Kryva sighed as she closed the scroll.
She had retaken the scrolls her and Kirva had hidden in the library. In their haste to hide them away, they did not place them in their original shelves. She hadn't been able to get through all of them the previous day, so she had retrieved them to continue to further her knowledge of her family's magic.
Not much have come from it. Despite the scrolls being from a more secretive part of the library, there was little to none extra information compared to other scrolls within the library.
She pressed her fingers against her temple, wondering what was the point of having several different scrolls if there was no difference between the actual scrolls.
She sighed as she left the scroll on the table, knowing her brother will put it away in the rightful place.
Her single red eye glared at the flames that lit up the tip of the torches that illuminated the rather dark room.
She let out a third sigh as she pushed back in her chair, the sound of wood against wood causing her to wince.
Kryva closed the door, and quickly retreated back to her room. Studying the hundred of letters etched onto the parchment had tired her mind, filling her with exhaustion. She pressed her fingers against the side of her head as she felt another wave of pain, almost akin to a nail being hammered into her skull.
It had started since a couple hours ago, when her mother abruptly left the room after she had told Lord Pellemeur that Houvdon Archelio, the prized son of the Archelio family and the next potential noble on the Council, hated the Sun.
Was it even possible to hate something that gave life?
From what Kryva knew, the Greater Beings were the omnipotent, capable of giving life to anything and everything. Their very existence was due to the kindness of the Greater Beings, keeping the world of Phantasma alive so they can live.
How does one try to curse something that can literally curse you?
The Prince of Etherstorm was an enigma. To have the nerve to hate the very thing that gave life to his ancestors.
She rubbed her head as another wave of pain hit her, this time greater than it once was.
It eroded all of her concentration, causing her body to shiver as she pressed her hand against the wall to steady herself.
"My Lady, are you alright?"
A servant had stopped to tend to her.
"Y-yes." She murmured. "I should be fine. Thank you for your concern."
She waved him off, and he bowed to her. He left her reluctantly, with Kryva waiting for his footsteps to fade from her hearing before continuing her slow journey back to her room.
The pain cleared slightly, allowing her to head to her destination with only a grimace. It was far more tame compared to when she gritted her teeth to brace herself against the pain.
After what felt like an eternity, she finally arrived at her door. She pushed it to the side and hastily stepped in. She quickly closed it behind her and leaned against it, pressing her weight against the wood.
She closed her eyes softly, her vision blurring.
What was it to cause these strange symptoms? She had never had a problem with using her magic before.
She wondered if it was related to her status. She now had the blessing, or rather, curse of the Greater Beings, personally selected by them to save Phantasma from its catastrophic fate. Was the side affect of being such a figure the pain that was threatening to overcome her consciousness?
It had only been a day since she had gained the purple eye in place of her original red. Henceforth, she would dub it the Eye of Delusion.
The pain in her head was subdued, and she walked into the bathroom connected to her room. The first thing she did when she entered was look in the mirror.
Staring back at her was a pained and tired face with a quarter of their face covered with a white cloth. Her black and red hair was unkempt from her lack of care for her appearance for the last day.
She unwrapped the cloth wrapped around her head, revealing the mismatched eye. The Eye of Delusion stared back at her, almost mocking her fate as one of the "chosen."
She was beginning to understand Houvdon's hate for the Greater Being known as the Sun. How can one be so proud to be "chosen" if they were essentially being sent to their death in an attempt to save the world?
Six more weeks until she would have to go to the Temple of Delusion and meet up with the other quest members.
She knew one of them was to be Houvdon's friend. But who knows how many others were there?
Kryva touched the mirror with her fingers, the tips of her reflection's fingers meeting hers.
Fire burst from her pointing finger, the flame also appearing in the reflection. Despite the red-orange flame being held against the glass, the mirror did not melt.
She shook her head, calming herself. She extinguished the flame with a single thought and pulled her finger away. She looked downwards at the faucet and turned the tap, watching as the water pour out and splash into the sink.
She cupped her hands together, gathering the water in the bowl formed by her hands. She pressed it against her face, the water leaking out of the gap between her chin and hands. When she pulled her hands from her face, she looked at her wet face in the mirror, looking just as tired as she was moments ago.
She gave out a frustrated sigh. She turned away from the mirror and stripped of her clothing. She stood naked in the bathroom looking at her figure in the mirror before turning on the water for the bath.
It was what she usually did to relax herself. Her baths always had a calming effect. She let herself sink into the warm water after waiting a couple of minute for the tub to fill to the top.
Water rose from her added weight, some of it exiting the tub and pooling around the base of the tub.
She pressed the back of her head against the wall, her breasts floating upwards to the top of the water.
She closed her red and purple heterochromia eyes, letting the exhaustion and pain in her head consume her consciousness.
-----
"𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬."
"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦."
"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮!"
-----
Kryva shot out of the water, panting. Water splashed out of the tub and wet the floor.
She breathed heavily, attempting to catch her breath. She pressed her palm against her forehead, gritting her teeth.
What was that she just saw?
She blinked, her breathing slowing yet still quick as she fumbled with her thoughts. She shivered, despite being in the warm bath water, as a cold feeling swept through her body.
First she had woken up crying to a long dream she never wanted to end, and now she felt a feeling of terror she had never felt before.
What were these things she was sensing? It had started ever since the banquet where she had met Houvdon Archelio.
Do you know if he is in any way, related to the Greater Beings?
Kirva's words rang in her mind as she pondered over the strange and mysterious male.
A mage only a year older than her was the next candidate to have a seat on the Council of Nobles. Perhaps there was some truth to Kirva's speculation of Houvdon being related to the Greater Beings.
She sighed as she picked herself up from the tub. Excess water dripped off of her as she wrapped herself in a small towel, barely covering up her body. The towel only covered just below her buttocks, Kryva having trouble wrapping the towel around her completely.
