The sound of her window creaking open awakened her mind yet she kept her eyes closed thinking it was just the wind. But despite her thought and calculations, it just didn't add up. How could it open by itself in the middle of the night? Perhaps it was the wind? Zoe decided to leave it for the morning so she began to count sheep in her mind to fall asleep.
But then she heard the sound of footsteps. It was faint, yes, but she was positive it was in her room. This made her mind still in concentration. She was forced to open her eyes as something or someone had pulled her blanket and tossed her off the bed. A shadow loomed above her and had a sinister grin.
"Who the hell are you?" She asked out loud, ignoring the fact that she was loud despite it being twelve in the night.
"Miss Mckelsi… Do not fear me, my dear… His highness had summoned you for certain reasons…Please follow me to his castle.." The deep voice explained while offering a blistered hand.
"Castle? You're insane" She scoffed, thinking this person to be a runaway from an asylum.
"I believe I have given you an order and you will obey me.." the person growled deeply, emphasizing 'will'. The stranger also unsheathed his blade as a sign of his enormity. Despite the dark shadows, the blade reflected the light of the moon.
Zoe knew something was definitely wrong with her current situation and believed that there was only one way to get out of it alive. 'Run'.
Bolting for her life, Zoe grabbed her handbag, which contained necessaries, and made a run for it. Nearly reaching the door, the person had somehow leaped to it faster and blocked her path.
Not wanting to get caught, she tried racing for the window yet her assailant was swift. Growling at his annoyingly amazing speed, Zoe stood no chance against that creature. Until a light beam struck through her window, smacking the thing on his head. Zoe followed the light and gasped as it formed into an adorable pixie.
"That's the end of the line, Horligen… Let Miss Zoe follow me back to Queen Arlina or suffer the consequences!" The pixie ordered bravely, ignoring the fact it was the size of the evildoer's fist.
"Hah! You, Blueberry, Queen Arlinas' faithful pixie, want to try and defeat me?" The so-called 'Horligen' scoffed "How can someone as miniature as you cross me?"
"Amusing guy, now aren't you … "The pixie muttered while extracting her tiny wand which was the size of a toothpick. "I'll make you take back your words, mutt" She spat in disgust.
Horligen lunged towards Blueberry and swung his blade, managing to aim it towards such a miniature pixie. But Blueberry's size allowed her to escape by an inch and she pointed her wand at the surprised half human half dog man, whose looks were finally shown as he stepped into the puddle of moonlight by Zoe's room window. A light smashed into his body, tossing Horligen off his legs and he fell. Blueberry flew above him and frowned at her enemy.
"..Game over, my fellow friend.." She announced while giving him the final blow of her pin-sized wand.
As Horligen blasted into dust, Blueberry shifted to face the terrified Zoe. She heaved a sigh of contentment as she knew the girls' condition was safe. Fluttering in front of Zoe's eyes, Blueberry began the introduction.
"Hello there! I'm Blueberry and Queen Arlina had sent me to bring you to DOA!" She pointed out cheerfully "You're THE Zoe Mckelsi, right? Lady Samantha's daughter, right?"
"Yeah…what does this Queen Arlina want with me?" Zoe questioned softly in shock. Her hands were trembling at the sight she had just witnessed. She was hoping it was all a dream yet her voice sounded shaky yet real.
"I'll tell you on the way! Follow me!" grinned the tiny pixie who grabbed Zoe's hand. Despite being smaller than Zoe, she had an unbelievable strength to pull Zoe to her feet and drag her towards a colorful circular hole in the wall.
A portal spun in her room and Zoe gave her room the final glance before jumping into the colorful portal. In the colorful portal, the entire process felt like time was moving slowly while her body drifted alongside the mini creature. Zoe had expected to feel her stomach clench or her mind squeezed until she couldn't feel anything from her nerve system… Instead, she felt her body move slowly in the colorful, mind-blowing realm while Blueberry gave a full-on explanation.
"You see, Miss Zoe, the world where I come from is somewhere called the Flame Country. It's a country, which is divided into a few districts. The Flame Kingdom stands in the middle of our island. Beneath us is the underground deadly void where King Vector lives. He claims to want you since your mother was our secretary.." She said, explaining why the previous monster in her room (A.K.A Horligen) wanted her.
