Cilia
Two weeks has passed since the first meeting. A lot has changed since then. First, all three sides are now united together in the Mortisian school. Second, we now have three times the weapons we used to have before. Dynatos soldiers, Mortisians, and Sophixians are now teaching one another their trademark skills. This is the good news. The bad news is that now that we have all the resources we can get, there are no more excuses left for not going to Elytheia.
The day after we all move to the Mortisians castle, my group and Ayla's group leave for the huge country of Elytheia. The Dynatos school lend us their flying cars, which are in perfect condition. Now, we're flying over the seas with the ten Sophixians, plus five Mortisians and five Dynatos soldiers.
When we land twelve hours later, all of us have leg cramps. We park in an empty hill in the outskirts of the capital city, since we're not sure whether the allies of Zarina's forces will be friendly. We walk for thirty minutes when we reach the first clue of devastation. Black hooded creatures patrol the streets of Elytheia. I have a vague memory of meeting these guys on the island near Zarina's evil lair. The problem is, we're in a rusty countryside. If there are monsters here, who knows what's happening in the capital city?
Since twenty two armed soldiers look a little too suspicious, we all change into Elytheian clothes. We all need to get to the heart of the Elytheian capital. Apparently teleportation in Elytheia still works. Zarina has been manipulating the teleportation lines, but now that Elytheia has formed an alliance with her, Zarina has allowed for teleportation within the country's borders.
Still, we didn't bring teleporting stones, meaning we have to travel all the way to the nearest teleport station by bus. After a very long and painful road trip, we arrive in a teleport station. There, we teleport straight to the heart of Elytheia.
We arrive at night, when the city of Rosemire is at its busiest. Brilliant lights shine all over the city. All of us know that we should formulate a plan. From what we have gathered since we got here, the Elytheian guards are not very friendly people. Monsters are roaming free in the city, making sure there are no intruders. There's absolutely no way to get into the castle, which is not only heavily guarded, but under the careful eye of on of Zarina's commanders.
After searching around for hours, we finally manage to find one loophole in the system. The Elytheian prince's seventeenth birthday is coming up. It's always been a tradition of the Elytheians to celebrate their crown prince's birthday by holding a huge ceremony. There, he'll find his future wife. Millions of women will enter the castle, hoping to become royalty. Out of the women, one hundred will be chosen to compete in a contest for the most eligible bride. This will last for six months, with eliminations twice every months. Six months later, the prince's coronation day will also be when he will receive his bride. They'll spend time together for about two to three years, then get married.
A really dumb and reality-TV-show way of doing things. Not that I'm complaining, though. This stupid competition is also the perfect way for us to sneak into the castle unnoticed. Seriously. They let everybody in, including old grannies and crazy murderers. If you're a non-married girl, you get an invite.
We have thirteen girls in this group- four Sophixians, five Mortisians, two Dynatos warriors, Ayla, and me. Us thirteen girls will all enter the castle with fake IDs and whatnot. We're going to somehow try to at least last the night's elimination. Then, we're going to have to warm up to the royals, and convince with nice words to break free of their alliance with Zarina. Yeah. . . that's definitely not the plan.
This is the real plan. After each elimination, a feast is held. The girl who gets through the eliminations is going to have to try and slip a potion into the royals' food. This potion, concocted by the Mortisians using an ancient recipe, will make the drinker do whatever the owner of the drinker says. The owner's blood will need to be mixed in with the potion to make this work. But this needs to be done carefully. The king must refuse Zarina's reign when she is not close to Elytheia. Although the king has a million men who are loyal to him, they won't stand a chance if Zarina unleashes her full power.
The party is in a week, meaning all the nearby dress boutiques, makeup artists, and hair stylists are unavailable. Fortunately, we have with us the son of the spirit of Illusion. He's a nineteen year old Dynatos warrior named Rory, and he says he'll be able to fix us wicked appearances in no time.
That still leaves us with one problem. . . Where the boys going to sleep. The 'contestants' are offered homes in the castle. But the ones who are eliminated need to return home. But our home is twenty hours away. All hotels are packed with guests anticipating the Grand Ball. A Dynatos dude suggests sleeping in our cars, which they could bring back from the countryside. We all agree to this, since hundreds of people are camping out in their cars anyway.
On the morning of the Ball, Rory drowns us in a heap of makeup and huge gowns, since that's what the other women are wearing. When I look in the mirror, I see a crazy girl with white powder all over her face. She has blood red lips and dark green eyeshadow. Her lashes are at least five centimeters long, her hair height is taller than her face length, and is wearing a huge green dress with a very huge skirt.
That's when I realize Elytheian fashion sense is very different from the rest of the world. Seriously. Almost everyone out in the streets is wearing this ridiculous getup. We all agree this is too much. We ask Rory to tone down the dresses, and maybe lower down the brightness of the hair and makeup. At least, that's what the other girls do.
I, however, change my looks at the last minute. I erase all the craziness from my hair and face, and redo it myself. Then I secretly ask Chris to change the dress for me. He's surprised, but does what I ask anyway. Probably since I'm not the main target for the prince. We've all decided that Lorria, the daughter of the spirit of Charm has the best chance of winning this thing. We're going to support her. The other twelve girls are just here as backup.
I look in the mirror again. This time, I'm much more satisfied. I look like myself. My dress is a comfortable knee length dress, unlike the other dresses in the city. The purple and black color of my dress gives my outfit a fiery look. I wear a leather jacket just to tease the crazy appearance-aholics in this city.
The Rosemire castle is packed with people. There are women who want a better chance at life, who want money, who want power. After three hours of waiting, we enter the castle.
First thought? This place is huge. Giant marble pillars support the gold covered building. People give me odd looks, probably because of my outfit, but I don't care. I'm just here to enjoy myself. Oh, and of course, to succeed in this mission thingy.
After about three more hours of dancing, laughing, and eating with the twelve other girls, it's seven p.m. Then, trumpets sound throughout the halls. Then the royal family enters from the hall.
A plump guy in a blue coat announces the royal family members. King and Queen Rosemire. Then the oldest child of the royal family, Princess Devona. . . I'm in too much shock that I don't hear the two princes' names being called. All I can think of is that the princess of Elytheia is Devon.
Devon. Before I attended Sophix, before I stayed with Ayla and her dad, I lived in Sophix's orphanage. It was a good place, as good as orphanages go. Devon was my roomate. We shared bunk beds. We were best friends. We did everything together- play, prank the caretakers, joke about the other kids, basically everything you would do with your best friend. We were inseparable. They called us the crazy sisters back in the orphanage. Then, when I turned nine, a woman and her guard had come to the orphanage. They had come looking for 'potential'. Devon went away with them, as she was the smartest. I never saw her again. Until now.
I look to the queen's left. A nurse- the queen's trusted helper stands by her side. That was the woman from seven years ago. This is impossible. Devon hasn't seen me yet. What do I do? Hide or say hi? I'm too wrapped up in my own thoughts that I don't move for twenty minutes. When the others find me, they ask me what's wrong. I can't answer them. I almost don't notice the prince walking towards us. Apparently he had just finished his traditional dance with his mother and sister. Now, it's time for him to choose a partner from the audience. His first dancing partner automatically makes it into the top 100.
The prince makes his way towards us. He's looking at Lorria in front of me. Everything is going according to plan. Until he holds out his hand to me. Lorria is stunned. Ayla is stunned. Heck, I'm stunned. I can't move. Not because I'm shocked that I've been asked to dance. Shocked, because I'm still going over the fact that Devon is the princess of Elytheia. . .
Oh god. Devon. She has seen me now. She recognizes me. I tentatively take the prince's hand, since I have no other choice. All eyes are on us. Music begins. Couples that came here to enjoy the party join the waltz. I don't know what this dance is, but I stumble along fine. I stare at the prince's eyes. He stares back. I don't back off, daring him to look away first. But he doesn't.
Instead, he grins like a boy and says, "That's an. . . interesting choice of wardrobe you have there." I feel my face burning up. All I can say is, "So you actually like those crazy gowns?" He laughs. "Oh, no. I prefer your style much more." We glide across the ballroom floor. He swings me around. Our steps match each other's perfectly. The music slows down, and I see Devon staring at me.