Droplets of water created a trail behind her as she walked out of her bathroom.
"Finally done?"
Sitting on her bed was the male that was just on her mind, his eyes closed in concentration. Swords made of white light surrounded him in a loose semi-circle, levitating high enough so their blades ended around the middle of his back.
Her jaw dropped at the absurdity of his presence within her room.
"Are you not going to answer?" He opened his amber eyes to glance at her.
She felt her face grow warm as he examined her body, not caring in the slightest of her embarrassment. He blinked in realization as his eyes shot back up to her face. The swords of light that hovered around him shattered like glass as his concentration dropped.
She let out a scream just as he turned away from her.
-----
"T-tell me why you are here."
She was dressed in her sleepwear, a light thin red nightgown. She hid underneath her blankets as she pressed herself against the headboard of her bed. Her pillows cushioned her tailbone as she leaned against the hard wood.
The Prince of Etherstorm paced her room, already seemingly forgetting that he had just about seen her naked body. While she had covered her most important parts with a towel, he was still able to get a glimpse of her legs and breasts.
Why had he decided to come now of all times? How did he even get into her room? Nobody was allowed into her room unless given explicit permission from she herself.
He was the first man to have ever seen her body, and this was only the third time they had even seen each other.
Her face flushed as she remembered that he had actually looked at her, his eyes raking up and down her body as she stood in shock.
Her life wasn't one of those romance novels she had read in passing!
"Something's happening." He muttered, breaking her out of her flustered thoughts.
She cocked her head in confusion as he paused. He clenched his fist before elaborating. "I have seen the nature is different from how it usually is. Owls are not supposed to be active at day. I saw multiple while I was riding back to my manor."
He locked his eyes with hers, holding her gaze, almost as if challenging her to debunk his words. When he saw that she was silent, he continued. "This isn't good. I don't know if this strange behavior by the animals is connected with the change in the weather, our world slowly imploding on itself."
"What makes you think these aren't just unusual owls?"
Houvdon shook his head. "I don't think so. I can't explain it but it just isn't right. It's out of place, it shouldn't belong, but it does. Surely you have felt the feeling I am referring to?"
She nodded, thinking about to the time of her mother reacting to the mention of the Being of Sun. "Yeah...I understand what you are talking about." She covered her face with her hands, keeping the blanket up to her chest with her elbows. "But there isn't anything we can do."
"There isn't?" He gave her a side glance, his amber eyes full of frustration. "You mean you are just going to let the Greater Beings play out what they wish?"
She sighed as she patted the bed next to her.
He gave her a deep look before seating himself where she touched on the bed. She extended her hand and cupped his cheek. She leaned in and murmured to him, "There isn't anything we can do. We can't stand up to them even if we wanted to. We can only wait to see what the Greater Beings wish to do. Only then can we determine what we can do."
She pulled her hand away and looked away from him, choosing to look outside the window. The sun lit up the sky, the time only being about an hour so before the sun would set.
She stole a glance at him to see him pondering in thought.
She didn't know why he was thinking so hard over her words. She had only meant that no matter how hard they tried, they would still be unable to predict the Greater Beings' intentions.
Her mind drifted back to the strange vision she had while she was bathing.
What was that she had witnessed?
Her thoughts were broken by Houvdon's next words. "Your training. How far have you gotten in the past day?"
Once again, just like the day she lost her right eye, Houvdon changed the subject.
She shook her head, wrapping her arms tighter around herself as she answered. "I don't know. I've never fought someone before so I don't know how good I actually am in my Flame magic."
She looked away just as his eyes landed on her covered figure once again. He continued to give her a deep look, almost as if looking into her soul.
"S-stop staring at me." She cursed her stutter as the handsome male's eyes moved from her figure to her face to make eye contact. She knew that despite him looking at her, he was not "checking out" her body as so many of those romance books have written his look as.
She knew that he was only studying her closely, checking her reaction. It was not as flattering as him ogling her looks, but to think that she had gained enough attention of the Prince of Etherstorm to have him study her for so long. Her, a mere whisper of rumors until just a few weeks ago.
That in itself as flattering enough.
"If you so desire, I can help you become stronger." He offered, standing up from his spot on the bed.
"Stronger?" She cocked her head at his offer. "You wish to help me achieve my potential?"
He nodded, his eyes just as deep as before, yet hiding all of his feelings. "Dueling with me will prepare you for real battle. Not only that, it will hone your senses, allowing you to reach a power stronger than you have ever felt before."
"Have you ever been in a real battle?" She meant to only challenge his words slightly. At such a young age, she doubted that he had ever faced a real life or death situation, yet with such immense power radiating from his core even while it was dormant, it was entirely possible he had faced such scenarios before.
Perhaps...he had even faced the likes of the [CLARITY] Knights that hail from the hostile Clarity lands just east of their home Delusional lands.
He froze deathly still. He didn't appear to be frozen, he was frozen. His chest was still, meaning he was not breathing, and his hand had stilled. Each individual finger of his outstretched hand completely stilled.
In an instant, life reentered the Prince's body. His frozen state had only lasted a split second, almost as if it was a mistake in her vision. He shook his head, but said, "I have long been groomed to use my power to aid the [DELUSIONAL] Knights."
With that short answer, he retracted the hand he had stretched for her to take, not bothering to let her take his hand to show her agreement.
For the second time in two days, she felt a cold feeling in her stomach.
She couldn't tell if his answer to her question meant he had already fought alongside the famed [DELUSIONAL] Knights, selected personally by the Seclusion Church to protect the land they called home, or if he had never fought on a real battlefield despite the immense power he held.
She didn't know which one made the cold feeling within her grow even more cold.
-----
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖓𝖉