Somewhere at the back of her mind, Valerie could hear voices, her mind was slowly waking up but her body remained asleep on...a soft bed it seemed.
She didn't understand the voices, they were saying things...things that were definitely not English.
Slowly, her body and her mind finally came together, she groaned and fluttered her eyes open, trying to remember anything that happened before she fell asleep. Painfully, a gold cursive "O" flashed before her eyes and she sat up, holding her aching head.
"ελληνικά ή αγγλικά?" The voice said, not like she understood a word.
"Oh, my head" she groaned and opened her eyes.
Immediately, she saw steel grey eyes staring back at her.
"Ah, English" A deep, sonorous voice said.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Personal space, busker!" Valerie said loudly as she scooted backwards and toppled off the seriously soft bed she was lying on.
It was then she noticed that she was outside and she was currently sitting on crisp green grass, the sky was blue and a little too cloudy over her head, her back felt uncomfortable and she was this close to freaking out.
"Relax. Take deep breaths and relax." The deep voice said and Valerie turned back to the person who spoke.
Her jaw went slack and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. It wasn't because Mr. Knight was crouched in front of her dressed in gold and white, it wasn't because his eyes were a steel grey instead of the hazel she'd always known, it wasn't because of the unimaginably beautiful blonde girl who was next to him, holding a tray of large, equally beautiful carrots or the other girl with a nice fringe and smoky makeup or the two men a few ways behind, standing at alert with sharp spears in their hands. It was because of the wings.
The huge, fluffy, feathery, beautiful, magnificent wings.
"I understand that you are confused right now Valerie Reece" Mr. Knight with wings said "but..."
"Heck yeah I'm confused!" Valerie yelled getting up on her feet with a little struggle, she felt heavy like she was carrying extra weight on one part of her body "you have wings!" She screamed "she has wings! They have wings! Oh my goodness what's going on!? You're going to kill me now? What the heck?! How did I even get here? You kidnapped me Mr. Knight? This was all your idea?!"
"My name is not Mr. Knight and I did not kidnap you, you would understand everything if you would come to Du Kastol with us..." He took a tentative step towards her.
"No don't step closer or I'll... I'll..." Valerie stammered and searched around for a weapon, she found the transparent paintbrush in her hoodie pocket and held it out menacingly, like it was a sword of some sort.
Yeah it seemed like a good idea at the moment.
"Back it up!" Valerie called, "back it the hell up right now or I will use this. I am not going any- friggin' -where with anybody until you explain what is going on here!"
Slowly and with almost regal grace, Mr. Knight sat on the short green grass folding his legs, his huge wings looked like they were adjusting themselves till they were comfortable.
"I would explain right now then, please, join me" he said to Valerie and gestured to the space in front of him.
Valerie sat, after a lot of hesitation.
"Have some chué" the seriously beautiful blonde girl said holding out the tray of carrots, her sky blue wings folded carefully on her back to look like a feathery cape.
"No thank you, I won't eat a thing until I get a suitable explanation" Valerie said and turned to Mr. Knight.
"Explain" she said.
"Very well" he said and made a gentle gesture to the girls who sat on the grass on either side of him "I am Artemas, the prince of Olaw, the city of the people of gold; the King of Oscavia. This is my humble helper, Dansé..." He gestured to the drop dead gorgeous blonde "and this is Mayi." he gestured to the girl with the dark fringe and lavender outfit.
"Hello!" Dansé said excitedly, she was waving happily at Valerie while Mayi kept quiet, her dark eyes studying Valerie carefully.
"These are our duanti, Faithful, Vanity and Em" he continued. And just as he mentioned the names three little creatures glided up to her and she moved backwards slowly. Her brain was on overdrive, trying to process everything at once.
The creatures were smaller than her fist, they reminded her of Pikachu, just tune down his ears and take away the tail and the ridiculous red spots, boom! You got a duanti!
"Okay what the heck is this?" Valerie asked completely confused "you're Mr. Knight, my art teacher and you are definitely not supposed to have wings...or grey eyes, I just..."
