while, Princess Xiao Yue." greeted that person with a warm smile.
Without wasting time, she approached the person and clung to him.
"Uncle... Uncle Ling Duan! Where were you? Why did you leave me alone? Big brother Yang, he..."
Uncle Ling Duan patted Niken - Princess Xiao Yue's back gently. "Yue'er, Yue'er. I know you were suffering all this time. But if you choose to stay here, what would your parents say? There's no denying it; they would be sad if they knew you gave up this easily."
Xiao Yue stopped crying and bowed her head. "Why? Why did you just show up now? Do you know I'm alone in here? Do you know that I almost went crazy? Do you know that I cry every night since I don't eat or drink and want to die quickly, I never die? Do you understand the feeling I'm feeling right now?"
"I understand. I'm sorry I could not come earlier. I'm afraid they will track you down if I come here. But now it's different. All the energy of the time-controllers has completely moved into your body. You're getting stronger now."
They? Who are they? Were they the bad Elementalist who ambushed their island?
"What do you mean, uncle?" rather than curious of someone who wanted to track her down, Xiao Yue was confused at the last sentence.
Uncle Ling Duan let out a heavy sigh before finally continuing, "They took all the energy of the time-controllers. That makes you are the ultimate time-controller in this world. Not only that, but you also inherited the power of your mother. You are the Time Master, young highness. I've been waiting for your awakening."
"Wh.. What? So all this time, you let those evil guys killed our people?" Xiao Yue asked in disbelief. "How could you?"
"It's not like that. I had no power to protect all time-controllers as they are everywhere. I didn't know they would hunt weak time-controller. Even if I knew, what power do I have? Princess Xiao Yue, please empathize with me."
Xiao Yue clenched her fist while biting her lips in frustration. "Then.. what should I do?"