This world was once a place filled to the brim with magical energy, composed of a mixture of spiritual energy and elemental energy. Spiritual energy, founded within the person themself, and elemental, the energy that flows through all life in general.
The first discovery of magic started with nothing more than a hand, a piece of chalk, and a chalkboard. A scientist, name spoken by many different tongues barely anyone remembers what it truly is, discovered the potentiality of magic in the real world after an accident with his research occurred that was caused by fibers of an extinct plant and his genetic material combined underneath his stethoscope.
In his own words, he had said, "It was although the cells from my blood and from the plant itself were igniting one another, sparking into flames beneath my very eyes."
The people at first mocked him for his discoveries, believing what he saw was nothing more than an old man's eyes playing tricks on him. He fought hard and harder to prove his studies true but at last the tougher the fight the stronger the opponent.
Suddenly one day, his daughter had passed. The man, pouring his heart out over her grave, opened a part of himself he had never before and experience a moment of true vulnerability and grief. The only aid to comfort him was the single flower that had grown by his daughter's tomb the same day she had passed.
The emotion of love and sorrow he felt that day mingled with the life energy of that plant and sparked a reaction he himself at that moment was unable to define, and the next thing he knew it grew and grew, vines sprouting thorns that hooked and lurched at the curl of his fingertips.
Emotion, he had realized. Emotion was the foundation of magic. It responds to how we feel, how we act, our ambitions, our goals, our families, our loved ones. Emotion is what makes up our identity.
The stronger our emotions the more powerful the results. Depending on what they result in the outcome of the magic that was harvested.
He who has emotions, he concluded, can too also harvest the power of magic, so long as they believe.
The queen stopped reading from the book once the sound of soft snores reached her ear, watching the steady rise and fall of the warm quilt blanket that swarmed the little boy next to her on the bed. She felt herself smile, a sigh of exhaustion tumbling out of her lips, before leaning forward to press a kiss to the boy's forehead.
"If I had magic," she started, in a low humble whisper, "I would use it to heal you, my precious little Bunny."
-
"The way I see it, Cyrus, this can go one of two ways."
If you asked Cyrus when and why he all of a sudden started kneeling, he'd tell you to not bother, he didn't know himself. It was as though an imaginary weight fell upon his back. He had felt it all throughout the conversation, it at first being nothing more than a gentle nudge at the top of his head, now with every passing second it continued to push him further down.
"Either you can tell me the truth, and depending on your answer I'll have you kindly packed and sent home, or, you keep your silence, and with it goes my messenger boys job including any means of contact between either of us."
It was clear to Cyrus at that moment which one of the two outcomes would be much worse for him.
"No!" He lost himself for a moment, shouting would get him nowhere in this type of situation. "I mean...no please-wait! I'll explain everything."
It wasn't a rather lengthy explanation but he felt as though it would be better to remain on the ground than to stare back at the king's face.
"..."
"Well?" The King tsked. "Go on, finish your sentence. Or is it perhaps silence is the only answer you will give me?"
Cyrus swallowed, "Before I start please understand that Fabiosis had nothing to do with me or my men's plans. He has almost no idea who I am nor that I'm here. The truth is...as you may know, several of the Council Members were once people who originated from the Nations themselves. Many of the descendants of our founding fathers have passed away before being able to continue their legacy. As such to keep the numbers even they decided to run a selection process to elect-"
"Please skip as much of the unnecessary details as possible."
The King had a bored look on his face as he continued, "Must I remind you that I am that of Royalty? I'm already aware of the countless debates the Council Members have done through just to find another additional member to add to their Twelve empty chairs, and I am also aware that some of the members once grew up independently in their separate nations. Spare me the details and cut to the chase."
Cyrus hadn't realized he had looked up just then and compelled himself to stare back down before stuttering his next few words. "There is...an unknown corruption among the Council Members, Your Majesty."
Adrian rose his eyes.
"Although the selection process was an act of desperation to hunt for more members, " Cyrus continued, "it came at the consequence of more selfishly produced one-sided opinions that were manifestations from the desires of each elected member that longed for their homelands to thrive. Unlike pure-blooded Council Members, who are rumored to have spent their lives detached from the rest of the world, elected Council Members fondly recall their place of origin and the people that suffer in it."
Pure-blooded was an insulting often term used to differentiate between the actual descendant Council Members and the Elected ones. What makes it so offensive was not the meaning behind the term at all but rather the noticeable way and change of attitude most people would share upon hearing it.
