"Zelenia!" Argus followed her on the way out. They were about to reach the Gate when he caught up to them.
"Argus?"
"In our next meeting, can you tell me more about priestesses? I mean, at least give me a little more information about my mother's life... I mean, her being a priestess before she met my father. In exchange, I will tell you some Elven stories if you are interested to hear them…."
"Ahem! Hmm, …" Fili coughs. But it wasn't a joke, and he was coughing when an apple clogged his throat. The prince raises his arms and shrugs both shoulders like asking, 'what is going on?' at Karas.
Zelenia raises her right hand, facing Fili; a blue light now surrounds Fili's neck… later on, he usually breathes.
"Ahem… thank you, milady," Fili thanked the priestess.
"You are welcome. A small thing that I can do. Well then, we have to go. I need to find out what kind of human can enter the barrier I put up, not getting lost on their way."
"Until then, milady." Karas and Fili put their right-hand level to their belly and bowed.
"We will meet again. Thank you for escorting our way out." Zelenia returned, nodding at the two elves.
Zelenia followed the trail leading to the gate. Luna returned inside her body to hide from the humans.
Now that the priestess had exited the realm, the three elves were taunting each other.
"What was that?" Argus confronted poor Fili. "I can't believe an apple choked an elf!"
"It happens! We are known to be immortal, but we have flaws too!"
"This is a joke." Argus mumbles.
"Hey! I'm not stealing your moment with the priestess!" said Fili with a grin. It sounded more like he was teasing the prince.
"And why is that? What moment with the priestess?" he raises a brow. "That is embarrassing! Don't dare to repeat it! I'm not making a moment with her! I—" he could not say that a priestess can not look for love, even though a priestess may fall in love one day; to be with that man has a price to pay, a great price. And still... there will be no happiness for the lovers.
"Whatever. Let's go..." Prince Argus changed the subject. "We have to gather flowers for my mother."
Hearing this, Karas and Fili keep silent and give the Prince a sad face.
"You can both stop it." Argus put his right hand to his chest. His mother gave up everything. He has no right to be angry at her for why she left him with no explanation to his father of why she will go. He should not be sad either now that he understands she died already. "I must be happy that I learned she was here with us. My mother paid a great price for my life and every life of this kingdom."
It gladdens him that his mother left something that will connect him to her until his last breath, 'I will look for the body of your Spirit Animal.'
Argus gazed lovingly at the pink tree. "Thank you, mother."
He tilted his head, remembering those years he was sad and lonely and would hide behind the tree... then a beautiful flower fell on him, filling him with warmth. His mother has always been there for all this time, comforting him whenever he felt down.
* * *
Zelenia came out of the Etherea Kingdom as the sunset and dusk slowly covered the entire mountain. Zelenia makes a hasty pace with a loud thud to her chest. She cannot teleport or fly or leap to the lodge when she has to avoid being caught by humans.
It surprised her that a mortal had overcome her magic barrier. Luna does not understand either, but she could sense a familiar aura from people she encountered in the city. Now she spotted a yellow sports car parked beside the SUV she rented. The vehicle belongs to…
Zelenia pushed the front door to open. "Janus? Aisha?" she called out to her children upon entering the lodge. She felt the familiars inside her children's bodies. 'Great, they hide quickly.'
"We're in the kitchen, mommy!"
That was Aisha. She rushed to the kitchen, and then her jaw dropped to the floor. What the heck?
Why are there three men in the kitchen?!
"Sister! You are back!"
One man runs toward her, but the other two quickly grab him by the shoulders.
"Let me go!"
"Who's your sister? I don't remember that Miss Zelena has a sibling in her data." said the guy with blond hair and blue eyes.
"Hey! Let me go! I don't care if you are her boss! This is my lodge! You guys are only sheltered out of my kindness!"
It overwhelms her, feeling a wolf, a lion, and a hawk present in the same room.
"What are you guys doing here? Mikael, you said this is your lodge?" asked the priestess in disbelief at how these two bosses of hers and Mikael had not been affected by the magic she put up. They should not be able to find the lodge.
"Sister, this beast is bullying me!" Mikael cried, pointing at Shane, although Manager Jang held him tight by the shoulder.
"I can buy your lodge even at triple its value," Shane boastfully quoted before letting go of Mikael.
