Listening quietly, Argus reacted to the conversation between his father and Zelenia.
"Oh, where is their father?" he mutters to himself but is heard by everyone, including their guest. Fili and Karas smack the prince's back. "What?" He exclaimed at his silly friends, who did not respect him but made fun of him instead.
"You spoke out loud, your highness," Fili whispers to him in their Elvish language.
"Ahem!" King Faeranduil clears his throat and shoots a piercing glare toward his son and friends. The king scolded Prince Argus with unspoken words… he understood what the King's glare meant.
"Now, milady. We wanted to invite you to a banquet, but I realized we don't offer the forbidden ingredient."
"Ah, it does not matter. Tea and fruits would do," she replied, then smiled. The king was talking about the salt in food.
"Well then, the next full moon is the great harvest, and we will prepare a—" The king paused as they felt six-magnitude seismic incidents.
"That's not a normal quake, is it?" asked Zelenia. She could sense a dark force somewhere in this mountain.
"It's Draken… the elder warrior sealed it inside the mountain five thousand years ago," Karas replied to the priestess' query.
"Oh. Is he a creature from Hell?"
"It is the Dark Elves' creation. A long time ago, they gathered all the negative energy on this planet, and Draken results from that evil force."
"Don't tell me my kind helped you seal it away?" Zelenia glanced at the king, who nodded.
"She helped us, yes. We won the war against the Dark Elves by her lending us a force to fight them. The Tree of Light and Life is what she left us before she disappeared."
"Hmm… but she did not disappear," Zelenia mumbles and falls into deep thought.
Prince Argus could not contain his silence any longer. He was overwhelmed with curiosity. "What do you mean by that, milady?" he asked.
Zelenia peered at the elf prince, then shifted her gaze to the King. She made a request. "Can I talk to you privately, King Faeranduil?"
The Grand Elf Warrior shakes his head at the king. He disagrees with the idea. But the king knew more than anyone that their guest would not harm him.
"All right. I want everyone to leave the hall."
"No. That is unnecessary. They can stay here where they can see us." Zelenia holds the king by his elbow and teleports them into a Gazebo under the Pink Tree.
"Oh. It has been five thousand years since the last time I teleported this way," the king smiled.
"Your majesty, Luna, will build a shield so no one will hear this conversation."
"All right. I trust you."
"As you trusted her?"
"Yes." the king curled a sad smile. He looks up at the tree. Every time he grew weary, he would visit the tree, calming him.
"Is she Argus' mother?"
"I… yes, she is. But she left after she gave birth to Argus." It broke his heart when she just left without saying goodbye. But if she had, he would have definitely begged her to stay. "So then, you knew?"
"She is a priestess like me. But to another part of the Celestial Universe. Also, only a priestess can give the seed of light and life, no one else."
"She never talked about her life. Now I know she was a priestess. So she continued her role as one?"
Zelenia shakes her head.
"Once a priestess comes to her end, a seed of light and life grows inside her heart and is given or planted in a special place to receive blessings and protection."
"Are you telling me that Zaphara is…"
Zelenia looks up and holds the trunk of the tree. She could feel the energy of a priestess.
"Until her last breath, she prayed for a wonderful life to those dear to her, you and Argus."
"Are you saying now that Zaphara is..." he wishes he was wrong.
"She did not leave you but has been watching over and protecting this land."
King Faeranduil knelt and cried. He reaches for a branch of the tree. "Zaphara…" the king flooded with emotions upon recalling those years he and Zaphara met... and were together for too short a time. Zaphara has been here all the time with them.
"Father!" Argus came to them when he noticed the king acted strangely. He wanted to know what they were discussing that made the king mourn. "What happened?" he asked the priestess.
"Argus, your mother, never left us." the king told his son.
"What are you saying now, father?" it confused the elf prince.
All his life, he grew up without a mother. He desires to find her one day. Although he received love from everyone in Etherea, it couldn't compare to the love he needed from his birth mother.
"She has been here all these thousands of years." The king looks up, and the tree sways from the soft wind playing through its branches. The pink leaves dance in the air as they fall.
"Please make me understand this, father," he doesn't want to guess the answer to this riddle.
