"Does Marshal, Mr. M have a real name?"
"Yeah— but I guess he hasn't told you seeing as you asked... And if you're wondering what his full name is, it's Marshal Yamiyo Heimdall."
"Wow, that's a cool name; by the way, how are you related to Mr. Alfredo?"
"Mr. Alfredo has been my mentor from the Wizarding Academy since I was seven years old," she chuckled.
"Wizarding Academy?" I exclaimed with glee. "Wow! I've read so many stories and watched so many movies about wizards; may I ask what your class is, or is that what you call it here? Do you have a grimoire? Or a wand? Do you chant Aloha Mora or just some simple vocabularies?"
I noticed that my numerous questions had rendered her dazed, but she laughed and patted my head as if I were a puppy seeking my owner's attention.
"Well... I am not a wizard, but more of a sorceress because I don't need a wand and a grimoire to produce magic. I am in class S, and there were seven classes. Classes E to A were rookie to average level, classes S were Aces, and classes K were the Elite leaders of Lustrous Stars."
"Wow, that's incredible! Can I also attend the wizarding academy?" I exclaimed.
"Well, you can go on as many adventures as you want, but you can't just leave our kingdom without a golden pass because there are other kingdoms out there who are strict in outsiders."
"Kingdoms?" I inquired, my eyes glistening with interest. "Which kingdom do we live then?"
"We are in the Eclipse Kingdom, the prime of all kingdoms, where the elders and Noble Heroes of other kingdoms gather and hold their meetings and some important events. Next is the Viking Empire, they own a very vast land where different kinds of dangerous beasts live, and even though they came in second, they are still the strongest of all kingdoms in terms of brute strength and army." She explained as she uses her magic to show a visual of a map. "There's also the Wizard Zone, which is near our kingdom's palace, the Fairies Oasis, which is to the south, and the Elves Fortress, which is right next to the Fairies Oasis."
"I think I've changed my mind and will stay here even if we don't win the tournament," I declared proudly.
"That's fine with us because we'd love to have you guys here," she laughed.
"I'm done resting; I'll just take a bath," Clydelle said before leaving the room.
"Sure! There's already a towel in the bathroom with your names engraved," Miss Kagame replied.
"Thank you," ate Clydelle said as she exited the room.
"Miss Kagame?" I called out and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yes?" she asks, leaning against the doorway.
"If you met our lola Naomi, does that mean you're the same age as her?"
"Not really; she's ten years older, and uhh, the life span here is much longer than the other world— I guess? Because Mister Alfredo is already two hundred and one years old, I'm about a hundred and twenty-one, and Marshal is only a twenty-three year old guy."
"O-ohh... Wow! That must be incredible, living your lives that long."
"No, honey... we call this a curse," she said weakly as she approached me.
"Huh?"
She sat next to me and took my hand in hers. "The gods have all punished us."
"Why is that?" I frowned.
"Just like in the story of the three gods," she explained, "our ancestors befriended Chaos, and they accepted them despite the fact that he's the god of destruction, and the Viking Empire helped chaos set foot on the heaven's realm."
"But what's the problem with people accepting him?"
"There is a sin... our forefathers committed before the story of the three gods occurred, but the Almighty spared them..."
"What exactly is it?"
"Well, in this world... gods are only born from the desires of the people."
"You mean, one of your ancestors wished for destruction, and that's why Chaos exists?" I asked, stunned.
"Yeah," she said, nodding.
"Who could it be?"
"Lord Vincent II, the second generation king of the Eclipse family, is not satisfied with peace. He is a greedy person who wishes to rule all kingdoms, so he wishes for power, destruction, and that chaos may live on Zeraschia."
"He is one arrogant and horrible king, so I guess the song was correct... all human beings are truly made of greed, and it cannot be stopped because it is inevitably woven into our souls," I said solemnly, but Miss Kagame laughed.
"I didn't expect you to have such a large vocabulary," she laughed.
"Ahh—I love writing novels... So perhaps that's why..." I blushed and awkwardly laughed. "By the way, why is Mr. M only 23 years old but he had the opportunity to meet our grandmother? When did Mr. M meet her?"
"I'm sorry, I can't answer that because I don't know either; perhaps you should ask Marshal the next time you see him."
"Oi, it's your turn to take a bath," Clydelle said as she sat on the bed, "I'll just nap."
When I was getting ready to leave, I noticed my cousin's dress. It's a rosy pink turtleneck above-the-knee dress with mulberry purple linings on the sleeves and embroideries on the neck, shoulder, and torso, and a raisin purple obi sash wrapped around her waist.