Accusations and rumors along with stereotypes were often one of the worse ways people could look at you, Adrian knows this. Everyone knows that almost all Elected Council Members are said to be bais with greed and selfishness dripping out of every opinion they hold. Though try as they might prove they've earned their spot that never stopped the voices from speaking.
For there to be a traitor Council Member among the twelve would be the equivalent of holding a burning match to your wrist. Should others find out, all hard work you've accumulated over the years will be dismissed and disregarded completely.
Adrian was beginning to pick up what Cyrus was putting down.
"So in some way shape or form, there is an Emberian Elected Council Member who has agreed to indulge you in our affairs and continues to make unprecedented decisions against the other's will in favor of your Nation?"
That was the gist of it, mostly. Cyrus nodded, "And as for how I managed to get in contact with such a person in the first place, I should probably inform you the man I am speaking of is my father. Persia Romane. Before being elected he was the previous chief of the Pheonix Clan back when I was still just a cub. He gave the position to me after he took over, later on, he reached out to me to send him personal intel on our current situation. When I had mentioned about the Dragon's clans raging antics he came up with a plan to help us succeed."
"And that plan involved me."
It wasn't a question.
"I know it sounds hard to believe Your Majesty, trust me I struggled to process it too. But that is what he told me. He mentioned that even though some of the finest warriors of our entire Domain were on our side he still didn't think we'd stand a chance once I told him who our enemy was. He knew we would require at least a much stronger military force if we are to even stand a chance. He mentioned you once, set the plan in stone, and asked me to carry out orders."
Cryus felt his forehead hit the floor from how much his head was drooping, and sooner or later he was staring back at his reflection. The shame and guilt he had felt were starting to become overbearing even as he knelt. He waited for the King's next response but he didn't say anything. He could tell his gaze was still upon his figure and felt his fist clench into balls at the thought.
"I-if you're wondering what Fabiosis is doing here," he felt the need to continue, "at some point, we found ourselves in a skirmish with the Dragon Clan's chief head-on. It was how I was able to identify him to my old man in the first place. The battle was so intense that even I was certain I would perish, let alone my younger brother. Although I implied these complications were recent the truth is this has been a fight going on ever since my father left the nation.
"I was still very young when it had first happened and I had no idea how he would hope to survive. In a moment of desperation, I sent him out to the sea clinging to nothing more but driftwood, and told him that one day I'd find him again. I never heard from him since, little did I know he'd somehow managed to find his way on the other side of the world. I'm not here to take him back home, not yet at least. I want to be able to reintroduce myself to him as his older brother when things die down. I want the home that he returns to be a place of peace and belonging, not this pointless bloodshed we call war."
Still more silence. The sweat dripping from his face was starting to form a small puddle underneath him. Wild scenarios ran through his head, one where a boot was placed at the back of his nape and an order to clean the mess he made with his tongue was one of them for example. Though the king seemed more composed and understanding to note that it is probably best for both of them that Cyrus refrained from doing that.
He hoped.
"Rise."
He was so caught up in his thoughts he almost missed the command. Good thing for him his body responded before his mind could.
The king barely spared him a second glance before turning back around for good. "You may leave."
Excuse him?
"Excuse me?"
Leave? All of a sudden, just like that. That was not what he came here for! He didn't travel all this way and kneel on the floor just to leave. Sure he might have deserved the hostility after revealing that it was his father who had solemnly rejected his letter previously to expand trade with the neighboring nations, but he did it out of love for his.
Cyrus was willing to be pushed around for his amusement because he knew at the end of the day it meant he would still get his way. But this was just unacceptable.
"Pardon-"
Foolish little Cyrus.
"Foolish little Cyrus. You are standing upon enemy territory right now, do you not understand that? You lied to our faces, almost compelled us to war, snuck an immigrant into our walls, and associated yourself with a Council Member to corrupt our official legal business while knowing what he was doing was wrong and deciding not to report or speak against his name."
He should have just kept his mouth shut.
"In case you are unaware, the penalties I now have charged against you are enough in it that I could have you killed right here on the spot and end your petty little war amongst yourselves with little consequence. Yet you still have to audacity to voice out to me?"
He couldn't answer the question, he couldn't do anything. The plan had failed and there was no backup he could rely upon to fix this mess he painted for himself. I accepted it; he had been defeated.
"I apologize...Your Majesty."
Adrian sighed humbly.
"It's a shame, I had almost felt compelled to agree with your plans for a solid second or two, I nearly did. I should have just listened to my wife from the start, women like her are always more aware of what is behind the scenes than we men do."