The man shook is head "I am not your art teacher I assure you that. You are meeting me for the very first time"
"Oh yeah?" Valerie asked challengingly "then...then how do you know my name? I didn't tell you that."
"I accessed your memories when you landed here, I know all there is to know about you..."
"Landed here? Accessed my memories?!" Valerie put her hand over her chest trying to calm down.
"This would be much less hetic for all of us if you would be at ease and listen to me, I would tell you all that needs to be known for now." Prince Artemas said, his almost silver eyes trained on her in a way that made Valerie think he was looking through her memories again.
Valerie took a deep breath and nodded.
"I know that this Mr. Knight is your art teacher, but we are not the same being, he is my αντίθετο"
"What does antítheto mean?" Valerie asked.
"It is Greek for opposite" The white duanti said before the Prince could reply.
"Is this...oscavai or...Oscar whatever a Greek kingdom?" Valerie asked
"No" Prince Artemas said "we speak three languages in Oscavia; Oscavian, Greek and of course the language of the Terrenians, English"
"What do you mean Terrenian?" Valerie asked looking at all of them in confusion.
"Agapíthos," Dansé chuckled, flipping her flawless blonde hair over her shoulders "you should have noticed by now that you are not in your world any longer"
"Oscavia is a different world?" Valerie asked, she was too tired to be surprised. That didn't mean she wasn't vigilant though, anyone tried anything and she would give them a Bruce Lee kick where it counts.
"Yes, you came here through the Maorouka" Prince Artemas said "but back to the word Antítheto, every being has one in this world or another, the word antítheto does not even describe this phenomenon correctly, but it is the only word that comes close to describing it. Your antítheto does not have to be your opposite. Sometimes you can be alike in every single way, sometimes you can only be alike in one way or halfway."
"Just like you and Mr. Knight"Valerie murmured and Prince Artemas smiled at her, a proud smile that made Valerie blush. She was getting it bit by bit.
"So basically, your antítheto could be anyone" he continued, "but meeting your antítheto is a gift, it is special, some say it brings you good luck"
"What do you think makes it special?" Valerie wanted to ask but she had other things on her mind at the moment.
"Okay, why am I here? Why did the Maorouka bring me here?" She asked instead.
"That is a question we thought you would ask immediately" The Prince said with a soft chuckle that reminded her of her art teacher.
"It is a long story, Valerie" Dansé said and held out the tray of fresh carrots "have some of this, it would revive you"
Valerie eyed the seriously enticing carrots, they looked delicious and all the drama in the past half an hour was making her hungry. Slowly, she took a perfect carrot and bit it.
"You are here to save us" Prince Artemas said, all playfulness gone from his eyes.
"Pfft" Valerie scoffed, splattering carrot bits on Mayi who looked like she had dozed off "okay go on" Valerie said with an amused smile, "what am I saving you precious people from?"
"The dark times" Prince Artemas said his eyes steady and unwavering. "It all starts with a prophecy and it goes thus:
"When the time comes, darkness shall rebel against the light;
There would be war between the good and the bad.
The city of gold would find help from the most unlikely place;
The chosen one
The hero
The one from another realm.
Many would be lost but many would be gained.
But only with wisdom, strength and togetherness
Shall the city of gold be restored"
Valerie sighed after letting the words sink in for a while, watching as the purple duanti tickled Mayi's ear. The girl jerked awake, saying something in either Greek or Oscavian.
Her eyes darted to Valerie who offered a shy smile before looking back at Prince Artemas "well, that's pretty straightforward" she said with a shrug "aren't prophesies like that supposed to rhyme?"
"It rhymes in Oscavian" the Prince said, helping himself to a carrot.
"Well, what is this prophesy for?" Valerie asked, watching him nibble on the carrot.
"When Oscavia was still ruled by King
Grecia, my father we had a trrrible plague of darkness" Prince Artemas said.
"Okay?"