[Obi - a sash for traditional Japanese dress, keikogi (uniforms for Japanese martial arts), and part of kimono outfits.]
"Wow, that's a nice dress," I complimented.
"It's all thanks to them for their excellent fashion sense," Clydelle replied, her face buried beneath her pillow.
Miss Kagame followed me outside to allow my cousin to rest comfortably, and she escorted me in front of the bathroom, telling me to wake up Clydelle later because we were having lunch together, so I just nodded in response.
After she had gone, I entered the bathroom and was astounded by how large it is and how beautiful a bathroom can be. It's designed in a tropical theme, but with a contemporary twist.
"This place never fails to make me feel aesthetically pleased," I said.
I still can't believe such a place exists, where they live in a medieval and magical era, but their technology is far superior to ours. It amuses me that they came up with the idea of preserving nature while advancing technology. Even their clothing is vintage-inspired, but with a modern twist.
While I was bathing, it occurred to me that I should go to a birthday party for a friend. We should have been having fun together, but I didn't even say goodbye. I hope they understand. I also miss my parents, aunts, and uncles... Every weekend, we had a feast. I know it's only the first day, but it's already too much. I'm not sure whether I should be relaxed or concerned about this situation.
I even felt as if everything was wrong, as if I were in a dream. Or, worse, am I in a coma? Has the vehicle we were riding in just crashed? And everything that happened was just an illusion created by our brain? I'm completely perplexed... It makes me want to cry.
I changed into the clothes they had prepared for me after taking a refreshing bath. It's an off-shoulder, above-the-knee yellow flaxen dress with tuscany yellow linings on the shoulder line and an umber brown obi at the waist.
"This is so cute," I said, complimenting my outfit as I posed in front of the mirror. I wished I had brought my DSLR camera with me because I really wanted to capture the wonders of this place.
After I'm done using the restroom, Frank and Tyler were heading my way, so I approached them.
"Wow, what a drastic change in appearance you made," I teased my brother.
"Hmp, at least I resembled Roronoa Zoro," he boasted, striking a swordsman pose.
"You're wearing a haramaki sash, but you're not even a samurai," I remarked, rolling my eyes.
[Haramaki sash is a bit similar to obi but it's much bigger in size.]
"Tch," he replied, sticking his tongue out and making himself look even uglier.
"Miss Kagame told us that she had already prepared for our lunch, so please call ate Clydelle," Tyler said, still laughing at our quarrel.
"OK, I'll contact her right away."
I was surprised to find her sitting on the opposite side of the bed when I arrived in our room to wake her up.
"What's that?" I asked, taking a seat beside her. She has something in her hand that she is reading.
"Lola Naomi's journal," she replied, handing it to me. "All the information we need in Zeraschia is written there, and look—she even drew a map," she said, revealing an entire map of Zeraschia to me.
"I think she didn't want us to get lost," I joked.
"Especially Tyler, he's the one who needs this map because he's the one who gets lost all the time," she agreed, and we laughed together.
"She's definitely into this world," I marveled.
"She must have had a good time in here."
"I wish we could enjoy it as well; I hope we will love Zeraschia as much as she does," I said with a hearty smile.
"Sure, sure."
"Hey! Get out of there already, let's not make Miss Kagame wait for us," Frank scolded us. So we decided to go out and eat, and Clydelle placed Lola's diary under her pillow before leaving the room and entering the kitchen.
"The elf clothes I bought yesterday fit you guys perfectly," Mister Alfredo marveled. "I'll get some more of that next time."
"Thank you, Mr. Alfredo," we both politely replied.
"But what took you girls so long? Was Clydelle a heavy sleeper?" Miss Kagame joked.
"Ahh, we found a treasure— it was lola Naomi's journal," Ate Clydelle replied.
"Really? How did you find it?" Mr. Alfredo wondered aloud, surprised to learn that ate Clydelle had discovered it.
"I used my vision, which allows me to see through things."
"Wow! I never thought you'd learn it at your age," he exclaimed.
"Lola Naomi encouraged me to learn this skill because I could use it at the right time," she replied with a smile.
"That's right, Naomi told us she'd hide something important and you'd have to find it at the right time; I believe that would be your test."
"Test?" Ate Clydelle inquired, perplexed.
"Yes, Naomi wants to put everything she taught you to the test, and she even asked us to teach you more about your power, but I guess that wouldn't be possible because the tournament starts tomorrow," she added.
"Naomi is still looking after you until now," Miss Kagame chuckled.
"I believe she's doing this to protect my cousins in case we're trapped in a worst-case scenario," she explained modestly.
Mister Alfredo grinned and chuckled. "All right, let's get some food."