"Her spirit remains with us," head down, the king cried silently.
Argus turns his head at Zelenia with a question in his eyes.
"Argus… a time comes when a priestess dies."
"What does it have to do with my mother? I have thought she's gone for a thousand years!" he snapped.
"Once a priestess gives birth, we give up our role and life."
"What do you mean by that? Did she die giving birth to me?" shocked, he is uncertain about what to feel now. "How about you? Why are you still alive!?"
Argus raises his voice and is about to grab Zelenia by the shoulder when Luna quickly brings out a tiny crescent blade.
"You have no right to touch the priestess. Most of all, no one may question her!" Luna roars at the prince. Her voice is threatening!
"Argus, calm down. We will not make an enemy among your mother's kind."
"But, father! I need to know! I need an explanation of the difference between my mother and her as a priestess!" the reason.
"All right then, hear me out. A priestess is not allowed to bind herself to love. She just stays at her sanctuary: praying and blessing guidance to all in need and keeping the world balanced, protecting all from the dark forces trying to enter and destroy all good… leaving only the void and darkness. It does not mean us to love someone, but your mother chose your life over hers. She knew what would happen to her, but she loved your father and violated the Sacred Decree of a Priestess. It was forbidden." Zelenia paused, then added.
"We should remain divine. As for me, I died after I gave birth to the twins. But from ashes, I live once again. Having the phoenix as my familiar brought me back to life."
Argus keeps his silence. It makes sense, but Zelenia keeps the secret about the twin's father, which intrigues him. She must love him to give up so much.
"My children do not know about this, and I have no plan to tell them now. They were young. Please don't mention it to them if we can visit Etherea soon," she requested.
"All right. We understood." the king replied, peering at his son.
"This makes you a half Celestial Deity and half-Elf… No wonder the spirit of the Bear is so mysteriously strong within you. Give me your hand."
Argus stretches out his arms. Zelenia closes her eyes while holding Argus's hands. The priestess entered the realm of Argus' heart in which a vast lake appeared like hers, a dwelling place of familiars inside their bodies.
"Her familiar is sealed away at the bottom of your heart. We have to look for it. And its original body must have been hidden by your mother. After we free your mother's familiar, it has to be reunited with its body."
"What are you saying?"
"Familiars may be a spirit in animal form, but they have their soul. If they become separated from their body and the host, they will turn into stone. Your mother knows this very well, so she keeps everything away before she loses a life. You need basic knowledge to forge the energy that sleeps within you. It will be easy as you are now five thousand years old, and you can be trained easily as you have already mastered combat."
Prince Argus blushes at the priestess's compliments. Yes, he will assume it was a compliment. Besides, he fought well and won a battle against the Dark Elves. "Can you teach me then? Like you train the twins?"
"Yes. I have to train you along with the twins, and you can watch how to be one with familiars," Zelenia ponders. It was a fascinating fate, and this was someone the twins could practice with in combat. Aside from her, Argus can help tremendously. The priestess displays a satisfying grin.
"Then, do we begin tomorrow?" Prince Argus asked eagerly. He wanted to know more about familiars and Spirit Animals and this forging magic into something.
Before she replied, Zelenia glanced at the elf king. She could tell King Faeranduil wanted to observe the death of the woman he loved. "I guess your father has an important event he will hold tomorrow."
"I want to give a proper funeral for your mother, Argus. We always celebrate the festival of harvest and offer it to the tree, not knowing it is your mothers' life."
"I understand, father... My mother deserves to be remembered," he agreed. Training can wait. Argus turns his attention back to the priestess and notices she seems restless. "What is it?"
"I can feel humans coming toward the lodge," she responded, keeping her eyes closed.
"But you put a magic barrier in place, right?"
"Yes. Humans should lose their way upon entering the magic barrier that leads them far from here, and this one has not lost its way. I am sorry, King Faeranduil, Prince Argus. I need to go back to the lodge now."
"We understand. You may leave now. Thank you for your visit, Priestess Zelenia. I would have never known about Zaphara and would never have had a chance to give her the funeral she deserves." King Faeranduil thanked the priestess.