A natural part of Cyrus blames the foiling of his plan on that damned woman, suspicious of him from the start. The King was mere seconds away from agreeing when he first offered and never would have noticed the casual slip-up in his words. Had it not been for her they would have been sailing off together hand in hand with the blood of their enemies following suit. Now he has to break the unfortunate news to his father, not only that he failed but he had just allowed him to become compromised.
If it was anyone's fault, it was his own first.
Slowly, he began his walk of shame out of the corridor. However, he turned around at the last moment and mumbled a question on dumb lips.
"Fabio...what will become of him?"
The King closed his eyes, as though pondering the question himself for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up.
"I have a kind enough heart not punish the youth for the sins of their elders. I can trust your words on how you had claimed he was of no association towards you or your devious plan. I swear that I will guarantee him a safe space in this palace while you work out matters back at home."
It was the first good news Cyrus had heard in a while and it was enough. His shoulders slacked, as though the majority of his burden had been released. "Good."
The King quirked an eyebrow at him, "You may see him if you wish. I expect you off the premises in no more than an hour but I'll still give you enough time to say your final goodbyes before you do."
Cyrus chuckled sadly to himself, shaking his head. "I appreciate it, Your Majesty, I do. However, if he knew who I was he would demand to be brought back home with me and I can't..." he swallowed. "I can't bring him back yet...not until all of this is over. Even if I were to just simply say goodbye he'd spend the rest of his life wondering whether or whether not if I'm still alive. I wouldn't want to wish that upon another person. Not ever."
The King hummed in acknowledgment, "You are a kind man Cyrus, I understand that what you did was out of love for your home. I do wish you the best of your journeys and wherever your future battles may lead you."
Cyrus didn't respond, he simply carried himself and walked away.
-
Back in the Cell Room.
The two girls and the single guardsman stood in fear as a tall figure held its place in front of the door, robe draping behind his back and arms crossed.
"Well?" Adrian asked, irritation laced in his tone, "you didn't answer my question."
The guard gulped pathetically, "You asked a question?"
The King tsked and stepped forward, ever so graceful, "I said 'I don't recall ever giving you permission to let my prisoners go'. This is the part where you're supposed to defend yourself."
The guard collapsed to the floor immediately, the movement so fast had it not been for the protective armor on his knees he would have surely bruised them. "APOLOGIES, YOUR MAJESTY! It is just that...one of the children started crying and-"
"Children?!" Everyone in the room flinched. "I was informed that there were infiltrators caught inside the castle, not that they were children."
"Your Majesty...they are both, so you see-"
"And you never once found it to be inhumane to keep children behind bars?"
"I DID!"
Maya knew very little of what was going on but one thing was for certain, this man in front of her was most definitely the King. The way he stood, the way he breathed, even the clothes on his back looked expensive enough to compete with her entire living establishment.
After getting the chance to look at him for the first time she immediately took notice of every small detail. He had low-cut stubble around his chin, piercing blue eyes that matched his cold expression, and dark chocolate skin that shrouded him with mystery. She could see the faintest specks of white hair on his head, which she could only assume is the direct result of years of stress and work.
Had she not been on the ground herself she would have probably started kneeling too.
"We didn't want to make any rash decisions before you arrived and so we thought we should wait patiently."
The King observed the two girls behind the bars and his eyes staggered twice. The first time was when he looked at Maya, and an unidentifiable expression crossed his face. The second time was when he looked and Maria, who stilled had tears pouring out her eyes from her fake tantrum just seconds ago.
"Why is she crying?"
The guardsmen paled around the same time Maria smirked. Maya knew this would not end well at all.
"S-she claimed her brother was here, and that she was hungry, and that's why I was going to let her out, but if you don't want me to I can still keep them inside, I'll just have to ask that you forgive me for my brash behavior and-"
"Open the cage."
"Yes Sir!"
With very little hesitation the guard opened the door to the cage and kept it wide while he waited for the two girls to step outside. Afterward, he shut and locked it behind him.
"Now leave."
This time there was no response, just a quick nod and shuffling of feet, the guard ever so grateful to finally be out of that room.
Now it was just the three of them.
The King took a closer look at the little girls in front of him while patiently folding his arms behind his back, his signature move.
"Now then," he began, "please tell me how two little girls found their way inside my castle?"
"We snuck in," Maya answered honestly, "through the mailman cart."
He hummed, "Smart plan indeed, if only it had worked. Now, would you mind telling me as to why you decided to sneak into my castle?"