"I was still a little boy then, but I clearly remember, darkness took over the sky in a few yaku. My parents, though very wise and very good, could not find a solution to this problem, but they turned to the prophecy's word for advice.
"They could clearly see that the chosen one was from another realm, we cannot communicate with people from Terrain easily, you need strong powers for such, so my parents summoned Xhena, the woman who haboured the most powers in her hands, and also the mother of Mayi."
All at the same time, everyone turned to look at Mayi who sat up straighter with a quiet pride in her expression.
"Xhena created the Maorouka and sent it to your realm" Prince Artemas continued softly, "she lost the powers of her hands that day, but we all commend her and pay her respect for that great sacrifice."
"So someone found it and discovered how to use it? Just like me?" Valerie asked.
"Yes, Del found it" The Prince said. "He was confused but he took things much more easier than you are taking it presently." He shot her a dry look and Valerie rolled her eyes. "Quickly enough, he was convinced into helping us and he trained hard, studying great spells and performing wonders our world had never seen. He was even stronger than us Oscavians.
"He was my best friend." Valerie thought the Prince looked sullen for a moment before continuing his story. "Del cleared the darkness" he added unceremoniously.
"Cool" Valerie said taking another carrot from Dansé's duanti, the blue one. "Thank you" she said to it.
"You are most welcome" the creature whispered back with a happy smile.
"I'm guessing there was a huge celebration?" Valerie asked.
"There was and 'huge' does not qualify for the size of the festival. The sun could finally rise once again, Del was a hero. But of course the power got to his head."
"Hmm" Valerie mused.
"We were like brothers, but no matter what, I was the heir to the throne. He was overcome with jealousy and anger and pride, he believed that he was the rightful heir, after all he was the one who saved Oscavia.
"My father; King Grecia would not hear of it. And when Del became too much of a threat, he was banished from Olaw, he and the many people who thought he was right. Now he calls himself The Void."
"He's coming back isn't he?" Valerie asked.
"With full force" Mayi said, in a low voice "he is stronger than we are, he would destroy Oscavia and he would turn it into his own kingdom, he is already building his army and he would not stop till he gets what he wants." Her voice was musical and pleasant to hear.
Valerie turned back to the Prince. "Okay, I still don't see me in all of this" she said, shaking her head.
"You are the one" The white and gold duanti said, it was obvious that he belonged to the Prince.
"Where on earth is it written that I am the chosen one?!" She asked aloud.
"You are present in the second verse" The prince said nonchalantly, "the part where the phrase 'chosen one' is used."
"Look, I thank you all for thinking I'm the one to save you from Void or whatever his name is but I have to break it to you" she paused for effect and stood up "I don't know how to save anything"
Prince Artemas stood up too along with the two girls "we can teach you..."
"You don't get it" Valerie interrupted with a dry laugh "I literally cannot save, my entire life savings is thirty dollars you hear me? Thirty dollars and I've been saving since first grade!"
Prince Artemas looked confused for a few seconds before he snapped at his duanti "Faithful, translate please"
"Dollars is the currency in her part of her world and the beings there think it is wise to pile up small amounts in order for it to become a big amount in the future" the duanti rushed out "rather weird tradition if you ask me"
She took a slow step backwards and away from them "yeah, what he said" Valerie sighed "I actually have enough problems of my own in my world, and my exams would be coming up soon..., I don't think I'm ready to do some Harry Potter whatevs tight now. So I'm just going to go home and pretend this is just some weird dream"
Prince Artemas looked at Dansé who nodded before turning back to Valerie.
"Del's full name is Handel Reece, he is your father!" He called.
Valerie froze on the spot.
Her mind literally went boom! Before she could process anything, the Prince walked up to her, held her head in his hands and kissed her forehead.
🔊🔊🔊
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 The tempo is increasing bit by bit, no?
Anyhoo, what do you guys think? I want to know. Please don't forget to comment and vote or like or what ever 😁😁😁.
Rhodes.