"Even if you wanted to purchase it for five times its value, I wouldn't sell it to you!" Mikael firmly replies, sharply meeting Shane's gaze.
"It will be mine after I buy this entire land."
"I would not allow it!" Mikael snaps out, then grins."
"What is this all about?" Zelena sensed they were talking about something else.
"My grandfather requested me to meet someone from Smith Enterprise. It appears they were your boss, sister."
"Oh, so then? It means you are the one we were supposed to meet today if I came along?" She was requested to accompany Shane, but it turned out their destination was the same.
" I disapprove of their business proposal to me! Davis won't sell our lands!"
"Now that it is mentioned, the project you guys are working on is to buy the lands here?" asked Zelenia. Her gaze shifted between Manager Jang and Shane.
Zelenia received no reply from her two bosses, but Xanther gave her a loving glance and then turned his attention to the pot in the stove. 'What was that?' It lost her.
"They planned to put up a factory here, which I won't allow," Mikael replied to her query.
"You can't do this!" Zelenia yells at Shane. She remembers her children are here and witnessing a scene. Janus and Aisha have never seen her get angry or raise her voice.
"Sister, please scold your boss. He is out of his mind! This mountain has hidden treasures! We cannot destroy the forest here!"
Mikael has a point.
And she has to protect the peaceful life of the Elves living on this mountain. The Etherea Realm must not be harmed, and most of all, the evil energy sealed beneath this mountain should never awaken!!
"Vice President Smith, I cannot allow you to continue this project. These lands must remain unharmed."
"Do you realize that I am your boss, Miss Henderson?" Shane asked Zelenia with a sharp gaze. He was leaning on the sink beside Xanther, who continued to cook what he was preparing...
'Who is this guy? Let me out, Priestess. I will drown him in the lake!'
'It's all right, Luna. Let me deal with him.'
"Mr. Vice President, you are my boss, which is why I am advising you that this land is not suited for your project. If you allow me, I will find a perfect location, and all I need is your permission to do that."
"Sister, is this guy bullying you at work?" Mikael asked after witnessing Shane's arrogance.
'Yes, he is! I will freeze and throw him into the lake.' Luna continues mumbling. It annoys her how this human called Vice President Shane Smith orders the priestess around and wants everyone to bow to him.
"Ahem! Before we talk about business, we must finish making dinner. The kids must be hungry." Manager Jang reminded the adults, and he was right.
Zelenia looks at her kids with apologetic eyes. She should have done first, but these men had already raided the kitchen preparing dinner.
* * *
Extra Scene:
"Zelenia!" Prince Argus once again halted the priestess. "Um, when can you revisit the kingdom?" he asked.
"To be honest, we might visit the realm after I purchase a lodge here in Lake Aurora, and I have to look around for one available to purchase. Then I won't need to rent each time we come here often now."
"Splendid idea! Leave that to us!" Argus exclaimed. Excitement was displayed on his face.
"Hum? Do you know of a lodge for sale by humans in the neighborhood?"
"No. But we can build you one! It will be enclosed inside Etherea kingdom just beyond the lake, and you need not pay for it."
"And we would need to dig for gold to afford it, priestess." Luna reminds Zelenia.
"Then, nothing to worry about! Accept our gift!"
The elf prince handed a gold envelope which Luna took and scanned what was inside. "Priestess, look…"
Zelenia took the small piece of paper, which showed eight zeros after the ONE number. "What is this, Argus?"
It shocked her to read a hundred million US dollars on a check, and she wanted to ask if it was for real.
"It is our gift. Don't worry. It is from our Swiss Account, and no one will question you once the transfer is made."
"Really?" It astounded her, of course!
Are the elves now using a check and real money from gold and treasures? It amazed her how they were adapting to the modernization of the human way of living.
"Yeah. We realize it would l be hard to exchange gold every time we traveled to mortal towns and cities."
"I can understand that!" It impresses her, of course. "But it was too much! I can not accept this huge amount!" Zelenia refuses.
"Priestess, it will be no different if we were to dig a mountain of gold."
"No, Luna. You were thinking about many things." she shook her head. Her Familiar is genuinely stubborn.
"Yes! You can buy a mansion! You can buy a sports car and the latest SUV and move out of that rotten apartment building!"
"Oh…" she knew this was what Luna said to her.
In the end, Zelenia accepted the check.
"Then I will just tell everyone. I won a lottery?"