Maria wiped her tear-ridden face, bouncing back into her usual personality once more, pleased and prideful. "We have some very important news to tell you, your majesty!"
The King looked shocked at the sudden change of Maria's mood, as though just catching on her previous bewildered state was an act. "And what news was so important you couldn't simply write it down on paper?"
Maria rubbed her nose pridefully, "We're here to tell you how to save the Nation!"
From a grown-up's perspective, Maya understood that everything coming out of Maria's mouth was the equivalent of bull droppings, and although the King would have every right to send them away back to their homes at that exact moment he still decided to give his ear.
"Save my Nation?" he questioned wistfully. "Whatever gave you the impression that this Nation needed saving?"
He took one good look at their clothes before nodding understandingly.
"Ah, I get it. You're from the Southern District then. You must be here because you're trying to bribe me into giving you and your families money aren't you?"
Maria widen her eyes in shock, "What? No! Well I mean, you're not entirely wrong it's just, that's not the main reason why we're here."
The King turned his back, "Regardless, your family situations must be severe if you felt so obligated to come to the palace. Follow me and I can take you to my accountant, then you can tell me your family's last names and I will provide you a small sum of cash for your homes each individually-"
"We're here because we discovered something that might have to do with you," Maya informed as swiftly as she could.
This stopped the King in his tracks and caused him to turn around in curiosity. "How so?"
Maya continued, "We found this book that mentioned something about the founding father of the Neo Empire named Lord Arriligus, and how he was the first king to rule. He was a member of a group called the Majesty Five who were well skilled in magic."
Maya took over, "yeah, yeah! The book mentioned that something terrible happened and how they had to eradicate magic's existence in this world to protect its people. But before Lord Arriligus died he-"
"Left behind a portion of his own power located within the castle ground which is referred to as a Blessing?'
Both girls stood mouth agape at the King's sudden interruption.
"Wait a minute," Maria stuttered, "you knew?!"
The King laughed for a moment, a full-hearted laugh, one that was genuine and soft, a complete contrast to his appearance. "Of course I knew, everyone who had a childhood knew. You probably didn't know this but the story of the five blessings hidden among the great Nations is just a folktale. A fictional bedtime story every mother has mentioned to their child at least once in their life."
At the news, both girl's mouths when ajar.
"The Blessings, the Majestic Five, all of it, it doesn't exist."
The news, so sudden, was the hardest form of reality the two had faced that day.
"B-but wait a minute," Maria spurred, "t-the book...it said-"
"That book you found must have been the handwritten copy of the fairytale but in more detail. Probably by some fan who enjoyed the story to his heart's content and even believed it for the few years he was alive."
"Are you sure though?" Maya asked, "That it's all just fictional and fake? What makes you so certain. If the story exists and it's based on real people wouldn't that mean that there's a chance they're not lying?"
"Trust me, I've heard more than enough stories from my father about how my great grandparents thought the same thing and spent almost their entire lives searching this castle from start to finish looking for it. If it existed they would have found it a long time ago."
Maya looked down at her hands in disbelief. She stared at the front of her palms and ran over her calluses with her thumbs, in horror and blindsight at the truth. The sudden realization that this was nothing more than just a group of two idiotic girls who engaged themselves too intimately in folklore and acting upon their actions under the belief that something so obviously fiction based was reality.
Maria was fumbling, her mouth opening and shut like a fish. If not for the ringing in her ear Maya would have most likely been able to tell what she was saying. Something along the lines of "I-but-b-but-I-I don't-" and other unfinished one worded sentences.
Suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head.
"If the story was fake and it was all just a lie, then how do you explain this!" She reached into her coat in search of something, her face paling once she realized she couldn't feel the hard square-like surface pressed against her chest anymore. "Wait, what?" She stuttered, fumbling around her clothes even more. "No-no! I had it, right here I swear."
"Had what?" The King questioned.
"The book," she whined, "I had the book right inside my jacket. It-it must have slipped out or something."
The King simply sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. He seemed very tired.
"As I have just told you, that book is fake. Even if you did somehow managed to find it, it would do nothing to prove your case."
"You don't understand!"
Maya was taken aback by her friend's sudden distress. She kept fumbling through her clothes, even removing her jacket completely as though it would help her find what she was missing.
"T-that book, it had a map of the entire castle and everything! Why would something fake have that in it, huh? Ooooh, I must have dropped it when falling out of that mailman's carriage I just know it."
Before she could go as far as to remove her shirt the king lurched forward and grabbed her arm tightly halting her movements.