"Then, what's DOA exactly?" She asked
"DOA stands for Department Of Administration. It's the one industry that can control the design of the island, new towns, and the next generation of villagers. It also controls the justice between goodness and evil. So your mother was 2nd in command while the big boss is out.."
"Who's the big boss?" wondered the curious girl while noticing the speed of her drifting was increasing.
"I'm not so sure myself…Her identity is unknown and no one besides the royal family has seen her.." Blueberry sadly stated.
"Then, this 'Queen Arlina'… You're like her right hand, right? Are you the heir?" She asked without a second thought of her words.
"Are you a blockhead? Of course not! She…She has some heiresses.." She stuttered with hesitation.
'What's with the hesitation?' Zoe looked forward and came to realize that she was approaching the exit. Smiling at first, it immediately turned to a frown as she figured out that she was falling down from the wide blue sky at full speed. As Zoe screamed in fear, Blueberry calmly cast a spell, which caused them to land softly in front of a pair of huge gates. Zoes' eyes were as large as saucepans and she gawked at the castle embedded behind the gates. Blueberry smiled at her visitor's reaction and entered with ease. No suspiciousness towards the visitor, the duo came to a large hall, decorated with beautiful curtains and gigantic chandeliers. Zoe spun around to take in all of the views and accidentally bumped into a woman's body. The woman gently held her by the shoulders and gave a warm smile.
"Welcome to my kingdom, Miss Zoe. You seem to be enjoying yourself!" She said with an angel's smile and closed eyes.
"Your majesty! Are you sure that this is the girl for the job?" Blueberry asked her master, ignoring the fact she clearly mocked Zoe in her face.
"Of course, Blueberry my dear. She looks just like her mother and has her mother's aura. I'm sure she will understand our situation.." The queen reassured her pixie.
"Wait, you're the queen?" Zoe gasped in sudden realization. "I'm so sorry for bumping into you!" She quickly apologized while bowing in regret.
"No worries my dear…I did guide you here for certain purposes.." The Quen reassured her with the same soft angle-like smile.
"Right…. Care to explain, your highness?" She asked.
"Let's do it in my room. Come, my dears. You both must be exhausted by your journey."
------
On the way, Zoe had heard Blueberry report the incident with Horligen at her house. The queen just shook her head with a sad look plastered over her face and Zoe kept quiet. Once reaching a balcony, they sat at a circle table and butlers served tea. Zoe awkwardly sat there and sipped a bit of tea while they began explaining their true intentions.
"Zoe, we need you to find my daughters." The queen flatly stated the reason, causing the poor startled girl to spit out her beverage.
"What the-? Tell me what's going on here from the beginning, please!" Zoe said while wiping the residual tea at the rim of her lips.
"Okay… Zoe, Queen Arlina has five daughters. The eldest had disappeared into thin air and she's clearly off the map of this whole world." Blueberry began to explain like a child disappearing was the most normal thing to happen in the world. "Her other daughters are separated by birth around the Flame Kingdom." She added like that statement was also something not out of the norm. "We need you to retrieve them to determine the future or King Vektor can declare the throne by the laws…" Blueberry said clearly, ignoring the fact everything she had just said was completely off and insane.
Lifting a hand to interrupt, Zoe asked; "One question, why are they separated?"
"You see. The eldest daughter must've been jealous that her sisters' weren't…isolated." Blueberry hesitated at the last word. 'Isolated? What the hell?' Zoe frowned at the thought. "So in wrath and resentment, she separated them at birth to hinder their lives…"
"There's no way a sister would do that.." Zoe keened while slamming her teacup on the table "Think of the logics! Would you guys do such a thing? There must be another purpose!"
"Whatever it is, we need Blaze and the rest…Blueberry will explain the information required for this and you will begin your journey tomorrow, seven in the morning, the equipment shall be provided tonight." Arlina said while standing up "But before you begin your journey… You both must visit the Mirror of Eclipse…'
"The… Mirror of Eclipse?" Zoe frowned in confusion