"Little girl, listen to me. The story of the Majestic Five, the Divinity, the Blessings, it's all just a lie. Whatever that book held I'm sure I could find several copies of the exact same thing in my library if I so wanted to. As for the map on the back, the majority of books from our castle grounds have been written with a full guide on the last page on how to navigate through this place, to ensure newcomers and visitors that borrow such things know where to return them. That book of yours must have simply slipped out from our grasp a few years ago and somehow wounded up in your community library."
"No, but, but-"
"There are no buts! This...this is the truth."
That was it, wasn't it?
There was no more denying it, it was the truth. The hard-cold bare reality of it all right in front of their faces. A singular tear streamed down Maria's cheek but she tried her best to cover it. The King gradually let go of her arm and watched as she sunk into a puddle of cotton on the floor, shoulders shaking, and breath heaving. This time she looked as though she would start crying for real.
The King, unlike his guard, seemed completely unfazed by her response, and simply took a step back to allow her space. "I know it must be hard to hear, considering the lengths each of you took just to get here, but you must understand there is no lie in my words. Including my promise from before. My offer still stands.,I will personally ensure that both of you make it back home safe during your travels, and I guarantee there will be no such consequences for your actions. As for the fee and sum, I'll have it delivered with the ride that will be taking you home and will drop it off at each of your houses respectively."
Maria sniffled, "So all of it was fake."
The King simply nodded his head, brows furrowing in the slightest hint of remorse "I'm afraid so."
It was at this moment Maya was suddenly aware of her own presence. Her heavy breathing, where she stood, how she trembled. Up until this moment, she had been nothing but still, absorbing every truth that fell from the King's lips and putting up no fight to resist it.
Honestly, she should have known better. Looking back on it now makes her want to laugh. The mere thought of it all too humorous to even remotely be true, that they both thought even for a second they would be able to change the way of the Neo Empire and help build a better Nation alongside the King.
It was a small reality they both shared, and it was fun while it lasted, but now it was over before it had even begun.
All that's left is to simply return the book to where they found it: Inside the hidden chamber within the underground of the library, back on that tall gray pedestal right next to the chiseled statue replica of a man-
"Wait a minute!" Maya exclaimed, just having realized the last detail that could finally refute the King's claims. "But what about the room we found?"
For the first time since they met him his exterior crumbled and he looked confused. "Room...what room?" He seemed...hesitant.
At this, Maria stopped sulking and stood up.
"In the library!" She shouted. "Maya, being the clutz she is, pushed down one of the bookshelves and revealed a hole in the ground."
Maya, ignoring the insult, continued. "It was some sort of secret tunnel that took us to this underground chamber."
The king's mouth went agar, more of his pose appearance shattering at the second "You mean to tell me that the hidden chambers are real?!"
Maria continued, nodding her head rapidly, "Yes! Yes! There was this second library that had a statue of a man inside, it's where we found the book and everything. It told us that in order to find that place you had to have been given the very first out of the two other clues that were left behind. Since we found it on our own we thought that by telling you, you might have access to the first clue already."
The King stuttered, "H-hold on just a second. None of the stories I've been told so far ever mentioned anything about the hidden chambers. I'm only aware of such details from the stories passed down by my ancestors. It is practically considered an in family secret."
Maya understood half of what he just said, "So...that means you know we're not lying?"
He didn't answer, rather too far taken aback to really respond.
The King turned hastily, rubbing his chin in disbelief while pacing forward steadily. "I don't understand. There's no way small children like them could have been given a deep family secret. Unless they were hired by spies and are acting as decoys. No, the other one started crying, there's no way they're both that good at acting. And they seemed equally disheveled at the mentioning of their beliefs being fake."
A tuned-out 'hey!' was exclaimed out from an angry Maria.
He continued, "If what they are saying is true then all the stories I were told aren't lies. Which means somewhere in the castle is a blessing...which means." The sudden revelation made his eyes go wide, the burst of imaginations and possibilities coursing and connecting through his brain all at once. He turned, as though he had found the cure for world hunger, which in this case he technically had.
"Magic...does exist!"
-
Unbeknownst to the King, before he even had a solid ten seconds to process his discovery, the sudden quake of explosions echoed out in the distances, black smoke coiling into the air, wrapping around the residents' lungs like a whip to a calve, and covering the sky in dark ashy mist. With it followed by the sheer screams of terror and the distressed footsteps of every soldier within the general vicinity. A horrid smell rose above the horizon amongst all the chaos, a smell too few were aware of and even fewer could recall.
War.
It was the fresh scent of war.